GAME NOTES

Rutgers moved its record to 6-1 in Big East meetings vs USF winning the Thursday night game and becoming a major player in the Big East chase. USF settled for a pair of FG’s early then were SOD on 4&1 at theRU28 and were also int’d at their RU23 and RU got a 51 yd FG to only trail 6-3 at the half. USF fmbl’d the punt at its own 37, was int’d at their own 30 setting up a RU TD, had a 2nd & gl at the 5 but was int’d in the EZ, and were SOD at their own 42.

Florida St absolutely dominated Wake Forest with a 612-126 yard edge and the majority of Wake Forest’s yards came on a 34 yd run on their 2nd drive and a 41 yd pass that was originally ruled incomplete. At the half FSU led 38-0 with a 357-70 yd edge and RB Chris Thompson showed great speed with 197 yards on just 9 carries including 74 and 80 yd TD runs. FSU went through the motions in the 2H in their 52-0 shutout win.

Duke Johnson continues to impress with Miami, Fl and had 4 td’s vs Bethune-Cookman scoring on 3 different ways. He had a 95 yard KR td, td runs of 28 and 1 yards and a 50 yd td catch. UM actually trailed 7-0 early and it was 7-7 with 6:00 left in the 1H but the Hurricanes would slowly pull away getting a td with 3:56 left to put them up by 28 which came after B-C faked a punt from their own 26. UM only had a 426-355 yd edge.

Dayne Crist hit 19-39-303 yds for Kansas but Casey Pachall was much more efficient hitting 24-30-335 for TCU. Crist threw an int on the first play from scrimmage. KU still made a game of it vs TCU in fact, they only had a 214-166 yard deficit at the half and trailed 7-6 before TCU got a 37 yd FG with :04 left in the half. Trailing 20-6 Kansas was SOD at the TCU36 on 4&10 and their last poss they drove 90/11pl but Cryst fmbl’d going into the EZ and TCU rec’d for a tb with 1:16 left.

Nebraska sat Rex Burkhead for the 2nd straight game and HC Bo Pelini, who had the flu, missed the 2H. DC John Papuchis led the lead on the field for the 3Q and was the acting HC. Nebraska came out in the 3-4 alignment rather than its normal 4-3 and held Arkansas St to 286 yards and probably could have won more than the 42-13 final as it was 28-3 at half and they fumbled into their own EZ for an ASU td then on the next drive, fmbl’d at the ASU23, then fmbl’d the punt at their own 15 setting up an ASU FG. Their final drive got to the ASU1 but they fumbled with :39 left in the impressive win.

Virginia Tech had won 13 straight road games, the longest standing streak in the country but Pitt put that to an end. Tino Sunseri, whose had a less than storied career, hit 19-28-283 yds vs what was thought to be one of Bud Foster’s best D’s yet. There is nothing fluky about the final as Pitt had a 27-14 FD edge and 537-324 yd edge and they have a 2-headed monster at TB as Ray Graham rushed for 94 yards on 24 carries and true frosh Rushel Shell (PS#4) added 157 on 23 carries with the two chipping in another 32 yards in receiving. Pitt even missed a 35 yard FG at the end of an 8pl drive and missed a 33 yd FG at the end of a 9pl drive in the 1H. It was VT’s largest halftime deficit since 2007.

Purdue ran for 392 yards vs E Michigan and may have vaulted itself into the favorites role for the Big Ten Title game. PU blk’d a punt to set up one td in the 1H but gave up a 26 yd IR td and only led 13-6. PU got a 51 yd TD pass with 5:20 left in the half, an 87 yard td run with 2:01 left in the half then after an int drove 33/6pl for a td with :09 left in the half, taking a close 13-9 game into a 33-9 lead at the half. PU did have a 321-116 yd edge.

It seemed liked the last one with the ball would win between Northern Illinois and Army. Army did finish with a 30-19 FD edge and their triple option offense had three 100 yard rushers in Raymond Maples (159) Larry Dixon (136) and Trent Steelman (116). While Army trailed by as much as 13, they battled back to lead after 3Q’s. NI got a 3&10, 81 yd td pass to retake the lead but Army, after a NI fumble got a 15 yd td run by Steelman to go up 40-35. The key play for NI happened when down 5, on 3&12 they got a 28 yd pass to the Army 19 and they got a td with 4:29 left. Army on 4&4 was SOD at the NI44 with 1:52 left.

Connecticut was fired up to face their former HC Edsall who left them. Amazingly the game had 45 points despite the two teams producing a combined 428 yards with UC having a slight 223-205 yar edge. UC got a 58 yd PR td for one score and after a 32 yd punt drove 36 yds for another td and led 14-7 at the half. They added a 6 yard drive for a 34 yd FG after recovering a fumble and it was 24-21 and Maryland got to the CU32 but on 4&17 fired incomplete with :17 left. Perry Hills hit just 10-24-109 while Chandler Whitmer hit 10-16-68.

Auburn was trying to avoid their first 0-3 start since 1950 and for ULM it was almost deja vu all over again. Last week ULM was down 28-7 when they shocked Arkansas and vs Auburn they trailed 28-14 into the 4Q. AU had their chance to put the game away. Leading 28-14 AU’s Blakley on FD from the 20, ran 50 yds down the sideline heading to the EZ but fumbled and ULM recovered at the 5. Two poss later, AU was int’d at the ULM30 and ULM went 59/9pl and 65/9pl for td’s, the latter with 1:18 left to force OT and missed a FG to start OT and AU was able to escape.

Minnesota’s MarQueis Gray was injured against W Michigan with the score 10-7 late 2Q. Max Shortell came off the bench and hit 10-17-188 and in the key play of the game on 3&18 hit a 53 yd td pass with :30 left in the half to give the Gophers a 20-10 lead. WM missed a 42 yd FG in the 3Q and down 28-23, got to midfield but on 4&18 gained just 16 yards with a great tackle by Minnesota.

Oregon continued it pattern of getting up big then letting up late. At the half vs Tenn Tech UO had a 381-48 yd edge. They only led 35-7 because TT recovered a punt at the UO23 and got a 23 yd pass on the next play to jump out to a 7-0 lead. The Ducks scored td’s on their first two 3Q poss to go up 49-7 but “only” won by 49 points, which disappointed some of their backers. UO finished with a 652-177 yard edge and 28-12 FD edge. Bryan Bennett got to lead 6 Duck drives in the 2H with 1 int, 3 punts and td drives of 52 and 65 yards.

It was actually a tough loss for Cal as they missed 3 FG’s and had a td called back on penalty. The key play of the game was when Brendan Bigelow looked like he was tackled for a 3 yd loss then it looked like a 2 yard gain but he spun, put his arm down, stayed balanced and raced 81 yards for a td in the 3Q to get Cal back in a game they had trailed 20-7. Bigelow then had 16 and 59 yd runs on the next drive. OSU’s offense had just 25 yards and 0 FD’s on 14 plays in the 3Q. After Cal had tied it with 8:10 left, Cal missed a 42 yd FG with 4:20 left and Miller hit a 72 yd td pass with 3:26 to put OSU ahead. Cal was int’d at the OSU38 with 1:08 left and actually finished with a 512-412 yd edge and 22-14 FD edge.

I’ve got to hand it to this Penn St football team. They had two tough losses to open but Coach Bill O’Brien has this team playing hard every week and they absolutely dominated Navy 34-7. Navy did have a 371-341 yd edge and their QB Trey Miller had both feet heavily taped due to an ankle injury. He was even walking with a limp. He hit just 6-13-22 and ran the ball 18x for 21 yards. Navy was int’d at the PSU10, SOD at the PSU29, SOD at the PSU25, fumbled and PSU got a 74 yd FR td to make it 34-0. Navy was also SOD at the PSU6.

Iowa’s leading rusher vs Northern Iowa was Mark Weisman, an Air Force transfer, who is 6’0” 225 and was the #1 FB at the end of August. He rushed for 113 yards on 24 carries vs Northern Iowa. IU did have 11 and 12 play drives but settled for 24 and 19 yd FG’s and were also SOD at the 1 yard line with 2:51 left, up 27-16 in their lackluster win over a decent Panther team.

Denard Robinson who last week actually had more total yards than Michigan had as a team, put up 397 yards of total offense and 3 TD’s in Michigan’s rout over Massachusetts. Ironically, UMass top RB Michael Cox is a Michigan transfer and he rushed for 76 yards on 18 carries. Just two years ago UMass almost upset Michigan at home. Eight different players scored for Mich in the 63-13 rout and they had a 585-259 yd edge.

Akron showed a lot last week vs FIU piling up 411 yards vs a good D on the road. I expected them to blow out Morgan St and that they did. They actually amassed 43 FD’s and 753 yards in their blowout win! QB Dalton Williams hit 37-48-146 and tied a Zip record with 5 td passes and the 66-6 final is not a fluke over the overmatched FCS foe.

Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel did great in the 1H vs Florida and now, only taking on SMU’s D, Manziel let his talent shine threw. He hit 20-36-294 while rushing for 124. It was SMU’s most lopsided home loss since 2002 (Okla St 52-6). Texas A&M even suspended RB Christine Michael and S Steven Campbell just before the KO. It was 7-0 when Manziel got a 48 yd td run to go up 13-0 with 3:26 left in the half and they would make it 20-0 at the half with a 317-109 yd edge. The Aggies scored td’s on their first 4 poss of the 2H to blow it open, 48-3.

Georgia Tech had not topped 50 points in an ACC game since 2000 but playing with revenge vs Virginia, they did just that. Last year UVA ruined their perfect season as they came into that game 6-0. UVA had a bye the week prior. This year UVA did not have a bye and GT had a 594-297 yard edge. UVA QB Michael Rocco was benched for Phillip Sims. Sims had an off performance the previous week but directed two 4Q drives with the game out of reach hitting 6-8-56, perhaps opening up a QB controversy. The score was 49-7 when GT fumbled the punt at their 28 and Sims on 4&3 hit a 25 yd td pass. Then trailing 56-14, Sims directed them 75/12pl and they got a garbage 14 yd td pass on the last play of the game.

Arkansas would have had to play a perfect game to stay with Alabama but had a couple of key plays go against them early. Bama on their first 3 poss did not even get a FD while Arkansas had a drive to the Bama22 but 2 key plays put them in a hole. They had a high snap over the P’s head and Bama took over at the 6 and got a td run, then Arkansas had a 41 yd FG hit the upright. Arkansas recovered a punt at the Bama20 but it was ruled that the progress was stopped by the PR so Bama got the ball. Amazingly, Brandon Allen, as a senior in HS had a 38-0 ratio, threw an int in the 2Q setting up a Bama td and then another int was ret’d 46 yds to the 3 setting up Bama’s 2nd short td and it was 24-0 at the half. An amazing stat is the fact that Bama only had a 9-7 FD edge at the half and Arkansas sort of gave up in the 2H as Bama controlled matters, 52-0.

Louisville was on its way to an absolute blowout of North Carolina. It was 36-7 at the half. UNC slowly chipped away and when they blocked a punt and drove 4 yards for a td they got within 11. UNC then got a 50 yd td pass Morris to pull within 39-34 then UL actually fumbled the KO at their own 23 and UNC recovered. With a great chance at winning the game and a 1st & gl at the 9, UNC’s 4th & 4 pass into the EZ was dropped and UL escaped.

Northwestern had 34 FD’s and Boston College had 22. NU had 560 yards offense and BC 316 but the story was each team went on long drives all game long and settled for FG’s. NU went on a 12pl drive for a 40 yd FG, a 10 pl drive for a 21 yd FG, a 12 play drive for a 29 yd FG, a 9 play drive for a FG and a 15 play drive but fumbled at the BC5. BC went on a 12pl drive for a 22 yd FG and a 95 yard drive and all that came before the half. In the 2H BC went on a 9pl drive but fmbl’d at the NU4. NU went on a 93/19pl drive but settled for a 19 yd FG. BC went on a 9pl drive for a 34 yd FG. NU went on a 12pl drive but took a sack and punted. NU actually ran 100 plays in the game with 60 rushes and 40 passes. Both teams need work in the redzone.

Syracuse had won 29 straight game vs current FCS members but Stony Brook came in #16 in the FCS poll. They threw a scare into Syracuse as SB led 17-14 at the half and Syr didn’t get comfortable until getting a td with 5:53 left to put them up by 11. Syr did have a 549-311 yd edge.

UCF dominated FIU in the 1H leading 23-0 with a 249-26 yd edge but didn’t play with the same intensity in the 2H and only came away with a 33-20 win. FIU gained 280 yards in the 2H.

NC State had a 22-14 FD edge and led 31-0 but S Alabama drove 72/4pl and got an 8 yd TD pass with 5:20 left which disappointed some Wolfpack faithful who were hoping for a shutout at that point.

Furman and Clemson are just 30 miles apart. Sammy Watkins returned to the lineup for CU and had 52 yards on 4 rec’s and also a sparkling 58 yd td run. Clemson only led 20-7 at the half then after a Furman int drove 14/5pl for a td. During the game, Furman was SOD at the CU35 and 20 yd lines and also on 4&gl from the 3, was int’d in the EZ for a TB. CU won going away 41-7 even with Florida St on deck.

Seth Doege hit 27-35-340 basically playing a half vs New Mexico as they had 449 yards and a 42-14 lead. Texas Tech scored 3 td’s in 2:59 with NM having just 1 snap in that span. NM had a 98 yd KR with 2:06 left in the half to pull within 28-14. TT went 79/7pl getting a td with :34 left then rec’d a sky kick on the KO and got an 11 yd td with :05 left in the half. TT opened the 3Q with a 71/6pl drive for a td with 12:35 left, their 3rd td in 2:59 and took a 28-14 game to a 49-14 blowout.

Western Illinois came in 2-0 but their wins were vs a Div II team and Butler who is a nonscholarhsip FCS program. Iowa St dominated with a 27-8 FD and 504-178 yd edge. They led 31-0 when WI avoided the shutout with a FG in the 4Q.

Middle Tennessee/Memphis was not as big a blowout as the score would indicate. Memphis led 10-7 when MT settled for a 19 yd FG to tie it at 10. MEM then fumbled the KO and MT got a 43 yd FG. MT then got a 68 yd IR td for a 20-10 lead then after a fumble with 3:22 left, drove 13 yds for another TD, 27-10. MEM fumbled the opening KO of the 3Q and MT drove 39/9pl for a td and jumped out to a 41-17 lead in the 3Q. Mem did get a td with 1:29 left on a 50 yd drive and MT finished with a 439-399 yard edge and 27-23 FD edge.

Tulsa RB Ja’Terian Douglas rushed for 163 yards and 2 td’s on just 5 carries with 67 and 73 yd td runs. TU had 479 yards at half and a 479-271 yd edge vs Nicholls St. They went through the motions in the 2H with just 87 total yards.

Georgia piled up a school record 713 yards vs Florida Atlantic but this game was actually 14-14 in the 2Q with UGA having a hangover after their effort vs Missouri. They also sat down LB Jarvis Jones and 2 of their def starters due to the foe. Both of UGA’s frosh RB’s topped 100 yards with Todd Gurley (111) and Keith Marshall (104).

Dan McCarney used a ball control offense which held the ball for 37:04 vs Kansas St and KSU came in averaging over 300 yards rushing per game and North Texas held them to 143. It was 7-7 when KSU got a td with 2:24 left for a 14-7 lead in the half and NT had a 174-142 yd edge. NT went 88/14pl for a td, to only trail 14-13 at this point and had a 262-142 yd edge. KSU then went 77,75 and 64 yds on drives for td’s and a 35-13 lead before NT got a td with 2:31 left.

Mississippi St got off to their first 3-0 start since 1999 and have now won 13 consecutive non-conf games. Chad Bumphis had 3 td receptions, the first MSU player to do so since 1969 (Sammy Milner vs Florida). Troy was pumped up as they had a school record 29,013 fans for the rare SEC opponent and Troy finished with a 572-457 yd edge and Troy led 7-3 but fumbled a punt setting up a MSU 40 yd TD. They fumbled at the MSU28 and was int’d at the MSU5, int’d at the MSU42 and missed a 26 yd FG at the end of a 74/15pl drive in the half so they trailed 23-7 at half despite a 322-225 yd edge. They did get as close as 23-21 but MSU26 got 2 FD then went for it on 4&2 at the Troy30 and converted They went for it again on 4&5 and got a 25 yd TD pass to Bumphis to go up by 2 scores. Troy got a 40 yd FG with 4:07 left and MSU was able to get 2 FD’s and run out the clock.

Washington had 45 points in the 1H vs Portland St which tied the school record for most points in any half. They did get a blk’d FG and int for td’s and PSU fired their DC during the week and HC Nigel Burton who is a former Washington safety, took over the play calling duties. UW, off that 41-3 loss to LSU, onside kicked on the first play of the game and rec’d which set up a short TD and they led 45-0 at the half and coasted.

W Virginia scored td’s on their first 4 poss in dominating fashion vs James Madison in a game played in Washington Redskins Stadium. WV had a 348-79 yd edge at the half and JM got a 20 yd td run with :49 left to “only” lose by 30.

Marshall had their chances to beat Ohio. They took their first 2 poss 75/12pl and 85/10pl for td’s, 14-0. OU scored a td and a FG then went on a 96/13pl drive and got a td with :39 left to lead 17-14 at the half. MU led 24-17 when OU on 4&5 got a 27 yd td pass with 10:43 left to tie. MU was driving for the game winning score when they fumbled and OU not only scooped it up but ret’d it 48 yds to the MU31 with 4:46 left. OU got 1 FD and kicked a 38 yd FG for the lead with 1:37 left. MU went 48/7pl but on 2&10 from the OU27 was int’d at the 15 and OU held on. MU had a 491-399 yd edge.

LSU only led Idaho 21-14 when they got a 7 yd td pass with :30 left for a 28-14 lead. LSU still finished with a 472-213 yd edge. Dominique Blackman hit 23-36-174 had 4 int, 2 of which were ret’d for td’s and LSU scored 35 points in the 2H.

The temp at KO was 97˚ for the San Diego St/North Dakota game, which was the hottest it had been for a SDSt home game since 1984. The Aztecs went for it on 4&9 at the ND29 with 1:52 left leading by only 8 and fired incomplete but ND was sk’d on 3&10 and gained 16 yds on 4&17 and was SOD in the Aztecs 49-41 win.

 

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

Last week Florida played in a hostile environment vs Texas A&M on the road, was down at the half and things were not looking good until they came back and dominated the 2H in the win. This past week vs Tennessee, things didn’t look good when they settled for a 20 yd FG on the final play of the half to trail 14-10. They also settled for a 25 yd FG on the first drive of the 3Q but UF went on to win 37-20 and piled up 555 yards offense vs a good defense. Jeff Driskel gets better and better each week as he hit 14-20-219 yards and also had 81 yards rushing and a banged up Gators team in its 2nd straight tough road game, beat a fresh UT team that was off Georgia St and UF is clearly my favorite to win the SEC East this year.

 

LATE SCORES IN THE HALF

As I write about every week, when you get a late score in the 1H it catapults your team and Boise got a TD with 1:43 left for a 15-9 lead to take some momentum. Miami, OH led Boise St 9-8 with 4:39 left in the 2Q. Boise came out in the 3Q and went 75/9pl, 92/8pl and 54/6pl for td’s on their first 3 poss to take control, 36-9 in their 39-12 win. Boise had a 599-227 yd and 33-9 FD edges.

 

QUARTERBACK INJURIES – NEW STARTERS

Jeff Tuel sat out for Washington St and Connor Halliday, who threw for over 400 yards vs Arizona St the previous year, got off to a slow start but finished hitting 26-45-378. His counterpart, UNLV QB Nick Sherry surprisingly hit 33-49-351. UNLV finished with a 26-18 FD edge but settled for 18 and 22 yd FG’s in the 1H and trailed by 8. They were SOD at the WSU25 and WSU14 in the 2H and lost by 8 at home.

It wasn’t due to injury but Vanderbilt started Austin Carta-Samuels at QB. He used to play for Wyoming and is a transfer and took the place of Jordan Rodgers. His first snap as a starting QB, was a handoff to Zac Stacy who ran 86 yards for a TD. Carta-Samuels hit 13-20-195 and VU rolled up 605 yards vs an overmatched Presbyterian team that had lost the previous week to Georgia Tech, 59-3. They play that sealed the game was when PU, down 20-0, went on a 60/10pl drive and had a 3&gl at the VU5. They were int’d in the EZ and Wilkins returned it 100 yards for a td to blow it open, 27-0. VU scored on their first 5 poss of the 2H and didn’t have their first punt until 6:55 was left in the game.

Illinois made the smart choice in sitting Nathan Scheelhaase as we’ve seen the last two weeks how important he is to the team. Reilly O’Toole started and after 2 miserable performances, gained some confidence vs an FCS foe in Charleston Southern. O’Toole hit 27-31-333 and Miles Osei chipped in 4-6-32. UI opted to sit 3 starters on offense and 3 on defense including C Pocic, FB Ferguson, S Hull, S Sanni and LB Bates. UI finished with 479-125 yd and 19-6 FD edges in the 44-0 shutout win.

Things didn’t look good for Oklahoma St when they lost starting QB Wes Lunt on the 6th play of the game. When he was injured, they ran the ball once and fired incomplete and settled for a 41 yard FG and a 3-0 lead. What followed with backup JW Walsh leading the team was amazing as the team set a school record with 742 yards offense and rolled to a 44-0 halftime lead. Walsh hit 21-30-347 yards. Louisiana QB Blaine Gautier who has had a fine career, was benched for 4 series but Houston transfer Terrance Broadway hit just 5-11-30 in his place. OSU also set a school record with 39 FD’s and ULL did go 64/10pl and 69/9pl for 133 garbage yards and 2 garbage td’s on their final 2 poss in the 65-24 game that probably wasn’t that close.

East Carolina and Southern Miss both started new QB’s. EC went to Shane Carden who hit 13-27-171 and guided the Pirates to the upset win. There’s not doubting the athleticism that frosh Anthony Alford provides but he hit just 6-14-88 for SM and rushed for 13 yards on 20 carries. Chris Campbell who started the opener for SM, came into the game with the team trailing 24-7 with 1:19 left in the 3Q and guided the team on a 79/9pl drive for a td. His 2nd poss went 3&out and his 3rd started at the 2. They went 37/13pl but his 4th & 12 pass at the SM49 was incomplete. SM surprisingly had a 324-228 yard edge with EC getting a 19 yd td drive after an Alford fumble late 3Q and then a 16 yd FR td on another fumble by Alford 3pl later for their 24-7 lead.

Wyoming was without starting QB Brett Smith and Colby Kirkegaard hit 15-23-123. Cal Poly, which went to the option, did what option teams do and that is score on their first couple of poss. Deonte Williams rushed for 187 yards and he had a 65 yard TD run on CP’s first poss and a 74 yd run down to the 5 on the 2nd and CP led 14-0 with 9:53 left in the 1Q. Wyoming battled back to lead 15-14 at the half but CP got a 45 yd drive for a td in the 3Q then a 51 yd FG with 9:49 left. WY got a td with 7:34 to go but punted with 4:55 left and took over with 1:46 on the clock at their own 25 and Kirkegaard was int’d at their own 37.

South Carolina QB Connor Shaw was knocked out of the game and Steve Spurrier was able to play 4 different QB’s with 2 getting time at the end. Dylan Thompson hit 5-10-177 and Shaw had hit just 8-14-107. The key play happened when SC, trailing 3-0, had the ball fall out of UAB QB Ellis’ hands and Swearinger scooped it up and returned it for a td, 7-3 (2:17 1Q). SC got a td with 1:37 left to go up 21-6 but UAB had the 179-130 yd edge at the half. Spurrier called it the closest “49-6” gm he’s ever been involved in. A 93 yd td pass in the 3Q made up over half of Thompson’s passing yards and opened the game up to a rout.

James Franklin was a late scratch for Missouri and Corbin Berkstresser in his first QB start, hit 21-41-198. MU was on their way to a route leading 17-0 when Arizona St, which had 27 yards in the 1H took over with 4:51 left in the half and drove 66/7pl for a td to pull within 17-7. MU was still up 24-7 when a bad snap on a punt had ASU rec at the 36 that set them up for a 9pl td drive and they got another td to pull within 24-20 with 11:10 left. MU missed a 48 yd FG after a 12pl drive with 7:01 left. ASU had a 4&gl at the 3 but fired incomplete with 3:36 left. A 25 yd PR got them to the MU21 with 1:58 left but on 3&8 they were int’d in the EZ.

 

MORE GAME NOTES

UTEP only beat New Mexico St 41-28 and if you look at the stats, NMSt had a 29-27 FD edge. UTEP scored td’s on their first 4 poss going 47/7pl, 62/7, 67/9pl and 86/10pl all for td’s. In that span, NMSt had a grand total of 1 FD. UTEP brought in backup QB Meager for the 5th poss and actually went for it on 4&11 from the NMSt13 with :16 left in the half so they only led 27-7 at the half with a 333-133 yd edge. UTEP led this one 41-14 with 9:06 left when NMSt went 82/9pl for a td with 6:25 left. UTEP brought in their 3rd string QB and punted and NMSt went on an 89/12pl drive and got an 11 yd garbage td pass with 1:05 left to make the final respectable. Nick Lamaison for UTEP threw for 300 yards.

Last year UTSA and Georgia St went to OT. This year UTSA went 79/11pl and settled for a 26 yd FG and GSU on 3&15 got an 84 yd td pass for a stunning 7-3 lead. UTSA controlled matters. They got a KR to the GSU 16 and 4pl later a td then went 51/9pl for a td. They blocked a GSU 43 yd FG and went 74/10pl and led 24-7 at the half UTSA went 64/7pl, 11/5pl (after int) for td’s, 38-7 with 6:33 to go in the 3Q and in the 4Q went on a 79/19pl drive but were SOD at the 3, went on a 47/10pl drive but were SOD at the GSU 8 in their 38-14 win.

Lamar only crossed midfield twice vs Hawaii but special teams were huge in this game. UH had just 20 FD’s. While UH’s D was dominant holding Lamar to 6 FD and 127 total yards, and Lamar’s only score came on a muffed xp which UH returned for 2 to avoid the shutout, ST contributed plenty to UH’s 54 pt total. A fumbled punt set up UH for a 16 yd td, a blk’d punt was returned 21 yards for a td for 2 of UH’s 1H td’s. UH did have a 230-64 yd edge at the half. UH got a 95 yd KR td to open the 3Q and then Lamar fumbled the KO at the 12 setting up a UH FG so basically 24 points came off ST’s.

Nevada RB Stefphon Jefferson rushed for 247 yards and 2 td’s. UN had 655 yards. UN trailed 13-10 with :39 left 1H when they got a 25 yd td pass with :04 left in the 1H to lead 17-13. In the 2H UN had leads of 38-20 and 45-27 with Northwestern St gaining 78, 78 and 35 yards on their final 3 poss scoring 14 of their points including a 68 yd td pass with 5:35 left.

Baylor/Sam Houston St was much closer than the final score. Brian Bell for SHS hit 20-39-285 yds and was responsible for 4 TO’s. SHS led 20-10 at the half with Baylor not taking the lead until they went up 24-20 with 1:43 left in the 3Q. It was 24-23 when BU got a td with 10:33 left. BU drove 12 yds for a td after an int with 8:48 left (34-23), then got an int with 2:15 left setting up a 15 yd td run by Lache Seastrunk with 2:20 left. SHS26 got 1 FD but a deep pass was int’d and returned 73 yds for a td with :12 left.

George Winn ran for 147 yards for Cincinnati. Delaware St’s Nick Elko was averaging 227 ypg passing this season but hit 18-36-151. Their RB Malcolm Williams rushed for 120 yards incl a 60 yd td run which was the first time DSU got inside the UC30 and happened with 11:41 left in the game. UC fumbled out of the EZ for a tb at the end of a 36 yd pass in the 1H but 2pl prior to their 11 yd td pass, DSU dropped an int with 4:00 left in the half. UC had a 327-111 yd edge. UC fumbled at the DSU 11 in the 3Q but got after a FR got an 18 yd FG with :54 left for the 23-7 final.

Stanford knocked off USC for a 4th straight year and there was nothing fluky about it. USC was missing their C and SU controlled the line of scrimmage finishing with a 417-280 yd edge and 202-26 rushing edge. As usual, Lane Kiffin took some chances. They converted on 4&3 at the SU37 then on 4&19 with their K out, opted to go for it and got a FD to the 1 and got a td for their 2nd td and a 14-7 lead. SU had a 36/6pl drive end in a missed 23 yd FG in the 1H and USC led 14-7. SU had a 51 yd FG blocked to start the 3Q. This time a USC gamble failed as on 4&2 they had a pass broken up in the EZ with 7:30 left and a FG would have put them up by 10 but 2 poss later SU got the tying td and 3 poss later went 79/10pl for a TD, 21-14. SU got 3 FD and punted with 2:44 left. USC appeared to fire incomplete on 4&4 but replay overturned it giving them a FD. They added another FD to the SU46 with :56 left but a tfl, hold, sk, false start and another sk forced a 4&40 and they fired incomplete and the Cardinal got the win.

UCLA’s D almost shutout a high-flying Houston attack. With 4:54 left in the game, UH got an 86 yd QB run by QB Piland to avoid the shutout and also helped UH’s yardage. UH is off to their first 0-3 start since 2001. The 2nd play of the game was a foreshadowing of what was to happen as UH threw a backwards pass and UCLA scooped it up and ret’d it 23 yards for a td. The Bruins actually punted on their first 2 off poss of the 1Q and on their final 2 poss of the half, so they only led 17-0 but had a 308-170 yd edge. UH had a 73/11pl drive end on an int at the GL from the 11 with 13:42 left prior to Piland’s 86 yard run but UCLA has been very impressive on both sides of the ball this year.

Arizona had a school record 102 plays and their 689 total yards came up just 2 yards short of the school record. They held an overmatched SCSt team to just 154 ttl yards and had a 43-8 FD edge in the game. HC Rodriguez worried if there would be a hangover from their upset of #18 Oklahoma St the week before but there was not. AU fumbled at the SCSt45 on their 2nd poss and missed a 25 yd FG on their 3rd but punted just once while SCSt punted 10 times. They went to 2nd string QB Denker with 1:46 left in the 3Q.

Ole Miss gave up the most points in a game since 1917 and Texas could have put up more but backed off at the end. UT led 31-10 at the half. It was 66-31 with 11:27 left and UT had a 1st & gl at the 9 but on 4&gl from the 4 they took a delay then took a knee with :38 left giving the ball to Miss at the 12 where Miss ran the final play. David Ash has not thrown an int this year with a perfect 7-0 ratio and hit 19-23-326 yards.

San Jose St scored td’s on their first 2 poss vs Colorado St on 83 and 80 yard drives to jump out to a 14-0 lead but CSU went 74/8pl, 14-13 (xpng). Trailing 17-13 Colorado St was int’d at the SJS13 on FD with 1:19 left in the half. It was 27-20 in the 4Q when SJS got a td with 9:39 left, rec’d a fumble and got a 51 yd td pass with 7:56 left and CSU’s last drive was SOD at the SJS14.

Duke scored td’s on ST, offense and defense for the first time since 2004 with Lee Butler getting the Blue Devils first PR td since 2001. The surprising stat of the day was that Duke was actually outgained 200-198 at the half and was 0-6 in converting 3rd downs in that half. Duke got 22, 19 and 65 yd PR’s after 3 NC Central 3 & out’s to open the game. The 2nd PR set up a 25 yd FG, the 3rd went 65 yards for a td and they led 10-7 . It was 27-10 at the half. Leading 41-17 Duke got a 32 yd IR td by Cockrell and then NCCU fmbl the KO at their own 23 and Duke tacked on a td with 5:54 left.

Robbie Rouse became Fresno St’s all-time career leading rusher setting the record on a 94 yd td run and he had 4 td’s in the 1Q as FSU’s steam rolled Colorado. Fresno had a 516-122 yard edge in the 1H and had 8 td’s to CU’s 4 FIRST DOWNS! It was the most yards ever allowed in a half by CU. FSU scored td’s on their first 6 poss and CU had just 1 FD at that point. The record for teams from a BCS conf losing against a non-BCS team is UCLA in a 59-0 loss to BYU in 2008. CU needed a 64/10pl drive for a 1 yd td run with 2:58 left to avoid breaking that record as they trailed 69-7. QB’s Webb and Wood alternated for CU with neither being successful. Wood hit 5-14-47 with 2 int and Webb 5-13-85 with 2 int’s. Nick Hirshman was 1-3-41 and actually in his 3 series he generated 5 of CU’s first 11 FD’s.

Maxwell Smith threw 4 int for Kentucky, 3 in the 1H as WKU jumped out to a 17-0 lead. Smith hit 37-60-332. With the score tied at 0, each team threw an int and both were SOD but WKU went 71/12pl for a td then after an int, 2yds in 2pl for a td, 17-0. It was 17-10 at the half with WKU only having a 177-152 yd edge. They went 75/12pl to open the 3Q, 24-10 and UK battled back and took over with 2:14 left at their 23 and Smith directed a 77/12pl drive for a 22 yd TD pass with :23 left. Each team scored a td in OT but then WKU went for a HB pass to Jakes who caught it and took it in for the big 2 point conversion.

Utah St actually missed a 37 yd FG with seconds remaining allowing Wisconsin to escape. The Badgers switched QB’s at half and Danny O’Brien had hit 5-10-63 and generated 3 pts and Joel Stave hit 2-6-15 but scored 13 pts. Four times in the 1H UW had a shot at short yardage and all 4 times, previous Heisman candidate Montee Ball was stuffed so their firing of the OL coach during the week didn’t really have the boost they were expecting as they had just 156 yards rushing on 45 carries. In the 1H UW, despite trailing 14-3, had a 137-129 yd edge as they went on a 62/10pl drive and had a 1st & gl at the 7 and 3rd & gl at the 2 but settled for a 19 yd FG. UW also missed a 36 yd FG and trailing 7-3 fumbled at their own 24 with 2:20 left in the half and USt got an 11 yd td on a very questionable call where the WR pushed off on the DB and a flag was thrown but it was actually called def pass interference so the td stood.

BYU had all the motivational edges vs Utah. Utah had announced they were going to end the series and BYU was also playing with revenge. Utah had a big Pac-12 game on deck but the Utes actually led 24-7. BYU finished with 25-14 FD and 312-245 yd edges. Utah’s first td was set up by a 57 yd PR as they went 17/2pl for a td. Utah did have a 37 yd FG blk’d and BYU missed a 44 yd FG. The game was tied at 7 with BYU getting a 33 yd td drive after a 23 yd PR and Utah had a slim 143-132 yd edge. The key play happened when BYU, down 10-7 had a 1st & 15 at the Utah25. They had a bad snap that was scooped up 28 yds behind the line of scrimmage by Moe Lee and he returned it 47 yards for a td that is basically a 14 pt swing. An 18 yd PR set up Utah for a 39 yd td pass and it was 24-7 after 3Q’s. BYU went 75/8pl for a td and then blocked a punt setting up a 14 yd td drive, 24-21 with 3:39 left. BYU lined up for a 51 yd FG on the final play but it was blk’d and Utah fans rushed the field but the refs called a pen on Utah for the rush, allowing BYU a 36 yd fg but this one hit the upright.

Indiana was without their QB but Cameron Coffman hit 24-35-351 yards and Nate Sudfeld hit 13-20-172. IU had the lead but Ball St got a 42 yd FG with :06 left to pull out the win. Keith Wenning came into the game without a td pass on the season and hit 26-44-222 yards. At the half IU had a 343-186 yd edge but only led 25-24. Sudfeld came in with 12:13 to go and they punted on his first poss and was SOD on 4&5 at the BS35 on his 2nd. He had a 70 yd td pass to Latimer with 4:07 left and they got a 2 yd td pass with :49 left for the lead, 39-38 but BS got 3 FD’s and kicked the game winning FG on the last play.

Notre Dame has not started 3-0 since 2002 and had not beaten a top 10 foe for 7 years. Those streaks came to an end vs Michigan St. It was a great story as Te’o tragically lost his grandmother and girlfriend during the week and finished with 12 tkls, 2 pbu and an int. ND led 14-3 at the half and the 2H, the first 9 poss resulted in 10 punts and it may sound like that stat is wrong but ND punted and a roughing the K gave them a FD and they punted 4 plays later. During those 10 punts, there was a grand total of 7 FD’s but then ND took over with 12:46 left at their 4 and went 84/12pl for a 29 yd FG to go up 17-3. MSU’s last 2 drives were SOD on 4&5 at their own 33 and 4&22 at their own 17.