Last Saturday was the final date that underclassmen could declare for the 2012 NFL Draft. In total a record 61 players declared early and while some teams were hit hard by the early entries others were more lucky with several players deciding to return for another year. Today I will break which teams were hit hardest and which teams have the best returnees that turned down the NFL.

Later this week, I will give my analysis of whether or not it was a good move/bad move for each player.

Teams Hit Hardest:

Miami lost six players to the draft which was two more than any other school and clearly HC Al Golden has some rebuilding to do in Coral Gables on and off the field. The Canes lost leading rusher Lamar Miller who ran for 1,272 yds (5.6) and 9 TD’s, their leading receiver in Tommy Streeter who had 46 rec (17.6) and 8 TD’s and their best OL in Brandon Washington while also losing some talented defensive players who were suspended parts of this past year. Golden looks like he is bringing in a solid recruiting class to help but it will be tough to replicate the type of production the offensive players had this year.

LSU not only lost the national title rematch to Alabama but they also lost four underclassmen to the draft led by potential Top 10 pick CB Morris Claiborne. WR Reuben Randle had a breakout season while leading the Tigers with 53 rec (17.3) and 8 TD’s while WR Russell Shepard had a disappointing year after being suspended at the start of the season. The Tigers do have plenty of depth as WR Odell Beckham, Jr had a great frosh campaign and naturally the Tigers have arguably the top defensive playmaker in the country in CB Tyrann Mathieu returning.

Alabama won the national title but also lost their offensive star in RB Trent Richardson who had a Heisman-caliber season with 1,679 rush yds (5.9) and 21 TD’s. Richardson figures to be the first RB taken so it was a smart move by him.  The Crimson Tide also lost LB Dont’a Hightower who returned to his ’08 form (before the injury) while leading with 85 tkls, 4 sks and 7 tfls while CB Dre’ Kirkpatrick figures to be a 1^st-rounder. I wouldn’t fret too much if I were a Bama fan though as the Tide appeared in the same blog last year prior to taking home the crystal ball.

The Oregon Ducks may have received the most surprising news with QB Darron Thomas deciding to throw his name in the upcoming draft this past weekend. The Ducks were already losing arguably the best RB in school history in LaMichael James but clearly the Thomas news puts them on the list. The Ducks do have capable replacements at RB with Kenjon Barner and De’Anthony Thomas while QB Bryan Bennett has impressed in his limited action.

Stanford not only loses arguably the best prototypical NFL QB prospect of the last decade in Andrew Luck but they also lose two of the best OL in the entire country in OG David DeCastro and OT Jonathan Martin. Luck had probably the best QB career in Stanford history and that is saying a lot from a school that had Jim Plunkett and John Elway and clearly the Cardinal figure to take a step or two back from the 23-3 record they have produced in the last two years.

Baylor and Boston College lost two of the most important players to any one team in Baylor’s Heisman Winner QB Robert Griffin III and Boston College’s Nagurski winner LB Luke Kuechly.

Other schools that lost multiple players included:  Arizona St (2), Boston College (2), Michigan St (2), South Carolina (2), USC (2) and Virginia Tech (2).

Complete List of Underclassmen Leaving Early:

By Conference:

By Position:

Teams with Best Returnees that Turned down NFL:

USC got the surprising news in December that QB Matt Barkley despite being projected to be a Top 10 pick in the 2012 Draft will return next year. Despite losing OT Matt Kalil early and being probation stricken with scholarships, the men of Troy with their top skill position players returning along with Barkley and an improved defense led by returning S TJ McDonald figure to be in the preseason AP Top 3 next year and are clearly one of the favorites to win the national title.

Georgia lost TE Orson Charles but returns breakout star LB Jarvis Jones who led the SEC with 13.5 sacks and also DT John Jenkins, DE Abry Jones, S Bacarri Rambo with LB’s Cornelius Washington and Christian Robinson also announcing their return for their senior seasons. Add that with the return of QB Aaron Murray and you have a Georgia team that figures to be not only the favorite to win the SEC East but also one of the favorites to win the SEC which means a great shot at the national title.

Notre Dame loses their best statistical WR in school history in Michael Floyd to graduation but received great news that two-time leading tackler LB Manti Te’o and TE Tyler Eifert will return to South Bend next season. HC Brian Kelly and the Irish off two underachieving seasons will no doubt need the two playmakers as they face one of the nation’s toughest schedules in 2012 with road games at Oklahoma, at USC and at Michigan St with a home game vs Michigan and neutral site games vs Miami, Fla at Soldier Field and Navy in Ireland sprinkled in.

Florida St lofty preseason expectations in 2011 may have been a year premature as they did suffer through a ton of injuries including QB EJ Manuel and ended up starting four freshman OL in the Champs Sports Bowl. Next year not only do they return DE Brandon Jenkins and CB Greg Reid who bypassed the draft but also HC Jimbo Fisher looks to be bringing in yet another great recruiting class. After a decade of mediocrity in Tallahassee the Seminoles look to be regaining some momentum in becoming a yearly Top 10 contender.

List of Significant RS Sophomores/Juniors who announced their return.

COTTON BOWL Arkansas 29 Kansas St 16 Dome. KSU had a 19-13 FD edge but Ark a 345-260 yd edge. Joe Adams got his 4th PR TD on the yr and this one was 51 yds. AU had their first 11 win season since Lou Holtz’s 1977 team and Frank Broyles only undefeated season at Ark (1964). This was played in Jerry Jones’ (Ark alum) Dallas Cowboys Stadium. AU came in #6 in the BCS and KSU #8. AU’s first FD didn’t come until early 2Q but thanks to the PR TD they led 19-2 with KSU’s 2 pts coming on a blk’d xp ret’d for 2. It was 19-16 late 3Q when AU on 3&9 got a 9 yd td pass, 26-16 (3:57). KSU missed a 43 yd FG with 6:36 left. AU got a 30 yd FG with 3:30 left and KSU got to the AU37 but on 4&16 was int’d at the 25 and ret’d 61 yds.

SUN BOWL Utah 30 Georgia Tech 27 OT GT led Utah 24-10 into the 4Q but UT got td’s with 6:50 and 1:32 left to tie. GT missed a 48 yd FG with :02 left sending it to OT. The first time in the 77 year history of the Sun Bowl it had gone to OT. GT had earlier missed two 40 yd FG’s and GT finished with a 448-337 yd edge and 19-14 FD edge losing their 7th straight bowl appearance while Utah moved to 7-1 in bowls under Whittingham. GT’s Preston Lyons who had just 39 carries on the year, rushed for 138 yds as David Sims was out with an injury and Orwin Smith was banged up. GT got a 74 yd IR TD in the 3Q to go up 24-10. UT converted on 4&3 for their first 4Q TD and opted to punt on 4&3 from their own 25 with 2:48 left but a 31 yd PR set them up at the GT24 and the TD came on a 4&14, 28 yd pass. After GT got a FG in OT, UT on 3&gl from the 8 got an 8 yd td run by White for the win.

KRAFT FIGHT HUNGER BOWL Illinois 20 UCLA 14 This game featured 2 teams that did not have winning records and both had interim HC’s. Whitney Mercilus tied Simeon Rice’s school record for in a season with 16 sks. IL won their first 6 of the year, lost the next 6 but got a winning season at 7-6 while UCLA, despite being in a bowl actually finished the year 6-8. IL had a 178-18 rush edge and 326-219 yd edge. UCLA came in avg 190.7 ypg rushing but was held to a season low. LA was the first team to go to a bowl with a losing record since North Texas in 2001. Officials used an Oreo cookie for the opening coin toss and there were 29,878 tix sold. There were some blown opportunities. IL was int’d at the LA31 and SOD at their own 44 in the 1H. That SOD set up a UCLA 44 yd drive for a TD and LA led 7-0 (10:02 2Q). IL faked a FG on 4&1 from the LA23 and were SOD and settled for a 36 yd FG after taking a sk on 3&gl from the 3. LA missed a 34 yd FG in the 3Q and IL missed a 37 yd FG. IL got ahead with a 39 yd IR TD and on 3&8 got a 60 yd TD pass with 5:36 left to basically clinch it at 20-7 (5:36). LA punted with 4:04 left on 4&14 but drove 84/9pl getting a garbage TD with :29 left and IL rec’d the onside kick.

ORANGE BOWL West Virginia 70 Clemson 33 Tavon Austin tied a record for any bowl with 4 TD rec’s and TO’s were a big key to WV’s dominance over CU as 3 TO’s in the 2Q turned a close game into a blowout. CU was playing its first major bowl in 30 years and WV improved to 3-0 in BCS bowl games. It was expected to be a high scoring game and WV did finish with a 589-443 yd edge. The key play of the game was a 99 yd FR TD. CU had a 1st & gl at the WV3 and were poised to retake the lead 24-21 when that play happened to put them down by 11. CU then turned it over twice in the final 2:00 of the 1H setting up 32 and 18 yd “drives” for quick TD’s, the latter coming with just :04 left in the half and WV blew open a close game and led 49-20 and then went 73 and 74 yds on their first 2 drives of the 2H vs a deflated CU team to lead 63-20. It was actually 70-26 (6:21) with CU getting a TD with 1:01 left to “only” lose by 37 pts.

ROSE BOWL Oregon 45 Wisconsin 38 UO won their first Rose Bowl game since they beat Penn in 1917, 14-0. That year they wore leather helmets and here they wore mirrored helmets. Montee Ball rushed for 164 yds and LaMichael James 159. After the bowl, Ball declared he was coming back and James left early for the NFL. D’Anthony Thomas only had 2 carries for the Ducks but made the most of them with 91 and 64 yd TD runs. The 2 combined to produce the highest scoring 1Q (14-14) and 1H (28-28) in Rose Bowl history and their 83 pts topped the 1991 Rose Bowl when Washington and Iowa combined for 80. UO finished with a 621-508 yd edge. UW led 38-35 after 3Q’s and then trailing 45-38, had a 29 yd pass down to the UO27 but fmbl’d with 4:06 left. They got it back on their 13, got 29 and 33 yd passes but with :02 left, the ref spotted the ball and they snapped and spiked it but it was ruled time ran out and they did not get a chance at one more shot from the Duck25.

FIESTA BOWL Oklahoma St 41 Stanford 38 OT The game started like it would be anything but high scoring as on the first 8 poss there was just 1 TD into the 2Q but the teams would combine for 35 pts in the 2Q incl 43 and 67 yd TD passes to Blackmon. SU did not trail in the entire 2H. OSU, down 38-31, converted on 4&3 for a 21 yd pass from its own 40 to keep a drive alive and got a TD with 2:35 left. SU went 63/9pl and lined up for a 35 yd FG from the middle of the field. Their K had not missed from under 40 all year but missed then missed again in OT and OSU escaped with the win.

BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP Alabama 21 LSU 0 - LSU didn’t cross midfield until 8:00 were left in the game as Alabama proved that they are one of the top defenses in NCAA history. They held LSU to 5 FD’s and 92 yds. Jeremy Shelley tied a bowl record with 5 FG’s and the game was somewhat of a replay of their 9-6 OT match except Bama completely dominated this one on offense, defense and special teams. Trent Richardson rushed 20 times for 96 yards and got the first TD in the 2 games with 4:36 left on a 34 yard run. AJ McCarron was the star player as they threw on FD all but twice and McCarron hit 23-34-234 yds. Bama even lost their top PR/WR Marquis Maze after a long PR in the 1Q and he DNR. Bama missed 2 FG’s in the game with a 42 yd’r blk’d and a 41 yd’r being missed late 3Q and LSU when they crossed midfield with 7:53 left was actually still within 2 scores despite the domination but after Bama went up 21-0 LSU opted to punt on 4&9 from their own 24 with 2:47 left and Bama’s final play ended at the LSU 40.

WILDCARD HOUSTON 31 vs Cincinnati 10 - Houston had its first ever playoff game and it was at home in front of a charged up crowd. Cincinnati was coming off a home game vs Baltimore which was like a playoff game but they had come up short and now had a rookie QB making a playoff road start. Foster rushed for 153 yards (6.4). Dalton did outstat TJ Yates hitting 27-42-257 while Yates hit 11-20-159. Each team went 3&out to open. HOU got 1 FD and punted and CIN went 74/5pl, the key a 52 yd PI down to the 20. The TD put the Bengals up 7-0. HOU answered with an 80/6pl drive and Foster’s 8 yd td run tied it at 7. CIN went on a 14pl drive but on 3&8 was sk’d for a 9 yd loss and missed 50 yd FG (12:45 2Q). CIN20 went 61/8pl for a 37 yd FG, 10-7 (7:09). HOU went 59/13pl and settled for a 39 yd FG, 10-10 (1:48). The key play of the game happened after the Bengals got 1 FD to their 34. Dalton threw a short pass that was int’d by DL Watt and ret’d 29 yds for a TD and HOU led 17-10 (:52). CIN got 1 FD and was sk’d. At half the yards were even at 156. The first three 2H poss were punts. HOU took over with 5:45 left in the 3Q and went 83/9pl and got a 40 yd TD pass to Johnson, 24-10. CIN20 got 2 FD but on 4&3 were int’d from the HOU47. Joseph actually should have dropped the int as it cost them 23 yds of field position and HOU started at their 24. HOU got 2 FD’s and punted with just 7:25 left. CIN was then int’d at their own 45 and HOU’s Foster ripped off a 42 yd TD run down the right sideline where he barely stayed in bounds, 31-10 (5:15). CIN gained 71 yds on 13 plays getting to the HOU9 where they were SOD on 4&5 with 2:23 left.

WILDCARD NEW ORLEANS 45 Detroit 28 -. DET rushed for just 32 yds and Drew Brees hit 33-43-466 as the Saints piled up a 626-412 yd edge. Two TO’s in the 1H kept it close. DET opened with an 80/8pl drive and got a 10 yd TD pass. NO19 got 2 FD’s but fmbl’d at the DET18. DET got 2 FD’s to midfield and punted. NO went 89/11pl for a TD, 7-7 (14:01 2Q). DET went 87/9pl for a TD, 14-7 (9:11). NO20 got 3 FD’s but fmbl’d at the DET38. After DET went 3&out punting with 5:03 left, NO went 78/14pl but settled for a 24 yd FG on the last play of the half on 3rd down. At the half the Saints had a 256-210 yd edge but trailed by 4. NO scored TD’s on their first five 2H drives. The opened with a 78/4pl drive for a TD. DET got 1 FD and punted. NO went 92/13pl for a TD, 24-14 (4:03). DET went 80/8pl and got a 1 yd TD run, 24-21 (1:08 3Q). NO went 80/14pl for a 17 yd TD run by Sproles, 31-21 (9:53). DET was int’d on a deep pass and the Saints went 61/4pl for a TD, 38-21. DET went 79/9pl and got a 12 yd TD pass with 4:40 left, 38-28. NO rec’d the onside kick then went 44/4pl for a TD with 3:36 left. DET20 got 1 FD and was int’d and ret’d 17 yds to their own 33. NO got a FD to the 7 and took a knee.

WILDCARD DENVER 29 Pittsburgh 23 OT - The story here was two-fold. Injuries to PIT and big plays in the passing game for Tebow. PIT came in without their top rusher Mendenhall, C Pouncy and S Clark and a banged up Roethlisberger. During the game, their entire D-line was injured and out by mid-2Q and they also lost starting OT Starks. The Steelers game plan was to take away the Bronco rush and that left Tebow some deep passes. He had just 10 completions for the game but they went for an amazing 316 yards. PIT looked like they would dominate early. They opened with a 53/8pl drive for a 45 yd FG. DEN went 3&out on their first 2 poss. PIT punted on their 2nd poss but then went 47/12pl and settled for another FG, this one 38 yds and led 6-0 in a dominating 1Q where they had 119-10 yd edge. DEN went 80/5pl with a 30 yd TD pass to Royal. That was set up by a 21 yd pass to Decker and DEN led 7-6 (13:24 2Q). PIT went 3&out and DEN got a 58 yd pass to Thomas on its 2nd play and went 73/4pl for an 8 yd Tebow TD run, 14-6. PIT was int’d at their own 27 and ret’d 9 yds. DEN got 1 FD and settled for a 20 yd FG, 17-6 (7:30). PIT got 1 FD and punted (5:09). DEN31 went 59/8pl and got a 28 yd FG with 1:08 left in the half, 20-6. PIT got 2 FD’s to the DEN 38 but on 3&4 from the 32, Roethlisberger fmbl’d the snap and was tkl’d for a loss and PIT punted. At half DEN had a 233-170 yd edge. DEN opened the 3Q (20) with 3 FD’s to the PIT38 but punted 26 yds. PIT13 went 87/11pl for a TD, 20-13. DEN went 63/12pl and got a 35 yd FG, 23-13 with 13:10 left. PIT went 61/7pl but settled for a 37 yd FG, 23-16. DEN got 2 FD’s but then McGahee fmbl’d and PIT appeared poised for the win. They went 55/7pl and got a TD to tie with 3:48 left. DEN got 1 FD and punted and PIT (24) once again got to the DEN45 but Roethlisberger was sk’d and fumbled for an 11 yd loss and they punted on 4&14. In OT DEN won the toss and on the first play, Tebow went deep and found Thomas for an 80 yd TD. Even in the new playoff OT rules, that ended the game.

WILDCARD NY GIANTS 24 Atlanta 2 - ATL was a dome team playing outdoors but it was 44? with 12 mph winds. The story here was two failed 4th down conversions which really set the tone for the game. The first 5 poss opened with punts and just 1 combined FD. ATL went 66/14pl but on 4&1 on the first play of the 2Q were SOD. Two plays later, however, Eli Manning was called for intentional grounding in the EZ on 2&21 from the 13 so ATL got a safety and the lead, 2-0. ATL38 got 1 FD and punted. NYG went 85/13pl with 9 runs on the drive. The TD made it 7-2. 2 punts. ATL took over with 1:08 left in the half (20) and got 2 FD’s. At half NYG had a slim 128-127 yd edge. ATL opened the 3Q with a punt and NYG went 72/11pl but settled for a 22 yd FG after a 1st & gl at the 5, 10-2. ATL21 went 58/9pl but on 4&1 were SOD at the NYG21. Three plays later Manning found Hicks for a 72 yd TD pass where he was wide open over the middle then outraced the secondary in the EZ, 17-2. ATL went 3&out and the NYG went 85/10pl and got a 27 yd TD pass to Manningham to lead 24-2 with 9:55 left. ATL punted on 4&10 and the NYG went on a time consuming 71/12pl drive eating up 6:25 and missing a 32 yd FG with 2:57 left. ATL gained 54/10pl being SOD on 4&10 at the NYG17 with 1:01 left. NYG had a 442-247 yd edge.

CONF SEMI-FINALS SAN FRANCISCO 36 New Orleans 32 - Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. There has been a grand total of one team that has ever won a playoff game giving up 5 TO’s and that was back in 1977 when the Oakland beat the Baltimore Colts. The TO’s kept the Saints from dominating but this turned out to be one of the most exciting finishes of any playoff game. With 1:37 left in the game, NO had 26-14 FD and 472-322 yd edges and led by 3 but Alex Smith hit a huge 47 yd pass to Vernon Davis which got him in scoring position and they got a 14 yd TD pass while in FG range to tie it with :09 left. Had that pass been incomplete, the game would have gone to OT. NO opened with a 78/12pl drive but fmbl’d at the 2. Each team punted and SF got a 49 yd TD pass to Davis to go up 7-0. It was a 54/2pl drive. NO14 got 1 FD and then were int’d and ret’d 41 yds to the 4. SF got a TD 3pl later, 14-0. NO then fmbl’d the KO at their own 13 and SF got a 25 yd FG to lead 17-0 giving them scoring drives of 3 and 4 yds. The Saints went 80/9pl for a TD. SF went 3&out and the Saints went 66/7pl for a TD, 17-14. SF punted but the Saints were int’d at the SF29 with 1:54 left in the half. Each team punted and then SF fmbl’d at their own 45 but NO could not capitalize on SF’s lone TO as they fired incomplete 3 times. NO fmbl’d the punt at their own 26 and SF got a 3 yd drive for a 41 yd FG. 4 punts. NO went 47/9pl getting a 48 yd FG to pull within 20-17. 2 punts. SF36 got a 42 yd run by Gore to the 22 and got a 37 yd FG to go up by 6, 23-17 (7:36). NO went 79/9pl and got a TD for the lead with 4:02 left on a 44 yd pass to Sproles. SF answered. On 3&8 it appeared they were going to settle for a FG but Alex Smith ran around the left end 28 yds for a TD and the 2 pt failed and SF led 29-24 with 2:11 left. NO12 got 2 FD’s then a 66 yd TD pass to Graham appeared to give them win. The 2pt conv made it 32-29 with 1:37 left. SF got 1 FD and then a 47 yd pass to Davis and on 3&4 in FG range for OT, took one final shot at the EZ and their wish was granted as it was a 14 yd TD to Davis for the outright win.

CONF SEMI-FINALS NEW ENGLAND 45 Denver 10 - Tim Tebow, Tim Tebow, Tim Tebow. The media focus on Tim Tebow all week and Tom Brady made sure folks didn’t forget about him. He hit 26-34-363 yds and tied an NFL Playoff record with 6 TD passes. The record was set by Daryle Lamonica in 1969 and tied by Steve Young in the 1995 Super Bowl. The outcome was decided by halftime. NE rolled up 31-15 FD and 509-252 yd edges. NE opened with a quick 80/5pl drive for a TD. DEN got a pair of FD’s to the NE37 but Tebow was sk’d and fmbl’d. NE quickly went 59/7pl for a TD, 14-0. DEN17 got 1 FD and punted. NE13 got 1 FD and was int’d and ret’d 17 yds to their own 24. They set the Broncos up for a 24/4pl drive and McGahee’s 5 yd TD appeared to make a game of it, 14-7. NE got 1 FD to midfield and punted but DEN went 3&out and NE went 52/8pl for a TD, 21-7 (7:42). 3 punts. NE took over with 2:27 left in the half and got a 61 yd TD pass to Branch with just 1:57 left. DEN threw the ball twice and punted with 1:09 left. The Pats made them pay with a 58/5pl drive for a TD with :05 left, a 19 yd pass to Gronkowski, 35-7. At the half NE had 19-7 FD and 351-120 yd edges. DEN went 3&out and NE went 44/4pl after a 15 yd PR by Edleman, 42-7. DEN went 3&out and NE(49) got 2 FD’s to the DEN23 but fmbl’d. DEN went 58/14pl and got a 41 yd FG with 2:14 left in the 3Q, 42-10. NE went 78/11pl for a 20 yd FG, 45-10 (12:39). DEN went 77/14pl and were SOD on 4&gl at the NE3. NE got 2 FD’s and punted with 2:56 left and DEN was happy to run the clock out taking over at their own 5 and getting 1 FD with 5 runs.

SUGAR BOWL Michigan 23 Virginia Tech 20 OT – VT had 377-184 yd and 22-12 FD edges and settled for 4 FG’s in regulation by 3rd string K Justin Myer as VT was without their top 2 K’s. UM was extremely fortunate to escape with the win as VT dominated the first 24:00 but were SOD on 4&1 from the UM4 with 6:51 left in the half which was one of the key plays for UM. VT went on 3 long drives in the 1H going 44/12pl, 46/12pl and 70/9pl. Meanwhile in that span UM was int’d and punted. Unfortunately for VT they settled for 37 and 43 yd FG’s. VT’s D forced another punt but roughing the P gave UM a FD and later on 3&17 UM threw it up. VT’s DB went for the ball, wiped out another VT DB while doing so and Hemingway caught it and went 45 yds for a TD and a 7-6 lead (:49 2Q). VT then fmbl’d the KO and UM settled for a FG and appeared to be stopped when their holder mishandled the snap and threw it up for grabs in a cluster of 3 VT defenders. The ball bounced off the 3 VT defenders, was caught by an OL for a FD and UM was awarded 3 more pts 2pl later and led 10-6 at the half. UM went 35/3pl after a TO for a TD to lead 17-6 (9:43). VT went on a 40/9pl drive settling for a 36 yd FG and then went on a 16pl drive for a TD to tie (10:22). VT, whose D had held UM all day, unfortunately went for a fake punt at midfield and was SOD leaving UM at the VT45 (7:21) and in scoring range and UM took advantage with a 39 yd FG. VT tied it with :02 left at the end of an 83/11pl drive. In OT VT got a TD but surprisingly it was overturned as it was not clearly an incompletion and many speculated it was a TD. VT then missed a 37 yd FG and UM got a 37 yd FG 4pl later for a fortuitous win.

CAPITAL ONE BOWL South Carolina 30 Nebraska 13 – Steve Spurrier was trying to break a string of 3 straight bowl losses and the one common denominator in those bowl losses was TO’s by Stephen Garcia. Connor Shaw had 0 int’s and SC had 0 TO’s and SC got what Spurrier wanted and that was an 11th win, the most in school history. Shaw appeared very careful throwing the ball, sometimes holding on to it much longer than expected and would hit 11-17-230 and rush for 42. Alshon Jeffery had a big game with 148 yds on 4 rec’s despite getting ejected from the game late 3Q when he and CB Dennard got into a shoving contest. SC finished with a 351-253 yd edge and surprisingly SC’s leading RB, Brandon Wilds did not have a rush attempt as Kenny Miles rushed 15x for 67 yds. A couple of key plays went SC’s way in the 1H as they blk’d an xp and ret’d it for 2 and instead of trailing 7-0 it was 6-2 (11:58 1Q) and while SC blew a key scoring opportunity having a 1st & gl and settling for a 20 yd FG and then missing it, they took over with :38 left in the half. They appeared to mismanage the clock and were down to just :06 at midfield when Shaw launched a Hail Mary pass and Alshon Jeffery caught it for the 51 yd TD to make it 16-13 at the half. SC got a TD with 12:25 left then drove 71/13pl for another TD with 3:05 left to clinch it, 30-13 and took a knee on their final drive.

OUTBACK BOWL Michigan St 33 Georgia 30 3OT – MSU ended a 5 game bowl losing streak picking up their first bowl win since 2001 even though UGA appeared to have this one locked up a couple of times. It was MSU’s 2nd straight 11 win season and UGA opened the year with 2 losses, finished the year with 2 losses with 10 wins in between. UGA dominated the 1H leading 16-0 with 7-2 FD and 206-73 yd edges. In the 1Q, they were SOD on 4&1 at the MSU6 and fmbl’d at the MSU41 but did lead only 2-0 when they got an 80 yd TD pass with 3:06 left 1H to King then a 92 yd PR TD by Boykin with 1:39 left for their 16-0 lead. UGA was int’d and MSU went 48/9pl for a TD and 2 pt conv, 16-8 (7:52). MSU got a 38 yd IR TD with 1:47 left 3Q, 16-14 (2ptng). UGA settled for a 32 yd FG and MSU got a TD with 8:22 left for the lead, 20-19 (2ptng). UGA appeared to ice it when after getting a TD (2pt) with 6:44 left, they got an int at their own 30 with 3:56 left then a FD. UGA had a punt with 1:55 left. Dantonio made a smart challenge on a pass interf call. He wasn’t challenging the PI, he was saying the pass was incomplete which meant after the pen, which gave UGA the FD, the clock was stopped as opposed to running and that would be crucial. MSU got a TD with :14 left capping an 85 yd drive to force OT. UGA appeared to have OT won when they got an int in the first OT and then on 2&8, even though K Walsh had struggled all year, Richt opted to have the QB take a knee in the middle of the field to give Walsh a 42 yd FG straight on. He pushed it right. Each team got a FG in the 2nd OT and after a MSU FG, Walsh’s 47 yd FG was blk’d in the 3rd OT.

GATOR BOWL Florida 24 Ohio St 17 - UF got a 14 yd blk’d punt for a TD and a 99 yd KR TD despite being outFD’d 20-14 and outgained 299-263 and came away with the 7 pt win in a battle of 6-6 teams. OSU fell below .500 for the first time since 1988 losing 7 games for the first time since 1897. UF’s D-line had a season high 6 sacks and was harassing QB Miller on almost every play. UF did lead this one 24-10 settling for a 17 yd FG with 14:09 left. OSU punted with 12:22 left on 4&11, and on 4&5 with 5:02 left from their own 18. OSU drove 88/7pl getting a TD with :57 left but UF rec’d the onside kick.

LIBERTY BOWL Cincinnati 31 Vanderbilt 24 - Zach Collaros did a tremendous job returning from injury just to play vs Vanderbilt after breaking his right ankle Nov 12th. Coach Butch Jones felt it was the best performance of any player in the post season. Collaros’ stats were not overwhelming as he hit just 12-29-80 and did not have his normal mobility with -8 yds rushing. Isaiah Pead rushed for 149. A couple key plays happened. VU had a much better offense with Jordan Rodgers at QB but he struggled in the 1H hitting 4-14-26 and was replaced by Larry Smith in the 2H who hit 8-19-142. VU was up 7-0 as UC had just 3 FD’s on their first 5 poss. They handed off to backup RB Winn who went 69 yds for a TD to start the 2Q to tie it. VU went for it on 4&2 at the UC44 and fired incomplete with just 2:31 left in the half. UC went 56/9pl and got an 8 yd TD pass with :12 left in the half for the first key play, 14-7. Late 3Q VU went 52/8pl for a TD to tie (3:53) and UC would get a 44 yd FG. VU got a 68 yd TD pass to go up 21-17 with 14:03 left and appeared in control but UC got a 90 yd KR TD (13:51). VU punted twice and then was int’d at their own 43 and ret’d 12 yds with 3:15 left. UC went 31/3pl for a TD to ice it, 31-21. VU got a FG with :24 left but UC rec’d the onside kick.

TICKETCITY BOWL Houston 30 Penn St 14 – UH was coached by interim HC Tony Levine. PSU was without starting QB McGloin who got a concussion in a locker room fight prior to the game and there was plenty of coaching indecision going on at PSU with New England’s OC Bill O’Brien rumored to be the new HC. It was PSU’s first bowl without Joe Paterno as the HC since 1962. Case Keenum’s 227 yds passing in the 1Q set the record for passing yds in any quarter in any bowl with Louisville’s Browning Nagle’s 223 vs Alabama the previous record in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl. PSU star DL Devon Still was slowed by a turf toe. PSU’s D got better in the 2H and allowed just 2 FG’s. UH finished with a 600-306 yd edge but PSU had 3 shanked punts and some crucial missed opportunities by Bolden and UH came away with a 30-14 win. UH was my most improved team of the year coming into the season and they finished with the most improved record of any team in college football.

CHICK-fil-A BOWL Auburn 43 Virginia 24 – Auburn susp’d RB Michael Dyer and also lost their DC but OC Gus Malzahn despite taking a HC job, stuck around to call plays. Chizik took over the D and Onterio McCalebb rushed for 109 yds and 1 TD. AU started Clint Moseley at QB but after he hit 1-4 passes for 6 yds he injured his ankle and Barrett Trotter played the rest of the game hitting 11-18-175. AU also blk’d 2 punts and rec’d an onside kick. UVA’s top 2 def players (CB Minnifield and LB Greer) DNP due to knee injuries. One year after winning the National Championship Auburn came in 7-5. UVA wore orange helmets for the first time since 1978. AU missed a 44 yd FG and actually trailed 14-7 but led 28-14 when UVA got a 24 yd FG on the final play of the half making it 28-17. Surprisingly with Chizik coaching the D they allowed 295 yds to UVA in the 1H. Each team got a TD and both punted but AU blk’d the punt for a safety. AU ret’d the free kick 62 yds to the 15 but settled for a 45 yd FG, 40-24 (:47). AU got a 37 yd FG with 8:09 left and with 6:57 left, took over at the UVA40 and went on an 11 play drive taking a knee at the UVA4.

MUSIC CITY BOWL Mississippi St 23 Wake Forest 17 – MSU had a 4-0 TO deficit. Vick Ballard ran for a career high 180 yds. Ballard was 3 yds shy of Walter Packer’s school bowl record of 183 rushing yards in the 1974 Sun Bowl. MSU starting QB Tyler Russell was limited with a sprained knee and DNP. Chris Relf was banged up and was not the same QB in the 2H but with Dylan Favre also out with injury, he stayed in. Relf hit 12-19-129 yds but had 2 int’s and rushed for 64 yds on 15 carries. MSU had a 382-287 yd edge but had a missed xp, and allowed a 46 yd FG that wobbled through the uprights and bounced off the back of the goal post with 3:27 left. One MSU TO was crucial as with :06 left in the 1H at the WF9 they opted to try to run 1 more play and were int’d in the EZ and came away with zero pts. They also fmbl’d at their own 28 setting up WF’s first TD drive. They were SOD at the WF38 with 1:51 left 3Q.At half MSU had a 230-124 yd edge. On WF’s drive for the FG they converted on 4&1 and 4&3 during the drive. MSU took a knee 3x at the WF31 at the end of the game.

MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL Texas A&M  33 Northwestern 22 – A&M was led by interim HC Tim DeRuyter and Pat Fitzgerald’s main focus of the bowl prep was having the team carry a monkey around since they had not won a bowl game since 1949. Dan Persa set an NCAA record for career completion % (72.3%) hitting 25-37-213 yds. A&M led 30-7 but after they’d blown DD leads in almost every game this year, they did not feel safe. NU got a TD with 5:22 left to pull within 30-22 but A&M kicked a 31 yd FG with :30 left. A&M lost OL Joseph Villavisencio during bowl week and played a motivated game with everyone wearing a helmet sticker. The crowd was heavy A&M and the roof was closed at Reliant Stadium. NU led 7-3 early 2Q (10:12) but a key play happened with :20 left in the 1H as NU punted and A&M ret’d it 35 yds to the NU40. A&M got a 40 yd FG to lead 20-7 and those 3 pts came in handy. NU got TD’s with 11:15 and 5:22 left, 30-22 and A&M on their final game clinching drive got a 3&13, 21 yd pass to midfield, a 3&6, 29 yd pass to the 18 and the 31 yd FG came with :30 left after on 3&2 when a FD would have allowed them to run out the clock, they lost 4 yds and settled for the FG.

HAWAII BOWL S Mississippi 24 Nevada 17 – Larry Fedora had accepted the job at N Carolina but opted to still coach this one. Fedora said about QB Davis “It wasn’t his best game. Davis hit 18-41-165 and was off most of the night but did lead a game winning TD drive in the 4Q. NV was without its top WR Rishard Matthews who was a late scratch and the game featured a Hawaii Bowl record 17 punts with the 41 combined points being the fewest in the bowl’s history. SM got a 19 yd PR to the NV31 but settled for a 50 yd FG and missed it. 2 punts. NV went 62/5pl but on 3&4 from the 13 was int’d in the EZ. 3 punts. SM blk’d a punt and rec’d it for a TD with 14:06 2Q. NV went 81/13pl and got a 5 yd TD run, 7-7. NV went 68/4pl and got a 45 yd TD run by Mark, 14-7. SM ret’ the KO to the NV36 but fmbl’d. NV was SOD on 4&1 at their own 44 but SM would settle for a 48 yd FG, 14-10 (1:21). NV fmbl’d the KO at their own 24 and SM got a 2 yd TD pass with :12 left in the half to lead 17-14. At the half NV had a 235-109 yd edge. 3Q 2 punts. SM got 1 FD and missed a 48 yd FG. 1 punt. SM went 33/8pl but was SOD on 4&6 at the NV39. SM fmbl’d the punt at their own 14 but NV settled for a 37 yd FG, 17-17 (2:44). Three 3&outs. NV got 2 FD’s to midfield and punted. SM got 1 FD to the NV44 and punted. NV went 3&out and SM went 68/7pl and got a 4 yd TD pass with 5:48 left, 24-17. NV got 1 FD and was SOD at the 50 with 3:56 left and SM would get 3 FD’s to the 16 and took a knee 3x.

MILITARY BOWL Toledo 42 Air Force 41 -  UT has the youngest HC in the country with 32 year old Matt Campbell who was in charge of them for the first time and delivered a 42-41 win. At the end of the game, AF appeared to tie it with a TD but lined up for the xp and ran a fake and the holder had the ball punched out while trying to run the option and UT held on for the win. AF had a 407-339 yd edge with the difference in the game being UT getting a 37 yd IR TD and also an 87 yd KR TD. Tim Jefferson was the first QB in service academy history to lead his team to 4 consecutive bowls and hit 13-22-159. UT missed a 47 yd FG on the opening poss but the teams would have 5 consecutive TD’s with UT rec’ing an onside kick and getting a 41/1pl TD and also an 87 yd KR TD and they led 21-14 after 1Q. AF on 4&gl got a 1 yd TD run but on their next drive on 4&4 were SOD at the TU25. After a fmbl, AF went 44/4pl for a TD and it was 28-28 at the half with AF having a 255-231 yd edge. UT got a 37 yd IR TD but it was 35-35 after 3Q’s. The teams punted on 5 straight poss with UT’s P pinning AF at the 3 twice. UT went 37/5pl for a TD after a 27 yd punt. The TD on 3&6 with a 33 yd pass with 5:01 left. AF went 78/12pl for a 4&3, 33 yd TD pass but the 2 pt failed.

INDEPENDENCE BOWL Missouri 41 North Carolina 24 - NC had a interim HC this year in Everett Withers and he accepted the DC job at Ohio St and this would be his final game at NC with the Heels having already hired Larry Fedora. It appeared NC’s coaches had been busier job hunting whereas Missouri ended the season with a 4 game win streak for the first time since 1965. James Franklin was the MVP as he rushed for 142 and passed for 132 despite the game being played in rain and cold weather. He led MO to 31 pts in the 1H as the Tigers had a 318-166 yd edge and a 31-10 lead. MO’s mascot “Truman the Tiger” actually shattered the Independence Trophy prior to the game in a pregame accident and they had to use a replacement. MO finished with a 513-353 yd edge. The game was NC 7-0 and MO drove 58, 80 and 81 yds for 2 TD’s and a FG, 17-7 then got a fumble and an int setting up 40 and 59 yd drives for a 31-7 lead and NC got a 21 yd FG on the final play of the half, 31-10. MO was int’d at the NC17 to open the 3Q and after 2 punts NC went 77/5pl for a TD to get back to 31-17 but MO, after a 49 yd KR, went 34/5pl for a TD, 38-17. NC was SOD at the MO31 and MO went 60/11pl for a 26 yd FG, 41-17 (6:22).NC drove 62/6pl getting a 17 yd TD pass with 4:08 left to get within 17 and MO, with bkp QB Costello got, 3 FD’s ending the game at the NC16.

LITTLE CAESARS PIZZA BOWL Purdue 37 W Michigan 32- Tough loss for WM as they had an amazing 7 turnovers, allowed PU to recover 2 onside kicks and WM was also SOD twice on 4th down and allowed a 99 yd KR TD by Raheem Mostert. WM had 30-23 FD and 485-442 yd edges as Alex Carder hit 31-57-439 and WR Jordan White almost broke the NCAA bowl record with 13 rec’s for 265 yds but on the final drive Carder fmbl’d and PU rec’d with 1:50 which cost them a shot at it. There was a solid crowd of 46,177 on hand. PU was w/o top RB Ralph Bolden and Akeem Shavers came in ? but rushed for a career high 148 yds on 22 carries. There were some unusual plays in the game as WM twice turned it over but PU on the return turned it right back over. However, it resulted in 17 and 49 yd losses for WM as they had a 4&10 at the PU12 and fmbl’d and PU ret’d it 21 yds to the WM39 but fmbl’d it back. The game really turned when WM led 15-10 and allowed a 99 yd KR TD. PU then onside kicked and rec’d and drove 61/6pl for another TD and stunningly led 24-15 and after WM was SOD PU added a 19 yd FG on the last play of the half.

BELK BOWL NC State  31 Louisville 24 - Tom O’Brien has done extremely well in bowl games moving his record to 9-2 after a win over UL. While it was a 7 pt win, NCS led 31-10 with 6:31 left in the 3Q but UL had the ball at the NCS45 with 1:07 left but on 4&23 they were int’d at the 16. David Amerson who led the NCAA in int recorded 2 more incl a key 65 yd IR TD in the 3Q and he had the int with :41 left in the game at the NCS16. Amerson finished with an ACC record 13 int’s this year. Cards frosh QB Teddy Bridgewater did have a solid game hitting 24-43-274 yds but had those 3 int’s. Down 21 pts, UL did benefit from a fake punt and a rec’d onside kick to get back into the game. An interesting decision came with 1:35 left 2Q when O’Brien passed up a 50 yd FG or a punt and opted to go for it on 4&2 at the UL33 but was SOD. Tied 7-7, UL got an int with 9:47 left 2Q and went 48/7pl for a 32 yd FG and the lead, 10-7 (6:56). NC went 80/5pl for a TD to lead 14-10 then UL was SOD on 4&1 at the NC32 with 2:11 left in the half. That play was huge as 2pl later NCS got a 68 yd TD pass and led 21-10 at the half with a 234-201 yd edge. Roughing the P and roughing the QB gave them a pair of FD’s on a 60/14pl drive but they settled for a 34 yd FG. Amerson then got a weaving 65 yd IR TD to make it 31-10 (7:56). UL’s TD with 3:55 left made it 31-24 setting up the NCS failed 4&2 try and the int. UL did finish with a 391-329 yd edge.

ALAMO BOWL Baylor 67 Washington 56 – Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin only threw for 1 TD pass but it was the highest scoring bowl game in regulation in NCAA history. The two combined for 1,397 yds with BU having a 777-620 yd edge but the final was a bit misleading as BU did jump out to a 21-7 lead but actually trailed 35-21 in late 2Q and 42-24 in the 3Q. In fact, they were down 49-39 and 56-53 with 9:40 left in the game. BU took the lead with 8:15 left on a 4 yd TD run and UW went for it on 4&8 from the BU39 and were SOD with 3:20 left. BU got 1 FD and with 1 more FD they could have run out the clock but Ganaway on 2&3 ripped off a 43 yd TD run with UW having just 10 players on the field with 2:28 left. UW led 42-31 and had a FD at the BU17 when they fmbl’d. Later UW missed a 43 yd FG with 3:38 left in the 3Q and all’d BU to take the lead on the next poss. BU used a short KO and UW’s OL Shelton, while fighting for extra yards, fumbled at their own 46 and BU took a knee.Terrance Ganaway had 5 TD’s and ran for 200 yds on 21 carries. Keith Price outplayed Griffin hitting 23-37-438 yds and had an amazing 7 TD’s with 4 pass and 3 rush. Price is just a soph and threw for a school record 29 TD’s and will draw many comparisons to RG3 in the preseason Heisman articles next year. The Alamo Bowl added 800 temporary seats to take advantage of the Heisman winner playing in their bowl and the att of 65,256 was the 5th largest in bowl history.

ARMED FORCES BOWL BYU (+1) 24 Tulsa 21 - BYU’s Riley Nelson appeared to be ready to spike the ball at the end of the game on a 2nd & gl from the 2 but then faked the spike and hit WR Hoffman in the EZ for a TD with :11 left as BYU won the Armed Forces Bowl. BYU had a 344-272 yd edge and got a 10 win season for the 5th time in Mendenhall’s 7 years. A couple of key factors went in BYU’s favor. Their P had an exceptional day with 6 punts pinning TU inside their 20 as TU had starting positions of 6, 7, 14, 12, 19 and 1 after punts. With :25 left in the half, BYU punted and TU fmbl’d the punt on their own 17. BYU got a 17 yd TD pass with :12 left on the next play to take the 14-10 lead. BYU’s final drive, which went 48/12pl for the TD was highlighted by a 4&9, Riley Nelson run of 14 yds which got them to the TU33 prior to the fake spike and TD.

HOLIDAY BOWL Texas 21 California 10 – UT finished with a 255-195 yd edge with their D getting 5 takeaways and 6 sacks. Cal is 0-5 vs UT dating back to 1959. The 1H was a defensive struggle and while Cal had an 8-4 FD edge, UT had a 92-73 yd edge. Cal got a 47 yd FG on their opening drive of 40/11. UT rec’d a fmbl at the Cal19 late 1Q but missed a 38 yd FG. UT’s TD drive in the 2Q was 48/9pl after a 24 yd punt for the 7-3 lead (6:08). Cal opened the 3Q with a 69/11pl drive for a 6 yd TD, 10-7 (9:47) but UT went 76/4pl and got a 47 yd TD pass on the next poss to lead 14-10 (8:06). Cal got a PR to the UT27 but fmbl’d on 3&27 after a PF and TX rec’d at the Cal44 and basically put the game away 3 plays later with a 4 yd TD run, 21-10 (14:57). Cal punted twice and then fmbl’d on their own 29 with 3:24 left. UT got a pair of FD’s to the Cal 8 and took a knee to end it.

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL Florida St 18 Notre Dame 14 - ND led this game 14-0 as FSU started 4 frosh on the O-line and they struggled in the first 1.5Q. The Seminoles had just 18 yds offense in the 1Q but that O-line solidified and FSU would pile up 186 yds in the 2H. ND shuffled between QB’s Tommy Rees who hit 16-27-163 and Andrew Hendrix who was 3-8-24. Michael Floyd caught a juggling TD pass in the 3Q but got inj’d on the play and was limited after that. ND’s Manti Te’o had 13 tkls and a sk. The only TD in the 1H came on a ND 29 yd FR TD by Motta. ND did get a 41 yd PR to the FSU37 and on 1&gl from the 4 was int’d in the EZ 1pl before their 29 yd FR TD. ND missed a 47 yd FG with :09 left 1Q. FSU gained 3 yds on 4&4 and was SOD at the ND37 (7:00 2Q). FSU had a 104-91 yd edge at the half. ND opened the 3Q with a 62/9pl drive for a TD and a 14-0 lead (11:24). FSU got a 77 yd KR to the ND21 and got a 42 yd FG, 14-3 then went 84/10pl for an 18 yd TD pass, 14-9 (14:54). FSU got a 17 yd IR to the ND18 and 2pl later a 15 yd TD pass gave them the lead but the 2pt failed, 15-14. FSU went 71/9pl and settled for a 29 yd FG with 8:05 left. ND did get a face mask on FSU on a PR and started at the FSU28 and was at the 18 when on 1st & 20 after a hold at the 28, they were int’d in the EZ with 2:48 left.

INSIGHT BOWL Oklahoma 31 Iowa 14 It was a misleading win for OU. At the end of the game, IU was down by 10 and faced a 4&6 from their own 30 and gained 5 yds. OU was just trying to run the clock out. On 4&1 at the IU21 where a FD would have had them run out the clock, QB Bell ripped off a 21 yd TD run for a 17 pt win. Landry Jones hit just 16-25-161 yds with 1 TD and 1 int. IU trailed 21-0 and an ESPN skycam crashed to the field with minutes left, narrowly missing WR McNutt. James Vandenberg hit 23-44-216 yds and IU was playing without their starting RB Marcus Cocker who was susp’d. Jordan Canzeri led with 58 yds on 22 carries. A couple of interesting stats out of the game were at half IU had a 134-89 yd edge. They had a 38 yd pass wiped out by an illegal formation and the 64/10pl drive end on a SOD at the OU9 and the Sooners had a 5 yd “drive” for a TD after an int and only 1 true offensive drive (66/13) which got them a 2Q TD and a 14-0 lead. It was 21-14 when OU got a 35 yd FG with just 2:28 left and IU was SOD on 4&6 gaining 5 yds with OU getting that 4&1, 21 yd TD run with :45 left.

LAS VEGAS BOWL Boise St  56 Arizona St 24 – Kellen Moore finished his final game with 50 career wins in the NCAA, a record that we cannot foresee being broken. He hit 26-34-293 yds. BS did get a couple of big plays to turn this into a blowout. Many questioned the attitude of ASU coming in as they had fired their HC Erickson and anointed Todd Graham as the HC. Any notions of ASU giving a huge performance for their outgoing coach probably went away on the opening KO when BS deflated ASU with a 100 yd KR TD. The next 3 poss were punts then BSU went 54/8pl for a TD. BS was int’d at the ASU25 but on their next drive went 80/8pl and got a 2 yd TD pass with 12:03 left 2Q, 21-0. 2 punts. ASU went 66/12pl but settled for a 32 yd FG. BS went 72/12pl and converted on 4&5 for a FD to the ASU5 and brought Moore out and their bkp QB handed off to Miller who threw a 5 yd TD pass with :43 left 1H, 28-3. At half BSU had a 269-111 yd edge. ASU threatened to get into it. They got a 98 yd KR by Ross to open the 3Q for a TD, 28-10. They got an int but on 4th & 4 Erickson sent the punt team in. Osweiler waved them off and went for it but his pass fell incomplete from the BS39. BSU fmbl’d and ASU went 49/7pl. They had a 1st & gl at the 5. They had 2 shotgun runs from the 1 which were both stopped and then with Erickson trying to call time-out for at least :05, the refs did not call time-out and Osweiler’s pass into the EZ which would have made it 28-17 was int’d and ret’d 105 yds for a TD and blew open what would have been an 11 pt game to a 35-10 lead. BSU took their next poss 80/10pl for a TD, 42-10 then got a 26 yd FR TD 2pl later, 49-10. ASU went 54/3pl for a 21 yd TD pass, 49-17 and then went 60/6pl but was SOD at the BSU26. BSU went 74/12pl for a TD with 2:24 left then ASU went 75/7pl getting a TD with :28 left on a 30 yd pass. Boise finished with a 460-384 yd edge.

IDAHO POTATO BOWL Ohio 24 Utah St 23 – OU got their first 10 win season since 1968 and had been winless in their 5 bowl appearances. They had to overcome a 23-10 deficit. USt’s opening drive went 73/12pl but on 4&gl from the 1 they were SOD. On 3&8 OU QB Tettleton had the ball slip out of his hands and he scooped it up in the EZ and ran out of the back of the EZ for a safety. USt went 50/9pl for a TD after the free kick, 9-0. 4 punts. OU went 56/7pl and got a 26 yd TD pass, 9-7 (4:40). US33 went 45/10pl but missed a 39 yd FG wide right with 1:42 left in the half. At half US had a 184-119 yd edge. After an OU punt to open the 3Q US on 2&1 got a 63 yd TD run by Smith, 16-7. OU25 went 60/8pl but settled for a 32 yd FG, 16-10 (9:52). USt went 83/9pl and an 11 yd TD run by Smith put them up comfortably 23-10 (5:51 3Q). OU answered going 66/5pl. Tettleton ran right on a possible option, stepped back and hit Brazill for a 44 yd TD pass, 23-17 (3:45 3Q). 4 punts. US7 took over with 4:23 left but were forced to punt 4 plays later on 4&9 and OU went 61/9pl and on 4&6 they got a 13 yd pass to Brazill that was ruled a TD at one point but spotted at the 1. Two plays later Tettleton’s 1 yd TD run gave OU its first lead of the game and the win, 24-23 with just :13 left.

NEW MEXICO BOWL Temple 37 Wyoming 15 – WY had to be concerned about their weak rush D vs TU’s strong rush offense but TU’s def front 7 also did a fine job holding WY to 267 yds. TU’s opening drive went 90/13pl taking up half the first quarter and made it 7-0. WY answered with an 11 play drive but missed a 49 yd FG and TU went 69/9pl for a 1 yd TD run, 14-0. WY was int’d from midfield and ret’d 30 yds. TU went 35/6pl for a TD, 21-0. 2 punts. WY went 62/11pl and on 4&3 got a 21 yd TD pass with :37 left and it appeared they would be taking momentum to the locker room but on the next play, TU got a 61 yd TD pass to Streeter as the DB feel down and TU had reestablished momentum and pretty much snuffed out WY’s hopes, 28-7. At the half TU had a 278-160 yd edge. WY opened the 3Q with a 13pl drive but punted. TU went 60/13pl for a 34 yd FG then went 47/7pl for a 37 yd FG to lead 34-7 (12:50). WY got 1 FD and was int’d and TU would go 56/13pl getting a 34 yd FG with 3:22 left to lead 37-7. WY29 showed some heart (using all 3 time-outs on their final drive) and went 71/10pl and got a 14 yd TD pass with :03 left and their 2 pt conversion made it 37-15.
Navy 27 Army (+7) 21 – Navy defeated Army for a 10th straight year in the only college game played that weekend (Dec 10). Navy opened with a 58/13pl drive but fmbl’d at the 19. Army, however, fmbl’d it back 3pl later so Navy went just 26/6pl for a TD, 7-0 (1:06 1Q). 2 punts. Army fmbl’d at the Navy45 and Navy went 55/7pl for a TD, 14-0 (7:05). Army went 67/8pl and got a 34 yd TD run by Steelman, 14-7 (3:34). Navy went 3&out punting with 2:45 left and Army went 63/7pl and got a 5 yd TD run by Brown with :49 left in the half to make it 14-14. Navy opened the 3Q with a 48 yd KR and went 48/5pl for a TD. Army went 74/6pl and got a 25 yd TD pass, 21-21. Navy got 1 FD and fmbl’d but on their next drive went 75/18pl incl a 4&1 conv at the Army14. They settled for a 23 yd FG on 4&gl from the 6, 24-21 (12:03). Army fmbl’d the ensuing KO at their own 27 and Navy added a 44 yd FG to lead 27-21 (10:26). Army still had a shot. At their 23 they went 51/12pl but on 4&7 with 4:31 left, Steelman was tkl’d. Navy got 1 FD. They lined up like they were going for it on 4&1 and Army jumped offsides. That allowed Navy to run 4 more plays and punt with only :02 left in the game and Army’s last play from its own 10 gained 29 yds.

ST PETERSBURG BOWL Marshall 20 Fiu 10 – This was closer than the final as MU at the end of the game, faced a 4th & 5 at the FIU35 trying to run the clock and opted to go for it and got a 35 yd TD pass with :30 left. It was a def struggle as MU had just a 14-12 FD edge. MU took its 2nd poss 45/10pl but settled for a 37 yd FG. MU got a 39 yd PR to the FIU44 but on the first play Cato was int’d at the 19 and ret’d 34 yds. FIU went 47/8pl for a TD, 7-3 (1:31). 2 punts. MU went 22/6pl but passed incomplete on 4&4 at the FIU35 (8:59). FIU went 36/8pl and got a 46 yd FG, 10-3. 2 punts. MU went 55/6pl. On 1st & 15 they got a 31 yd TD pass with :23 left in the half to tie it at 10. At half MU, thanks to that drive, had a 166-137 yd edge. The 2H opened with 9 punts with the teams combining for 7 FD’s on those drives. With 7:35 left in the half MU blk’d a punt and ret’d it 8 yds to the 3 and it was orig ruled a td but MU was called for ill forward pass as the RM tried to lateral it forward and then a PF and instead of getting a td they were backed up to the 23. MU gained 1 yd and got a 39 yd FG that bounced off the upright and in, 13-10 (5:16). FIU got a FD pass to Hilton but he fmbl’d at the end of it at the MU40 with 4:24 left. MU got 1 FD and thought about punting it from the FIU35 with :38 left but opted to go for it, Cato avoided the sk, hit a wide open Dobson as the DB fell down and got a 35 yd td pass with :30 left. MU avoided a losing season as they came in 6-6 and it was the 4th time this year MU blk’d a punt and the 4th time they won with Coach Holiday preaching that if they block, they win 90% of their games.

POINSETTIA BOWL TCU 31 Louisiana Tech 24 – Many wondered how TCU would fair without record setting QB Andy Dalton but Casey Pachall set single season school records with 228 completions, 2921 yds and a comp% of 66.5%. LT had come in on a 7 game win streak and had signed Coach Dykes to a contract extension through 2017. LT appeared on its way to winning the game as they were up 24-17 after 3Q’s. There were 4 long drives that resulted in 6 pts which made this game’s final a lot lower than it should have been. LT went on a 67/13pl drive and made a 29 yd FG but had it taken off the board for a pers foul but still settled for a 23 yd FG, 3-0 (8:30). LT went 57/9pl but fmbl’d at the TCU35. TCU went 57/8pl for a 25 yd FG, 3-3. LT went 59/7pl and got a 2 yd TD pass, 10-3. LT’s next drive went 60/10pl but they settled for a 43 yd FG and it bounced off the upright. LT’s next drive (14) went 3&out. Roughing the P gave them a FD but they were int’d with 1:21 left in the half and ret’d 24 yds to their 25. TCU went 25/4pl for a TD and despite the fact that LT had a 266-144 yd edge at the half, the score was tied at 10. TCU opened the 3Q with a 55/11pl drive for a TD. TCU fmbl’d a punt at its own 12 setting up an LT 12/3pl TD drive, 17-17. 2 punts. TCU26 got 1 FD and was int’d at the LT39. On 3&10 Cameron hit White with a 61 yd TD pass, 24-17 (2:10). TCU28 went 72/18pl converting on two 4&1 and got a TD with 7:49 left to tie it. LT went 3 &out punting with 6:24 left and TCU went 69/5pl with a 42 yd td pass to Dawson, 31-24. LT opted to punt on 4&7 with 3:33 left and TCU got 2 FD’s running out the clock.

New Orleans Bowl Louisiana 32 San Diego St 30 - The largest crowd edge for any of the opening 6 bowls was clearly in the New Orleans Bowl. UL fans were probably about 40,000 strong (42,841 ttl attendance) which is 10,000 more than what they avg at home games. Blaine Gautier broke Jake Delhomme’s single season school records for yds passing (2,958) and td’s (23) with those records standing since 1996. Gautier hit 24-40-470 yds shattering the New Orleans Bowl record for yards passing. UL needed a 50 yd FG as time ran out which would have been a 55 yd FG but SDSt was called for ill procedure on the 55 yd att despite being on defense. SDSt missed a 36 yd FG with 10:00 left and had a 29-25 FD edge but UL had a 236-200 yd edge. SDSt opened with a 53/11pl drive but settled for a 27 yd FG. 2 punts. UL went 80/10pl and got an 18 yd TD pass, 6-3 (xp blk’d, :25 1Q). UL got an 87 yd PR TD, 13-3 (14:00 2Q). SDSt went 71/16pl and on 4&1 they got a FD to the UL6 but the play was reviewed and spotted short. UL went 93/13pl but they on 4&gl from the 1 were int’d at the 4. At half UL had a 219-190 yd edge. UL opened the 3Q with a 73/3pl drive and got a 20 yd TD pass to Green, 19-3. SDS went 41/2pl for a TD, 19-10 which came on a 16 yd TD pass. 3 punts. SDSt was pinned at their 1 and went 99/7pl and got a 16 yd TD pass to Lockett, 19-17 (3:40). UL went 78/14pl for an 11 yd TD pass with 12:48 left, 26-17. SDS38 went 43/7pl but missed a 36 yd FG with 10:14 left. SDSt went 55/10pl for a TD with 5:40 left, 26-24. UL went 72/10pl and had a 1st & gl at the 3 but settled for a 22 yd FG, 29-24. SDS31 went 69/10pl. They converted on 4&2 at their own 44 and got a 12 yd TD pass with :35 left to apparently pull out the win. They missed the 2 pt conv and UL got 13 and 26 yd passes on 3&5 they lined up for a 55 yd FG but SDS was called for ill snap and UL got a 50 yd FG on the final play.

The Buffalo/Bowling Green game was a misleading 72 points. The two combined for just 700 yards offense. It was a very windy day, which effected the punts as there were scoring drives of 30, 66, 39 and 38 yds off punts. Off TO’s there were scores following a 42 yd IR TD, 28 yds and 28 yds (after blk’d punt).

Well, nobody really wanted to win the Pac-12 South this year. When Utah (over a 3 TD fav) lost to Colorado, UCLA clinched the P12. At night Arizona St now had nothing to play for even though it was their home finale and they needed to stop a 3 game losing streak. The Sun Devils were done in by a 4-1 TO deficit and also their D allowed Cal 484 yds. Cal actually had a 27-14 lead when ASU scored a TD on 4&10 with :52 left in the half and rec’d a fmbl’d KO and went 30/3pl for a TD to lead 28-27 at the half. Cal’s big play was a 3&4, 74 yd TD pas with 2:53 left in the 3Q to go up by 10 while ASU pulled within 41-38 after 3Q’s, Cal would get 19 and 30 yd FG’s while ASU turned it over 2x in the 4Q in their 47-38 win.

The Big East remains wide open with Cincinnati, West Virginia and Louisville all having a shot at the title. None of those three control their own destiny. UC needs a win and WV loss; UL needs a UC loss and WV needs a win and a UC win. UC missed a 33 yd FG in the 1H vs Syracuse and also had QB Luallen fall down with only the EZ in front of him and they settled for a FG and it was 10-6 at the half but the Bearcats rolled to a 30-13 win with SU gaining 136 yards on their final 3 drives.

SMU had a 368-250 yd edge vs Rice. SMU was int’d at the Rice24 and Rice’s TD in the 1H came on a 13/1pl TD pass after a 23 yd IR and in the 2H they got a 21 yd FR TD to tie it at 14. SMU was missed a 23 yd FG and Rice would gain 91 of their yards on their final 2 drives when trailing 27-17 getting a TD with 1:43 left, rec’ing the onside kick and getting 8 more plays.

While WKU moved to 7-5 and still has a shot at the SBC Title, the 2 SBC bowl tie in’s have already been locked up. Bobby Rainey rushed for 227 yards as WKU beat Troy, 41-18.

Georgia had the SEC Title game on deck and opted to rest Isaiah Crowell so they were without their top 2 TB’s vs Georgia Tech but Aaron Murray hit 19-29-252 yds. UGA won their 10th str game, their longest winning streak within a season since 1982. UGA led 31-10 after 3Q’s and missed a 53 yd FG with 8:58 left with GT getting a TD with 6:32 left and GT gaining 108 of their yards on their final 2 drives.

Rutgers did have a 430-290 yd edge and a 6-1 TO deficit but also gained a good portion of their yards and points when the game was out of reach. Connecticut led 40-10 after 3Q’s and RU’s final 3 drives would cover 48, 92 and 49 yds or 189 yards incl a 92 yd TD pass with 2:15 left.

QB Keith Price became Washington’s all-time single season leader in TD passes (29) as he had 3 vs Washington St. He sat out the start of LW’s game vs Oregon St but returned and hit 21-29-291 yds. WSU had Marshall Lobbestael ret’d to the line up and he hit 29-42-344. UW blk’d a punt and rec’d for a TD,7-0 (11:37). 3 punts. UW went 55/4pl for a 16 yd TD pass, 14-0 (2;13). WSU went 46/4pl but fmbl’d at the UW24. UW got 4 FD’s on a 58/8pl drive but missed a 35 yd FG (12:50). WSU went 80/12pl and on 3&14 got a 16 yd TD pass, 14-7 (7;55). WSU went 66/8pl and got a 16 yd TD pass, 14-14 with 2:05 left but UW went 61/7pl getting a 21 yd TD pass with :24 left in the half, 21-14 which gave them a 231-219 yd edge. The 3Q opened with 3 punts. UW went 58/3pl with a 23 yd TD pass, 28-14 (5:56). WSU went 62/3pl with a 38 yd TD pass, 28-21 (4:31). 2 punts. UW got 2 FD’s and nailed a 47 yd FG, 31-21 (13:19). 2 punts WSU had a flea flicker int’d at the 8 and ret’d 23 yds. UW then put it away with a 69/8pl drive for a 2 yd TD run with 5:25 left, 38-21. 2 punts. WSU gained 47 yds on their final 6 plays.

Notre Dame struggled offensively vs Stanford and would lose by 14. After each team punted to open, SU went 57/7pl and got a 4 yd TD pass, 7-0 (9:16). ND went 36/8pl. On 2&7 from the SU24 they fmbl’d (2:31). ND went 35/8pl. On 4&4 they lined up like they were going for it and punted and it was blk’d (13:44). SU got 2 FD’s to the ND35 but was int’d and ret’d 34 yds to the 26 and a horse collar brought it to the 11 but the Irish blew an opportunity by gaining 7 yds and then missing a 21 yd FG (9:59). SU went 80/10pl and got a 28 yd TD pass, 14-0 (4:45). SU got a 32 yd run by Taylor but fmbl’d at the ND39. The Irish (39) got a FD to the SU44 but on the key play of the game on 3&8 they were int’d at the SU36 with 1:38 left in the half. SU went 64/10pl and got an 11 yd TD pass with ;10 left in the half to go up 21-0 (:10). At half SU had a 287-75 yd edge. The Andrew Hendrix era began as he QB’d the 2nd half for ND. The Irish offense moved the ball. They got 2 FD’s and punted on their first drive (11:27), went 77/7pl for a TD on their 2nd, 21-7 (6:21). 3 punts. ND17 went 43/6pl and a high pass was int’d and ret’d 41 yds to the ND35. SU missed a 48 yd FG (10:34). ND31 got a 25 yd pass to Floyd to the SU35 but punted 45 yds for a TB and SU went 80/6pl for a 54 yd TD pass, 28-7 (5:40). ND did take over with 1:02 left at their own 12 and went 88/4pl getting a 2 yd TD run by Hendrix with :23 left.

This was a strange game as Florida had an 11-7 FD edge and 184-95 yd edges but lost 21-7. QB John Brantley struggled hitting 9-15-104 yds with 3 int’s and was inj’d and Jacoby Brissett hit 4-13-27 yds and an int. Each team punted and UF Florida was int’d and ret’d 12 yds to their 20 (9:20). FSU got a TD 7pl later, 7-0 (6:34). 2 punts. UF got a 24 yd pass to the FSU35 but was int’d and ret’d 89 yds to the 4 (:05). FSU got a 4/3pl TD drive, 14-0 (14:24). UF got 1 FD and was int’d at the FSU48 (12:57). UF went 70/13pl and on 4&1 at the FSU15 Burton came in at QB, was stuffed then tkl’d for a 15 yd loss back to the 29 (4:30). 2 punts. At the half UF had a 140-42 yd edge but trailed 14-0. The 3Q opened with 4 punts. Reed got a 41 yd PR but a PF moved them back to the 39 of UF and they gained 7 yds and missed a 50 yd FG (5:18). 4 punts. UF10 got 1 FD but was int’d and ret’d 29 yds for a TD, 21-0 (12:20). 3 punts. FSU fmbl’d at their own 21 with 4:32 left. UF got a PI FD to the 6 and a 6 yd TD pass on the next play, 21-7 (4:16). FSU got 1 FD and ran the clock.

Something I thought all year was that the most valuable player for any team was Baylor’s Robert Griffin III but Baylor proved that wrong this past weekend. Griffin was knocked out of the game at the end of the 1H with a concussion and did not return. In the 1H, BU had 31 pts and 294 yards. You would expect with a backup QB that BU would have been fighting a possible upset and of course, have much less production. But, in Art Briles QB-friendly offense, Nick Florence actually outdid Griffin (7-11-106) in his half. Florence hit 9-12-151 yds. BU scored 35 pts with Florence to 31 with Griffin vs Texas Tech’s feeble D and BU also gained 323 yards under Florence and just 294 under Griffin. Terrance Ganaway rushed 42 times for 246 yards and Baylor set a school mark for most pts in a conf game (Big 12 or SWC). TT went 3&out on the first 2 poss. BU went 44/8pl for a 28 yd FG 11:13 then 73/12pl and got a 4&6, 33 yd TD pass, 10-0 (6:57). TT went 76/9pl and got a 5 yd TD run, 10-7 (3:39). BU went 66/10pl and got a 4 yd TD run, 17-7 (14:54). TT went 74/13pl for a TD and BU went 61/7pl for a TD, 24-14 (8:40). TT went 43/2pl for a 43 yd TD pass, 24-21 (7:57). TT rec’d an onside kick and had the momentum but actually went 3&out and BU went 87/12pl. On 4&7, TT was hit with 2 pen’s giving them a FD and they completed the drive with a 3 yd TD run with 1:37 left. TT went 60/7pl and got a 1 yd TD pass with :08 left to make it 31-28 and at the half BU had a 294-226 yd edge. Florence QB’d the 2H and BU went 53/8pl and missed a 44 yd FG (12:37). TT27 got 1 FD and punted on 4&1, 50 yds for a TB (11:35). BU went 80/5pl for a 46 yd TD pass, 38-28 (10:10). Then went 77/8pl. They had a 40 yd pass to Williams where the DB had it and it could have been int’d but he took the ball away from the DB for the TD 45-28 (6:05). TT went 45/5pl but fmbl’d (4:46). BU fumbled it back 4pl later and TT got 2 FD’s to the BU22. A huge play happened when TT looking to make it a 10 pt game was not only int’d but ret’d 90 yds for a TD and 14 pt swing, 52-28 (2:26). TT went 64/6pl for a TD, 52-35 (:15). BU28 fmbl’d and TT got a 33 yd TD run by Ward on a reverse, 52-42 (14:05). Florence guided BU 69/12pl for a Florence 1 yd TD run, 59-42 (9;33). TT fmbl’d at the BU48 (9:16). BU went 3 &out (7:44). TT was int’d and ret’d 26 yds to their 21 and BU ran 3x with Ganaway’s 5 ye run icing it 66-42 (6:24). TT went 3&out and BU ran the clock.

In the Egg Bowl you figured that Mississippi would rally around outgoing coach Houston Nutt but a couple of turnovers which set up Miss St TD’s put them in a deep hole and they were basically noncompetitive as MSU finished with a 317-202 yd edge. MSU opened with a 68/11pl drive and converted on 4&4 and 3&12 on the drive and got an 18 yd TD pass, 7-0 (9:35). 2 punts. MSU went 98/9pl and an option went 36 yds for a TD to Perkins, 14-0 (1:22). MSU got 1 FD and was int’d at their own 41. UM on 4&5 lost 4 yds. MSU went 61/7pl and got a 20 yd TD pass, 21-0 (6:51). UM went 28/10pl and had a FD at the MSU38 but after a sk let the clock run out in the half on 4&22 instead of calling time-out. At the half MSU had a 252-65 yd edge. UM fmbl’d and MSU drove 27/2pl for a TD, 28-0 (13:38). 2 punts. UM went 47/12pl settling for a 28 yd FG, 28-3 (4:59). 2 punts. MSU, after a 28 yd PR to the UM36 got 1 FD on a 35 yd FG, 31-3 (12:03). 4 punts. UM on 4&1 were SOD at midfield. Two PF set MSU back to its 21 and they punted with :54 left. UM33 got a 61 yd pass to the 6, had a TD overturned then QB Brunetti was leveled on the final play, which was fitting of the game.

Oregon St WR James Rodgers did not suit up for his final game due to a left ankle injury prior to the Civil War. LaMichael James hurt his elbow after rushing for 142 yds but should be alright for UCLA. The Ducks have won 4 straight Cival Wars, their longest win streak since 1997. Oregon was coming off a rare home loss which had snapped their 21 game home win streak. It was 7-7 with 11:08 left in the 2Q but UO went 79, 79 and 75 yds for TD’s, the latter with :26 left 1H. At half UO had a 394-125 yd edge. UO led 49-14 when OSU drove 85/6pl for a 23 yd TD pass with 2:46 left.

Hawaii gave David Graves the start and he hit 21-38-260 yds but Shane Austin who started the previous week, came off the bench to lead the game clinching TD drive and hit 9-10-98. UH opened with a 69/6pl drive and got a 17 yd TD pass, 7-0 (11:40). 4 punts. Tulane drove 44/5pl for an 11 yd TD run, 7-7 (3:43). UH went 77/3pl for a TD, 14-7 (2:29) and TU went 68/13pl. They converted on 4&1 at the UH32 and 5pl later had a TD, 14-14 (11:37). UH26 went 74/12pl. They converted on 4&4 at the TU14 and 3pl later got a TD, 21-14 (7:00). TU got a 66 yd KR but missed a 39 yd FG (5:29). UH was int’d at the TU29 with 4:07 left in the half and int’d at the TU15 with :38 left. TU got 2 FD’s and had a 40 yd FG blk’d on the 1H final play. At half UH had a 303-176 yd edge. UH opened the 3Q with a 66/7pl drive for a TD (10:03) 28-14. TU tried a RB pass and Darkwa was int’d at the UH41 (7:52). 3 punts. TU got 1 FD and was int’d at the UH2 but UH was tkl’d for a safety on the next play, 28-16 (:52) and TU drove 50/10pl and got a 2 yd TD run and were within 28-23 with 11:42 left. Austin came in at QB and UH went 71/10pl and got a 1 yd TD run with 7:03 left, 35-23 (7:03). TU punted on 4&6 with 5:25 left but UH got 4 FD’s ending the game at the TU26.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned numerous times in my blogs how I hate all of these new uniforms that are brought out by the teams. I thought one of the best rivalries in the 1960’s was UCLA/USC. Every year I look forward to watching the game as both teams wore their home uniforms with the powder blue of UCLA and the gold helmets and the Trojans’ maroon. I turned on the set and UCLA was out there with horrible white uniforms with white helmets so I couldn’t even tell it was the Bruins. When I watch 12 games all day long on Saturday, it’s very annoying to glance at a set and try to quickly grasp what team it is and not know due to the funky uniforms being worn. It looks like karma got the Bruins as they were pounded 50-0. Another key factor here was the fact that when Colorado upset Utah on Friday, UCLA had clinched a berth in the P12 Title game regardless of the outcome here. UCLA did move the ball in the 1H as USC went 72/4pl and got a 42 yd TD pass, 7-0 (13:15). UCLA went 78/12pl but on 4&gl from the 2 were SOD. USC got 2 FD’s and got a 73 yd TD run by McNeal (5:16) 14-0. USC went 92/13pl and got a 1 yd TD pass and 2 pt conversion, 22-0 (12:48). USC went 60/11pl and on 4&gl got a 3 yd TD pass to Ellison (6:53). LA went 64/7pl and had a 1st & gl at the 8 but was int’d in the EZ on 3&gl and ret’d 25 yds. USC punted for the first time with 2:13 left 2Q. UCLA went 55/9pl but passed up a 45 yd FG on the last play of the half and Prince gained 3 yds on 2&14. At the half USC had a 324-207 yd edge. UCLA opened the 3Q with a 39/8pl drive but was SOD at the USC48. USC on 2&10 got a 52 yd TD pass. USC went 93/8pl and got a 4 yd TD pass to Woods. USC went 93/8pl and got a 4 yd TD pass (3:50) then went 73/6pl for a 41 yd TD pass, 50-0 (13:56). 2 punts. UCLA went 77/12pl but on 4&5 was SOD at the USC7 and USC got 3 FD’s and ran out the clock.

This was closer than the final as San Diego St got 2 late TD’s, one a 1yd drive after a blk’d punt to win by 17. That last TD came with 1:11 left. SDS went 71/12pl but on 4&3 were SOD at the LV25. LV went 75/7pl and Cornett got a 54 yd TD run, 7-0 (4:10). LV went 67/8pl and on 4&1 they got a 7 yd pass and then Cornett got a 25 yd TD run on the next play, 14-0 (14:54). SDS was int’d on a deep pass at the UNLV33. 3 punts. SDS47 (7:05 2Q) on 3&1 got a 44 yd Hillman TD run to get back in it. LV20 went 51/10pl but on 4&5 gained 4yds to the Aztecs 29 as they were in no man’s land. At half LV led 14-7 with a 233-167 yd edge. 3Q 2 punts. SDS went 53/7pl and got a 15 yd TD pass on 3&8 to tie it at 14 (7:30). SDS went 52/11pl and got a 27 yd FG for their first lead, 17-14 (:39 3Q). LV37 got 2 FD’s but on 4&5 in no man’s land again fired incomplete from the Aztec 36. SDS went 64/12pl and on 4&1 got a 6 yd TD pass, 24-14 (5:45). LV30 went 3&out and QB Herring was hurt and Reilly came in and fired incompelte. SDS then blk’d the punt and rec’d at hte LV31 (4:29). SDS went 31/8pl getting a TD with 1:11 left, 31-14. LV was int’d at the LV34 (:58) and SDS took a knee.

South Carolina finished with a 450-153 yd edge and 19-12 FD edge. SC did have the advantage of Clemson having the ACC Title game on deck but got their 3rd straight win for the first time in the rivalry since 1968-’70. SC opened with a 48/10pl drive for a 46 yd FG (10:38). SC went 75/7pl and got a 49 yd TD pass, 10-0 (6:26). 2 punts. CU went 61/15pl for a 28 yd TD pass, 10-7 (11:32). SC got 1 FD and punted and the P scooped it off the ground and his punt went into the ankle of the CU rusher and was rec’d at the SC26. CU got 1 FD and got a 32 yd FG, 10-10 (6:14). SC went 60/9pl incl a 4&2 conv at the CU31 and got a 15 yd TD run on 3&5, 17-10 (1:55). At half SC had a 272-81 yd edge. SC opened the 3Q with a 66/5pl drive for a TD, 24-10 (9;52). 4 punts. CU, after a 24 yd punt, started at the SC36, got 2 FD’s and got a 40 yd FG, 24-13 (13:38). SC went 50/14pl for a 37 yd FG, 27-13 (6:26) then got a 26 yd IR to the CU19 and 2pl later a TD, 34-13 (5:20). CU was sk’d on 4&15 at their own 44 with 2:54 left.

During the offseason I had just one weekend blog but each week during the season I will take a look at the Top 25 performances from the just completed week with a little analysis as well as a quick review of the past weekend. On Monday I will give you my News & Notes where I delve deeper into every game that was played this past weekend, breaking down individual drives and giving you misleading finals and other interesting tidbits.

As far as my game grades go after the 2008 season was completed I devised a power ratings system, which lets me analyze at what level each team played during an individual game. This “game grade” takes into account the yards rushing, yards passing, points scored, rushing yards allowed, passing yards allowed and points allowed and factors them in against the opponent played and even factors in the site the game was played at.

With all these factors taken into consideration you will see teams that lost the game having a better individual game grade than teams that beat them simply because the team they played was superior and much less was expected of them.

Top 25 Game Grades (Team Performances) Week 13

News and Notes Week 13 Part 1

Texas A&M dominated the 1Q with Texas not even getting a FD and the Aggies getting the ball at midfield on most of their poss. A&M got a TD and 2 FG’s to lead 13-0. The FG’s were 49 and 52 yds by Randy Bullock. The game started to change when A&M fmbl’d a punt at its own 41 and on the next play UT got a 41 yd trick pass from WR Shipley to Irby, 13-7. UT trailed 16-7 at the half but got a 58 yd IR TD then an 81 yd PR but after the PR they settled for a short 23 yd FG, 17-16. Ryan Tannehill had 3 int’s and his 3rd set up UT for a 24/6pl drive for a TD and a 24-16 lead. A&M battled back and actually took the lead with 1:48 left but UT QB McCoy ran 25 yds down the middle of the field to the Aggie 23 setting up a 40 yd FG for the win in what figures to be a final game for quite some time in this storied rivalry.

Eastern Michigan had an 18-11 FD edge vs Northern Illinois but a couple of big plays allowed the Huskies to escape and advance to the MAC Title game. EM had 1st & gl at the N12 and 8 but they settled for FG’s each time on a windy day. Once they passed up a 43 yd FG as they were going into the stiff wind and were SOD on 4&3. NI’s big play was a 3&1, 68 yd TD run by Harnish in the 3Q which made it 18-6. Trailing 18-12 EM got to the NI32 but a pair of sks forced a dropped pass on 4th down.

USF played without starting QB BJ Daniels and Bobby Eveld hit 20-35-210 yds. Louisville clinched its share of the Big East Championship with the win and snapped a 16 game losing streak in reg ssn games played in the state of FL dating back to 1972. USF took a 17-3 lead on a 1 yd TD run with :35 left in the half and appeared in control but UL got a 54 yd KR and 2pl later an 18 yd TD pass to make it 17-10 at the half. UL trailed 24-20 but took the lead with 9:38 left, 27-24. USF was int’d and UL drove 17 yds for a TD. USF was SOD on 4&4 at its own 34 with 2:59 left.

Tulsa and Houston were playing for the CUSA West Title and UH was also playing to keep their BCS bowl bid alive. The Cougars moved to 12-0 for the first time in school history and the game was close at the half with TU having a 226-224 yd edge. Trailing 13-10, TU fmbl’d at the UH10 with :47 left in the half. UH got 2 big plays in the 3Q. On 4&10 they got a 33 yd TD pass to increase their lead to 20-10 and later on 4&1 got a 38 yd TD pass with 1:23 left in the quarter, 27-16. Case Keenum was pulled after an 8 yd TD pass with 7:16 left and UH added a 14 yd TD pass from bkp QB Turner with 6:18 left.

In Western Michigan’s FHG QB Alex Carder DNP due to injury and Tyler VanTubbergen hit 19-21-252 yds. WM had a mistake-filled game and yet still won 68-19. WM fmbl’d a punt at their own 49 then after an Akron punt was tkl’d for a safety and only led 10-2. The Broncos fumbled a 2nd punt at their 46 setting up a UA FG and only led 10-5 but then scored TD’s on their next 8 poss to go up 66-5. UA went 80/9pl for a TD then ret’d a fmbl 72 yds for a TD to make it 66-19. WM was also SOD at the UA5 and 12 on their final 2 drives.

Arkansas and LSU’s last 6 meetings had all been decided by 8 pts or less and Ark jumped out to a 14-0 lead after a 47 yd FR TD but in the first meeting of 2 teams ranked in the Top 3 in Death Valley since 1959, when Billy Cannon got his famous PR vs Ole Miss, Tyrann Mathieu ret’d a punt 92 yds for a TD which tied it at 14. While LSU only had a 201-166 yd edge at the half and led 21-14, they dominated the 2H with a 293-88 yd edge and finished with a 26-11 FD edge, even taking a knee at the AU18 at the end.

Pitt had a commanding 217-74 yd edge at the half vs West Virginia but lost RB Zach Brown to injury on their 2nd to last play of the half. Isaac Bennett spelled him in the 3Q before he also went out with injury. Keep in mind, earlier in the year, Pitt had lost their top RB Ray Graham. Without their RB’s, the offense stalled in the 2H and was held to just 79 yards. WV made a big rally and went for it on 4&6 at the Pitt24 when a FG would have put them back within 3 but the gamble paid off and they would get a TD 4pl later for their first lead of the game with 6:10 left and Pitt punted with 2:30 left and their final 3pl were 2 sacks and an intentional grounding.

Denard Robinson accounted for 5 TD’s and Michigan snapped a school record 7 game losing streak to Ohio St. Braxton Miller threw for 235 yards and rushed for 100 and UM may have locked up their first BCS bowl since 2006 as the fans rushed the field afterwards. A key play late kept the Buckeyes in the game when UM appeared to get a TD to go up by 10 but it was overruled by relay as the RB was ruled down at the 1. Robinson’s TD on the next play was called back due to a hold and a PF and they settled for a FG and only led by 6 with 1:59 left. OSU only got to their 35 and their final pass was int’d at the UM48 with :39 left. Brady Hoke is the first coach in UM history since 1901 to win 10 games in his first season. OSU will not win the Big Ten Title for the first time since 2004 and they lost 3 str Nov games for the first time since 1999.

It was Deja Vu all over again for Nevada. Last week vs Louisiana Tech they had a 465-412 yd edge and this week vs Utah St they had a 290-134 yd edge but only led 10-7 at the half. NV lost starting QB Fajardo to an ankle injury late 3Q while leading 10-7. Backup QB Lantrip led 1 TD drive and NV took over at their 27 with 10:26 left. On 4&1 NV got a FD at the Utah St 11 on a Lantrip run but he fmbl’d and Utah St would get 4 FD’s incl 4&1 and 3&10 conv and took a knee.

Oklahoma had allowed a school record 616 yards last week vs Baylor but held Iowa St to a season low 245 yards and ISU did not have a drive longer than 35 yards with their only TD coming on a 10 yd drive (after a bad punt). It was ISU’s lowest yardage total since last year when they only got 183 being shutout by Oklahoma. Iowa St had not beaten ranked foes in B2B weeks since 1974. Even though it was the home finale for Oklahoma, there were thousands of empty seats and the winds were 30-40 mph which slowed down the OU offense. OU settled for a 20 yd FG, on 2nd &gl from the 1 was int’d in the EZ and settled for 27 and 36 yd FG’s in the 1H. OU fmbl’d at the ISU20, was int’d at the ISU12, settled for a 21 yd FG and was int’d at the ISU20 in the 2H which is why they only won by 20 points.

Tennessee blew a chance at a Liberty Bowl bid by losing to Kentucky in their final game. It was UK’s first win in the series since 1984 breaking a 26 game losing streak to Tenn. UT had a 15-10 FD edge and a 276-217 yd edge. UK wore black jerseys for the 2nd time this season at the request of its 21 seniors. UT had 3 TO’s late which cost them a shot at the win. UT had a 46 yd FG blk’d in the 1H and on 4&4 were SOD at the UK31. In the 2H UT had a 1st & gl at the 8 and went to the Wildcat but fmbl’d. UK fmbl’d and it appeared to be a clear recovery for UT but it was not overturned and 3pl later UK got a TD.

Another game with late 1H heroics, Michigan St and Northwestern were tied at 3 and NU at the end of a 15 pl drive and at the MSU4 when they fumbled with 5:25 left in the half. MSU went 97/8pl getting a TD with 1:40 left then got a 57 yd PR TD with :34 left in the half and a 3-3 game blew open a 17-3 and MSU never led by less than 7 after that. Trailing by 7, NU did have the ball but punted with 10:22 left and on 3&17, MSU got a pass to Cunningham which he bobbled 3 times but hauled in for a 29 yd TD. MSU was playing with the Big Ten Title game on deck.

Kansas and Missouri have a long rivalry, second in games played only to Wisconsin and Minnesota but only 47,059 were on hand at Arrowhead Stadium in what was likely the final of the series on a cold, wet afternoon. KU led 10-3 at the half but fmbl’d a punt snap on their own 14 at the start of the 3Q and MO went 14 yards for a TD then 93 and 82 yds for TD’s and rolled to a 24-10 win and finished with a 357-137 yd edge.

MarQueis Gray ran 27 times for 167 yards and set a Minnesota record for rushing yards by a QB with 966 topping Billy Cockerham’s 831 (1999). Illinois actually held an opponent under 100 yards passing for the 5th time this season but in the 1H UM had an amazing 217-18 yd edge and led 20-0 and extended it 27-0 en route to their 27-7 win. Ron Zook is 34-51 in 7 seasons, a winning % that is 11th among the 13 UI coaches who have coached more than one season and was fired the next day after the Illini’s 6 game slide.

NC State had the 2nd biggest comeback ever in an ACC game as they amazingly trailed 41-14 in the 3Q but rallied for the win and won by 15, 56-41 over Maryland! The key play of the game was a 59 yd IR TD by CJ Brown with 1:00 left. The previous high was when Clemson came back 28 pts down to beat Virginia in ‘92, 29-28. NCSt turned it over on each of their first 3 poss of the game incl when James Washington fmbl’s with nobody around him for 5 yards which MD scooped up and ret’d it 66 yards for a TD and a 7-0 lead early.

Virginia Tech usually peaks at the end of the year and they had their best game of the season vs Virginia with a 38-0 win and a 410-241 yd edge.

Alabama was even more dominating than their 42-14 final score would indicate. The Tide entered the 4Q with a 309-44 yd edge. In fact, after the opening KO of the 3Q, Bama had 221-31 yd edge and 13-1 FD edges but fmbl’d into the EZ which Auburn fell on for a TD and AUB ret’d the opening KO of the 3Q 83 yds for a TD and Bama at that point only led 24-14. Trent Richardson rushed for 203 yards on 27 carries and also had a TD receiving in the Tide’s 42-14 win. Richardson has avg’d 198.4 ypg vs ranked foes (all-purp yds).

Penn St jumped out to a 7-0 lead vs Wisconsin but the Badgers led 28-7 at the half incl a fmbl’d KR with 2:09 left in the half setting up UW for a TD. PSU then fmbl’d to start the 3Q and the Badgers got another TD and rolled to a 45-7 win. They did have a 450-223 yd edge.

Southern Miss got their first CUSA East Title since 2006 and first 10 win season since 1988. Memphis avoided a shutout when trailing 44-0, SM fmbl’d into the EZ and UM fell on it for a TD with 6:54 left. While SM had 2 IR TD’s in the game, they also fmbl’d into the EZ for a TB on the last play of the 1H on 1st & gl from the 1.

Louisiana got their 7th IR TD of the season which tied an NCAA record which was set by Tennessee in 1971. While UL jumped out to a 7-0 lead at Arizona, AZ did not start QB Foles who was ? coming in but AZ rolled to a 45-37 win with Foles hitting 33-43-352.

Boise St trailed Wyoming 7-0 with 2:00 left in the half. They got a TD with 1:10 left in the half then forced a punt with :08 left. Kellen Moore threw up a prayer and the ball was deflected at the goal line by a WY DB and fell into the hands of Miller for a 46 yd TD on the final play of the half giving Boise St some momentum into the locker room.WY went 3&out on their first 2 poss and were int’d on their 3 in the 3Q while BSU built a 36-7 lead.

Louisiana Tech wrapped up a bid to the Poinsettia Bowl with the win over New Mexico St giving them the WAC Title. Louisiana Tech led just 9-0 when they got the ball with 4:00 left in the half at their own 4. They went 96/13pl and got a 1 yd TD run with :28 left in the half. NMS opted to not take a knee and instead threw it and LT got a 45 yd IR TD with :07 left to blow it open 23-0. LT did have a 295-178 yd edge at the half and would roll 44-0.

FAU got a TD with 3:18 left in the half to tie at 14. UAB was sk’d and fmbl’d at their own 9 with 1:30 left and FAU got a 28 yd FG to take the lead, 17-14 with :10 left. FAU took that momentum into the 2H and built a 38-28 lead before UAB got a TD with :33 left to pull within 3 but FAU rec’d the onside kick.

During the offseason I had just one weekend blog but each week during the season I will take a look at the Top 25 performances from the just completed week with a little analysis as well as a quick review of the past weekend. On Monday I will give you my News & Notes where I delve deeper into every game that was played this past weekend, breaking down individual drives and giving you misleading finals and other interesting tidbits.

As far as my game grades go after the 2008 season was completed I devised a power ratings system, which lets me analyze at what level each team played during an individual game. This “game grade” takes into account the yards rushing, yards passing, points scored, rushing yards allowed, passing yards allowed and points allowed and factors them in against the opponent played and even factors in the site the game was played at.

With all these factors taken into consideration you will see teams that lost the game having a better individual game grade than teams that beat them simply because the team they played was superior and much less was expected of them.

Top 25 Game Grades (Team Performances) Week 12

News and Notes Week 12 Part 1

Teams playing with BCS pressure have struggled, like in 2007 when all of the teams that controlled their own destiny lost. Oklahoma St had it all in their favor. They were ranked #2 in the BCS, would play in the National Title game if they won their final 2 games and Brandon Weeden had moved to the top of the Heisman polls. They were taking on an Iowa St team that entered play 0-56-2 vs teams ranked 6 or higher in the AP poll. Paul Rhoads was the DC at Pitt when the Panthers knocked W Virginia out of the #2 spot and National Championship game back in that wacky 2007 season with a huge upset as a 4 TD dog and now engineered a 2nd one. At one point, ISU actually had an 8-3 FD edge but gave up a 70 yd IR TD and trailed 7-0. For the game ISU had a 33-24 FD edge and it was 24-24 after regulation with ISU winning in the 2OT.

Illinois outgained Wisconsin 301-285 but was done in by 4 TO’s and ST mistakes. The Badgers’ 4 TD’s came on drives of 2, 30, 44, and 39 yards. Illinois had leads of 14-0 and 17-7 (after a PI wiped out a TD IL kicked a FG) at the half and IL had 15-5 FD and 224-93 yd edges. IL had TO’s on 3 of their first four 2H poss setting up 2 UW short TD drives and at the end IL got to the UW29 and was int’d at the 19. Also, with the wind at the back of the punt, IL’s PR let the punt sail over his head and it ended up going an extra 25 yds to the 3 yd line for a 74 yd punt.

Buffalo scored its most points S/’92 with 51 vs Akron and had a 497-239 yd edge. It was 30-3 at the half.

Munchie Legaux got his first QB start at Cincinnati as Zach Collaros was out. UC was held to a season low 225 yds by Rutgers. The Big East now has 5 teams with just 2 losses on the season and the race for an automatic BCS bowl berth is wide open. RU did have 385 yds offense and a 23-11 FD edge.

Georgia clinched an SEC Title game berth but were very unimpressive vs Kentucky. They did have a 317-165 yd edge but settled for short FG’s. In the 1H they settled for 5 FG’s, missing 1. In the 2H UGA was int’d in the EZ and fmbl’d at the UK40 before finally getting a 7 yd TD pass with 14:55 left to get up by 2 scores. UGA was SOD at the UK27 with 3:39 left.

Army ret’d QB Trent Steelman but he lasted just 2 plays. Temple led 28-0 at the half. Last year TU had 8 wins but did not get invited to a bowl and they now have 7 wins this year.

Michigan St clinched the Big Ten Legends div when Nebraska lost to Michigan. UM now has a shot at 10 wins and a win over Ohio St making it a glorious season in Brady Hoke’s first year. The Wolverines did benefit from some short fields in the game but finished with a 418-260 yd edge and had a 24-11 FD edge. It was NU’s first game in Michigan Stadium since 1962. The game was tied at 10 and UM led 17-10 at HT before rec’d the 2H KO at the NU33 which set up a TD. They blk’d a punt setting up a 50 yd drive for a TD, got an 11 yd PR setting up a 31 yd TD drive, rec’d a fmbl.

Wake Forest WR Chris Givens had 191 yards receiving and WF had a 514-415 yd edge snapping a 3 game losing streak and becoming bowl eligible. Maryland is one of the most banged up teams in football and fell to 2-9 and gained 68 of their yards on an 11 play drive at the end of the game.

Miami and USF, a couple of disappointing teams were tied at 3 when UM drove 61/15pl to get a 36 yd FG on the final play of the game. One key play was that BJ Daniels, the starting QB for USF, left in the 3Q with a shoulder injury. Daniels had accounted for 371 yards total offense the previous week. The surprising number in this game was that at the 1H, UM had a 205-162 yd edge and the teams had combined for 6 points. The usual average in the NCAA is 13.8 yards for every point scored but this 1H had 367 yds for 6 pts – or 61.2 ypp.

Rice had a 13-0 lead hitting 54 and 51 yd FG’s but Tulane got a 4&7 TD pass with 10:03 left. Rice got a TD with 1:04 left and opted for 2 but the 2 pt failed. TU did get to the Rice37 on their last drive, which helped them finish with a 289-237 yd edge.

San Jose jumped out to a 10-0 lead and led 20-14 at the half with a 264-153 yd edge. Navy went for it on 4&19 and were SOD at the SJS38, punted with 7:03 left and fired incomplete on 4&3 at the SJS45 with 2:29 left on their final 3 poss after SJSt went ahead 27-24 on the 4Q’s 1st play.

Luke Kuechly set the career ACC record for tackles with 523. Notre Dame took their opening drive 80/7pl for a TD and their 2nd 46/9pl for a 40 yd FG and while they finished with a 417-250 yd edge, this one was ugly. ND only led 13-7 at the half and in the 2H, 8 of the first 9 poss were punts with the other being an int. Boston College got a TD with 1:57 left to pull within 16-14 but ND rec’d the onside kick.

It was a tough loss for Texas Tech who had been beaten by an avg of 42 ppg the prior 3 wks but led for all but the final 2:22 vs Missouri. TT jumped out to a 14-0 lead and led 17-10 at the half, 27-17 after 3Q’s and finally with 2:22 left MO got a TD for the lead. TT lost 3 players to injury (WR Torres, RB Washington and OG Edwards) and were the 2nd straight team to complain about the condition of MO’s artificial turf. MO was without Coach Gary Pinkel who was susp’d for the game due to a DWI. After leading the entire game, TT got the ball and drove right down the field and had a FD at the MO11. On 2&6 from the 7 a pass was tipped and int’d at the 4 with :32 left and MO got the fortuitous win.

Oregon St beat Washington for the 7th time in the last 8 meetings. UW was starting Nick Montana at QB as Keith Price was banged up. Montana hit 11-21-79. When Oregon St went up 31-14 Price came off the bench and led an 85/10pl drive and got a 4&9, 20 yd TD pass. OSU fmbl’d the kick at their own 17 but Price was int’d at the 1 and the Beavers went 99/12pl getting a 4&gl, 1 yd TD run with 2:06 left to go up by 17 and Montana came back in. OSU had a 484-315 yd edge.

TCU showed some clear letdown after their upset win over Boise St which basically handed them the MW Title this past week. In fact in the 1H vs Colorado St they were outgained 183-148. TCU did end up recording its 45th victory for its senior class, a school record in a 34-10 win and extended their MW records by winning a 23rd straight league game and 16th straight league game at home. CSU had a first time starting QB in true frosh Garrett Grayson (14-24-228) and CSU finished the game with a 408-372 yd edge with TCU getting a 69 yd IR TD in the 3Q.

NC State did indeed blow out Clemson but they benefitted from a short field the majority of the 1H. NCSt finished with a 398-337 yd edge. Clemson had just clinched the ACC Atlantic and decided to rest Sammy Watkins who was banged up. In the 1H NCSt led 7-3 when CU fmbl’d at their own 6 setting up a 6 yd drive for a TD, fmbl’d at their own 18 setting up an 11 yd drive for a 21 yd FG. NCSt got a 34 yd PR setting up an 11 yd TD drive to go up 24-3. CU did take over with 2:35 left trailing 37-6 and went 68/8pl getting a 2 yd TD run with 1:22 left.

Teams that have unbeaten seasons and National Championship hopes dashed, usually have a letdown spot the next week. Stanford struggled to get past Cal and Boise St gave up plenty of yards and pts vs San Diego St. BS did benefit from 3 early TO’s by SDSt as after an int they went 24/4pl for a TD, SDSt fmbl’d a punt on their 10 setting up a BS TD and SDS fmbl’d the ensuing KO at their own 23 and BS on 3&14 got a 14 yd TD pass to lead 21-0. BS did lead 42-14 at the half. Leading 45-14 BS fumbled at the SDS3. SDS got to midfield and punted but roughing the P gave them a FD and they would get a TD 2pl later to pull within 45-21. SDS got a TD with 6:25 left to make it 45-29 with the 2 pt conv. BS rec’d the onside kick and went 36/4pl for a TD, 52-29 with 4:11 left. The Aztecs went 76/17pl converting on 3&13, 4&14, 3&8 and with just :05 left in the game, got a 1 yd TD pass to make it 52-35. BS rec’d the onside kick.

When Penn St took the field against Ohio St it was basically a meaningless game and the winner of next week’s game vs Wisconsin will be the winner of the Big Ten Leaders div whether PSU beat or lost to OSU. The Lions showed great character and pulled out the road win. They led after Stephfon Green ran 39 yds for a TD 1:30 in and led the rest of the way. PSU had won just 2 of their last 10 games in Columbus but both came vs true frosh QB’s in Art Schlichter in 1978 and Terrelle Pryor in 2008 and now a 3rd time vs Braxton Miller.

Tulsa was playing in basically a meaningless game vs UTEP. If they beat Houston next week, they get a spot in the conf champ game. TU showed no look ahead but did only have a 500-443 yd edge. In fact, at the half it was TU 297-263 and they only led 21-15 when they got a 94 yd KR TD with 2:45 left in the half, 29-15. TU got a 37 yd IR TD to go up 50-15 and UTEP did gain 64 of its yards on 11 plays in the final 4:00 after TU had scored a TD to make it 57-28.

Texas A&M went to backup QB Showers with 8:00 left in the 3Q as the game vs Kansas was a rout. A&M finished with a 469-197 yd edge. KU took over with 6:52 left trailing 61-0. They would convert on 4&6 for a FD to the 13 and then with just :46 left in the game, got a 15 yd TD run by Sims on 2&12 for a TD which all’dd KU to avoid the shutout.

It was a shocking early score in the Furman/Florida game as FUR jumped out to a 22-7 1Q lead. UF used big passes. In the 1Q FUR had a 196-72 yd edge. UF got 80, 29, 64 yd TD passes and a 77 yd TD run then added 27 and 75 yd IR TD’s for a very misleading 54-32 final in which FUR had a 20-19 FD edge.

At the half vs Louisville, Connecticut had a 165-105 yd edge but gave up a 100 yd KR TD to open the game and settled for a 24 yd FG and trailed 14-10. The game was 28-20 when UC rec’d an onside kick at their own 41 with :13 left when they tried the lateral play and UL ret’d a fumbled lateral 36 yds for a TD with no time left on the clock to make what was a 1 score game into a 34-20 final.

I’m not sure if we should classify Nevada as a Misleading Final or just a brutal loss for the Wolf Pack. In the 1H NV had an amazing 272-43 yd edge. They fumbled at the LT22, were int’d at the LT30 and were SOD at the LT33. NV had a 15-2 FD edge. NV still dominated the 3Q as well going 67/12pl for a 19 yd FG, 59/6pl settling for a 24 yd FG and on their 3rd poss, went 49/9pl for a TD. With 13:01 left, NV had a commanding 20-3 lead that should have been much worse and a 437-118 yd edge. LT got 84, 89 and 92 yd drive on their final 3 poss for the win.

Three big plays hurt Alabama and we have to wonder why FBS schools even schedule an FCS school which runs the option as it is very difficult to prep for. Georgia Southern basically had 2 big plays on its triple option offense and a ST play for their 3 TD’s. Bama jumped out to a 17-0 lead but GS got an 82 yd run by FB Swope. With :52 left in the half GS had just converted on 4&1 at its own 32 and 5pl later got a 39 yd TD pass. GS also got a 95 yd KR TD and the confounding option had by far the best effort vs Alabama’s D all year with 341 yards. Jaybo Shaw is a Georgia Tech transfer and hit 1-5 passes for 39 yds. GS did gain 37 of its yds in the final couple of plays when trailing 45-21. Trent Richardson rushed for 175 yds and had 3 TD’s.

LSU QB Jefferson started his 1st gm TY. He hit 8-14-168 yds and was tkl’d for safety. At the half LSU only led 14-7 with WKU even missing a 49 yd FG. It was 21-7 when WKU was SOD on 4&gl at the 1 with 6:46 left in the 3Q. LSU scored TD’s on 3 consecutive poss, plus one more with 5:45 left to give them some margin and WKU’s last threat was SOD at the LSU36.

Mississippi figured to be charged up for Louisiana Tech for a couple of reasons. First, Houston Nutt was fired during the week and second, they were an underdog to a WAC school that was actually in a WAC sandwich coming off a big win vs Fresno St with a bigger game vs Nevada on deck. UM played better than the final score as a couple of key plays changed this game. The Rebels appeared in control taking their 2nd drive 78/8pl for a TD (8:53). LT fmbl’d at their own 41 but MSU, 7pl later, missed a 36 yd FG (4:23). LT went 58/15pl. On 4&1 they were SOD but a face mask gave them a FD. They missed a 40 yd FG 4pl later. 2 punts. UM fmbl’d at their own 22 but LT missed a 35 yd FG. 3 punts. With UM punting from their own 7, LT got a 12 yd PR and went 37/4pl for a TD with 3:32 left 1H, 7-7. UM got 2 FD’s and punted with :35 left. LT was pinned at their 5 and just handed off to Lee but he took it 48 yards so they opted to go for a score and got 1 more FD and nailed a 43 yd FG to give them momentum at the half, 10-7 and that 70 yard drive gave them a 227-129 yd edge at the half. The 3Q opened with 3 punts. UM went 30/11pl but missed a 52 yd FG (5:46). LT got a 47 yd pass and 4pl later a 35 yd FG, 13-7 (4:38). LT then got a 33 yd FR TD 2pl later, 20-7 (3:49). LT blk’d a punt and recovered at its own 39 and went 39/10pl but was int’d at the 1. Two plays later LT got a 26 yd IR TD, 27-7 (11:08). UM was SOD at the LT39 and SOD at the 50.

Tennessee opened with a 48/13pl drive but on a windy night they faked a FG and the pass was incomplete. Arkansas went 75/13pl for a TD. After a UT punt, UA was int’d at the UT23 from their own 42 on the first play. UT went 3 & out and Adams retreated 15 yds and had a spectacular 60 yd PR TD on what originally  looked like a bad play, 14-0. 3 punts. UA on 2&10 got a 71 yd TD run by Johnson, 21-0 (11:25). UT hit a 50 yd pass which was thrown up on the sidelines and had a solid catch by Neal then on 3&11 got a 17 yd pass. An 11 yd TD run made it 21-7 (9:26). UA went 57/8pl and missed a 40 yd FG. UT went 72/14pl. On 3&gl from the 5, Worley, under pressure, was int’d at the goal line and ret’d to the 8. At half Ark had a 213-208 yd edge. The 3Q opened with 2 punts. Ark went 52/5pl for a TD, 28-7 (7:07). UT went for it on 4&1 at its own 40 and was SOD and Wilson hit Adams with a 40 yd TD pass on the next play (4:17). UT was SOD on 4&2 at the Ark27. 2 punts. Ark went 53/3pl for a TD, 42-7 (10:58). Ark went 74/5pl with backup QB Mitchell in for a TD, 49-7 with 6:37 left. Ark fmbl’d at its own 47 on its final drive but UT didn’t get past the 50.

Miss St was in a great situation vs Alabama catching them off their big game vs LSU and in a bubble burst situation with the Tide’s undefeated season gone. Bama had their problems once again with a pair of missed FG’s and finished with a 386-131 yd edge and MSU’s only score came after a 68 yd KR when they drove 22 yds for a TD. Trent Richardson rushed for 127 yards. The first 4 poss were punts. Bama went 26/8pl but missed a 49 yd FG. MSU fmbl’d the punt snap on its own 31 and Bama missed a 31 yd FG. Bama went 52/5pl for a TD, 7-0 (9:59 2Q). 2 punts. MSU went 62/11pl and missed a 41 yd FG (2:50) but got an int 2pl later and ret’d it to the Bama 4. Alabama’s defense showed its strength forcing a 4th&gl at the 12 and MSU missed a 29 yd FG. At half Bama only had a 124-69 yd edge. Bama went 73/8pl for a 24 yd FG, 10-0 (7:32 3Q). Bama went for it on 4&inches at the 50 and was SOD but MSU was SOD on 4&7. Bama went 53/7pl for a TD. MSU ret’d the KO 68 yds to the Bama22 and 3pl later had a TD, 17-7 (12:03). Bama got 1 FD to the MSU46 and punted 44 yds for a TB (9:04). MSU converted on 4&inches to its own 30 but punted on 4&9. Richardson was then handed the ball 9 straight times where he gained 43 yds softening up the MSU D. Bama had a 3&7, MSU used their last time-out and Lacy ripped off a 32 yd TD run with 1:18 left for the final score, 24-7.

UCLA played their first regular season snow game since 1964. There were some flurries in the EagleBank Bowl in Washington DC but this was the first snow on the ground. The game was much closer than the final score as UCLA had a 295-291 yd edge and in fact at the half UCLA had a 115-75 yd edge but trailed 7-3. Utah was SOD at the LA30 then fmbl’d a punt on its own 17 and LA got a 30 yd FG, 3-0 (3:19 1Q). 4 punts. Utah, after LA punted from its EZ, drove 39/7pl for a TD with 5:34 left in the half, 7-3. LA went 58/15pl but missed a 47 yd FG on the last play of the half. Utah opened the 3Q with a 74/10pl drive for a TD, 14-3 (9:29). LA was int’d at the Utah37. 2 punts. Utah went 47/3pl and a White 22 yd TD run made it 21-3 (3:18). LA went 54/11pl for a 35 yd FG, 21-6 (13:12). LA went 36/4pl but from the Utah44 was int’d and ret’d 67 yds for a TD (9:03). LA was SOD at their own 45 on 4&11 with 6:58 left and Utah got 2 FD’s and added a 38 yd FG, 31-6 (4:05). LA got to the Utah25 but was SOD with 1:48 left and Utah gained 30 yds on the final 3 plays.

This is technically a Notre Dame home game but being played 12 miles from Maryland’s stadium. ND still had the crowd edge. The Irish wore a shamrock on their helmet and MD wore their state flag uniforms. MD lost starting QB Danny O’Brien for the season (broken arm). ND was pretty much in control from the start. They took their opening drive 67/8pl for a TD. 3 punts. ND went 57/11pl for a Ruffer career long 52 yd FG, 10-0 (2:47). 3 punts. ND, running the no huddle offense, went 80/7pl and got a 19 yd TD pass, 17-0 (8:29). MD went 61/9pl with O’Brien going 5-5 on the drive. A bubble screen went 13 yds for a TD, 17-7 (5:18). The Irish went 70/13pl and on 4&inches, Gray walked into the EZ for a TD, 24-7 with :29 left in the half. The Irish had a 292-144 yd edge. ND got a 3&17 draw play for 19 yds keying an 84/14pl drive for a TD, 31-7 (8:48). MD got 2 FD’s but was int’d and ret’d 57 yds for a TD, 38-7 (7:18). 2 punts. Brown came in at QB for MD and they went 97/10pl and got a 24 yd read option TD by Brown, 38-14 (14:02). 2 punts. ND went 77/7pl and got a 34 yd TD pass with 5:31 left, 45-14. MD converted on 4&3 and 4&gl on a 67/13pl drive for a garbage TD with :37 left for the 45-21 final. ND had a 511-297 yd edge prior to the final drive.

As you can tell by the final score, this one was a shoot out. New Mexico St opened with a 59/6pl drive for a TD (12:08). On their next poss NMSU only got off an 8 yd punt and Fresno St went 46/7pl for a TD, 7-7 (4:30). FSU fmbl’d at their own 12 and NMSU got a TD 3pl later, 14-7 (14:11). FSU went 71/12pl settling for a 20 yd FG, 14-10 (8:15). Rogers ret’d the KO 99 yds for a TD for a 20-10 NMSU lead (7:59). FSU got 2 FD’s and punted and NMSU was int’d on a deep pass. FSU went 66/5pl capped by a 20 yd TD pass to pull within 20-17 (2:00 2Q). NMSU went 61/8pl for a 39 yd FG on the final play of the half on FD, 23-17. At the half FSU had a 229-182 yd edge. FSU opened the 3Q with a 76/5pl drive for a TD then after an NMSU punt, FSU got a 59/1pl TD pass to Saunders, 31-23 (10:34). NMSU went 68/11pl for a TD and 2 pt conv, 31-31 (6:40). FSU got a 64/1pl TD pass to Saunders, 38-31 (6:22). NMSU went 84/12pl for a 6 yd TD run, 38-38 (3:50). NMSU went 59/8pl but settled for a 25 yd FG and the lead, 41-28 (13:54). FSU went 71/10pl for a 2 yd TD run and the lead, 45-41. NMSU went 48/8pl but on 4&5 was SOD at the FSU24 with just 4:24 left. FSU went 3 & out and Lee got off an 18 yd PR to the 44. NMSU got 1 FD and then on 3&7 FSU blitzed and Christian hit Rogers with a 37 yd TD pass with 1:50 left for the lead, 48-45. FSU on 4&10 fired incomplete and NMSU on 3&6 got a 6 yd run for a FD to run out the clock.

Southern Miss had a 519-364 yd edge vs UCF but settled for 5 FG’s as Coach Fedora said, “we kept shooting ourselves in the foot.” UCF did open with a 44/9pl TD drive (9:01). 2 punts. SM went 96/7pl for a TD, 7-3 (1:55). 3 punts. SM went 80/8pl but settled for a 28 yd FG, 10-3 (7:35). UCF went 39/8pl for a 38 yd FG, 10-6 (3:40). SM went 67/10pl. They had a 1st&gl at the 9 but settled for a 22 yd FG, 13-6 (:08). At the half SM had a 277-146 yd edge. The 3Q opened with 2 punts. SM went 50/9pl for a 44 yd FG. UCF went 42/8pl for a 41 yd FG. SM got a FD to the UCF43 but after 3 holds, punted, but UCF fmbl’d the punt at their own 25 and SM settled for a 46 yd FG, 19-9 (13:40). They tried a pooch kick off and Murray returned it 69 yds for a TD, 19-16 (13:28). SM got a 42 yd pass then a 48 yd FG, 22-16 (11:56). UCF went 56/8pl for a 13 yd TD pass and the lead, 23-22. SM went 80/8pl and got a 4 yd TD pass and 2 pt conv, 30-23. UCF got 1 FD and was int’d at their own 30. SM appeared to have a chance to win by more than a TD. They had a FD at the 12 yd line but on 2&8, fmbl’d and UCF rec’d at the 11 with 2:47 left. UCF went 89/12pl. On 4&6 they threw up a Hail Mary that went 25 yds for a TD. They opted to go for 2 being on the road and it was batted down in the EZ.

This was a sellout and Stanford had a shot at playing in the National Title game and had been dominant winning 8 of their games by 20+ pts. Oregon only had 1 FD in the 1Q as the first 4 poss were punts. SU was int’d and ret’d 30 yds to the SU20 (5:53 1Q). UO got 1 FD and a 4 yd TD pass then went for the 2 pt conversion on the swinging gate and got it 8-0 (4:12). SU went 78/13pl for a 16 yd TD pass but their bkp K missed the xp (13:51). UO15 went 85/6pl with a 58 yd TD run by James (11:49). UO got 1 FD and then Thomas, after a FD run, fmbl’d at the SU45 (8:13). SU went 36/7pl for a 37 yd FG, 15-9 (4:57). UO got 2 FD’s and then got a 41 yd TD pass to Thomas on a wheel route, 22-9 (2:52). Luck led SU 84/8pl for a 13 yd TD pass 22-16 (:24). It was the first time SU trailed at half since 2009. UO opened the 3Q with a 74/4pl drive and Huff sped past the D for a 59 yd TD 29-16 (13:23). UO fumbled the punt at their own 34 but Fleener dropped a FD pass and they settled for a 48 yd FG and missed (10:08). Luck was sacked and fumbled at his 12 and on 4&2 the Ducks got a 4 yd TD run, 36-16 (7:41). SU went 71/10pl for a TD, 36-23 (2:38) but UO went 69/10pl for a TD, 43-23 (14:02). SU went 63/11pl for a 1 yd TD run, 43-30 (9:37). UO went 47/8pl for a 40 yd FG on 4&8, 46-30 (5:09). Luck had his 3rd TO, this time on 2&5, a 40 yd IR TD, 53-30 (4:28). SU fumble’ the KO at their own 30. UO was SOD on 4&18, only gaining 12 yds (1:55). SU got a 14 yd run but fmbl’d (1:35) and the Ducks took a knee.

As I expected, BYU dominated Idaho. UI’s offense has struggled all year and BYU was off a bye and had 30-10 FD and 505-241 yd edges despite losing starting QB Riley Nelson after the 1st TD. BYU opened with a 41/8pl drive but missed a 35 yd FG (11:34). BYU went 64/6pl for a 32 yd TD pass and Nelson broke a rib and did not return (8:26). That brought Jake Heaps (15-20-185) off the scrap pile and he guided the team 78/9pl for a 17 yd TD run by Kariya, 14-0 (1:18). BYU went 75/13pl for a TD, 21-0 (6:49). UI had gotten 2 FD by penalty but got their first actual FD on a 3&10 QB draw and added 1 more FD and punted (1:16 2Q). BYU went 70/6pl and got a 21 yd TD pass with :13 left in the half, 28-0. BYU had a 298-63 yd edge at the half incl 199-(-2) passing. BYU opened the 3Q with a 57/3pl TD drive (12:31) while UI went 3&out and BYU went 43/7pl but was int’d at the UI8 (8:12). UI was int’d 3 plays later and BYU went 22/3pl for a TD, 42-0 (5:37). UI’s only TD came on 3&12 when they ran a draw play to McCarty. He was just trying to get yards and then broke to the left and there was nobody there at the sidelines and he raced 82 yards for a TD avoiding the shutout, 42-7 (3:56). With 3rd string QB Lark in, BYU went 59/14pl but missed a 47 yd FG. UI brought in Reader and went 59/9pl to the BYU11 but he was int’d in the EZ and ret’d 48 yds (3:33).

East Carolina came in banged up on the O-line. While UTEP finished with a 429-254 yd edge, EC was winning midway through the 4Q before 1 big play. UTEP went 56/8pl but was SOD at the 1 (9:28) on their 1st series. UTEP fumbled the punt and EC went 34/7pl for a TD, 7-0 (5:11). UTEP QB Lamaison had a groin inj and Meger (18-27-155) would QB the rest of the game. 2 punts. Edwards got a 32 yd PR to the EC37 and UTEP got 1 FD and missed a 35 yd FG. EC got 1 FD but then Davis was int’d and ret’d 44 yds for a TD, 7-6 (11:51, xpng). EC went 3&out and Edwards’ 41 yd PR set up UTEP for a 34/4pl drive for a TD, 13-7 (9:08). EC got 1 FD and punted with 6:03 and UTEP went 70/15pl getting a 46 yd FG with :34 left in the half, 16-7. At half UTEP had a 202-85 yd edge. EC took its opening 3Q poss 54/7pl capped by a 10 yd TD pass, 16-14 (11:36). UTEP went 48/9pl but on 4&3 was SOD at the EC32.EC went 66/16pl and had 1st & gl at the 6 but settled for a 19 yd FG, 17-16 (1:09). UTEP went 68/10pl but on 2&5 fmbl’d at the EC12. EC got 2 FD’s and punted with 7:47 left and the key play happened when Banyard got a 77 yd TD run 2pl later to make it 22-17 (7:04, 2ptng). EC went 3&out punting on 4&13 and UTEP, after a 29 yd punt, started at the EC46 and got 1 FD and on 4&4 gained 2 yds with 2:49 left. EC on 3&10 was int’d and ret’d 17 yds to their 30 and UTEP on 3&6, got a 6 yd FD run and took a knee.

UNLV has been traditionally one of the poorest road teams in the country but amazingly Las Vegas had them favored by a TD on the road vs New Mexico. NM got an 80 yd TD pass on the first play to Long, 7-0 (14:51). LV went 80/10pl and got a 45 yd TD by Bradford, 7-7 (8:50). NM went 80/14pl. On 4&5 a pass interference gave them a FD to the LV30 and 6pl later they got a 1 yd TD run by Rogers, 14-7 (:32). LV got 2 FD’s and punted and NM went 38/7pl but missed a 37 yd FG. NM went 59/14pl but on 4&gl from the 1 was SOD with 1:39 left in the half so NM only led 14-7 but had a 249-155 yd edge. NM fmbl’d at the LV39 after a 16 yd run for a FD (12:02 3Q). 4 punts. LV went 72/9pl and got a 4 yd TD run by Cornett, 14-14 (14:22). NM went 43/9pl but had a 46 yd FG blk’d. 2 punts. LV got 1 FD and on 2&5 Barnhill gained 7 yds but fmbl’d. NM got a 27 yd pass to Solomon to the 7 and 2pl later a 2 yd TD run made it 21-14 with 1:15 left. UNLV was SOD on their own 19 on 4&3 (:32).

Nevada finished with a 528-307 yd edge and Bryant Moniz suffered a right leg injury in the 1Q and did not return. Shane Austin hit 17-38-246 yds. Hawaii opened with a 33/6pl drive for a 35 yd FG (12:54). 4 punts. UNR went 81/9pl for a 4 yd TD run 7-3 (1:18 1Q). UNR went 84/11pl for a 13 yd TD pass, 14-3 (10:54 2Q). 2 punts. UH got 1 FD to the UNR47 but a deep pass was int’d in the EZ and ret’d 16 yards. UNR got 2 FD’s and was sacked and fmbl’d on their 42 and UH got 1 FD and a 38 yd FG, 14-6 (2:30). UNR21 went 3&out and UH blk’d the punt for a TD to tie it at 14 (2pt, 1:27). UNR went 64/6pl and got an 8 yd TD pass with :21 left. At half UNR had a 290-114 yd edge but only led 21-14. UNR fumbled the opening KO at their 19 and UH had a 1st & gl at the 1 but fmbl’d and a PF pushed it out to the 22. UNR went 78/9pl for a 25 yd TD run by Fajardo, 28-14 (9:35). UH went 54/8pl and got a 3 yd TD run, the key a 3&17 18 yd pass to the 9, 28-21 (6:14). 2 punts. UNR went 55/8pl for a 5 yd TD pass, 35-21 (14:16). UH went 77/8pl and got a 21 yd TD pass, 35-28 (11:01). UNR went 80/13pl. They faked a 32 yd FG and got a 15 yd TD pass, 42-28 (4:18). UH got 2 FD’s but was int’d at the UNR6 (3:13). After UNR got 1 FD and punted (2:06), UH  got 1 FD to the UNR31 but was int’d at the 26 and ret’d 11 yds (1:18).

Washington St lost starting QB Marshall Lobbestael to injury and frosh Connor Halliday hit 27-36-494 yds and WSU rolled up a 590-411 yd edge. The game was played in a mix of rain and snow and temps in the 30’s which aided the NW team vs the team from the desert. Arizona St got a 95 yd KR to open for a 7-0 lead (14:47). 4 punts. On Halliday’s first pass, it was an 85 yd TD to Wilson, 7-6 (6:35, bad snap on xp). WSU got 1 FD and fumbled. ASU went 37/10pl for a 39 yd FG, 10-6 (14:51). WSU got a 31 yd pass on a 51/6pl drive and settled for a 39 yd FG, 10-9 (12:32). 2 punts. ASU went 52/9pl. On 4&8 they got a 17 yd pass and a roughing the passer moved them down to the 6 and but they settled for a 22 yd FG, 13-9 (7:15). 2 punts. WSU went 74/8pl and got a 23 yd TD pass, 16-13 (1:15). ASU went 56/5pl and got a 2 yd TD run with :13 left in the half to retake the lead, 20-16. At the half WSU had a 300-194 yd edge. The 3Q opened with 2 punts. WSU got a 44 yd pass then on 4&1 an 8 yd pass for a FD and then a 19 yd TD pass on the next play, 23-20 (6:40). ASU got a KR to the WSU40 and 6pl later a 16 yd TD pass and were in the lead again, 27-23 (4:11 3Q). ASU went 57/9pl but on 4&1 was SOD at the 10. WSU went 89/9pl and on 3&14 got a 17 yd TD pass for the lead, 30-27 (8:55). ASU went 71/9pl. They dropped a pair of TD’s then missed a 21 yd FG with 5:45 left. WSU on 3&9 got a 25 yd pass. On another 3&8 a 29 yd pass to the 1 and a 1 yd TD run capped the 80/11pl TD drive with 1:50 left. ASU fmbl’d the KO at their own 26 and WSU took a knee.

During the offseason I had just one weekend blog but each week during the season I will take a look at the Top 25 performances from the just completed week with a little analysis as well as a quick review of the past weekend. On Monday I will give you my News & Notes where I delve deeper into every game that was played this past weekend, breaking down individual drives and giving you misleading finals and other interesting tidbits.

As far as my game grades go after the 2008 season was completed I devised a power ratings system, which lets me analyze at what level each team played during an individual game. This “game grade” takes into account the yards rushing, yards passing, points scored, rushing yards allowed, passing yards allowed and points allowed and factors them in against the opponent played and even factors in the site the game was played at.

With all these factors taken into consideration you will see teams that lost the game having a better individual game grade than teams that beat them simply because the team they played was superior and much less was expected of them.

Top 25 Game Grades (Team Performances) Week 11

News and Notes Week 11 Part 1

One week after breaking the MAC record for comb’d TD’s (17) in a 63-60 loss to Northern Illinois, Toledo came right back and had 37-32 FD and 804-635 yd edges and beat W Michigan 66-63 in regulation, setting MAC records again.

Houston had a streak of 19 straight quarters with a score surprisingly end vs Tulane. Surprisingly, because the final was 73-17. In the 1Q UH had 1 poss and they got 2 FD’s and punted. TU had 15 and 8 pl drives but was int’d in the EZ and punted and it was scoreless. UH got a 72 yd TD run with :18 left in the half to go up 35-10 and had a 373-232 yd edge at the half. UH had a 70 yd PR TD by Edwards early 1Q, and in the 4Q a 76 yd PR TD by Payne. Backup QB Turner engineered scoring drives of 59 and 79 yards for UH and their final drive ended at the TU25 taking a knee.

Pittsburgh had 396-280 yd and 21-15 FD edges with Louisville’s TD’s coming on an 11 yd drive after a 7 yd punt, and trailing 21-7 they drove 71/7pl for a TD with :12 left. Pitt remains in the Big East race.

Tulsa piled up a season high 682 yds vs Marshall and finished with a 32-16 FD edge. TU actually had a 414-148 yd edge at the half and led 42-3 going through the motions in the 2H.

Vanderbilt got their biggest win over Kentucky since 1969 and matched their largest margin in an SEC game since 1971. VU finished with a 28-9 FD edge and in the 1H had a 278-41 yd edge. Kentucky bobbled a snap and was tkl’d at their own 3 on a punt and VU got a TD 3pl later and VU would lead 24-0 at the half.

South Carolina won its 6th SEC game for the first time since joining the league in 1992 but need Georgia to lose to Kentucky next week to get back to the SEC Title game. Florida led 3-0 when SC drove 62/11pl for a TD with 7:07 left in the half then rec’d a fmbl, converted on 4&1 with a 10 yd run and went 46/11pl for a 1 yd TD with :31 left in the half to lead 14-3. UF got it to 14-12 with 11:23 left but their 2 pt conv was int’d and SC got a 46 yd pass setting up a 28 yd FG for the final. UF punted with 5:34 left and SC got 3 crucial FD’s not punting until :42 remained. UF had a 17-16 FD and SC a 299-261 yd edge.

There was nothing fluky about Purdue’s win over Ohio St. OSU did not get a FD on their first 3 drives of the game and trailed 10-0 and at the half PU had a 242-97 yd edge and led 17-7. OSU did go on a 66/19pl drive for the apparent game winning drive and got a TD with :55 left but their xp was blk’d and PU won in OT after converting on 3&12 with a FD pass to the 1 and getting a TD on the next play.

Everyone says Texas Tech is an up-and-down team since they upset Oklahoma. That was really their only good game of the year. They had another poor performance last week when in their home finale, facing an OSU team whose D had been giving up a ton of points, were flat out dominated. Oklahoma St had a 332-151 yd edge at the half and led 49-0. TT scored their only TD on a FR TD and OSU finished with a 637-270 yd edge.

Joe Paterno started as an assistant at Penn St in 1950, took over as the HC in 1966 but after an incredible week where all the news in college football was focused on Happy Valley, he was fired. It was the first game he was not in charge of in a very very long time. Still, PSU finished with a 375-311 yd edge. PSU had a 176-167 yd edge at the half but actually trailed 10-0 and came up 3 pts short.

USC lost to Washington on last second FG’s in each of the last 2 years but this one was not close. USC had a 246-91 yd edge at the half and led 23-3 and after 3Q’s it was 37-10 with a 401-148 yd edge. UW took over with 3:07 left and went 69/10pl and on 4&4 got a garbage 20 yd TD pass to “only” lose 40-17.

Virginia actually snapped a 3 game losing streak to Duke. The game was tied at 14 and 21 when UVA got a TD with 6:52 left in the 3Q and a 29 yd FG and led 31-21 after 3Q’s. Duke missed a 35 yd FG with 5:50 left and was SOD at the UVA42 with 3:33 left and UVA got 1 FD and ran out the clock only finishing with a 356-337 yd edge.

Boise appeared to have the TCU game locked up as they led 35-28 and had the ball on 2&6 at the TCU35 in range for the game clinching FG and only 2:26 remained when they fumbled. TCU got a TD with 1:05 left and went for 2 and got it. BSU still went on a 9pl drive and were in the middle of the field for a 39 yd FG but it trailed off to the right and BSU’s perfect season came to a halt, also ending BSU’s streaks of 10 straight overall wins, 35 overall home wins, 47 straight conference wins, a 65 reg season home wins.

Northwestern had a 533-254 yd edge vs Rice getting a 90 yd TD pass in the 1H then 2 TD’s in the final 4:26. Rice took over with 6:07 left trailing 28-0 and went 62/5pl getting a TD with 4:16 left but NU got 2 FD’s to the Rice 11 running out the clock. Jeremy Ebert had 7 catches for 208 yards.

Miami Fl finished with a 383-259 yd edge vs Florida St and a 24-13 FD edge. FSU did not get its first FD until midway throughout the 2Q but benefitted from three 1H Miami TO’s. FSU got a 37 yd FG on a 9 yd drive and later got an 83 yd PR TD and led 17-7 at the half despite being outgained 203-79. UM got a TD with 1:27 left in the game but missed the xp, 23-19 and FSU rec’d the onside kick. It was the first time in 6 years the home team had won and the first time in 7 years there was not an outright upset.

Texas A&M blew 2 double digit leads. One in each half and it was the 4th game this year lost in which they had a DD lead. Collin Klein threw for a career high 281 yds passing in a 4OT shoot out. A&M had leads of 14-0 in the 2Q and 31-21 with 6:38 left. A&M did finish with a 482-411 yd edge but settled for a 20 yd FG in the 4OT and KSU got a 1 yd TD run for the 53-50 win.

Wisconsin now controls their own destiny in the Big Ten as they outgained Minnesota 461-156 with UM getting a 96 yd KR for a TD in the 3Q. UW got a TD with 9:07 left in the game after UM had been SOD on 4&1 at the 50. UM also scored on a fake FG for a TD but were outFD’d 29-9. UM QB MarQueis Gray had a bad back and his girlfriend had just given birth to twin boys on Friday and he hit 6-14-51.

Michigan St controls its destiny in the Big Ten and just needs to win in their final 2 games. MSU had a 19 yd drive after an int then after a 20 yd PR, drove 35 yds for a TD with 1:57 left in the half then Iowa fumbled the KO and MSU got a TD 2pl later for their commanding 31-7 HT lead. They did have a 269-153 yd edges at the half while Iowa finished with a 20-19 FD edge for the game.

Georgia just keeps getting better each and every week. Versus Auburn they had 30-10 FD and 528-195 yd edges. They now just need to beat Kentucky to find themselves in the SEC Championship game. Isaiah Crowell and Carlton Thomas (both susp’d LW) each topped 100 yards rushing and UGA led 35-7 at the half with a 328-89 yd edge.

It seemed a bowl was almost impossible for Navy but they’ve now pulled 2 straight upsets and only need to beat SJS and Army where they will be favored in each to get back to bowl eligibility at 6 wins. Navy has won 5 straight vs SMU. SMU finished with a 386-335 yd edge. SMU’s last 2 drives of the 1H went 74/13pl but on 3&gl from the 6 they were int’d in the EZ then went 79/14pl for a 28 yd FG, 10-3. SMU was SOD at the Navy 21 late 3Q and trailed 24-10 when they got a TD with 3:40 left but Navy converted on 3&7 and 3&4 for FD’s to run the clock.

Clemson finds itself in the ACC Title game after they overcame a 28-14 deficit vs Wake Forest and kicked a 43 yd FG on the final play for the win. CU finished with a 522-317 yd edge and led 14-7 when WF got a 50 yd PR TD and then after a fmbl a 25 yd drive for a TD and after an int, drove 44/4pl for a TD.

Memphis led UAB 35-17 after 3Q’s. UAB settled for a 24 yd FG, drove 70/9pl and 69/4pl for TD’s but the 2 pt conversion failed with 7:08 left and they still trailed by 2. UAB went 77/10pl and got a TD with 1:36 left. MEM got to the UAB43 after a personal foul but on 4&10 fired incomplete. UAB did finish with a 601-384 yd edge.

Army got a TD with 14:02 left in the game but missed the xp and trailed Rutgers 13-12. Army was punting with 6:36 left and RU blk’d the punt and ret’d it 32 yds for a TD to make it 20-12. Army was SOD at the RU41 with 2:21 left. On 3&7 after Army had used 2 time-outs, so one FD would have ended the game, Jamison broke through a hole and raced 56 yds for a TD to give RU the 27-12 lead. Army was SOD at their own 26 and RU finished with a 314-305 yd edge, thanks to that 56 yd run.

NC State CB David Amerson extended his school record with his 10th int in the 1H and NCSt had a 267-190 yd edge. Boston College had a 92-88 yd edge at the half and led 14-3 on a very wind day where the winds affected FG’s and punts.

The winds gusted up to 60 mph for the Wyoming/Air Force game but surprisingly WY (more of a passing team) pulled out the win. Brett Smith hit 17-30-139. AF hit just 2-5-(-1) but don’t normally pass anyway. The goal posts were teetering, tents in the parking lot were toppled and the fighter jet fly over was scrubbed. A 12 yd punt with 3:22 left in the half set up WY for a 42/7pl TD drive and the lead, 12-7. They did trail 17-12 but got a TD with 7:40 left and AF fmbl’d at the WY24 and then fmbl’d and it was ret’d 48 yds for a TD with :25 left to make an 18-17 game a 25-17 final. WY finished with a 351-311 yd edge.

Colorado and Arizona was played in 45 mph winds which gusted up to 71 mph in the 4Q. Nick Foles still hit 35-53-352 yds but UA trailed by 24 points in the 3Q and CU had 273-60 yd edge.

Kansas led Baylor 24-3 in the 4Q. KU appeared on its way to a huge outright upset. BU got a TD with 11:45 left to pull within 24-10, a 36 yd TD with 7:58 left to make it 24-17 and then a 67 yd TD pass with 3:32 left to tie it. KU was nearly in FG range when on 2&10 from the BU39 they were int’d at the 25. In OT each team got a TD but smartly KU went for 2 but unfortunately did not get the 2 pt conversion.

San Jose St had a 30-21 lead and had the ball at the Utah St 7 when they settled for a 24 yd FG with 8:13 left which kept Utah St within 12. USt got a TD on 3&14 with 5:14 left and then a 21 yd TD pass with :41 left to escape with a 1 pt win. SJS did attempt a 67 yd FG on the final play but it was blk’d.

Colorado St lost QB Pete Thomas in the 2Q. He had taken every snap at QB this year and Garrett Grayson hit 6-15-26 yds in his place. Still, San Diego St took the lead 18-15 with 5:49 left and CSU’s final drive did get to midfield where they were SOD.

There could be bad news for Cincinnati who had the Big East in their control. QB Zach Collaros was on the sideline on crutches after being inj’d in the 2Q vs West Virginia. That injury changed the entire BE race. Bkp QB Legaux hit 10-21-144. Even with the bkp QB, UC which wore all red uniforms for the first time since 1993, had a shot at the win. They led 21-17 but gave up a 4Q TD and then UC had a FD at the WV22. On 3&3, Legaux ran for 1 yd and they went for the 31 yd FG for OT but it was blk’d.

Texas had 2 RB’s come into the game questionable but neither Malcolm Brown or Joe Bergeron played vs Missouri. Foswhitt Whittaker left with an ankle inj in the 1Q. UT was held without a TD for the first time since 2004 and lost to Missouri for the first time since 1997. UT went 77/12pl for a 27 yd FG and got into MO terr on their next drive but their offense slowed down and MO did enough for a 17-5 win finishing with a 338-247 yd edge.