Georgia Tech’s Reggie Ball rushed for 130 yds setting a school record for rushing yds by a QB, breaking Gary Hardy’s 1978 record (122)...

Penn St, despite a scoreless 1Q, had a 319-23 yd edge vs Youngstown St at the half. YSt played without leading rusher Marcus Mason who had 208 yds and 4 TD’s in the first 2 games...

Kent St had a 228-133 yd edge at the half but fmbl’d at the Miami 1 and missed a FG and led just 9-0. MU’s final drive was 19 plays in 80 yds and they converted on 4th & 1, 3rd & 15, 4th & 7, 4th & 5 and 3rd & 12 and got a TD with 1:04 left but Kent stopped the 2 pt conversion and rec’d the onside kick breaking an 11 game losing streak...

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Texas A&M barely survived Army. Leading 28-24, A&M went for it on 4th & 1 at their own 32 with 2:55 left and were stuffed for a 4 yd loss. Army converted on 4th & 4 for a FD at the 4 and on 4th & 4 pass inter gave them a 1st & goal at the 2 with :13 left. On 4th down from the 2, they ran the ball and were tkl’d for a 5 yd loss on the final play of the game...

E Michigan’s HC Jeff Genyk and some of his asst’s came from Northwestern. The familiarity of the 2 coaching staffs evidently aided the defenses as NU held EM to 5 FD’s and 134 yds but the Cats only totalled 266 yds of offense themselves. EM was at the NU 32 in the 4Q with 5:55 left when they were int’d, trailing by 8...

Kentucky’s QB battle was neck and neck at the start of the year but Andre Woodson hit 21 of 34 for 290 yds vs Ole Miss, his 2nd straight 3 TD game. Kentucky got its first win in an SEC opener in NINETEEN YEARS...

Texas delivered a 4? Key Selection winner for our Power Sweep last week and had an amazing 301-20 yd edge at the half and led 52-0 before giving up a garbage TD with 3:15 left. Despite it being a “road” game for Texas, all but one section of Reliant Stadium was filled with orange-clad Longhorns fans....

Rutgers was -16.5 and won by 17 and while most of the scoring happened in the 2Q, it’s interesting how they covered the spread. A punt pinned Ohio back at the 5 with 1:24 left in the half and OU QB Everson was sk’d in the EZ and fmbl’d and instead of a safety, RU got a TD for a 24-7 lead. OU had a 29 yd FG blk’d with 1:27 left in the 3Q and then on 1st & goal at the RU 10 was int’d in the EZ ruining their chances at the backdoor. RU did end the game kneeling at the OU 5 yd line...

Arizona JUCO walk-on Chris Jennings rushed for 201 yds and 2 TD’s vs SF Austin in the 28-10 win...

Michigan St actually trailed Pitt 10-0 but rattled off 38 unanswered points and for the game and had 533 yds offense....

Kansas St outgained Marshall 355-142 but their only true sustained TD drive was 66 yds for a TD with 4:15 left in the game. MU’s only TD came on a blk’d punt...Iowa trailed Iowa St 14-3 but after taking a 27-17 lead, did not allow ISU to cross midfield on their final 4 drives....

Georgia’s D continues to dominate and for the first time since its National Championship season of 1980, posted its 2nd consecutive shutout win. VHT QB Matthew Stafford, a fan favorite, hit 10 of 17 for 107 yds and UGA did have just 271 yds offense in their 34-0 win...

For the first time since 1972 LSU and Auburn were both ranked in the Top 10 for their matchup and if you like D, you loved this game. LSU had not allowed a TD in 10Q’s until Auburn’s 1 yd TD run in the 3Q which was enough for a 7-3 win...

C Mich did get a famed 14 pt turnaround vs Akron with a 100 yd IR for a TD and instead of a 7-7 game led 14-0 but also led 21-0 in the 3Q and 24-14 before AU got a garbage TD (:11)...

Boise St was our pick for the non-BCS team to earn a BCS bowl bid this year and they led Wyoming 17-3 at the half and held on for a 17-10 win vs an underrated Wyoming team on the road. The biggest question mark for BSt appears to be a road trip to Utah...

Michigan is one of only 2 teams in the country that rank in the Top 25 in all 8 position categories in the front of Phil Steele’s 2006 College Football Preview magazine. His main set of Power Ratings, based on talent, actually had Michigan rated the #1 team coming into the season. The Wolves lived up to that talent billing with a 47-21 thrashing of Notre Dame which will have fans reminiscing to their National Title year of 1997 when they had to defeat 3 ranked teams on the road (Mich St, Penn St, Wisconsin) en route to an improbable National Title...

Our prayers are with Indiana HC Terry Hoeppner who watched the S Illinois game in the pressbox after undergoing brain surgery on Wednesday. They were also missing their star WR James Hardy who was susp’d for 2 games. Also interim HC Billy Lynch sat out banged up QB Blake Powers and Kellen Lewis got his first start. Couple that with the fact that SI is ranked #18 in IAA ball and with the Hoosiers blowing a 21-7 3Q lead, the Salukis pulled out a 35-28 upset for their first win over a IA team since 1983...

It’s not often that a 3rd string DE wins a game for you but Caesar Rayford blk’d a game tying xp with 4:30 left and Washington beat Fresno 21-20. UW nearly won by more as they ret’d an int to the Fresno 1 late but then just took a knee. It was the 2nd straight year that FSU, off a tough loss to a ranked school, came up short the next week...

Cal’s D knocked Portland St’s top 2 QB’s out of the game in the 1Q and Cal had 375 yds at the half and substituted liberally after building a 32 pt lead in the 2Q. Neither team scored in the 2H...

Florida St’s Tony Carter ran back a blk’d xp for 2 and a blk’d FG and ran 69 yds for a TD. FSU’s offense was poor most of the game with just 204 total yards and gave up a TD with :08 left in a 27-20 loss...

One week after allowing VT just 9 FD’s, NC’s D gave up 30 FD’s and 521 yds to Furman. Furman got a long drive for a garbage TD (:13) in a N Carolina 45-42 win...

It was Stanford’s first game in a renovated stadium with the seats decreasing from 85,500 to 50,000 and attendance was 44,022, which was a much different feel than the normally cavernous Stanford Stadium. SU had 3 TO’s, including 2 fmbl’d KO’s and Navy rolled to a 37-9 win.

QB Controversy

There was a QB controversy in Wash St. As usual, the backup QB is always the fan favorite and the student section cheered wildly when Gary Rogers came in for the Cougars. He led a TD drive on his first series, although it was after the ball had hit a Baylor player on a punt and it was just a 34 yd drive. He has now led the Cougars to a TD on his first series in all 3 games. BU got a 40 yd fmbl ret for a TD with 5:24 to go putting them ahead 15-14. Starting QB Alex Brink led WSU on a 14 play, 81 yd drive. They had a 1st & goal at the 2 but settled for a 17 yd FG with :09 left on 4th down to pull out a 17-15 win. Brink did hit 21-32 for 251...

Illinois fans want Isiah “Juice” Williams to be their QB and he led the team in garbage time vs Syracuse hitting 9 of 16 for 227 yds directing two TD drives. For the game, IL had a 398-369 yd edge but for the 2nd straight week, some TO’s resulted in TD’s for their opponent. A fmbl was scooped up by WR Smith and raced 41 yds for a TD and on the 2nd play of the 2H the Orange rec’d a poor option pitch and ret’d it 15 yds for another TD for 14 of their 31 pts in a 10 pt win.

Amazing OT Covers

In college football, when teams go to OT, many games are decided by 3 points with a game winning FG, by 1 point when teams are forced to go for the 2 pt conversion and one scores and the other does not, and many times by 6 points when a team scores a TD to finish the game as they do not att the xp. This past week two teams covered spreads of 4.5 and 6.5 pts in the extra stanza. On Friday night, Toledo amazingly did not get a FD in the 2H vs Kansas. Part of it was due to QB Cochran getting inj’d on the first series and not being 100%. In fact, he hit just 15 of 47 for 136 yds. Thanks to an 84 yd IR for a TD, Toledo still led 31-23 with 7:19 left. KU drove 70 yds and got a TD with 3:55 left to force OT. In the first OT, neither scored. In the 2nd OT KU was int’d and it looked like UT’s DB could go all the way but he only ret’d it to the 50. Needing just a FG for the win, they handed off to Parmele on the first play, he broke off right tackle and went 25 yds for a TD and UT won by 6 in OT...

It was an even more amazing cover for BC vs BYU. Watching the game in the 1H it was amazing that BC was within 13-12. BYU went 66 yds for a TD, missed a 49 yd FG and then BC got a huge play, a 79 yd pass setting up a TD to trail 7-6. BYU settled for a pair of FG’s and only led 13-6 when BC drove for a TD, 13-12. BYU was int’d at the BC 16 with :53 left in the half. The game was tied 23-23 with 6:33 left and BYU’s 44 yd FG which would have won it, hit the upright with 2:53 left. Their 51 yd FG with :03 left was wide left forcing OT. BYU’s 53 yd FG in the first OT had a fmbl’d snap and forced McLaughlin to throw a pass incomplete. Needing a simple FG for the win, BC had a 38 yd FG tipped at the line. Had any of those 4 FG’s been successful, the game would have been over with BYU covering. BC, on its first play, got a 25 yd TD pass and xp and BYU, after getting a FD to the BC 14 had a pass fall incomplete but the replay officials ruled it an int giving BC the spread push/win as they were -6.5 or -7 in amazing fashion.

Misleading Finals, Frontdoor and Backdoor Covers

Middle Tennessee appeared to have an offensive explosion Thurs night vs Tenn Tech but in reality led just 3-0 at half in their 44?0 win. In the 2H they had TD drives of 29 (after KR), 7 (after int), 16 (after int), ret’d a fmbl 30 yds for a TD and their best drive was an 82 yd, 9 play drive for a TD with 1:40 left as they had just 219 yds prior to that drive and finished with 301...

Georgia Tech had a 491-213 yd edge with 5:12 to go vs Troy. It was actually 14-14 after 3Q’s when GT drove for a TD and after a pair of int got 40 & 50 yd drives for TD’s to get a frontdoor cover, 35-14. GT missed a 47 yd FG with 5:12 left and Troy drove 70 yds in 13 plays for the backdoor cover with 1:30 left...

Purdue led Ball St 38-13 with 10:21 left. Ball St drove 84 yds in 7 plays for a TD and trailed by 18 and PU was at the BSt 23 but were int’d and ret’d 30 yds to the 45. BSt got a 30 yd TD pass with 3:39 left for the backdoor cover...

At the half, Connecticut had a 190-62 yd edge vs Wake Forest and for the game finished with 22-11 FD and 324-209 yd edges. WF got a pair of gift TD’s. DT Thompson ret’d an int 86 yds for a TD (2nd longest ret in WF history) in the 1Q. UConn fair caught a punt at its own 8 in the 4Q and then went for it on 4th & 12 at its own 6 with 1:46 left but the pass fell incomplete. WF got its 2nd gift TD on a 6 yd TD run on the next play for a seemingly comfortable 24-13 win...

Ohio St kept its amazing spread streak alive at 10 straight. The Buckeyes only led 20-7 into the 4Q laying 29 pts on Saturday as the line had come down from an opening of 34 on Sunday Night. OSU got a TD with 9:57 to go and then after an int drove 72 yds for a TD with 7:45 left but were still not covering with Zwick at QB. After UC punted from its own 18, OSU started at the UC 44 with 5:57 left and got a spread covering 52 yd FG with 1:14 left!...

Memphis led 20-7 at half and 20-14 in the 4Q. EC got a 7 yd IR for a TD to take its first lead then drove for a 33 yd TD and the frontdoor cover with 3:34 left. UM was driving for the potential tie when EC got a 77 yd IR for a TD with 1:33 left for a misleading 35-20 win...

Missouri appeared to get a frontdoor cover vs New Mexico with a 2 yd TD run with 1:46 left for a 27-10 lead laying 14 but NMex got the backdoor by getting a 13 yd TD pass with :25 left...

Buffalo got a 28 yd TD pass with :41 left trailing 31-7 for a backdoor cover vs N Illinois.

Don’t Stomp on Foe’s Logo

LY in News & Notes we mentioned numerous times where an opponent stomped on the logo prior to the game and ended up losing (sometimes badly). Miami, Fl did just that vs Louisville, stomping on the logo and got whipped, 31-7, their 4th loss in their last 5 games vs IA teams.

Coaches on the Hot Seat

Larry Coker, after yet another blowout loss, is clearly in the frying pan at Miami, Fl. Chuck Amato, who suffered a loss to Akron the previous week and then complained about PQ’s (Akron had 3), had the heat turned up on him with a blowout 37-17 loss at S Miss, their 2nd consecutive loss to a non-BCS school. NCSt had just 106 yds in the 1H and once again was hit with crucial pen’s including unsportsmanlike conduct, a late hit and holding (typical of NCSt).

Oklahoma was Robbed!

The Sooners National Championship hopes looked great. A win over UO would have them poised to run the table as they'd be favored in the rest of their games (possilbe excpetion of Texas). They led 27-20 and had a 1st & goal at the Duck 3 but settled for a short 20 yd FG with 6:46 left. They had a 1st & goal at the 5 with under 5:00 left but once again settled for a 22 yd FG. Had they punched in a TD, they could not have even been robbed by the officials and they led 33-20 with 3:17 left. Playing prevent D they allowed UO to go 65 yds in 8 plays for a TD with just 1:12 left. The onside kick was touched by a Duck after 9 yds and after the ref pointed out that UO had rec’d the onside kick, an Oklahoma player went up to the ref to show him that a Sooner player was holding the ball 10 yds away! Clearly the replay officials would overturn the onside kick recovery but even Oregon grad Dan Fouts (who was in the booth) called it a “terrible call...ridiculous” on the air as the replay officials ruled that an Oklahoma player touched the ball first. Our only question is what film were they watching? Amazingly, two plays later the Ducks were given pass interference penalty when a tight spiral thrown by Dixon was deflected at the line and turned into a wobbly duck. The replay officials did not see enough evidence that the ball was tipped, ????. The Ducks got a TD with :46 left and Oklahoma’s 44 yd FG on the game's final play was blk’d but there is no way that Oregon rec’d that onside kick by NCAA rules.

Winds can be a Factor

The San Diego St/Wisconsin game was played in 20-30 mph winds and it held both passing games down as the teams combined for 187 yds passing. It was 0-0 at the half and UW’s D held SDSt to 115 yds and they got ahead of the spread with a TD with 7:06 left in the 14-0 win...Winds were 20-30 mph in Colorado as well and Arizona St’s high flying offense was held to 248 yds passing and 21 pts. CU managed just 3 pts as its offense continues to struggle.

Injuries of Note

GT star WR Calvin Johnson was inj’d in the 2Q and had just 2 rec for 9 yds LW...At the start of the year Louisville billed their outstanding RB/QB combo of Michael Bush and Brian Brohm as The Derby City Duo and hyped them both for Heisman. Bush was inj’d in the opener (out season) and now Brohm sprained his thumb and will likely be out 3-6 wks...

Pete Carroll noted that AA WR Dwayne Jarrett was finally 100% in practice this week and it showed as he had 11 rec for 126 yds vs Nebraska and became USC’s career TD leader (31) breaking Mike Williams' record (30)....

Last week Duke QB Thaddeus Lewis threw for over 300 yds vs Wake Forest. In the 1H Virginia Tech was called for 3 roughing the passer penalties and the 3rd one put Lewis out for the rest of the game. Marcus Jones was respectable hitting 6 of 8 for 71 yds in his place but Duke totaled just 139 yds vs VT’s fierce defense...

UCF held out star RB Kevin Smith (disp) vs USF. He was the CUSA Fr of Yr LY and Jason Peters (PS#63JC) did have 20 carries for 98 yds in his place. USF, led by QB Grothe’s 203 yds passing, is 3-0 for the 2nd time in the school’s brief 10 year history. 46,000 were on hand, the 3rd highest in UCF school history as a large contingent of USF fans made the 98 mile trip and at times were louder than the home crowd and USF won 24-17...

South Carolina susp’d QB Blake Mitchell and Syvelle Newton (PS#7) started and hit 12 of 18 for 196. While SC led 27-10 after 3Q’s, Wofford, down by 7, got to the SC 10 with :29 left but their 4th & 5 pass fell incomplete. Spurrier, who was furious at their shutout loss to Georgia, had 7 new starters on offense for this game and they totalled just 361 yds...

UH QB Kevin Kolb became the first 10,000 yd passer in school history but with the Cougars up 32-10, sat out most of the 4Q and Grambling got a pair of garbage TD’s in the 42-22 win...Utah St booted off their star WR and returnman Tony Pennyman due to an off field incident, and that is a big loss for an already struggling Utah St offense.

The way the Ball Bounces

Maryland not only turned the ball over 5 times vs WVirg but the way the ball bounced on a couple of fmbl’s meant the outcome of the game. After WV TD, the Terps fmbl’d their KO setting up another TD. While the Terps lost 5 TO’s, WV had a couple of key fmbl’s that resulted in TD’s, on the first, Slaton fmbl’d into the EZ but it was fallen on by a WV player for a TD. Later, with just :31 left in the half, WV’s KR man Reynaud, fmbl’d the KO but then picked it up and raced 96 yds for a TD. The game was nearly a backdoor cover as MD had a FD at the 14 yd line but their 4th & 4 pass was dropped at the 2 when it would have been a TD and the backdoor cover in the Thurs night game. MD had a 34-17 FD edge but WV did rush for 340 yds and RB Slaton, who wanted to go MD but had the scholarship pulled off the table at the end, had 149 yds rushing in the 1Q and 195 for the game.