NEWS AND NOTES

N Illinois blew a 13-0 lead vs E Michigan but got a TD with 4:20 left. Unfortunately they missed the 2 pt conversion and trailed by 2. On their final drive they had a FD to the 21 called back on a hold and their 50 yd FG on the final play was blocked...

Georgia's D was better than the 16 points and 201 yards allowed to W Carolina. WC, trailing 45-9, drove 69/9pl for a garbage TD with 4:15 left and then after forcing a punt went on another 53/6pl drive including a 38 yd pass on the game's 2nd last play...

Virginia settled for 3 FG's in the 1H and only led 16-0 when NC took over with 2:22 left in the half and went 72/11pl for a TD. UVA opened the 3Q with a 17 play drive and had a1st & goal at the 8 but settled for another FG and later, after a 1st & goal at the 9 settled for a 5th FG and only led 22-14. NC took over with 3:30 left and went 85/8pl for a TD with 1:51 left but the 2 pt failed...

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The 13 points scored in Notre Dame's first 3 games are the fewest since 1993 and it's the first time they've allowed 30+ points in 5 straight games ever...

Kansas caught Toledo off a key MAC game with a big home game vs a BCS foe on deck and was playing with revenge for the previous year's loss where they outplayed Toledo. The Jayhawks dominated with a 557-251 yd edge delivering a 3H Key Selection for us...

Alabama won their first game since 1991 in which they trailed in the 4Q...

While Clemson controlled the game vs Furman it is interesting to note the Paladins outgained CU 384-377 but Furman was SOD at the CU 46, fmbl'd at the CU 40, was int'd at its own 49, fmbl'd at the CU 26 and int'd at the CU 40 and 6 during the game...

Syracuse has not started the season 0-3 in 21 years but has been outscored 118-32 by 3 teams who were a combined 13-24 last year. Last week Illinois had 443 yards after 3Q's and led the game 41-10 before Syr got a garbage FG and TD, the latter with 1:01 left to make the final a "respectable" 41-20...

It was a tale of 2H's for the Alabama/Arkansas game. Bama dominated the 1H and appeared on their way to a blowout leading 21-0 after 1Q but Arkansas closed to 21-10 and it was 31-10 with 5:15 left in the 3Q. Bama was firmly in control but Arkansas scored TD's on their next 4 poss to stunningly take a 38-31 lead. The fans booed when Saban attempted a 42 yd FG with 4:20 left and made it but he looked like a genius when Caddell hauled in a 3 yd TD rec with :08 left and instead of tying the game, it gave them the win...

Last year Oregon outgained Pac-10 foes by 138 ypg, 50 yds better than USC and yet due to their 7-6 record, they came into the season unranked. If the Trojans were to lose it looks like the most likely scenario would be in Autzen Stadium vs the Ducks who routed Fresno St 52-21. The Ducks had 42 points at the half and put the offense away in the 2H...

It was an easy win for our 4H College Totals Club Play this past week when the Tenn/Fla game went Over the total on the first play of the 4Q (41-20). After leading 28-20 UF had a 79, 99, 53 (SOD), 66 and 29 (after int) yd drives for TD's to turn a close game into a blowout...

For the 3rd straight week Texas struggled vs a non-BCS foe and nearly loss but did escape with a 35-32 win. UCF was playing their first game in their brand-new home stadium and led UT 24-23 in the 4Q...

Ball St blocked a 32 yard FG by Navy on the last play of regulation and despite the Mids having a 585-539 yd edge, a Navy fmbl in OT saw them lose at home to the Cardinals...

Greg Schiano angered Norfolk St HC Pete Adrian when he called 3 time-outs at the end of the 1H attempting to get the ball back with a 45-0 lead. It was the first IA team that Norfolk St faced and Rutgers did rest most of their offensive starters for the majority of the 2H in a 59-0 route...

Wake Forest is a poor favorite, they get up as an underdog but in the favorites role they struggle and last week vs Army, they were actually outFD'd 13-11. Army also had a 256-213 yd edge but WF used a 55 yd PR TD and 84 yd IR TD for a 24-10 non-covering win...

Oklahoma led Utah St 54-3 after 3Q's piling up 598 yards offense but thankfully (we had the Under) put the offense away in the 4Q with just 19 yards on 4 poss in their 54-3 demolition of Utah St...

The Citadel's only loss in their previous 7 games was vs Appalachian St and they gave Wisconsin a battle. With the game tied at 21 at half, UW only finished with a 463-377 yd edge...

Ohio St tied their school record for consecutive wins during the regular season with 21 matching the mark they set in '67-'69. Washington was in OSU terr 6 times but were done in by 3 int's...

Kirk Ferentz is an outstanding coach that has done great things with Iowa but he's no Hayden Fry in terms of the Iowa/Iowa St rivalry. Fry used to smack his rival every year by 30+ points but Ferentz has actually lost 7 of the last 10 SU including this past week when as a heavy favorite vs a rebuilding St team, he lost once again in upset fashion 15-13...

Louisville got a TD with 13:15 left but missed the 2 pt conversion putting them up by just 1. UK just needed a FG for the win but suffered a pers foul and faced a1st & 21. They got a 57 yd TD pass with :28 left and UL's Hail Mary was deflected and caught but he was tackled short of the EZ...

It was a dominating performance for BC vs GT with a 527-267 yd edge and GT was never really in the game despite the 24-10 final...

Nebraska played host to a #1 team for the first time since 1978 but seemed to get USC angry after they took a 10-7 lead and the Trojans would score the game's next 5 TD's to take command, 42-10 after the 3Q. NU got a couple of garbage TD's late to make the final score appear respectable hitting TD's with 4:32 and :51 left...

Nevada QB Nick Graziano became the first Wolf Pack QB to have 5 TD passes in a game since David Neill did it in '98. It did come vs a IAA foe in Nicholls St...

Stanford renovated their stadium making it smaller and to give them a better crowd edge last year but had not won a game in the new stadium in its year it's been open. They did so in impressive fashion last week with a 37-0 win over nearby rival San Jose St with a 506-163 yd edge. The Cardinal led for just 2:30 combined in their first 6 games in the stadium but dominated throughout...

BYU rolled up 694 yards offense to Tulsa's 595 but had 2 fumbles and 2 int's which cost them in a 55-47 loss on the road...

Colt Brennan, despite playing on a sore right ankle, ran for 3 TD's vs UNLV and set an NCAA record by passing for more than 200 yards for a 29th straight game. Hawaii, after dropping 4 spots in the AP Top 25 demolished UNLV 49-14 completing a 2 game, 12 day road trip which they stayed on the mainland during the break...

Houston led Tulane 31-0 before TU averted the shutout with a FG mid 4Q then added a garbage TD with just :32 left...

Another IAA school won when McNeese St knocked off ULL 38-17. The game was the schools first meeting since 1986 and was played in front of 33,828, the 3rd largest ever at Cajun Field. It was tied at 17 in the 2Q but McNeese scored the game's last 3 TD's...

Kansas St WR Jordy Nelson set a single game school record with 15 rec for 209 yds vs outmanned Missouri St. MSU had avg'd 325 ypg rushing in their first 2 games but had just 69 vs K-St in the 61-10 loss. MSU is coached by Terry Allen who led his N Iowa team to a win at K-St in 1989 but was 0-5 vs K-St when he was the HC at Kansas...

NCSt snapped their 9 game losing streak (longest since 1959) beating IAA Wofford. After losing RB Toney Baker for the season to injury NFL caliber RB Andre Brown rushed for 143 yards and Wofford trailed 38-10 before getting a TD with 2:10 left.

MISLEADING FINALS, FRONTDOOR AND BACKDOOR COVERS

The Virginia Tech/Ohio game should not have been that close as VT had 24-5 FD and 372-114 yd edges but they did need a TD with 6:13 for the backdoor win (newsletter)/push (phones). OU's only TD came after VT fmbl'd a punt on their 26 and then was hit with a pers foul after OU gained 7 yards on 3rd & 18. VT was int'd at the 3, SOD at the 27, punted from the OU 33 and ended the game at the OU 26 taking a knee...

Looking at the score of the Penn St/Buffalo game, it looks like a shootout with the final 45-24 but PSU actually led 31-3 in the 4Q and allowed their first defensive TD of the year with 11:55 left. There are in a big sandwich of Notre Dame and Michigan. PSU began to look ahead and allowed Buffalo 2 more 4Q TD's including one with :12 left completing a 74 yd garbage drive. Their D is far better than the 24 pts and 395 yards allowed as Buffalo had 199 of their yards in the final quarter...

Missouri did lead W Michigan 31-3 at the half but WM pulled within 38-24 with 10:50 left. MO drove 72/6pl for a TD with 8:12 left. WM went on a 7 play drive but on 4th & goal from the 6 their pass fell incomplete and MO went 94/14pl for a clinching TD with 1:28 left. WM got to the MO 39 but was int'd in the EZ...

While Texas A&M deserved to win big over ULM, at the half A&M only had a 237-210 yd edge with ULM being int'd at the 2 and 20 yd lines of the Aggies. At the end of the game, it was 41-14 when A&M would add 2 TD's in the final 5:32...

Leading N Carolina 16-7, Virginia nailed a FG but the refs ruled it no good. Al Groh challenged it and it was overturned giving them the FG which turned out crucial in their 2 point win...

It appeared Indiana would be on its way to a blowout win leading 10-0 mid-1Q vs Akron but the Zips brought in backup QB Carlton Jackson who hit 15 of 21 for 200 yards and he led 3 consecutive scoring drives. Akron rallied to pull within 27-24 with 9:36 left but Indy went 74/4pl for a TD with 6:25 left and after a punt went 70/5pl and got a 21 yd TD catch with 2:43 left to get the frontdoor cover. Akron got to the Indiana 26 where they were int'd with :21 left...

Ohio St/Washington was just 27-7 with 2:04. The OSU punt went 28 yards so UW took over at the 45. They converted on 4th& 14 for 25 yd pass to the 7 and then got a TD with :51 left to either make it a Totals push or put the game over. OSU rec'd the onside kick and on 3rd & 6 on the last play of the game handed off to Saine who broke some tackles and raced 37 yards for a TD and a very misleading 33-14 final...

Purdue was dominating C Michigan 38-0 early 3Q and appeared on their way to a huge blowout. CM then appeared to get the backdoor cover at 38-22 with 12:16 left but PU ret'd the KO 58 yds and drove 39/6pl for a TD to retake the spread. CM was SOD at the PU 6 and PU fmbl'd at the CM 39 on the game's only other possible scoring drives.

TEMPLE WAS ROBBED

Temple, which was kicked out of the Big East when Connecticut was brought into the Big East in their place, always plays a big game vs Conn. The outmanned Owls, who were destroyed by Buffalo LW, basically beat UC this past week. UC got a TD early 4Q to take the 22-17 lead after trailing after 3. TU's final drive of the game got to the 11 yd line. A pass into the EZ was tipped and caught as the WR dragged his foot. It was originally ruled no TD but they reviewed it and amazingly the review also ruled no TD although clearly the foot drag in bounds and TU should have won the game 24-22.

SCORE THAT MAKES YOU GO HMMMM

Utah was 0-2, off a loss to Air Force and missing their starting QB, RB and top WR (all out due to injury). UCLA had just beaten BYU the week prior 27-17 at home and came in unbeaten and ranked. Utah left the field with a 44-6 win taking advantage of five UCLA turnovers. UCLA went without a TD for the first time since 2003 and were the highest ranked team Utah had beaten since 1994. Keep in mind, one of our favorite sections in Power Sweep is Misleading Finals and teams off of a beneficial misleading final generally struggle the next week. UCLA despite beating BYU by 10 was actually outgained in that game 435-236, perhaps a precursor of one of last week's big surprises.

TCU BLOWS A SURE VICTORY

Usually a coach does not blast his OC after a game but TCU's Gary Patterson said "We shouldn't gone went to the endzone. We should have run the football. Why we threw the football, I don't know. I don't call that side of the ball. We made a mistake." It was not just an int in the EZ with :49 left that cost TCU. They led 10-3 at the half and went on a 10 play drive but settled for a 20 yd FG and then AF got its 100th blocked kick since 1990 (5:25 3Q). On their next drive, TCU got to the AF 12 but was int'd at the 5 (2:09). TCU went on another drive for a TD and led comfortably 17-3 in the 4Q. TCU drove again, this time getting to the AF 28 but on 4th & 1 was SOD with 9:27 left. AF drove 72/6pl for a TD. Another huge play happened when AF, on 4th & 1 from its OWN 29, got a 71 yd TD run to tie. TCU had a FD at the AF 22 and had AF calling a time-out with :50 left. On the next play, Dalton threw into the EZ even though they were in FG range and it was int'd. TCU missed a FG in OT and AF got one to pull out the miracle win. Patterson suffered his first loss vs service academies dropping his record to 9-1.

INJURIES OF NOTE

Marshall did not start QB Bernard Morris and Brian Anderson hit just 7-15 for 58 yds in his place. New Hampshire came in ranked #12 in IAA ball and led 24-0 when Morris entered for the final 1H drive. He led them to 4 consecutive 2H TD drives. Morris' 5th and final drive ended at the NH 5 when they ran out of time and NH's spread offense scored a TD when Marshall trimmed it to 6 and won it by 13. Marshall had a 562-502 yd edge...

Michigan's Chad Henne missed the game vs Notre Dame and true frosh Ryan Mallett hit 7-15 for 90 yards. Turnovers greased the skids for the Irish as UM had TD drives in the 1H of 21, 38 and 48 yds all after TO's and led 24-0 and had a 219-11 yd edge at the half...

Michael Henig fractured his throwing hand and missed the rest of the game vs Auburn. Backups Josh Riddell and Wesley Carroll combined to hit just 4 of 15 passes for 25 yards but Miss St still managed a 44/10pl drive with a 5 yd run by Ducre' on 3rd & goal from the 5 giving them a 19-14 lead Auburn was forced to go for it on 4th & 9 and Cox's pass was incomplete with :52 left...

Navy was playing without defensive starters Clint Sovie and Jeff Deliz last week and it was part of the reason we used a 3H Over in the Ball St/Navy game. The two teams combined for 1,124 yards. At the end of the 3Q the score was tied at 21 with the teams both having 395 yards offense...

Ben Mauk, the starting QB for Cincinnati was a late scratch and Dustin Grutza proved to be a spark for the offense as a UC squad that totalled just 235 yards the previous week saw Grutza hit 25-35 for 290 yds and led them to 438 yards vs their rival Miami. Miami did have a fmbl, 3 int's and a blk'd punt go against them while UC did not turn the ball over...

Ryan Perrilloux got his first start for LSU but they still covered vs Middle Tenn with a 44-0 win. Perrilloux hit 20-25 for 298 yds and ran for another 37 and MTSU's offense, after scoring 32 pts vs L'ville, had just 9 FD's and 90 yards offense...

Cal LB Zack Follett and DL Matthew Malele were both inj'd vs LT last week so check on their status at www.ncsports.com...

One of Oregon St's top offensive weapons was WR Sammie Stroughter who is also a dangerous KR/PR. Stroughter missed most of Aug and the first game of the season (pers reason) and saw some action vs Cincinnati but retuned in full force with 160 yds receiving...

Duke snapped the longest losing streak in the country (22). Ironically the NCAA's longest losing streak ever is held by Northwestern and the Cats lost this despite a 506-309 yard edge.

THE SUN BELT MAKES A STATEMENT

Heading into LW the SBC had exactly one win, and that was an inter-conf game. They were 0-fer in non-conf play until Troy dominated Oklahoma St 41-23 in a game they led 41-10 on Friday night. On Saturday, Florida Atlantic dominated Minnesota more than the final 42-39 score indicates. At the half FAU had a 395-116 yd edge but thanks to a 91 yard KR TD and another long KR, UM "only" trailed 35-14. FAU led 42-24 with 11:32 left before UM got a couple of late TD's.

STRANGE COACHING MOVES

There were a couple of strange coaching moves in the Oklahoma St/Troy game. Troy was in control 20-3 when they faked a punt from their own 19 setting up OSU for a TD. It did not hurt them. The strangest move of the game came from OSU HC Gundy. At the start of the year OSU was anointing the triplets on offense including QB Bobby Reid. Gundy, however, benched Reid for the game and brought in Zac Robinson. Robinson obviously struggled with some passes but Gundy stuck with him the entire game, even though he hit just 18-37 for 191 and OSU trailed 41-10. Reid is a pretty good QB and you have to wonder why he wasn't at least given a chance in a blowout loss.