NEWS AND NOTES
Kansas Coach Mark Mangino promised to end his QB carousel and stick with Brian Luke the entire game vs. Oklahoma. Unfortunately KU managed just 97 yds offense and Luke hit just 11 of 30 with 3 int’s with 2 int setting up ten OU points. They had a 65 yd int return for a TD and a 15 yd drive for a FG after an int. KU actually had an 86-82 yd edge at the half. Adrian Peterson probably will not be 100% for quite some time as he had just 5 carries for -4 yds...
Rutgers benched Ryan Hart who had a school record 32 straight starts and who is the school’s all-time career passing leader. They went to Mike Teel who hit 13 of 27 for 203 yds in his place. RU got a 16 yd blk’d punt return for a TD and a 26 yd fmbl return for a TD for 14 of their 31 pts. Teel did lead a 70 yd, 6 play drive for a TD but also had a 32 yd drive for a TD after a fmbl...
Tulsa’s Ashlan Davis tied an NCAA record with his 6th career KO return for a score, a 96 yd’r that put them up 41-14. He tied Anthony Davis who had set the record with USC from ‘72-74. Davis was actually in the coach’s doghouse and had missed three earlier games.
MISLEADING FINALS, FRONTDOOR AND BACKDOOR COVERS
Tulane had a tough loss in their Friday night ESPN game. At one point Tulane had a 341-239 yd edge but actually trailed by 10 when in reality they should have been winning 28-17. Three key TO’s were the difference. They muffed a punt, setting up a UTEP TD just before the half and then Tulane drove to the UTEP 6 and fmbl’d with :30 to go in the half basically taking a TD away from themselves. Still down by 3 in the 3Q, TU fmbl’d and it was ret’d 25 yds for a TD and 2 of UTEP’s scoring drives were set up after Tulane was SOD on its own 35 and 42 yd lines giving them a short field...
Houston had tough luck inside the 5 yd line. They settled for and missed a 21 yd FG and twice fmbl’d into the EZ for a TB scoring zero pts on 3 trips inside the four. They trailed just 21-20 with 7:35 left when they gave up an 80 yd drive for a TD and after being SOD at their own 39, they gave up a 1 play, 39 yd TD run to Williams. Fittingly, UH ended the game at the 2 yd line with their 4th down pass falling incomplete...
Despite six TO’s, Akron trailed Miami Oh just 30-23 with 9:58 left in the game. UM went 73 yds for a TD with 6:46 left and after an int got a 1 play 50 yd TD pass. After a sk forced a fmbl, UM tacked on a 1 play, 15 yd TD run to blow open a close game, 51-23...
It appears Miami had a closer than expected game vs. Temple in their 34-3 win but UM actually led 27-0 after 1Q and had 34 points with 11:51 left in the 2Q and went to backups for the rest of the game. Temple HC Bobby Wallace announced he would leave when his contract expired at the end of the year. The game was played in front of 23,129 with more UM fans than Temple fans...
UAB had a commanding 432‑251 yd edge vs. Marshall but special teams did them in. MU blk’d two punts and each block resulted in a TD on drives of 34 and 18 yds. UAB, concerned about the blocks, went to a rugby-style punt with 6:41 left and the punt went 10 yds setting up a MU TD on the next play. The Herd’s longest scoring drive was 40 yds and UAB missed a 51 yd FG on the final play of the game, UAB was int’d at the MU 18, went on an 88 yd 15 play drive and after a 1st & goal at the 5 settled for a 21 yd FG but somehow lost...
Things appeared glum for Iowa backers when Indiana got a TD with 9:51 left in the game to pull within 24-21. Iowa, however, drove 80 yds in 4 plays for a TD with 8:02 left and then 59 yds in 5 plays for a TD with 4:19 left for the frontdoor cover. Iowa backers were sweating bullets as Indy drove for a 1st & goal at the 10 but their 4th & goal pass fell incomplete in the EZ with :42 left and Iowa got the cover...
Laurence Maroney rushed for 258 yds for Minnesota and they had 415-156 rushing edge. 30,000 Badger fans were in attendance in the Metrodome but things did not look good as UM led 34-24 getting a TD with 3:27 left to apparently ice it. Wisconsin drove 70 yds in 7 plays and got a 22 yd TD pass with 2:10 left for the apparent backdoor push. Minny was pinned at their own 8 and punting on 4th & 1, the punter fumbled the snap. Instead of running out of the EZ for a safety, he tried to kick it and it was blk’d and Wisky managed to fall on it in the EZ for a TD and a 38-34 win with :38 left allowing them to keep Paul Bunyan’s Axe....
The Louisville/W Virg Total was 60’ and the score was just 24-7 with 9:00 left in the game. At the end of regulation it was just 24-24 but the game went Over as it went to 3 OT’s for the frontdoor cover…
Fresno appeared on their way to an easy cover leading 46-7 after 3Q’s but Utah St would get two 4Q TD’s, one with 6:27 left and only lost by 32 getting 33 for the backoor cover.
BLOWN OPPORTUNITIES
It appeared BYU would be another team suffering from blown opportunities as their first two poss ended on an int at the 15 and a fmbl at the 3. BYU had a 442-311 yd edge and scored TD’s on their next 2 drives and led 14-0 at the half in the 24-14 victory...
Arkansas had their chances to put Auburn away early but the Hogs settled for a FG from the 2 yd line. On 2nd & 2 from the Auburn 12 they fmbl’d and then had a FG blk’d so they led just 10-3 with 2:20 left in the half and then allowed Auburn a late 39 yd FG. Auburn would score TD’s on their first 3 poss of the 3Q including a 24 yd drive after an int. Basically the clinching TD came when DB Vaughn had a sure int bounce off of him and caught for a TD by Wallace with 12:08 left.
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN
Ironically, Virginia, in a televised game on ESPN at night, honored the 1995 team that became the first team to defeat Florida St in ACC play giving us one of our favorite Thursday Night ESPN Winners of all time. In the same type of setting, UVA simply did it again. The Cavs. led 23-10 at the half getting their 2nd TD with :19 left when Hagans scrambled and hit Lundy with a 16 yd TD as he lunged into the EZ. They int’d Drew Weatherford 3 times as both QB’s topped 300 yds passing and the final int came at midfield with :50 left clinching the win...
In 2004 Ohio St trailed Michigan St late in the game and appeared on their way to a loss but amazingly finished with a double digit win thanks to 2 late TD’s in the final minutes. Thanks in part to a big play the 1H (see Game Turning Plays) Ohio St was in the game but trailing 24-21 in the 4Q. MSU missed a 36 yd FG with 7:12 left which would have put them up by 7 and the Buckeyes got a 46 yd TD pass with 4:56 left. OSU forced a punt and got a 26 yd PR to the 19 and then added a TD with 1:29 left to get the cover for another double digit win when it appeared they were on their way to a loss…
Also, in 2004 Iowa St would have won the Big 12 North Title had they connected on a chipshot 23 yd FG on the last play of regulation vs. Missouri and they lost in OT. This year they scored 24 straight pts to lead 24-14 but allowed a 19 yd FG with 4:44 left and then an 87 yd, 11 play drive for a TD with :20 left to force OT. ISU K Brett Culberson was wide right on a 43 yd FG in OT and Missouri hit their FG to pull out the win. At the half ISU had an 11-4 FD edge.
GAME TURNING PLAYS
Louisiana-Lft had 457 yds rushing and 554 yds for the game. At times they appeared in complete control vs. Arkansas St but ended up losing thanks in part to two huge plays. ULL got a FG with :32 left in 2Q for a 16-0 lead. ASU ret’d the KO 54 yds but then on 2nd & 5 Noce threw a pass to about the 8 yd line that bounced off a receiver and floated aimlessly towards the EZ where WR Smith caught the ball for an amazing Hail Mary TD with :02 left in the half, 16-7. The 2nd big play happened with ULL leading 29-14 early 4Q. ASU faced a 4th & 7 at the ULL 40 and their pass fell incomplete but roughing the QB gave ASU new life and a FD and they went on and got a TD to rally for the 39-36 win...
Wyoming had led New Mexico 17-7 but allowed a 24 yd FG with :02 left in the half giving NM some momentum. The Lobos led 27-24 when WY lined up for a 43 yd FG. The FG looked good and TV replays seemed to verify it but it was ruled no good with 3:01 left and NM got 2 FD’s and ran out the clock, escaping with the win...
Penn St’s unbeaten season ended in a game of momentum changes. PSU missed 2 FG’s in the 1H after 13 & 12 play drives and trailed 10-0 in the 3Q. They came back to lead 18-10 with 11:39 left. Michigan got a TD and then a FG with 3:45 left and got an int 2 plays later but PSU took over with 2:46 left and drove 81 yds for the apparent game-winning TD with :53 left, 25-21 but Michigan, on 4th & 4 with :01 left, got the game-winning 10 yd TD pass with no time on the clock. With :30 left Lloyd Carr argued with the official and got :02 put back on the clock which was important as an incomplete pass then left :01 left and on 4th & 4 they got the TD pass...
It was bad enough that LSU had a 5-0 TO deficit vs. Florida and yet still won the game. They would have easily covered if not for the TO’s as well as the final play of the game. LSU had a 202-79 yd edge at the half with UF’s only TD coming after a fmbl on a 32 yd drive. UF’s other scoring drives were 32 & 41 yds. LSU led 21-17 despite the 5 TO’s and on the final play of the game UF, in its own territory, started the latteralling to keep it alive and a lateral bounced free, LSU scooped it up and ret’d it for the spread covering TD. The ref ruled the UF player was down even though the ball was out of his hands before his knee hit and since the game was over and it did not effect the outcome, they did not review the play and did not give LSU the spread covering score...
Notre Dame had a chance at ending USC’s win streak as they forced a 4th & 9 when leading 31-28 and USC had zero time-outs with 1:32 left but Leinart hit Jarrett with a 61 yd pass which was threaded in to perfect coverage and amazingly USC passed up the FG which would have tied it to go for it on 4th down and got the TD for the win...
Michigan St, on 2nd & 12, had Stanton get sk’d with :18 left. Stanton was going to spike the ball to stop the clock and give the FG unit plenty of time to come on the field but the coaches sent the FG unit on so Stanton came off with the clock ticking away. MSU had an unbalanced line which was short 1 player on the left side. Rushing to get the kick off, OSU broke in and blk’d the FG and ret’d it 72 yds for a TD and stunningly trailed just 17-14 despite being outFD’d 15‑4 at the half...
Boston College trailed Wake Forest 30-21 after a WF FG with 3:36 left and appeared on their way to a loss. They brought in backup QB Ryan and he led the team to a TD with 2:30 left, 30-28. BC forced a punt and then with 1:18 left BC got a questionable 26 yd TD where the rec was ruled inbounds and it upheld via replay and they managed to escape with the win...
Alabama’s opening drive went 76 yds in 12 plays and they were ready to take control but they went for it on 4th & 1 and were SOD at the Mississippi 6. That play seemed to give Ole Miss life and let them know they could play with Alabama, which they did as the Tide needed a last play FG just to get the SU win..
Louisville led 24-7 vs. W Virginia and went for it on 4th & 1 at the WV 34 with just 12:57 left. They had a FD pass dropped and WV took advantage. They went on a 13 play drive for a TD, rec’d the onside kick, got a 28 yd FG with 4:35 left and then drove for a TD with 1:00 left to force OT where they won in 3 OT’s.
TURNOVERS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Arizona had 17-11 FD & 271-194 yd edges. The key: A 5‑0 TO deficit which allowed Stanford to pull out a 20-16 win despite not breaking 200 yds offense on the road...
Florida Int’l set single school records for most TO’s with an amazing 8 and 6 lost fumbles. Thanks to those TO’s, NT who was outFD’s 18-11 and outgained 322-226 managed a 13-10 win...
SMU turned the ball over 5 times including three 4Q int’s as they came up 7 pts short vs. EC at home. SMU in the 4Q was int’d at the 23 and 2 yd lines of EC on their final 2 drives and overall had a 5-1 TO deficit.
MISLEADING STATS
UL Monroe dominated Troy last week leading 20-3 at the half and that included settling for a 21 yd FG after a 90 yd drive. They led 27-3 early 3Q and even missed a 45 yd FG mid 3Q. After ULM fmbl’d at the Troy 2 with 7:23 left, Troy gained 82 of their 328 yds on a final garbage drive.
INJURIES OF NOTE
N Illinois RB Garrett Wolfe left the game with a knee injury with 4:09 left in the 3Q and AJ Harris left in the 4Q after inj’ing his shoulder vs. E Michigan last week...
Missouri had to finish their game vs. Iowa St w/o star QB Brad Smith who was inj’d and missed the team’s final two drives. Backup QB Daniel led them 87 yds in 11 plays for a TD with :20 left and got them a FD in OT where they nailed a 27 yd game winning FG...
Oklahoma St QB Bobby Reid did not make the trip to Texas A&M. Backup Al Pena, who is probably a better fit for the offense as he's a better passer, unfortunately struggled in his first start as he had 4 int’s and OSU had 7 TO’s overall. The D was also a problem as A&M amassed 694 yds offense.
UNBEATEN NOTES AND UNBEATEN LETDOWN
This week there is a key battle of two of the remaining six unbeaten teams as Texas Tech’s Cory Hodges threw for 643 yds and 5 TD’s vs. Kansas St. The NCAA record for passing yds in a game was set in 1999 at 716 by Houston’s David Klingler. Four TT rec’s had more than 100 yds and Taurean Henderson had 5 TD’s. K-St turned it over on 3 of their first 4 poss in the 2H and TT was able to break open a 17-13 game and ended up winning 59-20. Their opponent this week, Texas, is not only 6-0 SU but 6-0 ATS and put up 345 yds in the 1H vs. a solid Colorado defense...
UCLA got their 3rd straight big comeback win managing to stay unbeaten once again. They trailed Washington St 38‑21 after 3Q’s but rallied for 17 points in the 4Q including a TD with :44 left to force OT where they moved to 6-0, their best start since 2001...
Many times a team that suffers its first loss of the season has a letdown the next week and that happened to California. Cal, which had been leading UCLA big in the 4Q and suffered a very tough loss, could not recover from their hangover vs. an average Oregon St team. Cal was actually outgained 377‑315 at home but did lead 14-9 at the half and 20-16 in the 4Q until giving up a TD with 6:41 left. QB Ayoob continued to struggle with accuracy hitting just 13 of 39 passes for 219 yds and Cal’s injury plagued offensive line had their streak of 18 straight games with a 100 yd rusher end. OSU, meanwhile, had their first 100 yd rusher of the year in Yvenson Bernard who rushed 40 times for a career high 194.
POINTS LEFT OFF THE BOARD
San Diego St/Utah, in the 1H, combined for 563 yds and SDSt led 21‑13 even with Utah going on a 93 yd, 14 play drive and settling for a 24 yd FG. Utah missed a 2 pt conversion which would have tied it with 2:42 left in the 3Q and the Aztecs drove 80 yds for a TD with 12:18 left making it 28-19. Needing just 1 more point for the over, Utah went on a 72 yd, 17 play drive. They had a 1st & goal at the 3 and the only question was, would they kick a FG or a TD as they were 2 scores down. Unfortunately on 3rd & goal from the 2 they fmbl’d into the EZ for a TB. Utah drove again and were SOD on 4th & 1 at the Aztec 30 and their final drive got to the Aztec 31 but they ran out of time. Utes QB Brian Johnson had 483 yds offense with Utah piling up 592 yds but only scoring 19 points...
As expected in the Northwestern/Purdue game, the teams combined for 1,108 yds offense. A Boiler WR was stretching the ball towards the EZ from the 1 and it was ruled a fmbl that went into the EZ for a TB in the 1Q. PU was int’d inside the NU 20, fmbl’d at the NU 15 and was SOD at the NU 39, all stopping scoring drives in the 1H alone. PU missed a chipshot 33 yd FG in the 2H and NU missed a 41 yd FG. NU had a 3rd & goal from the 2 but fmbl’d and PU’s last drive ended on an int at the NU 30.
COMING UP SHORT IN THE HUNT FOR A RARE BOWL
Baylor drew a crowd of 40,857, the largest at Floyd Casey Stadium since 1996 but about 1/4 of the fans were cheering for Nebraska. A win would have put Baylor in a position for a bowl and they did lead 7-3 mid 2Q. In their first road start, Nebraska was able to grab the win, 23-14. BU QB Shawn Bell was sk’d & fmbl’d with 2:03 left in the 3Q and was replaced by Parks the rest of the game. Parks hit just 2 of 6 for 22 yds with 2 int’s as BU turned it over on all 3 of his drives...
Vanderbilt had opened the season 4-0 but have lost their 3rd straight. VU managed 324 yds vs. an excellent Georgia D but the Bulldogs had 446.
