Week 6 NCAA Football Roundup

Arizona realizes their Coach Stoops isn't Bob, fires him immediately: We may be seeing the end of the "Nick Foles passing for 350 yards in a loss" era of Arizona football, as Mike Stoops was finally fired yesterday after the Wildcats fell to 1-5.  The final straw was a 37-27 loss to Oregon State, who barely knows how to play football as it is (ask Sacramento State), and notched their first victory this year.  Yet again, Nick Foles neared 400 yards (378 yards this time around), and completed 68.9% of his passes but the Wildcats couldn't muster enough offense.  The Wildcats are 114th in the country in rushing with a mere 451 yards this season, and Saturday was no different as they totalled 53 rushing yards.  Arizona's biggest problem is a lack of ability to score early in games.  They always fall behind and have to rely on Nick Foles, Juron Criner and Dan Buckner to bail them out (it never happens).  Arizona now has lost 10 straight games to FBS teams, and this trendy preseason Pac-12 sleeper pick is fast asleep at the wheel.

FLORIDA STATE IS BACK... outside the top 25: Who could have ever seen this coming?  Florida State overrated?  You'll probably tell me next that Clemson is a national title contender.  Oh, wait, they're both true?

Yes, again the prognosticators in the national media fell for the Seminoles and believed for some reason that they would somehow turn it around after losing one of the best QBs in their program's history in Christian Ponder.  This week, their QB situation finally came back to bite them.  True freshman QB Clint Trickett started the game after almost leading them to beat Clemson a couple weeks back in his debut, but threw 2 early interceptions and totalled only 28 passing yards before being pulled for the injured E.J. Manuel.  Manuel came in and threw for 286 yards and 2 TDs, but also added 2 INTs.  Four interceptions combined with the 115th rushing attack in the country is not a formula for success, even against Wake Forest.  Wake Forest is somehow good again, and no you're not in a dream.  They really did make a BCS bowl a few years back, and the way they're playing they have an outside chance at making one this year.  QB Tanner Price threw for 233 yards and 3 TDs and RB Josh Harris ran for 136 yards on a mere 13 carries to lead the Demon Deacons to an upset victory.  Wake Forest faces Virginia Tech this week, and if they win, could be the team to challenge Clemson in the ACC.  I can't even believe I was ever in position to write that sentence, but thus is the nature of college football.

Slight Improvement! Texas A&M ALMOST blows game but doesn't:  After two consecutive chokejobs, it sure looked like Texas Tech had a shot to make it 3 losses in a row for the A&M Aggies, but Texas A&M barely held on to win 45-40.  The hallmark of this near chokejob was Texas Tech going for it on 4th down near their own 30 yard line, and failing to convert.  Texas A&M received the ball at Texas Tech's 33 with 4:06 left in the game, so how did they respond?  Well of course, they lost 7 yards in their 3 plays, and had to punt the ball back to Texas Tech after burning only 1:06 off the clock.  Texas Tech drove down the field and scored a TD with :31 left in the game, and couldn't recover the onside kick.  Now, I guess I'll actually acknowledge solid performances, since it wasn't all about Texas A&M trying to choke the game away (just mostly about that).

So remember how Tommy Tuberville said that Texas Tech would become a more balanced team?  Yeah, he said screw that, and QB Seth Doege went 44/66 for 391 yards and 3 TDs.  Doege has played phenomenally this year and really should be getting more national acclaim than he has to this point.  Texas Tech RB Eric Stephens did top 100 rushing yards (22 rushes for 102 attempts) though.  For Texas A&M, Ryan Tannehill has really taken more of a game-manager role this year than I expected.  He went 16/26 for 188 yards and 1 TD, tacking on 9 rushes for 55 yards and 2 TDs.  The Aggies have turned more to the option/zone-read looks as they saw them work against Arkansas and Oklahoma State.  RB Cyrus Gray led the Aggies with 21 rushes for 116 yards.  Don't get too used to these near or complete chokejobs by Texas A&M, because once they move to the SEC, they'll rarely even have the opportunity to choke away games, since that generally requires leading the game at some point.

Surprise, Luke Fickell is not Jim Tressel, and Joe Bauserman is not good: Ohio State must have seen the 28-year-old QB Brandon Weeden on Oklahoma State and thought that their ancient QB Joe Bauserman would be suitable, because it's the only explanation for not recruiting another passable QB to team with Braxton Miller.  Miller actually led OSU to a 27-6 lead in the game, and then was injured and fumbled the ball to Nebraska.  After that, Nebraska scored 27 straight, and Joe Bauserman put on a truly repulsive performance: 1/10, 13 yards, 1 INT.  Combining that line with OSU's other road game, Bauserman is an uninspiring 3/24 for 26 yards and 1 INT.  This offense is so bad they may struggle to keep up with Purdue this year.  Luke Fickell's brilliance including having Joe Bauserman drop back eight times while OSU held a lead for some reason, and once throwing an interception.  You have the talent equivalent of a 5-year-old child at quarterback, and Luke Fickell has yet to encounter this concept called knowing your limits.  OSU could enter the Michigan game 5-6 and playing for their bowl lives, which would add a truly interesting dynamic to the rivalry, and would make Michigan a complete joke if they can't finally win this year.

Vote Denard for player of the week!  Oh, you saw those 3 interceptions he threw?  Yeah forget about those:  For the second time this year, Denard Robinson threw 3 interceptions in a game, and is being nationally renowned for his performance because he accounted for a lot of yards in a Michigan win.  Because they're in the Big Ten, Michigan actually has an outside shot at being 12-0 when the Big Ten Championship comes around.

They topped Northwestern 42-24 this past weekend in Evanston, IL.  Northwestern looked like an unstoppable offensive force in the first half, leading 24-14 at halftime, and then yet again Michigan made solid halftime adjustments on defense, which has been a hallmark of their season to this midpoint.  Defensive Coordinator Greg Mattison has clearly made a difference as he turned this set of outcasts into a legitimate defense, and at halftime turns them into the Baltimore Ravens defense.  Michigan has outscored opponents 114-21 in the second half to this point in the season, which is the mark of a good team.  While it scares me to say it, this Michigan team is good, and in a weak Big Ten, has a chance to make some serious noise.  That is, until they face Wisconsin and get their faces kicked in.

Good Effort!
- Western Kentucky won their first game of the year, taking down Middle Tennessee State 36-33 in 2OT.
- As noted earlier, Wake Forest upset Florida State 35-30, and vaulted themselves into ACC relevance.
- Steve Spurrier benched QB Stephen Garcia, and new QB Connor Shaw made him look brilliant, as South Carolina whooped Kentucky 54-3, thanks to 311 yards and 4 TDs from Shaw.
- Buffalo upset Ohio University 38-37 in a shootout, where both teams combined for 952 yards.
- Rutgers upset Pitt behind the play of true freshman QB Gary Nova, who threw for 174 yards and 2 TDs.  Pitt was their typical selves, completely collapsing after a great showing in their drubbing of USF last week.
- Florida scored a whole 11 points against LSU and only lost by 30!  Yeah, at this point in the year, I think it's fair to say that's an accomplishment.

Participation Awards:
- Temple dominated Ball State 42-0, limiting to them to 236 yards and forcing 3 turnovers.
- Connecticut trailed West Virginia 10-9 entering halftime.  Then, almost like he plans this second half outburst every week, Dana Holgorsen's offense put up 34 points in the second half to win 43-16.
- Fresno State was embarrassed on national television, as Boise State jumped out to a 37-0 lead, and eventually won 57-7, limiting Fresno State to 9 first downs all night.
- Minnesota still plays football for some reason after last week's beating at the hands of Michigan, and lost by 28 to Purdue.  It doesn't get much worse than that.
- Kansas played Oklahoma State and surrendered 56 points before halftime.  Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden didn't even finish the first half because the game was so out of hand.
- Houston somehow held a team to only 3 points on offense, blowing out East Carolina 56-3.

Week 5 NCAA Football Roundup

Stephen Garcia suspended from starting lineup after throwing more interceptions:  South Carolina embarrassingly lost to Auburn this past weekend, and Stephen Garcia played a big part, throwing his eighth and ninth picks of the year.  He completed a mere 39.1% of his passes, although one was a 50 yard TD strike to Alshon Jeffery (it's about time).  Michael Dyer looked more like Marcus Lattimore though this weekend, as Dyer took an unbelievable 41 carries (albeit only for 3.5 yards per carry), but helped Auburn bleed the clock out.  Lattimore managed only 66 yards on 17 carries, while Stephen Garcia ran for 62 yards himself.

Auburn QB Barrett Trotter was arguably worse than Garcia, as he went 12/23, threw an identical 1 TD and 2 INTs, but managed only 4.9 yards per attempt to Garcia's 7.0 YPA.  Auburn's winning touchdown came on a Philip Lutzenkirchen (coming to a spelling bee near you soon) catch, putting an exclamation point on a 5+ minute drive ending with 1:38 left in the game.  South Carolina got to Auburn's 30 yard line with a 13 yard pass, but time expired before they could spike the ball.  The Ol' Ball Coach has already stated that backup QB Connor Shaw will start for the Gamecocks and play the whole game next week against Kentucky.  If you'll remember, Shaw started the season opener against ECU and was so much worse than Stephen Garcia that he got pulled by halftime.

Denard can pass again; Minnesota masquerades as actual football team: Michigan absolutely embarrassed the Golden Gophers 58-0, and it was never even a contest.  Michigan's defense is now second in the country in scoring defense (10.2 PPG), a far cry from their past three seasons under Rich Rod.  Is that a farce?  Absolutely, as the schedule to this point isn't exactly strong.  Regardless, this looks like a defense much more prepared for Big Ten conference play than in years past.  Michigan averaged 7.9 yards per play, and outgained Minnesota 580 yards to 177.  Denard began the game 11 for 11, and finished it 15 of 19 for 169 yards and 2 TDs.  He also added 51 yards on the ground, but that was far less necessary.  The Michigan story on offense was diminutive RB Vincent Smith, who ran for a touchdown, caught one, and even threw for a 17 yard score in the second quarter.  The Wolverines basically abandoned the pro style offense approach, which is comforting for me to see as a Michigan fan, because Denard just isn't made for it.  

Minnesota admittedly was missing QB Marquise Gray, who had a toe injury and couldn't plant or cut on it quickly enough to play, but they're also admittedly an awful team this year.  They've lost to New Mexico State and North Dakota State so far this year, and surprisingly enough by the names, only one is an FCS school.  Minnesota and coach Jerry Kill are in for a rough season, and Michigan has slight hopes to contend in their division and get the chance to lose to Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship.

Is there anything Andrew Luck can't do?  Andrew Luck and Stanford routed UCLA 45-19, and Luck had his typical near-perfect game (23/27, 227 yards, 3 TD).  But the surprising part of the game was Andrew Luck's tremendous reception during the game:

Easily in talks for one of the receptions of the year, and this only further showcases the elite athleticism Andrew Luck possesses for a pocket-passing style quarterback.  Luck has found a way to gain national prominence even while playing on the West Coast, as Sportscenter cut into a 0-0 game just to show Luck's catch.  Stanford remains a national story, and they played very well in their first game minus LB Shayne Skov, who is out for the season.  If they beat Oregon, the season may be an undefeated one for Stanford, and they'll get much talk for BCS title contention.

This is what Alabama's defense does to mere mortals:

Florida QB John Brantley being taken off the field.
(Sam Greenwood - Getty Images)

Alabama knocked John Brantley out of the game in the first half, and he took Florida's hopes of winning the game with him.  Brantley was the first QB to make Alabama's defense look human this year, throwing a 65-yard TD to WR Andre Debose on the game's opening play, and finishing the night 11/16 for 190 yards, the TD and 1 INT.  The INT unfortunately was returned for a touchdown by Alabama, but regardless, Brantley had Florida squarely in this game as I projected.  Poor freshman QB Jeff Driskel was thrown into the fire and led the Gators to a mere 64 total yards in the second half.  Now Driskel gets to face the other defense that's in debate for best in the country, LSU, as John Brantley is already ruled out for this week's game.

Alabama's offense rolled in this one, behind the 29 carries for 181 yards by Trent Richardson.  QB A.J. McCarron looked very unimpressive (12/25, 140 yards), so if Brantley had stayed in the game, this would have been far more competitive.  The story was obviously the Alabama defense here, which held Florida to 222 yards (15 rushing!), and forced 4 fumbles, as well as accounting for a touchdown on LB Courtney Upshaw's INT return.  The only games left this season to challenge Alabama are their games against LSU, at Auburn, and the SEC championship.  Florida could still lose this week and get a rematch against LSU/Alabama in the SEC Championship, as South Carolina and Georgia aren't overly impressive teams, so the SEC East division race will be interesting to watch.

Ron Zook's job is safe, again.:  After three underwhelming seasons at Illinois, Zook's Illini have come up in the clutch for him again, and look to be a legitimate top 25 team.  QB Nathan Scheelhaase looks to have improved even further this season, as he threw for a career-high 392 yards and scored the game's final touchdown on a QB sneak with 13 seconds left in the game to top Northwestern 38-35.  WR A.J. Jenkins was Scheelhaase's main target, as he caught 12 of Scheelhaase's completions, all 3 of his TD passes, and accounted for 268 yards receiving.  Illinois struggled to run the ball, which is odd for them, but instead passed all over what looks to be a very weak Northwestern secondary.

Northwestern QB Dan Persa returned to the Wildcats in this game and played well, (10/14, 123 yards, 4 TD), although you could tell they were limiting his pass attempts to keep him safe.  Persa left in the fourth quarter anyways with a reaggravation of his Achilles, but is expected to play against Michigan this week.  Northwestern RB Mark Trumpy also was injured and has been ruled out for the rest of the season, although most Northwestern RBs seem to be fairly replaceable.

Texas A&M gets first taste of choking away an SEC win:  A&M once again, had their opponent down for the count, leading 35-17 at halftime, and found a way to choke it away.  Arkansas outscored A&M 25-3 in the second half to win 42-38 in A&M's second consecutive loss in a shootout.  Tyler Wilson threw for a school-record 510 yards and 5 TDs in the game to keep Arkansas' hopes afloat, and WR Jarius Wright had 281 yards of those.  A&M's approach was very different, as RBs Christine Michael and Cyrus Gray accounted for all five first-half touchdowns.  Ryan Tannehill finished with 247 yards and 1 INT.  A&M simply doesn't have the defense to close out games, and clearly doesn't possess the capacity to be a BCS team.  Arkansas isn't a great team either, but at least they can hold on to leads and surmount large deficits.

Good Effort!
- UTEP kept pace with Houston and QB Case Keenum putting up their sixth touchdown of the game with 6:54 left in the game to decrease Houston's lead to 49-42.  Unfortunately, they didn't score again.
- As Utah State is prone to doing, they choked away a late-game lead, letting BYU drive for a game-winning TD with 15 seconds left to win 27-24.
- Navy nearly beat Air Force, but lost 35-34 after missing an extra point in overtime.  Navy QB Kriss Proctor "taunted" Air Force and Navy missed the long extra point.
- Arizona's offense led by QB Nick Foles kept pace with USC's offense, but couldn't come out on top, losing 48-41 at USC.  Nick Foles should win an award for "Best Performance in a Loss" every week, as he again topped 400 yards passing with 4 TDs.
- SMU upset TCU in the "Battle for the Iron Skillet" rivalry game 40-33.

Participation Awards!
- Bowling Green took an early 10-3 lead over West Virginia.  Then Dana Holgorsen's offense beat them senseless, scoring 52 unanswered points.
- Oklahoma destroyed Ball State 62-6, allowing 0 rushing yards, and intercepting Ball State's QBs three times.
- Wisconsin absolutely dismantled Nebraska's one-dimensional offense and tore up their defense on the way to a 48-17 rout (fun fact: Nebraska's the first ranked team to appear in the Participation Awards, and no Bo Pelini, you shouldn't be proud).
- Notre Dame played Purdue for some reason, and beat them easily 38-10.
- It ain't 2010 anymore for Texas, as they avenged their loss to Iowa State last year, jumping out to a 34-0 lead in the first half, and winning by the final score 37-14.
- Bethune-Cookman led Miami (FL) 7-0 after the first quarter.  Then Miami started trying and outscored them 45-3 the rest of the game.

Week 3 NCAA Football Roundup

March Madness is almost here, right?:  The Iowa State Cyclones have overcome all odds and started off 3-0.  Huskies fans are already lined up at the box office for basketball tickets.  QB Steele Jantz didn't have a very good game, throwing 3 picks to his 1 TD, but he led the final TD drive and has an awesome name, so all is forgiven.  On the other side, Connecticut had the ball and was driving at the end of the game, but turned the ball over on downs at the Iowa State 37 with under 1:30 left.  If you're reading this and live in Connecticut, you should file an application for the position of QB at UConn, because it sure couldn't hurt right now.  Connecticut's total passing stats on the season: 38/86 (44.2% Completions), 2 TDs, 5 INTs.

In other basketball school news, Kansas got absolutely run off the field by Georgia Tech on Saturday, losing to the tune of 66-24.  Georgia Tech's triple option offense completely toyed with Kansas' defense, rushing for 604 yards on merely 50 carries (12.1 yards per carry!).  The first carry of the game by Georgia Tech RB Orwin Smith said all we needed to know about what was to be expected of the Jayhawks defense:

Georgia Tech scored on the first play of their possession 3 times, and no Georgia Tech player toted the rock more than 9 times.  Orwin Smith had 265 yards on 5 rushes and 2 receptions, and 3 TDs.  Remember how I said Kansas would be awful?  This is the proof.

The Roof is on Fire: Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof should probably get some treatment for those first-degree burns that Utah State, Mississippi State and Clemson laid on him.  Utah State and Mississippi State both had the chance to win the game with a last-second drive the first two weeks after dismantling Auburn's defense, and Clemson actually capitalized on their offensive success, putting up 624 yards and holding Auburn to 24 points.  QB Tajh Boyd made everyone forget about former QB, now Colorado Rockies prospect Kyle Parker, going 30/42 for 386 yards and 4 TDs.  He had an especially encouraging rapport with freshman 5-star WR Sammy Watkins, who had 10 catches for 155 yards and 2 TDs, as well as 7 rushes for 44 yards.  Watkins is clearly going to be the centerpiece of this offense, and he was phenomenal against the Auburn Tigers.

On the other side, Michael Dyer was his usual self (16 rushes, 151 yards, 2 TDs), and Barrett Trotter was extremely mediocre (12/25, 198 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT).  Auburn can't win with this formula, and the wheels finally fell off.  Auburn has allowed more than 3 times as many yards as Alabama this season (Auburn: 1,603 yards, Alabama: 510 yards).Their luck has disappeared, so until they sure up their defense, this is a 7-5 caliber team.

Vanderbilt is really 3-0.  Seriously, it's true: Vanderbilt's students may need to put down the textbooks and come to the football games now, because there's actually a decent product on the field.  Vandy is 3-0 after completely dominating Ole Miss 30-7.  Vandy forced 5 turnovers and held Ole Miss to 234 total yards.  In turn, Vanderbilt rushed for 281 yards and QB Larry Smith added on an efficient day in the passing game, albeit unspectacular (13/20, 103 yards).  RB Zac Stacy accounted for 160 of the rushing yards on a mere 11 carries.  Vandy actually has 10 interceptions on the year already and is allowing a mere 14 points per game.  Don't expect this undefeated streak to continue however.  The Commodores are 10th in PPG in the SEC against their cupcake schedule (33 PPG), 10th in yards per game in the SEC (318, even behind LSU), and they're only converting 24% of their third downs this season.  The train should come off the tracks pretty soon here, but they at least have a shot at a bowl game, which for Vanderbilt is exciting.

God is finally on Notre Dame's side:  Notre Dame systematically dominated MSU this weekend 31-13. Michigan State pulled the score to 14-10 early in the 2nd quarter and Notre Dame answered quickly with two touchdowns to go up 28-10 and put the Spartans too far behind to recover.  The Irish defense was outstanding against the run, taking away Michigan State's biggest weapons Le'Veon Bell and Edwin Baker and holding them to 53 yards on 17 carries.  Kirk Cousins had to attempt 53 passes, and while he totaled 329 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception, he was pretty ineffective if the Irish double-covered WR B.J. Cunningham.  Taking away Cunningham's 12 catches for 158 yards, Cousins had about 40 attempts for 179 yards, which is awful.  The secondary is worrisome when you can't even stop the one guy you need to, but at the same time, they did a good job limiting Cousins outside of throwing to Cunningham.

On the flipside, the Irish offense was fairly mediocre.  The Irish turned it over by fumbling on their second drive and Tommy Rees throwing his lone interception on their third drive, and the game looked set up to be another letdown for the Irish, but they recovered.  Jonas Gray and Cierre Wood were effective on the ground rushing 26 times for 126 yards, but the Notre Dame offense was held largely in check.  They had 3 long touchdown drives, and outside that, had literally no success on offense (239 of their 275 total yards were on those 3 drives).  While they at least capitalized on their minimal red zone opportunities, the offense didn't look in sync, and could be a concern for the Irish going forward.  Tommy Rees was more efficient this week, but still didn't look great, and may not be the quarterback to lead them to relevance again.

By land or sea, Navy's pretty good:  We can pretty much always expect the same season from Navy.  About an 8-4 record, a bowl win, and a couple near upsets against big-time BCS teams.  They quite nearly pulled off an upset against the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday, who pulled off a 24-21 win.  Unfortunately for the Midshipmen, Marcus Lattimore had a different idea.  He singlehandedly carried the Gamecocks to a victory, toting the rock 37 times for an unbelievable 246 yards and 3 TDs.  Stephen Garcia added on 204 yards passing in a very efficient effort.  He did throw a pick but that was the lone South Carolina turnover, so they could live with it.  Navy's running game surprisingly was literally equally effective to South Carolina's, as both teams averaged 5.8 yards per carry.  Navy led the game three times, including at the start of the fourth quarter, but couldn't mount one last touchdown drive.  Very impressive effort by Navy, and depending on their schedule, they may have one more major upset effort in them.

Good Effort!
- Pittsburgh led Iowa 27-10 with 12:49 left in the game, but Iowa responded with the biggest comeback in school history to win 31-27.  Hawkeyes QB James Vandenberg won Big Ten player of the week honors.
- Temple led Penn State late in the game, but Penn State took a 14-10 lead with 3:06 left in the fourth quarter.
- Duke beat a real, live football team this week that isn't in Division I-AA!  Duke beat Boston College 20-19.
- Minnesota beat a real, live football team too, beating Miami (OH) 29-23 by putting up 13 points in the fourth quarter.
- Washington put up 38 points against the vaunted Nebraska defense, but still lost 51-38.
- North Dakota led Fresno State 22-21 entering the fourth quarter, but Fresno State scored with 10:28 left in the game to win 27-22.

Participation Awards!
- While there was worse this week, Toledo got whooped on national TV by Boise State 40-15 this week, so they get a mention.
- Purdue beat SE Missouri State 59-0.  Good thing Purdue got their offense out of the way this week, they face Notre Dame in their next game.
- Georgia put a 59-0 beatdown on Coastal Carolina, holding them to 112 total yards.
- Wisconsin took down Northern Illinois 49-7, and Russell Wilson had his first 300+ yard passing game as a Badger.
- Oregon beat the real Missouri State 56-7, putting up 681 yards of offense, highlighted by LaMichael James' 204 yards and 3 TDs on 12 carries.
- Baylor destroyed Stephen F. Austin 48-0.  Robert Griffin III went 20/22 for 265 yards and 3 TDs along with 78 rushing yards and is totally still winning that September Heisman.

Week 2 NCAA Football Roundup

And you thought Brian Kelly was angry last week:  I still can't exactly explain what I watched Michigan pull out of their ass on Saturday night to somehow come away with a victory, but I do know that I loved every second of it.  Especially the last 30 seconds, which included a 64-yard miracle catch and run, where the receiver Jeremy Gallon was open by 30 yards and avoided 4 Notre Dame tacklers.  Denard threw up jumpball after jumpball, and Michigan's receivers simply seemed to actually pay attention to the ball, while Notre Dame's corners kept running backwards and didn't turn their heads in time to make any plays in many jumpball situations.  Denard averaged over 30 yards per completion, which is insane, and means he was A.) being utilized wrong and B.) Lucky as all hell because his deep ball is wobbly.  Notre Dame managed to turn the ball over 5 times in consecutive games, almost as impressive as finding ways to choke late and lose in consecutive nationally televised games.  Tommy Rees was good overall, but his final turnover was inexcusable and cost the Irish.  The Irish face Michigan State this week, and could be staring an 0-3 start in the face, while Michigan has Eastern Michigan, San Diego State, Minnesota, and a game at Northwestern up next, and could be seeing a 6-0 start in their future.  This loss has to hurt more than Notre Dame's loss last week, as at least they trailed that whole game.  Notre Dame dominated this game through three quarters, took their hands off Michigan's throats, and proceeded to gag themselves for 15 long, excruciating minutes.


SEC Speed means SEC Shootouts: Both in-conference SEC games were exhilarating shootouts this weekend, with #12 South Carolina defeating Georgia 45-42 and Auburn defeating #16 Mississippi State 41-34.  Georgia QB Aaron Murray played great throwing for 248 yards and 4 TDs, Georgia RB Isaiah Crowell topped 100 yards and scored two touchdowns, and South Carolina RB Marcus Lattimore rushed for 174 yards and a TD.  The star of the game though was defensive tackle Melvin Ingram, who outran the entire Georgia defense on a 68 yard fake punt TD, recovered a fumble and returned it 5 yards for a TD, and clinched the game by catching the onside kick.  Mark Richt may want to start checking out the real estate markets elsewhere because Georgia won't be his home past this January.

Auburn somehow found a way to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and stopped Mississippi State literally inches short of the game-tying touchdown as time expired.  Mississippi State rushed for 333 yards, with Vick Ballard leading the team with 134 yards.  Auburn countered with 233 rushing yards of their own, the majority of which coming from star RB Michael Dyer (143 yards, 2 TD).  Auburn QB Barrett Trotter was efficient (16/23, 146 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT) and didn't make any major mistakes aside from one interception.  Mississippi State was heavily favored in this game, so this is a big win for Auburn.  Almost as big as when they outpaid Mississippi State for Cameron Newton last year.

Justin Blackmon is Always Open: Arizona Wildcats Edition:  In this week's episode of Justin Blackmon is Always Open, he made an absolute joke of the Wildcats secondary (specifically poor CB Shaquille Richardson who was tasked with the unenviable job of covering him).  Arizona seemingly dared Oklahoma State to continue throwing to the best receiver in the country, by consistently leaving Richardson on an island against him in man coverage.  Blackmon abused him on a couple beautiful fade routes, slant routes, curls, and every other conceivable route on his way to 12 catches, 128 yards and 2 TDs.  Additionally, Weeden threw for 397 total yards, and the two-headed running game of RBs Joseph Randle and Jeremy Smith thoroughly impressed in totaling 182 yards and 3 TDs.  Arizona's passing game looked phenomenal between the 20s, and Nick Foles is on track to have an insanely effective season (71/93, 810 yards, 6 TD), but the Wildcats running game was abysmal (39 total rushing yards).  


Those teams in Iowa sure cared about that crappy Cy-Hawk trophy a lot:  Iowa and Iowa State played a classic on Saturday, with Iowa State prevailing 44-41 in 3OT.  Former JuCo QB (and most bad-ass named QB ever) Steele Jantz recovered from a horrendous week 1 performance against Northern Iowa to go 25/37 for 279 yards and 4 TDs. On the other hand, the Iowa Hawkeyes look weak this season, so they'll still manage to win 9 games somehow, because Iowa is the LSU of the Big Ten, and just finds ugly ways to win.  Also, you will literally never again hear Iowa, Iowa State, and the word "classic" used in a sentence again.  Iowa State also may not hear Cyclones and "win" in a sentence many more times this year, so to all four of you Cyclones fans, enjoy it while it lasts.


The Real, Worse, Younger, Mediocre McCoy:  Those of you who had Game 2 in the "When will Garrett Gilbert get benched" pool, collect your prizes.  He imploded in spectacular fashion, going 2/8 for 8 yards and throwing 2 INTs before getting benched, and almost dug Texas into too big of a hole against BYU to dig out of.  Texas barely managed a 17-16 victory after benching Gilbert for sophomore Case McCoy (Yes, he's related, and yes he is friends with the younger Shipley brother, Jaxon) and freshman David Ash in a playing time-share.  Gilbert has fallen far from his 5-star QB status and impressive performance in the national championship against Alabama (he only threw 4 interceptions in that game!) to a punchline and likely transfer to a I-AA school after this season.  Colt McCoy's younger brother, Case, will take over QB duties this week in all likelihood, but may share time with David Ash.

Good Effort!

• East Carolina once again almost pulls a major upset, but falls short late, losing 17-10 to Virginia Tech, whom they upset in 2008.  
• Toledo had the ball in the red zone with a minute left in the game against the Ohio State Buckeyes, but threw four straight incompletions to fall short against OSU.  Toledo was in it the whole game, in large part thanks to WR Eric Page who had 12 receptions, 145 yards and 2 TD.
• Maine came within 6 of Pittsburgh, losing 35-29.  While two of their touchdowns came in the last four minutes, the margin of victory was still too close for comfort against an FCS team.
• Norfolk State made Dana Holgorsen angry by leading his Mountaineers at halftime.  West Virginia responded with 45 unanswered points in the second half to win 55-12.
• Purdue almost upset Rice, but ultimately lost 24-22.  Purdue's so horrible, I consider them underdogs in basically every game, yes, even against Rice.
• Rhode Island almost took down Syracuse, but lost 21-14.  Syracuse's next opponent, you ask?  USC.  Luckily for the Orange, Lane Kiffin will keep it close by going for every 4th down and 2 point conversion possible.
• The top effort of the week goes to Fresno State QB Derek Carr, who went all Superman and scored this insane touchdown against Nebraska.  Fresno State ended up losing 42-29, but was right in the game until Taylor Martinez's 46 yard TD scamper basically locked up the Cornhusker win.

Participation Awards!
- Charleston Southern took their beating like a good little FCS school, 62-10 at the hands of Florida State.
- Akron lost to Temple 41-3 and is on track to score less than 20 points this year, total.  The bad news for Akron is that this was a conference game too, and not a mercy killing at the hands of the Buckeyes.  I'll give Akron even odds when they bring in the Virginia Military academy on September 24th, and hope for their sake that they can manage a win.
- UNLV thought they had a shot against Washington State, who lost their QB Jeff Tuel last week for most of this season.  They realized quickly that they were horribly mistaken, as they lost 59-7 to the worst team in the Pac-12.
- South Dakota State was systematically dominated by the Fighting Illini, who rushed for 364 yards, and finished 16/18 throwing the ball in their 56-3 win.  Ron Zook's Illinois team looks impressive enough this year to save his job (again), just in time for the team to regress back to a 5-7 or 6-6 level for 3 years.

Week 1 NCAA Football Roundup

Kentucky should immediately ban football in its state limits: Kentucky and Western Kentucky combined to score only 17 points, and neither QB threw for over 100 yards.  Both quarterbacks (Morgan Newton for Kentucky and Kawaun Jakes of Western Kentucky) did manage to throw at least 3 interceptions though  (Kawaun Jakes threw a fourth for good measure).  I found myself watching this game through the second half, solely in the hopes that WKU could luck into a win because they're so rare for the Hilltoppers.  I regret this decision greatly, because this was quite possibly the worst college football game I've ever watched.  The play below says it all honestly.  

The reason I benched you?  It builds character.:  The Ol' Ball Coach made the shocking move of starting Connor Shaw because apparently he wanted to start the game against ECU in a deep hole before inserting Stephen Garcia.  Say what you will about Garcia, but he's the best quarterback on the team, and Spurrier will have to ride with him taking the snaps again.  ECU is a sneaky team, and would have upset South Carolina had Shaw started the entire first half.  Garcia didn't play particularly well (7/15, 110 yards, 1 TD, 56 rushing yards and 2 TDs) but still helped move the offense along, where Shaw went 3/9 for 21 yards, and lost a fumble at ECU's 20 to kill an early drive.  The Gamecocks tried to keep ECU in the game though, fumbling four times and losing all four.  ECU apparently had the same plan, as they one-upped the Gamecocks with five fumbles, losing four.  This was an ugly game too even though the score ended 56-37.

Even God can't save you now:  Three games were delayed or called off because of weather this weekend.  The one of most consequence was the South Florida-Notre Dame game, where the game was delayed twice, but during neither delay could Notre Dame remember how to play football.  The Irish's first four times inside USF's 20 ended in turnovers (two fumbles, two INTs), and they didn't score any points until their ninth drive of the game.  This explains how you can double your opponent in yardage gained (ND: 508, USF: 254), and still lose a game.  Dayne Crist looked awful in the first half, so after a 2 hour halftime, backup QB Tommy Rees entered the game.  He had more success (24/34, 266 yards, 2 TDs), but also threw two interceptions, and a lot of his damage was done in garbage time when the game was out of hand.  So in the least shocking turn of events ever, we come to find out that Notre Dame is yet again overrated.

SMU really wants in the Big 12, even after getting smashed on national TV: SMU traveled to Kyle Field to face the #9 Texas A&M Aggies last night, and saw what could be if they become the doormats of the Big 12.  Junior QB Kyle Padron, he who threw for 3,800 yards last season, was picked off in each of his first two drives and subsequently benched for backup J.J. McDermott, who played as well as could be expected in relief (21/34, 265 yards, 1 TD).  The major story was A&M's defense, which had 8 sacks, even while the SMU offensive line played very well.  RB Zach Line played very well for the Mustangs, rushing for 128 yards and a touchdown, but he only averaged about 3.5 yards per carry after SMU's first touchdown (15 carries for 53 yards).  A&M's offense was firing on all cylinders.  RBs Cyrus Gray and Christine Michael looked phenomenal , combining for 217 yards on the ground and 4 TDs.  Ryan Tannehill only had 5 incompletions, most of which were him avoiding pressure and still almost finding a receiver, and looked damn near perfect.  The Aggies' offense is scary, and they've got a great shot as a national championship dark horse.  SMU looks forward to being the beaten dead horse in the Big 12 in a few years.

Les Miles is a damn wizard: LSU wins yet another big matchup on national TV, and Les Miles still acts like a confused little kid.  It's a typical night for the LSU Tigers, and the defense really stepped up to bottle up the potent Oregon offense.  Oregon only managed 330 yards on the game, and LaMichael James only rushed for 54 yards.  Darron Thomas needed 54 pass attempts to throw for 240 yards, and any defense will take it when the opposing QB's YPA is under 5.  LSU's defense was great, but their passing game was equally awful.  Jarrett Lee completed 46% of his passes and threw for less than 100 yards.  Somehow though, Les Miles pulled another big win out of his hat, and LSU will be in national title contention all year, even with the equivalent of a crippled kid at quarterback.

Robert Griffin's totally the Heisman winner until the end of September when Baylor starts to suck:  Robert Griffin looked masterful in the Baylor Bears' major upset of the TCU Horned Frogs, who play defense like they're in the Big 12 now.  The 50-48 shootout was entertaining and seemed to be already over once Baylor entered the fourth quarter with a 47-23 lead, but TCU put up 25 points in the quarter to take a late lead.  Griffin led the Bears down the field one last time as Baylor kicked a game-clinching field goal with just over a minute left, and the Bears notched their annual major upset of a team in the state of Texas.  Expect the Bears to disappear off the map on October 15th when they get throttled by Texas A&M, and then lose a shootout to Oklahoma State on October 22nd.

Good thing we weren't playing a real team: Kansas allowed 24 points to McNeese State, Oklahoma State allowed 34 points to Louisiana Lafayette, Missouri barely beat Miami (OH), Iowa State barely edged Northern Iowa 20-19, and Kansas State stole victory from the clutches of defeat and beat Eastern Kentucky 10-7.  The moral of this story is that the Big 12 is far, far worse than I could have ever fathomed.

Participation Awards!
- Howard suffers a mercy-killing at the hands of Eastern Michigan 41-9.  They feel better knowing that their band kicked EMU's band's ass.
- Appalachian State is brutally beaten 66-13 by Virginia Tech.  They point back to 2007 and laugh at Michigan to feel better about themselves.
- Oregon State brought in Sacramento State for a beatdown, but instead the bullies left with the black eyes as they lost 29-28 to Sacramento State in a real football game that actually happened.
- Austin Peay traveled all the way from Texas to Cincinnati and surrendered 72 points to a middling Big East team.  They take solace in knowing that they weren't the most disappointing team from Texas this week.