Yet another wild weekend in college football. The schedule makers had to be pleased with all the Top 25 matchups that occurred and all those pre-title game title games that were played. You had teams playing for division titles so they could play for Conference titles. You had intrastate rivalries and a few interstate ones as well. Teams had a great deal to play for and, realizing there were a limited number of games (if any) left they went all out. There were upsets and barn burners. Numbers 1 and 2 lost, as did numbers 7 and 9. Only one team remains undefeated--Hawaii but they have one game left on their schedule before Bowl Season begins. Guys set personal records, team records and NCAA records. What a weekend!
#1/1/1 LSU (10-2, 6-2) The Tigers got beat by the Arkansas Razorbacks (8-4, 4-4) in triple OT 50-48. Did anyone check to see if Darren McFadden was wearing red and blue tights? I know he had a cape in there somewhere. McFadden ran the ball 36 times for 206 yards and 3 TDs. He completed 3 of 6 pass attempts for 36 yards. (But he didn’t catch a pass. THAT must be his weakness!) The Razorbacks compiled 513 net yards (385 on the ground) to LSU’s 413 yards. It was the second game this season the LSU Tigers have lost and both went into triple overtime. LSU’s national title hopes got crushed but they still will play for the SEC title having clinched their division’s crown prior to the game.
#2/2/2 Kansas (11-1, 7-1) The Jayhawks lost their undefeated season AND their chance for a Big 12 title 36-28 as they were totally out played by the #3/4/4 Missouri Tigers (11-1, 7-1) in the first half of their matchup. Todd Reesing led a strong Jayhawk comeback in the second half and finished the night 28 of 49 for 349 yards and 2 TDs. Unfortunately, he threw two interceptions in the first half that led to Missouri TDs and got sacked for a safety in the final minutes of the game. The Tiger’s Chase Daniel proved to be the better quarterback in this game. He was 40 for 49 for 361 yards and 3 TDs as the Tigers used short passes to control the ball and eat up the clock. Kansas became the sixth #2 ranked team to be defeated this year. They’ll be no rest for the victors, however, as Missouri moves on to play in the Big 12 Championship against Oklahoma on Saturday.
#3/4/4 Missouri Tigers (11-1, 7-1) were winners over #2/2/2 Kansas (11-1, 7-1) 36-28. (See above.)
#4/3/3 West Virginia (10-1, 5-1 BIG EAST) routed the Huskies of #20/21/20 Connecticut (9-3, 5-2) by 66-21 to clinch the BIG EAST title. The Mountaineers’ Patrick White was 9 of 13 for 107 yards and a TD but he also ran the ball 16 times for 186 yards while freshman Noel Devine ran 11 times for 118 yards and a TD. (I don’t know whether to love his parents or hate them. But I do wonder when he celebrates his birthday.) Steve Slayton only ran for 54 yards but scored 2 TDs. The 54 yards pushed him over the 1,000 yard mark with 1,042 for the year. White also surpassed the 1,000 yard mark finishing the day with 1,144. As a result White and Slaton became only the third pair of teammates to surpass the 1,000 yard mark in consecutive seasons. WVU rolled up 517 of their 624 net yards on the ground. The Mountaineers will finish their season this weekend against Pittsburgh but, while they should hope NOT to be ranked #2, they seem destined for a shot at the National Title.
#5/5/5 Ohio State (11-1, 7-1) Sat home and watched TV this week and saw their chances of a shot at the National Title improve. Personally, I don’t think they’ll be moving into either the #1 or #2 slot and will probably be leapfrogged by Georgia.
#6/7/7 Georgia (10-2, 6-2) Beat Georgia Tech 31-17 but lost their chance t battle for SEC title when Tennessee proved victorious over Kentucky. (More on that later.)
#7/6/6 Arizona State (9-2, 6-2) dropped their Thursday night game to #11/12/11 Southern California (9-2, 6-2) 44-24. In doing so, the Sun Devils also lost their chance for a Pac 10 Title and a trip to the Rose Bowl. The Trojans came to play and you really had to feel Rudy Carpenter’s pain as the USC defense teed off on him time and again sacking him six times. Carpenter managed to finish 21 of 30 for 240 yards and a TD but his counterpart, John David Booty, was 26 of 39 for 375 yards and 4 TDs.
#8/8/8 Virginia Tech (10-2, 7-1) beat #16/15/16 Virginia (9-3, 6-2) 33-21 for the chance to meet Boston College in the ACC Title game this weekend. Sean Glennon was 13 of 19 for 260 yards and a TD while his partner in the Tech QB slot, Tyrod Taylor ran for 2 TDs. Tech’s Brandon Ore ran 31 times for 147 yards.
#9/10/9 Oregon (8-3, 5-3) The Ducks dropped their game to UCLA (6-5, 5-3) 16-0. Their bright season has fallen apart since Denis Dixon tore his ACL. Neither team mustered much offense as the Bruins had just 220 net yards and the Ducks a pathetic 148. Strange as it seems, however, should UCLA upset USC and Arizona top No. 7 Arizona State the same day, the Bruins (6-5, 5-3) would get the Rose Bowl bid. That’s an unlikely scenario but this season…well, you never know.
#10/9/10 Oklahoma (10-2, 6-2) beat the Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-6, 4-4) 49-17 behind the running of tailback Allen Patrick. Patrick carried the ball 29 times for a career high 202 yards and 2 TDs. The Sooners’ Freshman QB, Sam Bradford, was 11 of 15 for 150 yards and 4 TD. He now has 30 TD passes for the season and sets a new NCAA record for a freshman. And there’s still the Big 12 Championship game against Missouri to play.
#11/12/11 Southern California (9-2, 6-2) defeated #7/6/6 Arizona State (9-2, 6-2) 44-24 putting themselves in position to win the PAC 10 title should they defeat UCLA next week.
#12/14/12 Florida (9-3, 5-3) The Gators beat up on Florida State (7-5, 4-4) 45-12 behind Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin. Harvin carried the ball 16 times for a career high 157 yards after missing the last two games due to migraines. Tebow ran for 69 yards and 2 TDs on 13 carries and was 19 of 28 for 262 yards and 3 more TDs. How did these guys lose three games?
#13/11/13 Texas (9-3, 5-3) The Longhorns lost to Texas A&M (7-5, 4-4) 38-30.
#14/13/15 Hawaii (11-0, 8-0) The Warriors’ perfect season remains intact after a win over #17/17/19 Boise State (10-2. 7-1) 39-27. Hawaii becomes the WAC Champions and the only team that is undefeated. Colt Brennan was 40 of 53 for 495 and 5 TDs—and he ran for another. Brennan has now thrown for 125 touchdowns in his career, a new NCAA record which he will surely add to against Washington next week and in whatever bowl game the Warriors appear. It took Brennan 36 games to set the record, surpassing Ty Detmer’s 122 TD tosses. It took Detmer 46 games to set that mark. Hawaii’s Devone Bess caught 15 of Brennan’s passes for 181 yards (a school record) and 2 TDs. He and Brennan have hooked up 39 times for scores—tying another NCAA record which seems doomed to fall in the coming weeks. If Hawaii is left out of a BCS game, someone’s head should roll.
#15/16/14 Boston College (10-2, 6-2) hadn’t beat Miami (Fla.) since Doug Flutie threw a “Hail Mary” pass back in 1984. That’s 15 losses to the Hurricanes in a row. Well, that streak is over. In a warm up for the ACC Championship game against Virginia Tech this week, the Eagles downed Miami (5-7, 2-6) 28-14. Matt Ryan was 26 of 43 for 369 and 3 TDs but threw 2 INT and the Eagles lost 2 fumbles. The turnovers kept the game close. BC defeated Virginia Tech in Blacksburg 14-10 on October 25. Since then the Hokies have won four straight while BC is 2-2.
#16/15/16 Virginia (9-3, 6-2) lost to #8/8/8 Virginia Tech (10-2, 7-1) 33-21 and thereby has been relegated to the ACC sidelines and must wait until the bowl play begins.
#17/17/19 Boise State (10-2. 7-1) The Broncos travelled to #14/13/15 Hawaii (11-0, 8-0) and became a 39-27 victim of the Brennan machine. Boise State is now 52-4 in the WAC since joining the conference in 2001. They had won 17 straight WAC games, with their last loss coming in 2005 at Fresno State. The Broncos had won five straight WAC titles and appeared in a BCS bowl game last year when they went undefeated.
#18/18/17 Illinois (9-3, 6-2) The Fighting Illini, like their Big Ten brethren sat this week and watched TV. Some movement in the polls will likely result in Illinois moving up a slot or two.
#19/19/18 Tennessee (9-3, 6-2) The Volunteers and the Kentucky Wildcats (7-5, 3-5) played in what seemed like “The Game That Never Ends” to determine who will face LSU for the SEC championship, Tennessee or Georgia. The Volunteers blew a 17 point lead in regulation allowing Kentucky to tie the game 31-31. The teams then played four overtimes to decide the outcome. They traded TDs in the first OT. Neither scored in the second (Tennessee’s Ainge was intercepted, Kentucky’s Lones Seiber had a field goal attempt blocked). They traded TDs in the third OT but neither made the 2-point conversion. And finally, in the fourth OT, Erik Ainge threw for a 40-yard TD to Quintin Hancock and a 2-pt conversion to Austin Rogers and, while Kentucky got a TD from a Derrick Locke 2-yard run, they failed to convert. The final score was 52-50. Erik Ainge was 28 of 45 for 397 yards and 7 TDs. Andre Woodson was 39 of 62 for 430 yards and 6 TDs. (They really should put the OT stats in a separate category.) Anyway, Tennessee gets to play LSU for the SEC Title.
#20/21/20 Connecticut (9-3, 5-2) The Huskies took it on the chin (in the case of Rudy Carpenter you can take that literally) 66-21 as #4/3/3 West Virginia (10-1, 5-1) tried to prove it belongs in the National Title game.
#21/22/22 Clemson (9-3, 5-3) edged intrastate rival South Carolina(6-6, 3-5) 23-21 on a last second 35-yard field goal. It was the fifth straight loss for the Steve Spurrier coached Gamecocks who had been 6-1 at one point in the season.
#22/20/21 Wisconsin (9-3, 5-3) The Badgers are another Big Ten team that sat back and relaxed this week.
#23/23/25 Brigham Young (9-2, 7-0) The Cougars beat Utah (8-4, 5-3) 17-10 as BYU came from a 10-9 deficit in the closing minutes on a Harvey Unga 11-yard TD and a 2-point conversion. It was the Cougars 15th consecutive victory in Mountain West play. The win also clinched the Mountain West title for the Cougars who still have one game remaining against San Diego State.
#24/NR/24 Cincinnati (9-2, 4-3) The Bearcats beat up on hapless Syracuse (2-10, 1-6) 52-31. Ben Mauk threw for a personal-best 431 yards and four touchdowns in the victory. It’s the first time since 1953 that Cincinnati has had a nine win season. Last year, while playing for Wake Forest, Mauk broke the humerus of his throwing arm trying to recover a fumble in the opening game of the year against Syracuse. Syracuse’s Andrew Robinson helped make a game of it for three quarters finishing 29-for-47 for 419 yards and three TDs. Cincinnati had allowed just 10 touchdown passes all season. But Robinson was sacked 11 times. This is the second time in three years that Syracuse has had ten loses and just the second time in school history. The Bearcats got their 39th turnover (they lead the nation in that statistic) in the third quarter on a fumble returned for a touchdown that boosted their lead to 42-31 with a bit over six mines left in the period.
#25/25/26 Auburn (8-4, 5-3) downed Alabama (6-6, 4-4) 17-10 when Brandon Cox scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 3:58 left in the game to go ahead 17-7 and then recovered an onsides kick after a Leigh Tiffin 49-yard field goal closed it to 17-10.
NR/NR/23 South Florida (9-3, 4-3) roughed up Pittsburgh (4-7, 2-4) in a wild affair that ended 48-37. After a slow start that saw the Panthers take a 14-10 halftime lead, Matt Grothe ran 80 yards for a TD on the first play from scrimmage in the second half and then the Bulls defense went to work. They returned two interceptions for touchdowns and returned a third 60 yards to the 1-yard line. That too resulted in a TD. Pitt QB Matt Bostick threw for three TDs and freshman running back Lesean McCoy ran for three TDs for the Panthers. It was Pittsburgh’s third straight losing season under coach Dave Wannstedt. With one game to play (West Virginia), Pittsburgh’s McCoy now has 14 touchdowns, breaking Tony Dorsett's Pitt freshman record of 13 in 1973. McCoy is 20 yards away from joining Dorsett (1,686 yards in 1973) and Curvin Richards (1,228 yards in 1988) as the only Pitt freshmen to gain more than 1,200 yards in a season. McCoy had 55 yards on 18 carries and has 1,180 yards, 81 yards off the Big East freshman record of 1,261 yards by Rutgers' Terrell Willis in 1993.
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