Tuesday, September 07, 2010

College Football: Week 1 Results

Week One is over and folks should be getting a better idea of what their teams are capable of. Nearly all the games went as expected. Some were tighter than they should have been, but there were only one or two real surprises.

(I may have used erroneous numbers from the CBSSports poll—that’s the third number. I’ll maintain that’s because they were slow to post their numbers. When I checked late Thursday I discovered quite a few differences.)

1/1/1 Alabama (1-0) rolled over San Jose State (0-1) Saturday night, 48-3.
With last year’s Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram sidelined by arthroscopic knee surgery, the Tide had an answer with back-up Trent Richardson. He only ran for 66 yards but had 2 TDs and another 46 yards on 3 catches. A.J. McCarron was 9 of 15 for 116 yards and Greg McElroy 13 of 15 for 218 yards as quarterbacks for the Crimson as the Tide rolled to a 48-3 opening day win over last year’s WAC Champions.

2/2/5 Ohio State (1-0) over Marshall (0-1) on Thursday, 45-7.
The Buckeyes whupped Marshall Thursday night by a score of 45-7. It was 35-7 at the half. Terrelle Pryor was 17 of 25 for 247 yards and three TDs including a 65 yarder to Dane Sanzenbacher. Brandon Saine scored two TDs as he ran for 103 yards on 9 carries (longest was a 45 yard scamper for a TD). Marshall’s only score came on a 61 yard return of a blocked field goal attempt by Ahmed Shakoor.

3/5/2 Boise State (1-0) edged #10 Virginia Tech (0-1) on Monday night, 33-30.
Boise State always seems to have to prove itself despite having the winningest record in the last ten years. Monday the Kellen Moore led Broncos jumped out to a 17-0 lead over the #10 Hokies…at the end of the first quarter and it looked like all questions about their Top 5 ranking had been answered.
But then Virginia Tech started to chip away. Ryan Williams ran in from 1 yard out for a Hokie TD in the second quarter that the Broncos could only answer with a 47-yard field goal. Williams got two more TDs in the third quarter—one on a 12 pass from Tyrod Taylor another a second 1-yard run—to give Va-Tech a brief 21-20 lead. Boise quickly regained the lead when D.J. Harper sprinted into the end zone from 71 yards out on the next series of plays. The Hokies responded with a 28-yard TD pass from Taylor to Jarret Boykin—they missed on a 2-point attempt—and a 34-yard field goal. With less than two minutes remaining, the Hokies lead 30-26 and it looked like Boise’s 14 game winning streak had ended.
The two teams traded possessions with the Hokies failing to attain a first down and was forced to punt. *sigh* Boise got the ball, did a brief –and obviously positive—gut check. Mitch Burroughs broke off a 25-yard punt return and marched that set up the Broncos on their own 44 yard line with 1:47 left in the game. A few plays later, Kellen Moore hit Austin Pettis for a 13-yard TD and the final lead change of the game. Boise State wins 33-30.

4/3/3 Florida (1-0) beat Miami (Ohio) (0-1) on Saturday, 34-12.
The Gators proved victorious dumping on Miami of Ohio 34-12 despite fumbling eight (8) times and losing three of them. Each team had 212 yards of net offense and Miami actually had more first downs (16 vs 12) but the Gator defense held the Red Hawks to field goals (Trevor Cook made four of them of 33, 31, 31, and 33 yards), gave up just 4 yards on the ground, and made four interceptions to stave off embarrassment.

5/4/4 Texas (1-0) doubled up on Rice (0-1) Saturday afternoon, 34-17.
Tre’ Newton scored three rushing TDs for the Longhorns in a 34-17 win over Rice. Texas had 197 yards on the ground and 172 in the air in a balanced attack that saw Newton carry 18 times for 61 yards, Cody Johnson 15 times for 59 yards and Foswhitt Whittaker 9 times for 51 yards. Garrett Gilbert completed 14 of 23 for 172 yards.

6/7/6 The TCU Horned Frogs (1-0) defeated #24 Oregon State (0-1) Saturday night, 30-21.
TCU held off a tough Oregon State team emerging with a 30-21 W to their credit.

7/8/NR Oklahoma (1-0)edged Utah State (0-1) Saturday night, 31-24.
DeMarco Murray’s 218 yards and 2 TDs helped the Sooners hold off a surprising Utah State as Oklahoma escaped with a 31-24 victory.

8/9/16 Nebraska (1-0) whupped Western Kentucky (0-1) Saturday night, 49-10.
Taylor Martinez ran for 127 yards and three touchdowns and passed for 136 yards as he led the Cornhuskers over Western Kentucky 49-10.

9/10/8 Iowa (1-0) downed Eastern Illinois (0-1)on Saturday afternoon, 37-7.
The Hawkeyes opened a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and was never challenged as the downed the EIU Panthers 37-7. Adam Robinson carried the ball 24 times for 109 yards and three TDs for the Hawkeyes.

10/6/11 Virginia Tech (0-1) dropped a back and forth battle to Boise State (1-0) on Monday night by 33-30.

11/11/12 Oregon (1-0) waddled all over New Mexico(0-1) on Saturday, 72-0.
The Ducks racked up a school-record 720 yards in total offense on their way to a 72-0 drubbing of New Mexico. With 28 points in the first quarter and another 31 in the second, the Ducks were leading 59-0 at halftime. All this despite Oregon having last year’s freshman sensation LaMichael James suspended for the game and having a new QB in Darron Thomas. Last year, James rushed for a team-high 1,546 yards, setting a new record for freshmen in the PAC-10. Former starting QB Jeremiah Masoli was dismissed after the 2009 season and now plays for Mississippi. Not to worry. Thomas completed 13 of 23 attempts for 220 yards and 2 TDs. Kenjon Barner carried the ball 17 times for 147 yards and 4 rushing TDs. He got a fifth TD on a 60 yard pass play from…yep, Thomas. Oh, and Cliff Harris had punt returns of 61 and 64 yards for TDs. Eric Solis kicked 8 extra points and field goals of 24, 29 and 30 yards. (If he also did the kick offs he must have had one very tired leg by the end of the night!) And back-up QB Nate Costa was 10 of 14 for 131 yards.

12/12/14 Wisconsin (1-0) beat UNLV (0-1) late Saturday night, 41-21.
It was 17-14 at the half, but the Badgers tallied 24 points in the third quarter to salt away a 41-21 win over the Rebels of UNLV. Arron Henry (fumble return), John Clay and Montee Ball each scored during the third period. For both Clay and Ball it was their second TD of the game.

13/13/17 Miami (Fla.) (1-0) shutout Florida A & M (0-1) Thursday, 45-0.
The Hurricane Blew over A & M 45-0 on Thursday night. Jacory Harris completed 12 of 15 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns…in the first half leading the ‘Canes to a 35-0 lead at intermission. Their next game is on the 11th at Ohio State.

14/NR/21 Southern California (1-0) beat Hawaii (0-1) in a Thursday night game, 49-36.
USC showed plenty of offense on Thursday night in beating Hawaii 49-36 in Lane Kifflin’s coaching debut for the Trojans. QB Matt Barkley tied a school record with five TD passes as he 18 of 23 attempts for 257 yards. Ronald Johnson caught two of those TD passes and added a third TD on an 89 yard punt return. The QB corps for Hawaii was just as impressive. Bryant Moniz was 18 of 36 for 269 yards and one TD, Shane Austin completed 6 of 9 for 141 yards and two TDs, and Brent Rausch 3 of 4 for 49 yards. Warrior kicker Scott Enos connected on three field goals of 24, 40 and 18 yards. The Warriors won the yardage battle with 588 total yards to USC’s 524, but they came up short on the scoreboard.

15/15/15 Pittsburgh (0-1) lost in OT in Utah (1-0) Thursday night, 27-24.
First “upset” of the year as the Utes defeated the Panthers 27-24 in OT. (The quotes are because, despite the #15 ranking of Pittsburgh, the home team—Utah—was the bettors’ favorite in Vegas and Pitt was the underdog. Welcome to the whacky world of college football.) Pitt's Tino Sunser tossed an interception on the first play of OT and Utah made a short field goal on their following possession to seal the victory. Some might argue that OT shouldn’t have been needed—and they’d be right. Pitt clawed its way back from an 11 point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game in regulation. Over all, the Utes out gained the Panthers 405 yards to 266. But Utah fumbled the ball away twice and tossed an interception of their own in regulation.

16/17/13 Georgia Tech (1-0) had an easy time beating South Carolina State(0-1) on Saturday, 41-10.
Josh Nesbitt was just 1 of 6 for 8 yards as a thrower, but he ran 16 times for 130 yards and three TDs in leading the Yellow Jackets to a 41-10 victory over South Carolina State. Asheton Jordan ran 18 times for 129 yards for the SCS Bulldogs.

17/19/NR Arkansas (1-0) drubbed Tennessee Tech (1-0) Saturday night, 44-3.
The Razorbacks routed Tennessee Tech 44-3 as Ryan Mallett completed 21 passes in 24 attempts for 301 yards and 3 TDs, two to Joe Adams (85 yards and 15 yards) who finished the game with 6 catches for 138 yards. Three different running backs (Dennis Johnson, Broderick Green, and Ronnie Wingo scored on the ground for the Hogs who had 519 yards of net offense—196 of them on the ground, 323 in the air.

18/18/NR North Carolina (0-1) lost a surprisingly tight contest to #21 LSU (1-0)Saturday night, 30-24.
Having nearly a dozen players suspended for their opening game should have spelled doom and gloom around Chapel Hill, but the remaining members of the squad tried to put the NCAA probe out of their mind for the night and gave it all they had as they roared back from a 30-10 halftime deficit to give #21 LSU one hell of a scare. Unfortunately, that’s all it was…a scare. The Tar Heels 14 fourth quarter points came up short as they lost 30-24. T.J. Yates was 28 of 46 for 412 yards and 3 TDs in the losing cause.

19/14/9 Penn State (1-0) downed Youngstown State (0-1) on Saturday, 44-14.
The Nittany Lions opened their season victoriously as they thumped Youngstown State 44-14 behind the play of true freshman QB Rob Bolden who went 20 of 29 for 239 with 1 interception and 2 TDs. The Nittany Lions also had a 100 yard kickoff return by Chaz Powell to start the second half.

20/20/NR Florida State (1-0) routed Samford (0-1) on Saturday, 59-6.
The Seminoles romped over Samford getting 42 points…in the first half. The final score was 59-6. Both FSU quarterbacks had similar lines. Christian Ponder played the first half and was 12 of 14 for 167 with 1 interception. He was followed by EJ Manuel who compiled a line of 10-13-129-1. Ponder did connect for four TDs and Manuel had none, but Manuel’s time came in the second half when the ‘Noles weren’t really looking to rub it in…much. Greg Reid had a 74 yard punt return for a TD and Ty Jones a 57 yard TD run for the ‘Noles.

21/16/18 LSU (1-0) edged #18 North Carolina (0-1) Saturday night, 30-24.
The Tigers lost 4 of 5 fumbles (NC lost 3 of 5) and managed just 11 first downs (to NC’s 20) but still managed to hold off a depleted Tar Hell’s squad to emerge with a 30-24 win.

22/23/NR Auburn (1-0) doubled up Arkansas State (0-1) Saturday night, 52-26.
It was Cam Newton’s first start at QB for the Tigers but if he was nervous, it sure didn’t show. Newton ran for 171 yards and two touchdowns and was 9 of 14 for 186 yards and three more scores as Auburn doubled up on Arkansas State 52-26.

23/21/NR Georgia (1-0) had an easy time defeating La.-Lafayette (0-1) Saturday afternoon, 55-7.
Aaron Murray threw for three TDs and ran for a fourth as he led the Bulldogs on a 55-7 romp over La.-Lafayette.

24/22/NR Oregon State (0-1) lost to #6 TCU (1-0) Saturday night, 30-21.
The Beavers dropped their opener against a tough #6 TCU team 30-21.

25/24/NR West Virginia (1-0) shutout Coastal Carolina (0-1) Saturday, 31-0.
The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers played tough in the first half, entering the locker room down just 10-0, but WVU kept pounding and eventually the dam broke in the second half and the Mountaineers pitched a shutout with a 31-0 victory. Noel Devine finished the day with 23 carries for 111 yards and 1 TD, and Geno Smith was 20 of 27 for 216 and 1 TD for WVU.

NR/24/19 Utah (1-0) downed the #15 Pitt Panthers (0-1) in OT Thursday, 27-24.
Utah wrapped up Dion Lewis of Pittsburgh forcing the Panthers to rely on their air game with new QB Tino Sunseri. And that worked out just fine for the Utes when Sunseri tossed his only interception of the game on the first play in over time. Utah then settled for a 30-yard field goal and the 27-24OT win. The Utes’ Jordan Wynn completed 21 of 36 attempts for 283 yards and three TDs. Utah has won 18 consecutive games.

NR/NR/7 Cincinnati (0-1) dropped its opener at Fresno State (1-0) late Saturday night, 28-14.
Cincinnati lead at 14-0 at one point in the second quarter but then Fresno State QB Ryan Colburn went to work completed 18 of 24 passes for 247 yards and 4 TD passes while the Bulldog’s defense shut out the Bearcats the rest of the way. The result was a 28-14 defeat for last year’s Big East Champions.

NR/NR/10 Brigham Young (1-0) downed Washington (0-1) on Saturday night, 23-17.
Trailing 17-13 at the half, the BYU defense stiffened and shut out the Huskies the remainder of the game as the Cougars rallied to win 23-17.

NR/NR/20 Central Michigan (1-0) shutout Hampton (0-1) on Thursday night, 33-0.
The Chippewas drubbed Hampton 33-0 Thursday night behind Ryan Radcliff who completed 20 of 34 tosses for 242 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score. Central Michigan’s defense scored an early safety, recorded three sacks, forced 11 punts, and held Hampton to just 49 yards on the ground.

NR/NR/22 Texas Tech (1-0) held off SMU (0-1) Sunday afternoon, 35-27.
The Red Raiders managed to hold on to win 35-27 as SMU scored the final 13 points of the game to make it close. The Red Raiders’ Taylor Potts was 34 of 53 for 359 yards and 4 TD tosses—3 of them to Lyle Leong (of 2, 4 and 6 yards) who finished the day with 11 catches for 142 yards.

NR/NR/23 Clemson (1-0) beat North Texas (0-1)on Saturday afternoon, 35-10.
The Tigers had little trouble defeating North Texas 35-10. On the second play from scrimmage, Andre Ellington ran 60 yards for a TD providing a 7-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game. He would add a 14-yard TD run in the third quarter. In the second quarter, Brandon Clear pulled in a Kyle Parker pass and found the end zone 70 yards later to make it 14-0. Parker would finish the game 9 of 17 for 170 yards and 2 TDs.

NR/NR/24 Mississippi (0-1) lost in double OT to Jacksonville State (1-0) on Saturday, 49-48.
Having fallen behind 31-13 to Ole Miss going into the fourth quarter, things did not look bright for Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks hadn’t beaten a BCS team since September of 2001 and Saturday looked to be another futile attempt. But then something happened. Jacksonville State scored three TDs in the fourth and held the Rebels to just a field goal. Regulation ended with a tie score of 34 all. With Ole Miss winning the toss—and electing to go on defense first—the teams matched TDs and extra points in the first overtime—41 all. Then Ole miss scored a TD to start the second OT and converted the PAT to gain a 48-41 lead. A desperation 30 yard pass on fourth down resulted in a Gamecock TD—48-47. A decision was made to go for two and…a shovel pass to Coty Blanchard gave the Gamecocks the 49-48 victory!

NR/NR/25 Navy (0-1) lost to Maryland (1-0)on Monday afternoon, 17-14.
The Terps jumped out to a 14 point first quarter lead. Then gave it back in the second and third periods. They then got a 24 yard field goal off the toe of Travis Baltz midway through the fourth quarter and held on for dear life, stopping Navy on the goal line to earn the victory. Navy held a huge margin in first downs (226-11), total yards (485-272), rushing yards (412-261), and time of possession (39:26-20:34) but they failed to gain an edge in the one category that matters: points scored (14-17)

East Carolina and Tulsa played what has to be called the “Can’t ANYONE Here Play Defense?” game of the week on Sunday afternoon in Greenville, NC. G.J. Kinne for Tulsa and Dominique Davis for ECU played pitch and catch with their receivers all game. Kinne finished 28 of 43 for 399 yards and tossed 5 touchdowns while his counterpart, Davis, was 27 of 46 for 385 and also had 5 TD tosses. The teams combined for 47 points in the fourth quarter as they marched up and down the field. It looked like Tulsa might have the game won when they scored with a minute and 22 seconds left but that was just enough time for Davis to march the Pirates down the field and, on a fourth-and-ten on the 33 yard line with just 5 ticks on the clock, toss his final TD pass of the game to cap a 9 play 66 yard drive and give ECU a 51-49 victory. As might be expected, pandemonium broke out and, since there was no time on the clock and no need for it, the extra point was never attempted.

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