College Football, Week 8 Results

Little shake-up is expected this week…at least in the Top 10.There were some very entertaining (read: High Scoring) games this week. A number of them featured teams scoring 50 points or more. Not that 50 points were going to guarantee a victory....

Five games pitted ranked teams against one another. In each case, the higher ranked team won:

2/2/2/2 Oregon (7-0) beat NR/24/24/NR Arizona State (5-2).

3/4/3/3 Florida (7-0) beat #9/8/7/7 South Carolina (6-2).

4/3/4/5 Kansas State (7-0) beat 17/15//15/13 West Virginia (5-2).

6/6/6/6 LSU (7-1) beat 20/19/19/19 Texas A&M (5-2).

18/20/21/17 Texas Tech (6-1) beat NR/21/22/23 TCU (5-2). 

That doesn’t mean there weren’t upsets, right #21 Cincinnati?

Here’s the full slate of teams ranked by the various panels and how they fared this week.

(This week’s rankings from the AP, Coaches’, Harris Interactive, BCS (Projected). Rankings given last week appear in parentheses.  NR = Not Rated. Numbers in parentheses after the team’s name are the records.)

1/1/1/1 (1/1/1/1) Alabama (7-0) The Crimson Tide rolled over the Tennessee Volunteers (3-4) 44-13.  AJ McCarron completed 17 of 22 passes for 306 yards and four TDs and T.J. Yeldon rushed 15 times for 129 yards and two TDs as Alabama continues its perfect season.  All that stands between them and the #1 slot in the BCS is a bunch of computers.

2/2/2/2 (2/2/2/2) Oregon (7-0) The Ducks routed the NR/24/24/NR Arizona State Sun Devils (5-2) 43-21 on Thursday night. Despite losing a fumble on the second play of the game and falling behind 7-0, the Ducks lead 43-7 at the half. The second—and third—string got lots of playing time in this one. Kenjon Barner scored on the second Ducks possession on a 71 yard run. Then Marcus Mariota hit Bralon Addison on a 6 yard scoring pass before Mariota caught a 2-yard pass for a TD from Bryan Bennett. In the second quarter, Barner got back into the action with two 1-yard TD runs sandwiched around a Mariota 86-yard run for a TD.  Then they let the other guys have the ball for awhile.  Oregon finished the night with 406 yards rushing. Lest you think there was no defense played in this one, Oregon also forced four INTs—two of them setting up the 1-yard TDs by Barner—while Bryan Bennett tossed one of his own. Bennett’s was returned 36 yards by ASU’s Anthony Jones for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

3/4/3/3 (4/6/6/5) Florida (7-0) The Gators romped over the #9/8/7/7 South Carolina Gamecocks (6-2) 44-11. The Gators special teams played a huge role early on as they blocked a punt setting up Florida’s second TD and, on the ensuing kickoff, forced a fumble returning the ball to the one and setting up the third TD. Jeff Driskel made the most out of those short field positions as he tossed four TD passes (two of them to Jordan Reed) while completing 11 of 16 for a mere 93 yards. Adam Yates had three field goals and Victor Hampton returned a blocked extra point for the Gamecocks points. Neither offense managed much in the way of yardage. SC had 191 net yards, just 36 on the ground; Florida had just 183 net, 89 rushing, 94 passing.

4/3/4/5 (6/5/5/7) Kansas State (7-0) The Wildcats shredded the #17/15//15/13 West Virginia Mountaineers (5-2) 55-14. The Emperor may have no clothes but it’s become equally obvious that UWV has no defense. The problem for the Mountaineers is that people have figured out how to stop the Geno Smith juggernaut. Collin Klein threw three TD passes in going 19 of 21 for 323 yards and scored four TDs on the ground. KSU punted just once and held the ball for almost 7 minutes longer than West Virginia. So keeping the ball away from Smith and Tavon Austin (who had a 100-yard kick return for a touchdown and caught a 5-yard pass for another) would seem to be a way of stopping the Mountaineers.

5/5/5/4 (7/7/7/4) Notre Dame (7-0) The Fighting Irish came from behind to edge the BYU Cougars (4-4) 17-14. Irish played strong defense and got an excellent running game from Theo Riddick (15 carries for 143 yards) and company in amassing 270 yards on the ground. They needed that ground game as Tommy Rees, in the QB slot in place of injured Everett Golson was just 7 of 16 for 117 yards with one TD and one INT.

6/6/6/6 (9/8/8/8) LSU (7-1) The Tigers came from behind to defeat the #20/19/19/19 Texas A&M Aggies (5-2) 24-19. It was 12-0 before the Tigers got on the board in the second quarter on a 20-yard Michael Ford run. Soon after, Zach Mettenberger hit Kadron Boone for a 29-yard TD and the Tigers had a 1412 lead at the half. After a scoreless third quarter, a 28-yard field goal by Drew Alleman and a 47-yard TD run by Jeremy Hill gave LSU some breathing room. A&M lead in nearly all the statistical categories: First downs, third down efficiency, net yards, passing yards, time of possession, etc. LSU committed 13 penalties for 102 yards to A&Ms 6 for 65 yards. They forced LSU to punt 10 times--TEN!—while having to punt only four times themselves. What the Aggies did lose on—and it probably cost them the game—was turnovers. Three interceptions and two lost fumbles by A&M to none for LSU.

7/NR//NR/NR (8/NR/NR/NR) Ohio State (8-0) The Buckeyes edged the Purdue Boilermakers (3-4) 29-22 in overtime behind back-up quarterback Kenny Guiton who had to come in in the third quarter when Braxton Miller was knocked out of the game and sent to the hospital. (Miller is okay and should be able to return to the field this week.) The teams traded punches early in this one on huge plays by the Boilermakers. In the first quarter Caleb TerBush hit Akeem Shavers on an 83yard TD pass to open the scoring for Purdue. Braxton Miller tied it up with an 8-yard TD run but the ensuing kickoff saw Akeem Hunt race 100 yards for another Purdue TD. A safety put Purdue up by 8 points with minutes to play but Guiton lead the Buckeyes down the field and hit Chris Fields for a 2-yard TD and then Jeff Huerman for the 2-point conversion as time ran out. Carlos Hyde scored on a 1-yard run in OT and then the defense kept Purdue out of the endzone.

8/11/10/8 (10/14/12/10) Oregon State (6-0) The Beavers defeated the Utes of Utah (2-5) 21-7. Storm Woods rushed for all three Beavers’ touchdowns. Four turnovers by the Utes (two lost fumbles, two INTs) did not help their cause on a night when both offenses were struggling.

9/8/7/7 (3/3/3/3) South Carolina (6-2) The Gamecocks got Swamped 44-11 by the #3/4/3/3 Florida Gators (7-0). There’s more above.

10/7/9/9 (13/10/13/15) Oklahoma (5-1) The Sooners creamed the Kansas Jayhawks (1-6) 52-7. Sooners got touchdowns on a 90-yard punt return by Justin Brown in the second quarter and a 100-yard kickoff return by Roy Finch to start the second half. Landry Jones completed 19 of 28 for 291 yards and three touchdowns. Kansas may have had 185 yards rushing, run off 86 plays to OU’s 51, and had more than double the time of possession in this one (40:11 to 19:49), but it didn’t matter. Kickoff returns and punt returns will do that to you.

11/9/11/10 (11/9/10/13) Southern California (6-1) The Trojans demolished the Colorado Buffaloes (1-6) 50-6. Matt Barkley set a new school mark for touchdown passes in a career when he tossed six in this game—five of them in the first half. Barkley was 19 of 20 for 298 yards and those six TDs—four of which went to Robert Woods. Back-up quarterbacks Max Wittek and Cody Kessler were 4 of 5 for 42 yards in clean-up duty. (Wittek also had a TD pass.)

12/10/8/14 (12/11/9/11) Florida State (7-1) The Seminoles finished strong to defeat the Miami Hurricanes (4-4) 33-20. FSU fell behind 10-0 in the first period but clawed back to take a 1310 lead at the half. The teams traded field goals in the third quarter but the Seminoles put up 17 consecutive points in the fourth to lead 33-13 before Miami got on the board again. Dustin Hopkins had four FGs for FSU (33, 46, 35, and 48 yards and Devonta Freeman had two TDs on the ground.

13/12/12/11 (14/12/11/9) Georgia (6-1) The Bulldogs edged the Kentucky Wildcats (1-7) 29-24. It shouldn’t have been this close. This was like a heavy weight with a knockout punch against an inferior opponent with a granite jaw.  The two teams traded scores for three quarters before UGA managed to open a lead large enough to permit them to breathe a sigh of relief. Aaron Murray was 30 of 38 for 427 yards and four TDs but none was as important as the last 10-yarder to Arthur Lynch that gave the Bulldogs a 29-17 lead late in the fourth quarter.

14/13/13/18 (16/13/14/16) Clemson (6-1) The Tigers had little trouble defeating the Virginia Tech Hokies (4-4) 38-17. While the Tigers gave up lots of yardage again—406 yards this week—their defense also took the ball away from the Hokies four times. Clemson’s D had a fumble recovery and made three INTs (one got returned by Jonathan Meeks 74 yards for a TD).

15/16/14/12 (19/18/17/17) Mississippi State (7-0) The Bulldogs routed the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders (4-3) 45-3. Tyler Russell completed 17 of 21 passes for 191 yards and three TDs for Mississippi State.

16/14/16/15 (18/16/18/18) Louisville (7-0) The Cardinals had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to defeat the South Florida Bulls (2-5) 27-25. Cardinals got out to a 14-3 halftime lead, traded TDs in the third quarter, and then saw it all disappear in the fourth. B.J. Daniels  (21 of 38 for 189 yards) threw three TD passes—including two in the fourth quarter. Teddy Bridgewater (21 of 25 for 256 yards) had two TD passes including the winner—11-yards to Eli Rogers—in the fourth.

17/15//15/13 (5/4/4/6) West Virginia (5-2) The Mountaineers were embarrassed by the #4/3/4/5 Kansas State Wildcats (7-0) 55-14 and it wasn’t that close. More above.

18/20/21/17 (NR/NR/NR/NR) Texas Tech (6-1) The Red Raiders went on the road to play the # NR/21/22/23 TCU Horned Frogs (5-2).  The two teams scored and scored and scored some more but after sixty minutes, it was tied so they played some more. And more. And more. It took three overtime periods for the Red Raiders to emerge victorious, 56-53. The Frogs’ Trevone Boykin didn’t do too badly. He completed 26 of 44 attempts for 332 yards and four TDs. BUT, the Red Raiders’ Seth Doege (30 completions on 42 attempts for 318 yards) tossed SEVEN touchdown passes.

19/17/17/16 20/19/19/19) Rutgers (7-0) The Scarlet Knights defeated the Temple Owls (3-3) 35-10 after trailing 10-0 at the half. RU allowed 74 yards rushing—well over their average of 60.8 yards per game—in the first quarter alone, but then slammed the door on the Owls who managed just 45 yards on the ground in the next three quarters and 72 yards in the air for the entire game. Gary Nova threw for 232 yards and four TDs to four different receivers. Jawan Jamison had 19 carries for 114 yards and five catches for 81 yards and a TD. Oh yeah, RU’s Leonte Carroo blocked a punt to set up one score and Kasheem Greene returned a fumble 20 yards for the final Rutgers TD.

20/19/19/19 (22/21/23/NR) Texas A&M (5-2) The Aggies fell to the #6/6/6/6 LSU Tigers (7-1) 24-19. See above fro more.

21/18/18/20 (21/20/20/21) Cincinnati (5-1) The Bearcats fell from the ranks of the unbeaten at the hands of the Toledo Rockets (7-1) by a score of 29-23.  The Toledo offense never scored a touchdown, but that hardly mattered. They DID get five field goals from Jeremiah Detmer (43, 42, 47, 20 and 25 yards) returned an interception 75 yards for a TD (Jermaine Robinson) and got a 91 yard Kick return for a TD from Bernard Reedy. They also ran—a lot—eating up the clock. David Fluellen shouldered the bulk of the load rushing 25 times for 161 yards. Cincy did get more yards—251 on the ground to 229 and 227 in the air vs. 126—but those field goals and big plays spelled disaster for the Bearcats.

22/23/20/21 (17/17/16/14) Stanford (5-2) The Cardinal beat the California Golden Bears (3-5) 21-3. Stepfan Taylor ran for a career-high 189 yards and had one TD for the Cardinal. It was the Stanford defense that sealed this one. It allowed Cal just 217 yards—just 3 of them rushing.

23/25/NR/NR (25/NR/NR/NR) Michigan (5-2) The Wolverines edged the Michigan State Spartans (4-4) 12-10. Michigan didn’t score a touchdown, but did get four field goals from two different kickers Matt Wile made one from 48 yards out while Brendan Gibbons connected on 24, 21 and 38 yard attempts. That last was in the closing seconds and erased a 10-9 deficit to give the Wolverines the victory.

24/22/23/22 (24/22/22/23) Boise State (6-1) The Broncos trounced the UNLV Rebels (1-7) 32-7. Boise State’s defense led by cornerbacks Jamar Taylor and Jerrell Gavins shut out the UNLV offense. The two combined for two interceptions (one in the endzone) and, in the second quarter, Taylor stripped the ball from a Rebel receiver then Gavins picked it up and returned the fumble for a TD. UNLV’s only points came in the fourth quarter with Boise leading 32-0 when Kenneth Perry returned a fumble 30 yards for a touchdown.

25/NR/NR/NR (NR/NR/NR/NR) Ohio (7-0) The Bobcats had the week off.

NR/21/22/23 (NR/23/21/20) TCU (5-2) The Horned Frogs lost in triple overtime, 56-53, to the #18/20/21/17 Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-1). There’s more above.

NR/24/24/NR (NR/NR/NR/NR) Arizona State (5-2) The Sun Devils got steamrolled by the #2/2/2/2 (2/2/2/2) Oregon Ducks (7-0) by a score of 43-21 on Thursday night. Dopn’t be fooled by the numbers, it wasn’t nearly that close. See above for more.

NR/NR/NR/24 (NR/25/25/24) Iowa State (4-3) The Cyclones lost to the Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-2) 31-10. The Cowboys amassed 625 net yards offense on 89 plays. J.W. Walsh completed 32 of 47 passes for 415 yards and one TD. He also scored one on the ground.

NR/NR/25/25 (15/15/15/12) Texas (5-2) The Longhorns edged the Baylor Bears (3-3) 56-50.  “Should be determined by which team can leave their punter on the sidelines most and which team asks their place kicker to hit extra points and not field goals.” Baylor punted 3 times to Texas’ 4 punts. But Baylor kicked three field goals to none for Texas. Joe Bergeron rushed for 117 yards and five TDs on 19 carries for the Longhorns. Nick Florence completed 30 of 41 passes for 352 yards and two TDs while rushing 11 times for 69 yards and two more TDs for the Bears. Jordan Najvar recovered a fumble in the endzone for a TD for Baylor.  Baylor had 607 yards in net offense to Texas’ 525. It was the field goals that cost them the game. Well, that and two turnovers.