From last week’s
initial listing: “It’s Week 9 and things are really getting interesting. Slowly
the number of undefeated teams is dwindling as they either run into a buzz saw
underdog or end up facing one another. We also get a better feel for who may
have been overrated earlier in the season as weaknesses are exposed.”
It wasn’t a good
week for the undefeated teams in the Top 25. #3 Florida lost, #7 Oregon State
lost, #13 Mississippi State lost, #18 Rutgers lost, and #23 Ohio lost. Where
there were eleven undefeated teams going into the weekend, there are only six
still with unblemished records.
In addition,
there were several upsets of ranked teams along the way. #10 Southern
California, #20 Michigan, Wisconsin and TCU all lost.
You can bet there will be quite a bit of change in the
rankings this weel.
(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 (8-0) The Tide demolished #13/12/12/10
Mississippi State Bulldogs (7-1) 38-7. AJ McCarron went 16 of 23 for 208 yards
and two TDs before sitting out the fourth quarter with a back strain. Back-up
Phillip Ely engineered a scoring drive which ended with a 27 yard pass for a TD
(his only pass, BTW) and then Blake Sims lead the team on its final scoring
drive which ended with a 3yard run by freshman Robert Johnson. Mississippi
State didn’t score until it was 38-0.
2/2/2/4 (2/2/2/2) Oregon (8-0) The Ducks routed the Colorado
Buffaloes (1-7) 70-14. Maybe they should
institute a mercy rule in college football. This one was 56-0 at the half and
most of the Oregon starters on offense were sitting out in the middle of the second
quarter. By then, Kenjon Barner (9
carries for 104 yards) had scored two TDs on the ground, Macus Mariota had
thrown two TD passes (10 of 14 for 136 yards) and scored once on the ground (4
carries for 22 yards), and De’Anthony Thomas(5 carries for 97 yards) had scored
on a 9 yard run from scrimmage and a 73 yard punt return. Bryan Bennett (10
carries for 73 yards) scored three rushing touchdowns in relief as Oregon
racked up 425 yards on the ground. Christian Powell (20 carries for 121 yards)
scored both Colorado TDs in the third quarter.
3/3/3/2 (3/4/3/3) Florida (7-1) The Gators lost to the
Georgia Bulldogs (7-1) 17-9. The Dogs held the Gators to just three field goals
and never trailed in this game. A real slugfest, there were nine turnovers and 24
accepted penalties in this one. Florida was flagged 10 times for 95 yards and Georgia
14 for 132 yards. Aaron Murray of Georgia was intercepted three times while Florida’s
Jeff Driskel was intercepted twice. The Gators also fumbled six times, losing
four of them.
4/4/4/3 (4/3/4/5) Kansas State (8-0) The Wildcats mauled the
#15/17/17/12 Red Raiders of Texas Tech (6-2) 55-24. After a relatively slow start (it was 13-10
KSU at the half) Collin Klein and the Wildcats exploded in the second half.
Klein finished the day 19 of 26 for 233 yards and two TDs and rushed 12 times
for 83 yards and two more scores. Seth Doege was 35 of 50 for 331 yards and two
TDs but he also had one interception which was returned 37 yards by Arthur
Brown for a TD.
5/5/5/5 (5/5/5/4) Notre Dame (8-0) The Irish whipped the #
8/7/7/8 Oklahoma Sooners (5-2) 30-13—on the road yet! “The Irish have been lucky the last two weeks
to escape some close games. This time
they are on the road. And they won’t be as lucky. “ Man, was I wrong! “Luck”
had nothing to do with this one. Good old
fashioned smash mouth football, however…. The Irish sure looked good in this
tough contest.
6/6/6/6 (6/6/6/6) LSU (7-1) The Tigers had the week off to
prep for a match-up with Alabama on November 3rd. Will two weeks be
enough?
7/9/8/7 (8/11/10/8) Oregon State (6-1) The Beavers were
surprised by the Washington Huskies (4-4) 20-17. Washington jumped out to a
10-0 halftime lead only to see it disappear, took the lead 17-10 and saw THAT
disappear, too. Still, the Huskies
wouldn’t quit and Travis Coons’ 30-yard field goal proved decisive in the
fourth quarter. Sean Mannion returned to the helm for the Beavers after minor
knee surgery sidelined him earlier this year. He completed 18 of 34 passes for
221 yards and a TD but threw four INTs including two on successive possessions in
the fourth quarter. Cody Vaz came in and was 7 of 11 for 97 yards and the tying
TD in the fourth period but could not get the Beavers in a position to put the
Huskies away.
8/7/7/8 (10/7/9/9) Oklahoma (5-2) The Sooners fell to the
Irish of Notre Dame (8-0) 30-13. More above.
9/NR/NR/NR (7/NR/NR/NR) Ohio State (9-0) The Buckeyes beat the
Penn State Nittany Lions (5-3) 35-23. Penn State played ‘em tough in the first
half as the teams went into the locker room tied at 7-all, but a 17-yard
interception return by Ryan Shazier and two Braxton Miller 1-yard TD runs in
the third quarter put OSU on top for good. PSU got a blocked punt for a Micahel
Yancich score in the first quarter and Matt McGloin was 27 of 45 for 327 yards
and two TDs but it wasn’t enough. In addition to his two ground TDs, Miller
went 7 of 19 for 143 yards including a 72 yard TD pass to Jake Stoneburner.
10/8/9/9 (11/9/11/10) Southern California (6-2) The Trojans got
upset by the Arizona Wildcats (5-3) 39-36. Yeah, Matt Barkley had a big day
going 31 of 49 for 493 yards and three TDs—a HUGE chunk of that going to
Marqise Lee (16 catches for 345 yards and two TDs), but he also threw two INTs
which, along with three lost USC fumbles may have cost USC the game. Matt Scott
was 27 of 50 for 369 yards, three TDs and one INT for the Wildcats.
11/10/10/14 (12/10/8/14) Florida State (8-1) The Seminoles romped
over the Duke Blue Devils (6-3) 48-7. FSU is too much for the Blue Devils to
handle. EJ Manuel went 8 of 16 for 282 yards and two TDs (71 yards to Rahad
Greene and 35 yards to Kelvin Benjamin), Tyler Hunter had a 75 yard punt return
for a score and Devonta Freeman rushed 12 times for 104 yards and two TDs for
the Seminoles.
12/11/11/11 (13/12/12/11) Georgia (7-1) The Bulldogs upset
the #3/3/3/2 Florida Gators (7-1) 17-9. More above.
13/12/12/10 (15/16/14/12) Mississippi State (7-1) The
Bulldogs fell to the #1/1/1/1 Alabama Crimson Tide (8-0) 38-7. There’s more
above.
14/13/13/18 (14/13/13/18) Clemson (7-1) The Tigers routed
the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-4) 42-13 on Thursday night. Tajh Boyd and
Sammy Watkins had a nice little game of pitch-and-catch going on in this one. Boyd
threw for a school-record 428 yards with five touchdown passes and Watkins had
a school record 202 yards receiving. Boyd and Watkins connected on three plays
of more than 50 yards including a 61-yard TD pass.
15/17/17/12 (18/20/21/17) Texas Tech (6-2) The Red Raiders fell
to the #4/4/4/3 Kansas State Wildcats (8-0) 55-24. More above.
16/14/14/15 (16/14/16/15) Louisville (8-0) The Cardinal edged
the Cincinnati Bearcats (5-2) 34-31 in OT on Friday night. Louisville fell
behind by 10 points—twice—but managed to take a 7-point lead with less than two
minutes to go in regulation on the arm of Teddy Bridgewater (24 of 41 for 416
yards) and two TD catches by DeVante Parker. Cincy tied it on a 26 yard pass
from Munchie Legaux to Damon Julian. Legaux
misfired in OT—his third INT, however and that set up a 30-yard field goal by
John Wallace for the Cardinals’ win. George Winn had 26 carries for 125 yards and
Ralph Abernathy IV scored twice for Cincy.
17/16/16/16 (9/8/7/7) South Carolina (7-2) The Gamecocks hung
on to edge the Tennessee Volunteers (3-5) 38-35. The Gamecocks took a 2814 lead
into the half but nearly give it all back after the intermission. Connor Shaw
completed 22 of 32 for 356 yards and three TDs and scored another on the
ground. He was matched by Tyler Bray who went 27 of 43 for 368 yards and four
TDs for the Vols. Marcus Lattimore rushed 11 times for 65 yards and a TD but
suffered a season—and possibly career—ending leg injury near the end of the
first half.
18/15/15/13 (19/17/17/16) Rutgers (7-1) The Scarlet Knights fell
to the Golden Flashes of Kent State (7-1) 35-23. “The Scarlet Knights had
better have learned from Toledo’s beating of Cincinnati last week as well as
their own poor first half against Temple and come out chopping. “ The Knights
must have had a dull axe. They came into the game the number two rushing
defense in the nation but the Rutgers’ D got shredded as Trylon Durham rushed
22 times for 131 yards and a TD as he and his teammates ran up 224 yards on 50
rush attempts. Playing from behind virtually all of the game, RU had to turn to
the pass and, while Garry Nova did complete 25 of 46 attmpts for 313 yards and
two TDs, he also tossed six (6) INTs. Two of those INTs were made by Kent State
defensive end Mark Frackler who returned one 25 yards for a score.
19/19/18/17 (22/23/20/21) Stanford (6-2) The Cardinal held
on to beat the Washington State Cougars (2-6) 24-17. A 1-yard TD run by Ryan Hewitt and an Ed
Reynolds INT return of 25 yards proved to be the difference as the Cardinal
broke a 10-10 halftime tie to go out in front 24-10.
20/20/20/21 (23/25/NR/NR) Michigan (5-3) The Wolverines got
upset by the Nebraska Cornhuskers (6-2) 23-9.
Michigan lost Denard Robinson to an elbow injury in the first half and his
replacement, freshman Russell Bellomy threw three interceptions. Ameer Abdullah
rushed 24 times for 101 yards and a TD for the Cornhuskers.
21/18/19/19 (24/22/23/22) Boise State (7-1) The Broncos stomped
the Wyoming Cowboys (1-7) 45-14. D.J. Harper ran for 105 yards and two TDs on
19 carries and Corey Bell returned a fumble 19 yards for a score for the
Broncos.
22/21/21/23 (20/19/19/19) Texas A&M (6-2) The Aggies routed
the Auburn Tigers (1-7) 63-21. A&M’s Johnny Manziel accounted for five TDs
(three on the ground and two via the air) as the Aggies opened up a 42-7
halftime lead.
23/23/23/24 (25/NR/NR/NR) Ohio (7-1) The Bobcats lost to the
Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (4-4) 23-20. The Redhawks jumped out to a 2014 halftime
lead, saw Ohio tie it up in the fourth, went ahead on a Kaleb Patterson 31 yard
field goal (Patterson made three in the game) and then held their breaths as
the Bobcats marched down the field in the final minute. With nine seconds to go
and the ball on the 7-yard line there was time for one shot at the endzone
before attempting a tying field goal and going into overtime. But the Bobcats’
usually dependable quarterback Tyler Tettleton forgot they had no timeouts and
failed to throw the ball away when he saw the receivers were covered. The sack
ended the game and Ohio’s unbeaten season.
24/NR/NR/25 (NR/NR/NR/NR) Louisiana
Tech (7-1) Bulldogs headed to New Mexico State (1-7) to play the Aggies. Tech won
28-14. Held a 7-0 lead at the intermission
despite missing three field goals and having no big plays. Colby Cameron hit Myles White for a 44-yard
TD, ran for a 2-yard TD and handed the ball to Ray Holley for an 83-yard score
in the second half for a 28-0 lead. Andrew Manley and the Aggies tried to come
back he hit Kemonte’ Bateman for a 19-yard TD and Austin Franklin on a 67-yard
strike, but it proved too little, too late.
25/22/22/20 (17/15/15/13) West Virginia (5-2) The
Mountaineers had the week off to search for 1) some kind of defense and 2) their
missing offense.
NR/24/24/22 (NR/NR/25/25) Texas
(6-2) The Longhorns headed north to face the Kansas Jayhawks (1-7). It took a
bit for Texas’ offense to arrive, but they managed to eke out a win over the
hapless Jayhawks, 21-17. Kansas was on the verge of pulling off the upset when Case
McCoy hit D.J. Grant with a 1-yard touchdown pass with 12 seconds to play. That
TD capped a 70 yard scoring drive in the last two minutes. Johnathan Gray
rushed 18 times for 111 yards for Texas. James Sims carried 28 times for 176
yards for Kansas.
NR/25/NR/NR (NR/NR/NR/NR) Wisconsin
(6-3) Badgers lost to the Michigan State Spartans (5-4) 16-13 in OT. The
Spartans proved to be just that as they limited the Badgers to just 190 yards
of offense—19 on the ground— and 10 first downs. The Badgers were nearly as
stingy, yielding just 61 yards rushing
but their pass defense gave up 216 yards, the last 12 being a TD from Andrew
Maxwell to Bennie Fowler in OT for the win.
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