What with hunting season and all, I plumb forgot to post my pre-weekend football lineup. And there was a lot to talk about with so many Conference Championships on the line. At least I don’t have to give my forecast. Instead, here’s what happened on the college football field this weekend. (Please, don’t ask about the Rutgers’ game. I’m still in mourning.)
BTW, there's only one game scheduled for this coming weekend. And if you have to ask who, you're not much of a fan. (Okay...Army vs Navy at 3:00 PM Saturday.)
(This week’s rankings from the AP, Coaches’, Harris Interactive, BCS Standings. 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)
Notre Dame (12-0) The Fighting Irish have ended their regular season at
the top of the BCS polls and await Alabama in the National Championship Game.
2/2/2/2 (2/2/2/2)
Alabama (12-1) vs #3 Georgia (11-2) The Tide defeated (or perhaps “outlasted”
is a better term) the Bulldogs in the SEC Championship Game Saturday afternoon
32-28. Todd Gurley rushed for 122 yards and two TDs for Georgia but Alabama’s Eddie
Lacy had 181 yards rushing and two TDs and T.J. Yeldon ran for 153 yards and
one TD in an awesome display of smash mouth football. Alabama had 350 yards
rushing but AJ McCarron’s 45 yard TD pass to Amari Cooper in the final minutes
proved to be the deciding score.
3/3/3/4 (3/3/3/3)
Georgia (11-2) vs #2 Alabama (12-1) The Bulldogs lost to the Crimson
Tide in the SEC Championship game, 32-28. More above.
4/NR/NR/NR (4/NR/NR/NR)
Ohio State (12-0) The Buckeyes season is finished with no bolw game in
their future.
5/5/5/3 (6/6/5/4)
Florida (11-1) The Gators regular season is over. They await a bowl bid.
6/4/4/5 (5/4/4/5)
Oregon (11-1) The Ducks regular season is over.
7/7/6/6 (7/8/7/6)
Kansas State (11-1) beat #23 Texas (8-4) 42-24. Collin Klein passed for
one TD and ran for two more in his final regular season game as the Wildcats earned
a share of their first Big 12 Conference Championship and a BCS Bowl bid. (They
hold the tie breaker over Oklahoma whom they defeated in late September.) Klein
was 8 of 14 for 184 yards in the passing department and rushed for 103 yards. Case
McCoy was 26 of 34 for 314 yards and two TDs but also had two INTs for the
losing Longhorns.
8/9/8/7 (11/11/11/8)
Stanford (11-2) came from behind to defeat #17 UCLA (9-4) for the second
consecutive week to win the PAC-10 Championship. This time it was 27-24,
Cardinal. Kevin Hogan rushed for one TD and completed 16 of 22 passes for 155
yards and one TD for the Cardinal. Johnathan Franklin carried the ball 19 times
for the Bruins gaining 194 yards and scoring two TDs. Jordan Williamson’s
36-yard field goal with 6:49 remaining proved the decider. As time was running
out, Ka'imi Fairbairn missed a 52-yard field goal that would have tied it for
UCLA.
9/6/7/8 (8/7/8/7)
LSU (10-2) The Tigers’ regular season has ended.
10/8/9/9 (9/10/20/10)
Texas A&M (10-2) The Aggies’ regular season has ended.
11/10/10/10 (13/12/12/11)
South Carolina (10-2) The Gamecocks’ regular season has ended.
12/11/11/11 (14/13/13/13)
Oklahoma (10-2) edged TCU (7-5) 24-17 to clinch a share of the Big 12
title. There’s a chance the Sooners may be offered an at large bid to a BCS
Bowl. Damien Williams rushed for 115 yards and one TD—a 66-yard sprint—and also
caught an 11-yard TD pass from Landry Jones (22 of 40 for 244 yards and two TDs).
Trevone Boykin was 17 of 31 for 231 yards and one TD and ran for another TD for
the Horned Frogs.
13/12/12/13 (10/5/6/9)
Florida State (11-2) held on to defeat Georgia Tech (6-7) 21-15 in the ACC
Championship game. The Seminoles lead 21-3 in the second quarter but didn’t
score another point and had to hold on for dear life the rest of the way as the
Yellow Jackets’ defense stiffened. Only an interception by defensive back
Karlos Williams of a tipped Tevin Washington pass with less than a minute
remaining halted the chance for an upset by the two touchdown underdog Yellow
Jackets.
14/13/13/12 (17/14/14/14)
Nebraska (10-3) got creamed by Wisconsin (8-5) 70-31 in the B1G
Championship game. Playing only because both division leader Ohio State (12-0)
and runner up Penn State (8-4) were ineligible, the Badgers came out swinging
and never let up. They scored 21 points in the first quarter, 21 in the second
quarter and 21 in the third quarter (by which time it was 63-17) as Nebraska
looked and acted shocked. Montee Ball rushed for 202 yards and three TDs—and he
wasn’t the rushing OR scoring leader for the Badgers. Melvin Gordon rushed just
nine times but gained 216 yards. James White came in third with 109 yards for
four TDs. The Badgers had 539 yards rushing. In addition, Marcus Cromartie
returned an interception 29 yards for a first quarter score for the Badgers.
15/14/14/14 (12/9/9/12)
Clemson (10-2) The Tigers’ regular season is over.
16/17/15/15 (16/17/15/15)
Oregon State (9-3) set a school scoring record in defeating Nicholls
State Colonels (1-10) 77-3. This was supposed to be played back in September
but Hurricane Isaac got in the way. Looks like Nicholls State got hit by another
in early December. Nine different Beavers scored TDs in this one. Only Storm Woods and Markus Wheaton tallied
twice. The former got his on runs while the latter had one on the ground and
one on a pass reception. Cody Vaz
completed 14 of 17 passes for 190 yards and three TDs. Sean Mannion, returning
from an injury that put Vaz in the driver’s seat, completed 20 of 23 for 231 yards.
The Beavers had 683 yards net offense and didn’t punt once.
17/16/16/16 (15/16/16/17)
UCLA (9-4) fell to Stanford (11-2) 27-24 in the PAC-10 Championship
game. See above for more.
18/19/18/18 (23/25/25/24)
Kent State (11-2) lost to #19 Northern Illinois (12-1) 44-37 in double
overtime in the MAC Championship game. Jordan Lynch completed 19 of 34 passes
for 212 yards and one TD for the Huskies, but it was his feet that carried the
day. Lynch rushed 36 times for 160 yards and scored three TDs on the ground
including the decisive score in the second OT. Demetrius Stone's interception
in the end zone put an end to the Golden Flashes’ night. Kent State had rallied
twice in the fourth quarter to tie the game in regulation. Down by 14 they got
two TDs on a Spencer Keith 5-yard run and a Zack Hitchens’ 22-yard fumble
recovery for a TD to make it 27-27. After Lynch scored his second TD to put the
Huskies ahead, Keith hit Tim Erjavec to make it 34 all. The teams traded field
goals in the first OT before Lynch put the Huskies ahead for good on a 2-yard
run.
19/18/19/22 (24/23/24/NR)
Northern Illinois (12-1) edged #18 Kent State (11-2) in double OT 44-37
for the MAC Championship. See above for more.
20/22/22/24 (25T/NR/NR/NR)
Utah State (10-2) The Aggies season is over.
21/24/23/21 (20/20/20/19)
Michigan (8-4) The Wolverines’ regular season is finished.
22/20/21/20 (NR/NR/NR/NR)
Northwestern (9-3) The Wildcats’ regular season is over.
23/21/20/17 (18/15/17/16)
Texas (8-4) got beaten by the #7 Kansas State (11-1) 42-24. More above.
24/NR/25/23 (22/21/22/21)
Oklahoma State (7-5) lost to the Baylor Bears (7-5) 41-34. Leche
Seastrunk rushed for 178 yards on 16 carries including one amazing 76-yard
gallop during which he cramped up 35 yards from the endzone yet would not be
denied as he collapsed over the goal line. Nick Florence went 23 of 39 for 296
yards and a TD while also rushing 18 times for 71 yards and a score. Eddie
Lackey returned an interception 26 yards for a Bears’ score. Joseph Randle
rushed for 139 yards on 23 carries and Josh Stewart had 12 receptions for 147
yards and a TD for the Cowboys.
25/NR/17/19 (NR/22/21/22)
Boise State (10-2) beat Nevada (7-5) 27-21. Joe Southwick tossed two TD
passes and D.J. Harper had 130 yards rushing and one TD for the Broncos who
have now posted seven consecutive 10-win seasons. Stephon Jefferson had 139 yards
rushing and two TDs for the Wolf Pack who trailed 24-7 going into the final
quarter.
NR/23/24/NR (19/18/18/18)
Louisville (10-2) beat Rutgers (9-3) 20-17 to earn a share of the Big
East title. Teddy Bridgewater couldn’t take a snap from under center so Will
Stein started and played whenever that was called for. But trailing 14-3 at the
half thanks to two big plays by the Scarlet Knights, Teddy Bridgewater came off
the bench with a broken wrist and a sprained ankle and the Louisville defense
tightened up considerably holding RU to just a field goal in the second half.
Gary Nova had connected with Brandon Coleman on an 85-yard TD and with Mark
Harrison on a 68-yarder. In the third quarter a fake field goal looked like it
had resulted in a pass from holder J.T. Tartacoff to D.C. Jefferson for a 20-3
Scarlet lead, but a lineman was ruled illegally downfield on the play. The
Knights had to punt instead and the result was a 90-yard scoring drive capped
by a Bridgewater to Jeremy Wright 14-yard TD pass to make it 14-10. The ensuing
kickoff return was fumbled and Louisville recovered. That led to a 20-yard TD
pass, Bridgewater to DeVante Parker that put the Cardinals up 17-14. With four
teams—Louisville, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and Syracuse—having a 5-2 conference
record, things are crowded at the top but Louisville is likely to be going to a BCS Bowl.
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