There were a couple of close shaves this week but only one
upset: #13 South Carolina got beat by one point by Missouri. That lone upset,
combined with the number of teams with the weekend off, should mean there are
few changes coming prior to Week Six.
(Ranks on the left are those of the AP/Coaches Top
25/CBSSPORTS.COM 128 Polls as reported by CBSSports.com. NR = Not Ranked)
1/1/4 Florida State (4-0) The Seminoles beat the North
Carolina State Wolfpack (4-1), 56-41. North Carolina lead 24-7 after one
quarter and 24-21 at the half but Florida State wasn’t about to go away,
winning the second half 35-17. Jacoby
Brissett almost outshined Jameis Winston—almost Brissett threw for 359 yards
and three TDs and no INTs for the Wolfpack, but he did lose one fumble. Winston
threw for 365 yards, two INTs and four TDs including one following that
Brissett fumble. Bo Hines and Shadrach Thornton (twice) scored rushing TDs for
NC State. Dalvin Cook ran for a TD Karlos Williams rushed for three TDs for FSU
2/4/1 Oregon (4-0) The Ducks had this weekend off.
3/2/3 Alabama (4-0) The Crimson Tide were idle this week.
4/3/2 Oklahoma (4-0) The Sooners were also idle this
weekend.
5/5/5 Auburn (4-0) The Tigers trounced the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
(2-3), 45-17. Nick Marshall threw for three TDs--two of them to Quan Bray who
also returned a punt 76 yards for a TD. Marshall also rushed for 105 yards on
13 carries and Cameron Artis-Payne gained 116 on 22 carries as Auburn dominated
the Bulldogs.
6/7/6 Texas A&M (5-0) The Aggies had to come from behind
and go into overtime to defeat the Arkansas Razorbacks (3-2), 35-28. A&M
trailed by 14 entering the fourth quarter but the defense shut out the
Razorbacks and the offense behind Kenny Hill (21 of 41 for 386 yards and 4 TDs)
tied the game before winning it in OT. It was in OT that Hill connected with
Malcome Kennedy for 25 yards and a TD on the first play and the defense
proceeded to shut down Arkansas on four plays.
7/6/7 Baylor (4-0) The Bears beat the Iowa State Cyclones
(1-3), 49-28. And it wasn’t as close as it sounds. Bryce Petty threw for 336
yards and a touchdown while running for two more. Shock Linwood scored three
TDs rushing. Baylor jumped out to a 35-7 halftime lead and never looked back.
8/8/8 Notre Dame (4-0) The Fighting Irish beat the Syracuse
Orange (2-2), 31-15. Everett Golson went 32 of 39 for 362 yards and four TDs.
BUT two of those misses were INTs one of which Durell Eskridge returned 29
yards for a Syracuse TD. Notre Dame committed five turnovers or this might have
been worse for the Orange.
9/9/9 Michigan State (3-1) The Spartans rode roughshod over
the Wyoming Cowboys (3-2), 56-14. Michigan State had six drives in the first
half—and scored touchdowns on all six. Jeremy Langford carried the ball 16
times for 137 yards and a TD and Connor Cook tossed two TD passes and ran for a
third before taking a seat late in the second quarter.
10/11/11 Ole Miss (4-0) The Rebels beat the Memphis Tigers
(2-2), 24-3. It wasn’t pretty as the Ole Miss offense kept shooting itself in
the foot. It was 7-3 at the end of three quarters before the offense righted
itself. Good thing the defense held Memphis to just 104 yards. Bo Wallace did
throw two TD passes but he also tossed two INTs and lost a fumble. Markell Pack
fumbled a punt that Memphis recovered as Ole Miss had four turnovers and
committed 10 penalties (117 yards) as they stumbled their way to the win.
11/10/10 UCLA (4-0) The Bruins trounced the #15 Arizona
State Sun Devils (3-1) on the road Thursday night, 62-27. Mike Bercovici threw
for 488 yards and three TDs for the Sun Devils but Brett Hundley threw for 355
yards and four TDs—two of them 80-yard bombs--for the Bruins. UCLA’s Ishmael
Adams returned an interception 95 yards for a TD and later returned a kickoff
100 yards for a score.
12/13/15 Georgia (3-1) The Bulldogs held off the Tennessee
Volunteers (2-2) 35-32. Todd Gurley rushed for a career-high 208 yards and two
touchdowns, including a 51-yarder in the fourth quarter but it was Josh Dawson’s
recovery of a fumble in the endzone for a touchdown and a cover of an onsides
kick attempt that provided the difference. Justin Worley threw three TD passes
and Jalen Hurd rushed for 114 yards and a TD for the Vols.
13/15/12 South Carolina (3-2) The Gamecocks got edged by the
Missouri Tigers (4-1), 21-20. The Tigers scored first (Russell Hansbrough
18-yard run) but then South Carolina ripped off 20 unanswered points to lead
20-7 midway through the fourth quarter. Maty Mauk was limited to a 12 of 34 day
for just 132 yards and no TDs and Mizzou would have just 2 first downs in the
first 23 minutes of the second half but the Tigers would not quit, however. In
those last 7 minutes, Hansborough scored twice on one-yard runs to give the Tigers
a 21-20 victory.
14/16/13 Mississippi State (4-0) The Bulldogs had this
weekend off.
15/12/14 Arizona State (3-1) The Sun Devils got whipped by #11
UCLA (4-0), 62-27. See above for more.
16/14/20 Stanford (3-1) The Cardinal edged the Washington
Huskies (4-1), 20-13. A failed fake punt late in the fourth quarter led to a
Cardinal TD on a Kevin Hogan 5-yard run. On the other hand, three turnovers by
the Cardinal (one INT and two lost fumbles) heled keep the Huskies in the game.
17/18/16 LSU (4-1) The Tigers routed the New Mexico State
Aggies (2-3), 63-7. Freshman Brandon Harris made his first start for the
Tigers. He had a heck of a day with three TD passes and two TD runs. (In LSU’s
loss to Mississippi State last week, Harris entered the game with five minutes
to play and the Tigers down 34-10. He led two touchdown drives (and two 2-pt conversions)
to make it 34-28.) What he was doing playing in the second half this week when
it was 42-7 at the half, is anyone’s guess.
18/22/19 Southern California (3-1) The Trojans beat the
Oregon State Beavers (3-1), 35-10. Su’a Cravens returned an interception 31
yards for the first Trojan score in the first quarter. Ryan Murphy returned the
ensuing kickoff 97 yards for the Beavers. Unfortunately, the Trojans weren’t
done on either offense or defense. They held the Beavers to just one field goal
the remainder of the game. Meanwhile, Cody Kessler would go on to throw two TD
passes, one of them a 48-yard hail Mary to Darreus Rogers to end the first
half. Justin Davis caught the other and also ran for one. Javorius Allen rushed
20 times for 115 yards and a USC touchdown. The refs must have had to soak their arms
afterward. There were 27 accepted penalties in the game: 13 against Oregon
State for 108 yards and 14 against USC for 124 yards.
19/17/22 Wisconsin (3-1) The Badgers beat the surprisingly
stubborn South Florida Bulls (2-3), 27-10. It was 3-3 at the half but the
Badgers came out and scored on their first two drives in the second half.
Melvin Gordon scored both those TDs and finished the day with 181 yards on 32
carries. Still, the Bulls would not fold scoring a TD of their own on a 26 yard
run by Rodney Adams making it 17-10 at the end of three quarters. But the
Wisconsin’s defense shut the door and the offense tacked on 10 more points.
20/21/18 Brigham Young (4-0) The Cougars had the weekend
off.
21/19/17 Nebraska (5-0) The Cornhuskers ran over the
Fighting Illini of Illinois (3-2), 45-14. Ameer Abdullah ran for 208 yards—196 of
them in the first half and three TDs. Nebraska rushed 70 times for 458 yards,
190 in the first quarter as Abdullah surpassed the 100-yard mark with less than
10 minutes gone in the game.
22/20/21 Ohio State (3-1) The Buckeyes roughed up the
Cincinnati Bearcats (2-1), 50-28. Cincy scored first but then Ohio State reeled
off 30 unanswered points and never looked back. J.T. Barrett completed 26 of 36
for 330 yards and four TDs for the Buckeyes. Gunner Kiel also tossed four TD
passes including a 60-yarder to Chris Moore to open the scoring and an
83-yarder and 78-yarder both to the same Chris Moore who had three catches for
three TDs and 221 yards. Not a bad day—except for the “L” the Bearcats were
given by the Buckeyes.
23/24/25 East Carolina (3-1) The Pirates enjoyed a bit of
shore leave this weekend.
24/NR/NR Oklahoma State (3-1) The Cowboys beat the Texas
Tech Red Raiders (2-2) 45-35 on Thursday night. Daxx Garman threw for 370 yards
and four TDs and ran for a fifth for the Cowboys, Davis Webb threw for 374
yards and four touchdowns for the Red Raiders. (Each of them also threw two
INTs.) Entertaining? Hell yeah!
25/25/23 Kansas State (3-1) The Wildcats routed the Texas-El
Paso Miners (2-2), 58-28—and it wasn’t that close. Charles Jones ran for three
TDs and Tyler Lockett returned a punt 58 yards for another score—in the first
half. It was 45-0 in the third quarter before the Miners got on the board.
NR/23/NR Duke (4-1) The Blue Devils got beat by the Miami
Hurricanes (3-2), 22-10. Miami had its own Duke, Duke Johnson who ran for 155
yards and a TD. Brad Kaaya tossed two TD passes for the ‘Canes who snapped Duke’s
12-game regular season winning streak. It was only the second time in the last
36 games that Duke was held to 10 points or less. (Florida State is the other
team to accomplish that feat.)
NR/NR/24 Clemson (2-2) The Tigers beat the University of
North Carolina Tar Heels (2-2), 50-35. Freshman Deshaun Watson made his first
start under center for the Tigers. All he did was toss six TD passes as he went
27 of 36 for 435 yards. There is room for improvement; he threw one
interception.
My Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-1) trounced the Tulane Green
Wave (1-4), 31-6. Gary Nova threw four TD passes setting anew Rutgers’ record
of 61 for his career (38 games) more than Mike Teel’s 59. Three of those went
to Nova’s high school teammate Leonte Carroo. The fourth was a 93-yarder to
Andrew Turzilli. Tulane’s only score came on an 86-yard run by Sherman Badie.
Desmond Peoples rushed for 83 yards on 21 carries. He also had two catches for
50 yards. Justin Goodwin added 82 yards rushing on 12 carries as Rutgers played
their first game without Paul James. Defense contributed 4 sacks giving them 21
for the season.
