Sunday, September 20, 2009

College results from Week 3

After week two I wrote: “The elite teams in the top 5 have firmed up their positions and, barring a major surprise, should continue to do so this week.” Well then: Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! And it wasn't just the top 5 that got kicked around this weekend. Numbers 3, 7, 14, 18, and 19 all took it on the chin.

Having escaped the Thursday Night Curse a week ago due to the play of their place kicker, Scott Blair, #14 Georgia Tech was crushed by a Hurricane(#20 Miami (Fla.)).

The #3 Trojans couldn’t stop the Huskies from kicking a winning FG in the final seconds.

#7 BYU lost to Florida State.

#18 Utah lost to Oregon.

#19 Nebraska (2-1) dropped a close one to #13 Virginia Tech (2-1).

In short, expect a whole lot of shaking and baking in the next polls.

Here are the rankings going into week three and results of the games as the wacky world of college football continues.

The rankings are from the AP/Coaches Poll/CBSSports 120. Those in parentheses are from last week prior to play.

1/1/1 Florida (3-0) hosted Tennessee (1-2). Florida prevailed over the Volunteers 23-13.

2/2/2 Texas (2-0) hosted Texas Tech (2-0). The Longhorns got revenge for last year’s last second loss with a 34-24 victory over the Red Raiders.

3/3/3 Southern California (2-1) played at Washington (2-1). The Huskies kicked a last second field goal to down the Trojans 16-13. Not bad for a team that went 0-12 last year.

4/4/4 Alabama (3-0) hosted North Texas (1-2). The Tide overwhelmed the Mean(?) Green 53-7.

5/5/6 Penn State (3-0) hosted Temple (0-2). A slow start for the Nittany Lions but a solid 31-6 victory over the Owls.

5/6/8 Mississippi (2-0) hosted Southeastern Louisiana (2-1). Mississippi routed Southeastern Louisiana 52-6 as they amassed 758 yards of offense. But the defense caused five turnovers (including a 58 yd interception return for a TD by D.T. Schakelford) and held SL to 0-14 on third down conversions.

7/9/5 Brigham Young (2-1) hosted Florida State (2-1). The Seminoles nearly doubled up on the Cougars with a 54-28 victory. FSU converted 12 times on 15 third down tries, amassed 512 yards of offense with 313 on the ground and 199 in the air, and got a 63-yard interception return for good measure.

8/7/11 California (3-0) played at Minnesota (2-1). Bears vs. Gophers? No contest. It was 21 all heading into the fourth quarter. Then the Bears got hungry for some Gopher. Two fourth quarter TDs resulted in a Cal victory of 35-21.

9/7/10 LSU (3-0) hosted Louisiana-Lafayette (2-1). A rather predictable 31-3 victory for the Tigers of LSU.

10/10/9 Boise State (3-0) played at Fresno State (1-2) Friday night. Ho-hum. The Broncos won 51-34.

11/11/7 Ohio State (2-1) played at Toledo (1-2). Buckeyes rolled 38-0.

12/12/12 Oklahoma (2-1) hosted Tulsa (2-1). The Sooners shutout Tulsa 45-0

13/14/15 Virginia Tech (2-1) hosted #19 Nebraska (2-1). The Hokies escaped with a 16-15 victory over the Cornhuskers.

14/13/13 Georgia Tech (2-1) played on Thursday night again. This time at #20 Miami (Fla.) (2-0). “Beware the Thursday Night Curse!” I said. The ‘Canes beat the snot out of the Yellow Jackets on Thursday night 33-17.

15/15/14 TCU (2-0) hosted Texas State-San Marcos (1-1). TCU romped over TS-SM 56-21.

16/17/18 Oklahoma State (2-1) hosted Rice (0-3). Zac Robinson rushed for one TD and threw or two more as the Cowboys beat the Owls 41-24.

17/21/25 Cincinnati (3-0) played at Oregon State (2-1) Bearcats beat the Beavers 28-18 as Tony Pike posted a 31-49-332-1 line while throwing two TD passes and rushing for another.

18/16/16 Utah (2-1) played at Oregon (2-1). The Ducks upset #18 Utah, 31-24.

19/18/21 Nebraska (2-1) played at #13 Virginia Tech (2-1). Nebraska dropped a tough one to VT dropping this contest 16-15.

20/22/24 Miami (Fla.) (2-0) hosted #14 Georgia Tech (2-1) on Thursday night. Miami beat Georgia Tech 33-17.

21/NL/17 Houston did not play this week.

22/23/20 Kansas (3-0) hosted Duke (1-2). They played even in the first quarter but it was all Jayhawks after that as Kansas triumphed 44-16.

23/20/19 Georgia (2-1) played at Arkansas (1-1). GA QB Joe Cox tossed a school record tying 5 td passes as he went 18-26 for 375 yards. But he wasn’t the best QB on the field. The Razorback’s Ryan Mallet threw for 408 yards on a 21-39 evening and he also threw for 5 touchdowns. Neither should have had to lose. But GA got an 80 yard run from Richard Samuel and three FG from Blair Walsh (35, 37, and 31 yards) while AR managed no rushing TDs and only two field goals by Alex Tejada (both 23-yarders). Bulldogs won 52-41

24/19/23 North Carolina (3-0) hosted East Carolina (1-2). Despite it being “Speak like a Pirate Day”, the NC Tarheels prevailed 31-17

25/NL/22 Michigan (3-0) hosted Eastern Michigan (0-3). It was close at the half but the Wolverines pitched a shutout in the final two quarters to romp 45-17.

NL/24/NL Oregon State (2-1) hosted #17 Cincinnati (3-0). Cincinnati prevailed 28-18.

NL/25/NL Missouri (3-0) hosted Furman (2-1). Missouri triumphed 52-12.

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