“Week One ended with no surprises as every team beat a team
that was either unranked or ranked lower than it was. This week we have no game
with two ranked opponents, so it’s probably safe to say that there shouldn’t be any surprises this week
either. But that’s why they play the games.”
That’s what I said, “That’s why they play the games.” Just ask the (formerly) #8 Arkansas
Razorbacks. Or the (formerly) #13 Wisconsin Badgers. Or the (formerly) #16
Nebraska Cornhuskers. Or the (formerly) #18 Oklahoma State Cowboys. For good
measure, North Carolina and Nevada both lost by one point and will be heading
down in the rankings. Expect LOTS of changes when the Week 3 Rankings come out.
(Numbers given are the rankings of: AP/Coaches’/CBSSports.
NR = Not Rated Those in parentheses are last week’s rankings.)
1/1/4 (2/2/3) Alabama (2-0) The Crimson Tide shut out the
Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky (1-1) Saturday afternoon 35-0. AJ McCarron
completed 14 of 19 attempts for 219 yards and four TDs (two each to Christion
Jones and Kevin Norwood) and Alabama’s defense forced four turnovers. One thing
sure to get the Tide’s attention this week: The Hilltoppers’ sacked McCarron
six times despite the offensive line outweighing the Hilltoppers’ D by an
average of 45 pounds. Quanterus Smith had three of the sacks.
2/2/1 (1/3/2) Southern California (2-0) The Trojans over
powered the Orange of Syracuse (0-2) 42-29 Saturday afternoon at MetLife
Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Matt Barkley completed 23 of 30 pass attempts for
187 yards and six (6) TDs—a school record. Three of those TDs went to Marqise
Lee and two went to Robert Woods. Syracuse’s Ryan Nassib completed 30 of 46 for
322 yards and two TDs to Marcus Sales who gained 104 yards on eight catches.
Nassib also rushed for a TD. The second half was delayed for over an hour due
to weather concerns…something that would not have happened in the Dome at
Syracuse. (I still cannot understand Syracuse playing home games in New Jersey.
Sure, it may help recruiting in the New York City area—although half the
stadium was filled with USC fans and the Syracuse campus is over 250 miles away.
With the dome such an intimidating home venue, you have to wonder about this
strategy.)
3/3/2 (3/1/1) LSU (2-0) The Tigers demolished the Washington
Huskies (1-1) Saturday night 41-3. The Tigers spotted the Huskies 3 points
before reeling off 41 of their own. Zach Mettenberger was 12 of 18 for 195
yards and one TD. Alfred Blue carried the ball 14 times for 101 yards and a TD.
Kenny Hilliard had 46 yards on 13 carries and two TDs.
4/4/7 (5/5/5) Oregon (2-0) The Ducks overcame the Fresno State
Bulldogs (1-1) 42-25 Saturday night. Kenyon Barner scored three rushing TDs and
had a career high 201 yards on 34 carries for the Ducks.
5/5/3 (4/4/4) Oklahoma (2-0) The Sooners routed the Florida
A&M Rattlers (0-2) Saturday night 69-13. Damien Williams rushed for four
TDs including an 89-yarder as he carried the ball 10 times for 156 yards and
Brennan Clay scored two TDs on eight carries for 62 yards as the Sooners had
662 yards net offense—349 of it on the ground and 313 in the air. Landry Jones
completed 19 of 28 attempts for 252 yards, two TDs and an INT.
7/7/17 (6/6/6) Georgia (2-0) The Bulldogs beat the Missouri
Tigers (1-1) Saturday night 41-20. It seemed a heck of a lot closer though as
the Tigers held an eight point lead (17-9) early in the third quarter before
Georgia came awake to post 32 points to Missouri’s 3. Of course, Georgia was
playing with out some of its starting defensive players who were left home for
disciplinary reasons.
9T/8/25 (11/11/10) West Virginia (1-0) The Mountaineers had
the weekend off and will host the James Madison Dukes (2-0) (an FCS team)
Saturday afternoon. [I initially said they played this weekend.]
9T/9/19 (9/9/8) South Carolina (2-0) The Gamecocks routed
the East Carolina Pirates (1-1) 48-10 Saturday afternoon behind backup QB Dylan
Thompson’s 21 of 37, 330-yard, three TD game as regular starter Connor Shaw sat
out with a bruised throwing shoulder.
11/11/6 (13/13/14) Michigan State (2-0) The Spartans routed
the Central Michigan Chippewas (1-1) 41-7 Saturday afternoon. The only score
for the Chippewas came on a 55-yard interception return by Jason Wilson off
Michigan State backup QB Connor Cook. Andrew Maxwell completed 20 of 31
attempts for 275 yards and two TDs while Le’Veon Bell rushed for 70 yards and
two TDs on 18 carries for the Spartans.
12/12/16 (14/14/13) Clemson (2-0) The Tigers scored 32
points—in the second quarter—and rolled over the Ball State Cardinals (1-1)
Saturday afternoon. Clemson surpassed the 500 yard mark on offense for the
second consecutive week. DaAnde Hopkins caught three TD passes (he had six
catches for 105 yards) and Andre Ellington scored twice on the ground (13
carries for 41 yards). Tajh Boyd
completed 19 of 23 pass attempts for 229 yards and the three TDs to Hopkins
with 0 INTs before being removed for backup Cole Stoudt who went 12 of 18 for
123 yards and one TD with 0 INTs. Oh, and punter Spencer Benton kicked a
61-yard field goal to set a new Atlantic Coast Conference record. Boyd and
Hopkins came out of the game midway through the second quarter.
13/13/8 (12/12/12) Wisconsin (1-1) The Badgers fell to the
Oregon State Beavers (1-0) 10-7 Saturday afternoon. The Beaver defense bottled
up Montee Ball all afternoon, holding the Wisconsin star running back to just
61 net yards and no TDs on 15 carries. It was the first time in 21 games Ball
had not scored a TD. Wisconsin didn’t score until there was 1:31 remaining.
Their onsides kick failed when it was ruled (on review) that kicker Kyle French
had touched the ball before it had gone the required 10 yards. Sean Mannion
competed 29 of 47 attempts for 276 yards and a TD for the Beavers.
14/NR/13 (18/NR/15) Ohio State (2-0) The Buckeyes beat the
UCF Knights (1-1) 31-16 Saturday afternoon. QB Braxton Miller rushed for three
TDs as he carried the ball 27 times for 141 yards and then he passed for a
fourth (18 of 24 for 155 yards with one INT).
15/18/23 (16/20/18) Virginia Tech (2-0) The Hoakies beat the
Austen Peay Governors (0-2) (an FCS team) 42-7 Saturday afternoon. The Hokies
got off to a slow start but a long punt return and a blocked punt sparked the
offense. Wes Kitts carried the ball 22 times for 110 yards for the Governors
but that was the bulk of their offense as the Hokies had 419 yards in net
offense to Austen Peay’s 221.
16/14/15 (17/16/20) Nebraska (1-1) The Cornhuskers fell to
the UCLA Bruins (2-0) Saturday night36-30. With the score tied at 27 all,
Datone Jones sacked Taylor Martinez in the end zone for a safety and put the
exclamation point on the game. Brett Hundley was 21 of 33 for 305 yards and
four TDs and Johnathan Franklin rushed 26 times for 217 yards for the Bruins.
Martinez did rush for 112 yards on 13 carries including a 92-yard TD run and
Ameer Abdullah had two TDs on 16 carries for 119 yards but it wasn’t enough for
the Cornhuskers who were out gained 653 yards to 439 yards as UCLA ran 94
offensive plays to Nebraska’s 67. Hey! There’s another team playing in Los
Angeles besides USC.
17/15/14 (15/15/17) Texas (2-0) The Longhorns shut out the
New Mexico Lobos (1-1) Saturday night 45-0. David Ash ran 49 yards for one TD
and tossed a shovel pass to Dale Johnson for a 45-yard TD and a short pass to Mike
Davis that actually went across the line of scrimmage for another 22-yard
score. Ash finished the day 16 of 22 for 221 yards. Backup Case McCoy was 5 of
8 for 64 yards and a TD.
18/16/9 (19/19/19) Oklahoma State (1-1) The Cowboys got
schooled by the Arizona Wildcats (2-0) Saturday night 59-38. Arizona actually
trailed 14-0 before rolling off 30 unanswered points that apparently unnerved
the Cowboys. The Cowboys had 15 penalties for a school-record 167 yards in that
stretch. Then Oklahoma State rallied to bring it to within two points in the
third before Arizona said enough is enough and scored 29 points during the
final 27 minutes of play. Matt Scott completed 28 of 41 attempts for 320 yards
and two TDs. Scott also ran for a score. Ka’Deem Carey ran for two TDs and
caught one of Scott’s TD passes. Jonathan McKnight returned an interception 48
yards for a TD. Wes Lunt was 37 of 60 for 436 yards and four TD but threw 3
INTs including the one returned for a Wildcat score.
19/19/5 (8/8/9) Michigan (1-1) The Wolverines edged the Air
Force Falcons (1-1) Saturday afternoon 31-25 behind the outstanding play of QB
Denard Robinson. Robinson completed 14 of 25 passes for 208 yards, two TDs and
one INT. He also had touchdown runs of 79 and 58 yards as he rushed 20 times
for 218 yards.
20/17/NR (20/17/16) TCU (1-0) The Horned Frogs shut out the
Grambling Tigers (0-2) (an FCS team) Saturday night 56-0. Casey Pachall and
Trevone Boykin completed all 17 passes attempted for TCU setting an FBS record
for most passes without an incompletion. They were 17 of 17 for 276 yards and
four TDs. (Pachall was 9-9-201 and three TDs. Boykin 8-8-75 and one TD. Boykin
also ran for a 34-yard TD.) The Frogs’ defense held Grambling to just 70 yards
net offense. Dante’ Gray had a 70 yard punt return for a TD and Elisha Olabode
returned an interception 28 yards for a TD.
21/20/NR (22/21/22) Kansas State (2-0) The Wildcats routed the
Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes (1-1) 52-13 Saturday afternoon. Collin Klein completed
just 9 of 11 passes but got 210 yards out of those completions as well as one
TD. He also rushed for three TDs as he carried the ball 22 times for 71 yards.
The Wildcats’ John Hubert rushed for 106 yards and a TD on 19 carries while
Daniel Sams scored two TDs on just three carries for 47 yards.
22/22/21 (NR/24/NR) Notre Dame (2-0) The Fighting Irish needed
a last second, 27-yard field goal by Kyle Brindza to defeat the Purdue
Boilermakers (1-1) 20-17 Saturday afternoon. That final kick was set up by a
drive engineered by Tommy Rees, last year’s starting QB who was
suspended/benched for his role in a brawl last May. Starter Everett Golson had
completed 21 of 31 pass attempts for 289 yards and one TD with no INTs but
several hard hits left him with an unsure grip on the ball so Rees stepped in.
23/24/10 (25/NR/NR) Louisville (2-0) The Cardinals manhandled
the Missouri State Bears (0-2) Saturday afternoon 35-7. Teddy Bridgewater
completed 30 of39 passes for two TDs and no INTs as the Cardinals ran 77 plays
for 475 net yards compared to Missouri State’s 59 plays for 249 yards.
24/23/22 (23/23/23) Florida (2-0) The Gators came from
behind to edge the Texas A&M Aggies (0-1) Saturday afternoon 20-17. The
Gators trailed 17-10 at the half but shut the Aggies out in the second half
while scoring 10 points of their own to come away with the win. Mike Gillislee
carried the ball 14 times for 83 yards and a pair of TDs for the Gators. Jeff
Driskel completed 13 of his 16 pass attempts for 162 yards but was sacked eight
(8) times by the Aggies.
25/21/NR (21/18/21) Stanford (2-0) The Cardinal demolished
the Duke Blue Devils (1-1) Saturday night 50-13. Credit for the win goes to all
three facets of the game. Josh Nunes completed 16 of 30 passes for 275 yards
and three TDs. Drew Terrell returned a punt 75 yards for a TD (as well as
catching oneo f Nunes’ TD passes) and Ed Reynolds returned one of his two INTs 71
yards for a TD. Next week for the Cardinal it will be USC.
NR/25/11 (24/22/25) Boise State (0-1) The Broncos had the
weekend off but will host the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (1-1) Saturday afternoon. [I initially reported that these two teams played this weekend.]
NR/NR/18 (NR/NR/NR) North Carolina (1-1) The Tar Heels were
beat by the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-0) Saturday night 28-27. The Deacons’
Tanner Price led an 11-play, 93-yard drive late in the fourth quarter culminating
in a 1-yard sneak for a TD to put Wake Forest ahead. The defense than stepped
in; intercepting the Tar Heels’ Bryn Renner on a fourth down play with 1:25
remaining. Michael Campanaro made 13
catches for 164 yards for Wake Forest and Price had an earlier TD run of 2
yards and completed 27 of 38 for 327 yards.
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