This was a pretty decent week of football, but I wish the TV networks wouldn't stack all of the best games into the 7-8 PM time slot. Michigan-Notre Dame would have been a perfect fit at noon, and Clemson-Florida State would have been a nice 3:30 game. Too bad nobody asked me, I coulda made this a much better weekend.
#1 Alabama 40 FAU 7
Until a last minute TD drive that was aided by Alabama penalties, the Crimson Tide had held opponents off of the scoreboard for 192 minutes and 25 seconds dating back to the Michigan game. That's nuts. It wasn't a total embarrassment for Carl Pelini's Owls, but after getting stomped by Georgia last week, I'm sure the Owls are looking forward to the Sunbelt schedule.
#2 LSU 12 Auburn 10
Credit Auburn for playing it close and leading for most of the game, but if the Tigers want to prevent their inexorable slide into mediocrity, then they need to finish games like this. Credit LSU for pulling this one out, but they won't survive too many games like this in the SEC West. They've got to find some sort of offensive threat to complement their outstanding defense which allowed only 183 total yards.
#3 Oregon 49 #22 Arizona 0
Despite wearing the ugliest uniforms in the history of sports last night, the Ducks rolled up 495 total yards and 7 TDs on the upstart Wildcats. The real surprise in this one was the dominating Ducks' defense that held the Cats to 332 yards and forced 5 turnovers, and returned 2 interceptions for touchdowns. These Ducks are going to be hard to beat this year.
#4 Florida State 49 #10 Clemson 37
The top-rated defense in the nation was finally tested, and even though they won't be the top rated defense any more, they have to be happy with their second half performance, slowing down the Tiger offense enough to let EJ Manuel and the Seminole offense pull away. Manuel probably played himself into the Heisman conversation throwing for 380 yards and 2 TDs, while adding 102 yards on the ground. Clemson can't be pleased with the work of new defensive coordinator Brent Venables whose defense allowed 667 total yards as the Seminoles repeatedly gashed the Tiger D in the second half.
#5 Georgia 48 Vanderbilt 3
As good as Vanderbilt looked in their opener against South Carolina, they've been perfectly awful since, losing 2 of 3. Conversely, Georgia continues to look very good and they improve every week. QB Aaron Murray still looks like the best QB in the SEC, but games against Tennessee and South Carolina will tell us more about how strong Murray and this Bulldog team as a whole really are.
#15 Kansas State 24 Oklahoma 19
Collin Klein gets a lot of credit for turning the Wildcats around, and he deserves it, but the story of this game was the suffocating Wildcat defense. Holding the Sooners to 88 yards rushing, forcing 3 turnovers and scoring a vital touchdown in the first quarter on a fumble recovery, this Wildcat defense earned their stripes last night. Tough break for the Sooners, who have really fallen off the last few years, it will be interesting to see how they rebound against a tough Big 12 slate.
#7 South Carolina 31 Missouri 10
Anyone who thought that QB Connor Shaw would have any lingering ill-effects from his shoulder injury last week only needs to look at the 20/21 passing accuracy and see that he's probably okay. It helps to have a durable RB like Marcus Lattimore run for 85 yards and two TDs, and a dominating defense that held Missouri to 3 points until the last 17 seconds. The Gamecocks looked a little shaky to start the season, but this was a statement win in the tougher than expected SEC East.
#8 West Virginia 31 Maryland 21
If you want to beat West Virginia, you have to take away their running game, and tighten up enough against the pass to give your offense a chance to outscore the Mountaineers. Maryland managed to accomplish the first task, holding the Mountaineers to 25 yards rushing, but they couldn't stop Geno Smith who threw for 338 yards and three TDs. This is the first win for the Mountaineers against a team with a pulse, and it showed as they didn't quite have the video game numbers of their first two.
#11 Notre Dame 13 #18 Michigan 6
This was a surprising result to me. I didn't think the Irish could handle Michigan's explosive offense, but it would seem like this Irish defense is for real. It's unfortunate too, because I really hate Notre Dame and I'd prefer not to hear about how great a job Brian Kelly has done at rejuvenating this program. Unfortunately, as much as I also dislike Michigan, I really wanted them to win this game because I hate seeing the Big Ten go 0-fer-top 25 rated teams in the non-conference season.
#13 USC 27 California 9
USC did well to get the rebound victory, but WR Marqise Lee probably supplanted Matt Barkley as the Trojans' leading Heisman contender. Lee caught 2 TD passes while Barkley struggled and threw two picks. After all of the preseason hype, I'll admit that it feels pretty good to see him fail. The Trojan defense must continue to improve if USC wants to challenge for a PAC 12 title.
#14 Florida 38 Kentucky 0
After getting pretty well dominated by Western Kentucky last week, nobody really expected the Wildcats to be competitive against the rolling Gators, but this still has to hurt for the Kentucky faithful. Florida's offense pretty well did what they wanted against the Wildcats, and the Gators played opportunistic defense, collecting 3 interceptions and keeping Kentucky off the scoreboard.
#16 Ohio State 29 UAB 15
The Buckeyes struggled early, falling behind 12-7 near the end of the 1st half, but Braxton Miller took over and led 2 TD drives in the last 2 minutes of the half, and then iced the game with a 1 yard TD run late in the 4th quarter. Ohio State might be the best team in the Big Ten, but with two shaky performances in a row, it's not a runaway. Meyer's defense needs to get better in the secondary, and Braxton Miller has to become a sharper passer.
#17 TCU 27 Virginia 7
The TCU defense has allowed 13 points in three games this year, and while the offense hasn't looked overly impressive, there are plenty of teams worse off than the Horned Frogs. The Frogs get one more tune-up against SMU next week, and then we'll see if they can handle the increased strain of the Big 12 conference schedule.
Oregon State 27 #19 UCLA 20
It looks like the first year jitters finally caught up with Jim Mora's UCLA team. The Beavers were able to shut down RB Johnathan Franklin and exploit the soft UCLA secondary for big yards in the passing game. This game probably wouldn't have been this close if Oregon State hadn't turned it over twice and been flagged 9 times for 90 yards. UCLA has been exposed as pretenders, but they are more than capable of surprising anybody this year, as Nebraska found out.
#20 Louisville 28 FIU 21
You can't sleep on these little Florida schools as there's a whole lot of top level talent and speed in Florida high schools that trickles down through Florida, Florida State, and Miami, to the little guys. Louisville got a firsthand look at how that system works last night. QB Teddy Bridgewater had an uncharacteristically sloppy day going 19/36 with 2 INTs, but he also had 2 TDs and the Cards had enough in the tank to hold on for the win, and they continue to carry 100% of the Big East's pride with them when they play.
#21 Michigan State 23 Eastern Michigan 7
Credit Sparty for pulling away in the fourth quarter, but this was a 9-7 game after 3 quarters, and that's not going to get it done against the better teams on the Spartan's schedule. Michigan State's outstanding defense will keep it in every game, but the Spartans need more points when Le'Veon Bell rushes for 253 yards.
#23 Mississippi State 30 Southern Alabama 10
If the Bulldogs want to be taken seriously in the SEC West, they really need to perform better against the easy teams on their schedule. 356 total yards against an FCS team? That's not going to cut it against Alabama and LSU. The Bulldogs are 2/3 of the way to bowl eligibility at 4-0, but at some point they need to take the next step and be contenders in their division and that's not going to happen with weak performances like this.
#24 Boise State 7 BYU 6
If the touchdown had come with less than a minute left, one could forgive BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall for going for the 2 pt conversion for the win at the end of the game. But there were still more than 3 minutes left in the game, so even if they had gone up 1 point, Boise would have only need a FG in that 3 minutes to get the win. Instead, the Cougars failed to convert, and Boise State ran out the clock, stealing this game after a terrific defensive performance by the Cougars. Most will remember the call at the end, but let's not overlook the Cougar's defensive performance, holding Boise's offense off the scoreboard with an exciting goal line stand after a turnover put the ball at the BYU 1 yard line.
Northwestern 38 South Dakota 7
Nice, dominating performance by the Wildcats. The only scary moment was when starting QB Kain Colter left in the first quarter with an apparent wrist injury. There wasn't anything super impressive about this win, but it was a workmanlike performance by a team that has surprised a lot of people with their 4-0 start. Don't sleep on the Wildcats.
Penn State 27 Temple 13
Defense is definitely the hallmark of this Penn State team, and as long as they keep playing like they have so far this year, they will be a threat every week. When the Nittany Lions can restock their talent on offense, I think that Bil O'Brien has the scheme to be a yearly contender in the Big Ten, but it might be 3-5 years or so before they can recover from the crippling sanctions.
Minnesota 17 Syracuse 10
This was a good, hard fought win for the Gophers and with their 4-0 start, it's entirely possible that Minnesota can find 3 more wins and make it to a bowl game, which would be fantastic progress for second year head coach Jerry Kill. The Gophers can't afford to look too far ahead though, as they have plenty to fix on offense and defense before that can happen.
Louisiana Tech 52 Illinois 24
Yes, La Tech is one of the best non-BCS teams out there, but this was pretty ridiculous. Games like this do not help the Big Ten's image, and it certainly doesn't help the confidence of first year coach Tim Beckman's Illini. The Bulldogs scored pretty much every way possible and the Illini were embarrassed at home and sapped of any momentum as the Big Ten season starts.
Wisconsin 37 UTEP 26
RB Montee Ball proved once again that his stats last year were more a testament to his offensive line than his own skills. After fumbling early and being mostly unimpressive, Ball left the game with a head injury after his 1 yd TD run and did not return. The Badgers struggled early, but they managed to pull away in the second quarter behind new starting QB Joel Stave, and RBs James White and Melvin Gordon's 177 yards rushing and 3 TDs. The Badgers are not a good team, but it won't be easy for Nebraska next week.
Central Michigan 32 Iowa 31
The hits just keep for the Big Ten. After going ahead 31-23 with a little over two minutes left, the Hawkeyes allowed Central Michigain to score 10 points in those two minutes and sneak out of Iowa City with an upset victory. How many times does a RB go over 200 yards rushing and still lose? Of course it would happen to Iowa.
Ohio 44 Norfolk State 10
The Bobcats were pitching the shutout until late in the 4th quarter, but the Spartans were able to score twice in the last 5 minutes. That shouldn't take away from an outstanding performance by Frank Solich's team as they are a step closer to a BCS berth. The Bobcats probably need another week to break into the top 25, but once they do that, all they need to do is keep winning convincingly and hope that the teams in front of them keep losing. Their schedule isn't going to help, but it's not impossible.
Western Kentucky 42 Southern Miss 17
The Golden Eagles were dominated from start to finish by the Hilltoppers and Southern Miss opens the season 0-3. That sort of thing happens when you're still trying to juggle three quarterbacks in the fourth week of the season. This doesn't help Nebraska's strength of schedule much, and the season opener doesn't look nearly as impressive as it did a few weeks ago.
Arkansas State 42 Alcorn State 0
I don't care one way or another about the Red Wolves, but the more they win, the better it looks for Nebraska's strength of schedule. Arky State ran all over their FCS foe, and you have to give kudos to the Red Wolf defense for rebounding after getting stomped on last week. You never can tell in the Sunbelt, but I think the Red Wolves have as good a shot as anyone at winning this conference.
That wraps up a great week of football, and it only gets better from here. We're a quarter of the way done with the season already, and I can't wait for some of the conference games we've got coming up.
No comments:
Post a Comment