Great week of football with several surprises. Let's get right into the rundown:
#2 Oregon 52, #23 Washington 21
No surprises here, just Oregon doing what Oregon does. Year in and year out, the Ducks are outrageously explosive on offense and good enough on defense to let their offense outrun their opponents. Coach Chip Kelly moves to 40-6 in his 3 1/2 years in Eugene, with 2 of those losses coming in the Rose Bowl and the BCS National Championship game. That's just silly.
North Carolina State 17, #3 Florida State 16
Wait, what? Yeah this happened. The Wolfpack converted two 4th downs on their game winning drive, including the go ahead TD, erasing a 16-0 halftime deficit and pulling off the biggest upset of the year so far. The same EJ Manuel who was so good in 5 wins this year, was 17/29 passing for 1 TD and 1 INT. Manuel was sacked and hit the entire second half, and finished with -16 yards rushing. This is probably the end of Florida State's national title hopes, as there just isn't enough strength of schedule left to climb back into the polls unless they can shock Florida in Gainesvile.
#10 Florida 14, #4 LSU 6
LSU gets a lot of credit for their physicality and toughness, but the Gators played magnificently at home, knocking the Tigers around and sending about a dozen of their players to the sidelines with injury. If not for some untimely turnovers, I think Florida wins this game at least 17-3, if not more. Les Miles needs a new offensive gameplan, because if you can stop the Tigers' rushing attack, and Florida only allowed the Tigers 43 yards, LSU becomes completely useless on offense, and relies on their defense and special teams to get points, which didn't happen yesterday.
#6 South Carolina 35, #5 Georgia 7
Gamecock QB Connor Shaw might just be the best QB in the SEC after lighting up the Dawgs for 240 total yards and 3 TDs. RB Marcus Lattimore also fueled his Heisman hype after rushing for 109 yards and a TD as the Gamecocks blasted the Bulldogs in Columbia. Georgia QB Aaron Murray was held to 11/31 passing for 109 yards and an INT in the loss, and only a late cosmetic TD prevented the goose egg for the Bulldogs. With Florida's win over LSU, the SEC East may come down the the Gator's tilt with South Carolina in two weeks.
#7 Kansas State 56, Kansas 16
Kansas hung around in the first half, but they were never really in this game. K-State woke up in the second half and blew the Jayhawks away, finishing with 346 rushing yards. QB Collin Klein and RB John Hubert both finished the game over 100 yards, and both averaged better than 10 yards per rush. Decent warm up game for the Wildcats, they get a good looking Iowa State team next week.
#8 West Virginia 48, #11 Texas 45
Playing against the best defense they've seen by far, Geno Smith was nearly as awesome as he's been all year, throwing for 268 yards and 4 TDs, but the real MVP in this game was RB Andrew Bule who gashed the Longhorns for 207 yards and 2 TDs. The Mountaineers actually improved on defense holding Texas to a little over 400 yards at home (and only 45 points!), and forced QB Nick Ash to try keeping pace with Geno Smith without a lot of help from his ground game. With the ubiquitous nature of the spread offenses in the Texas high schools that fill his roster, I wonder why Mack Brown is so insistent on mimicking Alabama's run-first power game? It certainly hasn't worked for the Longhorns as they endure the worst 3 year run in recent memory
#9 Notre Dame 41, Miami (FL) 3
The latest version of Catholics vs Convicts was hardly as stirring as the 1988 classic. Nothing secret about how Brian Kelly has turned the Irish around: strong defense (285 total yds allowed), strong rushing attack (346 total yds) and mistake-free football (0 turnovers, 4 penalties). As much as it pains me to say it, I've been really impressed with Notre Dame's composure winning consecutive games over Michigan State, Michigan, and Miami. If they keep it up, the Nov 24th game at USC could be for a BCS title berth. That will make for a loathsome offseason of hearing how great the Irish are. Ick.
#13 USC 38, Utah 28
Matt Barkley redeemed himself a little bit with a 303 yard, 3 TD performance, but he was again outshined by his receiver Marqise Lee who caught 12 balls for 192 yards and a TD. 14 penalties and 2 turnovers are a concern for the Trojans, but at this point, the Trojans just need to be happy with the win, and circle the Nov. 3rd game with Oregon as their best chance to win back respect in the polls.
#14 Oregon State 19, Washington State 6
Hmmph. I'm still not overly impressed with the Beavers, but they did well to hold Mike Leach's Cougars to 227 total yards and force 5 turnovers (4 INTs). Lots of people are jumping on the Beaver Bandwagon, but I won't ride until the Beavers can beat a bad team by more than a couple scores.
#15 Clemson 47, Georgia Tech 31
Defense appears to be optional in Clemson as the Tigers allowed Georgia Tech's tricky triple option attack to roll up 339 yards and lead 31-30 in the fourth quarter. Luckily, Clemson can score on anyone eventually, and QB Tajh Boyd was able to shake off two INTs to throw for 397 yards and the go ahead TD in the fourth. Clemson is a dangerous team, but they're not true contenders until they start getting a better return on their pricey investment in defensive coordinator Brent Venables.
Iowa State 37, #15 TCU 23
Down 30-23 with 8 minutes left, the Frogs appeared to have momentum after stuffing the Cyloclones on a three and out, but on third down, Iowa State DE David Irving did his best Ndamukong Suh impression, batting a pass into the air, intercepting it, and returning the INT 21 yards for a TD, pushing the Cyclone lead to two TDs and deflating the Frogs for good. Does this upset happen if TCU's starting QB Casey Pachall wasn't suspended for a DWI? Doesn't matter. He was, and Paul Rhoads gets yet another program defining upset on the road.
#17 Oklahoma 41, Texas Tech 20
Lots of talk this week about how this Texas Tech team turned a corner under third year coach Tommy Tuberville, and how the Sooners were in deep trouble with the trip to Lubbock. Well, it was all for naught as the Sooners rode a strong defensive performance to victory on the road, and it churns up a little momentum for the Red River Rivalry game next week. Bob Stoops doesn't have a National Title caliber team right now, but he's got enough to beat anyone in the Big 12 on a given Saturday.
#18 Stanford 54, Arizona 48 F/OT
The Oregon game aside, Arizona has successfully translated Rich Rodriguez's spread offense into big yards and points all season long. Unfortunately, the defensive woes that sunk Rodriguez at Michigan have come back to bite him in Tucson. Stanford ran up 618 yards on the Wildcats and came back from 2 TDs down in the fourth to prevent their second straight loss. The Cardinal have plenty of work to do, but the win matters more than the ugliness right now.
#20 Mississippi State 27, Kentucky 14
Not a great performance by the Bulldogs, but against Kentucky, that's good enough. If the Bulldogs want to truly get out of the SEC West cellar, they need to win at least 2 of their next three games against Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, and Alabama. If the Bulldogs win all three, they're in the running for a trip to Atlanta in December.
#22 Rutgers 19, Connecticut 3
The Scarlet Knights are looking to make some noise in the Big East, and snatching 4 picks, including a 25 yard pick six, from the Huskies helped offset a poor offensive performance. It's a three team race with Cincinnati, and Louisville right now in the Big East and if Rutgers wants to take the crown, they need to get better than 280 total yards and 13 points from their offense.
Penn State 39, #24 Northwestern 28
Leading 28-17 going into the 4th quarter, the Wildcats gave up 3 unanswered TDs in the final period, and the Nittany Lions celebrated coach Bill O'Brien's first win over a ranked opponent. I like this Nittany Lions team, they play fantastic defense (the three TDs by the Wildcats notwithstanding) and have an offense that grinds out wins with heart and determination. O'Brien will have plenty of success here if he sticks around.
California 43, #25 UCLA 17
Cal didn't necessarily shut down the Bruin's explosive offense, they simply used that offense to their advantage, stealing 6 turnovers and parlaying them into touchdowns to put the Bruins away. A lot of people were ready to anoint the Bruins after they beat Nebraska, but an ugly loss at Oregon State, and the loss last night prove that the Bruins were probably more lucky than good in that game. Or maybe Nebraska is that bad...
Michigan State 31 Indiana 27
The Hoosiers discovered the Achilles heel to this Spartan defense: no huddle offenses that play sideline to sideline. The Spartans gave up almost 200 yards in just the first quarter, before waking up in the second half and roaring back to steal a road win from the Big Ten's worst team. If Mark Dantonio was unhappy after letting Ohio State off the hook, he has to be furious after his team nearly blew their whole season Saturday afternoon. After a game against Iowa next week, the Spartans enter a critical 3 game stretch at Michigan and Wisconsin, then against Nebraska. Michigan State fans can't be too optimistic about those games right now.
Wisconsin 31 Illinois 14
Solid win for the Badgers, as they rebound from the heartbreaker in Lincoln. The Badgers needed a strong win to re-establish themselves as the favorite in a wide open Leaders division, and they didn't disappoint at home. The Illini scored first, but then not again until the game was long decided in the 4th quarter. Taking a 10-7 lead into the 4th quarter, Wisconsin scored 3 TDs in the fourth, putting the game away on a 19 yard run by Montee Ball with 3 minutes left. The season hasn't gone as planned for the Badgers, but their goals are still in front of them.
Michigan 44 Purdue 13
Denard Robinson rushes for 235 yards, the Wolverine defense shows signs of life, and now Michigan looks like the best team in the Legends division after Nebraska gets blown out, and Michigan State struggles at Indiana. It was a good performance by the Wolverines, but I'll admit that I'm surprised and disappointed in the Boilermakers who played well below their talent level in the loss. Now Wisconsin looks like the most likely team to win the Leaders division with a third place finish behind ineligible Ohio State and Penn State.
Boise State 40 Southern Miss 14
The Golden Eagles start the year 0-5 after getting slaughtered at home by the Broncos. On the bright side, the quarterback competition appears to be down to 2 guys after the Eagles were rotating 3 in their first 5 games. Boise State was outyarded 424-310, but managed to put down Southern Miss with the help of 5 turnovers and a 23-0 halftime lead. The Broncos have been hovering outside of the top 25, but they should re-enter the polls after the dominant showing.
Arkansas State 34 Florida International 20
The Red Wolves played a pretty strong game against their Sun Belt foe, racking up 421 total yards with a good balance of run and pass and moving to 3-3 on the year. Western Kentucky looks like the class of the Sun Belt, but with Gus Mahzahn at the helm, Arkansas State is capable of making a solid run, which is a nice bump for Nebraska's strength of schedule.
Ohio 38 Buffalo 31
Clearly, the MAC is not going to roll over and let Frank Solich and Ohio roll through the conference unimpeded. Luckily for the Bobcats, that win over Penn State is looking better every week, and as long as Ohio doesn't lose any of these close games, they still have a chance to get a BCS bowl if they get enough help. They need to stop allowing 500 yards to weak teams though.
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