College Football Recap – Week 3

College Football Betting News and Notes - Week 3
By Andrew Lange
Sportsmemo.com

I'm well aware that Nebraska doesn't have the defensive players it had a few years back AND that the offense is playing at a faster clip hence more plays/opportunities for the opposition. However over the last two years we've seen the Cornhuskers fail repeatedly when asked to face competent offenses and what’s baffling to me is the lack of any sort of adjustment.

2012 Week 2 - UCLA racked up 653 yards on nearly 6.95 ypp.

2012 Week 6 - Ohio State popped for 63 on the Huskers at over 8 ypp.

2012 Big Ten Championship - Wisconsin hung 70 and nearly 11 ypp!

2012 Bowl Game - Georgia fell just shy of 600 yards at 8.3 ypp.

2013 Week 1 - Wyoming rolled into Lincoln and put up 602 yards (8.1 ypp) and nearly won outright as 31-point dogs.

These days playing defense against top-notch offenses isn't easy. But there are tons of teams with far less talent that are finding ways to get the occasional three-and-out.

One of my biggest bets of Week 3 was on Washington -4 second half vs. Illinois. The Huskies absolutely dominated the first half box score, kicked a FG right before half, and received the ball to start the second. It was almost TOO obvious of a play. Sure enough, UW came out with a quick touchdown drive to open the second half but Illinois somehow someway stuck around and actually pulled within a seven midway through the fourth quarter. The Huskies chipped in a late field goal to make it 34-24 but my ticket fell a point short. So what did I learn in defeat? To make that bet every single time. I mentioned that the first half box score was lopsided, well so was the second. All told UW outgained Illinois by nearly 300 yards and had a 30-17 first down advantage – in other words, a three touchdown or more victory. But what neutralized the Huskies were penalties. They were flagged 12 times for 104 yards while Illinois had six penalties for 65 yards. I'd say the one positive from the outcome is that Washington – which looks to be a very good football team – may have kept just a tad bit of its value for later use.

I used to bet Sun Belt mid-week games under the total like they were letting me set the lines. At one time they were on a 5-17 O/U run. But last year trended over at 5-2 O/U and Thursday's Troy-Arkansas State added to that number with 75 points. It’s like Alabama not having a game totaled north of 60 in well over a decade prior to playing Texas A&M. That game went over at the end of the third quarter. Trends that date back even as recent as three years are all irrelevant due to how easy it is to move the ball and thus score. There are still unders to be had but they certainly aren't as obvious as they were 10 years ago.

Is USC back? The Trojans earned some of my respect after dismantling Boston College 35-7 in the Coliseum. Cody Kessler looked like a college quarterback and the stop unit was stellar the entire game. USC's first three opponents are nothing to get excited about offensively but you hold three FBS teams (two of which from power conferences) to 30 points in three games, you are doing something right. Note also that the SC’s pass defense has the best opposing QB rating (84.28) of any team that hasn't played an FCS opponent. We'll see how they fare against the high octane offenses of Utah State, Arizona State, and Arizona.

Remember last year when Oregon opened the season 0-3 ATS? Oddsmakers were probably saying to themselves, “it’s about damn time we get some of our money back!” But since that 0-3 start, no number is too high for the boys in green and yellow. The Ducks closed the year 8-2 ATS and are right back at it in 2013 with a 3-0 ATS start to the season. Listen, all good things come to an end. Remember when the Smurf Turf was as automatic a bet as there was in college football for nearly a decade? Yeah, well now Boise State can't buy a pointspread cover at home (3-11 ATS last three years). And while it's impressive that such a high profile team like the Ducks can continue to be profitable, keep in mind heading into this year they were about 58% ATS since Chip Kelly took over in 2009 – not shabby, but not groundbreaking. Point being, Oregon is not a team you want to actively want to step in front of but there are ATS losses looming on the horizon – especially after you outscore your first three opponents 184-27.

What happen to that stingy Vanderbilt defense that ranked 19th nationally last year in total yards (333.9 ypg)? Ole Miss and South Carolina are pretty explosive so maybe we shouldn't overreact but ever since the start of the second half against the Rebels, the Commodores have allowed 64 points over their last six quarters of play. Important to note that linebacker Chase Garnham was injured during the Ole Miss game (nice find Brian Edwards!) and finished with just two tackles. He also didn't play against South Carolina. Last season, Garnham was second on the team in tackles (84) and first in tackles for loss (12.5). I bring up the injury not only because Garnham is important but that Vandy lost only four defensive starts to injury last season – an extremely fortunate number and a big reason why they had success SU and ATS. It is when the Commodores call upon their second- and third-stringers that we start to see a significant drop-off in talent and ability.

I mentioned on the podcast that teams like Marshall who put up gaudy offensive numbers early are often fool's gold to bettors. I actually preferred them in this contest but when it went from -6 (an already steep number) to -8 I knew to leave it alone. Marshall dominated the box score and once again showed improvement defensively (Ohio averaged only 4.5 ypp) but a slew of miscues (4 turnovers) was too much to overcome. I can't stress enough that when these mid-major teams go out on the road, you have to assume they are going to turn the ball over. Go look at the national rankings for turnovers lost this season and vast majority are from smaller conferences and have played multiple road games. If Marshall goes into Athens and plays a "clean" game, I believe they win and cover with ease. But it is a lot tougher than bettors think to get those types of showings.

I think it is well known in the betting industry that Oregon State's Mike Riley is a pretty damn good coach. The Beavers are notorious for slows starts to the season – I'm sure not by design – and it was on full display in Week 1's upset loss to Eastern Washington and Week 2's ho-hum win over woeful Hawaii. We documented throughout the week that OSU's offensive line was in shambles and as a result they essentially couldn't run the football. So what does Riley do for his team's conference opener on the road? He has those bastards ready to play. Check out the first quarter drives for Oregon State and Utah...

Oregon State
10 plays, 64 yards - FG
3 plays, -1 yards - Punt
8 plays, 63 yards - TD
8 plays, 68 yards - FG (drive started in the 1st, ended in the 2nd)

Utah
4 plays, 3 yards - Punt
3 plays, 5 yards - Punt
3 plays, 5 yards - Punt

Before the Utes knew what hit them, they were down 13-0. The reason I bring this up is that the fast start was the reason Oregon State won the game because once Utah adjusted they were able to pretty much move the ball at will. In the end, the Beavers won in overtime 51-48. They aren't a great team by any stretch but coaches like Riley do have an impact. I also find it ironic that CRIS opened the game OSU -3, closed Utah -3.5, and the Beavers won by 3. Yeah, it was a coin flip outcome but worth mentioning.

I bet you were thinking that Western Kentucky would surely shore things up against no-name South Alabama after last week’s turnover fest in Knoxville, right? Wrong! Once again, mid-major goes on the road, mid-major is laying over a touchdown, and mid-major coughs the ball up three times and finds a way to lose. And credit is surely due to the Jaguars who in back-to-back weeks came up with wins over Tulane (who just won at Louisiana Tech) and Sun Belt co-favorite WKU.

I'm going to keep mentioning Arkansas's play calling ratio until they pass more than they run in a game. They haven't exactly needed to utilize the pass much with three relatively comfortable wins but in those contests, the Razorbacks threw the ball and grand total of 51 times vs. 160 rushing attempts. That might change this week when UA travel to Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights have allowed only 178 rushing yards for the season (1.98 ypc).

Top 25 Betting Recap - Week 3
By Mike Rose
VegasInsider.com

Week 3 of the 2013 NCAA football betting season is in the books, and today, we're going to be taking a look at each of the Top 25 teams in the land and see how they did from an ATS perspective in this go around this past week.

(Results in parentheses represent SU Result-ATS Result)

1: Alabama (W-L vs. Texas A&M 49-42)
The Tide won last week, but they won't be happy about allowing over 500 yards and 42 points to Johnny Football whom they let in through the backdoor.

2: Oregon (W-W vs. Tennessee 59-14)
If Marcus Mariota wasn't a Heisman candidate before, he is now after throwing for 456 yards and four scores.

3: Clemson (Bye)
Up next is the dreaded "should win road game" against NC State.

4: Ohio State (W-W vs. California 52-34)
Kenny Guiton has proven to absolutely be a suitable replacement for the injured Braxton Miller.

5: Stanford (W-L vs. Army 34-20)
The Cadets ended with far more points than the Cardinal would have preferred to allow.

6: Texas A&M (L-W vs. Alabama 49-42)
A&M's National Championship hopes took a shot, but remain alive after a close loss to Bama.

7: Louisville Cardinals (W-W vs. Kentucky 27-13)
It was the first time that the Cards looked almost human this year.

8: LSU (W-L vs. Kent State 45-13)
LSU now has 37 or more scored in three straight games.

9: Georgia (Bye)
The Bulldogs earned this bye after playing Clemson and South Carolina to start off the season.

10: Florida State (W-W vs. Nevada 62-7)
You wouldn't know that FSU was losing in the second quarter. The Noles rolled off 31 unanswered in the third quarter alone.

11: Michigan (W-L vs. Akron 28-24)
First App State and now almost Akron. The Wolverines need to stop scheduling horrid opponents to come to the Big House.

12: Oklahoma State (W-W vs. Lamar 59-3)
Getting 426 yards almost seems like slacking for Okie State.

13: South Carolina (W-L vs. Vanderbilt 35-25)
The Gamecocks were up 28-0 and 35-10 and nearly were in a dog fight in the fourth.

14: Oklahoma (W-W vs. Tulsa 51-20)
Quarterback controversy is no more in Norman. This is Blake Bell's team for the foreseeable future.

15: Miami (Bye)
They're still partying in South Beach over the Canes' win two weeks ago over Florida.

16: UCLA (W-W vs. Nebraska 41-21)
After getting out to a wretched start, the Bruins rolled off 38 straight to stun the Huskers.

17: Northwestern (W-L vs. Western Michigan 38-17)
Very quietly, Northwestern is 3-0 and has scored 38+ in three games to start the campaign.

18: Florida (Bye)
If Will Muschamp loses this week to Tennessee, is he on the hot seat?

19: Washington (W-L vs. Illinois 34-24)
Keith Price threw for 342 and Bishop Sankey ran for 208, but the Huskies still couldn't cover -11 against a team that only completed 10-of-26 passes.

20: Wisconsin (L-W vs. Arizona State 32-30)
Next time, worry about spiking the ball, Joel Stave.

21: Notre Dame (W-L vs. Purdue 31-24)
Whew. Almost a second straight disaster against a Big Ten team for the Fighting Irish.

22: Baylor (Bye)
The Air Bear took the week off last week.

23: Nebraska (L-L vs. UCLA 41-21)
That 21-3 lead sure went away in a hurry. The Black Shirts have a lot of work to do in the Big Ten.

24: TCU (L-L vs. Texas Tech 20-10)
There's a real chance that TCU goes from Top 25 to not making a bowl game this year.

25: Ole Miss (W-W vs. Texas 44-23)
Think Texas has some defensive problems? Ole Miss rolled off 272 on the ground to stun Mack and the Longhorn nation.

Week 3 Rewind
By Brian Edwards
VegasInsider.com

Texas A&M raced out to a 20-0 lead at Alabama last season and held on to capture a 29-24 victory. This time around Saturday in College Station, the Aggies jumped out to a 14-0 advantage. All that had happened during The Summer of Johnny was forgotten and Kyle Field was as raucous as any venue in America.

But Alabama senior quarterback A.J. McCarron had been here before. Not there at Kyle Field, literally, but in the same type of scenario. And as usual, the Mobile product delivered for the Crimson Tide.

McCarron, who now owns a 27-2 record and two national titles in 29 career starts, orchestrated four consecutive scoring drives to put his team in front 28-14 at intermission. McCarron would complete 20-of-29 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns without an interception.

Manziel was spectacular but his two interceptions turned the game around in ‘Bama’s favor. In fairness to Manziel, however, the first pick wasn’t on him in my opinion. With the game knotted at 14-14, Texas A&M faced a second-and-goal opportunity at the ‘Bama four.

Manziel threw a fade to the corner that was intercepted by Cyrus Jones. If you watched the replay, the A&M receiver didn’t do a very good job of fighting for position. Trailing 28-14 early in the third quarter, Manziel was intercepted by Vinnie Sunseri, who made a remarkable return of 73 yards to paydirt for his second pick-six of the season.

But the Aggies wouldn’t die. After both teams traded TDs, Manziel found Malcome Kennedy for a 12-yard scoring strike to cut the deficit to 42-28.

Alabama answered with a strong drive and appeared to be poised to score again on a second and goal from the one. But T.J. Yeldon coughed up a fumble that was recovered by the Aggies.

To be clear, Nick Saban has forgotten more about football than I’ll ever know. But a few plays later, he (or defensive coordinator Kirby Smart) made a colossal mistake. With Texas A&M facing a third and nine from its own five, Manziel noticed man coverage on his favorite target Mike Evans.

With Sunseri, ‘Bama’s All-American safety, inexplicably shading to the other side of the field, Manziel dropped back into his own end zone and let it fly. Evans, who would finish the day with seven receptions for 279 yards, ran under it and took it to the house for a 95-yard touchdown.

Four plays after Alabama was one yard away from going ahead 49-28, we had a one-possession game with more than eight minutes remaining.

When McCarron marched his offense back on the field, the urgency level wasn’t where it was in Baton Rouge last season when Alabama trailed with less than two minutes left. But Saban was ready to have a coronary if Johnny Football got the chance to go back on the field down by only seven points. McCarron and Yeldon would let it happen.

With a nine-play 60-yard drive that took more than five minutes off the clock and sucked the life out of Kyle Field, Alabama put the game on ice. The drive only went to third down once on the final play when McCarron found Jalston Fowler for a five-yard TD pass off a beautiful play-action fake.

For our purposes, though, the game was still a nail-biter. And Johnny Backdoors would deliver for Texas A&M backers who took the eight-point underdog. Manziel’s four-yard TD pass to Kennedy with 15 ticks remaining made it 49-42.

‘Bama would recover the onside kick and McCarron needed to take a knee just once from out of the victory formation. The 91 combined points soared ‘over’ the 63-point total. Manziel connected on 28-of-39 throws for 454 yards and five TDs. He also rushed for 98 yards on 14 carries.

Yeldon rushed for 149 yards and one TD on 25 totes. ‘Bama will host Colorado St. in Week 4 before Ole Miss comes to Tuscaloosa.

Speaking of the Rebels, they will get an open date leading into their date with the Tide. Hugh Freeze’s team improved to 3-0 (2-1 ATS) by trouncing Texas 44-23 as a 2.5-point underdog.

Jeff Scott ran for 164 yards and one TD on 19 carries and also had a 73-yard punt return for a TD. Bo Wallace threw for 177 yards and two TDs and also ran for 57 yards and one score.

UCLA fell behind 21-3 at Nebraska in the second quarter of their showdown in Lincoln. But the Bruins scored 38 unanswered points en route to collecting a 41-21 win as short underdogs. They were five-point ‘dogs early in the week but the number came down to three by late Friday afternoon. By kickoff at noon Eastern, some books had made the game a pick ‘em.

UCLA sophomore QB Brett Hundley completed 16-of-24 passes for 294 yards and three TDs. He also rushed for 61 yards. Jordon James rushed for 105 yards and one TD for the Bruins.

Former Nebraska QB Tommie Frazier, who led the Cornhuskers to the national title in 1995, was honored at the game. Frazier wasn’t happy with the team’s performance and called for changes, especially in terms of the defensive coaches.

Bo Pelini responded at his Monday presser by saying, “If that’s how he feels, we don’t need him.” When you’re on the hot seat at Nebraska, it’s probably not a good idea to take shots at one of the school’s most legendary figures.

On Monday, the Pac-12 reprimanded the officials for Saturday’s Wisconsin-Arizona St. game due to the way they mishandled the end of the game. The Sun Devils won a 32-30 decision but failed to cover the number as six-point home favorites.

Wisconsin had a golden opportunity to win outright and hook up money-line backers with a +185 payout (risk $100 to win $185). The Badgers advanced to the ASU 13 with 18 seconds remaining, but they didn’t have any timeouts left.

Therefore, it would be understandable if Gary Andersen wanted to take a shot at the end zone. In that scenario, as long as QB Joel Stave got the ball out fast and didn’t get sacked, everything would be all good. I would’ve been fine with just going ahead and kicking the field goal.

The last thing on earth you want to do is run any sort of play where the clock keeps running and you risk something crazy happening in terms of getting the ball spotted for the next play. Well, Andersen wanted to do just that. He told Stave to center the ball (Wisconsin was on the right hash for what would’ve been a 30-yard field goal) and then spike it on the next play.

There would be no next play. Stave moved to his left and took a knee and then placed the ball on the ground, hoping the referee would jump in and mark the ball quickly. The ASU players wisely jumped on the ball, acting as if they had just recovered a fumble. Chaos ensued and the refs had no sense of urgency whatsoever.

The refs got the ball marked with 1 or 2 seconds left, but it was too late for a spike to stop the clock. Yes, the refs failed to do their job properly, but it was Andersen’s mistake for giving the officials that opportunity.

I’ve always liked Andersen, but this defeat is completely on him.

B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets

UCF’s win over Penn State at Beaver Stadium lifted it to 3-0 going into an open date that precedes a home game vs. South Carolina. Yes, the Golden Knights can get to a BCS bowl game this year. In fact, if they beat the Gamecocks and win at Louisville, don’t discount the notion that they could vault into the top 10 of the national rankings by the end of October.

Louisville remained undefeated with its 27-13 win at Kentucky as a 13-point favorite. The Cardinals had to be pleased with UCF’s win at PSU and will certainly be pulling for the Golden Knights against Steve Spurrier’s team. --Texas Tech improved to 3-0 both straight up and against the spread by capturing a 20-10 win over TCU on Thursday as a three-point home underdog. The Red Raiders host Texas St. this week. They have an excellent chance to win their first seven games before playing at Oklahoma on Oct. 26.

Texas has lost 10 of its last 21 home games.

UCLA was a great halftime bet. Trailing 21-10 at Nebraska, the Bruins were favored by three for +8 adjusted. They won by 20.

5Dimes had Akron with 110/1 odds to win outright at the Big House. The Zips nearly did just that but couldn’t punch it in inside Michigan’s five in the final seconds. The Wolverines won, 28-24, but Terry Bowden’s team easily took the cash as a 35-point underdog.

College Football: Week 3 Review - Pointspreads
By Bovada.lv

With week 3 of college football betting in the books, it’s time to take a wider look at how things went during the three days that encompassed the 59 games that took place.

A simple way of explaining how things went is to say that the weekend went to the dogs, since underdogs were a sparkling 30-15-1. While home underdogs ended up with a 10-7 ATS record, it was the road dogs that made big money for sports handicappers. In 29 games, those teams put together a 20-8-1 ATS mark.

One trend that slowed was those games in which the Las Vegas betting line favorite on the original schedule saw its line drop during the course of the week. Prior to this weekend, the ATS record was an outstanding 28-10, but things cooled off with a 10-11 ATS record.

Write-in games that were added to the schedule enjoyed a second straight week of success, this one even better than last week’s 7-4 ATS effort. This time, eight of 10 cashed for bettors, which gives this trend a 15-6 mark for the year. Unfortunately, this trend may dissipate since conference game will begin in earnest soon, eliminating many of the teams that currently dot this list.

Taking another look a certain pockets of pointspread number shows some room for consideration either as a play or a fade. For example, in the play category, teams favored by -4 have a 4-0 ATS record, while any teams that has been favored from -5 to -6.5 has made money in six of the eight games play. Finally, the -13.5 to -14.5 range has a 7-3 ATS mark, which means these three areas combine for a solid 17-5 on the year.

For the potential fades, there are just two areas of interest. Any team favored by -7 up to -9.5 has put a miserably combined ATS performance of 4-14. After that, it’s only heavy favorites of from -30 to -34 have an equally terrible 3-11, giving this group a 7-25 record on the young season.

An odd trend that we noted last week suggested betting on teams from -22 to -29 when the Las Vegas betting line was the exact number, and betting against any team that had a .5 tacked onto this range.

The trend has shifted somewhat, but is still putting up excellent numbers: teams that are favored from -21 to -25 (exact number) have a 9-2 ATS mark. For teams favored from -23.5 and -28.5 (must have the .5 in the pointspread), going against these teams has amassed an astounding 16-3 ATS mark.

Many of the huge Las Vegas betting lines we’ve seen will likely start to fade due to the lesser teams being replaced by conference foes, but we’ll be here to keep track of how things turn out.

College Football: Week 3 Review - Totals
By Bovada.lv

The world of totals in college football this season continues to display different avenues for potential wagering by sports handicappers who might see this as a better winning opportunity.

One game that had a road favorite, and promised some offensive fireworks was the Fresno State at Colorado State matchup. Unfortunately, severe flooding in the Boulder area resulted in the game being postponed, with no indication if the game will be able to be made up.

While the latter case had only nominal success this week, it has been a pretty good winner when taking all three weeks of the season into account. During that time frame, the record in favor of the over for road chalk is 22-14-2, which translates to 61 percent winners, making it something to think about before next week’s games.

After seeing both ends of the spectrum during the first two weeks with respect to games on the original schedule where the Las Vegas betting line dropped, this week was more toward the middle, record-wise. In the 21 games that made up this group, there were 11 overs, nine unders and a push. That slightly reduces the season-long lean that has the under being the right call in 30 of 57 games, which will hardly get anyone ecstatic about using this data for their future plays.

Up until this week, games in which totals had been in the 40’s had been decidedly average with a 12-12-1 mark. However, this past weekend, the write in games in this range stood out, with five overs in seven games, one of which was a Push.

Another continuing success story has been those write-in games that have a total in the 50’s, which have thus far been a gold mine for those partial to the Over. During the three weeks of the 2013 campaign, the record is now 10-2-1 after a 3-0 run this week.

Meanwhile, write-games with totals of 60 or above definitely fell into the under category on Saturday, with four of the five games staying below the number. Once again, that plays into a trend that has developed in this first three weeks. Coupled with the record two days ago, that now makes this record a very strong 13-5 in favor of the under.

Other than some play stoppages due to lightning, no games have yet to be affected by weather conditions. That will inevitably change as we get deeper into the season, so make sure you keep following this weekly roundup.

Week 3 News & Notes – Part 1
By Phil Steele
Philsteele.com

I’m pleased to report that in my Inside the Pressbox last week my Upset Pick of the Week was Tulane over Louisiana Tech and TU had a 364-289 yard edge and overcame 4 TO’s vs LT. Nick Montana hit 20-36-235 while his father, Joe, was on hand. LT jumped out to a 6-0 lead with 25 and 27 yard FG’s, the first set up by a fumble at midfield. Tulane went 75/7pl for a td and the lead, 7-6. TU fumbled at the LT39 then was intercepted at its own 28 setting up another LT FG, this one from 37 yards and it was 9-7. TU got an 11 yard run on FD to the LT32 but Montana fumbled at the end of it. At the half, TU had 3 TO’s. Last year’s Lou Groza winner Cairo Santos came in to attempt a 51 yard FG and it was a high snap but he still made it 10-9. TU then went 94/11pl for a td on a 38 yard pass from Montana to Rush. I can remember when the combination was Montana to Rice, 17-9. TU fumbled at its own 11 but LT missed a 30 yard FG with 8:42 left. LT was sacked and fumbled at its own 1 yard line and Darkwa got a 1 yard td run with 6:02 left to clinch it. LT would go 75/9pl getting an 8 yard td pass with 3:44 left to make it 24-15 and TU took a knee at the LT13 at the end.

Troy finished with a 614-539 yard edge vs Arkansas St and 30-26 FD edge. ASU jumped out to a 13-0 lead with Troy missing a 49 yard FG. Troy also fumbled at the ASU13 but went 43/7pl and got a 3 yard td pass with :06 left in the half to lead 21-20. They had a 327-294 yard edge. The lead kept changing hands in the 2H with ASU getting a 64 yard td run with 3:50 left in the 3Q to lead 34-28. Troy got a 53 yard td pass early 4Q but missed the xp, 34-34. Troy was driving when they were intercepted at the AS40 with 6:11 left and ASU went 60/7pl for a 13 yard td run with 3:56 left for a td lead. Troy’s last drive got a FD at the AS22 but they were intercepted at the 6 with :55 left.

The officiating was widely questioned after the Texas Tech/TCU game. TT did dominant the 1H with a 211-133 yard edge, 10-6 FD edge and led 10-0 despite being intercepted at the TCU17 on their 2nd drive. TCU had just 1 sustained drive (3 FD, 47 yards, 10 plays) in the 1H. In the 2H, TT appeared to be holding on for the lead. TCU was SOD on 4th&1 at its own 44 and TT missed a 49 yard FG. TCU went 48/10pl for a 37 yard FG and TCU got to the TT22 but was intercepted and returned 20 yards on a screen pass. TCU missed a 55 yard FG with 12:23 left but tied it on a 69/9pl drive with 6:28 left. TT answered with a 75/9pl drive as QB Baker Mayfield was hurt and true frosh Davis Webb came in. Webb hit just 3-4-77 but was named player of the game. His 3rd&gl 19 yard td pass with 3:48 left gave them the lead and TT added a 37 yard FG with 2:43 left to clinch it. TCU did have a PR td called back when they said Brandon Carter gave a fair catch signal, which he did not.

Boise St finished with 31-17 FD and 533-287 yard edges on Friday night over Air Force. In the 1H each team scored every time they had the ball with Boise St capping a 75/15pl drive with a 1 yard td run with :24 left in the half to lead 21-17 as AF had settled for a 33 yard FG after a 59/17pl drive. In the 2H Boise fumbled at the AF8 but then went 67/6pl for a td. After an interception, AF went 70/13pl but settled for a 24 yard FG after a 1st&gl at the 7 to make it 28-20. The Broncos went 80/7pl for a td then, after an interception, went 47/6pl for a td and the 42-20 win. QB Jaleel Awini for Air Force hit 4-9-99 but continues to be much more accurate than his stats would indicate with 3 more dropped passes by the Falcons.

Minnesota coach Jerry Kill had a seizure at halftime, so it was up to DC Tracy Claeys to lead the team in the 2H against Western Illinois. UM had a lackluster win, only having 337-230 yard and 18-11 FD edges. QB Philip Nelson hit 3-4-19 yards but was injured and backup QB Mitch Leidner hit 7-8-105 and had 65 yards rushing on 17 carries. WIU was just 3-8 last year and picked for 9th place in the Missouri Valley Conference by the media. The Leathernecks do have a new coach in Bob Neilson who won a pair of Division II National Championships while at Minnesota-Duluth the last 5 years. While WIU trailed 7-6 at the half, they only had a 112-109 yard deficit. WIU drove 80/3pl for a td mid-3Q to lead 12-7. The Gophers fumbled at the 1, but on their next drive, after a 17 yard punt, went 25/6pl for a td then 53/7pl for a td and after a 26 yard PR, got a 37 yard td run on their next series to open up a 29-12 win.

You heard me all summer long on the radio circuit say that Blake Bell was not a running QB. Yes, he was used as a runner, but that was because Oklahoma had a great passing QB (Landry Jones) who you wouldn’t take out of the game if you wanted to pass the ball. Bell shockingly got beat out for the starting job but with Trevor Knight injured, Bell got the start and hit 27-37-413 and 4 td’s vs Tulsa. In OU’s first 2 games they had just 124 and 119 yards passing and 44% completions. OU did not punt until their 8th possession of the game and finished with a 607-321 yard edge. The Sooners got a 72/12pl td drive and an 89/7pl drive but settled for a 20 yard FG. That drive was keyed by a short pass to Reynolds which went 82 yards to the 4 and greatly aided Bell’s passing stats. TU went 75/11pl for a td to make it 10-7 but the Sooners scored on their next 3 possessions to lead 27-7 at the half with a 346-144 yard edge. Trailing 34-7, TU went 66/8pl for a 26 yard FG then got a 77 yard PR to the OU9 setting up a 21 yard FG, 34-13. OU went 56/14pl for a 36 yard FG, 75/5pl for a td and 84/11pl for a td on their final 3 possessions to win by 31, 51-20.

Nebraska had the wind at its back in the 1Q and rolled to a 14-3 lead over UCLA before adding a td early in the 2Q to go up 21-3. The rest of the game belonged to UCLA. The Bruins pulled within 21-10 at half missing 46 and 55 yard FG’s with the wind at their backs in the 2Q. In the 3Q the Bruins went 89/10pl, 57/4pl, 53/5pl for td’s then NU faked a punt on its own 44 and was stopped and UCLA went 44/3pl for a td to lead 38-21. NU got the wind at their backs in the 4Q but fumbled at the UCLA6 with 13:11 left and lost 41-21 being outgained 504-331. The Huskers’ D has allowed 40.6 points per game their last 5 games.

Virginia Tech’s D had 7 sks, 11 tfl, and 3 int, but unfortunately the offense missed a couple of FG’s, was SOD and also couldn’t fall on a late fumble in the EZ and only won by 5 against East Carolina. VT finished with a 311-204 yard edge. ECU did open with a 75/5pl td drive. VT took its 2nd poss 70/11pl for a td and the game was 7-7 at half with ECU having a 174-137 yard edge. The Pirates, after a 22 yard PR, got a 9 yard drive for a 44 yard FG and the lead, 10-7. The Hokies went 75/10pl for a 3 yard td pass, 13-10 but missed the xp. VT missed a 38 yard FG with :50 left in the 3Q. VT went 43/14pl and missed a 40 yard FG with 9:22 left. VT missed a 32 yard FG on 4th&6 but a running into the K penalty gave them 4th&1 and the Hokies opted to go for it. Thomas was tackled for no gain with 2:11 left. ECU’s QB Carden was stripped in the endzone and fumbled but ECU fell on it for a safety with 1:31 left and VT recovered the onside kick at the EC24 and took a knee at the 22 to end.

Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater opened 1-4-10 vs Kentucky but finished 16-28-250. UL had a 492-376 yard edge. Jalen Whitlow looked good in relief for Kentucky as starter Maxwell Smith injured his shoulder. Whitlow hit 8-17-105 and ran for 37 yards on 12 carries. UK played UL even in the 1H but trailed 10-3 as UL got a td with 2:36 left in the half 3. UL had a 153-121 yard edge. UL dominated the start of the 2H opening with an 88/9pl, 94/12pl, and 83/6pl drives all for scores which opened it up to a 27-6 lead. UK converted on 4th&12 and then on 4th&13, Whitlow ran 15 yards for a FD. Two plays later his td pass made it 27-13. UL went 61/7pl but a crucial 37 yard FG was blocked with 3:27 left and the Cardinals only won by 14.

Rice got a 52 yard IR td to take a 7-0 lead vs Kansas. KU got a 77 yard td run by Pearson to tie it at 7. Rice got a 40 and 28 yard FG’s from excellent K Chris Boswell and led 13-7 at the half with a 233-153 yard edge. Jake Heaps hit 13-28-157 for KU. KU led Rice by 10 points in the 4Q last year, but missed a 37 yard FG this year with 3:26 left in the 3Q. After a 31 yard IR, KU drove 16/4pl for a td and led 14-13 after 3Q’s. Rice was intercepted on its next drive at the KU6 but got a 56 yard FG with 8:05 left for a 16-14 lead. Rice went 50/6pl and got a td with 3:28 left to go up by 9. The Jayhawks were SOD on each of their last 2 drives, both times in their own territory. The Owls did finish with a 370-270 yard edge.

The situation against Syracuse greatly favored Army. The game kicked off at 9:00 am PT and SU had a huge game vs Arizona St on deck and was a 30 pt fav vs a service academy. Army actually recovered a fumble to set up a 39 yard FG then went 38/12pl and got a 48 yard FG for a 6-0 lead. SU had a pass from the Army26 that should have been intercepted but bounced off the DB’s hands and was caught for a td and they were able to take the lead, 7-6. Army was SOD at the SU35 with 7:27 left in the half and SU led 20-13 at the half with only a 218-175 yard edge. Down 7, Army fumbled at the SU43 in the 3Q and the Cardinal went 57/7pl for a td. SU’s next drive ended on an interception in the endzone from the 24 but Army was SOD at its own 29 and SU went 29/5pl for a td to clinch it 34-13 with 9:59 left. Army went 58/11pl getting a td with :17 left for the 34-20 final and SU had a 408-333 yard edge with Army having an 18-17 FD edge.

Kolton Browning hit 43-68-315 as ULM pulled the upset over an ACC team, Wake Forest. Tanner Price did hit 28-47-310 for WF. WF came into the season wanting to turn into a running team but only ran the ball 15 times while passing 48 times. They only gained 15 yards on those carries. ULM finished with 26-15 FD and 424-325 yard edges. ULM’s opening drive went 69/18pl for a td. WF’s 2nd drive got a 65 yard td pass, 7-7, then after an 18 yard punt, WF 37/10pl for a 28 yard FG to lead 10-7. ULM was intercepted on their next 2 possessions but then took over with 6:57 left in the half. They got 1 FD and punted but a key roughing the P penalty gave them a FD. They continued on an 81/14pl drive for a td with :41 left in the half, 14-10. The Demon Deacons went 54/8pl for a 38 yard FG on 2nd&3 to get within 1 at the half. ULM had a 238-188 yard edge. The Warhawks opened the 3Q with a 74/14pl drive for a td and a 21-13 lead. WF fumbled a punt at its own 6 but ULM was SOD on 4th&gl at the 9. ULM went 48/14pl but missed a 24 yard FG. WF punted on its next 3 possessions and took over with 1:59 left. They went 94/11pl getting a 23 yard td pass with :03 left but the 2 point attempt failed.

Fordham reinstated its football program in 1970 as an FCS team and their win over Temple was their first vs an FBS foe since. QB Michael Nebrich hit 23-36-320 including a 29 yard Hail Mary pass with :04 left on 3rd&2 to pull out the win. It wasn’t a fluky win, however, as Fordham had a 520-385 yard edge in the game and led 20-7 in the 3Q. Connor Reilly came off the bench for an ineffective Clinton Granger who had hit 6-15-58. Reilly hit 7-8-69 guiding 3 td drives. At half Fordham had a 269-186 yard edge and a 13-7 lead. Temple’s 3rd consecutive td drive came with 4:34 left for the 6 pt lead then Fordham drove 71/13pl for the win.

Arkansas lost starting QB Brandon Allen (2-5-33) in the 1Q vs Southern Miss and while he had his arm tightly held against his body in a sling in the 2H, Bielema says he will play this week vs Rutgers. AJ Derby replaced him and hit 4-6-36. SM lost its 15th straight game, the longest losing streak in the country, but this one was respectable as the Eagles were only outFD’d 17-16 and outgained 327-254. Jonathan Williams rushed for 116 yards and Alex Collins 115. Arkansas led 10-3 at the half with SM being intercepted at the UA8 with 1:28 left. The Hogs only had a 159-130 yard edge. SM missed a 49 yard FG to open to the 3Q and was SOD at the UA19 early in the 4Q. The Hogs then went 81/14pl for a td with 7:20 left to win it by 21.

Indiana’s Nate Sudfeld likes to throw the ball down the field and he averaged 19.7 ypp vs Bowling Green hitting 17-26-335. IU’s offense was dominant and could have easily piled up more points. They had 601 total yards vs a BG team that came in with a well respected D. Twice in the 1H IU had a 1st&gl and went for it on 4th down but was SOD, once at the 5 and the second time at the 1. That was after 67/11pl and 81/14pl drives. BG also scored when Senn basically took the ball off the foot of the punter and ran 50 yards for a blocked punt returned for a td. It was 21-10 at the half with IU having a 363-210 yard edge. The Falcons were SOD at the IU20 and fumbled at their own 32 on their second and third 4Q drives and on 4th&6 lost 5 yards to the IU20 with 8:44 left. BG took over with 6:00 left trailing 42-10 and went 52/11pl but was SOD at the IU15 which helped them get 409 yards offense for the game.

West Virginia’s two-man QB battle has turned into a 3-man race. Ford Childress got the start vs Georgia St and hit 25-41-359 vs the overmatched Panthers. Childress was third string just one week ago, but was named the surprise starter over Paul Millard and Clint Trickett. WV scored on its first 2 drives going 28/5pl for a 42 yard FG and an 83/11pl for a td but then only scored once on the next 6. It was 17-0 at the half with WV having a 268-121 yard edge. WV was SOD at the GS35 and the Panthers got a 65 yard td run by Evans to pull within 17-7. WV punted on its next poss but then would go 62/11pl and settled for a 23 yard FG, 62/8pl for a td and 33/3pl (after fumble) for a td and a 34-7 lead. WV took over with 4:00 left in the game and would drive 68/8pl. On 4th&1 they got a 10 yard td run with :17 left for the 34 pt win. They did have 604-220 yard and 20-10 FD edges.

Pitt was off a bye with extra time to prep for New Mexico’s option and it showed in the 1H as Pitt had a commanding 388-59 yard edge. The Panthers did catch a break at the end of the half as NM was SOD on 4th&18 at the Pitt44 with :23 left in the half and Pitt would get a 34 yard Hail Mary td pass 2pl later to go up 35-6. In the 2H, Pitt had just 139 yards and the Lobos, trailing 42-20, went 80/10pl and got a 3rd&10, 20 yard td run with :52 left to only lose by 22. Pitt had a 527-270 yard edge.

Michigan St had a moribund offense in the first 2 games with Connor Cook and Andrew Maxwell sharing the duties. Cook was given the start vs Youngstown St and hit 15-22-202. Tyler O’Connor was the other QB that played and he hit 7-10-68 as MSU piled up 55 points. The Spartans finished with 30-8 FD and 547-172 yard edges. Their opening drive was just 24/5pl for a td as they took advantage of a 23 yard PR and PF at the end of it. They did score td’s on their first 3 possessions and led 35-10 at half with a 307-129 yard edge. The Spartans went 75/6pl, 59/11pl, and 77/16pl for td’s on their first 3 drives of the 2H to build a 52-17 lead with 7:33 left.

Rutgers QB Gary Nova was sidelines with an apparent concussion after hitting 4-4-44 vs Eastern Mich. Chas Dodd hit 4-5-45. EMU QB Tyler Benz hit 24-40-335 vs a tough RU D. RU RB Paul James rushed for 192 yards on 21 carries. EMU finished with a 373-274 yard edge and a 21-12 FD edge. RU, for the first time in its 144 year history, retired the number of a player – #52, Eric LeGrand. RU, with Nova at QB, went 87/8pl for a td on its opening drive. EMU went 53/10pl for a td and RU then returned the KO 99 yards for a td. RU only led 14-10 at the half with EMU missing a 31 yard FG on the 1H’s final play. At half EMU had a 220-121 yard edge. EMU was intercepted at the RU38 and missed a 42 yard FG and RU leading 21-10 got a 52 yard td run with 7:04 left. EMU went 64/15pl but fired incomplete from the RU25 with 1:11 left.

Michigan was off its big win over Notre Dame. Do you think there was a letdown? Well, they were a 37’ point favorite over Akron and almost lost outright! In fact, they had to feel fortunate to walk away with the win against a lowly Akron team that had lost 28 straight road games but finished with a 21-19 FD edge in the Big House. UA’s Kyle Pohl hit 25-49-311 while UM’s Devin Gardner hit 16-30-248. UM took its opening drive 75/6pl and got a 48 yard td pass for a 7-0 lead but it was only 7-3 at the half with Michigan having a 185-125 yard edge. Each team missed a 45 yard FG and UA missed a 55 yard FG with :05 left in the half. UA trailed 21-10 when they got a 27 yard IR td with 14:46 left. UA’s next drive was 59/5pl but they were intercepted in the endzone on 2nd&gl from the 2 with 11:06 left. UA got it back and went 67/11pl and got a 1 yard td pass for a shocking 24-21 lead with 4:10 left. UM went 70/4pl for a td with 2:49 left but UA came right back down. They had a FD at the 11 and appeared to get a FD on 2nd&15 to the 1 but after a review, it spotted it short. That forced UA to go for it on 4th&3 and their pass into the endzone, which could have been called for pass interference, was not.

USC used one QB for most of the game and Cody Kessler rewarded them by hitting 15-17-237 vs Boston College. Coach Kiffin, who had been very conservative in the first 2 games, actually allowed him to throw down field a little to take advantage of an excellent skill set of WR’s and RB’s and the result was a dominating 35-7 win. The Trojans had 521 total yards while holding BC to 184 with 68 of those coming on a BC drive when they trailed 28-0 in the 4Q. USC took its 2nd drive 86/14pl for a td, got an 80 yard td pass on its 4th drive and led 14-0 at the half with a commanding 253-63 yard edge. USC took its second 3Q poss 53/4pl and its third 94/8pl for td’s to lead 28-0. After BC scored a td with 10:40 left, USC with Wittek at QB, went 75/11pl for a td with 4:22 left in the dominating win.

Against Duke, Georgia Tech QB Vad Lee threw for a career high 4 td’s playing in his hometown. GT’s DC Ted Roof was fired as the Duke HC and held them to 254 yards total offense as GT had a commanding 28-13 FD edge and a 469-254 yard edge. The last time Duke beat GT was under Roof back in 2003. Duke actually led 7-3 mid-1Q and on 4th&1 was SOD at the GT21. Leading 17-7, GT took over with 1:44 left in the half and went 74/5pl for a td, 24-7. At the half, GT did have a 271-175 yard edge. GT opened the 3Q with a 79/15pl drive for a td. After a 20 yard PR, Duke went 27/4pl for a td to pull within 17 and blocked a 30 yard FG with 9:29 left. However, GT took over with 8:29 left and went 74/16pl for a 19 yard td pass on 3rd&8 to ice it with 2:10 left.

Colorado St rolled up a 533-367 yard edge vs Cal Poly with a 24-19 FD edge. Garrett Grayson hit 21-30-297 yards. The game was played in an area that was just beginning to recover from the devastating flooding that postponed the Colorado/Fresno St game. The Rams went 75/7pl, 59/6pl, 45/8pl and 75/12pl for 2 td’s and 2 FG’s on their first 4 possessions to lead 20-0. Then, after blocking a 47 yard FG, went 70/6pl for a td and led 27-10 at the half with a 353-180 yard edge. Colorado St was SOD at the CP44 with 6:00 left 3Q and the Mustangs went 56/6pl for a 23 yard td pass, 27-17. Cal Poly had a 32 yard FG blocked with 8:11 left and the Rams went 68/10pl getting a 6 yard td pass with 4:03 left for the 34-17 final.

Jameis Winston continues to roll along for Florida St and is this year’s hot redshirt QB. After just 2 incompletions in the opener, Winston hit 15-18-214 vs Nevada. UN was without Cody Fajardo, their starting QB, and Tyler Stewart hit 7-15-49 and Devin Combs 6-9-37. It’s surprising that with the final score of 62-7, Florida St actually trailed 7-3 when they took over with 5:54 left in the 1H. UN had scored on a 28/4pl drive after a TO. The Noles went 92/8pl for a td with 3:21 left then 56/4pl and got a td with :38 left for a 17-7 lead. They then went 66/2pl with a 65 yard td run by Williams, and followed that up with 61/3pl, 45/5pl, 62/7pl, 69/9pl, 64/6pl for 6 td’s and a FG on their seven 2H possessions. Florida St finished with 617-214 yard and 29-13 FD edges in the 62-7 rout. Winston has more td’s (6) than incompletions (5) this year.

Syracuse started Drew Allen at QB but after 3 possessions had just 3 points vs Wagner. Coach Shafer said they’d be playing two QB’s and Terrel Hunt came in and hit 15-18-265 basically taking over the position. Granted, the damage was done vs a 1-2 FCS team, but Hunt’s first possession went 68/12pl for a td. Then he led them 64/2pl, 59/7pl, 49/6pl and 73/6pl all for td’s and ‘Cuse amassed a 338-30 yard edge at the half. They went 28/9pl for a 32 yard FG and got a 68 yard td pass from Hunt on his last drive which put them up 47-0 with 6:56 to go in the 3Q. Allen did lead a 34/4pl drive for a td after an interception, an 8 play drive for a 35 yard missed FG and Syracuse finished with 595-87 yard and 27-5 FD edges.

Johnny Manziel hit 28-39-464 yards with a couple of big plays late helping Texas A&M only lose by 7 to Alabama. AJ McCarron hit 20-29-334 yards. Things didn’t look good for the defending National Champs as Manziel led A&M to two easy td drives of 84/7pl and 59/5pl for a 14-0 lead. A&M did finish with a 628-568 yard edge. Bama battled back, the key being a Manziel interception in the endzone with the score 14-14 and McCarron hit a 51 yard td pass 4pl later. Bama appeared in control in the 2H leading by 21 or 14 the entire half. Up 42-28, the Tide fumbled at the A&M2 and Manziel on 3rd&9, found Evans for a 95 yard td pass, the 2nd longest in A&M history to pull them within 7. Bama would go 65/9pl for a td with 2:28 left to go back up by 14 but A&M would go 75/10pl and got a 4 yard td pass with :15 left to “only” lose by a td.

Tennessee jumped out to a 7-0 lead vs Oregon and it was even 7-3 after a couple of possessions but Marcus Mariota threw for a career-high 456 yards hitting 23-33 as the Ducks rolled up 687-316 yard and 29-14 FD edges. For the third straight game, UO did not put away its offense at the half like they did last year. They led 38-7 at the break, but outscored UT 21-0 in the 3Q before allowing a 73/12pl drive for a garbage td with 7:14 left. The fans chanted “SEC, SEC” after the game as they notched a big win over a conference which boasts the last seven National Champs. On the Ducks’ 4th possession, they got a 40 yard PR to set up a 37/4pl td drive with 3:34 left in the 1Q then went 78/5pl, 80/4pl, 80/7pl, and 92/6pl all for td’s to lead 38-7 at the half with a 458-166 yard edge. They went 73/9pl, 89/7pl, 63/9pl on their first three 3Q possessions to make it 59-7 and with the last drive led by backup QB Lockie.

Keith Price hit 28-35-342 and Bishop Sankey rushed for 208 yards. Washington had a 615-327 yard edge but Illinois actually got within 7 in the 4Q. After a scoreless 1Q, with UI missing a 31 yard FG, the Huskies led 10-3 at the half driving 86/13pl for a 23 yard FG with :21 left. At the half UW did have a 278-93 yard edge. The 3Q opened with 3 long td drives. UW got two to open it up to 24-10 and UW then went 78/5pl to make it 31-10. UI got a 72 yard td pass with 3:16 left in the 3Q and two possessions later, a 62/7pl drive and a 4th&1, 10 yard td pass to make it 31-24. UW got a 32 yard FG with 4:44 left and UI tried a throwback to Scheelhaase who was intercepted at the UW41 with 3:51 left.

UCF now looks like the biggest challenger to Louisville in the new AAC. Blake Bortles hit 20-27-288 and UCF went into Penn St and came out with a 34-31 win in a game they led 31-17 after 3Q’s. Christian Hackenberg hit 21-28-262 for Penn St. It was teacher schooling pupil as Bill O’Brien was originally hired as a grad assistant under George O’Leary back in 1995 and was an assistant under him for six years. UCF had a 507-455 yard edge. Tied at 7, PSU was SOD at the UCF36 and UCF got a 58 yard td run 2pl later and would lead 21-10 at the half with a 289-220 yard edge. UCF went 82/5pl and 65/8pl for a td and a 22 yard FG to lead 31-17. Leading 34-24, UCF had a bad snap on a punt and the Lions took over at their 25. Hackenberg got a 5 yard td pass 3pl later to pull them within 34-31. They kicked off deep and UCF got 1 FD and was able to run out the clock.

The Iowa/Iowa St final score would indicate a close game but Iowa, after a scoreless 1Q, drove 71/10pl for a td, then went 55/15pl for a 27 yard FG and after a 27 yard IR to the IS25, added a 38 yard FG with :10 left in the half. Iowa led 13-0 with a 186-63 yard edge. The Hawkeyes were in complete control with 7:09 left in the game when Rudock’s 1 yard td run made it 27-7. Iowa St got it back with 3:46 left at its own 41 and went 59/9pl and on 4th&4, a 17 yard td pass pulled them within 6 but Iowa recovered the onside kick and the Hawkeyes finished with a 378-319 yard edge with the Cyclones getting 149 yards on those last 2 drives.

Week 3 News & Notes – Part 2
By Phil Steele
Philsteele.com

Bethune-Cookman actually moved to 3-0 all-time vs FIU as the two were both in the FCS just a few years ago. BCU was favored and proved why as they had 19-9 FD and 349-229 yard edges. BCU led 14-7 at the half with a 207-177 yard edge then opened the 3Q with 81/13pl and 49/3pl drives for td’s to go up 28-7. They were intercepted on their next possession but with FAU trying to get back into the game, BCU got a 92 yard IR td with 14:38 left to make it 34-7. FIU got a 41 yard PR to the 7 and on 4th&1 got a 1 yard td pass with 7:45 left to “only” lose by 21.

Taylor Heinicke, who had over 5,000 yards passing last year in the FCS, was pulled last week late with his team way down. This time Heinicke came out after hitting 20-27-406 and ODU was up 66-10. Backup David Washington hit 8-11-81. Howard moved the ball with 465 yards but ODU had 733 yards and 31 FD’s in their 76-19 romp. Howard was intercepted in the endzone in the 1H, SOD at the 6, fumbled at the ODU36 and ODU had a 514-321 yard edge at the half but led 49-10.

Buffalo had a 157-117 yard edge vs Stony Brook at the half with each team missing a 40 yard FG. UB only led 3-0 settling on a FG from 4th&gl from the 1. UB led 10-0 when SB got a 22 yard FG with 11:07 left. UB missed a clinching 34 yard FG with 4:28 left and SB went 80/15pl getting a 5 yard td pass with :24 left. The game went 5OTs. UB had a chance to win in the 3OT after getting a TO, but on FD from the SB13, fumbled. Then UB turned it over in the 4OT but SB missed a 37 yard FG. In the 5OT, SB got a 25 yard FG and UB a 6 yard td run for the 26-23 win. SB had a 440-349 yard edge.

North Texas had 505-496 yard and 31-19 FD edges but did need a big comeback vs Ball St. The Cardinals got a 77 yard td run late in the 1Q for a 13-3 lead then got a 3 yard FR td to go up 20-3. NT went on an 11pl drive but settled for a 22 yard FG. They chipped away to 27-16 at the half with Ball St having a 305-219 yard edge. The Cardinals missed 54 and 51 yard FG’s. Leading 27-24, Ball St was SOD at the NT33. After NT drove 68/9pl for a td and the lead, 34-27. The Cardinals punted with 7:37 left then were intercepted at their own 20 with 1:17 left.

Wyoming only had a 437-340 yard edge over Northern Colorado and punted on its first 2 possessions. However, the Pokes then went 76/13pl, got a 39 yard IR td and went 95/15pl for td’s to lead 21-0 at the half with a 262-114 yard edge. Wyo was intercepted at the NC2, SOD at the NC25 and NC went 80/8pl in the 4Q to pull within 21-7. The Cowboys went 48/5pl for a td and NC was SOD at the UW4 with 3:20 left. Wyoming would add a 50 yard FR td with 1:58 left in the 35-7 win.

Navy has scored 92 points in its first 2 games, the most since 1975 when they put up 97. To start the 4Q against Delaware, Navy pulled most of its offensive starters, including Keenan Reynolds who hit 10-13-233 and rushed 15 times for 109 yards. Navy scored on its first 4 possessions to go up 23-0 but at the half, while still leading 23-7, they only had a 254-223 yard edge as Delaware was SOD at the N33 and intercepted at the N24 in the 1H. Navy opened the 3Q with 68/10pl, 92/12pl and 77/5pl td drives to blow it open 44-7. Backup QB Hendrick’s led a 61/8pl drive with 9:00 left and even ended the game at the DE13 taking a knee as the Midshipmen finished with a 589-336 yard edge.

Last week FAU played its true frosh QB in the 2H vs EC but Jaquez Johnson was firmly in control of the job vs USF and hit 10-17-98 yards while rushing for 55 yards on 18 carries. FAU had lost 4 straight, not having won since Pelini beat a Taggart-led WKU on the road last year. USF came in a 2 td favorite. They benched QB Bobby Eveld in the 1Q and Steven Bench played the rest of the game hitting 8-23-128 yards. Matt Floyd had originally won the QB job. USF did finish with a 297-228 yard edge. FAU got a 10 yard FR td to lead 7-0 but USF led 10-7 and went for it on 4th&gl at the 2 with 10:43 left in the 2Q but was stuffed. FAU took over with 3:26 left in the half and drove 99/10pl for a td with :35 left to lead 14-10. FAU recovered a fumble with 5:20 left in the 3Q and went 39/6pl for a td to lead 21-10. USF was driving with 3:12 left on 4th&14 but was intercepted and returned 75 yards for a td by Smith for a somewhat misleading 28-10 final but a game FAU deserved to win.

Louisiana set a modern day school record for points with 70 vs Nicholls St. They had a 620-305 yard edge. At the half UL had already rolled up 413 yards while allowing just 158 and it was 49-0 before the Colonels went 75/3pl to score a td with 1:25 left in the half to make the yardage that close. UL went 42/7pl, 47/2pl (after a SOD) and 77/9pl (after a missed 40 yard FG) to lead 70-7 at the start of the 4Q. Nicholls gained 42 of their yards on 11 plays in the final 2:33 trailing 70-7.

South Carolina figured to be in a letdown spot after losing to Georgia and if you look at the final, you would think that was the case as they only got past Vanderbilt by 10. For those that didn’t watch the game, SC was dominant early showing no signs of a letdown. In fact, they looked like a team off a loss and angry. They went 42/6pl, 98/11pl, 76/8pl and 92/8pl for td’s to lead 28-0 just 5:00 into the 2Q. SC was intercepted and returned 69 yards to its 1 and Vandy got a 1 yard td “drive” to make it 28-7. At the half SC had a commanding 376-95 yard edge and came out in the 2H going 75/10pl for a td to lead 35-10. VU’s best offensive drive was a 49/10pl showing that resulted in a td with 14:12 left to make it 35-17. SC then fumbled a kick at its own 19 and VU got a 19 yard td drive then SC fumbled the punt at its own 37. Now with VU down 10, they found themselves at the SC4 threatening to make a game of it when they were intercepted at the 1. SC went 64/17pl before being SOD at the VU36 with :53 left. SC had 579-268 yard and 31-14 FD edges.

Brendon Kay was Cincinnati’s starting QB at the beginning of the year and got his job back after Munchie Legaux was lost for the season to injury. Kay hit 12-14-277 yards vs Northwestern St. Tuberville needed to get his backup QB some action and it is rFr Bennie Coney (PS#33). Coney hit 5-5-60 getting action even in the 2Q. On his first drive he handed off 8 times on the 75 yard march. The good news for the UC D is that Zach Adkins came in as the Southland Conference’s top QB averaging 313 ypg and UC held him to 15-20-79. After punting on their first possession, the Bearcats went 68/6pl, 72/7pl, 82/8pl, 75/8pl, and 88/3pl all for td’s and led 35-9 at the half with a 387-179 yard edge. UC’s final drive was led by 3rd string QB Michael Colosimo as they went 57/12pl for a td with 2:43 left for the 66-9 final.

Mississippi St’s Tyler Russell was injured but Dak Prescott looked impressive against Auburn hitting 15-28-213 and also rushing for 133 yards. Twice in the 2H he converted on 4th down with some QB runs. Auburn looked like they’d be on their way to a blowout jumping to an 11-0 lead but a 61 yard Prescott pass and a 14 yard run by Lewis capped a 2pl drive to get MSU back in it at 11-6. Trailing 14-6. Miss St went 79/11pl for a td with 5:02 left in the half to only trail 14-13. The Bulldogs opened the 3Q with a 75/6pl drive capped by a 2 yard td run to lead 20-14. The Tigers went 59/7pl for a 47 yard FG with 9:53 left in the 3Q, 20-17 but then fumbled at their own 48, were intercepted at the MS40, and took over with 1:56 left in the game at their own 12. Nick Marshall, who hit 23-34-339 in by far his best outing yet, led the team 88/12pl and on 2nd&7 hit an 11 yard td pass with :10 left for the win.

Many of LSU’s sellout crowd left during the 2H of the Kent St game. LSU had a 571-248 yard edge and appeared to be on its way to a huge rout as they went 86/5pl, 57/6pl, 37/4pl, 68/5pl, and 93/8pl on their first 5 poss for 4 td’s and a FG to lead 31-7. LSU fumbled the punt with 1:38 left and the Flashes got a FG with :17 left to make it only 13-10. LSU had a 259-105 yard edge at the half. Kent St surprisingly went 49/10pl on its second 3Q drive for a 36 yard FG, 31-13. LSU then went 73/9pl and 60/5pl, getting a td with 10:44 left to make it 45-13. Kent missed a 48 yard FG with 5:05 left and LSU ended the game at the KS15 taking a knee, disappointing a few LSU backers.

Southern Utah had beaten an FBS team in the opener but it was only South Alabama. Washington St was coming off its big win vs USC and had a 465-219 yard edge. Connor Halliday hit 32-41-383 yards. Washington St went 80/5pl and 61/5pl on their first 2 possessions to lead 14-3 but only were up 14-10. They were intercepted in the EZ from the 19 with 7:30 left in the 2Q but on 3rd&18 got a 55 yard td pass with 4:18 left. SUU was threatening as they had a 3rd&3 at the WS35 when they were intercepted and returned 72 yards for a td with :38 left in the half to go up 28-10 despite the fact they had a 246-157 yard edge. The punt game set the Cougars up for a 30 and 27 yard drives for a pair of FG’s to open the 3Q and then and interception set them up for an 18/2pl drive as they blew it open, 41-10 and won 48-10.

Ohio St sat Braxton Miller and Kenny Guiton hit 21-32-276 while also rushing for 92 yards vs Cal. Guiton’s second pass went 90 yards for a td to Devin Smith. OSU jumped out to leads of 21-0 and 24-7 but it was just 31-20 at the half. OSU’s D allowed 291 yards to Cal and the offense gained 365. OSU went 75/9, 80/15 to open it up to 45-20. After an exchange of td’s, Cal was SOD at the OSU7 with 12:16 left then drove 61/11pl for a td with 6:06 left to only lose by 18. OSU had 608-503 yard edge and Cal a 28-27 FD edge as Jared Goff continues to show why he was chosen as the starting QB hitting 31-53-371 yards.

Idaho had been non-competitive in its first 2 games but gave Northern Illinois a scare. The Vandals went 75/10pl, 62/4pl, 87/9pl, and 75/9pl all for td’s on 4 of their first 6 possessions and led the game 28-14 with 9:35 left in the half. UI had a 39 yard FG blocked with 1:01 left in the half and led 28-21 with a 328-222 yard edge. UI was SOD at the NI41 and the Huskies went 52/8pl for the tying td with 9:54 left 3Q. Lynch’s 61 yard td run finally gave them the lead, 35-28. UI tied with 14:19 left on a 1 yard td run by fumbled at its own 34 and NI got a 51 yard FG with 10:49 left to take the lead then went 59/6pl for a td and some breathing room with 7:25 left. UI was SOD at the NI47 and the NI32 on its final 2 drives. UI’s Chad Chalich hit 14-25-236 while Lynch hit 17-29-152 for NI and rushed for 159.

Toledo had 25-18 FD and 530-377 yard edges but Eastern Washington actually opened with 70/8pl and 75/7pl drives for td’s and a 14-6 lead. UT lost starting QB Terrance Owens to injury so frosh Logan Woodside came in and hit 14-24-185 while rushing for 15 yards on 5 carries. UT got a 23 yard FG to lead 16-14. UT missed a 35 yard FG on the final play before halftime and only had a 253-213 yard edge. The first six 2H possessions were all punts then UT got an 81 yard td pass to go up 23-14. Leading 23-21, UT drove 88/12pl for a td with 8:50 left to clinch it, 30-21. EW was SOD at the UT45 and punted with 3:35 left. UT added a 36 yard FG at the end of a 36/8pl drive with :32 left. UT finished with a 533-377 yard edge.

Marshall had 28-19 FD and 482-335 yard edges vs Ohio but was done in by TO’s. Rakeem Cato hit 30-45-366. MU turned it over on its fifth play and OU went 53/9pl for a td. It was tied at 7 when OU got a 32 yard FG to go up 10-7. MU then fumbled the KO and OU fell on it for a td, 17-7. It was 17-10 at half with MU having a 282-156 yard edge. The first 4 possessions of the 2H all went for td’s, 31-24. MU had the ball with a chance to tie but was intercepted with 7:04 left at its own 33. OU got 2 FD’s and a 29 yard FG with 2:46 left to get ahead by 2 scores. MU went 66/9pl and got a 1 yard td with :29 left but OU recovered the onside kick.

Connecticut QB Chandler Whitmer threw for a career-high 349 yards hitting 29-46 passes but Maryland had a 501-383 yard edge. UC WR Shakim Phillips had 178 yards on 10 catches including a late 75 yard catch and run but did injure his hamstring on the play. It was Randy Edsall’s first time back at Renchler Field since he left the program after the ‘11 Fiesta Bowl. MD was SOD at the UC46, intercepted at the UC24, SOD at the UC24 and at the half had a 304-168 yard edge but led just 13-10. MD fumbled at the UC29 to open the 3Q but then drove 80/4pl for a td and a 20-10 lead. MD fumbled at its own 31 and UC got a 34 yard FG to pull within 7. MD missed a 50 yard FG but got a 49 yard IR td to break it open with 1:57 left in the 3Q, 27-13. UC was pinned at its 2 with 8:43 left and called for intentional grounding in the EZ for a safety and MD added a 40 yard FG after the free kick. UC got that 75 yard td pass and on its final drive gained 31 yards on 7 plays but was SOD on 4th&10 at its own 43.

UNLV/Central Michigan was a tale of 2 halves. The 1H was thoroughly dominated by CMU. At one point they had a 253-34 yard edge and led 21-0. With 2:13 left in the half, UNLV took over at its 24 and would get a 50 yard pass, 10 yard run then on 2nd&7, a 12 yard td pass to get back in it 21-7 and close that yardage edge to 253-110. That would give them the momentum in the 2H. They went 80/12pl for a td, punted on their 2nd possession, then went 60/4pl and 54/9pl for a td and a 34 yard FG, 24-21. CMU on 2nd&8 from the LV26 was intercepted at the 6 and UNLV went 94/13pl for a td to put them ahead by 10 with 6:40 left. CMU was intercepted at the 50 with 3:55 left and its final drive got to the LV28 but on 4th&10 the QB was sacked for a 7 yard loss with 1:20 left. Cooper Rush, in his first start for CMU, hit 23-46-265

UTEP/New Mexico St was closer than the final score even though UTEP had 29-15 FD and 546-398 yard edges. The first 4 possessions of the game all went for td’s and it was 14-14 just 9:28 in. The next 6 possessions were 5 punts and a missed UTEP 31 yard FG. The Aggies were poised to take the lead when they fumbled at the UTEP6 with 5:28 left. UTEP went 94/10pl and on 2nd&gl with :17 left in the half, got an 8 yard td run, 21-14. At the half UTEP had a 249-242 yard edge. Each team tossed an interception to open the 3Q. UTEP on 3rd&7 fumbled at the NMSt16 and NMSt got a 72 yard td pass 3pl later to tie it at 21. UTEP got a 54 yard td run 3pl later, 28-21. There were 3 punts then UTEP went 88/14pl and a 17 yard td run with 5:28 left put them up by 2 scores for the first time. NMSt was intercepted 3pl later and UTEP, on the next play, got a 45 yard td run with 4:05 left for a somewhat misleading 21 pt win.

Utah finished with a 539-491 yard edge but needed a late comeback to get it. Oregon St did win it in OT. OSU led 20-7 on a td with 3:20 left in the half but Utah went 66/11pl and got a 27 yard FG with :20 left in the half to pull within 20-10. OSU had a 272-87 yard edge prior to that drive. OSU got a 27 yard IR td on its 3rd play of the 3Q to go up 27-10 and it seemed comfortable. Utah went 75/4pl, and 80/11pl for td’s to get within 27-24. Mannion hit a 55 yard td pass late in the 3Q, 34-24. Utah went 64/5pl for a td and OSU went 61/8pl but settled for a 20 yard FG after a 1st&gl at the 7, 37-31. Two poss later, Utah went 85/7pl for a td to make it 38-37 with 4:25 left. OSU went 79/8pl for an 18 yard td pass, 45-38 with the 2 pt conversion. Utah drove 78/7pl capped by a 9 yard td run, 45-45 with :21 left to force OT. Utah got a 41 yard FG but OSU tossed a 6 yard td pass for the win.

Memphis had a 350-284 yard edge at Middle Tenn. MT took its 2nd possession 92/13pl for a td. Memphis got to the MT20 but was intercepted at the 1. UM went 34/8pl and settled for a 21 yard FG, 7-3 (11:09 2Q). MT went on a 66/14pl drive but missed a 33 yard FG. UM was intercepted and a PF moved the ball ahead to the 8 and MT got an 8/3pl td drive, 14-3. MT was intercepted with 1:12 left in the 1H and UM went 21/7pl for a 41 yard FG on the final play. At the half MT did have a 187-93 yard edge. UM went on a 75/15pl drive and settled for a 27 yard FG. On their second 3Q possession, UM drove 69/10pl for a td and the lead, 15-14. The next four possessions were punts. MT went 42/8pl for a 40 yard FG and the lead with 1:49 left. UM converted on 4th&13 for a FD and 3rd&4 out to its 36 but the game ended on a pair of sacks.

Kansas St finished with 456-309 yard and 22-17 FD edges vs UMass. K-St got a 38 yard IR td with 3:15 gone in the game but the xp was blocked, 6-0. UM went 77/16pl and settled for a 23 yard FG which was blocked. After an interception, UM went 46/5pl for a td and led 7-6 after 1Q. K-St piled up 233 yards in the 2Q going 75/11pl, 81/6pl, 62/5pl, the last being a 2nd&10, 45 yard td pass to Hubert with :11 left in the half, 27-7. K-St only had a 253-185 yard edge at half. K-St opened the 3Q with an 85/8pl drive for a td and UM went on a 14pl drive but was intercepted at the 14. K-St went 59/10pl for a 42 yard FG, 37-7. UM, after K-St fumbled the punt at its own 49, was SOD at the K-St26 with 1:24 left.

WKU jumped out to a 21-10 lead in the 1H but couldn’t hold on against South Alabama. They did finish with a slim 427-414 yard edge. Ross Metheny hit 11-15-193. WKU led 21-10 at the half with a 234-157 yard edge. Brandon Bridge (5-11-77) replaced Metheny on the first 3 drives of the 2H and South Alabama went 35/9pl for a 43 yard FG, 89/14pl capped by a 4 yard td run, and 45/6pl for a 37 yard FG to tie it at 24. Metheny came back and led a 52/5pl drive but they missed a 17 yard FG. WKU was intercepted at the 50 with 2:12 left and USA returned it 49 yards to the 1. On 2nd&gl Fetner got a 1 yard td run for the lead, 31-24. WKU went 53/11pl but on 4th&10 from the SA13 was intercepted in the EZ. QB Brandon Doughty hit 27-47-282 for WKU.

Utah St completely dominated Weber St even more than the 587-138 yard edge would indicate. The Aggies scored a td on all seven 1H possessions to lead 49-0 with a 372-30 yard edge. At the end of the game, the Aggies had a bad snap on a punt and the Wildcats scooped it up at the 40 and raced 60 yards for a td with :50 left to avoid the shutout. Chuckie Keeton hit 19-25-249 for Utah St.

UTSA stayed close to Oklahoma St last week and fared better than the final score would indicate vs Arizona this past week. Arizona got a 16 yard IR to the 34. On 3rd&11, a 35 yard td made it 14-3. It was 17-6 when UA went 53/7pl for a td with 2:57 left in the half. At half UA had a slim 225-190 yard edge but led by 18. UTSA fumbled at the UA41 and the Wildcats went 59/10pl for a td early 4Q to make it 38-6. UTSA went 75/10pl for a td with 9:39 left and ended at the UA24 running out of time. UA only had a 422-379 yard edge and a 25-23 FD edge. UA QB Denker hit 14-21-158

Notre Dame was in a flat spot and taking on a Purdue team that had struggled mightily in its first 2 games. The Irish were off Michigan with Michigan St, Arizona St and Oklahoma on deck. Last year, in a flat spot off a trip to Ireland, ND was almost upset by Purdue. PU blitzed heavy and ND had just 91 yards rush on 37 carries (2.5 ypc). PU led 10-0 and had a 147-43 yard edge when ND took over at its 17 with 5:58 left in the half and went 80/11pl getting a 20 yard FG with :44 left. ND opened the 3Q with a 75/10pl drive for a td to tie but PU answered with a 54/8pl td drive. After a ND punt, ND went 66/11pl for a td to tie again. A minute and 22 seconds changed the game. ND was back at its own 18 in a tie game when the Irish got an 82 yard td pass to Daniels. Three plays later they got a 34 yard IR td and broke open a 31-17 lead. PU didn’t wilt. They went 75/7pl for a td with 8:16 left then recovered a fumble but punted with 7:22 left. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get the Irish off the field. ND converted on 3rd&6, 3rd&3, 3rd&2 and then 3rd&2 to the PU10 where they took a knee at the end. ND finished with a 400-294 yard edge and Tommy Rees hit 20-33-309. Rob Henry was a solid 25-40-256 for PU.

No doubt Texas is not living up to my advanced billing. I put out my selections in a magazine which is distributed nationally to hundreds of thousands of people year round and naturally those selections are on record, not just an internet fad that is tweeted. I picked Texas #4 in the country as I thought they had the talent and schedule to be favored in every game. After dropping 2 games as a favorite vs BYU and Mississippi, that will no longer be the case this year. UT still has not figured it out on D. Ole Miss finished with a 449-320 yard edge. Their biggest problem may have been on offense this past Saturday. After giving up td’s of 75/8pl and 57/8pl on their first 2 possessions, UT scored on its next 5 possessions while not allowing a point. Unfortunately, they settled for 3 FG’s of 28, 30 and 47 yards and only led 23-14 before Ole Miss got a 52 yard FG on the final play of the half. UT had a 220-207 yard edge at the half. UM dominated the 2H including a 73 yard PR td and UT punted on its first 4 possessions of the half, fumbled the 5th, was SOD at the UM47 on the 6th and was SOD at its own 27 on the last. UM got a td with 8:42 left to extend the margin to 44-23. I had Mack Brown #1 on my hotseat list at the start of the year saying if they had another 6, 7 or 8 win season he’d be in trouble and right now they figure to be an underdog to Oklahoma, at TCU, home to Oklahoma St, possibly at home to Texas Tech on November 28th and at Baylor unless they right their ship in a hurry.

Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon rushed for 193 yards on 15 carries vs Arizona St and UW led the majority of the game but a strange play at the end had them come up short by 2 points and not get a FG off. Taylor Kelly hit 29-51-352 while Joel Stave hit 15-30-187. James White was held to 45 yards on 12 carries and Marion Grice (22-84) and DJ Foster (5-27) barely topped 100 combined rush yards. ASU had a snap go through the P’s legs, roll into the EZ and UW recovered it for a td to lead 14-3 early in the 2Q but ASU went on a 94/13pl drive getting a 19 yard FG before the half to pull within 4-13. At half the Sun Devils did have a 219-101 yard edge. UW went 59/6pl for a 34 yard FG with 13:30 left to lead 24-19. Arizona St went 76/8pl for a 2 yard td but failed on the 2 point conversion, 25-24 (11:40). ASU went 60/8pl and got a 12 yard td run to lead by 8. The Badgers took over with 8:50 left. On 4th&5 they faked a punt for a FD and continued on a 75/11pl drive and Gordon’s 1 yard td run with 3:53 left made it 32-30 but the 2 pt conversion failed. UW got it back with 1:36 left and hit a 51 yard pass to the 26. After getting a FD to the 13, they wanted to set the ball in the middle of the field. Stave ran to the middle and placed the ball on the ground without taking a knee. Arizona St fell on the ball and the final :13 of the clock ran off.

Oklahoma St had a lot of off field distractions this week with the SI article coming out and naturally the best place to get over that is on the field. OSU had a 252-123 yard edge at the half against Lamar and led 31-3. In the 3Q they got a 67 yard PR for a td then drove 54/7pl for a td and after a fumble drove 22/3pl for a td to lead 52-3 with 6:01 left in the 3Q. Lamar was SOD after a 10pl drive at the OS6 with 10:56 left and OSU went 94/8pl for a 16 yard td pass, 59-3. Lamar ended the game with a 47/11pl drive eating the last 7:34 and ending the game at the OS30. JW Walsh hit 17-30-181 and rushed for 43. OSU had a 446-245 yard edge.

Northwestern extended its winning streak in non-conference home games to 15. NU actually started its first 3 drives in Western Michigan territory at the 45, 27 and 45 yard lines but was intercepted, punted and missed a 42 yard FG and actually trailed 3-0 after 1Q. NU would get a td with 8:46 left in the half then went 65/6pl, 50/8pl and after a 12 yard punt, 42/7pl and got a 35 yard FG with :02 left in the half for a 24-10 lead. NU only had a 268-185 yard edge. NU opened the 3Q with an 87/14pl drive for a td. WM recovered a fumble and went 24/2pl for a td, 31-17. NU got a 42 yard td run by Green and WMU was SOD at the NU25 with 11:38 left. WMU was SOD at its own 44 with :29 left. NU finished with 471-345 yard and 31-17 FD edges.

4th Quarter Covers: NCAA Week 3
By Joe Nelson
Nellysports.com

Glancing at the scoreboard won’t tell you the whole story in most games. Here are the games that went down to the wire relative to the spread in the fourth quarter last week in the third weekend of college football. Each week there are several teams that cover despite not necessarily deserving it, as well as other teams that played much better than the final score shows, get the details in this weekly column.

Louisville (-14½) 27, Kentucky 13: The highly regarded offense for the Cardinals had an ugly start against Kentucky, failing to find the end zone until just before halftime. The defense played well however with three big turnovers and Louisville was past the over two touchdown spread entering the fourth quarter, leading 20-3. Into the fourth quarter Louisville eventually took the lead to 27-6 but Kentucky put together a 15-play drive that included two separate 4th down conversions to put the score at 27-13 and giving most on the Wildcats a late cover. On the next possession Louisville still had its starters in and it did not take long to get back into Kentucky territory on its last meaningful possession but they eventually settled for a field goal try which Kentucky blocked to prevent the favorite from covering.

Pittsburgh (-22) 49, New Mexico 27: Pittsburgh led 42-6 midway through the third quarter as the Panthers survived four turnovers for a big output performance. Those on the Panthers laying over three touchdowns had some growing worries as New Mexico punched in two touchdowns in the final five minutes of the third quarter, the second of which came after a Pittsburgh fumble, putting the margin right at 22. With an early fourth quarter touchdown Pittsburgh got past the spread that opened at -21 and climbed as high as -23½ before settling at -22. Both teams traded punts after that score but then New Mexico went 80 yards into the end zone on a 10-play drive, scoring with less than a minute to go as the final margin matched the closing spread at most outlets.

Alabama (-9) 49, Texas A&M 42: The biggest game of the day had wild swings with the spread result changing in the final frame. After falling behind 14-0 early, the Crimson Tide took over the game and eventually took a 42-21 lead heading in the fourth quarter. Texas A&M put up a great late fight, getting within seven after a 95-yard touchdown play by Mike Evans, following an Alabama fumble. Alabama would answer with a clock-burning 65-yard touchdown drive, converting on a key 3rd and goal play to put the lead back at 14 points. With just over two minutes to go it did not appear that the Aggies had enough time to realistically extend the game but Texas A&M was able to spoil the bets of many with a touchdown in the final minute to flip the spread result, swapping huge amounts of winnings in what will likely be one of the most heavily bet games of the season.

Washington (-10½) 34, Illinois 24: After a tight first half in Chicago, Washington pulled away in the third quarter, leading 31-10 late in the frame. The game changed with Illinois answering the last Washington touchdown with a 72-yard pass play to get within 14 entering the fourth quarter. Playing conservatively with the lead Washington was held to consecutive punts with just one first down and Illinois put together another touchdown drive, scoring with just over nine minutes to go in the game with the touchdown rush coming on 4th down. Washington was able to calm the upset risk with an 11-play drive but those on the Huskies saw Washington settle for a field goal to put the margin right at 10, meaning a push or a tough loss with the 10½ hook coming late in the week. Washington actually intercepted Illinois on the next drive but there was no reason to try to add more points and the game finished 34-24.

North Texas (+3½) 34, Ball State 27: Despite three first half fumbles Ball State led 27-9 late in the second quarter on the road in Denton but a score in the final two minutes before halftime gave the Mean Green some momentum. North Texas got within the spread with a touchdown early in the third quarter as Ball State missed field goals on consecutive possessions on both sides of the half and the Cardinals then came up empty after a 66-yard drive going for it on 4th down. North Texas tied the game early in the fourth quarter and added a touchdown with about 10 minutes to go and that would be last score of the game.

South Carolina (-13) 35, Vanderbilt 25: South Carolina was far more dominant in this SEC clash than the final score indicates. The Gamecocks led 28-0 before Vanderbilt finally got on the scoreboard late in the second quarter. It was 25-point margin going into the fourth quarter but Vanderbilt posted 15 points in 13 seconds of game clock, completing a touchdown drive and then scoring one play after getting a South Carolina fumble on the kickoff. After forcing South Carolina to punt it looked like the Commodores would really get back into the game as they took the ball down to the South Carolina five yard line but an interception ended the threat. South Carolina would go on to milk the clock for a 17-play drive but it did not end up with any points as they were stuffed on fourth down just outside of field goal range.

Oklahoma (-23½) 51, Tulsa 20: Oklahoma led 34-7 early in the third quarter as Blake Bell was impressive in his first start for the Sooners. Tulsa chipped away with field goals and was within the spread down 21 entering the fourth quarter. Oklahoma did not let off the gas with the starters playing much of the fourth quarter and Oklahoma’s touchdown with just over two minutes to go sealed the favorite cover.

Rice (-6½) 23, Kansas 14: This spread opened at -4 but immediately shot up and was to -7 much of the week. The underdog Jayhawks looked poised for a rare road win leading 14-13 well into the fourth quarter. Rice got on top with an impressive 56-yard field goal and the Owls quickly got the ball back as Kansas went backwards on a 3-and-out. Rice started in great field position and in six plays the Owls went up 23-14 and past the spread. Kansas had two more possessions but did not threaten to score for a 20th consecutive road loss.

Arizona (-25½) 38, Texas-San Antonio 13: The statistics were nearly even in this matchup but it took a fourth quarter touchdown to get Texas-San Antonio a third straight cover to start this season. Arizona led 31-6 entering the fourth, right near the number that was at or just over 25 most of the week. Early in the fourth Arizona moved to a 38-6 lead but UTSA answered with a 10-play 75-yard drive. Both teams had two more possessions but there was no more scoring as Arizona won by exactly 25.

Oregon State (+4) 51, Utah 48: Oregon State led most of the way as Utah had three turnovers including an interception returned 73 yards for a touchdown. Utah took the lead with just over four minutes to go in the game 38-37, though still short of the spread. Oregon State would answer and a successful 2-point conversion set up a chance for Utah to take the game to overtime and give Utah backers at least still a chance for a lucky late cover. The Utes tied the game with 21 seconds to go but in overtime the Oregon State defense forced a field goal for Utah and the Beavers were able to get six for the win.

UNLV (-8) 31, Central Michigan 21: The Rebels fell behind 21-0 early in the game but the defense would not allow another point. Covering the over a touchdown spread seemed like a tall order but the game was tied by the start of the fourth quarter. UNLV added an early field goal and a late touchdown to get past the spread. Central Michigan was into UNLV territory late in the game with a chance to spoil the cover but the UNLV defense held.

Arizona State (-6½) 32, Wisconsin: This line fell most of the week before a late spike and the result was one of the more bizarre finishes ever to a college football game. Wisconsin led by two going into the fourth and then by five after a successful field goal. Arizona State got the lead back 25-24 after a touchdown run though they missed the two-point conversion. Wisconsin had to punt on its possession and the Sun Devils quickly went down the field to go up by eight with another touchdown and they passed the spread for the first time in the game. Wisconsin looked ready to concede another 3-and-out but a fake punt keyed a touchdown drive to put the Badgers within two with less than four minutes to go. Wisconsin misfired on what would have been the tying 2-point conversion however. Wisconsin’s defense got the stop it needed with some help from the Sun Devils who oddly passed incomplete on a 2nd down play to save Wisconsin a timeout. The Badgers exhausted the timeouts but got the ball back with over a minute and a half to go. A 51-yard pass play that featured tightrope walking on the sideline withstood review and the Badgers were down to the Arizona State 13-yard line with 18 seconds to go but no timeouts. Wisconsin quarterback Joel Stave then ran a play that will live in infamy, attempting to kneel to move the position for the field goal and then setting the ball down in hopes of a quick spot. In the rules a signal of a kneel constitutes a kneel so whether he actually contacted the ground was irrelevant but there was mass confusion as the officials called the play dead but then allowed Arizona State players to lie on the ball to stall and then prevented Wisconsin from snapping the ball until after time ran out. The officials then declined the chance to review the play and ran off the field. The play did not impact the spread result but anyone on the moneyline certainly had a lot at stake.

Winners & Losers - Week 3
By Bruce Marshall
VegasInsider.com

AT THE RUMOR MILL...
What to make of reports that there was contact between U. of Texas Regent Wallace Hall and the super-agent for Alabama head coach Nick Saban, Jimmy Sexton, just after the Crimson Tide's BCS title game win over Notre Dame last January 7? Sources tell us that it is standard operating procedure for Sexton to always be on the lookout for clients, and there is no outward indication that Saban is interested in leaving Alabama. But let us also remember that Saban has voluntarily moved from every head coaching position in his career (Michigan State, LSU, Miami Dolphins), each a plum job in its own right. In the bigger picture, however, it suggests that the wheels have been turning for a while in Austin regarding the future of HC Mack Brown, whose prognosis is looking extremely bleak (more on that in a moment). According to reports, Regent Hall apparently even asked Brown if he was contemplating retirement, to which Mack responded with a negative. Moreover, no one is disputing that the conversation between Hall and Sexton took place. Our response? We're not dismissing anything regarding Saban or Texas. And should the Longhorns indeed hit the eject button on Brown, expect Jimmy Sexton to at least get a call from Austin (or, perhaps, vice versa).

BIG RED TURBULENCE...
Meanwhile, we applaud Nebraska for not taking any disciplinary action against HC Bo Pelini after a rogue journalist provided an audio tape of a Pelini tirade against two Omaha sports writers and Big Red fans from back in 2011. Pelini obviously regretted the commentary but, if reports are true, had no idea who might have recorded his tirade. Which brings up another issue of the new-wave online media outlets, and websites such as Deadspin (which ran the story), which often abandon established journalistic norms if there is some attention to be gained from a sensationalized story. In these overly-sensitized times, we still find it hard to believe that anyone would be surprised by off-the-cuff (and, presumably, off-the-record) commentary made by anybody, especially high-level football coaches like Pelini. This is how people often talk in private. We have our own issues with Pelini and his coaching and will leave our commentary at that; what we have no use for are tabloid websites like Deadspin that believe they are harvesting any substantive ground when "breaking" such stories. Instead, we decry the assault on journalism that a proliferation of inane websites have embarked upon.

"COLORFUL" MATCHUP TO WATCH THIS WEEK...
Wyoming at Air Force ...No love lost between respective coaches Dave Christensen and Troy Calhoun, the latter accused of gamesmanship by the former in last year's game at Laramie, prompting some post-game invective from the Wyoming coach directed toward Calhoun (let's just say the first word rhymed with "buck" and included the term "flyboy" as well) while another Christensen verbal missile referred to Calhoun as "Mister (insert word again to rhyme with "bucking") Howdy Doody" which would result in a $50,000 fine to the Cowboy coach and suspension from the next game as dictated by Wyoming AD Tom Burman. And after attending the Mountain West media day in July, and witnessing no interactions whatsoever between Christensen and Calhoun, we can safely say that the wounds have yet to heal. All of which adds an interesting element to the dynamics surrounding this Saturday's matchup at Falcon Stadium. Stay tuned for the obligatory postgame handshakes, too.

Now, to the Week 3 winners and losers...

WINNER
Georgia Tech... While ESPN and the rest of the free world fawn over Clemson, Miami, and Florida State and anointed each as ACC teams to watch on the national radar, regional insiders are quick to include a much-improved Paul Johnson-coached Georgia Tech in any such discussion after the Jackets romped at Duke, 38-14, last Saturday. While Johnson's new full-time option pilot, sophomore QB Vad Lee, looks to be perhaps a significant upgrade from the man he split snaps with a year ago, Tevin Washington, it's the defense that has caused ACC sources to take notice. Rid of the ill-advised 3-4 looks and stale schemes of former d.c Al Groh (who was dismissed midway in the 2012 campaign, after which the Yellow Jackets played some of their best football of the season), the personnel seems a much-better fit for the preferred 4-3 alignments of new d.c. Ted Roof, a veteran defensive tactician and one-time HC at Duke. Of course, HC Johnson remains shrewd as ever and reportedly cannot contain his excitement over the possibilities the ascending QB Lee provides for his offense, too. So while the rest of the country oohs and ahhs about the Noles, Canes, and Tigers in the ACC, keep your eyes on the Ramblin' Wreck.

LOSER
Texas... The decision by under-fire HC Mack Brown to dump d.c. Manny Diaz after the recent BYU embarrassment was understandable. But enlisting Greg Robinson, who had been out of coaching for the past couple of years and had been working for the Longhorn Network at the time he received the S.O.S. call from Brown, hardly seems the answer, either. Especially after Robinson's second stint as Longhorn d.c. (a position he also held in 2004) got off to an inauspicious start last Saturday vs. Ole Miss, which gouged the Texas "D" much as BYU had done the previous week in a 44-23 romp. The Longhorn rush defense now ranks among the worst in the nation and the prospect of the platoon rallying under Robinson (whose most recent defenses, at Michigan in 2009-10, were a mess) appears far-fetched. So, too, do prospects of Brown lasting on the job beyond this season. With all of the challenging Big 12 dates still ahead, Texas looks as if it might have to struggle just to get bowl-eligible. In which case not even Brown's close relationship with AD DeLoss Dodds is likely to save his job.

WINNER
Auburn... Yes, we know that the Tigers didn't quite get the point-spread cover last Saturday night at Jordan-Hare Stadium vs. Mississippi State. But Gus Malzahn has found a QB to run his spread in juco Nick Marshall, who after a few mistakes in his early starts was cool as a cucumber in a near length-of-the-field drive covering 89 yards in the last two minutes, culminating in a game-winning 11-yard TD pass to C.J. Uzomah with only 10 seconds to play, giving the Tigers a 24-20 win. Auburn has thus already matched its win total from last season's 3-9 disaster that got Gene Chizik fired. Next up is an all-Tiger battle at LSU.

LOSER
Kansas... More and more, Jayhawk AD Sheahon Zenger is looking foolish for his decision to hire Charlie Weis as the KU coach a year ago. Big 12 sources continue to have a laugh at the expense of Zenger, a typical headstrong, new-wave exec of the sort that is usually found on Wall Street, intent upon putting their stamp of approval on the organization. What astounds most of our scouts is how Zenger could have landed on Weis without considering some of the underachievement involving Charlie after his dismissal from Notre Dame, which included subpar stints as an o.c. with the NFL Kansas City Chiefs and a disastrous season as Florida's o.c. in 2011 that was almost enough to get first-year HC Will Muschamp fired in Gainesville. And SEC sources tell us that Muschamp was hardly disappointed that Kansas relieved him of Weis after the 2011 campaign. After last week's 23-14 loss at Rice (did Zenger figure on KU losing back-to-back years vs. the Owls when he hired Charlie?), Weis still hasn't beaten an FBS foe into his second season in Lawrence. His best chance might come this week vs. a rebuilding La Tech side. But if Weis can't win that one, his Jayhawks figure to be an underdog (and a substantial one most weeks) in every upcoming Big 12 game.

WINNER
Kentucky... While the straight-up result last week vs. high-ranked Louisville was a losing one, there were plenty of reasons for optimism in Lexington, as new HC Mark Stoops' Wildcats played the trash-talking Cardinals evenly for much of the proceedings at Commonwealth Stadium. Betraying UK was a receiving corps that dropped too many accurate throws made by QBs Maxwell Smith and Jalen Whitlow. But the defense appears sturdy and the offense only figures to improve under new coordinator Neal Brown, the architect of some high-powered spread attacks in previous career stops at Troy and Texas Tech. The upcoming SEC slate is obviously going to be a bear, but don't expect the Wildcats to be an easy touch anymore, either. An upset or two involving UK in SEC play would be no surprise.

LOSER
Marshall... So much for that BCS Buster talk emanating from Huntington. Last week's 34-31 loss at Ohio shattered those dreams before mid-September and cast new doubts upon HC Doc Holliday, whose recruiting prowess has never been in doubt but whose game-management skills as a head coach are coming under increasing scrutiny. The Herd could still be the best in a watered-down CUSA but already have to adjust their postseason sights upon bowls like the Liberty and Beef O'Brady's after the loss to Frank Solich's Bobcats.

WINNER
Florida Atlantic... Some Big 12 sources believe the downturn in Nebraska's defensive fortunes the past two seasons is directly related to the departure of Carl Pelini, Bo's brother and former Husker d.c. who has been the head coach at Florida Atlantic since last season. Might Carl be the real coaching star of the Pelini family? Well, some Sun Belt observers are beginning to think so after the Owls have continued their improvement in Carl P.'s second season, highlighted by last week's 28-10 romp at South Florida. FAU has now covered its first three games on the board this campaign and 11 of its last 13 since early last season. And with juco QB Jaquez Johnson getting more comfy running the FAU spread, expect the Owls' ascent to continue.

LOSER
Utah... To be more specific, the overtime play-calling for the Utes after a wildly entertaining second half that forced an extra session last Saturday night vs. Oregon State. But beginning the overtime with two basic running plays meant that QB Travis Wilson had to convert a 3rd-and-9 situation on the first series of downs, which Wilson could not accomplish. Settling for field goal. Utah was vulnerable to more-aggressive Beaver play calling that helped OSU steal a 51-48 OT win.

LOSER
Wake Forest... More and more ACC observers are beginning to wonder if the Demon Deacons program has run its course for respected HC Jim Grobe. Wake has slipped from its perch atop the ACC in the middle of the last decade and has qualified for a bowl just once in the past four years. Now one in five looks likely after a close home loss to ULM last week, the sort of game that the Deacs needed to win if they were serious about getting back into the postseason. But it is also the latest example of a program in decline, and the days when Grobe was able to exploit a power vacuum in the league when Florida State, Miami, and Clemson were all struggling looks to be a long way back in the rear-view mirror. The Deacons only managed 15 rushing yards vs. the Warhawks, putting too much pressure on sr. QB Tanner Price, and Wake is going to have more problems vs. ACC opposition if it can't discover some offensive balance, and quickly. A loss this weekend at Army would be especially ominous, with the teeth of the upgraded ACC slate still to come.

WINNER
South Alabama... Flying way under the radar is USA, but back-to-back wins over Tulane and Bobby Petrino's Western Kentucky suggests that Joey Jones has trhe Jaguars on the right track. Former Virginia QB Ross Metheny continues to provide playmaking ability for an "O" that scored 36 ppg vs. the Green Wave and Hilltoppers. The Jags might offer good spread value in their next game on September 28 at Tennessee.