College Football Rewind Week 10
Atssportsline.com
The College Football Playoffs Rankings came out last week and Ole Miss loss to Auburn, which means the Rebels are basically out of the final four and Auburn is in. Oregon also finally defeated Stanford, Mississippi State held on to beat Arkansas and Florida State edged Louisville on the road. That was their second straight loss. We love this time of the year as teams are jockeying for conference supremacy along with the playoffs. We'll take a look at the week that was for the power conferences below.
In the ACC: Florida State edged Louisville on Thursday night, 42-21, giving 3.5. They were helped by an outstanding freshman class. Dalvin Cook, Ermon Lane and Travis Rudolph had 284 of FSU's 574 yards of offense and scored three times. The Seminoles were trailing 21-0 in the first half and Cook's 110 yards rushing on nine attempts was a big key in the second half. Quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 401 yards and three interceptions in an up-and-down performance. This is a team you have to put away, because they just wont go away...Florida State could be tested by Miami-Florida, who looked dominant in their last two games, which included a 47-20 win over North Carolina at home. That was the third straight game they had eclipsed 30 points. The more impressive feat was holding North Carolina to just 20 points. UNC had averaged 40 points per game over the last three contest. Miami now has a bye week before hosting FSU on Nov. 15. RB Duke Johnson rushed for 226 yards and scored three times to give him 1,213 on the year....Duke won a wild game over Pittsburgh, 51-48 in double overtime. WR Jamison Crowder had nine catches for 165 yards and two scores. They also had a 99-yard kick return for a score by DeVon Edwards. Duke is 15-3 in its past 18 games to move into first in the Coastal Division. Duke has a much easier schedule than Miami and Georgia Tech, who has to host Clemson. Duke is off to a 7-1 starts because they avoid turning the ball over. The Blue Devils have just five turnovers this season and have gone 205 straight offensive plays without a giveaway.
In the Big 12: The game of the day took place in Morgantown, Wv. West Virginia led by nine late in the game but turned the ball over five times in poor conditions. They had three drives, nine plays and a net gain of minus-7 yards with three punts. They were up 30-28 with 3:46 left and couldn't get the job done. Quarterback Clint Trickett threw just one pass in the fourth quarter. TCU kicker Jaden Oberkom kicked a 37-yard field goal to give the Horned Frogs to win, 31-10. TCU's defense stepped up last as safety Derrick Kindred had 11 tackles, one for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. The Horned Frogs were down 13-0 to start the game a survived a subpar performance from junior quarterback Trevone Boykin, who completed just 12 of 30 passes for 166 yards, one TD and one INT.....Texas is 4-5 after beating up on Texas Tech, 34-13. It helped that Quandre Diggs knocked Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes out of the game with a violent hit. The running game for the Longhorns got it going with 240 yards. Unfortunately, Texas needs to go 2-1 in their next three to earn a bowl bid. Those teams are West Virginia, TCU and Oklahoma State....Kansas State remains in the hunt for the Big 12 title and the College Football Player after they thrashed Oklahoma State, 48-14. The defense started off slow but finished the job as the picked off QB Daxx Garman twice. Cornerback Morgan Burns helped Kansas State overcome an early Oklahoma State touchdown by returning a kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown. He also had six tackles and was strong in coverage. Kansas State showed they could throw it as Curry Sexton and Tyler Lockett combined to finish with 253 yards receiving.
In the Big 10: Wisconsin is back to their dominant self after outscoring Maryland and Rutgers, 89-7 over the past two weeks. Running back Melvin Gordon leads a ground game that averages 253.8 yards per game. If they beat Purdue on Saturday, that could set up a huge game with Nebraska that could have playoff implications. The Badgers do have two losses and aren't in contention, but could play the spoiler role. Running back Corey Clement actually outplayed Gordon (who had 128 yards and two TDs), by rushing for 131 yards, two scores and a 9.4 yards per carry.....Maryland made history on Saturday, winning their first-ever road game at Beaver Stadium when they shocked Penn State, 20-19. Maryland hadn't played Penn State since 1993 and not defeated the Nittany Lions since 1961. Penn State now owns a 35-2-1 advantage in the series. Kicker Brad Craddock nailed a game-winning 43-yard field goal with under a minute left. The key for Maryland was their opportunistic defense. Alex Twine recovered a fumble following a kickoff return by Grant Haley. Linebacker Jermaine Carter Jr. nailed him and Twine recovered the ball in the fourth quarter. Maryland needed four plays to take a 17-16 lead. Maryland also refused to shake hands with the Penn State captains and there was also a pregame scuffle. This could start a heated rivalry...Iowa's 48-7 win over Northwestern was the biggest surprise of the league. Safety John Lowdermilk led the Hawkeyes with 12 tackles, forced a fumble and broke up a pass. Iowa's defense allowed just 74 passing yards and 2.4 yards per carry. Running back Mark Weisman ran for three touchdowns, while Jake Ruddock made the right plays.
In the Pac-12: UCLA improved to 7-2 after beating Arizona at home, 17-7. Quarterback Brett Hundley threw for 189 yards and ran for 131 yards. The defense was outstanding as they forced Arizona to run for just 2.6 yards per carry. To make matters worse, freshman quarterback Anu Solomon completed just 38 percent of his passes. Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III was a bright spot for the Wildcats with 19 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. Arizona has now lost two of three and could fall out contention in the South Division. This was one of the worst offensive performances under coach Rich Rodriguez, as they amassed 255 yards on offense, the worst since a 257-yard effort in 2012 against UCLA.....The best game or at least closest, came at Arizona State, who edged Utah, 19-16 in overtime. The Sun Devils have now won four straight since the UCLA blowout home loss. Utah kicker Andy Phillips missed a field goal in overtime twice. Philips, considered one of the best in the nation, missed a 35-yard attempt on the Utes' initial possession. On the other end, Zane Gonzales made four of five field goals to help the Sun Devils. Now the Utes face Oregon, Stanford, Arizona and Colorado. ASU is now atop the South Division with three conference games to play.....Oregon's win over Stanford, 45-16 was a must for the Ducks. That ended an amazing run for Stanford, who had help opponents to fewer than 30 points in 31 straight games, going back to a 54-48 overtime win over Arizona in 2012. Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota threw his second interception of the season, but he ran for over nine yards per carry. The key has been the offensive line as they have been dominant since Jake Fisher returned from injury to play left tackle. Oregon allowed just one sack against Stanford and rushed for 267 yards. However, they did lose right tackle Matt Pierson to a knee injury.
In the SEC: No. 3 Auburn beat No. 4 Ole Miss, 35-31 to ruin the Rebels hopes of making the College Football Playoffs. Auburn was led by quarterback Nick Marshall, who threw for 254 yards with two TDs, one INT and had two rushing TDs. His 57-yard touchdown pass to Sammie Coates in the second quarter was a key playing the game. Ole Miss lost star receiver Laquon Treadwell, who suffered a serious leg injury on a goal-line fumble late in the game. The defense has been their calling card, but they allowed Auburn to run for 248 yards and several big plays on third-and-long....Florida crushed Georgia, 38-20, which means the Gators are still in the Eastern Division race at 3-3. Georgia falls to 4-2 in the SEC, but their run defense was exposed. New starting quarterback didn't even have to throw as he attempted just six passes. The Gators ran for 418 yards and scored 31 straight points. Kelvin Taylor ran for 197 yards on 25 carries, while Matt Jones added 192 yards on 25 carries with two scores.....Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs made his first start of the season and set a school-record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 166 yards. He also rushed for three scores and passed for 301 yards and two TDs to led the Vols to a 45-42 overtime win over the Gamecocks. Dobbs hit Jason Croom with a 9-yard touchdown pass with 11 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Tennessee was down by two touchdowns with less than five minutes of regulation left for the amazing comeback. Then again, with South Carolina's defense and lack of tackling, it wasn't that amazing. The Vols spoiled a great effort by wide receiver Pharoh Cooper, who had 11 receptions for a school-record 233 yards with TDs of 12 and 85.