Phil's Weekly Notes
NEWS AND NOTES - Temple WR Jason Harper had 209 yds receiving, the 2nd most in TU history and it was the most vs Kent St since Randy Moss had 216 in 1997. Over the last 2 years KSU has blown numerous games which they should have won and it looked like they would do it again as they led 21-3 but allowed TU a 3rd & 30, 32 yd TD pass with :13 left in the half and then a 92 yd KR TD to open the 2H and actually trailed 24-21. KSt had a pair of 1st & goals inside the 5 and settled for FG’s keeping TU in the game but still managed a 41-38 win with KSt having a 551-354 yd edge...Kansas was a trendy upset pick but we had Texas and they rolled to a 35-7 win. They led 14-0 at the half and 21-0 early 3Q. KU’s only TD was kept alive by an amazing catch by WR Briscoe who one-handed the reception that was behind him, pinned it to his helmet and went down with the FD to the 6. KU gained 67 of their yds on the final drive which got them to the UT2...Michigan has been playing football for 129 years but their upset loss at home on Senior Day to Northwestern gave them their most losses in a season ever and 5 home losses for the first time ever. It was the first time they failed to win consecutive games in a season since 1962. UM appeared in good shape at the half leading 14-7 with a 162-81 yd edge but NU scored TD’s on their first two 2H poss and the D did the rest as NU moved to 8-3 on the year...New Mexico hadn’t lost 4 in a row since 1998 but with the losing season wrapped up went out in a whimper in their season finale vs Colorado St, which kept alive CSU’s post season chances with their 5th win of the year and one game left to play. Gartrell Johnson rushed for 127 yds and topped 1,000 yards for the first time in his career. At the half CSU only had a 219-199 yd edge and finished with only a 389-359 yd edge but won 20-6...It was windy and 30˚ in the Ohio St/Illinois game and the Buckeyes opted to keep it on the ground. They ran the ball 52 times for 305 yds with just 10 pass attempts. UI did have a 292-182 yd edge at the half but trailed 23-7 before going on 2 long drives for a pair of short FG’s and trailed 23-13. It was 30-13 OSU when the Buckeyes punted with 2:06 left and the Illini went 76/7pl for a garbage TD with :42 left...Georgia on their 4th consecutive SEC road game got their 2nd consecutive close win and it didn’t come easy. UGA got a TD with 8:24 left to lead 17-13 and then Aub was SOD on 4th & 3 at the UGA21 with 4:07 left and on 4th & 1 at the UGA14 with :01 left...Maryland beat their 4th ranked team on the year and moved to 6-0 at home. There was a couple of keys plays in the tight game. N Carolina, late 3Q, had a 28 yd FG hit the upright. Had they made it, they would have been up by 4. MD took over with 10:25 left trailing by 1 and went on a 73/19pl drive that ate up almost 9:00. They got a 26 yd FG with 1:42 left for the lead and while NC got to midfield their 3rd & 22 pass was int’d at the MD39 with :49 left. UNC remains winless at Maryland since 1997...Nebraska dominated K-St with a 610-247 yd edge and while they only led 42-28 early 4Q, they got two 4Q TD’s for the 28 pt win...While Southern Miss had a 384-255 yd edge vs E Carolina, it was closer than the final as EC missed 35 and 41 yd FG’s in the 1H and trailed 7-3 despite a 147-123 yd edge. EC missed a 39 yd FG in the 3Q and SM went up 14-3 with a TD with 14:06 left then after EC was int’d at the SM3, SM got a 97 yd TD pass on the next play to ice it...Wisconsin kept the Paul Bunyon Axe but it was closer than expected. UW led 7-0 but the Gophers scored 3 TD’s on drives of 11 (after fmbl), 58 and 39 (after 31 yd PR) to lead 21-7 at the half. UW fmbl’d at the Minnesota 29 and 21. The Badgers stormed back to tie it at 24 then almost rec’d a fmbl in the EZ for a TD that was a safety. After another safety, UW led 35-24 but the Gophers got a 4th & 18, 26 yd pass to keep a drive alive and went 60/11pl for a TD with 4:15 left. UM’s last drive was int’d at their own 29 and UW took a knee at the UM15...Penn St had a 23-6 FD edge vs Indiana for the game but only led 10-7 at the half before pulling away in the 2H...Purdue had a 24-14 FD edge vs Iowa but on one 2Q drive had 2 TD’s called back by penalty and settled for a FG and they trailed 12-10 at the half. PU was int’d at the Iowa 5 with 7:11 left, scored a TD with 3:40 left and then got to the Iowa 27 at the end where their Hail Mary pass was knocked down...Nevada had dominating 23-11 FD and 525-278 yd edges vs SJSt...There were a couple key plays in the Florida St/Boston College game. There were 3 questionable pass interference calls on 3rd down which kept alive BC drives. BC also got an 87 yd IR TD late 1Q and instead of a tie game, BC led 14-0. Later, with BC clinging to a 7 pt lead, they were stopped on 3rd down, a half yd short but a late hit on Nicholson gave them a FD. Four plays prior to that FSU had been int’d in the EZ on FD from the BC28....Vanderbilt had an amazing 317-39 yd edge vs Kentucky at the half with UK scoring a TD on a blk’d FG and UK’s only FD in the 1H came on a fake punt with 2:00 left in the half. Amazingly the Cats clawed their way back to trail 31-24 and were at the VU23 at the end when they were int’d at the 17 by DJ Moore. Moore got 2 TD rec’s in the 1Q, his first 2 career rec’s...Only 59,738 showed up for Rick Neuheisel return to Huskie Stadium. The Huskie fans were upset that Neuheisel left the program but the Huskies would lose their 12th straight game. UCLA scored a TD on the first drive and while it was 7-7 after 1Q, it was 17-7 at the half and UCLA had a 20-10 FD edge with UW managing just 135 total yards offense...Troy led LSU 31-3 midway through the 3Q but LSU rallied and pulled out the win 40-31...When Utah had a big game vs TCU on deck they barely got past New Mexico. This time, vs SDSt, even with a big game vs BYU on deck, they piled up 520 yds offense and did not punt the entire evening. Brian Johnson threw 5 TD passes in the 1H in their 63-14 win.
MISLEADING FINALS - Notre Dame had a 5-1 TO deficit vs Navy but was in complete control of the game. They led 27-7 and had a 2nd & gl at the Navy 4 with just 5:19 left but fmbl’d. They forced a Navy punt with 4:33 left and were playing the backups on both offense and defense. ND went for it on 4th & 3 at the Navy 43 with just 2:30 left and was stopped. Shockingly, Navy went 57/4pl for a TD with 1:39 left, rec’d the onside kick, got a 40 yd pass to the 1 and a TD 2pl later, 27-21 (1:21). ND’s ridiculous KR unit allowed Navy to rec the onside kick again and Navy got as close as the ND31 but their 4th & 13 pass fell incomplete with :22 left. On Navy’s first 11 drives, just once did they have more than 1 FD!...Texas A&M had a 5-0 TO deficit vs Baylor. They also trailed 41-7 after 3Q’s scoring TD’s with 8:49 and 3:45 left in the game for the 41-21 final. BU had a 510-308 yd edge...Oregon St had a 20-11 FD edge vs Cal but Cal had a 138-120 yd edge at the half. The game was just 27-21 when with :31 left OSU had a 26 yd IR TD for a bit of a misleading final...UCF/Marshall put up 44 points but 4 of the 5 TD’s occurred without an offensive drive. Marshall’s P fmbl’d a snap in the EZ and tried to fall on it for a safety but UCF rec’d for a TD. The game’s 2nd TD happened when UCF fmbl’d a punt at their own 1 and MU got a TD on the next play on a “1 yd drive”. MU then fmbl’d a punt at their own 1 and UCF got a TD 2pl later on a “1 yd drive”, 20-7. Marshall was SOD midfield with 2:57 left. MU burned their last time-out but on 3rd & 11 Harvey broke through the line and raced 50 yds for a TD with 2:40 left. Before that 50 yd run, UCF had 198 yds offense...Arizona St led 10-0 at the half they opened it up to 31-0 on the first play of the 4Q. They pulled QB Carpenter but backup Sullivan led them to the WSU15 where they were SOD with just 1:04 left. ASU had a 398-130 yd edge...It was 33˚, windy with some snow but Chase Daniel hit his first 12 passes. While Missouri led 31-7 at the half, Iowa St was SOD at the Missouri 20, gave up a 17 yd IR TD and was SOD with :21 left in the half setting up a MO30 yd FG. It was just 38-20 in the 4Q when MO drove for a TD with 13:03 left but ISt went 56/12pl and had a 1st & gl at the 2. They were int’d in the EZ with 7:43 left and MO went 73/8pl for a TD with 3:23 left. ISt got to the MO24 but was SOD... This blurb could be put under ‘A Tale of Two Halves’ or ‘Feuds’. Stanford dominated the 1H vs USC with a 210-91 yd edge. In fact, USC did not get their first FD until early 2Q and SU led 17-10 before USC got a 93 yd KR TD. It appeared it would be a tight ball game until the end with USC getting a TD late 3Q to go up by 7, then going 70/6pl for a TD, then on 3rd & 13 got a 43 yd run foll’d by a 50 yd TD pass to lead 38-17 with 7:35 left. On 4th & 10 SU was int’d at the USC36 and the Trojans drove 64/10pl for a TD with 1:23 left for the apparent frontdoor cover. SU went 56/6pl then Harbaugh trotted out the FG unit at the USC20 and Carroll called time-out. Harbaugh brought back the offense and Loukas hit a 20 yd TD pass with no time left in a game that was closer than the final... Alabama trailed Miss St 7-5 in the 2Q but then their special teams took over. They blk’d a punt for a safety earlier in the game the got an 80 yd PR by Arenas who had 153 yds on 6 returns. He got a 46 yd PR to the 2 to set up another TD and Bama got a TD with 7:58 left in the 4Q to actually get the cover, 32-7...Oregon led Arizona 45-17 at the half but AU pulled back to 48-45 and the Ducks got a TD with 3:38. The TD came after AZ was SOD at their own 43 and Blount got a 40 yd TD run.
TURNOVERS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE - USF amazingly has been favored 16 straight times but lost SU in 8 of them. Against Rutgers they had a 213-126 yd edge at the half but trailed 21-10 and for the game could not overcome a 6-2 TO deficit. Despite having a 25-20 FD edge in the game, USF was wiped 49-16 with USF also missing a 42 yd FG and having a 54 yd’r blk’d. RU opened the season 1-5 but has now won their last 4 completely turning their season around...The Tulane/UAB game was closer than the 41-24 final. It was 31-24 with 9:24 left when TU faked a punt at the UAB44 and was SOD. Seven plays later UAB got a FG for some breathing room, 34-24 (5:28). UAB got a 36 yd IR TD with 3:34 left to win by 17 and did benefit from a 4-1 TO deficit...With 2 explosive offenses, you need to score almost every time you have the ball so it’s no surprise that Tulsa, which had 5 TO’s vs Houston, ended up getting whipped 70-30. UH did have a 641-501 yd edge.
INJURIES OF NOTE - The key play in the Duke/Clemson game happened on Duke’s 2nd series. Each team punted on their first 2 poss but Duke lost their star QB Lewis to inj and would generate just 8 FD’s and 85 yds passing the rest of the game. CU led 17-0 at the half with a 268-41 yd edge...Texas was using a 3rd string C after their starter, who had taken 98% of the snaps was out. They did have a fmbl’d snap in KU terr early but still rolled to an easy win...Tyler Lorenzen ret’d at QB for Connecticut and started for the first time since Sept and hit 7 of 15 for 70 yds. The game was just 25-14 when UC got a 69 yd PR TD and then a 37 yd IR for a TD as UC had a just a 16-8 FD and 329-157 yd edge. Randy Edsell, a Syracuse alum, may have been auditioning for the soon-to-be-open HC spot at Syracuse...SMU susp’d their top 2 WR’s for the rest of the season and it showed vs UTEP as the Miners piled up a 544-201 yd edge.