News and Notes - Week 3
Northcoast Sports
Week 3
N Carolina was our #2 Most Improved Team and after struggling to get past McNeese St in the opener, they had an impressive win over Rutgers on the road. The 1H was actually closer than the numbers would indicate as RU had a 206-179 yd edge but thanks to a 69 yd TD pass, NC led 17-6 and outscored RU 21-0 in the 3Q en route to the win...
USF asserted itself as a potential National Title contender by knocking off #13 ranked Kansas. KU appeared in control in the 1H leading 20-3 and it was 20-10 at the half but USF held KU to 1 FD on their first four 2H poss while USF drove 76/13pl, 66/9pl, 71/5pl and 36/2pl for 3 TD's and a short 23 yd FG to lead by 14. KU rallied with 2 TD's and had the ball when they were int'd setting up USF's game-winning 43 yd FG...
Illinois did have a 213-132 yd edge at the half vs ULL but needed a 27 yd FG with 1:36 left to make it 20-10. UL got a TD on 4th & 10 with :18 left but IL rec'd the onside kick to win by 3...
Duke has been dominant in the 3Q this year and vs Navy they held the Midshipmen to 1 FD in four poss of the 3Q and Duke overcame a 24-20 deficit at the half to take a 34-24 lead. The one FD was a 3rd & 12 short pass that turned into a 68 yd TD that got Navy back in the game. Duke went back up by 10 and their final drive ate up nearly 7:00 and was SOD at the Navy 20 in their 10 point win...
UAB had an 18:08-11:52 TOP edge in the 1H vs Tennessee but had a 75/12pl drive end on a SOD at the UT 19 and a 50/7pl drive end on an int in the EZ and they trailed 14-0 at the half. Up 14-3 UT went on 3 consec TD drives to put it away. The game was played in front of a less than sell-out crowd of 98,205...
In the 1H GT had a 175-135 yd edge but fumbled at their own 43 with 1:10 left 1H and VT, 7 plays later got a TD for the lead, 14-9. GT was int'd at the VT 42 (4:36 3Q) and 10 pl later VT hit a 25 yd FG, 17-9 (13:58). GT went 81/9pl for a TD and 2 pt conv to tie but VT drove 75/11pl for a 21 yd FG and the win, 20-17 (4:40). GT was SOD at their own 32 with 2:14 left...
Penn St has scored 35 pts in the 1H in each of its first 3 games, the first time they've done that since 1994. They delivered a dominating win, leading 38-6 with 393-42 yd and 19-3 FD edges at the half in their 55-13 win over Syracuse...
Auburn had a 14-6 FD edge vs Miss St and 315-116 yd edge, an almost 3-1 yardage edge. Unfortunately some key plays did not go in the Tiger's favor. AU had a FD at the 11 of MSU but after a pair of pen, settled for a 35 yd FG. AU missed a 42 yd FG at the end of the 1H and despite a 170-66 yd edge, led just 3-0. In the 3Q AU got a 1st & gl at the 7 but settled for a 22 yd FG and amazingly missed it. AU had a FD at the MSU 26 on their next poss but a pen and sk forced a punt. AU got a FD to the MSU 22 on their next poss but it was called back on a hold. AU also had a 3-1 TO deficit and only won by 1...
QB Tyler Graunke ret'd LW and had a big 2H for Hawaii but struggled in his first start of the year hitting 12 of 27 for 118. Oregon St missed 3 FG's in the 1H and only led 14-7 late 2Q. They would score on their first 4 poss of the 2H to open it up and ended the game at the UH 14 yd line in a 45-7 win with a 485-211 OSU yd edge...
UCLA suffered its first shutout loss since 2001. BYU did have 2 long drives for TD's but then UCLA imploded with 3 TO's and a blk'd FG setting up BYU for 37, 30, 25 and 53 yd drives for TD's, the latter with :14 left in the half and BYU led 42-0. BYU did have a 310-89 yd edge at the half...
Tough loss for Steve Spurrier this past week. SC led 7-6 at the half with 2 key plays keeping alive UGA's FG drives as a 3rd & 12 int was wiped out by a questionable pass interference and they also converted on 3rd & 21 with a 38 yd pass before the half. SC trailed 14-7 and had a 1st & gl at the 2 but fmbl'd into the EZ for a TB with 8:04 left. UGA got off a 77 yd punt but SC still drove and was SOD on 4th & 2 at the UGA 32. SC's last drive got to the UGA 17 but a hold forced a 2nd & 20 and they were int'd at the 3...
Notre Dame took advantage of 6 Michigan TO's but jumped out to a 21-0 lead including a 48 yd TD pass. They led 28-17 at the half and got the 2H's only score on a 35 yd FR TD in a game played in the rain. HC Charlie Weis suffered MCL and ACL injuries and spent the 2H on crutches...
It was exciting in the final minute of the 1H in the Temple/Buffalo game. At the end of the 1H, each team scored a TD in the final :54 and each team had a TO in that same brief span. At the half TU had a 257-164 yd edge. At the end of the game, Buffalo got a 25 yd FG with 2:22 left but TU got a TD with :38 left to appear to pull out the win. Buffalo, however, got a 35 yd TD pass on a Hail Mary on the game's final play for the miracle finish...
Ohio St had a tale of 2H's vs USC and missed opportunities. While most folks only remember a USC blowout, after each team punted, OSU went on a 64/17pl drive and had a 1st & gl at the 5 but settled for a 24 yd FG. USC went 75/63 yds for TD's to lead 14-3. The Buckeyes had not one, but two TD's called back on offensive holding on a 10 pl drive and settled for a 46 yd FG and missed it and USC then got an IR TD with 2:49 left 1H. At the half OSU actually had a 177-173 yd edge and a 20:07-9:53 TOP edge. The Buckeyes were deflated and only had 25 yds offense in the 2H and USC dominated that stanza...
Ohio is one of the best 0-3 teams in the country. They should have beat Wyoming in the opener, outplayed Ohio St for most of the game and LW vs the MAC favorite, C Michigan, they only trailed 31-28 and drove to the CM 8 yd line. QB Boo Jackson, who played because starting QB Theo Scott is out for 4 games appeared to have the go ahead TD but he fumbled into the EZ for a TB with 3:09 left and CM escaped...
Miami, Oh trailed Charleston Southern 27-17 with 4:45 left 3Q when they got a 44 yd PR TD by Eugene Harris. Clemson transfer Tribble Reese hit 26 of 39 for 257 yards for CS. Miami scored the game's final two TD's, one after a 78 IR to the 21 and the other a 60/6pl drive to pull away in the 4Q...
Donald Brown had missed the previous year's game vs Virginia but this time rushed for 206 yds and Conn had 1H drives of 70, 77, 86 and 75 yards finishing with a 506-219 yd edge. UVA benched starting QB Peter Lalich who did not make the trip and Marc Verica in his first start hit 22 of 32 passes for 158 yds...
Wyoming got its 2nd narrow win of the year. They barely escaped vs Ohio and this time got a 29 yd FG with :04 left to get past N Dakota St. The FG was set up by an int with 1:28 left in the game. NDSt had a 313-266 yd edge. Interestingly our PP computer called for NDSt to win the game by 2 and it was close, as expected. In the 1H NDSt had 9-3 FD and 191-78 yd edges...
Pat Hill billed it as the biggest home game in the history of Fresno St football but they trailed Wisconsin 10-0 at the half and trailing by 3 in the 4Q, missed a FG. Despite a 343-304 yd edge, FSU lost that game at home and burst their BCS bubble...
Rice and Vanderbilt were tied at 21 at the half but VU pulled away in the 2H for a 17 pt win holding Rice scoreless. Rice did finish with a 407-344 yd edge...
Arkansas St had a 447-348 yd edge vs Southern Miss but trailed 17-3 at the half and 27-17 in the 4Q...
Ole Miss trailed Samford 7-6 late 1H but then scored consec TD drives of 53, 91 and 63 yds to blow the game open and dominated with a 424-198 yd edge...
The good news for Utah St is they had 19,061 on hand, the bad news was over half the crowd was Utah fans. They witnessed a dominating 58-10 win with Utah's 29-8 FD edge...
Nick Saban was upset by the fact that Alabama played down to their competition last year and then upset again when they were outgained by Tulane in their home opener 318-172. He threatened to move players to the scout team if there was a lack of effort and they responded vs WKU piling up 557 yds, their highest total since 1989 in their 41-7 romp. It was 31-7 at the half.
ALMOST DéjaVU ALL OVER AGAIN
A few years back Kentucky appeared to knock off LSU but gave up a long pass on the final play to the Tigers and that came after Coach Guy Morriss was dunked with Gatorade. Versus Middle Tennessee, UK appeared to have it locked up at 20-14 but they had a 31 yd FG blk'd with :08 left. MT ret'd it and was at the UK 38. Their Hail Mary pass was tipped and caught by King at the 5 and they appeared on their way for another last second win but he was tkl'd inches short of the goal line at the 1. UK did have a 21-13 FD edge.
POINTS LEFT OFF THE BOARD
Nebraska piled up 368 yds in the 1H but had a 70/13pl drive end in a missed 35 yd FG and a 60/12pl drive SOD at the 4. NMSt also had a 77/15pl drive on a blocked 20 yd FG and it was just 21-0 at the half. In the 2H NMSt was int'd at the 4 and at the end of the game was at the NU2 firing incomplete in the EZ but the Huskers controlled matters with 330 yards rushing and 553 total yards...
Montana St had lost to Kansas St 69-10 but jumped out to a 134-21 yd edge vs Minnesota in the 1Q and led 6-0. They also played well early vs Kansas St with the game tied at 7 in the 2Q. UM did lead 35-16 before allowing a TD early 4Q.
HURRICANE IKE
The situation greatly affected the Houston/Air Force game. UH no longer had a HG last week as it was moved to Dallas. The UH players were probably worried about their homes and generally in a disruption like this, where the field was changed as was the start time, you would figure a military academy, which is geared to adapt to anything would have the edge. The game as also played in wind and rain. AF had zero completions on 7 pass attempts but ran for 380 yds and despite UH having a 534-380 yd edge, AF led the game 31-7 before UH got 3 TD's.
MISLEADING FINALS
It was a misleading box score in the Idaho/W Michigan game as UI finished with a 455-416 yd edge but WM scored a TD with 7:06 left to lead 51-21 and UI gained 124 yds with a 90 yd drive for a garbage TD with :59 left. They then rec'd the onside kick and tacked on an additional 34 yds at the end.
INJURIES OF NOTE
SJSt RB Yonus Davis, who was questionable most of last season and got off to a slow start this year, rushed for 143 yds and a TD vs SDSt. QB Kyle Reed, who was inj'd LW vs Nebraska, played the entire game hitting 20 of 25 for 178 and the Spartans rolled up a 476-146 yd edge. The 146 yds allowed was the fewest by a Dick Tomey SJSt team in their 34-10 win.
RECORDS SET
Troy set a school record for total offense with a 736-120 yd edge over Alcorn St in their 65-0 win. It was 52-0 at the half when they pulled their starters...
It was a record setting day for Baylor frosh QB Griffin who set a BU record with 217 yards rushing and set a Big 12 record avg an amazing 19.7 ypc. Wash St had to fly in the day of the game as the game was moved to Friday and gave Kevin Lopina his first start. It was 14-14 late 2Q but BU dominated after that finishing with 555-340 yd edge...
Missouri's offense is potent and scored on their first 10 poss vs Nevada. It was "only" 38-17 at the half with MO having a 371-237 yd edge but the Tigers would score on their first 4 poss of the 2H to blow it open 69-17 and tied a school record with 69 pts (previous record 1969 vs Kansas). The Tigers avg 10 ypp.
ROUGH DAY FOR THE PAC-10
Besides USC's glorious win over Ohio St, the Pac-10 had a rough outing. Cal was playing across the country at 9:00 am on West Coast. They sleepwalked early and Maryland jumped out to a 21-3 lead. The Terps led 35-13 after a TD with 6:22 left and Cal got 2 late TD's but MD rec'd 3 onside kicks after Cal's last 3 scores...
Oregon gave up an 80 yd TD run on the 2nd play of the game, settled for a 24 yd FG, was stopped on a fake punt, int'd at the PU18 and were SOD at the PU41 and settled for a 21 yd FG in the 1H and despite a 17-7 FD edge actually trailed 20-6 and needed 2OT to pull out the win over Purdue...
Washington lost by its largest margin at home since 1929 with a 55-14 blowout loss to Oklahoma. Last time OU traveled to P10 country, ref calls cost them a win over Oregon. They made sure there was no margin of error. OU had a 591-336 yd edge in the rout...
For the 2nd straight year New Mexico delivered a Big Dog outright upset winner vs Arizona. NM was coming off a misleading final where they outgained A&M 370-236 and AZ's offense appeared unstoppable after waxing 2 overmatched foes. NM led throughout. In fact, it was 36-21 when AU got a TD with 4:28 left...
TCU deserved better vs Stanford they had 378-193 yd & 24-10 FD edges. SU, thanks to a blocked punt for a TD was actually tied at 14 at the half but 2 key plays happened that allowed TCU to cover. The first came when SU got a 49 yd PR for a TD. They reviewed it and marked him out at the 13 and SU was int'd in the EZ on 3rd & 9. Later, after TCU had come up inches short of a TD which would have given them the pointspread push and settled for a 23 yd FG with 2:24 left. SU fumbled. TCU had a 4th & 7 and got a 10 yd QB draw by Andy Dalton for the spread covering TD with 1:05 left.
POINTSPREAD PLAYS OF THE GAME
There were two key IR in the NCSt/Clemson game which ultimately determined the 1 pt cover for the Wolfpack. On the first play of the game, NCSt got a 32 yd IR TD, their only TD of the game. At the half CU had a 230-92 yd edge but settled for a 22 yd FG and only led 17-6. At the end of the game, CU led 27-9 and needed an IR for a TD to get ahead of the spread. NCSt drove to their 24 and was int'd and it appeared our prayers were answered as CU raced 71 yds with the IR but they were tkl'd at the 29 yd line as the clock ran out...
QB Rusty Smith had a horrible game for FAU hitting 8 of 34 for 143 yds in heavy rain. Javon Ringer had a career high 282 yds and after avg'ing just 3.5 ypc in his first 2 games, broke off for 6.6 ypc. Mich St only led 7-0 at the half and got to an ATS push with a TD early 4Q when the play of the game happened. FAU had a 2nd & gl at the 5 but fmbl'd at the 4 with 6:35 left in the game's only remaining scoring threat...
While it did not rain much during the Iowa/Iowa St game, it was played on a tough field as it had rained 2 inches in the previous 24 hours. Iowa was outgained 325-244 but led 17-3 and had the cover in hand after an 81 yd PR for a TD in the 4Q. Coach Fernetz didn't make Iowa alums very happy when with :28 left, pinned at their own 1 yd line, he had the P take an intentional safety giving ISU the cover.
LETDOWN AND LOOK AHEAD
A couple of key games played right into the Letdown/Lookahead situation, much like LW's Ohio St/Ohio battle. This time E Carolina was off a pair of wins over ranked teams and a big road fav over a winless Tulane team. TU nearly pulled the upset. In fact, EC needed a 24 yd TD pas with 1:41 left to take the lead after trailing most of the 4Q. TU had last beaten a ranked team in 1982 and EC only had a 316-306 yd edge...
Arizona St has been getting ready for their huge game vs UGA probably since the start of preseason practices for the UNLV game. ASU appeared to go through the motions but led 20-10 in the 4Q before they gave up a 20 yd FG and then a one-handed 8 yd TD rec with :18 left to force OT. Thomas Weber, one of the best K's in the country, had a FG blk'd in OT and #15 ranked Arizona St came up short in a lookahead game.