Week 6 Recap: If every week of the college football season was nothing but crazy upsets and top 10 teams losing to unranked opponents it would get boring after a while. We need weeks like the one just passed in order to set the rest of the season up. Last week was just the calm before the storm. There were some great games last week but for the most part week 6 was just a little break. We needed a normal week to set us up for what’s coming up this week. We needed a week of appetizers to separate the madness of week 5 from the absolute monster week 7.
Just One Top Ten Falls This Week: After 3 top 10 teams lost to unranked opponents in week 5, it happened only once in week 6. It was probably only a matter of time until #10 South Florida fell and they finally did last Thursday night at home to Pittsburgh, 26-21. The Bulls came into the game 5-0 and they were favored by 13.5, but after a few close calls earlier in the year, the Bulls finally got backed into a corner that they couldn’t fight their way out of. USF got on the board first in the game, scoring a TD on a blocked punt in the first quarter to go up 7-0, but the Panthers scored the next 17 points to take a 17-7 lead into halftime. USF scored a TD in the 3rd quarter but still trailed heading to the 4th. It was 20-14 Pitt until Matt Grothe threw a 22 yard TD pass to Jessie Hester with 6 minutes left to give the Bulls a one point lead.
It looked like they might survive another close one but Lesean McCoy and the Panthers responded immediately. It took just 1:14 for the Panthers to go down the field and score a TD to go back up on top and they went on to win 26-21. McCoy ended up with 142 yards on 28 carries and 2 TD. The Panthers outgained USF 374-245, had 10 more first downs (24-14), and had the ball for nearly 14 more minutes. South Florida is now almost certainly out of the National Championship picture. They needed to go undefeated and then hope to get in over a 1 loss team. At this point it’s a waste of time to go over the sequence of events that would have to take place for the Bulls to get into the National Championship Game with a loss.
Surprises From Around the Country: It’s not that South Florida’s loss to Pitt was the only surprise. There were actually 4 other relative stunners around college football in week 6. In the MAC, traditional doormat Eastern Michigan shocked perennial contender Bowling Green at Bowling Green. The EM Eagles came into the game 1-4, 0-4 against FBS teams, with their only win of the year coming over Indiana State of the FCS. The Eagles were coming off an embarrassing homecoming loss to NIU, 37-0. Bowling Green came into the game 2-2, and they had upset Pitt 27-17 on the road in the opener, lost to Minnesota, lost just 20-7 at Boise State, and then blown out Wyoming on the road the week before. The BG Falcons were 19 point favorites at home but things didn’t go right. The score was tied 7-7 at the half but EM took a 17-14 lead to the 4th quarter. The Falcons came back to score and take the lead, 21-17 with 5:11 to play, but EM didn’t quit. Eagle QB Andy Schmidt hit Tyler Jones for a 16 yard TD to put EM up 24-21 with 36 seconds to play. The Falcons managed to scramble into position for a 53 yard field goal try but it was no good and the Eagles had the upset.
Perhaps the absolute biggest shocker of the weekend—not just because of the winner but because of the score—took place in the ACC. Maryland was a 13 point favorite on the road against UVA on Saturday. The Terps had struggled in their first two games, winning by just 7 over Delaware and then losing to Middle Tennessee State, but since then they had beaten Cal, Eastern Michigan, and won on the road at Clemson and came into the game 4-1. The Cavaliers looked to be worse than they had been in decades. They opened the year with a 52-7 loss to USC at home, struggled to a 16-0 win over Richmond of the FCS the next week, got hammered 45-10 on the road at UConn, and they were coming off an embarrassing 31-3 loss at Duke. They were 1-3 and 0-3 against FBS teams. Something must have happened to these two teams during the week, because the team that was coming off a win at Clemson got violated by the team that was coming off a humiliating blowout loss to Duke. UVA outgained Maryland 427-302, had double their number of first downs (26-13), led 21-0 at the half and went on to pound the Terps 31-0. Maryland now has 2 horrendous losses: 24-14 at MTS and 31-0 at UVA.
I think the best development of week 6 occurred at the Superdome in New Orleans where Army and Tulane battled. Army was one of the few remaining teams without a win and I thought they were in serious jeopardy of going the entire season without a victory. For most of the season they have appeared to be the absolute worst team in the FBS. They opened the season with a 35-7 loss to Temple at home, then lost 28-10 at home to New Hampshire of the FCS, and then lost 22-3 at home to Akron. But then two weeks ago they went to College Station and nearly pulled off an upset of Texas A&M, losing 21-17. Tulane came into the game 2-2, having hung around with Bama on the road in their opener, losing 20-6, losing to ECU on a late TD, 28-24, and then beating ULM and SMU in the previous 2 weeks. The winless Black Knights were 17.5 point underdogs on the road and they got outplayed in many ways but it didn’t reflect on the scoreboard. The Black Knights got outgained 486-334, and had barley half the number of first downs as Tulane (13-25), but they did not turn the ball over while Tulane turned it over 4 times. Army got out to a 23-0 lead, led 23-7 at half, took a 23-13 lead into the 4th, and went on to blowout the Green Wave, 44-13. It snapped a 9 game losing streak on the road for Army and was their first win on the road since 2006. The victory ended Army’s 10 game losing skid overall, and was their first victory since they beat Tulane in OT, 20-17, almost exactly a year earlier.
You had to stay up late to witness the final surprise of week 6 in the game between Hawaii and #21 Fresno State in northern California. Perhaps no program had slipped farther than Hawaii from the end of last season until now. The Warriors began the season losing 56-10 at Florida, lost 45-7 at Oregon State, and a week earlier they had lost at home to San Jose State. The Warriors were 1-3 and their only win was against Weber State of the FCS. Fresno was doing its usual thing, holding its own against BCS teams. The Bulldogs opened the season with a 24-7 win at Rutgers, nearly beat Wisconsin, losing 13-10, won 55-54 over Toledo in double OT, and won at UCLA 36-31. They came into the game 3-1, ranked 21st in the country, and favored by 21 points. Fresno State was supposed to roll over Hawaii and they did in many ways, piling up 522 yards, outgaining the Warriors by 180, and gaining 10 more first downs than them (24-14). But the Bulldogs committed 6 turnovers (3 fumbles, 3 INT) and the Warriors turned it over just once. The Warriors used the mistakes to get out to a 19-3 lead and they led 19-9 at the half. Hawaii led 26-9 in the 3rd and took a 29-22 lead to the 4th. The Bulldogs tied it with 8:34 to play and the Warriors went for a 49 yard field goal to try and retake the lead but the kick was blocked. Fresno State drained the clock and moved into field goal position, giving kicker Kevin Goessling a chance to give the Bulldogs the lead with less than a minute to play, but the 36 yard attempt was blocked and the game went to OT tied at 29. The Bulldogs had the ball first in OT and they had to settle for a 40 yard field goal attempt. Goessling missed wide left from 40 but a running into the kicker penalty gave him another chance from 35 yards and he missed wide right. Hawaii then took over and kicked a 34 yard field goal to win it 32-29.
Blue Raiders’ Prayers Answered This Time: It seems like Hail Mary passes have been popping up everywhere this season and the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders have been involved in a pair of them. On September 13th, the Blue Raiders came literally inches from an upset of Kentucky, when MTS completed a Hail Mary pass on the last play of the game but the receiver was tackled from behind at the 1 yard line and the clock ran out leaving MTS with a 20-14 loss. The Raiders were unable to steal that game but last Tuesday night they stole a win from Florida Atlantic. FAU came into the game 1-3 and desperate for a win but they were underdogs on the road against MTS, which had beaten Maryland and nearly upset Kentucky. The Owls dominated most of the game, shutting out the Raiders 10-0 through the first 3 quarters. MTS finally got on the board with a TD with 5:22 to play but the Owls kicked a FG to go up 13-7 with 1:15 to play. MTS tried to come back but the clock was down under 10 seconds and the Raiders had a 4th and 8 at the FAU 32. There was nothing left to do but throw one up and QB Joe Craddock scrambled around and then launched a pass deep down the right side and everyone jumped up in the end zone. Instead of trying to knock it down, it looked like the FAU defenders tried to intercept and Malcolm Beyah ended up coming down with it for the TD to tie the game at 13 with no time on the clock. Alan Gendreau kicked the extra point to give the Raiders the win and the fans stormed the field to celebrate the 14-13 victory. The Raiders never led until the final play. In fact, FAU had led for 56 minutes and 33 seconds.
Utah Nearly Busted by the Beavers: A week after turning the college football world on its head, Oregon State took to the road and nearly ruined another team’s chances at a perfect season. #15 Utah hosted Oregon State on Thursday night looking to go 6-0 and continue the Mountain West Conference’s dominance of the Pac-10. But OSU, not usually as game an opponent away from Corvallis, had plans of knocking off another highly ranked team. A year before the Beavers had beaten Utah 24-7 in the season opener but that was in Corvallis; this was in Salt Lake. You just don’t go into Rice-Eccles Stadium and push around the Utes. But the Beavers had just knocked off the #1 team in the country a week before and they weren’t going to be intimidated.
It was all square at 3 after the first quarter and then OSU went on top with an INT return for a TD by Al Afalava. OSU kicker Justin Kahut was coming back from an injury and he missed the extra point to leave the score 9-3. That missed PAT would be an important play in the game. The Utes stormed back with 17 unanswered points and led 20-9 late in the first half but the Beavers managed to drive 80 yards on 4 plays for a TD right before the end of the half. With the score 20-15, the Beavers went for 2 and didn’t get it, and Utah took a 5 point lead into halftime. Utah fumbled on its opening possession of the 3rd quarter and the Beavers quickly capitalized, with Jacquizz Rodgers rushing for a TD to put OSU on top. Now ahead by a point, 21-20, the Beavers went for 2 again and missed again.
Late in the 3rd, the Beavers looked to increase their lead but Kahut missed from 43 yards and the score remained 21-20 with OSU on top going to the 4th quarter. Oregon State’s defense continued to smother the Utah offense and with just under 9 minutes to play the Beavers took over at their own 20 and began a long drive. The Beavers would march 80 yards in 11 plays, converting 4 3rd downs on the way and taking 6 minutes and 35 seconds off the clock. Lyle Moevao threw a 2 yard TD pass to Brady Camp to cap the drive and with the score now 27-20, OSU just went for the extra point and this time Kahut made it to give the Beavers an 8 point lead with less than 2 and a half minutes to play. The game would have essentially been over had Kahut made the extra point or the field goal he missed and he would hurt the Beavers again on the kickoff, driving the ball to just the 25 yard line and the Utes took the ball 15 yards to their own 40. It took just 4 plays and 49 seconds for the Utes to get into the end zone, with Brian Johnson hitting Bradon Godfrey for a 25 yard scoring strike. The score was now 28-26 and the Utes lined up to go for 2. Johnson dropped back to pass, looked and looked and then threw a pass towards his receiver in the back of the end zone. There was an OSU defender right there and the pass was poor but the Beaver defender panicked and turned his back to the QB and tried to keep the receiver from getting to the ball and the officials threw the flag. It wouldn’t have been completed anyway if the defender had just played the ball but instead he basically forced the officials to throw the flag on him. The ball was now placed closer to the goal line but Johnson dropped back to throw anyway and then dashed for the right corner of the end zone like Vince Young in the Rose Bowl. He made it easily to tie the score at 28 with 1:29 to play.
Oregon State started at their 20 after the ensuing kickoff went in the end zone for a touchback. Here the difference between being the home team and being on the road became clear as all the momentum was with Utah and Oregon State began to act disoriented. The Beavers had all 3 of their timeouts but with a very limited kicking game it was going to be tough for OSU to get points on the board in the final minute and a half. Utah had 2 of its timeouts and one of the best kickers in the country in Louie Sakoda, so it might behoove OSU to try and take it into OT rather than risk giving the ball right back to the Utes. But Moevao threw incomplete on first down. James Rodgers ran for 4 yards on second down and then Moevao threw incomplete to bring up a 4th and 6 at the 24. The Utes didn’t even have to use their timeouts. Johnny Hekker came out to punt and he got off a poor kick for just 31 yards that went out of bounds at the Utah 45.
The Beavers had taken just 23 seconds off the clock and the Utes now had the ball at the 45 with 1:06 on the clock and 2 timeouts. After an incompletion and a 7 yard pass the Utes called timeout with 52 seconds left. On 3rd and 3 Johnson hit Godfrey for an 8 yard pass and a first down at the 40 and that about clinched it. They got 20 more yards on the next two plays, ran the clock down to 2 seconds, called a timeout and brought Sakoda on for a 37 yard field goal. He hit it right down the pipe to give the Utes a 31-28 win and their hopes of an undefeated season and BCS bowl stayed alive. You always hear analysts on TV disparaging the strategy of going for 2 to try and make up for extra points missed earlier. “The Book” says that you don’t go for 2 until you have to. The Beavers would most likely have won this game if they had just continued trying to kick extra points all game instead of going for 2 twice after they missed the first PAT. Or if Kahut had hit the PAT or the FG they would have won. Or if they had just converted 1 of the 2 point conversions they did go for. But it wasn’t to be. I think OSU played to win against USC at home but in the end in this game on the road they kind of played not to lose.
Three Conference Games Between Ranked Opponents: There were only 3 games between ranked opponents in week 6 and they were all important games within the conferences. The game expected to be the least competitive--#20 Oregon at #9 USC—did end up being the most lopsided. Oregon was down to its 3rd string QB and USC was out for blood after the loss to OSU. But early on, it looked like maybe the Ducks and reserve QB Jeremiah Masoli were going to give the Trojans a run for their money. The Ducks took the opening kickoff and marched 70 yards on 14 plays over 5:19 to go ahead 7-0. USC drove down inside the Oregon 10 but the drive stalled and the Trojans settled for a FG. The score was 7-3 Ducks at the end of the first quarter and on the first play of the 2nd, Mark Sanchez was sacked and he fumbled and the Ducks recovered in Trojan territory. Oregon moved the ball inside the 10 for a first and goal but eventually had to settle for a FG but the Ducks led 10-3 with 11 minutes to go in the quarter.
USC began to really assert itself on their next possession. On 4th and 2 from the Oregon 34, rather than trying a long FG or punting, the Trojans went for it and Sanchez threw a 34 yard TD pass to Damian Williams to tie the game at 10-10 with 7:47 left in the half. On the next USC possession, Sanchez hit Ronald Johnson on a 63 TD bomb to give the Trojans their first lead, 17-10, with just under 4 and a half minutes to play and from that moment they were in complete control. USC would add another FG and another TD in the final 40 seconds of the 2nd quarter to take a 27-10 lead to halftime. The Trojans outscored the Ducks 17-0 in the second half and ended up outscoring the Ducks 41-0 over the final 2 and a half quarters. USC dropped 598 yards of offense on the Ducks while holding them to just 239 yards, a difference of 359 yards. The Trojans amassed 28 first downs on their way to a 44-10 win.
The biggest game in the SEC in week 6 was #13 Auburn at #19 Vanderbilt. The novelty of Vandy being 4-0 and ranked and playing a big time game drew ESPN’s Gameday to Nashville. Auburn was a 4 point favorite on the road but the Tigers had been struggling offensively all season so you thought that the Commodores could probably stay in the game with them. But most people were expecting Auburn to beat Vandy regardless of the venue. Auburn is still figuring itself out under this new system and that continues to be clear. Vandy went 3 and out on its first possession and gave Auburn great field position at their own 46. Ben Tate ran for 14 and then 13 and then 13 on consecutive plays to take the ball to the Vandy 14. Two plays later Tate ran for 5 yards on 3rd down to give the Tigers a first and goal at the 4. The Tigers seemed to think they could run the ball down Vandy’s throat and so far they were but it was here that Vandy stiffened in a very un-Vandy way. On first down Tate was stopped after a 2 yard gain at the 2. On 2nd and goal he was stopped after a 1 yard gain at the 1. On 3rd and goal Tate was stuffed for no gain. Tommy Tubberville decided to make a statement and gave the ball to Tate again on 4th down and Vandy stuffed him again to end the drive with no points going up on the board for Auburn.
Vandy took over but they were basically at the half yard line and they went 3 and out and had to punt from their own end zone. Auburn got the ball back at midfield and soon they were knocking on the door again and this time they scored to go up 7-0 with a little over 4 minutes to play in the opening quarter. On the first play of Vandy’s next possession, QB Chris Nickson was picked off at his own 27 and Auburn needed just 2 plays to get back in the end zone. Wes Byrum missed the extra point to leave the score 13-0 and that would be big. But at the moment Auburn was in complete control.
Vandy got just 1 first down on their third possession and had to give it right back and Auburn was moving the ball early in the 2nd quarter. Auburn had a 2nd and 8 from their 45 and appeared to be headed for another score when Broderick Stewart made a huge play, sacking Chris Todd and forcing a fumble. Auburn recovered but they were now all the way back at the 37 and had a 3rd and 16. That play halted the drive and got the ball back for Vandy. On their 4th possession the Commodores were able to move the ball out to midfield and at least change field position. But on 2nd and 8 from the 48, Nickson was hit as he threw incomplete and had to come out of the game. Mackenzi Adams replaced him but the Dores had to punt. However, they had switched the field position and after stopping Auburn, DJ Moore received the punt near midfield and took it 25 yards into Auburn territory. Adams drove the Dores down to the 5 with 3 straight completions but was then sacked for a 10 yard loss, bringing up a 3rd and goal from the 15. Had Nickson still been in the game he probably would have played it safe and made sure of a field goal but Adams is a risk taker and he threw a ball up on 3rd down and Justin Wheeler made the catch in the end zone for a touchdown to get the Dores on the board with 39 seconds left in the half. So Auburn had not been able to put Vandy away and they led by just 6 at the half.
Vandy stopped the Tigers on their first drive of the second half and the Dores marched into Auburn territory but they missed a 40 yard field goal and it stayed 13-7. But on Vandy’s next possession, Adams led them down the field all the way to the 1 and then threw a 1 yard TD pass to Brandon Barden to tie the game. Bryant Hahnfeldt kicked the extra point to put Vandy on top by a point halfway through the 3rd. What ensued was a defensive struggle. Hahnfeldt had a FG try blocked and it stayed 14-13 but Auburn could not move the ball. In the final minutes of the game, Vandy pinned Auburn at its own 3 and Todd was intercepted by Myron Lewis and that clinched the huge win for Vandy. This one wasn’t pretty unless you were a Vandy fan, in which case it was beautiful.
The biggest game of the day and the best of the games between ranked opponents was staged between #12 Ohio State and #17 Wisconsin at Camp Randall in Madison. The Buckeyes were 4-1 and still trying to find themselves with Terrelle Pryor at the helm after they were thrashed in front of the nation again by USC in week 3. Wisconsin had blown a huge lead late at Michigan the week before and lost a heart breaker to fall to 3-1. This was a huge game as far as the national picture is concerned and a gigantic game in the Big Ten. The Badgers had won 16 straight at home. On the opening drive of the game, Ohio State moved into Wisconsin territory behind Pryor and then Beanie Wells busted out for a 33 yard run into the end zone for a TD to give the Buckeyes the early 7-0 lead.
Wisconsin punted the ball right back to Ohio State and the Buckeyes moved right back into Badger territory. On first down from the 45, Pryor looked for a big play and went deep but he was intercepted at the 4. The Badgers again had to punt the ball away quickly and the Buckeyes again moved right back into Wisconsin territory. This time they had a 2nd and 5 from the 39 but on consecutive plays Pryor was tackled for a 5 yard loss and then sacked for a loss of 10 and Ohio State had to punt. On the first play of the 2nd quarter, Badger QB Allan Evridge tried to scramble for a first down on 3rd and 9 and was stripped of the football. The Buckeyes recovered at midfield but the Badgers defense made a nice stand to force a punt.
Wisconsin took over at their own 9 and embarked on an epic drive. The Badgers marched 91 yards in 15 plays over 8 minutes and 16 seconds, with Evridge hitting Mickey Turner with a 9 yard pass for a TD to tie the game with less than 5 minutes to go in the half. On the ensuing kickoff, the Buckeyes returned the ball out to the 41 and soon moved into Wisconsin territory but Ohio State fumbled and the Badgers recovered at their 32. Very late in the half, Evridge hooked up with Kyle Jefferson on a 35 yard strike down to the Ohio State 3 yard line and the Badgers called time with 5 seconds left in the half. They kicked a field goal to take a 10-7 lead into halftime. On Ohio State’s first possession of the second half, Pryor took the Buckeyes on a long drive and got a 1st and goal at the 3 but they ended up settling for a FG that tied it at 10.
The defenses clamped down from there and the game remained tied into the 4th quarter. Finally the Buckeyes moved on top with a FG with under 11 minutes to go in the game. The Badgers answered by going 63 yards for a score, with PJ Hill scoring from 2 yards out to put Wisconsin up 17-13 with 6 and a half minutes to play. Ohio State would begin their next drive at their own 20, needing a TD to take the lead. Pryor would show his mettle now. On 3rd and 6 from the 24, Pryor found Brian Hartline for 19 yards and a first down at the 43. Pryor was hit and fumbled on the next play but he recovered it at the 38 for a loss of 5. On 2nd and 15, Pryor hooked up with Hartline again, this time for 27 yards and a first down at the Wisconsin 35. Wells ran for 9 yards and then 2 and a first down at the 24 on the next two plays. After being knocked for a loss of 4 on 1st down, Pryor hit Ray Small for a 13 yarder to the 15 and then on 3rd and 1 Pryor picked up 2 yards for a first down at the 13. On 2nd and 8 from the 11, Pryor took off and dashed into the end zone to give the Buckeyes the lead with just over a minute to play. Ohio State had gone 80 yards in 12 plays and left very little time for Wisconsin. The Badgers got the ball at their own 19 with 1:08 left, trailing 20-17. They needed to get in position for a game tying field goal but on the first play of the drive Evridge was intercepted by Malcolm Jenkins and it was all over. The Buckeyes prevailed on the road at Wisconsin, 20-17, in Pryor’s most impressive performance to date. Look out folks.
Only Two Souls Remaining in the Land of the Winless: As a result of Army’s stunning win over Tulane, the number of FBS teams without a win this season is down to 2. The North Texas Mean Green were 0-4 as they hosted Florida International in week 6. Judging by the way things went for the Green against the former 0-12 team from Miami, they may be the real deal. North Texas lost 42-10 to fall to 0-5 on the year. NT has lost each of their games by at least 30 points, allowing at least 41 points in each game. The Mean Green has only SBC games left; 3 at home; 4 on the road. At this point, I like NT’s chances of pulling off the winless season. They could come up with a win against any of the SBC teams if a team happens to have a terrible game but they will be big underdogs each week. The one game that scares me is against Western Kentucky but that game is on the road and last year the Hilltoppers lost by just a point against the Green in Texas. Also WK lost just 27-13 at VT last week so maybe they’re getting better.
The only other remaining winless team in the FBS is Washington. The Huskies are now 0-5 after their 48-14 loss at Arizona in week 6. You’d have to think they’ll win one of their games against ND at home or UCLA at home or at Washington State. The Huskies will be winless for at least another week as they are idle in week 7.
Should Wins Against FCS (I-AA) Teams Even Count?: It’s funny how there aren’t supposed to be any preseason games in college football but it’s hard to think of games against FCS teams as anything but glorified scrimmages. And just about every team in the country plays a game against one of these schools. I hate these games and I honestly don’t think they should count on a team’s record or for a player’s official stats. If teams want to keep playing these games because it’s another home game and more money and because they want a practice game then that’s fine but it shouldn’t count towards records and stats. But I think you should have to do it in that first week of the season in late August or the first few days of September. I think the practice that some teams have of playing an FCS team in the middle of the season should be outlawed. What’s the point of those games, honestly? It’s obvious that it’s just a bye week. Teams use it for a break in the schedule. Auburn and Florida are notorious for this. This year Georgia and Auburn meet on November 15th in Auburn. Both teams are in action the week before their meeting on Saturday the 8th. The Dawgs will tangle with Kentucky in Lexington. Auburn will be playing at home against Tennessee-Martin. Why the hell is Auburn playing a team from the friggin Ohio Valley Conference on November 8th? The Gators play against former QB and coach Steve Spurrier and SC on November 15th and at the end of the month they play their rivals the FSU Seminoles in Tallahassee. They’re also in action on the Saturday in between those games, the 22nd, as they face a tough test against the Citadel. These sorts of games should be disallowed.
I don’t really know how much Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden care about the all-time wins record but judging by how long they’ve stayed in a business as competitive as college football I would guess that they both read the obituaries each morning searching for the other one’s face. People have gotten on PSU over the years for scheduling a bunch of “cream puffs” early on and it’s true that they often have a handful of early games against really weak teams. But at least Joe Pa hasn’t resorted to starting off the season with not 1 but 2 home games against FCS opponents. FSU opened the season against Western Carolina…and then a week later they hosted Chattanooga. What? What’s up with that Bob? What, did you think nobody would notice? The Seminoles won the two games by a combined score of 115-7. It only serves them right that they got embarrassed in their real opener against Wake Forrest at home, losing 12-3. But anyway, you shouldn’t be allowed 2 practice games when everyone else only gets one. Apparently everybody in the Bowden family thinks it’s okay for them to schedule 2 FCS teams. Clemson played the Citadel at home on September 6th and then on the 20th they hosted South Carolina State.
If you look at Georgia Tech’s schedule, you may come away with mixed feelings. They opened the year hosting Jacksonville State, beginning their year with a practice game like most teams. Then after their first two ACC games they scheduled Mississippi State and you have to give them credit for that because although Miss State is a disgrace this season you expect them to be respectable. But it looks as if the Jackets felt so good about themselves for scheduling an SEC team that they decided to take 3 weeks off. The Miss State game was on September 20th. They had a bye on the 27th, then on the 4th of October they had a home game against Duke, and then on the 11th they play at home against Gardner-Webb. So basically Tech has 3 consecutive off weeks between the Miss State game and a trip to Clemson on October 18th. And whoever scheduled that Gardner-Webb game knew exactly what they were doing putting it right after a home date with Duke. It’s not like they didn’t know that Duke was going to be weak.
I hope they get rid of the tradition of playing FCS teams completely but I don’t think they will because it’s all in the hands of the presidents and AD’s and I think there’s money involved and thus it will continue. Anyway, I got to thinking that since these games against FCS teams are really more like preseason or practice games, then a team whose only win is against one of these teams really doesn’t have a win. I didn’t think this would add that many teams to our list of the winless but I was wrong. I was surprised when I went back and found 11 teams that do not yet have a win against an FBS team. Only 3 of these teams come from BCS conferences but two come from the Big East. Rutgers and Syracuse are both 0-4 against FBS competition. Rutgers will likely beat the Cuse in November and will also probably beat Army and they could win a couple of other games too. But I don’t see a winnable game left on Syracuse’s schedule. Hell, they only beat Northeastern by 9 points. I think they’re going to end up 0-11 against FBS teams. The other BCS team without a win against an FBS opponent is Mississippi State and that is pathetic. The reason they don’t have a win is because they lost to Louisiana Tech. They have lots of chances for wins and might beat Vandy at home this weekend.
The other 8 teams are all from smaller conferences. SMU and UAB are both 0-5 out of Conference USA. SMU is getting better but there’s a chance they could go 0-11. They were 1-11 last year with their only win coming against North Texas. Right now if I had to say one way or the other I would say that they probably will finish 0-11 against FBS teams. UAB should be able to win against Marshall at home or at Tulane. Three of the winless teams come from the MAC. Miami (OH) is 0-4 and Kent State and Ohio are both 0-5. These teams all play each other so that will sort things out a bit. Idaho is 0-5 out of the WAC. The Vandals went 0-11 against FBS competition last year and it looks like they’re headed for a second straight winless season. There aren’t many obstacles left standing in their way as they’ve already lost to Utah State and San Diego State. ULM is 0-4 out of the SBC. ULM was 6-6 last year and beat Bama and they’ll get a win once they start playing more SBC games. Western Kentucky is also 0-4 out of the SBC and if they don’t beat NT at home on November 1st they will almost certainly go 0-10 against FBS teams. It’s a little unfair to clown on the Hilltoppers though because technically they are still a transitional I-A team this year, although they only have 2 FCS teams on their schedule.
And at the Other End of the Spectrum are those Still Perfect: I was surprised how few undefeated teams there are left in college football. There are no undefeated teams left in the ACC, Big East, Pac-10, SBC, or Independents. There are a total of 15 teams left without a loss out of 120. 5 of those teams reside in the Big XII and 3 are SEC teams, meaning 8 or over half of the 15 undefeated teams left in college football come from either the Big XII or the SEC. There are also 2 undefeated teams left in the Big Ten and Mountain West. There is one undefeated team left in the MAC, the WAC, and C-USA.
Out of C-USA, Tulsa is 5-0. They’ve killed their opponents but they’ve had a very light schedule. The thing is, it never really gets heavy. Looking at their schedule, there isn’t one legitimately good team on it. They have a great chance of going 12-0. Their toughest games left are at Arkansas and at Houston. They would have to play in the C-USA Championship Game but they’d have a good chance against whoever they ended up playing. Ball State comes out of the MAC at 6-0. They’ve won all of their games by at least 12 points. They haven’t had a hard schedule but they have beaten Navy and won at Indiana by 22. They will almost certainly get to 10-0 before ending the season with tough games at Central Michigan and against Western Michigan at home. They could easily lose one or both of those games. If they did go undefeated and played in the MAC Championship Game they would smoke whoever they played from the East. Boise State is 4-0 out of the WAC. I’d be surprised if the Broncos aren’t 10-0 heading into their last two games of the year at Nevada and against Fresno State. I like their chances in both of those games and I think they have a great chance to go undefeated. From the Mountain West Conference BYU is 5-0 and Utah is 6-0. These two teams play each other the last game of the year in Salt Lake City and they could both be undefeated going into that game. BYU has to play at TCU and Air Force before then and Utah has to play at New Mexico and plays TCU at home. The Utes have already won at Air Force and BYU gets New Mexico at home which makes it a much easier game.
Out of the Big Ten, Penn State is 6-0 and Northwestern is 5-0. Remember the scenario I brought up in the last weekly review about 2 undefeated Big Ten teams? Well, it could happen with these two as they don’t play each other and because ND won’t join the Big Ten there is no championship game. Penn State begins a 3 week gauntlet this week that will determine their season. They play at Wisconsin this week, then host Michigan the next week, and then go to Ohio State the next week. I don’t think they make it through those 3 games undefeated but if they do they should go 12-0. At Iowa and home against Indiana should be automatic and they get Michigan State at home this year and they’ve won 7 in a row over Sparty at home. You may think I’m crazy but Northwestern actually has a slight chance of going undefeated. The reason for this is that they have perhaps the easiest Big Ten schedule in the history of the conference. They don’t play Wisconsin or Penn State and they get Ohio State, Illinois, Purdue, and Michigan State at home. They’ve already won at Iowa and they should be able to win at Indiana and Minnesota. Their only tough road game is at Michigan but we all know Michigan is down this year. Look, I expect them to lose at least 2 of these games but I’m just saying it’s not as out of the question as you would think.
From the SEC, Vandy is 5-0, Bama is 6-0, and LSU is 4-0. Bama and LSU play at LSU on November 8th. LSU is supposed to lose this weekend at Florida and they also have games against Georgia, at South Carolina, and against Ole Miss. Bama might actually have the easiest road. If they can figure out a way to win at LSU, they host Mississippi, Mississippi State, Auburn, and Arkansas State and they have Tennessee on the road. Then they would have to win the SEC Championship Game of course. Vandy has 7 games left and could lose every single one, including at home against Duke and on the road against Wake. They also play at Georgia and against Florida.
That leaves the Big XII where a third of the 15 remaining unbeatens are from. Four of the five are from the Big XII South. If Oklahoma beat Texas on Saturday I believe they will go to the conference championship game undefeated. They have Kansas and Texas Tech at home, KSU and A&M are pushovers this year and so is Nebraska. Their toughest game might be Bedlam at Stillwater. If Texas beats Oklahoma on Saturday I don’t think they’ll finish undefeated anyway, as they have Missouri the very next week, then Ok State, then at Texas Tech, and then they play at Kansas a couple weeks later. Oklahoma State plays at Missouri this week and they should get beat. If not they also play at Texas, at Texas Tech, at Colorado, and against Oklahoma. Good luck Gundy. Texas Tech should be 7-0 heading into a 3 week stretch of games at Kansas and against Texas and Oklahoma State. If they somehow get through that they are at Oklahoma on November 22nd.
In my opinion, Missouri has by far the best chance of getting to the Big XII Championship Game unbeaten. They don’t play Oklahoma or Texas Tech, they get Ok State at home, they play Kansas on a neutral field in Kansas City, and they have Colorado at home. Their toughest test of course is at Texas in two weeks. If Missouri or one of the teams from the South remains unbeaten they will of course have another tough test in the conference title game.
Last Week’s Notable Scores
MTS 14, FAU 13 (Raiders steal the win on a Hail Mary.)
Pitt 26, SF 21 (Big win for Pitt; bad loss for SF.)
Utah 31, Oregon St. 28 (Utah could very easily have lost this one.)
PSU 20, Pur 6 (PSU gets their first road win but not overly impressive.)
BC 38, NC St. 31 (O’Brien losses to BC again.)
WV 24, Rut 17 (Rutgers’ tough season continues.)
Kan 35, Iowa St. 33 (Kansas needs huge comeback to escape in Ames.)
SC 31, Miss 24 (Spurrier and the Gamecocks needed this one.)
ND 28, Stan 21 (Another unimpressive home win over a bad team by ND.)
Army 44, Tulane 13 (Army pulls off the stunner to get off the schnide!)
Bama 17, Kentucky 14 (Tide survives scare from the Cats.)
Cal 24, ASU 14 (ASU has to be one of the more disappointing teams in the country.)
Ill 45, Mich 20 (Michigan falls back to Earth after improbable win over Wisconsin.)
FSU 41, Mia 39 (80 total points? I definitely didn’t see that coming.)
EM 24, BG 21 (EM stuns BG on the road.)
Navy 33, AF 27 (Navy wins their 6th straight against AF.)
Vandy 14, Aub 13 (Vandy continues the dream for another week.)
UNC 38, Conn 12 (Can we please get UConn out of the T-25 now?)
UVA 31, Mary 0 (This final score stunned me.)
ULL 44, ULM 35 (The Ragin Cagins win the “Battle of the Bayou.”)
Tenn 13, NIU 9 (Wow! I know NIU is decent but that’s a little too close for comfort.)
USC 44, Ore 10 (41 unanswered points for the Trojans.)
Ohio State 20, Wis 17 (Huge win for Pryor and the Buckeyes.)
Missouri 52, Neb 17 (Missouri’s first win in Lincoln since 1978.)
Haw 32, Fresno St. 29 (OT) (Fresno can’t keep intensity against lesser opponents.)
This Week’s Notable Games (There were a few isolated interesting games last week in the Big East, Big Ten, SEC, Pac-10. This week is the same except there are a bunch more and the Big XII conference schedule really gets rolling this week. Last week was pretty mundane. This week should be very interesting.)
Tuesday
Troy @ FAU (Matchup of two best teams in conference last year.)
Thursday
Clem @ WF (Huge game in the ACC Atlantic.)
UAB @ Hou (UAB looking for first win vs. FBS team.)
Friday
Louisville @ Mem (Tigers have lost 10 of 12 since 1992.)
Saturday
Tex @ Okla (The Red River Rivalry.)
ECU @ UVA (Loss for ECU would be third in a row.)
Cuse @ WV (The Cuse train wreck is always entertaining.)
Minn @ Ill (Minn needs a statement win to get back on the map.)
Rut @ Cin (Rutgers in desperate need of a win.)
SC @ Ken (Big game in the SEC East.)
Vandy @ Miss St. (A win for Vandy will get them bowl eligible.)
Ohio @ Kent St. (Both teams winless against FBS.)
Neb @ Texas Tech (Leach’s boys might put up 70.)
ASU @ USC (Trojans need to keep blowing out Pac-10 opponents to gain back respect.)
Tenn @ UGA (“We just stepped on their face with a hobnail boot and broke their nose!”)
Pur @ Ohio State (Pryor and Buckeyes on the way back.)
ND @ UNC (Critical game in the quest for keeping ND out of the bowls.)
Mich St. @ NW (NW is undefeated.)
UCF @ Mia (First ever meeting between two teams.)
Mia (OH) @ NIU (Miami (OH) still looking for win vs. FBS.)
NM @ BYU (Cougars try to stay undefeated.)
ULL @ NT (NT is winless on the season.)
Ok St. @ Missouri (Both teams come in undefeated.)
Utah @ Wyo (Utes try and stay perfect.)
BSU @ WK (Ball State is without a loss; WK is without a win vs. FBS.)
LSU @ Fla (Huge game; usually one of better games of the year.)
PSU @ Wis (Huge game; first major test for PSU.)
Boise St. @ SMiss (Broncos trying to stay undefeated.)
Idaho @ Fresno St. (Vandals are winless against FBS.)
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