Week 7 Recap: We could see week 7 looming ahead like an impending storm for weeks in advance. This was supposed to be a monster week of the season, and as usual, College Football did not disappoint us. While not every game was a nail-biter, a few of the games in week 7 turned out to be classics. Things had been building up and building up around the college football world over the first 6 weeks of the season and things really came to a head in a titanic collision in week 7. The big bang left the college football landscape dramatically altered in the aftermath.
3 Big Matchups, 3 Top 5 Teams Fall: For the second time in the first 7 weeks of the college football season, 3 of the top 5 teams in the country fell in the same week. Now, these losses weren’t as shocking as the ones in week 5, but they were just as meaningful, if not more so. The number 1, 3, and 4 teams in the country all lost last week. In week 5, two of the top 5 teams that lost fell to unranked opponents and the other lost to a team in the top 10. In all 3 of those games back in week 5, the top 5 team lost as a big favorite. In week 7, only 2 of the top 5 teams that lost were favored, and more importantly, all 3 teams lost to ranked opponents. Interestingly, there were only 3 matchups of ranked opponents in week 7, and each one resulted in a top 5 team going down.
#5 Texas vs. #1 Oklahoma: The Best Game of the Year so Far: The biggest game of week 7 was, of course, this year’s version of the Red River Rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. This is always one of the biggest games of the year because of the history and the intensity of the rivalry. In recent years the game has taken on added importance, as it almost always has major affects on the situation in the Big XII, and has often had a big affect on the national landscape. In the long history of this rivalry there may have been times where the stakes were as high as they were on Saturday, but it’s doubtful that they were ever any higher. Both teams came in undefeated, having dominated their opponents in each game so far. The Longhorns came into the game 5-0 and ranked 5th in the country, while the Sooners came into the game as the #1 team in the country, 5-0 on the season and favored by 7. Texas had played 5 FBS teams so far and had won each game by at least 24 points. Oklahoma had played 4 FBS teams and 1 FCS team so far and had won each game by at least 25 points. Each team featured Heisman candidate quarterbacks in Sam Bradford for the Sooners and Colt McCoy for the Horns. In 2007, Oklahoma had beaten Texas, 28-21, winning over their rivals for the 6th time in 8 years, in the first Red River Rivalry game not decided by double digits since 1997.
Not every super hyped matchup has been as exciting as anticipated this season, but this was one highly anticipated showdown that turned out to be everything it was supposed to be and a lot more. This game had a little bit of everything. Like any great game this one had memorable plays, controversial moments, and outstanding performances. This game had twists and turns throughout just as the truly legendary games always do.
In the end it was the underdog Texas Longhorns who came out on top in this version of the Red River Rivalry, beating the #1 ranked Sooners by 10, 45-35, at the Cotton Bowl. The victory eventually vaulted Texas from the #5 spot in the rankings to #1, while the Sooners fell to #4. The drastic 4 spot rise by Texas from 5th to 1st and the relatively soft 3 spot drop by Oklahoma from 1st to 4th demonstrates the regard that the voters have for these two teams. For Texas to beat Oklahoma on a neutral field was impressive enough for them to vault from 5th to 1st, while for the Sooners to lose to the Horns on a neutral field was understandable enough for them to remain in the top 4.
This game has at times been called the Red River Shootout, and that title fit perfectly this time, as the two teams combined for 873 yards of total offense. Vegas had set the over/under line for the game at 56.5, but the two teams would surpass that mark in the first 3 quarters on the way to scoring a combined 80 points, the highest point total in the 103 year history of the Red River Rivalry. By putting up 45 points, the Horns tied their record for most points scored in a game against the Sooners. For Oklahoma, this was the first time under Bob Stoops that they had lost a regular season game in which they scored at least 35 points.
The Horns hadn’t beaten a #1 Oklahoma team since 1963 and there were a number of times on Saturday when it looked as if the drought would continue. The Horns trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, they traded blows with the Sooners throughout the second half, and they were still down midway through the 4th quarter. In the end the Horns won the game because they ended up winning many of the key battles. They established a rushing attack while completely shutting down Oklahoma’s ground game. They took care of the ball, turned the Sooners over at key times, and came up with some huge stops on defense. They won the special teams battle. And behind a near flawless performance by McCoy, the Horns dominated the battle for time of possession.
The Sooners came into the game favored by 7 as the number 1 team in the country, so while a very competitive game was expected, there was obviously some expectation that Oklahoma would have the upper hand. There’s no question that early on it looked like those expectations would prove accurate. Oklahoma received the opening kickoff and they marched right down the field, 80 yards on 8 plays in 2:43 for a TD, to go ahead 7-0 early in the 1st quarter. On the drive, the Sooners were helped out by a 15 yard personal foul penalty against the Horns, and they also benefited from a seemingly missed call by the officials. On 3rd and goal from the 5, Bradford threw a quick out pass to his left to Manuel Johnson, who caught the ball at the 2 and went down at the goal line. The officials signaled touchdown but replays showed that Johnson was clearly down a half yard shy of the goal line. The officials took a look at the replay but they came back and announced that the play would stand. The Sooners might have just stuck the ball over on the 4th down but you never know what can happen. This was only the first of what seemed like a dozen calls by the officials that were debatable at best and flat out wrong at their worst.
Texas flew down the field on their first drive and threatened to answer Oklahoma’s opening score. The Horns got help from Oklahoma early in the drive on 3rd and 4 from their own 40 when the Sooners jumped offsides to give Texas a first down. A few plays later, Texas had a 1st and goal at the Oklahoma 10. But the Sooners forced 3rd and goal from the 7, and on 3rd down, Oklahoma sacked McCoy to hold the Horns to a FG try. Hunter Lawrence made the 26 yard chip shot to get Texas on the board, making it 7-3 after a 10 play, 57 yard drive that took up over 5 and a half minutes.
The Longhorns weren’t able to get 6 on their first drive but they were able to stop Oklahoma for a 3 and out on the Sooners’ second drive. Texas got a first down at midfield but then McCoy had to fall on a fumble for a loss of 3 and the Horns ended up with a 3rd and long. The Sooners jumped offsides again to make it a 3rd and 4 but Oklahoma’s defense forced an incomplete and got the ball back on a punt. Oklahoma again went 3 and out and again the Horns got good field position after the punt. The third Texas drive was derailed immediately, however, as McCoy was sacked and charged with intentional grounding, resulting in a 13 yard loss and a loss of down. Texas punted after a 3 and out, and the Sooners took over as the 1st quarter ended with Oklahoma leading 7-3.
The defenses of both teams held up well in the 1st quarter as the two teams combined for just 10 points, but that would rarely be the case during the remainder of the game, as the two teams combined to score 70 points over the final 3 quarters. Oklahoma has usually had the upper hand in this rivalry during this decade, winning 6 of the 8 meetings prior to this one, 5 of those by at least 11 points. While those games ended up being decided by double digits, they were often competitive for part of the game until the Sooners inevitably took over. You started to get the feeling Oklahoma was going to pull away as usual on Saturday during the second quarter. The quarter began with the Sooners getting the offense rolling again and marching down the field. They went 74 yards in just 8 plays and 1:48, with Bradford going 6 for 6 on the drive. On 1st and goal from the 8, Bradford threw to a wide open Jermaine Gresham at the 2 yard line in front of the right pylon. Gresham bobbled the ball and had it fly out of his hands but it flew right into the arms of Ryan Bryoles standing in the end zone for an 8 yard TD reception to put Oklahoma up 14-3 early in the 2nd.
With the Sooners now up by 2 scores, the Longhorns seemed in jeopardy of falling out of the game as Oklahoma kicked off following their second TD. The Longhorns were eventually able to turn the tables on the Sooners, wear them down, and take control of the game themselves, but they needed a few big plays to keep in the game long enough for that to take place. After falling down 14-3, the Longhorns got just that type of play on the ensuing kickoff. Jordan Shipley took the kickoff at the 4 yard line, built up a head of steam as he crossed the 20, found a seam as he crossed the 30, left the kicker diving and whiffing at the 40 as he headed for the right sideline, and busted it untouched, 96 yards for Texas’ first touchdown of the game. Just like that it was a 4 point game again.
With the score now 14-10, Oklahoma got the ball again and showed exactly why Texas needed that special teams play so badly, as they went right down the field and scored once again. The Horns tried to stop the Sooners for a 3 and out, taking a timeout before a 3rd and 1 at the Oklahoma 36, but the Sooners got a rare solid gain on the ground, with Chris Brown going 6 yards for a first down across the 42. Texas got to Bradford on the next play for a 9 yard loss but Oklahoma was unfazed. On 2nd and 19, Bradford hooked up with Johnson on a 15 yard completion to bring up 3rd and manageable. On 3rd and 4, Bradford found Jermaine Gresham, and he had the first down easily, but Gresham proceeded to bust it all the way through the Texas defense for a 52 yard TD to put the Sooners back up by double digits. The Sooners went 73 yards in only 6 plays, taking only a little over 2 and a half minutes off the clock, to go up 21-10 with 10:25 to go in the half.
The kickoff return had given Texas a boost momentarily but now Oklahoma appeared to be in control of the game, and the Longhorns seemed to be cracking, as a personal foul penalty allowed Oklahoma to kick from the 45, enabling the Sooners to kick it through the end zone and not allow Texas to try a return. Oklahoma stuffed the run on 1st down and Texas had a 2nd and 10 from their own 20, down 11 points and desperately needing to do something in order to keep Oklahoma’s offense off the field. As it turned out, Oklahoma would do it for them, as back to back offsides penalties gave Texas a first down at the 30. That was all Colt McCoy needed; he took over from there. On 2nd and 11 McCoy hit Shipley for 11 and a first down, and then hit him for 14 more on the next play for a 1st down in Oklahoma territory. On 2nd and 10 McCoy went to Quan Cosby for 11 yards and a first down. McCoy rushed for 9 and then on 3rd and 2 he hit Cosby on a 19 yard pass play down to the 8 for a 1st and goal. McCoy threw to Cosby for 5 and then threw to Shipley who nearly got in but was stopped at the 1. No matter, on 3rd and 1 the Horns gave it to Cody Johnson and he put it across the goal line for a TD to cap the drive. McCoy went 6 for 6 and ran twice for 9 yards in leading the Horns on a tremendous 12 play, 80 yard drive over 6 minutes and 44 seconds. This was an absolutely necessary response to Oklahoma going up by 11.
The TD drive not only got Texas right back in the game, it put the pressure on Oklahoma to score again before the end of the half. Texas limited the Sooners on their first two plays of their next possession, and on 3rd and 3 from the Oklahoma 34, Bradford decided to go for a big play. With all those weapons and a QB like Bradford, it’s tough for any defense to stop the Sooners from gaining 4 yards when they need it, but instead of going for the first down to continue the drive, Bradford went deep, and Earl Thomas made a play, intercepting the ball at the Texas 33 for the first turnover of the game. Only 42 seconds had come off the clock and now Oklahoma’s defense had to come right back on the field and try and stop the Longhorns. But Texas had 3 minutes and 2 timeouts to work with. Texas attacked immediately, with Cosby getting 31 yards on a pass from McCoy to setup a 1st down at the Oklahoma 31. The Sooner defense got to McCoy for a sack and a 4 yard loss on the next play, but on 2nd and 14, they were hit with a crucial roughing the passer penalty that gave Texas a 1st down at the 20. Oklahoma kept the Horns out of the end zone, but Texas was able to line up for a 33 yard field goal try and Lawrence booted it through as the clock ran out to send the Longhorns into halftime down by just a point. Oklahoma had not pulled away. In the last 4 minutes of the half, the Longhorns had scored 10 unanswered points, and they took all the momentum into halftime, with the Sooners lead down to just a point, at 21-20.
Texas had turned the game around with their surge late in the first half and they got the ball first in the second half. The Oklahoma defense really needed to stem the Longhorns momentum and they came up huge, sacking McCoy for a 6 yard loss on the first play of the second half, and forcing a 3 and out. Broyles returned the punt 24 yards to set the Sooners up at midfield. On 3rd and 4 from the Texas 45, Bradford found Johnson for a first down and more, as Johnson advanced the ball inside the Texas 20, but as he went down he lost control of the ball. It looked like a big play on 3rd down would end in a turnover, but the Sooners recovered the fumble at the Texas 14 to avoid disaster. Two plays later on 3rd and 10, Bradford got it to Johnson again over the middle and he cut to his left and went into the end zone untouched, 14 yards for the touchdown. The Sooners hadn’t even taken 2 minutes off the clock but they had gone 51 yards in 6 plays to get in the end zone for the first score of the second half. Again it seemed as if Oklahoma had a grip on things, up 8 early in the 3rd quarter.
Though Texas was down by just a score, you started to get that feeling again that Oklahoma might be about to pull away, as Cosby had trouble with the return on the ensuing kickoff, giving the Horns horrible field position at their own 11. The Horns ran the ball twice to try and get some room, but they faced a 3rd and 6 from their own 15 and had to put it in McCoy’s hands. If they had to give it back here, the Sooners figured to get great field position, and points of any sort would give them a 2 score advantage again. But on 3rd and 6, McCoy found Brandon Collins for 10 yards and a first down at the 25. This was a gigantic conversion for the Longhorns and they would use it as a spring board to a stretch of nearly unstoppable play offensively the rest of the game. But the conversion and the success over the rest of the game was aided tremendously by the injury sustained by Oklahoma middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds. The defensive captain and heart of the Sooner defense, Reynolds had to come out of the game and did not return after tearing his ACL. Brandon Crow came into the game to replace Reynolds but there could be no replacement for the leader of the defense and one of the biggest playmakers on the field. The Horns immediately exploited Reynolds absence to get out of their own end zone. McCoy continued to exploit the change in the Oklahoma defense as the drive went on. He threw for 5 yards and then for 6 yards and a 1st down, and then ran for 8 yards to bring up a 2nd and 2 at the 44. On the next play it became crystal clear how dramatically things had changed on the field since Reynolds’ exit, as McCoy handed off to Chris Ogbonnaya and he went up the middle and burst into the Oklahoma secondary. He was finally brought down at the 26 after a 30 yard gain. It was the first time all day that the Longhorns had been able to hit the Sooners for a long run and it was the injury to Reynolds that opened things up for the Horns. The Oklahoma defense had also spent a lot of time on the field, and with the heart of the defense out, the Horns would be able to achieve a certain level of success running the football the rest of the way. In addition, Reynolds’ replacement Crow, would be targeted by the Longhorn offense and would be continuously exposed and abused over the remainder of the game. After Ogbonnaya’s run, McCoy went to Shipley for 9, ran for 7 and a first down and goal, then went back to Shipley for 6, ran for 2, and then on 3rd and goal from the 2, McCoy threw to Shipley for the score. The Longhorns had driven 89 yards in 12 plays, chewing up over 6 minutes of clock, and with plenty of time left they kicked the extra point to get back within a point of the Sooners, with the score now 28-27.
On the ensuing drive, the officials continued to alter the game with highly questionable calls. A 15 yard roughing the passer penalty gave the Sooners a first down at their 44. Oklahoma tried to keep the run somewhat a part of their offense, but they weren’t breaking any long gains. On 2nd and 6 from the 48, the Longhorns got to Bradford and knocked the ball loose but it went right to tackle Phil Loadholt. The big offensive lineman not only saved the possession, he advanced the ball from the 40 to the 45 to keep the Sooners from a 3rd and extremely long. On 3rd and 9 Bradford threw to Demarco Murray but the play gained just 3 yards, leaving the Sooners with a 4th and 6 from the 48. The Sooners had a 1 point lead with just over 5 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter and if they punted here the Longhorns would most likely have poor to average field position. The Horns had rarely stopped Oklahoma, so it didn’t seem like if the Sooners fell behind they wouldn’t be able to come back. But on 4th and 6 from the 48, Stoops called for a fake punt. Mike Knall took the long snap and ran immediately, going around the right end. He had room to run and he got back to the line of scrimmage untouched and began working towards the first down, but the Texas defenders did enough to force Knall to take a couple of lateral steps. He ran the play well for a punter, but with each side step he took, the Longhorn defenders closed in. Had it been a skill player carrying the ball, the play would have gained enough for the first down, but Knall got caught from behind and he wasn’t able to stretch or fall forward as a regular ball carrier would have. The play actually worked pretty well, as Knall got 5 and a half yards, but he needed 6, and he came up a half yard short. The Sooners turned the ball over on downs and the Longhorns took over at their own 47 down just a point.
Obviously Stoops will be second guessed for the call. Stoops has a reputation for being a gambler. Under most circumstances, trying a fake punt on 4th and 6 with a 1 point lead would be moronic, but these weren’t normal circumstances. The loss of middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds was going to make stopping Texas twice as hard, and Stoops obviously was aware of this. He was trying to keep the ball away from Texas and also trying to put more points on the board because clearly 28 wasn’t going to be enough. He was also trying to turn the momentum around, as Texas pretty much had all the momentum on their side at the moment, having scored to cut the lead to 1, with Reynolds out of the game, and now stopping Oklahoma for what would have been a 3 and out. Stoops probably didn’t value punting much either because the Longhorns most likely wouldn’t be backed up right by their goal line because Knall wasn’t having that much success placing his punts. In my opinion, Oklahoma would have had trouble stopping Texas no matter where they got the ball, so the 20 or 30 yards difference in field position wasn’t that big of a deal. On the other hand, if the Sooners converted the 4th and 6 it would demoralize the defense and Oklahoma might be able to go all the way down the field and score a TD to go back up by 8. For all these reasons the risk seems worth it to me.
Regardless, the Oklahoma defense now had its back to the wall as the Longhorns took over at the 47 of Texas. Things got worse right away as McCoy ran for a gain of 18 yards and the officials tacked on 15 more on a personal foul penalty. That gave Texas a first down at the 20. The Horns ran the ball on the next two plays and gained 9 of the 10 yards needed for a first down. On 3rd and 1 at the 11, Texas decided to spread the Oklahoma defense out rather than trying to run for it. McCoy got the snap in the shotgun but all of his receivers were covered and the Sooners got pressure up the middle. McCoy scrambled to his right to avoid the pressure and continued rolling towards the sideline. He had no chance of running for the first down but instead of just throwing the ball away or running out of bounds, McCoy made a big mistake, throwing a pass back across the middle into the end zone. Oklahoma’s Lamont Robinson crossed over in front of McCoy’s target and caught the ball. It looked like the Sooners had saved themselves and that McCoy had made a huge boner but Robinson tumbled to the ground as he caught the ball and it popped out when he hit the ground. Had he been up on his feet for maybe a step longer the officials might have ruled that he intercepted the pass and then was down by contact but he just didn’t have the ball for that long and it was ruled an incomplete pass. It was still a nice stand by the Oklahoma defense to hold the Horns to a field goal attempt but turning them away with nothing and taking over at the 20 with a 1 point lead would have been much better. Lawrence kicked the 28 yarder good to give the Longhorns their first lead of the game, 30-28, with just over a minute left in the 3rd quarter.
The Sooners then got the ball back, now trailing for the first time in the game. The drive began at the 24 and on 3rd and 4 from the 30, Bradford threw a 10 yard completion to Gresham for a 1st down. The 3rd quarter ended with the Sooners trailing, 30-28, and the 4th quarter began with Oklahoma coming up short on a 3rd and 7 to bring up a 4th and 4 at their own 46. The Sooners were in trouble but they couldn’t try another fake punt. As it turned out, they got a fake punt of a different kind. Knall took the snap and punted the ball away and with Texas players diving near him, Knall took a spill and got up limping, and he was able to draw a running into the kicker penalty. It was a brilliant play by Knall and another bad call by the officials. It was only a 5 yarder but that was good enough for a first down into Longhorn territory. The Sooners went to the run on the next few plays and wound up with a 3rd and 4 at the 30, but an ill-timed holding penalty backed them up out of field goal range and facing 3rd and 14. The Sooners needed to try and get 7 yards or so to be in position for a FG but Bradford got the ball to Juaquin Iglesias and he got 26 yards and a first down at the 14. On the next play Bradford hooked up with Johnson for a 14 yard TD to put Oklahoma back on top. Oklahoma lined up to go for 2, forcing the Longhorns to burn a timeout, but a false start penalty ended up causing Oklahoma to kick the PAT to make it 35-30 with just under 12 minutes to play.
On the ensuing drive, Texas went back to the ground and found success running against the Reynolds-less Sooner defense. The Horns moved into Sooner territory but then the Oklahoma defense stiffened and setup a 3rd and 8 from the 38. McCoy took the snap in shotgun and fired over the middle to Shipley for a first down, burning Brandon Crow, and Shipley exploded down the field. He got caught from behind at the 1 yard line. On the next play Cody Johnson went in from 1 yard out to put the Horns back on top. Texas went for 2 and McCoy fired to a wide open Cosby but it hit off his body and flew high above his head. But he was so wide open that he was able to wait for the ball to come down, jump up, and make the catch to put the Horns up by a field goal, 38-35, with 7 and a half minutes to play.
It didn’t seem like the Sooners were in that bad of a position, as they had moved the ball up and down the field all day. Murray returned the kickoff all the way out to the 38, and the Sooners gained 7 yards on first down, but on 2nd and 3 Murray was stopped after a yard, and on 3rd and 2 Bradford threw incomplete. Oklahoma’s inability to run the ball with any success was starting to really hurt them. Perhaps the Sooners should have just gone for it on 4th and 2 from the 46 but Stoops decided to give his defense a chance. All they needed to do was hold the Horns to a FG.
Texas took over at the 20 and two plays later they had a 3rd and 4 from the 26. McCoy converted another one, throwing complete to Ogbonnaya for 10 yards. That seemed to be a back breaker, because on the next play, Ogbonnaya took a pitch to the right, slipped one tackle, and busted loose up the right sideline. He was finally knocked out of bounds at the 2 after a gain of 62 yards. Credit Oklahoma’s defenders for not quitting on the play and keeping Ogbonnaya out of the end zone, but that play basically put Oklahoma 4 and a half feet under. Johnson went in from 2 yards out a couple of plays later to put the Horns up by double digits and knock the Sooners another half foot into the ground. Texas now led 45-35 with just over 4 minutes remaining in the game.
A nice 32 yard kick return by Murray put the ball at the 40 to start Oklahoma’s next possession and Bradford threw for a first down at the Texas 41. But after an incompletion on 1st down, Bradford was sacked for a loss of 5 and the Sooners had to burn a timeout. Bradford ran for 7 on 3rd down to bring up 4th and 8, and on 4th down Bradford’s pass was dropped and Texas took over with just 2 and a half minutes remaining. The Sooners used their remaining timeouts and got the ball back but they were unable to score again, as Bradford was intercepted on the final play of the game. Texas wound up victorious, winning by 10 points, with the final score 45-35.
Texas ended up achieving 3 more first downs than the Sooners (23-20) and gaining 3 more yards (438-435), but the Longhorns’ big edge was in rushing yards, as they outgained Oklahoma 161-48 on the ground. Oklahoma turned it over twice while the Horns never turned it over and forced the Sooners to go 0 for 3 on 4th down. The Longhorns had the ball for almost 25 minutes more than the Sooners, dominating time of possession, 37:10-22:50.
There are no stats to represent the offensive line but Texas’ OL played a super game. Colt McCoy was brilliant, completing 28 of 35 passes for 277 yards and a TD with no INT. He ran for 31 yards. Quan Cosby caught 9 passes for 122 yards. Jordan Shipley had an enormous game, catching 11 passes for 112 yards and a TD, and taking a kickoff 96 yards for a TD. Chris Ogbonnaya came out of nowhere in the second half to rush for 127 yards on 15 carries. In a losing effort, Sam Bradford completed 28 of 39 passes for 387 yards and 5 TD. He was picked twice, although the second one was on a meaningless final play of the game. Manuel Johnson caught 3 TD passes from Bradford. No player had more than 29 yards rushing in the game for Oklahoma.
This game had to be the best of the year so far. Oklahoma led 21-10 in the 2nd quarter but from that point on Texas outscored the Sooners 35-14. The Horns outscored Oklahoma 24-7 in the final 21 minutes of the game.
#4 LSU @ #11 Florida: Gator Chomp Back in Romp at the Swamp: The other huge game in week 7 was the battle between LSU and Florida, traditionally one of the more entertaining and hardest hitting games of the season, and this year a matchup of the last two National Champions. Obviously this was, as usual, a huge game in the SEC, but it was once again a major game on the national scene as well. Some of the sizzle was off this game because although both teams were ranked in the top 11, they were not both undefeated. Florida’s loss at home to Ole Miss in week 5 took a little bit from this matchup but it was still a game of enormous importance.
In a way, the game became even bigger for Florida than it would have been if they were undefeated because a loss would probably end their hopes of winning a National Championship. The Gators came into the game 4-1 and ranked #11 in the country, while LSU entered the game 4-0 and ranked 4th in the nation. Despite the difference in record and ranking, the Gators were 7 point favorites in this one due to the fact that the game would be played in Gainesville. The Gators had already lost once at the Swamp this year and you really didn’t think they’d lose 2 home games in a row. LSU would also be led by their two inexperienced QB’s who were still learning what SEC play is all about. Then again, LSU had won on the road at Auburn in primetime in week 4 and they were the defending National Champions. Also, we hadn’t really seen the Florida team that we expected to see this season. Tim Tebow had so far been half the player he was as the Heisman winner in 2007, and the Florida offense had not been rolling at any point so far this season.
This game featured an interesting matchup of head coaches, with the cocky “genius” Urban Meyer on one side, and the impulsive “Mad Hatter” Les Miles on the other side. You kind of get the feeling that Meyer considers himself to be on a different level than Miles and you can see him taking losing to Miles personally. If you want to know my feelings, I’d rather play for the “Hatter,” but that’s just me.
The media-created hype that dominated the discussion of this matchup in the days leading up to the game centered around some comments made by LSU DT Ricky Jean-Francois. All he said was that the Tigers were going to try and knock Tim Tebow out of the game, which is what a defense is supposed to do, but the media needed something to talk about so they turned it into something malicious. The funniest thing was that Jean Francois ended up being unable to play in the game due to a groin injury.
In contrast to the Oklahoma-Texas game, this one didn’t end up being very competitive and in fact it was quite one-sided. Basically LSU just got ambushed. It happens sometimes, and you just hope you can recover in time to make a game out of it. It seemed for a moment like the Tigers would indeed come back and make a game of it and then it just got completely away from them. The Gators hit LSU with a barrage of big plays, as the Florida offense finally looked something like the juggernaut we expected it would be all along. The Gator defense forced LSU to be one dimensional on offense, making the inexperienced quarterbacks beat them, and they were able to force some mistakes.
The coming out party for the Gator offense and the nightmare for the LSU defense began right away on Saturday night. Florida received the opening kickoff and the LSU defense stopped the Gators for no gain and a loss of 2 yards on the first two plays of the game. On 3rd and 10 from the 30, Tebow dropped back to pass and with time to throw he spotted Percy Harvin in single coverage running a deep crossing route from right to left. Tebow threw deep to Harvin but with a little bit too much touch, and DB Danny McCray jumped up to intercept the ball. But McCray mistimed his jump and ended up just tipping the ball, and instead of knocking it to himself or straight down, he tipped it straight up and back and right into Harvin’s hands. Harvin made the catch and angled back towards the middle of the field as he sprinted into the end zone for a 70 yard touchdown to put the Gators up 7-0. That was about the way this one went most of the time.
On LSU’s first possession they started out with decent field position at their 37 but they gained just 1 yard on 3 plays and had to punt. The Gators took over at their own 20, and after a 2 yard run on the first play of the drive, Tebow went to the air and began to dissect the LSU defense. On the next 4 plays, Tebow completed passes of 10, 25, 11, and 14 yards to 4 different receivers (Riley Cooper, Harvin, Jeffrey Demps, Deonte Thompson) to move the ball to the LSU 18. Two plays later the Gators had a 1st and goal at the 8. A 5 yard run by Chris Rainey got the ball to the 3 but Tebow threw incomplete on the next two plays and the Gators had to settle for a 20 yard field goal by Jonathan Phillips that made it 10-0.
LSU’s second possession began at their own 32, but they gained just 2 yards in 3 plays and had to punt again. This time LSU allowed Brandon James to return the punt and he made them pay, taking it from the Gator 19 across midfield to the LSU 41 for a 40 yard return. On the first two plays of Florida’s 3rd possession, LSU sacked Tebow and stuffed a run on 2nd down to setup what should have been a 3rd and 11, but the Tigers were flagged for a face mask giving the Gators a 1st down at the 27. Two plays later the Gators had a 1st and goal at the 7. Tebow ran for 6 yards on 1st down, getting the ball to the 1, but he lost a yard on 2nd down and then a delay of game penalty backed Florida up to the 7 for 3rd and goal. But LSU couldn’t make anything happen at this point, and Tebow hooked up with Harvin for a 7 yard TD completion on 3rd down to put the Gators up 17-0 with just over a minute left in the 1st quarter.
The ensuing kickoff was not booted deep and again LSU would have solid field position. In fact, this time they had excellent field position, as Trindon Holliday brought it 35 yards from the 8 to the 43. However, after a completion for 1 yard on 1st down, Jarrett Lee’s throw on 2nd down was picked off by Brandon Spikes at midfield. The Gators took over and Demps ran for 10 yards down to the LSU 39 on 1st down. That brought an end to a 1st quarter straight out of Gator dreams and Bayou Bengal nightmares, during with Florida outscored LSU 17-0 and outgained them 186-4!
It seemed like switching to the other end of the field was all LSU needed, as they began the 2nd quarter by forcing 3 straight incompletions from Tebow, leaving Florida with a 4th and 10 at the LSU 39. The Gators punted and the Tigers started their 4th possession at their own 9. After a pair of running plays, the Tigers had a 3rd and 4 from their own 15, and Lee completed a pass to Richard Dickson for 5 yards and the first LSU first down of the game. LSU got a couple more first downs, moving the ball across midfield. On 3rd and 2 from the Florida 48, LSU gave the ball to Charles Scott but he was stopped cold at the line of scrimmage and he lost the ball. It was recovered by Florida’s AJ Jones and the Gators took over at midfield leading 17-0, and on the verge of putting the game away.
But for the second time in a row, with Florida in LSU territory, the Tiger defense forced a 3 and out, with Tebow throwing incomplete for Harvin on 3rd and 3 from the LSU 45. The Gators punted and this time LSU started at its own 16.
There was still 8 minutes left in the half and it would have been nice if the Tigers could get on the board but at this point it seemed risky to be too aggressive offensively because another mistake could bury LSU. LSU’s 5th possession began with a run for a 1 yard loss, but Brandon LaFell caught a pass for 10 yards on 2nd down to bring up 3rd and 1 from the 25. The Tigers called timeout to get it right. Andrew Hatch came into the game for Lee on 3rd and 1 and ran for 3 yards and a 1st down at the 28. Hatch stayed in and on the next play a pass interference penalty on Florida gave LSU 15 more yards and another first down. Hatch ran for 6 to the 49 on 1st down, but then Lee came back in and threw incomplete on 2nd and 3rd down to bring up 4th and 4 from the 49. The Tigers punted, and even that didn’t go right, as it went into the end zone for a touch back.
With 5 and a half minutes to play in the half, Florida took over at the 20. On this last possession of the 2nd quarter, the Gators used the run to move down the field, not with Tebow or Harvin, but with their running backs. Rainey and Demps ran for 44 yards on 5 plays, moving the ball to the LSU 36. The Gators got a first down at the 25 and had 2nd and 6 at the 21, but Tebow threw incomplete and then a completion to Aaron Hernandez came up 2 yards short of the first down at the 17. LSU called a timeout with 54 seconds left, and you wondered if Meyer would now decide to go for it in order to show Miles what was up. But the Gators settled for the 34 yard field goal to make it 20-0 with 49 seconds left in the half.
LSU hadn’t had much go right for them in the half but all things considered being down 20-0 was nowhere near as bad as it could have been. The defense had shown some grit to keep the Tigers in it and at the very end of the half LSU would catch a break. Phillips kicked off for the Gators and Holliday went over and fielded the kickoff right by the sideline and went out of bounds, but the officials said that by rule the kick was out of bounds and the ball was placed at the 40. The Tigers immediately gave 5 yards back on a delay of game penalty, but then Lee completed passes of 24 and 12 yards to give LSU a first down at the 29. They got 8 yards on a pass to Dickson on 1st down and took a time out with 22 seconds left. On 2nd and 2 the Tigers ran some trickeration, with Lafell catching a ball at the line of scrimmage and latteraling it to Holliday who skirted 15 yards to the Florida 6. With time running out, Lee rolled right and with Spikes closing in on him, he floated a pass to Chris Mitchell in the corner of the end zone for a TD to get LSU on the board with just a couple of seconds left on the clock. The Mad Hatter had struck again. The Tigers kicked off and made the tackle as time expired and LSU went to halftime down just 13. Normally being down 13 at the half on the road in the SEC would be devastating, but when it could easily be 35-0 you look at it a lot differently.
The Tigers went into the locker-room with some momentum and they came out and continued to build that momentum on the opening drive of the second half. After converting a 3rd and 1 at their own 29, the Tigers steadily moved the ball down field, with Lee completing 6 straight passes, and then on 3rd and 2 from the 29 Florida was called for pass interference and the Tigers had a first down at the 21. After a 2 yard loss, Holliday dashed 20 yards on 2nd down for a 1st and goal at the 3. Hatch came in on the next play and ran 3 yards for a TD to bring the Tigers within 6 points of Florida, down 20-14 with a whole half left to play.
Well for most of the first half it looked like this was going to be a major blowout, but LSU had scored on their last possession of the first half and their first possession of the second half, and suddenly it was a 6 point game. Now you thought it might go down to the wire like it so often does in the SEC. The year before the Gators had had a double digit lead over the Tigers in Baton Rouge but LSU had come from behind to win 28-24, converting on a number of 4th downs along the way.
Florida started its first possession of the second half at the 33. Florida had a 3rd and 3 at the 40 and the Tigers called a timeout with 7:13 left in the half to make sure they were in the defense they needed to be in. This figured to be a huge play. As you might guess the Gators decided to put it in the hands of Tebow, and they went with a designed run. This looked more like the Tebow of 2007 as opposed to the Tebow of the Ole Miss game, as he made a nice run, gaining 4 yards for the first down at the 39. This ended up being a major turning point in the game. If LSU had been able to stop the Florida drive there they would have had the ball with a chance to take the lead with a TD. Things at the Swamp had gotten pretty nervous. But following Tebow’s run for the first down, there was hardly a tense moment for Gator fans the rest of the night. On the next play, Tebow and Louis Murphy hooked up for a 37 yard completion down to the 2. On first and goal at the 2, Tebow took the shotgun snap, faked a pitch to the right, rolled to his left and beat the defenders into the end zone for a TD to make it a 2 score game again.
The Gators had answered LSU’s TD with a TD of their own on their first possession and now the Tigers needed to answer with another TD before Florida got all of the momentum back and took it over again. The Tigers second drive began at the 24 with 4:16 to play in the 3rd quarter and LSU trailing 27-14. Two plays later LSU had a 3rd and 4 from the 30. Lee dropped back to pass and had Lafell open over the middle but he threw it behind him and Lafell couldn’t come up with it. LSU had to punt it back and the Gators took over at the 40. The Gators moved 18 yards in 3 plays and had a 2nd and 6 at the LSU 42. Tebow took the snap and ran the option left and then pitched out to Demps, who turned it in and burst into the secondary and raced untouched, 42 yards into the end zone for a TD that put the lead all the way back to 20.
Florida had indeed taken back control of the game and pulled away. LSU would need a miraculous comeback to win and things got worse on the ensuing kickoff as Holliday was stopped after an 11 yard return, forcing the Tigers to start at their own 16. A 22 yard pass to Demetrius Byrd and a couple of Florida offsides penalties had the Tigers close to midfield as the 3rd quarter ended with the Gators on top by 20, 34-14.
On the first play of the 4th quarter, Lee threw right to Spikes, who made his second pick of the game, and he returned this one all the way to the end zone, 54 yards for the score that iced the win and turned the game into a full fledged blowout. It was 41-14 Gators and there was still a full quarter left to play.
LSU didn’t give up. They began their next drive at the 42 and moved the ball to the 48 on the next two plays. But then Lee threw incomplete on 3rd and 4 and threw incomplete again on 4th and 4 and Florida took over in LSU territory. Strangely, the next play of the game was LSU’s best of the night. Tyson Jackson smacked Tebow for a sack and jarred the ball loose. Jackson picked it up and returned it to the 31 of the Gators. The Tigers got a couple of 1st downs, and then on 1st and goal from the 6, Lee hit Dickson in the end zone to make the score a much more respectable looking 41-21.
The Tigers now had to go for the onsides kick but it went out of bounds at the 43 and the Gators took over. On 3rd and 3 Chris Rainey ran for 6 yards and a first down to keep the clock moving. Rainey went for 21 yards down to the 9 for a 1st and goal on the next play. The Gators got to the 2 but LSU forced them to settle for a 25 yard FG that made it a 23 point game with less than 7 minutes to play.
Theoretically the Tigers were only down 3 scores with the score now 44-21. Holliday took the ensuing kickoff 41 yards across midfield to the Gators 43 but on 1st down Lee was sacked for a loss of 12. The Tigers picked up 16 yards on the next 2 plays, but on 4th and 6 from the 39, Lee threw incomplete and the Gators took over on downs.
The Gators then went 61 yards on 5 rushing plays to score again, with Kestahn Moore going in from 2 yards out to put the dreaded 50 spot on the board. LSU got the ball once more but the clock ran out before they could make the final score look any better. Florida won it by 30 points, 51-21.
But the score was fitting of the game. LSU was dominated for part of the game and at other times they killed themselves with mistakes. Florida had 3 more first downs (22-19) than LSU; outgained the Tigers by 154 yards (475-321); and outrushed them by 185 yards (265-80). Florida turned it over just once and turned LSU over 3 times. Florida held the Tigers to 0 for 2 on 4th down. Tebow had a mistake free game, going 14 for 21 for 210 yards, 2 TD and no INT through the air, and rushing for 22 yards and a TD on the ground. Harvin caught 6 passes for 112 yards and 2 TD. The emergence of the Florida running backs in the Gator offensive plan is the part of this game that’s a little scary. Demps ran 10 times for 129 yards and a TD. Rainey ran for 66 yards on 11 carries. Brandon Spikes had a huge game for the Gators, intercepting a pair of passes and returning 1 for a TD. No LSU player had more than 35 yards rushing. Jarrett Lee’s night wasn’t awful but it wasn’t too great either. He went 23 for 38 for 209 yards, 2 TD, and 2 costly INT’s.
Early on the game was truly an ambush, as the Gators shutout the Tigers 17-0 in the first quarter and scored the first 20 points of the game. But LSU fought back to make it interesting at 20-14 midway through the 3rd quarter. It was looking like the early onslaught by the Gators had been a bit misleading, as it seemed that the Tigers had thwarted that assault and would now take the Gators to the final gun. But then the Gators just routed the Tigers over the final quarter and a half just as they had done in the first quarter and a half, outscoring LSU 31-7 following the Tigers’ 14 unanswered points.
#17 Oklahoma State @ #3 Missouri: A Stunning Development: The third game between ranked opponents in week 7 was the one expected to be the least competitive of the three, although it would be a matchup of undefeated teams. #3 Missouri, 5-0 on the season, hosted #17 Oklahoma State on Saturday night, a week before their big date in Austin with the Longhorns. The Tigers had beaten 4 FBS teams and 1 FCS team, having won each game by at least 10 points. The Cowboys were also 5-0, having beaten 4 FBS teams and 1 FCS team, winning each game by at least 19 points. However, Oklahoma State had not yet played on the road this season. Missouri was favored by 14 points over the Cowboys.
Obviously this game was important in the Big XII but it was also important nationally, as Missouri had a great chance to move into the #1 slot soon to be vacated by Oklahoma if they could take care of business against Ok State. Missouri’s schedule was much more manageable than the teams from the South, so if they could win over the Cowboys and somehow beat Texas they would have a really good chance to go to the Big XII Championship Game undefeated. Most people weren’t giving Ok State serious consideration for the Big XII North title but if they wanted to have any shot at it they probably needed to win all of their games against the North. For Ok State, this game would be a chance for them to give fans something to identify them with other than their coach yelling about being 40 and a man. For Missouri, it was another chance to showcase the strength of the team and for Heisman candidate Chase Daniel to impress the nation.
This matchup was not lacking in the offensive department. In fact, these two teams represented two of the most prolific offensive forces in the country so far. Missouri came into the game averaging 568.8 yards of offense a game (3rd best in the country); averaging 375.6 passing yards a game and 193.2 rushing yards a game; and scoring 53.4 points a game (2nd best in the country). Through 5 games the Tigers had not gone 3 and out on any of their 48 possessions and Chase Daniel had tossed 15 touchdown passes while being intercepted just once. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State was no slouch on offense, averaging 530.2 yards per game (6th best in the country) and 52.6 points per game (3rd in the country). But Ok State’s strong suit was the ground game, as they averaged 315.2 yards rushing per game over their first 5 games (4th best in the country). But could either of these teams play defense?
Of the three games between ranked opponents in week 7, this was the one that veered farther away from the script than any other. Texas wasn’t supposed to win by 10 but it wasn’t all that surprising that they did. Florida wasn’t supposed to win by 30 but they were favored by 7. But Missouri definitely was not supposed to get beaten at home by Ok State. The Cowboys pulled it off by dropping a number of big plays on the Tigers and keeping the ball away from the Missouri offense. They were able to cause a few major mistakes and the Cowboy defense came up with the big play or the big stop on 3rd down when they needed it.
Missouri received the opening kickoff of the game and had to start at its own 16. Daniel got off to an impressive start, running for 9 yards, completing passes of 21, 12, and 8, rushing for 23 yards, and completing a 10 yard pass for a 1st and goal at the 5. After a run by Derrick Washington resulted in a loss of 2 yards, Daniel completed a pass to get the ball down to the 1, but on 3rd and 1 Washington was stopped for no gain bringing up 4th and goal at the 1. Missouri settled for the 18 yard field goal. It was the first time on the season that the Tigers had not scored a TD on their opening possession, but they still led 3-0 following the 11 play, 83 yard drive that was uncharacteristically long, taking over 5 and a half minutes.
On Ok State’s opening drive, Daniel’s counterpart, Zac Robinson, got off to a decent start, running for 3 yards to convert a 3rd and 2 into a first down, leading the Cowboys into Missouri territory, and completing a 7 yard pass on 3rd and 6 for a first down at the 23. The Tigers were flagged for pass interference to give the Cowboys a first down inside the ten and on 2nd and goal from the 6, Robinson took the shotgun snap and went right back up the middle for a TD to give Ok State the lead, 7-3, and put the Tigers behind for the first time since their opener against Illinois when they trailed for a few moments.
Missouri’s second possession began at the 23, and after an incompletion and a run for a loss of 3 yards by Jeremy Maclin, the Tigers had a 3rd and 13 from their 20. Daniel threw a bullet to Maclin who should have had the first down but he had the ball go off his chest and it fell incomplete. The punt team came on, and on their 50th possession of the season, the Tigers finally went 3 and out for the first time.
Ok State took over with reasonable field position and continued to mix the passing and running of Robinson with the rushing attack of Kendall Hunter. Hunter gained 25 yards over 3 carries to move the Cowboys across the 50 and into Missouri territory. Robinson completed passes for 14 and 13 yards on back to back plays to move the ball to the Missouri 13. The 1st quarter ended with the Cowboys leading 7-3 and on the move, deep in Tiger territory. The sellout crowd on hand at Memorial Stadium was getting a little bit restless.
If the Cowboys were trying to spring an upset, the 2nd quarter began with them taking a major step in the wrong direction. They had a 3rd and 4 at the Missouri 7 and they wound up completing a pass for a loss of a yard on the first play of the quarter. They would have to settle for a FG which probably wasn’t a good policy against the offense of Missouri but it was better than nothing. That reality became all too clear when Dan Bailey missed the 25 yard attempt, leaving the Cowboys with exactly zero points to show for their work.
Mizzu took over at the 20 and 4 plays later they had a first down at the 46. But the Cowboy defense then stiffened and forced 3 straight incompletions from Daniel to send Missouri’s punt team back on the field. The Cowboys’ third drive began at their 20. Robinson ran for 14 yards on 2nd and 13 from the 17 to get a first down, but Ok State lost 7 yards on their next two plays and then threw incomplete to bring up 4th and 17 from the 24. Ok State then turned a disappointing series into a possible devastating one, as the snap to Matt Fodge was poor and he took off on the run. The Ok State punter actually gained 12 yards but he was stopped 5 yards shy of a first down and Missouri took over at the Ok State 36. 4 plays later the Tigers had a 2nd and 1 at the 5, and Derrick Washington took the handoff to the right and cut back inside and into the end zone for the first Missouri TD of the game, putting the Tigers back on top 10-7.
Ok State started their 4th possession at the 24 and it began to look like the Cowboys were about to let the game get away from them. After a 7 yard gain on 1st down, Ok State had back to back false start penalties, ran for a loss of one, and then threw an incomplete to go 3 and out. Jeremy Maclin brought the punt back 11 yards to the Missouri 45 and the Tigers were in business. Daniel completed four straight passes for 39 yards to give the Tigers a 1st down at the 16, but then Ok State forced 3 consecutive incompletions from Daniel, and the Tigers had to settle for a FG. 1st Team All-Big XII kicker Jeff Wolfert had set the Missouri record for points with his field goal in the 1st quarter and he was now 8 for 10 on the season and 7 for 7 from less than 50 yards. But Wolfert missed here from 36 and the score remained 10-7.
The Cowboys took over at their own 20 with just under 3 minutes left in the half, and 3 plays later they had reached midfield. On 3rd and 5 from the Missouri 45 with around 40 seconds to play, Robinson found Dez Bryant for an 8 yard completion and a first down. Robinson threw incomplete on the next play but the Tigers were hit up for a personal foul that moved the ball to the 22. Ok State had 1 timeout left, but on the very next play, Stryker Sulak got to Robinson for a sack and separated him from the ball. Jaron Baston recovered at the 36 for Missouri and rambled 18 yards to the Ok State 46. With 6 seconds left, Daniel dropped back, threw a 12 yard completion to Chase Coffman and the Tigers called a timeout with 2 seconds left at the 34. Wolfert now came out for a 52 yarder just before the half but he missed this one too and the game went to halftime with the score Missouri 10 and the Cowboys 7.
The first half had been ugly for both teams but the result on the scoreboard was much prettier for Ok State. For Missouri, this was unknown territory. They were used to rolling up lots of yards and lots of points on teams and doing it quick. Ok State was used to putting up yards and points as well but they were just happy to be in the game with a chance to win in the second half. Missouri was feeling the pressure of playing for that #1 spot. They didn’t just need to win, they needed to win big the way they were supposed to. As the game grew older, Missouri tried harder and harder to score 20 points on one drive, to put the game away on one play. That worked into Ok State’s hands.
Oklahoma State would get the ball first in the second half with a chance to tie with a FG or perhaps even take the lead with a TD. If Missouri fans were more annoyed than worried at halftime they would get a lot more concerned early in the 3rd quarter. After a 4 yard run by Robinson on the first play of the opening drive of the second half, the Cowboys ran the option right and Robinson flipped to Kendall Hunter and he busted it for a first down and more, slipping a diving tackle and then hightailing it down the right sideline, before cutting back and outrunning the final pursuers into the end zone for an electrifying 68 yard TD to give Ok State the lead, 14-10.
That wasn’t how Missouri wanted to start the second half and things got worse on the kickoff as a holding penalty caused the Tigers to start from their own 8 yard line. The Cowboys defense kept the pressure on, stopping the Tigers for a 3 and out and forcing a punt from near the Missouri end zone.
The Cowboys took over at their own 35 and 2 plays later they were inside Missouri territory behind a 22 yard scamper by Hunter. But then Robinson was sacked, Hunter was stopped for a loss of a yard, and on 3rd and 14 Robinson was intercepted by Castine Bridges at the 34. Bridges returned it to the 41 but a clip moved it back to the 31. On 1st down, Daniel finally got the offense churning again, hooking up with Maclin on a 41 yard reception down to the 28. The Tigers appeared to be on the verge of taking the lead, but on the very next play, Daniel was picked off by Ricky Price at the 22.
The Missouri defense stepped up and covered for Daniel, forcing a quick 3 and out, but Fodge got off a beauty of a punt that rolled all the way to the 5 of Missouri where it was downed for a 69 yard boot. Surprisingly, it was off this field position that Missouri would have its best drive of the game to this point. Daniel hit Maclin for 9, then after Washington lost 2 yards, Daniel threw to Coffman for 5 yards on 3rd and 3 to get a first down at the 17. 4 plays and an Ok State penalty later the Tigers had a 1st down at the Ok State 38. Daniel then threw completions of 9, 14, and 14 yards to move the ball to the 1, and Jimmy Jackson went across the goal line from 1 yard out to give the Tigers the lead again, 17-14, after an 11 play, 95 yard drive.
Now perhaps Missouri would start to take over. Ok State took the ensuing kickoff to the 34. Robinson threw for 11, Hunter ran for 4, and Robinson threw for 11 to give the Cowboys a first down at the 40 of Missouri. On the next play, Robinson ran a play action fake and then lofted a pass to a wide open Damien Davis, who made the catch and crossed back across the field and booked it into the end zone for a 40 yard TD strike that put Ok State right back on top. A 95 yard drive to put Missouri ahead had been answered in just 1 minute and 13 seconds, and the Tigers were suddenly behind again.
Missouri looked to answer and the Tigers gained 13 yards on the first play of their next drive to get a first down at the 38. But Daniel was sacked for a 6 yard loss on the next play. Coffman caught a pass for 9 yards but after a false start penalty the Tigers were faced with a 3rd and 12. Daniels completed a pass to Coffman for 8 yards but that wasn’t good enough and the 3rd quarter ended with Missouri trailing 21-17 and facing a 4th down inside their own territory.
On the first play of the 4th quarter the Tigers punted and downed it at the 15. Robinson and Hunter ran for 19 yards on the next 4 plays, brining up a 3rd and 2 at the Ok State 34. After a timeout, Robinson threw a 12 yard completion to Bryant for a first down. Two plays later the Cowboys had a 3rd and 3 at the Missouri 47. Dez Brant caught the ball again, this time behind the line, and Sean Witherspoon made a big play to strip him. Carl Gettis recovered at the 48. Surely now Missouri would take control. They gained 13 yards for a first down at the 39, but then Washington caught a pass for a 10 yard loss. They got it to 3rd and 13 and Daniels threw down field into coverage and Andre Sexton intercepted at the 17. He returned it 39 yards into Missouri territory and a personal foul moved the ball to the 29. There was only 8 minutes left, Ok State had the ball in Tiger territory, and Missouri was down by 4.
The Tigers stopped Hunter for no gain and a loss of two yards and then called a timeout before a 3rd and 12 for the Cowboys at the Missouri 31. On 3rd down, Robinson dropped back to throw, went deep for Davis again, and got him for a 31 yard strike that put Missouri down by double digits with only 6 and a half minutes to play.
Missouri was in serious trouble and they had to begin their next drive at the 16. Some times it seems like when a team is playing tight, the moment they start to think that they’ve probably lost they start clicking and playing like there’s no tomorrow. Daniel threw a 21 yard pass to move the ball to the 37, but he got sacked and called for intentional grounding on the next play. On 2nd and 21, Daniel hooked up with Maclin for a 26 yard completion into Ok State territory. 5 more passes from Daniel netted 37 yards and gave the Tigers a first and goal at the 7. Daniel then threw to Danario Alexander for a 7 yard TD that got the score to 28-23. The Tigers then went for 2 to try and get within a field goal but Daniel threw incomplete and it stayed a 5 point game.
With about 4 and a half minutes to go and 2 timeouts, Missouri still had time to stop the Cowboys, get the ball back, and score a TD. But Wolfert again didn’t help things with a horrible kick that allowed the Cowboys to start from their own 40 yard line. Robinson threw to Hunter on the first play of the drive for 12 yards into Missouri territory, but then the Tiger defense hardened and forced a 4th and long. Missouri called a timeout with 2:43 to play. Oklahoma State had not done this sort of thing before, going into a hostile environment and pulling off a major upset. Sometimes teams fold at the last moment and allow the favored team to rescue themselves. It seemed that this might happen here, as Fodge came out and shanked the punt off the side of his foot. Instead of pinning the Tigers at least inside the 20, they would take over possession at their 35 with 2:40 to play and 1 timeout.
On 1st down Daniel completed a pass for 9 yards. On 2nd and 1, the Cowboys made another mistake, getting flagged for roughing the passer. Missouri got a 1st down at the Ok State 41. Daniel then threw a 4 yard completion to move the ball to the 37. So Missouri was going to end up saving themselves after all. But no, on 2nd and 6, Daniels fired a bullet over the middle into tight coverage and Patrick Lavine laid out and made a diving interception at the 31.
Now all that was left for Oklahoma State to do was to run out the clock. They ended up having to punt on 4th and 21 from their own 20 with 10 seconds left. Fodge punted it and Missouri tried to run it back for a TD with some laterals but Maclin was taken down back inside the Missouri 40 and the game came to an end with the Oklahoma State Cowboys having pulled off the stunner of the weekend, beating Missouri 28-23 in Columbia.
This game was really determined by the big plays and the big mistakes. It was far from a well played game, as both teams blew chances and hurt themselves time and again. But Missouri’s mistakes hurt them worse than Ok State’s did and Ok State made more big plays. The Cowboys rushed for 187 yards while holding Missouri to just 64 yards on the ground. The Cowboys held Missouri to 2 of 9 on 3rd down conversions. Ok State won the battle for time of possession, 33 minutes to 27 minutes. Missouri turned it over 3 times and missed a pair of field goals. Ok State turned it over 3 times, missed a field goal, and had two foul-ups on punts but they made up for some of those errors by producing 3 scoring plays of at least 30 yards.
Zac Robinson did everything for the Cowboys, completing 19 of 28 passes for 215 yards, 2 TD, and 1 INT; and also rushing 12 times for 34 yards and a TD. Damien Davis caught 3 passes for 76 yards, including a pair of TD’s. Kendall Hunter ran 24 times for 154 yards and a TD. Chase Daniel put up some big numbers in a losing cause, completing 39 of 52 passes for 390 yards, 1 TD, and 3 big interceptions. He also ran 7 times for 46 yards. Maclin caught 8 passes for 120 yards and Coffman caught 11 passes for 104 yards.
Oklahoma State stayed in the game early and made it to halftime down just 10-7. The Cowboys then came out and put it on the Tigers in the second half, outscoring Missouri 21-7 from the start of the 3rd until 4 and a half to go in the game. The Cowboys were 14 point underdogs and they won by 5. The two powerful offenses combined for just 51 points; 25.5 points less than the over/under line of 76.5 placed by Vegas.
Two Ranked Teams Fall to Unranked Teams, Both From the SEC: Week 7 featured a number of highly ranked teams going down but it wasn’t the type of week were a lot of highly ranked teams went down to weak opponents. Only 2 ranked teams lost to unranked opponents in week 7. It all happened in the SEC, where unbeaten and 13th ranked Vanderbilt lost on the road to lowly Mississippi State, 17-14, and #20 Auburn lost at home to a terrible Arkansas team, 25-22.
Most people familiar with the SEC and Vanderbilt were very skeptical of the Commodores’ 5-0 start. Not that Vandy hadn’t beaten legitimate teams and played well, and not that they weren’t very capable of beating most teams in college football on any given day. They had proven over the first five weeks of the season that they were certainly a decent football team. But I don’t think anyone really ever considered them to be the 13th best team in the country. That was purely a product of the way the system works: you lose and you go to the back of the pack; you keep winning and you keep moving up the ranks. And while Vandy may end up winning 9 games this year or beating Georgia or Florida or going to a bowl game and winning, I don’t think anyone ever seriously considered them as contenders for the SEC Championship. And as great of a story as their 5-0 start had been, anyone who is aware of their history knows that it would really only be typical Vandy for them to lose their last 7 games and not become bowl eligible.
All that being said, I have to admit that I thought they would get bowl eligible in week 7. I knew they might lose the 6 games left on their schedule after week 7, but I really thought Vandy had proven themselves to be a good enough team not to have to worry about them losing to Mississippi State. I was really surprised to find that Vandy was only a 1 point favorite over the Maroon Dogs, but I think the fact that they were illustrates perfectly the lack of respect that Vegas had for Vandy’s 5-0 record and #13 ranking. I know that Mississippi State is a less horrible team at home but I still thought Vandy was good enough to take care of business in Starkville. Vandy had lost 5 straight in Starkville by an average of 27 points, but those games took place over a long period of time, and these were different teams.
If you just compared the two teams’ seasons so far, I don’t see how you could think that Vandy would choke and lose to Miss State. The Dores were 5-0 against FBS teams, beating Miami (OH) by 21 on the road; Ole Miss by 6 on the road; Rice by 17 at home; South Carolina by 7 at home; and Auburn by a point at home. The Miss Dogs were 1-4, 0-4 against FBS teams, beating SE Louisiana of the FCS by 24 at home; losing by a point to Auburn at home; losing by 8 to Louisiana Tech on the road; losing by 31 to Georgia Tech on the road; and losing by 10 to LSU on the road.
And yet, Vandy did inevitably pull a Vandy and choke. The interesting thing is that Vandy came closer to winning than they ever should have. This was not a fluke; Mississippi State beat Vandy a lot worse than the 17-14 final score showed, but that was more due to Vandy ineptitude than Miss State effectiveness. This had to have been one of the ugliest and most pathetic SEC games in the conference’s history. Folks, Mississippi State gained only 247 yards of total offense…and they still outgained Vanderbilt by 140 yards!!! The Miss Dogs outgained Vandy 247-107 and had 9 more first downs (16-7). Miss State held Vandy to 45 rushing yards and didn’t allow a player to rush for more than 15 yards on the day. The Bulldogs outrushed Vandy by 121 yards, 166-45. Vandy went just 1 for 10 on 3rd down and committed 10 penalties for 65 yards. They turned it over twice while Miss State never turned it over and held the ball for 12 more minutes than the Dores.
Miss State went 63 yards on their first drive and kicked a FG to go ahead 3-0. Vandy went 3 and out on their first 3 possessions and then gained 7 yards on 5 plays on their 4th drive. Finally Miss State got backed up and had to punt from their own end zone and the punter kicked one 16 yards to give Vandy the ball at the 17. It still took the Dores 6 plays and 2 Miss State penalties to go 17 yards for the TD to go ahead 7-3 right before the half. Vandy went 3 and out to start the second half and allowed Miss State to go 59 yards for a TD on their first possession of the half to fall behind 10-7. Vandy went 3 and out again, got the ball back, and went 3 and out again. The next time Vandy got the ball they took over at their own 7 and on the first play of the 4th quarter Chris Nickson was intercepted at the 23 and it was returned to the 7. 3 Plays later Miss State went in for the score to go ahead 17-7.
Vandy had good field position on the ensuing drive and they finally started to move the ball with Mackenzi Adams in for Nickson. They went 57 yards in 10 plays and 5 minutes for a TD to cut the deficit to 17-14 with still over 8 minutes remaining. As bad as they had been all day, you kind of thought maybe Vandy would have another comeback win, and they got the ball right back but they went 3 and out and punted it away. When they got the ball back again there was 3 and a half minutes to go and Vandy had the ball at their own 28. Adams was sacked for a 7 yard loss, Vandy called a timeout, and then Adams was picked off at the 35. It was returned to the 24. The Bulldogs converted a 3rd and 10 and then ran the clock out, holding on to beat Vandy by 3 points, 17-14, in a truly awful game. For Mississippi State it was their first win over an FBS team this season.
The only SEC team that I would have thought Mississippi State might be able to beat would have been Arkansas. I mean this Arkansas team is one of the worst non-Vandy SEC teams that I’ve ever seen. Auburn has had a ton of trouble with their new offense; they have not been able to settle on a QB; and in the days leading up to week 7 they had fired new OC Tony Franklin; but I never imagined that they could ever lose at home to that Arkansas team.
Auburn came into the game at 4-2, playing against all FBS teams; beating ULM at home by 34; beating Southern Miss at home by 14; losing to LSU at home by 5; beating Tennessee at home by 2; beating Miss State on the road by 1; and losing to Vandy on the road by 1. Arkansas came into the game at 2-3, 1-3 against FCS teams; beating Western Illinois of the FCS by just 4 points at home; beating ULM by just 1 point at home; losing to Alabama by 35 at home; losing to Florida by 31 at home; and losing to Texas by 42 on the road. Auburn came into the game ranked 20th and favored by 16.5 over the Hogs at home.
The most amazing thing about Arkansas’ 25-22 win over Auburn at Jordan-Hare is that it was no fluke; it was not luck; Arkansas didn’t just come out on top on the scoreboard, they straight up worked Auburn. The Hogs outgained Auburn by an astonishing 223 yards, 416-193, outrushing the Tigers by 132 yards, 188-56, and gaining 8 more first downs than Auburn (19-11). The Tigers were just 4 for 15 on 3rd down. Both teams committed 3 turnovers but the Hogs held the ball for 10 more minutes than Auburn. Actually, Arkansas probably would have won by a bigger margin but they gave up a 97 yard kickoff return for a TD. The Hogs also took a safety voluntarily late in the game to give Auburn 2 more points. The Hogs also had a PAT blocked and missed a 2-pt conversion or else they would have had more points.
Auburn’s other TD was set up by a fumble deep in Arkansas territory and Auburn had 90 yards in INT returns. Auburn’s defense and special teams had a much better chance of scoring than the pitiful offense that got no better without Tony Franklin. Auburn kicker Wes Byrum missed another makeable field goal. Auburn’s 2 QB’s went a combined 10 for 28 for 137 yards, no TD, and 3 picks. No Auburn player ran for more than 38 yards, while Arkansas’ midget running back Michael Smith rushed for 176 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries.
Auburn allowed the Hogs to go 71 yards on 11 plays over 7 minutes on their first drive of the game to kick a FG and take an early lead. Tristan Davis returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards for a TD to put Auburn up 7-3 and that was huge because Auburn was going to have a very hard time scoring without such plays. After a couple of punts back and forth, the Tigers allowed the Hogs to drive 67 yards on 11 plays over almost 5 minutes as the 1st quarter ended and the 2nd began, until finally Neiko Thorpe intercepted for Auburn at the 21 and returned it 59 yards to the Arkansas 24. The Tigers were flagged for delay of game and had to start at the 29, and then they lost 3 yards over 3 plays and had to kick a field goal to go up 10-3. After going up by 7, the Tigers then allowed Arkansas to march 80 yards in 11 plays over 5:23 for a TD, with Casey Dick sneaking the ball on 4th and goal from the 1 for a TD to tie the game at 10. Auburn would then drive the ball inside the Arkansas 20, but Kodi Burns was intercepted at the 15. On Arkansas’ next drive they converted 2 first downs, but then the Tigers intercepted at the 50 and returned it 31 yards to the 19. The Auburn “offense” gained no yards over 3 plays and Byrum had to kick another field goal to make it 13-10. That was the score at half, but on the opening kickoff of the second half, Arkansas fumbled and Auburn recovered at the 24. The Tigers went 24 yards in 5 plays to score a TD and go up double digits on the Hogs, 20-10, with nearly the entire half to play.
While there was still plenty of time remaining, Auburn had no business losing this game. Arkansas had to start their next drive at the 8 and then punted right away. But Auburn went 3 and out and punted right back. The Tigers defense then allowed Arkansas to go 62 yards on 9 plays, taking up 5 and a half minutes, with Casey Dick catching a pass from WR Joe Adams on 3rd and goal from the 6 for the TD. The extra point was blocked to keep the score 20-16 but Auburn went 3 and out and gave the ball back. The Hogs went 3 and out and Auburn got it back, but on 3rd and 6 from the 35, Chris Todd was picked by Adrian Davis at the 40 and it was returned to the 23 on the last play of the 3rd quarter. Auburn’s defense managed to hold Arkansas to a FG that made it 20-19.
Auburn got the ball back at their 36 and managed to put together something resembling a drive. Burns sneaked on 4th and 1 from the Auburn 45 for a first down and then threw a 33 yard completion to the Arkansas 21. The drive stalled at the 16 and Auburn had to settle for a 33 yard FG, and Byrum pushed it. They got no points. Arkansas took over at the 20 and 3 plays later they had a 2nd and 5 from the 37. The Hogs gave the ball to Michael Smith and he rambled down the field breaking arm tackles for 63 yards and a TD to put Arkansas ahead for the first time since the first quarter. They missed the 2 point conversion to keep it 25-20.
Auburn got the ball at the 25 following the kickoff with just under 9 minutes left and proceeded to lose 22 yards over 3 plays. They had a 4th and 32 from the 3 and had to punt from their own end zone.
Some how Auburn got the ball back at their 20 down 5 with just under 6 minutes left. The Tigers then scratched out a shaky and desperate drive. Burns rushed for 11, threw for 14, and then on 3rd and 8 from the 47, completed a 38 yard pass to Tim Hawthorne at the 15. Now it seemed that baring a meltdown Auburn would save itself from humiliation. Burns got a first and goal at the 5 and then ran for a yard on 1st down. On 2nd and goal Burns threw incomplete; on 3rd and goal Burns threw incomplete; on 4th and goal Burns threw incomplete and Arkansas took over with 1:23 to play. Auburn took their timeouts and Arkansas decided to run out of the back of the end zone for a safety in order to change field position. Down just 3 points, Auburn was still alive, and they began their final drive at the 38 with 55 seconds to play. Burns threw an 8 yard completion to the 46 and then threw down field on second down and was intercepted at the 27. Arkansas downed the ball and had the win, 25-22.
Three Other Large Upsets: Along with Arkansas’ win over Auburn as a 16.5 point dog and Ok State’s win over Mizzu as a 14 point dog, there were 3 other significant upsets in week 7. Two of those occurred in games involving the Big Ten. But point spread wise, the biggest upset of week 7 occurred out west. It was another one of those slightly insignificant late night games that you don’t catch the score of sometimes until Sunday morning. Late Saturday night New Mexico State played Nevada in Reno. The Wolf Pack came into the game favored by 19.5 points over the Aggies. NMS was 1-2 so far on the year with losses at Nebraska and against New Mexico and a win at UTEP. Nevada was 3-2, 2-2 against the FBS, with a win at home over Grambling State of the FCS; a loss at home to Texas Tech; a loss at Missouri; and wins at UNLV and Idaho. Nevada was 10-1 in 11 all-time meetings with NMS.
This game not only featured a huge upset, it was one of the wildest and most entertaining games of week 7. This game contained 9 lead changes and 3 ties. The two teams combined for 1020 yards of offense, 93 points, and 56 first downs (28 each). New Mexico State threw for 409 yards and ran for 104 yards while Nevada passed for 194 yards and rushed for 313. NMS turned it over only once while turning Nevada over 3 teams. NMS QB Chase Holbrook went 28 of 47 for 409 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, and 1 rushing TD. Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick threw 3 TD and scored another TD on the ground. Nevada running back Vai Taua rushed 20 times for 188 yards and 2 TD and caught 5 passes for 44 yards and 2 TD, scoring 4 total TD. NMS RB Marquell Colston ran for 118 yards and 1 TD on 18 carries, and caught 3 passes for 22 yards and a TD.
Nevada struck first in the game on a 32 yard TD run by Kaepernick to go up 7-0 but NMS answered on a 3 yd run for a TD by Colston to tie it 7-7. Nevada kicked a FG and the 1st quarter ended with Nevada up 10-7. Holbrook threw a 14 yard TD pass to put NMS up 14-10 but Nevada answered with Taua going in from 8 yards out to go back up 17-14. Holbrook threw to Colston for a 17 yard TD pass to put NMS up 21-17 but Nevada came right back and went on top 24-21 on a 3 yd run by Taua. NMS missed a FG to tie just before the half and then Kaepernick tried to go deep and got picked off at the NMS 35 and it was returned all the way to the Nevada 26. But on the next play from scrimmage, WR Marcus Anderson tried to throw a pass to QB Holbrook and the pass was intercepted. At the half Nevada led 24-21. NMS went back on top 28-24 early in the 3rd on a 2 yard run by Holbrook. Kaepernick answered with a 5 yard TD pass to Taua that put Nevada back in front 31-28. NMS kicked a FG to tie the game at 31-31. Nevada was driving for another score but Kaepernick fumbled at the NMS 17 and Owen Long picked it up and rumbled 83 yards for a TD to put NMS ahead 38-31. This was the play of the game and the turning point in the game. NMS had a chance to pad the lead but Holbrook was picked at the 34 and it was returned to the NMS 14. Kaepernick threw a 14 yard TD pass to Taua to tie the score at 38-38 and that was the score at the end of the 3rd quarter. NMS scored first in the 4th, with Holbrook throwing a 17 yard TD pass to put NMS up 45-38. The Aggies added a FG to make it a 10 point lead. Kaepernick threw a 19 yard TD strike to make the score 48-45 but Nevada didn’t try an onsides kick and NMS was able to run the final 3:51 off the clock to secure their 48-45 upset victory.
There was a fairly significant upset point spread wise in a Big Ten conference game in week 7, as Minnesota went on the road to Illinois as an 11.5 point dog and won 27-20. The Gophers came into the game 5-1 and looking for a signature win to officially announce their return to relevance in college football. Illinois came into week 7 with a record of 3-2 and a reputation for being explosive offensively and vulnerable defensively. The Illini achieved 25 first downs and put up 550 yards of total offense on the Gophers, throwing for 462 yards. The Illini outgained Minnesota by 238 yards but Illinois turned it over 3 times while the Gophers only coughed it up once. And Minnesota harassed Juice Williams throughout, sacking him 5 times, picking him off, and returning his fumble for a TD. Freshman RB DeLeon Eskridge rushed 26 times for 124 yards and 2 TD to lead the Gophers.
Minnesota went ahead 7-0 in the 1st and Illinois got on the board in the 2nd with a FG. The Gophers scored their 2nd TD in the 3rd to go up 14-3 and Illinois added another FG to cut the deficit to 14-6 heading to the 4th. Eskridge ran for a 62 yard TD early in the 4th to give the Gophers a 20-6 lead but Illinois came right back and scored to make it a 1 score game again. With 5 and a half minutes to play, Willie VanDeSteeg sacked Juice Williams and forced a fumble and Simoni Lawrence picked it up at the 9 and ran it in for a TD to put Minnesota up 27-13. It should have been over but it wasn’t. Illinois went 79 yard on 3 plays for a TD in just 37 seconds to narrow the score to 27-20. On the ensuing Minnesota drive, the Gophers fumbled and Illinois recovered at midfield. The Illini drove to the 25 of Minnesota but then on 2nd and 10 Juice Williams was intercepted at the 16 by Ryan Collado. Minnesota couldn’t run the clock completely out and Illinois got the ball back with 33 seconds left but their drive ended on 4th down at the 45 as the clock ran out. The Gophers won it 27-20 to improve to a sparkling 6-1 on the season, getting bowl eligible just a year after they won just 1 game and were one of the worst teams in all of college football.
The most embarrassing loss of week 7 was claimed by another Big Ten team. This Big Ten team is becoming familiar with embarrassing losses. Michigan entered week 7 with a record of 2-3 in 5 games against FBS teams but they figured to get back to .500 this Saturday as they were set to host the Toledo Rockets at the Big House. Toledo came into the game with a record of 1-4 against 5 FBS teams, having lost at Arizona; won at Eastern Michigan; lost at home to Fresno State in OT; lost at home to FIU; and lost at home to Ball State. Michigan entered this game 24-0 all-time against MAC teams. They were favored by 14.5 over the Rockets.
Toledo went into Ann Arbor on Saturday and knocked off the Wolverines, 13-10. Toledo outgained Michigan by 37 yards and turned the Wolverines over 3 times while only turning the ball over once themselves. On Toledo’s opening drive they fumbled and Michigan recovered at Toledo’s 33. 5 plays later Michigan had a 1st and goal at the 6, but on 2nd and goal from the 5, Steven Threet threw an ill-advised pass and Tyrrell Herbert intercepted in the end zone, brought it out, and took it 100 yards for a TD to give the Rockets a 7-0 lead.
Michigan tied the game late in the 1st quarter and kicked a FG to go on top 10-7 early in the 2nd. Toledo missed a 21 yard FG in the 2nd but hit a 29 yard FG in the 3rd quarter to tie it. On the first play of the 4th quarter, Nick Sheridan was picked off by Herbert at the Michigan 40. Toledo got in position for a FG and kicker Alex Steigerwald put up a try from 48 yards and it bounced off the crossbar and through to give him a new career long and give Toledo the lead with 12 minutes to play.
Sheridan was intercepted again later in the 4th but Toledo was unable to add to their lead or run the clock out. Michigan took over at their own 33 with a minute and 37 seconds to play. The Wolverines converted a 4th and 5 at the 48 and eventually moved inside the 10 yard line but Sheridan threw incomplete on 2nd down and threw incomplete again on 3rd down to bring up 4th and 1 from the 9 with 7 seconds left. KC Lopata trotted onto the field to kick a 26 yard field to tie it up and send it into OT. But Lopata’s chip shot from the right hash mark sailed wide left of the uprights and Toledo kneeled the ball to put this upset in the books with the final score Toledo 13, Michigan 10.
Number of Unbeaten Teams Down From 15 to 10: We knew that there would be at least 2 less unbeaten teams at the end of play in week 7 because there were two matchups of unbeaten teams, but the number actually ended up being lowered by 5. The five first time losers in week 7 were Oklahoma, Missouri, LSU, Vandy, and Northwestern. Vandy lost 17-14 at Mississippi State; LSU lost 51-21 at Florida; Missouri lost 28-23 at home to Oklahoma State; Oklahoma lost 45-35 to Texas in the Cotton Bowl; and Northwestern lost at home to Michigan State, 37-20.
There are now only 10 remaining unbeaten teams in the FBS after 7 weeks of play. 5 of the 10 unbeaten teams are from non-BCS conferences. From the WAC, Boise State is 5-0 after their 24-7 win over Southern Miss on the road in week 7. The Broncos are 26.5 point favorites over Hawaii at home on Friday night in week 8. Including their game this Friday, Boise State has 7 games remaining on their schedule and only 4 of those are games that they could lose. The only way that Boise State could lose to Hawaii or Utah State or at Idaho would be if half the team got suspended or something like that. They’ll be 4 or 5 touchdown favorites in these games. It isn’t likely that Boise State will lose any of the other 4 games either but the chances are a little bit greater. They have road games at San Jose State, New Mexico State, and Nevada, and they host Fresno State in their final game of the season. The Broncos have won all 8 of their meetings with SJS by an average of 28 points but the last two games at San Jose have been close. In 2004 when Boise State went 11-0 in the regular season they were 33 point favorites on the road at SJS and they ended up having to win the game in double OT, 56-49. In 2006 when Boise State went 13-0 they were 13 point favorites on the road at SJS and they only won 23-20. The Broncos have also won all 8 of their meetings with New Mexico State, winning by an average score of 47-23. In 2006 the Broncos were 26 point favorites on the road at NMS and they only won 40-28. Boise State is 8-0 against Nevada over the last 9 years, winning by an average score of 52-18. Last year the Broncos were 10-2 in the regular season and they were 26 point favorites at home against Nevada but they had to win the game in quadruple OT, 69-67. Boise State has played 49 WAC conference games and they are 47-2 all-time. One of their losses came to Fresno State in 2005 when the Broncos went 9-3 in the regular season. Boise has won 6 of 7 vs. Fresno and the game is at home where the Broncos are 53-2 over the last 9 years but Fresno State is the most talented team in the WAC besides Boise State. If I had to put money on it right now I would say that Boise State will go undefeated in the regular season, though I don’t know if that will get them to a BCS bowl.
From the MAC, Ball State is now 7-0 after their 24-7 win at Western Kentucky in week 7. They are off in week 8. The Cardinals have 5 games left this season, all against fellow MAC teams. They play Eastern Michigan, Northern Illinois, and Western Michigan at home; and Miami (OH) and Central Michigan on the road. Three of these five games are actually games that BSU could potentially lose. Ball State isn’t losing to Miami (OH) or Eastern Michigan. They probably won’t lose to NIU at home but it’s a rivalry game and NIU is much better this season than they were last year. The two toughest games are their last two games, at Central Michigan and at home against Western Michigan. BSU has lost 4 straight to CM, the two time defending conference champions. Western is 6-1 this year with their only loss coming at Nebraska. Right now I would bet against Ball State going undefeated but it wouldn’t surprise me if they did because they may end up being head and shoulders above the rest of the MAC. If they do go undefeated they will obviously play in the MAC Championship Game and they would crush any team from the East. The MAC West is decidedly stronger than the MAC East this year.
From Conference USA, Tulsa is now 6-0 after they got past SMU 37-31 on the road in week 7. The Golden Hurricane hosts UTEP in week 8 and they are favored by 17.5. Including this week’s game they have 6 games remaining this season, 5 against fellow C-USA teams and 1 against Arkansas. They play UTEP, UCF, and Tulane at home; and Arkansas, Houston, and Marshall on the road. Every one of these games could be tough for Tulsa. None of these teams are really very good, but UCF and Houston can compete on any given day and Arkansas may be getting better as the season goes on. At this point I would bet against Tulsa going undefeated but if they do go undefeated it wouldn’t automatically be all that impressive, seeing as how they have a very light schedule. They would face another capable team in the C-USA Championship Game but to be honest I don’t think there is a “good” team in the C-USA this year and if there is one it’s Tulsa.
There are 2 undefeated teams in the Mountain West Conference. Utah is now 7-0 after their 40-7 beat down of Wyoming on the road. They host Colorado State in week 8 and they’re favored by 23.5. BYU is 6-0 after beating New Mexico 21-3 at home in week 7. They go on the road to play TCU in week 8 and they are just 1.5 point favorites. Only one of these teams can finish the regular season undefeated, as they play each other in the season finale on November 22nd. BYU has 6 games left this season, all 6 against fellow MWC teams. They host UNLV and San Diego State; and they play on the road against TCU, Colorado State, Air Force, and Utah. Believe it or not, that is not that easy of a remaining road. It would be physically impossible for the Cougars to lose to San Diego State and they aren’t likely to lose to UNLV at home either. The game against Air Force could be tough and the game at Colorado State is looking less and less like a gimmie. But the major tests will be at TCU this Thursday and then at Utah in the finale. They could definitely drop either of those games or both. Utah has 5 games remaining on the schedule, all against fellow MWC teams. They host Colorado State, TCU, and BYU; and they play at New Mexico and at San Diego State. Again, San Diego State is a lock and it would be hard to imagine Colorado State winning in Utah. TCU and BYU are obviously their toughest remaining opponents but they will have the home field advantage in both of those contests. Their hardest road game is at New Mexico which can be a daunting place for visiting teams to play. Before the start of the season I picked the Utes to go undefeated in the MWC and for BYU to lose to TCU and Utah. Having seen all of these teams in action for 7 weeks now, my feelings are different. I think TCU will make things hard for BYU and Utah but in the end I think the Utes and Cougs will both beat the Horned Frogs. I think Utah and BYU will make it to the final game undefeated and I think BYU will beat Utah to finish 12-0.
The other 5 undefeated teams are from BCS conferences. 3 come from the Big XII; 1 from the Big Ten; and 1 from the SEC. Alabama is the only remaining unbeaten SEC team. They are 6-0 and were off in week 7. They host Mississippi in week 8 and they are 13.5 point favorites. Bama has 6 games left this season, 5 against SEC teams and 1 against Arkansas State. They play Ole Miss, Arkansas State, Mississippi State, and Auburn at home; and Tennessee and LSU on the road. Anything can happen from week to week in the SEC so it’s hard to overlook any games. Obviously they aren’t going to lose to Arkansas State and I don’t see them losing at home to either of the Mississippi teams. I would say that Auburn and Tennessee would have to get drastically better in order to beat Bama. Obviously their toughest game is at LSU and I would favor the Tigers in that game. If Bama does make it to the SEC Championship Game undefeated they will obviously have to face another tough team in the Dome. I would not bet on Bama going undefeated but then again I don’t think there are many challengers in the conference this year so they just might do it.
Penn State is the lone Big Ten team still undefeated and they are 7-0 after their stunning 48-7 smack down of the Badgers in Wisconsin. They play Michigan at home in week 8 and they are 24 point favorites. They have 5 games left this year, all against fellow Big Ten teams. They play Michigan, Indiana, and Michigan State at home; and they face Ohio State and Iowa on the road. There is no chance of them losing to Indiana and I’m now ready to say the same about Michigan. Losing to Michigan State at home is unlikely, and the Nittany Lions are 7-0 against the Spartans at home since 1990. The Iowa game is one that I immediately give no thought to but it’s not out of the question. Unfortunately, the road team normally wins that game and Iowa hasn’t looked that strong this year. The only real test that I see left for PSU is at Ohio State on October 25th. PSU is 0-7 in Columbus since 1978. While Ohio State seems to be improved with Wells back in the lineup and Pryor learning the ropes, we can’t really tell when they are only playing Big Ten competition. If the Buckeyes are the team that I think they are then they will make things hard for PSU but if the Buckeyes are the team that a lot of other people think they are this won’t even be that close. If Ohio State can’t compete against PSU then none of the other teams will. Right now, after seeing Penn State rock Wisconsin on the road a week after Ohio State struggled to win there, I would have to bet on PSU going undefeated.
The other 3 undefeated teams all come from the Big XII; and not just the Big XII, but the Big XII South. Texas is 6-0 after they upset Oklahoma 45-35 in the Cotton Bowl in week 7. They host Missouri in week 8 and they are 7 point favorites. They have 6 games left this year, all against Big XII teams. They host Missouri, Oklahoma State, Baylor, and A&M; and they play at Kansas and Texas Tech. Obviously Texas could lose 1 or more of these tough games. Oklahoma State is also 6-0 after they knocked off Missouri 28-23 in Columbia in week 7. They host Baylor in week 8 and they are 16 point favorites. They have 6 games left against Big XII teams. They host Baylor, Iowa State, and Oklahoma; and they play at Texas, Texas Tech, and Colorado. Again, they could obviously lose 1 or more of these games. Texas Tech is now 6-0 after they escaped week 7 with an overtime win over Nebraska at home, 37-31. They play at A&M in week 8 and they are 21 point favorites. They have 6 games left against Big XII teams this year. They host Texas, Oklahoma State, and Baylor; and they play A&M, Kansas, and Oklahoma on the road. Once again, they could obviously lose 1 or more of these games. Any team that does go undefeated in the Big XII South will have to play the champ of the North in the title game. I personally would not bet on any team from the Big XII going undefeated.
So, right now I think Boise State, BYU, and Penn State all have a good chance to go undefeated. I think Utah, Tulsa, and Ball State all have a reasonably good chance. I doubt that any of the teams from the Big XII or the SEC will go undefeated because their conference schedules are too tough.
The Parade of the Winless: The only FBS teams without a win over any team this season—FCS or FBS—are North Texas and Washington. NT is now 0-6 after getting crushed 59-30 at home by Louisiana Lafayette in week 7. They play at ULM in week 8 and they are 18.5 point underdogs. The Mean Green’s only chance to get a win this season will come on November 1st at Western Kentucky but I’m betting on NT making it through the whole season without a victory. Washington is 0-5 and they were off in week 7. They host Oregon State in week 8 and they are 14 point underdogs. I think Washington has a decent chance to beat UCLA at home in a few weeks and I think they have a great chance to beat Washington State in Pullman the week after.
As established last week, there are a number of teams in the FBS that do not have a win against an FBS opponent this year. Including Washington and NT, the number was 14 going into week 7 and the number is now down to 12 as two teams won over FBS teams last week. Mississippi State beat Vanderbilt, 17-14 at home to get their first win over an FBS team this year. And Ohio beat Kent State, 26-19 on the road for their first win over an FBS team. The 3 teams from BCS conferences that still don’t have a win against FBS competition are Washington State, Rutgers, and Syracuse. Either Rutgers or Syracuse will get a win on November 8th when they play each other. Rutgers also plays Army at home. I don’t think the Cuse will beat an FBS team this season. I don’t think Washington State will win a game against FBS competition this year unless they win at Hawaii in their final game of the year. From C-USA, SMU and UAB are both 0-6 against FBS competition this year. SMU is getting better but I still don’t think the Mustangs will get a win over an FBS team this year. UAB could beat Marshall this week but I would bet against them beating an FBS team this year. From the WAC, Idaho is 0-6 against FBS teams and they won’t win a game against FBS competition this year. Out of the MAC, Kent State is 0-6 against FBS teams and Miami (OH) is 0-5 against FBS teams. They play each other on October 25th and they have other winnable games on the schedule. From the SBC, ULM and Western Kentucky are both 0-5. WK won’t beat an FBS team unless they beat North Texas. ULM should beat North Texas at home this week.
Teams Still Alive for the National Championship
Big XII (6 Contenders Remaining)
At the Forefront: Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State are all undefeated and clearly in the NC hunt out of the Big XII South. Oklahoma has 1 loss and is still very much in the mix for the National Championship out of the South. Missouri has 1 loss but is still very much alive for the NC out of the North.
Still in the Picture: Kansas is on the outer edge of the picture but still in the picture with only 1 loss out of the North.
Just Outside of the Picture: None. Things are clear cut in the Big XII. You’re either one of the top teams in the country or you’re below mediocre to poor.
SEC (6 Contenders Remaining)
At the Forefront: Bama is undefeated and clearly in the NC hunt out of the West. LSU is still in the hunt as a 1 loss team out of the West. UGA and Florida are both still in the hunt as 1 loss teams from the East.
Still in the Picture: Vandy is technically still in the hunt as a 1 loss team out of the East because if they won the rest of their games it would definitely put them in the hunt but they aren’t winning the SEC so it’s not really worth including them.
Just Outside of the Picture: South Carolina could find themselves in the picture if they won out, beating LSU, Florida, and Clemson, and then beat an undefeated Bama in the SEC Championship, and got a lot of help, it’s possible. Remember last year?
Big Ten (5 Contenders Remaining)
At the Forefront: Penn State is the only undefeated team in the Big Ten.
Still in the Picture: Ohio State has just 1 loss and if they beat Penn State and don’t have another slip up they could end up in the mix at the end. Michigan State has 1 loss and could be in the mix if they won out and beat Ohio State and Penn State.
Just Outside the Picture: Minnesota and Northwestern are both one loss teams but I think a whole hell of a lot would have to happen for either of them to get into the mix. The main problem is that neither of them play Penn State so they aren’t going to have a chance at a marquee win.
Pac-10 (2 Contenders Remaining)
At the Forefront: USC has just 1 loss and they are already right back in the hunt.
Still in the Picture: Cal is at the outer edge of the picture but they’re still there with only 1 loss. If they win out they could find themselves right in the thick of the argument.
Just Outside the Picture: none.
ACC (6 Contenders Remaining)
At the Forefront: None.
Still in the Picture: None.
Just Outside the Picture: I guess you have to include all the 1 loss teams in the ACC (GT, VT, WF, FSU, UNC, and BC) because if things got really crazy a 1 loss team from the ACC that had won like 10 or more games in a row could fall into the mix.
Big East (4 Contenders Remaining)
At the Forefront: None.
Still in the Picture: None.
Just Outside the Picture: Like the ACC, I guess all the 1 loss teams in the Big East (UConn, Cinci, USF, and Pitt) have to be included because if they won out they could be put in front of a 2 loss team from one of the stronger conferences.
Mountain West (2 Contenders Remaining)
At the Forefront: None.
Still in the Picture: If either BYU or Utah goes undefeated they could wind up in the National Championship Game if there are no other undefeated teams or if there are only a few strong 1 loss teams.
Just Outside the Picture: None.
WAC (1 Contender Remaining)
At the Forefront: None.
Still in the Picture: None.
Just Outside the Picture: It’s probably extremely far fetched but if Boise State was undefeated and all of the teams from major conferences had 2 losses they might make it. I know that Hawaii didn’t get any consideration last year but Boise has played a better schedule and they have much more credit due to their win over Oklahoma a few years ago.
C-USA (0 Contenders Remaining)
MAC (0 Contenders Remaining)
SBC (0 Contenders Remaining)
Independent (0 Contenders Remaining)
Last Week’s Notable Scores
Troy 30, FAU 17 (FAU continues to struggle.)
WF 12, Clem 7 (Clem’s season has become a disaster.)
Hou 45, UAB 20 (UAB remains without a win against FBS team.)
Louisville 35, Mem 28 (Louisville wins against old rivals from C-USA.)
Tol 13, Mich 10 (Embarrassing loss for Mich; first ever to MAC team.)
Tex 45, Okla 35 (Horns win epic edition of Red River Rivalry.)
UVA 35, ECU 20 (The Pirates slide continues; UVA improving.)
WV 17, Cuse 6 (WV should beat Cuse by a lot more than 11 points.)
Minn 27, Ill 20 (Signature win for Tim Brewster and Gophers.)
Cin 13, Rut 10 (Rut remains without a win against FBS team.)
SC 24, Ken 17 (Spurrier remains unbeaten against Kentucky.)
Utah 40, Wyo 7 (Utes keep perfect record intact.)
Miss St. 17, Vandy 14 (Vandy finally finds themselves.)
Ohio 26, Kent St. 19 (Ohio wins matchup of teams without win vs. FBS team.)
Texas Tech 37, Neb 31 (OT) (Texas Tech survives at home against weak Nebraska team.)
USC 28, ASU 0 (Trojans keep climbing; ASU’s disappointing season continues.)
GT 10, Gardner Webb 7 (Euuuguuleee.)
UGA 26, Tenn 14 (Dawgs fail to play complete game again.)
Mich St. 37, NW 20 (Spartans hand NW its first loss of the season.)
UNC 29, ND 24 (Heels get big win but lose another key player.)
Ohio State 16, Pur 3 (Ohio State wins unimpressively without offensive TD.)
Mia 20, UCF 14 (Canes eke out victory over in-state foe.)
NMS 48, Nev 45 (Aggies win wild one for big time upset.)
NIU 17, Mia (OH) 13 (Mia (OH) remains without a win against FBS team.)
Ark 25, Aub 22 (Stunning loss for Auburn.)
BYU 21, NM 3 (Another easy win for the Cougars.)
BSU 24, WK 7 (BSU remains unbeaten; WK remains without a win over FBS team.)
Ore St. 66, Wash St. 13 (Cougars remain without a win against FBS team.)
ULL 59, NT 30 (NT remains winless.)
Ark St. 37, ULM 29 (ULM remains without a win against FBS team.)
Fla 51, LSU 21 (Gators finally hit on all cylinders against Tigers in Swamp.)
PSU 48, Wis 7 (Impressive for PSU; demoralizing for Wisconsin.)
Ok St. 28, Missouri 23 (Wow! Redheads look like men!)
Boise St. 24, SMiss 7 (Broncos remain unbeaten.)
Tulsa 37, SMU 31 (Tulsa remains unbeaten; SMU still without win over FBS team.)
Fresno St. 45, Idaho 32 (Idaho still without win over FBS team.)
This Week’s Notable Games (Obviously last week was looked forward to with great anticipation because of all the compelling and crucial matchups. Week 7 lived up to the hype and became the monster week we all hoped it would be. Week 8 doesn’t have the super sexy matchups of week 7 but don’t sleep on this week. There are a number of excellent secondary matchups between conference foes and it should be a very competitive week.)
Thursday
BYU @ TCU (Biggest test of the year so far for undefeated BYU.)
Friday
Haw @ Boise St. (Broncos look to stay undefeated against improving Hawaii.)
Saturday
Cuse @ USF (Cuse is winless against FBS, should stay that way against USF.)
WF @ Mary (Very big game in Atlantic.)
Mem @ ECU (Will ECU’s skid extend to 4 losses in a row?)
Conn @ Rut (Rut still without a win against FBS.)
Mia (OH) @ BG (Mia (OH) is winless against FBS.)
GT @ Clem (How will Clem play in first game without Bowden?)
Texas Tech @ A&M (A&M is horrible but Tex Tech has been shaky at times.)
WM @ CM (WM is just 1-14-1 visiting Mt. Pleasant.)
Vandy @ UGA (Vandy has been trouble for UGA in last two years.)
Kan @ Okla (Okla tries to rebound after loss to Texas.)
CSU @ Utah (Utes look to keep perfect season intact.)
Bay @ Ok St. (Cowboys could be primed for a letdown.)
Ohio St. @ Mich St. (Huge game in Big Ten.)
USC @ Wash St. (Wash St. without win against FBS; this could be really ugly.)
Miss @ Bama (Will be interesting to see if Rebs can hang with Bama.)
Marsh @ UAB (UAB still without win vs. FBS.)
Mich @ PSU (PSU looks to break 9 game losing streak against Michigan.)
FAU @ WK (WK is winless vs. FBS, should stay that way.)
Ore St. @ Wash (Washington 1 of 2 teams still without a win in 08.)
Idaho @ LT (Idaho is winless vs. FBS.)
NT @ ULM (NT is 1 of 2 teams still without a win on the season.)
Miss St. @ Tenn (A loss and fall to 0-4 in SEC could drop axe on Fat Phil.)
VT @ BC (Always a good one.)
UTEP @ Tulsa (Tulsa looks to stay unbeaten.)
Missouri @ Texas (Biggest game of week 8.)
Hou @ SMU (SMU still without a win vs. FBS.)
LSU @ SC (Big game for both teams; SC in SEC race with win; LSU out of NC race with loss.)
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