A most excellent weekend in the college football world. Many thanks to my buddies John Blackington and Ryan Snyder for throwing an awesome college football watch party extravaganza on Saturday.
Things are really starting to shape up heading into the final stretch of the season. Hard to believe we have less than a month left in the regular season. Here is what it looks like.
I have to start with it.
I gave him a shout out, but Joe Paterno deserves more. I've never really been a huge fan of the Penn State head coach and his football team. I don't dislike them necessarily, I just have never been overly impressed with them, ever. But there is no denying the success of Paterno's run there. He has been the head coach of the Nittany Lions since 1966! And just about every single year has been a winning season. Now I know I have made fun of him quite a bit over the last few years, questioning if he really is doing any coaching, or if he is just out there as a figurehead. But reports are that he does in fact still coach 'em up, and is heavily involved. And for that, I give my respect. For those of you that don't know the significance of number 400, I'll tell you. He is the first to do it in Division I-A, what is now called the FBS, and is the highest level of college football. Eddie Robinson of Grambling won 408 games at the Division I-AA level, or the FCS. And John Gagliardi of Division III St. John's in Minnesota owns 471 wins. So just think about that. The game against Northwestern that got him number 400 was pretty impressive too. Penn State was down 21-0 late in the second quarter, only to reel off 35 straight points to win. Nice. Final score 35-21, Penn State.
Still dominating.
Just another Oregon crushing of their opponent. This time it was Washington, who didn't stand much of a chance to begin with when starting QB Jake Locker was out for the game. There went ANY shot in hell of an upset. Even after not scoring in the first quarter for the first time all season(neither did Washington though), they were able to rack up over 500 yards of offense and score half a hundred for the sixth time this year. Ho hum. Final score 53-16.
Speaking of just keep winning.
Cam Newton and Auburn got what I like to call a "practice week of an opponent" in Chattanooga on Saturday. I have to mention it because Newton is the leading Heisman contender(for now, we'll see how the allegations turn out), and Auburn is the SEC's last chance for a five-peat national champion. Newton scored five touchdowns, four passing, to pad his stats for the week. Final score 62-24, Auburn.
Easiest way to win a game.
The ESPN Thursday night game seems to always be hit or miss, either very exciting, or a blowout. The Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech game turned out to be a good one. Georgia Tech took a 14-7 lead into halftime, followed by a scoreless third quarter on both sides. But the fourth quarter was a different story. Va Tech scored two touchdowns to take the lead 21-14 with about six minutes left. Then Georgia Tech drove it down and scored with just 2:34 remaining to tie it up. So it was shaping up to be a wild finish. But with a "that was so much easier than putting" move, David Wilson of Va Tech decided he would just return the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for the touchdown! That's how you win a game! Final score 28-21, Virginia Tech.
TBSATCUBS.
Boise State won 42-7 over Hawaii, while TCU steamrolled the fifth ranked Utes(worst nickname ever) of Utah 47-7. I don't know if Utah was EXTREMELY overrated, or TCU is that good. I'm going to go with a little bit of both.
The "what in the bleep was that?" game of the week.
Goes to Nebraska having to hold on for dear life against Iowa State in overtime. I know Nebraska was down to their third string quarterback, but when you have a running game that rushed for 235 in the game, it should be over. Plus, it's Iowa State! Nebraska had a 24-10 lead going into the fourth quarter. With the Huskers' impressive defense, one would think that game was in the bag. Well it wasn't. Iowa State puts on a rally and scores two td's in less than a minute apart. So they go to overtime. A Rex Burkhead td run in the first OT for Nebraska, and a td pass for Iowa State put the game at 31-30 Nebraska. All Iowa State had to do was kick the extra point and force a second overtime. But no! What's this?! Iowa State is faking the extra point! And Nebraska intercepts! Game over! WHAT?! I like the call on Iowa State's part, they had nothing to lose. But it never should have been that close in the first place. Nebraska goes down a notch in my book. Final score 31-30, Nebraska.
Speaking of going down a notch, or maybe a couple.
As annoying as it was, and that seems to be a trend with Texas A&M games, the Aggies were better than Oklahoma on Saturday. It also seems to be the trend that OU quarterback Landry Jones gets the shivers when not playing in Norman. Shown by his 10-0 record at home, versus a 2-5 record on the road as the starter. 290 yards passing with a td and one interception is actually a pretty decent game. But there were missed opportunities that don't show up in the stats. One that does show up on the scoreboard is not catching a very catchable snap that went through Jones' hands and out of the end zone for a safety, on OU's first play of the game. OU's defense is not very good this year either. They let A&M put on a balanced offensive attack on their way to 33 points. Since benching QB Jerrod "turnovers/worst throwing motion ever" Johnson and going with Ryan Tannehill, they have won three in a row. OU can still win the Big 12 south and the conference title, but the road woes have to stop. They still have to travel to 10th ranked Oklahoma State at the end of the season. Final score 33-19, Texas A&M.
It happened AGAIN.
I may have to go back and count the number of times LSU has gone for it on fourth down in crucial situations, and pulls it off. It seriously works every single time! The latest was a fourth and one reverse that worked to perfection with about eight minutes left in the game against Alabama to take the lead. Most coaches that are only trailing by one with that much time left would kick it, and rely on the best defense in the SEC to get the ball back, which is what Miles' has at LSU. But I also realize that while there are flashes of good offense, like Reuben Randle's 75 yard catch and run for a touchdown, LSU is too inconsistent on that side of the ball. This was easily the Tigers' most complete game. They piled up 433 yards of offense, and made big plays at the right times. Alabama lost their chance at a repeat SEC and national title, and put LSU right in the thick of a BCS at large birth. The Patrick Peterson/Julio Jones shutdown corner versus wide receiver match up was won by Jones this year, catching ten balls for 89 yards and a score. Final score 24-21, LSU.
Thanks again.
To Texas Tech for hammering my thoughts home that Missouri was overrated, and only beat OU because of sheer luck. Missouri has lost two in a row since then, and looked nothing like a top ten team. They didn't belong there anyway. Mizzou had a 17-3 lead nearing halftime, and apparently thought they were too good to keep applying the pressure. But Tech came roaring back when QB Taylor Potts came off the bench and threw three touchdowns to take the game over. Mizzou QB Blaine Gabbert was completely shutdown, throwing for only 95 yards and no touchdowns. Tech has been quiet in Tommy Tuberville's first year, compiling a record of only 5-4 to this point. But you never know about them, a solid match up in Norman this weekend has brewed thanks to them. Final score 24-17, Texas Tech.
Well too bad.
Just as I though Baylor was going to make a run at it, they hit an impenetrable wall in the form of Oklahoma State. The fact that a ranked Baylor and a ranked Okie State team were playing for position atop the Big 12 South still bothered me. Baylor has already qualified for a bowl, and were looking to somehow get to bigger and better things. Well the Pokes stopped that in a hurry. By scoring at will, and stopping Baylor QB Robert Griffin, OSU took a 24-0 lead into halftime. It didn't stop there though. My player of the week went to receiver Justin Blackmon, who simply was the best player on the field and made it look easy. He helped OSU rack up 725 yards of offense! They are now sitting at 8-1 with their only loss to Nebraska, and a Bedlam showdown in a few weeks against OU that may decide the Big 12 South champion. Final score 55-28, Oklahoma State.
Watch out.
For Stanford. Aside from LSU, The Cardinal (no it's not Cardinals, I have it right) may be the best one loss team right now. Thanks in part to a complete thrashing of 15th ranked Arizona on Saturday. I have been saying that QB Andrew Luck is one of the elite quarterbacks in the country, but they seem to have a good team all around as well. 25 point victories don't come at the hands of just one player, although Luck's 293 yards passing and two td's will help. Stanford's only loss this year is to the current number one ranked Oregon Ducks. A possible BCS at large bid could be waiting for the tree huggers. Final score 42-17, Stanford.
Absolutely love it.
For more than one reason. An Arkansas win over anyone is always nice, but when it is in dominating fashion on the road over South Carolina, it is pure bliss. I'm sure all of you know about my hatred for South Carolina. They just annoy the crap out of me. All the Thursday night games, Steve Spurrier, the hideous uniforms, and the mascot that is a glorified chicken all just gets under my skin. So when they beat Alabama a few weeks ago when the Tide were ranked number one, the irritation level was at an all time high. But then a loss a week later to Kentucky, and then a crushing by the Hogs, has brought it back down. I was nervous for this game, despite the anger, SC is pretty good. But Arkansas came out firing, and scored on the first possession on their way to a 24-10 lead at half. Mallet was on target for 303 yards passing and a td. But the real story the last few games and including this one, has been the emergence of running back Knile Davis. If only the coaches would have listened to me earlier, they would have known that getting the ball to Davis more was a good thing. He rushed for 110 yards and three touchdowns, giving him eight rushing td's in just the last three games. Final score 41-20, Arkansas.
High school basketball score of the week - Michigan over Illinois 67-65 in 3 overtimes.
Blowout of the week - Nevada over Idaho, 63-17.
Until next week.
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