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Connecticut running backs Lyle McCombs and Martin Hyppolite led the way to victory
for the Huskies with 157 yards combined on the ground. UB offense needed to comeback
from their worst performance of the year last time out. Alex Zordich responded from
the awful performance by throwing for 220 yards and rushing for 76 yards as well. UB
was without their great RB Bo Oliver. Difference in the game may have been UB’s two
turnovers to none for the Huskies. Connecticut led 24-7 with five minutes to go in the
third and withstood the Bulls rally to hold on for victory.
West Virginia 70 Baylor 63
Every Heisman trophy winner has a signature performance. This may have been that
performance for Geno Smith. Smith had more touchdowns than incomplete passes.
He finished the day 45 of 51 for 656 yards and 8 touchdowns. Geno Smith was already
on the rise in draft circles because of his own play and because of struggles by Logan
Thomas, Matt Barkley and Landry Jones. West Virginia WR Steadman Bailey had 13
catches for 303 yards and 5 touchdowns and Travon Austin followed up with 14 catches
for 215 yards. They weren’t even the best WR stats on the day. Baylor’s pro prospect
Terrance Williams caught 17 passes for 314 yards. This was such a fun game to watch.
This is a Game of the year candidate for sure. There was 1507 yards of offense in the
game.
Iowa 31 Minnesota 13
The 1934 contest was so dirty that a war or words started between the governors of both
states before the 1935 contest. Minnesota Governor Floyd Olson bet Iowa Governor
Clyde Herring a prized hog for the winner of the contest. Minnesota won 13-6 on their
way to their second straight national title. The winning hog came from Rosedale farms
and was named Floyd after Governor Olsen. Hence each year these two teams play for
the Floyd of Rosedale pig trophy. Iowa has finally found a running game and it’s behind
huge fullback Mark Weisman. Weisman rushed for 177 yards as Iowa won easily giving
Minnesota their first loss of the season.
Texas A&M 58 Arkansas 10
Tough month for good Ole John L. Smith being twenty-seven million in debt and filing
personal bankruptcy due to shady Southern Real Estate Deals. Things got worse with
the shellacking by three touchdown underdog Louisiana-Monroe, followed by losses
to Alabama and Rutgers. Things got even worse with the death of his brother and his
bizarre "SMILE! ..... SMILE! .... CHIN UP! .... SMILE! ", news conference last week.
This game didn’t help. Johnny Manziel threw for 453 yards and rushed for 104 more to
lead the Aggies high flying offense. Kevin Sumlin’s offense looked more like the one he
had in previous years at Houston. A&M combined for 716 yards rushing and passing.
Miami Florida 44 NC State 37
Is the U back? Maybe and they can thank quarterback Stephen Morris for it. Morris
threw for a Hurricane record and ACC record 566 yards. His last touchdown was with
only 19 seconds left as he hooked up for 62 yards to Philip Dorsett. Miami is now 4-1
on the season. Morris looked like the better quarterback all day. NC State quarterback
Mike Glennon threw for 440 yards but his key interception with 48 seconds left set up the
victory for Miami. NC State can’t expect to win a game when it turns the ball over six
times on the day.
Louisiana Tech 44 Virginia 38
The Bulldogs of Ruston remain undefeated & unranked, mostly due to a College Football
lack-of-meritocracy mentality similar to the ruling mindset that helped bring about the
French Revolution. Louisiana Tech could go undefeated this year. They have a tough
make-up game against Texas A&M coming up. If they pull the upset they will be this
years Boise State, TCU, Utah, etc. Louisiana Tech trailed 24-10 in the second quarter
when they want on a 34-0 run to win the game. This is the second week in a row the
Bulldogs beat a team from a power conference last week they beat Illinois.
Cincinnati 27 Virginia Tech 24 in Landover, Maryland
Cincinnati got a 39 yard touchdown pass from Munchie Legaux to Damon Julian with
13 seconds left to lift Cincinnati to an upset victory over Virginia Tech. Legaux threw
for 376 yards and three touchdowns on the day. The Bearcats didn’t win this by luck.
Cincinnati dominated every aspect of the game and deserved the victory. Virginia Tech
has now lost two games to unranked opponents. Earlier this year they lost in Pittsburgh.
Logan Thomas could have used a strong performance. He didn’t get it. Thomas threw
for only 242 yards and was intercepted twice. Thomas doesn’t impress me at all. This
was supposed to be a home game from Cincinnati but they gave it up and were severally
in the minority compared to the Hokie fans.
Ohio State 17 Michigan State 16
This was a classic Big 10 slugfest or as dull as watching paint dry. Big question leading
into this one was how Ohio State defensive line prospects Jonathan Hankins and John
Simon would slow down Spartans huge running back Le’Veon Bell. The Buckeyes held
Bell to only 45 yards. The Ohio State defense rose to the occasion after being several
criticized recently for poor play. Braxton Miller was injured twice in the game but
showed great heart to keep coming back on the field. Miller only threw for 179 yards but
did damage on the ground gaining 136 yards with his feet.
Georgia 51 Tennessee 44
This is the game that was littered with potential top picks in the NFL draft. On the
Tennessee side was: QB Tyler Bray, OL Dallas Thomas and WR Justin Hunter. Georgia
counters with LB’s Jarvis Jones and Alec Ogletree, QB Aaron Murray, DT Jonathan
Jenkins and safety Shawn Williams. This was the return of a Dooley to Athens.
Tennessee coach Derek Dooley son of Georgia legend Vince Dooley. The Vols defense
couldn’t stop the Georgia running game. Georgia rushed for 292 yards and scored five
touchdowns on the ground. Tennessee found holes in what was supposed to be a great
Georgia defense. The Georgia defense did get three turnovers in the final six minutes.
Tyler Bray didn’t even have a great game and they put up 44 points. Bray threw three
crucial interceptions as that prevented Tennessee from pulling the upset. This was a
sloppy game with both teams making special teams blunders.
Arizona State 27 California 17
In their first contest in the reopening of their multi-million dollar upgraded home stadium
in Berkley, the Bears played like they were still in hibernation. This game wasn’t
any better. California has no offense behind former UB quarterback Zach Maynard.
Maynard was horrible completing only 9 of 28 passes for only 128 yards. The Bears
are now 1-4 and it’s the worse start they have ever had under Jeff Tedford. The Sun
Devils are rolling under first year coach Todd Graham. Arizona State leads the Pac- 12
in scoring and total defense. The Sun Devils offense has been better since they stopped
the two headed monster at QB and giving the job exclusively to Taylor Kelly.
Florida State 30 South Florida 17
Florida State survives a big road test thanks to their defense in pulling out the 30-17
victory. Would Florida State let down after an emotional win over Clemson last week?
The answer was on offense yes. The Seminoles struggled most of the day and EJ Manuel
had an average day at best throwing for 242 yards and a score. South Florida lost an
opportunity to pull the upset or the Florida State defense is just too good. The defense is
led by future first round corner Xavier Rhodes. QB’s are avoiding Rhodes because he is
simply just that good. South Florida only had 268 yards of offense.
South Carolina 38 Kentucky 17
I still don’t trust South Carolina this year. They have studs on both sides of the ball but
I believe that Connor Shaw is not trustworthy as QB. Kentucky played a great game.
Joker Phillips is on the hot seat as Kentucky coach. The Wildcats had
South Carolina on the ropes. Kentucky had a 17-7 lead late in the second when poor
clock management cost Kentucky more points. That won’t help Joker. It turned to be
the turning point in the game. Marcus Lattimore took over in the second half as South
Carolina scored 31 straight second half points to seal the victory. Lattimore gained 119
yards on the day and rushed for two touchdowns.
Texas 41 Oklahoma State 36
Texas has a reputation for everything being "BIG", yet as we learned from the infamous
SCTV game show, "What Fits into Mother Russia?" Texas appears as no more than a
cosmetic blackhead blemish when compared next to the map face of the beloved Soviet
Union. ("Ha Ha Ha!", Maniacal laughter from Host Dave Thomas). David Ash came
up Texas size big as the Longhorns QB threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns. Ash
converted a big fourth down pass on the final drive that set-up a one yard run by Joe
Bergeron. Bergeron appeared to have fumbled before going over the goal-line and the
ball was recovered by the Cowboys. The ruling on the field stood as a touchdown after
being reviewed. In a losing effort Joseph Randle was a beast for Oklahoma State. He ran
over and around Texas defenders all night.
Nebraska 30 Wisconsin 27
Football makes strange bed fellows just like politics. Union busting governor Scott
Walker came out this week in support of the NFL officials union after the Green Bay
debacle. Walker was lambasted on twitter. It was sad to hear Dr. Tom Osborne will
retire at the end of the year as Nebraska AD. What was not sad would be to say good-bye
to those two hideous uniforms the teams wore. Wisconsin jumped out to a big lead in the
first half but their offense went south after halftime. As we have been saying all year,
this isn’t the same old Wisconsin offensive line that opens up holes. Montee Ball rushed
32 times and still didn’t gain 100 yards. Ball scored three times but did fumble on the
Badgers final possession as they were driving for a possible tie or win. Taylor Martinez
effective running and throwing for the Huskers. I would have thought Nebraska would
have had an easier time with a soft Wisconsin team at home.
Finally: Glad to see “Judge Roy Bean” Roger Goodell and the NFL officials came
to an agreement. One wonders if we still made silent films, and Mack Sennet
directed a "Keystone Kops" short based on the storyline of this farce, people would leave
the theatre muttering that it was too unrealistic, shaking their heads that you can only take
slapstick pastiche so far before it nosedives into the realm of pre-adolescent Cinematic
absurdity.