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How good is Johnny Manziel? I would take him today as the Bills quarterback. Manziel
is a true freshman. Manziel threw for 253 yards and rushed for another 92 in leading
the Aggies to a victory over the first ranked Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. The Aggies
piggy-backed on the LSU game-plan last week against Alabama and spread them out
defensively. It was especially effective in the first half. It looked like a familiar game
that A&M had lost to LSU and Florida. A&M jumped out to a big lead early but then
saw the game slipping away. Alabama had a chance to win with just over two minutes
to go when they had fourth and goal at the A&M two yard-line. AJ McCarron was
intercepted at the goal-line by Deshavor Everett and the Tide never got the ball back.
McCarron hadn’t been intercepted all year but was picked off twice in this game. You
can kiss the AJ McCarron Heisman campaign good-bye. Johnny Manziel should at least
go to New York City as a finalist for the Heisman. Remember that last year Alabama lost
in November and still went on to win the national championship.
Kansas State 23 TCU 10
The Battle of Verdun was less depressing than this exhibition of head pounding
attrition, seized gears, grinding fulcrums, innumerable punts, oppressed pigskin tactics
& omnipresent ineptitude. Kansas State was held to only 12 first downs in the game.
Collin Klein played but he wasn’t his typical self. You could tell he was nursing an
injury. Klein did rush for two touchdowns and just by the mere fact he played stayed in
the lead for the Heisman. The Kansas State defense dominated the game. TCU scored
10 garbage points in the fourth quarter. It’s hard not to keep rooting for Bill Snyder and
Collin Klein to keep winning in the “Little Apple”. Kansas State should move to the top
spot in the BCS standings.
Notre Dame 21 BC 6
Irish alumni are not happy how the BCS standings treat Notre Dame. One thing you have
to say for Notre Dame is they know who they are. They run well and play good defense.
QB Everett Golson accounted for all three Irish touchdowns by throwing for two and
running in the third. Draft experts will point to this game as an example of how well ND
tight end Tyler Eifert blocks. There are many examples of him as a great receiver but this
game showed how much of a complete TE prospect he is. Eifert did catch six balls for 67
yards.
Texas 33 Iowa State 7
Darrell Royal passed away this week. My favorite Royal quote that can go across all
sports and all levels of play is “you can’t be aggressive and confused at the same time”.
Texas honored Royal by lining up in his famous “wishbone” formation on the first play
from scrimmage. Texas ran a trick pass play that resulted in a 47 yard gain. That was the
start of a huge day for Longhorns quarterback David Ash. Ash threw for 364 yards and
two touchdowns.
Michigan 38 Northwestern 31 OT
When these two teams meet in November you don’t expect Northwestern to be the
ranked team. Northwestern blew another fourth quarter lead as they have done in
all three of their losses this year. Devin Gardner was playing for the injured Denard
Robinson for Michigan. Gardner hit Roy Roundtree on a bomb with seven seconds to go
to set-up the game tying field goal and force overtime for the Wolverines. Gardner then
ran in from one yard out in overtime to put Michigan ahead. The Wolverines defense
finally stood up and held Northwestern on downs to win the game in the extra session.
Syracuse 45 Louisville 26
Carmen Basilio passed away this week. For a generation the “Onion Farmer” was a staple
on “Friday Night Fights”. He was part of the first class ever inducted into the Boxing
Hall of Fame. The Boxing Hall of Fame was built in Basilio’s home town of Canastota,
New York. Louisville had been playing Molly Hatchet football all year long (Flirtin with
Disaster). Five times the Cardinals had come from behind to keep their record perfect
going into this one. Louisville started the game with the same energy and enthusiasm as
the Fox newsroom on Wednesday morning. This time the hill was too steep to climb.
Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib is an interesting draft prospect that has moved up the
charts since the start of the season. Nassib threw for three touchdowns and the Orange
ran for 287 yards as well.
South Carolina 38 Arkansas 20
Connor Shaw had to step up with Marcus Lattimore out for the season for South
Carolina. Shaw combined for three touchdowns and 282 yards of offense to lead the
Gamecocks to victory. The turning point in the game came when hard-hitting safety D.J.
Swearinger intercepted a Tyler Wilson pass and raced 69 yards for a touchdown in the
third quarter. Wilson has slipped down in the draft but the truth be told his offensive line
has been horrible and gives him little protection. Wilson threw for 277 yards and two
touchdowns against a stiff South Carolina defense. You think Houston Nutt is waiting
in the wings for Arkansas for an opportunity to disprove Thomas Wolfe's most famous
axiom.
Stanford 27 Oregon State 23
This was a hard fought tough game that Stanford pulled out in the end. I have respect
for both these teams. Stanford made a bold choice of switching quarterbacks just two
weeks before their showdown with Oregon. Josh Nunes had been ineffective all year so
David Shaw named Kevin Hogan his new starting QB. Hogan threw two interceptions
but countered that with three touchdowns. Stanford looked like the better team but the
game was kept close because Oregon State won the turnover battle four to one. Stanford
will now travel to Oregon next week with sole control of the Pac 12 North on the line.
Oklahoma State 55 West Virginia 34
We new the West Virginia defense was bad but at least they had to face a third string
QB in this game. Clint Chelf was making his first career start because of injuries to
J.W. Walsh and Wes Lunt. Chelf threw for 292 yards and four touchdowns against the
embarrassingly bad Mountaineer defense. West Virginia has dropped four straight after
winning their first five. In their four losses West Virginia is giving up an average of 49.5
points per game. This was the first time these two teams have meet in Stillwater since
the Herbert Hoover administration. This did mark the return of Dan Holgorsen to OSU,
where he made a name for himself as offensive coordinator of the Cowboys.
USC 38 Arizona State 17
Arizona State did a better job than their neighbors Arizona did last week in a trip to LA.
They were able to focus on and play a football game & not sample the Southern
California lifestyle on a crash course-John Belushi/Charlie Sheen level of Bacchanalian
decadence. It still wasn’t enough as the Sun Devils have now dropped five straight after
a promising start to the season. USC was sloppy and leading the way in that category
was QB Matt Barkley again. The Trojans had five turnovers in the game and Barkley
was responsible for three interceptions. Marqise Lee caught ten passes for 161 yards
and a touchdown. “Shady” Lane Kiffin is at it again with a supposed “rogue” equipment
manager that deflated the balls last week against Oregon.
Clemson 45 Maryland 10
Clemson is out to prove they have the most dangerous place to play after Steve Spurrier
mocked them early this year. Cleveland’s “dog pound” or Adam Jones “man cave”
might take the cake as the two most dangerous places to play. Clemson has now won 12
straight at home. Not much of a game here because Maryland has lost four scholarship
quarterbacks they are forced to play linebacker Shawn Petty at QB. Clemson jumped
on the Terps early and led 35-7 by halftime. Tajh Boyd threw for 261 yards and three
touchdowns.
Oklahoma 42 Baylor 34
Is it just me or are you sick and tired of Lou Holtz fake sparring with Mark May each
week and his dropping an avalanche of down-home Pa Kettle/Will Rogers/Casper
Milquetoast witticisms & anecdotes. I never get tired of a Baylor game. This was a
typical back and forth no defense game that we have come custom to in the last few
years. Landry Jones was 25 of 36 for 277 yards and two touchdowns. Those are modest
numbers this year against the weak Bears defense.
Nebraska 32 Penn State 23
Penn State can’t be happy with the officials after this game. With Penn State trailing 27-
23 in the fourth quarter PSU TE Matt Lehman stretched for the end-zone and fumbled.
The ball was recovered by Nebraska for a touch-back. Replays clearly showed that
before Lehman fumbled the ball, the ball crossed the goal-line and it should have been
a touchdown. Officials didn’t reverse the call and Penn State never was able to recover.
This marked the fourth time this year that Nebraska was able to overcome a double-digit
second half lead and pull out victory.
Florida 27 Louisiana-Lafayette 20
Florida blocked a punt and scored a touchdown with two seconds left to pull out a victory
over lightly regarded Louisiana-Lafayette. This is the same Lafayette team that lost 65-
24 earlier this year to Oklahoma State. The Ragin Cajuns were paid almost a million
dollars to come in and be a homecoming cupcake for the Gators. Instead a weak Florida
offense made this game a close contest. The Florida offense took a hit in the game when
QB Jeff Driskell had to leave with an ankle injury.
LSU 37 Mississippi State 17
Les Miles can match wits with any coach not named Nick Saban. Like Alabama, LSU
started with a little bit of a hangover from their big game with the Tide last week. This
game was closer than the score would indicate. Zach Mettenberger did throw for 273
yards and two touchdowns. Bulldogs have lost three straight since starting off the season
with seven straight wins. A great example of the speed on the LSU defense is Craig
Loston’s 100 yard interception return for a touchdown. See how fast he runs the 100
yard dash. You can’t teach speed. LSU needs Auburn to beat Alabama to play in the
SEC championship game. Good luck with that Tigers.
Georgia 38 Auburn 0
Georgia will make a second straight trip to the SEC championship game with this blow-
out win. Florida had hopes of an Auburn upset that would have put them in the game
but those hopes ended early. Auburn offense left once Gus Malzahn took over the head
coaching job at Arkansas State. Georgia held Auburn to only 238 yards of offense.
This is yet another low in a season full of lows for embattled head coach Gene Chizik.
Freshman backs Todd Gurley and Keith Marshall both rushed for over 100 yards on only
11 and 8 carries respectively. Georgia started pulling their starters in the third quarter.