| Daily Blog • Monday, December 7th |
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NEWS AND NOTES - For the first time ever, the Civil War between Oregon and Oregon St was winner-take-all battle for the Rose Bowl. The teams had 4 scoring drives and an int on the first 5 poss and the Ducks, thanks to a 3rd & 8, 73 yd pass led 14-10. OSU clawed back to a 23-21 halftime lead and opened the 3Q with a 75/9pl drive for a TD to lead 30-21. There were 4 crucial 4th downs the remainder of the game and all 4 went in favor of the Ducks. They went for it on 4th & 6 on the next drive and got an 8 yd pass to the OSU27 to continue on a 68/12pl drive for a TD. After OSU settled for a 45 yd FG, UO got a 52 yd TD run by James and led 34-33 after 3Q’s. UO added a 34 yd FG with 10:13 left. OSU had a 4th & 15 at the Duck27 and passed up a FG and fired incomplete on the sidelines with 6:09 left. UO daringly went for it on 4th & 3 at the OSU33 and converted and then on 4th & 2 from the OSU19 and the Ducks got a 5 yd run to the 14 and took a knee finishing with a 489-389 yd edge...
It was WKU HC David Elson’s FHG on Thursday night and WKU had been playing very well for him with 3 straight covers. Elson, unfortunately, suffered a tough loss. WKU took their first 2 drives 77/12pl and 62/6pl for TD’s and led 14-0 and it was 17-3 at the half. ASU was SOD on 4th & 4 at the WKU38, settled for a 27 yd FG and fmbl’d at the WKU23 and 36 yd lines in the 1H. ASU was SOD on 4th & 6 at the WKU19 and WKU added a 34 yd FG 11pl later for a commanding 20-3 lead. ASU on 4th & 19 gained 18 yds to the WKU18 with 10:26 left and hope appeared gone after they missed a 51 yd FG with 7:02 left. The game turned around on five plays. WKU was int’d and ret’d 43 yds to the 4 with 5:30 left and ASU got a TD on the next play. Three plays later ASU got a 27 yd FR TD to stunningly lead 24-20 with 3:43 left and pulled out the win...
Central Michigan had 28-16 FD and 381-275 yd edges vs Ohio. They did benefit from OU having QB Scott banged up as he came out of the game often. It was just 10-7 when CM went 84/13pl and got an 8 yd TD pass with :17 left 1H to lead 17-7. Each team went on a long drive for a FG to open the 3Q, 20-10 (5:36). OU missed a 51 yd FG with 9:14 left and was SOD on 4th & 5 at the CM43 with 2:00 left...
It was another tough loss for Ron Zook. Power Plays called for Illinois to outrush Fresno St (who has the NCAA’s leading rusher Ryan Mathews) by 146 yards. Surprisingly Illinois almost did that with a 331-233 rush edge. IU had a 26-21 FD edge and even outpassed FSU 217-183 and those numbers were even worse when IU punted with 2:43 left leading 52-45. FSU on 4th & 10 got a 19 yd TD pass with just :02 left on the clock. They opted to go for 2 and QB Colburn was being sk’d and just threw it up. The ball was knocked away from the receiver but went into the hands of OL Cunningham who kept his legs going and rumbled into the EZ for the 2 pt conversion and FSU got the win...
Tough loss for Pittsburgh. It was tied 7-7 early and it was 14-10 Cincy with 11:12 left 2Q but Pitt got a flea-flicker, 40 yd TD pass and after an int drove 33/8pl for a 33 yd FG. Then they blocked a punt and rec’d at the Cincinnati 5 and got a TD and with just 1:26 left in the 1H, Pitt led 31-10. Gilyard got a 99 yd KR TD, 31-17 at the half with Pitt having a 232-147 yd edge. Pitt led 38-24 after a TD with 12:24 left but UC, after another Gilyard KR, drove 23/4pl for a TD which made it 38-30. After a Pitt punt Cincy went 68/7pl for a TD to tie it, 38-38 (5:46). Pitt went 67/9pl for a TD with 1:36 left but fumbled the snap on the xp. UC got a 30 yd TD pass with :33 left and the xp gave them the win...
The Boise St/New Mexico St game was closer than 28-0 at the half as NMSt missed a 43 yd FG, was int’d at the BS5 and fmbl’d at the BS5. Also Boise St had TD drives of 32 and 50 yds after 20 & 26 yd punts and got a TD with :41 left at the half. BS led 35-0 when they brought in backup QB Coughlin with 3:53 left in the 3Q and got a 56 yd TD run by Martin to make it 42-0. BS almost added to that lead as they went on a 54 yd drive and fmbl’d at the 23 and then fmbl’d at their own 17 setting up an NMSt TD 4pl later with 4:32 left. BSU got to the NMSt2 but took a knee. RB Seth Smith became the first NMSt RB to top 1,000 yards in a season since 2000 and just the 4th in school history. BSU had 26-11 FD and 544-191 yd edges...
West Virginia wrapped up a berth in the Gator Bowl on a rainy, snowy day at Rutgers. WV did have a 171-73 yd edge at the half and led 14-3. RU missed a FG to open the 3Q and WV got a 24 yd IR TD to lead 21-3. Still, it was 24-21 and RU had the ball when they under threw an open TD pass with 2:50 left and on 4th & 6 they were int’d at the WV35. WV got 2 FD’s and ran out the clock and only had a 13-11 FD edge...
There were 3 key plays in Louisiana Tech’s favor vs San Jose. While the FD’s were even at 19, LT had a 352-136 yd edge at the half. The first key play was a 55 yd IR TD which put LT up 28-14. SJS’s P later fmbl’d the snap at their own 12 setting up an LT TD and LT led 45-14 at the half. The biggest play (spread-wise) came at the end. SJS had a 1st & gl at the LT6 trailing 48-20 but was not only int’d, but they were ret’d 96 yds for a TD with 6:31 left clinching LT’s cover...
USC had been 47-1 at the Coliseum prior to their loss to Oregon and had been in the AP Top 25 for the past 102 games but their loss to Arizona dropped them to 5th place in the Pac-10. The winner was to go to the Holiday Bowl and at the half UA was in control with a 214-120 yd edge but only led 14-7. USC got a 37 yd FG with 7:13 left to take its first lead, 17-14 but UA answered with an 80/10pl drive with a 35 yd TD pass, 21-17 (3:14). USC went for it on 4th & 15 at its own 15 and was SOD with 2:20 left and UA ran off all but :04 from the clock...
Alabama clearly wanted the SEC Title game more and the amazing stat was that Florida came in with the #1 defense in the country and Bama’s offense clubbed them with 251 yards rushing, 239 passing for 490 yards offense. It was actually a game at the half. A key play happened late in the 2Q when Bama got a 69 yard screen pass down to the 3. There were 2 holds and a block in the back that were not called on the play but that would have just postponed the inevitable. UF, only down by 6, got the ball to open the 3Q but went 3 & out and Bama went 74/5pl, 88/17pl for TD’s to lead 32-13. UF’s last gasp ended on a 1st & gl at the Tide 6 when Tebow was int’d in the EZ by Arenas. UF’s next drive was SOD on 4th & 3 at the Tide 13 and Bama went 71/12pl running out the clock at the Gator 16...
Tough loss for USF as in the 1H they had a 180-130 yd edge and held the ball for over 20:00 which is surprising as the game was played in cold and snow. They trailed 13-7 at half, missing a 46 yd FG on the 2Q’s final play. USF got a TD with 8:05 left to lead 21-20 but allowed UC a 59/11pl drive for a TD, 26-21. USF got an 8 yd TD run by Daniels with just :40 left to apparently pull out the win, 27-26 but missed the 2 pt conversion. Connecticut took advantage of USF kicking into the wind on the KO and started at their own 44. They got 2 FD’s and nailed a 42 yd FG on the final play to escape with the win...
California has a lot of talent but played with very little heart in their 4 losses this year. Cal was taking on Washington in the cold of Seattle and it was obvious their players would have preferred warm weather as they gave very little effort. At the half UW led 21-3 with a 259-151 yd edge and rolled to a 42-10 win. Cal, in their 4 losses was outscored 145-30 meaning when things got tough, they just folded their tents...
For the 2nd straight year East Carolina parlayed some key TO’s into a CUSA Title. Houston had a 4-1 TO deficit. EC’s 1 TO was a fumbled punt with the game tied at 7 and Houston got a TD to lead 13-7. After EC missed a 48 yd FG, perhaps the key play of the game happened when on 2nd & 7 from the 16 with UH threatening to take a 2 TD lead they were int’d in the EZ for a TB. UH led 19-14 at the half with a 294-195 yd edge. EC got a TD to open the 3Q and UH fmbl’d at the EC26 and EC added a 37 yd FG, 24-19. EC got a 30 yd IR to the 7 and a TD on the next play to lead 31-19. It was 38-26 when UH, on 3rd & 14 got a 24 yd TD pass with 3:24 left (xpng). EC was SOD on 4th & 1 at the UH36 with 1:47 left and UH got to the EC34 where they were int’d on a tipped pass in the EZ for a TB. QB Keenum set a CUSA record with 56 completions (56-75-527) and WR James Cleveland also set a CUSA record with 19 rec (241 yards)...
About the only way Nebraska was going to beat Texas was to play it conservative, come up with some TO’s and get a key special teams play or two. The game played out exactly as they wanted. Colt McCoy probably lost his chance at the Heisman with 3 int’s including 2 early int’s set up NU for 45 and 52 yd FG. UT did go 42/9pl getting a TD with 2:19 left in the half to lead 7-6 with an 8-2 FD edge. UT added a 39 yd FG late 3Q to lead 10-6 but NU got a 43 yd PR to the 10. Once again with zero FD’s, they got a 28 yd FG, 10-9. UT was pinned at its 1 and converted on 3rd & 10 and 3rd & 16 but McCoy was int’d again with 4:56 left as DB Gomes ripped the ball away from the WR. Despite having just 3 FD’s at this point, NU got 2 FD’s and nailed a 42 yd FG with 1:44 left. The KO went OOB and a horse collar helped Texas down to the 26 but McCoy, on 3rd & 13 took a long time throwing the ball away and the clock showed all zeros and NU charged the field. Refs put :01 back on the clock and Hunter Lawrence’s 46 yd FG squeezed in the left upright to prevent BCS chaos. UT finished the game with a 17-5 FD edge but just a 202-106 yd edge as McCoy absorbed 9 sks, 4.5 of them by Ndamukong Suh...
Clemson’s CJ Spiller had a huge game vs Georgia Tech with 233 yards rushing and 4 TD’s but 2 TO’s cost the Tigers. CU missed a 52 yd FG in the 1Q then after an int, GT got a 49 yd FG to lead 13-7. GT led 16-13 at the half and it was 23-20 when on 3rd & 10 GT got a 70 yd TD pass to Thomas. CU was int’d and ret’d 50 yds setting up a 40 yd FG and GT led 33-20 after 3Q’s. CU battled back to lead 34-33 and GT on 4th & 1 at its own 23 got a FD and got a TD with 1:20 left to go up 39-34 (2ptng). CU on 4th & 2 saw Parker tripped up rolling to the left and came up 2 yds short of the FD at their 43...
Hawaii had a 4 game win streak and was playing to get to a bowl but Wisconsin was fresh off a bye and simply crushed them. They scored TD’s on 3 of their first 4 poss and at the half led 27-3 with a 346-102 yd edge. UH got a TD with 4:51 left, 37-10 but UW rec’d the onside kick & got a 1pl, 35 yd TD run by Ball. UH was int’d and ret’d to their 9 and on 4th & gl from the 11, Sherer got an 11 yd TD run to make the final 51-10 with 1:27 left.