More News & Notes

Hawaii should’ve won by much more than the 24-6 final score. They had a 26-10 FD advantage and a 485-244 yard edge. Hawaii scored on their first 3 possessions of the game with 2 TD’s and a FG and led 17-0. Four key plays kept New Mexico St in the game. The first came when UH had a 1st & goal at the New Mexico St 5. They settled for a 22 yard FG and missed it with 4:13 left in the half. UH had a 4th & 12 with :40 left in the half at the NMSt23. They passed up a 40 yard FG and went for it and the pass fell incomplete. In the 3Q NMSt got their only score of the game on a 58 yard IR TD to pull within 17-6. After UH got a TD to lead by 18, they had a 4th & 4 at the NMSt14 but once again surprisingly opted to go for it, passing up the chip shot 31 yard FG and they gained 3 yards which cost some of their supporters and they only won by 18 points.

Florida scored on their first 3 possessions versus South Carolina with 2 TD’s and a FG and led 17-7. SC got a TD late in the 1H to make it 17-14. UF missed a 52 yard FG in the 2Q and missed a 54 yard FG in the 3Q and they were also SOD on 4th & 1 at the SC29. SC drove 48 yards in 11 plays and got to the UF23 where Garcia was int’d by Trattou and returned 53 yards. UF drove 26 yards in 4 plays for a TD and a 10 point lead. The Gators missed a 29 yard FG with 4:01 left and then after an interception started at the SC20 with 3:19 left and got to the 4 on the final play of the game.

It was a rough loss for San Diego St over Wyoming. Going into the 4Q SDSt led 27-6 and appeared in complete cntrol. Wyoming capped a 68/8pl TD drive with 14:49 left and got another TD on a 73/6 pl drive with 10:36 left. SDSt lined up for the game clinching 28 yard FG with just 5:07 left but it was blocked and Wyoming went 62 yards in 7 plays for a TD with 2:07 left. Their short pooch kickoff was not covered by San Diego St and Wyoming recovered it at the Aztec 4, got 1 FD and got a FG for the win with :23 left.

Florida St was playing with backup QB EJ Manuel getting his first start and he hit 15 of 20 for 220 yards. Each team scored a TD on its first drive but Florida St would go 68 yards in 6 plays then after an interception, 27 yards in 3 plays for TD’s, 21-7. FSU went 68 yards in 10 plays for a 47 yard FG then got a 68 yard PR TD and led 31-7 with 3:40 left in the half. Wake Forest went 79 yards in 5 plays for a TD but FSU had a 1st & goal at the 20 and Manuel was intercepted at the 20 with :07 left. Florida St extended it to 41-21 early 4Q and WF was intercepted in the endzone with 7:57 left then drove for a TD with 3:01 left but FSU recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

Delaware had a 22-16 FD edge vs Navy and 370-320 yard edge but Delaware settled for 4 FG’s while Navy QB Dobbs had 5 rushing TD’s giving him 22 on the season. He needs just one more to tie the NCAA’s single season rush TD record owned by Florida’s Tim Tebow in 2007 and AF’s Chance Harridge in 2002. His 22nd rushing TD broke Navy’s school record of 21 by Bill Ingram set back in 1917.

WKU actually had a 21-17 FD edge versus ULM but ULM had a 441-383 yard edge. WKU led 12-7 at the half with FG’s of 43, 35, 39 and 41 yards. ULM had a 36 yard FG blocked, but after a 33 yard PR got a 1 play, 48 yard TD run by Goodin for the lead, 14-12 (14:50). WKU went 80 yards in 9 plays for a TD (10:49) but ULM went 58 yards in 11 plays for a TD with 5:09 left. WKU got to the ULM4 but two false starts forced a 32 yard FG which they missed with 1:22 left.

It was a far from dominating win for Georgia. Auburn took their first two possessions 72 yards in 9 plays and 82 yards in 11 plays for TD’s and it was 14-7 Auburn at the half with Auburn having a 192-107 yard edge. Auburn got a 99 yard KR TD to tie it at 24 early in the 4Q. Auburn was intercepted at the Georgia 25 and returned 21 yards and a face mask moved it to the Auburn 39. Georgia went 39 yards in 4 plays for a TD with 6:45 left. Auburn got to the Georgia 22 and on 2nd & 11 threw an apparent TD pass but as Fannin was catching it, Georgia DB Rambo laid out and knocked the ball away. He was the on field for about 10:00 but Georgia then sacked Todd on 3rd down & broke up a pass on 4th down to preserve the win.

Arizona led California 10-6 late in the 1H but Cal got a FG on the last play of the 2Q. After a 14 yard punt, Cal got a 1 play, 27 yard TD pass to lead 15-10 but Arizona retook the lead on a TD with 12:26 left. They missed the 2 point conversion, however to make it 16-15. Cal went 72 yards in 13 plays and got a 22 yard FG, 18-16 with 4:46 left. Arizona got to the Cal 29 but on 3rd & 3 a strange play happened. Foles’ pass was batted back to himself and he caught it and threw it forward again which is a penalty that forced a 4th & 17 at the Cal 39 and taking the Wildcats out of FG range. They nearly completed the pass for the FD but it fell incomplete. Cal looked to run the clock and handed off to Vereen who raced 61 yards for a TD to make some Cal fans very happy.

A lot of signs are pointing to Charlie Weis being on his way out at Notre Dame. Of course, the heftiness of his contract (a reported $18 million buyout) could make it a very costly cut. Since 2006 Weis is just 1-10 against ranked teams and the Irish lost their 8th straight game to a Top 10 foe vs Pitt. Weis actually has the same record (35-25) that Bob Davie did and also has the same winning percentage (.583) of Ty Willingham and both of those coaches were let go. ND had some poor punts of 17 and 20 yards to open the 3Q and they trailed 20-3 but they rallied to within 27-22 on a Tate 87 yard PR for a TD. The Irish got the ball back with 3:39 left and but on 2nd & 1 were called for an illegal block and on 3rd & 16 Clausen was hit from behind on what appeared to be an incomplete pass. He could have been called for intentional grounding but replay officials called it a fumble and Pitt took over at the ND28 with 2:10 left and got a FD to run out the clock.

North Texas had dominating 25-15 FD and 513-258 yard edges. They led 28-14 at the half with a 300-189 yard edge. FIU got back in the game with a 26 yard IR TD mid-3Q to pull within 7. NT had a punt blocked and FIU recovered it at the NT16 and 7 plays later they got a TD to tie it. NT fumbled at their own 47 and 3 plays later FIU got a 23 yd TD run by Younger, 35-28. NT went 76 yards in 10 plays. On 4th & 7 from the FIU10 they fired incomplete with 1:50 left.

Utah St definitely had a weather advantage in their game vs San Jose St as it was 28?, snowing and cold. San Jose St was competitive however. Utah St converted on a fake 48 yard FG on its first drive and would drive 75 yards in 9 plays for a TD, but the next 7 possessions were punts. Each team went on a long drive with Utah St getting a TD with 5:24 left in the half and San Jose fumbling at the end of a 10 yard FD pass rec at the Utah St 15. After a 2 yard punt, San Jose went 33 yards in 3 plays for a TD to pull within 14-6 and then after a fumbled punt the Spartans added a 31 yard FG to cut it to 14-9. Utah St got a 40 yard FG with 13:42 left then drove 87 yards in 7 plays for the clinching TD, 24-9. Utah St fumbled at their own 28 but San Jose, on 4th & 3 from the 7, was sacked.

Thanks to their special teams and defense TCU scored 3 short TD’s in the 2Q which blew open their game vs Utah. They got a blocked punt which set up a 23 yard drive for a TD then got a 39 yd PR by Kerley which set up a 29 yard drive for a TD. They added a 15 yard IR TD to go up 35-7. Their 3 TD’s came in a span of 2:31 and only had 52 yards of total offense but TCU was int’d in the EZ after a 72 yard, 10 play drive late 1H and Utah got a 50 yard TD pass 3 plays later. TCU led this game 55-21 when Utah went 50 yards in 5 plays for a garbage TD with 2:29 left. The drive included a 4th & 6 conversion on a TCU personal foul penalty.

Arkansas St gave Ryan Aplin his first start at QB and he hit 20 of 27 for 168 yards also leading the RedWolves in rushing with 82. The key to this game was Arkansas St settling for FG’s. In the 1H they went 51 yards in 11 plays, 59 yards in 6 plays and 92 yards in 17 plays but settled for FG’s of 35, 19 and 22 yards and only led 9-7 at the half with a 200-128 yard edge. FAU did dominate the next 1.5Q’s driving 77 yards in 12 plays, 45 yards in 6 plays and 76 yards in 5 plays for 3 TD’s and a commanding 28-9 lead. ASU settled for another 21 yard FG after a 12 play drive, 28-12, but FAU got a TD with 2:26 left to lead by 23. ASU went 60 yards in 6 plays for a garbage TD with :42 left.

Marshall had a 24-15 FD edge vs Southern Miss and a 363-294 yard edge but 3 turnovers and a KR TD did them in. Each team had a TD drive kept alive by roughing the kicker but Marshall also went 70 yards in 16 plays and settled for a 27 yard FG and went on a 14 play drive setting for another FG. At the half Marshall had a 227-106 yard edge but trailed by 1, 14-13. Marshall fumbled a punt at their own 39 and SM got a TD on the next play. SM also had a 3rd & 11, 36 yard TD pass with 6:54 left to lead 27-20. Marshall’s last 2 drives ended on interceptions at the SM 2 and 7.

The Sunday night game between Tulsa and East Carolina was interesting. EC probably should have been up by more than 20-7 at the half as they had a commanding 401-112 yard edge. Tulsa, however, took a 41 yard FG off the board due to a roughing the kicker penalty which put the ball at the EC19 but after a 3rd & 14, 23 yard run was called back on a hold, the Hurricane punted 33 yards for a TB. EC settled for a 29 yard FG, missed a 48 yard FG, fumbled at the EC49 but did lead 20-0 after getting a 37 yard FG with 1:10 left at the half. Tulsa had a 59 yard, 5 play drive for a TD with :18 left 2Q to pull within 13. Tulsa got a TD with 4:00 left in the 3Q to pull within 23-17. EC had not had a defensive TD all year but would get three in the 4Q. They got a 42 yard IR TD with 12:05 left to give them some breathing room, 30-17. Tulsa went 61 yards in 13 plays but was SOD at the EC 7. With 2:17 left, EC added a 57 yard IR TD and then 2 plays later got a 49 yard fumble return for a TD for the 44-17 final.