Daily Blog - Tuesday September 15th

Welcome to my Tuesday Blog. As I mentioned yesterday the Monday News and Notes are for the play by plays I went thru as of Sunday night. I just went thru the rest of the games yesterday and these are additional notes that you should find interesting. Today we will also go over the projected non conference records for each FBS conference.

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Tuesday News & Notes

Miami, OH was shutout for the 2nd straight week and has now gone 8Q’s without scoring. Vs Boise they played a little better than the final of 48-0 would indicate. Boise St did have a 441-194 yard edge but Boise in the 1H also got a 10 yard drive for a TD and only led 14-0 when they blocked a punt with :31 left in the half and got a 35 yd TD pass with :08 left. After Boise went on 2 long TD drives, they only led 34-0 when they got an int return to the 4 setting up a TD with 9:46 left. After Miami was int’d at their 24 with 4:14 left, Boise got another TD with 1:56 left. Boise did bring in backup QB Coughlin with 13:17 left in the game and he engineered 4 series...

Cincinnati’s 70 points vs SE Missouri St were their most since 1921. Their 49 points in the 1H were the most under Brian Kelly. Mardy Gilyard became the first FBS player since 2005 to have a PR, TD, TD run and TD reception in the same game. UC led 49-3 at the half and Pike was pulled with 4:34 left 2Q. UC even returned the opening KO of the 3Q 100 yards for a TD and ended the game at the SEM9 taking a knee...

Akron got its first shutout since 1992 in their opening game in InfoCision Stadium, their first on-campus game since 1939. The Zips led 24-0 at the half with just 1 punt but they did miss FG’s of 28 and 46 yards. Akron also had short TD drives of 9 yds (after 37 yd IR) and 30 (after 20 yd PR). Akron’s opening 3Q drive saw 11 straight runs and the 12th play was a 2 yd TD pass and they went 34/7pl for a 32 yd FG and added a 32 yd IR TD early 4Q to close the scoring. Akron was also SOD at the 2 and finished with a 23-3 FD edge...

The stats were amazing for NC St but the play-by-play revealed the Wolf Pack’s total domination despite some short TD drives. Murray St actually got a FD on their 2nd poss of the game but with 4:41 left in the 3Q, NCSt had 23-1 FD and 440-(-5) yd edges vs the Racers and led 65-6. Murray did take their next drive 57/12pl for a TD with 14:10 left, getting 4 FD’s on a drive and finishing the game with 5 FD’s and 35 total yards. After looking over the numbers I went to my ACC/Big East magazine to find out what type of team Murray St is. While they do have 17 returning starters from a team that had a respectable 5-7 record in ‘08, they did lose to Indiana 45-3 last year, lost to Louisville 73-10 in ‘07 and lost to Missouri 47-7 in ‘06...

I might have mentioned this game on Monday but UNLV’s QB Clayton was injured and backup QB Clausen led UNLV to 66/7pl and 51/6pl drives for TD’s on his first 2 poss and LV led 21-20. Oregon St had a 3rd & 8 FD conversion to their 31 then on 3rd & 26 fired incomplete and it looked like LV would pull off the upset but pass interference on what looked to be an uncatchable pass gave the Beavers a FD. They then converted on 3rd & 7 for a FD and that led to a 33 yd FG with :07 left and OSU escaped...

While Florida St had a 412-310 yd edge and was playing on a short week, the bottom line is that late in the game it looked like they would lose. FSU, in the 2H, fumbled at the JSt4 and was SOD at the JSt35. JSt, leading 9-7, had a 35 yd FG blk’d. FSU fmbl’d at the JSt32 with 10:10 left but JSt up by 2, went for it on 4th & 1 and was sk’d for a 6 yd loss back to the FSt 37. JSt forced a punt and then punted with just 2:51 left. FSU drove and got a go-ahead TD with :31 left and then ex-LSU Tiger QB Ryan Perrilloux (PS#1), who ret’d from his 1 game suspension, was sk’d & fmbl’d and FSU returned it 33 yds for a TD...

For the 2nd straight week Arizona put up big yards but it didn’t translate on the scoreboard. They had 559-226 yd and 27-13 FD edges vs N Arizona. The game was close at 14-10 early 2Q with NA putting together a 75/14pl drive but Arizona had a 27 yd FG blk’d, fmbl’d at the NA 39 and was SOD at the NA5. NA’s final TD in the 4Q, trailing 34-10, came after an IR and was a 19/1pl TD pass with 8:07 left...

James Madison had a 217-151 yd edge at the half vs Maryland but trailed 21-14 as they were SOD at the MD29 and had a 45 yd FG blk’d. JMU did lead 28-21 and MD faced a 4th & 4 at the JMU47. A stop there could have had JMU pull the upset but MD got a 20 yd pass on 4th & 4 for a FD and on the next play a 27 yd TD pass to tie before winning it in OT...

Fresno St appeared in control of the Wisconsin game throughout building leads of 14-0 and 21-7 but UW did get a 57 yd FG on the final play of the 1H to pull within 21-17. FSU’s first 3 drives of the 2H ended on an int at the UW39, int at the UW24 and then a 70/16pl drive ended in a missed 45 yd FG. The 3 long drives gave them a chance to put the game away but on the next play, UW got a 72 yd TD run by Clay to actually take the lead, 24-21 with 5;45 left and UW won it in 2 OT’s...

A couple key notes from the Ohio St/USC game. OSU had a 138-6 yd edge in the 1Q but the rest of the game USC had a 307-127 yd edge. Two key drives made up the bulk of USC’s offense as they took over with :48 left in the half and went 76/8pl for a 20 yd FG. The first 28 plays of the 3Q all were on USC’s side of the field and the Buckeyes led the majority of the 2H. USC took over with 7:15 left and got a crucial 3rd & 9, 22 yd pass from their own 15 to keep the drive alive, later converting on 4th & 1 and got a TD with 1:05 left and the 2 pt conversion saw them win 18-15...

Ahhh it sure looks like the Oregon Ducks offense is back with 38 points vs Purdue. Upon closer inspection, their offense still has a lot of work to do. In the opener, PU at home allowed Toledo 493 yds. Playing in Autzen Stadium, vs a desperate Duck team, they yielded just 356. After taking a closer look at UO’s scoring drives, the Ducks were fortunate. The D actually accounted for 14 pts with an 18 yd IR TD and a 28 yd FR TD. They also got a 10 yd IR to the PU13 which set up a FG. The Ducks’ final TD came after a 19 yd punt and on 3rd & 19 they got a 21 yd TD run. PU actually had 24-17 FD and 451-356 yd edges in Autzen...

My first reaction when I looked at the score of the Kansas St game was that the Cats would be a troubled team this year. After going through the play-by-play, the bottom line is if they had some proficiency on FG’s and xp’s they would have beaten Louisiana. K-St missed a 24 yd FG in the 1Q. Trailing 7-2 they went 45/4pl but fmbl’d. On their next drive they lined up for a 39 yd FG but a bad snap saw their holder tackled for a 3 yd loss. K-St was driving again but was int at the ULL26 with 2:19 left in the half and UL gained 73 of their yards getting a TD with :05 left in the half for a 14-2 lead. K-St opened the 3Q with a 14pl drive but settled for a 47 yd FG and naturally missed it. K-St went 67/11pl for a TD but missed the xp. K-St went 72/11pl for a 3 yd TD run to lead 15-14 with 8:08 left and forced a punt with 6:34 left. They punted with 3:40 left and UL had the exact opposite luck on FG’s. Tyler Albrecht, on his first career FG attempt, nailed a 48 yarder with :32 left to give UL the win...

New Hampshire dominated Ball St. BSU’s offense did little and in fact, at the half NH had an amazing 240-27 yd edge. BSU’s first 2 scoring “drives” were 7 and 4 yds after a 15 yd PR and a blk’d punt. They do have a good FG kicker in Ian McGarvey as he nailed 48 and 47 yarders. NH led 16-6 at the half. NH led 23-9 and had a 1st & gl at the 10 but 2 holds and a sack forced a 4th & gl at the 45 and they punted. NH missed a 49 yd FG (13:39) but BSU drove 45/7pl for a TD with 8:50 left to get within 7 and then got 2 FD’s including a 4th & 6, 15 yd pass to the NH20 but after a sk on 4th & 20 they were sk’d again with 2:40 left...

Memphis was dominated by Middle Tennessee. Keep in mind they were playing with a short week after facing Mississippi on Sunday but MT had a 436-219 yd edge. MEM, trailing 31-7, gained 48 of their yards on the final drive for a TD with 1:47 left. MT QB Dwight Dasher threw for 231 yards and rushed for 89...

The Ohio/N Texas game was an interesting one and despite the final score of 61 points, it was actually a defensive struggle. The score at the end of regulation was 20-20 and at that point, neither had over 300 yards offense. NT got a 5 yd drive for a 32 yd FG then after an int, drove 37 yds for a TD and led 10-0. OU got a 44 yd FG with :06 left in the half to pull within 10-3. OU got a 5 yd drive for a 47 yd FG (after NT fmbl) to trail 10-6 but NT went 60/8pl to lead 17-6 (8:43 3Q). OU got a 30 yd PR and then a 32/1pl TD pass to pull within 17-13 after 3Q’s. One huge play happened when OU got a 69 yd IR TD with 8:44 left to take the lead. NT had a 3rd & gl at the 2 and went for the win but were stopped at the 1 and settled for an 18 yd FG and OT. While both got FG’s in the 1OT, NT converted on 3rd & 12 with roughing the passer to set up their TD while OU converted on 4th & 15 with a 15 yd pass. After roughing the passer they opted to go for the 2 point conversion from the 1 and got it. With NT leading 17-13, QB Dodge was injured and backup Tune hit just 9-15-69 with that key int....

Usually a team puts on a tremendous performance in the first game after a key player is lost to injury. Oklahoma bore that out in their game vs Idaho St. They were without TE Gresham for the season and of course returning Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford is out 3-4 weeks. OU flat out dominated the overmatched Idaho St Bengals. In the 1H they had a 340-(-2) yd edge. QB Landry Jones hit 18-32-286 yds...

The box score was not overwhelming in the Illinois St/Illinois game. ISU was coming off a 31-6 loss to E Illinois the previous week but do keep in mind Illinois did not have LB Wilson and QB Williams was injured on the game’s first play and didn’t return. Illinois led 24-0 at the half with 4 scoring drives, a missed 45 yd FG and an int in the EZ. They opened the 3Q with a 69/8pl drive for a TD and led 31-0. They led 45-10 with 9;21 left and ISU gained 137 of its 399 yards during garbage time...

Non-Conference

Nothing has changed this week, as the SEC is projected to have the best record in all 3 categories with an 85% winning record vs FBS teams and going 9-4 vs BCS foes. The Big 12 comes in a distant second in all 3 categories and is projected to go 28-12 vs FBS teams. The Big Ten has moved into 3rd place (replacing the Pac 10 who slid to fourth) in two categories but surprisingly they're only projected to finish with a 23.1% winning percentage vs BCS foes. The MWC still stands in 5th place. For the team by team breakdown, just see below: