Daily Blog - Tuesday, September 22nd

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.

ALSO CHECK OUT THE MUCH IMPROVED TEAM PAGES! Make sure you vote in the upset poll. The upset poll won last week and unlike last week there are 7 teams that have a shot at being the Top 25 team that loses to an unranked team Surprisingly a couple of top 25 teams are UNDERDOGS to unranked teams this week. Go to the front menu and in the right hand column is the poll and register your vote!

....Additional News and Notes
Middle Tennessee upset Maryland for the second straight year. Maryland led 7-0 but they turned it over on three consecutive drives with two of them resulting in 29 and 31 yd TD drives for MT. With 12:22 left in the 3Q, Maryland led 21-13 with a 281-144 yard edge. The lead then changed hands five times with Maryland hitting a 42 yard FG with 6:14 left to lead 31-29. After an interception, Maryland missed a 42 yd FG with 1:30 left which would have put them up by 5 and MT went 73 yards getting a 19 yard FG with no time left to pull out the win.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s News & Notes, Akron was playing without their QB Jacquemain who was suspended. Matt Rogers had 4 interceptions, most of them with long returns. Indy returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a TD. They had 61/13pl and 53/13pl drives result in a 25 yard FG and an interception at the 3 while Akron got a 49 yd TD pass and Indiana only led 10-7. Akron blocked a punt for a TD late 2Q and Indy would drive 77/12pl for a TD with :33 left in the half. Indy led 17-14 and had a 214-100 yard edge. Indy extended it to 38-14 with Akron taking over with 4:53 left and driving 77/9pl for a TD with :34 left.

Special teams really helped out Central Michigan vs Alcorn St as they were one week removed from their big upset over Michigan St. CM got an 18 yard drive for a FG (after a 30 yard PR), a 55 yard PR TD, a 17 yard TD drive (after 28 yd PR) and a 6 yard drive for a 32 yard FG (after a fmbl) while building a 34-0 halftime lead. They started the 2H with a 51 yard KR which set up a 39 yard TD drive. Alcorn then drove 62 yards but missed a 27 yard FG. After Alcorn had a bad snap on a punt, CM drove 31 yards for a TD. CM gained 76 yards in 18 plays getting a 1st & goal before they took a knee to end the game.

In the first half of the ULM/Arizona St game, the yards were even at 146. ASU got an 89 yard KR TD by Omar Bolden to open the game and a 16 yard ULM punt side up ASU with a 40 yard TD drive. ULM was intercepted at the ASU1 by Bolden at the end of a 55/9pl drive. A 44 yard KR set ASU up for a 51/4pl TD drive. ASU got a 24 yard FG after a 34 yard IR late in the 1H to lead 24-7. ULM fumbled a punt at their own 41 setting up an ASU TD and on 4th & 12 ASU got a pass interference penalty to keep alive a 79/11pl TD drive to lead 38-7 after 3Q’s.

BYU had a 5-0 turnover deficit vs Florida St but probably the biggest decision of the game came when BYU won the coin toss and elected to defer to FSU who was given the ball on the opening possession. In FSU’s first four possessions the Seminoles went 80/11pl, 86/17pl, 60/3pl and 82/12pl for TD’s while BYU had 1 turnover and 2 TD’s on their first 3 possessions. BYU’s 4th possession was a fumbled KO which FSU turned into a 33 yard FG and a 30-14 lead at the half. On BYU’s first 2H possession Hall was intercepted and returned 63 yards for a TD which basically iced it at 37-14.

There were a couple of key plays and a few key injuries in the Michigan St/Notre Dame game. In the 1H the Irish, on 1st & goal at the 7 got a Clausen to Floyd TD pass but it was ruled incomplete. Weis challenged the play and replay should have given them the TD but surprisingly the call was upheld. NBC continued to show the play in the 3Q and 4Q with the announcers questioning why it was not called a TD and I concur. To make matters worse star WR Michael Floyd suffered a broken collarbone on the play which knocked him out of the game and the regular season. The Irish settled for a 22 yard FG on the drive. Also in the 1H, QB Jimmy Clausen, on 2nd & 25 was sacked and hurt his knee and was clearly not 100% the rest of the game. In the 3Q, Tate dropped an open TD pass and the Irish settled for a 46 yd FG. Michigan St’s offense played well and they piled up 439 yards and they were in range for at least a tying FG for overtime when on 2nd & 10 at the Irish 18 Cousins was intercepted at the 4.

Stanford got 94 yard KR TD, 23 yard IR TD, 48 yard PR TD which was half of their 42 points in the game. Still, Stanford controlled matters statistically with a 382-228 yard edge vs San Jose. La Secia got the start for the Spartans but Reed came in to QB the 4Q guiding San Jose to one of their two TD’s.

The top two teams in the country were both facing foes with ample motivation but neither won by the margins expected. Texas was at home versus Texas Tech, playing with revenge for the previous year’s last second loss which cost them a shot at the National Title game. Surprisingly, Tech had 25-20 FD and 414-340 yard edges. After Tech took their opening drive 41 yards for a FG and a 3-0 lead, Texas got a 45 yard PR for a TD with 7:02 left in the 1Q. After Texas got a 44 yard FG with 14:51 left in the 2Q, they never led by less than 7 points after that but Coach Mack Brown described the game as “Survival.”

Syracuse WR Mike Williams had 11 receptions for 209 yards. Northwestern QB Mike Kafka hit 35-42 for 390 yards including his first 16 passes breaking a school record set in 1962. Syracuse jumped out to a 17-0 lead and was up 24-21 at the half. Northwestern missed an xp after taking a 34-27 lead with 9:04 left and Syracuse got a TD with 6:07 left to tie it. After an exchange of punts, Northwestern had the ball at midfield with :56 left but on 3rd & 10 Kafka was intercepted and returned 22 yards to the NU 39. The costly pick set up Syracuse for a 41 yard FG on the last play for Doug Marrone’s first win as the Orange’s head coach.

Injuries of Note: Texas A&M’s top WR Jeff Fuller is out indefinitely with a cracked fibula and frosh WR Uzoma Nwachukwu, whose nickname is “Easy” had a 39 yard run and 3 receptions for 101 yards. Uzoma Nwachukwu had 3 TD’s coming on a 35 yard reception in the 1Q, a 39 yard run in the 1Q and a 50 yard reception in the 3Q. A&M actually led this one 38-17 and Utah St got a TD with 5:30 left and then after A&M missed a 41 yd FG with 2:43 left, Utah St went 76/12pl for a TD with :25 left. Those two drives accounted for 162 yards and gave them the yardage edge for the game. Utah St recovered the on-side kick at the 42 but on 3rd down QB Borel was sacked and fumbled.

Two weeks ago Daniel Thomas (PS#25JC) became the first player to begin his Kansas St career with consecutive 100 yard rushing performances since Cornelius Davis did it in 1966. Versus a tough UCLA rush D he was held to 54 yards on 15 carries but did have 61 yards in receptions.

The Buffalo/UCF contest was an interesting game. UCF took their opening drive 68/14pl for a TD and led 7-0 but the Knights would then have just 24 yards the rest of the 1H. In fact, Buffalo had a 203-92 yard edge in the 1H and led 17-7. UCF fumbled to open the 3Q then Buffalo fumbled on their next 2 possessions. UCF went 73/9pl for a TD and then 6 yards for a game tying 44 yd FG, 17-17. UCF went 59/14pl but after a 1st & goal at the 7, settled for a 22 yard FG with 5:57 left. Buffalo went for it on 4th & 8 but was intercepted and returned 23 yards to the UB 44. UCF got 1 FD and then a 42 yard FG made some of their backers very happy with 1:33 left.

It was a tough week for Ohio U K Matt Weller. In the 1H Weller missed 26 and 43 yd FG’s and in the 3Q he missed a 40 yard FG. The next time they were in range, at the Cal Poly 25, Solich opted to pass up the 42 yard FG and went for it on 4th & 3 and they were SOD. Ohio led this one 28-3 but surprisingly brought in 3rd string QB Tettleton with 4:13 left and he threw an interception which was returned 60 yards for a TD.

The story of the USF/Charleston Southern game was that USF QB Matt Grothe was injured in the 2Q and was lost for the year. A couple of interesting notes from that game. Yes, Charleston Southern was overmatched but USF did not punt during the game. In the 1H they had four TD drives, a missed FG and returned a blocked FG for a TD. They opened the 2H with 3 drives for TD’s and then a drive for a 37 yard FG. USF’s final drive got them 2 FD’s ending the game at the Charleston Southern 43. In case you are wondering about USF’s backup QB situation, the job now belongs to BJ Daniels. Daniels was impressive vs Charleston Southern as he rushed 8 times for 105 yards and also hit 10 of 13 passes for 149 yards. His most impressive play of the game came on a 3rd & 5, 50 yard pass to Bogan for a TD with :44 left in the 2Q. Daniels actually has the strongest arm of any QB on the team including Grothe and in his senior year of high school threw for 2,500 yards while rushing for nearly 1,000. Check your Phil Steele ACC/Big East regional magazine for more on the Bulls QB’s.

Granted, TCU was in a flat spot vs Texas St but the game was much closer than the final would indicate. Late 3Q, TCU only led 35-21 and fumbled at their own 10 yard line. Texas St, on 3rd & goal at the 8, was intercepted in the endzone for a TB and only trailed by 14 after 3Q’s. TCU got a TD with 14:21 left and then drove 65 yards for a TD with 6:14 left. Texas St fumbled the KO and TCU added a 15/2pl drive for a TD with 5:35 left to extend the margin.

Western Michigan dominated Miami by more than the final score and stats show. With 3:52 left in the 3Q, WM had a 48-6 lead and MU at this point had 199 yards of offense. They gained 222 yards on three late drives and got three garbage TD’s to make the final score a semi-respectable, 48-26.

Air Force led 37-6 when they were SOD on 4th & 7 at the NM16 with 3:16 left threatening to make it a 44-6 game. NM got a 84 yd TD run by Wright to make the final appear closer than it was at 37-13. As I mentioned in the Monday blog, AF QB Jefferson was injured with the Falcons leading 7-0 and Dietz QB’d the majority of the game.

Marshall had a commanding 246-10 rushing edge over Bowling Green and led the game 17-7. BG did get a FG with 3:19 left to pull within a score and got the ball back with 2:13 left but their 4th & 21 pass fell incomplete on what would have been a hook-n-ladder from the Marshall 26.

Defenses controlled the Mississippi St/Vanderbilt game as you would expect with a 15-3 final score. The two teams combined for 19 punts. Thanks to two long drives in the 2Q, MSU had a 172-33 yard edge and led 6-3 at the half. Vandy fumbled a punt at their 36 setting up an MSU FG and the Bulldogs led 9-3 after 3Q’s. After 5 punts, MSU went 80/8pl. Two plays after a 4th & 2 conversion at the Vandy 27, the Bulldogs got a 22 yard TD run by QB Lee to ice it and Vandy QB Smith was intercepted at the MSU 35 with 2:33 left.

Yesterday I talked about the two rain delays in the Clemson game but they combined to “only” total 2 hours. The longest weather delay of the day belonged to I-10 rivals UTEP and New Mexico St. The game kicked off at 6 pm local time with UTEP jumping out to 7-0 lead thanks to a quick 52/7pl TD drive before the game went to a weather delay which lasted an amazing THREE HOURS. When play resumed at 9:10 pm, NMSt put together a couple of long drives going 10 and 15 plays but they were SOD at the UTEP 37 and missed a 43 yard FG. UTEP got its legs back and would cruise to leads of 31-0 and 38-6 before NMSt put together a 46 yd drive for a garbage TD with 3:14 left for the 38-12 final.

One of the most interesting plays of the week happened in the Wake Forest/Elon game where the schools are separated by just 50 miles. With WF leading 14-0, the referees helped out the Deacons. Wake QB Skinner threw a deep pass and the ref inadvertently knocked down Elon DB Sullivan and WF got a 54 yard TD. Sullivan got up wanting a penalty but of course the officials are considered part of the field so the TD counted.

.....NON CONFERENCE RECORDS

The SEC is still holding the top spot in all 3 categories, including a 44-4 projection in non-conference games. They’re projected to go 32-5 vs FCS non-conference foes, and 10-4 vs other BCS non-conference teams. The SEC is the only conference projected to have a winning record vs other BCS conference teams. The Big 12 was knocked from the second place spot this week by the Pac-10 in the BCS non-conference category. The Big East also made a move past the Big 12 in the overall projected non-conference wins category. The Sun Belt is still holding the bottom spot, although they are projected to have a better win % vs non-conference BCS foes (9.1%) than the MAC (6.9%) although the MAC does play 7 more games. For the team by team breakdown, just see below: