Week 11 Top 25 Game Grades

News and Notes

Indiana was hanging with Wisconsin early. The game was tied at 10 early 2Q and 17-10 when Indy missed a 52 yd FG with 5:46 left in the 2Q. QB Chappell was inj’d for IU and that was the key to the game. UW went 66/2pl for a TD to make it 24-10 then Chappell’s replacement, Edward Wright-Baker, lost a fmbl on his first snap and UW went 29 yds for a TD then after a 22 yd PR, went 46/5pl for a TD with :21 left in the half to make it 38-10 and turn it into a blowout. The Badgers’ 83 pts were the most they scored since 1915 and the most for a Big Ten conf game since 1950 when Ohio St scored 83 vs Iowa. It was the most pts by an FBS school this season.

Illinois needed a win to become bowl eligible and it appeared they had a lay up hosting Minnesota who came in as losers of 9 straight. Unfortunately, leading 7-0 in the 2Q they would give up 2 TD’s and a FG with 1 TD coming after UI was SOD on 4&5 at the UM22. They trailed 17-7 at the half. UI rallied. They got a TD with 10:44 left to lead 27-24 and Leshoure got a 55 yd TD run with 8:14 left to apparently clinch it 34-24. UM got a 92 yd KR to the 4 and got a TD with 7:55 left. After 3 punts, UM took over with 2:44 left and converted on 3&10 at their own 20 and went 80/10pl getting a 2 yd TD run with :16 left to pull off the upset.

Michigan/Purdue was played on a rainy, windy day and each team had 5 TO’s. UM got a 58 yd FR TD and jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Their 2nd TD was a 38 yd drive after a 9 yd punt. With UM up 14-3 PU got a 94 yd IR TD and only trailed 14-13 at the half. UM was clinging to a 20-16 lead when PU got off a 28 yd punt with 5:59 left and UM went 49/9pl for a TD with 1:58 to clinch it. UM had 21-12 FD and 495-256 yd edges.

Vanderbilt had not gained over 240 yards in any SEC game all year but had 242 at the half vs Kentucky. As had been the case all season long, UK played a much better 2H. Joker Phillips was incensed at half and left the locker room 10:00 early telling the seniors they should be embarrassed for their performance on Senior Day and to discuss it among themselves. The team came out fired up in the 2H and would storm to a 38-13 lead with 5:32 left. VU got a TD with 2:33 left to pull within 18 but the onside kick went OOB.

Kent St had the nation’s #1 rush D allowing just 69.4 ypg but Army ran for 233 yards on them.

Boston College/Duke was an interesting game. BC had a chance to put it away and leading 21-6, faced a 3&4 at the Duke9 when Harris fmbl’d for the 2nd time inside the 15 and this time Duke’s Campbell ret’d it 95 yds for a TD, a 14 pt swing to put Duke back in the game, 21-16. After 3 punts, Duke took over at their 37 with 4:52 left and went 59/12pl but on 4&gl, fired incomplete from the BC4 yd line down by 5.

Tennessee has won at least 3 conf games every year since 1977 but finally got Derek Dooley’s first SEC win with their 52-14 wipeout of Mississippi. QB Bray threw for 265 yds in the 1H with UT rushing for just 7 and UT finished with a 441-295 yd edge. UT led 14-0 when they got a 46 yd IR TD to go up 21-0 and led 31-14 at the half. They added a 10 yd IR TD early 3Q to turn it into a blowout and in the 2H UM had just 1 drive across midfield until they trailed 52-14 and less than 5:00 remained.

Dan Persa put together a heroic effort. Northwestern trailed Iowa 17-7 and the Hawkeyes were int’d at the NU5 with 10:56 left. Persa led an 85/13pl drive for a TD with 6:21 left then a 91 yd drive and his 20 yd TD pass to Fields with 1:22 left put them in the lead. Unfortunately Persa tore his Achilles on the play and will be out the rest of the year. It was the Wildcats’ 3rd straight upset of Iowa. Iowa actually had just 4 FD’s in the 1H and trailed 7-3 but scored on their first 2 poss of the 3Q for their 17-7 lead. NU finished with a 26-17 FD edge.

Louisville was without QB Froman vs USF. UL got an 11 yd drive for a TD after a USF fmbl early and USF got a spectacular 100 yd KR by Lamar to trail 14-10 at the half. USF led 21-14 and UL got a TD with 1:21 left then USF missed a 52 yd FG. They actually made a 52 yd FG but a time-out was called and they missed it on the final pay of regulation. UL was SOD on 4&1 and USF hit a 37 yd FG for the win.

Both Miami, Fl and Georgia Tech started backup QB’s. UM’s Stephen Morris hit 10-18-230 yds while GT’s Tevin Washington hit 7-16-101 but had 122 yds rushing on 21 carries. UM jumped out to a 14-0 lead and had a fmbl ret’d for a TD overturned by review and it was 14-3 at the half after UM dropped a TD pass on 3&10 late 2Q. GT did fmbl at the UM6 but UM was SOD on 4&gl at the 1. When GT had a 2nd & 5 at the UM9 and fmbl’d, there were hardly any fans left in the stadium in UM’s 35-10 win.

UCF jumped out to a 14-0 lead vs Southern Miss but SM would rally to lead 17-14 at the half and scored TD’s on their 2nd & 3rd 2H poss while UCF missed a 30 yd FG and SM cruised to a 31-21 win keeping the Golden Eagles in the CUSA Title chase.

BYU dominated vs Colorado St. BYU fmbl’d on their first poss but scored TD’s on their next 5 poss to lead 35-0 at half. It was 49-3 when CSU went 80/8pl for a garbage TD with 3:07 left. BYU got a 74 yd run to the 5 yd line and took a knee.

Missouri and Kansas St played an even 1H. Trailing 21-14, KSU went 66/10pl. They had a 1st & gl at the 1 with :22 left in the half when they fmbl’d the C exchange and MO rec’d at the 7 and led by 3 at the half. MO got a 53 yd FR TD then after another fmbl got a 33 yd FG. KSU had 4 crucial fmbl’s. MO extended the lead to 38-14 early 4Q. KSU got a TD with 6:55 left and forced a punt with 4:28 left. KSU converted on 3&10, 4&5, 3&16 and got a 26 yd TD pass with 1:11 left. Both had 22 FD’s and the yards were almost even with Missouri having a slight 440-422 yd edge.

West Virginia had a 29-15 FD edge vs Cincinnati and a 419-281 yd edge and led 30-3 at the half. Trailing 14-7 UC was int’d in the EZ for a TB on FD from the 14. After a punt, WV got a 48 yd TD pass then after a 25 yd PR and pers foul, WV drove 60/3pl for a TD to lead 28-0 and coasted in the 2H.

Wake Forest actually had a 9-7 FD edge vs NC State at the half and a 137-126 yd edge. The key play of the game happened at the end of the half. WF went on a 13pl drive and faced a 4&gl at the 2 trailing 10-3 with a chance to tie it, they lost a yard. NCSt scored a TD to open the 3Q and then WF fmbl’d a punt on their 17 setting up another NCSt TD and the Wolfpack went on to a 38-3 win as WF had run a conservative gameplan trying to run the ball and shorten the game and did have a 110-59 yd rushing edge.

Oklahoma extended the nation’s longest home win streak to 36 and got revenge for the previous year’s 41-13 loss to TT. Each team opened with a TD but then OU rolled to a 38-7 halftime lead and 45-7 after 3Q’s, even missing a 35 yd FG in the 4Q and fmbl’ing at the TT37 late. OU had a 562-326 yd edge.

Washington St got their first P10 win since the 2008 Apple Cup and the Beavers lost for the first time in 7 games at Reser Stadium. They now have USC, Stanford and Oregon left and need to win 2 of the 3 just to become bowl eligible. WSU had a 214-124 yd edge at the half and OSU was booed heading into the locker room trailing 14-0. WSU led 24-7 and it was 24-14 when OSU was SOD at their own 38 with 4:47 left and the Cougars tacked on a TD 4pl later.

Memphis looked like they had a shot at the win with a 10-0 lead at the half but Marshall scored TD’s on 3 of their first four 3Q poss to jump to a 21-10 lead and got a 62 yd TD pass with 6:18 left, up 21-13 to ice it in their 15 pt win.

Central Michigan had a FG with :15 left in the half to take their first lead of the game, 24-21 but Navy battled back to lead 38-24 with 7:27 left. CM got a TD with 3:04 left and then Navy was ready for the onside kick and kicked deep so Navy started at their 20. They got 1 FD & punted with 1:04 left and CM went 80/8pl getting a TD with :04 left but the 2 pt for the win failed.

An amazing stat coming in was that Penn St had never had a TD pass in 8 tries in Big Ten play at Ohio Stadium. Walk-on Matt McGloin got two TD passes in the 1H and PSU jumped out to a 14-3 lead over the Buckeyes. OSU rallied, thanks in part to 34 and 30 yd IR TD’s in the 2H. The latter put the Bucks up 31-14 with 8:02 left. They got the ball with 7:10 left and marched 78/7pl and threw a 3 yd TD pass with 3:59 left for the 38-14 final.

One week after TJ Yates set a school record for passing yards, he had 4 int’s and NC turned the ball over six times. NC led VT 10-6 over VT and 10-9 at the half but imploded with 6 TO’s in the 2H. The Tar Heels were int’d at the VT21. A punt did not appear to hit the returnman but was ruled a fmbl and VT rec’d it, setting up a 21 yd drive for a TD. NC had a 1st & gl at the 2 but fmbl’d and VT kicked it out of the EZ for a TB. NC was int’d at the 2 and int’d at the 13 as well and could not overcome 6 TO’s in the 26-10 loss.

TCU did have 27-7 FD and 466-300 yd edges vs the Aztecs. SDSt fell on a fmbl in the EZ for a def TD to lead 14-0 but at the half TCU was firmly in control, 34-14 with a 318-85 yd edge. The Frogs had leads of 37-14 and 40-21 in the 4Q and were at the Aztec13 with 9:05 left when they were int’d. The Aztecs went 88/6pl getting a 33 yd TD pass with 6:43 left then after a 29 yd PR got a 35/1pl TD pass with 4:50 left to pull within 40-35. TCU got 3 FD’s getting to the SDS19 where they took a knee.

Colorado blew a big lead vs Kansas last week and it got Dan Hawkins fired. Hawkins was very supportive since his son was the QB and was even at the stadium for the game vs Iowa St. Once again, CU got out to a big lead, this time after a 45 yd FR with 11:22 left and they led 34-7. Iowa St scored a TD with 8:11 left and got to the CU12 where they were SOD on their last gasp with 4:41 left. Cody Hawkins had a 13th TD connection with Scottie McKnight which set a school record for a TD duo.

Mississippi St was off a bye but Alabama was coming in off a loss. MSU made a game of it early vs the Tide as they settled for a 24 yd FG and it was 3-3 late 1Q. Bama got a 45 yd FG and the team’s punted 3 straight times then Bama got a 45 yd TD pass with 7:09 left to make it 13-3. After a PR TD was called back, on the first play Bama threw a screen to Ingram who took it 78 yds for a TD to lead 20-3. Bama’s first 3Q play went 56 yds for a TD, 27-3. At the end of the game, Bama got an IR to the MSU22 and from the 3 they fmbl’d into the EZ for a TB with :43 left. Bama’s last TD drive was led by backup QB McCarron.

20:00 prior to game time, Nebraska played a highlight of Tuner Gill’s playing days at NU. The Huskers evidently took it easy on him. Taylor Martinez, who played just 1 play vs Iowa St, was limited by design and had just 11 rushes in the game. NU got a TD with :33 left in the 1Q and a 54/9pl drive then went 75/9pl for a TD with 3:01 left to lead 14-0. The Huskers had a 193-47 yd edge. KU was limited to 5 FD’s for the game and NU had a 397-87 yd edge in the lackluster 20-3 win.

LSU had been eliminated in the SEC West race prior to ULM and defense got them the margin. In the 1H ULM had a 116-90 yd edge but LSU led 23-0. The Tigers had a 32 yd IR TD and they had scoring drives of 14 (after 24 yd PR), 19 (after 34 yd punt), 12 (after 85 yd IR) and 14 (after fmbl) yds to lead 23-0 at half. Their longest drive of the game came after ULM was int’d at the LSU23 with 12:46 left as they drove 66/10pl for their final TD to go up 51-0. For the game LSU had a 251-190 yd edge.

RARE BOWL ELIGIBLE TEAMS: Syracuse got to bowl eligibility in a tight one vs Rutgers where they were actually favored on the road. RU used frosh Jeremy Deering out of the Wildcat and he rushed for 166 yards. It was tied at 10 when RU missed a 45 yd FG with 3:51 left and SU went 66/11pl getting a 24 yd FG with 1:07 left. RU got to their 40 but on 4&17 was SOD with :06 left. RU had a 305-280 yd edge.