Week 12 Top 25 Game Grades

News and Notes

Air Force got off to a slow start vs UNLV but then rolled. The Falcons did have a couple of blown opportunities or could have won by more than 15. In the 1Q AF had a 1&gl at the 4 but fmbl’d at the 2 and the Falcons actually trailed 17-14. AF got a TD with 9:33 left to go up 35-20 but UNLV faked a punt from the AF49 and fired incomplete with 5:38 left. AF got 3 FD’s and had a FD at the 12 but took a knee on the final 2pl.

Washington wore black uniforms for the first time in school history and also painted the endzones black in this Thursday night game. UCLA led 7-0 behind backup QB Richard Brehaut and then LY’s Groza Winner, Kai Forbath, missed a 44 yard FG at the end of the 1Q. UW missed a 53 yd FG but would drive 61/8pl and got a TD with 5:57 left in the half to tie it at 7. UW had a 165-117 yd edge at the half. UCLA lost Brehaut on the 3Q’s 2nd series and the teams would combine for 8 punts on the next 8 poss. Brehaut was replaced by Darius Bell (a running QB). With 6:22 left, Bell threw an int that was ret’d 28 yds for a TD and UW took a 17-7 lead. They brought in 4th string QB Clayton Tunney who hit 1-8-13 and had a pass int’d and UW tacked on another TD 3pl later capping a 43 yd drive with 4:24 left for a misleading 24-7 win in what was a 1-score game early-4Q. UCLA’s 3 QB’s combined for a ridiculous 6-25 with 3 int.

Boise St only led 3-0 after 1Q and 10-0 mid-2Q. Fresno fmbl’d at the Boise30 down 17-0 and BSU led 20-0 at the half. In the 2H BSU would get 4 TD’s and a FG. Three of their TD drives were 22 yds (after 14 yd IR), 40 yds (after 12 yd punt) and 36 yds (after 19 yd IR). Overall BS was impressive statistically with 516-125 yd and 31-9 FD edges and came out in orange for the game trying to dispel the theory they win at home with blue uniforms on blue turf.

Kansas actually led Oklahoma St 14-10 and the key play of the game happened with 8:27 left in the 2Q as they trailed 17-14. They were stuffed on 3&gl from the 1 and went for it on 4&gl from the 1 and were stopped. OSU led 20-14 at the half. After each team missed a FG in the 3Q OSU got a TD with 6:16 left in the 3Q to lead by 13. They blocked a punt for a TD to extend it to 20 then drove 61/5pl for a TD. KU got to the OSU40 but punted and OSU went 85/12pl for a TD with 5:41 left for the final margin.

Louisville’s leading rusher was actually P Chris Philpott who gained 21 yds on a fake punt. Bilal Powell had zero yds on 4 carries but was forced to the sideline with an illness. UL led 10-7 after rec’ing a fmbl for a TD but WV went 82/8pl for a TD to lead 14-10 at the half. There were 9 punts on the first 10 drives of the 2H. UL was SOD at the WV47 with 4:59 left and WV had a 41 yd FG blk’d with 2:33 left but on the next play UL was int’d at midfield and WV ran out the clock.

USF had a 162-81 yd edge vs Pitt at the half but missed a couple opportunities at TD’s and also missed a 52 yd FG and the game was tied at 3. Trailing 17-10 they punted with 7:24 left and Pitt went on a 12pl drive missing a 43 yd FG with 1:31 left. USF got to midfield but with :07 was int’d at the Pitt22.

Kansas St/Colorado combined for 80 pts, their highest total ever in their 66 game series history. CU led 23-14 at half but had a 263-126 yd edge. The Buffs led by 2 scores for most of the 2H but KSU on 4&gl got a 16 yd TD pass with 13:18 left to pull within 8. After another CU TD made it 44-29, KSU on 4&12 got a 23 yd TD pass with 6:47 left to pull within 8 again but KSU’s final drive ended on a sk at their own 36 with 1:01 left.

UTEP QB Trevor Vittatoe was questionable coming in and hit just 8-22-100 yds. Tulsa had a 543-363 yd edge but twice opted to go for it on 4th&long passing up makeable FG’s. Tulsa had a FD at the UTEP 18 but with 2:49 left on 4&22 they passed up a 47 yd FG and fired incomplete. UTEP got 2 FD’s to the TU36 but on 4&10 were int’d at the 30 with 1:40 left.

Clemson had a 196-49 yd edge at the half getting a 40 yd TD pass with :46 left 1H to lead 13-0. CU led 30-3 before Wake Forest went 79/12pl getting a garbage TD with 6:02 left and CU finished the game at the WF36.

Wyoming RB Alvester Alexander ran for a school record 5 TD’s as WY beat Colorado St 44-0 in the Border War. WY dominated as you would think by the final with a 479-162 yd edge. It was 23-0 at half and WY had a pair of 80 yd TD drives to open the 3Q and extend it to 37-0.

Michigan St had a frustrating 1H vs Purdue and very nearly lost the game despite coming in with just 1 loss on the year. PU got an 80 yd TD run and a 35 yd IR TD. MSU had a pair of long drives for TD’s but missed the xp and with 11:10 left in the 2Q, MSU had an 11-1 FD edge but actually trailed 14-13. PU scored a TD with :08 left in the 1H and opened the 3Q with a drive for a TD and led 28-13. MSU got a TD and 2 pt conv with 6:54 left to pull within 3 and then blk’d a punt and rec’d at the 3 and got a TD on the next play to go up 35-31. PU did get to the MSU20 but on 4&7 was int’d at the 17.

It was another incredible loss for North Carolina as they had a 404-275 yd edge but Tom O’Brien amazingly improved to 4-0 vs NC thanks to a TD pass in the 3Q on what looked like it would be a sure incompletion on 4th down then a PR TD and a stopped 2 pt conversion at the end. NC settled for 19, 21 and 38 yd FG’s and despite having a 338-137 yd edge, they only led 19-10. It appeared NCSt’s last gasp happened with :52 left 3Q. The Wolfpack opted to go for it on 4&2. QB Wilson, under pressure, threw it out of the back of the EZ but 3 players who were actually outside the EZ tipped the ball in the air and it came back into the EZ and was caught by Spencer for a 2 yd TD. NCSt then benefitted from an 87 yd PR TD to take the lead. At the end of the game, UNC got a TD but their 2 pt conversion was incomplete and NCSt rec’d the onside kick leading 27-25 and later with NC pinned at their 5 NCSt tacked on a safety for a misleading final.

Iowa has led or been tied with 4:00 to go in all of their losses this year.

Wisconsin RB’s Montee Ball and James White became the 2nd pair of Badgers to rush for 150+ in the same game, the first duo since 1973 when Billy Marek (226) and Ken Starch (184) did it vs Wyoming. Scott Tolzien hit his first 13 passes, which made it 24 straight including the end of LW’s blowout win vs Indiana. Michigan’s Denard Robinson set the FBS record for most rushing yards in a season by a QB (1538) topping AF’s Beau Morgan’s mark and became the first player in NCAA history with 1,500 yards rushing and 2,000 passing in the same year. UW led 24-0 at the half with a 379-124 yd edge. UM rallied to 31-14 and 38-21 and even 41-28 but got no closer.

South Carolina was coming off their big win over Florida but Troy fmbl’d the opening KO and SC got a 17 yd drive for a TD. Later Troy fumbled a punt snap and SC went 29/2pl for a TD to lead 21-0. Later, after a fmbl they drove 7 yds for a TD and then got a 22 yd IR TD with 1:42 left in the half. Troy, on the last play of the 1H, threw a pass that was int’d and ret’d 56 yds for a TD and SC led 56-7. Alshon Jeffery became SC’s single season school record holder with 1,210 yds topping Sidney Rice’s 2005 record.

While it was an Indiana home game, Penn St’s white outnumbered IU’s red 3-1 at FedEx Field. The game was tied at 24 when PSU missed a 43 yd FG but they blk’d a punt for a TD late 3Q and after an int added a 35 yd FG. After IU was SOD, PSU drove 56/12pl and got a TD with 3:20 left. IU punted on 4&9 with 2:01 left.

Duke had 22-19 FD and 443-410 yd edges but GT was fortunate to come away with the win. Duke led 13-6 at the half with a 227-136 yd edge. The key play of the game happened with GT trailing 13-9. Duke had a FD at the GT14 threatening to make it a 20-9 game but was int’d and ret’d 85 yds for a TD and instead of leading by 11, they trailed 16-13. Duke was down 23-20 when they missed a game tying 34 yd FG with 9:20 left. GT faced a 3&9 at their own 21 and got a 79 yd TD pass to go up by 10. Duke missed a 54 yd FG with 5:50 left and GT got 3 FD’s and ran out the clock.

While Kent St was destroyed by 35 by W Michigan they did have some key mistakes and actually finished with a 431-426 yd edge. KSU was int’d setting up a WM 28 yd drive for a TD. KSU on 4&gl from the 2 faked a FG and was SOD. KSU on 2&gl from the 3 was int’d in the EZ late 2Q then SOD on 4&4 at their own 48 with :16 left in the half and WM got a 42 yd FG 3pl later. KSU was SOD at the WM9 in the 3Q and trailed 31-3 four pl later.

In the 1H Miami, FL had a dominating 265-126 yd edge vs Virginia Tech. UM fmbl’d at the VT34 with 6:57 left in the half and missed a 47 yd FG at the end of the half. The game was tied at 17 when VT got an 84 yd TD run. UM had a TD go off the fingertips of WR Benjamin and punted then was int’d on their next 3 poss and VT added a TD.

Stanford scored on every poss with Andrew Luck on the field going up 48-7. This was the most lopsided loss for Cal in the rivalry since Stanford beat them 41-0 back in 1930. Brock Mansion fmbl’d on the 3rd play setting up an SU score and it was all downhill from there. In fact, SU had a 312-119 yd edge at the half and led 31-0. Cal even scored on 4&7 with a hook and ladder for a 23 yd TD with :15 left.

UCF returned the opening KO vs Tulane for a TD and after a pair of TO’s got 4 and 29 yd drives rolling to a 38-0 lead in their 55-14 win. TU was playing without starting QB Ryan Griffin and Kevin Moore hit 15-34-156.

In the Texas A&M/Nebraska game NU had 16 pen’s while A&M had 2. With 5:51 left, NU was called for a very questionable roughing the QB penalty and NU HC Pelini was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.

LSU got another narrow escape, this time vs Mississippi. Houston Nutt is known for knocking off Top 5 teams and UM led 24-23 after 3Q’s and also led 30-29 with 8:49 left. Markeith Summers got a 65 yd TD pass with 4:57 left to give Mississippi the lead but unfortunately he dove into the EZ so UM had to kick off from its own 15 and LSU started at midfield setting up the game winning TD drive with :44 left. UM only got out to their own 25 and was int’d on the game’s final play.

Memphis has now lost 10 games in consecutive seasons and 3rd time since 2006. UAB led 31-15 and had a FD at the UM31. They opted to go for it on 4&6 and were not only int’d but ret’d 63 yds to the UAB7. UM was SOD at the 5 with 1:13 left but UAB only won by 16.

Texas/Florida Atlantic was closer than the final as the Longhorns had some key plays. UT only led 17-7 and FAU went for it on 4&34 but was SOD at the UT18 with just :34 left in the half. UT got 2 FD’s then threw a Hail Mary on the final play of the half and their prayer was answered with a TD for a 24-7 lead. FAU only trailed 30-17 and had a FD at the UT44 in the 4Q when they were int’d and ret’d 57 yds for a TD. FAU fmbl’d on the next play and UT drove 41/9pl, 44-17 and UT tacked on a TD with 2:26 left for the 51-17 final.

Nevada played well for having a big game vs Boise St on deck but were fortunate to get the margin that they did. New Mexico St missed a 46 yd FG in the 1H and NV, leading 24-3 had a FD at their own 21 when they got a 79 yd pass to Taua for a TD with :22 left to make it 31-3 at halftime. NMSt was int’d at the NV33 then punted with 11:32 left trailing 38-6. NV got a 57 yd TD run by Mark with 10:03 left. NMSt had a 4&2 at the NV17 and were int’d & ret’d 90 yds for a TD with 5:17 left and NMSt’s final drive ended on a fmbl at the NV13 with 1:06 left.

The Sooners dominated Baylor and led 53-10 after 3Q’s. BU gained 148 yds in the 4Q vs the OU backups and got 2 garbage TD’s to make the final 53-24 and the yards appeared close at 462-361.

It was a very interesting game for Marshall and SMU. SMU controlled the 1H with a 189-49 yd edge and settled for a 20 yd FG on the 1H's last play, 24-0. MU battled back to 31-17 in the 4Q. MU went 56/13pl and had a 1st & gl at the 5 but was SOD at the 8. After SMU got 2 FD’s they punted with 1:49 left. MU got 5 FD’s to the 12 but was int’d in the EZ with :05 left.

Rice had leads of 27-7 and 62-31 and ended the game at the EC15.

Maryland/Florida St was a misleading final. FSU benefitted from 4 MD TO’s including a huge one at the end of the game. Trailing 23-16 MD had a FD at the FSU22 in the final minute. On 4&7 MD was int’d and FSU got a 96 yd IR TD for a very misleading 14 pt win. MD had 23-15 FD and 432-354 yd edges.

Iowa St came out in gold jerseys vs Missouri and did have a 332-306 yd edge. ISU missed a 38 yd FG after a 10pl drive in the 1Q, was SOD at its own 46 to end the 1Q, went on an 86/14pl drive but missed a 27 yd FG in the 3Q trailing 7-0. MO faked a punt for a FD and continued on an 80/13pl drive for a TD and a 14-0 lead. ISU fmbl’d at the MO30, was SOD at the MO43 and then went for it on 4&22 but was SOD at their own 32 and then on 4&28 was tkl’d at their own 2 with 2:02 left and MO took a knee.