News and Notes

WKU went 61/7pl and had a 4&gl at the 1 leading 26-13 with 10:27 left. They passed up the FG and not only were stopped but fumbled and Issac ret’d it 99 yds for a TD and stunningly Middle Tennessee was back in it 26-20. MT took their next drive 77/10pl including a 4&1 conversion and got a TD with 4:31 left for the lead. WKU went 61/6pl for the game winning 34 yd FG with 2:29 left but missed it. MT did punt with 1:22 left and WKU got to the MT45 but on 4&2 fire incomplete.

Southern Miss was playing an emotional home game after 3 of their teammates were shot in a Hattiesburg nightclub the previous Sunday. The 1Q was 14-13 but SM took control in the 2Q and got out to a 24-13 lead. On the last play of the half, SM attempted a 59 yd FG. UH put KR Carrier back and he took the short FG and returned it 89 yards for a TD to stunningly put UH back to 24-20. SM scored on their first two drives of the 2H to go up 38-20 and added another TD early 4Q and never led by less than 18 after that.

Cincinnati put up 41 points in the 1H and had the 3rd most pts in school history. They also had 661 yards, the 2nd most in school history. Isaiah Pead had a career high 213 yards on 31 carries, the first Bearcat to top 200 yards rushing since 2004 and also had 5 TD’s. RU made a game of it early as they trailed only 20-17 when they were int’d at the UC6. However UC scored a couple of TD’s and after a RU TD, UC on 3&14 got a 16 yd TD pass with :05 left to lead 41-24 and it was 55-31 after 3Q’s.

FIU took control of the Sun Belt Conf but it wasn’t easy. In the 1H Louisiana had a 136-113 yd edge but trailed 7-3. They were SOD on 4&gl at the 1 and then after a punt were SOD on 4&13 at the FIU39. In the 2H FIU got a 25 yd FG on a 22 yd drive after an int then got a 26 yd IR TD to increase a 17-10 lead to 24-10. Leading 24-17 they went on a 94/15pl drive for a TD with 5:52 left then after an int, drove 35/3pl for a TD with 3:52 left.

Facing an option attack twice in the same season is usually a positive for a defense. Notre Dame’s D was shredded by Navy’s offense earlier in the year and on the first drive Army went 78/17pl but settled for a 20 yd FG and led ND 3-0. That drive came after ND had been int’d in the EZ on 2&gl from the 5. After that drive, Army had less than 100 yards the rest of the game and after 5 FD’s on the first drive, had just 3 more FD’s the rest of the game. ND led 17-3 at the half with a 262-113 yd edge and then got a 42 yd IR TD on the 3rd play of the 3Q and Army never threatened after that. The game was played in Yankee Stadium and the 2 teams had played 22 times in the original Yankee Stadium with their last game there being in 1969.

Hawaii was off a loss and off a bye and playing in the heat of the Islands vs a San Jose St team who were very limited and low on scholarships. UH finished with a 626-164 yd edge and 54 of SJS’s yards came on their final drive when they took over with 5:00 left and would get 4 of their 12 FD’s. They had just 8 FD’s the rest of the game. Moniz threw for a school record 560 yards and 3 TD’s. The surprising part is that UH only won by 34 with that kind of statistical edge.

A couple of key factors gave A&M the edge over Nebraska. Taylor Martinez inj’d his ankle in the 1Q and DNR until the 3Q and when he did, he hobbled around the rest of the game and was far from 100%. NU was also hit with 16 pen’s for 145 yds while A&M was called for just 2 pen’s for 10 yds. The most crucial pen came late in the game when A&M had a 3&11 and fired incomplete but a very questionable roughing the passer gave them FD at the NU34 which would enable them 5pl later to get a 19 yd FG for the lead, 9-6. NU actually had a 153-103 yd edge at the half.

Iowa went 87/8pl for a TD on its 2nd poss to lead 7-0 after 1Q. Iowa missed a 40 yd FG with 3:38 left in the half but OSU from the IU43 was int’d in the EZ as Pryor missed a wide open receiver and the pass was deflected. At the half IU led 7-3 and had a 155-145 yd edge. OSU opened the 3Q with a 77/12pl TD drive and IU went 65/10pl to tie it at 10. OSU was int’d and ret’d 8 yds to their 27 and IU got a TD 2pl later to lead 17-10. OSU settled for a 48 yd FG. OSU got it back on 3&10 Posey dropped a wide open TD pass but Pryor ran for 14 yds on 4&10 and the Buckeyes capped a 76/12pl drive with a TD with 1:47 left. IU’s 4&21 pass gained 19 yds to the 44.

The Northwestern/Illinois was played at Wrigley Field and both teams had to go in the same direction all game long. The star of the game was IU RB Mikel LeShoure who rushed for 330 yds on 30 carries beating the school record of 315 set by Robert Holcomb in 1996. NU was down to backup QB Evan Watkins who hit just 10-20-135 and rushed for 15. These 2 last played in Wrigley Field in 1923. UI had a 319-196 yd edge at the half but NW got a 59 yd IR TD and only trailed 27-24 but UI pulled away in the 2H going 61/14pl for a TD, punting on their 2nd poss going 80/7pl for a TD and on their 4th and final poss, went 73/13pl for a TD with :35 left for the 48-27 final.

Tough loss for San Diego St. They led 27-17 late 2Q and had a 2nd & 10 at the Utah 23 with :37 left in the half. Lindley was int’d at the 3 and returned 12 yards. It seemed meaningless except taking away a SDSt score but Utah would get 3 FD’s and threw a Hail Mary pass from the SDS47 with :03 left and a deflection was caught in the EZ for a Hail Mary TD and Utah pulled within 3. In the 2H Utah trailing 34-24 converted on 4&1 and then on 3&gl from the 1 got a 1 yd TD run, 34-31. Utah then blocked a punt and rec’d at the 3 and got a TD on 4&gl at the 1 for its first lead, 38-34. SDS got to the Utah25 but was int’d at the 12 with 6:04 left. They then got to the Utah 38 and had a FD but was int’d in the EZ with 1:22 left.

The main key to the USC game was the QB Barkley was inj’d late 2Q and did not return. Mitch Mustain hit just 8-17-60. In the 1H Oregon St got a 65 yd IR TD and USC was SOD three times at the OSU25 (6:05 1Q), OSU35 (3:48 2Q) and OSU46 (:04 2Q). It was 23-7 when SC was SOD at their own 46 with 12:37 left. OSU got a TD with 5:50 left and recovered a fumble and had another TD with 2:01 left for the final margin and won their 3rd straight at home over USC in Corvallis.

Mississippi St had a 32-21 FD edge vs Arkansas but the yds were even at 488-486 and the game went to 2 OT’s. AU led 14-7 early but MSU got a pair of TD’s to lead 21-14 before AU got a 32 yd FG with :50 left in the half, 21-17. AU got 2 TD’s the 2nd with 10:06 left to lead 31-21. MSU got a TD with 4:24 left to pull within 3 and AU on 3&8 fumbled at the MSU46 with 1:56 left. MSU got 3 FD’s and a 25 yd FG to force OT. MSU fumbled into the EZ for a TB but AU ran it 3x and missed a 39 yd FG. After AU got a TD in the 2OT, MSU on 4&7 from the AU12 was sacked.

Conference Championship Game Possibilities:

MAC Championship Possibilities:

Northern Illinois (9-2, 7-0 MAC) has already clinched the West division and will play either Ohio (8-3, 6-1 or Miami, Ohio (7-4, 6-1) on Friday December 3rd at 7:00 pm in Detroit. If the Bobcats win at Kent St on Friday they will be East Division Champs. However, they may know their fate well before their game as Miami plays Temple tonight. If Temple wins, the Bobcats get the division title regardless of their result as they beat both Miami and Temple earlier this year and hold the tie-breakers over both. If Miami wins and Ohio loses then the Redhawks would get the division title.   

CUSA Championship Possibilities:

East Carolina (6-5, 5-2 C-USA) will host SMU (6-5, 5-2) at 1 p.m. Friday. If SMU wins, it will advance to the championship game on Dec. 4 in in Orlando but if the Mustangs lose and Tulsa (8-3, 5-2) beats Southern Miss (8-3, 5-2), Tulsa will compete for the conference championship. Tulsa and Southern Miss play at 5:30 p.m Friday. UCF (8-3, 6-1) plays Memphis (1-10, 0-7) at 11 a.m. Saturday. UCF just needs to win and they will advance but if the Knights lose and Southern Miss beats Tulsa, Southern Miss will advance to the title game because it holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over UCF. If ECU wins and both UCF and Southern Miss lose, the Pirates will reach the championship.

SEC Championship Possibilities:

The SEC Championship is already set and will match Auburn (11-0, 7-0 SEC) vs South Carolina (8-3, 5-3) in a rematch from a September 18 game in which the Tigers won 35-27 at home. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. in the Georgia Dome on December 4th.

ACC Championship Possibilities:

Virginia Tech (9-2, 7-0 ACC) clinched the Coastal last week with a 31-17 win at Miami, Fla. In the Atlantic, NC State (8-3, 5-2) controls their own destiny and with a win over Maryland this week, the Wolfpack would clinch the Atlantic bid because of their head-to-head win over Florida St (8-3, 6-2) who has already concluded their conference schedule and faces in-state rival Florida this week. If NC State loses, then the Seminoles would win the Atlantic.

Big 12 Championship Possibilities:
Courtesy ofWendell Barnhouse
Big12Sports.com Correspondent

This is by the most complicated scenarios.

Both division champions in the Big 12 Conference have yet to be determined and five teams are still in the running to be division champs. Here are the tiebreaking situations in both the North and the South.

North Division: If Nebraska beats Colorado on Friday, they will clinch the North Division Title because of their 31-17 win over Missouri. However, if they lose and Missouri beats Kansas on Saturday then Missouri gets the division title. Nebraska could also clinch the title with a Missouri loss.

South Division:
Should Texas A&M defeat Texas on Thursday and Oklahoma defeat Oklahoma State on Saturday, the South will finish in a three-way tie as the Aggies, the Sooners and the Cowboys would each be 6-2. In this case, Big 12 rules state that the BCS Standings would be used to break a three-way tie.

The BCS Standings released Nov. 28, this Sunday, would be used to break the three-way tie and decide the South Division representative in the Big 12 Championship game. The team ranked highest in the BCS Standings would be the South Division representative.

However, there is a change to the tiebreaker rule (that was adopted before this season) that could bring in head-to-head results. If separated by one place in the BCS Standings, the Big 12 team ranked second could become Division representative in the championship game if it won the regular-season head-to-head meeting with the team ranked higher in the BCS Standings.

Oklahoma
The Sooners need to beat Oklahoma State on Saturday in Stillwater. If Texas beats Texas A&M on Thursday, an OU victory over Oklahoma State would give the Sooners the South Division title

Oklahoma State
Can clinch the South Division title with a victory over Oklahoma. A loss to the Sooners plus a loss by Texas A&M would put Oklahoma and Oklahoma State into a first-place tie but Oklahoma would have the head-to-head tiebreaker edge.

The Cowboys would fall into a three-way tie for first with a loss to the Sooners and a Texas A&M victory over Texas.

Texas A&M
Would finish 6-2 with a victory at Texas on Thursday. If Oklahoma beats Oklahoma State, that would create a three-way tie in the South Division that would be broken as outlined above.

Big 12 three-way tie-breaker rule: If three or more teams are tied, steps 1 through 7 will be followed until a determination is made. If only two teams remain tied after any step, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the representative.
1. The records of the three teams will be compared against each other
2. The records of the three teams will be compared within their division
3. The records of the three teams will be compared against the next highest placed teams in their division in order of finish (4, 5 and 6)
4. The records of the three teams will be compared against all common conference opponents.
5. The highest ranked team in the first Bowl Championship Series poll following the completion of Big 12 regular season conference play shall be the representative in the Big 12 Championship Game, unless two of the tied teams are ranked within one spot of the other in the BCS poll. In this case, the head-to-head results of the top two ranked tied teams shall determine the representative in the Big 12 Championship Game.
6. The team with the best overall winning percentage (excluding exempted games) shall be the representative.
7. The representative will be chosen by draw.