NEWS AND NOTES: Troy took command of the SBC with their dominating 42-13 win on the road at Middle Tennessee. Much was expected from MTSt this year and QB Dasher missed the first 4 (sups). While he returned to the lineup he did injur his finger on the 2nd series of the game and looked tentative running the football with just 27 yards rushing on 14 carries. MTSt had just 217 yards while Troy’s offense dominated with 238 yards rushing and 281 passing.

Husker QB Taylor Martinez sparkled in front of a national audience on the Thursday Night game. While Nebraska only had a 21-20 FD edge, they had a 587-315 yd edge as big plays were the key. Martinez set an NU record for rushing yards by a QB with 242 and he accounted for 4 TD’s. K-St got 6 FD’s on their first 2 poss but were SOD on 4&2 at the NU24. A couple of key plays helped the rout. Leading 7-3 NU was sk’d on 3&6 for a 7 yd loss. Offsides gave them a FD and 4pl later Martinez got a 35 yd TD run. NU took over with 2:07 left in the half and were pinned at their own 17. Martinez raced 54 yds which set up a 39 yd FG with just :14 left. NU opened the 3Q and on 3&10 Martinez ripped off an 80 yd TD run. On NU’s next offensive play, they got a 68 yd TD run by Helu. Leading 31-6, NU got a 79 yd TD pass with 1:00 left 3Q. On their next drive, NU on 3&5 was sk’d for a 9 yd loss but a pers foul gave them a FD and 2pl later Martinez got a 41 yd TD run for the 45-6 lead and that would be his last play of the game.

Oregon St QB Ryan Katz has taken on a hellacious slate of D’s. Heading into last weekend, the top 3 D’s statistically in the NCAA were TCU, Boise St and Arizona and Katz will have taken on all 3 in his first 5 games.

Rutgers had a 19-10 FD edge and 449-284 yd edge vs Connecticut. Some key plays kept UC in the game early as they trailed 17-7 with their TD coming on a 100 yd KR. They got a 66 yd TD run by Todman to make it 17-14 mid-2Q and after a 33 yd PR, ran their first offensive play from the RU side of the field. Three plays later, RU had a catch on 3&14 wrongfully overturned and UConn, after the punt, went 66 yds and got a 17 yd FG and it was 24-17 at the half. RU was SOD on 4&2 at the UC13 but then got a 52 yd TD pass to tie. The next 3 poss were punts and RU got a 45 yd pass to Deering down to the 17 and a FG with :13 left for the win.

Oklahoma St trailed Louisiana 21-17 at the half and had a couple of big plays at the end of the game to extend their lead. They did score TD’s on their first 3 drives of the 3Q but only led 38-28 when UL was SOD at the OSU40 with 12:33 left. OSU got a 52 yd FG. After a 23 yd PR, OSU got a 47 yd FG and led 47-28 with 6:17 left. They recovered a fumble at the UL15 and got a TD 3pl later , 54-28. UL went 54/10pl and had a 4&6 at the OSU19 but were SOD.

Northern Illinois did have 209 yds rushing and 211 yds passing vs 272 total yards for Temple. Temple led most of the 1H and in fact, were up 17-10 with 4:03 left when NI went 64/10pl getting a 3&8, 9 yd TD pass with :30 left in the half. Temple missed a 42 yd FG and NI went 75/10pl for a TD and the lead, 24-17. Mid-4Q NI went 90/11pl for a TD, 31-17. TU was SOD at the NI7 (1:38) and SOD at the NI16 with 1:00 left.

The surprising number for the Minnesota/Wisconsin game was the halftime stats as UM had a 163-157 yd edge and trailed only 14-9. UW scored TD’s on their first four 2H poss, the latter put them ahead 41-16. They surprisingly went for 2 after and it failed. UM got a 33 yd screen pass to the 29 and then on 4&11 a 29 yd TD pass with 5:01 left. UW got 3 FD’s to the UM46 and took a knee.

Georgia was probably the best 1-4 team in the country as they were without AJ Green for 3 losses and had some tough close defeats. UGA took it out on Tennessee. Despite an announced attendance of 92,000 there were pockets of empty seats. UGA did benefit from a couple of key plays early as an int set up a 25 yd drive for a 42 yd FG and then UT fumbled the KO at their own 41 and UGA had a TD 3pl later. UT also fumbled a punt at their own 37 setting up a 3pl UGA TD drive and the Bulldogs led 27-7 at the half. UGA scored on their first 2 poss of the 3Q to lead 41-14 with 3:12 left and UT had 1 more drive with backup QB Bray guiding them 77/12pl but they were SOD on 4&gl at the 3.

USF had won 5 straight vs Syracuse winning by a combined 174-53. USF had their chances to take control of this one. They got a 94 yd KR TD to lead 9-6 but missed the xp. Earlier in the game, BJ Daniels had a wide open receiver down the middle but opted to throw it to the left and was int’d in the EZ. Early 3Q USF, up 3, had a 2nd & 10 at the SU29 but Daniels was int’d at the 13. SU was pinned at their 2 with 13:49 left and went on a 98/14pl drive for a TD and the lead. USF’s last gasp ended on a 4&5 at their own 40 with 1:30 left.

Indiana came in avg 455 ypg on offense but was held to just 210 with most of it late. The big question was how healthy Terrelle Pryor was after he’d left the previous week’s game with a quad injury. Pryor had a career best 334 yds passing and 3 TD’s but perhaps pointing out the quad injury, only ran the ball 3x for -19 yards. OSU led 31-0 at the half with a 320-68 yd edge and 38-0 after 1 drive in the 3Q. OSU fmbl’d at the IU2 (:42 3Q) and then was int’d at the IU48 with 9:57 left, 38-3. IU went 52/9pl for a TD with 4:54 left and went 35/8pl but was int’d at the 4.

Western Michigan jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead as Ball St fumbled the opening KO at their 23, then gave up a 24 yd IR TD in the first 1:00. Both offenses did move the ball with WM finishing with a 480-348 yd edge in their 45-16 win.

Illinois played one of their best games yet under Ron Zook. They went into Penn St and while they trailed 3-0 early pretty much dominated the game with a 23-7 FD edge and 437-235 yd edge. PSU struggled to get the IU offense into 3rd down and PSU also struggled for FD’s. UI even fumbled 2 punts deep in its own territory but PSU had to settle for FG’s on each.

Tyrod Taylor broke Brian Randall’s school record with his 27th win as a starting QB. Central Michigan actually opened the game with an 80/13pl drive for a TD but Virginia Tech stormed back to 38-7 and 45-14 leads. VT got it back with 2:07 left but fmbl’d and CM got a 19 yd garbage TD pass with 1:22 left. The stats show CM having 21-17 FD and 401-394 yd edges.

Tom O’Brien got his first win vs his former team, Boston College, and did so in convincing fashion with a 44-17 win. NC State had a 26-12 FD edge and 422-269 yd edge. BC started David Shinksie after their true frosh QB Rettig was inj’d and he hit just 7-24-89 with 2 TD’s. Mike Marscovetra wasn’t much better at 4-8-84. NCSt led 27-10 at the half and 34-10 after 3Q’s.

Charlie Strong was an SEC DC and brought some defense to Louisville as they pulled the shutout, the Cardinals first in 4 years. Memphis’ closest drive was in the 2Q when they went 55/7pl but missed a 42 yd FG on 4&8. UL led 35-0 at half and scored on their opening 2 drives of the 3Q for a 49-0 lead en route to their 56-0 win. UL had a 474-223 yd edge.

Texas Tech has now beaten Baylor 15 consecutive years and had a 35-22 FD edge and 635-507 yd edge.

TCU got their 2nd straight shutout for the first time since 1955. Wyoming was playing without QB Austin Carta-Samuels and Dax Crum hit just 10-17-116. TCU led 31-0 at the half with a 334-106 yd edge and scored TD’s on their first two 3Q poss to lead 45-0 and punted for the first time with 10:25 left in the game.

West Virginia had their most points since scoring 66 vs Connecticut in 2007. It was a rare trip East for UNLV, they were off rival Nevada, but WV didn’t commit a TO for the first time in 8 games and despite the fact WV only had a 16-15 FD edge, they scored TD on their first 2 poss and another on their 3rd on a 30 yd drive after a fumble to lead 21-0 and it was 35-0 at the half with a 314-148 yd edge. They scored a TD after a UNLV int to open the 3Q, 42-0.

Cal dominated UCLA in fact in the 1H they led 28-0 and had a 246-58 yd edge. UCLA did score a TD to open the 3Q but after being int’d at the 50, punted on their next 3 poss and then were SOD at their own 38 and punted on their next 2. They actually rec’d a fumbled punt at the Cal 9 but on 4&gl from the 7, fell incomplete. Cal had a 22-12 FD edge for the game.

Georgia Tech’s 477 yards rushing topped their previous high for an ACC game which was 472 vs Miami in 2008 and it was the 5th best total in school history and the top total in ACC history. GT trailed 7-6 late 2Q when they got a TD to take a 13-7 lead but GT did have a 295-106 yd edge. GT fumbled to open the 3Q and the next 3 poss were TD’s and GT led 27-14. UVA was SOD at the GT3 and GT went 97/11pl for a TD with 4:49 left. UVA trailing 33-14 started at their 2 with 2:23 left and went 98/9pl for a TD.

Louisiana Tech has been playing musical QB’s but may have finally found one and amazingly it was the same QB who had been their starter last year in Ross Jenkins. Once Jenkins took over last week vs Hawaii, the team responded with nothing but long drives. Against Utah St, LT had 212-105 yd edge at the half and led 17-3. Leading 17-6, LT had a FG blk’d with 14:10 left but drove 62/11pl for a TD with 4:21 left to lead 24-6 and ended the game at the US20 taking a knee. LT had a 27-13 FD edge and 437-195 yd edge.

Arkansas did have a 441-323 yd edge and never trailed vs A&M. They led 7-0 when Mallett was int’d and ret’d to the 2 setting up a TD. They appeared to take control getting a TD with :53 left in the half to lead 21-7 but A&M went 64/4pl getting a TD with :08 left 1H, 21-14. After recovering a fumble at the A&M30, Arkansas got a 39 yd FG with 5:04 left 3Q, 24-17. The next 8 poss were punts. A&M took over at their 20 and got to the Arkansas 39 but their Hail Mary into the EZ was int’d at the 2.

Fourth down conversions meant a lot to North Carolina in their game vs Clemson. Still playing without a host of susp’d players, on NC’s first drive they converted on 4&2 for a FD to the CU21 and went 48/12pl for a TD and had a 7-0 lead with 6:45 left 1Q and never trailed. Late in the 1H NC after getting a 51 yd pass to the 20 converted on 4&1 at the CU9. They got a TD 2pl later for a 14-3 lead. Clinging to a 14-10 lead, NC converted on 4&1 at the CU36 and 4&5 at the CU18 and on 2&18 got a 26 yd TD run by White to lead 21-10 in their 21-16 victory.

Miami, Fl took its opening drive 11pl but missed a 32 yd FG. The key play happened early 2Q when FSU ret’d a fumble 38 yds and it was orig ruled a TD. The Ball came loose and should have been ruled a TB but he was ruled down at the 1 yd line and FSU got a TD on the next play which was huge for a 14-0 lead. FSU led 24-7 at half but UM had a 208-193 yd edge. UM in fact finished with a 27-22 FD edge in the game. FSU finished with the yardage edge when they got an int with 5:59 left and Thompson got a 90 yd TD run with 4:24 left, a big part of their 291 yards rushing. Surprisingly the two came into the game #1 and #2 in the NCAA in both sacks and tfl but there was just 1 sack in the game.

Tulsa had their opportunities vs SMU. They had a 45 yd FG blk’d in the 1Q and in the 2Q on 4&1 from the SMU22 were SOD. TU settled for a 30 yd FG in the 3Q and then had a 48 yd FG blk’d again, this time with 12:19 left. TU got a TD with 6:45 left to make it 21-18 and SMU took over at their own 9 and SMU went on a 12pl drive incl 4 FD’s to the TU40 and ran out the clock.

Missouri’s 26-0 win over Colorado was not as impressive as the score and was fueled by special tms. MU’s first 2 punts pinned CU at their 2 and 1 yd line and after the 2nd, CU was called for intentional grounding in the EZ for a safety. MO hit a 47 yd FG while CU missed a 40 yd FG. MU faked a punt and gained 26 yds setting up a TD 2pl later for a 12-0 lead. MU blk’d a CU FG with 6:30 left in the half then went on a 15pl drive for a TD, their best drive of the game and a 19-0 lead. MU did have a 238-87 yd edge at the half. CU got to the MU39 but punted, got to the MU17 but were SOD and were int’d at the MU31 and SOD at the MU18 on the final 4 drives. Each team had 18 FD’s.

South Carolina upset #1 ranked Alabama and there was nothing fluky about the upset as SC scored TD’s on their first 3 poss to lead 21-3 and Bama got a TD with :38 left in the half to pull within 21-9. The momentum appeared to shift a couple of times as Bama pulled within 21-14 but SC converted on 3&10 and went 82/15pl for a TD to lead 28-14. Four plays later Bama got a 51 yd TD then 3pl later they got a pass that bounced out of the rec’s hands and was int’d and they appeared poised to tie the game but they settled for a FG and faked it and it fell incomplete and SC then went 74/10pl, the key a gutsy 4&1 conversion at their own 34 yd line. The TD made it 35-21 and Bama didn’t threaten after that. Steven Garcia played the game of his career hitting 17-20-201 yds and the only int came on a bobbled pass.

Four years ago Mike Hart made his famous “Little Brother” comment about Michigan St and not only is Michigan’s football team 0-3 vs the Spartans since then, the basketball team has not won either. MSU got their most lopsided win in the series since beating the Wolves 34-0 in 1967 and Denard Robinson who was the current flavor-of-the-month for the Heisman Trophy, had an off game with 3 crucial int’s include 2 in the red zone that changed the momentum of the game. Robinson was int in the EZ on his first series and UM also settled for a 34 yd FG on their 2nd and only led 3-0 when they could have been up 14-0. MSU used big plays in this one getting a 61 yd TD run by Baker, a 41 yd TD run by Bell, a 41 yd TD pass to Dell to take a 24-10 lead in the 3Q when Robinson was once again int’d in the EZ. Trailing 31-17, Robinson threw into double coverage at the MSU27 for another int and the Spartans would drive for a 28 yd FG to clinch it, 34-17. Running into the K prolonged MSU’s final drive which ate up the final 5:41 driving 36/10pl to the MSU23.

It had to be a frustrating loss for Southern Miss HC Fedora. SM led this one 20-0 and were in complete control. EC did not get a FD until the first play 2Q and after converting on 3&7, got a 46 yd TD on the next play. SM punted for the first time with 11:33 left in the 2Q. EC had a remarkable drive as SM imploded. EC went 51/6pl with 0 offensive yards. Def pass interf, unsportsmanlike conduct, a pers foul and LB Cory Williams was ejected for throwing a punch, was followed by an offsides pen and another pers foul and EC only got a 30 yd FG. EC took over with 3:29 left 1H and went 69/7pl getting a 7 yd TD with :30 left vs SM’s prevent D to get back in it, 20-17. SM led 30-24 when EC got an 89 yd KR TD, 31-30. SM went on a 65/12pl drive but settled for a 28 yd FG to trail 38-36 but appeared to correct their wrongs with a 32 yd IR TD with 7:43 left to lead 43-38. EC got 2 FD’s then on 4&7 threw a screen pass which went 32 yds for a TD with 4:36 left to give them the lead, 44-43. SM got to midfield but on 4&10 was sk’d for a 13 yd loss.

At one point Dayne Crist had 12 straight completions for Notre Dame. Pitt did miss a 27 yd FG early 2Q and then their holder dropped the snap on a 36 yd FG at the end of the half and ND led 17-3. Pitt took some chances in the 2H. They tried a fake punt from their own 35 and were SOD setting up a ND 50 yd FG. Trailing 20-3, they went for it on 4&1 at their own 32 and Lewis got a 30 yd run to the ND38 keying a 77/10pl TD drive. ND had 2 big passes to Floyd called back. A 44 yd pass was called back for a hold and ND punted. On ND’s next drive they went 69/11pl. Ruldoph dropped a FD pass on 3&5 from the 15 and they settled for a 31 yd FG, 23-10. Sunseri hit a 56 yd TD pass to get Pitt back, 23-17. At the end Pitt was at its own 6 and Sunseri could have been called for intentional grounding in the EZ as he threw it into the back of the lineman and it would have been a safety but it was not called and on the next play, the pass was ruled int but then overturned. Pitt was SOD at its own 13 with 1:11 left and ND took a knee 2x.

Toledo had their moments vs Boise St as they only trailed 15-7 in the 1Q and also fumbled at their own 45 setting up a TD and were int’d at the BSU16 in the 2Q. BSU got a TD with :30 left 1H to lead 36-7 then got a 36 yd IR TD to go up 43-7. Up 50-7, they recovered a fumble and drove 27/7pl for a TD to lead 57-7 with 2:03 left 3Q. UT went 71/11pl for a TD with 10:55 left but BSU ate up 10:31 on a 14pl drive before being SOD at the UT26.

Wake Forest had a solid advantage vs Navy in the fact they had just faced GT’s option offense the previous week and were catching Navy at the tail end of a 6,000 mile 3 game road trip. Tanner Price returned to the lineup and hit 37-53-526 yds for WF. WF did blow some opportunities. With the game tied at 7, they fumbled at the Navy4. Later they fumbled at the Navy49 but still led 17-14 at the half. Leading 24-21 WF settled for a 31 yd FG with 8:34 left, 27-21. Navy was SOD on 4&11 at the WF38 with 3:13 but WF punted 4 plays later and it only went 25 yds. Navy converted on 4&1 and 3&10 and got a TD with :26 left to lead 28-27. WF ret’d the KO 47 yds to the 49 needing only a FG for the win but their final 3 passes were incomplete.

One of the reasons I liked Miss St over Houston beside the talent difference, was that MSU’s large O-line figured to overpower UH’s smaller defensive front. MSU rushed for 409 yards on 57 carries and had 538 yds offense. The game could have been worse than the final. MSU led 33-10 at the half and opened the 3Q with a drive for a TD. They lost starting QB Relf to inj and Russell QB’d the rest of the game. MSU led 40-10 when they had a 31 yd FG blk’d with 8:15 left 3Q at the end of a 10 pl drive. Their next drive was 61/9pl but they settled for a 39 yd FG and that was also blk’d. They scored a TD with 7:08 left to make it 47-17 and UH got a garbage TD with 4:36 left. MSU, after rec’ing the onside kick, got 3 FD’s and ended at the game at the UH15 for a comfortable 23 point win.