NEWS AND NOTES: UCF dominated Marshall just like the final indicates with 23-12 FD and 386-263 yd edges. They did only lead 14-7 at the half in a game that had a 1:08 delay. The teams did not go to the locker room at half, instead continuing play and UCF got a 70 yd KR to open the 3Q setting up an 18 yd TD drive then got a 42 yd IR TD on the 8th pl 3Q to lead 28-7. Marshall backup QB Sullivan hit an 86 yd TD pass on his first play but 7 of the next 8 poss were punts. UCF went 59/10pl getting a 7 yd TD run with 3:41 left to put the game away and ended with a 19 yd run to the MU20.

West Virginia only had a 15-13 FD edge vs USF. The key play of the game was deja vu all over again for BJ Daniels. Against Florida, USF was in complete control when they took over late in the 1H deep in their own territory and Daniels’ int led to a UF TD which got the Gators back into the game. Against WV, they only trailed 10-3 and got the ball back at their own 14 with :51 left 1H. Daniels once again tried to throw downfield and was int’d this time returned to the 17 and WV got a TD on the next play, which put them ahead by 14.

Kansas St did only have a 3-0 edge vs Kansas in the 1Q and for the game both had 20 FD’s but KSU had a 460-331 yd edge. KSU got a 25 yd TD drive after a fumble, a 58 yd TD drive after KU was SOD and a 51/9pl drive for a TD after a 16 yd PR and led 31-0 at the half. It was 38-0 when KU had a 2&6 at the KSU13 and they fumbled and KSU ret’d it 85 yds for a TD. KU went 61/9pl but was int’d in the EZ. KSU fumbled with 6:02 left leading 52-0 and KU went 44/10pl for a TD, 52-7.

Michigan St was playing their 3rd big game in 3 weeks after having knocked off Top 10 Wisconsin and undefeated 5-0 Michigan but Illinois was also on their 2nd straight road game after pulling a road upset vs Penn St. Illinois led 6-3 at the half and was in control as their first 2 drives went 66/15pl and 64/10pl but after a 1st & gl at the 6 they settled for a 21 yd FG and also were int on the 2nd drive. At the end of the half MSU fumbled the punt with :36 left at their own 15. UI ran the ball once then actually let the clock tick to :08 where MSU called time-out and UI only got a FG. UI was int’d to open the 3Q and MSU lost 1 yd and got a 34 yd FG but MSU then went 77/4pl for a TD, 68/10pl for a 32 yd FG, 45/9pl for an 18 yd FG then after an int, 53/8pl for a TD to wrap it up, 26-6. MSU did have just 294 yds of offense.

Missouri dominated Texas A&M much like the score indicates. While A&M had 9 TO’s the previous 2 games, this game they did not have any and the offense was inept in the 1H with just 113 yards as Missouri had a 267-113 yd edge. Missouri led 16-0 at the half and extended it to 30-3 before A&M got a TD with 8:37 left. A&M gained 58 yds on 10pl before being SOD at the MO13 with 3:22 left. It was the first time since 1967 that MO held a conf foe scoreless for 6 straight quarters.

Purdue led 14-0 at the half and a key play happened in the 3Q. Minnesota got an int and was headed for the EZ for a TD but QB Henry knocked the ball out of LB Tinsley’s hand, it hit the pylon and was ruled a TB. PU went 80/13pl for a TD and a 21-0 lead in their 28-17 win. PU did have a 393-279 yd edge and rumors circulated before the game that UM Coach Brewster would be fired if they lost (he was).

Pitt came in with 3 non-conf losses but was undefeated in the Big East and started their quest for a BE Title in a big way. They led Syracuse 28-7 at the half with a 257-139 yd edge. Their first offensive play was a 79 yd TD pass. They got an 80 yd KR TD in the 3Q and later after a 34 yd FR got a 6 yd TD drive for a 45-14 win and were in control throughout. Dion Lewis led the team in rushing for the first time all year with 80 yards and Tino Sunseri threw 4 TD’s.

Georgia dominated Vanderbilt just as the 43-0 score indicates. They just missed the largest MOV in series history, which had been 45-0 in 1976. UGA missed a 31 yd FG with 10:54 left which would have given them that margin. The Bulldogs also had 2 TD’s overturned by replay. UGA finished with 22-8 FD and 547-140 yd edges.

Southern Miss finished with 25-10 FD and 515-269 yd edges vs Memphis. In the 1H they had 41 and 19 yd TD drives after fumbles to lead 24-6 at the half. UM got an 81 yd TD pass early 4Q but SM answered with a 59 yd TD run six plays later to make it 41-16 and coasted.

East Carolina had its largest home crowd ever and jumped out to a 21-0 lead after 1Q vs NC State but NCSt battled back and took a 27-24 lead on a 37 yd FG with 3:03 left. EC tied it on a 24 yd FG with 1:04 left. In OT EC got a TD but missed the xp. NCSt on 3&12 from the EC17 was int’d in the EZ.

Duke had 7 turnovers to Miami’s 2 and both had 22 FD’s. UM had 224 yds rushing and 224 yds passing and Jacory Harris who was doubtful for the game hit 17-34-224 for UM and they did lead 28-10 after 3Q’s.

UNLV had a 19-18 FD edge vs CSU but big plays and some desperation hurt them. CSU did finish with a 492-274 yd edge. Trailing 27-10 UNLV went for it on 4&1 at its own 29 with 1:40 left in the half and were SOD and CSU got a 29 yd TD pass on the next play. In the 3Q they went for it on 4&12 at the CSU36 then on 4&20 at the CSU33 and of course failed on both. CSU scored 10 pts in the final 10:42 to win 43-10.

Boston College blew some opportunities vs Florida St and had some unfortunate spots of the ball on FSU’s final drive. BC got 72 and 48 yd runs by Montel Harris who finished with 191 yards but each time settled for a short FG to only lead 6-0. Leading 7-6 FSU went 96/7pl getting a TD with 1:35 left 1H. BC had a 53 yd IR TD overturned for offsides and FSU went on an 11pl drive for a 26 yd FG to lead 17-9. BC battled back and settled for a 38 yd FG to lead, 19-17 with 13:21 left. FSU ran a reverse to Bert Reed, which he took 42 yds for a TD with 11:22 left. BC got 2 FD’s and punted and FSU took over at its 21 with 8:04 left. After 1 FD on 3&1 they got a favorable spot for a FD then on 4&1 with 2:15 left went for it and once again a favorable spot gave them a FD and they ran out the clock taking off the final 8:04 on the 13 play drive.

Ball St jumped out to a 28-7 lead over EM thanks in part to a 92 yd KR TD and a 20 yd TD drive following a fumble. It was 28-14 at the half and BSU had 190 yds at half. They would have just 53 yds in the 2H allowing EM to finish with 26-16 FD and 490-243 yd edges. EM scored TD’s on the first 2 drives of the 2H and got a TD with 4:48 left to take their first lead. Ball St got a TD with :34 left to force OT. BSU got a 44 yd FG in OT and EM on 3&14 got a 15 yd run for a FD then on 3&8 faced with a probable tie and 2nd OT they got a 12 yd TD pass.

Texas got a 24 yd PR to open vs Nebraska which set up a 27 yd FG. After recovering a fumble, UT drove 21 yds for a TD. The Horns led 17-3 at the half with a 175-107 yd edge. It was 20-3 when backup Lee led Nebraska 83/16pl for a 28 yd FG to make it 20-6. Lee led NU on a 12pl drive and they had a likely TD pass dropped at the 4 on 4&18. NU got a 95 yd PR TD on a pooch punt to make it 20-13 and UT rec’d the onside kick at the NU42, got 2 FD’s and ran out the clock. UT came in unranked for the first time since 2000 and NU was #5 in the country but UT allowed QB Gilbert to run the ball and he had 72 yards rushing.

Virginia Tech was dominant vs Wake Forest as they finished with 35-9 FD and 605-346 yd edges. At the half VT had a 49-14 lead with a 434-208 yd edge. They took over with 10:04 left in the game leading 52-21 and went on an amazing 17pl drive going 59 yds to the WF14 where they took a knee 3x.

Houston had a 28-19 FD edge vs Rice but was int’d on the 3rd play and ret’d 25 yds to the 5 and Rice got a TD on 4&1. After a 19 yd punt, Rice went 56 yds for a TD and their 3rd TD once again came on 4&gl from the 1. Rice led 27-14 at the half but UH scored TD’s on their first two 3Q poss to lead 28-27. A false start forced a 4&12 and they punted from the 40 (12:38 4Q). UH then settled for a 37 yd FG with 8:55 left. Rice got a 13 yd TD pass on 3&8 with 4:24 left for the lead. UH was driving for the tie or lead when on 4&1 QB Piland fumbled the snap with 1:37 left.

SMU led Navy 14-0 when the Mids went on a 7:00 drive that resulted in a 39 yd FG try which they missed. SMU went on a 9pl drive and settled for a 43 yd FG but had a bad snap and didn’t get the kick off. Those points could have been valuable. SMU, trailing 28-21 took its final drive to the Navy41 with :18 left. After an EZ pass was incomplete, they tried the lateral play but only got down to the Navy25. An interesting play happened when Navy had a 2&1 at the SMU4 and SMU basically allowed Teich to run into the EZ for the TD so they had 1:38 to respond.

For the 2nd straight year Iowa was +4 in TO’s vs Michigan. UM also lost Denard Robinson on the 2nd series of the 3Q but for the 2nd time this season Tate Forcier played well. UM jumped out to a 7-0 lead. At 7-7 Robinson was int’d and after Iowa scored they settled for a 38 yd FG and it was blk’d & ret’d 42 yds. Iowa got a TD on the ensuing drive to lead 21-7 at the half. UM fumbled at the Iowa 14 and then was int’d which set up another UI TD. Forcier led UM back to 35-28 with 6:55 left but Iowa converted on 3&9 and 3&8 and got a 30 yd FG to lead by 10 and Forcier on 3&19 was int’d at his own 43.

Tulane QB Ryan Griffin hit 36-53-412 yards. A couple of key plays turned the game into a blowout. Tulane fumbled at their own 27 with 5:07 left in the 1H and Tulsa got a FG to lead 24-7. Tulane got a TD to open the 3Q and on their 2nd drive went 73/12pl for a 25 yd FG to make it 31-17. Trailing 38-17, Tulane went 65/6pl but on 1st & gl at the 10 was int’d in the EZ. Two drives later Tulane was SOD on 4&7 at the Tulsa11 but they did trail 52-24 at the time as Tulsa piled up 538 yds offense.

At the half Northern Illinois had a 13-3 FD edge vs Buffalo but just a 193-127 yd edge and NI tkl’d BU’s P at the 7 setting up a TD and got a 5 yd TD drive after an int to lead 21-7. BU got an 81 yd TD pass, 21-14. NI led 38-14 when backup QB Lynch ran 90 yds for a TD with 4:27 left and BU got 5 of their 10 FD’s of the game on their final drive getting to the NI13.

Utah has had a couple of games this year where they were not as statistically dominant as the final score. In their game vs Wyoming they were more dominant than the final score leading 23-0 at the half with 14-4 FD and 276-96 yd edge. Twice QB Wynn was int’d in the EZ for TB’s and Wynn was also int’d at the WY26 with 11:17 left. WY’s only TD drive came with backup QB Crum in and included a 3&22 conversion and later on 3&gl from the 10 a TD. Utah’s final drive led them to the WY5 but on 4&2 they were SOD. Utah finished with 22-10 FD and 431-183 yd edges.

Arizona lost QB Foles at the start of the 2Q (inj) vs WSU and Matt Scott hit 14-20-139 yds. Foles had come in the P10 leader in passing at 305 ypg and despite WSU’s poor record it was the first time all season they were shutout in the 1H and they trailed 14-0. UA had a 251-56 yd edge at the half. WSU got a 3&10, 23 yd TD pass to get to 21-7. UA was SOD on 4&1 at the WSU40 and settled for a 40 yd FG early 4Q.

Colorado lost their leading tackler Anthony Perkins who is out for the season and has also lost RB Brian Lockridge who is also OFY. WR Will Jefferson was moved to RB and had the key play of the game vs Baylor. Surprisingly after CU’s first 2 TD’s, Dan Hawkins opted to go for 2 each time and failed both. They led just 15-10 at the half after giving up a 50 yd FG on the final play of the half to Baylor. Leading 15-13 CU appeared poised to get back ahead by 2 scores. On FD from the BU24 Jefferson raced for the EZ but fumbled at the 2 and it was rec’d for a TB. BU went 80/5pl for a TD and the lead. At the end, CU trailed 31-25 and they got to the BU19 but a pass into the EZ was broken up by Chance Casey.

Miami/Central Michigan left a lot of points off the board. CM missed a 24 yd FG and UM fumbled at the 50 then was SOD at the CM14. CM also fumbled at the UM1 in the 1H and UM led 10-7 with a 224-193 yd edge. UM extended it to 17-7. The teams settled for FG’s of 21, 28 and 23 yards from the 4, 11 and 6-yard lines and it was 20-20 when UM took over with 1:09 left. UM got a FD to the 42 called back on offensive pass int but on 3&15 Dysert threw deep and Cruse was 20 yds behind any defender and walked into the EZ with :19 left for a 71 yd TD pass and the upset.

If you look at the FD’s you would think Bowling Green dominated Temple as they had a 24-12 FD edge but BG had just a 313-307 yd edge. Also thanks in part to a bad snap on a punt in which TU fell on it in the EZ for a TD, they led 28-14. BG got a TD with 6:04 left and TU punted with just 1:47 left. BG took over at their 31 and went 69/12pl. Things looked hopeless when they had a 4&14 from the 37 but they got a 33 yd pass to the 4 and 2pl later on the last play of the game, BG got a TD but they went for the TD and the 2 pt and the win and came up short.

Rutgers had an earlier game vs FIU where they were outgained 199 yds yet pulled out a victory. Here vs Army they may have been even more fortunate. At the half they “only” trailed 17-3 as they were outgained 287-63. Army fumbled at their own 42 and settled for a 21 yd FG at the end of the half. In the 2H Army was SOD at the RU23. RU faced 3&23 and was sk’d for a 1 yd loss but a pers foul for a horse collar gave them a FD. They converted on 4&1 and then on 4&8 defensive holding gave them FD and on 4&2 they got a 3 yd TD pass to pull within 17-10. On the next drive, RU was int’d on 2nd & 8 but Steve Erzinger was called for a very late helmet-to-helmet hit on the QB for a pers foul on the FD then on 3&13 they got a 14 yd pass and got a TD to tie it at 17 with 5:16 left. Army got a FG in OT and RU a TD for the win.

Middle Tennesse turned it over 6 times and in the 2H Georgia Tech had “drives” of 45, 38 (after fumble), 30 (after fumble) and 24 yds (after int). In the 1H they had a 34 yd TD drive after an int as well. MT had a 22-19 FD edge and while GT finished with a 405-316 yd edge, but TO’s were the key.

Matt Barkley threw for 252 yds and a school record tying 5 TD’s. USC flat out dominated Cal with 32-10 FD and 602-245 yd edges. In fact, they led 45-0 before Cal got a couple of garbage TD’s. USC’s D had given up 69 pts the previous 2 games but had a 372-65 yd edge at the half with a 20-3 FD edge in their dominating win.

In the 1H TCU had a 223-13 yd edge but it was just 3-0 with 2:00 left 1H. TCU, after a 17 yd PR went 46/2pl for a TD with 1:35 left and then after an int, went 38/3pl for a TD with :26 left to lead 17-0. BYU was SOD at their own 47 but then on their third 3Q poss went 70/14pl when they got a 27 yd FG it meant BYU’s streak of 201 straight away games with scoring (dates back to the 70’s) was kept in tact. It also ended TCU’s shutout streak at 174:00. TCU got a TD with 1:03 left then after a 26 yd punt went 51/9pl and on 4&3 got a 21 yd TD pass with 4:24 left and they ended the game at the BYU27.

WKU led 24-7 in the 4Q but amazingly lost. Bobby Rainey rushed for 174 yds for WKU. Twice ULM faked punts and each time failed and WKU had TD drives of 25 and 31 yds. WKU was at home and led 24-7 into the 4Q but ULM rallied for 28 points in the 4Q to pull out a 35-30 win which included a 55 yd IR TD with 1:30 left which put them up 35-24. WKU got a TD with :50 left but ULM rec’d the onside kick.

UAB had 25-15 FD and 500-229 yd edges. UAB’s had a massive problem with FG’s all year and missed a 34 yd FG after a 64 yd drive in the 1Q then went 71/9pl and missed a 36 yd FG at the end of the half. They actually trailed in this one 6-0 and punted with 9:53 left 3Q. UAB’s next 3 drives were 74/12pl, 80/5pl, 99/14pl all for TD’s as they took command.

Ohio dominated Akron. In fact they scored on their first 4 drives of the game with 22 yd punts by AU setting up short drives for a FG and TD of 21 and 39 yards. AU, trailing 24-0 got their first FD in the 2Q. It was 38-3 when AU went 68/13pl getting a TD with 5:53 left and OU ended the game at the AU8.

Louisiana Tech had a 683-452 yd edge with 2:38 left vs Idaho but allowed an 81/8pl garbage TD drive to “only” win by 13. LT amassed 32 FD’s and the game was only close because of some crucial LT fumbles. The first was ret’d 55 yards to the 11 setting up an Idaho TD and the Vandals actually led 14-10. LT missed a 36 yd FG, fumbled at the IU22, fumbled at the IU42 which set up a Vandal TD and fumbled at the IU17 but still won comfortably.

FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME: Oklahoma St got their first victory in Lubbock since 1944, a span of 66 years. Justin Blackmon had a career high 207 yards rec. OSU led 14-0 and TT did not get their first FD until their fourth drive. OSU finished with 30-20 FD and 581-401 yd edges.

North Carolina won at Scott Stadium for the first time since 1981 and did so in convincing fashion. After having lost 14 consecutive games on the Cavs home field, they won 44-10. Virginia and NC each had 19 FD although UNC had a 479-335 yd edge. Five TO’s were the key. Trailing 10-3 UVA was int’d and NC went 51/7pl for a TD. UVA went on a 17 play drive and were int’d and ret’d 70 yds setting up an NC FG and they trailed 27-10 at the half and UVA actually had a 14-7 FD edge. NC got a 22 yd IR TD early 3Q, 27-10. UVA was SOD on 4&2 at the NC3 and 4&1 at the NC36 and their final drive got to the 5 where they were int’d in the EZ with 2:28 left.

It’s been a nightmare year for Urban Meyer. They lost their 2nd consec HG for the first time since 2003. Mississippi St won their first game in The Swamp since 1965, ending a 16 game losing streak there. Ron Zook never even lost 3 consec games. MSU jumped out to a 10-0 lead and UF was SOD at their own 38 and missed a 38 yd FG in the 2Q. With Burton mostly operating at QB in the 2H UF went 80/12pl for a TD. MSU missed a 40 yd FG with 10:56 left but UF fumbled at the MSU16 with 7:50 left when they could have taken the lead MSU ate up 5:50 getting 3 FD’s and punting with 2:00 left. UF converted on 4&2 for a FD to the MSU30 with :33 left but missed a 43 yd FG.

MISLEADING FINALS: Maryland had an 18-13 FD edge in the game and a 340-213 yd edge. MD led 7-3 when CU got an 87 yd KR TD. MD went on a 59 yd drive but missed a 33 yd FG and CU led 17-7 at the half despite being outgained 212-126. CU got a 41 yd PR setting up a 21 yd “drive” for a TD. MD was SOD at the CU30 and later int’d at the CU21. CU got a 63 yd IR TD with 5:31 left to make it 31-7. MD was int’d at the own 45 on their last drive with 4:20 left.