Daily Blog •September 13, 2011

 

News and Notes Week 2 Part 2

Keenan Allen got a 5 yd TD pass in OT’s from his half brother Zach Maynard as Cal beat Colorado 36-33 in a game that did not count as a league game. Tyler Hansen finished with a school record 474 yds with speedy Paul Richardson having 11 catches for 284 yds. CU had a 582-370 yd edge. The Bears had leads of 16-6 and later 23-13 but CU got a FG with :30 left to force OT. Cal’s TD came 2pl after they converted on 1st & 30 at their 35 in OT with a 32 yd pass. Hanson became the first QB to top 400 yards passing vs Cal since 2005.

Pitt did struggle at times vs Maine and MU’s QB Smith hit 27-45-334 yds. QB Tino Sunseri was pulled with Pitt ahead 28-15 in the 4Q and bkp Anderson led a 52/11pl TD drive and Pitt led 35-15 with 8:39 left. MU gained 159 yds on their final 2 drives going 81/13pl for a TD with 3:12 left. Pitt rec’d the onside kick, got 1 FD and missed a 39 yd FG with 1:13 left and MU gained 78 yds on 10pl getting a garbage TD with :03 left.

Once again the Irish shot themselves in the foot and lost a game they were in control of. In the 1H ND had a commanding 15-3 FD edge and 268-90 yd edge. The Irish went 57/7pl and 83/10pl for TD’s and UM would have 2 FD’s on their first 4 poss. On their 5th poss, on 2&8 they got 43 yd TD pass and stunningly pulled within 14-7. ND was int’d at the UM2 and settled for a 38 yd FG and only led 17-7. ND fmbl’d at the UM29 but drove 71/7pl for a TD, 24-7. UM got a 77 yd TD pass to Hemmingway which Robinson threw as he was being sk’d and that set up a TD, 24-14. ND got off a 25 yd punt and UM went 40/5pl for a td to pull within 24-21. ND was poised to put it away when they had a 1st & gl at the 9 but fmbl’d. UM took over with 2:16 left and got a 21 yd TD pass with 1:12 left for a stunning 28-24 lead. ND appeared to put it away again getting a 29 yd TD pass with :30 left to go up 31-28 but UM went 80/3pl and got a 64 yd pass to Gallon on 2&10 on a pass around midfield which he was left wide open and weaved through the secondary. UM turned down the FG and went for the TD and got a 16 yd TD on the next play with :02 let for the win. It was the first night game at Michigan Stadium and the crowd was loud and vibrant throughout.

Stony Brook blew a couple opportunities vs Buffalo as they were SOD on 4&3 from the BUF36 and BUF got a 57 yd TD pass on their first play, 21-7 at the half. SBU fmbl’d at their own 25 setting up a BUF TD in the 3Q and in the 4Q SBU had a 1st & gl at the 4 and fmbl’d again.

Wyoming did only lead Texas St 17-10 at the half thanks to a 20 yd FG on the last play of the half. After being int’d at the TSU20 on their first 3Q poss, WY went 62/6, 80/8p and 77/4pl for TD’s to blow it open 38-10. TSU missed a 32 yd FG with 6:36 left and WY added a 50 yd TD run with 2:11 left, actually gaining 116 of their 618 yds on their final 2 drives and Texas St had just 189 total yds.

Eastern Michigan had a dominating 336-(-13) rush edge vs Alabama St but blew a couple opportunities and ASt got a 48 yd TD drive following a fmbl and EM only won 14-7.

Preparing for the triple option is always tricky and Clemson struggled vs Wofford’s triple option as they only had a 476-399 yd edge and only led by 1 score late and WU had the ball 2x, down by 8. CU took a chance out of the box going for it on 4&1 at the Woff49 and were SOD and WU for a TD 5pl later. WU used a fake punt late 2Q to go 74/12pl for a TD to lead 21-13 and it was 21-21 at the half. WU got a 61 yd pass on the 2nd play of the 3Q for a FG to lead 24-21. CU went 65/12pl for a TD to take the lead. WU went on a 13pl drive for a 38 yd FG and CU answered with a 58/8pl drive for a TD with 14:35 left, 35-27. WU was int’d at the CU40, punted from the CU39 and were SOD at their own 31 on the final 3 poss.

It was 2 completely different games in the Norfolk St/West Virginia game. NSt dominated the 1H with a 242-143 yd edge and WV did not get its first FD until thir 2nd play of the2Q. NSt led 12-10. WV scored TD’s on its first 5 poss of the 2H and NSt got 2 FD’s in the 2H. WV’s final score was with backup QB Mallard in and a 4&8, 30 yd TD pass with 3:18 left in the 55-12 win.

Arkansas QB Tyler Wilson had concussion like symptoms and only played the 1H vs NMex. The Hogs rolled up 362 yds in the 1H and blew a couple scoring opportunities as they missed a 48 yd FG and settled for a 24 yd FG and were int’d at the NM21. NM fmbl’d at the UA20 blowing a scoring chance for them. In the 3Q UA with bkp QB Mitchell in went 55/8pl for a TD then went on an 8pl drive but fmbl’d at the NM15. Later, UA got a 54 yd TD pass and a 91/13pl drive for a TD to make it 52-3 with 4:28 left. NM was SOD at the UA31 with :46 left.

Tennessee did roll up a 34-18 FD edge vs Cincy and 531-396 yd edge. UC scored on their opening drive and UT answered with a 73/7pl TD drive then onside kicked and went 59/5pl for a TD. After a UC TD the Vols fmbl’d at the UC28, drove 80/7pl for a TD, UC was SOD at their own 48 but UT missed a 43 yd FG. UC was SOD on 4&1 at the UT46 with 5:02 left in the half and UT got 2 scores ahead with a 53/9pl drive for a TD to lead 28-14 then got the opening KO of the 3Q and went 70/10pl for a TD to get ahead by 3 scores and coasted from there.

It was an exciting 1H for N Texas in their brand new home stadium and they played Houston even in the 1H. It was 17-17 when UH got a 27 yd FG with :33 left in the half to take a 20-17 lead and the yards were 230-183 UH. Case Keenum then took over and on the first 4 poss of the 3Q, UH went 85/10, 75/9, 91/9 and 90/5pl for TD’s and just like that it was 48-17 with 13:42 left. NT had 1 FD on their first 2 poss of the half. Keenum hit 26-41 for 458 and 5 TD’s.

Tale of 2H’s. Weber St led 17-10 late 2Q when they allowed a 42 yd PR with 1:37 left 1H. That set up Utah St with :53 left and allowed them to pull even at 17. USt simply dominated the 2H. They scored TD’s on their first 3 poss then rec’d a fumbled KO and added a 39 yd FG. They continued with a 99/3pl TD drive for a 47-17 lead. USt brought in backup QB Kennedy in and punted with 8:58 left but then drove 56/8pl for another TD with 3:01 left to close the scoring.

ULM was dominant with a 21-4 FD and 452-144 yd edges vs their state rival. RB Donald rushed for 144 yards becoming the first ULM player to top 100 yards rushing since 2008. ULM did miss a 40 yd FG but blocked a punt to set up a 6 yd TD drive. Grambling’s only TD came after ULM fumbled the punt at their own 46. Five plays later Grambling got a TD to actually tie it at 7. ULM missed a 31 yd FG but got a 32 yd IR to the 3 setting up another TD to lead 14-7. Grambling did miss a 45 yd FG with 7:48 left in the half and ULM went 72/10pl the key was a roughing the kicker on 4&2 that kept the drive alive. The TD with 4:00 left in the half made it 21-7 then following another int, ULM on 3&20 ULM got a 55 yd TD run by Donald to lead 28-7 at the half with a 232-86 yd edge. The 3Q opened with 5 punts. ULM fumbled at the Grambling 44 then went 77/13pl for a TD. With backup QB Wells in they went 72/13pl and on 4&7 were SOD at the Grambling 20.

Western Michigan’s 38-7 final was indicative of the game. In fact, Nicholls St’s only score came on a 36 yard IR TD when they trailed 21-0 in the 2Q. WM led 28-7 at the half with a 202-86 yd edge and fmbl’d at their own 43 to open the 3Q then drove 44/7pl for a TD. Backup QB VanTubbergen was int’d at the NS7 but 2 poss later drove WM 37/8pl for a 40 yd FG in the 38-7 final. WM had a 399-185 yd edge.

UCF went 3 &out on their first poss then BC went on a 10 play drive for a 47 yd FG and UCF went 49/15pl for a 36 yd FG, 43/11pl for a 35 yd FG and 36/8pl for a 32 yd FG on their next 3 poss and led 9-3 at the half with a 183-68 yd edge. Each team was SOD to open the 3Q and there were 8 punts in the defensive struggle entered the 3Q, 9-3 but UCF went 67/8pl for a TD. After an int went 49/6pl for a TD, 2 poss later after another int, went 30/4pl for a TD to blow open a close game 30-3. UCF had an 18-7 FD edge and 422-141 yd edge.

USF was off of their big win over Notre Dame and ranked for the first time since Nov 2009 but Ball St was also off a big win over rival Indiana in Indianapolis. USF simply dominated this game and in the 1H they had a 386-76 yd edge and settled for 24, 31 and 38 yd FG’s and also had a 33 yd FG blocked and were int’d at the Ball St 9 so they “only” led 30-0. They missed a 41 yd FG early 3Q. USF opened it up to 37-0 and Ball St got a TD early 4Q on a drive where an int was wiped out by a roughing the passer and USF went to backup QB Eveld for 5 of their seven 2H drives.

Rhode Island gave Syracuse a game. SU got a TD with 6:17 left in the 1Q and then was SOD at the RI14. RI went 86/13pl for a TD to tie it at 7 (9:43 2Q). SU got a 62 yd pass to the RI4 and a TD on the next play to lead 14-7 and RI missed a 45 yd FG (4:12 2Q). SU had a 226-171 yd edge at the half. RI opened the 3Q with a 75/6pl TD drive to tie it. After 4 punts, SU went 80/8pl getting a TD with 8:34 left for the lead. RI punted with 5:20 left and then took over at their 47 with 3:16 left but after a pair of sacks on 4&24, from the RI33 they were int’d on a deep pass at the SU24 with 1:29 left. Each team had 20 FD’s.

Navy opened with a 50 yd TD run on the games 4th play in the sloppy conditions. Navy fumbled a punt at their 35 late 1Q but WKU missed a FG and Navy went 80/4pl for a 44 yd TD pass on the last play of the 1Q, 13-0. Navy went 78/5pl for a TD and WKU went 71/7pl for a TD, 20-7. Navy went 60/5pl for a TD to lead 27-7 at the half with a 300-122 yd edge. WKU turned it over on their first two 3Q poss and Navy was SOD at the WKU26 and got a 57 yd TD run to lead 33-7. WKU converted on 4&10 with a 13 yd pass on an 86/12pl drive and got a TD to pull within 33-14. Navy fmbl’d at the WKU24 with 13:27 left but got a 49 yd IR TD with 9:51 left. Navy’s last drive was 62/9pl. They had a 1st & gl at the 3 but ran out the clock at the 12. Navy had a 510-277 yd edge.

Middle Tennessee was poised for a big game as they had their largest home attendance ever at 30,502 as they were celebrating their 100th year as a school. GT deflated them right off the bat with a 73 yard TD pass from Washington to Lemon. GT went 98/17pl, then got a 71/1pl TD pass and went 90/7pl for TD’s and after 4 poss led 28-0. MT missed a 46 yd FG, were int’d at the 10 and fmbl’d at the 16 on 3 of their first 5 poss. GT led 28-7 at the half and went 85/11pl and 63/8pl on their first two 3Q drives to lead 42-7. MT trailing 49-14 took over with 3:16 left and gained 68/9pl getting an 18 yd TD pass with :53 left.

If you look at the stats, it would appear that Southern Illinois outplayed Mississippi with a 420-315 yd edge. UM did have a short field on a lot of drives but also led 28-3. UM went 75/8pl for a TD then got a 4 yd drive after an int and a 67 yd PR by Jeff Scott. Scott was playing in place of Ole Miss’ top 2 RB Brandon Bolden and Enrique Davis who were both injured and Scott rushed for 118 yards on 16 carries along with a PR TD. Ole Miss went 62/12pl for a TD, 28-3. SI went 80/16pl for a TD to pull within 28-10 at the half and SI had a 170-151 yd edge. SI was int’d on their first 2 3Q poss and UM got a 13 yd TD drive, 35-10. SI went 77/10pl scoring a TD on the last play of the 3Q, 35-17 then got a 74 yd run to the 20 but was int’d in the EZ. Ole Miss fumbled with 6:47 left and SI got a 31 yd TD pass on the next play to pull within 11. Miss got a TD with 1:28 left after a 64/7pl drive and SI gained 54 of their yards on the final drive incl a 44 yd pass on the final play.

Duke and Stanford was a different type of game as Duke did benefit from a 76 yards IR TD to pull within 10-7 with 2:14 left in the 2Q. Stanford would respond with 5 straight TD drives after that but upon closer inspection, Duke blew a couple of opportunities as well. Duke’s first drive was 70/9pl with 4 straight FD’s on 15, 11 and 19 yard plays but they missed a 27 yd FG. Duke went 53/13pl and missed a 45 yd FG. Duke also missed a 49 yd FG at the end of a 46/4pl drive. Duke’s first 3Q drive went 46/12pl and was SOD on 4&6 at the SU14. Duke fumbled at their own 39 setting up a SU TD and was SOD at the SU35. Duke did got 76/15pl for a TD.

Both San Jose St and UCLA had different starters at QB. Richard Brehaut started and went the whole way for UCLA and hit a pedestrian 12-23-145 yards. Derrick Coleman ran for 135 yards (all 2H). SJS started Dasmen Stewart who hit 15-31-111 and also rushed for 47 yards. Blake Jurich did come in for 2 series. UCLA led 14-7 at the half but Jurich came in for the 3Q trailing 17-10 and handed off to Rutley who went 65 yards for a TD. UCLA fumbled at their own 34 but Jurich after 1 FD was int’d at the 12. UCLA went on a 67/9pl drive but fumbled and SJS got the 4th TO in 6:00 when they were int’d at their own 37. UCLA settled for a 20 yd FG, 20-17 with 7:31 left then went 79/5pl and Coleman’s 24 yd TD run with 3:35 left clinched it.

It was a wild game between Kansas and Northern Illinois. As you can tell by the final scored, 45-42 and the fact KU had a 534-462 yd edge tells you the offenses had no trouble. Ironically the game opened with a pair of punts. With the game tied at 7, KU on 4&1 got a 51 yd TD run but it was called back on a hold and they missed a FG. KU’s next drive they fmbl’d and NI scored TD’s after each and led 21-7. KU pulled within 21-14 and NI went for it on 4&6 at the KU30 with 1:51 left in the half. They got a FD pass to the 1 and hurried to the LOS to get a snap off but it was reviewed and ruled incomplete. KU took advantage, they got 1 FD and then on 3&17 a 36 yd TD pass with :17 left tied it. Each team scored a TD to open the 3Q and NI actually punted. KU took the lead because of that. Tied at 35, KU drove 73/16pl but settled for a 27 yd FG with 8:50 left. NI at one point had 5 FD’s on 5pl on their next drive which was 85/11pl for a TD with 5:03 left to go up 42-38. KU got a 51 yd KR then 2 big plays. On 4&2 a 2 yd QB run by Webb got them a FD to the 5. Then on 4&gl from the 6 they got a 6 yd TD pass with :09 left to pull off the upset.

Rice took advantage of a couple of key plays to pull off their first win over AQ foes after dropping 22 straight (since 2001). Purdue settled for a 28 yd FG in the 2Q and led 17-10 when Rice took over with 1:48 left in the half. Rice had a key 3&4 conversion early then on 3&2 fell on a fumble setting up a 4&1 and converted. They faced an interesting dilemma when they had a 2&gl at the 4 with time for 1 more play. They passed up a FG which would have pulled them within 17-13 but got a 4 yd TD pass on the last play of the half. Rice opened the 3Q with an 80/11pl TD drive. PU had another unfortunate play when on 4&1 from the 2 they were stuffed. Rice fumbled at the PU38 with 10:38 left and PU drove 52/7pl for a 27 yd FG and trailed by 2. After 3 punts. PU took over with 1:52 left at the 48. They got 3 FD’s to the 14 spiked the ball and got conservative. Rice actually called time-out and PU let the clock run down and lined up for the game winning 31 yd FG but Justin Allen blocked it.

Fresno got a 55 yd pass to the NU21 and then on 3&15 a 26 yd TD pass but the 2 pt try failed, 28-26. NU KR Abdullah returned the KO 100 yards for a TD and a school rec 211 KR yards. Fresno went 52/14pl but now down by 2 scores, opted for a 38 yd FG, 35-29. NU got 2 FD’s and a 46 yard TD run by Martinez put them up 42-29 before Hill punted on 4&10 with 1:34 left.

UTEP played a pretty good game at SMU. They did lose their starting QB Lamaison to injury on the first drive of the 3Q and backup Jay Hall played the rest of the way hitting 8-20-131. SMU gave the start to JJ McDermott and Kyle Padron played sparingly but did get a 12 yd TD run in the 2Q. UTEP settled for a 34 yd FG and missed a 46 yd FG and had a 33 yd FG blk’d in the 1H. SMU had a 258-184 yard edge and led 21-10. Backup Hall took over at the SMU39 after a fumble and led them in 6pl to a TD to pull within 21-17. The next 9 poss featured 7 punts and 2 TO’s. UTEP was pinned at their 1 with 2:47 left down by 4 when Hall was sacked and fumbled and SMU fell on it in the EZ for a TD, 28-17. UTEP was SOD on 4&11 at the SMU43.

LSU only led lowly Northwestern St 7-3 in the 2Q and it was 14-3 when NSt was int’d at their 15 with 9:03 left in the half. LSU went 15/2pl for a TD. NSt went for it on 4&5 at the LSU48 with :50 left in the half and were tkl’d for a loss of -11 yards. LSU made them pay as they went 52/5pl and got a 3 yd TD run with :20 left in the half to go up 28-3. Mettenberger made his debut for LSU and added a 59/6pl drive for a TD to open the 3Q. NSt was SOD at their own 49 and 2 poss later LSU went 57/10pl for a TD then 68/15pl for a TD with 7:36 left 49-3. LSU fumbled at the NSt39 and punted on their final 2 drives.

Louisiana Tech appeared to have the Central Arkansas game in control numerous times. They had a 14-3 1Q lead and 21-10 lead and the ball with 1:50 left in the half at midfield but was int’d and ret’d to their 20 and CA got a TD with 1:11 left to get back in it at 21-17. LT was up 35-20 in the 3Q when they gave up a 3&10, 43 yd D pass and CA got a 56 yd TD pass on their next drive to tie. Roughing the Punter gave CA a FD but they would miss a 43 yd FG after a 9pl drive. LT went 46/10pl but missed a 46 yd FG with 5:15 left. CA was int’d and ret’d 19 yds to their 38 and LT had a FD at the CA26 when RB Creer who rushed for 177 yards on 32 carries, fumbled. Not only did CA scoop up the fumble, they ret’d it 73 yards for a TD and shockingly with 2:08 left, CA led 42-35. LT drove 72/7pl incl a 3&11, 12 yd run by Holley and Holley’s 7 yd TD run with :58 left forced OT. LT blocked a 39 yd FG by CA and then Creer ran 23 yards to the 2 and 2pl later his 1 yd TD run gave LT the win.

It was a very interesting game vs Louisiana and Kent St in the fact that two teams combined for just 19 FD’s and 345 ttl yards. Louisiana at the half had a 17-7 lead but their longest TD drive was 1 yd and their FG drive was kept alive by a personal foul on 3&10 when they gained 2 yards. At the half UL, in a game played in rain, had a 79-66 yd edge. UL got a 63 yard IR TD in the 1Q. UL fumbled at their own 44 and Kent St went 44/6pl for a TD with :39 left in the 1Q, 7-7. Kent fumbled at their own 1 and UL on 3&gl got a TD for a 14-7 lead. UL took over with 2:28 left in the half at their own 28 and after 2 FD’s, the first on a personal foul on a 5 yard run, on 3&10 they gained 2 yards and a PF gave them another FD. They got a 35 yd FG to lead 17-7. UL after the game returned from a 1:20 lightning delay at 10:18 pm, was sacked for a safety from its own 7 and Kent made it 17-9. Later Kent St added a 44 yd FG to pull within 17-12. There were 3 punts then Kent St fumbled at their own 38. Gautier came in at QB for UL and they got 2 FD’s and got a 28 yd FG with 6:08 left to lead 20-12. Kent St on 4&6 was SOD at their own 45. UL had a chance to put it away and Gautier’s 20 yard run to the 2 ended in another fumble. This time Kent on 4&2 got a 19 yd pass out to their 42 but fumbled at the end of it and UL took a knee.

The Akron/Temple game was closer than the final but not much. The first 3 poss were all punts and the game went to a 1:19 lightning delay. When they returned, TU took advantage going 76/7pl for a TD. TU punted on their next poss but then after returning a fumble 12 yards to the 4, got a short TD DRIVE then went 43/6pl, 63/6pl for TD’s and led 28-3 at the half. Akron in the 2H was int’d at the TU35, SOD on 4&9 at the TU36, SOD on 4&10 at the TU34 and SOD on 4&10 at the AU44 on their 4 drives. TU got a TD with 2:46 left to extend the margin and only had a 416-269 yd edge.