News and Notes Week 4 Part 2

Auburn HC Chizik talked about a sense of urgency to get better but had a poor 1H vs a Florida Atl team that came in avg 98 ypg. The first play of the game Auburn was int’d and FAU got a FG. Later, FAU’s woeful offense went 51/13pl for a 43 yd FG to get within 10-6 after Auburn had scored on 60 and 46 yd drives for a TD and FG. AU punted their next 2 drives then on 4&2 were SOD at the FAU41 and only led 10-6 at the half. AU threatened to blow it open in the 3Q as they got a 25 yd IR TD then after FAU was SOD at the AU34, 5pl later AU got a 51 yd screen pass to McCalebb for a TD, 24-6. FAU was int’d and ret’d to the 19 but AU settled for a 31 yd FG then AU went 41/11pl and settled for a 37 yd FG and led 30-6 after 3Q’s. FAU amazingly drove 78/11pl to get a TD and 2 pt conversion with 9:26 left on what would be their very first TD of the entire season, 30-14 and Aub missed a 47 yd FG on their next drive.

UTEP came into the USF game a banged up team missing their starting QB Lamaison as well as SAF Nixon and DL Reed. They actually played closer than the final would indicate. USF got a 71 yd Daniels TD run, the 4th longest in USF’s brief school history but UTEP hung with them and only trailed 31-17 at the half despite missing a 32 yd FG. After 3Q’s it was just 38-24. UTEP had the ball down 2 scores when they were int’d at the USF40 with 9:44 left. USF went 60/8pl and got an 18 yd TD pass then on the next play got a 30 yd IR TD to blow it open 52-24. UTEP got 3 FD’s to the USF38 but on 4&21 fired incomplete.

Northern Illinois scored on all six 1H poss settling for a 22 and 44 yd FG and getting TD’s on the rest. Cal Poly punted on their first 3 poss but missed a 33 yd FG and trailed 34-7 at the half with NI having a 364-122 yd edge. CP scored a TD and FG on their first 2 drives of the 3Q to get within 34-17 and got a TD with 10:10 left to pull within 40-24. NI went 80/6pl for a TD with 6:58 left. After CP was SOD and NI fumbled, CP went 69/14pl getting a TD with :37 left for the final score.

Colorado St trailed 14-3 vs Utah St but rallied back to 14-13. They fumbled at their own 27 setting up a Utah St TD, 21-13. CSU opted to punt on 4&30 with 2:06 left as they had all 3 time-outs remaining and USt fumbled the punt at their own 15. CSU got the tying TD with :42 left and the 2 pt conversion. Each team scored TD’s on the first 2 poss. Utah St opted to go for the win and RB Turbin was stopped on the left sideline 3 yards short of the EZ and CSU got the outright upset win.

Oregon/Arizona was an interesting game as in the 1H the Ducks jumped out to a 35-3 lead and even though they had scoring drives of 80/8pl, 72/10pl and 80/8pl, those 3 drives ate up just 2:42, 2:19 and 2:06 TOP. It appeared over at 35-3 with 2:38 left in the half but Arizona drove 81/7pl for a TD with 1:04 left. Arizona then opened the 3Q with a 74/12pl and 65/9pl drives for TD’s and shockingly it was 35-24 (5:43 3Q). The Ducks went 75/8pl for a TD and Arizona converted on 4&1 and 4&6 on a 38/13pl drive but on 4&gl from the 6 were sacked back at the 22. The Ducks went 78/5pl for a TD with 9:55 left, 49-24 .Arizona got a TD to get back within 49-31 with 6:29 left but UO rec’d the onside kick and drove 43/7pl for a the clinching TD with 1:45 left, 56-31.

Portland St played TCU a lot closer than the final score would indicate. Portland St took their opening drive 71/14pl but settled for a 22 yd FG. TCU got a 35 yd FG and the game was tied 3-3 when TCU too over with 4:22 left in the half. Six plays later TCU got a 66 yd TD pass with 1:55 left. TCU then got a 26 yd IR TD off backup QB Hubel and after a 42 yd PR got a 10 yd TD pass to Dawson for 3 TD’s in 1:18 and a 24-3 lead. They got a 65 yd TD run by James to open the 3Q. They went 66/11pl for a 24 yd FG and then on 4&2 opted to go for it and the pass was tipped over the middle but instead of being int’d, Dawson caught it and took it the 73 yards for the TD, 41-3. PSU after a 15 yd punt went 13 yds for a 42 yd FG, 41-6 (12:40) but TCU got an 82 yd KR TD then a 43 yd PR set up a 40/4pl TD drive with 7:51 left. PSU went 87 yards on a 15 play drive getting a garbage TD with 1:39 left.

Florida punted on their first 2 poss but then Kentucky fumbled with 8:18 left in the 1Q which opened the floodgates. UF has now outscored UK 94-3 in the 1Q of their last 4 games. They got a 45 yd TD pass on the first play after the fumble. UF went 43/4pl for a TD then after an int went 28/2pl for a TD to lead 21-0. UK went 69/11pl for a 24 yd FG to make it 21-3 at the end of the 1Q. UK fumbled and UF ret’d it 2 yards for a TD early 2Q. UF went 60/12pl for a 45 yd FG. UF fumbled on their own 26 and UK got a TD 2pl later, 31-10 (1:18 2Q). Driskell was int’d at the UK10 on the last play of the half. UF in the 3Q got an 84 yd TD run by Demps, their longest run for a TD since Emmitt Smith had a 96 yarder vs Mississippi St in 1988. UK was int’d and ret’d 30 yard to their 45 and UF got a 27 yd FG 11pl later. UK’s last 4 poss were all SOD’s at the UF44, 39, 32 and own 31 and UF got a 60 yd TD run on the next play after 1 of them. UF did have a 522-299 yd edge.

Arkansas St got the benefit of playing a Central Arkansas team without their starting QB Nathan Dick who was injured the previous week. CA’s backup QB Wynrick Smothers did a decent job hitting 16-31-224 and even guided a 72/12pl drive for a TD on their 2nd poss to lead 7-3. Two poss later they drove 65/11pl but settled for a 22 yd FG to trail 13-10. ASU led 19-10 at the half with a 266-190 yd edge. ASU went 83/10pl for a TD, 31/7 for a 21 yd FG and 53/6pl for a TD to open the 3Q, 36-10 (3:36). Smothers hit a 53 yd TD pass, 36-17 and ASU scored on their next 2 poss with a TD and FG then added a 31 yd IR TD.

Minnesota lost again to an FCS team and it was their 3rd loss in 5 years. They key play of the game happened just before the half. North Dakota St did have a 207-181 yd edge at the half and led 21-14. Minnesota tried a Hail Mary pass on 4&8 on the final play of the half and it was not only int’d at the NDS18 but Heagle ret’d it 30 yards and as he was going down he latteralled to M. Williams who took it the final 52 yards for a TD and shockingly NDS led 28-14 at the half. NDS opened the 3Q with a 55/12pl drive to lead 31-14 but UM battled back with 53/10pl and 46/10pl drives for a TD and FG. UM alternated QB’s Shortell and Gray all game, 31-24. NDS missed a 35 yd FG with 2:58 left leaving UM in the game but Shortell on 2&10 was int’d and ret’d 40 yds for a TD with 2:36 left to seal it, 37-24.

The Kent St/South Alabama game can be interrupted one of 2 ways. KSU led 33-0 in the 3Q before SAU battled back for the closer than expected 33-25 final. In the 1H KSU was far from dominating using a short field for most scores. KSU started at the 50 and went 3 &out but roughing the P gave them a FD on their 2nd poss. They would go 50/12pl for a TD. After a 21-yd PR, they got a 39 yd FG on a 7 yd drive, after an int they drove 42/7pl for a TD and their longest drive was a 51/11pl drive for a 35 yd FG, 19-0 and after an int they got a 28/1pl TD run, 26-0 at the half. SAU fumbled to open the 3Q at their own 11 and KSU got a TD 2pl later. SAU then rallied with a 60/5pl drive for a TD. After recovering a fumble they went 34/8pl for a 25 yd FG and SAU got a 71/5pl drive. The key was a 61 yd pass to the 10 and on 4&gl from the 9 a 9 yd TD pulled them within 33-17. SAU went 67/11pl but was SOD at the KSU5 then went 47/3pl and got a 2 yd TD run with 6:04 left, 33-25. SAU was int’d at their own 48 with 2:53 left but got it back once more at their 20. They got to midfield and on the final play gained 34 yds down to the KSU23 but ran out of time.

UNLV was a big underdog last week vs Hawaii and won outright by 20. This time they were a big favorite over Southern Utah and played much better than the final score would indicate as they gave up 3 IR TD’s. In the 1H UNLV had a 197-105 yd edge but the key play was a 35 yd IR TD by SUU with 11:11 left in the 2Q and they trailed 10-7 with UNLV’s only TD coming on a 23 yd pass off a fake FG. UNLV did get a 45 yd FG with :10 left in the half to tie it at 10. On the first play of the 3Q they were int’d and ret’d 22 yds for a TD and SUU then went 83/7pl and 55/13pl for a TD and FG to lead 27-10. UNLV fumbled and SUU went 31/5pl for a TD then 3pl later got a 74 yd IR TD (3rd) 41-10. UNLV would be SOD at the SUU23 and got a TD with :25 left and UNLV had 21-16 FD and 402-256 yd edges.

Even though Wyoming’s stadium has an official seating of 29,200 32,617 crammed the stadium with a good portion wearing Nebraska red. The Huskers had a big game vs Wisconsin on deck and were far from dominant early punting on 3 of their first 4 poss. They opened up a 14-0 lead when WY got a 48 yd TD pass with 3:37 left in the half, 14-7. NU missed a 50 yd FG on the final play of the half and only had a 205-170 yd edge. The Huskers got a big KR to open the 3Q and went 41/4pl for a TD then after Wyoming was SOD at the 50, Nebraska added a 20 yd FG 5pl later, 24-7. NU fumbled at the WY47 but WY missed a 32 yd FG. NU went 80/10pl for a TD with 13:55 left to go up by 24. WY went 80/14pl and on 4&6 got a 10 yd TD pass with 8:13 left to close it to 17. NU went 80/11pl and got a 1 yd D run with 3:57 left. Two plays later they got an int at the WY40. NU got a 22 yd run to the 17, an 11 yd run to the 2 but then took a knee on the final 2 plays.

Hawaii absolutely throttled UC Davis coming off an embarrassing loss to UNLV. In the 1H UH had a 21-1 FD and 486-51 yd edge. They scored 7 TD on 7 poss and QB Moniz tied an NCAA record by throwing for 7 TD’s in the 1H tying Florida’s Terry Dean (1984) Florida’s Doug Johnson (1997) and San Diego St’s Dennis Shaw (1969) for the record. Graves QB’d 3 drives in the 2H leading 1 TD drive, Austin came in for a series where they fumbled and even 4th string QB Shutter came in for the final series which they had a 1st & gl at the 2 and took a knee 3x.

South Carolina was somewhat fortunate to win the game by 18 points vs Vanderbilt and it was almost all due to their defense. Vandy had 5 FD’s and their 77 yards was the fewest SC had allowed in a game since holding Wake Forest to 66 back in 1987. SC had a 17-5 FD and 367 yards but QB Garcia had 4 int’s and all 3 TD’s were on the fortunate side. SC was int’d at the VU7 then SOD at their own 40 but VU punted each time. SC was int’d at their own 45 and ret’d 23 yds and VU got a 33 yd FG to lead 3-0. SC was int’d at the VU36 but VU was sacked and fumbled. Allen scooped it up and returned it then fumbled and Ingram fell on it for the TD, 7-3. VU was int’d at the SC23 and 2 poss later SC got a 16 yd PR. SC was at their own 48 when they threw a little bubble screen to Lattimore which he took 52 yds for a TD with just :13 left in the half and stunningly SC led 14-3. In the 3Q SC faced a 3&21. Garcia threw a Hail Mary which bounced off the rec and the ball bounced into the trailers hands (Sanders) for a 51 yd gain. On the next play Lattimore got a 22 yd TD run and SC got its 3rd fortunate TD, 21-3. SC did go 27/7pl and missed a 46 yd FG then got to the VU9 and was int’d in the EZ They brought in backup QB Shaw and ran 6 of his first 8 plays but were SOD at the VU35 with 7:20 left.

In the 1H North Texas had a 371-161 yd edge but had a 25 yd FG blk’d, fumbled at the IU31, fumbled at the IU42 and did not score until the final 3 drives of the half when they went 91/3pl, 57/8pl and 68/8pl for TD’s to lead 21-0 with IU missing a 49 yd FG. NT got an int to open the 3Q and drove 4 yds for a 40 yd FG, 24-0. Six punts. IU went 61/13pl but was SOD at the NT23 but got a 31 yd IR by Murphy with 11:04 then recovered the onside kick. They got 1 FD and punted and NT went 3 & out and Kiel came in at QB. IU went 67/6pl with a 44 yd TD pass. NT recovered the onside kick and punted. IU13 got a 4&18 PI FD then a 67 yd TD with 1:05 left but NT rec’d the onside kick.

Oklahoma had not trailed at home in 20 straight games (not since 2007).

USC played Arizona St a lot closer than the final would indicate. In the 1H USC had 4 drives inside the ASU25. They settled for 3 short FG’s and were int’d at the 16. ASU got a 70 yd TD run, a 51/8pl TD drive then after a 36 yd IR drove 48/8pl for a TD and led 21-9 at the half with only a 220-166 yd edge. USC went 65/6pl and 80/9pl for TD’s to open the 3Q to take the lead, 22-21. ASU went 76/8pl for a TD. USC fumbled at the ASU25 then went on a 73/11pl drive. Poised to take the lead on 3&5, Barkley was sk’d and fumbled at the ASU18 with 10:21 left. ASU went 82/11pl for a TD then on the next play, got a 41 yd IR TD to blow it open, 43-22. USC was SOD at their own 30 with 4:58 left.

FIU lost starting QB Wesley Carroll in the 1Q to injury (1-3-8). FIU had scored a TD on their first poss going 67/4pl for a TD. A punt pinned FIU at the 1 and holding in the EZ gave UL as safety mid1Q and UL added a 48 yd FG after the free kick then after a 14 yd PR to the FIU30, added a 39 yd FG to take an 8-7 lead. They got a 4&1, 41 yd TD pass with :50 left in the half to lead 15-7 but FIU got a 69 yd KR and 11 yd TD run to pull within 15-14 at the half. UL did have a 208-117 yd edge. The teams scored TD’s on the first 3 poss of the 3Q with UL getting 2 of them to lead 29-21. After 2 punts, FIU went on a 93/13pl drive but settled for a 20 yd FG to pull within 29-24 and UL got a 46 yd TD pass to go up 36-24. FIU got a TD with 6:51 left to pull within 5 but was SOD at its own 41 with 3:49 left and their final drive started at their own 5 with 2:50 left and they got to the 50 but on 3&21, backups QB Jake Medlock who hit 17-27-216 was int’d on a deep pass at the UL17.

It was an interesting game with LSU and W Virginia as WV QB Geno Smith set school records for passing yards (463) attempts (65) and completions (38). LSU’s P Brad Wing pinned WV 6 times inside their 15 including 3 inside the 5. LSU benefitted from a 4-0 TO edge. WV got off a 14 yd punt and LSU went 58/8pl for a TD. WV fumbled at the 50 and was int’d at the LSU41 and LSU went 50/7pl for a TD, 13-0. WV went on a 73/12pl drive for a TD to get back to 13-7 but LSU got a 52 yd TD pass with 6:57 left in the half. WV had the ball in the final minute of the half and on 3&19 opted to go for it instead of running out the clock. Smith’s pass was tipped and int’d by Mathieu who returned it 19 yards to the 1. LSU got a gift TD 2pl later with :26 left in the half to go up 27-7. At the half WV did have a 241-204 yd edge. WV scored two 3Q TD’s to pull within 27-21 and the crowd was excited by Claiborne ret’d the ensuing KO 99 yds for a TD. WV was SOD at the LSU43, fumbled at the LSU45 and the Tigers went 57/9pl, 55/8pl for a pair of TD’s to turn it into a blowout and impressed the pollsters to move to #1 in the AP Poll.