Top 25 Team Performances Week 5

GAME NOTES

Stanford went on the road for the first time and led 13-3 late 3Q but on a key play of the game, Washington on 4&1 got a 61 yd Sankey td run to get back in it. They later got a 35 yd td pass with 4:54 left and SU’s last gasp was a 4&4 incomplete pass with 1:46 left. Josh Nunes hit 18-37-170. It was UW’s first win over a top 10 team since 2009 and the student section poured on to the turf of CenturyLink Field at the end and actually gave them more of a home field edge than I thought they would playing away from their home stadium this year. UW finished with a 313-235 yd edge and 13-10 FD edge.

A key to the Hawaii/BYU game happened early when UH had 2 of their top DT’s carted off the field with injuries and didn’t really have any def tackles the rest of the game. BYU would dominate. They would finish with a 40-9 FD edge, 540-149 yd edge. BYU was starting Taysom Hill at QB and he hit 12-21-112 but ran for 143 yds. Mendenhall said after the game there was no QB controversy that Riley Nelson was still his guy. It was BYU’s first shutout since 2009. Norm Chow returned to BYU where he had spent 27 years as a coach and UH was shutout for the first time since 1998 stopping 182 game streak.

Texas A&M has looked unstoppable since their loss to Florida and makes UF’s win appear even stronger earlier in the year. Johnny Manziel threw for a school record 453 yds and A&M rolled up 716 yards vs the beleaguered Arkansas D. Arkansas actually led this one 10-7 after 1Q and Tyler Wilson did throw for 373 yds but Arkansas, after that 10-7 lead did not score again. Ryan Swope had a school record with his 10th 100 yd game. Arkansas was int’d at the A&M22 in the 2Q and gave up a 24 yd FR td in the 3Q but as they did versus Alabama, once things got bad, the Hogs were ineffective and it turned into even more of a blowout when Ark was SOD on 4&6 at the A&M11 then SOD on 4&12 at the A&M15 and on 4&1 from their own 28 were SOD and Texas A&M tacked on a 13 yd td run with 2:51 left for the 58-10 final.

One of the more shocking totals of the day was that Middle Tennessee outrushed Georgia Tech 264-238 so there was nothing fluky about their win and it was also the first time GT had lost consecutive home games since 1988. MT had a 510-425 yd edge. GT was banged up at LB as starter Jeremiah Attaochu was out and Brandon Watts play sparingly for disciplinary reasons. MT had leads of 14-7 and 21-14, 28-21 and then GT was SOD on 4&12 at the MT25 and MT got a 75 yd td pass on the next play. MT led 42-28 when GT was sk’d on 4&22 and MT took over with 3:42 left and ran the ball 5x going 43 yds for a td with 1:17 left for the 21 pt upset win.

Stony Brook RB Miguel Maysonet rushed for 220 yds as SBU upset Army keeping the Black Knights winless. The two are both located in NY and the Seawolves led 13-0 at half, 20-3 after 3Q’s. Army QB Trent Steelman was hobbled but rushed for 89 yds. Army blew some opportunities during the game and fell to 1-14 when trailing at the half. Army went 34/5pl but fumbled at the SB31 in the 1Q, went 45/8pl and was SOD on 4&1 at the 3, they fumbled at the SB34 at the end of a 41 yd drive in the 2Q and fumbled at the SB10 at the end of a 71/10pl drive. Army went on a 52/8pl drive settling for a 39 yd FG then went 72/10pl and fumbled at the SB6. Army’s final drive was SOD on 4&1 at their own 33. SB did finish with a 424-330 yd edge and 25-18 FD edge.

Duke ended a 12 year losing streak to Wake Forest. Sean Renfree was 22-28-204 yd and left the game with an elbow injury and it was bkp Anthony Boone hitting 8-11-54. Duke is off to their best start since their Fred Goldsmith led 1994 team started 7-0. Wake Forest WR Michael Campanaro broke his hand in the 2Q after coming in leading the ACC in receiving. Conner Vernon tied the ACC record for career receptions with 3:00 left with his 232nd career catch. Duke settled for FG’s of 36 and 22 yards and only led 13-7 and it was 13-10 at the half. Duke went 75/12pl for a td to open the 3Q, 20-10 but WF battled back to tie and Renfree was out the rest of the game with a hurt elbow but WF fumbled at their own 8 setting up a Duke td and was int’d at their own 38 setting up a 7pl drive for a td and Duke led 34-20. WF drove 75/16 converting on 4&3 then getting a td pass on 4&4 with :40 left but Duke rec’d the onside kick.

Mark Weisman ran for 177 yards with 155 of those in the 1H vs Minnesota. Iowa was playing off a loss, with revenge and was being dumped on by the national media after their ugly start at 2-2. UM came in unbeaten at 4-0 but UI dominated leading 24-0 at the half with a 328-75 yd edge!! UM was able to make the stats fairly close at the end as each team finished with 15 FD and UI with just a 374-299 yd edge. UM had a pair of comeback wins the previous 2 years for upsets and the Gophers had not won in Kinnick Stadium since 1999. The stats got close because of a garbage td drive at the end In fact, UM gained 111 yds on their final 2 poss. UI got a 68 yd IR td with 5:15 left then UM went on an 80/11pl drive for a garbage td with :41 left making the stats deceiving.

Buffalo’s offense, which struggled vs Kent St in a Thursday night game was playing without injured RB Branden Oliver. Alex Zordich again completed under 50% of his passes hitting just 13-30 but did throw for 220 yds and rushed for an additional 76 against a tough Connecticut defense. Trailing 24-7 Zordich hit a 4 yd pass to Alex Neutz who then pitched the ball to a trailing RB Brandon Murie on the hook and ladder and he raced for a 50 yd td to get Buffalo back in the game. Down 24-17 UB took over with 1:27 left at their 20, got 1 FD but on 4&4 were SOD at their own 40.

Winning on the road 2 straight weeks is tough and Nevada was coming off a big win vs Hawaii on the Islands, a late trip home then travelling to Texas. You would figure they would be sluggish and that they were. In the 1H Texas St built a lead of 21-13 before Nevada got a td with 1:41 left in the half to pull within 21-20. Nevada scored td’s on their first two 2H poss to take the lead 34-21 but TSU was SOD on 4&3 at the UN5 with 6:10 left in their last chance to get back in the game. Nevada did finish with a 559-254 yd edge and Stefphan Jefferson rushed for 178 yds.

A surprising stat in the Penn St/Illinois game was the fact that at the half, PSU only had a 199-187 yd edge as two TO’s were crucial in the 1H. Unheralded soph RB Zach Zwinak had 101 yds rushing. PSU was upset that Illinois went on campus to recruit their players and played with an extra chip on their shoulder. Illinois was at the PSU 9 but missed a 26 yd FG. Later, IL was SOD on 4&1 at the PSU28 with 6:03 left in the half. The Illini went for it on 4&gl at the PSU4 and was int’d and almost returned for a td as it came back 99 yds to the 1 and PSU had a FG blk’d so it was 21-0 at the half. While IL closed to 21-7, PSU scored td’s on 2 of their next 3 poss and IL did end the game being stuffed on 3&gl from the PSU1. Nathan Scheelhaase returned to the lineup and hit 28-46-270 yds.

UCF/Missouri was the story of not letting a team hang around. It was an amazing game in the fact that at the half UCF had a 21-6 FD edge but one play kept Missouri in the game and that was an 80 yd td pass to true frosh Dorial Green-Beckham. UCF at the end of the half blew a golden opportunity. They had a 2nd & gl at the 2, fired incomplete and O’Leary sent the FG unit out. The fans booed and O’Leary changed his mind bringing on the offense for one more shot at the EZ with :11 left. The key there is don’t take a sack, throw the ball away. Well, Bortles took a sk and they did not get off another play blowing a golden scoring opportunity. In the 2H Missouri’s offense wasn’t moving but got a 66 yd PR td for the lead. UCF’s offense produced just 6 FD’s in the 2H but still finished the game with a 27-16 FD edge. Trailing 21-16 UCF36 on 2&10 gained 7 yds but fumbled at their own 44 and Missouri went for it on 4&1 and converted to pull out the win.

UAB and Tulsa were tied at 21 early 2Q but Tulsa went 75/8pl and 70/4pl for td’s and led 35-21 at the half. They were int’d at the UAB3 and missed a 35 yd FG and had a 347-142 yd edge. They led 42-28 after 3Q’s but UAB battled back. Tulsa fumbled and UAB went 51/7pl for a td with 11:12 left then shockingly after a 24 yd PR, on 3&10 got a 50 yd td pass to tie it 42-42 with 9:26 left. UAB had the ball in a tie game but was int’d at their own 31 with 7:54 left and Tulsa went 31/6pl for a td with 5:16 left, 49-42. UAB19 got 1 FD on 4&17 a FD to their 21 but was sk’d and fmbl’d at their own 30 with 1:29 left and Tulsa took a knee and escaped.

Cody Getz became the first player in Air Force history to begin the season with 4 straight 100 yd efforts. He was the first to have two 200 yd games in the same season since 2007 when Chad Hall did it. Bo Morgan was the last AF player to have three 100 yd rush games and that was way back in 1996. AF has now beaten state rival Colorado St seven straight years (tied for longest streak in series history). CSU QB Garrett Grayson left the game in the 1Q with a shoulder injury and backup MJ McPeek hit 22-34-292 yds. AF scored td’s on their first 4 poss to lead 28-7 and it was 35-14 at the half with AF having a 362-223 yd edge. After AF fumbled at the CSU5, CSU went 98/12pl for a td to make it 35-21 but AF answered with a 62/6pl drive for a td, 42-21 on their next poss. AF missed a 31 yd FG with 9:32 left and CSU was SOD on 4&9 at midfield with 7:11 left. AF was SOD at the CSU12 with 1:22 left.

Coach MacIntrye of San Jose St spent time during the spring and in August preparing for the option of Navy. He is one of the most underrated HC’s out there and his D held Navy to 144 yds, their fewest amount gained in 10 years. Frosh K Austin Lopez hit 4-4 FG’s tying a school record for a game and is now 9-9 on the season. Navy has not been 1-3 since 2002 and that year they finished just 2-10. SJSt had a 24-11 FD and 388-144 yd edge. Keenan Reynolds came in for the 4Q and replaced QB Miller who has been banged up all year. SJSt was playing without their top tackler for the past 2 seasons in Keith Smith who sat out the game. Navy’s had trouble with TO’s all year and they fumbled at the end of a 66/10pl drive on their first poss at the SJSt9 but SJSt went 14pl and was SOD at the Navy35. SJSt went 68/11pl but settled for a 29 yd FG and only led 3-0 at the half despite a 202-73 yd edge. In the 2H SJSt went 72/14pl settling for a 19 yd FG and 58/10pl settling for a 32 yd FG. Navy was int’d at the SJSt27 and SOD at their own 45 setting up a SJSt 43 yd FG with 7:36 left. Reynolds came in and led Navy on a 35/11pl drive but they were SOD at the SJSt34 with 3:01 left and SJSt ran out the clock and QB David Fales hit 29-34-276 yds.

It sure looked like a flat spot for ULM vs Tulane. They had just played 3 BCS conf foes, winning one and losing 2 close ones. They were the largest away favorite in their history and taking on a Tulane team desperate for a win. ULM proved they are a pretty good team as even in this massive flat spot, they had a 553-151 yd edge and 28-11 FD edge and there was no let up despite switching to backup QB Carrington at the start of the 4Q and 3rd string QB Brown for the last series, one which Brown directed a 95/5pl drive. ULM had a 285-42 yd edge at the half and led 35-3 with Tulane’s only points coming on 3 yd drive after an int and they nailed a 54 yd FG. Tulane was playing without QB Ryan Griffin and DJ Ponder hit 21-24-160 yds and had 3 int. RB Orleans Darkwa did play.

Bud Foster has to be disappointed with his Virginia Tech defense. Cincinnati rolled up 494 yds with Munchie Legaux hitting 19-42 but they went for 376 yds in a game played in the Washington Redskins stadium. Naturally, despite this technically being a Cincy home game, VT had an overwhelming majority of the crowd. The score was 13-7 after 3Q’s (20 pts) but the teams would combine for 31 pts in a wild 4Q. UC had a 165-72 yd edge in the 1H but VT led 7-6 despite not getting their first FD until 5:17 was left in the half. UC settled for 20 and 43 yd FG’s, was SOD at the VT3 after going for it on a fake FG. They had a td run wiped out by a hold on Legaux. They were int’d at the VT31 and int’d at their own 13 setting up a VT 13/4pl drive for the td. At the half UC had a 10-2 FD edge. VT was int’d at the UC2 in the 3Q but VT got a 56 yd td pass on 2&9 with 1:39 left to lead 24-20. UC went 85/9pl and on 3&10 got a 39 yd td pass with :19 left.

Clemson was without Sammy Watkins vs Boston College but Tajh Boyd still hit 28-38-367 yds as they have a very deep group of receivers. Chase Rettig entered the game as the top passer in the ACC and hit 25-43-341 yds and 3 td’s. BC took their opening drive 84/9pl for a td and despite trailing 17-7 on the first play of the 2Q, BC rallied for a 21-17 lead with 4:12 left in the half. CU only had a 257-256 yd edge. Clemson increased it to 38-21 and 45-28 and BC, down 14, was int at the CU12 with 5:45 left and SOD on 4&5 at the CU28. CU did end the game with a 1st & gl at the 1 taking a knee.

Troy dominated instate rival South Alabama on the road with a 495-252 yd edge and 28-13 FD edge. Troy threw an int on the first play of the game and fumbled at the USA6 in the 1H, were also int’d at the USA28 and only led 17-7. USA was int’d in the EZ with 5:48 left in the half. USA got a 52 yd FG on the half’s final play to make it 24-10 and Troy did only have a 245-200 yd edge. Troy had a 38 yd FG blocked to open the 3Q, fumbled at the USA16, was int’d in the EZ on their first 3 3Q poss before finally putting it away with an 86/6pl drive for a td with 8:11 left.

Central Michigan was off a big win over Iowa and travelling again while Northern Illinois was playing with legitimate revenge and had a 622-462 yd edge. The game was close as when CM got an 82 yd td pass in the 3Q they made it 24-21. Trailing 27-21 CM was int’d at the NI12 and NI went 61/9pl for a td then after CM fumbled, NI went 45/8pl for a td and some breathing room with 11:28 left, 41-24. CM went on a 12pl drive and missed a 41 yd FG and NI tacked on a 46 yd td run 6pl later. Then, a 54 yd run got them to the 9 and they added a td with just 1:04 left for a 31 pt route.

Bowling Green HC Dave Clawson and Rhode Island HC Joe Trainer are close friends but that didn’t stop BG from rolling to a 40 pt win over RI. BG had a 30-6 FD edge and 538-171 yd edge. They got an 80 yd PR td to open and at half it was 34-8 with a 307-122 yd edge. BG was SOD at the RI37 and at the end of the game, on 4&1 were SOD at the RI2 with :51 left or it could have been worse.

North Carolina and Idaho was played in a steady downpour but it didn’t effect North Carolina and they set a school record with 66 points. After the half, Gio Bernard had just 2 carries and Bryn Renner did not play a snap. NC led 45-0 at the half with a 371-110 yd edge and up 66-0 even went for it on 4&9 from the Idaho 15 and ran the ball into the line for a 2 yd gain. Dominique Blackman who has had some big passing games was held to 19-35-109 with 4 int.

Northwestern set a school record with 704 yds vs Indiana and led 27-0 in the 3Q but Indy made a game of it trimming it to 37-29. NW got a 22 yd td pass with 5:07 left to make it 44-29. IU went 66/8pl. On 4&gl they were SOD with 2:16 left and NW held on for the 15 pt win. IU QB Cameron Coffman went out with a hip pointer and Nate Sudfeld hit 9-16-157 yds guiding IU to 29 2H points after they had been shutout in the 1H.

Ball St had a 557-461 yd edge vs Kent St. In fact, at the half it was 260-174 but they trailed 21-13. Kent St led 42-29 with 9:21 left but BSU drove 76/8pl for a td then after an int, drove 21/2pl for a td and a shocking lead with 5:31 left. BSU punted with 2:14 left and Kent converted on 3&10 then on 4&10 and got a 25 yd FG with :04 left for the 2 pt win.

POSSIBLE BCS BUSTER

Louisiana Tech looked every bit of a possible BCS buster going into Virginia. Things did not look good at one point. UVA led 24-10 after setting for a 35 yd FG with 7:35 left in the half and UVA had the ball at midfield when they were int’d with 4:18 left in the half. LT would then score the game’s next 31 points getting a td with 3:02 left and adding a 40 yd FG to pull within 24-20. Those late scores gave them the momentum. UVA actually had a 386-178 yd edge at the half and finished with a 625-385 yd edge. In the 3Q LT went 43 yds for a td after an int, got a 32 yd IR td and UVA missed a 39 yd FG as the lead went up to 44-24. There may be a change at the UVA QB position as Sims came in at QB and looked much better than he did in the previous week and led the team 53/10 for a missed 39 yd FG, 70/13pl for a td, 88/7pl for a td on his three 4Q drives in the 44-38 finale. LT on 4&1 got a FD when UVA jumped offsides and was able to take a knee at the end.