DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN
Last week Florida played in a hostile environment vs Texas A&M on the road, was down at the half and things were not looking good until they came back and dominated the 2H in the win. This past week vs Tennessee, things didn’t look good when they settled for a 20 yd FG on the final play of the half to trail 14-10. They also settled for a 25 yd FG on the first drive of the 3Q but UF went on to win 37-20 and piled up 555 yards offense vs a good defense. Jeff Driskel gets better and better each week as he hit 14-20-219 yards and also had 81 yards rushing and a banged up Gators team in its 2nd straight tough road game, beat a fresh UT team that was off Georgia St and UF is clearly my favorite to win the SEC East this year.

LATE SCORES IN THE HALF
As I write about every week, when you get a late score in the 1H it catapults your team and Boise got a TD with 1:43 left for a 15-9 lead to take some momentum. Miami, OH led Boise St 9-8 with 4:39 left in the 2Q. Boise came out in the 3Q and went 75/9pl, 92/8pl and 54/6pl for td’s on their first 3 poss to take control, 36-9 in their 39-12 win. Boise had a 599-227 yd and 33-9 FD edges. 

QUARTERBACK INJURIES - NEW STARTERS
Jeff Tuel sat out for Washington St and Connor Halliday, who threw for over 400 yards vs Arizona St the previous year, got off to a slow start but finished hitting 26-45-378. His counterpart, UNLV QB Nick Sherry surprisingly hit 33-49-351. UNLV finished with a 26-18 FD edge but settled for 18 and 22 yd FG’s in the 1H and trailed by 8. They were SOD at the WSU25 and WSU14 in the 2H and lost by 8 at home.

It wasn’t due to injury but Vanderbilt started Austin Carta-Samuels at QB. He used to play for Wyoming and is a transfer and took the place of Jordan Rodgers. His first snap as a starting QB, was a handoff to Zac Stacy who ran 86 yards for a TD. Carta-Samuels hit 13-20-195 and VU rolled up 605 yards vs an overmatched Presbyterian team that had lost the previous week to Georgia Tech, 59-3. They play that sealed the game was when PU, down 20-0, went on a 60/10pl drive and had a 3&gl at the VU5. They were int’d in the EZ and Wilkins returned it 100 yards for a td to blow it open, 27-0. VU scored on their first 5 poss of the 2H and didn’t have their first punt until 6:55 was left in the game.

Illinois made the smart choice in sitting Nathan Scheelhaase as we’ve seen the last two weeks how important he is to the team. Reilly O’Toole started and after 2 miserable performances, gained some confidence vs an FCS foe in Charleston Southern. O’Toole hit 27-31-333 and Miles Osei chipped in 4-6-32. UI opted to sit 3 starters on offense and 3 on defense including C Pocic, FB Ferguson, S Hull, S Sanni and LB Bates. UI finished with 479-125 yd and 19-6 FD edges in the 44-0 shutout win.

Things didn’t look good for Oklahoma St when they lost starting QB Wes Lunt on the 6th play of the game. When he was injured, they ran the ball once and fired incomplete and settled for a 41 yard FG and a 3-0 lead. What followed with backup JW Walsh leading the team was amazing as the team set a school record with 742 yards offense and rolled to a 44-0 halftime lead. Walsh hit 21-30-347 yards. Louisiana QB Blaine Gautier who has had a fine career, was benched for 4 series but Houston transfer Terrance Broadway hit just 5-11-30 in his place. OSU also set a school record with 39 FD’s and ULL did go 64/10pl and 69/9pl for 133 garbage yards and 2 garbage td’s on their final 2 poss in the 65-24 game that probably wasn’t that close.

East Carolina and Southern Miss both started new QB’s. EC went to Shane Carden who hit 13-27-171 and guided the Pirates to the upset win. There’s not doubting the athleticism that frosh Anthony Alford provides but he hit just 6-14-88 for SM and rushed for 13 yards on 20 carries. Chris Campbell who started the opener for SM, came into the game with the team trailing 24-7 with 1:19 left in the 3Q and guided the team on a 79/9pl drive for a td. His 2nd poss went 3&out and his 3rd started at the 2. They went 37/13pl but his 4th & 12 pass at the SM49 was incomplete. SM surprisingly had a 324-228 yard edge with EC getting a 19 yd td drive after an Alford fumble late 3Q and then a 16 yd FR td on another fumble by Alford 3pl later for their 24-7 lead.

Wyoming was without starting QB Brett Smith and Colby Kirkegaard hit 15-23-123. Cal Poly, which went to the option, did what option teams do and that is score on their first couple of poss. Deonte Williams rushed for 187 yards and he had a 65 yard TD run on CP’s first poss and a 74 yd run down to the 5 on the 2nd and CP led 14-0 with 9:53 left in the 1Q. Wyoming battled back to lead 15-14 at the half but CP got a 45 yd drive for a td in the 3Q then a 51 yd FG with 9:49 left. WY got a td with 7:34 to go but punted with 4:55 left and took over with 1:46 on the clock at their own 25 and Kirkegaard was int’d at their own 37.

South Carolina QB Connor Shaw was knocked out of the game and Steve Spurrier was able to play 4 different QB’s with 2 getting time at the end. Dylan Thompson hit 5-10-177 and Shaw had hit just 8-14-107. The key play happened when SC, trailing 3-0, had the ball fall out of UAB QB Ellis’ hands and Swearinger scooped it up and returned it for a td, 7-3 (2:17 1Q). SC got a td with 1:37 left to go up 21-6 but UAB had the 179-130 yd edge at the half. Spurrier called it the closest “49-6” gm he’s ever been involved in. A 93 yd td pass in the 3Q made up over half of Thompson’s passing yards and opened the game up to a rout.

James Franklin was a late scratch for Missouri and Corbin Berkstresser in his first QB start, hit 21-41-198. MU was on their way to a route leading 17-0 when Arizona St, which had 27 yards in the 1H took over with 4:51 left in the half and drove 66/7pl for a td to pull within 17-7. MU was still up 24-7 when a bad snap on a punt had ASU rec at the 36 that set them up for a 9pl td drive and they got another td to pull within 24-20 with 11:10 left. MU missed a 48 yd FG after a 12pl drive with 7:01 left. ASU had a 4&gl at the 3 but fired incomplete with 3:36 left. A 25 yd PR got them to the MU21 with 1:58 left but on 3&8 they were int’d in the EZ. 

GAME NOTES
UTEP only beat New Mexico St 41-28 and if you look at the stats, NMSt had a 29-27 FD edge. UTEP scored td’s on their first 4 poss going 47/7pl, 62/7, 67/9pl and 86/10pl all for td’s. In that span, NMSt had a grand total of 1 FD. UTEP brought in backup QB Meager for the 5th poss and actually went for it on 4&11 from the NMSt13 with :16 left in the half so they only led 27-7 at the half with a 333-133 yd edge. UTEP led this one 41-14 with 9:06 left when NMSt went 82/9pl for a td with 6:25 left. UTEP brought in their 3rd string QB and punted and NMSt went on an 89/12pl drive and got an 11 yd garbage td pass with 1:05 left to make the final respectable. Nick Lamaison for UTEP threw for 300 yards.

Last year UTSA and Georgia St went to OT. This year UTSA went 79/11pl and settled for a 26 yd FG and GSU on 3&15 got an 84 yd td pass for a stunning 7-3 lead. UTSA controlled matters. They got a KR to the GSU 16 and 4pl later a td then went 51/9pl for a td. They blocked a GSU 43 yd FG and went 74/10pl and led 24-7 at the half UTSA went 64/7pl, 11/5pl (after int) for td’s, 38-7 with 6:33 to go in the 3Q and in the 4Q went on a 79/19pl drive but were SOD at the 3, went on a 47/10pl drive but were SOD at the GSU 8 in their 38-14 win.

Lamar only crossed midfield twice vs Hawaii but special teams were huge in this game. UH had just 20 FD’s. While UH’s D was dominant holding Lamar to 6 FD and 127 total yards, and Lamar’s only score came on a muffed xp which UH returned for 2 to avoid the shutout, ST contributed plenty to UH’s 54 pt total. A fumbled punt set up UH for a 16 yd td, a blk’d punt was returned 21 yards for a td for 2 of UH’s 1H td’s. UH did have a 230-64 yd edge at the half. UH got a 95 yd KR td to open the 3Q and then Lamar fumbled the KO at the 12 setting up a UH FG so basically 24 points came off ST’s.

Nevada RB Stefphon Jefferson rushed for 247 yards and 2 td’s. UN had 655 yards. UN trailed 13-10 with :39 left 1H when they got a 25 yd td pass with :04 left in the 1H to lead 17-13. In the 2H UN had leads of 38-20 and 45-27 with Northwestern St gaining 78, 78 and 35 yards on their final 3 poss scoring 14 of their points including a 68 yd td pass with 5:35 left.

Baylor/Sam Houston St was much closer than the final score. Brian Bell for SHS hit 20-39-285 yds and was responsible for 4 TO’s. SHS led 20-10 at the half with Baylor not taking the lead until they went up 24-20 with 1:43 left in the 3Q. It was 24-23 when BU got a td with 10:33 left. BU drove 12 yds for a td after an int with 8:48 left (34-23), then got an int with 2:15 left setting up a 15 yd td run by Lache Seastrunk with 2:20 left. SHS26 got 1 FD but a deep pass was int’d and returned 73 yds for a td with :12 left.

George Winn ran for 147 yards for Cincinnati. Delaware St’s Nick Elko was averaging 227 ypg passing this season but hit 18-36-151. Their RB Malcolm Williams rushed for 120 yards incl a 60 yd td run which was the first time DSU got inside the UC30 and happened with 11:41 left in the game. UC fumbled out of the EZ for a tb at the end of a 36 yd pass in the 1H but 2pl prior to their 11 yd td pass, DSU dropped an int with 4:00 left in the half. UC had a 327-111 yd edge. UC fumbled at the DSU 11 in the 3Q but got after a FR got an 18 yd FG with :54 left for the 23-7 final.

Stanford knocked off USC for a 4th straight year and there was nothing fluky about it. USC was missing their C and SU controlled the line of scrimmage finishing with a 417-280 yd edge and 202-26 rushing edge. As usual, Lane Kiffin took some chances. They converted on 4&3 at the SU37 then on 4&19 with their K out, opted to go for it and got a FD to the 1 and got a td for their 2nd td and a 14-7 lead. SU had a 36/6pl drive end in a missed 23 yd FG in the 1H and USC led 14-7. SU had a 51 yd FG blocked to start the 3Q. This time a USC gamble failed as on 4&2 they had a pass broken up in the EZ with 7:30 left and a FG would have put them up by 10 but 2 poss later SU got the tying td and 3 poss later went 79/10pl for a TD, 21-14. SU got 3 FD and punted with 2:44 left. USC appeared to fire incomplete on 4&4 but replay overturned it giving them a FD. They added another FD to the SU46 with :56 left but a tfl, hold, sk, false start and another sk forced a 4&40 and they fired incomplete and the Cardinal got the win.

UCLA’s D almost shutout a high-flying Houston attack. With 4:54 left in the game, UH got an 86 yd QB run by QB Piland to avoid the shutout and also helped UH’s yardage. UH is off to their first 0-3 start since 2001. The 2nd play of the game was a foreshadowing of what was to happen as UH threw a backwards pass and UCLA scooped it up and ret’d it 23 yards for a td. The Bruins actually punted on their first 2 off poss of the 1Q and on their final 2 poss of the half, so they only led 17-0 but had a 308-170 yd edge. UH had a 73/11pl drive end on an int at the GL from the 11 with 13:42 left prior to Piland’s 86 yard run but UCLA has been very impressive on both sides of the ball this year.

Arizona had a school record 102 plays and their 689 total yards came up just 2 yards short of the school record. They held an overmatched SCSt team to just 154 ttl yards and had a 43-8 FD edge in the game. HC Rodriguez worried if there would be a hangover from their upset of #18 Oklahoma St the week before but there was not. AU fumbled at the SCSt45 on their 2nd poss and missed a 25 yd FG on their 3rd but punted just once while SCSt punted 10 times. They went to 2nd string QB Denker with 1:46 left in the 3Q.

Ole Miss gave up the most points in a game since 1917 and Texas could have put up more but backed off at the end. UT led 31-10 at the half. It was 66-31 with 11:27 left and UT had a 1st & gl at the 9 but on 4&gl from the 4 they took a delay then took a knee with :38 left giving the ball to Miss at the 12 where Miss ran the final play. David Ash has not thrown an int this year with a perfect 7-0 ratio and hit 19-23-326 yards.

San Jose St scored td’s on their first 2 poss vs Colorado St on 83 and 80 yard drives to jump out to a 14-0 lead but CSU went 74/8pl, 14-13 (xpng). Trailing 17-13 Colorado St was int’d at the SJS13 on FD with 1:19 left in the half. It was 27-20 in the 4Q when SJS got a td with 9:39 left, rec’d a fumble and got a 51 yd td pass with 7:56 left and CSU’s last drive was SOD at the SJS14.

Duke scored td’s on ST, offense and defense for the first time since 2004 with Lee Butler getting the Blue Devils first PR td since 2001. The surprising stat of the day was that Duke was actually outgained 200-198 at the half and was 0-6 in converting 3rd downs in that half. Duke got 22, 19 and 65 yd PR’s after 3 NC Central 3 & out’s to open the game. The 2nd PR set up a 25 yd FG, the 3rd went 65 yards for a td and they led 10-7 . It was 27-10 at the half. Leading 41-17 Duke got a 32 yd IR td by Cockrell and then NCCU fmbl the KO at their own 23 and Duke tacked on a td with 5:54 left.

Robbie Rouse became Fresno St’s all-time career leading rusher setting the record on a 94 yd td run and he had 4 td’s in the 1Q as FSU’s steam rolled Colorado. Fresno had a 516-122 yard edge in the 1H and had 8 td’s to CU’s 4 FIRST DOWNS! It was the most yards ever allowed in a half by CU. FSU scored td’s on their first 6 poss and CU had just 1 FD at that point. The record for teams from a BCS conf losing against a non-BCS team is UCLA in a 59-0 loss to BYU in 2008. CU needed a 64/10pl drive for a 1 yd td run with 2:58 left to avoid breaking that record as they trailed 69-7. QB’s Webb and Wood alternated for CU with neither being successful. Wood hit 5-14-47 with 2 int and Webb 5-13-85 with 2 int’s. Nick Hirshman was 1-3-41 and actually in his 3 series he generated 5 of CU’s first 11 FD’s.

Maxwell Smith threw 4 int for Kentucky, 3 in the 1H as WKU jumped out to a 17-0 lead. Smith hit 37-60-332. With the score tied at 0, each team threw an int and both were SOD but WKU went 71/12pl for a td then after an int, 2yds in 2pl for a td, 17-0. It was 17-10 at the half with WKU only having a 177-152 yd edge. They went 75/12pl to open the 3Q, 24-10 and UK battled back and took over with 2:14 left at their 23 and Smith directed a 77/12pl drive for a 22 yd TD pass with :23 left. Each team scored a td in OT but then WKU went for a HB pass to Jakes who caught it and took it in for the big 2 point conversion.

Utah St actually missed a 37 yd FG with seconds remaining allowing Wisconsin to escape. The Badgers switched QB’s at half and Danny O’Brien had hit 5-10-63 and generated 3 pts and Joel Stave hit 2-6-15 but scored 13 pts. Four times in the 1H UW had a shot at short yardage and all 4 times, previous Heisman candidate Montee Ball was stuffed so their firing of the OL coach during the week didn’t really have the boost they were expecting as they had just 156 yards rushing on 45 carries. In the 1H UW, despite trailing 14-3, had a 137-129 yd edge as they went on a 62/10pl drive and had a 1st & gl at the 7 and 3rd & gl at the 2 but settled for a 19 yd FG. UW also missed a 36 yd FG and trailing 7-3 fumbled at their own 24 with 2:20 left in the half and USU got an 11 yd td on a very questionable call where the WR pushed off on the DB and a flag was thrown but it was actually called def pass interference so the td stood.

BYU had all the motivational edges vs Utah. Utah had announced they were going to end the series and BYU was also playing with revenge. Utah had a big Pac-12 game on deck but the Utes actually led 24-7. BYU finished with 25-14 FD and 312-245 yd edges. Utah’s first td was set up by a 57 yd PR as they went 17/2pl for a td. Utah did have a 37 yd FG blk’d and BYU missed a 44 yd FG. The game was tied at 7 with BYU getting a 33 yd td drive after a 23 yd PR and Utah had a slim 143-132 yd edge. The key play happened when BYU, down 10-7 had a 1st & 15 at the Utah25. They had a bad snap that was scooped up 28 yds behind the line of scrimmage by Moe Lee and he returned it 47 yards for a td that is basically a 14 pt swing. An 18 yd PR set up Utah for a 39 yd td pass and it was 24-7 after 3Q’s. BYU went 75/8pl for a td and then blocked a punt setting up a 14 yd td drive, 24-21 with 3:39 left. BYU lined up for a 51 yd FG on the final play but it was blk’d and Utah fans rushed the field but the refs called a pen on Utah for the rush, allowing BYU a 36 yd fg but this one hit the upright.

Indiana was without their QB but Cameron Coffman hit 24-35-351 yards and Nate Sudfeld hit 13-20-172. IU had the lead but Ball St got a 42 yd FG with :06 left to pull out the win. Keith Wenning came into the game without a td pass on the season and hit 26-44-222 yards. At the half IU had a 343-186 yd edge but only led 25-24. Sudfeld came in with 12:13 to go and they punted on his first poss and was SOD on 4&5 at the BS35 on his 2nd. He had a 70 yd td pass to Latimer with 4:07 left and they got a 2 yd td pass with :49 left for the lead, 39-38 but BS got 3 FD’s and kicked the game winning FG on the last play.

Notre Dame has not started 3-0 since 2002 and had not beaten a top 10 foe for 7 years. Those streaks came to an end vs Michigan St. It was a great story as Te’o tragically lost his grandmother and girlfriend during the week and finished with 12 tkls, 2 pbu and an int. ND led 14-3 at the half and the 2H, the first 9 poss resulted in 10 punts and it may sound like that stat is wrong but ND punted and a roughing the K gave them a FD and they punted 4 plays later. During those 10 punts, there was a grand total of 7 FD’s but then ND took over with 12:46 left at their 4 and went 84/12pl for a 29 yd FG to go up 17-3. MSU’s last 2 drives were SOD on 4&5 at their own 33 and 4&22 at their own 17.