By
Dave
Hershorin
September 25, 2006
The best game of the week had to be
the Notre Dame squeaker in East Lansing. It opened with
Michigan State going out 17-0, and they were ahead 31-14
at the half. But with only one second half score by
the Spartans – a TD with a failed two-point conversion
– Notre Dame earned the final 21 points for the
40-37 comeback win. State outrushed the Irish 248-47
and held the ball over 11 minutes more, yet the road
team won this rivalry for the sixth time in a row. The
difference became the QBs – Drew Stanton couldn’t
get it done when the game was on the line late, while
Brady Quinn methodically hit his open receivers at critical
times and had five TD passes. Stanton threw one of his
two INTs with just under three minutes left while deep
in Spartan territory, and it was returned to the house
for the winning score. “Late in the game,
I made some stupid mistakes,” the senior
said afterwards. It’s like famed basketball player
Reggie Miller said, “If we’re hot in the
fourth quarter, we will win”, and ND saved its
best for last. Michigan State is now 18-for-18 in the
red zone this season, but when they couldn’t get
inside the 20 but once in the second half, it told tale
of the final outcome. Coach Smith’s guys could
only muster 93 second half yards. Notre Dame goes to
44-25-1 all-time versus State and 18-13-1 in East Lansing.
Weis is now a perfect 7-0 on the road, the school’s
best record to start a tenure since Frank Leahy went
10-0 in 1941-42. The Irish rollercoaster 3-1 season
is back on an upswing. Their one loss to a strong Michigan
squad last week keeps their hopes of playing for the
BCS title alive.
The Value of Special Teams I
– Another great game was between Navy and Tulsa.
The Golden Hurricane triumphed in OT, taking advantage
of a blocked extra point attempt by all-conference DB
Nick Graham for the win. Tied three times, the two teams
alternated equal scoring strikes and looked like they
were headed to another overtime stanza when the blocked
PAT occurred. Sophomore PK Matt Harmon, one of two Midshipmen
who do the kicking chores, had earlier missed a 37-yard
FGA to end the first half. But Tulsa’s junior
PK Jarod Tracy also missed (from 29 yards), so it wasn’t
Harmon who shoulders the loss. The Naval Academy had
been 29-12 over the last four year (16-3 in Annapolis),
and their six-game winning streak that was broken was
the nation’s fourth longest. Navy also had a 14-game
winning streak when scoring first. They were the second-to-last
team to not yet have played in an overtime game (North
Texas is now the nation’s last). Navy’s
offensive line comes in with only two guys over 275
lbs, and Tulsa’s hulking big men just won the
pushing contest at the most needed time so that Graham
could break through. Most curious, though, was the call
as the clock ticked down with 1:57 left in the first
half. The CSTV viewing audience was as shocked as both
sidelines were when referee Ed Kierce told the
clock keeper to wind it back to 2:00 because he/she
missed the two-minute warning, something that
we all know doesn’t exist in the college ranks.
The clock was rewound and, luckily, Navy’s missed
FGA came with six seconds left in the half. If it had
been converted with three seconds or less left, Tulsa
would have been rightfully upset and the guys at SportsCenter
would have had a field day. Send Mr. Kierce a rule book,
please.
The Value of Special Teams II
– The thrills provided for viewers who watched
the Alabama-Arkansas game were aplenty in their double
overtime SEC West matchup. After scoring to tie the
game early in the fourth quarter, ‘Bama had a
chance to go ahead but missed a chip-shot 30-yard FGA
with 3:11 left in regulation. PK Leigh Tiffin, who began
the season at third-string, had already missed earlier
from 33 yards, but had hit from 46 as time expired in
the first half. Tiffin is currently tied for third in
the nation with two FGs per game – the kid is
proven and has promise. What then ensued in OT is why
we all watch the topsy-turvy world of college football.
‘Bama intercepted true freshman QB Mitch Mustain
(also third-string to start the year) for the third
time to end the Hog’s first overtime effort, and
it seemed all the Tide had to do was earn at least a
FG to win. Then the Alabama braintrust went ultra-conservative,
running the ball three times to put the pressure back
on Tiffin with a 37 yard attempt. The true freshman,
who is low enough on the totem pole that he shares jersey
No.31 with senior DB Forress Rayford, went wide-right
again to send it into a second OT. This time, coach
Mike Shula opened up the offense and scored a TD in
six plays. The evidently rattled Tiffin then missed
the PAT try, his first conversion miss of the season.
Reinvigorated, the Razorbacks converted for six in four
plays and rode Jeremy Davis’ PAT to the home win.
‘Bama held the ball 19:04 more than Arkansas,
but the Hogs were 3-of-3 in the red zone as they took
advantage of any and every opportunity the Tide gave
them. Arkansas has won three of the last four in this
series. In his fourth season now, Shula is only 23-18,
including 12-14 in conference games and 1-3 in SEC road
openers. The folks in Tuscaloosa may not have much more
patience if he can’t get his squad to finish in
the top 10 sometime soon.
What transpired in Athens nearly wound
up being the surprise of the year as winless Colorado
took Georgia late into the fourth quarter before succumbing
to the Dawgs 14-13 with 46 seconds left. It looked bleak
from the outset for the Buffaloes, for they were without
starting senior QB James Cox while he tended to his
ailing father. But junior speedster Bernard Jackson
proved to be just the shot in the arm Colorado needed.
Jackson led the team in rushing (85 yards and one TD)
and went 14-of-26 for 140 yards to help his side take
a 13-0 lead. Georgia remained listless until coach Mark
Richt inserted freshman third-string QB Joe Cox for
the ineffective Matt Stafford and fellow-third-stringer
RB Kregg Lumpkin for Danny Ware, both late in the third
quarter. Cox went 10-of-13 for 154 yards and had scoring
strikes of 23 and 20 yards, while Lumpkin ran for 52
crucial yards. Colorado even stopped two fourth-down
conversions in the fourth, including a fourth-and-three
on their own 13, but the Dawgs still found a way at
home to save face. The loss makes eight straight for
the Buffs dating back to last year, their worst
losing streak in 42 years. But the effort they
put forth surely gives Dan Hawkins’ guys a boost
of confidence knowing they gave the No.9 team in the
country such a scare on the road. Georgia would have
been shut out for the first time since 1995’s
31-0 home loss to ‘Bama, and the Dawgs now seem
like they have problems as their QB situation is unsettled
entering the SEC gauntlet. Still, they remain undefeated
and tied with Florida atop the SEC East.
Other games where heavily favored teams
waited until late to pull away were numerous -
Visiting West Virginia waited until
11:29 was left in the fourth before pulling away from
East Carolina. Only ahead 17-10 and looking rather pedestrian
on offense (they averaged only 3.5 YPC and tallied 153
total ground yards), it took a 60-yard pass strike from
Pat White to WR Darius Reynaud to cement the win in
Greenville. White suffered three INTs, and the Pirate
defense, tops in the nation with 14 takeaways (though
the offense is tied for 99th with 10 giveaways), proved
that this Big East powerhouse, ranked fourth,
has weaknesses.
USC finally showed signs of offensive
inconsistency and went into halftime of their Pac Ten
battle with Arizona up only 3-0. It was 10-3 in the
fourth quarter before the Trojans could put a little
more distance between themselves and the Wildcats. Southern
Cal outgained Arizona 381-154 and even went 12-of-18
on third-down conversions while holding their foes to
2-of-12. But two first half turnovers kept it close
in Tucson until late.
Virginia Tech was down 10-5 at the half
and 13-12 to start the fourth quarter against Cincinnati.
It wasn’t until sophomore CB Victor “Macho”
Harris ran one of his two critical late INTs back for
a 72-yard TD that the Hokies felt comfortable in the
29-13 final. The Bearcats outgained VT 158-111 in the
first half and held the ball ten more minutes than Beamer’s
11th-ranked crew throughout the game. Of course, you
all remember how Cincinnati handed Tech their
last shutout 11 years ago, a 16-0 home loss
the last time the Hokies started a season 0-2.
Florida’s defense looked porous
as Kentucky efficiently moved the ball for 175 yards
in the first half to go into the break down only 12-7.
UF then took their first drive of the third-quarter
75 yards in seven plays and only needed the one drive
of 2:08 to take control of the game. The Gators D clamped
down to allow UK only 54 second-half yards. Most interesting
was Urban Meyer again using the rotating QB game. He
inserted freshmen Tim Tebow and WR Jarred Fayson at
poignant times behind center to keep Kentucky guessing.
Just like last game, Tebow took each of his first three
snaps for big rushing gains (62 yards). But it was Fayson
who was the biggest surprise – the former prep
QB, now listed as a third-string receiver, ran it over
the left end for 10 yards on the first play of the Gator’s
second fourth quarter drive. Then Tebow was inserted
for three plays, followed by starter Chris Leak for
the final two snaps of the drive and the six-point score.
The Gators have only scored 19 first-half points
in their last two (SEC) wins, and with their
next four games against the conference’s elite,
they will have to do more in the first 30 minutes to
secure wins.
Lagniappe
Ty
Willingham & Co. gave another convincing performance
in beating UCLA 29-19 to take his Washington Huskies
to 3-1. The ex-Notre Dame and Stanford coach kept his
team motivated after they fell behind 16-0 early, and
they won 29-3 the rest of the way as they only allowed
79 total yards after the Bruin’s first quarter
scoring burst. Maybe not a powerhouse yet, Willingham
has successfully turned the program around after
they went 3-19 in the previous two campaigns…Chuck
Amato reversed his Wolfpack’s mini-skid by beating
then-No.20 Boston College 17-15 on a 34-yard TD pass
with eight seconds left. RS soph Daniel Evans, in his
first start ever, connected with Jon Dunlap for the
winning score. Before this win, N.C. State had only
beaten I-AA Appalachian State while losing to Akron
and Southern Mississippi, both non-BCS aligned schools…Cal
has to again be considered a conference powerhouse after
dismantling previously unbeaten (and 22nd ranked) Arizona
State 49-21. The Bears, who took advantage of three
first half turnovers to go out 42-14 before the break,
have now gone 4-0 versus the Sun Devils since going
2-7 previously…Louisville sophomore QB Hunter
Cantwell looked sharp (18-of-26 for 173 yards) in his
first start replacing Brian Brohm. He took the Redbirds
to a 24-6 win over a decent Kansas State squad. Maybe
more important, though, is how well No.8 UL is running
the ball since all-American RB Michael Bush broke his
leg in the first week – sophomore George Stripling
and senior Kolby Smith both had 63 yards against KSU
and have 264 and 263 rushing yards, respectively, and
Louisville currently ranks seventh in I-A for
rushing…After a respectable showing at
Purdue last week where they lost 38-28, MAC perennial
Ball State became the latest I-A victim to fall to a
I-AA, losing 29-24 to South Dakota State. The Bison
scored three times in the fourth quarter to overcome
an eight point deficit, and they get to measure themselves
at Minnesota October 21 against a Golden Gopher squad
that just fell to the Boilermakers 27-21…This
Friday’s game between BYU (2-2) and TCU (3-0)
is on the VERSUS network, which is the new name that
the OLN is changing to this week. BYU leads the series
3-2 but lost 51-50 to the Horned Frogs in Provo last
year. The two will have many meetings since both schools
are now MWC members and should see each other annually…Utah
State lost at Provo 38-0, the third straight time they
have been shutout this season. The Aggies only score
so far in 2006 was by the defense, an INT return in
the second quarter of their opener with Wyoming. They
rank 119th in both scoring and total offense…Northern
Illinois senior RB Garrett Wolfe easily leads the nation
in rushing, averaging 8.6 YPC and 207 per game. OU junior
Adrian Peterson is second with 5.5 YPC and 161 per game.
Though many will poo-poo Garrett for having played against
ostensibly weaker defenses, the 5’7” 173-pounder
did torch Ohio State for 171 rushing yards and also
had five catches for 114 yards against the Buckeyes.
Receiving skills being his one weak point, Peterson
has only four catches in all of 2006 for 72 yards and
18 catches his entire college career…TCU
and Air Force, leading the nation as each has just one
giveaway, will play the MWC finale December 2nd in Fort
Worth...Utah senior DB Eric Weddle won Walter Camp defensive
Player of the Week as he intercepted three passes against
San Diego State, returning two for scores. Weddle also
had three carries for 11 yards, including a 2-yard rushing
TD. This is why the Sporting News considers him the
best strong safety in the nation, why he won MWC Defensive
Player of the Year in 2005, and why we have him listed
as a second-team all-American. At 6’ and 200lbs,
expect to see him working on Sundays next fall…
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