Week 4 Wrap Up

Attempting to predict college football games is becoming an increasingly difficult job !  There have been so many upsets with highly ranked teams going down to unranked teams.  It really just shows the parity there is in college football.  Oh, you'll still have your Gators and Longhorns, but they are not imune to the upset.

Things started off on Thursday night and of course a South Carolina defense that has given up huge chunks of yardage so far this season clamps down on Mississippi QB Jevan Snead.  Mississippi played poorly and could not execute (going 1-13 on third down conversions).  On the flipside, Gamecocks QB Stephen Garcia hit on some timely throws and the Reblels poor use of clock management (we'll address this later) ended their run in the Top 5:
FINAL:     South Carolina 16-Mississippi 10

Texas routed the Miners of  UTEP.  Not much in this game other than Colt McCoy did throw another interception (returned for a TD).  He better start ratcheting up his game as the competition increases in the Big-12:
FINAL:     Texas 64-UTEP 7

In one of the most impressive weekend performances, Alabama dominated Arkansas from the start.  The Tide defense held QB Ryan Mallett to only 160 yards with just 1 TD and intercepted him once.  This is the same QB that torched Georgia last week for 5 TD's !  Tide QB Greg McElroy lit up the Razorback secondary completing 17-24 for 291 yards and 3 TD's.  Freshman running back Terry Richardson continues to work well with starting tailback Mark Ingram to provide a solid 1-2 punch.  All signs point to another Alabama-Florida SEC showdown:
FINAL:     Alabama 35-Arkansas 7

Oregon QB Jermiah Masoli answered all his critics (namely ME) by throwing for 253 yards and 3 TD's leading the Ducks to a lopsided rout over the favored Cal Bears.  Heisman hopefull Jahvid Best was held in check most of the day finishing with just 55 yards (84 below his average).  The real star of the game was Masoli who finally played like his pre-season Heisman hype.  Looks like the PAC-10 is wide open again:
FINAL:    Oregon 42-California 3

Cincinnati rode the arm of Tony Pike (300 yards, 3 TD's) and the hands of Marty Gilyard (9 catches, 177 yards and 2 TD's) to hold off Fresno St.   Cincinnati improves to 4-0 and could be knocking on the door for a shot at the Top 10.  Bulldog tailback Ryan Mathews did run for 134 yards in a losing effort:
FINAL:     Cincinnati 28-Fresno St. 20

Andy Dalton's 25 TD pass to Antoine Hicks was the difference as T.C.U. remained undefeated in taking down Clemson 14-10.  The Tigers had a couple of chances to pull this game out late but a missed FG and 4 chances from inside the T.C.U. 20  with less than a minute to go failed to materialize.  Another huge win for a non-BCS conference team:
FINAL:     T.C.U.-14-Clemson 10

An amazing goal line stand by the L.S.U. Tigers defense in the final minutes of the game help preserve a hard fought 30-26 win over the Bulldogs of Mississippi St.  Miss. St. had 4 chances to punch it in from the 1 yard line and could not do it. Tigers QB Jordan Jerfferson had a fine game with 233 yards and 2 TD's.  New Bulldog coach Dan Mullen has his team playing much better football and they nearly shocked the Tigers on this Saturday afternoon.  L.S.U. hosts Florida in 2 weeks !:
FINAL:     L.S.U. 30-Mississippi St. 26

Who would have figured that after trashing B.Y.U. last week AND with South Floridas starting QB and all everything QB Matt Grothe out for the year, that the Bulls would pull off a stunner in Doak Campbell Stadium ?  I had never heard of B.J. Daniels before yesterday, I sure know him now, as do the Florida St. players and coaches.  When the quarterback wasn't running around Seminole defenders (126 yards), he was throwing deep on them (73 yard TD).  The real surprise was the South Florida defense holding Florida St. to 7 points.  Statistic wise, Noles' QB Christian Ponder had a good game (25-37 and 239 yards) but was sacked 8 times.  A huge win for the S. Florida program and should help their instate recruiting battles with the Big 3 (Florida, Florida St. and Miami, FL.):
FINAL:     South Florida 17-Florida St. 7

Even though Michigan won this game, it was closer than many predicted (including me).  Give it up to Indiana..they came into the game undefeated and almost left that way !  Tate Forcier pulled off his normal late game heroics hitting Martavious Odoms for a 36 yard TD with 2:29 remaining and the Michigan defense intercepted an Indiana pass with 42 seconds remaining.  The Wolverines have some difficult games on the horizon with back to back away games against Michigan St. and Iowa.  Defensive Coordinator Greg Robinson better find out how to stop the run as Michigan gave up 197 yards on the ground:
FINAL:     Michigan 33-Indiana 26

Why did I pick Penn St. to beat Iowa ???  I mean last year, the Hawkeyes knock off State on the last play of the game to kill their BCS hopes.  Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz has won 6 out of 7 against Joe Pa.   All signs pointed to the Nittany Lions extracting some revenge and winning this game.  I learned something, never bet against Kirk Ferentz when they play Penn St. !   The Hawkeyes parlayed an Adrian Clayborn blocked punt (returned 53 yards for a TD) and intercepted Penn St. QB Darryll Clark 3 times in route to the surprising victory.  Penn St. will most likely drop out of the Top 10 while the Hawkeyes should make an appearance in the Top 25:
FINAL:     Iowa 21-Penn St. 10

At least I had this one right.  Stanford RB Toby Gerhart ran around, over and through the Washington Husky defense for a career high 200 yards (including a 60 yard TD) as Stanford brought my Huskies back down to earth blowing them out 34-14.  The Cardinal offense piled up 424 yards in knocking the Huskies out of the Top 25.  A week after pulling off one of the biggest upsets in college football history, Washington must regroup and not get too down.  For Stanford, they are much improved and coach Jim Harbaugh has done a marvelous job with the program:
FINAL:     Stanford 34-Washington 14

Florida had no trouble with SEC foe Kentucky but did lose QB Tim Tebow to a concussion early in the 3rd quarter.  Tebow got hammered  by DE Taylor Wyndham and also slammed his helmet into one of his own players knees on his way to down to the turf.  He lay motionless for several minutes and was eventually carted off the field and taken by ambulance to Lexington Memorial Hospital where he spent the night.  Backup QB John Brantley (who knew they had another QB ??) filled in and did throw for a TD pass late in the game.  The Gators do have their bye week which couldn't have come at a better time.  Besides losing Tebow, many players on the Florida squad have been suffering from flu like and respiratory illnes and have had to be quarrantined and even flying seperate flights so their teamates would not catch the illness.  I hope Tebow gets well quick because they have a date in Death Valley and the L.S.U. Tigers in 2 weeks:
FINAL:    Florida 41-Kentucky 7

Wolfpack QB Russell Wilson threw for 4 TD's in leading N.C. State to a come from behind victory of the previously undefeated Pitt Panthers.  Pittsburgh jumped out to a quick lead led by the running of true freshman Dion Lewis but could really not generate much offense on this day.  The Panthers only had 11 first downs compared to N.C. State's 27:
FINAL:    N.C. State 38-Pittsburgh 31

Miami, FL QB Jacory Harris has been living the high life lately and his Canes' offense has been putting up yards and points like a video game.  It all came crashing down yesterday in Blacksburg as the Virginia Tech defense pressured the sophomore QB all day long causing a key fumble that help set up a Hokie TD and the always reliable special teams scored off a blocked punt leading the Hokies to a surprisingly easy victory in a rain soaked Lane Stadium.  Tech has only lost once (to Alabama) and looks like a Top 10 team with back to back victories at home over Nebraska and now Miami.  They'll have to do it on the road to totally convince me.  For the Canes', this loss may have set them back a bit but they have another huge game coming up this week as the Sooners come calling.  Protecting Harris will be key in that game.  Great game by Hokie true freshman RB Ryan Williams (150 yards and 2 TD's):
FINAL:     Virginia Tech 31-Miami, FL. 7

Although both teams combined for 1,063 yards of offense, I though that Houston and Texas Tech would put more points on the scoreboard.  Both offenses ran and passed up and down the field between the 20's only to bog down and settle for FG's.  I had Tech winning this one and even though Houston QB Case Keenum was very good for most of the game (435 yards and 1 passing TD and 1 rushing TD) the mismanagement of clock and timeouts killed any hope the Red Raiders had to move into position for a game winning FG in the final minute.  Tech used all their timeouts with 12:42 in the 4th quarter.  On one series, QB Taylor Potts got to the line (Tech uses the no huddle offense) with 23 seconds on the down clock.  He checked 4 or 5 times and after much confusion had to call their remaining timeout.  I knew right there, it would come back to haunt them.  That being said, a great win for the Cougars and if they can navigate their way through their schedule undefeated, they have a great shot to crash the BCS party:
FINAL:     Houston 29-Texas Tech 28

Check back later this afternoon for my Playmakers of the Week !