2011 NCAA FOOTBALL WEEK 8 RECAP

COUGS CRUISE AS CASE GETS CONGRATS

Case Keenum scans the field for an open receiver against Marshall.
(Photo by Thomas Campbell/US Presswire)

With a 30-yard pass to Justin Johnson, Houston Cougars quarterback Case Keenum became the most prolific player in total offense in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history.

Keenum, a sixth-year senior, blew past former Hawai’i standout Timmy Chang’s former record of 16,910 yards. He would finish the day with 17,173 career total offensive yards.

“It’s awesome, it’s incredible,” Keenum said. “It’s very special, to be in a place like this, in front of a home crowd, and to be able to do that. Nobody else has been able to do that. It means a lot to me.”

Keenum finished the day with 376 yards and six touchdowns on 24-for-28 passing.

As far as the game itself, Houston demolished the Marshall Thundering Herd 63-28 to stay undefeated and to keep its hopes of making a BCS bowl alive.

With no tough opponents on tap for the next three weeks, the Cougars could be 10-0 before showdowns with SMU, Tulsa and the Conference USA championship game. However, Houston is not jumping the gun quite yet.

“We’re doing a really good job of taking it a week at a time,” Keenum said. “We know that each week is the biggest game of the season. And that, in turn, makes the next week after that the biggest game of the season. That’s just kind of how we look at it.”

WRITER’S NOTE: Keenum threw for nine TD’s against Rice this week, so I might give him some more love in next week’s recap or in the near future.

LSU, ALABAMA INCH CLOSER TO SEC SHOWDOWN

LSU wide receiver Rueben Randle scored on two receiving
touchdowns against Auburn. (Photo by Gerard Herbert/AP)

Auburn and Tennessee were the last two roadblocks that stood of the possible game of the year, and LSU and Alabama ran over them like road kill.

With both teams having one last chance to prepare for their Nov. 5 tilt, all eyes were glued at the LSU/Auburn and Alabama/Tennessee games to see if both would deliver.

In Baton Rouge, LSU was not fazed one bit by Auburn last week after three players were suspended for a failed drug test.

The Tigers won 45-10 while gaining 174 rushing yards without Spencer Ware—their leading rusher—and even returned an interception for a touchdown without Tyrann Mathieu and Tharold Simon.

A clear sign that things did not go Auburn’s way was when LSU scored three touchdowns within the span of 90 seconds to put the game well out of reach.

Alabama running back Trent Richardson (3) continues to build
his case for the Heisman. (Photo by Trent Penny/The Anniston Star) 

While in Tuscaloosa, Alabama did have a little trouble early with Tennessee, but was able to win 37-6 to continue its perfect start.

The Crimson Tide struggled just like LSU a week earlier to put the Volunteers away, but they also used a dominant second half performance to prevail.

Alabama’s defense only allowed 155 total yards and six first downs—none after halftime.

Heisman hopeful Trent Richardson only had 77 yards on 17 carries, but he scored twice to give him an eye-popping 18 touchdowns this season.

The game on Nov. 5 should be a treat to see, even if we do have to wait another week for it.

OKLAHOMA FALLS SHORT TO TEXAS TECH

Sometimes even the littlest of things can get in the way of victory.

For the Oklahoma Sooners, a missed chip shot off the upright and a failed onside kick were the possible differences between a win and the real outcome—a 41-38 loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

A distraught Michael Hunnicutt (18) after missing a field
goal against Texas Tech. (Photo by Sue Ogrocki/AP Photo)

First, props should be in order to Texas Tech for the upset and coming out firing after two close losses to Texas A&M and Kansas State.

The Red Raiders shocked the Sooners with a 24-7 lead at halftime. That lead would swell to 31-7 after Seth Doege connected with Alex Torres on an 11-yard pass, but Oklahoma started to make their push.

The Sooners would score 17 unanswered to cut the lead to a touchdown. However, Doege continued to make things tough after his 14-yard strike to Tramain Swindall gave the Red Raiders a 41-24 lead with 7:38 remaining.

Nearly one minute later, Landry Jones found Jaz Reynolds on a 55-yard pass to cut the lead to 10. They would force Texas Tech to go three-and-out to get the ball back.

After the Sooners’ drive stalled, Michael Hunnicut attempted a 28-yard field goal, but it would hit the upright.

Oklahoma finally got the touchdown it needed when Jones found James Hanna to cut the deficit to 41-38, but the team could not recover the onside kick as Texas Tech snapped the Sooners’ 39-game winning streak at home. TCU was the last team to beat Oklahoma in Norman.

“I told the players that anyone who we’ll play the rest of the year will whoop us if we don’t play better than we did today,” Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said. “They just flat out beat us.”

Oklahoma will try to pick itself up against Kansas State this week.

PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED IN EAST LANSING!

The Hail Mary pass can be one of the more exciting plays in football—if not the most exciting one.

It all began in 1975, when Roger Staubach found Drew Pearson in the NFC Divisional Playoffs to win a game over the Minnesota Vikings en route to Super Bowl X.

If you are looking for the college football equivalent, look no further than Doug Flutie to Gerard Phelan to beat the Miami Hurricanes.

Michigan State Spartan players Kirk Cousins and Keith Nichol can now place themselves on that list after a thrilling 37-31 win over the Wisconsin Badgers.

“We knew we had a chance,” Cousins said. “There’s always a chance.”

Michigan State's Keith Nichol (7) fights his way into the end
zone against Wisconsin. (Photo by AP)

The Spartans trailed behind 14-0 before mounting a 23-point second quarter to take the lead.

Michigan State would then have a 31-17 lead with just under 11 minutes left to play, until Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson would add two touchdowns—one rushing and one passing, respectively—to tie up the game with 1:26 left.

But Cousins would be magnificent on the final drive by going 6-for-8 passing on the 78-yard touchdown drive to seal the victory.

“It’s a play that everybody practices,” Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio said. “You never know when it’s going to come to fruition.”

Since the Big Ten now has two divisions and both teams are in opposite ones (Michigan St. is in the Legends, Wisconsin is in the leaders), it is possible that this matchup can happen again in Indianapolis on Dec. 3 for the conference title.

MY WEEK 2 BCS RANKINGS

LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma St., Clemson, Boise St., Stanford, Oregon, Kansas St., Arkansas, Oklahoma

WEEK 8 PREDICTIONS
LSU 30, Auburn 20
Michigan St. 28, Wisconsin 21
Stanford 38, Washington 24

WEEK: 3-0 (1.000)
SEASON: 20-7 (.741)

PREDICTIONS FOR WEEK 9
No. 11 Michigan St. 31, No. 14 Nebraska 27
No. 9 Oklahoma 35, No. 8 Kansas St. 25
No. 6 Stanford 45, USC 21

2011 NCAA FOOTBALL WEEK 4 RECAP

BAYOU BENGALS CONTINUE TO RUN THE GAUNTLET

Morris Claiborne (17) returns a kickoff 99 yards giving LSU
a 34-21 lead over West Virginia. (Photo by Jeff Gentner/AP Photo)

Beating three ranked teams in the first month of the season is impressive. However, beating all of those teams away from home is even amazing.

The LSU Tigers continue to impress everyone this season and after defeating West Virginia, 47-21.

In terms of yards, the Tigers gave up 533 total yards and allowed Geno Smith to carve them up for 463 passing yards. However, LSU got the Mountaineers where it counted most—the turnover battle.

LSU’s defense forced four turnovers, while the offense did not commit any.

The Tigers led by double-digits for most of the game, but when Mountaineers freshman running back Dustin Garrison scored to cut the deficit to six points, LSU needed a spark.

On the ensuing kickoff, Morris Claiborne provided it on a 99-yard return for a touchdown that shifted momentum back to LSU’s side.

Of the return LSU head coach Les Miles said, “Morris Claiborne’s return was right on time, and we were able to finish it off. We made some mistakes, but we overcame that adversity. We have a real strong road personality, but no matter the environment, we are capable of playing.”

Combined with the wins earlier in the season to Oregon and Mississippi State, the Tigers were voted in as the No. 1 team of the Associated Press Top 25 media poll and moved into a tie for second with Alabama in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW…

Jacory Harris was ruled down at the 1-yard line and it changed a possible Miami Hurricanes win to the Kansas State Wildcats preserving a 28-24 victory.

Jacory Harris winds up a yard short from giving Miami a victory.
(Photo by J Pat Carter/AP Photo)

The exciting play was the climax in a game that got better as it went along.

The Wildcats led at halftime and held a 21-10 advantage with 3:40 left in the third quarter, but Harris and Miami did not give up.

Nearly a minute later, Lamar Miller’s 59-yard touchdown run cut the deficit down to four and Harris found Travis Benjamin to give the Hurricanes the lead early in the fourth.

Kansas State reclaimed the lead when sophomore running back John Hubert scored from two yards out with 10 minutes remaining.

Despite the very close loss, Harris passed for 272 yards and two touchdowns. However, the story was the near touchdown.

“We have no one to blame but ourselves,” Miami head coach Al Golden said. “We have to execute. That’s on us. We didn’t get it done.”

Miami will play Bethune-Cookman this week.

COWBOYS GIVE AGGIES A PARTING GIFT TO REMEMBER

Even though, Texas A&M will be going to the SEC next season, Oklahoma State wanted to give the Big 12 departing member something to remember first.

The Cowboys trailed by 17 at halftime and stormed back with a 21-point third quarter to defeat the Aggies, in front of a stunned audience at College Station.

In the second half even when things went wrong (such as Justin Blackmon’s fumble that would have sealed the game), Oklahoma State found ways to battle out of it.

Brandon Weeden set three Oklahoma State passing records
against Texas A&M. (Photo by Nate Billings/The Oklahoman)

Senior quarterback Brandon Weeden threw for 438 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cowboys, and Blackmon caught 11 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown despite the embarrassing gaffe.

The Aggies sealed their fate after committing four turnovers in the second half and will have to put that performance behind them this week in Arlington against Arkansas.

WEEK 4 PREDICTIONS

Alabama 37, Arkansas 27
Oklahoma St. 38, Texas A&M 35
Florida St. 21, Clemson 17
LSU 24, West Virginia 10

WEEK: 3-1 (.750)
SEASON: 9-4 (.692)

PREDICTIONS FOR WEEK 5

No. 14 Texas A&M 20, No. 18 Arkansas 17 (in Arlington, Texas)
No. 13 Clemson 31, No. 11 Virginia Tech 29
No. 3 Alabama 28, No. 12 Florida 21
No. 7 Wisconsin 17, No. 8 Nebraska  10

2011 NCAA FOOTBALL WEEK 1 RECAP

Hello avid sports fans! We had a great kickoff to the 2011 NCAA season as we saw a few games come down to the wire, while some others were over before the full 60 minutes (and not especially in the sense of blowouts). I will take this time out to review the biggest headlines and tie it in to next week’s predictions coming soon.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS—COLLEGE STYLE

While most of us were anxiously awaiting high school football games, a classic game broke out in Waco between No. 14 TCU and Baylor. In one of the more evenly matched all-time historical college rivalries (the series is tied 50-50-7), both teams displayed early fireworks as the Horned Frogs led 23-21 with 12:32 left in the second quarter.

The Bears would then score 26 unanswered points thanks to three Robert Griffin III touchdowns to lead 47-23 after three quarters and possibly giving the 2011 Rose Bowl champions an early dent to their preseason aspirations.

However, TCU and quarterback Casey Pachall would not go away that easily, scoring 25 unanswered in the fourth to take a 48-47 lead with 4:27 remaining in the game and giving Baylor one last chance to win the game.

After two incompletions, Baylor moved down the field bit by bit before Aaron Jones’ 37-yard field goal made it 50-48 in Baylor’s advantage. On the Horned Frogs final drive, Pachall would carry them to the Baylor 40, but a costly interception to Mike Hicks sealed the game and gave Baylor its first win against a ranked opponent since 2004.

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY

A unique sight happened in college football this week as two games were called early due to inclement weather, while two others were affected as well.

Saturday, the Michigan/Western Michigan game was called in the third quarter with the Wolverines leading 34-10 at the 1:27 mark.

The following day, Marshall and West Virginia sat through two delays lasting nearly 4 ½ hours before calling the game seven hours after the opening kickoff. West Virginia won 34-13 extending its dominance of its in-state rivals.

Weather also delayed games in Iowa and Notre Dame during the weekend, but both games were completely finished.

SHOWDOWNS WITH A BOWL GAME FLAIR

Two neutral-site games really caught everyone’s attention Saturday as LSU and Oregon did battle in the Cowboys Classic, while Boise State traveled to Atlanta to play Georgia. Here are the three main stories from those games.

1. LSU, Boise looked dominant: Both teams actually faced a handicap in this game. LSU was without suspended quarterback Jordan Jefferson and Boise basically played a de-facto road game despite the game being in Atlanta. It turned out that neither mattered, as both teams won by double-digits. The Tigers’ defense forced four Duck turnovers and Bronco quarterback Kellen Moore went 28-for-34 with 261 yards passing and three touchdowns.

     

     

     2.  Oregon has speed, but not SEC speed: We left off last season with Oregon losing to Auburn 22-19 in the 2011 BCS National Championship Game. Nearly eight months later, the Ducks looked good early, but eventually could not contain LSU as the game wore on. Part of this was due to freshman De’Anthony Thomas losing two fumbles that led to Tiger scores, but the Ducks can play their way back into the title picture. Their game against a ranked team will be on Nov. 12 against Stanford.

     

     3. Georgia…well at least they had nice uniforms: In 2005, Georgia crushed Boise in Athens, 48-13, en route to the SEC title. Exactly six years after, the Bulldogs allowed 28 consecutive points at one point and lost 35-21. Even though Georgia could not make this game good, their uniforms did look well. There were mixed reactions to these, but I actually thought the break from tradition was cool. The silver base/red stripe made them look like centurions from the Roman Empire. You can draw your own conclusions, lol.

WEEK 1 PREDICTIONS

I made these on my Twitter account and I will try to put these on my blog from here on out. I might even add a simulation from NCAA Football 12.

Oregon 35, LSU 32 (LSU won)
Boise St. 41, Georgia 34 (Boise won)
Miami 23, Maryland 21 (Maryland won)

WEEK: 1-2 .333
SEASON: 1-2 .333

Hope you had a great start to the college football season! Week 2 will have a good game in Happy Valley as Alabama and Penn State square off as the marquee game, while others follow.