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 3 RECAP

DOWN GOES AUBURN!

Memo to all defending national champions: You will lose when you play at Clemson’s Death Valley.

The Auburn Tigers became the third team to realize this fact when they lost to Clemson 38-24 on Saturday. Clemson previously knocked off Georgia (1981) and Georgia Tech (1991) at home a year after both won a national title.

Early on, it did not look as if Clemson would pull the feat after Auburn jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.

However, Clemson sophomore quarterback Tajh Boyd settled down in a big way, giving Clemson the lead for good in the third. Boyd threw for 386 yards and four touchdowns on 30-for-42 passing to lead Clemson in its first win over Auburn since 1951.

The Clemson offense was equally as impressive, gashing Auburn for 624 yards and converting on 14-of-18 third down tries.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said of the win, “I couldn’t think of a better place to end the streak in Death Valley, South Carolina, baby,”

Auburn will try to regroup this week against Florida Atlantic.

MIDNIGHT MADNESS—IN FOOTBALL?

You are probably wondering why I am writing about an Oklahoma State 59-33 victory over the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.

The reason was that this game’s kickoff was pushed back from its original 9:10 p.m. time, to 12:16 a.m. the next morning due to weather conditions.

The game did not end until 3:35 a.m. local time and despite the win, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy was not too thrilled about playing deep into the night.

“I’m not real excited about playing at that time, to be honest with you,” Gundy said. “There comes a certain point in the middle of the morning your body’s used to functioning. Whether young people stay up late at night or not, they don’t exert themselves at 2 and 3 in the morning.”

As for the game itself, the Cowboys led 45-6 over the Golden Hurricane at one point and cruised the rest of the way through.

The thing that went wrong for Oklahoma State was that junior wide receiver Justin Blackmon saw his streak of 14 straight 100-yard receiving games snapped. Blackmon did however catch seven passes for 57 yards and a touchdown.

SHOWDOWNS IN THE SUNSHINE STATE

The state of Florida was home to three good showdowns Saturday, so let’s break them down.

1. Florida dominates Tennessee in The Swamp: Florida might have beaten Tennessee by the score of 33-23, but the final score definitely was not an indication of how much better the Gators were than the Volunteers on this day. Florida held Tennessee to -9 rushing yards and led 30-7 at one point. Gator senior running back Chris Rainey was a dual threat in the passing and running games, as he ran for 108 yards and caught two passes for 104 yards.

2. The IneligiBOWL: Both Ohio State and Miami grabbed many headlines during the offseason leading to this shirt in the anticipation of the game. However, the Hurricanes beat the Buckeyes 24-6 in a complete reversal of last year’s game. Miami sophomore Lamar Miller ran for 184 yards as Ohio State’s passing game never quite got going. Braxton Miller and Joe Bauserman combined to throw for 35 yards on 4-for-18 passing.

3. Florida State played well, but Oklahoma hangs on: The marquee game of the week between Florida State and Oklahoma was much closer than last year’s matchup, but the Sooners still won 23-13. The Seminoles did get up for the big stage though, holding the high-powered Oklahoma offense to 310 yards. However, Florida State lost quarterback E.J. Manuel and wide receiver Kenny Shaw in the game and could not hang on in the end to Oklahoma.

WEEK 3 PREDICTIONS

LSU 27, Mississippi St. 24 (LSU won)
Miami 27, Ohio St. 24 (Miami won)
Oklahoma 35, Florida St. 31 (Oklahoma won)

WEEK: 3-0 (1.000)
SEASON: 6-3 (.667)

PREDICTIONS FOR WEEK 4

No. 3 Alabama 37, No. 14 Arkansas 27
No. 7 Oklahoma St. 38, No. 8 Texas A&M 35
No. 11 Florida St. 21, No. 21 Clemson 17
No. 2 LSU 24, No. 16 West Virginia 10