College Football Week 2 – Kansas fans want Les Miles
I’m Still Standing
“Yeah, yeah, yeah!”
After opening weekend – across the five days of the Labor
Day extravaganza – 80 teams can say, “I’m still standing.” Yeah, out of the 130
FBS teams, 80 won their games, 47 lost, and – due to cancelations caused by
weather –3 teams now have to wait another week to open their season.
College football has officially begun. The current longest
winning streak was extended, while the second longest came to an abrupt end. Will Grier, Tua Tagovailoa and McKenzie
Milton looked good, while Khalil
Tate, Bryce Love and Devin Singletary didn’t. Herm Edwards had a great debut, while Chip Kelly and Kevin Sumlin flopped.
Where to begin? It was five days full of a little bit of
everything. Weather delays and cancelations, overtimes and close calls in the
Big Ten. And how about LSU? What got into those Tigers? Speaking of LSU, there
was even a call for Les Miles. Yes,
you heard me right.
Elton John
couldn’t have said it better:
“Don’t you know, I’m
still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true
survivor, feeling like a little kid”
The action began Thursday night in East Hartford,
Connecticut, where UCF extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 14
games. Quarterback McKenzie Milton
passed for 346 yards and five touchdowns as the Knights downed UConn, 56-17.
UCF not only extended its winning streak, but also the Knights extended UConn’s
losing streak – to six games.
Two days later in Norman, Oklahoma, the nation’s second
longest winning streak came to an end. Florida Atlantic, riding a 10-game
victory streak, fell to Oklahoma, 63-14. Looking good in the game was the
Oakland Athletics No. 1 draft pick and Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray. Looking bad was Florida Atlantic’s heralded running
back Devin Singletary.
Northwestern now holds the nation’s second longest winning
streak at 9 games. Thursday night, the Wildcats beat Purdue, 31-27.
Speaking of looking bad, how about Chip Kelly and Kevin Sumlin?
The two big hires during the offseason both lost in their debuts at UCLA and
Arizona respectively. In Pasadena, unheralded Cincinnati knocked off Kelly’s
Bruins, 26-17. UCLA was a 14-point favorite.
Meanwhile, in Tucson, BYU upset Sumlin’s Wildcats, 28-23.
Arizona was a 13-point favorite. Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate, hyped as a Heisman candidate at preseason, had a bad
game. Up I-10 in Tempe, it was a different story for Arizona State first-year
coach Herm Edwards. Considered a
poor hire during the offseason, Edwards may be changing some minds. In his
debut game, Arizona State looked good, clobbering UTSA, 49-7.
Heisman candidate Will
Grier was on target Saturday, leading West Virginia to a 40-14 win over
Tennessee. Grier passed for 429 yards and five touchdowns. Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, not only got the start
for the Crimson Tide, as expected, but also led Alabama to a commanding 51-14
win over Louisville.
Another quarterback worth mentioning who had a great day was
Mason Fine of North Texas. Fine
passed for 444 yards and three touchdowns, as North Texas beat SMU, 46-23.
Not having a good day was Heisman candidate and Stanford
running back Bryce Love. On the
positive side, Stanford beat San Diego State, 31-10. But on the negative side,
Love only had 29 yards rushing. Perhaps he was saving his energy for USC this
week.
“And did you think
this fool could never win
Well, look at me, I’m
coming back again”
Wake Forest and Tulane had the honor of playing the first
overtime game of the season. Thursday night, in New Orleans, the Demon Deacons
beat the Green Wave, 23-17 (OT). There were two other overtimes during the
weekend. Penn State got the scare of its life from Appalachian State. The
Nittany Lions scored with 42 seconds left in the game to tie the score at
31-31. In overtime Penn State held on to beat Appalachian State, 45-38 (OT).
In the third of the three overtime games, Kansas was upset
by Nichols State, an FCS team, 26-23 (OT). The loss by Kansas prompted some
interesting comments from Jayhawks fans. First, several Kansas fans, in tweets
after the game, campaigned for the school to hire Les Miles. There may be hope for Les yet. Second, Corey Yung, a Law School professor at
Kansas, tweeted that KU should terminate the football program.
Kansas, by the way, has lost 12-straight games – the second
longest losing streak in the country. The Jayhawks haven’t been to a bowl game
in 10 years. The longest losing streak belongs to UTEP – 13 games. Like Kansas,
UTEP lost to an FCS team over the weekend. Northern Arizona beat the Miners,
30-10. In third place with losing streaks is Oregon State. The Beavers have
lost 11 straight games.
Three teams made the “70s Club” over the weekend – one being
the team that beat Oregon State. Ohio State downed the Beavers, 77-31. Ohio
State’s Mike Weber rushed for 186
yards. Also scoring 70 or more points was Fresno State, beating Idaho 79-13,
and Nevada, who beat Portland State, 72-19. Coming close to making the “70s
Club” were Memphis and Toledo. Memphis beat Mercer, 66-14, and Toledo beat VMI,
66-3.
Three other FBS teams lost to FCS teams over the weekend –
in addition to Kansas and UTEP. San Jose State had the honor of being the first
to lose to an FCS team. Thursday night, the Spartans fell to UC Davis, 44-38.
Temple lost to Villanova, 19-17, and East Carolina was knocked off by North
Carolina A&T, 28-23.
In the annual Centennial State battle, Colorado beat
Colorado State, 45-13. And in the battle of Houston, Houston beat Rice, 45-27.
“I’m still standing,
yeah, yeah, yeah
I’m still standing,
yeah, yeah, yeah”
Hawaii could be the surprise team in the MWC this season. In
its opener on August 25, Hawaii surprised Colorado State, 43-34. Saturday,
Hawaii beat a good Navy team, 59-41. Against Navy, Hawaii quarterback Cole McDonald passed for 428 yards and
six touchdowns. Against Colorado State, McDonald passed for 418 yards. Hawaii
is 2-0 and plays Rice this week.
Michigan State got a scare Saturday. Late in the fourth
quarter, the Spartans were trailing Utah State, 31-30. Michigan State scored
with 2 minutes left in the game and held on to beat Utah State, 38-31. Likewise
Kansas State. K-State trailed South Dakota early in the fourth quarter, 24-12.
The Wildcats scored two touchdowns in the final 12 minutes of the game to rally
and beat South Dakota, 27-24.
If you were watching the Michigan-Notre Dame game Saturday
night, you may have seen a familiar last name. The Wolverines backup
quarterback is sophomore Dylan McCaffrey.
Dylan, who saw action in the game, is the younger brother of former Stanford
running back Christian McCaffrey.
Notre Dame beat Michigan, 24-17.
After Texas lost to Maryland again this year, Longhorn fans
must be having second thoughts about Tom
Herman. Last year, Maryland upset Texas in Herman’s debut, 51-41. Saturday,
the Terps beat Texas again, 34-29.
Some go from rags to riches. Massachusetts went from riches
to rags. In its opener on August 25, the Minutemen beat Duquesne, 63-15.
Saturday, UMass lost to Boston College, 55-21.
Syracuse quarterback Eric
Dungey looked good, running for 200 yards, as the Orange beat Western
Michigan, 55-42. Texas A&M running back Trayveon Williams rushed for 240 yards, as the Aggies beat
Northwestern State, 59-7.
There were several weather delays in games played Saturday,
but two games were weathered out – they were canceled. Due to severe storms
with high winds, the Akron-Nebraska game Lincoln had to be called off, as did
the South Dakota State-Iowa State game in Ames.
In the game of the week, Auburn scored late to beat
Washington, 21-16. And in its debut as an FBS team, Liberty beat Old Dominion,
52-10.
Sunday night in Arlington, Texas, LSU went wild, spanking
Miami (Florida) to the tune of 33-17. The game wasn’t as close as the score
indicates. The Tigers led the Canes 33-3 late in the third quarter. Miami
scored two fourth quarter touchdowns. The Canes are sitting on a 4-game losing
streak. Meanwhile, LSU coach Ed Orgeron
is back on Easy Street.
And finally, the Labor Day Weekend came to an end Monday
night in Tallahassee, Florida. Virginia Tech shocked Florida State, 24-3.
Trailing the Hokies 17-3 at halftime, FSU fans took to Twitter and trashed Willie Taggart.
After all was said and done, the SEC finished the weekend
best among the Power Five Conferences. The SEC was 13-1. Tennessee was the
conference’s only loser. The Big Ten compiled a 10-1 record. Michigan was the
only loser in the Big Ten. The ACC was 9-3, the Pac-12 finished 8-4 and the Big
12 was 6-3.
So opening weekend is history. The 2018 college football
season is underway. As Starship once
sang:
“And we can build
this dream together
Standing strong
forever
Nothing’s gonna
stop us now”
In the latest from “Meyergate” in Columbus, Ohio, a
member of the Ohio State Board of Trustees resigned last week. Trustee Jeffrey Wadsworth stepped down from the
board, saying that Urban Meyer’s
punishment should have been “harsher” and “more profound.” Wadsworth said that
he was the only trustee who advocated for stronger punishment.
I mentioned last week that this season’s CFP national championship
game will be played on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. Here are the
dates and locations for the next five national championship games beyond Santa
Clara:
January 13, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana
January 11, 2021 in Miami Gardens, Florida
January 10, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana
January 9, 2023 in Los Angeles, California
January 8, 2024 in Houston, Texas.
All 14 SEC football stadiums have installed and
implemented television timeout countdown clocks this season. The clocks are visible
from anywhere in the stadiums. The use of the visible timeout countdown clocks
will allow fans the opportunity to know when a game will re-start after a
television timeout. The clock will also give teams, game officials and event
administrators more definitive information for their time management.
Rockledge Gator
has filed a complaint with CBS Sports. Throughout the West Virginia-Tennessee
game, the network’s cameramen didn’t provide any video of Will Grier’s wife sitting in the stands. Where’s Brent Musburger when you need him?
And so it was – a great opening weekend for college
football.
“Nothing’s gonna
stop us
Nothing’s gonna
stop us now”
Touchdown Tom
September 4, 2018
Weekend Recap
GAME OF THE WEEK: Defense – Auburn 21, Washington
16 (Touchdown Tom said: Washington 24, Auburn 23). This game was a good ole
defensive battle, especially in the second half when the teams only scored 9
points between them – all in the fourth quarter. Auburn led 15-13 at halftime.
Then, Washington went up 16-15 on a 30-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
Auburn scored the winning touchdown with 6:15 left in the game. Washington had
two turnovers in the game. Attendance in Atlanta: 70,103
RUNNER-UP: Hard times for Harbaugh – Notre Dame 24,
Michigan 17 (Touchdown Tom said: Michigan 24, Notre Dame 18). This game
wasn’t as close as the score indicates. Notre Dame pretty much had control of
the game throughout. The Irish led 21-3 late in the second quarter and 24-10 late
in the third quarter. Michigan occasionally rallied, but they were mostly weak
and feeble rallies. The teams were just one yard apart in total yards – 307 for
the Wolverines and 306 for the Irish. Attendance in South Bend: 77,822
REST OF THE BEST:
Not ready for prime time – Oklahoma
63, Florida Atlantic 14 (Touchdown Tom said: Oklahoma 34, Florida Atlantic
21). Well, Oklahoma is, but FAU’s not. The Owls’ 10-game winning streak came to
a crash landing in Norman. OU put up 650 total yards – 316 rushing and 334
passing. You can’t get much more balanced than that. The OU defense shutdown Devin Singletary. Singletary only had
69 yards rushing. Attendance in Norman: 86,402
Wow! – LSU 33,
Miami (Florida) 17 (Touchdown Tom said: Miami 24, LSU 17). After the teams
exchanged field goals in the first quarter, LSU went on a rampage. The Tigers
built up a 30-point lead on the Canes – 33-3 by late in the third quarter. Two
interceptions and the running of Nick
Brossette (125 yards) doomed Miami. The Canes only had 83 yards rushing. Attendance
in Arlington: 68,841
Sammy Seminole got
Gobbled up – Virginia Tech 24, Florida State 3 (Touchdown Tom said: Florida
State 27, Virginia Tech 25). Willie
Taggart is about as popular as Tom
Herman. Halfway through the first quarter, Tech led FSU, 10-0. The Hokies
never looked back. They were up 17-3 at the half and scored their final
touchdown with 5:11 to go in the fourth quarter. Tech’s defense held the Noles
to 94 yards rushing. FSU quarterback Deondre
Francois threw three interceptions. Attendance in Tallahassee: 75,237
The two-headed
monster – Alabama 51, Louisville 14 (Touchdown Tom said: Alabama 32,
Louisville 14). Tagovailoa and Hurts. Maybe we should just go ahead and crown
Alabama as national champions now. The Tide looked that good. They looked that
strong. Bama led Louisville 28-0 at the half and just toyed with the Cardinals
in the second half. As expected, Tua
Tagovailoa started at quarterback, but Jalen
Hurts saw plenty of action. Even freshman Mac Jones saw some action. Bama’s defense held Louisville to 16
yards rushing. The Tide had 519 total yards on offense. Attendance in Orlando:
57,280
No Love – Stanford
31, San Diego State 10 (Touchdown Tom said: Stanford 28, San Diego State 17).
Stanford got off to a slow start. The Trees only led the Aztecs, 9-7 at
halftime. Then Stanford turned it on in the second half, outscoring San Diego
State, 22-3, in the final two quarters. But the Aztecs shutdown Bryce Love. Love only had 29 yards on
18 carries. As a team, Stanford only had 50 yards rushing. But the Trees made
up for it through the air, passing for 332 yards. Attendance in Palo Alto:
40,913
Is Herman on the
hot seat? – Maryland 34, Texas 29 (Touchdown Tom said: Texas 33, Maryland
24). He should be after losing to Maryland for the second year in a row on
opening weekend. This was a surprise, especially when you consider what all
Maryland has been through. But apparently that fired up the Terps. Meanwhile,
Texas has no fire at all. Bevo’s ready for the glue factory. The teams were
even-Steven in yardage – passing and rushing. But Texas had three turnovers and
Maryland controlled the clock – 32:46 minutes. The Horns also had 10 penalties
for 102 yards. Attendance in Landover: 47,641
Cats win on the
road – Northwestern 31, Purdue 27 (Touchdown Tom said: Northwestern 22,
Purdue 17). Northwestern scored all 31 of its points in the first half. The
Wildcats led Purdue, 31-17, at halftime. But the Boilers ruled the second half,
outscoring Northwestern, 10-0. In the end, the Wildcats defense held on to keep
Purdue from taking control of the game. Three interceptions, all thrown by Elijah Sindelar, didn’t help Purdue
any. Northwestern’s Jeremy Larkin
rushed for 143 yards. Attendance in West Lafayette: 47,410
Country Roads tops
Rocky Top – West Virginia 40, Tennessee 14 (Touchdown Tom said: West
Virginia 33, Tennessee 20). This looked like a blowout at the start, as WVU
took a 10-0 first quarter lead. But then it tightened up. The Mounties only led
the Vols 13-7 at halftime – a halftime that was extended due to a lengthy
weather delay. But once the second half got going, the blowout got going too.
WVU outscored Tennessee 27-7 in the second half. The Mounties had 547 total
yards – 429 passing by Will Grier. Grier
threw five touchdown passes. Attendance in Charlotte: 66,793
…AND TWO TO KEEP AN EYE ON:
Troy sacked – Boise
State 56, Troy 20 (Touchdown Tom said: Boise State 29, Troy 27). In what
was expected to be a good game turned out to be a romp – a romp for Boise
State. Plagued by four turnovers, Troy never could get its game going. The
Broncos led 35-7 at halftime. Boise State quarterback Brett Rypien passed for 305 yards and four touchdowns. Attendance
in Troy: 29,612
The seat got
hotter – Ole Miss 47, Texas Tech 27 (Touchdown Tom said: Texas Tech 31, Ole
Miss 30). Down by only 10 points – 37-27 – at the end of the third quarter,
Texas Tech ran out of steam in the fourth quarter. The teams combined for 1,034
total yards, but Ole Miss had 548 of those yards. Ole Miss quarterback Jordan Ta’amu passed for 336 yards,
while the Sharks running back, Scottie
Phillips, rushed for 204 yards. Ole Miss jumped out to a 24-7 first quarter
lead. Tech played big-time catch up for the rest of the game and never could
overcome the Sharks. Kliff Kingsbury
needs to update his resume. Attendance in Houston: 40,333
YE OLDE STOMPING GROUNDS:
Albert smiles - Florida 53,
Charleston Southern 6 (Touchdown Tom said: Florida 45, Charleston Southern
10). It was a good debut for Dan Mullen
in Gainesville, as Florida easily downed Charleston Southern without exerting
much effort. The Gators led 38-0 at halftime. Charleston Southern only had 3
yards passing. The Bucs also gave up the ball 3 times – 2 fumbles and 1
interception. Attendance in Gainesville: 81,164
Canceled – (Touchdown
Tom said: Nebraska 40, Akron 9). The Akron-Nebraska game in Lincoln was called
off due to lengthy and extreme bad weather conditions.
How ’bout them
Dookies – Duke 34, Army 14 (Touchdown Tom said: Duke 29 Army 22). Army
controlled the clock for 36 minutes. But the Knights couldn’t control the
score. And surprise of all surprises – Army passed for 197 yards. When was the
last time the Cadets passed for that many yards? There was nothing
slow-starting about Duke in this opener. The Dookies took a 17-0 halftime lead
and finished strong, outscoring Army, 10-0, in the fourth quarter. Attendance
in Durham: 26,017
Austin couldn’t
Peay – Georgia 45, Austin-Peay 0 (Touchdown Tom said: Georgia 52,
Austin-Peay 7). But Uga did. Georgia had 508 total yards to only 152 for
Austin-Peay – 91 rushing and 61 passing. As expected, Kirby Smart started Jake
Fromm at quarterback, but Justin
Fields and Matthew Downing saw
action. Attendance in Athens: 92,746
Week 1 Results: 9 correct picks, 6 fumbles (60 percent)
ELSEWHERE AROUND FLORIDA:
UCF 56, Connecticut
17 – Attendance in East Hartford: 23,081
Jacksonville U.
63, St. Augustine’s 14 – Attendance in Jacksonville: 2,417
Florida A&M
41, Fort Valley State 7 – Attendance in Tallahassee: 20,262
South Florida 34,
Elon 14 – Attendance in Tampa: 31,217
Florida Tech 33,
Benedict 14 – Attendance in Columbia: 1,528
Indiana 38,
Florida International 28 – Attendance in Miami: 17,082
Tennessee State
34, Bethune-Cookman 3 – Attendance in Nashville: 14,069
Stetson 48, Point
7 – Attendance in Deland: 1,632
Superlatives
Weekend’s Best Passers:
North Texas’ Mason
Fine – 40-50-0 for 444 yards (3TDs); Hawaii’s Cole McDonald – 30-41-0-428 (6TDs); West Virginia’s Will Grier – 25-34-0-429 (5TDs); Arkansas
State’s Justice Hansen – 26-36-1-423
(6TDs); Western Michigan’s Jon Wassink
– 19-36-2-379 (3TDs), and Wake Forest’s Sam
Hartman – 31-51-2-378 (2 TDs).
Also, Memphis’ Brady
White – 22-28-0 for 358 yards (5TDs); Miami of Ohio’s Gus Ragland – 25-46-0-357 (3TDs); UCF’s McKenzie Milton – 24-32-0-346 (5 TDs); ULM’s Caleb Evans – 35-53-1-346 (2TDs); Liberty’s Stephen Calvert – 25-36-0-345 (4TDs), and Nevada’s Ty Gangi – 16-26-1-342 (3TDs).
Weekend’s Best
Rushers:
Texas A&M’s Trayveon
Williams – 240 yards (3TDs); Ole Miss’s Scottie Phillips – 204 yards (2TDs); Syracuse’s Eric Dungey – 200 yards (1TD); Ohio
State’s Mike Weber – 186 yards
(3TDs), and Oregon State’s Artavis Smith
– 168 yards (2TDs).
Also, San Diego State’s Juwan Washington – 158 yards (1TD); Connecticut’s David Pindell – 157 yards (1TD);
Minnesota’s Rodney Smith – 153 yards,
and Utah’s Zack Moss – 150 yards
(1TD).
Quotes of the Week
“I’ve come to an
opinion on Urban Meyer that this
will be his last season at Ohio State. I just don’t know how much longer this
can go on. I say that because I strongly believe his creditability has been
shattered. The relationship with his athletic director has been fractured, and
it was pretty easy to read the body language the other night that the school
president wants nothing to do with him as well. Even though Ohio State fans
easily rank among the most sick of fans in college football, slowly, I believe
they will bail on him as well. Then, it will touch recruiting. We’ve seen
Urban’s past when he’s under the gun, he bails,” ESPN college football
commentator Paul Finebaum.
“What happened
this last week, what happened this last month is embarrassing and shameful.
Maybe he wants to believe Zach Smith,
but here’s the problem, he’s an enabler. He enabled Zach Smith. Tell me another
coach who survives this, any of this stuff,” Ohio native and radio sports show
host Dan Patrick, on Urban Meyer.
“Since I
fundamentally disagree with the outcome, it would be hypocritical of me to
continue as a Trustee,” Ohio State Board of Trustees member Jeffrey Wadsworth, upon resigning from
his Trustee position over the leniency of Urban
Meyer’s punishment.
“Michigan
football is sadly one thing…..trash,” former Michigan receiver Braylon Edwards.
Touchdown Tom’s Predictions for
This Week’s 10 Biggest and Most Intriguing Games.…and
then some
GAME OF THE WEEK:
1. Georgia (1-0) at South
Carolina (1-0) – (SEC vs. SEC) – 3:30
pm ET, Saturday, CBS – Both teams are good, but both opened against
cupcakes last week. So it’s hard to know just how good they are. Georgia
probably has the better offense, while South Carolina may have to win the game
on Will Muschamp’s defense. But Kirby Smart knows how to coach defense
too. Justin Fields may not get to
make an appearance for the Dawgs this week. Then again, if the game isn’t going
well for Georgia, you just might see Fields. The Gamecocks will rely on quarterback Jake Bentley. Uga prefers thighs – Georgia 22, South Carolina 20.
RUNNER-UP: 2.
USC (1-0) at Stanford (1-0) –
(Pac-12 vs. Pac-12) – 8:30 pm ET,
Saturday, FOX – Stanford running back Bryce Love was a dud last
week. But it’s hard to imagine Love being a dud two weeks in a row. USC
struggled with UNLV last week for three quarters. The Trojans finally came to
life in the fourth quarter. There will be no fourth quarter for the Trojans
this week – Stanford 28, USC 27.
REST OF THE BEST:
3. Clemson (1-0) at Texas A&M (1-0) – (ACC vs. SEC) – 7 pm ET, Saturday,
ESPN – Two more good teams who opened against cupcakes last week. The
Aggies Trayveon Williams, who rushed for 240 yards last week, will have
his work cut out for him this week. Clemson is supposed to have the best
defense in the country. If anybody knows Clemson, it’s Jimbo Fisher. But
he doesn’t know the Tigers well enough – Clemson 26, Texas A&M 15.
4. Mississippi State (1-0) at Kansas State (1-0) – (SEC vs. Big 12) – 12 Noon ET, Saturday, ESPN – Kansas State struggled to beat South
Dakota last week, while Miss State romped over Stephen F. Austin. K-State
struggles again this week. The Bulldogs win, but it won’t be a romp – Mississippi
State 30, Kansas State 23.
5. Penn State (1-0) at Pitt (1-0) – (Big Ten vs. ACC) – 8 pm ET, Saturday, ABC – While probably looking ahead to this game,
Penn State struggled to beat Appalachian State last week. Nittany Lions
quarterback Trace McSorley needs a breakout game. The Lions breakout – Penn
State 29, Pitt 25.
6. Michigan State (1-0) at Arizona State (1-0) – (Big Ten vs. Pac-12) – 10:45 pm ET, Saturday – ESPN – Like Penn
State, Michigan State struggled to win last week against a much weaker
opponent. Probably looking ahead to Arizona State, the Spartans struggled to
beat Utah State. The struggling continues for the Spartans. Herm Edwards
surprises again – Arizona State 30, Michigan State 29.
7. Duke
(1-0) at Northwestern (1-0) – (ACC vs. Big Ten) – 12 Noon ET, Saturday, ESPNU – Both teams looked good in their
openers last week. Duke’s defense looked better, but Northwestern had the
tougher opponent. Home field gives the Wildcats the advantage here. The Dookies
aren’t still standing – Northwestern 32,
Duke 31.
8. Kentucky (1-0) at Florida (1-0) – (SEC vs. SEC) – 7:30 pm ET, Saturday, SECN – I was 39 years old the last time
Kentucky beat Florida. That was 1986 – 32 years ago. Since then, the Gators
have beat Kentucky 31-straight times. Galen Hall was the last coach to
lose to Kentucky. Not one coach has lost since, not even Ron Zook, Will
Muschamp or Jim McElwain. And that’s saying something. Make it 32
times – Florida 27, Kentucky 21.
9. Georgia
Tech (1-0) at South Florida (1-0) – (ACC vs. AAC) – 12 Noon ET, Saturday, ABC/ESPN2 – A tough early season matchup for
both teams. At this point in the season, Tech is probably a step or two ahead
of USF. The Yellow Jackets step it up – Georgia
Tech 27, South Florida 24.
10. Colorado (1-0) at Nebraska (0-0) – (Pac-12 vs. Big Ten) – 3:30 pm ET, Saturday, ABC – Scott
Frost’s debut in Lincoln was put on hold for a week. Mother Nature saw to
that. Colorado replaces Akron as his debut game. The Buffs will be a little
tougher than the Zips would have been. Colorado looked good in its win over
Colorado State. But then everybody looks good against Colorado State. Ralphie
doesn’t look so good this week – Nebraska 28, Colorado 26.
…AND TWO TO KEEP AN EYE ON:
11. Iowa State (0-0) at Iowa (1-0) – (Big 12 vs. Big Ten) – 5 pm ET, Saturday, FOX – This is supposed to be the breakout season for
Iowa State coach Matt Campbell. Mother Nature canceled Campbell’s plans
to breakout last week. Mother Hawkeye cancels his plans this week. Iowa is the
Hawkeye state, not the Cyclone state – Iowa 27, Iowa State 23.
12. UCLA (0-1) at Oklahoma (1-0) – (Pac-12 vs. Big 12) – 1 pm ET, Saturday, FOX – UCLA got off to a bad start last week. It
was a terrible debut for Chip Kelly. Are the Bruins really that bad? It
doesn’t matter. Oklahoma makes almost everyone look bad. Kelly tires – Oklahoma
35, UCLA 14.
YE OLDE STOMPING GROUNDS:
Youngstown State
(0-1) at West Virginia (1-0) – (Missouri Valley vs. Big 12) – 6 pm ET, Saturday – If West Virginia
stumbles a bit this week don’t be surprised. Some people have called this the
trap game. The Mounties played Tennessee last week and have NC State next week.
With those two opponents, it’s hard to get up for Youngtown State in between.
Well, the Mounties won’t get trapped, but they might be a little complacent.
Maybe we’ll get to see the Miami transfer – Jack Allison – this week. Grier ices the Penguins – West Virginia 48, Youngstown State 10.
Tulsa (1-0) at
Texas (0-1) – (AAC vs. Big 12) – 8 pm
ET, Saturday, LHN – Texas fans can’t be too pleased with Tom Herman right now. Herman is lucky
he has Tulsa this week. Then again, you never know. No, the Horns will have
little to no trouble from Tulsa. A turnaround in Austin – Texas 37, Tulsa 17.
Eastern Michigan
(1-0) at Purdue (0-1) – (MAC vs. Big Ten) – 12 Noon ET, Saturday, BTN – Purdue actually looked good in its
31-27 loss to Northwestern last week. The Boilers shutout the Wildcats in the
second half. The defense came to life. A few turnovers hurt Purdue in the first
half. Eastern Michigan could be a bit feisty. Those MAC teams like to give the
Big Ten teams a hard time. But it’s EMU who will have the harder time. The
Boilers souse the Eagles – Purdue 33,
Eastern Michigan 19.
ELSEWHERE AROUND FLORIDA:
Newberry (0-1) at
Florida Tech (1-0) – (South Atlantic vs. Gulf South) – 1 pm ET, Saturday….
Air Force (1-0) at
Florida Atlantic (0-1) – (MWC vs. C-USA) – 2 pm ET, Saturday, CBSSN….
Virginia-Lynchburg
(0-0) at Bethune-Cookman (0-1) – (NCCAA vs. MEAC) – 4 pm ET, Saturday….
Savannah State
(0-1) at Miami (0-1) – (MEAC vs. ACC) – 6
pm ET, Saturday….
South Carolina
State (0-1) at UCF (1-0) – (MEAC vs. AAC) – 6 pm ET, Saturday, ESPN3….
Waldorf (0-2) at
Stetson (1-0) – (North Star vs. Pioneer) – 6 pm ET, Saturday….
Jacksonville U.
(1-0) at Mercer (0-1) – (Pioneer vs.
Southern) – 6 pm ET, Saturday….
Florida A&M
(1-0) at Troy (0-1) – (MEAC vs. Sun
Belt) – 7 pm ET, Saturday….
Samford (1-0) at
Florida State (0-1) – (Southern vs. ACC) – 7:20 pm ET, Saturday, ACCN….
FIU (0-1) at Old
Dominion (0-1) – (C-USA vs. C-USA) – 7:30
pm ET, Saturday….
Touchdown Tom
P.S.
Not exactly college football related, but there were no
passings of note last week.
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