Monday, October 31, 2011

NCAA College Football 2011: Week Nine Review

Another crazy, BCS landscape-altering weekend in college football. Once more, we're reminded why this is the most compelling regular season in all of sport.

An amazing night in Houston on Thursday, for the big in-state rivalry, Houston vs. Rice. At the end of sixty minutes of football, Cougars QB Case Keenum had become the sole owner of the Football Bowl Subdivision record for career passing TDs. The total sits at 139 this Saturday night, after Keenum went wild against Rice on Thursday night, notching Madden numbers in the Cougars' big rivalry win 73-34. The QB was 24-37 for 534 yards, 9 TDs, 1 INT and a QB Rating of 261.0. Surely now, Keenum will start getting some love from Heisman voters. SURELY!

Speaking of records falling, congratulations, to the great and legendary Joe Paterno, for breaking Eddie Robinson's record of 409 Division I victories. Penn State won 10-7, surviving six turnovers on a snowy afternoon in State College, Pennsylvania. The living legend, sits behind only John Gagliardi, who still coaches at Division III St. John’s, Minnesota and owns a mammoth 481 victories.

Once more, the Halloween weekend has become the undoing for Michigan State. Fresh off that monumental Hail Mary victory vs. Wisconsin last week, Sparty went into Lincoln, Nebraska and were rolled over by RB Rex Burkhead and QB Taylor Martinez. Finally, the 'Husker offense looked like it'd been promising to look all season. It continues a worrying trend for MSU, who were soundly beaten this year, were blown out 37-6 last year vs. Iowa and lost to lowly Minnesota the year before, 42-34. Trick or treat?

Gutted to see USC lose with a fumble recovery into the end zone, recovered by Stanford. But, at the same time, it's good to see that there is a pretty good football team there that can go toe-to-toe with one of the best football teams in the country. Andrew Luck is, as we all know, just as good as advertised. And that's VERY good.

What to say about this week's edition of the Texas Tech Red Raiders? The team that beat the previously undefeated Oklahoma Sooners last week came out and were beaten from pillar to post by Iowa State. The final score was 41-7, the game set up with a 3-TD burst from the Cyclones in the first quarter. QB Seth Doege, so good last week, threw 2 INTs and no TDs this week, and the offense committed 3 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Tech defense gave up 370 rushing yards to Iowa State.

Ditto, Clemson. A team that looked great last week - they've looked great every week this year, really - have laid an ugly egg against Georgia Tech on Homecoming in Atlanta, losing 31-17 to a Yellow Jackets team that showed promise earlier in the year, but have faded badly recently, taking losses to Virginia and Miami. 4 Clemson turnovers didn't help. Nor did their defense being run over by the Georgia Tech run game, which ripped off 383 and 4 TDs. The ACC is wide open now.

Wisconsin went from being viewed as the best team in the Big Ten to now losing two games, the first to Michigan State and now to Ohio State on a cold Columbus Homecoming night where in very similar circumstances. It was a 20-yard Braxton Miller pass to Devin Smith that put the Buckeyes ahead for good, and gave them their signature win of a season that has been played under the looming shadow of NCAA sanctions and without both longtime head coach Jim Tressel and star QB Terrelle Pryor. The teams combined for 4 TDs in the final 4:39 and now, you have to wonder where Wisconsin go from here? Do they lack the heart to press on through the rest of the season?

Oklahoma got their revenge for losing last week to Texas Tech. It was tight at half-time against Kansas State, 23-17, but the Sooners exploded in the second half, scoring 35 unanswered points to remind people that they are still a good football team. All eyes now, in the state of Oklahoma, are on the Bedlam Game against Oklahoma State in a few weeks time, the final game of the season for both teams. Imagine what a Sooner win/Cowboy loss might do to the BCS standings?

It wouldn't be a week of college football without some more conference alignment talk. Apparently, West Virginia are headed to the Big XII (which has less than twelve teams) to effectively replace Missouri who are allegedly heading to the SEC to join the Texas A&M Aggies in that particular sidestep. Now Boise State, if you believe the whispers, are poised to join the Big East, along with Navy, Air Force, SMU, Houston and Central Florida. If you believe the whispers. Man, my head hurts!!

Finally, to Texas A&M a football team that seemingly has split personalities. They look great one week and terrible the next. Sometimes, they look great in the first half, then implode, giving up huge leads after half time. They were beaten 38-31 in OT by Missouri this week, and Mizzou aren't that good of a football team. Just when you thought the Aggies might build on their beat-down of Baylor, and QB Ryan Tannehill's 6-TD performance, they have once more regressed. One step forward, two steps back seems to be the team's mantra.

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