What caught my eye in Week 3 of the 2013 season!
Who would have
thought that the sequel would be better than the original? Alabama and Texas A&M played themselves to standstill on Saturday at College Station in Texas, with
the defending National Champions getting over the team featuring the defending Heisman
Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel, 49-42 in a game completely unlike what we’re
used to seeing out of the SEC.
Neither defense was
particularly good. Alabama allowed Manziel, alone, to account for 562 yards
(279 of those to WR Mike Evans) whilst the Aggies, as a whole, slammed the Tide
defense for 628 yards. That’s a school record for A&M and a state line –
actually, a whole bunch of stat lines – that Nick Saban, a defensive guru at
his core, could not be happy about.
What helped Saban on
Saturday was having a very good offense matched against a very bad defense.
I’ve forecast this for the last two weeks. The Aggies let Sam Houston State and
Rice both roll up big scores against them, which had me worried, because
there’s a massive chasm between those two schools and Alabama in terms of
offensive capability. A&M’s defensive ineptitude was on display for all to
see. But, on the other side of the football, Manziel simply could not be
stopped. Say what you will about the reigning Heisman Trophy’s off field issues,
but the kid is a superstar. It was a pleasure to watch.
Ironically, it was a
defensive touchdown for the beleaguered Crimson Tide that proved to be the
difference on the scoreboard between the two teams. Early in the third. Manziel
delivered a football right to Alabama S Vinnie Sunseri who took it back to the
house, thus recording about the only notable defensive play of the entire sixty
minutes at Kyle Field. But wow, was that a football game or what? More of that,
please!
***
USC’s
first play of their game against Boston
College on Saturday at the Coliseum in Los Angeles was a throw over the
middle. It was incomplete, but that didn’t stop the frustrated Trojan fans from
cheering as loudly for the play call as they might have this time last year for
a big play that actually connected. It’s a sign of the hard times at Southern
California.
A week after an
embarrassing loss to Washington State, and with QB Cody Kessler firmly Lane
Kiffin’s starter, the Trojans recorded an easy 35-7 victory against the Eagles,
in which the offense ran up 521 yards, and really started to resemble something
that we’re more used to seeing out of USC. RB Tre Madden had his third
consecutive one hundred-yard game to start the season (the first to do that at
USC in thirty-two years, if you don’t mind).
To the distinct
approval of more than 62,000 fans, Kessler passed for 237 yards and two
touchdowns, and a lot of people – especially Lane Kiffin – were breathing a lot
easier by the end of sixty minutes, in which the Eagles weren’t ever a serious
threat. Still, encouraging signs at USC. There were no ‘Fire Kiffin’ chants
this week, which would have pleased the man on the Hot Seat no end.
Most surprising of
all, pleasantly so, is the defense. It hasn’t really been that grat under the
tutelage of Monte Kiffin, but the arrival of Clancy Pendergast in Los Angeles
has done wonders. On Saturday, the Trojans gave up just 184 yards and 7 points.
It’s been an impressive start defensively for USC, and their fans are hoping
that the offense catches up fairly quickly.
***
If Lane Kiffin’s seat
at USC is a touch cooler this week, the opposite must be the case for Mack
Brown, whose shaky perch as head coach of the Texas Longhorns might just have become an inferno. If there were
strong whispers last week, there’ll be shouts of consternation in Austin this
week.
After a promising
first half at home, which UT led 23-17 at half time and were poleaxed in the
second, held to just one hundred total yards in the second frame, and run over
for 27 unanswered points, Ole Miss
wining 44-23. RB Jeff Scott ran for 164 yards and two touchdowns, and the Rebel
special teams returned a punt late in the third to capture momentum, consigning
the Longhorns to another bitter loss, this one played out to a slow death in
front of an increasingly-hostile home crowd.
A week after being
gashed left, right and centre by BYU, the Longhorns gave up 272 rushing yards
to Ole Miss – clearly sacked Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz wasn’t the real
problem. It was sweet revenge for the Rebels, who were embarrassed at home by
Texas one year ago, when the Longhorns – then believed to be on the way up –
smacked them all over the field, recording a 66-31 win.
***
The long-held record
of Boise State’s 2003 Fiesta Bowl
hero QB Jared Zabransky fell on Friday night to senior starting QB Joe
Southwick, who completed all but two of his pass attempts in the Bronco’s
Mountain West opener against the Air Force Academy. BSU won handily 42-20,
dominating the second half after the Falcons showed lots of fight in the first.
Southwick went 27-29 for 287 yards and two touchdowns. After a bad loss to
Washington on Opening Weekend, the Broncos are 2-1 and looking like series MWC
contenders. They face Fresno State on the road next Friday night.
***
Passed over for the
starting job in favour of Trevor Knight, Oklahoma’s
wrecking ball of a signal caller, Blake Bell, got the nod this week vs. Tulsa after Knight was injured, and he
made the most of it. OU looked like the squad we’ve come to know as perennial
Big XII contenders, and it was thanks to the man they call the Bell Dozer.
Featured in recent seasons as a short-yardage runner, Bell proved that he can
sling the rock, too: 27-37 for 413 yards and two touchdowns in the 51-20
victory that comes just in time for a showdown with Notre Dame.
***
For mine, the
surprise of the weekend was the UCF
Knights beating Penn State 34-31
in State College, PA, and it was because of QB Blake Bortles, who pretty much
had the game of his life, throwing for 288 yards and three touchdowns in a game
that, surprisingly, the Knights never trailed in. Good win for Central Florida,
who are a better team than most people give them credit for.
***
Nothing seems likely
to slow Oregon down. At least not
anytime soon, if their effort against Tennessee
on Saturday afternoon is anything to go by. Chip Kelly out, Mark Helfrich in,
and it’s business as usual in Eugene. The Ducks embarrassed Butch Jones’ SEC squad
59-14. QB Marcus Mariota had his first 400-yard (456 in total) passing game
with two scores before being relieved midway through the third. Tennessee
actually took an early lead in this one, before being completely overrun.
Oregon ran up a
whopping 687 yards of offense to Tennessee’s comparatively-meagre 316. No
doubt, it was a powerful message to send to the rest of the college football
world, but the fans who occupied themselves towards the end of the game by
chanting “We want ‘Bama” over and over again should be careful what they wish
for. Can you imagine, though, what a National Championship Game between the
Tide and the Ducks would look like!
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