Another surprising week of college football is in the books, so it’s time to shine a light on those teams and individuals who distinguished themselves on the gridiron:
Texas: the Longhorns have been battered from pillar to post in the first five weeks of the season, and after copping a pasting at the hands of Texas Christian last week, their chances of beating Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry game in Dallas seemed long, at best. But the ‘Horns showed some serious heart, defeating the previously-undefeated Sooners 24-17 in what was, behind USC’s loss, the biggest upset of the weekend. Texas ripped the Oklahoma defence for 368 rush yards. Huge statement win for the burnt orange and their under-fire head coach, Charlie Strong, but can they build on that going forward?
Washington State: the air raid is alive and well in Pullman, and Luke Falk might need to rest his arm this week after attempting a massive 74 passes as the Cougars scored their biggest win under head coach Mike Leach, going into Autzen Stadium to beat Oregon at home in double overtime. It was a thrilling game, and one that ended WSU’s eight-game losing streak to the Ducks. Falk’s total of 505 yards was a season-high in a wide-open game that, ironically, was sealed with an interception.
Mike Warren: the Iowa State running back went nuts against an admittedly-porous Texas Tech defense, carrying the football 23 times for a whopping 245 yards.
Tennessee: finally, the Volunteers figured out how to win a big game. They erased a 21-point deficit to Georgia to score a remarkable 7-point victory that was largely thanks to QB Josh Dobbs. He ran for the game-winning touchdown late in the fourth, in perhaps his best game in the orange of Tennessee, throwing for a career-high 312 yards and adding 118 more on the ground. All told, he accounted for five touchdowns in a memorable 38-31 victory.
Florida: the Gators beat Missouri 21-3 on Saturday night to now hold a handy two-game break over everyone else in the SEC East. The turnaround by Jim McElwain’s coaching staff has been nothing short of incredible.
Michigan: Look out, world, the Wolverines might just be back in town. Jim Harbaugh’s men posted their third straight shutout, this time dominating a heretofore good Northwestern squad 38-0. It started well, with Jehu Chesson returning the opening kick-off 96 yards to set the Big House alight, and the Wolverine defence took over, managing to restrict the Wildcats to a paltry 167 yards. On the other side, Michigan’s offense kicked nicely into gear, with oft-maligned QB Jake Rudock showing vast improvement week on week. Michigan’s run game looked good, too: accounting for 201 of their 380 total.
Washington: the Huskies went into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and beat USC, thanks to a powerful defensive performance that kept the Trojans’ high-powered offense off balance all night. The Huskies forced three turnovers and kept most of USC’s receiving corps in check. Without a doubt, Thursday night was the biggest win for UW under Chris Petersen.
Texas Tech: rolled up a school record 776 yards of total offense in a 66-31 victory over Iowa State. QB Patrick Mahomes threw for 482 yards and five touchdowns. Nice way to bounce back after twin losses to Baylor and Texas Christian.
Iowa: the Hawkeyes remain undefeated after a narrow win over Illinois. They’re 6-0 for the first time since they notched an 11-2 record back in 2009. All those people who spent the off-season calling for the end of the Kirk Ferentz era in Iowa City look pretty foolish now, don’t they?
Trevone Boykin: as far as Heisman moments go, bringing the Horned Frogs back from a 35-17 deficit at half time against Kansas State looks pretty good for the Texas Christian quarterback, who went 20-30 for 301 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed eleven times for 124 yards and two more scores. His key contribution came late, a 55-yard pass to star receiver Josh Doctson to ensure the Horned Frogs escaped Manhattan with a narrow 52-45 win.
Texas A&M: like Iowa, the Aggies are surprisingly amongst the undefeated group after six weeks, and are 5-0 for the first time since 1994. Not even Johnny Football could propel A&M to that sort of record.
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