NCAA Football 2013: Week Five Recaps

After a snoozer of a Week Four, Week Five gave us perhaps the game of the season - LSU vs. Georgia - a hint that Ohio State might be real good, a USC loss (sad face) hours before their coach was fired and a Notre Dame loss, which, for this USC fan, sort of makes things a little better. What else? Read on to find out...

Wisconsin at Ohio State 

In the end, this game finished about as I suggested it would in my preview — Ohio State by a touchdown — but it was the way the game went that surprised me. Losing RB Melvin Gordon didn’t help Wisconsin’s running game very much. It was expected to be the thing that propelled their offense, whilst QB Joel Stave struggled to throw.

Rather, it happened the other way around, and made for a very entertaining Big Ten contest. Stave, still a sophomore, played the best game that I’ve seen from him, using play action pass looks (not to mention the fact that Ohio State continued to stack the box to stop the run, after Stave made big throws, in particular to WR Jared Abbrederis) to eat up yardage through the air.

The only blemish for Stave, other than some questionable game management late, was his interception, which was a hopeless throw straight into the arms of an Ohio State defender. The turnover set up a touchdown, which proved to be the difference in the game.

You may recall that I wrote last week that Ohio State’s defense hadn’t been tested very much and they looked a little vulnerable at times today, particularly in the secondary, which was shredded by the Stave-Abbrederis combination.

The defensive line and linebackers were brilliant for the Buckeyes, though: It was their sure tackling and instant penetration that shut down the Wisconsin running game. I’ve never seen James White and co so bottled up. They tried to bounce it to the outside, and they were stuffed. They tried to run between the tackles, and they were stopped. The jet sweep barely got used: because the Buckeye defense stomped it.

Surprisingly, the best revelation of the game was Stave and his ability — which had been questioned up until now – to make the big plays. Alas, it wasn’t enough. Ohio State QB Braxton Miller returned with a vengeance, and the Buckeyes, 31-24 winners at home, look to be pace-setters in the Big Ten. What that’ll mean nationally, is anyone’s guess. 

Louisiana State at Georgia 

Whatever happened to SEC defensive duels? They’ve certainly been few and far between this year. Remember the Texas A&M-Alabama barnburner? Or the back-and-forth of Georgia-South Carolina? Well, you can add Georgia-LSU to that list. Only four punts in the whole game and a bucket load of big plays. Neither defense showed up much: both units gave up more than 450 yards each.

Speaking of lists; now would be an appropriate time to strike Georgia QB Aaron Murray’s from the ranks of those labelled ‘big game underperformers’. Maybe that tag was true last year, but Murray’s been lights-out this year against big teams on the big stage (despite a loss to Clemson) and continued that trend today, leading the ‘Dawgs to an important 44-41 victory between the hedges in Sanford Stadium. Murray finished 20-34 for 298 yards, four touchdowns passing and one rushing. Not a bad day out.

This was close to the best game of the week, at least from an offensive standpoint. LSU’s Zach Mettenberger — my vote, so far, for the Most Improved Quarterback of 2013 — had a career day, but couldn’t get his Tigers into the end zone one last time when handed the football back with just a few ticks on the clock.

Formerly a student at Georgia, Mettenberger (23-37 for 372 yards and three touchdowns) has flourished under the influence of new Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron. Though Cameron might want to do some work on the Tigers ground game, which managed only 78 yards.

Significantly, Georgia played the second half without their star RB Todd Gurley, who had already reeled off 73 yards on just eight carries in the first. Maybe it’s just as well for LSU that he didn’t play in the second stanza! There will be some nervous people in Athens until the extent of Gurley’s injury is announced.

All is not completely lost for LSU after this loss, but it will be tough. You assume they would need to run the tricky schedule going forward without another stumble to get to the SEC Championship Game and a possible rematch with Georgia. A tough ask with Alabama, Texas A&M, Mississippi and Florida still to come. 

Iowa at Minnesota 

The 108th game between these bitter rivals ended for the Floyd of Rosedale Trophy 23-7 in favour of the Hawkeyes from Iowa City, but the scoreboard flattered the Gophers. Iowa dominated offensively and defensively and should have scored a few more points, where it not for a bad turnover and a brace of penalties that ruined potential touchdown drives.
The good news is that this Iowa team seems to be getting back to their identity: a heavy dose of running football and hard-nosed defense. Kirk Ferentz’s squad were down last season, losing a number of their experienced offensive linemen, but this is a healthy team now.

On defense, the Hawkeyes were particularly brilliant: they held Minnesota to 154 total yards, a chunk of which came on the Gophers’ only touchdown drive. Offensively, it was the RB Mark Weisman show. The former Air Force Falcon carried the football 24 times for 145 yards on Saturday, beating the Gophers front into submission. Minnesota’ D let Iowa roll up 464 yards in return. 

Oklahoma at Notre Dame 

Blake Bell wasn’t the starting quarterback when the Oklahoma Sooners opened their season five weeks ago, but it doesn’t look likely that the man known as the Belldozer is going to relinquish his grip now – not after he went into Notre Dame Stadium and consigned the Fighting Irish to a second loss on the season.

A year after Brian Kelly’s squad beat the Sooners in Norman, Bell (22-30 for 231 yards and a pair of touchdowns, plus 59 yards on the ground) was tremendous in leading this revenge-type win, directing the OU offense to 450 total yards against the Irish defense – ending a seven-game losing streak against Notre Dame.

The Sooners improve to 4-0 and look to have the perfect offensive balance, between Bell’s rocket-like arm and the ground game, spearheaded by Brennan Clay. Hard to tell who’s quite the best team in the Big XII, but it’s gotta be close between the Sooners and Baylor.

Three interceptions from turnover-prone QB Tommy Rees (9-24 for 104 yards and two scores) didn’t help the slow-starting offense, who were 21-7 down to begin the second half, and had sleepwalked through the majority. Oklahoma were the more disciplined team on the day, a year after Notre Dame had produced nearly the perfect game to win in Norman en route to a BCA National Championship berth. This time, the Sooners were ready. Their game plan of running to the flanks to offset the size of the Irish’s interior lineman was a stroke of brilliance.

In the disappointing aftermath for the Irish, Brian Kelly might have some questions to answer regarding his starting quarterback next week against Arizona State. It’s always been Rees’ problem: He gives up bad turnovers in big games at times when his team badly needs a scoring drive.

We saw it when he started in 2011, and we’ve seen it this year, too. Irish fans must be cursing Everett Golson’s academic issues that meant he could not line up under center for Notre Dame this year. 

California at Oregon 

The Ducks weren’t slowed by a bit of rain at home, as they pounced on Cal right out of the box on a night that saw widespread power outages across Eugene. It was messy on the field, with both teams coughing up the football four times in the first half, though Oregon took advantage of Cal’s turnovers to build a game-winning 41-3 lead, which eventually became a 55-16 win.

Cal were hampered from the start: The rainy conditions completely shut down the Bear Raid offense that new coach Sonny Dykes has brought to Berkeley. Sensational freshman QB Jared Goff came into the game with an average of 435.3 yards per game, but managed only 3-6 for a measly eleven yards in the first quarter. Backup QB Zach Kline saw game action in the second.

Oregon’s sophomore QB Marcus Mariota threw for two touchdowns and ran one in as the Ducks opened their Pac-12 campaign with a convincing win.