Another week of college football is in the books and, as usual, there are plenty of storylines worth delving into. Here’s what you need to know from the weekend’ biggest games:
USC vs. Stanford: It wasn’t pretty at times – actually, it wasn’t pretty most of the time – but the Men of Troy made key stop after key stop. Stanford entered the Trojan red zone nine times for just ten points, including two missed field goals, which may well have turned the game in the Cardinal’s favour. They weren’t particularly difficult shots, either.
USC’s defense should get the credit for this important road win. A week after they played second-fiddle to the Trojan offense against Fresno State, the favour was repaid, with Justin Wilcox’s defense playing a starring role. So many big moments for the USC D. There was a spectacular goal-line stand, where safety Su’a Cravens flew in to deny the Cardinal on a fourth-and-one opportunity inside the USC five yard line, handing the Trojan offense the football.
Later, the moment that will live in USC lore for a long time to come: inside the final minute, with Stanford driving towards what looked, at the very least, like a game-tying field goal, QB Kevin Hogan was buried into the Stanford Stadium turf by linebacker J.R. Tavai, who came off the edge untouched, executing a perfect tackle, slamming Hogan to the deck, during which the football came out, and was pounced on by no less than about a dozen Trojans. And that, as they say, was all she wrote. Famous win 13-10 for USC.
Kevin Hogan and Stanford moved the football well enough, but drive after drive stalled in the red zone, either due to brilliant defense from the Trojans or self-inflicted mistakes, and that was what ultimately cost them the game. Blame the field goal kicker all you want, but the simple fact is that the Cardinal choked when it mattered the most.
Oregon vs. Michigan State: The Spartans are about the only Big Ten team who can hold their head high after a loss. There’s no shame in losing to an incredibly-potent Oregon team at home, and especially not on such a hot afternoon in Autzen Stadium.
Mark Dantonio’s squad will at least take solace from the fact that they were able to stay with – and, arguably, outplay – the Ducks for much of the first half, and they certainly had their chances in the second on both sides of the football. We know the Ducks traditionally have trouble with Stanford’s physical defense, and MSU did their best to replicate it, with good success in the opening half. They got to QB Marcus Mariota and, despite a couple of big plays, generally limited Oregon’s offense.
Things were looking good for Michigan State with a 27-18 lead in the third quarter, but Oregon are too polished a team to be down and out, and with a ridiculous helping of offensive talent, it only takes a handful of mistakes by a defense for the Ducks to kick down the door, as they did on Saturday. Mariota rediscovered the form that’s made him such a potent quarterback in the Pac-12, and with MSU’s offense mostly stalling, the Spartans defense spent too long on the field.
Eventually, it caught up with them, and Oregon ran out winners, 46-27, outscoring Michigan State 28-3 in the second stanza. Even so, the Spartans definitely look like the team to beat in the Big Ten. Not that they’ve got a huge amount of competition, at least based on the weekend’s other results from that conference.
Michigan vs. Notre Dame: The last chapter of this fabled rivalry is one that Irish fans will want to remember – and likely will – for years to come, whilst the legions of Wolverines fans will try and pretend that it never happened. Except it did: the impressive Irish, led well by QB Everett Golson, dominated this game, shutting out Michigan 31-0 in front of a raucous crowd in South Bend.
So often, the knock on Michigan QB Devin Gardner has been his inability to play well in big games on the road, and we didn’t see anything on Saturday night that’s going to dispel that theory. Perhaps Gardner’s only saving grace is that he had plenty of company in being horrible. Michigan’s offense output was a far cry from their season-opening performance against Appalachian State.
Four Michigan turnovers helped the Fighting Irish to the most lopsided victory in the storied rivalry’s rich history, though it’s hard to tell exactly how good Notre Dame are going to be in the future, because Michigan didn’t put up much of a fight. It was more of a whimper, particularly on third down, where they went a coach-killing 4 of 13.
Still, Golson’s turnover-free performance was encouraging – he’s obviously the focal point of Brian Kelly’s offense, and ND will only go as far as he takes them – as was the defense containing big target Devin Funchess especially, and the rest of the Wolverine offense. A shutout against one of your bitterest rivals is nothing to sneeze at, and the Irish will take this happily. You get the feeling they are primed for big things this year.
Ohio State vs. Virginia Tech: Replacing the injured Braxton Miller, Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett experienced something of a baptism of fire on Saturday night in front of his home fans – and the largest crowd in Ohio Stadium history.
Turnovers were a big problem for the freshman signal-caller as the Buckeyes, who trailed 21-7 at the half, eventually succumbed to the Hokies 35-21 after a furious last-quarter rally that ended with Barrett threw his last pick of the evening. That ball was taken back 63 yards for a touchdown by a jubilant Donovan Riley.
Overall, Barrett’s performance – 9 of 29 for 219 yards and a touchdown – will be a concern for coach Urban Meyer going into Big Ten play. At least Barrett can make plays with his legs, and it didn’t help that a rather inexperienced offensive line allowed the Hokies to sack Barrett seven times.
There’ll be less quarterback concern for Tech’s Frank Beamer, who watched transfer Michael Brewer recover from a fumble that allowed the Buckeyes to tie the game, engineering a 65-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown strike to Bucky Hodges to take a seven point lead.
The Hokies defense did the rest. Huge win for Tech, to snap Ohio State’s 24-game home winning streak. It was their first loss in Columbus Stadium during Meyer’s tenure.
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