So Many Nots, So Little Time

There were about 10 more not-worthy teams this week, but not enough hots to balance them out!

Hot: Tiller’s Last Hurrah

Sure, sure. Neither Purdue nor Indiana has exactly a good record, but the Boilermakers pounded the Hoosiers by the biggest margin since 1893! Despite the disappointing season, Korey Sheets captured the school record for rushing touchdowns. And with the win, Purdue can once again proudly display the well-deserved Old Oaken Bucket!

Not: The Blasted Bye Week

Nothing screws up a team’s momentum like a bye week. Just ask Texas Tech! Their performance Saturday looked like, well, like The Citadel versus Florida! The Citadel, who isn’t even doing well in their FCS conference, lost to Florida 19 to 70. Instead of watching a exciting offensive battle, fans were instead given 3 turnovers, 45 rushing yards, barely 21 points, and the most points given up in school history.

Hot: Northwestern

Northwestern now has nine wins and is back in the rankings! This is only the fifth time in school history a Wildcat team has reached nine wins….the last time was when Coach Fitzgerald was a player. Go Cats Go!

Not: BYUTah

What good is a rivalry game if the underdog can’t win? Shame on you, Cougars! The Broncos were counting on you to pave the way for their second trip into the BCS party! It’s pretty hard to come up with a win when your quarterback throws the ball to the other team FIVE times….most of them in one quarter….isn’t it?

Hot: The New Ole Miss

The time of dismissing Ole Miss may have come to an end. Coming into the Florida game, the Rebels had lost 15 games to ranked teams. In just two month, they have beaten Florida and LSU, and barely lost to Alabama. The Rebel defense held LSU to just a little more then 200 yards.  

Not: The Orange Crush

Welcome loss #14 for Notre Dame in 2 seasons! Seems like without Eye Candy Quinn they can’t do much of anything. Sure, this season is better than last, but losing to Syracuse? The Fighting Irish might as well have taken a dive to WASHINGTON (the only completely defeated BCS team)! But with 8 losses this season, The Orange needed something good to happen!

Pilfering Pete

Hot: Iowa

People may have already been congratulating Penn State on their undefeated season and impending trip to the national championship game, but Iowa was not among them. They proved this weekend that no matter how good a team is, the season is not over until every game is marked off the calendar. Right, Florida? USC? What’s most entertaining is that Daniel Murray, who kicked the game-winning FG with one second to go, was only 1 of 3 on field goal attempts coming into the game. He actually hadn’t made one since the season opener! Nice!

Not: Tennessee

Remember the curse of the “W” and how Wyoming was among those terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE teams? Well, apparently Tennessee is even MORE terrible. As if losing to the Crudy Cowboys wasn’t bad enough, the Vols did it at home on Homecoming. Yes, the lowest-scoring team in college football held the Vols to seven points, their lowest-scoring non-conference game in six years. SUPER ouch! 

Hot: Texas Tech

Yes, they’ve still got it. Like most of the nation, I was pumped up to watch another nail-biting, high-scoring shoot out Saturday night. Instead, I nodded off for a good portion of Tech’s lopsided victory over Oklahoma State. Remember, though, Red Raiders, just like Penn State learned this weekend, the season is not over until every game is finished. Oklahoma is going to be a crazy tough hurdle to overcome.

Not: Schools talking to Coach Pete

Rumor has it that several schools are trying to persuade Chris Peterson to leave Boise State. To those schools, I have this to say: “You can’t have him. So there!” Scary, right? Seriously, though, Coach Pete already committed to “Beat Coach Pete” so he pretty much has to stay at BSU forever! http://rec.boisestate.edu/beatpete/index.cfm

Hot: Pat Hill’s pants….which are on fire

According to the commentators in yet another pathetic Fresno State loss, Pat Hill cited the reason for Fresno’s tough non-conference scheduling as that they can’t get anyone else to play them. Yeah right, Pat! Let’s review: Fresno does or does not have a good track record against schools at or below their level? DOES NOT is the correct answer. So tell me, Pat, why exactly would those teams have a reason to be scared to play you? Shame on you for lying.  

Not: WVU’s overtime loss

Just when things were back on track, West Virginia loses to Cincinnati in overtime and Michigan beats Minnesota! For much of the game, the Mountaineers never even looked to have a chance at winning. They were down 20 to 7 at the start of the fourth quarter. From there it was Fiesta Bowl-level craziness to take the game into overtime. WVU scored a safety, a TD complete with a 2-point conversion, recovered an on-sides kick, and made a 52-yard FG to tie up the game! PHEW! Going into overtime, it seemed like WVU was destined to win, but they could only manage a FG on their possession. From there, the offense could only watch helplessly as the Mountaineer defense roughed the passer and failed to stop the Bearcats’ TD attempt.  

Hot: George Iloka….and the rest of the team too!

Bronco fans were definitely non-plussed with the plethora of mistakes in Saturday’s game. However, on paper, the Broncos are wicked hot (unless you look at the penalties…)! FOUR players passed for TDs: Coughlan, Perretta, Moore, Bissel.  The offense accrued 563 yards. The defense forced SIX turnovers. FIVE different players scored: Pettis, Powers, Childs, Johnson, Perretta. But my favorite player of the game was George Iloka who snagged two interceptions!

Not: Football fan fatalities

This is most definitely the most unimpressive thing in college football right now. Apparently, a heated argument about the Alabama/LSU game led to the fatal shooting of two fans. Read the limited details here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3693334

Hot: Ball State

Quietly, but steadily, Ball State continues to win and climb in the polls. The undefeated Cardinals are now sitting at 14 in the BCS poll. Ball State, currently 9-0, is having its best season in more than forty years. And Wednesday night, they had a chance to show the nation why. The Cardinals easily breezed past MAC opponent Northern Illinois, beating them 45 to 14 when all was said and done.

Not: Not getting to watch Utah versus TCU

When two ranked potential BCS busters play, shouldn’t that be televised? On a channel people get? Rather than watching an exciting TCU/Utah game that could have had major implications for other BCS hopefuls, we had to sit through the Maryland/Virginia Tech game instead, just to see the score scroll by on the bottom of the screen! A wag of the finger to you, programming decision makers!

Post-Halloween Thrillers

Hot: Utah State

The Aggies rarely have much to be excited about, but Saturday they solidly trounced Hawaii at home. The Aggies scored in every quarter to come out 16 points ahead of the Warriors. Interestingly, the Warriors had more yards and more first downs, but it wasn’t enough to win.

Not: NMU not being Utah

We cheered and cheered, but the Lobos just couldn’t get it done! New Mexico had the entire fourth quarter to take the lead, or even tie it up for OT. Instead, in true Lobo fashion, they settled for the loss, letting the Utes keep their BCS hopes alive.

Hot: Floridatastic

It isn’t often that Kirk Herbstreit and I see eye to eye, but I think he’s got it right when he says that Florida is the best team in college football…..home loss to Ole Miss or not.  The Gators gladly crushed Georgia Saturday night. From the first play, the trash talk and unportsmanlike conduct was blatant on both sides of the ball, but the Gators didn’t let it distract them. They held the Bulldogs to 3 measly points in the first half and only 7 more in the second. In fact, the Gators handed Georgia their worst loss under Mark Richt. Nicely done Gators.

Not: Quadruple Overtime

Despite three turnovers and four overtimes, Pitt managed to overcome Notre Dame and become bowl eligible for the first time since their Fiesta Bowl loss to Utah in 2004. But having to go through four overtimes to beat Notre Dame is not hot. In fact, this game marked ND’s ninth loss to teams with winning records in nearly 3 seasons. In fact, Notre Dame hasn’t beaten a ”quality” team since the second game in 2006 when they took down a #19 ranked Penn State.  

Hot: West Virginia is back on track

As Rich Rodriguez struggles at Michigan, Bill Stewart has his team back on track and bowl eligible. In fact, WVU is 3-0 in conference play after easily beating a 25-ranked UConn team on Saturday. And, high five for Pat White, who passed the 4000 rushing yards and 5000 passing yards marks.

Not: Fractured Freshmen

Houston wide reciever, Patrick Edwards, entered Tuesday night’s game against Marshall as 28th in terms of receiving yards per game at 86.3 YPG, second among freshmen. Unfortunately, when running for a pass, he ran out of the back of the end zone into a band equipment cart, suffering a compound fracture in his right leg.  Colorado, too, lost an outstanding freshman. Running back, Rodney Stewart, also broke his right leg this week. Stewart’s leg was broken in the second quarter during a horse-collar tackle by Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller.

Hot: Big finishes

What a weekend for fantastic, thrilling, nail-biting, game-winning plays!! Northwestern, looking to have given away the win to Minnesota, intercepted the ball for a touchdown with 12 seonds left. East Carolina intercepted a UCF pass in overtime, setting up a FG for the win. Michigan State managed a 44-yard FG with 7 seconds left to top Wisconsin. Kentucky blocked Mississippi State’s PAT to prevent OT and gain the win. Georgia Tech’s defense forced a fumble on Florida State’s final TD attempt, giving Tech their first win over FSU in ACC play.  And, of course, Texas Tech had an amazing last-second (literally) TD pass for the win.   

Not: Michigan

Not only did Michigan lose to a pitiful Purdue this weekend, they also managed to make it impossible to become bowl eligible this season. The last time the Wolverines were THIS bad was more than three decades ago.  AND Michigan will have its first losing season in FOUR decades. In fact, the last time Purdue managed a win against Michigan was 8 years ago in 2000. 

Hot: Boise State is looking great

The Broncos looked excellent against New Mexico State on Saturday. The Aggies, on the other hand, did not have much to celebrate in this homecoming game. In fact, on 39 rushing attempts, the Aggies only managed 37 yards….less than one yard on average! Boise State still had a lot of penalties, but did limit it to two during punt returns, which is a major improvement.

Not: State of Washington

Once again, the State of Washington was poorly represented in Pac 10 play this weekend. Neither team scored at all. Washington’s performance is arguably the least embarrassing, considering they had to travel to USC. Washinston State, however, let Stanford score 58 points in their biggest win in 59 years.

W for Weaklings

Hot: Vinny Peretta; Ian Johnson; Jeremy Childs, Jeremy Avery

Despite their 11 penalties and two turnovers, the Broncos did some excellent work Friday against San Jose State. Vinny Peretta made an AMAZING catch, dragging his toe on the grass as he caught Kellen’s Moore’s pass on the way out of bounds. Ian Johnson captured the school record for touchdowns, 51, and is 7 away from the most in WAC history….behind LT and Marshall Faulk. Jeremy Childs blocked a punt, setting up excellent field position, and Jeremy Avery showed just how quick and powerful he is. Kudos, boys!

Not: Trailing Tennessee

As the commentators pointed out incessantly, “you only get so many chances”…..and Tennessee failed to make the most of any of them. The Volunteers had the talent and the opportunities they needed to get the upset Saturday, but instead they flailed around painfully for the majority of the match up. Daniel Lincoln missed a field goal near the end of the first half. On the next possesion, two penalties backed the Vols up from 14 yards to go to 34, setting up another miss by Lincoln. All together, the Vols offense only managed to NOT go three-and-out 4 times.

Hot: Making a Penn STATEment 

The Nittany Lions (which is a type of mountain lion, if you wondered) managed to get their first Big 10 victory in the Horseshoe Saturday night. The majority of the game was a (dare I say boring?) defensive battle, but Penn State’s offense turned up the heat in the fourth quarter, scoring a TD and a FG. The defense intercepted a would-be-game-winning TD attempt by the Buckeyes to ensure the win. Joepa and crew look to continue undefeated for the remainder of the season.   

Not: Roughing the Passer

The Cowboys’ defense was primed and ready to go against Texas Saturday. Deep in Cowboy territory, their defense got in Colt McCoy’s face, causing him to throw a costly interception. Oh NO! A flag — roughing the passer. (Didn’t see that coming did you?) Rather than gaining possession and preventing a score, the penalty set up a TD run that arguably cost them the win.     

Hot: 50s and 60s

In Farenheit, this may not be hot, but on a college football scoreboard it certainly is! This week several teams scored big and embarrassed their opponents: Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia, Texas Tech, TCU, Mizzou, Rutgers (yes….Rutgers!), Kent State, and Oregon.

Not: W

No, not the president…..it seems that schools starting with W are having a tough go of it this season: Wisconsin is 1-4 in Big 10 play; Washington is 0-7; Wake Forest has lost 3 of its last 4; Western Kentucky is 2-6; Wyoming is 2-6; and Washington State is 1-7. West Virginia (5-2) and Western Michigan (6-2) are the exceptions to the W rule.  

Hot: Nicks Carolina

Things didn’t look good in the first quarter, with UNC down by 10, but explosive second and fourth quarters soundly put BC in its place. Hats off to Hakeem Nicks who gained 127 yards in the second quarter! Nice! And don’t forget the defense: they intercepted 3 BC passes along the way!

Not: Terrible Tuitama

Arizona’a defense couldn’t have done anything more to get a win against USC, unless they went out on offense too. The Wildcats’ D held USC to only 17 points, the lowest ever under Pete Carroll, but QB Tuitama was completely inept in the second half. And with last week’s breakout performer, Keola Antolin, injured in the second quarter, the rest of the offense was unable to make up for Tuitama’s struggles. In all, he completed only 14 passes out of 30 attempts.

Who’s Celebrating Now?

Hot: BYU’s Drama-free Demolition

It sure was exciting when UCLA attained a come-from-behind victory over Tennessee! UCLA’s matchup with BYU Saturday was somewhat less thrilling. Max Hall complete 7 touchdown passes to lead the Cougars to the nation’s longest win streak (at 13).  

Not: Friday Night Birthday Celebrations

Remember Friday night when Kansas traveled down to Florida to take on the Bulls? Remember how the Jayhawks dominated the first half only to face a focused, determined South Florida team who came out in the second half to claim the lead for their own? Remember how just when you thought Kansas had given up they tied things up? Yeah, me too. Only with 1:30 left in the game I had to turn off the game and go meet the friends who gathered to celebrate my birthday. So thanks to my darn birthday, I missed the Bulls’ freshmen kicker Maikon Bonani’s 47-yard field goal sail through the uprights as time expired!

Hot: Putting Them Through the Ringer

Michigan State racked up 347 yards against Florida Atlantic Saturday…..Javon Ringer is responsible for 282 of them. With the rain and muddy field, the Spartans had little choice but to stick with run. Luckily, Ringer was up for the challenge, carrying the ball 43 times in all and scoring 14 of Michigan State’s 17 points.  

Not: SMU

It’s tough for any team to keep up with Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree, but he was the least of SMU’s problems. The Mustangs had as many interceptions as Tech had touchdowns and 500 yards less total offense. Even June can’t deny the facts: “We weren’t good enough to win on the road tonight and if we play that way next week, we won’t be good enough to win at home,” he said, according to ESPN.  

Hot: …………………………..

Here is where I would have talked about how great North Carolina was in the national spotlight Thursday night. I would have talked about how this was their first out-of-state victory in five years…..about how they made Rutgers question why they like football….about how they may actually have a winning season……but a certain someone (you know who you are!) was a little too sure that I would talk up the Tar Heels this week. So instead, I’m not saying anything. So there!

Not: Pac 10

This far this season, the Pac 10 is even at 14 wins and 14 losses. However, if you take the only good teams (USC and Oregon) out, the Pac sits at 9 wins and 14 losses. And this weekend, SEVEN of the 10 teams lost: only USC, Oregon (barely), and (amazingly) Oregon State managed to win. So you’re not making much an argument for the strength of your conference Pac 10. Better step it up! The west coast is counting on you! 

Hot: Beating them with their Brains

Northwestern is off to 3-0 start to the season! Sure they’ve faced the stiff competition of Syracuse, Duke, and Southern Illinois, but 3 wins are 3 wins. In fact, they are tied for first in the Big 10 standings….along with 4 other teams. Maybe this year is the year the smarties will actually win the conference! Probably not likely, but maybe!

Not: Not Making the Highlight Reel

LAST week Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno made an Olympic-vault style leap over a defender to gain some extra yards for the Bulldogs. Too bad no one saw it. The broadcasters dropped the ball (no pun intended) and failed to include it in their highlight reels. The leap was nearly perfect, although the judges did deduct 3 tenths for face-planting the landing. But, hey! If they Chinese gymnasts can fall on their faces and medal, then we can surely celebrate the high start value of this football move! Check out the moves here: http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1144&CID=848305

Hot: Buffalo’s Big Finish

Temple fans had already changed the channel and toasted their victory when Buffalo’s Drew Willy tossed up a crazy hail mary, into the midst of more than a handful of defenders, right into the hands of Namaan Roosevelt as if the play were designed to happen that way. Turns out it was.  Buffalo makes a habit of practicing the hail mary, just in case, and it worked! Phew! 

Not: Baseball Scores

Auburn 3, Mississippi State 2…..No, not in baseball. In what must have been one of the most-boring football games of all time. In fact, (and I NEVER say this) a baseball probably would have been more interesting! Maybe if it were part of a drinking game? Like, every time Mississippi State fails to convert on 3rd or 4th down, take a shot (17 total). Or drink after every punt. Or chug a beer every time the yellow hanky hits the ground (16 in all). At least that way none of the fans would remember how lame the game really was!