FootballScoop's thoughts on "Top 25" games
Just some very quick thoughts from the games played thus far this weekend...
#9 South Carolina 17 at Vanderbilt 13 - South Carolina played well enough to win; but so did Vandy. South Carolina's passing game was a non-factor.
#13 Michigan State 17 - #24 Boise State 13 - Michigan State's defense was excellent throughout. Their running back Le'Veon Bell was a workhorse.
#21 Stanford 20 - San Jose State 17 - Stanford opened up a lead; only to see San Jose State fight back to tie it. Stanford's defense held strong and their offense had enough to win the game.
#1 USC 49 - Hawaii 10 - USC looked good right off the bat; but could definitely improve over this performance. SC is going to be tough to beat if they remain healthy.
#2 Alabama 41 - #8 Michigan 14 - Alabama looked very strong.
#3 LSU 41 - North Texas 14 - LSU played a solid; but not great game. The offensive line did open some huge holes for the running game. Defense while very effective seemed to miss the spark that #7 provided. [Important side note: The Tigers are now undefeated (1-0) in games my one year old has attended!]
#4 Oklahoma 24 at UTEP 7 - First takeaway...what was UTEP wearing??? Second takeaway, Oklahoma struggled and didn't play a very good game. They got the W with a better second half; but I'm thinking the team got a talking to from Bob after the game. Special teams were less than great.
#10 Arkansas 49 - Jacksonville State 24 - Jacksonville State had the lead 14-7 early in the second quarter...and then Arkansas put up four straight touchdowns. I didn't see any of this game; but am told that Arkansas' offense looked good (had 400 yards passing and 164 rushing...12 yards per pass attempt and nearly 5 yards per rush).
#7 Florida State 69 - Murray State 3 - Florida State averaged 7 yards / rush, Murray State averaged 1. Florida State handled a team they should handle at home.
#5 Oregon 57 - Arkansas State 34 - Chip Kelly's team played a very, very good first half...scoring points left and right and with ease. It was 50-10 at halftime and Chip called off the dogs. We saw this note from former Oregon QB Nate Costa:
#6 Georgia 45 - Buffalo 23 - Freshman running back Todd Gurley had a productive day with a 100 yard kickoff return and 100 yards rushing including electrifying TD runs of 55 and 10 yards. Buffalo put up a valiant fight in the first half; but the Dawgs pulled away in the second half.
#11 West Virginia 69 - Marshall 34 - Holgorsen's offense, led by Geno Smith, is playing at a very high level.
#12 Wisconsin 26 - Northern Iowa 21 - Northern Iowa showed great heart fighting back from a 26-7 hole in the 4th quarter; but the Badgers held on for the win. Wisconsin didn't play that poorly, Northern Iowa really played well when they needed to. Bielema says his players touched a hot stove.
#14 Clemson 26 vs. Auburn 19 (in Atlanta) - I didn't get to watch any of this one; but sounds like a typical Clemson / Auburn battle. Clemson scored enough to win and had a heck of a run by tailback Andre Ellington (watch below).
#15 Texas 37 - Wyoming 17 - Texas won at home; but didn't dominate.
#17 Nebraska 49 - Southern Miss 20 - Nebraska's offense was very effective.
#18 Ohio State 56 - Miami (OH) 10 - Ohio State dominated this game.
#19 Oklahoma State 84 - Savannah State 0 - Completely irrelevant game.
#22 Kansas State 51 - Missouri State 9 - I saw the halftime score (9-6 K-State) and was shocked. 35 points in the 4th quarter for K-State helped the final look better; but clearly this one didn't go as planned in Manhattan.
#23 Florida 27 - Bowling Green 14 - A win is a win; but this one wasn't exciting for Florida. Florida got just enough explosive plays from their running backs and receivers to win what otherwise was a pretty close game.
