- Well, that didn't take long.We started the weekend wondering who, if anyone, from the SEC's middle class would jump up and bite someone in the conference's upper-echelon. South Carolina gave it a valiant effort, throwing into the end zone for a shot at a tying or winning touchdown at Auburn, but LSU got it done, beating No. 3 Ole Miss 10-7 in Baton Rouge. LSU out-gained Ole Miss 406-313 and gained seven more first downs (22-15) than Ole Miss, managing to win despite losing the turnover battle 4-1. And about that one turnover LSU did force? That came after a delay of game penalty with nine seconds left in the game, which changed Hugh Freeze's mind to throw for a potential game-winning touchdown from the 30 rather than try a 47-yard field goal with a freshman kicker. Bo Wallace threw into coverage and it was intercepted.
Shake it off, Ole Miss. You've got Auburn at home in a week. - Michigan State mauls Michigan... again.We also wrote on Friday that any sort of ninth-inning rally by Brady Hoke had to include a win at Michigan State. Spartans 35, Wolverines 11. Sadly, it was a vintage Hoke vs. Dantonio game, as Michigan turned it over three times, ran for just 2.3 yards a carry and didn't score a touchdown until it fell behind 28-3. Make sure you see Mark Dantonio's rant after the game. "We shoved it up their..." These types of demonstrations tend to work better when you're not 3-4 and riding a "five losses in six games" streak against your quote-unquote little brother. Sparty fans got off quite the troll job on Hoke during the game.
- Dana Holgorsen, Big 12 Coach of the Year? It wasn't just that West Virginia went to Stillwater and won by 24, it was the way they did it. The Mountaineers ran for 210 yards on nearly five yards a pop with a 60/40 run-pass split. Holgo was able to lean on the run knowing his team could bully Oklahoma State and rely on his defense, and it worked.
West Virginia is now firmly in control of its destiny to win the Big 12. Its only loss (Oklahoma) has two losses, it owns the tiebreaker over Baylor, and it gets both TCU (next week) and Kansas State (Nov. 22) at home, with its only road games at Iowa State and Texas.
- Lane Kiffin's return to Neyland Stadium went well. Lane's first play from scrimmage in his glorious return was an 80-yard touchdown pass from Blake Sims to Amari Cooper. The Tide's first three drives traveled a total of 249 yards, and all went for touchdowns. Alabama beat Tennessee 34-20, racking up 469 yards with only six players touching the ball. Although, when one of those players is Cooper (nine grabs for 224 yards and two scores), I guess six the variety you need.
- No, seriously, how about some love for Doug Meacham? TCU became the first team to hit the 80-point mark in a conference game, obliterating Texas Tech 82-27 in Fort Worth. Trevone Boykin completed 22-of-39 passes for 433 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions, the running game produced 305 yards on 7.4 yards per carry, and 13 different players caught passes.
This was actually a close game for a while. Texas Tech scored a minute into the game, led again at 10-7, and was within 24-17 through one. And then TCU won the final three quarters 58-10.
While we're at it, how about some love for Sonny Cumbie as well? Ten years ago Cumbie quarterbacked Texas Tech to a 70-35 win over TCU, the most points a Gary Patterson-coached team has ever allowed. And now today he helped TCU set a Texas Tech-opponent record.
Call me crazy, but the fact that Texas Tech scored 10 points in the final three quarters - and seven of those came in garbage time - and this stat below bother me more than the 82 points.
- Who's taken his program farther in a year and change, Mark Stoops or Butch Jones? The schedules haven't been remotely similar - Butch has played four top ten teams in eight games this season, and 12 in his first 20 - but I think I'd take Stoops at this point. Kentucky stood tall against the No. 1 team in the country, and saw its comeback effort thwarted by a bizarre special teams play. - Crazy Box Score of the Week, Part I Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss combined for 802 passing yards and minus-1 rushing yards in a 31-20 Bulldogs win. - Let's hope every James Franklin-Urban Meyer game is as entertaining as the first one. Ohio State out-scored Penn State 17-0 in the first half, then Penn State out-scored Ohio State 24-0 over the second half and the top of the first overtime, only to see Ohio State close the game on a 14-0 run. Fittingly, the game ended on a sack by one of Larry Johnson's guys in his return to Happy Valley.
- Our Inaugural Band of the Week Award Goes To: Penn State.
- It wasn't just that Texas got shutout by Kansas State, it was how it happened. Despite gaining only 196 yards of total offense on the day, the Longhorns reached K-State territory six times in eight drives and never so much as attempted a field goal. That just does not compute. One drive ended in a turnover and another in a turnover on downs, and the other four were punts. - Fake Bo Pelini and Real Rutgers had a nice conversation during the Nebraska-Rutgers game. Nebraska won 42-24 as Ameer Abdullah went off for 225 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
- Tim Beckman earned his first Big Ten home win... ever. It may have taken 10 tries, but Beckman earned Big Ten home win No. 1 with a 28-24 upset of 6-1 Minnesota. The Illini were out-gained 411-263 and notched the winning score on a 12-yard fumble return touchdown.
- Justin Fuente's in person audition for the SMU job went well. Memphis blasted SMU 48-10, one week after the Mustangs were beaten 41-3 by Cincinnati in Tommy Tuberville's audition. For the year, the 0-7 Ponies have been outscored 336-49.
- Crazy Box Score of the Week, Part II We'll stay in Conference USA, where Old Dominion and Western Kentucky combined for 1,244 total yards, 8.58 yards per play, 61 first downs and 117 points in a 66-51 Hilltoppers win.
- Seemingly every USC game is a different kind of bonkers. Sark's bunch beat Stanford by holding them scoreless on (approximately) 25 penetrations inside the 30, then turned around and lost to Boston College. Then they lost to Arizona State on a Hail Mary, and followed that up by nearly giving the Arizona game away before escaping on a missed field goal. This week the Trojans managed to lose after getting stuffed on 4th-and-2 late in the fourth quarter and then allowing Utah to march 73 yards in 11 plays to throw a game-winning touchdown pass with eight seconds remaining.
- You've got to feel for Mike MacIntyre. Colorado fought back from a 31-14 deficit to take a 37-34 double-overtime lead over UCLA before falling 40-37. The 2-5 Buffaloes have now lost twice in double overtime, and suffered a 36-31 setback to Oregon State.
- Pittsburgh had the worst first quarter ever. The Panthers wore throwback helmets honoring the Tony Dorsett era and then went out and started the game like this:
Shockingly, Pittsburgh never recovered from falling in a 28-0 hole, allowing Georgia Tech to run for 465 yards in a 56-28 romp. The Panthers are now 4-4 after a 3-0 start. - There is now a five-way tie for second place in the ACC Coastal. What the SEC West represents in excellence, the ACC Coastal does in mediocrity. - Kansas State defensive lineman Terrell Clinkscales is the most confident man in college football.
- Georgia Southern shredded Georgia State in their first-ever meeting. Georgia Southern entered Saturday leading the nation with 370 rushing yards per game. Georgia State ranked 120th nationally with 240 rushing yards allowed per game. So what happens when irresistible force meets movable object? Eleven Eagles runners combined for 63 carries for 613 yards and 10 touchdowns in a 69-43 win.
Georgia Southern now has more wins over FBS programs inside the Georgia Dome than Georgia State does. The Georgia Dome is Georgia State's home stadium.