I hope I didn’t say anything last Sunday about how we wouldn’t see another weekend that exciting this season. Yeah, I know. I did. And apparently I lied.
Upset #1 (Thursday night): UCF 38, Louisville 35 I had a feeling that if someone was going to come out of nowhere in the AAC, it was going to be Central Florida. With Louisville losing to UCF, and UCF’s only loss coming to South Carolina, I think UCF has an excellent shot at winning the AAC. (Houston is the only other team with one loss, and they still have to play both UCF and Louisville). Even if the Knights don’t win the conference, they’re making a strong case for a BCS At-Large bid. Good for them.
Upset #2: Vanderbilt 31, Georgia 27 Both teams are now 4-3, although Georgia’s conference record is still better. Tough not to feel bad for Aaron Murray, a fifth-year senior, and the Dawgs. A solid start has been completely derailed by injuries to several significant players. Congrats to the Commodores- who, incidentally, lost several significant players themselves in the offseason due to allegations of sexual assault.
Upset #3: Tennessee 23, South Carolina 21 The Vols’ Marquez North had one of two spectacular one-handed catches Saturday to set the Vols up for the winning field goal as time expired. (Stanford’s Kodi Whitfield had the other). Not a great game for the Gamecocks’ Connor Shaw- he got called for delay of game twice in the first quarter (although part of that falls on the coaching staff to get the plays in more quickly), threw his first interception of the year, and had to leave the game with what Steve Spurrier is calling a sprained knee. At the same time, I think Tennessee, especially the defense, may have been underrated a bit. We’ll find out for sure, as they have Alabama and SEC East-leading Missouri up next.
Upset #4: Minnesota 20, Northwestern 17 I admit, I watched exactly none of this game since I didn’t think an upset was even remotely likely. How is this the same Northwestern team that led Ohio State at halftime two weeks ago? Granted, quarterback Kain Colter and heralded running back Venric Mark were both sitting out with ankle injuries. That only makes the upset marginally less shocking. From the daughter of two alums, congrats to Minnesota.
Upset #5: Auburn 45, Texas A&M 41 Auburn played a tough, rugged game and Johnny Manziel really got knocked around. He left in the fourth quarter with a right shoulder problem, but returned after missing just one possession. I’m not sure if that was before or after he threw two interceptions. On the bright side for the Aggies, wideout Mike Evans set a school record with 287 receiving yards, and had four TD catches. But it was the Tigers’ 379 rushing yards, compared to just 133 for the Aggies, that led to the win.
Upset #6: Ole Miss 27, LSU 24 I don’t even know where to begin. Not only did the Rebels become the first team this season to find answers for Zach Mettenberger (19/33, 274 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT), they did it with players I’ve barely heard of. The held running backs Jeremy Hill and Kenny Hilliard to 64 and 58 yards rushing, with longs of SEVEN and TWELVE yards. Hill, if you remember, had 121 yards last week against the vaunted Florida defense. My opinion of Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze grows every week, but this game is still a head-scratcher.
-Also of note, despite missing their starting QB, Missouri remains undefeated after taking down Florida 36-17. Who saw that coming? (You did not. Put your hand down.)
-Some records were broken in Ann Arbor yesterday, as the defenses for both Michigan and Indiana apparently forgot they had a game. The Wolverines had 348 yards of offense in the first half, and set a new record with 751 yards for the whole game. Quarterback Devin Gardiner set new schools record for total yards in a single game with 584 and single-game passing yardage with 504, and receiver Jeremy Gallon broke Roy Roundtree’s single-game receiving yards record with 369. The final score? 47-63.
-Speaking of records, congrats to Georgia QB Aaron Murray, who passed Tim Tebow to become the SEC’s all-time offense leader.
-Stanford’s defense became the first to figure out Brett Hundley, as they rebounded from a loss against Utah a week ago to hand UCLA their first loss.
-Iowa gave Ohio State a scare, but ultimately the Buckeyes prevailed. Already the talk has begun about whether a one-loss Pac-12 or SEC team gets into the BCS game ahead of an unbeaten Ohio State. I think it’s entirely possible. The Big Ten is just not that good this year.
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