Week Six of college football is in the books and it was a good one (unless you’re a Northwestern fan). Starting with that game, here’s what we learned:
-The Jim Harbaugh love-in in Ann Arbor shows no signs of slowing down. The #18 Wolverines upset #13 Northwestern yesterday, setting the tone by taking the opening kickoff back for a touchdown. It didn’t get any better for the Wildcats, as Michigan scored on offense, defense, and special teams for the first time since 2003, and became the first team in 20 years to pitch three consecutive shutouts. Up next: Sparty, who’s unbeaten but struggled with 2-2 Rutgers last night. In fact, had Rutgers not spiked the ball on fourth down, who knows what might have happened. Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that Michigan-Michigan State would be a can’t-miss game?
-Michigan running back De’Veon Smith is a beast. He ran into a Northwestern defender yesterday and pushed him another 3-4 yards downfield after contact as if the dude was a blocking sled.
-There’s a reason I try never to miss the Red River Shootout, and yesterday was a prime example. It’s exactly the kind of game people are referring to when they say you can throw out the records in a rivalry game. For the second time in three years, Texas came in unranked and frankly looking awful, while Oklahoma was in the top 12. And for the second time in three years, Texas won the game.
-Texas used two quarterbacks: redshirt freshman Jerrod Heard in most situations, and Tyrone Swoopes periodically, often in short-yardage situations. It was certainly effective yesterday. Heard’s escapability is unreal- more than once he should have been stopped for no gain or even sacked, and he somehow managed to pick up at least a couple of yards. The 6’4″, 244-pound Swoopes was equally adept at his role. If the Horns can build on this going forward, it would be huge.
-Georgia running back Nick Chubb suffered a knee injury that was bad enough that CBS opted not to show a replay. Surprisingly, head coach Mark Richt has said that it’s possible he won’t need surgery. No word yet on what the exact injury is, but I’m sure I speak for all of us at LWOS when I say we wish him a speedy recovery.
-To add insult to injury (literally), Georgia lost to Tennessee. If firemarkricht.com wasn’t active last week, I bet it is now.
-Ohio State managed to beat Maryland by three touchdowns, but once again they made the first half interesting. Will Terps coach Randy Edsall still have a job tomorrow?
-Baylor-Kansas was a blowout (shocking, I know) but it featured easily the best Fat-Guy Touchdown on the season so far, and I’m including the NFL in that count. LaQuan McGowan is a 6’7″, 410-pound senior tight end- you may have seen him on SportsCenter’s Not Top Plays this past Friday, struggling to get his shoulder pads and jersey on.
– Florida State running back Dalvin Cook was iffy to play all week with a hamstring issue. All he did was suit up and run for 222 yards on 22 carries, with two touchdowns. Guess the hammy was feeling better.
-Here’s an odd stat: Miami (FL) has now gone four straight games with a kickoff out of bounds. That might be something to get fixed, special-teams staff.
-Leonard Fournette, aka HOLY CRAP, rushed for a season-low 158 yards yesterday. South Carolina did a nice job bottling him up. It wasn’t enough, though, as quarterback Brandon Harris had by far the best game of his career. Harris completed 18 of 28 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns. If they can build on this, watch out- even an average passing game, combined with Fournette and that defense, would make the Tigers a scary opponent.
-Major props to LSU for the kindness and hospitality shown to the South Carolina team and fans this week following the severe flooding in their state that caused the game to be moved to Baton Rouge. I suppose if anyone has some understanding of what Gamecock fans are going through, it would be the LSU fans who experienced Katrina and the aftermath.
-I haven’t watched Cal-Utah yet (it’s on my DVR) but Utah is looking like the real deal. They still have some tough games ahead of them, including road games at both USC and Arizona, but they have a definite shot at the Pac-12 title.
That’s all for this week. Let’s hope next week is just as exciting. Remember to follow me on Twitter @LastWordLindsay, and look for the LWOS Top 25 later today!
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