Don’t even try to tell me you saw this coming!
-Did anyone outside of the Lone Star state give Texas a chance in this game? They outgained the Sooners 445-263, rushed for 255 yards, had the ball for 35:15, and held Oklahoma to just 2 of 13 on 3rd down. I’m guessing no one wants Mack Brown fired today (except maybe a few Sooner fans). And good for Case McCoy, who arrived in Austin with a lot to live up to as Colt’s little brother.
-Georgia going down to Missouri wasn’t quite as big a surprise, given that seemingly half the Dawgs’ offense is injured. The offense was sloppy all day, with two lost fumbles and two late Aaron Murray picks, and while the Tigers didn’t exactly look like world-beaters, they did more than enough to win. Unfortunately for Mizzou, however, quarterback James Franklin separated his shoulder late in the game and will miss most, if not all, of the remainder of the season. Next on the schedule? Florida, followed by South Carolina.
-Upset #3 was unranked Utah over #5 Stanford. The Utes goal-line stand in the final seconds will go down in Pac-12 lore.
-An interesting thing that caught my eye- Utah’s kicker is a former member of the national ski team.
-Michigan and Penn State played what will go down as an instant, if sloppy, classic. Messy plays, missed field goals, and mental mistakes by both teams led to a four-overtime 40-37 Penn State win. A lot of credit goes to the Nittany Lions’ quarterback, Christian Hackenberg, an eighteen-year-old true freshman who just six months ago needed a hall pass to walk around his school. Yes, he made mistakes during the game, but he played very well during OT.
-The LSU-Florida game started with a temperature of 90 degrees, and a heat index of 95. As a New Englander, I cannot even fathom living in a place where that’s possible in October, let alone playing football in that kind of weather. (I would, however, love to visit Louisiana someday). But I digress. LSU’s offensive line was dominant. The Tigers rushed for 175 yards, 121 of the by Jeremy Hill, for whom the Gators defense had no answer. A couple of Hill’s runs made me think of the Giants’ Brandon Jacobs, as Hill continued moving forward dragging a defender or two. LSU’s defense, particularly the front seven, have gotten stronger in each of the last few games.
-One of the few bright sports for Florida was that after some issues in the kicking game of late, the switch to junior Frankie Velez appears to have helped. Velez made both of his field goal attempts, including a 44-yarder.
-Wisconsin WR Jared Abbrederis left early in their game against Northwestern with a head injury. It concerns me that coach Gary Andersen said after the game that Abbrederis looked ok and should be able to play next week against Illinois. This is why NCAA really needs to step in and institute mandatory concussion protocols.
-Virginia Tech beating Pittsburgh wasn’t exactly a surprise, but the fact that they had eight sacks was.
-It has now been a decade since Washington has beaten Oregon.
-Texas A&M hung in there, but Ole Miss is definitely a program on the rise. Just a few years ago, the best word I could think of to describe the Rebels’ play was “hapless”. Outside of the Alabama game, they’ve looked good all season.
-Nice job by Maryland to rebound from their spanking at the hands of Florida State and beat Virginia.
I don’t know if we’ll see another weekend this exciting, but keep watching!
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