Thursday night got the weekend off to a strange start. Houston<\/strong> was missing two starting linebackers during the game with UConn<\/strong> after team-building activities got out of hand on Wednesday. Apparently, Matthew Adams<\/strong> and Tyus Bowser<\/strong> got a little “overly competitive” during what was supposed to be some friendly sports games and got into a minor fight. Adams was suspended for the game, while Bowser suffered an undisclosed injury. Houston won 42-14, avenging their only loss last season which, surprisingly, came against UConn.<\/p>\n The weirdness continued Friday night as anything that could go wrong, did go wrong for Stanford<\/strong>. In what was expected be a close, exciting game, the Huskies blew out the Cardinal 44-6. Stanford coach David Shaw<\/strong> called the first half the worst half of football he had seen in a long time. Washington<\/strong>, on the other hand, was surgical on offense and dominating on defense. This was the first time I’ve seen them this year and I was very impressed. Huskies’ QB Jake Browning<\/strong>, in particular, played a fantastic game. He’s very mobile, and does a really nice job keeping his eyes focused downfield looking for a chance to pass while he’s on the run. I’m making a mental note to get another couple of UW games on my DVR.<\/p>\n Christian McCaffrey<\/strong>– still no touchdowns on the road.<\/p>\n Plenty of special teams issues to go around today. Texas<\/strong> missed three consecutive extra points against Oklahoma State<\/strong>; I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before. The Northwestern<\/strong>–Iowa<\/strong> game featured a touchdown-saving tackle by each team’s punter. Michigan<\/strong> followed up their 1\/3 field goal performance against Penn State<\/strong> a week ago with three more missed field goals from two different kickers. Finally, Minnesota<\/strong> had their fourth player ejection of the year after linebacker Jaylen Waters<\/strong> leveled Penn State kicker Joey Julius<\/strong>. The two had exchanged shoves earlier in the game.<\/p>\n Julius, by the way, is the biggest kicker I’ve ever seen at 5’10” and 258 pounds. I had the Minnesota game on my TV with the Michigan game on my iPad, and when I glanced up I wondered what I had missed that resulted in\u00a0the Nittany Lions having a lineman kicking.<\/p>\n Penn State, it’s time for a new mascot costume. The current one looks like it might have arrived in Happy Valley when Joe Paterno did.<\/p>\n I’ll have a full article on the Gophers mid-week, but for now I’ll say this: they are going absolutely nowhere if they don’t start playing with some discipline. That’s a shame, because their division is up for grabs.<\/p>\n Tennessee<\/strong> played with fire for a second week in a row, and again they narrowly avoided getting burned. After their miracle comeback against Florida, they spotted Georgia<\/strong> a 17-0 lead early. Once the Vols started the comeback, it was a back-and-forth affair, and when Georgia’s freshman quarterback threw a 47-yard touchdown with just ten seconds on the board, I’m guessing most people assumed the game was over. Tennessee’s Joshua Dobbs<\/strong> had other ideas, throwing a 43-yard Hail Mary to Jauan Jennings<\/strong>. Game over. We’ll be able to re-watch this one on ESPN Classic for autumns to come.<\/p>\n Speaking of classics, Clemson<\/strong>–Louisville<\/strong> should go down in that category as well. Anytime you get arguably the two best quarterbacks in college football going head-to-head, it’s special. When the game comes down to the last play, even moreso.<\/p>\n No Fournette, no problem for LSU<\/strong>. Six days after firing longtime coach Les Miles, interim coach Ed Orgeron<\/strong> had the Tigers firing through the air and on the ground. Fournette sat out the game with an ankle injury, but Derrius Guice<\/strong> and Darrel Williams<\/strong> were more than adequate in his stead with three touchdowns apiece<\/em>. The team’s rushing yardage was still close to twice the rushing yardage, but when your backs are being successful, why throw? I’ll be interested to see how much Orgeron and offensive coordinator Steve Ensminger air it out next week against Florida if the Gators have more luck than Missouri did stopping the run.<\/p>\n