Oklahoma blows out rival Texas
#1/#3 Oklahoma looked dominant on both sides of the ball in an impressive 55-17 throttling of rival (and former #11) Texas. The Sooners defense forced five Longhorn turnovers while junior quarterback Landry Jones led the Oklahoma offense with 367 yards passing yards with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.
Texas was able to hang around for a quarter or so before Oklahoma put the game out of reach. Oklahoma kicked two short field goals and Texas added one of their own leading to a 6-3 Oklahoma lead after one. The Longhorns didn’t keep Oklahoma out of the end zone for very long. Jones threw two touchdowns passes early in the second quarter while the defense returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown with less than 3 minutes remaining in the half to increase the lead to 27-3.
The interception return was the ultimate dagger as Texas saw its deficit jump from a daunting 17 points to an impossible 24. Oklahoma continued to roll in the second half, getting two fumble returns for touchdowns and a 64-yard touchdown run from junior running back Dominique Whaley. This week, Oklahoma travels to Lawrence to face Kansas (one of the worst teams in the country) while Texas hosts #6 Oklahoma State.
LSU rolls over Florida
#1/#2 LSU defeated #17 Florida 41-11 Saturday to continue an impressive steak of defeating top 25 teams. The Tigers have now defeated four top 25 teams this season by an average margin of 20.5 points. That’s an impressive stat no matter how you slice it.
LSU has shown they are on an elite level in every facet of the game and there’s only a few teams who can give these guys a run for their money on the football field. LSU is a smart, well-coached team that always seems to make the right play. The gameplan is built around their smothering defense that has a knack for creating turnovers. What really sets LSU apart from the other elite teams in the country is special teams. The ability to pin opponents inside the 20 is a lost art but LSU is one of the best I’ve seen this season. I guess you can do this when your special teams players are better athletes than most teams starters.
Their first test of the season will come in the much anticipated roadtrip to Tuscaloosa to face fellow SEC West foe Alabama on November 5th. The other test will come in their annual end-of-the-year game against #10 Arkansas. The Hogs have the type of offense that I could see giving this vaunted LSU defense some fits.
Touchdowns/Field Goals/Turnovers
TD’s/FG’s/TO is a weekly column feature where I feature the great (TD’s), the good (FG’s) and the bad (TO’s) of the previous week.
Touchdowns
- Virginia Tech defeated Miami 38-35 in the best game of the weekend. The Hokies twice held leads of 14 (14-0, 21-7) and 10 (24-14, 31-21) but the Hurricanes kept chipping away. Miami finally took the lead on a 30-yard Lamar Miller run with 2:51 remaining. Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas led the offense down the field, finishing the drive off with a 19-yard touchdown run to give the Hokies the lead for good with 56 seconds left.
- Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson looked impressive once again for Arkansas in their 38-14 victory over rival Auburn. At one point, Wilson completed 18 passes in a row before throwing three straight incomplete passes. The record for most completed passes in a row is 23 shared by former Tennessee (& current Kentucky Wildcats wide receiver coach) quarterback Tee Martin and former Cal (& current Green Bay Packers quarterback) Aaron Rodgers.
- Surprise teams Kansas State (5-0), Clemson (6-0), Illinois (6-0), Michigan (6-0) and Georgia Tech (6-0) all continued their impressive undefeated seasons with victories on Saturday. Kansas State defeated Missouri 24-17; this week they travel to Lubbock to face Texas Tech (4-1). Clemson defeated Boston College 36-14; this week they travel to College Park to play Maryland (2-3). Illinois defeated Indiana 41-20; this week they host Ohio State. Michigan defeated Northwestern 42-24; this week they travel to East Lansing to play rival #23 Michigan State. Georgia Tech defeated Maryland 21-16; this week they go on the road to battle Virginia.
Field Goals
- South Carolina sophomore quarterback Connor Shaw looked sharp in the Gamecocks 54-3 victory over Kentucky. Shaw completed 26/39 passes for 311 yards while throwing 4 TD’s and 0 interceptions. Shaw was practically playing pitch and catch with his wideouts as Kentucky showed the inability to create any pass rush with their front four or cover with their back 4. We’ll see what Shaw can do against teams with a pulse but it’s a good sign and an obvious improvement over Stephen Garcia. Shaw’s performance on Saturday was able to elevate South Carolina to 85th in the nation in passing, up from 103rd the week before.
- Wake Forest improved to 4-1 after their 35-30 victory over Florida State. The Demon Deacons are now 3-0 in the ACC and host #19 Virginia Tech this week in a pivotal game in the ACC. Unfortunately, the television schedule was set before Wake’s upset over Florida State and there’s no television coverage this week. Luckily for me, my internet provider offers ESPN3 where the game can be seen at 6:30 PM/ET.
Turnovers
- As a college football junkie, I find myself watching multiple games at once. Sometimes you can lose track of a game or two and you’ll be forced to backtrack to figure out what the hell just happened. You can imagine my dismay when I look up from watching Arkansas/Auburn game to see Georgia facing a 3rd and 57. Georgia wasn’t able to get a yard and was forced to punt on 4th and 57. I can honestly say this is the first time I can remember seeing a punt returner line up in front of the yellow first-down line.
- Maryland had some bad quarterback play in their aforementioned loss to Georgia Tech. Starter Danny O’Brien finished 1/6 for a whopping 17 yards while throwing an interception. Backup C.J. Brown was able to get something going late, finishing 4/17 for 36 yards and an interception. Brown started 0/7 and Maryland went into the 4th quarter with 1 completion by a quarterback. Senior wide receiver Tony Logan completed the only other pass on a trick play that went for 34 yards. This week, Maryland will have to have much better quarterback play to upset #8 Clemson.
- With the season reaching it’s midway point, injuries are starting to pile up across the country. Some are season-enders (Florida State running back Chris Thompson, B.C. running back Montel Harris, Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn), some are a few games (Oregon running back LaMichael James, Florida quarterback John Brantley, Georgia wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell) while others are just scares (Tajh Boyd, probable vs. Maryland).
Looking Ahead
#20 Baylor @ #21 Texas A&M – 12:00 PM – FX
#11 Michigan @ #23 Michigan State – 12:00 PM – ABC
Indiana @ #4 Wisconson – 12:00 PM – ESPN2
Utah @ Pittsburgh – 12:00 PM – ESPNU
Purdue @ Penn State – 12:00 PM – BTN
#15 South Carolina @ Mississippi State – 12:00 PM- SEC Network
Miami (FL) @ North Carolina – 12:30PM – ACC Network
Florida State @ Duke – 3:00 PM – FSN
#1 LSU @ Tennessee – 3:30 PM – CBS
#6 Oklahoma State @ #22 Texas – 3:30 PM – ABC/ESPN
Ohio State @ #16 Illinois – 3:30 PM – ABC/ESPN
UCF @ SMU – 3:30 PM – FSN
#12 Georgia Tech @ Virginia – 3:30 PM – ESPNU
#2 Alabama @ Ole Miss – 6:00 PM – ESPN2
Florida @ #24 Auburn– 7:00 PM – ESPN
#8 Clemson @ Maryland – 7:00 PM – ESPNU
#17 Kansas State @ Texas Tech – 7:00 PM – FSN
Northwestern @ Iowa – 7:00 PM – BTN
Georgia @ Vanderbilt – 7:00 PM – FSN
#7 Stanford @ Washington State – 7:30 PM – VS
#3 Oklahoma @ Kansas – 9:15 PM – ESPN2
#18 Arizona State @ #9 Oregon – 10:15 PM – ESPN
The Extra Point
North Carolina’s Dwight Jones is slowly becoming one of the best wide receivers in the ACC. Jones has quietly been improving each season and he made a remarkable in Saturday’s slugfest with Louisville. On this pass, Jones adjusts to a badly underthrown pass from Bryn Renner and beasts his way into the endzone. Enjoy.
