College Football – Weeks 5 & 6 : how our teams did !
# 84 Cameron Sentence, UC Davis Tight End & firefighter, former cricket player
WEEK 5 AND 6 REVIEW by Venkat Ravishankar
The last 2 weeks provided plenty of excitement both in terms of football as well as major controversies. Week 5 started off with an old fashioned shootout between two former high school roommates and Georgia recruits – Zach Mettenberger (LSU) and Aaron Murray (Georgia). One final shot for Mettenberger to show the bulldogs, what they passed up on the 5th year standout competed toe to toe with Heisman hopeful Aaron Murray. It was a battle for the ages but ended with a cruel 4th down incompletion from the LSU QB which could have been called for defensive pass interference. That no-call gift wrapped the victory for Georgia in their second marquee game of season quelling all doubts of Murray’s big game nerves.
Controversies were the flavor of college football in the last two weeks, headlined by the long debated sacking of USC head coach Lane Kiffin. A record which counts seven losses out of the last 11 forced him onto the hot seat culminating at the week six game against ASU. He was not even afforded a ride back home on the team bus as USC’s Athletic director Pat Haden’s informed him at the airport of USC’s new direction forward. A rather unceremonious dumping for a polarizing figure across college football.
All the way across the country in South Carolina, Jadeveon Clowney’s decision to sit out the Kentucky game was wildly debated across the country and even irked their head coach Saturday night. His slide down the Heisman watch was punctuated by the no show on week 6 against an enterprising Kentucky Wildcats unit. Clowney will look to come back with a bang answering those questioning his NFL worthiness by attempting to put this issue behind him come week 7. And we thought Johnny Manzeil was going to be the biggest story of the 2013 season.
HOW OUR COLLEGES FARED
Week 5
|
Virginia Tech 17,Georgia Tech 10 |
|
Iowa State 38, Tulsa 21 |
|
Miami 49, South Florida 21 |
|
South Carolina 28, UCF 25 |
|
West Virginia 30, Oklahoma State 21 |
|
Ball State 31, Toledo 24 |
|
Florida State 48, Boston College 34 |
|
Iowa 23, Minnesota 7 |
|
Houston 59, Texas-San Antonio 28 |
|
Texas A&M 45, Arkansas 33 |
|
Florida 24, Kentucky 7 |
|
Rice 18, Florida Atlantic University 14 |
|
Missouri 41, Arkansas State 19 |
|
Ohio State 31, Wisconsin 24 |
Week 6
|
Texas 31, Iowa State 30 |
|
UCLA 34, Utah 27 |
|
Florida State 63, Maryland 0 |
|
Indiana 44, Penn State 24 |
|
Texas Tech 54, Kansas 16 |
|
Buffalo 42, E Michigan 14 |
|
Rutgers 55, SMU 52 |
|
Ball State 48, Virginia 27 |
|
Virginia Tech 27, North Carolina 17 |
|
Boston College 48, Army 27 |
|
Florida Atlantic 37, Univ of Alabama(Birmingham) 23 |
|
Michigan 42, Minnesota 13 |
|
Miami 45, Georgia Tech 30 |
|
FIU 24, Southern Miss 23 |
|
Univ of Central Florida 24, Memphis 17 |
|
Auburn 30, Mississippi 22 |
|
South Florida 26, Cincinnati 20 |
|
Florida 30, Arkansas 10 |
|
Baylor 73, West Virginia 42 |
|
Ohio State 40, Northwestern 30 |
HEISMAN WATCH
1. Marcus Mariota – There is no stopping the Oregon offense spearheaded by QB marcus mariota. He put up his usual jaw dropping numbers last week against Syracuse, with 355 yards passing and 41 yards rushing on his way to five touchdowns and a passer rating of 230. The next game, against a 16th ranked Washington defense, which was one field goal away from beating the Stanford cardinals. For those doubting mariota’s ability, this would be a game to look out for. He may put those doubts to rest.
2. Tajh Boyd – Boyd had an incredible game against Syracuse last week. Inspite of throwing two interceptions, he threw 5 touchdowns, 455 yards passing, and had a passer rating of 261. That’s right. 261. He seems to be the most NFL ready quarterback in CFB this year, even though he’s not tearing down defenses with his run, he more than makes up with his ability as a pocket passer. This week’s matchup against Boston college should only help improve his standing as a Heisman contender.
3. Johnny Manziel – Johnny football was off this previous week, but be sure to expect some heroics this week as the aggies face off against Bo Wallace and the high powered ole miss offense.
4. Jameis Winston – There was a lot of hype surrounding this two sport athlete when he started the 2013 season. So far, he has been able to translate his athletic prowess and lived up to his reputation. And how. A strong arm and that touted accuracy have finally breathed much needed life into the Florida state offense. Look for him to get better as the season wears on.
5. Teddy Bridgewater – Teddy bridgewater would have been ranked higher on this list, had it not been for the Thursday night game against the Rutgers scarlet knights. It wasn’t his best performance, and a lot more is expected of Louisville’s star signal caller. A slightly favorable matchup against UCF should help him gather momentum going into the meaty part of the season.
AP POLL-MOVERS AND SHAKERS
You could probably doze through the next 3 weeks and expect Alabama to stay atop the rankings with 55 first place votes followed by Oregon who received the remaining 5 votes followed by Clemson, Ohio State and Stanford rounding out the top five in the rankings. This has been the trend across the last four weeks. The one SEC team in that initial list looks like a bit of a contrast with the latter part as there are a record 7 SEC teams in the top 25. This justifies public claims of it being the strongest conference in the country.
Some of the new additions to the list were no.23 Northern Illinois after their 5-0 run this season which should surely lead them to a second consecutive bowl game. Virginia tech were awarded for their thumping of N. Carolina last week with a no.24 on the list. Missouri’s entry for the first time this year was a direct result of their 51-28 thrashing of Vanderbilt, but their real test will be their week 7 matchup against a depleted Georgia side.
MARQUEE GAMES – WEEK 5
Oklahoma Sooners at Notre Dame Fighting Irish – A seven game losing streak was finally ended in Notre Dame as the 14th ranked Sooners beat the fighting irish for only the second time in 11 meetings come week 5 with a final scoreline of 35-21. There is a strong sense of history to this rivalry beginning from Stoops who hails from Ohio as late as staking Manti Te’o’s claim to a Heisman trophy in 2012.
A mistake ridden first half by Notre Dame virtually laid the game on a platter for Bob Stoops and the Sooners. The two quarterbacks couldn’t have posed contrasting fortunes as Blake Bell starting his second game of the season threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns while Rees went for a season low of 104 yards. The real star of the evening were the acclaimed Sooners defense which silenced the deafening roar in Notre Dame by picking off Rees 3 times all of which resulted in OU touchdowns.
LSU Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs – An absolutely riveting game between SEC powerhouses LSU and Georgia on primetime isn’t a bad way to cap off a Saturday evening. Bulldogs now claim an impressive 2-1 record against top ten teams this season through the first five weeks of the season. Aaron Murray threw for 298 yards and four TD strikes edging out Mettenberger (372 yards passing and three scores) and the revitalized LSU offense under NFL famed Cam Cameron by a mere 3 points. An ankle injury to star running back Todd Gurley hardly hurt the Georgia offense as they held off LSU on their final drive to kill any hopes of a comeback.
Wisconsin Badgers at Ohio State Buckeyes – The return of Braxton Miller laid to rest the sprinkling of QB battle rumours across the nation as he threw for 4 TD’s extending their winning run to 17 games since last year’s unbeaten season. Wisconsin presented the buckeyes with their first real test of the season and the final rally resulting in 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter by the badgers only put more pressure on the unbeaten side. The 42 yard field goal were the final gas in the tank that Wisconsin could muster, as the buckeyes were able to hold off their 7 point advantage in the last two minutes to close out the game.
MARQUEE GAMES – WEEK 6
Georgia at Tennessee – Marshall Morgan kicked a 42-yard field goal in overtime after Murray threw a game-tying touchdown pass with 5 seconds remaining in regulation and lead a depleted Georgia team to their fourth victory of the season keeping their championship hopes alive. Star running back Todd Gurley was sidelined and their second running back Keith Marshall getting injured wasn’t a great omen. However, Aaron Murray drove the bulldogs to a game winning field goal and satisfied the faithfuls.
ASU at Notre dame – The Arizona state sun devils matched Notre Dame punch for punch through the first 58 minutes of the game. But the Irish clinched the win when Dan Fox, who recovered a crucial fumble to set up a touchdown, returned Kelly’s second interception 14 yards for a touchdown with 1:08 remaining. Final score 37-34.
Ohio state at northwestern – The buckeyes added to their national record 17 game win streak with a win against northwestern which was not an easy task by any means. Carlos hyde ran for a career high 158 yards and 3 touchdowns as he carried the buckeyes over the finish line against the no.16 northwestern which was celebrating homecoming weekend and hoped to put one across Ohio State.
Washington at Stanford – The huskies had more than 200 more passing yards over Stanford, but they had no answer to wide receiver Ty Montgomery, who had 290 all purpose yards and two touchdowns. The game went down to the wire, as the scores suggest, and the cardinals managed to hold on to a slender lead to post their fifth win of the season.
VIEWS expressed are those of the writer, & not necessarily those of American College Cricket or its principals.
Photo by David Sentance
