Week 7 Recap

Week 7 didn’t feature the upsets that week 6 did, but there were a few games that came really close. There is a new #1 in the world of college football! After beating Auburn, Mississippi State jumped Florida State and is now at the top. The SEC West continues to show how strong they are. Arkansas was a PAT and a goal line fumble away from beating Alabama. LSU somehow made it out of the Swamp with a win. Georgia went to Columbia and shut out Missouri. Baylor was able to out score TCU on a last second field goal. Notre Dame was nearly taken down by North Carolina. UCLA fell out of the rankings and probably out of the playoff picture with their loss to Oregon. It was another great weekend of college football.

How I Fared: (3-3, 25-18 overall)

Notable Games
3Mississippi State 38 2Auburn 23; Unfortunately, I didn’t get to watch this game. I was already in the stadium for the Arkansas Alabama game getting rained on. This one was a surprise to me. I had seen Auburn play in person earlier this season, and I thought they were going to be the best team in the SEC. But that battle has now come down to the schools from the Magnolia state. Mississippi State and Dak Prescott showed that they are the team to beat, not only in the SEC West, but in the entire country. Prescott is my Heisman frontrunner right now. The QB was 18/34 for 246 yards, a TD, 2INTs and 21 carries for 121 yards and 2TDs. De’Runnya Wilson caught the TD and Josh Robinson rushed for 2TDs. Punter Logan Cooke threw a pick on a fake punt in the first quarter that led to a FG for the Tigers. For Auburn, QB Nick Marshall was 17/35 for 209 yards, 2TDs, 2INTs and 100 rush yards. Duke Williams had 108 receiving yards and 2TDs. Kicker Daniel Carlson was 3/4 on field goals. Neither team did a good job of taking care of the football. There were a combined 6 turnovers in the first half and 8 total in the game. There is a new top dog in the SEC West (pun intended). Both of these teams have byes next week.

3Ole Miss 35 14Texas A&M 20; Now to the other Mississippi team making waves in college football. Many (including me) thought the Rebel’s win over Alabama would end up hurting them going into Kyle Field. How would they respond to one of their biggest wins in program history? Well, you can see the score. They responded very well. The Rebels rolled into College Station and the biggest crowd for a college football game the state of Texas has ever seen. 110,633 were in attendance for this game. (That number was significantly smaller when the 4th quarter rolled around.) The Aggies were shut out in the first half. Once again, we are starting to realize how little beating South Carolina means this season. Ole Miss QB Bo Wallace was able to secure the ball in this game, going 13/19 for 178 yards, a TD to Quincy Adeboyejo, and rushed for two more scores. The Ole Miss defense also stepped up in this game. Cody Prewitt had a 75-yard pick 6 and Keith Lewis returned a fumble 21 yards for a TD. For the Aggies, QB Kenny Hill was 42/53 for 401 yards, 2TDs and 2INTs. Josh Reynolds and Sabian Holmes each caught TD passes. Trey Williams also rushed for a TD. The Aggies outgained the Rebels 455 to 338 yards. A&M also turned the ball over 3 times. Ole Miss will play host to Tennessee next and Texas A&M will have to go to Alabama.

5Baylor 61 9TCU 58; The number 5 ranked team in the country had to score 24 unanswered points to win this game as time expired. TCU had been touted for their defense this season, but have given up 33 and 61 points in consecutive weeks. Baylor lit up the scoreboard and stat sheet but still needed a last second FG to win. Baylor QB Bryce Petty was 28/55 for 510 yards, 6TDs and 2INTs. Antwan Goodley had 158 receiving yards and 2TDs, Corey Coleman had 144 receiving yards and 2TDs, KD Cannon had 124 receiving yards and a TD and Jay Lee also caught a TD. Devin Chafin rushed for a TD and Shock Linwood carried the ball 29 times for 178 yards. Kicker Chris Callahan was perfect on the game, hitting all 4 of his tries including the 28-yard game winner as time expired. For the Horned Frogs, QB Trevone Boykin was 21/47 for 287 yards and a TD. Kolby Listenbee had 146 receiving yards and a TD, Aaron Green rushed for a TD and Trevorris Johnson also rushed for a TD. BJ Catalon rushed for 2TDs and ran a kick back 94 yards for a TD. Marcus Mallet had a 49-yard pick 6 to increase the TCU lead to 21 points with 11:38 left in the 4th quarter. Kicker Jaden Oberkrom was also perfect, but only had 3 attempts. The Bears outgained TCU 782-485 yards. Both teams had more than 110 penalty yards. Baylor was 4-6 on 4th down and had 39 first downs in the game. Baylor will head to West Virginia and TCU will play host to Oklahoma State next.

6Notre Dame 50 North Carolina 43; So close, but yet so far. North Carolina had a one-point lead going into the 4th quarter of this game, but was unable to hold on. This game was close the entire time and was a back and forth shootout. Notre Dame QB Everett Golson was 21/38 for 300 yards, 3TDs and an INT. William Fuller had 133 receiving yards with 2TDs, Tarean Folston caught a TD and ran for 2 more and Greg Bryant and Cam McDaniel also each rushed for scores. Everett Golson continued to have a problem securing the football, fumbling twice and throwing a pick 6. For the Tar Heels, QB Marquise Williams was 24/41 for 303 yards, 2TDs, an INT, caught a TD from Quinshad Davis (who also caught a TD), and ran for 132 yards and a TD. Mack Hollins caught a TD and Elijah Hood ran for a score. Jeff Schoettmer picked off Everett Golson and ran it back for a TD as well. Kicker Nick Weiler was 1/2 on FGs and had a PAT blocked. Notre Dame is going to need to play a lot better to beat Florida State on the road next week. This close call is not a good sign for a team that does have a formidable schedule ahead of them.

7Alabama 14 Arkansas 13; This was a sloppy game in every aspect. And for the second game in a row, Arkansas probably should have won. The difference between the good teams and the playoff contenders is the ability to finish games whether you are up by 21 or down by 7. The play of the game had to be the blocked PAT on the Hog’s first TD. While Arkansas has been having some issues when it comes to kicking, this was just a great play by the Alabama defender. A few key plays once again hurt the Hogs. The most important was probably when Kody Walker failed to secure a sure TD pass early in the game. He lost the ball and it rolled out of the end zone for a touchback. The wet conditions didn’t help, but that ball needed to be caught and held on to or not caught at all. Each secondary seemed to have multiple chances to pick off passes, but only one INT was caught. And it was by Landon Collins to end up sealing the game for the Tide. ‘Bama QB Blake Sims was 11/21 for 161 yards and 2TDs. TJ Yeldon and DeAndrew White each caught TDs. Kicker Adam Griffith missed his FGA. The Tide also had a problem on kick returns, fumbling twice. For the Hogs, QB Brandon Allen was 21/40 for 246 yards, a TD and an INT. AJ Derby caught a short pass and ran about 40 yards after for a TD. Jonathan Williams also rushed for a TD in the 2nd quarter of the game, ending a 10-quarter scoring drought against Alabama. The Hogs outgained the Tide 335-227 yards and had the ball for almost 8 more minutes. I won’t go on about my opinions of the refs for this game, but I will say they have had to apologize for running the clock when they shouldn’t have in the last minute. This mistake could’ve cost the Razorbacks a possession. Arkansas will face 10th ranked Georgia in Little Rock next and Alabama will host an A&M team that is looking worse every week.

USC 28 10Arizona 26; The Pac-12 seems to be up for grabs. After Arizona went to Eugene and took down the Ducks, they came back home and lost to USC. The loss didn’t come without a fight. The Wildcats went into the 4th quarter facing a 13-point deficit. A failed two-point conversion is the reason Arizona was unable to take the game into overtime. USC QB Cody Kessler was 20/30 for 185 yards, a TD and an INT. Nelson Agholor had a receiving TD and the player of the game for the Trojans was Javorius Allen who rushed for 205 yards and 3TDs. For the home team, QB Anu Solomon was 43/72 for 395 yards and a TD to Jared Baker, who also had 2 rushing scores. Kicker Kasey Skowron was a dismal 2/5 on field goals for the game. Arizona will get the week off and USC will host Colorado.

11Oklahoma 31 Texas 26; The Red River Rivalry did not disappoint. The Texas defense was able to keep the Oklahoma offense in check in the first half. The Oklahoma defense and special teams, on the other hand, kept the Sooners in the game. The Longhorns rallied in the 4th, but there just wasn’t enough time to complete the comeback. Oklahoma QB Trevor Knight was 12/20 for 129 yards and a TD. Sterling Shepard caught a TD and Samaje Perine ran for a score. Alex Ross ran a kickoff back 91 yards for a TD in the first quarter and Zack Sanchez picked off Tyrone Swoopes and took it 43 yards for a pick 6 in the second quarter. Kicker Michael Hunnicutt was 1/1 on FGs for the game. Fir the Longhorns, QB Tyrone Swoopes was 27/44 for 334 yards, 2TDs, an INT and a rushing TD. John Harris caught both of the TD passes. Kicker Nick Rose was 2/2 on his field goal attempts. Texas outgained Oklahoma 482-232 yards. The Sooners only managed one 3rd down conversion in the game. Texas had the ball for nearly 38 minutes of the game but hurt themselves with 11 penalties for 85 yards. Texas’s defense might be the real deal, but their offense is really hurting them. Up next for Texas is Iowa State and Oklahoma is hosting a good Kansas State team looking for a big win.

Duke 31 22Georgia Tech 25; This game was close going into halftime, but the Blue Devils were able to come out strong in the 3rd quarter and were able to come away with the win. Duke QB Anthony Boone was 16/26 for 131 yards and a TD to Max McCaffrey. Josh Snead had 102 rush yards and a TD and Thomas Sirk rushed for two more scores. Kicker Ross Martin hit his only FGA. For the Yellow Jackets, QB Tim Byerly was 7/10 for 125 yards and 2 rush TDs and QB Justin Thomas was 6/15 for 61 yards and 2INTs and 119 rush yards. Zach Laskey rushed for a TD as well. Kicker Harrison Butker was 2/3 when it came to FGs. The Yellow Jackets turned the ball over 3 times and had 8 penalties for 69 yards. Georgia Tech did score two late TDs to bring the game within reach, but they were unable to recover the onside kick and Duke ran out the clock. Georgia Tech will go to North Carolina to face a team coming off a close loss to Notre Dame and Duke will host a very good Virginia team.

UCF 31 BYU 24 OT (Thurs); This poor BYU team. A couple weeks ago it looked like they had to potential to run the tables and maybe have a Heisman contender. That all changed against Utah State. QB Taysom Hill broke his leg in the 2nd quarter and the Cougars are 0-2 since then. BYU went into the half down seven points, but scored 3 unanswered TDs in the 3rd quarter. It wasn’t enough. UCF came back and scored 14 unanswered points of their own, tying the game at 24. UCF was able to score in OT and the game ended when BYU QB Christian Stewart’s pass on 4th and 3 fell incomplete. Knight QB Justin Holman was 30/51 for 326 yards, 2TDs, 2INTs and a rush TD. Josh Reese and William Stanback each caught TD passes in this game and Stanback also ran for a TD. Kicker Shawn Moffitt was 1/3 on FGs (his 50-yard attempt at the end of regulation was blocked). For BYU, QB Christian Stewart was 22/37 for 153 yards, 3TDs and an INT. Devin Mahina caught 2TDs and Colby Pearson caught the other. Kicker Trevor Samson hit his only FGA of the game. UCF will host Tulane next and BYU will host Nevada.

UNLV 30 Fresno State 27 OT (Fri); Woo! UNLV won a game against an actual opponent at home! That doesn’t happen very often. Not only that, but the Rebels shut out Fresno State in the first half. I guess a missed PAT the theme for my college teams this weekend. But in the case of UNLV, it helped them. The Bulldogs missed their final PAT, leaving the door open for UNLV to tie the game and take it to OT. Based on the performance of this UNLV team so far this season, I am surprised they got the win over Fresno State. Rebel QB Blake Decker was 29/40 for 332 yards, a TD to Kendal Keys, an INT and a rushing TD. Shaquille Murray-Lawrence rushed for a TD as well. Kicker Nicolai Bornard tied the game with a 46-yard FG with 3:37 to go and won the game in OT on a 33 yardser. Kicker Jonathan Leiva was 1/2 on FGs, his miss coming as time expired on a 26-yard attempt. For Fresno State, QB Brian Burrell was 25/44 for 310 yards, 3TDs and 2INTs. Josh Harper had 187 receiving yards and a TD and Chad Olsen caught 2TDs. Marteze Waller carried the ball for 137 yards and a TD. UNLV had a bye coming up and Fresno State has to travel to Boise State for a Friday night game.

LSU 30 Florida 27; These are two teams having major QB issues. LSU was able to win this game with Anthony Jennings at the helm, but there is still controversy between Jennings and Brandon Harris. On the Florida side, Treon Harris has been reinstated to the team and will play next week, but as of now, he is not starting. That job still belongs to Jeff Driskel. Neither of these teams looked as good as some thought they would this year. LSU already has two SEC losses (Mississippi State and Auburn). With this loss, Florida has lost both of their games against SEC West opponents. In this game, LSU QB Anthony Jennings was 10/21 for 110 yards and a TD to Travin Dural. True Freshman RB Leonard Fournette finally made a statement, carrying the ball 27 times for 140 yards and 2TDs. Kenny Hilliard also rushed for a TD. Kicker Colby Delahoussaye hit a 50-yarder with 3 seconds left. For the Gators, QB Jeff Driskel was 14/25 for 183 yards, a TD to Demarcus Robinson, 2INTs and a rush TD. Andre Debose scored the first points of the game on a 62-yard punt return TD in the first quarter. Gator kicker Francisco Velez was 2/2 on FGs for the game. LSU will play host to a surging Kentucky team next and Florida will welcome a not-so-good Missouri team to the Swamp.

Western Michigan 42 Ball State 38; Time for some #MACtion. Western Michigan overcame a 10-point 4th quarter deficit to win this game on the road. Ball State had the chance to win late in the game, but were unable to move the ball after a 1st and goal from the 8 yard line. They turned the ball over on downs and WMU was able to take a knee for the win. Bronco QB Zach Terrell was 20/29 for 290 yards, 3TDs and an INT. Corey Davis had 154 receiving yards and a TD with Daniel Braveman catching the other two. Jarvion Franklin carried the ball 24 times for 161 yards and 3TDs (all 3 in the second half). For the Cardinals, QB Jack Milas was 26/42 for 326 yards and 4TDs. Jordan Williams had 179 receiving yards and 2TDs with KeVonn Mabon and Dylan Curry each catching TDs as well. Jahwan Edwards also ran for a TD. Kicker Scott Secor hit his only attempt for the Cardinals. Ball State put together a 24-point second quarter, but was only able to score one TD in the second half, giving WMU the chance to take the game.

Top 25
1Florida State 38 Syracuse 20
8Michigan State 45 Purdue 31
12Oregon 42 UCLA 30
13Georgia 34 Missouri 0
16Oklahoma State 27 Kansas 20
19East Carolina 28 USF 17
25Stanford 34 Washington State 17 (Fri)

Other Games
San Diego State 24 New Mexico 14 (Fri)
Vanderbilt 21 Charleston Southern 20
Michigan 18 Penn State 13
Wisconsin 38 Illinois 28
Iowa 45 Indiana 29
Clemson 23 Louisville 17
Miami (FL) 55 Cincinnati 34
West Virginia 37 Texas Tech 34
Iowa State 37 Toledo 30
Houston 28 Memphis 24
Central Michigan 34 Northern Illinois 17
Marshall 49 Middle Tennessee 24
UTEP 42 Old Dominion35
UTSA 16 FIU 13
Liberty 55 Appalachian State 48 OT
Hawai’i 38 Wyoming 28
Colorado State 31 Nevada 24

Stats and Scores from ESPN.com