Week 6 Recap

It was a very interesting week in college football. There were some big upsets and some very nearly upsets. LSU and Leonard Fournette showed some major class to South Carolina in the wake of the flood damage due to hurricane Joaquin. Michigan posted their 3rd straight shutout and Texas and Charlie Strong got a huge win in the Cotton Bowl. Let’s get to the rest of the action from week 6.

How I Fared: (4-2 this week, 20-16 overall)

Conference Overviews
SEC: LSU beat South Carolina 45-24, but that wasn’t the main story of the week. The Gamecocks had to forfeit their home game due to flooding so the game was moved Tiger Stadium. LSU made so many accommodations to help their SEC brothers out. Leonard Fournette crossed the 1,000-yard rush mark, but he also is going to auction off his jersey for South Carolina flood relief (the NCAA has given him the green light on this since he will not receive any money from the sale). Nice job, LSU. Alabama came back to beat Arkansas in Tuscaloosa 27-14. The Hogs lead 7-3 until late in the 3rd quarter when a (questionable) fake punt was called. After failing to convert, Alabama got the ball near midfield and also gained a ton of momentum. Arkansas’s defense played amazing for 3 quarters where they were on the field the majority of the time. They forced Alabama to 3 FGs (2 were missed). The Hog’s offense was nonexistent. They never crossed midfield (got the ball at the Bama12 and had a 54-yard TD pass) even though they had great field position more than once. I’m going stop typing about this game now, or else this might go on for a few pages. Missouri went to Columbia and left with a 21-3 win over Missouri. Missouri doesn’t have much of an offense, but they clearly have a pretty good defense. Ole Miss crushed New Mexico State 52-3 to bounce back from their loss against Florida last week. I guess Tennessee needs to be down to win games. After losing 3 games in which they had at least a 13-point lead, they came back from 21 points down to beat Georgia in Neyland. But the biggest story from this game is a sad one. Star RB Nick Chubb suffered a gruesome knee injury on the first play from scrimmage, most likely ending his season (no ACL damage according to UGA). This was a huge win for Tennessee and makes the SEC East Florida’s to lose. Mississippi State beat Troy 45-17 with Dak Prescott only playing the first 4 series (sick). Next Week: AUB at UK (Thurs); 13OM at MEM; LT at MSST; 10BAMA at 9TAMU; VAN at SCAR; 8UF at 6LSU; MIZ at UGA

Big 10: Ohio State started slow in their game and were tied with Maryland at 21 until about halfway through the 3rd quarter. Cardale Jones, JT Barrett, and Braxton Miller all scored in this game. It seems like the Buckeyes have finally found a system that works on offense, but will it hold up against better competition? The final score was 49-28. Once again Michigan State played a close game with a team they should have no problems with, beating Rutgers 31-24. Rutgers had the benefit of getting WR Leonte Carroo back since the charges against him were dropped. He caught 3TD passes in this game. Michigan State scored with 43 seconds left to break the tie and win the game. This win dropped the Spartans down to 7th in the AP poll, but I think they should be even lower. Michigan posted their third straight shutout, this time against 13th ranked Northwestern 38-0. There really isn’t too much to be said except that Michigan is a very good team on both sides of the ball and should be ranked higher than 12th in the country. Iowa beat Illinois 29-20 in their game thanks mostly in part to RB Jordan Canzeri’s huge game (256 yards and a TD on 43 carries as well as a receiving TD). Illinois turned the ball over twice in the 4th quarter, making it hard for them to win. Penn State looked strong against Indiana, beating them 29-7. QB Christian Hackenberg had a huge day, throwing for 2TDs and rushing for 2. Wisconsin stunned Nebraska 23-21 on a late FG. Kicker Raphael Gaglianone missed a 39-yard FG with just 1:23 to go, but Nebraska went 3-and-out and the Badgers got the ball back with just under a minute remaining. Two long pass plays got the ball into field goal range and Gaglianone got another chance to win the game. His 46-yard attempt was good and gave the Badgers the win. Minnesota rebounded from their 0-27 loss to Northwestern with a big win on the road at Purdue. The Golden Gophers won 41-13. Next Week: 17Iowa at 20NW; PUR at WIS; RUT at IND; 7MSU at 12MICH; NEB at MINN; PSU at 1OSU

Pac 12: I guess you could say USC pulled a USC. The Trojans fired head coach Steve Sarkisian on Monday after their 12-17 loss to Washington at home. This USC team had scored at least 31 points in their previous games, so seeing them only score 12 was weird. The Trojans turned the ball over 3 times in this game. Things are not looking great for this USC team. Utah benefitted from 6 California turnovers (5INTs from Jared Goff) in their 30-24 win. Devontae Booker carried the ball 34 times for 222 yards and 2TDs for the Utes. Cal made it all the way to the Utah21, but turned the ball over on downs with 26 seconds remaining. Neither team looked overtly impressive in this game (at least during the first half while I was still awake). Arizona crushed Oregon State 44-7 to rebound from their big loss to Stanford last week. Oregon suffered another home loss, this time falling 38-45 to Washington State in 2OT. The Ducks are struggling without Vernon Adams at QB even though RB Royce Freeman rushed for 246 yards and 2TDs. The Cougars outgained the Ducks 641-533 (WSU QB Luke Falk was 50-74 for 505 yards and 5TDs). Oregon needs to find a way to get back to being Oregon. Arizona State didn’t have any trouble with Colorado, beating the Buffalos 48-23. Next Week: 18UCLA at 15STAN (Thurs); ORST at WSU; USC at 14ND; ARI at COLO; ASU at 4Utah; ORE at WASH

Big 12: TCU once again faced a major upset. This time they escaped with a 52-45 win over Kansas State. The Horned Frogs trailed 17-35 at the half of this game and outscored the Wildcats 35-10 in the second half. The go-ahead score was a 55-yard TD pass with 1:11 remaining in the game. The win was sealed when KSU fumbled with 53 seconds left and TCU recovered. Baylor beat Kansas 66-7 and showed they are probably the most consistent team in the country, scoring 60+ points in every game but one (where they scored 56). Texas pulled off a big win against rival Oklahoma 24-17 in the Red River Showdown. The Longhorns and coach Charlie Strong needed this win and they played extremely well in this game. Texas has played arguably the toughest schedule in the country, with 5 of their 6 games being against teams currently ranked in the top 25. This could be the turning point for Texas. Oklahoma State survived West Virginia 33-26 in OT on the road in Morgantown. The Cowboys blew a 15-point halftime lead in this game, but were able to come out on top. Texas Tech beat Iowa State 66-31 to rebound from their big loss to Baylor last week. Next Week: WVU at 2BAY; TTU at KU; 19OU at KSU; 3TCU at ISU

ACC: Virginia Tech beat North Carolina State 28-13 thanks to a 21-point second quarter that saw Brenden Motley hit Isaiah Ford for all 3TDs. Clemson handled Georgia Tech 43-24. The Tigers scored 33 points in the first half of the game. Florida State barely got by rival Miami, beating the Canes 29-24. Miami actually took a 24-23 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the game, but couldn’t answer FSU’s final score. The ‘Noles remain undefeated and go to 3-0 in ACC games. Duke had no trouble with Army, winning 44-3. Pittsburgh held on to beat Virginia 26-19, after Virginia was unable to convert on 4th down on the Pitt42 with 35 seconds left in the game. Wake Forest got a road conference win over Boston College 3-0 this week. The ACC must be against scoring TDs. This isn’t even a surprising score coming from these two teams. The ending of this game was really stressful. BC had the ball almost at the goal line when the QB tried to spike the ball with about 1 second left (something you can’t do anymore). Syracuse lost 24-45 on the road to USF, and they allowed 35 points in the second half. Next Week: LOU at 11FSU; PITT at GT; VT at MIA; SYR at UVA; BC at 5CLEM; WF at UNC

Independent: Notre Dame overcame a close first half and beat Navy 41-24. Army got shut down by Duke in their 3-44 home loss. Once again, BYU got a late TD to win their game. This time it was against East Carolina and the score was a 9-yard TD run Algernon Brown with 19 seconds left to win 45-38. The Cougars started the 4th quarter with a 17-point lead, but allowed 17 unanswered points from the Pirates before the winning score. Next Week: CIN at BYU (Fri); Bucknell at Army; USC at 14ND

American: Houston got off to a slow start against SMU, but scored 21 in the second quarter and held SMU to just 7 points in the second half to win 49-28. Navy started off quick against Notre Dame but only scored 3 points in the second half and ended up losing 24-41 for their first loss of the season. Temple got to 5-0 with their 49-10 win over Tulane. South Florida got a win over ACC Syracuse 45-24 with a big 35-point second half. UCF continues to look pretty bad and is now 0-6 after their 13-40 home loss against Connecticut. Tulsa took an early lead in their game against ULM, but allowed 17 points in the 3rd quarter. The Golden Hurricane scored the final 14 points of the game to get a 34-24 win. East Carolina got themselves out of a 17-point hole at BYU, but once again, the Cougars pulled off a miracle with a TD with 19 seconds remaining, giving ECU the 38-45 loss. Next Week: CIN at BYU (Fri); 24HOU at TUL (Fri); 13OM at MEM; USF at UConn; TULS at ECU; UCF at TEM

Mountain West: Boise State got another big win, this time 41-10 on the road at Colorado State. Nevada rebounded from their loss to UNLV with a 35-17 win over New Mexico. Wolf Pack QB Tyler Stewart threw 2TDs and rushed for 2 more in the win. San Jose State beat UNLV in OT 33-27 in Vegas. The Rebels had to score 17 points in the 4th quarter to tie the game. The game-tying FG was 49 yards and came with 11 seconds left. The Spartans blocked UNLV’s FG attempt in OT and then went on to score a TD to win the game. Wyoming lost their 6th straight game of the season, this time in a 17-31 loss at Air Force. Utah State went on the road to Fresno State and crushed the Bulldogs 56-14. San Diego State also went on the road (air) to Hawaii and won 28-14 behind Donnel Pumphrey’s 3 rushing TDs. Next Week: 21BSU at USU (Fri); UNLV at FRES (Fri); AF at CSU; NEV at WYO; HAW at UNM; SDSU at SJSU

MAC: Toledo got another big win, this time in a 38-7 effort against Kent State. This moved the Rockets up to 22 in the AP poll. Western Michigan held off a huge late comeback from Central Michigan to win 41-39. The Chippewas scored 20 points in the 4th quarter, but Western Michigan put together a nearly 8 and a half minute drive to end the game and get the two-point win. Bowling Green had a close 1st quarter with Massachusetts, but the pulled away pretty quickly. The Falcons beat the Minute Men 62-38 with the help of a 24-point 3rd quarter. Ohio’s defense stifled the offense of Miami of Ohio in a 34-3 win. Akron went on the road to Eastern Michigan and scored 40 points in the first half. The Zips won 47-21 behind a 4TD passing performance from QB Thomas Woodson. After just 3 combined points in the first quarter, Northern Illinois and Ball State ended up scoring 100 total points. The Huskies won 59-41 and rushed for 6TDs in the game. Next Week: WMU at Ohio; EMU at 22TOL; BUF at CMU; NIU at MOH; GAST at BALL; AKR at BG; KENT at UMass

C-USA: Southern Miss looked like they might keep their game with Marshall close after going up 10-7 early in the second quarter, but it was not to be. Marshall scored the last 24 points of the game and won 31-10. The Golden Eagles turned the ball over 5 times, 4 of which were fumbles. USM outgained Marshall 439-277. Southern Miss shot themselves in the foot multiple times in this game. FIU had no trouble with UTEP, beating them 52-12 and scoring 42 points in the first half. Western Kentucky came out hot in their win over Middle Tennessee. The Hilltoppers scored 52 points in the first half and left the stadium with a 58-28 win. Rice took and early 14-7 lead over FAU, but allowed 19 unanswered points from FAU. Rice was able to come back and ended up winning the game 27-26. The Rice defense came up big with a sack on 4th down on FAU’s final drive. North Texas got trounced by FCS Portland State 7-66 at home. The Vikings rushed for 368 yards and 6TDs on the Mean Green. Louisiana Tech barely got by UTSA, needing a FG with 10 seconds left to beat the Roadrunners 34-31. The Bulldogs had a 24-10 lead going into the half. Next Week: WKU at UNT (Thurs); LT at MSST; MRSH at FAU; FIU at MTSU; CHAR at ODU; UTSA at USM

Sun Belt: New Mexico state got shut down by Ole Miss in a 3-52 loss on the road. Appalachian State went on the road to face Georgia State and won 37-3. Troy went to Mississippi State and lost 17-45 despite completely dominating the time of possession. The Trojans had the ball for an amazing 40:25. ULM fought back to take the lead against Tulsa, but then the Golden Hurricane scored the final 14 points of the game, giving ULM a 24-34 loss. Louisiana Lafayette used a big 28-point 3rd quarter to beat Texas State 49-27 in both team’s conference openers. This game was tied at 14 at the half, and the two teams had back-to-back kickoff return TDs late in the 3rd quarter. Arkansas State made an amazing comeback in Mobile against South Alabama on Tuesday. The Red Wolves were down 20-31 early in the 4th quarter but took advantage of multiple USA miscues. Their final two TDs came on a sack fumble and score and a pick 6. At one point in the 4th quarter, USA turned the ball over on 3 consecutive drives, all of which lead to TDs for Arkansas State. The Red Wolves won 49-31. Next Week: GAST at BALL; Idaho at Troy; NMSU at GASO; APP at ULM

Top 25
1Ohio State 49 Maryland 28
2TCU 52 Kansas State 45
3Baylor 66 Kansas 7
4Michigan State 31 Rutgers 24
5Utah 30 23California 24
6Clemson 43 Georgia Tech 24
7LSU 45 South Carolina 24
8Alabama 27 Arkansas 14
9Texas A&M BYE
Texas 24 10Oklahoma 17
11Florida 21 Missouri 3
12Florida State 29 Miami(FL) 24
18Michigan 38 13Northwestern 0
14Ole Miss 52 New Mexico State 3
15Notre Dame 41 Navy 24
16Stanford BYE
Washington 17 17USC 12
Tennessee 38 19Georgia 31
20UCLA BYE
21Oklahoma State 33 West Virginia 26 OT
22Iowa 29 Illinois 20
24Toledo 38 Kent State 7
25Boise State 41 Colorado State 10

Stats and Scores from ESPN.com