Week 7 Recap

Week 7 was an interesting one in college football. There were a lot of marquee matchups and they did not disappoint. If you weren’t watching the Michigan-Michigan State game, I’m so sorry. You missed an amazing ending to a great game. I’m pretty sure nothing else really topped that finish, so let’s just get right into the rest of what happened in the FBS in week 7.

How I Fared: (4-3 this week, 24-18 overall)

Conference Overviews
SEC: The SEC weekend started off on Thursday with a close game between Auburn and Kentucky. The Tigers took a 23-10 lead into the half, but were only up by 3 with 4 minutes left. Kentucky made it to the Auburn side of the field, but QB Patrick Towles was sacked on 4th down to seal the victory for Auburn. LSU got the win over Florida thanks to a fake FG that kicker Trent Domingue took in for a TD. The Tigers scored 28 points in the 2nd quarter and gave up the game tying 72-yard punt return TD late in the 3rd quarter. Leonard Fournette had another great game, rushing for 180 yards and 2TDs to bring his total to 14 for the season. Alabama went to College Station and took down A&M 41-23 thanks to 3 pick sixes. Derrick Henry also rushed for 236 yards and 2TDs in the game for the Tide while Texas A&M ran for just 32 yards as a team. Memphis took down the 13th ranked Ole Miss Rebels 37-24 to remain undefeated. From watching the game, it seemed like Memphis just wanted the win more than Ole Miss did. Laquon Treadwell had a big game with 14 receptions for 144 yards and a TD and he also threw a TD. Ole Miss only had the ball for 22:32 in this game. Mississippi State overcame an early deficit to beat Louisiana Tech 45-20. Dak Prescott was 30/43 for 347 yards and 3TDs and a rush TD in this game. Brandon Ladarius Bryant also ran back an interception 73 yards for a TD for Mississippi State. South Carolina used a 10-point 3rd quarter to beat Vanderbilt 19-10 in their first game without Steve Spurrier. Kicker Elliott Fry was 4/6 on FGs, but it was enough to win. The Commodores turned the ball over 5 times in this game. Georgia beat Missouri 9-6 in a defensive SEC East battle. UGA kicker Marshall Morgan missed a 26-yard FG late, but redeemed himself by hitting the go-ahead 34-yarder with 1:44 remaining in the game. Next Week: AUB at ARK, TENN at 8BAMA, MIZ at VAN, 15TAMU at 24OM, WKU at 5LSU, UK at MSST

Big 10: Ohio State finally won a game like they were supposed to. The Buckeyes beat Penn State 38-10. The offense really got going once JT Barrett was brought in. He threw 2TDs and rushed for 2 more. Does this mean we will see less of Cardale Jones next week? I don’t know and Urban Meyer is not telling anyone if he knows. The biggest game of the weekend was probably Michigan vs Michigan State, and that was before the ending. The Wolverines led the entire game and it looked like Jim Harbaugh was going to be the first coach in a long time to win his first game over Michigan State. All Michigan needed to do was punt the ball and defend the Hail Mary, and they would get a 23-21 win over their rivals. The punter wasn’t able to handle the snap and Jalen Watts-Jackson picked up the ball and took it 38 yards to the end zone to stun Michigan and the rest of the country. Michigan State had the edge in most of the stat categories, but was 0-4 on 4th down conversions. This will be one of those endings they talk about forever. I don’t think Michigan should have dropped in the polls because of this loss. In my opinion, they probably deserved to move up. I think the Wolverines belong in the top 10 and that Michigan State is not the 7th best team in the country, but I don’t make the rankings (at least not yet). Iowa stomped Northwestern 40-10, making me look a little dumb. I picked Northwestern in this game, but it wasn’t the worst pick I made this week. Iowa RB Akrum Wadley rushed for 204 yards and 4TDs in this game. Northwestern was never really in this game. Wisconsin beat Purdue 24-7 thanks to 3 rush TDs even though the Badgers only ran for 96 yards as a team. Purdue falls to 1-6 with this loss. There was a thriller in Bloomington and Rutgers came out on top. The Scarlet Knights rallied from 25 points down to beat Indiana and get their first Big 10 win of the season. Rutgers had a 27-24 lead at the half, but were outscored 28-6 in the 3rd quarter. Rutgers RB Robert Martin rushed for 3TDs and Leonte Carroo caught 3TDs in his return from suspension. Indiana threw two late INTs that lead to Rutgers TDs. Nebraska nearly doubled up Minnesota in their 48-25 win. Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong Jr. threw 3TDs and no INTs in this game. RB Terrell Newby rushed for 116 yards and 2 scores as well. Next Week: NW at NEB, WIS at ILL, PSU at MD, IND at 7MSU, 1OSU at RUT

Pac 12: I was surprised by the way the Stanford-UCLA game played out. I was pretty sure Stanford would win, but I was also pretty sure they wouldn’t score 56 points and give up 35. This game also included one of the greatest catches of the season and a very athletic pick 6. Cardinal QB Kevin Hogan was only 8/15 for 131 yards, but he threw 3TDs and got some help from his RB. Christian McCaffrey rushed for 243 yards and 4TDs in this game. UCLA still seems to be having a hard time without Myles Jack. QB Josh Rosen was 22/42 for 325 yards and 3TDs, but he also threw 2INTS, one of which was returned for a TD. Utah needed 20 points in the 4th quarter to beat Arizona State at home. Once again RB Devontae Booker made some big plays for his team. He had 118 rush yards and 2TDs, both in the 4th quarter. USC went on the road to 14th ranked Notre Dame and had the lead going into the 4th quarter. The Trojans ended up losing 31-41. Cody Kessler threw 2INTs in the 4th quarter. USC had the edge in yards 590-276, but also had 10 penalties for 105 yards. The Trojans made a good showing in their first game since Sarkisian was fired. Washington State got their first Pac-12 home win since 2013 in this game. WSU QB Luke Falk was 39/50 for 407 yards and 6TDs, all coming in the first half. The Cougar offense was shut out in the second half, but had accumulated a large enough lead to get the win. Arizona used a 21-point 4th quarter to beat Colorado 38-31. The Wildcats outgained Colorado 616-467 yards in this game. Colorado got the ball back with 38 seconds left but were unable to get past their own 18-yard line. Oregon got by Washington 26-20 in Seattle last week. The Huskies got the ball back with 47 seconds remaining, but the drive ended with an interception that sealed the win for the Ducks. This win brings Oregon over .500 and gets them to 2-2 in Pac12 play. Next Week: 20CAL at UCLA (Thurs), WSU at ARI, 3Utah at USC, COLO at ORST, WSH at 10STAN

Big 12: Baylor beat West Virginia 62-38 and continues to be the most consistently good team in the country. QB Seth Russell threw 5TDs and rushed for another in this game. WVU QB Skyler Howard threw 4TDS. Baylor had 693 yards. 3TCU overcame a big Iowa State first quarter and won 45-21. QB Trevone Boykin was 27/32 for 436 yards and 4TDs, and he added 74 yards and a TD on the ground. TCU is now 7-0, but they haven’t looked great getting there. Their defense needs to start being a little bit better if they want to make it to the playoff. Oklahoma took out all of their frustrations from the loss to Texas on Kansas State. The Sooners won 55-0 on the road and made me look pretty dumb for picking the Wildcats. OU QB Baker Mayfield threw 5TDs in this game and the Sooners rushed for 232 yards. Kansas State had 110 total yards. Texas Tech squeaked by Kansas 30-20. A late pick 6 sealed the win for the Red Raiders and ended the Jayhawk rally. Next Week: ISU at 2BAY, KSU at TEX, TTU at 17OU, KU at 14OKST

ACC: Clemson beat Boston College 34-27 to get to 6-0 for the season. QB Deshaun Watson was 27/41 for 420 yards, 3TDs, and 2INTs as well as a rushing score. The Tiger’s defense played well and held BC to just 246 yards. Florida State overcame a very slow start to beat Louisville 41-21. Louisville had a 7-6 halftime lead, but the Seminoles scored 21 in the 3rd and 14 in the 4th to overpower the Cardinals. RB Dalvin Cook had another big game, rushing for 163 yards and 2TDs. Pittsburgh escaped Georgia Tech in their 31-28 win on the road. The go-ahead FG came from 56 yards out off the foot of Chris Blewitt (owner of the worst possible name for a kicker). Georgia Tech got the ball back with 1:11 left, but the drive ended in an interception, sealing the victory for Pitt. Miami beat Virginia Tech 30-20 with the help of 4 Hokie turnovers, 3 of which came in the second half. Virginia won a triple-OT thriller over Syracuse 44-38. The two were even in most stat categories, but Jordan Ellis’s 3-yard TD run in the 3rd OT is the only stat that really matters, well that and Ian Frye’s 25-yard FG as time expired to send the game into OT. North Carolina thumped Wake Forest 50-14 behind a 29-point second quarter. UNC QB Marquise Williams threw 3TDs and rushed for another in this game. The Tar Heels only had the ball for 23 minutes. Next Week: 6CLEM at MIA, NCST at WF, 25PITT at SYR, BC at LOU, UVA at UNC, 23Duke at VT, 9FSU at GT

Independent: BYU once again did what they do best. They Cougars scored 21 points in the 4th quarter to beat Cincinnati 38-24. QB Tanner Mangum was 19/32 for 252 yards and 2TDs. Notre Dame beat USC 41-31 in South Bend and got to 6 wins on the season. The Irish started off quick with a 21-point first quarter, but let USC catch up and take the lead midway through the 3rd quarter. Notre Dame then scored 17 unanswered points and picked off USC QB Cody Kessler twice in the final 15 minutes. Army looked as if they were going to get beat by FCS Bucknell, but a 68-yard TD pass with 4:44 to go put the Black Knights up 21-14 and then they picked off the Bucknell QB strung together a 10-play drive to seal the win. Next Week: Army at Rice, Wagner at BYU

American: Houston had no issues going on the road to play Tulane. The Cougars won 42-7 and are now 6-0 on the season. RB Kenneth Farrow rushed for 3TDs on just 77 yards. Penalties were a big factor in this game with the two teams combining for 22 flags and 232 penalty yards. Cincinnati gave up a 7-point lead entering the 4th quarter and lost to BYU 24-38. The Bearcats allowed 21 points in the 4th quarter from BYU. Cincinnati had 6 possessions in the second half and 5 of them ended in punts. This loss drops Cincy to 3-3. Memphis upset 13th ranked Ole Miss 37-24 at home this weekend. This win finally gave the voters the proof they needed to rank the Tigers. It looked like it might be all Ole Miss when the second play from scrimmage was a 68-yard TD pass from Laquon Treadwell to Quincy Adeboyejo. The Rebels then scored again to go up 14-0. Memphis then proceeded to score 31 unanswered points and just flat outplayed Ole Miss. The Tigers had the ball for 37:28 and held Ole Miss to just 40 yards on the ground. South Florida beat Connecticut 28-20 on the road. Connecticut had 6 drives where they made it passed the USF 40-yard line and came away with no points. It’s hard to win games when you don’t capitalize on opportunities. East Carolina beat Tulsa 30-17. All 17 of Tulsa’s points came in the 4th quarter. Tulsa started off with what seemed to be a great drive until Josh Hawkins picked off Dane Evans and ran it back 100 yards for a TD. After that it was pretty much all ECU until the 4th quarter. Temple went into the 4th quarter down 2 points against winless UCF. Jahad Thomas rushed for 2TDs in the final 15 minutes to seal the win for Temple. The Owls are now ranked despite having some close wins over not-too-great competition. UCF is now 0-7 and becomes the first team to be eliminated from bowl contention. Next Week: 22TEM at ECU (Thur), 18MEM at TULS (Fri), 22HOU at UCF, TUL at Navy, SMU at USF, UConn at CIN

Mountain West: UNLV needs to learn how to finish games. This week UNLV went to Fresno State and lost 28-31 after having an 11-point lead going into the 4th quarter. UNLV could not get its offense going in the 4th quarter and Fresno State capitalized on good field position twice to get the win over the Rebels. Utah State shocked Boise State and the rest of the country by winning 52-26. Boise State turned the ball over 8 times in the game and 7 came in the first half. There really isn’t much more to say. Utah State took advantage of the Bronco’s miscues and got a huge win over a ranked team. Colorado State beat Air Force 38-23 behind QB Nick Stevens’ nearly 300 yards passing and 3TDs. Wyoming got their first win of the season against Nevada 28-21. The Wolf Pack got the ball back down 7 with 3:19 left, but QB Tyler Stewart was sacked on 4th down and then Wyoming was able to run down the clock. New Mexico beat Hawaii 28-27 after being down by 10 at halftime. The go-ahead score came with 55 seconds left on the clock after Hawaii kicker Rigoberto Sanchez missed a 22-yard FG. Hawaii’s next drive ended in an interception and allowed New Mexico to take a knee to win the game. San Diego State didn’t have any trouble going on the road to face San Jose State. The Aztecs won 30-7 and shut out the Spartans in the second half. SDSU outgained SJSU 377-148 yards and 233-35 in rush yards. Next Week: USU at SDSU (Fri), FRES at AF, HAW at NEV, UNM at SJSU, WYO at BSU

MAC: There weren’t many competitive games in the MAC this week. Toledo had another big win this week. The Rockets beat Eastern Michigan 63-20 after trailing 0-6 to start the 2nd quarter. QB Phillip Ely threw 4TD passes and the Rockets rushed for 238 yards and 3TDs as a team. Toledo only had the ball for 23:31 in this game but still racked up 611 yards of offense. Western Michigan thumped Ohio 49-14 on the road behind QB Zach Terrell’s 3TDs passes and rush TD. The Broncos rushed for 430 yards and 4TDs as a team. Central Michigan used a 37-point first half to beat Buffalo 51-14. QB Cooper Rush threw 4TDs and rushed for another in this game. Northern Illinois went on the road to Miami of Ohio and won 45-12. RB Joel Bouagnon rushed for 134 yards and 3TDs to help get the win for the Huskies. Ball State lost 19-31 to Georgia State at home. The Cardinals got within 5 points, but punted on their next two drives and threw an INT on their last drive. Bowling Green crushed Akron 59-10. QB Matt Johnson was 25/30 for 357 yards and 5TDs. The Zips turned the ball over 4 times. Kent State held off Massachusetts to win 15-10 on the road. The Golden Flashes shut out the Minutemen in the second half. This game was a defensive struggle and Kent State came out on top. Next Week: BG at KENT, MOH at WMU, 19TOL at UMass, CMU at BALL, Ohio at BUF, EMU at NIU

C-USA: Western Kentucky had another big game, this time beating North Texas 55-28 on the road. QBs Brandon Doughty(WKU) and DaMarcus Smith(UNT) each threw 4TDs and an INT. The difference was WKU’s rushing. The Hilltoppers rushed for 3TDs. North Texas is now at 0-6 on the season. Louisiana Tech came out strong in this game with an early 14-0 lead, but ended up losing to Mississippi State 20-45. After the first quarter they were held to just 2FGs by Mississippi State. Marshall beat Florida Atlantic 33-17 on the road. The Thundering Herd rushed for 326 yards and 3TDs to top the Owls. Middle Tennessee was able to survive a late rally by Florida International to win 42-34. MTSU RB Desmond Anderson rushed for 144 yards and 3TDs for the Blue Raiders and Kamani Thomas added two more scores on the ground. The Golden Panthers scored 15 in the final quarter but were stopped on downs with just over a minute remaining. Old Dominion squeaked by Charlotte 37-34 for their first conference win of the season. The go-ahead TD and two-point conversion came with 2:19 remaining. Charlotte went into the half with a 24-12 lead, but turned the ball over twice in the second half and had a missed FG. Their final drive was stopped with 11 seconds left at the ODU 44-yard line. Old Dominion QB David Washington was 25/43 for 365 yards and 4TDs in this game. Southern Miss beat UTSA 32-10 to improve to 4 wins. This is significant because the Golden Eagles only won 3 games last season. USM outgained the Roadrunners 556-205 yards but also had 4 turnovers. All 10 of UTSA’s points came in the 3rd quarter. Next Week: Army at Rice, USM at CHAR, MTSU at LT, UNT at MRSH, ODU at FIU, FAU at UTEP, WKU at 5LSU

Sun Belt: Georgia State beat Ball State 31-19 on the road thanks to a 17-point second quarter. QB Nick Arbuckle was 28/38 for 412 yards and a TD and he also rushed for 2TDs. The Panthers rushed for 3TDs on just 33 net rush yards. Idaho overcame a late Troy rally to win 19-16 on the road. This game was all about the kickers. Idaho kicker Austin Rehkow was 4/5 with his only miss coming on a 52-yard attempt. Troy kicker Jed Solomon was 3/4, but he missed the game tying FG from 32 yards away with 32 seconds left. Troy’s only TD came following a successful on-side kick. Georgia Southern had no problem with New Mexico State, winning 56-26. The Eagles rushed for 507 yards and 7TDs. Aggie QB Andrew Allen was 20/37 for 253 yards and 3TDs. Georgia Southern had control of this game from the get go. Appalachian State went on the road and throttled ULM 59-14. QB Taylor Lamb was just 8/15, but threw for 261 yards and 3TDs and added 103 yards and a score on the ground. The Mountaineers outgained the Warhawks 654-350 yards. ULM was also just 1-4 on 4th down. There was another Tuesday game this week in the Sun Belt, and Arkansas State beat Louisiana Lafayette 37-27. The Red Wolves scored 34 points in the first half and were held to just a FG in the 2nd half. Arkansas State rushed for 306 yards and 2TDs as a team. Cody Brown returned an INT for a TD early in the second quarter. ULL got scored to cut the deficit to 10 points early in the 4th quarter, turned the ball over on downs on their final two drives. Next Week: GASO at APP (Thurs), ULM at Idaho, USA at TXST, Troy at NMST

Top 25
1Ohio State 38 Penn State 10
2Baylor 62 West Virginia 38
3TCU 45 Iowa State 21
4Utah 34 Arizona State 18
5Clemson 34 Boston College 17
6LSU 35 8Florida 28
7Michigan State 27 12Michigan 23
10Alabama 41 9Texas A&M 23
11Florida State 41 Louisville 21
Memphis 37 13Ole Miss 24
14Notre Dame 41 USC 31
15Stanford 56 18UCLA 35 (Thurs)
16Oklahoma State BYE
17Iowa 40 20Northwestern 10
19Oklahoma 55 Kansas State 0
Utah State 52 21Boise State 26 (Fri)
22Toledo 63 Eastern Michigan 20
23California BYE
24Houston 42 Tulane 7 (Fri)
25Duke BYE

Stats and Scores from ESPN.com