Michigan State and Missouri lose Game 1, Miami and Florida State upset

Both undefeated Michigan State and Missouri saw their national championship hopes evaporate this week as the tough Iowa Hawkeyes dug in at home to crush the Spartans, 37-6, and the equally defensive Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated the visiting Missouri Tigers, 31 – 17

When you add additional losses from Miami-FL to Virginia, 24-19, and Florida State to North Carolina State, 28-24, then 4 of AP’s Top 6 Top 25 teams with road games this week lost.

Away games are never easy, and when you have a target on your back like an unbeaten team and/or a top-ranked team, away games are even more dangerous for visiting teams.

The Michigan State Spartans, putting their perfect 8-0 record on the line, never had a chance against Iowa. The Hawkeyes’ first possession resulted in an 80-yard drive followed by a field goal followed by Tyler Sash intercepting a pass from Kirk Cousins ​​on the Iowa 28 and passing the ball back to teammate Micah Hyde, who ran 66 yards for the interception return. and an impressive score.

The result was a 17-0 lead which led to a 30 zip halftime lead. Michigan State came from behind to beat both Illinois and Northwestern in the past two weeks, but Iowa controlled both lines of attack.

Cousins ​​would throw 3 interceptions, and the Hawkeyes held the Spartans’ powerful running game to 31 yards. Iowa simply dominated all three phases of the game: offense, defense, and special teams.

Coach Kirk Ferentz’s win was the biggest against a ranked team in his 12 seasons in Iowa. AP Poll Top 25 voters were unimpressed with the Spartans’ performance, dropping them from 5th place to 16th place in the standings, this even though Iowa was ranked 18th entering; the Hawkeyes moved up three spots to 15th place now. MSU is now 8-1 and Iowa is 6-2.

Missouri was 7-0 and ranked seventh before coming to Nebraska. The Tigers’ scoring defense ranked fifth nationally, giving up just 13 points per game, but it was Nebraska’s defense — and offense — that turned up.

The Cornhuskers, ranked 14th, scored early and often.

Roy Helu ran 66 yards for a score, Alex Henery added a 41-yard field goal, Kyler Reed hauled in a 40-yard TD pass from Taylor Martinez, and Roy Helu had another 73-yard TD run. Suddenly, Nebraska was up 24-zip before the Missouri Tigers realized they were at a football game.

A 6-foot, 220-pound senior, Helu would score on another 53-yard run to set a school record 307 rushing yards on 28 carries (10.96 yards per carry) while scoring 3 touchdowns.

Taylor Martinez, Nebraska’s rookie quarterback, would leave with a bruised right leg in the second quarter after going 6-for-9 for 115 yards and Kyler Reed’s touchdown.

Missouri, like Michigan State, had a great run, and now reality has set in. Missouri fell in the standings from 7th to 14th, and Nebraska moved up from 14th to 9th: winners take the spoils.

Keep in mind that Nebraska is not a push.

The Cornhuskers are much more balanced than viewers across the country realize. They rank 12th nationally in scoring offense, 16th in scoring defense, 17th in total offense, and 19th in total defense.

Nebraska doesn’t play an easy schedule like second-ranked Boise State (7-0), fourth-ranked TCU (9-0) and sixth-ranked Utah (8-0), none of which are likely as good. as your records. might suggest. Nebraska’s schedule strength is currently 34th nationally, Boise State’s is 74th, TCU’s is 72nd and Utah’s is 98th.

Now there are only 5 undefeated teams left: Auburn and TCU are 9-0, Oregon and Utah are 8-0, and Boise State is 7-0.

Florida State, which had worked so hard to earn a 6-1 record and move up to 16th in the standings, lost to 39th-ranked North Carolina State, 28-24. The Seminoles won the first half 21-7, and the Wolfpack won the second half, 21-3. Credit the upset to NC State’s Russell Wilson and Nate Irving.

QB Wilson was 18 of 28 (64%) for 178 yards and a TD, also scoring 3 TDs on runs of 1, 10, and 20 yards. Wilson threw a 1-yard TD to George Bryan with 2:40 left, and Irving, playing through pain from a thumb injury early in the quarter, pounced on a fumble with 48 seconds remaining and Florida State was ready. to score and win. the game at the Wolfpack 9-yard line.

Both Florida State and North Carolina State are now 6-2, and the Wolfpack now has a chance to win an Atlantic Coast Conference division title and an ACC championship game.

The loss of the 22nd-ranked Miami Hurricanes to 94th-ranked Virginia was truly humbling, and it caused Miami to take a huge leap out of the AP poll.

The Virginia Cavaliers were in no mood to mess around in this contest, taking a 14-zipper lead at the half, seeing Miami off by 19 points in the fourth quarter and still winning 24-19. The Cavaliers were helped tremendously by a big hit on Miami quarterback Jacory Harris, leaving him on the grass for several minutes before exiting the game.

“When you cut off a giant’s head, the rest of the body goes with it,” said defensive tackle John-Kevin Dolce, who grappled with Harris’s chest just as he threw a pass and sent it airborne. You call a punch like that, hurting for sure. At the very least, Dolce’s quote should be on Hurricane’s locker room wall for next season. Sounds like fighting words to me.

After the vicious hit, the Virginia secondary posted a school record 5 interceptions with Harris’ replacements.

The top eight ranked teams went about business as usual, outscoring their opponents by at least 20 points to protect their records and rankings. They included Oregon, Boise State, Auburn, TCU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Stanford, and Arkansas.

No. 1 Oregon easily defeated 24th ranked Southern Cal 53-32 and proved once again that it has the most explosive offense in the nation. USC was really in this game and led in the third quarter, but that doesn’t mean squatting when you play Oregon.

After allowing the Trojans to take the lead, the Duck defense held them scoreless over the final 25 minutes while scoring 4 times on a 30-yard pass from Darron Thomas to Jeff Maehl, a 2-yard run from LaMichael James, a 34 yards. field goal by Rob Beard and another 8-yard run by James.

In the end, like so many Hollywood stars, the Trojans were left dazed and confused.

LaMichael James, the nation’s leading rusher (averaged 161 yards before the matchup), had 239 yards on 36 carries (6.64 ypc) and scored 3 times. Jeff Maehl had a career day with 8 catches for 145 yards with touchdown catches of 15, 30, and 45 yards, including one that was a one-handed grab and juggle. QB Darron Thomas was 19 of 32 for 288 yards and 4 TDs.

So, does Oregon end its games as a 10-cent final nail hit with a sledgehammer? I bet, as Sarah Palin would say. The Oregon Ducks have outscored their opposition 180-38 in the second half of their 8 game, 8 win run.

Last year, Oregon beat USC by 27 points to enter the Rose Bowl. With this year’s road win, it’s clear the new Pac-10 powerhouse isn’t Southern California, but Oregon.

No. 2 Boise State beat a lackluster Louisiana Tech team, 49-20. Number 3 Auburn shut out a not-so-great Mississippi team, 51-31, while Heisman favorite Cam Newton was 18-for-24 (75%) for 209 yards and 2 TDs without an interception, and also I was at the reception. end of a 20-yard TD pass. No. 4 TCU pummeled an absolutely horrible UNLV unit, 48-6.

No. 10 Ohio State on the road crushed a horrible Minnesota team, 52-10. No. 11 Oklahoma easily defeated Colorado, 43-10. No. 13 Stanford on the road shut down the Washington Huskies, 41-zip, who went up and down again. No. 19 Arkansas battered a weak Vanderbilt team, 49-14.

Six other top-ranked squadrons had some dubious victories. They included Utah, Arizona, South Carolina, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State, and Baylor.

No. 8 Utah on the road had its hands full with the Air Force, but prevailed, 28-23. No. 15 Arizona on the road took its time with UCLA before winning, 29-21. No. 17 South Carolina at home held Tennessee at bay, 38-24. No. 20 Oklahoma edged out Kansas State, 24-14. No. 23 Mississippi State scored in the fourth quarter against Kentucky to win, 24-17. No. 25 Baylor defeated 34th ranked Texas, 30-22, to leave the Longhorns at 4-4 and wondering where their season went.

Soccer can reflect life. There are big wins, impressive wins, hard wins, narrow wins, dog wins, and lucky wins. As with everything, winning is what’s important, but how you win can really affect your ranking. That’s why we separate solid wins from wins.

Some other results caught my attention.

Southern Mississippi, favored by 20 and down 14-6 at the half, roared to tie Alabama-Birmingham up 35 and go into overtime. In the second overtime, UAB would score and convert the 2-point conversion to win, 50-49, in perhaps the most exciting game of the week.

Marshall (a 2-6 team) stunned the visiting UTEP (now a 5-4 team), 16-12. Duke (other team 2-6), stunned Navy (now 5-3), 34-31. Temple (7-2), shutout Akron (0-9 and worst major team in America, 218th of 120 major college teams), 30-zip. Tulsa (now 5-3), outscored Notre Dame 28-27, dropping the not-so-fighting Irish to 4-5.

In a battle of really bad teams, North Texas (2-6) on the road beat Western Kentucky (1-7), 33-6. Nevada (7-1) won 56-42 over Utah State (2-6), and the victory gave the Wolf Pack 25th place in the new AP Poll.

No. 6 Alabama, No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 13 LSU and No. 21 Virginia Tech were inactive this week.

That’s all for this week. Time for a break. Just remember, candy is fancy (since it’s Halloween), but liquor is faster.

Copyright © 2010 Ed Bagley

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