Winners and Losers: Conference frontrunners emerge after wacky Week 7
It took seven weeks, but some teams across the college football landscape have finally begun to separate themselves from the rest of their conferences foes and thusly establish themselves as top contenders for the College Football Playoff.
Let’s start in the Big Ten. Sorry, Michigan fans.
It took an improbable last-second gaffe from Michigan’s punter, but Michigan State improved to 7-0 (3-0 Big Ten) with a dramatic 27-23 win over its in-state rival. The Spartans haven’t looked great with narrow wins over the likes of Purdue and Rutgers, but undefeated is undefeated.
Ohio State kept pace with the Spartans at the top of the Big Ten East by disposing of Penn State with a 38-10 home win. The Buckeyes’ offense has been inconsistent at best, but it looked impressive by racking up more than 300 yards on the ground against a solid PSU front. Urban Meyer mixed and matched Cardale Jones, J.T. Barrett and even Braxton Miller behind center, and the Buckeyes stayed undefeated (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) and looked good in the process.
Meanwhile, in the Big Ten West, Iowa has pulled away from the pack by improving to 7-0 (3-0) with a blowout win over Northwestern.
In the SEC it was LSU that jumped into first place with an impressive win over Florida, thanks in large part due to a classic Les Miles fake field goal touchdown. The Tigers are now 4-0 in conference play and 6-0 overall with Alabama nipping at the heels in the West division. The Crimson Tide pulled off a very solid win by forcing four Texas A&M interceptions to improve to 6-1 (3-1 SEC) on the year. That Nov. 7 LSU-Alabama game in Tuscaloosa comes even more into focus with huge league stipulations, though Ole Miss holding the tiebreak edge over Alabama from its Week 3 win over the Tide could come into play.
Florida (6-1, 4-1) remains on top in the East, but the Gators’ Halloween matchup against Georgia (5-2, 3-2 after being Mizzou) is now a must-win. Otherwise, the Gators have to count on the Bulldogs stumbling against mediocre competition somewhere down the stretch.
The usual suspects – Florida State and Clemson – reign supreme in the ACC Atlantic. Both improved to 6-0 with wins on Saturday. FSU beat down Louisville 31-21 behind big efforts from Dalvin Cook and Everett Golson while Clemson made quick work of Boston College at home. And if both continue to beat inferior teams, their Nov. 7 matchup likely decides the division. The Coastal, on the other hand, is a lot more convoluted with Pitt, Duke and UNC all 5-1 and unbeaten in league play.
Meanwhile, the two Pac-12 divisions are Utah’s and Stanford’s to lose.
While the cream is rising to the top in those leagues, the Big 12 is still wide open with TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State all still undefeated. And with games against those three still to come, you can’t quite count out Oklahoma at this point either, despite the tough loss to Texas last week.
And we’d be remiss not to give the AAC a cursory mention, especially after Memphis upset No. 13 Ole Miss 37-24 at home. Along with Memphis, Houston and Temple are both still undefeated in the quest for that cherished berth in a New Year’s Six bowl. Memphis plays both the Cougars and Owls in back-to-back weeks in November. And if the Tigers come out of that stretch unscathed and go on to win the AAC, the College Football Playoff chatter will deservedly ramp up.
WINNERS
Ferris State QB Jason Vander Laan: Vander Laan set the all-division NCAA record for rushing yards by a quarterback on Saturday with a 53-yard touchdown run against Ohio Dominican.
Vander Laan broke Wofford quarterback Shawn Graves’ 23-year-old record of 5,128 rushing yards. Vander Laan rushed for a game-high 159 yards and ended the day with 5,216 yards in his career. That record won’t be easy to top, especially since Ferris State is only halfway through its season and Vander Laan is just a junior. Ferris State improved to 6-0 overall.
Chris Blewitt, Pitt: Blewitt’s 56-yard field goal in the waning seconds against Georgia Tech gave Pittsburgh a 31-28 win and sole possession of first place in the ACC Coastal Division. The kick, which fell just over the crossbar and inside the right upright, was the longest in school history.
Pitt is now 5-1 for the first time since 2009 and, with a 3-0 mark in ACC play, the ACC Coastal is the Panthers’ to lose.
Idaho and Wyoming: We see you, teams in sparsely populated states outside of Power 5 conferences. We see you. Idaho got its first FBS win of the season with a 19-16 win at Troy. The win came after the Vandals had a 14-hour delay getting to Alabama and the team arrived the morning of the game. It also means that the Vandals will have two wins in a season for the first time since 2011. Wyoming beat Nevada 28-21 for the Cowboys’ first win of the season. After a 4-8 record in Craig Bohl’s first year in 2014, Wyoming was 0-6 entering the weekend.
Zach Pascal, Old Dominion: Pascal had a career day with 11 catches for 233 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-34 come-from-behind win against Charlotte. Included in Pascal’s big day was the game-winning touchdown with 2:18 remaining. Overall Pascal had 303 total yards of offense for the Monarchs.
Coming into the game Pascal had had a quiet season. After catching 59 passes for 743 yards and seven touchdowns a year ago, Pascal only had 14 catches for 124 yards and no scores prior to Saturday.
Everett Golson, Florida State: Efficiency, thy name is Everett Golson. After a turnover-plagued 2014, it seems hard to fathom that Golson would be the model quarterback when it comes to taking care of the ball in 2015. But here we are, six weeks into the season and Golson still hasn’t thrown an interception. Golson was 26-of-38 passing for 372 yards and three touchdowns in FSU’s 41-21 win over Louisville on Saturday. He now has over 1,400 yards passing and 11 touchdowns without an interception. While RB Dalvin Cook is deservedly getting Heisman love, Golson’s a big reason why Florida State is undefeated.
BONUS WINNER: Shawn Elliott: Shawn Elliott was put in a tough spot when he was named South Carolina’s interim head coach after Steve Spurrier announced his retirement. It wasn’t pretty, but the Gamecocks kicked the Elliott era off with a win, a 19-10 decision over Vanderbilt, and the team had a whole lot of fun in the postgame locker room.
LOSERS
Kansas’ kicking game: The Jayhawks had an opportunity to pull off the unlikely upset against Texas Tech, and would have been in a dandy position to do so has its kicking game shown up. Matthew Wyman missed an extra point and two field goals — a 52-yard attempt and a 34-yard attempt — and Nick Bartolotta missed a 22-yard field goal wide right.
Kansas found itself down three on its final possession of the game, but threw a pick-six to get the 30-20 final score. Kansas is 0-6 for the first time since 1988 and has lost nine straight dating back to last season.
Robert Nkemdiche on offense: Ole Miss has been using standout defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche on select offensive packages in 2015. The practice should stop after Saturday. Nkemdiche suffered a concussion in the second quarter while he was in on offense and didn’t return. Ole Miss lost to Memphis 37-24 after jumping out to a 14-0 lead. Think Ole Miss could have used Nkemdiche to help stop the Tigers’ run in the last three quaters? We do.
You, if you watched Missouri-Georgia: If you’ve ever complained about the increase in scoring in the SEC over the past few seasons, you’re required to watch Georgia’s 9-6 win over Missouri on a loop until you tap out. We have a feeling it won’t take long.
Both teams’ defenses were incredible. Or, if you would prefer, both offenses were absolutely dreadful. Missouri had six first downs and 21 rushing yards. Georgia QB Greyson Lambert was picked off on the first play of the game and could easily have had three or four more. Oh, and both teams missed field goals too.
The winning margin came when Marshall Morgan hit a 34-yard field goal with less than two minutes left. The three points might as well have been 30 as Missouri didn’t get a first down on its next drive.
Kansas State’s passing game: Oh, it was ugly. Well, there aren’t many things pretty about a 55-0 home loss (the worst in Kansas State history, by the way), but Kansas State’s passing game was an abomination. Quarterbacks Joe Hubener and Kody Cook, the wide receiver turned backup quarterback who saw playing time against Oklahoma State combined to go 5-of-22 for 45 yards and three interceptions. Yuck. This may be the season that Bill Snyder’s wizardry has run out. While the Wildcats should make a bowl game, it’s hard to see KSU finishing in the top half of the conference.
Indiana’s fourth quarter: This was ugly too. A 19-point fourth quarter lead at home against Rutgers should be safe, right? It wasn’t on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights scored 22 straight points in the final period for a 55-52 win. Indiana committed three turnovers in the final 15 minutes. A fumble directly led to a touchdown and Rutgers’ first score of the fourth. Then QB Nate Sudfeld threw two interceptions that led to 14 straight points and a tie game. Then a Rutgers field goal capped a 13-play drive with less than five minutes left for the win.
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