Bounce Back Saturday
…And on the 8th day of November in the year two thousand and thrice of our savior Jesus Christ, I rise from the shambles of Separation Saturday to once again, lay my hands on the happenings of college football.
Ever since Texas and Tennessee were demolished on October 11th, I’ve decided to go into hibernation on Texas and Tennessee football, but the resurgence of Texas and Tennessee and the lofty position of Southern California got me excited once again.
Let’s just say this wasn’t the greatest week to begin with. First, I had to live without electricity for the entire day and night on Thursday. I felt like the crypt keeper with a damn candle in hand everywhere I went inside my apartment. Let my experience serve as an example for everyone to not fuck with the government. After not transferring the account into my name, the City of Los Angeles Electric and Water Department finally cut me off after three months. But on the bright side, I got three months of free electricity out of it. Then later on Friday, I checked the TV listings to see which of the early games I’m getting on ABC. Is it going to be Tennessee at Miami, Michigan State at Ohio State, or Texas A&M at Oklahoma? That’s when I got the shock of my life. Instead of those top games, I’m getting a line up of “Lizzie McGuire”, “That’s So Raven”, “Kim Possible”, and part one and two of “Power Rangers Ninja Storm: Shimazu Returns”! My immediate reaction was something like this: F*****CK!! GOD D*MN MOTHER F*CKING WEST COAST C*CK S*CKING SONS OF BITCHES……And finally, on Saturday afternoon, as I tuned into FSN for the Texas vs. Oklahoma State game, I found the telecasting of the LA Kings vs. Carolina Hurricanes hockey game!! I couldn’t believe my eyes. After flipping through the channels, I was able to locate the FSN2 channel which had the Texas game. Alas, Comcast-LA doesn’t suck completely.
Despite the discouraging news, I woke up to watch GameDay at 7:30am, as usual and fell asleep as soon as the first game came on, as usual. Unlike past Saturdays, this time, I woke up from my little nap to some shocking surprises: Tennessee was leading 10-6 in the 4th quarter and Texas A&M was trailing Oklahoma 56-0? Wait, this cannot be true, let me get my glasses! Ok, Tennessee is leading 10-6 over Miami, and oh, I was wrong, Oklahoma was leading 63-0, wait no, it’s 70-0.
There were several important games on Bounce Back Saturday, all of which will dramatically change the top ten of the BCS rankings. Here are some of the important games.
Tennessee vs. Miami
Importance of the Game
This was an important game for both teams. For Tennessee, who is in a three-way tie in the SEC East, this win could propel them to the SEC Championship Game according to the new SEC tie-breaker rule: The team with the highest BCS standing will win the tie-breaker, but if two teams were within five spots of each other, the team who won the head-to-head matchup will advance. With a major win against Miami, Tennessee would only need to defeat Mississippi State, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt (combined record of 7-21) to wrap up a 10-2 regular season. If Georgia goes undefeated the rest of the way, they would likely win the SEC East, since they beat Tennessee 41-14. However, if Georgia were to lose to either Auburn, Kentucky, or Georgia Tech, Tennessee would win the SEC East. The other team involved in the tie is Florida who lost to Tennessee and would still have to play South Carolina and Florida State.
For Miami, winning this game will keep them in the hunt for the Sugar Bowl as one of the six teams fighting for the second spot in the BCS standings. Miami also needed to get back on the winning track after losing their first regular season game in three years last week against Virginia Tech.
The Game
Sometime between me watching Lizzie McGuire and me calling KABC to bitch about their Saturday Morning Cartoon lineup, Tennessee and Miami teed off in this clash of top twenty teams. The focus of the game is without a doubt on how will Miami bounce back against a good Tennessee team. I don’t think anyone gave Tennessee much of a chance considering how much the Hurricanes had to prove after the loss to Virginia Tech and the fact that the game is in Miami’s back yard.
Tennessee started the game with an eight-play drive that took 4:10, but had to punt. Miami followed with an eleven-play drive, taking up 4:53 and took a 3-0 lead on
Jon Peattie’s 31-yard field goal. In fact, both teams had long drives throughout the game. Tennessee only had two drives of three-and-out while Miami had none, but did commit four costly turnovers and had 121 yards of penalty compared to 60 by Tennessee.
Tennessee scored all their points in the 2nd quarter.
James Wilhoit’s 41-yard field goal came off of a
Kevin Simon interception of Miami quarterback
Brock Berlin. Tennessee later got the ball back and engaged on a 15-play drive that ate up 9:35 off the clock, ending in
Derrick Tinsley’s one-yard touchdown run on 4th and goal. The decision by usually conservative coach
Phillip Fulmer was crucial as it was the only touchdown scored, and Tennessee would never trail afterwards. The drive was aided by the Hurricane’s 35 yards of penalty. With 20 seconds left on the clock, the Hurricanes managed to move the ball to midfield and threw up a Hail Mary to tight end
Kellen Winslow Jr. with 9 seconds left. It appeared that Winslow was going to come down with the touchdown catch, but the Tennessee defender was able to recover and knock the ball out before Winslow had possession.
Miami stormed out during the beginning of the 2nd half with a 40-yard dash by runningback
Jarrett Payton that gave Miami 1st and goal at the nine-yard line. However, the Hurricanes were unable to take advantage and had to settle for a 22-yard field goal. That would be the last score of the game.
Miami’s first drive in the 4th quarter brought the ball inside the Tennessee 31-yard line, but Berlin fumbled the football which was recovered by
J.T. Mapu. After a three-and-out, Miami was back in business inside Tennessee’s red zone with a little over four minutes left, but Berlin threw another pick to
Gibril Wilson. Miami’s last chance came when they forced Tennessee to punt with 1:55 left in the game; however, it just seems not to be the Cane’s day as
Sean Taylor fumbled the punt and was recovered by the guy who scored the only touchdown, Derrick Tinsley. Tennessee would secure the win after that by running out the clock.
Despite getting less than 100 yards both rushing or passing (89 yards rushing, 81 yards passing), Phillip Fulmer and the Tennessee Volunteers pulled off a tremendous upset on Saturday. The unsung hero of the Vols had to be punter
Dustin Colquitt, who had five punts for 215 yards. His final punt forced the returner to approach the ball from an awkward angle near the sidelines, which led to a fumble that sealed the game. The victory kept Tennessee’s hopes for the SEC Championship and a BCS Bowl game alive. Miami on the other hand is eliminated from the National Championship race. Adding insult to injury, the team is facing a world of questions including whether the team can win the Big East, who’s going to be the quarterback next week against Syracuse, and what would happen to Kellen Winslow Jr. after his ridiculous comments after the game. Personally, I’m sick of Winslow and his mouth, so I will not comment on it. I prefer to write about football, not some prima donna who has a big mouth despite putting up disappointing numbers. I was especially sick of hearing him comparing football to war. If you have read my introduction, you’ll know how I feel about that.
Texas vs. Oklahoma State
Although nothing will set things “just right” for us Longhorn fans until we beat Oklahoma, I’ll settle for back-to-back blowouts of top 25 Big 12 opponents for now. After beating Nebraska 31-7, and shutting up Trev Alberts in the process, Texas won their fourth straight contest in dominating fashion, defeating Oklahoma State in Stillwater, OK. Despite having two losses, Texas still has a chance at a BCS bowl berth. If USC advance to the Sugar Bowl, there are talks that Texas could face either Michigan or Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
The game was close for the 1st half. After that, Oklahoma would not score another point, while Texas lit up the scoreboard.
In the 1st Quarter, Texas fullback
Will Matthews scored the first touchdown of his career. Oklahoma scored on three field goals by
Luke Phillips, including booming kicks of 52 and 53 yards. His 53-yarder was especially impressive as the ball was clearly wide right after leaving his foot only to curve back between the uprights like a
John Smoltz slider. I was so shocked to see the kick go in that I was demanding an inspection of the ball for scuff marks! The key to the 1st quarter was an ankle injury to Oklahoma State starting running back
Tatum Bell. Bell would rush for 35 yards and not return for the rest of the game.
The 2nd quarter saw the Cowboys extend their lead to 16-7 on a
Rashaun Woods touchdown catch. On the ensuing Texas drive, the Longhorns needed only three plays and 1:20 to complete a touchdown drive featuring
Vincent Young’s 67-yard touchdown strike to
Roy Williams. That would be the last score before halftime. Little did Oklahoma State know that the touchdown will be the first score of a stretch of 48 unanswered points.
The second half was completely one-sided as the Longhorns played the best quarter of the year by scoring 27 in the 3rd. Texas added 14 in the 4th to complete a 55-16 beating of their Big 12 South foes.
Once again, Vincent Young showed the nation why he should be the Heisman favorite for next year. The dazzling red-shirt freshman rushed for 95 yards while passing 9-13 for 195 yards and a touchdown. Throughout the season, Young has run for 10, 13 yard scrambles including the Oklahoma State game. Even in the 65-13 loss to Oklahoma, Young has shown that the Sooners couldn’t keep up with his speed with a 27-yard touchdown run, and an electrifying 59-yard run. I’m still waiting to see what it’s like for Young to run “full speed”, because his runs all seem so effortless.
Mississippi vs. Auburn
Despite being undefeated in the SEC and a quarterback as a top Heisman hopeful, the Ole Miss Rebels are just not getting any respect in the Associated Press poll (#20), ESPN/USA Today poll (#24), or the BCS (#23). They did lose to Memphis and Texas Tech early in the year, but the Rebels would face Auburn and LSU in consecutive weeks in hope to become the last team to win the SEC West. This week they took on Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Everyone knew that Ole Miss has a powerful passing offense, but little did they know that the Rebels rank 14th in the nation in run defense, allowing only 96.9 yards per game. The stats never lie as Auburn was held to 158 yards rushing and only one rushing touchdown. However, Auburn took advantage of the porous Rebel secondary as
Ben Obomanu went for 6 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown. Obomanu had receptions of 68 and 51 yards, but became the man to blame as he dropped a wide open 10 yard pass in the back of the endzone that would have put the Tigers up 27-24 with 40 seconds left in the game.
Trailing 17-20 with 7:20 left in the game,
Eli Manning led the Rebels on a 10-play drive including a clutch 48-yard completion on 3rd and 5 at their own 40-yard line to
Lorenzo Townsend. The Rebels would have
Brandon Jacobs score from two yards out to take the lead for good at 24-20. Before that drive, the Rebels had zero yards in the 4th quarter. This performance definitely boosted Eli Manning’s Heisman Trophy status, although all candidates are a clear second place compared to Oklahoma quarterback Jason White at this point.
Michigan State vs. Ohio State
It seems like Ohio State finally found their running game and won’t be missing
Maurice Clarett anymore. Junior running back
Lydell Ross had 24 carries for 125 yards against the Spartans and had his third straight 100 yard game as he rushed for 110 yards, 1 touchdown last week at Penn State and 167 yards, 3 touchdowns the week before that against Indiana. The Buckeyes were able to rush for 182 yards as a team and only gave up five yards rushing to Michigan State.
Jeff Smoker had 351 yards passing and two touchdowns, but threw two interceptions, one resulting in a 17 yard touchdown reception from
Craig Krenzel to
Ben Hartsock.
The win allows the Buckeyes to survive the first game of a three game series against top 15 opponents. It doesn’t get any easier from here as Purdue comes knocking next week followed by a trip to the Big House against an offensive-minded Michigan Wolverines team.
Other Games With BCS Implications
Virginia Tech vs. Pittsburg
Larry Fitzgerald broke
Charles Rogers’ record by having a touchdown reception in 15 consecutive games, but what’s more important is that another one of the six one-loss BCS-hopefuls went down. Virginia Tech has been on a roller coaster ride for the past three weeks as they lost to West Virginia, beat undefeated Miami, and lost to Pittsburg. Despite
Kevin Jones’ 241 yard, 4 touchdown performance, turnovers killed the Hokies’ chance at the Sugar Bowl.
Florida State vs. Clemson
Bowden Bowl V was expected to be a blowout. It is, but the other way around. Florida State was ranked #3 in the BCS and was a 17 point favorite, but ended up losing by 16 points to a Clemson team that lost to Wake Forest 17-45 the week before. I think
Bobby Bowden is secretly looking out for his cub as
Tommy Bowden was on the hot seat at Clemson.
Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma
This one was just embarrassing. A year removed from A&M’s upset of Oklahoma in College Station, the Sooners had their payback, plus interest. Heisman hopeful
Jason White passed for five touchdowns, all in the first half as the Sooners beat the Aggies 77-0. This game proved two things. First, Oklahoma is unquestionably the number one team in the nation. Second, Texas A&M is no longer the power house it was in the 1990s. The Wrecking Crew has simply became The Wreck. A&M had 54 yards of total offense, 63 yards of penalty yards, and allowed 639 yards. Ridiculous!!
Other Notables
John Gagliardi of division III St. John’s Johnnies won his 409th game to break
John Robinson’s record for most wins in college football.
The Duke Blue Devils broke their 30-game ACC losing streak by beating Georgia Tech 41-17.
B.J. Symons of Texas Tech and
Scott Rislov of San Jose State both passed for seven touchdowns.
In the matchup of cellar dwellers Indiana (1-8) and Illinois (1-9), Indiana’s quarterback
Matt LoVecchio rushed for a touchdown with 24 seconds left to win the Battle In the Basement. It’s likely the Big Ten will have two winless teams in conference play since Penn State and Illinois doesn’t play each other.
Arizona snaps its 13-game losing streak at home by beating Washington 27-22. Arizona also snaps an eight-game losing streak. The win is timely as the Wildcats host #2 USC next week.
