Smooth Pancakes' Coaching Carousel Career

[SmoothPancakes]

I pretty much dominate New Mexico for the entire first half, shutting them out until they score a touchdown with about a minute left, only let them get about 60 yards rushing for the half. First drive of the third quarter? New Mexico starts on their 25 yard line and in five plays, they rush for gains of 22, 14, 25, 13 and 1 yards to score a touchdown. Glad to see the game can just turn the bullshit on whenever it feels like. Normally it's bullshit right from the very beginning when the game wants to cheat you, it's the entire game. This time apparently the game decided to let me jump out to a big lead and then turn on the bullshit and try to fuck me over.

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Seven





Game Story

--- Entering the second half of the season, we were sitting in a good position as the only remaining unbeaten team in the Mountain Division. Unfortunately, our two conference games had come against cross-division opponents, leaving all five Mountain Division opponents remaining on the schedule. The first one up would be New Mexico. The Lobos entered the game at 3-2 on the year, their two losses both coming in conference play.

It would be a potentially tough day with Brian Paris still sidelined with an injury, to go along with New Mexico having the #5 passing defense in the nation. The good thing for us, their rushing defense was ranked #114 nationally. As long as Benjamin Silva could get some momentum going early on and use that to build on as the game progressed, we would be in good shape. Luckily for our defense, the Lobos had a very poor offense, with the #119th total offense and #120th passing offense. Their only bright spot offensively was their rushing game, ranked #58 in the nation.

The keys to the game would be get our rushing game established and shut down Wyoming’s own rushing game, and based on those pass defense numbers, pass as sparingly as we can to avoid any unnecessary turnovers. The question would be just how good New Mexico would truly be. This was a two who we beat 87-7 in our first two years, only to blow a 17-7 halftime lead and lose 21-17 to last year as New Mexico crashed their way into a BCS bowl. If New Mexico had indeed suffered losses in graduation and failed to recover fully then we would be a favorable position today. If they had just had a couple bad losses but were still fully talented, today could be a long and rough day, especially with Paris out of the game. New Mexico would win the coin toss and elect to kick.

A 26 yard kickoff return by Leonard Hart would give us the ball to start at our 30 yard line. Starting our drive on the ground, Benjamin Silva would get right to work against New Mexico’s weak rushing defense, taking the first down handoff up the middle for 9 yard gain, followed by a 5 yard carry to get a new set of downs at the 43 yard line. A 7 yard rush by Silva on first down would be followed up with another 5 yard carry, giving us a first down at the New Mexico 45 yard line. Continuing to bring it right at the Lobos defense, Silva got the handoff on first down, fighting his way to an 8 yard carry, before a four yard rush would move the chains to the Lobos 33 yard line. Changing it up with a play action pass on first down, Jason Barnes would find Raymond Watson coming out of the backfield, but New Mexico would not bite on the fake, the pass going for no gain on the play. Returning to the ground, Silva would only gain two yards on the carry, bringing up third and 8. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, an 11 yard completion from Barnes to Aaron Allen would save the drive, moving the chains to the 20 yard line. Going back to the ground game on first down, Silva took the ball from Barnes for a four yard gain, followed by a big 9 yard rush by Kyle Hall, setting us up with first and goal from the New Mexico 6 yard line. Silva would return to the backfield on first down, weaving his way straight up the middle and fighting through two defenders to fall forward into the end zone for a 6 yard touchdown, giving us a 7-0 lead with 5:16 left in the first quarter.

A touchback on the kickoff would give New Mexico the ball at their 25 yard line. Lining up in the shotgun on first down, Alex Thomas would drop back and roll out to his right looking to pass down field, only to end up tripped by a dive at the ankles by our defensive tackle, sacked for a 10 yard loss on the play to put New Mexico into an immediate second and 20 hole. The Lobos would get those yards right back as a failed interception attempt allowed David Turner to haul in a pass from Thomas, good for a 10 yard gain, to bring up third and 10. Unfortunately for Thomas, our defensive line would prove better than New Mexico’s offensive line, as the pocket collapsed almost immediately right on top of Thomas, resulting in him being sacked for a 6 yard loss and forcing New Mexico to punt on fourth and 16. A 10 yard return on the 34 yard punt would give us the ball at the New Mexico 44 yard line.

Starting our drive in Lobos territory after the punt return, we decided to go right back to what worked best last drive, handing the ball off to Silva for a four yard gain up the gut, followed by a second gain of four yards to leave us with third and two. Putting the ball into the hands of Silva on third down, somehow, despite essentially being met at the line of scrimmage, he would somehow slip past the blitzing linebacker and fall forward onto a pile of bodies, body surfing his way to a third consecutive four yard gain and a new first down at the 31 yard line. Showing one hell of a streak of consistency, Silva would reel off a fourth straight four yard gain to give us second and 6. Silva’s run of four yard rushes would end on second down, but in a good way, as he found a huge gap and raced ahead for an 11 yard gain, giving us a first down at the 17 yard line. A first down rush by Silva would go for a three yard gain, followed by a 6 yard rush by Hall as he spun and high stepped his way out of three different tackle attempts, bringing up third and inches. Silva would get the call on third down and get the job down with a three yard rush, setting up first and goal from the four yard line. Silva would take the first crack at the end zone, rushing ahead for a three yard gain to the one yard line. Lining up on second and goal, Silva would get the job done as he plowed into the end zone for a one yard touchdown, giving us a 14-0 lead with 5 seconds left in the first quarter.

Another touchback on the kickoff would give New Mexico the ball at their 25 yard line. Running the ball on first down, the Lobos would find signs of life as Patrick Brown took the handoff and broke two tackles on his way to a 22 yard gain, a diving tackle at the ankles likely the only thing keeping it from being a 75 yard touchdown. That would be the final play of the first quarter, our lead standing at 14-0.

Opening up the second quarter, the Lobos would end up going backwards this time as Brown was tackled for a one yard loss to bring up second and 11. A second down screen pass to Dante Tyler would pick up 9 yards, bringing up third and two. Thomas would prove to be an elusive little fucker as he took off on a QB option, weaving his way up back and forth at top sprint speed before turning up the field and racing for a 25 yard gain, giving New Mexico a first down at our 21 yard line. Brown would get the call on first down, but our defense would trap him for a two yard loss to leave second and 12. Dropping back to pass on second down, Thomas would throw up an extremely questionable pass, his throw ending up nowhere near the receiver but rather straight to cornerback Leonard Hart, who standing in the middle of the field completely alone, made probably the easiest interception of his career, returning it 8 yards to the 21 yard line.

Lining up after the interception, we thankfully got back on the field without any damage. Silva would get our next drive started on the ground with a four yard rush around the right end, followed by a three yard gain to bring up third down and three to go. Despite the overwhelming success of our running game, we elected to go into the shotgun on third down, the pass from Barnes to our go to man Allen gaining us 13 yards and a new first down at the 41 yard line. Going back to our ground game on first down, Silva would get us right back on the move with an 8 yard carry, followed by a four yard rush to move the chains to the New Mexico 48 yard line. Two straight four yard rushes by Silva would leave us looking at third and two. Hall would get the call on third down, taking it straight up the middle of a HUGE gap for a 9 yard gain to move the chains to the 32. Silva would continue to punish the Lobos defense with a 7 yard carry on first down, followed by a gain of four yards to get another first down at the 20 yard line. Silva would rush his way to a four yard gain on first down, bringing up second and 6. Hall would get the call on second down, rushing straight up the middle, and despite being stuck in the middle of a pile of bodies, somehow, after a few seconds, Hall would manage to escape the mass and somehow stumble his way forward into the end zone for a shocking 16 yard touchdown, his first touchdown of his career, giving us a 21-0 lead with 4:02 left in the second quarter.

A touchback on the kickoff would set New Mexico up from their 25 yard line. Brown would get the Lobos off and running with a 13 yard carry and a first down at the 38 yard line. James Larson would get the ball on an end around on first down, picking up three yards on the play. Unfortunately for New Mexico, another pass attempt by Thomas would again end up intercepted by Hart, his second of the day and his second interception on consecutive New Mexico drives. Even worse for the Lobos, Hart would come up from behind the receiver and intercept the ball in stride, returning it 44 yards for a pick six touchdown, giving us a 28-0 lead with 3:17 left in the second quarter.

Another kickoff resulted in another touchback, New Mexico again lining up from their 25 yard line desperately looking for offense. A first down screen pass to Brown would pick up 8 yards, followed by another screen pass to Brown that would result in a six yard loss, bringing up third and 8. Unbelievably, chucking up a deep pass down the left sideline, cornerback Mike Moses would somehow fail to either intercept or knock down the pass, despite his entire body being between the receiver and the ball, allowing Jordan Curry to pull the pass in for a 59 yard completion and a first down at our 14 yard line. A QB option keeper on first down would see Thomas gain three yards, New Mexico calling their first timeout with 1:59 remaining. Brown would get the call on second down, rushing for a three yard gain before being tripped up from behind, leaving third and 5. A screen pass on third down would unfortunately let New Mexico find the end zone, as Edward Davis pull in the pass from Thomas and, thanks to our defense both biting on the screen and being sealed off in the end zone, moon walking into the end zone for a 9 yard touchdown, cutting our lead to 28-7 with 1:32 left before halftime.

A 31 yard kickoff return by Hart would give us the ball at our 36 yard line with only 1:26 left to play. Due to limited time, we came out in the shotgun on first down, but the pass intended for Adam Washington would be knocked down from behind by Super Man, leaving second down. Going under center on second down, the pass intended for Watson would get broken up, leaving third down. Thankfully, Allen would again come through for us when needed on third down, pulling in a pass from Barnes for a 17 yard gain, giving us a new set of downs at the New Mexico 47 yard line, our first timeout taken with 1:15 remaining. Washington would manage to pull in a pass from Barnes on first down, a comeback route getting him separation for a gain of 15 yards and a new set of downs at the 32 yard line. However we would go backwards on the next play as we rushed to the line, Barnes ending up tackled for a two yard loss on a failed option play to leave second and 12, our second timeout called with 1:06 to go. A second down pass to Hall would pick up just four yards on the play. Running to the line of scrimmage with the clock ticking, Barnes would try to connect with David Douglas over the middle, only to have the pass broken up by the middle linebacker, leaving fourth and 8. The 47 yard field goal attempt by Doug Marcus would end up just short of the cross bar, giving New Mexico the ball at their 30 yard line with 41 seconds to go.

Taking over after the failed field goal attempt, New Mexico came out passing on first down. Too bad for the Lobos, our defense was ready and would leave Thomas with no open receivers to pass to, allowing our defensive line to close down the pocket and sack him for a 6 yard loss, leaving second and 16. The Lobos wouldn’t take one of their two timeouts, letting the clock continue ticking under 30 seconds. In fact, the Lobos would take their time getting to the line and seemingly ready to go into halftime, as they wouldn’t snap the ball until there were two seconds left, an incomplete pass over the middle being the final play of the half and taking us into the locker room with a 28-7 lead.

Opening up the second half, a touchback on the kickoff would give New Mexico the ball at their 25 yard line to start the third quarter. A QB option keeper on first down would torch our offense, as Thomas escaped up the left sideline for a gain of 22 yard, giving the Lobos a quick first down at their 47 yard line. A first down rush by Brown would go for 14 yards and another first down for the Lobos at our 39 yard line as the game apparently decided to turn our defense into a bunch of fucking morons. Once again, our defense would just stand still as Davis took the handoff from Thomas and cakewalked his way to a 25 yard gain, giving New Mexico a first down at our 14 yard line. More bullshit would ensue as Thomas ran any direction he wanted at full speed like he was on fucking ice skates, picking up 13 yards on the QB keeper to give New Mexico first and goal at our one yard line, clearly the game deciding to bullshit me the entire second half. A one yard rush by Brown would cap off the five play 75 yard touchdown drive (that consisted solely of rushes of 22, 14, 25, 13 and 1 yards) to cut our lead to 28-14 with 8:51 left in the third quarter.

Naturally, our kickoff return team completely ignores half of the Lobos players coming down the field, limiting Hart to a return of just 20 yards to leave us starting at the 23 yard line. Getting us started on the ground, thankfully our running game still reigned supreme as Silva took the handoff for a 10 yard gain, leaving second and inches. Silva would take the second down carry around the right end for a four yard gain, giving us the early first down at the 37 yard line. Another rush by Silva would gain 7 yards, followed by a 6 yard rush by Hall to move the chains to the 50 yard line. Silva would keep us moving on first down with a two yard rush, before a 6 yard carry by Hall would leave third and two. Hall would get the call on third down, plowing his way forward for a 6 yard gain and a first down at the New Mexico 36 yard line. Silva would return to the backfield on first down, rushing for a gain of 7 yards, followed by a three yard rush to bring up third and inches. Hall would again get the call on third down, but he would get stood up for no gain on the play. Due to the failures of our kicker earlier in the game, we elected to go for it on fourth down, Silva fighting his way forward for a three yard gain and a first down at the 23 yard line. Hall would take over on first down with a 5 yard carry, followed by a 6 yard rush by Silva to move the chains to the 12 yard line. Continuing on the ground, Silva would fight to a three yard gain on first down, before a 7 yard rush by Hall would leave us looking at third and inches from the two yard line. Silva would get the call on third and down and just manage to gain a single yard on the play, setting us up with first and goal from the one yard line. Hall would try to punch it in on first down, only to end up going backwards one yard to leave second and goal from the two yard line. A two yard second down rush by Silva would advance the ball to just outside of the goal line, leaving third and goal. Hall would again try to punch it in on third down, only to end up tackled for no gain on the play. With the ball just outside the goal line, we elected to go for it on fourth down once more, this time Hall would get the job down with a one yard touchdown, capping off a monster 20 play drive that lasted over 7 ½ minutes, increasing our lead to 35-14 with 1:18 left in the third quarter.

Another kickoff, another touchback, another New Mexico drive starting from the 25 yard line. Dropping back to pass on first down, Thomas would try to connect with Turner deep over the middle, only to have the pass intercepted by cornerback Jesse Breedlove, giving the ball right back to our offense at the New Mexico 47 yard line.

Lining up in New Mexico territory following the interception, Hall would get our drive started on the ground with a four yard rush up the middle, followed by a two yard carry to leave us looking at third and four. Going into the shotgun on third down, Barnes was able to find Allen for a gain of 10 yards and a drive saving first down at the 31 yard line. That would be the final play of the third quarter, our lead standing at 35-14.

Opening up the fourth quarter, we lined up at the New Mexico 31 yard line on first down, looking to increase our three touchdown advantage. Starting the quarter back on the ground, Hall would get the ball for an 8 yard carry, followed by a rush for no gain to bring up third and two. Watson would get the call on third down, fighting his way to a three yard gain to pick up the first down at the 19 yard line. Hall would dash ahead on first down for a gain of four yards, followed by a one yard gain by Watson to bring up third and 5. Forced into the air on third down, Allen would again get the call from Barnes, only to have the initially caught pass dropped as he was blasted from behind by the safety to force fourth and 5. Settling for a field goal, the 31 yard field goal by Marcus would sail through the uprights, increasing our lead to 38-14 with 7:55 left in the fourth quarter.

New Mexico would again take over at their 25 yard line following a touchback on the kickoff. A screen pass to Brown would result in an 18 yard gain, as Brown would shake off three tackles and stiff arm TWO defenders simultaneously for an extra 10 yards, giving New Mexico a first down at the 43 yard line. Scrambling to avoid a collapsing pocket, Thomas would shake off a tackle and pick up two yards on the play before being speared into the ground to leave second and 8. A second down pass intended for Larsen would end up batted away incomplete, leaving the Lobos with third down. Another pass deflection on third down, this time by Jesse Breedlove on a pass intended for Turner, would leave the Lobos with fourth and 8, and the offense electing to go for it. New Mexico would attempt a screen pass on fourth down, only picking up two yards on the play and seemingly turning the ball over on downs. Of course, because the game is in the middle of trying to fuck me over, in a moment of typical bullshit, I suddenly and magically get flagged for a facemask penalty after the play, and New Mexico gets a brand new set of downs at our 38 yard line. Going into the air on first down, Thomas would find Curry for a gain of 17 yards and another new set of downs at our 21. Changing up our man defense and bringing a blitz on first down, Thomas was finally pressured and forced to throw the ball away, leaving the Lobos with second down. Continuing to blitz on second down, Thomas was forced to hurry a pass over the middle of the field, in the process overthrowing Turner for an incomplete pass to leave third and 10. Unfortunately for the Lobos, our four man pass rush would defeat their opponents and hit Thomas as he went to throw, his pass ending up a wounded duck in the middle of the field and incomplete to leave fourth and 10. New Mexico would elect to go for it on fourth down, and naturally, Thomas would throw a perfect pass right past our defender and into the hands of Turner for a 21 yard touchdown. Not content to just be behind by 17, the Lobos would go for the two point conversion, but our defense would manage to hold Brown to no gain on the rush, only cutting our lead to 38-20 with 6:08 left in the game.

We would line up for an onside kick on the following kickoff, but surprisingly the Lobos would kick it off deep, a 17 yard return by Douglas giving us the ball at our 22 yard line. Starting the drive on the ground on first down, Hall would rush forward for a gain of 6 yards on the play, followed by a four yard rush to leave us looking at third and inches. Watson would get the call on third down, fighting his way forward for a gain of 6 yards to give us a first down at the 37 yard line and keep the clock ticking. Hall would return to the backfield on first down, sprinting straight up the middle and through a huge gap for a gain of 16 yards and an instant first down at the New Mexico 47 yard line. That rush would give Hall his first career 100 yard rushing game, to go along with his first two touchdowns of his career. Watson would get the next carry, taking it for a 6 yard gain, followed by a three yard rush by Hall to leave third and one. Watson would get the call on third down, fighting forward for an 8 yard gain and a first down at the 30 yard line. Hall would return to the backfield on first down, but he would be quickly brought down for a single yard gain, leaving second and 9. Trying our luck with a play action pass on second down, despite the Lobos defense not falling for the fake, tight end Gerald Woods would still somehow manage to catch the pass behind the defender and work his way up the field for a 19 yard completion, giving us a first down at the 11 yard line. A three yard rush by Hall would be followed by a 5 yard rush by Watson, leaving us looking at third and two from the three yard line, the clock ticking underneath one minute as the Lobos seemingly accepted defeat with three timeouts remaining. Hall would take the handoff from Barnes and plow straight forward and into the end zone for a three yard touchdown, his third of the game, increasing our lead to 45-20 with 29 seconds left in the game.

A touchback on the kickoff would give New Mexico the ball at their 25 yard line, just 29 seconds left to play. New Mexico would seemingly raise the white flag as they handed the ball off to Brown for a one yard rush, but the Lobos would then immediately, and head scratchingly, call their first time out, stopping the clock with 26 seconds to go. Thomas would fake a hand off and keep the ball on the QB option play, only to be quickly brought down in the backfield for a loss of three yards, leaving New Mexico facing third and 12, their second timeout called to stop the clock with 22 seconds remaining. Lining up in the shotgun, Thomas would try to chuck up a pass to Larsen along the left sideline, only to have the pass intercepted by Moses to give us possession at the New Mexico 38 yard line with 16 seconds left to play.

Lining up on offense following the interception, it would be one of the simplest drives as Barnes would immediately drop to a knee on first down, running off the final seconds to seal our 45-20 victory over New Mexico.

With the win, we improve to 5-2, 3-0 in Mountain West action. With the loss, New Mexico drops to 3-3, 0-3 in Mountain West play. Up next, it’s back on the road to take on Colorado State. The Rams enter the game 2-5, 1-2 in Mountain West action. Colorado State started their year with a 31-17 loss to rival Colorado, then won 21-20 at Florida Atlantic. They would then go on a three game losing streak, losing 41-14 to UTSA, 34-15 at Minnesota and 14-0 to #7 Fresno State. The Rams would break back into the win column with a 45-24 victory at Wyoming before falling 31-24 at Hawaii.

Final Score
45, 20



Stat(s) of the Game:

Utah State Offense - A fairly quite day for Barnes, going only 8-12 for 89 yards and zero touchdowns. Rushing, Silva led the way with 177 yards and two touchdowns on 38 carries. Hall wasn't far behind as he had a career day, rushing for 124 yards and three touchdowns on 25 attempts. Watson finished with 29 yards on 6 rushes. Receiving, Allen was the main guy today with 51 yards on four catches. In all, five receivers caught a pass today, three of them for double digit yards.

Utah State Defense/Special Teams – The tale of two halves. The first half, the defense was incredible. The second half, the defense couldn't pull their heads out of their asses. Still, despite the failures of the second half, we still had some big performances, none bigger than Leonard Hart, who intercepted two passes for a total of 52 yards, including the 44 yard pick six that gave us a four touchdown lead not long before halftime. Jesse Breedlove and Mike Moses (to give us the ball back with just seconds left) would add interceptions in a hell of a pass defense performance.

Utah State Kicking – An imperfect day for Marcus going 1-2 in field goals with a 31 yard field goal but a miss short from 47 yards. He did however end up going 6-6 in PATs.




Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	0	7	14	6	20
	14	14	7	10	45

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
5:16		Touchdown	B. Silva, 6 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	7-0
0:05		Touchdown	B. Silva, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	14-0
Second Quarter
4:02		Touchdown	K. Hall, 16 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	21-0
3:17		Touchdown	L. Hart, returned interception 44 yards (D. Marcus kick)	28-0
1:32		Touchdown	E. Davis, 9 yard pass from A. Thomas (K. Allen kick)	28-7
Third Quarter
8:51		Touchdown	P. Brown, 1 yard run (K. Allen kick)	28-14
1:18		Touchdown	K. Hall, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	35-14
Fourth Quarter
7:55		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 31 yard field goal	38-14
6:08		Touchdown	D. Turner, 21 yard pass from A. Thomas (2-point conversion failed)	38-20
0:29		Touchdown	K. Hall, 3 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	45-20

Game Stats

New Mexico	Stat	Utah State
20	Score	45
11	First Downs	26
266	Total Offense	415
19 - 119 - 1	Rushes - Yards - TD	71 - 326 - 5
10 - 20 - 2	Comp - Att - TD	8 - 12 - 0
147	Passing Yards	89
3	Times Sacked	0
3 - 7 (42%)	3rd Down Conversion	13 - 17 (76%)
2 - 2 (100%)	4th Down Conversion	2 - 2 (100%)
0 - 1 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
2 - 2 - 0 (100%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	6 - 5 - 1 (75%)
4	Turnovers	0
0	Fumbles Lost	0
4	Intercepted	0
0	Punt Return Yards	10
0	Kick Return Yards	91
226	Total Yards	516
1 – 35.0	Punts - Average	0 - 0.0
0 - 0	Penalties	1 - 15
11:04	Time of Possession	28:56

Utah State Coach Goals

Goal	XP Reward	Completed
Win a Game	100	x1
Score a Touchdown	25	x6
Score a Defensive Touchdown	50	x1
Force a Turnover	25	x4
Rush for 100 Yards	25	x1
Kneel Last Minute Q4 While Ahead	10	x1
3+ Sacks	50	x1
Opponent Under 150 Rush Yards	50	x1
Opponent Under 300 Pass Yards	50	x1
Pass Completion Over 50%	30	x1
100% Red Zone Efficiency	50	x1
Score 21 or More Points	50	x1
350+ Offensive Yards	50	x1
10+ First Downs	50	x1
4+ 3rd Down Conversions	25	x1

Utah State Contract Goals Update

Goal	Expectations	Progress
Target Wins Per Season	8	5

Job Security Status

100%

[SmoothPancakes]

Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, in the upset of the week, #21 Baylor stuns #1 West Virginia 38-35. #2 UCLA demolishes Southern Miss 45-10. #4 Oklahoma survives Kansas 28-21. #5 Michigan dominates Maryland 49-24. #6 South Carolina tops Tennessee 48-27. Mississippi State knocks off #7 Florida 28-14. South Florida shocks #8 Cincinnati 21-14. #9 Florida State beats NC State 42-7. #10 Miami downs Virginia 42-20. #15 Kansas State knocks off #11 TCU 42-27.

#12 Fresno State beats Old Dominion 41-24. Vanderbilt surprises #14 Georgia 42-35. #16 Texas battles off Iowa State 44-38 in overtime. #18 Virginia Tech outlasts Duke 48-38. #19 Georgia Tech routs North Carolina 41-10. Arkansas upsets #20 Alabama 38-33. #22 Stanford doubles up Notre Dame 34-17. #23 Auburn takes down Texas A&M 38-21. New Mexico State knocks off #24 Arkansas State 23-21. Purdue upsets #25 Indiana 25-24.

For our readers, JeffHCross, #3 Ohio State remains 6-0 (3-0 Big Ten) with a bye week. Morsdraconis, #1 West Virginia falls to 6-1 (4-1 Big 12) with a 38-35 loss to #21 Baylor. Souljahbill, Southern Miss drops to 2-3 (1-1 C-USA) with a 45-10 loss to #2 UCLA. Jaymo, Arizona State remains 2-4 (1-2 Pac-12) with a bye week. LeeSO, #23 Auburn improves to 6-1 (3-1 SEC) with a 38-21 win over Texas A&M. SCClassof93, #6 South Carolina improves to 8-0 (6-0 SEC) with a 48-27 win over Tennessee. Other teams of interest, #24 Arkansas State drops to 3-2 (0-1 Sun Belt) with a 23-21 loss to New Mexico State. Florida International improves to 1-5 (1-1 C-USA) with a 30-13 win over Massachusetts. Navy drops to 3-3 (2-3 American) with a 35-31 loss to SMU. Tulsa drops to 1-5 (1-3 American) with a 38-25 loss to Tulane.

In Mountain West action, #12 Fresno State beat Old Dominion 41-24, Utah State topped New Mexico 45-20, San Diego State upended Nevada 38-12, San Jose State knocked off UNLV 38-22, Air Force survived Hawaii 31-28 and Boise State outlasted BYU 38-35.

Looking at undefeated teams left, #1 West Virginia, #7 Florida, #8 Cincinnati all lost this week, dropping our number of undefeated teams to 7. #2 UCLA (7-0), #3 Ohio State (6-0), #4 Oklahoma (5-0), #5 Michigan (7-0), #6 South Carolina (8-0), #12 Fresno State (6-0) and Penn State (7-0) all remain with an unblemished record this season.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 2 teams still looking for their first win: Buffalo (0-7) and East Carolina (0-6).

Teams getting their first win this week were: Florida International (30-13 over 1-7 Massachusetts), Kent State (45-42 over 3-4 Miami University) and UAB (56-28 over 2-3 Texas Tech).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, Ohio State (36 first place votes) jumps two and rightfully retakes #1, Oklahoma (24 votes) jumps two to #2, UCLA (1 vote) drops one to #3, Michigan climbs one to #4 and South Carolina moves up one to #5. West Virginia drops five to #6, Fresno State leaps five to #7, Florida State jumps one to #8, Miami moves up one to #9 and Kansas State jumps five to #10. Ole Miss climbs two to #11, Texas jumps four to #12, Florida drops six to #13, USC moves up three to #14 and Cincinnati falls seven to #15. TCU drops five to #16, Baylor jumps four to #17, Virginia Tech remains #18, Georgia Tech remains #19 and Stanford climbs two to #20. Mississippi State enters the poll at #21, Auburn climbs one to #22, Penn State enters the poll at #23, Louisiana Lafayette enters the poll at #24 and South Florida (251 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Georgia (from #14), Alabama (from #20), Arkansas State (from #24) and Indiana (from #25). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Temple (235 points) is #26, followed by Washington (169), Arkansas (168), Georgia (70) and Michigan State (70) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting votes this week include Clemson (48) and Ohio (7).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Media Poll, Oklahoma (42 first place votes) climbs one to become the new #1, Ohio State (21 votes) jumps two to #2, South Carolina (1 vote) jumps two to #3, UCLA (1 vote) drops one to #4 and Michigan climbs one to #5. Miami moves up one to #6, West Virginia drops six to #7, Florida State climbs one to #8, Baylor vaults thirteen spots to #9 and Fresno State leaps six to #10. Kansas State jumps three to #11, Ole Miss remains #12, Texas remains #13, Florida drops six to #14 and USC climbs three to #15. TCU falls five to #16, Auburn remains #17, Virginia Tech climbs one to #18, Cincinnati drops nine to #19 and Georgia Tech remains #20. Penn State enters the poll at #21, Mississippi State enters the poll at #22, Stanford remains #23, Clemson climbs one to #24 and Temple (210 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Georgia (from #15), Alabama (from #21) and Arkansas State (from #24). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Washington (170 points) is #26, followed by Arkansas (151), South Florida (150), Michigan State (116) and Louisiana Lafayette (114) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting votes this week include Ohio (87) and Georgia (47).

In the first BCS rankings of the year: #1 Ohio State (0.997), #2 Oklahoma (0.997), #3 UCLA (0.987), #4 South Carolina (0.984), #5 Michigan (0.981), #6 West Virginia (0.971), #7 Miami (0.966), #8 Florida State (0.963), #9 Fresno State (0.946) and #10 Ole Miss (0.944). Others: #20 Auburn (0.871).

A look at the Heisman race, Fresno State HB Chris Vincent is #1 (LW: #4), South Carolina QB Jared Stevens is #2 (LW: #3), Ohio State QB Jordan Watkins is #3 (LW: #1), Michigan QB Brian Brewster is #4 (LW: NR) and Miami QB Marlon Johnson is #5 (LW: NR). Falling off the Heisman Watch List this week was Florida QB Joseph Brown (LW: #2) and Penn State QB Brian McDaniel (LW: #5).

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Eight





Game Story

--- Continuing our alternating home and away schedule, it was back onto the road for our eighth game of the season, as we traveled to take on the Rams of Colorado State. This would hopefully be a booster game to our division title hopes as the Rams came stumbling into the contest, just two wins on the year, only one win in-conference. Colorado State was pretty bad to say the least, offensively rated #125 overall, #121 in rushing and #87 in passing. They were a little better on defense, but still mediocre at best, rated #59 nationally in overall defense, #71 in rushing defense and #58 in passing defense. It would all come down to how would our rushing game due today, would our passing game be reliable when it was needed, and would we win the turnover battle like we had in recent games? We won the coin toss and elected to kick.

The opening kickoff sailed out of the end zone for a touchback, and Colorado State started the game from their 25 yard line. Starting the drive on the ground, Chad Thompson rushed for a three yard gain, before a no huddle rush by Jon Mayo would result in a four yard loss, leaving third and 11. Jordan Cooley would pull in the third down pass from Mayo, but it wouldn’t be enough as a 9 yard gain would leave the Rams punting on third and two. An 11 yard return on the 43 yard punt would set us up from our 35 yard line.

Taking over after the punt, we would come out on the ground to start our drive, Benjamin Silva possibly making his last start if Brian Paris returned from his injury next week. If it was his last start, Silva made sure it was a good one as he took the handoff and plowed straight up the middle for a huge 9 yard gain to start the drive, followed by a 5 yard carry to get a first down at the 49 yard line. Another rush by Silva would go from almost instant disaster in the backfield to a miraculous 5 yard gain, our offensive line not giving up even after being beaten early in the play. Silva would keep working his magic on second down, fighting his way forward for a 6 yard gain, before a face mask penalty on middle linebacker Kyle Morse would tack on 15 yards to the end of the play, setting us up with a brand spanking new first down at the Rams 26 yard line. Kyle Hall would enter the backfield on first down, but he would only manage two yards on the play, leaving second and 8. Silva would get the call on second down, sprinting through the gap for a 7 yard gain, at first leaving third and one, until a delayed flag on the play, a second face mask penalty on the Rams, this time called on safety Ben Herron, would move us half the distance to the goal and give us first and goal at the 8 yard line. Silva would get the first crack on first down, rushing for a four yard gain down to the four yard line. Hall would get the next chance at the end zone, only gaining a single yard on the play to bring up third and goal from the three yard line. Silva would take the final crack at the end zone, and he would achieve, as he plowed forward straight into a defender and powered his way into the end zone for a three yard touchdown, giving us a 7-0 lead with 5:27 left in the first quarter.

Another wind aided kickoff would result in a touchback, Colorado State lining up from their 25. A first down rush by Thompson would gain 8 yards, before a no huddle three yard keeper by Mayo would net three yards and a first down. Colorado State would stay in the no huddle on first down, but our defense would get a break with a false start on the offensive line, leaving first and 15. A bullshit pass at the ankles would result in an 18 yard completion to Cooley, giving the Rams a first down at midfield. Again with the no huddle, Mayo would drop back to pass on first down, but our blitz would break through the offensive line and make contact. Unfortunately for Mayo and the Rams, he would not be sacked, but rather fumble the ball during contact, allowing defensive tackle Scott Flanagan to recover the fumble and give us possession at the Colorado State 38 yard line.

Taking over on offense following the fumble recovery, it was right back to what we know best, as Silva ran for a 6 yard gain on first down, followed by a 7 yard rush to move the chains to the 25 yard line. Silva would keep us moving on first down, as he would body surf his way over a pile of defensive bodies for an 8 yard carry, before a 10 yard rush outside the right tackle and up the sideline would set us up with first and goal at the 7 yard line. Hall would take over on first down, fighting his way through the middle for a 5 yard gain, leaving second and goal from the two yard line. Another carry by Hall would gain one yard, bringing up the decisive third and goal at the Rams 1 yard line. Silva would get the call on third down and blitz his way into the end zone for the one yard touchdown, increasing our lead to 14-0 with 2:07 left in the first quarter.

Another kickoff, another touchback, and Colorado State lined up at their 25 yard line. The Rams would try to go into the air on first down, but the quick pass intended for Cooley over the middle would be quickly broken up, leaving second down. Thompson would get the ball on second down, gaining two yards on the carry. Going no huddle on third and 8, Mayo would try to find Jesse Hendrix through the air, but he would under throw the pass, the ball sailing out of bounds 5 yards behind Hendrix to bring out the punt team once more on fourth and 8. A 16 yard return on the 42 yard punt would give us the ball from our 46 yard line.

Lining up following the punt, Silva would again get the call to start our drive on first down, fighting his way to a 5 yard gain, followed by a huge 14 yard dash out and up the sideline, giving us a first down at the Colorado State 34 yard line. A three yard first down carry by Silva would be followed by an 8 yard second down rush by Hall, giving us a first down at the 23 yard line. Returning the backfield on first down, Silva would rumble to a four yard gain, leaving second and 6. That would be the final play of the first quarter, our lead standing at 14-0.

Opening up the second quarter, we would line up at the Colorado State 19 yard line, facing second and 6. Despite nearly being tackled immediately after the hand off, Silva was able to shed the defender and fight for a three yard gain, bringing up third and three. Silva would get the call but only gain two yards on the play, leaving us with fourth and inches at the 14 yard line. Even though we desperately wanted the touchdown, a 31 yard field goal by Doug Marcus would increase our lead to 17-0 with exactly 9:00 left on the clock.

Despite kicking into the wind, we would still put the kickoff into the end zone, the Rams electing to take a knee instead of returning it. Lining up at the 25 yard line following the touchback, Colorado State would come out passing as Brandon Powell pulled in a 12 yard pass from Mayo, getting a quick first down at the 37 yard line. Our defense would take away some of those yards on first down, as Mayo dropped back to pass out of the no huddle offense, only to find out defensive line in his face, ultimately ending up sacked for a 7 yard loss to leave the Rams looking at second and 17. A pass to Tevita Wilson would go for a 12 yard gain to leave third and 5, before a pass to Tyler Adams would gain 9 yards, giving Colorado State a first down at our 49 yard line. Staying in the no huddle this entire time, our defense would finally force the Rams to stop the no huddle bullshit, as a first down carry by Thompson would go for a two yard loss, leaving second and 12. Going through the air on Thompson on second down, he would be pushed out of bounds for no gain to leave third and 12. The Rams would go no huddle on third down, but it seemingly did us more good as our defense got quick pressure in the pocket, Mayo somehow shaking off two different sack attempts before hurling the ball down field over the middle, the incomplete pass leaving the punt team coming out on fourth down. The 51 yard punt would sail into the end zone with the aid of the wind, and we would start our next drive at our 20 yard line.

Coming out after the punt, there was little doubt as to what our offense would call, still not a single pass thrown halfway through the second quarter. And still, the defense couldn’t stop us as Silva got the ball and went straight up the middle for a 9 yard gain, followed by a massive 31 yard sprint up the right sideline after the Rams stacked the box, giving us a first down at the Colorado State 39 yard line. Hall would get the call on first down, fighting for a gain of three yards on the play, followed by a 5 yard rush by Silva to leave third and two. It would be Hall’s responsibility to keep our drive alive, and he would come through when called on, rushing through a gap for a 7 yard gain and moving the chains to the 24 yard line. Silva would return to the backfield on first down, keeping us moving forward with a 6 yard carry, followed by a three yard rush to leave third and one. A second three yard carry by Silva would convert the third down, moving us to the 12 yard line. A 7 yard rush by Silva would be followed by a four yard rush by Hall to give us first and goal at the one yard line. Silva would need just a single try at the end zone, rushing in for the one yard touchdown to increase our lead to 24-0 with 3:19 left in the second quarter.

The kickoff would be fielded in the end zone, but the Rams would again elect to kneel it down for a touchback instead of returning it, taking the ball at their 25 yard line. A first down screen pass to Thompson would result in a three yard loss for the Rams, leaving second and 13. The defense would push the Rams back even more as Mayo would try to pass on second down, only to end up sacked for a 6 yard loss, leaving third and 19. In a ridiculous play, Mayo would throw a pass deep over the middle intended for Wilson, who managed to somehow beat both the linebacker playing man and the safety playing deep zone. The pass was perfect and hit Wilson squarely in the hands. He seemingly caught it and it was going to be a race for the end zone, but instead the ball would slip out of his hands as he went to pull it in. The ball would keep traveling forward, staying pretty much even with Wilson’s momentum, giving him a second chance to pull the ball in, only his momentum would cause him to bobble the ball a second time, leaving the ball floating in the air until cornerback Jesse Breedlove was able to come up from behind and intercept it, returning the interception 23 yards up the right sideline to give us possession at the Colorado State 32 yard line. Or, at least that’s what appeared to have happened. Based on video replay, it appeared the ball bounced off of the turf briefly before Breedlove could intercept it, which means the play should have resulted in an incomplete pass on the play and the Rams punting on fourth and 19. But, Colorado State neither challenged the play (likely because they would have been punting on fourth and 19 from their 16 yard line), nor did the officials call for a review, and so the play stood and we took over at the Colorado State 32 yard line with 2:18 left until halftime.

Lining up following the surprisingly unchallenged interception, Silva would start the drive with a four yard carry, followed by a big 9 yard rush to give us a quick first down at the 20 yard line. A pair of 7 yard runs by Silva would end up giving us first and goal from the 6 yard line. Hall would get the call on first down, fighting forward for a three yard gain, followed by a rush for no gain to leave third and goal at the three yard line. A one yard rush by Hall would fail to get the job done, leaving us with fourth and goal from the two yard line. We would call our first timeout of the half, stopping the clock with three seconds left to line up for a field goal. The 19 yard field goal by Marcus would sail through the uprights, increasing our lead to 27-0 with one second left on the clock.

A squib kick on the kickoff would result in an 11 yard return with no time left on the clock, taking us into halftime with a 27-0 lead.

Opening up the second half, a MASSIVE 81 yard kickoff return by David Douglas would give us the ball at the Colorado State 21 yard line to start the third quarter, a single Rams player the only thing keeping it from being a touchdown. Opening up the drive on first down, Silva would fight his way to a three yard gain, but much like the start of the first half, the second half would begin with shots to the foot by the Colorado State defense, as a face mask penalty by cornerback Maurice Martindale would set us up with first and goal from the 9 yard line. Silva would need just a single down to end the drive as he would take the handoff, plow up the middle and drive his way through a defender and into the end zone for a 9 yard touchdown, increasing our lead to 34-0 with 9:38 left in the third quarter.

A touchback on the kickoff would give the Rams the ball at their 25 yard line. A first down screen pass to Thompson would result in a two yard loss, bringing up second and 12. Going 5-wide, Mayo would connect with a Hendrix for a 26 yard gain and a first down at the 48 yard line. From there Colorado State would promptly no huddle fuck us all the way down the field as Mayo would find Wilson for a 13 yard gain, followed by a 38 yard strike to Mike Smith for a 38 yard touchdown, cutting our lead to 34-7 with 8:54 left in the third quarter.

A 37 yard kickoff return by Leonard Hart would give us the ball at the 36 yard line to start our next drive. Going up against a fired up defense on first down, Silva would end up tackled for no gain on the play, followed by a 7 yard carry to bring up third and three. Silva would get the call on third down, just barely picking up three yards to move the chains at the 46 yard line. Silva would keep us rolling with a three yard gain on first down, followed by a 6 yard rush by Hall to bring up third and one. Silva would again take the ball on third down, racing forward for a 6 yard gain, giving us a first down at the Colorado State 39 yard line. A 6 yard rush by Hall would be followed by a four yard rush by Silva to leave us looking at third and inches. Hall would take the third down off, fighting his way to a four yard gain and a first down at the 25 yard line. Silva would struggle to a three yard gain on the first down carry, followed by a 5 yard dash that would leave us with third and two. It would be all on Hall’s shoulders on third down, and he wouldn’t let us down with a four yard scramble, picking up the first down at the 14 yard line. Hall would keep us rolling on first down with a 5 yard carry, followed by a 5 yard rush by Silva to set us up with first and goal from the three yard line. Silva would again need just one crack at the end zone, sprinting in for a three yard touchdown, Silva’s fifth touchdown of the game, to increase our lead to 41-7 with 3:49 left in the third quarter.

Another kickoff would end in another touchback, Colorado State lining up from their 25 yard line. The Rams would waste no time in horsefucking us with their no huddle offense, as Mayo connected with Thompson for a 7 yard gain on first down, followed by a 9 yard completion to Powell to move the chains to the 41 yard line. Thompson would quickly give the Rams another first down with a 10 yard catch out of bounds at our 49 yard line, followed by an 11 yard reception by Powell for yet another first down at our 38 yard line. Finally our defense would force Colorado State to huddle up as an incomplete pass to result in second and 10. Somehow, a briefly completed pass to Tyler Adams would be dropped incomplete, leaving third down. Under almost instant pressure by our four man rush, Mayo would somehow twice avoid being sacked, only to end up throwing the ball into the back of his lineman’s helmet as he tried to throw the ball downfield, the incompletion leaving fourth and 10 and the Rams lining up to go for it on the fourth down play. This time, Mayo would never get the chance to get the ball off as he rolled out to the right to avoid pressure, only to end up flattened from behind and sacked for a 6 yard loss to turn the ball over on downs at our 44 yard line.

Lining up after the turnover, we once again turned to our running game to fuel our offense on this drive. Silva would get the drive started on first down with a 5 yard carry around the right end, followed by a four yard rush to bring up third and one. A 7 yard rush by Silva on the misdirection would give us the first down at the Colorado State 40 yard line. Hall would come in on first down, fighting his way up the middle for a gain of 9 yards, followed by a four yard rush to get the first down at the 27 yard line. Silva would return to the backfield on first down, tackled for a three yard gain on the play, followed by a 5 yard gain to leave us looking at third and two. It would be on Hall to get the first down, taking the handoff for a gain of four yards and a first down at the 15 yard line. That would be the final play of the third quarter, our lead standing at 41-7.

Opening up the fourth quarter, Silva would get the ball on first down, rushing for a three yard gain, followed by a 7 yard rush to leave us looking at third and inches. It would be on Silva to extend our drive on third down, taking the handoff from Jason Barnes for a three yard gain to give us first and goal at the two yard line. Hall would take the first crack at the end zone, only to end up tackled for a three yard loss on the play. Taking the ball on second down, Hall would get those yards back with a 5 yard gain, leaving us looking at third and goal from inside the one yard line. Hall would get the call to finish off the drive on third down, rushing for the one yard touchdown to increase our lead to 48-7 with 8:00 left in the fourth quarter.

The kickoff would be fielded and kneeled in the end zone for a touchback, giving the Rams the ball at their 25 yard line. In an unbelievable moment of bullshit, an ankle catch by Thompson, followed by some high speed weaving, stop and go and spins would result in two missed tackles and a 29 yard gain, giving Colorado State a first down at our 46 yard line. Another pass to Thompson would gain 11 yards and another quick first down, moving the chains to our 35. Thankfully, despite Colorado State staying in the no huddle the entire time, our defense would rise to the occasion as a slow, weak pass outside would end up intercepted by Breedlove, his second of the game, the interception returned 17 yards to give us possession at the Colorado State 46 yard line.

Lining up in Colorado State territory following the interception, Hall would get our drive started on first down with a 7 yard rush to the right side, followed by a four yard carry to give us a first down at the 35 yard line. A 5 yard rush by Hall would be followed up by a gain of 9 yards, giving us a new set of downs from the 22 yard line. Hall would try to bounce outside on first down, only to end up flattened for a two yard gain. Hall would keep us moving forward with a four yard carry, bringing up third and four. Unfortunately Hall would be unable to convert on third down, stopped for just two yards on the play to leave us with fourth and two. The 31 yard field goal attempt by Marcus would sail just wide right, leaving our lead at 48-7 with 4:40 left in the game.

Taking over at the 20 yard line following the missed field goal, Colorado State came out passing on first down. That would prove to be a mistake as Mayo would again sail a pass, this time down field along the right sideline, only to have it intercepted by Hart to give us the ball at the 36 yard line.

Coming out on offense following the interception, we turned to our ground game once more to, hopefully, finish this game off. Hall would get the call on first down, picking up just two yards on the play. Raymond Watson would get the ball on second down, fighting his way to a four yard gain to leave us looking at third and four. A four yard rush by Watson would leave us just short of the first down, bringing up fourth and inches. Taking another chance on a field goal, this time Marcus would be on target, sending the 43 yard field goal straight down the middle to increase our lead to 51-7 with 3:01 left in the game.

Colorado State would again begin from their 25 yard line after kneeling down the kickoff for a touchback. The Rams would start this drive on the ground, as Thompson rushed for a two yard gain on first down, before a bad pass by Mayo, intended for Powell, would end up overthrown and incomplete to bring up third and 8. With the pocket collapsing around him, Mayo would chuck the ball downfield on third down, officially it was intended for Hendrix, only problem was the ball was about 20 yards BEHIND Hendrix, leaving the Rams punting on fourth and 8. Despite a booming 54 yard punt, it would all be for naught as Douglas would field the punt at our 18 yard line, starting running up the middle, and thanks to a couple of key blocks, bounce outside and up the right sideline, outracing three defenders who would dive at his feet and end up only eating grass, returning the punt all the way for an 82 yard touchdown, increasing our lead to 58-7 with 2:21 left in the game.

Colorado State would again kneel down the kickoff, taking the ball at their 25 yard line. Again starting on the ground, Thompson would get the Rams moving with a 6 yard carry on first down. Refusing to give up, Colorado State would again go into the no huddle, as Mayo connected with Powell for a four yard gain and a first down at the 35 yard line. Another pass to Powell would result in 11 yards and a first down at the 46 yard line. Thankfully, our defense would get a break from the no huddle offense as Mayo tried to connect with Adams over the middle, only to have the play broken up to leave second and 10. Our defense would send the Rams moving backwards on second down, as Mayo would be leveled from in front for an 8 yard sack, bringing up third and 18. Our defense would put the final nail in the coffin as Mayo was forced to dance around in the pocket, desperately searching for an open receiver against our man defense. Unfortunately for him, none would come, as our four man rush would finally break through the pass protection and hit Mayo from two different sides, sacking him for a second 8 yards loss and leaving the Rams punting on fourth and 26. A 15 yard return by Douglas on the 48 yard punt would give us the ball at our 36 yard line with 54 seconds left in the game.

Lining up following the punt, we would only need to take 54 seconds off of the clock. We wouldn’t even need to run another offensive play to close this game out, as Barnes would simply drop to a knee to start the clock moving. Snapping the ball for the final time this game, Barnes would drop to a knee with 15 seconds left to put the final nail in our 58-7 victory.

With the win, we improve to 6-2, 4-0 in Mountain West action and become officially bowl eligible for the 2023 season. With the loss, Colorado State drops to 2-6, 1-3 in Mountain West play. Up next, we return home to take on Boise State. The Broncos enter the game 4-3, 1-2 in Mountain West action. Boise State opened their year with a 42-35 overtime loss to #22 Louisiana Lafayette, before picking up a 52-31 win over Washington State and a 31-16 win at Oregon State. The Broncos would suffer a 48-38 loss to Hawaii, before being San Diego State 31-20. Boise State would pick up another win, 38-35 over BYU, before suffering a 28-21 loss to #6 Fresno State.

Final Score

58, 7




Stats of the Game:

Utah State Offense - No stats for Barnes today. Other than taking the snap and handing it off, that was as close as we got to a passing game. Rushing, Silva led the way with a career day, rushing for 283 yards and 5 touchdowns on 50 carries. In regards to dynasty records, Silva just set the new single game dynasty record for carries and tied the record for rushing touchdowns. Unfortunately he came up 9 yards short of the dynasty record for single game rushing yards. Hall ended the day with 114 yards and one touchdown on 30 carries and Watson finished with 9 yards on two rushes in late game efforts. As with passing, there are no receiving stats to report.

Utah State Defense/Special Teams – A solid defensive effort today, as the Colorado State offense was largely kept in check, even despite the never ending, aggravating as hell no huddle. Big days by our backs, as Breedlove finished with two interceptions and Hart ended with one interception, while defensive end Steve Jones recorded a forced fumble and defensive tackle Scott Flanagan recorded a fumble recovery.

Utah State Kicking – It was an almost perfect day for Marcus, going 3-4 on field goals with kicks from 31, 19 and 43 yards, the lone miss coming on a 31 yard attempt that was pushed wide right by the wind, as well as going 7-7 in PATs.




Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	14	13	14	17	58
	0	0	7	0	7

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
5:27		Touchdown	B. Silva, 3 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	7-0
2:07		Touchdown	B. Silva, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	14-0
Second Quarter
9:00		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 31 yard field goal	17-0
3:19		Touchdown	B. Silva, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	24-0
0:01		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 19 yard field goal	27-0
Third Quarter
9:38		Touchdown	B. Silva, 9 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	34-0
8:54		Touchdown	M. Smith, 38 yard pass from J. Mayo (J. White kick)	34-7
3:49		Touchdown	B. Silva, 3 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	41-7
Fourth Quarter
8:00		Touchdown	K. Hall, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	48-7
3:01		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 43 yard field goal	51-7
2:21		Touchdown	D. Douglas, returned punt 82 yards (D. Marcus kick)	58-7

Game Stats

Utah State	Stat	Colorado State
58	Score	7
25	First Downs	13
402	Total Offense	199
84 - 402 - 6	Rushes - Yards - TD	14 - (-25) - 0
0 - 0 - 0	Comp - Att - TD	19 - 31 - 1
0	Passing Yards	224
0	Times Sacked	6
12 - 16 (75%)	3rd Down Conversion	1 - 8 (12%)
0 - 0 (0%)	4th Down Conversion	0 - 1 (0%)
0 - 0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
9 - 6 - 2 (88%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	0 - 0 - 0 (0%)
0	Turnovers	4
0	Fumbles Lost	1
0	Intercepted	3
124	Punt Return Yards	0
121	Kick Return Yards	11
647	Total Yards	210
0 – 0.0	Punts - Average	5 - 47.8
0 - 0	Penalties	4 - 38
30:20	Time of Possession	9:40

Utah State Coach Goals

Goal	XP Reward	Completed
Win a Game	100	x1
Score a Touchdown	25	x7
Kick/Punt Return Touchdown	50	x1
Force a Turnover	25	x4
5 Consecutive Wins	250	x1
Rush for 100 Yards	25	x1
Kneel Last Minute Q4 While Ahead	10	x1
3+ Sacks	50	x1
Opponent Under 10 Points	75	x1
Opponent Under 150 Rush Yards	50	x1
Opponent Under 300 Pass Yards	50	x1
Score 21 or More Points	50	x1
10+ First Downs	50	x1
Force 20 Turnovers (Season)	350	x1
Rush for 2000 Yards (Season)	400	x1
4+ 3rd Down Conversions	25	x1
School Record: Rush TD/Game (5)	200	x1

Utah State Contract Goals Update

Goal	Expectations	Progress
Target Wins Per Season	8	6

Job Security Status

100%

[SmoothPancakes]

Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, #1 Ohio State embarrassed Rutgers 66-13. #2 Oklahoma dropped #10 Kansas State 35-28. #3 UCLA defeated Utah 39-20. #4 Michigan dispatched Minnesota 42-28. #5 South Carolina ran it up against Missouri 62-28. #6 West Virginia just barely held on against Iowa State 39-38. Louisville shocked #8 Florida State 37-34. #9 Miami beat Duke 31-21. #11 Ole Miss beat Arkansas 35-14. #12 Texas doubled #16 TCU 30-15.

Georgia upset #13 Florida 28-27. Arizona State knocked off #14 USC 24-13. #15 Cincinnati topped Connecticut 28-17. #17 Baylor got past Oklahoma State 42-32. #18 Virginia Tech doubled up North Carolina 34-17. #19 Georgia Tech beat Virginia 38-24. #20 Stanford slipped past Oregon State 26-21. #21 Mississippi State escaped Kentucky 28-23. #22 Auburn survived Vanderbilt 28-21. #24 Louisiana Lafayette topped New Mexico State 49-35. East Carolina stunned #25 South Florida 41-23.

For our readers, JeffHCross, #1 Ohio State improves to 7-0 (4-0 Big Ten) with a 66-13 drubbing of Rutgers. Morsdraconis, #6 West Virginia improves to 7-1 (5-1 Big 12) with a 39-38 win over Iowa State. Souljahbill, Southern Miss improves to 3-3 (2-1 C-USA) with a 42-38 win over Massachusetts. Jaymo, Arizona State improves to 3-4 (2-2 Pac-12) with a 24-13 win over #14 USC. LeeSO, #22 Auburn improves to 7-1 (4-1 SEC) with a 28-21 win over Vanderbilt. SCClassof93, #5 South Carolina improves to 9-0 (7-0 SEC) with a 62-28 win over Missouri. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State improves to 4-2 (1-1 Sun Belt) with a 44-16 win over Idaho. Florida International drops to 1-6 (1-2 C-USA) with a 41-20 loss to Middle Tennessee State. Navy improves to 4-3 (3-3 American) with a 35-31 win over Houston. Tulsa drops to 1-6 (1-4 American) with a 42-24 loss to Central Florida.

In Mountain West action, #7 Fresno State survived Boise State 28-21, Utah State hammered Colorado State 58-7, Air Force beat Wyoming 38-7, San Jose State doubled up New Mexico 42-21 and BYU downed UNLV 31-17.

With those results, looking at the latest conference standings, in the Mountain Division, Utah State (4-0) stands on top, followed closely by Air Force (3-1) and a little further back Boise State (1-2). Beyond that, pretty much everyone else is eliminated from contention, including Colorado State (1-3), New Mexico (0-4) and Wyoming (0-4). In the West Division, #6 Fresno State (3-0) still remains on top, followed closely by San Jose State (3-1), Hawaii and UNLV (both 2-1). After that sits San Diego and Nevada (both 1-2).

Looking at undefeated teams left, #23 Penn State lost this week, dropping our number of undefeated teams to 6. #1 Ohio State (7-0), #2 Oklahoma (6-0), #3 UCLA (8-0), #4 Michigan (8-0), #5 South Carolina (9-0) and #7 Fresno State (7-0) all remain with an unblemished record this season.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 1 teams still looking for their first win: Buffalo (0-8).

Teams getting their first win this week were: East Carolina (41-23 over 4-3 #25 South Florida).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, Oklahoma (39 first place votes) uses their top 10 victory to climb one to #1, Ohio State (21 votes) drops one to #2, Michigan (1 vote) climbs one to #3, South Carolina jumps one to #4 and UCLA drops two to #5. Fresno State climbs one to #6, West Virginia drops one to #7, Miami jumps one to #8, Ole Miss climbs two to #9 and Texas jumps two to #10. Cincinnati leaps four to #11, Kansas State drops two to #12, Baylor climbs four to #13, Virginia Tech leaps four to #14 and Georgia Tech jumps four to #15. Florida State drops eight to #16, Stanford moves up three to #17, Florida falls five to #18, Mississippi State jumps two to #19 and Auburn climbs two to #20. USC drops seven to #21, Louisiana Lafayette climbs two to #22, TCU falls seven to #23, Georgia enters the poll at #24 and Temple (316 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Penn State (from #23) and South Florida (from #25). Taking a look at Others Receiving Votes, Michigan State (162 points) is #26, followed by Clemson (137), Ohio (101), Utah State (72) and Alabama (24) to round out the Top 30.

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Media Poll, Oklahoma (41 first place votes) remains #1, Ohio State (23 votes) remains #2, South Carolina (1 vote) remains #3, Michigan climbs one to #4 and UCLA drops one to #5. Fresno State leaps four to #6, Miami drops one #7, West Virginia drops one to #8, Baylor remains #9 and Ole Miss climbs two to #10. Texas jumps two to #11, Kansas State drops one to #12, Auburn leaps four to #13, Cincinnati vaults five to #14 and Virginia Tech jumps three to #15. Florida State drops eight to #16, Georgia Tech moves up three to #17, Mississippi State jumps four to #18, Florida drops five to #19 and Stanford climbs three to #20. TCU falls five to #21, Temple jumps three to #22, USC drops eight to #23, Clemson remains #24 and Georgia (328 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was Penn State (from #21). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Michigan State (230 points) is #26, followed by Louisiana Lafayette (228), Ohio (155), Penn State (20) and Alabama (18) to round out the Top 30. One other team getting points this week is Arizona (11).

In the newest BCS rankings: #1 Oklahoma (1.000), #2 Ohio State (0.995), #3 South Carolina (0.987), #4 Michigan (0.987), #5 UCLA (0.979), #6 Fresno State (0.966), #7 Miami (0.966), #8 West Virginia (0.964), #9 Ole Miss (0.955) and #10 Texas (0.950). Others: #17 Auburn (0.896).

A look at the Heisman race, Fresno State HB Chris Vincent is #1 (LW: #1), Michigan QB Brian Brewster is #2 (LW: #4), South Carolina QB Jared Stevens is #3 (LW: #2), Ohio State QB Jordan Watkins is #4 (LW: #3) and West Virginia WR Michael McNeil is #5 (LW: NR). Falling off the Heisman Watch List this week was Miami QB Marlon Johnson (LW: #5).

Looking at Weekly Awards, Utah State HB Benjamin Silva was named the NCAA Offensive Player of the Week and the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Colorado State, rushing for 283 yards and 5 touchdowns on 50 carries.

Looking at the bowl picture, 11 teams punched their tickets this week, giving us 23 teams that have reached the 6 win plateau. 4 teams saw their bowl hopes end, leaving 99 teams still having a chance (however small it may be) of getting there, to leave 122 teams total fighting for 68 bowl slots.

[souljahbill]

Geaux Cajuns Geaux! Geaux

[SmoothPancakes]

Alright. As mentioned in Jaymo's Raiders thread, this baby should be coming back to life this week. I've been trying for two weeks to get my next game played, and hoped to just randomly one day revive this with a game post, but yeah, not gonna happen. Either ended up just exhausted by the end of the day and wasn't up for sitting 3-4 hours and playing the game and typing everything up. Or, I had to watch TV as my DVR has almost always been 90%+ full.

I had hoped to get a game played Monday or today (Tuesday). Monday didn't happen as my time was spent with Time Warner trying to get the modem replaced and then trying to fix the email inbox space after having rebundled to lower the monthly bill suddenly left me with only 10 MB of inbox space and 3000% over space and a bunch of bounced emails.

That is all finally fixed. Except now, I'm doing my damnedest to wipe everything off my DVR. While I was at Time Warner, I saw their ads about Enhanced DVR. $3.15 extra a month and I can record 6 channels at once instead of my current only 2, and can record up to 150 hours of shows instead of the current only 75. No brainer for me. I have just two episodes of Hell on Wheels (which I'm plowing through right now before bed) and a 90 minute movie (which I'll be watching when I wake up) left on my DVR and as soon as it's empty, I'm factory resetting it and taking it to Time Warner to swap out for an Enhanced DVR since Tuesday is my quietest day of the entire week for recordings.

If all goes well, I hope to have my new DVR all hooked up and running at full speed and be firing up my next game of NCAA by the evening.

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Nine





Game Story

--- Heading down the home stretch, the schedule would see Boise State make an appearance in Utah for week 9. The Broncos were a team that Utah State and coach Ramius were still trying to figure out. Ramius entered the game sporting a career 2-3 record against the Broncos, while Utah State, during Ramius’ tenure as coach, was 1-2 against Boise State, their only win coming last season in a three point nail-biter. Both teams were desperate for a win here. Utah State (4-0 MWC) needed a win today with Air Force breathing down their necks just one game behind, and a trip to Air Force next up on the schedule. Boise State (1-2 MWC) meanwhile needed a win to keep any hopes of a division title alive and knocking off the division leader would go a long way in achieving those goals. This game had all the makings of a slugfest as Boise State entered with the superior offense (#9 overall and #11 passing), while Utah State came in with the superior defense. All that remained to be seen would be which side of the ball would reign supreme today. Utah State would win the coin toss and elect to kick.

A 30 yard kickoff return by David Andrews would give Boise State the ball to start at their 29 yard line. The Broncos would waste little time in violating our defense as Andy Robinson took the first down handoff around the left side and raced up the sideline for a 58 yard rush on the very first play from scrimmage, gift wrapping Boise State a first down at our 13 yard line. A complete pass to Jason Meyer from Demetrius Hester would end up going for no gain as Meyer would be carried out of bounds by his momentum to waste a play. Matt Morton would get the ball on an end around handoff, but he would be quickly brought down in the backfield for a two yard loss to bring up third and 12. Hester would try to find Meyer over the middle on third down, but the pass into the end zone would be off the mark and would sail incomplete for fourth down. Boise State would be forced to settle for a field goal after such a promising start, but even that would end in failure for the Broncos as the 32 yard field goal attempt by Brian Coley would be no good, the ball sailing underneath the crossbar and falling to the ground short.

We would line up for our first offensive drive of the game at our 20 yard line. Doing what we do best, the drive would get underway with a first down rush, as Brian Paris would fight his way to a four yard gain on the play, followed by a three yard carry to bring up third and three. Testing the Boise State defense right off the bat, Paris would get the ball for the third straight play, just inching his way across the marker for a three yard gain and a first down at the 31 yard line to keep our drive alive. Paris would keep the ball again on first down for another four yard gain, before an attempted pass on second down would get knocked loose and incomplete to leave third and 6. Raymond Watson would come down with a pass from Jason Barnes on third down, but it would only gain 5 yards on the completion, forcing us to punt on fourth and one. An extremely poor 24 yard punt by Ed Allen would hand Boise State the ball at their 36 yard line for their next drive.

Robinson would get the Broncos off and running with a 6 yard carry to start their next drive, followed by a straight up bitch slap of our defense as he would again break free around the left end and up the sideline for a second 58 yard rush, this time for a 58 yard touchdown, giving Boise State a 7-0 lead with 5:35 left in the first quarter.

Leonard Hart would return the kickoff 21 yards to give us the ball at our 18 yard line. Paris would get right back to work on first down, fighting his way up the middle for a 7 yard gain, followed by a three yard rush to get a first down at the 28. Another rush by Paris would be aided by a massive hole, allowing him to sprint downfield for a gain of 8 yards, with a four yard carry on the next play giving us another set of downs at the 40 yard line. We would take our chances on a play action pass on first down, a decision of disastrous proportions as the pass would be intercepted by cornerback Patrick Liston, returned 44 yards for a pick six. The only silver lining would be that the Broncos kicker sucks and would miss the extra point kick, leaving Boise State with a 13-0 lead with 3:51 left in the first quarter.

A 33 yard kickoff return by Hart would set Utah State up from the 29 yard line. A first down handoff to Paris would result in no gain on the play as he was instantly stonewalled at the line. Dropping back to pass on second down, this time Barnes would connect with Adam Washington for a 16 yard strike to pick up a first down at the 44 yard line. Returning to the ground, Paris would fight through a pile of bodies for a 7 yard carry, followed by a second 7 yard gain around the right end to move the chains to the Boise State 41 yard line, our first time crossing the 50 yard line today with 2:21 left in the first quarter. Paris would continue to plow ahead on first down with a 5 yard gain, followed by a two yard carry to bring up third and three. Paris would try to extend the drive on third down, but would get tackled for one yard, leaving fourth and two from the 34 yard line. Saying a prayer, we would attempt the 51 yard field goal, and amazingly, Doug Marcus would sail it through the uprights to cut Boise State’s lead to 13-3 with 35 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Boise State would get their drive started from the 25 yard line after a touchback on the kickoff. Robinson would waste little time on first down with an 11 yard carry and a first down at the 36. Another carry would gain 16 more yards and move the chains again to our 49 yard line. The Broncos would drop back to pass on first down this time, and again our defense would just bend over and take it, as Hester connected with Randy Wheeler for a 37 yard strike, giving Boise State a first down at our 12 yard line. That would thankfully be the final play of the first quarter, Boise State leading 13-3.

Opening up the second quarter, Boise State lined up from our 12 yard line, our defense about to bend over once more. Sure enough, Antonio Harrington would pull in a pass from Hester, shake off two tackles and trot the final four yards into the end zone to give Boise State a 20-3 lead with 9:56 left in the second quarter, capping off a 76 yard drive on four fucking plays.

A 25 yard kickoff return by Hart would leave us starting from our 20 yard line. Paris would resume his duties with a 6 yard carry on first down, followed by a two yard gain to leave third and two. This time Paris would keep the drive alive as he plowed straight ahead for a four yard carry and a first down at the 32 yard line. Paris would keep rumbling ahead with a first down carry for 6 yards, followed by a second 6 yard gain to give us a first down at the 44 yard line. Fighting off multiple tackle attempts, Paris would keep his legs pumping for a gain of 9 yards on the first down carry, before being tackled for no gain to leave third and one. Leaving it all in the trenches, Paris would dive forward for a four yard gain to move the chains to the Boise State 42 yard line. Benjamin Silva would take over on first down, fighting for a 5 yard carry, followed by a four yard gain by Paris to bring up third and one. Paris would get the call, but would again be brought down for no gain to leave fourth and one at the Boise State 33 yard line. Forced to settle for another field goal, Marcus would again come through as he would drill this time a 50 yard kick straight through the uprights to cut Boise State’s lead to 20-6 with 5:19 left in the second quarter.

Another touchback would give the ball to Boise State at their 25 yard line. Once again, Robinson just raced for a 14 yard gain with ease on first down. Finally we would contain the bastard on first down to just a four yard gain. Boise State would go into the air on second down, but the pass intended for Meyer would be batted at the line, bringing up third and 6. This time the Broncos would not find success as Hester would end up sacked for an 8 yard loss, forcing them to punt on fourth and 14. We would still almost screw it up, as punt returner Jesse Breedlove fumbled the return, forcing two of our blockers to dive on it before Boise State could. The end result would leave us starting our next drive from our 17 yard line.

Lining up after the nearly fumbled away punt return, Paris would again get us started on the ground with a 6 yard carry around the left side, followed by a four yard gain to get a first down. Another four yard gain by Paris would be followed by a gain of just one yard, leaving us facing third and 5 from the 32. Going into the air on third down, the pass intended for Washington would be nearly intercepted, forcing us to punt the ball right back. A 19 yard return on the 47 yard punt would give Boise State the ball at their 39 yard line.

Starting near midfield thanks to a good punt return, the Broncos would come out surprisingly trying to pass, Hester ending up hit as he tried to throw, resulting in an incomplete pass on the play. Morton would get the drive off and moving with a second down reception over the middle, picking up 18 yards and a first down at our 43 yard line. Travis Bolden would pull in a 14 yard reception for another first down, this time at our 29 yard line, as our defense continue to keep their heads firmly shoved up their asses, regardless of plays on the ground or in the air. Thankfully Hester would throw an incomplete pass on first down, about the only way for us to stop the Boise State offense. It wouldn’t last long as Wheeler would pull in a pass for a 20 yard gain WHILE falling backwards on his ass, giving Boise State a first and goal at our 9 yard line. Robinson would get the ball on first down, fighting for a four yard gain. The next play would see two defensive players run right past Hester as he attempted a very poorly faked handoff, leaving him wide open to just trot into the end zone for a 5 yard touchdown, another missed extra point leaving Boise State with a 26-6 lead with 1:40 left until halftime.

A 30 yard kickoff return by David Douglas would give us the ball at our 25 yard line. Coming out passing on first down, Barnes would connect with Aaron Allen for a quick 17 yard strike out of bounds and a first down at the 42 yard line. Tight end Sam Livingston would keep us moving after an incomplete pass, pulling in the second down toss for a 13 yard gain and a new set of downs at the Boise State 45 yard line. Naturally, the success would come to an end as a pass over the middle intended for Douglas was intercepted, returned 14 yards to Boise State’s 49 yard line with 1:02 left.

Taking over after the interception, the Broncos would use a second down pass to find Wheeler along the sideline for a 20 yard completion, moving the chains to our 31 yard line. Robinson would get a handoff on first down, but would be tackled for a two yard loss, forcing Boise State to use their second timeout. After a pass to Robinson that would gain no yards, Hester would be forced to throw the ball away on third down, leaving the Broncos punting from our 33 yard line with 35 seconds remaining. A 20 yard punt out of bounds would leave us lining up from our 13 yard line.

Starting from our 13 yard line and just 31 seconds on the clock, there was almost no hope of doing anything before halftime. But nevertheless, we’re morons and decided to try. After an incomplete pass on first down, tight end Jack Long would come through huge, getting open over the middle and hauling in the pass from Barnes, then angling toward the sideline to hold off a closing defender as long as possible, the end result being a 47 yard completion that would give us a first down at the Boise State 40 yard line, our second timeout called with 17 seconds remaining. After an incomplete pass on first down, Paris would come through with a reception along the right hash for a 26 yard gain, giving us a first down at the 14 yard line, our final timeout called with 8 seconds remaining. With enough time for two plays, we opted to take one shot into the end zone before having to settle for another field goal. It actually turned out we had enough time for two shots into the end zone, but neither were successful. And with two seconds left, we were forced to kick a 31 yard field goal, cutting Boise State’s lead to 26-9 as we entered halftime.

Opening up the second half, a 34 yard kickoff return by Hart gave us the ball at our 34 yard line to start the third quarter. Paris would get us off and running with a three yard carry on first down, followed by a two yard gain to bring up third and 5. Going into the air on third down, Allen would pull in a pass from Barnes for a 13 yard gain and a first down at the Boise State 48 yard line. A first down pass attempt would end up incomplete, followed by a 10 yard completion to Silva over the middle to give us a new set of downs at the 37. Returning to the ground, Paris would find a huge hole and rumble forward for an 11 yard gain and another first down. Paris would follow that up with a second straight 11 yard carry as the right side kept opening like the Red Sea, leaving him nothing but green to run through until meeting the safeties. That play would give us another first down and move the ball to the Boise State 16. Paris would try to keep the success coming, but would be limited to just a two yard carry on first down. It would take to tries, but finally, we would find the end zone on third down as Long pulled in a pass from Barnes at the goal line for a 13 yard touchdown, cutting Boise State’s lead to 26-16 with 7:12 left in the third quarter.

A 27 yard kickoff return would give Boise State the ball at their 25 yard line. Boise State would try to go back to their workhorse and let Robinson run wild over us again, but this time he would only gain one yard before being dragged down from behind to bring up second and 9. Hester would drop back on second down and try to connect with Wheeler, but an overthrown pass would bring up third down. Of course, it wouldn’t matter as Morton would pull down a pass right in the middle of four bloody defenders, giving the Broncos 18 yards and a first down at the 44 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Boise State would end up going backwards as Hester was sacked for a 7 yard loss, leaving the Broncos with third and 17. Another incomplete pass would finally bring the drive to an end and force Boise State to punt. A 16 yard return on the 47 yard punt would give us the ball at our 32 yard line.

Lining up following the punt, it was back to business as usual as Paris would get us started with a four yard rush around the right end, before a gain of a single lone yard would bring up third and four. Taking a shot through the air, Long would come through huge for us with a 28 yard reception over the middle, moving the chains to the Boise State 34 yard line. A first down rush by Paris would go for a gain of three yards, followed by a 6 yard carry to bring up third and one. Paris would get the job done with a 5 yard carry, moving the chains to the 21 yard line. Staying on the ground on first down, Paris was quickly swarmed at the line of scrimmage for just a one yard gain. After an incomplete pass on second down, Allen would keep us moving forward with a 14 yard pass from Barnes to set up first and goal from the 6 yard line. Paris would get the ball on first down, fighting forward for a four yard rush, followed by a second down plunge into the end zone for a two yard touchdown, cutting Boise State’s lead to 26-23 with 2:09 left in the third quarter.

A touchback on the kickoff would give Boise State the ball at their 25 yard line. Robinson would try to recapture his earlier magic, but he would be quickly brought down for a three yard loss. Naturally, Hester would just take over on second down and torch our defense with a 31 yard run, screwing us over one way or the other, as Boise State picked up a first down at our 47 yard line. After a four yard run by Robinson on first down, Hester would suddenly rediscover his talent for passing, throwing a pristine rope across his body to Wheeler for a 22 yard gain and a first down at our 21 yard line. The Broncos would try to run a play action pass on first down, with Hester faking the handoff and then rolling out to his left, only to be met and sacked for a 7 yard loss, followed by an incomplete pass intended for Robinson to leave third and 17, where thankfully Hester would miss his receiver and throw the pass out of bounds for fourth down. Going for it on fourth down, Hester would connect with Travis Bolden over the middle, but he would be quickly tackled for a gain of only 12 yards, forcing the turnover on downs.

Taking over at our 16 yard line after the Broncos came up 5 yards short, we would get off and running with a handoff to Paris for a gain of 7 yards. That would be the final play of the third quarter as the clock hit zeros, Boise State leading 26-23.

Opening up the fourth quarter with second and three, Paris fought forward for a gain of 8 yards and a first down at the 30 yard line. Paris would keep advancing the ball with a 9 yard carry on first down, followed by a gain of 5 yards to move the chains once more to the 44. Boise State would respond on first down as Paris was only able to gain two yards on the carry. Going into the air, after an incomplete pass on second down, Allen would save our drive with an 11 yard reception and a first down at the Boise State 43 yard line. Returning to the ground on first down, Paris would rumble forward for a gain of 8 yards, followed by a 5 yard carry to get a new set of downs at the 30 yard line. Once again, Paris would be limited to just two yards on first down, followed by a four yard rush that would bring up third and four. Taking a chance on the ground this time, Silva would get the call on third down, racing ahead for an 8 yard gain and a first down at the 16 yard line. The first down carry by Silva would end with just a single yard gained, resulting in another return to the air. Barnes would again find Allen, this time for an 8 yard completion, leaving us looking at third and one. Leaving the drive in the hands of Silva, he took the ball and plowed forward for a four yard gain, giving us first and goal at the Boise State four yard line. Silva would finish the job on the very next play, driving into the end zone for a four yard touchdown, giving us our first lead of the entire game, 30-26, with 4:40 left in the game.

A 34 yard kickoff return by David Andrews would give Boise State the ball at their 34 yard line. As expected, Robinson would now come alive again, finding a gap and racing for a 22 yard gain up the left sideline for a first down at our 44 yard line. Andrews would take the ball on first down for a gain of 7 yards around the right side, followed by a 31 yard strike to Wheeler to give Boise State first and goal at our 7 yard line. Robinson would get the ball on first down for a three yard gain, followed by a second three yard gain for a touchdown and yet another missed extra point, giving Boise State only a 32-30 lead with 3:08 left. But, Boise State still goes 66 yards in just six plays, 53 of those yards coming on two plays, to once again try and screw us over.

A 33 yard kickoff return by Hart would give us the ball at our 28 yard line. Silva would start the drive with a four yard rush. Going back to back passes to Allen, we would pick up gains of 8 yards and 11 yards, along with a pair of first downs to get us up to the Boise State 48 yard line. Long would come through for us on a third straight pass, as he would haul in a throw from Barnes up the middle for a gain of 18 yards and a first down at the Boise State 30 yard line, our first timeout called with 2:06 left in the game. Going to the ground on first down, Silva ran for a 6 yard gain, followed by a three yard carry to give us third and one with the ball located near the middle of the field. A four yard rush by Silva would give us a first down at the 17 yard line, and with one minute left in the game, all but finish the job. Silva would run the ball once more on first down, gaining four yards on the play. A second down carry by Silva would gain four more yards to leave third and two. Calling our second timeout with 9 seconds left, we would try once more to get dead center on the field. Silva would get as close as he could on a 3 yard carry, not only placing us near the middle of the field, but also giving us first and goal at the Boise State 7 yard line, our final time out called with 7 seconds left. Boise State apparently expected a field goal on third down as they called three straight timeouts before that third down play. So this was it, neither team had any time outs left, this field goal attempt would either give us the lead and almost all but guarantee a win, or it would miss and guarantee defeat. The chip shot 24 yard field goal from Marcus sailed through the middle of the uprights, giving up a 33-32 lead with four seconds left in the game.

A squib kick on the kickoff resulted in a 12 yard kickoff return by Lee Stephens to give Boise State the ball at their 46 yard line, Stephens unfortunately tackled with one second still on the clock, forcing our crap defense to have to save our asses from one final play. With everybody and their momma dropping back to defend the pass, our defense would strike gold on the final play as Allen Salyer went up and came down with the ball for a game ending interception at our 10 yard line to seal the incredible 33-32 come from behind victory.

With the win, we improve to 7-2, 5-0 in Mountain West action. With the loss, Boise State drops to 4-4, 1-3 in Mountain West play. Up next, it’s back on the road to take on Air Force, who is the only remaining team in the Mountain Division capable of challenging us for the division title over the final weeks of the season. The Falcons enter the game 5-3 on the year, 3-1 in Mountain West action. Air Force had a rocky start as they opened with a 38-35 win over Georgia State, lost 44-36 at Rice, beat San Diego State 27-22, then lost 31-17 to Navy and 23-14 at UNLV, their only blemish so far in the Mountain West. The Falcons, sitting 2-3 on the year, would then recover and go on a three game winning streak, beating Hawaii 31-28, winning at Wyoming 38-7, and escaping at Army 45-41 before heading home to host Utah State next week.

Final Score
33, 32



Stat(s) of the Game:

Utah State Offense - A very poor start that would still lead to a rather sub-par day for Barnes as he would finish the game 16-29 for 258 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Rushing, Paris had a monster day, going for 219 yards and one touchdown on 50 carries. Silva would end with 50 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries. Receiving, top receiver was tight end Jack Long, who ended with 107 yards and one touchdown on four catches. Top catcher was Aaron Allen with seven catches for 81 yards. In all, seven receivers caught at least one pass today, six of them ended up with double digits receiving yards.

Utah State Defense/Special Teams – Literally the worst defensive game ever since Ramius took over as coach of Utah State. The joke of a defense allowed Boise State running back Andy Robinson to race like a wild jackal for 199 bloody yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. That is an average of 13.2 yards per carry! An absolute piss poor performance today. Receiving wasn't much better. Wide receiver Randy Wheeler ended with 130 yards on five catches for an average of 26.0 yards per catch. In other words, an entire day to just plain forget. The ONLY positive today by the defense was the game winning interception by safety Allen Salyer on the final play of the game.

Utah State Kicking – At LONG last, a breakout performance by Doug Marcus! After two plus years of bad kicking, Marcus finally finds a leg and some muscles and kicks not one, but two 50+ yard field goals and kicks four field goals total for the game. He would go a perfect 4-4 in field goal attempt, with kicks of 51, 50, 31 and the game winning 24 yard field goal. He would also end a perfect 3-3 in extra points, something Boise State's kicker could NOT say, as that poor bastard would shank his way through three missed extra points, a 2-5 performance, that would doom Boise State today. If he makes all three, Utah State trails 35-30 and has to score a touchdown. If he even just makes that final attempt, Utah State only manages to tie the game at 33 and a trip to overtime. Instead those three missed extra points allows Utah State to literally steal a victory from Boise State at the last second.




Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	13	13	0	6	32
	3	6	14	10	33

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
5:35		Touchdown	A. Robinson, 58 yard run (B. Coley kick)	7-0
3:51		Touchdown	P. Liston, returned interception 44 yards (missed kick)	13-0
0:35		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 51 yard field goal	13-3
Second Quarter
9:56		Touchdown	A. Harrington, 12 yard pass from D. Hester (B. Coley kick)	20-3
5:19		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 50 yard field goal	20-6
1:40		Touchdown	D. Hester, 5 yard run (missed kick)	26-6
0:00		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 31 yard field goal	26-9
Third Quarter
7:12		Touchdown	J. Long, 13 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick)	26-16
2:09		Touchdown	B. Paris, 2 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	26-23
Fourth Quarter
4:40		Touchdown	B. Silva, 4 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	30-26
3:08		Touchdown	A. Robinson, 3 yard run (missed kick)	32-30
0:04		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 24 yard field goal	33-32

Game Stats

Boise State	Stat	Utah State
32	Score	33
14	First Downs	31
422	Total Offense	527
22 - 218 - 3	Rushes - Yards - TD	62 - 269 - 2
12 - 24 - 1	Comp - Att - TD	16 - 29 - 1
204	Passing Yards	258
3	Times Sacked	0
1 - 6 (316)	3rd Down Conversion	13 - 17 (76%)
0 - 1 (0%)	4th Down Conversion	0 - 0 (0%)
0 - 0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
5 - 3 - 0 (60%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	5 - 3 - 2 (100%)
1	Turnovers	2
0	Fumbles Lost	0
1	Intercepted	2
19	Punt Return Yards	16
102	Kick Return Yards	175
543	Total Yards	718
3 – 38.0	Punts - Average	2 - 35.5
0 - 0	Penalties	0 - 0
14:54	Time of Possession	25:06

Utah State Coach Goals

Goal	XP Reward	Completed
Win a Game	100	x1
Score a Touchdown	25	x3
Force a Turnover	25	x1
45+ Yard Field Goal	10	x2
Pass for 250 Yards	25	x1
Rush for 100 Yards	25	x1
3+ Sacks	50	x1
Play in an ESPN Classic Game	75	x1
Opponent Under 300 Pass Yards	50	x1
Pass Completion Over 50%	30	x1
100% Red Zone Efficiency	50	x1
14-Point Comeback Victory	75	x1
Score 21 or More Points	50	x1
350+ Offensive Yards	50	x1
10+ First Downs	50	x1
4+ 3rd Down Conversions	25	x1

Utah State Contract Goals Update

Goal	Expectations	Progress
Target Wins Per Season	8	7

Job Security Status

100%

[SmoothPancakes]

Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, #1 Oklahoma dismantled Iowa State 42-10. #2 Ohio State continued their historic win streak with a 41-32 victory over Maryland. #3 Michigan got past Michigan State 42-28. #4 South Carolina smacked around Vanderbilt 35-14. #5 UCLA topped Colorado 28-21. #6 Fresno State beat UNLV 37-14. #7 West Virginia fought off BYU 56-42. #9 Ole Miss ran roughshod over Texas A&M 45-14. #10 Texas destroyed #12 Kansas State 52-13.

#11 Cincinnati would win the battle of the AAC over #25 Temple 38-24. #13 Baylor defeated Texas Tech 35-23. #14 Virginia Tech routed Boston College 55-24. #15 Georgia Tech beat Duke 31-20. Two-win Oregon would knock off #17 Stanford 42-31. Tennessee upset #19 Mississippi State 31-19. Arkansas stunned #20 Auburn 35-34 with a 21-point fourth quarter comeback. Arizona shocked #21 USC 38-17. #22 Louisiana Lafayette barely escaped Georgia State 56-53.

For our readers, JeffHCross, #2 Ohio State improves to 8-0 (5-0 Big Ten) with a 41-32 win over Maryland. Morsdraconis, #7 West Virginia improves to 8-1 (5-1 Big 12) with a 56-42 win over BYU. Souljahbill, Southern Miss improves to 4-3 (3-1 C-USA) with a 24-21 win over Old Dominion. Jaymo, Arizona State drops to 3-5 (2-3 Pac-12) with a 37-21 loss to Washington. LeeSO, #20 Auburn drops to 7-2 (4-2 SEC) with a 35-34 loss to Arkansas. SCClassof93, #4 South Carolina improves to 10-0 (8-0 SEC) with a 35-14 Vanderbilt. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State improves to 5-2 (2-1 Sun Belt) with a 16-13 win over South Alabama. Florida International improves to 2-6 (2-2 C-USA) with a 33-21 win over UAB. Navy improves to 5-3 (3-3 American) with a 29-26 win over Notre Dame. Tulsa improves to 2-6 (1-4 American) with a 31-21 win over Northern Illinois.

In Mountain West action, #6 Fresno State topped UNLV 37-14. Utah State escaped Boise State 33-32. New Mexico routed Wyoming 35-7. Nevada horsewhipped Colorado State 45-14. Hawaii knocked off San Diego State 32-28. And in non-conference action, Air Force barely got past Army 45-41.

With those results, looking at the latest conference standings, in the Mountain Division, Utah State (5-0) stands on top, followed closely by Air Force (3-1). Beyond that, pretty much everyone else is eliminated from contention, including Boise State (1-3), New Mexico (1-4), Colorado State (1-4) and Wyoming (0-5). In the West Division, #6 Fresno State (4-0) still remains on top, followed closely by San Jose State and Hawaii (both 3-1). After that sits UNLV and Nevada (both 2-2) and San Diego State (1-3).

Looking at undefeated teams left, no undefeated teams lost this week, leaving our number of undefeated teams at 6. #1 Oklahoma (7-0), #2 Ohio State (8-0), #3 Michigan (9-0), #4 South Carolina (10-0), #5 UCLA (9-0) and #6 Fresno State (8-0) all remain with an unblemished record this season.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 1 teams still looking for their first win: Buffalo (0-8).

Teams getting their first win this week were: None.

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, Oklahoma (38 first place votes) remains #1, South Carolina (21 votes) jumps two to #2, Ohio State (1 vote) drops one to #3, UCLA (1 vote) climbs one to #4, and Michigan drops two to #5. Fresno State remains #6, West Virginia remains #7, Miami remains #8, Ole Miss remains #9 and Texas remains #10. Cincinnati remains #11, Baylor climbs one to #12, Virginia Tech jumps one to #13, Georgia Tech moves up one to #14 and Florida State climbs one to #15. Florida jumps two to #16, Kansas State drops five to #17, Louisiana Lafayette leaps four to #18, TCU jumps four to #19 and Georgia vaults four to #20. Arizona enters the poll at #21, Clemson enters the poll at #22, Auburn drops three to #23, Ohio enters the poll at #24 and Utah State (93 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was Stanford (from #17), Mississippi State (from #19), USC (from #21) and Temple (from #25). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Mississippi State (82 points) is #26, followed by Temple (59), Michigan State (59), Alabama (19) and Arkansas (3) to round out the Top 30.

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Media Poll, Oklahoma (39 first place votes) remains #1, South Carolina (24 votes) jumps one to #2, Ohio State (1 votes) drops one to #3, UCLA (1 vote) climbs one to #4 and Michigan drops one to #5. Fresno State remains #6, Miami remains #7, West Virginia remains #8, Ole Miss jumps one to #9 and Baylor drops one to #10. Texas remains #11, Cincinnati jumps two to #12, Virginia Tech moves up two to #13, Florida State climbs two to #14 and Georgia Tech jumps two to #15. Florida leaps three to #16, Kansas State drops five to #17, TCU jumps three to #18, Auburn falls six to #19 and Clemson climbs four to #20. Georgia jumps four to #21, Louisiana Lafayette enters the poll at #22, Ohio enters the poll at #23, Arizona enters the poll at #24 and Temple (201 points) drops three to #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was Mississippi State (from #18), Stanford (from #20) and USC (from #23). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Mississippi State (179 points) is #26, followed by Arkansas (169), Penn State (151), Michigan State (140) and Alabama (126) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting votes this week include Utah State (104), Washington (77) and USC (20).

In the newest BCS rankings: #1 Oklahoma (1.000), #2 South Carolina (0.995), #3 Ohio State (0.989), #4 UCLA (0.984), #5 Michigan (0.979), #6 Fresno State (0.966), #7 Miami (0.964), #8 West Virginia (0.962), #9 Ole Miss (0.958) and #10 Texas (0.950). Others: #20 Auburn (0.861).

A look at the Heisman race, Fresno State HB Chris Vincent is #1 (LW: #1), Michigan QB Brian Brewster is #2 (LW: #2), South Carolina QB Jared Stevens is #3 (LW: #3), Ohio State QB Jordan Watkins is #4 (LW: #4) and West Virginia WR Michael McNeil is #5 (LW: #5). No one fell off the list this week.

Looking at the bowl picture, 7 teams punched their tickets this week, giving us 30 teams that have reached the 6 win plateau. 6 teams saw their bowl hopes end, leaving 86 teams still having a chance (however small it may be) of getting there, to leave 116 teams total fighting for 68 bowl slots.

[jaymo76]

Welcome back!

[SmoothPancakes]

Welcome back!

Glad to be back, at long last.

Although if that Boise State game was any indication, I may need another vacation if games are going to be that horrible the rest of the season. God that was one of my worst games I've ever played.

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Ten

#25



Game Story

--- After escaping with a last second victory against Boise State the week before, the challenge would not get any easier for Utah State in week 10 as we headed one state over to visit Air Force. This game, barring any major upsets in the final games of the season for both teams, would potentially decide the winner of the Mountain Division and the division representative in the conference championship game. After thinking the Boise State game was a challenge, this would be a whole other experience. Air Force entered the game boasting the #38 total offense, the #4 rushing offense, the #25 total defense and the #11 passing defense. Yards would likely be at a premium today, and rushing would likely be our only savior if those passing defense numbers were accurate. On the flip side, our high rated rushing defense would get their biggest test and workout of the season. We won the coin toss and elected to kick.

A touchback on the opening kickoff would give Air Force the ball at their 25 yard line to start the game. The game got off to a GREAT start as the defense was tagged with an offside penalty before the first snap of the bloody game, giving Air Force free yards and first and 5 from their 30. Justin Morris would keep the snap on first down as he tried to roll out for an option play, but he was quickly brought down by our blitz for a three yard loss. Morris would torch us on the next play as a missed assignment on the option play allowed him to break open and keep the ball for a 19 yard gain and a first down near midfield. Craig Williams would take the ball on first down, picking up 6 yards on the run, followed by a 5 yard carry for a first down at our 43 yard line. Our defense never had a chance on the first down play as Patrick Kirby would get the ball, find a hole, cut back and forth multiple times while our defenders dived at his feet, and race 43 yards untouched for a touchdown, giving Air Force a 7-0 lead with 8:16 remaining in the first quarter.

A 38 yard kickoff return by David Douglas would give Utah State the ball at the 34 yard line. Brian Paris would show off his own running skills as he got the ball on first down, racing for a 12 yard gain and a quick first down close to midfield. Another first down carry would pick up four yards, followed by an 8 yard gain by Paris to move the chains to the Air Force 43 yard line. Paris would keep driving forward with a 6 yard carry on first down, followed by a 9 yard rush up the middle for a new set of downs at the 27 yard line. The Falcons defense had no answer for Paris, who turned a potential two yard carry into a gain of 8 yards thanks to some well timed spinning on top of the bodies of defenders. Paris would then fight forward for a three yard gain on the next play to gain a first down at the 16. The Air Force defense would come alive on first down as Paris was limited to just a two yard gain. It would end up even worse on second down as he was held for a one yard gain to bring up third and 7. Taking a chance through the air on third down, Jason Barnes would find Aaron Allen open in the flats for an easy completion and a 14 yard touchdown to tie the score a 7-7 with 4:30 left in the first quarter.

Instead of taking a touchback on the kickoff, Tyler Jackson would return the ball, fighting his way to a 29 yard return to set the Falcons up at their 26 yard line. Our defense would properly read the option play on first down, tackling a sitting duck Morris in the backfield for a two yard loss on the play. Williams would take a handoff from Morris and try to go straight up the middle in between our oncoming blitz, but he would only gain a single yard on the play before being dragged down to bring up third and 11. Air Force would go into the air on third down, but a rushed, off target pass by Morris, intended for T. Jackson, would be easily intercepted by safety Kyle Mitchell and returned four yards to give us the ball at our 48 yard line.

Sitting pretty near midfield after the interception, our offense got right back to work on the ground as Paris took the ball on first down. Unfortunately for us, Air Force was more than ready for our run game this time, as a pair of rushes by Paris would go for gain of just two and three yards to leave third and 5. Trying to catch the defense off guard with a play action pass, instead, the Falcons would return the favor as outside linebacker Stephen Jackson would intercept a low pass intended for tight end Jack Long at the line of scrimmage, giving Air Force the ball right back at their 47 yard line.

The Falcons would get the ball moving initially this time around, as Morris kept the snap and rushed for a four yard gain around the right end, but a failed option play on second down would result in Morris going backwards for a three yard loss, the Falcons left facing third and 9. We would get some news between plays, it turns out Brian Paris broke his thumb during his last run in the previous drive. It was being considered a minor injury that wouldn’t even see him out for the rest of the game. With a low re-injury risk, we decided to leave Paris in the game and take our chances. Air Force would again try to pass on third down, but the throw would be again off the mark, resulting in an incomplete pass. A 51 yard punt would bounce into the end zone for a touchback, giving us the ball at our 20 yard line.

Lining up at the 20 following the punt, Paris’ broken thumb would get tested right away, as he took the first down handoff for a 5 yard gain, followed by a 7 yard carry to pick up a quick first down at the 32. Another rush by Paris would gain 6 more yards, following that up with a gain of four to move the sticks to the 43. Air Force was having no more of that on first down, as they brought the house and tackled Paris for no gain on the play, leaving second and 10. That would be the final play of the first quarter as the clock hit all zeroes, the game deadlocked 7-7.

Opening up the second quarter, Utah State got lined up at our 43 yard line. Coming out under center, Barnes dropped back to try and pass, but the throw intended for Long was broken up, leaving us with third and distance. Barnes would throw from the shotgun on third down, but the pass to a wide open Allen was overthrown and incomplete, forcing us to punt on fourth down. An 8 yard return by T. Jackson on the 41 yard punt would leave Air Force starting from their 23 yard line.

Taking over on offense following the punt return, Air Force again got off to a rocky start as our defensive line blew up a first down option play, tackling Morris in the backfield for a three yard loss before he had any hope of even trying to pitch the ball. Taking advantage of a hole in our defense, Morris would avoid a potential sack on the second down pass play and take off scrambling, gaining 16 yards and a first down before anyone on our defense could close in and grab him. Another first down option play would see Morris tackled for no gain on the play, but Williams would more than make up for it on second down with a 9 yard carry, leaving the Falcons with just third and one. Williams would finish the job on third down with a four yard carry for a first down near midfield. Morris would try to run an option reverse on first down, but would again be quickly met and tackled for a one yard loss on the play. Running out of the I-formation on second down, Williams would be met in the backfield for a loss of three yards on the play, forcing third and 14. Morris would try to find a first down through the air on third, but forced to rush his throw to avoid the closing pocket, his pass would again be overthrown and off target, resulting in another visit by the punt team. A 13 yard return by Jesse Breedlove on the 40 yard punt would give us the ball at our 28 yard line.

Coming out on offense following the punt, we tried to once again get our running game going as Paris took the ball on first down, dashing forward for a 7 yard gain on first down, followed by an 8 yard gain and a new set of downs at the 44. Keeping at it on the ground, Paris would rush for gains of four and three yards to leave us with third and three. With midfield seemingly being a black hole for offensive success for both teams, our drive would again collapse on third down as Paris would be brought down for a gain of just two yards on the play, leaving fourth and one at the Air Force 47 yard line. The overpowered punt would sail 47 yards straight into the end zone for a touchback.

Air Force would come out surprisingly running a screen pass on first down, but even that would implode as Morris failed to get rid of the ball in a timely matter, ending up sacked for a 9 yard loss back at the 11 yard line. Williams would receive the ball on the ground on second down, but would gain just a single yard on the carry, leaving Air Force facing third and 18. Morris would again fail to complete a pass today as he dropped back on third down, only to be hit as he went to throw, the incomplete pass leaving fourth and long. A 12 yard return by Breedlove on the 40 yard punt would give us the ball at the Air Force 40 yard line.

Paris would again try and get us going on the ground on first down, but he would be quickly dragged down for just a two yard gain on the play. Another rush attempt would pick up four yards to leave us with third and four. Taking a chance on third down, Paris would again come up just short of the marker, gaining three yards on the carry, but still leaving us looking at fourth and one from the 32 yard line. Settling for three points, the 49 yard field goal by Doug Marcus would sail through the uprights, finally breaking the tie and giving us a 10-7 lead with 2:37 left in the second quarter.

A touchback on the kickoff would give Air Force the ball at their 25 yard line. Williams would get the ball on first down, rushing for a 6 yard gain on the play. Then the shit would hit the fan as another blown assignment would leave Morris WIDE open on the second down option play, allowing him to break loose and race down the sideline for a 69 yard touchdown, giving Air Force a 14-10 lead with 2:02 left in the second quarter.

Our special teams would answer right back with their own response, as Leonard Hart received the kickoff, found some great blocking and raced up the right sideline for a 67 yard kickoff return, giving our offense the ball to start at the Air Force 35 yard line. A first down carry by Paris would gain just two yards. Going into the air on second down, a play action pass to Gerald Woods would gain us six yards, leaving us facing third and two. Taking a chance with Paris on third down, he would get the first down and then some with a 7 yard gain on the ground and a first down at the 20 yard line. Limited by time, we went into the air on first down. Lining up in the shotgun, Barnes dropped back and rifled a pass to Adam Washington, good for a gain of 11 yards and a quick first down at the 9 yard line. Going no huddle on first down, a wingback dive by fullback Raymond Watson would pick up 5 yards, leaving second and goal from the four yard line and our second timeout called to stop the clock with 32 seconds remaining. Taking a shot on the ground, Paris would receive the second down handoff, fighting for a two yard gain down to the two yard line. Racing back to the line, going no huddle with the clock ticking, Paris would again get the call on a last shot play before having to settle for the kicking game, receiving the handoff with 11 seconds left and plunging into the end zone through a hole on the right side, scoring a two yard touchdown to give us a 17-14 lead with 9 seconds left until halftime.

A touchback on the kickoff would leave Air Force starting at their 25 yard line. A four yard rush by Scott White would be Air Force’s only attempt, settling for heading into the locker room with a three point deficit. That would send us to halftime, Utah State leading 17-14 in a back and forth slobber knocker.

Opening up the second half, a 23 yard kickoff return by Douglas would give Utah State the ball at our 17 yard line to start the third quarter. Trying to relight the ground game, Paris would take the handoff on first down for a gain of three yards, followed by a short two yard carry to leave us facing third and 5. Allen would come through for us on third down as he pulled in a 14 yard pass from Barnes, good for a first down at the 37 yard line. Staying in the shotgun on first down, Barnes would throw a perfectly timed rope to Washington on a curl route. An ill stutter step would break the cornerback’s ankles, allowing Washington to race deep down the field before being dragged down from behind for a 49 yard completion and a first down at the Air Force 14 yard line. Hoping to find a looser defense following those big plays through the air, Paris took the ball on first down, managing to avoid the blitzing linebackers and stumbling and falling his way forward for a very lucky gain of 10 yards, giving us first and goal at the four yard line. Benjamin Silva would finish the job on first down, avoiding the stacked middle and bouncing outside to the right for a four yard touchdown, giving us a 24-14 lead with 7:55 left in the third quarter.

Another kickoff led to another touchback and another Air Force drive starting at their 25 yard line. Morris would again be left open due to a failed assignment, allowing him to keep the option and race up the field for a 20 yard gain, thankfully running right into one of our defenders and getting wrapped up before he would break into the open, saving what otherwise would have been a 75 yard touchdown. Nonetheless, the damage was done and Air Force had a first down at their 45 yard line. Williams would follow that up with a 15 yard gain of his own, moving the chains once more to our 40 yard line. Morris would follow with a 12 yard run, continuing to punch our defense right in the mouth. We would get a miraculous break on first down as the Falcons for some reason decided right then to pass. Morris dropped back on a play action pass, only to be hit from behind and fumble the ball, the fumble recovered by safety Cole Brown to give us back possession at our 34 yard line and kill what likely would have been a touchdown scoring drive by the Falcons.

Starting our next drive on the ground, Paris would pick up four yards with the first down carry. Lining up under center on second down, Barnes would connect with a semi-open Long over the middle for a quick 19 yard strike in the heart of the Air Force defense, giving us a first down at the Air Force 43 yard line. Going back to the ground on first down, Paris would reel off another four yard carry, followed by a 9 yard pass to Allen in the flats to move the chains once more at the 30 yard line. Staying in the shotgun on first down, Barnes tried to connect with Washington over the middle, but overthrew the pass for an incompletion. Another pass intended for Washington, this time on a quick comeback route, got knocked away by an alert cornerback, leaving third down. Allen would again come through in the clutch with a 12 yard reception on the opposite side of the field, giving us a first down at the 18 yard line. Returning to the ground, Paris would take the handoff for a 6 yard gain, followed by a two yard carry to leave us with third and two. Despite picking up two yards on the play, Paris would come up just inches short on third down, leaving us facing fourth and one at the 8 yard line. While everything was shouting GO FOR IT, we would instead play it safe and take the sure points, the 25 yard field goal by Marcus splitting the uprights to give us a 27-14 lead with 3:55 left in the third quarter.

The kickoff would again be kneeled for a touchback, Air Force taking over at their 25 yard line. Morris, somehow shaking off four defenders who were practically body hugging him, would fight his way to a 7 yard gain, multiple times nearly breaking loose and free. He would follow that up with a 5 yard rush for a first down at the 37. For some reason, Air Force elected to run a screen pass on first down, almost instantly throwing the ball away to avoid being sacked by our blitz. Regardless, Air Force would make up that lost play as a perfectly defended Morris would pitch the ball to an imperfectly defended Williams, who would race up the sideline for a 13 yard gain before being shoved out of bounds for a first down right at the 50 yard line. Morris would continue to torch our defense on first down, weaving his way through multiple defenders for a 15 yard gain and a new first down at our 35 yard line. Morris would find himself covered on first down, opting to pitch to Kirby, who would shake his way out of five tackles and just moon walk right into the goddamn end zone for a 35 yard touchdown, cutting our lead to 27-21 with 2:35 left in the third quarter.

A 28 yard kickoff return by Hart would give us the ball at our 26 yard line. Paris would get us started on first down with a 6 yard carry up the middle, followed by an 8 yard dash to pick up a quick first down at the 40 yard line. Paris would keep rumbling right along on first down with a 7 yard gain. Silva would come in on second down, just bulldozing right through a linebacker and plowing his way straight through the defense for a 10 yard gain and a new first down at the Air Force 43 yard line. Paris returned on first down, picking up 6 yards on first down, before being flattened for a gain of just a single yard, leaving us looking at third and 5. Attempting a play action pass on third down, it would never have a chance as the pass intended for Long was intercepted by cornerback Joe Patterson, giving the Falcons the ball at their 33 yard line. That would also be the final play of the third quarter as clock expired during play, Utah State leading 27-21.

Opening up the fourth quarter, Air Force got lined up at their 33 yard line following the interception, a sole touchdown needed to retake the lead. Scott White would get a direct handoff on first down, only to be instantly tackled for a one yard loss. The very next play, the biggest pile of bullshit would happen, as White would follow the exact same route, straight through the dead center middle heart of our defense, juking his way past more than 6 defenders in his path without even slowing down, and racing all the way untouched for a 67 yard touchdown, giving Air Force a 28-27 lead with 9:28 left in the fourth quarter.

After being on the receiving end of the biggest ever pile of bullshit horsefucking by the AI, Utah State wouldn’t have to wait, at all, for revenge, as Hart received the kickoff a couple yards into the end zone, finding a wall of blockers and racing up the field for a 103 yard kickoff return for a touchdown to steal the lead right back. We would gamble and go for the two point conversion, but the pass was poorly thrown and incomplete, leaving Utah State only up 33-28 with 9:17 remaining in the game.

Another touchback would start Air Force from their 25 yard line. Williams would start the drive straight up the middle for a 14 yard gain and a first down at the 39 yard line. Running a screen pass on first down, Morris would again never throw the pass, instead ending up sacked for a 10 yard loss to leave second and 20 at the 29. White would take the ball on second down, fighting for a 6 yard gain to bring up third and 14. Morris would drop back on third down and tried to throw a rocket down the right sideline intended for Michael Davis, but the ball would be underthrown, straight into the arms of Hart, for an interception and possession of the ball at our 42 yard line.

Lining up after the interception, Paris would get the call on first down, fighting his way to a 5 yard gain, followed by a three yard carry that would leave third and two. Leaving it in the hands of Paris on third down, he would drive his way straight up the middle for a 5 yard gain, giving us a first down at the Air Force 46 yard line. Paris would keep us moving with an 8 yard rush on first down, followed by a two yard carry by Silva would pick up a new set of downs at the 35. Continuing to take it right at the Air Force defense, Silva would get the first down carry and rush for a gain of 6 yards, before a four yard carry would pick up yet another first down. Silva would continue to just simply overpower the Air Force defenders with raw strength, rushing for a 7 yard gain on first down, before a blitz by the Falcons would see him trapped for a gain of just a single yard, leaving us with third and two. A three yard gain by Silva would extend the drive, giving us a first down at the 13 yard line. Silva would try to run again on first down, but would be quickly shut down for another single yard gain. Going into the air on second down, the pass intended for Washington would be intercepted underneath by defensive tackle Josh Carter, giving Air Force the ball at their 7 yard line with 3:24 left in the game.

Taking over at the 7 yard line following the interception, Williams would start the drive with a two yard rush up the middle, followed by a one yard gain that would leave the Falcons facing third and 7. Amazingly, Morris would complete his first pass of the entire game, as well as actually throw the ball on a screen pass for the first time of the entire game, on a third down dump to Williams, who would race up the right sideline for a 25 yard gain and a first down at the 35 yard line. Kirby would get a first down pitch from Morris, running for 6 yards on the play, before an option keeper by Morris would result in a four yard loss. Rushing to the line on third and 8, Morris would fumble the ball as he was being sacked, the fumble jumped on by an Air Force lineman, while the play would officially be ruled as a sack for a four yard loss on Morris, leaving Air Force with fourth and 12. And the hits just keep on coming. On fourth and long, Morris would hit a one in a million shot over the outstretched arms of a jumping cornerback, right into the hands of Nathan Reed who would sprint down the sideline untouched for a 67 yard touchdown. Air Force would take a shot at the two point conversion to try and go up by three points, but Morris, trying to scramble up the middle, would be hit and dropped for a four yard loss, leaving Air Force only a 34-33 lead with 1:07 left in the game.

Another HUGE 53 yard kickoff return by Hart would set our offense up in fantastic position, starting our drive from our own 47 yard line with 1:01 remaining. A quick pass to Allen would pick up 10 yards, though leave us short of the first down. Rushing to the line, an incomplete pass intended for Long would bring up third and inches, just 34 seconds left on the clock. Going to the ground to sustain the drive, Silva would plow his way forward for a four yard gain, giving us a new set of downs at the Air Force 38 yard line, our first timeout called with 30 seconds remaining. In probably the worst moment in the history of Utah State football, Allen would pull in a pass from Barnes, be instantly hit and lose the football. The refs would call it a fumble, which was promptly jumped on and recovered by an Air Force safety, essentially giving Air Force the victory. In a rare moment where the game would actually allow you to challenge the play for a change, and actually allow you to challenge the key moment of the play that you WANTED to challenge, we immediately threw the red flag on the field and challenged the fumble. As Allen was hit and lost the ball almost instantaneously after catching it, not even being able to turn up the field, it should have been ruled a simple dropped ball and incomplete pass. In epic screw job fashion, the refs would uphold the fumble, and Air Force was literally given a stolen victory with 27 seconds left.

Taking over after the ref aided BLATANT THEFT, Morris would take the snap at the 22 yard line and drop to a knee. Even though there was absolutely no point, we would call our final timeout anyways in one last act of flipping the middle finger to Air Force and the refs, stopping the clock with 23 seconds remaining. One more drop to a knee by Morris and that was the end of the game, the referees blatantly stealing this game right out from under us and gift wrapping a victory shrouded in collusion! This contest was nothing more than a clown car of lies! Air Force would walk off the field with a 34-33 victory, in a game that will forever contain an asterisk in Utah State record books.

With the loss that was really a STOLEN WIN, we drop to 7-3, 5-1 in Mountain West action. With the STOLEN WIN that was really a loss, Air Force improves to 6-3, 4-1 in Mountain West play. Up next, we take a week off for a bye week, before closing out the home schedule for 2023 with a visit from UNLV. UNLV enters the game with a record of 3-7, 3-3 in Mountain West action. UNLV opened their season with a 37-34 overtime loss to FCS Northwest, before losing 41-10 at Central Michigan and 42-21 to Idaho. The Rebels would get their first wins of the year with a 41-14 victory over Wyoming and a 23-14 upset of Air Force. They would follow that with a 38-22 loss at San Jose State, a 31-17 loss at BYU and a 37-14 loss at #6 Fresno State. They would get their third win of the year with a 42-35 upset victory of Hawaii, before losing 24-7 to Nevada ahead of our game.

Final Score

34*, #25 33




Stats of the Game:

Utah State Offense - Piss poor day for Barnes, finishing 10-18 for 159 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Rushing, Paris led the charge with 206 yards and one touchdown on 45 carries. Silva ended with 42 yards and one touchdown on 10 rushes. Receiving, Allen was the leading receiver in both yards and catches with 74 yards and a touchdown on six receptions. Four receivers today caught at least one pass, three of them ended with double digit yards.

Utah State Defense/Special Teams – Great when they forced the two interceptions and a fumble from Air Force. Otherwise, they sucked! Giving up 448 damn yards of offense, 356 bloody yards on the ground in only 42 damn carries. Absolutely pitiful. The entire damn defense should be shot!

On the other hand, special teams was a highlight today, as Leonard Hart finished with 249 yards and one touchdown on four kickoff return, an insane 62.2 yards average per return. David Douglas also had a good day with 59 yards on two returns

Utah State Kicking – Another perfect day for Marcus, going 2-2 in field goal with kicks of a 25 and 49 yards, while also going 3-3 in extra points.




Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	7	10	10	6	33
	7	7	7	13	34*

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
8:16		Touchdown	P. Kirby, 43 yard run (A. West kick)	7-0
4:30		Touchdown	A. Allen, 14 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick)	TIED 7-7
Second Quarter
2:37		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 49 yard field goal	10-7
2:02		Touchdown	J. Morris, 69 yard run (A. West kick)	14-10
0:09		Touchdown	B. Paris, 2 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	17-14
Third Quarter
7:55		Touchdown	B. Silva, 4 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	24-14
3:55		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 25 yard field goal	27-14
2:35		Touchdown	P. Kirby, 35 yard run (A. West kick)	27-21
Fourth Quarter
9:28		Touchdown	S. White, 68 yard run (A. West kick)	28-27
9:17		Touchdown	L. Hart, returned kickoff 103 yards (2-point failed)	33-28
1:07		Touchdown	N. Reed, 67 yard pass from J. Morris (2-point failed)	34-33

Game Stats

Utah State	Stat	Air Force
33	Score	34
22	First Downs	12
412	Total Offense	448
56 - 253 - 2	Rushes - Yards - TD	42 - 356 - 4
10 - 18 - 1	Comp - Att - TD	2 - 8 - 1
159	Passing Yards	92
0	Times Sacked	4
8 - 14 (57%)	3rd Down Conversion	2 - 8 (25%)
0 - 0 (0%)	4th Down Conversion	1 - 1 (100%)
0 - 1 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 1 (0%)
5 - 3 - 1 (80%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	0 - 0 - 0 (0%)
4	Turnovers	3
1	Fumbles Lost	1
3	Intercepted	2
25	Punt Return Yards	8
308	Kick Return Yards	29
745	Total Yards	485
2 –44.5	Punts - Average	3 - 44.0
1 - 5	Penalties	1 - 5
23:47	Time of Possession	16:13

Utah State Coach Goals

Goal	XP Reward	Completed
Score a Touchdown	25	x4
Kick/Punt Return Touchdown	50	x1
Force a Turnover	25	x3
45+ Yard Field Goal	10	x1
Rush for 100 Yards	25	x1
3+ Sacks	50	x1
Play in an ESPN Classic Game	75	x1
Opponent Under 300 Pass Yards	50	x1
Pass Completion Over 50%	30	x1
Score 21 or More Points	50	x1
350+ Offensive Yards	50	x1
10+ First Downs	50	x1
4+ 3rd Down Conversions	25	x1

Utah State Contract Goals Update

Goal	Expectations	Progress
Target Wins Per Season	8	7

Job Security Status

100%

[SmoothPancakes]

Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, in the upset of the week, #7 West Virginia STUNNED #1 Oklahoma 37-24. #2 South Carolina took out #16 Florida 33-14. #3 Ohio State survived Michigan State 48-38. #4 UCLA topped Arizona State 48-27. #5 Michigan doubled up Penn State 42-21. #6 Fresno State handled Nevada 35-18. #9 Ole Miss got past New Mexico 34-29. #11 Cincinnati toppled Central Florida 38-14. #12 Baylor outgunned #10 Texas 52-50.

#13 Virginia Tech defeated Pitt 34-14. In an ACC battle, #14 Georgia Tech shellacked #8 Miami 38-7. #21 Clemson knocked off #15 Florida State 31-14. #17 Kansas State dispatched Oklahoma State 52-33. #18 Louisiana Lafayette dispatched Troy 35-14. #19 TCU beat Kansas 42-23. #23 Auburn slapped around #20 Georgia 41-20. #21 Arizona escaped Utah 35-31. #24 Ohio manhandled Akron 38-6. Air Force knocked off #25 Utah State 34-33.

For our readers, JeffHCross, #3 Ohio State improves to 9-0 (6-0 Big Ten) with a 48-38 win over Michigan State. Morsdraconis, #7 West Virginia improves to 9-1 (6-1 Big 12) with a 37-24 stunning upset of #1 Oklahoma. Souljahbill, Southern Miss improves to 5-3 (4-1 C-USA) with a 33-20 win over Florida Atlantic. Jaymo, Arizona State drops to 3-6 (2-4 Pac-12) with a 48-27 loss to #4 UCLA. LeeSO, #23 Auburn improves to 8-2 (5-2 SEC) with a 41-20 win over #20 Georgia. SCClassof93, #2 South Carolina improves to 11-0 (9-0 SEC) with a 33-14 win over #16 Florida. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State improves to 6-2 (3-1 Sun Belt) with a 45-35 win over Louisiana Monroe. Florida International improves to 3-6 (3-2 C-USA) with a 27-14 win over Old Dominion. Navy improves to 6-3 (4-3 American) with a 42-17 win over Memphis. Tulsa drops to 2-7 (1-5 American) with a 27-17 loss to South Florida.

In Mountain West action, #6 Fresno State topped Nevada 35-18. Air Force knocked off #25 Utah State 34-33. Boise State destroyed Wyoming 49-7. UNLV upset Hawaii 42-35. San Diego State shocked San Jose State 45-21. And Ole Miss topped New Mexico 34-29.

With those results, looking at the latest conference standings, in the Mountain Division, Utah State (5-1) stands on top, followed very closely by Air Force (4-1). Beyond that, everyone else is eliminated from contention, including Boise State (2-3), New Mexico (1-4), Colorado State (1-4) and Wyoming (0-6). In the West Division, #6 Fresno State (5-0) still remains on top. Following Fresno State, likely eliminated but technically still alive, is San Jose State, UNLV and Hawaii (all 3-2). After that sits San Diego State and Nevada (both 2-3).

Looking at undefeated teams left, #1 Oklahoma lost this week, dropping our number of undefeated teams to 5. #2 South Carolina (11-0), #3 Ohio State (9-0), #4 UCLA (10-0), #5 Michigan (10-0) and #6 Fresno State (9-0) all remain with an unblemished record this season.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 1 teams still looking for their first win: Buffalo (0-9).

Teams getting their first win this week were: None.

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, South Carolina (40 first place votes) jumps one to #1, UCLA (21 votes) leaps two to #2, Ohio State remains #3, Michigan climbs one to #4 and Fresno State jumps one to #5. West Virginia climbs one to #6, Oklahoma drops six to #7, Ole Miss moves up one to #8, Baylor jumps three to #9 and Cincinnati climbs one to #10. Georgia Tech leaps three to #11, Virginia Tech moves up one to #12, Miami drops five to #13, Texas falls four to #14 and Kansas State climbs two to #15. Louisiana Lafayette jumps two to #16, TCU climbs two to #17, Clemson jumps four to #18, Auburn leaps four to #19 and Arizona moves up one to #20. Florida drops five to #21, Ohio moves up two to #22, Florida State falls eight to #23, Temple enters the poll at #24 and Alabama (221 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was Georgia (from #20) and Utah State (from #25). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Arkansas (158 points) is #26, followed by USC (150), Stanford (105), Washington (73) and Michigan State (63) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include Louisville (60), Mississippi State (45), Arkansas State (27) and Navy (18).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Media Poll, South Carolina (44 first place votes) climbs one to #1, UCLA (21 votes) jumps two to #2, Ohio State remains #3, West Virginia leaps four to #4 and Michigan remains #5. Fresno State remains #6, Oklahoma drops six to #7, Georgia Tech vaults seven to #8, Ole Miss remains #9 and Baylor remains #10. Cincinnati climbs one to #11, Virginia Tech moves up one to #12, Miami drops six to #13, Texas falls three to #14 and Kansas State climbs two to #15. Clemson jumps four to #16, TCU moves up one to #17, Auburn climbs one to #18, Louisiana Lafayette jumps three to #19 and Ohio leaps three to #20. Arizona climbs three to #21, Florida drops six to #22, Florida State plummets nine to #23, Temple climbs one to #24 and Arkansas (208 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was Georgia (from #21). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Alabama (181 points) is #26, followed by Washington (68) Arkansas State (52), USC (32) and Penn State (6) to round out the Top 30.

In the newest BCS rankings: #1 South Carolina (1.000), #2 UCLA (0.995), #3 Ohio State (0.989), #4 Michigan (0.981), #5 West Virginia (0.979), #6 Fresno State (0.970), #7 Oklahoma (0.968), #8 Ole Miss (0.960), #9 Baylor (0.955) and #10 Georgia Tech (0.951). Others: #18 Auburn (0.881), Louisiana Lafayette (0.874).

A look at the Heisman race, Fresno State HB Chris Vincent is #1 (LW: #1), Michigan QB Brian Brewster is #2 (LW: #2), Ohio State QB Jordan Watkins is #3 (LW: #4), South Carolina QB Jared Stevens is #4 (LW: #3), and Texas QB Justin Jones is #5 (LW: NR). Falling off the list this week was West Virginia WR Michael McNeil (LW: #5).

Taking a glance at Award Semifinalists, Utah State cornerback Leonard Hart is third for the Bednarik, cornerback Jesse Breedlove is twelfth for the Bednarik, halfback Benjamin Silva is eighth for the Walker, halfback Brian Paris is tenth for the Walker, defensive end Steve Jones is ninth for the Lombardi, cornerback Leonard Hart is fourth for the Thorpe, cornerback Jesse Breedlove is eleventh for the Thorpe, kicker Doug Marcus is first for the Groza, and wide receiver David Douglas is fifth for Best Returner.

Looking at the bowl picture, 14 teams punched their tickets this week, giving us 44 teams that have reached the 6 win plateau. 10 teams saw their bowl hopes end, leaving 62 teams still having a chance (however small it may be) of getting there, to leave 106 teams total fighting for 68 bowl slots.

[SmoothPancakes]

And that is how rivalries are born. From now on, as far as I am concerned, Air Force is a rival. Every time I play them, every chance I get, I'm running up the score. Every time I play them, I'm doing my damnedest to score 100 points on those fuckers! I am going to try my hardest to pound them into the fucking dirt every single season and make them my bitch.

[souljahbill]

And that is how rivalries are born. From now on, as far as I am concerned, Air Force is a rival. Every time I play them, every chance I get, I'm running up the score. Every time I play them, I'm doing my damnedest to score 100 points on those fuckers! I am going to try my hardest to pound them into the fucking dirt every single season and make them my bitch.

Is that the Navy in you speaking?

Speaking of Navy, how long are you going to dick around at other schools around the country before going to Anapolis?

[SmoothPancakes]

Is that the Navy in you speaking?

Speaking of Navy, how long are you going to dick around at other schools around the country before going to Anapolis?

Maybe 50% Navy.

As for when I'll be going to Annapolis, do you want the official or unofficial answer?

The official answer, I honestly don't know. I'm literally just sort of going where the coaching carousel takes me.

The unofficial answer, I still honestly don't know. I built this dynasty as one where the coaching carousel would decide where I go from job to job, rather than me picking specific schools. Now, do I have a "lean" towards certain schools that I'd like to end up at? Sure, and if I get those jobs, great. If not, oh well.

Before this dynasty, I had never played in the Sun Belt, never played in Conference USA, never played in the Mountain West, never played as Florida International, or Tulsa or Utah State. Before this dynasty, I couldn't tell you one thing about Tulsa or Utah State or FIU. This dynasty is allowing me to experience new conferences, new teams and new rivalries that I have never played as before, because I was always Navy or nothing when it came to dynasties. It's even opened up my interest in real life college football. In addition to watching Navy every week, this dynasty has me going out of my way to watch Utah State on TV every week because of how much time I spent researching this program before my first season here, how much time I've spent reading about it on message boards and various team sites, how much time I've spent playing as the team, it's built up an interest to watch them and see them succeed in real life. Maybe not on the same level as Navy in terms of how intense of a fan I am, but I still enjoy watching them play and win each week.

So, truth be told, I am not going out of my way during this dynasty to try and get to Navy. Navy is probably going to be my last job, my retirement job. I'll take over at Navy, spend as long as needed to build them into a national title contender, win a couple titles, make them unbeatable and then go riding into the sunset on top of the world. And then start all over again from scratch with a new dynasty.

So for me personally, while I do want to and plan to eventually get to Navy, I'm not setting out to make it there instantly. I want to experience the rest of the NCAA first. After Utah State, depending on how I do these final years of the contract, I'm hoping to make the jump either to the Pac-12 or Big Ten next. Somewhere in there, maybe have a short stint in the SEC or Big 12, and then after that, eventually make my way to Navy. I'm honestly not looking to arrive at Navy, for at least another 10-15 seasons. I have two or three choice Big Ten schools and two or three choice Pac-12 schools that I hope to get offered a chance to coach at next. If an offer comes from one of those specific schools when my Utah State contract ends, I am jumping to those specific schools. If none of them offer, then I'll go with which offer intrigues me most in a conference I haven't yet coached in (Big Ten, Big 12, MAC, Pac-12 and SEC).

Then, once I have shuffled around the conferences and feel like I've achieved what I wanted to elsewhere, then I'll make the jump to Navy (when offered) and settle down there and ride out the glory years of this dynasty.

[SmoothPancakes]

On a bye week this week, so lets get to it...

Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, in the upset of the week, #20 Arizona shocked #2 UCLA 41-31. #3 Ohio State escaped Penn State 20-17. #4 Michigan barely got past Indiana 38-33. #5 Fresno State beat San Diego State 30-14. #7 Oklahoma assaulted #9 Baylor 45-7. #8 Ole Miss destroyed LSU 49-21. #10 Cincinnati smoked BYU 45-17.

#11 Georgia Tech violated Pittsburgh 42-10. #12 Virginia Tech outgunned #13 Miami 51-44. #14 Texas pimp slapped Kansas 66-21. #15 Kansas State horsewhipped Texas Tech 63-27. #16 Louisiana Lafayette massacred South Alabama 44-7. Syracuse stunned #18 Clemson 41-37. Toledo knocked off #22 Ohio 24-17. #23 Florida State topped Boston College 31-14. #24 Temple beat South Florida 31-24.

For our readers, JeffHCross, #3 Ohio State improves to 10-0 (7-0 Big Ten) with a 20-17 win over Penn State. Morsdraconis, #6 West Virginia remains 9-1 (6-1 Big 12) with a bye week. Souljahbill, Southern Miss drops to 5-4 (4-2 C-USA) with a 38-21 loss at Florida International. Jaymo, Arizona State drops to 3-7 (2-5 Pac-12) with a 42-21 loss to Colorado. LeeSO, #19 Auburn remains 8-2 (5-2 SEC) with a bye week. SCClassof93, #1 South Carolina remains 11-0 (9-0 SEC) with a bye week. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State improves to 7-2 (4-1 Sun Belt) with a 31-7 win over Georgia State. Florida International improves to 4-6 (4-2 C-USA) with a 38-21 win over Southern Miss. Navy remains 6-3 (4-3 American) with a bye week. Tulsa improves to 3-7 (2-5 American) with a 35-10 win over Houston.

In Mountain West action, #6 Fresno State beat San Diego State 30-14. Nevada topped UNLV 24-7. Air Force demolished New Mexico 41-7. Boise State destroyed Colorado State 41-7. And Hawaii topped San Jose State 40-21.

With those results, looking at the latest conference standings, in the Mountain Division, Air Force and Utah State (5-1) are now tied atop the division, with Air Force holding not only the head to head tiebreaker, but also the division tiebreaker (Air Force is 3-0 in-division, Utah State is 3-1). Beyond that, everyone else is eliminated from contention, including Boise State (3-3), New Mexico (1-4), Colorado State (1-4) and Wyoming (0-6). In the West Division, #6 Fresno State (6-0) still remains on top. The only other team still technically alive is Hawaii (4-2), who plays Fresno State in their last game of the season. Otherwise, San Jose State, Nevada and UNLV (all 3-3) and San Diego State (2-4) are all eliminated from the division race.

Looking at undefeated teams left, #2 UCLA lost this week, dropping our number of undefeated teams to 4. #1 South Carolina (11-0), #3 Ohio State (10-0), #4 Michigan (11-0), #5 Fresno State (10-0) all remain with an unblemished record this season.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 1 teams still looking for their first win: Buffalo (0-10).

Teams getting their first win this week were: None.

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, South Carolina (39 first place votes) jumps one to #1, Ohio State (21 votes) jumps one to #2, Michigan (1 vote) climbs one to #3, Fresno State moves up one to #4 and Oklahoma jumps two to #5. West Virginia remains #6, Ole Miss climbs one to #7, UCLA drops six to #8, Cincinnati jumps one to #9 and Georgia Tech moves up one to #10. Virginia Tech climbs one to #11, Texas jumps two to #12, Kansas State climbs two to #13, Baylor drops five to #14 and Louisiana Lafayette climbs one to #15. Arizona leaps four to #16, TCU remains #17, Auburn jumps one to #18, Miami drops six to #19 and Florida moves up one to #20. Florida State jumps two to #21, Temple climbs two to #22, Alabama moves up two to #23, Arkansas enters the poll at #24 and USC (270 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was Clemson (from #18) and Ohio (from #22). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Stanford (242 points) is #26, followed by Clemson (218), Michigan State (183), Ohio (156) and Louisville (152) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include Arkansas State (105), Utah State (80), Navy (72) and Tennessee (5).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Media Poll, South Carolina (36 first place votes) remains #1, Ohio State (27 votes) climbs one to #2, Michigan (1 vote) jumps two to #3, Fresno State (1 vote) jumps two to #4 and West Virginia drops one to #5. Oklahoma moves up one to #6, UCLA drops five to #7, Georgia Tech remains #8, Ole Miss remains #9 and Cincinnati climbs one to #10. Arizona vaults ten spots to #11, Virginia Tech remains #12, Texas moves up one to #13, Kansas State climbs one to #14 and Baylor drops five to #15. TCU moves up one to #16, Louisiana Lafayette jumps two to #17, Auburn remains #18, Miami falls six to #19 and Florida climbs two to #20. Florida State moves up two to #21, Temple climbs two to #22, Arkansas jumps two to #23, Alabama enters the poll at #24 and Clemson (223 points) drops nine to #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was Ohio (from #20). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Arkansas State (201 points) is #26, followed by USC (195), Ohio (162), Stanford (121) and Navy (78) to round out the Top 30. One other team getting points this week is Michigan State (42).

In the newest BCS rankings: #1 South Carolina (1.000), #2 Ohio State (0.995), #3 Michigan (0.989), #4 Fresno State (0.981), #5 Oklahoma (0.976), #6 West Virginia (0.976), #7 UCLA (0.966), #8 Ole Miss (0.963), #9 Cincinnati (0.955) and #10 Georgia Tech (0.952). Others: #17 Louisiana Lafayette (0.887), #18 Auburn (0.885).

A look at the Heisman race, Fresno State HB Chris Vincent is #1 (LW: #1), Michigan QB Brian Brewster is #2 (LW: #2), Texas QB Justin Jones is #3 (LW: #5), Ohio State QB Jordan Watkins is #4 (LW: #3) and Ole Miss QB Jason Davis is #5 (LW: NR). Falling off the list this week was South Carolina QB Jared Stevens (LW: #4).

Taking a glance at Award Finalists, Utah State cornerback Leonard Hart is third for the Bednarik, cornerback Jesse Breedlove is twelfth for the Bednarik, halfback Benjamin Silva is eighth for the Walker, halfback Brian Paris is tenth for the Walker, defensive end Steve Jones is ninth for the Lombardi, cornerback Leonard Hart is fourth for the Thorpe, cornerback Jesse Breedlove is eleventh for the Thorpe, kicker Doug Marcus is second for the Groza, and wide receiver David Douglas is fifth for Best Returner.

Looking at the bowl picture, 5 teams punched their tickets this week, giving us 49 teams that have reached the 6 win plateau. 10 teams saw their bowl hopes end, leaving 47 teams still having a chance (however small it may be) of getting there, to leave 96 teams total fighting for 68 bowl slots.

Looking at the first bowl projections of the year, if they hold out, it's a trip to the Poinsettia Bowl for Utah State fans, taking on Central Florida (6-4, 4-3) out of the American Athletic Conference. The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl would feature Arkansas State (7-2, 4-1 Sun Belt) matching up with Ohio State (8-2, 5-2 MAC). The Meineke Car Care Bowl would see Navy (6-3, 4-3 AAC) battle Washington (6-4, 3-4 Pac-12). The Capital One Bowl has #18 Auburn (8-2, 5-2 SEC) vs. Michigan State (7-3, 4-3 Big Ten).

The Fiesta Bowl would feature #6 West Virginia (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) vs #7 Ole Miss (9-1, 7-1 SEC). The Sugar Bowl would see #4 Fresno State (10-0, 6-0 Mountain West) against #5 Oklahoma (8-1, 5-1 Big 12). The BBVA Compass Bowl would see Syracuse (5-5, 2-5 ACC) take on Southern Miss (5-4, 4-2 C-USA). And the BCS National Championship Game would feature a showdown between #2 Ohio State (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) and #1 South Carolina (11-0, 9-0 SEC).

Looking at the BCS projections, the Rose Bowl would feature #3 Michigan (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) against #8 UCLA (10-1, 7-1 Pac-12). The Fiesta Bowl has #6 West Virginia (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) matching up with #7 Ole Miss (9-1, 7-1 SEC). The Sugar Bowl has #4 Fresno State (10-0, 6-0 Mountain West) matching up with #5 Oklahoma (8-1, 5-1 Big 12). The Orange Bowl features a battle between #10 Georgia Tech (9-1, 7-1 ACC) and #9 Cincinnati (9-1, 6-1 American). And in the national championship game, #2 Ohio State (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten) takes on #1 South Carolina (11-0, 9-0 SEC).

[SmoothPancakes]

Game Eleven





Game Story

--- As yet another season began to wind down, it was time to once again say goodbye to another year of seniors as they took their home field for the final time in their careers. The home crowd would say farewell to a talented group of seniors, including: Quarterback Jason Barnes, backup quarterback Ryan Smith, star halfback Brian Paris, wide receiver David Douglas, wide receiver Aaron Allen, tight end Jack Long, left tackle Derek Smith, left tackle Sean Baker, defensive end Leroy Fuqua, left outside linebacker John Hale, left outside linebacker Obi Rush, middle linebacker Jon Smith, cornerback Mike Moses, cornerback Lawrence Coker and punter Ed Allen.

And the opponent for the final home game of their collegiate careers would be the UNLV Rebels. The Rebels were having a major down year, sputtering along to a 3-7 record, including an embarrassing 37-34 overtime loss to FCS Northwest back in the opening week of the season. The Rebels didn’t seem to have much going for them, with a mediocre at best offense, a #50 passing offense their own high point on the entire team. Their defense was even worse, with their passing defense, #77 in the nation, the highest ranking they could achieve. Such subpar offensive and defensive rankings, to go along with a negative-11 turnover differential, made this game appear to be a likely easy victory. Whether appearances would match reality would remain to be seen. UNLV won the coin toss and elected to kick.

A short kickoff would be fielded by David Douglas at our four yard line, and with a wall of blockers, he would nearly take the opening kickoff all the way to the house. A poor juke that failed to fool the last man between him and the end zone would be the only thing keeping him from scoring, instead as he would end up tackled for an 83 yard kickoff return, giving our offense the ball to start at the UNLV 13 yard line. Brian Paris would get the ball on first down, find a hole, plow up the middle and fall over a UNLV defender into the end zone for a 13 yard touchdown, giving us an extremely quick 7-0 lead with 9:46 still sitting on the clock in the first quarter.

A deep kickoff would be kneeled for a touchback, giving UNLV the ball at their 25 yard line. The Rebels would come out passing on first down, but a poorly thrown screen pass by Kyle Massey would result in a quick incompletion. Kevin Davis would get the ball on second down, rushing up the middle and plowing his way over multiple defenders for a 9 yard gain, but instead of trying to push across the first down line on the ground, UNLV would go no huddle and throw up a wild pass In the flats, the ball sailing long and out of bounds to kill the drive and force a punt on fourth and one. A muffed catch by Jesse Breedlove on the punt return would be recovered by safety Cole Brown, returned 5 yards to the 33 yard line.

Taking over after the nearly blown punt return, we came out once again running on first down, as Paris ran forward for a four yard gain, followed by a 7 yard carry to pick up a first down at the 43 yard line. Following a pair of blockers, Paris would ride their asses, literally, to a 9 yard gain on first down, before a four yard scramble outside got across the first down marker for a new set of downs at the UNLV 44 yard line. Changing things up on first down, a well timed play action pass to Gerald Woods went for a gain of 13 yards across the opposite side of the field, moving the chains once more to the 31 yard line. Dropping back into the shotgun on first down, Jason Barnes connected with Adam Washington over the middle for a 16 yard strike down to the 15 yard line. Another first down pass out of the shotgun would see Barnes connect with Aaron Allen up the right hash for a 15 yard touchdown pass, giving us a 14-0 lead with 6:49 remaining in the first quarter.

Another kickoff resulted in another touchback, UNLV starting at their 25 yard line. The Rebels would find life this drive, as Massey connected with Michael Moore on first down for a 20 yard completion. Then that goddamned no huddle offense would screw us, as our defense was left out of position, allowing for a bloody gift wrapped 53 yard completion to Joel Samuel, setting UNLV up with first and goal at our two yard line. Another no huddle would see Davis take the handoff from Massey and stroll into the end zone untouched for a two yard touchdown, cutting our lead to 14-7 with 6:30 left in the first quarter.

Un-fucking-believable! A kickoff return by Douglas, from a yard inside the end zone to out across the 30 yard line, would end in a fumble, recovered by UNLV to give the Rebels possession at our goddamn 28 yard line. Our pissed off defense came out spitting nails, blowing through the offensive line and sacking Massey for a 7 yard loss on first down. A rushed pass intended for Davis would be dropped, leaving the Rebels facing third and 17. Another sack, this time for two yards on third down, would leave the Rebels stalled with fourth and 19 and punting from our 37 yard line. The 37 yard punt would land at the two yard line and bounce into the end zone for a touchback.

Lining up at our 20 yard line following the touchback, Paris would find nowhere to run as he was tackled for a loss of one yard. Saying to hell with it and going into the shotgun on second down, Barnes found Allen in the flats for a 15 yard completion and a first down at the 34. Going over the middle on first down, the pass intended for Douglas was nearly intercepted, thankfully batted down incomplete. A second pass to Douglas, this time on a comeback route, would find its mark this time, good for a gain of 17 yards and a reset of the downs at the UNLV 49 yard line. Returning to the ground on first down, Paris would struggle to a three yard gain, followed by an 8 yard sprint up the middle for a first down at the 38. Continuing to plug away on the ground, Paris would fight forward for a gain of four yards, followed by a huge 12 yard carry that would give us another first down at the 22 yard line. Paris would keep at it on first down, picking up 5 yards on the play, followed by a three yard carry to bring up third and two. Leaving it in the hands of Paris, he would give his best, but still be stopped for just a one yard gain, leaving us kicking on fourth and one. The 31 yard field goal by Doug Marcus sailed through the uprights, giving us a 17-7 lead with 1:35 left in the first quarter.

The kickoff would again sail into the end zone for a touchback, giving UNLV the ball at their 25 yard line. Coming out passing on first down, Massey tried to connect with Davis out of the backfield, but the pass would sail over his head and incomplete. A second down rush by Davis would go straight up the middle for a 13 yard gain and a first down at the 38 yard line. Another rush by Davis on first down would gain two yards, followed by a 5 yard screen pass to Davis that would leave the Rebels with third and three. Going into the air on third down, Massey would be forced to rush his pass by our blitz, overthrowing a receiver and sending the ball out of bounds for an incompletion, forcing UNLV to punt on fourth down. A 13 yard return by Breedlove on the 36 yard punt would give us the ball at our 32 yard line.

Taking over on first down following the punt return, Paris would again get us started with a first down rush for 9 yards, followed by a one yard carry for a first down at the 42 yard line. A sprint straight up the middle for a 7 yard gain by Paris would be the final play of the quarter, ending the first quarter with a 17-7 lead.

Opening up the second quarter facing second and three near midfield, Paris would again get the ball, fighting his way to a four yard gain and a first down at the UNLV 47 yard line. A four yard rush on first down would be followed with a 7 yard scramble on second down, moving the chains once more to the 35 yard line. Paris would keep pounding right along, slowly wearing down the UNLV defense, with a four yard carry on first down, followed by a second four yard run to leave us with third and two. Leaving the drive in the hands of Paris, he would find a hole and sprint through it for a 7 yard gain, moving the chains to the 20 yard line. A first down rush by Paris would find little room to run, managing a gain of just two yards on the play. Attempting a play action pass on second down, the pass would be nearly intercepted, leaving third and 8. Dropping back from under center on third down, Barnes would connect with fullback Raymond Watson out of the backfield, who would fight his way through two defenders for a 9 yard completion to give us first and goal at the 9 yard line. Paris would resume his duties on first down with a two yard gain, followed by a three yard rush to bring up third and goal from the 5 yard line. Going into the air on first down, Barnes was forced to dump the ball off to avoid a sack, his pass to Benjamin Silva ending up in an instant tackle for a loss of 5 yards, leaving fourth and goal at the 10 yard line. Kicking a chip shot field goal, Marcus would nail 27 yard field goal to increase our lead to 20-7 with 5:16 left in the second quarter.

Another kickoff into the end zone would again result in a touchback, UNLV choosing to start from their 25 yard line. The drive would start with more passing woes for Massey as he would make two horribly incomplete throws. Apparently meeting his missed throws in a row quota, suddenly Massey turned into Joe Montana and bitchslapped our defense down the field, slinging a 12 yard pass to Samuels, a perfect 14 yard throw to Adam Rivers, and followed that up with an immaculate 49 yard touchdown bomb to Dustin Carpenter to cap off another absurd 75 yard drive and cut our lead to 20-14 with 4:48 left in the second quarter.

A pitiful 17 yard kickoff return by Leonard Hart would leave us starting at our 19 yard line. A first down rush by Paris would result in no gain as our offensive line suddenly forgot how to block. Saying to hell with it and going into the air on second down, Barnes would connect with Allen for a quick 18 yard strike and a first down at the 37 yard line. Staying in the air, Barnes would find Washington over the middle for a 14 yard completion to the UNLV 49 yard line. Allen would again be the target on first down, pulling in another pass from Barnes for another 18 yard completion and a new first down at the 31 yard line. Returning to the ground, Paris would find a tight virgin of a hole and plow through it for a 9 yard gain, followed by a barely two yard rush that would pick up a new set of downs at the 20. Paris would keep it at on first down with a four yard carry, followed by a 5 yard gain to leave us looking at third and one. A 6 yard rush by Paris would get the one and then some, setting us up with first and goal from the 5 yard line. Paris would get the ball on first down, fighting ahead for a two yard gain. Lining up on second and goal, Paris would drive his way through a pile of bodies and break into the end zone for a three yard touchdown, giving us a 27-14 lead with 25 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Another touchback on the kickoff would start UNLV from their 25 yard line. Massey would drop back to pass on first down, but would end up taking off scrambling as the pressure mounted, ultimately tackled at the line of scrimmage no gain on the play. Seemingly content to just let the half end, the Rebels would actually willingly go into the huddle for the first time all day, letting the final 12 seconds tick off the clock and sending us into halftime with a 27-14 lead.

Opening up the second half, another touchback would give UNLV the ball at their 25 yard line to start the third quarter. Again feeling the pressure on first down, Massey’s pass intended for Rivers would be poorly thrown and incomplete. Managing to get a clean pass off on second down, Massey would find John Williams for a gain of 19 yards and a first down at the 44 yard line. However, a rush by Davis for no gain and another bad pass, this time intended for Adam Pope, and the Rebels again found themselves facing third and 10. While Massey would get off a decent pass, it would be underthrown and a sitting duck for safety Kyle Mitchell to intercept. To add insult to injury, Rivers would end up dragging Mitchell down by his facemask on the tackle, adding a 15 yard face mask penalty on top of the interception and giving us the ball to start our drive at the UNLV 49 yard line.

Lining up in UNLV territory thanks to the interception and face mask penalty, Paris would get our drive off and running with a 7 yard sprint up the middle, followed by a gain of 6 yards for a first down at the 36 yard line. Paris would get another carry on first down, managing just two yards on the play, followed by a second two yard rush to leave us facing third and 6. Trying to find Allen in the flats, Barnes would be very rushed in his throw to avoid a sack, causing the pass to sail long. In a rare display of failure, Marcus would send his 49 yard field goal sailing straight into the left upright and bouncing it into the end zone for a miss.

Taking over following the missed field goal, Davis would start things off with an 8 yard rush. After an incomplete pass to leave third and two, Davis would just roll right through five different tackle attempts on his way to a 19 yard rush and a first down at our 42 yard line. A three yard rush by Davis on first down would be followed by an incomplete pass on second down, bringing up third and 7 for the Rebels. Another third down pass would add in disaster for UNLV, as a chucked up throw would be easily intercepted by cornerback LawrenceCoker, giving us the ball at our 27 yard line.

Taking over following the interception, Paris would get the ball on first down, managing just two yards on the play. Going into the air on second down, Barnes would find Woods on a play action pass for a 15 yard gain, though Woods would fumble the ball on the play, thankfully it would be scooped up and carried out of bounds by Watson. There would be a booth review on the play, it would end being ruled that the ground caused the fumble. It wouldn’t change anything really since we still had a first down at the 43 yard line. Paris would get the ball again on first down, finding a hole for a four yard gain, followed by a 7 yard rush on second down to move the chains to the UNLV 46 yard line. Continuing to slowly drive up the field, Paris would pick up four more yards on a first down carry, before being instantly tackled for no gain by a blitzing linebacker no one bothered to even stick an arm out at. The third down pass intended for Allen was on target, but dropped as he was hit, leaving fourth and 6 at the 42. Stuck in no man’s land on fourth down, we said screw it and went for it on fourth down, Barnes lining up in the shotgun and finding Paris along the right hash for a 13 yard gain and a first down at the 28 yard line. Another first down rush by Paris would again go for no gain, the defense suddenly blitzing every play now. Going into the air on second down, the pass intended for Douglas would be broken up, leaving third and long. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, Barnes would connect with Allen for a 16 yard strike, giving us a first down at the UNLV 12 yard line. A first down carry by Paris would pick up three yards, followed by a 5 yard scramble to leave us with third and two. Falling backwards across the line of scrimmage, Paris would turn what would have been no gain into a two yard play, giving us first and goal from the two yard line. Paris would finish the drive off on the next play as he plunged into the end zone for a two yard touchdown, increasing our lead to 34-14 with 1:20 left in the third quarter.

The following kickoff would likewise sail into the end zone for a touchback, UNLV starting from their 25 yard line. Coming out rushing on first down, Davis would run for gains of three and one yards, leaving third and 6, upon which Massey, aka Joe Montana, would sling a perfect pass to Montgomery downfield for a 25 yard completion and a first down at our 46 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Massey would drop back to pass on second down, before taking off scrambling for his life and sliding for a three yard gain. Massey would again try to pass on third and 7, but would be forced to throw the ball away to avoid the sack, forcing UNLV to punt on fourth down. The 43 yard punt would land at the two yard line and bounce into the end zone for a touchback.

Taking over at our 20 yard line following the punt, a 7 yard rush by Paris would run out the final seconds on the clock, bring the third quarter to an end with a 34-14 lead.

Opening up the fourth quarter, Paris would pick up right where he left off just moments before, racing through a pile of bodies for a gain of 9 yards and a first down at the 36 yard line. A 5 yard carry on first down would be followed by a four yard run on second down, leaving us facing third and one. A backside blitz would drag Paris down from behind on third down. Despite being credited with a one yard gain on the play, we would still be left facing fourth and inches at our own 45 yard line. Forced to punt the ball, the kick would sail all the way to the UNLV 5 yard line and into the end zone for a touchback on the 55 yard booming punt.

Starting from their 20 yard line following the touchback, a first down screen pass to Davis would result in only two yards for the Rebels, followed by an incomplete pass that would sail long and out of bounds, leaving UNLV facing a quick third and 8 on their drive. Another third down pass would see the UNLV drive end with another interception, as an across the body pass intended for Rivers would instead be cut off and intercepted by cornerback Mike Moses and returned 8 yards to the UNLV 25 yard line.

Starting our next drive deep in UNLV territory thanks to another interception by our defense, Paris would again get us off and running with a three yard gain on first down, followed by an 11 yard sprint through a perfectly timed hole, picking up a first down at the 11 yard line. Paris would keep plugging away on first down with a three yard gain, followed by a four yard rush to leave us facing third and four. Benjamin Silva would get the call on third down, but he would pick up just two yards on the play, leaving us with third and two from the three yard line. Kicking the glorified extra point, Marcus would sail the 20 yard field goal through the uprights to extend our lead to 37-14 with 5:28 left in the game.

Another touchback would start UNLV from their 25 yard line. Dropping back to pass on first down, Massey would end up sacked from behind for a three yard loss on the play. Moses would again be responsible for ending a drive as he would get his second interception of the game, in as many drives, as he jumped an under thrown pass deep down the left sideline, giving us back possession from our 47 yard line.

Lining up near midfield thanks to yet another interception by our defense, Silva would come out running on first down, fighting and driving to a 6 yard gain on the play, following that up with a second gain of 6 yards and a first down at the UNLV 41 yard line. Silva would continue pounding the ball straight into the heart of the defense, keeping his legs driving through a mass of bodies for a 10 yard gain, bringing up second and inches, upon which Silva would dive forward for a gain of two yards and a new set of downs at the 29. A first down rush by Silva would result in just a two yard gain, followed by a second gain of only two yards to leave us facing third and 6. Going into the shotgun on third down, Barnes would connect with Tristan Muhammad for a pickup of 8 yards and a first down at the 17 yard line. Returning to the ground on first down, Silva would keep us moving forward with a 7 yard carry, followed by a three yard rush to give us first and goal from the 7 yard line. Running on first down, Silva would plow ahead for a gain of 5 yards, before being swarmed for a one yard loss to leave us with third and goal at the three yard line. The Rebels would go all out blitz on third down, leaving Silva trapped and driven backwards, resulting in a four yard loss on the play and fourth down at the 6 yard line. Forced to settle for a field goal, Marcus would drive the 23 yard kick through the uprights to increase our lead to 40-14 with 32 seconds left.

One more kickoff would result in one more touchback, UNLV starting from their 25 yard line for the final time today. As a final insult, Massey would launch a pass on first down along the right sideline, only to be intercepted for the fifth time today, as Leonard Hart picked up his first interception of the game, returning it 23 yards down to the UNLV 26 yard line.

Setting up at the UNLV 26 yard line following the interception, we would need to just drop to a knee one time to run out the last 26 seconds remaining in the game. Barnes would drop to his knee and seal our 40-14 victory over UNLV, our final home victory of the season, keeping slim hopes of winning the Mountain Division alive.

With the win, we improve to 8-3, 6-1 in Mountain West action. With the loss, UNLV drops to 3-8, 3-4 in Mountain West play. Up next, it’s back on the road to finish up the 2023 season with another edition of Bridger’s Battle against the Wyoming Cowboys. Wyoming enters the game at 2-9, 1-6 in Mountain West action. The Cowboys opened on a three game losing streak, falling 21-14 to Northern Illinois, 24-10 at #14 Baylor and 48-17 at Nebraska. They would break into the win column with a 23-14 win at Eastern Michigan. It would be downhill from there as they would lose their next six straight, losing 41-14 to UNLV, 45-24 to Colorado State, 43-42 at San Jose State, 38-7 to Air Force, 35-7 at New Mexico and 49-7 at Boise State. Wyoming would finally break into the win column in the Mountain West, and break their losing streak, by upsetting San Diego State 28-27 on the road before heading home to host Utah State in the season finale.

Final Score
40, 14



Stat(s) of the Game:

Utah State Offense - A decent game (mainly because of no interceptions) by Barnes, as he ended 14-19 for 180 yards and one touchdown. Rushing, it was nearly a one man show today as Paris ran for 250 yards and three touchdowns on 56 carries. Silva, in limited action, gained 39 yards on 12 rushes. Receiving, Allen again led the way in yards and catches, picking up 81 yards and a touchdown on five receptions. In total, eight receivers caught a pass today, five of them would end with double digit yards.

Utah State Defense/Special Teams – A much better performance by the defense today. Still gave up way too many big yardage plays, particularly due to the unit's failure to adapt to defending a no-huddle offense. Regardless, a huge 5 interception day today, as cornerback Leonard Hart (1), safety Kyle Mitchell (1), cornerback Mike Moses (2) and cornerback Lawrence Coker (1) killed numerous drives with timely interceptions and gave us beautiful field position on multiple occasions.

Also a big day in special teams as Douglas opened the game with a massive 83 yard kickoff return that would leave us starting our first drive of the game on UNLV's doorstep. Add in a second return for 34 yards that set us up in great position and it was a good day for Douglas.

Utah State Kicking – Unfortunately all good things must come to an end, as Marcus saw his streak of perfect games broken today, thanks to a 49 yard field goal, with a 5 MPH cross wind, that would sail into and bounce off the left upright, rather than squeaking just inside it as the wind failed to push the ball to the right far enough. Still, Marcus had a solid day as he turned in a 4-5 performance, with field goals of 20, 23, 27 and 31 yards, along with going a perfect 4-4 in PATs. It remains to be seen whether going 4-5 will be enough to help Marcus retake first place in projections for the Groza award, or if that one missed kick will doom an outstanding 2023 campaign and leave him looking up from second place when the dust settles.




Scoring Summary

Team	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Final Score
	7	7	0	0	14
	17	10	7	6	40

Time	Team	Result	Play	Score
First Quarter
9:46		Touchdown	B. Paris, 13 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	7-0
6:49		Touchdown	A. Allen, 15 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick)	14-0
6:30		Touchdown	K. Davis, 2 yard run (J. Mack kick)	14-7
1:35		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 31 yard field gaol	17-7
Second Quarter
5:16		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 27 yard field goal	20-7
4:48		Touchdown	D. Carpenter, 49 yard pass from K. Massey (J. Mack kick)	20-14
0:25		Touchdown	B. Paris, 3 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	27-14
Third Quarter
1:20		Touchdown	B. Paris, 2 yard run (D. Marcus kick)	34-14
Fourth Quarter
5:28		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 20 yard field goal	37-14
0:32		Field Goal	D. Marcus, 23 yard field goal	40-14

Game Stats

UNLV	Stat	Utah State
14	Score	40
8	First Downs	30
250	Total Offense	467
15 - 51 - 1	Rushes - Yards - TD	69 - 287 - 3
9 - 28 - 1	Comp - Att - TD	14 - 19 - 1
199	Passing Yards	180
3	Times Sacked	0
3 - 10 (30%)	3rd Down Conversion	6 - 13 (46%)
0 - 0 (0%)	4th Down Conversion	1 - 1 (100%)
0 - 0 (0%)	2-Point Conv	0 - 0 (0%)
1 - 1 - 0 (100%)	Red Zone - TD - FG	8 - 4 - 4 (100%)
5	Turnovers	1
0	Fumbles Lost	1
5	Intercepted	0
0	Punt Return Yards	18
0	Kick Return Yards	134
250	Total Yards	619
4 – 39.5	Punts - Average	1 - 55.0
1 - 15	Penalties	0 - 0
9:07	Time of Possession	30:53

Utah State Coach Goals

Goal	XP Reward	Completed
Win a Game	100	x1
Score a Touchdown	25	x4
Force a Turnover	25	x4
Rush for 100 Yards	25	x1
Kneel Last Minute Q4 While Ahead	10	x1
3+ Sacks	50	x1
Opponent Under 150 Rush Yards	50	x1
Opponent Under 300 Pass Yards	50	x1
Pass Completion Over 50%	30	x1
100% Red Zone Efficiency	50	x1
Score 21 or More Points	50	x1
350+ Offensive Yards	50	x1
10+ First Downs	50	x1
4+ 3rd Down Conversions	25	x1

Utah State Contract Goals Update

Goal	Expectations	Progress
Target Wins Per Season	8	8

Job Security Status

100%

[SmoothPancakes]

Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, #2 Ohio State barely escaped Indiana 41-34 in double overtime. #4 Fresno State made it past San Jose State 33-21. #5 Oklahoma survived Texas Tech 34-24. #7 Ole Miss beat Wake Forest 56-21. #8 UCLA topped #25 USC 31-21. #9 Cincinnati slipped past Tulane 30-27. #11 Virginia Tech toppled #10 Georgia Tech 48-31. #12 Texas beat Oklahoma State 40-34. #13 Kansas State barely squeaked past Kansas 52-49.

Iowa State stunned #14 Baylor 24-3. #15 Louisiana Lafayette massacred Texas State 49-24. #16 Arizona ruthlessly violated Colorado 63-17. #24 Arkansas knocked off #17 TCU 42-35. #18 Auburn doubled up LSU 28-14. #19 Miami dispatched North Carolina 35-23. Missouri knocked off #20 Florida 31-24. #21 Florida State beat Syracuse 34-17. Central Florida trout slapped #22 Temple 48-14. Texas A&M shocked #23 Alabama 56-30.

For our readers, JeffHCross, #2 Ohio State improves to 11-0 (8-0 Big Ten) with a 41-34 double overtime win at Indiana. Morsdraconis, #6 West Virginia remains 9-1 (6-1 Big 12) with yet another bye week. Souljahbill, Southern Miss improves to 6-4 (5-2 C-USA) with a 48-21 win over UAB. Jaymo, Arizona State drops to 3-8 (2-6 Pac-12) with a 48-17 loss at Utah. LeeSO, #18 Auburn improves to 9-2 (6-2 SEC) with a 28-14 win at LSU. SCClassof93, #1 South Carolina remains 11-0 (9-0 SEC) with another bye week. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State drops to 7-3 (4-2 Sun Belt) with a 27-24 loss to Troy. Florida International drops to 4-7 (4-3 C-USA) with a 38-21 loss to Marshall. Navy improves to 7-3 (5-3 American) with a 45-38 overtime win over East Carolina. Tulsa drops to 3-8 (2-6 American) with a 45-27 loss to Memphis.

In Mountain West action, #6 Fresno State beat San Jose State 33-21. Utah State hammered UNLV 40-14. Air Force got past Colorado State 31-24. Wyoming knocked off San Diego State 28-27. Boise State topped New Mexico 28-21 in overtime. And Nevada upset Hawaii 43-37.

With those results, looking at the latest conference standings, in the Mountain Division, Air Force and Utah State (6-1) remain tied atop the division, with Air Force holding not only the head to head tiebreaker, but also the division tiebreaker (Air Force is 4-0 in-division, Utah State is 3-1). Beyond that, everyone else is eliminated from contention, including Boise State (4-3), New Mexico, Colorado State and Wyoming (all 1-6). In the West Division, #6 Fresno State (7-0) has clinched the division and a spot in the conference title game. Nevada and Hawaii (both 4-3), San Jose State and UNLV (both 3-4) and San Diego State (2-5) are all eliminated from the division race.

That sets up a HUGE week 14. Fresno State is guaranteed in the conference championship game. Who they will play remains to be decided. Right now, Air Force will play in the conference title game thanks to their head to head victory over Utah State, as both teams are tied with 6-1 conference records. Even despite the head to head tiebreaker, Air Force would still go over Utah State thanks to the division record (4-0 for Air Force, 3-1 for Utah State). There are two games to watch in week 14. Air Force (8-3, 6-1) at Boise State (7-4, 4-3) and Utah State (8-3, 6-1) at Wyoming (2-9, 1-6). If Air Force beats Boise State, regardless of what Utah State does, Air Force will play in the conference title game. If Boise State beats Air Force and Utah State beats Wyoming, Utah State will advance to the conference title game by way of conference record (7-1 vs. what would become Air Force's 6-2). Boise State beating Air Force is Utah State's only hope of making it to the conference championship game. Both games kickoff at 1:00 PM, so Utah State won't know for sure what Air Force did until likely their own game is final, though there will be eager eyes watching the scoreboard and watching the TVs for score updates between action.

Looking at undefeated teams left, no one lost this week, leaving our number of undefeated teams at 4. #1 South Carolina (11-0), #2 Ohio State (11-0), #3 Michigan (11-0) and #4 Fresno State (11-0) all remain with an unblemished record this season.

Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 0 teams still looking for their first win.

Teams getting their first win this week were: Buffalo (24-14 over 3-8 Bowling Green).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, South Carolina (35 first place votes) remains #1, Ohio State (22 votes) remains #2, Michigan (3 votes) remains #3, Fresno State (1 vote) remains #4 and Oklahoma remains #5. West Virginia remains #6, Ole Miss remains #7, UCLA remains #8, Virginia Tech jumps two to #9 and Cincinnati drops one to #10. Texas moves up one to #11, Kansas State climbs one to #12, Louisiana Lafayette jumps two to #13, Arizona leaps two to #14 and Georgia Tech drops five to #15. Auburn climbs two to #16, Miami jumps two to #17, Florida State climbs three to #18, Arkansas leaps five to #19 and Stanford enters the poll at #20. Baylor falls seven to #21, Clemson enters the poll at #22, Michigan State enters the poll at #23, Ohio enters the poll at #24 and TCU (208 points) drops eight to #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was Florida (from #20), Temple (from #22), Alabama (from #23) and USC (from #25). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Utah State (136 points) is #26, followed by Navy (101), SMU (92), Temple (79) and Tennessee (57) to round out the Top 30. One other team getting points this week is USC (25).

Taking a look at the new Top 25 Media Poll, South Carolina (43 first place votes) remains #1, Ohio State (21 votes) remains #2, Michigan (1 vote) remains #3, Fresno State remains #4 and West Virginia remains #5. Oklahoma remains #6, UCLA remains #7, Virginia Tech leaps four to #8, Ole Miss remains #9 and Cincinnati remains #10. Arizona remains #11, Texas climbs one to #12, Kansas State moves up one to #13, Georgia Tech falls six to #14 and Louisiana Lafayette jumps two to #15. Auburn jumps two to #16, Miami climbs two to #17, Arkansas leaps five to #18, Florida State moves up two to #19 and Clemson vaults five to #20. Baylor drops six to #21, Ohio enters the poll at #22, Stanford enters the poll at #23, TCU drops eight to #24 and Michigan State (237 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was Florida (from #20), Temple (from #22) and Alabama (from #24). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Navy (201 points) is #26, followed by Utah State (134), Tennessee (88), Temple (86) and SMU (61) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include Central Florida (14) and Florida (12).

In the newest BCS rankings: #1 South Carolina (1.000), #2 Ohio State (0.995), #3 Michigan (0.989), #4 Fresno State (0.981), #5 Oklahoma (0.976), #6 West Virginia (0.976), #7 UCLA (0.966), #8 Ole Miss (0.963), #9 Virginia Tech (0.955) and #10 Cincinnati (0.952). Others: #15 Louisiana Lafayette (0.904), #16 Auburn (0.900).

A look at the Heisman race, Fresno State HB Chris Vincent is #1 (LW: #1), Ohio State QB Jordan Watkins is #2 (LW: #4), Texas QB Justin Jones is #3 (LW: #3), Ole Miss QB Jason Davis is #4 (LW: #5) and Michigan QB Brian Brewster is #5 (LW: #2). No one fell off the watch list this week.

Taking a glance at Award Finalists, Utah State cornerback Leonard Hart is second for the Bednarik, cornerback Jesse Breedlove is twelfth for the Bednarik, halfback Benjamin Silva is eighth for the Walker, halfback Brian Paris is tenth for the Walker, defensive end Steve Jones is ninth for the Lombardi, cornerback Leonard Hart is fourth for the Thorpe, cornerback Jesse Breedlove is eleventh for the Thorpe, kicker Doug Marcus is second for the Groza, and wide receiver David Douglas is fifth for Best Returner.

Looking at the bowl picture, 6 teams punched their tickets this week, giving us 55 teams that have reached the 6 win plateau. 10 teams saw their bowl hopes end, leaving 31 teams still having a chance (however small it may be) of getting there, to leave 86 teams total fighting for 68 bowl slots.

Looking at the first bowl projections of the year, if they hold out, it's a trip to the Poinsettia Bowl for Utah State fans, taking on Washington (6-5, 3-5) out of the Pac-12. The Armed Forces Bowl would feature Southern Miss (6-4, 5-2 C-USA) vs Navy (7-3, 5-3 American). The Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl would see #12 Kansas State (7-3, 4-3) take on Arkansas State (7-3, 4-2 Sun Belt). The Capital One Bowl would feature #16 Auburn (9-2, 6-2 SEC) vs. #23 Michigan State (8-3, 5-3 Big Ten).

The Fiesta Bowl would feature #6 West Virginia (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) vs #7 Ole Miss (10-1, 7-1 SEC). The Sugar Bowl would see #4 Fresno State (11-0, 7-0 Mountain West) against #5 Oklahoma (9-1, 6-1 Big 12). And the BCS National Championship Game would feature a showdown between #2 Ohio State (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) and #1 South Carolina (11-0, 9-0 SEC).

Looking at the BCS projections, the Rose Bowl would feature #3 Michigan (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) against #8 UCLA (11-1, 8-1 Pac-12). The Fiesta Bowl has #6 West Virginia (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) matching up with #7 Ole Miss (10-1, 7-1 SEC). The Sugar Bowl has #4 Fresno State (11-0, 7-0 Mountain West) matching up with #5 Oklahoma (9-1, 6-1 Big 12). The Orange Bowl features a battle between #9 Virginia Tech (9-2, 7-1 ACC) and #10 Cincinnati (10-1, 7-1 American). And in the national championship game, #2 Ohio State (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) takes on #1 South Carolina (11-0, 9-0 SEC).

[SmoothPancakes]

My oh my, what a week that Week 14 is shaping up to be. First, you have the two games that everyone in the Mountain West will be watching, as Boise State hosts Air Force and Wyoming hosts Utah State, both with 1pm kickoffs. To clinch the Mountain Division, all Air Force has to do is win, or they can afford to lose if Utah State loses. For Utah State, the only way they can win the Mountain Division is if they win at Wyoming and Air Force loses to Boise State.

So, many eyes will be glued to the scoreboards during those contests. Then on top of that, you have #4 Fresno State who will be going for a perfect 12-0 regular season with a trip to Hawaii.

In other action, you have a big showdown between #1 South Carolina (11-0, 9-0 SEC) against their hated rival, #22 Clemson (9-2, 7-2 ACC). What would be more perfect for Clemson than destroying the perfect season AND national title hopes of hated rival South Carolina?

Even bigger than that, you have the showdown of all showdowns in the Big Ten East. #2 Ohio State (11-0, 8-0) vs #3 Michigan (11-0, 8-0) for all the marbles in the East and a trip to the Big Ten title game, with an almost guaranteed national title slot waiting after that. There is already no love to be lost between these two opponents. Add in their perfect records, the division title, a spot in the conference title game and an all but guaranteed spot in the national title game? They better bring an army of refs and the National Guard for this one!

And we'll be returning to the Big Ten shortly to talk about the disaster in the West.

In the Big 12, you have the first of two huge games for #6 West Virginia (9-1, 6-1) as they host #11 Texas (8-2, 5-2) this week, followed by hosting #25 TCU (6-4, 5-2) next week. Win both, and they have the outright Big 12 title. Lose one, and #5 Oklahoma (9-1, 6-1) could slip in. Oklahoma doesn't have it easy either. They travel to #25 TCU this week, then host hated Oklahoma State (4-6, 1-6) next week, though the records can be thrown out when it comes to rivalries (most of the time).

In Conference USA, week 14 brings about the battle for the East, as Southern Miss (6-4, 5-2) visits Marshall (8-3, 5-2) with all the marbles on the line. Only question will be how, if at all, Florida Atlantic (5-6, 5-2) plays into things. Throughout the season, Florida Atlantic beat Marshall but lost to Southern Miss. Could Florida Atlantic steal the division title if they beat Florida International (4-7, 4-3) and Marshall tops Southern Miss?

Likewise, in the SEC West, could Auburn steal the division title at the last moment? #16 Auburn (9-2, 6-2) beat #7 Ole Miss 29-26 in overtime back in early October. If Auburn beats Alabama and Ole Miss loses to Mississippi State, both would end with a 7-2 division record, which should mean a title for Auburn based on head to head. Ole Miss has got to be feeling the pressure right now.

Okay, now, back to the Big Ten West. While the East is nice and clean, with 8-0 Ohio State and 8-0 Michigan at the top, with the division to be decided in one ultimate game of utter rivalry hate, the West Division is a complete and utter clusterfuck. Here is what the West Division currently looks like:

#1 - Purdue - 5-6, 4-4
#2 - Nebraska - 5-6, 4-4
#3 - Wisconsin - 5-6. 4-4
#4 - Iowa - 5-6, 3-5
#5 - Northwestern - 5-6, 3-5
#6 - Minnesota - 4-6, 3-5
#7 - Illinois - 3-8, 1-7

To make matters worse, apparently it was nothing but a battle of attrition this season.

Purdue beat Nebraska, lost to Wisconsin, lost to Iowa, beat Northwestern, beat Illinois and end with Minnesota.
Nebraska lost to Purdue, beat Wisconsin, lost to Northwestern, beat Minnesota, beat Illinois, and end with Iowa.
Wisconsin beat Purdue, lost to Nebraska, beat Iowa, lost to Northwestern, beat Minnesota and beat Illinois, ending with Rutgers.
Iowa beat Purdue, lost to Wisconsin, beat Northwestern, lost to Minnesota, lost to Illinois and end with Nebraska.
Northwestern lost to Purdue, beat Nebraska, beat Wisconsin, lost to Iowa, beat Minnesota and end with Illinois.
Minnesota lost to Nebraska, lost to Wisconsin, beat Iowa, lost to Northwestern, beat Illinois and end with Purdue.
Illinois lost to Purdue, lost to Nebraska, lost to Wisconsin, beat Iowa, lost to Minnesota and end with Northwestern.

Now, not only does trying to figure out who would even win that clusterfuck of a division (depending on an exponentially different number of possible outcomes of all games in week 14) immediately enter the realm of migraine-inducing, but the fact that if the right results happened, you could have a six way tie at 4-5 in the division, is mind boggling. On top of that, if you played out the absolute worst case scenario of results for the entire division (Minnesota beats Purdue and then loses in week 15, either Nebraska or Iowa win, Rutgers beats Wisconsin and, Illinois beats Northwestern), then you would end up with five teams sitting at 5-7, and only the winner of the Nebraska-Iowa game as the only team to reach six wins and a potential bowl game out of the entire division. This division and the way it has played out over the course of the season, is so out there this season that you might think you were in the Twilight Zone.

Needless to say, week 14 is going to be very very interesting.