Iron Dragon's Tulane Green Wave Dynasty

[Iron Dragon]

AROUND THE NCAA WEEK SIX

Week five, oh week five, it just shook up the bottom of the top 25. Not much else. Really.


C-USA SCORES

• Rice 42, Navy 28 ... Nick Fanuzzi was finally accurate (17/26, 344 yards, 4 TD).. Rice took a 4 TD lead into the final quarter. Not as close as the score seems.
  
• Southern Miss 45, Louisville 10 ... Umm.. damn. USM took a 45-0 halftime lead and did not look back. Austin Davis with 4 TD passes.
  
• Mississippi State 31, Houston 24 ... Yes, this is the same Houston team that beat Texas Tech. Mississippi State wins the game with 24 unanswered points. Keenum still out for Houston.
  
• Memphis loses the most random games alert: UTEP (previously 0-5) 31, Memphis 17 ... Memphis, you realize if you didn't lose to Middle Tennessee State and NOW UTEP you'd be in the top 25?!!
  
• SMU 31, ECU 22 ... I don't know about you but our win over SMU is looking pretty good that the Mustangs are now 4-2.
  

NCAA Notable Scores

• ACC Game of the Year(?): #5 Virginia Tech 38, #20 USF (was 5-0) 17 ... if USF falls out and is replaced by a two or three loss team, the pulls are crazy.
  
• #4 Texas 42, #18 Colorado 22 ... And another lowly ranked undefeated team bites the dust.
  
• Texas A&M 17, #7 Oklahoma State 14 ... And please welcome aTm to the top 25.
  
• #25 Georgia Tech 19, Florida State 7 (2-4, 0-3) ... Is Florida State going to make a bowl game? Welcome to Michigan 2008.
  
• #22 Georgia 20, #12 Tennessee 13 ... Tennessee still beat Florida and was lower ranked than them. Oh well, no argument now that they have two losses.
  
• WHAT alert: #8 Florida 52, #3 LSU 10 ... Florida just lost alot of season showdown sportsmanship points for running up the score. Tebow with 5 passing TD's and one rushing.
  

TOP 25

1. USC(34)

2. Oklahoma(26)

3. Texas(1)

4. Virginia Tech

5. Penn State

6. Florida

7. Utah

8. Boise State

9. LSU

10. Nebraska

11. Iowa

12. Kansas (sudden 7 spot jump)

13. Alabama

14. Cal

15. West Virginia

16. Illinois

17. Georgia

18. Oklahoma State

19. Tennessee

20. Oregon

21. Colorado

22. North Carolina

23. BYU

24. USF

25. Georgia Tech

OTHERS: Kansas State (undefeated, 6-0, best wins: at UCLA, at Texas Tech by 34), PITT, Boston College, Ohio State, Clemson, Minnesota, Ole Miss


HEISMAN WATCH: Tim Tebow, Darryl Clark, Darren Evans (RB, Virginia Tech), Dezmon Briscoe, Arrelious Benn


UP NEXT: (Possible a mid-season stat update).. Our joyous winning streak probably ends as Case Keenum is back and Houston rolls into New Orleans. Houston is B OVR, B OFF and B- DEF.

[Iron Dragon]

Mid-season stat update


Tulane is sitting nicely at 4-2, and we'll get back to the games shortly, but here's a report on some of our stats and some of the NCAA's stats.


Kevin Moore sits at something very good. 155.7 QB Rating, 102-for-171, 1375 yards, 16 TD, 2 INT, 229.1 yards per game, 59% completion, 9 times sacked.


In the NCAA, Tim Hiller has the most completed passes (149). J.J. McDermott has the most attempts (280), McDermott and Hiller are the top two in yards. Max Hall has the most passing TD's, then Tebow then Hiller, then Kevin Moore. Taylor Potts (injured) has the most INTs: 13. Mike Kafka is second.


Andre Anderson is number one in rushing yards.. by 112 yards. I've always been good with power backs (cough Oliver deBurrows cough), but I've never won the heisman with one. Stephen Barnett is 4th in YPC, and Anderson is 6th. And Stephen Barnett is like 50th for rushing yards. He's ahead of Noel Devine, Kendall Hunter, Brandon Minor, Graig Cooper, Harvey Unga, Caleb King, C.J. Spiller and DeMarco Murray... just to name a few. He's a true freshman. (Stephen Barnett for Heisman 2010). In the C-USA, Barnett is 7th just 2 yards out of 6th.


In recieving, Jeremy Williams has 6 TD's and Robottom has 5 TD's, both in the top 50 in the NCAA.


Chinoso Echebelum leads the team in tackles with 42. Tony Bryant has 10 TFL's. Darryl Farley, Bryant and De Leon have four sacks each.


Thevenot is 6-for-9 on field goals, with all of his misses from 40+.


deRochemont has a 44.8 yard average in punting.


David Figaro is 4th in the C-USA with kick-return yards, despite only having 12 returns. We don't have anything spectacular on punt returns.


LEADERS

QB Rating: Tim Tebow (188.8)

Rushing attempts: Darren Evans (170)

YPC: Savier Stephens (7.2)

Rush TD: Josh Adams, Atiyyah Henderson (9)

Receptions: Jordan White (57)

Yards: Jordan White (892)

YPCatch: Jeron Mastrud (22.0)

TD Catches: David Gilreath, Duke Calhoun (9)

Pancakes: Dan Voss (27)

Tackles: Greg Jones (57)

TFL: Corey Bosworth (19)

Sack: Corey Bosworth (7)

INT: Chris Maragos, Johnson Bademosi (5)

Field Goals: James Aho (19)

Field Goals 50+: Zac Minturn, Kevin Harper, Kyle Hughes (2)

Field Goals Missed: Aric Goodman (9)

Most Punts: Zoltan Mesko (63)

Punt Average: Reid Forrest (45.8)

Kick Return TDs: Alot of people (1)

Punt Return TDs: Aubrey Quarles (3)



UP NEXT: Houston game.

[Iron Dragon]

Alright, there we go.. half of season one is up and posted, like I said, I'm in season six right now and I'll probably be bringing over this half-seasons early on, then windle it down to a couple games a day, then have you guys caught up on season six by the release of NCAA '11, where I'll probably start this thing right away.

Also, if I posted it all at once, it'd be a long read straight through.

[Iron Dragon]

Houston (3-2, 1-0) @ Tulane (4-2, 2-1)


NEW ORLEANS - Last year, Houston took down Joe Kemp on a cheap shot and won the game. This year, 12th place predicted Tulane sits at a better record than Houston. What? Yes. Houston has been without Case Keenum for the last two games, and when you are without a star, it's not a good thing. But now he's back and Kevin Moore has the 4th most passing TD's in the nation. Some thought it'd be Keenum with the most passing TD's out of the C-USA, instead it's Moore. Anyways, on to the game..


(My apologies for the shorter game report, had a major headache while writing this)


1ST QUARTER


Tulane won the coin toss, and elected to receive, to be different again. And we go three and out. That's not different. Houston goes four and out.


We would not go three and out again. On third and 5, Moore connects with Robottom for 15, a play later, Helm for 27 and Barnett for 5. That puts us at the Houston 14, Anderson gets 10 and then he gets 4 yards and the touchdown.




(I have no clue what #30 is trying to do)


Case Keenum leads Houston down field gets the wind knocked out of him, and Turner his backup throws an easy strike for a TD (his lone throw of the day). 7-7.





Kevin Moore on third down gets picked off. Well, that's not a bad thing. But a 6 yard TD pass from Keenum to Castille is. 14-7 Houston after one.


2ND QUARTER


Tulane would march down the field using the ground game but stall near the goal line and kick a 22 yard field goal. 14-10.


Three and out Houston.


And then Tulane gets the ball with 3 minutes to play in the half, and they'd run it all down (or almost all of it), a mixture of it all, rushing, passing, WR runs etc. The scoring play on the drive, is once again Andre Anderson, this time from just two yards out. 17-14 Tulane.





Houston has a few seconds but does not do anything. Halftime. Tulane leads Houston.


3RD QUARTER


Houston would get the ball first, and led by Case Keenum, would drive down the field, Keenum threw for 46 on this drive, but Houston stalled and kicked a 29 yard field goal. 17-17.


Tulane goes all-running on their next drive and gets one first down but not another. We would punt, and deRoachment would kick it inside the five.


Houston then gets the ball from their own three. Three runs, three yards. Punt. The punt is a crappy one, only twenty-two yards. Tulane already in field goal range. It didn't take them long either, two runs by Anderson, first down, Barnett 3yd run, Williams 6yd catch, then Antoine Duplessis on third and one...




..dives in for the four yard touchdown! 24-17.


Houston would get one first down, then would go four and out. Tulane gains no yards on two rushes.. and it's the..


4TH QUARTER


Well, let's pass the ball, now Moore has plenty of time, he throws...




..and Saenz for Houston picks it off. And Saenz has the room to return it all the way. PICK SIX. 24-24. Three and out Tulane on their next possession.


Houston then drives, down the field, their biggest play being a 25 yard rush by Beall, and Mannisto hits a 20 yard field goal with 4:29 to play. 27-24 Houston.


Figaro returns the kick to the 29. Then Andre Anderson takes a carry to the outside, he gets a block... breaks a tackle, and he's OFF TO THE RACES! Anderson gets past mid-field, one man to beat, forty, thirty, twenty, brought down at the 16 yard line! A 57 yard run puts Tulane in field goal range. Two unsuccessful runs later, Moore goes to pass, he has Williams open.. but he can not get the ball away fast enough. Sack. Field goal from 36 is good for Thevenot. Tie ballgame at 27.


Houston goes three and out. 2:11 to play.


Anderson then gets 5, Barnett gets 4 twice, Barnett then gets 8 more, Anderson gets 10 on two carries, then Barnett gets one twice, putting us at Houston's 40 yard line. It's fourth down. There are 24 seconds left, we can either:


a) Run down the clock, attempt a 57 yard field goal

b) Call timeout, attempt to get the first down

c) Run down the clock to inside five seconds, call timeout, one shot at the endzone.


Not wanting to give Houston a shot, we chose option C. Moore had plenty of time to throw, he looked and waited until the last second, to the endzone to Jeremy Williams......

















NOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooOooooooooooooo!


27-27 all still.


OVERTIME


We win the toss, defense we go. Two runs by Beall for 5 yards. Third and five, Keenum will throw.. to Beall..




..who breaks a couple tackles and scores. 34-27 Houston after the XP.


Barnett gets 5, then 6, Anderson gets 4, then Barnett for 2, Anderson loses one on third down. Shit. And he's injured. Double shit.


Fourth down and game. Moore steps back.. time to throw.. to Mitchell in the endzone......
















KNOCKED DOWN. HOUSTON WINS. 34-27. Overtime.


FINAL SCORE: Houston 34-27 OT


Ugh. We'd got so used to winning, this loss is hard to swallow, but in the preseason we thought we didn't have a chance in this one. Not only did we lose to a better team, we pressured Houston to the final seconds. Houston is the C-USA leader, and they have alot of talent. We knew this game was going to be tough, and Houston was favored even with the game in the Superdome. Oh well. Moore had a bad day and Anderson we're not sure how he's doing but he had a good day like he normally does.



PLAYER STATS

Kevin Moore: 85.6 QB Rating, 12-for-22 passing, 129 yards, 2 INT, Sacked once


Andre Anderson: 29 rush att, 152 yards, 2 TD, 1 rec, 17 yards

Stephen Barnett: 15 rush att, 54 yards, 2 rec, 15 yards / Antoine Duplessis: 4 rush att, 12 yards, TD


Casey Robottom: 4 rec, 37 yards / Jeremy Williams: 1 rec, 6 yards

Alan Mitchell: 2 rec, 25 yards / Tyler Helm: 2 rec, 29 yards


Chinoso Echebelum: 13 tackles, TFL

Darryl Farley: 12 tackles

Charles Harris: 9 tackles, 2 TFL

Kristifer Rhymes: 5 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack

Corey Sonnier: 5 tackles, TFL

Tony Bryant: 3 tackles, TFL, Sack


Ross Thevenot: 2/2 FG, 3/3 XP (long of 37)


UP NEXT: Week Seven Around the NCAA

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK SEVEN AROUND THE NCAA

Week six saw the #3 team in the nation get beat badly. That's about it.


C-USA SCORES

• #8 Boise State 40, Tulsa 28 ... Huge props to Tulsa for sticking it out with the #8 team in the nation, Boise scored a TD in the final three minutes. G.J. Kinne had 4 TD passes.
  
• Southern Miss 37, Memphis 34 OT ... Memphis almost pulls the "upset", but slides to 4-3 (2-2), first respectable loss of the season, still they lost to Mid Tenn State and dreadfully bad UTEP.
  
• #15 West Virginia 37, Marshall 3 ... Marshall falls to 1-6.
  
• Miami 44, UCF 6 ... Miami gets back to .500, UCF has dropped three straight down to .500.
  
• SMU 28, Navy 17 ... SMU was predicted 11th in the C-USA but yet is now 5-2. They rallied out of a 17-7 hole.
  
• Ole Miss 34, UAB 23 ... The C-USA drops to 1-1 at Ole Miss this year. UAB slips to .500.
  
• ECU 52, Rice 31 ... ECU went up 24-3, then Rice ties it at 24 in the third, and ECU pulls away in the late 3rd & 4th quarter.
  

NCAA Notable Scores

• Wisconsin 37, #11 Iowa 10 ... Wisconsin lost to Ohio State which was 11th in the Big Ten when they beat them, Wisconsin is now 5-2 and upsets the no. 11 team in the country.
  
• Vanderbilt 26, #17 Georgia 10 ... Vanderbilt is now 5-2.
  
• #6 Florida 59, Arkansas 0 ... So why is Florida suddenly running up the score? They passed well into the 3rd and 4th quarters, throwing 6 TD passes. Tebow threw five of them. Something tells me Urban Meyer is padding stats.
  
• #3 Texas 21, #2 Oklahoma 19 ... Oklahoma led this game 13-7 at the half. Texas then went up 21-13 and Oklahoma failed to convert the two point conversion with 2:17 left.
  
• Indiana 28, #16 Illinois 14 ... Ummmm, did I mention Indiana is tied for the Big Ten lead?
  
• UCLA 33, #14 Cal 14 ... Cal is 3-3 and winless in the pac-10. Will they fall out of the top 25?
  
• #1 USC 19, Notre Dame 16 3OT ... Damn. Low scoring game, Notre Dame leads 10-7 at the half, then USC kicks a field goal in the 3rd. Then they trade field goals twice in the first two OT's and Congdon hits a 36-yard game winner in the third OT.
  
• #12 Kansas 30, #21 Colorado 7 ... Hey, uh, Kansas is undefeated.
  
• Texas A&M 32, Kansas State 25 (previously 6-0) ... aTm goes to 5-1. K-State drops their first game on a TD with 1:04 left.
  

TOP 25

1. USC(32)

2. Texas(26)

3. Virginia Tech(2)

4. Penn State(1)

5. Utah

6. Kansas (hey would you look at that)

7. Florida (lost a spot for running up the score)

8. Oklahoma

9. Boise State

10. LSU

11. Nebraska

12. Alabama

13. West Virginia

14. Oklahoma State

15. Tennessee

16. Oregon

17. Iowa

18. North Carolina

19. BYU

20. USF (1 loss)

21. Illinois

22. Colorado

(the three loss club)

23. Cal

24. Georgia

25. Ohio State

OTHERS: Cincinnati (1 loss), Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M (1), Georgia Tech, Kansas State (1), Ole Miss


HEISMAN WATCH: Tebow, Evans, Clark, Briscoe, David Gilreath


UP NEXT: We're back on TV (0-2 on TV).. THE BATTLE FOR THE BELL: at Southern Miss (5-2, 2-1), USM is C+ OVR, B OFF, C DEF. The number one offense versus the number four offense. Oh my.

[Iron Dragon]

Battle for the Bell: Tulane (4-3, 2-2) at Southern Miss (5-2, 2-1)

Hattiesburg, Mississippi -- The Battle for the Bell hasn't been played since 2006 and has been dominated by Southern Miss. However, this is the best Tulane team probably since the undefeated team in 1998. Maybe. Southern Miss is looking to become bowl elligible and Tulane is trying to avoid slipping down to .500. Let's find out what happens in the Battle for the Bell.

1ST QUARTER

Southern Miss won the toss and chose to recieve and went three and out.

Tulane moved down the field riding Andre Anderson, and a 23 yard pass to Robottom, but they stalled and settled for a 31 yard field goal. 3-0 Tulane.

Southern Miss got one first down, but not another.

Antoine Duplessis starts off Tulane's drive with a 11 yard run, then Anderson gets 11, Moore finds Mitchell twice for a total of 15 yards, and Duplessis runs for two. And hey, we are at the end of the 1st quarter. Pretty darn exciting so far.

2ND QUARTER

To start the 2nd quarter, Kevin Moore somehow manages to pick up 16 yards on the ground and we're still confused how. Two plays later on 3rd & 6 he finds Duplessis for a 20 yard gain, then he throws to Tyler Helm..


... for an 8-yard TD. 10-0 Tulane.

Three and out Southern Miss.

Then it's running time for Tulane. 5 yards by Moore, then Barnett gets 11 on 3 carries, then Anderson gets 2, Moore finds Mitchell for 20, Anderson gets 19 on 4 carries, then Barnett loses 2, and that's not what we needed on third down and we kick a 40 yard field goal. 13-0 Tulane.

Southern Miss goes three and out.

We go three and out and we're at the half of a boring game scoring-wise.

HALFTIME: 13-0 Tulane (comments: WHAT?!)

3RD QUARTER

Tulane starts a passing storm, getting down inside the Southern Miss 15, but then stalls, and kicks a 31 yard field goal. 16-0 Tulane. WHAT!!?!!

And then our defense, who has only allowed 27 yards all day, allows a 53 yard TD run (sorry for no picture, there was a penalty on the play - declined, it was on Tulane) to the backup running back. 16-7 Tulane.

Three and out Tulane. Three and out Southern Miss. Tulane then starts to drive and it's the..

4TH QUARTER

Entering the fourth, we only have one picture. Boring game so far. The key phrase is "so far".

We start the 4th quarter punting. Southern Miss goes three and out. And you thought it was going to be exciting.

Well, it was about too. Stephen Barnett on play three of our drive does this:



and of course Southern Miss does this:



And hey, we have a ballgame. 16-14 Tulane.

Well, now that we have that fumble out of our system, let's just drive down the field..


..not you too Andre Anderson!! Southern Miss ball. Damnit.

Luckily for us we get a three and out, unfortunately for us, Southern Miss has a kicker with quite the leg:


and that's a 51 yard field goal. 17-16 SOUTHERN MISS.

Three and out Tulane. Even better. And to make things worse, they injure KEVIN MOORE. He's out for the rest of the game. Damned cheating birds.

Southern Miss starts to chip into the clock. They start driving, they then stall, and on third and ten from our 14, we need a stop, however our defense, who has gone MIA allows this:



A USM reciever to get wide open and walk in for the 14 yard TD and then put down a pity tackle on him as he gets in the endzone. For those keeping track at home, it's 24 unanswered for Southern Miss in about a quarter and a minute. 24-16 USM.

Could Joe Kemp save us? He's quickly faced with a fourth down and game, but he comes through and finds Helm for a 18 yard gain.

Then on third down and 10, he finds Williams for 18. Then Robottom for 11. And then we are at the USM 15 yard line. 17 seconds to play. This one isn't over yet... Kemp steps back.. throws..


.. to the one YARD LINE!!! Timeout!! That's our final one! 12 seconds to go inside the one yard line. And now let's just run a QB sneak to get this game down to a two-point conversion, and let's let the radio announcer take over (or what he would say):

"1st and Goal for Tulane, down 8, inside the one. No timeouts, 12 seconds to go. Kemp, the backup in the goal line. He snaps it and runs straight forward.. IS HE IN?! IS HE IN? NO HE'S NOT HE IS STOPPED. NO GAIN. TULANE HAS TO HURRY, he's trying to get everyone back up to the line, 6 seconds. Line em' up Kemp!! Four, three, snap it, snap it, one second, he snaps it but NO, THE CLOCK HAS EXPIRED. SOUTHERN MISS WINS. A GOAL LINE STAND FOR THE GOLDEN EAGLES! Unbelievable, Southern Miss rallies from 16 down to win 24-16 in the Battle for the Bell."

Damn you Golden Eagles. Revenge will be ours (maybe) next year.

FINAL SCORE: 24-16 SOUTHERN MISS

Well. I thought we had this one. Southern Miss's offense was just pitiful in the first half. They could not do anything, and they did not get over 30 yards of offense. We took a 16-0 lead, and our game just fell apart, the big run, the fumble-TD and then the fumble three plays later cost us. We went from leading 16-0 to trailing 17-16, and eventually 24-16. I can't believe I called a QB Sneak. A good call, but a bad idea. USM had alot of pressure and Kemp got nailed immediately. Should have spiked it when we got to the one, saved the timeout and had 7-8 seconds to run maybe two plays. Oh well. It seemed like the best idea in quick thinking. The results turned out to be otherwise. Also, Kevin Moore is fine.

PLAYER STATS
Kevin Moore: 162.5 QB Rating, 11/15, 120 yards, TD, 13 rush yards / Kemp: 4/8, 61 yards

Andre Anderson: 29 rush att, 147 yards, 5.0 avg, fumble / Barnett: 7 rush att, 10 yards, fumble / Duplessis: 25 rush yards, 20 rec yards

Tyler Helm: 5 rec, 43 yards, TD / Alan Mitchell: 4 rec, 53 yards
Casey Robottom: 3 rec, 47 yards / Jeremy Williams: Rec, 20 yards

Darryl Farley: 8 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack
Kristifer Rhymes: 6 tackles, TFL
Cody Leford: 6 tackles
Adam Kwentua: 3 tackles, 2 TFL

Ross Thevenot: 3/3 FG, 1/1 XP

Southern Miss: 163 offensive yards, 0 turnovers, 6 punts

UP NEXT: Week Eight Around the NCAA

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK EIGHT AROUND THE NCAA

Week seven allowed the 6 undefeated teams to be the top 6. That's about it.



C-USA SCORES

• Rivalry: Tulsa 30, UTEP 19 ... Tulsa up to 3-0 in conference. G.J. Kinne had 3 TD's (2 pass, 1 rush).
  
• UAB 38, Marshall 11 ... UAB up to 3-1 in conference, Marshall still in 12th with a 1-7, 0-4 record.
  
• UCF 45, Rice 6 ... Whatherford with 5 pass TD's for UCF.
  
• Houston 44, SMU 14 ... SMU drops their third game in conference (4-0 OOC, 5-3 overall), Houston to 5-2, 3-0.
  

NCAA SCORES

• Now it's just sad: #18 North Carolina 13, Florida State 7 ... FSU is 2-5 and 0-4 in conference. I don't think FSU will be going to a bowl game this year.
  
• Michigan State 29, #17 Iowa 13 ... Michigan State entered the game with a dismal 1-6 record.
  
• Holy crap, Kansas?!?: #6 Kansas 48, #8 Oklahoma 20 ... Why has Kansas been in the lower half of the top 25 all year? Oklahoma is without Sam Bradford.
  
• #12 Alabama 26, #15 Tennessee 3 ... Not much offense in this one, Tiffin with 4 Field goals.
  
• WTF Alert: Washington State (0-6) 35, #23 Cal (3-3, 0-3) 31 ... [laugh][laugh][laugh][laugh][laugh][laugh][laugh][laugh]. Washington State rallies from 17 down and beats Cal at home. Cal is overrated so much.
  
• TCU 35, #19 BYU 23 ... Max Hall with 3 picks and 0 TD's.
  
• Minnesota 27, #25 Ohio State 20 ... Someone tell me why Ohio State was ranked along with Cal again? Also Ohio State has alot of injures: Dan Herron, Brandon Saine, Dane Sanzenbacher, Laamar Thomas.
  
• Not this year: #1 USC 24, Oregon State 21 OT ... Oregon State took a 21-0 lead on USC. USC rallied with two late TD passes from Corp (in the final two and a half minutes), then got the field goal in OT.
  
• Auburn 25, #10 LSU 3 ... This is pretty good for Tulane. Auburn had a 22-point third quarter. (Auburn led 3-0 at the half)
  
• Hawai'i 28 (5-1), #9 Boise State 21 ... Hawai'i is back and upests Boise with a 21-point fourth quarter (game was 9-7 Boise after three).
  

TOP 25


Outside the Coaches: Minnesota, TCU, BYU, Colorado, Ole Miss, Maryland, Illinois


HEISMAN WATCH

1. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida (142/194, 1800yds, 25 TD, 380 rush yards, 3 TD)

2. Darryl Clark, QB, Penn State (175/255, 2152yds, 20 TD, 131 rush yards)

3. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas (126/232, 1655yds, 15 TD, 434 rush yards, 3 TD)

4. Darren Evans, RB, Virginia Tech (196 rush att, 885 yards, 11 TD, 90 rec yards, 2 TD)

5. Corbin Louks, QB, Utah (132/232, 2018 yards, 16 TD, 153 rush yards, 3 TD)


UP NEXT: Don't get scared, it's halloween, and it's a night game, LSU HAS TWENTY-THREE PROSPECTS visiting including the #1 and #3 players in the nation! And they are A- across the board. And they are 5-2, but they just got spanked by Auburn. Can we keep it close? Can we upset LSU somehow and make a disaster for their 23 visiting players? We'll have to find out.

[Iron Dragon]

TULANE RECRUITING UPDATE

Since I'm allergic to typing up large recruiting boards (even though I will at the end of the off-season), and I'm also allergic to typing names of high schoolers for now (I will at the end of the off-season), here's a quick rundown:

• Tulane still needs for the next season: K, 2 MLB, 1 SS
  
• Tulane has 4 commits: a 2-star G, another 2-star G, a 1-star T and a 1-star DE.
  
• There are 31 players left on Tulane's recruiting board: the lowest Tulane's interest is any of these players is 4th.
  
• There are 16 players who have Tulane in 1st, including four three star players, a G, a K, a DE, and a OT. There is one three-star who has Tulane just barely in second, and that is a 3-star CB.
  
• Tulane's most recruiting position is the athletes with five, four of which have Tulane first, and one has them second.
  
• Probably more than half the players with Tulane in first will probably commit before the end of the season or in the early off-season.
  
• Tulane's targets as of now: 2 QB, 3 HB, 1 FB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 OT, 2 OG, 1 K, 1 DE, 1 OLB, 2 MLB, 4 CB, 4 SS, 5 ATH
  

[Iron Dragon]

Battle for the Rag: Tulane (4-4, 2-3 C-USA) at #16 LSU (5-2, 3-2 SEC)


BATON ROUGE -- LSU is down and so is Tulane. Tulane has lost two straight heartbreakers and LSU has had the crap beaten out of them by unranked Auburn and top-10 team Florida. LSU now sits outside the top 15. Tulane, who started a crappy 0-2, then rose to a nice 4-2 at the midway point, but has recently dropped back to back C-USA games to Houston and Southern Miss, both heartbreakers and both tough (and close) losses. With LSU down a bit, this could be a closer game than expected? Iron Dragon's never reported prediction for this game was 30-13 LSU, with Tulane's TD probably coming in garbage time, but both teams struggling, with Tulane struggling more. Let's see..


1ST QUARTER


There's no reason to report the 1st quarter because there's not much worth mentioning. LSU lost the toss and got the ball, and punted. Tulane punted. LSU faked a punt and failed miserably losing 8 yards. Tulane rode the ground game for about 20 yards and kicked a 38 yard field goal. LSU ended the quarter with a fitting 16 yard punt (!!!).


3-0 Tulane after one.


2ND QUARTER


Kevin Moore found Andre Anderson for 18 on third down, and then D.J. Banks for 19 on another third down putting Tulane at LSU's 21 yard line.. and then Moore would step back and find Anderson..




.. who would spin away from a defender..




.. and drag the same defender into the endzone! TOUCHDOWN! 10-0 TULANE with the extra point!


Even worse for LSU, they went three and out. But so did we. Then it became the Charles Scott show, he picks up 13 yards on 3 carries, then..




..bulldozes his way through Tulane's defense for 37 yards. A play later would find his way into the endzone for a 5 yard score with just over 2 minutes left in the half.




(notice how we have one guy in a flip cycle, two defenders on top of each other (What the heck are they doing?!), and a slow d-lineman trying to catch Scott, and two defenders taking down Jordan Jefferson, meanwhile Charles Scott just takes a stroll into the endzone. what are we doing here Tulane?!)


10-7 Tulane, though. However we went three and out.


Tulane then starts to throw with Jefferson, he throws to Dixon three straight times for gains of 14, 10 and 20 yards, then to Scott for 5. With 15 seconds left in the half, Jefferson throws..




..but throws to Alex Wacha! Wacha would be stopped at the one yard line and Tulane would run it straight up the middle and run down the final seconds of the 1st half. And they would lead at the half over #16 LSU, 10-7. (We're 0-1 when leading ranked teams at the half, and outscored 31-10, if you wanted to keep track of that.. (cough BYU running up the score cough)


3RD QUARTER


To start the second half, we did a popular thing in this dynasty that goes with this phrase: "Tulane/opponent got one first down, but not another. Punt" And that's what we did. So then LSU started to pass, and then they throw a WR screen (counted as a run) to Brandon LaFell from their own 36, here's the result of that play:





14-10 LSU. On third down for Tulane, Kevin Moore throws a pick. Ugh. We'd force a three and out on LSU, but they were well into field goal range and boot a 41 yarder. 17-10 LSU.


Three plays later, Kevin Moore's pass goes through the hands of D.J. Banks and into the hands of a LSU DB. INT again. Damnit.


Then Charles Scott makes a mess of our defense a few plays later:




.. by breaking a few tackles and then being pity tackled for a 25 yard TD.


Tulane needed something. Andre Anderson got 23 yards on three carries, then Moore passed for a first down, then Anderson got three more, then on 3rd down, Moore passed to a wide open Duplessis, he catches it, to put us at least into field goal range.. but wait there's more..




.. he fumbles the ball and another LSU defender is there to get it. Damn it. 24-10 LSU entering the 4th.


4TH QUARTER


Welcome to the boring quarter (along with the 1st), where the offenses struggled. LSU missed a 50 yard field goal wide left, Tulane punted for 53 yards (deRochment might be our player of the game, every kick of his was a beauty), LSU punted after chopping half of the remaining clock out (5 minutes to 2 and a half), Tulane did nothing and punted for 50 yards, and then LSU ran out the clock on three Charles Scott runs.


FINAL SCORE: #16 LSU 24-10


(23 prospects interested in LSU, watched LSU be tested by little Tulane from the C-USA but they probably liked what they saw out of LSU, hopefully it doesn't hinder our recruiting.) Anyways, last week, we went up 16-0 on the road and then gave up 24 straight, this week, we went up 10-0 on the road to a much better team and gave up 24 straight. Which loss am I more happy about? This one. Our offense struggled, not a surprise, Andre Anderson didn't hit 100 yards rushing (we only had 100 yards as a hole), Stephen Barnett is no longer the flashy back up that he once was it seems (1.4 avg), and right now this team is in a slump. We have anywhere from 3-5 games left (Yes, we could win a C-USA division with a 5-3 record, it's possible), and we could win all of them. Hopefully we bounce back against a crappy UTEP team next week, and get back to .500 at 5-5.


PLAYER STATS


Kevin Moore: 81.3 QB Rating, 11-for-23 passing, 100 yards, TD, 2 INT


Andre Anderson: 18 rush att, 70 yards, 5 rec, 52 yards, Rec TD

Other rushers: 13 att, 30 yards, Duplessis with a 16 yard reception and fumble.


Receiving: nothing worth noting, D.J. Banks had 1 catch for 19, Williams caught nothing, Robottom only had three yards.


Darryl Farley: 13 tackles, 2 TFL

Alex Wacha: 10 tackles, INT

Tony Bryant: 10 tackles, 3 TFL

Chinoso Echebelum: 9 tackles

Cody Leford: 7 tackles

Dezmen Moses: 7 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack

(10 players with 5 tackles or more)


Ross Thevenot: 1/1 FG, 1/1 XP

Darren deRochemont: 6 punts, 280 yards, 46.6 avg, net yards: 262 (43.6 avg), 4 inside the 20, long of 53


LSU: Jordan Jefferson: 19/24, 187 yards, INT, Charles Scott: 42 rush att, 219 yards, 2 TD, Brandon LaFell: 1 rush att, 64 yards, TD


UP NEXT: Week Nine Around the NCAA

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK NINE AROUND THE NCAA

Week eight put Cal in last place in the Pac-10 after falling to winless Washington State, and #9 Boise State fell to fourth in the WAC after falling to one-loss Hawai'i at home.


C-USA coming into the week:

EAST: Southern Miss, ECU, UAB all 3-1 in conference (Memphis, UCF 2-2) [Marshall: 0-4]

WEST: Houston, Tulsa 3-0 [Tulane 2-3) [UTEP 1-2, SMU 1-3, Rice 0-4]


C-USA SCORES

• ECU 31, Memphis 24 ... ECU rallied with 2 4th quarter TDs, one by Patrick Pinkney.
  
• WTF Alert: SMU 48, Tulsa 6 ... Tulsa throws SIX interceptions, while backup Smith for SMU throws 361 yards and 3 TD's, and runs for 2 TD's! SMU is now 6-3. What a turnaround by June Jones.
  
• Southern Miss 24, Houston 21 ... USM went up 17-0, then Houston 21-17, then USM scored on a Baptiste TD catch with 1:45 to play and won the game.
  
• WTF Alert Part II, UTEP is .500 in conference: UTEP 31, UAB 24 ... If UTEP somehow manages to win out, they'd be 6-2 in conference. WTF. They beat a team leading the East.
  
• UCF 38, Marshall 3 ... Expected.
  

NCAA NOTABLE SCORES

• #3 Virginia Tech 39, #14 North Carolina 34 ... VT rallies from a 34-24 deficit with a 15-point final quarter.
  
• Central Michigan 27, #15 USF 17 ... This doesn't affect USF winning the ACC, it just probably moves them out of the top 20.
  
• Ole Miss 59, #18 Auburn 10 ... Uhh.. what?! Ole Miss scores 35 fourth quarter points, includng two passing and three rushing TD's.
  
• Georgia Tech 29, #24 Vanderbilt 13 ... GT has lost four games in conference play but is 3-0 OOC.
  
• #19 Tennessee 44, South Carolina 0 ... Spurrier is probably gone, since beating Georgia, SC has done nothing but lose (3-6, 1-5 SEC).
  
• Welcome to the top 25, aTm, Welcome to others recieving votes: Iowa State 9, #25 Texas A&M 0 ... Snooze. Iowa State kicked three field goals.
  
• #12 Oklahoma 30, #23 Kansas State 23 ... But yet, Kansas State still has a better record than Oklahoma. Bradford is still out.
  
• Baylor 28, #8 Nebraska 20 .. Way to lose Nebraska.
  
• #2 Texas 38, #11 Oklahoma State 13 ... Oklahoma State loses number three on the season.
  
• #1 USC 29, #13 Oregon 14 ... Corp with 3 TD's.
  
  Hawai'i 38, Nevada 24 ... Hawaii is now 6-1 and 4-1 in the WAC.
  

TOP 25


Outside the Coaches: Maryland, Illinois, Iowa, Baylor, Georgia, Rutgers


HEISMAN WATCH:

1. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida

2. Darryl Clark, QB, Penn State

3. Dezmon Briscoe, WR, Kansas

4. Corbin Louks, QB, Utah

5. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas


C-USA LEADERS

EAST: Southern Miss, ECU 4-1 (Play each other week 14)

WEST: Houston, Tulsa* 3-1 (Tulane 4th, 2-3) (Tulsa holds tiebreaker)


UP NEXT: UTEP at home, they are 2-6, 2-2.. we have 5 players visiting, I'd think we'd win this one, but UTEP has won two of their last three, and we've lost three straight.

[Iron Dragon]

UTEP (2-6, 2-2) @ Tulane (4-5, 2-3, L3)

NEW ORLEANS --- It's the final home game of the year for Tulane in their tenth straight week with a game. Six, not five prospects are visiting so we need to come out of this three-game slump now. If we don't win this game, our bowl hopes are very slim, because then the best we could finish is 6-6 and 4-4 in the C-USA, which probably won't get us to a bowl. Win out, and we finish 7-5 and 5-3 in C-USA and most likely make a bowl as the #4/#5 team in the C-USA. Time's ticking for Tulane, so we have to break the streak.


1ST QUARTER


We won the toss and deferred. UTEP and Trevor Vittatoe take the field. Van Dyke runs for 17, then Vittatoe passes twice for 27, and hey, would you look at that, they are in scoring range, and they would, on a 15 yard TD pass. 7-0 UTEP.


Tulane started with Andre Anderson. Four carries for 20 yards. A little later in the drive, Moore hits up Casey Robottom for a 21 yard gain, then a play later, let's give it to Andre..




.. who will power is his way in for a 10 yard score! 7-7.


UTEP then responds and has no trouble what so ever moving down the field, Vittatoe throws all over us, and Dyke picks up 21, and then Vittatoe throws to Wenrick for a 15 yard TD pass. 14-7 UTEP.


With 16 seconds left, Moore steps back and looks.. and Jeremy Williams is WIDE OPEN. Williams has space, he's at our 40, the fifty, the fourty, the THIRTY, THE TWENTY, taken down at the 15 after a 68 YARD GAIN! Tulane is in business.


2ND QUARTER


Second play in the 2nd quarter, Moore finds Mitchell for a 12 yard gain, Mitchell can not break the tackle to get into the endzone and is stopped at the two. (Mitchell: 0 TD this year, ~25 rec), the very next play, time to power it in..




.. or not, Andre Anderson gets everyone to think it's a FB dive to the left, WRONG, it's him to the right. Untouched, 2 yard TD. 14-14.


UTEP once again has no problem passing over us, this time scoring on a 46 yard TD on just their fourth play of the drive. Ugh.





21-14 UTEP. Can you find the missed tackle?


Tulane then puts together a long drive, Anderson gets 18 on two carries, then Moore finds Banks on third and long, gets help from pass interference, short of the first down, but the PI gets them the first (Banks still makes the catch with PI!). Then Banks is the recipient of a 11 yard pass and a 21 yarder. A couple plays later on second and goal, Moore scrambles and looks for someone, but is sacked and we're back at the 7. Moore would look to throw on 3rd down and his pass is batted down. 24 yard field goal by Thevenot. 21-17 UTEP.


UTEP goes three and out. Tulane goes four and out past midfield. UTEP goes three and out. We get the ball back with 15 seconds.


Anderson runs for 5. Timeout. 8 seconds to go, Moore would throw.. to Robottom.. WHO HAS BEAT HIS MAN, FIFTY, FORTY (Coaches yelling run out of bounds!!!), THIRTY, TWENTY-FIVE (time expires), TWENTY, FIFTEEN, ONE MAN TO BEAT.. TEN.. brought down at the 7. Tulane players celebrate but realize the clock is expired. Damn. 21-17 UTEP at the half.


3RD QUARTER


Tulane gets it first to start the 2nd half and goes three and out. UTEP gets the ball and Vittatoe coughs it up on third down and Adam Kwentua recovers. Tulane in great field position now.


Four runs with Andre Anderson for 19 yards, then Moore would step back and find D.J. Banks..




.. who breaks a tackle




.. and finds his way in for the score! 18 yard TD. 24-21 Tulane. UTEP goes three and out.


Tulane's running game takes over:

• 13, 4, 18 yards by Anderson
  
• 1, 24, 7 yards by Barnett
  
• 6 yard run by Anderson
  

And then Stephen Barnett from 8 yards out takes it in. 31-21 Tulane.





UTEP gets one first down but not another. Punt. Tulane runs out the third quarter by picking up 21 yards on 4 carries.


4TH QUARTER


Moore then passes to Williams for 6, then Barnett makes a huge play and picks up 35, then to Anderson for 17 down to the one yard line. On second and goal, Moore steps back for the throw..




..and hits freshman TE Brock Sanders for his 2nd career TD. 38-21 Tulane.


UTEP needed a rally. And they would get one, they ride Van Dyke down the field until he loses 9 yards on two carries putting UTEP into a third and goal from the 17 situation, then they throw to Van Dyke for no gain. Fourth and game. Vittatoe steps back, he has a man and it's tipped down by Corey Sonnier. 3:37 to play and that's basically your ball game.


Tulane then chews up the clock by running, Barnett gets 28 on two carries, Anderson gets 12, Barnett 6, Anderson 4, Barnett 4, Moore passes to a wide open Alan Mitchell on a QB Option play (season showdown can suck it), for 18 yards, Anderson gets 5. That puts us at the 14 yard line and Barnett has 87 yards running. Coach Draggo tells himself, "Let's score one more for the home crowd. He tells Barnett to go for the endzone." Barnett would take the toss and needing 13 yards for a 100-yard gain..




.. he gets 14 yards and a touchdown! 45-21 Tulane. And with that the clock fell to two seconds. Tulane kicked it short and tackled the return man. Game.


FINAL SCORE: Tulane 45-21




"Running up the score?" No. Why'd we score that last TD? For the fans, for the team, we've lost three straight tough games. We've gotta let these guys celebrate before our road trip to end the season. Hopefully we'll be back here in December in the New Orleans Bowl or something. This home crowd is great. Great day by the whole team to get back to .500 at 5-5, 3-3. Now let's go get these last two at Rice and UCF.


PLAYER STATS


Kevin Moore: 183.5 QB Rating, 15-for-26, 311 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT


Andre Anderson: 30 rush att, 177 yards, 5.9 avg, 2 TD, 1 rec, 17 yards

Stephen Barnett: 13 rush att, 101 yards, 7.7 avg (he's back), 2 TD, 1 rec, 35 yards


D.J. Banks: 3 rec, 50 yards, TD (Look forward to him at home in the next couple years)

Alan Mitchell 3 rec, 36 yards / Tyler Helm: 2 rec, 11 yards / Brock Sanders: Rec TD

Jeremy Williams: 2 rec, 74 yards / Casey Robottom: 2 rec, 88 yards


Darryl Farley: 7 tackles

Adam Kwentua: 5 tackles, FF, FR

Cody Leford: 4 tackles, TFL

Alex Wacha: 4 tackles, TFL

Corey Sonnier, Chinoso Echebelum: 4 tackles each

Oscar Ponce De Leon: 3 TFL


Ross Thevenot: 1/1 FG, 6/6 XP

D.J. Banks: 65 return yards


UP NEXT: Week Ten Around the NCAA

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK TEN AROUND THE NCAA

Week nine did not much to the BCS championship contenders.


C-USA ENTERING THE WEEK (not copy and pasted)

EAST: Southern Miss, ECU 4-1 (Play each other week 14)

WEST: Houston, Tulsa 3-1 (Tulane 4th, NOW 3-3)


C-USA SCORES

• #3 Virginia Tech 30, ECU 20 ... The C-USA shows it's muscle as ECU held a 10-8 lead at the half, and VT had to rally with 15 fourth quarter points to win.
  
• #15 Tennessee 27, Memphis 13 ... Not another upset over the SEC for the Tigers.
  
• Florida Atlantic 28, UAB 27 ... Hey does anyone remember when UAB was 3-0? I don't either, they are 1-5 sense.
  
• Houston 41, Tulsa 27 ... Why did I say last week that these teams had already played? Anyways, Tulsa now has a losing record and Houston has the West lead. Keenum is back, scoring 3 TD's.
  
• #2 Texas 34, UCF 10 ... UCF held a 10-0 first quarter lead and only trailed 14-10 at the half, as Texas loses Colt McCoy.
  
• Rice 52, SMU 23 ... Oh SMU, I don't get you. You're bowl elligible with 4 conference losses and giving a first to Rice, who we get next week. Great.
  

C-USA EXITING THE WEEK

EAST: Southern Miss, ECU 4-1 / UCF, UAB 3-2

WEST: Houston 4-1 / Tulsa 3-2 / Tulane 3-3


NCAA SCORES

• #10 Oklahoma 27, #13 Nebraska 16 ... Nebraska has a 13-0 halftime lead and blows it in the 3rd quarter. Jones with three TD's for OU.
  
• #17 Cincinnati 45, UConn 0 ... Why is Cincinnati ranked so low again? 8-1 overall and 5-0 in the Big East.
  
• #11 LSU 27, #8 Alabama 24 ... The SEC is eating itself alive. LSU wins the game on a Charles Scott TD run with 1:21 left.
  
• #5 Kansas 21, #23 Kansas State 10 ... Todd Reesing's two TD passes on just seven throws led KU to victory.
  
• #6 Utah 45, New Mexico 19 ... New Mexico was 6-2, Corbin Louks with 3 TD passes.
  
• USC blows a Pac-10 game alert: Arizona State 25, #1 USC 20 .. USC, what is it with you and unranked pac-10 teams and losing randomly. Not a close game. ASU led 25-7 headed for the final quarter. USC scored a pity TD with 14 seconds left.
  
• Other teams update: Hawai'i improves to 7-1 and 5-1 in the WAC, Eastern Kentucky falls to 3-5.
  

TOP 25


Outside the Coaches: Illinois, Iowa, K-State, Georgia, Rutgers, Arizona State, Clemson, GT, Boston College


HEISMAN WATCH

1. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida (28 Pass TD, 5 Rush TD)

2. Jordan White, WR, Western Michigan (Jack Ryan alert!) (Holy shit: 89 rec, 1468 yards, 16 TD ) (Caught 4 TD this week)

3. Darryl Clark, QB, Penn State (25 Pass TD)

4. Dezmon Briscoe, WR, Kansas (10 Rec TD)

5. Corbin Louks, QB, Utah (22 Pass TD, 4 Rush TD)

Iron Dragon's thoughts: GO JORDAN WHITE


AWARDS SEMIFINALISTS

Maxwell: Tim Hiller (WMU), Tim Tebow, Jordan White [Andre Anderson 10th]

Bednarik: R.J. Kieselkauhane (Hawai'i), Eric Childs (K-State), Navorro Bowman (Penn State)

O'Brien: Tim Hiller, Tim Tebow, Darryl Clark

Walker: C.J. Spiller, Enrique Davis (Miss), Andre Anderson

Best WR: Jordan White, Aaron Valentine (Purdue), Dezmon Briscoe

Mackey: Jermaine Gresham, Ben Wooster (WF), Kendrick Bruton (Miami OH, FR - Should win: 60 rec, 944 yards, 9 TD)

Best OL: Austin Barrick (GT, injured), Levi Pardee (WVU, FR), Eric Shrive (Penn State, FR), Nick Claytor (GT)

Rimington: Dan Voss (GT), Joe Bernardi (Fresno), Bradley Vierling (Vandy)

Lombardi: Nekos Brown (VT), Christian Ballard (Iowa), O'Brien Schofield (Wisky)

Best LB: R.J. Kieselkauhane (Hawai'i), Eric Childs (K-State), Kyle Lark (WESTERN MICHIGAN)

Thorpe: Chris Maragos (Wisky), Eric Berry (Tenn), Chad Jones (LSU)

Groza: Hunter Lawrence (Texas), Jacob Branstetter (Kansas), James Aho (New Mexico)

Best P: John Gold (Texas), Brent Bowden (VT), Jacob Harfman (USC)

Best RET: Brandon James (Florida), Denarius Moore (Tenn), Mardy Gilyard (Cincy)



UP NEXT: at Rice, they are 3-6, 1-4, with one player visiting, C- OVR, C OFF, D+ DEF. We should win this one to get back to 6-5, but who knows. We'll have to see..

[Iron Dragon]

Tulane (5-5, 3-3) @ Rice (3-6, 1-4)


HOUSTON --- Rice got their first conference win of the season versus SMU last week and their offense rolled. Last week, Tulane beat up UTEP for their first win in three weeks and have their sites set on a bowl game. They need to win one of their final two to be bowl elligible, but need to win out to most likely make a bowl game. That would put the Green Wave at 7-5, the same record they had in 2002 when they got a Hawai'i Bowl bid.



1ST QUARTER


Tulane wins the toss and defers. Rice would get it, Fanuzzi would get a 17 yard pass but then would do nothing else. Punt. After two runs by Andre Anderson, Kevin Moore throws an INT and Rice returns it to the 35. Rice would stall and kick a 46 yard field goal and it was good. 3-0 Rice. Tulane then started to drive, Anderson got 10, Moore hit Sanders for 20, then Anderson ran for 15, Moore ran for 6, Anderson for 10, Robottom catches one for 7, then Moore finds D.J. Banks for a 2 yard TD strike:





Rice would finish out the quarter by going three and out and punting.


2ND QUARTER


On 2nd down and 10 (or the 2nd play of the drive and quarter), Kevin Moore looks to throw, but has a lot of space and takes off and runs for a 20 yard gain. Anderson then picks up 8, then 9 more, then Barnett gets 8, and then Anderson does this..




.. he breaks some tackles and drags some people into the endzone for a 27 yard score! 14-3 Tulane.


Rice would get down the field thanks to 15 passing yards and a 26 yard run by Hill, but Cody Leford would pick off Fanuzzi near the twenty and pick up about 15 on the return.


Tulane would hit the ground again. 16 yards by Anderson, 3 by Barnett and then 5 by Anderson, then an incomplete pass. On fourth down near midfield, Tulane goes for it and Kevin Moore ends up JUST SHORT. He gets two yards but does not get three. Rice would then drive down the field and Fanuzzi would hit Randolph for a 10 yard TD.


Tulane would try to score with the minute they had. Moore would hit Robottom for a 44 yard gain that would put them in field goal range. With four seconds left Tulane attempts a field goal..




..and it's BLOCKED! The half ends with no points for Tulane. 14-10 at the break.



3RD QUARTER


Tulane gets the ball first and goes three and out, but so would Rice. But then Tulane would go three and out again. Rice would get one first down but then would hit a terrible punt, just 19 yards to their own 29. That's half the quarter. Punts.


Andre Anderson gets 13 yards on four carries, then Barnett gets 3. Then Moore steps back and scrambles and...




... Jeremy Williams is WIDE OPEN in the endzone. 13 yard TD pass. TOUCHDOWN TULANE. 21-10. Rice comes out and goes three and out. Then it became the Andre Anderson show to end the quarter: Three carries, 45 yards.


4TH QUARTER


More Anderson to start the 4th, three carries, 13 yards. Then Barnett for 2. And then this happens, how about the same player, same amount of yards as the last TD, Moore to Williams, 13 yards.




What a grab there by Williams as well. 28-10 Tulane. Rice then goes four and out. Then it's the Anderson show: 2 carries, 33 yards. Barnett gets 12, then 8 more, then Anderson gets 5 and then Barnett..




.. goes UNTOUCHED up the middle for an 18 yard TD! What is Rice's defense doing?! 35-10 Tulane. 2:06 to play. This one's over folks.


Rice then would drive down the field against our backup defense and score a 7 yard TD pass with :53 to play. Meh. 35-17 Tulane. We'd recover the onside kick, and then Anderson picks up 26 yards and runs down the clock. (Rice's defense still MIA). Anderson dives forward for one yard and the clock expires a few seconds later. Ballgame.


FINAL SCORE: 35-17 TULANE


Rice kept it close for one half and then their defense just collapsed. We ran the ball all over them, and when they expected the run, we passed for two TD's to Jeremy Williams. Moore recovered from his early INT to throw 3 TD's despite having under 10 completions. Andre Anderson wants the Walker and put up a performance to show it. Now we are bowl elligible at 6-5. Let's go get UCF.


PLAYER STATS

>>Kevin Moore: 138.8 QB Rating, 6-for-16 passing, 99 yards, 3 TD, INT, 20 yards rushing


>>Andre Anderson: 30 rush att, 259 yards, 8.6 average, TD

>>Stephen Barnett: 7 rush att, 54 yards, 7.7 average, TD


>>Jeremy Williams: 2 rec, 26 yards, 2 TD / D.J. Banks: Rec TD

>>Casey Robottom: 2 rec, 51 yards / Brock Sanders: 20 rec yards


>>Chinoso Echebelum: 7 tackles

>>Charles Harris: 6 tackles

>>Darryl Farley: 5 tackles, 2 TFL

>>Oscar Ponce De Leon: 5 tackles, 2 TFL

>>Devin Williams: 4 tackles, TFL

>>Kristifer Rhymes: 4 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack


>>Wilson Van Hooser: 75 return yards (first game as RET)


UP NEXT: Week Eleven Around the NCAA

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK ELEVEN AROUND THE NCAA

No. 1 USC went down to Arizona State last week. Texas and VT moved to no. 1-2.



C-USA ENTERING THE WEEK

EAST: Southern Miss, ECU 4-1 / UCF, UAB 3-2

WEST: Houston 4-1 / Tulsa 3-2 / Tulane (now) 4-3


C-USA SCORES

• Houston 21, UCF 14 ... Houston scored 3 TD's in between UCF's 1st quarter and 4th quarter TD's. Keenum only had one.
  
• UAB 37, Memphis 17 ... Not good for Tulane, could have used a UAB loss, would have put them at 4-6, 3-3 not 5-5, 4-2.
  
• UTEP 38, SMU 35 ... SMU is now 6-5, 2-5. What a failure. Vittatoe with 4 Pass TD's.
  
• WHAT Alert: Marshall 31 (1-8, 0-5), Southern Miss 28 (7-2, 4-1) OT ... WHAT?!! Marshall held a 21-7 halftime lead and USM needed a miracle 64 yard TD pass with 12 seconds left to send the game to OT where they still fell short to lowly Marshall.
  
• ECU 38, Tulsa 10 ... Tulsa might miss a bowl game, now at 4-6. ECU thrived from 1 passing TD and 3 RUSHING TD's from Patrick Pinkney all in the 2nd quarter.
  

C-USA EXITING THE WEEK

EAST: ECU 5-1 / Southern Miss, UAB 4-2 (USM tiebreaker) / UCF 3-3

WEST: Houston 5-1 / TULANE 4-3 / UTEP, Tulsa 3-3 (Tulsa tiebreaker, UTEP not bowl elligible)


NCAA SCORES

• #9 West Virginia 44, #16 Cincinnati 0 .. Well. Umm. Shit. I was wrong about the Bearcats. Jarrett Brown throws for 5 TD's. Pike had 3 INT's.
  
• #1 Texas 30, Baylor 23 ... Baylor rallied in the fourth with 20 points but it was too little too late.
  
• #20 Nebraska 41, #4 Kansas 34 OT ... Nebraska ruins Kansas's dreams, forcing KU to get the game into OT with a TD pass with :10 left and then holding them in OT and delivering the L.
  
• #19 Ole Miss 35, #13 Tennessee 9 ... Ole Miss only has two losses actually. They've done quite well since an embarrassing opening weekend.
  
• #22 TCU 16, #5 Utah 10 ... And there's two. Low scoring affair but Utah's BCS hopes MIGHT be done.
  
• New Mexico 50 #23 BYU 7 ... Holy crap. That's all I got.
  
• #2 Virginia Tech 30, #25 Maryland 10 ... And Maryland comes in to the top 25 only to fall back out.
  
• Other notes: Hawai'i is now 8-1, 6-1 (needs to be considered to be ranked). FIU has won five straight Sun Belt games to improve to 5-5.
  

- Tulane gets two commits.. more on this later.


TOP 25


Outside the Coaches: Maryland (1 spot loss), Rutgers, Clemson, Georgia Tech, PITT, Hawai'i, Central Michigan (7-3. WMU is 9-2), Colorado, Vandy


HEISMAN WATCH (HUGE CHANGES, CALLING JACKRYAN)

1. Tim Hiller (QB, Western Michigan | 30 Pass TD, 7 Rush TD)

2. Jordan White (WR, Western Michigan | 94 rec, 1492 yards, 16 TD)

3. Darryl Clark (QB, Penn State | 27 Pass TD, 0 Rush)

---

4. Aaron Valentine (WR, Purdue | 79 rec, 1347 yards, 13 TD)

5. Colt McCoy (QB, Texas | 21 Pass TD, 3 Rush TD)


AWARDS UPDATE (LEADERS ONLY)

Maxwell: Tim Hiller (Andre Anderson 7th)

Bednarik: Eric Childs

O'Brien: Tim Hiller

Walker: Enrique Davis (Andre Anderson 2nd)

Best WR: Jordan White

Mackey: Jermaine Gresham

Best OL: Nick Claytor

Rimington: Dan Voss

Lombardi: Nekos Brown

Best LB: R.J. Kiesel-Kauhane

Thorpe: Rahim Moore

Groza: Hunter Lawrence

Best P: John Gold

Best RET: Brandon James


UP NEXT: The finale of the 2009 regular season: at UCF (and possibly the whole 2009 season). UCF is B- across the board, they have two prospects visiting. We win, and we most likely finish 2nd in the West, we lose, we could finish 4th.

[Iron Dragon]

Tulane (6-5, 4-3) @ UCF (5-5, 3-3)


ORLANDO, FLORIDA --- This could be the final game for the seniors. Andre Anderson, Jeremy Williams, Nick Landry, John Landa, Chinoso Echebelum, Adam Kwentua, Reggie Scott, Charles Harris and Ross Thevenot. With a win, it's probably not, because we'll finish from 3rd to 5th in the C-USA, and with the C-USA having four or five bowl games, we're good to go. But we have to beat UCF. Could we do it and secure a winning season? Let's find out.


1ST QUARTER


Tulane lost the toss but UCF decided to recieve. UCF went three and out. Good start. Andre Anderson picked up 19 yards on 4 carries, Mitchell got 21 from Moore, then Moore ran for 8, then Moore found Banks for four, Anderson then would pick up 15 more yards, Moore would run for 5 more, and two plays later from the UCF 9, he would be picked off in the endzone. Damn. UCF went three and out and had a terrible punt.


Anderson went for 17 on four carries, then Moore got 9, Anderson got 5 more, and then Stephen Barnett checks in..




.. and scores a 2 yard TD. 7-0 Tulane. :25 left in the quarter. UCF would start to drive.


2ND QUARTER


.. And on UCF's fourth play of the quarter, Harvey runs for a 23 yard TD. 7-7. Wilson Van Hooser then returns the kick from inside the five and picks up 78 YARDS on the return. After 5 yards on the ground by Anderson, then Moore found Robottom after breaking a tackle and moving up through the pocket and finding him on the run. Then Andre Anderson punches it in to finish off the drive with a 1 yard TD:





14-7 Tulane. UCF drives right back at us, getting 15 through the air, picking up 29 on a Harvey run, then Clabrese found Watters for a 16 yard TD. 14-14. Andre Anderson then starts off Tulane's next drive with a 31 yard run, then gets 19 more on 3 carries, then Barnett would get 11. That puts Tulane at the UCF 5, where Moore steps back..




..and finds Stephen Barnett for a 5 yard TD. 21-14 Tulane. UCF would go three and out. Tulane would drive a bit but would not score and the half ends.



3RD QUARTER


Tulane starts off their first drive of the second half with a 19 yard pass to Robottom, then Anderson gets five, Moore gets 8, Anderson gets one, and then he would get..




... 34 yards and a touchdown. UCF would then take awhile (maybe too long) but would eventually find the endzone with a 4 yard TD pass from Clabrese to Kay. 28-21 Tulane.


Tulane then runs and runs into the 4th quarter on a "chewing clock" drive.


4TH QUARTER


More runs for Tulane, chewing the clock inside the four minute mark in the 4th quarter, until they stall inside the 10 and kick a 26 yard field goal. 31-21 Tulane. (Yes I know that was a boring drive summary but all we basically did was run the ball, with a few short passes sprinkled in).


UCF would get the ball and on there first play out..




...Cody Leford forces the fumble..




...CHINOSO with the recovery..





"HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO WINNING RECORD!", Chinoso thinks as he crosses into the endzone. A 39 yard fumble return for TD. 38-21 Tulane.


The rest of the game is highlight-less, because it's just a three and out fest. Tulane gets the ball to end the game and Andre Anderson takes off the final seconds with a 7 yard run, hopefully not the last of his Tulane career.


FINAL SCORE: TULANE 38-21


Welp, that's the regular season for 2009. 7-5 is an excellent finish, don't know if we'll make a bowl or not, but let's hope for it. Andre Anderson has another workhorse day, with 2 TD's, and hopefully he gets one more game to pound the ball up and hopefully increase his NFL stock. Jeremy Williams caught no passes but was out for parts of the game with an injury, but it's not serious and he finished the game on the field. Now we get to sit back and wait as the final three weeks unfold and then it's bowl season.


PLAYER STATS
Kevin Moore: 116.3 QB Rating, 10-for-17, 101 yards, TD, INT, 30 rush yards

Andre Anderson: 38 rush att, 219 yards, 5.7 avg, 2 TD, 9 rec yards
Stephen Barnett: 9 rush att, 29 yards, 3.2 avg, TD, 1 rec, 5 yards, TD

D.J. Banks: 3 rec, 13 yards / Alan Mitchell: 3 rec, 41 yards / Casey Robottom: 2 rec, 33 yards

Nick Landry: 3 pancakes / John Landa: 2 pancakes

Cody Leford: 7 tackles, FF

Oscar Ponce De Leon: 5 tackles, TFL, Sack

Chinoso Echebelum: 5 tackles, FR, Def TD

Tony Bryant: 5 tackles, 2 TFL

Devin Williams: 3 tackles, 2 TFL, 2 Sacks

Wilson Van Hooser: 128 return yards

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK TWELVE AROUND THE NCAA

Number four and five lost last week.


C-USA ENTERING THE WEEK

EAST: ECU 5-1 / Southern Miss*, UAB 4-2 / UCF 3-3

WEST: Houston 5-1 / TULANE now 5-3 / UTEP, Tulsa* 3-3


C-USA SCORES

• UAB 31, ECU 14 ... UAB and ECU are now both 6-5, 5-2. UAB's Webb had 3 TD's.
  
• Marshall 27, SMU 9 ... Remember when I said great job June Jones? I regret that. 6-6 and LAST in the C-USA ain't getting you nowhere.
  
• Southern Miss 31, Tulsa 24 .. USM now 5-2 which means ECU/USM decides who wins the East next week. With Tulsa's loss, we clinch 2nd in the West and Houston clinched basically already.
  
• Memphis 39, Houston 17 ... This conference is eating itself alive. Everyone has at least two losses. Crazy. Memphis had 36 unanswered points. Houston with five TO's.
  
• Rice 34, UTEP 23 ... Rice is at least no. 11! They are at least no. 11! They aren't last.
  

C-USA EXITING THE WEEK

1. Houston (West, 5-2)

2. ECU/Southern Miss (East, both 5-2, game week 14)


NCAA SCORES

• Rivalry Game that has no meaning this year, Ohio State (6-5, 3-4) @ Michigan (4-7, 1-6): Ohio State 17, Michigan 6 ... tOSU has been killed by injuries. However they should have a good Alamo Bowl. tOSU injuries: Brandon Saine, Terrelle Pryor, Lamaar Thomas, Etiene Sabino, Kurt Coleman.
  
  
• Colorado 31, #12 Oklahoma State 24 ... Okie State loses it's fourth game of the year.
  
  
• HOLY CRAP WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU KIDDING ME STATE OF FLORIDA SUICIDE WATCH: FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL 17, #4 Florida 3 ... Excuse me for a second, let me get this out.. Holy crap. Florida. Paul McCall throws for 2 TD's as the Gators fall without Tim Tebow. Florida had 131 yards of offense. At home. Holy crap. How do you let this happen. FIU has now won six straight games.
  
  
• #15 Ole Miss 38, #5 LSU 14 .. And another SEC team bites the dust.
  
• Penn State is headed for the BCS National Title: NC State 21, #2 Virginia Tech 17 ... Russell Wilson scores all three TD's for NC State including a TD pass with :46 left.
  
• #1 Texas 48, #9 Kansas 13 ... Kansas has died.
  
  Other teams: Hawaii wins the WAC at 9-1 and 7-1 in conference play. Western Michigan has a BYE.
  

So let's see, no. 2, no. 4 and no. 5 lose this week. That puts West Virginia in the title picture. Wow.


BCS TOP 15

1. Texas (1.000)

2. Penn State (0.994)

3. Oklahoma (WTF?) (0.986)

4. West Virginia (0.986)

5. USC (0.975)

6. Boise State (with two losses) (0.970)

7. Ole Miss (TEN SPOT jump) (0.964)

8. Utah (0.954)

9. Virginia Tech (0.953)

10. Oregon (0.947)

11. Nebraska

12. LSU

13. Alabama

14. Kansas

15. TCU

16. Florida (wah wah wah)

Hawaii is up to 28th in the Coaches and 26th in the AP.


HEISMAN WATCH

1. Aaron Valentine, WR, Purdue

2. Darryl Clark, QB, Penn State

3. Tim Hiller, QB, Western Michigan (bye week)

4. Corbin Louks, QB, Utah

5. Jordan White, WR, Western Michigan (bye week)


Awards: Andre Anderson to first in the Walker.


BOWL PROJECTIONS

NEW ORELANS BOWL: Florida Atlantic (7-3, 5-1, Sun Belt #1, most likely could be FIU)/Tulane (7-5, 5-3)

ROSE BOWL: West Virginia/Oregon

SUGAR BOWL: Florida/Boise State

FIESTA BOWL: Oklahoma/TCU (at #17, really?!)

ORANGE BOWL: Virginia Tech/USC

BCS NC: Penn State (lock)/Texas (two games left)


UP NEXT: Week 13 and 14 recaps and such.

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK THIRTEEN AROUND THE NCAA

Previously on Around the NCAA, FIU beat Florida, Virginia Tech fell to NC State, and the C-USA East battle heated up as I turned the oven on. And before anyone else gets confused..


C-USA SCORES

• UCF 30, UAB 23 ... UCF is now bowl elligible, this knocks UAB to 5-3, should put us to #4 or something in the C-USA.
  
• Southern Miss 35, ECU 25 ... And now Tulane is third in the C-USA. Probably. Unless EA screws us. Southern Miss vs Houston for the Championship. Davis with 4 TD passes.
  
• Rivalry: Houston 41, Rice 34 ... Rice made this game closer than it looks with 21 4th quarter points. Keenum and Beall both run for 2 TD's each.
  
• UTEP 28, Marshall 15 ... UTEP rebounds to finish at 4-8, 4-4.
  
• Tulsa 10, Memphis 7 ... And neither of these teams are headed to a bowl.
  

C-USA Bowl Eligible Teams: Southern Miss (9-3), Houston (8-4), Tulane (7-5), UAB (6-6), ECU (6-6), UCF (6-6), SMU (6-6)


NCAA Scores

• Another [number] one bites the dust: Texas A&M 27, #1 Texas 26 ... [laugh] Bullock for aTm hits a 36 yard field goal with 29 seconds to play and Texas' NC chances are most likely gone unless something like 2007 happens.
  
• #4 West Virginia 30, PITT 7 ... Impressive enough for #2? One game left. Hopefully they don't 2007 their last game.
  
• Oh pfft: UCLA 21, #5 USC 10 ... Did someone say something about 2007? Oh USC loses the pac-10.
  
• OH WHAT THE PFFT: #23 Oklahoma State 40, #3 Oklahoma 13 ... Is Texas going to drop from 1st to 3rd or something? WTF?
  
  Hawai'i wins no. 10, now 10-1.
  
  Ball State 36, Western Michigan 21 ... Hiller 3 TD, 0 INT, 295 yards | White 12 rec, 172 yards, TD
  

BCS TOP 15 & NOTABLES (IF ANY)

1. Penn State (1.000) (CLINCHED)

2. West Virginia (0.994) (Just needs to beat Rutgers, 8-3)

3. Boise State (0.989) (Please no!)

4. Ole Miss (0.981) (I'd take that)

5. Utah (0.981) (Hey, look who it is)

6. Virginia Tech

7. Oregon

8. Texas

9. LSU

10. Nebraska

11. Kansas

12. Oklahoma

13. TCU

14. FLOLrida

15. North Carolina

18. USC

24. Hawai'i (Hooray!)


Heisman: Valentine, Hiller, Clark ... Hiller and White have MAC CCG left versus Bowling Green (6-6).


Awards: Anderson falls to 2nd in the Walker. Tim Hiller leads the Maxwell.


BOWL PROJECTIONS:

Texas Bowl: Tulane/Kansas State

Rose Bowl: Boise State/Oregon

Sugar Bowl: Florida/Utah

Fiesta Bowl: Texas/TCU (...)

Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech/Ole Miss

BCS National Title: West Virginia/Penn State

(THREE non-BCS teams? Seriously sim engine? Way to go idiots of teams who lost to dumb teams.)


UP NEXT: Week 14 Around the NCAA

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK FOURTEEN AROUND THE NCAA

Previously on Around the NCAA: Texas lost, Oklahoma lost, USC lost. What a weekend! Boise State is #3 and needs a West Virginia loss or something. Please say this doesn't happen..

C-USA GAMES: NONE

NCAA SCORES

• Oregon State 41, #6 Oregon 17 ... And Oregon blows the pac-10 unless USC loses. What a wacky, wacky season.
• Western Kentucky 38, Arkansas State 20 ... WKU finishes the season at 7-5, 5-3.
• #2 West Virginia 22, Rutgers 19 ... WVU almost blew it. Brown threw a pick-six with 1:13 left but Bitancurt hit a 29 yard field goal with :06 left and WVU is headed for Pasadena.
• Navy (2-9) 37, Army (3-8) 17 ... CAMO FEST. Navy held a 31-0 halftime lead. Byrd ran for 3 TD's.
• Sun Belt Championship: Florida Atlantic 30, FIU 20 .. Florida Atlantic beat FIU who beat Florida. Well what do you know. FAU at an impressive 9-3.
• #17 USC 44, Arizona 23 ... USC will win the Pac-10. Wow.
• Wisconsin 37, #24 Hawai'i (10-1) 21 ... Hawai'i's 11-win regular season upended by 9-win Wisconsin.

TOP 25 BCS POLL
1. Penn State (1.000)
2. West Virginia (0.994)
3. Boise State (0.989)
4. Ole Miss (0.981) <-- Will need to massacre Florida for any chance, which FIU did. So that's not saying much.
5. Utah (0.979)
6. Virginia Tech
7. Texas
8. Kansas
9. LSU
10. Nebraska
11. Oklahoma
12. TCU
13. Florida
14. North Carolina
15. Auburn
16. Okie State
17. Cincy
18. USC
19. Tennessee
20. Alabama
21. aTm
22. Georgia Tech
23. Oregon (16 SPOT DROP)
24. Wisconsin
25. Central Michigan

HEISMAN: Tim Hiller for some reason jumps to #1. If he has a good MAC CCG, the Heisman is his.

BOWL PROJECTIONS:
Tulane's unchanged.
Rose Bowl: Boise State/USC
Sugar: Florida/Utah
Fiesta: Texas/TCU
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech/Ole Miss
BCS National Title: WVU/Penn State (basically set in stone)

UP NEXT: The Championships, The Heisman, The Awards, and the Bowl Matchup

[Iron Dragon]

CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND

Basically, it's a fight for the other BCS bowl games as Penn State and West Virginia are basically shoe-ins for this year's national title game.

Maryland (9-3, 6-2) versus #6 Virginia Tech (11-1, 7-1)

GAME ANALYSIS: Virginia Tech got off to a quick start, with a 61 yard INT return for six, then Tyrod Taylor found Boone for a 18 yard score, as the Hokies lead 14-0 after one. Maryland hit a FG from 29, and VT scored from 6 yards out with one second to go in the half, giving them a 21-3 lead. The Hokies rolled with two more field goals and another pick-six, and Maryland put up a late passing TD. The teams tied in offensive yards at 278 but VT's two pick-sixes were the deciding factor. Rivers was the MVP with 4 tackles, 2 INT's and a TD.

FINAL SCORE: #6 Virginia Tech 34, Maryland 10

#11 Nebraska (9-3, 6-2) versus #7 Texas (11-1, 7-1)

GAME ANALYSIS: Texas outright dominated the first part of this game with Colt McCoy back. Hunter Lawrence kicked a 23 yard, a 39, and a 42 yard field goal in the first half too. McCoy had two passing TD's in the first half, and a third in the 3rd quarter, as the Longhorns took a 30-3 lead on Nebraska. However Zac Lee and Nebraska went down fighting. Lee threw three TD's all to Holt in the fourth quarter of 14, 3 and 32 yards, but it was too little, too late.

FINAL SCORE: #7 Texas 33, #11 Nebraska 24

Houston (8-4, 6-2) versus Southern Miss (9-3, 6-2)

GAME ANALYSIS: (Both of these teams beat Tulane) Well, this might be the best CCG of them all. Two evenly matched teams that both went 6-2 in conferences with some offenses to work with. Houston scored in the first with Case Keenum TD pass to Edwards for 15 yards, then in the 2nd Beall ran for a 3 yard TD as Houston went up 14-0. USM battled back as Austin Davis throws 2 TD's to end the 2nd quarter. 14-14 at the break. Estes for USM hits a field goal in the third, 17-14 USM. And then with 1:15 left, Mannisto for UH hits a 28 yard field goal and this game goes to OT. In the first OT, teams trade field goals, and in the second USM scores on a 5 yard TD pass from Davis to Fletcher and they win it in double OT 26-20. USM's player of the game is B. Davis who had 17 tackles, 5 for loss, 2 sacks and a INT.

FINAL SCORE: Southern Miss 26, Houston 20 2OT

The I lost to ________ at home championship game: #5 Ole Miss (10-2, 7-1) versus #13 Florida (10-2, 7-1)

GAME ANALYSIS: Both of these teams lost embarrassingly at home, Ole Miss fell to Memphis and Florida lost to Florida International. Florida is still without Tim Tebow. Florida started off the game with a John Brantley TD pass to Dionte Thompson. Then Herman pick-six'd Brantley for Miss. 7-7 after one. Ole Miss took the lead on a Bolden TD run, but Chris Rainey tied it at 14 minutes later. And then a minute after that, Brantley hits Aaron Hernadez for a 29 yard TD. 21-14 Florida at the half. No scoring in the third. In the first Jevan Snead threw a 6 yard TD pass to McCluster with 2:36 to play, but Phillips for UF hit a 32 yard field goal with 44 seconds left and the Gators win.

FINAL SCORE: #13 Florida 24, #5 Ole Miss 21

Bowling Green (6-6, 5-3) versus Western Michigan (9-3, 6-2)

GAME ANALYSIS: Yes, this is a national broadcast as people watch to see how good this Tim Hiller and Jordan White really are. This game was action packed. Bowling Green took a 7-0 lead on a Sheehan TD pass, but then WMU kicked a field goal and Hiller found Jordan White for a 5 yard TD. Bowling Green battled back with a 17 yard TD pass, but WMU ran for a West TD, and Hiller found White for a 22 yard TD as WMU led 24-14 at the half. Hiller threw for 2 more TD's in the 3rd quarter and Bowling Green's Sheehan threw another. In the fourth, Bowling Green rallied but Hiller, White and Western Michigan celebrate a 10-win season and now head to New York as favorites for the Heisman. Hiller puts up amazing numbers: 33/40, 376 yards, 4 TD, 0 INT, 64 rushing yards. White puts up great ones too: 15 rec, 192 yards, 2 TD.

FINAL SCORE: Western Michigan 41, Bowling Green 35

UP NEXT: Where is Tulane going Bowling? Who wins the Heisman? Find out! But here's a hint:

Spoiler: show

The winner is from Western Michigan, they swept 1-2 in a close vote, but who wins?

[Iron Dragon]

THE HEISMAN




Tim Hiller

WMU's Hiller, White crash the Heisman party, finishing 1-2, but Hiller hoists the trophy

NEW YORK --- Kalamazoo, Michigan got it's time in the NCAA spotlight on Saturday night as coming into the night, they knew that one of their Broncos from Western Michigan was going to hoist the trophy.


Tim Hiller's season stats were 322-445 passing, for 4222 yards, along with 172 carries, 628 yards, and 44 Total TD�s. Jordan White's were pretty darn good too, with 121 receptions for 1856 yards, a 15.3 average and 19 Touchdowns, as Hiller and White hooked up alot each game. White's YAC for the year is 816 (6.7 avg).


The others invited to New York were Purdue's Aaron Valentine, Kansas's Dezmon Briscoe and Penn State's Darryl Clark.


But at the end of the night, it was all about Tim Hiller and Jordan White. Many thought it could be Jordan because of some of the catches he had made and the things he could do after getting the ball. Others thought it would be Hiller, because he threw for 4000+ yards and 445 times with only 4 INT's and he was also dual-threat.


When the annoucement came: "The Winner of the 2009 Heisman Trophy, from Western Michigan.......... is Tim Hiller, Quarterback." Hiller and White both celebrated as they did on the field through their many scores this year.


White told Hiller, "Congrats man, thanks for everything, enjoy the trophy and let's go get 40 [passing] and 20 [receiving] but enjoy this first man."


Hiller walked up on stage, hoisted the trophy and gave a short speech, "I'd like to thank my family, my friends, my coaches, Western Michigan, Kalamazoo, Jordan White especially, he's been a great teammate all year, along with the rest of them. This is truly an honor to win the Heisman after such a fun year, but now it's time for the Broncos to go get our bowl game and celebrate this championship, the Heisman and hopefully a bowl victory. Thanks for everything, and thanks to my team.

Tim Hiller had 492 first place votes, and 1981 total. Jordan White and Hiller had room on third place Aaron Valentine, who had room on Dezmon Briscoe and Darryl Clark.


Along with winning the Heisman, Hiller won the Maxwell and the Davey O'Brien while White won the Best WR honors.


Hiller (a senior) and White (a junior) now have to look forward to their bowl game against #25 Purdue the day after Christmas in Detroit to a home crowd as they hope to get to 40 passing and 20 receiving TD's.