Still in the hunt for the MNC, but it's gonna be tough. HELL of a game against FIU. Score definitely surprised me on that one. Looks like your defense is gonna be a serious liability for awhile, unfortunately.
Printable View
Still in the hunt for the MNC, but it's gonna be tough. HELL of a game against FIU. Score definitely surprised me on that one. Looks like your defense is gonna be a serious liability for awhile, unfortunately.
Yeah, unless a bunch of top teams start falling like flies, I really don't have any expectations of crashing the title game, though I will take crashing the BCS as a substitute.Quote:
Originally Posted by morsdraconis
Yes, it was a hell of a game. :D When they made those three straight scores from the end of the second quarter through the beginning of the third to go up 24-14, I thought I was screwed. Thankfully our defense actually pulled their heads out of their asses for long enough to make a stop or two and let us come back. Still a tough 6 games to go. Southern Miss, North Texas and UTEP worry me the most.
Note: This post is NOT a part of Smooth's dynasty. Do NOT get confused and mostly disregard this post.
With that being said, remember how I was supposed to incorporate community members coaches into my dynasty? That was before our desktop AND laptop went kaput making my iPhone my de facto computer? I had the names inputted but I wasn't about to type everything up on my iPhone so I had to scrap it until next year. Well, here is where you are now, Smooth...
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/12/27/yna6epam.jpg
Think this post will be Mors approved?
:D That's awesome! Maybe West Virginia will have better luck with Marko Ramius III at the OC position than they have had in these two seasons of my Tulsa dynasty with Bryan Stinespring leading the offense.
And nice timing on the post souljahbill, I am just minutes away from firing up and kicking off the Tulsa-Southern Miss game. Just finished recruiting for week 7 and am almost ready to go. :)
If anyone can turn that team around, it's Smooth at OC. :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by souljahbill
Game Seven
#13 :Tulsa: :@: :Southern_Miss:
Game Notes
--- As we hit the halfway point of the 2015 season and enter into the second half of our schedule, it was time for a brand opponent during the coaching tenure of Marko Ramius, the Golden Eagles of Southern Miss. Like us, sporting a Spread look and playbook, it had the makings of another potential shootout. Hopefully that near loss to Florida International last week would be enough to get our defense focused on the end goal and playing at 110% again, as opposed to the 10% they were playing at last week. A pouring rain and light fog in Hattiesburg, MS would make this an interesting one, with the potential for a turnover even more of a possibility on any given play. Southern Miss won the coin toss and elected to kick.
A touchback on the kickoff and our offense was out to start the game from our 25. It was looking to be a battle today, as Southern Miss was more than ready for Kiel Fletcher, tackling him for no gain on the first down rush. A rush attempt by Brandon Booth was also going nowhere, being tackled instantly for a loss of one yard. It was Max Thompson keeping our drive alive, hauling in a pass from Booth for a gain of 17 yards and a first down at the 41 yard line. With the defense blitzing and keying on the run every play, it looked like a potentially air heavy day. A first down pass to Conner Jefferson picked up 16 yards and we had a new set of downs at the 43 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Booth found Fletcher at the 29 yard line for a gain of 14 and another first down. Another catch by Jefferson, this time for 15 yards, and we had a first down at the Southern Miss 14 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, intended for Eric Hayden, Booth found Thompson on an out route, a downfield block by Hayden tying up the safety to allow Thompson to take it 14 yards for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 5:38 on the clock.
No return on the kickoff, and Southern Miss was on the field for their first drive at the 25. The Golden Eagles got started with a 9 yard pass from Xavier Jones to Joseph Pollard, but a loss of two yards by Chris Williams left USM facing third and three. Jones would pick up three yards on the third down rush, leaving fourth and inches at the 35. Still early in the game, Southern Miss elected to punt instead of risking turning it over deep in their territory, and a three yard return by Fletcher on the 41 yard punt gave us possession at our 27 yard line. Coming out firing on first down, the defense never knew what hit them, as a heavy blitz left Fletcher uncovered coming out of the backfield, hauling in the pass from Booth and racing downfield for a 50 yard gain before being brought down by the safety at the USM 24 yard line. A pass to Jefferson on the slant route went for a gain of 18 yards and we were left with first and goal at the 6 yard line. Going to the ground game for the first time this drive, Fletcher was able to break the defense, fighting ahead through a tackle and falling into the end zone for the 6 yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 3:48 left in the first quarter.
A 20 yard kickoff return left Southern Miss starting at their 20 yard line. Our defense was ready to stuff their run game, tackling Williams for a loss of one yard, before Jones lit us up through the air, hitting Reggie Adkins for 19 yards and a first down at the 38. After an incomplete pass on first down, Williams picked up 8 yards on the ground, followed by a 13 yard pass from Jones to Pollard for a new set of downs at our 42 yard line. A 6 yard rush by Corey Powers was followed with a loss of three yards by Williams as our defense brought the house, leaving the Golden Eagles with third and 7 at our 39. Pollard dropped the third down pass from Jones and the Golden Eagles faced fourth and 7. The fourth down punt sailed out of the back of the end zone for a touchback and we were starting on our 20 yard line.
Having finally broken the defense, Fletcher was able to finally get some yards on the ground, picking up 7 yards on the first down carry. A 10 yard rush by Fletcher on the next play and we had a first down at the 37. The defense wouldn’t be fooled another play, Fletcher being instantly brought down for no gain. Booth’s pass was incomplete and we were left with third and 10 from the 36. The safety would knock away the third down pass to Jefferson, nearly intercepting it, and with two seconds left, we were forced to punt on fourth down. A fair catch on the 44 yard punt gave Southern Miss the ball at their 19 yard line as the first quarter came to an end, our lead at 14-0.
It was a quick start for Southern Miss to open the second quarter, as Powers picked up 5 yards on the ground, before Jones hit Dustin Fritz for a 25 yard gain and first down at midfield. After throwing away the ball on first down, Jones recovered to connect with Pollard for 11 yards to get to our 39 yard line. After a one yard rush by Williams, Jones threw passes of four yards to Williams and 8 yards to Adkins and Southern Miss had a new set of downs at our 26. The Golden Eagles looked set to have another quick first down, as Williams broke a 9 yard run on the next play, but the defense would tackled Jones for a loss of four yards, leaving USM with third and 5. Williams would convert the third down on the ground, picking up 5 yards to get to our 16 yard line. After a thrown away pass on first down, Williams gained 8 to get USM down to our 8 yard line, facing third and two. The offense would move backwards, as a holding penalty pushed the Golden Eagles out to our 18 yard line and facing third and 12. Jones’ pass to Pollard was knocked incomplete, forcing Southern Miss to disappointingly settle for a field goal. The 35 yard kick by William Alston was good and our lead was cut to 14-3 with 6:28 to go in the half.
Fletcher returned the ensuing kickoff for 20 yards out to our 23 and the offense was back in action. After a dropped pass by Jefferson, Booth found Eric Silva for a 5 yard gain and we were left with third and 5. Thompson would keep our drive alive, catching an 11 yard pass from Booth to get us out to the 39. Going deep on first down, Jefferson was able to catch a rainbow from Booth, hauling it in just before stumbling out of bounds for a 30 yard gain and a first down at the USM 31 yard line. Going to the ground game, it was nothing but failure, as Fletcher was instantly hit for a one yard loss on the first down carry. Going back to the air attack, Booth hit Hayden over the middle, Hayden splitting the safeties and turning it up the field for a 32 yard gain before the safety finally brought him down by the ankles in a touchdown saving tackle at the one yard line. Fletcher would take the ball on first down and goal, getting tackled for nearly no gain. Fletcher would only need one more attempt, punching it in from one yard out to extend our lead to 21-3 with 2:51 left in the second quarter.
A touchback on the kickoff and Southern Miss was starting from their 25 yard line, just 2:43 left in the quarter. Jones wasted no time in going to the air, hitting Pollard for a gain of 13 to get to the 38 yard line. Two straight incomplete passes left the Golden Eagles facing third and 10, when Jones connected with Chuck Lee for 12 yard and a new set of downs at our 49 yard line. This time the Jones wouldn’t be able to save the drive, three straight incomplete passes, the final one dropped by Adkins, and the Golden Eagles were forced to punt from our 49 with 1:46 left in the half. The Golden Eagles came out in punt formation, but instead attempted a fake punt pass. Alston’s pass was batted incomplete and Southern Miss turned the ball over on downs, leaving our offense with 1:41 left to work with, starting at our 49 yard line and all three timeouts still in the bag.
Going to the air on first down, Booth hit Jefferson on an out route, Jefferson turning around and catching the ball while falling backwards out of bounds, just getting the foot down for the completion. Booth then went right back to Jefferson on the next play, a comeback pass gaining 11 yards and a first down at the 29 yard line. A third straight pass to Jefferson, this time on the opposite side of the field, went for a gain of 17 yards and a first down at the 12 yard line, 1:16 remaining. The defense still had no answer for Booth to Jefferson connection, as the fourth straight pass in his direction went for a gain of 6 yards, leaving us second and four at the 6 yard line. Fletcher would pound it forward up the middle, bouncing off a diving tackle attempt and stumbling forward the final couple yards for the 6 yard touchdown rush and a 28-3 lead with 39 seconds left.
A 20 yard kickoff return gave Southern Miss the ball at their 19 yard line and 28 seconds left to work with. Following an incomplete pass on first down, Jones hit Adkins for a 12 yard gain, USM’s first timeout stopping the clock with 19 seconds. After two incomplete passes, Jones connected with Fritz for a 7 yard gain, leaving fourth and three with just three seconds left, the final seconds ticking off the clock without a timeout or another snap, bringing the first half to a close, our lead standing at 28-3.
A touchback on the kickoff to open the third quarter, and Southern Miss was back on offense at their 25 yard line. It was beginning much the same way the second quarter ended, as two straight incomplete passes left the Golden Eagles with third down, but a 13 yard pass to Adkins would breathe new life into the drive at the 38 yard line. A 2 yard pass to Adkins, followed by an incomplete pass, left USM again facing third down. A 21 yard strike to Adkins on the third down play gave USM a new set of downs at our 39 yard line. After a dropped pass by Fritz, Williams got in on the action, taking the ball off the left tackle for a 12 yard gain on the ground and a first down at our 27 yard line. A 7 yard pass to Adkins was followed with a 6 yard rush by Williams at the Golden Eagles had a new set of downs at our 14 yard line. A pass to Fritz for a gain of one yard was followed by a 6 yard rush by Lee, leaving Southern Miss with third and three at our 7 yard line. Southern Miss would be forced to settle for another field goal, as the defense sacked Jones for a loss of four yards, leaving the Golden Eagles with fourth and 6 from our 10 yard line. The 27 yard kick by Alston was good, making the score 28-6 with 6:24 left in the third quarter.
A 24 yard kickoff return by Jefferson got our offense underway from our 23 yard line. Fletcher rumbled ahead for a gain of 5 yards on first down, before picking up the new set of downs with a 9 yard rush off the left tackle out to our 37 yard line. Continuing on the ground, Ryan Strong was only able to manage two yards. Booth would manage to pick up the first down himself, taking the snap and hauling ass toward the far sideline for a gain of 14 yards and a first down at the USM 47 yard line. Finally finding momentum on the ground, Fletcher pounded the ball up the middle for a 6 yard gain, before being tackled for no gain to leave us with third and four at the 42. A 16 yard pass to Hayden and we had a first down at the 25 yard line. Taking the ball back on the ground, Fletcher picked up 8 yards on the first down rush, before being tackled for a loss of one yard to set up third and three at the 18. Booth’s pass to Jefferson was batted down, forcing out the field goal unit. Alphonso Pratt’s 35 yard field goal attempt was no good, and a drive that held such promise ended with nothing to show for it, as the Southern Miss offense took over at their 18 yard line, just 49 seconds left in the third quarter.
Jones got the drive started for USM with a 5 yard pass to Fritz, but an incomplete pass on the next play left third and 5 for the Golden Eagles offense. A pass to Lee went for a gain of 7 yards and a first down at the 32. The third quarter would end disastrously for Southern Miss, as Adkins hauled in a deep pass from Jones, but before going down during the tackle attempt by the safety, the ball was jarred loose, Andy Malone recovering the ball to give our offense possession at our 35 yard line with 5 seconds left in the quarter. Going to the air on first down, Booth hit Thompson along the left hash, Thompson breaking the tackle attempt by the corner, and thanks to a downfield block on the linebacker by Hayden, was able to rumble 53 yards down the left sideline before being brought down at the Southern Miss 13 yard line by the safety. And that would bring the third quarter to an end, our lead at 28-6 with one final quarter to play.
Fletcher would open up the fourth quarter with a rush up the gut for a 7 yard gain, followed by a pickup of four yards to give us first and goal at the two yard line. Booth would take it in himself, breaking loose from a dive at his ankles before being tackled into the end zone from behind for the two yard touchdown rush and a 35-6 lead with 7:51 left in the game. No return on the kickoff left Southern Miss at their 25. After a dropped pass by Pollard, Jones found Williams over the middle for an 18 yard gain to the 43 yard line, as the Golden Eagles tried desperately to get something going and make an improbably comeback. Three straight incomplete passes would doom the drive, as the punt unit came out. A four yard return on the 47 yard punt gave our offense the ball at our 13 yard line.
Our second team offense came out on the drive to close out the game. Silva took the first down handoff up the middle for a 6 yard rush, before managing only one yard on the second down carry. Begrudgingly going to the air on third down, Casey Bishop’s pass intended for Thompson was broken up, and with fourth and three at our 20, we were forced to punt, 5:45 left in the game. A fair catch on the 42 yard punt got the Golden Eagles started at their 37. Still sporting their first team offense, Jones hit Fritz for a 21 yard gain on first down, followed by a 10 yard pass to Lee to leave second and inches at our 32. A three yard rush by Williams would get the new set of downs at our 28 yard line. Three straight incomplete passes would leave the drive teetering on a cliff. The Golden Eagles would convert the fourth down attempt however, as Jones hit Fritz for a 24 yard gain to set up first and goal at our four yard line. Southern Miss would find the end zone for the first time in the game, Jones hitting Eric Williams over the middle for the four yard touchdown, the extra point making it 35-13 with 4:18 left to go.
Southern Miss attempted the onside kick, our hands team recovering it at the USM 40 yard line. Our first team offense returning to the field this drive, it was no luck whatsoever on the ground, as Fletcher was taken down for a loss of one yard on first down, before managing only a single yard on the next play to leave third and 10. The third down pass to Jefferson went for a gain of only 6 yards, leaving us fourth and four with 2:46 left in the contest. We would attempt a 51 yard field goal, but Pratt’s kick went wide left and Southern Miss was back on offense at their 34, 2:34 remaining. It wasn’t looking promising for the Golden Eagles, as two incomplete passes and a four yard scramble by Jones left Southern Miss with fourth and 6 at their 38. They would manage to stay alive, converting fourth down with a 16 yard pass from Jones to Fritz and new life at our 46 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Jones hit Pollard for a 12 yard gain, getting USM to our 34 yard line with 1:54 to go. A 29 yard bomb to Lee, and Southern Miss was suddenly at our 5 yard line with first and goal. The Golden Eagles would return to the end zone on the next play, Jones hitting Pollard from 5 yard out. Southern Miss would go for the two point conversion this time, Jones trying to rush it in himself, but he would get tackled at the two yard line, leaving the score 35-19 with 1:27 remaining.
Our hands team would recover the onside kick, giving us the ball at the USM 43 yard line and 1:24 left, but Southern Miss still had all three timeouts and it wouldn’t take a brain surgeon to know they would use them all. Silva took the ball on first down, thrusting up the middle and fighting through a tackle attempt before breaking loose into the secondary for a 16 yard rush and a first down at the 28 yard line. USM’s first timeout stopped the clock with 1:19, but any hopes of a comeback looked bleak at best after that rush for an immediate new set of downs. Silva took the ball and spinning off of a tackle attempt, picked up two yards to leave second and 8, Southern Miss calling their second timeout to freeze the clock at 1:16. A loss of one yard would leave us with third and 9, the final timeout by Southern Miss stopping play with 1:13 to go. Clearly expecting a pass, our rush play caught them off guard, Silva rushing ahead for a gain of 8 yards to leave us with fourth and one at the 18 yard line, 1:03 left on the clock. Pratt would extend our lead with a 35 yard field goal, making the score 38-19 with 55 seconds left in the game.
A touchback on the kickoff left Southern Miss starting at their 25, trailing by 19, all hopes of a comeback dead and gone. Jones found Pollard on first down for a 12 yard gain, followed by a dropped pass by Powers. Jones would hit Fritz on the next play for a pickup of 17 yards and the Golden Eagles had first down at our 46 yard line, 27 seconds left in the game. A 10 yard pass to Fritz left second and inches, before an encroachment penalty on the defense gave the Golden Eagles a first down at our 31. With two seconds left on the clock, Jones would connect with Williams for a 31 yard touchdown, doing nothing more than to make the final score 38-26.
With the win, we improve to 6-1, 3-0 in C-USA action and become only the fourth team in the nation to become bowl eligible. With the loss, Southern Miss falls to 2-4 and 1-1 in C-USA play. Up next, it’s back to our home field to take on the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State. MTSU enters the game 2-5, 2-1 in C-USA action and on a two game winning streak. It was a rough start to the season for the Blue Raiders, with a 34-13 loss at #20 Georgia Tech, followed with a 28-24 loss to UCLA, a 26-14 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, and then two more losses to Wyoming (42-20) and Florida Atlantic (20-17). They finally got into the win column this season with a 28-26 win over Louisiana Tech and a 38-33 victory at UAB heading into their game in Tulsa.
Final Score
#13 :Tulsa: 38, :Southern_Miss: 26
Stat(s) of the Game:
Tulsa Offense – A good day by Booth, ending with 341 yards and a touchdown through the air, to go with 15 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Fletcher was the player of the game, ending the day with 67 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 19 carries, along with 64 yards receiving. A very limited day for the receiving corps, only 5 people catching passing, four of them ending with double digit receiving yards, Jefferson the top guy, ending his day with 129 yards on 9 receptions.
Tulsa Defense – A great day by our first team defense. Let Southern Miss drive deep a couple times, but kept them out of the end zone. Southern Miss didn't start to really rack up yards and points until it was our second team defense out on the field.
Tulsa Kicking – Another poor day for Pratt, going 1-3 in field goals, but did at least go 5-5 in PATs.
Scoring Summary
Team 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Final Score :Tulsa: 14 14 0 10 38 :Southern_Miss: 0 3 3 20 26
Time Team Result Play Score First Quarter 5:38 :Tulsa: Touchdown M. Thompson, 14 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 7-0 3:48 :Tulsa: Touchdown K. Fletcher, 6 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 14-0 Second Quarter 6:31 :Southern_Miss: Field Goal W. Alston, 39 yard field goal :Tulsa: 14-3 2:51 :Tulsa: Touchdown K. Fletcher, 1 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 21-3 0:39 :Tulsa: Touchdown K. Fletcher, 6 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 28-3 Third Quarter 6:27 :Southern_Miss: Field Goal W. Alston, 27 yard field goal :Tulsa: 28-6 Fourth Quarter 7:51 :Tulsa: Touchdown B. Booth, 2 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 35-6 4:18 :Southern_Miss: Touchdown E. Williams, 4 yard pass from X. Jones (W. Alston kick) :Tulsa: 35-13 1:27 :Southern_Miss: Touchdown J. Pollard, 5 yard pass form X. Jones (2-pt failed) :Tulsa: 35-19 0:55 :Tulsa: Field Goal A. Pratt, 35 yard field goal :Tulsa: 38-19 0:00 :Southern_Miss: Touchdown C. Williams, 31 yard pass from X. Jones (W. Alston kick) :Tulsa: 38-26
Game Stats
Tulsa Stat Southern Miss 38 Score 26 19 First Downs 23 457 Total Offense 498 29 - 116 - 4 Rushes - Yards - TD 17 - 66 - 0 18 - 25 - 1 Comp - Att - TD 32 - 62 - 3 341 Passing Yards 498 0 Times Sacked 1 3 - 8 (37%) 3rd Down Conversion 7 - 16 (43%) 0 - 0 (0%) 4th Down Conversion 2 - 3 (66%) 0 - 0 (0%) 2-Point Conv 0 - 1 (0%) 8 - 5 - 1 (75%) Red Zone - TD - FG 5 - 2 - 2 (80%) 0 Turnovers 1 0 Fumbles Lost 1 0 Intercepted 0 7 Punt Return Yards 0 44 Kick Return Yards 40 508 Total Yards 538 2 – 43.0 Punts - Average 3 - 43.0 2 - 10 Penalties 1 - 10 21:52 Time of Possession 14:08
Tulsa Contract Goals Update
Fail Impact Goal Progress Pass Impact Win 8 games in one season :check: :5greenarrow: :3redarrow: 13+ passing TD in one season :check: :5greenarrow: 14+ points per game in each season 39 :5greenarrow: :3redarrow: 7+ rushing TD in one season :check: :5greenarrow: :5redarrow: 2400+ total offensive yards in one season :check: :5greenarrow: :6redarrow: 2400+ total offensive yards in each season :check: :3greenarrow: :3redarrow: Win 4 games in one season :check: :3greenarrow: :5redarrow: 2000+ total offensive yards in one season :check: :2greenarrow:
Job Security Status
100%
Man, you guys are having a hell of a time trying to stop the pass. Yikes. Gonna be tough to keep up the offensive output against the better teams.
Time for another look around the nation. Starting in the Top 25, in the upset of the week, Wake Forest scores a touchdown with 2:22 left in the game to down #1 Wisconsin, 27-23. Tn the game of the week, #3 Oklahoma suffers their first loss of the season, losing the Red River Shootout 23-20 to #22 Texas (4-1). #6 LSU needed overtime to escape Kentucky 31-24. #7 Auburn holds on to be #23 Arkansas 35-25. #8 Notre Dame uses a 17-0 fourth quarter advantage to comeback from behind for the 28-21 win over Oklahoma State. #9 Michigan gets a touchdown with 2:02 left in the game to escape Maryland 20-17.
In overtime, #12 Nebraska kicks a field goal to knock off #10 Michigan State 27-24. #15 Washington stays perfect on the year with a 42-26 win over Oregon. #16 TCU avoids getting upset, holding on against Iowa State 49-35. #18 Temple suffered their first loss this week, losing 14-3 to 6-1 Houston. #20 Georgia Tech suffers their second loss, falling 28-24 to Virginia. Utah State knocks off #21 Air Force, handing the Falcons their first loss, 31-21. One week after entering the polls, it'll be right back out for Colorado State, as the Rams suffer their first defeat of the year, losing 42-35 to San Jose State. And #25 Texas Tech scores two unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter to hold off Kansas 42-34.
For our readers, souljahbill, obviously, Southern Miss drops to 2-4 (1-1 in C-USA) with Tulsa's 38-26 win over the Golden Eagles. Jaymo, Arizona State had the week off to stay at 3-3 (1-2 Pac-12). Mors, sorry, West Virginia drops their fourth straight game, falling to 2-5 (1-4 Big 12) with a 30-10 loss to Kansas State. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State loses their second game in a row, falling to Louisiana Monroe 35-21 to drop to 3-2 (0-1 Sun Belt).
On a C-USA note, FIU is finally in the win column in C-USA action, beating North Texas 41-17.
Looking at undefeated teams left, with #1 Wisconsin, #3 Oklahoma, #18 Temple, #21 Air Force and #24 Colorado State all losing this week this week, that drops our number of undefeated teams left to 7. #2 Georgia (6-0), #4 Alabama (6-0), #5 USC (6-0), #6 LSU (6-0), #7 Auburn (6-0), #14 Texas A&M (7-0) and #15 Washington (6-0) are all that's left with an unblemished record at the end of week 7. Of the 7 undefeated teams remaining, the SEC accounts for 5 of them.
Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 5 teams still looking for their first win: Baylor (0-5), Memphis (0-7), New Mexico State (0-6), UMass (0-7) and Washington State (0-7).
Teams getting their first wins this week were: Marshall (31-14 over 2-5 Florida Atlantic) and Tulane (24-21 over 3-4 UCF) and Troy (24-14 over 1-5 Army).
Elsewhere, on a note of epic suck, Memphis loses to Connecticut this week, 34-27, dropping Memphis to 0-7 on the season, and 0-19 total over the last season and a half.
Taking a look at the new Top 25 polls, starting in the Coaches Poll, Georgia (40 first place votes) climbs one to #1. Alabama (21 votes) jumps two to #2. LSU climbs three to #3. Auburn jumps four to #4. USC stays stuck at #5. Notre Dame goes up two to #6, Texas A&M leaps seven to #7. Michigan climbs one to #8, Nebraska goes up three to #9 and Oklahoma drops seven to #10. Wisconsin plummets ten to #11, Iowa falls one to #12, Washington jumps two to #13. Tulsa falls one to #14. TCU climbs one to #15, Michigan State falls six to #16, Clemson stays at #17. Wake Forest enters the poll this week at #18, Fresno State stays stuck at #19. Texas climbs two to #20, Houston enters the poll at #21, Temple falls four to #22. Texas Tech jumps two to #23, Virginia Tech enters the poll at #24 and Georgia Tech falls five to #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Air Force (from #21), Arkansas (from #23) and Colorado State (from #24). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Miami is #26 with 156 votes, followed by Kansas State (139), Virginia (136), Arkansas (130) and Air Force (120) to round out the top 30.
In the Media Poll, Georgia (44 first place votes) jumps two to #1, Alabama (21 votes) jumps two to #2, LSCU climbs three to #3, Auburn moves up four to #4, USC stays stuck at #5. Nebraska climbs five to #6, Texas A&M jumps seven to #7, Notre Dame climbs one to #8, Oklahoma falls seven to #9 and Michigan stays at #10. Wisconsin falls ten to #11, Texas leaps ten to #12, Iowa falls one to #13. Tulsa falls one to #14. Washington jumps two to #15, TCU falls one to #16, Michigan State drops nine to #17. Wake Forest enters the poll at #18, Clemson falls one to #19, Fresno State stays at #20. Houston enters the poll at #21, Temple falls six to #22, Texas Tech climbs two to #23, Virginia Tech enters the poll at #24 and Georgia Tech falls six to #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Air Force (from #21), Arkansas (from #23) and Colorado State (from #24). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, UCLA is #26 (74 votes), followed by Virginia (56), Arkansas (53), Air Force (47) and Kansas State (41) to round out the top 30.
Yeah, we're just getting shredded through the air. Granted, a lot of the Southern Miss passing yards came in the fourth quarter when their first string offense was ripping our second string defense a new one, but our starters had their own troubles. UTEP and Rice are about the only true high power offenses that we'll face the rest of the way so we may be in luck. That is if I can actually manage to climb the polls after a win, instead of falling one spot due to get jumped by teams behind me like was the case this week.Quote:
Originally Posted by morsdraconis
As we are now halfway through the season, lets take a glance at conference standings.
In the ACC, in the Atlantic Division it's #18 Wake Forest on top with a 3-0 record, #17 Clemson (3-1) and Louisville (3-3) trailing behind. In the Coastal Division, it's Miami (4-0) on top, with #24 Virginia Tech (3-1) and Virginia (3-2) behind them. The Big 12, TCU leads the way at 4-0, with Texas Tech (2-1) behind them, then a clusterfuck behind that, as Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State and Oklahoma State all sit tied at 1-1 in the conference. Big East, the American Division is led by #21 Houston (4-0), trailed by Boise State and Connecticut, both at 2-1. The National Division is headed up by SMU (3-0), with Temple and Navy, both 2-1) trailing behind.
The Big Ten, a horribly weak Leaders Division is being led by Ohio State (2-2) with Maryland (2-3), Indiana (1-2) and Penn State (1-2) behind them. The Legends Division is a race between #11 Wisconsin (5-0) and #8 Michigan (3-0), with #9 Nebraska (3-1), #12 Iowa (3-1), #16 Michigan State (2-1) and Northwestern (2-1) all still in contention. Conference USA, the East Division is a dead heat between Florida Atlantic and UAB, both at 2-2. Southern Miss is behind that at 1-1, FIU trailing farther behind at 1-2. The West Division, it's #14 Tulsa on top at 3-0, with UTEP right behind on our asses at 2-0. MTSU trails behind them at 2-1 with North Texas and UTSA both lagging behind at 2-2. In the MAC, the East Division is led by Ohio (3-0), with Bowling Green (2-1) and Kent State (2-1) both behind and Buffalo (1-1) lagging farther back. The West Division, it's Western Michigan (2-0) on top, with Toledo (2-1), Eastern Michigan (2-1) and Ball State (1-1) all trailing.
The Mountain West, it's a three way tie at the top, with Hawaii, Nevada and San Jose State all sitting at 1-0. Colorado State is next in line at 1-1. The Pac-12, North Division finds #13 Washington (3-0) on top, followed by Oregon State (2-1) and Stanford (3-2). The South Division, it's #5 USC (4-0) and UCLA (3-0) battling it out, with Colorado (3-1) just behind them). In the SEC, the East Division is led by #1 Georgia (4-0) with South Carolina and Florida both behind at 2-2. The West is an absolute battleground, with #7 Texas A&M (7-0), #2 Alabama (4-0), #3 LSU (3-0) and #4 Auburn (3-0) all still battling it out among themselves. The Sun Belt, UL Monroe leads the way at 2-0, followed by Texas State, Troy and UL Lafayette all at 1-0. Arkansas State and BYU are both at 0-1, Western Kentucky still 0-0 in conference play. In the WAC, New Mexico is the leader at 1-0, Wyoming and Idaho still 0-0 in conference, New Mexico State trailing at 0-1.
Well, you're gonna have a hard time moving up with that one loss, especially when other teams continue to be undefeated. Hopefully they lose a game or two down the road and you start to move up again. Just gotta look to the next game and not worry about it. Either way, you're virtually guaranteed a spot in the BCS if you win out.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
Well in this case, a bunch of undefeated teams did lose. And all the undefeated teams left are (and were with exception of Air Force, Colorado State and Temple before they all lost last week), it's just teams low in top 25 getting huge upsets over top 5 or top 10 teams (like #22 Texas over #3 Oklahoma) and skyrocketing up the polls. As teams start to rack up a second or third loss, hopefully that will open up slots for me. But, that's still down the road. I still have to fight my way past MTSU, North Texas, Rice, UTSA and UTEP before I can even really worry about or care where I'm ranked come season's end.Quote:
Originally Posted by morsdraconis
You must not have noticed how much offensive advice Smooth is getting from me ;) Though he doesn't seem to be listening to it lately. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by morsdraconis
Hey, I've been working the plays in a couple times a game. :D The QB Power play gets used at least once every or every other quarter. And I mix in the rest in here and there.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffHCross
Game Eight
:MTSU: :@: #14 :Tulsa:
Game Notes
--- Beginning our trip into the homestretch of the season, up next were the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State. MTSU looked weak with a 2-5 record and ranked in the 90s or triple digits in every single category except for Pass Offense (#64), but with the battle we had seen against Akron and FIU when we enter a game asleep, we couldn’t afford to take MTSU lightly, especially not with them entering on a two game winning streak. Back in our dustbowl home, and far away from the rains of Miami, It was perfect weather today. We won the coin toss, electing to kickoff first.
No return on the opening kickoff and MTSU was in action on their 25. Our defense immediately got bent over, as Trevor Mendoza hit Barrett Washington for a 27 yard gain and in one play, the Blue Raiders had a first down at our 48. That would be all they would get however, as three straight incomplete passes would bring the drive to a sudden end. A touchback on the 49 yard punt gave our offense the ball at the 20. Kiel Fletcher got us moving with an 8 yard run, followed by a pickup of 11 yards for a first down at the 39 yard line. If MTSU had the #117 ranked rushing defense in the nation, we were going to take advantage of it. Fletcher picked up 6 yards on first down, before bouncing outside the left tackle, getting a block by the tight end, and racing down the sideline for a 55 yard touchdown rush and a 7-0 lead with 6:20 left in the first quarter. If the Blue Raiders couldn’t find a way to shut down the rush, it could end up being a long day for their defense.
A 21 yard return on the kickoff got MTSU started for their next drive from the 21. After an incomplete pass on first down, Mendoza rushed for a four yard gain, leaving MTSU with third and 6 at the 25. An incomplete pass would bring the drive to a short end, and the punt team coming out once again. The MTSU punt team screwed the pooch, letting the punt get blocked, Darnell Turner there to recover it for our defense, giving us the ball at the Blue Raiders two yard line. Fletcher was stood up for a one yard loss on first and goal. Fletcher would get into the end zone for the second time today on the next play, punching it in from three yards out to make it 14-0 with 4:59 left in the first quarter. A 16 yard kickoff return MTSU in familiar position at their 21 yard line. Three straight incomplete passes, and the punt team was again coming out, hoping for a better experience this time. The Blue Raiders would manage to get the punt off this time, a fair catch on the 50 yard boot giving our offense the ball at the 29.
Fletcher got the drive started with a 7 yard rush, followed by Brandon Booth keeping the ball and gaining 6 yards on the ground for the first down at the 42. Fletcher took the ball again, this time for a 6 yard gain to leave us second and four. Fletcher continued to pound the ball against the defense, picking up 5 yards and another first down at the MTSU 47. The MTSU defense finally managed to halt our running game, as the Blue Raiders tackled Fletcher for only a yard gain, and on second and 9, we went to the air for the first time this game. The second down pass to Jefferson went for a gain of three yards to leave us with third and 6. Booth would be hit as he threw by the blitzing defense, the ball plummeting to the ground 5 yards away and we were forced to punt on fourth and 6.
The 49 yard punt went out for a touchback to give MTSU the ball at their 20, 52 seconds left in the quarter. Our defense still refused to allow anything, as another three straight incomplete passes left the Blue Raiders once again punting away. A 12 yard return on the 44 yard punt gave our offense the ball at our 48 yard line, 31 seconds to go. The defense seemed more than ready for the pass this time, as both defensive ends blitzed through untouched, sacking Booth for an 8 yard loss to leave us with second and 18 at the 39 yard line as the final seconds ticked off. The first quarter had come to a close, our lead at 14-0.
Going into the air to start the second quarter, Fletcher would recover the lost yards, hauling in a pass from Booth for a gain of 20 yard to the MTSU 40 yard line. Keeping to the air, Booth found Max Thompson down the left sideline, breaking two tackles before stepping out of bounds at the 16 yard line for a 24 yard gain. Despite the defense bringing the house, Fletcher was able to pick up four yards on the ground. Fletcher would punch it in for the third time today, taking the handoff outside and around the right tackle, before a block by Jefferson allowed him to turn it up inside for the 12 yard touchdown rush and a 21-0 lead with 7:15 left in the second quarter.
A 21 yard kickoff return got MTSU out to their 19 yard line to start. This drive would end much the same as all the others, as two incomplete passes and a two yard rush by Mendoza left the Blue Raiders punting away once again, this time on fourth and 8 from the 21. A fair catch on the 41 yard punt got us started at our 38 yard line. After a 6 yard rush by Fletcher, Booth kept it on second down, getting outside the right tackle, turning the corner and rushing ahead for a 15 yard gain and a first down at the MTSU 42 yard line. Keeping the defense guessing, it was into the air on first down, as Booth hit Jefferson for a gain of 11 and first down at the 31 yard line. Going back to the ground, Fletcher picked up 8 yards on first down, before a 9 yard rush gave us a new set of downs at the 15 yard line. A three yard rush by Fletcher was followed with a three yard pass from Booth to Eric Silva to set up third and four at the 9 yard line. Booth would hit Jefferson in stride on a slant route for the 9 yard touchdown pass and our lead grew to 28-0 with 2:26 left in the second quarter.
A touchback on the kickoff left MTSU on their 25. After a dropped pass on first down, the Blue Raiders finally moved the ball, as Mendoza found Bill Patrick for a 20 yard gain and a first down at the 45 yard line. The drive would die there as three straight incomplete passes again brought out the punt team. A 6 yard return on the 44 yard punt gave our offense the ball at our 16 yard line with 1:36 remaining and all three timeouts. A pass to Eric Hayden went for a gain of 11 yards, followed by a deep pass to Hayden, this time on the opposite side of the field, for a 40 yard bomb and a first down at the MTSU 33 yard line. A 12 yard pass to Jefferson on the curl gave us a first down at the 21 yard line with 49 seconds to go. Going back to Jefferson, the pass from Booth went for a 10 yard gain and we had a first down at the 11 yard line, 37 seconds remaining. Booth hit Ryan Strong on the next play for a 9 yard gain to give us second and one at the two yard line, our first timeout stopping the clock with 22 seconds to go. Fletcher would punch it in for the two yard touchdown, his fourth of the day, extending our lead to 35-0 with 19 seconds left before halftime.
Starting on their 25 yard line after the touchback, Patrick picked up 5 yards on the ground, before a dropped pass would bring the third quarter to an end, our lead at 35-0 and receiving the kickoff after the break.
A 20 yard kickoff return by Fletcher got our offense starting at our 25 yard line to open up the third quarter. It was no going on the ground, as the defense wrapped up Fletcher for a loss of one yard on first down. Going into the air, Booth found Hayden for a 10 yard gain to leave us with third and one. Fletcher would get the conversion, rushing ahead for a gain of four yards and a first down at the 38. Keeping the ball himself, Booth was able to pick up 7 yards on the ground. The play action pass went wide out of bounds and we were left with third and three. Booth’s pass to Thompson was nearly intercepted, but knocked incomplete, and we were forced to punt away from our 44 yard line. No return on the 51 yard punt left the Blue Raiders buried at their four yard line to start their first drive of the second half. Two incomplete passes and a four yard rush by Patrick would leave MTSU in a precarious situation, punting on fourth and 6 from the 8 yard line and no room for error. They would get the punt off, the 49 yard kick being returned four yards by Fletcher to set our offense up at our 47 yard line.
The first down rush by Fletcher went for a gain of 8 yards, before being wrapped up for no gain on second down. Left facing third and two, we put our faith into the hands of our ground game, Fletcher rushing ahead for a gain of 9 yards to the 36 yard line, before a facemask penalty tacked on an extra 15 yards, giving us a first down at the MTSU 21 yard line. The Blue Raiders were ready for Strong on first down, tackling him for a loss of one yard. Fletcher would be benched for the remainder of the quarter, suffering from hip bursitis. Booth’s pass intended for Jefferson was batted away, and we were left with third and 11 at the 22. The cornerback would break on the pass to Thompson and we were forced to attempt a field goal on fourth down. The 39 yard kick from Alphonso Pratt was good and our lead grew to 38-0 with 3:07 left in the third quarter.
A touchback and MTSU was starting on their 25 yard line once more. This time the drive would see some movement, as Mendoza hit Melvin Justice for a gain of 13 yards to the 38 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Mendoza found Patrick over the middle for a gain of 11 and the Blue Raiders were out to their 49 yard line. After another incomplete pass, Mendoza hit Jeremy Gates for 15 yards and another first down at our 35. The drive would finally stall out at that point, three straight incomplete passes again left the Blue Raiders facing fourth down. Instead of punting or attempting the 52 yard field goal, Mendoza went to the air, finding Edward Walker for a gain of 17 yards and a first down at our 19 yard line. Two incomplete passes and a 6 yard pass to Patrick left MTSU with fourth and four at our 13 yard line. Matt Craig would kick a 30 yard field goal and the Blue Raiders had their first points of the game, making the score 38-3 with 1:09 left in the third quarter.
Fletcher was back in action after recovery from the minor injury, and a 26 yard kickoff return gave our offense the ball at our 27. Going to the ground, Fletcher never had a chance, being brought down for a loss of one yard. Going into the air, a damn near blitz all by the defense came back to bite them in the ass, as Hayden hauled in a pass from Booth near the 40 yard line, before racing toward the end zone with nothing but green ahead. The pass would end up going for a 70 yard gain, as Hayden was finally tripped up from behind at the four yard line to leave us with first and goal. The final 10 seconds of the quarter would tick off without another play, and we headed to the fourth quarter leading 38-3 and in scoring position.
Fletcher would open up the fourth quarter on the ground, punching it in from four yards out for his fifth rushing touchdown today, breaking the previous school record of four set back in 1991. The PAT made it 45-3 with 8:58 left in the game. No return on the kickoff left MTSU starting from their 25. It was back to the norm for the Blue Raiders, as three straight incomplete passes doomed the drive from the start, and the punt team coming out.
A fair catch on the 41 yard punt gave us possession at our 33 yard line, the second team offense taking over. Silva’s first down rush went for no gain, the second team offense appearing a bit overpowered against the first team defense of Middle Tennessee State. Silva would fight forward for a 7 yard gain and we were left with third and three. Going into the air on third down, Casey Bishop hit Travis Stephens for a gain of 8 yards and a first down at the 49 yard line. Going back to the ground, Silva was brought down for a loss of one yard, but a penalty flag on the play was against the defense, called for facemask. The 15 free yards erased the loss of yards and gave us a first down at the MTSU 37 yard line. Silva got a couple key blocks on the next play, rushing up the middle for a gain of 10 yards to leave second and inches at the 27. Silva would get the job done, rushing ahead for four yards and a first down at the 23 yard line, the clock down to 5:31 and ticking. Another rush by Silva went for 6 yards as the clock dipped under 5 minutes. Stephens took the ball on the next play, fighting ahead for a gain of three yards to leave third and one at the 14. Silva would convert the third down and then some, picking up 8 yards on the ground to set us up with first and goal at the 6 yard line, just over three minutes left in the game. Silva nearly had an open road all the way to the end zone, but a diving tackle by the linebacker spun him down at the one yard line for a 5 yard gain. Silva would find the end zone on the next play, taking the handoff and leaping over the pile for the one yard touchdown rush to make our lead 52-3 with 2:27 left to play.
No return on the kickoff left MTSU at their 25 yard line, searching for some sort of positive mark to take out of today’s game. They wouldn’t find one, as an incomplete pass on first down was followed with a holding penalty, leaving the Blue Raiders with second and 20 from their 15 yard line. A pair of 8 yard passes to Tom Richardson and the Blue Raiders were left staring at fourth and 5 from their 30 yard line. The Blue Raiders would punt away once more, the fair catch on the 45 yard punt giving our offense the ball at the 25 yard line with 1:35 to play, nothing but a couple of kneel downs to end the game. Bishop would take a knee three times and the final seconds ticked off, our 52-3 win going final.
With the win, we improve our record to 7-1, 4-0 in C-USA action and clinch a winning season. With the loss, Middle Tennessee State drops to 2-6 on the season, 2-2 in C-USA play. Up next, it’s back on the road to take on North Texas. The Mean Green enter the game with a record of 3-5, 2-2 in C-USA action. North Texas began their season with a 20-0 loss at Arizona, before picking up a 24-3 win over Tulane and a 35-20 victory at Marshall. Back to back losses, 38-24 to UAB and 20-17 in overtime to Connecticut was followed with a 58-31 thrashing of UTSA to get back to .500. The Mean Green would then loss two straight, getting slapped around 41-17 by Florida International and a 10-3 loss at Louisiana-Lafayette before heading into the game against us.
Final Score
#14 :Tulsa: 52, :MTSU: 3
Stat(s) of the Game:
- Tulsa Offense – A good day Booth, though a quiet one. Ended the game with 232 yards passing and a touchdown. Fletcher was the player of the game, storming ahead against a very much over-matched MTSU defense for 169 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 24 carries. He also had one reception for a gain of 20 yards. 7 receivers caught a ball today, only four getting to double digit yards, Hayden the top guy with 130 yards receiving on four receptions thanks to that 70 yard bomb. All in all, it was the day of the ground game as Fletcher and our running backs ran wild on the MTSU defense and had a field day, including a broken rushing record.
- Tulsa Defense – A beast of a day. Hardly let MTSU have a thing, shutting them down drive after drive. The Blue Raiders did move the ball occasionally, but a field goal was all they could muster against our stout defense today.
- Tulsa Kicking – Finally a fully perfect day, going 1-1 in field goals with the 39 yard kick, and going 7-7 in PATs.
Scoring Summary
Team 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Final Score :MTSU: 0 0 3 0 3 :Tulsa: 14 21 3 14 52
Time Team Result Play Score First Quarter 6:20 :Tulsa: Touchdown K. Fletcher, 55 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 7-0 4:59 :Tulsa: Touchdown K. Fletcher, 3 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 14-0 Second Quarter 7:15 :Tulsa: Touchdown K. Fletcher, 13 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 21-0 2:26 :Tulsa: Touchdown C. Jefferson, 9 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 28-0 0:19 :Tulsa: Touchdown K. Fletcher, 2 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 35-0 Third Quarter 3:10 :Tulsa: Field Goal A. Pratt, 39 yard field goal :Tulsa: 38-0 1:13 :MTSU: Field Goal M. Craig, 29 yard field goal :Tulsa: 38-3 Fourth Quarter 8:58 :Tulsa: Touchdown K. Fletcher, 4 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 45-3 2:27 :Tulsa: Touchdown E. Silva, 1 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 52-3
Game Stats
Middle Tennessee State Stat Tulsa 3 Score 52 6 First Downs 19 140 Total Offense 466 4 - 15 - 0 Rushes - Yards - TD 42 - 226 - 6 9 - 40 - 0 Comp - Att - TD 14 - 19 - 1 125 Passing Yards 240 0 Times Sacked 1 0 - 11 (0%) 3rd Down Conversion 5 - 9 (55%) 1 - 1 (100%) 4th Down Conversion 0 - 0 (0%) 0 - 0 (0%) 2-Point Conv 0 - 0 (0%) 2 - 0 - 1 (50%) Red Zone - TD - FG 7 - 6 - 0 (85%) 1 Turnovers 0 1 Fumbles Lost 0 0 Intercepted 0 0 Punt Return Yards 22 58 Kick Return Yards 46 198 Total Yards 534 8 – 45.6 Punts - Average 2 - 47.0 3 - 40 Penalties 0 - 0 12:58 Time of Possession 23:02
Tulsa Contract Goals Update
Fail Impact Goal Progress Pass Impact Win 8 games in one season :check: :5greenarrow: :3redarrow: 13+ passing TD in one season :check: :5greenarrow: 14+ points per game in each season 41 :5greenarrow: :3redarrow: 7+ rushing TD in one season :check: :5greenarrow: :5redarrow: 2400+ total offensive yards in one season :check: :5greenarrow: :6redarrow: 2400+ total offensive yards in each season :check: :3greenarrow: :3redarrow: Win 4 games in one season :check: :3greenarrow: :5redarrow: 2000+ total offensive yards in one season :check: :2greenarrow:
Job Security Status
100%
Time for another look around the nation. Starting in the Top 25, #1 Georgia ended up with a fight on their hands, but held on to beat Missouri 42-30. In the upset of the week, 4-3 Tennessee knocks off #2 Alabama in a blowout, 44-20. #4 Auburn got a score but held on to beat 1-7 Ole Miss 30-20. 5-3 Louisville scores 24 unanswered second half points to shock #6 Notre Dame, 24-17. It took double overtime, but #7 Texas A&M pulls a rabbit out of their ass, holding off Florida 52-45. In the game of the week, it was #16 Michigan State prevailing in overtime, knocking off #8 Michigan 41-35 to win the Paul Bunyan Trophy.
In a game that was tied 14-14 in the middle of the second quarter, #9 Nebraska eventually pulls away from UTSA for the 49-24 win. As if it couldn't get any worse for the Badgers, #11 Wisconsin loses their second straight game, falling 24-14 to 6-1 Northwestern. 1-5 Kentucky scores the biggest upset of the week in terms of records of both teams, knocking off #12 Iowa (5-1) 23-17. #17 Clemson holds on for the 31-21 rivalry game win over NC State. Navy improves to 4-2 on the year, handing #22 Temple their second straight loss, 28-24. And #24 Virginia Tech scores a touchdown with 4:59 left to hold off North Carolina 24-21.
For our readers, souljahbill,Southern Miss recovers and snaps their two game losing streak, beating Rice 27-23 to improve to 3-4 (2-1 in C-USA). Jaymo, Arizona State lost to #5 USC this week, 41-10, dropping to 3-4 (1-3 Pac-12). Mors, West Virginia finally snaps their four game losing streak, beating 1-6 UNLV 17-13, improving to 3-5 (1-4 Big 12). Other teams of interest, Arkansas State loses their third game in a row, falling to Army 35-23 to drop to 3-3 (0-2 Sun Belt).
On a C-USA note, UTEP stays right on my ass, beating FAU 31-10 to improve to 5-2 (3-0). A 23-29 Marshall win over UAB shoots Southern Miss into first place in the East Division with a 2-1 record, with FIU second at 2-2 and a clusterfuck of FAU, Marshall and UAB all trailing at 2-3.
Looking at undefeated teams left, with #2 Alabama losing this week, that drops our number of undefeated teams left to 6. #1 Georgia (7-0), #3 LSU (7-0), #4 Auburn (7-0) #5 USC (7-0), #14 Texas A&M (8-0) and #13 Washington (7-0) are all that's left with an unblemished record at the end of week 8. Of the 6 undefeated teams remaining, the SEC accounts for 4 of them.
Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 5 teams still looking for their first win: Baylor (0-6), Memphis (0-8), New Mexico State (0-6), UMass (0-8) and Washington State (0-7).
No teams got their first win this week.
Elsewhere, on a note of epic suck, Memphis loses to #21 Houston this week, 37-3, dropping Memphis to 0-8 on the season, and 0-20 total over the last season and a half.
Taking a look at the new Top 25 polls, starting in the Coaches Poll, Georgia (41 first place votes) remains #1, LSU (21 votes) climbs one to #2, Auburn (1 vote) climbs one to #3. USC jumps one to #4 while Texas A&M bumps up two to #5. Nebraska climbs three to #6, Washington leaps six to #7, Oklahoma climbs two to #8, Alabama falls seven to #9 and Michigan State climbs six to #10. Tulsa jumps three to #11. TCU climbs three to #12, Michigan drops five to #13, Notre Dame falls eight to #14. Clemson moved up two to #15. Also jump two spots were Wake Forest to #16, Fresno State to #17, Texas to #18 and Houston to #19. Wisconsin dropped nine ranks to #20, Tennessee enters the poll this week at #21. Texas Tech, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech all climbed one rank to #22, #23 and #24. And Miami enters the poll this week at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Iowa (from #12) and Temple (from #22). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Louisville (216 votes) sits #26, following by Iowa (136), UCLA (70), Northwestern (33) and Stanford (17) to round out the top 30.
In the Media Poll, Georgia (36 first place votes) remains #1, LSU (23 votes) climbs one to #2, Auburn (5 votes) climbs one to #3, Texas A&M (1 vote) climbs three to #4 and USC remains stuck at #5. Nebraska remains at #6, Oklahoma climbed two to #7, Washington jumped seven to #8, Alabama fell seven to #9 and Michigan State leaped seven to #10. Tulsa jumped three spots to #11. Texas remained at #12, TCU climbed three to #13, Michigan fell four to #14, Wake Forest moved up three to #15. Notre Dame dropped eight to #16, Clemson and Fresno State both jump two spots to #17 and #18. Tennessee enters the poll this week at #19. Houston climbed one to #20, Wisconsin dropped ten spots to #21. Texas Tech, Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech all climbed one rank to #22, #23 and #24. And UCLA enters the poll this week at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Iowa (from #12) and Temple (from #22). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Louisville (180 votes) sits #26, followed by Northwestern (166), Miami (136), Iowa (121) and Penn State (24) to round out the top 30.
Looking at the first BCS standings of the season, Georgia is #1, followed by LSU, Auburn, Texas A&M and USC in the top 5. The rest of the top 10 include Nebraska, Oklahoma, Washington, Michigan State and Alabama. Tulsa is #11 in the initial BCS rankings.
Other notes for the week, Kiel Fletcher was the NCAA Offensive Player of the Week for his 169 yard, 5 touchdown rushing performance against MTSU. That game also put him on the map, as he has leaped out of nowhere to become the #2 candidate on the Heisman Watch list, trailing only Georgia HB Matt Blount. It's a rusher's world this year, as four of the five players on the Heisman Watch list currently are halfbacks.
Woah! Up 3 spots to #11 and an early Heisman watch list member. Could Smooth get Tulsa their first BCS bowl/MNC win (;)) as well as their first ever Heisman winner?! No pressure or anything. ;)
Gee thanks. I'm just about to kick off the North Texas game. Like I don't already shit the bed every single game I play against them. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by morsdraconis
Game Nine
#11 :Tulsa: :@: :North_Texas:
Game Notes
--- Well, this was certainly not going to be the cakewalk that MTSU had been. North Texas entered the game ranked #16 in the nation in pass defense, #60 in rush defense and #29 in total defense. We were going to have our work cut out for us on offense, as well as our defense trying to shut down the Mean Green’s #48 ranked passing offense. With UTEP just one win behind us in the division standings, we could not afford to lose this game. It was bound to be a battle regardless, hopefully one that our offense would prevail. North Texas won the coin toss and elected to kick.
No return on the kickoff and we were off and running at our 25 yard line to start the game. Kiel Fletcher got us moving with a 9 yard rush on first down to leave second and one. A rush up the middle by Fletcher for a 5 yard gain and we had a first down at the 39. Trying to catch the defense cheating, Brandon Booth’s pass to Conner Jefferson was knocked incomplete. Another incomplete pass, this one nearly picked off, and we were left with third and 10. Fletcher would keep our drive alive, hauling in a pass from Booth for a 30 yard gain and a first down at the NT 31 yard line. Returning to the running game, a three yard gain by Fletcher was negated with a holding penalty during the rush, leaving us with first and 17 from the 38 yard line. Going to the air, Booth hit Jefferson near the 25 yard line, before Jefferson fought forward for a gain of 19 yards down to the 19 yard line. Continuing through the air, Booth’s first down pass was nearly intercepted, leaving us with second and 10. Booth’s pass intended for Max Thompson was batted away and we faced third down. We would manage to convert the third down and then some, Booth hitting Jefferson on a slant route, Jefferson dashing the final 5 yards for the 19 yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 6:09 left in the first quarter.
A touchback on the kickoff and North Texas was out for their first drive at the 25. The Mean Green started off with a 5 yard pass from James Mayfield to Perry Roberts, followed by a three yard rush by Mayfield to set up third and two. But an incomplete pass would leave North Texas punting on their first drive after just three short plays. A fair catch called on the 48 yard punt got our offense back on the field at our 19 yard line. Going off the left tackle, Fletcher got a pair of blocks in the secondary and turned it into a huge 34 yard gain and a quick first down at the North Texas 48. Keeping it on the ground, Fletcher picked up four yards on the ground, before a blitzing middle linebacker broke up a designed run by Booth, tackling him for a loss of one yard to leave us with third and 7. The third down pass attempt would sail wide under the pressure from the pass rush, and we were forced to punt away. The 45 yard punt sailed out for a touchback and North Texas began their drive at the 20. A two yard rush by Mayfield and an incomplete pass left the Mean Green facing third and 8, before Mayfield hit Brandon Carroll for a 16 yard gain and a first down at the 38 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Mark Yates rushed ahead for a gain of 7, leaving third and three. A false start would push the offense back, leaving them with third and 8 form the 41 yard line. Mayfield would get the first down however, finding Jon Fogle over the middle for a gain of 23 yards and a first down at our 36 yard line. A 13 yard pass to Roberts was followed with a 23 yard strike to Roberts for the touchdown and it was all tied up 7-7 with 1:57 left in the first quarter.
A 25 yard kickoff return by Jefferson got our offense starting at our 30 yard line. Going immediately into the air, Booth found Jefferson for a gain of 15 yards and a first down at the 45. After a pair of incomplete passes, Booth converted third down with a 25 yard pass to Fletcher to the North Texas 30 yard line. A 12 yard pass to Eric Hayden was enhanced, as a facemask penalty moved the ball half the distance to the goal, giving us first and goal at the 9 yard line. Jefferson would haul in the pass at the very back of the end zone for the 9 yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead with 15 seconds remaining in the first quarter. A touchback on the kickoff started North Texas’ drive at their 25. A pass from Mayfield to Mike Clark for a gain of 15 yards would bring the first quarter to an end, our lead 14-7.
Starting the second quarter, Clark picked up four yards on the ground, followed by a 7 yard rush by Yates to get the first down at our 49 yard line. Another rush by Yates for 5 yards, was followed with a pass from Mayfield to Fogle for a two yard gain to leave third and three. The third down pass would fall incomplete, leaving North Texas facing fourth and three from our 42 yard line. The Mean Green would opt to punt it away, the punt sailing 48 yards for a touchback. After an incomplete pass on first down, Booth found Thompson for a gain of 19 yards and a first down at our 39 yard line. A pass to Eric Silva went for a gain of 15 yards, a juke helping to get across the first down line and gain a couple extra, giving us a first down at the 46 yard line of North Texas. Going back to our ground game, we caught the defense sleeping, as Fletcher broke a run for a gain of 22 yards down to the 24 yard line. Ryan Strong did the honors on the next play, picking up four yards to leave second and 6. Blitzing all three linebackers on the next play would cost the defense, as Silva came out of the backfield and caught a pass over the middle for Booth, before racing the safeties to the goal line for the 20 yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead with 5:33 left in the first half.
A 15 yard kickoff return got the Mean Green started at their 17 yard line on their next drive. It was a very short drive, as three straight incomplete passes, two of them dropped by Yates, would force the punt unit to come back out. A 5 yard return on the 46 yard punt gave our offense the ball at our 41 yard line. Going to the air on first down, Booth found Jefferson for a 7 yard gain. Going to the ground game, Fletcher would pick up the first down with a three yard rush to the North Texas 48 yard line. The first down rush by Fletcher resulted in a loss of one yard, leaving us second and 11. After an incomplete pass on second down, Booth found Thompson along the right sideline, the linebacker trying to jump the pass and pick it up, but missing, allowing Thompson to haul in the catch and turn up field for a 23 yard gain to the 26 yard line. Fletcher was able to pick up 8 yards on the first down carry, before being tackled for no gain to leave us with third and two. Strong would haul in a pass over the middle from Booth, running forward toward the goal line, mowing over a defender attempting a tackle and rolling over top of him and into the end zone for the 18 yard touchdown pass and a 28-7 lead with 1:25 left in the second quarter.
No return on the kickoff got North Texas starting at their 25. After two incomplete passes, Mayfield finally connected deep, finding Roberts for a gain of 26 yards and a first down at our 49 yard line with 1:01 remaining. After another incomplete pass, Mayfield hit Roberts again, this time for 21 yards and a first down at our 28 yard line, calling their first timeout to stop the clock with 45 seconds to go. After another incomplete pass, our defense bit back, sacking Mayfield for an 11 yard loss, leaving them with third and 21 from our 39 yard line, the second timeout by North Texas stopping the clock at 34 seconds. A pass to Fogle went for only 5 yards, leaving the Mean Green with fourth and 16 from the 34, 29 seconds on the clock. The clock would run out without another snap, as we headed into halftime up 28-7.
Getting the third quarter underway, our kickoff sailed out of the back of the end zone for a touchback and North Texas was starting at their 25. Our defense wasted little time in going after Mayfield, sacking him for a loss of 10 yards to leave the Mean Green with second and 20 at their 15. Two incomplete passes later and the punt team was coming out on fourth and 20. A 5 yard return on the 41 yard punt gave our offense the ball at our 48 yard line. The defense must have been thinking pass on first down, as Fletcher broke a run off the left tackle, breaking a tackle, juking his way past the linebacker and getting a block on the safety to pick up 36 yards before being run out of bounds at the 16 yard line. Booth took over the ball carrier duties on the next play, rushing around the right tackle and diving for the pylon for the 16 yard touchdown rush and a 35-7 lead with 7:49 left in the third quarter.
A touchback on the kickoff, and it was back to the 25 for North Texas. After an incomplete pass on first down, Mayfield hit Yates for a gain of 13 and the Mean Green had a first down at their 38. After two more incomplete passes, Mayfield found Fogle down the left sideline for a gain of 24 yards and a new set of downs at our 38 yard line. A pass to Fogle went for a gain of 5 yards, but two incomplete passes would strand the drive on fourth and 5 at our 33 yard line. The 50 yard field goal attempt by Chad Thomas was no good and our offense took over at our 33. A pair of rushes by Fletcher went for gains of two and 11 yards and we had a first down at our 46 yard line. Another 11 yard rush and we were out to the North Texas 44 yard line. Taking the ball on first down, Fletcher picked up four yards on the carry, before Booth scrambled for a gain of four to leave third and two. An incomplete pass on third down left us with fourth and two from the 35 yard line. Opting for the long field goal attempt, the 52 yard kick by Pratt split the uprights to extend our lead to 38-7 with 4:10 remaining in the quarter.
Starting on their 25 yard line after the touchback, Mayfield got North Texas moving with a 13 yard pass to Roberts out to their 38 yard line. The defense would hit back, sacking Mayfield for a loss of 5 yards on the next play. After making that loss up with a 6 yard pass to Roberts, the defense sacked Mayfield again, for another 5 yards, and the Mean Green were forced to punt on fourth and 14. A 10 yard return by Fletcher on the 43 yard punt got our offense in action at our 33 yard line. Fletcher never had a chance on first down, being tackled for a two yard loss, before fighting ahead for a gain of 7 to leave us with third and 5. Going to the air on third down, Jefferson made a diving catch to pick up 12 yards and the first down at the 49 yard line. After a one yard rush on first down, Fletcher would get us into North Texas territory, breaking a 10 yard rush up the middle for a first down at the 39 yard line. Fletcher would get 8 more yards on the ground as the third quarter came to end, our lead still 38-7 with 9 minutes left in the game.
Opening the fourth quarter, we had second and two at the 31 yard line. Fletcher fought forward for a 5 yard rush and a first down at the 27 yard line to keep the clock moving and the North Texas offense off the field. Two more rushes by Fletcher went for gains of three and one yards to leave us with third and 6 from the 23. Booth would go back to the air on third down, finding Thompson for a gain of 12 yards and first down at the 11 yard line. Fletcher pounded it up the gut on first down, picking up 7 yards to leave second and three at the four yard line. The defense would be ready for Fletcher on the next play, tackling him for a loss of one yard to leave third and four from 5 yards out. Going back into the air, Booth threw his fifth touchdown pass today, passing to Hayden for the 5 yard touchdown and a 45-7 lead with 5:26 left in the game.
A touchback on the kickoff gave North Texas the ball at the 25. It would only get worse the for the Mean Green, as Mayfield’s pass to Fogle was intercepted by Caleb Miller, returning it 31 yards for the pick six touchdown. Pratt would miss the PAT, leaving our lead at 51-7 with 5:08 to go. A 19 yard kickoff return got North Texas starting at their 22 this time. Completing a pass to the right team, Mayfield hit Roberts for a 12 yard gain and a first down out to the 33 yard line. Two incomplete passes would be followed with a three yard rush by Yates and North Texas was left facing fourth and 7 from their 36. Fletcher called for a fair catch on the 41 yard punt and our second team offense took over at our 23 yard line, 4:12 left in the game. Silva picked up 4 yards up the middle, followed by a 9 yard pickup and a first down out to the 36 yard line, the clock ticking under three minutes left. Travis Stephens picked up one yard on first down, before Silva was brought down for no gain, leaving us with third and 9, the clock now under two mintues to go. Going through the air, Casey Bishop’s pass to Thompson was batted incomplete and we were forced to punt with 1:32 left to play. The 45 yard punt was returned 8 yards and North Texas took over at their 27 yard line. It was nothing going for the Mean Green, an incomplete pass, a loss of two yards by Josh Waters, and our defense sacking Ryan George for a loss of one yard left NT with fourth and 14 at their 23 yard line and punting away. A fair catch on the 43 yard punt gave our offense the ball back at our 33 yard line with 49 seconds to play. Bishop took a knee twice and our victory was final, 51-7 over North Texas.
With the win, we improve to 8-1, 5-0 in C-USA action With the loss, North Texas falls to 2-6 and 2-3 in C-USA play. Up next, it’s back home to take on Rice. The Rice Owls enter the game at 4-4, 2-2 in C-USA action. The Owls opened the year with a 30-16 loss at Nevada, before beating UNLV 45-20. After a 35-16 loss at Louisiana-Monroe, the Owls got back to back wins, 31-10 over Marshall and 31-24 against New Mexico State. That was followed with back to back losses, 24-16 at UTSA and 27-23 at Southern Miss, before Rice picked up a 38-14 win over Louisiana Tech heading in their game at Tulsa.
Final Score
#11 :Tulsa: 51, :North_Texas: 7
Stat(s) of the Game:
Tulsa Offense – Player of the game, goes to Booth. 260 yards and 5 touchdowns through the air, to go with 19 yards and a touchdown on the ground, Booth personally involved on all 6 offensive touchdowns. A monster day by Fletcher, 188 yards rushing on 24 carries and 55 yards receiving on two receptions but not a single touchdown to show for it. Only 6 people caught a ball today, all got into double digits, Jefferson led the way with 81 yards and two touchdowns on 6 receptions.
Tulsa Defense – Another great day by the defense, for the most part shutting down North Texas after that initial drive for a touchdown, and then getting a pick six at the end just to rub it in their faces a little more.
Tulsa Kicking – A good day by Pratt, ending the day 1-1 in field goals with the 52 yard kick. He did go 6-7 in PATs, but the game was long over before he missed one.
Scoring Summary
Team 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Final Score :Tulsa: 14 14 10 13 51 :North_Texas: 7 0 0 0 7
Time Team Result Play Score First Quarter 6:09 :Tulsa: Touchdown C. Jefferson, 19 yard pass form B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 7-0 1:57 :North_Texas: Touchdown P. Roberts, 23 yard pass from J. Mayfield (C. Thomas kick) TIED 7-7 0:15 :Tulsa: Touchdown C. Jefferson, 9 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 14-7 Second Quarter 5:33 :Tulsa: Touchdown E. Silva, 20 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 21-7 1:25 :Tulsa: Touchdown R. Strong, 18 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 28-7 Third Quarter 7:49 :Tulsa: Touchdown B. Booth, 16 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 35-7 4:14 :Tulsa: Field Goal A. Pratt, 52 yard field goal :Tulsa: 38-7 Fourth Quarter 5:26 :Tulsa: Touchdown E. Hayden, 5 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 45-7 5:08 :Tulsa: Touchdown C. Miller, returned interception 31 yards (missed kick) :Tulsa: 51-7
Game Stats
Tulsa Stat North Texas 51 Score 7 20 First Downs 11 481 Total Offense 250 34 - 221 - 1 Rushes - Yards - TD 8 - 29 - 0 16 - 27 - 5 Comp - Att - TD 16 - 38 - 1 260 Passing Yards 221 0 Times Sacked 5 8 - 11 (72%) 3rd Down Conversion 4 - 13 (30%) 0 - 0 (0%) 4th Down Conversion 0 - 0 (0%) 0 - 0 (0%) 2-Point Conv 0 - 0 (0%) 6 - 5 - 0 (83%) Red Zone - TD - FG 2 - 1 - 0 (50%) 0 Turnovers 1 0 Fumbles Lost 0 0 Intercepted 1 20 Punt Return Yards 8 25 Kick Return Yards 34 526 Total Yards 292 2 – 45.0 Punts - Average 7 - 43.9 2 - 18 Penalties 2 - 14 23:37 Time of Possession 12:23
Tulsa Contract Goals Update
Fail Impact Goal Progress Pass Impact Win 8 games in one season :check: :5greenarrow: :3redarrow: 13+ passing TD in one season :check: :5greenarrow: 14+ points per game in each season 42 :5greenarrow: :3redarrow: 7+ rushing TD in one season :check: :5greenarrow: :5redarrow: 2400+ total offensive yards in one season :check: :5greenarrow: :6redarrow: 2400+ total offensive yards in each season :check: :3greenarrow: :3redarrow: Win 4 games in one season :check: :3greenarrow: :5redarrow: 2000+ total offensive yards in one season :check: :2greenarrow:
Job Security Status
100%
See? MNC is within reach. :D Another bout of losses by teams ahead of you and you're easily within the top 10, looking like a shoe-in for a BCS bowl and an outside chance at the MNC appearance.
I've said this before and I'll say it again; reading these REALLY makes me want to play some football (watching NFL Films' A Football Life series has certainly added to it as well). Without a Xbox though (gave my old one to my brother since I never used it anymore), I can't, which is probably a good thing cause I'd be tempted like hell to buy NCAA '13 and I have FAR better things to spend my money on at the moment.
Guess I'll just have to settle for more A Football Life episodes instead.
:D Well, I've still got a long road. Still have to play Rice, UTSA and UTEP, plus it's looking like a guaranteed rematch in the C-USA Championship Game (if I hold on and make it there) against either Southern Miss or Florida International. So still a long road, which guaranteed movement around me as top 5, top 10 and top 15 teams play each other in conference battles. So I'm not counting my chickens yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by morsdraconis
:D Yeah, I seem to be getting pretty good at that, keeping you interested and wanting to play NCAA. 13 definitely has it's share of shortfalls, but I'm been managing pretty well and having fun with the game. if NCAA '14 ends up bombing and sucking it up, I think I'd be fine with keeping going on NCAA '13 if that decision had to be made.
What can I say? I'm a sucker for football and your reports make it sound SO much more fun than it actually is. Of course, being the OC instead of taking over both sides of the ball certainly makes it a bit better.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
When it comes down to it, I hate playing defense against the CPU because I end up having to do silly defenses against it (Dime Man Cover 2 with bump and run pretty much ALL THE TIME) to prevent it from going batshit crazy on me. It becomes REALLY boring, especially since it basically doesn't matter how bad my team is defensively, it still freakin' works (I've had 15+ sacks with DEs with 60 speed and LBs with 70 speed; it's ridiculous how easy it is to get sacks against the CPU).
So, I end up blowing out pretty much every CPU team I play against because it's just too damn easy on both sides of the ball no matter what sliders I use. Unless, of course, I make it where the CPU basically cheats by never being fooled by PA, having offensive linemen block like all-pro NFL players ALL the time, having all CPU running backs act like playing against Jim Brown and Bo Jackson's illegitimate love child, and constantly playing against Peyton Manning at QB. Which, of course, makes me cheese the CPU that much more because that's what you have to do against higher difficulty sliders instead of playing the game legitimately and having fun with it.
Yeah, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do when I eventually become a head coach. I'm the same, I can usually shut down a team when calling the plays and running the defense. I might either just continue super simming the defensive plays or maybe rotate off and on, playing defense one quarter then super simming it the next quarter and so on. But I'll have plenty of time to think about it. I'm planning on re-upping with Tulsa when my contract expires after this season. Figuring on either a two or three year deal, it'll be 2017 or 2018 before I'll even need to consider what I'm gonna do.Quote:
Originally Posted by morsdraconis
Time for another look around the nation. Starting in the Top 25, in the game of the week, it was #3 Auburn prevailing 37-35 over #2 LSU, the purple and gold Tigers scoring with 1:22 left to cut Auburn's lead to two, but the failed onside kick would clinch the win for Auburn. 5-3 Oregon State got the biggest upset this week, knocking off #4 USC 14-6 to knock the Trojans from the ranks of the unbeaten. #13 Michigan got back on the winning track, knocking off #6 Nebraska 38-33.
Louisville put up a fight, only trailing 28-21 at halftime, but #9 Alabama would pull away in the second half to win 52-21. #14 Notre Dame held on to beat Stanford, 31-28, with a field goal with 6 seconds left. 3-4 Kansas State knocked off #18 Texas 38-19. South Carolina improved to 5-3, knocking off #21 Tennessee 24-17. Baylor got their first win of the season, knocking off #22 Texas Tech 41-13 and 3-5 Boston College scored a 31-27 upset of #23 Virginia Tech.
For our readers, souljahbill,Southern Miss wins two in a row, beating UTSA 27-22 to improve to 4-4 (3-1 in C-USA). Jaymo, Arizona State picks up a 28-25 win at Utah, improving to 4-4 (2-3 Pac-12). Mors, West Virginia was on a bye week this week, remaining at 3-5 (1-4 Big 12). Other teams of interest, Arkansas State loses their fourth game in a row, falling to BYU 24-21 to drop to 3-4 (0-3 Sun Belt).
On a C-USA note, UTEP stays right on my ass, beating MTSU 44-10 to improve to 6-2 (4-0). And trying to keep up with Southern Miss, FIU beats UAB 24-14 to improve to 6-3 (3-2).
Looking at undefeated teams left, with #2 LSU and #4 USC losing this week, that drops our number of undefeated teams left to 4. #1 Georgia (8-0), #3 Auburn (8-0), #5 Texas A&M (9-0) and #7 Washington (8-0) are all that's left with an unblemished record at the end of week 8. Of the 4 undefeated teams remaining, the SEC accounts for 3 of them.
Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 3 teams still looking for their first win: Memphis (0-9), UMass (0-8) and Washington State (0-8).
Teams getting their first wins this week were: Baylor (41-13 over #22 Texas Tech) and New Mexico State (41-0 over FCS East).
Elsewhere, on a note of epic suck, Memphis loses to San Diego State this week, 38-17, dropping Memphis to 0-9 on the season, and 0-21 total over the last season and a half.
Taking a look at the new Top 25 polls, starting in the Coaches Poll, thanks to their win over previously #2 LSU, Auburn (34 first place votes) leaps up two spaces to #1. Georgia (26 votes) drops a slot to #2. Texas A&M (1 vote) climbs two to 33. Washington rises three to #4 and LSU drops three to #5. Oklahoma climbed two to #6, Alabama and Michigan State both also climbed two to #7 and #8. Michigan jumped four to #9. Tulsa climbed one to #10. TCU climbed one to #11, Nebraska fell six to #12, Notre Dame, Clemson and Wake Forest all climbed one to #13, #14 and #15. USC plummeted twelve spots to #16, Fresno State stayed in place at #17. Houston and Wisconsin both climbed one to #18 and #19. Georgia Tech and Miami both jumped four to #20 and #21. Texas fell four to #22. And three new teams entered the poll this week, Iowa at #23, UCLA at #24 and Kansas State at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Tennessee (from #21), Texas Tech (from #22) and Virginia Tech (from #23). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, UTEP (120 votes) leads the way at #26, followed by Wyoming (104), North Carolina (59), Nevada (55) and Northwestern (51) to round out the top 30. FIU is ranked #31 with 49 votes.
In the Media Poll, Auburn (41 first place votes) jumps two spots to become the new #1. Georgia (23 votes) falls one to #2. Texas A&M (1 vote) climbs one to #3. Washington jumps four to #4 and LSU falls three to #5. Oklahoma moved up one to #6, Michigan leaped seven to #7, Alabama rose one to #8, Michigan State climbed one to #9. Tulsa moved up one to #10. TCU climbed two to #11, Nebraska fell six to #12, Wake Forest and Notre Dame both moved up two to #13 and #14. USC fell ten to #15, Clemson and Fresno State both climbed one to #16 and #17. Houston and Wisconsin both jumped two spots to #18 and #19. Texas fell eight ranks to #20, Georgia Tech moves up three to #21 and UCLA climbs three to #22. Miami enters the poll at #23, Iowa is new to the poll at #24 and Kansas State climbs into the poll this week at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Tennessee (from #21), Texas Tech (from #22) and Virginia Tech (from #23). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Wyoming (174 votes) is #26, followed by FIU (132), North Carolina (124), Nevada (112) and UTEP (93) to round out the top 30.
Looking at the new BCS standings, Auburn is #1, Georgia #2, Texas A&M #3, Washington #4 and LSU #5. Oklahoma sits #6, Michigan #7, Michigan State #8, Alabama #9 and Tulsa #10.
Other notes for the week, despite 188 yards rushing, Kiel Fletcher falls to third on the Heisman Watch list, QB David Williams from Texas A&M jumping him for the #2 slot.
Well, at least you're on your way up instead of moving down like before. Hopefully a few of those undefeated SEC teams fall in the coming weeks.
We'll end up finding out. I'm firing up Rice right now, hoping to get through Rice and UTSA at a minimum today, if not also getting UTEP in before calling it a night.Quote:
Originally Posted by morsdraconis
Holy shit. That #9 ranked passing defense that Rice has isn't a lie. At halftime of the Rice game, I have a whopping 93 yards passing, despite going 8 for 11 in passing attempts.
Add in 75 yards rushing to give me 168 yards of total offense at halftime. Rice has 148 yards total offense.
Game Ten
:Rice: :@: #10 :Tulsa:
Game Notes
--- Heading into our final three games of the season, it was time to take on the Rice Owls in the Battle for the Williams Trophy. Rice was a middling team, sitting 4-4 on the year and 2-2 in C-USA action, but despite looking like a run of the mill team, Rice had a secret, coming in sporting the #9 passing defense in the nation. We were going to find out today just how good our passing game really was going up against a top 10 passing defense. It was gonna be a wet one, as the rain poured down from the night sky. We won the coin toss and elected to kick.
No return on the opening kickoff and Rice was set to begin their opening drive from their 25. A four yard rush by Andrew Montgomery set the Owls up for the pass, as Lamar Evans hit Jon Dean for a 17 yard gain and a first down at the 46. After a 13 yard pass to Issac Hart to get to our 41, it was a huge gain for the Owls, as a 15 yard penalty on the tackle following a 6 yard rush gave the Rice a first down at our 20 yard line. A two yard rush by Montgomery was followed with a 9 yard pass to Donald Thompson and Rice had a first and goal from our 10 yard line. The Owls would find the end zone on the next play, Evans connecting with Dean for the 10 yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 Rice lead with 7:28 left in the first quarter.
We started our first drive from our 25 yard line after a 21 yard kickoff return. It was Kiel Fletcher getting us moving early, taking the handoff and running towards the left sideline, turning up field for a gain of 13 yards and a first down at the 38. Fletcher would manage three yards on first down to leave us with second and 7. Testing out the high rated passing defense of Rice, we went into the air on second down. Brandon Booth’s pass intended for Jefferson would sail incomplete as Jefferson slipped and fell down on the wet turf while trying to make a cut on his route, leaving us third and 7 at our 41. The linebacker would break up the pass intended for Max Thompson and we were forced to punt away. A 9 yard return on the 45 yard punt and Rice was back in action from their 22. After throwing the ball away on first down, Evans found Thompson for a gain of 21 yards and the Owls had a first down at the 43. After rushing for one yard on first down, Evans wasn’t able to avoid the defense on the next play, getting sacked for a 5 yard loss to leave Rice facing third and 14 from their 39. An incomplete pass would force Rice to punt for the first time today. A fair catch on the 48 yard boot left us starting our next drive from our 12 yard line.
Fletcher took the ball on first down for a 7 yard gain, before fighting ahead for a gain of four yards and a first down at our 23. A 5 yard rush by Fletcher was followed by an 8 yard pickup by Ryan Strong and we had a first down at the 37 yard line, our offense finally finding momentum. Keeping the ball himself, Booth managed three yards on the first down rush to the 39 yard line. Booth’s pass on the next play to Jefferson went for a gain 6 yards, leaving us with third and two. Booth’s pass on third down was batted incomplete and we were forced to punt away with 1:37 left in the quarter. A 6 yard return on the 46 yard punt left Rice starting at their 15. After a four yard rush by Montgomery, the defense got into the backfield again, sacking Evans for a four yard loss to leave the Owls facing third and 10. An incomplete pass intended for Thompson and Rice would be forced to punt once again, unable to find the rhythm of that opening drive. A fair catch on the 47 yard punt gave our offense the ball at the 37, 50 seconds to go in the first quarter. Booth’s first down pass to Eric Hayden was completed for a 10 yard gain to leave us second and inches. Fletcher would get the first down on the next play, breaking it up the middle for a 6 yard gain to the Rice 48 yard line as the final seconds ticked off the clock. The first quarter was in the bag, Rice leading 7-0.
Opening up the second quarter on the ground, Fletcher was able to turn it up field around the left tackle and pick up 17 yards to give us a first down at the 31 yard line, finally getting deep into Rice territory for the first time this game. Going back into the air, Booth found Thompson wide open on the blitz for a huge pickup of 30 yards, Thompson getting pushed out of bounds at the one yard line to leave us with first and goal. Fletcher would run it in standing up to tie the game up at 7-7 with 7:58 left in the second quarter.
A touchback on the kickoff, and Rice was starting from their 25 yard line, no longer playing with the lead. It would be a failed drive for the Owls as two incomplete passes and a four yard loss by Montgomery left them quickly punting away on fourth and 14. A 14 yard return by Fletcher on the 49 yard punt got our offense starting from our 44 yard line on the next drive. Fletcher could only manage one yard on the first down rush, Rice quickly smothering him. Going back into the air, Booth hit Eric Silva for a gain of 6 yards to leave third and three. Putting our trust in the ground game, Fletcher was able to just make it across the first down line, tackled for a 6 yard gain and a first down at the Rice 43 yard line. The off tackle rush on first down went nowhere, Fletcher only able to get one yard. Taking our shot through the air, Hayden was leveled by both safeties, but not before hauling in the pass from Booth for a gain of 9 yards and a first down at the 33 yard line. Working to confuse the defense with multiple crossing routes, Booth was able to find Jefferson over the middle on a failed transfer of cover for a four yard gain to leave us with second and 6. Continuing through the air, Booth stood up in the pocket in the face of the blitz and delivered a pass to Thompson for a 12 yard gain, giving us a first down at the 17 yard line. Booth kept the ball on first down, but a blitz by the safety left him with nowhere to go and was brought down for no gain. We get back to the end zone of the next play, as Booth hit Jefferson over the top at the two yard line, Jefferson getting tackled forward into the end zone for the 16 yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead with 2:36 left in the first half.
A 24 yard kickoff return got Rice starting at their 22 yard line and a limited amount of time on the clock. The Owls would find their footing this drive, as Evans hit Dean for a 12 yard gain, followed by a 25 yard strike to Thompson to get a very quick pair of first downs and get to our 41 yard line, still 2:03 on the clock. After two straight incomplete passes, Evans found Dean deep down the right sideline for a 28 yard gain and a first down at our 13 yard line, 1:37 left after the first timeout by Rice. The defense would fight back, sacking Evans for a four yard loss to leave Rice with second and 14 from our 17 yard line, the Owls using their second timeout to stop the clock with 1:32 to go. A 2 yard scramble by Evans was followed with another sack by our defense, this time for a 10 yard loss, and Rice was left with fourth and 22 from our 25 yard line, the clock still ticking with 1:19 left. Grant Mosley would kick the 42 yard field goal down the middle of the uprights and Rice cut our lead to 14-10 with 1:01 left.
We wouldn’t have to wait long to respond, as Jefferson took the kickoff, getting a couple blocks and breaking into the open, taking the kickoff back 98 yards for the touchdown and a 21-10 lead with 35 seconds to go in the half. An 18 yard kickoff return left Rice at their 17 yard line and only 24 seconds remaining. The Owls would call it a half, Montgomery getting tackled for a two yard loss and they would let the remaining 19 seconds tick off without another play. We headed into halftime, the huge kickoff return opening our lead up to 21-10 and our offense receiving the ball to start the second half.
A touchback on the kickoff to open the second half got our offense back out on the field starting at our 25 yard line. Fletcher took the handoff to get the drive started, managing a three yard gain before being brought down. Despite getting hit at the line of scrimmage, Fletcher would twist, turn and stumble ahead, falling forward for a gain of 9 yards and a first down at our 37 yard line. Taking it straight up the gut, Fletcher was able to power his way through three tackle attempts for a 20 yard rush and we had a first down at the Rice 43. Keeping it on the ground, Fletcher was only able to pick up two yards on the first down rush. Heading into the air, Booth’s pass to Jefferson was batted down and we were left with third and 8. Booth would commit our first error of the day, his pass intended for Thompson intercepted by right linebacker Bobby Christian, who returned it 26 yards to our 40 yard line, a diving tackle by right tackle Cameron Powers saving what looked to be a potential pick six.
Evans got the Owls started with a four yard rush, before an incomplete pass left Rice with third and 6. Evans would convert the third down, finding Montgomery along the right hash for an 11 yard gain and a first down at our 25 yard line. A three yard rush by Montgomery and an incomplete pass again left Rice looking at third and long, but Evans would connect with George Bailey for a 9 yard pickup and Rice had a new set of downs at our 12 yard line and looking destined for a score. After a pair of rushes by Montgomery for gains of two and four yards, the Owls would finally get back to the end zone, Evans hitting Thompson for the 6 yard touchdown pass to cut our lead to 21-17 with 4:48 left in the third quarter.
A 22 yard kickoff return and our offense was back on the field at our 27 yard line, hoping for a better drive this time around. Fletcher was barely able to pick up two yards on the first down rush, the defense clearly ready for our running game. Trying to get Booth back in the saddle, it was into the air on second down, Booth’s pass to Hayden sailing high over his head and incomplete, leaving us with third and 8 from our 29. Booth would finally get a completion on third down, finding an open Fletcher after a miscue by the defense, Fletcher fighting his way forward for a 29 yard gain and a first down at the Rice 42. A comeback route by Jefferson left the cornerback running in the wrong direction, and thanks to a block by Hayden, Jefferson was able to tightrope the sideline with multiple defenders diving in front of and behind him, picking up a 33 yard gain before finally stepping out of bounds at the 9 yard line to leave us first and goal. Fletcher would get the job done on the next play, rushing it off the left tackle, finding nothing but green grass in front of him thanks to a right side blitz by the defense, taking it the 9 yards for the touchdown and a 28-17 lead with 2:55 left in the third quarter.
A touchback on the kickoff left Rice to find an answer from their 25 yard line. It would be a poor start to the drive, as the left tackle got flagged for holding, pushing Rice back 10 yards to their 15 yard line. An 11 yard pass from Evans to Hart left the Owls with second and 9, Evans’ pass on the next play to Dean going for a gain of 9 yards and a first down at the 35. It was back to the air on the next play, Evans throwing a deep bomb to Thompson for a 31 yard gain, and Rice had a first down at our 34 yard line. A 27 yard pass to Dean and Rice was looking at first and goal from our 7 yard line thanks to four straight passing plays. Montgomery would switching things up on first down with a rush, but he was only able to manage one yard before the defense brought him down. A 5 yard rush by Montgomery would get the Owls down to our one yard line, facing third and goal. Montgomery would take the ball for the third straight play, and he would finish off the drive, punching it in for the touchdown from one yard out to make it 28-24 with 1:04 left in the third quarter. A touchback on the ensuing kickoff gave our offense the ball at our 25.
Fletcher would fight forward for a gain of 7 yards on the first down rush, before being tackled for a loss of one yard to leave us with third and four as the third quarter came to an end, our lead sitting at 28-24 with the final quarter to go.
Coming out pass to start the fourth quarter, Booth’s pass came slipping out of his hands in the rain, his pass to Silva going high and incomplete, and we were forced to punt away on fourth and four. A 9 yard return on the 47 yard punt gave Rice the ball to start from their 31. It would be a short and horrible drive the Owls, Montgomery fumbling the ball after being hit in the backfield,, Andy Malone jumping on the fumble to give our offense back the ball at the Rice 24 yard line and leave us immediately in scoring position. Three straight rushes by Fletcher for gains of 5, three and 7 yards gave us first and goal at the 9 yard line, the clock ticking under 7 minutes to play. A pair of rushes for gains of four and two yards left us with third and goal from the three yard line, before Fletcher took the handoff, bounced outside the right tackle, and despite being stood up at the goal line by the safety, kept the legs pumping to fall forward into the end zone for the three yard touchdown rush and a 35-24 lead with 5:22 left in the game.
A touchback left Rice starting at their 25, needing to find some magic on this drive and get back within one possession. The Owls would do that, as Montgomery picked up 9 yards on first down before Evans found Dean over the middle for a 30 yard gain and a first down at our 37 yard line. A 17 yard pass to Montgomery got the Owls down to our 19 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Montgomery picked up 6 yards on the ground to leave Rice with third and four from our 14 yard line. Evans would trying to find Dean along the right hash, but the play was broken up, leaving the Owls facing fourth down. Going for it on fourth down, Evans would throw into the end zone, but the pass was swatted down, and the turnover on downs gave our offense the ball at our 14 yard line, 3:57 left in the game.
Fletcher took it up the middle for a 6 yard gain, but some dirty laundry was thrown on the flag. Defensive tackle Tony Thornburg was flagged for a facemask and the extra 15 yards gave us a first down at our 35 yard line. Taking the ball again, Fletcher could only manage two yards on the ground, leaving us second and 8. Keeping the ball himself, Booth wasn’t able to find a hole anywhere, getting tackled for a loss of one yard, but the defense would again lend us a helping hand, as right outside linebacker Jahmal Brown was flagged for a facemask penalty and we found ourselves with a first down at the Rice 49 yard line, the clock down to 2:30 left to play. The defense was more than ready for Fletcher on first down, tackling him for no gain. Rice called their first timeout, stopping the clock with 2:16 to go. Fletcher would manage to push it up the middle, fighting forward for a gain of 11 yards and a first down at the 39 yard line, the second timeout by Rice stopping play with 2:12 on the clock. A three yard gain by Fletcher forced the Owls to use their third and final timeout, stopping the clock with 2:08 remaining. Despite blitzing on the next play, Fletcher was able to pound it up the middle for a 12 yard gain to give us a first down at the 23 yard line, the clock dipping under two minutes to play and Rice with no way to stop the clock. Strong would take the ball on first down, rushing ahead for a gain of 8 yards to leave us second and two with 1:24 to go. Another 8 yard rush by Strong gave us first and goal at the Rice 8 yard line with 53 seconds to play, Booth needing only kneel the ball once to run out of the rest of the clock for the 35-24 win.
With the win, we improve our record to 9-1, 6-0 in C-USA action. With the loss, Rice drops to 4-5 on the season, 2-3 in C-USA play. Up next, we get a bye week before hitting the road for the final time this season to take on UTSA.
Final Score
#10 :Tulsa: 35, :Rice: 24
Stat(s) of the Game:
- Tulsa Offense – A mostly quiet day for Booth, as that #9 passing defense of Rice's held him to only 10 completions and 155 yards passing, along with one touchdown. Fletcher was our offensive star today, rushing for 173 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries and 29 yard receiving on one catch. Only 5 receivers caught a ball today, Jefferson leading the way with 59 yards and a touchdown on 4 receptions, to go along with his 98 yard kickoff return.
- Tulsa Defense – Held the Rice offense pretty quiet in the first half, but then let the Owls have their way on offense in the second half.
- Tulsa Kicking – No attempted field goals today by Pratt. He did go 5-5 in PATs.
Scoring Summary
Team 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Final Score :Rice: 7 3 14 0 24 :Tulsa: 0 21 7 7 35
Time Team Result Play Score First Quarter 7:28 :Rice: Touchdown J. Dean, 10 yard pass from L. Evans (G. Mosley kick) :Rice: 7-0 Second Quarter 7:58 :Tulsa: Touchdown K. Fletcher, 1 yard run (A. Pratt kick) TIED 7-7 2:36 :Tulsa: Touchdown C. Jefferson, 16 yard pass from B. Booth (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 14-7 1:05 :Rice: Field Goal G. Mosley, 42 yard field goal :Tulsa: 14-10 0:35 :Tulsa: Touchdown C. Jefferson, returned kickoff 98 yards (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 21-10 Third Quarter 4:48 :Rice: Touchdown D. Thompson, 6 yard pass from L. Evans (G. Mosley kick) :Tulsa: 21-17 2:55 :Tulsa: Touchdown K. Fletcher, 9 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 28-17 1:04 :Rice: Touchdown A. Montgomery, 1 yard run (G. Mosley kick) :Tulsa: 28-24 Fourth Quarter 5:22 :Tulsa: Touchdown K. Fletcher, 3 yard run (A. Pratt kick) :Tulsa: 35-24
Game Stats
Rice Stat Tulsa 24 Score 35 15 First Downs 20 344 Total Offense 352 17 - 48 - 1 Rushes - Yards - TD 38 - 197 - 3 18 - 30 - 2 Comp - Att - TD 10 - 17 - 1 296 Passing Yards 155 4 Times Sacked 0 5 - 10 (50%) 3rd Down Conversion 4 - 8 (50%) 0 - 1 (0%) 4th Down Conversion 0 - 0 (0%) 0 - 0 (0%) 2-Point Conv 0 - 0 (0%) 6 - 3 - 1 (66%) Red Zone - TD - FG 7 - 4 - 0 (57%) 1 Turnovers 1 1 Fumbles Lost 0 0 Intercepted 1 24 Punt Return Yards 14 42 Kick Return Yards 141 410 Total Yards 507 3 – 48.7 Punts - Average 3 - 46.0 5 - 65 Penalties 2 - 30 15:43 Time of Possession 20:17
Tulsa Contract Goals Update
Fail Impact Goal Progress Pass Impact Win 8 games in one season :check: :5greenarrow: :3redarrow: 13+ passing TD in one season :check: :5greenarrow: 14+ points per game in each season 41 :5greenarrow: :3redarrow: 7+ rushing TD in one season :check: :5greenarrow: :5redarrow: 2400+ total offensive yards in one season :check: :5greenarrow: :6redarrow: 2400+ total offensive yards in each season :check: :3greenarrow: :3redarrow: Win 4 games in one season :check: :3greenarrow: :5redarrow: 2000+ total offensive yards in one season :check: :2greenarrow:
Job Security Status
100%
Time for another look around the nation. Starting in the Top 25, new #1 Auburn wins their second straight top 3 battle and defends their top rank, besting #3 Texas A&M 31-24 thanks to an 11 yard pick six. in the upset of the week, 6-3 South Carolina scores on a 8 yard touchdown pass to with 6:29 to go to knock off #2 Georgia, 35-31. #4 Washington had a hell of a battle on their hands, using a 25 yard returned interception to hold off 4-5 Arizona, 21-18. A battle of top tens went to #7 Alabama, who handed #5 LSU their second straight loss in a 42-17 ass whooping.
#9 Michigan has a cakewalk of a day, absolutely demolishing #19 Wisconsin 49-10. Navy did have a 17-14 lead at halftime, but #13 Notre Dame scores 28 points in the fourth quarter, 35 total in the second half to destroy the Midshipmen 49-17. #14 Clemson holds off Boston College 27-17. #15 Wake Forest suffers their second loss of the year, falling to 6-4 Louisville 24-17. #16 USC avoided a second straight loss, holding on against Stanford, 30-19. Nevada improves to 7-2, knocking off #17 Fresno State 49-37. #20 Georgia Tech picks up a 35-25 win over North Carolina. #21 Miami scores 17 unanswered to beat Virginia Tech 20-10. And Oregon becomes bowl eligible, knocking off #24 UCLA 51-31.
For our readers, souljahbill,Southern Miss wins their third in a row, whooping Florida Atlantic 42-7 to improve to 5-4 (4-1 in C-USA). Jaymo, Arizona State lost to Oregon State this week, 38-28, dropping to 4-5 (2-4 Pac-12), but to stay within 10 points of the team that had just knocked off previous #4 USC is a bit of win. Mors, West Virginia loses 37-7 to #6 Oklahoma, dropping to 3-6 (1-5 Big 12). Other teams of interest, Arkansas State finally breaks their four game losing streak, beating Texas State 44-7 to improve to 4-4 (1-3 Sun Belt).
On a C-USA note, we just got some major breathing room. North Texas comes back from their ass whooping by us, and dishes out their own ass whooping, beating UTEP 41-14 to drop the Miners to 6-3 (4-1) and give us a tighter grip on first place. Over the East division, it all comes down to week 11, when Southern Miss (5-4, 4-1) hosts FIU (7-3, 4-2) for first place in the division. With the next closest teams all at 2-4 in the conference, the FIU-Southern Miss battle will decide who gets outright first place in the division and most likely who will win the division in the end. Regardless of who wins, unless we collapse in our last two games, it's gonna be a rematch either way in the C-USA Championship Game against either FIU or Southern Miss.
In other news, Army improves to 4-5 on the year with a 28-14 win over Air Force. A win over Navy will give Army the C-I-C trophy. Also from this game, Air Force has gone on an epic slide. Air Force was 4-0 and ranked #24 a couple weeks ago, they have now lost four straight to end up 4-4 and having to fight to become bowl eligible.
And in the Nelson's "HA HA" game of the week, New Mexico drops to 2-5 on the year with a 30-24 overtime loss to FCS Midwest.
Looking at undefeated teams left, with #2 Georgia and #3 Texas A&M losing this week, that drops our number of undefeated teams left to 2. #1 Auburn (9-0) and #4 Washington (9-0) are all that's left with an unblemished record at the end of week 10.
Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 2 teams still looking for their first win: Memphis (0-10) and UMass (0-9).
Teams getting their first wins this week were: Washington State (34-27 over 3-7 Cal).
Elsewhere, on a note of epic suck, Memphis loses to South Florida this week, 42-21, dropping Memphis to 0-10 on the season, and 0-22 total over the last two seasons.
Taking a look at the new Top 25 polls, starting in the Coaches Poll, Auburn (32 first place votes) remains #1. Washington (29 votes) jumps two to #2. Alabama leaps four to #3, Oklahoma climbs two to #4 and Texas A&M falls two to #5. Michigan moves up three to #6, Michigan State climbs one to #7. Tulsa moves up two to #8, TCU climbs two to #9 and Georgia falls eight to #10. LSU drops six to #11, Nebraska, Notre Dame and Clemson all stay stuck at #12, #13 and #14. USC climbs one to #15, Houston jumps two to #16, Georgia Tech and Miami both climb three to #17 and #18. Texas jumps three to #19, Iowa moves up three #20, Wake Forest falls six to #21. Fresno State tumbles five to #22, Nevada enters the poll at #23, Kansas State moves up one to #24 and Wyoming enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Wisconsin (from #19) and UCLA (from #24). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Wisconsin (239 votes) is #26, followed by South Carolina (209), Louisville (196), Oregon (100) and FIU (77) to round out the top 30.
In the Media Poll, Auburn (39 first place votes) remains #1. Washington (26 votes) climbs two to #2, Alabama leaps five to #3, Oklahoma moves up two to #4 and Texas A&M falls two to #5. Michigan moves up one to #6, Michigan State rises two to #7. Tulsa jumps two to #8. TCU climbs two to #9 and Georgia falls eight to #10. Nebraska climbs one to #11, LSU drops seven to #12, Notre Dame, USC and Clemson all climb one to #13, #14 and #15. Houston jumps two to #16, Georgia Tech rises four to #17, Texas climbs two to #18 and Wake Forest falls six to #19. Miami jumps three to #20, Iowa climbs three to #21, Fresno State drops five to #22, Nevada enters the poll at #23, Kansas State climbs one to #24 and Wyoming enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Wisconsin (from #19) and UCLA (from #24). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, South Carolina (335 votes) is #26, followed by Wisconsin (291), FIU (286), Louisville (267) and Oregon (209) to round out the top 30.
Looking at the new BCS standings, Auburn is #1, Washington #2, Alabama #3, Oklahoma #4 and Texas A&M #5. Michigan sits #6, Michigan State #7, Tulsa #8, TCU #9 and Nebraska #10.
Other notes for the week, his 173 yard, three touchdown performance helps Kiel Fletcher move back to #2 on the Heisman Watch list, helped also by David Williams dropping down to #4 following a 6-8, 46 yards passing performance in Texas A&M's 31-24 loss to Auburn.
Well, I think it's safe to say Rice lived up to that #9 ranked passing defense. Good lord. That was a tough game to win with my passing attack fairly well shut down.
LOVE that it forced you to use your Heisman Trophy watchlist player more though. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
#8 now! Would love a breakdown of the teams in the top 10 and their schedules to see if it's actually possible for you to get up there. :D
True, but I'm playing to win games, the Heisman is secondary. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by morsdraconis
Wait until I post the top 25 results and new rankings after this bye week. ;)
We had a bye week in week 11.
Time for another look around the nation. Starting in the Top 25, in the game of the week, #1 Auburn couldn't defend their top ranking for second time, losing 24-21 in overtime to #10 Georgia. #2 Washington holds on to beat UCLA 45-20. #3 Alabama barely holds off Mississippi State, 24-21. #11 LSU hands #5 Texas A&M their second straight loss, 38-21. #6 Michigan uses a 23 point third quarter to down Northwestern 44-24. #20 Iowa knocks off #7 Michigan State in the battle of the kickers, Iowa's 5 field goals beating MSU's one field goal for the 15-3 final. Virginia Tech takes down #17 Georgia Tech 26-10. And #24 Kansas State gets a late touchdown to edge out Texas Tech 17-14.
For our readers, souljahbill,Southern Miss wins their fourth in a row, beating FIU 30-21 to improve to 6-4 (5-1 in C-USA) and secure the East Division title. Jaymo, Arizona State loses to Colorado in double overtime, 55-49, dropping to 4-6 (2-5 Pac-12). Mors, West Virginia had a bye week, remaining at 3-6 (1-5 Big 12). Other teams of interest, Arkansas State loses 34-13 to Rutgers, dropping to 4-5 (1-3 Sun Belt).
On a C-USA note, UTEP beats UTSA 24-16 to improve to 7-3 (5-1), putting the Miners a single game behind us for first place in the West. It's gonna be a race to the finish line. And in the unofficial "East Division Championship Game", Southern Miss improves to 6-4 (5-1) as they beat FIU 30-21, dropping the Golden Panthers to 7-4 (4-3) and securing a spot in the C-USA Championship Game.
And in the Nelson's "HA HA" game of the week, New Mexico drops to 2-6 on the year with a 35-32 loss to FCS West, the Lobos second straight loss to a FCS opponent.
Looking at undefeated teams left, with #1 Auburn losing this week, that drops our number of undefeated teams left to 1. #2 Washington (10-0) is all that remains 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: Memphis (0-10) and UMass (0-10).
No teams got their first wins this week
Elsewhere, on a note of epic suck, Memphis had a bye week this week to remain 0-10 on the season, and 0-22 total over the last two seasons.
Taking a look at the new Top 25 polls, starting in the Coaches Poll, Washington (61 first place votes) climbs one spot and is your new #1. Alabama and Oklahoma both climb one to #2 and #3. Michigan moves up two to #4, Auburn drops four to #5, Georgia jumps four to #6. Tulsa climbs one to #7. LSU moves up three to #8, TCU stays at #9 and Texas A&M falls five to #10. Nebraska, Notre Dame, Clemson, USC and Houston all moved up one to #11 through #15. Michigan State dropped nine to #16. Iowa moved up three to #17, Miami and Texas both remained still at #18 and #19. Wake Forest, Fresno State, Nevada, Kansas State and Wyoming all climbed one to #20 through #24. And Louisville entered the poll this week at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was Georgia Tech (from #17). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Georgia Tech (221 votes) sits at #26, Oregon (200), Ohio State (85), SMU (58) and Virginia Tech (37) rounding out the top 30.
In the Media Poll, Washington (65 first place votes) climbs one to be your new #1. Georgia makes a WTF jump of eight to #2, Alabama remains #3. Oklahoma stays at #4, LSU leaps seven to #5, Michigan stayed at #6, Auburn dropped six to #7. Tulsa remains #8. TCU stayed at #9 and Nebraska climbed one to #10. Texas A&M fell six to #11, Notre Dame and USC both moved up one to #12 and #13. Iowa jumped seven to #14, Clemson and Houston both stayed #15 and #16. Michigan State dropped ten to #17, Texas stayed at #18, Miami and Wake Forest traded spots, Miami climbing one to #19, Wake Forest dropping one to #20. Fresno State, Nevada, Kansas State and Wyoming all moved up one to #21 through #24. And Georgia Tech fell eight to #25. Nobody dropped out this week. Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Louisville (217 votes) is #26, followed by Oregon (190), Virginia Tech (93), SMU (79) and Ohio State (51) to round out the top 30.
Looking at the new BCS standings, Washington is #1, Alabama #2, Oklahoma #3, Georgia #4 and Michigan #5. Auburn sits #6, LSU #7, Tulsa #8, Nebraska #9 and Texas A&M #10.
Other notes for the week, despite having a bye week, Kiel Fletcher remains #2 on the Heisman Watch list behind Georgia's Matt Blount.
WOW. Fuck you Georgia. :smh:
Mors, looking at remaining schedules. I included everyone through the top 14 to cover anybody who might have a chance of jumping me from behind.
#1 Washington home against both Arizona State (4-6) and Washington State (1-9).
#2 Alabama hosts #10 Texas A&M (9-2) and is at #5 Auburn (9-1).
#3 Oklahoma is home against Texas Tech (5-4) and Oklahoma State (4-5), then plays at #9 TCU (8-1).
#4 Michigan is home against both #17 Iowa (8-2) and Ohio State (8-3).
#5 Auburn is at Missouri (3-8) and hosts #2 Alabama (9-1).
#6 Georgia is on the road at Kentucky (3-7) and at Georgia Tech (7-3).
#7 Tulsa is at UTSA (5-5) and hosts UTEP (7-3).
#8 LSU hosts both Ole Miss (3-7) and Arkansas (5-5).
#9 TCU is at West Virginia (3-6), then hosts #19 Texas (7-2) and #3 Oklahoma (8-1).
#11 Nebraska is at Minnesota (2-8) and hosts #17 Iowa (8-2).
#12 Notre Dame hosts #14 USC (9-1).
#13 Clemson ends with games at #20 Wake Forest (8-2) and at South Carolina (6-4).
#14 USC hosts UCLA (7-3) and plays at #12 Notre Dame (9-2).
Yikes, it's gonna be TOUGH for you to break through to the top 2 and have a chance. :(
Definitely looks like, unless you lose a game, you are guaranteed a BCS bowl though.
I can see it now... ASU will have a major upset over Washington.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
We'll end up finding out.Quote:
Originally Posted by morsdraconis
Unfortunately, Rice may be the only game I play today. I've got some stuff I have to get taken care of real quick and still find something for dinner (probably going and picking up a pizza), so it'll be 6pm at the absolute earliest before I could even hope to kickoff the UTSA game. As I am already feeling a little bit tired, that means come 6 or 7pm, I'll probably be starting to drag ass, and since I have to be up at 2am for my morning show, I was already planning on calling it a night early to begin with.
:D Who knows. With the way the #1/top 5 teams have been dropping like flies lately, anything's possible. And if ASU doesn't get it done, a one or two win Washington State DID knock off a ranked Washington squad last season.Quote:
Originally Posted by jaymo76
Smooth, check out the Powerhouse Week 6 thread for a quick summary of my game tonight. My offense did not work as well as advertised ...
Well, now that I'm done with work, home, settled in and done watching Oregon State's offense suck ass in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the Alamo Bowl against Texas, time to fire up UTSA.