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Ugh, this game pissed me off so bad. I've had games like this once or twice before, but I was always able to overcome the bullshit and win. This is the first time I've lost when being so blatantly cheated against by the game. All I know is if I end up missing a bowl game because of this shit, I'm mailing a bag of shit to every EA employee who coded the CPU in this game.Quote:
Originally Posted by jaymo76
Sent from my Droid Maxx using Tapatalk because I #TrustTheScript
You are a better man than I Smooth. I have been trying to get back into NCAA 14... BUT going back to last gen is proving to be difficult, especially after picking up the super awesome xbox one (and having a 4). Graphics, sound, and overall quality are hard things to get over. Plus the lack of the playoff and the now extremely outdated unis are tough to think about.
That being said, the last chapter for coach Jaymo at UNLV has not yet been written!
:D Truth be told, I've been trying to get this season started since I made my schedule post on November 18th with the addition of series against Bowling Green, Navy and Notre Dame.
I'd be sitting there with a block of hours wide open, saying to myself that I wanted to get the season going. Then instead of firing up NCAA, I'd jump on Xbox One for a "quick round" of Advanced Warfare or something, only to stay on it for an hour or two, or I'd find a good movie on TV or start watching a show, next thing I know, instead of having 4-5 hours I can dedicate to my dynasty, it's already 8 or 9pm and I have no time to fit it in.
It's been like that for weeks. This week, I knew if I was going to revive this thing, I had to do it now or else I would probably just keep putting off and off and off, so I just forced myself to fire it up and get the Utah game going and try and get this season rolling.
Game Three
:Utah_State: :@: #4 :Michigan:
Game Story
--- After an extremely disappointing loss to Miami University, it was back to the Midwest as we headed for the Big House to take on the #4 ranked Michigan Wolverines. Already dejected because of the RedHawks, we would have to try and recover and get up for a much more challenging opponent with a top 15 offense and a top 20 defense.
While Michigan’s only game of the season came on a 44-20 drubbing of Hawaii, some hints as to their offense were given, as Michigan’s QB was also their leading rusher, alluding to a mobile QB who can just as easily run as pass. As well, Michigan appeared to be more run oriented against the Rainbows as their QB ended with just one passing touchdowns and one interception, meaning that the other four touchdowns Michigan scored that day came via some other method than passing. Michigan won the coin toss and elected to kick.
David Douglas would get us off to an incredible start, as he took the opening kickoff straight up and down the left sideline, returning it 53 yards before being tackled at the Michigan 38 yard line. Quite possibly what would be our best starting field position all game, our offense got lined up on first down as Brian Paris started us off with a 5 yard rush. A second rush by Paris would go for a gain of three yards, bringing up our first third down of the game on third and two. Taking a chance on third down, Paris would come through for us with a 5 yard carry, picking up a first down at the 25 yard line. Paris would continue pounding the ball, taking a first down handoff for a four yard gain, followed by a three yard rush to leave third and three. Lining up under center on third down, Jason Barnes dropped back and rifled a quick pass to tight end Sam Livingston for a 12 yard gain, giving us first and goal at the 6 yard line. Paris would need just one play as he found a huge hole and dived into the end zone for a 6 yard touchdown, putting us on top 7-0 with 7:15 left in the first quarter, stunning the home crowd into silence.
A touchback on the kickoff would give Michigan the ball at their 25 yard line. Coming out passing on first down, it wouldn’t take the Wolverines long against our defense as Brian Brewster connected with an open Josh Warren for an immediate 18 yard gain and a first down at the 43 yard line. A quick first down pass over the middle to Heath McAfee would pick up 9 yards, before a screen pass to Michael Muse would result in a loss of four yards, bringing up third and 5 for the maize and blue. A rushed pass by Brewster would get nearly intercepted, the incompletion forcing Michigan to punt on fourth and 5. No return by Breedlove on the 34 yard punt gave us the ball at our 16 yard line.
Lining up following the punt, Paris would once again get our drive off and running, picking up 5 yards on the ground on first down, followed by a three yard rush to bring up third and two. Despite a deafening crowd, Paris would fight his way to a 5 yard gain to pick up a new set of downs at the 30 yard line. Paris would keep us moving forward on first down with a four yard rush, followed by a gain of three yards to bring up third and three. Running a play action pass on third down, the pass intended for tight end GeraldWoods was broken up by the outside linebacker, as Michigan didn’t bite on the fake, and we were forced to punt on fourth down. A fair catch on the 45 yard punt would see Michigan start from their 17 yard line.
Coming back on the field following the punt, the Wolverines would start in the shotgun, with Brewster finding Freddie Hall for a quick 22 yard strike and a first down at the 39 yard line. Running the ball on first down, Muse took the handoff from Brewster but was quickly tackled for no gain. The Wolverines would end up going backwards on second down as Brewster was sacked for a 7 yard loss, leaving third and 17 at the 31 yard line. A third down screen pass to Muse would pick up 7 yards, but it wouldn’t be enough as Michigan was left punting on fourth and 10. The 62 punt would bounce down at the 15 yard line and roll into the end zone for a touchback.
Starting at our 20 yard line following the punt, Paris would pick back up on first down with a 5 yard rush, followed by a second 5 yard rush to leave us with third and inches. Somehow, despite being hit behind the first down line, Paris would fall forward and get the inches needed for a first down at the 30 yard line. Another rush by Paris would gain four yards, followed by a 5 yard carry by Benjamin Silva to bring up third and one. Paris would return to the backfield on third down, only to end up stood up at the line of scrimmage for no gain to leave fourth and one. That would be the final play before the clock ran out, bringing the first quarter to an end with us holding a surprising 7-0 lead.
Opening up the second quarter, we lined up facing fourth and one on the 39 yard line. Another fair catch on the 45 yard punt would line Michigan up at their 15 yard line. It would take one play for Michigan to even the score as two missed tackles and an ill-timed dive by one of our players that would take out a teammate, allowed McAfee to pull in the first down pass from Brewster and take it all the way for an 85 yard touchdown, tying the game up 7-7 with 9:42 left in the second quarter.
A 16 yard kickoff return by Leonard Hart would get us started from our 20 yard line. Paris would start our drive off on the ground, only to get hit in the backfield and fumble the ball. There would be a mad dash for the ball, with defensive end Clifton Griffin recovering the ball for Michigan at our 13 yard line and shooting our offense in the foot.
Lining up at our 13 yard line following the fumble, Muse would take a pitch from Brewster, but quickly find himself hit behind the line of scrimmage and driven backwards for a 5 yard loss. A second rush attempt by Muse, this time driving straight up the middle, would see him pick up 11 yards to leave Michigan with a third and four. Passing on third down, Brewster would stand up in the face of our blitz and throw up a rainbow pass into the back of the end zone and into the hands of Hall for a 7 yard touchdown, giving Michigan a 14-7 lead with 8:42 left in the second quarter.
A 13 yard kickoff return by Douglas would give us the ball at our 18 yard line. Unfortunately that would turn into the 13 yard line after a false start on first down backed us up to first and 15. Forcing Paris to get right back in the saddle after his screw up last drive, he would only manage a three yard gain to leave us facing second and 12. Going into the air on second down, Barnes tried to throw a pass to Adam Washington, only to have it swatted down by a defensive lineman, leaving third and very long. Aaron Allen would give us our best chance at sustaining the drive, but even he would come up short, hauling in a pass from Barnes for only a 10 yard gain to bring up fourth and two, the momentum clearly having shifted to the Michigan sideline. A 16 yard return by Jamar Anderson on the 46 yard punt set Michigan up at their 43 yard line.
The Wolverines would come out passing as Brewster would sling a pass to his fullback, Ryan Griffin, good for a 10 yard gain and a quick first down. Our defense would manage to answer back on first down, as Brewster was circled and eventually sacked for an 8 yard loss. Lining up on second and 18, Brewster would line up in the shotgun and fire a pass to Jon Ford for a 13 yard gain to leave third and 5. Brewster would show his speed on third down as he found no receivers open and the pocket collapsing, choose to run it out himself with a giant 21 yard rush down the left sideline to pick up a first down at our 20 yard line. Thanks to our blitz, Brewster was forced to throw the ball away on first down, followed by a 5 yard quick completion to McAfee to bring up third and 5. Hall would keep the Wolverines moving as he hauled in a short pass from Brewster for an 8 yard gain, giving Michigan first and goal at our 7 yard line. Muse would finish off the drive on the very next play as he bowled his way over three different defenders on his way to a 7 yard touchdown, giving Michigan a 21-7 lead with 5:25 left in the second quarter.
A 17 yard kickoff return by Hart would start our drive from our 19 yard line. Despite still having 5 minutes to go in the second quarter, this quite likely would be our most important drive of the game. This would be the do or die drive. If we succeed, we cut Michigan’s lead to 7 points and stay in the game. If we fail, Michigan likely drives right down our throats once more, takes a 21 point lead, squashes any spirit of a comeback we have in us and runs away with the remainder of the game. This drive would be the key drive of the game for our team. And it would get off to a poor start as we came out in the shotgun on first down. Barnes dropped back to pass and tried to get the ball off to an open Washington over the middle, only to be hit as he threw and have the ball go straight up and straight down incomplete to bring up second down. Another pass attempt, this time intended for Allen, would be broken up near the 40 yard line, leaving us with third down. Barnes would take another shot at Allen, this time on an out route and wide open, only to completely overthrow Allen and send the ball sailing over his head and 10 yards beyond him, forcing us to punt on fourth down and likely already ringing the death knell for us this game. No return on the 44 yard punt would give Michigan the ball at their 36 yard line.
The Wolverines would waste little time in moving the ball as Brewster came out firing, hitting Ford for an immediate 12 yard gain and a first down at the 48 yard line. Muse would receive a handoff on first down, but was quickly dragged down for no gain on the play to bring up second down. Lining up in the shotgun, Brewster would end up hit as he tried to throw, our blitz successful in disrupting the play to bring up third and 10. In a display that would prove we were screwed this game, Brewster would try to throw up a pass on third down, only to have it swatted at the line by a defensive lineman. Instead of flying backwards or dropping dead, the ball would instead start rotating forward, right into the hands of Hakim Watson, who would grab the ball, make two defenders miss on tackle attempts and pick up 13 yards to give Michigan an impossible first down at our 40 yard line. Returning to the ground on first down, Muse would take the handoff from Brewster around the left side, and thanks to some great downfield blocking, pick up 19 yards on the play for a first down at our 21 yard line. Our defense would thankfully get one victory, as Brewster was forced to throw the ball away out the back of the end zone on first down, followed by a rushed pass at the feet of a receiver on second down, as our pass rush and blitzes quickly brought up third and 10 for the Wolverines. Throwing into double coverage to his receiver, Brewster would instead find Hart, who intercepted the pass at our 6 yard line and returned it 17 yards to give us the ball at our 23 yard line.
Unfortunately our drive would be a short lived one as two straight passes to Allen would go for no gain and a three yard pickup, followed by a 7 yard pass to Washington that would be marked short of the first down marker. Because the game is a piece of crap, a review of the spot of the ball would not be allowed, and we would be forced to punt on fourth and inches from our 32 yard line. No return on the 28 yard punt would give Michigan the ball at their 39 yard line.
Lining up following the punt, the Wolverines would start off running the ball, but Muse would be quickly dragged down for just a one yard gain to leave second and 9, Michigan calling their first timeout with 2:01 remaining. The blitz would keep the pressure up as Brewster was forced to throw the ball away, setting up third and 9. Despite being flushed out of the pocket and forced to scramble, Brewster would manage to throw a pass on the run and hit McAfee for a 12 yard gain and a first down at our 48 yard line. Our defense would get broken on first down as Brewster found Hall over the middle for a 44 yard gain, pushed out of bounds at our four yard line to give Michigan first and goal. Muse would need just one play to finish the drive off, going around the right end for a four yard touchdown to put Michigan up 28-7 with 1:40 left in the second quarter.
A 27 yard kickoff return by Douglas would give us the ball at our 30 yard line. Dropping back to pass on first down, Barnes would finally get a good completion with a 17 yard strike to Washington. Running to the line, Barnes would do it again with an 11 yard completion to Tristan Muhammad, giving us a first down at the Michigan 42 yard line, our first timeout called with 1:05 remaining. Allen would keep us moving forward with a big 20 yard completion over the middle for a new set of downs at the 22 yard line. Opting to forgo calling a timeout, Barnes would line up in the shotgun on first down and try to find Washington over the middle, but the pass would get broken up to bring up second down. Going under center on second down, the pass intended for Livingston would also end up broken up, bringing up third and 10 with 46 seconds to go. Unfortunately, the third down pass attempt intended for Allen would be way off the mark and overthrown, forcing us to settle for a field goal on fourth down. The 39 yard field goal by Doug Marcus would sail through the uprights, cutting Michigan’s lead to 28-10 with 39 seconds left until halftime.
A touchback on the kickoff would give Michigan the ball at their 25 yard line. After an incomplete pass intended for McAfee on first down, Brewster and the Wolverines would end up going backwards as our defense managed to sack him for a 6 yard loss, leaving Michigan with third and 16 and 30 seconds to go. Snapping the ball with only three seconds remaining, the Wolverines would call it a half, as Muse would take the handoff and get stood up for no gain, sending us into halftime with Michigan leading 28-10.
Opening up the second half, another touchback on the kickoff would give Michigan the ball at their 25 yard line to start the third quarter. It would start poorly for our defense as Hall hauled in a pass from Brewster, spun his way through two defenders and trucked a third before finally being pushed out of bounds at our 45 yard line for a 30 yard gain. A first down pass to Muse would see the Wolverines pick up 20 more yards and a new set of downs at our 26 yard line. Going to the ground game, Muse would pick up 13 yards up the middle, moving the chains to our 12 yard line. Brian Smith would come in on first down, only able to pick up a single yard on the first down rush. Another rush by Smith would see him go backwards two yards, leaving Michigan facing third and 11. A well timed screen pass to Muse on third down would see him find pay dirt for a 13 yard touchdown, giving Michigan a 35-10 lead with 8:17 left in the third quarter.
A huge 56 yard kickoff return by Douglas would restore some life in our sideline, as our offense took over at the Michigan 39 yard line. Paris would start us off on first down, but he would only pick up two yards on the play, followed by a three yard rush up the middle on second down to leave us facing third and 5. Allen would keep our drive alive as he managed to pull in a pass from Barnes for an 8 yard gain, giving us a first down at the 26 yard line. Paris would take the ball on first down, fighting his way to a 5 yard rush, followed by a two yard carry by Silva to bring up third and three. Douglas would briefly pull in the third down pass from Barnes, only to drop it when hit by the defender to leave us kicking on fourth down. The 37 yard field goal by Marcus would sail through the uprights, cutting Michigan’s lead to 35-13 with 5:58 left in the third quarter.
A touchback on the kickoff would see Michigan lining up once more at their 25 yard line. The Wolverines would try to start on the ground, as Muse would take the handoff from Brewster, only to lose two yards on the play. Another handoff to Muse would see another loss of yards, this time a three yard loss, and Michigan would be left facing third and 15. A quality pass rush would force Brewster to rush a pass and throw it incomplete, bringing out Michigan’s punt team (a rare sight today) to punt on fourth and long. A 7 yard return by Jesse Breedlove on the 34 yard punt would give us the ball at the Michigan 48 yard line.
Lining up inside Michigan territory after the punt return, Paris would again try to get our running game going, only to be tackled on first down for just a two yard gain. A second rush by Paris, this time for a 5 yard gain, would set up third and three. Getting Paris involved with the passing game on third down, Barnes would hit him over the middle for a 20 yard gain on a play action pass, picking up a much needed first down at the 21 yard line. Silva would take over on first down, rumbling to an 8 yard gain, followed by a 7 yard rush by Paris to set us up with first and goal at the Michigan 6 yard line. Silva would get the first crack at the end zone, fighting to a gain of three yards. We would get some bad news after the play, receiving word that Paris suffered a bruised sternum on his previous carry, leaving him sidelined for one quarter and likely out for the remainder of the game. Silva would finish things off on the next play as he would plunge into the end zone for a three yard touchdown, cutting Michigan’s lead to 35-20 with 2:41 left in the third quarter.
Another touchback on yet another kickoff would give Michigan ball to start another drive at their 25 yard line. Starting the drive in the air, Brewster would connect with Muse on first down, but he would only pick up two yards on the play. Running the ball on second down, Muse would again be contained and limited to a single yard, bringing up third and 7. We would get a miracle on third down, as a wide open Warren would drop the pass from Brewster, forcing another Michigan punt on fourth down. A one yard return by Breedlove on the 36 yard punt would give us the ball at our 36 yard line.
Lining up following the punt, Silva would try to keep our momentum building, taking a first down handoff from Barnes for a gain of three yards, followed by a 6 yard dash to bring up third and one. Relying on Silva on third down, he would come through for us with a 7 yard carry up the middle, getting the first down at the Michigan 49 yard line. Kyle Hall would step in on first down, fighting his way up the middle for a 5 yard gain. Lining up on second down, Silva would take the handoff and find a big hole for a 7 yard gain to move the chains to the Michigan 36 yard line. That would be the final play of the third quarter as the clock ran out with Michigan holding a 35-20 lead.
Opening up the fourth quarter, we looked to continue our march down the field for a hopeful comeback, as Silva took the handoff on first down for a 5 yard gain, followed by a three yard carry to bring up third and two. Silva would manage to keep our drive alive by rolling over the top of a Michigan defender to avoid being tackled, picking up 6 yards to move the chains to the 23 yard line. Some more twisting by Silva as he worked his way through the defense would see him pick up 8 yards on the first down rush, followed by Hall fighting his way forward to a 5 yard gain, setting us up with first and goal at the Michigan 10 yard line. Silva would take the ball on first down, only to be quickly brought down for just a two yard gain. Running a play action pass on second down, unfortunately the defense would not bite, forcing Barnes to take off scrambling. He would get back to the line of scrimmage before being tackled, officially ruled a sack for a zero yard loss. Either way, we would be left looking at third and goal from the 8 yard line. Dropping back from the shotgun on third down, Barnes tried to complete a pass to Allen, only to overthrow it and have it broken up by the safety to bring up fourth and goal. Trailing by 15 points, with just 6:43 left in the game, against a team that slapped us around like a ragdoll for most of the game, there would be no field goals here. It was now or never. It was time for us to rise up and take our touchdown by force. We would do just that as Barnes would fire a perfect pass right past the head of the defender and into the hands of Douglas, who was just coming out of a cut on his slant route, the pass complete for an 8 yard touchdown to cut Michigan’s lead to 35-27 with 6:39 left in the game.
Another kickoff would sail into the end zone for a touchback, as Michigan took over at their 25 yard line looking to close out the game. Muse would get the drive started on the ground with a four yard rush around the right end, followed by a 6 yard gain to the left to bring up third and inches. Muse would get the inches and then some with a 7 yard dash, picking up a first down at the 42 yard line. Running a screen pass on first down, Brewster would get the pass off to Brian Smith, who would turn it into a 28 yard gain thanks to downfield blocking, giving Michigan a new set of downs at our 31 yard line. A quick pass to Watson would be blown up behind the line of scrimmage, Watson tackled for a two yard loss on the play. Muse would try to get things back on track on second down, only to be brought down by our blitz for a four yard loss, leaving Michigan facing third and 16. A 5 yard completion to Hall would be all Michigan could achieve on third down, bringing up fourth and 11 at the 32 yard line. Apparently not content to kick a field goal to make it a two score game with 4:20 remaining, the Wolverines came out looking to go for it on fourth down themselves. Naturally, our defense would choose the worst time to roll over and play dead, as Nick Rogers was allowed to race down the left sideline and get behind his man, pulling in a pass from Brewster for a 29 yard gain to set up first and goal at our three yard line. In the process, that would set a new record for Michigan, as Brewster set the record for most passing yards in a game at 390 (and counting). Trying to punch it in on the ground, Muse would end up limited to only a one yard gain. Lining up in the shotgun on second and goal, Brewster would hit Hall in the hands, but he would drop it on contact just inside the goal line, dropping the touchdown pass and leaving Michigan with third and goal. Muse would again try to score on the ground, only to end up swarmed and tackled for a one yard loss, leaving Michigan attempting a field goal on fourth and goal. The 20 yard field goal would sail through the uprights to increase Michigan’s lead to 38-27 with 2:47 remaining.
A 27 yard kickoff return by Hart would get us started from our 30 yard line. Unfortunately the drive would pretty much go straight into the ground as three straight incomplete passes would leave us with a decision. If we went for it on fourth down and failed, Michigan would have the ball at our 30 yard line. If we punted, Michigan would have the ball in their territory and just need to run out two and a half minutes, essentially raising the white flag on any comeback hopes we had. Saying screw it and going for it on fourth down, the pass intended for Douglas would end up batted down, turning the ball over on downs and giving Michigan the ball at our 30 yard line.
Lining up following the turnover on downs, the Wolverines were just 2:27 away from victory. An hopes we had were pretty much ended when Muse took the ball on first down, cut outside the left tackle and raced up the field for a 27 yard gain, giving Michigan first and goal at our three yard line, our first timeout called to stop the clock with 2:15 remaining. Muse would again try to finish off a drive inside the 5 yard line, only to end up stuffed again for a one yard loss, leaving second and goal, our second timeout called with 2:10 to go. Muse wouldn’t be denied a second time as he took a delayed pitch from Brewster and found a huge gap, waltzing into the end zone for a four yard touchdown to give Michigan a 45-27 lead with 2:06 remaining.
A 20 yard kickoff return by Hart would give us the ball at our 22 yard line, pretty much playing for pride at this point. Staying in the shotgun on first down, a pass attempt intended for Douglas would end up swatted away to bring up second down. Second down would be the dagger in the heart, as a pass attempt deep intended for Washington would end up intercepted by cornerback Bruce Cross, who, with nothing but green in front of him, proceed to return it 48 yards for a touchdown, giving Michigan a 52-27 lead with 1:47 remaining.
A 25 yard kickoff return by Hart would set us up at our 29 yard line. With only 1:42 remaining and an impossible deficit, we came out running on first down. Silva would get us started with a three yard carry around the right end, followed by a reappearance by Paris, who would promptly be tackled for no gain to bring up third and 7. A four yard rush by Silva would bring our drive to an end, as we were forced to punt on fourth and three with 15 seconds to go. A 21 yard return on the 32 yard punt would give Michigan the ball at our 47 yard line, just three seconds left.
Lining up at our 47 yard line, Brewster would take the snap and drop to a knee to run out the clock. Just for shits and giggles, we decided to call our final timeout for the hell of it, if anything, just so we could take another two yards off Brewster’s running total, stopping the clock with two seconds left. One more knee by Brewster would be all she would write as Michigan would walk out with a 52-27 victory.
With the loss, we drop to 1-2. With the win, #4 Michigan improves to 2-0. Up next, we wrap up our three game road trip, as well as our non-conference schedule, with a trip to Provo to battle rival BYU for the Old Wagon Wheel. The Cougars enter the game sitting at 2-1 on the season. BYU opened their year with a 51-32 loss to Arizona, before recovering with a 37-34 overtime win at Utah and a 31-26 victory over Pittsburgh.
Final Score
#4 :Michigan: 52, :Utah_State: 27
Stats of the Game:
Utah State Offense - A slightly better day for Barnes, though still sub-par, as he finished 11-27 for 116 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Rushing, Paris led the way with 81 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries. Silva had 75 yards and a touchdown on 16 rushes. Receiving, Allen was led receiver with 41 yards on five catches. Douglas had the only touchdown on a single 8 yard reception. In all, six receivers caught at least one pass today, five ended with double digit yards.
Utah State Defense/Special Teams – Good and bad. The defense played phenomenal in the first and third quarters. They sucked horribly in the second quarter and fell apart, no thanks to our offense, late in the fourth quarter. Gotta figure out a way to tackle and stop giving up big plays.
Utah State Kicking – A perfect day for Marcus, going 2-2 on field goals with 39 and 37 yard kicks, as well as going 3-3 in PATs.
Scoring Summary
Team 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Final Score :Utah_State: 7 3 10 7 27 :Michigan: 0 28 7 17 52
Time Team Result Play Score First Quarter 7:15 :Utah_State: Touchdown B. Paris, 6 yard run (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 7-0 Second Quarter 9:42 :Michigan: Touchdown H. McAfee, 85 yard pass from B. Brewster (G. Smith kick) TIED 7-7 8:42 :Michigan: Touchdown F. Hall, 7 yard pass from B. Brewster (G. Smith kick) :Michigan: 14-7 5:25 :Michigan: Touchdown M. Muse, 7 yard run (G. Smith kick) :Michigan: 21-7 1:40 :Michigan: Touchdown M. Muse, 4 yard run (G. Smith kick) :Michigan: 28-7 0:39 :Utah_State: Field Goal D. Marcus, 39 yard field goal :Michigan: 28-10 Third Quarter 8:17 :Michigan: Touchdown M. Muse, 13 yard pass from B. Brewster (G. Smith kick) :Michigan: 35-10 5:58 :Utah_State: Field Goal D. Marcus, 37 yard field goal :Michigan: 35-13 2:41 :Utah_State: Touchdown B. Silva, 3 yard run (D. Marcus kick) :Michigan: 35-20 Fourth Quarter 6:39 :Utah_State: Touchdown D. Douglas, 8 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick) :Michigan: 35-27 2:47 :Michigan: Field Goal G. Smith, 20 yard field goal :Michigan: 38-27 2:06 :Michigan: Touchdown M. Muse, 4 yard run (G. Smith kick) :Michigan: 45-27 1:47 :Michigan: Touchdown B. Cross, returned interception 48 yards (G. Smith kick) :Michigan: 52-27
Game Stats
Utah State Stat Michigan 27 Score 52 14 First Downs 17 282 Total Offense 470 44 - 166 - 2 Rushes - Yards - TD 31 - 80 - 3 11 - 27 - 1 Comp - Att - TD 22 - 33 - 3 116 Passing Yards 390 1 Times Sacked 3 8 - 18 (44%) 3rd Down Conversion 7 - 15 (46%) 1 - 2 (50%) 4th Down Conversion 1 - 1 (100%) 0 - 0 (0%) 2-Point Conv 0 - 0 (0%) 4 - 3 - 1 (100%) Red Zone - TD - FG 6 - 5 - 1 (100%) 2 Turnovers 1 1 Fumbles Lost 0 1 Intercepted 1 8 Punt Return Yards 37 249 Kick Return Yards 0 539 Total Yards 507 6 – 40.5 Punts - Average 4 - 42.0 0 - 0 Penalties 0 - 0 23:10 Time of Possession 16:50
Utah State Coach Goals
Goal XP Reward Completed Score a Touchdown 25 x3 Force a Turnover 25 x1 Rush for 100 Yards 25 x1 3+ Sacks 50 x1 Opponent Under 150 Rush Yards 50 x1 100% Red Zone Efficiency 50 x1 Score 21 or More Points 50 x1 10+ First Downs 50 x1 4+ 3rd Down Conversions 25 x1
Utah State Contract Goals Update
Goal Expectations Progress Target Wins Per Season 8 1
Job Security Status
100%
Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, in the game of the week AND the upset of the week, #7 Florida State shocked #1 Virginia Tech 37-32. #3 West Virginia topped East Carolina 48-20. #4 Michigan blew out Utah State 52-27. #5 UCLA routed Nevada 38-10. #6 Ole Miss beat Tennessee 38-28. #8 Miami dominated Florida Atlantic 31-10. #9 Oregon ripped Citadel 42-17. #10 Wisconsin topped Central Florida 35-21. #11 South Carolina survived #22 Georgia 41-34 in double overtime.
#13 TCU got past Texas Tech 37-24. #14 Oklahoma beat Eastern Washington 30-3. #23 Florida destroyed #15 Texas A&M 44-7. #16 Alabama smoked Indiana State 38-17. #17 Connecticut knocked off #19 Navy 52-27. Louisville upset #17 Kentucky 55-47 in 4OT. Clemson shocked #21 Notre Dame 42-28. #24 Kansas State routed Southern Miss 49-17. #25 Stanford smacked Colorado 47-6.
For our readers, JeffHCross, #2 Ohio State remains 2-0 (0-0 Big Ten) with a bye week. Morsdraconis, #3 West Virginia improves to 2-0 (1-0 Big 12) with a 48-20 win over East Carolina. Souljahbill, Southern Miss opens the year 0-1 (0-0 C-USA) with a 49-17 loss to #24 Kansas State. Jaymo, Arizona State drops to 0-2 (0-0 Pac-12) with a 34-21 loss to Arkansas State. LeeSO, Auburn drops to 1-1 (0-1 SEC) with a 47-21 loss to Mississippi State. SCClassof93, #11 South Carolina improves to 3-0 (2-0 SEC) with a 41-34 double overtime win over #22 Georgia. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State improves to 2-0 (0-0 Sun Belt) with a 34-21 win over Arizona State. Florida International drops to 0-2 (0-0 C-USA) with a 35-30 loss to New Mexico. #19 Navy opens their year 0-1 (0-1 American) with a 52-27 loss to #17 Connecticut. Tulsa drops to 0-2 (0-0 American) with a 31-14 loss to Fresno State.
In Mountain West action, New Mexico survived Florida International 35-30, San Jose State fly past Harvard 45-21, Fresno State beat Tulsa 31-14, Boise State stunned Washington State 52-31, #4 Michigan raped Utah State 52-27, #5 UCLA smacked around Nevada 38-10, Central Michigan slapped UNLV 41-10, Rice stunned Air Force 44-36, Nebraska routed Wyoming 48-17, Utah topped San Diego State 38-35, UTSA dominated Colorado State 41-14 and North Texas beat Hawaii 28-17.
Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, Ohio State (35 first place votes) climbs one to reclaim #1, West Virginia (25 votes) climbs one to #2, Michigan (1 vote) jumps one to #3, Florida State leaps three to #4 and UCLA remains #5. Ole Miss remains #6, Miami climbs one to #7, Virginia Tech drops seven to #8, Oregon remains #9 and South Carolina climbs one to #10. Wisconsin drops one to #11, Georgia Tech remains #12, Oklahoma climbs one to #13, TCU drops one to #14 and Alabama climbs one to #15. Connecticut moves up one to #16, Texas jumps three to #17, Florida leaps five to #18, Texas A&M drops four to #19 and Kansas State jumps four to #20. Stanford climbs four to #21, Cincinnati enters the poll at #22, Navy drops four to #23, Baylor enters the poll at #24 and Kentucky (100 points) drops seven to #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Notre Dame (from #21) and Georgia (from #22). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, New Mexico (85 points) is #26, followed by Georgia (83), Washington (81), Fresno State (62) and Michigan State (39) to round out the Top 30. One other team getting points this week is Ohio (17).
An early season look at the Heisman race, Ohio State QB Jordan Watkins is #1 (LW: #1), Florida QB Joseph Brown is #2 (LW: #3), South Carolina QB Jared Stevens is #3 (LW: NR), Fresno State HB Chris Vincent is #4 (LW: NR) and Alabama HB Alex Davis is #5 (LW: NR). Falling off the Heisman Watch List this week was Oklahoma QB Ben West (LW: #2), Texas QB Justin Jones (LW: #4) and Nebraska QB Cary Woods (LW: #5).
Ohio State has a 44 game winning streak, was #1 last win coming off a big win, and is #2 this week. Tell me all I need to know about the coding.
:D Yeah, I was waiting for that eventual comment. Sure, Virginia Tech had a blowout win over #6 Wisconsin while Ohio State blew out a crappy Tulsa team, but no way in hell would voters take a team on a 44 game winning streak and vote them out of the #1 spot until they lost. They would be permanent #1 until they finally lost a game.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffHCross
#TheScriptIsDead
Game Four
:Utah_State: :@: :BYU:
Game Story
--- After a second straight loss, this time in a double digit drubbing to #4 Michigan that saw us collapse in the fourth quarter, it would be back on the trail to finish up our three game road trip. This time it would be just across the state to Provo to take on rival BYU in a battle for the Old Wagon Wheel. This game would also decide the winner of the Beehive Boot for the 2023 season, as both us and BYU managed victories over Utah, setting this game up as the decider in the annual three-way battle for the Boot.
This one wouldn’t any easier as BYU came in boasting the #19 passing offense in the nation. Considering our passing defense entered ranked #115, this could be a long day. Pretty much our running game would be our savior today as we entered the game ranked #23 nationally in rushing, while our passing game entered ranked #123. Our ability to run the ball, and our defense’s ability to stop the pass, would be the keys to winning or losing. We won the coin toss and elected to kick.
A touchback on the kickoff would give BYU the ball at their 25 yard line. It wouldn’t take BYU long to get moving as Patrick Johnson dropped back on first down and found Taylor Hayes over the middle for a 14 yard strike to the 39 yard line. Going five wide on first down, Eric Pettit would pull in a pass for a 5 yard gain, followed by a four yard run by Kevin Neal to bring up third and one. Blown coverage by our defense would leave Joe Outlaw wide open on third down and BYU would make us suffer, with a 53 yard touchdown pass to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead with 8:52 left in the first quarter.
A 17 yard kickoff return by Leonard Hart would see us start at our 18 yard line. Brian Paris would get us started with a four yard rush on first down, followed by a three yard gain to bring up third and three. Lining up under center on third down, Jason Barnes would drop back and firing off a pass to Adam Washington, threading the needle between two BYU defenders for a 20 yard strike and a first down at the 44 yard line, quieting down the raucous BYU crowd. Paris would try again on first down, but would only manage a two yard gain on the play. A second down pass to Adam Washington would be a drive killer as it would end up off the mark and intercepted by cornerback Lawrence Hughes, returned three yards to our 49 yard line.
Lining up on first down after the interception, Johnson would throw a quick out pass to Neal for a three yard gain, before taking off running on a delay QB option on second down, making two defenders miss and getting 5 yards on the play to bring up third and two. The Cougars would run an option play on third down, but would be left going backwards as Neal would receive the option and quickly be driven backwards for a four yard loss to bring up fourth and 6. The 45 yard punt would land at the 5 yard line and bounce into the end zone for a touchback.
Taking over at our 20 yard line following the punt, we would again call on Paris to try and get us moving on first down, as he would take the handoff from Barnes and fight his way to a 5 yard gain. A four yard gain by Paris on second down would set us up with third and one. Leaving it in Paris’ hands on third down, he would manage to pick up three yards and get the first down at the 32 yard line. Keeping it on the ground on first down, Paris would fight his way to a three yard gain around the right tackle, followed by a three yard rush by Benjamin Silva to leave third and four. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, a quick pass to Aaron Allen would go for a gain of 13 yards to extend the drive at the BYU 49 yard line. Paris would continue to pound the ball on first down, fighting his way forward for a 7 yard gain on the play, followed up by Silva with a 7 yard carry to get a new set of downs at the 35. A first down rush by Paris would gain three yards to bring up second and 7. Trying to run play action on second down, unfortunately the BYU defense wouldn’t fall for it, and Barnes was just barely able to get rid of the ball before being sacked, the incompletion bringing up third and 7. An incomplete pass, intended for Allen, would leave us stranded at the 32 yard line on fourth down. Opting for a 49 yard field goal attempt, the kick by Doug Marcus would sail straight and through the uprights to cut BYU’s lead to 7-3 with 1:49 left in the first quarter.
Another kickoff into the end zone would result in a touchback, starting BYU from their 25 yard line. A quick first down pass to Outlaw would pick up 8 yards over the middle, followed by an incomplete pass intended for Nate Edwards to bring up third and two for the Cougars. Despite BYU trying to run an option play on third down, defensive end Steve Jones would come off the end unblocked and dive into Johnson before he could pitch the ball, taking him to the ground for a four yard loss to bring up fourth and 6 and bring the punt team on the field. Unbelievably, during the return by Jesse Breedlove on the 40 yard punt, he would make it all the way to midfield running from across the width of the field, only to fumble the ball as he was being tackled, the fumble recovered by middle linebacker Jonathon Birch to return possession right back to BYU at our 43 yard line. Pissed off about having to go right back on the field, the defense would make their anger known on first down as multiple defensive linemen converged to sack Johnson for a 7 yard loss, leaving BYU with second and 17. A second down pass attempt intended for Neal would end up incomplete as Neal would drop the pass on (hard) contact, bringing up third and very long. Forced to scramble as the pocket collapsed around him, and all of his receivers stayed covered up tight, Johnson would try and roll out toward the near sideline, only to be chased down and sacked for a second time, this time resulting in a 6 yard loss, to leave the Cougars punting once again, on fourth and 23. That would be the final play of the first quarter as the clock hit all zeros, with BYU leading 7-3.
Opening up the second quarter, BYU lined up to punt on fourth and 23. A big 22 yard return by Breedlove on the 32 yard punt (without a fumble this time) would give us the ball at our 44 yard line.
Lining up at our 44 yard line after the punt return, Paris would get the call to start us off on first down, fighting his way to a four yard gain, only to backwards on second down and give those four yards right back to BYU’s defense, bringing up third and 10. Thankfully the passing game would come through on third down, as Barnes would connect with Allen for an 18 yard gain, moving the chains to the BYU 38 yard line. Staying in the shotgun on first down, Barnes would rifle off a pass to David Douglas on a comeback route, the pass good for a 16 yard gain and a first down at the 22 yard line. Going back to the ground on first down, Paris would only manage two yards on the carry, leaving second and 8. Lining up under center on second down, Barnes would drop back to pass, only to have his throw, intended for tight end Sam Livingston, be intercepted for the second time as middle linebacker Jonathan Burch jumped the pass at the 12 yard line and returned it 7 yards to BYU’s 19 yard line.
Taking over following the interception, Johnson would heave up a deep ball down the left sideline intended for Brandon Smith, only to have cornerback Mike Moses intercept the ball right back for us at the 42 yard line. Moses would manage to return the interception 13 yards to give us back possession at the BYU 29 yard line and survive another turnover without damage.
Beginning at the BYU 29 yard line following the interception, Paris would receive the first down handoff from Barnes, fighting his way to a three yard carry to bring up second and 7. A second three yard rush by Paris would leave us facing third and four. This time, the pass intended for Livingston would find its target, good for a 5 yard gain and a first down at the 18 yard line. A first down pass attempt intended for Washington would end up broken up at the goal line. Lining up in the shotgun on second down, the pass to Tristan Muhammad would go for a 6 yard gain, bringing up third and four. Unfortunately, the third down pass intended for Allen would go wide of its mark, leaving us stranded once more on fourth and four. The 29 yard field goal by Marcus would split the uprights, cutting BYU’s lead further to 7-6 with 5:09 left in the second quarter.
The kickoff would sail out the back of the end zone for a touchback, giving BYU the ball at their 25 yard line. Taking a chance with a first down blitz, it would pay off as Johnson handed the ball off to Neal, only for Neal to be instantly tackled for a four yard loss. Surprisingly staying on the ground on second and 14, Neal would fight his way to a 6 yard gain to bring up third and 8. Running a screen pass on third down that pretty much our entire defense bit on, Clinton Harrison would pull in the pass from Johnson with nothing but green between him and the first down marker. Amazingly, Harrison would never make it as middle linebacker Jon Smith came sprinting over from the hash mark, forcing Harrison against the sideline in the process, only to grab Harrison at the 34 yard line and drag him down backwards and out of bounds to miraculously save the play for our defense and force BYU to punt the ball on fourth and one. A 5 yard return by Breedlove on the 32 yard punt would give us the ball at our 38 yard line.
Starting our drive after the punt return, we would give Paris another chance on first down to try and get the running game going. He would come through with some success early, as he took the handoff straight up the middle for a 7 yard gain. Despite picking up 7 more yards on second down, Paris would fumble the ball at the end of his drive. Thankfully tight end Jack Long would dive on top of the fumble and save us from a fourth turnover, instead giving us a first down at the BYU 47 yard line. Despite the fumble on the previous play, we would give Paris another chance, but he would get just two yards on the first down carry. Taking another shot with a play action pass on second down, Gerald Woods would pull in the pass from Barnes for a 7 yard reception, setting up third and one. Paris would get the call on third down, rumbling forward for a 6 yard gain and a first down at the 32 yard line. A first down pass attempt intended for Washington would get batted down. A second down pass attempt intended for Long would get broken up and nearly intercepted, leaving us with third and 10. Allen would come through for us on third down, pulling in a pass from Barnes for a 13 yard gain to save the drive and give us a first down at the BYU 19 yard line. We would call our first timeout after the play to stop the clock with 1:22 remaining before halftime. Handing the ball off to Paris on first down, he would only pick up a single yard, wasting a play and wasting clock as it ticked down. Going into the air on second down, Barnes would find Washington for a 7 yard strike, but it would still leave us with third and two and our second timeout burned to stop the clock with 54 seconds to go. Paris would get the first down and then some as he would rumble his way to an 8 yard gain, giving us first and goal at the three yard line. Running to the line on first down, to avoid having to call our third timeout, we would hand the ball right back off to Paris, who would need just one play to dive into the end zone for a three yard touchdown. Despite the temptation to go for two here, it wasn’t the right moment in the game to try for it, instead opting to kick the extra point to give us a 13-7 lead with 47 seconds remaining until halftime.
The wind aided kickoff would sail out of the back of the end zone, giving BYU the ball at their 25 yard line. The Cougars seemingly were content to go into halftime trailing, as Johnson handed the ball off to Neal for a one yard gain, and then would huddle up, not using any of their three timeouts and letting the clock tick down to 35 seconds and continue ticking. BYU would let the clock tick all the way down to 5 seconds remaining before handing the ball off to Neal for a four yard gain to bring up third and 5 at the 30 yard line. Even more confusingly, BYU would then call their first timeout with two seconds left, coming out with an empty backfield. Not sure why BYU felt a 70 yard Hail Mary would have more favorable results than a 74 yard Hail Mary, but they would attempt it none the less. Instead, the pass would end up intercepted by safety Cole Brown at our 20 yard line to send us into halftime with a 13-7 lead.
Opening up the second half, we would receive the kickoff to start the third quarter. Douglas would make it one HELL of a start, receiving the kickoff at our 7 yard line right next to the sideline, and then thanks to some great blocking, took it straight up the sideline all the way to the house for a 93 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, extending our lead to 20-7 with 9:50 left in the third quarter.
A kickoff into the end zone would result in a touchback and the ball on the 25 yard line for BYU. Johnson dropped back to pass on first down, but with the pocket collapsing, was forced to throw the ball away. Johnson would get a pass off on second down, connecting with Smith for a 5 yard gain that would leave BYU with third and 5. Johnson nearly got the pass for a first down into the hands of Hayes, but a well timed hit right on top of the sideline would simultaneously push Hayes out of bounds as well as knock the ball loose, forcing BYU to punt on fourth down. A 24 yard return by Douglas on the 40 yard punt would give us the ball at the BYU 47 yard line.
Lining up in BYU territory after the punt, the momentum in this game had shifted and it was now on our offense to capitalize and turn this into a blowout. Paris would get us started on the ground, working his way through the piles to a four yard run, followed by a two yard rush that would leave us facing third and four. Despite the failures in the past, we would give a play action pass a try on third down. Amazingly we would convert as Raymond Watson pulled in a pass from Barnes in the middle of traffic, good for a 7 yard gain and a first down at the 34 yard line. Paris would take back over on first down, rumbling up the middle to a 7 yard gain, followed by a second 7 yard rush to move the chains to the BYU 20 yard line. Silva would take over on first down, fighting through the defense for 5 tough yards, before a single yard rush by Paris would bring up third and four. Going into the air on third down, Silva would extend the drive as he came out of the backfield, pulling in a pass from Barnes for a 9 yard gain to give us first and goal at the 6 yard line. A first down rush by Silva would only go for a single yard gain to the 5 yard line. Barnes would try to find the end zone through the air with a quick pass on second down, only to overthrow Washington to bring up third and goal. After saving our drive earlier on third down, Watson would finish our drive this time, pulling in a quick pass from Barnes at the goal line and heading into the end zone for a 5 yard touchdown, increasing our lead to 27-7 with 4:46 left in the third quarter.
Another kickoff would result in another touchback, giving BYU the ball at their 25 yard line. A first down screen pass to Reggie Hendrix would get the drive started with a 6 yard gain, followed by a 7 yard pass toEdwards, giving BYU a first down at their 37 yard line. Another screen pass to Hendrix would gain 5 yards. Going deep on second and 5, Hendrix would burn our secondary down the left sideline for a 39 yard completion, setting BYU up with a first down at our 19 yard line. Staying in the shotgun, Johnson would hand the ball off to Neal for a 7 yard gain, followed by a 9 yard rush by Harrison to give BYU first and goal from our three yard line. Neal would finish the drive off on the next play with a three yard touchdown on the ground, cutting our lead to 27-14 with 2:44 left in the third quarter.
A huge 47 yard kickoff return by Hart would set us up in great position once more, starting our drive from our 49 yard line. Starting on the ground, Paris would fight his way to a four yard gain on first down. A second down pass to Allen would result in a gain of 9 yards, giving us a first down at the BYU 38. Staying in the shotgun on first down, Barnes would rifle a pass over the middle to Washington for a 13 yard strike, moving the chains to the 26 yard line. Forced to roll out on first down, Barnes tried to connect with Douglas on the run, but his throw was off the mark and incomplete. Going over the top on second down, Watson would pull in the pass from Barnes for a 12 yard completion, resetting the down marker at the BYU 14 yard line. Returning to the ground game on first down, Paris took a handoff straight up the middle, bowling his way over three defenders for a 10 yard gain, leaving second and inches. A second down run off the right tackle by Paris would pick up two yards, setting us up with first and goal from the BYU two yard line. Silva would take the first crack at the end zone, gaining one yard on the first down carry. That would be the last play of the quarter as the clock ran out without another snapping, ending the third quarter with us leading 27-14.
Opening the fourth quarter, we lined up on second and goal at the BYU one yard line. Paris would get the next crack and he would not be denied, lining up behind an offensive lineman and diving into the end zone over his back for the one yard touchdown, extending our lead to 34-14 with 9:58 remaining in the game.
A kickoff out of the end zone would give BYU the ball at their 25 yard line following the touchback. Needing some big plays to get back in this game, the opposite would instead happen as BYU came out in the shotgun on first down. Johnson would drop back to pass, but would quickly find the pocket collapsing as our pass rush got penetration. He would try to get a pass off but would fail to do so, ending up sacked instead for a 7 yard loss on the play. The Cougars would get those yards back on second down, as Johnson found Neal along the left sideline for a 7 yard gain, but that would be as far as BYU would get, as Johnson was forced to scramble to avoid a sack on third down and threw a desperation pass to Joe Jones, who was promptly tackled for no gain on the play to force a punt on fourth and 10. An 11 yard return by Douglas on the 33 yard punt would get us back in action from BYU’s 48 yard line.
Setting up following the punt return, we would get the offense rolling with the typical first down run, as Paris fought his way through the defense for a 7 yard gain. A second down rush by Paris would result in 6 more yards, giving us the first down at the 35 yard line. A first down carry by Silva would largely go nowhere, gaining just a single yard on the play. Barnes would try his own luck on second down, only gaining a yard as well to leave us with third and 8. The third down pass attempt intended for Douglas would get batted away, leaving fourth down. Suddenly finding himself a leg, Marcus would nail the 50 yard field goal down the middle, extending our lead to 37-14 with 6:54 left in the game.
A kickoff into the end zone would be downed for a touchback, giving BYU the ball at their 25 yard line. Running a screen pass on first down, our defense would obliterate it as Neal would quickly be brought down for a four yard loss on the pass. Despite the great play, BYU would turn around and have a great play of their own with a 15 yard strike to Hayes, caught just before going out of bounds at the 36 yard line. Another screen pass to Neal would gain just two yards, followed by a dump pass to Harrison for a gain of 5 yards, bringing up third and three. Somehow Outlaw would pull down a pass over the middle from Johnson, good for a 6 yard gain and a first down at the 49 yard line. A quick throw to Pettit on first down would pick up 5 more yards for the offense, followed by an aborted screen pass that would leave BYU facing third and 5. Another screen pass, this time completed to Neal, would gain just three yards to forcing BYU into fourth and two at our 43 yard line. Going for it on fourth down, the roll out blind pass intended for Pettit would instead by intercepted by safety Dwayne Thompson, who essentially had the blind pass thrown right at him, returned three yards to the 45 yard line.
Taking over at our 45 yard line following the interception, we needed only to bleed 4:21 off the clock to seal our surprising victory over the Cougars. Lining up on first down, Silva would get us started up the middle with a huge 9 yard run. That 9 yards would turn into 24 as a facemask penalty would get called on outside linebacker Ricky Rust during the tackle, tacking an extra 15 yards onto the play to give us a first down at the BYU 31 yard line and essentially gifting us the win. Another first down rush by Silva would this time go for just two yards, but it would keep the clock moving. Silva would keep us moving forward on second down, fighting his way for a four yard gain to leave us with third and four. Normally we would go into the air in this situation, but with trying to chew up some clock, we instead gave the ball back to Silva, who would be tackled for essentially no gain, leaving third and four at the 25 yard line. Attempting a 42 yard field goal on fourth down, Marcus would send it sailing through the uprights, giving us a 40-14 lead with 1:58 left in the game.
BYU would again start their next drive from their 25 yard line, following the touchback on the kickoff. Johnson would drop back from the shotgun on first down, and despite almost being sacked, hurled a deep pass down the left sideline intended for Smith, but Smith would drop it as he ran out of bounds, leaving second down for the Cougars. Handing the ball off on second down, unbelievably, Neal would head straight up the middle, and with three different jukes, made every defender in front of him miss diving in front of or behind him and was off to the races for a 75 yard touchdown run, cutting our lead to 40-21 with 1:41 left in the game.
BYU would attempt the onside kick, but our hands team would recover it with ease, giving our offense the ball at the BYU 42 yard line. Silva would get us going on first down, managing to get three yards on the play. That wouldn’t be all we would get however as the BYU defense would again boneheadedly commit a facemask penalty on the tackle, this time called on cornerback Rich Murphy, gift wrapping us a first down at the BYU 24 yard line. Silva would take the ball again on first down, rushing for a 7 yard gain, followed by no gain to bring up third and three, the clock ticking under one minute. Kyle Hall would take the ball on third down, but despite getting three yards on the carry, get marked short to leave us with fourth and inches, two seconds difference between the game clock and play clock. Despite appearing to be running up the score, we had to settle for a 31 yard field goal by Marcus with two seconds left to give us a 43-21 lead.
An 11 yard return on the squibbed kickoff would be the final play of the game, as we walked out with a very surprising 43-21 victory over BYU.
With the win, we improve to 2-2 and claim both the Beehive Boot and the Old Wagon Wheel in the same year. With the loss, BYU drops to 2-2. Up next, we get a bye week before opening conference play with a home game against San Jose State.
Final Score
:Utah_State: 43, :BYU: 21
Stats of the Game:
Utah State Offense - Another bad day for Barnes. He had some good throws, but had a lot off target misses and multiple picks. He would end the day 15-26 for 160 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Rushing, Paris would lead the way with 125 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries. Silva ended the day with 45 yards on 13 carries. Receiving, Allen led the way with 53 yards on four catches. Watson had the only receiving touchdown to go along with 24 yards on three catches. In all, eight receivers would catch at least one pass today, only four however would end with double digit yards.
Utah State Defense/Special Teams – A MUCH better day by our defense. Other than the first drive by BYU and the 75 yard TD run by Neal, our defense pretty much shut down BYU. Even more impressive were the defensive stops following the two interceptions and the fumble, that would force our defense into a tough situation. To go along with that, our defense would have a field day as well with three interceptions (by three different players) to largely keep the BYU offense on ice while our offense got over their turnover desires and got some momentum going. Without that performance by our defense today, BYU would have scored much more than 7 points in the first half and we wouldn't have been able to just sit there chipping away with field goal while our offense self destructed.
Special teams also had a huge day as Douglas, in his only kickoff return of the game, made the most of it with a 93 yard touchdown return, to go along with two solid returns by Hart, including one for 46 yards, that often kept us in great field position. Punt returns, Breedlove was alright, but a couple mediocre returns (to go along with his bad and mediocre returns in the previous three games), plus his fumble that cost us a drive before our offense could even get on the field), ultimately would lose Breedlove his starting position, as a decision was made midway through the third quarter to demote Breedlove and promote Douglas to starting punt returner. A 24 yard return by Douglas would go a long way in making that decision an easy one.
Utah State Kicking – A perfect day and a career day for Marcus, going an incredible 5-5 on field goals with kicks from 49, 29, 50, 42 and 31 yards, as well as going 4-4 in PATs.
Scoring Summary
Team 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Final Score :Utah_State: 3 10 14 16 43 :BYU: 7 0 7 7 21
Time Team Result Play Score First Quarter 8:52 :BYU: Touchdown J. Outlaw, 53 yard pass from P. Johnson (J. McCarthy kick) :BYU: 7-0 1:49 :Utah_State: Field Goal D. Marcus, 49 yard field goal :BYU: 7-3 Second Quarter 5:09 :Utah_State: Field Goal D. Marcus, 29 yard field goal :BYU: 7-6 0:47 :Utah_State: Touchdown B. Paris, 3 yard run (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 13-7 Third Quarter 9:50 :Utah_State: Touchdown D. Douglas, returned kickoff 93 yards (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 20-7 4:46 :Utah_State: Touchdown R. Watson, 5 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 27-7 2:44 :BYU: Touchdown K. Neal, 3 yard run (J. McCarthy kick) :Utah_State: 27-14 Fourth Quarter 9:58 :Utah_State: Touchdown B. Paris, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 34-14 6:54 :Utah_State: Field Goal D. Marcus, 50 yard field goal :Utah_State: 37-14 1:58 :Utah_State: Field Goal D. Marcus, 42 yard field goal :Utah_State: 40-14 1:41 :BYU: Touchdown K. Neal, 75 yard run (J. McCarthy kick) :Utah_State: 40-21 0:01 :Utah_State: Field Goal D. Marcus, 31 yard field goal :Utah_State: 43-21
Game Stats
Utah State Stat BYU 43 Score 21 21 First Downs 6 333 Total Offense 273 47 - 173 - 2 Rushes - Yards - TD 15 - 82 - 2 15 - 26 - 1 Comp - Att - TD 20 - 29 - 1 160 Passing Yards 191 0 Times Sacked 3 11 - 16 (68%) 3rd Down Conversion 2 - 10 (20%) 0 - 0 (0%) 4th Down Conversion 0 - 1 (0%) 0 - 0 (0%) 2-Point Conv 0 - 0 (0%) 5 - 3 - 2 (100%) Red Zone - TD - FG 1 - 1 - 0 (100%) 3 Turnovers 3 1 Fumbles Lost 0 2 Intercepted 3 75 Punt Return Yards 0 156 Kick Return Yards 10 564 Total Yards 283 0 – 0.0 Punts - Average 6 - 37.7 0 - 0 Penalties 2 - 30 27:02 Time of Possession 12:58
Utah State Coach Goals
Goal XP Reward Completed Win a Game 100 x1 Score a Touchdown 25 x4 Kick/Punt Return Touchdown 50 x1 Force a Turnover 25 x3 45+ Yard Field Goal 10 x2 Rush for 100 Yards 25 x1 3+ Sacks 50 x1 Opponent Under 150 Rush Yards 50 x1 Beat a Rival School 50 x1 Opponent Under 300 Pass Yards 50 x1 Pass Completion Over 50% 30 x1 100% Red Zone Efficiency 50 x1 Score 21 or More Points 50 x1 10+ First Downs 50 x1 4+ 3rd Down Conversions 25 x1
Utah State Contract Goals Update
Goal Expectations Progress Target Wins Per Season 8 2
Job Security Status
100%
Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, #1 Ohio State doubled up Central Michigan 42-21 to extend their winning streak to 45 games. #2 West Virginia steamrolled Maryland 52-17. #3 Michigan smoked Purdue 49-14. #4 Florida State routed Virginia 55-21. #5 UCLA beat Washington State 45-31. #6 Ole Miss got past Vanderbilt 42-31. In the upset of the week, Wake Forest stunned #7 Miami 28-27. #8 Virginia Tech dominated Old Dominion 44-10. USC shocked #9 Oregon 53-39. In the game of the week, #10 South Carolina toppled #15 Alabama 31-21.
Louisiana Tech stunned #11 Wisconsin 39-35. NC State shocked #12 Georgia Tech 28-23. #14 TCU manhandled Oklahoma State 56-17. Arkansas State knocked off #16 Connecticut 34-28. #17 Texas walloped UTEP 38-3. #18 Florida survived Tennessee 27-23. Georgia slapped around #19 Texas A&M 42-10. #21 Stanford escaped Arizona State 41-38 in overtime. #22 Cincinnati dominated Miami University 49-28. Temple knocked off #23 Navy 36-26. #24 Baylor got by Rice 28-18. Auburn upset #25 Kentucky 30-24.
For our readers, JeffHCross, #1 Ohio State improves to 3-0 (0-0 Big Ten) with a 42-21 win over Central Michigan. Morsdraconis, #2 West Virginia improves to 3-0 (1-0 Big 12) with a 52-17 win over Maryland. Souljahbill, Southern Miss improves to 1-1 (0-0 C-USA) with a 45-42 overtime upset of LSU. Jaymo, Arizona State drops to 0-3 (0-1 Pac-12) with a 41-38 overtime loss to #21 Stanford. LeeSO, Auburn improves to 2-1 (1-1 SEC) with a 30-24 upset of #25 Kentucky. SCClassof93, #10 South Carolina improves to 4-0 (3-0 SEC) with a 31-21 win over #15 Alabama. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State improves to 3-0 (0-0 Sun Belt) with a 34-28 win over #16 Connecticut. Florida International drops to 0-3 (0-1 C-USA) with a 42-41 loss to Western Kentucky. #23 Navy drops to 0-2 (0-2 American) with a 36-26 loss to Temple. Tulsa improves to 1-2 (1-0 American) with a 48-0 shutout of East Carolina.
In Mountain West action, Utah State trampled BYU 43-21, Wyoming knocked off Eastern Michigan 23-14, San Diego State smoked Buffalo 38-16, Boise State spanked the beaver, beating Oregon State 31-16, New Mexico topped New Mexico State in the Rio Grande Rivalry 38-17, Minnesota beat Colorado State 34-15, Houston escaped Nevada 28-25, Iowa State slipped past San Jose State 29-28, Idaho doubled up UNLV 42-21 and Illinois defeated Hawaii 42-35.
Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, Ohio State (35 first place votes) remains #1, West Virginia (25 votes) remains #2, Michigan (1 vote) remains #3, Florida State remains #4 and UCLA remains #5. Ole Miss remains #6, South Carolina jumps three to #7, Virginia Tech remains #8, Oklahoma climbs four to #9 and TCU leaps four to #10. Texas vaults six to #11, Florida leaps six to #12, Oregon drops four to #13, Miami falls seven to #14 and Kansas State jumps five to #15. Stanford leaps five to #16, Cincinnati jumps five to #17, Alabama drops three to #18, Georgia enters the poll at #19 and USC enters the poll at #20. Baylor climbs three to #21, Connecticut drops six to #22, Arkansas State enters the poll at #23, New Mexico enters the poll at #24 and Georgia Tech (241 points) drops thirteen spots to #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Wisconsin (from #11), Texas A&M (from #19), Navy (from #23) and Kentucky (from #25). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Washington (190 points) is #26, followed by Texas A&M (174), Fresno State (147), Wisconsin (105) and Michigan State (104) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include Ohio (74) and Syracuse (31).
Taking a look at the first Top 25 Media Poll of the season, Florida State (40 first place votes) is #1, Ohio State (21 votes) is #2, West Virginia (1 vote) is #3, Michigan (1 vote) is #4 and Ole Miss (1 vote) is #5. UCLA (1 vote) is #6, Virginia Tech is #7, South Carolina is #8, Texas is #9 and Oklahoma is #10. TCU is #11, Florida is #12, Kansas State is #13, Miami is #14 and Oregon is #15. Alabama is #16, Cincinnati is #17, Stanford is #18, Georgia is #19, Washington is #20. USC is #21, Arkansas State is #22, Connecticut is #23, Ohio is #24 and Georgia Tech (259 points) is #25. Looking at Others Receiving Points, Baylor (237 points) is #26, followed by Michigan State (201), Texas A&M (141), Clemson (131) and New Mexico (131) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include Wisconsin (126), Fresno State (97), Kentucky (71) and Syracuse (34).
A look at the Heisman race, Ohio State QB Jordan Watkins is #1 (LW: #1), Florida QB Joseph Brown is #2 (LW: #2), South Carolina QB Jared Stevens is #3 (LW: #3), Texas QB Justin Jones is #4 (LW: NR) and UcLA QB Randy McNair is #5 (LW: NR). Falling off the Heisman Watch List this week was Fresno State HB Chris Vincent (LW: #4) and Alabama HB Alex Davis (LW: #5).
On a bye week this week, so lets get right to it.
Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, #1 Ohio State cakewalked past Wisconsin 52-7, upping their win streak to 46 games. #2 West Virginia slipped past Oklahoma State 51-45 in overtime. #3 Michigan manhandled Illinois 49-13. #4 Florida State smoked Wake Forest 42-17. #5 UCLA survived Washington 35-31. In the game of the week, #6 Ole Miss topped #18 Alabama 40-34 in overtime. #7 South Carolina beat San Jose State 31-20. In the upset of the week, Arizona State stunned #8 Virginia Tech 30-21. #9 Oklahoma outlasted Toledo 34-27.
#10 TCU got by SMU 42-30. #12 Florida defeated Kentucky 34-21. Texas Tech knocked off #13 Oregon 42-35. #14 Miami violated Notre Dame 62-3. #15 Kansas State escaped BYU 38-35. Arizona upset #16 Stanford 45-42. #17 Cincinnati defeated Tulsa 23-7. #19 Georgia survived NC State 31-27. #20 USC topped California 42-30. Tennessee shocked #22 Connecticut 42-27. Auburn knocked off #23 Arkansas State 22-16. Nevada stunned #24 New Mexico 37-10, likely ending any hopes of a return BCS appearance by the Lobos. #25 Georgia Tech doubled up Syracuse 42-21.
For our readers, JeffHCross, #1 Ohio State improves to 4-0 (1-0 Big Ten) with a 52-7 laugher over Wisconsin. Morsdraconis, #2 West Virginia improves to 4-0 (2-0 Big 12) with a 51-45 overtime win over Oklahoma State. Souljahbill, Southern Miss remains 1-1 (0-0 C-USA) with a bye week. Jaymo, Arizona State improves to 1-3 (0-1 Pac-12) with a 30-21 upset of #8 Virginia Tech. LeeSO, Auburn improves to 3-1 (1-1 SEC) with a 22-16 upset of #23 Arkansas State. SCClassof93, #7 South Carolina improves to 5-0 (3-0 SEC) with a 31-20 win over San Jose State. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State drops to 3-1 (0-0 Sun Belt) with a 22-16 loss to Auburn. Florida International drops to 0-4 (0-1 C-USA) with a 37-21 loss to Montana. Navy improves to 1-2 (1-2 American) with a 37-34 overtime win over Central Florida. Tulsa drops to 1-3 (1-1 American) with a 23-7 loss to #17 Cincinnati.
In Mountain West action, Nevada shocked New Mexico 37-10, Fresno State blanked Colorado State 14-0, UNLV routed Wyoming 41-14, Air Force toppled San Diego State 27-22 and #7 South Carolina beat San Jose State 31-20.
Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, Ohio State (34 first place votes) remains #1, West Virginia (25 votes) remains #2, Michigan (1 vote) remains #3, Florida State (1 vote) remains #4 and UCLA remains #5. Ole Miss remains #6, South Carolina remains #7, Oklahoma climbs one to #8, TCU jumps one to #9 and Texas moves up one to #10. Florida climbs one to #11, Miami jumps two to #12, Kansas State rises two to #13, Cincinnati leaps three to #14 and Georgia vaults four to #15. USC jumps four to #16, Baylor climbs four to #17, Virginia Tech drops ten to #18, Georgia Tech leaps six to #19 and Alabama (despite two straight losses and three losses on the season) drops only two to #20. Fresno State enters the poll at #21, Stanford drops six to #22, Oregon falls ten to #23, Washington enters the poll at #24 and Michigan State (179 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Connecticut (from #22), Arkansas State (from #23) and New Mexico (from #24). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Tennessee (163 points) is #26, followed by Ohio (147), Connecticut (128), Arkansas State (127) and Indiana (101) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include Clemson (57), Auburn (52) and Temple (30).
Taking a look at the new Top 25 Media Poll, Florida State (37 first place votes) remains #1, Ohio State (27 votes) remains #2, West Virginia (1 vote) remains #3, Michigan remains #4 and Ole Miss remains #5. UCLA remains #6, South Carolina climbs one to #7, Texas jumps one to #8, Oklahoma moves up one to #9 and TCU jumps one to #10. Florida moves up one to #11, Kansas State rises one to #12, Miami jumps one to #13, Cincinnati leaps three to #14 and Georgia vaults four to #15. USC leaps five to #16, Virginia Tech drops ten to #17, Baylor enters the poll at #18, Alabama drops three to #19 and Georgia Tech jumps five to #20. Ohio climbs three to #21, Washington drops two to #22, Michigan State enters the poll at #23, Clemson enters the poll at #24 and Oregon (120 points) plummets ten to #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Stanford (from #18), Arkansas State (from #22) and Connecticut (from #23). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Stanford (116 points) is #26, followed by Arkansas State (101), Fresno State (77), Tennessee (64) and Auburn (33) to round out the Top 30.
A look at the Heisman race, Ohio State QB Jordan Watkins is #1 (LW: #1), UCLA QB Randy McNair is #2 (LW: #5), Florida QB Joseph Brown is #3 (LW: #2), Michigan QB Brian Brewster is #4 (LW: NR) and South Carolina QB Jared Stevens is #5 (LW: #3). Falling off the Heisman Watch List this week was Texas QB Justin Jones (LW: #4).
Just for note, now that Ohio State did indeed get past their non-conference schedule and got past what originally appeared to be a tough test against Wisconsin (who was ranked up until the week before playing Ohio State) to up their win streak to 46 straight games, the Buckeyes are now just two games away from setting the record for longest win streak. Who are those two opponents for the Buckeyes?
They start with a home game against Iowa (1-2, 0-1 Big Ten) in week 6. Iowa opened with a 20-17 win over FCS West, before losing 28-14 to Iowa State and 23-19 to Indiana.
If they get past Iowa, Ohio State will then tangle with Illinois (currently 2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) at home in week 7. Illinois opened their year with a 33-17 win at Western Michigan, lost 28-21 to Texas State, beat Hawaii 42-35 and lost 49-13 to #3 Michigan. They have a game at 4-0 Penn State this week before playing Ohio State next week. In fact, looking at Illinois' schedule, what a bitch of a stretch. In three consecutive weeks, 4-0 (3-0 at the time they played) #3 Michigan, 4-0 Penn State and 4-0 (likely 5-0 at the time when they play) #1 Ohio State.
On the flip side, Ohio State has a gauntlet to end the season. With current records as of the end of week 5, Ohio State's last four games are against 3-0 #25 Michigan State, 4-0 Penn State, at 4-1 Indiana and at 4-0 #3 Michigan. Now obviously they won't all be undefeated or have only one loss by the time Ohio State gets to week 11, but regardless, that will be one hell of a month of games in November.
I mean, I can believe that a few of them would take them out of the top spot ... see Kentucky this year being a unanimous #1 up until this week in college basketball. But no way would enough drop them ...Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
Speaking of gauntlets, did you see the schedule they have (IRL) for 2015? It ends Michigan State, Michigan, (Possible) CCG, Bowl/Playoff. Wowza.Quote:
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
1-3 for :Arizona_State: Well. I guess Ram called it. The SunDevils are NOT allowed to win because of the whole Christianity movement in the USA. I guess Sparky will anger the religious right??? Wow, even the script writers figured out how to destroy video games with their secret illuminati agenda! :fp:
Game Five
:San_Jose_State: :@: :Utah_State:
Game Story
--- Coming off a huge victory over BYU to wrap up the Beehive Boot and the Old Wagon Wheel for the season followed by a bye week to rest up, it was time to dive into the conference schedule for the year. First up would be San Jose State, who would enter the game at 2-2 on the year. This looked to be a tough one. The Spartans started their season with consecutive wins (28-14 at Colorado and 45-21 vs. Fordham), before losing 29-28 at Iowa State and 31-20 at #7 South Carolina. We were going to be tested today, as San Jose State entered with the #35 rushing offense, a defense that ranked between #50 and #65 as well as entering the contest as the #1 team in the nation in turnover differential. It would take a perfect game by our offense (including NO turnovers) and a strong showing by our defense to get the job done today. It would be a little bit more difficult as the field was pure white and the snow was flying on this October afternoon. We would win the coin toss and elect to kick.
The opening kickoff would sail into the touchback and San Jose State would start their opening drive from their 25 yard line. Antoine Wyatt would get the Spartans off and running on first down with a 8 yard carry around the left end. Keeping the ball on second down, quarterback C.J. Dotson would be met in the backfield and quickly tackled for a three yard loss, bringing up third and 5. Our defense would rise to the occasion on third down, as Dotson dropped back to pass off of a play action fake, only to have his pass intercepted by cornerback Leonard Hart, who returned the ball 5 yards to the 32 yard line.
Taking over possession at the San Jose State 32 yard line following the interception, our offense was left in impeccable position to take control of the tempo of this game early on. We would get our first drive of the game started on the ground, as Brian Paris took the handoff for a four yard gain up the middle, followed by a 7 yard dash to give us a quick first down at the 21 yard line. Another four yard gain by Paris would keep us moving the ball forward as we lined up on second and 6. Paris would plow ahead on second down, picking up 6 yards on the play to bring up third and inches. Placing the ball right back into the hands of Paris, he would fight for a two yard gain and pick up the first down, giving us first and goal at the Spartan 9 yard line. Continuing to force San Jose State to stop us on the ground, Paris would rush forward for a 5 yard gain on first down, moving the ball to the four yard line. Another rush attempt by Paris would result in no gain, bringing up third and goal from the four yard line. Taking a gamble on the play action pass on third down, the defense would bite on the fake, allowing tight end Gerald Woods to get open along the right side of the end zone, hauling in the pass from Jason Barnes for a four yard touchdown to give us a 7-0 lead with 5:37 left in the first quarter.
Another touchback on the kickoff would place San Jose State right back at their 25 yard line. Wyatt would get the Spartans off and running on first down, but the blitz by our defense would leave him with nowhere to run, tackled for no gain on the play. The Spartans would find a small victory on second down, as a play action pass caught our defense out of place, but Wyatt would only manage 5 yards on the reception as he was dragged down from behind, bringing up third and 5. Unfortunately San Jose State would turn a first down pass into a 70 yard touchdown as multiple crossing routes left our secondary victims of friendly fire collisions, allowing Robert Thomas to pull in the pass and race up field untouched, tying the game at 7-7 with 4:33 left in the first quarter.
A 17 yard kickoff return by Hart would give us the ball at our 21 yard line for our next drive. Despite nearly being swarmed at the snap, Paris was able to avoid the blitzing defense on the first down handoff and find a hole for a gain of 6 yards. Another rush by Paris would go for 6 more yards, giving us a first down at the 33 yard line. Paris would continue to take it right at the defense, fighting his way up the middle and briefly breaking into open space on a 16 yard carry, moving the chains to the 48 yard line. Unfortunately, the first down carry by Paris would gain just two yards as the defense managed to clog up all of the holes, leaving second and 8. Going into the air on second down, Barnes would find Adam Washington wide open over the middle, the pass complete for an 18 yard gain and a first down at the San Jose State 33 yard line. Staying in the air on first down, Raymond Watson was able to pull in a quick pass from Barnes for a 6 yard gain, bringing up second and four. Returning to the ground on second down, Paris rumbled ahead for a four yard gain, leaving us just short and facing third and inches. A second four down rush by Paris would get the job down, picking up the first down and advancing the chains to the 18 yard line. Aaron Allen would keep us moving forward on first down as he pulled in a pass from Barnes along the left sideline, good for a 13 yard gain to set us up with first and goal from the 5 yard line. Paris would take the handoff on first down, but he was unable to gain any yards on the play, leaving second and goal. A second attempt by Paris would go for a gain of four yards to bring up third and goal at the one yard line. That would be the final play of the quarter, the first quarter coming to an end in a 7-7 tie.
Opening up the second quarter, we lined up at the San Jose State one yard line, facing third and goal on the play. Paris had largely gotten us here courtesy of his rushing, so we left it to him to finish the drive off. He would do exactly that as he took the handoff and plunged untouched into the end zone for a one yard touchdown, giving us a 14-7 lead with 9:59 left in the second quarter.
A 27 yard kickoff return by Wyatt would give the Spartans the ball at their 24 yard line. Despite blowing up Dotson and hitting the receiver well behind the line of scrimmage, the screen pass to Tony Robinson would still end up going for an 11 yard gain in a moment of high-stepping BS, giving San Jose State a first down at the 36 yard line. Going to the ground on first down, Wyatt would gain just one yard on the play, bringing up second and 9. A late option pitch to Jesse Lewis would go for a 5 yard gain, leaving the Spartans with third and four. Dotson would drop back to pass on third down, but a completely missed block by Wyatt would allow our defensive end to coming sprinting into the backfield completely untouched, sacking Dotson for a 7 yard loss and forcing the Spartans to punt on fourth and 11. A one yard return on the 35 yard punt gave us the ball at our 30 yard line.
Lining up following the punt, it was back to more of the same as Paris rumbled ahead for a 6 yard gain on first down, followed by a four yard gain to leave us facing third and inches. Despite stacking the line of scrimmage, the defense would be unable to stop Paris as he raced forward for a 6 yard gain, giving us a first down at the 46 yard line. Paris would try to keep it going on first down, but he would quickly get brought down for just a one yard gain, leaving second and 9. Raymond Watson would get us moving through the air, pulling in a pass from Barnes out of the backfield for a quick strike of 8 yards, bringing up third and one in San Jose territory. Paris would again get the call on third down, turning it into a four yard gain and a new set of downs at the San Jose 41 yard line. Following his blockers on first down, Paris would rumble forward for a gain of 7 yards on the play, followed by a 5 yard rush by Benjamin Silva, giving us a first down at the 29 yard line. Paris would return on first down, heading straight up the middle for a gain of 6 yards, followed by a second 6 yard carry to give us another first down at the 18 yard line. With seemingly no way to slow us down, Silva would get the handoff on first down, fighting forward for a 5 yard gain. Paris was on his way to a first down on the second down carry, before he was stripped on the play, the fumble recovered by San Jose State at their 7 yard line. We would take a chance and challenge the fumble (with only 3:27 left in the half), but the ruling on the field was confirmed.
Taking over after the fumble recovery, San Jose State came out passing but quickly found themselves facing third and four as an incomplete pass and a 6 yard rush by Wyatt burned their first two downs of the drive. Hit as he tried to throw the pass, Dotson would only get off a wounded duck pass that would land incomplete, forcing San Jose to punt on fourth and four. A 9 yard return on the 34 yard punt would give us the ball at the San Jose State 37 yard line.
Lining up inside Spartans territory following the punt, we forced Paris right back into the saddle on first down. Unfortunately, he would only gain a single yard on the play, leaving us with second and 9. Taking another shot with a play action pass, it would pay off HUGE as Woods would again get wide open behind the corner, pulling in the pass from Barnes and racing downfield for a 27 yard gain before being tripped up from behind, giving us first and goal at the 9 yard line. Going back to the ground on first down, Paris took the handoff straight up the middle for a 5 yard gain, followed by a three yard rush to leave us with third and goal at the two yard line. Silva would get the call on third and goal, plowing forward into the end zone for a two yard touchdown, increasing our lead to 21-7 with 47 seconds remaining until halftime.
Another touchback on the kickoff would give San Jose State the ball at their 25 yard line, just 47 seconds to work with in the quarter. Going into the air on first down, Dotson was forced to throw a short pass to Robinson, only gaining 5 yards on the play and forcing the Spartans to use their first timeout with 43 seconds to go. It would only get worse for the Spartans as our pass coverage gave our defensive line time to break through the pass block, as two defenders converged on Dotson to sack him for an 8 yard loss, leaving the Spartans facing third and 13 from their 22 yard line. San Jose State seemingly was ready to throw in the towel after that play, as they didn’t bother to call one of their two remaining timeouts, huddling up and letting the clock continue to tick its way under 30 seconds. Snapping the ball with two seconds left, the Spartans would hand the ball off to Wyatt for a 5 yard gain, taking us into halftime with a 21-7 lead.
Opening up the second half, a huge 57 yard kickoff return by Hart up the right sideline gave us the ball at the San Jose State 40 yard line to start the third quarter. Getting the drive started on the ground (why change what works?), Paris got us off and running with a 5 yard gain on first down, followed by a three yard rush to bring up third and two. Leaving the drive in the hands of Paris, he would fight his way to a three yard gain to pick up the first down at the 29 yard line. Paris would keep us moving with a four yard gain on first down, followed by a 7 yard rush to give us a first down at the 18 yard line. Changing it up with a pass on first down, Barnes would connect with Allen along the left hash mark for a 10 yard completion, leaving us with second and inches. Taking the ball on second down, Paris would rush the ball around the right tackle for a two yard gain, giving us first and goal at the San Jose 6 yard line. Taking the ball on first down Paris would rush forward for a three yard gain to bring up second and goal at the three yard line. Silva would need just one play to finish the drive off, punching it in on second down for a three yard touchdown to increase our lead to a commanding 28-7 with 6:27 left in the third quarter.
Another touchback on the kickoff would start the Spartans from their 25 yard line. Wyatt would get the drive started with a two yard run up the middle, before being brought down for a four yard loss by our blitzing defense, leaving San Jose State with third and 12 from their 23 yard line. Emptying out the backfield would do little for the Spartans, as safety Kyle Mitchell would come sprinting in from behind the receiver, intercepting the downfield pass along the sideline to give us possession at the San Jose 34 yard line.
Lining up once more with great field position following an interception, Paris would put forth a major effort on the first down carry, fighting his way through two tackle attempts on his way to an 11 yard carry, picking up a quick new set of downs at the 23 yard line. Another rush up the middle by Paris would go for a gain of 7 yards, followed by a 6 yard carry to give us first and goal at the 10 yard line. Silva would take the ball on first down, fighting his way forward for a 6 yard gain, giving us second and goal at the four yard line. A two yard rush by Paris would bring up third and goal from the two yard line. Paris would get the call on third down, sprinting forward untouched into the end zone, further increasing our commanding lead to 35-7 with 3:29 left in the third quarter.
Another touchback on the kickoff would start San Jose State’s next drive from the 25 yard line. A first down screen pass to Wyatt would end up going for a 16 yard gain, getting the Spartans off to a quick start. After an incomplete pass on first down, Dotson would find Jorge White for a 9 yard gain to bring up second and one. Keeping the ball on an option play, Dotson would get into open field for a 27 yard gain, giving San Jose a first down at our 23 yard line. Dotson would be forced to throw the ball away on first down, followed by a 23 yard touchdown pass on a screen pass to Lewis, cutting our lead to 35-14 with 2:20 left in the third quarter.
A 24 yard kickoff return by Hart would give us the ball at our 27 yard line. Paris would get our drive started with a 5 yard carry, followed by a second down pass to Washington, good for a 15 yard gain and a first down at the 46 yard line. Staying in the shotgun on first down, Barnes would try to connect with Jon Morris, but the pass would get broken up to leave second down. Going back to the ground on second down, Paris would only gain two yards before being ripped down from behind, leaving third and 8. A third down pass to Allen would pick up 12 yards, moving the chains to the San Jose State 40 yard line. Going to the ground on first down, Paris would take the handoff for a 7 yard carry, followed by a second 7 yard gain to get a first down at the 26 yard line. A 6 yard run by Silva would bring the third quarter to an end, our lead sitting at 35-14.
Opening up the fourth quarter, we lined up at the San Jose State 20 yard line, facing second and four. Silva would again get the call, rushing for a four yard gain to leave us facing third and short. The defense would end up giving us the first down as a facemask penalty on the play, marked half the distance to the goal, would set us up with first and goal from the 8 yard line. Silva would nearly end the drive on the first play, finding a huge gap up the middle for a 7 yard gain, brought down just outside the goal line to leave second and goal. Catching the defense sleeping as they stacked the box, Barnes dropped back from under center and rifled a quick pass to tight end Jack Long on a slant route, good for a one yard touchdown to increase our lead to 42-14 with 9:11 left in the game.
Wyatt would choose to take a knee on the kickoff, the touchback giving the Spartans the ball at their 25 yard line. The rough day would continue for San Jose State as Dotson dropped back to pass on first down, only to find no one open and the pocket collapsing, eventually scrambling his way right into a defender for a sack for a 6 yard loss to leave second and 16 and an early hole for the offense. A quick out pass to Wyatt would go for no gain, bringing up third and 16. Unbelievably, a screen pass on third down would result in SIX missed tackles as Wyatt run up the left sideline for a bloody 68 goddamn yard gain, giving San Jose State a first down at our 13 yard line. Lewis would take the handoff on first down, gaining only two yards on the counter. An option pitch to Lewis on second down would result in a loss of four yards, bringing up third and 12. Unfortunately Dotson would sail a pass into the corner of the end zone to Zach Ross for a 16 yard touchdown pass, cutting out lead to 42-21 with 7:08 left in the game.
A 19 yard kickoff return by Hart would leave us starting our drive from our 18 yard line. With a three possession lead and just seven minutes from victory, we elected to start our drive on the ground, where Silva would gain just two yards. While we preferred to chew up clock, we also preferred to keep possession of the ball, going into the air on second down. David Douglas would do exactly that with a 16 yard reception from Barnes, giving us a first down at the 36 yard line. Staying in the air on first down, another pass to Douglas, this time on a comeback route, would see the cornerback miss on his tackle attempt and allow Douglas to get up the field for a 28 yard completion, moving the chains to the San Jose 36 yard line. Unfortunately we would end up going backwards on first down, sacked for an 8 yard loss. Going over the middle on second and 18, Douglas would erase that loss and get the first down with a 20 yard completion, moving the ball to the 25 yard line. Trying to hit Allen down the right sideline, the pass would end up intercepted by cornerback Anthony Walker, giving San Jose State the ball at their 28 yard line.
Lining up after the interception, the Spartans came out throwing on first down. That would be a mistake as Hart would intercept the pass right back, and unlike Walker, return it 46 yards to the house for a pick six touchdown, increasing our lead to 49-21 with 4:55 left in the game.
No return on the kickoff would start the Spartans again from their 25 yard line. After two incomplete passes to bring up third and 10 for San Jose State, Jesse Breedlove would get in on the action, intercepting Dotson’s third down pass along the left sideline to give us the ball at the San Jose 41 yard line.
Lining up in Spartans territory following the interception, our defense’s fourth interception of the game, we decided to repeat what we did with Paris earlier in the game, and put Barnes right back in the saddle on first down. Shaking off his interception from his previous drive, he found Douglas over the middle on first down for a 16 yard strike and a quick first down at the 25 yard line. Lining up under center on first down, Barnes would connect with tight end Sam Livingston for another 16 yard gain, giving us first and goal from the 9 yard line. Unbelievably, the first and goal pass intended for Long would be intercepted by a fully stretched out and diving safety Kevin Johnson in the end zone for a touchback, giving San Jose the ball at their 20 yard line. That would be four straight possessions combined between both teams ending in interceptions. Ridiculous.
Lining up after the touchback on the interception, Dotson would drop back to pass on first down, but finding no one open, would take off scrambling for a 20 yard gain, moving the chains to the 40 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Dotson would connect with Robinson for a gain of 16 yards, moving the ball to our 44 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, Wyatt would take the ball up the middle for a two yard gain to bring up third and 8. An incomplete pass would bring up fourth down for the Spartans. Somehow Thomas would pull in a pass from Dotson for a 14 yard gain, getting a first down at our 28 yard line. After another incomplete pass on first down, Dotson would end up sacked for a one yard loss, leaving third and 11. Another sack would push the Spartans back another 7 yards, bringing up fourth and 18. Going for it on fourth down, a false start penalty would add 5 more yards to the down, San Jose now punting on fourth and 23. A touchback on the punt would give us the ball at our 20 yard line.
Initially coming out running on first down, San Jose’s defense stacked the box, causing Barnes to audible to a pass play, only to have the pass over the middle intended for Douglas broken up. Another pass to Douglas would be completed this time for an 18 yard gain, giving us a first down at the 38 yard line. Finding Allen for a 10 yard completion on first down, we would line up on second and inches, with a four yard rush enough to get the first down at the San Jose 48 yard line. Another pass to Allen would pick up 17 yards, giving us a first down at the 31 yard line. With the clock now ticking under a minute, we would call off the dogs and Barnes would drop to a knee with 30 seconds left in the game, running out the clock on a dominating 49-21 victory in the conference opener.
With the win, we open conference play and improve to 3-2, 1-0 in Mountain West action. With the loss, San Jose State drops to 2-3, 0-1 in Mountain West play. Up next, it’s on the road to take on Nevada. The Wolf Pack enter the game at 1-4, 1-0 in Mountain West action. Nevada started out on a four game losing streak, losing at Cal 23-20, at Purdue 45-17, to #4 UCLA 38-10 and to Houston 28-25, before finally breaking into the win column with a 37-10 victory at New Mexico.
Final Score
:Utah_State: 49, :San_Jose_State: 21
Stat(s) of the Game:
Utah State Offense - A rather good day for Barnes, going 18-22 for 254 yards and two touchdowns. Only negatives today were the two interceptions, one in the end zone and one in the red zone, both on tough passes that the defense just made outstanding plays on more than a bad throw by Barnes. Rushing, Paris had a monster day, ending with 198 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 44 carries. Silva finished his day with 44 yards and two touchdowns on 10 rushes. Receiving, Douglas led the way with 98 yards on 5 catches. Woods (31 yards on two catches) and Long (one yard on one catch) accounted for the two receiving touchdowns. In all, seven receivers caught at least one pass today, six of them ended with double digit yards.
Utah State Defense/Special Teams – Other than the three touchdown scoring drives by the Spartans, our defense by and large reined supreme today. Four interceptions was incredible. One interception by Breedlove, one by Mitchell and a huge two by Hart, including a pick six, really set the tone for the day and kept the Spartans offense largely in check. Still have to work on defending the screen passes and the option, as well as just plain defending the pass in general as some of those touchdowns and some of San Jose's big gains came through the air, but all in all, a good day defensively.
Utah State Kicking – A pretty much nonexistent day for Marcus as he didn't attempt any field goals. He did however end up going 7-7 in PATs.
Scoring Summary
Team 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Final Score :San_Jose_State: 7 0 7 7 21 :Utah_State: 7 14 14 14 49
Time Team Result Play Score First Quarter 5:37 :Utah_State: Touchdown G. Woods, 4 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 7-0 4:33 :San_Jose_State: Touchdown R. Thomas, 70 yard pass from C. Dotson (M. Thomas kick) TIED 7-7 Second Quarter 9:59 :Utah_State: Touchdown B. Paris, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 14-7 0:47 :Utah_State: Touchdown B. Silva, 2 yard run (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 21-7 Third Quarter 6:27 :Utah_State: Touchdown B. Silva, 3 yard run (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 28-7 3:29 :Utah_State: Touchdown B. Paris, 2 yard run (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 35-7 2:20 :San_Jose_State: Touchdown J. Lewis, 23 yard pass from C. Dotson (M. Thomas kick) :Utah_State: 35-14 Fourth Quarter 9:11 :Utah_State: Touchdown J. Long, 1 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 42-14 7:08 :San_Jose_State: Touchdown Z. Ross, 16 yard pass from C. Dotson (M. Thomas kick) :Utah_State: 42-21 4:55 :Utah_State: Touchdown L. Hart, returned interception 46 yards (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 49-21
Game Stats
San Jose State Stat Utah State 21 Score 49 7 First Downs 29 290 Total Offense 486 19 - 38 - 0 Rushes - Yards - TD 56 - 232 - 4 12 - 26 - 3 Comp - Att - TD 18 - 22 - 2 252 Passing Yards 254 5 Times Sacked 1 4 - 12 (33%) 3rd Down Conversion 10 - 10 (100%) 1 - 1 (100%) 4th Down Conversion 0 - 0 (0%) 0 - 0 (0%) 2-Point Conv 0 - 0 (0%) 1 - 1 - 0 (100%) Red Zone - TD - FG 8 - 6 - 0 (75%) 4 Turnovers 3 0 Fumbles Lost 1 4 Intercepted 2 0 Punt Return Yards 9 27 Kick Return Yards 116 317 Total Yards 611 3 – 36.7 Punts - Average 0 - 0.0 2 - 13 Penalties 0 - 0 15:01 Time of Possession 24:59
Utah State Coach Goals
Goal XP Reward Completed Win a Game 100 x1 Score a Touchdown 25 x7 Score a Defensive Touchdown 50 x1 Force a Turnover 25 x4 Pass for 250 Yards 25 x1 Rush for 100 Yards 25 x1 Kneel Last Minute Q4 While Ahead 10 x1 3+ Sacks 50 x1 Opponent Under 150 Rush Yards 50 x1 Opponent Under 300 Pass Yards 50 x1 Pass Completion Over 50% 30 x1 Score 21 or More Points 50 x1 350+ Offensive Yards 50 x1 10+ First Downs 50 x1 4+ 3rd Down Conversions 25 x1
Utah State Contract Goals Update
Goal Expectations Progress Target Wins Per Season 8 3
Job Security Status
100%
Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, #1 Ohio State cakewalked past Iowa 42-7, upping their win streak to 47 games to tie the 1953-57 Oklahoma team for the national record for longest winning streak. #2 West Virginia dominated Kansas 49-7. #3 Michigan downed Colorado 28-17. #4 Florida State struggled past Maryland 42-35. #5 UCLA beat Cal 31-21. #6 Ole Miss survived BYU 35-28. #7 South Carolina beat Kentucky 41-21. In the game of the week, #8 Oklahoma would claim the Red River Shootout with a 45-35 win over #10 Texas.
#9 TCU topped #17 Baylor 21-17. #11 Florida slapped around LSU 52-24. #12 Miami got past NC State 35-31. #14 Cincinnati dominated Memphis 52-28. #15 Georgia beat Tennessee 24-19. #16 USC topped Utah 38-26. #18 Virginia fought off Syracuse 62-56 in triple overtime. #19 Georgia Tech took down Clemson 35-31. #20 Alabama took down UAB 34-14. #22 Stanford beat Washington State 35-18. #24 Washington defeated Florida International 34-14. Nebraska knocked off #25 Michigan State 38-35.
For our readers, JeffHCross, #1 Ohio State improves to 5-0 (2-0 Big Ten) with a 42-7 stomping of Iowa. Morsdraconis, #2 West Virginia improves to 5-0 (3-0 Big 12) with a 49-7 thrashing of Kansas. Souljahbill, Southern Miss drops to 1-2 (0-1 C-USA) with a 31-16 loss to Rice. Jaymo, Arizona State drops to 1-4 (0-2 Pac-12) with a 28-13 loss to Oregon State. LeeSO, Auburn improves to 4-1 (1-1 SEC) with a 27-6 win over Georgia State. SCClassof93, #7 South Carolina improves to 6-0 (4-0 SEC) with a 41-21 win over Kentucky. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State remains 3-1 (0-0 Sun Belt) with a bye week. Florida International drops to 0-5 (0-1 C-USA) with a 34-14 loss to #24 Washington. Navy improves to 2-2 (1-2 American) with a 31-17 win over Air Force. Tulsa remains 1-3 (1-1 American) with a bye week.
In Mountain West action, Utah State routed San Jose State 49-21, Hawaii upset Boise State 48-38, Colorado State beat Wyoming 45-24, New Mexico State shocked San Diego State 41-38 in overtime and Navy beat Air Force 31-17.
Looking at undefeated teams left, #10 Texas, #17 Baylor, #25 Michigan State, Boston College, Clemson, Ohio and UTSA all lost this week, dropping our number of undefeated teams to 14. #1 Ohio State (5-0), #2 West Virginia (5-0), #3 Michigan (5-0), #4 Florida State (5-0), #5 UCLA (6-0), #6 Ole Miss (5-0), #7 South Carolina (6-0), #8 Oklahoma (4-0), #11 Florida (6-0), #13 Kansas State (3-0), #14 Cincinnati, #21 Fresno State (4-0), Northern Illinois (4-0) and Penn State (5-0) all remain with an unblemished record this season.
Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 7 teams still looking for their first win: Buffalo (0-5), East Carolina (0-5), Florida International (0-5), Kent State (0-4), Notre Dame (0-6), UAB (0-4) and Western Michigan (0-4).
Teams getting their first win this week were: Ball State (44-27 over Buffalo), Florida Atlantic (42-28 over Middle Tennessee State), Massachusetts (41-20 over Old Dominion) and Pittsburgh (22-16 over Notre Dame).
Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, in a head scratcher, West Virginia (39 first place votes) climbs one to #1, Ohio State (21 votes) drops one to #2, Florida State (1 vote) climbs one to #3, UCLA jumps one to #4 and Michigan drops two #5. Oklahoma jumps two to #6, Ole Miss drops one to #7, South Carolina drops one to #8, Florida jumps two to #9 and Kansas State leaps three to #10. TCU drops two to #11, Cincinnati climbs two to #12, Miami falls one to #13, Georgia moves up one to #14 and Texas drops five to #15. USC remains #16, Fresno State jumps four to #17, Virginia Tech remains #18, Georgia Tech remains #19 and Alabama remains #20. Baylor drops four to #21, Stanford remains #22, Oregon remains #23, Washington remains #24 and Arkansas State (118 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week was Michigan State (from #25). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Indiana (97 points) is #26, followed by Auburn (53), Louisiana Lafayette (39), Temple (33) and Tennessee (20) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include Navy (8), Michigan State (7) and Arkansas (6).
Taking a look at the new Top 25 Media Poll, Florida State (37 first place votes) remains #1, West Virginia (21 votes) jumps one to #2, Ohio State (3 votes) gets no respect and drops one to #3, Ole Miss (2 votes) jumps one to #4 and Oklahoma (1 vote) leaps four to #5. UCLA (1 vote) remains #6, Michigan drops three to #7, South Carolina drops one to #8, Kansas State leaps three to #9 and Florida climbs one to #10. TCU drops one to #11, Cincinnati climbs two to #12, Miami remains #13, Texas falls six to #14 and Georgia remains #15. USC remains #16, Virginia Tech remains #17, Alabama climbs one to #18, Georgia Tech jumps one to #19 and Fresno State enters the poll at #20. Baylor drops three to #21, Washington remains #22, Stanford enters the poll at #23, Oregon climbs one to #24 and Arkansas State (157 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Ohio (from #21), Michigan State (from #23) and Clemson (from #24). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Clemson (86 points) is #26, followed by Auburn (81), Indiana (81), Temple (48) and Ohio (48) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include Michigan State (41), Arkansas (23) and Northern Illinois (15).
A look at the Heisman race, Florida QB Joseph Brown is #1 (LW: #3), Florida State QB Chris Larson is #2 (LW: NR), Ohio State QB Jordan Watkins is #3 (LW: #1), UCLA QB Randy McNair is #4 (LW: #2) and South Carolina QB Jared Stevens is #5 (LW: #5). Falling off the Heisman Watch List this week was Michigan QB Brian Brewster (LW: #4).
Game Six
:Utah_State: :@: :Nevada:
Game Story
--- Entering the halfway point of the season, while a 3-2 record was respectable, it certainly wasn’t where we expected to be so far. With one game of conference play under our belts, we were already in a position of advantage as New Mexico had previously lost a conference game, and, along with other conference wins and losses, ourselves and Air Force were the only ones in the Mountain Division with a still untarnished record. After coming so close to a Mountain Division title in previous years, only to end up one or two games out of first place, we needed to take advantage of this early fortune, and that started with a win today against Nevada.
While the Wolf Pack entered boasting the #40 rushing offense in the nation, they were mediocre at very best, their next best ranking in any offensive or defensive stat coming at #73 nationally in rushing defense. With a mix of rankings in the 80s, 90s and 100s, if we could set the tempo from the start today, we could quickly knock any upset hopes down early. Unfortunately, it would be another poor weather game as the rain came down in a monsoon in Reno. We won the coin toss and elected to kick.
A touchback on the opening kickoff gave Nevada the ball at their 25 yard line to start the game. Trying to keep the ball on a delayed QB option, Eric Barnes would end up with nowhere to run as our blitz quickly broke through the offensive line, tacking Barnes for a 5 yard loss. Trying to go with a screen pass on second down, Barnes was forced to throw the ball away to avoid a sacking, leaving third and 15 for the Wolf Pack. A completed screen pass to Lorenzo Harris would pick up 10 yards, but Nevada would be forced to punt away on fourth down. A 6 yard return on the 38 yard punt gave us the ball at our 36 yard line.
In an utterly unsurprising move as we lined up on first down, Brian Paris would get the ball to start our drive, as he raced up the middle for a 7 yard gain, followed by a 6 yard rush to pick up a quick first down at the 49 yard line. Another handoff to Paris would gain three yards, before a huge 10 yard rumble would give us a new set of downs at the Nevada 39 yard line. Benjamin Silva would take over on first down, fighting his way to a 5 yard carry, followed by a stumbling 9 yard rush by Paris to pick up another first down at the 25 yard line. Paris would keep the ball on first down, finding a gaping hole straight up the middle for an 8 yard gain. Taking a chance with the play action pass on second down, the pass from Jason Barnes to tight end Gerald Woods would go for just a one yard gain, as Barnes was forced to throw across his body and forced Woods to go back behind the line of scrimmage to retrieve the pass. With that errant play, we lined back up on third and one. Paris would get the call and race straight forward for a 6 yard carry, setting us up with first and goal from the 10 yard line. Finding the middle of the line of scrimmage completely clogged up, Paris received the handoff from Barnes, bounced outside and sprinted for the sideline, turning up field at the last moment and racing into the end zone for a 10 yard touchdown rush, giving us a 7-0 lead with 5:15 left in the first quarter.
Another touchback on the kickoff would give Nevada the ball at their 25 yard line. Harris would get the handoff on first down, but he would get quickly met by our blitzing linebacker, tackled for a two yard loss on the play. Going right back to the ground, Harris would recover those lost yards and then some with a 9 yard carry up the middle, bringing up third and three. Harris would get the call once more on third down, but he would end up going nowhere as he was tackled for no gain on the play, forcing Nevada to once more call out their punt team on fourth and three. A 15 yard return on the 39 yard punt set us up with the ball at our 43 yard line.
Starting our next drive once more on the ground, Paris got us off and running with a four yard carry on first down. Unfortunately it would be bad news from there as Paris was slow to get up after the play, clutching his ribs as he walked off the field, a potentially devastating blow to our offense. Picking up for the injured Paris, Silva would enter the backfield on second down, rumbling forward for a gain of 5 yards, leaving us with third and inches. Putting the ball right back into the hands of Silva, he would fight for a four yard gain and fresh set of downs at the Nevada 43 yard line. Trying to get Silva warmed up, we would hand the ball right back off on first down, only picking up one yard on the play as Silva was quickly tripped up at the line of scrimmage. Taking a shot through the air on second down, Barnes would connect with Aaron Allen for a 13 yard strike, giving us a first down at the 29 yard line. Staying in the shotgun on first down, Barnes would connect with Adam Washington over the middle for an 11 yard gain, giving us another first down at the 18. Silva would get us rolling on first down with a four yard carry. That would be when we would learn the bad news, discovering that Paris had suffered a strained back, an injury that would leave him sidelined for the next three weeks, essentially ruining what had been shaping up to be a season record setting year. Keeping at it on second down, Silva would stumble his way to a 6 yard gain, good enough to set us up with first and goal at the 8 yard line. Silva would take his first crack at the end zone on first down, pin-balling his way to a three yard gain, followed by a second three yard rush to leave us with third and goal from the two yard line. That would be the final play of the first quarter, our lead standing at 7-0.
Opening up the second quarter, we lined up at the Nevada two yard line, facing third and goal in a make or break play. Despite some good blocking, Silva would only be able to get one yard on the play, leaving us with fourth and goal from the one yard line. Facing a tough decision, we elected to kick for the three points, the 18 yard field goal by Doug Marcus sailing through the uprights to give us a 10-0 lead with 9:30 left in the second quarter.
Another touchback on the deep kickoff would start Nevada from their 25. Harris would try to get the Wolf Pack off and running, but our defense was able to quickly open a gap and let our linebacker break through, tackling Harris for a three yard loss to bring up second and 13. Dropping back to pass on second down, Barnes tried to connect with John Miller, only to have the pass broken up and nearly intercepted, leaving the Wolf Pack facing third and 13. A third down screen pass to Harris would pick up 6 yards, but a well timed move by one of our linebackers allowed him to hurdle a diving blocker and wrap up and tackle Harris from behind, forcing Nevada to once more punt on fourth and 7. A 7 yard return on the 36 yard punt would give us possession at our 42 yard line.
Lining up following the punt, we decided to keep trying to work Silva, who would now be the face of our rushing attack for the next three weeks. Unfortunately he would quickly end up tackled for no gain, bringing up second and 10. Dropping back to pass on second down, the pass from Barnes intended for Washington was nearly intercepted by the safety, leaving third and long. A third down pass to Allen would just get enough yards, picking up 10 on the reception, to give us a first down at the Nevada 48 yard line. Returning to the ground on first down, Silva would struggle to pick up three yards on the carry, clearly not quite up to the talent level of Paris. Lining up under center on second down, Barnes dropped back and tried to thread the needle to Raymond Watson, only to have the pass intercepted by safety Steve McClellan to give Nevada the ball at their 43 yard line.
Coming out on offense after the interception, Harris got the handoff on first down, barely avoiding a huge loss in the backfield before being chased down from behind and tackled for no gain on the play. Harris wouldn’t get back to the line of scrimmage on second down, tackled in the backfield for a one yard loss to leave third and 11. Barnes had a good pass to a wide open Greg Burnett, but he would end up dropping the ball while making the catch, the incompletion forcing another punt on fourth and 11 and saving our offense’s asses. A 14 yard return on the 38 yard punt gave us the ball at our 33 yard line.
Lining up on first down, Silva again would get the call to start the drive, only to gain just one yard as he pretty much rushed straight into the defensive tackle. With our running game effectively neutered, we lined up under center on second down, Barnes dropping back to pass and connecting with Washington on a comeback route, good for a 12 yard gain and a first down at the 46 yard line. Lining up in the shotgun on first down, Barnes would nearly get intercepted again, as his pass over the middle intended for Washington was broken up by the middle linebacker. Unfortunately Barnes would get so lucky on second down, as his pass intended for Allen would be intercepted this time, picked off by cornerback D.D. Jones to give Nevada the ball at our 42 yard line, our offense seemingly now trying to piss this game away.
Coming out following the interception, Nevada found themselves with great field position and a chance to even this game right back up. Naturally our defense would suddenly shove their heads up their collective asses on this drive, allowing Harris to juke, spin and hurdle his way through five missed tackles for a huge 19 yard rush, giving Nevada a first down at our 24 yard line. Barnes would keep the ball on a QB option, rushing around the right end for a 20 yard rush, our defense essentially also deciding to just give up now, Nevada setting up with first and goal from our four yard line. Another QB option against our incompetent defense, and Barnes had a four yard touchdown, cutting our lead to 10-7 with 4:03 left in the second quarter.
A 20 yard kickoff return by David Douglas would give us possession at the 19 yard line. Starting the drive on the ground, Silva would find some success at last, rushing ahead for a 7 yard gain, followed by an 8 yard carry to give us a first down at the 34 yard line. Keeping at it on first down, Silva would get some great blocking, allowing him to hit the gap for an 8 yard carry, followed by a 9 yard gain by third-stringer Kyle Hall, giving us a first down at the Nevada 49 yard line. Silva would resume the duties on first down, hitting the right corner and spinning his way out of two tackles, the carry good for a gain of 11 yards and a new set of downs at the 38 yard line. Silva would take the handoff once more on first down, fighting his way to a three yard gain on the play. Running a play action pass on second down, the defense wouldn’t fall for it one bit, the pass intended for Watson nearly ending up intercepted a second time by McClellan, leaving us with third and 7. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, Barnes would manage to connect with Allen for an 11 yard completion, giving us new life at the 24 yard line. A first down pass to Tristan Muhammad would go for a 5 yard gain, our first timeout called with 57 seconds left in the half. Giving the ball to Silva, he would race forward for a four yard gain on second down to leave third and one. Going no huddle on third down, Silva would again get the call, a two yard carry giving us a first down at the 12 yard line and momentarily stopping the clock. Trying to go through the air from under center on first down, the pass intended for Douglas would get nearly intercepted inside the 5 yard line, bringing up second and 10 and stopping the clock with 29 seconds left in the half. Going into the shotgun on second down, Barnes would hit Douglas in the hands, but a slap on the arm by the cornerback would cause Douglas to drop the ball in the end zone, leaving us with third down. Unfortunately, despite finding Allen open along the right hash mark, the completion from Barnes would only go for a gain of 9 yards, leaving us facing fourth and one from the three yard line. We would let the clock tick down to the final seconds before calling our second timeout and line up for the field goal. Marcus would just squeeze the sharp angle 20 yard field goal through the near upright, giving us a 13-7 lead and sending us into halftime.
Opening up the second half, a 37 yard kickoff return by Leonard Hart would give us the ball at our 38 yard line to start the third quarter. Starting the drive on the ground, Silva would weave his way through a pair of holes, picking up a big 9 yard gain on the play, followed by a 6 yard rush to get the first down at the Nevada 47 yard line. Silva would keep plugging away with a four yard carry on first down, before a three yard rush by Hall would leave us facing third and three. Relying on Silva to get the first down, he would get the three needed yards and then some with a 5 yard rush, giving us a new set of downs at the 35. Unfortunately Hall would end up with nowhere to run on first down, giving us second and long. The play action pass on second down would be technically successful, but a pass to the wrong receiver would leave Watson only picking up two yards on the play instead of a potential first down by the tight end, bringing up third and 8. Thankfully Allen would again come through for us on a huge third down play, pulling in the pass from Barnes over the middle for a 19 yard completion and a first down at the Nevada 13 yard line. Turning back to the ground game on first down, Silva would fight his way to a three yard gain on first down, followed by a gain of just one yard on the second down carry by Hall, bringing up third and 6. Unfortunately the third down pass intended for Washington would be nearly intercepted, forcing us to kick another field goal on fourth and 6. The 27 yard field goal would sail through the uprights, increasing our lead to 16-7 with 5:08 left in the third quarter.
A touchback on the ensuing kickoff would give Nevada the ball at their 25 yard line. Naturally, a catch, a shed tackle and a stiff arm for 10 more yards would all be a part of the first down pass from Barnes to Miller for a 30 yard strike, giving Nevada a first down at our 45 yard line. Thankfully our defense would find life on first down, tackling Harris for no gain on the carry, only to let Barnes scramble out between six different defenders and rushing for an 18 yard gain, sending the coaching staff into a fucking fury. Another first down rush by Harris would result in a loss of one yard on the play, followed by a 5 yard rush to bring up third and 6. Thankfully Lonnie Johnson’s third down rush attempt would gain just a single yard, forcing Nevada to kick the field goal on fourth and 5. Micah Whitehead would send the 38 yard field goal through the uprights, cutting our lead to 16-10 with 2:56 left in the third quarter.
In a typical display of utter bullshit, Douglas would magically fail to catch the kickoff, fumbling the ball and needing THREE different players to try and pick it up, only to have a blocker inexplicably DIVE on the ball, leaving us starting our next drive at our three fucking yard line. Lining up inside the end zone on first down, Silva would take the handoff from Barnes and give us some instant breathing room, sprinting forward for a 10 yard gain and a first down at the 13 yard line. Another first down carry by Silva would gain 7 yards, followed by a 6 yard rush by Hall to get a new set of downs at the 26 yard line. Keeping it in the hands of Silva on first down, he would rumble his way to an 8 yard gain, as the Nevada defense suddenly found themselves unable to defend the rushing game. Another rush by Silva, this time for a 7 yard gain, would reset the down marker at the 41 yard line. Silva would find a decent hole on first down, picking up 6 yards on the rush, followed by a massive 14 yard carry carry on second down to give us a first down at the Nevada 39 yard line. Hall would take over on first down, only able to pick up two yards on his rush attempt to bring up second and 8. That would be the final play of the third quarter, our lead just a mere six points, 16-10.
Opening up the fourth quarter, we lined up on second and 8 from the Nevada 37 yard line, where Silva would take the handoff from Barnes and fight his way to a 7 yard gain, leaving us with third and one. Hall would get the call on third down, struggling his way to a 5 yard gain, giving us a first down at the 25 yard line. Another rush by Hall would see him gain just a single yard on the first down carry, followed by a three yard gain to leave us facing third and 6. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, a quick pass from Barnes to Hall straight up the middle would see Hall pull in the pass near the 5 yard line, juke the diving defender and stumble into the end zone for a 21 yard touchdown, increasing our lead to a slightly safer feeling 23-10 with 7:47 left in the game.
Another kickoff resulted in another touchback, giving Nevada the ball at their 25 yard line. A first down screen pass would send the Wolf Pack backwards, as the completion to Harris would result in a loss of three yards on the play. Lining up on second and 13, a QB option by Barnes would go for a gain of 8 yards, bringing up third and 5. Despite bringing pressure on third down, Barnes would be able to get a clean pass off to Dave Rice for a 13 yard completion and a first down at the 43 yard line. An option pitch to Harris would go for a 12 yard gain up the right sideline, picking up another quick first down at our 45 yard line for Nevada. Keeping the ball on the ground on first down, Harris would gain just one yard on the play, leaving second and 9. Barnes would sail a second down pass across his body to Jeremy Fontenot, only to have the pass promptly intercepted by cornerback Jesse Breedlove, giving us the ball at our 43 yard line and preserving our 13 point lead.
Lining up after the interception, we found ourselves just six minutes away from a hard fought, aggravating victory. Starting the drive on the ground, as we attempted to burn some clock, Hall would take the handoff from Barnes and struggle to a two yard gain, leaving second and 8. Another carry by Hall would go for a 5 yard gain, bringing up third and three inside Nevada territory. Unfortunately we would end up going backwards on third down as Hall was tackled for a two yard loss, forcing us to punt on fourth and 5. None the less, our mission was achieved as a 10 yard return on the 39 yard punt left Nevada starting their drive from their 22 yard line with only 3:44 left on the clock.
Coming into the field following the punt return, the Wolf Pack found time limited and behind by two possessions. Dropping back to pass on first down, Barnes was forced to throw the ball away on the play as our four man pass rush caused problems in the backfield before any receivers were able to get open, leaving Nevada with second down. An 8 yard rush by Harris would keep the offense in breathing distance of a fresh set of downs, setting up third and two. Thankfully, an entirely undefended and wide open Rice would end up dropping the third down pass from Barnes, forcing Nevada to go for it on fourth and two. Unfortunately, Harris would take the handoff on fourth down and just manage to pick up three yards on the carry, giving Nevada new life at their 32 yard line. Dropping back to pass on first down, Barnes would end up hit as he threw, the pass fluttering to the ground incomplete to leave second and long. Despite sneaking the ball behind the back of our cornerback, Rice would yet again drop a pass, leaving Nevada facing third and 10, the clock just finally ticking under three minutes to play. Changing things up and blitzing on third down, it would pay off big as Nevada tried to run a screen pass on third down, only to go backwards as Harris was instantly tackled after catching the pass from Barnes, the play resulting in a four yard loss and forcing Nevada to give in and punt on fourth and 14 from their 28 yard line. A 9 yard return on the 36 yard punt would give us the ball at our 44 yard line.
Lining up near midfield after the punt return, with Nevada seemingly raising the white flag with their decision to punt, we needed only to run the final 2:26 off the clock to claim our victory today. Hall would start us off on first down, taking the handoff up the middle for just a two yard gain, Nevada apparently not ready to quit yet as they called their first timeout with 2:16 left. Another rush by Hall would gain 5 yards, leaving us with third and three, Nevada’s second timeout called with 2:12 remaining. Forcing the Wolf Pack to make a decision if we failed to convert, we handed the ball off once more to Hall, with a two yard rush leaving us stuck on fourth and one, Nevada electing to burn their final timeout and stop the clock with 2:09 left to play. A shanked 15 yard punt straight out of bounds would give Nevada the ball at their 31 yard line, as punter Edward Allen put too much angle on the kick and field to get it inside the 20.
Nevada would line up at their 31 yard line following the punt, the Wolf Pack still trailing by 13 points with just 2:06 left on the clock and no timeouts remaining, a challenging position to be in for any team. Dropping back to pass on first down, Nevada’s drive would last just one play, not because of a great offensive play, but because of a poorly thrown rainbow pass 30 yards down field left the ball hanging, allowing Hart to intercept the pass, returning it 11 yards to the 47 yard line.
Taking over at our 47 yard line following the interception, essentially a single first down was all that stood between us as victory as we lined up with 1:58 left to play. Hall would get our drive started with a four yard carry up the middle, followed by a two yard rush to set up third and four inside Nevada territory. Able to run the clock down to just 30 seconds remaining before having to snap on third down, Barnes would take the snap and drop to a knee, running the final seconds out without another play, sealing our hard battled 23-10 victory over Nevada.
With the win, we improve to 4-2, 2-0 in Mountain West action. With the loss, Nevada drops to 1-5, 1-1 in Mountain West play. Up next, we return home to take on New Mexico. The Lobos enter the game 3-2, 0-2 in Mountain West action. New Mexico opened their year on a three game winning streak, winning against Florida A&M 24-13, at Florida International 35-30 and at New Mexico State 35-17, before losing to Nevada 37-10 and losing at #17 Fresno State 34-10.
Final Score
:Utah_State: 23, :Nevada: 10
Stats of the Game:
Utah State Offense - It was a mediocre day for Barnes, as he finished 11-19 for 113 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Rushing, Silva led the way today (in the wake of Paris' injury) with 166 yards on 31 carries. Before he got injured, Paris had racked up 63 yards and a touchdown on 9 rushes and Hall ended the day with 50 yards on 17 carries. Receiving, Allen was the lead receiver with 63 yards on five catches. Hall had the lone receiving touchdown, also coming on his only catch for 21 yards. In all, six receivers caught at least one pass today, but only three would end up with double digit yards.
Utah State Defense/Special Teams – A pretty solid day by the defense. Gave up that bad touchdown drive in the second quarter, and let Nevada march down for a field goal in the third quarter, but other than that, the defense largely kept the Wolf Pack under lock and key today. Two interceptions that really seemed to twist the knife into any chances of momentum for Nevada went a long way while our offense tried to work through their issues.
Utah State Kicking – A perfect day for Marcus, going 3-3 on field goals with kicks from 18, 20 and 27 yards, as well as going 2-2 in PATs.
Scoring Summary
Team 1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter Final Score :Utah_State: 7 6 3 7 23 :Nevada: 0 7 3 0 10
Time Team Result Play Score First Quarter 5:15 :Utah_State: Touchdown B. Paris, 10 yard run (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 7-0 Second Quarter 9:30 :Utah_State: Field Goal D. Marcus, 18 yard field goal :Utah_State: 10-0 4:03 :Nevada: Touchdown E. Barnes, 4 yard run (M. Whitehead kick) :Utah_State: 10-7 0:00 :Utah_State: Field Goal D. Marcus, 20 yard field goal :Utah_State: 13-7 Third Quarter 5:11 :Utah_State: Field Goal D. Marcus, 27 yard field goal :Utah_State: 16-7 2:56 :Nevada: Field Goal M. Whitehead, 38 yard field goal :Utah_State: 16-10 Fourth Quarter 7:47 :Utah_State: Touchdown K. Hall, 21 yard pass from J. Barnes (D. Marcus kick) :Utah_State: 23-10
Game Stats
Utah State Stat Nevada 23 Score 10 23 First Downs 7 390 Total Offense 147 58 - 277 - 1 Rushes - Yards - TD 20 - 95 - 1 11 - 19 - 1 Comp - Att - TD 6 - 15 - 0 113 Passing Yards 52 0 Times Sacked 0 9 - 15 (60%) 3rd Down Conversion 1 - 8 (12%) 0 - 0 (0%) 4th Down Conversion 1 - 1 (100%) 0 - 0 (0%) 2-Point Conv 0 - 0 (0%) 4 - 1 - 3 (100%) Red Zone - TD - FG 1 - 1 - 0 (100%) 2 Turnovers 2 0 Fumbles Lost 0 2 Intercepted 2 48 Punt Return Yards 9 56 Kick Return Yards 0 494 Total Yards 156 2 – 27.5 Punts - Average 5 - 38.0 0 - 0 Penalties 0 - 0 27:46 Time of Possession 12:14
Utah State Coach Goals
Goal XP Reward Completed Win a Game 100 x1 Score a Touchdown 25 x4 3 Consecutive Wins 150 x1 Force a Turnover 25 x2 Rush for 100 Yards 25 x1 Kneel Last Minute Q4 While Ahead 10 x1 Opponent Under 150 Rush Yards 50 x1 Opponent Under 300 Pass Yards 50 x1 Pass Completion Over 50% 30 x1 100% Red Zone Efficiency 50 x1 Score 21 or More Points 50 x1 350+ Offensive Yards 50 x1 10+ First Downs 50 x1 4+ 3rd Down Conversions 25 x1
Utah State Contract Goals Update
Goal Expectations Progress Target Wins Per Season 8 4
Job Security Status
100%
Taking a look around the nation, in the Top 25, in the game of the week, #1 West Virginia doubles up #10 Kansas State 42-21. In the national game of interest, Ohio State breaks the 66 year old record held by Oklahoma, as the Buckeyes win their 48th game in a row, beating Illinois 45-21. #13 Miami knocks off #3 Florida State 27-24. #5 Michigan routed Rutgers 45-13. Auburn shocks #7 Ole Miss 29-26 in FOUR overtimes.
#8 South Carolina gets past Arkansas 41-27. #9 Florida slips by Vanderbilt 42-35. #11 TCU escapes Iowa State 21-14. #12 Cincinnati tops SMU 45-28. #14 Georgia sneaks past Missouri 25-23. #16 USC beats Colorado 38-17. #17 Fresno State wallops New Mexico 34-10. #19 Georgia Tech takes down Army 31-16. #22 Stanford upends #24 Washington 28-16. Arizona State stuns #23 Oregon 28-21.
For our readers, JeffHCross, #2 Ohio State improves to 6-0 (3-0 Big Ten) with a 45-21 win over Illinois. Morsdraconis, #1 West Virginia improves to 6-0 (4-0 Big 12) with a 42-21 win over #10 Kansas State. Souljahbill, Southern Miss improves to 2-2 (1-1 C-USA) with a 24-17 win over UTEP. Jaymo, Arizona State improves to 2-4 (1-2 Pac-12) with a 28-21 win over #23 Oregon. LeeSO, Auburn improves to 5-1 (2-1 SEC) with a 29-26 4OT win over Ole Miss. SCClassof93, #8 South Carolina improves to 7-0 (5-0 SEC) with a 41-27 win over Arkansas. Other teams of interest, Arkansas State remains 3-1 (0-0 Sun Belt) with a bye week. Florida International drops to 0-5 (0-1 C-USA) with a 34-14 loss to #24 Washington. Navy improves to 3-2 (2-2 American) with a 52-24 win over Tulsa. Tulsa drops to 1-4 (1-2 American) with a 52-24 loss to Navy.
In Mountain West action, #17 Fresno State topped New Mexico 34-10, Utah State survived Nevada 23-10, Boise State beat San Diego State 31-20, San Jose State outlasted Wyoming 43-42, UNLV tripped up Air Force 23-14 and Hawaii topped Colorado State 31-24.
Looking at undefeated teams left, #3 Florida State, #7 Ole Miss, #10 Kansas State and Nothern Illinois all lost this week, dropping our number of undefeated teams to 10. #1 West Virginia (6-0), #2 Ohio State (6-0), #4 UCLA (6-0), #5 Michigan (6-0), #6 Oklahoma (4-0), #8 South Carolina (7-0), #9 Florida (7-0), #12 Cincinnati (5-0), #17 Fresno State (5-0) and Penn State (6-0) all remain with an unblemished record this season.
Turning to a more sadistic watch, who is still winless. There remains 5 teams still looking for their first win: Buffalo (0-6), East Carolina (0-5), Florida International (0-5), Kent State (0-5) and UAB (0-5).
Teams getting their first win this week were: Notre Dame (38-17 over Boston College) and Western Michigan (27-7 over Buffalo).
Taking a look at the new Top 25 Coaches Poll, in a head scratcher, West Virginia (38 first place votes) remains #1, UCLA (22 votes) jumps two to #2, Ohio State (1 vote), getting absolutely no respect after breaking the NCAA record for longest winning streak, drops one to #3, Oklahoma jumps two to #4 and Michigan remains #5. South Carolina moves up two to #6, Florida jumps two to #7, Cincinnati leaps four to #8, Florida State drops six to #9 and Miami climbs three to #10. TCU remains #11, Fresno State leaps five to #12, Ole Miss drops six to #13, Georgia remains #14 and Kansas State falls five to #15. Texas drops one to #16, USC falls one to #17, Virginia Tech remains #18, Georgia Tech remains #19 and Alabama remains #20. Baylor remains #21, Stanford remains #22, Auburn enters the poll at #23, Arkansas State climbs one to #24 and Indiana (218 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Oregon (from #23) and Washington (from #24). Looking at Others Receiving Votes, Louisiana Lafayette (133 points) is #26, followed by Temple (99), Penn State (94), Washington (39) and Tennessee (32).
Taking a look at the new Top 25 Media Poll, West Virginia (43 first place votes) climbs one to #1, Oklahoma (21 votes) jumps three to #2, UCLA (1 vote) climbs three to #3, Ohio State continues to get shat on and drops one to #4 and South Carolina climbs three to #5. Michigan climbs one to #6, Miami leaps six to #7, Florida jumps two to #8, Florida State drops eight to #9 and Cincinnati jumps two to #10. TCU remains #11, Ole Miss drops eight to #12, Texas climbs one to #13, Kansas State falls five to #14 and Georgia remains #15. Fresno State jumps four to #16, Auburn enters the poll at #17, USC drops two to #18, Virginia Tech falls two to #19 and Georgia Tech drops one to #20. Alabama falls three to #21, Baylor drops one to #22, Stanford remains #23, Arkansas State climbs one to #24 and Clemson (216 points) enters the poll at #25. Dropping out of the poll this week were Washington (from #22) and Oregon (from #24). Looking at Others Receiving Points, Indiana (216 points) is #26, followed by Penn State (189), Temple (167), Washington (167) and Michigan State (141) to round out the Top 30. Other teams getting points this week include Ohio (118), Navy (86), Louisiana Lafayette (71) and Tennessee (66).
A look at the Heisman race, Ohio State QB Jordan Watkins is #1 (LW: #3), Florida QB Joseph Brown is #2 (LW: #1), South Carolina QB Jared Stevens is #3 (LW: #5), Fresno State HB Chris Vincent is #4 (LW: NR) and Penn State QB Brian McDaniel is #5 (LW: NR). Falling off the Heisman Watch List this week was Florida State QB Chris Larson (LW: #2) and UCLA QB Randy McNair (LW: #4).
Just real quick, taking a look at the mid-season (at least for me being halfway through my schedule) Mountain West standings.
In the Mountain Division, Utah State (4-2, 2-0) leads the way, followed by Boise State (3-2, 1-1) and Air Force (2-3, 1-1). Colorado State (2-5, 1-2) is next, followed by New Mexico (3-2, 0-2) and lastly Wyoming (1-6, 0-3).
In the West Division, #12 Fresno State (5-0, 2-0) sits on top, followed by Hawaii (3-3, 2-0) and UNLV (2-3, 2-0). After that is San Jose State (3-3, 1-1) and Nevada (1-5, 1-1) and in last place is San Diego State (2-4, 0-2).
Some surprises thus far. San Diego State has really fallen off this year, along with Nevada. Hawaii and UNLV are actually showing signs of life early on. #12 Fresno State is just a beast. Looking at their schedule, Fresno State has won 28-7 at Nebraska, 24-17 against FCS NW, 31-14 against Tulsa, 14-0 at Colorado State and 34-10 against New Mexico. Really, there aren't many true tests the rest of their schedule. Based on record, the best remaining opponents for Fresno State are Boise State (3-2) in week 9 and San Jose State/Hawaii (both 3-3) in the last two weeks of the season. Their other remaining opponents are 2-3, 2-4 or 1-5. There is a chance Fresno State very well could sweep the table and go 12-0. Thankfully, Fresno State dropped off my cross-divisional schedule this year, so I was able to avoid the Bulldogs until, at the earliest, the Mountain West conference championship game.
As for the Mountain Division, thanks to the wins over San Jose State and Nevada, I already have a one game cushion over Boise State and Air Force. Wyoming is terrible, and Colorado State isn't really all that good either, so those should be two more wins I can reasonably expect. New Mexico, my next opponent, seems to seriously have fallen off the map this year. The Lobos were undefeated deep into the season and even crashed the BCS last season, but this year they seem to be having some troubles in conference, especially getting blown out by Nevada by 27 points.
If I can get the wins over New Mexico, Colorado State and Wyoming, that'll just leave UNLV, Boise State and Air Force to deal with on my schedule and just Boise State and Air Force to contend with for the Mountain Division title. In years past, even going 7-1 wasn't enough to win the title. This year, even at this point, I would expect 6-2 to be needed to claim the division. 5-3 may be possible, but it would be too close, especially with Boise State in the chase. 5-3 may require some tiebreaker luck at the end of the season. If I take care of business against New Mexico, Colorado State and Wyoming, that'll get me to the minimum 5-win plateau. Then I could conceivably afford to go 1-2 against the trio of Boise State, Air Force and UNLV and still potentially be sitting comfortably in first place.
The one thing looking up for me is Boise State's loss came to Hawaii and they still have a road trip to Fresno State on the schedule. Air Force might be tougher. Their loss came against UNLV, but they avoid Fresno State, only having to deal with Hawaii and San Diego State (who they beat) in cross-division games. Probably the biggest game of the schedule between two Mountain Division teams outside my own games, will come on the last week of the season as Boise State and Air Force meet each other in their season ending games. That could end up being the deciding game on whether we have a shot at the conference championship game or whether Boise State or Air Force will be in the running for it.
I see you've gotten far enough into dynasty mode for the Top 25 to go stupid. Soon, you'll have 2-loss teams in the BCS championship game and 3-loss teams ranked in the top 5 over 1 and 2-loss teams.
Yeah, I don't remember it being this bad on NCAA '13 with Tulsa, where I went seven seasons. This time, in NCAA '14 with Utah State, it's gone full stupid after only 3 1/2 seasons. Makes no sense.
#TheScriptIsDead