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Dr. Saturday

Sun Nov 08, 2009 1:15 pm EST

Box Scorin': USC offense escapes the cellar long enough to down Devils

By Matt Hinton

Weird, wild and prolific stats from Saturday's action.

• USC was held to one offensive touchdown and 258 total yards, the Trojans' worst offensive output since October 2004, in a 14-9 win at Arizona State. Freshman quarterback Matt Barkley had his worst game, completing 7-of-22 passes for 112 yards, 75 of them on one spectacular catch-and-run by Damien Williams, who took a pass behind the line of scrimmage for USC's only gain of the game longer than 20 yards.

• Nebraska quarterbacks Cody GreenZac Lee combined for 39 yards passing on 2.8 yards per attempt, but Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones put up five interceptions -- including one that set the Cornhuskers up at the OU one-yard line for the game's only touchdown -- in the 'Huskers' 10-3 win. Nebraska was 1-of-14 on third-down conversions and earned seven first downs (to the Sooners' 23) in the win.

• UCLA quarterbacks Kevin Prince and Kevin Craft combined for 371 yards passing and two touchdowns in the Bruins' 24-23 win over Washington, the Bruins' third 300-yard passing effort in the last four games after putting up zero 300-yard passing games in 2007, 2008 or the first five games of 2009.

• Your weekly Houston video game update: The Cougars combined with Tulsa for 91 points, 1,229 yards, 61 first downs and 11 touchdowns in a wild, last-second, 46-45 Houston win. UH quarterback Case Keenum launched 60 passes for 522 yards with three scores, all to receiver James Cleveland, who combined with Patrick Edwards to haul in 23 catches for 343 yards.

• Cincinnati quarterback Zach Collaros hit 29 of 37 passes for 480 yards with seven completions of 20 yards or longer, adding 75 yards on the ground and scoring three total touchdowns in the Bearcats' 47-45 escape over UConn.

• Miami rolled up 515 total yards in a 52-17 rout over Virginia, the 'Canes' first 500-yard game against a I-A opponent since November 2005.

• Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett completed 23 of 27 passes for 329 yards with three completions of 40 yards or longer, but no touchdowns in the Razorbacks' 33-16 win over South Carolina. Mallett did score on a quarterback sneak.

• Illinois receiver Arrelious Benn caught his first touchdown pass of the season, a four-yard grab from Jacob Charest, in the fourth quarter of the Illini's 35-32 win over Minnesota.

• Kansas' 10-point effort in a 17-10 loss at Kansas State was the Jayhawks' worst output against a Big 12 North rival since September 2005, and only the third time KU has been held below 20 points in quarterback Todd Reesing's 34 career starts (the first two were vs. Texas last November and vs. Oklahoma two weeks ago).

• Duke, coming in averaging 400 yards per game with at least 390 yards in each of the last six, was held to 125 total yards and no touchdowns in a 19-6 loss at North Carolina.

• Louisville was held without a touchdown for only the second time sine 2000 in a 17-9 loss at West Virginia.

• Quarterbacks Nick Florence and Blaine Gabbert combined for 895 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions on 95 passes in Baylor's come-from-behind, 40-32 win at Missouri.

• UTEP running back Donald Buckram ran for 234 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries in the Miners' 45-38 overtime loss at Tulane, giving Buckram two of the top 10 single-game rushing totals this season.

• Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton passed for 331 yards and five touchdowns in the Vols' 56-28 rout over Memphis, giving him 14 touchdowns to interceptions over the last five games.

• Oklahoma State running back Keith Toston ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns in the Cowboys' 34-8 win at Iowa State, his third straight 100-yard game on the ground away from Stillwater.

• Wisconsin had two 100-yard rushers, John Clay and Montee Ball, for the first time this season in a 31-28 win over Indiana.

• Utah had two 100-yard rushers, Eddie Wide and Sausan Shakerin, and a 100-yard receiver, Jerome Brooks, all three of whom scored touchdowns from at least 20 yards out in the Utes' 45-14 win over winless and hopeless New Mexico.

• Georgia scored on each of its first six possessions before calling off the dogs (no pun intended) in a 38-0 win over Tennessee Tech, but there was no letting off the gas at Auburn, which led Furman 42-3 at the half and finished with a 655-yard, 63-31 win.

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13 Comments

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  1. Roodog
    1. Posted by Roodog Sun Nov 08, 2009 2:13 pm EST

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    What an absolute scam the BCS is. Can somebody....ANYBODY... explain to me with any kind of justification how TCU, Boise State and Cincinnatti are ranked lower at 9-0 when Iowa is 9-1 AND DID NOT DROP ANY AFTER THEIR LOSS!!!!!
    It's no wonder congress is after the NCAA to get this trash out of here!
    Mike Leach of Texas Tech is right when he says "Get rid of your early tin can games (Texas vs slippery rock) and go directly into conference play. You'l have plenty of time at the end of the schedule for a 32 team playoff ."
    Teams like TCU, and Boise State can run the table for years and never get a sniff, and that is absolutely wrong.
    I can never support a system like this and hopefully it will rightfully be flushed.
    After all, how can you have a playoff system as far down as the parochial school chain on up and not have one in NCAA div-1??? And don't give me this refuse about the bowl system being tradition. THE BOWL SYSTEM IS OUTDATED AND NEEDS TO BE TERMINATED. THERE WILL NOT BE A TRUE NATIONAL CHAMPION UNTIL THIS HAPPENS.
    Anyone who supports this mess does not have a clue to what is fair and no doubt is a donkey kisser just trying for his or her promotion.
    I'll support division 2 and 3 but never this junk they pass off as fair in division 1 and neither should you.
  2. primednreadytoo
    2. Posted by primednreadytoo Sun Nov 08, 2009 2:48 pm EST

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    Ouch.... You seem to have a lot a passion in your opinion of all this... I agree with most everything you say, but in essence, the decision to end the BCS, as is, will ultimately come from both fan and legal pressures... My opinion of it all is no more valid than yours or anyone else's, but in all fairness, the only real thing that makes the BCS so inept is combining human opinion polls with computer polls... Both have huge flaws built in and should never have been coupled in the evaluation process... Computers analyze data and stats fed to them using human parameters of importance... Human polls, well... They're just that... Fluctuations of opinions which change from week to week, but hover around not making themselves look stupid by changing too dramatically after each week's games... Why else would it take 11 weeks for a mediocre Oklahoma team to eventually fall out of the top 25...??? You want fairness and justice in determining the best teams, and that will only come with a playoff system... Short of that, I believe there should be two completely separate weekly rankings: One human opinion poll determined by averaging the media and coaches polls, no fan polls allowed because of the obvious team biases there, and the other ranking by averaging all the computer analysis'... One human poll ranking, one computer poll ranking... Both inarguably legit... End of the season, Two crowns; both legit...
  3. MikeLew
    3. Posted by MikeLew Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:34 pm EST

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    Roodog-
    The standings haven't updated yet. That's why it appears Iowa hasn't dropped yet. Consider that it still has OSU at 16 and PSU at 11.....certainly those won't remain the same after yesterday's result.
    It appears as though you hate the BCS, and you're looking to fit something into your hatred, rather than the other way around.
  4. Brian B
    4. Posted by Brian B Sun Nov 08, 2009 4:05 pm EST

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    MikeLew, ditto on your comments to Roodog. If only intellect was as common as passion, what a splendid world it would be.
    Doc S. come now, you fully intended the dog pun, take credit. Puns, in my opinion, should be celebrated loudly and proudly, rather than sheepishly apologized over.
  5. Money
    5. Posted by Money Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:03 pm EST

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    Roodog...I'm sorry you're an idiot...I bet you looked at the pre season rankings for 3 weeks before you realized they actually change them...plus rankings mean squat you mook...they are the tool of the media to create bowl matchups they want for their own ratings and storylines..... there isn't a logical equation that drives the rankings...plus look at who is controlling the opinions of most of the media with their absurd and biased voting: THE AP POLL VOTERS:
    Mark Anderson, Las Vegas Review-Journal; Robbie Andreu, Gainesville (Fla.) Sun; Bret Bloomquist, El Paso (Texas) Times; Kirk Bohls, Austin (Texas) American Statesman; Jimmy Burch, Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram; Mike Ceide, WREG-TV, Memphis, Tenn.; Bill Cole, Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal; Steve Conroy, Boston Herald
    Barker Davis, The Washington Times; Mike DeArmond, Kansas City Star; Pete DiPrimio, The Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel; Joseph Duarte, Houston Chronicle; Ray Fittipaldo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Chris Fowler, ESPN; Jason Franchuk, Provo (Utah) Daily Herald; Marcus Fuller, St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press
    Joe Giglio, The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.; Anthony Gimino, Tucson (Ariz.) Citizen; Herb Gould, Chicago Sun-Times; Glen Guilbeau, Gannett Louisiana News Service; Bob Hammond, Laramie (Wyo.) Bommerang; Eric Hansen, The South Bend (Ind.) Tribune; Randy Harrison, Albuquerque (N,.M.) Journal; Tom Hart, CBS College Sports Network
    Kirk Herbstreit, WBNS-AM Columbus, Ohio & ESPN; John Heuser, The Ann Arbor (Mich.) News; John Hunt, The Oregonian; Sal Interdonato, Middletown (N.Y.) Record; Craig James, ABC; Jon Johnson, Dothan (Ala.) Eagle; Tom Keegan, Lawrence (Kan.) Journal World; Aditi Kinkhabwala, The Record, Bergen County, N.J.
    Jim Lamar, Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat; Doug Lesmerises, The Plain Dealer, Cleveland; Ferd Lewis, Honolulu Advertiser; Stewart Mandel, SI.com; Jim Mashek, Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.; Matt McCoy, WTVN-AM, Columbus, Ohio; Jeff McLane, The Philadelphia Inquirer; Brett McMurphy, Tampa (Fla.) Tribune
    Tom Mulhern, Wisconsin State Journal, Madison; Tom Murphy, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock; Eric Page, Quad City (Iowa) Times; Maurice Patton, Nashville Tennessean; Myron Patton, KOKH-TV, Okla.; Kevin Pearson, Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise; Joe Person, The State, Columbia, S.C.; Mike Prater, The Idaho Statesman, Boise
    Ray Ratto, San Francisco Chronicle; Joe Rexrode, Lansing (Mich.) State Journal; Randy Rosetta, The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.; Jake Schaller, The Gazette, Colorado Springs; Doug Segrest, Birmingham (Ala.) News; John Silver, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.; Steve Sipple, Lincoln (Neb.) Star Journal; Mike Strain, Tulsa (Okla.) World
    Kent Taylor, WAVE-3, Louisville, Ky.; Mark Tupper, Decatur (Ill.) Herald & Review; Adan Van Brimmer, Savannah (Ga.) Morning News-Augusta; Mitch Vingle, The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette; Jeff White, Richmond (Va.) Times Dispatch; Jon Wilner, San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News; Scott Wolf, Los Angeles Daily News; Molly Yanity, Seattle Post-Intelligencer; Taylor Zarzour, WPTF 680 AM, Raleigh, N.C.
  6. Chuck
    6. Posted by Chuck Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:20 pm EST

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    #2 the reason Oklahoma stayed where they did is strenght of schedule they have lossed 4 games by total of 12 points. All loses have come on the road or neutral site. All four teams at one time were ranked in top 25, 3 of them still are. Shut out two teams. Have one of the best defenses in all catogories in the country. Had 2 all-americans, one being there heisman winning qb, out cause of injuries. How many teams can withstand that? Just think if sec had a couple of referees go down where would Fla, an Alabama be? One other thing on computer polls, who puts the [profane] into the computer? Computers say fla, has 8th toughest schedule, give me a break. Only 3 sec teams scheduled one ranked team outside there conference. LSU is the only one that went of north of mason-dixon line, and struggled with 0-12 Washington from last year. sec is a joke, laughing stalk of college football, I know about national championships, but look at how they got there. You get beat at home by unranked team an still play for the title. Go read Dan Wetzel column today.
  7. ThomasS
    7. Posted by ThomasS Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:13 pm EST

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    I hope somebody exposes USC for the pretenders they are this season. They have been close in nearly all their games. It is a shame that Arizona State couldn't get it done. USC should be in the SEC for all the love they get in the polls.
  8. just4funsies
    8. Posted by just4funsies Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:25 pm EST

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    Ditto on USC... At least we are not hearing all the trash talk from USC zombies, because their team cannot in any way back up what they were saying. USC will be back, of that I have no doubt, but for now, they're GONE. Let's all enjoy the silence.
  9. alanr
    9. Posted by alanr Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:18 pm EST

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    You guys are a bunch of clowns. LSU gets beat by #1 Florida, 13-3, and there should have been an offensive penalty on the td pass Florida had, they held Florida 400 yds. under their offensive yardage average and 30 points under their ppg average. Then LSU gets beat by #3 Alabama with a bogus replay call on an interception that could've changed the whole outcome of the game and there are teams like tcu, cincinnati, boise state and georgia tech ranked ahead of them in the bcs. Give me a break. These teams play nobody. Let any of these teams play 5 or 6 SEC opponents in a year and we'll see how long they stay undefeated. You can't have a playoff because too many sec teams would be in the bracket and then the cry babying will start all over again. The biggest joke is the BCS having USC ahead of Oregon. It's all a scam, Alabama or Florida will win the SEC and the winner will play Texas, who also plays nobody all year and the SEC will win another National Championship.
  10. Jacob
    10. Posted by Jacob Sun Nov 08, 2009 11:17 pm EST

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    First off, I think the history of the BCS needs to be a little bit more understood here, and everywhere. There was, at first, college football teams, which were loosely associated with one another. Bowls were formed, and paid schools for their teams participation. That was it - there was no fairness involved at all. Teams were invited based on... nothing. Nothing at all! Conferences formed, and alliances with bowls were formed, such that, for example, the Big 10 champ would meet the Pac-10 champ in the Rose Bowl. The schools would, again, be paid for participation. Polls started up, and a "National Championship" was awarded to the top vote getting team. There was still no playoffs, and no one complained. The Bowl Alliance set up a system whereby the top two teams would meet. This is the system employed today.
    THEREFORE, today's situation is better than yesteryears, better than the years before that, and better than the years before that. So to say it's unfair is to say that there was a bigger problem before... which is meaningless.
    A playoff system need not end the bowls. The bowls could occur after them, before them, or concurrently - the semi finals could be the Orange and Fiesta bowls. There are many possible solutions which provide a more legitimate National Champion.
    But a straight eight team playoff has HUGE problems. First, there are conferences who would insist on automatic qualification for their conference champ. YET the conference champ could have many losses (like Virginia Tech last year, 9-4). Also, a playoff awards teams who get hot at the end of the year (like the NY Giants, who were 9-7 when they beat the 16-0 Patriots in the Super Bowl). Furthermore, there are some conferences which are REALLY better than others. The SEC should get two teams for the Big 12's one (at least this year). Also, if Texas losses the Big 12 Championship game, wouldn't Texas deserve a "wild card" entrance to the playoff? So how many conference champions and wild cards are there?
  11. Jacob
    11. Posted by Jacob Sun Nov 08, 2009 11:18 pm EST

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    First off, I think the history of the BCS needs to be a little bit more understood here, and everywhere. There was, at first, college football teams, which were loosely associated with one another. Bowls were formed, and paid schools for their teams participation. That was it - there was no fairness involved at all. Teams were invited based on... nothing. Nothing at all! Conferences formed, and alliances with bowls were formed, such that, for example, the Big 10 champ would meet the Pac-10 champ in the Rose Bowl. The schools would, again, be paid for participation. Polls started up, and a "National Championship" was awarded to the top vote getting team. There was still no playoffs, and no one complained. The Bowl Alliance set up a system whereby the top two teams would meet. This is the system employed today.
    THEREFORE, today's situation is better than yesteryears, better than the years before that, and better than the years before that. So to say it's unfair is to say that there was a bigger problem before... which is meaningless.
    A playoff system need not end the bowls. The bowls could occur after them, before them, or concurrently - the semi finals could be the Orange and Fiesta bowls. There are many possible solutions which provide a more legitimate National Champion.
    But a straight eight team playoff has HUGE problems. First, there are conferences who would insist on automatic qualification for their conference champ. YET the conference champ could have many losses (like Virginia Tech last year, 9-4). Also, a playoff awards teams who get hot at the end of the year (like the NY Giants, who were 9-7 when they beat the 16-0 Patriots in the Super Bowl). Furthermore, there are some conferences which are REALLY better than others. The SEC should get two teams for the Big 12's one (at least this year). Also, if Texas losses the Big 12 Championship game, wouldn't Texas deserve a "wild card" entrance to the playoff? So how many conference champions and wild cards are there?
  12. bobby
    12. Posted by bobby Mon Nov 09, 2009 4:38 am EST

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    jacob thank you for the history that is the way i remember it myself but it seems most people blogging and screaming for a playoff are not old enough to remember those days. yes the bcs needs to be fixed no way lsu should move up when they lose and there needs to be someway in a year when there are three or four teams undefeated to settle it on the field even if that is a plus one championship game. but no one wants to hear about all the problems a playoff causes and i have yet to hear a playoff that is fair to everyone that works even if there only 8 teams in a playoff does a sunbelt champion get a slot? if so why? and if not then what if they are undefeated why not is there any differance between the sunbelt, mw, conf usa or any of the mid majors that scream there champion deserves to play. there are 11 conf so somebody is going to get left out for that matter does a 2 loss temple deserve to be in a playoff and a 1 loss alabama stays at home all questions no one has an answer for as they scream playoff
  13. Scott
    13. Posted by Scott Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:11 am EST

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    Well, I think Bobby has a point, but here is a solution (not perfect). Simply put: top 4 teams do the plus one playoff. I mean, there have been more radical things, such as WAAAAAYYYY back in the day when the college champ used to play the professional champ. I know the issue then becomes "who should be in the top 4--will the number 5 team be pissed?" Well, if there are 5 undefeated teams, then they should go by strength of schedule. For instance, this year it will be AL/FL, Boisie, Texas, TCU, and Cincy. Well, let's look at this: TCU has a cakewalk schedule...they play NO one in conference, and they beat only 1 really respectable team. At least Boise beat Oregon and has to beat the Utah's of the world.
    So, it should be AL/FL vs Boisie, TX vs Cincy. in the 4 team play off... TCU, they should play the loser of the SEC championship AL/FL--see if they can hang with the big boys. I think we all know who would win that game--which means you have to ask yourself "Should TCU even be ranked that high to begin with?"
    Has seriously everyone forgotten Hawaii a couple years ago--they got MURDERED by UGA--those teams can't hang with the big boys. "Well, remember BSU beat OK"--yeah, actually OK really LOST the game, and you are talking about alot of upperclassmen on that team, OK was the whipping boy and wasn't ready for them.
    I'm disappointed with USC. Matt, I sure hope you wouldn't make a bonehead mistake like that....

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