#BoxScoreReview
Every game won’t be included but the statistical anomalies and finals will be here in all their blazing glory
Bowling Green @ Akron
Maction kicked off in fashion with an Akron vs Bowling Green game that was hard on the eyes. The two teams combined to run 175 plays but only generate 37 points in ugly conditions. Akron finished the game with 5 turnovers to Bowling Green’s 1, negating the Zips +11 advantage in total yards.
Buffalo @ Ohio
Ohio completely smothered Buffalo, holding the Bulls to 7 first downs and only 134 yards. The Bobcats offense leaned heavily on their ground game with 55 of their 74 offensive snaps coming in the rushing game. Buffalo only held the ball for 23:21 running just 53 plays in the process
Northern Illinois @ Ball St
It’s hard to win football games when you turn the ball over 5 times as Ball St found out in their loss to Northern Illinois. NIU finished with 11 more minutes of possession than the Cardinals. NIU used a muffed kickoff to go 18 yards early in the game for a TD and a late interception to put the game away in the 4th quarter.
Clemson @ Wake Forest
Wake Forest’s offense continues to be offensive. The Deacons picked up a whopping 119 yards in their losing effort last Thursday. Clemson held Wake to 7 yards rushing on 34 attempts. Wake actually led the game 7-0 and 14-10 early but couldn’t muster a sustained attack to pull off the upset as 3 TD dogs.
Utah St @ Wyoming
Utah St had 2 big plays in the first quarter; an 80 yard punt return and 66 yard touchdown run that proved enough to hold off the home bound Cowboys. USU scored 17 of their 20 points in the 1st quarter and only gained a total of 12 first downs on the evening. Yards were pretty close to even but Wyoming did have a decided edge in offensive snaps: 75-50
UTSA @ Rice
UTSA found a bit of offensive rhythm (relatively speaking for the Roadrunners) against Rice beginning at the end of the 1st half. However their 12 play 78 yard drive yielded no points because of poor clock management. The Roadrunners were outplayed throughout the game but still had a chance for a late backdoor. They drove 57 yards in 6 plays before a fumble at the Rice 11 killed any hopes steam chasers had of cashing tickets.
Penn St @ Indiana
Indiana again struggled to find offensive consistency without starting QB Nate Sudfield. The only points the Hoosiers scored against Penn St came courtesy of a 47 yard interception return towards the tail end of the 1st quarter. That lead was short lived when PSU answered 20 seconds later with a 92 yard run to tie the score. Fans of offense would be lulled to sleep over the next 3 quarters as neither team showed flash, dash, or consistency.
Iowa @ Minnesota
Minnesota spotted Iowa a 7-0 lead before the Gophers rattled off the game’s next 51 points. Minnesota more than doubled the Hawkeyes offensive output, 429-205 en route to running the ball 59 times out of their 73 offensive plays. The Gophers won the turnover battle 3-0 as well.
Baylor @ Oklahoma
I’m still trying to figure out what happened to Oklahoma after the 1st quarter when they held a 14-3 lead over Baylor. The Sooners wouldn’t score again, giving up the game’s next 45 points getting out first downed 31-13 and outgained 544-319 on the afternoon. Baylor ran 95 plays to Oklahoma’s 62 but the big problem yet again for the Bears was a ground game that sputtered, churning out 148 yards on 52 attempts.
Wisconsin @ Purdue
Wisconsin’s defense was the story in West Lafayette, holding Purdue to 230 yards of offense and only 11 first downs. Joel Stave finally looked comfortable in the pocket, going 19-29 for 219 yards and 2 TD’s to his 1 interception. Melvin Gordon was the story as he often is carrying the ball 25 times for 205 yards.
Georgia @ Kentucky
Georgia and Kentucky over bettors had nothing to worry about considering the 2 teams combined for 59 first half points highlighted by a 38 point 2nd quarter. UGA ran for 305 yards and threw for 254 in the winning effort. Hutson Mason completed 13 of 16 passes with 4 of the 13 completions going for TD’s.
Duke @ Syracuse
Syracuse was down to their 3rd string quarterback against Duke but the Blue Devils still needed a 17 point 4th quarter explosion to separate themselves from the Orange. Neither offense did a whole lot of anything with Duke outgaining Syracuse 259-224. Duke broke the stalemate at the beginning of the 4th courtesy of a 52 yard Jamison Crowder punt return.
NC State @ Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech ran for 479 yards in their 56-23 romp over NC State. Tech faced 10 third downs the entire game, converting 8 opportunities. The final score is a little misleading considering a 14-13 NC State deficit turned into a 28-13 hole following a 38 yard interception return for a TD followed by a 43 yard fumble return for a TD just over 2 minutes later.
South Alabama @ Arkansas St
South Alabama used their backup QB against Arkansas St and it showed. The Jaguars were outscored 45-3 over the game’s first 3 quarters and only converted 1 third down out of their 12 opportunities in the game.
Texas A&M @ Auburn
Auburn fumbled (and lost) the ball 3 times in their 41-38 loss to Texas A&M with the most critical turnover coming in the game’s final 2 minutes. Despite a 41 point outburst from the Aggies they only scored 6 of those 41 in the 2nd half after building a 35-17 halftime lead courtesy of a blocked field goal. Auburn outgained their opposition 582-453 but couldn’t overcome their -3 turnover differential.
Notre Dame @ Arizona St
Notre Dame outgained and out first downed Arizona St in their 55-31 defeat in Tempe. The Irish turned the ball over 5 times allowing ASU to build a commanding 34-3 lead at one point. Notre Dame stormed back to cut it to 34-31 before ASU scored 3 touchdowns in the final 4:29 including a 58 yard Pick 6, their second defensive TD of the day.
FIU @ Old Dominion
Old Dominion needed a late comeback against FIU to escape with the narrow 38-35 victory despite dominating the stat sheet. ODU outgained the Panthers 525-388 but still needed a game tying TD with 1:05 left and a 28 yard field goal as time expired to get their 4th win of the season.
West Virginia @ Texas
Texas built a 24-3 halftime lead against West Virginia before their offense went into hibernation. The Horns ran the ball for 227 yards compared to a pop gun passing attack. Texas had 1 drive cover more than 17 yards in the 2nd half with their lone offensive points coming on a 1 play, 15 yard TD drive late in the 4th.
Michigan @ Northwestern
Michigan did everything in their power to lose to Northwestern. The Wolverines matched the Wildcats offensive output but their 1-12 performance on 3rd down was downright embarrassing. Northwestern drove 14 plays covering 74 yards to get the apparent game tying TD. However in a bold move (the right one) Pat Fitzgerald elected to go for 2 but the play went astray when QB Trevor Siemian slipped down under Wolverine pressure.
Iowa St @ Kansas
One of the sharpest line moves of the entire weekend took place in the Kansas vs Iowa St game. The Jayhawks were bet from +5 all the way to +1.5 against the Cyclones and never trailed in the game. KU ran the ball for 228 yards, passed for another 286 en route to a dominant 34-14 victory.
UTEP @ Western Kentucky
Western Kentucky used the strength of a game changing 90 yard interception return early in the 4th quarter to erase a 27-14 deficit resulting in a narrow cover as 7.5 pt favorites. WKU was outrushed 236 to 35 and outgained overall by 35 yards on the evening but scored the game’s final 21 points giving them the front door cover.
Washington St @ Oregon St
Washington St’s offense left off right where injured QB Connor Halliday would have liked. Luke Falk filled in admirably with a 44-61 performance resulting in 471 yards passing and an outright upset of Oregon St. Sean Mannion had a productive day for the Beavers as well, going 31-41 for 419 yards. Neither team could get a running game on track, combining for 72 yards on 46 carries.
Georgia Southern @ Texas St
Georgia Southern mustered a 28-25 win at Texas St despite only picking up 9 first downs. Southern built a 28-10 lead after a 100 yard interception return to close the 3rd quarter. Texas St ran 93 plays to GSU’s 49 on the evening but the 2 Bobcat turnovers cost them the game.
Virginia @ Florida St
Florida St won their 25th straight game, beating UVA 34-20 but failing to cover for the 7th time in 9 tries this year. The Seminoles went into the break with a 28-13 lead but would only score 6 more points in the 2nd half. They held the Cavs offense in check, limiting UVA to 257 yards of offense and only 37 yards rushing on 32 carries.
Marshall @ Southern Miss
Marshall went down 14-7 against Southern Miss before finding another gear that helped them outscore the Eagles 56-3 over the next 3 quarters. Marshall outgained USM 521-300 and yet again the Herd leaned on a ground game that churned out 335 yards compared to only 186 yards passing from Rakeem Cato.
Boise St @ New Mexico
Boise St and New Mexico had a good ole time in Albuquerque on Saturday, scoring 77 points between them by halftime. The game featured just under 1300 yards of total offense, 505 of which came via the Lobos option attack. New Mexico’s offense showed tremendous efficiency on a YPP basis, gaining 627 yards on only 65 offensive snaps.
Hawaii @ Colorado St
The resurgence in Fort Collins continued Saturday as Colorado State annihilated Hawaii. Rams balance has become a common refrain, 580 yards of offense with 287 through the air and 293 via the ground game. The most impressive part of the CSU passing attack is that they didn’t miss a beat without their leading WR Rashard Higgins.
Kansas St @ TCU
TCU was every bit as dominant as the 41-20 scoreline showed in their win against Kansas St. The Frogs held the Wildcats to 34 yards rushing on only 19 attempts. TCU was +11 in time of possession given they ran 82 plays to Kansas St’s 59.
Florida @ Vanderbilt
Florida threw the ball a bit more in their win over Vanderbilt than we saw the previous week vs Georgia. Treon Harris went 13-21 for 215 yards passing to go along with the Gators 214 yards rushing.
Ohio St @ Michigan St
Defense wasn’t the order of the day in East Lansing where Ohio St and Michigan St combined for over 1100 yards of offense. Despite finishing the game -2, OSU never trailed over the game’s final 33 minutes. Spartans surrendered 268 yards on the ground, uncharacteristic from a Phil Narduzzi led defense.
Colorado @ Arizona
Colorado let a narrow halftime deficit of 21-17 turn into a 38-20 defeat with another lousy 2nd half. The Buffaloes turned the ball over 4 times against Arizona in the losing effort. Arizona’s first TD came from the defensive variety and their pounding ground game proved to be the difference.
Oregon @ Utah
Utah trimmed Oregon’s lead to 30-27 early in the 4th quarter before things completely unraveled. The Utes turned the ball over 4 times compared to Oregon’s 1 with the biggest game changer occurring in the 1st quarter when Utah celebrated prematurely on a long TD pass that Oregon promptly returned 99 yards for a 14 point swing.
San Jose St @ Fresno St
Fresno St and San Jose played a game on the field that looked a lot more 1 sided than the box score indicated. San Jose St led 14-7 until Fresno scored to tie the game with 2:57 left in the 1st half. Fresno would then go on to score 2 more TD’s including a 9 yard blocked punt to close the half taking a 28-14 lead into the break. The Bulldogs scored right out of the half as well and 4 TD’s in just under 6 minutes of game action put the Spartans on ice.
