For the second time in three weeks, Boise St. had a high-profile game against a ranked team on national television. And for the second time in three weeks they dominated the action of that high-profile, nationally televised game en route to a win.
In this case the last-minute heroics of the Virginia Tech game weren’t needed as Titus Young’s 49-yard wide open touchdown grab in the second quarter was the game sealer; for the rest of the game the Beavers got as close as a touchdown, but were never able to derail Boise’s offense long enough to make that tying score. Young’s touchdown was both breathtaking and sad in the sense that Young was as open as he was only because the Oregon St. defender who was on him pushed him out of bounds and believed that Young couldn’t reenter the field of play—reading the rule ass backwards. To be honest, the fact that this was only a thirteen-point win for Boise does surprise me only because there never seemed to be an extended period of time where it seemed that Oregon St.’s offense was finally clicking or their defense was stopping the Boise offense for three and out’s. James Rodgers’ punt return touchdown early did stop things from becoming a route, but he would pay the price later by being knocked out of the game on a hit that—to me—appeared to be a helmet-to-helmet shot that wasn’t called by the ref’s. Ironically the image to be taken away from that hit occurred after the whole thing was done: the image of Rodgers stalking the sidelines looking for his helmet, which had to be taken away from him so he wouldn’t get back on the field after receiving the hit he did.
Another high-profile game where a dramatic climax wasn’t needed was Michael Vick’s second start as a Philadelphia Eagle. While the unfounded (in my opinion) controversy over Vick getting the start still lingers, you can’t deny the results. Yes it was against Jacksonville, but Vick still seemed near flawless on the field Sunday being responsible for all four of the Eagles’ touchdowns in their 28-3 romp. Vick threw for three and ran for another with his aerial exploits being the story. He went 17/31 for 291 yards with the three touchdowns passing, numbers that are very un-Vick like numbers when compared to his previous career as a dazzling runner and scrambler. However, what many people in Philly need to realize, this is a new day and a new Michael Vick. It’s been more than one season since he’s been back in pro football and he himself hasn’t gotten into any kind of trouble (an uninvited guest was shot at a party for Vick earlier in the year, but Vick was ruled out of any wrongdoing in that case). He has also shown transformation as a player realizing and embracing the fact that to make it on the team he’s on at the position he’s playing means having to learn how to throw the ball more often in a game than he’s used to. And learn he has, but a start against a more qualified defense—something Washington could provide this coming week—will be the biggest on-field test that Vick has had since his December 31, 2006 start against the Eagles, as a Falcon.
Arkansas and Ryan Mallett proved to be quite the formidable foe for top-ranked Alabama as the Tide were just over three minutes from tasting defeat before Mallett and the Razorbacks imploded. The Razorback defense was a big reason that Bama only scored one first half touchdown and were fighting to stay alive in Arkansas throughout the game. While I was right that Mark Ingram would get to the 150-yard plateau (he ran for 157) and that it would take more rushes than it did against Duke (nine against Duke over twenty against Arkansas), it was Ingram’s one-yard score that put Bama up for good. The score was set up by a Mallett interception that was nearly run back, but instead was a perfect setup for the Tide’s offense to punch it in and take the lead. A second interception thrown by Mallett soon after would seal the win for the defending national champs. I would tip my hat to Arkansas for the performance—Mallett threw for 357 yards—with my only issue being that they blew a 20-7 lead at home. I know it was against the defending champs, but when you have the kind of momentum that Arkansas seemed to have during this game and the kind of the lead they had and being at home, you’d think even a close victory wouldn’t be too much to ask.
The SEC’s other thriller came (once again) thanks to an Auburn comeback. The twelfth-ranked Tigers once again had to scratch and claw their way to a win. Number fourteen South Carolina jumped out to a 20-7 lead (sound familiar) on Auburn late in the second quarter. A score right before the half by Auburn foreshadowed the second half that was to come as that touchdown seemed to be the Tiger’s release from whatever chain their offense was on as they would outscore the Gamecocks 21-7 in the second half with the final fourteen of those points being touchdowns that gave Auburn the lead and then sealed the win.
While Auburn/South Carolina and Bama/Arkansas turned out to be the top fifteen’s spotlight games for this past week, the rest of it was utter chaos. The most shocking bit of chaos came with fourth-ranked Texas getting smoked by 22 at home against a UCLA team whose pre-season aspirations likely went as far as finishing the year with a winning record. That was the only upset amongst the top fifteen, but several teams came close as number nine Oklahoma had to fend off a late rally by Cincinnati for a three-point win while number twelve LSU played a game of clock management and slow ball movement in preserving a first half lead and winning by six. Number seven Nebraska didn’t need a climactic last-minute score or a big play from their defense in their 17-3 win, but it was a 17-3 win against South Dakota St. in a game that was the complete opposite of how Nebraska has played this year as the statistics showed Nebraska having more first downs, more yards both passing and rushing, and less penalties while also holding the ball slightly longer. And yet only seventeen points against a team most believed they would score at least twenty more on. However, number six Oregon’s eleven-point win over Arizona St. provided excitement, scoring, a scoreless final quarter, and the best first half so far this year and maybe the best first half of the previous two seasons. There was running and passing and even an interception return for a score by Oregon with Arizona St. nipping at their heels the whole way. Oregon started with the lead, but a seventeen-point run by the Sun Devils gave them a ten-point lead late in the first half. This was when Oregon had a little run too, scoring two quick touchdowns in the final two and a half minutes of the half to go into the locker room up. The Ducks added to their lead in the third and the Sun Devils began a comeback attempt in the same quarter with both teams apparently running out of gas at that point. At the end of the day, Texas was the lone casualty amongst the top teams while the others got a dose of shock therapy before coming away unscathed.
It does seem that whenever the Jets and the Dolphins play each other under the lights, something great comes out of it. Over the past fifteen years, almost every Jets/Dolphins Monday Night meeting has offered moments or a full game that has lived on. This Sunday was no different with another exciting, down to the wire game between Miami and New York, with the Jets coming away the victors thanks in part to a short touchdown run from LaDainian Tomlinson that carved out the final score at 31-23 Jets. The moment of this game that put it among the other classics in the Jets/Dolphins rivalry would be Braylon Edwards who, just shy of a week removed from being pulled over with twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system, pulled in a 67-yard touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez that ended up putting the Jets up for good. The score put New York up 21-20 in the third quarter and the Jets never relinquished the lead with Miami getting closest at 24-23 in the fourth before L.T.’s score.
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Monday Night encounter between Green Bay and Chicago. The game itself was a close, defensive, exciting one that will likely be added amongst the great games in the NFL’s longest and best rivalry. Because it was on Monday Night and it was close with the Bears winning on a last-second field goal (set up by Brian Urlacher forcing a fumble that went to Chicago) are a couple of reasons that this game will live on, but that’s not all. The Packers’ team-record eighteen penalties played more than a part in their loss. The game featured a nice QB duel between Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler manifest with Rogers beating Cutler in the statistical categories, but Cutler not crumbling as he did in several close games last season. Then there was Julius Peppers who made his name synonymous with dominant defensive play again. Despite only two tackles and only one hit on Rodgers, Peppers was a thorn in the Green Bay offensive line’s side all game thwarting all efforts to contain his pressure with such ease that it would’ve been laughable if I weren’t a Packer fan. And of course there was the blocked field goal from Peppers late in the third that prevented Green Bay from extending their lead and would turn out to be the margin of victory for the Bears. And finally, there’s Devin Hester. Despite him being on the team I was cheering against, it did make me smile to see Hester school the Green Bay punt team on his way to a 62-yard return touchdown, his first in two and a half years (blasphemous). It was a brief return for a man whose best quality is returning kicks for touchdowns, but whose team wants to him to catch passes. If that touchdown hadn’t started the wild fourth quarter that was to come, I probably would’ve smiled even more.
