Captain's Round-Up: Top 25 Action Week 2

~ #1 USC – IDLE

~ #2 LSU defeated #9 Virginia Tech 48 – 7

In the first match-up of the season between Top 10 teams, LSU turned it from a much anticipated contest into a laugher. The Hokies were dominated on both sides of the ball and didn’t score until late into the third when rookie QB Tyrod Taylor ran it in from a yard out. Taylor replaced Sean Glennon in the second quarter against an LSU defense that only allowed 149 total yards of offense. VaTech’s much talked about defense gave up 598 yards. Pardon my bias, but GEAUX TIGERS!

~ #3 West Virginia defeated Marshall 48 – 23

Steve Slaton and Pat White both rushed for over a hundred yards to take out the Herd after being down at halftime 13 – 6. Slaton rushed for 2 TDs while White threw 2 TD passes and rushed for another to open it up in the second half.

~ #4 Florida defeated Troy 59 – 31

The Gators and Tim Tebow looked to be on the way to another huge blowout as they led 49 – 7 at halftime. Then things got ugly as turnovers, punts, and just all around bad play allowed the Trojans to stage a comeback that was just too little and too late.

~ #5 Oklahoma defeated Miami 51 – 13

The Sooners did it spurts as they went up 21 – 3 at first before the Hurricanes made it 21 – 13, then it was all Sooners for the rest of the way. Sam Bradford threw for only 205 yards but ended up tossing 5 TD passes while the Oklahoma RB by committee ran for a combined 160 yards to only 52 for Miami.

~ # 6 Wisconsin defeated UNLV 20 – 13

It took until under two minutes to play for the Badgers to go ahead for good, but QB Tyler Donovan’s bootleg 29-yard scamper to the end zone helped avoid the upset. UNLV held the lead in this game for long periods of time and quite often but couldn’t hold onto it when it mattered most.

~ # 7 Texas defeated #19 TCU 34 – 13

It was the Horned Frogs up by ten at halftime; shutting out the Longhorn offense. But then the second half came and Colt McCoy regained his composure and led Texas to another scary victory. RB Jamaal Charles did a lot of the work for Texas rushing for 134 yards and one score as it just go really ugly in the second half.

~ # 8 Louisville defeated Middle Tennessee State 58 – 42

Middle Tennessee State was hoping to take a page out off App. State’s book and upset a national champion contender, but Brian Brohm wasn’t about to let that happen. Brohm through for a career high 401 yards and 5 TDs while Anthony Allen got a school record 275 yards and 2 scores to give the Cardinals the slim win.

~ # 10 California defeated Colorado State 34 – 28

Up 34 – 14 in the fourth quarter, the Golden Bears looked to be on the way to their second straight victory until the Rams made a monster comeback. Colorado State outgained Cal 450 to 379 in total yards, but just couldn’t produce enough to finish off the late surge.

~ # 11 Georgia lost to South Carolina 16 – 12

Steve Spurrier continued his dominance over Georgia who couldn’t find the end zone all night. Gamecocks’ RB Cory Boyd had a great night rushing for 75 yards the only TD for both teams. Jasper Brinkley intercepted a last ditch effort pass by Bulldog QB Matthew Stafford near the end of the game to seal the victory.

~ # 12 Ohio State defeated Akron 20 – 2

Caught in a scare late in the second quarter, the Zips of Akron led 2 – 0 before Ohio State scored 20 unanswered to take the home win. It wasn’t the defense of Akron that lost the game for them though; it was their offense. The Zips punted fourteen times and managed only 3 first downs the entire game.

~ # 13 UCLA defeated BYU 27 – 17

After going up 20 – 0, the Bruins looked to be sailing to an easy win until BYU quarterback Matt Hall opened up his arsenal passing 392 yards and 2 scores. It just wasn’t enough as UCLA had an interception return for a TD and a late rushing score from RB Chris Markey.

~ # 14 Penn State defeated Notre Dame 31 – 10

The Irish were hoping to get back on track after being trounced last week, and with freshmen Jimmy Clausen leading the offense, they did look better. But not good enough. Penn State’s Austin Scott thrashed Notre Dame’s defense for 116 yards rushing and 2 scores and Derrick Williams returned a punt 78 yards for a TD. Clausen looked good in his first start, but didn’t seem nearly ready to face a defense the caliber of the Nittany Lions’.

~ # 15 Rutgers defeated Navy 41 – 24

Ray Rice became the career rushing leader at Rutgers and kept his Heisman campaign alive after rushing for 175 yards and 2 TDs while also catching another score. The Rutgers defense needed to hold strong as the Midshipmen would not give up all evening, but just didn’t have enough to stop Rice.

~ # 16 Nebraska defeated Wake Forest 20 – 17

Sam Keller threw for 258 yards and a TD in his first road start, but it was the Cornhusker defense that won the game. Wake Forest QB Brett Hodges threw a crucial interception in the end zone late in the fourth quarter taking away any chance the Deacons had of coming back.

~ # 17 Auburn lost to South Florida 26 – 23 in OT

Causing five turnovers should always win a game in blowout fashion. Missing four field goals should not win a game. South Florida happened to do both of those things and won, but in nowhere near blowout fashion. The Bulls came into Auburn and caused a major upset by finally hitting two field goals to tie the game at 20 and send it to overtime. The Bulls defense held the Tigers to only a field goal and then Matt Grothe threw a 14 yard score to Jessie Hester to stun and silence the crowd.

~ # 18 Arkansas – IDLE

~ # 20 Hawaii defeated Louisiana Tech 45 – 44

Colt Brennan’s race to the Heisman continues and it is being said though that Hawaii must go undefeated in order for it to even be a possibility. Well, Brennan’s 4 TDs and 548 passing yards helped keep the dream alive. The Ragin’ Cajuns were not going to go away easy though and instead of tying it up in the first overtime; they went for the win. Zac Champion’s pass was broken up to seal the win for Hawaii and Brennan’s odd hairdo.

~ # 21 Georgia Tech defeated Samford 69 – 14

Tashard Choice got his ninth straight 100 yard rushing game including a 73 yard TD run to give him two for the day. Tech simply dominated Samford from the start outscoring them 28 – 0 in the first quarter en route to a 45 – 0 halftime lead.

~ # 22 Boise State lost to Washington 24 – 10

The longest win streak in major college football ended at fourteen games Saturday as the redshirt freshmen QB-led Huskies took Boise State and ended any hopes for another BCS bowl game. QB Jake Locker led Washington with 194 yards passing and on TD while rushing for 84 yards and a score.

~ # 23 Texas A&M defeated Fresno State 47 – 45 in Triple OT

In a back and forth game that saw the first overtime end with one of the weirdest series of events I’ve ever seen in a college game; the Aggies held on when Fresno State couldn’t convert on the two point conversion to tie it again. A long pass for the Bulldogs got them down to the 2-yard line in overtime, but a review of the play clearly showed a fumble recovered by Texas A&M which would have ended the game. The player was ruled out of bounds at the two, the call was reversed, but an invisible flag for a personal fall gave Fresno State the ball back and they settled for a field goal to send it to a second OT.

~ # 24 Tennessee defeated Southern Miss 39 – 19

Wide receivers Austin Rogers, Josh Briscoe, and Lucas Taylor helped the Volunteers get back on track as they combined for 241 receiving yards and two TDs. Southern Miss kept it close going into halftime down only by one point, but Tennessee’s offense led by QB Erik Ainge was just too much for the Golden Eagles to handle.

~ # 25 Clemson defeated Louisiana Monroe 49 – 26

The Tigers continued their dominance with a short week after beating FSU on Monday. Cullen Harper threw a school record 5 TD passes on 20 of 26 passing for 270 yards. ULM scored first and in every quarter but just couldn’t generate enough offense to stop a streaking Clemson team.

Lopsided Score of the Week: Western Kentucky defeated West Virginia Tech 87 – 0.

Note Of Interest: Notre Dame and Michigan are both in the middle of four game losing streaks. They are both 0 – 2 to start the season for the first time ever, but that won’t last long as they play each other in Ann Arbor next week.