The Year of the Upset may have been condensed into one weekend.
Both college and pro football were plagued by this happened this past weekend, but college really took the brunt of the upset beating that occurred. Nine top-25 teams went down this past weekend with six of those losing to unranked teams with the circumstances only heightening those upsets. East Carolina’s upsets of Virginia Tech and West Virginia are but a faded memory thanks to this past weekend’s 41-24 loss to Houston handing the Pirates their second straight loss to go with the two straight wins that started their season. Maryland came back from an 11-point halftime deficit to upset #20 Clemson, Navy upset number 16 Wake Forest on a day where Tim Duncan was honored by the Demon Deacons, and number 9 Wisconsin blew a 19-point halftime lead losing to Michigan 27-25 in the 500th game at Michigan Stadium.
The ranked teams that lost to other ranked teams—TCU, Illinois, and Georgia—each lost to teams that now have much more realistic national title aspirations than they did entering the week. And while some top-25 teams had no problems with unranked foes this past weekend, there were also a few that just dodged adding to the upset pile: #15 Auburn edged Tennessee at home by two and Number 25 Fresno St. edged UCLA at the Rose Bowl by five. And of course, there were the big upsets.
Top ranked Trojans get run over by Oregon St. 27-21
It was two guys with the last name Rodgers who may have destroyed the USC Trojans’ national title dreams last Thursday.
Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 186 yards on 37 carries and scored two touchdowns in the win including the eventual game-winner with 2:39 to go in the game. Rodgers would end up gaining more than twice the yards of USC on the ground. James Rodgers caught six passes for 36 yards and two first half touchdowns helping the two Rodgers score all of the Beavers’ touchdowns for the night.
The Trojans finally got their groove back in the third quarter when they were facing a 21-0 deficit.
Mark Sanchez threw two third quarter touchdowns to get the Trojans within distance of retaking the lead and threw another with just over a minute to go in the game, all to no avail.
The interesting part of the Trojans’ loss—as an example of history repeating itself—is that the last time the Trojans played against the Beavers in Oregon, they were in the top five, Oregon St. was unranked, and USC still lost.
Ole Miss shocks Tebow, fourth-ranked Gators on blocked PAT, missed fourth down
Tim Tebow’s chances of a second Heisman Trophy died this past Saturday.
Tebow failed to convert a fourth-and-one late in Florida’s 31-30 loss to Ole Miss giving the Rebels the game. Even if Tebow’s stats end up near his stats from last year—something they could do—he will be dismissed almost entirely because of this play. Simply put: Heisman Trophy winners convert these situations, especially against unranked in-conference opponents.
Despite the loss, Tebow still went 24/38 passing for 319 yards and a touchdown, and also ran for two touchdowns.
Tebow threw and ran for touchdowns in the second quarter helping to build a 17-7 lead for the Gators. Ole Miss would respond with seventeen unanswered of their own in the third quarter to take a 24-17 lead into the final fifteen minutes.
Those final fifteen minutes is where the real suspense and drama of this game was as any ranked team trailing throughout a game has little real fear or excitement from the opposing sides as most of any side would figure the ranked team is going to eventually come back and win.
Tebow ran in his second touchdown of the day to tie the game with eleven and a half minutes left. Shay Hodge of Ole Miss responded with an 86-yard touchdown grab six minutes later to put Ole Miss up by a touchdown again; Hodge finished with 133 yards on three catches and his touchdown. Percy Harvin would score from fifteen yards, but the extra point was blocked, and Tebow’s failure on fourth down a few minutes later sealed the Gator’s fate.
Eighth-ranked Alabama paints third-ranked Georgia a crimson mask
When Georgia wears their black jerseys, it’s usually a sure thing they are going to win that game.
Saturday night, Alabama came into Athens and turned that black into funeral wear worn by every Bulldog fan and player in the stadium that night.
And while the first fifteen minutes produced a 10-0 Alabama lead, most Bulldog fans didn’t expect the twenty-one points and two costly turnovers that plagued the Bulldogs’ second quarter and made the game a no contest by halftime.
A Matthew Stafford pass was intercepted as Georgia tried to get on the scoreboard to end the first half, and another was caught then fumbled away leading to a Roy Upchurch touchdown run giving the Tide a 24-0 lead.
In the end Stafford & Moreno were held in check while John Parker Wilson became the hero by having a very workman-like night going 13/16 through the air for 205 yards and a touchdown.
Glen Coffee ran for 86 yards and two touchdowns for Alabama, the first making it 17-0 Tide, the second making it 41-17.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I mentioned in the beginning that the NFL wasn’t immune to this rash of upsets and that was the case this past Sunday with several upsets all of them as shocking as they are intriguing. The Chicago Bears stunned Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles with a goal line stand late to preserve an upset at home, the Washington Redskins were one step ahead of the previously unbeaten Cowboys right up until the end raking in a two-point upset in Big D, and Larry Johnson had one of his finer moments in recent time scoring the clinching touchdown capping a seventeen point fourth quarter to give the Chiefs their first win of the year at the expense of the Denver Broncos who were fresh out of miracles this weekend. But perhaps the biggest upset of all wasn’t even a game result. What I am referring to is the NFL’s two elder quarterbacks, Kurt Warner, 37, and Brett Favre, 38 going on 39, putting on a show more fitting for their younger years than a time when most feel one should retire and one was retired for a brief time this year. The two combined for eight touchdowns and 761 yards through the air as their teams combined for combined for 91 points in a 56-35 Jets win. Warner provided the majority of the yards throwing for 472, his most since going to Arizona while Favre did something he had never done while wearing green and gold: throw six touchdowns in a game. While the Jets ran away with this one, this game serves as proof that these two still have plenty to give this game and the rest of the season could be more of a show similar to the one they put on this past weekend.
