Saturday in Review: Week 6

California was valiant in defeat; they could meet Utah again
in the conference championship game. The Daily Utah Chronicle

What a wonderful weekend to mark the midway point in the regular season. Washington started the mayhem on Thursday by upsetting USC in Los Angeles. The Trojans are one of several teams to have dropped precipitously after being highly ranked in the preseason.

The last two unbeatens in the Pac-12 met Saturday, with Utah emerging victorious over Cal. The Utes forced five interceptions from the Cal quarterback, but just escaped with a 30-24 win. Cal drove into Utah territory in the game's dwindling moments, looking for the go-ahead touchdown, but the Utah defense held them to an incompletion on fourth down. Washington State had to overcome a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to eventually down Oregon in a thrilling overtime upset. The Cougars broke an eight-game losing streak to the Ducks. After appearing in the National Championship Game last season, it now appears questionable if Oregon will reach bowl-eligibility this year.

For North Texas, October 10th will forever live in infamy. The Mean Green were defeated 66-7 by Portland State, the largest-ever defeat by an FCS team over an FBS opponent (since Division I's subdivisions were created in 1978). UNT did not score until 62 seconds were left in the game – long after the Vikings had subbed in their second-string defense. Ironcially, in 1983, when North Texas themselves were in the FCS (they moved up in 1995), they defeated New Mexico State 49-3. Until last Saturday, that was the record for largest margin-of-defeat by an FCS team over a current FBS opponent. North Texas dismissed their head coach immediately after the game concluded. This is a shocking decline for a team that won nine game, including a bowl, just two seasons ago.

Undefeated Michigan State barely escaped Piscataway with a victory over Rutgers. The Spartans narrow win over the struggling Scarlet Knights further raises doubts over their ability to compete with the nation's best. Rutgers had a chance to tie the game on a last-second Hail Mary, but mistakenly spiked the ball on fourth down. Their rivals, the Michigan Wolverines, had no such troubles dispatching Northwestern. The Wildcats were the third-straight opponent of Michigan to be held scoreless; this makes Michigan the first team since Kansas State in 1995 to record three consecutive shutouts. Michigan themselves last accomplished this feat in 1980.

The Hawkeyes are unbeaten and in prime position to win the
Big Ten West. David Purdy/Getty Images

Iowa remains undefeated after beating Illinois. Penn State bested Indiana with relative ease and look to have rebounded well since their season-opening debacle. Wisconsin topped Nebraska with a last-second field goal. The hard-luck Huskers have now lost four games, and all of them in the last 15 seconds of the game.

Unsurprisingly, LSU's running game was too much to handle for South Carolina. Tiger running back Leonard Fournette has now recorded 1,000 rushing yards in his first five games. Alabama started slow, but eventually powered past Arkansas.

In a defensive battle, Florida outplayed Missouri in Columbia. Florida halfback Kelvin Taylor rushed for two touchdowns in the first quarter, but the offense would not score again all game. As it turns out, they didn't need to score more than once. On Mizzou's first drive, they drove down the field, all the way to Florida's 3-yard-line. The Gator defense held on three downs, and the Tigers were forced to convert a field goal. Mizzou did very little offensively for the remainder of the contest, particularly struggling to complete passes against the aggressive Florida defense. Gator cornerback Jalen Tabor returned an interception for a touchdown in the third quarter, giving the Gators an insurmountable 18-point lead. The Gator offense was far from spectacular and struggled to score after the first quarter, but helped control the game by moving the ball enough to maintain favorable field position.

The best game in the SEC came where many expected it, Knoxville, Tennessee. There, the Tennessee Volunteers came back from a 21-point deficit to knock off the Georgia Bulldogs. The game began poorly for Georgia, as running back Nick Chubb suffered a horrible injury on his first play from scrimmage. Then things started to turn their way, as a 97-yard fumble return gave the Bulldogs seven points after it looked sure that they would surrender that many points. The Bulldogs took a 24-3 lead after returning a punt 70 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. After that point, fortune started to favor the Vols. Tennessee outscored Georgia 35-7 in the game's final 32 minutes, starting with two timely touchdowns in the final 64 seconds of the first half. Tennessee took the 38-31 lead with 5:48 left in the game and held on to win by that score as Georgia's final drive ended when the clock expired. Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs recorded 312 passing yards and 118 rushing yards in the thrilling victory.

The Longhorns had just one win this season before stunning
the Top 10-ranked Sooners. Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

TCU prevailed over Kansas State, despite being down 35-17 at halftime. The Horned Frogs' play-making quarterback Trevone Boykin passed for 301 and rushed for 124 in order to overcome the Wildcats. The Frogs remain undefeated after the 52-45 triumph, passing one of the most challenging tests on their schedule. Texas shocked Oklahoma in Dallas, beating the Sooners 24-17. The Longhorns thoroughly outplayed Oklahoma, relieving some pressure from their beleaguered head coach. Unbeaten Oklahoma State got by with another close win, topping West Virginia 33-26 in overtime.

South Florida earned their biggest win in years with a 45-24 victory over Syracuse. Bulls halfback Marlon Mack ran for 184 yards in the win (a career-high against FBS competition). It's not likely, but the Bulls can reach bowl-eligibility if they continue to play at this level. Woebegone UCF remains winless, this week after being drubbed 40-13 by UConn. After Navy lost to Notre Dame, the American Conference has three remaining unbeatens (Houston, Memphis, and Temple).

Somehow, Boston College lost to Wake Forest by a score of 3-0. Improbably, the Demon Deacons only gained five first downs all game. The lone score of the contest came after BC fumbled the ball deep in their own territory; the Deacons lost two yards on the ensuing drive, but kicked the go-ahead field goal. With just 70 seconds left, Wake got the ball back after Boston College lost a fumble on Wake's 4-yard-line, heading toward the endzone. All Wake needed was a first down to run out the clock; if they could not accomplish this, they could intentionally surrender a safety, maintain a 3-2 lead, and give Boston College bad field position with virtually no time remaining. However, offensive competence was nowhere to be found during this game, and Wake coughed the ball up on third down. The Eagles got the ball at the 11 and drove 10 yards to Wake's 1-yard line with just 29 seconds remaining. In the true spirit of the game, BC ran the ball for no gain and promptly spiked the ball as time ran out. The Eagles ruined several scoring opportunities in the loss and missed two short field goals.

But that wasn't the only thriller in the ACC, as Florida State triumphed 29-24 over Miami for their sixth consecutive victory over the Hurricanes. It must be mentioned that without Dalvin Cook, it is unlikely the Seminoles would have won the game. The outstanding running back accounted for 222 rushing yards and 47 receiving yards in the five-point victory. The Seminoles fell down 24-23 with about 10 minutes left in the fourth, but Cook responded with two 23-yard rushes (the last for a touchdown) to put the Seminoles up a score. The Florida State defense held strong, and the Seminoles remained unconquered.

State of Florida:

• FIU (3-3) over UTEP (2-4), 24-16 52-12
• Florida Atlantic (1-4) over Rice (3-3), 34-31 27-26
• Syracuse (3-2) over South Florida (2-3), 30-24 45-24
• Connecticut (3-3) over UCF (0-6), 27-17 40-13
• 11 Florida (6-0) over Missouri (4-2), 28-17 21-3
• 12 Florida State (5-0) over Miami (3-2), 30-28 29-24

Southeastern Conference:

• 14 Mississippi (5-1) over New Mexico State (0-5), 63-10 52-3
• 7 LSU (5-0) over South Carolina (2-4), 42-24 45-24
• 19 Georgia (4-2) over Tennessee (3-3), 35-32 38-31
• Mississippi State (4-2) over Troy (1-4), 42-14 45-17
• 8 Alabama (5-1) over Arkansas (2-4), 38-7 27-14
• Auburn (3-2), BYE
• Kentucky (4-1), BYE
• 9 Texas A&M (5-0), BYE
• Vanderbilt (2-3), BYE

Top 25:

• 1 Ohio State (6-0) over Maryland (2-4), 31-10 49-28
• Kansas State (3-2) over 2 TCU (6-0), 38-35 52-45
• 3 Baylor (5-0) over Kansas (0-5), 70-20 66-7
• 4 Michigan State (6-0) over Rutgers (2-3), 31-16 31-24
• 5 Utah (5-0) over 23 California (5-1), 35-28 30-24
• 6 Clemson (5-0) over Georgia Tech (2-4), 38-20 43-24
• 10 Oklahoma (4-1) over Texas (2-4), 41-17 24-17
• 18 Michigan (5-1) over 13 Northwestern (5-1), 28-21 38-0
• 15 Notre Dame (5-1) over Navy (4-1), 27-24 41-24
• 17 USC (3-2) over Washington (3-2), 38-28 17-12
• West Virginia (3-2) over 21 Oklahoma State (6-0), 45-42 33-26 (OT)
• 22 Iowa (6-0) over Illinois (4-2), 21-13 29-20
• 24 Toledo (5-0) over Kent State (2-4), 31-24 38-7
• 25 Boise State (5-1) over Colorado State (2-4), 45-21 41-10
• 16 Stanford (4-1), BYE
• 20 UCLA (4-1), BYE

Week 6 Record: 18-7 (72%)

Season Record: 134-32 (81%)