Friday, November 20, 2009

College Football Recap for 11/21

Due to my recovery from the flu, I did not attend any games in person this week.  To me, that is the worst part about being sick.  Not a lot of chances left to scream my lungs out.

WAC

Boise State 52 Utah State 21
The Aggies made it a close game for about the first 25 minutes on Friday night before Boise State broke through with a big victory on National TV.  The most impressive thing that BSU did to help their BCS chances was bring a large contingent on the five hour trip to Logan on a Friday Night with a big storm on the way. 

Fresno State 30 Louisiana Tech 28
The men from Fresno win the Bulldog bowl.  For the third week in a row, the Reston Bulldogs can't hang with a team in the fourth quarter.  The reason La Tech is not bowl eligible this year: they must playing hockey.  Ryan Matthews was sidelined after getting a concussion in practice this week, otherwise this game may not have been so close.

Hawaii 17 San Jose State10 (OT)
The Warriors win the Dick Tomey Bowl.  But it took overtime to get a second half touchdown.  I like a defensive battle, but not one with a combined 6 turnovers.  In fact, there were only 6 punts. Nevada, as of the end of the third quarter in their game, out gained both teams. 

Nevada 63 New Mexico State 6
Again, the Nevada Wolfpack steamroll their way through a WAC opponent.  Luke Lippincott was the one with the most yardage today.  That makes three different 1,000 yard rushers for Chris Ault this year.  I can't wait to see what they can do with Boise State next week, win or loose.

Offensive Players of the Week: Nevada RB Luke Lippincott/Boise State RB Doug Martin
Defensive Team of the Week: Boise State
Game of the Week: Fresno State 30 Louisiana Tech 28

Power Rankings
Boise State
Nevada
Fresno State
Idaho
Hawaii
Louisiana Tech
Utah State
New Mexico State
San Jose State

Big Sky
Weber State 47 Cal Poly 14
Weber State earned some style points in their hopes for an at-large playoff bid, but Cal Poly is having a down year this year.  Cameron Higgins, Tim Toone and Tryven Smith all had good games and showed the FCS people who deserves the post season.  Perhaps a trip to Richmond next week will be in order, but it appears to be all for naught.

Montana 33 Montana State 19

It took a while for the scoring to get going in this one.  At one time, the score was tied at 2.  This means that both teams were going backwards in the first quarter.  Eventually the weather settled and Andrew Selle was able to move the team.  It took the Bobcats until late in the third quarter to get a first down.

Sacramento State 31  UC Davis 28
It was a wild finish with the Hornets outscoring the Aggies 21 to 7 in the final frame.  The final score for the Hornets came with 20 seconds left on a 12 yard touchdown from Bethel-Thompson to Bradyn Reed.  The Hornets finish the season strong by winning 3 of the last 4.  It could have been four for four if not for the trip to Frozen Bozeman a couple of weeks ago.  As a result, there will likely no representative from the Great West Conference in the FCS playoffs.  Good news for Wildcat fans.

Eastern Washington 49 Northern Arizona 45
This was another wild one at the Walkup Skydome.  Northern Arizona used their stimulus package to install a roller coaster, as this is the fourth down-to-the wire finish of the season.  This time, with over 5 minutes left in the third quarter, Taiwan Jones bust through for a 71 yard scamper.  That gave the Eagles a 42 - 27 lead.  The Lumberjacks scored the next 18 points to take the lead.  Finally, the Eagles scored with 3:30 left and the defense held.

Offensive Player of the Week: Weber State QB Cameron Higgins
Defensive Team of the Week: Montana
Game of the Week: Sacramento State 31  UC Davis 28

Final Power Rankings
Montana
Weber State
Eastern Washington
Montana State
Northern Arizona
Sacramento State
Northern Colorado
Portland State
Idaho State

Mountain West

TCU 45 Wyoming 10
In the Mtn. postgame show, there was a remark about how similar this game ended up to the Wyoming/Texas games.  Eeerie.  Too bad UT Chattanooga couldn't knock off Alabama.  Make sense to me that the best team in Texas is the best team in the country...this year.  Wyoming tied the game midway through the second quarter when a fumbled put was taken the distance.  It was all Frogs from there.

BYU 38 Air Force 21
This was another game with way too many turnovers, a combined 7.  But at least there was some scoring in this one.  I thought that when that third fourth quarter touchdown was called back on a controversial penalty, that BYU let Max's Ego get the best of them.  That led to an interception.  That led to some Air Force momentum instead of a 34 to 7 lead.  It made the game at least a little bit more interesting.  Up until that point, BYU dominated.

Utah 38 San Diego State 7

This game was over by half-time...at least almost all the scoring was done by then.  Utah's defense deserves credit and it will take some careful preparation for Max Hall and company to beat the Utes next week.

New Mexico 29 Colorado State 27

New Mexico is no longer winless, yea!  Colorado State has lost 8 in a row and I have to wonder if it will be 9 without Grant Strucker.  Even with Josh Mosure having a good game, and a couple of turnovers in their favor, the Rams could not win.  Mosure laid the ball on the turf at the wrong time.  My brother and I used to play a version of chess called give-away.  That is what this chess match was. 

Offensive Players of the Week: BYU QB Max Hall/TCU RB Matthew Tucker
Defensive Teams of the Week: Utah/TCU
Game of the Week: Southern Utah 37 San Diego 21..Yes, I know that these teams are not in the MWC.  OK, I give...New Mexico 29 Colorado State 27

Power Rankings:
TCU
BYU
Utah
Air Force
Wyoming
San Diego State
UNLV
New Mexico
Colorado State

Weber State's Playoff

WSU is in the Playoffs and the Big Sky gets three teams in.  WSU gets to play at William and Mary (9-2) on Saturday.  Montana is the #1 overall seed and hosts Missouri Valley Conference runner up South Dakota State.  Eastern Washington gets to play at Southland Conference Champion Stephen F. Austin in Texas.  All Games are on Saturday and times are to be finalized.  I am not only pleasantly surprised that Weber got into the playoffs, but pleasantly surprised that they are seeded so high.  William and Mary beat Virgina earlier this year.

Here are the pairings:
Upper Bracket
South Dakota State @ #1 Montana
Eastern Washington @ Stephen F. Austin

Elon @ #4 Richmond
South Carolina State @ Appalachian State

Lower Bracket
Holy Cross @ #2 Villanova
New Hampshire @ McNeese State

Eastern Illinois @ #3 Southern Illinois
Weber State @ William and Mary

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