Sep 7, 2024; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer gives some encouragement to quarterback Jalen Milroe (4) at Bryant-Denny Stadium after defeating the South Florida Bulls. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images
I know I’ve said every week has been a crazy week of college football, and they have, BUT this week was especially nuts with a bunch of unexpected upsets, wins, stats, etc… It was expected to be a kind of ho hum weekend, but we now have a lot to talk about, games that will effect the post season. So lets get to it.
A Number Of Unbeaten Schools Have Been….Beaten
UNLV lost to Syracuse at home in a game that went into OT. After not playing well the previous week Kyle McCord was a lot better, throwing for 355 yards and three TDs. Tight end/F Oronde Gadsden had a big game 10/142. Ricky White blocked a kick and had 10 catches for 135 yards. James Madison was beaten by Louisiana Monroe of all schools by a score of 21-19. James Madison put up some stats, they just couldn’t convert, scoring just two rushing touchdowns.
Missouri also lost to Texas A&M badly 41-10. Conner Weigman returned after a two week absence and played well. Brady Cook struggled and so did the run game for Missouri. Texas A&M sacked Cook six times. Of course the game that ended of being the biggest of the College Football weekend was Vanderbilt’s huge upset over Alabama 40-35 in the 4th quarter. Jalen Milroe after playing so well this season had two big costly turnovers and the Alabama running game was stalled. Diego Pavia led another big comeback this season. Ryan Williams was of course still amazing.
#4 Tennessee also lost a close one to Arkansas. Running back Dylan Sampson played well, but Nico did not. Taylen Green and the Arkansas offense got it done in the passing game and even Green barely carried the ball. Ja’Quinden Jackson was pretty much held in check. One of the least talked about undefeated teams was Duke but they lost to Georgia Tech. The offense played poorly where they had just kind of gotten by. Jamal Haynes got it done on the ground. Star Thomas was ineffective.
Finally Nebraska beat Rutgers in a defensive battle. Both offenses sucked, Raiola did not play well either. Kyle Monangai was held to just 78 yards on 19 carries, and they rushed for just 78 yards as a team. Rutgers threw two interceptions and that’s what did them in.
There Are Of Course Still Some Unbeaten Teams
Penn State is 5-0. The offense was just ok against a poor UCLA squad, winning 27-11. Pittsburgh is 5-0 with a big game from Eli Holstein over North Carolina 34-24. He threw for almost 400 yards and was Pittsburgh’s leading rusher. Running back Desmond Reid was the leading receiver with 155 yards. Navy and Army are still undefeated. Both had big wins and are still doing it with the running game. Both could be rated soon.
Indiana is still undefeated after beating Northwestern 41-24. Rourke again had almost 400 yards passing the running game also put up 149 yards to balance them out. 7 catches for 135 yards for Elijah Sarratt.
Ohio State is of course 5-0. They beat Iowa 35-7. Jeremiah Smith was good again, making crazy catches. Their running game (203 yards) and defense got it done. Kaleb Johnson had his first sub 100 yard game
Miami won again late! Cam Ward threw for for 437 and 2 TDs, but didn’t play well early, but again came back late. They barely beat Cal 39-38. Fernando Mendoza gave Miami a run for their money. Xavier Restrepo had a big game 7 catches for 163 yards. Iowa State undefeated after beating Baylor 43-21. Rocco Becht is having a solid season at QB. Higgins and Noel keep having big games. Their defense has just played solid ball.
Lastly Oregon is undefeated after beating Michigan State 31-10. They got a big game from Jordan James, rushing for 166 yards. Dillon Gabriel was hot and cold with two touchdowns but also two interceptions. They also sacked Michigan State five times. Aidan Chiles has been up and down this season.
As Always There Were Some Close Calls
SMU had a close win over Louisville 34-27. This is Louisville’s second loss in a row. Kevin Jennings is developing as a passer as the season goes and was the leading rusher for SMU with 113 yards. RJ Maryland seems to be back and it was also a big game for former Alabama receiver Ja’Corey Brooks with three catches for 121 yards. Virginia scores 18 points in the 4th quarter to beat Boston College. Thomas Castellanos threw two interceptions and they couldn’t get their running game on track.
Texas Tech is a surprising 5-1 with a close win over Arizona, 28-22. Tahj Brooks contributed 128 yards and 3 TDs. Noah Fifta didn’t throw any touchdowns but threw two picks, with one going to CJ Baskerville. outside of Tetairroa McMillan the Arizona offense didn’t produce much.
Some Surprising Losses
#11 USC lost to Minnesota. Woody Marks played well, but not Miller Moss he threw two picks. He looks like a player that may need one more year. Darius Taylor runs for 144 and was Minnesota’s leading receiver.
Michigan lost by 10 to Washington. Michigan falls to 4-2. Both of Michigan’s QBs play poorly. Will Rogers, Denzel Boston and Jonah Coleman were solid. Michigan’s defense did what they could chipping in four sacks.
Houston beats TCU. Houston had looked really bad all college football season and were 1-4 entering the game against a TCU squad that was scoring a lot of points. Enter Zeon Chriss who took over for Donovan Smith and played well. He led the team in rushing. 2 interceptions for AJ Haulcy. Hoover did not play well. Jack Bech and Savion Williams were basically invisible.
There Were Some Interesting Stories From This Past Weekend Of College Football…
Kennesaw state and UTEP are both 0-5. Both schools have played poorly all around. Tulane ran all over UAB to the tune of 71-20. They rushed for over 300 yards as an offense with Makhai Hughes collecting 119 of it. Jalen Kitna also threw three interceptions
Wisconsin pounds Purdue 52-6. Hudson Card is not playing well since his hot start over the first couple weeks of the college football season. Braedyn Locke was inconsistent, but probably had his best game of his career. Their defense held Hudson Card to just 111 yards passing. Ole Miss beat South Carolina 27-3. The Ole Miss defense collected six sacks and Juice Wells caught 3 balls for 97 yards. South Carolina just couldn’t get their offense going.
Boise State is 4-1 behind Ashton Jeanty’s record setting pace season. This week he had 186 yards rushing and 3 TDs. He has already rushed for 1,031 yards and 16 touchdowns. He is definitely in the Heisman race. Clemson somehow is 4-1 and ranked 15th in the country. Cade Klubnik has played ok this past few weeks and Phil Mafah had a good game.
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A Packers fan, college football and especially NFL draft fan. He has been writing about the NFL draft off and on since 2001, but more heavily the last four years.