November 20, 2010

This weekend features some rivalry games, games that shape the race to the ACC championship

game and games played in major league baseball parks.

Division III Playoffs: #7 Ohio Northern set a school record by intercepting 7 Wittenberg

passes en route to a 37-14 victory over the Tigers at home. Next up, #5 North Central of Illinois.

Go Polar Bears.

ACC Doings: NC State (5-2 in the ACC) did what they could to keep their Atlantic Division

title hopes alive by defeating instate rival North Carolina 29-25. Maryland (4-3) ceded its Atlantic

Division hopes to to Florida State (6-2) 30-16. Florida State clinched the win by returning an

interception 95 yards for a touchdown in the last minute. #14 Virginia Tech whipped #24

Miami 31-17 in Miami to claim the Coastal Division title and a spot in the ACC championship

game. Clemson became bowl eligible by defeating Wake Forest 30-10.

Trophy and Rivalry: In the I-75 rivalry, Toledo topped Bowling Green 33-14. Wyoming pummeled Colorado State 44-0 in the Border War to claim the Bronze Boot. #7 Stanford held onto the Stanford Axe by dominating Cal 48-14. #15 Mizzou shut out Iowa State 14-0 to claim the Telephone Trophy. Illinois claimed the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk by clubbing Northwestern 48-27. Illinois and Northwestern played the game at Wrigley Field, the home of baseball's Chicago Cubs, and the field was so short that all offensive series went the same direction on the field (west). #6 (I-AA) William and Mary blew out #18 (I-AA) Richmond 41-3 to claim the Capital Cup, the Colonial Athletic Association championship, and an automatic bid in the Division I Football Championship Series playoffs. Lehigh defeated Lafayette 20-13 in their 146th meeting. Lehigh and Lafayette have played more games against each other than any other pair of college football teams.

Our Teams Triumphant: Florida picked on I-AA Appalachian State and defeated them 48-10. #8 Ohio State scored a late touchdown to slip past #21 Iowa 20-17 in Iowa City. Notre Dame established itself in football in 1912 by defeating #1 Army with tricky forward passes to fleet end Knute Rockne. Notre Dame, in green jerseys, kept the tradition of defeating Army alive 27-3 at Yankee's Stadium. West Virginia kept its Big East hopes alive by defeating Louisville 17-10 in a rugged defensive struggle.

Ranked vs. Ranked: #13 Arkansas edged #22 Mississippi State in double overtime 38-31. #9 Nebraska lost a defensive war to #18 Texas A & M 9-6.

Surprises: #11 Michigan State had to come from behind in the fourth quarter to edge Purdue 35-31. Colorado, rejuvenated under interim coach Brian Cabral, followed tailback Rodney Stewart's 195 yards rushing to upend Kansas State 44-36. Bring on Nebraska!! Rice (3-8) devastated East Carolina (6-5) 62-38. Oregon State, which had suffered through a disappointing season marked by injuries to key players, upended #20 Southern Cal 36-7. Ole Miss gave #5 LSU a real battle before succumbing 43-36 at LSU.

Sighing and Sad: Georgia State had amassed several wins over a schedule of rather weak teams. #10 Alabama was a little too much for Georgia State, though, 63-7. Michigan again failed to play defense and lost to #6 Wisconsin 48-28. Virginia, slumping as usual at the end of the season, lost to Boston College 17-13. Georgia Tech became bowl eligible at Duke's expense 30-20. Tennessee defeated Vandy 24-10.

Military: Air Force finished a successful regular season at 8-4 by putting down the Rebels of UNLV 35-20. Navy warmed up for their annual match with Army by clobbering Arkansas State 35-19.

Women's World Cup: Alex Morgan, the youngest member of the US Women's National Team, scored the goal in extra time to defeat Italy 1-0.

Undefeated and Untied This Week: Peabody Conservatory, Emory, Arizona State, University of Northern Colorado (Mercifully, the season is over for this 3-8 team.)