September 22, 2012

   First Saturday of autumn arrives; the leaves are beginning to change color, and the temperatures are cooler.  The atmosphere for Ada's football game was electric, particularly when the officials stopped the game in the second quarter for lightning.  If this sounds familiar, this is the second time this season for a lightning storm to ruin Friday night football.  Saturday afternoon brought another thunderstorm, this time with hail.  Whatever happened to a calm transition to autumn?

     High School Division.  Ada's game at Bluffton had to be stopped in the second quarter on Friday night.  The game continued at 1:30 PM on Saturday in Ada.  Fortunately, they got the game finished before the hail came.  Ada trampled Bluffton 53-29, and, according to an Ada assistant coach, the game was not that close.

     Division III.  Ohio Northern took a 14-0 lead at home vs. Capital, waited an hour for the weather to improve, and then finished a 28-14 win.  An interception return for a touchdown put Washington U ahead in the third quarter, and the Bears were able to finish off Kenyon College 28-23 for the first win of the season.

     Division FCS (I-AA).   Richmond rolled to a 28-7 halftime lead and then tied the second half 7-7 in taking a 35-14 victory at Georgia State.  Delaware carpet bombed William and Mary 51-21.  Now that Colorado has won a game, William and Mary is now on "will they ever win" watch.  Undefeated Montana clubbed Northern Colorado 41-16. 

     Ranked vs. Ranked.  #4 Florida State scored four straight touchdowns in the second half to overtake #10 Clemson 49-37.  #15 Kansas State avenged last year's 41 point blowout and upset #6 Oklahoma 24-19.  #3 Oregon devastated #22 Arizona 49-0 behind a defense that stopped Arizona six times in the red zone.   #11 Notre Dame's defense led by linebacker Manti Te'o intercepted five passes and recovered a fumble en route to frustrating Denard Robinson and #18 Michigan 13-6 at South Bend. 

     Upsetting, Isn't It.  Colorado scored three touchdowns in the final 7 minutes at Washington State to upend Washington State 35-34.  Quarterback Sean Mannion passed for 379 yards in leading Oregon State to a 27-20 upending of #19 UCLA.  UCLA will not be catching up with USC at this rate.   Central Michigan kicked a late field goal to edge home-standing Iowa 32-31.  Northern Illinois rallied with seventeen points in the fourth quarter to overcome Kansas 30-23.   In an unexpectedly low-scoring game, #24 Boise State edged BYU 7-6 on the Smurf Turf in Boise.   

     Our Teams Triumphant.   #14 Florida had beaten Kentucky 25 straight times coming into today's game, and Florida chewed up and shut out the Wildcats 38-0.  Ada's Zac Dysert threw three touchdown passes as Dysert's Miami Red Hawks spoiled the MAC conference debut of Massachusetts 27-16.  Dysert also broke the Miami record for career completions, surpassing a fellow named Roethlisberger.  In a cupcake game, Virginia Tech failed to score in the first quarter, but then rolled over Bowling Green 37-0.  Arizona State scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and continued to steamroll Utah 37-7.

     Hanging Our Heads.   Tavon Austin, a native of Baltimore, caught 13 passes, including 3 for touchdowns, in leading #8 West Virginia to a 31-21 slow-motion victory over Maryland.  Kenny Cain had two interceptions and a fumble recovery in leading #17 TCU to victory in their duel with the Virginia Cavaliers.    QB Connor Shaw of #7 South Carolina completed his last 20 passes to lead the Gamecocks in a 31-10 ripping of Mizzou.  #5 Georgia chewed up Vanderbilt 48-3 behind 250 yards and 2 TDs from quarterback Aaron Murray.  Utah State dominated Colorado State 31-19 behind 205 yards rushing from Kerwynn Williams.  Illinois turned the ball over six times on the way to submitting to Louisiana Tech 52-24 at Illinois.

     What Game Are We Playing?  Old Dominion's quarterback Tyler Heinicke threw for over 700 yards and five touchdowns in leading a huge second half comeback to defeat New Hampshire 64-61.  New Hampshire's Andy Vailas only threw for five touchdowns in defeat.  

     Probation Report.  Sixteenth-ranked Ohio State allowed a blocked punt for a touchdown and started very slowly, but QB Braxton Miller led the Bucks to a 29-15 victory over the 0-3 Blazers of Alabama-Birmingham.  QB Matt McGloin threw for a career high in yards and rushed for two touchdowns to carry Penn State to a 24-13 destruction of Temple. 

     Pentagon Papers.   Wake Forest played strong longer than Army to outflank the Black Knights 49-37.   Navy shocked and awed the Keydets of division I-AA VMI 41-3.   Air Force ran roughshod over UNLV in the first half, but the rebels came back in the second half to defeat the Falcons 38-35 in Las Vegas.

     Undefeated and Untied This Week.   Peabody Conservatory, Emory, Randolph Macon.