September 17, 2011

It's a lovely fall day in Ada. The Harvest and Herb Festival has filled Main Street with booths, and the parade begins a day of live music downtown. It's a great small-town event.

High School Dept.: Ada's rivalry with Upper Scioto Valley High in Alger, the next town south, had been discontinued when USV had trouble keeping their football program going and had to leave the Northwest Conference. The two renewed the rivalry last night, but USV probably wished they hadn't, because Ada shocked and awed the Rams 69-7 in Ada.

Division III: #12 ONU stopped a two-point conversion in overtime to edge Otterbein 34-33 in Ada, the D-III Game of the Week in Ohio. #21 Wittenberg continued its 23 game winning streak in defeating Washington U 20-17. Randolph Macon scored a touchdown and two-point conversion with less than 5 minutes to go to defeat Shenandoah 36-29.

Division FCS (I-AA): Richmond had early success against VMI and kept on the pressure to defeat the Keydets 34-19. Northern Colorado gave up over 500 passing yards to Idaho State and got bombed 50-20. #4 William and Mary may have difficulty keeping their rank after barely beating New Haven 14-10 in Williamsburg. Jacksonville State controlled the game by running the ball and trampled Georgia State 37-21.

Divided Loyalties: Illinois bent but did not break in edging #22 Arizona State 17-14. The Champaign is now open! Wyoming edged Bowling Green 28-27.

Rivalry and Trophy Games: Tyler Hansen accounted for all of Colorado's points by running for two touchdowns and throwing for the other two in a 28-14 drubbing of Colorado State for Centennial Cup. Louisville's running outpointed Kentucky's passing allowing the Cardinals to claim the Governor's Cup 24-17. #18 West Virginia took an early lead and held on against a Maryland comeback to triumph 37-31. In the South's Oldest Rivalry, Virginia outgained North Carolina but were unable to take advantage of their opportunities in a 28-17 loss to the Tar Heels. Running back Chris Rainey and a stifling defense powered #16 Florida over Tennessee 33-23 in the Swamp. Utah met BYU in the Holy War, and the winner will be in the best position to claim the Beehive Boot (for being the best division I football team in Utah).

Our Teams Triumphant: After a scoreless first quarter, Vandy scored 3 TDs in the second quarter including an interception return for a TD and defeated Ole Miss 30-7 at Nashville. Vandy intercepted five Rebel passes. Duke QB Sean Renfree completed 40 passes and led the Dukies to a 20-19 squeaker over Boston College. Notre Dame finally held a halftime lead, and they upended #15 Michigan State 31-13 in South Bend.

Bridge of Sighs: Minnesota coach Jerry Kill had suffered a seizure near the end of last week's game, but he returned to the sideline, and Minnesota returned to the winning column in defeating Miami (Ohio) 29-23. Zac Dysert threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns in the loss.

Ranked Teams: #4 Boise State snuffed the Toledo Rockets 40-15. #3 LSU outlasted #25 Mississippi State 19-6 on Thursday night. #1 Oklahoma vs. #5 Florida State.

Prison Riot: #17 Ohio State's quarterback problems and offensive deficiencies were on full display as the Hurricanes of Miami blew over the Buckeyes 17-6.

Washtenaw County Championship: Michigan defeated Eastern Michigan 31-3 to establish themselves as the county champions.

Eating Cupcakes: #13 Virginia Tech played only well enough to slip past Arkansas State 26-7. Missouri dominated Western Illinois in all phases and pummeled them 69-0. Purdue 59 South East Missouri State 0.

Upsets, Anyone?: Clemson gained over 600 yards and upended defending national champion and #21 ranked Auburn 38-24.

Pentagon Papers: Army rolled over Northwestern 21-14 at West Point. Marcus Lattimore of #10 South Carolina ran for 246 yards against Navy, and Navy's wishbone only produced 275 yards rushing. Lattimore enabled the Gamecocks to overcome the Middies 24-21.

Undefeated and Untried This Week: Peabody Conservatory, Emory, Air Force.

September 10, 2011

This weekend is full of memories of ten years ago, and also memories of the consequences of that fateful day. May we remember to mourn the victims and celebrate the many heroes of those days.

High School Division: Ada and Columbus both showed the tenacity of their bulldog mascots in a 34-33 thriller won by Columbus Grove. Three players for Columbus Grove each rushed for 100 yards. CG won the game by being able to make conversions after touchdowns and by intercepting Konnor Baker with about 1 minute to go to clinch the victory.

Division III: Randolph Macon used a strong defensive effort to come from behind to defeat Averett 15-7. Washington U St. Louis clobbered visiting Rhodes 48-21. Apparently, Rhodes is not a colossus this year.

Which One Do I Root For Again? Homestanding Arizona State led #21 Mizzou 30-16 early in the 4th quarter, but Mizzou came roaring back to tie the game with 2:50 left and force overtime. Arizona State then scored a touchdown in the overtime and held Mizzou scoreless to clinch the win.

What a Battle: Notre Dame scored a TD to take a 3 point lead with 30 seconds to go, but Michigan scored a TD to win the game with 8 seconds to go in a 35-31 barn burner. #12 South Carolina barely beat a determined Georgia team 45-42 in a game that went back and forth all afternoon. #24 Texas edged BYU 17-16.

Our Teams Victorious: #11 Virginia Tech used strangling defense to edge East Carolina 17-10. North Carolina had to stop a determined Rutgers comeback to top the Scarlet Knights 24-22. #5 ranked (in I-AA) William and Mary used a strong defense and powerful running to trample the Keydets of VMI 24-7. Virginia trailed Indiana 31-23 with 6 1/2 minutes to go, but the Cavaliers scored a touchdown and two-point conversion with a minute and a half to go and a field goal at the whistle for a 34-31 victory. Vandy made five sacks and took the ball away four times on the way to a 24-21 come from behind victory over U Conn. Vandy is now 2-0! Richmond stung the Seahawks of Wagner 21-6.

Eating Cupcakes: Illinois rolled over the Jackrabbits of I-AA South Dakota State 56-3. #19 West Virginia pulverized I-AA Norfolk State 55-12. Florida shut out Alabama-Birmingham 39-0.

Ranked vs. Ranked: #23 Penn State used 2 quarterbacks at home, but neither could make much of a dent in the defense of #3 Alabama as the Tide rolled over the Nittany Lions 27-11 in Happy Valley, PA.

Trophy Games: In a hard fought battle for the Cy-Hawk Trophy, Iowa State (of the incredible shrinking conference) defeated Iowa 44-41.

Sighing: Colorado outgained Cal by 200 yards and forced Cal into overtime before losing 36-33 in a matchup of Golden Buffaloes against Golden Bears. Air Force outgained #25 TCU but the Horned Frogs turned their gains into touchdowns, winning 35-19. Colorado State led Northern Colorado 28-0 at halftime and coasted to a 33-14 victory. #6 Stanford hammered Duke 44-14. Old Dominion thumped Georgia State 40-17 in Atlanta.

Upsets: Defending national champion Auburn upset #16 Mississippi State 41-34. New Mexico State upended Minnesota 28-21. Rice had not beaten a team from a BCS conference in 10 years, but they edged Purdue 24-22 on a last second field goal.

Criminal Court: Toledo nearly upset #15 Ohio State but gave up an interception with 1 minute to go to extinguish their last hope. Had Toledo not killed themselves with penalties, special teams errors and other mistakes, they might have been the first Ohio school to beat OSU since 1921.

Pentagon: San Diego State 23, Army 20. Navy at Western Kentucky. Navy torpedoed Western Kentucky 40-14.

Undefeated and Untried This Week: Peabody Conservatory, Emory, #13 (D-III) Ohio Northern, Maryland, Miamis (both of them).

Other Sports News: Ohio Northern's men's soccer team is ranked #4 nationally. #3 Wash U St. Louis women's volleyball dominated Ohio Northern 3 games to 0.

Labor Day weekend

College football is back, and the NFL lockout is over. Hooray!!

High School Division: The Ada Bulldogs look poised for another successful season. Last Friday, Ada slaughtered local rival Hardin Northern 53-7. Last night, star QB Konnor Baker had another outstanding game, throwing 5 touchdown passes and running for another score as the Bulldogs chewed up Spencerville 55-21 in Ada's home and conference opener. Senior Chris Beaschler has emerged as the starting center and a defensive stalwart.

Division III: #14 ranked Ohio Northern defeated the Battling Bishops of North Carolina Wesleyan 38-20 in Ada for the season opener for both teams. Washington University (St. Louis) defeated Knox College 28-10. Randolph-Macon got their season off to a good start at home defeating Methodist 43-7.

Big Opening Games: A few schools opened with difficult opponents. #5 Boise St. vs. #19 Georgia, #4 LSU vs. #3 Oregon.

Upsets, Anyone?: In a game that was hard to top for excitement, Baylor squeaked past #14 and favored Texas Christian 50-48. Baylor was up by 24 points at the end of the third quarter before a furious TCU comeback put the Frogs in the lead by 1 point with 5 minutes to go. Baylor then drove to score their only points of the fourth quarter, a field goal, with just over a minute to go to claim the victory. Big 12 (or 9 or 8 or ?) schools should expect a tough game from Baylor this year. Baylor QB Robert Griffin III completed 5 TD passes. Ball State upended Indiana 27-20 in the Colts' stadium in Indianapolis. Kentucky tried valiantly to lose to Western Kentucky but managed to win 14-3. #23 Auburn trailed most of the game but managed to edge Utah State 42-38.

I-AA Happenings: On Friday night, Georgia State lambasted Clark Atlanta 41-7. Showing that GSU has something in common with the bigtime schools, GSU suspended their top 2 QBs before the game, but they had punter/wide receiver Bo Schlecter to fill in and lead them to victory. Richmond finished strong to upset Duke 23-21 in Durham. Northern Colorado lost to Div. II Lindenwood 22-20.

Trophy Games: #24 West Virginia rained on Marshall for the Governor's Cup on Sunday afternoon 34-13. Speaking of rain, violent thunderstorms forced the game to be called off in the middle of the third quarter after substantial rain delays.

Our Teams, Triumphant: In the tradition of scheduling an easy game to open, a number of our teams were seen eating cupcakes. Mizzou defeated local hero Zac Dysert and Miami (OH) 17-6 in Columbia. #13 Virginia Tech bulldozed App. State 66-13. Arizona State warmed up by clobbering I-AA Cal Davis 48-14. Bowling Green vandalized Idaho 32-15. Illinois overcame a slow start to whip Arkansas State 33-15. #22 Florida ate up Florida Atlantic 41-3. Vanderbilt pummeled Elon 45-14. North Carolina overruled I-AA James Madison 42-10. QB Bryn Renner of UNC completed over 95% of his passes against JMU, nearly breaking the national record for completion percentage. Michigan, playing their first game for new coach Brady Hoke, chewed up Western Michigan 34-10. Colorado State fended off a last second New Mexico rally to overcome the Lobos 14-10. Colorado lost to Hawaii 34-17 across the water. With the toughest schedule in the country, Hawaii seemed to be one of CU's best chances to win. It will be a long season.

High Crime Area: New coach Randy Edsall led Maryland over scandal-riddled Miami 32-24. It was tough to decide what was uglier, the suspensions of Miami players or the Maryland uniforms. Despite lots of suspended players and with new coach Luke Fickell to replace the disgraced Jim Tressel, #18 Ohio State unzipped Akron 42-0.

Our Teams, in Grief. Virginia rolled over William and Mary 40-3.

Nationally Ranked: #11 Wisconsin put down the Rebels of UNLV 51-17 with the former NC State QB Russell Wilson leading the way.

Pentagon: Navy rammed I-AA Delaware 40-17. Air Force led South Dakota by thirty points early in the 3d quarter but did not finish well, defeating South Dakota 37-20. Army got bitten by the Northern Illinois Huskies

Conflict of Interest: Former Notre Dame head coach and now ESPN commentator Lou Holtz always picks Notre Dame to win, no matter how badly their season is going. This weekend, though, he had to pick against the Irish, because his wife of 50 years insisted that he pick his son, Skip's, team, South Florida. Oh, the result? In a game repeatedly delayed by weather (ringing down the thunder, literally), South Florida defeated the #16 Irish 23-20.

Counting Down from Big 12: After last season, Colorado left to join the Pac 12 and Nebraska left to join the Big 10 (which now has 12 teams). Recently Texas A & M announced that they were leaving, probably for the SEC. Oklahoma's president has announced that OU is considering leaving the conference. Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State all seem to be considering their options. Will the last school still in the Big 12 turn off the lights?

Undefeated and Untried: Peabody Conservatory, Emory.

Championship Game weekend, December 4, 2010

We now have snow on the ground in the hard to melt places, and the college football regular season is about to end. The craziness of bowl assignments is being made. Today is also the day of conference championship games, and the last time that some conferences will maintain their current configurations. The Big Twelve probably won't play a championship game next year because they will have too few teams. So here goes:

Rivalry and Trophy Games: James Brooks of ASU blocked an extra point attempt to put the game in overtime, and blocked another to win the game in second overtime as Arizona State beat Arizona 30-29 in the Duel in the Desert to claim the Territorial Cup. Pittsburgh dropped Cincinnati 28-10 to take the Paddlewheel Trophy. #2 Oregon came on strong in the fourth quarter of their Civil War game against Oregon State to claim the Platypus Trophy, the Pac 10 crown, and a spot in the BCS championship game by a 37-20 score. Washington became bowl eligible and claimed the Apple Cup by defeating Washington State 35-28.

Conference Championship Games: #1 Auburn walloped #18 South Carolina in the SEC Championship game 56-17 to earn a spot in the BCS championship game. Central Florida took the Conference USA championship by defeating SMU 17-7. #12 Virginia Tech overcame #20 Florida State 44-33 to claim the ACC Championship and a spot in the Orange Bowl. #10 Oklahoma edged #12 Nebraska in the last Big 12 championship game 23-20 to claim a spot in the Fiesta Bowl.

Other Games of Interest: Miami capped a successful run, even without Zac Dysert of Ada, by defeating #24 Northern Illinois 26-21. Illinois helped the bowl resume of Fresno State by losing to the Bulldogs 25-23. #23 West Virginia kept eliminated Pitt as the Big East representative in the BCS by rolling over an outmanned Rutgers team 35-14. Connecticut claimed the Big East BCS slot by edging South Florida 19-16 on a 50 yard field goal in the last minute of play. #9 Boise State finished their season on a high note by steamrolling Utah State 50-14.

Bowl Destinations: Oregon vs. Auburn in the BCS championship game. Oklahoma to the Fiesta Bowl. Wisconsin vs. TCU (probably) in the Rose Bowl. Virginia Tech to the Orange Bowl. All three service academies will play in bowl games this year. Air Force gets the Independence Bowl, Navy the Poinsettia, and Army the Armed Forces.

November 27, 2010

As the season winds down, and the winds and snow increase, it is time for rivalry and trophy games and for conference standings to be determined. As of Thursday, it is officially time to be thankful for many good things, especially for America's plenty, for those who defend us, and for college football.

Division III: #7 ONU lost to #5 Illinois Central in Illinois to end the ONU experience in the Division III playoffs. Congratulations to the Polar Bears on making it to the second round.

Rivalry and Trophy: In the Backyard Brawl, West Virginia dragged Pitt, which had been leading the Big East, back to the pack 35-10. #2 Auburn squeaked past #11 Alabama 28-27 in the Iron Bowl to claim the James E. Foy, V-ODK Sportsmanship Trophy. #16 Va. Tech overwhelmed Virginia 37-7 to retain the Commonwealth Cup. In the Sunshine Showdown, Florida managed only 64 yards passing and only 276 total yards in losing to #22 Florida State 31-7. Florida's 7-5 record in their worst under Urban Meyer, and Florida State will play next weekend in the ACC championship game against Virginia Tech. There is no trophy for the winner of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry game. However, winning Ohio State players get little gold football pants on a necklace for beating Michigan. #8 Ohio State earned their little gold pants this year and a share of the Big Ten title by pummeling Michigan 37-7. #14 Missouri dominated Kansas 35-7 in the Border Battle to claim the Indian War Drum and the Lamar Hunt Trophy.

Rivalry and Trophy, The Sequel: Indiana edged Purdue 34-31 in overtime to avoid losing all of their conference games, and the Hoosiers also grabbed the Old Oaken Bucket. Minnesota, which had played so badly that its head coach had been fired in mid season, finished the season on a high note by upsetting #24 Iowa to claim Floyd of Rosedale, a bronze statue of a pig. #10 Michigan State fended off a late Penn State rally to claim a Big Ten co-championship and the Land Grant Trophy. In a driving rain, Notre Dame defeated Southern Cal to take the Jeweled Shillelagh. Notre Dame finished with a 7-5 record. #25 Mississippi State won the Egg Bowl and the Golden Egg Trophy in defeating Mississippi 31-23. #18 South Carolina will face #2 Auburn in the SEC Championship game after taking Hardee's Trophy by defeating Clemson 29-7.

Unexpected and Unheard of: #19 Nevada came back from a 24-7 deficit to upend the BCS title hopes of #4 Boise State 34-31 in overtime. #7 Wisconsin clinched a share of the Big Ten championship and solidified their hold on the Big Ten's BCS bid with a 70-24 humiliation of Northwestern. Maryland upended #23 North Carolina State 38-31 to end NC State's chances of playing in the ACC championship.

Our Teams, Triumphant: Arizona State kept faint bowl hopes alive with a 55-34 beatdown of UCLA behind their backup quarterback.

Ranked: #1 Oregon trailed at halftime but exploded in the second half to overwhelm #21 Arizona 48-29. #4 TCU blasted helpless New Mexico 66-17. #12 Arkansas upended #5 LSU 31-23 in Little Rock. #9 Oklahoma State hosted #13 Oklahoma in the battle for the Bedlam Bell. Bedlam it was, as the teams scored 40 points in the fourth quarter, but Oklahoma emerged victorious 47-41. Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Texas A & M are all tied with 6-2 records in conference. One of them will represent the Big 12 South against Nebraska in the title game.

We Wish It Was Really a Rivalry: #15 Nebraska overwhelmed Colorado 45-17 in Lincoln. #17 Texas A & M whipped Texas 24-17 to take the Lone Star Showdown trophy. Texas, one year after competing in the National Championship game, went 5-7, and is not even bowl eligible. North Carolina retained the Victory Bell by defeating Duke 24-19. Now in basketball, this is a real rivalry.

Depression: Vanderbilt's coach Caldwell had resigned earlier in the week, but Vandy's players could not honor him with a win. Instead, Vandy finished 2-10 with a 34-13 defeat at the hands of Wake Forest.

Division I-AA (FCS) Playoff News: William and Mary earned the #2 seed in the FCS playoffs and will play Dec. 4 against the winner of Georgia Southern vs. South Carolina State.

Undefeated and Untied This Week: Georgia State, Illinois, William and Mary, Army, Navy, Peabody Conservatory, Emory.

The Other Football: The US Women's Soccer Team qualified for the FIFA World Cup by defeating Italy 1-0 and winning the 2 game qualifying series 2 goals to nil.

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.)

November 13

High School: The last two seasons, Ada's playoff run ended when the could not beat Delphos St. John's. This year, after a first round victory, Ada faced St. John's yet again, and with predictable results. St John's 42, Ada 14. Congratulations Bulldogs on a fine season.

Division III: Tenth-ranked Ohio Northern ended their regular season by winning a 35-14 duel with the Student Princes of Heidelberg. Randolph-Macon ended their season with a 31-28 loss to traditional rival Hampden-Sydney. Washington U finished their season with a 13-10 defeat at the hands of conference rival University of Chicago.

BCS Intrigue: The big story of the week was whether Cam Newton, Heisman trophy frontrunner and key to #2 Auburn's chances of reaching the national championship, had asked for illegal benefits in choosing the college he would star for this season. Would Auburn take a chance and play a player who might prove to be ineligible? Newton accounted for four touchdowns for Auburn, and they defeated Georgia 49-31. #4 TCU, apparently suffering an emotional hangover after defeating Utah last weekend, squeaked past San Diego State 40-35, in a performance that will not strengthen their bid to play in a BCS game. #1 Oregon edged Cal 15-13.

Triumphant: #20 Missouri got back to its winning ways by taking advantage of a sloppy performance by Kansas State 38-28. Colorado, led by interim head coach Brian Cabral, whipped Iowa State 34-14. Michigan rolled over Purdue 27-16. After allowing Penn State to rule the first half, #8 Ohio State came back with a vengeance to take down the Lions 38-14. #16 Virginia Tech swamped North Carolina 26-10. Northern Colorado handled Portland State 35-30. Richmond rammed Rhode Island 15-6. Miami of Ohio kicked a field goal on the last play of the game to defeat Bowling Green 24-21. Miami is co-leader of the Eastern Division of the MAC and is bowl eligible, a turn-around for the recently downtrodden Red Hawks.

Trophy Games: Maryland claimed the Tydings Trophy by defeating Virginia 42-23 in Charlottesville. Maryland can appear in their first conference championship game by winning their final two home games with Florida State and NC State. #3 Boise State vandalized Idaho 52-14 to claim the Governor's Cup.

News of the Weird: Northwestern took down #13 Iowa 21-17 by scoring a touchdown in the last 2 minutes. The Northwestern QB that threw the winning touchdown pass then tore his Achilles tendon in running to celebrate with his teammates and is finished for the season. Minnesota, 1-9 before this weekend and led by an interim head coach after their head coach was fired, upended Illinois 38-34. #6 Wisconsin annihilated Indiana 83-20. Notre Dame tripped #15 Utah 28-3.

Too Bad, So Sad: Kentucky humbled Vanderbilt 38-20 and became bowl eligible. Boston College beat Duke 21-16. #7 Stanford, which usually relies on its high-scoring offense, won a defensive struggle with Arizona State 17-13. After systematically put itself in playoff contention and even gaining the #1 ranking in Division I-AA, William and Mary lost to James Madison 30-24. #22 South Carolina ended #24 Florida's chances at playing in the SEC championship game by defeating the Gators 36-14. (Spurrier's revenge?)

Pentagon Papers: Navy edged Central Michigan 38-37. Air Force bombed New Mexico 48-23. Army trounced Kent State 45-28.

Undefeated and Untied This Week: Emory, Peabody Conservatory, Georgia State (resting up to play Alabama next weekend).