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.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
September 15, 2012
Ada presented the Harvest and Herb Festival today. We had a parade, and Main Street was lined with craft booths and food booths. Today's Festival was markedly than that of previous years because Ada First United Methodist Church no longer marks the north end of the festival area. Instead, the church served meals in rented space, and church members sat at the vacant lot that marks where the old church stood to talk to citizens and residents who have thoughts or prayers to offer there. The building may have burned down, but the congregation continues to "proclaim Christ and make disciples." The day concluded with Punkin Chunkin (catapults and trebuchets throwing pumpkins for distance) at the Ada Park.
High School Division. Ada faced traditional rival Upper Scioto Valley. The rivalry is not the same since USV had to give up football a few years ago and left the Northwest Conference, but it is still a game between close neighbors. Ada, 4-0, slaughtered the Rams 42-0 behind 150 yards rushing plus long punt returns from running back Kellen Baker.
Division III. Ohio Northern honored our veterans at today's home opener. Unfortunately, the game did not go as well as the celebration. The Heidelberg Student Princes ruled over ONU 43-7. Washington U. turned the ball over 5 times en route to a 20-14 loss to Coe College. Randolph Macon unleashed a powerful running game to outscore Bethany 49-33.
FCS (Division I-A). William and Mary, 0-3, pushed #12 Towson but lost 20-17 at Towson in its conference opener. Richmond shocked and awed in-state rival VMI 47-6. Richmond returned the opening kickoff for a TD and never looked back. Texas San Antonio dominated Georgia State 38-14 in Atlanta. Sacramento State, having already beaten Colorado, defeated Northern Colorado 28-17 in Sacramento.
Trophy and Rivalry Games. Holy War: Utah vs. #25 BYU
They Did What?? Pitt had played very badly in its first two games, but the Panthers rose up to take the ball away from #13 Virginia Tech 4 times and to outplay a misfiring Hokie team for a 35-17 upset in Pittsburgh. Louisiana Monroe, coming off an upset of a top-10 Arkansas team, pushed Auburn to overtime before losing 31-28 at Auburn. Pretty soon, no SEC team will want to play Monroe. Either Utah State is much stronger than we thought, or Wisconsin is a lot weaker, because the Badgers needed Utah State to miss a last-second field goal to claim a 16-14 victory over the Aggies.
Ranked vs. Ranked. #21 Stanford's defense held down the offense of #2 Southern Cal and upended the Trojans 21-14 in Palo Alto. #18 Florida trailed #23 Tennessee 14-10 at halftime, but the Gators scored the final 24 points of the game and pulled away from the Volunteers 37-20 at Knoxville. #20 Notre Dame made the offense of #10 Michigan State ineffective and scored repeatedly on the vaunted Spartan defense in a 20-3 whipping.
Our Teams Triumphant. Illinois, missing a few players with injuries, bullied an overmatched Charleston Southern squad 44-0. Vanderbilt also visited the cupcake store, pummeling the Presbyterian Blue Hose 58-0. #17 Michigan pulverized visiting the Massachusetts Minutemen 63-13, in another major power versus victim matchup. #9 West Virginia plundered James Madison 42-12. Missouri had to play without injured starting QB James Franklin, but his redshirt freshman replacement, Corbin Berkstresser, helped by four takeaways by Mizzou's defense, managed a close victory over Arizona State 24-20 in Columbia.
Sighing and Crying. Connecticut got some revenge against their old coach, Randy Edsall, and the Maryland Terps, 24-21. Boise State controlled Miami's passing attack and ran for nearly 300 yards in trampling the Red Hawks 39-12. Ada's Zac Dysert completed 20 of 27 passes for less than 200 yards and no touchdowns. #19 Louisville piled up a 36-7 halftime lead and held off North Carolina's second half comeback to win 39-34. Georgia Tech used long runs and a long touchdown pass to establish a big early lead and then coasted to a 56-20 blowout of Virginia. San Jose State overwhelmed the Colorado State defense and dominated the Rams 40-20. Fresno State scored five touchdowns in the first quarter and never looked back in a 69-14 roasting of Colorado.
On Probation: #12 Ohio State took an early lead, but Cal came back with a vengeance in the second half. Buckeye QB Braxton Miller completed a 72-yard pass with about 3 and a half minutes left and then the Bucks intercepted a Cal pass to end Cal's last threat. The Buckeye defense needs to play better as the year goes on. Penn State took an early lead over Navy and never looked back, claiming their first victory of the season 34-7.
Pentagon Papers. Northern Illinois squeaked past Army 41-40.
Undefeated and Untied This Week. Peabody Conservatory, Emory, Air Force
High School Division. Ada faced traditional rival Upper Scioto Valley. The rivalry is not the same since USV had to give up football a few years ago and left the Northwest Conference, but it is still a game between close neighbors. Ada, 4-0, slaughtered the Rams 42-0 behind 150 yards rushing plus long punt returns from running back Kellen Baker.
Division III. Ohio Northern honored our veterans at today's home opener. Unfortunately, the game did not go as well as the celebration. The Heidelberg Student Princes ruled over ONU 43-7. Washington U. turned the ball over 5 times en route to a 20-14 loss to Coe College. Randolph Macon unleashed a powerful running game to outscore Bethany 49-33.
FCS (Division I-A). William and Mary, 0-3, pushed #12 Towson but lost 20-17 at Towson in its conference opener. Richmond shocked and awed in-state rival VMI 47-6. Richmond returned the opening kickoff for a TD and never looked back. Texas San Antonio dominated Georgia State 38-14 in Atlanta. Sacramento State, having already beaten Colorado, defeated Northern Colorado 28-17 in Sacramento.
Trophy and Rivalry Games. Holy War: Utah vs. #25 BYU
They Did What?? Pitt had played very badly in its first two games, but the Panthers rose up to take the ball away from #13 Virginia Tech 4 times and to outplay a misfiring Hokie team for a 35-17 upset in Pittsburgh. Louisiana Monroe, coming off an upset of a top-10 Arkansas team, pushed Auburn to overtime before losing 31-28 at Auburn. Pretty soon, no SEC team will want to play Monroe. Either Utah State is much stronger than we thought, or Wisconsin is a lot weaker, because the Badgers needed Utah State to miss a last-second field goal to claim a 16-14 victory over the Aggies.
Ranked vs. Ranked. #21 Stanford's defense held down the offense of #2 Southern Cal and upended the Trojans 21-14 in Palo Alto. #18 Florida trailed #23 Tennessee 14-10 at halftime, but the Gators scored the final 24 points of the game and pulled away from the Volunteers 37-20 at Knoxville. #20 Notre Dame made the offense of #10 Michigan State ineffective and scored repeatedly on the vaunted Spartan defense in a 20-3 whipping.
Our Teams Triumphant. Illinois, missing a few players with injuries, bullied an overmatched Charleston Southern squad 44-0. Vanderbilt also visited the cupcake store, pummeling the Presbyterian Blue Hose 58-0. #17 Michigan pulverized visiting the Massachusetts Minutemen 63-13, in another major power versus victim matchup. #9 West Virginia plundered James Madison 42-12. Missouri had to play without injured starting QB James Franklin, but his redshirt freshman replacement, Corbin Berkstresser, helped by four takeaways by Mizzou's defense, managed a close victory over Arizona State 24-20 in Columbia.
Sighing and Crying. Connecticut got some revenge against their old coach, Randy Edsall, and the Maryland Terps, 24-21. Boise State controlled Miami's passing attack and ran for nearly 300 yards in trampling the Red Hawks 39-12. Ada's Zac Dysert completed 20 of 27 passes for less than 200 yards and no touchdowns. #19 Louisville piled up a 36-7 halftime lead and held off North Carolina's second half comeback to win 39-34. Georgia Tech used long runs and a long touchdown pass to establish a big early lead and then coasted to a 56-20 blowout of Virginia. San Jose State overwhelmed the Colorado State defense and dominated the Rams 40-20. Fresno State scored five touchdowns in the first quarter and never looked back in a 69-14 roasting of Colorado.
On Probation: #12 Ohio State took an early lead, but Cal came back with a vengeance in the second half. Buckeye QB Braxton Miller completed a 72-yard pass with about 3 and a half minutes left and then the Bucks intercepted a Cal pass to end Cal's last threat. The Buckeye defense needs to play better as the year goes on. Penn State took an early lead over Navy and never looked back, claiming their first victory of the season 34-7.
Pentagon Papers. Northern Illinois squeaked past Army 41-40.
Undefeated and Untied This Week. Peabody Conservatory, Emory, Air Force
Saturday, September 8, 2012
September 8, 2012
Friday night in Ada reminded all of us that football and our other pursuits must yield to forces beyond our control--lightning in this case. Lightning in the area interrupted the high school football games in the area, and so Friday night football was continued on Saturday afternoon or evening. The officials stopped the Ada game between a Collumbus Grove touchdown and Grove's extra point with about 5 minutes to go in the second quarter. Ada led 28-6. Our thunderstorms might have been a bad omen for the Big Ten, who ranked teams did not shine on this weekend.
High School Division. Ada's Bulldogs kept up their momentum in the Saturday night continuation of Friday night's game, biting the Columbus Grove Bulldogs 55-21. Ada's head coach, Mike Fell, had a 75-25 record at Columbus Grove earlier in his career.
Division III. Randolph Macon opened their newly renovated stadium with a 21-6 victory against Averett. Rhodes College, playing at home, overtook Washington U and forced their game into overtime. Rhodes kicked a field goal on their overtime possession, but Washingon committed penalties that made any scoring attempt impossible.
Trophy and Rivalry Games. Cincinnati, led by quarterback Munchie Legaux, dominated Pitt in the River City rivalry 34-10. Because Pitt is leaving the Big East for the ACC, this rivalry will end after this year, joining an illustrious list of ended rivalries like Texas vs. Texas A & M, Pitt vs. Penn State, and Missouri vs. Kansas. I guess that Cincinnati gets to keep the Paddlewheel Trophy. Utah State got a leg up on the Beehive Boot among Utah schools by squeaking past Utah in overtime 27-20. Iowa State smothered Iowa 9-6 to claim the Cy-Hawk Trophy.
Our Teams Victorious. Ohio State's quarterback, Braxton Miller, ran for three touchdowns and threw for a fourth as the # 14 Buckeyes rolled over Central Florida 31-16 in Columbus. #15 Virginia Tech pounded Austin Peay 42-7. Maryland built up a big lead against Temple and then held on for a 36-27 win. Zac Dysert of Ada completed more than 75% of his passes in leading Miami U. to a 30-14 win over Southern Illinois. Second-string QB Tommy Rees led #22 Notre Dame on a late fourth-quarter drive that finally overcame Purdue 20-17. #24 Florida trailed at halftime but stormed back to spoil the first SEC game for Texas A & M 20-17 at College Station. Taylor Kelley capably replaced Bronco rookie Brock Osweiler at QB and led Arizona State to a 45-14 romp over Illinois.
Division FCS. Richmond's Spiders stung Gardner Webb 41-8 in Richmond. William and Mary was unable to overcome both the rain and Lafayette, losing 17-14 at home. Northern Colorado overcame 148 yards of penalties and Mesa State of Colorado 40-3.
Sighs and Tears. Wake Forest scored a TD with about two minutes to go and held on to defeat North Carolina 28-27. A walk-on kicker for Sacramento State earned a scholarship by kicking a game-winning, last-second field goal to stun Colorado 30-28. (Will Colorado manage to win a game this season?) Georgia State got steamrolled by Tennessee 51-13. North Dakota State over Colorado State. Northwestern saved all its touchdowns for the fourth quarter and used a late Vandy fumble to humble the Commodores 23-13.
Oops. #8 Arkansas lost its lustful coach, Bobby Petrino, in the offseason to off field indiscretions, but they figured that they had scheduled a safe opponent in Louisiana Monroe. Arkansas took a big early lead, but Louisiana Monroe came back to take the game to overtime and then scored a touchdown on a broken play to upend Arkansas 34-31. UCLA's freshman quarterback, Brett Hundley, threw four TD passes, and the UCLA defense scored a safety en rout to puncturing the bubble of #16 Nebraska 36-30. Oregon State's aggressive defense stopped Heisman candidate Montee Ball of Wisconsin and dumped the #13 Badgers 10-7 at Corvallis. How rude!
Unhappy Valley. Virginia scored a late touchdown and needed four missed field goal attempts from Penn State to slip past the Nittany Lions 17-16.
Pentagon Papers. #19 Michigan got 426 yards of total offense and four touchdowns from quarterback Denard Robinson, but they needed all of it to hold off Air Force 31-25 in Ann Arbor. San Diego State blitzed Army.
Undefeated and Untied This Week. Peabody Conservatory, Emory, Ohio Northern.
High School Division. Ada's Bulldogs kept up their momentum in the Saturday night continuation of Friday night's game, biting the Columbus Grove Bulldogs 55-21. Ada's head coach, Mike Fell, had a 75-25 record at Columbus Grove earlier in his career.
Division III. Randolph Macon opened their newly renovated stadium with a 21-6 victory against Averett. Rhodes College, playing at home, overtook Washington U and forced their game into overtime. Rhodes kicked a field goal on their overtime possession, but Washingon committed penalties that made any scoring attempt impossible.
Trophy and Rivalry Games. Cincinnati, led by quarterback Munchie Legaux, dominated Pitt in the River City rivalry 34-10. Because Pitt is leaving the Big East for the ACC, this rivalry will end after this year, joining an illustrious list of ended rivalries like Texas vs. Texas A & M, Pitt vs. Penn State, and Missouri vs. Kansas. I guess that Cincinnati gets to keep the Paddlewheel Trophy. Utah State got a leg up on the Beehive Boot among Utah schools by squeaking past Utah in overtime 27-20. Iowa State smothered Iowa 9-6 to claim the Cy-Hawk Trophy.
Our Teams Victorious. Ohio State's quarterback, Braxton Miller, ran for three touchdowns and threw for a fourth as the # 14 Buckeyes rolled over Central Florida 31-16 in Columbus. #15 Virginia Tech pounded Austin Peay 42-7. Maryland built up a big lead against Temple and then held on for a 36-27 win. Zac Dysert of Ada completed more than 75% of his passes in leading Miami U. to a 30-14 win over Southern Illinois. Second-string QB Tommy Rees led #22 Notre Dame on a late fourth-quarter drive that finally overcame Purdue 20-17. #24 Florida trailed at halftime but stormed back to spoil the first SEC game for Texas A & M 20-17 at College Station. Taylor Kelley capably replaced Bronco rookie Brock Osweiler at QB and led Arizona State to a 45-14 romp over Illinois.
Division FCS. Richmond's Spiders stung Gardner Webb 41-8 in Richmond. William and Mary was unable to overcome both the rain and Lafayette, losing 17-14 at home. Northern Colorado overcame 148 yards of penalties and Mesa State of Colorado 40-3.
Sighs and Tears. Wake Forest scored a TD with about two minutes to go and held on to defeat North Carolina 28-27. A walk-on kicker for Sacramento State earned a scholarship by kicking a game-winning, last-second field goal to stun Colorado 30-28. (Will Colorado manage to win a game this season?) Georgia State got steamrolled by Tennessee 51-13. North Dakota State over Colorado State. Northwestern saved all its touchdowns for the fourth quarter and used a late Vandy fumble to humble the Commodores 23-13.
Oops. #8 Arkansas lost its lustful coach, Bobby Petrino, in the offseason to off field indiscretions, but they figured that they had scheduled a safe opponent in Louisiana Monroe. Arkansas took a big early lead, but Louisiana Monroe came back to take the game to overtime and then scored a touchdown on a broken play to upend Arkansas 34-31. UCLA's freshman quarterback, Brett Hundley, threw four TD passes, and the UCLA defense scored a safety en rout to puncturing the bubble of #16 Nebraska 36-30. Oregon State's aggressive defense stopped Heisman candidate Montee Ball of Wisconsin and dumped the #13 Badgers 10-7 at Corvallis. How rude!
Unhappy Valley. Virginia scored a late touchdown and needed four missed field goal attempts from Penn State to slip past the Nittany Lions 17-16.
Pentagon Papers. #19 Michigan got 426 yards of total offense and four touchdowns from quarterback Denard Robinson, but they needed all of it to hold off Air Force 31-25 in Ann Arbor. San Diego State blitzed Army.
Undefeated and Untied This Week. Peabody Conservatory, Emory, Ohio Northern.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Labor Day weekend
These days, school begins in August, as does high school football. For everyone except astronomers, though, fall arrives no later than Labor Day.
High School Division. This week Ada faced the mighty ground attack of the Spencerville Bearcats. Ada's defense was up to the challenge, limiting the Cats to around 100 rushing yards on the way to a 35-0 shutout of Spencerville.
Trophy Games. Colorado State upended Colorado 22-17 to claim the Centennial Cup. West Virginia captured the Governor's Cup by crushing Marshall 69-34. #25 Louisville drove 99 yards for a touchdown to open the game and never looked back as they dominated Kentucky to grab Kentucky's Governor's Cup.
Division III. Johns Hopkins spoiled the season opener for Randolph Macon 36-13. Washington U. St. Louis foolishly scheduled #1 and defending national champion Wisconsin Whitewater for their season opener and paid for their folly by suffering a 34-0 thrashing at home. North Carolina Wesleyan kicked a 40 yard field goal in overtime to slip past visiting Ohio Northern 16-13. Ohio Northern threw four interceptions.
Ranked on Ranked. Le'Veon Bell ran for 210 yards and two TDs to lead #13 Michigan State over #24 Boise State 17-13 in East Lansing. Second-ranked Alabama apparently succeeded in rebuilding their defense, because the Tide completely dominated #8 Michigan 41-14 at Jerry Jones's theme park in Dallas.
International Dept. Notre Dame whipped Navy with a shillelagh 50-10 in Dublin, Ireland, in a home game atmosphere for the Golden Domers.
Say What? California played Nevada (Reno) to reopen their remodeled stadium. They should have chosen a weaker opponent, as Nevada shocked the Golden Bears 31-24.
Our Teams Triumphant. Illinois ate their season opening cupcake, Western Michigan, 24-7. Arizona State also plundered the bakery shelves, burning Northern Arizona 63-6. #24 Florida overcame Bowling Green's first quarter lead to overawe BG 27-14. Virginia stepped on the Richmond Spiders 43-19. North Carolina annihilated Elon 62-0. Missouri had two early defensive touchdowns and two punt returns for touchdowns as the Tigers pulverized Southeast Louisiana 62-10. #16Virginia Tech kicked a last minute field goal to force overtime and kicked another in overtime to defeat Georgia Tech Monday night.
Losses and Moral Victories. On Thursday night, Vandy gave #9 South Carolina all they could handle before succumbing 17-14. The refs, probably replacements, missed a serious pass interference violation on the play that ended the Commodores' final drive. In a less glorious effort, Northern Colorado was crushed by Utah 41-0. Maryland edged William and Mary 7-6 at Maryland.
Pentagon Papers. Air Force bombed Idaho State 49-21.
On Probation. Penn State, before a home crowd of 108,000, had a 14-0 lead early, but could not hold the momentum. Final score, Ohio U 24, Penn State 14 in (un)Happy Valley. Ohio State hammered Miami of Ohio 56-10. Former Ada Bulldog Zac Dysert passed for 300 yards and 3 TDs for the Red Hawks.
High School Division. This week Ada faced the mighty ground attack of the Spencerville Bearcats. Ada's defense was up to the challenge, limiting the Cats to around 100 rushing yards on the way to a 35-0 shutout of Spencerville.
Trophy Games. Colorado State upended Colorado 22-17 to claim the Centennial Cup. West Virginia captured the Governor's Cup by crushing Marshall 69-34. #25 Louisville drove 99 yards for a touchdown to open the game and never looked back as they dominated Kentucky to grab Kentucky's Governor's Cup.
Division III. Johns Hopkins spoiled the season opener for Randolph Macon 36-13. Washington U. St. Louis foolishly scheduled #1 and defending national champion Wisconsin Whitewater for their season opener and paid for their folly by suffering a 34-0 thrashing at home. North Carolina Wesleyan kicked a 40 yard field goal in overtime to slip past visiting Ohio Northern 16-13. Ohio Northern threw four interceptions.
Ranked on Ranked. Le'Veon Bell ran for 210 yards and two TDs to lead #13 Michigan State over #24 Boise State 17-13 in East Lansing. Second-ranked Alabama apparently succeeded in rebuilding their defense, because the Tide completely dominated #8 Michigan 41-14 at Jerry Jones's theme park in Dallas.
International Dept. Notre Dame whipped Navy with a shillelagh 50-10 in Dublin, Ireland, in a home game atmosphere for the Golden Domers.
Say What? California played Nevada (Reno) to reopen their remodeled stadium. They should have chosen a weaker opponent, as Nevada shocked the Golden Bears 31-24.
Our Teams Triumphant. Illinois ate their season opening cupcake, Western Michigan, 24-7. Arizona State also plundered the bakery shelves, burning Northern Arizona 63-6. #24 Florida overcame Bowling Green's first quarter lead to overawe BG 27-14. Virginia stepped on the Richmond Spiders 43-19. North Carolina annihilated Elon 62-0. Missouri had two early defensive touchdowns and two punt returns for touchdowns as the Tigers pulverized Southeast Louisiana 62-10. #16Virginia Tech kicked a last minute field goal to force overtime and kicked another in overtime to defeat Georgia Tech Monday night.
Losses and Moral Victories. On Thursday night, Vandy gave #9 South Carolina all they could handle before succumbing 17-14. The refs, probably replacements, missed a serious pass interference violation on the play that ended the Commodores' final drive. In a less glorious effort, Northern Colorado was crushed by Utah 41-0. Maryland edged William and Mary 7-6 at Maryland.
Pentagon Papers. Air Force bombed Idaho State 49-21.
On Probation. Penn State, before a home crowd of 108,000, had a 14-0 lead early, but could not hold the momentum. Final score, Ohio U 24, Penn State 14 in (un)Happy Valley. Ohio State hammered Miami of Ohio 56-10. Former Ada Bulldog Zac Dysert passed for 300 yards and 3 TDs for the Red Hawks.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
August 26, 2012.
High School football began Friday night with Ada's Bulldogs dining on Hardin Northern 55-0. New QB Mason Acheson threw 3 TD passes, and running back Kellen Decker added 185 yards rushing and 4 TDs. According to observers, Hardin Northern only suited up 19 players against the juggernaut. Apparently, Ada's first four touchdown drives averages more than 60 yards and also took an average of less than 60 seconds. We expect much more challenge once Ada begins conference play.
High School football began Friday night with Ada's Bulldogs dining on Hardin Northern 55-0. New QB Mason Acheson threw 3 TD passes, and running back Kellen Decker added 185 yards rushing and 4 TDs. According to observers, Hardin Northern only suited up 19 players against the juggernaut. Apparently, Ada's first four touchdown drives averages more than 60 yards and also took an average of less than 60 seconds. We expect much more challenge once Ada begins conference play.
College football begins Thursday night with Vanderbilt. Conferences have been reconstructed and rivalries have disappeared. Texas vs. Texas A & M? Mizzou vs. Kansas? The rivals are now in different conferences and so these rivalry games may not be played again. There is something tragic about the death of rivalries that have taken many years to build and that have been at the heart of universities' football traditions. At least Colorado and Colorado State still begin their seasons with their annual rivalry game.
Another sad note is the imminent death of the WAC as a football conference. The Western Athletic Conference has a long history of good football. A few years ago, it was a super conference that encompassed just about all of the schools in the current Mountain West Conference, among others. Unfortunately, the super WAC proved to be unmanagable, and schools fled in all directions. Instead, now we have a super SEC, and that conference, I am sure, will prove to be quite managable, wealthy, and unimaginably powerful.
Here's to the players and coaches at Penn State. Let's hope that they can maintain some semblance of quality play amid the wreckage of their near "death penalty" experience.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
October 15, 2011
The membership in conferences resembles the social situation in a 6th grade class. The little groups seem to be different every week. The Big 12 seems to have stabilized itself for the moment by grabbing TCU, even if Missouri is attempting to leave. The Big East may be doomed as a football conference, since it is down to six football-playing members as TCU, Syracuse and Pittsburgh depart. The Big East is so desperate that it is trying to attract Air Force and Boise State. It will be interesting to see whether the Conference USA--Mountain West alliance, the 22 team super-conference, will actually come to be. At any rate, here are our games:
High School Division: The Ada Bulldogs led Allen East 48-0 at halftime and coasted through the second half to administer a 54-12 trip to the glue factory for the Mustangs. Ada QB Konnor Baker threw 4 TD passes and ran for 2 more. In Denver, Thomas Jefferson whipped George Washington 32-12.
Division III News: Ohio Northern at Baldwin Wallace. Washington & Lee at Randolph Macon. Wash U St. Louis has College of Wooster at home.
Division I-AA (FCS): #16 William and Mary entertains #6 New Hampshire.
Trophy and Rivalry Games: Ohio State took advantage of 3 turnovers to upend #16 Illinois in Champaign for the Illibuck Trophy. #23 Michigan State combined strong running with determined defense to upset #11 Michigan 28-14 to claim the Paul Bunyan Trophy. Louisville's offense struggled, and Cincinnati recovered all of its own fumbles to enable the Bearcats to take the Keg of Nails 25-16. Missouri pulverized Iowa State 52-14 to claim the Telephone Trophy. Toledo bowled over Bowling Green 28-21 in the Battle of I-75.
Are You Upset?: Virginia used its bye week to excellent advantage to upset #12 Georgia Tech 24-21.
Our Teams Triumphant: #19 Va. Tech at Wake Forest.
Ranked vs. Ranked: #21 Texas A & M shocked and awed #20 Baylor 55-24 behind 6 TD passes by quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Jeremy Smith of #6 Oklahoma State ran for 140 yards and two TDs on only seven carries as the Cowboys dominated #22 Texas 38-26.
Our Teams, Depressed: Washington scored more than 50 points for the first time in 10 years in clobbering Colorado 52-24. Vandy gave Georgia a much better game than the Bulldogs expected before succumbing . Florida State overcame its recent troubles in drubbing Duke 41-16 in Durham. Miami played a very strong first half and then held on against the North Carolina comeback to overcome the Tar Heels 30-24 in Chapel Hill. Kellen Moore threw 4 TD passes and led #5 Boise State to a 63-13 thrashing of Colorado State. The defenses controlled the game as #24 Auburn beat Florida 17-6.
Pentagon Papers: San Diego State's Ronnie Hillman ran for 172 yards as the Aztecs grounded Air Force 41-27. Rutgers used a strong defense and blocked a late Navy field goal attempt to edge the Middies 21-20.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
October 8, 2011
The last two weeks have been too crowded for blogging. Sorry about that. On September 24, I was the spotter for the Colorado Buffaloes radio broadcast when they played Ohio State. (Thank you, Reid.) It was thrilling to be in the Horseshoe (Ohio Stadium) for the first time, and to see the OSU band form script Ohio live is even better than watching it on TV. Unfortunately, Colorado was not good enough to handle the Buckeyes in the game. Last weekend combined a visit from Lauren Lobenhofer to enable her to celebrate a wedding of a high school classmate of hers as well as ONU and Ada homecomings, so, again, no time for blogging. But, "I'm baaack!!"
High School Division: Ada does not seem to have as strong a team as they have had for the past few years. Last night, despite taking the ball away from the Crestview Knights six times, Ada barely escaped from lovely Convoy (home of Crestview High) with a 43-42 victory in double overtime. George Washington High (Denver) managed to defeat Montbello 13-6 to bring their the Patriots' record to 2-4.
Division III: Ohio Northern has dropped out of the top 25 after suffering consecutive defeats to Muskingum 27-7 and to #2 ranked Mt. Union 14-6 on ONU's homecoming. This Saturday, however, Tyler Rue threw four touchdown passes in leading ONU to a 38-20 victory at Capital. In a rare Friday night game, Randolph Macon outscored Catholic U 51-34 in D.C. #12 Wabash punished Washington U, St. Louis 24-3, for Wash U's 3d loss in a row.
Division I-AA (or FCS): #11 Delaware's defense stonewalled #9 William and Mary, giving the Blue Hens a 21-0 victory over the Tribe. Towson held off a determined Richmond team 31-28. Georgia State extended their losing streak to four games by succumbing to Murray State 48-24. Northern Colorado had only 72 yards of total offense, and Sacramento State did not attempt a pass in a 14-7 victory for Sacramento State. Northern Colorado has now lost six in a row.
Trophy and Rivalry Games: #5 Boise State annihilated Fresno State 57-7 to claim the Milk Can Trophy on Friday night. The biggest rivalry game of the weekend is the Red River Shootout between Texas and Oklahoma, played at the Cotton Bowl at the Texas State Fair. #3 Oklahoma, led by veteran quarterback Landry Jones, took a 34-10 lead by half time against a resurgent but young #11 Texas team and won 55-17, claiming the Golden Hat, the Red River Shootout Trophy, and the Governor's' trophy. In the battle for the Leather Helmet, #8 Clemson routed Boston College 36-14 to claim the O'Rourke-McFadden Trophy.
Ranked vs. Ranked: #1 LSU wrestled #17 Florida into submission 41-11. Tyler Wilson completed 19 straight passes in leading #10 Arkansas to a 38-14 thrashing of #15 Auburn.
Our Teams, Boisterous. Indiana took an early lead over #19 Illinois, but the undefeated Illini roared back with long passes to stomp the Hoosiers 41-20. #22 Arizona State took advantage of 5 Utah turnovers to rout the Utes 35-14. #21 Virginia Tech drove 77 yards in the last 3 minutes to edge Miami at the end of a wild fourth quarter in Blacksburg. Denard Robinson threw 3 interceptions, but he also threw 2 touchdown passes and scored 2 rushing touchdowns in leading #12 Michigan over Northwestern 42-24. North Carolina overcame a slow start to defeat Louisville 14-7. #16 West Virginia barely led UConn at halftime, but dominated the second half to win 43-16.
Trail of Tears. #13 Georgia Tech edged Maryland 21-16. #2 Alabama overwhelmed Vandy 34-0. Andrew Luck had his best game of the season for #7 Stanford as the Cardinal trounced luckless Colorado 48-7. Ohio State dominated #14 Nebraska for 2 1/2 quarters, but when freshman Buckeye QB Braxton Miller left the game with a sprained ankle, the Huskers came back with a vengeance, defeating the Bucks 34-27 in Lincoln for Nebraska's first Big Ten win. Missouri had two long drives for touchdowns in the final quarter, but they could not overtake #20 Kansas State, so the Tigers lost 24-17.
Surprising: Wake Forest upended #23 Florida State 35-30. #6 Oklahoma State crushed Kansas 70-28.
Armed Forces Report: The academies suffered nothing but defeats this weekend. Notre Dame carpet-bombed Air Force 59-33 in South Bend. Zac Dysert threw four touchdown passses to lead Miami (Ohio) to a 35-28 victory over Army in Oxford. Southern Miss sank Navy 63-35.
Undefeated and Untried This Week. Virginia, after being vandalized 20-21 by Idaho last week, took the weekend off to recover. Also Peabody Conservatory and Emory.
Moment of Silence: Al Davis, who presided over the evil empire known as the Oakland (sometimes Los Angeles) Raiders since 1963, passed away today at age 82. May he rest in peace.
High School Division: Ada does not seem to have as strong a team as they have had for the past few years. Last night, despite taking the ball away from the Crestview Knights six times, Ada barely escaped from lovely Convoy (home of Crestview High) with a 43-42 victory in double overtime. George Washington High (Denver) managed to defeat Montbello 13-6 to bring their the Patriots' record to 2-4.
Division III: Ohio Northern has dropped out of the top 25 after suffering consecutive defeats to Muskingum 27-7 and to #2 ranked Mt. Union 14-6 on ONU's homecoming. This Saturday, however, Tyler Rue threw four touchdown passes in leading ONU to a 38-20 victory at Capital. In a rare Friday night game, Randolph Macon outscored Catholic U 51-34 in D.C. #12 Wabash punished Washington U, St. Louis 24-3, for Wash U's 3d loss in a row.
Division I-AA (or FCS): #11 Delaware's defense stonewalled #9 William and Mary, giving the Blue Hens a 21-0 victory over the Tribe. Towson held off a determined Richmond team 31-28. Georgia State extended their losing streak to four games by succumbing to Murray State 48-24. Northern Colorado had only 72 yards of total offense, and Sacramento State did not attempt a pass in a 14-7 victory for Sacramento State. Northern Colorado has now lost six in a row.
Trophy and Rivalry Games: #5 Boise State annihilated Fresno State 57-7 to claim the Milk Can Trophy on Friday night. The biggest rivalry game of the weekend is the Red River Shootout between Texas and Oklahoma, played at the Cotton Bowl at the Texas State Fair. #3 Oklahoma, led by veteran quarterback Landry Jones, took a 34-10 lead by half time against a resurgent but young #11 Texas team and won 55-17, claiming the Golden Hat, the Red River Shootout Trophy, and the Governor's' trophy. In the battle for the Leather Helmet, #8 Clemson routed Boston College 36-14 to claim the O'Rourke-McFadden Trophy.
Ranked vs. Ranked: #1 LSU wrestled #17 Florida into submission 41-11. Tyler Wilson completed 19 straight passes in leading #10 Arkansas to a 38-14 thrashing of #15 Auburn.
Our Teams, Boisterous. Indiana took an early lead over #19 Illinois, but the undefeated Illini roared back with long passes to stomp the Hoosiers 41-20. #22 Arizona State took advantage of 5 Utah turnovers to rout the Utes 35-14. #21 Virginia Tech drove 77 yards in the last 3 minutes to edge Miami at the end of a wild fourth quarter in Blacksburg. Denard Robinson threw 3 interceptions, but he also threw 2 touchdown passes and scored 2 rushing touchdowns in leading #12 Michigan over Northwestern 42-24. North Carolina overcame a slow start to defeat Louisville 14-7. #16 West Virginia barely led UConn at halftime, but dominated the second half to win 43-16.
Trail of Tears. #13 Georgia Tech edged Maryland 21-16. #2 Alabama overwhelmed Vandy 34-0. Andrew Luck had his best game of the season for #7 Stanford as the Cardinal trounced luckless Colorado 48-7. Ohio State dominated #14 Nebraska for 2 1/2 quarters, but when freshman Buckeye QB Braxton Miller left the game with a sprained ankle, the Huskers came back with a vengeance, defeating the Bucks 34-27 in Lincoln for Nebraska's first Big Ten win. Missouri had two long drives for touchdowns in the final quarter, but they could not overtake #20 Kansas State, so the Tigers lost 24-17.
Surprising: Wake Forest upended #23 Florida State 35-30. #6 Oklahoma State crushed Kansas 70-28.
Armed Forces Report: The academies suffered nothing but defeats this weekend. Notre Dame carpet-bombed Air Force 59-33 in South Bend. Zac Dysert threw four touchdown passses to lead Miami (Ohio) to a 35-28 victory over Army in Oxford. Southern Miss sank Navy 63-35.
Undefeated and Untried This Week. Virginia, after being vandalized 20-21 by Idaho last week, took the weekend off to recover. Also Peabody Conservatory and Emory.
Moment of Silence: Al Davis, who presided over the evil empire known as the Oakland (sometimes Los Angeles) Raiders since 1963, passed away today at age 82. May he rest in peace.
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