Just in case you missed the recap of the noon games:
Fresno State in on pace to give up 666 points this year. No, that is not a typo.
It was all Colorado could do to hold off a below average Massachusetts team. The Ralphies have regressed a lot in the offseason. They are nowhere near where they were at the end of last season.
I figured Eastern Washington would give Washington fits. What I didn’t expect was 111 combined points. Especially the way the Huskies looked last week.
Stanford-USC was a great game. I wasn’t really expecting a defensive battle, and if I knew it were going to be one, I would have picked Stanford for the win. I was impressed with the Trojans defense, but I will admit that is partially because it’s expected of Stanford now. If USC keeps playing defense like that, they have a legitimate shot at a Pac 12 title.
The next black eye for the Big 10(14)? How about Northwestern getting dumped at home by Northern Illinois. And no, the Huskies are nowhere near where they have been the last two years. If they didn’t play in the MAC, they would have no shot at a bowl game.
Minnesota struggled again, this time with Middle Tennessee State. Their offense is a sorry mess right now outside of RB David Cobb. In fact, the Gophers threw the ball just 11 times, and completed less than half of them. You don’t have to pass to win in the Big 10(14), but you sure have to at least have the threat of completing a pass of over five yards. I’m not sure they have that right now.
Those Iowa fans that left Kinnick Stadium early on Saturday sure feel dumb. The Hawkeyes scored two touchdowns in under five minutes to steal one away from a Ball State team that played with more heart than them for the first 55 minutes. Ball State’s issue was that they couldn’t get anything going against the Iowa defense, especially in the second half when the Hawkeyes really clamped down defensively.
Okay, so, Florida didn’t have any cobwebs from being forced to take last week off. Then again, they may as well have played an FCS team with as bad as Eastern Michigan has been the last few years.
For the second straight week, Vanderbilt got punished at home. This time it was a little more understandable considering that they at least got blown out by a ranked Mississippi team.
Michigan State losing to Oregon isn’t that much of a black eye for the Big 10(14). That said, blowing a nine point second half lead, and giving up 46 points sure doesn’t look good. I was more than a little surprised that the Ducks did that to Sparty’s defense, but if Oregon’s offense, especially the line, can play like that against the stout defenses like USC and Stanford in the Pac 12, Mariota could get his wish. He may get to play for a National Championship, which is the reason he came back in the first place.