College Football Recap Week 6: 3 undefeated teams fall and South Carolina upsets Alabama, 35-21

Three undefeated teams bit the dust this week, and none were bigger than the No. 1-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, which proved that South Carolina is not only a very good team, but also hard to beat at home.

The Gamecocks caught a ‘Bama field goal and then South Carolina’s Stephen Garcia threw 3 touchdown passes to put the Gamecocks up, 21-3. Garcia would go on to have the best day of his college career, completing 17 of 20 passes (85%) for 201 yards.

When the Tide tried to get back into the game, South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore took over, scoring once on a 9-yard TD pass and rushing for 2 yards rushing while racking up 93 yards rushing on 23 carriers (4.04). .

All Alabama had to take home with its bruised pride and a 35-21 loss was the fact that its defense had held another running back to under 100 yards for the umpteenth game.

The defense was really South Carolina as the Gamecocks sacked Alabama’s Greg McElroy 7 times. His offense ripped through the best scoring defense in the country, putting the most points on the scoreboard since Bama lost 41-34 to LSU in 2007.

The victory lifted South Carolina from 19th to 10th in the AP Top 25 poll.

South Carolina’s win was the first against a No. 1-ranked team. The Gamecocks’ victory snapped defending national champion Alabama’s 19-game winning streak and left the national championship race wide open.

Now there are only 13 BCS teams left with an undefeated record. Ohio State, Oregon, TCU, Auburn, LSU, Michigan State and Nevada are 6-0. Boise State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah, Oklahoma State and Missouri are 5-0. There are 120 teams in Division 1-A.

The second biggest upset of the week was due in large part to second-year quarterback Ryan Katz of Oregon State. Katz declared himself a quality Pac-10 quarterback by completing 30 of 42 passes (71%) for 393 yards and 2 touchdowns, and rushing for another touchdown as the Beavers traveled to ninth-ranked Arizona and defeated the undefeated Wildcats. 29-27.

It was a huge win for Oregon State, as Arizona’s defense ranked second in the nation, allowing only 230 yards per game.

The Wildcats’ Nick Foles, one of the best in the Pac-10, was 35 of 46 (76%) for 440 yards and 3 touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough. Worse yet, Arizona was coming off a bye week and had double the time to prepare for the Oregon state visit. Beaver’s victory was his fifth in a row against Arizona at his home field.

The third-biggest upset was the 17th-ranked Michigan State Spartans, a 4.5-point underdog, who brought down and then defeated the 18th-ranked Michigan Wolverines at the Big House in Ann Arbor, so named because It is the largest football stadium in the country. , with more than 113,000 fans.

Michigan State jumped out to a 17-10 halftime lead and then won the second half 17-7 and the game 34-17. And it was nowhere near the end.

Michigan superstar quarterback and wunderkind Denard Robinson, who entered the game on everyone’s Heisman list and led the nation in rushing with an average of 181 yards per game through his first 5 games, seemed much more human. when the game was over.

Robinson was limited to 86 yards on 21 carries (an average of 4.1 per carry) and was intercepted 3 times. This was mainly because Michigan State was the first team Robinson played against this year that actually had a defense.

Meanwhile, Spartan running back Edwin Baker rushed for 147 yards on 22 carries (6.68 ypc) and scored on a 61-yard touchdown run. I say run because Michigan State’s offensive line blew a hole that a Mac truck could have driven through.

Michigan State freshman standout Le’Veon Bell had another 78 yards on 7 carries (11.14 ypc) and scored on a 41-yard run that ripped open the offensive line like a crater. Not to be outdone, Michigan State’s third leading running back, Larry Caper, had another 34 yards and scored on an 8-yard run.

Michigan, which had the second-best total offense in the nation at 565 yards per game, was limited to 377 yards, while Michigan State had 536 yards, 249 rushing and 287 passing. Spartan QB Kirk Cousins ​​went 18-for-25 (72%) for 284 yards and a 42-yard TD to Mark Dell.

The Wolverines got a nice kick in the butt, the Spartans won their third straight game over Michigan, and in doing so, Michigan State became the dominant team in the state of Michigan.

The fourth biggest upset saw 12th-ranked LSU travel to 14th-ranked Florida and top the Gators, 33-29, in a game Florida won’t soon forget. The Gators saw their undefeated record drop by losing 31-6 last week at Alabama, and hosting LSU was the Gators’ 3rd ranked opponent in 3 weeks, and it proved to be too much.

Louisiana punter Coach Les Miles once again rolled the dice against Florida by keeping the winning drive alive with a successful fake field goal that allowed Jarrett Lee to throw a 3-yard pass to Terrence Toliver for the win with 6 remaining seconds.

Worse yet, LSU attempted to run the same play on the same player, Toliver, on their last previous snap. It was successfully defended the first time, but not the second as Toliver, with a height advantage, made it count.

Last week, Miles was criticized for mismanaging the clock in the final moments when Tennessee nearly stunned the Tigers, but LSU won anyway, 16-14. Miles just smiles and wins again as rival coaches pull each other’s hair in frustration.

You may never see LSU’s fake field goal again. With 35 seconds remaining and the clock ticking, starter Derek Helton throws a pitch without looking over his head that bounces off the turf and into the hands of kicker Josh Jasper, who runs for the first down to keep the winning drive alive. . They couldn’t do that trick again at the circus.

Nonetheless, LSU is 6-0, fat, bold and very lucky. This is college football folks, expect the unexpected and the unforeseen EVERY week, that’s why it’s so much more exciting and upside down than pro football.

The fifth upset saw the 23rd-ranked Florida State Siminoles fly to Miami and defeat the 13th-ranked Hurricanes, 45-17. The Hurricanes saw a lot of taillights from Jermaine Thomas as he scored a career-high 3 touchdowns (1 passing and 2 rushing) during the first 21 minutes.

Miami players then spent the rest of their time chasing Siminole Chris Thomspon’s butt as he rushed for 158 yards and recorded the longest run Miami has allowed in its illustrious history: a 90-yard touchdown run. It was an easy win for Florida State.

The victory lifted Florida State from 23rd to 16th in the AP Top 25 poll.

Six other Top 25 teams had impressive wins on Saturday.

They included the fifth-ranked Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, who took their record to 6-0 with a 45-shot shutout against Wyoming, and the 24th-ranked Missouri Tigers, who they remained undefeated with their fifth victory, a shot from 26 shots. from Colorado at home.

Nebraska, ranked seventh, ran its record to 5-0 when the Cornhuskers traveled to Kansas State and handed the Wildcats their first loss, 48-13. Some thought K-State should have been ranked 4-0. Now we see why they were not.

The second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (6-0) hosted Indiana and reminded the Hoosiers why Ohio State is undefeated and the top team in the Big 10, defeating them 38-10, while displaying many more offensive weapons. .

Tenth-ranked Utah hit the road and won convincingly while remaining undefeated as it posted its fifth straight win over Iowa State, 68-27, a 41-point margin. The fourth-ranked Boise State Broncos remained undefeated as they hosted Toledo and beat the Rockets, 57-14, a 43-point margin.

Eight other Top 25 teams won, but were barely dominant in doing so. Two of them were lucky to get out of town alive.

The eighth-ranked Auburn Tigers scored 31 points in the first half against Kentucky, then needed a last-second field goal to beat the Wildcats, 37-34. Eleventh-seeded Arkansas went scoreless against Texas A&M in the fourth quarter and stormed out of town with a 24-17 win.

The Stanford Cardinal ranked 16th in Southern California and host was nearly lost. Each team scored a touchdown in each of the first 3 quarters, and then USC added a second touchdown in the fourth quarter with just a minute left to take a 35-34 lead.

This happened because the Stanford kicker missed the extra point attempt after the Cardinal tied USC with their second touchdown in the fourth quarter. Kicker Nate Whitaker redeemed himself with a 30-yard field goal with 4 seconds left to give Stanford the win, 37-35.

On the other hand, the 21st-ranked Nevada Wolf Pack had a barely impressive 35-13 victory over an extremely weak San Jose State excuse for a team. Third-ranked Oregon wasn’t much better as the Ducks blew out a rebuilding program in Washington state, 43-23.

The 22nd-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys apparently spent more time in the saddle than on the ground, as they could only beat an absolutely terrible Louisiana Lafayette team, 54-28. Okie-State allowed 4 touchdowns to a team ranked 172nd out of 120 Division IA teams. Please don’t ask me if they have a defense.

Oklahoma State is now 5-0; not surprising with opponents like Louisiana Lafayette. The Cowboys’ schedule strength is currently 118 among 120 teams. In other words, they have played jack and diddly so far. All this nonsense could end when they host Nebraska in two weeks.

The 20th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers hosted Minnesota and beat the Golden Gophers (whatever a Golden Gopher is), 41-23. The Badgers were home and should have won bigger, badder and better. And the 25th-ranked Air Force defeated a very weak visiting team from Colorado State, 49-27.

I’m frankly surprised at how many top-ranked teams this year give up so many points while winning. Very few teams play defense and it’s starting to look like everyone is giving up a lot of points, except for TCU in their last two games, and they’ve played 5 weak sisters at 6-0.

Copyright © 2010 Ed Bagley