The Big Ten’s done, BC upsets USC, and one week after playing the heroic underdog Virginia Tech drops a head-scratcher to a heroic underdog. Here’s what happened this weekend.
Gamecocks Game
Georgia came into the weekend riding a wave of pride after knocking off Clemson in their first outing. Yet, the Dawgs got away from what they do best: handing the ball to running back Todd Gurley. Gurley had 8 carries for 44 yards in the first half and ended the game with only 20 carries. A lack of Gurley touches, especially in critical short-yardage situations, combined with two missed field goals led to Georgia losing to home dogs Sough Carolina. Gurley is averaging over 9 yards per carry on the season and must be relied upon for Georgia to be successful.
On the flip side, South Carolina was in a must-win situation. A loss would have made them 0-2 in the conference with no hope for getting to the SEC championship game. Now they only trail Florida in the SEC East, which is still up for grabs.
UCLA Remains Undefined
After three games it is still impossible to know what UCLA is made of. The Bruins pulled out another close win against a supposedly inferior opponent, Texas. An injury to QB Bret Hundley and an odd occurrence in which the Longhorns won the opening toss and mistakenly elected to kick instead of deferring to the second half, make this game useless in judging the Bruins.
While UCLA hasn’t lost, they also haven’t played anywhere near expectations. Hundley is expected to return quickly and will be needed when the Bruins travel to Tempe to face #25 Arizona State next Thursday. Their game with the Sun Devils should hopefully, possibly, maybe…finally show that they are either contenders or pretenders.
Big Ten
The Big Ten is just plain awful. The conference went 1-9 against Power 5 conferences this weekend. Any hopes of a Big Ten team getting into the playoff are gone.
Notable Upsets
USC at Boston College: USC downed by Boston College in BC’s first win over a top-ten opponent since 1989. Alumni Stadium was filled with red bandanas in memory of Welles Crowther, a BC lacrosse player who died in the 9/11 attacks while saving the lives of as many as a dozen others in the World Trade Center while wearing his trademark red bandana.
BC honored Crowther with a shocking win over the Trojans. The loss calls the strength of the Pac-12 into question. Of its four programs with a chance to reach the playoff, only Oregon looks like it has what it takes to get there. USC and Stanford have one loss and UCLA is questionable.
East Carolina at Virginia Tech: One week after upsetting Ohio State, Virginia Tech lost a head-scratcher to East Carolina. Because the Hokies don’t play its major conference powers, Florida State and Clemson, there is no way to redeem this bad loss. The Hokies are done.
Perfunctory, Way-Too-Early Heisman Watch
Texas A&M sophomore quarterback Kenny Hill has thrown for 1,094 yards and 11 touchdowns with a 69% completion percentage through three games. He will face four teams currently ranked in the top 25 in defense over the course of the season. Hill’s QBR: 92.1
Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota has impressed in the early going. He’s racked up 8 passing and 3 rushing TDs, throwing for 804 yards at a 70.45 percent completion average. His only opponent with a top 25-defense is Stanford, the nation’s stingiest. Mariota’s QBR: 92.5
Photo credit: Steve Muench/Twitter
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