Saturday Shuffle: Arizona State falls, ECU survives, Ringer runs wild, and more
Posted By Eddie Griffin on Sunday, September 14th 2008 under: NCAA Football Tags: Arizona State, auburn, Big 12, BYU, Chase Daniel, Chris Summers, Dennis Erickson, Donald Brown, Eldred King, Fresno State, Javon Ringer, Joe Craddock, Kentucky, Kevin Goessling, Max Hall, middle tennessee state, Mike Sanford, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio State, Oregon, Sam Bradford, ucla, UNLV, USC, Wes Byrum, WisconsinThere were other games on Saturday besides USC-Ohio State? Well, I’m not sure how much of a game that beating was, but back on topic!
It was a wild, action-packed day, which started with a top-25 team from the Pac-10 going down and ended with a top-25 team from the Pac-10 going down, one of which was a lot more surprising than the other.
From huge numbers put up by Heisman hopefuls, to scores that make you think of other sports, here’s a rundown of some notables from Saturday’s action.
Upset of the Season?: In case you hadn’t heard, Arizona State lost to UNLV at home last night.
That’s right, #15 Arizona State lost at home to UNLV, a program that has been one of the country’s worst over the last few years.
Can’t say I saw this one coming, and I don’t think Dennis Erickson or anyone affiliated with Arizona State, but look a little closer, and it may not be that shocking. UNLV actually held their own against Utah, with the exception of the third quarter when the Utes pulled away, so they no doubt had plenty of confidence heading into the game, and with the Sun Devils potentially thinking more about Georgia’s visit to Tempe than about their opponent this week, the stars were aligned perfectly.
Now, instead of preparing for what could’ve been a defining game for the Sun Devils, they have to pick themselves up after getting hit by a locomotive and rally so that they don’t get hit by another one just as quickly. However, they could redeem themselves (somewhat) just as quickly if they rebound and beat Georgia.
On another note though, maybe Mike Sanford’s finally getting things turned around at UNLV. They’ve already equaled their win total from each of the last four seasons in only three games, and they may not need to be looked at as a pushover now. Or maybe this is the highlight of another losing year. In any case, Sanford may have gotten the win he needed to ensure his employment for another season.
The Dream Lives!: While Arizona State’s sleepwalking cost them dearly, East Carolina woke up just in time to avoid a loss that would’ve brought an end to their hopes of glory, overcoming mistakes and a scrappy Tulane team and scoring a late touchdown to beat the Green Wave 28-24.
Close scrape = a likely drop in next week’s blogpoll. Still, a win is a win, and they made the plays in the end to get it.
Fundamentals, folks, fundamentals: Special teams is the one area that you don’t want to have decide the game for you, but specials teams was a factor in quite a few games on Saturday.
In Arizona State’s loss, a blocked field goal in overtime sealed the win for UNLV. Also out west, Fresno State kicker Kevin Goessling missed three of four field goals in their 13-10 loss to Wisconsin.
In Purdue’s 32-26 overtime home loss to Oregon, Purdue kicker Chris Summers made four field goals, but he missed his last two, one a 44-yarder at the end of regulation that would’ve won the game for Purdue, and the second in the second overtime, which really wouldn’t have mattered, since Oregon scored a touchdown on their possession.
And then, there was the epic shootout between Mississippi State and Auburn, where Auburn was fortunate not to be bitten by two field goal misses by Wes Byrum, one of the misses coming from 22 yards out.
Epic Shootout? In My Dreams…:3-2. That was the score of the Braves-Mets and Reds-Diamondbacks games on Saturday.
It was also the score of the Auburn’s victory over Mississippi State in Starkville. No, they weren’t locked in a pitcher’s duel at Dudy Noble, as humorous as the baseball jokes might be.
It’s not that Auburn didn’t have chances to put MSU away, and it’s not that MSU didn’t have chances to seal a win against a top-10 team. To their credit, both defenses played very well, but I’d just really, really, really like to forget that offensive performance. Shoot, Auburn had as many turnovers as points, and MSU, well, like I said, trying to forget…
Back to Reality: Well, that didn’t take long, did it? Game one of the Rick Neuheisel era was an ugly win. Game two was just plain ugly, as UCLA went to BYU and were on the receiving end of a seven-touchdown day by Cougar QB Max Hall in a 59-0 drubbing. Fix of the touchdown passes came in the second quarter, when BYU expanded a 7-0 lead into a 42-0 lead, with four of the scores coming in under five minutes at the start of the quarter.
Seven touchdown passes in two and a half quarters? You’d have thought Norm Chow was on the BYU sideline, not UCLA’s.
Fool Me Once, Shame On You, Fool Me Twice…: Remember the Bluegrass Miracle back in 2002? Guy Morriss’ premature celebration interrupted by Marcus Randall’s Hail Mary heave to Devery Henderson?
History damn near repeated itself in Lexington on Saturday night, as Middle Tennessee State almost pulled their second straight upset of a BCS conference school. On the final play of the game, MTSU’s Joe Craddock threw it as far as he could, and it ended up in the hands of Eldred King, who came up just a yard short of the end zone, as a lunging tackle brought him down.
Maybe if King had dived, he would’ve made it. Game of inches, indeed.
Chasing Chase?: After going 23 of 28 for 405 yards and four touchdowns in less than three quarters in a 69-17 win over Nevada, Chase Daniel is 39 of 45 for 650 yards and seven touchdowns in his last two games, both of which he’s gotten a very, very early breather in.
Don’t put his name on the Heisman just yet, though. His Big 12 counterpart Sam Bradford hasn’t dropped off a bit from last year, and after going 18 of 21 for 304 yards and five touchdowns in a 55-14 whipping of Washington, leads the nation in completion percentage (79%), is tied for the nation’s lead in touchdown passes (with Hall) with 12, and is third in pass efficiency at 214.43.
Not that they’re the only two candidates though, by any means, but that’s an article for another day.
Ring in the Votes for Ringer?: With the offensive talent that both teams have in their ranks, I highly expected Florida Atlantic and Michigan State to put up monster offensive numbers and score plenty of points.
A severe rainstorm put a wrench into those plans, but it certainly didn’t slow Javon Ringer down, as he followed up a five-touchdown performance against Eastern Michigan by rushing for a school-record 282 yards and also scored both of Michigan State’s touchdowns in their 17-0 win.
Through three games, Ringer has 498 yards and nine touchdowns, leading the country in touchdowns and coming in third in rushing yards. Next Saturday’s game against Notre Dame will give him the chance to really impress a national audience and pick up some steam heading into Big Ten play.
I can’t mention Ringer’s gaudy numbers without mentioning the guy who’s ahead of him in rushing yards and behind him in touchdowns, UConn’s Donald Brown, who recorded his second straight 200-yard game on Saturday, running for 206 yards and three scores in the Huskies’ 45-10 win over Virginia.
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