It was a week for exciting finishes, if you're into that sort of thing, as Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Duke and Army all needed overtime to win, while Michigan State's upset of Michigan and Ohio State's defeat of Purdue weren't over until the final gun sounded.
And how about that Pac-10 late-night game? The conference may stink this year, but that doesn't mean its streak of Saturday night can't stay alive. Oregon closed a 34-10 deficit to 34-29 in the blink of an eye but fell just short of the end zone -- literally on the final drive.
While the Spartans' victory made the biggest statement, there were several other impressive performances turned in among the nation's elite. Texas put on an offensive show to hold back to rally from 17-0 down and hold off Oklahoma.
Virginia Tech and Nebraska had significantly easier times, routing Rutgers and Iowa State, respectively.
| Week 7 Recaps |
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| (18) Syracuse 24, Pittsburgh 17 |
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6: Sacks of Pittsburgh QBs, compared with one on Syracuse's. |
| Player of the Game |
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Troy Nunes, QB, Syracuse. Orangemen's "other" QB tossed three first-half TDs, including one off a botched field-goal snap. |
| Breakdown |
| Syracuse got up 24-0 and held on for dear life. Nunes' success through the air made the difference, as the Orange weren't able to run the way they'd like. Pitt has a bona fide QB controversy on its hands now after David Priestly replaced John Turman and led the Panthers' near comeback.
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| (1) Florida State 31, (18) Miami 21 |
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78: Miami rushing yards, on 31 carries. |
| Player of the Game |
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Chris Weinke, QB, Florida State. Still brilliant without Peter Warrick's aid, throwing for 332 yards and two TDs. |
| Breakdown |
| You could sense Warrick's absence for the Seminoles -- that "this could be over in one play" feel was missing. But Weinke improvised marvelously, throwing to seemingly every warm body on the roster at some point, and Travis Minor (25 carries, 146 yards had a nice game on the ground. FSU's defense, however, lagged against the pass, as Miami's Kenny Kelly had marked success connecting with his receivers. |
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| (2) Penn State 31, Iowa 7 |
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341-48: Difference in rushing yardage, to Penn State's favor. |
| Player of the Game |
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Eric McCoo, RB, Penn State. This week's star of PSU's running back-by-committee had 13 carries for 130 yards.
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All things considered, Penn State should have won by a lot more. Then again, Iowa should have scored more, missing field goals and blowing the few good scoring opportunities it had. A 68-yard scoring reverse to Eddie Drummond should have set the tone, but the Lions spent much of the game just trying to hold on.
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| (11) Michigan State 34, (3) Michigan 31 |
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6: Rushing yards, on 21 carries, for Michigan. |
| Player of the Game |
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Plaxico Burress, WR, Michigan State. Phenomenal game for Spartans' No. 1 deep threat, who caught 10 balls for 255 yards.
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The Wolverines secondary, so decent against Purdue the week before, was absolutely torched by Spartans QB Bill Burke. Every time you looked, Burress was open somewhere. The Wolverines were able to pass as well, but too many promising drives came up short, and RB Anthony Thomas was a non-factor, whereas MSU able to at least have some running game against the purportedly strong Michigan "D."
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| (4) Nebraska 49, Iowa State 14 |
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185: Yards rushing by Iowa State, which had been leading the nation in rushing with 328 yards per game coming into the contest. |
| Player of the Game |
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Dan Alexander, RB, Nebraska. The junior tailback led the Huskers' rushing efforts with 135 yards on 10 carries. |
| Breakdown |
| The game wasn't as close as the score may indicate, as both of Iowa State's touchdowns came with its first-team offense going against Nebraska's backups in garbage-time. Nebraska held the nation's leading rusher Darren Davis to only 107 yards on 22 carries, though many of those yards came in the fourth quarter when Nebraska was already resting its starters. The Cornhuskers have beaten the Cyclones in 21 of their last 22 meetings, and Nebraska is beginning to look like the class of an otherwise mediocre Big 12 this season.
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| (5) Virginia Tech 58, Rutgers 20 |
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511: Total offense by Virginia Tech against a clearly overmatched Rutgers squad. |
| Player of the Game |
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Michael Vick, QB, Virginia Tech. Playing only the first half, Vick ran for one touchdown and passed for four more, amassing 316 yards of total offense while completing 91.7 percent of his passes. |
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The Hokies opened their Big East schedule with a dominating performance that ruined Rutgers' homecoming festivities. Virginia Tech looks to be headed toward a November 13th showdown with Miami that will likely determine the BCS berth from the conference. Tech led 49-14 at halftime and used the huge advantage to rest most of the starters in the second half. The only negative for the Hokies was that Shyrone Stith was held under 100 yards for the first time this season, but the rest of the running game picked up the slacked and they finished with 222 yards on the ground.
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| (6) Tennessee 37, (10) Georgia 20 |
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0-6: Georgia's record, since 1992, when entering the Tennessee game undefeated. |
| Player of the Game |
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Tee Martin, QB, Tennessee. Senior QB didn't play spectacularly, but his three rushing touchdowns were the difference in the game.
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| Breakdown |
| Georgia lost its ninth straight game to Tennessee, the worst stretch against any one team in school history. The Vols shut down the Bulldogs' running game which had been productive in recent weeks, allowing only 54 yards on 30 carries for the game. Georgia has now struggled in its last three games and better get it together quickly with game at suddenly-resurgent Vanderbilt on the schedule next Saturday.
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| (7) Georgia Tech 24, North Carolina 17 (OT) |
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6: Yellow Jackets turnovers, compared with one for the Tar Heels. |
| Player of the Game |
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Kelly Campbell, WR, Georgia Tech. Often overshadowed by Dez White, Campbell made his presence felt with 203 yards on seven catches. |
| Breakdown |
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Georgia Tech has to feel fortunate to win despite committing six turnovers, four by QB Joe Hamilton. But when he wasn't coughing it up, Hamilton was his usual, strong self, throwing for 273 and running for almost 80 more. UNC's Luke Huard filled in admirably after Curry went down, but it was the Tar Heels' rushers that destroyed Tech's defense, finishing with 276 yards.
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| (8) Florida 31, LSU 10 |
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165: LSU's total offense, compared with 345 for Florida. |
| Player of the Game |
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Gerard Warren, DT, Florida. Gators' most consistent pass rusher got plenty of hands on LSU QB Josh Booty. |
| Breakdown |
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The torrential downpour and resulting mud prevented either team from executing their offense, and in fact the Gators fumbled six times, losing three. But LSU's already poor run game got worse, finishing with minus-7 yards, and running backs Bo Carroll and Robert Gillepsie both pulled off big plays for an otherwise grounded Florida attack.
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| (9) Kansas State 50, Kansas 9 |
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520: Kansas State's total offense. |
| Player of the Game |
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Quincy Morgan, WR, Kansas State. Came within five yards of school receiving record (192 yards on five catches). |
| Breakdown |
| QB Jonathan Beasley regained control of the Wildcats' offense by accounting for five TDs and throwing for 279 yards. KSU now stands 5-0 and could be headed for another undefeated November showdown with Nebraska, while the Jayhawks' season has gone continually downhill since an opening weekend loss to Notre Dame.
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| (13) Texas A&M 45, Baylor 13 |
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38: Unanswered Aggies points, extending their lead from 7-6 to 45-6. |
| Player of the Game |
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Randy McCown, QB, Texas A&M. Threw three third-quarter touchdowns to run away with it.
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The Aggies' offense rebounded nicely a week after their disappointing performance against Texas Tech, and shutting down Baylor's woeful offense was not altogether challenging. Once again, A&M's superior special teams kept the opponent on its heels, with a 52-yard punt average keeping them consistently in good field position.
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| (14) Mississippi State 18, Auburn 16 |
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55: Years since the Bulldogs last started 6-0. |
| Player of the Game |
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Matt Wyatt, QB, Mississippi St. Backup came in to lead MSU comeback, going 17-for-29 for 209 yards. |
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Auburn built a 16-0 lead despite little to no offense, but Wyatt came in and sparked the rally. Tigers QB Jeff Klein struggled, going 17-for-27 and throwing a pick. Neither team was able to run the ball solidly, but the Bulldogs' ability to move the ball down the stretch made the difference.
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| Southern Miss 39, (16) East Carolina 22 |
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5: Fumbles by East Carolina, which lost three of them.
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| Players to Watch |
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Derrick Nix, RB, Southern Miss. Eagles workhorse carried the ball 42 times for 171 yards.
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| Breakdown |
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By the rankings, it's an upset, but not to anyone who's seen Southern Miss played. The Eagles weathered another typical Pirates offensive assault, including an early 15-3 deficit and a 68-yard touchdown run by Jamie Wilson. But the opportunistic Southern Miss defense capitalized on turnovers, including a clutch 60-yard interception return for a TD by Leo Barnes with 3:15 left to ice the game.
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| (21) Ohio State 25, (17) Purdue 22 |
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12: Purdue penalties, costing it 86 yards. |
| Player of the Game |
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Montrell Lowe, RB, Purdue. Kept Boilers' air-inclined offense from being completely derailed by emerging to rush for 153 yards on 25 carries. |
| Breakdown |
| The rain significantly hindered Purdue QB Drew Brees, who finished without a touchdown pass for the first time in 19 games. But Lowe's rushing and three Buckeyes turnovers kept Purdue in it until Brent Johnson blocked Purdue's field-goal attempt to tie, and Steve Bellisari ran 68 yards to put it away.
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| (20) Wisconsin 20, (25) Minnesota 17 (OT) |
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34:40: Wisconsin's time of possession, key in preventing more output from Gophers' explosive offense. |
| Player of the Game |
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Brooks Bollinger, QB, Wisconsin. Made up for an average day from Ron Dayne, throwing a pivotal 81-yard TD to Nick Davis. |
| Breakdown |
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Minnesota proved its Big Ten worth even in defeat, with QB Billy Cockerham succeeding by air (11-of-21, 212 yards) and ground (19 carries, 62 yards), but the Badgers clamped down when needed while scoring like they always do -- methodically. In overtime, Minnesota destroyed itself, allowing penalties to take it out of the near-guaranteed field-goal range given to start the period.
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| Arizona 24, (22) USC 17 |
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550-271: Difference in total offense, to Wildcats' favor. |
| Player of the Game |
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Trung Canidate, RB, Arizona. Preseason All-America candidate debunked theories of his having fallen off the face of the earth with a 194-yard performance. |
| Breakdown |
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How does one team outgain another by nearly 300 and win by only a touchdown? Welcome to Pac-10 football. The Wildcats shut down USC's rushing game and torched its supposed conference-leading defense, but didn't put it away until a sequence early in the fourth quarter when Candidate scored, Arizona sacked Mike Van Raaphorst, intercepted him and later scored on a fumble recovery. The Trojans cut it to seven with 28 seconds left.
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| (23) Texas 38, Oklahoma 28 |
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157: Yards allowed by Texas the last three quarters, as the Longhorns rallied from a 17-0 deficit. |
| Player of the Game |
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Hodges Mitchell, RB, Texas. Complemented Texas QB Major Applewhite. with 204 rushing yards. |
| Breakdown |
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The Sooners' air show was impressive, but the Longhorns won because they both run and pass. Applewhite recovered nicely from his disaster against Kansas State, throwing for 328 yards and three touchdowns, as Texas outgained the Sooners 553-330 and had tied the game by halftime. Oklahoma QB Josh Heupel was 31-of-48, but his three interceptions proved costly.
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| (25) BYU 38, Cal 28 |
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1,717: Passing yards by Kevin Feterik in BYU's five games this season.
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| Player of the Game |
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Kevin Feterik, QB, BYU. BYU's quarterback posted yet-another 400-yard game, throwing for 414 yards and four touchdowns against Cal's porous defense. |
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Feterik picked apart the nation's 96th-ranked pass defense for four touchdowns to push his season total to 16. The Cougars' aerial attack claimed another Pac 10 victim, with a win over Washington already under their belt. Only a tough home loss to Virginia blemishes their record at this point, as they remain the clear-cut favorites to win the Mountain West Conference.
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