Say what you want about Purdue's derailing of Michigan State or Alabama's big win over Ole Miss. But no one made a bigger statement this Saturday than Virginia Tech.
The No. 4 Hokies had their doubters, with good reason, going into a Homecoming game against Top 20 foe Syracuse. The friendly folks in the media even hung Tech's last two Homecoming embarrassments out for reminder all week.
So the Hokies went out and won 62-0. 62-0 -- impressive no matter how long you stare at it. 62-0 -- a rare combination of crushing defense and frenetic offense, including another splendid day from QB Michael Vick.
The Boilers put another twist in the ever-more intriguing Big Ten race, and the Tide are halfway to a division title. But the Hokies will spend the next two weeks enjoying the limelight before an Oct. 30 date with Pitt.
| Week 8 Recaps |
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| (15) Marshall 38, Toledo 13 |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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23:56: Time of possesion for the quick-scoring Thundering
Herd. |
| Player of the Game |
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Chad Pennington, QB, Marshall. His usual, brilliant self, Pennington threw
for 393 yards and three TDs. |
| Breakdown |
| The game wasn't as lopsided as the score indicates, with Toledo
QB Tavares Bolden completing 27 of 53 passes in only his second start, Pennington
throwing two INTs and Marshall failing to establish a running game. But the Herd defense
stopped the Rockets on several fourth downs, and Pennington hooked up on several quick
strikes to receivers Nate Poole (eight catches, 158 yards) and James Williams
(four for 69). |
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| (1) Florida State 33,
Wake Forest 10
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| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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15: Penalties committed by the Seminoles in a sloppy performance. |
| Player of the Game |
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Chris Weinke, QB, Florida State. Spread the ball around to 10 receivers in the absence of his favorite target, and threw for 354 yards and two touchdowns. |
| Breakdown |
| Florida State struggled in the first half against Wake Forest, holding only a 9-3 lead at halftime. The second half saw them score 24 points and look like the Seminoles offense of old. But Bobby Bowden has to be concerned about the lack of efficiency from his offense in the redzone, as four drives stalled and resulted in Sebastian Janikowski field goals.
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| (2) Penn State 23, (18) Ohio State 10
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| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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8: Penn State sacks of Ohio State QB Steve Bellisari. |
| Player of the Game |
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Eric McCoo, RB, Penn State. Any doubt about his carrying on the Tailback Tradition was erased with a 211-yard day.
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| Breakdown |
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Penn State exploited the Buckeyes' greatest weakness -- anyone can run on them. QB Rashard Casey's athleticism was too much for OSU to handle, and Penn State's defense prevented OSU's big-play receivers from breaking free. Only the Buckeyes' first-half blocked kick and fumble recovery in the end zone kept them in it.
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| (4) Virginia Tech 62, (16) Syracuse 0
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| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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110: Total yards of offense by Syracuse against the impressive Hokies' defense. |
| Player of the Game |
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Shyrone Stith, RB, Virginia Tech. Stith led the Hokies' ground attack with 140 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.
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| Breakdown |
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Virginia Tech used its homecoming game against Syracuse to make a statement on the national stage. The Hokies ran for 276 yards as a team, and Michael Vick continued his efficient play at quarterback. Tech scored on a fumble return, a fumble recovery in the end zone and an interception return, showing its versatility and balance as a team. The Hokies get a week off to revel in their rout of the Orangemen before travelling to Pittsburgh on October 30 to face the 3-3 Panthers.
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| (20) Purdue 52, (5) Michigan State 28
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| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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8: Combined interceptions, four for each team. |
| Player of the Game |
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Chris Daniels, WR, Purdue. Quite simply, the greatest receiver's day in Big Ten history: 21 catches, 301 yards, three TDs. |
| Breakdown |
| In an absolutely stunning aerial show, Drew Brees completed 40 of 57 throws for 509 yards and five TDs. Keep in mind Michigan State's secondary was considered one of the country's best. But Brees also threw four INTs, the only sign of weakness on Purdue's side of the ball. The Spartans, in particular QB Bill Burke, did not play at nearly the level as they did against Michigan. Burke threw for nearly 300 less yards than Brees.
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| (7) Florida 32, Auburn 14 |
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Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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1: Rushing yards for Auburn against Florida's tough defense. |
| Player of the Game |
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Bo Carroll, RB, Florida. Carroll ran for 104 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries. |
| Breakdown |
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Florida downed Auburn for the fifth straight time thanks to its ability to run the football on a night that the passing game actually struggled a bit. Doug Johnson threw for 310 yards in the game, but he tossed two picks and only completed 55.8 percent of his passes. The win was Steve Spurrier's 99th victory as the head coach at Florida, passing Barry Switzer's record of 98 wins in his first decade at Oklahome for the most wins in the first decade of coaching at one school.
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| (8) Georgia Tech 38, Duke 31 |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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48-3: What Duke has been outscored by in first quarter this year. |
| Player of the Game |
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Kelly Campbell, WR, Georgia Tech. Flagged down 11 catches, including a 36-yarder to set up the winning score.
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| Breakdown |
| It's a good thing Joe Hamilton can produce points so rapidly, because the Tech defense can't stop anyone. Duke QB Spencer Romine lit up the Yellow Jackets for four touchdowns (three rushing). But Hamilton's huge first half (15-of-18, 216 yards, two TDs) kept them a step ahead, and, for a second straight week, he made the plays late to orchestrate the winning drive.
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| (9)
Kansas State 40, Utah State 0 |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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8: Utah State first downs. |
| Player of the Game |
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Joe Hall, RB, Kansas State. Backup ran for career-high 195 yards and two TDs.
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| Breakdown |
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The Wildcats continue to be the most unimpressive undefeated team in the nation. This week they ran their record to 6-0 by mauling a sorry Utah State team, despite QB Jonathan Beasley completing only nine of 29 passes. Their defense was incredible, limiting Aggies QB Jeff Crosbie to 155 yards on 11-of-40 passing.
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| (11) Alabama 30,
(22) Mississippi 24
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| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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236: Alabama rushing yards, against an Ole Miss team giving up an average 45 yards a game coming in. |
| Player of the Game |
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Shaun Alexander, RB, Alabama. Senior -- and Heisman frontrunner? -- had 211 rushing yards and three TDs. |
| Breakdown |
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Despite Alexander torching the highly regarded Ole Miss rush defense in the first half (two TDs; a third to open the second half), the Rebs were in it till the end. Rebels QB Romaro Miller played a near flawless game (15-of-31, 217 yards, no INTs), but his offense was only on the field for 24 minutes because of the Tide's early dominance.
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| (13) Texas A&M 34, Kansas 17 |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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1:50 Span in the second/third during which A&M went from down 10-3 to up 24-10. |
| Player of the Game |
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Randy McCown, QB, Texas A&M. Threw for career-high 362 yards and two TDs. |
| Breakdown |
| In defense-oriented College Station, the offensive-minded McCown continues to prove the Aggies' greatest weapon. Kansas took the surprising lead for most of the first half, thanks largely to Carl Nesmith's two interceptions. But McCown made the most of the Jayhawks' roughing the kicker call and subsequent fumble. |
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| (14) Georgia 27,
Vanderbilt 17 |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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26: Rushing yards, on 30 carries, for Vandy. |
| Player of the Game |
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Richard Seymour, DT, Georgia. Came up with a huge INT with Vandy at the Bulldogs' 8 looking to go up 24-3.
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| Breakdown |
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Key interceptions by Seymour and Kendrell Bell (two) helped the Bulldogs shut down the Commodores after their 17-0 lead. Quincy Carter, mediocre for three quarters, led the Bulldogs back with 24 fourth-quarter points, helped greatly by a botched fake-punt attempt that left Georgia with the ball on Vandy's 15.
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| (17) Wisconsin 59, Indiana 0 |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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705: Badgers' total offense, shattering their previous record by 73 yards. |
| Player of the Game |
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Ron Dayne, RB, Wisconsin. In his most impressive showing of '99, Dayne notched 167 yards and two TDs -- then sat out the second half. |
| Breakdown |
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No quarterbacks? No problems. Despite Brooks Bollinger going out in the second quarter, despite Dayne sitting out an entire half, Wisconsin amassed an unthinkable amount of offense on the hapless Hoosiers defense. Even backup RB Michael Bennett registered 114 yards. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin defense rattled IU's Antwaan Randle El into his worst game of the season.
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| (21) BYU 31, New Mexico 7 |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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211: Season-low yardage total for BYU's Kevin
Feterik.
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| Player of the Game |
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Fahu Tahi, RB, BYU. Tahi carried 14 times for only 53 yards, but added two touchdowns in the first quarter to get BYU out to a 21-0 lead.
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| Breakdown |
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A cold and rainy night in Albuquerque was the first thing to hold Kevin Feterik to a poor passing game so far this season. BYU's defense was the real star of the game, holding New Mexico to -10 rushing yards, the second-lowest total in school history. For the game the Cougars outgained the Lobos 390-124 in total yards, with only a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter spoiling the shutout for the Cougars. New Mexico quarterback Sean Stein completed only 13 of his 35 pass attempts for an awful 37.1 percent completion percentage.
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| (25) Southern Miss 24, Army 0 |
| Review |
Key Stat |
Game Recap
Game Summary
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172: Army rushing yards, 306 less than against Louisville last week. |
| Player of the Game |
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Adalius Thomas, DE, Southern Miss Led defensive dominance of the line as Eagles put the clamps on Cadets' wishbone attack.
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| Breakdown |
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Southern Miss has one of the most underrated defenses in the country, led by future pros Thomas and T.J. Slaughter, and Saturday it proved so by containing the nation's leading rushing team. Offesively, the Eagles got it done at a minimal level, failing to convert on four Army turnovers.
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