2015-09-14 10:01

Überraschung! (Means Surprise!)

This weekend did have some real surprises.

Did some teams looked like the real deal last week did they fail this weekend and their season doesn’t look so bright anymore.

That's what I like with College Football, the constant change and the constant surprises do make every season enjoyable.
Lucky me, I don't have a favorite team or a love and hate relationship with several teams.
I don't get excited if Akron might win the National Championship and I also don't get depressed if Notre Dame finish with zero wins.

I like the sport, and I love the system. So many team all over the county and a so complicated system to have them all playing for several titles and goals. When I start to explain the subject to other persons, very fast do they wave goodbye and are not willing to GET the system. Fine with me, it’s their loss, not mine.

If I would have to make one pick which would 100% be true, my pick would have been that it will come different than expected. Every season.
It's the nature of the game.

The most surprising games this week for me were:

Bowling Green won over Maryland. 48-27, on the road.
Maryland had tied the score in the 4th at 27, when the Falcons did score again to get ahead.
Maryland was unable to counter that, got intercepted and the Falcons did score, again.
The Terrapins did get intercepted, again and Bowling Green did score, again for the final score.
Maryland did try to comeback, but got intercepted a 3rd time and the Falcons did let the time run out.
The game did turn completely in this 4th quarter.
Great win for Bowling Green.
Bad sign for Maryland for the rest of the season?
Or just a bad quarter?

Houston did win against Louisville. 34-31, on the road.
The game momentum went from one team to the other and back.
At some point did Louisville lead, at other points was Houston ahead.
The Cougars got ahead late in the 4th and with under a minute to play did Louisville try a FG at Houstons 36 yard line.
That's a 53 yard FG-try.
It was blocked!
Over.
A stunning upset and a great win for Houston.
Louisville is now 0-2 and even if they might win the ACC, they will never get into the playoffs, unless all other big programs do stumble big time.

Washington State beats Rutgers, 37-34, on the road.
Just to get this in perspective.
Wazzu did lose last week against a FCS team, Portland State.
Rutgers did last week the usual stomp on another FCS team, Norfolk State.
I would never expect those 2 teams to meet on an even ground.
Washington State did lead 13-6 at the half. Huh?
It was like Rutgers offense was not on the field.
The game came alive in the 4t quarter and when Rutgers did return a Punt for TD and got a 34-30 lead, it looked like the momentum was shifting.
But the Cougars did march 90 yards over the field and did score for the final result. Basically with time running out.
Great comeback and a great win for Washington State.

Toledo beats Arkansas, 16-12, on the road!
Not only is the score height worth a laugh, also the circumstances are quite funny.
Toledos first game against a FCS team was canceled last week, because of bad weather.
So they were not really tested.
Arkansas did beat UTEP 48-13.
Arkansas HC Bret Bielema did make fun over Ohio State regarding their strength of schedule, stating (after week 1), that the Razorbacks will have to face still 8 ranked teams, while the Buckeyes only have to face 1 ranked team for the rest of the season.
Now the Razorbacks lost to a MAC team, at home.
Toledo did lead 9-7 at the half and extended it to 16-7 later.
The Razorbacks were able to score a FG and a Safety in the 4th, but were unable to score the game winner.
They came even to the Rockets redzone, but as the whole game long, their offense was not able to get the needed yards, when it did count the most.
Gigantic win for Toledo.

Ohio did beat Marshall, 21-10.
There goes my dark horse pick for a big bowl.
Marshall had it all. The schedule, the win last week. If only they would have been able to beat Ohio.
They were not.
The Thundering Herd was silenced by the Bobcats, and they never had a real chance.
Ohio did play great football and never did Marshall really into the game.
Ohio has now a bright future ahead of them, while Marshall will have to overcome that loss.

Memphis did CRUSH Kansas 55-23, on the road.
Maybe that was the BIG12 expansion consideration pitch.
I think Memphis would sign a deal when it would come up, regardless of the details, and the university is really up to get Memphis on the next level.
OK, Kansas is not really a big shot in football, also not in the BIG12 in football, but still ....
55-23! Big win for the Tigers and a great way to get the season going.

Temple did it again. They did beat Cincinnati 34-26, on the road.
I didn't thought Temple to have a say in the seasons conference games, but they are now 2-0 and 1-0 in the conference, where I did see them 0-2 and 0-1 at that point.
Nice Überraschung! LOL. It looks like it was not a great weekend for hometeams.

Let's have a look at the BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 2

Sat. Sept. 12 - 6:00 pm ET
#19 Oklahoma @ #23 Tennessee
This was a great one.
The Vols did lead at home for a very long time and Oklahoma was able to tie the score at 17 with more or less time running out.
Great play for that tying TD.
In the 1st OT did Tennessee score first and Oklahoma did counter that.
In the 2nd OT did Oklahoma score a TD and was able to hold of Tennessee for the win.
That win did cost the Vols the rank in the TOP25, while Oklahoma made a case for their BIG12 season.
Oklahoma 31 - Tennessee 24 -> Jacks Score: 4-1

Sat. Sept. 12 - 8:00 pm ET
#7 Oregon @ #5 Michigan State
Also a great game.
The Ducks did play with a strange Helmet decoration, but I don't think that did hurt them much.
The Spartans did lead 31-21 at some point, but the Ducks came back and were able to score for 31-28.
Michigan State was unable to do anything and had a 3-and-out, giving the Ducks the ball with a lot of time left (2+ minutes) and mid-field.
Not so good.
But the Spartans defense came up at the right time and kept the Ducks at the 33 yard line after they got a 1st down.
With 4th and 16, after a great sack a play before, the Ducks decided off cause to play and the Spartans stopped them.
Not the score difference I expected, but still a win for the Michigan team.
Some journalist do already put them into the playoffs, TOGETHER with Ohio State (which would mean 2 teams from the BIG10).
I say, not so fast, it will take more to get two teams from one conference in the playoffs than 1 good win against a TOP team.
Still, the Spartans will get a boost out of this, for sure.
Oregon 28 - Michigan State 31 -> Jacks Score: 5-1

Sat. Sept. 12 - 9:15 pm ET
##14 LSU @ #25 Mississippi State
LSU was not tested last week, so they went into this game a bit unpolished, but on the other hand were the Bulldogs unable to get films of the Tigers because of that.
Whatever the reason was, LSU did start great and did lead early.
At halftime it was 14-3.
But Mississippi did come back when they trailed 21-6.
They did cut the LSU lead to 21-19 (they failed a 2 point conversion) and had the win on the foot.
With time running out did the Kicker kick the ball wide right.
A 52 yard FG try.
No upset here.
LSU 21 - Mississippi State 19 -> Jacks Score: 6-1

Sat. Sept. 12 - 10:15 pm ET
#20 Boise State @ BYU
Aargh. The lightning did strike twice.
Last week did BYU win by a hail mary pass on the last play.
OK, they did not win this week by another final seconds miracle pass, but almost.
Boise State did lead 24-14 when they had a costly turnover in their own redzone.
BYU did score and shortened the gap to 24-21.
After that did Boise not really gain some yards and had to punt.
BYU did had some progress, but were stuck at 4th and 7 at the Broncos 35, quite enough for a FG-try.
They did not do that, but did made a deep pass, which was caught in the endzone, giving them the lead and did give Boise so much pressure that the next drive they did get intercepted for a Pick-6.
The final score does look overwhelming, but the truth is, the game was very close.
It lifted BYU into the ranks, while Boise did drop out of the ranks.
Boise State 24 - BYU 35 -> Jacks Score: 6-2

Now I will give you some more results worth to mention:

Western Kentucky did beat Louisiana Tech with 41-38. The Hilltoppers did leave a mark inside the conference and will for sure contend for the conference title.
Utah did beat Utah State 24-14, but did lose their QB to injury. The Battle of the Brothers was won by the Utes the 2nd time in a row. The Utes are now 2-0 in this season.
Auburn did almost lose to Jacksonville State. Final score was 27-20 in OT and Auburn did score the game tying TD with 40 ticks on the clock. They then were able to score first in OT and Jacksonville State was not able to score after that.
Michigan won against Oregon State, 35-7. Most notable on that game was, that Oregon State did look awful.
Syracuse beats Wake Forest, 30-17. Wake Forest did not really had many chances to turn that game around.
Clemson did stomp Appalachian State 41-10, which will eliminate the Mountaineers from my playoff crasher list.
Minnesota did need OT to best Colorado State, 23-20. CSU did score the game tying FG with time ran out in the 4th. They got also the 1st possession in OT, but fumbled and Minnesota did only need a FG to win the game.
Notre Dame did beat Virginia 34-27, but did lose their QB for some time with a broken ankle. Tough loss for Notre Dame.
Eastern Michigan did win against Wyoming, 48-29. According to the press did Eastern Michigan had a 27 years losing streak, on the road, against non-conference FBS teams, which is now gone. I'm sure they won't miss that streak.
Iowa did beat Iowa State 31-17. Last season did the Cyclones win the Cy-Hawk Trophy, this season did the Hawkeyes get it back.
Georgia Southern did best Western Michigan 43-17. I'm not sure if this is a sleeping giant, but the Broncos are not really a typical Sun-Belt-Victim. They lost last week to Michigan State only by 13 points, while Georgia Southern was blanked by West Virginia. Something is strange here.
Florida did beat East Carolina 31-24. The game must have been so ugly, that Gators Coach Jim McElwain did apologize for it.
Kentucky did beat South Carolina 26-22. The Gamecocks did look awful on offense.
And as final result: Georgia State did beat New Mexico State 34-32. I marked this game as the decider for the bottom of the Sun Belt. For sure it looks tough for Mexico State now, maybe Georgia State can built on that win.

‘Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

Tags: Block of Granite