College football’s “Show Me Month” wrapped up with a wild weekend that started with a shocker.
College football’s “Show Me Month” wrapped up with a wild weekend that started with a shocker in the ACC and ended with four top 10 teams suffering their first losses of the season.
Are upsets contagious? Now the other three losses were to ranked foes, but two in particular are tough to stomach for fan bases that have come to expect excellence. No. 5 Georgia fell to No. 17 Alabama at home, as once again the Bulldogs are unable to beat the Crimson Tide (they’re 1-10 in the series since 2008).
But in Happy Valley, No. 3 Penn State rallied with two fourth-quarter touchdowns against No. 6 Oregon, only to lose 30-24 in double-overtime to drop coach James Franklin’s record against top 10 teams to 4-20 while with the Nittany Lions. Thank goodness there’s a 12-team playoff that allows for three or sometimes four schools from the SEC and Big Ten.
Virginia (4-1, 2-0 ACC) stunned No. 8 Florida State by jumping out to an early 14-0 lead and even though the Seminoles stormed back, the Cavaliers held their ground, prevailing in double-overtime 46-38 for their first home victory over a ranked foe since 2005. Just as impressive was the storming of the field which began a nanosecond after FSU’s fourth down play failed. Hopefully no ties or sundresses were damaged beyond dry-cleaning.
Cavalier Congrats: Chandler Morris threw three touchdown passes while running for two more scores, and UVa gained 211 yards rushing on the night. Devin Neal made 12 tackles, Kam Robinson had a sack in his 10 stops, and Ja’son Prevard intercepted a pair of passes.
Cavalier Concerns: the defense did allow 516 yards, including pass plays of 30, 34, and 47 yards. And Morris threw three interceptions and the first two led to Seminole touchdowns. Next: Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against 4-0 Louisville.
James Madison (3-1, 1-0 Sun Belt) dominated their conference opener, jumping out to a 21-3 halftime lead on their way to a 35-10 thumping of Georgia Southern in a showdown of the two teams picked to finish atop the Sun Belt East this fall. The victory also avenges last year’s double-digit loss to the Eagles, and JMU records its third win by 18+ points this fall.
Duke Do’s: Wayne Knight rushed for 151 yards and a touchdown while JMU finished with 331 yards on the ground. Trent Hendrick notched three sacks in his 11 tackles as the defense held the Eagles to 4-14 on third down. Curtis Harris-Lopez returned a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown.
Duke Don’ts: tough to find fault in another double-digit victory, especially one in conference play. Alonza Barnett III completed just 50% of his passes. JMU also committed seven penalties for 60 yards. Next: Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on the road against 1-3 Georgia State.
Navy (4-0, 3-0 American) entered their game against Rice looking to fix a defense that allowed 21 and 17 points in the first halves of conference games this month. The D set the tone early, holding the Owls to 51 total yards in the first half on their way to a 21-13 victory. Coach Brian Newberry said that he was more relieved than elated after a less than perfect 60 minutes, as once again, according to his words, they “left plenty of meat on the bone.”
Midshipmen Medals: Blake Horvath rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns while throwing for 172 yards. Fullback Alex Tecza added 104 yards on the ground while making three catches for 53 yards. MarcAnthony Parker paced the defense that held the Owls to 4-15 on third down with 12 tackles.
Midshipmen Miscues: 10 penalties for 79 yards, with multiple false starts putting the offense behind the chains to squelch a second quarter drive. A missed field goal and failed fourth down in Rice territory kept this one closer than it should have been. The defense had issues in the second half, allowing the Owls to score on their final three possessions of the game. Next: Saturday against 1-3 Air Force at noon on CBS.
Virginia Tech (2-3, 1-0 ACC) proved that the win over Wofford was not a “fired coach bounce” or isolated incident by going into Raleigh and nipping NC State 23-21. While this team is far from bowl-bound, they enter October with some major momentum.
Hokie Highlights: the defense held the ACC’s leading rusher Hollywood Smothers to 67 yards while notching five sacks, with Kaleb Spencer’s 11 tackles pacing the unit. Kyron Drones threw two touchdown passes and did not commit a turnover while Terion Stewart tallied 174 yards rushing. John Love converted all three of his field goal attempts, including a 49-yarder that gave them the lead for good.
Hokie Humblings: Drones averaged under 10 yards per pass completion as they threw a ton of short stuff. The defense allowed the Wolfpack to complete 76% of their passes. Seven penalties for 55 yards is not what you dream about. Next: Saturday against 2-2 Wake Forest at 1 p.m. on the CW.
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