Thoughts on Florida-Georgia at the half
October 31, 2009
Posted by ESPN.com’s Chris Low
Here are some quick halftime thoughts from the Florida-Georgia game. The Gators lead 24-10:
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow looks like his old self, accounting for 216 of the Gators’ 246 yards. He’s playing his way right back into Heisman Trophy consideration.
For all of Georgia’s problems, the continuing penalty problems are right up there at the top. The frustrating thing for Georgia fans is this has been happening for the last couple of years. The Bulldogs have eight penalties for 84 yards at the break. That’s unacceptable, especially when you need every edge you can get in a game like this.
The Bulldogs’ tackling still doesn’t look as crisp as it needs to be, and the pass defense just isn’t very good.
Georgia quarterback Joe Cox had a stretch where he threw some nice passes, and his 26-yard touchdown toss to Aron White was a gem. But his protection broke down later in the half, and the Gators put a lot more pressure on him.
Tebow’s 23-yard touchdown run right before the end of the half was a great call against that defense. The Bulldogs had nobody in the middle of the field.
On that run, Tebow passed Herschel Walker as the all-time rushing touchdown leader in the SEC with 50.
The Gators have done a nice job of taking away Georgia receiver A.J. Green, who only had two catches in the first half.
Indiana can’t get over the hump again
October 31, 2009
Posted by ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg
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| AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall | |
| Indiana coach Bill Lynch so his Hoosiers collapse yet again in the fourth quarter on Sunday. |
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa’s clutch victories away from Kinnick Stadium are the talk of the Big Ten this fall, but the Indiana Hoosiers could easily be the league’s road warriors.
Indiana held fourth-quarter leads in all three of its conference road games, against Michigan, Northwestern and Iowa. And all three times, the Hoosiers managed to fall short.
The Hoosiers blew late leads in Ann Arbor and Evanston, but their fourth-quarter collapse Saturday against No. 4 Iowa had to sting the most. Indiana totally controlled the first half and overcame some speed bumps in the third quarter to claim a 24-14 lead.
But from the moment Iowa wide receiver Marvin McNutt broke free for a 92-yard touchdown, Indiana’s hopes for a huge upset, a program-reviving win and a victory that would have moved them closer to bowl eligibility went down the drain.
Iowa dominated the final 12 minutes, scoring 28 points and surging to a 42-24 triumph.
“We played a great football team that made some big plays on us,” head coach Bill Lynch said. “There wasn’t anything mental about those long pass plays. Those were plays they executed and we didn’t stop.
“Our kids were locked in from start to finish. There was not [a letdown]. That wasn’t the case.”
Indiana could have folded following an 86-yard Tyler Sash interception return that hit several players before falling into the Iowa safety’s arms. The Hoosiers also had a touchdown catch overturned by replay and missed a short field goal.
They responded from those mishaps, but Iowa’s big pass plays to McNutt and Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, who raced 66 yards for a touchdown, proved to be too much. Indiana played with a banged-up secondary, as two starters, cornerback Ray Fisher and safety Nick Polk, didn’t play most of the game.
The Hoosiers’ defensive backs recorded five interceptions, but the fourth-quarter breakdowns cost them in the end.
“Those are big plays that are tough to overcome,” Lynch said.
Last week, Indiana blew a 28-3 lead against Northwestern as the Wildcats mounted the biggest comeback in team history. Lynch later lamented that the Hoosiers scored too much too early.
Did it happen again?
“This is a completely different game,” Lynch said. “Our kids battled.”
Cal-Arizona State: Kevin Riley Doing His Best To Keep Both Teams in It
October 31, 2009
The Bears looked to run away with this contest early, thanks to the sharp throwing of Kevin Riley, who connected on some nice deep balls and threw scores to Marvin Jones and Jahvid Best. 14-0 Cal early.
No problems, right? Wrong
The Sun Devils, who have been marred with untimely penalties this whole afternoon, have made a game of it…thanks to Kevin Riley.
Cal’s signal caller turned it over inside the Bear’s five yard line—his second lost fumble of the game and third overall in the first half—allowing a sluggish Arizona State offense to score easily. It came on the heals of a Sun Devil fumble deep in Bear territory.
This game should eerily remind Cal fans of 2007’s trip to Tempe, when the Bears were up 20-7 early and were blanked the entire second half.
Like most of their victories, the Blue and Gold are making contests unnecessarily close today with sloppy play after quick starts.
Cal has gotten off to starts of 14-0 twice now in Pac-10 play, as well as a 35-3 lead against Washington State—only to see opponents rattle off points in bunches.
Can the Bears ever keep their foot on the gas pedal? Stay tuned.
Read more College Football news on BleacherReport.com
Mississippi State’s 3 Keys to Victory vs. Kentucky
October 31, 2009
Mississippi State (3-5, 1-3 SEC) visits Kentucky (4-3, 1-3) for a 7 p.m. (EST) kickoff.
1. Get Dixon back on track
After five consecutive 100-yard games, MSU senior tailback Anthony Dixon was held to 53 yards on 15 carries by a stout Florida defense. He said some of that was him not quite trusting his blockers like he should, and line coach John Hevesy blamed some missed assignments.
The Bulldogs need to get on the same page this week. Kentucky ranks last in the SEC in rushing defense, giving up 174.1 yards per game. Dixon had three catches for 21 yards last week. The coaches are hoping to get him more involved in that aspect.
2. No big returns
Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke each have returned a kick to the house, and they rank third and fifth, respectively, in the SEC in all-purpose yards. Cobb is second in the SEC with 13.6 yards per punt return.
MSU has been strong against returns, allowing an average of 3.2 yards per punt return and 19.4 yards per kick return. For Kentucky, which could struggle offensively due to its quarterback situation, a big special teams play to swing the game in its favor.
3. Keep the picks coming
The Bulldogs are tied for the SEC lead with 11 interceptions, and four of those have been returned for touchdowns. Freshman free safety Johnthan Banks (pictured above) had two pick-sixes last week off Florida’s Tim Tebow.
Kentucky doesn’t have a Tebow; it doesn’t even have a Mike Hartline, its starter. He’s out with a knee injury, and the platoon of junior Will Fidler and true freshman Cameron Newton hasn’t been particularly effective.
MSU has gotten better QB pressure lately, a big reason for all the picks, and rattling those inexperienced signal-callers could give the secondary another big day.
Read more College Football news on BleacherReport.com
Keenum continues to make his case
October 31, 2009
Posted by ESPN.com’s Graham Watson
Houston quarterback Case Keenum continues to prove his Heisman worth this season.
For the third time this year, Keenum led his team on game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter to secure a win. The Cougars defeated Southern Miss 50-43.
Keenum completed 81.4 percent of his passes for 559 yards and five touchdowns. He threw a 28-yard strike to Patrick Edwards with 28 second remaining to secure the win.
Keenum had 304 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.
The junior quarterback is a longshot for a trip to New York, but he’s showing that he’s one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the country. He continues to lead the country in total offense and passing.
It’s just a shame he can’t play defense.
Iowa has giant fourth quarter, defeats Indiana
October 31, 2009
This game wasn’t pretty. Actually, it was downright brutal at times. There were nine turnovers in total, but this isn’t to say either Indiana or Iowa’s defenses were stellar. Indiana exposed the Hawkeyes’ defensive weakness throughout the first three quarters. Yet, the Iowa’s offense exploded out of nowhere in the fourth, leading their team to a 42-24 victory.
Nevertheless, people will continue to downgrade Iowa’s high ranking. Now with a 9-0 record, it’s tough to devalue their season. We’ll see how the rest of today’s games play out, but Iowa is currently one of seven undefeated teams in the Top 25. They don’t demonstrate great football by any means, but damn are their games exciting to watch. They have trailed in eight of their nine competitions this year, and have managed to come back to take each one.
Nevertheless, Iowa and quarterback Ricky Stanzi were shoddy at best until the fourth quarter. People will cite this as justification to knock Iowa down a few slots in the rankings. I completely agree with that sentiment. Iowa, the No. 4 team in the nation, should not trail a meager Indiana team for most of the game. Stanzi threw five (I know) interceptions today. That’s inexcusable — he would be benched if it wasn’t for their record. But how in the hell have they managed to remain undefeated? The fourth quarter.
Somehow, Stazi came out with an undeterred confidence and immediately connected with star receiver Marvin McNutt for a 92-yard touchdown pass. Minutes later, Stanzi found Derrell Johnson-Koulianos for a 66-yard touchdown pass. By then, Iowa had found their groove. Stanzi continued to feed the ball to running back Brandon Wegher, who is subbing for the injured Adam Robinson. Wegher exceeded expectations, scoring three touchdowns on 119 yards and 25 carries.
While Iowa fans are drunk on happiness, detractors of the BCS system are fuming. With their improbable season, Iowa’s game against Ohio St. is going to be essential viewing. Who expected that?
Rutgers stuns UConn
October 31, 2009
Posted by ESPN.com’s Brian Bennett
Connecticut is just snake bitten.
The Huskies trailed Rutgers 21-10 at halftime, but battled back to take a 24-21 lead on Jordan Todman’s touchdown run with 38 seconds left. Todman’s run came on fourth-and-goal.
On Rutgers’ next play from scrimmage, though, Tom Savage found Tim Brown for an 81-yard touchdown pass, and the Scarlet Knights won 28-21.
UConn (4-4, 1-3 Big East) has now led in the fourth quarter in all four of its losses. None, though, were as stunning or as painful as this. You’ve got to feel bad for the Huskies, who’ve been through so much since the Jasper Howard death two weeks ago. UConn may have trouble making a bowl game now.
Props to Rutgers (6-2, 1-2), which got its first Big East win and showed a lot of heart. The Scarlet Knights couldn’t get anything going offensively in the second half until that game-winning pass, which may be the first of many legendary plays that Savage makes in his career.
Big Ten Officials Have a Case of The SEC’s
October 31, 2009
Indiana faces an uphill battle in Iowa City as they take on the No. 4 Hawkeyes and the blundering Big Ten officials.
While watching BCS No. 4 and undefeated Iowa take on the 4-4 Indiana Hoosiers, there have been a number of questionable calls that have gone against the Hoosiers. The ever-animated Hoosiers coach Bill Lynch, has paced the sidelines, and chewed his gum harder than any man I have ever seen.
There have been at least three blown calls that have gone against Indiana, just since I have been watching.
The Calls
The first being a disputed spot on an Indiana third down. Indiana running back Darius Willis ran to the right side of the line and appeared to be well across the yellow “first down marker”, which we all know is not a given, but the ball was clearly past the 37-yard line, which would have made it a first down.
The spot by the official moved the ball back well short of where Willis landed. The spot was challenged and ultimately the spot remained. Blown call No. 1.
The next call came on a Indiana fade route to the corner of the endzone. QB Ben Chappell lofted a perfectly thrown ball, nobody but his receiver was going to catch it, which he did, and had a foot down in the back of the endzone.
Incomplete pass…
Once again the play would be reviewed. Same outcome, ruling on the field stands. Indiana would score on the next play, but that is not the point.
Two relatively easy plays, and two blown calls.
At least the officials are two-for-two.
Number three came on a 3rd-and-6, at the Iowa eleven yard line. Chappell throws another perfect pass to Terrance Turner, who make the grab with a hand in his face and manages to drag his right leg in the endzone as he takes the defender out of bounds with him.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but once again the play would be reviewed.
Can you guess the outcome?
The ruling on the field of a touchdown was overturned. Now the officials are a perfect three-for-three.
Breakdown
While Indiana may have a legitimate gripe on these calls, they cannot be used as excuses. Iowa’s Ricky Stanzi has helped them as much as he can by throwing for five interceptions on the day.
And Iowa is Still up by four and threatening again.
Iowa may not be playing their best game—it can be said that maybe they have a little help on their side—but this is how a champion and an undefeated team wins.
Iowa has been winning ugly all season long, and this game is no exception.
Indiana has completely imploded in the fourth quarter. They have not been able to get anything going and have allowed Iowa to come all the way back and take the lead.
If Iowa wants to be viewed as a legitimate BCS title contender, QB Ricky Stanzi is going to have to clean up his game. You are not going to throw five interceptions against Ohio State in two weeks and leave Columbus with a victory.
Conspiracy?
Does college football want to take care of their darlings and current Cinderella story?
While I personally do not believe in conspiracy theories, it begs to ask the question. Witness the mysterious calls in the Florida-Arkansas game that have gotten national attention, those officials have also been suspended by the league.
It seems to be an ever growing trend with all the blown calls and the mysterious calls that have been making there way into college football lately.
They say things could always be worse…
I don’t know that this is something I want to see getting any worse.
I would love to know your opinion on the Iowa-Indiana calls.
Read more College Football news on BleacherReport.com
Final: Iowa 42, Indiana 24
October 31, 2009
Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Kirk Ferentz and the Iowa Hawkeyes owe 70,000 people a box of Rolaids.
It hasn’t been easy all season for Iowa, and today’s game probably caused the most panic, as the Hawkeyes twice found themselves down 14 points. But for the eighth time in nine games, the Hawkeyes rallied for a win with a dominant fourth quarter.
Iowa remains perfect at 9-0 and still has a chance to reach the national title game. The Hawkeyes will likely drop in the polls, but they don’t care right now. It’s all about survival, baby.
Quarterback Ricky Stanzi was awful in the first three quarters, throwing five interceptions, but responded with a brilliant fourth quarter as Iowa piled up 28 points.
You have to feel for Indiana, which played hard but broke down in the fourth quarter for the second straight game.
I’m heading down to interviews now but will have much more on a wild one at Kinnick Stadium.
Hawkeyes totally in command
October 31, 2009
Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa’s rallies have transpired in different ways this season, but few saw this one coming.
After looking lifeless in the first half and falling behind 24-14 at the end of the third quarter, the Hawkeyes have stormed back to take control. Iowa now leads 35-24 as things are totally falling apart for Indiana. What a strange game for the Hoosiers secondary, which picked off four passes but endured several inexcusable breakdowns that led to Iowa touchdowns.
Iowa rediscovered its rushing attack on its last drive, as freshman Brandon Wegher ran to paydirt.
Credit Iowa once again for fighting back — this marks its eighth come-from-behind win this season — though the Hawks will take a hit in the polls.