College Football: Recap Week 13

Georgia Tech beat up on Miami racking up 427 yards against the Canes Thursday night in Atlanta. Miami came into the game ranking sixth in the country in run defense only yielding 107 yards per game. Paul Johnson and his triple option attack gashed the Canes again and again Thursday night. Miami looked helpless against Jonathan Dwyer, who led the Yellow Jackets with 128 yards rushing. This game is proof that the Spread Offense isn’t the only offense putting up huge numbers and Johnson has proved this throughout his career.

Syracuse, who is in the mists of a terrible season put together their best game of the year and beat Notre Dame in the snow Saturday afternoon. The Golden Domers were terrible other than namesake wide receiver Golden Tate. Tate has showed this season that he is one of the better receiving threats in the nation. Tate scored two touchdowns to keep Notre Dame in the game, while his teammates were being pelted with snowballs by a disgusted student section. The victory could not save the job of head coach Greg Robinson, but it may have put Charlie Weiss position at Notre Dame in just as much jeopardy. To make matters worse for Weiss, Notre Dame is almost guaranteed a blowout loss coming next week with a trip to face USC. Syracuse a 19.5 pt underdog waltzed into South Bend and handed Notre Dame their 14th loss in the last two years more than any other two year period in Notre Dame history. It may be time for a change if Notre Dame is to rejoin the elite ranks in college football.

Houston Nutt and Ole Miss went into the Tiger Stadium and dismantled LSU 31-13 Saturday evening in a game that may have announced the emergence of yet another power in the SEC. The Rebels led by quarterback Jevan Sneed who went 16 of 25 and put up 274 yards and 2 tds and threw no interceptions. Sneed continually beat the Tiger secondary with viciously accurate passing throughout the game. Ole Miss is a virtual lock for the Cotton Bowl now as they surpassed the Tigers for second place in the SEC west with their victory in Baton Rough. Hoddy Toddy is now 7-4 under first-year coach Houston Nutt. Ole Miss beat the Tigers for the first time in seven years Saturday and knocked out LSU almost as fast as Tiger quarterback Jarrett Lee in route to the landmark victory. Look for the Rebs to be a much-improved team next year.

Wisconsin needed overtime to beat Cal Poly of the Football Championship Subdivision, in Madison Saturday. Cal Poly’s kicker Andrew Gardner missed three extra points during regulation to give the Badgers a chance to take the game to overtime. This is a low point for a once promising season for Wisconsin. The loss would have probably been the biggest upset since Appalachian State beat Michigan at the Big House last year. Poly parlayed the usage of its Wing- T offense to roll up 276 yards rushing in the game. This is yet another instance of an unconventional offense piling up huge numbers on the ground similar to Georgia Tech running the option or Nevada running the Pistol formation. Hats off to Cal Poly in proving that you can never overlook an opponent and proving that Wisconsin has fallen very far in a short amount of time.

Utah behind the arm of Brian Johnson (303 yards passing and 4 tds) and a good defense beat up on BYU in the annual “Holy War” game in Salt Lake City. Utah clinched an undefeated season going 12-0 with the victory. Furthermore, the Utes guaranteed themselves a spot in the BCS, while simultaneously clinching the Mountain West Conference title outright. The victory was also was the first in three tries for the Utes to beat BYU. Now all that the Utah is waiting for is their destination in January. 6Mag pointed out that Johnson was the most underrated quarterback in the country earlier this season, and you have to agree after his performance Saturday. Hats off to the Utes for crashing the BCS in style.

Last but not least Oklahoma beat the “Coal Tar Stuffing” out of Texas Tech in Norman Saturday night. Oklahoma set the pace by getting Demarco Murray going early (125 rushing yards and 2 tds) as Oklahoma scored 35 second quarter points to take a 42-7 advantage at halftime. Oklahoma is averaging 46 point in the first half of games since the loss to Texas in October. Oklahoma played a nearly perfect game in front of the largest crowd ever (85,000 +) at Gaylord Family-Memorial Stadium. Oklahoma displayed a balanced offense, passing for 326 yards and rushing for 230 yards in the game. The defense, played as if their lives depended on it, held the Red Raiders to 21 points and limited Michael Crabtree to 6 receptions for only 62 yards. Sam Bradford may have taken over the lead for Heisman with a 304 yard 4 touchdown performance. Graham Harrell did reach a milestone in the game passing Ty Detmer for second all time on the NCAA all time passing list. Harrell who has thrown for 15,120 yards in his career still needs nearly 2,000 yards to break the record set by Hawaii’s Timmy Chang (17,072). Oklahoma may still have a chance to sneak into the national title game if they can beat Oklahoma State in convincing fashion. This scenario would have OU jump Texas in the BCS ratings which will determine the Big 12 South winner if there is a three-way tie amongst Tech, Texas, and Oklahoma. The Sooners should not have any problem with this given their Florida-like resurgence after their loss in Dallas earlier this year. Look out for the Sooners next week as they try to prove to the country that they belong in the Orange Bowl.

Sincerely,



Cal Poly Clayborne