Miami,
Michigan St. Win OT Games
by Mike Mitchell
9/18/05
11:22 am edt
Miami
and Michigan St. won overtime thrillers Saturday after TCU set
the stage on Thursday and UTEP followed in fashion on Friday.
The 36-30 triple-overtime win by the Hurricanes over Clemson
prevented Miami from beginning a season with two consecutive
losses for the first time since 1978.
Michigan State's 44-41 single overtime win over Notre Dame was
their fifth-in-a-row at South Bend and the fifth consecutive
time that the road team in the rivalry emerged victorious.
On Friday night, UTEP downed Houston 44-41 in double-overtime
in the first game between the two teams in 57 years. UTEP also won both previous games played
in 1946 and 1948. This time, they opened their conference slate
against each other as new members of CUSA.
Thursday,
TCU's 23-20 win over Utah ended the Utes' 18-game over-all winning
streak and 11-game conference winning streak. It was TCU's inaugural
game as a Mountain West Conference member.
Elsewhere, Florida State officially welcomed Boston College to
the ACC with a 28-17 by handing the Eagles a 28-17 loss. FSU
relinquished an early 14-0 lead and had to rally from a 17-14
second-half deficit to earn the victory and remain unbeaten (3-0).
At Florida, the Urban (Meyer) renewal continued with a 16-7 win
over SEC rival Tennessee. The Vols had taken the previous two
meetings, three of the last four, and the last two meetings in
Gainesville.
Oklahoma was dealt its second loss of the season with a crushing
41-24 defeat at the hands of UCLA. The win could the rise of
the Bruins and the demise, at least for this year, of the Sooners.
It is the first time that Oklahoma has started 1-2 since 1997
and the first 3-0 start for UCLA since 2001.
Some of the weekend's more-interesting results include the eye-popping
63-27 loss that Louisville pinned on Oregon State and Alabama's
37-14 smashing of Steve Spurrier and South Carolina.
Vanderbilt is 2-0 in the SEC for the first time since 1956 after
toppling Mississippi 31-23. It's the first time the Commodores
have started a season with a 3-0 over-all record since 1984.
Nebraska's 7-6 win over Pittsburgh was plagued by penalties,
misfiring offenses and missed field goals. The loss dropped the
Panthers to 0-3 under first-year coach Dave Wannstedt and the
'Huskers have managed to start 3-0 despite having scored a season
total of just three offensive touchdowns.
Wannstedt's predecessor at Pitt, Walt Harris, is 1-1 at Stanford.
But my-oh-my, is the one loss horrendous. The Cardinal lost 20-17
to a Division 2 team that is in the midst of transitioning to
1-AA. Cal-Davis entered the contest with an 0-2 record after
losses to Portland State and New Hampshire. The Aggies' winning
score came on a 3-yard run with 12 seconds left to culminate
a 72-yard drive in the last 2:49 of the game.
The Sun Belt produced a couple of bizarre unexpected losses when
Akron won 17-7 at Middle Tennessee and North Texas was destroyed
54-2 at home by Tulsa.
The MTSU offense has scored just 7 points in each of its first
three games. The Blue Raiders are 0-3 despite allowing just 19
points per game.
North Texas, which has won all four Sun Belt conference titles
and 26 consecutive conference games, is a paltry 4-19 versus
non-conference opponents in that same span. The last win by the
Mean Green over an OOC team came against Baylor on September
6, 2003.
Tulsa's win over North Texas snapped a 15-game non-conference
road losing streak for the Golden Hurricane.
Tulane finally got its season started with a hard-fought 21-14
loss to Mississippi State. The game, originally slated for the
New Orleans Superdome, had to be moved to Shreveport. The Green
Wave rallied from a 14-0 deficit to tie the game but the Bulldogs
secured the winning touchdown after recovering a muffed punt
return by Tulane.
The PAC-10/Big 10 Challenge was won 2-1 by the PAC-10 when Arizona
State clobbered Northwestern (52-21) and California pulled away
from Illinois (35-20). The Big 10's lone win was Purdue's 31-24
victory at Arizona.
Speaking of the PAC-10, Oregon snapped Fresno State's 3-game
winning streak over PAC-10 schools with a 37-34 win over the
Bulldogs.
It isn't that often that any team gets back-to-back shutout victories.
How much more rare could it be that they are by the same score?
Virginia Tech beat Ohio 45-0 in its home-opener, a week after
winning 45-0 at Duke.
Missouri, whose loss to Troy sent them reeling through the rest
of the 2004 season, exacted revenge on the Trojans with a 52-21
stomping in Columbia. The much-needed win came a week after the
Tigers lost 45-35 at home to New Mexico.
Ty Willlingham and Bill Cubit picked up their initial victories
this season.
Willingham's Washington Huskies downed perennial doormat Idaho
34-6 to halt their losing streak at 8 games. Washington's 8-game
conference losing streak is still alive.
Cubit's Western Michigan Broncos had to overcome an 11-point
deficit to 1-AA Southern Illinois for the 34-28 win. The victory
ended a 12-game losing streak for WMU but did nothing for the
school's 13-game losing skid to 1-A teams or 10-game losing streak
to conference teams.
Finally Scored: Buffalo ended a three-game scoreless
streak with a field goal in a 17-3 loss to Rutgers. The streak
lasted 14 quarters before the Bulls struck with a third-quarter
field goal for their first points since November 13 of last year.
Computer Streak Snapped: Utah's loss was the computer's
first incorrect straight up pick of a regular season Utah football
game since November 1 of 2003, ending a string of 15 consecutive
correct calls. The computer dropped to 0-3 SU on TCU this season
but is now 3-0 ATS with the Horned Frogs.
Just last week, Oregon State's 30-27 win over Boise State marked
the first time the computer missed a straight up pick on the
Broncos since November 3, 2001 - a string of 43 consecutive correct
calls.
1-AA Schools Strike Out: There were 13 games played
between 1-AA schools and their higher-classified brethren. The
smaller schools went 1-12 (UC-Davis beat Stanford, 20-17) and
fell to 2-39 for the year.
From the beginning of the 2003 season through Saturday, 1-AA
teams are 18-151 in such games, an 89.3 losing percentage.
Streaks: USC owns the nation's longest winning
streak at 24. The Trojans also have streaks of 22 straight home
wins and 15 consecutive PAC-10 victories. They have won 35 of
their last 36 games. The Trojans beat Arkansas at home 70-17
on Saturday.
Utah had its winning streak halted at 18 games with a 23-20 overtime
loss to TCU on Thursday night. The Utes' 11-game MWC winning
streak also came to a close.
Iowa has won 20 straight home games. The Hawkeyes beat 1-AA Northern
Iowa 45-21 on Saturday.
North Texas has won 26 straight over Sun Belt conference opponents.
UNT has also won four consecutive Sun Belt titles as they have
topped the conference in every year of its existence. However,
they have lost 8 straight to non-conference foes.
Central Florida has the nation's longest losing streak at 17.
The Golden Knights lost 31-14 at home to South Florida.
New Coaches: The 2005 season began with 23 coaching changes. Here is how each has fared thus far
(list compiled alphabetically by team):
BYU, 1-1 under Bronco Mendenhall, was idle.
East Carolina, 1-1 under Skip Holtz, lost to Wake Forest 44-34.
Florida, 3-0 under Urban Meyer, beat Tennessee 16-7.
Illinois, 2-1 under Ron Zook, lost at California 35-20.
Indiana, 3-0 under Terry Hoeppner, beat Kentucky 38-14.
LSU, 1-0 under Les Miles, was idle.
Marshall, 1-1 under Mark Snyder, was idle.
Miami, O., 1-2 under Shane Montgomery, beat Kent State 27-10.
Mississippi, 1-1 under Ed Orgeron, lost at Vanderbilt 31-23.
Nevada-Las Vegas, 1-2 under Mike Sanford, lost at Nevada 22-14.
New Mexico St., 0-3 under Hal Mumme, lost at New Mexico 38-21.
Notre Dame, 2-1 under Charlie Weis, lost to Michigan St. 44-41
in OT.
Ohio, 1-2 under Frank Solich, lost 45-0 at Virginia Tech.
Okla. St, 3-0 under Mike Gundy, beat Arkansas State 20-10.
Pittsburgh, 0-3 under Dave Wannstedt, lost at Nebraska 7-6.
San Jose St., 1-1 under Dick Tomey, was idle.
South Carolina, 1-2 under Steve Spurrier, lost to Alabama 37-14.
Stanford, 1-1 under Walt Harris, lost to 1-AA Cal-Davis.
Syracuse, 1-2 under Greg Robinson, lost to Virginia 27-24.
Utah, 2-1 under Kyle Wittingham, lost to TCU 23-20 (OT).
Utah State, 0-1 under Brent Guy, was idle.
Washington, 1-2 under Ty Willingham, beat Idaho 34-6.
Western Michigan, 1-2 under Bill Cubit, beat 1-AA So. Illinois
34-28. |