Marshall
Leads Mighty MAC Conquest Of Ranked BCS Teams
by Mike Mitchell
9/21/03 1:17 am edt
Three Mid-American Conference
teams took the BCS to task on Saturday, leading the weekend's
parade of upsets.
Marshall scored perhaps the biggest upset on Saturday, knocking
Kansas State from the ranks of the unbeaten and undoubtedly out
of the top 10 with a 27-20 win in Manhattan as both teams played
without their starting quarterbacks.
Kansas State mounted a late drive that was thwarted when Jeff
Schwinn's pass fell incomplete on the final play of the game.
The loss broke a 41-game home winning streak against non-conference
opponents that dated back to 1989.
Toledo ended Pittsburgh's chance for a perfect season with a
35-31 come-from-behind win in front of the Rockets' home faithful
at the Glass Bowl. Bruce Gradkowski completed 49-of-62 passes
for 490 yards and 3 TDs as Toledo rallied from a 31-21 fourth
quarter deficit and scored the game-winning touchdown with 43
seconds remaining.
Northern Illinois got into the MAC-attack by seizing a 19-16
win at Alabama. Josh Haldi threw two touchdown passes and Michael
Turner ran for 157 yards for NIU which opened the season by defeating
Maryland and moved to 3-0 on the year.
Five games over the weekend featured undefeated teams meeting
head-on. Four were played Saturday.
Oregon downed Michigan 31-27. The Ducks staked out a 24-6 third
quarter lead, then turned back a furious fourth quarter rally
that ended when John Navarre's pass ticked off of the fingertips
of Braylon Edwards deep in Oregon territory with 33 seconds left
in the game. Edwards hauled in 13 catches for 141 yards for the
Wolverines.
LSU topped Georgia 17-10 in another head-to-head battle of unbeaten
teams. The Bayou Bengals scored the winning points on a 34-yard
touchdown pass with 1:22 remaining. Georgia had tied the score
at 10 with a 93-yard pass and run, but Matt Mauck led LSU down
the field on the ensuing possession.
Iowa smothered Arizona State 21-2 as Nathan Chandler threw 3
TD passes and Fred Russell ran for 151 yards on 27 carries. The
Hawkeyes kept their perfect record intact while handing the Sun
Devils their first defeat.
Ohio State survived the upset bug once more, downing Bowling
Green 24-17 in Columbus. The Falcons rallied late after falling
behind 24-7 in the fourth quarter. Will Allen intercepted BGSU
quarterback Josh Harris on the last play of the game.
It was the third straight game in which Allen provided the Buckeyes'
key play. His 100-yard interception return for a touchdown proved
to be the winning points in Ohio State's 16-13 escape over San
Diego State two weeks ago. Last week against N.C. State, he made
the fourth-down tackle on T.A. McClendon to secure the Buckeyes'
victory in the third overtime of that game.
Thursday night, Virginia Tech survived Hurricane Isabel and Texas
A&M with a 35-19 win in Blacksburg. The home crowd witnessed
Heisman Trophy candidate Kevin Jones finally have a break-out
rushing night for the unbeaten Hokies. The junior netted 3 touchdowns
and 188 yards on 30 carries (unofficial), most of it in the second
half, to help Virginia Tech take control of the clock and the
flow of the game.
A total of twenty-nine teams had unblemished records entering
the weekend and twenty-seven of them were in action (USC and
Nebraska were idle). In all, nine went down.
Texas Tech and Boise State joined Kansas State, Pittsburgh, Michigan,
Georgia, Arizona State, Bowling Green and Texas A&M (as outlined
above) as the weekend victims.
Texas Tech was throttled 49-21 by N.C. State in Raleigh as the
Wolfpack bounced back from their disappointing loss at Ohio State
last week.
Boise State's 13-game winning streak was halted by Oregon State,
26-24. Derek Anderson passed for 408 yards. James Newson had
9 catches for 208 yards. BSU missed a go-ahead field goal with
7:32 left and never got the ball back as the Beavers killed the
clock with a 17-play drive that ended on the Bronco 16.
In other games involving an undefeated team:
Tennessee stayed perfect by grabbing its second consecutive win
over Florida in "The Swamp", 24-10. The Vols broke
a 30-year futility streak in Gainesville in 2001 with a 34-32
win. Florida has won the last two games in Knoxville as the visitor
has taken four straight in this series.
Oklahoma romped past UCLA 59-24 as Antonio Perkins set NCAA records
for punt return touchdowns in a game with three, and punt return
yardage in a game with 277.
Florida State crushed Colorado 47-7 in Tallahassee, as Chris
Rix threw for 395 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Missouri moved to 4-0 the hard way. Middle Tennessee State stared
prosperity in the face, and promptly shot it when the winless
Blue Raiders blew a 34-26 fourth quarter lead. The Tigers scored
a touchdown and 2-point conversion with just 1:17 left on the
clock to send the game into overtime where MTSU scored first
but missed the extra point kick. Mizzou scored on its possession
and booted the extra point for the 41-40 win.
Also, Air Force held off Wyoming 35-29 in the MWC opener for
both teams; Louisville routed UTEP 42-14; TCU beat Vanderbilt
30-14; Arkansas smashed North Texas 31-7; Minnesota rolled over
La.-Lafayette 48-14; Miami handled Boston College 33-14; Stanford
won at BYU 18-14; and Cincinnati slid past Temple 30-24.
Elsewhere, Michigan State dropped Notre Dame in South Bend a
week after the Spartans succumbed to Louisiana Tech on their
own turf in East Lansing. The 22-16 final marks the fourth straight
time that Michigan State has won at Notre Dame Stadium.
Louisiana Tech followed last week's upset of Michigan State with
a 16-6 loss to Fresno State.
Georgia Tech, which last week narrowly missed upsetting Florida
State, was blown out 39-3 at home by Clemson.
Oklahoma State's Rashaun Woods caught seven touchdown passes
from Josh Fields, all in the first three quarters of the Cowboys'
52-6 romp over SMU, to break a 34-year old NCAA record for TD
catches in a game. Woods finished with 13 catches for 232 yards.
Miami (Ohio), clobbered Colorado State 41-21. Ben Roethlisberger
threw for 330 yards and 2 TDs as the visitors stunned the Rams.
Thursday night, Nevada downed San Jose State 42-30. The game
was marked with the return of Neil Parry, the Spartan player
who had his right leg amputated at the knee after breaking it
in a game nearly three years ago. He saw action late in the game
on the punt return team.
Six 1-A teams took on division 1-AA opponents, and one
lost. La.-Monroe lost for the sixth straight time to a 1-AA team
as Northwestern St. (Louisiana) upended the Indians 14-10. It
was their second loss this year to a 1-AA school. Stephen F.
Austin beat the Indians 23-21 on Sept. 6. Last year, La.-Monroe
lost to McNeese State 24-19. In 2001 they were beaten 20-9 by
Sam Houston State. They lost to Wofford and SW Texas State in
2000. Their last victory over a 1-AA school came on 9/16/2000
when they edged Nicholls State 27-21.
Got Victory?: Tulsa upset Arkansas State, as the computer
predicted it would, to give Steve Kragthorpe his first win over
a 1-A team. The Golden Hurricane routed the Indians 54-7. Kragthorpe's
crew beat 1-AA Texas State last week, 41-15, and is now 2-2 through
Kragthorpe's first four games.
Kentucky beat Indiana 34-17 to give new head coach Rich Brooks
his first victory over a 1-A school. The Wildcats' only other
win this season was over 1-AA Murray State.
Only John Thompson (East Carolina) and Charlie Weatherbie (UL-Monroe)
have yet to pick up a win out of the season's 18 new head coaches.
Bob Petrino has yet to lose as the new head coach at Louisville
(3-0).
Who's Afraid Of the BCS: Non-BCS schools went 6-13 against
BCS conference teams. They have performed equally well the last
three weeks. Non-BCS teams went 7-14 last week, and 6-14 two
weeks ago.
Unbeaten Ranks: 20 teams remain unbeaten in 1-A football.
Florida State is the only unbeaten team in the ACC. Air Force
is flying solo in the Mountain West. Northern Illinois is the
last one standing in the MAC.
Every independent, WAC and Sun Belt conference member has at
least one loss.
The Big 12 had six heading into this past weekend, but now is
left with only three. The Big 10, SEC, PAC-10 and CUSA each have
three, also. The Big East has two. |