Miami
Suffers Second Straight Defeat;
Oklahoma Rallies Past Texas A&M
by Mike Mitchell
11/7/04
1:46 am est
For the
second consecutive year Miami has lost back-to-back games. Clemson
stormed back from a 17-3 halftime deficit to pull out a 24-17
overtime win in the Orange Bowl, dropping Miami (6-2, 3-2) to
fourth place behind Virginia, Virginia Tech and Florida State
in the ACC standings.
Last year, Miami lost two straight games to Virginia Tech and
Tennessee.
Virginia Tech watched North Carolina miss a 54-yard field goal
with a minute left and beat the Tar Heels 27-24. The Hokies (7-2,
4-1) squandered a 27-14 third quarter lead and North Carolina
(4-5, 3-3) drew within three points when they blocked a Virginia
Tech punt and recovered it in the end zone for a score with over
10 minutes left in the game. The game was played in Chapel Hill
where the Tar Heels upset Miami 31-28 last week.
Virginia (7-1, 4-1) blanked Maryland 16-0.
Oklahoma spotted Texas A&M a 14-point lead on three separate
occasions but rallied in the second half for a 42-35 win at Kyle
Field to stay unbeaten and on course for a possible BCS Championship
shot.
Oklahoma (9-0, 6-0) held the Aggies (6-3, 4-2) to just 7 points
in the second half after trailing at the intermission 28-21.
The Aggies had a last-ditch effort come up short when two Hail
Mary passes fell incomplete in the final 9 seconds.
Texas (8-1, 5-1) had even bigger trouble in the early stages
of their game with Oklahoma State (6-3, 3-3). The Longhorns fell
behind 35-7 in the second quarter but caught back up to the Cowboys
well before the third quarter was history. Texas went on to post
49 unanswered points in a 56-35 win.
The soap opera that is the Big 12 north took another plot twist Saturday when
Iowa State upset Nebraska and moved into a first-place tie in
the division.
The Cyclones improved to 5-4 over-all, 3-3 in conference play.
The Cornhuskers backpedaled to the same record. Colorado (5-4,
2-4) is a full game behind the leaders. Kansas State and Missouri
are also 2-4 in the conference but both are only 4-5 over-all.
Iowa State never trailed the 'Huskers and led 34-14 at the end
of the 3rd quarter.
A touchdown with 30 seconds left in the game completed Illinois'
comeback from a 19-0 deficit and the Fightin' Illini beat Indiana
26-22. The win snapped Illinois' 14-game losing streak to Big Ten teams and 6-game
slide over-all.
Ohio State took a 17-0 lead on Michigan State, only to see the
Spartans charge back to a 19-17 advantage in the fourth quarter.
But the Buckeyes scored the game's' final 15 points for a 32-19
win.
Wisconsin (9-0, 6-0) remained undefeated with a 38-14 win over
Minnesota. Michigan (8-1, 6-0), the only other team in the Big
10 without a conference loss, was idle.
West Virginia (8-1, 4-0) stayed in control of the Big East with a 42-21 win over Temple. Surprising Syracuse (5-4, 3-1)
sits behind the Mountaineers in second after their 38-31 double-overtime
win over Pittsburgh (5-3, 3-2). Boston College is also still
in the hunt for the league title after the Eagles (6-2, 2-1)
beat Rutgers 21-10.
West Virginia hosts BC next week and ends the season at Pittsburgh
on November 25.
Southern Miss (5-2, 4-1) lost for the first time in CUSA play as Cincinnati
(5-4, 4-2) capitalized on four USM turnovers for a 52-24 win
in Hattiesburg. The Golden Eagles' loss puts Louisville (6-1,
4-0) in sole possession of first place. Southern Miss had won
13 straight CUSA games.
The Cardinals outscored Memphis 56-49 on Thursday night at Liberty
Bowl Stadium to remain unbeaten in conference play (6-1, 4-0)
while the Tigers dropped their second straight game.
Southern Miss and Louisville do not play each other.
UAB entered Wednesday night's contest with USF just a game behind
Southern Miss and a half-game behind Louisville for the top of
the CUSA standings. But the Blazers suffered their second consecutive
upset loss as South Florida ran to a 45-20 win.
Alabama at Birmingham (5-3, 3-2) has allowed 52 points per game
in its last two contests (they fell 59-55 at Tulane in their
last outing) after giving up an average of 23.5 in their first
six game. For the Bulls (3-4, 2-3), the victory ended a three-game
losing streak.
Among Independents Notre
Dame downed Tennessee in Knoxville in Saturday's biggest non-conference
game. The Irish improved their record to 6-3 with the 17-13 upset
win.
Nay (7-2) was handed just its second loss of the season as Tulane
routed the Midshipmen 42-10.
A 43-yard field goal on the last play of the game completed Akron's
comeback from a 28-14 deficit in the final 2:18 and the Zips
zapped Marshall 31-28 on Friday night. The Herd led by as much
as 28-7 in the third quarter.
Akron has a four-game winning streak for the first time since
the 2000 season as the Zips' rally in front of a sparse crowd
in their home Rubber Bowl Stadium put the MAC east in
chaos. With the season winding down there are now three teams in the division
with one loss - Miami (Ohio), Marshall and Akron.
Miami took a 23-16 win from Toledo on Tuesday night's MAC showdown
that started the college football week early. The win kept the
RedHawks in the running to repeat as east division champions.
Marshall (5-4, 5-1 east) has already defeated Miami (6-3, 5-1
east) but still has two conference games remaining. The Thundering
Herd goes to Bowling Green (7-2, 5-1 west) next week and ends
the season at home against lowly Western Michigan (1-7, 0-5 west).
Marshall has to win both of those games and hope Akron loses
one of their final two games to claim the division title.
Miami would have to win both of its two remaining conference
games -road trips to Western Michigan and Akron - and hope for
another Marshall loss to be able to win the division.
Akron (5-4, 5-1) can win the east division if they win at Ohio
(3-6, 1-5 east) next week and at home over Miami in their season
finale on November 20. The Zips have never won the MAC title.
Meanwhile, Toledo still controls its own destiny in the west
thanks to a schedule that pits them against the division's other
top contenders in their last two games. The Rockets (6-3, 5-1
west) play at Northern Illinois (7-2, 6-0 west) next Tuesday
and finish at home against Bowling Green on November 23 as Toledo
concludes the season with three straight Tuesday night games.
Bowling Green rolled 52-0 over Western Michigan on Saturday.
Brigham Young is starting to find its offense. The Cougars exploded
for 36 points in the second half of their 49-16 road win over
San Diego State. They have put over 40 points on the board in
back-to-back weeks for the first time since the 2001 season when
they broke the 40-point barrier ten times in fourteen games.
BYU (5-4, 4-1) is the closest challenger to Utah (9-0, 5-0) in
the Mountain West.
Utah remained undefeated with ease, rolling over Colorado State
63-31. It was 42-10 at halftime and 56-10 before Urban Meyer
called off the dogs. The Utes go head-to-head with BYU on the
Cougars' home turf on November 20.
Air Force (4-5, 2-3 MWC) went out-of-conference to hand Army
(2-6, 2-4 CUSA) a 31-22 setback and keep the Falcons' hopes alive
for bowl eligibility. Air Force finishes the season with home
games against San Diego State and Colorado State.
Wyoming (6-3, 3-2) became just the second team besides Utah to
become bowl-eligible from the Mountain West when the Cowboys
edged UNLV (2-7, 1-4) in triple overtime 53-45.
California recovered from a 27-14 second quarter deficit to beat
Oregon 28-27. The Bears (7-1, 5-1) are now the only team besides
USC (9-0, 6-0) to have fewer than two league losses in the PAC-10.
USC fought back from an early 13-0 deficit in the fog to subdue
Oregon State 28-20 in Corvallis.
Arizona earned its first conference win of the year, 23-13, over
Washington. Both the Wildcats and Huskies were winless in PAC-10
play heading into that game.
Arizona State (7-2, 4-2) stayed in position to receive a nice
postseason reward with a 34-31 win over Stanford (4-5, 2-4).
The Cardinal saw its bowl chances diminish.
Also, Washington State kept UCLA from becoming bowl-eligible
with a 31-29 win over the Bruins. UCLA slipped to 5-4 over-all
while WSU improved to 4-5.
Georgia (8-1, 6-1) had no trouble with Kentucky in a 62-17 annihilation
in Lexington that kept the Bulldogs' SEC east title hopes alive.
South Carolina (6-3, 4-3) became eligible for a postseason affair
with a 35-32 win over Arkansas (3-5, 1-4). Florida (5-4, 3-4)
kept its bowl hopes alive with a 34-17 win over Vanderbilt (2-7,
1-5). The Commodores will stay home for the holidays for the
30th straight year.
SEC west leader Auburn (9-0, 6-0) was idle. Meanwhile, Alabama
became bowl-eligible with a 30-14 win over Mississippi State
(3-6, 2-4). The Bulldogs were eliminated from bowl consideration.
On Friday night, North Texas continued their dominance of the Sun Belt conference with a
27-17 win at Louisiana-Lafayette. The Ragin' Cajuns could not
overcome two early turnovers that produced 14 quick points for
the Mean Green.
WAC leader Boise State (8-0, 5-0) was idle as was second-place
UTEP (6-2, 4-1). Hawaii's Timmy Chang set the new NCAA career
passing yards record with 15,303, supplanting Ty Detmer of BYU
who passed for 15,031 from 1988-1991. Last week, Chang crept
within 14 yards of the record when Hawaii was bombed 69-3 at
Boise State. Unlike that debacle, Chang set the record in a 34-23
win at home over Louisiana Tech.
David
vs. Goliath: Goliath won the only battle over David on Saturday. Just one
game featured a 1-AA team trying to tackle a 1-A school and Troy
State prevailed over Florida Atlantic 24-6 in what designated
as a Sun Belt conference game for the Trojans.
1-AA schools have won just 6-of-55 games against their 1-A brethren
and Florida Atlantic has half of those wins.
Florida Atlantic, coached by former Miami Hurricanes' coach Howard
Schnellenberger, is in a transition year as the Owls prepare
for their move up to 1-A and the Sun Belt conference next season.
Florida International (FIU), coached by Don Strock, is joining
them.
If FAU and FIU were in the Sun Belt this year, the Owls would
currently be in 5th place with a record of 6-2, 2-2. FIU would
be last at 2-4, 0-3.
Computer Streak: The computer picks on this site
have a streak of their own involving Boise State. It has correctly
picked the winner of 36 consecutive regular season Bronco games
dating to November 10, 2001. It is 17-18 ATS on those games.
Computer Nails The Upsets Again: The computer's weekly picks based on
the Congrove Computer Rankings picked two outright
upsets against the Vegas spreads. It is 37-22 ATS for the season
with its upset picks.
This week, it nailed the "upsets" of Tulane over Navy
and Northwestern over Penn State.
No
Blemishes: Auburn, Boise State, Oklahoma, USC, Utah and Wisconsin began,
and ended, the weekend with perfect records. Auburn and Boise
State were idle.
There are no undefeated teams in the ACC, Big East, CUSA, MAC
or Sun Belt. Additionally, there are no unbeaten teams in the
north division of the Big 12 or the east division of the SEC.
Streaking: Boise State has won 19 straight games
over-all, 24 straight at home, and 23 straight over WAC foes.
The Broncos were idle.
USC extended the nation's second-longest winning streak to 18
with a 28-20 win at Oregon State. The Trojans have won 19 straight
home games and 13 consecutive PAC-10 games.
Utah has won 13 straight games.
Auburn has 11 consecutive wins. The Tigers were idle.
Iowa has won 17 straight home games.
North Texas has won 23 straight over Sun Belt conference foes.
The Mean Green beat Louisiana-Lafayette 27-17.
Central Florida ran the nation's longest losing streak to 13
games when they failed to convert an extra point in overtime
and fell 17-16 to Ohio.
Temple's 42-21 loss to West Virginia was its 12th straight Big
East loss.
Southern Miss had its streak of 13 consecutive CUSA wins snapped
by Cincinnati in a 52-24 loss in Hattiesburg.
Illinois beat Indiana 26-22 to end a string of 14 consecutive
Big Ten losses. |