Wekend Recap: Old Dominion Stuns Virginia Tech

September 23, 2018 by Dave Congrove

Virginia Tech agreed to play Old Dominion at its place because it lies in the heart of the fertile recruiting ground known by its area code as the 7-5-7. Besides, what are the odds that the Monarchs could give the Hokies any trouble on any field? That question was emphatically answered by an 0-3 team that had lost to Liberty, FIU and Charlotte. Old Dominion pulled off the improbable 49-35 upset of what had to be a flat, and overconfident, Virginia Tech team that gave up 632 yards of offense and allowed 28 points in the 4th quarter. It has to go down as Virginia Tech's worst loss since James Madison pulled off the upset in Blacksburg in 2010. The Hokies didn't lose again that year on their way to the Orange Bowl. Virginia Tech fans can only hope Saturday's failure can be used as a similar springboard to success.

Saturday had a few more upsets, most notably Kentucky's 28-7 dominating performance over Mississippi State in Lexington. Additionally, Texas Tech got the 41-14 upset win at Oklahoma State, and Texas handed TCU a 31-16 loss in Austin. SMU also scored an upset by edging Navy 31-30 in overtime in Dallas. The Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com said the Hokies, Bulldogs, Cowboys, Horned Frogs and Midshipmen would all fail to cover.

Oklahoma found itself in quite a quandary on Saturday, but spoiled Army's upset bid with a 28-21 overtime win in Norman. The Sooners struck with a touchdown pass in the extra frame, and then intercepted a 4th-down pass by the Black Knights to secure the victory over a team they were favored to beat by more than 31 points. The computer had Lincoln Riley's men by nearly 40.

Stanford also averted an upset loss. The Cardinal fell behind 24-7 in the first half, and still trailed by 10 until a TD pass made it a 3-point deficit with 3:48 left to play. It then looked like Oregon would be able to run out on the clock on its ensuing possession as they marched into Stanford territory and faced a 2nd-and-3 at the visitors' 43-yard line with just 51 seconds left. Then the unthinkable happened for Ducks fans as their team fumbled and went on to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Stanford tied the game on a 32-yard field goal as time expired, then won it in overtime 38-31 by scoring first, and then intercepting Oregon's 4th-down pass. Stanford's comeback was actually buoyed when replay officials negated an Oregon touchdown run that would have put the Ducks up 31-7 in the third quarter. Two plays later, a snap from center sailed over the QB's head and Stanford turned it into a scoop-and-score to make it 24-14.

The football weekend opened on Thursday with Temple downing Tulsa 31-17 in American Conference game.

A trio of Friday night games saw USC pull out a 39-36 win over visiting Washington State, Penn State throttle Illinois 63-24, and UCF run the nation's-best winning streak to 16 with a 56-36 victory over FAU.

Alabama had little trouble in dispatching Texas A&M 45-23 on Saturday, and Notre Dame scored an easy 56-27 win at Wake Forest. Also, Ohio State blasted Tulane 49-6, and Clemson handled Georgia Tech 49-21.

Georgia survived another tough road test, getting out of "The Show-Me State" with a 43-29 win over Mizzou.

Florida and South Carolina each had unexpectedly lopsided road wins. The Gators chomped Tennessee 47-21 in Knoxville and the Gamecocks pecked Vanderbilt 37-14 in Nashville.

Michigan made Scott Frost's inaugural year at Nebraska even more painful with a 56-10 annihilation in Ann Arbor.

A couple of 'next-door neighbor' games saw UTSA knock off Texas State 25-21, and Miami downed FIU 31-17. The San Marcus campus of Texas State is 55 miles from San Antonio, and Miami's Coral Gables campus is less than 10 miles from FIU.

FBS vs. FCS

Nebraska has scheduled of Bethune-Cookman on October 27 to make up for its loss of the Akron game (opening day Lightning), giving the FBS as many as 112 games vs. FCS schools this season. There were 111 such games scheduled sat the start of the year, but Iowa State's game versus South Dakota State got washed out on Labor Day weekend, and Liberty's game versus Norfolk State was cancelled due to Hurricane Florence.

Iowa State has conditionally scheduled Incarnate Word on December 1, which is also the date that Liberty and Norfolk State have scheduled their makeup game.

FBS schools went 6-1 vs. the FCS this week as Illinois State scored the 35-19 upset at Colorado State. FBS programs are 89-7 (.927) in such games for the 2018 season. Since 2003, the FBS is now 1,308-124 (.913).

Here are all of the FCS victories over FBS teams this season:

August 30: UC Davis 44, San Jose State 31
September 1: Villanova 19, Temple 17
September 1: Northern Arizona 30, UTEP 10
September 1: Nicholls State 26, Kansas 23 (OT)
September 2: North Carolina A&T 28, East Carolina 23
September 8: Maine 31, Western Kentucky 28
September 22: Illinois State 35, Colorado State 19

Streaks

UCF - Won 16 straight overall (FBS longest), Won 10 straight conference games including AAC title last year (FBS longest). Won 56-36 at home vs. FAU on Friday.

FAU - Won 9 straight conference games (FBS second-longest). Lost 56-36 at UCF on Friday.

Alabama - Won 21 straight home games (FBS longest). Won 45-23 at home vs. Texas A&M on Saturday.

Oklahoma - Won 17 straight road games (FBS longest). Won 28-21 at home vs. Army on Saturday.

UTEP - Lost 16 straight overall (FBS longest). Lost 27-20 at home to New Mexico State on Saturday.

Ball State - Lost 13 straight conference games (FBS longest). Lost 28-20 at home to Western Kentucky on Saturday.

Oregon State - Lost 21 straight road games (FBS longest). Lost 35-14 at home to Arizona on Saturday.