NCAA Football Report (Week 7)
The NCAA season has not seen a lot of changes as the schedules have been unimpressive and the upsets have been few and far between. The beginning of the season would see the best teams in the nation take on teams that were far from the rankings. The results were predictable as the top teams would put up massive points against the teams and have remained the same in the rankings for the entire season. The top 5 in the NCAA rankings have not changed for the majority of the season and the games have not been anything to look at for the top teams. Eventually the status quo would not last as everyone expected a week to come where there would be a shake up in the rankings. It happens every year as ranked teams begin falling when they take on better, yet maybe unranked, teams and they find trap games. Some teams look past the week in front of them to a big game in the week after and can find themselves on the losing end of a game. They may also have seen plenty of teams unranked or lower ranked and do not take them seriously once again finding themselves on the losing end. At one point every season a number of teams find themselves in these situations and find their season slipping away fast. Week 7 would be the week where some of the top teams in the NCAA would fall although the top 5 would remain almost unchanged. Week 7 was not necessarily the upset week that everyone was waiting for but it was a key sign that the season is truly ready to kick off. The week in the NCAA had plenty of scares for the top teams as the #3 Clemson Tigers almost didn’t get by Boston College while Oregon would be held under 50 points for the first time all year. Both teams would win along with the Alabama Crimson Tide but one team would fall in the top five. The Stanford Cardinal would be the losers in the biggest upset of the season so far with their loss to the Utah Utes. The Utes would hold the Cardinal off on a last second defensive stand that would send the Cardinal out of the top 5 in the rankings. The Cardinal would be the biggest upset of the week but it was not the only one as there were plenty of other teams that lost big games this week. The Georgia Bulldogs would lose their second game of the season to the Missouri Tigers sending them out of the top ten. For the Bulldogs the upset was expected as they had lost some of their best players the week before and many saw the Tigers as a good team on the rise that could take advantage of the injuries. The Michigan Wolverines would also take a loss this week when they would fall to Penn State in a crucial Big Ten matchup. The Wolverines would take their first loss in the closest games of the season as 4 overtimes were required before the Nittany Lions took home the win. The Oklahoma Sooners were looking to one of their biggest games of the season in the Red River Rivalry and would come out on the losing side. The Texas Longhorns would take the win after struggling all season in a game that could have very well saved Mack Brown his job. These upsets would make for a very exciting week and the games that many teams struggled in would also make this week one of the best of the season so far. More than anything though this week would be a precursor to the weeks to come as the games are getting better and will mean a lot more. Week 7 would see plenty of upsets despite the top teams not seeing losses but the NCAA season is just about to kick into overdrive. The top teams can no longer avoid their toughest competition and games against much worse teams will not be as prevalent in the coming weeks. The chances will increase to change the rankings as games get tougher and more important. As the NCAA season gets into their home stretch of the season the weeks get more important and everything that fans love about NCAA football will come through.
Heisman Watch:
1. Marcus Mariota, QB (Oregon)
The Oregon Ducks were not the same offensive powerhouse this week but for the Ducks all that means is they were held to just under 50 points. The Ducks have scored over 50 points every week this year but taking on a ranked Washington Huskies team the Ducks would not get to that number. Instead they scored 45 points and Marcus Mariota would finally overtake Tajh Boyd in the Heisman rankings. Mariota would once again take over the game against the Huskies as he would throw for 366 yards, run for 88 yards and score a total of 4 TDs on the ground and through the air. Mariota was once again in complete control and would overtake Tajh Boyd in the Heisman race. Now he must continue his great season against Washington State next weekend if he hopes to stay at the top.
Stats (6 Games):
60.6% (41 rsh)
1,724 yds (426 rsh yds)
17 TD (8 rsh TD)
0 INT
2. Tajh Boyd, QB (Clemson)
The Tigers came closer than ever to having that letdown game that they have been known for as they would almost lose to Boston College. Boyd and the Tigers offence would struggle for the first half of the game letting the Boston College Eagles stay in the game. It wasn’t until the second half that Boyd would break open the game and help the Tigers to the lead. Boyd did not have his typical takeover game and so he falls out of the top spot but he remains a top option after his performance in the second half. Boyd would score two TDs in the second half that would go along with a defensive TD to give the Tigers the win showing that he has what it takes to get back in control of the game. If he wants to get back to the top of the Heisman race he will have to impress under the lights in his biggest game of the year against the Florida State Seminoles.
Stats (6 Games):
66.5% (66 rsh)
1,783 yds (187 rsh yds)
15 TD (5 rsh TD)
2 INT
3. Johnny Manziel, QB (Texas A&M)
The legend of Johnny Football continues to grow as he would have a gutsy performance in week seven. After hurting his knee early in the game Manziel would stay under centre and would help the Aggies to a win. The performance was not his best as he would not throw for a TD all game but would run for two TDs in a game that required a big comeback to win. With 346 yards through the air and 145 yards on the ground Manziel would have a good game but the knee would clearly affect him. He will not move up in the Heisman watch but he does not fall after helping to lead his team to a comeback win. Manziel will move on to a tough game against the Auburn Tigers next week where he will once again be the focus and try to take another step to a repeat.
Stats (6 Games):
73.2% (67 rsh)
1,835 yds (438 rsh yds)
14 TD (5 rsh TD)
5 INT
4. Teddy Bridgewater, QB (Louisville)
Stats (6 Games):
71.0%
1,872 yds
18 TD
2 INT
5. Jameis Winston, QB (Florida State)
Stats (5 Games):
73.2% (36 rsh)
1,441 yds (135 rsh yds)
17 TD (2 rsh TD)
2 INT
AP Top 25:
1. Alabama Crimson Tide (1)
2. Oregon Ducks (2)
3. Clemson Tigers (3)
4. Ohio State Buckeyes (4)
5. Florida State Seminoles (6)
6. LSU Tigers (10)
7. Texas A&M Aggies (9)
8. Louisville Cardinals (8)
9. UCLA Bruins (11)
10. Miami Hurricanes (13)
11. South Carolina Gamecocks (14)
12. Baylor Bears (15)
13. Stanford Cardinal (5)
14. Missouri Tigers (25)
15. Georgia Bulldogs (7)
16. Texas Tech Red Raiders (20)
17. Fresno State Bulldogs (21)
18. Oklahoma Sooners (12)
19. Virginia Tech Hokies (24)
20. Washington Huskies (16)
21. Oklahoma State Cowboys (22)
22. Florida Gators (17)
23. Northern Illinois Huskies (23)
24. Auburn Tigers (–)
25. Wisconsin Badgers (–)
Key Scores:
Utah Utes 27 – 21 Stanford Cardinal #5
– The biggest upset of the week would come at the hands of the Utah Utes as they would beat a top 5 team and become one of the first to do so all year as the loss would send the Cardinal out of the top five and out of the title picture
#25 Missouri Tigers 41 – 26 Georgia Bulldogs #7
– The Georgia Bulldogs were a team on upset watch as they had a number of key players would not play in the game against the Tigers and Mizzou would take full advantage and prove that they are a team to be watched in the last few weeks of the season
Texas Longhorns 36 – 20 Oklahoma Sooners #12
– The Red River Rivalry has been one-sided in the last few years as the Oklahoma Sooners have been the dominant team in the rivalry and this year it seemed to be the same as they Longhorns were struggling all year but not in this fame as they would take the win for the first time in four years
Penn State Nittany Lions 43 – 40 Michigan Wolverines #18 (OT)
– The Nittany Lions are a team that has moved outside of the talk after their controversy but they are playing good football and would prove that when they would beat the Wolverines in an important Big Ten game
Next Week:
#22 Florida Gators vs. #14 Missouri Tigers (Saturday October 19th; 12:21 pm ET)
– The Missouri Tigers have shown that they are a threat in the SEC and they are trying to continue to be that team and a win against the Gators could go a long way to proving it in a ver important conference game
#9 UCLA Bruins vs. #13 Stanford Cardinal (Saturday October 19th; 3:30 pm ET)
– The Cardinal are reeling from a big loss in week 7 and they are trying to recover to move on in the Pac-12 conference and beating the Bruins will go a long way towards that while the Bruins will be looking to hold their top 10 ranking
#24 Auburn Tigers vs. #7 Texas A&M Aggies (Saturday October 19th; 3:30 pm ET)
– The Tigers are just returning to the top 25 in the NCAA and their reward is to take on Johnny Football and the Aggies who are trying to continue their climb up the rankings and up the SEC standings with a key game against Auburn
#5 Florida State Seminoles vs. #3 Clemson Tigers (Saturday October 19th; 8:00 pm)
– It is clearly the game of the week in the NCAA as two top five teams face off in a game that will likely change the face of the NCAA rankings and the ACC race with Tajh Boyd and Jameis Winston taking the focus as both players fight out for the Heisman race as well
The Sport Addiction 