College Football Weekend Recap

As always, we’re bringing you the top takeaways from the weekend in college football. There were some big upsets this past weekend and some very impressive performances by teams and players that should have you watching.

Time to dive in.

Gophers Defense Stout Again  

The Minnesota Gophers beat up on the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 34-3, having kept opponents from scoring in the second half of all three games this season. Backups led the headlines for Minnesota, with third-string running back Kobe McCrary rushing for 107 yards and three touchdowns, while safety Jacob Huff had a 67-yard pick six. The Gophers had trouble in the first game on offense, but have since cleaned up their blocking in the running game, which has helped them outscore their opponents 99-24 so far this season.

Upset Madness 

The weekend may have shined some light on top-25 programs that suffered losses. The LSU Tigers, UCLA Bruins and Stanford Cardinal all took big hits that raised a lot of questions about these teams.

LSU may be the most concerning of the bunch, as they were slapped 37-7 by the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The Bulldogs did not get turnovers or score on special teams, nor did they did need any insane call from the referees or crazy comeback to beat LSU. They simply loaded the box against Tigers running back Derrius Guice and dared quarterback Danny Etling to win the game. It worked beautifully and gives all the teams that play LSU and have a solid front seven a game plan that works.

UCLA was felled 48-45 by the Memphis Tigers in an early, cross-country trip for the Bruins. This was by far the best game that the Bruins have had running the ball, going for 170 yards on the ground. However, it was no match for the explosion from Tigers quarterback Riley Ferguson, who threw for 398 yards and six touchdowns. The Bruins defense has given up 115 points in the first three games and continues to be a problem that quarterback Josh Rosen will have to combat.

The latest game of the weekend was the Stanford versus the San Diego Aztecs, which the Aztecs won 20-17 after a stadium blackout delayed the final 54 seconds of the game. After the 25-minute delay, the Aztecs quarterback Christian Chapman threw the game-winning touchdown tight end David Wells to edge out the Cardinal. While Keller Chryst looked good in the first two games of the year, he threw for only 72 yards and two interceptions, adding a fumble to his dismal performance. The Cardinal offense gave the ball to the Aztecs plenty of times, but it is more concerning that the highly-touted Stanford defense that held Rice to seven points and forced two turnovers from the USC Trojans failed to overcome the challenge and make up for the mistakes.

Continual Greatness 

The Clemson Tigers and USC Trojans both won premier games, continuing to make a case for postseason play early in the season.

Clemson showed up Louisville at home with a 41-27 win, in which Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant had a huge game, passing for 316 yards and racking up three total scores. The defense stood stout against Louisville’s stud quarterback, Lamar Jackson, and sacked him four times, keeping the offense in check and taking the pressure of the still new quarterback Bryant.

For the Trojans grudge match against the Texas Longhorns, USC quarterback Sam Darnold was impressive again, throwing for 397 yards and three touchdowns, staving off the Texas fourth-quarter comeback with an overtime victory to win 27-24.

After waiting 11 years for their Rose Bowl revenge, the Trojans were able to beat the Longhorns in a tight game that needed extra time to be decided. Both sides had quarterbacks play well, with Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger throwing for 298 yards and two touchdowns stepping in for Shane Buechele. Both teams also had receivers play in dominant fashion, with Collin Johnson going for 191 yards for Texas and Deontay Burnett snagging 123 yards and two touchdowns on the USC side. The defenses forced four turnovers for the Trojans and two for the Longhorns. This was an exciting game from start to finish and the game of the weekend.

Both these teams are playing well-rounded football that is aggressive on defense, balanced on offense and with studs who step up in the spotlight.

Best Game 

While the Texas-USC game had the history, the Tennessee Volunteers’ SEC clash with the Florida Gators was the game of the weekend. The Gators were looking for a bounce-back win after their loss to Michigan, but had lost practice time because of Hurricane Irma. Both teams spent a vast majority of the game battling in the trenches, with the defenses on both sides getting plenty of turnovers in a game that saw six. It was looking like overtime in the final seconds of the tied game, when the play of the week happened. The Hail Mary that you will read and watch below was not only the perfect way to end a close conference match, it was also beautifully ironic. Last season, Tennessee beat Georgia on a Hail Mary, Appalachian State on a last-second dash and beat Florida with a series of deep bombs after going down early. This was the Gators’ payback.

Play of the Weekend 

The final seconds between the Gators and Volunteers came down to the wire with the game tied 20-all with seven seconds on the clock. That is when Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks sent a shot 63-yards down the field to wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland for a clutch victory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKznefxbVYg


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