Week 6 Rivalry Relevancy

Let me not delay this beyond the first sentence; yes, Alabama did lose to South Carolina. There are also too many important upsets to even include an upset section so, I’ll just have an expanded games of the week section.

This week however is about the relevancy of rivalries once again. Michigan v. Michigan State, Miami v. Florida State; neither of those games has been interesting since the late 90’s. This week however all four teams face each other ranked and looking to move up the rankings. The SEC put up some good matchups this week and the ACC is trying to sort out their conference as well. Kansas State tried to make a play for the top 25 by upsetting Nebraska but that didn’t work out and Penn State tried to salvage the start of their season but failed when Illinois came to town and laid a beating on them 33-13.

Let’s not delay; on with…

GAMES OF THE WEEK:
#19 South Carolina upsets #1 Alabama 35-21
Alabama had won 19 straight games coming into Saturday’s visit to Columbia and South Carolina had never beaten a #1 ranked team. Didn’t matter when Spurrier, Stephen Garcia (17/20 201yds 3TDs) and Lattimore (93yds and 2TDs.) decide to put in their best efforts. And it’s not like Alabama killed themselves in this game. Both teams had 1 turnover and really it was just a story of USC’s run defense shutting down Alabama’s run game. Alabama couldn’t have expected to win when they only rushed for 36yds. Is this the year that South Carolina turns the corner? They’ve already beaten Georgia, Florida isn’t looking all that good this year and their only loss is to Arkansas who is going to end up in the top 25. I wish I could have watched this one.

Unranked Oregon State upsets #9 Arizona 29-27
All this game really means to me is that Oregon is in the fast lane to the Rose Bowl. The PAC-10 has some parody now and it’s not just the So. Cal show. (unranked USC lost to #16 Stanford 37-35 this week) With Alabama’s loss Oregon should be ranked #2 this week. But I will give Oregon State some credit here for playing in a back and forth game on the road and winning by 2. This is also a good win for the boys in blue Boise St. because one of their wins is over the Beavers who will move up in the rankings this week as well.

#17 Michigan State over #18 Michigan 34-17
Denard Robinson is human after all. He threw three picks in this game and despite his 301 total yards and 2TDs, Michigan State collected a huge win in the return of their head coach to the sidelines. Sparty exposed Michigan’s defense raking up 536 total yards and scoring 24 unanswered points in the second and third quarters. MSU is now 6-0 for the first time since 1999 and, like South Carolina, is looking to take advantage of a conference down year and claim a conference title. I’m just glad this rivalry meant something this year and I hope that despite my hatred for Michigan, that both teams continue this for the next few years.

#23 Florida State over #13 Miami 45-17
Remember when I said that if Florida State got blown out by Oklahoma a few weeks ago that it might just send them on a downward spiral? Well I guess I was wrong; since then they’ve won 4 straight and outscored opponents 144-58. This is a huge win for this program on the rebound after that nasty business with Bowden and in Fisher’s first year. It doesn’t hurt that Ponder is now a Senior and is playing his best football since coming to FSU. He’s already thrown for over 1,000yds and 10TDs this year and has FSU with the best record in the ACC. Again, I’m happy to see this rivalry relevant again and like Michigan v. Michigan State I hope it continues for the next few years.

BEAT DOWN OF THE WEEK:
Louisville over Memphis 56-0
Memphis on the right, Louisville’s numbers on the right. That’s all that needs to be said.
1st Downs 13 22
3rd down efficiency 3-16 6-11
4th down efficiency 0-0 0-0
Total Yards 223 574
Passing 184 275
Comp-Att 16-30 17-22
Yards per pass 6.1 12.5
Rushing 39 299
Rushing Attempts 34 34
Yards per rush 1.1 8.8
Penalties 6-38 4-26
Turnovers 1 0
Fumbles lost 0 0
Interceptions thrown 1 0
Possession 33:14 26:46

PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Remember last week when I thought 62 pass attempts was good enough for player of the week? Well I’m going to make that claim again. Except this week I’m going to go with Taylor Potts from Texas Tech who threw just slightly less and went 42 for 59 for 462 yards and 4TDs with only one INT.

PILLOW FIGHT OF THE WEEK:
I am ON FIRE!!! Last week I picked New Mexico State to beat New Mexico while both teams were winless. And… they did. New Mexico State collected their first win by beating New Mexico 16-14 on a 4th quarter field goal. This week we’re going back to the SunBelt for Florida International’s (1-4) visit to North Texas (1-5). I’m going to go against my instinct to pick the home squad and go with FIU to win.

That’s it kids. Sorry for the rushed version this week, but I have no power and am running on battery. Thank the good Lord that the Dawgs got a win this week over UT 41-14.