It’s time for this week’s edition of Head of the Class…. Where WE WANT WINNERS (Sorry, South Carolina…)
First up, we have the Nevada Wolf Pack and their running game that put up over 350 yards rushing against Oregon State en route to a 42-37 victory in Reno. Savion Red ran for four touchdowns, but the real story was quarterback Brendon Lewis. Lewis was the Wolf Pack’s leader in passing yards, rushing yards, and receiving yards in the same game! He went off for 151 yards on nine carries, and a dynamic 67-yard touchdown run that seemingly put the game away. Nevada pounded the ball down the Beavers’ throats and they could not be stopped. We’ll see if Fresno State has any better luck this Friday night in Reno.
Next, we have Avery Johnson, quarterback from Kansas State. Johnson was driving the Wildcats down the field to clinch the win at Colorado when, on a fourth down play, he threw a huge interception that eventually led to the Buffaloes taking the lead. Avery Johnson came back on the next drive and, calmly and with nerves of steel, threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jayce Brown (who broke a couple of tackles en route to the end zone) and clinched the 31-28 victory at Folsom Field. This was a statement win in a hostile environment for Kansas State, and put them right back in the hunt for the Big 12 title. Kansas State visits West Virginia next, while Colorado goes to Arizona.
However, the game of the weekend was in Eugene, with Ohio State visiting Oregon. The atmosphere at Autzen was incredible – sixty thousand fans packed inside to see two of the top teams in college football. This is exactly what was in mind with the conference realignment, and these two teams did not disappoint. This game was back and forth from the very beginning – Ohio State getting the first touchdown, and then the Ducks responding with a touchdown of their own, along with an ill-fated two-point conversion attempt. It looked like Dan Lanning was going to outsmart himself with these play calls until the Ducks went up 22-21 at half.
The second half was a defensive struggle compared to the opening half. Ohio State went up 31-29 with about six minutes to go, and then Dillon Gabriel led Oregon down the field to a go-ahead field goal with under two minutes left. Now, some will say that Oregon’s “12 men on the field” penalty was intentionally called by Dan Lanning to run the clock; but I’m not sure if I’m ready to give Lanning that much credit just yet. However, it worked, as Will Howard inadvertently ran out the clock trying to get the Buckeyes into field goal range. Time expired and it was bedlam at Autzen.
Give me ten more of these games. However, I would have liked it more with the 4-team playoff instead of the 12-team playoff (I have a feeling that this will be brought up on the Football Friday show…).
Get ready for week eight of this crazy college football season this week!
Here are some honorable mentions:
Penn State travels across THREE time zones for a B1G conference game in Los Angeles against the Trojans, and gets a huge 33-30 overtime win. They were down 20-6 at half and the Nittany Lions came storming back in the second half, outscoring USC 27-10 to post the victory. Now it didn’t hurt that USC missed a field goal to start overtime, but a win is a win. However, bad news for James Franklin is that his record against ranked teams will not improve as a result, because USC was unranked at the time.
Arizona State football is SO BACK. A huge 27-19 victory over Utah in the desert on Friday night. Cam Skattebo with 158 yards rushing on 22 carries and two touchdowns led the Sun Devils. Look, you may want to get on the Sun Devils wagon, because at this rate, there won’t be much room left by November. Coach Kenny Dillingham is building something special off of Mill Ave. Along with Kansas State, the Devils have made themselves a case for the Big 12 title. They head to Cincinnati this weekend for a 9:00 AM kickoff versus the Bearcats.
