Top 25
1. Florida State, 7-0, 1
2. Mississippi State, 6-0, 2
3. Mississippi, 7-0, 3
4. Alabama, 6-1, 10
5. Oregon, 6-1, 6
6. Michigan State, 6-1, 7
7. Notre Dame, 6-1, 4
8. Georgia, 6-1, 8
9. Auburn, 5-1, 9
10. Texas Christian, 5-1. 11
11. Kansas State, 5-1, 13
12. Nebraska, 6-1, 14
13. Arizona State, 5-1, 19
14. Ohio State, 5-1, 22
15. Baylor, 6-1, 5
16. Arizona, 6-1, 20
17. Oklahoma, 5-2, 12
18. Clemson, 5-2, 17
19. West Virginia, 5-2, NR
20. Southern Cal, 5-2, NR
21. Louisiana State, 6-2, 25
22. East Carolina, 5-1, 20
23. Utah, 5-1, NR
24. Duke, 6-1, NR
25. Washington, 5-2, 24
OUT: Oklahoma State (15), Stanford (16), Texas A&M (18) and UCLA (23).
VOTES: UCLA, Texas A&M, Stanford, Louisville, Minnesota, Missouri, Marshall, Oklahoma State, Maryland, Iowa, Virginia, Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Miami and Boston College.
NATIONAL ANALYSIS
Pitt got a home win against Va. Tech, who after winning
easily at Ohio State, has looked average at best....Utah got by at Oregon state.....Alabama,
struggling in recent weeks, served notice those signaling their demise were
mistaken by taking Texas A&M to the woodshed, handing Aggie coach Kevin
Sumlin his fist shutout loss as a head coach, pounding the Aggies 59-0....North
Carolina, favored by some to win the ACC Coastal and off to a horrendous start
due to a pitiful defense, outlasted Georgia Tech in Chapel Hill....Georgia may
be without Todd Gurley, but they are smashing the opposition and would be
really good if they had an elite signal caller.....UCLA outlasted an obviously
much improved Cal, escaping with a much needed win....Arizona State cemented
their position in the PAC 12 by gaining a controlling win over reigning
conference champ Stanford....Oregon did not give the Washington Huskies a
chance at an upset, winning going away...Ole Miss smothered the aerial attack
of Tennessee in most impressive fashion....West Virginia, behind the arm of
Clint Trickett, in spite of two costly turnovers, upset Baylor 41-27 and the
fans lit Morgantown on fire; literally....Louisville dumped NC State...TCU
drubbed a decent Oklahoma State team, and although the Pokes have their back up
QB for the rest of the year, this was a eye opening beating....Colorado is
seemingly improving, but that did not stop USC from pounding the Buffs with QB
Kessler throwing a record 7 TD's....Kentucky is improving, but so is LSU, and
in Baton Rouge, the Tigers blasted the Wildcats 41-3, and look to be a
preseason top ten if not five team to start 2015....Texas outlasted Iowa State, but these
days, a win for the Horns is huge...Colorado State snuck by Utah State to go to
6-1 on the year.....Ohio State dominated Rutgers, and they look to be finding
their way behind backup QB JT Bartlett...Iowa jumped out 14-0 at Maryland, and
could not hold on, losing 38-31.....Florida, on homecoming, got hammered by
Missouri despite only giving up 120 total
yards and 7 first downs, as the Tigers got touchdowns on a kickoff return, a
punt return, a pick six and a fumble return for a touchdown. The Gators are a dumpster fire, and it would
be a miracle if Will Muschamp survives the bye week.
NEBRASKA ANALYSIS
Nebraska was at Northwestern, a team that has given the Big
Red fits since the NU joined the B1G. Last
season, it took a Hail Mary for the Huskers to win. Northwestern got off to a bad start, but had
been playing well in recent weeks, which included beating Wisconsin. This would
be a real test for the Huskers. The
Huskers started slow, with Northwestern scoring first and holding a field goal lead
at the half. After the break, Nebraska
seemed to wear the Cats down and got the running game going. In addition, the Nebraska held Northwestern
to only 28 second half yards. Ameer Abdullah
found yardage tight early, but kept pounding away and finished with 146 yards
rushing. The bye week gave Nebraska
more time to get freshman flanker De'Mornay Pierson-El comfortable with the
playbook, and he responded with 3 catches for 66 yards, and throwing a
touchdown to quarterback Tommy Armstrong on a tight spiral off a reverse. Kenny Bell had a good game also, with 5
catches for 89 yards. Armstrong finished
18 of 29 for 221. While he increased his
completion percentage, the passes averaged 8 yards per catch. It is important to note the Huskers did not
have a turnover, with protection of the football, a concern with the Big Red,
pivotal to any B1G championship run. The
38-17 win at Northwestern was a good win for Nebraska to be sure. The Huskers will be favored the rest of the
way to Indianapolis. They need to
continue to improve, protect the football, and make it there.
FLORID STATE ANALYSIS
Florida State was not very good on Saturday night, nor were
they very lucky. Up until the last play,
that is. I thought the Seminoles would
come out and play the best game of the season, but they did not. FSU looked flat, lethargic and passive on
defense and, outside of an easy, quick touchdown drive, were outplayed in the
first half, going to the locker room down 17-10. FSU quickly tied the game as the second half
began, but FSU had trouble stopping the Irish all night and Notre Dame quickly
answered the score. Late in the third,
FSU tied the score at 24. The Seminole
defense did come up with some critical stops, two on fourth and short, when it
looked like Notre Dame may run away with the game. The Seminoles did not allow much yardage
after contact, which was game saving. Notre Dame was held to a field as the fourth
period began. With the game on the line,
FSU responded with a touchdown drive, which included a beautiful pass from
Jamies Winston in the face of a blitz.
FSU would have to hold on. Notre
Dame got down into FSU territory but was forced to punt, and did so, pinning
FSU inside the Seminole five. FSU ran
three inexplicable running plays, and was forced to punt. Converting a 4th and 18, the Fighting Irish
got the ball down to FSU 2, inside of a minute to go, and seemingly scored the
winning touchdown on a pass to the tight end.
However, the Irish were cited for holding, an illegal pick at the point
of attack, which negated the score. From
the 18 on fourth down, Irish quarterback Everett Golson, who played very well
all night, missed on a throw into the end zone, which was intercepted, as the
game expired. In fact, FSU, outplayed
much of the game, was lucky to win this one.
The crowd was electric and intense, and played a role in FSU gaining
this victory. Notre Dame looked much
better than people thought, and although FSU did not look sharp, they found a
way to win the ball game, which was a major hurdle in the march to playing for
the national championship. The 31 points
is the lowest offensive point total for FSU since Winston began the season at
quarterback last year.
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