Non-AQ Round Up: The Fall of Houston
By eldermars on October 8 2009 4:07 AM
Oh Houston, We Hardly Knew You:
Playing on the road against the Miners, Houston threw 51 complete passes on 76 tries for 536 yards and 5 touchdowns. The Cougars gained a whopping 662 yards overall, along with 42 first downs. Oh yeah, and they lost. UTEP gained 581 yards themselves in their 58-41 home victory. The real show-stealer proved to be Miner running back Donald Buckram, who ran the ball 32 times for 262 yards and four touchdowns; That's 8.2 yard per carry people... on THIRTY-TWO rushes! Buckram rushed for only 348 yards and two touchdowns all of last season. I think it's safe to say that Mike Price will be using him a little more from now on. Houston plays at the SEC's Mississippi State this week.
Houston is no Florida:
We all know that Florida can lose at home and still play for the BCS title. Houston can't even stay ranked after losing one measly road game. What can you do but accept college football's double-standard? USC lost to 2-3 Washington, yet the Trojans are currently ranked 7th in the Coaches Poll. Houston lost at 2-3 UTEP, yet with a 3-1 record the Cougars currently sit 16 spots behind 3-1 Oklahoma State in the Coaches Poll. Of course, we all remember that Houston beat Okie State 45-35 in Oklahoma. I think.
Keenum's Heisman Drive, Still Alive?:
Realistically, no. But Houston's loss last week can be 100% pinned on the defense. Junior QB Case Keenum has been stellar this season. In four games, he has thrown for 1696 yards and thirteen touchdowns, completing 68.6% of his passes against only two interceptions. Expect him to go over 5000 yards and forty TDs by the end of the year.
Boise State Wins, But...:
If you are Boise State and you want even a glimmer of hope that you might end up in the BCS title game, you should know that being perfect isn't enough. You not only have to win, but you have to do it impressively in a high-flying, eye-catching manner. Throwing a touchdown pass with 38 seconds left in the 4th quarter with all of your starters still in at home against I-AA UC-Davis to win 34-16 doesn't fit that description (and the score was 13-0 BSU at halftime). And just like that, Boise State moves on up to 5-0 and on down from 5th in the nation to 6th, as Virginia Tech jumps the Broncos. Has the glass ceiling been reached so soon? Perhaps. But honestly, who doesn't expect more losses from V.T. and LSU? It also helps that their destruction of Oregon is fast becoming the gift that keeps on giving; This week, the Ducks served up a 52-6 win over Washington State, gaining 514 yards to Wazzou's 158. 4-1 Oregon plays on the road at 3-1 UCLA this weekend. Boise State doesn't play again until Wednesday next week at Tulsa.
TCU Wins:
...Against in-state rival SMU 39-14 to improve to 4-0. Yawn. The Horned Frogs outgained the Mustangs 418-224, but that's including SMU's negative sixteen yards rushing on eighteen attempts. June Jones' team was only 3-of-15 on 3rd down conversions. One of TCU's brightest spots was Junior wide receiver Jeremy Kerley, who gained 224 total yards on ten combined touches rushing, receiving, and returning punts and kicks. TCU opens up MWC play on the road at 3-2 Air Force on Saturday.
BYU Wins:
...Against in-state rival Utah State 35-17 to improve to 4-1, with Utah State throwing a pride-saving touchdown with 2 seconds left on the clock. Yawn. The offense was balanced, with 218 yards through the air and 213 on the ground (including 118 from Junior running back Harvey Unga, who is finally looking healthy after missing the season opener against Oklahoma with a hamstring injury). BYU's leading wide receiver Sophomore McKay Jacobsen tore his hamstring during stretches before the game and will miss the next 4-6 weeks. The Cougars were 8-of-12 on 3rd down conversions and remain first in the nation in that statistic. Next up, on the road at 2-3 UNLV. Any excuse to make a trip to Vegas, baby! It didn't help BYU's week to see Oklahoma lose at Miami, 20-21.
Up Next:
Coming off of their bye week, 3-1 Utah will be travelling to play a road game at 3-2 Colorado State. Utah has lost their top rusher (Matt Asiata) for the season, and this will be the Utes' first game played without him. A win here puts Utah solidly in the top four of the Mountain West, along with TCU, BYU, and Air Force.
Celebrating the Worst:
* Ball State was 12-0 heading into the MAC Championship Game last year, before losing to Buffalo. Head Coach Brady Hoke was hired by San Diego State of the Mountain West to replace Chuck Long, the former Oklahoma assistant. And now? Ball State dropped to 0-5 this season after a 30-37 loss to Toledo. The good news, this tied the team's highest offensive output this season, to go with the 30 points they hung on Auburn in a 24-point road loss. Besides, it can't get much worse than home losses by the scores of 10-20 to North Texas and 16-23 to I-AA New Hampshire. Speaking of Buffalo (and Auburn, who almost hired their head coach), the Bulls have started the season 1-4. This week, Ball State at Temple.
* Miami (Ohio) is 0-5, with a defensing giving up an average of 41 points a game. They play at Northwestern this week.
* Eastern Michigan is 0-4, including home losses to Army and Temple.
* Rice is 0-5, and their closest and highest scoring games both came on the road at Oklahoma State in a 24-41 loss. Five losses by 17+ points is not a good way to start the season. They host Navy this week.
* New Mexico is 0-5. The defense is giving up 38 points a game. Mike Locksley, the head coach, is being investigated by the police for punching an assistant coach and splitting his lip during an argument. And the university is being sued by a former athletic department secretary who says Locksley fired her because she was too old to entice high school recruits into signing with the program. Two words: NOT. GOOD. They play this week at Wyoming.
* The Sunbelt twins FAU & FIU are a combined 0-8 with two losses to Louisiana-Monroe. Nice.
* Western Kentucky is 0-4. They had last week off. They may have the ugliest loss in college football this year: 7-28 at home to I-AA Central Arkansas, in which they were outgained by 120 yards. WKU plays Florida International this week in The Battle Of The Winless. Only one team's perfect record can remain intact.
Surprise of the Week:
* UNLV, at 2-2 including a win over Hawaii and a 2-point loss to Oregon State, travelled to rival Nevada, who was 0-3 on the season (including a 0-35 blowout loss to Notre Dame, and a fourteen point beating by Colorado State). The result? UNLV 28, Nevada 63. But what's most shocking were UNLV's defensive stats. For Rebel fans, they read like details from a crime scene... 773 total yards. 559 rushing yards. Three Nevada players with 170+ yards on the ground. 10.2 yards per run. 28 4th quarter points. It doesn't get much worse than that. Expect UNLV's head coach, Mike Sanford (hired from Utah in 2004, where he ran Urban Meyer's undefeated, BCS bowl-winning offense), to not be around next season.
* Iowa, now ranked #12 in the AP Poll, barely survived at home against 1-3 Arkansas State (who is still winless against I-A programs this season), 24-21. Neither team had a 50-yard rusher, both averaged less than four yards per run on the ground, and while Iowa was 6-of-14 on 3rd downs, Arkansas State was 7-of-14. As you remember, Iowa squeeked out a win over I-AA Northern Iowa at home in week 1, 17-16, on the back of two blocked field goal attempts. Are the Hawkeyes vastly overrated? We may find out soon... Next up: Michigan.
No Surprise:
Air Force outgained Navy but lost to the Midshipmen for the 7th consecutive time, 13-16 in overtime in Annapolis. For two teams almost perfectly evenly matched most seasons, this streak has grown to ridiculous proportions.
Keep An Eye On:
* Central Michigan. After a thirteen-point road loss to start the season at Arizona, CMU has won four in a row, including a road win at Michigan State. The Chippewas are led by Senior QB Dan LeFevour, who has 1268 total yards and fourteen total touchdowns to his name thus far this season. CMU should be 5-1 after their next game against Eastern Michigan and just one win away from bowl eligibility.
* Idaho. The Vandals are 4-1 now -for seemingly the first time ever- after beating CSU 31-29 at home last week. Next up: At San Jose State.
Other Games This Week:
Army hosts Vanderbilt.
Louisville hosts Southern Miss.
Speak Up:
So what do YOU think? Is Houston still a Top 25 team? Should they be ranked ahead of Oklahoma State... or maybe not? Will they even beat Mississippi State this week? Does Case Keenum remain somewhat of a legitimate Top 5 Heisman candidate? Will either Boise State or TCU manage to go undefeated this season, or maybe both? And how would you decide which undefeated record deserves a higher rankings? Or, could this be the year that a one-loss non-BCS team finds their way in the Top 12 of the final BCS Poll and a BCS bowl game? And who will win this week's FIU-WKU pillow fight? Let's hear your thoughts!
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Tags: Boise State, BYU, Houston, Texas Christian, Utah,