It was not a pretty night for non-BCS teams across the country last night, particularly those going up against BCS conference schools. It could have been worse- nobody lost to a FCS school, although some tried. A quick rundown of last night’s action follows.
Lots of good stuff lined up for today- Friday night football preview and weekend previews for four conferences, at the very least. Happy College Colors Day. Flags up!
Conference USA
South Carolina 41, Southern Miss 13- USM looked great in the first four minutes. They held SC to a 3 & out then drove back to the red zone. Then the Gamecocks intercepted and never looked back. The question for USM will be whether their experienced defense is just bad, or if South Carolina finally has an offense.
Tulane 21, Southeastern Louisiana 21- SLU had the ball in Tulane territory on the final drive, but couldn’t get it done and Tulane escapes with a win. This doesn’t give us much hope that Tulane has turned it around this year.
#2 Ohio State 45, Marshall 7- This went about as expected, but Marshall’s only points came off a blocked FG run for a touchdown, and it would have been nice to see some sort of offensive production, at least against Ohio State’s B team.
Florida Atlantic 32, UAB 31- Things are looking dire in Birmingham, after losing to a 14 point underdog. UAB led most of the way until FAU ripped off a 38 yard touchdown run to take the lead with minutes to go. UAB earned a last second field goal attempt, only to see it blocked.
To sum up, CUSA went 0-2 against BCS schools, 0-3 against FBS schools, and dodged a late comeback attempt from a FCS opponent. A dismal night for the conference.
Sun Belt
The Sun Belt had a better night, with the upset in UAB and a valiant effort from a team missing its star player.
Minnesota 24, Middle Tennessee State 17- Minnesota needed a late touchdown and then a MTSU turnover (a controversial one, I’m told) to seal this one. Sophomore Logan Kilgore stood in for suspended qb Dwight Dasher admirably, going 13 of 18 with one tipped pick and a td. It’s not the result the Blue Raiders wanted, but I think they showed that they’re still the team to beat in the Sun Belt.
MAC
Buffalo, Central Michigan and Kent State had little trouble with their FCS opponents, Rhode Island, Hampton, and Murray State, each winning by 31 or more. Ball State went into the third quarter tied with Southeast Missouri State but eventually put them away 27-10.
Iowa State 27, Northern Illinois 10- Turnovers doomed the Huskies, with DeMarcus Grady throwing three interceptions. They fought back from a 17-0 halftime deficit and cut the score to 17-10, but that was as close as they would get. Like MTSU to the south, NIU can still rest knowing that Iowa State is better than most of the MAC.
WAC
Idaho dismantled North Dakota 45-0. Strong showing from their much-maligned defense, even if it was against FCS competition. Certainly better than Nevada, who beat Eastern Washington 49-24. No question Nevada was the better team there, but what are they doing letting EWU score 24?
Southern Cal 49, Hawaii 36- The Pac-10 should be very grateful for Hawaii’s exposure of USC’s defense. USC spent most of the night going for 2 after their touchdowns, which really makes no sense. But if it was arrogance, it nearly came back to bite them, but at least all the USC loudmouths who bet into the 21 point spread got waxed.
Mountain West
#24 Utah 27, #15 Pitt 24, OT- Utah escapes a compelling but mistake-riddled overtime showdown and extends their home winning streak to 18. Their special teams looked really bad, though- a dropped punt, a blocked punt, and some really bad kicks almost handed the win to Pitt on a silver platter. But an interception on the first play of overtime by true freshman Brian Blechen set the Utes up for the winning field goal.