Week 1 Recap, Pt. III (Mississippi State-Oklahoma State)

South Carolina @ Mississippi State
My Prediction: South Carolina
Final Score: South Carolina 15, Mississippi State 0
Thoughts: Ugh. The only touchdown of the game was on a trick play. Mississippi State looked awful, led by QB Tray Rutland's 6/15, 63 yards and 2 INT performance. Gamecocks QB Blake Mitchell wasn't much better, going 12/22 for 91 and a pick. The good news: SC RB Cory Boyd ran for 91 yards and caught the 54-yard trick TD.

Murray State @ Missouri
My Prediction: Missouri
Final Score: Missouri 47, Murray State 7
Thoughts: An impressive win for a Big 12 North team nowadays. Mizzou outgained the Racers 560-128, led by new QB Chase Daniel going 23/32 for 319 yards and 5! touchdowns. Cautious optimism abounds.

Appalachian State @ NC State
My Prediction: NC State
Final Score: NC State 23, Appalachian State 10
Thoughts: The good news: NCSU's defense only allowed 92 yards. The bad: NC State QB Marcus Stone's line was 7/13 for 44 yards and a 1/1 TD/INT. Thankfully, RB Andre Brown ran for 122 and a TD. I suppose it's an impressive defensive performance, and it could've gone worse, but NCSU still looks like another falling ex-contender.

Portland State @ New Mexico
My Prediction: New Mexico
Final Score: Portland State 17, New Mexico 6
Thoughts: Beats what happened to Duke. UNM QB Kole McKamey passed for 274, and Travis Brown ran for 93, so it wasn't a complete loss yardage-wise.

Southeastern Louisiana @ New Mexico State
My Prediction: New Mexico State
Final Score: New Mexico State 30, Southeastern Louisiana 15
Thoughts: MUMME BOWL! NMSU Chase Holbrook had a big game, going 29/40 for 381 yards, 2 passing TDs and a rush TD. Justine Buries also rushed for 107 and a TD. And hey, at least NMSU's won one more than last year already.

Rutgers @ North Carolina
My Prediction: Rutgers
Final Score: Rutgers 21, North Carolina 16
Thoughts: New UNC QB Joe Dailey threw for 234 yards on 24/36 passing and a TD, but 2 INTs prevent me from taking him seriously. Rutgers TE Clark Harris was held to a 16-yard reception, but the running game came through, not in the form of FB Brian Leonard, but underrated halfback Ray Rice's 201 yards and 3 TDs. We live in a world where Rutgers could conceivably finish third in the Big East.

North Texas @ #3 Texas
My Prediction: Texas
Final Score: Texas 56, North Texas 7
Thoughts: Ouch. I had my doubts that a Texas QB named Colt McCoy could NOT succeed, and he indeed came through with 12/19 passing for 177 yards and 3 TDs. Four Texas players had rushing touchdowns in a game lacking any outstanding individual performances, but Texas absolutely shut down the UNT offense, limiting them to a mere 54 yards. Even more impressively, the Mean Green rushing game, featuring ex-NCAA leader Jamario Thomas, was held to just 8 yards. Eight! Texas is very good. Shock.

Northern Illinois @ #2 Ohio State
My Prediction: Ohio State
Final Score: Ohio State 35, Northern Illinois 12
Thoughts: Ohio State scored the first 28 and never looked back. Buckeye QB Troy Smith (18/25, 298 yards, 3 TD) had the game Brady Quinn was probably supposed to have, and WR Ted Ginn (4 catches, 123 yards, 2 TD) had the game that Ted Ginn was probably supposed to have. There was also rushing on display, with Antonio Pittman's 110 and a score, and superfrosh Chris Wells adding 52 and a touchdown of his own. The bright spot for NIU was unsurprisingly star RB Garrett Wolfe, who ran for 172 and had 5 catches for 115 yards and a TD. Ohio State looked as good as their ranking, but obviously Texas will be the real test.

Tennesee-Martin @ Ohio
My Prediction: Ohio
Final Score: Ohio 29, Tennessee-Martin 3
Thoughts: The person responsible for the most yardage was Ohio QB Austen Everson's 49 yards. Him and RB Kalvin McRae both had touchdown runs. There is nothing to say about this game.

UAB @ #4 Oklahoma
My Prediction: Oklahoma
Final Score: Oklahoma 24, UAB 17
Thoughts: Hm. Oklahoma's defense allowed 301 yards to a thought to be mediocre UAB team. OU QB Paul Thompson threw for 227 and 2 TDs, but also had 2 picks. RB Adrian Peterson ran for 139 and a TD, but also lost a fumble. A lot like the Michigan State-Idaho game in that the underdog team didn't have a strong individual performance, but still hung in there until the end. I'd sincerely hope OU is better than Michigan State, despite the lack of evidence in this game's statistics.

Missouri State @ Oklahoma State
My Prediction: Oklahoma State
Final Score: Oklahoma State 52, Missouri State 10
Thoughts: An impressive win, all things considered with I-AAs this week. Bobby Reid had a confidence-building night, with 4 of his 8 completions being taken in for touchdowns. RB Mike Hamilton also added 159 yards. The glaring negative is the defense, which still gave up 327 yards.

It's almost 3 AM. I need to sleep. I'll finish these sometime tomorrow for sure, then the top 25, then the week 2 rundown tomorrow night/early Thursday. Who knew recapping seventy-something games would take so much time?