Week 11 Recap

#1 Michigan 34, Indiana 3
...the Steve Breaston show? The Michigan WR was probably offensive POTG, with 3 catches for 103 yards and a score. Mike Hart only had 19 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown, but that's still fine. And better than Troy Smith's worst games. I really don't get why Hart's not in the Heisman discussion, especially over Brady Quinn. Oh, and the Michigan defense had a big day, holding the inconsistent if pretty good Indiana offense to just 165 yards.

#2 Ohio State 54, Northwestern 10
318 yards for Northwestern? At least it was mostly through the air, or else I'd be even more concerned for the Michigan game. But there's obviously good news, as Troy Smith was back to his Heismanesque form, going 12/19 for 185, 4 TDs and a pick. If Smith had put up another bad game, there'd be very little drama for the Michigan game (well, except for all the, you know, drama), but OSU's kept some intrigue going.

Kansas State 45, #3 Texas 42
Texas actually still gained 421 yards, so the game was about statistically even, but one only wonders how they would've done with Colt McCoy. McCoy was actually 4/4 for 51 yards before being knocked down, and even though Jevan Snead threw for 190 and a TD, it was on only 13/30 passing. KSU QB Josh Freeman comprised the whole of the Wildcat offense pretty much, gaining 269 and a 3/1 TD/INT ratio. KSU has pretty much erased any images of that close season-opening win against Illinois State, while the McCoy injury puts some intrigue into that game against Texas A&M.

Georgia 37, #4 Auburn 15
Just when Auburn had put all my concerns about inconsistency to rest, Brandon Cox implodes for only 35 yards, a TD and 4 INT on 4/12 passing. The biggest thing to take from this game is Matthew Stafford finally having a good game, going 14/20 for 219 and a score. Georgia has some optimism going into the GT game, while Auburn's back down to what I thought of them a few weeks ago.

#17 Rutgers 28, #5 Louisville 25
Rutgers outplayed Louisville. RUTGERS. Rutgers? RUTGERS. Mike Teel was better than his 8/21 line would suggest, and Ray Rice is back to legit Heisman candidate after running for 131 and 2 scores. Just the way Rutgers came back from such a miserable first half, and how they were able to constantly get to Brohm...God. RUTGERS. They're legit, people.

#6 Florida 17, South Carolina 16
437-412 was the final yardage battle, so it was as close as the score. SC's two TDs surprisingly came on the ground, thanks to Mike Davis and his 94 yards. Both QBs had good days. There's really not much to say from the numbers, but Florida needs to tighten things up on defense. SC is a good team, but they seem starcrossed this year. Almost the anti-Maryland, but we'll get to them.

#7 USC 35, #21 Oregon 10
Oregon won both the turnover battle (3-2) and the yardage battle (407-356), but the latter is somewhat misleading. Both of Oregon's turnovers came in their own half of the field, so USC didn't have to go far to score. Not all that one-sided, as the Ducks were obviously able to get some stuff done against the USC D, but the Trojans seem pretty clearly the class of the conference, especially after the Cal loss. Line of the game: USC RB Chauncey Washington's 15 carries for 119 yards and 3 touchdowns.

#8 West Virginia 42, Cincinnati 24
Yawn. Cincinnati's a decent team, Slaton (148, 2 TD) and White (93, 2 TD) run over everyone. Nothing to see here, move along.

Arizona 24, #9 California 20
Only line of the game that matters is Cal QB Nate Longshore's: 17/36, 250, TD, 3 INT. Those 3 picks don't happen, Cal probably wins the game. Not a huge reason for worry for the Golden Bears; they're still a very good team, but downgraded from BCS contender to, well, that. Arizona could make a bowl!

#10 LSU 28, Alabama 14
Pretty close game, but LSU was the better team easily. John Parker Wilson was essentially the entire Crimson Tide offense throwing for 291 and 2 scores with a pick. JaMarcus Russell had an insane day, however, completing 18 of 21 for 207 and 3 scores. LSU is an insanely good 2-loss team. Bama...meh.

#11 Arkansas 31, #15 Tennessee 14
Tennessee has such bad rush defense that the Arkansas running back threw for a touchdown. Or something like that. So, yeah, Darren McFadden's line: 30 carries, 181 yards, 2 TD, and a 12 yard TD pass to Marcus Monk. A bad matchup for Tennessee, so nothing really's proven beyond the already known "these are two very good SEC teams."

#12 Notre Dame 39, Air Force 17
Same old, same old. Brady Quinn has another big day (14/19, 207, 4 TD) against a subpar defense, and the defense raises a lot of questions. This week's: How does Shaun Carney pass for almost as many yards (205) as Quinn?

#13 Boise State 23, San Jose State 20
SJSU QB Adam Tafralis (17/23, 273, 2 TD) had a good day, while Jared Zabransky (14/20, 181, INT) had one fairly worse. Of course, Zabransky was bailed out by RB Ian Johnson (29 car, 149 yards, TD), but the most important number for Johnson is probably "1 collapsed lung." The Broncos should be fine against Utah State, but that regular season finale at Nevada now looms.

#14 Oklahoma 34, Texas Tech 24
Nice rebound game for Paul Thompson, I'd say, as he had 309 and a 2/1 TD/INT on 24/31 passing. No other spectacular stat lines, but the OU defense had a good day, holding TTU to pretty much only their 250 passing yards. Which is pretty good for playing against the Red Raiders. Sooners are back, baby.

#16 Wisconsin 24, Iowa 21
Wisconsin failed to pull a mini-Michigan again and stop the Iowa run, but the Hawkeyes ran decently against the Wolverines, so...nevermind. Drew Tate had a good game (10/31, 170, 3/1 TD/INT), but his game looks worse when compared to Badger backup Tyler Donovan (17/24, 228, 2 TD). Wisconsin's obviously a pretty good team. Iowa, on the other hand, is just decent. No shame in that.

#18 Georgia Tech 7, North Carolina 0
...ugh. GT RB Tashard Choice (32 car, 119 yards, TD) had the only game worth mentioning.

#22 Nebraska 28, #19 Texas A&M 27
About even. Stephen McGee rebounded from a bad day to throw for 244 and run for 58, so good for him. Two pretty good teams, and if they played this game ten times, it'd probably go 5-5. Yep.

#20 Virginia Tech 23, Kent State 0
Three FGs and one of the TDs was by the VT defense. A rare blowout that doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

#23 Wake Forest 30, Florida State 0
Wow. Wake's defense just dominated here, holding FSU to 180 yards and forcing 4 turnovers. Just complete domination. Or complete offensive incompetency by FSU. Either or. I still don't buy Wake as a terribly elite team, but they're sadly as legit as anyone in the ACC, especially after GT and VT's dismal performances this week. They sure as hell beat Maryland.

#24 Boston College 28, Duke 7
Good for them. Not much to say. BC is indeed better than Duke.

#25 Clemson 20, NC State 14
Not exactly confidence-inspiring. Clemson needs QB Will Proctor to play well to return to form, but Proctor only had 146 yards and threw for a 1/2 TD/INT ratio. Thankfully for the Tigers, NCSU's Dan Evans played worse, going for only 95 and 2 picks. Basically, Clemson's playing at the end of the year how they usually do in the beginning.

Akron 31, Buffalo 16
Nice day for Zips QB Luke Getsy: 13/20, 272, 4 TD. Yep.

Arizona State 47, Washington State 14
Well these two teams are reversing fortunes quite quickly, as this was complete ASU domination. Wazzou could only gain 59 rushing yards, and Sun Devils QB Rudy Carpenter had a huge day, going 15/24 for 339 and a 3/1 TD/INT ratio. Damned if I know what to make of the Pac 10.

Oklahoma State 66, Baylor 24
Baylor QB Blake Szymanski (could've sworn it had more consonants last week) was a one-man team, but unfortunately got forced into 3 picks. The OK State racked up over 400 yards thanks to a rotating cast of characters. Baylor's lost without injured QB Shawn Bell, OK State could be a contender next year.

BYU 55, Wyoming 7
Completely one-sided. BYU QB John Beck: 20/26, 313, 2 TD. Yep, the Cougars are the second-best mid-major in the country.

Central Michigan 31, Western Michigan 7
Pretty one-sided. CMU's easily the elite team in the MAC. And I'm not sure what to make of that. Oh well, they'll probably lose next week. Stupid MAC.

Utah 35, Colorado State 22
The Utes had 526 yards, proving again that they are frustratingly inconsistent.

Connecticut 46, Pittsburgh 45 (2 OT)
Won on a two-point conversion, this will be the best game this year nobody saw. Including the 1/3 of my fellow UConn fans that left during the third quarter. For shame. DJ Hernandez looked like an actual I-A quarterback, going 20/29 for 164 and 4 TD, and ran for 130. And frosh RB Donald Brown gave even more hope for the Huskies' future, running for 205 and 2 TD. Really, the Huskies winning was astounding, especially in such an offensive shootout, as they failed to contain Pitt QB Tyler Palko (20/25, 234, 3 TD and 1 rushing) and RB LaRod Stephens-Dowling (154, 2 TD). Regarding this year, UConn's staring bowl-eligibility in the face, while Pitt is sliding as badly as anyone in the nation. As for the future, UConn's is now considerably brighter than it was (thanks to having an actual QB), while Pitt? Well, Wannstedt's recruiting gives reasons for optimism, the question is if Wannstedt's coaching will negate it.

Hawaii 61, Louisiana Tech 17
Colt Brennan is once again scary: 27/40, 406, 4 TD, INT. Oh, and 60 rushing yards and a TD on the ground. Yeesh.

Kentucky 38, Vanderbilt 26
Vandy won the yardage battle 641-627. Jesus. Most of it was passing, too, as Vandy's Chris Nickson threw for 446 (and a TD with 2 picks) and UK's Andre' Woodson outdid that with 450 and 4 TD. Vandy easily could've won this if not for turnovers; they had 2 fumbles in addition to Nickson's 2 INTs. Vandy could be very good very soon. Eep.

Maryland 14, Miami 13
Teams Maryland has outgained this year: William & Mary. ...yep. Not to say some of those haven't been close, but still, Maryland should be 5-5, not in the ACC title hunt. They're like the David Eckstein of college football. They're like, TAKE THAT, STATISTICS-MAN. WE KNOW HOW TO WIN! Sigh. And no you don't, apparently, as I doubt the strategy of "worse offense and worse defense than our opponents" will go very far.

Minnesota 31, Michigan State 18
Michigan State is inexplicably horrible. Well, it's kind of explicable, it's 95% coaching. Still, jeez.

Rice 41, Tulsa 38
Tulsa gained 568 yards, but 4 turnovers were the killer here. Rice is close to bowl eligibility. Really. Tulsa's still the #2 team in C-USA.

Southern Miss 31, Tulane 3
Tulane was held to only 85 yards. Well done, Golden Eagles. USM deserves to win the C-USA East, and hey, they control their destiny.

Stanford 20, Washington 3
=-o. But both teams suck. Washington's just lost without Isaiah Stanback. Sigh.