Week 13 Recap

#3 Florida 21, Florida State 14
I think Florida has about as good a case as USC. USC may have the higher SOS, but Florida has a better loss, and they've been winning more impressively than scores would indicate. This was another one, as Florida outgained the Noles 388-235, forced 3 Drew Weatherford picks, and Chris Leak had an efficient 21/34, 283 yard, 2 TD day.

#4 USC 44, #11 Notre Dame 24
The easy thing would be to say "Gee, USC abused a vulnerable Irish pass defense, who would have thought that (besides me)", but if I live by the stats, I die by the stats, and UND actually gained more passing yards than the Trojans. The yardage was actually even, at 404-404. If anything, I thought Notre Dame actually played better than I expected, which...probably doesn't say much, actually. Anyway, yeah, UND's a pretty good team (and were quite overrated), and USC's just much better. USC vs. Florida is an interesting debate -- too bad we won't see THAT game, but will probably get that big Michigan-Notre Dame rematch. Since, you know, the first one was so close.

South Florida 24, #5 West Virginia 19
Well, that was pretty inexplicably one-sided. Slaton got held to only 43 yards (2.4 per carry), and White did even worse, so it's not like WVU was forced to make a comeback and pass -- they just got shut down. Without a 57 yard Darius Reynaud run on a reverse, the Mountaineers only had 75 yards rushing. Jesus. The fact that this was in Morgantown makes this all the more shocking. And hey, watch out for the Bulls next year.

#6 LSU 31, #8 Arkansas 26
About an even game; Arkansas legitimized themselves to me even in the loss. The running game was insane for the Razorbacks, with McFadden gaining 182 and 2 TD, Felix Jones going for 137 and a score, and both getting about 8.6 yards per carry. Why the Razorbacks lost, however: It took McFadden, the running back, two passes to outgain starting QB Casey Dick's entire total. (McFadden went 2/2 for 33, Dick went 3/17 for 29.)

#23 Texas A&M 12, #7 Texas 7
A&M has gone back to a complete running team, rushing for 244 and only passing for 58. Still, QB Stephen McGee was the Aggies' leading rusher with 95 yards. Texas has...completely fallen off a cliff.

#9 Oklahoma 27, Oklahoma State 21
About even game yardage-wise, and probably the least impressive performance in a while by the Oklahoma D. Sooners are probably still the best team in the Big 12 right now, while OK State could have a big year in 2007.

#10 Louisville 48, Pittsburgh 24
Same old, same old for Pitt: Tyler Palko puts up some yards (307), the defense gives up more (499), and LaRod Stephens-Howling comes and goes (57 yards this time). Not much to say, but Brian Brohm (21/29, 337, 4 TD) confirmed that he is, in fact, really good.

#14 Boise State 38, Nevada 7
Holy shit! Boise not only put up their usual gaudy offensive stats, but held Nevada to 141 yards, and star Wolf Pack QB Jeff Rowe to only 35. Boise puts an exclamation point on their BCS bid, and now I really want to see Boise State-Notre Dame, because that'd be a fun offensive shootout and now I'm not so sure Notre Dame would win. But of course, we won't get that.

#15 Tennessee 17, Kentucky 12
Kentucky actually outplayed the Vols quite handily, outgaining them by 74, and winning both the air and ground battles. ...the hell? I assume this means Tennessee is worse than I thought, since I can't imagine Kentucky is a top 25 team.

Georgia 15, #16 Georgia Tech 12
Much like Michigan State sucking being 95% coaching, GT's inconsistency is 95% Reggie Ball. I don't care how good the UGA defense is, there is absolutely no excuse to have 42 yards passing when your WR is probably the best player in the nation. Just horrible. A nice game by GT RB Tashard Choice (23 car, 146 yds, TD), but still, I hate this team. Get out now, Calvin, while you still can. Sneak into an NFL game, put on a jersey, and see if anyone notices. Quick, before Reggie Ball lowers your stock any further!

#17 Rutgers 38, Syracuse 7
Well, that's more like it, as Ray Rice and Brian Leonard each ran for over 100. Syracuse is horrible. Well, they were here. But not against UConn. Sadly.

#18 Virginia Tech 17, Virginia 0
Splat. VT's offense wasn't too great, but they just shut Virginia down. Not much to say here. VT's probably the best team in the ACC right now, and I can say that now that there's no chance of them losing another conference game.

#19 Wake Forest 38, Maryland 24
Maryland has gone the entire year without outgaining a I-A opponent. Impressive. Nice to see justice prevail, too, although it would've been hilarious if Maryland won the ACC and heightened expectations to an insanely unrealistic level for next year. Shout-out to Wake RB Kenneth Moore, who ran for 165 and a TD.

#21 Nebraska 37, Colorado 14
Nebraska outgained Colorado 468-297, so this was about as one-sided as the score. The Huskers had a good day both on the ground and through the air, with RB Brandon Jackson running for 142 and a TD, while QB Zac Taylor threw for 249 and 2 scores. With OU's defensive woes against Oklahoma State, the Big 12 title game is going to be quite interesting.

Miami 17, #22 Boston College 14
This was a pretty awful game, so I'll do some wordplay in honor of Canes QB Kirby Freeman instead of trying to analyze this: Miami (and Kirby) sucked, but BC got eaten alive.

#23 BYU 33, Utah 31
Utah played slightly better, but it was still pretty much a crapshoot, and that's about right; Utah, on their good days, is about as good as BYU. Still doesn't answer many questions I have about the Utes' inconsistency, however. Still, good work Utah, but better luck next time.

South Carolina 31, #25 Clemson 28
SC outgained Clemson by 120 yards, so SC wasn't lucky to win, Clemson was lucky to keep it close. And the Gamecocks have had their fair share of bad luck, so think of this as some sort of cosmic retribution. Two pretty good teams. Yep.

UNLV 42, Air Force 39
The fun shootout the score suggests, although both teams also ran for over 200. Air Force is pretty damn good for a team that will finish 5-7 at best.

Western Michigan 17, Akron 0
Akron wanted to be bowl-eligible, but they figured they wouldn't be invited to one even if they were, so they just decided to make that "Zips" nickname really really ironic just for laughs.

Arizona State 28, Arizona 14
The best game ASU's played all year, and ironically now Dirk Koetter will be fired. Arizona was held to only 168 yards, and Rudy Carpenter actually looked like a I-A QB, going 17/25 for 214, 3 TD and a pick. However, since Koetter is gone, Sam Keller still laughs.

Cincinnati 26, Connecticut 23
And looking at the stats, it shouldn't even have been that close. Sigh.

TCU 45, Colorado State 14
TCU's just going crazy; after the shutout of SDSU, they racked up 606 yards here and generally just smashed the Rams good. If only they had played like this before.

North Carolina 45, Duke 44
This only happened because I called Duke the best team in the ACC last week.

Northern Illinois 27, Eastern Michigan 0
Just a shout-out to Garrett Wolfe in what might be his last collegiate game, as he went out with 164 and a TD on 27 carries. See you in the NFL, Garrett.

Hawaii 42, Purdue 35
It took a while, but this led up to the shootout billing, as Hawaii outgained the Boilermakers 653-472. COLT BRENNAN WATCH: 33/48, 434, 3 TD, INT, 59 rush yds.

Mississippi 20, Mississippi State 17
Ole Miss gets another lucky win, the Bulldogs have another unlucky loss. Assuming Croom stays on, Mississippi State could surprise next year, in a 6-6 or 7-5 sense.

New Mexico State 42, Utah State 20
NMSU's first I-A win in two years. Congrats. I guess.