Helmet Stickers: Week 3

ACC—Florida State looked impressive beating BYU big in back-to-back years. The Seminoles tallied eight sacks and held BYU to just 39 yards in the second half of the contest. Florida State proved they were able to rebound after last week’s disappointment against Oklahoma.


Big 12—Nebraska hasn’t played a legitimate team until Saturday. There were questions as to whether the Huskers were for real. The 56-21 shellacking of Washington has silenced any critics. The Cornhuskers had three rushers over 100 yards. The Nebraska defense helped provide probable No. 1 NFL draft pick Jake Locker his worst game ever. Locker was 4 for 20 with two picks. The Nebraska offense scored the most points by a Husker at an away game since 2000 Alamo Bowl.

Big East—West Virginia gets a helmet sticker by default this week. The Mountaineers were the only team in a weak Big East to beat an FBS opponent this week. They are also the only team from the Big Least to beat a team from an automatic qualifier conference. After getting no sacks in its first two games, West Virginia’s defense exploded, getting 8 sacks on the day and giving Maryland a final tally of -10 yards rushing. Bill Stewart’s team moves to 3-0 on the season.

Big Ten—Michigan State-Notre Dame had to have been the most exciting game of Week 3. With the score 28-28 at the end of regulation, Notre Dame was held to a field goal by the Spartan defense. On the Spartans possession, 4th down had them lining up for a 46-yard field goal. Instead of kicking the field goal, punter/holder Aaron Bates threw a touchdown to tightend Charlie Gantt to seal a 34-31 overtime victory. Michigan State has now beat rival Notre Dame in three of the last four years.

C-USA—UAB knocked off a solid Troy team 34-33 after Troy started the game 23-0. With 1:09 left in the game, the Blazers put together a 99-yard drive. Backup quarterback Bryan Ellis connected with wide receiver Jackie Williams on the last play of the game for a 44-yard Hail Mary touchdown and the win. UAB got its first win on the season.

MAC—Miami (OH) got a big win over the Mountain West’s Colorado State, 31-10. After trailing by a field goal to start the game, the RedHawks scored 31 unanswered points until the Rams scored a touchdown with 1:14 left in the game. Miami (OH) had no turnovers while Colorado State had four. This win marked the first time since 2007 that the RedHawks have won back-to-back games.

MWC—The Horned Frogs looked impressive in their blowout win over Baylor. The Horned Frogs amassed 558 yards of offense and gave up only 263 yards to the Bears. TCU’s Andy Dalton had a 91.3% completion rate. TCU has won six of its last seven contests against schools from BCS automatic qualifier conferences. If TCU can continue their winning ways, they will be in a BCS bowl game once again.

Pac-10—No. 24 Arizona upset No. 9 Iowa, 34-27, in Tucson. The Wildcats have struggled to win big games. After squandering a 20 point lead at the half to a 27-27 tie, Arizona was able to recover and reclaim the lead with less than four minutes left in the game. The Wildcat defense sacked Ricky Stanzi six times, four of which came on Iowa’s final drive. This win was significant for the Arizona football program, as it was the first time since 1989 that the Wildcats beat a team ranked in the top ten.

SEC—Auburn owns Clemson. Auburn’s Tigers have defeated Clemson’s Tigers in 14 straight games. Auburn was down 17-0 to start the game but was able to take the lead in the third quarter. Clemson scored a touchdown in the fourth to bring the game to a 24-24 tie. In overtime, Auburn’s Wes Byrum hit a 39-yard field goal. Clemson’s Chandler Catanzaro missed a 32-yard field goal on Clemson’s possession.

Sun Belt—Arkansas State gets the Sun Belt’s helmet sticker by default this week, as they were the only Sun Belt team to get a W. The Red Wolves beat the Warhawks 34-20 in Jonesboro, getting their first victory of the season. Red Wolves senior cornerback M.D. Jennings picked off Warhawks quarterback Kolton Browning twice.
WAC—The Wolfpack got another helmet sticker with their impressive 52-31 win over California. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick passed for 181 yards and ran for 148 yards. Running back Vai Taua rushed for 151 yards. California quarterback Kevin Riley was picked off three times by the Nevada defense. Nevada has scored 49 or more points in all three of its games this season.