Sunday, October 16, 2011

Helmet Stickers: Week 7

ACC—The Virginia Cavaliers upset No. 12 Georgia Tech 24-21 on Saturday. It was Georgia Tech’s first loss of the season. The Cavalier defense held the Yellow Jackets’ explosive triple-option offense to 296 yards. Cornerbacks Chase Minnifield and Demetrious Nicholson each intercepted the Yellow Jackets’ Tevin Washington in the game. Virginia fans stormed the field after the huge win. Mike London’s team gained a lot of confidence halting Georgian Tech’s best start since 1966.

Big 10—No. 23 Michigan State dominated in-state rival No. 11 Michigan for the fourth straight year. The Spartans’ defense held Heisman-wannabe Denard Robinson to just 42 yards rushing and put up seven sacks. Spartans safety Isaiah Lewis ran back an interception for 39 yards to secure the 28-14 victory. Kirk Cousins passed for 120 yards and had two touchdown passes to Keshawn Martin. Edwin Baker rushed for 167 yards and a touchdown. The ESPN-overhyped Wolverines were no match for a physical Spartan defense. In Michigan, the Wolverines are the Spartans’ “Little Sister”.

Big 12—No. 21 Texas A&M shellacked No. 20 Baylor 55-28. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill passed for 415 yards and a career-high six touchdowns. Wideout Ryan Swope caught four touchdowns—two of which were 68 yards—and had 206 yards receiving. The Aggies put up a season-high 681 yards of offense.  Texas A&M’s defense sacked Robert Griffin III five times, and Aggies cornerback Dustin Harris intercepted Griffin, only the second pick the Baylor signal caller has thrown this season. Texas A&M wins the Battle of the Brazos for the third straight season and the 19th time in the last 21 meetings. The rivalry will likely not be played again anytime soon, as the Aggies head to the SEC.

Big East—Connecticut moved to 1-1 in the Big East standings as it defeated South Florida 16-10 in East Hartford. The Huskies did not score a touchdown in the victory. Kicker Dave Teggart kicked three field goals, and cornerback Byron Jones ran a Bulls fumble 10 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. The turnover proved to be the game winning score. UConn forced two interceptions and two fumble and only gave up two fumbles of its own. Connecticut is 7-1 in Big East home openers and 4-1 against South Florida at home.
C-USA—Southern Methodist defeated Central Florida 38-17 on Saturday, reversing the outcome of the 2010 Conference USA Championship Game. Mustangs quarterback J.J. McDermott passed for 358 yards and two scores. Mustangs wide receiver Cole Beasley had ten catches for 134 yards and a score. Running back Zach Line rushed for 82 yards and two scores. In the second quarter, SMU cornerback Richard Crawford ran back a punt 92 yards for a touchdown. The Mustangs cruise to 3-0 in league play and 5-1 overall.
MAC—Eastern Michigan defeated rival Central Michigan on the road 35-28. The Eagles blew a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter, allowing the Chippewas to tie the game at 28 apiece with 1:09 left, but Eagles quarterback Alex Gillett scored on a 30-yard scamper with 37 seconds left in the game to get the 35-28 win. All five of Eastern’s touchdowns came on runs. Running backs Dominque White and Javonti Greene each carried the ball nineteen times. White had 161 yards and a touchdown, while Green had 96 yards and three touchdowns. Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan meet next Saturday; the winner of that game will win the Michigan MAC Trophy.
MWC—Boise State routed Colorado State 63-13 in its first Mountain West conference game. Kellen Moore was 26 for 30, accumulating 338 yards and four passing touchdowns. Running back Doug Martin averaged 10 yards per carry and had 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Tyler Shoemaker had nine grabs for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Colorado State’s defense allowed 742 yards of offense by the Broncos, a Boise State school record. Broncos backups saw significant time in the second half of the blowout.
Pac-12—USC won its eighth straight game against its in-state rival California on Saturday night at AT&T Park. The Trojans defense forced five turnovers. Linebacker Dion Bailey had two of the three interceptions. The USC defense held Cal to just 1.3 yards per rush for a total of 35 rushing yards. The Trojans had a 23-0 lead until late in the third quarter. Kyle Negrete averaged 42 yards on his five punts. Freshman kicker Andre Heidari was perfect, going 3 for 3 on both field goals and extra points. Despite criticisms, USC moves to 5-1 and 3-1 in Pac-12 play.
SEC—Alabama made a statement by beating OIe Miss 52-7. The Crimson Tide outgained the Rebels 615 to 141. Mississippi scored a touchdown on their opening drive, but after that, the game belonged to Alabama. The Crimson Tide scored 52 unanswered points and did not turn the ball over a single time in a very lopsided game. The 52 points amounted to Ole Miss’s worst loss since a 1981 49-3 loss to Florida and Bama’s largest accumulation of points in a SEC game since 1990. Trent Richardson averaged 10.8 yards per carry and also had four touchdown runs.

Sun Belt—Louisiana-Monroe got its second straight victory over Troy in a 38-10 win on the road. The Warhawks were down 10-3 in the third quarter before scoring 28 unanswered points. The Warhawks’ defense played lights out, holding a potent Troy offense to just 126 yards (140 passing yards, -14 rushing yards). Linebacker Cameron Blakes and safety Isaiah Newsome each intercepted Troy’s Corey Robinson. UL-Monroe’s offense put up 523 yards. Warhawks quarterback Kolton Browning had 275 passing yards and three touchdown throws. Warhawks wideout Tavarese Maye had 161 receiving yards, which included a 38-yard touchdown catch.

WAC—San Jose State bested Hawaii 28-27 in a sloppy Friday night game at Spartan Stadium that saw twelve turnovers. Both the Warriors and the Spartans had three interceptions and three fumbles. Matt Faulkner connected with sophomore wide receiver Chandler Jones on a 37-yard touchdown strike with just 36 seconds left in the game to get the go-ahead score. Fans stormed the field as the Spartans beat Hawaii at home for the first time since 1997. San Jose State has won three of their last four games after going 1-12 last season. Mike McIntyre is turning things around in San Jose.

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