No. 17 Cincinnati at No. 24 Utah
I didn’t find this 45-14 Black-Out beat down of Cincinnati inside a sold-out Rice-Eccles Stadium surprising. After all, the Utes had only lost two games coming in. One to a Texas Tech team that has been pretty much beating everyone badly and another by three to BYU in a game where whichever team had the ball last was going to win. Utah won the toss, deferred at home and the promptly held the Bearcats to a three-and-out before taking their nice sweet time—over seven minutes— to move the ball 94 yards in 16 plays and right into the end zone on a 34 yard no-huddle shotgun pass from Junior QB Devon Dampier to Senior WR Ryan Davis to take a 7-0 lead with over half the quarter gone. Cincinnati woke right up from that first possession and tied it up at seven each a little over three minutes later on a 22 yard TD run by their Junior QB Brendan Sorsby. With less than four minutes left in the quarter, Utah would use three to take the lead again on a TD run of their own by their Sophomore RB Wayshawn Parker to make it 14-7.
The second quarter would really prove to be the undoing of Cincinnati in this game as their possessions consisted of a missed 42 yard field goal, a fumble, a three-and-out, and an interception. The Utes were able to take advantage of all those miscues by extending their lead on a 33 yard field goal by their Freshman Place Kicker Dillon Curtis and another TD run—this one by Senior RB Naquari Rogers to go up 24-7 at the break. But instead of extending it even further after the half they had some miscues of their own including a wasted first possession, a screwup in the secondary which allowed the Bearcats to score on an 88 yard TD pass to make it 24-14 and then an interception on their next possession. But their defense really stiffened up after the interception and held Cincinnati to three-and-out on their next two possessions while adding another TD of their own on an 11 yard TD pass from Dampier to Sophomore WR Creed Whittemore and then yet another on a punt returned for TD by Freshman WR Mana Carvalho to make it 38-14 after three.
Like the second quarter, the fourth for the Bearcats didn’t amount to more than a lot of wasted motion. Two punts, a fumble, and then an end of game drive down to the Utah 34 where time ran out. The Utes didn’t do much better with a couple of punts to start but then got some help with that Cincinnati fumble and found the end zone just four plays later on a 2 yard TD run by Freshman QB Byrd Ficklin to finish the scoring at 45-14. For Utah, Junior QB Devon Dampier connected on 16-of-31 for 213 yards, 2 TD’s, and 1 interception while also rushing 14 times for 78 yards. In the air, Senior WR Ryan Davis led the team with 8 receptions and 132 of their 213 total yards along with one of the two Dampier TD’s with the other collected by Sophomore WR Creed Whittenmore. On the ground, Sophomore RB Wayshawn Parker led the way with 104 of the team’s 267 rushing yards on 17 carries and one of the team’s three TD’s with Senior RB Naquari Rogers and Ficklin the other two.
For Cincinnati, Junior QB Brendan Sorsby was 11-of-33 for 221 yards, 1 TD to Senior WR Cyrus Allen—who also collected 133 yards on just two receptions—and 1 interception. The Bearcats collectively rushed 30 times for 206 yards with Sorsby the only one to find the end zone. Utah led in first downs, 29-18; total yards of offense, 480-427; were successful about half the time on their third down conversions and perfect on their two 4th down attempts; they had half the penalties, one less turnovers, and an incredible 20 more minutes time of possession. Utah will take a week off before hitting the road to take on Baylor.
Arizona at Colorado
After all the excitement last year it’s getting painful to watch the Buffaloes this season. With 14 penalties for 110 yards and 5 turnovers it’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion. The 52-17 drubbing was so embarrassing that Coach Prime wouldn’t let any of his players talk to the media afterwards and said; “Don’t attack the coordinators. Come at me. Don’t attack the players. Come at me.” The Wildcats got the ball to start and scored just three plays later on a 57 yard TD pass from Junior QB Noah Fafita to Sophomore WR Tre Spivey. Holding the Buffaloes to a three-and-out on their first possession, Arizona would go up 10-0 on a 49 yard field goal on their second possession and then follow that up with another Fafita TD pass—this one to Kris Hutson—one play after Colorado fumbled the ball in their own red zone to make it 17-0 at the end of the first quarter.
It seemed as though the Buffaloes had finally settled down at the beginning of the 2nd Qtr with a TD at the end of a 17 play 75 yard drive to make it 17-7. But then they were held to a couple of three-and-outs in addition to throwing an interception that was run back deep into their own red zone leading to an Arizona TD just two plays later. All-in-all the Wildcats would add three more TD’s in the second period to be up 38-7 going into the locker room at the break.
The start of the third quarter was a total mess with Colorado throwing back-to-back interceptions on either side of an Arizona fumble. But the Wildcats didn’t fumble away their second opportunity with the return of that second interception landing them once again back in the Buffalo red zone. Two plays and two runs later they were back in the end zone up 45-7. Colorado would finally get some more points on the board on their next possession, a 5 play 75 yard drive and 59 yard TD pass from Freshman QB Julian Lewis to Sophomore WR Dre’on Miller to make it 45-14. Just four plays later, highlighted by a 68 yard run by Senior RB Ismail Mahdi, the Wildcats would be back in the end zone on a 1 yard run by Junior RB Kedrick Reescano to go up 52-14 with both sides seemingly determined not to score again after that—Colorado with a three-and-out and a fumble—Arizona with a three-and-out and missed field goal.
For Colorado who used a number of quarterbacks trying to figure it out, collectively were 20-of-35 for 170 yards, 2 TD’s—1 each from Freshman QB Julian Lewis and Senior QB Kaidon Salter—both of which landed in the hands of Junior WR Omarion Miller. On the ground they rushed 42 times for 129 yards but never hit pay dirt. For Arizona, Junior QB Noah Fafita connected on 11-of-19 for 213 yards, 4 TD’s to four different receivers and no interceptions. On the ground the Wildcats led by Senior RB Ismail Mahdi collectively ran for 204 yards and 3 TD’s on 38 carries. Surprisingly both teams had the same number of first downs but Arizona had 100+ more yards of total offense while picking up five yards per rushing attempt and over 8 yards per pass. The Wildcat defense recorded 3 sacks and 8 tackles for loss and all-in-all it’s impossible to win a game with 14 penalties for 110 yards and five turnovers with most of those leading directly to TD’s. It was about as ugly as it can get. The Wildcats head back home to host Kansas this next Saturday while Colorado hits the road to take on West Virginia.
Arizona State at Iowa State
Maybe it had nothing to do with the Cyclone run defense and more to do with the fact that it was 30 degrees cooler outside in Ames, Iowa at Jack Trice Stadium than back at home in Tempe, Arizona. But the Sun Devils rushed 100+ more yards in this game—maybe trying to stay warm—than they averaged through their first eight and made it count on the scoreboard as well with an extra TD on the ground. But this game was tight all the way and by the time adjustments were made at half-time the defenses were so locked in that only a total of ten points were scored in the second half—combined—with neither team scoring in the 4th Qtr.
Arizona State got the ball to start and punted five plays later on their first drive. Then, after Iowa State had an opportunity to get on the scoreboard but missed a 49 yard field goal, the Sun Devils were held to a three-and-out on their second possession. Six plays later Iowa State drew first blood on a 30 yard field goal by their Sophomore Place Kicker Kyle Konrardy. With a little over five minutes remaining in the quarter the Sun Devils made it back down the field after the kickoff to tie the score with their own field goal—this one from 35 yards out by their Senior Place Kicker Jesus Gomez to end the first quarter.
With just three points each scored in the first quarter and only ten combined after the half it was the second quarter where most of the scoring took place. And there would have been even more had there not been a fumble, an interception, and another missed field goal thrown in. Iowa State had the ball to start the 2nd Qtr and took the ball 76 yards down the field in 8 plays and 3 minutes to go out in front 10-3 on a 7 yard TD run by Cyclone Junior QB Rocco Becht. Not to be outdone, Arizona State’s Senior QB Jeff Sims—in for starting QB Sam Leavitt who due to a foot injury is out for the remainder of the year—found the end zone a minute quicker and in half the number of plays on an 8 yard TD run of his own to tie the score 10-10. After forcing the Cyclones to punt five plays into their next drive the Sun Devils would take a 17-10 lead at the end of their next possession on an 18 yard TD pass from Sims to Senior TE Chamon Metayer. After holding Iowa State to a three-and-out they had a golden opportunity to extend the lead further but would fumble five plays into their next possession inside their own red zone. Iowa State seized on their good fortune and scored two plays later on a 17 yard TD pass from Becht to Junior TE Benjamin Brahmer to close within one point 17-16. The Cyclones decided to try a two-point conversion and take the lead but it failed. After fumbling their last possession, Arizona State would lose the ball again—this time on an interception with less than a minute left before the half. Two plays later and with just three seconds left in the half Iowa State would attempt a 55 yard field goal that wouldn’t make it.
With neither team scoring in the 4th Qtr as I mentioned above those 10 points after the half were scored in the 3rd quarter. Seven on another TD run by the Arizona State QB on their third play from scrimmage—this one for 88 yards—to make it 24-16 and then three on an Iowa State field goal from 35 yards out with time expiring in the quarter to give us our final score of 24-19. The fourth quarter was kind of a mess with four punts on drives of no more than six plays, two turnovers on downs, an interception and a fumble. The win gives the Sun Devils six on the year and makes them bowl eligible with three games left to play. In spite of losing their super talented starting QB Sam Leavitt for the remainder of the year, Sun Devil head coach Kenny Dillingham is not backing down and said afterwards; “We’re not playing for second place. You only get a certain number of opportunities to win football games, and we’ll do whatever we can, every week to win.”
For Arizona State, Senior QB Jeff Simms connected on 13-of-24 for 177 yards, 1 TD to Senior TE Chamon Metayer, and 1 interception, in addition to having a field day on the ground running 29 times for 228 of the team’s 290 yards and both rushing TD’s. In doing so he set an Arizona State quarterback rushing record. For Iowa State, Junior QB Rocco Becht was 18-of-36 for 186 yards, 1 TD to Junior TE Benjamin Brahmer, and 1 interception. Junior RB Carson Hansen led the way on the ground for the Cyclones rushing 18 times for 113 of the team’s total 150 yards with Becht picking up the only TD. Iowa State had one more first down than the Sun Devils, 21-20; but they had fewer total yards of offense, 467-to-336; Arizona State won the time-of-possession contest but had an outrageous number of penalties, 11 for 119 yards, and three turnovers to one for Iowa State; while neither team converted third downs at a high percentage, just 33% for Arizona State and a mere 14% for the Cyclones. The Sun Devils will take off a week before playing host to West Virginia.