Rutgers at Washington
Washington fans love their sports’ teams and those teams love their devoted fans. This past Saturday night more than 110,000 Washington fans were sitting outside on bleachers in 50 degree weather rooting on their teams to victory. For Seattle Mariner fans, they stood and cheered and withstood the longest post-season elimination game in MLB history to see their team advance to the ALCS for the first time since 2001 after beating the Detroit Tigers 3-2 with a walk-off single in the bottom of the 15th inning. Five miles away in a stadium on Montlake Blvd. fans were watching their beloved Huskies take on Rutgers and although not as historic, what Sophomore QB Demond Williams Jr did on Saturday had only been done 15 other times in FBS history. As Andy Yamashita points out in his article for The Seattle Times Sport’s Section; “Washington overcame a slow start to beat Rutgers 38-19 in front of an announced crowd of 63,743 at Husky Stadium. Williams led the way, becoming the 16th quarterback in Football Bowl Subdivision history to accumulate at least 400 yards passing and 100 yards rushing in a game.”
I am so glad they didn’t take as long to get going as they did the prior week but spotting Rutgers to an early 7-0 lead in just four plays on their first possession, which included a 51 yard run before the 20 TD pass from Senior QB Athan Kaliakmanis to Sophomore WR KJ Duff, made me wonder if this team was ever going to be mentally ready to play a game from opening kickoff. They did come 72 yards back down the field on their first possession but got stuck just outside the Rutgers red zone after a couple of pass incompletions and had their Senior Place Kicker Grady Gross come out for a 39 yard field goal attempt which he missed. 12 plays later they made one of their own from 35 yards out to take a 10-0 lead. Washington would get held to a three-and-out on their next possession and have to turn the ball back over on downs after just four plays on the one after that after Rutgers missed a chance to boost the lead on another field goal attempt—this one from 45 yards out. End of 1st Qtr, 10-0 Rutgers.
After holding the Scarlet Knights to a three-and-out to start the 2nd Qtr Washington, and Williams specifically, would finally start to ramp up the Husky offense covering 50 yards in three plays including a 25 yard run by Williams as well as a 23 yard TD pass to his favorite Junior WR Denzel Boston to make it a 10-7 game. Rutgers bogged down deep in the Washington Red Zone at the end of a 13 play drive on their next possession and sitting 4th and 3 at the 6 yard line went for it but failed and had to turn the ball over. Unfortunately, one of his best days ever didn’t include this drive as Williams fumbled and lost the ball just inside the Red Zone on Washington’s next possession leading to another Scarlet Knight field goal, this one for 37 yards, by their Senior Place Kicker Jai Patel to make it a 13-7 game with just 39 seconds left in the half. But that’s all it would take for Washington to make it down to the Rutgers’ 19 yard line and Grady Gross to make amends for his first field goal attempt with this one going in from 36 yards out to give us a 13-10 score at the break.
The Huskies came out with a vengeance after the half and in less than three minutes over the course of two possessions that consisted of just seven plays—on either side of holding Rutgers to a three-and-out—Washington scored two TD’s to go up 24-13. Aided by a questionable pass interference call against Washington and a beautiful 48 yard TD pass from Kaliakmanis to Sophomore RB Antwan Raymond, the Scarlet Knights would get to within five on their next possession, 24-19, after a failed 2-point conversion attempt. But 12 plays and 75 yards later Williams would run it in himself to make it a 31-19 game going in the 4th Qtr. The Scarlet Knight would have the ball for most of the rest of the game but would have to turn it back over on downs deep in the Washington Red Zone after 6 minutes and 19 plays to start the 4th and then threw an interception on their next possession at the end of a 12 play 71 yard drive that had them down to the Husky 4 yard line. In between, Williams would run for yet another TD to make it a 38-19 win.
Unranked Washington currently stands sixth in the Big Ten behind five Top-20 ranked teams. They’ll be playing two of those in back-to-back games starting this next Saturday. First on the road against No. 15 Michigan and then at home where they’ll host No. 17 Illinois. In this one, Washington Sophomore QB Demond Williams Jr. connected better than 75% of the time for 402 yards, 2 TD’s—both to Junior WR Denzel Boston—and no interceptions while also leading the team on the ground while rushing 13 times for 136 of the team’s total 188 yards and two more TD’s with Senior RB Jonah Coleman picking up the other. For Rutgers, Senior QB Athan Kaliakmanis was 31-of-50 for 386 yards, 2 TD’s, and 1 interception. On the ground, Sophomore RB Antwan Raymond led the way with 89 of the team’s 107 rushing yards on 15 of their total 27 attempts without finding the end zone.
UCLA at Michigan State
Not sure what Jerry Neuheisel is filling his team’s Gatorade bottles with, but whatever it is so far so good. After the huge upset in the Rose Bowl over Penn State in Week-7 the Bruins hit the road and had no trouble knocking off Michigan State 38-13. It was a homecoming of sorts for UCLA Senior RB Jalen Berger who transferred from Michigan State to UCLA after the 2023 season. After this past Saturday the Spartans wish he had never left as Berger led the Bruins in rushing with 89 yards on 12 carries and a TD while also picking up three receptions for 24 more yards and 2 TD passes from Sophomore QB Nico Iamaleava. After averaging 124 yards rushing over their first four games and only finding the end zone one time, UCLA has averaged 253.5 yards on the ground their last two games against much stiffer competition and recorded five rushing TD’s! After throwing just three TD’s all season prior to the Penn State game, Iamaleava has throw five TD’s the last two games, including three in this game.
Michigan State won the toss and deferred holding UCLA to a three-and-out their first possession then coming right back down the field 59 yards in 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard TD run by their Junior QB Aidan Chiles. The Bruins would make it all the way down to inside the Spartan 30 yard line on their next drive but would have to settle for a Mateen Bhaghani 47 yard field goal to make it a 7-3 game. Finally warming up to the challenge the UCLA defense forced a Michigan State turnover on downs their next possession at their own 34 yard line while attempting but failing to make a 4th and 1. It only took UCLA three plays from there to find the end zone and take a 10-7 lead on a 16 yard TD run by their Senior RB Jalen Berger. After holding the Spartans to a three-and-out to end the first quarter, the Bruins would score on back-to-back TD’s on either side of another four play turnover on downs by Michigan State and expanded their lead by fourteen points—now 24-7 where it ended up at the break after the Spartans punted twice and UCLA missed a 34 yard field goal.
With the Spartans losing their starting QB early in the period, the third quarter was more of the same for both teams with Michigan State unable to score on either of their possessions while the Bruins added two more TD’s to the scoreboard to go up 38-7 at the end of three. Michigan State finally got untracked a bit to start the 4th Qtr scoring on a 5 yard TD to Sophomore WR Nick Marsh from Freshman QB Alessio Milivojevic to make it a 38-13 game after failing to make a 2-point conversion. Although unable to add to the score UCLA ate up ten minutes of the clock on their next two possessions leaving the Spartan with little opportunity and hope of catching up. Nine plays into their second possession of the quarter the Spartans failed to a convert a 4th and 8 at the UCLA 42 yard line and had to hand it back over for the last time with the Bruins spending the final four minutes of the game running the clock out.
For UCLA, Sophomore QB Nico Iamaleava was 16-of-24 for 180 yards, 3 TD’s—2 to Senior RB Jalen Berger and the other to Titus Mokiao-Atimalala—and no interceptions. On the ground the Bruins rushed 43 times for 238 yards with Berger and Junior RB Jaivian Thomas leading the way while collectively carrying the ball 24 times for 143 of those yards and a TD each. For Michigan State, starting QB Aiden Chiles went 8-of-17 for 66 yards while his backup, Freshman Alessio Milivojevic was 8-of-18 for 100 yards, 1 TD to Sophomore WR Nick March, and no interceptions. On the ground the Spartans carried the ball 25 times for 87 yards with Chiles picking up their only rushing TD. UCLA led in first downs, 20-14; total yards of offense, 418-253; took risks successfully making all three of their 4th down conversion attempts; and once again had a significant advantage in time-of-possession—thirteen minutes! As the AP noted in their Takeaway section of the game recap for ESPN; “The Bruins continue to look like a completely different team since coach DeShaun Foster was fired Sept. 14. Over the last two weeks they beat then No. 7 Penn State at home and Michigan State on the road. After scoring 57 points in their first four games, they have totaled 80 points in the last two.” UCLA heads back home to take on Maryland this coming Saturday before taking on another huge challenge on the road against a No. 7 Indiana team that just beat Oregon in Autzen Stadium—not easy to do.
No. 7 Indiana at No. 3 Oregon
When 247Sports published the Top 10 list of Toughest Places to Play in College Football it didn’t surprise anyone that Oregon’s Autzen Stadium in Eugene was on that list in spite of the fact that it holds only about half the number of fans that Ohio State’s Shoe, Michigan’s Big House, or Penn State’s Beaver Stadium can hold. But as reported in the BuckeyesWire earlier this year when Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith—who has played in all four—was asked about playing in Autzen Stadium last year he said; “It was rockin’. Probably the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in. Their fans were definitely getting hype, crowd was — couldn’t hear anything.” This past Saturday No. 7 Indiana traveled to that environment as an eight point underdog and played like they owned the place, sacking Oregon’s QB Dante Moore six times and intercepting him twice while recording 8 tackles for loss and holding the Ducks running game to just 81 yards after they averaged 239 the last five games. These Hoosiers look like the real deal.
Sitting 4th and 1 at their own 46 yard line seven plays into their first drive of the game, Oregon would go for it but end up having to turn the ball over to Indiana who would draw first blood with a 42 yard field goal just 5 plays later to go up 3-0. After both teams were held to three-and-outs on their next possessions, the Ducks would go ahead 7-3 on a 44 yard TD pass from Sophomore QB Dante Moore to Senior WR Malik Benson. With just a little over five minutes left in the quarter Indiana would use pretty much all of it on a 9 play 75 yard drive ending with a 3 yard TD run by Senior RB Roman Hemby with time expiring to go back on top 10-7. Oregon would take the first six minutes of the 2nd Qtr running 12 plays, gaining 53 yards, and tying the game up at 10 each on a 40 yard field goal by their Senior Place Kicker Atticus Sappington. After two possessions leading to punts for Indiana and one of the same for Oregon in between, the Ducks would miss their next chance to go ahead on a rare Sappington 36 yard miss on a field goal attempt at the end of an 11 play 71 yard drive that bogged down in the Hoosier Red Zone with just 24 seconds left before the break. But with a 14 yard run and an 11 yard pass completion combined with a helpful Oregon pass interference penalty Indiana was able to get far enough down the field for their Senior Place Kicker Brendan Franke to split the uprights from 58 yards out to give the Hoosiers a 13-10 lead at the break.
Indiana would have the ball to start the 2nd half but the Oregon defense would hold them to a three-and-out on both of their first two possessions of the period while they were forced to punt on their first as well. On the Duck’s second hack at it in the 3rd Qtr they would tie the game back up again on another Sappington field goal—this one from 33 yards out to make it 13-13. But it wouldn’t stay tied for long as 9 plays and 75 yards later including a fumble recovery, a 22 yard pass completion, and a pass interference penalty by the Ducks inside the Red Zone, Senior RB Roman Hemby would run it into the end zone to put the Hoosiers up 20-13 at the end of three. Forced to punt after only six plays into their first drive of the 4th Qtr, Oregon would tie the score up at 20-20 on a pick six by Freshman DB Brandon Finney Jr. just three plays into Indiana’s. But those would be the last points the Ducks would put up on the board throwing back-to-back interceptions on their next two possessions on either side of an Indiana TD and field goal making it 30-20 final, losing their first game of the season and ending an 18 game nation leading at home win streak going back to 2022.
For Oregon, Sophomore Dante Moore connected on 21-of-34 for 186 yards, 1 TD to Senior WR Malik Benson, and 2 interceptions while also losing 27 yards on the ground. Collectively Oregon rushed 30 times for just 81 yards without ever finding the end zone. For Indiana, Junior QB Fernando Mendoza was 20-of-31 for 215 yards, 1 TD, and 1 pick while also rushing six times for 31 additional yards. Senior RB Roman Hemby led the way for the Hoosiers on the ground with more than half of the team’s 128 yard total on 19 carries to go along with both rushing TD’s. Indiana led in first downs, 23-14; total yards of offense, 326-267; had fewer turnover and led in time-of-possession.
Both coaches were pragmatic about the game afterwards. When asked the significance of the win for the Hoosier’s program Curt Cignetti said; “It depends on what we do with it from here . . . It’s a great win . . . and puts us in position if we can continue to be successful, which means we have to show up to work on Monday as a team, humble and hungry.” Lanning said; “ . . . that was a team loss, right? And their team played better than us. It wasn’t Dante. It was the whole group, the coaching staff [and] the players.” Oregon will pack up their disappointment and hit the road to take on Rutgers this coming Saturday while Indiana goes back home to host Michigan State. The win shot the Hoosiers up to the top of the standings in the Big Ten, followed by No. 1 Ohio State, newly ranked No. 20 USC in third with No. 8 Oregon right behind.
No. 15 Michigan at USC
Michigan came into the Coliseum averaging 237 yards on the ground and 3 rushing TD’s per game. As far as points go, they were averaging 32.8 while allowing just 16.2. But this past Saturday the Trojans flipped the script on them and beat the Wolverines 31-to-13. Without their starting left tackle and center and using a back-up walk-on RB in place of their two injured starters the Trojans rushed for 224 yards and 2 TD’s themselves while holding Michigan to just 109 yards on the ground and denying them the end zone for the first time this year as the D’Anton Lynn defense continues to reveal itself. Over the prior two years the Trojans’ third down conversion defense has improved from 106th nationally in 2023 to 18th in 2024. In this game, the Wolverines were only able to convert their third down attempts 22% of the time and failed both times when they went for it on 4th down.
There are rare moments in life where, for just a short bit of time, everything falls into place perfectly and that’s what the Trojan’s first drive felt like—it was as smooth as butter. A six minute mix of 5 runs for 23 yards and five passes for 50 yards plus a 2 yard TD pass to Junior WR J’Kobi Lane from QB Jayden Maiava to take an early 7-0 lead followed by a three-and-out by the Trojan defense. Unfortunately the Trojans’ next possession wasn’t as flawless as Senior TE Lake McCree fumbled the ball back over to Michigan at the end of a 21 yard pass reception with three minutes left in the 1st Qtr. But unable to capitalize on the opportunity, the Wolverines found themselves sitting 4th and 20 at the USC 43 yard line 11 plays later and had to punt it back after the start of the second period. In what was beginning to feel like a grind the Trojans would have to punt the ball back themselves just seven plays later stuck at 4th and 17 on their own 39 yard line. But then Michigan, except for a false start, would have a near perfect 6 minute 86 yard drive of their own to tie the score 7-7 on an 8 yard TD pass from Freshman QB Bryce Underwood to Senior WR Donaven McCulley. With three minutes left in the 2nd Qtr the Trojans drove downfield and took a 14-7 lead into the half on a dramatic over the head and falling backward TD pass and reception to a 5’ 11” Makai Lemon playing much taller than the 6’ 1” defensive back in his face.
The Trojans would hold the Wolverines to a three-and-out to start the second half and then extend their lead to 21-7 after a short punt on a 16 yard pass play by Maiava and a couple of spectacular runs by Freshman Walk-On RB King Miller—the first for 49 yards and the second for 15 yards into the end zone. After intercepting Michigan at the end of the 3rd Qtr., USC would add three more to start the 4th on a 54 yard field goal by their Freshman Punter Ryon Sayeri to go up 24-7. The Wolverines would close the gap by six and wake back up the still work-in-progress USC secondary on their next drive of just two plays including a 69 yard TD pass from Underwood to Freshman WR Andrew Marsh. After missing the 2-point conversion attempt it was 24-13 USC. Nine plays later with just a little over four minutes left in the game the Trojans would seal the deal on a 29 yard TD run by Sophomore RB Bryan Jackson to make it 31-13 and a wrap. USC Senior Safety Bishop Fitzgerald would add an exclamation point with an interception on Michigan’s last possession of the game.
For USC, Junior QB Jayden Maiava was 25-of-32 for 265 yards, 2 TD’s—1 each to Junior WR’s Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane—and 1 interception. On the ground, Freshman backup walk-on RB King Miller led the way with 18 carries for 158 of the team’s 224 yard total as well as 1 TD with the other picked up by Sophomore RB Byran Jackson. The defense recorded 3 sacks to none for Michigan with both responsible for 5 tackles for loss. For the Wolverines, Bryce Underwood was 15-of-24 for 207 yards, 2 TD’s, and 1 interception. On the ground, after averaging 280 yards over their last three game, they were held to just 109 yards—their lowest total for the season—and never found the end zone after picking up 13 rushing TD’s over those same three games.
As the great Los Angeles Times Bill Plaschke wrote after the game; “What was that noise? The Coliseum was as raucous as it’s been in several years, screaming with John Robinson strength and Pete Carroll power, sounding like the glory days again, and it made a difference.” Lincoln Riley added; “I would imagine a lot of people would say that’s what it used to feel like around here in the Coliseum. That was an epic atmosphere, the place was just on fire … you could just feel the impact of our crowd … you could feel the energy.” And at the end as Plascke wrote; “a kneel down, and a familiar chant. We are . . . SC. We are . . . SC.”