Nebraska at Colorado
According to ESPN Colorado Head Coach Mel Tucker had a simple message to his team at the half who were down 17-0 to Nebraska; “We’ve taken their best shot. Now, let’s go give them ours.” And boy did they ever. With Colorado QB Steven Montez connecting on 28 of 41 for 375 yards and 2 TD’s, added to another 2 TD’s on the ground provided by Freshman RB Jaren Mangham, and 10 more points courtesy of James Stefanou, Junior Place Kicker, who connected on all four extra points and two field goal attempts, one in overtime-the Buffaloes came all the way back in Bolder to upset No. 25 Nebraska at home 34-31 after the Cornhusker’s attempt at a 49 yard field goal to tie the score sailed wide to the right.
Nebraska was still ahead 17-7 at the start of the 4th Qtr when, with less than a minute gone, Steven Montez connected on a flea-flicker from down near his own end-zone for the longest touchdown in Buffalo history, 96 yards to Junior Wide Receiver K. D. Nixon putting Colorado back by only three points, 17-14. In what could have been a play that completely took that momentum back from Colorado, Nebraska gets that seven points back on the very next play after the kick-off, on a 75 yard TD from Nebraska QB Adrian Martinez to Maurice Washington, putting the Cornhuskers back up by 10, 24-14. Not to be denied, Colorado gets that seven points back in five plays and less than 2 minutes later which included a 57 yard pass by Montez to Jaylon Jackson and a 7 yard run into the end zone by Jaren Mangham which got the Buffaloes back to within three points. After a Nebraska fumble Colorado connects on a field goal to tie the score at 24 a piece. But it wasn’t over as Nebraska goes 75 yards in eight plays culminating in a 6 yard TD run by Martinez putting the Cornhuskers back into the lead 31-24. With less than four minutes remaining and down by seven, Montez completes 3 of 4 including a run for 1st down and a 26 yard strike to Tony Brown in the end zone and Colorado ties the score 31-31 on Stefanou’s PAT with less than a minute left in regulation.
Montez completes his first pass in overtime, a 14 yarder to Leviska Shenault Jr., but it was called back due to an ineligible receiver downfield and moves the Buffaloes back 5 yards to the 30 yard line for a 1st and 15. Colorado RB Alex Fontenot picks up 18 yards on a run and first down at the 12 yard line. But the drive stalls on a run that looses 5 yards and two incomplete passes. In comes James Stefanou who was perfect on the night for a 34 yard field goal that gave Colorado their first lead of the game—a lead that held up thanks to Colorado’s Junior DE Mustafa Johnson who picked up 3 sacks in the game including one in overtime which pushed Nebraska seven yards back-just out of reach for Nebraska’s 48 yard field goal attempt.
It was Colorado Head Coach Mel Tucker’s first game in his new home-what a great start! What a great start as well for his fellow Georgian Offensive Coordinator Jay Johnson who sent in the flea-flicker play to get things rolling at the start of the 4th Qtr. As Steven Montez was quoted as saying; “Talk about just the guts to call that on our own 4, I mean, just guts from Johnson to send that down to use and we got the exact coverage we wanted.” As ESPN noted, running back Alex Fontenot took the handoff near his own goal line, flipped it back to Montez who backpedaled several steps into his own end zone. Montez continues: “They thought we were going to hand it off and run it, so we hand it off, pitch back, K. D was screaming wide open so I just tried to give him a ball he can run with,” and run he did.
Colorado stays at home this coming Saturday, September 14th, to take on Air Force at 10:00am on the PAC12 Network and better hope they’re no where near as good as the Army Black Knights who had Michigan on the ropes until loosing 24-21 in the 2nd Overtime.
Sacramento State at Arizona State
One good thing about having a coach that’s been around the block a few times and with as much experience as Herm Edwards, they know how to make adjustments. After going almost scoreless in the first half against Sacramento State there was certainly plenty of room for the Arizona State Sun Devils to improve in their game at home against Sacramento State. Collectively the combined first half for both teams consisted of 7 punts, two fumbles, a turnover on downs, and finally a score-a 36 yard Field Goal by Christian Zendajas with less than 2 minutes left in the first half to put the Sun Devils up 3-0 going into the locker room.
Arizona State must have liked what they saw from Zendajas at the end of the first half because it became a theme for the Sun Devils moving forward as the 2nd Half started out punt, field goal, punt, field goal, punt, field goal with Arizona State being the recipient of all of those field goals, giving Zendajas four on the night plus an extra point for 13 of the points in Arizona State’s 19-7 victory over Sacramento State. If only they had more walk-ons like Zendajas as he has been responsible for 50% of their scoring the first two games of the season, 25 of the 49 points against Kent State and Sacramento State combined. What would they do without him?
It’s a serious question because other than the one possession at the end of the first half that led to their field goal, Arizona State averaged less than four plays and 14 yards in their five other possessions, all of which led to a punt or in one case a fumble. All against a Sacramento State Hornet’s team that ESPN pointed out ranked 115th in total defense last year-in the FCS. Coach Edwards did make some improvements during the break, not enough to make it into the end zone more than once, but enough to where they could get close enough for their talented kicker to bail them out. In the first four possessions of the 2nd half they were averaging 9 plays and 56 yards, three drives of which led to points on the board-quite an improvement.
It took all game long but Arizona State’s talented Junior RB, Eno Benjamin, finally got it going late in the 4th Qtr, but not on the ground, on a Jayden Daniel’s pass that he took 72 yards to the house to put the Sun Devils up 19-7 for what remained as the final score. For the game Daniel’s was 17 of 27 for 304 yards, 1 TD, and no interceptions while the Junior signal caller for Sacramento State, Kevin Thomson, completed 32 of 50 for 263 yard, 1 TD, and 1 pick. Neither side had much traction in the run game with Arizona State picking up 91 yards on 39 attempts and no rushing TD’s, an average of just over 2 yards per carry. The Hornets were even worse picking up only 42 yards on 23 attempts, less than 2 yards per carry.
With a road trip to No. 19 Michigan State next Saturday, September 14th, the Sun Devils will need to make a lot of improvements to the game they put on the field against Sacramento State if they expect to have any chance of making it out of Spartan Stadium with a victory.
Northern Arizona at Arizona
I’d like to get excited about Arizona exorcising their demons this past Saturday at home against Northern Arizona, beating them handily 65-41. But over the course of their first two outings the Wildcats are giving up on average 518 yards and 43 points per game in addition to being penalized in this game 11 times for 127 yards and 10 times for 88 yards the prior week against Hawaii-currently the only statistic they’re leading the conference in. It’s fortunate that they have UCLA and Oregon State on their schedule or it’s likely they wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning any conference games. Unless there’s a dramatic improvement in both Defense and discipline they will be fortunate to match their overall record of 5-7 last year and conference record of 4-5.
Back to the matter at hand. Arizona QB Kahlil Tate had a terrific, but short game, connecting on over 80% of his passes (14 of 17) for 138 yards, 2 TD’s and no interceptions before being replaced by Freshman Grant Gunnell about mid-way through the 2nd Qtr who was equally as efficient and mistake free connecting on 9 of 11 for 151 yards and 3 more TD’s. The Wildcats had equal success on the ground rushing 46 times for 431 yards with Freshman RB Darius Smith and Junior RB’s Gary Brightwell and J. J. Taylor picking up 327 of those yards as well as 3 of the 4 rushing TD’s for Arizona.
On the other side of the ball Northern Arizona QB Case Cooks was 28 of 48 for 373 and 2 TD’s but also threw 2 picks, both of which led to Arizona TD’s. In the ground game they had a committee of five guys who handled the ball multiple times and although they only averaged 2.5 yards per carry for a total of 69 yards, they did get into the end zone 3 times. Collectively Northern Arizona score twice as many points as Arizona in the second half, 28-14, but the Wildcats had already amassed a 51-13 lead going into the half so the result was too little too late.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders who for my money have the best mascot in college football, The Masked Rider who rides a live horse, hits the road this coming weekend to take on the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson on Saturday, September 14th, at 7:30pm on ESPN.
Northern Illinois at Utah
After connecting on 13 of 16 the prior week, Utah QB Tyler Huntley was almost as efficient in their 35-17 victory at home against Northern Illinois connecting on 14 of 19 for 214 yards and 1 TD. The Utes really had it going on the ground rushing 37 times for 193 yards and 4 TD’s outpacing Northern Illinois in Total Offense by over 100 yards with a combined total of 407 yards. The Utah Defense picked up 4 sacks and 6 tackles for loss holding Northern Illinois to just 69 yards of offense in the 2nd half.
In an interesting story chronicled by ESPN in their write-up of the game; “Four years ago, three talented players from Hallandale High School in the Miami area became enchanted with the mountains of Utah. Now the group, who has been dubbed the Hallandale Trio, has the Utes poised to reach new heights.” Those three guys, Tyler Huntley, Zack Moss, and Demari Simpkins all scored rushing TD’s in the win over the Huskies on Saturday. As ESPN continues; “Moss who rushed for 80 yards and scored twice, had a chance to go in the NFL draft but wanted to come back and see what he and his teammates, especially his childhood friends, could do this season. It was really cool to see us all get into the end zone, Moss said.” Head Coach Whittingham has nothing but praise for the “Hallandale Trio,” saying after the game; “Those three guys are terrific. They have been just great teammates and great team players since they got here. They are disciplined, . . . talented, . . .work hard, [and] are all graduating this December. They have done everything we have hoped they would and more since they have been here.”
If you remember from my preseason post Utah is the media’s choice to win the PAC-12. So far so good and have been, through two games anyway, a team that is not going to beat itself with zero turnovers and only one penalty combined through Week 2. The Utes finish out their preseason at home hosting the Idaho State Bengals this coming Saturday, September 14th, at 1:15pm on the PAC-12 Network followed by a quick trip to the Los Angeles Coliseum to take on the upstart USC Trojans on Friday, September 20th, at 6:00pm in a game with important implications in the PAC-12 South.
San Diego State at UCLA
These are tough times for UCLA fans and one wonders if it can get any worse and all I can say is yes-a lot worse-as No. 5 Oklahoma is on their way to the Rose Bowl to take on the Bruins this coming Saturday, September 14th, at 5:00pm on FOX. Between San Diego State’s 3 sacks, 10 tackles for loss and UCLA’s 4 fumbles, 1 interception, 16 missed tackles, and secondary coverage, or lack thereof allowing almost 300 yards in the air, UCLA didn’t really even give themselves a chance to win against an opponent that hadn’t beaten them in over 20 years.
Aztec’s QB Ryan Agnew passed for 293 yards (a career high) 1 TD, and no picks, with 139 of those yards as well as the score collected by Sophomore WR Kobe Smith. Although they didn’t generate much of a running game, just 80 yards on 47 carries with 1 TD, it was still more yards than the Bruins could muster, a pathetic 62 yards on 32 tries-less than 2 yards per carry. I mean can’t you just take one step and fall forward and pick up more yards than that? San Diego State added on an additional three field goals and 2 PATs by their place kicker Matt Araiza who was perfect on the night and that’s all the scoring the Aztec’s needed to take home a 23-14 victory.
UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson had a fairly efficient game connecting on 24 of 35 for 1 tick shy of 200 yards, 1 TD, and no interceptions while spreading the ball around to 8 different receivers with 5 of those having multiple receptions. But he also accounted for two of the four fumbles. All toll in the first two games UCLA has fumbled the ball six times and thrown it away three times. Add to that a shit load of missed tackles as well as just doing stupid stuff including as UCLA Head Coach Chip Kelly noted; “two pass interference penalties on third-and-long plays that allowed the Aztecs to extend drives, not to mention secondary coverage breakdowns and struggle protecting [the] quarterback.”
Well, at least there won’t be a lot of UCLA fans to suffer through the massacre as their attendance in the Rose Bowl continues to plummet going from an average of 67,459 in 2016 to 51,154 last year. Saturday’s game against the Aztec’s brought in less than 37,000 fans to a stadium that holds 92,000+ Sadly, if there are a lot of folks that do show up they will probably be there to see the opponent, not the home team. Although Head Coach Chip Kelly is 0-5 in non-conference games so far in his tenure at UCLA I don’t think he belongs on my Dead Pool List of Coaches that won’t return next year. I could be very wrong, but I do think he’ll get three years to turn things around. After their game at home against Michigan they start conference play on the road in Pullman playing the Washington State Cougars who are averaging 58.5 points a game-yikes!