Tag Archives: Marcus Lattimore

What We Learned Week 3

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  • Geno Smith went to complete 34 of 39 passes for 411 yards, moving past Marc Bulger (8,153) to set the school record for career yards passing (8,191).  He also has thrown for 734 yards and nine touchdowns. All while only throwing nine incompletions in two weeks.  Yes, the same number of incompletions as touchdowns.  Just like RG3 last year. Continue reading →

What We Learned…Week Two

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  • Utah State broke a 12 game losing streak to in-state rival Utah.  The Aggies hadn’t beaten Utah since 1997, and not in Logan since 1996.
  • With it’s win over UConn, NC State is now 9-1 in weeks after a loss, ranging back to 2010
  • Minnesota scored 16 points in the first quarter against New Hampshire. The Golden Gophers hadn’t scored that many points in the opening quarter since 2005 (20 points vs Florida Atlantic). Last season, Minnesota only scored more points once all last season (20 points in second quarter of season finale against Illinois.
  • The last Ohio State quarterback to rush for three touchdowns in a game was Art Schlichter against Illinois in 1978.  Braxton Miller did it Saturday.
  • Penn State starts 0-2 for first time since 2001 and just the 5th time in the last 45 years.
  • Before Sam Ficken went 1-for-5 on field goals for Penn State, the last player to miss four-or-more FG in one game was Josh Zahn of UAB. Zahn was 2-for-7 at Tennessee on 9/25/2010.
  • Auburn “accumulated” -2 pass yards in the first half at Mississippi State. The Tigers are the second team this season to have negative pass yards in a half; Northern Illinois netted -1 pass yard in the second half vs Iowa last weekend. The Tigers last had negative pass yards in a half in 2005, when they had -2 pass yards in the second half vs Alabama.
  • Mississippi State’s win included numerous firsts. The victory broke a string of unsavory trends for the Bulldogs. They had lost 10 out of the last 11 against Auburn — including four straight — and hadn’t won an SEC opener since 1999.  It was also coach Dan Mullen’s first victory against the SEC Western Division’s best four teams. He was 0-12 combined against Alabama, LSU, Arkansas and Auburn until Saturday’s breakthrough.
  • Miami started playing games in 1926, but Saturday’s loss was just the sixth time that the U ever allowed 50 points in a game.
  • Collin Klein now has 5 career games with at least 3 rush TD and 1 pass TD. Since 2000, that is the most of any FBS player.
  • Marcus Lattimore records his 33rd career TD (30 Rush, 3 Rec), tying the school record by George Rogers and Harold Green.  He has played in only 22 games.
  • Clemson’s DeAndre Hopkins is the first player this season with three receiving touchdowns in a game this season, and he did it before halftime. The last player with three receiving touchdowns in a half? West Virginia’s Tavon Austin, who did so in the first half against Clemson in the Orange Bowl.
  • Second straight year the Sacramento State Hornets have beaten a Pac-12 opponent on the road in the last play of the game.  They defeated Oregon State last season.
  • Through two games this season, Notre Dame has turned the ball over just twice, eight fewer than the 10 turnovers the Irish committed at this point last season.
  • Denard Robinson finished with his 3rd career game with at least 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. That’s the most of any FBS player since 2000.. one more than Vince Young had.
  • Denard Robinson is the 4th player in FBS this season with multiple 50-yd Rush TD in the same game, joining Duke Johnson, Davon Johnson, and Johnathan Franklin. He is the only Michigan player to do it since at least 2004. Robinson’s longest run in Week 1 against Alabama was 9\nine yards.
  • Denard Robinson now has three career rushing TD of at least 70 yards. That is tied for the most among all active FBS players.
  • Matt Barkley passed for 187 yards and 6 TD, becoming the first FBS player since at least 2000 to have 6+ pass TD and fewer than 200 passing yards in a game.
  • If it seems that no lead is safe in college football, the schools on this list can surely relate. Texas A&M, Memphis, Kansas and Nevada all blew halftime leads on Saturday and are among the the teams that have seen the most halftime leads evaporate since the start of the 2011 season.
  • Florida stepped up its defense after halftime Saturday. Texas A&M averaged 5.8 yards per play in the first half with 28.3 percent of its plays gaining 10 yards or more. In the second half, the Aggies averaged 2.8 yards per play, and managed just one play that gained 10 yards or more. All six of Texas A&M’s second-half drives ended in punts, including four “3 & outs.” The Aggies had no punts in the first half.
  • For a second straight week, Michigan State held an opponent without an offensive touchdown.  The only two touchdowns the Spartans have allowed this season have some on interception returns.
  • Iowa State beat Iowa 9-6 for its first win in Iowa City in 10 years.
  • This was Iowa’s first loss under Kirk Ferentz when they held a team to fewer than 10 points. Before today, they had been 33-0 in such games.  Iowa State didn’t score in the second half.
  • Wisconsin’s last regular season non-conference loss came in 2003 at home against UNLV. It’s last regular season non-conference ROAD loss came in 2001 at Oregon.
  • With Wisconsin’s, Nebraska’s and Illinois’ losses to Pac-12 teams, Big Ten schools are 5-26-1 at Pac-12 schools since 1993 (the year Penn State joined the Big Ten).
  • After showing some signs of rust last week in a 35-21 victory over North Carolina State, Jimmy Hunter caught three touchdowns — the first time since 2003 that a Tennessee receiver ended up with that many in a single game.
  • Tennessee exceeded the 500-yard mark in total offense for a second straight week. The Vols hadn’t gained 500 yards in back-to-back games since 2000.
  • The win is Louisiana-Monroe’s first over a ranked team since joining the FBS in 1994, and it is the school’s first over an SEC team since defeating Alabama in 2007.  The Warhawks are 4-34 against the SEC, with their only other win coming against Mississippi State in 1995.
  • It is also the Sun Belt Conference’s first win over a top 10 team.
  • Six players ran for touchdowns as Georgia Tech (1-1) had 712 total yards, the second-highest total in school history, including 469 yards rushing. The Yellow Jackets had a school-record 768 yards in a 66-24 rout of Kansas in 2011.
  • LSU has won 39 straight against non-conference opponents in the regular season, tying a Football Bowl Subdivision record first set by Kansas State. Next weekend, the Tigers play Idaho, another non-conference opponent, and the game is at home, where LSU has won 19 straight.
  • Mississippi defeated Texas-El Paso 28-10, improving to 2-0 for only the second time in 10 seasons.
  • The Bowling Green Falcons improved to 4-0 in season openers under head coach Dave Clawson.
  • The Ohio Bobcats (2-0), who opened with a win over Penn State, have won eight of nine dating back to last season.
  • Damien Williams’ rushing total of 156 yards was the most for a player in his first game at the Sooners’ home field, and he became only the fourth player at the school to eclipse 100 yards rushing in each of his first two games. Adrian Peterson was the last to do it, in 2004.
  • Casey Pachall and Trevone Boykin combined to complete all 17 passes for TCU — the most in FBS history without an incompletion.
  • Gary Patterson was presented a crystal ball in recognition of his 110th career victory — one more than former school-record holder Dutch Meyer, who led the Frogs to their only AP national championship in 1938. Patterson is 110-30 overall with 10 shutout victories one game into his 12th season.
  • Houston and Louisiana Tech combined for 1,291 yards of offense and 78 first downs in a game that lasted four hours and eight minutes.
  • SMU intercepted seven passes and recovered two fumbles by Stephen F. Austin.
  • Northern Arizona’s win over UNLV was Northern Arizona’s (1-1) first win over an FBS team in 25 years.
  • Oklahoma State freshman Wes Lunt threw for 436 yards, fourth-most in school history and the Big 12 record for a freshman, and connected with Tracy Moore for four touchdown passes

What we learned Week 1: Thursday edition

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College football officially started Thursday, August 30th with some good games and some not so good games.  Let’s take a look at some quirky stuff…

  • South Carolina has played on the first Thursday of the season six times (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012) in the Steve Spurrier era.  They have won all six.
  • South Carolina is now 9-0 when Marcus Lattimore has at least 100 rushing yards.
  • South Carolina turned the ball over twice in its first three plays from scrimmage. The Gamecocks only turned the ball over twice during their four-game win streak to finish the 2011 season.
  • Marcus Lattimore fumbled on his first carry of the season. In his first two seasons at South Carolina, he only fumbled three times on 412 carries.
  • Connor Shaw has won nine of his 10 starts for the Gamecocks.
  • Akron coach Terry Bowden made his return to major college football, 19 years after his run ended at Auburn.  Unfortunately for Bowden and the Zips, UCF defeated them handily, 56-14.
  • Jahwan Edwards, a sophomore, ran for a career-high 200 yards and tied a career-best three touchdowns in Ball State’s win over Eastern Michigan.  His previous high was 123 yards last year against Ohio on October 15th.
  • Andre Parker, a linebacker at Kent State, made a name for himself Thursday night in the Golden Flashes win over Towson.  Parker returned a muffed punt 58 yards…in the wrong direction.  He ran it towards his own end zone, but the crazy part was instead of letting him go all the way for a safety, Towson tackled Parker out of bounds.  The ball was brought back to the place of the muff, Towson’s seven-yard line.
  • Utah set a Rice-Eccles Stadium record with a 21-play, 91-yard drive that consumed 10:42 and culminated with a Jordan Wynn-to-Jake Murphy 8-yard touchdown connection.
  • The Utah 41-0 win over Northern Colorado marked the Utes’ first shutout victory since beating Wyoming 50-0 in 2007.
  • Connecticut’s defense dominated their game, holding UMass to just 59 yards of offense and limiting the Minutemen to three first downs. UMass did not have an offensive snap in UConn territory.  UMass never got its offense started, averaging just over 1 yard per play, and failing to get a first down until just 34 seconds before halftime.
  • The game was the first between Football Bowl Subdivision programs from New England since 2004, when UConn faced Boston College.  This was UMass’ first game as a FBS member.
  • Rice linebacker Cameron Nwosu blocked three extra-point attempts in the first half, breaking the NCAA single-game record for blocked PATs.
  • All four of UCLA’s first-half offensive touchdowns were scored on drives that lasted less than a minute. Last year, the Bruins only had six touchdown drives that were that quick all season.
  • UCLA has two 70+ yard touchdown runs in the first quarter at Rice. Last season, the Bruins only had one play of 70+ yards all season (and no runs longer than 42 yards).
  • McNeese State recorded its first win against an FBS school since 2001 when it beat Middle Tennessee 27-21 Thursday.
  • Eastern Washington’s 20-3 win over Idaho was their first over an FBS opponent since 2003, when it coincidentally defeated Idaho as well, 8-5.
  • Despite only gaining 42 yards on their four third quarter possessions, UNLV was able to take a 10-7 lead on Minnesota into the fourth quarter.  The Rebels’ first two drives resulted in zero yards, their third nine yards and the scoring drive 33.
  • After each scoring only 13 points in regulation, Minnesota and UNLV scored 17 and 14 points, respectively, in three overtimes in a Gopher 30-27 3 OT win.
  • Arizona State outgained Northern Arizona  346-79 in the first half.
  • In his starting debut, Taylor Kelly completed 15-of-19 passes for 247 yards
  • Washington State managed -5 rushing yards against BYU
  • At Texas Tech, Mike Leach’s teams averaged more than 37 points per game for 10 seasons. Washington State scored just 6 in Leach’s debut. That’s the fewest points a Mike Leach team has scored since scoring 6 in a loss at Colorado in 2006 and tied for the 3rd-fewest overall.

>Weekend Observations

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  • Northwestern continues to be Iowa’s kryptonite, winning five of the last six meetings.  Unfortunately, the Wildcats lost QB Dan Persa for the season after he threw the game winning pass.  He ruptured his Achilles and is out for the season.  
  • Wisconsin scored 11 touchdowns against Indiana, the most in Wisconsin history and the second-most by a Big Ten team since World War II.   The Badgers rolled up 83 points, the most Wisconsin has scored in a Big Ten game and tied for the third-most points scored in a Big Ten game. It was the most points scored by any team in a Big Ten game since Ohio State scored 83 against Iowa in 1950.
  • Cameron Gordon’s 58-yd fumble return was the first defensive TD of the season for Michigan, whose defense ranked 114th (out of 120 teams) in yardage entering the game. Ryan Kerrigan set Big Ten and school records for career fumbles forced, with 14.
  • The win against Ole Miss snapped Tennessee’s six-game losing streak against SEC West opponents.  The Vols have never gone a season without an SEC win and have won at least three conference games every season since 1977.
  • Wake Forest (2-8, 1-6) lost its eighth straight game, its longest slide since dropping its last 10 in 1978.
  • Army became bowl eligible for the first time in 14 years. The Black Knights (6-4) continued their best season since going 10-2 in 1996 — they were 35-115 over the next 13 years. All three service academies have winning records now, and only twice since 1960 have all three finished above .500: in 1963, Army was 7-3, Air Force 7-4 and Navy 9-2, and in 1996 it was Army at 10-2, Navy at 9-3 and Air Force at 6-5.
  •  The Orange finished the regular season 4-0 on the road in Big East play and are bowl-eligible for the first time since 2004. And with a road win at Akron, Syracuse has five true road wins in a season for the first time since 1992.  At 7-3 (with two regular-season home games left and a possible bowl game), the Orange are guaranteed to have their first winning season since 2001, when they finished 10-3.  Doug Marrone now has more wins in less than two seasons at Syracuse (11) than Greg Robinson had in four seasons (10).
  • Ryan Broyles caught three TDs and now has 32 TD receptions in his career, most in school history.  
  • Washington State snapped a 16-game conference losing streak with a 31-14 win over Oregon State.It was the Cougars’ first Pac-10 win since a 16-13 overtime victory against Washington in the 2008 Apple Cup. 
  • South Carolina won for the second time in 19 tries against Florida, snapped an 0-for-12 streak in Gainesville and earned a spot in the league title game for the first time since joining the SEC in 1992. The Gators lost to a division opponent for the first time in 17 games, dropped their third consecutive home game and proved they didn’t deserve to play for a championship. It’s the program’s first three-game losing streak at home since 1989. Marcus Lattimore had the ninth 200-yd rushing game in South Carolina history; 1st since 2000 and 1st in SEC play.
  • Oklahoma State ended a 12-year losing streak to Texas with a 33-16 victory Saturday night. Oklahoma State won four straight road games for the first time since 1985. The Longhorns lost for the fourth time at home this year to equal the total amount of home losses for Texas since 2000. Texas lost four straight home games in the same season for the first time since 1956. Texas needs to win each of its final two games to become bowl eligible. It has not missed a bowl since 1997 and if they don’t make a bowl, it will be the first time in the BCS era that a team playing in the title game doesn’t make a bowl the following season. 

    >Week 2 Observations

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    >Week Two was one that many had circled on their calendars because of some of the perceived “big-time” matchups.  But more about those later.  Some of the earlier games turned out to be pretty good.

    • West Virginia provided for the first drama of the weekend when they faced off with in-state rival Marshall.  Down 21-6 with six minutes left, the Mountaineers rallied for a 24-21 OT win.  They scored the game-tying touchdown and two-point conversion with 12 seconds left in regulation.  
    •  Minnesota continued to struggle with teams from the FCS, as they lost to South Dakota 41-38.  Junior Dante Walker, making only his second start at quarterback for the Coyotes, accounted for 433 yards, three passing touchdowns and two more rushing for South Dakota, which is just in its third year as an FCS program.
    • A week after being upset by North Dakota State, Kansas needed to bounce back against Georgia Tech.  And bounce back they did, as the Jayhawks hung on for a 28-25 home win.  The win snapped an eight-game losing streak.  Freshman QB Jordan Webb threw for 179 yards, three TDs, and one interception in his first career start, while freshman RB James Sims ran for 101 yards and a TD in his college debut. 
    • Last week, I told you to watch out for stud freshman Marcus Lattimore.  Well, he more than lived up to the hype in South Carolina’s 17-6 win vs. Georgia.  He rushed the ball an astounding 37 times for 182 yards and two touchdowns.  Welcome to the SEC.
    • The biggest upset of the week belonged to James Madison who upset Virginia Tech 21-16.  The win against the Hokies, the team’s second loss in five days, is just the second win for a lower-level opponent against a ranked team.  Quarterback Drew Dudzik led the Dukes with two rushing touchdowns and also threw a 77-yard bomb for the team’s first score.
    • Michigan-Notre Dame is the one prime game that actually ended up being pretty good, going down to the last seconds.  Denard Robinson continues to look like the real deal, but might need to not carry the ball as much.  He finished the game with a QB – school record 502 yards total offensive yards, including 252 rushing yards on 28 carries.  He also happened to score with 27 seconds remaining to win the game and earlier had the longest run in Notre Dame Stadium history, an 87-yard touchdown.
    • Ohio State-Miami was supposed to be one of the big games.  Well, it got a little out of hand, thanks to Jacory Harris’ four interceptions.   OSU used a 33-10 outburst in the second and third quarters to erase a 7-3 deficit after one quarter.  Terrelle Pryor threw for 233 yards and a TD and ran for 113 yards and a TD as the Buckeyes improved to 27-2 at home under Jim Tressel against nonconference opponents. Dating back to last season, Harris has five touchdowns and 12 interceptions in the Hurricanes’ last five losses. 
    • Florida State also  laid down a big one as they came to Oklahoma and got throttled by the Sooners 47-17.  It was 44-7 after three quarters.  Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones threw for 380 yards and four touchdowns against a defense coached by his coaches brother, Mark Stoops.  The Sooners won their 32nd straight game at Owen Field, extending the nation’s longest home winning streak.  Jones finished 30 for 40 without an interception. His 321 yards by halftime were the second-most in a half in Oklahoma history, behind only 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford’s 350 in the first half of a 79-10 blowout against North Texas in the 2007 season opener.
    • Mark Ingram missed his second straight game, but Alabama didn’t miss a beat yet again, as they beat visiting Penn State 24-3.  Trent Richardson bruised the Nittany Lion defense Saturday night, gaining 93 of his 144 rushing yards after contact with a defender.  He also had a touchdown.  Freshman quarterback Robert Bolden struggled in his first road start, completing 13-of-29 passes for 144 yards and two interceptions. 

    >College Football Week 1 Observations

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    • SEC teams better be very, very scared.  South Carolina’s Marcus Lattimore looks like he is the real deal.  Yes, he rushed 14 times for only 54 yards, but his two touchdowns and the speed he showed coming off of his rushes will be something that Gamecock fans should get used to.  The schedule gets harder than Southern Miss, but he looks as if he can live up to his high ranking he was given coming out of high school.
    • Utah won its 18th straight game and continually looks as if will be a force to reckoned with as they prepare for their exodus to the Pac 10.  Their upset win over Pittsburgh showed again how stout their defense might be.  However, if the Utes are to continue winning, they will need to learn to be able to keep a lead.
    • USC looks as if will be dominant again of offense, but their defense looked suspect against a mediocre Hawaii team.  While the offense set records, the defense gave up 588 yards, which was even more than the Trojans gained (544).  Matt Barkley went 18-for-23 for 257 yards and five touchdowns and no interceptions.  Marc Tyler overtook Allen Bradford for the running back spot and showed he was worth the promotion after rushing for 154 yards on 17 carries.  
    • The Illinois-Missouri game turned out to be better than expected.  Illini QB Nathan Scheelhaase looks legit and had an impressive debut in his first ever collegiate game.  His running ability will be something opponents will have to watch out for, as he has speed and moves like a running back or wide receiver.  Missouri quarterback recovered from a slow start and looked very impressive, completing 34-of-48 passes for 281 yards.  Receiver T.J. Moe looks like he might be the next in a long line of successful wide outs for the Tigers.
    •  Florida looks as if it might still have some kinks to work out.  Their offense looked dreadful against a MAC team that won a total of two games last year.  They had only 44 yards through three quarters.  
    •  Robert Bolden, Penn State’s first freshman starting quarterback since 1992, had a very impressive debut, completing 20-of-29 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns.  He will have a tougher matchup this week though, as the Nittany Lions face off with Alabama.
    •  Sophomore Denard Robinson made his first game as a starter a memorable one, becoming the sixth quarterback since 2005 to run and throw for 185 yards or more.  His 197 rushing yards were the most ever by a Michigan quarterback in a single game.  His style of play looks to fit more of Rich Rodriguez’s style than last year’s starter Tate Forcier.