Tag Archives: TCU

College Baseball Games of the Week 2/15-2/17

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Stony Brook vs. FIU

Stony Brook: Most times this would seem like an odd series to be listed in a top matchup list, but after last season’s miraculous Stony Brook run to the College World Series, the Seawolves are back to prove last year’s success wasn’t a fluke. This year won’t be as easy, however, as Stony Brook had seven players drafted in the Major League Baseball Draft, including five in the first 12 rounds. Outfielder Steve Goldstein returns as the leading hitter after hitting for a .337 average and a returning high of four home runs. He’ll be joined by infielder Kevin Courtney, who also hit four home runs and drove in 38 RBIs. Catcher Kevin Krause hit .330 IN 61 games, while knocking in 40 RBIs. Continue reading →

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

Week 2 Observations

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  • Brandon Weeden rewrote the Oklahoma State record book against Arizona with 42 completions on 53 pass attempts. He finished with 397 passing yards, narrowly missed throwing for 400 yards for the 4th time in his career. Continue reading →

>Rose Bowl

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>TCU vs. Wisconsin

  
   TCU didn’t get to prove it deserved to play for the BCS title. A victory over Wisconsin in the Granddaddy of Them All could go a long way toward showing that it should have.

   The third-ranked Horned Frogs, owners of the nation’s top defense, face a No. 4 Badgers team that reached the 70-point mark three times this season in the 97th Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.

   The Frogs, who went undefeated for the second straight regular season, will make their first appearance in perhaps the most prestigious and storied bowl in college football.  TCU gets to play in Pasadena over a Pac-10 team — the traditional selection to face the Big Ten representative — because the Rose Bowl was obligated this year to select a team from a non-automatic BCS qualifying conference if one was eligible and not playing in the title game.

   TCU is allowing averages of 11.4 points, 126.3 passing yards and 215.4 total yards — all tops in the FBS — and 89.2 rushing yards, third-fewest in the country. The Frogs’ speedy defense, though, should receive its biggest test of the season from the Badgers (11-1), who are tied for fourth in the nation with 43.3 points per game — same as TCU.

    Scott Tolzien has passed for 2,300 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 74.3 percent of his throws — best in the country.
    
   For TCU to keep the Badgers from an eighth straight win — Wisconsin’s seven consecutive victories have come by 26.1 points — it will have to stop a trio of running backs that has piled up nearly 2,900 yards on the ground.  James White (1,029), John Clay (936) and Montee Ball (864) running behind six All-Big Ten offensive linemen proved far too much for opponents to handle.

   TCU QB Andy Dalton is a 41-game winner as a starter. The senior has thrown for 2,638 yards, 26 touchdowns and six interceptions while running for 407 yards and five TDs this season.
Ed Wesley paces the nation’s 12th-ranked rushing attack with 1,065 yards, while Matthew Tucker ran for 694.

   Josh Boyce leads the team in receiving yards with 602 on 33 catches and has six touchdowns, while Jeremy Kerley has 50 catches for 517 yards and 10 scores.  

Prediction: TCU shows it should have gotten a chance to play for the title by shutting down Wisconsin and winning 42-14.

>Weekend Preview

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>Wow talk about a lot of awesome games between ranked teams!

Big Ten games

Illinois @ Michigan

Both teams come in at 5-3, so a win earns them bowl eligibility.  The road game starts a streak of three away games in the Illinois’ last four contests.  Quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase is coming off of a week which saw him be named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and Freshman of the Week.  He completed 16-of-20 passes for 195 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for 118 yards on 21 carries.

After starting the season 5-0, the Wolverines have lost their last three contests, with all being Big Ten games.  They’ll be looking to get back on the saddle against the Illini and as always, will look for Denard Robinson to lead them.

Illinois wins if…Scheelhaase plays as well as he has been lately.  He seems to be flourishing as he becomes more comfortable in the college game.  If they stop Robinson, they have a real chance of leaving with a win.

Michigan wins if…it shuts down the Illinois running game and it goes back to what was working the first five games of the year.

Northwestern @ Penn State

Joe Paterno can join John Gagliardi and Eddie Robinson as the only college football coaches to record 400 career victories, and he can become the first man in Division I-A/FBS history to do so.  Who will they choose as their quarterback tho?  Rob Bolden is back from a concussion, but Matt McGloin did well in his first start.  Rumor is both will play.

Dan Persa, on the other hand, is coming back home.  Growing up a Penn State fan and going to games at Beaver Stadium, he had grown up wanting to play for the Nittany Lions, but was passed up in the recruiting game.  It will be his first start in State College and it comes at a time where the ‘Cats are looking to get their mojo back.

Penn Stats wins if...it doesn;t let the thought of Paterno’s 400th win get in the way.  Choosing a quarterback is vital too.  Both are good, but who will take the reigns. 

Northwestern wins if…Persa is Persa.  He was amazing for most of the Indiana game, but then suffered what seemed like a concussion.  If he is over that and the emotions of his homecoming don’t take over, the Wildcats might n Paterno’s quest for 400.

National Games

TCU @ Utah

3 vs. 5. Last time the two will face as Mountain West foes. Undefeated. Chances at a National Title.  That’s all that’s at stake in the game between these bitter rivals.  It’s the Mountain West’s premier matchup, the first on league history pitting two ranked top-10 teams and one that will go a long way in deciding not only a conference champion but also who will remain a potential BCS buster.  TCU has never won in three trips to Salt Lake City, including a 13-10 loss in 2008 that eventually propelled the Utes to a BCS bowl game — knocking off Alabama in the Sugar — and landing the Frogs in the Poinsettia Bowl, where they beat Boise State.

The Frogs are averaging nearly 41 ppg, while the Utes nearly 46.  TCU has the top-ranked defense in the nation and is giving up just eight points per game.  They’ve given up 16 points total in the last five games.  They will have to shut down a Utes team that averages 450 yards per game.  Oh yea, their defense is pretty good too.

TCU wins if...it shuts down the dynamic Utah offense.  Their defense is tops in the nation, but their offense is just as great.  Led by Andy Dalton, the team has been whooping everybody all year.

Utah wins if…it can score.  They boast a good defense too and if they can stop the Horned Frogs, they might walk away with a win.

>College Football Week 8 Observations

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  • Oregon just continues to impress everybody.  The team is averaging 55 points per game, tops in the nation.  In four home games this season, the Ducks are averaging 63 points per game, while giving up 11.  They have outscored their opponents with 33 touchdowns to five, are averaging 649 yards per game to their opponents’ 263 and rushing for more than seven yards per carry, compared to 2.8
  • With its win over West Virginia, Syracuse is 5-2 for the first time since 2001. West Virginia’s 12-game home winning streak came to an end — it was its longest home win streak since a 12-game run from 1987-89.  Syracuse threw for 63 yards but ended its eight-game losing streak vs. West Virginia.
  • It seems as if nobody wants to be the top-ranked team in the nation this year.  According to the BCS standings, Oklahoma came into this weekend’s game against Missouri as the top team.  But just as Alabama and Ohio State, the top-ranked teams the past two weeks, the Sooners couldn’t escape Columbia without a loss.  For the third time in the BCS era, the team that debuts as No. 1 in initial BCS Standings loses that same week. The Sooners were involved in all 3 games. Sunday will mark the 5th time in the BCS era that we will have a new No. 1 in week 2 of the BCS standings. In 1998 (UCLA) and 2005 (USC), the No. 1 team dropped without losing.
  • It was a weekend of firsts for Missouri.  For the first time ever, ESPN College GameDay was in Columbia.  Coach Gary Pinkel won his first game against either Oklahoma or Texas (he had been 0-7 against OU).  The fans helped the school skyrocket to the top of three GameDay lists: most people ever on the Saturday morning (18,000), most people ever on the Friday taping (2,000-3,000) and the most signs the crew had seen.  But this win was more than just a win over the Sooners.  It was one for the past, present and future of Tiger Nation.
  • Kirk Cousins threw for a season-high 331 yards and three touchdowns, and Michigan State rallied to beat Northwestern 35-27 and remain unbeaten on Saturday. Playing out of state for the first time this season, the Spartans scored 28 points in another strong second half.  Coach Mark Dantonio was back on the sideline after working the previous two games from the press box following his mild heart attack last month.
  • Saturday’s 49-0 win over Purdue is the largest shut out victory for Ohio State against the Boilermakers. It is the 12th time Ohio State has shut out Purdue, and first time since 1995 when the Buckeyes won 28-0.  Last year in a loss to Purdue, Terrelle Pryor had 221 pass yards, a TD and 2 int. In the FIRST HALF, he had 270 pass yards and 3 TD
  • Alexander Robinson rushed for 119 yards and two scores as Iowa State held on for its first win over Texas.  Texas is 4-3 and would need to win the Big 12 championship game or bowl game to extend its 10-win season streak to 10 straight. 
  • Illinois is within two wins of qualifying for a bowl game and ending their two-year bowl drought.  A bowl might be good enough to save coach Ron Zook’s job
  • Navy has won three of the last four vs. Notre Dame after losing its previous 43 vs. the Irish dating back to 1964.  Navy’s 18-pt win is its largest over Notre Dame since the Midshipmen won by 21 47 years ago. The largest is 21, a 35-14 win in 1963. That was the last win before a 43-game losing streak to Notre Dame that ended in 2007.
  • Arkansas won in a game that took nearly five hours thanks to two lightning delays. Arkansas back Knile Davis ran for a career-high 176 yards and three TDs.  Houston Nutt failed to beat his old team for the first time in three tries.  The Razorbacks are 9-2 all-time vs. Ole Miss in Fayetteville and continued their best start under Bobby Petrino (5-2).  
  • Cam Newton had 217 yards rushing. It is his 5th game with at least 170 yards rushing, passing Bo Jackson (1985) for the most such games in a season in Auburn history.  Auburn gashed LSU on the ground Saturday, running for 440 yards. That is the most allowed in a single-game in LSU history. The old record was 422 by Mississippi State in 1991.  LSU was 1st in the SEC and 6th in the nation in rush defense, allowing 83.6 YPG.  
  • Taylor Martinez set career highs with 323 passing yards and five TDs and rushed for 112 more yards in the Cornhuskers’ shootout win. Martinez entered the game with three passing TDs in six games and matched that total by halftime.  Niles Paul caught nine of Martinez’s passes for 131 yards and added a 100-yard kickoff return TD.  A week after being held to 202 total yards in a loss to Texas, the Cornhuskers rolled up 540 yards vs. Oklahoma State and improved to 6-1 on the season and 2-1 in the Big 12.  Nebraska ended a 17-game road losing streak vs. AP top-20 teams.
  • Baylor became bowl eligible for the first time since joining the Big 12, beating Kansas State 47-42 Saturday night.  Baylor hasn’t been to a bowl game since 1994, which is tied for the longest active drought among BCSIII’s record of 225 yards against Washington St. in 2008) and added two touchdowns.  The loss was the first for Kansas State against Baylor under Bill Snyder (previously 4-0). 
  • John Clay ran for 91 yards and two touchdowns and Montee Ball scored the winner with just over a minute left for Wisconsin. It was the Badgers second straight win over a ranked team, the first time they’ve done that since 2004 (beat No. 1 Ohio State last week).  Iowa lost for the third time at home in its last 19 games despite Ricky Stanzi’s 258-yard, three-TD performance.  The Hawkeyes were first in the nation in scoring defense entering last week’s game but have allowed 58 points since.  Wisconsin ended a two-game losing streak to Iowa and evened the all-time series 42-42-2 as they won back the Heartland Trophy.  
  • Stanford is 6-1 for the first time since 1970, marking just the third time since World War II that Stanford has won six of its first seven games.  Washington State dropped to 0-5 in Pac-10 play, its 14th consecutive conference loss and 22nd in its last 23rd such games. 
  •  Utah won its 21st straight home game. That’s the third longest active streak in the nation. The Utes ran their record to 7-0 for the third time in the last seven years.  Utah RB Matt Asiata ran for two TDs as the Utes piled up 648 yards of total offense.  Colorado State has lost 12 straight against ranked teams. The Utes have rung up 50 points or more four times in their last five games.  
  • Western Kentucky snapped the nation’s longest losing streak on Saturday, beating Louisiana-Lafayette 54-21 on Saturday.  The Hilltoppers, in their second year as a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision, had lost 26 straight games for the longest loss streak among all NCAA divisions. 
  • South Carolina won for the ninth time in its last 11 games in Nashville.  Vandy fell to 1-10 in its last 11 homecoming games. Its last win was 2002 vs. Connecticut. 
  • Mississippi State clinched bowl eligibility. It has not been to a bowl game since 2007.  The Bulldogs have won five straight games in a single season for the first time since 1999 and are 4-0 in nonconference games for the first time since 1990.  UAB fell to 2-15 all-time vs. SEC teams. The Blazers have had four games decided by five points or fewer this season and are 1-3 in those games.  
  • Jerrod Johnson broke Texas A&M’s career record for total offense.  With 139 yards passing and 28 rushing, he raised his career total to 8,888 yards, snapping the record of 8,876 Reggie McNeal compiled from 2002-05.  The Jayhawks have been outscored in their last three games 159-24.
  • TCU surrendered its first conference touchdown on the season.