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Ohio State defeats Michigan, claims Big Ten title outright

Coleman

At least the Wolverines managed to keep the Buckeyes in check for the first half. Nevertheless, countless mistakes led to their downfall in front of their fans in Ann Arbor.

Michigan had given up at least 400 yards per game all season, so they were facing a huge challenge against a high-scoring Buckeyes team. Although they’ve done well against the pass, their front seven has been weak at best. That being said, Jim Tressell wisely had his team run the ball throughout the game. Terrelle Pryor’s arm has improved, but nobody expected him to throw into Michigan’s pass coverage. Thus, Pryor only passed for 67 yards, but his Buckeyes rushed for 251 yards total, including 74 of his own.

Without considering Ohio State’s proficient running game, there is no way Michigan is going to beat their rivals when their quarterback, Tate Forcier, is tossing four interceptions. From the outset, things didn’t look good for the Wolverines. During Michigan’s first drive, Forcier fumbled the ball outside of his own end zone, providing an easy touchdown for the Buckeyes’ Cameron Heyward. For all his shortcomings, the freshman quarterback did throw for 226 yards against an intimidating Buckeyes defense, so there’s promise.

In the third quarter, Pryor connected with Daniel Herron on a beautifully constructed play for a 12-yard touchdown. That brought the score to 21-10, giving the Buckeyes a large enough lead to focus on containing the Wolverines’ offense.

In defeating Michigan for the sixth year in a row, the Buckeyes also clinched an outright Big Ten championship. They will head into the Rose Bowl on a five-game winning streak. With guys like Kurt Coleman, Brandon Saine, and Herron stepping up, Ohio State will have a great chance in their BCS game. Their losses to USC and Purdue earlier this season must have never happened.

Oregon clobbers Cal 42-3

Masoli

Perhaps some thought Oregon could pull off an upset by a few points, but nobody expected a blowout by these proportions. While Oregon did everything right, Cal just didn’t do much of anything. It’s strange to think the score was tied at three apiece after the first quarter. From then on, Cal decided to completely stop playing. It’s hard to even point out their mistakes. What’s obvious is that Oregon knew exactly what to do against their opponents on both ends of the field. After Oregon’s opening day loss to Boise, coach Chip Kelly is slowly getting this team back on track. This doesn’t mean he’s through refunding distraught fans, but Oregon football should definitely feel good about this win. We knew Oregon had talent — it was just a matter of when they would devour a high-ranking team.

Oregon seamlessly shut down Cal’s touted combination of quarterback Kevin Riley and running back Jahvid Best. This was the finest defensive effort of the day as Riley had trouble finding anyone open on every possession and potential Heisman candidate Best was limited to 55 yards rushing. Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, however, couldn’t have been better, completing 21 of 25 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns. Funny enough, Masoli came into this game without a single passing score. Obviously, this is quite a turn around. And who caught all of those touchdown passes? Just Ed Dickson. In a truly remarkable performance, Ed Dickson caught 11 passes for 148 yards.

Everything fell into place today with Chip Kelly’s Ducks. On the other hand, Jeff Tedford’s Golden Bears are left wondering how everything fell apart.

South Florida upsets No. 18 Florida State


Daniels

The undefeated South Florida Bulls entered Saturday’s competition against Florida State well aware that the Seminoles would be fired up on their home turf. While the Seminoles sought to prove their worth among the nation’s elite, their opponents were simply trying to justify their football program within their state. With senior quarterback Matt Grothe out with a knee injury, the Bulls looked to redshirt freshman B.J. Daniels for help. Daniels, who is coincidentally a Tallahassee native, was stellar in his debut performance. Rushing for 126 yards and throwing two touchdown passes, Daniels led his squad to a 17-7 victory at No. 18 Florida State.

It was the first time since Nebraska’s Steve Taylor ran for 139 yards against the Seminoles in 1986 that an opposing quarterback rushed for over 100 yards against them.

The Seminoles couldn’t keep the South Florida pass rush, led by defensive ends Jason Pierre-Paul and George Selvie and tackle Craig Marshall, off of Ponder. The Bulls sacked him five times and forced the crucial fumble in the fourth quarter.

South Florida stopped the Seminoles on four plays from the 3-yard line early in the second quarter. USF then needed just five plays to cover 99 yards to get the game’s first touchdown.

Another huge pass play, this one a 73-yard scoring pass from Daniels to Sterling Griffin, gave USF a 14-0 lead at the half.

The Bulls could have been ahead by more at halftime, but Eric Schwartz missed a pair of 37-yard field goal tries.

It was the first time since the third game of the 2008 season, a 12-3 loss to Wake Forest, that the Seminoles went scoreless in the first half.

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden can’t be too pleased. While his team is ranked in the Top 25, I’m sure he wasn’t expecting a 2-2 record at this point in the season, let alone suffering a loss to the unranked Bulls. Nevertheless, this is a nice story for B.J. Daniels, who was overlooked by his hometown team. Now that he’s found a place with the Bulls, hopefully he’ll see more time on the field after his fine play today.

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