The first upset of Week 11 in college football came courtesy of Central Florida, which knocked off No. 15 Houston 37-32 at BH Networks Stadium on Saturday.

Turnovers doomed the Cougars throughout the day. After jumping out to a 10-0 lead early in the first quarter, Houston was knocking on the door of another score after quarterback Case Keenum led his team inside the red zone. But Bryce Beall fumbled at the 1-yard line and the Golden Knights recovered to halt a potential touchdown. After its defense forced a three-and-out, Houston again fumbled in UCF territory, only this time the Knights turned the gift into points by kicking a 35-yard field goal.

Nick Cattoi gave Houston a 17-3 lead by returning the following kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, but UCF answered with 21 answered points to take a 23-20 lead late in the third quarter. A Keenum interception midway through the fourth led to yet another UCF score to essentially put Houston away for good, although the Cougars did tack on two touchdowns with under four minutes remaining in a frantic comeback that fell just short.

This was a rather impressive win by the Knights, who have struggled with consistency this season. Senior quarterback Brett Hodges outplayed Keenum today, completing 21 of 25 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore running back Brynn Harvey racked up 139 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries. Granted, they got some help from Houston, which shot itself in the foot repeatedly with turnovers. But UCF capitalized on the Cougars’ mistakes and pulled off one of the better upsets of the year.

If SMU beats UTEP today, Houston will fall one game behind the Mustangs in the Conference USA West standings. The Cougars hold the potential tiebreaker between the two teams because they beat the Mustangs 38-15 earlier this season, but their fate is now in SMU’s hands.

The good news is that Houston plays two cupcakes in Memphis and Rice the next two weeks. The bad news is that SMU plays Marshall and Tulane, which aren’t exactly powerhouses.

Cougar fans better start rooting hard for UTEP.

Photo from fOTOGLIF
]]> http://www.scoresreport.com/2009/11/14/central-florida-shocks-no-15-houston/feed/ 0 http://www.scoresreport.com/2008/10/11/oklahoma-state-proves-theyre-for-real-upsets-missouri/ http://www.scoresreport.com/2008/10/11/oklahoma-state-proves-theyre-for-real-upsets-missouri/#comments Sun, 12 Oct 2008 03:41:59 +0000 Anthony Stalter http://www.scoresreport.com/?p=7257 Coming into Saturday’s action, people were wondering whether or not No. 17 Oklahoma State was for real or not. Sure their offense was averaging 530 yards and over 50 points a game, but their toughest opponent prior to this week was arguably an unranked Troy team.

But no longer do we have to wonder if the Cowboys are for real after they beat No. 3 Missouri 28-23 in Columbia. They picked off Heisman candidate Chase Daniel three times in the second half, including on MIZZOU’s final drive when the Tigers were in range to possibly take the lead late in the fourth quarter. The job OK State’s defense did in getting pressure on Daniel was outstanding and the trio of QB Zac Robinson (19 of 28 for 215 yards, 2 TDs), RB Kendall Hunter (154 yards rushing, 1 TD) and WR Damian Davis (3 rec., 76 yards, 2 TDs) came up with big plays all night.

Now that Missouri, LSU and Oklahoma all lost, the top 10 in college football will undergo a major shakeup. It’ll be interesting to see how everything takes shape when the new polls are released. How far will MIZZOU fall?

Why on earth would the Commodores only be 2.5-point favorites? They were 5-0 for the first time since Moses parted the Red Sea, were coming off a huge win over SEC rival Auburn and they were playing a Bulldogs team that was 1-4 on the season.

Mississippi State 17, Vanderbilt 14. That’s why.

I don’t want to get into a huge gambling discussion because this isn’t the forum, but whenever a point spread looks too good to be true, it probably is. Vandy was clearly the better team coming into the game and should have been favored by at least two field goals, even with them playing on the road and against a conference foe.

It never ceases to amaze me how good these oddsmakers are at setting the lines for sporting events.

On to a more football-related topic – what a game by the Bulldog defense. They held the Commodores to only 107 yards of total offense, forced two turnovers and didn’t turn the ball over themselves. (Which is significant because Vandy led the nation in turnover margin coming into the game.)

Coupling this one with Ole’ Miss’s win over Florida two weeks ago, the state of Mississippi is the king of the upset this year.

I realize that this isn’t the best Michigan team in school history, but they’re still expected to beat a MAC school at home. Especially one that’s not even that good. This was the same Toledo team that got blown out by Ball State (albeit a very good Ball State team), 31-0 on their home turf. And before this loss, UM was 24-0 all-time against MAC schools.

Rich Rodriguez doesn’t have “his” players in place yet and once he does, the Wolverines are expected to rebound. But his first year in Ann Arbor has been nothing short of a disaster. They were a complete mess in a loss to Notre Dame, they were blown out at home last week by Illinois, and then today they lose to a sub-par MAC school. It’s almost incomprehensible. This is one of the most storied programs in college football and they’ve absolutely crumbled this year outside of one good half against Wisconsin.

If you listen closely, you can hear the entire state of West Virginia laughing.

Maryland beat Clemson?

Navy is on top of Wake Forest??

Mississippi might knock off Florida???

USC lost to Oregon State????

Okay, so we knew that last outcome because it happened on Thursday night. And we shouldn’t have been that surprised when upsets happen in college football because, well, upsets happen in college football.

But the reason they’re happening this year is more prevalent than in years past: From smaller to big-time programs, the talent level is better across the nation.

Ole’ Miss isn’t afraid to walk into Gainesville these days because they have players like Jevan Snead and Shay Hodge that can compete with Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin. The Beavers could care less that the Trojans are the top ranked program in the nation not just because they beat USC in Corvallis two years ago, but also because quarterback Lyle Moevao and freshman running back Jacquizz Rodgers can play for just about any team in the nation.

Granted, Florida is going to beat Mississippi on most Saturdays and that’s why the Gators were No. 5 in the nation and the Rebels weren’t anywhere near the top 25 coming into weekend. Voters are often clueless, but they’re competent enough to recognize that the Gators and Trojans have more overall depth and talent than the Rebels and Beavers. But the fact of the matter is that the mid-level programs have caught up dramatically over the years.

And on any given Saturday, Ole’ Miss can beat Florida. And Navy can beat Wake Forest. And Maryland can beat Clemson, and so on.

This might be an obvious revelation to most college football fans, but there’s still a large group that assumes that these smaller schools are just getting lucky. That the bigger programs are shooting themselves in the foot on game day and playing down to their opponents. Granted, that might be the case in some situations, but it’s no longer the main reason why more storied programs are falling to mid-level and even FCS (previously known as Division 1AA) teams.

Michigan losing to Appalachian State last year in Ann Arbor is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. Anyone who tuned into that game knows that the Wolverines didn’t necessarily shoot themselves in the foot for four quarters; the Mountaineers had enough playmakers to not only keep themselves in the game, but also win it.

Michigan still had more total yards (479 to 387), fewer turnovers (2 to 3) and just as many penalties (each team had seven apiece), but they couldn’t stop ASU quarterback Armanti Edwards from passing for 227 yards and three touchdowns, or running for 62 yards and a score. He was the best player on the field that day and it showed.

Whether these smaller schools are getting better at recruiting or the top tier programs are just flat out misjudging what these kids can do on the field, it’s clear that the talent has spread out across the nation.

Or better yet, the overall talent level is just better on a whole. Maybe the bigger programs have just as much recruiting power as they always have, but there’s so much talent across the country that even the mid-level schools are finding Heisman candidates. (See Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour as proof.)

That theory plays into how more and more undrafted free agents like Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo are becoming stars in the NFL. There’s just so much talent that there’s enough for every team to get a piece of the action.

Either way, we shouldn’t be surprised when Ole’ Miss beats the Gators in Gainesville or when Navy pulls upsets over Notre Dame and Wake Forest. And quite frankly, things are better this way. (Or at the very least, they’re more exciting.)

As college football fans, let’s hope that these mid-level programs continue to land some of the talent they’ve been able to over the past couple years. Because this past weekend in college football was fun as hell.

College Football Quick Hitters:

- Georgia got smoked by Alabama on Saturday evening not because Heisman Trophy candidate Knowshon Moreno wasn’t 100% healthy, but because Nick Saban’s Tide were more physical. UGA is a talented team and deserved to be ranked that high going into Saturday, but eventually the inexperience on the offensive line was going to catch up with them.

- Wake Forest beat Florida State one week and than lost to Navy the next. Clemson fell out of the preseason top 10 after losing to Alabama in Week 1, then climbed back to No. 20 only to lose to unranked Maryland. Will someone please step up in the ACC? After they lost to East Carolina earlier this year, people started writing off Virginia Tech. But maybe Frank Beamer’s Hokies are still the class of the conference after all. Or maybe a relatively unknown like Maryland or (gasp!) Duke will emerge. Either way, things are going to be interesting in the ACC throughout the rest of the year.

- I wrote this in my recap of the Navy-Wake Forest game but I think it bears repeating: The Midshipmen are often undersized, out-manned and usually have less talent than most of their opponents on game day. But the reason they can beat Notre Dame after failing the previous 43 times one year and then defeat a No. 16 Wake Forest team the next is because of their heart and determination. They never go into a game assuming defeat and for that, I love watching them play.

- I realize to a large extent that Florida choked against Ole’ Miss on Saturday (a blocked extra point attempt, Urban Meyer? Really?), but that game just proves how hard it is to win in the SEC. Even the proverbial bottom dwellers of the conference are no pushovers.

- How Wisconsin lost to Michigan after building a 19-0 halftime lead is still beyond me. In the first half, the UM players were playing like they had bet on Wisconsin before the game. The Wolverine defense is a little better than what people give them credit for, but there’s no way the Badgers should lose a game in which their opponents cough the ball up five times in the first half and spot them a 19-0 lead. What a disaster.

And if all that wasn’t enough, No. 8 Alabama rolled into Athens and stomped No. 3 Georgia, 41-30. So much for the Bulldogs’ plan to “Black Out” the Tide.

Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide built a shocking 31-0 halftime lead and despite the Bulldogs best efforts at a comeback in the second half, Alabama cruised. They played about as close to perfect as they could, totaling 129 yards on the ground (Glen Coffee had 86 yards and 2 TDs), dominating the time of possession battle and despite playing in a hostile environment, amassing only two penalties for a nine yards. They also scored on their first five possessions and turned the ball over just once.

Georgia was at a disadvantage with dynamic RB Knowshon Moreno hobbled, but even if he were 100%, it wouldn’t have mattered. Alabama came out with more energy, played a cleaner game and quite frankly, Saban just out-coached Mark Richt. The Dogs could do nothing in the first half and it was almost like Alabama was in UGA’s offensive huddle the entire night. And it was only a matter of time before Georgia’s lack of experience on the offensive line caught up to them like it did tonight. ‘Bama’s defensive front was more physical and it showed with how UGA could do nothing on the ground, which in turn affected Matthew Stafford and the passing game.

Criticize Saban for the way he left LSU for the NFL and then the Miami Dolphins for Alabama, but the man has brought quality football back to that school in just two years. And with USC, Georgia and Florida all falling this week, the Tide will find themselves in great position to make a run at a title appearance. Saban’s biggest task now is not allowing his team to have a setback against programs like Kentucky, Ole’ Miss, Tennessee and Arkansas State over the next few weeks before they have to play at LSU in November.

Trailing 19-0 late in the third quarter, Michigan cut the deficit to 19-7 after Steven Threet hit Kevin Koger for a 26-yard touchdown pass. The Wolverines followed up that score with a Brandon Minor 34-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to make the game 19-14. On Wisconsin’s first play after the kickoff, John Thompson picked off Badger QB Allan Evridge and took to the house for a 25-yard touchdown to give the Wolverines a 20-19 lead. They extended the lead to 27-19 on a three-yard Sam Mcguffie touchdown run with just over five minutes remaining in the game.

Wisconsin wound up cutting Michigan’s lead 27-25 with only 13 seconds left, then made a 2-point conversion before the play was wiped out because of an ineligible man downfield. Their next 2-point attempt failed, and the Wolverines were able to run out the clock on the change of possession.

I know Michigan has now won 23-straight Big Ten openers and are still one of the more storied programs in the nation, but anyone who watched them in the first half of this game and early in the season knows that this is not the same UM program of years past. And with that, Wisconsin should be embarrassed for losing to a team that handed them scoring opportunity after scoring opportunity in the first half and didn’t even pick up a first down until the third quarter. Michigan deserves credit for not quitting at halftime and the defense stepped up tremendously in the second half, but the Badgers blew a golden opportunity to cash in on all of the upsets going on in college football this week.

Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez doesn’t have his players in place yet, but he can use this win as a huge stepping-stone for the rest of the year. This upset was big not only to show that the Wolverines still have fight in 2008, but also that Rodriguez has his program moving in the right direction.