ACC Wrap up Week 12
 
By Rafael Garcia
Sr. Contributing Writer
Southeast Region
William Queen
Jr. Contributing Writer
Football Reporters Online

 
MIAMI 34 DUKE 16
Though the final score suggests it, this was anything but a blowout. Duke was winning 13-10 at the half and looked to be in the middle of an ACC upset. However, Miami quarterback Jacory Harris had different plans in the fourth quarter. Throwing for 348 yards and two touchdowns on the game, Harris led the Hurricanes to a 21-point run in the fourth quarter to knock the Blue Devils out of bowl contention. Now having scored in 7 straight games, Miami running back Damien Berry went for 76 yards and a score on the ground, as receiver Leonard Hankerson caught 8 passes for 143 yards one touchdown. I think the Cane’s offense didn’t wake up until it was almost too late and just about caused them another loss. Meanwhile, on the other sideline, Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis wasn’t having that bad of a day in his hometown, going 27-40 for 303 yards and one score. However, it just wasn’t enough; while Miami picked up in the second half, the Blue Devils failed to respond. Donavan Varner had a career day; catching eight passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns. But he was unable to spur Duke past Miami, losing their 55th straight road game vs. ranked opponents. Ultimately, this game marked the end of the reign of Thaddeus Lewis, as he’s finishing his career without a bowl game appearance. And… well… doesn’t really do much for Miami, as they’re sitting at third in the Costal division anyway.
 
CLEMSON – 34 VIRGINIA – 21
Outplaying the Cavs in the second half, Clemson fulfilled their season-long goal of going to the ACC championship. Tiger quarterback Kyle Parker threw for 234 yards and two scores and is starting to look like a very promising quarterback, especially since it’s his freshman year. Watch out for Parker in year’s to come. Heisman hopeful CJ Spiller carried Clemson on his back all year and he didn’t plan on stopping. Racking up 114 all-purpose yards, Spiller edged the Tigers over Virginia to clinch their first ACC title appearance in 18 years. Senior receiver Jacoby Ford led Clemson in receiving, catching six passes for 106 yards and a score and second string back Andre Ellington ran one in as well. All in all, Clemson finally pulled themselves together and stringed together wins when needed to reach the ACC title. They’ll be playing a very tough opponent in Georgia Tech. But if they can pull off the upset, they’ll be in a BCS bowl.
FLORIDA STATE – 29 MARYLAND – 26
Finishing the Terps off in the fourth quarter, the Seminoles made Maryland’s season just that much more miserable. Though Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel had a TD-INT ratio of 0-3, he handed the ball off to Lonnie for two scores, leading the Seminoles past Maryland. Coming into the season, I had the Terps as perhaps the Atlantic champions. But currently residing at the last spot in the ACC, Maryland hasn’t lived up to the hype.
 
NORTH CAROLINA – 31 BOSTON COLLEGE – 13
UNC came out firing, taking a prompt 21-3 lead in the first quarter and, though they didn’t score again until the fourth quarter, didn’t look back. Though Tarheel running back Ryan Houston scampered for a tough 45 yards and two scores, the rest was one on the other end of the ball. Running both a fumble and an interception back for a touchdown, the UNC defense simply came to play as they shattered a good Boston College team 31-13.

Week Eleven NCAA Predictions

By Max Baez
Reporter for Football Reporters Online

Ohio State @ Michigan

Yes, the great rivalry, Ohio State vs. Michigan……oh wait, one of these teams is pretty bad, the other is consistently overrated. Great. Okay, well it’s nice that these two still absolutely hate each other, making this game a whole lot more exciting. Michigan has been absolutely terrible the last month and a half, but they are at home, and the Big House is never easy to play in. However, Ohio State has pretty much owned Michigan over the last decade, and this will be Ohio State’s last opportunity to win a game this season, as they will get blown out by whoever they play in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State wins big, and Rich Rod gets to wonder if he keeps his job.

Ohio State 24, Michigan 7


LSU @ Ole Miss

The third and fourth. Ole Miss has been a disappointment, going from a top 10 team to unranked, with Jevan Snead being the biggest disappointment on the team. LSU has a good record, and wins the games its supposed to, although rarely looks that great doing it. I think this game has upset written all over it. Ole Miss looked pretty good last week in disposing Tennessee, and LSU’s penchant for being “just good enough” will cause them problems in this road game against a talented team. Look for Dexter McCluster to have another massive game in a big win for the Rebels.

Ole Miss 20, LSU 14


Cal @ Stanford

The Big Game! Cal looked good last week against Arizona, well, Arizona blew the game, but at least Cal showed some signs of life. Stanford though, damn! The way they beat USC, absolutely wrecking them and embarrassing them, was incredible. They are clearly a team that gets better every week, and at this point, I think a lot of people will vote for Toby Gerhart for Heisman. The Cardinal are one of the hottest teams in the country and are clicking at the right time, as they should be able to put up a lot of points and rule this rivalry for this season.

Stanford 38, Cal 20

UConn @ Notre Dame

I think at this point, the writing is on the wall for Charlie Weis. He simply hasn’t gotten the job done, and his recruiting victories haven’t meant a whole lot on the field. Notre Dame wants to be among the elite programs in America, and it simply isn’t going to happen under Weis. This is the type of game the Irish have lost under Weis too: home games against smaller programs with decent, but not great, teams. I can’t even count how many times the Irish have lost games like this the past few weeks. Look for a UConn win, and for Weis’ really hot seat to heat up more.

UConn 23, Notre Dame 20

Oregon @ Arizona

I was certainly very wrong about Arizona last week. When making my predictions, I forgot I was talking about Arizona, the team that shows life, but then chokes it away when it matters most. The bad news for Arizona is that they still control their own destiny to go to the Rose Bowl, which surely means that my alma mater will choke away the game this week against the high-octane Oregon offense. This should be an offensive shootout, but Arizona’s defense has struggled at times this year, and my gut instinct just tells me that Arizona will only start winning again when they don’t control their own destiny. After this week, they won’t (which, in turn, means they will beat ASU next week.)

Oregon 41, Arizona 34


Five other games to watch: UNC @ Boston College, Oklahoma @ Texas Tech, Air Force @ BYU, Penn State @ Michigan State, Kansas @ Texas

SEC Wrap Up Week 11

By Rafael Garcia
Sr. Contributing Writer
Southeast Region

Ole Miss 42 Tennessee 17
At kickoff the question would be if the Vols could overcome what had just happened with three players, when they were accused of armed robbery, and the answer was they simply could not. What they ran into was Ole Miss back Dexter McCluster and his school records of 282 yards rushing and 324 all-purpose yards. The Vols had practiced all week on how to bottle him up but could not even tackle him when he was right in front of them. Several Vol players said that he was the best player they had faced all year. He started the scoring four plays in with a 15-yard run to make it 7-0. Tennessee answered right back when Jonathan Crompton tossed a 16-yarder to Jeff Cottam to tie it. The teams traded scores, but when Daniel Lincoln hit a 27-yard field goal to make it 21-17 Rebels, the roof caved in on UT. The field goal was followed by three unanswered touchdowns by Ole Miss and they never looked back. McCluster had a beauty of a 71-yard score to open the fourth. He was able to make his way through the defense and just run away from the defenders that could not catch him. He showed plenty of heart for a kid that weighs all of 170 pounds and plenty more speed. So the Vols answered the question that everyone was asking this week about the three student arrested and how it would affect them. They started out strong but ended with a dud. They are still one win away from being bowl eligible so they have to suck it up and get back to work. They have Vanderbilt at home next week and then go to Kentucky to close the season. Neither of these games is a lock so lets get ready for a photo finish.

Florida 24 South Carolina 14
This game would give Steve Spurrier another shot at beating his old school but he would once again come up short. The game was decided by defense when it counted most. AT&Tebow tied the SEC mark for career touchdowns and the Gators won their 20th straight. It was the first time a Florida team has gone undefeated in league play since 1996 when Spurrier was the coach. Tebow was unable to dominate on this day as he was just 14-25 for 199 yards and had 26 yards on 16 carries. He did have a touchdown pass and one rushing but ran into a determined Gamecocks defense. It appeared that they might lose this game as S.C. quarterback Stephen Garcia was driving his team to a potential tying score. He kept the drive alive with a fourth and two conversion but then came the big mistake. As he threw the ball it was tipped and DE Justin Trattou grabbed it and ran 53 yards to set up the game clincher by Tebow four plays later. So now the Gators are perfect in the regular season and have a laugher next week when Florida International visits the Swamp. They will use that one to rest up some players for the big showdown against Alabama for the SEC title. The loser goes home very disappointed while the winner will play for the BCS title.

Georgia 31 Auburn 24
When the game started it looked like Auburn would halt a three game losing streak to Georgia. They got off to a 14-0 lead on their first two possessions and the rout appeared to be on. Then the Dawgz got to work and cut it to 14-7 by halftime. The second half was all Georgia as they scored the first 10 points in the third and running back Caleb King scored twice on runs of 11 and 24 yards. The first touchdown broke a 17-17 tie and then the Tigers answered when Demond Washington ran the ensuing kickoff back 99-yards to tie it again. The second touchdown by King looked to end it but Auburn had other plans. They were driving down the field to set up the game tying score when quarterback Chris Todd’s pass fell into the arms of Mario Fannin at the goal line. Just as he was catching the pass Bacarri Rambo dove at him hitting him so hard it knocked the ball away for an incompletion and knocked Rambo out.
So another SEC team is now bowl eligible and that brings the count to nine. How many will get into one is yet to be determined but that is football in the most powerful conference in the country.

Other scores:

Alabama 31 Mississippi State 3

Kentucky 24 Vanderbilt 13

LSU 24 La. Tech 16

Arkansas 56 Troy 20

  ACC Wrap Up Week 11
 
By Rafael Garcia
Sr. Contributing Writer
Southeast Region
 
Georgia Tech 49 Duke 10
It has been some season in the Coastal division this year and it is ending with the Yellow Jackets as champs and the division representative in the ACC championship game.  They tried to make it interesting when Duke took a 10-0 lead with 1:30 left in the first quarter. On the ensuing kickoff Orwin Smith bobbled the catch, recovered it, and then ran it 83 yards to the Duke 2-yard line. QB Josh Nesbitt ran it in from there and it was 10-7 going into the second quarter. Here the Yellow Jackets would remember what they were playing for and whom they were playing against. It started with a Marcus Wright option run for 16 yards to make it 14-10. Jonathan Dwyer, who ran for 110 yards on 14 carries, ran it in from three and the rout was on. The Yellow Jackets had over 500 yards of offense and the defense held Duke to 25 yards rushing. Nesbitt was just 6-10 passing but had 195 yards including a 75-yard strike to Demarylus Thomas to add insult to injury. Duke has had a promising season but finds itself at 5-5 needing to win their final games to have any hope of making a bowl. Those final two games are at Miami and at home against Wake Forest. Neither will be a push over and the odds are stacked against the Blue Devils.
 
North Carolina 33 Miami 24
The climb back into the national picture has been some climb for Miami. Now they were faced with a determined Tar Heel team playing in front of its home crowd. The game saw them take advantage of a career-high four picks by Hurricane QB Jacory Harris. Three of those were by Kendric Burney deep in Miami territory. He returned one 77 yards for a touchdown and teammate Melvin Williams returned another 44 yards to make it 30-17 with just over nine minutes left in the game. The play had to be reviewed because Burney made the pick originally. As he crossed into Miami territory he appeared to flip the ball forward to Williams and he ran the rest of the way. Replay upheld the call but Miami answered right back when Harris drove them down the field and hit Jimmy Graham from 14 to make it 30-24. They got the ball back, marched down the field again, and were just about to take the lead when Harris was picked off. A field goal sealed it and the hopes of Hurricane fans for a major bowl went down the drain. It’s the second straight year that the Tar Heels have made a bowl. They also won their fifth straight against a top 25 team and are 3-0 with Butch Davis against his former team. On one last note Burney had an ACC single game and school record of 170 interception return yards in one game.
 
Clemson 43 North Carolina State 23
Once again it was the C.J. Spiller show as the back threw a touchdown pass to Xavier Dye from 17 yards out, had a scoring run from 16 and finished the night off by catching a touchdown pass from 34 yards. It was quite the show from a college player that has spent the season on highlight films everywhere. He had help from his quarterback Kyle Parker (12-18 for 183 yards and two touchdowns) and running mate Jamie Harper (4 carries for 86, including a 69-yarder). The offense piled up 454 yards of offense and they will need that and more when they play Virginia next week. A win there and they are in the ACC title game as the Atlantic Division champs against Georgia Tech. The Wolfpack just could not keep up with Spiller and even though they kicked away from him a couple of times. They did manage 377 of offense and were able to put up points but it was always playing catch up. They did not get any help from receivers dropping passes and drives stalling. So it is all set for next week when they host the Cavaliers for the Atlantic. After that they end their season at South Carolina and could get to nine wins when at first it did not look like they could get there.
 
Virginia Tech 36 Maryland 9
 
Florida State 41 Wake Forest 28
 
Boston College 14 Virginia 10

The Northwest Report-Week 11 Rewind
By Nick Haswell for Football Reporters Online

Week 11 of the college football season provided little excitement from the Northwest teams in action. The biggest story was Idaho State finally winning its first game of the 2009 season by defeating Portland State 41-34 a week after the Bengals lost a 12-10 heartbreaker to Montana on a field goal as time expired. It was the final game for both the Bengals and the Portland State Vikings in 2009. It was also the final game for Jerry Glanville as the Vikings head coach, as he resigned on Tuesday from his position. Glanville finished with a disappointing 9-24 record in three seasons at PSU, failing to deliver the victories that his hiring as head coach was expected to achieve.

Elsewhere, it was a slow week in the Northwest college football action, as all the favored teams won comfortably. Here are the recaps of each game:

Game of the Week-Idaho at Boise State: The sixth ranked Boise State Broncos(11-0) made quick work of the Idaho Vandals(7-4) in their 62-25 victory in the annual rivalry game. The Broncos jumped out to a 42-17 halftime lead after a 100 yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Titus Young with just 14 seconds left in the first half, after the Vandals had shortened BSU’s lead to 35-17. Kellen Moore continued to showcase himself for the Heisman trophy with 299 yards passing and 5 touchdowns in a little more than a half of work. Idaho did gain 514 yards of total offense on the Bronco defense, but turned the ball over seven times.

UCLA at Washington State: The Washington State Cougars (1-9) suffered another blowout loss in the 2009 season in losing to the UCLA Bruins 43-7. The Cougars offense could only muster 181 yards of total offense, and the defense allowed 556 yards to the Bruin offense. Only a 46 yard pass from Kevin Lopina to Jeffrey Solomon in the third quarter avoided a shutout for Wazzu.

Washington at Oregon State: The 23rd ranked Beavers (7-3) raced out to a 20-0 lead and were never really threatened by the Huskies (3-7) in their 48-21 win. Sean Canfield threw for four touchdowns, two of them to James Rodgers, and Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Husky RB Chris Polk, enjoyed his second consecutive 100 yard rushing performance with 116 yards rushing. But Jake Locker struggled against Oregon State’s pressure, throwing for just 153 yards in the loss as the Huskies saw their bowl dreams vanish with the loss.

Arizona State at Oregon: After a tough defeat on the road to the surging Stanford Cardinal last week, the Oregon Ducks (8-2) came home to defeat the Arizona State Sun Devils (4-6) 44-21. The 13th ranked Ducks were led by LaMichael James’ 150 yards rushing and three touchdowns. The Ducks defense limited the ASU offense to just 211 yards of total offense on the night.

Eastern Washington at Southern Utah: The EWU Eagles (7-3) kept their postseason hopes alive by beating the SUU Thunderbirds 41-28. Matt Nichols threw for 380 yards and 4 touchdowns on the afternoon. He also ran for 75 yards and a touchdown. The Eagles must beat Northern Arizona on the road on Saturday to have any hope for an at-large bid in the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.

Portland State at Idaho State: In the season finale for both squads, the Idaho State Bengals (1-10) avoided a winless season by defeating the Vikings (2-9) 41-34. Russel Hill threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns, all to Kelvin Krosch , for the Bengals. PSU’s Justin Engstrom threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, but also threw four interceptions in the loss.
Northern Colorado at Montana: With their 38-10 win over Northern Colorado (3-8), the Montana Grizzlies (10-0) clinched their 12th consecutive Big Sky Conference title outright. Chase Reynolds broke a close game open with two long touchdown runs (54 and 37 yards) early in the third quarter. Reynolds finished with 151 yards rushing and three touchdowns. The Grizzlies are just a victory over rival Montana State away from their second perfect regular season in three years.

Sacramento State at Montana State: The Bobcats (7-3) kept their playoff dreams alive by beating the Sacramento State Hornets (4-6) 27-17. MSU will have to defeat their hated in-state rivals and the 3rd ranked Montana Grizzlies at home on Saturday to have a chance at an at-large bid in the FCS playoffs. Bobcat QB Cody Kempt completed an efficient 20 of 29 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over the Hornets.

Week 11 NCAA Predictions
By Max Baez
Contributor to Football Reporters Online

West Virginia @ Cincinnati

First of all, I think Cincinnati is absolutely for real. It’s a shame that there is no playoff in college football, because Cincinnati deserves a shot to play for a national title (although I wouldn’t argue they are one of college football’s two top teams.) Also, I’d like to thank the football gods for placing this game on a Friday, so that it doesn’t interfere with the many great games taking place on Saturday. West Virginia is a solid team, and luckily for the Mountaineers, Noel Devine will play, although it remains to be seen if he will be at his maximum production. I do respect West Virginia, but I think there is definitely a sizeable difference between these two teams, and while I expect it to be competitive, I expect the Bearcats (and their expected 2 QB rotation for this game) to take it.

Cincinnati 38, West Virginia 28


Iowa @ Ohio State

Seven days ago, Iowa was undefeated. Now, they are a 17 point underdog (yes, you heard me, 17 point underdog) to an unimpressive Ohio State team. I really have no idea why this spread is so high. Sure, Ricky Stanzi is injured, but Ohio State hasn’t had a good offense all year and Iowa allows under 16 points a game, so the spread just doesn’t add up. As for what will happen in this game, it’s tough to say. Iowa was squeaking out wins all season until they lost to lowly Northwestern last week, while Ohio State, as said earlier, hasn’t exactly set the world on fire. I’m definitely not expecting this game to be high scoring, and I’m going to take Iowa in a close one, as I expect their defense to get the job done.

Iowa 13, Ohio State 10


Stanford @ USC

Two years ago, it was one of the biggest upsets in college football history when Stanford went into the Coliseum and knocked off mighty USC. This year, Stanford is flying high, and is actually ahead of USC in the Pac-10 standings (5-2 vs. 4-2.) Stanford proved themselves nationally with a huge win over Oregon last week, and they hope to take their high powered rushing offense to USC. Some are even expecting Stanford to win this one, and I personally wouldn’t be shocked to see it happen. However, USC should be able to exploit Stanford’s main weakness; their secondary. USC’s weakness this year has been their passing game, but USC has more talent at receiver, and their receivers should be able to get it done this week. Stanford will keep this one really close, and Toby Gerhart will certainly have a great game for the Cardinal, but expect the Trojans to finish on top.

USC 30, Stanford 27


Arizona @ California

At the beginning of the season, I said Arizona would finish fourth in the Pac-10. The media said Arizona would finish eighth. While I knew the media was overlooking Arizona, and that Arizona was certainly better than mediocre ASU and UCLA, I was wondering if maybe I, as an Arizona grad, was overestimating my beloved Cats just a little bit. However, I ended up underestimating my school. Nick Foles, who didn’t even start the first three games, has proven to be one of the best underclassmen quarterbacks in the country, and Arizona has had a very easy time putting points on the board. Cal, on the other hand, is simply pretty average. Add in the fact that their best player, Jahvid Best, is out for this game, and Arizona should take this one. It’s simply going to be tough for the Golden Bears to score enough points in this one to win it.

Arizona 31, California 16


Notre Dame @ Pittsburgh

How many more games are left for Charlie Weis to coach before he gets fired at the end of the year? This one actually has some potential for an upset. Pitt has looked very good this year on both sides of the ball (they rank in the top 20 in both offensive and defensive scoring.) However, this could be a dangerous game for them. Notre Dame can put points on the board and keep it close, and deep down, Notre Dame is more talented. Also, as for why I think this can be an upset, Pitt is coached by Dave Wannstedt. I don’t think I need to expand on why that’s my justification. But then again, Notre Dame is coached by Charlie Weis, effectively making this the toilet bowl of coaching. But I still think Notre Dame wins this game, it’s just a gut feeling. Weis still gets canned either way.

Notre Dame 31, Pittsburgh 24

Five other games to watch: Tennessee @ Ole Miss, Auburn @ Georgia, Utah @ TCU, Idaho @ Boise State, Nebraska @ Kansas