Every Monday you can stop by 100 different websites to check in on the top college football performers of the weekend.
But only at Crystal Ball Run to we skip over the good (not to mention the bad), and go straight to the ugly.
Regie Eller does exactly that, with this edition of “Not Good, Not Bad, Just Ugly.”
Michigan State-
The Michigan State Spartans rode into Lincoln, Nebraska on a high, fresh off the defeat of the previously undefeated Wisconsin Badgers. They left broken down.
Before the end of the first half, Sparty would get on the board with a field goal. Those three points would be all that the Spartans would muster versus Nebraska’s 24. Coming in versus Nebraska – ranked #11 in the country – a loss was not out of the possibility, however everyone expected a more competitive game.
Michigan State produced 187 total yards in the game, twelve first downs, and was only successful on third downs three-of-fourteen times. The longest drive of the game came at the end of the third quarter – when the Spartans produced a 13 play 56 yard drive that lasted 7:51. Other than that – the net longest drive for Michigan State was 29 yards.
Iowa Hawkeyes-
The Hawkeyes’ next four game promise to be a tough road, when they play Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Nebraska. The problem for Iowa is they looked completely past a 1-5 Minnesota team and were beaten 22-21.
Iowa has now lost five road games in a row dating back to last season – and to add insult to injury, were leading the Golden Gophers 21-10, at one point.
Iowa’s Marcus Coker did have a fantastic game of 252 yards on the ground, but the Hawkeyes allowed a reeling Golden Gophers team to rally from down 11 in the fourth quarter.
Coming in Minnesota was ranked as the 112th best offense in college football. Iowa gave up 371 total yards to the Golden Gophers.
Florida Gators-
Year one under new Florida offensive coordinator Charlie Weis has not been the smoothest of transitions to say the least. It is true that injuries have not helped the Gators, but one thing they have been able to do somewhat consistently is run the football. Coming in versus the Georgia Bulldogs, the Gators were averaging 175 yards on the ground per contest, good for 41st best in the country.
The Gators dropped 22 spots to 66th in the country in rushing thanks to a mind blowing negative 19 yard rushing performance. The negative 19 yard performance was aided in large part by six quarterback sacks of John Brantley, a rule which I honestly do not like. Yardage lost via sack should be taken off pass yards, so to take them away and the Gators gained 34 yards on the ground. Congratulations.
Beyond that pitiful rush attack – or snooze fest – the Gators produced versus the Bulldogs, the uglier stat for Florida (4-4, 2-4 SEC) is they went winless in October and now welcome the Vanderbilt Commodores to town.
Clemson Tigers-
The Clemson Tigers were only five wins away from completing a dream season. Five games in which Clemson would have been favored – more than likely. Losing close to Georgia Tech would not have been the worst of things. Getting physically dominated by Georgia Tech though is a different story. It’s also why “Clemsoning,” has become an adjective in the language of college football fans.
Clemson and their 15th ranked offense, which was averaging 482 yards per game, were only able to produce 399 total yards Saturday night versus Georgia Tech. The offense was not the problem however – especially considering the Tigers only had the ball for 21 minutes the entire game. Georgia Tech controlled the lines of scrimmage, the clock and the game running wild for 383 yards versus Clemson.
Clemson turned the ball over four times, only rushed for 95 yards and was 5-of-13 on third down conversions.
The final score of 31-17 in the favor of Georgia Tech is as misleading a final score as I have seen this season which leads to what may be the ugliest moment in this entire game. Late in the third quarter – Georgia Tech was inside the five yard line of the Tigers when Clemson defensive tackle Rennie Moore – clearly – jumped off sides causing a Georgia Tech fumble and Clemson recovery. This was a 14 point turn – as Georgia Tech lost the ball and Clemson drove down the field for a touch down. The score would have been 38-10 Georgia Tech.
The ACC did confirm that an off sides should have been called. Ugly.
Illinois “Fighting” Illini-
Remember when Illinois was 6-0? Hard to believe huh? Three games later Illinois is now 6-3 fresh off a 10-7 loss to the luckiest team in America – Penn State.
Really, the entire Illinois-Penn State game was ugly. However, when you hold your opponent to 209 yards – like Illinois did to Penn State – losing should not really be an option. Penn State passed for 98 and rushed for 111 as the defeated Illinois to move to 8-1.
Illinois will be 6-5 as they travel to Minnesota. Yup.
Kansas State-
The previously undefeated Kansas State Wildcats were the 29th best defense in America coming in to a home game versus the Oklahoma Sooners. A 31 spot fall to 60th is now where Kansas State lies – thanks to a 690 total yard offensive clinic put on by the Oklahoma Sooners. Kansas State dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten 58-17.
Oklahoma quarterback – Landry Jones – was 35-of-47 passing versus Kansas State for 505 yards and straight shredded the Wildcat secondary.
Kansas State’s offense did not fare much better – only producing 240 yards of total offense.
Ugly Hitters:
– Kansas produced 46 total yards versus Texas in a 43-0 defeat. Yes, forty-six.
– Welcome to town Randy Edsall. Maryland is now 2-6 and has only defeated one division one team this season, Miami.
– NC State was shut out by Florida State 34-0 and only gathered 166 total yards versus the Seminoles. At 4-4 and 1-3 in the ACC Tom O’Brien’s seat in Raleigh is getting rather warm.
– The good news for Rice is that they had a great game rushing the ball versus Houston, finishing with 359 yards. The bad news is that they gave up 656 yards of total offense and were the latest victim of Case Keenum who was 24-of-37 for 534 yards and NINE touchdowns.
– The New Mexico Lobo’s have been outscored 111-0 the past two weeks, losing to TCU 69-0 and Air Force 42-0.
– If you are a Memphis football fan, be happy you got your first real win last week versus Tulane, because it isn’t happening again this year. Memphis was shut out by UCF 41-0 Saturday. Memphis had 134 total yards versus UCF.
Texas Tech upsets Oklahoma a week ago and then they allow Iowa State to rough-shot over the Red Raiders losing 41-7. Iowa State rushed the ball for 368 yards Saturday versus Texas Tech and nearly had three Cyclones over 100-yards rushing.
The Bottom Five:
The five ugliest offenses in America:
116: UNLV – 277 yards per game (Up 1 from last week)
117: Memphis – 272 yards per game (Down 2 from last week)
118: Kentucky – 265 yards per game (No movement)
119: Florida Atlantic – 221 yards per game (No movement)
120: Kent State – 197 yards per game (No movement)
The five ugliest defenses in America:
116: Ball State – 489 yards per game (No movement)
117: Memphis – 495 yards per game (Up one spot from last week)
118: Rice – 495 yards per game (Down 3 spots from last week)
119: New Mexico – 510 yards per game (No movement)
120: Kansas – 555 yards per game (No movement)
Follow Regie Eller on Twitter @CFBRocker.
