Well, ladies and gentlemen, today was one of those days that reminds you about how much you love college football.
Everywhere you looked, today, something exhilaratingly shocking was brewing. In my last article, I talked about 4 games that were potential 'trap' games for top teams: Virginia Tech vs. Pitt, Oregon vs. Washington, Stanford vs. Utah, and Missouri vs. Georgia.
Right off the bat, Missouri was off to the races, and my prediction of a 32-21 Tigers win turned into a 41-26 Tigers win. Georgia was obviously depleted in their offense by injuries, but the Bulldogs horrible defensive display is what cost them the game. Missouri, however, lost their star quarterback James Franklin for maybe the year today, and will have to rely on Maty Mauk the rest of the way.
In my upset special, the Utah Utes upset the Stanford Cardinal in the big SLC, just as I predicted. Utah has been looking for a signature win the Pac 12 for a while, and it finally came to fruition tonight. Quarterback Travis Wilson did all he needed to do, and star receiver Dres Anderson did the rest. Stanford had Washington and Notre Dame end their National Championship aspirations last year, and now Utah this year.
Virginia Tech vs. Pittsburgh was reasonably close, but Tech's lunchpail defense did the dirty work, and VT got threw with a 19-9 win in Blacksburg. The Hokies' offensive line didn't do quite well, but they had an all-around good day in general. The ACC coastal division will once again come down to VT and Miami.
I expected Washington to shock Oregon, but the Josh Shirley and the Huskies defense had a terrible game, letting Marcus Mariota and Co. torch the city of Seattle. Oregon continues to look like the cream of the crop in the Pac 12.
But none of those topped the excitement of Michigan vs. Pennsylvania State. I personally think it was the best game of the college football year, right there with Marshall vs. Virginia Tech (which lasted 3 overtimes in the pouring down rain). I picked Penn State to win this game. But in regular time. 4 overtimes? Amazing. When Brendan Gibbons missed the field goal for Michigan in the 3rd OT, I thought I was going to lay an egg. Pennsylvania State showed true grit, and won 43-40.
And the one that no one saw coming: Texas mauling Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry game. Case McCoy outdueled Blake Bell, and Texas lit the field on fire for a good while during the game. The lesson learned is the Big 12 is so weak, that they will all beat up on each other until the winner of the conference has 3 or 4 losses.
Another odd one was Northwestern getting demolished by Wisconsin. They were obviously still let down by the close loss to Ohio State last week, but the Wildcats were listless, in a very disappointing display. What is proves is Ohio State's schedule continues to get weaker, and their National Championship hopes are quickly fading.
And how about the ones that just barely got away from being upsets? Baylor escaping Dan Sams and K-State, Northern Illinois holding on against the pesky Akron Zips, Texas Tech getting past the underrated Iowa State Cyclones, and of course the #3 Clemson Tigers dodging the fired up Boston College Eagles in Clemson.
It was the best Saturday in a long time, and I hope the upset bug continues to flourish around the country.
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