2013 Week 7
October 18, 2013
There was a lot of fine action across the nation last weekend, but I'd like to start by saluting the Lone Star State. Teams from Texas were just about unbeatable last Saturday.
Of course the most anticipated game was the Red River Shootout at the Texas State Fair, where John Mackovic Brown's Aggies upset the Sooners, 36-20.
Bitter rival Texas A&M also had an impressive win, going on the road to Ole Southern Miss and beating the Fighting Favres 41-38.
It wasn't just those two marquee schools having fine days. Houston beat Memphis. TCU knocked off Charles White's Kansas squad. Texas Tech won a close one over Iowa State.
But the biggest win for a Texas squad was played at a neutral site. Under the Golden Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, the #5 rated Stanford Cardinals were stunned by the University of Texas at Houston, 27-21. Stanford had been a heavy favorite over U.T.A.H., but couldn't keep up with those southern boys.
There was other action not involving Texas colleges. In a matchup of non-traditional schools, Rhode Island Continuing Education held off the Transportation Security Administration's training school 27-21. R.I.C.E. now moves to 4-2, while U-TSA drops to 2-5.
I noticed on the ticker that my daughter Beth Cook scored 27 times with someone named Howard in Washington DC. I guess it's just as well that I've passed on, I'd hate to be walking past the Lincoln Memorial and seeing Beth and Howard making the sign of the humpback whale on Abe's lap.
In the biggest matchup in the SEC, LSU pitched a near shutout against Florida 17-6. I haven't seen a Gator get stuffed like that since Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.
Another big matchup took place between the hedges. The Missouri Tigers pulled a shocking road upset over Georgia, 41-26, which will do more to cement their membership in the SEC than Quantrill's Raid.
Out west the big game took place in Seattle, as Oregon pulled away from Washington 45-24. Once again we're seeing great offensive play by the Beavers.
On the other end of the spectrum, the biggest futility battle took place in Amherst, as previously winless U-Mass beat winless Miami of Ohio, 17-10. It's bad enough that the Cradle of Coaches still hasn't won a game, but a single win for a Catholic school like U-Mass is blaphemous.
Perhaps the most confusing game took place in State College Station, as Penn State beat Michigan in quadruple overtime.
Now I'm still trying to figure out these overtime rules. Apparently they decided to settle this one with a field goal shootout, at least until the third overtime when the teams had to go for two points after each field goal. Penn State converted their two-pointer and so won the game.
Next week's schedule is full of top matchups like UCLA at Stanford, R Kansas at Alabama, and USC's big intersectional game at Tennessee. I can't wait.