College football week in review
I wanted to hit the deep ones, not just throw. When you throw, you just throw. You want to hit the deep ones.” — Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, when asked if he wanted to “throw deep” in the second half of a victory over Minnesota
Navy and Oklahoma State messed up a couple of perfectly good November showdowns among undefeated teams. Bully for them but bad for expectant fans in the Lone Star State looking forward to a Memphis-at-Houston battle on Saturday and a Baylor-at-TCU prizefight on Nov. 27.
The Midshipmen rolled over the previously unbeaten Tigers 45-20 on Saturday. Memphis, now with one loss, visits undefeated UH on Saturday night in a game that might have drawn ESPN’s “College GameDay” crew to Cullen Boulevard. Instead, the ESPN crew will be on the banks of the Brazos for Oklahoma at Baylor.
TDECU Stadium still will feature a Top 25 matchup after Memphis dropped from 15th to 25th and UH climbed to 16th from 18th in the Associated Press poll.
Unbeaten Oklahoma State fired the first salvo in the Big 12 race, whipping TCU 49-29 at Stillwater to take some of the luster off the day-after-Thanksgiving battle at Fort Worth between the No. 4 Bears and No. 13 Horned Frogs.
HIGHS Around the area
1 Houston did its part to set up a hyped contest against Memphis with a 33-30 victory over Cincinnati on Saturday at TDECU Stadium. The Cougars under first-year coach Tom Herman have started 9-0 for the second time in school history, joining the 2011 club. On the downside, UH lost No. 2 running back Ryan Jackson to a broken collarbone that will sideline him the rest of the season.
2 Prairie View A&M and dynamic quarterback Trey Green scored 40 points in the first half at Alcorn State and then held on for dear life in a 40-34 victory. The Panthers are 6-1 in the SWAC West, a game behind division leader Grambling State (7-0).
3 Nothing cures a college football ailment like Kansas. Texas, coming off a 24-0 loss at Iowa State, collected 598 yards of offense and six sacks in a 59-20 spanking of the Jayhawks in Austin. The Longhorns scored at least 50 points for the first time in the two-season Charlie Strong era.
Around the nation
1 Clemson continued making its case as the nation’s top team with a 2313 victory over Florida State. The Tigers were ranked No. 1 in the first College Football Playoff ranking last week, and the Associated Press joined the No. 1 fun Sunday by sliding them ahead of Ohio State and Baylor. 2 Navy sank Memphis 45-20 and in doing so sailed into the AP Top 25 for the first time since the end of the 2004 season (No. 24). The Midshipmen are No. 22 and will try to start 8-1 for the first time since 1963 when they play host to SMU on Saturday.
LOWS Around the area
1 So Kyler Murray isn’t the savior of Texas A&M football — at least not yet. The freshman quarterback threw three interceptions, and the Aggies’ offense managed all of 10 points against the SEC’s worst defense in Auburn. The Tigers prevailed 26-10 at Kyle Field in a drizzle, and more than 100,000 fans left soaked and sizzling under the collar at another inept A&M offensive showing.
2 Sam Houston State grabbed a 10-0 lead at McNeese State and appeared poised to move into a tie for the Southland title — before the Cowboys scored the next 27 points for a lopsided victory and the SLC crown. The Bearkats fell to 5-2 in league action.
Around the nation
1 Michigan State’s chances of making the
four-team playoff took a serious dent courtesy of a 39-38 loss at Nebraska. Tommy Armstrong drove the Cornhuskers 91 yards for a final touchdown with 17 seconds remaining, and the Spartans blew a 12-point lead with less than five minutes remaining.
2 Mississippi has had some serious ups and downs this season — and this week the Rebels are submerged in the latter. Arkansas defeated Mississippi 53-52 in overtime, erasing any Rebel hopes for an SEC West crown. This is the same team that in September defeated Alabama 43-37 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. — a one-loss Crimson Tide squad that in November appears invincible.
HEISMAN WATCH 1 Corey Coleman, Baylor: The Bears wide receiver turned in another superb showing with 216 receiving yards in Baylor’s 31-24 victory at Kansas State on Thursday. He has 20 touchdown catches in eight games this season, seven shy of the FBS record of 27 set by Louisiana Tech’s Troy Edwards in 1998.
2 Derrick Henry, Alabama: In a showdown with LSU and Leonard Fournette, the junior running back loaded the Crimson Tide on his back, gaining 210 yards on 38 carries. He looked like the best back in Bryant-Denny Stadium and the best in the nation. 3 Leonard Fournette, LSU: He spent the entire season at No. 1, so one bad game should not drop him from the list. It came close, though. The Tigers running back had only 31 yards on 19 carries in the 3016 loss to Alabama — the first time he has not rushed for at least 150 yards in a game this season.
COMING THIS WEEK • Kansas at TCU, 11 a.m. Saturday; FS1 • Texas at West Virginia ,11 a.m. Saturday; ESPNU • Alcorn State at Texas
Southern, 1 p.m. Saturday
• Prairie View A&M at
Alabama State, 2 p.m.
Saturday • Alabama at Mississippi
State, 2:30 p.m. Saturday;
CBS • Kansas State at Texas
Tech, 2:30 p.m.; FSI • Southern Miss at Rice, 2:30 p.m. Saturday • Houston Baptist at
Stephen F. Austin, 3 p.m. Saturday • Memphis at Houston ,6 p.m. Saturday; ESPN2 • Western Carolina at Texas A&M, 6 p.m. Saturday; ESPNU
• Oklahoma at Baylor ,7 p.m. Saturday; ABC