Week 1

 the game of the week

NORTHWESTERN @ SYRACUSE

-          After falling behind 13-7, Northwestern rattled off 28 straight points only to have it go unnoticed because of Syracuse’s 28 straight points in the second half. With 2:40 left in the game Syracuse scored to take a 41-35 lead. Northwestern led by back-up quarterback Trevor Siemian went 75 yards and capped the drive with a touchdown. Northwestern’s defense held strong the final 44 seconds as the Wildcats came out victorious by a score of 42-41.

the worst game of the week

WASHINGTON STATE @ BYU

-          In a nutshell, the officials. The NFL replacement refs have done a better job than what this Pac-12 crew did. Just before the end of the first half Washington State drove 46 yards and kicked a field goal, one of their two pathetic scores. Of those 46 yards, 42 of them were granted from BYU penalties. Over 180 yards penalized on 18 flags thrown. The game was being completely controlled by the officiating and it never seemed that either team got it going offensively. Although BYU put 30 points on the board they only put 6 up in the 2^nd half, all in the third quarter. A much anticipated game on a Thursday night proved to be quite pathetic.

 the best team performance

WEST VIRGINIA

-          WOW!!! What a performance the Mountaineers put on against the Thundering Herd of Marshall. In a week that big schools struggled against small schools, West Virginia was sure to avoid any type of upset. West Virginia proved to be a threat to Oklahoma, Texas, and Oklahoma State for the Big 12 Championship. Marshall scored 34 points however only 10 points were scored on West Virginia’s first team D. WVU led 34-10 and didn’t let up winning the game 69-34. The Mountaineers offense was the most balanced I’ve seen in a long time; 324 yards through the air and 331 on the ground, only 5 penalties and 1 turnover. West Virginia’s performance was brilliant from start to finish. 

 

the most surprising team performance

MIAMI HURRICANES

-          Miami averaged 26 points last year and lost to a Maryland team in the opener that finished 2-9, their only other win versus an FCS opponent. Miami fell behind quickly 14-0 and unlike last year they fought back, putting 41 points on the board and looked impressive doing it. With the backfield of Duke Johnson, Mike James, and Eduardo Clements Miami seemed unstoppable running for over 200 yards in the game. Stephen Morris performed outstanding, only throwing one interception which was a dropped pass by his receiver. Although having a young defense Miami stopped Boston College on the goal line in a crucial late game drive.

 

most disappointing team performance

WASHINGTON STATE

-          The Mike Leach Era did not start the way that folks in Pullman thought it would. Washington State was basically out performed by what may be an underrated BYU team. Wazzu tallied a measly 229 yards of total offense while somehow managing to end in negative rushing yards (-5). Not only did the Cougs put up embarrassing offensive numbers but their defense was pushed around at will. BYU quarterback, Riley Nielson threw at will and picked the Washington State defense apart; throwing for more yards (296) and touchdowns (2) than Washington State had the entire game. For only the third time in Leach’s coaching career his team failed to get in the endzone. There is definitely a letdown in Washington State’s performance this week. 

 

upset of the week

YOUNGSTOWN STATE OVER PITTSBURGH

-          Youngstown State from top to bottom outplayed the Pittsburgh Panthers in Paul Chryst’s debut. Youngstown State had more yards, less penalties, less turnovers, more first downs and most importantly more points. The Panthers have a veteran QB and a veteran RB who couldn’t get enough momentum rolling for their offense to avoid an embarrassing upset. 

 the best individual performance

LE’VEON BELL, MSU

-          Bell touched the ball 50 times against Boise State. In those 50 touches he accounted for more than 50% of Michigan State’s yards (265) and 2 TDs. Bell proved to be unstoppable against the Broncos who were defeated in an opener for the first time since 2005.

 the most surprising individual performance

DUKE JOHNSON, MIA

-          If you hear about a running back who runs for 135 yards on 7 carries (19 yds/carry) you think impressive. You add 2 TDs onto the 135 yards and you think ‘Wow!” but what if that running back is a true freshman, playing in his colligate game? Holy Cow!! What a performance D. Johnson put on Saturday at Chestnut Hill. This frosh has some serious potential!

 best/worst conference performance

best: BIG 12

-          The only conference who went unbeaten in week 1, 10-0. Each team won by 2 or more touchdowns. Surprisingly, Oklahoma was the team who struggled most in the conference but still managed to win 24-7. Combined the Big XII outscored their opponents by 300 points!!

 

worst: BIG TEN

-          Go ahead Big 10 lovers make your case that you went 10-2 in the first week which is tied with the SEC for the most in week 1. Yeah so Michigan got beat by ‘Bama and Penn St is going to struggle because of what has occurred. Look at the 10 wins though, now take Purdue, Ohio State, and Nebraska out of the equation. An FCS school and a lot of MAC with a UNLV and a Syracuse are the opponents and the Big 10 schools outscored them by a total of 38 measly points. Pfff! That’s pathetic. In the same amount of wins, against weaker opponents the Big 10 winning margin is 145 points less than the Big 12, and that’s without the 2 losses. Plugging those into the equation and they scored 181 less points. The only shot they had was a Michigan win and Michigan got embarrassed on Prime Time Television.