College Football's Week: Regional Recaps Of Week Nine

                                           FOOTBALL'S WEEK 10/25/08

    Football's Week is a weekly series prepared by veteran observer Baby Tate.

THE SOUTH

THE BEST: 1) Alabama 8–0, 2) Georgia 7–1, 3) Florida 6–1

In one of the most pulse-pounding games played in the SEC this season, the Georgia Bulldogs woke up from their month-long nap and defeated the powerful LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, 52-38.

Bayou Bengal mistakes were the culprit according to LSU overseer Les Miles, who pondered the reasons for the loss afterwards. "You can't give a quality opponent turnovers" stated the Tiger coach.

Next up for the Bulldogs will be Florida. The Gators picked the bones clean off the Kentucky "Mildcats" 63-5 and later coach Urban Meyer promised his team would be ready for next week's big game.

Another day, another dollar for the workman-like Alabama Crimson Tide. Old foe Tennessee resisted the Tide momentarily but, then collapsed into a 29-9 loss. The Crimson Tide was perfectly balanced with 178 yards rushing and 188 yards passing.

Still, Vol quarterback Nate Stephens was not impressed, stating "we stopped ourselves". Apparently he never noticed the rock solid Red Elephant defense that controlled the game from start to finish. Coach Phil Fulmer of Tennessee lamented, "I've got a lot on my mind". No doubt about that.

In a situation where you get the last word in an argument, you should let "sleeping dogs lie". First year Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt could not help getting in a dig at his former school following the Rebels' 23–21 road win. "I guess they're doing the best they can," injected Nutt.

Whenever Memphis and Southern Mississippi get together it is usually a close game. The two schools didn't disappoint this season, the Tigers of Tommy West escaping with a 36–30 win over the Golden Eagles.

In ACC action, Virginia upset Georgia Tech 24-17 by holding the ferocious Yellow Jacket ground game to 156 yards. Miami trimmed unpredictable Wake Forest 16-10, UNC beat Boston College 45-24, Maryland escaped NC State 27-24, Florida State overcame Virginia Tech 30-20, and Duke made headlines by upsetting Vanderbilt on the road, 10-7.

THE MIDWEST

THE BEST: 1) Texas 8–0, 2) Texas Tech 8–0, 3) Oklahoma 7–1

While Texas and Texas Tech warmed up for their big game next week by disposing of Oklahoma State and Kansas, a funny thing happened to Oklahoma on its road back to national title contender.

The Sooners' ace running back, DeMarco Murray ran for 167 yards and four touchdowns but there was just something very un-Oklahoma about the game as the once mighty Crimson defense surrendered 35 points, 486 yards passing, and 23 first downs to a vastly under-manned Kansas State.

To make matters worse, the Sooner quarterback, Sam Bradford, was only 1 for 9 in the second half. Head Coach Bob Stoops fumed after the game " We've got to do a lot of things differently". It has been a rough ride for the Okies since halftime of the Red River Shootout.

Texas Christian continued to make a case as one of the top teams in the Lone Star state by annihilating Wyoming 54–7. Colorado continued its trip down misery lane with a 58–0 shellacking from the rebounding Tigers of Missouri.

Up north, the stage was set for an Ohio State upset of fearsome Penn State. The Nittany Lions, bullet-proof to this point of the season, were nearly a victim of the rugged trapping defense of Coach Jim Tressel.

Although the Buckeyes slowed down Joe Paterno's gang of eleven considerably, when the clock showed double zero Penn State was a 13–6 winner.

Minnesota's Golden Gophers continued their winning ways with a 17-6 road victory over Joe Tiller's Purdue Boilermakers. Juice Williams, the great Illinois quarterback, was held down at Camp Randall as the Badgers enjoyed a turn-around victory of 27–17.

Time was the Michigan–Michigan State game made national news. Now it seems to be little more than a regional matter. The Spartans claimed the rivalry game this season, 35–21.

Northwestern fell again, this time to Indiana, 21–19 while MAC power Ball State continued to stay unbeaten by burying Eastern Michigan, 38–16.

Big 12 entry Nebraska continued the long road back with a 32–20 win over Baylor and Texas A&M recorded a rare road win by taking down Gene Chizik's Cyclones of Iowa State, 49–35.  

The Air Force overwhelmed New Mexico and Tulsa cranked up the offense in the second half to runaway from Central Florida, 49–19.

THE WEST

THE BEST: 1) Southern California 6–1, 2) Utah 8–0, 3) Boise State 7–0

Coach Pat Hill of Fresno State has suffered enough close games in his career to know one when he sees it coming. However, the battle with the heroic Utags of Utah State caught him by surprise. Thanks to some late game kicking success, the Bulldogs survived, 30–28. Afterwards Hill remarked, "nothing comes easy for us anymore".

Notre Dame ventured out to the great Northwest to take on once-mighty Washington. The final score was 33-7 Irish, and even that margin doesn't do justice to the domination of the men from South Bend.

California prepared for its final push to a possible Rose Bowl date by whipping outgunned UCLA, 41-20. Brigham Young showed it still has a potent offense by defeating Nevada–Las Vegas, 42–35. New Mexico State left the confines of desert air to battle the Vandals of Idaho in the 16,000 seat Kibbie Dome but, fled town after a 20–14 loss.

Improving Hawaii caught Nevada off-guard and stunned the Wolfpack, 38–31 while Colorado State took care of the San Diego State Aztecs, 38–34. 

THE DESERT REPORT: The biggest game in the desert since the titanic Georgia–Arizona State match took place in Tucson on Saturday night. When the smoke cleared, the Trojans of Southern Cal proved too much for the gallant Wildcats of Arizona, 17–10. For the Sun Devils' part, they fell again, this time to Mike Bellotti's Oregon Ducks, 54–20.

THE EAST

THE BEST: 1) Penn State 9–0, 2) West Virginia 5–2, 3) Pittsburgh 5–2

The Black Knights of the Hudson have come upon sunny days and they marched ahead with a 14–7 victory over Louisiana Tech. Yes, the same La Tech that beat Mississippi State earlier this season. Head Coach Stan Brock of the Cadets is ecstatic at the improvement of his young club. "We're going somewhere with this ballclub" said the happy coach.

The Navy kept pace with their arch-rivals while gaining a measure of revenge over the SMU Mustangs, 34-7. In 1963, the Middies played for the national championship against Texas in the Cotton Bowl and lost but one game all regular season, to SMU. "This wins for you, Roger the Dodger" said an elder alumnus of Annapolis.

The improving Pitt Panthers were side-swiped by Greg Schiano's Scarlet Knights, 54–34. Rutgers played its finest game of the year, according to on-lookers, to capture the Big East battle.

The show stopper of the weekend in the East was perennial SEC power Auburn's trip to Morgantown to take on the Mountaineers. West Virginia showed it had recovered from early season surprise losses to Colorado and East Carolina by overhauling the Plainsmen from Alabama, 34–17. Quarterback Pat White and running back Noel Devine led the way. Tigers' head coach Tommy Tuberville seemed stumped for an answer in a post game interview when he was asked, "what went wrong in the second half"? It was easy enough to see, the Mountainner's offense came alive and their improved tackling held down the War Eagle attack.

In Ivy League action, Harvard stopped Princeton, 24–20 while Brown battered Cornell 27–7. Columbia escaped Dartmouth 21–13 and Penn trumped Yale, 9–7.

BACK OF THE WEEK– Rutgers QB Mike Teel threw for 361 yards and six touchdowns in a surprising 54–34 win over Big East frontrunner Pittsburgh.

LINEMAN OF THE WEEK–Southern California linebacker Rey Maualuga led a stalwart Trojan defensive effort that held Arizona's mighty offense to 30 points under their scoring average. Late in the 4th quarter, Maualuga and company prevented Arizona from converting on fourth and an inch with the game on the line.