College Football 2011 Week 9: Shakeups and Showdowns
By Cabrone D. Brewer
If you were searching for a heavy dose of tricks and treats this Halloween weekend, you didn’t have to look much further than your living room TV.
Six undefeated teams remain in the 2011 season after a frightful week of intense college football action left many schools looking for answers to the season that might have been.
After suffering their first defeat at home in 39 games, No. 11 Oklahoma traveled to Manhattan and decimated previously undefeated No. 10 Kansas State 58-17 on the Wildcats’ home turf.
Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones threw for a school-record 505 yards and the Sooners had a season-high 690 yards of total offense against the Big 12’s top defensive unit. Jones and the Sooners started slow, but piled the offensive and defensive pressure on thick in the second half — holding K-State to only 32 yards of total offense after halftime.
The win may have kept Oklahoma alive in the Big 12 race after last week’s upset loss to Texas Tech, but it certainly came at a price — leading rusher Dominique Whaley suffered a left ankle fracture on the first play of the game and is out for the rest of the season.
No. 6 Clemson had trouble holding on to the ball and holding on to their undefeated record Saturday, falling to Georgia Tech 31-17 in Atlanta.
The Tigers suffered their first lost of the season by coughing up the football four times as the Ramblin’ Wreck ran freely around the field and compiled a total of 383 yards rushing — compared to a lowly 95 total yards on the ground for Clemson.
One week removed from a nail biting loss to Michigan State at the hands of a last-second Hail Mary pass, history would repeat itself for No. 12 Wisconsin as the Badgers were upended by Ohio State — and another last-minute desperation pass — 33-29.
Four total touchdowns were scored by both schools in the final 4:39, but it was Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller who got the final laugh with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Devin Smith with only 20 seconds remaining to down the Badgers and hand Wisconsin its second-straight loss of the season.
No. 4 Stanford is 8-0 for the first time since 1951, surviving a thrilling 56-48 triple-overtime battle against No. 20 USC at the Coliseum in Los Angeles.
Heisman hopeful Andrew Luck added some amazing stats to his current resume — throwing for 325 yards and three touchdowns while keeping to the ground himself for another touchdown. Stanford’s defense also proved to be valuable as well by forcing USC’s Curtis McNeal to fumble into the end zone to preserve the Cardinal victory in the final OT.
Rounding out the top ten this week: No. 3 Oklahoma State remains dominate with a 59-24 victory over Baylor; No. 7 Oregon handles Washington State 43-28; No. 8 Arkansas narrowly defeats Vanderbilt 31-28; And No. 9 Michigan State loses to No. 13 Nebraska in Lincoln.
Visit us Friday for a preview of LSU-Alabama and more of the weekend’s best college football.
Also Read:
College Football 2011 Week 9: Looking Ahead
College Football 2011 Recap: Home Wrecked
College Football 2011 Week 8: In Full Swing