The Cal Bears bounced back, the Fighting Irish throttled Penn State, the Seminoles needed a pair of late scores to avoid a letdown against Troy State and the Ohio St. Buckeyes left little to the voters' imagination with their 24-7 win over the Longhorns.
The California Golden Bears began their season with a lot of promise and a Top 20 ranking. Then Cal got bounced in embarrassing fashion by the Tennessee Volunteers in the season opener, falling behind 35-0 in the third quarter.
NCAA Foots: Week 2 Review
But the Bears righted the ship a bit Saturday night when they beat up on the Big 10’s Minnesota Gophers 42-17, easily covering the spread as 8-point favorites.
Cal QB Nate Longshore had a sharp outing, going 22-of-31 for 300 yards passing with four TDs, and the Bears’ offense racked up 531 yards in all. And the margin of victory could have been more than it was; Minnesota scored one of their TDs on an early 99-yard kickoff return.
The Gophers beat Kent State last week 44-0, but took a step up in class going against Cal. Minnesota now continues with its traditional cupcake non-conference schedule by hosting Temple this weekend.
The Ohio State Buckeyes have been the favorites to win this season’s national title for a couple of months already, and now they’re even bigger favorites after their 24-7 drubbing of Texas in Austin on Saturday night. OSU QB Troy Smith looked absolutely dominating, again, going 17-of-26 for 269 yards and two TDs.
The Longhorns, who were favored by 2½ points, actually looked like they were going to score first, but a fumble near the goal line cost them that opportunity. The teams traded touchdowns after that, and then Smith tossed a beautiful scoring pass to Ted Ginn, Jr. just before halftime to give the Buckeyes the lead for good. Texas outrushed Ohio State 172 to 79, but the Bucks just seemed to have the answers on almost every key play on both sides of the ball.
Ohio State hosts Cincinnati Saturday, while the Longhorns visit Rice Saturday night.
Notre Dame also looked very good Saturday, trouncing Penn State 41-17 as 8-point chalk. The Irish grabbed an early 3-0 lead, but Penn State marched down the field and looked like they were going to tie the game. Unfortunately for Nittany Lions’ backers, the special teams unit botched a short field goal attempt and it was all downhill from there.
Notre Dame built a 20-0 halftime lead, scored on a fumble return a minute into the third quarter, and used a fake punt to set up the convincing score. Irish QB Brady Quinn picked the Penn State defense apart, going 25-of-36 for 287 yards with three touchdowns. And he spread the wealth around as four ND receivers had at least five receptions. The Irish led 41-3 in the fourth quarter before the Lions scored two late meaningless TDs.
Notre Dame continues the Big 10 portion of its schedule by hosting Michigan (41-17 winners over Central Michigan Saturday as 28-point favorites) this Saturday afternoon, while Penn State hosts Youngstown State.
The Iowa Hawkeyes found themselves in a dogfight Saturday without one of their key weapons. QB Drew Tate was a late scratch for the game at Syracuse with an abdominal strain, and his absence was felt. Replacement Jason Manson threw four interceptions. Iowa, 18-point road favorites, outrushed the Orange 149-70, but needed a 7-play goal line stand in the second overtime to secure an ugly 20-13 victory.
Iowa hosts rival Iowa State Saturday, while Syracuse visits Illinois.
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights put a hurtin’ on those inept Illini Saturday, using a blocked punt and an interception return to grab a 14-0 first-quarter lead on their way to a 33-0 whitewash, easily covering as 11-point home chalk. Rutgers hosts Ohio this Saturday.
The Clemson Tigers, 2½-point road favorites at Boston College Saturday, led basically the entire game thanks to a strong performance from QB Will Proctor (25-of-40 for 343 yards and two TDs). But BC’s Jeff Smith had four long kickoff returns, including a 96-yarder for a touchdown, to keep the Eagles in the game. Boston College then blocked an extra-point attempt in the second overtime, then scored and converted the PAT to nip the Tigers 34-33. BC hosts BYU Saturday, while Clemson visits Florida State.
LSU, 16-point home chalk over Arizona Saturday, held the Wildcats to just 54 yards of total offense through the first three quarters in their 45-3 romp. The Tigers visit Auburn in an early SEC showdown Saturday.
Florida State, five days after sneaking by the Miami Hurricanes at the Orange Bowl, had to score two TDs in the final six minutes to come from behind as 30-point home favorites and beat Troy State 24-17.
And the Virginia Tech Hokies, despite being outgained 268-224, used four interceptions and a blocked punt to beat the North Carolina Tar Heels 35-10 in Chapel Hill Saturday as 13-point road favorites. Va Tech hosts Duke Saturday.
The USA Today Top 10, excluding the No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Texas matchup, went 7-0 straight up Saturday, and 5-1 vs. the point spread.
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SBR Staff: NCAA Foots Week 2 Review
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