Our opponents went 7-5 this week. Temple, Houston, and Memphis remained undefeated, and the overall record of our opponents is now 47-40. Five teams are 31-2 between them and the rest are 16-38. To the games:
Duke (6-1) beat Virginia Tech (3-5) in four overtimes, 45-43. In as evenly played game as you could imagine, both teams passed for exactly 270 yards while VaTech rushed for 182 to Duke’s 170. Neither team turned the ball over. In the fourth overtime, both teams scored TD’s, but “the Hokies” failed on their mandatory 2 point attempt, while the “Blue Devils” made theirs.
Georgia Tech (3-5) upset Florida State (6-1) 22-16. In a miracle finish, Tech blocked a long field goal attempt on the last play of the game that would have won the contest for FSU. After some confusion, a Georgia Tech player picked up the ball and raced 78 yards for the game-winning touchdown. It was very reminiscent of the Auburn victory a couple of years back over Alabama when the exact same thing happened. Prior to that play, the game was evenly played with no team possessing more than a ten-point lead.
Maine (3-4) beat Stoney Brook (2-4) 23-10. If anyone really cares, the Black Bears were trailing 10-3 at the half before coming back to win.
Temple (7-0) beat East Carolina (4-5) 24-14 despite being outgained 378-322. It was a penalty-filled game in which Temple was penalized 12 times for 114 yards and ECU was “flagged” 9 times for 99 yards. Temple missed two field goals in the game but won the turnover battle 2-0. Trailing 14-10 into the fourth quarter, the "Owls" drove for two touchdowns in the final five minutes of the game to put away the win and remain unbeaten.
Houston (7-0) mauled hapless UCF (0-8) 59-10, rolling up 599 total yards, while allowing 268. UCF even held a three point lead early (10-7) before being overwhelmed. Glad Houston is behind us.
Navy (5-1) beat Tulane (2-5) 31-14 in a game I thought was a lot closer than the score.
Memphis (7-0) beat Tulsa (3-4) 66-42 to remain unbeaten. As the score suggests, this was a wild one in which Memphis racked up 704 yards to Tulsa’s 534. This was also yet another game filled with penalties as the Tigers were whistled 12 times for 120 yards and the Golden Hurricanes were penalized 11 times for 76 yards. The Memphis QB, Paxton Lynch, was 32-44 passing for 447 yards and 4 TD’s, while Tulsa’s Dane Evans threw 36 times, 24 complete, for 421 yards and 4TD’s. He was intercepted once. The big difference was Memphis’ running game in which Doroland Dorceus and Jamarius Henderson, between them, rushed 44 times for 250 yards and four TD’s.. Both teams will be major challenges for the Wave defense in the coming weeks.
UCONN (3-5) lost to Cincinnati (4-3) 37-13 on the road. Although the “Huskies” scored a TD on the game’s opening drive, it was all Cincinnati after that. The “Bearcats” dominated the game with 622 total yards to UCONN’s 266. But for 105 yards in penalties against Cincinnati, the score would have been worse.
Army (2-6) lost to Rice (4-3) 38-31. In this one Army dominated time of possession and gained 378 yards on the ground. They were only 2-10 passing for 18 yards, however, and Rice outgained them overall with 432 total yards. Army never gave up despite falling behind by 14 points on two occasions and tied the game with two minutes to go prior to allowing a quick 75 yard TD drive by Rice.
SMU (1-6 ) lost to South Florida (4-3) 38-14. The game was statistically pretty even and SMU dominated time of possession, but an 82 yard punt return by USF and three lost fumbles by ”the Ponies” resulted in an easy victory. SMU has now lost five straight, while giving up 240 points (48.0 points/game) along the way.
Final thoughts: With five games to play, four of our opponents are already bowl eligible and, other than FCS’ Maine, only UCF has “clinched” non-bowl status. Navy will almost surely make a bowl while everyone else has significant work to do and pretty formidable hills to climb. Should Tulane get to 6-6, as unlikely as that may be, our “blow out” losses could make us one of the last ones in or first ones out if bowl “eligibles” exceed bowl openings. Of course, should we win the last four (despite the level of competition), that streak would be in our favor.
Roll Wave!!!
Duke (6-1) beat Virginia Tech (3-5) in four overtimes, 45-43. In as evenly played game as you could imagine, both teams passed for exactly 270 yards while VaTech rushed for 182 to Duke’s 170. Neither team turned the ball over. In the fourth overtime, both teams scored TD’s, but “the Hokies” failed on their mandatory 2 point attempt, while the “Blue Devils” made theirs.
Georgia Tech (3-5) upset Florida State (6-1) 22-16. In a miracle finish, Tech blocked a long field goal attempt on the last play of the game that would have won the contest for FSU. After some confusion, a Georgia Tech player picked up the ball and raced 78 yards for the game-winning touchdown. It was very reminiscent of the Auburn victory a couple of years back over Alabama when the exact same thing happened. Prior to that play, the game was evenly played with no team possessing more than a ten-point lead.
Maine (3-4) beat Stoney Brook (2-4) 23-10. If anyone really cares, the Black Bears were trailing 10-3 at the half before coming back to win.
Temple (7-0) beat East Carolina (4-5) 24-14 despite being outgained 378-322. It was a penalty-filled game in which Temple was penalized 12 times for 114 yards and ECU was “flagged” 9 times for 99 yards. Temple missed two field goals in the game but won the turnover battle 2-0. Trailing 14-10 into the fourth quarter, the "Owls" drove for two touchdowns in the final five minutes of the game to put away the win and remain unbeaten.
Houston (7-0) mauled hapless UCF (0-8) 59-10, rolling up 599 total yards, while allowing 268. UCF even held a three point lead early (10-7) before being overwhelmed. Glad Houston is behind us.
Navy (5-1) beat Tulane (2-5) 31-14 in a game I thought was a lot closer than the score.
Memphis (7-0) beat Tulsa (3-4) 66-42 to remain unbeaten. As the score suggests, this was a wild one in which Memphis racked up 704 yards to Tulsa’s 534. This was also yet another game filled with penalties as the Tigers were whistled 12 times for 120 yards and the Golden Hurricanes were penalized 11 times for 76 yards. The Memphis QB, Paxton Lynch, was 32-44 passing for 447 yards and 4 TD’s, while Tulsa’s Dane Evans threw 36 times, 24 complete, for 421 yards and 4TD’s. He was intercepted once. The big difference was Memphis’ running game in which Doroland Dorceus and Jamarius Henderson, between them, rushed 44 times for 250 yards and four TD’s.. Both teams will be major challenges for the Wave defense in the coming weeks.
UCONN (3-5) lost to Cincinnati (4-3) 37-13 on the road. Although the “Huskies” scored a TD on the game’s opening drive, it was all Cincinnati after that. The “Bearcats” dominated the game with 622 total yards to UCONN’s 266. But for 105 yards in penalties against Cincinnati, the score would have been worse.
Army (2-6) lost to Rice (4-3) 38-31. In this one Army dominated time of possession and gained 378 yards on the ground. They were only 2-10 passing for 18 yards, however, and Rice outgained them overall with 432 total yards. Army never gave up despite falling behind by 14 points on two occasions and tied the game with two minutes to go prior to allowing a quick 75 yard TD drive by Rice.
SMU (1-6 ) lost to South Florida (4-3) 38-14. The game was statistically pretty even and SMU dominated time of possession, but an 82 yard punt return by USF and three lost fumbles by ”the Ponies” resulted in an easy victory. SMU has now lost five straight, while giving up 240 points (48.0 points/game) along the way.
Final thoughts: With five games to play, four of our opponents are already bowl eligible and, other than FCS’ Maine, only UCF has “clinched” non-bowl status. Navy will almost surely make a bowl while everyone else has significant work to do and pretty formidable hills to climb. Should Tulane get to 6-6, as unlikely as that may be, our “blow out” losses could make us one of the last ones in or first ones out if bowl “eligibles” exceed bowl openings. Of course, should we win the last four (despite the level of competition), that streak would be in our favor.
Roll Wave!!!
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