Penn State Football

Stacking The HAM Up High: Week Nine National Recap

By Peter Gray Oct 31, 2011, 9:25am EDT

Safe for one more week. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Week Nine, thanks for bringing the crazy to the table. This week featured not one but two undefeated teams making their exit from the national title race, and a third going to triple overtime in order to preserve their unblemished record. That leaves us with only six undefeated teams: Alabama, LSU, Stanford, Oklahoma State, Boise State and Houston. Either Alabama or LSU is guaranteed to lose next week, and Stanford and OSU still have yet to play their toughest opponents. The picture is becoming clearer.

Games of Note

(4) Stanford Cardinal @ (20) USC Trojans
Final Score: Stan 56 - USC 48 (3OT)

For as much as USC has fallen off from their form of a few years ago, they still have tons of top end talent. That talent was on full display last night, as the Trojans gave Andrew Luck and Stanford one hell of a scare before losing in triple overtime. Both Luck and USC's Matt Barkley threw for three touchdowns and an interception, but Luck also had a touchdown on the ground.

A common complaint about Stanford thus far has been that they haven't really played anyone, and that its hard to judge a team based on that level of competition. I think it's safe to say the Cardinal passed their first real test, even if it was by the thinnest of margins. All eyes in the Pac-12 are now firmly directed to November 12th, when Oregon makes its way down to The Farm. The winner will (presumably) win the Pac-12 North, and then (again, presumably) take on Arizona State in the Pac-12 title game.

(8) Arkansas Razorbacks @ Vanderbilt Commodores
Final Score: Piggy 31 - Vandy 28

There are a few teams that make a habit of being thorns in other teams' sides. Vanderbilt is now one of those teams, as they've now taken Arkansas and Georgia down to the wire with substantially inferior talent. The Hogs tied the game when Vanderbilt fumbled on the Arkansas 6 yard line, and LB Jerry Franklin took the fumble 94 yards for a touchdown one minute into the 4th quarter.

This game also had one of the single dirtiest hits I've ever seen in a college football game. Judge for yourself.

(11) Oklahoma Sooners @ (10) Kansas St. Wildcats
Final Score: OU 58 - KSU 17

Oklahoma's sterling run in games following a loss continues, as the Sooner absolutely smoked Kansas State in the second half. The first half was actually very competitive, with the Sooners only taking a 6 point lead into halftime. However, OU then proceeded to drop 35 unanswered. Landry Jones ended up with 5 touchdown passes, and both Ryan Broyles (171)and Kenny Stills (101) went over 100 receiving yards for the day.

Kansas State, it's safe to say, is no longer in the hunt for the national championship.

(15) Virginia Tech Hokies @ Duke Blue Devils
Final Score: VT 14 - Duke 10

This game was a mess. Duke had a chance to win the game at the end, but Sean Renfree threw his third interception of the day with just over a minute left to ice the game for the Hokies. Now let's never speak of this game again.

(22) Georgia Bulldogs vs. Florida Gators (in Jacksonville, FL)
Final Score: UGA 24 - UF 20

Florida's rushing line: 22 rushes for -19 yards. John Brantley only completed 35% of his passes. RIP, Gator offense. This was a huge win for Mark Richt and the Dawgs, as this likely saves Richt's job, and gives UGA only their third win over the Gators since 1998. It wasn't a pretty game (at all), but I'm sure they'll take it in a heartbeat.

Georgia's now won six straight games after starting the season 0-2, and Florida's now lost four straight.

Upset City

(6) Clemson Tigers @ Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Final Score: GT 31 - CU 17

Naturally, as soon as I trust Clemson to win a big game, they blow it. The Tigers turned the ball over four times, and allowed Georgia Tech to sit on a 24-3 halftime lead. The Yellow Jackets ran for 383 yards and held the ball for 39 minutes. That's how you beat a team with an explosive offense.

Missouri Tigers @ (16) Texas A&M Aggies
Final Score: Mizzou 38 - A&M 31 (OT)

In terms of upsets, this is not a huge one. However, it is tough to go down to College Station and win a game, so credit to Missouri for getting their marquee win of the season. As for A&M, their inability to stop Missouri in the fourth quarter doomed them.

Iowa St. Cyclones @ (19) Texas Tech Red Raiders
Final Score: ISU 41 - TTU 7

I'm not sure Texas Tech ever really deserved to be ranked, even after beating Oklahoma, but I'm not sure anyone really saw this coming. Since their win over Iowa, ISU has looked like deep fried garbage. But I suppose anything can happen in Ames, Iowa.