Former Foes: Week 12

Syracuse (5-5)

Lost to #2 Florida State (10-0) 59-3

If you lived under a rock this past week, you missed the fact that FSU quarterback Jameis Winston, a Heisman Trophy Candidate, came under investigation for an alleged sexual assault that took place almost a year ago.  Any question of the off-field issue affecting Winston's play were answered quickly on Saturday.  Florida State scored four times in the 1st quarter alone and blew out Syracuse 59-3.  Syracuse didn't score until a meaningless field goal with a little over 7 minutes left in the game.  For his part, Winston completed 17 of 21 passes for 277 yards and 2 touchdowns with no picks.  Florida State outgained the Orange 523-247 and held Syracuse quarterback Terrel Hunt to 75 yards passing.

Having said all that, none of this comes as a surprise to anyone; the Orange were big underdogs.  Now Syracuse has a huge game with Pitt, who sits at an equal 5-5 with both teams desperately needing a win to reach bowl eligibility. Syracuse still has a game with Boston College, while Pitt gets Miami (of the Florida variety) so this is the best chance for both teams to get the elusive 6th win.

Next up: Pitt (5-5)

Eastern Michigan (2-8)

Bye

Next up: Bowling Green (7-3)

#17 UCF (7-1)

Beat Temple (1-9) 39-36

Let me just cut to the chase.... with 2:04 to play, Temple quarterback P.J. Walker found teammate Chris Parthemore for a 7-yard touchdown and with the two point conversion took a 7-point lead. With 1:06 left to play, UCF quarterback Blake Bortles tied it up with a 30-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Worton, who made a one-handed catch that was amazing... astounding... uh, sick... here, just watch it:

J.J. Worton makes INSANE one-handed diving #SCtop10 catch (via ESPN)

Yeah, I don't have the adjective to describe that either--and UCF was not done.  The Knights got the ball back with 28 ticks on the clock.  Problem was they had no timeouts and were stuck on their own 30. Problem?  Not for UCF this season.  Wide receiver Randell Hall slipped behind the Temple defense and caught a 64 yard completion to the Temple 6.  Bortles spiked the ball, stopped the clock with 2 seconds left, and Shawn Moffitt booted a 24-yard game winning field goal.

Crazy?  Just wait till you here the numbers. For the fourth time this season, UCF trailed in the second half and won.  The two teams traded the lead 10 times, 6 in the first half that included 5 touchdowns, 2 field goals, and a safety. Temple and UCF combined for 75 points, 1,175 total yards and 50 first downs.  Bortles completed 27 of his 38 passes for 404 yards and 4 touchdowns throwing no interceptions.

The bad news for UCF is they had to come from behind to beat a bad Temple team that had only 1 win.  The good news for us is we get UCF - Rutgers as our Thursday night game.  We can only hope that game is half as entertaining as this one.

Next up: Rutgers (5-4)

Kent State (3-8)

Beat Miami (of the Ohio variety) (0-10) 24-6

The Golden Flashes opened up a 14-6 halftime lead, scoring a touchdown in the 3rd and a field goal in the 4th while shutting out Miami in the second half.  Kent held Miami to 176 total yards giving up only 45 yards to RedHawks starting quarterback Drew Kummer.  Kent State gained a respectable 447 yards of total offense but for the life of me I don't know how. Outside of running back Trayion Durham who rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown, no other statistics jump out at you.

Next up: Ohio (of the Ohio variety) (6-4)

Indiana (4-6)

Lost to #19 Wisconsin (8-2) 51-3

Each week that loss to Indiana keeps looking worse and worse.  Badger running back James White burst through the Indiana defense for a 93 yard touchdown run on Wisconsin's first play.  That was Indiana's day in a nutshell.  Wisconsin stormed out to a 30-0 lead before the Hoosiers kicked a meaningless field goal.  White rushed 20 times for 205 yards and that long TD run.  Teammate Melvin Gordon added 146 yards and a touchdown.  Wisconsin's defense never let Indiana run it's up-tempo pace while the offense bludgeoned them to death.

Next up:  #3 Ohio State (10-0)

Michigan (7-3)

Beat Northwestern (4-6)

With time ticking away, the Michigan kicking unit sprinted onto the field, snapped the ball, and kicker Brendan Gibbons booted a 44 yarder to send the game into overtime.  It was a spirited end to what was a boring game of field goals that ended tied at 9.   The overtime was not so boring.  The two teams traded touchdowns in the 1st overtime, and field goals in the 2nd.  In the 3rd overtime Devin Gardner scored on a 5-yard touchdown run and then converted the 2-point try on an option run.  Northwestern had one last chance, but Siemian got sacked for a 14-yard loss on second down and his desperation pass on 4th down was intercepted sending the Wildcats to 4-6.

Next up: Iowa (6-4)

#3 Ohio State (10-0)

Beat Illinois (3-7) 60-35

Braxton Miller didn't have to do much with his arm because he and Carlos Hyde destroyed Illinois with their legs.  Hyde rushed 24 times for 246 yards and 4 touchdowns while Miller added 184 yards and a long 70 yard touchdown run on OSU's first possession.

The Buckeyes jumped out to a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter and went into the break up 35-14.  But Illinois made it interesting pulling to a 47-35 deficit with just under 9 minutes to play.  That's when Hyde took the game into his own hands...er feet.  Hyde had long touchdown runs of 51 and 55 yards to put the Illini away.

Next up: Indiana (4-6)

Illinois (3-7)

Lost to #3 Ohio State (10-0) 60-35

Next up: Purdue (1-9)

Minnesota (8-2)

Bye

Next up: #19 Wisconsin (8-2)

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