Former Foes: Week14

Syracuse (6-6)

Beat Boston College (7-5) 34-31

Syracuse pulls out a must-win game to become bowl eligible stunning Boston College. It was a roller coaster game that saw the Orange jump out to a 21-7 lead late in the second quarter. Boston College stormed back and took a 28-27 lead late in the forth quarter. The Eagles sent most of the Syracuse fans home when they intercepted a Terrell Hunt pass with just 2:49 left and kicked a 21-yard field goal to make it 31-27 Eagles, but Syracuse had one last chance. Hunt hit tight end Josh Parris on what looked like a tight end screen and Parris scored with six seconds remaining giving Syracuse the stunning victory.

Hunt had the bad interception, but that was about his only blemish on the day, as he completed 29 of his 43 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns as Syracuse managed 480 yards of total offense. Boston College running back Andre Williams, the nation's leading rusher, was injured in the 3rd quarter and did not return for the rest of the game.

Next up: Regular Season Over

Eastern Michigan (2-9)

Lost to Central Michigan (6-6) 42-10

The good news for Eastern is that they finally held someone under 50 points, the bad news is they managed to only score 10. Central Michigan running back Zurlon Tiption (which totally sounds like a 2nd-rate Star Trek villain) rushed for four touchdowns and 216 yards on 20 carries. For those of you not good at math that's a whopping 10+ yards per carry. Master Zurlon was all the offense that CMU needed, because the defense returned an interception for a touchdown and the special teams returned the 2nd-half opening kickoff for a TD. That's what I call complete failure in all aspects of the game of college football. Eastern's gruesome season is finally over.

Next up: Season Over

#19 UCF (10-1)

Beat South Florida (2-9) 23-20

UCF has made a habit of winning ugly, close games and this one was no different. The Knights committed five turnovers including three by Blake Bortles (2 ints and a fumble) but still managed to pull the game out. With 4:50 to play in the game, and down by three, Bortles found Bresheed Perriman for a 52-yard touchdown to take the lead 23-20 and the D made it stick. UCF has now won six games by seven or fewer points this season. It's also the first time UCF has beaten South Florida in five tries.

Bortles had an average day completing 17 of his 26 passes for 216 yards, two touchdowns and those two picks. No one rushed for more than 70 yards on either team. UCF has now grabbed a share of the AAC title with a game left to play against SMU. Win that and they win the title outright and secure a trip to a BCS bowl.

Next up: SMU (5-6)

Kent State (4-8)

Season over

Indiana (5-7)

Beat Purdue (1-11) 56-36

Indiana's roller coaster, record-setting season came to an end the same way it started, with the Hoosiers setting more single game records. In the 116-game series with the Boilermakers, 56 points is the highest total and the 20 point spread has happened seven times.

The game wasn't even as close as the score, Purdue managed only a touchdown (with a blocked extra point) and a field goal in the first half as Indiana sprinted out to a 49-9 lead with just under 6 minutes to play in the 3rd. Purdue scored some meaningless touchdowns in mop-up duty but this game was all Hoosiers.

Indiana quarterback Tre Roberson threw 6 touchdown passes and rushed 21 times for 154 yards to lead his team. Indiana amassed 692 yards of total offense and converted a ridiculous 16 of their 18 3rd down attempts.

Next up: Season Over

Michigan (7-5)

Lost to #2 Ohio State (12-0) 42-41

Ho hum, another typical Michigan-OSU rivalry that saw a fight, three players ejected including one that flipped off the home crowd as he exited the stadium, and a two point conversion to decide the game. With 32 seconds to play, Michigan scored to make it 42-41, but instead of kicking the extra point Brady Hoke asked his players if they wanted to go for it. The response was a resounding 'yes' so Hoke listened to his players and went for two. Unfortunately, Devin Gardner's two point conversion pass was intercepted and Ohio State remains undefeated.

Michigan could not stop the Ohio State ground game -- the Buckeyes rushed for 393 yards, including Carlos Hyde's 226 and Braxton Miller's 153 with 3 touchdowns. Besides the failed conversion, Devin Gardner had a good game, completing 32 of 45 for 451 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Next up: Regular Season Over

#3 Ohio State (11-0)

Beat Michigan (7-5) 41-42

Next up: Michigan State (11-1)

Illinois (4-8)

Lost to Northwestern (5-7) 37-34

Northwestern quarterback Trevor Siemian completed 31 of his 44 passes for 414 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions. Wide receiver Christian Jones caught 13 of them for 182 yards and two touchdowns. The game was close early on as the teams exchanged the lead four times in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, but Northwestern took the lead for good scoring two touchdowns in the 4th quarter. Illinois answered to make it 37-34 with just over two minutes to play but Northwestern recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

Next up: Season Over

Minnesota (8-4)

Lost to #11 Michigan State (11-1) 14-3

Sparty's Connor Cook tossed a 12-yards touchdowns and Jeremy Langford rushed 21 times for 134 yards and a touchdown. That was all the Michigan State defense needed. Minnesota's Phillip Nelson attempted seven passes in the entire first half and two were intercepted. Minnesota drove late in the game but backup quarterback Mitch Leidner fumbled on the MSU 14, 1 of 3 Gopher turnovers. Michigan State converted none of their eight 3rd-down conversion, and Minnesota possessed the ball for almost 39 minutes but Spatry's defense came through, keeping Minnesota out of the endzone. The "Mr. Obvious" comment comes from MSU coach Mark Dantonio who said "You're not going to lose many games giving up three points."

Just think, Michigan State is a four point loss to Notre Dame away from an undefeated season.

Next up: Regular Season Over

Purdue (1-11)

Lost to Indiana (5-7) 56-36

Next up: Season Over

Nebraska (8-4)

Lost to Iowa (8-4) 38-17

Iowa took advantage of three Nebraska turnovers and made Bo Pelini's hot seat even hotter. Iowa jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first and Nebraska was never able to regain the lead. The Cornhuskers were able to pull to within a touchdown early in the fourth but two rushing touchdowns by the Hawkeyes sealed the deal. Iowa quarterback Jake Rudock only completed 9 passes but got the most bang for his buck scoring touchdowns on two of them. Running back Mark Weisman rushed for 72 yards and two touchdowns. Nebraska quarterback Ron Kellogg III was picked off twice. Nebraska also failed to convert a fake punt on their own 32 giving Iowa another short field.

Next up: Regular Season Over

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