College FB Dread News - Week 10

The final score of the Miami Hurricanes' last-ever game at the Orange Bowl was 48-0. Almost unbelievably, considering UM's home dominance over the years, Miami was the team on the short end of that score last November. Virginia 48 Miami 0 - a score that will live in infamy for some Canes fans. And a score that demands an immediate response. Miami got their chance to respond Saturday at Charlottesville, but more than revenge the Hurricanes' larger motivation was the ACC Coastal division race. Somehow, someway Miami stayed very much alive in that race with a come-from-behind 24-17 victory in overtime. If you are a Virginia fan, you no doubt are still fuming after the Cavaliers, riding a 4-game winning streak, let Miami off the hook big time. A muff by Travis Benjamin on a punt return helped Virginia take an early 3-0 lead. Benjamin then appeared to be very tentative, almost timid, on his next two punt returns (both of which he decided not to catch) and eventually was replaced by Thearon Collier. Virginia led 17-10 at halftime but failed to increase their lead despite having three possessions in UM territory in the 3rd quarter. The Canes kept hanging around and sure enough, down to their last chance, after doing nothing on offense the entire 2nd half, they drove 95 yards on 15 plays, tying the game when WR Laron Byrd, despite being interfered with by UVa CB Vic Hall, caught a 26-yard TD pass from Jacory Harris with 55 seconds left. Virginia came right back and was about to move into FG range, but UM LB Sean Spence forced QB Marc Verica to fumble at the 32-yard line, ending the threat. Harris tossed a TD pass to Aldarius Johnson to give the Canes the lead in OT, and UVa fumbled again on their first snap in OT, ending the game. It was so big a win for Miami that I could actually sense a bit of happiness in the normally calm Coach Shannon during his post-game interview on TV. Miami and Virginia are both 3-2 in the ACC, two of the 5 teams in the Coastal division that have 2 losses. Leading the Coastal at 4-2 is Georgia Tech, which broke a 12-game losing streak to Florida State with an improbable 31-28 victory at Atlanta, their first win over FSU since 1975. Tech actually led for most of the game, 24-10 at one point, but after QB Josh Nesbitt left the game due to injury in the 3rd quarter, the momentum changed, and FSU rallied. And when Patrick Robinson got his 1st INT of the season with 5:49 left in the 4th quarter, the Seminoles began what looked certain to be the game-winning drive. FSU marched to the Georgia Tech 3-yard line, but on 2nd and goal, RB Marcus Sims unbelievably fumbled at the 1-yard line, and Tech recovered in the end zone for a touchback with 45 seconds left. Tech S Morgan Burnett was credited with 4 passes broken up but was unable to add to his nation-leading INT total. FSU WR Corey Surrency missed the game due to a suspension. Florida avenged another one of their losses from last season, crushing Georgia 49-10. Right now I'd have to say the Gators will be #1 when the season ends, but only if they can reach the BCS title game. It would be a tough one for Gators fans to take if a team this good is denied because of a dumb loss to Ole Miss.... South Florida is moving near the top of the list of the most disappointing teams in the country. USF is now tied for last place in the Big East after losing to Cincinnati 24-10 on Thursday. Twice in the 4th quarter the Bulls drove inside UC's 10-yard line, only to come away empty both times. And you could see the frustration in Jessie Hester after one of those drives. Hester was wide open in the end zone on 4th down when the UC DB fell down, but Matt Grothe didn't see him and instead threw incomplete to the closely-covered Marcus Edwards, a result that caused Hester to disgustedly throw his arms into the air. At 6-3 overall (1-3 in Big East) USF is already bowl eligible, but you're not allowed to go to a bowl game if you finish in last place, are you? Probably the highlight of the game was when Cincinnati WR Mardy Gilyard, after running through the end zone trying to catch a pass and crashing into the crowd, injuring a small child, picked up the kid to comfort him, looking like a father holding his son.... West Virginia remained undefeated in the Big East, handing Connecticut their first home loss 35-13. Sophomore CB Brandon Hogan, making the switch from WR last season, got his first 2 career INT for WVU. Elsewhere, Rashad Johnson had a 32-yard INT return for TD as Alabama remained undefeated with a 35-0 shutout of Arkansas State.... Marshay Green and Kendrick Lewis had INT as Mississippi beat Auburn 17-7 in a battle of 4-4 teams.... I can't put Appalachian State freshman WR Brian Quick on the list of dread stars this week - not until I find out if he has dreads or not. In the photo in the ASU media guide, probably from last year, he has very little hair. But seeing him on the sideline last Friday, you can tell that he now has braids. But you couldn't tell if he has dreads because he was wearing a skull cap. The camera was on Quick because he destroyed Wofford with 4 catches for 172 yards and 3 TD in Appalachian State's 70-24 win, which avenged last year's loss at Wofford. After one of the TD, with ASU far ahead, Quick decided to dunk the ball over the goalpost, something not difficult at all for him since he stands 6-5. Keep an eye on him in the future.... And speaking of illegal end zone celebrations, did you see Gartrell Johnson Saturday night? After scoring a TD in the 4th quarter to give Colorado State the lead over BYU, Johnson ran over to Miami Dolphins (and former CSU) LB Joey Porter and gave him a chest bump. Porter was in the house since the Dolphins had a game Sunday in nearby Denver and was standing just beyond the end zone, in perfect position to celebrate with Johnson. Of course, Johnson picked up a 15-yard penalty, but I absolutely loved it. CSU lost though 45-42. Here are this week's addition to the list (Nov. 5): Jerron McMillian - Maine - FR DB Mark Richardson - Buffalo - FR LB DREAD STARS David Richmond - San Jose State - 8 catches for 138 yards and 2 TD (from 65 and 35 yards out) in 30-24 win at Idaho. DuJuan Harris - Troy - 143 yards rushing and 1 TD on 20 carries and added a 29-yard TD catch in 31-30 loss at UL-Monroe Graig Cooper - Miami (F) - 131 yards rushing on 24 attempts in 24-17 OT road victory over Virginia Mardy Gilyard - Cincinnati - 4 catches for 98 yards, including 26-yard TD, in 24-10 home win over South Florida Gartrell Johnson - Colorado State - 102 yards rushing and 1 TD on 18 carries and 2 catches for 21 yards in tough 45-42 home loss to BYU Victor Anderson - Louisville - 113 yards and 1 TD on 23 attempts and had 3 catches for 28 yards in 28-21 road loss to Syracuse Traye Simmons - Minnesota - 2 INT, one of which was returned 23 yards for a TD in 24-17 home loss to Northwestern Norman Whitley - East Carolina - 135 yards rushing and 1 TD on 28 carries in 13-10 OT victory at UCF Patrick Jackson - Louisiana Tech - had 27-yard TD catch and 1-yard TD run in 38-35 win over Fresno State Lamark Brown - Kansas State - 3 TD runs (from 4, 11, and 1 yards out) . Unfortunately, the first of those TD didn't come until K-State trailed 31-0 on their way to a 52-21 loss at Kansas. The Rogers brothers - Oregon State - Jacquizz had 133 yards rushing and 55 yards receiving, while James had 8 catches for 102 yards in 27-25 win over Arizona State Larry Warner - Southern Illinois - 256 yards rushing (!) and 2 TD on 21 carries in 40-21 win over North Dakota Rashad Jennings - Liberty - 188 yards rushing and 2 TD on 32 carries in 31-28 upset loss at Presbyterian Dominic Bolden - Liberty - 4 catches for 111 yards and 2 TD McKinson Souverain - Bethune-Cookman - 120 yards rushing and 2 TD on 27 carries, and went 7 for 12 passing for 140 yards and 1 TD with 1 INT in 24-14 win over North Carolina A&T Desmin Ward - Eastern Illinois - 94 yards rushing and 3 more TD in 34-6 win over Murray State Antonio Robinson - Nicholls State - 4 catches for 102 yards in 20-17 victory over Cental Arkansas Will Scott - North Carolina Central - 4 catches for 119 yards, including TD of 32, 36, and 32 yards in 34-14 win over Edward Waters DeAngelo Branche - Norfolk State - 87 yards rushing and 2 TD in 49-12 road win over Howard David Irizarry - Winston-Salem State - 107-yard TD return of missed FG, 38-yard punt return (setting up short TD drive), and had an INT with 1:37 to play in WSSU's huge upset of Hampton 35-30 (see original story from WSSU website for more) HOUSE OF DREAD It's a 2-way tie this week. The end zone at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana was the house of dread as 5 TD were score by players with dreads in Purdue's 48-42 win over Michigan. Kory Sheets had 4 TD for Purdue, on 2, 3, and 5-yard runs and a 7-yard reception, and Martavious Odoms scored on a 73-yard punt return for Michigan. And, the end zone at Bailey Memorial Stadium in Clinton, South Carolina was the house of dread in Presbyterian's big upset over Liberty. Rashad Jennings had TD runs of 2 and 6 yards, and Dominic Bolden had TD catches of 42 and 58 yards for Liberty; S.J.Worrell had a 1-yard TD run for PC. DREADEST Kory Sheets (photo) shares the player of the week award. The Purdue senior RB had 118 yards rushing and 43 yards receiving to go along with his 4 TD. Coach Tiller did not kick him off the team after Sheets made some selfish comments following a loss 2 weeks ago, but he did forbid Sheets from talking to the press. So Kory is letting his play do the talking from now on. The other player of the week has to be Armanti Edwards of Appalachian State. In ASU's 70-24 slaughter of Wofford, Edwards was an almost unreal 17 for 19 passing for 367 and 5 TD with 0 INT. And he added 73 yards rushing and 1 TD on 14 carries for good measure. NEXT Alabama figures to add to LSU's misery as Coach Saban returns to Baton Rouge. Will Florida have a letdown against Vanderbilt? I doubt it, even though Vandy has an extra week to prepare. Big ones in the ACC worth watching: Georgia Tech at North Carolina and Clemson at Florida State. In Div. 1-FCS, Northern Iowa and De'Veon Harris are on TV against Missouri State, and Bethune-Cookman, the only D-1 school in Florida that hasn't been televised this season, is on tape Saturday night at Hampton.