TWIF Notes 9/21/2020

By

Welcome Back!

We had an exciting weekend of College Football!  Notre Dame and Miami continue to impress, and it looks like we may have all 10 conferences playing football by the end of the season!  Let's get to the reviews.  Please understand that future opponents are apt to change at a moment's notice.

Friday, September 18

Coastal Carolina did what Georgia Southern could not a week ago and easily dispatched Campbell 43-21.  CCU is off to its best start in its brief FBS history (this is only CCU's 4th FBS season), but they have been 3-1 each of the last 2 seasons.  To best that, they will need to win their next 2 scheduled games: Ark St on Oct 3 and @ Louisiana Oct 17.  Good luck with that, Chanticleers!

Saturday, September 19

Tulsa gave Oklahoma State all it could handle before succumbing 16-7 in the season opener for both teams.  The Golden Hurricane led 7-3 entering the 4th quarter, but couldn't close the deal.  OSU dives into Big 12 play with a game at home against WV, while Tulsa plays their 2nd of 3 straight road games at Ark St.

Cincinnati rolled over Austin Peay 55-20.  This is the 10th straight opening win for the Bearcats, with 3 of those coming against AP, and 2 others against other FCS teams, but it also includes 4 wins over P5 teams.

Louisiana eked out a win over Georgia State in OT 34-31.  The Panthers led 14-0 and 21-7 before the Ragin' Cajuns roared back to take the lead at 28-21, only to have GSU tie the game with 7:37 remaining.  In OT, GSU got a FG, but UL scored a TD to ice it.  This was certainly one of the more exciting games of the day!  UL hosts the other GSU this weekend while Ga St plays @Charlotte.

Pitt trailed Syracuse 3-0 and 10-7 early before pulling away for the 21-10 victory.  The Pitt defense held SU to 171 total yards, with 69 coming on 1 play.  The Orange are 0-2 and host GT this week, while Pitt moves to 2-0 and hosts Louisville.

Liberty won their opener over WKU 30-24, dropping the Hilltoppers to 0-2.  It was the 3rd opening win in the last 4 years for the Flames, and they are now 3-0 versus WKU, though they last played in 1996.  Liberty hosts another CUSA foe, FIU, this week, while WKU is off before jumping into conference play @Mid Tenn.

In one of the strangest games of the day, Navy fell behind Tulane 24-0 at the half- which meant they had been outscored 79-3 over their 1st 6 quarters of the 2020 season- before scoring 27 unanswered points to win 27-24.  The winning 33-yd FG came on the last play of the game, but the big turnaround came when Tulane was driving to score to go ahead 31-0, but turned the ball over in the Red Zone, throwing an INT at the Navy 3-yd-line.  Just an amazing turnaround!

Boston College exploded for 16 points in the 3rd quarter to defeat Duke 26-6 and win their 2020 opener, their 4th opening win in a row.  Duke falls to 0-2 and at 0-2 in the ACC, is in a deep hole in the conference race.  BC is off before hosting UNC; Duke is also off, then hosts Va Tech.

Marshall stunned Appalachian State, winning 17-7, holding the usually high-scoring Mountaineer offense scoreless after the 1st quarter.  The 7 points scored were the fewest for ASU since they joined the FBS in 2014.  This is the 4th time in the last 7 games that the Thundering Herd defense has given up 10 points or less, and this is the 1st win by Marshall over a ranked opponent since 2003.

Notre Dame destroyed USF 52-0 for its 1st shutout since defeating Bowling Green by the same score last season.  USF was shut out for the 1st time since the 2019 opener, 49-0 to Wisconsin.  The Bulls jump into conference play @FAU this week while the Irish play @Wake Forest.  Notre Dame has now won 20 straight home games, tied with Ohio State for the 3rd longest active streak in FBS, and the 2nd longest in ND history (stats thanks to ESPN Stats and Info).

UTSA was never seriously threatened as they outlasted Stephen F. Austin to win 24-10.  The Roadrunners are 2-0 for the 1st time since 2017, when they started 3-0, but with a game against Memphis next, it's doubtful they will match that start.

Georgia Tech scored a quick TD less than a minute into the game, and then gave up 28 straight to UCF as the Knights scored the last 21 points to pull away for the 49-21 victory.  UCF wins their opener for the 5th straight year, while the Jackets fall to 1-1 and play @Syracuse next.  UCF plays @ECU Thursday.

Clemson demolished The Citadel 49-0.  The Tigers have outscored their 2 opponents 86-13.  They have a week off before hosting Virginia.  Perhaps the Cavaliers will actually give them a test.  Maybe...

Troy pummeled Middle Tennessee 47-14, building a 47-7 lead before giving up a meaningless TD with less than 2 minutes to play.  The Blue Raiders dropped to 0-2 while the Trojans won their 2nd straight opener, but play at BYU next.  MTSU hosts WKU in 2 weeks.  These 2 teams will meet again on Nov 21.

SMU demolished North Texas 65-35, building leads of 24-0, 34-7, and 56-21 before trading scores the last quarter.  The Mustangs move to 2-0 and have Stephen F. Austin next before hosting Memphis in 2 weeks.  The Mean Green are 1-1 and play @Houston.

Miami built a lead and steadily pulled away for the 47-34 victory over Louisville to stay undefeated at 2-0.  UL falls to 1-1.  Both teams stay in the conference as the Hurricanes host FSU and the Cardinals travel to Pitt.

La Tech scored a TD with 14 seconds left and kicked the game-winning PAT to squeak out a 31-30 win over Southern Miss.  USM had built a 27-10 lead halfway through the 3rd quarter, but LT closed within 3 by the time the last quarter started.  The Golden Eagles kicked a FG to stretch the lead to 6 with 5:06 left before the last minute heroics by the Bulldogs.  USM has now lost 2 in a row at home, and faces a tough Tulane team this Saturday.  LT is 1-0 with a great chance to move to 2-0 as they host Houston Baptist.  

Texas State finally broke away from their bad luck by building a 31-14 halftime lead, and then relying on their defense in the 2nd half to win 38-17 over ULM.  The Bobcats are now 1-2 with their next game at Troy on Thursday, Oct 8.  The Warhawks fall to 0-2 and have a week off before Ga Southern comes to town.

NC State kept building leads and Wake Forest kept coming back to tie, but eventually, the Wolfpack prevailed, winning 45-42 to win their 3rd straight opener and break a 6-game losing streak.  The Demon Deacons are 0-2 and have lost 4 straight.

UTEP defeated Abilene Christian 17-13 to improve their record to 2-0.  By doing so, they have already won more games in a season than any year since they were 4-8 in 2016.  Furthermore, they are 2-0 for the 1st time since 2005 when they started 3-0 by beating New Mexico State (WAC), Houston (CUSA), and New Mexico (MWC)! They have 2 weeks off to prepare for their next game @La Tech.  Good luck with that one!

That's all for today.  Feel free to leave a comment, and come back tomorrow for my updated Power Rankings.

Until next time, my you and your loved ones be blessed!

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

It's Almost Time!

By
Welcome back!  It's been about 6 months since my last post, and I'm sure my loyal readers (all 3 of them!) have been wondering when I would be back. Football season will be here before you know it! Do you know how I can tell? The preseason magazines have begun to hit the shelves (and my mailbox)! The various conferences will be holding their media days next month, and then the teams will be holding their preseason camps, with the first games being played on August 27, the stupidly named Week Zero.  But I haven't just been sitting around doing nothing for the last few months. Oh, no! I've just completed my preseason Power Rankings, and so will now begin writing my previews of all 131 teams and the 10 conferences, which will take me up until the first games. I will publish my previews according to the following schedule: 7/18     Part I           Teams 131-121 7/19     Part II         Teams 120-111 7/20 ...
Read more

Are You Ready?

By
  Welcome Back! College Football is only 9 weeks away- just 64 days until the 1st games on Aug 24! That means the college football preview magazines are all out, and I've been hard at work assembling data and researching the upcoming season for my previews. Here is what you can expect from me, and when you can expect it. Beginning on Monday, July 15, I will do my individual team previews. I will basically do 10 teams a day (after doing 12 a day for the 1st 2 days- 134 doesn't divide by 10 evenly...) for 2+ weeks, and then 5 a day for the last 4 days (my Top 20). These will take you through August 2. These will be presented in reverse order (from #134 to #1) according to my own preseason Power Rankings.  On August 5, I'll start my conference previews, which will take 2 weeks. 9 1/2 conferences plus Independents equals 10 days.  That takes us all the way to Game Week! Well, sort of. There are only a handful of games on Aug 24, which has the incredibly dumb name of Week Zero...
Read more

More Struggles

By
Growing up, my family attended the Presbyterian Church.  My mom had been a Baptist, and my dad grew up Methodist, so I guess this was a compromise.  I did all the normal kid-at-church things: nursery, VBS, Sunday School, Wednesday Night Suppers,  acolyte, confirmation class, youth group.  I really enjoyed my time, and grew to really appreciate the time spent there. When I went to college, I intended to continue going to church, and even went a few times, but just stopped going.  A big part may have been that Sundays was the only time I could sleep past 7 am, especially in the fall (football games on Saturdays).  And once you stop going, it's easy for things to stay that way. My senior year, I met Jackie in my Educational Psychology class.  After 6 weeks of dating, I proposed, and she accepted.  We were married at her home church in Snellville, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church.  It was my first exposure to the Episcopal Church. We lived in...
Read more