NCAA Football Top 10: Winners and Losers for Saturday 9/8/18

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#1 – Alabama 57 – Arkansas St. 7

Cupcake game.

Arkansas State plays in the Sunbelt Conference. Even though it is part of the FBS it is not in the top power 5 conferences. This was indeed a cupcake game.

Alabama was able to play everyone on the roster and to substitute liberally thus giving all players time on the field in a real game. This is needed for game experience. The Tide played their 3 top quarterbacks, Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts, and Mac Davis. All three were outstanding in leading the Tide offense. For those who haven’t heard, Hurts has decided to red-shirt this season and will not be in the game unless Tua is injured so severely it takes him out of the game.

Bama amassed an amazing 599 yards of total offense.

The Tide will be beginning it’s In-Conference games this coming Saturday. They will be traveling to Oxford, Mississippi to take on the Ole’ Miss, Rebels at 6 p.m. CDT

#2 – Clemson 28 – Texas A&M 26

Wow! What a game!

To me, this was the most exciting game of the day! These two teams were very well matched and well coached. Coach Dabo Swinney took his Tigers to College Station, Tx to take on the Texas A&M Aggies. The Aggies were a 12.5 point underdog but didn’t play like they knew that. The Aggies used their 12th Man (loud student section) to help them come from behind and score 3 second-half touchdowns. TAMU was driving with two minutes left in the game when Clemson caused the Aggies to fumble thru’ the end zone causing a touchback. This gave the Tigers the ball back and virtually ended the game.

Many of the 104,000 in attendance were chanting Coach Jimbo Fishers name as the Aggies exited the field, Coach Fisher said he appreciated the passion of the fans, but wished it could have come after a win.

Clemson will be hosting Georgia Southern on 9/15 at 2:30 p.m. CDT

#3 – Georgia 41 – South Carolina 17

Great SEC East matchup

Many had predicted the South Carolina Gamecocks would keep this game close or might even pull an upset. The Georgia Bulldogs proved them wrong and proved they wanted to get back to the FBS Championship Game. In an SEC East match-up, this was a heavyweight. The Bulldogs were only a 10 point favorite but the Bulldogs came ready to play and to prove their dominance in the SEC East. The Bulldogs averaged 5.2 yards per carry. Theoretically, they could have been getting a first down every two plays. That is astonishing. In the passing game, Georgia quarterback, Jake Fromm, passed for 194 yards. South Carolina’s quarterback, Jake Bentley, passed for an amazing 294 yards but also had two interceptions.

Georgia will be hosting Middle Tennessee State this coming Saturday at 6:15 p.m. CDT

#4 – Ohio State 52 – Rutgers 3

Cupcake game.

The mighty Buckeyes from Ohio St. took on the Golden Knights from Rutgers……….. for practice. Before all you Big 10 fans begin, I know Rutgers is in the Big 10 conference. I know where they are, at the bottom of the barrel. It’s like Alabama playing Vanderbilt, it’s a cupcake game and both fan bases know it.

Ohio State was able to put up 579 yards total offense against the Golden Knights in a fairly well-balanced attack. While the Buckeye defense held the Knights to only 139 total yards.

Btw, this was Ohio States 900th win in their program history. Congratulations!

Ohio State will be traveling to 15th ranked TCU (Texas Christian University) this coming Saturday at 7 p.m. CDT

#5 – Wisconsin 45 – New Mexico 14

Cupcake game.

The Wisconsin Badgers hosted the University of New Mexico, Lobos in a rout that should have actually been bigger. The Badgers were a 35.5 point favorite and didn’t cover the spread. But it was a beat-down none the less. Jonathan Taylor (Big 10 Player of the Week) was able to gain 253 yards in 33 carries. The Badgers defense sat back on New Mexico’s first possession and allowed a 17 play, 87-yard drive that ended in a touchdown. Wisconsin’s defense is young but they grew up quite a bit during this game and stiffened up to only allow a little over 100 total yards in the rest of the game. The Badgers offense looks phenomenal! The defense…. Like I said, they’re young, but they are coming into their own!

The Badgers will be welcoming BYU this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CDT

#6 – Oklahoma 49 – UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles)21

Not a cupcake - regular non-conference game

Oklahoma Sooners welcomed the UCLA Bruins to Norman, OK.

The Sooners just missed the 30 point spread. The big news in Norman was that the Sooners quarterback was signed to a $5mil deal in the MLB draft with the Oakland A’s. Murray was Heisman Trophy winner, Baker Mayfield’s backup last year, but he is shining on his own this season. Murray passed for 3 touchdowns and ran for two of the six Oklahoma TD’s.

Oklahoma will be traveling to Iowa St. on the 15th. That game will begin at 11:00 a.m. CDT

#7 – Auburn 63 – Alabama St. 9

Cupcake game.

The Auburn Tigers didn’t show any Southern Hospitality to the Alabama St. Hornets when they rolled into Auburn this past Saturday. Alabama St. plays in the FCS SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference).

Coach Gus Malzahn was happy he got to play a lot of guys and grow some depth into his roster. The SEC plays such physical football it is a must to have guys at least 4 deep. Alabama St., which is only 52 miles from Jordan Hare Stadium in Auburn, was held to only 47 rushing yards. The Hornet’s quarterback was sacked 4 times and threw 3 interceptions. Auburn’s defense showed out!

Wanting to get the younger guys playing time, Auburn’s Freshman had 457 of the Tigers 568 total yards. That’s playing some Freshman!

Auburn will host LSU this Saturday at Jordan Hare Stadium. Kick-off at 2:30 p.m. CDT

#8 – Notre Dame 24 – Ball State 16

Cupcake game………not so much for the Irish

Should have been a cupcake game. The Fighting Irish were supposed to be a 34 point victor. So what happened? The Irish only had 20 first downs to Ball St.’s 24. ND had 3 turnovers. The Cardinal’s of Ball St. run a 3-4 defense (Pete will tell you, “it’s the best") which just aggravated the Irish quarterback to distraction. Quarterback Wimbash for the Irish was able to pass for 297 yards but had negative rushing yards. So, what can we glean from this game? The Irish are over-rated yet again. Yes, they beat Michigan in the opener, it was a hard-fought very emotional game. Maybe it was let down from that got Notre Dame down. But, I just think they are over-rated yet again.

Notre Dame hosts Vanderbilt this Saturday in South Bend. The game time is set for 1:30 p.m. CDT

#9 – Washington 45 – North Dakota 3

Cupcake game.

The Washington Huskies took on the North Dakota Fighting Hawks in a game so unequal it was off the spread charts. Coach Petersen with the Huskies knows the score looked better on paper than on the field. He was not happy about the mistakes made by 4th-year quarterback Jake Browning. Washington only had 79 yards rushing thru 3 quarters before finally putting in backup running backs that could find their way down the field. By the fourth quarter, North Dakota’s defense was worn down by the much more physical and bigger Husky team. Also, the Huskies were able to run men with fresh legs in and out and North Dakota could not do that. Browning threw for 313 yards but he was also intercepted twice and missed many receivers. The Huskies are going to have to clean up their act before conference play begins this Saturday.

Washington will travel to Salt Lake City to play the Utah Utes in Pac 12 play this Saturday. Kick-off is slated for 9 p.m. CDT

#10 – Stanford 17 – USC (University of Southern California) 3

Not a cupcake. This was a big game in the Pac-12.

Stanford covered the 5 points spread by 9 instead of 5. They did their jobs. The Cardinals hosted the Trojans of USC at the “Farm”. (who knows why they call it the Farm?)

Stanford was able to hold USC to their lowest points scored in over two decades, in Pac-12 play! The biggest problem the Trojans had was turnovers. They had one fumble and two interceptions. They averaged only 3.1 yards per carry rushing. It was running back Bryce Love that carried the ball and the team for the Cardinals. He rushed for 136 yards in 22 carries, one for 59 yards. USC was able to move the ball a total of 332 yards but not across the goal line. Stanford’s defense stood up every time allowing a 35-yard field goal as the Trojans only points scored.

Stanford will host UC Davis at 1 p.m. CDT

Takeaways from the Top 10 this past week.

#1. Five of the games played were cupcakes and will help these teams with their depth charts, which will prove invaluable during conference play.

#2. Notre Dame should not be in the top 10 but somehow managed to stay at #8.

#3. Stanford and Washington should meet at the end of the regular season for the             Conference Championship.

Until next time, it's bamamama