Real Kato Blog: College Football Recap

Michigan 20, Iowa 6. N.C State 20, Maryland 26.

Michigan 20, Iowa 6. Another fine defensive effort from Michigan. The front was fierce as usual. And they've made an adjustment for the screen pass, something I really wanted to see.

On offense, the offensive line play was lackluster in the first half, not adjusting well to Iowa's tactic of crowding the line of scrimmage with linebackers. They improved in the second half, and Michigan's patience in the running game eventually wore Iowa down. Mike Hart ended up with over a hundred yards rushing again, though as a team (including sacks), Michigan only gained 88 yards on the ground. Chad Henne was sharp with his passes, completing 23 of 33 for 203 yards. Steve Breaston had perhaps the best game of his career, catching every ball that came his way (7 receptions for 49 yards), and sparking Michigan's offense with a highlight-reel kickoff return.

Grades: Offense B, Defense A.

N.C State 20, Maryland 26. Another self-destruction for N.C. State. They outplayed Maryland in most aspects of the game, except for penalties (9 for 80 yards) and turnovers (two interceptions, one fumble). Back-to-back turnovers in the third quarter led to quick Maryland touchdowns, and gave Maryland a 20-0 lead. N.C. State's fourth-quarter rally fell short when Evans threw his second interception.

It's a good Maryland team, but one that N.C. State was capable of beating. They've just got to stop beating themselves.

Grades: Offense C, Defense B.

Other News

Michigan State had the largest comeback in Division 1-A history, rallying from 35 points down to beat Northwestern 41-38.

Wisconsin rolled over Purdue 24-3. Wisconsin's only loss is to Michigan. The rest of their schedule has been pretty soft, but this is a legitimately good team. A BCS bowl bid seems unlikely even if they end up 11-1, but they've probably got a lock on the Outback Bowl.

Ohio State waxed Indiana 44-3. Ohio State is just scary.

Texas survived a nail-biter against Nebraska, 22-20. These are two other legitimately good teams. Texas has only lost to #1 Ohio State, and until this week, Nebraska had only lost to #3 USC.

West Virginia, Louisville, and Rutgers all remained unbeaten in the Big East. I don't think either team has proven anything yet, though.

Tennessee won a close game against a pretty good Alabama team, 16-13. Tennessee, Auburn, Florida, and Arkansas all have one loss in the SEC. Arkansas only lost to #3 USC, and is the only team undefeated in the conference. But Arkansas is ranked lowest of the four teams in the BCS standings. That'll teach you to put Utah State and Southeast Missouri State on your schedule.

Notre Dame came from behind to beat a good UCLA team, 20-17. Notre Dame still has a suspect defense and their offensive play isn't as sharp as people expected, but there's enough talent on that team to cause trouble for a lot of opponents. The USC game on November 25th will be very interesting.

Cal needed overtime to beat Washington, 31-24. Washington is much improved under Ty Willingham. We'll have to keep an eye on that team. Meanwhile, Cal is headed for a showdown with USC on November 18th (the same day as the Michigan-Ohio State game, by the way). USC's last four games are tough; it wouldn't be surprising to see USC lose at least one of those games. That'd make for an interesting BCS scramble.

Clemson stomped Georgia Tech, 31-7. Clemson seems to be the best team in the ACC, though their loss to Boston College means they'll need help to get to the ACC championship.

Boston College beat Florida State 24-19. Boston College looks in good position to win out go to the ACC championship game with an 11-1 record. Meanwhile, Florida State is in last place in the ACC Atlantic division, and there's a danger they won't go to a bowl game at all this year. Awww.

UNC got blanked by Virginia, 23-0. John Bunting is officially out at the end of this season, having driven the program completely into the ground.

Permalink 2 Comment

Posted by Ken in: sports

Comments

Comment #1 from Jenn (Guest)
2006 Oct 24 - 11:26 am : #

So this has got nothing to do with football, but I just read that Javi was at Carnegie Mellon on Saturday night. I didn't know he graduated from CMU and I thought "Huh. Pittsburgh represents!" It's always a little surreal when the internet and real world collide. Kaboom!

Comment #2 from olafandy (Guest)
2006 Oct 24 - 12:37 pm : #

On our way to Arizona! If only the UM-OSU clash were in Ann Arbor this year. It's way too dangerous to show maize and blue in Columbus this year.

Comments are closed for this post.

Search This Site