Another week of college football is in the books, and, as usual, there were lots of impressive and spectacular individual performances.
Here are just a few teams and individuals who covered themselves in gridiron glory, my Week 7 heroes.
Syracuse
The Friday night upset that kicked off one of the more incredible college football weekends in recent memory. Granted, the Orange beat a Clemson squad that was minus starting quarterback Kelly Bryant, but a win is a win, and the 27-24 victory at home, in which they led from start to finish, will reverberate around the college football landscape.
It was a monumental win for Syracuse: they haven’t beaten a top-two team since 1984 and Friday night was only the third time ever that the Orange have beaten Clemson.
Arizona State
The Sun Devils haven’t given up less than thirty points to anyone in an eternity. Somehow, they managed to keep Washington scoreless until deep in the fourth quarter en route to a giant 13-7 upset over the Huskies, who missed a bunch of field goals and basically looked anything but the team we’ve seen in the previous six weeks.
It was the Sun Devils’ first win over a top five program in twenty-one long years. A really big night for Todd Graham’s team.
California
The Golden Bears claimed their biggest scalp under new head coach Justin Wilcox – and, indeed, their biggest scalp in quite some time – with a 37-3 demolition of high-flying Luke Falk and Washington State.
The Cal defence intercepted Falk five times and forced two further turnovers in a game that brought the Cougars back to earth with a thud.
Louisiana State
Down twenty to Auburn, the Bayou Bengals recovered for a memorable 27-23 win over Auburn, hot on the heels of a big win over Florida last week. Two weeks on from their embarrassing loss to Troy, this team has had a complete and impressive turnaround. Let’s all pump the brakes on firing Ed Orgeron, shall we?
Justin Jackson
The Northwestern senior ripped off 171 yards and two touchdowns as his team beat Maryland 37-21. Jackson is now the all-time leading rusher, with 4639 and counting.
Boise State
Turns out that rumours of the Broncos’ demise were greatly exaggerated. Boise led San Diego 21-0 at the half and ran out 31-14 winners, dominating all but a stretch partway through the second half where the previously-undefeated Aztecs looked like they might mount a comeback.
It was a combination of a great running game – Alexander Mattison looked as good today as we’ve seen him all season – and ferocious defence that got the job done for the Broncos on the road. Make no mistake: hat was a huge win. Not many gave them a chance in San Diego.
Michigan
The Wolverines needed overtime after losing a late lead, and they needed two hundred rushing yards from Karan Higdon to beat Indiana in Bloomington 27-20.
It’s Michigan’s twenty-first consecutive victory over the Hoosiers. Quarterback John O’Korn was brutal, completing 10-20 for just 58 yards. That won’t cut it next week, when Michigan head into to State College to play Penn State under lights.
Memphis
The Tigers beat Navy on Saturday, forcing five turnovers en route to their narrow 30-27 triumph.
Boston College
Despite surrendering a mammoth 512 yards to Lamar Jackson and Louisville, the Eagles, on the road, managed to down the Cardinals 45-42.
Rutgers
Sure, the Scarlet Knights are about as proficient through the air as Michigan – they threw just twelve passes – but it doesn’t matter when your ground game goes for 274 yards and five touchdowns. Rutgers won it’s first Big Ten conference game in sixteen attempts, beating Illinois 35-24.
Oklahoma
The Sooners got back on the winners list with a 29-24 win over archrivals Texas in their annual Cotton Bowl showdown. That’s a year’s worth of bragging rights for Oklahoma.
Central Florida
Scott Frost’s Knights keep on rolling, this time putting 63 points on the board in a victory over East Carolina. The most impressive facet of their performance was that they scored on offense, defence and special teams. Don’t sleep on the Knights. If they win the American Athletic Conference crown, there’s a good chance they’ll be the Group of Five representative in the New Years’ Six bowl games.
Alabama
The Tide didn’t lose, when so many undefeated programs around them did. Their 41-9 win over Arkansas was as easy as expected, but surviving this seventh week of the season has proven difficult.
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