Week In Review: Week In Review (11/15)

ACC

It was a fairly quiet week in the ACC, but several wide receivers produced noteworthy performances.

Maryland's Torrey Smith caught seven passes for 157 yards and a touchdown against Virginia as the Terps continued their hot streak, while Miami's Leonard Hankerson racked up 132 yards and a score on just three receptions in the win over Georgia Tech. Elsewhere, North Carolina State's Owen Spencer finished with seven grabs for 138 yards and a touchdown against Wake Forest.

The guy throwing Spencer the ball, star quarterback Russell Wilson, set the pace for the quarterbacks in the ACC. He finished the blowout against Wake Forest with over 300 yards of offense while accounting for four touchdowns.

Just one week after torching Florida State for 439 yards and three touchdowns, T.J. Yates and the North Carolina passing game were smothered by Virginia Tech. Emerging star wideout Dwight Jones was held to just a four-yard catch despite totaling 612 yards and three touchdowns in the four games before that.

Big 12

It's been a difficult season for the Oklahoma Sooners, who took out some frustration against an imploding Texas Tech squad Saturday. Landry Jones threw for over 300 yards and tossed five touchdowns, three to star receiver Ryan Broyles.

Elsewhere, a fantastic running back battle broke out in the Lone Star State. Baylor's Jay Finley ran for 169 yards and three scores, while Cyrus Gray totaled 137 yards and four scores on the ground to lead a revitalized Texas A&M team to another win. Finley has been incredibly productive recently, running for 769 yards and 10 touchdowns on just 101 carries in his last five games. That's 7.6 yards per carry for Finley, who's as hot as any runner in the country right now.

Oklahoma State used a huge second quarter to take care of business against Texas, as Brandon Weeden threw for more than 400 yards in the game. Kendall Hunter ran for over 100 yards and scored two touchdowns for the Cowboys, while star receiver Justin Blackmon caught nine passes for 145 yards and a score.

Big East

Jordan Todman had a night to remember against Pittsburgh. The underrated runner racked up 37 carries and ran for 222 yards to help the Huskies shock the Panthers.

Elsewhere, West Virginia's offense was clicking on all cylinders as Cincinnati continues to head in the wrong direction. Geno Smith tossed four touchdowns for the Mountaineers, with wideouts Jock Sanders and Tavon Austin reeling in two scores each.

Despite 140 yards rushing from star running back Bilal Powell, South Florida defeated Louisville to stay in the Big East race Saturday.

Big Ten

Although the Big Ten provided plenty of entertainment this weekend, its biggest news is the unfortunate season-ending injury to the conference's fantasy player of the year: Northwestern quarterback Dan Persa. Persa suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon while throwing the game-winning touchdown against Iowa. He was brilliant in his first season as a starter, throwing for 2,581 yards and 15 touchdowns to four interceptions while running for 519 yards and nine more touchdowns. He averaged 8.5 yards per pass attempt and completed 73.5 percent of his passes--all of this despite playing behind an offensive line that ranks fourth-worst in the country at pass protection.

Things got a little out of hand in Madison, where Wisconsin rolled up nearly 600 yards of offense and put 83 points on the board against Indiana. And all of this happened with John Clay (knee) inactive for the game.

Montee Ball ran for 167 yards and three touchdowns in the laugher, while James White added 144 yards and two scores despite still being a bit hobbled with a knee injury.

Ohio State's offense was dormant in the first half against Penn State Saturday night, but it didn't take long for things to open up after the break. Daniel Herron carried 21 times for a career-high 190 yards and a touchdown to lead a 21-point second half effort by the offense.

Elsewhere, Michigan's Denard Robinson was held in check by Purdue, but was still good enough to help the Wolverines beat the Boilermakers.

Conference USA

Whenever East Carolina takes the field, it's a safe bet to expect both teams to light up the scoreboard. That's exactly what happened Thursday night against UAB.

Dominique Davis threw for over 300 yards with five touchdowns to lead the Pirates to victory, but UAB's Bryan Ellis was brilliant in defeat. Ellis threw for 419 yards and five touchdowns to keep the Blazers within striking distance.

Davis is having a particularly great season for the Pirates, as he has 3,065 yards passing to go along with 38 total touchdowns (31 passing, seven rushing) in just 10 games. It might have been running back Jonathan Williams who was ECU's most brilliant player against UAB, however, as he totaled 197 yards from scrimmage and scored twice on just 19 touches.

Elsewhere, Southern Miss used four scoring passes from Austin Davis to upset Central Florida.

Tulsa and Houston met Saturday in what was a fairly low-scoring contest. The Golden Hurricane won behind a strong game from G.J. Kinne, who threw for 154 yards and two touchdowns and added a career-high 190 yards rushing.

Houston's David Piland threw for nearly 300 yards in the contest, but tossed five interceptions as the Cougars' suffered a close loss.

Independents

All three independents came up victorious on Saturday.

Navy held on for a 38-37 win Central Michigan behind backup quarterback Kriss Procter, who ran for 201 yards in place of Ricky Dobbs.

Army's Trent Steelman was nearly perfect through the air and ran for a pair of touchdowns to help the Black Knights beat Kent State.

The big story, of course, is Notre Dame's mammoth upset over Utah. Although the Irish failed to produce 300 yards of total offense, freshman Tommy Rees threw three touchdowns as Notre Dame rolled to a 28-3 victory.

MAC

With both Temple and Ohio idle, all eyes were on Northern Illinois this week in the race for the MAC championship.

Chandler Harnish passed for 162 yards and a touchdown and ran for 149 yards and a score on just 13 carries as the Huskies won big over Toledo. Teammate Chad Spann added three rushing touchdowns to help Northern Illinois stay perfect in conference play.

Elsewhere, Western Michigan clearly has a rising star at the quarterback position. Sophomore Alex Carder completed 17-of-21 passes for 349 yards and four touchdowns to help the Broncos cruise to a 45-30 win over Eastern Michigan.
Eastern Michigan may have its own quarterback to boast about, however, as Alex Gillett threw three touchdown passes while running for 159 yards and another touchdown in the shootout.

Finally, Central Michigan's Ryan Radcliff threw for nearly 400 yards and three scores to help the Chippewas rally against Navy before coming up just short. As always, star receiver Cody Wilson was Radcliff's main target, hauling in 13 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown. Wilson has 25 catches in his last two games.

MWC

TCU got one final challenge from the surprisingly dangerous San Diego State Aztecs Saturday, but the Horned Frogs were up to the task.

Andy Dalton threw four touchdowns and both Waymon James and Matthew Tucker went over 100 yards on the ground as TCU held on for a 40-35 win in Fort Worth.

The Aztecs got little from star running back Ronnie Hillman, but wideout Vincent Brown burned the Horned Frogs for 167 yards on four catches, two of them being late scores to make it close at the end.

Elsewhere, BYU's Jake Heaps had the best game of his young college career Saturday. The true freshman connected with Luke Ashworth for four scores as the Cougars destroyed Colorado State.

How quickly the Utes have fallen. After securing a No. 5 ranking two weeks ago, Utah has gotten absolutely destroyed by TCU and Notre Dame. Utah's offense sputtered against the Irish as both Matt Asiata and Eddie Wide failed to make an impact in the running game.

Pac-10

It's very unusual for Washington State to score the most points of any Pac-10 team, but that's exactly what happened this week out West. Quarterback Jeff Tuel led the way for the Cougars, completing 10-of-15 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown while running for 79 yards as Washington State put up 31 points against Oregon State.

Meanwhile, both of the conference's top two point-machines were missing Saturday as Oregon and Stanford struggled offensively on the road.

LaMichael James was held to 91 yards on the ground against Cal, and Darron Thomas failed to throw for 150 yards as the Ducks managed to hang on for a 15-13 win.

Stanford's Andrew Luck threw for nearly 300 yards but the Cardinal were unable to score points against Arizona State's feisty defense.

Arizona's Nick Foles threw for 353 yards and three touchdowns, but USC rolled up over 200 yards on the ground to pull out a 24-21. Marc Tyler led the ground attack with 160 yards and a score.

SEC

It was just another normal day in Auburn, Alabama as the Georgia Bulldogs came to town.

Cam Newton was making big plays, and Auburn's defense was being gashed as usual. Despite all the controversy surrounding him, Newton threw two touchdowns and rushed for 150 yards with two scores to help the Tigers stay perfect.

It wasn't easy for the Tigers, however, as A.J. Green caught nine passes for 164 yards with two touchdowns to propel the Bulldogs to an early lead. Aaron Murray also played well for Georgia, averaging 9.8 yards per pass attempt and throwing three touchdown passes.

Elsewhere in the SEC this week, South Carolina's fantastic freshman helped Steve Spurrier beat his former team in impressive fashion. Marcus Lattimore ran for 212 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Gamecocks into a spot in the conference championship game.
Meanwhile, Tennessee appears to have a star in the making at the quarterback position. True freshman Tyler Bray threw for 323 yards and three scores as the Vols put 52 on the board against struggling Ole Miss. Bray now has 648 yards and eight touchdowns passing in his last two games, though they were against two weak defenses in Ole Miss and Memphis.

Finally, Ryan Mallett threw five touchdowns and ran for another as Arkansas routed non-conference visitor UTEP Saturday night. Running back Knile Davis continued his dominant late-season surge, burning UTEP for 182 yards and a score on just 11 carries. Davis now has seven rushing scores in his last four games.

Sun Belt

Lance Dunbar had a relatively slow start to the season, but he's been dynamite in recent weeks. The North Texas star has scored in six straight games, and he turned in his second 200-plus-yard effort of the season against Middle Tennessee Saturday.

Middle Tennessee quarterback Dwight Dasher continued to be perhaps the biggest fantasy bust of the season in the same game, throwing two interceptions and failing to score against the not-so-Mean Green defense.

Ryan Aplin's strong season continued Saturday, but Western Kentucky had the last laugh against Arkansas State. Aplin accounted for over 400 yards of offense and five touchdowns to the Red Wolves, but star running back Bobby Rainey ran for 154 yards and two touchdowns to help the Hilltoppers to a 38-37 overtime win.

Elsewhere in the Sun Belt, Florida International's T.Y. Hilton rushed for 158 yards and added 75 yards receiving to lead the Panthers to a big win over Troy. Troy star wideout Jerrel Jernigan was shut down in the same game, catching 10 passes but somehow turning them into just 32 yards. That's not a typo--3.2 yards per catch.

WAC

It was business as usual for Boise State, while Nevada nearly suffered a loss to Fresno State this week in WAC play.

Kellen Moore threw three touchdowns and Doug Martin ran for a pair as the Broncos dismantled Idaho Friday in Moscow.

Robbie Rouse concluded his marvelous four-week stretch with another brilliant game Saturday, this time burning Nevada for 217 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries while adding 17 yards and a third score as a receiver. Rouse has a staggering total of 769 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground in the past four weeks, including 503 yards in the last two games alone.

Despite Rouse's heroics, Nevada running back Vai Taua's touchdown run in the final minutes propelled the Wolfpack to the win. Colin Kaepernick rushed for 153 yards and Taua added 89 with three touchdowns in Nevada's 35-34 win.

Elsewhere, Lennon Creer ran for 107 yards and a score to help Louisiana Tech rout New Mexico State in Las Cruces.