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Week 9 Recap - Clemson Rallies From 18 Down To Avoid Loss To B.C.

November 1, 2020 by Staff

Clemson, playing without the projected No. 1 NFL draft pick at quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, due to Covid, was able to bounce back from a 28-10 second quarter deficit to spoil the upset bid of Boston College and snatch a 34-28 victory from the jaws of defeat.

Lawrence's backup, True freshman QB D.J.Uiagalelei, was 30-of-41 for 342 yards with 2 TD passes and no INT's. He ran for another score. The Tigers outscored the Eagles 21-0 in the second half while Trevor Etienne overcame a goal-line fumble that was returned for a B.C. touchdown. Etienne became the ACC's all-time career-leading rusher with an 84-yard, 1 TD ground performance, but he also had a great day receivng with 140 yards and another TD.

Clemson surely could not have afforded a loss as Dabo Swinney's team now gets ready to head to Notre Dame next Saturday, again without Lawrence at quarterback.

That wasn't the only Halloween craziness as the weekend was rife with upsets.

Victory was had by 11 teams that were on the wrong side of the spread, beginning with Fresno State (+1.5) on Thursday. The next day, Maryland (+20.5) and Wyoming (+2) got into the act. Saturday's upset winners - alphabetically - were Auburn (+2.5), Louisiana Tech (+10), Michigan State (+25.5), Northwestern (+2.5), Rice (+2.5), Texas (+3.5), Troy (+3.5), and Virginia (+7).

Still, the majority of the teams at the top of the ladder, many of whom had away dates, were able to hold serve.

Alabama was a 41-0 winner at Mississippi State, Ohio State won 38-25 at Penn State, Notre Dame was a 31-13 victor at Georgia Tech, and Georgia scraped together a 14-3 win at Kentucky.

'Bama's shutout win was its first since November 10, 2018 when the victim was also Mississippi State.

Highly-ranked teams that won at home included Texas A&M (42-31 vs Arkansas), and Florida (41-17 vs. Missouri).

In one of the biggest upsets, Michigan State beat rival Michigan in Ann Arbor, 27-24, a week after suffering its own upset loss at home to Rutgers. The victory was the first for the Spartans new head coach, Mel Tucker. It's also just the second time in history that a first-year coach at MSU beat Michigan. The last to do was Nick Saban in 1995.

Another big saw Texas outlast Oklahoma State, 41-34 in overtime in Stillwater. The win was Texas' first on the road versus an AP-ranked top ten team in over a decade. That result, coupled with Kansas State's 37-10 loss at West Virginia and Iowa State's 52-22 win at Kansas, puts the Cowboys, Wildcats and Cyclones in a 3-way tie atop the Big 12. All have a single conference loss.

It was the third overtime game this season for Texas in six outings.

Iowa, a 2.5-point favorite, stared prosperity in the face and promptly shot it as the Hawkeyes saw their 20-7 lead at home over Northwestern melt into a 21-20 loss. Iowa also fell victim to the upset bug last week, bowing 24-20 at home to Purdue. Saturday, Purdue bagged a 31-24 win at Illinois as a 4.49-point underdog in the Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com.

In the Southeastern Conference, Auburn dismantled LSU 48-11 at home for its largest margin of victory in series history.

In the ACC, Virginia pulled off a 44-41 stunner over visiting North Carolina.

Other upsets saw Troy romp 38-10 at Arkansas State, and Louisiana Tech prevail 37-34 at home in double-overtime over UAB.

Also, Rice rolled to a 30-6 win at Southern Miss, dropping the Golden Eagles to 1-5 after they were a consensus preseason pick to finish 2nd in Conference USA's west division.

In other action, Indiana won 37-21 at Rutgers, a week after upsetting Penn State. The Hoosiers are 2-0 in the Big ten for the first time since 1991. They haven't been 3-0 in the conference since 1988.

Wake Forest won a 3rd straight ACC game with its 38-14 victory at Syracuse.

Virginia Tech recovered from last week's upset loss to Wake Forest by winning 42-35 at Louisville as QB Hendon Hooker was 10-for-10 passing for 183 yards, and added 68 yards rushing with 3 touchdowns.

Saturday's action also saw Cincinnati crush Memphis 49-10 at home, and Coastal Carolina prove its for real by opening a 51-0 can at Georgia State.

Cincinnati's win over the Tigers snapped a 5-game losing streak in the series, including two losses within 9 days of each other in 2019.

Coastal Carolina's shutout win was its first as a FBS team after it stepped up in classification in 2017. The undefeated (6-0, 4-0 Sun Belt) Chanticleers are tied for the lead in the Sun Belt's east division after being tagged as a consensus last-place team in the preseason.

On Friday night, Maryland snapped an 8-game losing streak by rallying from a 38-21 fourth quarter deficit to beat Minnesota 45-44 in overtime. The Golden Gophers were down 21-7, but reeled off 31 unanswered points to seemingly gain command of the game. FBS teams were 0-71 this season when trailing by 17 entering the final quarter. Terrapin head coach Mike Locksley raised his all-time record to 7-41, including a 5-15 mark with Maryland. The Terps are quarterbacked by Tua Tagovailoa's younger brother, Taulia. Tagovailoa was 26-of-35 passing for 394 yards, 3 TD's and 1 INT, and added 8 rushes for 64 yards and 2 more scores. Minnesota was led by Mohamed Ibrahim who ran for 207 yards and 4 touchdowns on 41 carries.

Another fantastic finish on Friday saw Tulsa down East Carolina 34-30 on T.K. Wilkerson's 1-yard run with 29 seconds left in the game. The Pirates managed to get in position for a Hail Mary pass to the end zone on the final play, but it fell incomplete. The Golden Hurricane improved to 3-0 in the American conference (3-1 over-all) as East Carolina fell to 1-3 in league play (1-4 over-all).

In the third and final game on Friday, Wyoming scored a 31-7 upset of Hawaii in Laramie, as predicted by the Congrove Computer Rankings at CollegeFootballPoll.com. It also correctly called Fresno State's Thursday night 38-17 home upset of Colorado State.

Also on Thursday, Georgia Southern won 24-17 at home over South Alabama.

Covid forced the cancellation of 3 games this week while another was relocated. New Mexico was originally scheduled to host San Jose State on Saturday, but that game was moved to San Jose. The Marshall-FIU contest, as well as the Wisconsin-Nebraska and North Texas-UTEP games were scratched due to Covid issues at FIU and Wisconsin, and a stay-at-home order for the city of El Paso.

What Home Field Advantage?

Yes, upsets were a recurring theme this week. But another common thread was the number of teams losing at home. 23 host schools went down to defeat in the 43 games played.

FCS vs. FBS

31 FBS teams are playing a total of 35 games against FCS schools this season.

No such games are on the docket this week. This past week, the FCS recorded its first victory of the season against a FBS school when Jacksonville State upended FIU 19-10. Chattanooga almost notched another FCS upset, but Tyrrell Pigrome hit Craig Burt Jr. for a 4-yard TD and the 13-10 win with 1:21 to play. Mercer gave Army West Point no such concern in a 49-3 blowout loss. It was the third, and final, game versus a FCS opponent for Army.

FBS teams are 27-1 in such matchups this season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS teams are 1,462-128 (.919).

Last year, FBS teams were 111-3 (.974) in such games.

Here are the FCS wins vs. the FBS this season:
October 23: Jacksonville State 19, FIU 10

These were the FCS wins vs. the FBS in the previous 2 seasons:

2019:
August 29: Central Arkansas 35, Western Kentucky 28
September 7: Southern Illinois 45, Massachusetts 20
September 14: The Citadel 27, Georgia Tech 24 (OT)

2020:
August 29: UC Davis 44, San Jose State 31
September 1: Villanova 19, Temple 17
September 1: Northern Arizona 30, UTEP 10
September 1: Nicholls State 26, Kansas 23 (OT)
September 2: North Carolina A&T 28, East Carolina 23
September 8: Maine 31, Western Kentucky 28
September 22: Illinois State 35, Colorado State 19

Streaks

CLEMSON - Won 35 straight regular season games (FBS longest) games. Won 29 straight conference games (FBS longest). Won 27 straight home games (FBS longest). Won 14 straight true road games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 34-28 at home vs. Boston College on Saturday, October 31.
Next: Visits Notre Dame on Saturday, November 7.

NOTRE DAME - Won 12 straight over-all (FBS-longest)
Last: Won 31-1 at Georgia Tech on Saturday, October 31.
Next: Hosts Clemson on Saturday, November 7.

NEW MEXICO - Lost 16 straight conference games (FBS longest). Lost 10 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 38-21 at San Jose State on Saturday, October 31. Game was orighinally scheduled to be played at New Mexico but ahd to be moved due to Covid issues in Albuquerque.
Next: Visits Hawaii on Saturday, November 7.