Weekend Recap - Penn State Falls, Oklahoma Rallies, Wake and Army Post 126 Points

October 24, 2021 by Staff

What a crazy day of football.

Oklahoma, the No. 2 team in the Congrove Computer Rankings, outscored Kansas 28-6 over the final 16-and-a-half minutes to erase a 17-7 deficit and pull out a 35-23 win at Kansas.

No. 10 Penn State was victimized 20-18 at home by Illinois in a record 9 overtimes as the new OT rules now call for nothing but 2-point plays after the 2nd extra period, essentially giving each team just 1 play from the opponents 3-yard line.

No. 6 Oklahoma State went down to defeat at the hands of No. 19 Iowa State, 24-21.

Pittsburgh knocked off visiting Clemson 27-17 to enhance its resume.

In the MAC, Northern Illinois continued its unexpected season as the West division leaders (6-2, 4-0) won 39-38 at Central Michigan (4-4, 2-2). The Huskies trailed 35-18 after a Chippewa TD with 9:53 to play in the 3rd, but promptly cut it back to 11 with a 75-yard pass on the very next play. Still, it took a 26-yard field goal with 54 seconds left to complete the comeback win for NIU. They should try their luck at online casino au.

Virginia Tech blew another 9-point lead in the final minutes, just as the Hokies did vs. Notre Dame, and lost 41-36 at home To Syracuse to drop to 3-4. Garret Shrader threw 3 TD passes and ran for 2 more scores, overshadowing a 151-yard, 3 TD rushing day for Virginia Tech freshman RB Malachi Thomas. The Hokies, and embattled head coach Justin Fuente, have lost 3 straight.

Oregon tried to blow a 17-point lead, but a late interception secured the 34-31 win at UCLA.

Washington State played its first game since the school fired head coach Nick Rolovich and four assistants on Monday when they each failed to abide by the vaccine mandate issued by the state. The home Cougars fell 21-19 to BYU as the visiting Cougars improved to 4-0 against the PAC-12 this season and 6-2 over-all.

Oregon State rallied from a 10-point deficit at home to beat Utah 42-34.

Rice was a 30-24 upset winner at UAB as a 23.5-point underdog, The Blazers had won 4 straight in the series.

New Mexico was a 14-3 winner at Wyoming as a 20-point underdog and the Lobos snapped a 16-game road losing streak.

Down 11 with 5:48 to play, Nevada's rally came up short on a failed 2-point conversion with 2 seconds left and Fresno State escaped with the 34-32 home win.

After upsetting Liberty a week ago as a 32-point underdog, UL-Monroe struck again. Terry Bowden's Warhawks were 13.5-point home underdogs to South Alabama, but turned back the Jaguars 41-31.

West Virginia was a 29-17 winner at TCU as a 4-point underdog. The Mountaineers had lost 3 straight since beating Virginia Tech back on September 18.

East Carolina and Houston endured a 5 hour, 20 minute weather delay and the Cougars survived a wild finish for the 31-24 win overtime. The Pirates tied the game with 14 unanswered points in the 4th quarter, but Houston scored on a 25-yard run on its first play in overtime, and then recovered a fumble on ECU's 2nd play in the extra period to end the game.

In games involving some of the higher-ranked teams, No. 3 Michigan pulled away from Northwestern with a 23-0 second half in a 33-7 win in Ann Arbor, No. 4 Cincinnati took a 27-10 lead and Navy's rally was too little too late in a 27-20 win for the Bearcats in Annapolis, and No. 5 Alabama used a 28-7 fourth quarter to put away Tennessee in a 52-24 win at Tuscaloosa.

Also, No. 7 Ohio State jumped all over Indiana early and strolled to a 54-7 win in Bloomington.

No. 9 Wake Forest never trailed, but couldn't put Army away. The Demon Deacons, however, managed to outduel the Black Knights 70-56 at West Point. Wake passed for 458 and Army ran for 416 while the teams combined for 1,233 total yards.

Elsewhere, Notre Dame had little trouble in a 31-16 win at home over USC, UTSA stayed undefeated (8-0) with a 45-16 win at Louisiana Tech, and on Thursday night, SMU also remained unblemished with a 55-26 rout of Tulane in Dallas.

In the final game of the weekend, Hawaii defeated New Mexico State for the second time this season. The Warriors followed up their 41-21 win at NMSU on September 25 with a 48-34 victory in round two at Hawaii.

No. 1 Georgia and No. 8 Iowa were among 23 teams that were idle this week.

FCS vs. FBS

2 teams will play 2 FCS teams this fall (UConn and UMass), and 115 teams will play 1 FCS school for a total of 117 such matchups. 107 of those 117 games have been played.

The lone such game this week saw Arkansas romp to a 45-3 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Little Rock. The computer favored the Razorbacks by 36.75 points.

The FBS is 97-10 vs. the FCS this season. Since we began tracking this in 2003, the FBS teams are now 1,566-138 (.919).

Last year, 30 FBS teams played a total of just 34 games against FCS schools and the FCS won just 1 game (1-33). That honor also went to Jacksonville State with its 19-10 victory over FIU.

Here are the FCS wins in 2021:
September 2: UC Davis 19, Tulsa 17
September 2: Eastern Washington 35, UNLV 33 (2 OT)
September 3: South Dakota State 42, Colorado State 23
September 4: Holy Cross 38, UConn 28
September 4: Montana 13, Washington 7
September 4: ETSU 23, Vanderbilt 3
September 11: Duquesne 28, Ohio 26
September 11: Jacksonville State 20, Florida State 17.
September 18: Incarnate Word 42, Texas State 34.
September 18: Northern Arizona 21, Arizona 19

This was the only FCS win vs. the FBS in 2020:
October 23: Jacksonville State 19, FIU 10

In 2019, FBS teams were 111-3 (.974) in such games. These were the only FCS wins that season:
August 29: Central Arkansas 35, Western Kentucky 28
September 7: Southern Illinois 45, Massachusetts 20
September 14: The Citadel 27, Georgia Tech 24 (OT)

Streaks

OKLAHOMA: Won 16 straight over-all (FBS longest).
Last: Won 35-23 at Kansas on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Next: Hosts Texas Tech on Saturday, Oct. 30.

OHIO STATE - Won 25 straight conference games (FBS longest), and 12 straight road games (FBS longest).
Last: Won 54-7at Indiana on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Next: Hosts Penn State on Saturday, Oct. 30.

CLEMSON - Won 31 straight home games (FBS longest).
Last: Lost 27-17 at Pittsburgh on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Next: Hosts Florida State on Saturday Oct. 30.

NEW MEXICO - Snapped a 16-game road losing streak (FBS longest) with a 14-3 win at Wyoming.
Last: Won 14-3 at Wyoming on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Next: Hosts UNLV on on Saturday, Nov. 6.

KANSAS - Lost 19 straight to FBS schools (FBS Longest), and 16 straight conference games.
Last: Lost 35-23 at home to Oklahoma on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Next: Visits Oklahoma State on Saturday, Oct. 30.

ARIZONA - Lost 19 straight over-all (FBS Longest), and 18 straight to FBS schools.
Last: Lost 21-16 at home Washington on Friday, Oct. 22.
Next: Visits USC on Saturday, Oct. 30.

VANDERBILT - Lost 17 straight conference games.
Last: Lost 45-6 at home to Mississippi State on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Next: Hosts Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 30.