College Football Roundup Week 7 – Texas 6-0
Texas Secure Win Over Rivals Oklahoma 16-13 To Remain Unbeaten
Oct 21, 2009 Sebastian Egerton-Read
The great duel between Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford failed to come to fruition when bitter rivals Texas and Oklahoma met on Saturday night, but the battle of the defenses proved to be just as exciting. Sam Bradford was replaced by Landry Jones after appearing to have re-injured his shoulder while being sacked by Aaron Williams in the first quarter. Jones performed admirably well though throwing for 250 yards and a touchdown; however he was simply unable to assert himself in the fourth quarter as his last two drives ended with interceptions. McCoy fared little better throwing for just 127 yards as the Longhorns relied upon their running game for offense.
Two big, athletic defensive lines dominated proceedings throughout the game, making finding offense hard work; both teams relied on penalties to move up field and both were guilty of gifting yards in a tense rivalry atmosphere. The Sooners have had a difficult season as they drop to a disappointing 3-3, they’ll be particularly disappointed to have only managed two field goals in the first half after a dominant performance, a failure to execute that has characterised much of Oklahoma’s season. Undoubtedly the key battle proved to be in the lines, McCoy hit the ground 13 times in the first half but a Texas offensive line with renewed energy managed to limit that figure to just 4 in the second half hour.
Are the Texas Longhorns Now BCS bound?
At the start of the season many would have pointed to this matchup as possibly the Longhorns biggest test. However, when Oklahoma’s season is taken into account, Texas actually only just escaped a serious upset in edging the Sooners 16-13. Coupled with an unconvincing effort against Colorado, McCoy and his team are now looking quite fallible and cannot take the rest of the schedule for granted. Missouri, Oklahoma State and Kansas all have the ability to deal the Longhorns a loss, even a season ending game against Texas A & M could be a cause for concern.
One of Alabama or Florida will end up with a loss this season owed to the fact that they meet in a few weeks time, an unbeaten season would all but guarantee Texas a BCS berth. This team clearly has the talent to execute on that, but some tricky opposition and inconsistent play could easily see them de-throned at some stage.
Week 7 Roundup
Notre Dame couldn’t quite pull off another last minute win as they fell to USC 34-27. The Trojans were just about able to hold off another second half comeback from Jimmy Clausen and the Fighting Irish. Meanwhile, Tim Tebow and Florida relied upon a 69-yard drive in the final minutes capped off by a 37-yard field goal with just 9 seconds on the clock to secure a 23-20 victory over Arkansas. Tebow made a further statement of his dominance on a day where the rest of the Gators line-up struggled to make big plays.
The seventh weekend of College football witnessed some big upsets, none perhaps bigger than Georgia Tech stunning Virginia Tech 28-23. Tech completed just one pass as Josh Nesbitt rushed for 122 yards and 3 touchdowns; the loss effectively ends the Hokies BCS ambitions. Equally surprising was Purdue ending their 5-game losing streak with a 26-18 victory over #7 ranked Ohio State. Tyrelle Pryor struggled for Ohio State throwing two interceptions and allowing two fumbles in a game where mistakes cost them dearly. Colorado managed to complete an upset with a 34-30 win over Kansas; Colorado had threatened to upset Texas the previous weekend. Nebraska’s offense continues to struggle as they were picked off by Texas Tech who now jumps into the top 25.
Boise State, Cincinnati, Houston, Penn State, Miami Florida, TCU, Utah, Oklahoma State and BYU all secured victories in a busy seventh weekend of action. The Alabama Crimson Tide have risen to the #1 ranking after a comprehensive 20-6 victory over South Carolina, Mark Ingram led Alabama’s offense setting a career high for rushing of 246 yards. Dion Lewis ran for two touchdowns and 180 yards as Pittsburgh entered the top 25 after a win over Rutgers. West Virginia are also added to the rankings after a 24-7 win over Marshall. Outside of the top 25: Clemson, Connecticut, Boston College and Michigan all secured wins to keep their good records up heading into the halfway point of the season.
Week 8 Preview
Game to Watch
(10) TCU vs (16) BYU
TCU have remained somewhat under the radar so far this season, but the fact is that they are unbeaten. BYU have had a very successful year so far though they’ll be disappointed with their loss to Florida State after their early season upset of Oklahoma. For both teams this is the crunch game, they both enjoyed excellent offensive outputs last weekend but expect a tighter affair in a key mid-season matchup.
Other interesting fixtures include; Boston College vs Notre Dame, Oklahoma vs Kansas and South Florida vs Pittsburgh
Upset Pick
Michigan over #13 Penn State
You can never be sure just which Michigan that you might get but they are perhaps the team most likely to cause an upset in a week where a lot of the teams will feel a little uneasy about their matchups. Texas face a potentially tricky opposition in Missouri, the Tigers have fallen in the last two weeks but are still more than a dangerous opponent. USC will be feeling very good after their win over Notre Dame but must now face an under-rated Oregon State team capable of an upset. West Virginia will need to be on their best form if they are to hold onto their top 25 ranking trying to avoid an upset against a very useful Connecticut outfit.
Colt McCoy- Texas Quarterback
|
What do you think about this article?
Latest Articles