The Hangover Cure: Week 6

Key Takeaways. Literally, the best one is the above video, raw, field-level footage of Washington’s Mason Foster grabbing a carom off an Arizona player’s foot and turning it into six points.

Figuratively, the important one is that rush defense and running games are the hallmarks of the best teams this year.

I’ve mentioned this before, sort of (see Tremendous), but the key to consistently winning games in college football this year appears to be stopping the run and running the ball. Florida’s win over LSU happened because the Gators gummed up the Tigers’ ground game and forced Jordan Jefferson to throw while racking up 193 rushing yards themselves; Alabama beat Mississippi by stopping the Rebels’ running game, intercepting four of Jevan Snead’s throws, and tallying 202 rushing yards. Even proficiency in just one area works: Texas only rushed for 51 yards, but held Colorado in check by limiting the Buffs’ rushers to less than two yards a carry and capitalizing on special teams; TCU may have let up 228 yards to Air Force, but that’s almost 70 yards less than the Falcons average, and the Horned Frogs only conceded four plays of over 15 yards (and none over 40) while rushing for 196 yards in their 20-17 win. Further down the Top 25, Virginia Tech and Oregon, the two best one-loss teams in the country, gave up fewer than 70 yards and gained over 220 yards in their wins.

Much has been made of the spread offense’s proliferation in college football, but the benefits are over mistakenly limited to passing games. With more inventive horizontal stretching of the field, running and stopping the run have become even more important, and the teams that can do both have become ever more potent.

Delirious. Then again, turning to the run when what you really need to do is pass isn’t the brightest idea. Rich Rodriguez did just that, though, sticking with Denard Robinson after some fourth-quarter sparks for a potential game-winning drive with 1:30 left against Iowa and watching him throw the interception that sunk Michigan on just his fourth pass of the night. The Wolverines’ 30-28 loss is their second in as many weeks, but this one is more remarkable for the late game not being in Tate Forcier’s hands. Early in the freshman’s career, he’s been a miracle worker late in games, and despite some shaky play against the Hawkeyes (8-of-19 for 94 yards and a pick), he was probably the smarter choice for a clutch drive, and his absence is something Rodriguez will answer for all week. (Update: Answering with “He had a concussion,“ as Rodriguez did in a Monday press conference, does make sense.)Also, while Tim Tebow’s thanking God for his continued health, we should all be so happy that Tebow’s health may be, at least, a diminished storyline this week. All parties involved in the coverage of college football overdosed on updates of Tebow’s status, from conditional reports that he would play if cleared to breathless notes about his clearance. To their credit, though, CBS managed to get past Tebow’s injury fairly quickly in their broadcast of his game, instead focusing on the tight, tense contest at hand.

Tremendous. The Pac-10 played games that mattered and the East Coast continued to ignore them, largely. It’s a shame, too: Washington’s 15 point rally in 22 seconds, which featured the incredible interception at the top of this post, was the best finish of any game on Saturday; Oregon State’s dazzling Jacquizz Rodgers had 271 total yards in the Beavers’ not-that-close 38-28 win over Stanford; Oregon’s aforementioned 24-10 triumph over UCLA was the sort of defensive grinder that idle USC is known for, and came without Jeremiah Masoli at quarterback. The Huskies are one of the nation’s most entertaining teams (four games decided by eight points or fewer), the Beavers one of its most overlooked (watch for them to give USC fits again in two weeks), and the Ducks simply one of its best at the moment (an aggregate 118-19 scoring margin against three Pac-10 teams over the last three weeks). Note to East Coasters: Stay up.

If you want a dominant defense, check Florida’s stats: Two touchdowns allowed, 32 points conceded, one game allowing over 210 yards (the opener against Charleston Southern, which featured the second team from late in the second quarter on), and a stupendous 19-of-73 mark in third downs against. They were good enough to hide that Florida’s offense scored its fewest points in a win under Urban Meyer, and good enough to hold LSU to its lowest point output in a game at Tiger Stadium since 2002. And they’re still not getting the sort of production they want from the physically imposing but maddeningly inconsistent Carlos Dunlap.

Joining the ranks of teams that can win without holding the ball: Ohio State. The Buckeyes had possession for just 17:13 and gained only 184 yards, but beat Wisconsin 31-13 because of three returns for touchdowns, two on picks and one on a kick.

Blacked Out. Tennessee got a career-best performance from Jonathan Crompton in a 45-19 blitzing of Georgia, and Auburn got slaughtered by Arkansas, falling into a 34-3 hole before losing 44-23 to the Razorbacks. Why is this item in this category? Well, because the middle of the SEC is trying to be just as inscrutable as the Big 10 and ACC, with one week’s results (Georgia’s close game against LSU, Tennessee’s offensive futility against Auburn) having no bearing on the next week’s outcomes. It’s another gap in our knowledge this season.Impaired Judgment. Florida’s defense had to be good, because their offensive play-calling was dubious all night. An end-around to the weak side of the field on fourth and two? Continued dives up the middle with quarkbacks Jeff Demps and Chris Rainey rather than the effective Emmanuel Moody (six carries for 42 yards)? One of the more baffling plays of Tim Tebow’s career, a fourth-quarter pick that had no business being thrown, much less lofted behind Riley Cooper for Jai Eugene to snag? If Cooper doesn’t grab jersey on the Gators’ lone touchdown of the night, the questions today aren’t about how good the defense can be, but how good it must be.

Also, for the play up top to happen, Arizona had to be throwing with a five-point lead and less than three minutes to play. That’s questionable at best.

Potent Quotables. Tebow, again, on being hit: “The first time I got hit, everything felt good. And I was like, ‘All right. I’m ready to go.’”

Boston College coach Frank Spaziani: “We got some manners laid on us.”

Bobby Bowden, on the problems that arise when you give up 401 yards rushing: “Our main problem was the wishbone, the kids just couldn’t figure it out. We simply couldn’t stop them. Forty four points should’ve won that game.”

Proof. Freddie Barnes isn’t a name anyone knows or should know, and Bowling Green’s small enough that I have to go to ESPN to get their box score. But his numbers are staggering: 22 catches for 278 yards and three TDs, and in a 36-35 win over Kent State. But he’s a silver-medal winner from this Saturday.

That’s because, unfathomably, a Dukie grabbed the gold. Thaddeus Lewis’ line: 40-50 for 460 yards and five scores, plus another TD on the ground, and the Blue Devils’ first road ACC win since 2003. He was so good that he spurred Duke coach David Cutcliffe, tutor to both Manning brothers, to say, “I’ll probably upset a couple of my former quarterbacks, but I believe that’s the best game I’ve ever had a quarterback play in my college career.”↵