USC pulls away from Utah, UCF and Arkansas State score wins

Update: The source of this development has now dialed his story back considerably.

Now there’s one claim, being made by Utah Insider’s Brian Smith, that Woods didn’t actually pass all his concussion tests.

It didn’t look good early, as the Trojans fell behind 14-0 in the first three minutes of the game after two exchanges between quarterback and center went awry, leading to a defensive touchdown and a short offensive touchdown for the Utes.

But the Trojans finally settled down and once they got rolling, the Utes couldn’t stop them.

David Pollack is not above making references to mid-‘90s cult comedy films that feature large volumes of low-brow humor in the middle of national television broadcasts.

Pollack’s commentary in general and the “Laces out, Dan!” reference are great, but they’re even better when compared to the commentary that used to exist in his place. College football without Craig James is a nearly flawless entity, and this cannot be reiterated often enough.

A little Spider-Man move by Lee, and (probably) no fields will be stormed preemptively or otherwise in Salt Lake City tonight.

Check the national college football scoreboard right here, and look through SB Nation’s many excellent college football blogs to find your team’s community.

Central Florida improved to 3-2 on Thursday night with a 40-20 C-USA win over East Carolina.

Box Score Hero: McDuffie was the difference, scoring touchdowns in two phases of the game. He brought the Knights back in it with his 99-yard touchdown return and clinched it with 64-yard scamper on the wide receiver screen. He finished with two catches for 67 yards, and had almost 200 total yards on the evening.

The Arkansas State Red Wolves (3-3) handed the Florida International Golden Panthers (1-5) their fourth loss in a row Thursday night after winning, 34-20.

Florida International took the lead first in the opening quarter with a 28-yard field goal by Jack Griffin. But the Red Wolves rallied in the second quarter, as the teams traded touchdowns into halftime, with Arkansas State ahead, 14-10.

Concentration!

Utah leads just 21-17 despite getting two insta-touchdowns early on thanks to Star Lotulelei’s barrage up the middle. Since then, USC’s gotten him more or less contained, and for now the question is whether Utah can hang with the Trojans in a scoring battle.

Star USC receiver Robert Woods took a shot to the side of the head during a punt return in the second quarter against Utah, sprawling on the field before getting back up. But the most uncomfortable moment came further down the field, when the consensus All-American stumbled and staggered into a face plant, then stood up and tried to walk to the wrong sideline.

According to reporters in the press box, Woods was then seen trying to convince USC trainers he’s up for returning to the field immediately. The Trojans took the field in Utes territory with Woods back in -- Samantha Steele reported Woods went through a complete concussion test, but is “good to go.”

Thursday night makes for the first multi-game weeknight since Week 1. Ready your remotes, as every week henceforth includes at least one weeknight with multiple FBS games. One common story connects at least four of tonight’s competitors: early letdowns.

The action on the way (and here are against-the-spread picks by Bill Connelly’s computer):