Shootout Saturday: Baylor-WVU sets tempo for busy day

1,578. Combined yards gained this season, in seven total games, by Temple and Tulane. West Virginia and Baylor, meanwhile, came up just 71 yards short of that in 60 minutes early on Saturday afternoon. It was almost too much, you know?

I love offense, I love writing about offense, and I love watching WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen and Baylor head coach Art Briles doing their thing. But … come on. The teams scored touchdowns on 19 possessions and didn’t score touchdowns on only nine. And it could have been worse! Baylor missed two field goals and threw an interception at the WVU 42, and WVU missed a field goal itself. With better place-kicking, this game would have reached 140 points. But the 133 combined points were more than 68 FBS teams have scored so far this season. Absurd. And exhausting.

Joining us is Baylor’s beloved mascot*, Litigiously Hibernating Preacher Bear.

* That is not Baylor’s beloved mascot.

The No. 19 Cardinals were trailing throughout much of the first three quarters, but found a way to get it done in crunch time. Louisville finally seized the advantage with just over five minutes to go in the contest on a 14-yard touchdown run by Senorise Perry.

Rankings ramifications: Louisville came into the night ranked No. 19 and will move up a spot or two over teams that lost despite being unimpressive.

SMU had a major chance to get back into the game with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter when TCU’s punter bobbled a snap, which gave the Mustangs a three-yard field. But the Frogs turned SMU away with no points. That sequence repeated itself again with about two minutes left, and SMU was able to score that time around, but they didn’t have enough time left to make it a game.

The overall sloppy night ended with SMU outgaining TCU in total yards 220-156.

Here we have a crucial touchdown in a big game that also involved a big hit and a touch of CONTROVERSY. It’s the perfect football play! There were about two steps’ worth of continuance once the ball’s brought in, and it definitely crossed the plane, so officials appear to be correct to have called it a score after review.

This was followed by a whiffed two-point conversion, but OK State’s hanging in there against Texas, 28-26.

Box Score Hero: Shaw had a very nice and efficient night, going 15-of-18 for 149 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushing for 75 yards.

Rankings Ramifications: South Carolina shouldn’t drop in the polls as a result of their performance.

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.

Ignore the score graphic at the bottom. Which teams are these?

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.

Rocco was benched following his third pick of the game for sophomore Phillip Sims, who injected some major life into the squad. Sims led two late fourth quarter touchdown drives as part of a day that saw the youngster complete 10-of-17 passes for 166 yards and two scores.

The big difference was in the rushing attacks, as Central Michigan only managed 57 yards total on the ground, with 48 of them coming from Zurlon Tipton, while Northern Illinois combined for 174 yards rushing on the day. Ryan Radcliff played well for Central Michigan, throwing for 214 yards and two touchdowns, which eclipsed Jordan Lynch’s performance through the air at 153 yards and one touchdown. Lynch managed 96 yards rushing to go with his passing yardage to even things out, though.

Box Score Hero: Neither team had players put up huge yardage, but Northern Illinois running back Leighton Settle managed three touchdown runs, including the aforementioned 46-yard scoring rush in the fourth. Beyond that, he was primarily used as a short-yardage back so only finished with 56 yards.

Patterson was heavily recruited by the Dawgs (as well as a host of other SEC teams) before signing with UT out of junior college in February.

At the time, Patterson was considered a huge “get” for Vols head coach Derek Dooley, but, just as the recruiting gods smile upon your success, they taketh away:

style="text-align: left;">Here’s Buffalo’s perfectly executed touchdown off of a hook and ladder against UConn today.

(ht: Our good friends at Hustle Belt).

On third down, just inside Michigan State territory, Miller scrambled to his left and ran for a first down, but took a hit in the process and went down clutching his left leg. He appeared to twist his left knee awkwardly as he went down.

On the play, Miller put the ball on the turf, but was originally called down by contact. After an official review, it was determined that Miller fumbled the ball, and that Michigan State recovered. That led to a field goal for Sparty, and Ohio State now leads 17-16.

The football touchdown for Michigan State University is considered a rarity, after the Spartans didn’t score one for three quarters as they struggled to defeat rival* Eastern Michigan (*confirmation pending) last week, and scored 3 points against a private Bible college in Indiana the previous week.

Not to be outdone, Ohio State would also throw the ball for a touchdown pass, and now lead 17-13. Barn burner!

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.

Georgia’s Keith Marshall rips off a 75 yard touchdown run to give the Bulldogs a 14-7 first quarter lead over Tennessee.

The teams were deadlocked, 35-35, at halftime. They went back-and-forth for the first two quarters, as neither team led by more than a touchdown at any point. That changed in the third quarter, when the Mountaineers scored 21 unanswered points to begin the second half. Of course, that didn’t last for long, as the Bears came storming back to get to within a score shortly after the start of the fourth quarter.

West Virginia went back up by two scores on two different occasions in the final quarter, but Baylor answered each time. The Mountaineers were ultimately able to run out the clock on their last possession, as the Bears elected to kick deep after their final touchdown. Their defense, of course, was unable to keep West Virginia from getting a couple of first downs to close things out.

The win puts the Tigers above .500 at 3-2 and drops the Knights to 2-2.

Box Score Hero: It would have been Bortles but his team lost so we’ll give this honor to Franklin, who put up monster yardage (257) with a touchdown. Yes, he threw a pick but his team still won.

The Ball State Cardinals came back from a two-score deficit in the fourth quarter, but Kent State had the last laugh with a late field goal to win, 45-43, on Saturday. Kent State blew a 13-point lead and fell behind late in the fourth quarter, but answered with a long drive from their own six to get into field goal range for the win.

Kent Slate maintained their lead by responding to everything Ball State threw at them, including at the end of the game.

Ball State defensive lineman Brandon Newman picks off Kent State early in the fourth quarter of what has been an incredible display of MACtion with Kent State leading 45-43 in the fourth quarter.

Iowa’s defense caused four turnovers in the contest, intercepting three passes and forcing one fumble.

With the win, Iowa improves to 3-2 on the season, and 1-0 in the Big Ten. The loss drops Minnesota to 4-1, and 0-1 in the Big Ten.

Have a look for yourself, but keep in mind the blue line isn’t official, and is just FOX’s best estimation of where the line is:

Going by the line, he appears to have executed a perfect handball shot. Remember handball? The internet loved that sport.

And it’s reportedly bad news, but we’ll wait and see.

Before being injured, Campanaro had caught one ball for three yards, and also rushed once, for nine yards. Wake Forest trails in the game, 13-10 in the second quarter.