College Football Saturday: Michigan Comes Back (Twice), And More

One week after elevating LSU to the No. 1 ranking for its season-opening win over Oregon, the BlogPoll is once more rolling with Alabama at its top team. The Tide, who were also the preseason BlogPoll No. 1, picked up fewer first-place votes than LSU, but had a strong enough consensus at the top to get past the Tigers and claim pole position in the Week 3 BlogPoll. Oklahoma, No. 1 in the AP Poll and USA Today coaches poll this week, takes a lower perch in this realm of the college football rankings, settling for No. 3.

Wack Ballot Watchdog

AWARD FOR UNCOMMON VALOR (PENDING INVESTIGATION): Quarterback, scout, and gunner Denard Robinson. Reports indicate that Robinson threw for 338 yards and four touchdowns, survived three INTs, and ran for 94 yards and a TD. Witnesses allege two game-winning drives in 72 seconds. Due to the fantastical notion of these claims, further review of tape will be necessary to verify these actions.

IDENTITY UNKNOWN. This soldier was found wandering the battlefield late Saturday night. If you can identify him, please contact HQ immediately. He was happy, uninjured, and believed to be fond of dancing.

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↵If we were to hazard a guess, Michigan head coach Brady Hoke draws his powers from his entourage, which includes this strapping young fellow in the background.

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On the night, Robinson completed just 11 passes, but they went for 338 yards and four touchdowns. Robinson also had a team-high 108 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Next week, Michigan head coach Brady Hoke has the challenge of keeping his Wolverines focused on their home game with Eastern Michigan, while the Irish host the Michigan State Spartans in South Bend next Saturday afternoon.

Like this fantastic play, which turned out exactly how it was drawn up. The playcall: “Jumbo set, Denard hand-off, fumble, Denard scoop and score.” Nothing to it. See how it all turned out after the jump.

via Bubba Prog at gif.mocksession.com

The Utes had a chance to travel like the entire field to tie the game up, but that’s a long, long way to go against a defense full of superior talent on the road. Utah’s only option: punt and hope for the stop.

Oh, and an unsportsmanlike penalty negated the touchdown USC scored by running back the blocked field goal. Something for everybody!

Texas had 166 yards on the ground, led by Browns’ 68 yards with Cody Johnson adding a pair of second-half touchdown runs, including a four-yard run with 8:46 to play that turned out to be the game’s deciding points.

Cougars sophomore quarterback Jake Heap was 22-of-38 for 192 yards and a touchdown on the night, but was intercepted twice. Heap’s first interception came late in the first half and led to a Longhorn’s field goal, and again on BYU’s final offensive possession of the game.

USC has dominated the yardage (381 to 286) and first downs (23 to 14) battles, but three turnovers have put them in this pickle. Really feel like this one is gonna come down to an egregious Lane Kiffin special teams mistake that works perfectly. (Hint: USC is playing.)

Somewhere at the Rose Bowl, Rick Neuheisel stands amidst silence and screams, “AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CARES?” It echos, thus answering his question.

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You are embarrassed and should go to FSU blog Tomahawk Nation.

Steve Young tells a cougar, “I’ve seen you on the field ... you could be a part of something important,” and your mind may turn to honor code jokes, but let’s not lose sight of the fact that Steve Young and other BYU athletes are providing career guidance to large mountain cats now.

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Get more on the Cornhuskers at our Nebraska blog Corn Nation. Stick with us at SB Nation’s college football news hub.

Denard Robinson’s conversion into a more conventional quarterback has turned up some exciting moments, but it’s also delivered an early interception. Robinson has 17 rushing yards, but has completed only one of his four passing attempts.

Rees did eventually cool down, throwing an ugly overthrow and an underthrow before Notre Dame lined up to punt the ball back.

The Longhorn Network’s reach is so nefarious that coaches with awesome names are being renamed with names that are also awesome, but probably don’t sound awesome to people without taste. Here’s BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall, now Roscoe Mendenhall:

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It’s not often that South Carolina-Georgia games turn into shootouts. It happens occasionally -- as it did in 2009, the last time the rivalry traveled through Athens -- but generally they are low-scoring, closely-fought affairs.

This year was a little of both. The game was close -- there were seven lead changes in a game decided by a field goal -- but it was also a barnburner, with 87 total points. In the end, it was South Carolina claiming a second straight win in the series for the first time in a decade and taking the inside track in their bid to repeat as SEC East champions.

Get more on the Longhorns at our Texas blog Burnt Orange Nation, and check on the Cougars at our BYU blog Vanquish The Foe. Stick with us at SB Nation’s college football news hub.

California’s 36-33 overtime win over Colorado doesn’t count as a Pac-12 win this year. But the Bears’ close call in Boulder will have Cal on alert for when it does.

A late Colorado field goal pushed the game into overtime, tied at 30, and another three-pointer from Buffaloes kicker Will Oliver forced Cal to score or lose in the second possession of the first overtime. Keenan Allen came through with a touchdown on a five-yard pass from Zach Maynard, giving the Bears a win and pushing their record on the season to 2-0.

The South Carolina-Georgia game has already seen five lead changes so far. For now, the lead is not going to change again -- it’s 28-20 in favor of South Carolina -- but the Bulldogs are driving near midfield and could tie the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion, obviously.

Get more on the Gamecocks at our South Carolina blog Garnet and Black Attack, and check on the Bulldogs at our Georgia blog Dawg Sports.

Really wish Spirit had attempted to enter the press box instead of some luxury suite, at which point he would’ve joined the New York Times and become a member of Hater Vampire Family.

UPDATE: Video after the jump!

Clemson gets Auburn next week.

To celebrate without a care in the world (no), head to Clemson blog Shakin’ The Southland.

A 14-13 game between rivals like South Carolina and Georgia, who have a history of playing each other close, should be interesting enough. But the coaches in this one have gone the extra mile, to wit:

Poor Hairy Dawg was as confused as all of us by the first half between South Carolina and Georgia. On the plus side, we get this photo, which will come in handy this season.

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