SWC75
Bored Historian
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WEEK 2
Clemson beat #12 Texas A&M 24-10 at home.
I confess I didn’t watch the game: I was so disheartened by the SU loss that I elected to spend the rest of the afternoon doing yardwork: I couldn’t watch football. Clemson controlled the game, building up a 24-10 lead. Trevor Lawrence, who had a sub-par game in the opener against Georgia Tech, did better with 24 of 35 for 268 yards but had only 1 TD pass, (that’s 2 in two games) and a pick. Travis Etienne, who looked like a Heisman winner against the Yellow Jackets, with 205 yards and 3 touchdowns on only 12 carries, was held in check with 53 yards in 16 carries, (3.3), and no scores. But Clemson is full of answers. Lyn-J Dixon had 79 yards and a score in 11 carries (7.2). And the Clemson defense, despite all the people they lost from last year, at on A&M while the offense built up a 24-3 lead, only allowing a touchdown with 6 seconds left in the game. The Tigers out-gained the Aggie 389-269
Western Michigan lost at #19 Michigan State 17-51.
This was a blow-out from the start as the Spartans led 21-0 after the first quarter and 44-7 early in the first quarter. They out-gained the Broncos 582-352. Jon Wassink was 23/37 for 252 but had only 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions. Much like Syracuse, WMU never got its ground game going and had to abandon it as they fell way behind. They gained only 67 yards at 2.5 a pop.
Holy Cross beat New Hampshire 13-10 at home.
ESPN: “Joe Lang's end-zone fumble recovery for a touchdown put his team on top and Chris Riley's interception sealed the win”. Connor Degenhardt was 21/34 for 253 yards but no scores. The Crusaders were out-rushed 62-164 and out-gained 315-367 but were +3 on turnovers. Sagarin has New Hampshire ranked #168.
North Carolina State beat Western Carolina 41-0 at home.
The Wolfpack hounded the Catamounts on defense, holding them to 106 total yards while gaining 540 of their own. Matthew McKay followed up his 308 yard game in the opener with a 200 yard game on 18 for 28 and 1TD pass with no interceptions. Zonovan Knight ran for 119 yards on 18 carries and scored twice. WCU lost their 10th straight game and had suspended four players, including their starting quarterback. ESPN: “Despite entering the game with debilitating suspensions, the Catamounts outgained N.C. State in the first quarter and trailed just 3-0 with nine minutes remaining in the second.” After that they “ran out of gas” lacking depth and missing players. Sagarin ranks them at #203.
Pittsburgh beat Ohio University 20-10 at home.
Kenny Pickett passed for a career-high 321 yards on 26/37, including a 74-yard touchdown to Maurice Ffrench. ESPN: “Dealing with the after effects of a fever that left him at less than 100%, (Nathan) Rourke hit on 15 of 27 passes for 177 yards and couldn't make anything happen with his legs. Rourke, who ran for 75 yards in Ohio's season opener against Rhode Island, finished with minus-43 yards on the ground. The Bobcats punted 10 times, finished with just 12 first downs and produced 212 total yards.” The Panthers rushed for 160 yards for a total of 481. Sagrarin has Ohio at #67. The ESPN article says “The Bobcats might be the preseason favorites in the MAC.”
Florida State beat Louisiana-Monroe 45-44 at home.
It’s still a very bumpy ride for Willie Taggart. Seminole fans are not used to shoot-outs with teams like the Warhawks. Cam Akers saved the day, running for 193 yards on 36 carries and 2 scores while catching a 44 yard TD pass. James Blackman was 30/40 for 282 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions for the Noles. One of his interceptions was a 57 yard “pick-six”. State again got off to a great start, taking a 24-7 lead but got out-scored 21-37 the rest of the way, (last week it was 31-13 and 0-23). The game ended in overtime on – OH! The Agony! – a missed PAT. The Noles out-gained the Hawks 501-419. Sagarin has L-M ranked #95.
Boston College beat Richmond 45-13 at home.
Anthony Brown was 8/14 for 163 yards. Three of the 8 completions went for scores and none of the 14 attempts were intercepted. A. J. Dillon ran for 86 yards and 2 scored and his back-up David Bailey ran for 97 yards and the Eagles ran for 346. Dillon, not normally a pass receiver, caught a TD pass. The starters hardly played after the Eagles took a 21-0 first quarter lead. The Spiders ran for 215 themselves but got out-gained 518-364 and had the game’s only two turnovers. Sagarin has Richmond at #179.
Duke beat North Carolina A&T 45-13 at home.
Quentin Harris passed for 345 yards and ran for 83 more, accounting for 5 touchdowns. Duke won the yardage battle, 574-249. ESPN on N.C. A&T: It's no fluke that the Aggies, reigning champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, beat a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent each year from 2016-18. They were stout on defense and opportunistic on offense until Duke's flurry at the end of the first half, indicating that they can be a force again in the Football Championship Subdivision.” Sagarin has them at #170. Good advice for the Cuse: “Duke has experienced both ends of the spectrum through two weeks, losing 42-3 as a big underdog against No. 2 Alabama before winning handily as a heavy favorite against N.C. A&T. The Blue Devils took their early setback in stride. "We know our football team," linebacker Koby Quansah said. "The world may not believe in us sometimes, but we believe in ourselves. We've just got to go out there and do what we do."
Louisville beat Eastern Kentucky 42-0 at home.
The game ended an agonizing 10 game losing streak for the Cardinals. Javon Pass was 12/19 for 196 yards and 4 scores. Javian Hawkins gained 123 yards in 11 carries. Louisville out-gained the Colonels 542-172. Sagarin has EKU at #188.
Wake Forest won at Rice 41-21.
ESPN: “With Wake Forest's running game limited by Rice's defense early in Friday night's game, the Demon Deacons decided to take advantage of their size at wide receiver. Jamie Newman and Scotty Washington made sure the decision worked. Newman was 21 of 27 for 312 yards and three touchdowns, Washington had seven catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns and Wake Forest beat the Rice Owls 41-21. Wake outgained Rice 513 yards to 321. Wake bolted to a 14-0 lead only to see Rice tie it at 14 before the first quarter ended. But the Deacons scored the next 27 points, the Owls only answering with 1:51 left. Sagarin has Rice at #131.
Nine of our ten remaining opponents won while we got clobbered. It doesn’t give you a good feeling. I think we found out two things: 1) We are not a program that re-loads. We re-build. We can’t lose our quarterback, half of our offensive line, our two defensive tackles and all our linebackers and just pick up where we left off the previous season. We were not the 21st best team in the country. We might be by the end of the year, although attaining that ranking will be hard due to early setbacks. 2) When we struggle to get past a supposedly over-matched opponent while our opposition is blowing theirs away, that matters.
Anyway here are my rankings. Again, I’m not ranking them by expectations or what they’ve accomplished so far but simply by their performance this week: who would have been the toughest to beat this week, based on how they performed?
1) Clemson easily handled one of the better teams in the country, even if the score was modest by modern standards. I still get the impression they are not in first gear yet. I’m hoping they will be over-confident against us next week and that our guys will be out to prove something.
2) Boston College and Duke beat comparable opponents at home by the same score but the Eagles pulled their starters early.
3) Duke
4) Louisville. I still don’t quite know what to think of them.
5) Wake Forest won on the road.
6) Pittsburgh beat a pretty good team in Ohio U.
7) North Carolina State was playing a lousy team missing four players.
8) Florida State still has a long way to go.
9) Western Michigan had a bad day at the office.
10) Holy Cross
Clemson beat #12 Texas A&M 24-10 at home.
I confess I didn’t watch the game: I was so disheartened by the SU loss that I elected to spend the rest of the afternoon doing yardwork: I couldn’t watch football. Clemson controlled the game, building up a 24-10 lead. Trevor Lawrence, who had a sub-par game in the opener against Georgia Tech, did better with 24 of 35 for 268 yards but had only 1 TD pass, (that’s 2 in two games) and a pick. Travis Etienne, who looked like a Heisman winner against the Yellow Jackets, with 205 yards and 3 touchdowns on only 12 carries, was held in check with 53 yards in 16 carries, (3.3), and no scores. But Clemson is full of answers. Lyn-J Dixon had 79 yards and a score in 11 carries (7.2). And the Clemson defense, despite all the people they lost from last year, at on A&M while the offense built up a 24-3 lead, only allowing a touchdown with 6 seconds left in the game. The Tigers out-gained the Aggie 389-269
Western Michigan lost at #19 Michigan State 17-51.
This was a blow-out from the start as the Spartans led 21-0 after the first quarter and 44-7 early in the first quarter. They out-gained the Broncos 582-352. Jon Wassink was 23/37 for 252 but had only 1 TD pass and 2 interceptions. Much like Syracuse, WMU never got its ground game going and had to abandon it as they fell way behind. They gained only 67 yards at 2.5 a pop.
Holy Cross beat New Hampshire 13-10 at home.
ESPN: “Joe Lang's end-zone fumble recovery for a touchdown put his team on top and Chris Riley's interception sealed the win”. Connor Degenhardt was 21/34 for 253 yards but no scores. The Crusaders were out-rushed 62-164 and out-gained 315-367 but were +3 on turnovers. Sagarin has New Hampshire ranked #168.
North Carolina State beat Western Carolina 41-0 at home.
The Wolfpack hounded the Catamounts on defense, holding them to 106 total yards while gaining 540 of their own. Matthew McKay followed up his 308 yard game in the opener with a 200 yard game on 18 for 28 and 1TD pass with no interceptions. Zonovan Knight ran for 119 yards on 18 carries and scored twice. WCU lost their 10th straight game and had suspended four players, including their starting quarterback. ESPN: “Despite entering the game with debilitating suspensions, the Catamounts outgained N.C. State in the first quarter and trailed just 3-0 with nine minutes remaining in the second.” After that they “ran out of gas” lacking depth and missing players. Sagarin ranks them at #203.
Pittsburgh beat Ohio University 20-10 at home.
Kenny Pickett passed for a career-high 321 yards on 26/37, including a 74-yard touchdown to Maurice Ffrench. ESPN: “Dealing with the after effects of a fever that left him at less than 100%, (Nathan) Rourke hit on 15 of 27 passes for 177 yards and couldn't make anything happen with his legs. Rourke, who ran for 75 yards in Ohio's season opener against Rhode Island, finished with minus-43 yards on the ground. The Bobcats punted 10 times, finished with just 12 first downs and produced 212 total yards.” The Panthers rushed for 160 yards for a total of 481. Sagrarin has Ohio at #67. The ESPN article says “The Bobcats might be the preseason favorites in the MAC.”
Florida State beat Louisiana-Monroe 45-44 at home.
It’s still a very bumpy ride for Willie Taggart. Seminole fans are not used to shoot-outs with teams like the Warhawks. Cam Akers saved the day, running for 193 yards on 36 carries and 2 scores while catching a 44 yard TD pass. James Blackman was 30/40 for 282 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions for the Noles. One of his interceptions was a 57 yard “pick-six”. State again got off to a great start, taking a 24-7 lead but got out-scored 21-37 the rest of the way, (last week it was 31-13 and 0-23). The game ended in overtime on – OH! The Agony! – a missed PAT. The Noles out-gained the Hawks 501-419. Sagarin has L-M ranked #95.
Boston College beat Richmond 45-13 at home.
Anthony Brown was 8/14 for 163 yards. Three of the 8 completions went for scores and none of the 14 attempts were intercepted. A. J. Dillon ran for 86 yards and 2 scored and his back-up David Bailey ran for 97 yards and the Eagles ran for 346. Dillon, not normally a pass receiver, caught a TD pass. The starters hardly played after the Eagles took a 21-0 first quarter lead. The Spiders ran for 215 themselves but got out-gained 518-364 and had the game’s only two turnovers. Sagarin has Richmond at #179.
Duke beat North Carolina A&T 45-13 at home.
Quentin Harris passed for 345 yards and ran for 83 more, accounting for 5 touchdowns. Duke won the yardage battle, 574-249. ESPN on N.C. A&T: It's no fluke that the Aggies, reigning champions of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, beat a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent each year from 2016-18. They were stout on defense and opportunistic on offense until Duke's flurry at the end of the first half, indicating that they can be a force again in the Football Championship Subdivision.” Sagarin has them at #170. Good advice for the Cuse: “Duke has experienced both ends of the spectrum through two weeks, losing 42-3 as a big underdog against No. 2 Alabama before winning handily as a heavy favorite against N.C. A&T. The Blue Devils took their early setback in stride. "We know our football team," linebacker Koby Quansah said. "The world may not believe in us sometimes, but we believe in ourselves. We've just got to go out there and do what we do."
Louisville beat Eastern Kentucky 42-0 at home.
The game ended an agonizing 10 game losing streak for the Cardinals. Javon Pass was 12/19 for 196 yards and 4 scores. Javian Hawkins gained 123 yards in 11 carries. Louisville out-gained the Colonels 542-172. Sagarin has EKU at #188.
Wake Forest won at Rice 41-21.
ESPN: “With Wake Forest's running game limited by Rice's defense early in Friday night's game, the Demon Deacons decided to take advantage of their size at wide receiver. Jamie Newman and Scotty Washington made sure the decision worked. Newman was 21 of 27 for 312 yards and three touchdowns, Washington had seven catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns and Wake Forest beat the Rice Owls 41-21. Wake outgained Rice 513 yards to 321. Wake bolted to a 14-0 lead only to see Rice tie it at 14 before the first quarter ended. But the Deacons scored the next 27 points, the Owls only answering with 1:51 left. Sagarin has Rice at #131.
Nine of our ten remaining opponents won while we got clobbered. It doesn’t give you a good feeling. I think we found out two things: 1) We are not a program that re-loads. We re-build. We can’t lose our quarterback, half of our offensive line, our two defensive tackles and all our linebackers and just pick up where we left off the previous season. We were not the 21st best team in the country. We might be by the end of the year, although attaining that ranking will be hard due to early setbacks. 2) When we struggle to get past a supposedly over-matched opponent while our opposition is blowing theirs away, that matters.
Anyway here are my rankings. Again, I’m not ranking them by expectations or what they’ve accomplished so far but simply by their performance this week: who would have been the toughest to beat this week, based on how they performed?
1) Clemson easily handled one of the better teams in the country, even if the score was modest by modern standards. I still get the impression they are not in first gear yet. I’m hoping they will be over-confident against us next week and that our guys will be out to prove something.
2) Boston College and Duke beat comparable opponents at home by the same score but the Eagles pulled their starters early.
3) Duke
4) Louisville. I still don’t quite know what to think of them.
5) Wake Forest won on the road.
6) Pittsburgh beat a pretty good team in Ohio U.
7) North Carolina State was playing a lousy team missing four players.
8) Florida State still has a long way to go.
9) Western Michigan had a bad day at the office.
10) Holy Cross
