Upcoming Opponents
***UCLA (4-1, 3-0 Pac 10): The Bruins scored four fourth quarter touchdowns to turn a 14-12 deficit, into a 40-14 victory over host Oregon State.
Playing for the first time since suffering a concussion in the loss to Utah two weeks ago, quarterback Ben Olson threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns. Brandon Breazell hauled in both touchdown catches, and Kahlil Bell added 80 yards rushing, two touchdowns, and 49 yards receiving.
Oregon State muffed two kickoff returns and had a punt blocked in the final quarter, as UCLA blew the game open.
UCLA hosts Notre Dame on Saturday.
Team stats and national rankings: Offense: 199 yards rushing per game (27th nationally), 225 yards passing per game (60th nationally), 425 yards of total offense (39th nationally); Defense: 89 rushing yards allowed per game (16th nationally), 273 passing yards allowed per game (100th nationally), 362 total yards allowed (55th nationally).
***Boston College (5-0, 3-0 ACC): With all the upsets happening around the country, the Eagles jumped five spots in the poll to No. 7, following a 24-14 victory over Massachusetts. The 5-0 start is the program’s best since 1954.
Andre Callender carried the ball a career-high 32 times for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Heisman candidate Matt Ryan threw for just 204 yards and a touchdown, as Boston College built a 17-0 lead over the 2nd-ranked (formerly know as Division I-AA) Minutemen.
The Eagles, ranked second in the nation against the run, held Massachusetts to 69 yards on the ground on 30 carries.
Bowling Green visits Boston College on Saturday.
Team stats and national rankings: Offense: 140 yards rushing per game (72nd nationally), 312 yards passing per game (13th nationally), 452 yards of total offense (23rd nationally); Defense: 47 rushing yards allowed per game (2nd nationally), 269 passing yards allowed per game (99th nationally), 316 total yards allowed per game (33rd nationally).
***USC (4-0, 2-0 Pac 10): The Trojans dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the poll following a tight 27-24 victory at Washington. USC overcame three turnovers, a blocked punt and 16 penalties.
Stafon Johnson ran for 122 yards and a touchdown, and Chauncey Washington added 106 yards and another score to lead the Trojans. It wasn’t one of John David Booty’s better performances. The quarterback completed 20-of-37 passes for 236 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.
The Huskies made it a three-point game with 34 second remaining, but USC recovered the onside kick and ran out the remaining time.
USC hosts Stanford on Saturday.
Team stats and national rankings: Offense: 237 yards rushing per game (10th nationally), 225 yards passing per game (61st nationally), 452 yards of total offense (23rd nationally); Defense: 73 rushing yards allowed per game (9th nationally), 204 passing yards allowed per game (48th nationally), 279 total yards allowed per game (15th nationally).
***Navy (3-2): The Midshipmen got a leg up for the Commanders-in-Chief’s trophy, beating rival Air Force, 31-20 at home.
Trailing 20-17 in the fourth quarter, quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada had touchdown runs of two and 78 yards to lead the comeback. He finished with 101 of Navy’s 302 rushing yards.
The Middies held Air Force without a score three times they had the ball in the red zone.
Navy is off this Saturday.
Team stats and national rankings: Offense: 348 yards rushing per game (2nd nationally), 98 yards passing per game (119th nationally), 446 total yards of offense per game (25th); Defense: 172 rushing yards allowed per game (79th nationally), 281 passing yards allowed per game (108th nationally), 453 total yards allowed per game (101st nationally).
Air Force (3-2, 2-1 Mountain West): Quarterback Shaun Carney had a career day, going for 300 yards of total offense, but it wasn’t enough in a 31-20 road loss to Navy. It was the Falcons second-straight loss.
Carney had a career-high 237 yards passing, and he became Air Force’s all-time leader in total yards from scrimmage with 6,780.
The Falcons out gained Navy 474 yards to 381, but failed to score three times in the red zone and blew a 20-17 fourth-quarter lead.
Air Force hosts UNLV on Saturday.
Team stats and national rankings: Offense: 226 yards rushing per game (13th nationally), 152 yards passing per game (111th nationally), 378 yards of total offense per (70th nationally); Defense: 139 rushing yards allowed per game (51st nationally), 204 passing yards allowed per game (49th nationally), 343 total yards allowed per game (43rd nationally).
***Duke (1-4, 0-2 ACC): The Blue Devils were able to close to within 17-14 with less than 10 minutes to play, but lost 24-14 against Miami (4-1, 1-0) at the Orange Bowl.
In the fourth quarter, Thaddeus Lewis hit Eron Riley for a 31-yard touchdown pass, and the Duke defense forced a three-and-out to give the Blue Devils the ball back. But Duke couldn’t capitalize, driving to the Miami 30-yard line before turning the ball over on downs with three minutes remaining. The Hurricanes iced the game 45 seconds later with a touchdown.
Lewis finished 18-of-27 passing for 241 yards. Re’quan Boyette ran for a season-high 71 yards on 14 carries, and Vincent Rey had 11 tackles, his fourth double-digit performance of the season.
Duke hosts Wake Forest on Saturday.
Team stats and national rankings: Offense: 60 yards rushing per game (116th nationally), 243 yards passing per game (48th nationally), 303 yards of total offense (106th nationally); Defense: 190 rushing yards allowed per game (93rd nationally), 268 passing yards allowed per game (97th nationally), 458 total yards allowed per game (104th nationally).
***Stanford (1-3, 0-3 Pac 10): The Cardinal have been blown out at home three times this season by three ranked teams, this time losing to No. 23 Arizona State, 41-3.
The Sun Devils had 440 yards of total offense and forced three turnovers. Stanford was playing without injured running back Toby Gearhart, and finished with minus-two yards rushing.
In the three home losses, Stanford was outscored 141-51, and goes on the road this Saturday to play No. 2 USC.
T.C. Ostrander completed 20-of-35 passes for 237 yards and one interception. Richard Sherman had six catches for 105 yards.
Team stats and national rankings: Offense: 117 yards rushing per game (92nd nationally), 269 yards passing per game (27th nationally), 386 total yards per game (62nd nationally); Defense: 192 rushing yards allowed per game (94th nationally), 263 passing yards allowed per game (94th nationally), 455 total yards allowed per game (102nd nationally).
Previous Opponents
***Georgia Tech (3-2, 1-2 ACC): The Yellow Jackets shutdown Clemson’s talented one-two punch out of the backfield in James Davis and C.J. Spiller, and avoided their first 0-3 start in conference play since 1994, upsetting the 13th-ranked Tigers, 13-3 at home on Saturday.
Slowed by a hamstring injury in the previous two losses, Tashard Choice ran for 145 yards and a touchdown, and the Georgia Tech defense limited Davis to 60 yards on 12 carries, and Spiller to two yards on nine carries. Clemson missed four field goals, and had a punt blocked that set up Choice’s scoring run.
The Georgia Tech defense sacked Cullen Harper six times, and became the first team to pick him off this season.
The Yellow Jackets play at Maryland on Saturday.
Team stats and national rankings: Offense: 204 yards rushing per game (22nd nationally), 146 yards passing per game (113th nationally), 350 yards of total offense (83rd nationally); Defense: 65 rushing yards allowed per game (6th nationally), 230 passing yards allowed per game (63rd nationally), 295 total yards allowed (20th nationally).
***Penn State (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten): Anthony Morelli threw three interceptions, and the 19th-ranked Nittany Lions were upset by host Illinois (4-1, 2-0), 27-20.
Penn State gained 427 yards of total offense, but couldn’t turn it into enough points. Morelli, who threw for a career-high 298 yards, was picked off three times inside the Illinois 30-yard line, the final one coming with less than a minute to play. In his first career start, Rodney Kinlaw gained 66 yards on the ground, and Austin Scott chipped in 52 yards rushing and a touchdown.
Linebacker Sean Lee had a career-high 17 tackles, and Dan Conner added 11, as Penn State limited Rashard Mendenhall to 76 yards rushing. He came into the game averaging 134 yards per game. It was Arrelious Benn and turnovers that doomed the Nittany Lions. The freshman Benn had a touchdown reception and a 90-yard kickoff return for a score.
The Nittany Lions fell out of the top-25, and host Iowa on Saturday.
Team stats and national rankings: Offense: 164 yards rushing per game (49th nationally), 223 yards passing per game (63rd nationally), 387 yards of total offense (60th nationally); Defense: 87 rushing yards allowed per game (15th), 178 passing yards allowed per game (22nd), 265 total yards allowed per game (7th).
***Michigan (3-2, 2-0 Big Ten): Trailing 16-7 at the half, the Wolverines rallied for a 28-16 victory at Northwestern.
Chad Henne returned from injury to complete 18-of-27 passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns. Freshman Ryan Mallett also played and completed 5-of-11 passes for 67 yards.
Trailing by two in the fourth quarter, Brandon Graham forced a fumble that was recovered by Shawn Crable on the Northwestern 16-yard line. Three plays later, Henne hit Adrian Arrington for the go-ahead score. Arrington finished with seven catches for 96 yards. Mario Manningham had a team-high 10 receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown. Mike Hart’s one-yard touchdown run late in the fourth sealed the game, and he finished the afternoon with 30 carries for 106 yards.
The Wolverines step outside conference play on Saturday, hosting Eastern Michigan.
Team stats and national rankings: 193 yards rushing per game (31st nationally), 195 yards passing per game (89th nationally), 387 yards of total offense (59th nationally); Defense: 143 rushing yards allowed per game (57th nationally), 213 passing yards allowed per game (52nd nationally), 356 total yards allowed (51st nationally).
***Michigan State (4-1, 0-1 Big Ten): The Spartans nearly snapped the nation’s longest winning streak at 14, before losing a close one to No. 9 Wisconsin (5-0, 2-0), 37-34.
On its final two possessions, Michigan State’s Brett Swenson missed a 53-yard field goal, and the team turned the ball over on downs, frantically trying to tie the score.
Javon Ringer had 145 yards rushing on 10 carries, and had another 88 yards on seven receptions. Jehuu Caulcrick chipped in 77 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Brian Hoyer threw for 323 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Devin Thomas caught four balls for 111 yards and a touchdown.
Michigan State had 564 yards of offense to Wisconsin’s 461, but it didn’t matter as P.J. Hill rumbled for 155 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Badgers.
The Spartans host Northwestern on Saturday.
Team stats and national rankings: Offense: 209 yards rushing per game (20th nationally), 235 yards passing per game (50th nationally), 446 yards of total offense (27th nationally); Defense: 119 rushing yards allowed per game (37th nationally), 185 passing yards allowed per game (31st), 305 total yards allowed per game (25th nationally).
***Purdue (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten): Following the Boilermakers 33-19 victory over Notre Dame, they jumped to No. 23 in the latest poll. Here is Purdue’s team stats and national rankings.
Offense: 186 yards rushing per game (35th nationally), 310 yards passing per game (14th nationally), 496 yards of total offense (10th nationally); 127 rushing yards allowed per game (44th nationally), 257 passing yards allowed per game (92nd nationally), 384 total yards allowed per game (68th nationally).