How late were you up Saturday night? Can you believe the play called by Texas A&M in their loss to No. 1 Alabama? That wasn’t the only nail-biter on the slate. No. 14 NC State, No. 17 TCU and No. 20 Kansas State also survived close calls, while No. 13 Kentucky and No. 19 Kansas weren’t as lucky.
It’s not just the leaves changing: something about conference play makes October games a little bit saltier than the largely inter-conference affairs of September.
Think of the season as a semester and the first month as the “read the syllabus and buy the books” portion of the season, with nonleague play serving as quizzes and homework assignments and conference action more like 15-page papers and exams (the final of course is that rivalry game-save your blue books for the final weekend of November).
On Saturday, Navy and James Madison earned A’s in their respective league tests while Virginia and Virginia Tech continued to stumble in ACC play.
For Maryland, despite a home defeat to a two-loss Purdue, their 1-2 Big Ten mark includes a pair of one-possession losses not decided until they couldn’t recover an onside kick with less than a minute left. Plenty of time to get their grades up …
*For the record I had a friend on my floor Freshman year who was a “conscientious objector” and refused to purchase any and all reading material for classes, perhaps explaining why college was the best seven years of his life.
Maryland (4-2, 1-2 Big Ten) fell 31-29 to Purdue in a game that hinged on a pair of extra point plays. The Boilermakers blocked an extra point despite being offside and there was no penalty called, and the Terps’ successful two-point conversion with 35 seconds left was wiped out because of an illegal man downfield penalty that was called.
The game also turned on three Terps takeaways in the third quarter that yielded zero points after those three ensuing possessions netted 35 yards on 15 plays from scrimmage.
Terrapin Triumphs: For the sixth straight game, the offense put points on the board on the opening drive. Taulia Tagovailoa threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns while running for another score.
The defense notched five sacks (Jaishawn Barnam & Durell Nchami, each posting a pair while forcing a fumble as well) and held the Boilermaker running backs to 38 yards on 22 rushes.
Terrapin Troubles: The offense converted just 6-15 third downs and head coach Mike Locksley pointed out after the game that the inability to generate solid first down gains hurt his team (nine of the 15 third downs wound up needing 7+ yards to move the chains).
Nine penalties for 76 yards is not good and I’m sure, given their totals thus far in 2022, officials are expecting infractions and actively looking for them at this point in the season.
Next: Saturday at 3-3 Indiana. The Hoosiers have lost three straight, allowing 37 points per game in that stretch.
Virginia (2-4, 0-3 ACC) took an early 10-0 lead against a Louisville team without their starting quarterback Malik Cunningham, who was out with a concussion. They intercepted understudy Brock Domann’s first pass of the day. He was 6-16 for 92 yards and an INT on the season entering the day).
But then the Cardinals scored on three of their final four first half possessions to take the lead into intermission. They would dominate the second half in a 34-17 rout of the Cavaliers.
Cavalier Congrats: Brennan Armstrong threw for 313 yards while his top target Keytaon Thompson made nine catches for 98 yards. Nick Jackson tallied 11 tackles and the defense intercepted a pair of passes in the first half (one setting up their first touchdown). Daniel Sparks averaged 44.3 yards per punt.
Cavalier Concerns: The offensive converted just 3-12 third downs and turned the ball over three times. The line allowed six sacks and helped the running back rotation gain just 13 yards on 11 carries. The defense failed to get a sack and coughed up a 32-yard touchdown pass as well as a 44-yard run.
Next: Oct. 22 at 3-3 Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets are 2-0 since firing head coach Geoff Collins.
Navy (2-3, 2-1 AAC) was looking to get more bang from its buck after averaging 13.3 points over its first four games. It got that and then some, taking a 36-14 halftime lead en route to a 53-21 triumph over Tulsa.
This was their largest margin of victory in conference play since a 56-10 thumping of UConn in 2019 (and the Huskies aren’t even in the league anymore).
Midshipmen Medals: The offense held the ball for over 40 minutes as the running game generated 455 yards (on 6.6 per carry) while Daba Fofana gained 159 yards on 21 tries.
Willie Collins notched seven tackles to pace a defense that held the Golden Hurricane to 25 yards on 18 carries while intercepting three passes and recording a safety. Daniel Davies kicked field goals of 25, 34 and 46 yards.
Midshipmen Miscues: The offense was held to 6-16 on third down (8-16 if you bake the 2-2 fourth down conversions into the mix) and the passing game completed just 2-8 passes (OK, so one was a halfback option pass to Tai Lavatai for a touchdown but one has to make these paragraphs seem somewhat equal in length).
Next: Friday at 3-3 SMU. The Mustangs have dropped three straight while allowing 39 points per game in those losses.
Virginia Tech (2-4, 1-2) took a 16-7 first half lead at Pitt as the defense posted a pair of three and outs, plus an interception on the first five Panther possessions. But Israel Abanikanda jump-started the next drive with a 28-yard run and would later score from 17 yards out. That would be one of his six touchdowns in a 45-29 Pitt victory.
Meanwhile, head coach Brent Pry is still searching for his first road victory.
Hokie Highlights: Malachi Thomas rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown while catching five passes. Kaleb Smith notched nine receptions for 152 yards.
Dax Hollifield led the defense with seven tackles. Special teams woke up the echoes of “Beamer Ball” by recovering a blocked punt for a touchdown (P.J. Prioleau).
Hokie Humblings: The offense converted just 4-16 third downs and turned the ball over twice. The defense allowed 326 yards rushing (320 to Abanikanda, a Pitt record) while bending and breaking in allowing Abanikanda scoring on runs of 29, 38, and 80 yards.
Special teams was not, as they had an extra point blocked and Pete Moore averaged 33.4 yards on eight punts. Eight penalties for 74 yards will give the coaches even more to chew on in the film room.
Next: Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against 2-3 Miami. The once-ranked Hurricanes have been downgraded to a minor storm, with three straight losses.
James Madison (5-0, 3-0 Sun Belt) had an average halftime lead of 21-7 over its first four games, so when Arkansas State took a 3-0 lead with 11:09 left in the second quarter, one wondered when the engine would start up.
And then JMU scored twice before the end of the half and before reaching the end zone on four of its six possessions (one of the nonscoring drives was a missed field goal and the other was a game-ending kneel-down at the Red Wolves’ 20) to pull away 42-20.
Duke Do’s: Todd Centeio threw for 394 yards and four touchdowns while Kris Thornton caught nine passes for 173 yards. Percy Agyei-Obese rushed for 158 yards and two scores. Taurus Jones tallied 13 tackles and a sack as the defense notched six sacks, held Arkansas State to 20 yards rushing.
Duke Don’ts: It’s tough to find fault in another double-digit victory, but Camden Wise missed a pair of field goals while Sam Clark averaged just 39.5 yards per punt.
Next: Saturday at 3-3 Georgia Southern at 4 p.m. And, after one week on the nationally televised NFL Network, it’s back on ESPN+.
