AAC
UCF- 38 vs Florida International- 0
The Blake Bortles (quarterback) and Storm Johnson (running back) duo is becoming a lethal phenomenon. By mid-way through the third quarter, Johnson had slashed through the FIU defense for his third touchdown. Florida International’s play calling was rather conservative and lead them to being shut out.
Eastern Kentucky- 7 vs (7) Louisville- 44
As expected, Teddy Bridgewater picked apart Eastern Kentucky, throwing for four touchdowns and nearly 400 yards. DeVante Parker caught five of Bridgwater’s passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns. Opposite of them, Eastern Kentucky could not even muster up a total of 100 passing yards between two quarterbacks. Although, they did rush for 107 yards, good for eight more than they accumulated through the air.
USF- 6 vs Michigan State- 21
Based off the scoreboard, one would not be impressed with USF on either side of the ball, but it was only their offense that struggled. Two of Michigan State’s touchdowns were from their defense (fumble return and interception return). Despite how atrocious and ineffective their offense was, the USF defense only allowed seven points and held Michigan’s passing attack to under 100 yards. Although, Michigan State was able to rack up 171 yards on the ground.
Norfolk State- 0 vs Rutgers- 38
It was presumed the receiver Brandon Coleman would be the most impressive player on the field, but that was not the case. Instead, Rutgers running back Paul James stole the show as he rushed for 119 yards and three touchdowns. Norfolk State, on the other hand, was held to less than 150 yards of total offense and did not put up any points, as expected from an FCS team facing an FBS team.
Houston- 22 vs Temple- 13
Houston’s victory came in an odd fashion. They only scored one touchdown, but had five field goals, which would have won the game on their own. Houston dominated offensively and put up over 500 yards as compared to Temple’s 300. Houston receiver Deontay Greenberry was the most notable performer with his 14 receptions for 165 yards.
Cincinnati- 17 vs Illinois- 45
AAC upset of the week! Few people, if any, would have predicted that the Bearcats would go down to Illinois. The game was still relatively close until Cincinnati quarterback Munchie Legaux fell to injury. Even though Legaux was keeping it close, Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase had the game of his life. He threw for 312 yards and four touchdowns on 37 attempts along with 24 rushing yards.
Duke- 28 vs Memphis- 14
Memphis’ downfall was converting. On 3rd/4th downs, they were a total of 2/17. Due to their lack of conversions, they were only able to march down the field for one offensive touchdown and their other score came from an interception returned for a touchdown. Duke’s two quarterback’s came together for 297 yards and two touchdowns on a combined 37 attempts. Their favored target was Jamison Crowder, who accounted for 140 of the team’s receiving yards.
Montana State- 30 vs SMU- 31
Montana State was on track to upset SMU until the fourth quarter. Before the fourth quarter, Montana State had an eight point lead over their FBS opponent, but SMU fought back and scored a game winning touchdown with 12 seconds left in the game. SMU inched out the victory despite having less time of possession and giving up more turnovers.
MWC
Tennessee-Martin- 14 vs Boise State- 63
Boise State handle UTM with ease, as expected when facing a non-FBS opponent. Joe Southwick was able to throw for five touchdowns on only 25 attempts, two of which were to Shane Williams-Rhodes. From the backfield, Jay Ajayi was able to pound it in for two touchdowns. While Tennessee-Martin was able to slowly rack up yards, they turned the ball over six times, four of them being interceptions.
San Diego State- 7 vs (3) Ohio State- 42
Ohio State’s defense did not allow SDSU to get anything going. It took them 41 passing attempts to get only 216 yards and they were only able to muster up 64 rushing yards. For Ohio State, Braxton Miller went down early with an injury, but back up Kenny Guiton had a total of 255 yards and three touchdowns as he picked the San Diego State defense apart.
Utah State- 52 vs Air Force- 20
Chuckie Keeton played like a man possessed. Keeton threw for 360 yards and five touchdowns, as well as rushing for 77 yards in his dominant performance over Air Force. For the most part, Keeton was running a one man show on offense. While Utah State totaled 577 yards, Air Force answered with a miniscule 270.
Idaho- 10 vs Wyoming- 42
Brett Smith, a name that will be well known by season’s end, put on a show for his home crowd. He had 359 total yards and put up six points on four separate occasions. Wyoming’s defense was stout on third downs, only allowing five of twenty to be converted, while the Wyoming offense was 11/18. Third downs decided which offense would be able to continue downfield and Smith proved that he could convert when needed.
Colorado State- 27 vs Tulsa- 30
Tulsa was able to come away with a nail-biting victory with a field goal as time expired. Not only was Cody Green able to throw for three touchdowns, but running back Trey Watts shredded the Colorado State defense apart as he ran for 152 yards and had 58 receiving yards. Colorado State was much less effective through the air considering they only completed 12 of their 29 passes, but they were able to fight for 178 yards on the ground, even though they lost.
Hawaii- 14 vs Oregon State- 33
Oregon State follows their tragic week one upset with a beat down of Hawaii. Sean Mannion was able to use the skies to rack up 372 yards and find the end zone four times. He stepped up when he needed to as his running backs were giving him little support. Hawaii’s quarterbacks Taylor Graham and Sean Schroeder were disappointing, just like they were against USC, as they combined to barely complete half of their passes and 170 yards.
New Mexico- 42 vs UTEP- 35
Neither team was impressive through the air considering both teams threw for less than 120 yards, but both had vicious rushing attacks. New Mexico running back Kasey Carrier had nearly 300 yards along with four touchdowns. Likewise, UNLV running back Aaron Jones ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries.
UC Davis- 7 vs Nevada- 42
Fajardo lit the UC Davis defense up, both with his arm and his legs. Fajardo was only incomplete three times through his 21 attempts that were good for 239 yards and two touchdowns, let alone his 36 rushing yards and rushing touchdown. Contrary to Fajardo, UC Davis’ quarterback Jimmy Laughrea did not complete half of his passes and threw two interceptions.
Cal Poly- 25 vs Fresno State- 41
Isaiah Burse was the surprise player of the game. Not only did he have two punt return touchdowns, but he also caught one of Derek Carr’s three touchdown passes. Although Fresno State threw for more yards, Cal Poly was surprisingly able to rack up ten more yards than Fresno State on the ground and made the end score much closer than it should have been.
Arizona- 58 vs UNLV- 13
Ka’Deem Carey, as per usual, dominated his opposition with 171 yards rushing as well as two touchdowns. Despite Carey’s performance, quarterback BJ Denker could not put up stats of his own and only completed eight of his 21 passes. Although, UNLV quarterbacks were worse as they were 9/28 along with two interceptions.
San Jose State- 13 vs Stanford- 34
Both teams are lead by future NFL quarterbacks, but neither had an eye popping performance. The real story was Stanford’s rushing attack headed by Tyler Gaffney, who totaled 104 yards and two touchdowns. On the other hand, San Jose State had a combined 35 rushing yards through 23 attempts. David Fales was forced to throw 43 passes for San Jose State due to the rushing attack’s inefficiency.