The return of Urban Meyer is the biggest news in College Football this week. Take a look at some of the latest:
Urban Meyer Returns
Urban Meyer returns to the Ohio State campus this week with his Buckeyes right where he wants them to be…undefeated. Ohio State, despite concerns at halftime, pulled away from TCU for a 40-28 win. The Buckeyes, who are ranked number 4 overall, had a really big game from Dwayne Haskins, who went for 344 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Running back J.K. Dobbins (121 yards rushing) and receiver K.J. Hill (6 receptions, 95 yards and a touchdown) also had nice games. The biggest turn in the game came in the third quarter, though, when the Buckeyes scored three touchdowns in the span of about 4 minutes. Haskins hit Parris Campbell for a 63-yard strike, they got an interception returned for a touchdown by Dre’Mont Jones and then Haskins hit K.J. Hill for a 24-yard touchdown. That 4-minute stretch was basically the ballgame as Ohio State never looked back after that.
For TCU, who actually led 14-13 at halftime, they had a really nice day from running back Darius Anderson who went for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns. Quarterback Shawn Robinson had 308 yards and a touchdown, but also allowed 2 interceptions.
Back to Urban Meyer, even though he gets to come back to coaching, his off-field issues still loom large. Addressing reporters back in Columbus, he discussed how he was “trying to help a troubled employee” and said that that the incident was not domestic violence but just a “messy divorce.” While his suspension might be over, comments like these, mostly the lack of accountability that he still has, continues to hold him back in the eyes of the public. Regardless, whether you think he should or not, Meyer will be back on the sidelines this week when Ohio State takes on Tulane.
BIG 10 Has Rough Weekend
It was not a pretty week for the Big 10. Number 6 Wisconsin lost to BYU 24-21. Northwestern lost to Akron 39-34. Nebraska lost to Troy 24-19. Temple beat Maryland 35-14. Kansas whooped up on Rutgers 55-14. Illinois lost to USF 25-19.
Throw in other upsets from week’s prior like Michigan State losing to Arizona State and Michigan losing to Notre Dame, and it just hasn’t been a good season to be in the Big 10. In fact, if it were not for number 4 Ohio State, many college football fans might just ignore the conference altogether. Even Ohio State, as mentioned earlier, had a scare as they were losing to TCU 14-13 at half before finally pulling away.
While none of these losses were from any teams that were expected to make deep runs at National Championships, it still hurts the brand all around. The Big 10 will look to bounce back next week, but at this point, there might not be any direction but up for them.
Have To Give BYU Credit
While it was shocking that Wisconsin, the number 6 team at the time lost, you have to give BYU credit. They have not played all in their first couple weeks and, while no one expected them to win this game, they probably weren’t as large of underdogs as people expected. BYU, now ranked 25th in the country, had a really nice outing from running back, Squally Canada. He went for 118 yards and 2 touchdowns. Their defense also played well holding Wisconsin to just 21, including just a lone touchdown in the second half. While BYU will not be playing for a National Championship, you have to give credit where credit is due. BYU played like the better team on Saturday.
Is LSU For Real?
At the beginning of the season, there aren’t too many people who would have picked the LSU Tigers to finish even close to the top-10 in ranking. Heck, there were many who didn’t even expect them to finish in the top 4 in the SEC West. What have they done through three weeks of the season? They have beaten two top-10 ranked teams and have catapulted themselves to number 6 in the nation. Their first top-10 win was a 33-17 win over number 8 Miami and on Saturday, they beat number 7 Auburn 22-21.
For LSU, quarterback Joe Burrow had 249 yards passing and a touchdown as well as 22 yards rushing for the Tigers. Justin Jefferson finished with 5 receptions for 97 yards. For Auburn, Jarrett Stidham went for 198 yards and a touchdown but also had two interceptions. On the ground for Auburn, JaTarvious Whitlow went for 104 yards and a touchdown in the loss. Next for LSU will be Louisiana Tech (2-0).
Former FSU Quarterback Now at NC State
Bailey Hockman, the former Florida State quarterback will be transferring to NC State. Hockman, who decided to transfer after losing out on the starting quarterback role with FSU, should be eligible in 2019. While time will tell whether he can any type of sustained success at NC State, both Hockman and the university are hoping a fresh start leads to big things.
