Take a look at the latest news and notes inside College Football for Tuesday, October 16, 2018:
LSU Takes Down Georgia
The biggest shocker of the week 7 schedule saw Georgia, who was ranked number 2 coming into the week, lose miserably to the LSU Tigers. The final score was 36-16, but I am not sure it ever felt that close. LSU, (6-1, now ranked 5th and 2nd in the SEC West Division) held Georgia scoreless in the first half. LSU’s quarterback, Joe Burrow, wasn’t spectacular Saturday, going 15 for 30 and throwing for just 200 yards, but he did add 2 touchdowns on the ground, as he had 66 yards rushing on 13 carries. The leading rusher for LSU was Clyde Edwards-Helaire. He had 145 yards on 19 carries.
For Georgia (6-1, ranked 8th overall but still 1st in the SEC East Division), they just couldn’t consistently get anything going on offense. Quarterback Jake Fromm went 16 for 34 with 209 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. D’Andre Swift went 72 yards on 12 carries and Elijah Holyfield went 56 yards and a touchdown on 7 carries, but there wasn’t much beyond that. While both teams are not out of any type of national championship discussion, they both seem like long shots as a second loss would likely rule them out and they still have to go through Alabama.
Still, for LSU, this has to be a major confidence boost and they probably have November 3, when they face Alabama, circled on the schedule. On the other side, Georgia has to feel like they blew a real opportunity with this one.
Ugly Incident In Alabama Win
Even though number 1 ranked Alabama (7-0, 1st in SEC West) won pretty handedly, 39-10 over Missouri, it was not without its share of unfortunate moments. Nothing was worse than what happened in the fourth quarter. While on the ground, defensive linemen Raekwon Davis, punched Missouri offensive lineman Kevin Pendleton several times. Davis, who has 27 tackles on the season and is one of the Crimson Tide’s top linemen, apologized after the game (and Pendleton accepted it via Twitter), but it is likely that he will be facing a suspension. During the game, Davis was assessed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but was surprisingly not ejected from the game.
As for the game itself, Alabama went into halftime up 30-0, but only scored one time in the second half. Part of the reason for that may have been due to an injury in the third quarter to Heisman frontrunner, Tua Tagovailoa. It appeared that he re-injured his sprained knee and while Nick Saban said that he would have been able to return if needed, it is still never good to re-aggravate an existing injury. While he was in there, Tagovailoa went 12 for 22 with 265 yards passing and 3 touchdowns.
On the ground, Damien Harris led Alabama with 62 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Jerry Jeudy (3 receptions, 147 yards, touchdowns) and Devonta Smith (4 receptions, 100 yards, touchdown) were the leading receivers. For Missouri, quarterback Drew Lock went 13 for 26 with 142 yards passing, a touchdown and 2 interceptions. He was also sacked 4 times.
Ohio State Moves To Two
With Georgia’s loss, the Ohio State Buckeyes have moved up to the number 2 ranking after their 30-14 win over Minnesota Saturday. Ohio State (7-0, 1st in the Big Ten East) actually only led by 3 going into the halftime. In the second half, though, Ohio State was able to hold Minnesota scoreless while putting up 13 themselves.
Dwayne Haskins (a potential sleeper for the Heisman Trophy) went 33 of 44 with 412 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. K.J. Hill also had a phenomenal game at receiver, going 187 yards and 2 touchdowns on 9 receptions. For Minnesota (3-3, 6th in the Big Ten West Division), Zack Annexstad went 13 for 23 with 218 yards, no touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
Oregon Upsets Washington
Upsets were rolling in this weekend and another one took place in Eugene where Oregon upset Washington 30-27 in overtime. In overtime, after Washington had kicked a field goal to temporarily take the lead, Oregon was ultimately able to score a touchdown on a CJ Verdell 6-yard touchdown run. With the win, Oregon moves up to number 12 (from 17) and Washington falls to number 15 (down from 7) in the country.
Leading stats in the game included Oregon’s Justin Herbert going 18 for 32 with 202 yards and 2 touchdowns. CJ Verdell rushed for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns on 29 carries while Dillon Mitchell had 119 yards receiving and a touchdown on 8 receptions. For Washington, Jake Browning went 15 for 25 with 243 yards passing, a touchdown and an interception.
Iowa State Upsets Two In A Row
Again, the week of the upset saw Iowa State beat number 6 (at the time) West Virginia 30-14. This is the second week in a row that Iowa State has upset a ranked opponent as they beat Oklahoma State last week. In this contest, Iowa State (3-3, 5th in the Big 12), had a great game from quarterback Brock Purdy. He went 18 for 25 with 254 yards passing and 3 touchdowns.
Running back David Montgomery also had a big day going 189 yards and a touchdown on 29 rushes. For West Virginia (now ranked 13th overall after dropping to 5-1), it was a disappointing day all the way around. For quarterback Will Grier, he went 11 for 15 with just 100 yards passing, a touchdown and an interception.
