You know College Football has really begun when the ranked teams start falling, and there were plenty of top 25 sides who went through some stunning losses this weekend, with Arkansas overtime loss against Louisiana Monroe the biggest of them all, while the national title contenders: Alabama, USC and LSU had no problem going up to 2-0.
Western Kentucky 0 Alabama (1) 35
No one really expected the Hilltoppers to win or even be close to that at Bryant-Denny stadium, but Alabama getting their first shutout of the season was still quite impressive, forcing four turnovers and quarterback AJ McCarron throwing four touchdown passes, two to Kevin Norwood and two to Christion Jones.
USC (2) 42 Syracuse 29
Matt Barkley tied a USC record by throwing six touchdown passes to his impressive crew of receivers – Robert Woods caught 10 passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns; Marqise Lee caught 11 passes for 66 yards and three touchdowns. Syracuse did put up a nice fight in the second half, showing that behind all the offense the Trojans do have some problems, but against teams like the Orange, there’s just too much talent to not win.
Washington 3 LSU (3) 41
The Tigers didn’t need to show an impressive offense against the freshman offensive line presented by the Huskies, who didn’t get the right kind of push from seeing a tiger at practice this weekend. They were held to just 183 total yards and an embarrassing 26 on the ground, while Alfred Blue had another impressive running day for LSU, going for 101 yards and a touchdown.
Fresno State 25 Oregon (4) 42
Same as last week – The Ducks destroyed during the first half and took it easy in the second. Running back Kenjon Barner ran for 201 yards and three scores, combining with De’Anthony Thomas, maybe the fastest man in the sport, for 303 yards and five touchdowns. The Ducks gained a total of 532 yards.
Florida A&M 13 Oklahoma (5) 69
A easy home debut for the Sooners, gaining 662 yards on offense while keeping the Rattlers on 235, and 3 for 16 on third down conversions. Landry Jones had a so-so day, throwing for two touchdowns and one interception, while Damien Williams ran wild, going for 156 yards and four touchdowns.
Georgia (7) 41 Missouri 20
Mizzou’s debut in the SEC was a close game until the Bulldogs turned it up in the fourth, and gave the Tigers a disappointing conference welcome. James Franklin took a few big hits and had a pass intercepted, while Aaron Murray threw for three touchdowns and an interception. It was mostly about Georgia’s defense, keeping Mizzou at 4-18 on third down conversions and 1-3 on fourth down that gave them the win.
Louisiana Monroe 34 Arkansas (8) 31
Undoubtly the biggest upset of the weekend, as the Razorbacks conceded 14 fourth quarter points from a team that has never beaten a ranked team and were 2-34 against SEC teams before this weekend. Quarterback Kolton Browning threw for 412 yards, 3 touchdowns and added 69 more and a TD with his legs.
Wisconsin (13) 7 Oregon State 10
The Beavers plan was to stop Montee Ball, and they kept the running back at just 61 yards on 15 carries, denying him a touchdown after 21 consecutive games in which he found his way into the endzone. It was Wisconsin’s first non-conference loss since 2003, and its first on the road since 2001 in Oregon.