Past Hot and Not:
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Week 2 |
Week 3
Who’s
Hot …
Kentucky QB Andre
Woodson
The senior isn't just climbing up draft charts, he's starting to
creep into Heisman discussion after beating Louisville and Arkansas in
back-to-back weeks. In last years' 24-20 win over Georgia, Woodson threw
for 204 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. Since then, over a
span of eight games, Woodson has thrown for 22 touchdowns and no
interceptions while averaging 300 yards per game. The Wildcats are 7-1
over that span.
Missouri's
Jeremy Maclin
While not in the discussion of the best all-purpose players in
America, that might quickly change now that he's No. 1 in the nation in
all-purpose running. All the freshman has done over his first four games
is run ten times for 122 yards and a touchdown, catch 21 passes for 244
yards and three touchdowns, return 12 punts for 200 yards and two
scores, and average 22.2 yards per kickoff return. He's scored two
touchdowns in three of his first four games.
Big Ten sacks
Dog the Big Ten all you want, but the league can get into the
backfield. Michigan State leads the nation with 21 sacks, Penn State is
second with 19, Indiana is third with 18. Michigan is eighth averaging
3.75 sacks per game. Illinois is 11th in the nation, Iowa and Ohio State
tied for 20th, and Wisconsin is 40th.
Clemson QB Cullen
Harper
Raise your hand if you thought Willy Korn would be the Clemson
starting quarterback at this point of the year? Cullen Harper has made
it hard for the star freshman to take over, currently seventh in the
nation in passing efficiency completing 69% of his passes with 12
touchdowns and no interceptions.
Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell
The numbers are staggering. The junior has thrown for 1,963
yards and 19 touchdowns with two interceptions in four games. His
yardage totals have been 419, 484, 414 and 646, coming last week against
Oklahoma State. He has thrown for 350 yards or more in nine of his last
ten games, averaging 438 yards per game over that span. Northwestern
State is up next. However ...
Who’s
Not …
Big bombing quarterbacks
Throwing for a ton of yards didn't necessarily yield results this
weekend. Ball State's Nate Davis threw for 422 yards and three
touchdowns in the loss to Nebraska. Louisville's Brian Brohm chucked it
for 555 yards and four touchdowns in a loss to Syracuse. Duke's Thaddeus
Lewis threw for 428 yards and four touchdowns in a loss to Navy. Tulsa's
Paul Smith fired away for 350 yards and two scores in the loss to
Oklahoma. Graham Harrell fired away for 646 yards and five scores in the
loss to Oklahoma State.
Louisville defense
After opening the year with a breather against Murray State, the
Louisville defense has gone into the tank, allowing 555 yards and 42
points to Middle Tennessee, 460 yards and 40 points to Kentucky, and 465
yards and 38 points to Syracuse. To put this into perspective, Syracuse,
after its great performance, is still 114th in the nation in total
offense. Middle Tennessee is 108th. Next up is NC State.
Notre Dame total offense
Another week,
another Notre Dame fun stat. The Irish attack is dead last in America,
averaging 137 yards per game. 118th in the nation is Florida
International, who averages 199 yards per game. The other 117 teams are
all well over 200 yards. How bad is the Irish attack? San Jose State has
the nation's 113th ranked attack, and it's cranking out twice as many
yards as Notre Dame. Purdue is up next.
Florida teams on
third downs (at least most of them)
Florida Gators, you're excused from this discussion. South
Florida, you haven't been that bad, converting 39% of third down
chances, good for 61st in the nation. Dead last, converting just 17% of
third down tries, is Florida International. Florida State is 117th,
converting just 23%, Miami is 109th, converting 29.4%, and UCF is 98th,
converting 31.8%.
Rice vs. the Big 12
With Rice's 58-14 loss to Texas, the Owls are now 0-3 this year
against the Big 12, losing to Baylor, Texas Tech and Texas by a combined
score of 159 to 55. Including the old Southwest Conference days, Rice is
0 for its last 19 against teams currently in the Big 12, with the last
win coming against Texas in 1994.
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