Upside Down
Updated May 24, 2010
Virginia Tech, Oregon and Iowa - with another wild week of college action in the books, it's difficult to remember a more exciting start to the football season.
By David Uberti
A wild week of college football began on Thursday night when No. 4 Ole Miss fell, 16-10, to the unranked South Carolina Gamecocks. That was only the beginning.
The football season continued its flair for the dramatic on Saturday, as five additional Top 25 teams fell to unranked opponents. There was more too: Six other Top 25 teams squeaked past unranked competition by a touchdown or less.
But during the excitement on Saturday still more drastic changes to the young season took place: Penn State, Cal and Miami, all BCS frontrunners, were beaten, altering the course of postseason play and turning conference standings upside down.
Virginia Tech 31, Miami 7
The matchup of VT and Miami, No.'s 11 and 9, respectively, could have effectively been the ACC Conference Championship game. The Hokie defense throttled the Miami attack, making Jacory Harris look insecure in the pocket. He was only 9 for 25, throwing for 160 YDS and one INT while being sacked three times. His fumble on the fifth play from scrimmage led to a Va. Tech touchdown and set the tone for the rest of the game.
The Hokies now hold a commanding lead in the ACC Coastal Division, leaving Miami and North Carolina, both with in-conference losses already, the only real threats to Va. Tech appearing in the conference championship game.
The blowout will provide a big blow to the Hurricanes' resurgence this season, as Randy Shannon's team broke into the AP Top Ten for the first time since 2005. They've already fallen to No. 17 in the standings, and the road doesn't get any easier: They play No. 8 Oklahoma on Saturday.
Iowa 21, Penn State 10
The Nittany Lions showed an uncharacteristic lack of discipline on Saturday, giving up 21 unanswered points to the Hawkeyes en route to their first regular season loss since coming up short last November to Iowa.
Darryl Clark threw three interceptions in his 12 for 32 performance as the Iowa defense and special teams controlled play for the last three quarters.
"I thought the kids hung in there, tried to come back, and they kept making mistakes," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said after the game.
PSU has fallen to No. 13 in the standings and no longer has the top spot in the conference. Contention for the Big Ten Championship now looks to be a four-way race between PSU, Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa. If the Nittany Lions can regroup to win at Michigan and against Ohio State, two tall orders, they may be able to win at least a share of the conference crown.
Oregon 42, Cal 6
Of any of Saturday's matchups, Oregon's throttling of high-octane Cal had the most unexpected outcome. Heisman-hopeful Jahvid Best took 16 carries for only 55 yards, more than 80 yards less than he averaged in his first three games. The Golden Bears dropped 18 places in the rankings to No. 24, breaking Pac 10 competition back open.
Meanwhile, Oregon played like it was expected to before the season started. After a disastrous performance in Week 1 at Boise State and a 4 for 16 performance against Utah, Jeremiah Masoli played like a man on a mission against Cal. He was 21 for 25 for 254 yards and three touchdowns, leading the LeGarrette Blounte-less offense to a victory in their conference opener.
USC, Washington, Oregon and Cal now all have one conference loss, making the battle for conference supremacy out West one of the more interesting storylines for the rest of the season.
The football season continued its flair for the dramatic on Saturday, as five additional Top 25 teams fell to unranked opponents. There was more too: Six other Top 25 teams squeaked past unranked competition by a touchdown or less.
But during the excitement on Saturday still more drastic changes to the young season took place: Penn State, Cal and Miami, all BCS frontrunners, were beaten, altering the course of postseason play and turning conference standings upside down.
Virginia Tech 31, Miami 7
The matchup of VT and Miami, No.'s 11 and 9, respectively, could have effectively been the ACC Conference Championship game. The Hokie defense throttled the Miami attack, making Jacory Harris look insecure in the pocket. He was only 9 for 25, throwing for 160 YDS and one INT while being sacked three times. His fumble on the fifth play from scrimmage led to a Va. Tech touchdown and set the tone for the rest of the game.The Hokies now hold a commanding lead in the ACC Coastal Division, leaving Miami and North Carolina, both with in-conference losses already, the only real threats to Va. Tech appearing in the conference championship game.
The blowout will provide a big blow to the Hurricanes' resurgence this season, as Randy Shannon's team broke into the AP Top Ten for the first time since 2005. They've already fallen to No. 17 in the standings, and the road doesn't get any easier: They play No. 8 Oklahoma on Saturday.
Iowa 21, Penn State 10
The Nittany Lions showed an uncharacteristic lack of discipline on Saturday, giving up 21 unanswered points to the Hawkeyes en route to their first regular season loss since coming up short last November to Iowa.
Darryl Clark threw three interceptions in his 12 for 32 performance as the Iowa defense and special teams controlled play for the last three quarters.
"I thought the kids hung in there, tried to come back, and they kept making mistakes," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said after the game.
PSU has fallen to No. 13 in the standings and no longer has the top spot in the conference. Contention for the Big Ten Championship now looks to be a four-way race between PSU, Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa. If the Nittany Lions can regroup to win at Michigan and against Ohio State, two tall orders, they may be able to win at least a share of the conference crown.
Oregon 42, Cal 6
Of any of Saturday's matchups, Oregon's throttling of high-octane Cal had the most unexpected outcome. Heisman-hopeful Jahvid Best took 16 carries for only 55 yards, more than 80 yards less than he averaged in his first three games. The Golden Bears dropped 18 places in the rankings to No. 24, breaking Pac 10 competition back open.
Meanwhile, Oregon played like it was expected to before the season started. After a disastrous performance in Week 1 at Boise State and a 4 for 16 performance against Utah, Jeremiah Masoli played like a man on a mission against Cal. He was 21 for 25 for 254 yards and three touchdowns, leading the LeGarrette Blounte-less offense to a victory in their conference opener.
USC, Washington, Oregon and Cal now all have one conference loss, making the battle for conference supremacy out West one of the more interesting storylines for the rest of the season.
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