For all the talk that is inevitable and deserved for Jackson, what really stood out in this game as much as anything was the marauding and swarming Louisville defense that smothered and shut down Deondre Francois, Dalvin Cook and company.
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Louisville had 314 yards and seven touchdowns in its running game alone.
Jackson had plenty of help.
Alabama’s offense spurted to start the second half, but the Crimson Tide’s defense would pick up the slack.
Alabama (1). Survived Ole Miss on the road. Defensive lineman Da’Ron Payne scooped up the football and dove in for the score to tie the game at 24.
The Eagles (1-2, 0-2) didn’t reach triple figures in total yards until late in the third quarter and finished the game with fewer first downs, six, than Virginia Tech had touchdowns. No matter; Miami led 21-0 after the first quarter and outgained the Mountaineers 549-241.
MI (3-0) scored two special-teams touchdowns, including Jabrill Peppers’ 54-yard punt return. Tennessee cornerback Cam Sutton, Colorado quarterback Sefo Liufau, Oregon running back Royce Freeman, Arizona running back Nick Wilson, Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio and Alabama receiver ArDarius Stewart all left games on Saturday and did not return.
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Tigers scored a school-record 31 points in the first quarter and cruised to a convincing victory. He improved to 19-0 by beating up Oklahoma.
RALEIGH, N.C. – Backup quarterback Jalan McClendon rushed for two touchdowns and threw for a third, and North Carolina State beat Old Dominion.
MADISON, Wis. – A quarterback switch invigorated a listless offense as the Badgers rallied for a win against the Panthers.
Texas A&M (11). Looking like a contender in the SEC West. Wolverines QB Wilton Speight might be biased, but it’s hard to argue with his assertion about Peppers: “He’s the best athlete pound-for-pound in college”.
Stock down: Iowa. It perhaps speaks to the respect the voters have for FCS power North Dakota State that the Hawkeyes are still getting enough points to stay ranked at No. 25.
Two weeks after vaulting into the poll, Texas dropped 10 spots to No. 21 after losing a wild game at California. Five plays later, Jackson slithered his way to the end zone from two yards out.
Then Peppers provided the exclamation mark on a 45-28 MI win. A 29-yard run up the middle by Stick highlighted what proved to be the game-winning drive.
The sophomore had just two poor passes all game. With just 23 carries, Pumphrey rumbled for 220 yards and three touchdowns, including a 79-yard scoring run late in fourth quarter to cap his awesome day where he broke Marshall Faulk’s Aztecs record for all-purpose yards.
Trubisky completed 24 of 27 passes, including a program single-game record of 18 straight before calling it a day early in the fourth.
Walk-on kicker Alex Furbank missed a 20-yard field-goal attempt for Virginia as time expired, and CT held on to beat the Cavaliers 13-10 in East Hartford, Conn. Jerod Evans tied a school record with five touchdown passes and Virginia Tech blanked Boston College 49-0 in Blacksburg, Va. Mitch Trubisky threw for a career-high 432 yards and three touchdowns while setting two school records to help North Carolina beat James Madison 56-28 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Rodney Adams scored three touchdowns as South Florida’s high-powered, quick-strike offense roared back from an early 17-0 deficit to defeat Syracuse 45-20 and remain unbeaten this season.
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No. 15 Tennessee 28, OH 19 – At Knoxville, Tenn.: Joshua Dobbs threw two 20-yard touchdown passes to Josh Malone and ran for a third score as Tennessee held off Ohio. Francois had only 101 passing yards and he threw an interception.
