Notes of Distinction

There were plenty of points and none at all. There was a continuation of streaks and the most unlikely cessation to a trifecta of skeins. There was revenge exacted and a prolonging of frustration. Old hands crafted further brilliance and neophytes dazzled the masses. Here's a recapitulation of what should have captured your attention in college football over the weekends.

RED LETTER DAY. This is an occasion where it's fitting to begin at the end, the end of several streaks that is. Entering the weekend's play Army held the dubious distinction of holding the nation's longest losing streak having dropped nineteen straight contests. The Black Knights' daze is now a thing of the past. Army established a slim, 32-29, halftime lead against Cincinnati and then shut out the Bearcats, 16-0, in the second half to post a, 48-29, Conference USA victory in Michie Stadium. Tielor Robinson scored five TDs for Army--four on the ground and one via a reception.

East Carolina PK Cam Broadwell hoisted a 30 yard field goal with twelve seconds to play to push the Pirates past the Tulane Green Wave as ECU snapped its nine game losing streak to end the second longest such drought in division 1-A football.

Not to be bested by either team, Louisiana-Monroe used an early fourth quarter field goal to increase its lead to 14-3 over the Idaho Vandals, before allowing the home team a TD in the final minute of play, as the Indians stopped their nine game skid as well.

The nation's longest losing streak in division 1-A football now belongs to the Central Florida Golden Knights who lost for the ninth time in a row when Northern Illinois kicked a game winning field goal as time expired.

RED RIVER RUCKUS. Oklahoma's legend in the Lone Star State of Texas continued unimpeded thanks to freshman Adrian Peterson's spectacular 225 yard rushing performance. Peterson and the Sooners thoroughly upstaged Cedrick Benson and the Longhorns en route to a,12-0, shutout win in the 99th edition of this classic southwest rivalry.

Coach Mack Brown fell yet again to Oklahoma as the Longhorns' rushing attack was muted by a stifling OU defense. Texas, leading the nation in rushing entering the contest, was held to an inconsequential 154 yards on the ground. Benson, carrying a nation's best 186.5 yard figure into the game, was held to less than half that total--92 yards--by the Sooners. OU has now bested Texas five times in succession while outscoring the 'Horns 189 to 54. No word yet on whether or not the Brown-out will continue next year or if the Longhorns will have new leadership. Stay tuned.

SAME OLD, SAME OLD. Minnesota may have thought this was going to be its year to topple the Michigan Wolverines, but it didn't come to pass. And that was the problem: passing. Golden Gophers' QB Bryan Cupito, completed only 8 of 22 passes and Minnesota's failure to produce a balanced attack allowed Michigan's high powered offense to dominate the contest.

QB Chad Henne led an offense which amassed 190 yards on the ground, 328 through the air and held the ball for nearly 38 minutes. Michigan's, 27-24, triumph was its 16th straight against Big 10 rival Minnesota. The Wolverines got TDs from Mike Hart, Braylon Edwards and a pair of TD passes by Henne to lead the team's scoring.

The Gophers ran for 189 yards against the nation's best run defense, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Wolverines' impressive offensive showing.

BADGERED BUCKEYES. Wisconsin won its third straight game in Columbus, Ohio--a feat last accomplished by Illinois--in bouncing the Buckeyes, 24-13, to raise its record to a perfect 6-0 on the season. The Badgers have allowed only 39 points this fall and Ohio State became the first team to reach a double digit point total against coach Barry Alvarez's team.

QB John Stocco was an efficient 15 of 24 throwing the ball and RB Anthony Davis ran for 168 yards as the Badgers' offense dominated time of possession and kept the ball for nearly thirty-seven minutes. The Badgers' defense continued its remarkably opportune play by recovering two OSU fumbles. Wisconsin, allowing just 193 yards of offense to opponents through five games, held the Buckeyes to a 224 on the day. A conference showdown with Purdue in West Lafayette awaits Wisconsin next weekend.

COWBOYS ROPE BUFFALOES. RB Vernand Morency ran for 168 yards and a pair of scores to lead the visiting Oklahoma State Cowboys to a, 42-14, victory over Colorado in Boulder, a place in which OSU had not won since Barry Sanders was in uniform for the Stillwater stalwarts.

The Cowboys raced to a, 28-0, lead in the third quarter during a game in which the Buffs fumbled four times--losing one--and threw two interceptions. OSU QB, Donovan Woods, completed 8 of 11 passes for 193 yards and 3 TDs as the Cowboys lassoed the Buffs with their effective passing game. OSU remains unbeaten at 5-0 for the season.

TIGERS CAGED. Virginia spotted Clemson an early seven point lead, before storming back behind a smothering defense and balanced offense--which produced 225 yards or more through the air and on the ground--to claim a, 30-10, ACC victory on Thursday night. Cavs' QB Marques Hagans completed just 14 passes, but the connections yielded 225 yards and 1 scoring aerial. Virginia scored the final 27 points of the game and held the Tigers off the scoreboard for the final 45 minutes of play.

Virginia entered the game ranked 10th in the nation before running its record to 5-0 in 2004. The Cavs will hit the road next weekend to face Florida State in a high profile, ACC showdown.

USC SURVIVES. Top ranked Southern Cal withstood a devastating passing performance by Cal's Aaron Rodgers to pull out a, 23-17, Pac 10 win against the only team to have defeated it in 2003.  Rodgers completed an NCAA record-tying 23 passes in a row to begin the game (and 30 consecutively over the course of two games for a new NCAA mark), but when it most mattered, USC defenders held him at bay. Rodgers couldn't help his team convert a first and goal opportunity in the final minutes of play, in what turned out to be a scoreless fourth quarter.

Outgained 424 to 205, spotting the Golden Bears a nearly 12 minute advantage in time of possession and held to an incomprehensibly low 41 yards rushing, the Trojans miraculously escaped with a victory to run their record to 5-0 for the current campaign. The game marked the first of three in a row at home for USC, which will face another aerial assault next weekend when Andrew Walter and the Arizona State Sun Devils come calling. It will mark the second straight game for USC against an undefeated rival from the Pac 10 as ASU also is 5-0.

RISING STAR. The maturation of Auburn QB Jason Campbell continues. The Tigers were plagued by his inconsistent play earlier in his career. On Saturday, Campbell authored another solid performance in completing 13 of 18 passes for 2 TDs and 201 yards in leading Auburn to a, 52-7, decimation of Louisiana Tech.

The sixth ranked Tigers clawed the Tech defense for 472 yards of offense, committed no turnovers and muzzled the Bulldogs by mounting a, 31-0, third quarter lead.

TENNESSEE BITES DAWGS The Volunteers held Georgia QB David Green to just 15 completions in 34 pass attempts and used a smattering of offense to upset the third ranked Bulldogs, 19-14. The Vols ended a four game losing streak to Georgia and, with its win, wrested control of first place in the SEC's Eastern division from their opponents.

Freshman QB Erik Ainge completed 12 of 21 passes for 2 TDs, which accounted for Tennessee only endzone sorties on the day.

NUMBER CRUNCHING. Just when you'd thought fall had begun, including the total collapse of the LSU Tigers, QB JaMarcus Russell rallied the team, by throwing a pair of TDs in a relief role, including one with less than half a minute to play, to help the Bayou Bengals upset Florida, 24-21.

Hawaii beat Nevada, 48-26, as QB Tommy Chang moved to within 850 yards on dethroning Ty Detmer as the NCAA's all-time passing leader. When The Wolf Pack intercepted a Chang pass it dropped Hawaii from the ranks of being the only team in division 1-A not to have committed a turnover this season.

Not all the action was in division 1-A. The Mount Union Purple Raiders topped Wilmington, 49-7, to post their 99th consecutive regular season win. Baldwin-Wallace is the last team to have defeated Mount Union in the regular season back on October, 15, 1994.

Notre Dame defeated Stanford for the third year in succession, this time by a, 23-15, count as the Fighting Irish posted the school's 800th football victory to join Michigan as the only other program to have reached that total.

Playing to far too many empty seats and no attention whatsoever outside the Mountain time zone, the upstart Wyoming Cowboys downed San Diego State, 20-10, on Saturday afternoon to raise its record to 4-1 on the year. Coach Joe Glenn's reclamation project has produced seven wins in the team’s past dozen games.

Kansas scored a TD with just more than three minutes to play against Kansas State to snap an 11 game skid against the Wildcats. KU won a, 31-28, squeaker in Lawrence.

New Mexico blocked two Air Force punts and returned them for TDs--giving the Lobos three such plays in their past two games in Falcon Stadium. It didn't matter either time as Air Force won on both occasions, this time by a, 28-23, score.