Rosenbaum's Rousers: College Football Week #3

In my opinion, nothing can match the passion, tradition, and pageantry of college football. There are always particular games, plays and players that "rouse" us for various reasons. It may be a shocking upset. You might have seen a play that you've never witnessed before. Or it could be that you saw an individual performance that captivated your attention. Whatever the case may be, you have to love the uncertainty and exhilarating thrill of college football. This is unless of course you're on the losing end of one of these major upsets or great games, OR perhaps were victimized by a particular unorthodox play or outstanding individual performance, OR had a major speed bump thrown in your team's path by a severe injury to a key player.

Each week, I will note a few of the things that "roused" me and demanded my attention from the previous weekend's action.

Mountaineers' Slaton slices through the Terrapins' defense

Sophomore sensation Steve Slaton rushed for 195 yards on only 21 carries as #5 West Virginia improved to 3-0 on the year with a 45-24 waxing of the Maryland Terrapins. Slaton, who rushed for 1,128 yards and 17 touchdowns as a freshman, wasted no time establishing his dominance in this one. He rushed for nearly 150 yards in the first quarter, including scoring runs of 38 and 37 yards. He also had a long run of 52, which set up another touchdown. The 5-10, 195-pounder has run for 503 yards in only three games. Expect to see Slaton receive Heisman consideration as he plays on a team that is expected to compete for the national title.

"L" Yes!! Cards whip Canes 31-7 in Louisville, but lose QB Brohm

# 12 Louisville made a statement on Saturday with their 31-7 win over #17 Miami at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. However, all wasn't well for the Cardinals following their big win. The Cards, who had already lost one Heisman Trophy candidate for the season in star running back Michael Bush (broken leg in the opener versus Kentucky), lost another in the Miami win.

Quarterback Brian Brohm was falling to the turf in the third quarter and suffered a dislocated thumb on his right (throwing) hand. He will miss the next three to six weeks, but should be back in time for the Cardinals' showdown with West Virginia.

Memphis' Duke Calhoun's one-handed touchdown reception at East Carolina

Memphis relinquished a 20-7 halftime lead at East Carolina, but the second touchdown by the Tigers was on an amazing, spinning one-handed catch by WR Duke Calhoun. Calhoun's one-handed grab of Martin Hankins' pass in the corner of the end zone gave UM a 13-0 lead, prior to the PAT, only seconds into the second quarter.

Southern Illinois pulls the upset over Hoosiers

The Salukis, who were ranked 16 th in I-AA at the time of the game, went into Bloomington and took it to Indiana. Not only did SIU win, but they also racked up nearly 400 yards of offense (386). Probably the most impressing stat of the game was the fact that they ran for 256 yards against a Big Ten team, while holding IU to only 76 on the ground. Rookie quarterback Nick Hill threw four touchdown passes in the upset.

Spurrier and Gamecocks survive scare against I-AA Wofford

The I-AA Terriers, who are located in Spartanburg, SC, came into Williams-Brice Stadium and nearly shocked the Gamecocks. Wofford trailed 27-10 entering the fourth quarter, but capitalized on some USC mistakes to get back into the ball game, cutting the margin to 7 at 27-20 with 4:43 remaining. The Terriers would get the ball back, but their final attempt to send the game into overtime or possibly win it in regulation failed when a batted ball was intercepted on fourth and five at the USC ten-yard line.

Tar Heels escape with a win in shootout against Furman, 45-42

Wofford wasn't the only I-AA team from South Carolina and the Southern Conference to nearly stun an I-A team on Saturday. Furman, the fourth ranked team in I-AA, was attempting to win a second game in Kenan Stadium. The Paladins had beaten UNC-CH, 28-3, in the 1999 season. FU got off to a rough start, trailing 14-0 a little less than three minutes into the game. However, the Paladins would lead 35-31 with slightly less than ten minutes left. The Tar Heels avoided the upset with a couple big plays in the games final ten minutes.

Joe Lee is "Dunn" as defensive coordinator at Memphis

Joe Lee Dunn, who was in his fourth season as the defensive coordinator at the University of Memphis, was relieved of his duties on Monday by Coach Tommy West. As far as reasons for the move, West stated that it was a "business decision" and that he felt the Tigers defense wasn't progressing like it needed to be.

The Tigers had allowed an average of 25.7 points per game this season, but that number was inflated by multiple defensive touchdowns by opponents. In '05, the Tigers allowed 23 ppg after having given up 31.3 per game in '04 and 19.2 a game in '03.

West stated that he would run the defense for the remainder of this season.

Sooners get "quacked" by officials and Ducks in Eugene

Over the course of 26 "game" seconds, No. 18 Oregon went from trailing the visiting No. 15 Oklahoma Sooners, 33-20, to leading 34-33 with 46 seconds remaining in the game.

They didn't do it without some help though. The controversy began on the onsides kick following the Ducks touchdown that cut the score from 33-27. The kick cannot be touched by the kicking team until it has gone ten yards OR touched by an opponent prior to going ten yards. Neither of these things happened, but the UO play touched the kick around eight or nine yards. Replays provided conclusive evidence, but the replay official didn't think so, and the call was not overturned.

A couple plays later, controversy struck again. This time, the call on the field was pass interference against Oklahoma. There was what normally would be pass interference on the play, but you can't have pass interference on a play where the ball is tipped before the interference occurs. This play was also reviewed, but the replay official didn't see the sufficient evidence that most others saw.

The Ducks would score on a 23-yard touchdown following the call, taking a 34-33 lead.

However, OU wasn't done. They returned a squib kick 55 yards to the Ducks' 27-yard line, but had their 44-yard field goal attempt blocked at time expired.

It is too bad that such an excellent college football game will be remembered by those controversial calls, but I suppose it is also what helps gives individual games their identity.

Perhaps lost among the controversy, Heisman Trophy candidate Adrian Peterson ran for 145 yards in the fourth quarter. He finished the day with 211 yards on 34 attempts.

Quarterback Dennis Dixon and running back Jonathan Stewart led the Ducks. Dixon completed 26 of 41 attempts for 341 yards and two touchdowns. Stewart, who is often compared to OU's Peterson, totaled 144 yards on the ground on 23 carries.

Horns hook Owls, 52-7, but are flagged an astounding 19 times for 148 yards

Mack Brown and his staff had to be disappointed with this aspect of the game. It is easy to lose focus when playing a huge lead and when you have inexperienced players getting reps, but this would obviously kill UT if it were in a close game.

Mario was the "Manningham" for Michigan in win at #2 Notre Dame

Michigan wide receiver Mario Manningham caught four passes for 137 yards and three touchdowns in the Wolverines' 47-21 win over No. 2 Notre Dame in South Bend. The longest of the three scores was a 69-yarder from Chad Henne in the first quarter.

Instant replay officials biased in favor of home team? I say, "No way."

Much has been made of the instant replay system since last weekend's games. There were several calls that players, coaches and fans thought should have been overturned or stood as they had been called on the field; however, after watching the replay, the incorrect call was made.

There was the Oregon-Oklahoma game in Eugene, the most controversial game of the weekend, where the Sooners had two calls go against them in the game's waning moments. The president at OU thought the calls were so bad that he requested the results be dropped from the books and the PAC-10 officiating crew be suspended. The crew did receive a one-game suspension.

There were also controversial calls at critical points in the Auburn-LSU and Boston College-BYU games. Each call went in favor of the home team and the home team eventually prevailed in the game.

However, no way do I think there is bias involved. I think the system, all in all, has been a success. I like the way every single play is being reviewed up top this year and if the official thinks it warrants more review, he then buzzes the officials on the field. I think officials screwed up some of the calls, but I don't think it was intentional.

Tommy and Clemson win third "Bowden Bowl" in last four years in classic fashion

Tommy Bowden and the Clemson Tigers won their third "Bowden Bowl" in the last four years. It was also Clemson's first win in Tallahassee in 17 years. The Tigers earned the win in impressive fashion as James Davis scored from a yard out with eight seconds left to make it 27-20.

Davis finished with 87 yards on the night, 67 of which came on the final drive. The bulk of them came on a huge 47-yard run that got CU down to the Seminole four-yard line.

What a huge win this was for the Tigers, particularly coming off such a heartbreaking loss last week at Boston College.

#20 Horned Frogs ground #24 Red Raiders and their potent aerial attack

Gary Patterson and his TCU Horned Frogs won their 13 th consecutive game with their 12-3 win over #24 Texas Tech on Saturday in Fort Worth. They held Tech to only 242 yards of total offense. The Red Raiders Graham Harrell completed less than 50 percent, going 23 of 47 for 204 yards.

This was only the third time that Texas Tech has been held under ten points while coached by Mike Leach. It was the first time they had been held without a touchdown since 2000.

Huskies beat Fresno State on blocked PAT

Tyrone Willingham and the Washington Huskies got a much needed win as they upset the Fresno State Bulldogs, 21-20, in Seattle. Fresno could have tied the game with 4:30 left, but they had their extra-point attempt blocked.

Texas A&M and Franchione win close one against Army at the Alamo Dome

Coach Fran, who many people think is on the hot seat in College Station, survived a scare from Bobby Ross' Army Black Knights on Saturday at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio.

The Aggies survived a late Army threat with a goal line stand on the game's final few plays. Army opted to run the ball from the two with approximately ten seconds left, rather than throwing and having the opportunity to run another play since the Black Knights did not have any timeouts remaining.