Oct 31, 2017

ACC & Big 12 Week 9 Recap: Big 12 Features Another Cyclone Stunner, While Notre Dame Flexes Muscle Against NC State

Standings and Results

ACC

Big 12

AP Top 10

1. Alabama
2. Georgia
3. Ohio State
4. Wisconsin
5. Notre Dame
6. Clemson
7. Penn State
8. Oklahoma
9. Miami
10. TCU

TCU Falls From Ranks of the Unbeaten

Iowa State knocked off a Top 5 conference rival for the second time this season on Saturday, holding off TCU 14-7 in front of a rowdy home crowd in Ames. The Horned Frogs entered the game ranked No. 4 in the country after a perfect 7-0 start. Earlier this season, the Cyclones also dethroned then-No. 3 Oklahoma in a stunning 38-31 upset in Norman.

This latest upset vaulted Iowa State from No. 25 to No. 14 in the latest AP poll — the team’s highest ranking since rising to No. 9 during the 2002 season, when Seneca Wallace was under center for the Cyclones. It also helped set a new high-water mark in Iowa State football history:

On Saturday, Iowa State jumped out to a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter thanks to a 17-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Eaton to Kyle Kempt, a connection that capped of a nine-play, 85-yard drive. A 4-yard touchdown grab by Hakeem Butler then gave Iowa State a 14-0 lead going into the second half, but KaVontae Turpin grabbed the momentum back for TCU with a 94-yard kick return touchdown to open the third quarter.

The play put Turpin in rare air in recent FBS history:

Two possessions after Turpin’s TD sprint, TCU quarterback Kenny Hill had the Horned Frogs down inside the Iowa State 10 looking to knot the score, but his third-down pass was intercepted in the end zone by Brian Peavy, who returned it 70 yards to the TCU 30 to end the threat.

TCU avoided going down 10 thanks to a missed Iowa State field goal, but Hill lost a fumble inside the Iowa State 5-yard line midway through the fourth, and Hill was intercepted again on the Frogs’ final drive to seal the Iowa State upset.

And as the Kansas City Star noted, storming the field has a way of working up an appetite:

Notre Dame Pulls Away From NC State

Fans hoping to see a nailbiter between No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 14 NC State on Saturday were disappointed, as the Fighting Irish used 28 unanswered points to rout the Wolfpack 35-14 in South Bend. The win helped move Notre Dame up to No. 5 in the latest AP poll and avenged a rain-soaked loss in Raleigh last season, as Hurricane Matthew battered the East Coast.

The Irish were led by running back Josh Adams, who carried the ball 27 times for 202 yards, including a 77-yard third-quarter touchdown run, but it was Julian Love’s 69-yard interception return earlier in the quarter — his second pick-six of the season, and one aided greatly by a quick-thinking move by the NC State center that didn’t pan out — that truly turned the tables in the game. In addition to shifting the momentum further toward the home team, it also ended a streak of 339 consecutive Ryan Finley passes without an interception.

The effort by Adams marked his sixth 100-yard rushing game of the season and his second 200-yard game, along with a 18-carry, 229-yard performance against Boston College. (He also ran for 191 on 19 carries in Week 8 against USC.) For the season, Adams has rushed for 1,169 yards — on an average of 8.9 yards per carry — and has played his way into serious Heisman Trophy consideration.

https://twitter.com/SInow/status/925008675730804736

Now winners of six straight, Notre Dame will look to keep rolling as it hosts Wake Forest this week, while NC State, which dropped to No. 20 with the loss, will host Clemson.

Miami Stays Perfect — Barely — With Win at UNC

North Carolina entered Saturday’s matchup with Miami at 1-7 on the season and as 20-point home underdogs, but the Tar Heels gave the then-No. 8-ranked Hurricanes all they could handle in a 24-19 thriller in Chapel Hill. The victory was the fourth straight close shave for unbeaten Miami, which has now won its past four games by a combined 18 points.

In the win, Miami quarterback Malik Rosier threw for a career-high 356 yards, and the ‘Canes needed every one of them, including the touchdown passes of 51, 78 and 5 yards.

https://twitter.com/MiamiDieHards/status/924334412606726145

In a bit of a departure from its usual routine, Miami’s defense didn’t force a single turnover in the game’s first 40 minutes, but when the turnover chain finally came out in following Michael Jackson’s interception late in the third quarter, it stayed out, as Miami picked off two more Nathan Elliott passes down the stretch and forced a Jordon Brown fumble at the Hurricanes’ 34-yard-line with just over two minutes left to play, sealing the win for Miami.

This week, Miami will look to move to 8-0 when it hosts No. 13 Virginia Tech, while North Carolina has a much-needed bye on its quest for its first conference win, followed by a Thursday night showdown with Pittsburgh on Nov. 9.

Team Selection Committee Recap

The Florida Citrus Sports Team Selection Committee held its latest meeting of the 2017-18 season Monday morning at Camping World Stadium in the newly-renovated Varsity Club — and after another week of memorable college football action with over a dozen campus visits logged, there were more than a few exciting stories to go around. READ MORE >>>

Trick or Treat

Typically, in this space, we feature a pair of great plays from the week that was, but this week, in honor of Halloween, let’s relive a number of memorable trick plays from the season so far, courtesy of the ACC:

 

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