Inside The College Football Boxscores Week 3 – Part 1

NC State 34, Wake Forest 24

Wake Forest returned the opening kickoff of the game for a touchdown and jumped ahead 14-0 after one quarter and had a 10-point lead late in the second quarter but NC State outscored the Demon Deacons 20-0 the rest of the way. The Wolfpack scored its second touchdown on an interception return, one of two forced turnovers. NC State outgained Wake Forest 406-311 and doubled the Demon Deacons up on first downs 24-12 while winning the time of possession by nearly 17 minutes.

Houston 36, Colorado 20

Houston outgained Colorado 431-300 and the score could have been a lot worse but the Cougars had to settle for six field goal attempts, converting five of those and ended up punting only once the entire game. The Cougars won the time of possession by over 13 minutes and ran 19 more plays and averaged just 5.6 yppl compared to 5.2 yppl for the Buffaloes so it was not complete domination. It was a balanced attack for Houston as it rushed for 209 yards and passed for 222.

Arizona 23, Kansas State 17

The brutal start for Kansas St. continued as it took a 3-0 lead but gave up a touchdown on the next Arizona possession and never regained the lead. Even though it was only a six-point win, Arizona controlled the game as it had the ball for nearly 14 more minutes, ran 26 more plays and outgained Kansas St. 412-193. 75 of those yards for Kansas St. came on its opening play of the second half for a touchdown while it registered only 8 first downs as it went 3-17 on third and fourth down.

New Mexico 35, UCLA 10

UCLA suffered its third straight loss to open the season and the start ended up costing head coach DeShaun Foster his job. New Mexico jumped out to a 14-0 lead but the Bruins came back to make it a game as they trailed 14-10 early in the fourth quarter until the Lobos took over with a 21-0 game ending run. New Mexico could have put the game away earlier but turned the ball over twice at the UCLA three-yard line, once with a fumble and once on downs. The Lobos won the yards 450-326.

Alabama 38, Wisconsin 14

Alabama dominated from the start as it jumped ahead 28-0, the fourth touchdown scored on its first play of the second half. Wisconsin returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown and scored its other touchdown in garbage time on a drive that accounted for 70 of their 209 total yards. The Crimson Tide put up 454 yards of offense on just 52 plays (8.7 yppl) but it was not a perfect game as they rushed for only 72 yards on 22 carries (3.3 ypc) while going 2-8 on third down.

Georgia Tech 24, Clemson 21

Georgia Tech kicked the game-winning 55-yard field goal as time expired to pull off the upset. Clemson outgained the Yellow Jackets 381-358 but lost the turnover battle 2-0 as it fumbled deep in its own territory to open the game and threw an interception at the Georgia Tech nine-yard line. The Tigers tied the game with just over three minutes remaining but were unable to stop Georgia Tech on its last 10-play possession. The two teams combined for only five penalties.

Oklahoma 42, Temple 3

This game was over early as Oklahoma built a 25-0 lead five minutes into the second quarter and never looked back. The Sooners outgained Temple 515-104 while holding the Owls to only seven first downs. Temple could not get anything going on the ground as it rushed for 26 yards on 27 carries (1.0 ypc) which led to long third down attempts where it went 3-16 resulting in 12 punts. The Owls only score came after an Oklahoma fumble where they lost three yards before kicking the field goal.

Memphis 28, Troy 7

Memphis outgained the Trojans 430-112 in a very balanced attack, rushing for 217 yards and passing for 213 yards. The Tigers managed only four touchdowns as they were just 6-15 on third down and were forced to punt in four of five second half possessions while turning it over twice in the first half. The Trojans only score came on a 15-yard fumble return for a touchdown as 73 of their 112 yards came on their final drive, resulting in an interception. Troy punted in its first 11 possessions.

Michigan 63, Central Michigan 3

Michigan piled up 616 total yards that included 381 yards rushing on 55 carries (6.9 ypc) and it finished with 35 first downs which led to running 27 more plays. The Wolverines missed a field goal in the first quarter and threw an interception in the second quarter but scored a touchdown on all nine other possessions not counting the six-play drive to end the game. Central Michigan had an 81-yard drive that resulted in its field goal and had only 58 yards in its other 11 possessions.

Oregon 34, Northwestern 14

The Ducks dominated from the start as they took a 34-0 lead early into the fourth quarter and took the foot off the gas. The Wildcats then went on a 75-yard drive for their first score, forced a punt and then scored on a 79-yard run three plays later to find the backdoor. Oregon only outgained Northwestern 373-313 but the Wildcats racked up garbage yards while throwing two interceptions and turning it over on downs twice. Oregon was balanced and efficient, committing no penalties.

Buffalo 31, Kent State 28

Kent St. is now 0-23 in its last 23 FBS games after blowing a few leads. The Golden Flashes jumped ahead 14-0 before Buffalo ran off 24 unanswered points but Kent St. retook the lead with a pair of touchdowns but the defense allowed the Bulls to go 76 yards on eight plays in just 1:29 for the game-winning touchdown. Kent St. won the time of possession by nearly 15 minutes yet ran only eight more plays but rushed the ball 15 more times than Buffalo for the discrepancy.

Auburn 31, South Alabama 15

Auburn was never threatened as it went ahead 21-3 early in the second quarter but the game was closer than what the score says. The Tigers outgained South Alabama by only 27 yards 337-310 as the Jaguars missed out on numerous opportunities. They missed an early field goal, had two turnovers while failing on a fourth down try and those four possessions wasted 183 yards with no points. Despite just 46 combined points scored, there were only three punts the entire game.

Missouri 52, Louisiana 10

It was complete domination from the Tigers as the offense racked up 606 total yards and controlled the ball for nearly 43 minutes. Missouri punted only once, threw an interception deep in its own territory that led to a Louisiana field goal and missed a field goal so it could have been even worse. The Cajuns lone touchdown came on an 84-yard run on a one play drive and they had only 37 total yards other than that and was limited to four first downs with one of those by way of penalty.

Delaware 44, UConn 41

Connecticut had its second straight devastating loss, losing in overtime again. Delaware tied the game at the end of regulation on a 43-yard field goal and scored a touchdown after forcing a Huskies field goal to pick up its first FBS win since joining the FBS. The Huskies won the yardage battle 521-512 with each team finishing with 29 first downs. It was a clean game with no turnovers and 13 combined penalties and only seven punts. Both teams rushed for 5.5 ypc.

Georgia 44, Tennessee 41

It was back and forth all day as Tennessee built a 21-7 lead in the first quarter but Georgia ran off 20 straight points to take its first lead, gave it back and then regained it to open the fourth quarter. Tennessee upped its lead to eight points but the Bulldogs went 75 yards in 4:08 to tie the game and then scored the game winner three plays into overtime. Georgia outgained the Volunteers 502-496 but ran 17 more plays and were outgained 7.1 to 5.8 yppl but Tennessee committed 10 penalties.

Texas Tech 45, Oregon State 14

This was no contest out of the gate as Texas Tech opened up a 45-0 lead early in the fourth quarter, outgaining the Beavers 575-177 over that stretch. Oregon St. scored two late touchdowns in garbage time to save some face where it put up 112 yards. The Red Raiders threw for 478 yards but rushed for only 121 yards on 40 carries (3.0 ypc) which kept time of possession nearly equal. The Beavers rushed for only eight yards on 22 carries (0.4 ypc) and finished just 7-17 on third down.

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