Fargo looks past the top line scores and goes deep into the box scores to get a better picture of what really happened for all of the FBS games the past weekend.

Missouri State 22, Middle Tennessee 20

This was a back and forth game throughout that ended up coming down to the kicking game. Missouri St. took a two-point lead with 4:45 remaining and the Blue Raiders followed by driving 44 yards to set up a possible game winning field goal with under a minute left but the 52-yard attempt was no good. The yardages were nearly dead even at 353-348 as were the yppl averages at 5.2 to 5.3 but the Bears had the edge in the redzone at 5-5 with Middle Tennessee going 1-1.

Liberty 19, UTEP 8

Liberty snapped a four-game losing streak but it was not the most dominating victory. The Flames defense did its job as it held UTEP to 167 yards and nine first downs with 65 of those yards coming on its touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Liberty did gain 403 yards on offense but it had the ball for over 20 more minutes while running 31 more plays and it averaged just 4.9 yppl. The Flames were just 3-18 on third down which killed possessions and led to four field goals.

Kennesaw State 35, Louisiana Tech 7

Kennesaw St. has already doubled its win total from last season with four. The Owls spotted Louisiana Tech a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and then went off for 35 unanswered points. Kennesaw St. outgained the Bulldogs 400-305 but ran 12 fewer plays and won the yppl 6.3 to 4.1. Louisiana Tech had its chances in the second half as it got into Owls territory three times including the seven-yard line and one-yard line but failed on fourth down twice and threw an interception.  

Tulane 26, East Carolina 19

Tulane dominated the first half as it outgained the Pirates 235-81 and pitched a shutout but had to settle for four field goals on offense. East Carolina was able to generate some offense in the second half as it had four scoring drives but two resulted in field goals. Tulane put the game away with two touchdown drives on its last two possessions including the game winner with 35 seconds left. The Green Wave ran 11 fewer plays and still won the yards 458-340 and the yppl at 7.4 to 4.7.

Jacksonville State 29, Sam Houston 27

The Gamecocks had a pair of 10-point leads early but Sam Houston used a pair of long drives to take a 21-17 lead midway through the third quarter. Jacksonville St. retook the lead early in the fourth quarter but the Bearkats scored with 52 second left to take a one point lead. The Gamecocks then went 48 yards and kicked the 52-yard game winner as time expired. Jacksonville St. won the yards 499-286 but ran 28 more plays which led to a lesser 6.2 to 5.5 yppl advantage.

Southern Miss 38, Georgia Southern 35

It was a shootout in Statesboro but Southern Mississippi controlled the game. The Eagles jumped ahead 7-0 late in the first quarter but the Golden Eagles scored 28 unanswered points and it never got close until the end. Georgia Southern scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter after recovering a fumble and then forced a punt and drove down to make it a three-point game but never got the ball back. The Eagles were hurt with three interceptions and 12 penalties for 104 yards.

USF 63, North Texas 36

The teams traded touchdowns in the first half to make it a 21-21 game at halftime and then South Florida took over. The Bulls got the second half kickoff and went 75 yards in four plays, picked off a pass three plays later and went 15 yards in two plays and then recovered a fumble for a touchdown four plays after that and it was game over. South Florida outgained the Mean Green 580-443 including 306-107 yards rushing (5.4 to 3.7 ypc). North Texas finished with five turnovers.

Washington 38, Rutgers 19

Rutgers got the opening kickoff and went 75 yards in four plays and after a Washington missed field goal, it tacked on a field goal for a 10-0 lead. The Scarlet Knights then forced a punt and could have gotten more points but missed a 45-yard field goal. The Huskies got it to three points at halftime and then took over in the second half as it scored four straight touchdowns. Washington outgained Rutgers 579-493 but ran 18 fewer plays and had a 9.8 to 6.4 yppl edge but did have nine penalties.

Colorado State 49, Fresno State 21

Colorado St. jumped ahead 21-0 and never looked back. The Rams scored touchdowns on their first four possessions while gaining 266 yards but the offense could not keep it up as they had three and outs in their next five possessions. Fresno St. did get it to 14 points but Colorado St. tacked on two late touchdowns. The Bulldogs actually outgained the Rams 469-334 but ran 27 more plays and were outgained just 6.3 to 5.9 in yppl. They lost the turnover battle 4-0 and had 13 penalties for 117 yards.

Cincinnati 20, UCF 11

The Bearcats pitched a shutout for most of the first half until Central Florida got a field goal with 27 seconds remaining. The Knights did not get its touchdown until garbage time at 2:17 when the score was 20-3 as they went 90 yards in 19 plays. Central Florida did outgain Cincinnati 419-306 but held the ball for nearly 20 more minutes while running 42 more plays and it was outgained 6.4 to 4.6 yppl. The Knights were stopped on downs three times and fumbled, all in Cincinnati territory.

Army 24, Charlotte 7

It was complete Army domination as it outgained Charlotte 354-178 including 304-68 yards rushing (4.8 to 2.3 ypc). The Black Knights had the ball for nearly 16 more minutes because of that huge rushing advantage. It could have been worse but there was a fumble in the first half while turning it over on downs and missing two field goals on three straight second half possessions. Charlotte avoided the shutout with a touchdown with eight seconds left, accounting for 59 of its 178 yards.

Miami (Ohio) 20, Akron 7

This was an ugly first half that featured just a field goal for scoring, five punts, a missed field goal, two interceptions and a turnover on downs. Miami got inside the Akron 30-yard line on all five second half possessions as it scored 17 points but missed on fourth down once and ended the game at the Zips five-yard line. The RedHawks outgained Akron just 350-273 and 5.2 to 4.3 yppl as they finished just 4-12 on third down which killed drives and the Zips had 10 penalties for 60 yards.

Ohio State 34, Illinois 16

Ohio St. jumped ahead 20-0 as it scored on four of its first five possessions and while Illinois scored on the opening possession of the second half, the Buckeyes went 63 yards to get the touchdown back and then recovered a fumble two plays later and tacked on another touchdown. Illinois did outgain Ohio St. 295-272 with the yppl even at 4.2 but it was just 4-14 on third down and turned it over on downs twice. Additionally, the Illini lost the turnover battle 3-0 and held to 1.7 ypc rushing.

UCLA 38, Michigan State 13

UCLA spotted Michigan St. a 7-0 lead and then took over with 38 unanswered points to blow the game open. The Bruins punted on their first possession and then scored on six of their next seven possessions, the only non-score being a 34-yard missed field goal. The Spartans only other touchdown came late in the third quarter when the game was already decided. The Bruins outgained Michigan St. 418-253 and 6.2 to 4.2 yppl while controlling the clock for nearly 13 minutes more.

Alabama 27, Missouri 24

The Tigers took the opening kickoff 78 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead before Alabama scored on its first three possessions to take a 17-7 lead. Missouri was able to tie it up before the Crimson Tide took a two-possession lead with 3:16 remaining and Missouri could not catch them. The Tigers won the yardage battle 330-325 but ran 19 fewer plays and outgained Alabama 5.9 to 4.3 in yppl. A pair of second half interceptions did not help and Missouri was just 1-10 on third down.

Pitt 34, Florida State 31

This game was back and forth throughout and Florida St. took a three-point lead going into the fourth quarter. The Panthers took advantage of a Seminoles fumble to get a field goal and tie the game and then forced a pair of punts to score 10 points. Florida St. made it a three-point game with 1:45 left but Pittsburgh got the onside kick and ran out the clock. The Panthers outgained Florida St. 476-415 but had eight more plays and the yppl were 6.7 to 6.6 and benefitted going 3-3 on fourth down.

SMU 34, Stanford 10

SMU jumped ahead 17-0 and never led by less than two touchdowns the rest of the way. The Mustangs outgained Stanford by only 369-353 but ran 20 fewer plays and won the yppl 6.8 to 4.8 as they had the ball 13 minutes less. They used two huge plays for two touchdowns as they had an 87-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and a 96-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter which made it a 21-point lead as opposed to a possible one possession game.

Houston 39, Oklahoma State 17

Oklahoma St. took the opening kickoff 75 yards to take a 7-0 lead and the game was tied at 10-10 early in the second quarter before Houston took over. The Cougars scored on six of their final seven possessions not counting the drive to end the game while the defense did not allow the Cowboys to cross midfield on six straight possessions until a garbage time touchdown. Houston had the ball for 13 more minutes and outgained the Cowboys 485-225 but did have 28 more plays.

Bowling Green 28, Toledo 23

Toledo jumped ahead 21-0 in the second quarter and it could have been worse as the Rockets turned it over on downs twice inside the Bowling Green redzone. The Falcons then scored 28 unanswered points as they did not allow Toledo to cross midfield on its first seven possessions of the second half. The Rockets were driving for a possible tying touchdown but threw an interception at the 32-yard line. Toledo outgained the Falcons 429-226 but had 13 penalties and were 3-13 on third down.