Pfffffffffffffft...There Goes the Wind Out Of My Sail

When my wife opened with, "The last time the A's faced Justin Verlander, their 4-5-6 hitters were 0-for-9", I knew I was in trouble.  Here's how Week #6 in college football went:

Union 21, Worcester Polytech 6.  Two early interceptions of WPI’s Jacob Grills brings replacement QB John Antonopolous off the bench.  Engineer defense offsets Grills’ sins by making consecutive 4^th-and-1 stops, keeping things close at the start.  Neither team can get off the schneid until midway through the second quarter.  Garnet QB Connor Eck spoils the Engineers’ homecoming by running for a score and passing for another, as UColl stays perfect in Liberty League play.  Two late WPI drives are stuffed by Union’s defense, one a 4^th down from the 10 and the other an interceptions following a WPI block of a Union punt.  It pays to play good defense.  It also helps that your QB can both pass and run.

Navy 28, Air Force 21 (OT).  What’s wrong with the Falcons?  Hope our actual Air Force doesn’t handle those expensive planes the way The Academy handles the ball in the endzone just before the clock runs out.  Much like a swimming race I once lost in high school, these cadets let those Middies hang around too close, too long.  RB Cody Getz spoils an otherwise stellar performance by coughing up the ball on the final play in regulation.  Connor Dietz also has a nice afternoon, completing nine passes for 144 yards.  Not only is Jake Zuzek the Squid hero by recovering the last-second fumble, he falls on another ball during Navy’s winning drive in OT.

Army 34, Boston College 31.  The Cadets’ hero is QB Trent Steelman, who scores the first and last touchdowns and runs for 141 yards on the day.  RB Raymond Maples adds 184 more on the ground, and the Black Knight defense baffles the hard-luck Eagles, who manage three straight scores (kick return, field goal, and TD pass) yet still lose.  BC has yet to beat a FBS opponent this season, and a tough ACC schedule doesn’t bode well for them.

BYU 6, Utah State 3.  This was supposed to be a rout, yet BYU can only muster one TD (and the PAT failed at that).  In fact, missed kicks and turnovers are the order of the day, as the Cougars sabotage any hopes of spending significant time in the Top 25.  QB Taysom Hill is 24-for-36 and 235 yards, which is not bad but will get no Heisman votes this year.

New Mexico 35, Texas State 14.  Two scoring bombs from the Bobcats’ Shaun Rutherford, who is 16-21 on the day, are not enough.  Lobo RB Kasey Carrier is the star of the show, with 23 carries, 191 yards, and four TDs.  All told, New Mexico rushes for nearly 361 yds.  Thanks also to two costly special teams mistakes, UNM has to throw the ball only three times all day.  I throw a football more times than that in a day, for cryin’ out loud.