In Week 6 of NCAA Football regular season, we saw some strange occurrences in the Top 6 ranked teams. The No. 1 Florida State Seminoles and the No. 5 Auburn Tigers were the only two top 6 ranked teams to win in Week 6.
The No. 1 Florida State Seminoles 5-0, 3-0 ACC (1st ACC Atlantic) beat the unranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons 2-4, 0-2 ACC (4th ACC Atlantic) 43-3 this Saturday Oct.4th at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida with the game telecast on ABC TV.
The Demon Deacons only managed to score a field goal in the 1st quarter of the game while the Seminoles were unable to score in the 1st quarter, but then scored 13 in 2nd, 17 in 3rd and 13 points in the 4th quarter bringing their total to 43.
The statistics of the game pretty much predict the outcome as the Florida State Seminoles had 23 first downs while gaining a total of 475 yards with 304 passing and 171 rushing with 2 turnovers. The Deacon Demons had only 10 first downs and gained a total of 126 offensive yards, with 86 passing and 40 rushing while committing 3 turnovers.
In the past four games the FSU defense did not appear to be able to keep the top ranked team in contention and shot at the National Title as turnovers had been absent. But this Saturday that all changed as the Seminoles totally dominated the play and the defense got the turnovers (three) that they are always anticipating. The Florida State defense simply overpowered the Demon Deacons and only allowed them to get 126 offensive yards in the game, which include 40 for their running game. FSU LB Northrup had the defensive highlight of the game as he forced a fumble, which he recovered and then ran it some 31 yards for a TD in the 3rd quarter of the game, that put FSU in the lead at the time 30-3. This was the first time the Seminoles had held a team to only 3 points in a game, since back in 2013. The Florida State Seminole defense held Wake Forest’s QB Wolford to only 58 yards passing and 1 interception. The Seminole defensive surprise was freshman DE Featherspoon who in his first FSU game he had seven tackles, two for a loss, and recovered a fumble.
The Wake Forest team entered this game as the having the worst offense in the ACC and possibly one of the worst in the nation, so FSU needs to be cautious with their achievements in this matchup. That however, did give the Seminole the chance to make some changes, as in the previous week the Seminole defense missed some 30 tackles and allowed 300 yards in two of their last three games with FBS opponents, and that is something that did not happen to the reigning champions back in 2013.
The Wake Forest team had their only score in the 1st quarter after a seven play drive that ended with a field goal of 36 yards with 1:20 left in the 1st by kicker Weaver. The Wake Forest QB’s Wolford & Cameron combined for 13 of 22 passes for 86 yards with Wolford being intercepted once. Their RB’s Wortham & Reynolds had a combined 20 carries for 71 yards while Receivers Scott & Terry had 7 receptions for 55 yards.
The Seminole offense was not at its best, with Winston throwing for 1 TD with 1 interception. However, that allowed kicker Aguayo to kick 5 goals in the game which was a career high, and he also set a school record Saturday with his 21 consecutive goals at FSU. The FSU QB Winston was 23 of 39 passes for 197 yards with 1 TD and 1 Interception. RB’s Pender & Williams had 16 carries for a combined 120 yards and 1 TD by Pender. Receivers Lane & Rudolph had 6 receptions for 136 yards with Rudolph scoring 1 TD.
The Seminoles 5-0 next week play the Syracuse Orangemen 2-3 (4th ACC Atlantic) in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York on Oct.11th a 12:00 PM ET. Meanwhile the Deacon Demons of Wake Forest 2-4 have a bye week and then play the Syracuse Orangemen on the 18th of October 2014.
The second top ranked 6th team to win this past Saturday was the No. 2 Auburn Tigers of the SEC, who were 4-0 beat the No. 15 LSU Tigers of the SEC, who were 4-1 with a shocking 47-7 win at the Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama this Saturday the 4th of Oct.2014 and seen on ESPN TV.
The game was considered a blowout as the Auburn QB Marshall threw for 2 touchdowns while he ran for 2 touchdowns and 109 yards. In the win Auburn scored 17 points in 1st, 14 in 2nd, 3 in 3rd and 7 in the 4th for 41 points while LSU only managed 7 points in the 1st quarter.
Here again the statistics tell the tale of the game as Auburn had 25 first downs and total 566 yards offensively, with 268 passing and 298 rushing with 1 turnover. LSU on the other side had 13 first downs with 280 offensive yards with 142 passing and 138 rushing.
The frustrated LSU Tigers turned to freshman QB Harris in this game completed only 3 of his 14 passes for 58 yards and late in the 3rd quarter Coach Miles’ replaced him by former starting QB Jennings who didn’t do much better completing just 5 of 10 passing attempts for 84 yards. Their RB’s Fournette & Harris had 18 carries for a combined 78 yards while Receivers Dupre & Dural had 2 receptions for 92 yards but no points.
Interesting, that Auburn in each of its 1st four possessions scored touchdowns while LSU on five of their 1st six drives failed to make a first down. Thus, the Auburn Tigers led the LSU Tigers 31-7 as the 1st half ended. This 34 point loss for LSU was the biggest defeat for the team since Coach Miles became head coach back in 2005. The two teams that previously beat Miles and LSU by some 21 points were two teams that won the National Championship, Florida Gators in 2008 and Alabama Crimson Tide in 2011.
Auburn 5-0 (1st SEC West) now No. 2 in Coaches Poll for Week 7 play at No. 12 Mississippi State Bulldogs 5-0 (1st SEC West) with both teams tied for SEC West top team. Meanwhile the LSU Tigers now 4-2 (6th SEC West) play the Florida Gators now 3-1 (2nd SEC West) at the Swamp in Gainesville, Florida also on the 11th of Oct.2014.
So now for fans who bet on college football who are into offshore betting this has to be an exciting time as the two teams that last year played for the National Title, Auburn and FSU are now No. 1 and No. 2 again in Week 7 of the 2014 NCAA Football season.