NCAA Football News and Notes: Power 5 Recaps

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This is installment number two of our weekly recap of Power 5 games across college football. Here are the week’s best of the best.

#12 BYU vs #25 Oregon

Coming into this football game, we had both teams ranked with Oregon badly needing this win. Oregon and BYU were 3-3 all-time before this game was played. The one player that needed to have a good game and get his mojo back is Bo Nix. Yes, Nix had a great game the week before but there wasn’t much competition in that game. Now, they are facing a team that you cannot look over and they have a powerful defense all around. Nix and Oregon have to look sharp because they are hanging by a thread being the 25th-ranked team in the nation and need this top 15 win.

BYU started with the ball and right away, they had a turnover on downs on Oregon’s 36. Nix and Oregon took over the ball right away with momentum at home. Nix marched down the field in 4 plays scoring a touchdown from his 2-yard run. At the end of the first quarter, Oregon led 10-0 but BYU was driving with the ball heading into the second. BYU scored right out of the gate in the second from a 28-yard touchdown to Isaac Rex from Jaren Hall. BYU pulled in down by 3 but Nix and company went right down the field in 3 minutes and scored another rushing touchdown from Bo Nix. On the following drive, BYU had an 11-play drive ending in a missed field goal from 38 yards. Oregon then took advantage of that scoring on a passing touchdown from Bo Nix to Terrance Ferguson. Nix and Oregon led at halftime 24-7 and they were getting the ball at halftime to have a huge chance to blow BYU out before they even touch the ball in the second half. Bo Nix responded to the questions on how he would play against another ranked team having a total of 3 touchdowns in the first half.

Oregon got the ball first and never looked back. They scored a touchdown making the game almost a 4-possession ball game. Once again, Nix scored his third rushing touchdown of the game showing off his legs. Skipping into the third quarter, Oregon led 38-7 scoring another touchdown, this time a passing touchdown to Terrance Ferguson for his second of the game. At this point in the fourth quarter, it was a blowout. Oregon eventually put in the second string on how far apart the game was. BYU scored two touchdowns, one from Kody Epps on a throwing touchdown and the other from Christopher Brooks on a rush. Oregon ended the game-winning 41-20 pulling in a huge win for the team which should move them up in the rankings a good amount.

Bo Nix and Oregon played superior against BYU. Nix who had an amazing game threw the ball only 18 times completing 13 of them. He threw for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns. Most of his yards went to Troy Franklin who hauled in only 3 catches but had 84 yards but Terrance Ferguson had both of the receiving touchdowns. Nix also rushed for 35 yards with 3 touchdowns, totaling 5 on the day. Oregon’s leading rusher, Mar’keise Irving, ran for 97 yards on 14 carries with Noah Whittington right behind him having 66 yards. On the defensive end, Oregon’s defense played outstanding on the front four only allowing BYU to rush for 61 yards total but credit to BYU”s passing attack though. Jaren Hall threw for 305 yards on 29 completions with 2 touchdowns.

This was a game Oregon needed to win and they got the job done moving up to 15th in the rankings. Oregon has Washington State this week which should be a good game and they try to win their third straight game of the year. BYU moved down to 19th in the rankings but they still have a bright future ahead of them and play Wyoming later this week in a should-be blowout game for them.

#22 Penn State vs Auburn

The massive Big10 vs SEC matchup between Penn State and Auburn. In a home and away series between the two teams, Penn State got the better of Auburn last year and is looking to do the same this year. Penn State has a lot to prove this year trying to make the Big10 championship which they haven’t done since 2016. On the other hand, Auburn is trying to prove that they can compete with top teams who have T.J. Finley leading the way.

Coming out the gate, the first drive for Penn State Clifford fumbled and Auburn took the ball going up 3-0 early. State responded quickly with Clifford running in for a touchdown going up 7-3. After that drive, Finley then turned the ball over throwing an interception to Zakee Wheatley but Penn State didn’t convert with the ball. In the second quarter, Auburn made it a 1-point game kicking a field goal but yet again, Clifford marched down the field and had Kaytron Allen running in for a touchdown. Penn State led at halftime, 14-6, and never looked back.

In the second half, Penn State came out and scored on every possession they had in the quarter with Auburn turning the bowl over twice. Penn State led 31-6 at the end of the third quarter and it was starting to look like a blowout. Auburn finally answered with a touchdown scoring from their backup QB, Robby Ashford, to Jarquez Hunter for a 22-yard touchdown. After that though, it was their final points of the game and Penn State dominated the whole game winning the game 41-12.

Clifford wasn’t on his A-game but he did do his job and won the game. He threw for 178 yards for 14 completions on 19 passing attempts. Brenton Strange led the receiving core with 6 receptions on 80 yards but it was the rushing game that showed off. They had 245 total rushing yards and 5 touchdowns rushing with Nicholas Singleton having 124 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was also the defense that went off for Penn State having 6 sacks. They too had 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles. Auburn had two quarterbacks playing after T.J. Finley got benched throwing for 1 int and having a fumble. Robbie Ashford took over and had 1 int but did have 144 yards. Shederick Jackson and Ja’varrius Johnson both had good receiving games for Auburn at least.

Penn State got a big win on the road and moved up to 14th in the rankings being unranked to start the year. They are 3-0 and play an easy game this week against Central Michigan. For Auburn, they have Missouri at home which they badly need to win to forget about the big loss to Penn State to get back on track for Finley and the crew, if he even starts.

#13 Miami vs 24 Texas A&M

One of the best games of the weekend came in College Station at Kyle Field in Texas. It was two excellent defenses clashing against each other and it showed off during the game. Texas A&M is coming into the game after a huge upset loss to Appalachian State last weekend, which will be one of the biggest upsets in college this year. Miami is coming into the game 2-0 but their wins came against very weak opponents with this being their first big test.

At the start of the game, both teams jumpstarted the game by having their first possessions of the game come in as field goals. The next drive for A&M came as a 3 and out but Miami fumbled the punt which led to an instant RedZone opportunity for A&M. They then proceeded right away scoring a touchdown going up 10-3 on Miami. Miami proceeds to miss both of their field goals on their next two drives from Andres Borregales which could have pulled the game to a 10-9 score. The rest of the half were punts and it was a struggling offensive score, 10-3 A&M on top.

Miami had the ball first in the second half but punted on 5 plays letting A&M have the chance to run away with this game. They did just that, scoring a receiving touchdown from Devon Achane, a pass from Max Johnson going up 17-3. Miami replied on their next two drives scoring two field goals but on the third drive, they fumbled down eight looking down for the count. Luckily A&M went 3 and out giving Miami a small chance of a comeback with 1:16 to play down eight. Although Miami had a chance to tie this game, Trevor Van Dyke being abysmal all day, could not pull off the comeback having a turnover on downs losing the game 17-9.

A&M didn’t do much on the offensive end but they did the job to win. Max Johnson did not play that well having a 50 percent completion rate with 140 yards and 1 touchdown. Ainias Smith hauled in 4 receptions for 74 yards, playing well for the receiving core. The star of the offense was Devon Achane rushing 18 times for 88 yards and had a receiving touchdown with 44 yards on top of that. The real principal of the team was their stingy defense not allowing a touchdown all game. Trevor Van Dyke threw for 217 yards on 41 passing attempts only completing 21 of them. The highlight of Miami’s offense was their rushing game, totaling 175 yards. Henry Parrish Jr led the team with 85 yards but he didn’t score which they badly needed out of him. Miami did play great defense only allowing 17 points but the offense simply didn’t get it done for them.

Texas A&M got a significant win at home after an upsetting loss the week before, having their record stand at 2-1 moving up only 1 spot in the rankings. They have competition this week at home against the ranked 10th team, Arkansas needing a good start to their SEC record. On the other hand, Miami moved down to the 25th ranked team in the country barely hanging on. They play an easy game against MTSU to get right this week at home.