The BCS has had its fair share of shake ups the last couple weeks. With Oklahoma losing to Texas Tech and Michigan St. beating Wisconsin on a “hail mary” pass, this week was sure to be pretty normal, right?
As Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friend.”Clemson failed to get passed Georgia Tech to notch their first loss of the year and a thrilling triple overtime game in Los Angeles was the perfect way to cap off the day. Heisman contending quarterback Andrew Luck and Stanford snuck out a win 56-48 against USC to keep their undefeated record and hopes of a National Championship alive. Oklahoma St. also kept their undefeated record in tact with a huge 59-24 win over Baylor. Oklahoma St. is ranked number 3 in the BCS Standing behind LSU and Alabama.
Vanderbilt was leading the number 10 ranked team in the nation, Arkansas, with only the fourth quarter to play. After driving down to the 3 yard line Vandy running back Zac Stacy fumbled and the fumble was returned by Arkansas for a touchdown. After converting on the two-point conversion, the game was tied 28-28. Arkansas got a field goal with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter to go up 31-28. However, Vandy never gave up. They drove the length of the field and set up kicker Carey Spear with a 27 yard attempt to tie the game. Spear pushed the kick right and Vanderbilt lost a heartbreaker 31-28. Coach James Franklin was encouraged by the game, “We’re going to find ways to finish games like this,” Franklin said. Vandy is 4-4 on the year and plays Florida next week.
With quarterback Tyler Bray out with an injury, the Vols struggled to get anything going on offense in a 3-14 loss to South Carolina.”We fought them hard, but we’re just a mess on offense,” Tennessee coach Derek Dooley said. “We can’t run. We struggled to throw. We had the ball twice in the red zone and we turned the ball over.” The Vols accumulated only 186 yards of total offense.
South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier knew they didn’t play their best game either,.“Well, we won the game somehow,” Spurrier said. “We weren’t pretty on offense most of the game. Ran the ball well, gained a bunch of yards.” Tennessee is 3-5 and plays MTSU next week.
This weekend bodes what may very well be one of the most exciting regular season games in recent memory. With Alabama and LSU both idle, the hype for the game next week in Tuscaloosa has already begun. The winner will move up to number 1 in the rankings and be the front runner to get to the National Championship. If you’re thinking about making a trip down for the game, don’t expect to go cheap. The cheapest tickets are going for $300. The game will be televised nationally on CBS at 7 p.m. Saturday.