October 16, 2024 Press Release

Late-Game Dramatics and Dominant Performances Highlight an Epic College Football Weekend

Lone Star Player of the Week Candidates

Arizona State RB Cam Skatteboo - 26 touches for 199 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-19 win over Utah on Friday Night Football.

 Texas LB Anthony Hill Jr - Against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, Hill Jr finished with 11 tackles, 3.5 TFL, two sacks, one FF and one QB pressure.

 Georgia WR Arian Smith - Smith had the best game in his career with five catches for 134 yards and one touchdown in a 41-31 win over Mississippi State. 

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Oregon and Ohio State highlighted an outstanding week seven with a one point Duck win. LSU upset Ole Miss with one of the best late game comebacks of the season. Texas was dominant in the Cotton Bowl. BYU stayed undefeated.

 Those are just the ones that stood out in an intense week seven, so let’s dive into the whole weekend and then preview an important week eight in college football.

 Texas Bowl Team of the Week - LSU - After a narrow defeat to USC to start the season, Brian Kelly’s Tigers have been walking a tightrope of thrilling one score games. South Carolina in Columbia, SC comes to mind, but against #9 ranked Ole Miss, the tension was thick late in the game again. Gritty LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier threw a touchdown on fourth down with just 0:27 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime. After Ole Miss’ K Caden Davis somehow hit a 57-yard FG in the first overtime, Nussmeier sealed the improbable win on the first play of LSU’s possession with a 25-yard TD toss to WR Kyren Lacy. That’s five straight now for LSU but the tests don’t stop (road Arkansas, road A&M, bye week, home Alabama). Regardless, the Tigers are the team of the week for this 29-26 win over Ole Miss.

 Texas Bowl Honorable mention Team of the Week - Arizona State - I’ve said it a few times already that Friday Night Football on ESPN with my guy Andre Ware is some of the most exciting football you’ll find any given CFB weekend. This past Friday night was no exception as Kenny Dillingham’s Sun Devils did it again, coming back from behind to beat #16 Utah 27-19. On the field after the game, the Sun Devils’ student section rushed the field while Dillingham did his post game on-field interview. “I WAS THESE GUYS, I WAS THESE GUYS”, Dillingham, the former Sun Devil, excitedly stated as he was being interviewed. It was an outstanding moment on a beautiful night in Tempe.

 Texas Bowl Player of the Week - Arizona State RB Cam Skatteboo - Once again, Skatteboo carried the Sun Devils to an upset win over the formerly #16 ranked Utah Utes. He ran 22 times for 158 yards and two touchdowns. In addition, he was second on the team with four receptions for 41 yards - In total, 26 touches for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns. It’s not as if the Sun Devils don’t have a ton of other talent but everyone in the building knows Skatteboo is getting the ball the majority of the time and he STILL roasts every defense he faces.

 Texas Bowl Honorable mention Player of the Week - Texas LB Anthony Hill Jr. - The Longhorns shut out the Sooners for the last three quarters of the game and Hill Jr. was a major reason why. He led the team with 11 tackles, racked up two sacks, 3.5 tackles for a loss, forced one fumble and one QB pressure. Talk about stuffing the stat sheet. The Horns are a problem for the SEC and Hill Jr leads the defense that puts fear in their hearts.

 National Team of the Week - Oregon - The Ducks were a three point underdog at Autzen Stadium heading into their massive matchup with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Yet, at the end of the night, head coach Dan Lanning’s crew stood tall as the clock ran out on Ohio State. QB Dillon Gabriel and the Ducks offense thrived under the glare of the national spotlight and put 32 points up on the board in a one point win over the potently explosive Buckeyes.

 Honorable Mention National Team of the Week - Iowa - The Hawkeyes scored 40 points. Okay, so the joke isn’t as funny since head coach Kirk Ferentz changed coordinators and QB Cade McNamara and RB Kaleb Johnson took the reins of the offense. This is now a competent college offense, led by these two stars. Johnson ran for 166 yards and accounted for three touchdowns in a 40-16 win over last year’s national championship runner-ups Washington.

 National Player of the Week - Penn State TE Tyler Warren - It’s been a long time since, if ever, I can remember a tight end having the type of game that Warren did for Penn State out in Los Angeles. The gifted Penn State tight end had 17 receptions…SEVENTEEN…for 224 yards and a touchdown. On that touchdown, he actually snapped the ball to the backup QB, who then threw it to the starting QB, who then threw it to Warren, who went up over TWO USC defenders in the end zone for the touchdown catch. He caught 17 of Penn State QB Drew Allar’s 30 completions, just an amazing afternoon in sunny LA.

 Honorable mention National Player of the Week - Wisconsin RB Tawee Walker - The Badgers have outscored Purdue and Rutgers a combined 94-13 and Walker was the key in the 42-7 win this week over Rutgers. The Oklahoma transfer ran 24 times for 198 yards and three touchdowns in the Badgers win - don’t look now but Luke Fickell might have something going with Walker leading the way.

 Quick Kudos

…to Kansas State’s Triplets - QB Avery Johnson (15-23, 224 yards and two TD), RB D.J. Giddens (25 totes, 182 rushing yards) and WR Jayce Brown (six catches for 121 yards and two TD). BIG win over Colorado in Boulder 31-28

 …to UNLV for its fifth victory (now 5-1) in 2024, scoring 41 points in the first half in a 50-34 win over Utah State.

 …to Texas. That was a thorough beatdown in Dallas.

 …to Iowa State for a gritty 12-point win on the road in Morgantown to stay undefeated - 6-0

 …to Pitt for remaining undefeated 6-0 after a defensively driven win over Cal

 …to Vandy, again, this time on the road at Kentucky for the 20-13 win over the Cats

 …to Syracuse, I’ll bet that no one knows that the Orange are 5-1 with the only loss coming against Stanford on a Friday Night on the last play of the game. Orange coach Fran Brown is making his first year look real easy.

 …to Rice and QB E.J. Warner, throwing four TDs, including the game winner with four seconds left to beat UTSA 29-27.

 …to Washington State for its fifth win against one loss. The Cougars went to Fresno and took home a 25-17 win after Ethan O’Connor’s pick six in the fourth quarter.

 …to UL-Monroe and head coach Bryant Vincent. The Warhawks have one loss to Texas and that’s it. They beat Southern Miss 38-21 to get to 5-1.

 …to Army for a sixth straight win, a 44-10 hammering of UAB. The two service Academies - Army and Navy - are 11-0 and atop the American Athletic Conference.

 …to Penn State and TE Tyler Warren - man, WHAT A GAME from Warren. The Nittany Lions were dead to rights with just about three minutes left after a USC TD gave the Trojans the 30-23 lead. But, the Nittany Lions’ offense drove down to tie the game, winning it with a field goal in overtime.

 …to BYU, again, a dominating performance at home in a 41-19 win. DOMINATING.

 …to Cincinnati for winning twice as many Big 12 contests this year as they did in their inaugural year of 2023. The 19-13 win over UCF in Orlando was a huge road win for the Bearcats.

 Week 8’s Big games

#5 (5-1) Georgia at #1 (6-0) Texas - This is what it’s all about. Georgia goes on the road again, but this time can the Dawgs earn a big time win? The Dawgs didn’t have much luck in Tuscaloosa a few weeks ago, but now have a chance for retribution in Austin. But, Texas is the best team in the country, bar none, so this is going to be a football war.

 #7 (5-1) Alabama at #11 (5-1) Tennessee - The third Saturday in October has yet again become a must-see football event. Even though these two each have an ugly loss on the record, they have the potential of playing an all-timer in Knoxville yet again.

 #8 (5-1) LSU at (4-2) Arkansas - The Tigers came back from behind to beat top-ten ranked Ole Miss in Baton Rouge, so a trip to Arkansas is the WORST tonic from that hangover. The Hogs had the week off to prepare for LSU and play at home. Oh boy, this could get really interesting…again.

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