Week 5: National college notebook

Georgia Tech — Can you name a team with three better road wins over the last two years than Georgia Tech? Last season, the Jackets won at Auburn and Miami on their way to a 7–5 season. And last Saturday, Chan Gailey’s club topped Virginia Tech 38–27 in Lane Stadium to avenge last year’s 51–7 debacle in Blacksburg. Georgia Tech is 4–1 and looks poised to break its streak of four straight seasons with exactly seven wins.

Rice — Five days after the death of freshman defensive back Dale Loyd, the Rice Owls recorded their first win of the 2006 season, rolling past Army 48–14 in West Point. Rice, which has made the difficult transition from an option-based offense to a spread attack under first-year coach Todd Graham, was led by quarterback Chase Clement. The sophomore completed 29-of-39 attempts for 299 yards and a school-record five touchdowns. He also rushed for 64 yards on 11 carries.

Ohio State — The Buckeyes showed once again why they are the nation’s top-ranked team. Playing a talented Iowa club in a hostile environment, Troy Smith & Co. rolled up 400 yards of offense in a 38–17 win over the Hawkeyes.

Disappointments of the Week

Utah — The Utes have had two opportunities to record a statement win this season — and they have failed miserably both times. First, there was a 31–10 opening-day loss at UCLA. Most recent was an embarrassing 36–3 loss at home to Boise State. The Utes were outgained 398–178 en route to the program’s most lopsided home loss since 1989. Utah quarterbacks Brett Ratliff and Tommy Grady combined to complete 8-of-27 passes for 51 yards, with no touchdowns and four interceptions.

Indiana — The Hoosiers have had to deal with more than their share of problems this year — injuries, illnesses, etc. — but their play on the field has been very disappointing. After opening with a solid win over Western Michigan, the Hoosiers had to rally to defeat Ball State 24–23. Then came a loss to I-AA Southern Illinois, followed by a loss at home to Connecticut. And last Saturday, in coach Terry Hoeppner’s return from brain surgery, IU was pounded 52–17 by Wisconsin. The Badgers led 35–0 at the half and 52–0 after three quarters before shifting into cruise control.

Michigan State — Which is worse, losing a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter to Notre Dame, or losing to Illinois at home? Good question. I’d have to go with the latter. Illinois had not won a Big Ten game since defeating Indiana in November 2004 and had not won a league game on the road since ’02.

Player of the Week
Garrett Wolfe, Northern Illinois — Wolfe is forcing college football observers to include him in the Heisman Trophy discussion after rushing for 353 yards and three touchdown on 31 carries in the Huskies’ 40–28 win over Ball State. Wolfe leads the nation with 236.2 yards per game on an astounding 9.3-yard average.

Freshman of the Week
Juice Williams, Illinois — Williams threw for 122 yards and one touchdown and ran for 103 yards (on a 6.1-yard average) to lead Illinois to the stunning upset in East Lansing. On Illinois’ game-winning drive, the prized recruit from Chicago completed 3-of-3 passes for 33 yards and rushed for 12 yards as the Illini marched 58 yards on 10 plays in 2:35 to set up Jason Reda’s 39-yard field goal. 
 
Beck on target
You won’t find his name on any Heisman lists, but there are very few quarterbacks enjoying a better season than BYU’s John Beck. Through four games — he missed one game with an injury — the senior has completed 68.2 percent of his passes for 1,286 yards, with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. Those numbers would no doubt be more impressive had Beck played against Utah State, one of the nation’s worst defensive teams.

In last Thursday’s upset win at TCU, Beck completed 23-of-37 attempts for 321 yards and three touchdowns. Earlier this year, he threw for 436 yards in a double-overtime loss at Boston College and threw for 289 in a loss at Arizona.

Devil of a time on offense
Duke, which was shut out for the third time this season, leapfrogged Temple, which exploded for 14 points in a 43–14 loss at Vanderbilt, into last place in the national scoring rankings. The Blue Devils have scored 13 points this season, 11 fewer than Temple and 28 fewer than Utah State, which has also been shut out three times.

A Blow for A&M
Texas A&M desperately wants to be thought of as one of the elite programs in the nation. That, however, can’t happen until the Aggies play their way out of the second division of the Big 12 South. They had a great opportunity for a statement win Saturday in College Station but lost a 31–27 heartbreaker to Texas Tech on a 37-yard Graham Harrell to Robert Johnson touchdown in the final minute. Under entertaining head coach Mike Leach, the Red Raiders have passed A&M on the Big 12 food chain due in part to their six wins in the past seven years in this underrated rivalry.