Pac-12 Notes – Nebraska

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Pac-12 Notes – Nebraska Week

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September 8th

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UCLA 0-2 after first-ever loss to San Diego State

From ESPN … Ryan Agnew passed for a career-high 293 yards and a touchdown, Matt Araiza kicked three field goals and San Diego State defeated UCLA 23-14 on Saturday, marking the Aztecs’ first win over the Bruins.

It is San Diego State’s fifth victory over a Pac-12 team since 2016, but it was 0-21-1 against UCLA coming into the game.

Agnew completed 23 of 31 passes while Kobe Smith had seven receptions for 131 yards and a score.

… Continue reading story here …

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No. 14 Washington stunned at home by Cal, 20-19

From ESPN … It took until early Sunday morning before California could run onto the field in celebration, party with the few Golden Bears fans still hanging around and enjoy another victory over Washington.

Greg Thomas kicked a 17-yard field goal with 8 seconds left, and California beat No. 14 Washington 20-19 in a game delayed more than 2 1/2 hours due to severe weather.

The Pac-12 Conference opener for the schools ended up being a strange night on the shore of Lake Washington, capped by Thomas’ short field goal, giving the Golden Bears (2-0, 1-0 Pac-12) the shocking victory.

A severe thunder and lightning storm delayed the game early in the first quarter and left only a smattering of fans waiting out the lengthy delay when the game resumed at 10:30 p.m. and finally ended at 1:22 a.m.

It was only the Bears’ fans cheering in a corner of the mostly empty stadium when the clock hit zero after knocking off the Huskies for the second straight year.

… Continue reading story here …

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Freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis propels USC past No. 23 Stanford 45-20 

From ESPN … Not many freshmen get to climb the stepladder, hold up the sword and lead the Southern California band in a postgame victory party at the Coliseum.

No Trojans freshman quarterback has ever had a debut start like Kedon Slovis, who turned a tough matchup against Stanford into a celebration of his burgeoning talent.

Slovis passed for 377 yards and three touchdowns in a commanding performance, and USC rolled to a 45-20 victory over the No. 23 Cardinal on Saturday night.

Slovis went 28 of 33 and set the school record for yards passing in a freshman’s first start as the Trojans (2-0, 1-0 Pac-12) rallied from an early 14-point deficit to beat the Cardinal (1-1, 1-1) for the third time in the California private schools’ last four meetings.

… Continue reading story here …

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September 7th

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Arizona State struggles with last place Big Sky Conference opponent

From ESPN … Arizona State’s Eno Benjamin slipped into an open area across the middle, sprinted past a defender and into the end zone for a long fourth-quarter touchdown.

Until that big play, the Sun Devils seemed bogged down in the desert sand, unable to get out of their own way.

Struggling against an FCS opponent wasn’t exactly what they had in mind for a Top 25 tuneup.

Benjamin caught a 72-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, Cristian Zendejas kicked four field goals and Arizona State labored to a 19-7 win over Sacramento State on Friday night.

“We can’t play offense on our heels,” Arizona State coach Herm Edwards said. “That’s what it looked like a lot of tonight.”

Arizona State (2-0) overcame inexperience — 25 freshmen saw action — with a convincing 30-7 opening win against Kent State.

The Sun Devils saw Friday night’s game as a chance to clean up a few things with a road game against No. 19 Michigan State next.

Instead, they had a few growing pains against the Hornets (1-1) after beating them 55-0 in the teams’ only other meeting.

Arizona State’s offense sputtered, plagued by off-target passes, drops and an ineffective running game against a team ranked 115th in total defense last season — in the FCS.

… Continue reading story here …

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September 6th

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The Experts: Predictions for No. 25 Nebraska at CU weigh heavily in favor of Buffs

From Stewart Mandel at The Athletic … The Huskers’ opener against South Alabama did not exactly inspire confidence. Maybe it was just Week 1 rust, but the grand improvement we’ve been expecting from Scott Frost Year 1 to Scott Frost Year 2 was not evident. Colorado meanwhile laid 52 on Colorado State in Mel Tucker’s debut. Tough call, but … Colorado 34, Nebraska 31

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From YardBarker.com … Colorado won a wild affair a year ago, 33-28, in Lincoln. It was a coming-out party of sorts for Buffaloes receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. (10 receptions, 177 yards).The Cornhuskers didn’t exactly cruise against South Alabama at home (amassing just 276 total yards in the 35-21 win) last weekend.

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From Jon Wilner at the San Jose Mercury News … Nebraska (minus-3.5) at Colorado: Line opened with the Cornhuskers favored by more than a touchdown. We saw enough from CU in Week One and not enough from Nebraska, which struggled to put away South Alabama, to presume drama down the stretch. Last year in Lincoln, Montez-to-Shenault with one minute remaining was the difference. This year, it will be Montez to, um, Shenault. Pick: Colorado.

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At CBS Sports … Out of the panel of seven experts, six took Colorado and the points (+3.5). Only one expert, Chip Patterson, picked Nebraska to cover …

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From College Football News … Now THOSE are the Buffs that rocked and rolled throughout the first half of last season.

WR Laviska Shenault only caught three passes against Colorado State, but he scored. QB Steven Montez missed a few key throws, but he was good enough, and the offensive line destroyed the Ram defensive front as Alex Fontenot ripped off 125 yards and three scores.

Can the defense hold up if Nebraska’s offense wakes up?

The Huskers were tentative, ineffective, and shockingly ineffective against South Alabama, coming up with just 276 total yards, averaging just 2.2 yards per carry, and getting next to nothing out of Adrian Martinez. The firepower is there, but it didn’t show up against USA. Now it has to prove it can keep up in a shootout.

What’s Going to Happen … Nebraska’s offense will make the trip to Boulder, and it still won’t be enough.

Last year’s 33-28 Colorado win over the Huskers had a slew of wild mood swings and momentum changes, and this one will be the same way. Both quarterbacks will go off, both offenses will hit plenty of home runs, and in the end, Colorado will be a bit better and more consistent late.

The Buff defense that came up with four takeaways against Colorado State will step it up in the second half, slowing down two key Husker drives.

… Prediction … Colorado 37, Nebraska 34

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September 5th

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Stanford QB Costello ruled out for USC game 

From ESPN … Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello will not play on Saturday against USC, coach David Shaw announced Thursday.

The senior quarterback exited just before halftime of last week’s 17-7 win against Northwestern after receiving a hit to the head. Redshirt sophomore Davis Mills will start in his place.

Costello was going into a sliding motion against Northwestern when he absorbed a forearm to the head, but the play did not draw a targeting penalty.

Mills, ESPN’s No. 2-ranked ranked pocket passer in the Class of 2017, was 7-for-14 for 81 yards in relief of Costello, a second-team All-Pac-12 selection last year.

USC will start true freshman Kedon Slovis at quarterback after starter JT Daniels was lost for the season with a torn ACL and meniscus during Saturday’s win against Fresno State.

Shaw also announced earlier this week that All-America-caliber left tackle Walker Little will be out until at least midseason due to a lower body injury suffered against Northwestern.

… Continue reading story here …

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Fresno State (CU opponent in 2020) picks up Washington transfer quarterback

From ESPN … Fresno State has added quarterback Jake Haener, a transfer from Washington who competed for the Huskies’ starting job this past offseason.

Haener enrolled at Fresno State on Tuesday and has joined the team, a spokesman confirmed to ESPN. He will sit out the 2019 season under NCAA transfer rules and have two years of eligibility left. Haener left Washington on Aug. 24, a day after coach Chris Petersen announced that Georgia transfer Jacob Eason had edged out Haener for the starting job.

After Haener left Washington, sources told ESPN that Fresno State was the likely destination for the Danville, California, native. Haener, who appeared in four games for Washington last year as Jake Browning’s backup, knew Bulldogs coach Jeff Tedford from the recruiting process.

Fresno State likely will need a new quarterback in 2020, as current starter Jorge Reyna is a senior.

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September 4th

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CBS Bottom 25 includes UCLA, Oregon State, and CSU

From CBS Sports … Now, for those of you reading the Bottom 25 for the first time as well as those who may have forgotten, let me remind you how all of this works. None of these rankings are based on my opinion. I have a formula I use to rank all 130 FBS teams that’s based on several different statistical factors, none of which are more important than wins and losses. Also, unlike a lot of other ranking systems, mine are done in a total vacuum. There are no biases here — every single team starts at the same place. It doesn’t matter what they did last year or the previous decade, nor does it matter how they’re recruiting class fared. All that matters is what they do on the field during the games, whether they win or lose, and how well they play while achieving that result.

In other words, Clemson starts the season with the same rating as UTEP.

Now, this can lead to some wonky results early, but they only look wonky because they don’t meet your expectations. What I’ve found over the years while doing these rankings is that the longer the season goes, the more closely the rankings reflect the general consensus. It also shows the biases in human polls that most voters aren’t typically aware exist, as Power Five schools with bigger brand names tend to be rated much higher than Group of Five schools that are having good seasons in human polls. My rating system shows much more love to those smaller schools. That’s what happens when a ranking system is performance-based and not expectations-based.

No. 22 – UCLA ... Since leaving Oregon following the 2012 season, Chip Kelly has coached the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and now the UCLA Bruins. Following Thursday night’s loss to Cincinnati, he’s 31-45 since leaving the Ducks. He was 46-7 at Oregon.

No. 20 – Oregon State … The Beavers are no stranger to the Bottom 25, and though they looked feisty early, they couldn’t hang with Oklahoma State over 60 minutes. To be fair, that Oklahoma State offense looked like a unit that’s going to cause a lot of teams trouble in 2019, so allowing 52 points against it might not look as bad in a month or so.

No. 14 – Colorado State … It’s never fun to lose by 21 points in your season-opener, and it’s even less so when it’s coming against your state rival. The Rams get Western Illinois next after allowing a 50-burger against the Buffs.

… Read full list here …

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September 3rd

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CU will play a ranked team Saturday – Nebraska holds onto No. 25 spot in AP poll

… Related … Nebraska, which was just outside of the Coaches preseason poll (at No. 26), actually moved into the USA Today/coaches poll at No. 25 this week .. 

From ESPN … The Auburn Tigers moved up to 10th in the Associated Press college football poll after defeating Oregon in a thriller Saturday.

The Tigers moved up six spaces after their 27-21 victory over Oregon on freshman quarterback Bo Nix’s touchdown pass to Seth Williams with nine seconds remaining.

Oregon, which was the only Top 25 team to lose Saturday, dropped from 11th to 16th.

The Top 25 went 23-0 against unranked teams to open the season, leaving the rankings mostly unchanged: No. 1 Clemson and No. 2 Alabama are at the top of the first regular-season AP college football poll of 2019.

… No. 24 Boise State was the only team to move into the rankings this week, but in a quirk, no team fell out. There was a tie at No. 25 between Nebraska and Iowa State. The Broncos are ranked again after rallying from 18 points down to beat Florida State on the road Saturday.

The last time there were 26 teams in the Top 25 with a tie for the final spot was Nov. 18, 2012. The last time a full schedule of college football was played and no teams fell out of the rankings was Nov. 6, 2016.

The Associated Press Top 25:

1. Clemson
2. Alabama
3. Georgia
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. LSU
7. Michigan
8. Notre Dame
9. Texas
10. Auburn
11. Florida
12. Texas A&M
13. Utah … moved up one spot
14. Washington … moved down one spot
15. Penn State
16. Oregon … moved down five spots
17. Wisconsin
18. UCF
19. Michigan State
20. Iowa
21. Syracuse
22. Washington State … moved up one spot
23. Stanford … moved up two spots
24. Boise State
25t. Nebraska … moved down one spot
25t. Iowa State

Others receiving votes: Virginia 73, TCU 61, Mississippi State 50, Cincinnati 48, Army 31, Miami 10, Oklahoma State 8, Memphis 6, Appalachian State 4, Arizona State 4, Minnesota 2, North Carolina 1, USC 1, Boston College 1

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Buffs move up to No. 8 in Jon Wilner’s Pac-12 Power Rankings

Related … “Sunday Afternoon Quarterback” … with my Pac-12 Power Rankings

From the San Jose Mercury News … Now, it’s time for the annual overreaction edition of the Week One power ratings …

1. Utah (1-0)
Result: Won at Brigham Young 30-12
Next up: vs. Northern Illinois
Comment: In mid-season form in August, USC’s without its quarterback and nobody else within the division has the horses. Next stop: Levi’s Stadium on the first Friday of December. And from there, on to the Granddaddy.

8. Colorado (1-0)
Result: Beat Colorado State 52-31
Next up: vs. Nebraska
Comment: Laviska Shenault’s healthy … the offensive line is better than expected … the division is a mess. Why in the name of Air Montez can’t the Buffs make a run at second place?

10. UCLA (0-1)
Result: Lost at Cincinnati 24-14
Next up: vs. San Diego State
Comment: Maybe Chip really has lost it

… Read full list here …

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Pac-12 betting lines – Only CU and Oregon State are non-conference underdogs in Week Two

From 5Dimes.com … Five Pac-12 teams are three-touchdown or better favorites …

Friday

— Arizona State … a 33.5-point favorite at home against Sacramento State … 8:00 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks

Saturday 

— Utah … a 23.0-point favorite at home against Northern Illinois … 11:00 a.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks

— Colorado … a 5.0-point underdog at home against Nebraska … 1:30 p.m., MT, Fox

— UCLA … a 7.5-point favorite at home against San Diego State … 2:15 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks

— Washington State … a 38.5-point favorite at home against Northern Illinois … 3:00 p.m., MT

— Oregon … a 23.5-point favorite at home against Nevada … 5:30 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks

— Washington … a 14.0-point favorite at home against Cal … 8:30 p.m., MT, FS1

— USC … a 3.5-point favorite at home against Stanford … 8:30 p.m., MT, ESPN

— Arizona … a 26.0-point favorite at home against Northern Arizona … 8:45 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks

— Oregon State … a 4.5-point underdog on the road against Hawai’i … 10:00 p.m., MT

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September 2nd

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Scott Frost: “If our players feel like they should have won, that’s the way they should feel”

From Huskers.com … Nebraska football is preparing to hit the road for the first time of the 2019 season.

Coach Scott Frost met with the media on Monday following the Huskers’ 35-21 win over South Alabama. He spent just around 15 minutes at the podium, discussing everything from how the offense—and quarterback Adrian Martinez—performed, Colorado and plenty more. (Watch press conference here).

Let’s take a quick look at what Frost said during his time at the podium.

>> What does Frost want to see from Martinez going forward?

“When Adrian takes off running I want to see an I-back in a quarterback uniform,” Frost said.

>> How did Nebraska play against Colorado last season?

“We didn’t play real well, so if our players feel like they should have won, that’s the way they should feel,” he said.

He doesn’t like the idea of using something like Martinez’s injury as motivation. Frost noted that it’s a different staff at Colorado this year, which is important. However, he also acknowledged that there’s always more “juice” for Nebraska’s matchups with Colorado.

>> Memories of playing at Colorado?

“I think it’s a good scene for college football,” Frost said.

… Continue reading story here …

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ESPN: Questions remain for Nebraska, UCLA, and USC

From ESPN … Early answers to college football’s biggest offseason questions …

Nebraska Question: The Huskers are back, right?

Partial answer: Probably not.

After winning four of its final six games in coach Scott Frost’s debut season, Nebraska’s expectations were considerably ratcheted up this offseason. But this is still a young team with a sophomore quarterback (albeit an exciting one), new players in the skill corps and a defense looking for answers. On Saturday against South Alabama, the Huskers scored on an interception return, a punt return and a fumble recovery. Despite that, they managed to beat the Jags by only a 35-21 margin, after being outgained by 38 yards and averaging a paltry 4.2 yards per play in the process. (South Alabama ranked 123rd in defensive SP+ last year, by the way.)

We shouldn’t ring any alarm bells yet — let’s see what NU does at Colorado this weekend — but Saturday was a reminder that building jobs don’t always fall perfectly into place the way Frost’s UCF build did.

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UCLA Question: Is quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson ready to lead a second-year scoring breakthrough for head coach Chip Kelly?

Partial answer: Probably not.

Justin Fields will be the second blue-chip sophomore Cincinnati faces this year, but the Bearcats did quite a bit of damage against the first one: Thompson-Robinson. He made their job pretty easy, though.

UCLA entered the season as one of the biggest mysteries in FBS, but Thompson-Robinson basically picked up where he left off as a freshman. The last time we saw him, he was going 9-for-23 with a 94 passer rating against Oregon. On Thursday, he went 8-for-26 with a 91. He also let the ball squirt out of his hands, unforced, in two different failed red zone opportunities, and the Bruins fell 24-14.

Fumbles are random occurrences, but at this point, inefficient performances from DTR are not. And now he has to face an always-tricky and physical San Diego State defense before games against ranked Oklahoma and Washington State. Yikes.

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USC Question: Did hiring offensive coordinator Graham Harrell fix the Trojans’ sketchy offense?

Partial answer: Maybe, but now he has to do it again.

Things couldn’t possibly have started better for Harrell and the Trojans’ offense. With nary a third-down conversion required, quarterback JT Daniels led touchdown drives of 81 and 47 yards as USC hopped to an immediate 14-0 lead over Fresno State.

USC scored on only one of its next five drives, though, and then Daniels was lost for the season with a knee injury. Freshman backup Kedon Slovis led one scoring drive, and the run game was sturdy enough — Vavae Malepeai and Stephen Carr rushed 29 times for 190 yards — to get the job done in a 31-23 win. Still, the shine wore off a bit after a spectacular start. And now Harrell has to help the Trojans manufacture points, with a freshman QB, against a killer quintet of games: Stanford, at BYU, Utah, at Washington, at Notre Dame

… Read full story here …

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September 1st

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USC’s J.T. Daniels out for the season

From TrojanMaven … JT Daniels will be out for the season with a torn ACL and meniscus, per sources.

… Continue reading story here …

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August 31st

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USC defeats Fresno State, 31-23, but loses quarterback J.T. Daniels

… Related … “USC quotable: Trojan players, coaches talk win over Fresno State, JT Daniels injury” … from the Orange County Register

From ESPN … When J.T. Daniels left the field unable to put weight on his right leg, the quarterback’s Southern California teammates understandably fell into a funk that lasted through halftime.

Velus Jones Jr.’s magnificent kickoff return finally roused the Trojans to persevere for a gritty opening win in a season that looks uncertain.

Vavae Malepeai rushed for a career-high 134 yards and Jones returned a kickoff 101 yards for a score in a 31-23 victory over Fresno State on Saturday night.

Daniels passed for 215 yards before getting hurt on a blitz 27 seconds before halftime. The sophomore returned to the sideline on crutches with a brace on his right knee for the second half, and the Trojans say they won’t know the extent of his injury before an MRI exam Sunday morning.

Coach Clay Helton called the injury “gut-wrenching, when you see a kid that’s poured so much into the game and into this team. … I hope we get the best results tomorrow and see where it lies.”

Freshman backup Kedon Slovis passed for 57 yards in his debut for the Trojans (1-0), who opened a high-pressure season for Helton with a major injury overshadowing strong performances across the rest of the Air Raid-style offense installed by new coordinator Graham Harrell.

… Continue reading story here …

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No. 11 Oregon falls to No. 16 Auburn, 27-21, on last-minute touchdown

… Related … “Game, clock management questions of Mario Cristobal arise again” … From The Oregonian

From ESPN … Bo always knows at Auburn, even a true freshman quarterback by that name.

After barely converting a fourth down with a gutsy run in the final minute, Bo Nix threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Seth Williams with 9 seconds remaining as the 16th-ranked Tigers rallied for a 27-21 win over No. 11 Oregon on Saturday night.

“He has some savviness to him, there’s no doubt,” coach Gus Malzahn said of the young quarterback. “When the game is on the line, you’ve got to make plays, and that’s the one thing he showed.”

On fourth-and-3, Nix rolled to the right, then tucked and pushed forward. Only the nose of the ball, sitting at midfield, was past the chain when officials measured for a first down.

“Play of the game,” Malzahn said.

“When I saw him run and saw him scrambling, I thought he was going to throw the ball to me,” running back JaTarvious Whitlow said. “And then I saw him stick those feet in the ground and cut up. I was like, `You better get it. You better get it man!”

And Nix wasn’t done. On third-and-10 from the Oregon 39 and no timeouts, he hit Williams for 13 yards. The receiver got out of bounds with 16 seconds left, with Tigers already in field goal range. But the play-calling head coach wanted to give Williams the chance to make another play — and Nix delivered to put Auburn ahead for the first time.

The Tigers, who trailed 21-6 late in the third quarter, delivered another early blow to the Pac-12. They beat the Pac-12’s highest-ranked team in a season opener for the second year in a row — No. 6 Washington lost to them 21-16 in Atlanta last year.

“Tough, really tough one,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said.

… Continue reading story here …

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Air Force rolls Colgate, 48-7, in only game before facing Colorado

From ESPN … Air Force was in no rush to pass. So the Falcons just rushed their way to a runaway win.

Donald Hammond III scored three of Air Force’s seven rushing touchdowns and the Falcons ran their record to 24-0 against teams from the Football Championship Subdivision by beating Colgate 48-7 on Saturday.

Kadin Remsberg added two scores for Air Force, which moved to 13-0 in season openers under coach Troy Calhoun. The Falcons didn’t throw a pass until the third quarter — their only attempt of the game. There was no need to air it out as they amassed 423 yards on the ground. Fullback Taven Birdow gained 80 yards to lead a balanced rushing attack.

“We were more physical than them. They weren’t ready for us to be physical with them,” Hammond said. “They were playing kind of soft so we shoved it down their throat.”

With lightning in the area at halftime, the crowd was encouraged to head to their cars and wait out the approximately 30-minute delay. Many didn’t return with the score already 35-0.

Air Force’s defense did its part with an interception, fumble recovery, two sacks and a fourth-down stop. It all added up to a long afternoon for Colgate (0-2), the preseason pick to win the Patriot League. Quarterback Grant Breneman and the Raiders avoided a shutout late in the third when Breneman found Nick Gill for a 13-yard score.

A play that typified the day for Colgate was late in the first half when the ball was snapped over the head of Breneman and recovered by Air Force linebacker Lakota Wills. Hammond scored on the next play from a yard out to give the Falcons a commanding 35-0 lead.

“It felt like we were really in control of the situation the whole game,” Remsberg said.

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No. 25 Stanford beats Northwestern, 17-7, but quarterback K.J. Costello knocked out of the game

From ESPN … K.J. Costello threw a 2-yard touchdown pass before getting knocked out of the season opener on a late hit and No. 25 Stanford went on to beat Northwestern 17-7 on Saturday.

Costello completed 16 of 20 passes for 152 yards and the TD pass to Michael Wilson that capped a 90-yard drive in the second quarter for the Cardinal (1-0). But his day ended early when he was hit with a forearm to the facemask while sliding on a scramble by Earnest Brown IV with just 2 seconds remaining in the first half.

Brown was called for a late hit that set up Jet Toner’s 51-yard field goal but wasn’t ejected for targeting. Costello stayed down on the turf for a few minutes before being helped to the locker room. He didn’t return to the game and there was no immediate word on his condition.

Northwestern also lost a quarterback with TJ Green leaving with a leg injury in the third quarter after being sacked and losing a fumble on a play in the red zone. Green had replaced the ineffective former Clemson five-star recruit Hunter Johnson late in the first half.

Johnson came back in to finish and went 6 for 17 for 55 yards and two interceptions. He also lost a fumble that Stanford’s Jordan Fox recovered in the end zone for a touchdown that sealed the game with 20 seconds remaining.

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This post, about the Nebraska game, from the 2019 Season, is filed under Article.
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