Football 2015 - Week 6

Bishop Kenny had a bye week. They remain at 3-2 for the season. Next game is at home against Yulee.

Bell continued their perfect season with a 34-27 loss to Richland. The good news is that the Blue Raiders actually led 27-20 in the fourth quarter before the Rebels tied it in regulation then won it in OT. Bell was helped by six Rebel turnovers, three fumbles and three interceptions. Even with that they couldn't pull out a victory. Raiders QB, Dominique Lawson accounted for 226 total yards, 110 passing and 116 rushing, with a passing and a rushing TD. Bell falls to 0-6, 0-2. It doesn't get any easier. Next game is the HEB rivalry with the 6-0, 2-0 Trinity Trojans. Bell is technically the home team this year, but Pennington Field is shared by both schools. Trinity is ranked #5 in the state in one poll. I predict a very ugly game.

After their off week, USF was anxious to get back to losing so they played a Friday game. They hosted the Memphis Tigers in their first AAC game of the season. South Florida led 10-0 in the second quarter but then stalled offensively. The Bulls got to within seven in the fourth quarter but threw an interception on their last possession. Final score was 24-17. USF managed 377 total yards fairly evenly divided between air and ground. The only turnover of the game was the interception in the last minute of the game. Same old story for the Bulls, OK defense, crappy offense. They are now 1-3, 0-1 this year. Next up is a home game against Syracuse. That will be an AAC vs ACC game.

It was a good day in Fort Worth. The once mighty Texas Longhorns were in town to play the once not so mighty #4 TCU Horned Frogs. Texas should have just stayed home in Austin. A no-show would have been less embarrassing. TCU dominated with a 50-7 win. It was 50-0 before Texas scored late in the game. The Frogs had over 600 total yards and have scored 50 or more points in the last four games. Boykin accounted for 384 yards and threw for five TDs. TCU's record moves to 5-0, 2-0. They now travel to Manhattan to play Kansas State in another Big 12 (only 10 teams) game with a lot of purple.

Now on to The Swamp. I must admit I didn't feel good about the #3 Ole Miss at #25 Florida matchup. The Rebels had beaten Alabama in Tuscaloosa just a couple of weeks ago. The Gators had been erratic and lucky in their previous games. Well, not to worry. Thanks to some mistakes and turnovers by Ole Miss and a strong Gators defense, Florida jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter and increased it to 25-0 by halftime. The third quarter was quiet with only a Rebels FG. The Gators scored two FGs and a TD in the fourth quarter to go up 38-3 before Mississippi finally scored a TD with about four minutes left in the game which ended 38-10. The statistics were very close for such a lopsided score. Total yards were only separated by 27, time of possession was within about 3½ minutes. Two statistics stand out. Florida converted 8 of 16 third downs chances, the Rebels only 5 of 14. The big difference though was Mississippi committed four turnovers. The Gators defense and the crowd in The Swamp deserve some credit for that. Now Florida has to travel to 4-1,1-1 Missouri for another SEC game.

The SEC was 4-0 in non-conference games although none of the opponents were top contenders. Other than the Gators over Rebels, #13 Alabama over #8 Georgia in Athens can be considered an upset, it too was 38-10. In the new AP Top 25 poll, the SEC has three teams in the top 10 and six total ranked teams. Florida moved up to #11.

It was a normal Sunday in the pro ranks. We'll start with Carolina at Tampa Bay game. Looks like #1 draft pick Jameis Winston is going to have one of those up and down rookie years. He has a bad game then a good game then an OK game. This was a bad outing. The good news is he threw two TDs, the bad news is he also threw four interceptions. One was returned for a Carolina TD. The Panthers also scored a TD on a fumble recovery. The Bucs outgained Carolina 411 to 244 yards but that wasn't enough to overcome five turnovers. Final score was 37-23 for the Panthers win. The Buccaneers fall to 1-3 and now get to host the equally inept Jaguars in an intrastate game. 

Jacksonville traveled to Indianapolis with a good chance to win a game. The Colts haven't been good this year plus their star QB, Andrew Luck, was out for the first time in his career. It looked good for much of the game but as usual the Jags were able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It was mostly a defensive battle that Jax led 13-10 at halftime. The third quarter was scoreless. Indy kicked a field goal early in the fourth quarter to tie the game. The Jaguars missed a FG with six seconds remaining in regulation that could have won the game. Instead Adam Vinatieri, who must be about 85 years old, kicked a FG in OT for the 16-13 Colts win. Jacksonville won the statistical battle including turnovers. They had none, and Indy had two. Still the Jags lost. They simply can not score. Jacksonville is now 1-3 and next go to Tampa Bay to play the challenged 1-3 Bucs. Somebody has to win that game, right?

The good news is that Atlanta continues their winning ways. They had a rather easy time with Houston in a 48-21 win. The game wasn't actually even that close. The Falcons led 42-0 after three quarters. Overall statistics weren't that much different except for two telling items. Atlanta led time of possession by almost 12 minutes and the Texans had four turnovers. The Falcons are one of six still undefeated teams. Their undefeated season should continue for at least one more week as they host Washington. 

Overall a pretty good week. I expect USF, Jacksonville and Tampa Bay to lose most weeks. TCU, I expect to win. The pleasant surprises have been the undefeated Gators and Falcons. 

wjh