College football had a little bit of everything this week-a major upset in Death Valley, a nail-biter in Los Angeles, two heavyweight SEC battles, a come-from-behind win in the Red River rivalry, and a record-setting catch in New Hampshire.
In the biggest upset of the season, the unranked Arkansas Razorbacks beat the No. 2 Auburn Tigers on the Tigers' home turf. Playing in the stadium known as Death Valley, the Razorbacks did everything but struggle, coming away with a convincing 27-10 win. They made it look easy by rushing for 279 yards, with both their tailbacks, Felix Jones and Darren McFadden, surpassing the century mark.
With five minutes left in the first half, having just stopped the Tigers on a fourth-and-five inside their own territory and leading by only three, the Razorbacks broke the game open when McFadden outran the Tigers' defense on his way to a 63-yard touchdown. Auburn would not get within 10 points for the rest of the game, as Arkansas gained the inside track to the SEC West title.
The Washington Huskies nearly pulled off an upset of equal magnitude but ultimately ran out of time on No. 3 University of Southern California's 15-yard line. Having already surpassed their win total from the last two years combined, coach Tyrone Willingham tried to lead the Huskies to their fifth win of the season, but to no avail. Trailing 26-20 with 1:34 left, the Huskies drove to the USC 15 with a 19-yard completion, but their bid for an upset fell short when time expired.
In addition to the Auburn upset, the SEC featured two other equally entertaining marquee match-ups. The No. 5 Florida Gators outlasted the No. 9 Louisiana State University Tigers, 23-10, and the No. 13 Tennessee Volunteers trounced the No. 10 Georgia Bulldogs, 51-33.
Both contests had heavy implications for the SEC title game, thanks to Auburn's loss. LSU's loss dropped the Tigers to 4-2, two games back in the hunt for the SEC West title (behind the Razorbacks) and essentially out of contention for the national championship.
Meanwhile, Florida's victory kept the Gators in national title contention and on track to win the SEC East title with a 6-0 record thus far. In the other game, Tennessee came back from 10 points down at halftime to score 27 points in the fourth quarter, coming away with the win at Georgia. Tennessee and Georgia now sit with identical records at 5-1, one loss behind Florida in the SEC East.
In what has perennially become the biggest game of the Big 12 season, the Red River Rivalry featured the No. 7 Texas Longhorns and the No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners. Texas freshman quarterback Colt McCoy and OU running back Adrian Peterson shined brightest in this game. Prior to last year's win, which set the stage for them to advance to the National Championship, Texas had lost five Red River Rivalry games in a row. This time around, the Longhorns shifted the momentum. Trailing 10-7 at halftime, McCoy grabbed the offensive reins and guided Texas to 21 unanswered points in the second half, giving the Longhorns a 28-10 win.
The winner of this rivalry game is usually in the driver's seat for the Big 12 South title, and has been the Big 12 champion in four of the last six seasons. Texas now hopes that these trends continue.
On top of all the major marquee match-ups, some of the national spotlight this week shined on the small college town of Durham, N.H. It was there, of all places, that Jerry Rice's Div. I career receiving touchdown record was broken. Rice, a former Mississippi Valley State Devil, held the record for 22 years before New Hampshire Wildcats senior wide receiver David Ball surpassed the mark.
Ball caught a play-action pass in the back corner of the end zone for his 51st career touchdown, breaking the record he had tied three games earlier. In addition to setting the record, the touchdown also brought New Hampshire to within one point of the Richmond Spiders in the third quarter of a game that it eventually won 27-17.
