Tuesday, September 26, 2006

OSM{Mississippi State} 16, UAB 10

Congratulations to Mississippi State for passing the Shame Mask along to UAB with their thrilling 16-10 win in overtime. The win was their first of the season, but it allowed them to only spend one week in the Shame Mask. The Bulldogs pulled ahead 10-7 with a fourth quarter touchdown, but then with less than two minutes left, they allowed a tying field goal sending the game to overtime. UAB went first in the overtime period by threw an interception, allowing Mississippi State to win with a 21-yard touchdown run by QB Omar Connor.

For 1-3 UAB, it was their first loss to a team not ranked 10th in the nation. (Oklahoma and Georgia. Their win was over East Carolina.) They host another quarterback named Omar next week when 1-3 Troy comes to Birmingham, led by Omar Hougabook. Troy's only win was over I-AA Alabama State, and are losers of three straight including most recently a 56-0 loss to Nebraska.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

OSM(Tulane) 32, Mississippi State 29

Congratulations Tulane! You've just ended an eight game losing streak, beaten your first SEC team on the road since 1989, and passed the Shame Mask along to Mississippi State.

In Starkville, Tulane jumped out to a big lead (they were playing Mississippi State after all), but things were not all roses for the Green Wave. Up 14-0 in the second quarter, they allowed Mississippi State to score a touchdown before halftime. It was the Bulldogs first points of the season. Then in the third quarter, Tulane score three TDs, but unfortunately their kicker missed the PAT on each of them, and so their lead at the end of the third quarter was 32-7. Mississippi State then returned a fumble for a touchdown, which sparked a rally. Their offense score two more, but in the end, the rally fell short.

Winless Mississippi State travels to UAB next week.

GGSM(New Mexico State) 48, Texas Southern 14

New Mexico State is proving to be a real Division I-AA powerhouse. Too bad the Aggies play in Division I-A. After opening the season with a 30-15 win over I-AA Southeast Louisiana, New Mexico State beat up on I-AA Texas Southern this week.

Aggies QB Chase Holbrook is putting up some very nice numbers so far in this season. Only one quarterback in the nation, Texas Tech's Graham Harrell, has attempted or completed more passes during the first three weeks of the season, but Holbrook's 1200 yards is 278 more than Harrell's and 235 more than second place, BYU's John Beck. Holbrook's 9 TD passes trail only the 10 of Florida's Chris Leak. Of course, Harrell, Beck, and Leak have done their work against only I-A opponents.

The Aggies are off next week. I mean they don't play. It seems that something's off with them ever week. In two weeks they play UTEP.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

New Mexico 34, GGSM(New Mexico St) 28

The Aggies put up a valiant fight against New Mexico, losers to I-AA Portland State last week, but in the end, they came up short. Aggies' QB Chase Holbrook was 37-57 for 470 yards with 4 TDs and one INT. How does one throw for 470 yards and still lose? Having your team lose all 4 fumbles helps, especially when the fumble ends an 18 play, 89 yard drive. Rushing for an average of 1.9 yards per carry helps as well.

New Mexico State did have an early lead and trailed only by 3 during the second quarter before New Mexico jumped out to a 34-14 lead with 10:20 left. The Aggies began to rally, but their final drive ran out of steam, leaving them 6 points short.

Next up for New Mexico State, another I-AA opponent Texas Southern.

Houston 45, OSM(Tulane) 7

Tulane's first chance to dislodge the Shame Mask did not go well. The Green Wave gave up 45 points and over 600 yards of total offense to the Cougars, while converting only 2 of 13 third down attempts. They had only 55 yards rushing on 23 tries, and of their 168 yards passing, 49 of them were on one play, their only touchdown of the night. It was their 9th loss in a row.

Friday, September 01, 2006

New Mexico State 30, Southeastern Louisiana 15

The Aggies of New Mexico State opened the 2006 campaign with a I-AA tune up against Southeastern Louisiana, and they got a win to show for it. Good enough to snap their 13-game losing streak, but not to dislodge the Golden Gopher Shame Mask. The Aggies did however lose 4 fumbles and commit 16 penalties for 162 yards. Next up, they will have a chance to get rid of the mask when in-state rival New Mexico comes down to Las Cruces. The Lobos were 6-5 last year, including a 38-21 victory over New Mexico State.


In other Aggie news, head coach Hal Mumme was sued by three former players for discriminating against them because of their Muslim beliefs.