Florida Atlantic Owls 55, OSM{Florida International} 23

November, 24--Rather than dwell on the details of Florida International's 23 consecutive loss--okay, I do want to point out a couple things about the streak. Coming into the game, FIU's 22-game streak was tied with Duke's streak that ended earlier this year for the 9th longest ever. Now they are tied for 7th with Duke (1999-02) and Nothern Illinois (1996-98).

Now back to this season, and specifically, what must Florida International do next week against 2-9 North Texas in order not to finish last in the nation in various categories:

Wins: Currently last with 0. Duke, Minnesota, SMU, and Idaho all have only one victory this season. SMU's only win was over North Texas. Idaho's only win was over a I-AA team.

Points Scored per game: Currently last at 13.0. Notre Dame, Syracuse, and Temple are all tied for next-to-last at 16.4. To tie them, FIU needs 54 points, or 26 more than they have scored in any single game this season. However, working in their favor is the fact that North Texas is last in scoring defense and they allow 45.7 points per game and have allowed 66 or more points three times.

Points Allowed per game: Currently next-to-next-to-last with 39.8. As long as North Texas does not beat FIU by more than 53 points, FIU will not be last in points allowed.

Rushing Yards per game: Currently 20th from last with 119. It would have to be a truly historic loss with FIU rushing for -576 yards to finish worse than Texas Tech's 61.42 yards per game.

Passing Yards per game: Currently next-to-next-to-last with They must pass for -135 to let Air Force pass them, and also have Navy out pass them by approximately 325 yards.

Total Offense per game: Currently next-to-last with 262.91 yards per game. They need 228 yards to guarantee that Notre Dame will have fewer yards per game.

They also need to not lose 4 or more fumbles to not lead the nation in most fumbles lost.

Louisiana-Lafeyette 38, OSM{Florida International} 28

November 17--Florida International led 21-14 early in the first quarter against the Ragin' Cajuns, but by halftime, Louisiana-Lafayette had a lead that they would never relinquish.

I don't know how to parse this. Florida International allowed 287 yards rushing. However, considering that Louisiana-Lafayette is 6th in the nation in rushing averaging 251.4 yards per game, this is perhaps not so bad. Lousiana-Lafayette was the third of the top 20 teams in rushing yardage per game that FIU has played this season, but they were the only one to surpass their season average against the Golden Panthers. Arkansas (4th at 296.8) had only 249, and Louisiana-Monroe (16th at 209.0) had only 160. The only other team that FIU held below its season average was 67th-ranked Maryland, which had only 135 against FIU. I find it interesting that while FIU has been outrushed by each of its opponents this season by at least 23 yards in every game, three of their five highest rushing totals were against these three teams in the top 20 in rushing. The best of these came this week against Louisiana-Lafayette when FIU had 264 yards, 105 more than any other game this season. In fact, A'mod Ned's 152 yards are the most by any Golden Panther this season, and QB Wayne Younger's 99 are the third most. Also, each player rushed for his second touchdown of the season, giving the team a total of 5 for the season. Maybe they should try to schedule more teams that run the ball very well?

GGSM{Utah State} 31, New Mexico State

Today is November 17. One year ago tomorrow, the Aggies of New Mexico State beat the Aggies of Utah State to give Utah State the Golden Gopher Shame Mask. Utah State had not won a game since. Until today, when Utah State exacted their revenge, forcing New Mexico State to take it back. But lets not dwell on New Mexico State. There will be plenty of time to mock them later. It is now finally time to praise Utah State.

New Mexico State scored a touchdown in the final two minutes of the first half to take a 10-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. Utah State rallied however with quarterback/punter Leon Jackson III threw 26- and 24-yard touchdown passes to tight end Rob Myers to give Utah State a 24-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. Myers caught 4 of Jackson's 14 completions but they accounted for 117 of Jackson's 182 yards and both of his touchdowns.

New Mexico State was not done, and they countered with a touchdown of their own. However, this was when wide receiver/kick returner Kevin Robinson returned the following kickoff for an 82-yard touchdown, his fourth kick or punt return for a touchdown on the season. A 2-yard touchdown run by Jimmy Bohm sealed Utah State's first victory since their 13-12 win over Fresno state on October 7, 2006. Their 16-game losing streak was the second longest in the nation.

It was the first time Leon Jackson III had quarterbacked in a victory since October 8, 2005, against San Jose State. Jackson only punted three times today, but he averaged 44 yards per punt, and two of them pinned New Mexico State inside the 20.

Congratulations, Utah State. You earned it. Best of luck against Idaho next week. Considering that the Vandals are also 1-10 this season but their only win was their 20-13 win over the I-AA California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo Mustangs. Will Utah State be favored in their season ending game?

Boise State 52, GGSM{Utah State} 0

Boise State 52, Utah State 0. I think this basically says it all.

Arkansas State 27, OSM{Florida International} 24

Argh!

After 20 straight losses, Florida International trailed 3-0 at the end of the first quarter, but rallied with a safety and an 80-yard punt return for a touchdown and took a 9-3 lead into halftime. After exchanging third quarter touchdowns, Arkansas State scored two quick touchdowns in the final five minutes to take a 24-16 lead. But the Golden Panthers were not about to take this lying down, and they scrambled for an eight-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that together with the successful two-point conversion tied the game with only 29 seconds left in regulation. This is the absolute worst time, however, to surrender a 60-yard kickoff return. This put Arkansas State in position to kick a game-winning 31-yard field goal with 0:02 left on the clock. Sorry, FIU.

But, the Golden Panther have their final three games of the season at home, and two of them are against Louisiana-Lafayette and North Texas, which have only one win each on the season.

Fresno State 38, GGSM{Utah State} 27

In 2006, Utah State won only one game, and it was against Fresno State. From their 31-7 lead, it looks like the Bulldogs remembered. The Utah State Aggies managed to rally in the second half thanks to quarterback/punter Leon Jackson III's best game of the year. As a quarterback that is. His 18 completions, 214 yards, and 2 touchdowns were all season highs. Plus, his 16 rushes included a 43-yarder, his longest of the season. However as a punter, he only punted twice, a season low. I don't know if this qualifies as a good game for the punter side of his personality.

Next week, Jackson will play his final home game at Romney Stadium, but it will be a tough one with 20th ranked Boise State coming to Logan. Jackson's home record however has not been stellar. While last year's 13-12 victory over Fresno State was in Logan, Jackson was benched as starting quarterback for that game and only punted 8 times with a long of only 38 yards and saw a snap go over his head for a safety. He missed the Aggies second most recent win, too, the win at New Mexico State to end the 2005 season. Leon Jackson has lost the last 24 in which he played quarterback. Since 2004, if he does not play quarterback, Utah State is 5-3. However, if he does play quarterback, the Aggies are 2-33.

Arkansas 58, OSM{Florida International} 10

So much for my upset theory. The Razorbacks dominated the game it all phases. Darren McFadden only rushed for 61 yards on his 19 carries, but this is to some degree a fluke because his touchdown runs of 1, 2, 2, and 3 yards held down his possible yardage.

The real dominant stat of the game seems to be the line of FIU quarterback Younger, who was 9 of 26 for 93 yards. He had a 33 yard touchdown pass, and he ran the ball 14 times for a game-high 124 yards, but his 5 interceptions really did his team in.

Next up, a return to the state of Arkansas to face Arkansas State.

Louisiana Tech 31, GGSM{Utah State} 21

The Utah State Aggies tried to mount a fourth quarter rally, but their two touchdowns only cut Louisiana Tech's margin of victory to 10. Somehow quarterback/punter Leon Jackson III complete 9 of his 12 passes for 127 yards, but this included an 82 yard touchdown pass. His backup Jase McCormick came in and was 8 of 14 for 93 yards with a touchdown and an interception leading the fourth quarter charge and getting a 2 yard run on the final play of the third quarter to give his team a total of 2 yards of offense in the quarter.

Next up, 5-3 Fresno State.