GGSM{UTEP} 58, UCF 13

It is clear that the UTEP Miners do not like wearing the Golden Gopher Shame Mask. Before being saddled with it last week, They lost their final six games in 2007, and then lost 42-17 at Buffalo and lost 42-13 at home to Texas before gaining the Shame Mask with their 34-33 to New Mexico State. But then UCF came to El Paso.

UTEP got the first break midway through the first quarter when they blocked a UCF punt. A 38-yard field goal from Jose Martinez quickly followed. On UCF's next drive, a fumble followed by two laterals allowed UTEP's Josh Ferguson to run 45 yards for a touchdown.

In the second quarter, a UCF interception set up a 14-yard touchdown pass from Trevor Vittatoe to Jamar Hunt. UCF did manage to counter with a touchdown, but UTEP struck back quickly when Vittatoe threw a 74-yard TD pass to Kriss Adams. The second quarter ended with a bang as Jose Martinez booted at 64-yard field goal to give UTEP a 27-7 lead.

The ball continued to bounce the Miners way in the third quarter when they advanced one of their own fumbles for a touchdown, and then recovered three UCF fourth quarter fumbles, including one in the end zone for a touchdown to seal the 58-13 victory.

The UCF head back to Orlando to welcome SMU to town next week. Neither team has beaten a I-A team this season.

Rice 77, OSM{North Texas} 20

Less than two minutes into the game, Rice scored on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Chase Clement. North Texas knew how to response. Giovanni Vizza completed 6 of 7 passes for 68 yards to set up Cam Montgomery's 1-yard TD run. But, the extra point was blocked. This was followed by a 39-yard kickoff return and then a 6-play TD drive. North Texas tried to keep up, but after a 45-drive, they went for it on 4th and 4, only to give up a 9 yard sack. Chase Clement followed with a 25-yard pass and then a 25-yard TD run. North Texas countered going 63 yards in only 4 plays, capped by Montgomery's second TD run. Thus, the first quarter ended with Rice leading 21-13. Not good for North Texas, but still manageble.

The first play of the second quarter was a 30-yard TD pass from Rice's wide receiver to Jarett Dillard. But again, North Texas countered, going 76 yards on 7 plays to get a 7-yard TD pass from Giovanni Vizza.

But, down only 28-20, this was when North Texas started showing the play that has them wearing the Shame Mask and losing four games in a row. Chase Clement's second rushing touchdown capped a 9-play, 70-yard drive. But, North Texas fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and 24 seconds later, Rice scored another touchdown to take a 42-20 lead halfway through the second quarter. The North Texas response was a 1-yard drive that ended in a punt.

Rice got two more second quarter touchdown passes from Chase Clement to Jarett Dillard. This gave the senior pair 41 touchdowns during their careers, the most ever for a quarterback and receiver combination. The first half ended with Rice blocking a North Texas field goal, keeping the lead at 56-20.

Giovanni Vizza's third quarter is one he'd rather forget. He was 6 for 15 for 52 yards, was sacked for a 16 yard loss, and threw three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns. Nothing eventful happened in the fourth quarter, but Rice's 77 points was still the most ever scored by a C-USA team.

But, next week, the Mean Green get a major chance for revenge when they host Florida International. North Texas 38-19 loss to FIU in December that snapped FIU's 23 game losing streak and gave North Texas the Shame Mask.

GGSM{New Mexico State} 34, UTEP 33

The Golden Gopher Shame Mask has changed hands! Or heads, or whatever.

The New Mexico State Aggies wore the Shame Mask down to El Paso, where they left it squarely around the necks of the UTEP Miners in a wild game. Perhaps befitting a match of a team wearing a shame mask and a team riding an 8-game losing streak, this game featured 7 turnovers, but it did prove to be exciting with 7 lead changes.

New Mexico State opened with an 11-play drive that stalled with an incomplete pass on 4th and 1 at the UTEP 24. After a UTEP punt, the turnovers began. A New Mexico State interception from Chase Holbrook was followed three plays later by a UTEP fumble. Four plays after that, Holbrook fumbled, allowing UTEP to take a 3-0 lead on a 44-yard field goal. On the very next play, Holbrook threw an interception that Anthony Morrow returned 27 yards for a UTEP touchdown.

Early in the second quarter, Holbrook however rallied his Aggies, starting the drive with a 43-yard completion to Chris Williams and ended it with a 36-yard TD pass to Marcus Anderson on 4th and 21. Then after a defensive stop, Anderson returned a punt 34 yards to the UTEP 11 yard line, and then went the rest of the way on a TD pass from Holbrook to take a 14-10 lead.

Two minutes later, however, UTEP QB James Thomas II took the lead back with a 44-yard touchdown run, only to see Holbrook retaliate three minutes later with a 27-yard TD strike to A.J. Harris. UTEP's field goal at the end of the first half cut the lead to 21-20 as the teams went to the locker rooms.

The second half started with a UTEP missed field goal, but two plays later, UTEP's Robert Soleyjacks returned a Chase Holbrook fumble 24-yards for a go-ahead score. Again Holbrook countered with a touchdown pass to Weston Neiman to regain the one-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, UTEP took the lead back with quarterback sneak from Thomas, but Thomas could not run in the two-point conversion and the Miners had to settle for a 33-28 lead. It lasted for three minutes, when Anderson's third TD catch of game put New Mexico State back up 34-28.

Following the trend, Thomas led the Miners down the field on a 14-play drive only to fumble the ball away at the New Mexico State 14-yard line. Another drive in the final minute stalled at midfield sealing the Aggie win.

Congratulations again, New Mexico State.

The 0-3 UTEP Miners host UCF this week.

Shame Watch Congratulations

UAB and Syracuse, I'm sorry for being so late to congratulate you on ending your losing streaks on Saturday.

UAB's defense allowed only 17 yards on 25 carries to I-AA Alabama State in their 45-10 victory, ending the nation's longest losing streak at 9. Their offense was pretty balanced with 248 yards rushing and 238 passing.

Syracuse also beat a I-AA opponent, Northeastern. Led by 100-yard rushing games from both Doug Hogue and Curtis Brinkley, the Orange won 30-21. Both running backs scored a touchdown and Hogue also caught a TD pass. This ended Syracuse's 7 game losing streak.

The newly be-Shame-Masked UTEP Miners and the Black Knights of Army now share the nation's longest losing streak at 9 games. Idaho lost again to previously winless Utah State to continue the longest losing streak against I-A opponents to 19. SMU is second at 13.

Shame Watch Congratulations

There are some congratulations to hand out this week.

Kent State put together four long scoring drives and rushed for 215 yards, but also had three turnovers in beating I-AA Delaware State 24-3. This ended the nation's longest losing streak at 9, but their I-A losing streak is still active. The Golden Flashes try to rectify that next week at Louisiana-Lafayette.

Duke's Thad Lewis had a nice day, going 25-35 for 317 yards and 3 TDs (all to Eron Riley) and also leading the Blue Devils in rushing with 44 yards, as Duke sunk Navy 41-31. The Blue Devils did allow the Midshipmen 357 yards, but 141 of them were on two plays, a 73-yard run to Shun White, the nation's leading rusher (and his third straight game with a run of at least 70 yards), and a 68 yard pass to Tyree Barnes. This is Duke's second win of the season, but their first win against a I-A opponent
since beating Northwestern 364 days earlier and ten losses in a row.

Baylor snapped their 9-game losing streak against I-A teams by beating Washington State 45-17. True freshman QB Robert Griffin set a school record with 215 rushing yards, averaging 19.3 yards per carry, thanks in large part to two 58-yards runs and a 57-yard run. Only one of those resulted in a touchdown, but he also had a 1-yard TD run. He threw for 129 yards and a TD.

LSU 41, OSM{North Texas} 3

North Texas came down to Baton Rouge, where they gave the Tiger faithful plenty to cheer about. LSU running back Charles Scott only carried the ball seven times, but two of them were 39- and 43-yard touchdown runs early in the game. Trindon Holliday followed shortly with a 92-yard punt return for a touchdown, and the game was never in doubt.

Mean Green QB Giovanni Vizza was 22-40 for only 149 yards, an average of only 3.7 yards per attempt. This was, however, better than freshman QB Riley Dodge, son of coach Mike Dodge. On North Texas's second drive, Vizza was 4-5 for 20 yards, but then Riley Dodge came in to mix things up, and his first collegiate pass was intercepted. It was his only pass of the game. Also, North Texas only managed 44 yards rushing on 18 attempts.

North Texas has a bye next week to prepare for their visit to Rice.

Nebraska 38, GGSM{New Mexico State} 7

After a scheduled off week and an unplanned one due to Hurricane Gustav, the New Mexico State Aggies finally openned their 2008 campaign with a trip to Nebraska. The Cornhuskers had already played two games, winning each game by 23 points. Undaunted, the Aggies started the game with a 15-play, 77-yard drive taking 5:44, but unfortunately, their 20-yard field goal attempt was blocked. Nebraska followed with a 13-play, 73-yard drive taking 5:12 only to miss their 35-yard field goal.

However, from then on, Nebraska never looked back. Senior QB Joe Ganz became the third Cornhusker to score a touchdown running, throwing and receiving in the same game. He was 13-17 for 158 yards throwing, ran for a career high 69-yards, including the 33-yard TD, and caught a 20-yard TD pass from senior running back Marlon Lucky. It was Lucky's third career TD pass. Also, Lucky ran for 103 yards and two TDs, and one of his three catches ended up only 3 yards short of a touchdown. Nebraska had 533 yards of total offense including 330 yards on the ground.

After going 6-8 for 48 yards on the openning drive, New Mexico State QB Chase Holbrook was only 9-22 in the rest of the game, and he threw two interceptions. On the whole, though, I suppose it could have been worse. The Aggies allowed more than 40 points in six of their thirteen games last season.

Next week, the Aggies take their Shame Mask and their six game losing streak and trek 43 miles down I-10 to El Paso to take on a team that has lost seven in a row, the UTEP Miners. Of course, UTEP did have a bye week this week.

Shame Watch: Kent State

With wins by SMU and Idaho, Kent State inherited the shame of having the longest active losing streak at 9 with their 48-28 loss at Iowa State. Kent State to a 7-0 lead, but then a blocked punt allowed Iowa State to tie the game. Iowa State led 28-21 at halftime, and despite 410 yards of total offense including 139 rushing yards on 24 carries for Eugene Jarvis, four Kent State fumbles stiffled any attempt at a comeback.

Kent State's losses have mainly been in the MAC with their last win coming at Ohio last September 29.

Kent State opts for the I-AA team to end the streak next week, inviting Delaware State to Kent. The week after that they travel to Lafayette, Louisiana, to play, er, Louisiana-Lafayette.

Three teams--UAB, UTEP, and Army--lost their eighth consecutive games on Saturday.

Shame Watch Congratulations: Idaho

Congratulations to Idaho and SMU on snapping their 11-game losing streaks on Saturday! Both were against I-AA opponent, but ending an 11-game losing streak is still nothing to sneeze at.

Idaho beat in-state rival Idaho State, but their losing streak against I-A opponents still stands at 17 straight. Idaho QB Nathan Enderle fired a 77-yard touchdown pass to Maurice Shaw on the first play from scrimage, and then Idaho blocked a punt for a touchdown to jump out to a 14-0 lead five minutes into the game. The pace slowed a little after that, but they won rather easily, aided strongly by their defense's four interceptions. Up next: Western Michigan comes to visit.

SMU jumped out strong, taking a 30-6 lead over Texas State before surrendering a 9-yard TD pass on the last play of the first half. Though the offense was strong, this lead was built by the defense and special teams, as Texas State's first four drives ended in either a fumble or an interception, and once they finally did score a touchdown on the fifth drive, SMU blocked the PAT and returned it for a defensive two-point conversion. Texas State then stopped turning the ball over and began something of a comeback, but they fell short in the end, 47-36. June Jones got the win in his first home game at SMU and his vaunted passing attack returned with freshman QB Bo Levi Mitchell going 24/37 for 370 yards and 5 TDs. Receivers Aldrick Robinson and Emmanual Sanders each caught 8 passes for 172 and 138 yards, respectively. SMU will try to break their 11 game I-A losing streak next week at Texas Tech. Watch for the air raid sirens in Lubbock.

Tulsa 56, OSM{North Texas} 26

North Texas welcomed Tulsa to Denton and as good hosts they allowed Tulsa to go 57 yards in 12 plays on their opening drive culminating in a 13 yard touchdown run. Their second drive was only three plays, though, but also resulted in a touchdown.

The Mean Green was able to counter quickly on their next drive, however. QB Giovanni Vizza threw three 12-yard passes, two to freshman running back Lance Dunbar, playing in his first game. This was followed by a 27-yard run from freshman Riley Dodge, son of head coach Mike Dodge, also playing in his first game. This set up a 2-yard TD run by Dunbar. On the day, Dunbar carried the ball 10 times for 72 yards, caught 3 passes for 25 yards, and returned 4 kick offs. Dodge, a high school quarterback, played wide receiver and had 5 catches for 25 yards in addition to his two runs for 31 yards. Vizza completed 30 of 45 passes for 247 yards and 2 TDs.

But, Tulsa proved too strong. Midway through the second quarter, the Golden Hurricane scored a touchdown to take a 28-7 lead, only to see North Texas fumble the ensuing kickoff. Tulsa recovered at the seven and scored three plays later. North Texas did kick a 47-yard field goal as the first half ended, but this only cut the halftime lead to 42-10.

Senior QB David Johnson carved up the Mean Green secondary, completing 25 of 33 pass for 418 yards and threw a touchdown to six different receivers in addition to running one in himself. Thanks in part to this day, he now leads the nation in QB rating, is tied for the lead in touchdowns, and is second in yards per attempt (but has three times the yardage of the leader).

Next week, North Texas heads to Baton Rouge to take on LSU. Good luck.

No game tonight for New Mexico State

The Golden Gopher Shame Mask wearing New Mexico State was scheduled to kick off their 2008 season tonight at home in Las Cruces, but unfortunately it was postponed due to Huricane Gustav. The Aggies planned to host I-AA Nicholls State, but Nicholls State is located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, where on Saturday, Lafourche Parish ordered a mandatory evacuation. The school has cancelled classes and closed the campus until Monday, September 8, in order to assess and repair damage. In spite of the roof damage to several building, the university is ready to go, but electricity has not yet been restored to the campus, and they cannot say definitively when it will be, according to Thursday afternoon's press release.

A quick glance at the New Mexico State and Nicholls State schedules make it difficult to make up the game. The first week in which neither team has a game scheduled is December 6, but I doubt Nicholls State will say right now that they will forego the I-AA playoffs in order to make up this game. We'll see.

New Mexico State will therefore have to wait a week to begin their season with a trip to Lincoln where they will try to pass along the Shame Mask to the Nebraska Cornhuskers on September 13. Nicholls State next game is also scheduled for September 13 when they plan to host Div. II Bowie State.