Shame Mask Unity!

November 17, 2012--After 31 years, the Shame Mask spawned by Northwestern beating Northern Illinois to end their record 34-game losing streak finally meets the Shame Mask spawned by Northwestern finally beating a I-A opponent Minnesota!

Wearing the Original Shame Mask, the Miners of the University of Texas, El Paso, came into the game losers of 8 of their first 10 games. That was two more wins than the team wearing the Golden Gopher Shame Mask, Golden Eagles of the University of Southern Mississippi, had in their 10 games. After this game, there will be only one Shame Mask!

At the Sun Bowl in El Paso, UTEP got a 34-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage, but then they turned it over on downs. Three plays later, Southern Miss drew first blood with a 41-yard TD pass from Arsenio Favor to Dominique Sullivan. After a swap of field goals, the first quarter ended with Southern Miss up 10-3.

UTEP quickly overcame that by scoring two touchdowns in the first five minutes on the second quarter, but just as quickly, Southern Miss struck back with a touchdown of their own to knot the score 17-17. However, UTEP ate up the rest of the first half with a slow 11-play drive culminating with a 26-yard field goal for a 20-17 halftime lead.

This lead lasted just five minutes as Southern Miss ended an even slower 12-play drive with a 36-yard field goal to start the second half. And so they stood 20-20 going into the fourth quarter.

UTEP struck quickly with 36-yard and 32-yard passes from QB Blaire Sullivan to set up Sullivan's 9-yard TD run. After a trade of punts, Southern Miss's Favor struck again with an 81-yard TD pass to Quentin Pierce to tie the game 27 all with 6:49 left. However, UTEP's Autrey Golden returned the ensuing kickoff 98 yards to retake their 7-point lead. Oh, the heartbreak! How will Southern Miss respond? Fairly well, actually. Back-to-back screen passes from Favor to Tracy Lampley for 26 and 4 yards. Then a deep pass to Francisco Llanos for 41 yards to the UTEP 15-yard-line. Jalen Richard rushes up the middle for 7 yards and then Favor follows with 6 more to set up 1st and goal at the 2. Plenty of time is left. The first run up the middle gains no yards, but then Favor runs a quarterback draw in for a touchdown with the 2:48 remaining. And Coach Johnson decides to go for two for the lead! Favor drops back to pass, but it falls incomplete. UTEP leads 34-33 with 2:48. Southern Miss, with one time out left, elects to kick it deep. They did not get the ball back.

And so the Shame Masks are now united!

Southern Miss had one game remaining, a trip to Memphis. While Southern Miss led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter, Memphis dominated the next two and led 42-10 by the end of the third. Southern Miss got two fourth quarter touchdowns. Thus, Southern Miss ended the season 0-12, the only winless team in 2012.

SMU 34, GGSM{Southern Miss} 6

November 10, 2012--It has been a long season for Southern Miss. In their 2011 campaign, they went 12-2, their 18th straight winning season. Their two losses were by a total of 9 points, and they upset undefeated Houston in the C-USA title game and go to a bowl for the tenth straight year. However, Head Coach Larry Fedora left to take the North Carolina job. South Carolina Offensive Coordinator Ellis Johnson took over, and, well things haven't gone well.

After dropping their first three games by a combined score of 115-51, they led 19th-ranked Louisville 17-6 in the second quarter only to lose 21-17. After a 40-14 loss to Boise State, they rallied from ten down to tie UCF at 24-24 with a field goal with 13 seconds left, only to lose 38-31 in double overtime. In their next three games, only in their 27-19 loss to UAB did their opponent not double their score.

And then SMU handed them their worst defeat of the season. Early in the second quarter, SMU led 10-0 when Southern Miss gave a stirring of life with a 15-yard TD pass, but the PAT was blocked. SMU then scored 24 unanswered. SMU outgained them 435-178.

UCF 31, OSM{UTEP} 24

November 10, 2012--After a bye week, UTEP welcomed Central Florida to El Paso and hoped to send them home with the Original Shame Mask. The Miners took a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter only to see UCF rally at take a 24-10 lead in the first minute of the fourth quarter. UTEP countered to tie the game 24-24 with six minutes left, but then UCF's Latavius Murray's 46-yard TD run on their next possession won the game.

OSM{Houston} 45, UTEP 35

October 27, 2012--This seems like it might have been a close game, but Houston, still feeling the sting of their nine turnovers the previous week that left them with the Original Shame Mask, took control in the second quarter and when they got a field goal five minutes into the third quarter to run their lead to 45-7, it was over.

More GGSM{UAB}

ECU 42, GGSM{UAB} 35

October 20, 2012--In a back-and-forth game that saw 1001 yards of total offense and each team having the lead in the second, third, and fourth quarters, UAB ended up drawing the short straw. They took a 28-27 lead three minutes into the fourth quarter, but ECU quickly countered with two touchdowns and they hung on for the win.

Tulane 55, GGSM{UAB} 45

October 27, 2012--This time, each team had over 600 yards of total offense. UAB outgained Tulane 622-619, which each team having over 400 yards passing, but UAB also led the turnover category 4-3. Tulane jumped out to a 24-7 lead in the second quarter, but it was a seesaw battle after that, but UAB could never quite catch up.

GGSM{UAB} 27, Southern Miss 19

November 3, 2012--This was not an auspicious start for UAB. After a scoreless first quarter, the second play of the second quarter was a blocked punt for a Southern Miss safety. On their next offensive play, they fumbled to set up a Southern Miss touchdown. Another Southern Miss touchdown put UAB in a 16-0 hole to start the second half. But, whatever they talked about at halftime worked out. They chipped away at that deficit unless a field goal with eight minutes left gave them their first lead 20-19. A late touchdown sealed the victory and passed the Golden Gopher Shame Mask along to winless Southern Miss.

OSM{SMU} 72, Houston 42

October 18, 2012--Wow, did I ever pick the wrong week to stop updating the College Football Shame Mask! Sure, I was applying for jobs and preparing to go to Iceland Airwaves in a week, but still this game was not something to be missed. Shame on me!

I am conditioned to think that a team wearing a Shame Mask that allows 560 yards of total offense and 42 points, they will lose. In this game, however, SMU did just that and won by 30 points! What's their secret? Force nine turnovers! While SMU did throw two intersections of their own, one of which was returned for a touchdown, the Mustangs got six interceptions--two from each of Houston's three quarterbacks--and returned three for touchdowns. A back-and-forth first half ended with Taylor Reed's 6-yard INT return for a touchdown with 1:03 left before halftime gave SMU a 28-14 lead as they went to the locker room. When they came back out, Houston received the opening kickoff and promptly fumbled it so that SMU's Kevin Pope could return it 20 yards for a touchdown, one of three Houston fumbles on the day. An SMU field goal followed immediately by a 10-yard INT return for a touchdown in the next three minutes quickly put the game in SMU's command.