College Football Shame Mask

The Long Offseason: GGSM{UAB}

2011-12-22T00:41:00.001-05:00

UAB will have to wait until next fall to try to get rid of that Shame Mask. It is an unfortunate way to end the season, losing to a team wearing the Shame Mask. UAB struggled early in the season, losing their first six, including a 49-10 loss to Tulane, the other team that would end the season with a Shame Mask. A field goal with 40 seconds left game them a two point win over UCF for their first victory of the season, but then they lost their next two games by a combined score of 115-27. However, they then won a game over the not impressive Memphis Tigers before doing something practically unthinkable--they upset 20th ranked Southern Miss. A field goal put them up 37-34 with three minutes left, and twice Southern Miss crossed midfield, but twice the Blazer defense held firm to give Southern Miss only their second loss of the season. Apparently they let this win go to their heads because in their next game, they gave FAU their only win of the season.

Exciting news for Shame Mask fans! Both Shame Masks now reside on the heads of C-USA teams! Could they finally meet up next season? We can only wait with bated breath.

GGSM{FAU} 38, UAB 35

2011-12-22T00:24:00.001-05:00

November 26--FAU wore the Golden Gopher Shame Mask into their game against UAB with an 0-10 record on the season. That doesn't guarantee an unexciting game, however. FAU's Treon Howard returned an interception 23 yards for a touchdown just two minutes into the game. UAB mounted successful touchdown drives in the first quarter and early in the second to lead 14-7. Then FAU's Alfred Morris got going. The senior running back carried the ball 38 times for 198 yards and four touchdowns. Not too shabby for the nation's 24th leading rusher. The last one put the Owls up 38-28 with 1:38 left. UAB rallied to score a touchdown with 33 seconds remaining, but the onside kick attempt went out of bounds to seal FAU's first win of the season.

This win assured their head coach Howard Schnellenberger would not have his first losing season. After a few years in the late 90s as a bond trader, the coach who built the University of Miami into a powerhouse returned to Miami to tackle a new challenge--start the FAU football program from scratch in 2001. In August, he announced he would retire at the end of the season. This season notwithstanding, I think his work building the team could be considered a modest success. In just his third season, he led the Owls to an 11-3 season, losing in the I-AA semifinals, and then in his second and third seasons in the Bowl Subdivision, he won two bowl games. And perhaps more importantly, this win assured he would not have to wear the Shame Mask into retirement.

The Long Offseason: OSM{Tulane}

2011-12-21T23:53:00.001-05:00

November 19--Tulane wrapped up its conference season with a trip to Rice. In a game without much offense, Rice slowly built a 13-0 lead until Tulane finally broke through with a touchown early in the fourth quarter, but Rice countered with a touchdown of their own to win 19-7. The odd thing that stands out to me from the box score was that each team used two different punters. These four punters combined to punt 14 times.

November 26--The loss at Rice was Tulane's ninth straight loss after a 2-1 start. Apart from the game against Syracuse, in which they lost on a last second field goal, they lost all of these games by at least 14 points. Now, most teams after reaching a record of 2-10 would be putting their pads away until spring practice. Tulane, however, to advantage of the NCAA's rules quirk that allows a team to play an extra regular season game if they play one of those games at the University of Hawaii. So, without being close to being bowl elligible, Tulane took a Thanksgiving trip to the islands. They were not destracted by the lush scenery and held their own against the Warriors in the first half. The even got a third quarter safety, which allows scores points in my book, and a touchdown early in the fourth quarter cut Hawaii's lead to only 28-23. However, their defense gave up another touchdown that they could not recover from. But they got to enjoy a season ending trip to Hawaii.

GGSM{Troy}

2011-12-21T23:29:00.001-05:00

November 12--North Texas came into Troy knowing what it's like to have worn the Shame Mask, and they don't like it. The Mean Green took an early lead, but then the Trojans fought back. Two second quarter touchdowns gave them a 21-17 lead, but then they surrendered a touchdown with 0:42 left in the first half. Troy regained the lead with a third quarter touchdown, but they missed the extra point. At the start of the fourth quarter, however, they fell apart, and allowed North Texas two touchdowns in less than 20 seconds. After a 46-yard North Texas touchdown pass, and Troy's Corey Robinson threw an incomplete pass and then was sacked and lost a fumble to set up a 6-yard North Texas touchdown run on the next play. Troy rebounded with a 16-play touchdown drive to cut the lead to 38-33, but North Texas chewed up the clock with a 13-play drive consuming 7:28 and turning it over on downs giving Troy the ball with only 0:15 seconds to cover 74 yards.

November 19--Here's something you want when you are wearing a Shame Mask: A team with a 12-game losing streak comes to visit. That's exactly what Troy got in Florida Atlantic. FAU allowed a game-winning field goal as the clock expired to Louisiana-Lafayette, but they had lost every other game by at least two touchdowns. Also, the nation's worst offense was just what Troy's 114th ranked defense needed. Both teams started sluggishly, but then Troy turned it on late in the second quarter and never looked back. They beat the Owls 34-7.

OSM{Tulane}

2011-11-11T02:44:00.001-05:00

October 29--Tulane led 10-7 over East Carolina in the second quarter, but they couldn't hang on. The Pirates rallied to win 34-13.

November 5--SMU stormed out of the gate and took a 31-0 lead over the Green Wave. Tulane bounced back by returning a fumble for a touchdown on the first play of the second half, and twice they cut the lead to 14 in the third quarter, but SMU held on and won 42-24.

November 10--Tulane held the undefeated Houston's highest scoring offense in the nation scoreless in the first quarter. And they held the nation's leading passer Case Keenum to one of his worst games of the season. His 22 completions and 29 attempts were both season lows, and his 325 yards were the third lowest. He only threw for three touchdowns, which is less than half of his 7.5 average in his last two games. Not too shabby, I guess. What was the end result? Houston still won 73-10. This time the nation's best passing and scoring team did it on the ground. Charles Sims carried just 10 times, but he gained 207 yards thanks to 72- and 56-yard touchdown runs. Oh, and Houston had two 70+ yard punt returns for touchdowns.This was Tulane's last home game of the season. They still have trips to Rice and Hawaii left to try to dislodge that Shame Mask.

GGSM{Troy}

2011-11-11T01:59:00.001-05:00

October 25--Traditional Sun Belt powerhower Troy went down to Miami to face traditional Sun Belt doormat Florida International, but this time the tables were turned, and it was Troy wearing the Shame Mask. Old habbits die hard, though, and Troy jumped out to a 7-0 first quarter lead, and they led 7-3 at the half. However, FIU's QB Wesley Carroll connected on 76- and 42-yard touchdown passes early in the third quarter gave them the lead. Troy didn't fold things up and go home after surrendering their lead. No, they rallied for a touchdown of their own, and they didn't even let the failed PAT stop them. A minute later, they returned a fumble for a touchdown to take a 20-17 lead at the end of the third quarter. Unfortunately, they gave up a tying field goal in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime. Troy missed a field goal to start the overtime, but FIU's was true to seal the 23-20 victory.

November 5--Apart from the second quarter, the Troy-Navy game was pretty even. However, there was that little matter off the second quarter. Troy had four rushes for 8 yards, two passes for 9 yards, but lost 10 on a sack (not counting the 13-yard pass on the final play of the half), and three punts. Navy started the second with a 48-yard touchdown pass, and then rushed 21 times for 172 yards and three more touchdowns to take a 35-0 halftime lead. They held on to win 42-14.

Next up for Troy: North Texas

OSM{Memphis}

2011-10-29T14:06:00.000-04:00

Argh, I have to be quick.

October 8--Memphis went to Rice, and they lost 28-6. Maybe they'll appreciate me omitting the details?

October 15--East Carolina came to Memphis and quickly found themselves trailing 10-0 after their quarterback Dominque Davis fumbled and Memphis recovered in the end zone for a touchdown. Davis bounced back, though, going 28-37 for 307 yards and three touchdowns plus a rushing touchdown as East Carolina took control in the second half and won 35-17.

October 22--Memphis went down to New Orleans to face Tulane, and things started well for them. They led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter and 14-10 at the half. Tulane took a 17-14 lead early in the third quarter, but then Memphis's Bobby McCain returned and interception 79 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was blocked, and then the PAT after Taylor Reed's 1-yard rushing touchdown four minutes later was missed, but still, these 12 points plus a fourth quarter field goal were enough to get a nice 33-17 conference victory for the Tigers. Congratulations!

GGSM{LA-Monroe}

2011-10-29T13:52:00.001-04:00

Again, more shame on me. It wasn't simply that I lagged behind this time. No! I ignored wins by both beshamemasked teams!

October 8--Arkansas State came to Monroe with a winning record, but this didn't stop the Warhawks. Perhaps they were nervous on their opening drive, which resulted in a fumble. Eleven plays later, Arkansas State's Frankie Jackson punched it in for a 3-yard touchdown. However, LA-Monroe's Luther Ambrose returned the following kickoff 51 yards, and then on the next play, Cody Wells threw at 41-yard touchdown to Brent Leonard to tie the game. In the second quarter, LA-Monroe turned two Arkansas State turnovers into two field goals, but then they gave one back after an interception of their own at the end of the first half. Still, they lead 13-10 going into the locker room. The third quarter started by trading punts, but then Arkansas State's Aaron Munoz blocked one of those punts and returned 25 yards for a touchdown. Early in the fourth quarter, Arkansas State then followed an interception with a 44-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Frampton, who broke his own school record with 13 catches. LA-Monroe tried valiantly to rally. After an interception, they drove down the field and Brent Leonard caught another touchdown pass, but the failed two-point conversion left them trailing 24-19. Arkansas State promptly threw another interception with 2:02 left. LA-Monroe got a couple of quick passes, but on 4th and 17 at the Arkansas State 34, a pass fell incomplete with 18 seconds left to seal the loss.

October 15--LA-Monroe next took a trip to Troy, who have been Sun Belt co-champs each year since 2006 but who are struggling this year. After a scoreless first quarter, each team got a field goal in the second quarter. Troy started the second half with a touchdown, but then LA-Monroe kicked it into gear. The followed with a touchdown of their own, but a failed two-point conversion left them trailing 10-9. After holding Troy to three plays that lost 7 yards and a punt, LA-Monroe's next drive also resulted in a touchdown with a failed two-point conversion. Troy fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and LA-Monroe capitalized two plays later with a touchdown and after kicking the extra point, they took a 22-10 lead into the fourth quarter. A touchdown and a safety quickly followed, and then after an interception, LA-Monroe sealed their victory with a six-and-a-half minute touchdown, and the Warhawks held on for an impressive 38-10 victory. Congratulations!

OSM{Memphis}

2011-10-07T03:33:00.000-04:00

September 17--OSM{Memphis} 27, Austin Peay 6. Memphis hosted I-AA Austin Peay, and after a scoreless first quarter, they went on to win 27-6.

September 24--SMU 42, OSM{Memphis} 0. It's really tough to win when you are outrushed 162 yards to -14. SMU's Zack Line had three 1-yard TD runs in the first half. And then SMU QB J.J. McDermott threw for 357 yards compared to Memphis's Taylor Reed's 153.

October 1--MTSU 38, OSM{Memphis} 31. Oh no! Memphis jumped out to a 17-0 lead midway through the second quarter. MTSU crawled their way back thanks to two TD catches by Malcolm Beyah, and the fourth quarter tied 17-17. That's when the fun began. Reed led the Tigers on an 11-play, 71-yard TD drive capped by a 2-yard TD run from Billy Foster. However, two plays later, MTSU's D.D. Kyles scampered 59 yards for a tying touchdown. MTSU then took the for the first time after an 8-play drive ended when MTSU's William Pratcher rushed for 11 yards and then fumbled the ball forward where his teammate Malcolm Beyah recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown. Is Memphis going to take this? No! Taylor Reed catches fire, completing five straight passes for 79 yards, culminating with a 23-yard game tying TD to Keiwone Malone. But, this left MTSU 1:41 left on the clock. Now, an ill-timed lateral and an illegal block on the kickoff put the Blue Raiders 94 yards away, and then a rush for no gain and a fumble had Memphis hoping for overtime. But then a 14-yard rush, a 17-yard pass, and a 23-yard pass set up Logan Kilgore's 33-yard TD pass to Anthony Amos with just 11 seconds left to give MTSU their first win of the season.

Up next: 1-3 Rice. Memphis is 114th in both points scored and points allowed. Rice is 96th and 117th. Woohoo!

GGSM{LA-Monroe}

2011-10-07T00:52:00.001-04:00

Argh, I'm a couple of weeks behind again. Let's do the lightning round.

September 17--TCU 38, GGSM{LA-Monroe} 17. The Warhawks weren't initmitated coming into the under renovation Amon Carter Stadium, home of the 23rd ranked TCU. LA-Monroe kicked a field goal on their opening drive. They quickly gave up a 68-yard touchdown pass, but then they bounced back with a touchdown of their own, a 22-yard pass from Kolton Browning to Brent Leonard, to regain the lead 10-7. Again they couldn't hold that lead, when TCU scored on their next drive, but once more, Browning led the Warhawks down the field, capping the drive with a 37-yard touchdown strike to Tavarese Maye. Thus, LA-Monroe led 17-14 at the end of the first quarter. Not too shabby.TCU took the lead again with a second quarter, but in the final minute of the first half, LA-Monroe's R.J. Young sacked TCU QB Casey Pachall and recovered his fumble at the TCU 32 with 10 seconds left. Unfortunately, LA-Monroe could only miss a 43-yard field goal with this. TCU then returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown, and never looked back.

September 24--Iowa 45, GGSM{LA-Monroe} 17. LA-Monroe fell victim to Kinnick Stadium's pink visitors locker room and let Iowa jump out to a 28-3 lead at halftime.The Warhawks had a week off to prepare for their next opponent: Arkansas State.

OSM{Arkansas State} 47, Memphis 3

2011-09-14T00:31:00.001-04:00

September 10--Congratulations, Arkansas State! The Red Wolves won quite convincingly against the Memphis Tigers, who it appears are more worthy of that Shame Mask. Arkansas State outgained Memphis 611 yards to 187. Starting QB Ryan Aplin was 19 of 21, but still managed to throw an interception against his 3 TDs and 274 yards. His backup was 10 of 12 for 101 yards and a TD. Not too shabby.It's been 11 months since we last saw Memphis here at the Shame Mask Central, and unfortunately, the Tigers have lost 11 straight since that win. San Jose State has lost its last 12, and so on that front the Tigers are safe. And they do have the Governors of Austin Peay coming down for a visit next week. This I-AA team lost 72-10 to Cincinnati in their only game of the season so far. Party on Beale Street? We'll see.

GGSM{LA-Monroe} 35, Grambling State 7

2011-09-13T23:57:00.000-04:00

September 10--Louisiana-Monroe invited Grambling State over for a football game, and they got what they wanted, a convincing win over a I-AA team. They will try to use this momentum to dislodge that Shame Mask next week at TCU.

Illinois 33, OSM{Arkansas State} 15

2011-09-07T02:16:00.000-04:00

So maybe Arkansas State's season opener at Illinois didn't go as nicely as they would have hoped. Their first third of the game was something I'd be proud of. They did give up a first quarter touchdown, but then the second quarter started with their punt converage team pinning the Fighting Illini at their own 1. One play later, the Red Wolves tackled the running back in the end zone for a safety! On their following drive, they got 6 yards to convert a 4th-and-2, but unfortunately, they fumbled on this play. However, they did quickly force a punt, which they followed with a field goal. And then they quickly forced another punt, and then they followed that with second field goal to claw their way back and take an 8-7 lead.It unraveled kind of quickly, though. This fantastic lead lasted only 1:26 as Illinois's Nathan Scheelhaase threw a 45-yard TD pass to Darius Millines with 1:24 left in the half. Then on their next play, Arkansas State's Ryan Aplin threw an interception, which Illinois converted into a field goal to take a 17-8 lead into the locker room.Aplin's 290 yards on 20 of 32 is good enough for 17th in the nation after the first weekend of play. That's not terrible. And the guy who caught his 66-yarder has the last name Frampton. I'm pretty excited about the "comes alive" possibilities for later games, especially next week, when the Red Wolves take on Memphis, who gave up 645 yards against Mississippi State.

Florida State 34, GGSM{LA-Monroe} 0

2011-09-07T01:19:00.002-04:00

September 3--It's September, and that means the return of Sun Belt football action! Sixth-ranked Florida State invited LA-Monroe, wearers of the Golden Gopher Shame Mask, over to help them kick off the season with a warm up. For half a quarter, the FSU got a little more than they bargained for. The Warhawks defense held the Seminoles to just three-and-out on their first two drives, with four rushes for 6 yards and two incomplete passes. FSU kicked it into gear on their third drive with a touchdown, and they never looked back. To their credit, the Warhawks did outrush the Seminoles 98 yards to 92 although they did need eleven more rushes to do it. LA-Monroe welcomes I-AA Grambling State to Monroe next week, and so it looks like they'll spend another week in the Shame Mask.

GGSM{LA-Lafayette} 23, LA-Monroe 22

2010-12-18T23:05:00.002-05:00

November 27--Throw the records out when LA-Lafayatte and LA-Monroe battle for the part of Louisiana not controlled by LSU. LA-Monroe started strong, kicking a field goal on the first play of the second quarter to take a 13-3 lead, but then LA-Lafayette got going with a 73-yard touchdown strike from Chris Masson to Aaron Spikes. The Ragin' Cajuns came out strong in the second half lead by kicker Brett Baer, who kicked a 31-yard field goal on the opening possession, and then kicked another 32-yarder following his successful on-side kick. After stopping LA-Monroe on four plays, LA-Lafayette put together a 15-play, 83-yard drive capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Masson to Ladarius Green. The third quarter ended with LA-Lafayette up 23-13.

LA-Monroe started their comeback with a 15-play drive of their own, but it only resulted in a 28-yard field goal by Radi Jabour. After forcing a quick punt, LA-Monroe got the ball back and soon quarterback Kolton Browning rushed for a 10-yard touchdown with 4:55 left. However, Jabour's attempt at the tying extra point was blocked! LA-Lafayette held on and passed the Golden Gopher Shame Mask on to what I assume is their arch rival.

The loss dumped the LA-Monroe Warhawks to 5-7 on the season and 4-4 in the Sun Belt. Their three out of conference losses were to Arkansas, Auburn, and LSU by a combined score of 134-10, and their lone out-of-conference win was a fourth-quarter come-from-behind win over 2-9 FCS team Southeast Louisiana.

FIU 31, OSM{Arkansas State} 24

2010-12-18T22:29:00.002-05:00

November 27--For the second week in a row, Florida International had to take on a Shame Mask team, but Arkansas State gave them a little more trouble than LA-Lafayette. The first half was back and forth, with each team scoring a first quarter field goal and two second quarter touchdowns. A field goal gave FIU a 20-17 lead at the end of the third quarter, but early in the fourth, Arkansas State wide receiver Dwayne Frampton threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to quarterback Phillip Butterfield to go up 24-20. FIU countered quickly with another field goal, but they still trailed until just 1:42 left to play when Wesley Carroll threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton to regain the lead which they would never relinquish.

Arkansas State had balanced attack with 154 yards passing and 154 yards rushing.

Thus begins the long offseason for the Arkansas State Red Wolves. They finished 4-8 on the season with all four wins coming in Sun Belt Conference play. They did however lead at halftime at Indiana before losing 36-34. Their head coach Steve Roberts resigned after nine seasons in which he was 45-63. Offensive coordinator and high school coach in the book and film "The Blind Side" Hugh Freeze takes the helm.

FIU 38, OSM{LA-Lafayette} 17

2010-12-12T16:57:00.002-05:00

November 20--It was a shaky start for both teams. LA-Lafayette fumbled the the opening kickoff, but they did recover and moved the ball well before having to punt, but they did down the ball at the FIU 2 yard line. After holding FIU to punt, LA-Lafayette had their second 10-play drive of the first quarter, but after a sack and fumble, it also ended with a punt, downed at the FIU 1.

However, this time FIU mounted a 16-play, 99-yard touchdown drive to draw first blood early in the second quarter. The Ragin' Cajuns followed with their third straight 10+ play drive, but this one ended in a 25-yard field goal.

FIU needed to punt again on the next drive, but LA-Lafayette blocked the punt, giving the Ragin' Cajuns four chances from the FIU 2. However, four quarterback sneaks by Blaine Gautier could only get 1 yard.

So FIU started their third possession of the first half inside their own 2. They punted after gaining only 2 yards, but LA-Lafayette could do nothing with it, and the first half ended with FIU leading 7-3.

But then in the first two minutes of the second half, LA-Lafayette allowed a 41-yard kickoff return, a 49-yard pass, a rushing touchdown, two personal foul penalties, and threw an interception that set up a field goal. The Ragin' Cajuns did follow with a 50-yard touchdown pass from Gautier to Ladarius Green, but they tried an onside kick trailing 17-10 in the middle of the third quarter. FIU rejoiced with their good field position, but they did not know what to do with it and punted three downs later.

The punt return was fumbled but LA-Lafayette recovered. This allowed them to false start twice before Gautier threw an interception that was returned 26 yards for a touchdown by Junior Mertile. Undaunted, Gautier three plays later rushed 55 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 24-17.

The fourth quarter saw a 15-play, 94-yard touchdown drive by FIU. Two plays later, Gautier threw another interception. On the next play, cajun Grant Fleming raged a little too much with a personal foul and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the same play to set up another FIU touchdown run. LA-Lafayette fought until the very end, but Gautier was sacked on each of the last three plays of the game.

Navy 35, GGSM{Arkansas State} 19

2010-12-12T16:35:00.002-05:00

November 20--The Arkansas State Red Wolves took to the field for the first time wearing a Shame Mask at the Naval Academy. The day belonged to Navy's senior QB Ricky Dobbs. Dobbs rushed for a season high 154 yards with 3 touchdowns on 31 carries. Oh, and he was 8 of 9 throwing the ball for 164 yards, including an 85-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

That touchdown pass made it 21-3 in favor of the Midshipmen, but the Red Wolves cut the lead to 21-13 at halftime. Dobbs added another touchdown early in the fourth quarter, but Arkansas State's Ryan Aplin countered with a 5-yard TD pass to Allen Muse, but then the wheels fell off. The extra point was blocked. Navy marched down the field in 11 plays taking 5:49 off the clock before Dobbs's third touchdown, and then two plays later, Aplin threw an interception to seal the Navy victory.

FAU 24, OSM{La-Lafayette} 23

2010-12-05T17:42:00.002-05:00

November 13--Going for two for the win when kicking the extra point woud tie the game can make a dramatic statement when it pays off. When it pays off.

The FAU Owls took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and led 14-7 at the half. The teams traded third quarter touchdowns and fourth quarter field goals giving FAU a 24-17 lead with less than five minutes to play.

The Ragin' Cajuns' QB Blaine Gautier, making his first career start, threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Wolfe to cut the lead from 24-23 with 1:45 remaining. Instead of kicking to tie the game, head coach Ricky Bustle chose to go for two, and Gautier's pass fell incomplete. They failed to recover the following onside kick and FAU ran out the clock for the victory.

GGSM{WKU} 36, Arkansas State 35, OT

2010-12-05T17:06:00.003-05:00

November 13--Shame Mask craziness in Jonesboro!

After a relatively slow first half ended in a 7-7 tie, Western Kentucky scored two third quarter touchdowns to lead 21-7 as they changed ends to start the fourth quarter. This is when the Red Wolves of Arkansas State got going. Sophomore QB Ryan Aplin threw for two touchdowns and ran in a third with only 1:49 left to take a 28-21 lead.

However, Hilltopper QB Kawaun Jakes countered leading his team down the field and completing a game-tying 7-yard touchdown pass to Willie McNeal as time expired in regulation.

Aplin responded quickly, running for a 25-yard touchdown in overtime as part of his season high 96 rushing yards.

WKU's Bobby Rainey, the nation's second leading rusher, answered with a 3-yard touchdown run. Instead of kicking the extra point to send the game to a second overtime period, Western Kentucky went for two, and Derrius Brooks was successful for the win!

Congratulations Western Kentucky!

Shame Mask Congratulations Extra!

2010-11-16T15:50:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to Division III Marantha Baptist Bible College on their 14-6 victory over Rockford College on Saturday. The win was Marantha's first since 2007 and snapped their 33-game losing streak. This alone is worthy of congratulations, but the particular way they won is also worthy of note.

The Marantha Crusaders took a 7-0 lead on the last play of the third quarter. Rockford got a good kick return to start the fourth quarter, but they threw an interception at the Marantha 39. Marantha fumbled five plays later, however. Rockford could not capitalize though because they threw a second interception at the Maratha 23. After a Marantha punt, Rockford again drove into Marantha territory before throwing a third interception at the 27 yard line. Their defense forced another punt, but then in the final minute, Rockford threw their fourth consecutive fourth-quarter interception, but this time Marantha returned it 90 yards for a touchdown to seal the long-sought-after victory. And well, Rockford did manage to get a touchdown on the final play, but that wasn't enough.

Rockford Regents' losing streak now stands at 11 games. Their last victory came a year ago at Marantha and was their only win of the season. Their last non-Marantha win was an October, 2008, in overtime against Concordia University of Chicago.

Ole Miss 43, OSM{LA-Lafayette} 21

2010-11-13T17:09:00.002-05:00

Novemeber 6--LA-Lafayette headed up to Oxford to take on the Adimiral Ackbar-less Ole Miss Rebels. The Ragin' Cajuns focused that rage impressively on the opening drive, moving the ball 73 yards on 7 plays and taking the lead with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Brad McGuire to Aaron Spikes. Ole Miss responded to the challenge, however, with three toucdowns and a field goal in the first quarter, thanks to two LA-Lafayette interceptions and a fumble.

Ole Miss cooled off in the second quarter, and LA-Lafayette's Melvin White returned a fumble 93 yards for a touchdown with 31 seconds left in the half to cut the lead to only 27-21, although Ole Miss did manage to tack on a field goal on the half's final play.

LA-Lafayette had no answers for the Rebel defense in the second half and only managed two first downs.

FAU 17, GGSM{WKU} 16

2010-11-13T17:00:00.002-05:00

November 6--Here's a stat for you: Florida Atlantic fumbled six times in this game, but they lost only one of them. When you only lose by one point and you fail to recover five of your opponent's fumbles. That can really make the difference.

WKU's Bobby Rainey was not to blame, as the Sun Belt's leading rusher carried the ball 33 times for 152 yards, and his 1-yard TD run gave his Hilltoppers a 16-14 lead in the third quarter. However, FAU countered with a field goal to open the fourth quarter and then hunkered down and let their defense hold on for the win.

Ohio 38, OSM{LA-Lafayette} 31

2010-11-13T16:37:00.002-05:00

October 30--Once a perenial Shame Mask favorite, the Ohio Bobcats have not taken the field be-Shame-Masked since September, 2004. Since then things, have turned around. Last season, Ohio were 9-3 before losing in the MAC championship game and the Little Caesers Bowl. They have continued their winning ways this year and entered the game with a 5-3 record and tied for first in the MAC East.

Each team went for over 400 yards of total offense in this shootout. LA-Lafayette took advantage of four Ohio interceptions in the first half, and the Ragin' Cajuns led 14-10 at halftime, and 17-16 early in the fourth quarter. In the back and forth final quarter that saw five touchdowns, LA-Lafayette came out on the short side, allowing a sack on 4th and 3 at the Ohio 15 in the final minute.

The loss dropped LA-Lafayette to 2-7.

GGSM{North Texas} 33, WKU 6

2010-11-13T16:14:00.002-05:00

October 30--Sadly, this game did not result in the long await Shame Mask unity. North Texas's loss to Florida International cost head coach Todd Dodge his job. His son, starting quarterback Riley Dodge had only a so-so response for interim coach Mike Canales, going 11 of 20 for only 89 yards. However, all he really had to do was hand the ball off to Lance Dunbar. He carried the ball 30 times for 215 yards and three touchdowns.

WKU kicked a field goal in early in the fourth quarter to cut the North Texas lead to only 16-6, but then North Texas countered with a 12-play field goal drive. WKU fumbled on their next possession leading to a North Texas touchdown, and then WKU fumbled the ensuing kickoff.

It was a nice break for the Hilltoppers, playing without a Shame Mask for the first time in nearly two years, but now they start again.

OSM{WKU} 54, LA-Lafayette 21

2010-10-30T16:08:00.002-04:00

October 23--What happened? After losing their last 26 games and their last 32 games against FBS opponents and three days short of two years wearing the Original Shame Mask, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers finally won a game. And they won convincingly.

The first quarter featured two long drives for WKU. The first ended in a missed 42-yard field goal attempt, but on the second, the field goal was good, giving WKU a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter had to be best quarter WKU has played in their four years at the FBS level (the first two were transitioning). They started with a 69-yard interception return for a touchdown from Jamarcus Allen. Okay, so maybe they celebrated a bit too much because they allowed a 52-yard touchdown run to LA-Lafayette's QB Chris Masson three plays later, but WKU countered with a 15-play drive capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by quaterback Kawaun Jakes. On the following drive, the LA-Lafayatte punter fumble the snap, and two plays later, WKU got another touchdown. After forcing to LA-Lafayette to turn it over on downs, the WKU two-minute drill got a field goal as time expired to take a 27-7 lead into the half.

The Hilltoppers poured it on in the second half, too. Two interceptions in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, one returned 62 yards for a touchdown by Derrius Brooks, sealed the WKU victory.

It was a very efficient day for Kawaun Jakes. He completed 18 of 22 passes for 262 yards and a touchdown, and he also ran 4 times for 28 yards and two touchdowns.

Hearty congratulations to Western Kentucky!

But I am saddened just a twinge. Had WKU lost, their upcoming game with Golden Gopher Shame Mask-wearing North Texas would have brought shame mask unity at long last, but to no avail. Next week, LA-Lafayette (2-5) tries to send the Original Shame Mask back to the MAC when they travel to Athens to take on Ohio.

Florida International 34, GGSM{North Texas} 10

2010-10-22T20:54:00.002-04:00

Saturday, October 16--It had been nearly two years since North Texas last took to the field with a Shame Mask around its neck. (Assuming whatever the Mean Green is, it has a neck.) Since then, they have gone 3-18. And things didn't really turn around against Florida International. FIU jumped out to a 27-3 lead by halftime and never looked back.

Since 2007, North Texas is 6-37. However, three of those six wins have come over Western Kentucky, the Mean Green's next opponent after their bye week. This is especially exciting since Western Kentucky currently wears the Original Shame Mask (which they got from North Texas in their 2008 match up). WKU still must play at LA-Louisiana, but there could be some really nice Shame Mask football on October 30.

LA-Monroe 35, OSM{WKU} 30

2010-10-22T20:33:00.002-04:00

Saturday, October 16--Shame Mask heartbreak in Bowling Green! Western Kentucky took a 17-0 lead late in the second quarter only to see LA-Monroe respond with a touchdown two minutes later. This did not get the Hilltoppers down, as they restored their 17-point lead late in the third quarter.

And then the wheels fell off. The Warhawks of LA-Monroe scored touchdowns at the 14:20, 7:45, and 3:35 marks in the fourth quarter to take the lead and then for good messure Robert Nelson returned an inception 55 yards for a touchdown to make it 28 unanswered points in 15 minutes of playing time.

Now, WKU did counter quickly by scoring a touchdown wit 50 seconds remaining, but they could not recover the onside kick afterwards which allowed LA-Monroe to run out the clock on their come-from-behind win.

Next up: The Hilltoppers travel to LA-Lafayette.

Oklahoma State 54, GGSM{LA-Lafayette} 28

2010-10-16T13:51:00.002-04:00

Friday, October 8--The Ragin' Cajuns welcomed Oklahoma State to Lafayette, and for a brief moment looked like they might be able to shock the 22nd-ranked Cowboys and hand them their first loss.

With Oklahoma State up 10-0, LA-Lafayette mounted a 13-play, 82-yard drive capped at the beginning of the second quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run by Blaine Gautier. Oklahoma State countered quickly with another touchdown, however. After a trade of punts, LA-Lafayette took control of the second quarter. Ragin' Cajuns QB Chris Masson connected with James Butler for a 35-yard touchdown pass, and then two plays later, an interception set up Masson's second touchdown pass with just 36 seconds remaining in the half. This gave LA-Lafayette an unexpected 21-17 halftime lead.

It didn't last long. This is when I turned on the game. Oklahoma State stormed out of the locker room going 68 yards in just 7 plays for a touchdown. On the next play, Masson threw an interception, and 5 plays and 67 yards later, Oklahoma State scored their second touchdown in the first 4:10 of the second half. This is when I turned off the game.

This means I did miss a Rajun' Cajun kickoff return for a touchdown and several Oklahoma State field goals.

Next up: at Troy

GGSM{LA-Lafayette} 28, North Texas 27

2010-10-03T00:10:00.002-04:00

Argh! A true Shame Mask classic! Check out the stats (brought to us by the Gangster Museum of America on the Sun Belt Channel's broadcast) Total yardage: North Texas 370, LA-Lafayatte 369. But it is of course the points that really matter.

In the second quarter, the LA-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns took a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter when Lance Kelley returned a fumble 40 yards for a touchdown. The North Texas Mean Green countered with a touchdown of their own, but then LA-Laf's Chris Masson threw a 82-yard touchdown to Aaron Spikes. North Texas wasn't down for the count yet, though, and Riley Dodge threw a 37-yard touchdown to Alex Lott to cut their halftime deficit to 21-14.

However, LA-Lafayette struck quickly in the second half with Masson going 60 yards for a touchdown, this time to Javone Lawson. However, ahead 28-14, the Ragin' Cajun offense went into a tailspin, getting a first down on only one of their next five possessions, and they ended with four punts and a missed field goal.

The Mean Green had a rough third quarter, but they turned it on in the fourth. An 11-play, 72-yard drive capped by a 3-yard run from Lance Dumbar cut the lead to 28-21. Then on 4th and 8 at the North Texas 41 and 5 minutes to play, LA-Lafayatte elected to play field position and punted, giving North Texas 4:54 to 91 yards. Lance Dunbar and Riley Dodge rose to the challenge (overcoming back-to-back false starts on the third-string center). Down the field they went, with Dodge throwing a 4-yard shovel pass to Darius Carey for a touchdown with 31.7 seconds remaining.

But LA-Lafayette blocked the extra point! LA-Lafayette blocked the extra point in the final minute to win 28-27!

Exciting times for the Sun Belt. Both Shame Masks are worn by Sun Belt teams. North Texas hosts Arkansas State and Florida International and then have a week off before going to Western Kentucky. The be-Shame-Masked Western Kentucky was idle this week plays Florida International, LA-Monroe, and LA-Lafayette before their duel with North Texas.

GGSM{MTSU} 34, LA-Lafayette 14

2010-10-02T18:27:00.002-04:00

Sept. 25--MTSU did not like getting that Shame Mask and wanted to shake it loose as quickly as possible. They got help from LA-Lafayette, who fumbled on their first play from scrimage and then had a field goal blocked later in the first quarter. However, MTSU could only get three first quarter points. The second quarter saw a flurry of scoring from both teams, netting three more points for MTSU giving them a 20-14 lead at halftime. Two big third quarter plays--a 62-yard touchdown pass from Logan Kilgore to Malcolm Beyah and a 74-yard touchdown run by D.D. Kyles--sealed the victory for Blue Raiders.

South Florida 24, OSM{WKU} 12

2010-10-02T18:14:00.002-04:00

Sept. 25--Western Kentucky went down to Tampa to take on South Florida. Both teams started sluggishly with the first score not coming until only 5:09 left in the second quarter when South Florida running back Moise Plancher scored from 13 yards out. South Florida added two more touchdown in the third quarter before Western Kentucky again tried to rally. On the season, the Hilltoppers have won their fourth quarters by a combined 40-38. The problem is being outscored 136-31 in first three quarters.

GGSM{Memphis} 24, MTSU 17

2010-10-02T18:00:00.002-04:00

Sept. 18--Again shame on me for waiting so long to acknowledge this. Congratulation to Memphis on finally shaking loose the Golden Gopher Shame Mask!

In a close game, one stat jumps out at me as something that made the difference--MTSU 4 turnovers, Memphis 0. Two of MTSU's three interceptions led directly to Memphis touchdowns. This is tough to overcome.

The loss snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Tigers. Congratulations again, Memphis!

Indiana 38, OSM{WKU} 21

2010-10-02T17:49:00.003-04:00

Sept. 18--First, shame on me for getting behind.

Homestanding Western Kentucky had a mixed start against the Hoosiers. Indiana returned the opening kickoff 87 yards, but then two plays later they fumbled at the six. WKU recovered and then put together a nice 10-play, 91-yard touchdown drive. Thanks to a missed field goal, the Hilltoppers held this 7-0 lead into the second quarter, but then Indiana took control. Fifteen seconds before halftime, Indiana scored a touchdown to take a 17-7 lead and then successfully recovered an onside kick. Sort of unfair, if you ask me. Did it demoralize the Hilltoppers? Who can say? Indiana extended the lead to 31-7 by the end of the third quarter, but then WKU won the fourth quarter two touchdowns to one.

East Carolina 49, GGSM{Memphis} 27

2010-09-21T01:19:00.002-04:00

East Carolina ended their first game of the season by scoring a touchdown on their final five drives. And so Memphis could feel proud when ECU took the opening kickoff and only managed 25 yards on six plays before punting. That pride didn't last long. On their second play, Memphis fumbled. Three plays later, ECU scored a touchdown. Three plays after that, ECU returned an interception for a touchdown. Ten minutes later, another Memphis fumble set up ECU's fourth first quarter touchdown, and that was all ECU needed.

It wasn't all bad for Memphis, however. Backup quarterback Ryan Williams came in and went 18/25 and 293 yards and three touchdowns. Not too shabby. The last three quarters seemed relatively equal between the two teams, but when one team wins the first quarter 28-3, that doesn't really matter.

Kentucky 63, OSM{WKU} 28

2010-09-21T00:27:00.003-04:00

Sept. 11, 2010--The Hilltoppers took the relatively short trip up to Lexington, and things really could not have started better. On the third play from scrimage, Bobby Rainey scampered 59 yards for a touchdown. No one could realistically expect someone to keep up a pace like that, but the junior had a great game, carrying the ball 22 times for 184 yards and two touchdowns.

However, football is a team game. The rest of WKU rushed 11 times for a total of only 3 yards. Quarterback Kawuan Jakes was only 8 of 15 for 97 yards. He had a touchdown, but he also had an interception. On the other hand freshman wide receiver Willie McNeal returned seven kickoffs for 204 yards including a 90-yard touchdown.

The real problem, though, was that McNeal had seven kickoffs to return. Kentucky had 276 yards passing and 206 yards rushing in addition to returning a punt for a 50-yard touchdown.

Nebraska 49, OSM{Western Kentucky} 10

2010-09-07T02:30:00.002-04:00

Western Kentucky faced a tall order if they wanted to snap their 20-game losing streak, heading to Lincoln to take on Nebraska, the 8th ranked team in preseason AP poll. The Cornhusker defense stiffled the Hilltopper attack in the first half, allowing them to cross midfield only once on a penalty. The Nebraska offense started early, too, with two drives in the first 5 minutes, 20 seconds of the game.

WKU's Bobby Rainey did manage to break through for a 46-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter en route to a career high 155 yards on 30 carries, but it wasn't enough.

The Hilltoppers try to break that very unluckly streak of 28 straight losses to I-A (FBS) opponents next week at Kentucky.

Mississippi State 49, GGSM{Memphis} 7

2010-09-07T01:36:00.002-04:00

Woohoo! College football is back again! I'm celebrating this, but the folks down in Memphis might not be.

Former Tiger running back Larry Porter made his head coaching debut for his alma mater and led his down to Starkville to take on Mississippi State. It didn't go well. The Bulldogs' backup quarterback freshman Tyler Russell completed 13 of his 16 passes for 256 yards and 4 touchdowns. It seems to me that starter Chris Relf's 7 of 9 for 116 yards and a touchdown might have been enough.

The Tigers tested two quarterbacks as well. Both starter Cannon Smith and backup Ryan Williams completed 10 passes, but Cannon's included a touchdown on their final drive, whereas two of Williams's were intercepted.

Oddly Memphis's next opponent also allowed 49 points in their opening game, but East Carolina managed to win their game by scoring 51 of their own.

OSM{Western Kentucky}: A long season

2009-12-06T17:16:00.001-05:00

I think the Hilltoppers would prefer that I be short on the details of their 2009 season. It was their first as a full fledged member of I-A, having been a reclassifying member the last two seasons, and the first playing football in the Sun Belt Conference.

After losing their first three games, the rest of the year went like this.

September 27--Lost 38-22 at Navy.

October 10--Lost 37-22 to Florida International.

October 17--Lost 30-22 to Louisiana Lafayette.

October 24--Lost 62-24 at MTSU.

October 31--Lost 68-49 at North Texas. The game was tied 49-49 at the end of the third quarter.

November 7--Lost 40-20 to Troy.

November 14--Lost 21-18 at Louisiana-Monroe. WKU led 12-7 thanks to four second quarter field goals by Casey Tinius.

November 28--Lost 29-23 at Florida Atlantic.

December 3--Lost 24-20 to Arkansas State. The Hilltoppers started strong with two long touchdown drives to open the game, and after recovering a fumble kicked a field goal on the final play of the first half to go to the locker room leading 17-3. They took the opening kickoff of the second half and got another field goal to lead 20-3. Arkansas State scored a touchdown at the very end of the third quarter, but then midway through the fourth, they missed a field goal. So WKU gets the ball back leading 20-10 with 7:02 to play. After two 2-yard runs, WKU's QB Kawaun Jakes throws an interception that was returned to the 4 yard line, and punched in for a touchdown on the next play. No problem. WKU still has a three point lead with 5 minutes left. After Jakes rushes for 3 yards, he was sacked for a 9-yard loss, and he fumbled. It was thankfully recovered by the Hilltoppers. However, on the next play, he was sacked again, but this time, his fumble was recovered by Arkansas State's Alex Carrington, who returned it 27-yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 3:49. Jakes tried to lead them back, but in their last two drives, he was only 3-6 for 14 yards and a sack for a 6-yard loss.

However, Jakes is only a freshman, and he was second on the team in rushing. And he had a higher passer rating that UNC's T.J. Yates. Perhaps they have something to build on in the offseason.

Western Kentucky ends the 2009 season with a 20-game losing streak, the nation's longest. Their two victories in 2008 were against I-AA teams, and so they have lost their last 24 games against I-A opponents with their last win over a I-A opponent coming on September 20 at MTSU.

GGSM{Memphis} 10/17-present

2009-12-05T16:47:00.002-05:00

The loss at Southern Miss ran the Memphis Tigers recond to 2-5 on the season, with the victories over UT-Martin and UTEP.

October 27--Memphis had 4 turnovers against East Carolina. The Pirates scored two first quarter touchdowns and never looked back. ECU won 38-19.

November 7--While UT's QB Jonathon Crompton had struggled earlier in the season, he had worked the kinks out of his system by the time the Memphis Tigers visited Knoxville. Crompton was 21-27 for a career high 331 yards and tied his career high with five touchdowns. The Vols led 42-7 at halftime. Memphis held their own with the second- and third-team Vols in the second half en route to a final score of Tennessee 56, Memphis 28.

November 14--UAB led 31-7 at the end of the third quarter at Memphis. The Tigers tried to rally, scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns, but UAB held on to win 31-21.

November 21--Houston's QB Cotton Turner was 13/16 for 173 yards and a touchdown against Memphis. The problem for Memphis was that he entered the game early in the third quarter. In the first half and one drive in the third quarter, Houston's other QB Case Keenum was 29/39 for 405 yards, and his 5 touchdown passes gave him 94 for his career, breaking David Klingler's school record. Houston won 55-14, which was the score with five minutes left in the third quarter.

November 27--Memphis really did not want to end the 2009 campaign with a six-game losing streak and a 2-10 record. Their final game took them to Tulsa, who was riding a six-game losing streak of their own and assured of their first losing season since 2004, and coming off two straight seasons with at least ten victories. Each team got a first quarter touchdown and a second quarter field for a 10-10 halftime tie. In the third quarter, Tulsa got a field goal and touchdown to go up 20-10, but Memphis counterpunched with a 77-yard TD run from Curtis Steele on the very next play. After another Tulsa field goal, Steele struck again early in the fourth quarter from 27 yards, but this time the extra point was blocked leaving the score even 23-23. Then a quick interception set up Steele for another touchdown to give the Tigers a 30-23 lead with four minutes remaining. Tulsa's QB G.J. Kinne drove his team down the field and hit Trae Johnson for a 2-yard TD with 32 seconds lieft to send the game to overtime. Memphis got the ball first in overtime, but they quickly threw an interception. Tulsa then kicked a 37-yard field goal to win 33-30.

It will be a shameful offseason in Memphis.

GGSM{Southern Miss} 10/1-10/17

2009-12-05T16:20:00.002-05:00

October 10--While there is nothing good about getting the shame mask, Southern Miss did get to face Louisville, losers of eight straight to I-A teams, in their first chance to get rid of it. And for a while, things looked good. Southern Miss lead 16-7 at halftime, but then Louisville got a 13-yard TD run and a 92-yard TD pass plus a two-point conversion. The Cardinals now led 22-16 at the end of the third quarter. However, Southern Miss found their feet again in the fourth quarter with a 12-play, 89-yard, 6:16 drive with ten rushes, the last of which being a 13-yard touchdown scamper for Tory Harrison. The extra point put Southern Miss up 23-22 with 2:13 left. However, Louisville's Daniel Hrapmann returned the following kickoff for 64 yards to set up a game-winning field goal, which Louisville kicked with 30 seconds left to win 25-23.

October 17--Memphis came south to Hattiesburg for a Shame Mask battle with the Golden Eagles. The first six drives each lasted at least 10 plays, but with a missed field goal and an intereception, they only resulted in a 10-6 Southern Miss lead. However, a 50-yard punt return by Southern Miss's Tracey Lampley for a touchdown early in the third quarter broke the game open for the Golden Eagles, who didn't look back on their way to a 36-16 victory.

GGSM{UAB} 9/12-10/1

2009-12-05T15:40:00.002-05:00

After getting the Golden Gopher Shame Mask by losing to SMU, the UAB Blazers lost to Troy, and then found their way to College Station to take on Texas A&M.

September 26--You have to admire this. UAB tried to onside kick on the opening kick off, and they recovered. Seven plays, and 2:05 later, UAB took a 3-0 lead. And then they held the Aggies to three downs and a punt. What's going on here? Texas A&M turned things around quickly with a 14-play, 5:10 touchdown drive, and they never looked back. Aggie QB Jerrod Johnson was 23/29 for 290 yards and 3 TDs in the air, and he rushed 14 times for 61 yards and 3 more TDs. The first Aggie to get six TDs in a single game. When the final gun sounded, it was Texas A&M 56, UAB 19.

October 1--The Golden Eagles of Southern Mississippi came to Birmingham next. UAB owned the first quarter and took a 10-0 lead; however Southern Miss controlled the second quarter, going to locker room tied 10-10 at half-time. UAB took a 20-10 lead early in the fourth quarter, but midway through, Southern Miss cut it to 20-17. After UAB countered with a field goal, Southern Miss tried to rally, but with 1:05, UAB's Hiram Atwater returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown to seal UAB's first every victory over Southern Miss.

Shame on me

2009-12-05T15:38:00.001-05:00

I've neglected this site this season. Sure, I've been travelling, but that's no excuse. My apologies, dear reader.

Central Arkansas 24, OSM{WKU} 7

2009-09-20T13:49:00.002-04:00

Last year, Western Kentucky's only two victories came against I-AA opponents. This year, they only scheduled one such opponent, and they didn't get the victory they were hoping for. Central Arkansas was 10-2 last year and lost 25-20 at Hawaii in the first week of the season, and so they are no pushover. Their quarterbacks Robbie Park and Nathan Dick combined to complete 20 of 24 passes for 214 yards, and their running backs tallied 193 yards rushing, including a career 51-yard TD for Leonard Ceaser at the beginning of the second quarter.

Next week, Western Kentucky takes their Shame Mask to Annapolis to take on Navy.

Troy 27, GGSM{UAB} 14

2009-09-20T12:55:00.002-04:00

September 19, 2009--UAB won their first game of the year, beating Rice 44-24. In that game, QB Joe Webb threw for 221 yards and ran for 194 yards and had two touchdowns of each variety. The next week, Webb rushing totals were cut exactly in half and he threw four interceptions as the Blazers lost to SMU and were saddled with the Golden Gopher Shame Mask. This week, he declined in both facets, rushing for 76 yards and throwing for only 114. He had only one passing TD and none running.

The Blazers' pass defense, however, allowed Levi Brown 413 yards passing, the second highest game in Troy history. Although it seems to me that 413 yards passing should lead to a greater defeat than only 27-14. UAB did hold Troy to 4-12 on third downs. I guess this is good, I suppose.

Next week, UAB travels to College Station to take on Texas A&M.

South Florida 35, OSM{Western Kentucky} 13

2009-09-20T10:55:00.002-04:00

September 12, 2009--South Florida came into Bowling Green, a sign that Western Kentucky is indeed now fully a part of I-A, or whatever they are calling that classification nowadays. Now, they just need to start beating teams at that level. They are now 1-17 against I-A teams since 2007.

The Hilltoppers did fair better than they did the previous week against Tennessee. A field goal at the end of the first half cut the USF lead to only 14-6 at halftime, and a touchdown at the end of the third quarter brought their deficit down to eight again before USF took control in the fourth quarter.

GGSM{SMU} 35, UAB 33

2009-09-20T09:50:00.002-04:00

September 12, 2009--The be-Shame Masked Mustangs of Southern Methodist stumbled a bit, but they managed to hang on and get their first victory against a I-A team since September 8, 2007, a span of 21 games. SMU scored a rushing touchdown early in the first quarter set up by a 59-yard punt return by Emmanuel Sanders. Sanders found the end zone himself a few moments later on a 44-yard TD catch from Bo Levi Mitchell. Sanders ended the day with 9 catches for 148 of Mitchell's 353 yards.

Leading 21-7 near the end of the first half, SMU intercepted a pass with 55 seconds left and two plays later found the end zone to extend their lead to 28-7. Life is good.

Okay, well, their third play of the second half was a fumble, and a few plays later, UAB scored a touchdown. Then a few moments later, UAB's Mark Ferrell scampered 80 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to only 28-21, and then on the very next play from scrimage, UAB's Brandon Carlisle intercepted a pass and returned it 12 yards before fumbling it to his teammate Andre Hicks who found the end zone for a touchdown.

All must be lost for SMU, I hear you saying. However, you'd be wrong. After giving up two touchdowns in less than 30 seconds, the Mustangs managed to block the second extra point to preserve the lead 28-27. Then they had a five-minute drive in the fourth quarter capped by a 19-yard TD run by Shawnbrey McNeal to give them an 8-point lead.

However, UAB's Joe Webb got the two-minute offense in gear and drove his Blazers down the field, converting a 3rd and 12 for a 14-yard TD pass to Jeffery Anderson with only 13 seconds remaining. Unfortunately, his run on the two-point conversion attempt failed to tie the game, sealing the SMU win.

Congratulations to SMU on your victory and starting the season 2-0!

Tennessee 63, OSM{Western Kentucky} 7

2009-09-09T22:28:00.002-04:00

Western Kentucky celebrated their full promotion to Division I-A with a trip to Knoxville. For the first quarter, things weren't looking so terrible. Tennessee's first drive ended in an interception, and their second ended in a fumble. It wouldn't last. The Vols scored touchdowns on their next four drives before the end of the first half. They had five more in the second half.

It was a rough day all the way around for the Hilltoppers. They only managed 83 yards of total offense, 49 passing and 34 rushing. They gained just six first downs converted on only one of their 11 third downs. Tennessee, however, was 7-9 on third down and got 34 first downs. They had 657 yards of total offense, with 277 yards passing and 380 yards rushing. Jonathon Crompton's five TD passes were more than he had all last season. Montario Hardesty had 160 yards rushing and freshman Bryce Brown contributed 104.

Next up for the newest member of the Sun Belt conference: South Florida comes to Bowling Green.

GGSM{SMU} 31, Stephen F. Austin 23

2009-09-09T20:45:00.003-04:00

Southern Methodist's only win in 2008 came against I-AA Texas State, and so the Mustangs chose to start the 2009 campaign with I-AA Stephen F. Austin. While they got the final result they were hoping for, it wasn't as easy as they would have liked. The Lumberjacks took a nine point lead at the end of the third quarter on their second 5-yard touchdown drive of the game. Both were set up by long interception returns. Stephen F. Austin's two interception returns totaled 130 yards, but SMU's five interception returns totaled only four yards.

However, shortly after taking that lead, Stephen F. Austin fumbled and threw an interception, leading to two Mustang scores to start their season with a win for the first time since 2000.

The brightest spot for the Mustangs was junior running back Shawnbrey McNeal. After playing sparingly at Miami (FL), McNeal transfered back to his native Dallas to be closer to his ailing mother and young child. He carried the ball 19 times for 158 yards, including a 49-yard TD. SMU was last in the nation in rushing in 2008, rushing for only 497 yards in the entire season.

Next week, SMU puts the Shame Mask on the line when they travel to UAB.

Florida International 27, OSM{WKU} 3

2009-08-18T19:13:00.002-04:00

Oops, I totally forget to update this after WKU's season ending loss at Florida International on December 6, 2008.

The Hilltoppers took a 3-0 lead near the end of the first quarter and held it until the end of the first half, when FIU's T.Y. Hilton scored a 3-yard touchdown. While they didn't run away until getting a 78-yard interception return for a touchdown with six minutes left.

Southern Miss 28, GGSM{SMU} 12

2008-11-30T09:52:00.002-05:00

It looks like it will be a long off-season on the SMU campus.

After giving up an early touchdown, the Mustangs held it close, trailing only 7-6 at halftime, but Southern Miss broke it open with three touchdowns at the end of the third quarter and the first play of the fourth quarter.

SMU QB Bo Levi Mitchell was 26-49 for 253 yards, giving him 2865 yards for the season, 21st in the nation. Not too shabby for a true freshman. Of course he threw two more interceptions to bring his nation leading total to 23. And only 13 QBs were sacked more often than his 26. On the bright side, his numbers on the season are not too dissimilar from Minnesota's Adam Weber's freshman season last year. His Gophers were also 1-11, but then this season he led them to a 7-1 (before losing their last 4, but I'll ignore that for now).

June Jones didn't beat a Division I-A team this year in his first season at SMU. Quite a fall from his 12-1 Hawai`i team last season, but considering that he was building on an SMU team that also finished 1-11. Hm, although now that I look more closely, Jones's passing attack only increased the Mustang's from 252.1 passing yards per game to 272.9. However, the more dramatic chase was in the lack of the running game. In 2007, the Mustangs rushed for 170.4 yards per game, led by QB Justin Willis, who carried 180 times for 699 yards and three touchdowns. In 2008, the entire team rushed only 217 teams for 497 yards and three touchdowns. Their 41.4 yards per game were last of the 120 teams in the country and less than half of the 117th team.

There was one bright spot for the Mustangs in this last game of the season. Senior Jessie Henderson returned four kickoffs for a total of 64 yards. This gave him 2,945 career kickoff return yards which established a new NCAA record.

And one more bright spot, an SMU freshman defensive back got his first career interception. I mention it because of his name: Chris Banjo.

Oh, on a nonshameful side note, Southern Miss's punter/kicker has a wonderful name for a kicker: Britt Barefoot.

The 2008 season ends with the SMU losing 21 straight to non-Division I-A teams and 10 straight games overall. But there's something about them that prevents me from trying to pile on. Or at least makes me feel bad about it. Here's to a excellent spring practice, SMU!

UTEP 36, GGSM{SMU} 10

2008-11-16T19:56:00.002-05:00

Another not-so-fun night for SMU. The Mustangs did get a 40-yard return of the opening kickoff and 19 yards on their first drive, SMU punted giving UTEP the ball on the 15. Not so bad. But then UTEP's QB Trevor Vittatoe threw an 85-yard touchdown pass to Kris Adams on their first play. The Miners didn't look back. Vittatoe finished 21-31 for 410 yards and three touchdowns, all three of those went to Adams. They should have thrown to him more often as he only caught 5 passes for 145 yards. These were the only three touchdowns UTEP had, but Jose Martinez did kick five field goals.

SMU's passing game was not firing on all cylinders. Bo Levi Mitchell was only 9 of 24 for 85 yards and threw two interceptions. His replacement, Logan Turner actually did worse in this respects going 4 of 12 for 42 yards, also with two interceptions, but he did throw a 27-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. SMU also fumbled twice for a total of six turnovers. Mitchell's 23 interceptions this season are the most in the nation.

SMU has one last chance to get June Jones his first win over a I-A team this season in two weeks when Southern Miss comes to town.

Middle Tennessee State 21, OSM{Western Kentucky} 10

2008-11-16T19:38:00.003-05:00

All in all, it seems from the box score, this was a pretty even game. MTSU had 18 first downs, WKU had 17. Each team committed two turnovers. Each team attempted 30 passes, MTSU completed 19, WKU 18, but WKU had 213 yards to MTSU's 212. MTSU did run the ball 8 more times than the Hilltoppers, but they only averaged 2.5 yards per carry compared to WKU's 2.1. Is it possible that the field position game won by the MTSU punter David DeFatta 6 times for 46.7 yards per punt compared to WKU's Jeremy Moore's 34.6 yards per punt on 5 punts? I don't know.

Western Kentucky now has two weeks off before they travel to Miami to face Shame Mask favorite Florida International. FIU however is 4-5 so far this season.

Memphis 31, GGSM{SMU} 26

2008-11-09T21:40:00.002-05:00

Another tough loss for SMU. True freshman QB Bo Levi Mitchell had a career high 5 yards rushing, but that one rush carried quite a price. He injured his shoulder on their second quarter field goal drive, knocking him out of the game. He finished 5-7 for 83, including a 53-yard touchdown to Emmanuel Sanders. Backup QB Logan Turner, also a freshman, played well, completing 19-31 for 228 yards and two touchdowns.

Although the Mustangs never led in the game, they trailed by only one at halftime 14-13, and at the end of the third quarter 21-20. However, Memphis was able to score a quick touchdown and then run down the clock on a key 10-play, 77-yard field goal drive to get some insurance points in the fourth quarter. Logan Turneer did rally SMU on a quick touchdown drive with 44 seconds left, but they were unable to recover the onside kick and were forced to watch Memphis run out the clock.

SMU tries to end their 19-game I-A losing streak next week at UTEP.

Troy 17, OSM{Western Kentucky} 7

2008-11-09T21:06:00.002-05:00

Not much fun for Western Kentucky on their trip to Troy. Troy got a 58-yard TD pass 40 seconds into the game, but Western Kentucky stood strong and never let the game get out of hand, though.

The most interesting thing to me was that in a game in which the team threw for only 95 yards, four different Hilltoppers completed at least one pass. Starting QB David Wolke was only 3-8 and injured his back in the first quarter. Backup Brandon Smith was 10-22, but the highlight was his 20 yard TD run for WKU's only score. Running back Dexter Taylor threw twice, completing one of them for two yards, and even the punter Jeremy Moore got into the act, completing a 5-yard pass on 4th and 7.

Up next for the Hilltoppers, Middle Tennessee State comes up to Bowling Green.

OSM{North Texas} 51, Western Kentucky 40

2008-11-02T22:46:00.002-05:00

It was a wild game at Western Kentucky, but the be-Shame-Masked North Texas managed to finally get rid of that dreaded mask with their first win of the season.

WKU drew first blood with a 5-yard TD run from QB David Wolke two minutes into the game. Wolke would lead the Hilltoppers with 178 yards on the ground and 2 TDs. I would throw for 190 yards and 2 TDs, but he did throw 3 INTs.

It took North Texas two minutes to respond with a 38 yard TD run from QB Giovanni Vizza. Vizza unfortunately totalled only 34 yards on his seven carries, but he did through four TD passes against only one interception.

But, WKU struck back 28 seconds later with a 62-yard TD pass. North Texas however scored two touchdowns in the span of a 1:42 to take a 21-14 lead with six minutes left in the first quarter.

However, in the third quarter, WKU scored three touchdowns, including two in the span of only 18 seconds, to take a 34-31 lead into the wild fourth quarter.

North Texas began the fourth with an 18-yard TD pass, but the PAT was blocked, and so their lead was only 37-34. Five minutes later, WKU's David Wolke scored his second rushing TD, but their PAT was also blocked, and North Texas managed to return it for a defensive two-point conversion so that WKU's lead was only 40-39. With two minutes remaining, North Texas scored a 27-yard TD pass to go up 45-40, and then in one final display of craziness, North Texas returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown on the game's final play.

This ends North Texas's 9 game losing streak, which was tied for the longest in the nation.

Western Kentucky, the newest I-A team, is still technically "reclassifying" and is only 2-7 this season with both wins over I-AA schools. This was their eleventh straight loss to a I-A opponent. They play at Troy next week.

Troy 45, OSM{North Texas} 17

2008-10-29T00:09:00.002-04:00

Let's see, North Texas did participate in causing Troy to miss three PATs.

Okay, that's about it. Troy forced two turnovers and scored 15 points in the first quarter and never looked back.

And strangely, this is not the worst headlines to come out of Denton, TX, this week. "I don't think we have a problem with drugs, but I will say that it's every coach's prerogative to test his team," North Texas head coach Todd Dodge said. "It's a great tool to help players stay away from drugs and temptations. When I talked to my team about drug testing all of them, I told them that if there was one young man on our team who secretly needed help, if it saved one young man from getting in trouble or ending up dead, then it is worth it." This was according to the Denton Record-Chronicle article that said that of the 86 players tested earlier in the season, 15 failed.

The Mean Green next hits the field against Western Kentucky on Saturday.

Navy 34, GGSM{SMU} 7

2008-10-28T23:29:00.004-04:00

Generally, in a football game, the plan goes like this. Score points to take the lead, and then run the ball to kill the clock and go home a winner. Navy did just this on Saturday about as well as a team can against SMU. In a driving rainstorm, the passing attack of SMU got bogged down with an interception on the third play. Three rushes later, Navy was in the end zone. After two more incomplete SMU passes and a rush for -1 yard, Navy got the ball back and started running again. Second string QB Jarrod Bryant had started the previous two games after starter Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada was injured, but Bryant was on a 20-yard run on the second drive. Okay, send in third stringer sophomore Ricky Dobbs. Dobbs went on to carry the ball 42 times for 224 yards and 4 touchdowns. Not too shabby. In fact, under his direction, Navy's ground game was so solid, that he did not even attempt a pass. Head coach Ken Niumatalolo's Navy was the first I-A team in 11 years to not attempt a single pass in a game. Ten different Midshipmen rushed at least once, and together they amassed 404 yards on 77 carries. And they outrushed SMU by 417 yards because the team known in the 1980s as the "Pony Express" left Annapolis with thirteen fewer yards rushing than they came with. Navy won the time of possession battle 42:32 to 17:28.

SMU now has a week off before hosting Memphis on November 8.

Shame Mask Congratulations

2008-10-28T23:03:00.003-04:00

Idaho won a game! Idaho won a game! Idaho won a game!

After taking a early lead thanks to Princeton McCarty's 54-yard TD run, the Idaho Vandals allowed New Mexico State two second quarter touchdown passes. However, this time, Idaho decided to rally. They tied the game just before halftime with a 3-yard TD pass from Nathan Enderle to Daniel Hardy. The low scoring second half saw only two field goals, but luckily for the Vandals, both came from the toe of Tino Amancio and thus Idaho beat their first I-A team since October 14, 2006, a span of 23 games. Congratulations!

By my count, this makes SMU's 18-game losing streak to I-A teams the current longest.

Houston 44, GGSM{SMU} 38

2008-10-20T21:26:00.002-04:00

Argh! The Mustangs came agonizingly close to giving June Jones his first victory over a I-A team, only to let it slip away at the end. SMU jumped out to an early lead thanks to two TD drives led by freshman QB Bo Levi Mitchell, who scored his first career rushing touchdown near the end of the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead. Mitchell had his best game in college, going 29-39 for 375 yards and 4 TDs against only two interceptions, and he added a carreer high 3 yards rushing.

Houston cut the lead in half, ending the second quarter trailing only 21-14. However, the could only manage a touchdown and field goal in the third quarter against two more TD passes from Mitchell, including a 70-yarder to Aldrick Robinson, the leading receiver in the nation, on the final play of the quarter. Thus, with fifteen minutes left, the Mustangs were up 35-23.

After trading punts to open the fourth, Houston's Casey Keenum started his rally. A quick Cougar touchdown was countered by an SMU field goal, but then Keenum led Houston quickly down the field, covering 60 yards in just five plays, capped by a 1-yard TD run by Bryce Beall with 2:34 left. SMU now lead just 38-36, but they were able to successfully stop the game tying two point conversion. Unfortunately, they could only run 12 seconds off the clock on their next drive, which left Keenum plenty of time to complete his second TD pass of the game with 24 seconds left. Keenum's 404 yards were a season high for the nation's second leading passer. He has thrown for at least 360 yards in all seven games this season.

Next up for SMU is a game of contrasting styles. SMU takes their second worst in the nation rushing attack into Annapolis where Navy boasts the fourth best. On the other hand, SMU is seventh in the nation in passing, whereas Navy is next-to-last. Could this be the breakthrough the Mustangs need? They've lost 17 straight against I-A opponents.

Louisiana-Monroe 35, OSM{North Texas} 23

2008-10-20T20:57:00.002-04:00

North Texas started Saturday's game just about as well as possible, stuffing Louisiana-Monroe's 3rd and 1 to force a three-and-out followed by a 27-yard punt on the games initial drive. After getting a first down, the Mean Green also had to punt. Then the Louisiana Warhawks stepped on the gas. Their other three first quarter drives ended in a 54-yard TD run from QB Kinsmon Lancaster, a 69-yard TD pass from Lancaster to Luther Ambrose, and a 49-yard run from Rodney Lovett. Lancaster added a 5-yard TD run early in the second quarter. Lancaster finished 12-21 for 171 yards and the one TD and carried the ball 10 times for 95 yards and two TDs.

To the credit, North Texas after falling behind 28-0 early in the second quarter did not roll over. Far from it. QB Giovanni Vizza engineered several long drives, including a 17-play field goal drive following Lancaster's TD run. His final two drives resulted in touchdown passes to cut the lead to 35-23, making this the Mean Green's closest loss of the season. Vizza's 37 completions, 61 attempts, and 362 yards were all season highs.

This was North Texas's eighth straight loss, the longest such streak in the nation. Next week, they welcome Sun Belt co-leader Troy to Denton.

Tulsa 37, GGSM{SMU} 31

2008-10-11T23:36:00.004-04:00

Heading into this game, Tulsa was 6-0, winners of 7 straight dating back to last season. The Golden Hurricane had the nation's most prolific offense, ranked 5th in passing yards per game and 10th in rushing yards per game, totaling 600 yards of total offense per game. SMU, on the other hand, had beaten only I-AA Texas State this season, and had lost 15 straight to I-A opponents. The Mustangs are ranked 1th in the nation in passing yards per game and have two of the top five receivers in country. But, they were last in the nation in rushing.

So much for the stats. SMU took a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter and held it until late in the third when Tulsa tied it at 24. But, on the very next play, SMU's true freshman quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell threw a 77-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders.

However, Tulsa tied the game again when QB David Johnson capped an 18-play, 88-yard drive with a 33 yard touchdown pass on 4th and 21. Bo Levi Mitchell counted this time with an interception on the very next play. Mitchell is leading the nation in interceptions, but only three players have attempted more passes this season. Though very ill-timed, this was his only interception on the day against four TDs, both career bests against I-A teams. He also had a career high -5 yards rushing. The team's 151 yards rushing increased their season total to 356.

A.J. Whitmore put Tulsa ahead with an 8-yard TD run a minute later, but the Mustangs kicked back by blocking the PAT. Mitchell's rally in the final two minutes fell short with two incomplete passes at the Tulsa 26 to turn it over on downs.

June Jones's tenure in SMU has not started well, but his Mustangs do seem to be improving. Will he beat his first I-A team next week against Houston and the nation's second leading passing attack? Who knows?

Louisiana-Lafayette 59, OSM{North Texas} 30

2008-10-11T23:02:00.003-04:00

The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns entered Saturday's game with North Texas as the leading rushing team in the nation averaging 331 yards per game. Not a good sign for North Texas. The Mean Green did however manage to hold the leading rusher Tyrell Fenroy to only 92 yards and only one touchdown although considering that in his last three games he rushed for 192, 183, and 297 yards with 3 TDs in each game, he might have just been tired. QB Michael Desormeaux led the way on ground with 123 yards, his fourth 100-yard game on the ground this season. He had a nice day throwing the ball, too, going 14-20 for 217 yards and three TDs.

WR Jason Chery pitched in, too, with an 81-yard TD run. His 9 rushes on the season include TD runs of 47, 87, and now 81 yards. Plus, he caught three passes today--all for touchdowns (17, 49, 57 yards). Oh, and he returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. Not a bad day.

I should probably say something about North Texas. Giovanni Vizza was 29-44 including 2 TDs and a season high 361 yards. Cam Montgomery's 20 carries and 116 yards were also season highs. Thanks to this offensive performance, their 29-point loss was their closest game this season. Previous losses were by 39, 30, 38, 57, and 32 points.

FIU 42, OSM{North Texas} 10

2008-10-11T22:47:00.002-04:00

North Texas began this game by bending severely when they allowed a 17-play, 69-yard drive. But, they didn't break, standing strong when FIU went for it on 4th and 1 at the North Texas 10. They broke quickly on the next drive, which FIU's Paul McCall connected on a 65-yard TD strike to T.Y. Hilton. Their next drive ended when FIU blocked a punt for a touchdown. The next drive ended with QB Giovanni Vizza's first interception of the night. On the one after that, they failed to convert on 4th and 1 at the FIU 24, which was followed two plays later by McCall's 73-yard TD pass to Hilton. McCall was 11 of 19 on the night for 234 yards and 4 touchdowns.

GGSM{UCF} 31, SMU 17

2008-10-11T22:38:00.002-04:00

Shame Mask apologies are in order for the UCF Golden Knights. Due to a busy week, I was unable to post about their glorious 31-17 victory over SMU to pass along the Golden Gopher Shame Mask.

Tied 10-10 at halftime, UCF switched quarterbacks to Michael Greco, who threw two touchdown passes.

Congratulations.

GGSM{UTEP} 58, UCF 13

2008-09-30T23:09:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-30T19:44:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-25T22:57:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-25T21:48:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-15T20:10:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-14T23:27:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-14T22:29:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-07T18:19:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-07T17:43:00.003-04:00

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

2008-09-07T14:24:00.002-04:00

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

2008-09-04T20:29:00.003-04:00

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.

Shame Watch: Arizona 70, Idaho 0

2008-08-31T10:20:00.002-04:00

Idaho came down to Tempe on Saturday tied for the nation's longest overall losing streak (10 games) and also the longest losing streak against I-A opponents (16 games). They did nothing to indicate these trends will change. Arizona's 35 point second quarter put the game out of reach pretty quickly. It was the Wildcats first shutout since 1996, and it was their most lopsided win since 1921's 74-0 win over the Texas College of Mining and Metallurgy (now UTEP).

The Wildcats scored rushing touchdowns of 1, 1, 2, 3, and 5 yards, plus passing touchdowns of 3, 5, 7 and 12 yards. Then there was the odd play of a Wildcat dropping a punt only to see his teammate pick it up and run for an 87-yard touchdown. Idaho converted only 1 of 12 third downs. Total yardage: Arizona 521, Idaho 112. (On the positive side, their 64 yards rushing were 64 more than Clemson managed against Alabama.)

Sophomore QB Nathan Enderle was 10-25 for only 48 yards. It was his tenth career game, but it was the sixth in which he has thrown three or more interceptions. Backup Quin Ashley threw only two passes--one was incomplete while the other was intercepted.

Next week, the Vandals return home and welcome I-AA Idaho State next week. Idaho State lost to Boise State 49-7 on Saturday.

Shame Watch Congratulations

2008-08-31T00:12:00.003-04:00

Congratulations are in order for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. They ended 2007 with a ten-game losing streak--tied for the nation's longest active streak--and they let a 24-13 third quarter lead get away when Northern Illinois scored midway through the fourth to take a 27-24 lead. They even fumbled away their next drive, but quarterback Adam Weber marched his team down the field for a 10-play, 74-yard drive capped by a 1-yard TD run from Duane Bennett with 22 seconds remaining to seal the 31-27 victory. Sophomore Weber played decently last year, starting all 12 games as a freshman (2895 yards, 24 TDs), with the exception of one category--his 19 interceptions tied for the second most in the nation in 2007. However, 2008 began nicely 24-37, 298 yards, 2 TDs, and most importantly no interceptions. Bennett, also a sophomore, carried the ball 18 times for 92 yards with a 61-yard TD scamper in addition to his game winning dive.

Congrats again, Golden Gophers, and best of luck next week at Bowling Green.

Shame Watch also wishes to congratulate

Duke on ending their 9-game losing streak in David Cutcliff's first game as head coach with a 31-7 victory over I-AA James Madison. Of course, their I-A losing streak is still alive.
UNLV on ending their 8-game losing streak with their 27-17 win over Utah State.
South Carolina on ending Steve Spurier's career longest five-game losing streak once they got things in gear in the second half of their 34-0 win over NC State on Thursday night.
Ole Miss on winning Houston Nutt's debut, beating Memphis 41-24, and they ended their five-game losing streak to I-A opponents.

Kansas State 45, OSM{North Texas} 6

2008-08-30T23:08:00.002-04:00

Here's how the North Texas Mean Green started their 2008 season: Run for no gain. Substitution infraction. Run for a three yard loss. Incomplete pass. Thirty yard punt returned 38 yards for a touchdown. But they got a break when the touchdown was called back for a holding penalty, but Kansas State got a 4-yard TD run on their first play of office.

Things did improve for North Texas as the day went along, but not much. Only one other drive lost yardage. All of Kansas State's scoring drives were at least three plays long. North Texas converted only 2 of 13 third downs and managed only 205 yards of total offense while giving up 471 yards to Kansas State. However, they did win the turnover battle, getting an interception and a fumble without turning the ball over themselves. The interception led to their only score, a 9-yard TD pass from sophomore QB Giovanni Vizza to Alex Lott at the end of the third quarter, but the extra point was blocked. But still, their 39-point loss is a better start than last season's 69-point loss at Texas. There are small victories.

Next week North Texas returns to Denton, TX, to host Tulsa, who won 45-22 at UAB today. This could be big for the Shame Masks. If North Texas beats Tulsa, and then Tulsa beats New Mexico, and if New Mexico State doesn't win at Nebraska or UTEP, then the New Mexico and New Mexico State game would unite the two Shame Masks.

Shame Watch: Rice 56, SMU 27

2008-08-30T00:13:00.002-04:00

Friday night's slate of games saw four teams take to the field to kick-off their 2008 campaigns. All four--Temple, Army, Rice, and SMU--hope fair better than 2007, in which they had a combined record of 11-37. (This included Army's win over Temple and Rice's last second win 43-42 win over SMU, as well as Army's win over Rhode Island, a I-AA team that finished 3-8. Rice had the only win over a winning team, 7-6 Southern Miss.) Temple however did finish 2007 on something of a role, winning 4 of their final 7, and they rolled over Army tonight, 35-7. It was the Black Knights' seventh straight defeat.

I was however more concerned about the SMU-Rice game. While SMU ented with a ten game losing streak, tied for the longest in the country, there was a new hope in Dallas. After finishing 1-11 last season, SMU put together the richest salary for a non-BCS conference team ($2 million, 21st highest overall) to lure passing guru June Jones from Hawai`i. Jones has become used to winning at Hawai`i, going 11-3 in 2006 and then an undefeated 2007 regular season before losing to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Would this winning carry over and return the Mustangs to the "Pony Express" days of 1980-85 when they were the winningest program in the country? (Without the playing of the players of course.)

SMU started promising. True freshman starting quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell started about as strongly as could be expected, throwing for 26- and 19-yard touchdown passes in the first quarter to take a quick 13-0 lead in his first quarter. However, the missed extra point on the second one proved to be the turning point as the Rice Owls rallied quickly thereafter, took a 14-13 lead on the final play of the first quarter and never looked back. Rice eventually won 56-27. Mitchell finished 25-43 for 244 yards and three TDs. He did however throw three interceptions, one of which was returned for 55 yards for a touchdown.

It is generally tough to find a silver lining in an 11 game losing streak, which at the moment is the longest active streak. However, next week SMU hosts Texas State, a I-AA team that finished 4-7 last season. While that may end the losing streak, the streak against I-A teams looks like it might continue when they play at Texas Tech the next week, but with June Jones at the helm, I have to think SMU's second winning season since the NCAA death penalty in 1987-88 shouldn't be too far away.

Shame Watch Special Edition

2008-07-17T23:14:00.002-04:00

The 2008 college football season kicks off only seven weeks from tonight, and so I thought it was time for a midsummer Shame Mask update. I'll talk about the Shame Mask wearing teams below, but first, I'll talk about some new shame related material. I've decided to add some additional content here at the College Football Shame Mask, the Shame Watch.

With Florida International's 23 game losing streak snapped in the final week of 2008, the team with the nation's longest losing streak is no longer wearing a shame mask. What if a team were to keep losing and break the Northwestern record without acquiring a Shame Mask? Would I know it? This is something I need to start keeping track of.

Three teams ride 10 game losing streaks into the 2008 season, but one is the worst among equals.

1. Idaho. The Vandals 20-13 win in Week 2 of 2007 was over I-AA Cal Poly. This means their losing streak against I-A teams goes back to when they were still officially called I-A teams. On October 14, 2006, Idaho beat Louisiana Tech 24-14. Since then they have lost 16 games against I-A opponents. Idaho's next opportunity to beat a team is on August 30 at Arizona. At first glance, this might seem like a tough task for the WAC team going against the PAC-10. However, as I pointed out here under Mike Stoops, Arizona in only 2-11 against I-A opponents in the months of August and September, and so anything's possible?

1A. Southern Methodist. SMU's last win was September 8, 2007, at home against North Texas, 45-31. The Mustangs' ten game losing streak includes a couple of tough ones. The second was a 48-45 overtime lost to UTEP in which they led 42-28 in the fourth quarter and allowed a game tying touchdown with 7 seconds left. Loss 5 was 29-23 at Tulsa, allowing the winning 51-yard touchdown pass with 43 seconds left. Loss 7 saw SMU let a 42-27 fourth quarter lead over Rice evaporate with a 31-yard game winning field goal as time expired giving the Owls the 43-42 win. And then the season ended with a 55-52 triple overtime loss at Memphis. SMU's 2008 campaign starts August 29 seeking revenge at Rice. Their schedule has them leaving the state of Texas only twice, and their second game is against I-AA Texas State, and so I don't see their losing streak last all that long.

1B. Minnesota. The Golden Gophers' last win came on September 8, 2007, when they let a 16-point fourth quarter lead slip away at home against Miami (OH), only to win 41-35 double overtime. Following that win there was a 42-39 loss at Florida Atlantic. Along the way, they squandered a 14 point fourth quarter lead at Northwestern, allowed the tying touchdown with 8 seconds left, and then lost 49-48 in double overtime, when Minnesota scored a touchdown in the second overtime and went for two and the win, but missed. The next week, they let a 21-17 fourth quarter lead over I-AA North Dakota State get away, losing 27-21. (To be fair, the go-ahead touchdown was tight end Thor Brown's second catch of the season, and so they can be excused for not covering him. Sort of.) Minnesota hosts Northern Illinois on August 30.

Which one will win? Which one will lose? Who knows? Maybe Duke with their nine game losing streak will come from behind. Watch this space.

The Long Offseason: New Mexico State Aggies

2008-07-17T22:26:00.002-04:00

The 2007 New Mexico State season wasn't too awful, finishing 4-9. Of course, two of the wins were over I-AA opponents and the other two were over 4-8 UTEP and 1-11 Idaho. They do, however, have a prolific passing attack led by QB Chase Holbrook. He was seventh in the country in passing yards in 2007 despite missing one game and most of another with sore ribs. As a sophomore in 2006, he was second in the country although his team won only 4 games (again including two wins over I-AA teams).

The defense beat the offense in the spring game 35-17 in April, but Holbrook did not play for the offense.

The 2008 Aggie campaign begins September 4 when I-AA Nicholls State comes to Las Cruces, but this seems to be their only I-AA opponent.

Their October 18 contest against San Jose State will mark their second annual "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" game to raise money to for breast cancer research. Last year's was a success in terms of raising money, but it did apparently involve pink socks. That the event was scheduled against I-AA Arkansas Pine Bluff doesn't exactly scream "toughness," but hey, they did play football in pink socks, so there you go. They're bumping up to an I-A opponent, this year. Let's hope they don't up the ante to pink pants, as well.

The Long Offseason: North Texas Mean Green

2008-07-17T20:58:00.002-04:00

"How hard would you fight if you were looking not to go 0-12?" North Texas head coach Todd Dodge said of Florida International's effort in the final game of the 2007season against his Mean Green. The answer is apparently harder than you would if you were looking not to go 2-10.

Perhaps the best way to talk about the 2007 Mean Green season is to compare them to the mean. The North Texas offense, led by Sun Belt Freshman of the Year QB Giovanni Vizza, tied for 78th in points per game at 24.8, and the mean of the 120 teams was 28.2. It was the defense, however, that let the Mean Green down, allowing an average of 45.1 points per game. This was more than any team, and nearly 18 points more than the national average of 27.2. It seemed pretty simple. When allowing fewer than 30 points: 2-0. When allowing more 30, 0-10. Most of their losses seemed rather pedestrian, but there was the season opening 79-10 loss at Oklahoma and a 66-7 loss at Arkansas.

However, the most interesting game of the season was their absolutely amazing 74-62 loss home loss to Navy. North Texas led at the half 49-44, but could manage only 13 more in the second half. Total yardage: Navy, 680, North Texas 635. Navy converted 3 of 5 third downs. 31 first downs, but only 5 third downs. Navy's rushing attack was really quite amazing. Their 57 carries netted 572 yards, but the most amazing thing was their balance. Seven different Midshipmen had at least 6 carries at least 44 yards, and six of them scored at least one touchdown. Their leading rusher had only 131 yards, including a 64 yard TD. Vizza's game wasn't too shabby either, completing 40 of 50 passes for 478 yards and 8 TDs, plus he ran the ball 13 times for 98 yards.

Looking ahead, in the April Green-White scrimmage, the defense did start strong (according to www.meangreensports.com), "allowing just a field goal through the first 13 minutes of the scrimmage." They also returned a fumble for a touchdown. But, the offense seemed to have the upper hand, completing 68 percent of their passes for 391 yards and 5 touchdowns.

North Texas kicks off the 2008 season on August 30 at Kansas State. It the risk of lossing my objectivity, I'm hoping they loose. This is so that they can beat Tulsa on September 6. If Tulsa beats New Mexico two weeks later and New Mexico State losses at Nebraska and UTEP, this would set up a titanic battle that will combine the two Shame Masks on September 27.

OSM{Florida International} 38, North Texas 19

2007-12-02T02:35:00.002-05:00

"We're not 1-11. We're on a one-game winning streak." This comes from Paul McCall, Florida International sophomore quarterback, after making his first career start. McCall was 11 of 19 for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Since FIU's last win came in the finale of the 2005 season, McCall had not been on the field or sidelines for a win in college.

It was the final game at the Orange Bowl, where Florida International was playing their home games while their regular stadium was being renovated. The University of Miami could not defend their home turf two weeks ago in their final game at the Orange Bowl. The Hurricanes had a 58-game winning streak in games played at the Orange Bowl from 1985 to 1994, but they just totally forgot about how to play there in their final game at the 70-year-old stadium when they lost 48-0 to Virginia. Miami did beat FIU 23-9 at the Orange Bowl in September.

North Texas (2-10) jumped out to a quick lead thanks to FIU doing nothing on their first three plays before snapping the ball over the head of their punter. North Texas recovered on the 1 yard line, and then scored a touchdown on the next play. This is FIU football, right? But North Texas football had something to say about that. North Texas missed the extra point, and so they led only 6-0 at the end of the first quarter. FIU took a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter, but North Texas followed quickly with another touchdown and a failed 2-point conversion. However, Florida International ran the following kickoff back for a touchdown to regain the lead, and they never looked back.

The 23-game losing streak is now over. Florida International will not be able to break Northwestern's 34 game losing streak until November, 2010, at the earliest. Congratulations, Golden Panthers. Enjoy your offseason. SMU, Idaho, and Minnesota are now tied for the nation's longest losing streak at 10 games.

Fresno State 30, GGSM{New Mexico State} 23

2007-12-01T13:26:00.000-05:00

November 30--In their first game in the Golden Gopher Shame Mask since November 18, 2006, the Aggies of New Mexico State started out on the right foot with a 66-yard touchdown pass from Chase Holbrook on the third play from scrimage. While their defense was bent for two long drives in the first quarter, they didn't break, allowing 20- and 24-yard field goals to Fresno State, a team New Mexico State has never beaten in 13 previous tries. Then after a 12-play, 80-yard drive, New Mexico State scored a touchdown on the second play of the second quarter.

But this was where the wheels started to come off. Fresno State blocked the extra point on that touchdown and returned it for the rare defensive two-point conversion, only the sixth in the Division I-A this year. Thus New Mexico State led only 13-8. Fresno State quickly scored two touchdowns, one of which had a two-point conversion, and Fresno State took a 23-13 lead into the locker room. They hung on, winning 30-23.

CFSM Extra: Utah State 24, Idaho 19

2007-12-01T13:03:00.000-05:00

November 24--I feel the Utah State-Idaho is worth reporting on here at the Shame Mask even though neither team's current losing streak can be traced back to the Northwestern streak from 1979-1982. Although Idaho seemed to win almost every statistical category, it's ultimately the score that matters, and this is where Utah State had the edge. Utah State should be congratulated for their second win of the season. Senior quarterback/punter Leon Jackson III had two 1-yard touchdown runs, and he threw for the Aggies' other touchdown in his final game. This win coupled with New Mexico State's loss to Fresno State meant that Utah State finished 7th in the WAC standings. (There are 9 teams in the WAC.)

Perhaps also notworthy is that Idaho ends the 2007 season without beating another Division I-A team.

Florida Atlantic Owls 55, OSM{Florida International} 23

2007-11-25T17:29:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-25T16:37:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-17T21:48:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-16T22:38:00.000-05:00

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

Arkansas State 27, OSM{Florida International} 24

2007-11-05T21:32:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-05T19:59:00.000-05:00

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

2007-11-02T22:25:00.000-04:00

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

2007-11-02T22:01:00.000-04:00

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.

Louisiana Monroe 28, OSM{Florida International} 14

2007-10-26T23:17:00.000-04:00

More of the same for Florida International. Winless since 2005 and riding the nation's longest losing streak into Monroe, LA, to face the Warhawks, who had only one win to show for their efforts this season. FIU's offense scored their second highest total of the season, and their defense allowed their second fewest points of the season, which tied their closest margin of defeat at 14.

But, there is perhaps one thing working in the Golden Panthers' favor--the play at Arkansas tomorrow. Wait, hear me out on this. This is the season of the upset. Michigan's home loss to Appalachian State to open the season. Then there was the weekend wear half the top 12 lost. USC lost to Stanford in the biggest upset ever (according to the point spread) to start a string of three straight weeks in which the second ranked team in the country lost. The second ranked team almost lost again last night when Boston College did nothing for three and a half quarters before pulling it out at the end. While it is true that Arkansas is only 4-3, Florida International's remaining four opponents after the Razorbacks are a combined 3-12 against non-Sun Belt teams, with the wins coming against Memphis, SMU, and Minnesota. Thus, if Florida International wants to end their losing streak with shocking upset, it must come this week.

Nevada 31, GGSM{Utah State) 28

2007-10-26T22:57:00.000-04:00

The Aggies of Utah State haven't won a game in over a year, but they still keep fighting. After Nevada scored two first quarter touchdowns, Utah State rallied with a first quarter touchdown of their own and then took the lead with two touchdowns in the final four minutes of the first half.

However, Nevada's halftime speech prove more stirring, as they scored 10 third quarter to regain the lead. But, the scrappy Aggies put together a touchdown drive to start the fourth quarter, regaining the lead 28-24 on QB/punter Leon Jackson III's second rushing touchdown of the game.

But Nevada's ground attack proved to strong. Neveda rushed for 302 yards, including 241 by Luke Lippincott on 36 carries. A fourth quarter touchdown gave the Wolf Pack the lead, and the ground game salted it away by running out the final five minutes, sending Utah State to their 13th consecutive loss.

Troy 34, OSM{Florida International} 16

2007-10-20T11:48:00.000-04:00

It was not a terrible game two weeks ago for the Golden Panthers of Florida International. What really beat them were the big plays. Troy got a 84-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter and 88-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Take away these, and make the two-point conversion in the final minute and FIU only loses 20-18.

Next up: Tonight's battle with 1-5 Louisiana-Lafayette. Gotta love Sun Belt football.

Edit: Whoops, they actually play 1-5 Louisiana-Monroe. Louisiana-Lafayette is 1-6.

Hawai`i 52, GGSM{Utah State 37}

2007-10-13T19:57:00.000-04:00

Being in the WAC has its perks, such as a trip to play at Hawai`i. I don't know exactly how much free time the Utah State Aggies got to sightsee or hang out at the beach on their trip to Honolulu, though. Also, with the quality football that the University of Hawai`i has been playing lately, it's anything by an easy game.

The Rainbow Warriors play an up-tempo style of offense where they throw the ball almost as often as possible. Coming into the game, Hawai`i quarterback Colt Brennan had attempted 182 passes compared to only 103 for Utah State's Leon Jackson III despite the fact that due to an injury, Brennen had played one fewer game than Jackson. Brennan's backup Tyler Graunke in that game that Brennan missed completed 22 of 36 passes for 285 yards--138 more yards than Jackson's highest game of the year. It was known beforehand that Hawai`i would score a lot of points. Could Utah State keep up?

Utah State started out well with an 11-play field goal drive. Then after Hawai`i countered with a touchdown drive, Utah State returned the following kickoff for a touchdown to regain the lead. However, Hawai`i's field goal knotted the game at 10-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Utah State started the second quarter with a field goal, but Hawai`i returned the following kickoff for a touchdown and got two more touchdowns before halftime, and the Rainbow Warriors never looked back. Brennan was 19/25 for 219 yards with a touchdown and Graunke was 9/11 for 246 yards and 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Utah State was able to stop third string QN Inoke Funaki did not complete either of his pass attempts. Utah State never gave up though and ended up scoring 17 more points than they had in any previous game this season.

Middle Tennessee 47, OSM{Florida International} 6

2007-10-06T14:50:00.000-04:00

The good news for Florida International was that the won the second half 6-0, after recovering an MTSU fumble in the end zone for a touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter. However, since MTSU won the first half 47-0, the Blue Raiders easily took the game as a whole.

FIU had a balanced attack with 73 yards passing and 72 yards rushing, although to be fair, they lost 18 rushing yards when one of their punters mishandled the snap out of the end zone for a safety. They also had 71 yards in penalties, and they only made two first downs the entire game.

Utah 34, GGSM{Utah State} 18

2007-10-03T20:24:00.000-04:00

Things started nicely for Utah State at their in-state rival Utah with a first quarter interception return by James Brindley for 64 yards, one yard short of a touchdown. QB/punter Leon Jackson III punched it into the end zone on the next play to give the Aggies a 7-0 lead. Utah countered by with a touchdown on their next drive, and then got a 75-yard punt return for a touchdown on the second play of the second quarter, and the Utes never looked back.

But it did not seem like a crushing defeat for the Shame Mask ladden Aggies. No stats jumped out at me as being particularly bad. They one the turnover battle. Leon Jackson completed more than twice as many passes than he had punts. They just got beat. This happens from time to time.