FBS G5 Week 3 Recap and Highlights

On By Kent Schmidt
Memphis QB Riley Ferguson elated after defeating UCLA 48-45 at the Liberty Bowl Saturday.

Our game of the week featuring Tulsa at Toledo certainly lived up to the billing with Toledo prevailing with a last second field goal to win that game.

One other game involving two Top 25 G5 CSJ ranked teams also went to the wire with Louisiana Tech holding off Western Kentucky.

But the biggest highlight was two G5 victories over AP Top 25 ranked Power 5 teams in Memphis defeating UCLA and San Diego State defeating Stanford.

And two other G5 teams highlighted the college football landscape in defeated Big 10 teams. Northern Illinois defeating Nebraska in Lincoln and South Florida defeated Illinois at home.

Hurricane Irma still lingered into this week with two games canceled with Florida International at Indiana and Georgia Tech at Central Florida games being called off.

While last week’s top ranked G5 CSJ Sagarin team in Houston won easily over Rice, Memphis by beating a high ranked team supplanted the Cougars in the top spot in this week’s rankings.

Below are these game highlights along with some other key game highlights this week. Click on the scores for a detailed game review and the video link to see highlights.

Toledo 54 Tulsa 51 (TOLEDO, Ohio)

Quarterback Logan Woodside threw for 458 yards and a school-record tying six touchdowns as the Rockets rallied from a 21-point deficit to defeat Tulsa, 54-51, before 24,239 joyous fans at the Glass Bowl Saturday night. The third-biggest comeback in the 100-year history of the program was not completed until junior placekicker Jameson Vest booted a 33-yard field goal with no time on the clock.

The Rockets (3-0) trailed 28-7 in the first half, fought their way back into the game in the third quarter, then outlasted the Golden Hurricane (1-2) down the stretch. After Tulsa knotted the score at 51-51 with 2:47 to play, Woodside drove the Rockets 59 yards in eight plays, setting up Vest’s heroics. Tulsa called a pair of timeouts to ice the kicker, but Vest calmly split the uprights to give the Rockets the victory.

 

Louisiana Tech 23 Western Kentucky 22 (BOWLING GREEN, Kent.)

Louisiana Tech and Western Kentucky have played some classic games during the past three years and Saturday night at Feix Field was no different in the Conference USA opener for both teams.

Trailing 22-13 entering the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs defense stood tall on a numerous four quarter possessions while the LA Tech offense came up with some late big plays of its own.

Sophomore quarterback J’Mar Smith led a pair of late game scoring drives and senior Jonathan Barnes’ 22-yard field goal with two seconds to play giving the Bulldogs (2-1, 1-0 C-USA) a 23-22 win over WKU (1-2, 0-1), snapping the Hilltoppers 13-game home conference win streak.

 

Memphis 48 UCLA 45 (MEMPHIS, Tenn.)

In a quarterback shootout battle for the ages, Tigers signal-caller Riley Ferguson stayed step-for-step with UCLA’s Josh Rosen in leading the home squad to a 48-45 upset victory over the No. 25 Bruins (2-1). Memphis won the game before a crowd of 46,291 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

Ferguson finished the contest with 398 yards and a career-high tying six touchdown passes. Rosen was just as good, throwing for 463 yards and four scores.

It is the third year in a row that Memphis (2-0) has pulled an upset over an Associated Press (AP) ranked foe in the Liberty Bowl. In 2014, the Tigers defeated No. 12 Ole Miss 37-24. Last season, Memphis posted a come-from-behind 48-44 win over No. 18 Houston at home. Today, and for a third-straight year, the Tigers recorded a win over a ranked opponent – No. 25 UCLA –at home.

 

San Diego State 20 Stanford 17 (SAN DIEGO, Calif.)

Christian Chapman connected with David Wells on an 8-yard touchdown pass with 54 seconds remaining to lift San Diego State to a thrilling 20-17 come-from-behind victory over No. 19/19 Stanford in front of 43,040 fans Saturday night at San Diego Stadium.

Chapman led a balanced offense for the Aztecs, completing 21 of 29 passes for 187 yards with no interceptions and the aforementioned score, while Rashaad Penny rushed for 175 yards on a career-high 32 carries and one TD to help the Scarlet and Black secure its first win over a ranked opponent at home since a 27-25 triumph over No. 23 Air Force in 2010.

SDSU drove 75 yards for the eventual game-winning touchdown in 11 plays, consuming 5:21 on the clock and endured a power failure in the drive after forcing a Cardinal punt on the previous possession.

 

USF 47 Illinois 23 (TAMPA, Fla.) (Friday)

Quinton Flowers threw for 280 yards and four touchdowns and No. 22 South Florida (3-0) returned from a Hurricane Irma-imposed layoff to rout Illinois (2-1) 47-23 on Friday night.

Flowers moved ahead of Matt Grothe and B.J. Daniels into second place on South Florida’s career touchdown pass list with 53. The 2016 American Athletic Conference offensive player of the year also scored his 32nd rushing touchdown, tying Marlon Mack’s school record.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfNOJHtaT1M

Northern Illinois 21 Nebraska 17 (Lincoln, Neb.)

The Northern Illinois University Huskies continued its recent string of success versus Big Ten opponents with a fourth-quarter rally to defeat the University of Nebraska, 21-17 Saturday in front of 89,664 fans at Memorial Stadium.

After NIU (2-1) scored the first 14 points of the game on interception return touchdowns, Nebraska (1-2) put 17 straight points on the board in the second half before NIU responded with a game-winning drive and two defensive stops in the final six minutes of the game.

The win was NIU’s sixth in its last 10 games versus Big Ten opponents since 2009 and the fourth in five games under Head Coach Rod Carey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61gwlGDjLFw

Western Michigan 37 Idaho 28 (KALAMAZOO, Mich.)

Western Michigan football team scored 21 points in the second half to come from behind and give head coach Tim Lester his first win at his alma mater after defeating Idaho 37-28 in front of 25,732 fans at Waldo Stadium on Saturday night.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jon Wassink had a career night with 212 yards passing and three total touchdowns. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native went 21-for-31 through the air with one touchdown and ran for 38 yards and two touchdowns. WMU forced three turnovers and scored 13 points off of them to help flip the game in the second half.

Troy 27 New Mexico State 24 (LAS CRUCES, N.M.)

Troy found the end zone three times on the ground and the Trojan defense limited New Mexico State’s high-powered offense as the Trojans defeated the Aggies, 27-24, in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both schools Saturday night at Aggie Memorial Stadium.

Brandon Silvers led the Trojans (2-1, 1-0 Sun Belt) with his arm and his leg as he threw for 286 yards and a touchdown and sealed the game with a 32-yard touchdown run in the final seconds of the third quarter.

Troy’s defense held New Mexico State (1-2, 0-1) to just 382 yards of total offense and 51 rushing yards after the Aggies entered averaging 524.5 and 125.0 yards, respectively.

Ohio 42 Kansas 30 (ATHENS, Ohio)

A big day passing from sophomore quarterback Nathan Rourke plus a 100-yard rusher resulted in Ohio’s second win of the football season on Saturday (Sept. 16) afternoon at Peden Stadium as the Bobcats defeated Kansas 42-30.

The dual-threat quarterback, in his first collegiate start, threw for 152-yards, two touchdowns and rushed for a touchdown. Rourke was 11-for-16 on the day.

“I thought he (Rourke) showed well right at the beginning,” head coach Frank Solich said. “He put points on the board right away for us. So I was pleased with how he responded to starting.

Redshirt junior running back A.J. Ouellette picked up 102 yards and a touchdown on the ground, the first Bobcat this season to rush over 100-yards. The last time he rushed over 100-yards came on Nov. 24, 2015, at Northern Illinois, a 140-yard game.

Ouellette averaged 10.2 yards a carry in the contest.

The Bobcats (2-1) beat a Power Five school for the fifth time under head coach Frank Solich. Ohio is now 3-0 all-time against the Jayhawks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ggbOBBNNe8

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