Duke slaughters Elon, inches closer to AP Poll
The Blue Devils received 71 votes in the preseason poll—71 more votes than they received in last season’s preseason poll—but despite their decisive victory against the Phoenix, they only got 60 votes in this week’s poll, but that total was still the third-most for an unranked team. Duke beat Elon 52-13 in Saturday’s season opener at Wallace Wade Stadium behind four passing touchdowns from starting quarterback Anthony Boone.
By the fourth quarter, all of the starters had taken a seat on the bench, allowing true freshman running back Shaun Wilson and backup quarterback Thomas Sirk to showcase their talents. Wilson exploded for 71 yards on just six carries and Sirk went 5-for-7 for 40 yards in the air to go along with 54 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Unfortunately for Duke, most top-25 teams won this week, so the Blue Devils weren’t able to crack the poll. But if they keep performing well during the next few weeks, they should find themselves back in where they ended last season.
Texas A&M routs South Carolina in record day for Manziel’s replacement
Johnny Manziel is no longer the quarterback in College Station, but it doesn’t seem to matter anymore. Southlake, Texas native Kenny Hill—a sophomore—threw for a school-record 511 yards with three touchdowns en route to a 52-28 smack down at then-No. 9 South Carolina.
The win allowed the Aggies to jump all the way from No. 21 to No. 9 in the poll and caused the Gamecocks to fall from No. 9 to No. 21. We probably won’t see if this incredible debut for Hill was a result of Texas A&M’s great offense or South Carolina’s porous defense until Oct. 4 when the Aggies travel east to face Mississippi State. But if Thursday's game is any indication of what Texas A&M’s offense can do, maybe the rumors that head coach Kevin Sumlin is a quarterback whisperer are true.
LSU rallies late to overcome 17-point deficit, beat badgers
Wisconsin controlled the game during the entire first half and opened up the second with another rushing touchdown to take a 24-7 lead over the Tigers. But nobody told LSU that the game was over. The No. 12 Tigers were able to pull it together and answered the Badgers' touchdown with four straight scoring drives of their own to take the lead for the first time in the game.
Wisconsin's passing offense was anemic all night, and when they needed quarterback Tanner McEvoy to step up, he threw his second interception of the game to seal his team's fate. The collapse and inexplicable abandonment of the running game dropped the Badgers to No. 18 in this week's poll. They were ranked 14th last week.
Pac-12 (six teams) and Big 12 (three teams) go undefeated in top 25
With three games this week pitting top-25 teams against each other, the Pac-12 and the Big 12 were the only conferences to remain unscathed in the poll. Oregon, Oklahoma, Stanford, USC, Arizona State, Kansas State, and Baylor all were able to get their second-string players plenty of playing time in their Week 1 routs, but UCLA and Washington were unexpectedly tested.
UCLA traveled to Charlottesville, Va. to face off against Virginia and were expected to run away with the game behind early Heisman Trophy favorite Brett Hundley. But despite the 28-20 victory, the UCLA offense only provided seven of its points, with the defense contributing the remaining 21 on a fumble return and two interceptions returned for touchdowns. Washington came even closer to losing its opener and fell out of this week's poll after a slim 17-16 win against Hawaii.
The Huskies led 17-10 at the half, but weren’t able to put any points on the board in the second half, allowing Hawaii to creep back into the game. Fortunately for Washington, Hawaii was only able to turn its many chances in six points, allowing the Huskies to salvage the victory and keep the top-25 teams in the Pac-12 perfect in week one of the regular season.
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