College Top 25 Capsules: No. 3 Boise State stuns No. 10 Va Tech
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Lovable upstarts no longer, Kellen Moore and Boise State look as if they are going to be serious national championship contenders.
Moore hit Austin Pettis with a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1:09 left and No. 3 Boise State passed what might be its toughest test of the season, beating No. 10 Virginia Tech 33-30 on Monday night.
The Broncos (1-0) came to FedEx Field with their best preseason ranking ever, ran out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter, then had to rally themselves to extend their winning streak to 15 games.
That top-five ranking doesn't look so strange now.
"We're certainly proving people right right now," Moore said.
Tyrod Taylor passed for 186 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 73 yards for the Hokies (0-1), who for the fourth straight season took a deflating early season loss.
"It's a frustrating loss knowing that we haven't been successful in the first game all these seasons, but I think we have a good team to go out there and bounce back from this," Taylor said.
As for the Broncos from the Western Athletic Conference, even with 11 games left, the debate will start about whether they should become the first team from a league without an automatic BCS bid to play for a national championship if they go undefeated.
"Game 1, and that's what it is," said Chris Petersen, who improved to 50-4 as coach of Boise State. "We're just pleased to get out of here with a 'W.'"
Moore, the undersized Heisman Trophy contender, threw for 215 yards and three touchdowns. He led a five-play, 56-yard touchdown drive in the final two minutes — aided by a Virginia Tech personal foul penalty. After hitting Pettis on a quick slant for the winner, Moore sprinted to midfield with his hands raised high, waiting for a teammate to come and celebrate with him.
"We know how much was at stake for us, so it was kind of like a bowl game, but we've still got 11, 12 games to go," Pettis said. "There's a lot we need to work on, too, because there was a lot of mistakes we made.
"We can't afford any slip-ups, especially after setting ourselves up like this."
No tricks this time from Boise State, who captured the hearts of football fans with their 2007 Fiesta Bowl upset of Oklahoma and have just kept on winning ever since.
The winningest team of the past decade in major college football, Boise State yet again was forced to prove it was worthy of all the accolades — this time far from home on a field that was anything but neutral, packed with Hokies fans.
"You should gain a little respect beating Virginia Tech out here," Moore said. "You're basically playing a road game, you're having a heck of a game with them, just fighting back and forth."
When it was over, the Broncos were taking a victory lap, exchanging high-fives with their fans. Even Gov. Butch Otter made the long trip and he joined the Boise State radio announcers while they were interviewing Petersen after the game and congratulated the coach.
That trip back probably won't feel so long.
Boise State took the 17-0 lead by taking advantage of a handful of critical Virginia Tech mistakes that set up two TD passes by Moore. But by halftime the Hokies from the Atlantic Coast Conference, one of those six leagues with automatic BSC bid, had climbed back into it with Ryan Williams scoring twice to cut the lead to 20-14.
"We started out the game terrible and I wouldn't have been surprised if they would have blew us out of the world," Williams said. "We fought back but it wasn't enough time."
On Boise State's first possession of the second half, Moore fumbled when he cocked to throw and hit his own lineman. Virginia Tech recovered at the Broncos 31 and Williams completed the short scoring with a 1-yard run around the right side.
Taylor bounded off the field and leaped into a side bump with a teammate. Virginia Tech, after a nearly burying itself in the first quarter, had its first lead at 21-20.
It lasted about a minute on the clock. D.J. Harper broke a tackle at the line on a third-and-1 and outran the Hokies for a 71-yard touchdown. No questioning Boise State's speed on that play.
Virginia Tech blocked the extra point attempt and it was 26-21 with 5:38 left in the third.
Back came the Hokies. Virginia Tech's Chris Hazley was wide right on a 51-yard field, but Boise State was flagged for running into the kicker. Now with a fourth-and-4 from the 28, Tech went for it and Taylor zipped an out to Jarrett Boykin, who slipped a weak arm tackle attempt by Brandyn Thompson and eased into the end zone to put the Hokies up 27-26. They went for two and missed.
Boise State couldn't answer that score. Kyle Brotzman missed wide left from 30 yards and Hazley answered with a 34-yarder for Virginia Tech to make it 30-26.
Virginia Tech had a chance to run out the clock, but couldn't do it, Taylor threw an incomplete pass on third down that stopped the clock and gave Boise State extra time.
"When it's all said and done, we were one first down from winning that football game," Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said.
With no timeouts left, that incomplete pass helped a lot. Then Mitch Burroughs broke off a 25-yard punt return — a flag for a possible illegal block was picked up by the officials — that set up Moore at the Boise State 44 with 1:47 left.
He hit three straight passes, and on the third, a 14-yarder to Pettis, Tech's Bruce Taylor hit the receiver just a tad late out of bounds to tack on more yards.
After an incomplete throw, Moore and Pettis connected for the fourth lead change of the second half — and there was joy in Boise.
Tyrod Taylor, who carried the Hokies all game, couldn't come up with one more drive.
Boise State knelt on the ball and now faces a schedule in which it will likely be favored, usually heavily favored, the rest of the season.
"We're heading off to Wyoming, and it's going to be the biggest game at Wyoming ever," Moore said. "That's the way it goes, and that's the way we like it. We like to be everyone's biggest game."
Boise man puts BSU sticker in Va Tech sauna
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A Boise State football fan's work took him "behind enemy lines" this summer as he helped install saunas in Virginia Tech's new locker rooms.
Brian Fronimos of Nampa is a specialty carpenter for Am-Finn Sauna and Steam, which had the contract with Boise State's season-opening opponent.
Fronimos says security, the construction foreman and other workers at the site were razzing him about being a spy and asking if he had a camera.
And then one of his bosses had an idea for a prank. He sent Fronimos some Boise State gear and some stickers and directed him to photograph himself putting a BSU decal someplace out of sight.
Fronimos told The Idaho Statesman he put a sticker behind one of the 8-foot-tall cedar wall panels. He says it was all in good fun.
Features
Saban: Alabama won't appeal Dareus penalty
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — No. 1 Alabama will face 19th-ranked Penn State without defensive end Marcell Dareus, and coach Nick Saban isn't betting on Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram making it back either.
Saban said Monday that Alabama won't appeal Dareus's two-game NCAA suspension for improper agent benefits.
"We researched it, and we didn't feel there was any precedent to appeal it," he said. "I wish it was less, but when you look at the facts, you have to say is there any other case that would say he got an unfair punishment? ... We didn't feel like there was a precedent for appeal."
Saban had said after the suspension was announced two days before the opener against San Jose State that Alabama would seek to get it cut to one game, allowing Dareus to play against the Nittany Lions.
Dareus, the defensive MVP of the national championship game, was also ordered to pay $1,787 dollars to a charity of his choice before regaining eligibility. He was ruled ineligible for receiving preferential treatment and agent benefits, including airfare, lodging, meals and transportation during a pair of Miami trips.
Alabama played without Dareus and Ingram (knee injury) in a 48-3 romp over San Jose State on Saturday.
Saban said Ingram would start "some dry-land rehab" on Monday and would be evaluated each step of the way to see how his knee responds 12-24 hours later. Ingram had an arthroscopic procedure done early last week following the practice injury. He didn't practice Monday.
"It's going to be a day-to-day basis as to whether he can take the next step and the next step and the next step," Saban said. "You can ask me, but I don't know if he'll be able to play in this game. It depends on how he reacts to every day. And nobody really knows how that's going to be.
"It'll probably a little bit of a stretch for everything to go perfectly, but that's where it is. That's all anybody knows right now. I'm not making any predictions or any hypothetical situations or whatever. That's just he way it is."
What would it take for him to allow Ingram to play?
"What do I have to see?" Saban said. "I have to see Mark Ingram be Mark Ingram."
Alabama certainly didn't need the Heisman winner or Dareus in the mismatched opener. The competition goes up a few notches this week against Penn State, coming off a similarly one-sided 48-14 win over Youngstown State.
Offensively, Trent Richardson filled Ingram's spot but only played the first half. Eddie Lacy and Demetrius Goode combined for 203 yards.
"I think we really needed some guys to step up in place of Mark, and I think they did a great job," guard Barrett Jones said. "Honestly, you couldn't really tell much of a dropoff, and that's the way we really want it here: When one guy goes down, we can put in another guy and have success. I think they did a great job of stepping up."
The Nittany Lions aren't expecting much of a difference if Richardson remains the main man in the backfield instead of Ingram.
"The funny thing is that no matter if he plays or not, they have Richardson back there," linebacker Bani Gbadyu said. "I think he is unbelievable. I have been watching him on film a lot. They are not going to miss a beat with Richardson in."
Penn State, though, allowed only 75 yards on 34 rushing attempts in the opener. Jones is hoping the inexperienced Lacy and Goode approach the game the same way.
"Hopefully they just go out there and run," he said. "We're just going to try to make holes like we do every week, and hopefully they'll run through them."
Defensively, sophomore Damion Square started in Dareus' spot opposite Luther Davis. Backups Darrington Sentimore and Undra Billingsley got their first action on defense. Without the quarterback-harassing Dareus, the Tide's only sack came on a safety blitz by Robert Lester.
"We always want to have Marcell on the field, but we'll just come through like we did last week," linebacker Dont'a Hightower said. "Not having him, a lot of guys are going to have to step up. Damion Square and Luther Davis did that; Undra Billingsley and Darrington Sentimore came out and played great. Knowing that Penn State's going to have more of a running team than San Jose State, they're going to be more downhill than East and West, we're going to have to see who's going to be able to step up and replace Marcell this week."
-- John Zenor
No. 4 Gators focus on ball security after 'mess'
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Quarterback John Brantley and center Mike Pouncey spent extra time together Sunday.
They reviewed every errant snap in Florida's season opener — there were a bunch of them — then headed to the practice field to work on those all-important exchanges. The result?
"No issues," Brantley said Monday.
The fourth-ranked Gators (1-0) are counting on a similarly smooth performance Saturday against South Florida (1-0). Coach Urban Meyer said ball security, including more precise shotgun snaps, is his primary concern after last weekend's 34-12 victory against Miami (Ohio).
Pouncey zipped one past Brantley, bounced two more at his feet and then was slightly off target on several others. Brantley also dropped one that hit him right in the hands. Throw in fumbles by Chris Rainey, Emmanuel Moody and Mike Gillislee, and Florida had eight balls on the ground against the RedHawks.
"It wasn't a beauty pageant," Meyer said. "If it was, we would have lost. ... Everyone saw what we saw, and it was a mess."
The errors kept Florida from getting into an offensive rhythm most of the day. The Gators had just 25 yards through three quarters and finished with 212, the second fewest in Meyer's six seasons in Gainesville.
Brantley and Pouncey accepted blame afterward, then agreed to come in early Sunday and clean things up. It was exactly what Meyer expected from his junior quarterback and his offensive captain.
"We have two very accountable people working hard to get that thing right," Meyer said. "That obviously disrupts the flow of the game. ... It's Mike Pouncey and Johnny Brantley. Those aren't true freshmen, so we have to get that fixed."
Meyer identified three problems with the snaps: First, Pouncey wasn't locking his wrist, which allowed the ball to take awkward trajectories. Second, the noon kickoff in sweltering summer heat caused more sweat than usual, creating a slippery ball. Third, Brantley took his eyes off the ball before several snaps.
"I don't know if it was sweaty hands, first-game jitters, who knows?" Brantley said. "Snaps have never really been the problem. It just came out of the blue."
Ball security wasn't the only problem, though.
Meyer said perimeter blocking was a major issue in the opener. He credits Florida's last two national championships (2006, 2008) with having one of the best perimeter-blocking teams in the country. Last season, Meyer called Riley Cooper one of the most physical receivers he's ever seen on the edge.
With Cooper in the NFL, seniors Carl Moore and Deonte Thompson don't appear to be nearly as aggressive. Meyer pointed to Florida's first series, saying there were missed perimeter blocks on a short pass to Rainey and another one to speedster Jeff Demps.
The plays are designed to get the ball to Florida's fastest, most elusive players in open space.
"We have to be able to do that or we're going to be dead in the water," Meyer said. "It's been that way around here a few times."
Meyer believes all the team's issues can be fixed in practice this week, before the Bulls visit The Swamp for the first time.
It could help that Meyer expects to have left tackle Xavier Nixon (knee), left guard Carl Johnson (apparent suspension) and receiver Frankie Hammond Jr. (suspension) back Saturday. Nixon and Johnson should solidify a line Meyer deemed "a mess" against Miami.
Brantley wasn't sacked, but he was pressured several times. The Gators also averaged just 3.2 yards a carry against a team that finished 1-11 last season and ranked 101st in the nation against the run. Of course, the reasons for Florida's less-than-stellar offensive numbers were the bad snaps and fumbles.
"Football is just mainly momentum," Brantley said. "And fumbles or interceptions or anything like that happens, that kills momentum, slows down your drive. Like I've said, we're going to learn from that and get better."
-- Mark Long
Hankerson juggles football, school and parenthood
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami wide receiver Leonard Hankerson is already experiencing things his own father never could.
It's a Saturday morning in South Florida. Hankerson is at a park, watching a bunch of 4-year-olds shuffling around a football field in helmets and shoulder pads for the first time.
He's watching the boy everyone around the Hurricanes calls "Lil' Hank." His son.
"So much fun for me," Hankerson said. "Every day, when I see him, he wants to play football."
Hankerson, a senior for the 13th-ranked Hurricanes, cherishes these rare moments of free time, because he simply doesn't have many of them. He's a full-time student. He's a full-time football player. And then there's his real full-time commitment — being a father of two children, son Leonard III and daughter Kienarria, who turns 2 in October.
"We have a lot of help," said Marketria Smith, Hankerson's longtime girlfriend and the children's mother. "We've learned how to make it work. But it's hard."
Still, it's not the hardest thing Hankerson has ever dealt with. Not even close.
He cherishes fatherhood for many reasons, including one he rarely speaks about.
Leonard Hankerson Sr. was killed Jan. 3, 1989, with authorities saying at the time he was shot to death by someone who wanted to sell crack cocaine on his street. His son was born 27 days later.
Leonard Hankerson II hears the stories to this day, about what kind of man his father was, how he was one of talent-rich Broward County's best basketball players at one time.
But he never knew the man whose name he bears.
"Leonard has been through a lot," Miami coach Randy Shannon said. "He's had his ups and downs. From that comes his maturity."
With two kids, discretionary income is a rarity for Hankerson and Smith. With the unyielding demands of school and football, Hankerson doesn't exactly have time for high-paying work. Smith works as a troubleshooter for Sprint mobile. It's often a struggle.
"I barely hang out off the field," Hankerson said one day after practice. "I just do what I've got to do here, take care of business, then go home and take care of business. If you want to do the right things, it's not that hard. You come here, do your work, go to class, go home, take care of your kids, play with your kids, be there for your kids. It's not hard at all."
Many thought Hankerson would leave Miami for a pro paycheck after making 45 catches for team-bests of 801 yards and six touchdowns last season as a junior. At 6-foot-3, 215 pounds and with good hands and speed, Hankerson seems to have just about everything the NFL would be looking for.
Turns out, Hankerson never really gave it much thought. He was staying in school.
"It wasn't that hard a decision because we've got something great going on around here," Hankerson said. "I know we've got a chance to be on top this year. So I came back, because I wanted to be around when that happens."
He's one of the reasons why the 13th-ranked Hurricanes — who travel to No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday — think that way.
Hankerson is one of nine players with at least six catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns so far on the long opening weekend of major college football.
After the way he played in Week 1, Hankerson's stock might be soaring by the time next year's NFL draft rolls around.
"He has that senior leadership and he's taken control over the wide receiver corps," said Miami quarterback Jacory Harris, who often says Hankerson is one of his favorite go-to targets. "He helps everybody get on the same page with me and the rest of the offense. That is the sign of a mature receiver. Can't ask for much more."
A few days after fall-semester classes began at Miami, Hankerson was tossing a football around with his son and daughter on the practice fields behind the Hurricanes' football complex.
Leonard III was trying to impress his father, telling him often what a good receiver he is. Kienarria was heaving the ball so hard, swinging it across her little body, that even her dad had a tough time keeping it in his hands. And when their quick game of catch was over, father and mother, brother and sister walked across campus, a quiet family moment.
"He finds time to make it all work," Smith said. "I'm lucky. Most guys, well, a girl couldn't wish to have someone like Leonard."
-- Tim Reynolds
No. 20 Noles' move from Samford to Oklahoma
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — After ringing up an easy win in its season opener, Florida State heads west for a long-awaited rematch with Oklahoma of their 2000 national title game.
So much for taking a moment to celebrate Jimbo Fisher's first win with the 'Noles.
"It's going to be a great test," Fisher said Monday, two days after No. 20 Florida State romped to a 59-6 victory over Samford. "Hopefully we can handle a little pressure when we go out there. It's good for our young football team."
The No. 7 Sooners survived a test from Utah State in their opener, winning 31-24.
Fisher was on the sideline in charge for the first time since iconic football coach Bobby Bowden stepped down, and things looked pretty much like they did while he was in charge. The offense was fast, the defense was aggressive and the result was a landslide victory.
Things figure to be tougher against Oklahoma.
Fisher is counting on Florida State's veteran offensive line led by senior guard Rodney Hudson to stabilize matters in what should be a noisy and hostile environment.
"One way to sustain things and do things is control the line of scrimmage," Fisher said. "Your offensive line is the foundation of your football team."
The game also provides quarterback Christian Ponder another chance to showcase his talent not only against a top notch opponent in a nationally televised game, but also for friends, fans and coaches from his suburban Dallas home — a relatively short trip away from Norman, Okla.
"He's mature enough to handle that situation," said Fisher, who sees the game "as a measuring stick" for Ponder and the rest of his club.
Ponder believes the young Seminoles are talented enough win at Oklahoma, and despite playing a school from a lower division, the experience of beating Samford will come in handy. Florida State played only six seniors in their opener on Saturday.
"We know it's going to be tough," said Ponder, who passed for 167 yards and four touchdowns while playing only the first half. "We have the talent to win any game on the schedule."
The Seminoles' visit to Oklahoma will mark the first meeting between the schools since the Sooners defeated Florida State 13-2 for the 2000 national championship in the Orange Bowl. That game was the finale for former Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke.
Florida State's lone win in five games against the Sooners came in the 1965 Gator Bowl, when Steve Tensi and Fred Biletnikoff were too much for the Oklahoma defense. Biletnikoff caught 13 passes for 192 yards and four touchdowns and Tensi passed for 303 yards in a 36-19 victory.
-- Brent Kallestad
No. 21 LSU, Vandy fixing turnovers, penalty issues
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt and LSU are coming off games in which each struggled with miscues — the No. 21 Tigers overcame theirs, the Commodores didn't.
The Commodores feel they beat themselves with penalties and botched plays on 2-point conversions and an extra point.
Vanderbilt coach Robbie Caldwell already is busy making corrections even though he won't criticize Big Ten officials over a questionable personal foul that kept the Commodores from getting the ball back in a 23-21 loss to Northwestern.
Coach Les Miles will try to get his No. 21 Tigers to hold onto the ball after five turnovers in their 30-24 win over 18th-ranked North Carolina, but he won't have starting right guard Will Blackwell who broke his ankle on the first offensive play of that game.
At least LSU got the win. Now the team that corrects its mistakes quickest will have the advantage Saturday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
"We have a lot of work to do," Miles said Monday. "We are certainly working on ball security and working on some of the decisions we make in terms of how we scramble and what we do with the ball when we scramble."
LSU (1-0) lost four fumbles and an interception against a North Carolina team missing 13 players. The Tigers missed the chance to pad their lead already up 30-17 when Jordan Jefferson took a 21-yard loss on intentional grounding, taking them out of field goal range.
The defense came up with a turnover, giving LSU the chance to run out the clock. But Stevan Ridley fumbled the ball away with 1:08 left, leading to the heart-pounding finish with a would-be touchdown pass going through a North Carolina player's hands in the end zone.
Miles said the Tigers' challenge is to finish the game and take away an opponent's chance at victory. That's what makes the turnovers so crucial.
"When you take 14 possessions, and you take four of them and give the ball back to the opponent, you certainly limit your opportunities to improve and stretch your lead. The back end of the game being up 30-10, defensively we need to understand the situation that our opponent is in," Miles said.
One of the advantages of coaching at Vanderbilt is having smart students. That's what makes the nine penalties for 91 yards combined with the other special teams' mistakes tough for Caldwell. Twice, the Commodores were flagged for not having enough players on the line of scrimmage.
"That's not very smart on our part ...," Caldwell said. "That's OK. That was our fault. One was a young person, first time he's ever played in a college game. That's to be expected I guess. It's hard to imagine not being able to look down and see if there's a tackle or a tight end sitting there. First-game jitters, I had them too. I understand that."
Vanderbilt has been one of the least penalized teams in the country the past few years, and Caldwell said they will get back to that quickly. He had them practicing snaps for extra points over and over Sunday, and he said he'll run situations 20 times straight if that's what it takes for his Commodores to become comfortable.
He wasn't happy with the failure to execute on the 2-point conversions, each of which would have tied the game. The first was a draw by quarterback Larry Smith where a couple of blocks were missed. The second would have tied it at 23 with 2:25 left except receiver John Cole was in motion too much, and Smith missed the shotgun snap.
Caldwell did jump on officials in his own Southern style for the personal foul on safety Jay Fullam. It appeared Fullam had stopped Northwestern's Dan Persa short of the first down, which would have forced a fourth-down punt. But officials flagged Fullam for hitting Persa's helmet, though replay appeared to show contact at the shoulders only.
Fans were so furious some bottles were thrown as officials ran off the field to a chorus of boos Saturday night.
Caldwell called the officials the nicest people he had met in his 34 years of coaching.
"Some of them from the northern parts of the country. They had a hard time understanding me. I had a hard time understanding them, but it was a beautiful language," he said. "I did not get any explanation other than it was a high hit. I don't know what that means. We try to teach them to tackle up high. You're not supposed to grab at their feet."
-- Teresa M. Walker
Notes
SEC honors Newton, Travathan and Peterson
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The Southeastern Conference named Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, Kentucky linebacker Danny Trevathan and LSU cornerback/return specialist Patrick Peterson players of the week.
Newton rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns while passing for 186 yards and three scores in a win over Arkansas State.
Trevathan had 11 tackles, including three for a loss, in Kentucky's 23-16 win at Louisville.
Peterson set an LSU record with a combined 257 combined yards on kickoff and punt return yards in the Tigers' 30-24 win against North Carolina.
The SEC also honored South Carolina center T.J. Johnson and Florida defensive tackle Jaye Howard offensive linemen of the week. Mississippi State quarterback Tyler Russell is freshman of the week.
Miami's Harris tells fans: Forget the Fiesta Bowl
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami quarterback Jacory Harris has a message for fans: Forget the Fiesta Bowl this week.
No. 13 Miami visits No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday in the first meeting of the programs since the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, where the Buckeyes beat the Hurricanes in double-overtime for the national championship.
Harris turned to Twitter on Monday to remind people that Saturday's game isn't necessarily a rematch. He wrote, "Leave the past in the past fans. This is a new (year) with two totally different teams. We're just going out there to ball."
Both teams got off to easy starts. Miami beat Florida A&M 45-0, and Ohio State opened with a 45-7 win over Marshall, both games taking place last Thursday night.
O'Meara named special teams player of the week
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa running back Paki O'Meara has been named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the week.
O'Meara, a senior from Cedar Rapids, blocked a punt and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown in Iowa's 37-7 win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday.
O'Meara's blocked punt came in the first quarter and gave the Hawkeyes at 21-0 lead. He also rushed four times for 34 yards.
His selection was announced Monday by the Big Ten.
