Sporting News helps you kick off Week 3 of the season with a look at three games that started at Noon ET.
CLEMSON, S.C.—At least now the pressure’s off Auburn
In the first two weeks of 2011, the Tigers miraculously avoided their first defeat since 2009, pulling off thrilling victories against Utah State and Mississippi State.
Despite some obvious flaws and still-unanswered questions, expectations, which hadn’t necessarily been too high coming into the season, started to build.
Because really, it’s easy to get caught up in a 17-game winning streak, especially when the most recent victory came against the well-regarded Bulldogs.
And nobody saw the 2010 Auburn squad winning a national championship, either, but that group survived a few close games early and went on to great things. With the last-minute comeback against Utah State and the goal-line stand against Mississippi State, this 2011 team started to pick up the scent of destiny, too.
That wasn’t the smell after Clemson finished crushing the defending national champs, 38-24.
The host Tigers rolled up more than 600 yards of total offense—one of those disregarded Auburn flaws was an inability to tackle, which was on full display Saturday afternoon—and trounced the visiting Tigers. That’s the most any Clemson team has ever put up against an SEC team. The previous best, by the way, was 524 against Auburn in 1951, the last time Clemson had beaten Auburn.
Maybe that’s a good thing for Auburn. If Gene Chizik’s squad would have somehow gotten past Clemson, a win next week against Florida Atlantic would have moved them to 4-0 and a likely top 15 ranking heading into a brutal stretch of games.
Auburn plays at No. 10 South Carolina, at No. 14 Arkansas, at home against No. 16 Florida and then at No. 3 LSU. No way were the Tigers going to get through that carwash unscathed. Now, with expectations back to reasonable levels—a bowl game, respectable finish in the SEC Western Division—maybe it won’t hurt so much after they finish those four tough games.
HALFTIME UPDATES
AUBURN AT CLEMSON
CLEMSON, S.C.—Maybe it just took a few minutes for Clemson to adjust to that legendary “SEC speed.”
Maybe it was butterflies in the first game against a BCS conference school. Maybe it was just poor execution. Whatever happened, the host Tigers failed to put up any points on their first three drives against Auburn, and they watched the visiting Tigers sprint out to a 14-0 lead.
And, sure, Clemson had come from behind in each of its first two games, but rallying for victories against Troy and FCS squad Wofford isn’t quite the same as trying to claw back from a double-digit deficit against the defending national champs.
At least it’s not supposed to be as easy.
But Clemson pulled the trick off Saturday afternoon, rolling up three second-quarter touchdowns to send the game into halftime tied 21-21.
Quarterback Tajh Boyd had 171 yards passing and a couple of touchdown throws for the host Tigers. For Auburn, sophomore tailback Michael Dyer scored on a 52-yard run on his first carry of the day and finished the half with 86 yards and a pair of touchdown runs.
The past two games between Auburn and Clemson have been decided by the final play of the game—Auburn has won both; in fact, those Tigers have won 14 consecutive games in the series—and this one figures to follow a similar trajectory.
PENN STATE AT TEMPLE
Penn State has won 28 straight games against Temple, but the Owls are threatening to break through today, as they lead 10-7 early in the third quarter.
Bernard Pierce gave the Owls a 7-0 lead on Temple’s first drive of the game. The team marched 82 yards on eight plays.
Rob Bolden started the game for Penn State, but gave way to Matt McGloin after Bolden couldn’t put any points on the board. McGloin led a TD drive on his first possession under center, and it ended with a 17-yard score from Silas Redd.
Bolden re-entered the game midway through the third quarter, but threw an interception on the Penn State 48.
PITT AT IOWA
The first half of the Panthers-Hawkeyes game hasn’t been the most crisply played, but Pitt holds a 10-3 halftime lead despite committing two turnovers to Iowa’s one.
The Panthers got on the board on a 66-yard TD pass from Tino Sunseri to Devin Street, and padded their lead with Kevin Harper’s 37-yard field goal. Iowa’s Mike Meyer booted a 22-yard field goal, but missed from 40 yards out just before halftime.
Sunseri committed both turnovers, throwing an interception and fumbling one. Iowa QB James Vandenberg tossed an INT for the Hawkeyes’ only turnover of the half.
Pitt holds a 1-yard total yards advantage in the first half, 201-200.
WEST VIRGINIA AT MARYLAND
Geno Smith and West Virginia put their first-half woes from the first two games out of mind against Maryland, as they hold a 27-10 lead at the break in College Park, Md.
Smith has completed 21-of-28 passes for 232 yards, but doesn’t have any touchdowns. Those have gone to RBs Andrew Buie and Vernard Roberts.
WVU also has scored a defensive touchdown, as Terence Garvin intercepted a Danny O’Brien pass and took it to the house from 37 yards out.
If the Mountaineers can hold on in the second half, it will be their sixth straight victory vs. the Terrapins. They hold a 302-176 edge in total yards in the first half.
PREGAME COVERAGE
Nobody was quite sure what to expect from Auburn heading into the season. Same thing, though with a lesser degree of national intrigue, for Clemson.
Two weeks in, not much has changed.
Auburn has given up 72 points in its first two games—at home, mind you—and needed a dramatic comeback against Utah State to avoid what could have been the worst loss ever by a defending national champion. If that comeback would have happened, for example, against LSU or Alabama, it would have been deemed “epic” and been woven into Auburn lore.
Against Utah State, it was “face-saving” at best.
Then, though, the Tigers upended No. 16 Mississippi State in their SEC opener last Saturday, stuffing the Bulldogs at the goal line in the waning seconds to move to an improbable—though entertaining—2-0 start to the season.
Meanwhile, Clemson started the season with a new quarterback and middle-of-the-ACC expectations, though some pundits pegged the team as a potential sleeper in the conference. Kyle Parker, the quarterback for the previous two seasons, left eligibility on the table to pursue his baseball career in the Colorado Rockies’ organization full-time.
And coach Dabo Swinney has been tough to peg, too. He’s bringing in top-level talent, but on-field results have been mixed. Clemson was 4-3 after Swinney took over for Tommy Bowden in October 2008, then 9-5 in 2009. But last year’s 6-7 record was a disappointment and a big reason for the uncertain projections for this season.
This year, Clemson trailed Troy at halftime in the opener before blowing out the Trojans in the second half. Last Saturday, the Wofford Terriers—a Football Championship Subdivision squad—traveled down Interstate 85 and trailed by just one point until new quarterback Tajh Boyd hit DeAndre Hopkins for a fourth-quarter touchdown that provided the final eight-point margin.
So, like the Auburn Tigers, the Clemson Tigers are 2-0 this season. It hasn’t been pretty, but it is what it is. Auburn can impress with a road victory against a BCS-conference team. Clemson can impress with a home win against the defending national champs.
One way or the other, we’ll know a little bit more about the Tigers after this one.
Pitt at Iowa
While this game showcases two strong runners in the Panthers’ Ray Graham, who leads all of Division I with 156.5 yards per game, and the Hawkeyes’ Marcus Coker, take instead a look at who Pitt has lining up under center.
Tino Sunseri seemed like a poor fit for Pitt’s new spread offense, and the two interceptions he threw against Maine last week did nothing to ensure his job security.
Trey Anderson played the final two series of that game vs. Maine, leading one touchdown drive and getting the Panthers into field-goal territory before Kevin Harper missed from 39 yards out.
Anderson, a freshman from Pearland, Texas, is well-versed in a spread offense scheme. He told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he has run one since the eighth grade, and the Panthers’ coaching staff is gaining confidence in him.
If Sunseri fails to deliver vs. Iowa, it may mean even more chances for Anderson, who completed 5-of-7 passes for 33 yards against Maine.
West Virginia at Maryland
Maryland hasn’t played since Labor Day, when the team’s state flag-inspired uniforms created quite a stir.
But the more interesting story line is figuring out which first-year coach (Dana Holgorsen or Randy Edsall) will incur their first loss with their respective programs.
West Virginia has won the last five in this series, which might give some type of edge to Holgorsen’s Mountaineers, who are 2-0 after beating Marshall and Norfolk State. But Holgorsen’s offense has struggled offensively in the first halves of both games—surprising for a coach noted for powerful offenses.
The Mountaineers will have to be on their game from the start to match a strong Terrapins offense led by Danny O’Brien, who threw for 348 yards in the opening win vs. Miami. Granted, the Hurricanes were missing several starters due to suspension in that game, but there’s no doubt that O’Brien is talented enough to move Maryland on just about anyone.
O’Brien will have to do without WR Ronnie Tyler, who was suspended after being charged with second-degree assault earlier this week.
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