Speaking of: Georgia Football, Texas Rushing Touchdowns and Halloween
By Dave McMahon
Last weekend there seemed to be an abundance of overtime games. There were four games involving ranked teams that went longer than 60 minutes. One of those games was the No. 23 Illinois win over Purdue by the score of 50 to 49. It was the first time the Fighting Illini scored 50 or more points since 2018 when they defeated Minnesota. Illinois improved to 5-1 for the fifth time in the 2000s and the second time under head coach Bret Bielema. This week, Illinois takes on Michigan and the game will serve as the Memorial Stadium 100th Anniversary Rededication Game. The first dedication happened when Illinois defeated Michigan back on October 18, 1924. The star of that game was Red Grange who ended up with a kickoff return for a touchdown, four rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown. The superstar was known as “The Galloping Ghost.”
Often, when people mimic ghosts, they shout the word “BOO!”
Speaking of the word “Boo”…
Boo Radley was a character in the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Another character from the book is Atticus Finch.
Speaking of the name “Atticus”…
Atticus Sappington is the kicker for Oregon. Atticus is a perfect 8-for-8 in field goals this season and his last was a 19-yard field goal with 1:47 left giving the Ducks a one-point lead. The Buckeyes failed to score and Oregon defeated Ohio State 32 to 31. The only other time where a Ryan Day-led Ohio State team lost by one point was to Georgia in the 2022 Peach Bowl when a Buckeye field goal sailed wide in the game’s final seconds.
Speaking of Georgia wins…
If Georgia wins this Saturday, head coach Kirby Smart will win his 100th game as head coach. He will become the fourth Georgia head coach with at least 100 wins (Vince Dooley, Mark Richt, Wally Butts). However, the Dawgs travel to Austin and face the No. 1 team in football, the Texas Longhorns. The Bulldogs have wins against the top ranked team in each of their last two tries. Throughout history, Texas does have Georgia’s number. The Longhorns are 4-1 all-time against the Bulldogs with the last time happening in the 2019 Sugar Bowl. In that game Longhorn quarterback Sam Ehlinger had three rushing touchdowns.
Speaking of rushing touchdowns and Texas…
Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty is having an amazing season so far. He has 1,248 rush yards averaging 9.9 yards an attempt. He has three games this season with at least 200 yards rushing. He had six touchdown rushes in the first game of the season and three more in the second game. He became the first player to have nine touchdown rushes in the first two games of the season since Ricky Williams of Texas did it in 1998. He now a FBS-leading 17 touchdown rushes.
Speaking of the number 17…
Penn State’s Tyler Warren did it all last week against USC He threw a pass, he snapped the ball, he ran for four yards and he caught 17 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown. The 17 receptions was a school-record by any player and the 17 was also tied for the most a tight end in a single game in FBS history (tying Emilio Vallez of New Mexico in 1967 and Jon Harvey of Northwestern in 1982).
Penn State now has a 6-0 record for the second straight season. One of the wins came against the Fighting Illini (Illinois’ only loss this season) and the last one was against the Trojans – a game with a ranked team that went into overtime.