Tournament Time: 1st Round Results

The first round of my college football tournament is in the books. Here's how the games turned out....

1724

In a back and forth game, Troy had a 17-14 lead going into the 4th. Ohio State took a 24-17 lead with an 82 yard TD pass from Troy Smith to Ted Ginn


46 31

Boise State returned the opening kickoff for a TD, but then Auburn bounced back with 24 unanswered points. The teams traded scores from there and Auburn tacked on a safety near the end. Boise State couldn’t get any running game going at all, and Auburn’s offense was pretty much unstoppable. Courtney Taylor had 7 catches for 188 yards and 4 TD in the game.

44 38

BYU took an early 27-0 lead due to turnovers by LSU deep in their own territory. LSU fought back to make it 27-24 in the 3rd quarter. BYU eventually rebounded to take a 41-31 lead, and added a 49-yard field goal with only 1:16 to go to make it 44-31. JaMarcus Russell, who had 3 TD and 2 INT, was injured on the following drive, but Matt Flynn came in to lead them to a TD with 31 seconds to go. LSU recovered an onside kick and then completed a Hail Mary as time expired but the receiver was tackled just short of the goal line to end the game.

35 32

Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. USC had a lot of them early, and Wake Forest jumped out to a 28-0 lead. The Trojans bounced back to make it close, but never held a lead. John David Booty threw for 403 yards and 3 TD, but his 3 INT’s did him early.

31 44

Houston fought tough at the beginning, taking a 10-0 lead into the 2nd quarter. The game was even tied at half time 17-17, but Michigan pulled away in the 2nd half, usually having a 2 touchdown lead at any given time. Chad Henne lead the Michigan air attack with 5 TD’s

42 41

The game started off pretty even, with both offenses even having similar stats near the end of the first half. Brady Quinn threw 2 costly interceptions that turned into points for Louisville, giving them a 34-17 halftime lead. In the 2nd half, Notre Dame made a strong comeback, but was stopped just short of the goal line on 4th down while losing 41-34 with only 1:16 remaining. However, in Louisville’s first play from scrimmage following the turnover, the running back was tackled in the end zone for a safety, making it 41-36. In sickening Notre Dame fashion, they were able to score the go ahead TD (missing the 2) after the great field position they got after the free kick. Brady Quinn wound up throwing for 513 yards.

29 6

Oklahoma’s defense dominated, shutting down Wisconsin’s running game and picking off John Stocco 3 times. Wisconsin’s only score was late in the 4th quarter when Stocco completed an 82 yard TD pass to Marcus Randle El, only to have their extra point blocked. Oklahoma started with a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and kicked 5 field goals after that.

21 10

Upset City Baby!! But its pretty easy for Florida to be upset when Chris Leak throws 4 INT's, all in Central Michigan territory. Central's passing game was strong, connecting for 2 long passing TD's, and the defense held Florida to only 3 points in the 2nd half.


2nd Round Matchups
#1 Ohio State vs. #9 Auburn @ Indianapolis
#12 Wake Forest vs. #13 BYU @ Jacksonville
#3 Michigan vs. #11 Notre Dame @ Detroit
#10 Oklahoma vs. #15 Central Michigan @ Kansas City