Wichtig » hrough injury. Maro Itoje and Manu Tuilagi have ma

Week 2 in college football was supposed to be the calm before the coming storm.After an opening week in which seven Associated Press Top 25 teams fell, Saturday was supposed to be, at least on paper, a lot less dramatic. There wasnt a single matchup of Top 25 teams, but the college football gods once again provided us with plenty to cheer about.A crowd of 156,990, the largest ever to see a college football game, watched No. 17 Tennessee lap Virginia Tech 45-24 at Bristol Motor Speedway. No. 9 Georgia almost lost to an FCS team for the first time in 76 years, and Central Michigan stunned No. 22 Oklahoma State 30-27 on a Hail Mary-and-lateral that should have never happened.We were given indisputable evidence as to why classic rivalries such as BYU-Utah and Penn State-Pittsburgh need to be played every season, and why picking a Big 12 team to make the College Football Playoff probably isnt a good bet. And we were reminded why its unwise to sleep on the Pac-12. Strange things happen in that conference after much of the country has gone to sleep.Sure, Week 2 probably wasnt as good as the opening act of the 2016 season, but it was pretty entertaining and satisfying -- unless youre Alabama coach Nick Saban or an Oklahoma State fan.The Cowboys were on the wrong end of one of the worst blown calls in college football history on Saturday. On the final play of the game, Central Michigan wide receiver Corey Willis caught a lateral from Jesse Kroll at OSUs 12-yard line after a Hail Mary and ran into the end zone for an improbable 51-yard touchdown with no time left.The only problem: The play should have never happened. MAC and Big 12 officials admitted after the game that it should have ended before the Chippewas were awarded an untimed down on the final play.With four seconds left, Pokes quarterback Mason Rudolph threw an incomplete pass to the left sideline to run out the clock on fourth down. But since no Oklahoma State receivers ran routes on the play, the Cowboys were penalized for intentional grounding. Apparently believing the game couldnt end on an accepted live-ball foul, officials incorrectly gave Central Michigan one more play from its 49-yard line, which resulted in the Hail Mary and lateral.OSU coach Mike Gundy admitted that he shouldnt have called a passing play on fourth down. A running play would have ended the game.Even if the officials handled it incorrectly, it was still a dumb call on my part, regardless, Gundy said.The Cowboys werent the only ranked team feeling empty after Week 2. Georgia turned the ball over three times and nearly blew a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter of a 26-24 win over Nicholls State. No. 2 Clemson had trouble putting Troy away at Death Valley. For the second week in a row, the Tigers looked sluggish, this time in a 30-24 victory.Everybody wants to see us score 50 points, 60 points and everybody wants it now, said Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, who threw for 292 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Were not going to do that. First weve got to execute and find our rhythm.That hasnt been a problem so far for No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 Michigan. The Buckeyes blasted Tulsa 48-3 at home, their fourth consecutive game with at least 40 points. The Wolverines beat UCF 51-14 at the Big House, giving them 114 points in their first two games.No. 1 Alabama didnt have many problems in its 38-10 win over Western Kentucky, but Saban was hardly pleased with his teams effort.?I dont know that Ive ever been this disappointed after winning a game, maybe ever, Saban said.In the final minute, Saban was so upset that he screamed at offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin for what seemed like an eternity.There are no arguments, Saban said afterward. Those are called ass-chewings.At least the Crimson Tide won. No. 15 TCU turned a 13-point deficit to Arkansas into a 28-20 lead with 2:05 to play. But the Hogs forced overtime with a touchdown and a two-point conversion and blocked a 28-yard field goal attempt near the end of regulation. They won the game when?Austin Allen?ran for a 5-yard touchdown in the second overtime of a 41-38 victory.?As for the Pac-12, well, they dont call it #Pac12AfterDark for nothing. Arizona States?Kalen Ballage?tied an NCAA record with eight touchdowns in the Sun Devils 68-55 win over Texas Tech. Washington State and Cal saw late rallies come up short against Boise State and San Diego State, respectively, while Arizona needed to rally to avoid a shocking upset against Grambling State.?On a day when we expected many you-know-what-kickings, we were once again given everything we could have asked for -- and then some.Playoff teams after Week 21. Alabama: Only Nick Saban would be dissatisfied with a 38-10 victory. Freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts threw for 287 yards with two touchdowns on 23-for-36 passing in the win over Western Kentucky, but the Tide averaged only 3.2 yards on 39 rushing attempts and committed 12 penalties.2. Florida State: The Seminoles cruised to a 52-8 win over FCS foe Charleston Southern; next week, FSU will face off against No. 13 Louisville in an ACC Atlantic showdown. Deondre Francois vs. Lamar Jackson. Thats must-see TV.3. Michigan: The Wolverines walloped UCF 51-14 at home after scoring 63 points in their opening win over Hawaii. Michigans 114 points in its first two games are the most by a Wolverines team since 1914 and fourth most in school history.4. Ohio State: OSUs offense didnt get rolling until the second half, after a lightning delay and torrential downpour at The Horseshoe. But its defense had two pick-sixes in the first half of a 48-3 rout of Tulsa. Next up: a trip to No. 14 Oklahoma on Saturday.Next four in contention1. Houston: The Cougars had to play without injured quarterback Greg Ward Jr. (shoulder) and endured a marathon lightning delay but eventually shut out FCS foe Lamar 42-0. The Cougars had three players with more than 100 yards rushing, and their defense allowed a school-record 73 yards.2. Clemson: The Tigers have yet to find their rhythm on offense. They averaged 45 points per game in their first two games in 2015; theyre averaging 24.5 in their two games this season.?Deshaun Watson?posted the lowest QBR (35) in his career in a 30-24 win over Troy.3. Louisville: The Cardinals steamrolled Syracuse 62-28 on the road Friday night, and now they get to play Florida State at home on Saturday in a game that might go a long way in deciding which team wins the ACC Atlantic.4. Wisconsin: The Badgers certainly dont look like a fluke. After stunning then-No. 5 LSU 16-14 in its opener, Wisconsin blasted Akron 54-10. The bad news: Star tailback Corey Clement left the game with a leg injury.Heisman candidates1. Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville: In Louisvilles victory at Syracuse on Friday night, Jackson set a school and ACC record with 610 yards of total offense. In his past three games, including last seasons bowl, he has 1,468 yards of total offense and 17 touchdowns.2. Deondre Francois, QB, FSU: The redshirt freshman followed up his fabulous debut against Ole Miss on Monday night by completing 25 of 32 passes for 262 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in a rout of FCS foe Charleston Southern.3.?Patrick Mahomes II, QB, Texas Tech: The Red Raiders fell to Arizona State 68-55, with Mahomes passing for 540 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. The junior passed for 483 yards and accounted for six touchdowns in limited action in a season-opening win over Stephen F. Austin.4.?DeShone Kizer, QB, Notre Dame: After throwing five touchdowns in a loss to Texas in Week 1, Kizer completed 15 of 18 passes for 156 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in a 39-10 victory over Nevada. He has seven passing touchdowns (and two more running) with one interception in two games.Best momentsBest plays3. Arizona States?Kalen Ballage?had only 13 carries and two receptions, but it was enough for eight touchdowns. He gets the nod with his record-tying eighth touchdown in the Sun Devils win over Texas Tech.4. LSUs TreDavious White looked as if he was getting himself into serious trouble but managed this escape act on a punt return for a touchdown in LSUs win over Jacksonville State.Worst plays2. Another week, another USC ejection. Trojans offensive tackle Chuma Edoga was kicked out of the game in the first quarter for pushing an official and throwing a punch at a Utah State player.3. Penn State quarterback Trace McSorleys decision to throw for the end zone with 2:15 left probably wasnt the wisest one. Pitts Ryan Lewis intercepted the ball to preserve a 42-39 win.4. UConn coach Bob Diacos clock management isnt as good as his fettuccine alfredo recipe.Tweets of the nightQuotes of the night1. We came in here and outhit those guys today. Theres no doubt about which team was hitting harder. -- UCF coach Scott Frost, after the Knights 51-14 loss at Michigan.2. It just means now I have to do something better so people dont always think of that play when they talk about me. -- Clemsons Ray-Ray McCloud, on his fumble at the goal line after a 75-yard punt return.3. We cant change guys out. Weve got no free agency. Weve got no cuts. So we have to take what weve got, and weve got to get those guys better. Theyve got to play better. -- Georgia coach Kirby Smart, on his offensive line, which was manhandled in a 26-24 win over FCS foe Nicholls State.4. Sometimes when were down, a lot of people on our team just tend to quit and think its over, and I dont think its over until its actually over. -- Kentucky linebacker Jordan Jones, after the Wildcats 45-7 loss at Florida.Stats that matter1. 20: Years since Army started a season 2-0 before beating Rice 31-14. The Black Knights hadnt won their first two games since 1996, when they won a school-record 10 games. With Navy and Air Force also winning their first two games, the three service academies are each 2-0 for the first time since 1996.2. 30: Consecutive wins for Florida over Kentucky after a 38-point victory. Its the fourth-longest winning streak in an annual series in FBS history and the current longest streak over one opponent.3. 40: Career touchdowns for Pitts James Conner, who scored two touchdowns in Pitts win over Penn State. He joined Tony Dorsett as the only Pitt players with 40 career total touchdowns.4. 516: It has been a tale of two halves for TCU quarterback?Kenny Hill. In the Horned Frogs two games, he has passed for 300 yards and one touchdown in the first half of games, and 516 yards and seven touchdowns in the second half (including overtime).Nike Shoes Black Friday Sale . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team. Wholesale Nike Shoes Black Friday . Thousands of Southern California fans enveloped the Trojans to celebrate an improbable win secured by an interim coach, an inconsistent kicker and a thin defence that wouldnt break. http://www.nikeshoesblackfriday.com/ . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. Nike Shoes Black Friday 2019 . After a lengthy wait, persistent rain finally forced the postponement of the Nationals game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday night. The teams, and a few thousand fans, waited nearly four hours from the 7:05 scheduled start time before an announcement was made shortly before 11 p. Fake Nike Shoes Black Friday . The 43-year-old closer, in his 19th and final big league season, has said hed like to play the outfield. Yankees manager Joe Girardi says hes thinking about allowing Rivera to do it this weekend, when the Yankees finish their season with a three-game series at the Houston Astros.Owen Farrell has been Englands standard-bearer and is the spirit of the team that has won 14 matches on the bounce, according to Eddie Jones.As Jones reflected on Englands 37-21 win over Australia and a year which has seen his side win all 13 of their matches, he singled out Farrell as the player pushing the standards in the squad. He hailed Ben Youngs and outstanding Courtney Lawes as the players who have impressed him most from the autumn Tests, but it is Farrell who has emerged as their key player.Owen Farrell is the spirit of the team, Jones said. Hes an absolute competitor and always wants to do things well.He hasnt been at his best this autumn -- its quite clear hes still recovering from his back injury, Id say hes probably been at 80 per cent of his total fitness.To win those four Test when your inside centre is nowhere near his best is a pretty good effort. Hes enormous for us. Hes the standard-bearer.Jones knows him well having handed the then 16-year-old Farrell his debut during his time in charge of Saracens. The England coach remembers being impressed by the way Farrell dealt with big hit from Sonny Bill Williams in a trial match between Saracens and Toulon.Sonny Bill Williams was making his debut for Toulon, Jones continued. Owen got the ball and Sonny Bill Williams whacked him and stood over the top of him. He just bounced up on his feet and continued on like nothing had happened. You could tell he was going to be a good player.Farrell started all four of Englands end-of-year Tests with his goal-kicking, communication and work-rate integral to their unbeaten year. The 9-10-12 axis with Ben Youngs, George Ford and Farrell is continuing to develop and winger Marland Yarde also impressed Jones in their win over Australia.I remember going to a Quins game about eight months ago, sitting in the crowd and the Quins supporters were going: Hes crap. This guys hopeless. I dont know why they play him all the time, Jones said. And hes really worked hard at his game and had a storming game today, really good game.Jones singled out their win over Argentina - a match they won despite being down to 14 men for 75 minutes - as their performance of the autumn Tests and said they went through a growth spurt in that game. On-field leadership has been a constant theme running through the series with Jones impressed by how they rectified their dreadful start against Australia to get a foothold and then push on in the second-half to win convincingly.Central to that was Dylan Hartley but even he is not guaranteedd a place in Jones England side as he says no one, not even Farrell, can take their spot for granted.ddddddddddddDylans been absolutely outstanding, Jones said. Physically hes not at his best for this series, hes probably 80-90 per cent mark.He needs to rectify that for the 6Nations. But his leadership has been enormous. Hes one of these guys who give added value.He leads from the front, hes proactive. If he senses things are wrong, he fixes them. He has really driven this side. The credit he deserves is enormous.Jones gave individual feedback to the players on Sunday and will meet the coaches on Monday as attention shifts to the Six Nations where England will be chasing back-to-back grand slams. He says the championship will be an altogether different challenge to the end-of-year Tests and is expecting the players to come into camp fatigued.But he has already prioritised one area for England to focus on and improve: the scrum.The only thing Im interested in now is winning the Six Nations and to win the Six Nations we need more consistency in our set piece, Jones said. I want to have the most dominant scrum. The scrum in the Six Nations is enormously important so we want that dominance.Jones says he has already picked his Six Nations squad but it will be fascinating to see how he integrates those players who missed the autumn Tests through injury. Maro Itoje and Manu Tuilagi have made their returns to club rugby at while Anthony Watson, Jack Nowell, Billy Vunipola and James Haskell are all set to return in the coming months.The England coach is expecting players to be left disappointed if they miss out on selection but is predicting as many as 15 players may be picked for the British & Irish Lions tour. And it is this battle to make the England team and ultimately the Lions tour which he feels will ensure his team stay on this upwards trajectory.If players arent hungry and you see it in their performance straight away, then they wont be here, Jones said. We have enough depth to change the squad if we need to. You want intrinsically the players to want to do it.Were developing players like that. Theres a tipping point in the team when you get six, seven, eight players with that absolute desire to want to do well then if youre not in that group, you tend to fall out. Thats how great teams keep on getting better. We havent got that tipping point yet but were moving towards it. ' ' '