College Football Notebook: Another undefeated bites the dust

Iowa defensive tackle Adrian Clayborn hits Northwestern quarterback Mike Kafka as Northwestern upset undefeated Iowa 17-10. (Icon SMI)

By Lindysports.com staff

Another unbeaten team went down this past weekend.

Iowa’s hope for an undefeated run to the Rose Bow ended when Northwestern downed the Hawkeyes 17-10 in Iowa City. Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi, who has led numerous comebacks for Iowa this weekend, left the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury he suffered on a play in which he fumbled in the end zone. The ball was recovered by Northwestern for a touchdown.

The Hawkeyes, who had six turnovers in a win over Indiana last week, turned it over four times in the second quarter against the Wildcats. Two of the turnovers led to Northwestern scores.

“It's hard to win football games against good, competitive teams, and that's basically everybody in our conference, if you're going to turn the ball over,” said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz.

The undefeated run for Iowa is over but the Hawkeyes can still earn a Rose Bowl trip with a win at Ohio State next week. It was Northwestern’s first win over a Top 10 teams since it knocked off No. 6 Ohio State 33-27 in overtime in 2004.

Here are more notes from this past weekend in college football…

* Alabama moved back into the No. 2 spot in the BCS and earned a second straight trip to the Southeastern Conference championship game with a 24-15 victory over 9^th-ranked LSU.

Julio Jones caught a 73-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, the Crimson Tide converted the 2-point attempt, and Leigh Tiffin kicked a 40-yard field goal with 3:04 left to seal the victory and to become Alabama’s career scoring leader. …

* Notre Dame beat Navy 43 straight times between 1963 and 2006. But Saturday Navy made it two out of three since 2007 by beating Notre Dame 23-21 at South Bend. The Fighting Irish have lost to the Midshipmen twice in three seasons under Charlie Weis. The last time an unranked Navy beat a ranked Notre Dame team was 1936 when the Midshipmen won 3-0. …

* Things have gotten tough for Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez. Michigan started 4-0 but after losing five of its past six games the Wolverines might miss out on a bowl game for the second straight year. Michigan has been outscored 75-12 in the second half by Illinois, Penn State and Purdue in their last three games. ...

* Despite losing 51-42 to Stanford on Saturday, Oregon retains control of its own destiny in the Pac-10 race, along with No. 21 Arizona. The teams play on Nov. 21 in Tucson. With Iowa’s loss to Northwestern, Ohio State has control of its own destiny in the Big Ten race. The Buckeyes and Hawkeyes play Saturday. …

* By beating Syracuse 37-10, Pittsburgh upped its record to 8-1 for the first time since Dan Marino was a senior. The Panthers have a tough final stretch with games against Notre Dame, at rival West Virginia and against No. 4 Cincinnati. ...

* With its 38-36 victory at Michigan, Purdue has now beaten Michigan and Ohio State in the same season it lost to Northern Illinois. ...

* Clay Nurse had four of Illinois' seven sacks in the Fighting Illini's 35-32 victory over Minnesota.

* Graig Cooper rushed for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown as Miami beat Virginia 52-17.

* Jordan Shipley set a Texas record with 273 yards receiving, including an 88-yard touchdown, as the No. 2 Longhorns defeated Central Florida 35-3.

* Joey Elliott threw for a career-high 367 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, leading Purdue to a 38-36 victory over Michigan. Elliott became the first Boilermakers quarterback to win in Ann Arbor since Bob Griese did it in 1966.

* Toby Gerhart ran for a school-record 223 yards and three scores as Stanford upset 7^th-ranked Oregon 51-42.

* Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton threw for 331 yards and five touchdowns as Tennessee beat Memphis 56-28. Crompton was 21-for-27 for the game.

* Mark Ingram of Alabama continued to make a strong case for the Heisman Trophy as he rushed 22 times for 122 yards against LSU’s stingy run defense in Alabama’s 24-15 win.

* The Southeastern Conference has nine bowl commitments and had six teams bowl eligible at this point of the season. The conference has three more teams—Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky—that are one win away from the magical sixth win.

* The Jahvid Best injury in the Cal-Oregon State game was scary. The running back leaped over a defender to get in the end zone but landed on his head. He was taken off the field on a gurney with an oxygen mask on his face.

* Cincinnati’s backup quarterback Zach Collarus threw for 480 yards and a touchdown and rushed for two more in leading Cincinnati to a win over Connecticut for a 9-0 record.

* Two teams got off to incredibly fast starts Saturday. UAB scored touchdowns on its first eight possession of the game on the way to its 56-29 win over Florida Atlantic and Arizona scored on its first seven possession in a 48-7 win over Washington State including Travis Cobb’s 95-yard kickoff return for a score with the opening kickoff.