The Booth Review -- Week Five

FEELING BLUE

Welcome back to Earth, Boise State. The Broncos experienced one of their worst losses since Dan Hawkins was at Willamette with a 28-14 drubbing by Air Force. The Falcons led 20-0 heading into the fourth quarter and Boise State quarterback Grant Hedrick tossed four interceptions for the Broncos, who are a pedestrian 3-2 in new head coach Brian Harsin's debut. Air Force was 2-10 last year and has jumped to 3-1 in 2014 with this nice scalp on the wall. The Mountain West is now taking applications for a new really good team that wins lots of games and has a dumb gimmick (pick Utah State!)

BULLY!

South Florida was a 34-point underdog to Wisconsin Saturday with no tangible signs of doing anything other than collecting a paycheck and not dying. It was 3-3 at halftime and 17-10 midway through the third quarter. USF tried to play spoiler despite gaining only eight first downs and less than 100 yards rushing, but Wisky nipped the potential upset bid in the bud with Melvin Gordon's legs to secure a 27-10 win. You can only stop a guy named Melvin so many times before he snaps.

WHAT'S MY NAME

Colorado State snagged one of the best wins of the Jim McElwain era Saturday with a 24-21 triumph over Boston College in Chestnut Hill. Garrett Grayson's 12-yard touchdown with 1:02 to go sealed the deal for the Rams, who racked up 430 yards on the day. Tyler Murphy went 12-of-19 for 169 yards and a pick for BC. Florida fans would kill for that kind of QB production. Maybe Denver's mayor knows McElwain's name now?

ZIPPITY DOO DAH

Holy shit, Akron. Where did that come from!? After thrashings from Marshall and Penn State, the Zips took a Pitt team that looked poised to win the ACC Coastal and creamed them in Heinz Field. Akron held the nation's leading rusher to under 100 yards for the first time all year in the win and controlled most of the game. Terry Bowden licking his fingers after eating a honey bun is my spirit animal.

CONFERENCE US-EH?

FIU, a team that lost to Bethune Cookman to open the year, beat a UAB squad that hung 516 yards on Mississippi State. Southern Miss gave defending C-USA champion Rice its first win of the year. UTSA fell to FAU on the road, and Middle Tennessee dominated Old Dominion to spoil the Monarchs' conference home opener. Can Marshall just play an intrasquad scrimmage for the championship?

NATIONAL CHAMPION OF THE WEEK: YALE

Yale beat Army and it's not 1948! The Bulldogs hosted our nation's finest for the 100th anniversary of the Yale Bowl Saturday and, like so many times before, the game didn't disappoint. Running back Tyler Varga rumbled for five touchdowns and 185 yards for Yale's first win over an FBS opponent since dropping down in 1982. Despite not leading in regulation the Bulldogs outran Army for the enormous win. The library on campus was so crazy after the game that Yale had to leave it open past 8 p.m.

GAME OF THE WEEK OF THE MONTH: TEXAS STATE 37, TULSA 34 (3OT)

This is not your older brother's Tulsa team, but this game gave us everything we want and love from the precious Group of Five. We got it all. Six fourth down conversions, over 800 total yards of offense, lots of penalties and three overtimes. YAYYY! Texas State let its 14-point lead dwindle down in the second half but recovered in OT with a Terrance Franks touchdown to claim the victory. Just one week after letting Illinois slip away from them, the Bobcats feasted on Tulsa's decaying corpse.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK OF THE MONTH OF THE YEAR: DONNEL PUMPHREY

The San Diego State running back darted for 167 yard and four touchdowns on 22 carries as the Aztecs cruised past UNLV. Pumphrey set the tone with a 71-yard run on SDSU's second possession of the first quarter and never looked back except to watch himself on the video board. Thankfully it was built by better hands than the one at UMass.

OTHER SCORES OF NOTE: Georgia Southern 34, Appalachian State 14; Rice 42, Southern Miss 23, Bowling Green 47, UMass 42; Western Kentucky 36, Navy 27; Ohio State 50, Cincinnati 28; UL Monroe 22, Troy 20