Clemson, Washington State Upset in College Football

Saturday isn’t the only day of the week for college football these days. There are a few Thursday and Friday games each week and more and more often some games feature ranked teams. There were a pair of games each featuring a team ranked in the AP Top Ten on Friday October 13th, but neither one turned out well for those Top Ten teams.

Defending national champion and second ranked Clemson faced fellow ACC Atlantic Division opponent Syracuse on the road. Last year, the Tigers hosted Syracuse and blew out the Orange 54-0. It was a little different this time. Syracuse got off to a 7-0 start behind the first of quarterback Eric Dungey’s three touchdown passes, and never trailed in a back and forth game that was tied four times before Cole Murphy kicked a 30 yard field goal in the fourth quarter to give the Orange the lead for good. The final score was 27-24.

Although the Tigers took a hit in terms of repeating as national champ, all is not lost. A week after beating Syracuse last year, Clemson lost to Pittsburgh for its only loss of the season, and still went on to win the national championship. Clemson is 6-1, 4-1 in the ACC; Syracuse is 4-3, 2-1 in the ACC.

On the other side of the country, #8 Washington State took its 6-0 record to Berkeley to take on California. The Golden Bears defense intercepted WSU QB Luke Falk five times, and sacked him nine times en route to a 37-3 blowout of the Cougars. “We were pathetic” said a steamed WSU coach Mike Leach after the game. The Cougar locker room was probably not a fun place after this one. California improved to 4-3 overall, 1-3 in the Pac-12.