MACTracking: Making Up Ground

My apologies to Al Golden for forgetting all about him in this column (in my defense, I at least knew I was forgetting someone). Lamar Miller posted his fourth straight 100-yard game in the Hurricanes 45-14 win Saturday against FCS Bethune-Cookman and now is on pace to take a shot at 1,600 yards if Miami can get to a bowl game - which may be in doubt at the moment given their rollercoaster play thusfar.

After their near miss at Maryland, they followed with a convincing home win over Ohio State for a good start. Then they lost at home to Kansas State and got to rebound this week against FCS Bethune-Cookman. We'll see how they manage next week against an angry Virginia Tech team on the road. Given their current up-and-down, they'll probably get smeared, but I'll reserve judgement until then.

As for your other favorite former employees, kee reading after the jump.

Turner Gill continues to hunt for a defense. His Kansas boys actually got off to a fast start, as an interception return for a touchdown gave them a 20-0 lead eleven minutes into the game. Unfortunately, Texas Tech decided to start playing at that point, and by the time the fourth quarter started the Jayhawks were down 45-27, adding one more score late for show. Next week they get to pay a visit to Oklahoma State, who as we all know has an atrocious offense *coughcough*.

Minnesota is down for the count, it seems. I wasn't really expecting them to beat Michigan in Ann Arbor, but I don't think I was expecting them to lose 58-0 either. The Gopher defense surrendered 580 yards to Michigan - the Wolverines actually got stuck with field goals on three of their red zone trips or this could have been worse. The offense ran one play inside Michigan's 40 yard line and that ended in a fumble return for a touchdown. Good luck next week against a Purdue team that may/may not be any better.

Oh, and Butch Jones and Brian Kelly won. Yawn.

Stay tuned next week for: can Kansas give up less that 600 yards and/or 40 points...can Minnesota rediscover the endzone...can the Bearcats keep cruising in conference play?