Week 8 Football Recap

Cavaliers 24, Hurricanes 19 – That’s more like it. UVa put together its best win in several years, upsetting #22 Miami for their first victory against a ranked opponent since October 2008. It helps to jack-up the Canes’ starting quarterback in the second quarter. The U’s backups proceeded to throw four more interceptions, including an incredible one by Chase Minnifield above. The junior cornerback now leads the NCAA in interceptions at six. Payne added two more rushing touchdowns bringing his ACC leading total to 12. Even the Star Wars themed halftime show by the marching band was pretty sweet. Despite the 24-0 performance through three quarters, the game ended on a scary note since Miami scored three straight touchdowns late to force the Hoos to convert two key third downs to preserve the victory. While storming the field after defeating a barely ranked opponent may be a little much, this guy always makes me laugh. With four games remaining, Virginia will need to win at least three to become bowl eligible and have winnable games against Duke, Maryland, and BC coming up.

Redskins 25, Lions 37 – Really? The Lions again? Washington played down to its competition again in a stunning loss to now 2-5 Detroit. The offense line was just atrocious leading to the McBenching. Even if Donovan was in shape or knew the offense up to Shanahan’s standards, no quarterback was going to stand up to that pressure. I wonder what these two were talking about when Grossman was blowing the game? Instead of going after Randy Moss, the Skins need to somehow incorporate special teams stud Brandon Banks into the offense. The Burgundy and Gold has kept six of their eight games to six points or less contests. The other two? Blow out losses to St. Louis and Detroit. At least they have a bye this week to sort out this disaster.

Colts 30, Texans 17 – In a battle of my two favorite quarterbacks, Manning out dueled Schaub, to take over first place in the AFC South. Despite missing Clark, Collie, and Addai, Peyton avenged the Week 1 loss to Houston with a 268 yard two td, no pick performance. The defense stepped up, pressuring Schaub and the fifth ranked Texan offense all night, leading to three sacks, a pick six, and only 17 points. After the Steelers and Jets lost this week, it’s looking like the two best teams in the league are the Pats and Colts. We’ve heard that one before.