Florida, South Carolina, USC & Notre Dame Upset
It was a tough day for Gamecocks fans.
On Saturday four teams in the Top 25 were upset—of course, not all upsets are created equal. South Carolina and Notre Dame were knocked off by teams with just slightly lower rankings, while Florida and USC were beaten by unranked opponents.
 (6) South Carolina vs. (11) Georgia
After losing to Clemson in their opening game last week, Georgia got off to a fast start against SEC rival South Carolina. The Gamecocks struck first with a field goal, but the Bulldogs scored the next 17 points, which put them up 17-3 early in the second quarter.
South Carolina battled back and managed to tie up the game by half-time and then it seemed they decided to call it a day. Nothing went the Gamecocks way in the second half, they even missed an extra point on their only score of the half.
Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray rebounded in a big way after disappointed against Clemson, throwing four touchdowns and no interceptions in the Bulldogs 41-30 win. South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney was MIA for the second straight week.
(12) Florida vs. Miami
The University of Miami improved their record to 2-0 by defeating Florida 21-16. Hurricanes quarterback Stephen Morris threw two touchdowns in the first quarter, which was nearly enough to win the game against a Gators offense that struggled.
Although Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel’s 291 passing yards was a career-best, he threw just one touchdown to his two interceptions and a fumble. Driskell was also stopped on a key fourth down, hurting the Gators the same as another turnover.
It’s tough to tell if Miami looked that good or Florida looked that bad—not that Hurricane fans are going to lose any sleep over it.
(14) Notre Dame vs. (17) Michigan
Notre Dame scored 10 points in the fourth quarter against Michigan, but it wasn’t nearly enough to overcome the hole they found themselves in early. The Wolverines scored 27 points in the first half and went into the locker room with a 14-point lead at half-time.
Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner threw four touchdowns and rushed for a fifth in front of a home crowd of 115,109—an NCAA record. This was the fourth straight victory at home over the Irish, who defeated the Wolverines at home last season 13-6.
Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees completed just 29 of 51 pass attempts for 314 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Said Rees, “I take accountability for some of those throws and missed opportunities.”
As well he should.
(25) USC vs. Washington State
It’s not really much of a surprise that USC lost to PAC 12 opponent Washington State 10-7. The real question is how the Trojans ended up in the Top 25 in the first place after an unconvincing win over Hawaii in Week 1. The score of that game may have been 30-13, but it felt like anything but a blowout to those watching.
Lane Kiffin’s boys were abysmal in this game—slightly more abysmal than Mike Leach’s boys. USC was 3-13 on third down conversions, 1-2 on fourth down and they were inefficient by air and by land. Quarterback Cody Kessler was 8-of-13 for 41 yards and an interception. Max Wittek was even worse, completing just 3-of-8 passes for 13 yards and an interception.
Kiffin was well aware of the “Fire Kiffin!” chants, which heated up after Wittek’s last pass was picked off, ending the game for the Trojans. When asked about the chants, he said he heard plenty of the same before the game even began.
Wow. It’s going to be a very long season for Lane Kiffin.
