beIN SPORTS

By Des Norris

Scholars

Clemson 37-34 Florida State

After suffering through a week of bye boredom Clemson and FSU burst back onto the college football scene with a humdinger at the Doak Campbell Stadium.

The Tigers have a knack of winning by fine margins and week 9 was no exception.

Star quarterback Deshaun Watson provided the game-deciding heroics late into the fourth quarter when he picked out Jordan Leggett with a 34-yard touchdown pass.

The result extends the program’s regular season unbeaten run to 22 games.

Nonetheless, FSU still managed to expose plenty of their opponents' frailties; turning a 14-point deficit from the first quarter into a 28-20 lead by the end of the third.

Yet the Tigers unnerving ability to grind out results would trump any difficulties the Seminoles threw their way.

Spurred on by a very vocal Tallahassee crowd, the home team went on an all-out attack as the final minutes ticked away. However, their efforts to salvage something were thwarted as controversial penalty calls went a begging and Deondre Francois was sacked before he could execute the last two plays.

With their perfect season still intact Dabo Swinney’s third-ranked charges can now look forward to a playoff game.

Whether or not they can sustain their live-on-the-edge approach past that point remains to be seen...

Dropouts

Tennessee 21-24 South Carolina

A riveting game between the two SEC teams culminated with a 58-yard field goal attempt from the Vols’ Aaron Medley falling short.

A packed-to-the-rafters Williams-Brice Stadium had to wait until time expired before celebrating the Gamecocks’ shock win, but in light of the visitors’ recent poor form, it wasn’t even that surprising of a result.

Sluggish getting out of the blocks, Tennessee never really got things going as is painfully illustrated by the fact South Carolina held possession for 12:02 of the third quarter.

Quarterback Josh Dobbs, who finished the day with a paltry 161 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, will be hoping the events in Columbia don’t live long in the memory of Tennessee supporters.

His counterpart, relative novice Jake Bentley, spent a lot of Saturday night on his backside - having been on the receiving end of six sacks - but still made a mark on his second career start by throwing two touchdowns, including a 35-yard pass to K.C. Crosby in the fourth quarter.

Put mildly Butch Jones’ men have disappointed at the beginning of games this season and now trail the Gators by two games in the SEC East on the back of three straight defeats. 

Class Clowns

Oklahoma State 37-20 West Virginia

All good things must to come to an end.

That’s the case for West Virginia fans at least as Saturday’s defeat in Stillwater leaves their otherwise perfect season tarnished.

Oklahoma scuppered the Mountaineers chance of cementing their status as conference favorites with a commanding offensive and defensive display.

West Virginian allowed the Cowboys to pick off two Skyler Howard’s passes and force three turnovers on the wrong side of the Mountaineers’ 15-yard that directly resulted in 17 points.