2014 College Football Season: In Review (Part I) Quiz

Answer: Washington State Cougars

Washington State played the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Washington on August 28, 2014. It was the opening game for both teams. Connor Halliday, the Washington State quarterback, threw for 532 yards. Rhe Cougars' defense let Rutgers get 496 yards of offense. Rutgers won 41-38.
As for the other teams, TCU beat Minnesota, Washington beat Illinois, and LSU beat Wisconsin.

Answer: Arkansas Razorbacks

On November 15, 2014, Arkansas shut out the #20 LSU Tigers 17-0 at home in Fayetteville. It was their first conference victory since October 13, 2012, when they beat the Kentucky Wildcats. They followed it up next week with a 30-0 victory over the #8 Ole Miss Rebels, also in Fayetteville.

This brought the Razorbacks to 6-5, which explains why they weren't ranked. They had too many losses to be ranked. However, Arkansas only lost to the Alabama Crimson Tide by 1 point when they played on October 11.

Many considered them to be better than their record.

Answer: Arizona Wildcats

Coming into the November 28, 2014 matchup with the Arizona State Sun Devils, Arizona was not in a position to win the division. The UCLA Bruins, Arizona, and Arizona State each had two conference losses, but UCLA had beaten both Arizona teams. If UCLA could beat the Stanford Cardinal at home in the Rose Bowl, they would clinch the division.

However, Stanford beat UCLA 31-10, and the rivalry game between the Wildcats and the Sun Devils functioned as the Pac-12 South Championship game, as UCLA had three conference losses. Arizona won 42-35, clinching the division. Arizona beat some good teams on their way to the division title, such as the Utah Utes and the Oregon Ducks.

Answer: Indiana Hoosiers

Missouri was ranked #18 in the AP poll when Indiana beat them 31-27. The game is widely regarded as a fluke, as Indiana went on to compile a 4-8 record. Their only Big 10 win was against the Purdue Boilermakers, a 3-9 team. On the other hand, Missouri went on to win the Southeastern Conference East division and compile an 11-3 record.

It was Indiana's first win over a ranked opponent since October 14, 2006 when they beat the #15 Iowa Hawkeyes at home in Bloomington.

Answer: Mississippi State Bulldogs

Georgia Tech started 5-0, and got ranked #22 in the AP poll coming into the October 11, 2014 game with Duke, which they lost 25-31. This dropped them out of the Top 25. Next week, the Yellow Jackets lost at North Carolina 43-48. Two wins later Georgia Tech found themselves ranked #24 in the AP poll, and they beat North Carolina State 56-23.

They followed it up by beating the Clemson Tigers 28-6. After a bye week, they beat their in-state rival, the Georgia Bulldogs, at Sanford Stadium, 30-24 in OT.

In the next game, on December 6, 2014, the Yellow Jackets played the Florida State Seminoles for the ACC title. Florida State won 37-35. Ranked #12 in the country, Georgia Tech played the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the Orange Bowl on December 31, 2014, winning 49-34.

Answer: Kentucky Wildcats

The Kentucky Wildcats first six games were much easier than their last six games in the regular season. Their first six games were against Tennessee-Martin (FCS), Ohio, Florida, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Louisiana-Monroe. Only three of those teams (Ohio, Florida, and South Carolina) were bowl-eligible at the end of the season, and Tennessee-Martin is an FCS team. Kentucky was 5-1 after their first six games, with the only loss being at Florida. The second half of the season featured games against LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee, and Louisville. All of those teams, except Tennessee, were ranked at one point or another in the season, and Mississippi State was ranked #1 in the country when Kentucky played them. Consequently, it makes sense that Kentucky got off to a great start, but lost their last six games.

They did give their in-state rival Louisville a run for their money in the regular season finale, losing 40-44.

Answer: Harvard Crimson

The Harvard Crimson played 10 games in the 2014 season as an FCS team in the Ivy League. Ivy League football does not participate in postseason play, and all teams play a 10-game regular season schedule. Harvard won the Ivy League title by beating their rival, the Yale Bulldogs, on November 22, 2014, by a score of 31-24.

They won every single game by 7 points or more, and held four of their opponents to less than 10 points. They finished their regular season ranked #15 in the FCS rankings. On the other hand, North Dakota State won the FCS championship, but lost once in the regular season at Northern Iowa 3-23. Ohio State won the college football playoff national championship, but lost their home opener 21-35 to the Virginia Tech Hokies on September 6, 2014. Florida State won numerous close games to finish the regular season 12-0, but lost the Rose Bowl 20-59 to the Oregon Ducks in the college football playoff semifinal on January 1, 2015.

Answer: Minnesota Golden Gophers

None of Minnesota's games went into overtime. The October 11, 2014 game against the Northwestern Wildcats could have, but Jalen Myrick returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to put the Gophers up 24-17, and Northwestern could not tie it up. Their November 15, 2014 game against Ohio State also could have, as the Gophers were down 7 after a field goal late in the game and attempted an onside kick. Ohio State recovered, however. Ohio State's sole overtime game came at Penn State on October 25, 2014.

The Buckeyes survived 31-24 in double OT. UCLA went into double overtime at Colorado on October 25, 2014, winning 40-37 over the Buffaloes. Clemson went into overtime at Florida State on September 20, 2014, and lost 17-23.

Answer: Oregon State Beavers

Under head coach Mike Riley, Oregon State has been known to upset top 10 teams at home while not a ranked team. They were hoping to do that to the rival Oregon Ducks, the #2 team in the college football playoff rankings on November 29, 2014. Oregon State had already upset the #7 Arizona State Sun Devils 35-27 on November 15, 2014.

However, Oregon State was unsuccessful in their bid to upset the Ducks, losing 19-47. Oklahoma State did get that sixth win at the expensive of the rival Oklahoma Sooners in overtime, at Oklahoma, 38-35. Illinois beat the rival Northwestern Wildcats at Northwestern 47-33. Both teams were 5-6 coming into the game. Similarly, the Virginia Cavaliers and the Virginia Tech Hokies were both 5-6 coming into the November 28, 2014 game at Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech won 20-24, securing bowl eligibility.

Answer: Wisconsin Badgers

On January 1, 2015, Wisconsin played the Auburn Tigers in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida. Although Auburn was ranked #19 in the AP poll to Wisconsin's ranking of #17, Auburn was favored by 7 points. The game went into overtime tied 31-31. Wisconsin got the ball first and kicked a field goal to go up 34-31.

When Auburn got the ball, they were forced to attempt a field goal to tie the game up. The kick bounced off the right upright, and Wisconsin won. Nebraska played the USC Trojans in the Holiday Bowl on December 27, 2014. Nebraska lost 42-45. Iowa played the Tennessee Volunteers in the TaxSlayer Bowl on January 2, 2015. Tennessee won 45-28. Minnesota played the Missouri Tigers in the Citrus Bowl on January 1, 2015. Missouri won 33-17.