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

Answer: USC Trojans

Notre Dame lost 49-14 at USC on November 29, 2014 in both teams' last regular season game. USC quarterback Cody Kessler passed for 372 yards and 6 touchdowns against the Fighting Irish. It extended Notre Dame's 3-game losing streak to 4, a streak that began at Arizona State on November 8, 2014, when the Sun Devils beat the Irish 55-31.
However, Notre Dame beat Michigan 31-0 at home in South Bend on September 6, 2014. They beat Purdue 30-14 at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 13, 2014. They beat Navy 49-39 on November 1, 2014.

Answer: LSU Tigers

It was a very low-scoring game, which LSU won 10-7 at home. In the waning moments of the game, Ole Miss could have tied it up with a field goal, but a delay of game penalty made the field goal a 47-yard one instead of a 42-yard one. With 9 seconds left, Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace was told to try to get a few yards to make the field goal easier or, if there was no one open, to throw the ball out of bounds.

He attempted to find a receiver in the end zone, but LSU safety Ronald Martin picked him off. Ole Miss was handed their first loss of the season, which was the beginning of a 3-game SEC losing streak for the Rebels.

They went on to lose to the Auburn Tigers 31-35 at home and at the Arkansas Razorbacks 0-30.

Answer: TCU Horned Frogs

TCU was ranked #25 in the AP poll coming into the game in contrast to Oklahoma's #4 ranking. TCU beat the Sooners 37-33 at home in Fort Worth, and went on to finish the regular season 11-1. The Sooners rebounded to beat the rival Texas Longhorns 31-26 next week, but went on to close the regular season 3-3.

In the postseason, the Sooners lost the Russell Athletic bowl on December 29, 2014, 6-40 to the Clemson Tigers and finished the season unranked in the AP poll.

Answer: Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State went on to win the national championship, and Northwestern did not play them during the regular season. They played the Buckeyes' rival Michigan, though, and lost 9-10 at home in Evanston. Northwestern beat #17 Wisconsin on October 4, 2014 by a score of 20-14. Wisconsin went on to win the Big Ten West and beat the Auburn Tigers in the Outback Bowl.

The Wildcats also upset Notre Dame, who was ranked #18 at the time, 43-40 on the road in South Bend on November 15, 2014. Notre Dame finished the regular season 7-5 and went on to beat the LSU Tigers in the Music City Bowl.

A wider margin of victory occurred at Penn State on September 27, 2014 when the Wildcats beat the Nittany Lions 29-6. Penn State went on to win the Pinstripe Bowl over the Boston College Eagles and finish the season with a 7-6 record.

Answer: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

It is worth mentioning that Marshall did not play a single Power 5 opponent in 2014, and their non-conference schedule featured an FCS team (Rhode Island), Miami (OH), Ohio, and Akron. Those teams won 14 games in 2014. In short, Marshall was supposed to win every game.

The game against Western Kentucky took place on Marshall's home turf on November 28, 2014. Western Kentucky won 67-66 on a two-point conversion in overtime. The two quarterbacks combined to throw 15 touchdown passes, an FBS single-game record, and 6 interceptions. Marshall went on to win the Conference USA Championship and beat the Northern Illinois Huskies 52-23 in the Boca Raton bowl.

Answer: Connecticut Huskies

On December 6, 2014, the SMU Mustangs traveled to Rentschler Stadium to play the Connecticut Huskies. SMU won 27-20 in their sole regular season victory, and avoided being the only 2014 FBS team to finish the regular season without a win. It was a rough season for SMU, they scored less than 10 points in 7 of their 12 games.

Answer: Iowa Hawkeyes

The game occurred on September 13, 2014 at Kinnick Stadium, the Hawkeyes' home turf. Iowa State won 20-17. Iowa went on to compile a 7-6 record with a 28-45 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers in the TaxSlayer Bowl on January 2, 2015. Both of Iowa State's wins were against teams that ended with better records than they did.

The other three options were teams Iowa State lost to in 2014 by a combined 10 points.

Answer: Both quarterbacks were intercepted five times

In the third quarter, both teams scored 28 points. 14 of those points for California came off consecutive kickoff returns for touchdowns. In the fourth quarter, California was up 60-59 with 3:17 left when Washington State got the ball. The Cougars drove to the Golden Bears 1-yard line, and may have scored on a running play, but the referees did not rule a touchdown. With 19 seconds left, Washington State kicker Quentin Breshears tried a 19-yard field goal, but missed it to the right. California took a knee to seal the win. Connor Halliday threw for 734 yards, an NCAA FBS record. Neither quarterback was intercepted during the game.

Answer: Connecticut Huskies

Connecticut finished with 2 wins in the 2014 season. One was a 19-16 win over a 5-7 FCS team, the Stony Brook Seawolves. The other was the UCF Knights, a team that won 9 games and were American Athletic Conference co-champions. The fact that it was homecoming for the Huskies may have had something to do with it. Connecticut went on to finish in last place in the American Athletic Conference.

Answer: Georgia Southern Eagles

Georgia Southern won the Sun Belt Conference in 2014 with an undefeated record in conference play. They also lost at the North Carolina State Wolfpack 23-24 on August 30, 2014. On September 13, 2014 the Eagles lost at the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 38-42. Georgia Tech went on to finish #8 in the AP poll. Both of those teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Despite a conference championship, the NCAA does not allow FBS newcomers to play in a bowl game. The Eagles' head coach, Willie Fritz, was in his first year as head coach of the Eagles.

Appalachian State was an FBS newcomer in 2014, but did not win the Sun Belt Conference. They finished 6-2 in Sun Belt play. Boise State won the Mountain West Conference with a 7-1 in MWC play, but have been in the FBS since 1996. Northern Illinois won the Mid-American Conference in 2014 with a 7-1 record in MAC play, but were not an FBS newcomer.