College Football Weekly Wrap-Up: Big Night at the Big House

By Cabrone D. Brewer
The Wolverine has a reputation for ferocity and strength — and after Saturday night’s performance against Notre Dame, University of Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson proved that he fits the mold perfectly.
With both teams donning retro-themed uniforms in front of a record-setting crowd of 114,804 for the first night game ever at Michigan Stadium, The Wolverines scored 28 points in the fourth quarter capped by Robinson’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Roy Roundtree with two seconds left to stun Notre Dame and lift Michigan to a thrilling 35-31 victory over the Irish.
Notre Dame had a chance to carry the win back to South Bend, but after Tommy Rees threw a 29-yard touchdown pass with 30 seconds left in the fourth, the Irish fatally let Michigan complete a wide open pass that took the Wolverines from their own 20 to the Notre Dame 16, giving Robinson and company enough time to seal the deal as time ran out.
It’s the first time since 1908 that Michigan has won three straight against the Irish.
Facing a resurgent #23 Penn State squad in Happy Valley, #3 Alabama and quarterback A.J. McCarron looked poised and efficient playing among the shadows of the largest crowd ever to see an Alabama football game, as the Crimson Tide rolled over the Nittany Lions 27-11. With Saturday’s win away from Tuscaloosa, Alabama snapped Penn State’s 23-game nonconference home winning streak.
After dropping out of the polls last week, defending BCS champion Auburn looked determined to regain a piece of the top 25 pie, stuffing #16 Mississippi State at the goal line on the final play of the game to preserve a 41-34 win. Backup safety Ryan Smith made a jarring tackle — the first of his career — at the one-foot line to help Auburn bounce back into the polls and extend the current longest FBS winning streak to 17 games.
Offering more thrills from start to finish this week: #21 Missouri seemed to let their kicker get cold after a fantastic drive to end the fourth quarter, as a failed field goal attempt with 12 seconds left allowed Arizona State to steal a 37-30 victory in OT; #24 Texas crept back into the polls and preceded to sneak away with a 17-16 win over BYU; #12 South Carolina escaped a narrow one in Georgia, besting the Bulldogs 45-42; And #5 FSU handled Charleston Southern 62-10, paving the way for an epic match between #1 Oklahoma next week in Tallahassee, while the Sooners became the first school to top the AP poll 100 times — without playing a game.
Visit our blog later this week for an updated rundown of the weekend’s coverage.