This week in “Season X,” our Playstation 2 EA Sports NCAA College Football 2003 simulated season, Mississippi State returned to their winning ways with a 47-10 beating of Jacksonville State. The Bulldogs played a spectacular game in the air giving wide receiver Justin Jenkins 238 yards on the season, fifth best in the SEC. The win did not come without a cost, though. Tailback Dontae Walker suffered a leg injury and is out for the next four weeks. The starter’s job has been given to sophomore Fred Reid.
Ole Miss, on the other hand, didn’t fare quite as well this week. They received a 23-13 thrashing at the hands of Texas Tech. Eli remains strong in the Rebel offense, but lack of defense made this one an easy win for the Red Raiders. This drops Ole Miss out of the Top 25.
In the upset of the week, Joe Paterno’s Penn State Nittany Lions silenced the mighty Nebraska Cornhuskers 24-14. The loss drops Nebraska out of the Top 10 to No. 13 and moves undefeated Penn State up to No. 11.
The SEC game of the week was a thriller between Georgia and South Carolina. Unranked South Carolina defeated the 11th ranked Bulldogs 31-27. This dropped Georgia to No. 16 and moved the Gamecocks up to No. 17.
The National Offensive Player of the Week was Stanford tailback Kerry Carter. Carter rushed for 143 yards on 27 carries for five touchdowns and then caught four passes for 100 yards and two more touchdowns.
Jamal Smith, strong safety for the UL Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns, was the National Defensive Player of the Week. Smith had two interceptions and one touchdown to go with his six tackles.
In the top ten, the only two teams to lose were Nebraska and Washington State, making room for Virginia Tech to move up to No. 9 and Oklahoma to move back up to the No. 10 spot. The No. 1 spot is still split between Texas and Florida.
Tune in next time for Mississippi State vs. Auburn and the Game of the Week, No. 2 Florida vs. No. 3 Tennessee.
This weeks’ Top 25
1. Texas
2. Florida
3. Tennessee
4. Florida State
5. Oregon
6. Miami
7. Colorado
8. Washington
9. Virginia Tech
10. Oklahoma
11. Penn State
12. Washington State
13. Nebraska
14. NC State
15. Ohio State
16. Georgia
17. South Carolina
18. Kansas State
19. Marshall
20. Syracuse
21. Maryland
22. Georgia tech
23. Michigan
24. Illinois
25. Iowa