College Football Awards, Week 7 (2019) October 14, 2019

COACHES
Wish I were him: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma  (hon. mention:  Ed Orgeron, LSU)

Glad I’m not him: Kirby Smart, Georgia

Lucky guy: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame

Poor guy: Clay Helton, USC

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: P.J. Fleck, Minnesota

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia

Desperately seeking … anything:  Scott Frost, Nebraska

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Utah (defeated Oregon State 52-7)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Georgia (lost to South Carolina 20-17 in 2OT)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: UConn (lost to Tulane 45-7)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Arkansas (lost to Kentucky 24-20)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Purdue (defeated Maryland 40-14)

Dang, they’re good: Alabama

Dang, they’re bad:  Rutgers

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Virginia

Did the season start?  Washington State

Can the season end?  Georgia Tech

Can the season never end?  Oklahoma  (honorable mention:  LSU)

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 6 Oklahoma 34, No. 11 Texas 27

Play this again, too:  No. 5 LSU 42, No. 7 Florida 28.

Never play this again: Louisiana Tech 69, UMass 21

What?  Bowling Green 20, Toledo 7

Huh?  Temple 30, No. 23 Memphis 28

Double-Huh?  Miami 17, No. 20 Virginia 9

Are you kidding me??  Louisville 62, No. 19 Wake Forest 59

Oh – my – God:  South Carolina 20, No. 3 Georgia 17, 2OT

NEXT WEEK

(rankings are current AP (post-week 7, pre-week 8)
Best game of the week:  No. 16 Michigan @ No. 7 Penn State

Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five  matchup: none

Best non-Power Five matchup: Temple @ No. 19 SMU

Upset alert: No. 5 Oklahoma @ West Virginia

Must win: No. 17 Arizona State @ No. 13 Utah

Offensive explosion: No. 25 Washington @ No.12 Oregon

Defensive struggle: Michigan @ Penn State

Great game no one is talking about: Duke @ Virginia

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Kyle Whittingham of Utah vs. Herm Edwards of ASU

Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 3 Ohio State @ Northwestern

Why are they playing? Minnesota @ Rutgers

Plenty of good seats remaining: Buffalo @ Akron

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Missouri @ Vanderbilt

Week 7 Thoughts:

Oklahoma vs Texas

Rivalries are a funny thing.  On paper, the Sooners should have defeated the Longhorns by at least two touchdowns, given the disparity in ranking (No. 6 vs. No. 11).  Yet the Horns’ defense stepped up in a huge way, was able, at least some of the time to, to contain Jalen Hurts and the OU offense.

Louisville @ Wake Forest

Great win/upset for Louisville.  Yet the score concluded at 61 to 52.  Ever heard of defense, guys?

Florida @ LSU

The other game of the week (outside of the Red River Shootout in Dallas) was resurgent Florida @ LSU.  This game as well lived up to its hype, with big plays on both sides, and in the end, the Bayou Bengals triumphed over the Gators, 42-28.  In light of the massive development in Athens, Ga. (see below), expect LSU to move up a notch in the rankings.

Possible playoff scenario

Georgia lost in shocking fashion to rival South Carolina, at home, in double-overtime, 20-17.  In light of this huge development, here is a new, possible playoff scenario, should other current shadows remain unchanged:  Ohio State, Oklahoma, LSU/Alabama, and Clemson.  The latter two are plausible placeholders for the perennial southern/southeastern representatives that have come to dominate the playoffs as of late.  But with the Buckeyes and the Sooners both in the picture, that would bring in a larger national audience, what with representation both from the Plains and, more importantly, the Midwest.  As a not-so-distant aside, Ohio State and Oklahoma alone would be a game we would all love to see, playoffs or no playoffs.