College Football Awards, Week 13 (2019) November 25, 2019

COACHES
Wish I were him:  Ryan Day, Ohio State

Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Penn State

Lucky guy: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma

Poor guy: Gary Patterson, TCU

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Sonny Dykes, SMU

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Nick Rolovich, Hawaii

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mario Cristobal, Oregon

Desperately seeking … anything:  Tom Herman, Texas

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Auburn (defeated Samford 52-0)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Georgia (defeated Texas A&M 19-13)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Maryland (lost to Nebraska 54-7)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  TCU (lost to No. 9 Oklahoma 28-24)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  USC (defeated UCLA 52-35)

Dang, they’re good: Alabama

Dang, they’re bad:  Troy

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Oregon

Did the season start?  Texas

Can the season end?  UMass

Can the season never end?  Ohio State

GAMES
Play this again:  Arizona State 31, No. 6 Oregon 28

Never play this again: No. 5 Alabama 66, Western Carolina 3

What?  Colorado 20, Washington 14

Huh?  Hawaii 14, San Diego State 11

Are you kidding me??  Navy 35, No. 25 SMU 28

Oh – my – God:  Arizona State 31, No. 6 Oregon 28

NEXT WEEK

(rankings are current AP (post-week 14, pre-week 14)
Ticket to die for:  No. 2 Ohio State @ No. 13 Michigan

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

Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 19 Cincinnati @ No. 18 Memphis (Friday, Nov. 29)

Upset alert: Kansas State @ No. 22 Iowa State (hon. mention:  No. 5 Alabama @ No. 15 Auburn)

Must win: No. 12 Wisconsin @ No. 10 Minnesota

Offensive explosion: No. 9 Oklahoma @ No. 21 Oklahoma State

Defensive struggle: inconclusive

Great game no one is talking about: Wyoming @ Air Force

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Kevin Sumlin of Arizona vs Herm Edwards of Arizona State

Who’s bringing the body bags?  No. 4 Georgia @ Georgia Tech

Why are they playing? Rutgers @ No. 8 Penn State

Plenty of good seats remaining: Texas State @ Coastal Carolina (dishon. mention:  Rice @ UTEP)

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Charlotte @ Old Dominion

Week 13 Thoughts:

Baylor vs Texas

Once again the Longhorns disgraced themselves with tepid outputs on both offense and defense.  The Longhorns had such high expectations going into the season.  Now, they sit at 6-5.  What happened?  For starters, they graduated lots of experienced players after their Suger Bowl win.  This year, they have a young team, made younger with lots of injuries on defense and at running back.  For that, they need time for the injuries to heal.  Much more systemic are the questions of Texas’ identity on offense.  For that, they cannot excuse injuries.  Nor can they excuse their lack of player development despite good recruiting classes during Tom Herman’s tenure.  So how can they do better?  Three things:  develop an offensive identity; do better at developing your players; also, learn to get out of your own way.  Oklahoma and A&M have figured out how to do so:  what is Texas’ excuse?

Ohio State vs Penn State

The game was a good game, and it should not have been as good as it was.  Some key mistakes, namely turnovers in the 3^rd quarter, allowed for Penn State to come within less than a touchdown of the Buckeyes.  Ohio State will have to button things up better if they expect to defeat their bitter rival up north come rivalry weekend.  Such urgency for discipline is even greater for the B1G championship game in Indianapolis, be it Wisconsin or Minnesota.  This is a reminder that the road to the playoffs still has a critical amount of potholes that only vigilance shall help avoid.

All that said, on to Rivalry Weekend!