College Football Awards, Week 11 (2023) November 13, 2023

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Bulldogs, Cardinals, Cavaliers, Curt Cignetti, Duke, Georgia, Georgia State, Illinois, Iowa, James Franklin, James Madison, Jeff Brohm, Jim Harbaugh, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Lance Leipold, Louisville, LSU, Mack Brown, Mario Cristobal, Maryland, Memphis, Miami (FL), Michigan, Mike Elko, Mike Gundy, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, P.J. Fleck, Penn State, Purdue, SMU, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas A&M, UCF, UCLA, UConn, Utah, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Volunteers, Wisconsin, Wolverines
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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Jim Harbaugh*, Michigan

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

Lucky guy: Mack Brown, North Carolina

Poor guy: Mike Elko, Duke

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Lance Leipold, Kansas

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Curt Cignetti, James Madison

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State

Desperately seeking … anything:  P.J. Fleck, Minnesota

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Kansas State (defeated Baylor 59-25)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Wisconsin (lost to Northwestern 24-10)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Stanford (lost to No. 12 Oregon State 62-17)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Virginia (lost to No. 11 Louisville 31-24)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  UCF (defeated No. 15 Oklahoma State 45-3)  

Dang, they’re good: Georgia

Dang, they’re bad:  Akron

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Oklahoma State

Did the season start?  UCLA
Can the season end?  UConn

Can the season never end?  Alabama

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 5 Washington 35, No. 18 Utah 28

Play this again, too:  North Carolina 47, Duke 45 (2 OT)

Never play this again: No. 12 Oregon State 62, Stanford 17

What?  No. 14 Missouri 36, No. 13 Tennessee 7

Huh?  Arizona State 17, UCLA 7

Are you kidding me??  Texas Tech 16, No. 16 Kansas 13

Oh – my – God:  UCF 45, No. 15 Oklahoma State 3

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current (week 12)
Ticket to die for:  No. 5 Washington @ No. 12 Oregon State

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

Best non-Power Five matchup: SMU @ Memphis

Upset alert: Virginia @ Duke

Must win: Nebraska @ Wisconsin

Offensive explosion: UCLA @ USC

Defensive struggle: Illinois @ No. 22 Iowa

Great game no one is talking about: No. 18 Utah vs No. 21 Arizona

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Jeff Brohm of Louisville vs Mario Cristobal of Miami (FL)

Who’s bringing the body bags?  North Alabama @ No. 4 Florida State

Why are they playing? Georgia State @ No. 19 LSU

Plenty of good seats remaining: Sacred Heart @ UConn

Plenty of good seats remaining, SEC Edition:  Vanderbilt @ South Carolina

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Abilene Christian @ Texas A&M

Week 11 Thoughts:

*Penn State vs Michigan

The Wolverines won in convincing fashion against a most worthy opponent, in one of the toughest places to play in the B1G.  Moreover, they did it without Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines.  Nevertheless, Harbaugh clearly did his part as a head coach throughout the week, as his players were well-prepared.  Now, can Michigan appeal the B1G’s hasty ruling in time for Harbaugh to be present at the game for “The Game”?

Louisville vs Virginia

On paper, this game should have been a blowout.  But the Cardinals triumphed by only a touchdown.  All night long, Louisville’s defense had trouble containing Virigina’s QB.  Where did he come from?  Was he always the starter, or did he earn the starting job later in the season?  Regardless, the Cavaliers must be the best 2-8 team in the country by far…either that, or the Cards took a night off and barely survived to tell about it.

Central Florida vs Oklahoma State

This game shall go down as the worst hangover outcome in living memory.  It is also a reminder that the Cowboys have a disturbingly low performance floor.

Georgia vs Ole Miss

Everybody, yours truly including, has been saying that yes, Georgia is clearly a good team, but whom have they played?  Well, the Rebels are a legitimately good team; they came into Sanford Stadium….and, the Bulldogs demolished them.  It’s nice to see our hunches confirmed that Georgia belongs in the top two.

North Carolina vs Duke

The fabled UNC-Duke rivalry is starting to become more exciting on the gridiron than it is on the hardwood.  This one ended with the Tarheels triumphing in 2OT, 47-45.

Looking ahead to Week 12: 

SEC:

It’s that unenviable time of year again:  the time when SEC teams think that because their regular season schedule is somehow “tougher” than the rest of college football, that they are allowed to play an extra Roast Beef Tech-cream puff each year.  That nadir of the season typically occurs in mid-November, and this time is sadly no exception.  To wit:  Chattanooga plays Alabama; Louisiana-Monroe plays Ole Miss; Georgia State plays LSU; New Mexico State plays Auburn.  Snore.

Even Florida State seems to be following the SEC’s irresponsible example and playing, of all teams, North Alabama (Never heard of them before?  Join the club.).  The over-under for this game should be how many points the Seminoles score on their hapless victims.

Thankfully, and to half the conference’s credit, some SEC teams are actually going to [gasp!] play each other this upcoming week.  Tennessee plays Georgia after being unexpectedly battered by Mizzou this week.  Speaking of the Tigers, it’s Florida’s turn to get unexpectedly mauled by them.  Kentucky also plays South Carolina, in what could be the best SEC matchup of the week, unless the Volunteers find a higher gear they have not yet discovered.

Northwestern vs Purdue

On paper, this game is insignificant, and yet:  Northwestern just upset Wisconsin.  Purdue just upset Minnesota, and in convincing fashion at that.  So, what we have are two teams in a tough conference that have suddenly shown signs of life.  This could be one of those “sleeper” matchups that could turn out to be good.

Kansas vs Kansas State

Despite Kansas getting unexpectedly stung by Texas Tech, assuming they pick themselves up after such a stunning upset, this could be the best battle for the Sunflower State in a long, long time.

Maryland vs Michigan

The Wolverines proved that they could more than just survive a game, against a tough opponent, with Harbaugh’s presence on the sideline.  Can they survive yet again?  If they do, will cracks start to appear in this currently impressive façade?

Georgia vs Tennessee

The Vols picked a bad time to have to lick their wounds after taking a shellacking…against Mizzou.

South Carolina vs Kentucky

The Gamecocks are coming off a blowout win over Vanderbilt.  The Wildcats are coming off a beat-down from Alabama.  Can Kentucky over their bad momentum and pull out a win, or can South Carolina build further on theirs?

Washington vs Oregon

With so many mismatches on TV this upcoming week, it is nice to see some Pac-12 teams stepping into the breach to fill a void.  Get ready for another offensive explosion, in addition to the USC-UCLA rivalry game.