College Football Awards, Week 12 (2023) November 22, 2023

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
Tags: ACC, Alabama, Appalachian State, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, B1G, Billy Napier, BYU, Clemson, Colorado, Cyclones, Deion Sanders, Duke, East Carolina, Eliah Drinkwitz, Florida, Georgia, Hawai'i, Hugh Freeze, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, James Madison, Jeff Brohm, Jeff Traylor, Jerry Kill, Jonathon Brooks, Kalen DeBoer, Kansas, Kansas State, Kyle Whittingham, Lance Leipold, liberty, Longhorns, Louisville, Mark Stoops, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, NC State, Nebraska, New Mexico State, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Purdue, Qwinn Ewers, Ryan Walters, South Carolina, Tarheels, Tennessee, Texas, Tulane, Tulsa, Utah, UTEP, UTSA, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington, Washington State, Wolfpack, Wyoming
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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Kalen DeBoer, Washington

Glad I’m not him: Lance Leipold, Kansas

Lucky guy: Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri

Poor guy: Billy Napier, Florida

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Deion Sanders, Colorado

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jeff Traylor, UTSA

Also:  Jerry Kill, New Mexico State

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Hugh Freeze, Auburn

Desperately seeking … anything:  Ryan Walters, Purdue

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Alabama (defeated Chattanooga 66-10)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Oklahoma (defeated BYU 31-24)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Hawai’i (lost to Wyoming 42-9)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Maryland (lost to No. 3 Michigan 31-24)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Arizona (defeated No. 22 Utah 42-18)  

Dang, they’re good: Oregon

Dang, they’re bad:  Purdue

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  James Madison

Did the season start?  North Carolina
Can the season end?  Auburn

Can the season never end?  Georgia

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 5 Washington 22, No. 11 Oregon 20

Play this again, too:  No. 21 Kansas State 31, No. 25 Kansas 27

Never play this again: No. 8 Alabama 66, Chattanooga 10

What?  Appalachian State 26, James Madison 23, OT

Huh?  Virginia 30, Duke 27

Are you kidding me??  Clemson 31, No. 20 North Carolina 20

Oh – my – God:  New Mexico State 31, Auburn 10

Told you so:  No. 16 Iowa 15, Illinois 13

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current (week 13)
Ticket to die for:  No. 2 Ohio State @ No. 3 Michigan

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

Best non-Power Five matchup: UTSA vs No. 24 Tulane  Also:  Jacksonville State @ NM State

Upset alert: South Carolina @ Clemson

Must win: Washington State @ No. 5 Washington

Offensive explosion: No. 11 Oregon State @ No. 6 Oregon

Defensive struggle: No. 16 Iowa @ Nebraska

Great game no one is talking about: North Carolina @ NC State

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Jeff Brohm of Louisville vs Mark Stoops of Kentucky

Honorable Mention:  Deion Sanders of Colorado vs Kyle Whittingham of Utah

Who’s bringing the body bags?  No. 17 Arizona @ Arizona State

Why are they playing? Liberty @ UTEP

Plenty of good seats remaining: Tulsa @ East Carolina

Plenty of good seats remaining, B1G Edition:  Indiana @ Purdue

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

Week 12 Thoughts:

Maryland vs Michigan

The Terrapins played the Wolverines reasonably close, losing by only a touchdown, 31-24.  Is this close score on account of the matchup being a trap game for Michigan?  They just came off a big win in Happy Valley, and must now prepare for “The Game”.  If the matchup against Maryland does not scream “trap game”, what does?  Moreover, did Jim Harbaugh’s absence hurt Michigan’s performance that much?  Or, were the Wolverines simply playing their cards close to the vest, without giving away any major secret plays, while executing a very conservative game plan?  I personally suspect the latter.

Miami (FL) vs Louisville

The Cardinals, by the hardest, pulled off a win in Miami.  Mirabile dictu, in his first year at the helm at Louisville, Jeff Brohm has clinched a spot in the ACC championship game against Florida State.

Auburn vs New Mexico State

In the O-M-G upset of the year, the Aggies (the ones in Las Cruces, not College Station) have defeated the Tigers 31-10.  Surely this is the greatest win in the history of the program for New Mexico State, and surely this is Auburn’s most ignominious loss in at least, say, 45 years.

Iowa State vs Texas

In the upset alert that was not, the Longhorns proved many a doubter wrong and triumphed, fairly convincingly, in Ames.  Texas’ recent loss of running back Jonathon Brooks to an ACL tear last week seemed to doom their running game.  The two most recent games indicated inconsistencies in their offense overall.  The Cyclones’ defense was known to be stingy, especially at home.  On top of all that, the weather for this game was colder than what the Longhorns are used to back in Austin.  And yet, the Horns still proved the doubters wrong.  This time, there was no close call.  QB Qwinn Ewers executed more consistently than in the past couple of games, the running game was still there, and the defense made some big plays when needed.  Make no mistake:  winning by 10 points in Ames in the latter part of November is a rather impressive feat.

Northwestern vs Purdue

Leave it to Purdue to find new ways to disappoint its fans.  This team could not even beat a mediocre Northwestern team.  Is it too early to speculate that Ryan Walters is Darrell Hazell 2.0?  Conversely, the Wildcats, whom everyone gave up for dead earlier in the season, is now bowl-eligible.

Looking ahead to Week 13: 

(Yay, it’s Rivalry Week!)

Michigan vs Ohio State

A.K.A., “The Game”.  It all comes down to this.  Or does it?  The winner is in the driver’s seat for the playoffs.  Too bad the B1G has not yet wised up and allowed the two teams with the best records in the conference to play each other for a matchup.

Purdue vs Indiana

Meanwhile, it’s a race to the bottom in the B1G as the two play for the Old Oaken Bucket.

Louisville vs Kentucky

The Wildcats have had the recent upper hand in the Governor’s Cup rivalry, winning the last four.  Having just clinched a berth in the ACC championship, the Cardinals’ Jeff Brohm is surely out to make a statement and halt that trend.

Oregon vs Oregon State

This could be one of the hardest-fought, high-scoring “Civil Wars” of recent memory.  Buckle up, and enjoy!

Illinois vs Northwestern

The Wildcats, now with six wins, are technically bowl-eligible.  The Illini are now fighting for bowl-eligibility, and this is their last chance.  Such is a great example of two mediocre teams pitted together can make for a potentially great game.

South Carolina vs Clemson

Speaking of fighting for bowl eligibility, the Gamecocks, sitting at 5-6, are in the same position as Illinois, though they are have a tougher task to make it to the six-win mark, since they face the Tigers. 

That said, having passed something of a test against Kentucky, perhaps South Carolina might now pass a slightly harder one.

NC State vs North Carolina

No doubt that the Tarheels did not predict they would be sitting at only 8-3 at this point.  Oddly, the Wolfpack has the same current record.  Moreover, how ironic is it that, going into this game, NC State is the ranked team?