College Football Awards, Week 11 (2024) November 11, 2024

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
Tags: ACC, Alabama, Arizona State, Big XII, Brian Kelly, Bruins, Buffaloes, BYU, Central Florida, Clemson, college football, Colorado, Cougars, Cyclones, Deion Sanders, Duke, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida State, Garrett Nussmeier, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kalani Sitake, Kalen DeBoer, Kansas, Kansas State, Kennesaw State, Kent State, Kentucky, Kyle Whittingham, Lane Kiffin, LSU, Manny Diaz, Mario Cristobal, Matt Campbell, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Missouri, Navy, NCAA, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Sam Houston State, Sooners, South Carolina, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tigers, Tulane, UCLA, Utah, Utes, Virginia, Washington State
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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss

Honorable mention:  Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

Glad I’m not him:  Kirby Smart, Georgia

Lucky guy: Kalani Sitake, BYU

Poor guy: Kyle Whittingham, Utah

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Mario Cristobal, Miami

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Manny Diaz, Duke

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Matt Campbell, Iowa State

Desperately seeking … anything:  Brian Kelly, LSU

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Notre Dame (defeated Florida State 52-3)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Indiana (defeated Michigan 20-15)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Purdue (lost to Ohio State 45-0)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Kansas (defeated No. 17 Iowa State 45-36)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Texas (defeated Florida 49-17)

Dang, they’re good: Texas
Dang, they’re bad:  Kent State

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Miami (Fla.)

Did the season start?  Georgia
Can the season end?  Florida State

Can the season never end? Oregon

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 24 Missouri 30, Oklahoma 23

Play this again, too:  No. 9 BYU 22, Utah 21

Never play this again: Tulane 52, Temple 6

What?  UCLA 20, Iowa 17

Huh?  Virginia 24, No. 18 Pitt 19

Double-Huh?  Kansas 45, No. 17 Iowa State 36

Are you kidding me??  Georgia Tech 28, No. 4 Miami 23

Oh – my – God:  No. 16 Ole Miss 28, No. 3 Georgia 10

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 12)
Ticket to die for:  No. 6 Tennessee @ No. 11 Georgia

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: (N/A)

Best non-Power Four matchup: Tulane @ Navy

Upset alert: Arizona State @ No. 20 Kansas State

Must win: No. 17 Clemson @ Pittsburgh

(See also:  “ticket to die for”)

Offensive explosion: No. 21 Washington State @ New Mexico

Defensive struggle: Sam Houston @ Kennesaw State

Great game no one is talking about: No. 24 Missouri @ No. 23 South Carolina

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Kyle Whittingham of Utah vs Deion Sanders of Colorado

Who’s bringing the body bags? New Mexico State @ No. 14 Texas A&M

Why are they playing?  Mercer @ No. 9 Alabama

Plenty of good seats remaining: Florida Atlantic @ Temple

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Murray State @ Kentucky

Week 11 Thoughts:

Some contending teams were eliminated from playoff consideration at the same time that the list of contenders for ACC and Big XII respective championships is starting to get quite crowded.

Iowa State @ Kansas

As stated a number of times previously, the “offensive explosion” is typically the most difficult matchup to predict on this award list template.  Thus, who had the Cyclones vs the Jayhawks as this week’s offensive explosion on their bingo card?  Hands?  Well, it was certainly not on mine.  Meanwhile, is Iowa State in freefall?  They lost back-to-back nailbiters to Texas Tech and Central Florida, and now they lost to a reeling Kansas team.  What black hole has opened up in Ames that has sucked the lifeforce out of the Cyclones?

Iowa @ UCLA

While the Cyclones are in freefall, the Bruins seem to have gotten a second wind.  First, they upset a heavily favored Nebraska squad, then they follow up by upsetting Iowa.  Better yet, they did so wearing those sweet mid-1960s (think:  Gary Beban era) uniforms.  How I miss those uniquely stylish jersey numbers!

Colorado @ Texas Tech

After surviving a challenge in Lubbock, the Buffaloes are now in position to play for the Big XII championship.  That said, they have yet to play Utah (who took BYU down to the wire), and Kansas (who upset Iowa State), before closing out against Oklahoma State as they experience a down year.  So by no means is it a given that the Buffs play the Cougars in the Big XII championship, but it would be a grand game if they did.

Miami @ Georgia Tech

We all feared the day would come.  Now we can exhale that Miami was upset.  To Mario Cristobal’s credit, be owned up to what went wrong during the postgame presser, which merits much respect.

Alabama @ LSU

We all knew this was a big-time elimination game, and Alabama showed up ready to fight to stay in contention for the playoffs.  LSU’s offensive woes continue to persist under QB Garrett Nussmeier, while, conversely, Alabama’s QB Jalen Milroe put on a clinic for how to, er, negotiate a top-flight SEC defense.  It’s quite rare to run up 42 points in Death Valley, and with LSU eliminated from playoff contention, to say that Brian Kelly and his program are at a crossroads would be quite the understatement.

BYU @ Utah

If you managed to stay up late for this one, you were in for a treat.  First of all, it was a visual feast for the eyes for both teams to wear their home jersey colors.  Such was easy to get away with, when the opposing teams offer such a color contrast in their Utah Crimson and BYU Blue.  As an aside, the metallic red in Utah’s helmets is the best red helmet color around, and BYU’s metallic royal blue shells are not too shabby, either.  Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this game, aside from the close competition throughout it, was the context going into it.  The Utes have had a less-than-stellar year compared to recent achievements, while the Cougars were undefeated and ranked in the top 10.  But it’s “The Holy War”, and in such an intense rivalry game, strange things can happen.  Fortunately for us fans, the strange thing this time manifested in a great contest, with BYU emerging still controlling their destiny.

Oklahoma @ Missouri

The Tigers are likely still overrated, but apparently, the Sooners remain unranked at the moment for a reason.  Nevertheless, both teams gave fans a great game to watch, so good on both sides.