College Football Week 9 Awards October 27, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Appalachian State, Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Benny Goodman, Brady Hoke, Bret Bielema, BYU, Cincinnati, Death Valley, Dylan Thompson, East Carolina, Florida State, Frank Beamer, Gamecocks, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Hugh Freeze, Jim Mora, Jordan-Hare Stadium, Kansas, Kent State, Kentucky, Les Miles, Let That Be A Lesson To You, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike Gundy, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, Navy, Nevada, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh, pride commeth, Rebels, Rich Rodriguez, rival, rivalry, rule no. 1, San Diego State, South Carolina, Southern California, Spartans, Sparty, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Texas Tech, Tigers, Trojans, Tulane, UAB, UCLA, UConn, USC, Utah, Utes, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wolverines
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 9] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Glad I’m not him: Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss
Lucky guy: Les Miles, LSU
Poor guy: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Desperately seeking a wake-up clue: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Bret Bielema, Arkansas
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
Desperately seeking … anything: Brady Hoke, Michigan
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Wisconsin (defeated Maryland 52-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: East Carolina (defeated UConn 31-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: UAB (lost to Arkansas 45-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Kentucky (lost to Mississippi State 45-31)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Georgia Tech (defeated Pittsburgh 56-28)
Dang, they’re good: TCU
Dang, they’re bad: Kent State
You know, they’re not so bad: Arkansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Minnesota
Did the season start? BYU
Can the season end? Michigan
Can the season never end? Michigan State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 5 Auburn 42, South Carolina, 35
Play this again, too: No. 24 LSU 10, No. 3 Ole Miss 7
Never play this again: No. 10 TCU 82, Texas Tech 27
What? Illinois 27, Minnesota 24
Huh? Miami 30, Virginia Tech 6
Are you kidding me? North Carolina 28, Virginia 27
Oh – my – God: No. 24 LSU 10, No. 3 Ole Miss 7
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 9, pre-week 10)
Ticket to die for: No. 4 Auburn @ No. 7 Ole Miss
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: No. 6 Notre Dame vs. Navy
Best non-Power Five matchup: San Diego State @ Nevada
Upset alert: No. 2 Florida State @ Louisville
Must win: Tennessee @ South Carolina
Offensive explosion: No.10 TCU @ No. 20 West Virginia
Defensive struggle: Florida vs. No. 9 Georgia in Jacksonville
Great game no one is talking about: Kentucky @ Missouri
Intriguing coaching matchup: Rich Rodriguez of Arizona vs. Jim Mora of UCLA
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kansas @ No. 12 Baylor
Why are they playing? Old Dominion @ Vanderbilt
Plenty of good seats remaining: Georgia State @ Appalachian State
They shoot horses, don’t they? Cincinnati @ Tulane
Week 9 Random Thoughts:
- There is a reason they call Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. It is the place where dreams go to die – other teams’ dreams that is. Ole Miss was having the most phenomenal season of the program in about 52 years, and seemed to be on a collision course for vying for the national title. After a neat playing at LSU, that is now seriously in doubt. The really interesting aspect of it all? The score: the Tigers triumphed over the Rebels 10-7. Such an old-fashioned score was, ironically, a great nod to the classic rivalry and the memorable games during the Eagle Day and Billy Cannon eras thereof.
- One cannot recall a more valiant effort given on the part of South Carolina the previous evening. Head Ball Coach Steve Spurrier knew going in that he was out-gunned and undermanned going into Jordan-Hare Stadium to face a fearsome Auburn Tigers squad. But the Gamecocks gave it their all, took incredible risks on 4th down throughout the evening – mirabile dictu, they converted more often than not – and almost succeeded in the end. Almost. What ultimately turned out to be South Carolina’s undoing was their quarterback, Dylan Thompson, who had a habit of throwing fade route passes towards the sideline and almost always failing to connect with his receivers, overthrowing them constantly. Granted, over-the-middle passes are always more risky than those thrown towards the sidelines, but Thompson succeeded more often in the middle of the field, and it is a shame that he did not go on that same instinct late in the game. Had he done so, the Gamecocks might have pulled off one of the grandest upsets of the year.
- Few fans outside of the Pacific Time Zone might have witnessed this, but the No. 19 Utah Utes defeated the No. 20 USC Trojans, 24-21. How fitting a score for two teams ranked literally right next to one-another, with the correct, higher-ranked team, winning? Every now and then, the pollsters literally do get it right!
- Pride commeth before the fall. Since a Michigan player made a “little brother” comment about their in-state, intra-conference rival Michigan State at a press conference several years ago, Sparty has gone 6-1 in said rivalry. In an established rivalry between two programs, Rule No. 1 is that you show said rival respect. With the Spartans having humiliated the Wolverines yet again, 35-11, we have just witnessed the potential penalty made manifest for violating said rule. Let that be a lesson to all of us.
College Football Week 6 Awards October 6, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona State, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, Ball State, Baylor, Big XII, Boise State, Boston College, Bret Bielema, Buckeyes, Butch Jones, BYU, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado, Dave Doeren, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, Gamecocks, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa State, James Franklin, Kansas, Kentucky, Larry Fedora, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Mark Richt, Maryland, Miami (Ohio), Mississippi State, Missouri, N.C. State, NFL, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Paul Rhoads, Penn State, Pittssburgh, Rutgers, SMU, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Troy, UMass, Urban Meyer, Utah State, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington, Western Carolina, Western Michigan
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 6] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Vanderbilt
Lucky guy: Mark Richt, Georgia, and also Mack Brown, Texas
Poor guy: Butch Jones, Tennessee, and also Paul Rhoads, Iowa State
Desperately seeking a clue: Mack Brown, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dave Doeren, NC State
Desperately seeking … anything: Larry Fedora, North Carolina
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 20 Texas Tech (defeated Kansas 54-16)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: South Carolina (defeated Kentucky 35-28)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to Oregon 57-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Troy (lost to Duke 38-31)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Ohio U (defeated Akron 43-3)
Dang, they’re good: Florida State
Dang, they’re bad: Akron
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Arizona State
The Fix is in: Texas
Did the season start? Cincinnati
Can the season end? Western Michigan
Can the season never end? Baylor
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Georgia 34, Tennessee 31
Play this again, too: Rutgers 55, SMU 53, 3OT
Never play this again: No. 8 Florida State 63, No. 25 Maryland 0
What? Ball State 48, Virginia 27
Huh? Missouri 51, Vanderbilt 28
Are you kidding me? South Florida 26, Cincinnati 20
Oh – my – God: Indiana 44 Penn State 24
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 6, pre-week 7)
Ticket to die for: Texas vs. No. 12 Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout (Dallas)
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Georgia Tech @ BYU
Best non-Big Six matchup: Boise State @ Utah State
Upset alert: No. 14 South Carolina @ Arkansas
Must win: No. 9 Texas A&M @ Ole Miss
Offensive explosion: No. 2 Oregon @ No. 15 Washington
Defensive struggle: Miami (Ohio) @ UMass
Great game no one is talking about: Pittsburgh @ No. 24 Virginia Tech, or, No. 19 Northwestern @ Wisconsin.
Intriguing coaching matchup: Steve Spurrier of South Carolina vs. Bret Bielema of Arkansas
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 3 Clemson @ Boston College
Why are they playing? Western Carolina @ Auburn
Plenty of good seats remaining: Eastern Michigan @ Army
They shoot horses, don’t they? Temple @ Cincinnati
Week 6 in Review:
There are times when in hindsight you know that you should have trusted your instincts instead of trying to out-think the room (which, let us be honest, can never end well. Just ask the NFL when they decided to put the upcoming Super Bowl in frigid New Jersey). Case in point: last week, yours truly tried to out-think the room – against my own better judgement – in prediciting that this week’s “offensive explosion” would be Ohio State @ Northwestern. Yes, it was a good game, worthy of a Musburger-Herbstreit broadcast tandem. And yes, the overall score was not exactly paltry at 40-30 (in favor of the Buckeyes, naturally). But then there was Baylor vs. West Virginia, whose score was so high, we needed our collective oxygen tank (final score: 73-42). What was my main reticence in following my instincts and selecting this game for a more accurate prognostication? The fact that West Virginia has been wildly inconsistent this year. One week they embarrass themselves against Maryland, the next week, they upset Oklahoma State. Right now, we the fans do not know what team we are getting week-to-week with the Mountaineers.
All Good Games at Night?
Aside from the satisfying SEC slugfest between Georgia and Tennessee in the 3:30 time slot, and the 3-OT shootout between Rutgers and SMU, all the good games this past week were in the evening. LSU vs. Mississippi State (3 out of 4 quarters, at least), South Florida vs. Cincinnati (surprisingly), Ole Miss vs. Auburn, TCU vs. Oklahoma, Kentucky vs. South Carolina (the Gamecocks allowed for it to be a good game, regrettably), Notre Dame vs. Arizona State, Ohio State vs. Northwestern, Washington vs. Stanford, even Louisiana Tech vs. UTEP (!) all turned out to be competitive, engaging matchups. It was one of those nights where you wished you had four or five flatscreens, all right next to each other, so as to enjoy as much simultaneous action as possible.
A Tale of Two Rivals.
Oklahoma did it the right way. They played a highly respected TCU bunch in a close, hard-fought game, and triumphed in the end, 20-17. There is a school of thought, not one without merit, that states that this is the perfect approach before throwing down the following week with a bitter rival. To follow this line of logic, the Sooners are well-prepared for the Red River Shootout this upcoming week.
On the other side of the coin is Texas, who thought that they could beat up on Big XII lightweight Iowa State as a tune-up. As things turned out, they needed not one, but two scandalous calls by the referees to get their behinds out of some seriously hot water (basically, two “gift” calls of not recognizing fumbles as actual fumbles). Let that sink in for a moment.
