College Football Awards Week 9 (2023) November 2, 2023

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
Tags: Aggies, Akron, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Brent Venables, Brian Kelly, Clemson, Cougars, Dabo Swinney, Dan Lanning, Dana Dimel, Ducks, Duke, East Carolina, Florida, Florida State, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Indiana, Jacksonville State, James Madison, K.C. Keeler, Kalen DeBoer, Kansas, Kansas State, Kent State, Kyle Whittingham, Lance Leipold, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Nick Saban, North Carolina, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rich Rodriguez, Sam Houston State, SMU, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, Tulsa, UCLA, UConn, USC, Utah, UTEP, Utes, Wake Forest, Washington
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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Dan Lanning, Oregon

Honorable mention:  Lance Leipold, Kansas

Glad I’m not him: Kyle Whittingham, Utah

Lucky guy: Dana Dimel, UTEP

Poor guy: K.C. Keeler, Sam Houston State

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Kalen DeBoer, Washington

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Rich Rodriguez, Jacksonville State

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Brent Venables, Oklahoma

Desperately seeking … anything:  Dabo Swinney, Clemson

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Florida State (defeated Wake Forest 41-16)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Washington (defeated Stanford 42-33)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Michigan State (lost to No. 2 Michigan 49-0)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Indiana (lost to No. 10 Penn State 33-24)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Kansas State (defeated Houston 41-0)  

Dang, they’re good: Oregon

Dang, they’re bad:  Tulsa

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Oklahoma

Did the season start?  North Carolina
Can the season end?  Sam Houston State

Can the season never end?  Louisville

GAMES
Play this again:  Kansas 38, No. 6 Oklahoma 33

Never play this again: SMU 69, Tulsa 10

What?  Northwestern 33, Maryland 27

Huh?  Arizona 27, No. 11 Oregon State 24

Are you kidding me??  Georgia Tech 46, No. 17 North Carolina 42

Oh – my – God:  Kansas 38, No. 6 Oklahoma 33

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 10)
Ticket to die for:  No. 13 LSU @ No. 8 Alabama

Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five  matchup: Jacksonville State @ South Carolina

Best non-Power Five matchup: South Alabama @ Troy

Upset alert: No. 25 Kansas State @ No. 7 Texas

Must win: No. 10 Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State

Offensive explosion: No. 5 Washington @ No. 24 USC

Defensive struggle: Arkansas @ Florida

Great game no one is talking about: No. 23 James Madison @ Georgia State

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Nick Saban of Alabama vs Brian Kelly of LSU

Who’s bringing the body bags?  Purdue @ No. 2 Michigan

Why are they playing? UConn @ No. 19 Tennessee

Plenty of good seats remaining: Kent State @ Akron

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Campbell @ North Carolina

Week 9 Thoughts:

Kansas vs Oklahoma

Was this the only competitive game for this weekend’s noon EDT time slot?  Not quite.  Penn State vs Indiana, far from the “body bag game” it could have been on paper, was incredibly competitive until the past few minutes of the game.  This particular game, though, was competitive throughout, with Kansas surprisingly leading the bulk of the time, and, even more so, surprisingly winning.  Was this a trap game for the Sooners?   Were they thinking about playing their hated in-state rival, Oklahoma State, the following week?  That would not be logical.  At this point, the Jayhawks are a stronger team than the Cowboys, so the recipe for a trap game does not come together for this head-scratcher of an upset, but signature win for the program under Lance Leipold.

Utah vs Oregon

The Utes may have hitherto passed numerous tests, but not this one.  Oregon clearly had the winning formula to exploit what very few weaknesses Utah’s proven defense had, and the final score proved it, 35-6, in Rice-Eccles Stadium, of all places.  Furthermore, the Ducks are not going away anytime soon.  Already having clawed their way back to the No. 6 spot in the AP polls, this apparent second wind could carry them to an epic clash for the Pac-12 championship.

Texas vs BYU

In contrast to Oklahoma’s close call against UCF last week wherein this week they clearly did not bounce back, Texas clearly did over BYU after their close call last week at Houston.  Or did they?  A 35-6 triumph over the Cougars should be as convincing as any on paper, given the consistent discipline and tenacity of the visiting team.  Yet concerns remain:  the Longhorns’ red zone inconsistencies persist.  Most disturbing was their inability to punch it in from the goal line on a particular drive, a carbon-copy scenario of point off the board against hated OU in Dallas just a few weeks earlier.  Above all else, Texas needs to fix their goal line offensive woes if they have any aspirations for the playoffs.

Louisville vs Duke

Nobody is going to dispute that Duke is a very respectable team, never to be taken lightly, and only narrowly missing a chance to beat Notre Dame a few weeks prior.  Yet the Cardinals demolished the Blue Devils anyhow.  Even notwithstanding the trap game loss at Pittsburgh, it is amazing the team that Jeff Brohm has built in his inaugural season coaching his alma mater, a squad that is already beyond bowl-eligible.  A winnable stretch of three games remains, then they close out the season with a potential slugfest against in-state rival Kentucky.  This is a team worth keeping one’s eye on as high-stakes November approaches.

Looking ahead to Week 10: 

South Carolina vs Jacksonville State

The Gamecocks have struggled mightily this year, and now, an intriguing test approaches.  Is Jacksonville State that good at 7-2, or have their seven wins come from Group-of-Five cupcakes?  This game will be an interesting test of respective strengths. Also intriguing: the Gamecocks will be playing the Gamecocks.

Ole Miss vs Texas A&M

The Aggies’ offense has been up and down this year.  If it is up for this game, this could be a potentially high-scoring game.

Texas vs Kansas State

Sure, Texas just notched a convincing win, but the Wildcats just mauled the other Cougars (Houston), 41-0.  Now would be a good time for the Longhorns to fix their goal line offensive woes, or they had better be prepared to be upset at home.

Oklahoma State vs Oklahoma

The Badlam Series game comes early this year.  The Sooners might come into Stillwater with a renewed focus after being blindsided by Kansas this past weekend.  At the same time, the Cowboys are slightly down from previous strong years.  It might not be a pretty sight for the Cowboys.

Tulane vs East Carolina

The Green Wave and the Pirates have polar-opposite records (7-1 and 1-7), respectively.  When was the last time that Tulane could be enjoying a body bag game?

Alabama vs LSU

Brian Kelly’s Bayou Bengals take on Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.  What more do we need to add to convince ourselves that this is likely the game of the week?

USC vs Washington

Get ready for some offensive fireworks, West Coast-style.

Arizona vs UCLA

The Wildcats have already knocked off ranked teams back-to-back.  Can they three-peat?