College Football Awards, Week 9 (2024) October 27, 2024
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Aggies, Air Force, Akron, Alabama, Army, Boise State, Boston College, Bret Bielema, Brian Kelly, Broncos, Buckeyes, Central Michigan, Chris Klieman, Cincinnati, Clemson, college football, Colorado, Cornhuskers, Dabo Swinney, Derek Mason, Ducks, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, football, Garrett Nussmeier, Happy Valley, Houston, Illinois, Jake Dickert, Jamey Chadwell, Jeff Brohm, Kansas, Kansas State, Kennesaw State, Kentucky, Lance Leipold, liberty, Louisville, LSU, Maine, Matt Rhule, Miami (Fla.), Middle Tennessee, Mike Elko, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, NCAA football, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, P.J. Fleck, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Ryan Day, San Diego State, SEC, SMU, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tigers, UMass, UNLV, USC, Utah, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Washington, Washington State
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Mike Elko, Texas A&M
Glad I’m not him: Brian Kelly, LSU
Lucky guy: Chris Klieman, Kansas State
Poor guy: Lance Leipold, Kansas
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Ryan Day, Ohio State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jake Dickert, Washington State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jamey Chadwell, Liberty
Desperately seeking … anything: Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Miami (defeated Florida State 36-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Ohio State (defeated Nebraska 21-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Missouri (lost to No. 15 Alabama 34-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (lost to No. 5 Texas 27-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Pittsburgh (defeated Syracuse 41-13)
Most improved from previous week: Nebraska
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Central Michigan
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Liberty
Did the season start? LSU
Can the season end? Mississippi State
Can the season never end? Texas A&M
GAMES
Play this again: No. 14 Texas A&M 38, No. 8 LSU 23
Play this again, too: No. 17 Boise State 29, UNLV 24
Never play this again: No. 15 Notre Dame 51, No. 25 Navy 14
What? Houston 17, Utah 14
Huh? Akron 25, Eastern Michigan 21
Are you kidding me?? No. 14 Texas A&M 38, No. 8 LSU 23
Oh – my – God: Kennesaw State 27, Liberty 24
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 10)
Ticket to die for: No. 4 Ohio State @ No. 3 Penn State
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: (they are all bad)
Best non-Power Four matchup: Jacksonville State @ Liberty
Upset alert: No. 10 Texas A&M @ South Carolina
Must win: No. 18 Pittsburgh @ No. 20 SMU
Offensive explosion: TCU @ Baylor
Defensive struggle: Kentucky @ No. 7 Tennessee
Great game no one is talking about: USC @ Washington
Intriguing coaching matchup: PJ Fleck of Minnesota vs Bret Bielema of Illinois
Honorable mention: Jeff Brohm of Louisville vs Dabo Swinney of Clemson
Who’s bringing the body bags? Air Force @ No. 21 Army
Why are they playing? Maine @ Oklahoma
Plenty of good seats remaining: Middle Tennessee @ UTEP
Plenty of good seats remaining, B1G edition: Northwestern @ Purdue
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? UMass @ Mississippi State
Week 9 Thoughts:
Thursday gave us a surprising upset in Kennesaw State, winless up to that point upsetting Liberty. Indeed, the Flames picked up their first loss of the season. Given how lopsided the matchup was on paper, that clearly merits this game as the biggest upset of the week.
Then Friday gave us two very engaging games, one wherein Louisville managed to gradually gnaw away at BC’s lead to where they eventually triumphed, 31-27, on the road, no less.
Later that night, the grandest Non-Power Five clash of the week occurred with UNLV taking on Boise State, wherein the Broncos had to fight hard to fend off the Runnin’ Rebels, 29-24.
Nebraska @ Ohio State
What to make of this game? A couple of weeks ago, Ohio State was considered a major favorite to win the national title. Then they lost to Oregon, on the road, in Autzen Stadium, which is a tough place to play and even tougher if it is a team’s first time there. But they still looked like playoff contenders.
Then, the Buckeyes had a bye week to lick their wounds before taking on Nebraska at home. While the Cornhuskers are no chump team, they are no Oregon or Georgia. Ohio State only scored 21 points against them, and the Huskers even led for 4:39 in the 4th quarter.
So what to make of all this? One can boil it down to two potential explanations. The first: the Cornhuskers have drastically improved under Matt Rhule as the season has progressed, especially within the past couple of weeks. At the same time, Ohio State is showing regression at running the ball and on the offensive line, and they had to extend themselves to beat a decent team.
The second potential explanation: Nebraska may have considerably improved, but they are not world-beaters. Ohio State got caught in a trap game while too many on the team were looking past the Huskers in anticipation of taking on Penn State in Happy Valley next week.
Occam’s razor, to which I generally subscribe, would suggest the latter. But seriously, if the Buckeyes are serious about giving the Nittany Lions their first “L” of the season, they need to work on their running game and their line play.
Illinois @ Oregon
The outcome of the Ducks defeating the Illini at home was hardly in doubt. Oregon got that job done and then some, 38-9. Nevertheless, Illinois put up a valiant effort in the process. Yet one cannot help but wonder as to why such a considerable loss only knocked Illinois down five positions, at the most, in the latest rankings. Yes, the Illini are still a good team, but after losing that badly yet to stay ranked (from about No. 19 to No. 24) is quite likely more of a commentary on the high esteem the voters have towards Oregon and less of the regard they may have for Illinois, which clearly has not diminished much, and rightly so.
LSU & Texas A&M
The SEC evening game on ABC certainly did not disappoint. But one of the biggest upsets of the week did occur, where the Aggies triumphed over the Tigers, 38-23. LSU was the higher-ranked team going in, and could have won. So what happened? Simply put, LSU’s QB play went South. Yes, Garrett Nussmeier did throw for 405 yards and two touchdowns. But he also threw three interceptions, all of which were at very inopportune times. It leads us to the biggest takeaway of the game, that Brian Kelly needs a better QB if he wants to take LSU to the promised land.
Elsewhere:
One more interesting aspect to Week 9 was that a cluster of close, competitive games happened late at night. Colorado continues to surge under Coach Prime after a sluggish start to the season, defeating Cincinnati 34-23. Kansas and Kansas State slugged it out in a classic rivalry clash. Though the latter’s record is vastly superior to that of the former, you could barely tell that last night, as the Wildcats had to fight hard to come back against the Jayhawks, 29-27. Duke took SMU not only down to the wire, but into OT, and even then, the Mustangs only won by a point, 28-27. Out on the west coast, Washington State, who quietly grows stronger by the week, had to stage a 4th-quarter comeback over visiting San Diego State. It was a good week, and a unique one at that.
College Football Awards, Week 7 (2024) October 14, 2024
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona State, Army, Ball State, Billy Napier, Boilermakers, Boilers, Brent Venables, Bret Bielema, Brian Kelly, Buckeyes, Buffaloes, California, college football, Colorado, Crimson Tide, Dan Lanning, Deion Sanders, Ducks, Florida, football, Gamecocks, Georgia, Hawkeyes, Illini, Illinois, Iowa, Jedd Fisch, Jeff Brohm, Josh Heupel, Justin Wilcox, Kalen DeBoer, Kansas State, Kenny Dillingham, Kyle Whittingham, Longhorns, Louisville, LSU, Mario Cristobal, Miami (Fla.), Mississippi State, Missouri, NCAA, New Mexico, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Red River, Ryan Day, Ryan Walters, San Jose State, SEC, Sooners, South Carolina, Sports, Stanford, Steve Sarkesian, Sun Devils, Tennessee, Texas, Tigers, Trent Dilfer, UAB, UConn, UMass, USC, Utah, Utah State, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest, Washington, Wyoming
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Honorable mention: Dan Lanning, Oregon
Glad I’m not him: Brent Venables
Ditto: Ryan Day, Ohio State
Lucky guy: Bret Bielema, Illinois
Poor guy: Ryan Walters, Purdue
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jedd Fisch, Washington
Desperately seeking … anything: Trent Dilfer, UAB
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Army (defeated UAB 44-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Georgia (defeated Mississippi State 41-31)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: UMass (lost to No. 25 Missouri 45-3)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Purdue (lost to No. 23 Illinois 50-49)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Iowa (defeated Washington 40-16)
Dang, they’re good: Texas
Dang, they’re bad: UMass
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Utah
Did the season start? Washington
Can the season end? UTEP
Can the season never end? Oregon
GAMES
Play this again: No. 3 Oregon 32, No. 2 Ohio State 31
Play these again, too: No. 8 Tennessee 23, Florida 17
No. 4 Penn State 33, USC 30
No. 7 Alabama 27, South Carolina 25
No. 13 LSU 29, No. 9 Ole Miss 26
Never play this again: No. 11 Notre Dame 49, Stanford 7
What? Arizona State 27, No. 16 Utah 19
Huh? Iowa 40, Washington 16
Are you kidding me?? No. 13 LSU 29, No. 9 Ole Miss 26
Oh – my – God: No. 3 Oregon 32, No. 2 Ohio State 31
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 8)
Ticket to die for: No. 5 Georgia @ No. 1 Texas
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: Wake Forest @ UConn
Best non-Power Four matchup: UNLV @ Oregon State
Upset alert: No. 11 Notre Dame @ Georgia Tech
Must win: No. 7 Alabama @ No. 11 Tennessee
Offensive explosion: New Mexico @ Utah State
Defensive struggle: UCLA @ Rutgers
Great game no one is talking about: Nebraska @ No. 16 Indiana
Intriguing coaching matchup: Josh Heupel of Tennessee vs Kalen DeBoer of Alabama
Honorable mention: Jeff Brohm of Louisville vs Mario Cristobal of Miami
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 2 Oregon @ Purdue
Why are they playing? Ball State @ Vanderbilt
Plenty of good seats remaining: Kennesaw State @ Middle Tennessee
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Wyoming @ San Jose State
Week 7 Thoughts:
We said, on this blog, that this week was going to be grand. Not to be self-congratulatory in the least, but we were more right than we realized.
This week was one of the most epic for college football in ages. To wit:
Friday evening started the weekend off interestingly, delivering an upset of No. 16 Utah at the hands of unranked Arizona State. Lesson learned: take the Sun Devils lightly at one’s own peril.
South Carolina, battered by Ole Miss the week prior, came off the mat to threaten Alabama within an inch of its life, taking the Crimson Tide down to the wire and losing only 27-25. Had the Gamecocks not botched a two-point conversion attempt, it is unlikely that Bama could have escaped intact.
Texas avenged its unexpected loss from last year, trouncing Oklahoma gradually over the course of 60 minutes of play, triumphing most convincingly 34-3. The Sooners’ only three points came early in the first quarter before the Longhorns’ defense and offense settled into their respective rhythms. In the process of this most ripping victory, Texas has, for now, vindicated its current standing as the No. 1 team in the nation.
Even the lesser-regarded teams got in on the act and delivered incredible games in their own right. Cal ventured across the country to Pittsburgh, and gave a valiant effort, only losing 17-15 to the No. 22 Panthers. Despite the loss, I am left convinced that Justin Wilcox is the best coach nobody has heard of.
Iowa decided to find this new thing called an offense, and blew out an unsuspecting Washington squad at home, 40-16. This blew more than a few minds, given that the Hawkeyes have been in more than a few defensive struggles as of late.
Purdue, earning its reputation as a punching bag, what with its hitherto dismal performances, suddenly found an offense as well. The timing was perfect, since the Boilermakers have become Illinois’ nemesis or sort in recent years. The Boilers took the 23rd-ranked Illini into overtime before coming up short in an expected thriller, 50-49.
Louisville, having had something of a “Virginia problem” as of late, likewise rebounded after a tough loss to SMU and picked up the win on the road, in comeback fashion, no less.
Penn State ventured out to Los Angeles to take on USC in the Coliseum. The legendary venue showed up beautifully on TV, what with a packed house creating a “sea of cardinal”; the east stands decked out in full Trojans banner-regalia; the 4th quarter tradition of the lighting of the Olympic torch; it all blended together as a symphonic feast for the eyes. Better yet, the game surpassed the outward aesthetics. The Trojans came through on big plays to maintain a lead most of the game. But the Nittany Lions are nothing if not tenacious, gnawing away at the opposition throughout regulation, waiting to capitalize on the inevitable mistake. Penn State’s comeback was enough to take the game into OT, where they won by a field goal. On a grander scale, such a thriller of a game personified the amazing potential of new conference matchups made possible by the recent west coast additions to the B1G. Yes, it still feels like we’re in the Twilight Zone with the Big Ten having expanded this way, but such games make question whether being in such a “Zone” is so bad after all.
All these games listed, and we still have yet to note the night game thrillers!
To start off that segment, Tennessee finally got a major money off its back by defeating Florida in a close one, 23-17. Pundits have speculated on the inconsistent offensive output on the Volunteers’ part since they beat Oklahoma earlier this season. While those concerns are not unfounded, what made this game more of a nailbiter than considered ‘on paper’ is that Florida continues to improve as a team under the much-maligned Billy Napier. Perhaps giving Napier the ax so soon would be unnecessarily hasty. Regardless, the Volunteers have little time to celebrate, as the Crimson Tide comes calling next week. That matchup between Tennessee and Alabama shall be easily the most epic clash of those two teams in easily 30 years, if not more.
In another massive game, LSU took on Ole Miss in Death Valley. The level of play and intensity of rivalry directly harkened back to the high-stakes matchups between the two teams of the late 1950s when legendary coaches Paul Dietzel and Johnny Vaught helmed the respective squads. The Tigers’ huge, come-from-behind win is no doubt a monkey off Brian Kelly’s back, who still has yet to prove himself to everyone’s satisfaction in the most brutal of conferences.
Finally, the perhaps the biggest thriller of them all took place in Eugene, where No. 2 Ohio State ventured out to the west coast to take on conference newcomer, No. 3 Oregon. Not only was this matchup massive on paper, but teams’ performances lived up to the hype. In the end, the Ducks overcame the Buckeyes thanks to the latter’s clock mismanagement in the final seconds. But to zoom out the proverbial lens, this game’s outcome is not the end, only the beginning. Between the new 12-team playoff format, and the reformatted conference championship, if the two teams continue to live up to their potential, it is very likely their paths may cross again. Should that come to pass, perhaps that should favor the Buckeyes, who now have luxury to examine what went wrong and to take corrective action in anticipation of the next time. But in the meantime, they had better prepare to meet still-undefeated Penn State come Nov. 2.
Finally, Deion Sanders & CO (see what I did there?) delivered a highly competitive night cap. Seriously, the game kicked off at 8:15 local [Mountain] time: who in their right mind starts a game that late? Say what you want about Coach Prime, but after the first few games which were a comedy of errors, the team has suddenly gotten serious, having steadily improved during the last few games. This improvement has developed to the point where they almost triumphed, on the road, over consistently tough No. 18 Kansas State. Let us not give the Buffaloes up for dead yet, as they have a slate of challenging but winnable games throughout the remainder of their schedule.
College Football Awards, Week 2 (2024) September 9, 2024
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, Ball State, Boise State, Boston College, Bowling Green, Brent Venables, Bret Bielema, Broncos, BYU, Cal, California, Colorado, Cougars, Dana Holgorsen, Deion Sanders, Ducks, Florida, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Hugh Freeze, Illilnois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kalen DeBoer, Kansas State, Kenni Burns, Kent State, liberty, Longhorns, LSU, Luke Fickell, Marcus Freeman, Matt Rhule, Miami (FL), Michigan, Middle Tennessee, Missouri, NC State, Nebraska, New Mexico State, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Sam Pittman, San Diego State, Sherrone Moore, SMU, Steve Sarkesian, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, UCF, UTSA, Volunteers, Western Michigan, Wisconsin, Wolfpack, Wolverines
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Glad I’m not him: Sherrone Moore, Michigan
Lucky guy: Brent Venables, Oklahoma
Poor guy: Dana Holgorsen, Houston
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Hugh Freeze, Auburn
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Bret Bielema, Illinois
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
Desperately seeking … anything: Kenni Burns, Kent State
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ole Miss (defeated Middle Tennessee 52-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Penn State (defeated Bowling Green 34-27)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Western Michigan (lost to No. 2 Ohio State 56-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Northern Illinois (defeated No. 5 Notre Dame 16-14)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Texas (defeated No. 10 Michigan 31-12)
Dang, they’re good: Texas
Dang, they’re bad: Kent State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Georgia Tech
Did the season start? Notre Dame
Can the season end? Akron
Can the season never end? Tennessee
GAMES
Play this again: No. 9 Oregon 37, Boise State 34
Play this again, too: BYU 18, SMU 15
Never play this again: Indiana 77, Western Illinois 3
What? Iowa State 20, No. 21 Iowa 19
Huh? Syracuse 31, No. 23 Georgia Tech 28
Double-Huh? Illinois 23, No. 19 Kansas 17
Are you kidding me?? Cal 21, Auburn 14
Oh – my – God: Northern Illinois 16, No. 5 Notre Dame 14
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 3)
Best game of the week: No. 20 Arizona @ No. 14 Kansas State
Keep an eye on this one: No. 24 Boston College @ No. 6 Missouri
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: San Diego State vs. Cal
Best non-Power Four matchup: New Mexico State @ Fresno State
Upset alert: No. 18 Notre Dame @ Purdue
Must win: No. 16 LSU @ South Carolina
Offensive explosion: Washington State @ Washington
Defensive struggle: Texas A&M @ Florida
Great game no one is talking about: UCF @ TCU
Intriguing coaching matchup: Kalen DeBoer of Alabama vs Luke Fickell of Wisconsin
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kent State @ No. 16 Tennessee
Why are they playing? UTSA @ No. 3 Texas
Plenty of good seats remaining: Bethune-Cookman @ Western Michigan
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Ball State @ No. 12 Miami, FL
Week 2 Thoughts:
The second week is in the books, and already, new information has given us fuel for reevaluating. For some of us, that reevaluation comes in the form of confirmation of suspicion. Did Notre Dame truly deserve to be ranked No. 5 going into the game against Northern Illinois? I for one was not fooled, and neither were others. We chalked it up to the typical media hype about ND, hype which, surprise, surprise, was yet again unfounded.
If one thought that we had the early season body bag games behind us, think again. Did we really need to see Georgia beat up on Tennessee Tech, or Texas A&M beat up on McNeese, just to name two of dozens of examples? Ironically, the most lopsided game came from Indiana of all teams, who obliterated Western Illinois 77-3.
But at least some games were interesting and competitive.
BYU @ SMU
This “great game no one is talking about” tuned out to be just that. The two teams fought hard and closely the entire game, and the fans got their money’s worth in the process…unlike at Indiana, Georgia, Texas A&M, Boston College, Miami (Fla.), Missouri, etc., etc.
Texas @ Michigan
This game was the “ticket to die for”, and going in, how could it not be? We learned much from this game. Michigan, the defending national champions, were supposed to be the bullies, the boa constrictor, the team that will keep you in its clutches until you die. Again, they were supposed to be. What we forgot was that unlike Ohio State, Texas, Georgia, or Alabama, Michigan is not a team in a position to reload. When Harbaugh was still there, he recognized this systemic limitation, and thus invested in a robust development program. The thing is, it takes time to develop players, and when you graduate a heap of them after winning the big one (including your quarterback), the team is apt to not play at the same level. Plus, Jim Harbaugh has left to coach in the NFL.
Meanwhile, Texas has not only reloaded, they are arguably stronger than last year, particularly in their receiving corps. But that’s not the half of it. The Longhorns outgained the Wolverines on the ground, 143 to 88 yards. That means that Texas beat Michigan up front, even with the latter’s vaunted defensive line.
Texas has some tough teams further into its schedule. Nevertheless, if they play the way they did in Ann Arbor, it’s a reasonable prediction to say they’ll make the final four of the playoffs.
Liberty @ New Mexico State
This “best non-Power 4 matchup” lived up to its hype, with the Flames triumphing in Las Cruces, 30-24. Despite the Aggies losing at home, look for NM State to continue to bring a tough game to whomever they play. To that end, keep an eye on them when they play Fresno State (the team that gave Michigan a surprisingly hard time the previous week) next week.
Houston @ Oklahoma
The Sooners won this game, 16-12. Needless to say, such an outcome left us scratching our heads. Is Houston’s defense that good, or is Oklahoma’s offense that inconsistent? Regardless, the Cougars should consider this result a moral victory, and deserve to leave Norman with their heads held high, with one of the few times where a team loses a game but still looks like they are headed in the right direction.
Colorado @ Nebraska
Nothing like a classic Big 8 matchup, especially with such an intriguing coaching matchup in Deion Sanders vs Matt Rhule. Going into the season, there were rumors that that Coach Prime had improved his personnel on the offensive line. Yet the Buffaloes managed to eke out only 16 net yards on the ground, compared to the Cornhuskers’ 151 rushing yards. Ouch. The final score of 28-10 reflected that lopsided comparison well. Looks like Coach Prime has more work to do up front.
NC State vs Tennessee in Charlotte
By the 3rd quarter, one thing became quite clear: the Wolfpack may be a good team, but the Volunteers is simply much better. So much better in fact, that we are all intrigued to see what sort of problems they can give Oklahoma, Alabama, or even Georgia this year.
Arkansas @ Oklahoma State
The Razorbacks came into Stillwater, outgained the Cowboys on the ground by 173 yards, and yet stil managed to lost the game. It has been said time and again that the team that makes the fewest mistakes wins. For Arkansas to have such a great game on the ground and still lose it means they had to have made a staggering amount of mistakes. Looks like Sam Pittman has some further work to do.
Boise State @ Oregon
After the Ducks struggled to beat Idaho last week, many observers of the game called for a pumping of the breaks about all the hype about said Ducks being a shoe-in for the playoffs. Nevertheless, to their credit, they did manage to break a losing streak against…the Broncos, of all teams, and did so in a game that was arguably the best of the week, in hindsight.
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?
CFB Recruiting Class Random Observations for 2019 February 8, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: B1G, Big Ten, Big XII, Ducks, Georgia, Huskies, Indiana, Iowa, Jeff Brohm, Kentucky, Kirk Ferentz, Longhorns, Mark Stoops, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oregon, P.J. Fleck, Pac-12, Pat Fitzgerald, Paul Chryst, Peach Bowl, Purdue, Ryan Day, Sam Ehlinger, SEC, Sugar Bowl, Texas, Urban Meyer, Washington, Wisconsin
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In the previous article, I made observations on the potentially changing competitive landscape in the SEC based on the recruiting class rankings this year. But those observations in no way cover the entire intrigue that these recruiting class rankings offer to college football fans.
For example, it’s quite clear that the SEC teams have dominated these rankings. But other teams merit attention, too. Take Michigan, for example. They are the lone Big Ten representative in the top ten of said rankings, at No. 8 this year, interestingly one ranking position ahead of Florida (No. 9), who, er, chomped the Wolverines 41-15 in the recent Peach Bowl. Meanwhile, Ohio State, who have been the most dominant force in the conference during Urban Meyer’s six-season tenure, only made it to No. 14 in the rankings this year (down from No. 2 last year). Certain programs have proven they can do more with less (Kentucky under Mark Stoops is a wonderful example of this). New Buckeye head coach Ryan Day will be put to the test to see if he can do the same thing and continue to contend for the national title.
That said, defending national champion Clemson’s recruiting class is at No. 10 (their 2018 class was No. 8). Yet they have a young quarterback with a transcendent talent that is sure to lead the Tigers to the Promised Land this year as well, so their king-of-the-hill status remains unthreatened, for now.
One of the most-improved recruiting classes is Purdue. Ranked only No. 49 in 2018, they have jumped to the No. 25 class for 2019. Perhaps this could portend further improvement in their performance, allowing Coach Jeff Brohm to do more than just employ smoke-and-mirrors, as he had no choice but to do with such a bare cupboard his first two years in West Lafayette.
An intriguing stat to share: Purdue’s recruiting class for 2019, at No. 25, ranks ahead of Wisconsin (No. 27), Michigan State (No. 30), Indiana (No. 38), Iowa (No. 40), Minnesota (No. 42), and Northwestern (No. 50). That said, do not underestimate Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald (especially Fitzgerald!) or even Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck in their abilities to develop players.
Another interesting improvement in recruiting rankings is that of Oregon. At a respectable No. 13 last year, this year’s recruiting class has merited a No. 7 ranking. Meanwhile, Washington at No. 17 is clearly not going anywhere. A reasonable prediction from these figures is that an interesting border rivalry between the Huskies and Ducks could quickly emerge. Add a steadily-performing Stanford to the mix, and on can easily foresee an increasingly competitive Pac-12 North division.
Rounding out the top ten in recruiting rankings are two Big XII teams; Oklahoma at No. 6, and Texas at No. 3. The latter is coming off huge momentum with their dominating upset over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Their quarterback, Sam Ehlinger, combines talent and grit for a winning synergy that could potentially help the Longhorns contend for the playoffs this upcoming season. This No. 3 recruiting class certainly cannot hurt the Horns in this endeavor, and surely enforces the mantra that “Texas is back.”
Again, player development can sometimes compensate for lack of ranking in player recruitment. Just ask Northwestern. But also ask Alabama for Georgia (No’s 1 and 2, respectively) how their perennial top recruiting rankings work out for them to see the potential significance of said recruiting class rankings. Such is the biggest reason why it’s so easy for college football fans to geek out about this subject! It should add up to a more interesting college football season for 2019 compared to the one just concluded.
College Football Week 3 Awards (2016) September 19, 2016
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona State, Baylor, Bobby Petrino, Brian Kelly, Butch Jones, BYU, Cal, California, Clemson, college, Colorado, Cornhuskers, David Cutcliffe, Ducks, Florida, Florida State, football, Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Idaho, Iowa, Jim McElwain, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, NCAA, Nebraska, North Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, P.J. Fleck, Paul Chryst, Rice, Sean Kugler, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas State, UMass, UTEP, West Virginia, Western Michigan, Wildcats, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 3] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Glad I’m not him: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Lucky guy: Paul Chryst, Wisconsin
Poor guy: Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Desperately seeking … anything: Sean Kugler, UTEP
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Clemson (defeated South Carolina State 59-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Wisconsin (defeated Georgia State 23-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Appalachian State (lost to No. 25 Miami 45-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Ohio U (lost to No. 15 Tennessee 28-19)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Louisville (blew out No. 2 Florida State 63-20)
Dang, they’re good: Louisville
Dang, they’re bad: Virginia
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Texas
Did the season start? Iowa
Can the season end? Idaho
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: Cal 50, No. 11 Texas 43
Play this again, too: Nebraska 35, No 22 Oregon 32
Never play this again: No. 5 Clemson 59, South Carolina State 0
What? Nebraska 35, No 22 Oregon 32
Huh? Cal 50, No. 11 Texas 43
Are you kidding me? No. 10 Louisville 63, No. 2 Florida State 20
Oh – my – God: North Dakota State 23, No. 13 Iowa 21
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for: No. 11 Wisconsin @ No. 8 Michigan State
Also: No. 12 Georgia @ No. 23 Ole Miss
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: BYU @ West Virginia
Best non-Power Five matchup: Georgia Southern @ Western Michigan
Upset alert: No. 5 Clemson @ Georgia Tech
Must win: No. 19 Florida @ No. 14 Tennessee
Offensive explosion: Cal @ Arizona State
Defensive struggle: South Carolina @ Kentucky
Great game no one is talking about: Oklahoma State @ No. 16 Baylor
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jim McElwain of Florida vs. Butch Jones of Tennessee
Also: David Cutcliffe of Duke vs. Brian Kelly of Notre Dame
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 6 Houston @ Texas State
Why are they playing? Mississippi State @ UMass
Plenty of good seats remaining: North Texas @ Rice
Week 3 Take-aways:
After a lull of marquee match-ups last week, we the fans were treated to more great games this week. Watching two top ten teams in Florida State taking on Louisville is no better way to kick of the week’s massive slate of game. One-sided though the game may have been, it remained engaging in seeing the vaunted Seminoles lose by such a huge margin. Bravo, Cardinals!
Much hype has ensued in the wake of Texas defeating Notre Dame during the opening weekend. “Texas is back” has been an oft-repeated mantra. Their loss on the road to Cal calls said mantra into question. Only in the ensuing weeks, when the Longhorns play more of their respectable opponents, namely, Oklahoma State (whom they play next week), Oklahoma, Kansas State, Baylor, Texas Tech, West Virginia, and TCU will that mantra be either confirmed or denied.
Just to get this off my chest, who would have anticipated that the Kentucky – New Mexico State game would have been the offensive explosion that it turned out to be? An exciting game ensued, to be sure, but allowing a Sunbelt team to score 42 points on them is not the most ringing endorsement of the Wildcats’ defense. If these shadows remain unchanged, this does not bode for when UK enters the conference part of its schedule.
But all that aside, there were many sublime matchups this week. Oregon lost on the road to Nebraska in a game that went down to the wire. Texas lost to Cal in the same manner. As mentioned earlier, Louisville vs. Florida State was a marquee, top-ten matchup, until the Cardinals proceeded to obliterate the ‘Noles. The games in the 3:30 (EDT) time slot seemed, on paper, to be a respite before the bigger games ensued in the evening, but even they quickly became intriguing. In addition to the Ducks-Cornhuskers game, an improving Colorado gave Michigan a good fight before the Wolverines finally decided to start playing football. Ole Miss threatened to knock Alabama off its top spot in the polls. The evening time slots treated us fans to Texas-Cal, Michigan State @ Notre Dame, Ohio State @ Oklahoma (it has been a while since those two powerhouses butted heads), and BYU put up a great fight against UCLA. A great day for the game, when one tallies up the results and the moments.
Next week will frankly not measure up compared to this week and to week 1, but one cannot expect every week to deliver matchups like this. That said, some good conference games await us, as well as some tasty pre-conference games from power five teams across the board. Week 4 may not be as strong as week 3, but plenty of interesting games await us in any case!
College Football Week 11 Awards: the Night of the Living Upsets Edition November 16, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Art Briles, Auburn, Baylor, Bayou Bengals, Bears, Bob Stoops, Boise State, Boston College, Bulls, Cardinal, Charlotte, Clemson, David Shaw, Doc Holliday, Ducks, FIU, Florida, Houston, Hurricanes, Idaho, Indiana, Jim Harbaugh, Kentucky, Kyle Flood, Les Miles, Living, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Mark Helfrich, Marshall, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike Gundy, Mississippi State, New Mexico, Night, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Owls, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Razorbacks, Rice, Rich Rodriguez, Rutgers, SMU, Sooners, South Florida, Southern Miss, Stanford, TCU, Temple, Texas A&M, Tigers, UCLA, Upset, Upsets, Urban Meyer, USC, Utah, Utes, Washington State, Wildcats
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The Oregon-Stanford game was a classic matchup of speed vs. power. In the end, Stanford ruined their chances of a playoff berth with two 4th-quarter fumbles. This was but one of many upsets that night which could lead to considerable chaos in the rankings. (AP photo/Tony Avelar)
(Note: All rankings are current CFP [week 11] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Glad I’m not him: Art Briles, Baylor
Lucky guy: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Poor guy: David Shaw, Stanford
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Doc Holliday, Marshall
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Les Miles, LSU
Desperately seeking … anything: Kyle Flood, Rutgers
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Texas A&M (defeated Western Carolina 42-17)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 15 TCU (defeated Kansas 23-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Miami (lost to No. 23 North Carolina 59-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Purdue (lost to No. 18 Northwestern 21-14)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Southern Miss (defeated Rice 65-10)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: SMU
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Baylor
Did the season start? LSU
Can the season end? Miami (FL)
Can the season never end? Oklahoma
GAMES
Play this again: Oregon 36, No. 7 Stanford 34
Play this again, too: No. 14 Michigan 48, Indiana 41
Never play this again: Marshall 52, FIU 0
What? South Florida 44, No. 22 Temple 23
Huh? Arizona 37, No. 10 Utah 30, 2OT
Double-Huh? Oregon 36, No. 7 Stanford 34
Are you kidding me? No. 12 Oklahoma 44, No. 6 Baylor 34
Oh – my – God: Arkansas 31, No. 9 LSU 14
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are week 11 CFP as of right now)
Ticket to die for: No. 6 Baylor @ No. 8 Oklahoma State
Also: No. 13 Michigan State @ No. 3 Ohio State
Honorable mention: USC @ Oregon
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Georgia Southern @ Georgia
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 21 Memphis @ No. 22 Temple
Upset alert: Boston College vs. No. 4 Notre Dame
Must win: UCLA @ Utah
Also: No. 12 Oklahoma @ No. 15 TCU
Offensive explosion: Baylor @ Oklahoma State
Defensive struggle: No. 17 Mississippi State @ Arkansas
Great game no one is talking about: Louisville @ Pittsburgh
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mark Dantonio of MSU vs. Urban Meyer of OSU
Who’s bringing the body bags? Charleston Southern @ No. 2 Alabama
Why are they playing? Idaho @ Auburn
Ditto: Florida Atlantic @ No. 11 Florida
Plenty of good seats remaining: Rice @ UTSA
They shoot horses, don’t they? Charlotte @ Kentucky
Week 11 Take-aways:
Henceforth let this day, the 14th of November in the Year of Our Lord 2015, be known as the Night of the Living Upsets. The daylight hours proceeded with each favored team either comfortably sailing by, or at least no worse than slipping away from the occasional close shave. Then the evening hours descended, and everything seemed to be suddenly turned on its ear.
To wit:
Nobody thought that Arkansas had a chance against LSU. After all, the Razorbacks were having a mediocre-at-best season, sub-par in any case. Moreover, Arkansas had only defeated LSU in Baton Rogue just once in the past 20 years. On the other side of the coin, the Tigers – the Bayou Bengal variety – have been playing very strongly, despite a drubbing to an increasingly dominating Alabama squad. Yet the Hogs took it to the Tigers, in Death Valley, and did so in dramatic fashion, winning 31-14. As an aside, the Hogs now have their fourth straight win, having started the season 2-4.
Meanwhile, out on the west coast, a marquee matchup in the Pac-12 took place in Stanford, where the Oregon Ducks took on the Cardinal – formerly the Indians – in a classic match of contrasts, speed vs. power. Speed ended up winning by default in the end, narrowly, 38-36. Ironically, it was not Oregon’s speed that killed Stanford as it was the Cardinal’s two inopportune fumbles late in the fourth quarter. Otherwise, they surely would have won the contest.
In the heart of Texas, Oklahoma came in to Waco to take on Baylor in a rain-soaked showdown. To the surprise of many, the Bears’ high-powered offense was kept in check the entire game. Not coincidentally, the Sooners actually played real defense, unlike all the Bears’ previous opponents, but it was still a tough fight throughout the game. The triumph was nevertheless that of the Sooners, 44-34.
Elsewhere in the southwest, the high-flying Utah squad ventured to Tucson, Ariz., to take on the Arizona Wildcats. Rich Rodriguez must have been ready for the Utes’ arrival. His team was surely hungry for a big win, for they, muck like Arkansas in the SEC, have had a mediocre season at best. In the end, the Wildcats triumphed over the Utes in 2OT, 37-30.
A near-upset occurred, as Houston barely survived Memphis, 35-34. Those Tigers (as opposed to the LSU, Auburn, or Clemson ones) were in the lead most of the game. The Cougars very gradually gnawed away at the lead in the second half to eventually snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Even then it took a missed field goal on the part of Memphis to finalize the outcome.
Yet another near-upset occurred in Bloomington, Ind., as the Indiana Hoosiers almost knocked off Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines. Only a couple of freak big plays towards the end of regulation in Michigan’s favor saved Harbaugh’s bacon that game, as it put the game in OT where the better talent was able to prevail (which it did, 48-41).
An under-the-radar upset came in the form of South Florida – a nobody the entire season – up-ending No. 22 Temple, 44-23. Remember, this is the same Temple team that played fourth-ranked Notre Dame tough the entire length of that contest. Indeed, they almost upset the Irish. Now the Bulls have decisively beaten/upset the deceptively tough Owls. Oh my.
Another overlooked upset was New Mexico upsetting Boise State in Boise, Idaho, no less, 31-24. It took a stop just four years shy of the goal line on the part of the Lobos, with 0:00 on the clock, to ensure the outcome.
Yet another under-the-radar upset was so only because it was out on the west coast, and very late at night, even by Central Time standards. Unranked Washington State defeated No. 19 UCLA, 31-27, in Pasadena, no less. The win came on a Hail Mary pass that was completed in the end zone in the final seconds, giving an incredible night full of drama one incredible exclamation mark.
Those of who paid attention to the team schedules knew that this November would be a month of separation. What we did NOT anticipate was that so much, er, separation, would occur so soon in the month, and on one night alone. The real kicker? At only halfway through November, more separation (chaos?) is yet to come!
Week 3 College Football Awards September 16, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Arizona State, Baylor, BC, Bill Snyder, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Boilers, Boston College, Bowling Green, Buffalo, BYU, Cardinals, Cards, Central Michigan, Charlie Strong, Chuck Martin, Clemson, Colorado, Ducks, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, FIghting Irish, Florida State, Georgia, Grover Cleveland, Gus Malzahn, Idaho, Indiana, Jim Mora, Kansas, Kent State, Louisville, Mark Richt, Memphis, Miami (Fla.), Miami (Ohio), Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Ruffin McNeil, Rutgers, SMU, South Carolina, Southern Illinois, Steve Addazio, Steve Sarkisian, Steve Spurrier, Syracuse, Texas, Texas A&M, Troy, UMass, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, Western Kentucky, Wyoming
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 3] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Steve Addazio, Boston College
Glad I’m not him: Charlie Strong, Texas
Lucky guy: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Poor guy: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Ruffin McNeil, East Carolina
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Steve Sarkisian, USC
Desperately seeking … anything: Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio)
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 22 Ohio State (defeated Kent State 66-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (defeated UMass 34-31)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kent State (see first line above)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Colorado (lost to No. 16 Arizona State 38-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Syracuse (defeated Central Michigan 40-3)
Dang, they’re good: Oklahoma
Dang, they’re bad: Kansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia Tech
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? Eastern Michigan
Can the season never end? Ole Miss
GAMES
Play this again: Bowling Green 45, Indiana 42
Play this again, too: Middle Tennessee 50, Western Kentucky 47
Never play this again: No. 8 Baylor 63, Buffalo 21
Told you so: Penn State 13, Rutgers 10
What? Virginia 23, No. 21 Louisville 21
Huh? No. 24 South Carolina 38, No. 6 Georgia 35
Are you kidding me? East Carolina 28, No. 17 Virginia Tech 21
Oh – my – God: Boston College 38, No. 9 USC 31
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for (sort of): No. 22 Clemson @ No. 1 Florida State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: North Carolina @ East Carolina
Best non-Power Five matchup: Middle Tennessee @ Memphis
Upset alert: Miami (Fla.) @ No. 24 Nebraska
Must win: Southern Illinois @ Purdue
Offensive explosion: No. 2 Oregon @ Washington State
Defensive struggle: Penn State @ Rutgers
Great game no one is talking about: Virginia @ No. 21 BYU
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gus Malzahn of Auburn vs. Bill Snyder of Kansas State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 6 Texas A&M @ SMU
Why are they playing? Troy @ No. 13 Georgia
Plenty of good seats remaining: Idaho @ Ohio U
They shoot horses, don’t they? Eastern Michigan @ No. 11 Michigan State
Week 3 Random Thoughts:
– Just when you think that Louisville is rolling again under second, non-consecutive term head coach Bobby Petrino (paging Grover Cleveland), the Cards lay an egg on the road. Virginia is not that bad of a team, but that is still no excuse for all the quarterback miscues that seemed to plague U of L throughout the game, leading to the disappointing result. Perhaps Petrino should consider playing the freshman QB?
– Virginia Tech seems nothing if not consistent when it comes to losing games the week after winning a big one.
– They say that football can be a game of inches. In the case of South Carolina upsetting intra-conference and border rival Georgia, it was a game of one inch. Period. Well, that and a good (favorable?) spotting of the ball by the refs after 4th and one inch.
– Perhaps Oregon might have been saving a little energy for future endeavors later this season. How else might one explain a win over Wyoming by a score of only 48-12? Given how well the Ducks have played thus far, you’d think the Cowboys got off easy.
– Did Purdue acquit themselves against No. 11 Notre Dame, or are the Fighting Irish that mediocre? In the wake of the Boilermakers embarrassing themselves at home last week to Central Michigan, coupled with ND demolishing Michigan, one would have thought that the annual in-state rivalry game would have meant utter demolition for Purdue. Instead, the Boilers ended up leading, however briefly, in the first half, scoring two touchdowns on the Irish. Such an effort compelled Notre Dame to increase their efforts, allowing them to gradually win over the course of the second half, 30-14. The reason that so many people naturally incline towards the former answer is that they want to believe the Notre Dame hype (it sells, after all!). But what we keep learning, and continue to have to keep learning over the past 10-15 years, is that Notre Dame is once again overrated. The real question, therefore, to consider is, how bad is Michigan?
– That being said, Notre Dame’s helmets for that game did look rather neat. It is a long time coming that they incorporated a blue “ND” logo on to their gold shells. The single, blue center stripe was a nice touch, too. The jury is still out on the latitude-longitude, “globe lines” effect, though. Moreover, I can do without that weird brocade effect on the shoulders of the jerseys.
– Is Texas in trouble? First, they lost ignominiously at home to BYU last week. Then, they lose to an increasingly good UCLA team, ostensibly at a neutral site, though hardly anybody could consider the Horns playing in Dallas as playing on neutral turf, be it the Cotton Bowl or AT&T Stadium. Yes, Jim Mora has truly breathed intensity into the Bruins program at Westwood, Calif., but there is still no excuse for such a proud, tradition-and-resource laden program as Texas to suffer two such consecutive losses. Is Coach Strong in over his head at Austin? It would be a very painful thing to acknowledge, to be sure. The wise thing, at this point, is to allow the rest of the season (and how it plays out) to answer that question.
– If we were to apply the law of transitive properties, just how badly would Syracuse beat Purdue if the two played each other right about now?
2012-2013 Bowl Games of High Interest December 26, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: ACC, Aggies, Alabama, Alamo, Andrew Luck, Auburn, B1G, Badgers, Baylor, BCS, Bears, Big 10, Big Ten, Big XII, Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops, Bowl, Brent Musburger, Bruins, Bulldogs, Capital One, Cardinal, Cardinals, Chick-Fil-A, CHip Kelly, Citrus, Clemson, college, conference, Cornhuskers, Cotton Bowl, Crimson Tide, Ducks, Fiesta Bowl, FIghting Irish, Florida, football, Gator, Gators, Georgia, Granddaddy, Herbie, Holiday, Hotlanta, Jerryland, Kansas State, Kevin Sumlin, Kirk Herbstreit, Kwanzaa, Lou Holtz, Louisville, LSU, Michigan, Mississippi State, national championship, NCAA, Nebraska, Nike, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, Outback, Pac-12, Peach, Pro Combat, Rose Bowl, SEC, Sooners, South Carolina, Southeastern, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, Sugar Bowl, Teddy Bridgewater, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, voodoo, Washington, Wildcats, Wisconsin
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As mentioned in the previous installments, I have ranked the bowl games by category, with the major criterion being level of desirability to view, partly on my end, partly on the end of the average viewer who is NOT a certifiable college football addict like yours truly!
To find a complete bowl game schedule where each game is found in order of date and time each game is to be played, go here.
This third installment is of bowl games about which I am VERY interested (as usual, all times are Eastern Standard). Happy Kwanzaa (LMAO! I’m sorry, I just can’t say that with a straight face!).
Holiday Bowl (San Diego), Thurs., Dec. 27, 9:45 PM EST
Baylor (7-5) vs. No. 17 UCLA (9-4)
My [potential] “offensive explosion” bowl game for the 2012-2013 season. To paraphrase the guys at EDSBS, what’s better in a bowl game than seeing both teams’ offensive coordinators emptying the most shameful corners of their playbook? Better yet, it pits bears vs. bruins; how often does one see that in a bowl? Just sayin’!
Alamo Bowl (San Antonio), Sat., Dec. 29, 6:45 PM
No. 23 Texas (8-4) vs. No. 13 Oregon State (9-3)
Yes, I’ll admit, I’m a bit biased. After all, I was part of the team that won the 1998 Alamo Bowl, arguably one of the more memorable games in the series. But that aside, the Alamo Bowl is always a good matchup. Is it quite as good as when it was Big Ten vs. Big XII? The realignment to a Pac-12 vs. Big XII matchup has not watered things down any, at least not yet. Remember last year’s offensive explosion between Baylor and Washington? That one is not soon to be forgotten, either. This time, the Longhorns are playing, which automatically makes it good. Granted, Oregon State is favored on paper, but do not underestimate Texas’ home field advantage, given that their campus is only a little over an hour away.
Chick-Fil-A Bowl (Atlanta), Mon., Dec., 31, 7:30 PM
No. 8 LSU (10-2) vs. No. 14 Clemson (10-2)
Nothing like closing out the old year by watching a classic SEC-ACC matchup in Hotlanta! Of course, there have been plenty of such “classic” matchups on paper over the past several years, but they have usually amounted to rather one-sided affairs in favor of the Southeastern Conference. You’ll have that. After all, not all Peach Bowls, er, Chick-Fil-A Bowls can be like the Auburn-North Carolina game back in 2001! In any event, the funny guys at EDSBS have come up with three possible scenarios of how this one will play out (all with varying degrees of probability – refer to game ranking #6). I particularly like the “LSU blowout” scenario!
Gator Bowl (Jacksonville, Fla.), Tues., Jan. 1, 12:00 PM
Mississippi State (8-4) vs. No. 20 Northwestern (9-3)
My “great game that nobody is talking about,” for it pits two scrappy teams struggling for respect in their respective conferences. Better yet, it’s a very dramatic culture clash within the bowl season, for the only private school in the B1G meets, well, the “clanga-clanga” of cowbells. It also makes for an intriguing coaching matchup in one coaches favors the pass while the other favors the run. How can a viewer lose with this whole proposition?
Outback Bowl (Tampa, Fla.), Tues., Jan. 1, 1:00 PM
No. 10 South Carolina (10-2) vs. No. 18 Michigan (8-4)
The matchup is intriguing on the surface alone. One side is a traditional blue blood, figuratively and literally. They won the first ever bowl game and gave birth to the college fight song as we know it today. Oh well, and Michigan also has the most wins of any football program, ever. The other side, South Carolina, is something of a late bloomer. A relatively late joiner of the SEC, for years they had been a conference doormat prior to the Lou Holtz and especially the Steve Spurrier eras. But this game is where the newcomer will take down the old guard, should everything work out on paper. Yes, that’s a rather dry way of putting it, but if I made any allusions that the Gamecocks should bury the Wolverines underneath the pavement for some horrified archaeologists to discover a century or two later, well, I might get accused of plagiarism, or something.
Capital One Bowl (Orlando, Fla.), Tues., Jan. 1, 1:00 PM
No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 16 Nebraska
First of all, let us get this out of the way right now and admit that this game is not quite as interesting as the Outback Bowl, but it’s interesting nonetheless. If Nebraska had their hands full against a 7-5 Wisconsin team at a neutral site, good Lord, what is the seventh-ranked Georgia squad going to do to them? Second, what on Earth are the Cornhuskers doing being ranked 16th in the AP after a such can of whoopass had been opened up on them in Indianapolis? All that being said, the only thing that Nebraska has going for them (and I mean the only thing) is that the Bulldogs are a senior-laden team that was underachieved all season, and be very, very aware of such teams when they show up in bowl games, as they are likely to disappoint.
Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.), Tues., Jan. 1, 5:00 PM
Wisconsin vs. No. 7 Stanford
The good news for Wisconsin is that they caught Nebraska off guard during the Big Ten championship game and have earned a third-straight berth to the Granddaddy of Them All. The bad news for Wisconsin is that they must face a Stanford squad that is arguably more formidable than last year’s Andrew Luck-led team. The Cardinal can more than match the Badgers in the trenches, and that instantly takes away their competitive advantage. More bad news: barring the possibility of Stanford breaking out their black helmets and all-cardinal Nike Pro Combat unis, this bowl game will be the matchup of the generic uniforms. The good news for all of us is that we will be “looking live,” as ABC’s front line crew of Brent Musburger and Kirk “Herbie” Herbstreit will be calling the game, folks!
Sugar Bowl (New Orleans), Wed., Jan. 2, 8:30 PM
No. 21 Louisville vs. No. 3 Florida
Yeah, yeah, I know that I filed this upcoming game under “who’s bringing the body bags?” That’s my safe prediction. My less-than safe prediction, shared by others, is that Florida’s occasional quarterbacking ineptitude might align itself with Louisville’s occasionally vulnerable secondary. Of course, even if both of those things click simultaneously, it’s not that safe of a bet that the same clicking will occur between the Gator’s formidable defense against the Cardinals’ Teddy Bridgewater, as sad as I am to say. Then again, it is the Big Easy, and the Charlie Strong can always dial up some voodoo magic.
Fiesta Bowl (Mesa, Ariz.), Thurs., Jan. 3, 8:30 PM
No. 4 Oregon vs. No. 5 Kansas State
When two teams in a bowl game that are very closely ranked square off, it is almost always interesting. But the game is watchable for other reasons as well, such as the intriguing contrast between the two teams. In one corner, wearing purple trimmed with white and silver are the Wildcats, with old man Bill Snyder working his magic albeit with a conventional offense. In the opposing corner, wearing some sort of green trimmed with yellow (we think: it could be black, silver, or something else, for that matter), is Chip Kelly’s Ducks, along with his progressive, hurry-up, hyper-drive offensive play. Think of the overall interest amounting to a weird variation on the old saying that “opposites attract.”
Cotton Bowl (Arlington, Texas), Friday, Jan. 4, 8:00 PM
No. 9 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 Oklahoma
Old conference rivals reunite in a relocated classic bowl game (used to be in, well, the Cotton Bowl, now it’s in Jerryland). What makes the matchup even more interesting is that the Aggies’ current head coach, Kevin Sumlin, was at one time an assistant under Sooners’ head coach Bob Stoops. That notwithstanding, in all likelihood the pupil will become the teacher. Oklahoma is another one of those teams about which to beware, that being a team with lots of seniors that has underachieved all year; rarely does a team like that come through victorious during bowl season. Moreover, during the later part of the regular season, Coach Sumlin was coaching A&M so well that it seemed as though they could beat anybody in the nation. With that being said, this will be a major test to see whether or not they can beat anyone in the postseason.
BCS National Championship (Miami), Mon., Jan. 7, 8:30 PM
No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Alabama
On one hand, it is unlikely that Notre Dame has ever encountered any team with Alabama’s overall athleticism. On the other hand, Notre Dame has won lots of close games, and there is some skill to that. Ultimately, the game will come down to one of two things: will the Irish receivers be too much for the Crimson Tide’s secondary, or will Bama’s offensive line gradually take over in the middle of the third quarter? The result of the game will hinge on either contingency.
College Football Week 12 Awards November 18, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, AP, Army, Art Briles, Atlanta, Baylor, BCS, Bears, Bill Snyder, Bulldogs, BYU, California, championship, CHip Kelly, Clemson, Collin Klein, Crimson Tide, Dabo Swinney, David Shaw, Derek Dooley, Ducks, Eastern Michigan, Eugene, Florida, Florida State, football, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Jeff Tedford, Johnny Manziel, Joker Phillips, K-State, Kansas State, Kent State, Kentucky, Lane Kiffin, Longhorns, Los Angeles, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike Riley, national, national championship, NCAA, New Mexico State, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, OT, poll, SEC, South Carolina, Stanford, TCU, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tommy Tuberville, UAB, UCLA, UNLV, USA Today, USC, Vols, Volunteers, Waco, Wake Forest, Western Carolina, Wildcats, Wofford
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [post-week 12, pre-week 13] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Art Briles, Baylor
Glad I’m not him: Bill Snyder, Kansas State
Lucky guy: David Shaw, Stanford
Poor guy: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Desperately seeking a clue: Jeff Tedford, California
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech
Desperately seeking … anything: Derek Dooley, Tennessee
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Alabama (beat Western Carolina 49-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Kansas State (see below)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Wake Forest (lost to Notre Dame 38-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Wofford (lost to No. 13 South Carolina 24-7)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Baylor (see below)
Thought you wouldn’t get your butt kicked, you did: Army (see below)
Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: UAB
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Kansas State (see below)
Did the season start? Michigan State
Can the season end? Tennessee
Can the season never end? LSU
GAMES
Play this again: No. 8 LSU 41, Ole Miss 35
Never play this again: Temple 63, Army 32
What? Utah State 48, No. 20* Louisiana Tech 41, OT
Huh? No. 23* Oklahoma State 59, No. 24* Texas Tech 21
Are you kidding me? No. 13* Stanford 17, No. 2* Oregon 14, OT
Oh – my – God: Baylor 52, No. 1* Kansas State 24
* Week 12 AP rankings
NEXT WEEK
Ticket to die for: No. 6 Florida @ No. 10 Florida State (notwithstanding No. 13 South Carolina @ No. 12 Clemson)
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: (none)
Best non-Big Six matchup: Ohio U @ Kent State
Upset alert: Baylor over Texas Tech in Waco
Must win: No. 1 Notre Dame @ USC
Offensive explosion: No. 24 Oklahoma State @ No. 12 Oklahoma
Defensive struggle: No. 20 Michigan @ No. 4 Ohio State
Great game no one is talking about: No. 5 Oregon @ No. 16 Oregon State
Thanksgiving Day Special: TCU @ No. 18 Texas
Cloud Nine Bowl: No. 8 Stanford @ No. 17 UCLA
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mike Riley of Oregon State vs. Chip Kelly of Oregon
Who’s bringing the body bags? Georgia Tech @ No. 3 Georgia (notwithstanding Northern Illinois @ Eastern Michigan, Friday)
Why are they playing? BYU @ New Mexico State
Plenty of good seats remaining: UNLV @ Hawaii
Plenty of good seats remaining, SEC East edition: Kentucky @ Tennessee
They shoot horses, don’t they? Akron @ Toledo (Tuesday night)
Instant BCS Chaos: In just one night, the BCS standings have turned upside down. All Kansas State and Oregon had to do was win out, and they would have been matched up in a very intriguing national championship game in Miami. Scratch that; ain’t gonna happen. Oregon lost a close, hard-fought game in Eugene, Ore., to a tough Stanford squad. The game went into OT, and the Duck’s failure to score on their opening possession gave the Cardinal an opportunity to win the game with a field goal, which they did. Another one bites the dust.
Yet half-way across the country in the heart of Texas (Waco, to be exact), something even more improbable developed. Kansas State, at that time ranked No. 1 in the land, went down to spectacular defeat at the hands of Art Briles’ Baylor [Baptist] Bears. The score itself was improbable: when is the last time any top-ranked team went down to an un-ranked team by a score of 52-24? Nothing accounts for that. Credit Briles and Co. with coming up with an amazing game plan that effectively attacked the Wildcats where it hurt them the most, and they never let up the entire night.
Not in five years has there been such BCS standings chaos in one night of regular season football. Yet things get even more intriguing from this point onward. For the first time in 19 years, almost to the week, Notre Dame is the No. 1 team in the nation. No doubt plenty of rejoicing erupted in South Bend., Ind., instantly upon Kansas State’s defeat, and no doubt the merriment doubled again in light of Oregon going down at home in OT. After winning close game after close game, Brian Kelly has brought the Fighting Irish back to national prominence and is in the driver’s seat to punch their ticket to Miami come early January. Meanwhile, an entire nation will scrutinize Notre Dame to see if they themselves can stand prosperity as they journey to Los Angeles this upcoming weekend to take on traditional rival USC.
And just like that, the SEC is back in the national discussion: Alabama’s upset at home to Texas A&M last week seemed to wipe out the Crimson Tide’s hopes of repeating as national title contenders. With last night’s, er, developments, despair has instantly transformed into renewed hope and ambition. Bama is now second in both the AP and USA Today Polls, and Georgia is no. 3. Should both those teams win out – extra emphasis on ‘should’ – it will be a very interesting contest in Atlanta for the SEC championship come Dec. 1.
Dooley Fired: Not only is now-former Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley “Desperately seeking…anything.” Now he’ll be desperately seeking…a job. The University of Tennessee decided to cut its ties with Dooley after their embarrassing loss in Nashville to up-and-coming, in-state rival Vanderbilt, 41-18. The firing is effective immediately, as it has been reported on Tennessee’s athletics website that offensive coordinator Jim Chaney (with whom I worked while a student manager at Purdue, as he was an assistant under Coach Joe Tiller) will be the interim head coach for the upcoming game against Kentucky. Evidently, the powers that be are not giving Dooley a couple of curtain calls like those UK’s Joker Phillips has received.
Yesterday’s embarrassing loss to the Commodores was just the last straw in one bad development after another for the program; the final blow to prove to the Volunteer nation that things need to be guided in a newer, better direction. This year alone, the Vols have gone 4-7, and 0-7 in the SEC, something entirely unacceptable to a large, proud fan base, to say nothing of a program with such massive tradition and resources behind it. In just one game shy of three complete seasons, Dooley is just 15-21 with Tennessee, but worse yet, 4-19 in the SEC, and 0-15 against top-25 opponents. Let us not forget that his hiring was essentially a stop-gap move in the wake of Lane Kiffin’s sudden departure for the USC job. Let us also not forget that under Dooley’s leadership last year, Tennessee lost their annual season-closer to Kentucky for the first time since 1984, and it is not a given that the Vols will Triumph over the Wildcats this year, either. Come to think of it, has Kentucky ever defeated Tennessee in football for two seasons in a row?
Paging Bobby Petrino…
Heisman talk: Quarterback Collin Klein of K-State was the Heisman frontrunner, but after his team lost ignominiously, and his performance was mediocre at best (27 for 50, 286 yards, 2 td’s but 3 int’s), could it be that “Johnny Football,” Johnny Manziel, himself of Texas A&M, is the new award frontrunner? Food for thought, in any case.
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