College Football Awards, Week 11 (2019) November 11, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Alabama State, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Bi1G, Big Ten, Bill Mallory, Central Florida, Chad Morris, Cincinnati, Commodores, Copper Bowl, Ed Orgeron, Florida, Florida State, Floyd of Rosedale, Gators, Georgia, Hoosiers, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, James Franklin, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Les Miles, Lincoln Riley, Louisville, LSU, Luke Fickell, Maryland, Matt Campbell, Memphis, Michigan State, Mike Gundy, Minnesota, New Mexico State, Nick Saban, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Penn State, Rutgers, Scott Satterfield, TCU, Temple, Texas, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, UCLA, UMass, Utah, Vanderbilt, Washington, Western Kentucky, Wisconsin
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Ed Orgeron, LSU (hon. mention: P.J. Fleck, Minnesota)
Glad I’m not him: Nick Saban, Alabama
Lucky guy: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
Poor guy: Matt Campbell, Iowa State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Scott Satterfield, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: James Franklin, Penn State
Desperately seeking … anything: Chad Morris, Arkansas
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated Maryland 73-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Michigan State (lost to Illinois 37-34)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Vanderbilt (lost to No. 10 Florida 50-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Oregon State (lost to Washington 19-7)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Western Kentucky (defeated Arkansas 45-19)
Dang, they’re good: LSU
Dang, they’re bad: UMass
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Penn State
Did the season start? TCU
Can the season end? Northwestern
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 17 Minnesota 31, No. 4 Penn State 26
Never play this again: No. 1 Ohio State, Maryland 14
What? Tulsa 34, UCF 31
Huh? Texas 27, No. 16 Kansas State 24
Are you kidding me?? No. 2 LSU 46, No. 3 Alabama 41
Oh – my – God: No. 17 Minnesota 31, No. 4 Penn State 26
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 11, pre-week 12)
Ticket to die for: No. 5 Georgia @ No. 13 Auburn
Next-best game of the week: No. 24 Indiana @ No. 11 Penn State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: none
Best non-Power Five matchup: Tulane @ Temple
Upset alert: UCLA @ No. 8 Utah
Must win: No. 8 Oklahoma @ No. 10 Baylor
Offensive explosion: No. 18 Memphis @ Houston
Defensive struggle: Kentucky @ Vanderbilt
Great game no one is talking about: Texas @ Iowa State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Les Miles of Kansas vs Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 2 Ohio State @ Rutgers
Why are they playing? Alabama State @ Florida State
Plenty of good seats remaining: UMass @ Northwestern
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? UIW @ New Mexico State
Week 11 Thoughts:
Alabama vs LSU
What more can be said about this dramatic and incredibly consequential game? On paper, was it LSU’s victory really an upset? They were ranked No. 2 in the polls ahead of Alabama at No. 3, after all. So what made the Tigers’ win an upset? Call it a mental block. Call it a [proverbial] monkey on LSU’s back. They had, after all, lost to the Crimson Tide eight straight times, often with national championship aspirations on the line. This time, they finally won, and now, the Tigers control their own destiny to Atlanta and to the Playoffs as well.
Minnesota vs Penn State
The Golden Gophers have earned their biggest win in more than a decade. They currently lead the Western Division of the Big Ten. While they control their own destiny to the conference championship, they have a challenging road ahead if they want to make it to Indianapolis. Their next game is at No. 18 Iowa, a border rivalry where they play for one of the most prominent trophies in college football, the Floyd of Rosedale. After a respite against a down Northwestern, they close out the regular season at home against Wisconsin. The Badgers alone are a tough out, and they usually are the perennial Western representative in the B1G championship. Factor in the border rivalry and the fact that both teams play for the Paul Bunyan Axe (have you seen the size of that thing?), and one is apt to anticipate a high-stakes, high-drame showdown in Minneapolis come Nov. 30. But first, the Gophers have to win their other remaining games, starting with Iowa, which is never easy these days, Floyd or no Floyd.
Florida vs Vanderbilt
This blowout only merits mention because the Commodores attempted a “sad field goal” and failed. The definition of a “sad field goal” is if your team is down by more than two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and yet you go for a field goal anyhow. That sounds sad just saying it, does it not? Well, Vandy attempted the saddest of field goals as they were down 49-0 to Florida in The Swamp late in the 4th quarter. Instead of going for it with nothing to lose, they attempted a sad field goal, which went wide left. Like a train wreck, you can’t not watch.
Looking ahead: Indiana at Penn State
When was the last time that Indiana was ranked in football? Give up? It was 1994. Bill Mallory was the head coach at that time. He built a decent program, too, winning the 1991 Copper Bowl. But his labors went unnoticed because IU was more basketball-obsessed than it is today, which saying something. Frankly, I don’t hold out much hope for the Hoosiers, but if they put up a fight against wounded Penn State, it should be an entertaining game.
College Football Awards, Week 9 (2019) October 27, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona State, Arkansas State, Auburn, B1G, Badgers, Big Ten, Big XII, Boston College, Bowling Green, Brian Kelly, Buckeyes, Central Florida, Clemson, college football, Dana Holgorsen, Ed Orgeron, Florida, Georgia, Gus Malzahn, Houston, Illinois, Iowa State, Jim Harbaugh, Josh Heupel, Kansas, Kansas State, Lincoln Riley, LSU, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi State, NCAA, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Purdue, SMU, Sonny Dykes, Sooners, South Alabama, Steve Campbell, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tom Herman, UAB, UCF, UCLA, USC, UTSA, Wildcats, Wofford
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan (hon. mention: Ed Orgeron of LSU)
Glad I’m not him: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Lucky guy: Sonny Dykes, SMU
Poor guy: Dana Holgorsen, Houston
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Lincoln Riley
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Josh Heupel, UCF
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Tom Herman, Texas
Desperately seeking … anything: Steve Campbell, South Alabama
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Minnesota (defeated Maryland 52-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Texas A&M (defeated Mississippi State 49-30)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Boston College (lost to Clemson 59-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Illinois (defeated Purdue 24-6)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Michigan (defeated Notre Dame 45-14)
Dang, they’re good: LSU
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Iowa State (hon. mention: Oklahoma)
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? South Alabama
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 2 LSU 23, No 9 Auburn 20
Never play this again: No. 4 Clemson 59, Boston College 7
What? UCLA 42, No. 24 Arizona State 32
Huh? Oklahoma State 34, No. 23 Iowa State 27
Double-Huh? TCU 37, No. 15 Texas 27
Are you kidding me?? No. 19 Michigan 45, No. 7 Notre Dame 14
Oh – my – God: Kansas State 48, No. 5 Oklahoma 41
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 9, pre-week 10)
Ticket to die for: No. 8 Georgia vs No. 6 Florida in Jacksonville
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: UAB @ Tennessee
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 16 SMU @ Memphis
Upset alert: No. 7 Oregon @ USC
Must win: Georgia vs. Florida (in Jacksonville)
Offensive explosion: SMU @ Memphis
Defensive struggle: Mississippi State @ Arkansas
Great game no one is talking about: Kansas State @ Kansas
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mack Brown of North Carolina vs Bronco Mendenhall of Virginia
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 14 Michigan @ Maryland
Why are they playing? UTSA @ Texas A&M
Plenty of good seats remaining: Akron @ Bowling Green
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Wofford @ No. 4 Clemson
Week 9 Thoughts:
Am I the only one who has noticed that waaaaay too many teams have bye-weeks for upcoming week 10?
Kansas State vs Oklahoma
Oh, Kansas State. What are we to do with you? You play under your potential all season long, then, when folks least expect it, you unleash your top potential against the toughest opponent all year, and produce one of the biggest upsets of the year in the process. Does this mean than the Wildcats are the new world-beaters of the Big XII? Hardly. One might expect a regression to the mean starting next week. It is not inconceivable that KSU could lose three of their remaining five games. Then again, it is not inconceivable that they could win out.
Kansas State has started to intrigue us to see if their sudden improvement is an anomaly, or if it’s here to stay. Next week they play in-state rival Kansas, who also shows continued improvement. The game’s outcome will be of little consequence in the grand scheme of things, but it shall be a “discovery game” all the same for both teams. Who says one cannot continue to learn new things as the college football season progresses?
Texas vs. TCU
Texas losing to LSU is more than understandable. Indeed, they acquitted themselves well. Losing to OU was also excusable, given that the Sooners are on fire and one of the favored teams to make the playoffs at the time. But losing to unranked TCU? That was at least raise a few questions, right? Actually, it raises fewer questions than one would think. The Longhorns’ problem is that they were always a little more vulnerable to the pass than they were to the run. It was LSU’s key to defeating them, after all. But as the season wore on, Texas’ injuries on their defense kept piling up, especially in their secondary, making them even more vulnerable to the pass.
The bottom line for the Longhorns is that it is going to take an offseason for the injuries to heal up and for Tom Herman to bring in another solid recruiting class (especially some top-rated defensive backs).
LSU vs Auburn
Here we witnessed a hard-fought “discovery game” in which LSU passed another key test and Auburn proved they deserve to be a top-ten team, even with a close loss. Note to Auburn fans and administration: Gus Malzahn has proven he is a good coach. Keep him and pay him.
Meanwhile, all the LSU faithful who doubted where Ed Orgeron was the right man for the job are now eating some serious crow.
Michigan vs Notre Dame
What to make of this outcome? Many had left Jim Harbaugh for dead by now. Then again, if Michigan had played all four quarters against No. 6 Penn State last week the way they played against them in the second half, they would have won that game, too. Sure, the Wolverines started out ranked No. 5 only for their offense to sputter and for them to take a nose dive in the polls and in the esteem of fans. Not anymore. After thrashing the Fighting Irish at home in prime time, they appear to finally play like a team that belongs in the top ten. What gives? The most likely explanation is that it took this long for the team to finally gel. These things sometimes happen it football it’s part of the game, and always yields new discoveries in the process. We continue to learn new things as this college football season progresses.
Ohio State vs Wisconsin.
Personally, I predicted that the Buckeyes would beat the Badgers, maybe by two touchdowns, if that. Instead, we witnessed a 38-7 thrashing of Wisconsin at the hands of Ohio State. Is anybody going to contend that OSU should not be ranked No. 1 in the nation by now?
Two body bag games are up next for the Buckeyes (after a bye-week at that. Maybe their QB’s lower back and can heal some during that time). Then, Ohio State closes out the season with two solid challenges, first against Penn State, then against Michigan (now that the Wolverines are finally playing up to par). We’ll see if their current roll continues strongly enough to steamroll over their last two worthy opponents.
College Football Awards, Week 8 (2019) October 21, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Badgers, Ball State, Baylor, Boise State, Brian Kelly, Buckeyes, BYU, Cal, California, CHip Kelly, college, football, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Herm Edwards, Illinois, James Franklin, Jim Harbaugh, Kansas, Kansas State, Les Miles, liberty, LSU, Maryland, Matt Rhule, Miami, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Navy, NCAA, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Paul Chryst, Penn State, Rutgers, South Carolina, Texas, Toledo, Tom Arth, Tom Herman, Tulane, UCLA, Utah, Vanderbilt, Washington, Washington State, Wisconsin
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COACHES
Wish I were him: James Franklin, Penn State
Glad I’m not him: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Lucky guy: Tom Herman, Texas
Poor guy: Les Miles, Kansas
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Tom Herman, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Matt Rhule, Baylor
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Paul Chryst, Wisconsin
Desperately seeking … anything: Tom Arth, Akron
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated Northwestern 52-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Texas (defeated Kansas 50-48)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Arkansas (lost to Auburn 51-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Illinois (defeated Wisconsin 24-23)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Ball State (defeated Toledo 52-14)
Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad: Rutgers
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Wisconsin
Did the season start? Washington
Can the season end? Arkansas
Can the season never end? Oklahoma
GAMES
Play this again: No. 10 Penn State 28, No. 16 Michigan 20
Play this again, too: No. 15 Texas 50, Kansas 48
Never play this again: No. 4 Ohio State 52, Northwestern 3
What? Ball State 52, Toledo 14
Huh? Georgia Tech 28, Miami (Fla.) 21, OT
Double-Huh? Vanderbilt 21, No. 22 Missouri 14
Are you kidding me?? BYU 28, No. 14 Boise State 25
Oh – my – God: Illinois 24, No. 6 Wisconsin 23
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 8, pre-week 9)
Ticket to die for: No. 13 Wisconsin @ No. 3 Ohio State
Next-best game of the week: No. 9 Auburn @ No. 2 LSU
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Liberty @ Rutgers
Best non-Power Five matchup: Tulane @ Navy
Upset alert: Kansas State @ No. 5 Oklahoma
Must win: No. 11 Auburn @ No. 2 LSU
Offensive explosion: No. 15 Texas @ TCU (hon. mention: WSU @ No. 11 Oregon)
Defensive struggle: (inconclusive)
Great game no one is talking about: Cal @ No. 12 Utah
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jim Harbaugh of Michigan vs Brian Kelly of Notre Dame
(honorable mention: Herm Edwards of Arizona State vs Chip Kelly of UCLA)
Who’s bringing the body bags? Arkansas @ No. 1 Alabama
Why are they playing? Liberty @ Rutgers
Plenty of good seats remaining: Akron @ Northern Illinois
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Maryland @ No. 17 Minnesota
Week 8 Thoughts:
Two more undefeated teams bite the dust. First No. 6 Wisconsin in the noon time slot, who went down to defeat at lowly Illinois on a last-second field goal. Then, late at night, the second undefeated team lost today when No. 14 Boise State lost on the road to BYU. The latter, however, is not nearly as massive as the former.
The shame of such an upset is that it takes some of the [proverbial] starch and the all-too-real excitement out of next week’s upcoming matchup between the Badgers and the Buckeyes. But it will still be a great game.
Texas vs. Kansas
Texas had to score 50 points to beat Kansas. Yes, Kansas. Granted, Les Miles has the Jayhawks continually improving. Still, this does not bode well for the Longhorns. Clearly, injuries have depleted their defense, especially their secondary. Any team with a good quarterback can thus score points on them. The question becomes, can the Horns still stop the run? Assuming they can, then they stand a chance yet against TCU next week.
College Football Awards, Week 12 (2018) November 18, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Boise State, Boston College, Brian Kelly, BYU, Chad Morris, Chris Petersen, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, Frank Solich, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Jeff Brohm, Jeremy Pruitt, Kansas, Kansas State, Kent State, Kentucky, Louisville, Lovie Smith, Maryland, Miami (OH), Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Mike Leach, Mississippi State, Nebraska, New Mexico, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Paul Chryst, Purdue, Rutgers, San Jose State, Songbook, South Florida, Southern Miss, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, UAB, UCF, Urban Meyer, Utah, Utah State, UTEP, Washington, Washington State, West Virginia, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 12] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Glad I’m not him: Chad Morris, Arkansas
Lucky guy: Paul Chryst, Wisconsin
Poor guy: Jeff Brohm, Purdue
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Frank Solich, Ohio U
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee
Desperately seeking … anything: Lovie Smith, Illinois
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Mississippi State (defeated Arkansas 52-6)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Ohio State (defeated Maryland 52-51 in OT)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: New Mexico (lost to No. 25 Boise State 45-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Middle Tennessee (lost to No. 17 Kentucky 34-23)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Ohio U (defeated Buffalo 52-17)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Arkansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: West Virginia
Did the season start? Michigan State
Can the season end? Tennessee
Can the season never end? Notre Dame
GAMES
Play this again: Oklahoma State 45, No. 9 West Virginia 41
Play this again, too: Wisconsin 47, Purdue 44, 3 OT
Never play this again: Iowa 63, Illinois 0
What? Miami (Ohio) 13, Northern Illinois 7
Huh? Kansas State 21, Texas Tech 6
Double Huh? Nebraska 9, Michigan State 6
Are you kidding me?? Florida State 22, No. 20 Boston College 21
Oh – my – God: Oklahoma State 45, No. 9 West Virginia 41
NEXT WEEK
Rankings are current AP (week 12)
Ticket to die for: No. 4 Michigan @ No. 10 Ohio State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: BYU @ No. 19 Utah
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 11 UCF @ South Florida
Honorable mention for above: UAB @ Middle Tennessee
Upset alert: Auburn @ No. 1 Alabama also: Georgia Tech @ No. 5 Georgia
Must win: Purdue @ Indiana
Offensive explosion: No. 6 Oklahoma @ No. 9 West Virginia
Defensive struggle: Eastern Michigan @ Kent State
Great game no one is talking about: No. 23 Utah State @ No. 25 Boise State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Chris Petersen of Washington vs Mike Leach of Washington State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 17 Kentucky @ Louisville Also: San Jose State @ Fresno State
Why are they playing? No. 15 Texas @ Kansas
Plenty of good seats remaining: Southern Miss @ UTEP
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Rutgers @ Michigan State
College Football Awards, Week 8 (2018) October 21, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Appalachian State, Bethune-Cookman, Cincinnati, Clemson, Dana Dimel, David Shaw, Dino Babers, Florida, Fresno State, Gamecocks, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Hawaii, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, James Franklin, Jeff Brohm, Jim Harbaugh, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike Leach, Minnesota, Mississippi State, NC State, Nebraska, New Mexico State, North Texas, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pat Fitzgerald, Penn State, Purdue, Rice, Rutgers, San Jose State, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, Tom Allen, Tulsa, UAB, UNLV, Urban Meyer, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Volunteers, Wake Forest, Washington State, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 8] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Honorable mention: Jeff Brohm, Purdue
Glad I’m not him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Lucky guy: James Franklin, Penn State
Poor guy: Tom Allen, Indiana
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Dino Babers, Syracuse
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Desperately seeking … anything: Dana Dimel, UTEP
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Alabama (defeated Tenessee 58-21)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Northwestern (defeated Rutgers 18-15)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Illinois (lost to Wisconsin 49-20)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (lost to Kentucky 14-7)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Clemson (defeated NC State 41-7)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Tulsa
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Ohio State
Did the season start? TCU
Can the season end? UTEP
Can the season never end? Michigan
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Michigan 21, Michigan State 7
Play this again, too: No. 5 LSU 19, No. 22 Mississippi State 3
Never play this again: No. 1 Alabama 58, Tennessee 21
What? Nebraska 53, Minnesota 28
Huh? Temple 24, No. 20 Cincinnati 17 (OT)
Are you kidding me?? No. 25 Washington State 34, No. 12 Oregon 20
Oh – my – God: Purdue 49, No. 2 Ohio State 20
NEXT WEEK
Rankings are current AP (week 8)
Ticket to die for: No. 11 Florida vs. No. 8 Georgia in Jacksonville
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: none
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 21 South Florida @ Houston
Also: Hawaii @ Fresno State
Upset alert: No. 22 Mississippi State @ No. 17 Texas A&M
Must win: Purdue @ No. 24 Michigan State
Offensive explosion: No. 7 Texas @ Oklahoma State
Defensive struggle: Tennessee @ South Carolina
Great game no one is talking about: No. 16 NC State @ Syracuse
Also: Appalachian State @ Georgia Southern
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jeff Brohm of Purdue vs. Mark Dantonio of Michigan State
Also: Mike Leach of Washington State vs. David Shaw of Stanford
Who’s bringing the body bags? North Texas @ Rice also: UAB @ UTEP*
Why are they playing? Bethune-Cookman @ Nebraska
Plenty of good seats remaining: New Mexico State @ Texas State
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? UNLV @ San Jose State
*How often do you get to say that?
Week 8 Thoughts:
The upsets were fewer than last week, but what lacked in quantity compensated in quality with a massive upset of Purdue defeating Ohio State in convincing fashion. A subsequent article shall further discuss its implications. One thing of note is that some key teams and others of potential interest were off this week. Two top-ten teams in Texas and Georgia shall resume plays this week, with key tests for both, respectively. Other teams were off this week as well, ready to resume play the next. The head-scratcher of Louisville, in apparent and inexplicable free-fall, could pick up an increasingly rare win against Wake Forest. Meanwhile, is there further potential in South Carolina, or have they plateaued already? In the upcoming Week 9, they take on ever-sleeping giant Tennessee, who is coming off an embarrassing blowout loss to hated rival Alabama. Could the Volunteers’ ire at such a loss combined with the Gamecock’s time to recharge their batteries amount to a strong, engaging matchup? We shall know in six days.
College Football Awards, Week 7 (2018) October 15, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Arkansas, Army, Clemson, Dabo Swinney, Dana Holgorsen, Dave Doeren, Duke, Ed Orgeron, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa State, James Franklin, Kirby Smart, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Miami Hurricanes, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, NC State, Nebraska, North Texas, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rice, San Diego State, San Jose State, Scott Frost, Seth Littrell, SJSU, TCU, Tulsa, UAB, UCF, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Western Kentucky
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 7] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Ed Orgeron, LSU
Glad I’m not him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Lucky guy: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Poor guy: James Franklin, Penn State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Seth Littrell, North Texas
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia
Desperately seeking … anything: Scott Frost, Nebraska
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Army (defeated San Jose State 52-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Florida (defeated Vanderbilt 37-27)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: San Jose State (lost to Army 52-3)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Minnesota (lost to Ohio State 30-14)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Purdue (defeated Illinois 46-7)
Dang, they’re good: LSU
Dang, they’re bad: Western Kentucky
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Georgia
Did the season start? TCU
Can the season end? Rice
Can the season never end? Michigan
GAMES
Play this again: No. 17 Oregon 30, No. 7 Washington 27, OT
Never play this again: Army 52, SJSU 3
What? Virginia 16, No. 16 Miami 13
Huh? No. 17 Oregon 30, No. 7 Washington 27, OT
Double Huh? Michigan State 21, No. 8 Penn State 17
Are you kidding me?? Iowa State 30, No. 6 West Virginia 14
Oh – my – God: No. 13 LSU 36, No. 2 Georgia 16
NEXT WEEK
Rankings are current AP (week 8)
Game of the week: No. 22 Mississippi State @ No. 5 LSU
Also: No. 16 NC State @ No. 3 Clemson
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Memphis @ Missouri
Best non-Power Five matchup: North Texas @ UAB
Upset alert: No. 16 NC State @ No. 3 Clemson
Must win: No. 6 Michigan @ No. 24 Michigan State
Offensive explosion: No. 12 Oregon @ No. 25 Washington State
Defensive struggle: (inconclusive)
Great game no one is talking about: Virginia @ Duke
Intriguing coaching matchup: Dave Doeren of NC State vs Dabo Swinney of Clemson
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 10 UCF @ East Carolina
Why are they playing? UTEP @ Louisiana Tech
Plenty of good seats remaining: Tulsa @ Arkansas
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? San Jose State @ San Diego State
Due to the intriguing complexity of the current situation, no additional thoughts are offered at this time, but shall be forthcoming in a subsequent article later this week.
College Football Awards, Week 5 (2018) September 30, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Air Force, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Army, Bobby Petrino, Bowling Green, Cal, California, Chris Ash, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado State, Duke, FIU, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hurricanes, Illinois, Jeff Monken, Jim Harbaugh, Justin Wilcox, Kansas State, Kevin Sumlin, Larry Fedora, liberty, Louisiana, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Navy, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nittany Lions, North Carolina, North Texas, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Pat Fitzgerald, Penn State, Red River Shootout, Rice, Rutgers, San Jose State, Scott Frost, South Alabama, Stanford, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Tulane, Urban Meyer, UTEP, Virginia Tech
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 5] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Glad I’m not him: Larry Fedora, North Carolina
Lucky guy: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Poor guy: Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville (held over for second week!)
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jeff Monken, Army
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Scott Frost, Nebraska
Desperately seeking … anything: Chris Ash, Rutgers
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Alabama (defeated Louisiana 56-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Georgia (defeated Tennessee 38-12)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Bowling Green (lost to Georgia Tech 63-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Syracuse (lost to Clemson 27-23)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Miami (North Carolina 47-10)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: South Alabama
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Duke
Did the season start? Louisville
Can the season end? Rice
Can the season never end? Notre Dame
GAMES
Play this again: No. 4 Ohio State 27, No. 10 Penn State 26
Never play this again: FIU 55, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 9
What? Liberty 52, New Mexico 43
Huh? Florida 13, No. 23 Mississippi State 6
Are you kidding me?? Virginia Tech 31, No. 22 Duke 14
Oh – my – God: No. 8 Notre Dame 38, No. 7 Stanford 17
NEXT WEEK
Rankings are current AP (week 5)
Ticket to die for: No. 18 Texas vs. No. 6 Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout (Dallas)
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Louisiana-Monroe @ Ole Miss
Best non-Power Five matchup: SMU @ UCF
Upset alert: No. 8 Notre Dame @ Virginia Tech
Must win: Georgia Tech @ Louisville
Offensive explosion: (inconclusive)
Defensive struggle: Navy @ Air Force
Great game no one is talking about: Tulane @ Cincinnati
Intriguing coaching matchup: Justin Wilcox of Cal vs. Kevin Sumlin of Arizona
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 1 Alabama @ Arkansas
Why are they playing? North Texas @ UTEP
Plenty of good seats remaining: Colorado State @ San Jose State
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Illinois @ Rutgers
Week 5 Thoughts:
This week was one of the most important of the year for this college football season. Although there were few upsets, and ever fewer of consequence (despite some close calls – looking your way, Michigan and Ohio State), there were still two games of enormous importance.
Let us start with the biggest game of the week, which was Ohio State playing Penn State in Happy Valley. With a “white-out” at night filling the 107,000-seat stadium, the Nittany Lions played above their No. 10 ranking, almost defeating No. 4 Ohio State. Almost. In the end, both teams played up to their high potential, and the slightly-better team on paper turned out to be the slightly better team on the field of play. The obvious national championship implications of the matchup and outcome is only part of the importance of this game, which shall be explained in further depth in a subsequent article.
The other game of enormous consequence was Stanford at Notre Dame. This was another top ten matchup with both teams outside of the South, with the victor having further potential to advance in the rankings. As wonderful as the southern teams are, having a healthy amount of top-ten (or even top-15) teams outside of the Southeast region is good for football because it makes the sport more national and less regional. This importance shall also be explained further in an article that shall be forthcoming soon.
Oh, and don’t look now, but Texas is on a four-game win streak, and survived a trap game at Kansas State headed into the Red River Shootout, er, Showdown come Oct. 6.
College Football Awards, Week 4 (2018) September 23, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Appalachian State, Arkansas, Army, Bill Snyder, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Boilers, Boston College, Cardinals, Cavaliers, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado State, Crimson Tide, David Shaw, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Fresno State, Gardner-Webb, Georgia, Hurricanes, Illinois, Illinois State, Jeff Brohm, Justin Fuente, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Luke Fickell, Mario Cristobal, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Mike Gundy, Mississippi State, Navy, Nebraska, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion, Oregon, Pac-12, Penn State, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Sam Darnold, Scott Frost, SMU, Southern Cal, Stanford, Tennessee State, Texas, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tom Herman, Trojans, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, West Virginia
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 4] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Tom Herman, Texas
Glad I’m not him: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Lucky guy: David Shaw, Stanford
Poor guy: Mario Cristobal, Oregon
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
Desperately seeking … anything: Scott Frost, Nebraska
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Penn State (defeated Illinois 63-24)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Oklahoma (defeated Army 28-21 in OT)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Tulane (lost to No. 9 Ohio State 49-6)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Army (lost to Oklahoma 28-21 in OT)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Texas Tech (defeated No. 15 Oklahoma State 17)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: Arkansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia Tech
Did the season start? Nebraska
Can the season end? Rutgers
Can the season never end? Alabama
GAMES
Play this again: No. 7 Stanford 38, No. 20 Oregon 31
Play this again, too: SMU 31, Navy 30
Never play this again: Appalachian State 72, Gardner-Webb 7
What? Purdue 30, No. 23 Boston College 13
Huh? Texas Tech 41, No. 15 Oklahoma State 17
Double Huh? Illinois State 35, Colorado State 19
Are you kidding me?? Kentucky 28, No. 14 Mississippi State 7
Oh – my – God: Old Dominion 49, No. 13 Virginia Tech 35
NEXT WEEK (Rankings are current AP, week 5)
Ticket to die for: No. 4 Ohio State @ No. 9 Penn State
Also: No. 7 Stanford @ No. 8 Notre Dame
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Pitt @ UCF
Best non-Power Five matchup: Toledo @ Fresno State
Upset alert: Texas Tech @ No. 12 West Virginia
Must win: Purdue @ Nebraska
Offensive explosion: Toledo @ Fresno State
Defensive struggle: Florida @ No. 23 Mississippi State
Great game no one is talking about: No.18 Texas @ Kansas State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Bill Snyder of Kansas State vs. Tom Herman of Texas
Who’s bringing the body bags? Louisiana @ No. 1 Alabama
Why are they playing? Southern Miss @ No. 10 Auburn
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTEP @ UTSA
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Tennessee State @ Vanderbilt
Week 4 Thoughts:
Purdue has started the season as a major head-scratcher. Coming off a surprising winning season after the Hazell-era doldrums, including a bowl win, the Boilermaker faithful had high hopes for the team in 2018. Thus far, after an understandable, opening-season loss to then-ranked Northwestern, Purdue proceeded to lose squeakers at home to beatable teams, including [shudder], Eastern Michigan – a directional school. Chalk it up to an undisciplined defense and a lack of a running game. Regardless, the Boilers have their first win of the year, and, all things considered, it’s a rather big one, handily defeating No. 23 Boston College 30-13. To be sure, Purdue did step it up on defense, and if they can maintain this newfound intensity on that side of the ball, there’s hope for the season yet. All that said, sometimes it takes a few weeks for a good team to find its footing and thus to play up to its potential.
The team now becoming an even bigger head-scratcher is Louisville. Sure, they lost badly to Alabama, but the Crimson Tide is such a juggernaut this year that most winning-season teams will look pathetic against them. What really raised concerns was having to struggle, at home, to beat Western Kentucky – another directional school! Let us thus give the Cardinals an ex-post-facto “Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t”. But now they got embarrassed, on the road to a beatable team in Virginia. At 27-3, are the Cavaliers that much better than the Cards? Is their offense that poor that they failed to punch it into the endzone, with only a sad field goal to open the 3rd quarter? A comparison of recent seasonal performances of both teams would say no, but today’s score would suggest so. Here is one possible diagnosis of Louisville’s under-performance. In the last few years (basically since Lamar Jackson was QB), Petrino has been fixated on “skills” players while acting as if he can get any lumbering lummox to block on the line. So, while he might have NFL-caliber talent on the wings, he has no way of executing plays. Has the time come to where Petrino would be better off as an offensive coordinator instead of a head coach? Further observation and analysis of the team’s performance shall tell us yes or no.
What about USC? Before losing badly on the road to Texas last week, they were ranked and poised to compete for the Pac-12 title again. But on Friday night, they had to play hard at home to beat unranked Washington State. One possible explanation: Sam Darnold’s talent at QB papered over the mediocrity of talent on the coaching staff. While I’m not a Trojans fan personally, I nevertheless recognize that when a traditional power like USC does well, it’s good for college football (same goes for other traditional powers like Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, or even Miami (Fla.)). Conversely, a mediocre Southern Cal team is thus not great for college football. Let us hope that they can eventually rise back to national title contention to help keep the west coast markets engaged in the game. After all, it’s never good for a sport to become regional (looking your way, Major League Baseball).
Speaking of Texas, are they “back”? And why were they ever, well, not back? This article by Pete Thamel explains the nature of why a national brand and a massively-valued program ever needed turning around in the first place (hint: turning around an aircraft carrier takes much, much longer than turning around, say, a personal sailboat). Forget, for a moment, that the program sure did not help anybody, least of all themselves, by laying an egg on the road to Maryland, and then under-performing at home the next week against Tulsa. The Longhorns’ big win over USC last week might not indicate that the team is “back” as strongly as one would think due to USC’s apparent mediocrity at the moment. But then again, Texas did follow up with another big win, this time over No. 16 TCU, 31-16. So the current conclusion is, if they’re not “back” yet, they’re certainly headed in the right direction. Onward and upward.
College Football Awards, Week 3 (2018) September 22, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, B1G, BC, Big Ten, Bobby Petrino, Boston College, BYU, Chris Petersen, Dino Babers, Ed Orgeron, Florida State, Georgia, Gus Malzahn, Herm Edwards, Illinois, Iowa State, Jeff Brohm, Kansas, Kent State, Louisville, Lovie Smith, LSU, Middle Tennessee, Navy, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Texas, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Scott Frost, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Toledo, Troy, Tulane, UTEP, Washington, Western Kentucky, Wisconsin
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As the saying goes, better late than never. Various other projects took my attention away from blogging, but with college football season in full swing, it was time to come out of hiding. Inspiration hit me in Week 4 to do a Week 3 retrospective awards, so here goes:
COACHES
Wish I were him: Ed Orgeron, LSU
Glad I’m not him: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Lucky guy: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Poor guy: Lovie Smith, Illinois
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Dino Babers, Syracuse
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Scott Frost, Nebraska
Desperately seeking … anything: Jeff Brohm, Purdue
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Penn State (defeated Kent State 63-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Louisville (defeated Western Kentucky 20-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Middle Tennessee (lost to Georgia 49-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Iowa State (lost to Oklahoma 37-27)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Kansas (yes, Kansas, who defeated Rutgers 55-14)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Rutgers
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Wisconsin
Did the season start? Florida State (honorable mention: half the Big Ten)
Can the season end? (too early to tell)
Can the season never end? Georgia
GAMES
Play this again: LSU 22, Auburn 21
Never play this again: Penn State 63, Kent State 10
That will leave a mark: Alabama 62, Ole Miss 7
What? Syracuse 30, Florida State 7
Huh? North Texas 44, Arkansas 17
Double Huh? Akron 39, Northwestern 34
Are you kidding me?? Troy 24, Nebraska 19 (in Lincoln, Neb., no less)
Oh – my – God: BYU 24, Wisconsin 21 (in Madison, Wis., no less)
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Best game of the week (first choice): No. 7 Stanford @ No. 20 Oregon
Best game of the week (second choice): No. 17 TCU @ Texas
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Akron @ Iowa State
Best non-Power Five matchup: Navy @ SMU
Upset alert: Arizona State @ No. 10 Washington
Must win: No. 23 Boston College @ Purdue
Offensive explosion: Nevada @ Toledo
Defensive struggle: Florida @ Tennessee
Great game no one is talking about: No. 14 Mississippi State @ Kentucky
Intriguing coaching matchup: Chris Petersen of Washington vs. Herm Edwards of Arizona State
Who’s bringing the body bags? Tulane @ No. 4 Ohio State
Why are they playing? Army @ No. 5 Oklahoma
Plenty of good seats remaining: New Mexico State @ UTEP
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? McNeese @ No. 25 BYU
Week 3 Thoughts:
(Holding off on those until Week 4 installment.)