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College Football Awards, Week 9 November 2, 2026

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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Lincoln Riley, USC

Glad I’m not him: Ryan Day, Ohio State

Lucky guy: Jedd Fisch, Washington

Poor guy: Matt Rhule, Nebraska

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Rhett Lashlee

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jason Eck, New Mexico

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

Desperately seeking … anything: Tony Elliott, Virginia

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Wake Forest (defeated Virginia 51-7)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Indiana (defeated Minnesota 23-16 (OT))
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: FIU (lost to Liberty 49-10)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Kennesaw State (defeated MTSU 44-28)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Duke (defeated BC 47-2)

Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: Boston College

Can’t Stand Prosperity: SMU

Did the season start?  Ohio State
Can the season end? UTEP

Can the season never end? Utah

GAMES
Play this again: Iowa State 51, No. 24 Oklahoma State 49

Play this again, too: No. 1 Miami 38, North Carolina 35

Never play this again: No. 14 Wake Forest 51, Virginia 7

What? Iowa 30, No. 25 Wisconsin 0

Come again? Iowa State 51, No. 24 Oklahoma State 49

Huh? Oregon 34, No. 20 Northwestern 26

Double-Huh?? Syracuse 30, No. 19 SMU 27

Are you kidding me?? South Carolina 42, Oklahoma 25

Oh – my – God:  USC 30, No. 2 Ohio State 18

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 10)
Ticket to die for:  No. 7 BYU @ No. 3 Utah

Also: No. 1 Miami @ No. 4 Notre Dame

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: None

Best non-Power Four matchup: Buffalo @ Miami (OH) (Tuesday)

Upset alert: No. 5 UCLA @ Minnesota

Must win: No. 8 Kentucky @ No. 16 Tennessee

Offensive explosion: West Virginia @ No. 14 Texas Tech

Defensive struggle: Michigan State @ Michigan

Great game no one is talking about: Air Force @ Army

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Kalen DeBoer of Alabama vs Lane Kiffin of LSU

Who’s bringing the body bags?  Merrimack @ No. 14 Wake Forest

Why are they playing?  (see above)

Plenty of good seats remaining: Hawaii @ UTEP

Plenty of good seats remaining, B1G edition: Maryland @ Purdue

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

Week 9 Thoughts:

Some major and some minor upsets occurred this week.  Let us address the 900-lb gorilla in the room with USC upsetting Ohio State, 30-18.  If both teams were intact, this outcome would be most unlikely, even with the Buckeyes having to venture out to the west coast to play.  But Ohio State’s victory at Indiana last week proved to be more Pyrrhic than first considered.  The loss of QB1 Julian Sayin was a major hit to the Buckeyes’ offense, which was left sputtering at times and unable to put the ball into the end zone at other times.  The rain certainly did not help things for true freshman backup Luke Fahey, either. Still, the Buckeyes dominated time of possession, and they were decent on 3rd down, on the road. One possible takeaway is that OSU can learn from this, even build upon this, and recover further as the season further progresses.

Other interesting surprises included Iowa whipping Wisconsin, 30-0.  So much for this week’s defensive struggle, at least as far as the Iowa side of the equation was concerned.

Oregon’s upset over Northwestern sounds oxymoronic on a number of levels, but the immediate context makes the categorization of an upset technically correct.  After all, Northwestern came into Eugene ranked.  The Ducks, ranked in the top-10 at the season’s start, have suffered enough losses to be currently out of the rankings altogether.  Perhaps Oregon’s win is a sign that Dan Lanning might be righting the ship for the season after all.

As for the most entertaining upset of the week, that clearly goes to South Carolina defeating Oklahoma, on the road, no less.  The high-scoring affair could also consider itself an explosion of offense of sorts, what with the Gamecocks scoring 42 points compared to the home team’s 25.  The Cocks’ triumph should remind the rest of the conference to take Shane Beamer’s team lightly at their own peril.

One of the most engaging games was the low-scoring affair in Bloomington, Ind., between defending national champ Indiana and scrappy Minnesota.  Fun fact:  this was the first game in B1G history (which spans 130 years) wherein two 60-yard field goals were kicked, and that’s not even the whole it.  Both teams kicked theirs within the last two minutes of the game.

Another near-upset occurred with North Carolina plays top-ranked Miami closely throughout, making this week’s intriguing coaching matchup even more interesting to observe as the game unfolded.

Offensive Explosion Review:

For once, my predicted offensive explosion actually came to pass.  North Texas triumphed over Florida Atlantic in a rather thrilling finish, with high scoring throughout the game.  Interestingly, that was not the only offensive explosion worth noting.  Texas State almost upset No. 20 Boise State, with a second-half near-comeback mounted in the second half (the Bobcats outscored the Broncos 22-0 alone in the 3rd quarter), but the Broncos managed to hold off the challengers in the end, barely, 46-45.

Looking Ahead

Two potentially legendary games await us next week, what with a fitting replay of the “Catholics vs Convicts” as No. 1 Miami ventures up to South Bend, Ind., to play No. 4 Notre Dame, with obvious playoff implications abounding.  At the same time, No. 7 BYU plays No. 3 Utah in what could be the most legendary, definitely most high-stakes “Holy War” ever staged. 

Elsewhere, other intriguing matchups abound.  Kentucky plays Tennessee:  the fact that the Wildcats currently outrank the Volunteers merits us to queue the “Twilight Zone” theme music. 

While UCLA currently sits at the No. 5 ranking, they now venture up to the Twin Cities to play Minnesota, a team that almost upset IU on the road.  Can the Bruins handle the frozen tundra of Huntington Bank Stadium? 

Consider that Texas heads up to Missouri.  Can the Longhorns’ defense contain the Tigers’ offense while Arch Manning continues to find his own offensive footing, including achieving further growth in playing to his strengths (he clearly takes after his grandfather more than he does his uncles).

In another must-win scenario, Oregon, which seems to have stabilized, now plays Ohio State on the road, just as the Buckeyes continue to scramble to revive their offense, assuming such a thing is possible in the first place.

Also, No. 2 Georgia plays No. 12 Ole Miss:  can the Rebels’ Trinidad Chambliss overcome the Bulldogs’ potentially stifling defense?  Conversely, can the Dawgs effectively contain Chambliss and thus put themselves into the driver’s seat in the whole SEC?  We’ll find out this and more this Saturday.  Buckle up, Buckaroos.

College Football Awards, Week 5 (2026) October 5, 2026

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COACHES
Wish I were him:  PJ Fleck, Minnesota

Glad I’m not him: Kyle Whittingham, Michigan

Lucky guy: Pat Narduzzi, Pitt

Also:  Will Stein, Kentucky

Poor guy: James Franklin, Virginia Tech

Also:  Shane Beamer, South Carolina

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Matt Campbell, Penn State

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: David Braun, Northwestern

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jon Sumrall, Florida

Desperately seeking … anything:  Jeff Brohm, Louisville

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Memphis (defeated Charlotte 59-8)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Texas Tech (defeated Colorado 29-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Stanford (lost to Wake Forest 57-3)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Rice (lost to UTSA 16-14)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Mizzou (defeated No. 8 Florida 45-17)

Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad:  UTEP

Can’t Stand Prosperity: Florida

Did the season start?  Louisville
Can the season end?  Charlotte

Can the season never end? Missouri

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 18 USC 25, Washington 21

Play this again, too: Iowa State 45, West Virginia 42

Never play this again: New Mexico 61, UTEP 7

What? Eastern Michigan 38, UMass 14

Huh?  Northwestern 34, Penn State 13

Are you kidding me??  Temple 17, South Florida 13

Oh – my – God:  No. 25 Missouri 45, No. 8 Florida 17

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 6)
Ticket to die for:  No. 2 Georgia @ No. 6 Alabama

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: none

Best non-Power Four matchup: South Florida @ UTSA

Upset alert: Oklahoma vs No. 1 Texas in the Red River Shootout

Must win: Florida State @ Louisville (Friday)

Offensive explosion: No. 21 UCLA @ No. 13 Oregon

Defensive struggle: No. 20 Iowa @ Washington (Friday)

Great game no one is talking about: No. 22 Houston @ Kansas State

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Pat Narduzzi of Pitt vs Bill Belichick of North Carolina

Who’s bringing the body bags?  Stanford @ No. 3 Notre Dame

Why are they playing?  Ball State @ Northwestern

Plenty of good seats remaining: Sacramento State @ Bowling Green

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Maryland @ No. 5 Ohio State

Week 5 Thoughts:

Let us be honest:  this was not the greatest week for college football.  Even the so-called “ticket to die for” turned out to be something of a dud.  Mississippi State is good, but apparently, Alabama found another gear of performance and shifted into it in Starkville when folks were least expecting it.

That said, there were good games.  Auburn, which has quietly gained strength, put up a real fight against the Volunteers in Knoxville.  Minnesota demonstrated that they are not a team to be taken lightly as they retained the Little Brown Jug against Michigan.  North Carolina put up an impressive fight against Notre Dame at home, and Kentucky won in a shootout at South Carolina.

If that is not enough, Iowa gave Ohio State a good fight for a half, and on-again, off-again rain in Fort Worth made the BYU-TCU game a close, defensive struggle wherein the Cougars eventually triumphed.  Moreover, Iowa State squeaked by West Virginia in a massive shootout of a game. If that is not enough, Purdue snapped a 19-game B1G losing streak, at Illinois, no less.

So there were plenty of interesting games, just no “monster games” as in previous weeks.  Games between Texas and Ohio State, and also Texas at Tennessee, not to mention Oregon at USC, have spoiled us.

But next week Georgia faces their first true test, on that road in Tuscaloosa, and it’s also Red River time in Dallas.

Random Thoughts:

What to make of Florida?  Just when they appear to be a force to be reckoned with in the SEC, they lay an egg on the road at Mizzou.  The Tigers cannot be that good, can they?

Keep an eye on how the Gators bounce back from this embarrassing loss as they venture up to South Carolina next week.  Same could be said for the Gamecocks:  they lost a heartbreaker at home to Kentucky, and now recently-embarrassed Florida is about to come calling.

Clemson put up a decent fight against Miami at home. If I were Marcus Freeman, I would be studying film of this game very intently as I prepare my team to face the Hurricanes later this year.

College Football Awards, Week 4 (2026) September 28, 2026

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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Steve Sarkesian, Texas

Glad I’m not him: Josh Heupel, Tennessee

Lucky guy: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa

Poor guy: Kyle Whittingham, Michigan

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jeff Brohm, Louisville

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jake Dickert, Wake Forest

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

Desperately seeking … anything:  Mike Locksley, Maryland

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Pitt (defeated Bucknell 59-0)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: SMU (defeated Missouri State 34-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Purdue (lost to No. 3 Notre Dame 49-10)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Northwestern (lost to Indiana 29-23)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Florida (defeated No. 4 Ole Miss 52-28)

Dang, they’re good: Florida
Dang, they’re bad:  Maryland

Can’t Stand Prosperity: Louisville

Did the season start?  Penn State
Can the season end?  Bowling Green

Can the season never end? Georgia

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 1 Texas 20, No. 14 Tennessee 17

Play this again, too: No 17 Iowa 20, No. 18 Michigan 19

Never play this again: Duke 62, William & Mary 7

What?  No. 24 Mississippi State 31, No. 19 Missouri 24

Huh?  Wake Forest 30, No. 16 Louisville 27

Are you kidding me??  Wisconsin 24, No. 13 Penn State 20

Oh – my – God:  No. 21 Florida 52, No. 4 Ole Miss 28

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 5)
Ticket to die for:  No. 7 Alabama @ No. 16 Mississippi State

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: Cal @ UNLV

Best non-Power Four matchup: Western Michigan @ Buffalo

Upset alert: Michigan @ Minnesota

Must win: Louisville @ NC State

Offensive explosion: No. 7 Alabama @ No. 16 Mississippi State

Defensive struggle: Michigan State @ Wisconsin

Great game no one is talking about: Pittsburgh @ Virginia Tech (Friday)

Also:  West Virginia @ Iowa State

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame vs Bill Belichick of North Carolina

Who’s bringing the body bags?  No. 11 LSU @ McNeese State

Why are they playing?  No. 11 LSU @ McNeese State

Plenty of good seats remaining: LA Monroe @ South Alabama

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Texas Southern @ Florida Atlantic

Week 4 Thoughts:

Texas survived yet another strong challenge, this time in the hostile confines of legendary Neyland Stadium.  Many in the sports commentary sphere remarked that had this been a night game, the place would have been more intimidating to the visiting Longhorns to the point where the odds would have been more in the Volunteers’ favor.  That assessment does not take a rocket scientist to figure out:  the fans would have had all day to get good and drunk.  Drunker fans equal louder fans, making for an even more hostile environment in which for the visitors to play.  Small wonder LSU plays most of their games in the evening.

To compensate for this lack of, er, augmented home field advantage, Neyland Stadium opened up its gates early.  Parking lots opened at 6 AM for example, but that’s not the half of it.  The University of Tennessee discounted all of their stadium concessions, including (read:  especially) beer, at 50 percent between 9 and 10 AM (!).  The ostensible reason for all of this was to encourage early arrival in order to avoid congestion as President Donald Trump, who also attended the game, was to arrive.  But let us kid ourselves.  As plausible as this may be, on the surface, for the reason behind this “early bird special”, we all know the real reason behind it, and its somewhat genius.  Some might say dangerously genius, as it could set a new precedence for new degrees of fan inebriation earlier in the day going forward, but time will tell.

Regardless, all of this was before the game itself.  Hard to believe that this was the first time the Horns and Volunteers played each other in the regular season.  Moreover, the last time these two storied programs clashed was in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day, 1969, almost seven months shy of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and a prelude to the Longhorns’ undefeated season that same year which culminated in a national title of their own.

The game lived up to its hype, for both teams gave strong efforts, and at the end, Texas’ defensive line made the difference in stifling Tennessee’s young but potentially-gifted QB Faizon Brandon.  Such potential showed itself in the form of Faizon almost completing a Hail Mary pass in the end zone as the game ended.

Random Thoughts:

There are body bag games, then then there are worse, even more pointless body bag games.  To wit, regarding the latter:  rarely would one consider the Pittsburgh Panthers to be pitiless executioners in such affairs, but so it went when they mercilessly ground down Bucknell 59-0.  It is one thing for a Power-Five team to pick up an easy win against a “Group of Six” team for cash.  It is quite another to pulverize a middling FCS team with no playoff hopes even at the latter’s level of competition.  In this new day and age of playoffs and increased parity in the sport at the upper levels of FBS play, is it not unreasonable that we ban such ugly matchups from ever happening again?

Same thing goes for Duke.  Scheduling a low-end Sunbelt or MAC conference team for an easy win is one thing.  Scheduling a middling FCS team is getting ridiculous.  At least with Pitt, they kept it in-state.  Stunts like these make for begging for some central authority to start making schedules like they do in the NFL.

How many holes did Jeff Brohm kick into the wall of his office in the wake of Louisville’s puzzling loss, at home to Wake Forest?  Either the Demon Deacons are far better than their currently unranked status shows, or the Cardinals demonstrated some weird refusal to effectively execute plays.  For a team to go toe-to-toe with Ole Miss and then to take down a formidable SMU squad only to come up short against this team leaves one to sympathize with Brohm in his current frustrations.

Don’t look now, but Luke Fickell finally got something close to a signature win in taking down then-undefeated Penn State, in Happy Valley, no less.  Perhaps the Badger program is gaining strength under his leadership after all.  Time will tell if this is a harbinger of further success for the program, or some curious anomaly instead.

Something to monitor for Week 5:  can Missouri’s defense contain Florida’s offense more effectively than Ole Miss’ did in The Swamp this week?

College Football Awards, Week 2 (2026) September 14, 2026

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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Steve Sarkesian, Texas

Glad I’m not him: Ryan Day, Ohio State

Lucky guy: Brian Hartline, South Florida

Poor guy: Jeff Monken, Army

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jedd Fisch, Washington

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dan Lanning, Oregon

Desperately seeking … anything:  Barry Odom, Purdue

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Georgia (defeated Western Kentucky 70-20)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Washington (defeated Utah State 16-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Rice (lost to No. 3 Notre Dame 52-0)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Oregon State (lost to Texas Tech 35-24)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Mississippi State (defeated Minnesota 38-13)  

Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad:  UNLV

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Oregon

Did the season start?  Oregon
Can the season end?  Purdue

Can the season never end? Texas

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 4 Texas 24, No. 1 Ohio State 23

Play this again, too: Michigan 17, No. 11 Oklahoma 10

Never play this again: Houston 77, Southern 6

What?  Illinois State 28, Northern Illinois 24

Huh?  Michigan 17, No. 11 Oklahoma 10

Are you kidding me??  No. 4 Texas 24, No. 1 Ohio State 23

Oh – my – God:  OK State 39, No. 6 Oregon 31

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 3)
Ticket to die for:  No. 8 LSU @ No. 9 Ole Miss

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: Tulane @ Kansas State

Best non-Power Four matchup: Western Michigan @ Rice

Upset alert: Michigan State @ No. 3 Notre Dame

Must win: No. 16 SMU @ No. 23 Louisville

Offensive explosion: No. 22 Houston @ No. 13 Texas Tech

Defensive struggle: North Carolina @ Clemson

Great game no one is talking about: Arizona State @ Kansas

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Bill Belichick of North Carolina vs Dabo Swinney of Clemson

Who’s bringing the body bags?  Kent State @ No. 6 Ohio State

Why are they playing? Western Kentucky @ No. 4 Indiana

Plenty of good seats remaining: Stonehill @ UMass

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Northern Iowa @ No. 18 Iowa

Week 2 Thoughts:

The Ohio State-Texas game lived up to its hype, with a miraculous comeback win for the Longhorns over the Buckeyes, a result that has left Buckeye Nation in apoplexy if these articles are of any indication.  Allowing Texas to score three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter is the worst second-half collapse for the Buckeyes in the Ryan Day Era.

Conversely, OSU collapse or none, this is massive win for the Longhorns, one that gets a major monkey off the program’s – and Sark’s – back.  For how long have discussions swirled that Texas cannot win the big game?  Now they have the huge win.

Win or lose, both teams will be able to lick their wounds for a week, what with body bag games coming up for both of them.  Then, it’s on to the season, where Ohio State can no doubt take the Big Ten by storm, and where Texas has the opportunity to prove that this huge win was not a fluke as they face a positively brutal SEC schedule.

Random Thoughts:

As I look back on the random thoughts I offered for Week 2 from last year, I am struck by the interesting parallels and related differences.

For instance, take this week’s Cy-Hawk trophy game between Iowa and Iowa State.  I wrote:

“The only reason the game for the Cy-Hawk trophy ended as closely as it did was because of avoidable mistakes committed by the victors.  Sooner or later, a team that make fewer mistakes shall come along to play Iowa, and when they do, expect a humiliating defeat for the Hawkeyes and a possible end to the Kirk Ferentz era.”

Given how last night’s game was such a low-scoring affair, one could say the exact same thing for this go-around.

Regardless, there’s something about Iowa and their massive trophies.  The Cy-Hawk trophy is so heavy, at 90 pounds, it required two o-linemen to carry it.  If that’s not enough, the Floyd of Rosedale trophy, played for annually between the Hawkeyes and Minnesota, is even heavier at 98 pounds.

But in continuation of the initial observation, in another parallel to last year’s week 2 observations, Illinois played their home half of the home-and-home series with Duke.  But in contrast to last year’s 45-19 ripping victory on the road, this time Duke pulled off an upset on the road, 31-27.  While I observed last year:

“Keep an eye out for Illinois.  They are currently ranked No. 9, and defeated a well-coached Duke team, 45-19.”, the Illini are currently unranked.  I can’t imagine why.

Returning to the Texas-Ohio State game, one thing that allowed for an improved offensive output for the Longhorns in the second half was Sark getting out of Arch Manning’s way.  Let us hope for the sake of that team that their head coach continues to heed this lesson as the season progresses.

College Football Awards, Week 11 (2025) November 10, 2025

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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Joey McGuire, Texas Tech

Glad I’m not him: Kalani Sitake, BYU

Lucky guy: Curt Cignetti, Indiana

Poor guy: Terry Smith, Penn State

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Clark Lea, Vanderbilt

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Justin Wilcox, Cal

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jedd Fisch, Washington

Desperately seeking … anything:  Deion Sanders, Colorado

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ole Miss (defeated The Citadel 49-0)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Indiana (defeated Penn State 27-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Boston College (lost to SMU 45-13)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Penn State (lost to Indiana 27-24)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Kentucky (defeated Florida 38-7)  

Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad:  Northern Illinois

Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia

Did the season start?  Washington
Can the season end?  Florida

Can the season never end? Texas A&M

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 2 Indiana 27, Penn State 24

Play this again, too: No. 9 Oregon 18, Iowa 16

Never play this again: No. 6 Ole Miss 49, The Citadel 0

What?  Tulane 38, No. 22 Memphis 32

Huh?  No. 8 Texas Tech 29, No. 7 BYU 7

Double-Huh?  Wisconsin 13, No. 23 Washington 10

Are you kidding me??:  Cal 29, No. 15 Louisville 26, OT

Oh – my – God:  Wake Forest 16, No. 14 Virginia 9

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 12)
Ticket to die for:  No. 10 Texas @ No. 5 Georgia

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: none

Best non-Power Four matchup: Boise State @ San Diego State

Upset alert: Iowa @ No. 17 USC

Must win: No. 11 Oklahoma @ No. 4 Alabama

Offensive explosion: South Florida @ Navy

Defensive struggle: No. 18 Michigan @ Northwestern

Great game no one is talking about: Clemson @ No. 19 Louisville

Also:  Arizona @ Cincinnati

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame vs Pat Narduzzi of Pittsburgh

Who’s bringing the body bags, B1G edition?  Wisconsin @ No. 2 Indiana

Who’s bringing the body bags, ACC edition?  No. 14 Georgia Tech @ Boston College

Why are they playing? New Mexico State @ No. 21 Tennessee

Plenty of good seats remaining: Oregon State @ Tulsa

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Tennessee Tech @ Kentucky

Week 12 [Random] Thoughts:

Indiana averted one of the biggest upsets of the season when they came back in the last minute of the game to score on Penn State, in Happy Valley.  For the first time all year, the Hoosiers had to play from behind, initially having to punt with only four minutes and change left in the game, and somehow forcing Penn State to punt at the two-minute warning.  Moreover, the game-winning drive only became such with a series of amazing catches, including two improbable ones, one of which was the touchdown itself, what with Omar Cooper, jr., barely keeping his feet in bounds at the back of the end zone.  Still, Penn State theoretically had time to kick a field goal with the ball back, with the drive stalled at the 50, forcing a Hail Mary play that went nowhere.

Once again, Penn State played up to their initially high-rank potential, as if they too were still a top-ten team.  In so doing, instead of getting their doors blown off, as my speculated they would, the Nittany Lions forced the Hoosiers into situations they had not faced all year.  Upon further review, perhaps Curt Cignetti should send a case of wine over to the Penn State coaching staff, as they forced IU into situations the Hoosiers will certainly have to deal with some playoff time.

In other news, Texas Tech boat raced BYU during the Noon ET timeslot in Lubbock.  Remember when that was supposed to be the game of the week (admittedly as part of a relatively weak slate of games for this weekend)?  As things manifested, however, it soon became clear that the Red Raiders had too many ponies for the Cougars to corral.  Just as war is a laboratory to find out what should have been known between countries’ powers before the first battle, lining up teams and having them play is the ultimate showing of who is actually better than whom, and the outcome of this game is “Exhibit A”.

They say that by November, you pretty much are who you are as a team.  For example, by November of 2014 (Steve Spurrier’s last full season coaching South Carolina), the Gamecocks were a team that blew 4th quarter leads.  Today, and in a similar vein, Louisville is a team that blows it in overtime at home.

Who had the Auburn @ Vanderbilt game as the offensive explosion of the week on their bingo card?  Not this guy:  where had that offense for Auburn been all year?

College Football Awards, Week 9 (2025) October 26, 2025

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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Mike Elko, Texas A&M

Glad I’m not him: Brian Kelly, LSU

Lucky guy: Greg Schiano, Rutgers

Poor guy: Barry Odom, Purdue

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Steve Sarkesian, Texas

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Willie Fritz, Houston

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: N/A

Desperately seeking … anything:  Brian Kelly, LSU

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Indiana (defeated UCLA 56-6)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Oregon (defeated Wisconsin 21-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Oklahoma State (lost to Texas Tech 42-0)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  North Carolina (lost to Virginia 17-16)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Iowa (defeated Minnesota 41-3)  

Dang, they’re good: Texas A&M
Dang, they’re bad:  Oklahoma State

Can’t Stand Prosperity: South Florida

Did the season start?  Illinois
Can the season end?  Nevada

Can the season never end? Georgia Tech

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 10 Vanderbilt 17, No. 15 Missouri 10

Play this again, too: No. 4 Alabama 29, South Carolina 22

Never play this again: No. 2 Indiana 56, UCLA 6

What?  Virginia Tech 42, Cal 34, 2OT

Huh?  Memphis 34, No. 18 South Florida 31

Are you kidding me??  Houston 24, No. 24 Arizona State 16

Oh – my – God:  Washington 42, No. 23 Illinois 25

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 10)
Ticket to die for:  No. 18 Oklahoma @ No. 14 Tennessee

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: none

Best non-Power Four matchup: Navy @ North Texas

Upset alert: No. 17 Cincinnati @ No. 24 Utah

Must win: No. 9 Vanderbilt @ No. 20 Texas

Offensive explosion: Baylor @ No. 24 Cincinnati

Defensive struggle: Kentucky @ Auburn

Great game no one is talking about: No. 15 Virginia @ Cal

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Lincoln Riley of USC vs Matt Rhule of Nebraska

Who’s bringing the body bags?  No. 12 Notre Dame @ Boston College

Why are they playing? N/A

Plenty of good seats remaining: Louisiana @ South Alabama

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Sam Houston @ Louisiana Tech

Week 9 [Random] Thoughts:

Vanderbilt, the perennial punching bag of the SEC, is now ranked in the top ten for the first time since 1947.  Let that sink in for a moment.  How did this come about?  The likely answer is, a number of factors.  Clark Lea certainly had a vision, greatly aided to fruition by talented QB Diego Pavia.  But surely other talented players have been key factors in this fascinating development.  That is where the combination of the transfer portal and the NIL come into play.  Vanderbilt has enjoyed the well-earned reputation of being the most prestigious school in the SEC, and with that surely comes some reasonably deep pockets to fund a strong NIL collective, to say nothing of its location in growing corporate hotbed Nashville.  As fans of college football, let us embrace the opportunity to witness this further develop, for if nothing else, it gives us all the more great SEC matchups to enjoy every Saturday.

Texas pulled off an improbable comeback in the 4th quarter at Mississippi State.  Arch Manning went 29-35 for 346 yards and 4 touchdowns, with one interception, and that came from a deflection off the hands of a receiver.  In the 4th quarter, Manning went 12-20, passing for 169 yards and two touchdowns.  Yet the biggest irony of all was when he went out, concussed, in overtime.  Backup Matthew Caldwell went into the game, and executed in a massive way, throwing the game-winning touchdown.  Could it be that the biggest untapped strength of this young, unstable Texas team is its backup QBs?

Is the Brian Kelly experiment in Baton Rouge about to come to a sudden, ignominious end?  Texas A&M embarrassed LSU in Death Valley, 49-25.  Early in the 4th quarter, fans started to empty the stands in droves.  Such is hardly the look the powers that be in LSU’s athletics department like to project during a primetime game on ABC.  But in Kelly’s defense, the Tigers’ three losses all come to current, top-ten teams, those being Ole Miss (currently No. 8), Vanderbilt (currently No. 9), and now Texas A&M (currently No. 3).  Can some blame be nevertheless placed at Kelly’s feet for not having an optimal season?  Surely, yes.  He certainly has failed at designing an offense to play to QB Garrett Nussmeier’s strengths, but that also assumes that he has any strengths worth noting in the first place.  But while many are now calling for Kelly’s head, some context in this situation might be a benefit to everyone.

Meanwhile, Ole Miss seemed to pass a key test by defeating Oklahoma on the road, 34-26.  With a reasonably clear path to win out in the regular season, it is quite reasonable to conclude that the Rebels control their own destiny to make the playoffs this year, surely legitimizing Lane Kiffin’s tenure in Oxford in the process.

College Football Awards, Week 8 (2025) October 20, 2025

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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

Glad I’m not him: Josh Heupel, Tennessee

Lucky guy: Steve Sarkesian, Texas

Poor guy: Mark Stoops, Kentucky

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Brian Kelly, LSU

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: David Braun, Northwestern

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mario Cristobal, Miami (FL)

Desperately seeking … anything:  Barry Odom, Purdue

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Oregon (defeated Rutgers 56-10)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Memphis  
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Charlotte (lost to Temple 49-14)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: UAB

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Toledo (defeated Kent State 45-10)  

Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad:  Purdue

Can’t Stand Prosperity: Miami, FL

Did the season start?  LSU
Can the season end?  Sam Houston

Can the season never end? Vanderbilt

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 9 Georgia 43, No. 5 Ole Miss 35

Play this again, too: Arizona State 26, No. 7 Texas Tech 22

Never play this again: James Madison 63, Old Dominion 27

What?  UAB 31, No. 22 Memphis 24

Huh?  Minnesota 24, No. 25 Nebraska 6

Double-huh?  No. 17 Vanderbilt 31, No. 10 LSU 24

Are you kidding me??  Arizona State 26, No. 7 Texas Tech 22

Oh – my – God:  Louisville 24, No. 2 Miami, FL 21

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 9)
Ticket to die for:  No. 3 Texas A&M @ No. 20 LSU

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: none

Best non-Power Four matchup: No. 18 South Florida @ Memphis

Upset alert: No. 11 BYU @ Iowa State

Must win: No. 8 Ole Miss @ No. 13 Oklahoma

Offensive explosion: Baylor @ No. 24 Cincinnati

Defensive struggle: Rutgers @ Purdue

Great game no one is talking about: No. 23 Illinois @ Washington

Also:  Northwestern @ Nebraska

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Jedd Fisch of Washington vs Bret Bielema of Illinois

Who’s bringing the body bags?  Oklahoma State @ No. 14 Texas Tech

Why are they playing? N/A

Plenty of good seats remaining: South Alabama @ Georgia State

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  North Texas @ Charlotte

Week 8 Thoughts:

Another week has passed where upsets abounded.  The weekend launched with a bang in the form of unranked Louisville delivering a massive upset in Miami, thus exposing the Hurricanes for perhaps not being the juggernaut team some thought they were.  Jeff Brohm has been known to gear his team up for huge games, and golly, did he deliver this time.  On the other side of the ball, the Hurricanes can still regroup, finish the season strongly, and a playoff berth would surely be in the cards – an ironic expression, given the team to which they just lost – nonetheless.

Also on Friday evening, Minnesota delivered a blow to Nebraska’s brief ranking.

The next day at noon Eastern Time, the upset trend picked up where it left off with Vanderbilt exposing LSU for having an inconsistent office.  Here it is, mid-season, and Brian Kelly, a supposedly offensive coach, has yet to craft an offense to take advantage of Garrett Nussmeier’s strengths.

Then Memphis inexplicably laid an egg against UAB in Birmingham, Ala., thus jeopardizing its ranking.  At that same time, Arizona State came out of hiding and delivered the first loss of the season to then-No. 7 Texas Tech.

One would think that then-No. 9 Georgia defeating then-No. 5 Ole Miss would also qualify as a massive upset, but deep down, we all knew that the Bulldogs were the stronger team in any case, regardless of preliminary ranking.

Some near-upsets likewise occurred, such as Texas, who barely escaped Lexington with their skin on, while Washington State actually led Virginia, in Charlottesville, for a good chunk of the game before eventually losing by only two points.

Do not be fooled by the result of the Arkansas-Texas A&M game.  The Razorbacks’ loss by only three points was due to a last-minute touchdown.  That said, Bobby Petrino’s signature upset shall surely come in due time.

Another near-upset took place in Columbia, Mo., with unranked Auburn taking Missouri into OT, only to lose by a touchdown in the second overtime.  Over in Utah, while the Utes gave BYU a tough game in Provo, it was not meant to be, as the Cougars triumphed 24-21.

Random Thoughts:

The Miami Hurricanes’ quest for the playoffs is by no means dead, but look out for Georgia Tech, who remains undefeated and has now quietly risen to the No. 7 ranking, ahead of the ‘Canes sent down to that of No. 9 (a fall that could have been worse).

The Longhorns were lucky to escape Lexington with their skin on.  Now they venture to Starkville, Miss., to take on a scrappy Mississippi State squad.  High-profile QB Arch Manning was outclassed by Kentucky’s Cutter Boley last night.  Can he get it together in time to redeem himself on the road this week?

Also this week, Minnesota plays Iowa for one of the most unique trophies in all of college football, the Floyd of Rosedale, considered by many to be the top rivalry trophy in all of college football. Be ready for what should be a hard-fought matchup, as both teams are now 5-2 and are fairly evenly matched.

Look for another possibly even matchup with No. 15 Mizzou taking on No. 10 Vandy in Nashville (both teams are 6-1).  Elsewhere, 5-2 Northwestern ventures over to Lincoln to face 5-2 Nebraska, while 5-2 Illinois goes all the way out to Seattle to take on 5-2 Washington.  Perhaps the best battle of teams with matching records shall be 6-1 [No. 8] Ole Miss playing 6-1 [No. 13] Oklahoma in Norman.

It might not be the monster week we all enjoyed in week 7, but plenty of hidden gems await us all the same.

College Football Awards, Week 7 (2025) October 13, 2025

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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Curt Cignetti, Indiana

Honorable mention:  Steve Sarkesian, Texas

Glad I’m not him: Dan Lanning, Oregon

Lucky guy: Kalen DeBoer, Alabama

Poor guy: Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Alex Golesh, South Florida

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mike Norvell, Florida State

Desperately seeking … anything:  James Franklin, Penn State

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Clemson (defeated Boston College 41-10)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Ole Miss (defeated Washington State 24-21)  
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: N/A

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Northwestern (defeated Penn State 22-21)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  South Florida (defeated North Texas 63-36)  

Honorable mention:  Utah (defeated No. 21 Arizona State 42-10)

Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad:  Akron

Can’t Stand Prosperity: Oregon

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

Can the season never end? Indiana

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 7 Indiana 30, No. 3 Oregon 20

Play this again, too: No. 8 Alabama 27, No. 14 Missouri 24

Never play this again: UTSA 61, Rice 13

What?  Colorado 22, No. 22 Iowa State 17

Huh?  USC 31, No. 15 Michigan 13

Double-huh?  No. 7 Indiana 30, No. 3 Oregon 20

Are you kidding me??  Texas 23, No. 6 Oklahoma 6

Oh – my – God:  Northwestern 22, Penn State 21

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 8)
Ticket to die for:  No. 12 Tennessee @ No. 8 Alabama

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: Washington State @ No. 19 Virginia

Best non-Power Four matchup: UNLV @ Boise State

Upset alert: Utah @ No. 18 BYU

Also:  No. 20 USC @ No. 13 Notre Dame

Must win: No. 4 Ole Miss @ No. 9 Georgia

Offensive explosion: Air Force @ UNLV

Defensive struggle: Penn State @ Iowa

Great game no one is talking about: Arizona @ Houston

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Mike Elko of Texas A&M vs Bobby Petrino of Arkansas

Who’s bringing the body bags?  No. 22 Memphis @ UAB

Why are they playing? Washington State @ No. 19 Virginia

Plenty of good seats remaining: Georgia State @ Georgia Southern

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Lafayette @ Oregon State

Week 7 Thoughts:

Another monster week for college football, with great games abounding from noon Eastern through night, and upsets abounding in turn.  Indiana proved that they are a considerable force to be reckoned with in defeating Oregon, on the road, no less.  USC continues to quietly gain strength after losing to Illinois earlier in the year, this time by defeating ranked Michigan in rather convincing fashion.  Colorado proved to have some fight within them by upsetting Iowa State on the road.  Then we had the Red River Showdown, and the incredibly electric environment it always produces.  Many in the sports commentary space had given Texas up for dead after their loss to Florida in the Swamp last week.  The calculus was that since the Longhorns’ offense sputtered against the Gators’ defense, given that Oklahoma’s defense is even better, Texas would likely be demolished in Dallas.  But as the great Lee Corso would say, “[N]ot so fast, my friend!”  The Longhorns’ defense stepped up in a major way, cramping the performance of the Sooner’s star QB John Mateer as he returned to the line-up, going so far as to shut out OU in the second half and to deny them reaching the endzone the entire game.  In so doing, Texas defense gave their offense time to get their sea-legs under them.  Thus, Texas’ triumph was unexpected, and all the more savored.

Elsewhere, Pitt upset Florida State, in Tallahassee, no less, but perhaps the biggest upset of all came when Northwestern stunned Penn State in Happy Valley, 22-21.  That loss came on the heels of the Nittany Lions already losing that heartbreaker to Oregon, then laying an egg on the road to UCLA.  Now they have suffered this defeat, which is no ignominious and ill-timed that Penn State fired James Franklin today.  Penn State’s current state was made all the worse with QB Drew Allar suffering a season-ending injury late in the game.  What started out as a potential championship season for the Nittany Lions now lies in ruin.

Some near-upsets also occurred wherein Mizzou was on the verge of defeating favored Alabama before the Tiger’s QB threw a sudden pick that ended the drive and their hopes of victory.  In a similar situation was Washington State, who ventured into Ole Miss and nearly defeated the home team before the Rebels somehow managed to escape with their skin intact.  Arkansas presented a serious challenge to Tennessee, signaling that the Bobby Petrino Era 2.0 is on the rise in Fayetteville.  Late into the night, Arizona took BYU in a second overtime before the Cougars managed to pull out the win.

What a week.

Random Thoughts:

UCLA was once the whipping boy of the B1G.  Not anymore.  Perhaps all it took was the firing of the inept DeShaun Foster, inter alia.  But now the Bruins are a rising force in the conference.  First, they massively upset Penn State at home last week.  This week, they went on the road to dismantle Michigan State.  Not a moment too soon, either, since all the remaining opponents – including Indiana and Ohio State – or nearly-ranked (e.g., Maryland and Washington).  At this rate, their traditional rivalry game against USC should be one the best in Gen-Z’s living memory.

Meanwhile, has there been a team to more quietly advance up the rankings than Georgia Tech, at least recently?  The Yellowjackets are currently undefeated (6-0), and have now reached the rank of No. 12.

College Football Awards, Week 6 (2025) October 6, 2025

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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Mario Cristobal, Miami (FL)

Glad I’m not him: Mike Norvell, Florida State

Lucky guy: Tony Elliot, Virginia

Poor guy: Jeff Brohm, Louisville

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Steve Sarkesian, Texas

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: James Franklin, Penn State

Desperately seeking … anything:  Bill Belichick, North Carolina

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: NC State (defeated Campbell 56-10)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Penn State  
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kent State (lost to No. 5 Oklahoma 44-0)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: UCLA

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  UConn (defeated FIU 51-10)  

Dang, they’re good: Miami (FL)
Dang, they’re bad:  FIU

Can’t Stand Prosperity: Texas

Did the season start?  Penn State
Can the season end?  Oklahoma State

Can the season never end? Alabama

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 3 Miami (FL) 28, No. 18 Florida State 22

Play this again, too: Navy 34, Air Force 31

Never play this again: NC State 56, Campbell 10

What?  Wake Forest 30, Virginia Tech 23

Huh?  Cincinnati 38, No. 14 Iowa State 30

Are you kidding me??  Florida 29, No. 9 Texas 21

Oh – my – God:  UCLA 42, No. 7 Penn State 35

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 7)
Ticket to die for:  No. 7 Indiana @ No. 3 Oregon

Best Only non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: Washington State @ No. 4 Ole Miss

Best non-Power Four matchup: No. 24 South Florida @ North Texas

Upset alert: No. 8 Alabama @ No. 14 Missouri

Also:  No. 15 Michigan @ USC

Must win: No. 6 Oklahoma vs Texas in the Red River Showdown in Dallas

Offensive explosion: Air Force @ UNLV

Defensive struggle: Iowa @ Wisconsin

Great game no one is talking about: Nebraska @ Maryland

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Barry Odom of Purdue vs PJ Fleck of Minnesota

Who’s bringing the body bags?  Houston @ Oklahoma State

Why are they playing? Washington State @ No. 4 Ole Miss

Plenty of good seats remaining: UMass @ Kent State

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Wake Forest @ Oregon State

Week 6 Thoughts:

What are we to make of what happened some of this week’s games?  Let us take Penn State as an example:  last week, they could have earned top-rank status in the Big Ten Conference, arguably the strongest conference this season.  A sudden, freak interception thrown by Penn State QB Drew Allar instead vaulted Oregon to near-supremacy in the B1G instead, though further tests await the Ducks (namely, IU coming to Eugene this upcoming weekend).

Then, in the most inexplicable of turns, Penn State ventures out west to play UCLA.  The Bruins have been notorious for reeling this year, so it stood to reason that the Nittany Lions could get well on a this hapless bunch, almost having to play the role of pitiless executioner, even on the road.  Funny thing how the Bruins failed to get that memo, as they pounced on the ‘Lions, first scoring 10 unanswered points and never relinquishing the lead throughout the game, despite giving up a safety with 0:25 left in the 4th quarter.

The questions that many observers quietly raised about the limitations of James Franklin’s coaching have now become a roaring clamor heard throughout the core geographical footprint of the B1G.  Could this be a sudden unraveling of Franklin’s tenure in not-so-Happy Valley?

Meanwhile, let us recall that many folks, Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd included, projected Penn State to play Texas for the national title.  The latter’s scenario seems almost unlikely as the former’s, as Arch Manning & Co. got swallowed up in The Swamp this week.  Manning continues to wait too long in the pocket to release his passes, but remains quite adept at scrambling for yardage.  Perhaps Steve Sarkesian and staff can coach the former out of him and lean more into the latter.  If so, then further room for growth and development remains.  It had better come quickly, as they play hated, resurgent rival Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl amid the Texas State Fair next week.

The respective problems with Franklin and Sark are polar-opposites to each other.  Sark thinks he can overwhelm his opponents with a “wow” factor, and that clearly has not worked.  Moreover, Sark’s big weakness is that he is never organizationally buttoned-up as one might expect for an elite coach.  The latter is not Franklin’s problem at all, but he is totally lacking in the “wow” factor.  That actually makes him a good fit at Penn State, which historically takes a very blue-collar attitude towards the game.

Combine the two respective strengths of these respective coaches, and one has the next Nick Saban.  But alone, they are not quite as elite coaches as we thought that they were.  In their defense, so few coaches are in an overall league (the FBS) with 136 teams.

Random Thoughts:

Not a week of many potential offensive explosions, so it seems, but my prediction record on those is spotty at best.  That said, we have a bumper crop this upcoming week for potential upsets.  In addition to the aforementioned Alabama @ Missouri and Michigan @ USC, potential upsets abound elsewhere.  To wit:  South Carolina @ No. 11 LSU; Arizona @ No. 18 BYU; Arkansas @ No. 12 Tennessee; dare we also include Arizona State (ranked) @ Utah (currently unranked), and Illinois @ Ohio State?  The last one, probably not, although it will be interesting to see how well the Illini rise to that ultimate test.

College Football Awards, Week 5 (2025) September 29, 2025

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COACHES
Wish I were him:  Dan Lanning, Oregon

Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Penn State

Lucky guy: Bret Bielema, Illinois

Poor guy: Lincoln Riley, USC

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Brian Kelly, LSU

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Ryan Silverfield, Memphis

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mike Norvell, Florida State

Desperately seeking … anything:  Sam Pittman, Arkansas

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Missouri (defeated UMass 42-6)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Indiana  (defeated Iowa 20-15)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Akron (lost to Toledo 45-3)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  South Alabama (lost to North Texas 36-22)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Notre Dame (defeated Arkansas 56-13)  

Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad:  Akron

Can’t Stand Prosperity: LSU

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

Can the season never end? Ole Miss

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 6 Oregon 30, No. 3 Penn State 24, 2OT

Play this again, too: No. 13 Ole Miss 24, No. 4 LSU 19

Never play this again: No. 22 Notre Dame 56, Arkansas 13

What?  No. 23 Illinois 34, No. 21 USC 32

Huh?  No. 17 Alabama 24, No. 5 Georgia 21

Double-Huh?:  No. 13 Ole Miss 24, No. 4 LSU 19

Are you kidding me??  No. 6 Oregon 30, No. 3 Penn State 24, 2OT

Oh – my – God:  Virginia 46, No. 8 Florida State 38, 2OT

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 6)
Ticket to die for:  No. 3 Miami (FL) @ No. 18 Florida State

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: Boise State @ No. 21 Notre Dame

Best non-Power Four matchup: FIU @ UConn

Upset alert: No. 16 Vanderbilt @ No. 10 Alabama

Must win: Mississippi State @ No. 6 Texas A&M

Offensive explosion: No. 11 Texas Tech @ Houston

Defensive struggle: No. 7 Texas @ Florida

Great game no one is talking about: No. 24 Virginia @ Louisville

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Bret Bielema of Illinois vs Barry Odom of Purdue

Who’s bringing the body bags?  No. 7 Penn State @ UCLA

Why are they playing? Kent State @ No. 5 Oklahoma

Plenty of good seats remaining: Miami (OH) @ Northern Illinois

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Campbell @ NC State

Week 5 Thoughts:

What a week for the game.  We experienced a week in college football where the monster Saturday lived up to its hype.  We witnessed an epic nighttime clash in Happy Valley; an interesting test for the No. 1 team in Seattle; a stunning upset Between the Hedges; defensive struggles in College Station and Iowa City alike; a near-upset in Starkville; and a statement game near The Grove.  Did we also mention a Friday-night upset in Charlottesville, echoing one involving the same opponents almost 30 years ago to the day?

So, where to begin? 

If we were to start with perhaps the biggest of all the games this day, why not start with the purported “ticket to die for”?  What was a 3-3 tie at halftime became a 17-17 tie in regulation.  Penn State struggled to get their running game established for the majority of the 60 minutes, but managed to put together some impressive runs late in the 4th quarter, enough to come back from a deficit to Oregon.  Both teams scored in the first OT, Oregon answered with another TD in the 2OT, but botched their two-point attempt.  The window for the Nittany Lions was open…only for it to close in an instant when Drew Allar threw an inexplicable pick to the right side of the field.  What ended in huge triumph for Dan Lanning and the Ducks ended in turn as continued frustration for James Franklin & Co., who continue to search for a top-ten win.

Ohio State journeyed out to Seattle to take on undefeated, underrated Washington.  The Huskies were prepared well to take on Ohio State, but the Buckeyes managed to slowly, gradually, subdue their hosts over the course of the game, winning 24-6.

Alabama came into a raucous Sanford Stadium at night to take on Georgia, and led for the majority of the game in an incredibly physical contest, walking out from Between the Hedges with a huge win that vindicates Kalen DeBoer’s tenure – for now – in Tuscaloosa, and continues Kirby Smart’s head-scratching Alabama woes.

The purported “defensive struggle” for this week, Kentucky @ South Carolina, turned out not to be for this pathetic prognosticator, as the Gamecocks surprisingly revived their offense to drub the Wildcats 35-13.  Meanwhile, the true defensive struggle took place in College Station, where the home team Aggies beat Auburn 16-10.  The Tigers have demonstrated to have a good defense, but to describe their offense as anemic would still be an understatement.

The other defensive struggle of note took place in Iowa City.  Apparently, Indiana was still on Cloud Nine after ripping Illinois the previous week, for their offense seemed to take the week off.  Meanwhile, Iowa, who seemed to discover their offense against UMass (does that even count?) only to lose it again when it counted two weeks later.  That aside, an early 4th-quarter field goal put the Hawkeyes up 13-10 over the Hoosiers, who nevertheless answered in delayed fashion with a touchdown with 1:36 left in the game.  It proved to be the decisive score, ending at 20-15 in IU’s favor.

Tennessee came calling at Mississippi State, amid more than 60,000 fans with clanging cow bells.  The Bulldogs, undefeated prior to this game, put up an incredible fight against the Volunteers, staying close to the orange-clad team throughout regulation, where the teams ended in a tie.  But Tennessee’s talent shined through in OT, allowing them to leave with a win, 41-34.  Nevertheless, if Mississippi State’s performance is any indication, they can make life difficult for many subsequent teams on their conference schedule.

Meanwhile, a true ‘statement game’ unfolded in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.  Despite No. 4 LSU drawing first blood in this huge game, home team (and No. 13-ranked) Ole Miss quickly took the lead, and never looked back for the remainder therein.  Backup QB Trinidad Chambliss contributed 385 of total offense, including a 20-yard completion for a 4th-down conversion that sealed the game.  This decisive win was a ‘statement’ in that it proved the Rebels belong in the conversation as part of the highest tier in the brutal SEC.  Conversely, this loss to a major rival raises lots of questions for LSU.  Fans were already grumbling over what they perceived to be an unconvincing win over dubious Florida earlier this month.  Imagine the grumbling in Bayou Country right now.  Perhaps instead of complaining about whether the scrutiny over his coaching is justified, perhaps Kelly should work to develop an offense that takes advantage of QB Garrett Nussmeier.

Finally, Friday night yielded perhaps the greatest upset of the week, when No. 8 Florida State came into town to play unranked Virginia.  The Cavaliers played the undefeated Seminoles closely throughout the game, even taking the heavily-favored visitors into overtime.  Throngs of students gathered on the grassy slopes behind Scott Stadium’s northwest endzone in anticipation of their Virginia team coming through, which they did when Florida State failed to convert in the second overtime.  Instantly, the fans filled the field in wild celebration.  This 46-38 win echoes a similar upset 30 years earlier, when, on a Thursday night game on Nov. 2, 1995, then-No. 2 Florida State came to town, only to leave Charlottesville with their first loss of the season (and Virginia’s first-ever win over the vaunted Seminoles).  Time to party like it’s 1995!

Random Thoughts:

Here we thought that Syracuse was a good team, I guess, because they beat Clemson.  Then they go on to lose a home game in embarrassing fashion to Duke.  What gives?

Remember how we thought that Arkansas’ defense taking leave of the entire second half against Memphis was a fluke?  Perhaps it was not after all, given the drubbing the Razorbacks just took at home to Notre Dame.  Sam Pittman just nudged Billy Napier out of the No. 1-coach-on-the-hotseat-in-the-SEC spot after sustaining the Razorbacks’ eighth-worst loss at home.