College Football Awards Week 6 (2023) October 11, 2023

Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.
Tags: Air Force, Arizona, Auburn, Ball State, Brent Key, Brent Venables, Craig Bohl, Florida State, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Jeff Tedford, Kentucky, Lincoln Riley, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, LSU, Mack Brown, Mario Cristobal, Marshall, Miami (FL), Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, San Jose State, Sonny Dykes, Steve Sarkesian, TCU, Texas, Toledo, UCLA, UMass, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Washington, Washington State, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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COACHES

Wish I were him: Brent Venables, Oklahoma

Glad I’m not him: Steve Sarkesian, Texas

Lucky guy: Brent Key, Georgia Tech

Poor guy: Jeff Tedford, Fresno State

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Lincoln Riley, USC

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Craig Bohl, Wyoming

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

Desperately seeking … anything:  Sonny Dykes, TCU

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Michigan (defeated Minnesota 52-10)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: USC (defeated Arizona 43-41)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Virginia Tech (lost to No.5 Florida State 39-17)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Arizona (lost to USC 43-41)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Georgia (defeated No. 20 Kentucky 51-13)  

Dang, they’re good: Michigan
Dang, they’re bad:  Louisiana-Monroe

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  Texas

Did the season start?  Notre Dame
Can the season end?  TCU

Can the season never end?  Oklahoma

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 12 Oklahoma 34, No. 3 Texas 30

Never play this again: No. 2 Michigan 52, Minnesota 10

What?  Georgia Tech 23, No. 17 Miami 20

Huh?  UCLA 25, No. 13 Washington State 17

Are you kidding me??  No. 12 Oklahoma 34, No. 3 Texas 30

Oh – my – God:  No. 25 Louisville 33, No. 10 Notre Dame 20

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 7)
Ticket to die for:  No. 8 Oregon @ No. 9 Washington

Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five  matchup: (none)

Best non-Power Five matchup: Wyoming @ Air Force

Upset alert: Auburn @ No. 23 LSU

Must win: No. 9 USC @ No. 10 Notre Dame

Offensive explosion: No. 17 Miami (FL) @ No. 14 North Carolina

Defensive struggle: Iowa @ Wisconsin

Great game no one is talking about: Marshall @ Georgia State

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Mario Cristobal of Miami vs Mack Brown of North Carolina

Who’s bringing the body bags?  No. 1 Georgia @ Vanderbilt

Why are they playing? UMass @ No. 6 Penn State

Plenty of good seats remaining: San Jose State @ New Mexico State

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Toledo @ Ball State

Week 6 Thoughts:

Texas vs. Oklahoma

The question on the mind of many football fans lately has been, “is Texas back?”.  Well, we sure thought Texas was.  They were certainly playing like it.  Maybe they still are, but there are clearly some issues that remain to be resolved.  Yes, Oklahoma was also ranked, and also undefeated.  But the Longhorns were still favored, and given the intensity of this rivalry, losing leaved a feeling of disgust for the defeated team.  Did Texas make too many mistakes early in the game?  Perhaps.  But those mistakes were, by that token, made early in the game, with plenty of game left to overcome them. 

A bigger issue?  Execution in the red zone.  The Sooners made a goal line stand that will go down as part of the lore of this storied rivalry, denying the Longhorns entry into the endzone on four straight plays.  Give credit to the Sooners for pulling off the upset.  Also give credit to Steve Sarkesian for realizing what still needs work.

Kentucky vs Georgia

Where was this Georgia team the whole year?  Apparently sleepwalking through the first five weeks of the season.  Kentucky proved to be a more-than-decent team thus far.  Yet, when they ventured down to Athens, the sleeping giant awoke.  Long story short, Georgia finally decided to start playing football for the first time this year, and demolished a good Kentucky team in the process, 51-13.

Arizona vs USC

Do we get the feeling that USC is playing up, or down, to their competition?

Louisville vs Notre Dame

Notre Dame has proven that they are a good game, and can handle themselves well in big games.  Maybe three big games in a row was too much.  Either that, or Louisville is that good.  Sneaky good, but certainly more than respectable.  Every time the Cardinals have been put to the test, they have passed the test.  Now, the test they just passed led to one of the program’s top-five all-time greatest wins (along with winning the 1991 Fiesta Bowl; beating No. 5 Florida State in a monsoon in 2002; defeating Florida in the 2013 Sugar Bowl, and beating No. 5 West Virginia in 2006).

Looking ahead to Week 7: 

Oregon vs Washington

Next week will be a tough act to follow after this wild weekend.  Nevertheless, this game will help determine the eventual champion for the Pac-12, which, safe to say, will be going out on the highest note conceivable.  Seriously, has anyone witnessed this conference being this deep?  Even Arizona, usually a perennial bottom-feeder in the conference, is competitive. 

Which leads us to this game in Seattle.  Both teams could make life very hard for most other teams in the top 10 right now.  Either team could make a compelling case to be a playoff contender right now.  Thus it is a safe bet that we’ll be in a for a ‘dandy’ of a game in Husky Stadium this weekend!

Miami vs North Carolina

This game has huge implications for the eventual ACC championship.  The bonus is that coaches Mario Cristobal and Mack Brown will be going head-to-head.

Missouri vs Kentucky

Here is an interesting situation where two good teams are coming off losses and have no time at all to lick their wounds, as both teams see this as an opportunity to ‘get well’ on their respective opponent.  Intriguing, no?

Notre Dame vs USC

Fans of the Gold and Blue are now exhorting the Irish to hang in there for one more week, the last game in a brutal schedule stretch, this time against USC.  Will the Trojans discover this new thing called a defense?  Because playing in South Bend these days is a less-than-ideal place to make that discovery while on the job.  Nevertheless, in the meantime, the Trojans’ offense will keep ND’s defense’s collective hands full, so maybe that’s a wash, and thus a good game, after all.

Texas A&M vs Tennessee

Wait, Tennessee is still ranked?  Apparently.  Now is a good opportunity for them to prove they deserve it, as the Aggies, who narrowly lost to Bama this past weekend, come calling.  What will Bobby Petrino have in store for his offense against the Volunteers?