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 2015 Quick Preview September 3, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas State, Auburn, Baylor, Bethune-Cookman, Bobby Petrino, Boise State, BYU, Central Michigan, Clemson, Colorado State, Eastern Michigan, Elon, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Gus Malzahn, Houston, Idaho, Kevin Sumlin, LA Monroe, Louisville, Marshall, Miami (Fla.), Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Nick Saban, Norfolk State, North Carolina, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion, Paul Chryst, Presbyterian, Purdue, Rutgers, SavannahState, SMU, South Carolina, Southern Miss, Stanford, state, TCU, Tennessee Tech, Texas, Texas State, Todd Graham, UConn, UNLV, USC, Utah, UTSA, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan, Wisconsin, Wofford
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Atlanta bolsters its stature as one of the epicenters of college football by being the host city for arguably the best game of Week 1. Photo by Paul Abell, USA Today Sports.
Another glorious season of college football is about to commence. Come the evening of Thurs., Sept. 3, teams will have kicked off the most exciting three months in all of sports (four if you count the bowl game postseason), and come late Monday evening, the fans, analysts and pundits alike shall have had a look at whether or not the preseason rankings are worth any count.
What is particularly attractive about this particular opening weekend is that, unlike in some years past, there is a critical mass of high-stakes games from the beginning. Sure, the body-bag games abound as they usually do during Week One. However, there are many high-ranked teams that are about to butt heads with other ranked teams, or teams that are near-ranked and hungry for respect from the voters.
From the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic in Atlanta, to an incredibly delectable home opener for Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., to a Carolina border war Thursday evening, to a revenge game for Urban Meyer & Co. in Blacksburg, Va., on Labor Day evening, this weekend has it all. Below is thus faithfully submitted a list highlight and lowlight games on which to keep a fan’s eye. Enjoy, and God Bless America!
Ticket to die for: Auburn vs. Louisville in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff in Atlanta; possible Texas @ Notre Dame, too.
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Western Kentucky @ Vanderbilt; BYU @ Nebraska
Best non-Power Five matchup: UNL @ Northern Illinois; Ohio U @ Idaho
Upset alert: Texas @ Notre Dame; TCU @ Minnesota (don’t laugh);
Must win: Ohio State @ Virginia Tech; Purdue @ Marshall
Offensive explosion: Arizona State @ Texas A&M
Defensive struggle: BYU @ Nebraska
Great game no one is talking about: South Carolina vs. North Carolina in Charlotte; Michigan @ Utah; Washington @ Boise State; Stanford @ Northwestern
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gus Malzahn of Auburn vs. Bobby Petrino of Louisville and Paul Chryst of Wisconsin vs. Nick Saban of Alabama; Todd Graham of Arizona State vs. Kevin Sumlin of Texas A&M
Who’s bringing the body bags? Baylor @ SMU; Akron @ Oklahoma; Mississippi State @ Southern Miss; UTSA @ Arizona; Michigan State @ Western Michigan; Texas State @ Florida State; Wofford @ Clemson; LA Monroe @ Georgia – and that’s the short list!
Why are they playing? Savannah State @ Colorado State; Oklahoma State @ Central Michigan; Norfolk State @ Rutgers; Arkansas State @ USC
Plenty of good seats remaining: Villanova @ UConn; also, Presbyterian @ Miami (Ohio); also Old Dominion @ Eastern Michigan;
They shoot horses, don’t they? Bethune-Cookman @ Miami (Fla.); Georgia Southern @ West Virginia; Tennessee Tech @ Houston; Elon @ Wake Forest
College Football Week 4 Awards September 22, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, B1G, Badgers, Big 10, Big Ten, Bob Diaco, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Clemson, college, Dan Mullen, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, football, Frank Beamer, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Jim Mora, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas, Kansas State, Larry Fedora, Les Miles, LSU, Mark Twain, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Michigan State, Midshipmen, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, Navy, NCAA, Nebraska, New Mexico State, Nichols, North Carolina, North Texas, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Orange, Penn State, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rich Rodriguez, Ruffin McNeil, Rutgers, San Jose State, South Carolina, Syracuse, Terps, Texas A&M, Texas State, Texas Tech, Todd Graham, Troy, UTEP, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 4] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Glad I’m not him: Les Miles, LSU
Lucky guy: Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
Poor guy: Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Ruffin McNeil, East Carolina
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Larry Fedora, North Carolina
Desperately seeking … anything: Bob Diaco, UConn
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 11 Michigan State (defeated Eastern Michigan 73-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Central Michigan (lost to Kansas 24-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Troy (lost to No. 13 Georgia 66-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Texas State (lost to Illinois 42-35)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: East Carolina (defeated North Carolina 70-41)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Hawaii
You know, they’re not so bad: Arkansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: LSU
Did the season start? Virginia Tech
Can the season end? Eastern Michigan
Can the season never end? East Carolina
GAMES
Play this again: No. 1 Florida State 23, No. 22 Clemson 17
Never play this again: North Texas 77, Nichols 3
What? East Carolina 70, North Carolina 41
Huh? Georgia Tech 27, Virginia Tech 24
Are you kidding me? Indiana 31, No. 18 Missouri 27
Oh – my – God: Mississippi State 34, No. 8 LSU 29
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 4, pre-week 5)
Ticket to die for: Arkansas @ No. 6 Texas A&M
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Cincinnati @ No. 22 Ohio State
Best non-Power Five matchup: Central Michigan @ Toledo
Upset alert: Tennessee @ No. 12 Georgia
Must win: Missouri @ No. 13 South Carolina
Offensive explosion: North Carolina @ Clemson
Defensive struggle: Iowa @ Purdue
Great game no one is talking about: Texas Tech @ No. 24 Oklahoma State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jim Mora of UCLA vs. Todd Graham of Arizona State
Who’s bringing the body bags? Wyoming @ No. 9 Michigan State
Why are they playing? New Mexico State @ No. 17 LSU
Plenty of good seats remaining: Miami (Ohio) @ Buffalo
They shoot horses, don’t they? UTEP @ No. 25 Kansas State
Week 4 Random Thoughts:
- This week, the Big Ten acquitted themselves rather well. After three weeks of disaster, along with nearly everyone in America paying attention to the college football scene about to write the one-great conference’s epitaph, the B1G appeared to have reminded folks that, to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated. To wit:
- Maryland upset Syracuse. The Orange, who were 2-0 going into the game, seemed to be the favored team (especially since they were playing at home in the Carrier Dome). But the Terps showed up, and won 34-20, on the road.
- Yes, even Purdue won, even though they had to defeat an FCS team in order to do so, beating the Southern Illinois Salukis only 35-14. Just one more touchdown would have made the win semi-convincing.
- Iowa won on the road, defeating a respectable Pitt team, 24-20, in the last minutes of the game, no less.
- Think Purdue’s win was less-than-convincing? Check out Northwestern: they beat Western Illinois 24-7. Still, a win is a win – at least, in this case.
- Michigan State, without any surprise, thrashed their directional neighbor Eastern Michigan 73-14, in what amounted to be one of the biggest “body bag games” of the week.
- Even though Illinois had to struggle to do so, they pulled in out in the end over Texas State, 42-35.
- Granted, there was a rather ignominious loss concerning Michigan. To be sure, Utah is not a horrible team, but they’re not great either. Moreover, this was a home game for the Wolverines, who failed to even reach the red zone. In the Big House.
- Wisconsin’s blowout win over Bowling Green at home, 68-17, came as little surprise. And I must say, the Badgers’ red helmets look very nice indeed!
- Minnesota beat San Jose State 24-7.
- Let us not forget Nebraska’s win at home over Miami (Fla.), 41-31.
- Rutgers did beat Navy, 31-24, and the Midshipmen are never to be taken lightly.
- That said, Indiana (yes, that Indiana) represented the entire conference well by beating a more-than-respectable Missouri Tigers squad on the road. If these shadows remained unchanged, the Hoosiers could take the conference by storm this year (notwithstanding Michigan State or Ohio State, who both happen to inhabit the same division as IU).
- So, 12-1 for the conference is not bad considering the previous two weeks. Were it not been for Ohio State’s bye week, it might have been 13-1.
- In other news, while I hate to see LSU take it on the chin, it is very nice indeed to see Dan Mullen and Mississippi State get a nice, signature win.
Week 3 College Football Awards September 16, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Arizona State, Baylor, BC, Bill Snyder, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Boilers, Boston College, Bowling Green, Buffalo, BYU, Cardinals, Cards, Central Michigan, Charlie Strong, Chuck Martin, Clemson, Colorado, Ducks, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, FIghting Irish, Florida State, Georgia, Grover Cleveland, Gus Malzahn, Idaho, Indiana, Jim Mora, Kansas, Kent State, Louisville, Mark Richt, Memphis, Miami (Fla.), Miami (Ohio), Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Ruffin McNeil, Rutgers, SMU, South Carolina, Southern Illinois, Steve Addazio, Steve Sarkisian, Steve Spurrier, Syracuse, Texas, Texas A&M, Troy, UMass, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, Western Kentucky, Wyoming
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 3] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Steve Addazio, Boston College
Glad I’m not him: Charlie Strong, Texas
Lucky guy: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Poor guy: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Ruffin McNeil, East Carolina
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Steve Sarkisian, USC
Desperately seeking … anything: Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio)
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 22 Ohio State (defeated Kent State 66-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (defeated UMass 34-31)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kent State (see first line above)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Colorado (lost to No. 16 Arizona State 38-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Syracuse (defeated Central Michigan 40-3)
Dang, they’re good: Oklahoma
Dang, they’re bad: Kansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia Tech
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? Eastern Michigan
Can the season never end? Ole Miss
GAMES
Play this again: Bowling Green 45, Indiana 42
Play this again, too: Middle Tennessee 50, Western Kentucky 47
Never play this again: No. 8 Baylor 63, Buffalo 21
Told you so: Penn State 13, Rutgers 10
What? Virginia 23, No. 21 Louisville 21
Huh? No. 24 South Carolina 38, No. 6 Georgia 35
Are you kidding me? East Carolina 28, No. 17 Virginia Tech 21
Oh – my – God: Boston College 38, No. 9 USC 31
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for (sort of): No. 22 Clemson @ No. 1 Florida State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: North Carolina @ East Carolina
Best non-Power Five matchup: Middle Tennessee @ Memphis
Upset alert: Miami (Fla.) @ No. 24 Nebraska
Must win: Southern Illinois @ Purdue
Offensive explosion: No. 2 Oregon @ Washington State
Defensive struggle: Penn State @ Rutgers
Great game no one is talking about: Virginia @ No. 21 BYU
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gus Malzahn of Auburn vs. Bill Snyder of Kansas State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 6 Texas A&M @ SMU
Why are they playing? Troy @ No. 13 Georgia
Plenty of good seats remaining: Idaho @ Ohio U
They shoot horses, don’t they? Eastern Michigan @ No. 11 Michigan State
Week 3 Random Thoughts:
– Just when you think that Louisville is rolling again under second, non-consecutive term head coach Bobby Petrino (paging Grover Cleveland), the Cards lay an egg on the road. Virginia is not that bad of a team, but that is still no excuse for all the quarterback miscues that seemed to plague U of L throughout the game, leading to the disappointing result. Perhaps Petrino should consider playing the freshman QB?
– Virginia Tech seems nothing if not consistent when it comes to losing games the week after winning a big one.
– They say that football can be a game of inches. In the case of South Carolina upsetting intra-conference and border rival Georgia, it was a game of one inch. Period. Well, that and a good (favorable?) spotting of the ball by the refs after 4th and one inch.
– Perhaps Oregon might have been saving a little energy for future endeavors later this season. How else might one explain a win over Wyoming by a score of only 48-12? Given how well the Ducks have played thus far, you’d think the Cowboys got off easy.
– Did Purdue acquit themselves against No. 11 Notre Dame, or are the Fighting Irish that mediocre? In the wake of the Boilermakers embarrassing themselves at home last week to Central Michigan, coupled with ND demolishing Michigan, one would have thought that the annual in-state rivalry game would have meant utter demolition for Purdue. Instead, the Boilers ended up leading, however briefly, in the first half, scoring two touchdowns on the Irish. Such an effort compelled Notre Dame to increase their efforts, allowing them to gradually win over the course of the second half, 30-14. The reason that so many people naturally incline towards the former answer is that they want to believe the Notre Dame hype (it sells, after all!). But what we keep learning, and continue to have to keep learning over the past 10-15 years, is that Notre Dame is once again overrated. The real question, therefore, to consider is, how bad is Michigan?
– That being said, Notre Dame’s helmets for that game did look rather neat. It is a long time coming that they incorporated a blue “ND” logo on to their gold shells. The single, blue center stripe was a nice touch, too. The jury is still out on the latitude-longitude, “globe lines” effect, though. Moreover, I can do without that weird brocade effect on the shoulders of the jerseys.
– Is Texas in trouble? First, they lost ignominiously at home to BYU last week. Then, they lose to an increasingly good UCLA team, ostensibly at a neutral site, though hardly anybody could consider the Horns playing in Dallas as playing on neutral turf, be it the Cotton Bowl or AT&T Stadium. Yes, Jim Mora has truly breathed intensity into the Bruins program at Westwood, Calif., but there is still no excuse for such a proud, tradition-and-resource laden program as Texas to suffer two such consecutive losses. Is Coach Strong in over his head at Austin? It would be a very painful thing to acknowledge, to be sure. The wise thing, at this point, is to allow the rest of the season (and how it plays out) to answer that question.
– If we were to apply the law of transitive properties, just how badly would Syracuse beat Purdue if the two played each other right about now?
College Football Week 2 Awards September 8, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arkansas, Auburn, Ball State, Baylor, Big Ten, Bo Pelini, Boilermakers, Boise State, Braxton Miller, Brett Bielema, Buckeyes, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Charlie Strong, Chuck Martin, Clemson, Cornhuskers, David Shaw, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, EKU, FIghting Irish, Frank Beamer, Fresno State, Georgia, Golden Gophers, Hokies, Illinois, Iowa, Kliff Kingsbury, Lamar, Longhorns, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, Mack Brown, McNeese State, Memphis, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico State, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, San Jose State, SMU, South Carolina State, Southern California, Spartans, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, UConn, Urban Meyer, USC, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Western Illinois, Western Kentucky, Wisconsin, WKU, Wyoming
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Yes, we’re back. After having missed handing out last week’s awards due to travels abroad (having visited two, count ’em, TWO different continents in the Eastern Hemisphere!), we’re back, and as Little Richard would say, we’re ready-ready-ready to rock n’ roll!
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 2] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
Glad I’m not him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Lucky guy: Bo Pelini, Nebraska
Poor guy: David Shaw, Stanford
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Dan Enos, Central Michigan
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Charlie Strong, Texas
Desperately seeking … anything: Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio)
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 9 Texas A&M (defeated Lamar 73-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 19 Nebraska (defeated McNeese State 31-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: San Jose State (lost to No. 5 Auburn 59-13)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Memphis (lost to No. 11 UCLA 42-35)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: No. 15 Ole Miss (defeated Vanderbilt, 41-3)
Dang, they’re good: Texas A&M
Dang, they’re bad: SMU
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Texas
Did the season start? Ohio State
Can the season end? Miami (Ohio)
Can the season never end? Oregon
GAMES
Play this again: No. 14 USC 13, No. 13 Stanford 10
Never play this again: No. 23 Clemson 73, South Carolina State 7
What? Eastern Kentucky 17, Miami (Ohio) 10
Huh? No. 16 Notre Dame 31, Michigan 0
Are you kidding me? Virginia Tech 35, No. 8 Ohio State 21
Oh – my – God: BYU 41, Texas 7
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 2, pre-week 3)
Ticket to die for: No. 6 Georgia @ No. 21 South Carolina
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Nebraska @ Fresno State
Best non-Power Five matchup: New Mexico State @ UTEP
Upset alert: Tennessee @ No. 4 Oklahoma
Must win: No. 12 UCLA vs Texas
Offensive explosion: Louisiana Tech @ North Texas
Defensive struggle: Penn State @ Rutgers
Great game no one is talking about: No. 21 Louisville @ Virginia
Intriguing coaching matchup: Bret Bielema of Arkansas vs. Kliff Kingsbury of Texas Tech
Who’s bringing the body bags? Wyoming @ No. 2 Oregon
Why are they playing? No. 8 Baylor @ Buffalo
Plenty of good seats remaining: Eastern Michigan @ Old Dominion
They shoot horses, don’t they? Boise State @ UConn
Week 2 Take-aways:
This week’s results do NOT bode well for the Big Ten! Where to begin?
- For starters, Illinois had to squeak by Western Kentucky, 42-34.
- Then there was Nebraska having to score a last-minute touchdown to beat lowly McNeese State at home, 31-24. Way to live up to that No. 19 ranking, Cornhuskers!
- Cracks in the proverbial damn truly became evident with Purdue’s ignominious loss at home to Central Michigan – a team that the Boilermakers have historically owned – 38-17.
- Of course, Wisconsin was supposed to make mincemeat of Western Illinois, so nothing to see there: moving on.
- Iowa slowly plodded to victory over Ball State, 17-13; hardly an impressive win.
- Penn State seemed to allow Akron to make a game of it, 21-3.
- Middle Tennessee seemed to provide some challenge to Minnesota, losing to the Golden Gophers only 35-24.
- Northern Illinois actually did beat a well-coached Northwestern team, 23-15.
The best part (“best” being used facetiously) was that it got worse as the day progressed.
- In the evening, Notre Dame undressed Michigan, 31-0
- Then-unranked Virginia Tech came into the Horseshoe to upset then-No 8 Ohio State in a very embarrassing way, 35-21. Are the Buckeyes that crippled without Braxton Miller?
- At least then-No. 7 Michigan State had a valid excuse, losing late in the game, on the road, (heck, on the West Coast) to current-No. 2 Oregon. Moreover, in further defense of the Spartans, they made a good game of it for more than half of the match-up. Still, a loss is a loss.
Yes, this will really bolster the conference’s credibility with the selection committee come season’s end.
In other news, it appears as though Charlie Strong truly does have his work cut out for him at Texas. The problem with the flagship program of the Lone Star State was that it lost its intensity, that things had become both stale and too synthetic under previous head coach Mack Brown. Strong had proven that he could restore the intensity of one program already at the University of Louisville: the powers started to think that he could do the same thing at Texas. Well, evidently he has not restored enough intensity to that program. Either that, or BYU just has the Longhorns’ number, but I doubt it.
College Football Week 11 Awards November 11, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona State, Army, Auburn, Ball State, Baylor, Bob Stoops, Bobby Petrino, Brady Hoke, BYU, college, Colorado, David Shaw, FIU, Florida, Florida International, Florida State, football, Gus Malzahn, Hawaii, Houston, Idaho State, Iowa State, Les Miles, Louisville, LSU, Mark Helfrich, Miami (Fla.), Miami (Ohio), Michigan, NCAA, Norm Chow, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Pac-12, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Sooners, South Carolina, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, Texas, Texas Tech, Troy, UConn, Utah, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Will Muschamp
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 11] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: David Shaw, Stanford
Glad I’m not him: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Lucky guy: Bobby Petrino, Western Kentucky
Poor guy: Les Miles, LSU
Desperately seeking a clue: Brady Hoke, Michigan
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Desperately seeking … anything: Norm Chow, Hawaii
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Florida State (defeated Wake Forest 59-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Louisville (defeated UConn only 31-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to Washington 59-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Army (lost to Western Kentucky 21-17)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Baylor (defeated Oklahoma 41-12)
Dang, they’re good: Stanford
Dang, they’re bad: Miami (Ohio)
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Oregon
Did the season start? Ohio U
Can the season end? Purdue
Can the season never end? Baylor
GAMES
Play this again: Texas 47, West Virginia 40, OT
Play this again, too: Pittsburgh 28, No. 23 Notre Dame 21
Never play this again: No. 2 Florida State 59, Wake Forest 3
What? Pittsburgh 28, No. 23 Notre Dame 21
Huh? No. 5 Stanford 26, No. 2 Oregon 20
Are you kidding me? Vanderbilt 31, Florida 17
Oh – my – God: Virginia Tech 42, No. 11 Miami 24
Told you so: No. 22 Arizona State 20, Utah 19
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 11, pre-week 12)
Ticket to die for: Texas Tech @ No. 4 Baylor (or, No. 12 Oklahoma State @ No. 23 Texas)
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Troy @ Ole Miss (yes, I know, we had to scrape at the bottom of the barrel even for that one!)
Best non-Big Six matchup: Ball State @ No. 20 Northern Illinois (Wed.)
Upset alert: Oregon State @ No. 22 Arizona State
Must win: Houston @ No. 19 Louisville
Offensive explosion: Texas Tech @ No. 4 Baylor
Defensive struggle: Florida @ No. 11 South Carolina
Great game no one is talking about: Ball State @ No. 20 Northern Illinois (Wed.)
Intriguing coaching matchup: Will Muschamp of Florida vs. Steve Spurrier of South Carolina
Who’s bringing the body bags? Iowa State @ No. 22 Oklahoma (or, No. 3 Ohio State @ Illinois)
Why are they playing? Idaho State @ BYU
Plenty of good seats remaining: FIU @ UTEP
They shoot horses, don’t they? Penn State @ Purdue
Week 11 Random Thoughts:
Okay, so it might not have been the biggest week in the college football season. But it was good. Not one, but two rock-‘em, sock-‘em match-ups on Thursday night? Yes, please! True, one of the outcomes was a bit less than exciting. But is it always not fun – outside of Sooner Nation, at least – to see the arrogant Bob Stoops take a shellacking? On the west coast was a “ticket to die for” that solidified the standings for the Pac-12. Oregon looked like a hurry-up offensive juggernaut. Green tee-shirts saying how the team, and indeed, the entire community, wanting a shot at Alabama, practically littered the campus. In Palo Alto, Calif., meanwhile, was Stanford. Sure, they were tough, but they already had one loss, and it was to Utah. Let that sink in for a moment. A team that could field an entire offense of tight ends if it wanted to – okay, so they look like they could! – all of a sudden gets beat by [now] 4-5 Utah.
So it was going to be a titanic clash; that much we knew. But let us be honest; we all thought that the advantage would be Oregon’s, given their previous performances, and given that no other team’s defense could keep up with their offense. What Stanford did was turn their offense into their defense. A tough running game between the tackles exposed Oregon for being undersized on that side of the ball. At one point, the Cardinal kept the ball for a full half of the third quarter in one series according to some reports. Oregon may have a great system, but Stanford had better NFL-caliber talent, and it showed. The only reason that the Cardinal beat the Ducks by only six points is that Stanford took their foot off the gas half-way through the fourth quarter. They got more conservative, and took fewer risks, and that gave Oregon the opportunity for their type of offense to make up points quickly. Otherwise, the margin of victory would have been three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Baylor has yet again proven their mettle by beating a ranked, marquee program, and in convincing fashion. The irony in all of this is that even though the Sooners have been ranked well over the course of the season, it still cannot be considered a good year, since they have lost badly to Texas and now to Baylor. Heaven help them if they lose to the Cowboys in the Bedlam Series!
College Football Week 7 Awards October 13, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Bill O'Brien, Bob Stoops, Boston College, Bret Bielema Arkansas, BYU, Charleston Southern, Clemson, Colorado, Dan Mullen, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Florida State, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Houston, Iowa State, Kent State, Kyle Whittingham, Louisville, LSU, Mark Richt, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, Mizzou, Navy, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Pyrrhic, Red River Shootout, Ron English, Rutgers, South Alabama, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Toledo, UCLA, UConn, Utah, Utah State, Washington, West Virginia, Western Carolina, Will Muschamp, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 7] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Glad I’m not him: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Lucky guy: Bill O’Brien, Penn State
Poor guy: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a clue: Dan Mullen, Mississippi State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bret Bielema, Arkansas
Desperately seeking … anything: Ron English, Eastern Michigan
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Arizona State (defeated Colorado 54-13)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Clemson (defeated Boston College 24-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Purdue (lost to Nebraska 44-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Texas (defeated No. 12 Oklahoma 36-20)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: South Carolina (defeated Arkansas 52-7)
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Georgia
Did the season start? Utah State
Can the season end? UConn
Can the season never end? Missouri
GAMES
Play this again: Penn State 43, No. 16 Michigan 40, 3 OT
Play this again, too: No. 9 Texas A&M 41, Ole Miss 38
Never play this again: Auburn 62, Western Carolina 3
What? Wisconsin 35, No. 19 Northwestern 6
Huh? Texas 36, No. 12 Oklahoma 20
Are you kidding me? No. 25 Missouri 41, No. 7 Georgia 26
Oh – my – God: Utah 27, No. 5 Stanford 21
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 7, pre-week 8)
Ticket to die for: No. 5 Florida State @ No. 3 Clemson
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: BYU @ Houston
Best non-Big Six matchup: Kent State @ South Alabama
Upset alert: No. 11 South Carolina @ Tennessee
Must win: No. 9 UCLA @ No. 13 Stanford
Offensive explosion: No. 16 Texas Tech @ West Virginia
Defensive struggle: Navy @ Toledo
Great game no one is talking about: Utah @ Arizona
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gary Pinkel of Missouri vs. Will Muschamp of Florida
Who’s bringing the body bags? Iowa State @ No. 15 Baylor
Why are they playing? Old Dominion @ Pittsburgh
Plenty of good seats remaining: Akron @ Miami (OH)
They shoot horses, don’t they? Charleston Southern @ Colorado
Week 7 in Review:
A day of upsets and near-upsets: that is how one could characterize Week Seven. True, many favored teams survived the week unscathed. For example, Louisville convincingly beat an underrated Rutgers team to maintain their top-ten ranking. Texas Tech at No. 20 survived a surprise onslaught from Iowa State and beat the Cyclones by a touchdown. Then there is No. 14 South Carolina, who obliterated Arkansas, 52-7. No. 11 UCLA had little trouble against Cal, and No. 15 Baylor beat Kansas State by 10 points – unimpressive compared to previous victories this year, but a “w” nonetheless. No. 9 Texas A&M managed to survive a 4th quarter scare on the road against Ole Miss. Meanwhile, No. 1 Alabama keeps rolling along, and No. 2 Oregon handily beat a strong No. 16 Washington team, 45-24.
With all of that said, all the upsets practically turned the rankings – under the top four, at least – upside down. To wit: No. 25 Mizzou took out No. 7 Georgia between the hedges. Apparently, beating LSU at home then being giving another strong contest the following week at Tennessee made those two past wins Pyrrhic, in hindsight. Speaking of games taking more than usual out of a team, losing to Ohio State at home most have done that to Northwestern, for even at No. 19 – despite last week’s loss – they laid an egg on the road to unranked Wisconsin, 35-6. Michigan, hitherto at the 18th ranking, allowed for unranked Penn State to squeak by them in triple overtime. Need we rehash the Red River Shootout? Everybody, yours truly included, had given Texas up for dead. Yet the Longhorns came out swinging against the No. 14 Sooners, delivering a power rushing attack between the tackles, and doing so effectively. Usually, over the course of a decade, it was Oklahoma who always had a runningback to ruin Texas’ day. This time, it was oddly the other way around. Never before has crow tasted so good. To cap things off, unranked Utah upset No. 5 Stanford 27-21.
College Football Week 6 Awards October 6, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona State, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, Ball State, Baylor, Big XII, Boise State, Boston College, Bret Bielema, Buckeyes, Butch Jones, BYU, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado, Dave Doeren, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, Gamecocks, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa State, James Franklin, Kansas, Kentucky, Larry Fedora, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Mark Richt, Maryland, Miami (Ohio), Mississippi State, Missouri, N.C. State, NFL, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Paul Rhoads, Penn State, Pittssburgh, Rutgers, SMU, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Troy, UMass, Urban Meyer, Utah State, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington, Western Carolina, Western Michigan
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 6] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Vanderbilt
Lucky guy: Mark Richt, Georgia, and also Mack Brown, Texas
Poor guy: Butch Jones, Tennessee, and also Paul Rhoads, Iowa State
Desperately seeking a clue: Mack Brown, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dave Doeren, NC State
Desperately seeking … anything: Larry Fedora, North Carolina
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 20 Texas Tech (defeated Kansas 54-16)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: South Carolina (defeated Kentucky 35-28)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to Oregon 57-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Troy (lost to Duke 38-31)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Ohio U (defeated Akron 43-3)
Dang, they’re good: Florida State
Dang, they’re bad: Akron
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Arizona State
The Fix is in: Texas
Did the season start? Cincinnati
Can the season end? Western Michigan
Can the season never end? Baylor
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Georgia 34, Tennessee 31
Play this again, too: Rutgers 55, SMU 53, 3OT
Never play this again: No. 8 Florida State 63, No. 25 Maryland 0
What? Ball State 48, Virginia 27
Huh? Missouri 51, Vanderbilt 28
Are you kidding me? South Florida 26, Cincinnati 20
Oh – my – God: Indiana 44 Penn State 24
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 6, pre-week 7)
Ticket to die for: Texas vs. No. 12 Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout (Dallas)
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Georgia Tech @ BYU
Best non-Big Six matchup: Boise State @ Utah State
Upset alert: No. 14 South Carolina @ Arkansas
Must win: No. 9 Texas A&M @ Ole Miss
Offensive explosion: No. 2 Oregon @ No. 15 Washington
Defensive struggle: Miami (Ohio) @ UMass
Great game no one is talking about: Pittsburgh @ No. 24 Virginia Tech, or, No. 19 Northwestern @ Wisconsin.
Intriguing coaching matchup: Steve Spurrier of South Carolina vs. Bret Bielema of Arkansas
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 3 Clemson @ Boston College
Why are they playing? Western Carolina @ Auburn
Plenty of good seats remaining: Eastern Michigan @ Army
They shoot horses, don’t they? Temple @ Cincinnati
Week 6 in Review:
There are times when in hindsight you know that you should have trusted your instincts instead of trying to out-think the room (which, let us be honest, can never end well. Just ask the NFL when they decided to put the upcoming Super Bowl in frigid New Jersey). Case in point: last week, yours truly tried to out-think the room – against my own better judgement – in prediciting that this week’s “offensive explosion” would be Ohio State @ Northwestern. Yes, it was a good game, worthy of a Musburger-Herbstreit broadcast tandem. And yes, the overall score was not exactly paltry at 40-30 (in favor of the Buckeyes, naturally). But then there was Baylor vs. West Virginia, whose score was so high, we needed our collective oxygen tank (final score: 73-42). What was my main reticence in following my instincts and selecting this game for a more accurate prognostication? The fact that West Virginia has been wildly inconsistent this year. One week they embarrass themselves against Maryland, the next week, they upset Oklahoma State. Right now, we the fans do not know what team we are getting week-to-week with the Mountaineers.
All Good Games at Night?
Aside from the satisfying SEC slugfest between Georgia and Tennessee in the 3:30 time slot, and the 3-OT shootout between Rutgers and SMU, all the good games this past week were in the evening. LSU vs. Mississippi State (3 out of 4 quarters, at least), South Florida vs. Cincinnati (surprisingly), Ole Miss vs. Auburn, TCU vs. Oklahoma, Kentucky vs. South Carolina (the Gamecocks allowed for it to be a good game, regrettably), Notre Dame vs. Arizona State, Ohio State vs. Northwestern, Washington vs. Stanford, even Louisiana Tech vs. UTEP (!) all turned out to be competitive, engaging matchups. It was one of those nights where you wished you had four or five flatscreens, all right next to each other, so as to enjoy as much simultaneous action as possible.
A Tale of Two Rivals.
Oklahoma did it the right way. They played a highly respected TCU bunch in a close, hard-fought game, and triumphed in the end, 20-17. There is a school of thought, not one without merit, that states that this is the perfect approach before throwing down the following week with a bitter rival. To follow this line of logic, the Sooners are well-prepared for the Red River Shootout this upcoming week.
On the other side of the coin is Texas, who thought that they could beat up on Big XII lightweight Iowa State as a tune-up. As things turned out, they needed not one, but two scandalous calls by the referees to get their behinds out of some seriously hot water (basically, two “gift” calls of not recognizing fumbles as actual fumbles). Let that sink in for a moment.