College Football Week 4 Awards 2016 September 25, 2016
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alcorn State, Arkansas, Art Briles, Auburn, Badgers, Bayou Bengals, Bobby Petrino, Brian Kelly, Bruins, Bulldogs, Butch Jones, BYU, Cardinal, Chris Petersen, college, Colorado, Dabo Swinney, David Cutcliffe, David Shaw, Duke, Florida, Florida State, football, Gators, Georgia, Gus Malzahn, Houston, Jim Mora, Kansas State, Kent State, Kentucky, Kevin Sumlin, Kirby Smart, Les Miles, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike MacIntyre, Mississippi, Mississippi State, NCAA, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Purdue, South Carolina, Spartans, Stanford, Tarheels, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas State, Tigers, Troy, UCLA, UMass, USC, Utah, Volunteers, War Eagle, Washington, West Virginia, Will Muschamp
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 4] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Glad I’m not him: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Lucky guy: Guz Malzahn, Auburn
Poor guy: Jim Mora, UCLA (Hon. Mention: Les Miles)
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Mike MacIntyre, Colorado
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Desperately seeking … anything: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Houston (defeated Texas State 64-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Mississippi State (defeated UMass 47-35)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kent State (lost to No. 1 Alabama 48-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: UMass (lost to Mississippi State 47-35)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Troy (defeated New Mexico State 52-6)
Dang, they’re good: Houston
Dang, they’re bad: UTEP
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Michigan State
Did the season start? Oregon
Can the season end? USC
Can the season never end? Michigan
GAMES
Play this again: No. 24 Utah 31, USC 27
Play this again, too: No. 7 Stanford 22, UCLA 13
Never play this again: Missouri 79, Delaware State 0
What? Purdue 24, Nevada 14
Huh? No. 23 Ole Miss 45, No. 12 Georgia 14
Double-Huh? Colorado 41, Oregon 38
Are you kidding me? Duke 38, Notre Dame 35
Oh – my – God: No. 11 Wisconsin 30, No. 8 Michigan State 6
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 4, pre-week 5) T
icket to die for: No. 3 Louisville @ No. 5 Clemson
Also: No. 8 Wisconsin @ No. 4 Michigan
Keep an eye on this one, too: No. 7 Stanford @ No. 10 Washington
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Memphis @ No. 16 Ole Miss
Best non-Power Five matchup: Navy @ Air Force; also: South Florida @ Cincinnati
Upset alert: North Carolina @ No. 12 Florida State
Must win: Oklahoma @ No. 21 TCU
Offensive explosion: No. 22 Texas @ Oklahoma State
Defensive struggle: Northwestern @ Iowa
Great game no one is talking about: Kansas State @ West Virginia
Intriguing coaching matchup: Chris Petersen of Washington vs. David Shaw of Stanford
Also: Dabo Swinney of Clemson vs. Bobby Petrino of Louisville
Who’s bringing the body bags? UConn @ No. 6 Houston
Why are they playing? Alcorn State @ No. 20 Arkansas
Plenty of good seats remaining: Akron @ Kent State
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Incarnate Word @ Texas State
Week 4 Take-aways:
A premonition last week gave me that idea that, while many matchups this week did not exactly shine with prestige (or did they?), they were nevertheless competitive and engaging. The examples are rather numerous. The USC-Utah game on Friday was one such example. The Trojans led most of the way, but the Utes triumphed in the end, 31-27. LSU at Auburn developed into a relatively low-scoring affair (plus, no matter the outcome, we were guaranteed that the Tigers would win!). A quirk in clock management led to the War Eagles winning over the Bayou Bengals, and thus brought a sudden end to the Les Miles era in Baton Rouge. Where LSU will go from here is anybody’s guess, but they do now have carte blanche to hire Art Briles, who is currently unemployed.
Tennessee seemed to finally learn to close the deal in a big game. Last year at this time, they gave up some heartbreakers to big-name teams, though they led the majority of those games (namely, Oklahoma and Florida). To make the situation murkier, they played inconsistently in their wins this year prior to yesterday. Even during the first half, they were clearly off rhythm, and the Gators led at the half, 21-3. All that changed in the second half. The Volunteers came out an entirely different team, executing effectively, and scoring, seemingly, at will, while Florida only scored a touchdown for that entire half. Now that the Vols have proven they can “close the deal,” they need to prove they can effectively play a good first half as well as a good second. Once they do, they’ll be one of the best teams in football. As things currently stand, Tennessee seems to have a clear path to the SEC East berth of their conference’s championship game.
That path was opened all the wider after then-No. 12 Georgia embarrassed themselves on the road to then-No. 23 Ole Miss. Sure, the Rebels are a good team, but the Bulldogs made them look like world-beaters. Couple this with the fact that Mark Richt did not leave the team’s talent cupboard bare, and this seriously calls into question the wisdom in hiring Kirby Smart as his replacement.
Speaking of questionable hires, Kentucky won over South Carolina in a contest of ineptitude on both sides of the ball. Mark Stoops’ days are clearly numbered in Lexington, despite all of his hiring hype from a few years ago. But Will Muschamp is the new hire in Columbia. As I have previously inquired, what sense does it make to hire a coach who failed with the talent at Florida, only to bring him into a program with less talent and less of a recruiting pipeline? Indeed, the South Carolina-Georgia border rivalry game might as well be dubbed the clash of the two coaching hire trainwrecks (in the making). But in the meantime, the Bulldogs have no time to lick their wounds, as they play Tennessee next week.
In a good game that was on nobody’s radar screen, Purdue actually beat an opponent with some degree of credibility in Nevada. In what seemed, on paper to be a lop-sided matchup, South Florida acquitted themselves well against Florida State, losing only 55-35.
On the other side of the proverbial coin was Wisconsin at Michigan State. The then-No. 11 Badgers embarrassed the then-No. 8 Spartans, 30-6. Sparty is lucky to remain ranked after such a drubbing, and this loss certainly does not make Notre Dame look any better after the drubbing they suffered at MSU’s hands.
Speaking of Notre Dame, head coach Brian Kelly fired his defensive coordinator after the Fighting Irish lost, at home, to Duke. Yes, Duke. But be not fooled: the Blue Devils are a respectable team, thanks to the patient building of head coach David Cutcliffe. Those “in the know” anticipated a decent game regardless of the outcome.
On the west coast, the competition was more than decent between Stanford and home team UCLA. The Bruins led most of the game. The Cardinal did not score the go-ahead touchdown until fewer than 30 seconds remained in regulation. The last six points to add to their margin came on a fluke. UCLA’s QB attempted a “Hail Mary” pass, but a Stanford defensive linemen forced a fumble instead before successfully running the ball back for another score with 0:00 left on the play clock. Notwithstanding the fluke score, it was a very good game.
Another good game for much of the duration was the Texas A&M vs. Arkansas game. The game was hard-fought on both sides, but as the game progressed, the Aggies played better and better. All this talk about Coach Kevin Sumlin being on the hot seat seem a overblown at least and more than a tad premature at worst, as A&M is now ranked No. 9 in the AP Poll, with more great SEC West matchups remaining.
Two other close, hard-fought games that relatively few people noticed: BYU vs. West Virginia (the Mountaineers won, 35-32) and Pitt vs. North Carolina (the Tarheels won that close one, 37-36). As previously observed, the entire day consisted of close games, top, bottom, and middle.
College Football Week 3 Awards (2016) September 19, 2016
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona State, Baylor, Bobby Petrino, Brian Kelly, Butch Jones, BYU, Cal, California, Clemson, college, Colorado, Cornhuskers, David Cutcliffe, Ducks, Florida, Florida State, football, Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Idaho, Iowa, Jim McElwain, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, NCAA, Nebraska, North Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, P.J. Fleck, Paul Chryst, Rice, Sean Kugler, South Carolina, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas State, UMass, UTEP, West Virginia, Western Michigan, Wildcats, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 3] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Glad I’m not him: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Lucky guy: Paul Chryst, Wisconsin
Poor guy: Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Desperately seeking … anything: Sean Kugler, UTEP
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Clemson (defeated South Carolina State 59-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Wisconsin (defeated Georgia State 23-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Appalachian State (lost to No. 25 Miami 45-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Ohio U (lost to No. 15 Tennessee 28-19)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Louisville (blew out No. 2 Florida State 63-20)
Dang, they’re good: Louisville
Dang, they’re bad: Virginia
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Texas
Did the season start? Iowa
Can the season end? Idaho
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: Cal 50, No. 11 Texas 43
Play this again, too: Nebraska 35, No 22 Oregon 32
Never play this again: No. 5 Clemson 59, South Carolina State 0
What? Nebraska 35, No 22 Oregon 32
Huh? Cal 50, No. 11 Texas 43
Are you kidding me? No. 10 Louisville 63, No. 2 Florida State 20
Oh – my – God: North Dakota State 23, No. 13 Iowa 21
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for: No. 11 Wisconsin @ No. 8 Michigan State
Also: No. 12 Georgia @ No. 23 Ole Miss
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: BYU @ West Virginia
Best non-Power Five matchup: Georgia Southern @ Western Michigan
Upset alert: No. 5 Clemson @ Georgia Tech
Must win: No. 19 Florida @ No. 14 Tennessee
Offensive explosion: Cal @ Arizona State
Defensive struggle: South Carolina @ Kentucky
Great game no one is talking about: Oklahoma State @ No. 16 Baylor
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jim McElwain of Florida vs. Butch Jones of Tennessee
Also: David Cutcliffe of Duke vs. Brian Kelly of Notre Dame
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 6 Houston @ Texas State
Why are they playing? Mississippi State @ UMass
Plenty of good seats remaining: North Texas @ Rice
Week 3 Take-aways:
After a lull of marquee match-ups last week, we the fans were treated to more great games this week. Watching two top ten teams in Florida State taking on Louisville is no better way to kick of the week’s massive slate of game. One-sided though the game may have been, it remained engaging in seeing the vaunted Seminoles lose by such a huge margin. Bravo, Cardinals!
Much hype has ensued in the wake of Texas defeating Notre Dame during the opening weekend. “Texas is back” has been an oft-repeated mantra. Their loss on the road to Cal calls said mantra into question. Only in the ensuing weeks, when the Longhorns play more of their respectable opponents, namely, Oklahoma State (whom they play next week), Oklahoma, Kansas State, Baylor, Texas Tech, West Virginia, and TCU will that mantra be either confirmed or denied.
Just to get this off my chest, who would have anticipated that the Kentucky – New Mexico State game would have been the offensive explosion that it turned out to be? An exciting game ensued, to be sure, but allowing a Sunbelt team to score 42 points on them is not the most ringing endorsement of the Wildcats’ defense. If these shadows remain unchanged, this does not bode for when UK enters the conference part of its schedule.
But all that aside, there were many sublime matchups this week. Oregon lost on the road to Nebraska in a game that went down to the wire. Texas lost to Cal in the same manner. As mentioned earlier, Louisville vs. Florida State was a marquee, top-ten matchup, until the Cardinals proceeded to obliterate the ‘Noles. The games in the 3:30 (EDT) time slot seemed, on paper, to be a respite before the bigger games ensued in the evening, but even they quickly became intriguing. In addition to the Ducks-Cornhuskers game, an improving Colorado gave Michigan a good fight before the Wolverines finally decided to start playing football. Ole Miss threatened to knock Alabama off its top spot in the polls. The evening time slots treated us fans to Texas-Cal, Michigan State @ Notre Dame, Ohio State @ Oklahoma (it has been a while since those two powerhouses butted heads), and BYU put up a great fight against UCLA. A great day for the game, when one tallies up the results and the moments.
Next week will frankly not measure up compared to this week and to week 1, but one cannot expect every week to deliver matchups like this. That said, some good conference games await us, as well as some tasty pre-conference games from power five teams across the board. Week 4 may not be as strong as week 3, but plenty of interesting games await us in any case!
College Football Week 2 Awards (2016) September 12, 2016
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Bob Stoops, Brett Bielema, Brian Kelly, BYU, Cincinnati, Clemson, college, Darrell Hazell, Florida, Florida State, football, Gamecocks, Gary Patterson, Iowa State, Kalani Sitake, Kent State, Kentucky, Kyle Whittingham, Louisville, Mark Dantonio, Mark Stoops, Michigan, Michigan State, NCAA, Nebraska, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, SEC, South Carolina, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, USC, USF, Utah, Virginia Tech, Wildcats, Will Muschamp, Willie Taggert, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 2] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Glad I’m not him: Kalani Sitake, BYU
Lucky guy: Brett Bielema, Arkansas
Poor guy: Gary Patterson, TCU
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Willie Taggert, South Florida
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mark Stoops, Kentucky
Desperately seeking … anything: Darrell Hazell, Purdue
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 3 Florida State (defeated Charleston Southern 52-8)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 2 Clemson (defeated Troy 30-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Akron (lost to No. 10 Wisconsin 54-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Nicholls (lost to Georgia 26-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Nebraska (defeated Wyoming 52-17)
Dang, they’re good: Michigan
Dang, they’re bad: Kentucky
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Oklahoma State
Did the season start? Northwestern
Can the season end? Miami, OH
Can the season never end? Wisconsin
GAMES
Play this again: Arkansas 41, No. 15 TCU 38
Play this again, too: Utah 20, BYU 19
Honorable Mention to play again: South Carolina 13, Vanderbilt 10
Never play this again: No. 20 Texas A&M 67, Prairie View A&M 0
What? East Carolina 33, N.C. State 30
Huh? Arkansas 41, No. 15 TCU 38
Are you kidding me? Illinois State 9, Northwestern 7
Oh – my – God: Central Michigan 30, No. 22 Oklahoma State 27
Told you so: Arizona State 68, Texas Tech 55
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 2, pre-week 3)
Ticket to die for: No. 2 Florida State @ No. 10 Louisville
Also: No. 3 Ohio State @ No. 14 Oklahoma
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: UCLA @ BYU
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 6 Houston @ Cincinnati (Thurs.)
Upset alert: Auburn @ No. 17 Texas A&M
Must win: Iowa State @ TCU
Offensive explosion: No. 22 Oregon @ Nebraska
Defensive struggle: No. 1 Alabama @ No. 19 Ole Miss
Great game no one is talking about: Pitt @ Oklahoma State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mark Dantonio of Michigan State vs. Brian Kelly of Notre Dame
Who’s bringing the body bags? South Carolina State @ No. 3 Clemson
Why are they playing? Ohio U @ No. 15 Tennessee
Plenty of good seats remaining: Monmouth @ Kent State
They shoot horses, don’t they? Georgia State @ No. 9 Wisconsin
Week 2 Take-aways:
After such a spectacular opening week in college football the previous Saturday and surrounding days, this weekend was a considerable let-down. The noon timeslots were mediocre, save for the decent matchup of Penn State vs. Pitt. The 3:30 timeslots were positively atrocious, where the best game was arguably Kentucky vs. Florida, and that game turned out to be a 45-7 blowout in favor of the Gators. All the good games were crammed together in the evening, where I found myself wearing out my TV’s remote by switching around to the games of Arkansas @ TCU, Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech (at the Bristol, Tenn. Motor Speedway), BYU @ Utah, and occasionally South Carolina @ Mississippi State.
After this mediocre lineup of games for this week, one thing that has festered for a while has become even more clear. Two teams that continue to suck with overpaid coaches who are out of their depth are both Darrell Hazell of Purdue and Mark Stoops of Kentucky. The latter is another case, apparently, of where the only Stoops brother who has the skill set to be a legit head coach at the big boy level is Bob, not brother Mark. We might recall that the other brother, Mike, flamed out at Arizona. Concerning brother Mark, who apparently has had all these great recruiting classes while at UK, lost to lowly Southern Miss last week and this week was demolished by a recovering Florida, 45-7. His predecessor, Joker Philips, went 13-24 (4-20 SEC) after three seasons. Stoops is currently 12-26 (4-21 SEC) after the second game in his fourth season of tenure at UK. The Kentucky faithful would do well to ask themselves: is this progress?
The former had only one good year at a middling MAC program (Kent State), and the powers that be at Purdue were suckered in by this limited success to offer him the Purdue job, paying him $2.2 Million annually, or about $1 Million more than his predecessor, Coach Danny Hope. Hazell is thus far 7-30 since the 2013 season at Purdue, while Coach Hope went 22-27 in four seasons there. Doing that math, that amounts to paying an addition $4 Million for 15 fewer wins. For an athletics department that ostensibly prides itself on operating in the black, those numbers simply do not add up. Moreover, it makes one wonder how much better Hope would have performed had he been given those extra resources that Hazell currently enjoys (meager as they still are compared to true big boy programs).
Meanwhile, on a totally unrelated note, Mississippi State gave the impression that they have righted the ship after their embarrassing upset at home last week to South Alabama. They defeated South Carolina this week, 27-14. Conversely, the loss on the part of the Gamecocks’ gives those who doubt the wisdom of the hire of head coach Will Muschamp further credibility.
All this aside, there are some outstanding matchups awaiting us this upcoming weekend, namely:
Michigan State @ Notre Dame; Texas A&M @ Auburn; Pittsburgh @ Oklahoma State; Oregon @ Nebraska; Alabama @ Ole Miss; UCLA @ BYU; Houston @ Cincinnati (Thurs. evening); USC @ Stanford; Ohio State @ Oklahoma; and of course, Florida State @ Louisville, which could potentially be the best game of the year thus far. I for one am already chomping at the bit, especially for the latter game!
College Football Week 1 Awards (2016) September 6, 2016
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, ANZ Stadium, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, Bob Stoops, Bronco Mendenhall, Butch Jones, BYU, Charlotte, Clemson, college, Colorado, Derek Mason, Florida State, football, Georgia, Hawaii, Houston, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Mark Helfrich, Michigan, Mike MacIntyre, Mississippi State, NCAA, North Carolina, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Olympics, Oregon, Penn State, SEC, South Carolina, South Dakota State, South Florida, Stanford, Sydney, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tigers, Tom Herman, Troy, Tulane, UCLA, UConn, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Will Muschamp, Wofford
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Texas defeated visiting No. 10 Notre Dame in a wild game, 50-47. The game was one of many excellent games to kickoff the 2016 college football season (photo by Getty Images)
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 1] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Tom Herman, Houston
Glad I’m not him: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Lucky guy: Will Muschamp, South Carolina
Poor guy: Derek Mason, Vanderbilt
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Mike MacIntyre, Colorado
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Les Miles Desperately seeking … anything: Willie Fritz, Tulane
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 19 Louisville (defeated Charlotte 70-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 13 TCU (defeated South Dakota State 38-31)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Hawaii (lost to No. 7 Michigan 63-3)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Appalachian State (lost to Tennessee 20-13).
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Western Kentucky (defeated Rice 46-14)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Tulane
Can’t Stand Prosperity: LSU
Did the season start? Oklahoma (also: Mississippi State)
Can the season end? Hawaii Can the season never end? Louisville
GAMES
Play this again: Wisconsin 16, No. LSU 14
Play this again, too: Texas 50, No. 10 Notre Dame 47
Honorable Mention to play again: South Carolina 13, Vanderbilt 10 Never play this again: No. 7 Michigan 63, Hawaii 3
Say what? Southern Miss 44, Kentucky 35
WHAT? Texas A&M 31, No. 16 UCLA 24
Huh? No. 15 Houston 33, No. 3 Oklahoma 23
Double-huh? Texas 50, No. 10 Notre Dame 47, 2OT
Are you kidding me? South Alabama 21, Mississippi State 20 Oh – my – God: Wisconsin 16, No. 5 LSU 14
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 1, pre-week 2) Ticket to die for: Arkansas @ No. 12 TCU
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: BYU @ Utah
Best non-Power Five matchup: Northern Illinois @ South Florida
Upset alert: Virginia Tech @ No. 14 Tennessee
Must win: (take your pick)
Offensive explosion: Texas Tech @ Arizona State
Defensive struggle: South Carolina @ Mississippi State
Great game no one is talking about: Penn State @ Pitt
Intriguing coaching matchup: Bronco Mendenhall of Virginia vs. Mark Helfrich of Oregon
Who’s bringing the body bags? Troy @ No. 2 Clemson
Why are they playing? Nicholls State @ No. 9 Georgia
Plenty of good seats remaining: Army @ UConn
They shoot horses, don’t they? Wofford @ No. 18 Ole Miss
Week 1 Take-aways:
What a fantastic opening week for college football. It was billed going in as the greatest opening week in the history of the game, and the games themselves did not disappoint. Two Top Five teams went down to defeat, the most teams where that has happened at the season’s onset since 1972.
On paper alone the matchups were very intriguing. To wit: No. 15 Houston played No. 3 Oklahoma at home – in NRG Stadium, no less. No. 22 North Carolina played No. 18 Georgia in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta (Peach Bowl preview, anyone?). No. 16 UCLA journeyed to Texas A&M to play the Aggies. No. 5 LSU made the trek up to Wisconsin to play the Badgers – in historic Lambeau Field. Indeed, this was the first time his legendary venue hosted a college game. Later in the day, No. 1 Alabama faced off against No. 20 USC in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Later still, No. 2 Clemson came to Auburn to throw down with the [War Eagle] Tigers. While those two big game were going on, out west, BYU journeyed down to Glendale, Ariz., to play a neighbor to the south in Arizona.
On Sunday, Notre Dame played the Texas Longhorns, in Austin (nominally ACC vs Big XII), and on Monday, No. 11 Ole Miss played No. 4 Florida State (SEC vs ACC), thus adding two more highly marquee matchups two an incredible, extended opening weekend.
If that’s not enough, the previous week, Hawaii played Cal…in Sydney, Australia. The venue for this game was ANZ Stadium, the new name of the stadium used to host the opening/closing ceremonies and the track and field events for the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Whom do we have to thank for this magnificent opening to the 2016 season of college football? Most likely we have the Playoff Committee to thank. They re-worked the formula for selecting teams. The BCS formula left teams way too cautious. One loss likely meant being out of the hunt for a national title. Better therefore to pad the record with an easy win. We the fans suffered with lousy non-conference matchups as a result. When the switch was made from a BCS selection to a four-team playoff, the formula was modified to the point where one loss would not mean the end of the season for those who were in the national title hunt. Conversely, the new formula put a stronger emphasis on strength of schedule. It was a win-win-win. The first “win” is in the form of teams being more free to schedule good games before the conference portion of their season than during the BCS era. The fans reap the second win with great games (see: this weekend). The third win is, as mentioned before, if you have a tough, strong schedule, one loss will not necessarily dash your season’s aspirations.
Good thing, too, because many commentators have dubbed this Saturday the “Day of the Dog”…the underdog, that is. Texas A&M knocked off No. 16 UCLA in overtime at home. Fifteenth-ranked Houston beat No. 3 Oklahoma by 10 points. Even more stunning was Mississippi State missing a last-minute field goal…at home…to lowly South Alabama. Of course, the unranked Wisconsin Badgers upset the No. 5 LSU Tigers in a close game, 16-14. The following evening, the unranked Longhorns knocked off the 10th-ranked Fighting Irish at home, 50-57, in a second overtime, no less.
Apropos of nothing, here is a philosophical question for you: which is more pathetic; that Tulane could only score seven points on Wake Forest, or that Wake Forest could score only seven points on Tulane?
Regardless, what a stupendous weekend for college football. Fans should treasure it for a long time to come!
College Football Week 11 Awards: the Night of the Living Upsets Edition November 16, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Art Briles, Auburn, Baylor, Bayou Bengals, Bears, Bob Stoops, Boise State, Boston College, Bulls, Cardinal, Charlotte, Clemson, David Shaw, Doc Holliday, Ducks, FIU, Florida, Houston, Hurricanes, Idaho, Indiana, Jim Harbaugh, Kentucky, Kyle Flood, Les Miles, Living, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Mark Helfrich, Marshall, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike Gundy, Mississippi State, New Mexico, Night, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Owls, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Razorbacks, Rice, Rich Rodriguez, Rutgers, SMU, Sooners, South Florida, Southern Miss, Stanford, TCU, Temple, Texas A&M, Tigers, UCLA, Upset, Upsets, Urban Meyer, USC, Utah, Utes, Washington State, Wildcats
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The Oregon-Stanford game was a classic matchup of speed vs. power. In the end, Stanford ruined their chances of a playoff berth with two 4th-quarter fumbles. This was but one of many upsets that night which could lead to considerable chaos in the rankings. (AP photo/Tony Avelar)
(Note: All rankings are current CFP [week 11] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Glad I’m not him: Art Briles, Baylor
Lucky guy: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Poor guy: David Shaw, Stanford
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Doc Holliday, Marshall
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Les Miles, LSU
Desperately seeking … anything: Kyle Flood, Rutgers
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Texas A&M (defeated Western Carolina 42-17)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 15 TCU (defeated Kansas 23-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Miami (lost to No. 23 North Carolina 59-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Purdue (lost to No. 18 Northwestern 21-14)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Southern Miss (defeated Rice 65-10)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: SMU
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Baylor
Did the season start? LSU
Can the season end? Miami (FL)
Can the season never end? Oklahoma
GAMES
Play this again: Oregon 36, No. 7 Stanford 34
Play this again, too: No. 14 Michigan 48, Indiana 41
Never play this again: Marshall 52, FIU 0
What? South Florida 44, No. 22 Temple 23
Huh? Arizona 37, No. 10 Utah 30, 2OT
Double-Huh? Oregon 36, No. 7 Stanford 34
Are you kidding me? No. 12 Oklahoma 44, No. 6 Baylor 34
Oh – my – God: Arkansas 31, No. 9 LSU 14
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are week 11 CFP as of right now)
Ticket to die for: No. 6 Baylor @ No. 8 Oklahoma State
Also: No. 13 Michigan State @ No. 3 Ohio State
Honorable mention: USC @ Oregon
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Georgia Southern @ Georgia
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 21 Memphis @ No. 22 Temple
Upset alert: Boston College vs. No. 4 Notre Dame
Must win: UCLA @ Utah
Also: No. 12 Oklahoma @ No. 15 TCU
Offensive explosion: Baylor @ Oklahoma State
Defensive struggle: No. 17 Mississippi State @ Arkansas
Great game no one is talking about: Louisville @ Pittsburgh
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mark Dantonio of MSU vs. Urban Meyer of OSU
Who’s bringing the body bags? Charleston Southern @ No. 2 Alabama
Why are they playing? Idaho @ Auburn
Ditto: Florida Atlantic @ No. 11 Florida
Plenty of good seats remaining: Rice @ UTSA
They shoot horses, don’t they? Charlotte @ Kentucky
Week 11 Take-aways:
Henceforth let this day, the 14th of November in the Year of Our Lord 2015, be known as the Night of the Living Upsets. The daylight hours proceeded with each favored team either comfortably sailing by, or at least no worse than slipping away from the occasional close shave. Then the evening hours descended, and everything seemed to be suddenly turned on its ear.
To wit:
Nobody thought that Arkansas had a chance against LSU. After all, the Razorbacks were having a mediocre-at-best season, sub-par in any case. Moreover, Arkansas had only defeated LSU in Baton Rogue just once in the past 20 years. On the other side of the coin, the Tigers – the Bayou Bengal variety – have been playing very strongly, despite a drubbing to an increasingly dominating Alabama squad. Yet the Hogs took it to the Tigers, in Death Valley, and did so in dramatic fashion, winning 31-14. As an aside, the Hogs now have their fourth straight win, having started the season 2-4.
Meanwhile, out on the west coast, a marquee matchup in the Pac-12 took place in Stanford, where the Oregon Ducks took on the Cardinal – formerly the Indians – in a classic match of contrasts, speed vs. power. Speed ended up winning by default in the end, narrowly, 38-36. Ironically, it was not Oregon’s speed that killed Stanford as it was the Cardinal’s two inopportune fumbles late in the fourth quarter. Otherwise, they surely would have won the contest.
In the heart of Texas, Oklahoma came in to Waco to take on Baylor in a rain-soaked showdown. To the surprise of many, the Bears’ high-powered offense was kept in check the entire game. Not coincidentally, the Sooners actually played real defense, unlike all the Bears’ previous opponents, but it was still a tough fight throughout the game. The triumph was nevertheless that of the Sooners, 44-34.
Elsewhere in the southwest, the high-flying Utah squad ventured to Tucson, Ariz., to take on the Arizona Wildcats. Rich Rodriguez must have been ready for the Utes’ arrival. His team was surely hungry for a big win, for they, muck like Arkansas in the SEC, have had a mediocre season at best. In the end, the Wildcats triumphed over the Utes in 2OT, 37-30.
A near-upset occurred, as Houston barely survived Memphis, 35-34. Those Tigers (as opposed to the LSU, Auburn, or Clemson ones) were in the lead most of the game. The Cougars very gradually gnawed away at the lead in the second half to eventually snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Even then it took a missed field goal on the part of Memphis to finalize the outcome.
Yet another near-upset occurred in Bloomington, Ind., as the Indiana Hoosiers almost knocked off Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines. Only a couple of freak big plays towards the end of regulation in Michigan’s favor saved Harbaugh’s bacon that game, as it put the game in OT where the better talent was able to prevail (which it did, 48-41).
An under-the-radar upset came in the form of South Florida – a nobody the entire season – up-ending No. 22 Temple, 44-23. Remember, this is the same Temple team that played fourth-ranked Notre Dame tough the entire length of that contest. Indeed, they almost upset the Irish. Now the Bulls have decisively beaten/upset the deceptively tough Owls. Oh my.
Another overlooked upset was New Mexico upsetting Boise State in Boise, Idaho, no less, 31-24. It took a stop just four years shy of the goal line on the part of the Lobos, with 0:00 on the clock, to ensure the outcome.
Yet another under-the-radar upset was so only because it was out on the west coast, and very late at night, even by Central Time standards. Unranked Washington State defeated No. 19 UCLA, 31-27, in Pasadena, no less. The win came on a Hail Mary pass that was completed in the end zone in the final seconds, giving an incredible night full of drama one incredible exclamation mark.
Those of who paid attention to the team schedules knew that this November would be a month of separation. What we did NOT anticipate was that so much, er, separation, would occur so soon in the month, and on one night alone. The real kicker? At only halfway through November, more separation (chaos?) is yet to come!
College Football Week 10 Awards November 9, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona State, Art Briles, Baylor, Bob Stoops, Butch Jones, BYU, Charlotte, Clemson, Colorado, Dabo Swinney, Darrell Hazell, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Florida State, Gary Patterson, Houston, Justin Fuente, Ken Niumatalolo, Kentucky, Kevin Sumlin, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Navy, Nebraska, North Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, San Jose State, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tigers, UMass, UTSA, Vanderbilt, West Virginia
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(Note: All rankings are current CFP [week 10] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Glad I’m not him: Gary Patterson, TCU
Lucky guy: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Poor guy: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Ken Niumatalolo, Navy
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Justin Fuente, Memphis
Desperately seeking … anything: Darrell Hazell, Purdue
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Michigan (defeated Rutgers 49-16)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: BYU (defeated San Jose State 17-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to No. 11 Stanford 42-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (lost to No. 10 Florida 9-7)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Oklahoma State (see below)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Memphis
Did the season start? Texas A&M
Can the season end? Rutgers
Can the season never end? Clemson
GAMES
Play this again: No. 1 Clemson 23, No. 16 Florida State 13
Never play this again: Arkansas 63, UT-Martin 28
What? Auburn 20, No. 19 Texas A&M 10
Huh? Navy 45, No. 13 Memphis 20
Are you kidding me? No. 12 Oklahoma State 49, No. 8 TCU 29
Oh – my – God: Nebraska 39, No. 7 Michigan State 38
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current CFP (post-week 10, pre-week 11)
Ticket to die for: No. 10 Oklahoma @ No. 4 Baylor
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: BYU @ Missouri
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 25 Memphis @ No. 16 Houston
Upset alert: Oregon @ No. 8 Stanford
Must win: Pittsburgh @ Duke
Offensive explosion: Memphis @ Houston
Defensive struggle: Kentucky @ Vanderbilt
Great game no one is talking about: Texas @ West Virginia
Intriguing coaching matchup: Art Briles of Baylor vs. Bob Stoops of Oklahoma
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kansas @ No. 13 TCU
Why are they playing? Western Carolina @ Texas A&M
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTSA @ Charlotte (also: UMass @ Eastern Michigan)
They shoot horses, don’t they? North Texas @ Tennessee
Week 11 Take-aways:
Two quick notes. One, it might time to put the expression “[I]t’s time to put “Clemsoning” to bed” to bed. “Clemsoning,” if you’ll recall, refers to the Tigers usually choking (horribly at that) in big games. They always coughed it up to the then-stud teams of the ACC, especially Florida State. A few years ago, they went to the Orange Bowl to play West Virginia, and lost…horribly! That was early January of 2012. By the time the Tigers – at No. 12 — returned to the Orange Bowl two years later, this time to play No. 7 Ohio State, the situation was considerably different. In what cannot be ignored as a statement game, Clemson beat the Buckeyes 40-35, and have not looked back since. Now they currently sit at the top of the College Football Playoff poll. Bully for them!
The other quick take-away is that it is now November. Teams are what they are at this point in the season. But more to the point, these next few weeks, including this past weekend, will be one of separation. Teams that were hitherto unbeaten – or at least ranked in the top ten – will now start to butt heads. Separation shall thus ensure (read: Alabama’s dominating win over LSU). Indeed, it hath already begun. What a glorious month of college football this shall become!
College Football Week 7 Awards October 20, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Auburn, Bob Stoops, Boise State, Boston College, Bowling Green, BYU, Cal, Duke, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Florida, George O'Leary, Houston, Hugh Freeze, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa State, Jim Harbaugh, Jim Mora, Kansas State, Kliff Kingsbury, Les Miles, Louisiana-Monroe, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Mark Richt, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Texas, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Rutgers, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tom Herman, UCF, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Western Kentucky, Wyoming
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Just when we all had left Michigan State for dead, the most consequential blocked punt in recent memory happened. The Wolverine’s punter never had a chance, but bully for the Spartan returner! Photo by Dale G. Young, AP
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 7] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Les Miles, LSU
Glad I’m not him: Jim Mora, UCLA
Lucky guy: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Poor guy: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Tom Herman, Houston
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss
Desperately seeking … anything: George O’Leary, UCF
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Western Kentucky (defeated North Texas 55-28)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: TCU (defeated Iowa State 45-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Eastern Michigan (lost to No. 22 Toledo 63-20)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Iowa State (lost to No. 3 TCU 45-21)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Bowling Green (defeated Akron 59-10)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Vanderbilt
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Ole Miss
Did the season start? Auburn
Can the season end? UCF
Can the season never end? Memphis
GAMES Play this again: No. 7 Michigan State 27, No. 12 Michigan 23
Play this again, too: No. 6 LSU 35, No. 8 Florida 28
Never play this again: No. 19 Oklahoma 55, Kansas State 0
What? Nebraska 48, Minnesota 25
Huh? Rutgers 55, Indiana 52, OT
Are you kidding me? No. 10 Alabama 41, No. 9 Texas A&M 23
Oh – my – God: Memphis 37, No. 13 Ole Miss 24
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 6, pre-week 7)
Ticket to die for: Tennessee @ No. 8 Alabama
Also: No. 15 Texas A&M @ No. 23 Ole Miss
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Western Kentucky @ No. 5 LSU
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 22 Temple @ East Carolina
Upset alert: No. 23 Duke @ Virginia Tech
Must win: Kansas State @ Texas
Offensive explosion: No. 20 Cal @ UCLA
Defensive struggle: Missouri @ Vanderbilt
Great game no one is talking about: Boston College @ Louisville
Intriguing coaching matchup: Kliff Kingsbury of Texas Tech vs. Bob Stoops of Oklahoma
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kansas @ No. 14 Oklahoma State
Why are they playing? Wagner @ BYU
Plenty of good seats remaining: Troy @ New Mexico State
They shoot horses, don’t they? Troy @ Mississippi State
Week 7 Take-aways:
Here are some quick, bottom-line thoughts. Ohio State wore the weirdest, most out-of-the-ordinary uniforms in the history of their storied program when they took down Penn State. Check it out. USC put up a great fight at Notre Dame, but sadly came up short. LSU and Florida slugged it out for a great game Saturday evening in Death Valley. Ironically, the go-ahead touchdown was scored by LSU’s kicker, a positive that he shall no doubt take to his grave, and deservedly so. Meanwhile, Michigan State’s last-second win over Michigan – in the Big House, no less – will be one for the ages as well. Auburn has their “Kick-Six,” so it will be interesting to see what sort of moniker will soon be attached to the Spartans’ blocking of Michigan’s punt attempt, then running it back for the go-ahead score as time expired. Classic.
College Football Awards Week 6 October 13, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Uncategorized.Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Ball State, Baylor, Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops, Bulldogs, Butch Jones, Cotton Bowl, Crimson Tide, David Shaw, Florida, Gary Patterson, Georgia, Georgia State, Horned Frogs, Hurricanes, Iowa, Iowa State, Jim Harbaugh, Jim Mora, Kansas, Kansas State, Kyle Whittingham, Longhorns, Mark Richt, Matt Campbell, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Razorbacks, Red River rivalry, Red River Shootout, Red River Showdown, Sooners, South Carolina, Stanford, Steve Sarkesian, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Toledo, Trojans, Troy, UCLA, USC, Utah, Vanderbilt, Vols, Wildcats, Wolverines
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Texas head coach Charlie Strong celebrates with his team after their incredible upset over rival Oklahoma. Judging by the photo, it seems as though he might have won back the locker room. Photo from the Dallas Morning News.
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 6] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Glad I’m not him: Steve Sarkesian, USC
Lucky guy: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Poor guy: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Gary Patterson, TCU
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Matt Campbell of Toledo
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Desperately seeking … anything: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Baylor (defeated Kansas 66-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Oklahoma (see below)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Troy (lost to Mississippi State 45-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Texas (see below)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Michigan (see below)
Dang, they’re good: Baylor
Dang, they’re bad: Miami, Ohio
Can’t Stand Prosperity: USC
Did the season start? Miami, Fla.
Can the season end? South Carolina
Can the season never end? Utah
GAMES
Play this again: Texas 24, No. 10 Oklahoma 17
Play this again, too: Tennessee 38, No. 19 Georgia 31
Never play this again: No. 3 Baylor 66, Kansas 7
What? No. 18 Michigan 38, No. 13 Northwestern 0
Huh? Washington 17, No. 17 USC 12
Are you kidding me? Tennessee 38, No. 19 Georgia 31
Oh – my – God: Texas 24, No. 10 Oklahoma 17
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 6, pre-week 7)
Ticket to die for: No. 7 Michigan State @ No. 12 Michigan
Also: No. 10 Alabama @ No. 9 Texas A&M
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: No. 13 Ole Miss @ Memphis
Best non-Power Five matchup: Akron @ Bowling Green
Upset alert: Louisville @ No. 11 Florida State
Must win: USC @ No. 14 Notre Dame
Offensive explosion: West Virginia @ No. 2 Baylor
Defensive struggle: Vanderbilt @ South Carolina
Great game no one is talking about: No. 17 Iowa @ No. 20 Northwestern
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jim Mora of UCLA vs David Shaw of Stanford
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 3 TCU @ Iowa State
Why are they playing? Louisiana Tech @ Mississippi State
Plenty of good seats remaining: Georgia State @ Ball State
They shoot horses, don’t they? Troy @ Mississippi State
Week 5 Take-aways:
What a weekend of upsets and near-upsets. One obvious near-miss: Gary Patterson’s TCU almost got upset on the road to Bill Snyder’s Kansas State. You just know that the old man was not going to roll over for the vaunted Horned Frogs. In the end, the near-miss cost the Frogs one spot in the rankings, as they are down to No. 3 from the No. 2 spot.
Similarly, Alabama took a while to get going at home against Arkansas. Eventually the Tide decided to start playing football, but they were down to the under-performing Hogs for too long of a time in regulation to be taken seriously as a contending team.
Now the upsets: we all knew that Northwestern was a legitimate team. Most of us thought that the Wildcats playing the Michigan Wolverines would be the game of the week. That turned out, in the end, not to be the case. Jim Harbaugh seems to be building the Wolverrines to become stronger by the week.
Then there was the upset of the USC Trojans, at home, against Chris Petersen’s scrappy Washington Huskies. We were all hoping for a good game, but certainly did not foresee the the embarrassment at home for the Men of Troy – though the subsequent news of Steve Sarkesian’s major alcohol problem certainly explains USC’s volatile performance this season. Let us all wish a complete, sober recover for Sark as he embarks on a rehab program.
Or what about Tennessee? The poor Vols were unable to “close the deal,” blowing leads to both Oklahoma and to Florida, leading to heartbreaking losses in so doing. This time around, however, they had to play from behind, and upset the heavily-favored Georgia Bulldogs in so doing. So much for Georgia’s national championship hopes this year.
But let us not fool ourselves. The biggest upset of the week came in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. All of us, even the team’s fans, had given the Texas Longhorns up for dead, especially after the devastating loss to TCU the previous week. Coach Charlie Strong seemed to have lost the locker room, and he was strategically flailing in terms of not having an offensive or defensive identity.
Perhaps the rival Oklahoma Sooners were just naïve enough to take the bait. The Horns looked like an entirely different team this past Saturday than they did for the entire season leading up to this fateful day. Texas drew first blood late in the first quarter, and, mirabile dictu, did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game. Moreover, Strong somehow regained his identity, effectively playing a run-oriented, ball-control offense that left OU’s defense sucking wind by late in the 4th quarter. It was just enough to hold on and to upset their heavily-favored rival. It also likely saved Coach Strong’s bacon for the rest of the year. Hook ‘em!
College Football Awards Week 5 October 4, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Al Golden, Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Boise State, Brian Kelly, Cal, California, Cardinals, Charlie Strong, Cincinnati, Clemson, college, Colorado State, Cotton Bowl, Dabo Swinney, FIghting Irish, Florida, Florida State, football, Gators, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Horned Frogs, Hugh Freeze, Hurricanes, Illinois, Iowa, Jim Harbaugh, Jim McElwain, Jim Mora, Kansas, Longhorns, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisville, Mark Richt, Matt Rhule, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, N.C. State, NC State, NCAA, Nebraska, New Mexico State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Pat Fitzgerland, Purdue, South Carolina, South Florida, Steve Spurrier, Syracuse, TCU, Temple, Texas, Tigers, Troy, UCLA, Utah, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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Clemson triumphed over Notre Dame in what was perhaps the most thrilling game of the season thus far. Mandatory photo credit: Joshua S. Kelly of USA TODAY Sports
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 5] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Glad I’m not him: Al Golden, Miami
Lucky guy: Bret Bielema, Arkansas
Poor guy: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jim Mora, UCLA
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Matt Rhule, Temple
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss
Desperately seeking … anything: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: TCU (defeated Texas 50-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Michigan State (defeated Purdue 24-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Texas (lost to No. 4 TCU 50-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Purdue (lost to No. 2 Michigan State 24-21) T
hought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Iowa (defeated North Texas 62-16)
Dang, they’re good: TCU
Dang, they’re bad: Louisiana-Lafayette
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Ole Miss
Did the season start? Georgia Tech
Can the season end? Wyoming
Can the season never end? Clemson
GAMES
Play this again: No. 12 Clemson 24, No. 6 Notre Dame 22
Play this again, too: Arkansas 24, Tennessee 20
Never play this again: No. 4 TCU 50, Texas 7
What? Tulane 45, UCF 31
Huh? Iowa 10, #19 Wisconsin 6
Are you kidding me? No. 12 Clemson 24, No. 6 Notre Dame 22
Oh – my – God: Arizona State 38, No. 7 UCLA 23
Told you so: Louisville 20, N.C. State 13
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 5, pre-week 6)
Ticket to die for: No. 10 Oklahoma vs. Texas in the Cotton Bowl
Also: No. 13 Northwestern @ No. 18 Michigan
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Syracuse @ South Florida
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 25 Boise State @ Colorado State
Upset alert: Miami (Fla.) @ No. 12 Florida State
Must win: Wisconsin @ Nebraska
Offensive explosion: No. 23 Cal @ No. 5 Utah
Defensive struggle: Illinois @ No. 22 Iowa
Great game no one is talking about: No. 21 Oklahoma State @ West Virginia
Intriguing coaching matchup: Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern vs. Jim Harbaugh of Michigan
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 3 Baylor @ Kansas
Why are they playing? New Mexico State @ No. 14 Ole Miss
Plenty of good seats remaining: Portland State @ North Texas
They shoot horses, don’t they? Troy @ Mississippi State
Week 5 Take-aways:
What a weekend for college football! The grand irony is that this week left more questions than answers.
What a game it was in Clemson, S.C. Notre Dame came to town ranked No. 6 in the nation. The Tigers were ranked twelfth. ESPN’s Gameday crew was there. A massive rainstorm persisted throughout the day and night. Fans watching on national TV witnessed the team descend the hill in “Death Valley” to take on the highly-ranked Fighting Irish. Mistakes were made on both sides: typical ups-and-downs of a thrilling contest between highly-ranked teams. In the end, the Tigers triumphed.
But all of this ought not to obfuscate that Brian Kelly has built a strong program in South Bend. Were they overrated at No. 6? Definitely. Are they still a tough team? Definitely.
Tennessee lost yet another heartbreaker, this time to Arkansas. It was a close contest throughout the game, but the same problem continues to plague the Vols: they have yet to learn how to close a game, which is to say, they need to learn to stop blowing leads late in games.
Steve Spurrier dropped yet another game to a low-standing team in the SEC. Is it too early to say that the wheels might be coming off the program? Will Spurrier eventually have the fortitude to fall on his sword and thus clear the path for the program to be lead in a new direction?
Worse yet is the condition of the Texas Longhorns, who just got drubbed by TCU in Fort Worth, 50-7. Yes, Coach Gary Patterson has gradually built up a super-strong program over the years, but is the lack of quarterback play on the part of the Longhorns the only thing that explains such a debacle, or is it something more systemic than who is the head coach?
Oh, and this slump could not come at a worse time, as Texas takes on Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl next week.
The Cincinnati Bearcats have given us two good Thursday night games in a row, and in the process, have walked away with two wins. The most recent one was home over the Miami Hurricanes. There has already been grumbling around Coral Gables that Al Golden has not brought the Canes back to the level of prominence that the faithful would like to see. Is losing to UC a fireable offense, in culmination of this lack of expected progress?
How does one explain Michigan State’s lackluster performance at home against weak Purdue? The Boilermakers were just a field goal away late in the 4th quarter from tying the game in regulation. Have the Boilers improved that much in just one week since losing a near-gimme game the previous contest? Regardless, it will be very interesting to see if Purdue can sustain any sort of improvement as the season progresses.
Ole Miss was rolling after defeating then-No. 3 Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Rebels thus proved that they were both a tough team to reckon with and a team that could win on the road in a hostile environment. And yet, when they ventured into The Swamp to play Florida, they laid an egg. Yes, the Gators are improving week-by-week under the able leadership of Jim McElwain, but this alone cannot explain such an embarrassing defeat. Perhaps Coach Freeze did not have his men fully prepared, or, a critical mass of the team decided to take the game off, thinking it would not be as challenging as playing Bama. Such are the vicissitudes of college football, where 19 and 20-year olds are susceptible to such emotional roller coasters week to week that can negatively affect their level of play. It is a problem that coaches do not have to deal with in the pros, thankfully.
On a bright note, Bobby Petrino has his Louisville Cardinals slowly improving. Yes, they got their first win in a body bag game at home against Samford, but then they won, on the road, against a decent NC State team, in the rain. If that is not improvement, can somebody tell me what is?
College Football Week 4 Awards September 29, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Art Briles, Auburn, Baylor, Brent Musburger, Bret Bielema, Brian Kelly, Butch Jones, BYU, Cal, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Clemson, college, Dabo Swinney, Darrell Hazell, East Carolina, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, EKU, FIU, Florida, football, Gators, Georgia, Horned Frogs, Hurricanes, Jim Mora, Kentucky, Kliff Kingsbury, Louisville, LSU, Mark Helfrich, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, N.C. State, NCAA, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Purdue, Rice, San Jose State, SEC, Sonny Dykes, South Carolina, Southeastern Conference, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, Tigers, UCLA, UMass, Utah, Virginia Tech
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Tennessee lost a heartbreaker to Florida this past Saturday. They shall continue to lost more close games until they learn how to close, so to speak. Photo by John Raoux of the AP.
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 4] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jim Mora, UCLA
Glad I’m not him: Bret Bielema, Arkansas
Lucky guy: Jim McElwain, Florida
Poor guy: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Gary Patterson, TCU
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Sonny Dykes, Cal
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Desperately seeking … anything: Darrell Hazell, Purdue
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Baylor (defeated Rice 70-17)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Oklahoma State (defeated Texas 30-27)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: UMass (lost to No. 6 Notre Dame 62-27(
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Texas (lost to No. 24 Oklahoma State 30-27)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Iowa (defeated North Texas 62-16)
Dang, they’re good: UCLA
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
Can’t Stand Prosperity: BYU
Did the season start? Auburn
Can the season end? Arkansas State
Can the season never end? Utah
GAMES
Play this again: No. 3 TCU 55, Texas Tech 52
Play this again, too: Florida 28, Tennessee 27
Never play this again: No. 4 Baylor 70, Rice 17
What? East Carolina 35, Virginia Tech 28
Huh? Kentucky 21, No. 25 Missouri 13
Are you kidding me? Michigan 31, No. 22 BYU 0
Oh – my – God: No. 18 Utah 62, No. 13 Oregon 20
Told you so: Memphis 53, Cincinnati 46
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 4, pre-week 5)
Ticket to die for: No. 6 Notre Dame @ No. 12 Clemson
Also: No. 13 Alabama @ No. 8 Georgia
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Miami (Fla.) @ Cincinnati
Best non-Power Five matchup: Air Force @ Navy
Upset alert: No. 24 Oklahoma State @ Texas
Must win: Arkansas @ Tennessee
Offensive explosion: Texas Tech @ No. 5 Baylor
Defensive struggle: South Carolina @ Missouri
Great game no one is talking about: Louisville @ N.C. State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Kliff Kingsbury of Texas Tech vs. Art Briles of Baylor
Also: Dabo Swinney of Clemson vs. Brian Kelly of Notre Dame
Who’s bringing the body bags? Purdue @ No. 2 Michigan State
Why are they playing? Eastern Michigan @ No. 9 LSU
Plenty of good seats remaining: FIU @ UMass
They shoot horses, don’t they? San Jose State @ Auburn
Week 4 Take-aways:
Tennessee lost a heartbreaker on the road to Florida, thus continuing a losing streak to the Gators that started in 2005. Earlier in the season, they lost another heartbreaker at home to Oklahoma. What is so heartbreaking about both of these losses is that the Volunteers were in the lead for most of the game, until blowing the lead late in both games. Butch Jones is continuing to improve the program, gradually bringing it back to its blueblood status in the conference. But they’re clearly not there yet, and shall not be “there” until they learn to “close the deal,” which is to say, they must learn to finish the games strongly. It is still early in the season, so still time to salvage things.
Speaking of salvaging, Steve Spurrier seemed to have salvaged things reasonably well when his team beat a deceptively good Central Florida squad. Next week, though, they travel to a Columbia, Mo., to take on a similarly-ailing Missouri Tigers team, in what one can easily surmise is a must-win game for both.
Why are both aforementioned teams ailing? They both lost to Kentucky, for goodness sake!
Speaking of UK, given that the Wildcats have W’s over both the Gamecocks and the (Mizzou) Tigers, and they face a relative cupcake in the EKU Colonels this Saturday at home (a quasi-body bag game), the possibility that they could become bowl-eligible in the brutal SEC is not a remote one. Granted, they face a brutal stretch after the EKU game, facing, in order, Auburn, Mississippi State, Tennessee, then Georgia, but then have a two-week respite with Vanderbilt and then a gimme with Charlotte before concluding the season against improving Louisville. It could be a 6-6 year, which, for UK, is an improvement.
Utah and Michigan started the season playing each other. Though the former beat the latter convincingly, both teams are rolling right now. Funny how that works out.
TCU beat Texas Tech in a high-scoring game that went down to the wire. The Horned Frogs are supposed to be a top-five team, so how does one account for this narrow victory in a shootout? Let us not forget that this TCU team also squeaked by Minnesota at the beginning of the season. Are the Frogs overrated? The upcoming home game against a gradually-improving Texas team could be a referendum.
The only regretful thing about this delightfully intriguing matchup between Notre Dame and Clemson is that Brent Musburger will not be calling the game!
