Did the season start? Texas A&M Can the season end? Utah State
Can the season never end? Ole Miss
GAMES Play this again: No. 8 Ole Miss 32, No. 9 LSU 24
Play this again, too: Toledo 49, Temple 48 (OT)
Never play this again: No. 21 Oregon 84, Portland State 0
What? West Virgina 38, No. 25 Virginia 27
Huh? No. 23 Louisville 41, No. 16 SMU 31
Are you kidding me?? No. 8 Ole Miss 32, No. 9 LSU 24
Oh – my – God: Kentucky 31, No. 9 Texas A&M 21
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 4) Ticket to die for: No. 1 Texas @ No. 14 Tennessee
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: Appalachian State @ NC State
Best non-Power Four matchup: Boise State @ Western Michigan
Upset alert: Wake Forest @ No. 16 Louisville
Must win: No. 23 Texas A&M @ No. 10 LSU
Offensive explosion: No. 20 Oregon @ No. 12 USC
Defensive struggle: Nebraska @ Michigan State
Great game no one is talking about: No. 15 Utah @ Iowa State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Kirk Ferentz of Iowa vs Kyle Whittingham of Michigan
Who’s bringing the body bags? Central Michigan @ No. 5 Miami
Why are they playing? South Alabama @ Kentucky
Plenty of good seats remaining: Stonehill @ Ohio U
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Mercyhurst @ Western Kentucky
Week 3 Thoughts:
Lane Kiffin’s awkward homecoming back to Ole Miss as the new head coach at LSU was a game that lived up to its hype. In addition to the obvious awkwardness and intrigue of that matchup (Kiffin’s former assistant at Ole Miss is now the Rebels’ head coach) was a layer of irony piled on top of it all. Clearly the idea behind Kiffin’s sudden, jarring departure from a playoff-bound program was to go to an even greener pasture. Yet the team Kiffin left behind played like the more physical team, not to mention having an overwhelming advantage in quarterback play. Despite the Tigers’ occasional flash of brilliance, the Rebels were able to maintain their lead throughout most of the game, and triumphed in the end, 32-24, in what must have felt like a massive vindication for the faithful fans in Oxford, Miss.
When one widens the angle of the lens, a curious dynamic comes into view. Louisville opened the season against Ole Miss, and almost beat them. LSU, seemingly a stronger team than the Cardinals, had greater struggles against the Rebels in their game than the Cards did against the same team in theirs. Meanwhile, Louisville defeated a formidable SMU team at home.
Next week, Wake Forest comes calling at Louisville, the same Demon Deacons that hanged tough against currently-No. 6 Miami. Whereas the Cardinals faced a must-win for conference championship viability this just-concluded week, they could face a potential upset in the week to come.
Random Thoughts:
Offensive explosions I did not have on my bingo card this week included Florida at Auburn (the Gators won, 44-39); Mississippi State at South Carolina (the Bulldogs won, 41-34); Florida State at Alabama (the Tide eventually pulled away, 50-36); and, perhaps the most odd of them all, Purdue at UCLA, with the Bruins winning 52-38.
Speaking of Mississippi State, they have been on a tear recently. The Bulldogs humiliated Minnesota up in Minneapolis the previous week before pulling out another win on the road in Columbia. Now at No. 24, they face No. 19 Missouri in their biggest test yet.
Speaking of potential upsets, keep an eye on how Ole Miss reacts to their big win, as they venture into The Swamp next week to face an apparently resurgent Florida team, now ranked No. 21.
Meanwhile, whither LSU? Now at No. 10 (only losing two spots in the rankings), they face Texas A&M, erstwhile No. 9, now all the way down to No. 23 after coughing up the game at home to still-unranked Kentucky. Both teams now have a chance to recover their wounded pride and standing, making for a uniquely must-win situation.
Along the same subject of must-wins, how does Texas respond to their No. 1 ranking? They now must venture into a hostile Neyland Stadium to face No. 14 Tennessee. Not so long ago, on paper, such a discrepancy in the rankings would be overwhelming. With NIL having brought a new level of parity to the upper rankings, that gap in rank is not so overwhelming anymore. Bottom line, the Horns will have a major fight on their hands, in what should be the best game of the week, within the Noon Eastern Time slot, no less.
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jedd Fisch, Washington
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jeff Lebby, Mississippi State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dan Lanning, Oregon
Desperately seeking … anything: Barry Odom, Purdue
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Georgia (defeated Western Kentucky 70-20)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Washington (defeated Utah State 16-14) Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Rice (lost to No. 3 Notre Dame 52-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Oregon State (lost to Texas Tech 35-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Mississippi State (defeated Minnesota 38-13)
The Ohio State-Texas game lived up to its hype, with a miraculous comeback win for the Longhorns over the Buckeyes, a result that has left Buckeye Nation in apoplexy if thesearticles are of any indication. Allowing Texas to score three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter is the worst second-half collapse for the Buckeyes in the Ryan Day Era.
Conversely, OSU collapse or none, this is massive win for the Longhorns, one that gets a major monkey off the program’s – and Sark’s – back. For how long have discussions swirled that Texas cannot win the big game? Now they have the huge win.
Win or lose, both teams will be able to lick their wounds for a week, what with body bag games coming up for both of them. Then, it’s on to the season, where Ohio State can no doubt take the Big Ten by storm, and where Texas has the opportunity to prove that this huge win was not a fluke as they face a positively brutal SEC schedule.
Random Thoughts:
As I look back on the random thoughts I offered for Week 2 from last year, I am struck by the interesting parallels and related differences.
For instance, take this week’s Cy-Hawk trophy game between Iowa and Iowa State. I wrote:
“The only reason the game for the Cy-Hawk trophy ended as closely as it did was because of avoidable mistakes committed by the victors. Sooner or later, a team that make fewer mistakes shall come along to play Iowa, and when they do, expect a humiliating defeat for the Hawkeyes and a possible end to the Kirk Ferentz era.”
Given how last night’s game was such a low-scoring affair, one could say the exact same thing for this go-around.
Regardless, there’s something about Iowa and their massive trophies. The Cy-Hawk trophy is so heavy, at 90 pounds, it required two o-linemen to carry it. If that’s not enough, the Floyd of Rosedale trophy, played for annually between the Hawkeyes and Minnesota, is even heavier at 98 pounds.
But in continuation of the initial observation, in another parallel to last year’s week 2 observations, Illinois played their home half of the home-and-home series with Duke. But in contrast to last year’s 45-19 ripping victory on the road, this time Duke pulled off an upset on the road, 31-27. While I observed last year:
“Keep an eye out for Illinois. They are currently ranked No. 9, and defeated a well-coached Duke team, 45-19.”, the Illini are currently unranked. I can’t imagine why.
Returning to the Texas-Ohio State game, one thing that allowed for an improved offensive output for the Longhorns in the second half was Sark getting out of Arch Manning’s way. Let us hope for the sake of that team that their head coach continues to heed this lesson as the season progresses.
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bret Bielema, Illinois
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Sean Lewis, San Diego State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Brent Key, Georgia Tech
Desperately seeking … anything: Jeff Brohm, Louisville
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Auburn (defeated Mercer 62-17)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Illinois (lost to Wisconsin 27-10) Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Syracuse (lost to No. 9 Notre Dame 70-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Stanford (defeated Cal 31-10)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Texas (defeated Arkansas 52-37)
Dang, they’re good: Notre Dame Dang, they’re bad: Sam Houston
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Georgia Tech
Did the season start? Louisville Can the season end? Florida State
Can the season never end? Oregon
GAMES Play this again: No. 11 Oklahoma 23, No. 4 Alabama 21
Play this again, too: No. 12 Utah 51, Kansas State 47
Never play this again: No. 9 Notre Dame 70, Syracuse 7
What? Penn State 37, Nebraska 10
Huh? Stanford 31, Cal 10
Double-Huh? TCU 17, No. 23 Houston 14
Are you kidding me??Wisconsin 27, No. 21 Illinois 10
Great game no one is talking about: Arizona @ No. 25 Arizona State
Also: Cincinnati @ TCU
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mario Cristobal of Miami vs Pat Narduzzi of Pittsburgh
I.C.M., B1G Edition: P.J. Fleck of Minnesota vs Luke Fickell of Wisconsin
I.C.M., SEC Edition: Clark Lea of Vanderbilt vs Josh Heupel of Tennessee
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 2 Indiana @ Purdue
Why are they playing? Charlotte @ No. 24 Tulane
Plenty of good seats remaining: Bowling Green @ UMass
Plenty of good seats remaining, ACC Edition: Boston College @ Syracuse
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? UTEP @ Delaware
Week 13 [Random] Thoughts:
In an offensive explosion to end all offensive explosions, Utah triumphed over Kansas State 51-47: there’s the Big XII we all know and love, where defenses treat their job as if it’s a pillow fight!
The potential outcomes for the ACC champion right now are so convoluted, one would need one of those diagram boards detectives use to figure out “whodonit”. But Pittsburgh just beat hitherto contender Georgia Tech in convincing fashion, and are now about to face tough-but-inconsistent Miami (Fla.) this week. If Pat Narduzzi’s squad can pull an upset win, ought there not to be a path for the Panthers to walk away with the conference crown?
Am I the only person out there who thinks that Georgia should be ranked No. 2 in the playoffs instead of No. 4? They can demolish almost any team not named Alabama, or, possibly, Ohio State.
Rivalry Week is now upon us, where any number of crazy things can happen. Case in point: the theme music from The Twilight Zone is required to play in the background when discussing the fact that Vanderbilt is favored over Tennessee, rankings-wise…yet Tennessee still has a good team this year. There’s a twist, no?
This week is special for a number of reasons, one of which this time around is that there are so many intriguing coaching matchups. One that should perhaps also be mentioned in the list above is Dan Lanning of Oregon vs Jedd Fisch of Washington. While we’re at it, how about Eliah Drinkwitz of Missouri vs Bobby Petrino of Arkansas, or Jeff Brohm of Louisville vs Mark Stoops of Kentucky, or Dabo Swinney of Clemson vs Shane Beamer of South Carolina? I would be somewhat tempted to include Barry Odom of Purdue vs Curt Cignetti of Indiana, but the former will be so outgunned that the game will surely end in tragedy for the host team. Nevertheless, the list goes on, but the reader understands one more fascinating aspect of why this week could yield so many great games.
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jake Dickert, Wake Forest
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jeff Brohm, Louisville
Desperately seeking … anything: Bobby Petrino, Arkansas
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Tennessee (defeated New Mexico State 42-9)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Georgia Tech (defeated Boston College 36-34) Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Minnesota (lost to No. 8 Oregon 42-13)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: South Carolina (lost to No. 3 Texas A&M 31-30)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Nevada (defeated San Jose State 55-10)
Dang, they’re good: Georgia Dang, they’re bad: San Jose State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Alabama
Did the season start? Louisville Can the season end? Arkansas
Can the season never end? Oklahoma
GAMES Play this again: No. 11 Oklahoma 23, No. 4 Alabama 21
Play this again, too: No. 3 Texas A&M 31, South Carolina 30
Never play this again: Nevada 55, SJSU 10
What? Texas State 41, Southern Miss 14
Huh? Arizona 30, No. 25 Cincinnati 24
Are you kidding me??: Clemson 20, No. 20 Louisville 19
rankings are current AP (week 13) Ticket to die for: USC @ Oregon
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: Western Kentucky @ LSU
Hon. mention: Coastal Carolina @ South Carolina
Best non-Power Four matchup: Missouri State @ Kennesaw State
Upset alert: Arkansas @ Texas
Must win: BYU @ Cincinnati
Offensive explosion: Hawaii @ UNLV
Defensive struggle: Minnesota @ Northwestern
Great game no one is talking about: Tennessee @ Florida
Also: Arizona @ Cincinnati
Intriguing coaching matchup: Rhett Lashlee of SMU vs Jeff Brohm of Louisville
Who’s bringing the body bags? Charlotte @ Georgia
Why are they playing? Samford @ Texas A&M
Plenty of good seats remaining: New Mexico State @ UTEP
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Mercer @ Auburn
Week 12 [Random] Thoughts:
After seeing the way Ohio State easily dispatched with UCLA and how Georgia dominated an improved Texas, it has become quite clear that, barring a massive development along the lines of a huge asteroid hitting the Earth causing another mass extinction, the Buckeyes and the Bulldogs are destined to duke it out for the national championship. Glad we got that cleared up and out of the way.
That being said, barring a similar development as described above, it seems increasingly likely that Ole Miss shall punch through a major barrier hitherto holding them back and make finally make the playoffs. They passed yet another test by beating the Gators. Granted, the casual observer might sniff “big deal, Florida’s not that good this year.” To which I may respond, granted in turn, but they’re also not that bad, and they took down Texas right before the Longhorns took down a then-hitherto juggernaut Sooner squad. But even then, let that not obfuscate a more salient point which is: since 2003, the two have played each other seven times. Despite the relatively massive successes of the Eli Manning years, the Hugh Freeze and now the Lane Kiffin eras, the Rebels were only 3-for-7 against the Gators. In that light, beating Florida is no small thing, and is further proof that Ole Miss not only controls their own destiny, but is in the unique position to do so ably, what with a bye next week before closing out the regular season with the Egg Bowl.
Back to the Texas-Georgia game. Even if the Longhorns win out (tall order, what with Texas A&M being the last game on their schedule), their playoff hopes are likely dashed after the beating they took Between the Hedges. Kirby Smart demonstrated he was a level above Steve Sarkesian in terms of coaching when, after scoring on the Longhorns, they then sucker-punched Texas with an on-side kick that they recovered. The message was clear: “forget about momentum and forget about your comeback. We won’t even let you have the ball again”.
Thus we are led to a rather painful conclusion: Sark is not the coach to lead the Horns to the promised land. He is a great offensive architect, but that has been both a blessing and a curse. The curse is that he has yet to decide if he is an offensive coordinator or a head coach first. This self-imposed quandary has led to him tying himself up at knots at times, seemingly straightjacketing Arch Manning in the process, while ignoring other details of overall team organization. Hence, Sark has earned the reputation of his team not being entirely “buttoned up”, and an obvious manifestation of that are the unnecessary penalties that plagued his team last night and in many games before then.
So, if Sark is not the coach to take Texas all the way, who is? That is the question we shall have to explore further in subsequent articles.
In the meantime, next week shall sadly be a let-down, in that the rest of the SEC has its body-bag fest before Rivalry Week. Alabama assumes the role of pitiless executioner to Eastern Illinois; Auburn to Mercer; Texas A&M to Samford; Charlotte to Georgia. Rather convenient, it is, that the SEC teams can have such a breather while the rest of the teams in FBS put in the work. At least LSU makes it somewhat interesting playing Western Kentucky (8-2 compared to the Tigers’ 6-4 record). That game could be all the more intriguing given LSU’s recent struggles and coaching avulsions.
Fortunately, this farcical aspect of SEC schedules ends soon. Starting next year, SEC teams shall play a 9-game conference schedule like everyone else, and thank heavens for that.
Meanwhile, some SEC teams got their requisite November body-bag games out of the way earlier, and shall thus have decent, if not great, matchups for us to enjoy after all, what with battered Texas playing reeling Arkansas, or, better yet, Florida playing Tennessee. Can the Volunteers avenge last years upset loss against the Gators? We’ll find out next week.
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Willie Fritz, Houston
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: N/A
Desperately seeking … anything: Brian Kelly, LSU
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Indiana (defeated UCLA 56-6)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Oregon (defeated Wisconsin 21-7) Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Oklahoma State (lost to Texas Tech 42-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: North Carolina (lost to Virginia 17-16)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Iowa (defeated Minnesota 41-3)
Dang, they’re good: Texas A&M Dang, they’re bad: Oklahoma State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: South Florida
Did the season start? Illinois Can the season end? Nevada
Can the season never end? Georgia Tech
GAMES Play this again: No. 10 Vanderbilt 17, No. 15 Missouri 10
Play this again, too: No. 4 Alabama 29, South Carolina 22
Never play this again: No. 2 Indiana 56, UCLA 6
What? Virginia Tech 42, Cal 34, 2OT
Huh? Memphis 34, No. 18 South Florida 31
Are you kidding me?? Houston 24, No. 24 Arizona State 16
Oh – my – God: Washington 42, No. 23 Illinois 25
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 10) Ticket to die for: No. 18 Oklahoma @ No. 14 Tennessee
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: none
Best non-Power Four matchup: Navy @ North Texas
Upset alert: No. 17 Cincinnati @ No. 24 Utah
Must win: No. 9 Vanderbilt @ No. 20 Texas
Offensive explosion: Baylor @ No. 24 Cincinnati
Defensive struggle: Kentucky @ Auburn
Great game no one is talking about: No. 15 Virginia @ Cal
Intriguing coaching matchup: Lincoln Riley of USC vs Matt Rhule of Nebraska
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 12 Notre Dame @ Boston College
Why are they playing? N/A
Plenty of good seats remaining: Louisiana @ South Alabama
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Sam Houston @ Louisiana Tech
Week 9 [Random] Thoughts:
Vanderbilt, the perennial punching bag of the SEC, is now ranked in the top ten for the first time since 1947. Let that sink in for a moment. How did this come about? The likely answer is, a number of factors. Clark Lea certainly had a vision, greatly aided to fruition by talented QB Diego Pavia. But surely other talented players have been key factors in this fascinating development. That is where the combination of the transfer portal and the NIL come into play. Vanderbilt has enjoyed the well-earned reputation of being the most prestigious school in the SEC, and with that surely comes some reasonably deep pockets to fund a strong NIL collective, to say nothing of its location in growing corporate hotbed Nashville. As fans of college football, let us embrace the opportunity to witness this further develop, for if nothing else, it gives us all the more great SEC matchups to enjoy every Saturday.
Texas pulled off an improbable comeback in the 4th quarter at Mississippi State. Arch Manning went 29-35 for 346 yards and 4 touchdowns, with one interception, and that came from a deflection off the hands of a receiver. In the 4th quarter, Manning went 12-20, passing for 169 yards and two touchdowns. Yet the biggest irony of all was when he went out, concussed, in overtime. Backup Matthew Caldwell went into the game, and executed in a massive way, throwing the game-winning touchdown. Could it be that the biggest untapped strength of this young, unstable Texas team is its backup QBs?
Is the Brian Kelly experiment in Baton Rouge about to come to a sudden, ignominious end? Texas A&M embarrassed LSU in Death Valley, 49-25. Early in the 4th quarter, fans started to empty the stands in droves. Such is hardly the look the powers that be in LSU’s athletics department like to project during a primetime game on ABC. But in Kelly’s defense, the Tigers’ three losses all come to current, top-ten teams, those being Ole Miss (currently No. 8), Vanderbilt (currently No. 9), and now Texas A&M (currently No. 3). Can some blame be nevertheless placed at Kelly’s feet for not having an optimal season? Surely, yes. He certainly has failed at designing an offense to play to QB Garrett Nussmeier’s strengths, but that also assumes that he has any strengths worth noting in the first place. But while many are now calling for Kelly’s head, some context in this situation might be a benefit to everyone.
Meanwhile, Ole Miss seemed to pass a key test by defeating Oklahoma on the road, 34-26. With a reasonably clear path to win out in the regular season, it is quite reasonable to conclude that the Rebels control their own destiny to make the playoffs this year, surely legitimizing Lane Kiffin’s tenure in Oxford in the process.
Did the season start? LSU Can the season end? Sam Houston
Can the season never end? Vanderbilt
GAMES Play this again: No. 9 Georgia 43, No. 5 Ole Miss 35
Play this again, too: Arizona State 26, No. 7 Texas Tech 22
Never play this again: James Madison 63, Old Dominion 27
What? UAB 31, No. 22 Memphis 24
Huh? Minnesota 24, No. 25 Nebraska 6
Double-huh? No. 17 Vanderbilt 31, No. 10 LSU 24
Are you kidding me?? Arizona State 26, No. 7 Texas Tech 22
Oh – my – God: Louisville 24, No. 2 Miami, FL 21
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 9) Ticket to die for: No. 3 Texas A&M @ No. 20 LSU
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: none
Best non-Power Four matchup: No. 18 South Florida @ Memphis
Upset alert: No. 11 BYU @ Iowa State
Must win: No. 8 Ole Miss @ No. 13 Oklahoma
Offensive explosion: Baylor @ No. 24 Cincinnati
Defensive struggle: Rutgers @ Purdue
Great game no one is talking about: No. 23 Illinois @ Washington
Also: Northwestern @ Nebraska
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jedd Fisch of Washington vs Bret Bielema of Illinois
Who’s bringing the body bags? Oklahoma State @ No. 14 Texas Tech
Why are they playing? N/A
Plenty of good seats remaining: South Alabama @ Georgia State
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? North Texas @ Charlotte
Week 8 Thoughts:
Another week has passed where upsets abounded. The weekend launched with a bang in the form of unranked Louisville delivering a massive upset in Miami, thus exposing the Hurricanes for perhaps not being the juggernaut team some thought they were. Jeff Brohm has been known to gear his team up for huge games, and golly, did he deliver this time. On the other side of the ball, the Hurricanes can still regroup, finish the season strongly, and a playoff berth would surely be in the cards – an ironic expression, given the team to which they just lost – nonetheless.
Also on Friday evening, Minnesota delivered a blow to Nebraska’s brief ranking.
The next day at noon Eastern Time, the upset trend picked up where it left off with Vanderbilt exposing LSU for having an inconsistent office. Here it is, mid-season, and Brian Kelly, a supposedly offensive coach, has yet to craft an offense to take advantage of Garrett Nussmeier’s strengths.
Then Memphis inexplicably laid an egg against UAB in Birmingham, Ala., thus jeopardizing its ranking. At that same time, Arizona State came out of hiding and delivered the first loss of the season to then-No. 7 Texas Tech.
One would think that then-No. 9 Georgia defeating then-No. 5 Ole Miss would also qualify as a massive upset, but deep down, we all knew that the Bulldogs were the stronger team in any case, regardless of preliminary ranking.
Some near-upsets likewise occurred, such as Texas, who barely escaped Lexington with their skin on, while Washington State actually led Virginia, in Charlottesville, for a good chunk of the game before eventually losing by only two points.
Do not be fooled by the result of the Arkansas-Texas A&M game. The Razorbacks’ loss by only three points was due to a last-minute touchdown. That said, Bobby Petrino’s signature upset shall surely come in due time.
Another near-upset took place in Columbia, Mo., with unranked Auburn taking Missouri into OT, only to lose by a touchdown in the second overtime. Over in Utah, while the Utes gave BYU a tough game in Provo, it was not meant to be, as the Cougars triumphed 24-21.
Random Thoughts:
The Miami Hurricanes’ quest for the playoffs is by no means dead, but look out for Georgia Tech, who remains undefeated and has now quietly risen to the No. 7 ranking, ahead of the ‘Canes sent down to that of No. 9 (a fall that could have been worse).
The Longhorns were lucky to escape Lexington with their skin on. Now they venture to Starkville, Miss., to take on a scrappy Mississippi State squad. High-profile QB Arch Manning was outclassed by Kentucky’s Cutter Boley last night. Can he get it together in time to redeem himself on the road this week?
Also this week, Minnesota plays Iowa for one of the most unique trophies in all of college football, the Floyd of Rosedale, considered by many to be the top rivalry trophy in all of college football. Be ready for what should be a hard-fought matchup, as both teams are now 5-2 and are fairly evenly matched.
Look for another possibly even matchup with No. 15 Mizzou taking on No. 10 Vandy in Nashville (both teams are 6-1). Elsewhere, 5-2 Northwestern ventures over to Lincoln to face 5-2 Nebraska, while 5-2 Illinois goes all the way out to Seattle to take on 5-2 Washington. Perhaps the best battle of teams with matching records shall be 6-1 [No. 8] Ole Miss playing 6-1 [No. 13] Oklahoma in Norman.
It might not be the monster week we all enjoyed in week 7, but plenty of hidden gems await us all the same.
Did the season start? Penn State Can the season end? Oklahoma State
Can the season never end? Alabama
GAMES Play this again: No. 3 Miami (FL) 28, No. 18 Florida State 22
Play this again, too: Navy 34, Air Force 31
Never play this again: NC State 56, Campbell 10
What? Wake Forest 30, Virginia Tech 23
Huh? Cincinnati 38, No. 14 Iowa State 30
Are you kidding me?? Florida 29, No. 9 Texas 21
Oh – my – God: UCLA 42, No. 7 Penn State 35
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 7) Ticket to die for: No. 7 Indiana @ No. 3 Oregon
Best Only non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: Washington State @ No. 4 Ole Miss
Best non-Power Four matchup: No. 24 South Florida @ North Texas
Upset alert: No. 8 Alabama @ No. 14 Missouri
Also: No. 15 Michigan @ USC
Must win: No. 6 Oklahoma vs Texas in the Red River Showdown in Dallas
Offensive explosion: Air Force @ UNLV
Defensive struggle: Iowa @ Wisconsin
Great game no one is talking about: Nebraska @ Maryland
Intriguing coaching matchup: Barry Odom of Purdue vs PJ Fleck of Minnesota
Who’s bringing the body bags? Houston @ Oklahoma State
Why are they playing? Washington State @ No. 4 Ole Miss
Plenty of good seats remaining: UMass @ Kent State
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Wake Forest @ Oregon State
Week 6 Thoughts:
What are we to make of what happened some of this week’s games? Let us take Penn State as an example: last week, they could have earned top-rank status in the Big Ten Conference, arguably the strongest conference this season. A sudden, freak interception thrown by Penn State QB Drew Allar instead vaulted Oregon to near-supremacy in the B1G instead, though further tests await the Ducks (namely, IU coming to Eugene this upcoming weekend).
Then, in the most inexplicable of turns, Penn State ventures out west to play UCLA. The Bruins have been notorious for reeling this year, so it stood to reason that the Nittany Lions could get well on a this hapless bunch, almost having to play the role of pitiless executioner, even on the road. Funny thing how the Bruins failed to get that memo, as they pounced on the ‘Lions, first scoring 10 unanswered points and never relinquishing the lead throughout the game, despite giving up a safety with 0:25 left in the 4th quarter.
The questions that many observers quietly raised about the limitations of James Franklin’s coaching have now become a roaring clamor heard throughout the core geographical footprint of the B1G. Could this be a sudden unraveling of Franklin’s tenure in not-so-Happy Valley?
Meanwhile, let us recall that many folks, Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd included, projected Penn State to play Texas for the national title. The latter’s scenario seems almost unlikely as the former’s, as Arch Manning & Co. got swallowed up in The Swamp this week. Manning continues to wait too long in the pocket to release his passes, but remains quite adept at scrambling for yardage. Perhaps Steve Sarkesian and staff can coach the former out of him and lean more into the latter. If so, then further room for growth and development remains. It had better come quickly, as they play hated, resurgent rival Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl amid the Texas State Fair next week.
The respective problems with Franklin and Sark are polar-opposites to each other. Sark thinks he can overwhelm his opponents with a “wow” factor, and that clearly has not worked. Moreover, Sark’s big weakness is that he is never organizationally buttoned-up as one might expect for an elite coach. The latter is not Franklin’s problem at all, but he is totally lacking in the “wow” factor. That actually makes him a good fit at Penn State, which historically takes a very blue-collar attitude towards the game.
Combine the two respective strengths of these respective coaches, and one has the next Nick Saban. But alone, they are not quite as elite coaches as we thought that they were. In their defense, so few coaches are in an overall league (the FBS) with 136 teams.
Random Thoughts:
Not a week of many potential offensive explosions, so it seems, but my prediction record on those is spotty at best. That said, we have a bumper crop this upcoming week for potential upsets. In addition to the aforementioned Alabama @ Missouri and Michigan @ USC, potential upsets abound elsewhere. To wit: South Carolina @ No. 11 LSU; Arizona @ No. 18 BYU; Arkansas @ No. 12 Tennessee; dare we also include Arizona State (ranked) @ Utah (currently unranked), and Illinois @ Ohio State? The last one, probably not, although it will be interesting to see how well the Illini rise to that ultimate test.
Honorable mention No. 2: Michigan @ No. 2 Ohio State
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: Stanford @ San Jose State
Best non-Power Four matchup: Memphis @ No. 18 Tulane
Upset alert: Kansas State @ No. 17 Iowa State
Must win: All Big XII games involving Iowa State, BYU, Arizona State, and Colorado
Offensive explosion: West Virginia @ Texas Tech
Defensive struggle: Nebraska @ Iowa
Great game no one is talking about: Navy @ East Carolina
Intriguing coaching matchup: Hugh Freeze of Auburn vs Kalen DeBoer of Alabama
Who’s bringing the body bags? Purdue @ Indiana
Dishonorable mention: Kent State @ Buffalo
Why are they playing? Wyoming @ Washington State
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTEP @ New Mexico State
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Kennesaw State @ Louisiana Tech
Week 13 Thoughts:
In perusing through some of the interesting games from this week, just as we began with a game involving Louisville last week, it seems fitting that we do so again. The Cardinals have given major Jekyll-and-Hyde vibes lately. They hang tough with Miami, only losing by a touchdown. Only two weeks later, they embarrass Clemson in Death Valley, thus mortally wounding the Tigers’ bid for the ACC crown. Then a week later, they lay an egg in the 4th quarter to Stanford, giving the Cardinal (notice the lack of the plural) a rare win for their dismal year. Apparently that embarrassment woke something up inside of them, for they turned things around the following week and ripped a potentially dangerous Pittsburgh team, 37-9. If that team shows up in Lexington this upcoming week, the Governor’s Cup could likely come back to Louisville.
What most of us thought to be the main event of the day – at noon EST, no less – was the Indiana @ Ohio State game. Finally, a chance to prove themselves against a top five team. After getting licked by the Buckeyes 38-15, clearly Curt Cignetti & Co. have further developing and growth to undertake in order to be a legit top-five team themselves in the future. But if the most recent, updated AP rankings are of any indication, it is still likely that IU could make the playoffs.
Speaking of potential playoff teams from the Big Ten, can we legitimately call Penn State the No. 4 team in the land after narrowly escaping a loss to unranked Minnesota? Yes, P.J. Fleck’s teams are never to be underestimated, and they can make a team pay if said team lets down its guard. But after such an impressive win on the part of the Nittany Lions, it raises the question of maybe the current rankings are some degree of wishful thinking than that of objective reasoning. To broaden the scope of the matter at hand, are we truly going to say with a straight face that the three of the top five teams are all in in the B1G? Are we trying to convince ourselves that No. 4 Penn State is somehow better than No. 6 Georgia? Same question applies to Notre Dame, at No. 5, to be sure. I offer this as food for thought as one last week in the regular season remains.
Meanwhile, with Kansas upsetting Colorado and with Arizona State escaping their matchup with BYU with a win, the race for the Big XII crown has been officially knocked on its ear. As many as four teams could vie for the title – Colorado and BYU still, along with Iowa State and Arizona State, the latter of whom seems to have the strongest momentum of the pack. Should all four teams win this upcoming week, how to sort out who plays for the conference title? My personal choice would be to select the explosive combination of pizzazz and momentum, thus Colorado and Arizona State. But let’s see how these teams fare in their regular season finales in the meantime.
All that said, despite the deserved hype of the Indiana-Ohio State game earlier in the day, the best game of the day turned out to be Texas A&M at Auburn at night. The Aggies might have been looking past the Tigers, understandably as that program seems to have lost its way this year. Nevertheless, Hugh Freeze managed to get the War Eagles prepared and focused, and it showed as they took they led the Aggies most of the the game, tied it up at the end of the regulation, then outlasted them in overtime in a wild thriller of a matchup in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
But if one upset in the SEC with title race implications is great, why not double our pleasure with another such upset? Raise your hand if you had not given up Oklahoma for dead? Then Alabama comes calling, only to come out flat the entire game. The Sooners inexplicably held the Crimson Tide to three points the entire game, while Oklahoma scored far more than that. Don’t look now, but Bama has three losses for this season. And yet, is anybody going to deny, with a straight face, that they could not beat half the teams currently in the AP Top Ten?
Bottom line: the Playoff Committee has their work cut out for them in sorting out this week as Rivalry Week is about to unfold.
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Miami (defeated Florida State 36-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Ohio State (defeated Nebraska 21-17) Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Missouri (lost to No. 15 Alabama 34-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (lost to No. 5 Texas 27-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Pittsburgh (defeated Syracuse 41-13)
Most improved from previous week: Nebraska
Dang, they’re good: Oregon Dang, they’re bad: Central Michigan
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Liberty
Did the season start? LSU Can the season end? Mississippi State
Can the season never end? Texas A&M
GAMES Play this again: No. 14 Texas A&M 38, No. 8 LSU 23
Play this again, too: No. 17 Boise State 29, UNLV 24
Never play this again: No. 15 Notre Dame 51, No. 25 Navy 14
What? Houston 17, Utah 14
Huh? Akron 25, Eastern Michigan 21
Are you kidding me?? No. 14 Texas A&M 38, No. 8 LSU 23
Oh – my – God: Kennesaw State 27, Liberty 24
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 10) Ticket to die for: No. 4 Ohio State @ No. 3 Penn State
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: (they are all bad)
Best non-Power Four matchup: Jacksonville State @ Liberty
Upset alert: No. 10 Texas A&M @ South Carolina
Must win: No. 18 Pittsburgh @ No. 20 SMU
Offensive explosion: TCU @ Baylor
Defensive struggle: Kentucky @ No. 7 Tennessee
Great game no one is talking about: USC @ Washington
Intriguing coaching matchup: PJ Fleck of Minnesota vs Bret Bielema of Illinois
Honorable mention: Jeff Brohm of Louisville vs Dabo Swinney of Clemson
Who’s bringing the body bags? Air Force @ No. 21 Army
Why are they playing? Maine @ Oklahoma
Plenty of good seats remaining: Middle Tennessee @ UTEP
Plenty of good seats remaining, B1G edition: Northwestern @ Purdue
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? UMass @ Mississippi State
Week 9 Thoughts:
Thursday gave us a surprising upset in Kennesaw State, winless up to that point upsetting Liberty. Indeed, the Flames picked up their first loss of the season. Given how lopsided the matchup was on paper, that clearly merits this game as the biggest upset of the week.
Then Friday gave us two very engaging games, one wherein Louisville managed to gradually gnaw away at BC’s lead to where they eventually triumphed, 31-27, on the road, no less.
Later that night, the grandest Non-Power Five clash of the week occurred with UNLV taking on Boise State, wherein the Broncos had to fight hard to fend off the Runnin’ Rebels, 29-24.
Nebraska @ Ohio State
What to make of this game? A couple of weeks ago, Ohio State was considered a major favorite to win the national title. Then they lost to Oregon, on the road, in Autzen Stadium, which is a tough place to play and even tougher if it is a team’s first time there. But they still looked like playoff contenders.
Then, the Buckeyes had a bye week to lick their wounds before taking on Nebraska at home. While the Cornhuskers are no chump team, they are no Oregon or Georgia. Ohio State only scored 21 points against them, and the Huskers even led for 4:39 in the 4th quarter.
So what to make of all this? One can boil it down to two potential explanations. The first: the Cornhuskers have drastically improved under Matt Rhule as the season has progressed, especially within the past couple of weeks. At the same time, Ohio State is showing regression at running the ball and on the offensive line, and they had to extend themselves to beat a decent team.
The second potential explanation: Nebraska may have considerably improved, but they are not world-beaters. Ohio State got caught in a trap game while too many on the team were looking past the Huskers in anticipation of taking on Penn State in Happy Valley next week.
Occam’s razor, to which I generally subscribe, would suggest the latter. But seriously, if the Buckeyes are serious about giving the Nittany Lions their first “L” of the season, they need to work on their running game and their line play.
Illinois @ Oregon
The outcome of the Ducks defeating the Illini at home was hardly in doubt. Oregon got that job done and then some, 38-9. Nevertheless, Illinois put up a valiant effort in the process. Yet one cannot help but wonder as to why such a considerable loss only knocked Illinois down five positions, at the most, in the latest rankings. Yes, the Illini are still a good team, but after losing that badly yet to stay ranked (from about No. 19 to No. 24) is quite likely more of a commentary on the high esteem the voters have towards Oregon and less of the regard they may have for Illinois, which clearly has not diminished much, and rightly so.
LSU & Texas A&M
The SEC evening game on ABC certainly did not disappoint. But one of the biggest upsets of the week did occur, where the Aggies triumphed over the Tigers, 38-23. LSU was the higher-ranked team going in, and could have won. So what happened? Simply put, LSU’s QB play went South. Yes, Garrett Nussmeier did throw for 405 yards and two touchdowns. But he also threw three interceptions, all of which were at very inopportune times. It leads us to the biggest takeaway of the game, that Brian Kelly needs a better QB if he wants to take LSU to the promised land.
Elsewhere:
One more interesting aspect to Week 9 was that a cluster of close, competitive games happened late at night. Colorado continues to surge under Coach Prime after a sluggish start to the season, defeating Cincinnati 34-23. Kansas and Kansas State slugged it out in a classic rivalry clash. Though the latter’s record is vastly superior to that of the former, you could barely tell that last night, as the Wildcats had to fight hard to come back against the Jayhawks, 29-27. Duke took SMU not only down to the wire, but into OT, and even then, the Mustangs only won by a point, 28-27. Out on the west coast, Washington State, who quietly grows stronger by the week, had to stage a 4th-quarter comeback over visiting San Diego State. It was a good week, and a unique one at that.
Did the season start? Mississippi State Can the season end? Florida State
Can the season never end? Kansas State
GAMES Play this again: No. 16 LSU 36, South Carolina 33
Play this again, too: UCF 35, TCU 34
Never play this again: South Alabama 87, Northwestern State 10
What? Washington State 24, Washington 19
Huh? UNLV 23, Kansas 20
Double-Huh? Georgia State 36, Vanderbilt 32
Are you kidding me?? Colorado 28, Colorado State 9
Oh – my – God: Toledo 41, Mississippi State 17
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 3) Ticket to die for: No. 7 Tennessee @ No. 15 Oklahoma
Keep an eye on this one: No. 12 Utah @ No. 13 Oklahoma State
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: Purdue @ Oregon State
Best non-Power Four matchup: San Jose State @ Washington State
Upset alert: Georgia Tech @ No. 19 Louisville
Must win: No. 11 USC @ No. 18 Michigan
Offensive explosion: No. 8 Miami (Fla.) @ South Florida
Defensive struggle: Iowa @ Minnesota
Great game no one is talking about: No. 13 Kansas State @ BYU
Also: No. 24 Illinois @ No. 22 Nebraska
Intriguing coaching matchup: Kyle Whittingham of Utah vs Mike Gundy of OK State
Who’s bringing the body bags? Louisiana-Monroe @ No. 1 Texas
Why are they playing? Kent State @ No. 8 Penn State
Plenty of good seats remaining: Eastern Washington @ Nevada
Plenty of good seats remaining, SEC edition: Florida @ Mississippi State
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Marshall @ No. 3 Ohio State
Week 3 Thoughts:
After a third week of college football, can we all now move on from all these beginning-of-season body bag games? Well, yes and no. Next week will yield a much thicker stack of good matchups compared to the thin gruel we had to endure this week. But there will always be a gross mismatches each week, sometimes in the literal sense (Louisiana-Monroe @ Texas, anyone?), sometimes accidentally as the matchup was a scheduled conference game.
That said, some games this week proved to be more interesting than first thought.
No. 16 LSU @ South Carolina
Were it not for South Carolina losing its starting QB to injury, it is likely that Brian Kelly would not have escaped Columbia with a much-needed win. As it is, by luck he has managed to his season afloat with hope – for now.
No. 4 Alabama @ Wisconsin
Many of us were unsure what sort of game we were in for. Was Alabama vulnerable, after their lackluster performance against South Florida the previous week? Would Wisconsin be able to take advantage of its uniquely hostile home field atmosphere? It turned out to be neither of those two cases. Rather, Bama is still Bama, at least for now, and Wisconsin could be in for a relative down year compared to recent successful seasons. The combination of those two scenarios lead to an understandably lop-sided affair in favor of the Tide.
Boston College @ No. 6 Missouri
Is Boston College that good, or is Missouri that overrated? When typically faced with such a choice, my default answer is usually “a little bit of both”. After all, the Tigers at a No. 6 ranking are supposed to be, on paper, better than Tennessee and Miami (Fla.). Are we to believe that Mizzou is better than either of those two in reality? If you are to believe such, then save us all the time and the trouble and preemptively check yourself into a nuthouse now.
That said, while the Tigers are overrated, they are still good, and BC acquitted themselves well by playing Mizzou so closely. Other ACC teams shall take this bunch lightly at their own peril.
No. 1 Georgia @ Kentucky
After South Carolina spanked the Wildcats, one would have reasonably thought that the Bulldogs would deliver an old-fashioned butt-whipping to Kentucky in Lexington. As things turned out, not so much. Georgia was lucky to escape such a head-scratching defensive struggle, 13-12. Kirby Smart’s disapproval of his team’s dismal offensive output was palpable in his post-game interview. Such conditions are always the catalyst for brutal Sunday practices, which is why I would not want to be a Georgia player right now.
Colorado @ Colorado State
Either the Buffaloes did a good job getting ready for a big rivalry game, or Texas knocked so much stuffing out of the Rams earlier this season they still have yet to recover. Colorado went from a chronic inability to advance the ball down the field to dropping four touchdowns on their hated in-state rival. How else to account for such a head-scratching outcome?
Is this to say that Colorado has turned a corner? Pump the brakes on that, and re-evaluate after they play respectable conference foe Baylor this week, or, more to the point, dangerous Kansas State the week thereafter. Notwithstanding last night’s outcome, they could possibly lose the next six games.
Oregon @ Oregon State
Where was this version of Oregon hitherto hiding?
Texas A&M @ Florida
Either the Aggies have found something resembling an offense, or Florida is simply that bad.
Notre Dame @ Purdue
Turns out that Notre Dame is not quite as overrated as we first thought. On the other side of the coin, Purdue suffered its worst loss ever to its in-state rival, 66-7. Such a disastrous outcome is a sign to the more keen observers of the Purdue program that Ryan Walters is not simply Darrell Hazell 2.0; he’s worse. Keep in mind that Walters is supposed to be a defensive guru, and yet his team yielded that scoreboard-melting sum. Also keep in mind that Purdue had two weeks to prepare and they still laid that massive egg, on the 100th anniversary of its home stadium, no less.
