College Football Week 8 Awards (2026) October 26, 2026
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Arizona, Army, Badgers, Bill Belichick, Boise State, BYU, Camp Randall Stadium, Cincinnati, college football, Colorado, Colorado State, Curt Cignetti, Dan Lanning, East Carolina, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Floyd of Rosedale, football, Gamecocks, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Josh Heupel, Kennesaw State, Kyle Whittingham, liberty, Longhorns, Luke Fickell, Mario Cristobal, Miami, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri State, Navy, NCAA football, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota State, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, P.J. Fleck, Rice, Rich Rodriguez, Rutgers, Sam Houston State, San Diego State, Shane Beamer, Sonny Dykes, South Carolina, Spencer Danielson, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Trinidad Chambliss, UCF, UCLA, USC, Utah, UTEP, Vanderbilt, West Virginia, Wisconsin
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Shane Beamer, South Carolina
Glad I’m not him: Josh Heupel, Tennessee
Lucky guy: Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia
Poor guy: Sonny Dykes, TCU
Desperately seeking a wake-up call clue: Kyle Whittingham, Michigan
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Spencer Danielson, Boise State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kalani Sitake, BYU
Desperately seeking … anything: Dan Lanning, Oregon
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Northwestern (defeated Rutgers 42-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Florida Atlantic (defeated Rice 51-49)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kennesaw State (lost to Liberty 34-6)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Michigan (lost to Indiana 13-6 (OT))
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Hawaii (defeated Northern Illinois 56-21)
Dang, they’re good: Miami
Dang, they’re bad: Sacramento State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: BYU
Did the season start? Tennessee
Can the season end? Vanderbilt
Can the season never end? UCLA
GAMES
Play this again: No. 19 Texas 34, No. 7 Ole Miss 27
Play this again, too: Virginia Tech 20, Clemson 16
Never play this again: Delaware 61, Missouri State 38
What? Minnesota 13, No. 15 Iowa 10
Come again? Wisconsin 24, No. 16 USC 7
Huh? South Carolina 27, No. 11 Tennessee 24
Double-Huh?? No. 19 Texas 34, No. 7 Ole Miss 27
Are you kidding me?? Cincinnati 31, No. 8 Texas Tech 24
Oh – my – God: UCF 39, No. 2 BYU 31 (2OT)
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 9)
Ticket to die for: No. 2 Ohio State @ USC
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: No. 5 Notre Dame @ Navy*
Best non-Power Four matchup: Army @ Memphis
Upset alert: No. 22 Arizona @ No. 13 Texas Tech
Must win: No. 17 Florida vs No. 3 Georgia
Offensive explosion: Florida Atlantic @ North Texas
Defensive struggle: No. 25 Wisconsin @ Iowa
Great game no one is talking about: South Carolina @ Oklahoma
Intriguing coaching matchup: P.J. Fleck of Minnesota vs Curt Cignetti of Indiana
Also: Mario Cristobal of Miami vs Bill Belichick of North Carolina
Who’s bringing the body bags? UTEP @ North Dakota State
Why are they playing? Nevada @ No. 7 UCLA
Plenty of good seats remaining: Sam Houston State @ Missouri State
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Missouri State @ Delaware
Week 8 Thoughts:
Just as last week’s game involved many upsets, this week was certainly not devoid of them, either. For example, after celebrating its biggest regular-season win in program history, BYU suffered a let-down on the road at UCF. It’s college football: this phenomenon is not unheard of. Ole Miss suffered a loss at Texas, despite a now-predictable stagnant offense on the part of the Longhorns in the second half, and also despite 4th-quarter heroics from Trinidad Chambliss. One thing that negated a typical Chambliss-engineered comeback was that, unlike the previous two weeks, this time Texas discovered this new thing called a running game late in the second half.
Elsewhere, USC discovered the hazards and tribulations of playing a night game at Camp Randall Stadium. No doubt the shock of the hostile environment and the colder-than-normal weather did not set well with the Trojans. How else to account for losing 24-7? On the other hand, Luke Fickell now as a signature win for 2026, with a Badgers sitting at 5-2, and at a much better spot than they were during the previous season.
In Columbia, S.C., the Gamecocks were able to get their act together, and upset Tennessee with a last-second field goal. No doubt the South Carolina faithful was happy to eat the half-million-dollar fine when the fans stormed the field in celebration.
In another interesting upset, with a rivalry trophy on the line, Minnesota held off Iowa in arguably the grandest defensive struggle of the week, 13-10, and thus winning the famed Floyd of Rosedale trophy for a year.
Despite the week’s matchus appearing to be a minor let down after last week’s legendary slate of games, many turned out to be thrilling after all. Not bad for a week that was not supposed to be a “winner”.
Offensive Explosion Review:
Remember when I predicted that the Utah vs Texas Tech game was supposed to be an offensive explosion? It turned out to be quite the opposite, with Utah triumphing in the end 21-13. Some games that could have qualified as offensive explosions, though, include Oklahoma State over Colorado, 57-24 (a bit lop-sided, to be sure). Another possible example along those same lines was Delaware over Missouri State, 61-38. A less lopsided example would be Memphis over East Carolina, 41-34. One would not need to look far for two textbook examples, though, such as Florida Atlantic over Rice, 51-49, and, perhaps the grandest of the week, Colorado State over San Diego State, 56-49.
College Football Awards Week 6 (2026) October 12, 2026
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Appalachian State, Arch Manning, Ball State, Bob Chesney, Bowling Green, Brent Venables, college football, Florida, football, Georgia, Indiana, Jon Sumrall, Ken Niumatololo, Kentucky, Kirby Smart, Longhorns, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, NCAA football, Nebraska, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Purdue, Red River, Rutgers, SDSU, SJSU, Sooners, South Carolina, Sports, Stanford, Steve Sarkesian, Tennessee, Texas, Tulane, UCLA, USC, Washington, Will Stein
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Lucky guy: Brent Venables, Oklahoma
Poor guy: Ken Niumatololo, SJSU
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Bob Chesney, UCLA
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Desperately seeking … anything: Jon Sumrall, Florida
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Northwestern (defeated Ball State 45-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Indiana (defeated Nebraska 20-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Stanford (lost to Notre Dame 58-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Penn State (lost to USC 31-23)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Purdue (defeated Minnesota 41-13)
Dang, they’re good: Notre Dame
Dang, they’re bad: Appalachian State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Texas
Did the season start? Florida
Can the season end? Northern Illinois
Can the season never end? Georgia
GAMES
Play this again: Oklahoma 27, No. 1 Texas 24
Play this again, too: No. 2 Georgia 20, No. 6 Alabama 17
Never play this again: Oregon State 66, SDSU 14
What? No. 21 UCLA 17, No. 13 Oregon 15
What-what? Purdue 41, Minnesota 13
Huh? North Carolina 21, No. 25 Pittsburgh 17
Double-Huh? Kentucky 34, No. 10 LSU 33 (OT)
Are you kidding me?? South Carolina 38, No. 16 Florida 19
Oh – my – God: Oklahoma 27, No. 1 Texas 24
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 7)
Ticket to die for: No. 5 Ohio State @ No. 7 Indiana
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: none
Best non-Power Four matchup: Memphis @ Tulane (Friday)
Upset alert: Florida @ No. 7 Texas
Must win: No. 6 Alabama @ No. 14 Tennessee
Offensive explosion: No. 13 Missouri @ No. 9 Ole Miss
Defensive struggle: Penn State @ Michigan
Great game no one is talking about: No. 18 Oklahoma State @ No. 20 Houston
Also: Washington @ Purdue
Intriguing coaching matchup: Brent Venables of Oklahoma vs Will Stein of Kentucky
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 25 Northwestern @ Michigan State
Why are they playing? Elon @ Stanford
Plenty of good seats remaining: Ball State @ Bowling Green
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Rutgers @ Maryland
Week 6 Thoughts:
The Red River Rivalry did not disappoint in terms of delivering a dramatic game. Having 92,000 fans in the storied Cotton Bowl stadium, evenly divided between fan bases in a bitter rivalry never fails in delivering an incredibly electric environment.
As far as the game itself and its dramatic outcome, there are lessons to be learned. On paper, Texas should have put Oklahoma away early on. The fact that they failed to do so, thus allowing for the Sooners to hang around, eventually got the underdogs thinking that they could win the game. Some key errors late in the 4th quarter, namely Steve Sarkesian opting for a [missed] field goal instead of going for it on 4th and 2, and Arch Manning throwing a most-costly interception that put Oklahoma in position to kick a game-winning field goal in the final seconds. So one lesson learned: if you are the Number-one team, act like it, assert yourselves accordingly, and put your rival away without mercy.
As far as Arch Manning goes, it is beyond time to have a grown-up conversation that he is not as great a QB as hype would suggest otherwise. That said, he does have the occasional flash of brilliance. The long bomb into the end zone in the 1st quarter was certainly impressive. Sark would do well to sometimes get out of his way and allow for him to move the chains with his schoolyard ball-style heroics that did him so well against Ohio State. The other lesson, should Sark thus heed it, is to take the straightjacket off Arch, who has clear limitations at this point, and let me run more with the ball.
In fairness, credit Oklahoma with their offensive line play. They held off Texas’ killer front four the whole game, minimizing sacks allowed with their QB, Mateer, was underperforming throughout the game except for, inexplicably, the final series.
Elsewhere, Georgia beat Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, in a hard-fought game. Many have speculated that the Bulldogs could be the best time in the country currently, but as good as they looked, it was against nobodies. Now they played somebody in the form of Kalen DeBoer’s resurgent Alabama squad, and beat them at that. Now we know that Georgia is for real after all.
Random Thoughts:
Don’t look now, but UCLA is 5-0 and just upset Oregon. Given the offensive output of both teams going into that game, it seemed like an enticing prospect for an offensive explosion. Inexplicably, it turned out to be a defensive struggle instead.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Purdue, who was one of the conference punching bags for a while, just beat Minnesota, in butt-kicking fashion no less. Next up for the Boilermakers to prove they deserve more respect in the conference is a Friday night matchup against visiting Washington, a team that is trying to lick its wounds after taking a 41-24 shellacking at home against Iowa this past Friday.
Louisville remains the biggest mystery in the ACC. After frustrating performances against both Wake Forest and NC State, they turn around and wallop Florida State, arguably a better team than either of the previous two. If we did not know any better, we might assume that they flipped some magical, invisible switch that got the Cardinals to play good football again.
Florida’s decline seems to continue. First they laid an egg last week against Missouri. Now South Carolina embarrassed them at home. Was their ripping victory over Ole Miss at Pyrrhic?
Back to Red River to offer a parting observation: throughout that game, neither team’s QB elected to throw over the middle, despite it being undefended during the bulk of regulation. No doubt this will be a vexing issue for both Texas’ and OU’s offensive coordinators to deal with this week during film study, and have a thing or two to point out to their respective QBs in the process.
College Football Awards, Week 5 (2026) October 5, 2026
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Auburn, B1G, Ball State, Bill Belichick, Bowling Green, BYU, college football, Colorado, Cougars, David Braun, Eastern Michigan, Florida, football, Gators, Georgia, Hurricanes, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, James Franklin, Jeff Brohm, Jon Sumrall, Kentucky, Kyle Whittingham, Louisville, Maryland, Matt Campbell, Memphis, Miami (FL), Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, Mizzou, NCAA football, New Mexico, NFL, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, P.J. Fleck, Pat Narduzzi, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Red River, Rice, SEC, Shane Beamer, South Carolina, Sports, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Tigers, UCLA, UMass, USC, UTEP, UTSA, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington, West Virginia
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COACHES
Wish I were him: PJ Fleck, Minnesota
Glad I’m not him: Kyle Whittingham, Michigan
Lucky guy: Pat Narduzzi, Pitt
Also: Will Stein, Kentucky
Poor guy: James Franklin, Virginia Tech
Also: Shane Beamer, South Carolina
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Matt Campbell, Penn State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: David Braun, Northwestern
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jon Sumrall, Florida
Desperately seeking … anything: Jeff Brohm, Louisville
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Memphis (defeated Charlotte 59-8)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Texas Tech (defeated Colorado 29-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Stanford (lost to Wake Forest 57-3)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Rice (lost to UTSA 16-14)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Mizzou (defeated No. 8 Florida 45-17)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: UTEP
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Florida
Did the season start? Louisville
Can the season end? Charlotte
Can the season never end? Missouri
GAMES
Play this again: No. 18 USC 25, Washington 21
Play this again, too: Iowa State 45, West Virginia 42
Never play this again: New Mexico 61, UTEP 7
What? Eastern Michigan 38, UMass 14
Huh? Northwestern 34, Penn State 13
Are you kidding me?? Temple 17, South Florida 13
Oh – my – God: No. 25 Missouri 45, No. 8 Florida 17
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 6)
Ticket to die for: No. 2 Georgia @ No. 6 Alabama
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: none
Best non-Power Four matchup: South Florida @ UTSA
Upset alert: Oklahoma vs No. 1 Texas in the Red River Shootout
Must win: Florida State @ Louisville (Friday)
Offensive explosion: No. 21 UCLA @ No. 13 Oregon
Defensive struggle: No. 20 Iowa @ Washington (Friday)
Great game no one is talking about: No. 22 Houston @ Kansas State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Pat Narduzzi of Pitt vs Bill Belichick of North Carolina
Who’s bringing the body bags? Stanford @ No. 3 Notre Dame
Why are they playing? Ball State @ Northwestern
Plenty of good seats remaining: Sacramento State @ Bowling Green
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Maryland @ No. 5 Ohio State
Week 5 Thoughts:
Let us be honest: this was not the greatest week for college football. Even the so-called “ticket to die for” turned out to be something of a dud. Mississippi State is good, but apparently, Alabama found another gear of performance and shifted into it in Starkville when folks were least expecting it.
That said, there were good games. Auburn, which has quietly gained strength, put up a real fight against the Volunteers in Knoxville. Minnesota demonstrated that they are not a team to be taken lightly as they retained the Little Brown Jug against Michigan. North Carolina put up an impressive fight against Notre Dame at home, and Kentucky won in a shootout at South Carolina.
If that is not enough, Iowa gave Ohio State a good fight for a half, and on-again, off-again rain in Fort Worth made the BYU-TCU game a close, defensive struggle wherein the Cougars eventually triumphed. Moreover, Iowa State squeaked by West Virginia in a massive shootout of a game. If that is not enough, Purdue snapped a 19-game B1G losing streak, at Illinois, no less.
So there were plenty of interesting games, just no “monster games” as in previous weeks. Games between Texas and Ohio State, and also Texas at Tennessee, not to mention Oregon at USC, have spoiled us.
But next week Georgia faces their first true test, on that road in Tuscaloosa, and it’s also Red River time in Dallas.
Random Thoughts:
What to make of Florida? Just when they appear to be a force to be reckoned with in the SEC, they lay an egg on the road at Mizzou. The Tigers cannot be that good, can they?
Keep an eye on how the Gators bounce back from this embarrassing loss as they venture up to South Carolina next week. Same could be said for the Gamecocks: they lost a heartbreaker at home to Kentucky, and now recently-embarrassed Florida is about to come calling.
Clemson put up a decent fight against Miami at home. If I were Marcus Freeman, I would be studying film of this game very intently as I prepare my team to face the Hurricanes later this year.
College Football Awards, Week 4 (2026) September 28, 2026
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Bill Belichick, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Cal, college football, Duke, Faizon Brandon, Florida, Florida Atlantic, football, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Jake Dickert, Jeff Brohm, Josh Heupel, Kirk Ferentz, Kyle Whittingham, LA Monroe, Longhorns, Louisville, Luke Fickell, Marcus Freeman, Maryland, Matt Campbell, Michigan, Mike Locksley, Mississippi State, Missouri, NCAA, NCAA football, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Panthers, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, SMU, South Alabama, Sports, Steve Sarkesian, Tennessee, Texas, UNLV, Virginia Tech, Volunteers, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Western Michigan, Wisconsin
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Glad I’m not him: Josh Heupel, Tennessee
Lucky guy: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Poor guy: Kyle Whittingham, Michigan
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jeff Brohm, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jake Dickert, Wake Forest
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Matt Campbell, Penn State
Desperately seeking … anything: Mike Locksley, Maryland
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Pitt (defeated Bucknell 59-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: SMU (defeated Missouri State 34-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Purdue (lost to No. 3 Notre Dame 49-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Northwestern (lost to Indiana 29-23)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Florida (defeated No. 4 Ole Miss 52-28)
Dang, they’re good: Florida
Dang, they’re bad: Maryland
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Louisville
Did the season start? Penn State
Can the season end? Bowling Green
Can the season never end? Georgia
GAMES
Play this again: No. 1 Texas 20, No. 14 Tennessee 17
Play this again, too: No 17 Iowa 20, No. 18 Michigan 19
Never play this again: Duke 62, William & Mary 7
What? No. 24 Mississippi State 31, No. 19 Missouri 24
Huh? Wake Forest 30, No. 16 Louisville 27
Are you kidding me?? Wisconsin 24, No. 13 Penn State 20
Oh – my – God: No. 21 Florida 52, No. 4 Ole Miss 28
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 5)
Ticket to die for: No. 7 Alabama @ No. 16 Mississippi State
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: Cal @ UNLV
Best non-Power Four matchup: Western Michigan @ Buffalo
Upset alert: Michigan @ Minnesota
Must win: Louisville @ NC State
Offensive explosion: No. 7 Alabama @ No. 16 Mississippi State
Defensive struggle: Michigan State @ Wisconsin
Great game no one is talking about: Pittsburgh @ Virginia Tech (Friday)
Also: West Virginia @ Iowa State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame vs Bill Belichick of North Carolina
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 11 LSU @ McNeese State
Why are they playing? No. 11 LSU @ McNeese State
Plenty of good seats remaining: LA Monroe @ South Alabama
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Texas Southern @ Florida Atlantic
Week 4 Thoughts:
Texas survived yet another strong challenge, this time in the hostile confines of legendary Neyland Stadium. Many in the sports commentary sphere remarked that had this been a night game, the place would have been more intimidating to the visiting Longhorns to the point where the odds would have been more in the Volunteers’ favor. That assessment does not take a rocket scientist to figure out: the fans would have had all day to get good and drunk. Drunker fans equal louder fans, making for an even more hostile environment in which for the visitors to play. Small wonder LSU plays most of their games in the evening.
To compensate for this lack of, er, augmented home field advantage, Neyland Stadium opened up its gates early. Parking lots opened at 6 AM for example, but that’s not the half of it. The University of Tennessee discounted all of their stadium concessions, including (read: especially) beer, at 50 percent between 9 and 10 AM (!). The ostensible reason for all of this was to encourage early arrival in order to avoid congestion as President Donald Trump, who also attended the game, was to arrive. But let us kid ourselves. As plausible as this may be, on the surface, for the reason behind this “early bird special”, we all know the real reason behind it, and its somewhat genius. Some might say dangerously genius, as it could set a new precedence for new degrees of fan inebriation earlier in the day going forward, but time will tell.
Regardless, all of this was before the game itself. Hard to believe that this was the first time the Horns and Volunteers played each other in the regular season. Moreover, the last time these two storied programs clashed was in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day, 1969, almost seven months shy of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and a prelude to the Longhorns’ undefeated season that same year which culminated in a national title of their own.
The game lived up to its hype, for both teams gave strong efforts, and at the end, Texas’ defensive line made the difference in stifling Tennessee’s young but potentially-gifted QB Faizon Brandon. Such potential showed itself in the form of Faizon almost completing a Hail Mary pass in the end zone as the game ended.
Random Thoughts:
There are body bag games, then then there are worse, even more pointless body bag games. To wit, regarding the latter: rarely would one consider the Pittsburgh Panthers to be pitiless executioners in such affairs, but so it went when they mercilessly ground down Bucknell 59-0. It is one thing for a Power-Five team to pick up an easy win against a “Group of Six” team for cash. It is quite another to pulverize a middling FCS team with no playoff hopes even at the latter’s level of competition. In this new day and age of playoffs and increased parity in the sport at the upper levels of FBS play, is it not unreasonable that we ban such ugly matchups from ever happening again?
Same thing goes for Duke. Scheduling a low-end Sunbelt or MAC conference team for an easy win is one thing. Scheduling a middling FCS team is getting ridiculous. At least with Pitt, they kept it in-state. Stunts like these make for begging for some central authority to start making schedules like they do in the NFL.
How many holes did Jeff Brohm kick into the wall of his office in the wake of Louisville’s puzzling loss, at home to Wake Forest? Either the Demon Deacons are far better than their currently unranked status shows, or the Cardinals demonstrated some weird refusal to effectively execute plays. For a team to go toe-to-toe with Ole Miss and then to take down a formidable SMU squad only to come up short against this team leaves one to sympathize with Brohm in his current frustrations.
Don’t look now, but Luke Fickell finally got something close to a signature win in taking down then-undefeated Penn State, in Happy Valley, no less. Perhaps the Badger program is gaining strength under his leadership after all. Time will tell if this is a harbinger of further success for the program, or some curious anomaly instead.
Something to monitor for Week 5: can Missouri’s defense contain Florida’s offense more effectively than Ole Miss’ did in The Swamp this week?
College Football Awards, Week 3 (2026) September 21, 2026
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Appalachian State, Boise State, Brent Venables, Bronco Mendenhall, Bulldogs, Cardinals, Central Michigan, college football, Florida, football, Gators, Georgia, Houston, Iowa State, Joey McGuire, Kent State, Kentucky, Kirk Ferentz, Kyle Whittingham, Lane Kiffin, Longhorns, Louisville, Miami (FL), Michigan, Michigan State, Mike Elko, Minnesota, Mississippi State, NC State, NCAA, NCAA football, Nebraska, Northern Illinois, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pete Golding, Purdue, Rich Rodriguez, SMU, South Alabama, South Carolina, Sports, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tigers, Toledo, UCLA, USC, Utah, Utah State, Virginia, Wake Forest, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Pete Golding, Ole Miss
Glad I’m not him: Lane Kiffin, LSU
Lucky guy: Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
Poor guy: Willie Fritz, Houston
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Brent Venables, Oklahoma
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mike Elko, Texas A&M
Desperately seeking … anything: Bronco Mendenhall
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated Kent State 59-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: USC (defeated Rutgers 42-35)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: UTEP (lost to No. 19 Michigan 52-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: New Mexico (lost to Oklahoma 14-6)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Iowa State (defeated Bowling Green 55-7)
Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: Northern Illinois
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia
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.
College Football Awards, Week 7 (2025) October 13, 2025
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Alex Golesh, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Bobby Petrino, Boise State, Bruins, BYU, Clemson, college football, Colorado, Cougars, Curt Cignetti, Dan Lanning, DeShaun Foster, Drew Allar, Eliah Drinkwitz, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, James Franklin, John Mateer, Kalen DeBoer, Lane Kiffin, Longhorns, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike Elko, Mike Norvell, Missouri, NCAA football, Nittany Lions, North Texas, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Red River rivalry, Rice, Sooners, South Florida, Steve Sarkesian, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tigers, UAB, UCLA, UNLV, USC, USF, Utah, UTSA, Virginia, Washington State, Yellowjackets
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Curt Cignetti, Indiana
Honorable mention: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Glad I’m not him: Dan Lanning, Oregon
Lucky guy: Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
Poor guy: Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Alex Golesh, South Florida
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mike Norvell, Florida State
Desperately seeking … anything: James Franklin, Penn State
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Clemson (defeated Boston College 41-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Ole Miss (defeated Washington State 24-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: N/A
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Northwestern (defeated Penn State 22-21)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: South Florida (defeated North Texas 63-36)
Honorable mention: Utah (defeated No. 21 Arizona State 42-10)
Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad: Akron
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Oregon
Did the season start? Penn State
Can the season end? Florida State
Can the season never end? Indiana
GAMES
Play this again: No. 7 Indiana 30, No. 3 Oregon 20
Play this again, too: No. 8 Alabama 27, No. 14 Missouri 24
Never play this again: UTSA 61, Rice 13
What? Colorado 22, No. 22 Iowa State 17
Huh? USC 31, No. 15 Michigan 13
Double-huh? No. 7 Indiana 30, No. 3 Oregon 20
Are you kidding me?? Texas 23, No. 6 Oklahoma 6
Oh – my – God: Northwestern 22, Penn State 21
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 8)
Ticket to die for: No. 12 Tennessee @ No. 8 Alabama
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: Washington State @ No. 19 Virginia
Best non-Power Four matchup: UNLV @ Boise State
Upset alert: Utah @ No. 18 BYU
Also: No. 20 USC @ No. 13 Notre Dame
Must win: No. 4 Ole Miss @ No. 9 Georgia
Offensive explosion: Air Force @ UNLV
Defensive struggle: Penn State @ Iowa
Great game no one is talking about: Arizona @ Houston
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mike Elko of Texas A&M vs Bobby Petrino of Arkansas
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 22 Memphis @ UAB
Why are they playing? Washington State @ No. 19 Virginia
Plenty of good seats remaining: Georgia State @ Georgia Southern
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Lafayette @ Oregon State
Week 7 Thoughts:
Another monster week for college football, with great games abounding from noon Eastern through night, and upsets abounding in turn. Indiana proved that they are a considerable force to be reckoned with in defeating Oregon, on the road, no less. USC continues to quietly gain strength after losing to Illinois earlier in the year, this time by defeating ranked Michigan in rather convincing fashion. Colorado proved to have some fight within them by upsetting Iowa State on the road. Then we had the Red River Showdown, and the incredibly electric environment it always produces. Many in the sports commentary space had given Texas up for dead after their loss to Florida in the Swamp last week. The calculus was that since the Longhorns’ offense sputtered against the Gators’ defense, given that Oklahoma’s defense is even better, Texas would likely be demolished in Dallas. But as the great Lee Corso would say, “[N]ot so fast, my friend!” The Longhorns’ defense stepped up in a major way, cramping the performance of the Sooner’s star QB John Mateer as he returned to the line-up, going so far as to shut out OU in the second half and to deny them reaching the endzone the entire game. In so doing, Texas defense gave their offense time to get their sea-legs under them. Thus, Texas’ triumph was unexpected, and all the more savored.
Elsewhere, Pitt upset Florida State, in Tallahassee, no less, but perhaps the biggest upset of all came when Northwestern stunned Penn State in Happy Valley, 22-21. That loss came on the heels of the Nittany Lions already losing that heartbreaker to Oregon, then laying an egg on the road to UCLA. Now they have suffered this defeat, which is no ignominious and ill-timed that Penn State fired James Franklin today. Penn State’s current state was made all the worse with QB Drew Allar suffering a season-ending injury late in the game. What started out as a potential championship season for the Nittany Lions now lies in ruin.
Some near-upsets also occurred wherein Mizzou was on the verge of defeating favored Alabama before the Tiger’s QB threw a sudden pick that ended the drive and their hopes of victory. In a similar situation was Washington State, who ventured into Ole Miss and nearly defeated the home team before the Rebels somehow managed to escape with their skin intact. Arkansas presented a serious challenge to Tennessee, signaling that the Bobby Petrino Era 2.0 is on the rise in Fayetteville. Late into the night, Arizona took BYU in a second overtime before the Cougars managed to pull out the win.
What a week.
Random Thoughts:
UCLA was once the whipping boy of the B1G. Not anymore. Perhaps all it took was the firing of the inept DeShaun Foster, inter alia. But now the Bruins are a rising force in the conference. First, they massively upset Penn State at home last week. This week, they went on the road to dismantle Michigan State. Not a moment too soon, either, since all the remaining opponents – including Indiana and Ohio State – or nearly-ranked (e.g., Maryland and Washington). At this rate, their traditional rivalry game against USC should be one the best in Gen-Z’s living memory.
Meanwhile, has there been a team to more quietly advance up the rankings than Georgia Tech, at least recently? The Yellowjackets are currently undefeated (6-0), and have now reached the rank of No. 12.
College Football Awards, Week 3 (2025) September 16, 2025
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Aggies, Arch Manning, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Army, Auburn, Bill Belichick, Bret Bielema, Central Michigan, Clark Lea, Clemson, college football, Commodores, Curt Cignetti, DeShaun Foster, Florida State, Fresno State, Gamecocks, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, Jacksonville State, Josh Heupel, Kent State, Kirby Smart, Longhorns, Marcus Freeman, Marshall, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Mike Elko, Missouri, NCAA, NCAA football, North Carolina, North Texas, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Scott Frost, Shane Beamer, South Carolina, Steve Sarkesian, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCF, UCLA, USC, Utah, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Washington State, Wisconsin, Yellow Jackets
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Josh Heupel, Tennessee
Lucky guy: Mike Elko, Texas A&M
Poor guy: Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Clark Lea, Vanderbilt
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Shane Beamer, South Carolina
Desperately seeking … anything: DeShaun Foster, UCLA
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Indiana (defeated Indiana State 73-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Texas (defeated UTEP 27-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Central Michigan (lost to No. 23 Michigan 63-3)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Arkansas State (lost to No. 14 Iowa State 24-16)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: North Texas (defeated Washington State 59-10)
Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: Washington State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: South Carolina
Did the season start? Clemson
Can the season end? UCLA
Can the season never end? Texas A&M
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Georgia 44, No. 15 Tennessee 41, OT
Play this again, too: No. 16 Texas A&M 41, No. 8 Notre Dame 40
Never play this again: No. 22 Indiana 73, Indiana State 0
Huh? No. 16 Texas A&M 41, No. 8 Notre Dame 40
Are you kidding me?? Georgia Tech 24, No. 12 Clemson 21
Oh – my – God: Vanderbilt 31, No. 11 South Carolina 7
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 4)
Ticket to die for: No. 9 Illinois @ No. 19 Indiana
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: Arkansas @ Memphis
Best non-Power Four matchup: Fresno State @ Hawaii
Upset alert: South Carolina @ No. 23 Missouri
Must win: No. 22 Auburn @ No. 11 Oklahoma
Offensive explosion: No. 17 Texas Tech @ No. 16 Utah
Defensive struggle: Maryland @ Wisconsin
Great game no one is talking about: Michigan State @ No. 25 USC
Intriguing coaching matchup: Curt Cignetti of Indiana vs Brett Bielema of Illinois
Honorable mention: Scott Frost of UCF vs Bill Belichick of North Carolina
Who’s bringing the body bags? North Texas @ Army
Why are they playing? Kent State @ No. 7 Florida State
Plenty of good seats remaining: Marshall @ Middle Tennessee
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Murray State @ Jacksonville State
Week 3 Thoughts:
We the fans enjoyed two incredible games this week, one was during the 3:30 EDT timeslot in Knoxville, between Georgia and Tennessee. The other was in the evening, in South Bend, as a rematch between Texas A&M and Notre Dame. Both we close games that went down to the wire.
For the former, Tennessee had the chance to bring home the win, but made too many mistakes, and in the end, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
For the latter, fewer mistakes on both sides of the ball were made, and was arguably an even more epic game. The ‘so-what’ outcome is that Mike Elko & Co. finally have a signature win, establishing the Aggies as a force to be reckoned with in their division of the SEC.
Random Thoughts:
Either Vanderbilt is that good or South Carolina decided to take a night off in their own home stadium. Making sense of such a drubbing on one’s own home turf shall take time in the form of seeing more games from the Commodores to find out if embarrassing the Gamecocks was some fluke or if they are the real deal.
Should the Longhorn faithful become increasingly concerned? Probably. For the second week in a row in what should have been a cakewalk for Texas, the home team scored only 27 points against lowly, lowly UTEP. QB Arch Manning remains off-rhythm, still missing easy passes. What on Earth is going on in Austin? They have one last game to get it together (against Sam Houston State) before things start to get real with conference play.
Was Clemson overrated all this time, or has Georgia Tech been underrated for the same duration? Regardless, the Yellow Jackets winning on a last-second field goal provided yet another thrilling finish to contribute to a great day for the game of college football. The completed FG made me want to jump up like Homer Simpson (in Season 1 of the long-enduring sitcom), exclaiming “It’s good! It’s good!”
