College Football Awards, Week 12 (2024) November 18, 2024

COACHES
Wish I were him:  Kirby Smart, Georgia

Glad I’m not him:  Josh Heupel, Tennessee

Lucky guy: Dan Lanning, Oregon

Poor guy: Luke Fickell, Wisconsin

Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Kalani Sitake

Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jay Norvell, Colorado State

Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jeff Brohm, Louisville

Desperately seeking … anything:  Brian Kelly, LSU

TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Alabama (defeated Mercer 52-7)

Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Oregon (defeated Wisconsin 16-13)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Purdue (lost to Penn State 49-10)

Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t:  Wisconsin (lost to No. 1 Oregon 16-13)

Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did:  Tulane (defeated Navy 35-0)

Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad:  Oregon State

Can’t Stand Prosperity:  BYU

Did the season start?  Kansas State
Can the season end?  LSU

Can the season never end? Colorado

GAMES
Play this again:  No. 1 Oregon 16, Wisconsin 13

Play this again, too:  No. 21 South Carolina 34, No. 23 Missouri 30

Never play this again: Texas State 58, Southern Miss 3

What?  Florida 27, No. 22 LSU 16

Huh?  Stanford 38, No. 19 Louisville 35

Double-Huh?  Arizona State 24, No. 16 Kansas State 14

Are you kidding me??  No. 12 Georgia 31, No. 7 Tennessee 17

Oh – my – God:  Kansas 17, No. 6 BYU 13

NEXT WEEK

rankings are current AP (week 13)
Ticket to die for:  No. 5 Indiana @ No. 2 Ohio State

Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four  matchup: No. 18 Army @ No. 6 Notre Dame

Best non-Power Four matchup: UNLV @ San Jose State

Upset alert: Kansas @ No. 16 Colorado

Must win: No. 14 BYU @ No. 21 Arizona State

(See also:  “ticket to die for”)

Offensive explosion: East Carolina @ North Texas

Defensive struggle: Iowa State @ Utah

Great game no one is talking about: Illinois @ Rutgers

Intriguing coaching matchup:  Pat Narduzzi of Pittsburgh vs Jeff Brohm of Louisville

Who’s bringing the body bags? UMass @ No. 8 Georgia

Why are they playing?  UTEP @ No. 10 Tennessee

Plenty of good seats remaining: Charleston Southern @ Florida State

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  Wofford @ No. 16 South Carolina

Week 12 Thoughts:

Let us start out on the west coast with Louisville visiting Stanford.  The Cardinals had two things going against them for this game.  One is that they were coming off a bye week, and that typically throws college teams off, especially their offense.  Second, this was a team in the Eastern Timezone that ventured out to the west coast.  That time difference also throws off college teams, thus it affects their performance negatively.  Still, Louisville was leading Stanford by two touchdowns going into the fourth quarter.  Then the Cards blew that lead big time, and in the end, the Cardinal defeated the Cardinals on a last-second field goal.  Head coach Jeff Brohm himself admitted that the team “gave in at the end”, and the barrage of penalties throughout the game likewise contributed to the upset loss.

Meanwhile, Oregon, the current No. 1 team, ventured into Madison, Wis., to take on the Badgers.  Apparently Dan Lanning & Co. were unaware of just how tough a place Camp Randall Stadium is to play, especially at nighttime, hence the Ducks’ narrow margin of victory in a surprise defensive struggle, 16-13.

Turning one’s attention to the game of the week, wherein Tennessee played Georgia “between the hedges”, a key takeaway for me emerged as the Bulldogs proceeded to a convincing win.  The Volunteers did not have a deep threat the entire game, and the Bulldogs exploited that by putting constant pressure on up front on their QB.  Nico Iamaleava is young, and will likely grow further into his key role.  What is now clear is that this year is not the year – yet – for the Vols, but with further seasoning and growth, they could likely vie more effectively for the playoffs next season. 

Conversely, Georgia QB Carson Beck seems to have found his way out of his multi-week slump, and performed brilliantly against a potentially lethal foe, throwing for 347 yards and two touchdowns. 

Finally, BYU did control its own destiny regarding the road to the Big XII championship and a possible playoff bid.  That road now has more obstacles than before after the Cougars coughed up the game at home to Kansas, 17-13.  Discerning observers of the game have noticed that the Jayhawks had improved considerably over the past couple of weeks, but to that extent?  Perhaps BYU was looking past Kansas in anticipation of taking on newly-ranked Arizona State.  In so doing, they added to the urgency of next week’s game in Tempe, Ariz.

All the while, Colorado continues to roll through Big XII competition, and it is still not inconceivable that the Buffaloes and the Cougs could be headed for a showdown for a playoff berth come early December.