College Football Awards Week 11 (2017) November 13, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona, Army, Auburn, Ball State, Butch Jones, Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Dan Mullen, Florida, Fresno State, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Hurricanes, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Jeff Monken, Kansas State, Louisville, LSU, Mark Richt, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Missouri, New Mexico, Nick Saban, North Carolina, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Purdue, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Utah, Virginia Tech, Washington, Wyoming
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 11] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Mark Richt, Miami
Glad I’m not him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Lucky guy: Nick Saban, Alabama
Poor guy: Dan Mullen, Mississippi State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: (none)
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jeff Monken, Army
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Desperately seeking … anything: Butch Jones, Tennessee
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Texas A&M (defeated New Mexico 55-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Alabama (defeated No. 16 Mississippi State 31-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Tennessee (lost to Missouri 50-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Mississippi State (lost to No. 2 Alabama 31-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated No. 12 Michigan State 48-3)
Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad: Georgia Southern
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Georgia
Did the season start? Virginia Tech
Can the season end? Florida
Can the season never end? Miami
GAMES
Play this again: No. 2 Alabama 31, No. 16 Mississippi State 24
Play this again, too: No. 15 Oklahoma State 49, No. 21 Iowa State 42
Never play this again: Northern Illinois 63, Ball State 17
What? Georgia Tech 28, No. 17 Virginia Tech 22
Huh? Stanford 30, No. 9 Washington 22
Are you kidding me?? No. 7 Miami 41, No. 3 Notre Dame 8
Oh – my – God: No. 10 Auburn 40, No. 1 Georgia 17
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 11, pre-week 12)
Ticket to die for: None, except maybe Michigan @ No. 8 Wisconsin
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Western Carolina @ North Carolina
Best non-Power Five matchup: Fresno State @ Wyoming also: Army @ North Texas
Upset alert: Utah @ No. 9 Washington
Must win: Texas @ West Virginia also: No. 8 TCU @ No. 5 Oklahoma
Offensive explosion: SMU @ No. 18 Memphis
Defensive struggle: No. 21 LSU @ Tennessee
Great game no one is talking about: Arizona @ Oregon
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jim Harbaugh of Michigan vs. Paul Chryst of Wisconsin
Who’s bringing the body bags? Citadel @ No. 4 Clemson
Why are they playing? Wofford @ South Carolina also: Mercer @ No. 1 Alabama
Plenty of good seats remaining: Coastal Carolina @ Idaho
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Louisiana-Monroe @ No. 10 Auburn
Week 11 Random Thoughts:
Is it safe to say that Miami (Fla.) is back as a top-tier program? Already ranked No. 7 going into this weekend’s game, they crushed No. 3 Notre Dame at home, 41-8. They remain undefeated in one of the toughest conferences in football, now at the No. 2 spot in the AP Poll (Clemson is now at No. 3). If these shadows remain unchanged, they could face Clemson in the ACC Championship game early next month (ticket-to-die-for in the making?). If they win that, it would be close to certain that the Hurricanes would be in the playoffs, and rightly so. So yeah, sure looks that way.
It’s a good thing I listed Butch Jones as “Desperately seeking…anything” because as of today (Nov. 12), he got the ax at Tennessee. This became an increasingly urgent necessity as the season progressed. Despite the solid recruiting classes Jones brought in at Tennessee, he was unable to translate the talent into wins on the field. Barely winning over lousy UMass was cause for concern. Losing a squeaker to a mediocre Florida was bad enough. Losing to Georgia in a blowout – one of the worst in recent program history – was a major embarrassment. Losing to Kentucky – something the Volunteers very rarely do – was obviously unacceptable. Getting crushed by hated Alabama became inevitable – which didn’t make it any less unpalatable to the Tennessee faithful. The final nail in Jones’ coffin was a blowout loss to Missouri, of all teams. So, Jones is now out at Tennessee. Time for the replacement coaching search games to begin!
While this was a great weekend for college football (despite some unexpectedly one-sided outcomes – looking your way, Georgia and Notre Dame), next week shall be something of a let-down. The only game resembling a marquee matchup is No. 19 Michigan vs No. 5 Wisconsin. Half of the SEC is wasting the upcoming weekend with body bag games. To wit: Mercer plays at Alabama; Wofford plays South Carolina in an annual late-season affair (why??); Auburn dialed up a “w” with Louisiana-Monroe. Florida would also be included, except for the fact that UAB has a much better record (7-3) than the Gators (3-6). Not to be outdone, Clemson had to get in on the act by playing the Citadel.
At least the other half of the conference was exercising some degree of sense by scheduling real games. Kentucky plays at Georgia. LSU plays at Tennessee, which will no doubt further contribute to the Volunteers’ collective misery. Texas A&M plays at Ole Miss in what should be a good game. Missouri, surprisingly offensively spry, plays at Vanderbilt.
Purdue’s bowl eligibility hopes for the year are quickly dwindling. They currently stand at 4-6, and have to win out over both Iowa and Indiana. Whereas the latter seems winnable, the former, not so much. The Boilers did themselves no favors by losing on the road to conference cellar-dweller Rutgers, then blowing a 4th-quarter lead at home to Nebraska. The good news is that if Purdue ends up at 5-7, they’ll still have won more games than the entire Hazell era combined.
All that said, there are some decent games that might not be of huge consequence. Syracuse plays Louisville, for example, and Kansas State plays Oklahoma State. Arizona at Oregon is also a good match-up, and Utah has the potential to upset Washington. So there are enjoyable games this weekend, we’ll just have to search more diligently than usual for them.
College Football Awards Week 7 (2017) October 15, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas State, Auburn, Baylor, Bobby Petrino, Boston College, Bronco Mendenhall, Butch Jones, BYU, Cal, California, Charlotte, Clemson, Dabo Swinney, Dino Babers, East Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Gus Malzahn, Idaho, Iowa, Jim McElwain, Justin Wilcox, Kansas, Kansas State, Longhorns, Louisville, Mark Dantonio, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Navy, North Carolina, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Red River Shootout, Showdown, Sooners, South Carolina, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tigers, UAB, UCF, UCLA, UMass, UTEP, Virginia, Washington, Washington State, Will Muschamp, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 7] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Justin Wilcox, Cal
Glad I’m not him: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Lucky guy: Dino Babers, Syracuse
Poor guy: Jim McElwain, Florida
Desperately seeking a clue: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Desperately seeking … anything: Butch Jones, Tennessee
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Oklahoma State (defeated Baylor 59-16)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Clemson (lost to Syracuse 27-24))
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Baylor (lost to No. 14 Oklahoma State 59-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Purdue (lost to No. 7 Wisconsin 17-9)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Cal (defeated No. 8 Washington State 37-3)
Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad: UTEP
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Washington State
Did the season start? Louisville
Can the season end? North Carolina
Can the season never end? Georgia also: Alabama
GAMES
Play this again: No. 12 Oklahoma 29, Texas 24
Play this again, too: Texas A&M 19, Florida 17
Never play this again: Arkansas State 51, Coastal Carolina 17
What? West Virginia 46, No. 24 Texas Tech 35
Huh? LSU 27, No. 10 Auburn 23
Double Huh? Arizona State 13, No. 5 Washington 7
Are you kidding me?? Cal 37, No. 8 Washington State 3
Oh – my – God: Syracuse 27, No. 2 Clemson 24
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 7, pre-week 8)
Ticket to die for: No. 19 Michigan @ No. 2 Penn State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Idaho @ Missouri
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 20 UCF @ No. Navy
Upset alert: No. 19 Michigan @ No. 3 Penn State also: Kansas State @ No. 10 Oklahoma
Must win: Louisville @ Florida State
Offensive explosion: Oregon @ UCLA
Defensive struggle: Iowa @ Northwestern
Great game no one is talking about: Kentucky @ Mississippi State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jim Harbaugh of Michigan vs. James Franklin of Penn State
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kansas @ No. 4 TCU
Why are they playing? Idaho @ Missouri
Plenty of good seats remaining: Georgia Southern @ UMass
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? UAB @ Charlotte
Week 7 Random Thoughts:
The Red River Shootout Showdown did not disappoint. In recent years, the matchup has often turned into a lopsided affair in favor of Oklahoma. Not this time. The unranked Longhorns held their own against the Sooners this time, with a game full of excitement and drama (see the game summary at the top of the page). The main takeaways are that Oklahoma is still strong enough to be a legitimate top-10 team, while the Longhorns have proven that their dramatic win over Kansas State last week was no fluke. Indeed, they keep improving, which is a sign of a well-coached team.
Speaking of well-coached teams, the opposite can sadly be said for Louisville. The Cardinals were stronger earlier in the year than they are now, having just lost in a shootout, at home, to lowly Boston College. Bobby Petrino has done nothing to address his team’s deficiencies from last year. His skill position personnel are still young, and he has not done a thing to address his weak offensive line play. Depending on your star quarterback to carry the team in every phase of the game is no way to go through life, sir. Nor is it recommended to try to mold said star quarterback into another Aaron Rogers when he is clearly Michael Vick 2.0 instead.
Poor BYU. They’ve had such a rough year. At 1-6, perhaps they could catch a break this upcoming week when they play 1-6 East Carolina. Then again, the Pirates might be thinking the same thing.
Meanwhile, where did Michigan State come from all of a sudden? They had a few lackluster wins earlier in the season, and lost rather badly to Notre Dame (who, in the Spartans’ defense, was ranked at the time), 38-18. But then they turned around and beat top-10 Michigan, in the Big House, no less, and now win convincingly, on the road, in inclement weather, at Minnesota. How can Mark Dantonio not be considered one of the best coaches in the business? These past several years, he has consistently done more with less. Moreover, the team is clearly better now than they were earlier in the season, which again, is one sign of a well-coached team. Part of the secret to his success? The Spartans have this new thing called a running game, which so many teams these days sorely lack.
This upcoming week, the moments we have all waited for are about to commence with Michigan about to take on Penn State. Yes, it will be one of the key clashes of Big Ten Titans, and two things shall be ascertained. One is whether or not Michigan can bounce back from losing the Paul Bunyan Trophy to Michigan State. The other is whether or not Penn State belongs in the top five nationally. It will also be a nice warmup for an even more enticing matchup (Ohio State vs. Penn State) later this month.
Speaking of teams that keep improving as the season progresses, Purdue deserves a mention. Yes, they lost, but it was on the road, at Wisconsin, ranked 7th nationally. The loss was quite respectable, only 17-9. One would think that the formidable Badgers would have defeated the unranked Boilermakers by at least two touchdowns, but Purdue fought hard to ensure that did not happen. Now the Boilers enter the easy part of their schedule. To wit, they have yet to play, in order: Rutgers, Nebraska, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa, and Indiana, all of which are winnable to varying degrees. Indeed, the biggest question mark that remains on the schedule is Iowa (they did take Penn State to the wire, after all), but aside from that, they could theoretically win out. Time will tell, but focus and consistent effort on their part shall make it so.
Remember last week about South Carolina entering the brutal part of their schedule? So far they have handled it with aplomb, upsetting Tennessee, in Knoxville, in a low-scoring affair, 15-9. Next week they face Vanderbilt at home, at game that appears increasingly winnable as time progresses (could it be that the Commodores defeating Kansas State earlier this year was just some weird fluke?). Forget Georgia, however, as they remain as strong as ever, continuing to roll their opponents. But Florida is something of a question mark. Yes, they have been good enough to win most of their games thus far, but this time, they were not quite good enough to win at home, narrowly losing to Texas A&M. Maybe it was those god-awful uniforms that cursed them. Maybe the Gators deserved to be cursed for wearing them. Oh, and forget South Carolina beating Clemson. Not happening; not at this rate, even after the Tigers lost at Syracuse (which, again, OMG). All that aside, the Gamecocks could theoretically finish the season at 7-5, if not 8-4. Perhaps I misjudged Will Muschamp’s ability to coach after all. Perhaps I should at least reserve judgement until the regular season concludes.
Speaking of Tennessee, after losing at home to South Carolina, it’s a safe bet that Butch Jones’ hot seat just got hotter. No time to lick their wounds, either, as the Volunteers take on hated Alabama next week. At this rate of Tennessee’s spotty [at best] performance, beating Kentucky at month’s end is not a given. LSU won’t play dead for them come mid-November either. In short, Tennessee has talent, but they’re a mess, and Jones has proved incapable of cleaning up after himself. A 6-6 finish could be enough to turn Jones’ hot seat into an ejection seat.
College Football Awards Week 6 (2017) October 9, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Auburn, Big XII, Bobby Petrino, BYU, Cardinals, Charlotte, Clemson, David Bailiff, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Gamecocks, Gary Anderson, Gators, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hurricanes, Iowa State, Jeff Brohm, Jim Harbaugh, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas, Kansas State, Kent State, Lincoln Riley, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Marshall, Maryland, Memphis, Miami, Miami (OH), Michigan State, Mike Norvell, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, Navy, NC State, Nittany Lions, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Oregon, Oregon State, P.J. Fleck, Penn State, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Red River Shootout, Showdown, South Carolina, Spartans, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas Tech, Tulane, Tulsa, USC, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Wolfpack
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 6] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Glad I’m not him: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Lucky guy: Jeff Brohm, Purdue
Poor guy: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Mike Norvell, Memphis
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
Desperately seeking … anything: Gary Anderson, Oregon State
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated Maryland 62-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Clemson (defeated Wake Forest 28-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kansas (lost to Texas Tech 65-19)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Wake Forest (lost to No. 2 Clemson 28-14)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Tulane (defeated Tulsa 62-28)
Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad: Rice
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Oklahoma
Did the season start? Florida State
Can the season end? East Carolina
Can the season never end? Penn State
GAMES
Play this again: Michigan State 14, No. 7 Michigan 10
Play this again, too: Texas 40, Kansas State 34 (2OT)
This merits a second look, too: No. 8 TCU 31, No. 23 West Virginia 24
Never play this again: No. 10 Ohio State 62, Maryland 14
What? LSU 17, No. 21 Florida 16
Huh? No. 24 NC State 39, No. 17 Louisville 25
Are you kidding me?? Michigan State 14, No. 7 Michigan 10
Oh – my – God: Iowa State 38, No. 3 Oklahoma 31
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 6, pre-week 7)
Ticket to die for: No. 12 Oklahoma vs. Texas in the Red River Shootout
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: BYU @ Mississippi State
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 25 Navy @ Memphis
Upset alert: Georgia Tech @ No. 11 Miami also: Utah @ No. 13 USC
Must win: Oregon @ No. 23 Stanford
Offensive explosion: Texas Tech @ No. 23 West Virginia
Defensive struggle: No. 10 Auburn @ LSU
Great game no one is talking about: Florida State @ Duke
Intriguing coaching matchup: P.J. Fleck of Minnesota vs. Mark Dantonio of Michigan State
Who’s bringing the body bags? Missouri @ No. 4 Georgia
Why are they playing? Charlotte @ Western Kentucky
Plenty of good seats remaining: Miami (OH) @ Kent State
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Old Dominion @ Marshall
Week 6 Random Thoughts:
These past couple of weeks, there were not that many upsets. This week made up for that in quality if not for quantity. Favored Louisville choked on the road at NC State. Unranked LSU beat the Gators, in the Swamp, and in a defensive struggle, by a single point. ACC cellar-dweller Syracuse beat respectable Pitt. To cap things off, unranked Michigan State defeated Michigan, in a dramatic 14-10 finish (wait, that’s still a thing in 2017?), in the Big House, no less. What a week.
South Carolina defeated Arkansas in a game that could have gone either way. The Gamecocks should enjoy the win while it lasts, because the remainder of their schedule is brutal. In order, they shall play: Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Florida, Wofford (huh?), and close out the season at home versus Clemson. Aside from Wofford, the Gamecocks could lose every one of those games. Yes, that is to say that even Vandy is iffy since they beat Kansas State earlier this year.
Given how hyped Florida State was coming into the season, and the potential regard in which they are still held in the eyes of most fans, is it valid to consider No. 13 Miami’s win in Tallahassee an upset, or simply a comeuppance to an overrated team?
Texas might have turned a corner with a win in double-OT over Kansas State, a team never to be taken lightly and capable of running the tables on the northern schools – what few remain — in the Big XII. With this key win for the Horns coupled with Oklahoma’s embarrassing upset at home to Iowa State this week, it will make next week’s Red River Shootout Showdown all the more unpredictable.
Maryland has proven that they’re a decent team. Not great, but decent. Nevertheless, they came into Columbus, Ohio, and Ohio State demolished them, 62-14. Nothing like a body-bag game (in hindsight) for homecoming. All kidding aside, could it be that the Buckeyes have solved their identity crisis on offense? We’ll know for sure by the end of the month when they butt heads with Penn State.
Speaking of whom, Michigan will have ample opportunity for redemption for this week’s upset loss at home when they take on the Nittany Lions on Oct. 21. It only takes one loss on Penn State’s part for the Big Ten race to become very, very interesting.
College Football Awards, Week 2 (2017) September 11, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Arkansas, Art Briles, Auburn, Baylor, Big 12, Big XII, Bobby Petrino, Brian Kelly, Bronco Mendenhall, Buckeyes, BYU, Cal, Charlotte, Clemson, Dabo Swinney, Dino Babers, Duke, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Gus Malzahn, Horned Frogs, Idaho, Jeff Brohm, Kansas State, Kentucky, Kirby Smart, Lincoln Riley, Louisville, LSU, Matt Rhule, Miami Hurricanes, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi State, Morgan State, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nicholls, North Carolina A&T, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Randy Edsall, Razorbacks, Rutgers, San Jose State, Sooners, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Toledo, Tulsa, UConn, Urban Meyer, USC, Utah, Utah State, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 2] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
Glad I’m not him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Lucky guy: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Poor guy: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jeff Brohm, Purdue
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dino Babers, Syracuse
Desperately seeking … anything: Matt Rhule, Baylor
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 19 Kansas State (defeated Charlotte 55-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Kentucky (defeated Eastern Kentucky 27-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: San Jose State (lost to Texas 56-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Nicholls (lost to Texas A&M 24-14)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Duke (defeated Northwestern 41-17)
Dang, they’re good: USC
Dang, they’re bad: Baylor
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Ohio State
Did the season start? Texas A&M
Can the season end? New Mexico
Can the season never end? Oklahoma
GAMES
Play this again: No. 15 Georgia 20, No. 24 Notre Dame 19
Play this again, too: Utah 19, BYU 13
Never play this again: Utah State 51, Idaho State 13
Close call: No. 3 Clemson 14, No. 13 Auburn 6
What? Middle Tennessee 30, Syracuse 23
Huh? New Hampshire 22, Georgia Southern 12
Are you kidding me?? Eastern Michigan 16, Rutgers 13
Oh – my – God: No. 5 Oklahoma 31, No. 2 Ohio State 16
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 2, pre-week 3)
Ticket to die for: No. 3 Clemson @ No. 14 Louisville
Also: Texas @ No. 4 USC
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Oregon @ Wyoming
Best non-Power Five matchup: Utah State @ Wake Forest
Upset alert: No. 10 Wisconsin @ BYU
Must win: No. 23 Tennessee @ No. 24 Florida
Offensive explosion: Tulsa @ Toledo
Defensive struggle: No. 12 LSU @ Mississippi State
Great game no one is talking about: Purdue @ Missouri
Intriguing coaching matchup: Bobby Petrino of Louisville vs. Dabo Swinney of Clemson
Also: Randy Edsall of UConn vs. Bronco Mendenhall of Virginia
Who’s bringing the body bags? Georgia State @ No. 4 Penn State
Why are they playing? Mercer @ No. 15 Auburn
Plenty of good seats remaining: North Carolina A&T @ Charlotte
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Morgan State @ Rutgers
Week 1 Take-aways:
This week leaves us with more questions than answers. For one, Louisville had fewer penalties against North Carolina than they did against Purdue. All well and good, but is that enough improvement at this rate to be ready for Clemson at home next week? Regarding the TCU-Arkansas game, are the No. 23 Horned Frogs that good, or are the Razorbacks that mediocre? The Auburn-Clemson game was a surprising defensive struggle. What was the bigger surprise: that Auburn’s defense held the Tigers to only two touchdowns, or that Auburn’s offense – supposedly a specialty under head coach Gus Malzahn – could only muster a measly six points? Moreover, what does this portend for Auburn’s offense during the rest of the season?
The shocker of the week was Oklahoma’s upset over Ohio State in Columbus. The question becomes, are the Sooners that good, or are the Buckeyes overrated? Ohio State has plenty of NFL-potential bodies on both sides of the ball. What accounts for their lackluster offense this game, and their defensive collapse in the 4th quarter? Actually, there is an answer. The Buckeyes are currently experiencing an identity crisis on offense. Until they get that cleared up, they’ll continue to fail to play up to their potential this season, and that will be a genuine shame.
Questions aside, let us take a glance at the Big XII Conference. Simply put, they’re looking good right now. The Sooners are rolling after their huge win over the Buckeyes. Oklahoma State has two wins with impressive margins. TCU embarrassed Arkansas on the road today. Kansas State won convincingly, even though it was a body bag game. West Virginia is playing quite strongly right now, though a body bag game against Delaware State next week will obviously be meaningless. It all adds up to a conference that is playing well and giving the rest of college football cause for notice. The ironic weak links are Baylor and Texas. Concerning the Bears, it would only stand to reason that Matt Rhule has not forgotten how to coach. The turmoil surrounding the player sexual assault scandals, the sudden firing of Art Briles, and the havoc wrought by Hurricane Harvey have all combined to take a serious toll on the program. Baylor looks shell-shocked right now, and it will be interesting to see if Rhule, who brought Temple to respectability, can keep things afloat at a program with greater potential but higher expectations, too.
Speaking of Hurricane Harvey, that might also account for Texas A&M has not been playing up to their potential, as well as for Texas’ gigantic miscue against Maryland last week. After all, many players for these two programs, as well as for Baylor, have come out of the Houston area, which is still reeling in the wake of the hurricane damage and the residual flooding damage. The latter of which alone has for longer-lasting implications than the former. Let us all pray for those who have been afflicted by that terrible storm, as well as for those who are being afflicted by Hurricane Irma in Florida. As the floodwaters recede and the area rebuilds and moves forward in general, perhaps the morale of the aforementioned Texas teams shall improve, along with their performances.
Speaking of Hurricane Irma, that storm shall leave implications long into the season, given all the games that have already been postponed. One notable example is No. 16 Miami vs. No. 10 Florida State. That game would have been one of the best of the upcoming week. Little doubt lingers that they’ll find a time to reschedule such a matchup that is A) a heated, in-state rivalry, and B) a game with conference standing implications. If both teams keep playing to their potential, perhaps both will be ranked even MORE highly by the time they finally butt heads. Let us stay tuned the rescheduling on Oct. 7!
One final note about an overlooked game for the upcoming week: Ole Miss at Cal, which kicks off at 10:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time. While both teams are currently unranked, it does not matter, for it’s always a treat to watch SEC vs. Pac-12 matchups!
College Football Awards, Week 1 (2017) September 11, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arkansas, Army, Ball State, Baylor, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Bret Bielema, Buffalo, Cardinals, Colorado State, D.J. Durkin, East Carolina, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida State, Gary Patterson, Georgia, Georgia State, Jeff Brohm, Jim Mora, Josh Rosen, Kentucky, Kevin Sumlin, Lane Kiffin, Longhorns, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, Maryland, Matt Rhule, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nick Saban, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rice, San Jose State, Southern Miss, Stanford, TCU, Terps, Terrapins, Texas, Texas A&M, Tom Herman, UAB, UCLA, UNLV
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 1] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Nick Saban, Alabama
Glad I’m not him: Matt Rhule, Baylor
Lucky guy: Jim Mora, UCLA
Poor guy: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: D.J. Durkin, Maryland
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Tom Herman, Texas
Desperately seeking … anything: Lane Kiffin, Florida Atlantic
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 14 Stanford (defeated Rice 62-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Pitt (defeated Youngstown State 28-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Akron (lost to No. 6 Penn State 52-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Buffalo (lost to Minnesota 17-7)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Colorado State (defeated Oregon State 58-27)
Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad: Akron
Can’t Stand Prosperity: –
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? Rice
Can the season never end? Alabama
GAMES
Play this again: UCLA 45, Texas A&M 44
Play this again, too: No. 16 Louisville 35, Purdue 28
Never play this again: No. 14 Stanford 62, Rice 7
Close call: Kentucky 24, Southern Miss 17
What? Tennessee State 17, Georgia State 10
Huh? James Madison 34, East Carolina 14
Double-Huh? Howard 43, UNLV 40
Are you kidding me?? Maryland 51, No. 23 Texas 41
Oh – my – God: Liberty 48, Baylor 45
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 1, pre-week 2)
Ticket to die for: No. 7 Oklahoma @ No. 2 Ohio State
Keep an eye on this one: No. 15 Georgia @ Notre Dame
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Western Michigan @ Michigan State
Best non-Power Five matchup: Buffalo @ Army
Upset alert: No. 16 Louisville @ North Carolina
Must win: No. 14 Stanford @ No. 4 USC
Offensive explosion: Nebraska @ Oregon
Defensive struggle: Buffalo @ Army
Great game no one is talking about: TCU @ Arkansas
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gary Patterson of TCU vs. Bret Bielema of Arkansas
Who’s bringing the body bags? Louisiana-Monroe @ Florida State
Why are they playing? San Jose State @ Texas
Plenty of good seats remaining: New Mexico State @ New Mexico
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? UAB @ Ball State
Week 1 Take-aways:
What is wrong in Austin? Tom Herman, supposedly a fine, young offensive mind (and Urban Meyer protégé), has not started off his tenure at Texas well. The Longhorns lost, at home, to Maryland, 51-41. The Terps are hardly an offensive juggernaut, either. The loss frankly stinks. What accounts for this? It could be perhaps that Herman has yet to bring in the recruits that he needs to compete at a top-ten level. But perhaps the most likely reason of all is that the Horns were simply looking past Maryland, devoting all their relatively limited practice and preparation time to USC, a marquee matchup that will take place two weeks from now. How else to account for such an embarrassing debut?
Let us admit this without hesitation: notwithstanding their close loss today, Purdue’s turnaround performance is quite impressive. Jeff Brohm debuted as the Boilermakers’ head coach in a less-than-ideal match for one’s inaugural game. In this case, it was against a formidable Louisville team, at Lucas Oil Stadium (neutral site) in Indianapolis. On paper, the Cardinals should have made mincemeat out of a Purdue team that, theoretically, would still be recovering from the Darrell Hazell malaise. Luckily for Purdue, that was not the case. The Boilers’ performance has markedly improved on both sides of the ball. Moreover, they played consistently hard throughout the game, and – with the luck of three turnovers by the Cardinals – kept the game close and interesting throughout regulation. If this impressive performance is a harbinger of what is to come, then Purdue shall have a comparatively respectable record despite a semi-brutal schedule.
Meanwhile, how rare a treat it is that fans can enjoy a top-five matchup to kick off the season! That is exactly what we the fans enjoyed when No. 1 Alabama took on No. 3 Florida State in Atlanta (played inside the brand-new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, no less). Speaking of great games, another fine example was No. 11 Michigan playing No. 17 Florida in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Once again, we the fans got our money’s worth. Sure, there were lots of throwaway games today, especially in the Noon Eastern Time slot. But these two games, along with the Louisville-Purdue game (all three of which were, interestingly, played in NFL stadiums), more than made up for that, and it all adds up to a great start to the 2017-2018 college football season. Let the games begin, and the good times roll!
Postscript: Bobby Petrino won an engaging game. Why is he thus “desperately seeking a wake-up call”? Simple reason: his team had three turnovers that game, which were a contributing factor to why the game’s score was so close (seven points difference in the end). Two of those turnovers are at the goal line. Mistakes like that will cost the Cardinals dearly as they delve into the conference part of their schedule. Remember what happened in November of last year? ‘Tis best to fix and pre-empt those mistakes NOW.
Speaking of wake-up calls, put Texas A&M down for an honorable mention. There is no excuse to blow a 37-10 lead like that in the second half, with the Aggies allowing the bulk of the scoring in the 4th quarter. For shame, Aggies. Yet, at the same time, good on Bruins’ head coach Jim Mora and QB Josh Rosen for engineering such a comeback.
Time to Re-think “6 AM’s” March 1, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: 6 AM, college, conditioning, football, Iowa, NCAA, Oregon, Rhabdomyolysis, winter, workout
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There is an oft-overlooked part to college football that has gotten out of control. As a former Big Ten football team staff member, I had to endure what are, in the industry, known as “6 AM’s”. The simple definition/description is that they are winter conditioning sessions for college football players, usually starting in late January and lasting until Spring Practices begin.
They are also a royal pain in the backside. College kids have a hard time getting enough sleep as it is. Now imagine having to get up no later than 5 in the morning and trudge yourself into the football facilities. Show up for work all dressed in normal practice garb no later than 5:30 in the morning so you can set up the equipment for these early morning conditioning sessions.
At least we did not have to run through all those grueling drills: that was for the players to do. Good luck being able to maintain consciousness in your classrooms for the rest of the day. If you miss class because you are too tired, coaches typically cook up special penalties, such as more running. At Purdue during the Joe Tiller era, the penalty was for players who missed class to start running at 5:30 – meaning we would have to get things set up prior to that time – after which they had to join the rest of their teammates for the 6 AM B.S.
As bad as they have been, coaches have gone too far with these “6 AM’s”. One recent example is of several Oregon football players needing hospitalization during such a session, which included an hour of push-ups and “up-downs.” An hour, seriously? Some of these hospitalized players were diagnosed with Rhabdomyolysis, which basically involves the soft muscle tissue breaking down, then leaking into your blood stream.
But that was just earlier this year. Back in 2011, 13 Iowa football players were hospitalized for the same problems following one of their winter conditioning sessions.
It is perfectly reasonable for coaches needing their players to be in shape. Moreover, it make sense that they already be in shape for spring practices, so that the coaches can properly ascertain what sort of talent they have to work with for the upcoming fall season that year. But treating these winter conditioning session as “gut checks” is horribly antiquated, and arguably abusive.
The problem is that coaches too often use these “6 AM” drills (some coaches smartly schedule them in the afternoon, but not enough of them do) as a symbolic gesture to remind players that they are under said coaches’ thumbs, so to speak. Coaches also too often use these drills as an excuse to put them through “gut-checks”, testing their manhood so as to earn the coaches’ respect and earn their right to stay on the team. Again, this is not always the case, but incidents like those mentioned above give that impression.
By all means, have conditioning sessions, but coaches, be both sensible and reasonable and have them in the afternoon…like sane people. There is nothing holding coaches back from implementing these sensible solutions: only ego and antiquated thinking. It’s just a matter of coaches having the good sense to be practical and realize that they can get their players in good enough shape without sleep-depriving them, ruining their entire days of class, and fatiguing them to the point of needing hospitalization. This is not the Marines, let alone the French Foreign Legion.
Give the players a break, schedule the conditioning sessions in the afternoon, and focus on getting them in shape without having to put them through daily gut-checks. After all, they should have earned your respect by their willingness to show up in the winter to go through such hell before even putting on helmets and pads later in the springtime. For those coaches who already honor this ethic, kudos.
College Football Awards, Week 12 (2016) November 20, 2016
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Army, Baylor, Big XII, Bobby Petrino, BYU, Cardinals, Charlie Strong, Clay Helton, college, Colorado, Cougars, Duke, Ed Orgeron, Florida, Florida State, football, Gary Patterson, Houston, Hurricanes, Iowa State, Jason Candle, Jim Harbaugh, Jim McElwain, Kansas, Kentucky, Kyle Whittingham, Longhorns, Louisville, LSU, Mark Helfrich, Maryland, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, NCAA, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Rice, Rutgers, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas State, Toledo, Tom Herman, Trojans, Troy, UMass, Urban Meyer, Utah, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Washington, Washington State, West Virginia
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 12] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Tom Herman, Houston Hon. Mention: Jim McElwain, Florida
Glad I’m not him: Ed Orgeron, LSU
Lucky guy: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Poor guy: Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jason Candle, Toledo
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Gary Patterson, TCU
Desperately seeking … anything: Charlie Strong, Texas
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: BYU (defeated UMass 51-9)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Ohio State (defeated Michigan State 17-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Syracuse (lost to No. 17 Florida State 45-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Kansas (defeated Texas 24-21)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Pittsburgh (defeated Duke 56-14)
Dang, they’re good: USC
Dang, they’re bad: Texas State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Louisville
Did the season start? TCU
Can the season end? Texas
Can the season never end? Florida
GAMES
Play this again: No. 12 Colorado 38, No. 20 Washington State 24
Play this again, too: No. 21 Florida 16, No. 16 LSU 10
Never play this again: Army 60, Morgan State 3
Close call: No. 3 Ohio State 17, Michigan State 16
What? Oregon 30, No. 11 Utah 28
Huh? No. 21 Florida 16, No. 16 LSU 10
Are you kidding me? Houston 36, No. 3 Louisville 10
Oh – my – God: Kansas 24, Texas 21 (OT)
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 12, pre-week 13))
Ticket to die for: No. 3 Michigan @ No. 2 Ohio State (game of the year?)
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Rice @ Stanford
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 18 Houston @ Memphis
Upset alert: No. 6 Washington @ No. 23 Washington State
Must win: No. 24 Tennessee @ Vanderbilt
Offensive explosion: No. 6 Washington @ No. 23 Washington State (Friday)
Defensive struggle: No. 13 Florida @ No. 15 Florida State
Great game no one is talking about: No. 21 Utah @ No. 9 Colorado also: Duke @ Miami (FL)
Intriguing coaching matchup: Urban Meyer of Ohio State vs Jim Harbaugh of Michigan
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kentucky @ No. 11 Louisville
Why are they playing? No. 19 West Virginia @ Iowa State
Plenty of good seats remaining, B1G Edition: Rutgers @ Maryland
They shoot horses, don’t they? Troy @ Texas State
Week 12 Take-aways:
The playoff picture is instantly minus one controversy with Louisville’s decisive, almost ignominious defeat on the road against a resurgent Houston squad. In hindsight, the quick turnaround time from Saturday night to Thursday night (from playing fundamentally-sound Wake Forest to the Cougars) was too insurmountable a task for even a formidable team like the Cardinals. Now with extra time to prepare for in-state rival Kentucky, the Cardinals can potentially end the season with a big win (provided they execute properly), and can still aim for a good New Year’s Day bowl game. Before the Playoffs came into being, when a team capped off their season in such a way, that feat was universally hailed as a success.
Meanwhile, Bobby Petrino could learn a thing or two from this defeat and from Florida’s win over favored LSU. For one, recruit better offensive linemen. Houston put real athletes on the defensive line against the Cardinals, and they made Lamar Jackson’s life difficult all night long. For another, recruit more marquee white players, as they will provide more consistency and better discipline to team play. If white defensive linemen can make sizeable contributions for a program such as formidable as Florida, sure they can do the same for Louisville. Obviously, too many whites leads to a deficit of team talent and athleticism. But conversely, an excessive imbalance of black players leads to a break-down in discipline and too inconsistent of a team effort. Think of black players as bricks and white players as mortar. You need both in order to build a strong wall that is your team.
November’s cruelty against Ole Miss sadly continues. As a reminder, they did start off the season ranked No. 11. Now, they just lost to Vanderbilt. Currently 5-6, they must win next week’s game – against in-state rival Mississippi State, no less — just to be bowl eligible.
It appears as though we are back to a version of Texas from earlier in the season, the one where the season was shot. Hindsight continues to change the more the season unfolds, but it remains 20-20 nonetheless. After losing to Oklahoma State unexpectedly, then to Oklahoma, then later to Kansas State, we had given up the Longhorns for dead. Moreover, we were certain that Charlie Strong had signed his own death warrant. Then suddenly, Texas handed Baylor its first loss of the season, and followed that up with a win on the road in a shootout against Texas Tech. Might Strong have righted the ship after all? No reasonable person could have said no, since they lost by only four points on the road to a dangerous West Virginia squad. But losing to Kansas (as in, 2-9* Kansas)? That is the last straw.
*Kansas was 1-9 (0-7 in the Big XII) before this week’s game.
Now at 5-6, the Longhorns face a TCU team that was humiliated at home by Oklahoma State, and will be out for redemption. Translation: bowl prospects remain bleak for the second year in a row. Regardless, major boosters have permanently soured on Charlie Strong, and after Tom Herman’s huge win over Louisville, they are, by that same token, calling for Herman to replace Strong. The writing on the wall could not be bolder or in bigger strokes.
On the west coast, USC may have gotten off to a rough start (namely getting their doors blown off by Alabama during the opening week), but few teams, if any, would want to face the Trojans now. Their win over Washington on the road last week was decisive and dominating. The eyeball test of how they line up against other teams shows that there are “men” on the Trojans’ side of the ball. Granted, Alabama would still beat them if the two played right now, but the score would not be so lopsided as it was week 1. Clay Helton deserves considerable credit for bringing about such an improvement in his team’s performance, though to be sure, his coaching staff talent remains, inexplicably, lackluster. Nevertheless, the record (three losses this year) might not show it, but USC is back.
College Football Week 5 Awards 2016 October 2, 2016
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Bo Schembechler, Boise State, Butch Jones, BYU, Cal, Cardinals, Charlie Strong, Chris Petersen, Clemson, college, Colorado, D.J. Durkin, Dabo Swinney, David Shaw, Duke, FIghting Irish, FIU, Florida, Florida International, Florida State, football, Gators, Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Indiana, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas, Kentucky, Kirby Smart, Kirk Herbstreit, Longhorns, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Mark Richt, Maryland, Miami Hurricanes, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike MacIntyre, NCAA, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Red River Shootout, Rutgers, SEC, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, Utah, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Vols, Volunteers, Washington, Woody Hayes
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 5] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Chris Petersen, Washington
Glad I’m not him: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Lucky guy: Butch Jones
Poor guy: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: D.J. Durkin, Maryland
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: David Shaw, Stanford
Desperately seeking … anything: Charlie Strong, Texas
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated Rutgers 58-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Florida (defeated Vanderbilt 13-6) T
hought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Louisiana-Monroe (lost to Auburn 56-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (lost to Florida 13-6)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Maryland (defeated Purdue 50-7)
Dang, they’re good: Washington
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Stanford
Did the season start? Michigan State
Can the season end? Georgia State
Can the season never end? Clemson
GAMES Play this again: No. 5 Clemson 42, No. 3 Louisville 36
Play this again, too: No. 11 Tennessee 34, No. 25 Georgia 31
Never play this again: No. 20 Arkansas 52, Alcorn State 10
Close call: No.13 Baylor 45, Iowa State 42
What? Virginia 34, Duke 20
Huh? Cal 28, No. 18 Utah 24
Double-Huh? Indiana 24, No. 17 Michigan State 21
Are you kidding me? North Carolina 37, No. 12 Florida State 35
Oh – my – God: No. 10 Washington 44, No. 6 Stanford 6
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 5, pre-week 6)
Ticket to die for: No. 9 Tennessee @ No. 8 Texas A&M
Also: No. 23 Florida State @ No. 10 Miami
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: BYU @ Michigan State
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 6 Houston @ Navy
Upset alert: No. 5 Washington @ Oregon
Must win: Texas vs. No. 20 Oklahoma also: No. 25 Virginia Tech @ No. 17 North Carolina
Offensive explosion: No. 21 Colorado @ USC
Defensive struggle: LSU @ No. 18 Florida
Great game no one is talking about: Georgia Tech @ Pittsburgh
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jimbo Fisher of Florida State vs. Mark Richt of Miami
Also: Rich Rodriguez of Arizona vs. Kyle Whittingham of Utah
Who’s bringing the body bags? TCU @ Kansas
Why are they playing? No. 4 Michigan @ Rutgers
Plenty of good seats remaining: Vanderbilt @ Kentucky (the SEC Toilet Bowl)
Also: Florida International @ UTEP
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? No. 19 Boise State @ New Mexico
Week 5 Take-aways:
So much for “Texas is back”. After losing on the road to California and now losing on the road to an unranked Oklahoma State, something is wrong. The rot in Denmark is all the more apparent when one considers that A) defense was supposed to be Charlie Strong’s specialty, and yet B), the Longhorns lost to both respective teams 50-43 and 49-31. Notre Dame, it turns out, was highly overrated going into the season. That became rather obvious after getting embarrassed by Michigan State and then laying an egg at home to Duke. Oh, and overrated as the Fighting Irish are, they still scored 47 points on the Horns, in Austin. Let all this sink in for a moment. Once it has sunk in, the logical conclusion is that Strong’s seat cannot get hot enough.
But don’t take my word for it.
In any case, so far what we have seen is that Tennessee is capable of coming back strongly to dominate a rising Florida Gators team. Last year, their problem was that they had to learn to “close the deal,” which they eventually did, but not before losing to both Florida and Oklahoma.
This time, their problem is reversed. Instead of needing to “close the deal” – something they demonstrated in abundance last week – they need to learn to play four full quarters of football. Case in point: during the game at Georgia, they slacked off for the entire first half, save for the last drive of the second quarter. In so doing, they spotted the Bulldogs 17 points before they finally decided to start playing with appropriate urgency.
That urgency could not have been more palpable than in the final seconds of the game, whereby it took a Hail Mary pass that was actually completed in the end zone (!) for the Vols to come away with the win. Tennessee has no time to take a breather, though, as they face undefeated Texas A&M next weekend.
In other news, Michigan beat Wisconsin in a 14-7 slugfest, where both teams kept the ball mostly between the tackles. Both Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler were nodding approvingly. Interestingly, this was the Wolverines’ first win over a top ten team since 2008.
But let none of this obscure the showdown of the week in Clemson’s Death Valley with visitor Louisville. This “ticket to die for” certainly lived up to its hype, with high drama and a back-and-forth score. The Tigers triumphed in the end, 42-36, largely due to the fact that the Cardinals took too long to get going and also because Clemson refused to fold. The fact that the referees did not call Clemson’s subtle holds on receivers at all certainly did not hurt, though it certainly does call Dabo Swinney’s coaching ethics into question. That aside, the Tigers have a clear path to the playoffs, to say nothing of an ACC championship. The Cardinals, meanwhile, still have an 11-1 season for which to play, which would still command a premium bowl berth. Indeed, Kirk Herbstreit insisted that the Cards’ playoff hopes are not dead yet. He may very well be correct. After all, Houston still lurks on their schedule.
With all the excitement going on, one is apt to overlook that Colorado is now ranked again (No. 21); they have made the polls for the first time in roughly 15 years. Nice going, Coach Mike MacIntyre!
College football in October has started off with a huge bang, for this was one fantastic week for the sport. Next week entails a number of solid matchups (I honestly had to reach for both “Why are they playing” and “They shoot horses, don’t they”, which rarely happens), but they do not add up to anything as exciting as that which we enjoyed this time. Then again, they cannot all be this exciting all the time. As far as let-downs go, next week will be just fine, especially with the Red River Shootout awaiting in first shift.
