College Football Week 9 Awards November 2, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: 1982, Al Golden, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Bears, Bobby Petrino, Bulldogs, BYU, California, Central Florida, Charlie Strong, Cincinnati, Clemson, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Gus Malzahn, Hawaii, Houston, Iowa State, Jeff Brohm, Jim McElwain, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Mark Helfrich, Mark Richt, Memphis, Miami, Mike Leach, Mike Riley, Navy, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, San Jose State, South Carolina, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Todd Graham, UCF, UNLV, Utah, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Washington, Washington State, Western Kentucky
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One of a few missed calls during the hap-hazard, yet incredible, 8-lateral kickoff return finish my Miami in yesterday’s game. Paging Cal-Stanford 1982: you now have competition.
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 9] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jim McElwain, Florida
Glad I’m not him: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Lucky guy: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Poor guy: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jeff Brohm, Western Kentucky
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Charlie Strong, Texas
Desperately seeking … anything: Mike Riley, Nebraska
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Oklahoma (defeated Kansas 62-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Texas A&M (defeated South Carolina 35-28)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Vanderbilt (lost to No. 18 Houston 34-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Purdue (see below)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Tennessee (defeated Kentucky 52-21)
Dang, they’re good: Florida
Dang, they’re bad: UMass
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Pitt
Did the season start? Arizona
Can the season end? UCF
Can the season never end? Houston
GAMES
Play this again: No. 9 Notre Dame 24, No. 21 Temple 20
Play this again, too: Oregon 61, Arizona State 55 (3OT)
Never play this again: Arkansas 63, UT-Martin 28
What? North Carolina 26, No. 23 Pittsburgh 19
Huh? Miami 30, No. 22 Duke 27
Are you kidding me? Purdue 55, Nebraska 45
Oh – my – God: Iowa State 24, Texas 0
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 9, pre-week 10)
Ticket to die for: No. 4 LSU @ No. 7 Alabama
Also: No. 5 TCU @ No. 12 Oklahoma State
Make it a Trifecta: No. 17 Florida State @ No. 3 Clemson
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: (none)
Best non-Power Five matchup: Navy @ No. 16 Memphis
Upset alert: No. 13 Utah @ Washington
Must win: Duke @ No. 21 North Carolina
Offensive explosion: Cincinnati @ No. 18 Houston (also TCU @ OKST)
Defensive struggle: Syracuse @ Louisville
Great game no one is talking about: Penn State @ Northwestern
Intriguing coaching matchup: Todd Graham of ASU vs. Mike Leach of WSU
Who’s bringing the body bags? Vanderbilt @ No. 11 Florida
Why are they playing? BYU @ San Jose State (Friday)
Plenty of good seats remaining: Hawaii @ UNLV
They shoot horses, don’t they? Kansas @ Texas
Week 9 Take-aways:
First it was Michigan State’s blocked punt that they recovered and ran back for a score with 0:00 left on the clock to beat rival Michigan in the Big House (they were behind prior to said score). Last week was followed up by Georgia Tech’s fantastic finish, whereby they blocked a Florida State field goal attempt at home, ran it back for a score and thus broke the tie as time expired. This week, the Miami Hurricanes – fresh from both a devastating home loss to Clemson and the subsequent firing of head coach Al Golden – made an eight-lateral play on a kickoff return that harkens directly back to Cal-Stanford 1982, for the game-winning touchdown, over then-ranked Duke, on the road. Three weeks in a row, three fantastic, historic finishes.
Well, sort of. There were tons of blown calls on that play, including an illegal block in the back (or two), and at one point, one of the lateralling players for Miami had his knee already down before he tossed the ball sideways. The overlooked calls were so blatant that the ACC suspended the officiating crew the following day. Could it be that the game result itself be overturned? We shall all have to stay tuned.
Bobby Petrino must be beside himself. Despite his able coaching, his players made mistake after mistake on the road against Wake Forest. Yet somehow they managed to barely win. Despite consecutive wins, this performance is not a sustainable path. Something must be done for the team to improve so as to win sustainably. An infusion of discipline would be both a quick and effective remedy.
Poor Mark Richt. Despite all the success he has had at Georgia, he just cannot get over the hump. A statistic during the debacle of a game against Florida (the Gators thumped the rival Bulldogs 27-3 at this year’s World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville) showed that Richt is 5-15 against ranked opponents during his tenure at UGA. Moreover, he is 5-9 against Florida, despite being 141-51 overall. The first stat alone indicates that he has peaked during his tenure at Georgia, that he has gone as far as he can with that program. Some new, dynamic blood in Athens, Ga., would perhaps finally help get the Bulldogs to consistent dominance of the SEC East, while Miami, Richt’s alma mater, has a head coach opening just waiting for a rock-solid fellow such as he. If such a scenario were to play out, it could benefit both parties concerned, the latter particularly, with a fresh start.
What on Earth has happened to Arizona? Early in the season, we anticipated they would be a factor in the Pac-12. Last night, they embarrassed themselves on the road at Washington, after coughing up the game to Wazzu the previous week. The Wildcats will not have much time to lick their wounds, either, as next week they take on USC, followed by Utah the week after, and the week after that they close the regular season against rival Arizona State, possibly with a 5-7 at this rate (they are current 5-4, and 2-4 in the conference).
College Football Week 8 Awards October 27, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Al Golden, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Cal, California, Clay Helton, Clemson, Doc Holliday, Florida, Florida State, George O'Leary, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Gus Malzahn, Hurricanes, Idaho, Iowa, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas, Kentucky, Kevin Sumlin, Louisiana Tech, Mark Helfrich, Marshall, Maryland, Miami, Mississippi State, Missouri, New Mexico State, North Carolina, North Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Paul Johnson, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rice, Rutgers, Stanford, Syracuse, Temple, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Todd Graham, UCF, UCLA, UNT, USC, Utah, UTSA, Vanderbilt, Washington, Washington State
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Georgia Tech blocked a last-second field goal attempt by Florida State, and returned said blocked kick for a game-winning touchdown in one of the most fantastic finishes of the season.
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 8] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Clay Helton, USC
Glad I’m not him: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Lucky guy: Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
Poor guy: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Doc Holliday, Marshall
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Al Golden, Miami
Desperately seeking … anything: George O’Leary, UCF
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Oklahoma State (defeated Kansas 58-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Pitt (defeated Syracuse 23-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Rutgers (lost to No. 1 Ohio State 49-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Maryland (lost to Penn State 31-30)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Mississippi State (defeated Kentucky 42-16)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: UCF
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Utah
Did the season start? Arizona
Can the season end? Kansas
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 8 Alabama 19, Tennessee 14
Play this again, too: Arkansas 54, Auburn 46 (4OT)
Never play this again: No. 6 Clemson 55, Miami 0
What? UCLA 40, No. 20 Cal 24
Huh? No. 24 Ole Miss 23, No. 15 Texas A&M 3
Are you kidding me? Georgia Tech 22, No. 9 Florida State 16
Oh – my – God: USC 42, No. 3 Utah 24
Told you so: Vanderbilt 10, Missouri 3
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 8, pre-week 9)
Ticket to die for: No. 11 Florida @ Georgia in Jacksonville
Also: USC @ No. Cal
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: No. 11 Notre Dame @ No. 22 Temple
Best non-Power Five matchup: Louisiana Tech @ Rice
Upset alert: Tennessee @ Kentucky
Must win: Arizona @ Washington
Offensive explosion: No. 10 Stanford @ Washington State
Defensive struggle: Maryland @ No. 12 Iowa
Great game no one is talking about: North Carolina @ No. 25 Pitt
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mark Helfrich of Oregon vs. Todd Graham of Arizona State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 17 Oklahoma @ Kansas
Why are they playing? Tennessee-Martin @ Arkansas
Plenty of good seats remaining: Idaho @ New Mexico State
They shoot horses, don’t they? UTSA @ North Texas
Week 8 Take-aways:
And to think that everyone thought it would be a down week for football. That was before Texas won a ground-and-pound game at home, in the rainy remnants over Hurricane Patricia, over Kansas State. That was also before Georgia Tech, who has had a down year compared to the previous season, recreated Michigan State’s improbably win from last week by A) blocking a field goal, B) against No. 9 Florida State, and C) ran it in for a game-winning touchdown as the final seconds ticked off the clock, in one of the greatest fantastic finishes of the season, if not the decade. This of course, is NOT to discount Michigan State’s fantastic finish from the previous week!
In the SEC, a noticeable upset occurred in the evening when Ole Miss held Texas A&M to only a field goal for the entire game. Speaking of the SEC, Tennessee apparently continues to improve, as their annual rivalry game between Alabama lived up to said rivalry’s prestige, for the Vols played the highly ranked Tide as if they themselves were also a top-ten team. Though Tennessee ultimately lost, it ought to be considered a moral victory, and foreseeably, teams will take the Vols lightly at their own peril.
Then to cap things off for the day, USC upset No. 3-ranked Utah at home, 42-24. It was more than a defeat, it was a demolition. Apparently nothing galvanizes a team with good talent like their coach being let go mid-season under unconventional circumstances and then being left for dead by everybody who pays attention to their sport. Such a win no doubt generates some degree of momentum, but can the Men of Troy maintain it and salvage their season in so doing? They shall have a solid test to prove that they can against insurgent Cal next week. Fight on?
Apropos of nothing, who could have guessed at the beginning of the season that Auburn, who started off ranked no. 6 in the nation, would be 4-3 and 1-3 in the SEC by the end of eighth week?
College Football Week 7 Awards October 20, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Auburn, Bob Stoops, Boise State, Boston College, Bowling Green, BYU, Cal, Duke, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Florida, George O'Leary, Houston, Hugh Freeze, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa State, Jim Harbaugh, Jim Mora, Kansas State, Kliff Kingsbury, Les Miles, Louisiana-Monroe, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Mark Richt, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Texas, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Rutgers, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tom Herman, UCF, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Western Kentucky, Wyoming
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Just when we all had left Michigan State for dead, the most consequential blocked punt in recent memory happened. The Wolverine’s punter never had a chance, but bully for the Spartan returner! Photo by Dale G. Young, AP
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 7] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Les Miles, LSU
Glad I’m not him: Jim Mora, UCLA
Lucky guy: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Poor guy: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Tom Herman, Houston
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss
Desperately seeking … anything: George O’Leary, UCF
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Western Kentucky (defeated North Texas 55-28)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: TCU (defeated Iowa State 45-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Eastern Michigan (lost to No. 22 Toledo 63-20)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Iowa State (lost to No. 3 TCU 45-21)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Bowling Green (defeated Akron 59-10)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Vanderbilt
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Ole Miss
Did the season start? Auburn
Can the season end? UCF
Can the season never end? Memphis
GAMES Play this again: No. 7 Michigan State 27, No. 12 Michigan 23
Play this again, too: No. 6 LSU 35, No. 8 Florida 28
Never play this again: No. 19 Oklahoma 55, Kansas State 0
What? Nebraska 48, Minnesota 25
Huh? Rutgers 55, Indiana 52, OT
Are you kidding me? No. 10 Alabama 41, No. 9 Texas A&M 23
Oh – my – God: Memphis 37, No. 13 Ole Miss 24
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 6, pre-week 7)
Ticket to die for: Tennessee @ No. 8 Alabama
Also: No. 15 Texas A&M @ No. 23 Ole Miss
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Western Kentucky @ No. 5 LSU
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 22 Temple @ East Carolina
Upset alert: No. 23 Duke @ Virginia Tech
Must win: Kansas State @ Texas
Offensive explosion: No. 20 Cal @ UCLA
Defensive struggle: Missouri @ Vanderbilt
Great game no one is talking about: Boston College @ Louisville
Intriguing coaching matchup: Kliff Kingsbury of Texas Tech vs. Bob Stoops of Oklahoma
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kansas @ No. 14 Oklahoma State
Why are they playing? Wagner @ BYU
Plenty of good seats remaining: Troy @ New Mexico State
They shoot horses, don’t they? Troy @ Mississippi State
Week 7 Take-aways:
Here are some quick, bottom-line thoughts. Ohio State wore the weirdest, most out-of-the-ordinary uniforms in the history of their storied program when they took down Penn State. Check it out. USC put up a great fight at Notre Dame, but sadly came up short. LSU and Florida slugged it out for a great game Saturday evening in Death Valley. Ironically, the go-ahead touchdown was scored by LSU’s kicker, a positive that he shall no doubt take to his grave, and deservedly so. Meanwhile, Michigan State’s last-second win over Michigan – in the Big House, no less – will be one for the ages as well. Auburn has their “Kick-Six,” so it will be interesting to see what sort of moniker will soon be attached to the Spartans’ blocking of Michigan’s punt attempt, then running it back for the go-ahead score as time expired. Classic.
College Football 2015 Week 1 Awards September 9, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, B1G, Big 10, Big Ten, Boise State, Bret Bielema, Bronco Mendenhall, BYU, Central Florida, Charlie Strong, college, David Shaw, Duke, FIU, Florida State, football, Gene Chizik, Georgia, Hawaii, Jeff Monken, Jerry Kill, Jim Harbaugh, Kentucky, Kevin Sumlin, Larry Fedora, LSU, Marhsall, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike Riley, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Carolian, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Alabama, South Carolina, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Temple, Tennessee, Tennessee-Martin, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, Tulane, UCF, UCon, Urban Meyer, UTSA
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The battle for Carolina in Charlotte started the 2015 college football season well. It was very aesthically pleasing to see North Carolina and South Carolina both wear their home colors, too!(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 1] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Glad I’m not him: David Shaw, Stanford
Lucky guy: Bronco Mendenhall, BYU
Poor guy: Mike Riley, Nebraska
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jerry Kill, Minnesota
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Charlie Strong, Texas
Desperately seeking … anything: Jeff Monken, Army
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 9 Georgia (defeated LA-Monroe 51-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 22 Arizona (defeated UTSA 42-32)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Texas State (lost to No. 10 Florida State 59-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Central Michigan (lost to Oklahoma State 24-13).
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: No. 11 Notre Dame (defeated Texas 38-3)
Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad: Tulane
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Stanford
Did the season start? Texas (Honorable Mention: Penn State)
Can the season end? Tulane
Can the season never end? Notre Dame
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Auburn 31, Louisville 24
Play this again, too: No. 2 TCU 23, Minnesota 17
Honorable Mention to play again: South Carolina 17, North Carolina 13
Never play this again: No. 17 Ole Miss 76, Tennessee-Martin 3
Say what? BYU 33, Nebraska 28
WHAT? FIU 15, UCF 14
Huh? Northwestern 16, No. 21 Stanford 6
Are you kidding me? Texas A&M 38, No. 15 Arizona State 17
Oh – my – God: Temple 27, Penn State 10
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 1, pre-week 2)
Ticket to die for: No. 7 Oregon @ No. 5 Michigan State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Houston @ Louisville; also: Minnesota @ Colorado State
Best non-Power Five matchup: Marshall @ Ohio U
Upset alert: No. 19 Oklahoma @ No. 25 Tennessee
Must win: Kentucky @ South Carolina
Offensive explosion: No. 22 Arizona @ Nevada
Defensive struggle: No. 14 LSU @ No. 25 Mississippi State
Great game no one is talking about: Minnesota @ Colorado State; also: No. 20 Boise State @ BYU
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mark Stoops of Kentucky vs. Steve Spurrier of South Carolina
Who’s bringing the body bags? Hawaii @ No. 1 Ohio State
Why are they playing? South Alabama @ Nebraska
Plenty of good seats remaining: Army @ UConn
They shoot horses, don’t they? NC Central @ Duke
Week 1 Take-aways:
- Ohio State seems to have not skipped a beat during the offseason. After the occasional hiccup in the second quarter, they made every halftime adjustment one could think of and demonstrated why they deserve to retain the top ranking.
- Had Louisville not made mistake after mistake, the results of the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game would surely have been considerably different. That said, Auburn is not a team with which to be trifled.
- Evidence of the Big Ten gaining strength compared to, say, seasons 2005-2013, could not be further on display, and not just with the top dog Ohio State. Mighty Stanford travelled eastward to take on Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. They did not return to the West Coast victorious. Few pigskin prognosticators saw THAT coming.
- Arizona State has potential to be a tough team. Dropping the ball – figuratively — to Texas A&M did not help their case. Either the Sun Devils were highly overrated going into the game, or they picked a horrible time to take the night off.
- Either South Carolina is starting to struggle a bit as a program, or North Carolina has greatly improved. At this point, I suspect the latter. Larry Fedora has proven to be a capable coach, and Gene Chizik’s influence on the Tarheel’s defense quickly showed itself.
- Jim Harbaugh shall no doubt make Michigan into a respected power again. Their loss to Utah in Salt Lake City seemed to be a speedbump towards that goal. The immediate discernment is that the Utes are becomingly an increasingly respected program in the post-Urban Meyer era. In the meantime, signs that Harbaugh is shaking things up in Ann Arbor is already readily apparent. For one, their legendary helmet design now has metal flake in the both the yellow and blue parts of the distinct pattern – a first for the program. Moreover, they were wearing [gasp!] white pants with traditional stripes, which is a far cry from the plain yellow pants they have worn for decades. That last item alone is proof that Hades has officially frozen over!
Such is the ‘rousing start to the 2015 college football season. One more week of an excess of body bag games to go, and things ought to be even more interesting!
College Football Awards Week 11 November 11, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports, Uncategorized.Tags: Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, BC, Bill Snyder, Boston College, Brian Kelly, Buffalo, Butch Jones, Cards, Cincinnati, Clemson, college, Crimson Tide, Doc Holliday, Duke, East Carolina, Florida, football, Gary Patterson, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Gus Malzahn, Horned Frogs, Houston, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Irish, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Kevin Sumlin, Kirk Ferentz, KSU, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Mark Stoops, Marshall, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, Navy, NCAA, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Pat Fitzgerald, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Presbyterian, SEC, South Carolina, Southern Miss, Sun Devils, TCU, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tigers, Todd Graham, Tony Levine, Troy, Urban Meyer, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Wildcats
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 11] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Todd Graham, Arizona State
Glad I’m not him: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State (hon. mention: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame)
Lucky guy: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Poor guy: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Tony Levine, Houston
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Doc Holliday, Marshall
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Desperately seeking … anything: Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 11 Ole Miss (defeated Presbyterian 48-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Penn State (defeated Indiana 13-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kentucky (lost to No. 20 Georgia 63-31)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Wake Forest (lost to No. 21 Clemson 34-20)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Marshall (defeated Southern Miss 63-17)
Dang, they’re good: TCU
Dang, they’re bad: Iowa State
You know, they’re not so bad: Louisville
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Michigan State
Did the season start? West Virginia
Can the season end? Buffalo
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 3 Auburn 35, No. 3 Ole Miss 31
Play this again, too: No. 24 Duke 51, Pittsburgh 48
Never play this again: Marshall 63, Southern Miss 17
What? Texas 33, No. 23 West Virginia 16
Huh? No. 9 Arizona State 55, No. 10 Notre Dame 31
Are you kidding me? No. 14 Ohio State 49, No. 8 Michigan State 37
Oh – my – God: Texas A&M 41, No. 3 Auburn 38
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 11, pre-week 12)
Ticket to die for: No. 1 Mississippi State @ No. 5 Alabama
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Temple @ Penn State
Best non-Power Five matchup: East Carolina @ Cincinnati
Upset alert: No. 16 LSU @ Arkansas
Must win: South Carolina @ Florida
Offensive explosion: Missouri @ Texas A&M
Defensive struggle: Virginia Tech @ No. 22 Duke
Great game no one is talking about: No. 14 Ohio State @ Minnesota
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mark Stoops of Kentucky vs. Butch Jones of Tennessee
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 6 TCU @ Kansas
Why are they playing? Georgia Southern @ Navy
Plenty of good seats remaining: Troy @ Idaho
They shoot horses, don’t they? No. 12 Michigan State @ Maryland
Week 11 Random Thoughts:
- So many good games took place from 19:00 or later on the 8th of November. Start with Louisville at Boston College, which should not have been interesting on paper, but was, unfortunately, due to the Cardinals’ inability to get it together for the first half (they did in the second). Then again, the Cards have always had their troubles with BC! But then came TCU vs. Kansas State. Bill Snyder has put together an excellent team for this year, and the Wildcats being well-coached shows on the field (especially against Auburn early on in the season). But even a good time like KSU was no match for Gary Patterson’s Horned Frogs, who are making every statement they can in order to vie for the playoffs.
Or, look at Ohio State vs. Michigan State. After the Buckeyes laid an egg at home to a mediocre Virginia Tech squad, everybody was skeptical as to how good a team they truly were. Leave it to Urban Meyer to coach his talented bunch up to be more than a match for Mark Dantonio’s Spartans.
But it turned out the most important game, and the one with the biggest national title implications was the Alabama-LSU game. In typical fashion, it was a defensive struggle, and just to make things even more exciting / to heighten the already high degree of urgency even further, the game went into overtime. The Crimson Tide still have a brutal slate of games ahead, but their win is certain a step in the right direction for them
- As I have noted before, Notre Dame is overrated. To be sure, I also noted (in other article) that they are enigmatic. But the overrated question mark remained; lurking, hidden, just waiting for the right opportunity to emerge. Thanks be to Todd Graham and the Arizona State Sun Devils to confirm that which us skeptics felt all along. After all, to have the Irish be among the final four, thus displacing a far-more deserving second SEC team in the process, would have been a travesty beyond words: a travesty, thankfully, that will be pre-empted before it even began.
College Football Week 8 Awards October 19, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Appalachian State, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Art Briles, B1G, Baylor, Big Ten, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Boilers, Boise State, Brian Kelly, Bruins, Buffaloes, BYU, Cal, Central Florida, college, Colorado, Darrell Hazell, Doc Holliday, FIghting Irish, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Florida State, football, Furman, Georgia State, Golden Bears, Golden Gophers, Indiana, James Franklin, Jerry Kill, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Marshall, Miami, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, NCAA, Nevada, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Seminoles, SMU, South Carolina, TCU, Temple, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Troy, UAB, UCLA, Urban Meyer, USC, Utah, UTEP, UTSA, Virginia Tech, Washington State, West Virginia, Will Muschamp
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 8] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Glad I’m not him: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Lucky guy: Jerry Kill, Minnesota
Poor guy: Darrell Hazell, Purdue
Desperately seeking a wake-up clue: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Doc Holliday, Marshall
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Art Briles, Baylor
Desperately seeking … anything: Will Muschamp, Florida
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 8 Michigan State (defeated Indiana 56-17)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Louisville (defeated North Carolina State 30-18)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to No. 22 USC 56-28)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Kansas (lost to Texas Tech 34-21)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: No. 7 Alabama (defeated No. 21 Texas A&M 59-0)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: SMU
You know, they’re not so bad: Minnesota
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Baylor
Did the season start? Texas A&M
Can the season end? Georgia State
Can the season never end? Florida State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 2 Florida State 31, No. 5 Notre Dame, 27
Play this again, too: No. 20 Utah 29, Oregon State 23
Never play this again: South Carolina 41, Furman 10
What? Nevada 42, BYU 35
Huh? No. 14 Kansas State 31, No. 11 Oklahoma 30
Are you kidding me? No. 7 Alabama 59, No. 21 Texas A&M 0 (the shear blowout)
Oh – my – God: West Virginia 41, No. 4 Baylor 27
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 8, pre-week 9)
Ticket to die for: No. 3 Ole Miss @ No. 24 LSU
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: (none, notwithstanding the “Why Are They Playing” entry)
Best non-Power Five matchup: Temple @ Central Florida
Upset alert: Texas @ No. 11 Kansas State
Must win: No. 22 West Virginia @ Oklahoma State
Offensive explosion: No. 15 Arizona @ Washington State
Defensive struggle: Miami @ Virginia Tech
Great game no one is talking about: BYU @ Boise State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Urban Meyer of Ohio State vs. James Franklin of Penn State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 1 Mississippi State @ Kentucky (also: UConn @ No. 18 East Carolina)
Why are they playing? UAB @ Arkansas
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTEP @ UTSA
They shoot horses, don’t they? Florida Atlantic @ No. 23 Marshall
Week 8 Random Thoughts:
- While Michigan State is a solid choice for the “Thought you’d kick butt, you did” weekly award, the truth is, a number of teams ended up kicking butt, that in hindsight made sense that they would. Start with South Carolina (see: last week’s “Why are they playing?” nod), who beat relatively hapless Furman 41-10. In hindsight, a resurgent Ohio State team against a Rutgers team still learning to navigate the terrain of the Big Ten was also a clear would-be drubbing (result: 56-17). Even more obvious was the Colorado @ USC match-up. The Buffaloes still cannot get things together, while Steve Sarkesian is slowly building the Trojans back to national prominence. The 56-28 result, therefore, came as not surprise.
- While Alabama could not be a more obvious choice for the weekly “Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did” award (59-0 over Texas A&M, their biggest lopsided shutout in 35 years), other games would have been decent choices as well. Start with Marshall’s butt-kicking of Florida International, 45-13. Even more of a surprise, though, was TCU’s drubbing of Oklahoma State, 42-9. On paper, these were closely-matched teams (No. 12 vs. No. 15, respectively). Turns out that in reality, they were not that close in terms of competitive prowess after all. Further down the food chain, Appalachian State – a newcomer to the FCS – beat up on Troy unexpectedly, 53-14. Sounds like the latter is a “Can the season end?” candidate. Stay tuned.
- Last night’s Notre Dame @ Florida State slugfest is already an instant classic. Clearly one of the biggest, best games of the season thus far, it wins the “Play this again” award hands down. That said, despite some lop-sided victories in football this past weekend, plenty other games merit a second look nevertheless. Start with the late Thursday night game on the West Coast, Utah @ Oregon State. The Utes went into Reser Stadium, took the Beavers into overtime, and walked out victorious. Speaking of the West Coast, take a look at the final score between UCLA @ Cal (spoiler alert: 36-34). Consider that you have the Bruins vs. Golden Bears, and two different shades of blue and gold going head-to-head, in the same conference, no less. With such similarities, such a score result is only fitting. In the Big Ten, one was able to enjoy an interesting matchup between Minnesota and Purdue. On one hand, the Golden Gophers have quietly risen to the top of their division in the conference, while Purdue has quietly improved from their doldrums. Indeed, the Boilers almost won on the road.
- Notre Dame remains an enigma. After so many close calls against inferior teams, surely they would not have played No. 2 Florida State as closely as they did on the road. Not when having to result to strokes of luck to win against Stanford. Not when allowing Purdue to play them as closely as they did in Indianapolis. Yet on Saturday night, they played in Tallahassee like they deserved to be the 5th-ranked team in the nation. Further monitoring of the team will be in order to make sense of this inconsistent behavior. Fortunately, the schedule is such that it will allow for further clarity to be reached as it plays out. The Fighting Irish journey to Tempe, Ariz., to play Arizona State in three weeks, followed by Northwestern and then Louisville at home. Then, they cap off the season in Los Angeles against USC. One takes any one of those teams lightly at his own peril (translation: if the Irish fail to bring their A-game to any one of these matchups, they’re doomed).
- As an aside, part of Ole Miss now being taken seriously in the national rankings (No. 3, currently), is that their defense is given plenty of respect with an up-and-coming brand: the “land shark” defense. One must admit, that has a nice ring to it!
College Football Week 5 Awards September 29, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, Bobby Petrino, Brady Hoke, BYU, Cal, California, Charlie Weis, Colorado, East Carolina, FAU, FIU, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida Internation, Florida State, Gary Patterson, Gary Pinkel, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, James Franklin, Jeff Monken, Jim Mora, Kansas, Louisville, LSU, Mark Helfrich, Marshall, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Mizzou, NC State, New Mexico State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, North Texas, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Old Dominion, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rich Rodriguez, SMU, South Caroina, South Florida, Southern Miss, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, Syracuse, TCU, Temple, Texas A&M, Tulane, UCLA, UConn, Utah State, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yale
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 5] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jim Mora, UCLA
Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Penn State
Lucky guy: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Poor guy: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Gary Patterson, TCU
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jeff Monken, Army
Desperately seeking … anything: Brady Hoke, Michigan
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 17 LSU (defeated New Mexico State 63-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 1 Florida State (defeated NC State 56-41)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Wyoming (lost to No. 9 Michigan State 56-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: South Florida (lost to Wisconsin 27-10)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Temple (defeated UConn 36-10)
Dang, they’re good: Auburn
Dang, they’re bad: Tulane
You know, they’re not so bad: Minnesota
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Indiana
Did the season start? South Carolina
Can the season end? SMU
Can the season never end? UCLA
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Texas A&M 35, Arkansas 28 (OT)
Play this again, too: Cal 59, Colorado 56
Never play this again: TCU 56, SMU 0
What? Northwestern 29, Penn State 6
Huh? Yale 49, Army 43
Are you kidding me? Maryland 37, Indiana 15
Oh – my – God: Missouri 21, No. 13 South Carolina 20
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 5, pre-week 6)
Ticket to die for: No. 3 Alabama @ No. 11 Ole Miss (though you don’t want to miss No. 6 Texas A&M @ No. 12 Mississippi State, either, or No. 5 Auburn vs. No. 15 LSU, for that matter)
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: North Texas @ Indiana
Best non-Power Five matchup: Utah State @ BYU (also, Southern Miss @ Middle Tennessee)
Upset alert: No. 14 Stanford @ No. 9 Notre Dame
Must win: Virginia Tech @ North Carolina
Offensive explosion: Arizona @ No. 2 Oregon (Thurs.)
Defensive struggle: Purdue @ Illinois
Great game no one is talking about: Louisville @ Syracuse (Fri.)
Intriguing coaching matchup: Rich Rodriquez of Arizona vs. Mark Helfrich of Oregon
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kansas @ West Virginia
Why are they playing? Marshall @ Old Dominion
Plenty of good seats remaining: Florida Atlantic @ Florida International
They shoot horses, don’t they? SMU @ East Carolina
Week 5 Random Thoughts:
– Having made these types of weekly articles during the college football season for the third straight year, without a doubt, the most difficult thing to accurately predict is the “offensive explosion” game each week. This time, I got it fairly close, seeing as how the score between the Clemson vs. North Carolina game ended at 50-35, in favor of the Tigers. The only problem was, there were plenty other “offensive explosions” to choose from in hindsight, such as Florida State vs. North Carolina State (56-41), or even Cal vs. Colorado (59-53). Even the Army-Yale game kept the scoreboard lit up at 49-43, with the Bulldogs – an FCS team – beating the Black Knights, an FBS team. Still, with a combined tally of 85, the originally-designated game turned out to be a good prediction after all.
– Just for the record, “defensive struggles” are comparatively easier to predict. At a final score of 24-10, the Iowa @ Purdue game delivered reasonably on that prognostication, though Vandy @ Kentucky bested at mark with a final score of 17-7 in favor of the Wildcats. Nevertheless, in this day and age of ubiquitous spread offenses and no-huddles, 24-10 easily qualifies as a low-scoring contest.
– After watching Purdue slowly give the game away to Iowa at home, something occurred to me, in two parts. Yes, the Boilermakers have improved from last year, but they are still inept. Also, having your home stadium only two-thirds full for homecoming is not a good sign.
– In case you missed the fireworks at last week’s post-game press conference, Steve Spurrier tore in to his own team…after [South Carolina] won. Heaven knows the hell there will be to pay for the Gamecock players after coughing it up at home to Mizzou this past Saturday evening.
– Meanwhile, on the West Coast, UCLA is on a roll right now, having thumped a respectable Arizona State team in the desert, 62-27. Mark your calendars for Oct. 11, because if these shadows remain unchanged, the matchup between the Bruins and the Oregon Ducks on that date will be a ticket t0 die for, Pac-12 edition.
– The powers that be at Kansas already fired Charlie Weis from the head coaching position…after only four games…and they were only 2-2 (hey give them credit: they DID beat Southeast Missouri State and Central Michigan). Granted, the program was, over the course of the past two to three years, headed in the wrong direction anyhow, but it still seems odd firing one’s head coach only four games into the season after a 2-2 record. There are two take-aways from this. One is that Charlie Weis is clearly not built to be a head coach. He is a brilliant offensive mind, to be sure, but many men do not have what it takes to lead other men over the hill on the field of battle. Weis is one of those of many. In hindsight, he would have been better off staying at Florida as an offensive coordinator, as that job much more effectively plays to his strengths as a coach. The other take-away is in regards to the questionably hasty firing. This is Kansas, after all, and is yet another thing that explains why the program is a perpetual bottom-feeder, with this being the latest in their strategic blunders.
College Football Week 4 Awards September 22, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, B1G, Badgers, Big 10, Big Ten, Bob Diaco, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Clemson, college, Dan Mullen, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, football, Frank Beamer, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Jim Mora, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas, Kansas State, Larry Fedora, Les Miles, LSU, Mark Twain, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Michigan State, Midshipmen, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, Navy, NCAA, Nebraska, New Mexico State, Nichols, North Carolina, North Texas, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Orange, Penn State, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rich Rodriguez, Ruffin McNeil, Rutgers, San Jose State, South Carolina, Syracuse, Terps, Texas A&M, Texas State, Texas Tech, Todd Graham, Troy, UTEP, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 4] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Glad I’m not him: Les Miles, LSU
Lucky guy: Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
Poor guy: Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Ruffin McNeil, East Carolina
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Larry Fedora, North Carolina
Desperately seeking … anything: Bob Diaco, UConn
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 11 Michigan State (defeated Eastern Michigan 73-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Central Michigan (lost to Kansas 24-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Troy (lost to No. 13 Georgia 66-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Texas State (lost to Illinois 42-35)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: East Carolina (defeated North Carolina 70-41)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Hawaii
You know, they’re not so bad: Arkansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: LSU
Did the season start? Virginia Tech
Can the season end? Eastern Michigan
Can the season never end? East Carolina
GAMES
Play this again: No. 1 Florida State 23, No. 22 Clemson 17
Never play this again: North Texas 77, Nichols 3
What? East Carolina 70, North Carolina 41
Huh? Georgia Tech 27, Virginia Tech 24
Are you kidding me? Indiana 31, No. 18 Missouri 27
Oh – my – God: Mississippi State 34, No. 8 LSU 29
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 4, pre-week 5)
Ticket to die for: Arkansas @ No. 6 Texas A&M
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Cincinnati @ No. 22 Ohio State
Best non-Power Five matchup: Central Michigan @ Toledo
Upset alert: Tennessee @ No. 12 Georgia
Must win: Missouri @ No. 13 South Carolina
Offensive explosion: North Carolina @ Clemson
Defensive struggle: Iowa @ Purdue
Great game no one is talking about: Texas Tech @ No. 24 Oklahoma State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jim Mora of UCLA vs. Todd Graham of Arizona State
Who’s bringing the body bags? Wyoming @ No. 9 Michigan State
Why are they playing? New Mexico State @ No. 17 LSU
Plenty of good seats remaining: Miami (Ohio) @ Buffalo
They shoot horses, don’t they? UTEP @ No. 25 Kansas State
Week 4 Random Thoughts:
- This week, the Big Ten acquitted themselves rather well. After three weeks of disaster, along with nearly everyone in America paying attention to the college football scene about to write the one-great conference’s epitaph, the B1G appeared to have reminded folks that, to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated. To wit:
- Maryland upset Syracuse. The Orange, who were 2-0 going into the game, seemed to be the favored team (especially since they were playing at home in the Carrier Dome). But the Terps showed up, and won 34-20, on the road.
- Yes, even Purdue won, even though they had to defeat an FCS team in order to do so, beating the Southern Illinois Salukis only 35-14. Just one more touchdown would have made the win semi-convincing.
- Iowa won on the road, defeating a respectable Pitt team, 24-20, in the last minutes of the game, no less.
- Think Purdue’s win was less-than-convincing? Check out Northwestern: they beat Western Illinois 24-7. Still, a win is a win – at least, in this case.
- Michigan State, without any surprise, thrashed their directional neighbor Eastern Michigan 73-14, in what amounted to be one of the biggest “body bag games” of the week.
- Even though Illinois had to struggle to do so, they pulled in out in the end over Texas State, 42-35.
- Granted, there was a rather ignominious loss concerning Michigan. To be sure, Utah is not a horrible team, but they’re not great either. Moreover, this was a home game for the Wolverines, who failed to even reach the red zone. In the Big House.
- Wisconsin’s blowout win over Bowling Green at home, 68-17, came as little surprise. And I must say, the Badgers’ red helmets look very nice indeed!
- Minnesota beat San Jose State 24-7.
- Let us not forget Nebraska’s win at home over Miami (Fla.), 41-31.
- Rutgers did beat Navy, 31-24, and the Midshipmen are never to be taken lightly.
- That said, Indiana (yes, that Indiana) represented the entire conference well by beating a more-than-respectable Missouri Tigers squad on the road. If these shadows remained unchanged, the Hoosiers could take the conference by storm this year (notwithstanding Michigan State or Ohio State, who both happen to inhabit the same division as IU).
- So, 12-1 for the conference is not bad considering the previous two weeks. Were it not been for Ohio State’s bye week, it might have been 13-1.
- In other news, while I hate to see LSU take it on the chin, it is very nice indeed to see Dan Mullen and Mississippi State get a nice, signature win.
Week 3 College Football Awards September 16, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Arizona State, Baylor, BC, Bill Snyder, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Boilers, Boston College, Bowling Green, Buffalo, BYU, Cardinals, Cards, Central Michigan, Charlie Strong, Chuck Martin, Clemson, Colorado, Ducks, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, FIghting Irish, Florida State, Georgia, Grover Cleveland, Gus Malzahn, Idaho, Indiana, Jim Mora, Kansas, Kent State, Louisville, Mark Richt, Memphis, Miami (Fla.), Miami (Ohio), Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Ruffin McNeil, Rutgers, SMU, South Carolina, Southern Illinois, Steve Addazio, Steve Sarkisian, Steve Spurrier, Syracuse, Texas, Texas A&M, Troy, UMass, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, Western Kentucky, Wyoming
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 3] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Steve Addazio, Boston College
Glad I’m not him: Charlie Strong, Texas
Lucky guy: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Poor guy: Mark Richt, Georgia
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Ruffin McNeil, East Carolina
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Steve Sarkisian, USC
Desperately seeking … anything: Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio)
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 22 Ohio State (defeated Kent State 66-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (defeated UMass 34-31)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kent State (see first line above)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Colorado (lost to No. 16 Arizona State 38-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Syracuse (defeated Central Michigan 40-3)
Dang, they’re good: Oklahoma
Dang, they’re bad: Kansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia Tech
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? Eastern Michigan
Can the season never end? Ole Miss
GAMES
Play this again: Bowling Green 45, Indiana 42
Play this again, too: Middle Tennessee 50, Western Kentucky 47
Never play this again: No. 8 Baylor 63, Buffalo 21
Told you so: Penn State 13, Rutgers 10
What? Virginia 23, No. 21 Louisville 21
Huh? No. 24 South Carolina 38, No. 6 Georgia 35
Are you kidding me? East Carolina 28, No. 17 Virginia Tech 21
Oh – my – God: Boston College 38, No. 9 USC 31
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for (sort of): No. 22 Clemson @ No. 1 Florida State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: North Carolina @ East Carolina
Best non-Power Five matchup: Middle Tennessee @ Memphis
Upset alert: Miami (Fla.) @ No. 24 Nebraska
Must win: Southern Illinois @ Purdue
Offensive explosion: No. 2 Oregon @ Washington State
Defensive struggle: Penn State @ Rutgers
Great game no one is talking about: Virginia @ No. 21 BYU
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gus Malzahn of Auburn vs. Bill Snyder of Kansas State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 6 Texas A&M @ SMU
Why are they playing? Troy @ No. 13 Georgia
Plenty of good seats remaining: Idaho @ Ohio U
They shoot horses, don’t they? Eastern Michigan @ No. 11 Michigan State
Week 3 Random Thoughts:
– Just when you think that Louisville is rolling again under second, non-consecutive term head coach Bobby Petrino (paging Grover Cleveland), the Cards lay an egg on the road. Virginia is not that bad of a team, but that is still no excuse for all the quarterback miscues that seemed to plague U of L throughout the game, leading to the disappointing result. Perhaps Petrino should consider playing the freshman QB?
– Virginia Tech seems nothing if not consistent when it comes to losing games the week after winning a big one.
– They say that football can be a game of inches. In the case of South Carolina upsetting intra-conference and border rival Georgia, it was a game of one inch. Period. Well, that and a good (favorable?) spotting of the ball by the refs after 4th and one inch.
– Perhaps Oregon might have been saving a little energy for future endeavors later this season. How else might one explain a win over Wyoming by a score of only 48-12? Given how well the Ducks have played thus far, you’d think the Cowboys got off easy.
– Did Purdue acquit themselves against No. 11 Notre Dame, or are the Fighting Irish that mediocre? In the wake of the Boilermakers embarrassing themselves at home last week to Central Michigan, coupled with ND demolishing Michigan, one would have thought that the annual in-state rivalry game would have meant utter demolition for Purdue. Instead, the Boilers ended up leading, however briefly, in the first half, scoring two touchdowns on the Irish. Such an effort compelled Notre Dame to increase their efforts, allowing them to gradually win over the course of the second half, 30-14. The reason that so many people naturally incline towards the former answer is that they want to believe the Notre Dame hype (it sells, after all!). But what we keep learning, and continue to have to keep learning over the past 10-15 years, is that Notre Dame is once again overrated. The real question, therefore, to consider is, how bad is Michigan?
– That being said, Notre Dame’s helmets for that game did look rather neat. It is a long time coming that they incorporated a blue “ND” logo on to their gold shells. The single, blue center stripe was a nice touch, too. The jury is still out on the latitude-longitude, “globe lines” effect, though. Moreover, I can do without that weird brocade effect on the shoulders of the jerseys.
– Is Texas in trouble? First, they lost ignominiously at home to BYU last week. Then, they lose to an increasingly good UCLA team, ostensibly at a neutral site, though hardly anybody could consider the Horns playing in Dallas as playing on neutral turf, be it the Cotton Bowl or AT&T Stadium. Yes, Jim Mora has truly breathed intensity into the Bruins program at Westwood, Calif., but there is still no excuse for such a proud, tradition-and-resource laden program as Texas to suffer two such consecutive losses. Is Coach Strong in over his head at Austin? It would be a very painful thing to acknowledge, to be sure. The wise thing, at this point, is to allow the rest of the season (and how it plays out) to answer that question.
– If we were to apply the law of transitive properties, just how badly would Syracuse beat Purdue if the two played each other right about now?
College Football Week 2 Awards September 8, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arkansas, Auburn, Ball State, Baylor, Big Ten, Bo Pelini, Boilermakers, Boise State, Braxton Miller, Brett Bielema, Buckeyes, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Charlie Strong, Chuck Martin, Clemson, Cornhuskers, David Shaw, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, EKU, FIghting Irish, Frank Beamer, Fresno State, Georgia, Golden Gophers, Hokies, Illinois, Iowa, Kliff Kingsbury, Lamar, Longhorns, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, Mack Brown, McNeese State, Memphis, Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico State, North Texas, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, San Jose State, SMU, South Carolina State, Southern California, Spartans, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, UConn, Urban Meyer, USC, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Western Illinois, Western Kentucky, Wisconsin, WKU, Wyoming
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Yes, we’re back. After having missed handing out last week’s awards due to travels abroad (having visited two, count ’em, TWO different continents in the Eastern Hemisphere!), we’re back, and as Little Richard would say, we’re ready-ready-ready to rock n’ roll!
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 2] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
Glad I’m not him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Lucky guy: Bo Pelini, Nebraska
Poor guy: David Shaw, Stanford
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Dan Enos, Central Michigan
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Charlie Strong, Texas
Desperately seeking … anything: Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio)
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 9 Texas A&M (defeated Lamar 73-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 19 Nebraska (defeated McNeese State 31-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: San Jose State (lost to No. 5 Auburn 59-13)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Memphis (lost to No. 11 UCLA 42-35)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: No. 15 Ole Miss (defeated Vanderbilt, 41-3)
Dang, they’re good: Texas A&M
Dang, they’re bad: SMU
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Texas
Did the season start? Ohio State
Can the season end? Miami (Ohio)
Can the season never end? Oregon
GAMES
Play this again: No. 14 USC 13, No. 13 Stanford 10
Never play this again: No. 23 Clemson 73, South Carolina State 7
What? Eastern Kentucky 17, Miami (Ohio) 10
Huh? No. 16 Notre Dame 31, Michigan 0
Are you kidding me? Virginia Tech 35, No. 8 Ohio State 21
Oh – my – God: BYU 41, Texas 7
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 2, pre-week 3)
Ticket to die for: No. 6 Georgia @ No. 21 South Carolina
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Nebraska @ Fresno State
Best non-Power Five matchup: New Mexico State @ UTEP
Upset alert: Tennessee @ No. 4 Oklahoma
Must win: No. 12 UCLA vs Texas
Offensive explosion: Louisiana Tech @ North Texas
Defensive struggle: Penn State @ Rutgers
Great game no one is talking about: No. 21 Louisville @ Virginia
Intriguing coaching matchup: Bret Bielema of Arkansas vs. Kliff Kingsbury of Texas Tech
Who’s bringing the body bags? Wyoming @ No. 2 Oregon
Why are they playing? No. 8 Baylor @ Buffalo
Plenty of good seats remaining: Eastern Michigan @ Old Dominion
They shoot horses, don’t they? Boise State @ UConn
Week 2 Take-aways:
This week’s results do NOT bode well for the Big Ten! Where to begin?
- For starters, Illinois had to squeak by Western Kentucky, 42-34.
- Then there was Nebraska having to score a last-minute touchdown to beat lowly McNeese State at home, 31-24. Way to live up to that No. 19 ranking, Cornhuskers!
- Cracks in the proverbial damn truly became evident with Purdue’s ignominious loss at home to Central Michigan – a team that the Boilermakers have historically owned – 38-17.
- Of course, Wisconsin was supposed to make mincemeat of Western Illinois, so nothing to see there: moving on.
- Iowa slowly plodded to victory over Ball State, 17-13; hardly an impressive win.
- Penn State seemed to allow Akron to make a game of it, 21-3.
- Middle Tennessee seemed to provide some challenge to Minnesota, losing to the Golden Gophers only 35-24.
- Northern Illinois actually did beat a well-coached Northwestern team, 23-15.
The best part (“best” being used facetiously) was that it got worse as the day progressed.
- In the evening, Notre Dame undressed Michigan, 31-0
- Then-unranked Virginia Tech came into the Horseshoe to upset then-No 8 Ohio State in a very embarrassing way, 35-21. Are the Buckeyes that crippled without Braxton Miller?
- At least then-No. 7 Michigan State had a valid excuse, losing late in the game, on the road, (heck, on the West Coast) to current-No. 2 Oregon. Moreover, in further defense of the Spartans, they made a good game of it for more than half of the match-up. Still, a loss is a loss.
Yes, this will really bolster the conference’s credibility with the selection committee come season’s end.
In other news, it appears as though Charlie Strong truly does have his work cut out for him at Texas. The problem with the flagship program of the Lone Star State was that it lost its intensity, that things had become both stale and too synthetic under previous head coach Mack Brown. Strong had proven that he could restore the intensity of one program already at the University of Louisville: the powers started to think that he could do the same thing at Texas. Well, evidently he has not restored enough intensity to that program. Either that, or BYU just has the Longhorns’ number, but I doubt it.
