College Football Week 10 Awards (2021) November 9, 2021
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Uncategorized.Tags: Aggies, Alabama, Army, Auburn, Baylor, Big XII, Boilermakers, Bucknell, Cincinnati, Clemson, Dabo Swinney, Dan Mullen, Dave Clawson, Florida, Gators, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Jimbo Fisher, Josh Heupel, Kent State, Kentucky, Kyle Whittingham, Lane Kiffin, Louisville, Mark Stoops, Matt Campbell, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico State, North Carolina, Northern Illinois, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Penn State, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rebels, Rutgers, San Diego State, Scott Satterfield, South Carolina, Spartans, Stanford, Steve Sarkesian, TCU, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, Tulsa, UConn, Utah, Wake Forest, Wisconsin
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Josh Heupel, Tennessee
Glad I’m not him: Mark Stoops, Kentucky
Lucky guy: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Poor guy: Scott Satterfield, Louisville
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Dave Clawson, Wake Forest
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dan Mullen, Florida
Desperately seeking … anything: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Georgia (defeated Missouri 43-6)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Cincinnati (defeated Tulsa 28-20)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Rutgers (lost to Wisconsin 52-3)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Tulsa (lost to No. 6 Cincinnati 28-20)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: South Carolina (defeated Florida 40-17)
Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: Temple
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Michigan State
Did the season start? Florida
Can the season end? Texas
Can the season never end? Michigan State
GAMES
Play this again: Tennessee 45, No. 18 Kentucky 42
Play this again, too: Kent State 52, Northern Illinois 47
Never play this again: Utah 52, Stanford 7
What? Illinois 14, No. 20 Minnesota 6
Huh? TCU 30, No. 12 Baylor 28
Are you kidding me?? North Carolina 58, No. 10 Wake Forest 55
Oh – my – God: Purdue 40, No. 3 Michigan State 29
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 11)
Ticket to die for: No. 14 Texas A&M @ No. 16 Ole Miss also: No. 8 Oklahoma @ No. 12 Baylor
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: (none)
Best non-Power Five matchup: Nevada @ No. 24 San Diego State
Upset alert: No. 19 NC State @ No. 9 Wake Forest
Must win: No. 7 Michigan @ Penn State
Offensive explosion: Oklahoma @ Baylor
Defensive struggle: Minnesota @ No. 22 Iowa
Great game no one is talking about: North Carolina @ No. 25 Pittsburgh
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jimbo Fisher of Texas A&M vs Lane Kiffin of Ole Miss
Who’s bringing the body bags? New Mexico State @ No. 2 Alabama
Why are they playing? UConn @ Clemson
Plenty of good seats remaining: Tulsa @ Tulane
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Bucknell @ Army
Week 10 Thoughts:
Just when Michigan State looks red-hot, they go and lay an egg at Purdue. In their defense, though, strange things have been known to happen to the Spartans in Ross-Ade Stadium over the years (witness the 1997 and 1999 games, for example).
Conversely, just when one is apt to give Purdue up for dead after a lackluster performance against Illinois and losing a winnable game on the road to Minnesota, they turn around and beat then-No. 2 Iowa and just defeated then-No. 3 Michigan State. With still more to ponder, the Boilermakers are now 6-3. Hard to give up a team for dead when they currently have a record like that.
Moreover, this is the second time in one year that Purdue has taken down a top-five team (Iowa was the previous team to fall in such a manner), giving further credibility the Boilermakers’ nickname-within-a-nickname of “Spoiler-makers”.
Similarly, just when one is about to give South Carolina up for dead, they trounce Florida, 40-17. To be sure, the Gators started off the season very strongly, but mysteriously seem to have gradually declined in performance over the past few weeks. On the other side of the ball, is this a sign that Frank Beamer’s son is building the Gamecocks into an increasingly strong team? They close out the season with home games against Auburn and Clemson that shall answer that question.
Looking into Non-Power Five upstarts, if Cincinnati truly wants to be taken seriously as a legitimate playoff contender, then the last thing they want to do is to squeak by a team like Tulsa by only one touchdown when the ESPN College Gameday crew comes to their campus that very day/week. Oh wait…
In the Big XII (what shall soon be left of it), is it safe to start calling Iowa State’s Jack Trice Stadium the Death Valley of that conference? Because quite a few teams with far greater pedigrees have gone there to die during head coach Matt Campbell’s tenure with the Cyclones.
Moving to the SEC, the A&M-Auburn game surely lived up to its billing as a slugfest. Now that the Aggies survived that war in the trenches, can they turnaround and survive a different sort of slugfest in Oxford against the Rebels?
Finally, nice to see Tennessee win a thriller over Kentucky in Lexington. Head coach Josh Heupel is clearly building the Vols back to the strong program they used to be. Such a development is very good for college football. Just how far they have yet to go to be “back” shall be ascertained when they face the legitimate no. 1 team in the land, Georgia, this upcoming weekend.
College Football Awards Week 6 (2021) October 11, 2021
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, Baylor, Bijan Robinson, Boise State, Boston College, Bronco Mendenhall, Bulldogs, BYU, Caleb Williams, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Colorado, Dave Aranda, Ed Orgeron, FIU, Florida International, Florida State, Georgia, Hawkeyes, Indiana, Iowa, James Franklin, Jimbo Fisher, Josh Heupel, Kentucky, Lane Kiffin, Lincoln Riley, Longhorns, Louisville, LSU, Mack Brown, Mark Stoops, Maryland, Michigan State, Mike Leach, Minnesota, Mississippi State, NC State, Nebraska, Nick Saban, Nittany Lions, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Purdue, Red River, Scott Satterfield, Showdown, Sooners, Spencer Rattler, Steve Sarkesian, Syracuse, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tigers, UCF, UConn, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest, Wildcats, Wisconsin, Xavier Worthy, Yale
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Penn State
Lucky guy: Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia
Poor guy: Scott Satterfield, Louisivlle
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Mack Brown, North Carolina
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Dave Aranda, Baylor
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kalani Sitake, BYU
Desperately seeking … anything: Ed Orgeron, LSU
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Cincinnati (defeated Temple 52-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Wake Forest (defeated Syracuse 40-37 in OT)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Maryland (lost to No. 7 Ohio State 66-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: FIU (lost to Charlotte 45-33)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Kentucky (defeated LSU 42-21)
Dang, they’re good: Cincinnati
Dang, they’re bad: Vanderbilt
Can’t Stand Prosperity: BYU
Did the season start? North Carolina
Can the season end? UConn
Can the season never end? Iowa
GAMES
Play this again: Texas A&M 41, No. 1 Alabama 38
Play this again, too: No. 6 Oklahoma 55, No. 21 Texas 48
Never play this again: No. 7 Ohio State 66, Maryland 17
What? Florida State 35, North Carolina 25
Huh? No. 17 Ole Miss 52, No. 13 Arkansas 51
Are you kidding me?? Boise State 26, No. 10 BYU 17
Oh – my – God: Texas A&M 41, No. 1 Alabama 38
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 7)
Ticket to die for: No. 11 Kentucky @ No. 1 Georgia
Next-best game of the week: No. 18 Auburn @ No. 13 Arkansas
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: No. 19 BYU @ Baylor
Best non-Power Five matchup: UCF @ No. 3 Cincinnati
Upset alert: No. 10 Michigan State @ Indiana; also, No. 13 Ole Miss @ Tennessee
Must win: No. 12 Oklahoma State @ No. 25 Texas
Offensive explosion: Oklahoma State @ Texas
Defensive struggle: Nebraska @ Minnesota
Great game no one is talking about: No. 22 NC State @ Boston College
Intriguing coaching matchup: Nick Saban of Alabama vs Mike Leach of Mississippi State
Who’s bringing the body bags? Purdue @ No. 2 Iowa
Why are they playing? Army @ Wisconsin
Plenty of good seats remaining: Arizona @ Colorado
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Yale @ UConn
Week 6 Thoughts:
Iowa vs. Penn State
This week provided some incredible games, one of which was an unusual clash of titans (No’s. 3 and 4, respectively) during the second time slot of the day, in Iowa City. For the first 25 minutes of the game, Iowa was being outclassed by Penn State, and the score showed it at 17-3. Then the Nittany Lion’s starting quarterback, Sean Clifford, went down with an injury, either to back or the ribs. Penn State was not the same with their backup QB in place. The offense only managed a field goal after that, while the Hawkeyes gradually clawed their way back, eventually winning, 23-20. Let us hope that Clifford’s injury does not derail the rest of the Nittany Lions’ season. Still, it was a thrilling comeback for the Hawkeye faithful to witness.
Oklahoma vs Texas
In yet another exciting edition of the Red River Showdown, Oklahoma bested Texas yet again. This time it was full of twists and turns. The Longhorns scored quickly on the Sooners, tallying 38 points in their favor by halftime. A new, major wrinkle occurred when Lincoln Riley benched QB Spencer Rattler after two turnovers and replaced him with Caleb Williams. In hindsight, Texas coach Steve Sarkesian had no gameplan for this wrinkle, and it showed with his lack of answers for this more-capable replacement. The Longhorns also failed to established a running game, despite having Heisman candidate Bijan Robinson in their backfield. On the other side of the ball, they hardly mounted any decent pass rush against Williams, giving him time to complete one inexplicable pass after another. In the end, the Sooners triumphed in an admittedly thrilling game, 55-48. The main takeaway for Oklahoma is that they could best either Iowa or Penn State, both of whom, on that day, were ranked ahead of the Sooners.
One takeaway for Texas is the Sark must shore up his defense. Another is that he must work on better establishing the running game. A third is that freshman receiver Xavier Worthy holds much promise as a playmaker, but the Horns cannot win games on long bombs to him alone. Texas might not be “back” yet, but they could be soon with a couple of key adjustments and another good recruiting class from Sark. In the meantime, he did not see this game’s outcome as a devastating loss, but rather, something to make the team hungrier for potentially bigger things to come. “Ultimately, you know my mindset is I’d love to get another crack at these guys hopefully in December, so that’s that,” he said.
Texas A&M vs Alabama
Think about this for a second: the last regular season game that Alabama lost was on Nov. 30, 2019, to Auburn (hey, it’s the Iron Bowl, where crazy things happen. Anyone remember the “Kick Six”?). Since then, the Crimson Tide has remained undefeated, with another national title under their collective belt, until last night. Last night, Texas A&M ended that streak in front of the second-largest crowd at Kyle Field (106,815). Moreover, this marks Alabama’s first loss to an unranked team since 2007 (!). The Aggies maintained a lead for most of the game, until the Tide tied the score in the 4th quarter. A key stop late in the game gave Texas A&M the ball back, allowing them to kick a winning field goal at a comfortable distance for one incredible night to remember in College Station for a long time to come. All that said, if the familiar pattern of Nick Saban’s dynasty in Tuscaloosa holds, Alabama shall refocus and redouble its efforts, and continue to perform at the highest of levels in the college game. Nevertheless, this is the first time a former assistant (Jimbo Fisher) has bested him. We shall now see if Fisher can maintain his team’s focus. Immediately, that might not be too difficult a task, as they face Missouri next week, followed by South Carolina thereafter. But come the first week of November, they face a dangerous Auburn team, wherein another key test awaits.
Kentucky vs. LSU
Last week, I noted that Mark Stoops needed to refocus his team after a huge win over Florida. Well, he succeeded in spades, this time triumphing over LSU, in convincing fashion, 42-21. Granted, the Bayou Bengals are not quite what they were when they caught lighting in a bottle with QB Joe Burrow and a coaching lineup of young, talented coordinators, which generated a wave that they rode all the way to another national championship. Since then, those assistants have left for other things, and Orgeron has been struggling to keep LSU a contender in the admittedly brutal SEC West. On the other side of the proverbial coin, everything seems to have come into place for Mark Stoops and Kentucky. The Wildcats are 6-0 for only the first time since 1950, when Bear Bryant was their head coach (they went on to defeat national champion Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl that season). Put as many asterisks on this win as some critics may, but for two consecutive weeks, Stoops and the Big Blue Nation have turned Commonwealth Stadium into a top-tier SEC environment. That might not last forever, but it’s quite the achievement to behold regardless. But now is the time to refocus the team’s efforts yet again, this time for the Wildcats’ toughest opponent to date.
Looking ahead: Kentucky @ Georgia
That aforementioned toughest opponent to date for Kentucky is now-No. 1 Georgia. Furthermore, unlike facing Florida and LSU in the friendly home environs, this time they travel to face the Bulldogs “between the hedges”. Even though both teams come into this game at 6-0, Kentucky’s magical run thus far might come to a temporary halt, for Georgia, along with Alabama, is clearly well above the rest of the competition for now. The reasonable hope is that the Wildcats keep the game respectable. That will be something to build upon as they could then continue their incredibly strong run of a season. That season will continue to get more interesting, as afterwards, they face Mike Leach’s cagey Mississippi State team (one Bulldog team after another!), followed by Josh Heupel’s quietly, gradually resurgent Tennessee squad. So it goes in the SEC, where there’s never any rest for the wicked.
Ole Miss @ Tennessee
Speaking of the Volunteers, they face Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss Rebels, along with their high-powered offense that he has put together. This game shall be a key test for both teams. For Ole Miss, can they maintain their level of intensity after winning a shootout at home over a suddenly resurgent Arkansas? Speaking of resurgent teams, Tennessee has regained in strength under lots of peoples’ radars (easy to do, given that the Volunteers have struggled since the waning days of Phil Fulmer’s coaching regime). Now that the players seem to be buying into Josh Heupel’s potentially winning vision, they have a chance to show how far along they have come in a short time if they can pull off the upset at home over the Rebels. This test could be a good one to watch.
Texas vs Oklahoma State
The Longhorns just lost another close one to their hated rival Oklahoma. Now, without time to lick their wounds (mostly to their pride), they have to turn around to face the Cowboys at home. Oklahoma State has quietly risen up the ranks to No. 12. As the rankings (barely) held in Dallas this past Saturday, now we shall see if they continue to hold in Austin. If Steve Sarkesian can make a defensive adjustment or two and work to establish the run more effectively, this time, it might not.
Postseason College Football Awards 2019-2020 January 20, 2020
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alamo, Auburn, B1G, Baylor, Bayou Bengals, Big Ten, Big XII, Bobby Petrino, Bowl, Cardinals, Clemson, Dabo Swinney, Ed Orgeron, Fiesta Bowl, Gator Bowl, Georgia, Hoosiers, Hurricanes, Indiana, Iowa, Jeremy Pruitt, Jim Harbaugh, Kyle Whittingham, Longhorns, Louisville, LSU, Mario Cristobal, Miami, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Music City, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Outback, Pac-12, Peach Bowl, Ryan Day, Scott Satterfield, SEC, SMU, Sonny Dykes, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Tigers, Tom Herman, Trevor Lawrence, Utah, Utes, Volunteers, Wisconsin
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Ed Orgeron, LSU
Glad I’m not him: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Lucky guy: Dabo Swinney, Clemson (Fiesta Bowl) (hon. mention: Mario Cristobal, Oregon)
Poor guy: Ryan Day, Ohio State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Sonny Dykes, SMU
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Scott Satterfield, Louisville
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Desperately seeking … anything: Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Notre Dame (defeated Iowa State 33-9)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Auburn (lost to No. 18 Minnesota 31-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Temple (lost to North Carolina 55-13)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Baylor (lost to No. 5 Georgia 26-14)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Texas (defeated No. 11 Utah 38-10)
Dang, they’re good: LSU
Dang, they’re bad: Miami, FL
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Wisconsin
Did the season start? Utah
Can the season end? Miami, FL
Can the season never end? LSU
GAMES
Play this again: No. 3 Clemson 29, No. 2 Ohio State 23 (Fiesta)
Play this again, too: No. 6 Oregon 28, No. 8 Wisconsin 27 (Rose)
Never play this again: No. 1 LSU 63, No. 4 Oklahoma 28 (Peach)
What? No. 3 Clemson, No. 2 Ohio State 23 (Fiesta)
Huh? Louisiana Tech 14, Miami (FL) 0 (Independence)
Are you kidding me?? Texas 38, No. 11 Utah 10 (Alamo)
Oh – my – God: No. 18 Minnesota 31, No. 12 Auburn 24 (Outback)
Random Bowl Game Thoughts:
Fiesta Bowl:
What a game. Too bad one of the teams had to lose. Having said that, two thoughts come to mind. One, if Ohio State and Clemson played each other 10 times, the series would likely by evenly split, 5-5. Second, Ohio State should blame themselves. They left lots of “money on the table”, so to speak, by not capitalizing on deep red zone advances in the first half. Second, they gave up on what helped get them ahead initially, which was a fast-paced hurry up offense.
Outback Bowl:
On paper, Auburn should have crushed Minnesota. Not to detract anything from the Gophers, for they are a good team in any case. But Minnesota’s win over a superiorly-athletic team in Auburn is huge. What’s one sign of a well-coached team? That the team shows gradual improvement as the season progresses. That the Gophers have done, in spades. To offer further perspective, bowl games are funny like that. In many cases, it is impossible to determine who will win and lose if there is a motivation mismatch (a team that really wants to be there versus a better team that is not that thrilled about being there). Such a situation gives the underdog a golden opportunity for a huge upset, and we witnessed a sterling example of this in Tampa.
Peach Bowl:
In case the reader missed it, LSU gave Oklahoma an old-fashioned butt whipping (seriously, how else to describe it?), 63-28. Throughout the regular season, the Sooners looked like they are a legit playoff contender. Why the lopsided result against them? The frank answer is that it’s a systemic problem with the Big XII, a conference built on speed, not power, and the former, not the latter, wins games in that conference. The problem comes when they have to face stronger athletes over all against half the SEC, against Ohio State, or Clemson. Then, this glaring weakness gets exposed.
Music City Bowl:
Louisville’s win over Mississippi State is nothing at which to sneeze, for a number of reasons. The most basic reason is that an ACC team triumphed over an SEC team, the latter usually having stronger athletes. For another, this was something of a revenge game for the Cardinals, since they lost the Gator Bowl to the Bulldogs just two years earlier. Indeed, they are probably a stronger team even then under then-head coach Bobby Petrino. Third, speaking of Petrino, one of his historic drawbacks is that his teams disintegrate after he leaves them (see: Louisville starting in 2007, or Arkansas starting in 2012). Something about his coaching style combined with the caliber of player he usually recruited required him to be present to keep a tight lid on Pandora’s Box. Once he would leave, Pandora’s Box would open, and chaos would ensue. Not so this time. Scott Satterfield has done the Yeoman’s work in keeping the team together, to say nothing of turning around the team’s performance. From going 1-11 the previous season, the Cardinals capped off the year with a bowl win to finish 8-5 for the year. While more improvement remains necessary, this has been quite the turnaround indeed.
Alamo Bowl:
Texas, under head coach Tom Herman, has become something of an enigma. Their 38-10 over formidable No. 11 Utah was impressive, even if it were a glorified home game (the Alamodome in San Antonio is only an hour-and-15-minute drive from the UT campus up I-35 in Austin). After all, Utah was a Pac-12 championship win away for qualifying for the playoffs. As it turned out prior to kickoff, the Utes we still respectfully ranked, whereas the Horns were unranked. Moreover, Texas performance was all over the proverbial map. They played like a legitimate top-10 team against eventual playoff teams LSU and Oklahoma, but then had to struggle to beat Kansas and even coughed it up on the road to under-performing TCU. Yes, injuries took a huge toll for the Longhorns this year, especially and runningback and worse yet, on defense. Perhaps the time off leading up to the Alamo Bowl allowed for Texas to heal up, regroup, and regain focus so as to get dialed in for [again] what amounted to an extended home game, and thus live up their true potential against a reasonably formidable opponent.
Gator Bowl:
Tennessee defeated Indiana 23-22. So why would Jeremy Pruitt be “desperately seeking anything”? Because their play was as erratic as it was inconsistent throughout the game. Pruitt [thought he] had to suddenly switch quarterbacks in the middle game, for goodness sake. Probably with good reason, for the initial starter kept missing the mark. In the first three quarters, the Volunteers could only muster three field goals. Only with the Tennessee defense stepping up in the 4th quarter with some key sacks, with their offense starting to complete some key passes, to say nothing of a decent running attack were the Volunteers able to finally score and thus come back.
The problem with Tennessee was not a lack of focus. Both teams seemed equally glad/motivated to be there. Rather, the problem was lousy coaching. On paper, Tennessee should have shellacked IU. Their talent supremacy over Indiana is greater in ratio than that of Auburn over Minnesota. But in football, talent is only part of the equation when it comes to winning games. The other part of said equation is coaching. The coach has to know what to do with that talent, and Jeremy Pruitt seems to be at a loss. The Volunteers were thus very lucky to walk away with a “W” in Jacksonville.
The Championship Game:
LSU knocked off undefeated and defending national title holder Clemson 42-25. It was a convincing victory over a strong team. The Bayou Bengals have now earned their fourth national championship in football, and college football fans can breathe a sigh of relief at the champion is somebody not named Clemson or Alabama. Not so fast, however: Clemson is not likely to go away anytime soon. The Tigers return a ton of starters for next year, including QB Trevor Lawrence, who, as talented as he clearly is, has even further growth to demonstrate. Still, what a great night for the LSU team and faithful. The fact that it was in the Superdome was the proverbial icing on the proverbial cake.
College Football Awards, Week 14 (2019) December 1, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: ACC, Akron, Alabama, Auburn, B1G, Baylor, Big XII, Bill Mallory, Cardinals, Charlie Strong, Cincinnati, Clemson, Florida Atlantic, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Gus Malzahn, Hoosiers, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Jeff Brohm, Jim Harbaugh, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Kirk Ferentz, Kyle Whittingham, Lane Kiffin, Louisville, Mario Cristobal, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nick Saban, Ohio State, Oregon, Pac-12, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Ryan Day, Scott Frost, Scott Satterfield, SEC, South Florida, TCU, Tom Arth, UAB, Utah, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wildcats, Wisconsin
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Ryan Day, Ohio State
Glad I’m not him: Nick Saban, Alabama (hon. mention: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan)
Lucky guy: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Poor guy: Scott Frost, Nebraska
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Scott Satterfield, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Lane Kiffin, Florida Atlantic
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Charlie Strong, South Florida
Desperately seeking … anything: Tom Arth, Akron
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Georgia (defeated Georgia Tech 52-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Penn State (defeated Rutgers 27-6)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kansas (lost to No. 9 Baylor 61-6)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Maryland (lost to Michigan State 19-16)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Kentucky (defeated Louisville 45-13)
Dang, they’re good: Utah
Dang, they’re bad: Akron
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Alabama
Did the season start? TCU
Can the season end? Georgia Tech
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 15 Auburn 48, No. 5 Alabama 45
Never play this again: No. 9 Baylor 61, Kansas 6
What? Virginia 39, No. 24 Virginia Tech 30
Huh? Kansas State 27, No. 23 Iowa State 17
Are you kidding me?? No. 12 Wisconsin 38, No. 8 Minnesota 17
Oh – my – God: No. 15 Auburn 48, No. 5 Alabama 45
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 14, pre-week 15)
Ticket to die for: No. 4 Georgia vs No. 1 LSU (SEC Championship)
Nest-best game of the week: No. 2 Ohio State vs No. 10 Wisconsin (B1G Championship)
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 21 Cincinnati @ No. 16 Memphis (AAC Champ game/rematch)
Upset alert: No. 13 Oregon vs No. 5 Utah (Pac-12 Championship)
Must win: B1G Championship game to ensure OSU goes to playoffs
Offensive explosion: No. 8 Baylor vs No. 6 Oklahoma (Big XII Championship)
Defensive struggle: inconclusive
Great game no one is talking about: UAB @ Florida Atlantic
Intriguing coaching matchup: Kyle Whittingham of Utah vs Mario Cristobal of Oregon
Who’s bringing the body bags? Virginia @ No. 3 Clemson (ACC Championship)
Week 14 Thoughts:
Michigan vs Ohio State
This was supposed to be Harbaugh’s year in beating Ohio State, right? Turns out, not so much. Not while Ohio State is still chock-full of Urban Meyer’s players. That is part of the Buckeyes’ success this year. The other part is taking those talent players and making them more relaxed and less uptight than when Meyer himself was coaching them (enter Ryan Day). Can he himself bring in the same caliber of players? If not, then this high-flying success obviously has a limited shelf life.
As for Michigan, they are still a very good team. A 9-3 record is commensurate with most of the better years of this proud program. Also, those three losses came to Wisconsin, Penn State, and Ohio State, all of which are running at peak strength. Moreover, an academic powerhouse in a cold-weather setting like Michigan is at a systemic disadvantage from recruiting the same caliber of athletes as consistently as football-first Ohio State. Simple as that. Michigan, Harbaugh is likely as well as you are going to do. Make the most of it, and enjoy your 9-10 win seasons.
Auburn vs Alabama
Rivalry weekend did not disappoint across the boards (for the most part), starting at the top. Yesterday’s Iron Bowl was the highest-scoring affair in the history of this bitterest of rivalries. For Auburn, this ought to quell any doubts about Gus Malzahn’s tenure. For Alabama fans, this obviously raises questions. Can they still sustain a championship drive after so many playoff appearances and wins? Has Nick Saban peaked, only now for us to witness a slow, steady decline? Is it a good idea for Saban to retire now, while he’s still on top (barely)? The sooner these questions are addressed, the better.
Kentucky vs Louisville
The Wildcats’ lopsided win over the Cardinals show that even a low-level SEC team usually beats a middling ACC team. The real shock of this game was how Louisville’s defense quit, and against their biggest rival, no less. This shows that, while Coach Scott Satterfield is ahead of schedule in implementing his sound team culture (seven wins is a huge turnaround from last year’s debacle, after all), there are still some remnants of the Bobby Petrino fallout/poison that still need to be exorcised.
Purdue vs Indiana
On paper, the Hoosiers were the favored team. Based on their performance this year, they should have won. And win they did, but not without an intense fight. This was a very competitive, very dramatic, thus very engaging matchup for the Old Oaken Bucket. For Purdue, the big mistake came in overtime, where the better team typically wins. Purdue answered IU’s score with a TD of their own. They tied it up with an extra point. That as a mistake. With current momentum on their side, they should have gone for two. Giving the better team more chances to score points turns out to be suicide, and that played out exactly in the Hoosiers’ favor. Let us hope that Coach Jeff Brohm learned this lesson, among other lessons of less hype, more humility, and more concentration on fundamentals and finishing a game.
All that said, Indiana celebrates its first eight-win season since the early 1990s and the days of Coach Bill Mallory. Way to go, Hoosiers.
College Football Awards, Week 11 (2019) November 11, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Alabama State, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Bi1G, Big Ten, Bill Mallory, Central Florida, Chad Morris, Cincinnati, Commodores, Copper Bowl, Ed Orgeron, Florida, Florida State, Floyd of Rosedale, Gators, Georgia, Hoosiers, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, James Franklin, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Les Miles, Lincoln Riley, Louisville, LSU, Luke Fickell, Maryland, Matt Campbell, Memphis, Michigan State, Mike Gundy, Minnesota, New Mexico State, Nick Saban, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Penn State, Rutgers, Scott Satterfield, TCU, Temple, Texas, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, UCLA, UMass, Utah, Vanderbilt, Washington, Western Kentucky, Wisconsin
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Ed Orgeron, LSU (hon. mention: P.J. Fleck, Minnesota)
Glad I’m not him: Nick Saban, Alabama
Lucky guy: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
Poor guy: Matt Campbell, Iowa State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Scott Satterfield, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: James Franklin, Penn State
Desperately seeking … anything: Chad Morris, Arkansas
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated Maryland 73-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Michigan State (lost to Illinois 37-34)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Vanderbilt (lost to No. 10 Florida 50-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Oregon State (lost to Washington 19-7)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Western Kentucky (defeated Arkansas 45-19)
Dang, they’re good: LSU
Dang, they’re bad: UMass
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Penn State
Did the season start? TCU
Can the season end? Northwestern
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 17 Minnesota 31, No. 4 Penn State 26
Never play this again: No. 1 Ohio State, Maryland 14
What? Tulsa 34, UCF 31
Huh? Texas 27, No. 16 Kansas State 24
Are you kidding me?? No. 2 LSU 46, No. 3 Alabama 41
Oh – my – God: No. 17 Minnesota 31, No. 4 Penn State 26
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 11, pre-week 12)
Ticket to die for: No. 5 Georgia @ No. 13 Auburn
Next-best game of the week: No. 24 Indiana @ No. 11 Penn State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: none
Best non-Power Five matchup: Tulane @ Temple
Upset alert: UCLA @ No. 8 Utah
Must win: No. 8 Oklahoma @ No. 10 Baylor
Offensive explosion: No. 18 Memphis @ Houston
Defensive struggle: Kentucky @ Vanderbilt
Great game no one is talking about: Texas @ Iowa State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Les Miles of Kansas vs Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 2 Ohio State @ Rutgers
Why are they playing? Alabama State @ Florida State
Plenty of good seats remaining: UMass @ Northwestern
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? UIW @ New Mexico State
Week 11 Thoughts:
Alabama vs LSU
What more can be said about this dramatic and incredibly consequential game? On paper, was it LSU’s victory really an upset? They were ranked No. 2 in the polls ahead of Alabama at No. 3, after all. So what made the Tigers’ win an upset? Call it a mental block. Call it a [proverbial] monkey on LSU’s back. They had, after all, lost to the Crimson Tide eight straight times, often with national championship aspirations on the line. This time, they finally won, and now, the Tigers control their own destiny to Atlanta and to the Playoffs as well.
Minnesota vs Penn State
The Golden Gophers have earned their biggest win in more than a decade. They currently lead the Western Division of the Big Ten. While they control their own destiny to the conference championship, they have a challenging road ahead if they want to make it to Indianapolis. Their next game is at No. 18 Iowa, a border rivalry where they play for one of the most prominent trophies in college football, the Floyd of Rosedale. After a respite against a down Northwestern, they close out the regular season at home against Wisconsin. The Badgers alone are a tough out, and they usually are the perennial Western representative in the B1G championship. Factor in the border rivalry and the fact that both teams play for the Paul Bunyan Axe (have you seen the size of that thing?), and one is apt to anticipate a high-stakes, high-drame showdown in Minneapolis come Nov. 30. But first, the Gophers have to win their other remaining games, starting with Iowa, which is never easy these days, Floyd or no Floyd.
Florida vs Vanderbilt
This blowout only merits mention because the Commodores attempted a “sad field goal” and failed. The definition of a “sad field goal” is if your team is down by more than two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and yet you go for a field goal anyhow. That sounds sad just saying it, does it not? Well, Vandy attempted the saddest of field goals as they were down 49-0 to Florida in The Swamp late in the 4th quarter. Instead of going for it with nothing to lose, they attempted a sad field goal, which went wide left. Like a train wreck, you can’t not watch.
Looking ahead: Indiana at Penn State
When was the last time that Indiana was ranked in football? Give up? It was 1994. Bill Mallory was the head coach at that time. He built a decent program, too, winning the 1991 Copper Bowl. But his labors went unnoticed because IU was more basketball-obsessed than it is today, which saying something. Frankly, I don’t hold out much hope for the Hoosiers, but if they put up a fight against wounded Penn State, it should be an entertaining game.
College Football Awards, Week 6 (2019) October 7, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona, Auburn, B1G, Big Ten, Boise State, Boston College, Bowling Green, Buckeyes, Cincinnati, Craig James, Dan Mullen, Florida, football, Golden Hurricane, Hawaii, Hawkeyes, Houston, Iowa, Iowa State, Jeff Brohm, Jim Harbaugh, Kent State, Kirk Ferentz, Louisville, LSU, Matt Campbell, Michigan, Michigan State, Mustangs, NCAA, Nebraska, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Purdue, Rhode Island, Scott Frost, Scott Satterfield, SMU, Spartans, Stanford, Steve Addazio, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, UCLA, UConn, UNLV, Utah, Utah State, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington, Wisconsin, Wolverines
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Dan Mullen, Florida
Glad I’m not him: Guz Malzahn, Auburn
Lucky guy: Scott Satterfield, Louisville
Poor guy: Steve Addazio, Boston College
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Matt Campbell, Iowa State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Desperately seeking … anything: Jeff Brohm, Purdue
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Notre Dame (defeated Bowling Green 52-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Nebraska (defeated Northwestern 13-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Utah State (lost to No. 5 LSU 42-6)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Tulsa (lost to SMU 43-37)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Iowa State (defeated TCU 49-24)
Dang, they’re good: LSU
Dang, they’re bad: Bowling Green
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Auburn
Did the season start? TCU
Can the season end? UCLA
Can the season never end? SMU
GAMES
Play this again: No. 10 Florida 24, No. 7 Auburn 13
Never play this again: No. 9 Notre Dame 52, Bowling Green 0
What? No. 19 Michigan 10, No. 14 Iowa 3
Huh? Texas Tech 45, No. 21 Oklahoma State 35
Double-Huh? Cincinnati 27, No. 18 UCF 24
Are you kidding me?? Stanford 23, No. 15 Washington 13
Oh – my – God: No. 10 Florida 24, No. 7 Auburn 13
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 6, pre-week 7)
Ticket to die for: No. 6 Oklahoma vs. No. 11 Texas in the Red River Shootout
(Possible second choice): No. 10 Florida @ No. 5 LSU
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: UNLV @ Vanderbilt
Best non-Power Five matchup: Cincinnati @ Houston (also: Hawaii @ No. 16 Boise State)
Upset alert: No. 25 Michigan State @ No. 8 Wisconsin (also: Florida @ LSU)
Must win: No. 15 Washington @ Arizona
Offensive explosion: (inconclusive)
Defensive struggle: No. 10 Florida @ No. 5 LSU
Great game no one is talking about: Louisville @ No. 22 Wake Forest (also: Penn State @ Iowa)
Intriguing coaching matchup: P.J. Fleck of Minnesota vs Scott Frost of Nebraska
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 17 Utah @ Oregon State
Why are they playing? Rhode Island @ Virginia Tech
Plenty of good seats remaining: Kent State @ Akron
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? UConn @ Tulane
Week 6 Thoughts:
Michigan vs. Iowa
Iowa came into the Big House ranked No. 14 to home team Michigan’s No. 19 ranking. The game was a close one from start to finish, and in the end, Michigan triumphed in a defensive struggle, 10-3. Under normal circumstances, when a team, ranked or otherwise, defeats a higher-ranked team, that is a good day, that is a good day for the lower-ranked team.
So why do I get the feeling that this win will not slake the bloodthirst of Jim Harbaugh’s critics? I can think of two reasons. The most obvious is that Michigan scored only 10 lousy points. At home. Granted, it was against Iowa, which is always a deceptively tough out, but in the end, scoring only 10 points borders on disturbing.
Keep in mind that Wisconsin is, theoretically, an even stronger defense, yet the Wolverines scored two touchdowns on them in a losing effort on the road. Should such an abysmal offensive performance persist later in the season, how does one think that Michigan is to fare against, say, Penn State, Michigan State, Notre Dame, or even [shudder] archrival Ohio State?
The reason this win does not assuage concerns about Michigan’s direction was Iowa’s performance. That the Hawkeyes’ offense kept sputtering when it reached the Wolverines’ 40 yard line is what saved the latter’s bacon. To be sure, that is also a tribute to the Wolverines’ tough D. Still, can one count on such defensive shut-downs against even more formidable opponents? Most likely, not.
Bottom line: Harbaugh needs to re-shuffle the proverbial deck for his offense, and do so right now.
SMU vs Tulsa
The Golden Hurricane played the Mustangs tough for the entire game, but a last-minute touchdown put SMU ahead of Tulsa for good. The Mustangs are now undefeated at 6-0 for the first time since 1982 (back when Craig James was still playing for them). Let that sink in for a moment.
Ohio State vs Michigan State
Speaking of stronger defenses than that of Iowa, Michigan State gave a maximum effort against Ohio State. Even then, the Buckeyes still won, 34-10. The Spartans’ aforementioned max effort from their own strong D was all that kept the game from becoming a blowout.
Can anyone in the conference take Ohio State? It certainly does not seem so at this rate. All that said, Oct. 26 could give us a preview of coming Big Ten Championship attractions when the Buckeyes play Wisconsin at home. Once again, the Buckeyes are playing like a solid national championship contender.
Florida vs Auburn
Either Auburn is not quite as good as we thought they were (at No. 7), or Florida is better than we thought they were (at No. 10). Whatever the case may be, if the Gators keep up these strong performances, it shall shape up to be a memorable matchup against Georgia in Jacksonville later this month.
College Football Awards, Week 4 (2019) September 23, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Appalachian State, Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Bobby Petrino, Bowling Green, Camp Randall Stadium, Charlotte, Cowboys, Dana Holgorsen, Delaware, Florida, Florida State, Gary Patterson, Georgia, Iowa, Iowa State, Jeremy Pruitt, Jim Harbaugh, Kansas, Kansas State, Kent State, Kirby Smart, Les Miles, Longhorns, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, Mack Brown, Maryland, Memphis, Miami (OH), Michigan, Middle Tennessee, Navy, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Pitt, Pittsburgh, San Jose State, Sanford Stadium, Scott Satterfield, SJSU, SMU, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, UCLA, UMass, USC, Utah, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington State, Willie Fritz, Willie Taggart
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee
Lucky guy: Willie Taggert, Florida State
Poor guy: Scott Satterfield, Louisville
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Mack Brown, North Carolina
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Willie Fritz, Tulane
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Desperately seeking … anything: Dana Holgorsen, Houston
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated Miami, Ohio 76-5)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Georgia (defeated Notre Dame 23-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Charlotte (lost to Clemson 52-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: SMU (defeated TCU 41-38)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Kent State (defeated Bowling Green 62-20)
Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad: Arkansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: TCU
Did the season start? Stanford
Can the season end? Tennessee
Can the season never end? Iowa State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 3 Georgia 23, No. 7 Notre Dame 17
Play this again, too: No. 12 Texas 36, Oklahoma State 30
Never play this again: No. 6 Ohio State 76, Miami, Ohio 5
That will leave a mark: Iowa State 72, Louisiana-Monroe 20
What? Appalachian State 34, North Carolina 31
Huh? San Jose State 31, Arkansas 24
Double Huh? USC 30, No. 10 Utah 23
Are you kidding me?? SMU 41, No. 25 TCU 38
Oh – my – God: No. 13 Wisconsin 35, No. 11 Michigan 14
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 4, pre-week 5)
Possible best game of the week: No. 18 Virginia @ No. 10 Notre Dame
(Possible second choice): Nebraska @ No. 6 Ohio State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Northern Illinois @ Vanderbilt
Best non-Power Five matchup: Navy @ Memphis
Upset alert: Maryland @ No. 13 Penn State
Must win: UCLA @ Arizona
Offensive explosion: Washington State @ No. 19 Utah
Defensive struggle: (inconclusive)
Great game no one is talking about: Kansas State @ Oklahoma State (also: Iowa State @ Baylor)
Intriguing coaching matchup: Les Miles of Kansas vs. Gary Patterson of TCU
Who’s bringing the body bags? Towson @ No. 9 Florida
Why are they playing? Delaware @ Pitt
Plenty of good seats remaining: Akron @ UMass
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Middle Tennessee @ No. 18 Iowa
Week 4 Thoughts:
Week 4 has been arguably the best week for college football thus far in the 2019 season. Friday started off the weekend with a bang with an engaging matchup between USC and Utah. The following first time slot of Saturday (noon EDT) was great, at least on paper. Michigan faced Wisconsin in Camp Randall Stadium, and left the game exposed for having severe weaknesses on offense that must be addressed or Jim Harbaugh’s future with his alma mater may be in doubt.
That said, two key games in the following time slot (Louisville at Florida State and Auburn at Texas A&M) lived up to their billing. Louisville is clearly headed in the right direction as a program, but much improvement remains. Perhaps it is unreasonable for Scott Satterfield to turn things around so quickly, given the mess that Bobby Petrino left in his wake. Meanwhile, the Aggies fought the good fight at home, but came up short against a gradually but steadily ascendant Auburn. Both were good game, regardless.
The evening time slot proved that the best was yet to come that day. Oklahoma State came calling at Texas, for one. The Longhorns had failed to beat the Cowboys the previous five seasons, so the urgency was clearly there to get that proverbial monkey off the Horns’ collective back.
Then, a half-hour later, the “ticket to die for” lived up to its billing as Notre Dame put up a strong fight against Georgia in Sanford Stadium. The game was a close defensive struggle for three and a half quarters before the Bulldogs finally asserted themselves in accordance with their full potential. In other words, in the latter half of the fourth quarter, the cream finally rose to the top.
With so much great football having been played on Sept. 21 from noon through 11 PM Eastern, such will be a very tough act for Week 5 to follow. Case in point: no game for Week 5 offers a “ticket to die for”, which is more the pity.
College Football Awards, Week 14 (2017) December 7, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Aggies, Alabama, Appalachian State, Army, Auburn, Boise State, Bryan Harsin, Chad Lunsford, Clay Helton, Clemson, David Shaw, Florida State, Fresno State, Gary Patterson, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Gus Malzahn, Jimbo Fisher, Kirby Smart, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Miami Hurricanes, Navy, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Scott Satterfield, SEC, Seminoles, Stanford, TCU, Texas A&M, Tigers, USC, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 14] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Lucky guy: Clay Helton, USC
Poor guy: David Shaw, Stanford
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bryan Harsin, Boise State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Gary Patterson, TCU
Desperately seeking … anything: Chad Lunsford, Georgia Southern
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Florida State (defeated Louisiana-Monroe 42-10)
Thought you’d put up a fight, you did: Stanford (lost to No. 10 USC 31-28)
Thought you’d put up a fight, you didn’t: Miami (lost to No. 1 Clemson 38-3)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Oklahoma (defeated TCU 41-17)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: Louisiana-Lafayette
Did the season start? Stanford
Can the season end? Georgia Southern
Can the season never end? Oklahoma
GAMES
Play this again: No. 8 Ohio State 27, No. 4 Wisconsin 21
Play this again, too: No. 10 USC 31, No. 12 Stanford 28
Never play this again: Appalachian State 63, Louisiana 14
What? Boise State 17, No. 25 Fresno State 14
Are you kidding me?? No. 8 Ohio State 27, No. 4 Wisconsin 21
Oh – my – God: No. 6 Georgia 27, No. 2 Auburn 7
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP, post-week 13)
Ticket to die for: none. The only game next week is the annual Army-Navy game. Enjoy, and God Bless America!
Week 14 Random Thoughts:
Not bad for Florida State salvaging bowl eligibility, even if it meant resorting to resuming a postponed body bag game in order to do so. More importantly, though, it boggles the mind why Jimbo Fisher up and left the FSU gig for the Texas A&M job. One would think that would be a come-down in occupations. The Seminoles have multiple national titles to their name, while the Aggies have but one, and that was way back in 1939. Good luck living up to Aggie nation’s insane expectations, Coach Fisher.
Meanwhile, there has been much controversy surrounding the fourth team selected into the Playoffs. Many contend that Ohio State should have gotten in instead of Alabama. It would certainly be better for business if we had a traditional power representing the Midwest instead of all four teams being from the Sunbelt. But consider this: scouts who have watched all top teams play live say that they were disappointed in how Ohio State struggled to put away Wisconsin, a team with far few NFL-caliber bodies than the top three SEC teams, Bama included.
In hindsight, it ought not to be a surprise how the SEC championship resulted. Auburn was banged up after playing two massive games in a row against top-ranked teams. The Tigers simply had nothing left in the tank come this past weekend.
Yes, the Miami Hurricane’s performance was disappointing against Clemson, but their high ranking earlier this season was a reflection on the fact that they were playing ahead of their stage of development. Come next year, they should be more formidable, and thus a more legit contender for the playoffs.
One of my favorite conference championship game traditions is the two Big Ten team bands getting together on the field pre-game to play the national anthem together. It’s not only a wonderful sight to behold, but musically it’s spot-on, too, as we can always count those bands to deliver a rousing rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner!
Now that the bowl games are lined up, an article on them shall be forthcoming. Until then, let us enjoy the Army-Navy game!
intellectualgridiron 