Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Kalen DeBoer, Washington
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Barry Odom, UNLV
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Desperately seeking … anything: Sam Pittman, Arkansas
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: LSU (defeated Army 62-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Washington (defeated Arizona State 15-7) Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Michigan State (lost to No. 2 Michigan 49-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Central Florida (lost to Oklahoma 31-29)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Kansas State (defeated TCU 41-3)
Dang, they’re good: Michigan Dang, they’re bad: Southern Miss
Can’t Stand Prosperity: North Carolina
Did the season start? USC Can the season end? Sam Houston State
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES Play this again: No. 3 Ohio State 20, No. 7 Penn State 12
Never play this again: LSU 62, Army 0
What? Ball State 24, Central Michigan 17
Huh? Nevada 6, SDSU 0
Are you kidding me?? Minnesota 12, No. 24 Iowa 10
Oh – my – God: Virginia 31, No. 10 North Carolina 27
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 9) Ticket to die for: No. 8 Oregon @ No. 13 Utah
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: (none)
Best non-Power Five matchup: UNLV @ Fresno State
Upset alert: Kentucky @ No. 21 Tennessee
Must win: No. 16 Duke @ No. 20 Louisville
Offensive explosion: Colorado @ No. 23 UCLA
Defensive struggle: (uncertain)
Great game no one is talking about: Miami (OH) @ Ohio U
Intriguing coaching matchup: Deion Sanders of Colorado vs Chip Kelly of UCLA
Who’s bringing the body bags? Indiana @ No. 10 Penn State
Why are they playing? Pitt @ No. 14 Notre Dame
Plenty of good seats remaining: UMass @ Army
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? East Carolina @ UTSA
Week 8 Thoughts:
Ohio State vs Penn State
After this week, Penn State proved that they are an excellent football team. The only problem is for them, that Ohio State proved that they are even better, to the point where the Buckeyes demonstrated they belong in the top five.
USC vs Utah
The Utes passed a test, but not quite in the way anticipated. As good as Utah’s defense is, their offense surpassed USC’s on the ground (249 rushing yards compared to USC’s 145). Clearly, the Trojans were beat up front. Also telling: While Utah QB Bryson Barnes had three TD passes, USC’s Caleb Williams, last year’s Heisman winner, had zero. All of USC’s touchdowns were ironically on the ground. The Trojans passed to set up the run, while the Utes ran to set up the pass.
To look at things more strategically, Lincoln Riley needs to evolve his offense beyond counting on Williams to go out there and simply conjure up magic. Utah’s approach was clearly more fundamentally sound, and it bore the sweet fruit of victory.
Other thoughts:
Oklahoma’s and Texas’ performances were lackluster this week. This is most curious. To contextualize, both teams are coming off bye weeks after an epic showdown against each other in the Cotton Bowl the week before then. What is afoot, and, can both of these teams shake off this apparent funk?
Also, it is too bad that Iowa has a bye this time around, as whomever they play appears to become a shoo-in for the defensive struggle of the week. That said, the 12-10 result in favor of rival Minnesota was ‘surpassed’, for an even greater defensive struggle occurred between Mississippi State and Arkansas, with the latter triumphing 7-3. Or, perhaps we should consider Nevada eclipsing SDSU 6-0. Then there is the head-scratcher of Arizona State holding No. 5 Washington to only 15 points, but they could only muster seven in turn. Quite the statistical cluster for one week of football.
Looking ahead to Week 9:
Oklahoma vs Kansas
Possibly the only interesting game for the noon EDT time slot this upcoming week, which is a shame.
Louisville vs Duke
Both teams have top 20 rankings, and both are seeking redemption as they are coming off losses. This could be a good one.
Texas vs BYU
Steve Sarkesian coaches against his alma mater. That alone is intriguing. What is even more intriguing is whether Texas (along with Oklahoma in its respective game) can play back to form after the Longhorns dodged a bullet this week.
Minnesota vs Michigan State
Sometimes two bad teams butting heads can make for a decent game. Here is one potential example, what with Minnesota inexplicably underperforming, and Michigan State in a self-inflicted disarray. Like a trainwreck, you can’t not watch.
Utah vs Oregon
The Utes’ vaunted defense will be put to an even bigger test this time, as Oregon’s offense does not simply revolve around the unsystematic approach of simply asking their QB to create big plays out of nothing (looking your way, USC).
UCLA vs Colorado
If both teams bring their A-game, then sit back and enjoy the offensive fireworks display.
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jason Candle, Toledo
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Rocky Long, San Diego State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Tom Herman, Texas
Desperately seeking … anything: Walt Bell, UMass
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: BYU (defeated Idaho State 42-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Florida (defeated Missouri 23-6)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Rutgers (lost to No. 2 Ohio State 56-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Syracuse (defeated Duke 49-6)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: USC (defeated Cal 41-17)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: Texas State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Minnesota
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? Georgia Tech
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES Play this again: No. 10 Oklahoma 34, No. 13 Baylor 31
Never play this again: No. 3 Clemson 52, Wake Forest 3
What? Oregon State 35, Arizona State 34
Huh? West Virginia 24, No. 24 Kansas State 20
Are you kidding me?? No. 20 Iowa 23, No. 8 Minnesota 19
Oh – my – God: Iowa State 23, No. 19 Texas 21
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 12, pre-week 13) Ticket to die for: No. 9 Penn State @ No. 2 Ohio State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Liberty @ Virginia
Best non-Power Five matchup: SMU @ Navy (hon. mention: SDSU @ Hawaii)
Upset alert: Syracuse @ Louisville
Must win: Texas @ No. 13 Baylor
Offensive explosion: (inconclusive)
Defensive struggle: Tennessee @ Missouri
Great game no one is talking about: Pittsburgh @ Virginia Tech
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mario Cristobal of Oregon vs Herm Edwards of Arizona State
Who’s bringing the body bags? Samford @ No. 16 Auburn
Why are they playing? Western Carolina @ No. 5 Alabama
Plenty of good seats remaining: Old Dominion @ Middle Tennessee
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? BYU @ UMass
Week 12 Thoughts:
Iowa vs Minnesota
This had to have been one of the biggest face-offs for the Floyd of Rosedale trophy in recent memory. Funny things happen in rivalry games such as this, and a few small errors ended up making the difference in the Hawkeyes’ favor. The Golden Gophers have an easy outing against Northwestern. Such should be a tune-up game for the following week, when Wisconsin comes calling and the berth for representing the Western Division in the B1G title game hangs in the balance.
Iowa State vs Texas
Despite the Longhorns’ offense inexplicably sputtering most of the game, Texas could have won the game after Iowa State missed a field goal with two minutes left in the game. Instead, Texas got an offsides penalty at the worst possible time. It allowed for the Cyclones to get further downfield, kill the clock, and kick the game-winning field goal at the buzzer. No excuses, Tom Herman. Do better.
Looking ahead:
Shoutouts to Texas A&M, Georgia, Missouri, and Tennessee: they are the only SEC teams who had the guts to play real games this upcoming week. While the rest of their fellow SEC members are wasting everybody’s time with pointless body bag games (e.g., Western Carolina @ Bama; Abilene Christian @ Mississippi State), The Aggies, the Georgia Bulldogs, the Mizzou Tigers, and the Volunteers will give us real games this week. Technically, the same should go for LSU and Arkansas. While on paper it’s a glorified body bag game, at least those two teams are keeping it in-conference. To the rest of you in the SEC: get it together. Step up and play real games.
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 4] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Gary Patterson, TCU
Glad I’m not him: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Lucky guy: James Franklin, Penn State
Poor guy: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Will Muschamp, South Carolina
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Desperately seeking … anything: Barry Odom, Missouri
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated UNLV 54-21)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Tennessee (defeated UMass 17-13)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kent State (lost to No. 9 Louisville 42-3)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Louisiana Tech (lost to South Carolina 17-16)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Utah State (defeated San Jose State 61-10)
Dang, they’re good: Michigan
Dang, they’re bad: San Jose State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Michigan State
Did the season start? Florida State
Can the season end? UTEP
Can the season never end? Georgia
GAMES Play this again: Texas A&M 50, Arkansas 43, OT
Play this again, too: No. 4 Penn State 21, Iowa 19
Never play this again: Utah State 61, San Jose State 10
What? Miami (OH) 31, Central Michigan 14
Huh? Arizona State 37, No. 24 Oregon 35
Are you kidding me?? No. 16 TCU 44, No. 6 Oklahoma State 31
Oh – my – God: NC State 27, No. 12 Florida State 21
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 4, pre-week 5) Ticket to die for: No. 2 Clemson @ No. 13 Virginia Tech
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Eastern Michigan @ Kentucky
Best non-Power Five matchup: Memphis @ UCF
Upset alert: Vanderbilt @ No. 21 Florida
Must win: No. 11 Georgia @ Tennessee
Offensive explosion: No 5 USC @ No. 16 Washington State
Defensive struggle: No. 24 Mississippi State @ No. 13 Auburn
Great game no one is talking about: No. 14 Miami @ Duke
Intriguing coaching matchup: Todd Graham of Arizona State vs David Shaw of Stanford
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 11 Ohio State @ Rutgers
Why are they playing? Troy @ No. 25 LSU
Plenty of good seats remaining: San Jose State @ UNLV
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? New Mexico State @ Arkansas
Week 4 Take-aways:
One conclusion after today: Michigan is good, and while Purdue is both exciting and improving, they are still not strong or far along enough in Coach Jeff Brohm’s turnaround campaign for the Boilermakers to be able to effectively take down the heavyweights of the conference. Purdue was continually outmanned on both sides of the line of scrimmage due to the Wolverines’ obviously superior talent. That said, at this rate, Purdue will eventually get to the point where they can upset if not defeat Michigan and the like. Just not today.
This week has been characterized not so much by surprises or upsets as it has by narrow escapes. That is to say, teams that were favored almost getting upset by underdogs, only to narrowly escape in the end. To wit: Tennessee only managed to eke out a 17-13 win over lowly UMass, at home. South Carolina defeated struggling Louisiana Tech by only one point, 17-16. After a dismal start to the season, under-performing Baylor briefly led No. 3 Oklahoma in the second half before eventually losing by only eight points, 49-41.
Oh, but it gets better. No. 4 Penn State had to score a touchdown in literally the last second of the game to triumph over Iowa, 21-19. Then, unranked Kentucky was leading No. 20 Florida throughout a good chunk of the game, but gradually gave up the lead to the Gators in the 4th quarter, allowing the Gators to win, 28-27. Let’s face it: if you’re Kentucky, you blow 4th quarter leads to Florida. It’s what you do.
Last note: how on Earth did Stanford lose to San Diego State last week? Yes, SDSU is currently ranked No. 22, but Stanford would have been ranked higher than that had they not allowed that notch in the “L” column. Did losing to USC take that much out of the Cardinal? Speaking of SDSU and narrow escapes, the Aztecs did beat unranked Air Force today, but only by four points. But that might be more of a commentary on the Falcon’s ball-control, option-oriented offense and less on possible consistencies on the part of the former team.
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