College Football Awards, Week 4 (2026) September 28, 2026
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Bill Belichick, Bowling Green, Buffalo, Cal, college football, Duke, Faizon Brandon, Florida, Florida Atlantic, football, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Jake Dickert, Jeff Brohm, Josh Heupel, Kirk Ferentz, Kyle Whittingham, LA Monroe, Longhorns, Louisville, Luke Fickell, Marcus Freeman, Maryland, Matt Campbell, Michigan, Mike Locksley, Mississippi State, Missouri, NCAA, NCAA football, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Panthers, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, SMU, South Alabama, Sports, Steve Sarkesian, Tennessee, Texas, UNLV, Virginia Tech, Volunteers, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Western Michigan, Wisconsin
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Glad I’m not him: Josh Heupel, Tennessee
Lucky guy: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Poor guy: Kyle Whittingham, Michigan
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jeff Brohm, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jake Dickert, Wake Forest
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Matt Campbell, Penn State
Desperately seeking … anything: Mike Locksley, Maryland
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Pitt (defeated Bucknell 59-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: SMU (defeated Missouri State 34-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Purdue (lost to No. 3 Notre Dame 49-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Northwestern (lost to Indiana 29-23)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Florida (defeated No. 4 Ole Miss 52-28)
Dang, they’re good: Florida
Dang, they’re bad: Maryland
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Louisville
Did the season start? Penn State
Can the season end? Bowling Green
Can the season never end? Georgia
GAMES
Play this again: No. 1 Texas 20, No. 14 Tennessee 17
Play this again, too: No 17 Iowa 20, No. 18 Michigan 19
Never play this again: Duke 62, William & Mary 7
What? No. 24 Mississippi State 31, No. 19 Missouri 24
Huh? Wake Forest 30, No. 16 Louisville 27
Are you kidding me?? Wisconsin 24, No. 13 Penn State 20
Oh – my – God: No. 21 Florida 52, No. 4 Ole Miss 28
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 5)
Ticket to die for: No. 7 Alabama @ No. 16 Mississippi State
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: Cal @ UNLV
Best non-Power Four matchup: Western Michigan @ Buffalo
Upset alert: Michigan @ Minnesota
Must win: Louisville @ NC State
Offensive explosion: No. 7 Alabama @ No. 16 Mississippi State
Defensive struggle: Michigan State @ Wisconsin
Great game no one is talking about: Pittsburgh @ Virginia Tech (Friday)
Also: West Virginia @ Iowa State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame vs Bill Belichick of North Carolina
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 11 LSU @ McNeese State
Why are they playing? No. 11 LSU @ McNeese State
Plenty of good seats remaining: LA Monroe @ South Alabama
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Texas Southern @ Florida Atlantic
Week 4 Thoughts:
Texas survived yet another strong challenge, this time in the hostile confines of legendary Neyland Stadium. Many in the sports commentary sphere remarked that had this been a night game, the place would have been more intimidating to the visiting Longhorns to the point where the odds would have been more in the Volunteers’ favor. That assessment does not take a rocket scientist to figure out: the fans would have had all day to get good and drunk. Drunker fans equal louder fans, making for an even more hostile environment in which for the visitors to play. Small wonder LSU plays most of their games in the evening.
To compensate for this lack of, er, augmented home field advantage, Neyland Stadium opened up its gates early. Parking lots opened at 6 AM for example, but that’s not the half of it. The University of Tennessee discounted all of their stadium concessions, including (read: especially) beer, at 50 percent between 9 and 10 AM (!). The ostensible reason for all of this was to encourage early arrival in order to avoid congestion as President Donald Trump, who also attended the game, was to arrive. But let us kid ourselves. As plausible as this may be, on the surface, for the reason behind this “early bird special”, we all know the real reason behind it, and its somewhat genius. Some might say dangerously genius, as it could set a new precedence for new degrees of fan inebriation earlier in the day going forward, but time will tell.
Regardless, all of this was before the game itself. Hard to believe that this was the first time the Horns and Volunteers played each other in the regular season. Moreover, the last time these two storied programs clashed was in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day, 1969, almost seven months shy of the Apollo 11 moon landing, and a prelude to the Longhorns’ undefeated season that same year which culminated in a national title of their own.
The game lived up to its hype, for both teams gave strong efforts, and at the end, Texas’ defensive line made the difference in stifling Tennessee’s young but potentially-gifted QB Faizon Brandon. Such potential showed itself in the form of Faizon almost completing a Hail Mary pass in the end zone as the game ended.
Random Thoughts:
There are body bag games, then then there are worse, even more pointless body bag games. To wit, regarding the latter: rarely would one consider the Pittsburgh Panthers to be pitiless executioners in such affairs, but so it went when they mercilessly ground down Bucknell 59-0. It is one thing for a Power-Five team to pick up an easy win against a “Group of Six” team for cash. It is quite another to pulverize a middling FCS team with no playoff hopes even at the latter’s level of competition. In this new day and age of playoffs and increased parity in the sport at the upper levels of FBS play, is it not unreasonable that we ban such ugly matchups from ever happening again?
Same thing goes for Duke. Scheduling a low-end Sunbelt or MAC conference team for an easy win is one thing. Scheduling a middling FCS team is getting ridiculous. At least with Pitt, they kept it in-state. Stunts like these make for begging for some central authority to start making schedules like they do in the NFL.
How many holes did Jeff Brohm kick into the wall of his office in the wake of Louisville’s puzzling loss, at home to Wake Forest? Either the Demon Deacons are far better than their currently unranked status shows, or the Cardinals demonstrated some weird refusal to effectively execute plays. For a team to go toe-to-toe with Ole Miss and then to take down a formidable SMU squad only to come up short against this team leaves one to sympathize with Brohm in his current frustrations.
Don’t look now, but Luke Fickell finally got something close to a signature win in taking down then-undefeated Penn State, in Happy Valley, no less. Perhaps the Badger program is gaining strength under his leadership after all. Time will tell if this is a harbinger of further success for the program, or some curious anomaly instead.
Something to monitor for Week 5: can Missouri’s defense contain Florida’s offense more effectively than Ole Miss’ did in The Swamp this week?
College Football Awards, Week 3 (2026) September 21, 2026
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Appalachian State, Boise State, Brent Venables, Bronco Mendenhall, Bulldogs, Cardinals, Central Michigan, college football, Florida, football, Gators, Georgia, Houston, Iowa State, Joey McGuire, Kent State, Kentucky, Kirk Ferentz, Kyle Whittingham, Lane Kiffin, Longhorns, Louisville, Miami (FL), Michigan, Michigan State, Mike Elko, Minnesota, Mississippi State, NC State, NCAA, NCAA football, Nebraska, Northern Illinois, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pete Golding, Purdue, Rich Rodriguez, SMU, South Alabama, South Carolina, Sports, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tigers, Toledo, UCLA, USC, Utah, Utah State, Virginia, Wake Forest, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Pete Golding, Ole Miss
Glad I’m not him: Lane Kiffin, LSU
Lucky guy: Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
Poor guy: Willie Fritz, Houston
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Brent Venables, Oklahoma
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mike Elko, Texas A&M
Desperately seeking … anything: Bronco Mendenhall
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated Kent State 59-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: USC (defeated Rutgers 42-35)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: UTEP (lost to No. 19 Michigan 52-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: New Mexico (lost to Oklahoma 14-6)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Iowa State (defeated Bowling Green 55-7)
Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: Northern Illinois
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia
Did the season start? Texas A&M
Can the season end? Utah State
Can the season never end? Ole Miss
GAMES
Play this again: No. 8 Ole Miss 32, No. 9 LSU 24
Play this again, too: Toledo 49, Temple 48 (OT)
Never play this again: No. 21 Oregon 84, Portland State 0
What? West Virgina 38, No. 25 Virginia 27
Huh? No. 23 Louisville 41, No. 16 SMU 31
Are you kidding me?? No. 8 Ole Miss 32, No. 9 LSU 24
Oh – my – God: Kentucky 31, No. 9 Texas A&M 21
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 4)
Ticket to die for: No. 1 Texas @ No. 14 Tennessee
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: Appalachian State @ NC State
Best non-Power Four matchup: Boise State @ Western Michigan
Upset alert: Wake Forest @ No. 16 Louisville
Must win: No. 23 Texas A&M @ No. 10 LSU
Offensive explosion: No. 20 Oregon @ No. 12 USC
Defensive struggle: Nebraska @ Michigan State
Great game no one is talking about: No. 15 Utah @ Iowa State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Kirk Ferentz of Iowa vs Kyle Whittingham of Michigan
Who’s bringing the body bags? Central Michigan @ No. 5 Miami
Why are they playing? South Alabama @ Kentucky
Plenty of good seats remaining: Stonehill @ Ohio U
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Mercyhurst @ Western Kentucky
Week 3 Thoughts:
Lane Kiffin’s awkward homecoming back to Ole Miss as the new head coach at LSU was a game that lived up to its hype. In addition to the obvious awkwardness and intrigue of that matchup (Kiffin’s former assistant at Ole Miss is now the Rebels’ head coach) was a layer of irony piled on top of it all. Clearly the idea behind Kiffin’s sudden, jarring departure from a playoff-bound program was to go to an even greener pasture. Yet the team Kiffin left behind played like the more physical team, not to mention having an overwhelming advantage in quarterback play. Despite the Tigers’ occasional flash of brilliance, the Rebels were able to maintain their lead throughout most of the game, and triumphed in the end, 32-24, in what must have felt like a massive vindication for the faithful fans in Oxford, Miss.
When one widens the angle of the lens, a curious dynamic comes into view. Louisville opened the season against Ole Miss, and almost beat them. LSU, seemingly a stronger team than the Cardinals, had greater struggles against the Rebels in their game than the Cards did against the same team in theirs. Meanwhile, Louisville defeated a formidable SMU team at home.
Next week, Wake Forest comes calling at Louisville, the same Demon Deacons that hanged tough against currently-No. 6 Miami. Whereas the Cardinals faced a must-win for conference championship viability this just-concluded week, they could face a potential upset in the week to come.
Random Thoughts:
Offensive explosions I did not have on my bingo card this week included Florida at Auburn (the Gators won, 44-39); Mississippi State at South Carolina (the Bulldogs won, 41-34); Florida State at Alabama (the Tide eventually pulled away, 50-36); and, perhaps the most odd of them all, Purdue at UCLA, with the Bruins winning 52-38.
Speaking of Mississippi State, they have been on a tear recently. The Bulldogs humiliated Minnesota up in Minneapolis the previous week before pulling out another win on the road in Columbia. Now at No. 24, they face No. 19 Missouri in their biggest test yet.
Speaking of potential upsets, keep an eye on how Ole Miss reacts to their big win, as they venture into The Swamp next week to face an apparently resurgent Florida team, now ranked No. 21.
Meanwhile, whither LSU? Now at No. 10 (only losing two spots in the rankings), they face Texas A&M, erstwhile No. 9, now all the way down to No. 23 after coughing up the game at home to still-unranked Kentucky. Both teams now have a chance to recover their wounded pride and standing, making for a uniquely must-win situation.
Along the same subject of must-wins, how does Texas respond to their No. 1 ranking? They now must venture into a hostile Neyland Stadium to face No. 14 Tennessee. Not so long ago, on paper, such a discrepancy in the rankings would be overwhelming. With NIL having brought a new level of parity to the upper rankings, that gap in rank is not so overwhelming anymore. Bottom line, the Horns will have a major fight on their hands, in what should be the best game of the week, within the Noon Eastern Time slot, no less.
College Football Awards, Week 11 (2025) November 10, 2025
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Auburn, Boise State, Boston College, BYU, Cal, California, Clark Lea, Clemson, Colorado, Cougars, Curt Cignetti, Deion Sanders, Florida, football, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hoosiers, Indiana, Iowa, Jedd Fisch, Joey McGuire, Justin Wilcox, Kalani Sitake, Kentucky, Louisville, Marcus Freeman, Memphis, Michigan, Navy, NCAA, New Mexico State, Nittany Lions, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Pat Narduzzi, Penn State, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Red Raiders, San Diego State, SMU, South Florida, Steve Spurrier, Tennessee, Terry Smith, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tulane, Tulsa, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest, Washington, Wisconsin
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Joey McGuire, Texas Tech
Glad I’m not him: Kalani Sitake, BYU
Lucky guy: Curt Cignetti, Indiana
Poor guy: Terry Smith, Penn State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Clark Lea, Vanderbilt
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Justin Wilcox, Cal
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jedd Fisch, Washington
Desperately seeking … anything: Deion Sanders, Colorado
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ole Miss (defeated The Citadel 49-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Indiana (defeated Penn State 27-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Boston College (lost to SMU 45-13)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Penn State (lost to Indiana 27-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Kentucky (defeated Florida 38-7)
Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: Northern Illinois
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia
Did the season start? Washington
Can the season end? Florida
Can the season never end? Texas A&M
GAMES
Play this again: No. 2 Indiana 27, Penn State 24
Play this again, too: No. 9 Oregon 18, Iowa 16
Never play this again: No. 6 Ole Miss 49, The Citadel 0
What? Tulane 38, No. 22 Memphis 32
Huh? No. 8 Texas Tech 29, No. 7 BYU 7
Double-Huh? Wisconsin 13, No. 23 Washington 10
Are you kidding me??: Cal 29, No. 15 Louisville 26, OT
Oh – my – God: Wake Forest 16, No. 14 Virginia 9
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 12)
Ticket to die for: No. 10 Texas @ No. 5 Georgia
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: none
Best non-Power Four matchup: Boise State @ San Diego State
Upset alert: Iowa @ No. 17 USC
Must win: No. 11 Oklahoma @ No. 4 Alabama
Offensive explosion: South Florida @ Navy
Defensive struggle: No. 18 Michigan @ Northwestern
Great game no one is talking about: Clemson @ No. 19 Louisville
Also: Arizona @ Cincinnati
Intriguing coaching matchup: Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame vs Pat Narduzzi of Pittsburgh
Who’s bringing the body bags, B1G edition? Wisconsin @ No. 2 Indiana
Who’s bringing the body bags, ACC edition? No. 14 Georgia Tech @ Boston College
Why are they playing? New Mexico State @ No. 21 Tennessee
Plenty of good seats remaining: Oregon State @ Tulsa
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Tennessee Tech @ Kentucky
Week 12 [Random] Thoughts:
Indiana averted one of the biggest upsets of the season when they came back in the last minute of the game to score on Penn State, in Happy Valley. For the first time all year, the Hoosiers had to play from behind, initially having to punt with only four minutes and change left in the game, and somehow forcing Penn State to punt at the two-minute warning. Moreover, the game-winning drive only became such with a series of amazing catches, including two improbable ones, one of which was the touchdown itself, what with Omar Cooper, jr., barely keeping his feet in bounds at the back of the end zone. Still, Penn State theoretically had time to kick a field goal with the ball back, with the drive stalled at the 50, forcing a Hail Mary play that went nowhere.
Once again, Penn State played up to their initially high-rank potential, as if they too were still a top-ten team. In so doing, instead of getting their doors blown off, as my speculated they would, the Nittany Lions forced the Hoosiers into situations they had not faced all year. Upon further review, perhaps Curt Cignetti should send a case of wine over to the Penn State coaching staff, as they forced IU into situations the Hoosiers will certainly have to deal with some playoff time.
In other news, Texas Tech boat raced BYU during the Noon ET timeslot in Lubbock. Remember when that was supposed to be the game of the week (admittedly as part of a relatively weak slate of games for this weekend)? As things manifested, however, it soon became clear that the Red Raiders had too many ponies for the Cougars to corral. Just as war is a laboratory to find out what should have been known between countries’ powers before the first battle, lining up teams and having them play is the ultimate showing of who is actually better than whom, and the outcome of this game is “Exhibit A”.
They say that by November, you pretty much are who you are as a team. For example, by November of 2014 (Steve Spurrier’s last full season coaching South Carolina), the Gamecocks were a team that blew 4th quarter leads. Today, and in a similar vein, Louisville is a team that blows it in overtime at home.
Who had the Auburn @ Vanderbilt game as the offensive explosion of the week on their bingo card? Not this guy: where had that offense for Auburn been all year?
College Football Awards, Week 10 (2025) November 3, 2025
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Arizona, Auburn, Boise State, Boston College, Brent Venables, Clark Lea, college, Colorado, Commodores, Dan Lanning, FIU, Florida, Florida State, football, Fresno State, Gators, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Hugh Freeze, Indiana, Josh Heupel, Kentucky, Kirk Ferentz, Longhorns, Louisville, Mario Cristobal, Memphis, Miami (FL), Miami (Fla.), Michigan, Middle Tennessee, NC State, NCAA, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Sam Houston, SMU, Sooners, Steve Sarkesian, Tennessee, Texas, The Citadel, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Volunteers, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Willie Fritz
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Brent Venables, Oklahoma
Glad I’m not him: Josh Heupel, Tennessee
Lucky guy: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Poor guy: Clark Lea, Vanderbilt
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Willie Fritz, Houston
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mario Cristobal, Miami
Desperately seeking … anything: Hugh Freeze, Auburn
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Florida State (defeated Wake Forest 42-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Notre Dame (defeated Boston College 25-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to Arizona 52-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Purdue (lost to Michigan 21-16)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Fresno State (defeated Boise State 30-7)
Dang, they’re good: Indiana
Dang, they’re bad: Colorado
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Georgia Tech
Did the season start? Miami, FL
Can the season end? Auburn
Can the season never end? Ole Miss
GAMES
Play this again: No. 5 Georgia 24, Florida 20
Play this again, too: SMU 26, No. 10 Miami 20, OT
Never play this again: No. 2 Indiana 55, Maryland 10
What? UTSA 48, Tulane 26
Huh? West Virginia 45, No. 22 Houston 35
Double-Huh? SMU 26, No. 10 Miami 20, OT
Are you kidding me??: No. 20 Texas 34, No. 9 Vanderbilt 31
Oh – my – God: NC State 48, No. 8 Georgia Tech 36
Told you so: Kentucky 10, Auburn 3
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 11)
Ticket to die for: No. 8 BYU @ No. 9 Texas Tech
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: none
Best non-Power Four matchup: San Diego State @ Hawaii
Upset alert: Cal @ No. 14 Louisville
Must win: No. 6 Oregon @ Iowa
Offensive explosion: No. 3 Texas A&M @ No. 19 Missouri
Defensive struggle: Florida @ Kentucky
Great game no one is talking about: Tulane @ No. 22 Memphis
Intriguing coaching matchup: Dan Lanning of Oregon vs Kirk Ferentz of Iowa
Who’s bringing the body bags, B1G edition? No. 1 Ohio State @ Purdue
Who’s bringing the body bags, ACC edition? SMU @ Boston College
Why are they playing? The Citadel @ No. 7 Ole Miss
Plenty of good seats remaining: Sam Houston @ Oregon State
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? FIU @ Middle Tennessee
Week 10 [Random] Thoughts:
Texas played some of its best football all season – for three-and-a-half quarters, at least. A long bomb to the end zone threatened to break favored Vanderbilt’s collective back, only to find out that the receiver dropped the ball upon further review. That gave the Commodores enough time to regroup in an effort to overcome a three-TD deficit. The Longhorns’ collapse of their defense late in the 4th quarter almost enabled that. Sloppy play on both sides of the ball that pushed Vandy’s on-side kick out of bounds finally sealed the deal for Texas. But the final minutes of play left the 100,000+ faithful in DKR Memorial Stadium breathing a sigh of relief instead of belting out a massive cheer in celebration of this counterintuitive upset.
To zoom out the lens, Texas pulled off an improbably comeback on the road last week. This week, they almost allowed for an improbably comeback at home. Looks like Sark needs to teach his team how to play the whole 60 minutes.
Meanwhile, can Josh Heupel & Co. find a higher gear? As good as this Tennessee teams have been these past few years, he cannot seem to be able to pick up a signature win against the heavyweights within his own conference, or even others (witness the drubbing the Volunteers took in Ohio Stadium during last year’s playoffs).
Oklahoma, conversely, picked up a quality win, which, ironically, gives hated rival Texas’ decisive win over the Sooners all the more quality.
Where has this Florida team been all year? Notwithstanding their win over the Longhorns in the Swamp, the Gators have underperformed the rest of the year…until now, when they threatened to upset No. 5 Georgia at the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville (yes, I’m still calling that), and it turned out to be the greatest game of the week.
College Football Awards, Week 14 (2024) December 3, 2024
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: ACC, Aggies, Alabama, Arch Manning, Arizona State, Army, B1G, Big XII, Boise State, Buckeyes, Buffalo, CHip Kelly, Clemson, college football, Colorado, Dan Lanning, Florida State, football, Fran Brown, Gamecocks, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Jacksonville State, James Franklin, Kent State, Kirk Ferentz, Longhorns, Louisville, Mario Cristobal, Matt Rhule, Memphis, Miami (FL), Miami (OH), Michigan, Mike Elko, Mustangs, NCAA, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Quinn Ewers, Ryan Day, Ryan Walters, Sherrone Moore, SMU, South Carolina, Steve Sarkesian, Syracuse, Texas, Texas A&M, Tigers, Tulane, UNLV, USC, Western Kentucky
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Honorable mention: Sherrone Moore, Michigan
Glad I’m not him: Mike Elko, Texas A&M
Lucky guy: Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Poor guy: Matt Rhule, Nebraska
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Mario Cristobal, Miami (FL)
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Fran Brown, Syracuse
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Ryan Day, Ohio State
Desperately seeking … anything: Ryan Walters, Purdue
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Indiana (defeated Purdue 66-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Georgia (defeated Georgia Tech 44-42)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kent State (lost to Buffalo 43-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: USC (lost to No. 5 Notre Dame 49-35)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Colorado (defeated Oklahoma State 59-0)
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Ohio State
Did the season start? Miami (FL)
Can the season end? Florida State
Can the season never end? Indiana
GAMES
Play this again: Michigan 13, No. 2 Ohio State 10
Play this again, too (told you so): Iowa 13, Nebraska 10
Never play this again: Indiana 66, Purdue 0
What? Memphis 34, No. 17 Tulane 24
Huh? No. 15 South Carolina 17, No. 12 Clemson 14
Are you kidding me?? Syracuse 42, No. 6 Miami 35
Oh – my – God: Michigan 13, No. 2 Ohio State 10
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (week 15)
Ticket to die for: No. 2 Texas @ No. 5 Georgia in the SEC championship game
Honorable mention: No. 1 Oregon vs No. 4 Penn State in the B1G championship game
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: (none)
Best non-Power Four matchup: No. 17 Tulane @ Army
Upset alert: No. 12 Clemson vs No. 9 SMU in the ACC Championship game
Must win: All championship games, but especially the No. 16 Arizona State vs No. 18 Iowa State in the Big XII championship game
Offensive explosion: No. 22 UNLV vs. No. 11 Boise State
Defensive struggle: Ohio vs Miami (OH)
Great game no one is talking about: Western Kentucky @ Jacksonville State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Dan Lanning of Oregon vs James Franklin of Penn State
Who’s bringing the body bags? N/A
Why are they playing? N/A
Plenty of good seats remaining: N/A
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? N/A
Week 14 Thoughts:
Let us confront the 800-lb. gorilla in the room. It was all set for Ohio State. All they had to do was win the game. But the game turned out to be “The Game”, and in “The Game”, the Buckeyes choked massively. QB Will Howard failed to seek out his marquee weapons. The receivers dropped key passes.
While we can lay this massive failure at the feet of the offense, perhaps we should be more specific and lay the failure at the feet of Ryan Day and the offensive tactics he chose by wanting to prove how tough his team was by winning “tough”, that is, winning by battling out in the trenches running the ball between the tackles. That’s all well and good, but when your strengths are at the perimeters, not on the line (remember, Ohio State was working with a patchwork line-up on the o-line due to injuries), then the smart play is to play to those strengths.
This tactical failure on the part of Day is all the more stark when one considers that while Ohio State has an unbeatable receiving corps, Michigan was “patchwork” in the secondary. Such is the magnitude of the missed opportunity. My lingering question is, to what extent did Chip Kelly influence the offensive tactics for this game?
No more B1G championship berth for Ohio State: that now goes to Penn State instead. At least they have retained a No. 7 ranking in the polls, which should, in all likelihood, help them clinch a spot in the playoffs anyhow. But this loss will smart, especially since Ryan Day is now 1-4 against their hated rival, “that school up north”. One takeaway is that Day’s tenure in Columbus just became much more tenuous. He can consult John Cooper on the “why”.
Elsewhere, Miami (FL) had a golden opportunity to make it to the ACC championship and clinch a spot in the playoffs. All they had to do was beat Syracuse, but then they blew a three-TD lead to Syracuse in the second half. Now, not only are the Hurricanes out of the ACC championship, their potential bid for the playoffs is very much in doubt. Funny how one game can do that, but this reminds us that November is for everything.
One team that did rise to the occasion, barely, was Texas. The Longhorns and the Aggies renewed their rivalry on Saturday, playing for the first time since 2011. The Horns were ranked No. 3, but the Aggies were also ranked and No. 20. Sounds like advantage, Longhorns…except that the game was at nighttime in Kyle Field, a bona fide hostile place to play. Nevertheless, despite some hiccups on offense (Ewers threw a pick-six, for example), Texas still prevailed, 17-7. Were it not for the pick-six, the game could have ended 24-0 or better in Texas’ favor. Give the game ball to the Longhorns’ D for shutting down A&M’s offense. Meanwhile, Sark has work to do on offense when they take on Georgia in Atlanta for all the marbles in the conference. To that end, is Ewers dealing with a more serious injury than we are led on to believe? If so, Sark would be well-served to deploy Manning at the drop of a hat in Atlanta next week.
One interesting development is that South Carolina defeated in-state rival Clemson in Death Valley (no small feat), but since the Tigers’ loss was not in-conference, they still get to play SMU for the ACC championship. Looks like that loss to Louisville earlier in the season did not mortally wound their chances for the playoffs after all. But how might they fare against the Mustangs? The potentially lone ACC representative hangs in the balance of that game’s outcome.
Same goes for Iowa State playing Arizona State for the Big XII title, unless the playoff committee chooses Colorado to be within the bubble for a playoff bid. Speaking of the Buffaloes, they certainly make a strong case to be considered by crushing Oklahoma State 52-0.
Two teams that quietly get things done: Notre Dame and Boise State. We can debate about strength of schedule for these two teams, especially that of the latter, but in the beauty contest that is college football, the pollsters and the playoff committee alike seem to like what the Broncos are selling. Perhaps we will all need a dose of truth serum should Boise State make the playoffs and get embarrassed in the first round. Tuesday’s latest round of revised rankings will give us a better idea of where these teams stand regardless.
Both Alabama and South Carolina are on the bubble for a playoff berth. Should the Gamecocks be favored over the Tide? It’s a fair question when one considers that Alabama laid an egg to a sub-par Oklahoma team, while South Carolina beat their ranked, hated rival on said rival’s home turf, no less. Clearly the better momentum is with the ‘Cocks. Will the playoff committee consider these as they release their updated rankings come Dec. 3?
College Football Awards, Week 9 (2024) October 27, 2024
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Aggies, Air Force, Akron, Alabama, Army, Boise State, Boston College, Bret Bielema, Brian Kelly, Broncos, Buckeyes, Central Michigan, Chris Klieman, Cincinnati, Clemson, college football, Colorado, Cornhuskers, Dabo Swinney, Derek Mason, Ducks, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, football, Garrett Nussmeier, Happy Valley, Houston, Illinois, Jake Dickert, Jamey Chadwell, Jeff Brohm, Kansas, Kansas State, Kennesaw State, Kentucky, Lance Leipold, liberty, Louisville, LSU, Maine, Matt Rhule, Miami (Fla.), Middle Tennessee, Mike Elko, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, NCAA football, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, P.J. Fleck, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Ryan Day, San Diego State, SEC, SMU, South Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tigers, UMass, UNLV, USC, Utah, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Washington, Washington State
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Mike Elko, Texas A&M
Glad I’m not him: Brian Kelly, LSU
Lucky guy: Chris Klieman, Kansas State
Poor guy: Lance Leipold, Kansas
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Ryan Day, Ohio State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jake Dickert, Washington State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jamey Chadwell, Liberty
Desperately seeking … anything: Derek Mason, Middle Tennessee
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Miami (defeated Florida State 36-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Ohio State (defeated Nebraska 21-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Missouri (lost to No. 15 Alabama 34-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (lost to No. 5 Texas 27-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Pittsburgh (defeated Syracuse 41-13)
Most improved from previous week: Nebraska
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Central Michigan
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Liberty
Did the season start? LSU
Can the season end? Mississippi State
Can the season never end? Texas A&M
GAMES
Play this again: No. 14 Texas A&M 38, No. 8 LSU 23
Play this again, too: No. 17 Boise State 29, UNLV 24
Never play this again: No. 15 Notre Dame 51, No. 25 Navy 14
What? Houston 17, Utah 14
Huh? Akron 25, Eastern Michigan 21
Are you kidding me?? No. 14 Texas A&M 38, No. 8 LSU 23
Oh – my – God: Kennesaw State 27, Liberty 24
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 10)
Ticket to die for: No. 4 Ohio State @ No. 3 Penn State
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: (they are all bad)
Best non-Power Four matchup: Jacksonville State @ Liberty
Upset alert: No. 10 Texas A&M @ South Carolina
Must win: No. 18 Pittsburgh @ No. 20 SMU
Offensive explosion: TCU @ Baylor
Defensive struggle: Kentucky @ No. 7 Tennessee
Great game no one is talking about: USC @ Washington
Intriguing coaching matchup: PJ Fleck of Minnesota vs Bret Bielema of Illinois
Honorable mention: Jeff Brohm of Louisville vs Dabo Swinney of Clemson
Who’s bringing the body bags? Air Force @ No. 21 Army
Why are they playing? Maine @ Oklahoma
Plenty of good seats remaining: Middle Tennessee @ UTEP
Plenty of good seats remaining, B1G edition: Northwestern @ Purdue
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? UMass @ Mississippi State
Week 9 Thoughts:
Thursday gave us a surprising upset in Kennesaw State, winless up to that point upsetting Liberty. Indeed, the Flames picked up their first loss of the season. Given how lopsided the matchup was on paper, that clearly merits this game as the biggest upset of the week.
Then Friday gave us two very engaging games, one wherein Louisville managed to gradually gnaw away at BC’s lead to where they eventually triumphed, 31-27, on the road, no less.
Later that night, the grandest Non-Power Five clash of the week occurred with UNLV taking on Boise State, wherein the Broncos had to fight hard to fend off the Runnin’ Rebels, 29-24.
Nebraska @ Ohio State
What to make of this game? A couple of weeks ago, Ohio State was considered a major favorite to win the national title. Then they lost to Oregon, on the road, in Autzen Stadium, which is a tough place to play and even tougher if it is a team’s first time there. But they still looked like playoff contenders.
Then, the Buckeyes had a bye week to lick their wounds before taking on Nebraska at home. While the Cornhuskers are no chump team, they are no Oregon or Georgia. Ohio State only scored 21 points against them, and the Huskers even led for 4:39 in the 4th quarter.
So what to make of all this? One can boil it down to two potential explanations. The first: the Cornhuskers have drastically improved under Matt Rhule as the season has progressed, especially within the past couple of weeks. At the same time, Ohio State is showing regression at running the ball and on the offensive line, and they had to extend themselves to beat a decent team.
The second potential explanation: Nebraska may have considerably improved, but they are not world-beaters. Ohio State got caught in a trap game while too many on the team were looking past the Huskers in anticipation of taking on Penn State in Happy Valley next week.
Occam’s razor, to which I generally subscribe, would suggest the latter. But seriously, if the Buckeyes are serious about giving the Nittany Lions their first “L” of the season, they need to work on their running game and their line play.
Illinois @ Oregon
The outcome of the Ducks defeating the Illini at home was hardly in doubt. Oregon got that job done and then some, 38-9. Nevertheless, Illinois put up a valiant effort in the process. Yet one cannot help but wonder as to why such a considerable loss only knocked Illinois down five positions, at the most, in the latest rankings. Yes, the Illini are still a good team, but after losing that badly yet to stay ranked (from about No. 19 to No. 24) is quite likely more of a commentary on the high esteem the voters have towards Oregon and less of the regard they may have for Illinois, which clearly has not diminished much, and rightly so.
LSU & Texas A&M
The SEC evening game on ABC certainly did not disappoint. But one of the biggest upsets of the week did occur, where the Aggies triumphed over the Tigers, 38-23. LSU was the higher-ranked team going in, and could have won. So what happened? Simply put, LSU’s QB play went South. Yes, Garrett Nussmeier did throw for 405 yards and two touchdowns. But he also threw three interceptions, all of which were at very inopportune times. It leads us to the biggest takeaway of the game, that Brian Kelly needs a better QB if he wants to take LSU to the promised land.
Elsewhere:
One more interesting aspect to Week 9 was that a cluster of close, competitive games happened late at night. Colorado continues to surge under Coach Prime after a sluggish start to the season, defeating Cincinnati 34-23. Kansas and Kansas State slugged it out in a classic rivalry clash. Though the latter’s record is vastly superior to that of the former, you could barely tell that last night, as the Wildcats had to fight hard to come back against the Jayhawks, 29-27. Duke took SMU not only down to the wire, but into OT, and even then, the Mustangs only won by a point, 28-27. Out on the west coast, Washington State, who quietly grows stronger by the week, had to stage a 4th-quarter comeback over visiting San Diego State. It was a good week, and a unique one at that.
College Football Awards, Week 2 (2024) September 9, 2024
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, Ball State, Boise State, Boston College, Bowling Green, Brent Venables, Bret Bielema, Broncos, BYU, Cal, California, Colorado, Cougars, Dana Holgorsen, Deion Sanders, Ducks, Florida, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Hugh Freeze, Illilnois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kalen DeBoer, Kansas State, Kenni Burns, Kent State, liberty, Longhorns, LSU, Luke Fickell, Marcus Freeman, Matt Rhule, Miami (FL), Michigan, Middle Tennessee, Missouri, NC State, Nebraska, New Mexico State, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Sam Pittman, San Diego State, Sherrone Moore, SMU, Steve Sarkesian, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, UCF, UTSA, Volunteers, Western Michigan, Wisconsin, Wolfpack, Wolverines
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Steve Sarkesian, Texas
Glad I’m not him: Sherrone Moore, Michigan
Lucky guy: Brent Venables, Oklahoma
Poor guy: Dana Holgorsen, Houston
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Hugh Freeze, Auburn
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Bret Bielema, Illinois
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame
Desperately seeking … anything: Kenni Burns, Kent State
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ole Miss (defeated Middle Tennessee 52-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Penn State (defeated Bowling Green 34-27)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Western Michigan (lost to No. 2 Ohio State 56-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Northern Illinois (defeated No. 5 Notre Dame 16-14)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Texas (defeated No. 10 Michigan 31-12)
Dang, they’re good: Texas
Dang, they’re bad: Kent State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Georgia Tech
Did the season start? Notre Dame
Can the season end? Akron
Can the season never end? Tennessee
GAMES
Play this again: No. 9 Oregon 37, Boise State 34
Play this again, too: BYU 18, SMU 15
Never play this again: Indiana 77, Western Illinois 3
What? Iowa State 20, No. 21 Iowa 19
Huh? Syracuse 31, No. 23 Georgia Tech 28
Double-Huh? Illinois 23, No. 19 Kansas 17
Are you kidding me?? Cal 21, Auburn 14
Oh – my – God: Northern Illinois 16, No. 5 Notre Dame 14
NEXT WEEK
rankings are current AP (week 3)
Best game of the week: No. 20 Arizona @ No. 14 Kansas State
Keep an eye on this one: No. 24 Boston College @ No. 6 Missouri
Best non-Power Four vs. Power Four matchup: San Diego State vs. Cal
Best non-Power Four matchup: New Mexico State @ Fresno State
Upset alert: No. 18 Notre Dame @ Purdue
Must win: No. 16 LSU @ South Carolina
Offensive explosion: Washington State @ Washington
Defensive struggle: Texas A&M @ Florida
Great game no one is talking about: UCF @ TCU
Intriguing coaching matchup: Kalen DeBoer of Alabama vs Luke Fickell of Wisconsin
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kent State @ No. 16 Tennessee
Why are they playing? UTSA @ No. 3 Texas
Plenty of good seats remaining: Bethune-Cookman @ Western Michigan
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Ball State @ No. 12 Miami, FL
Week 2 Thoughts:
The second week is in the books, and already, new information has given us fuel for reevaluating. For some of us, that reevaluation comes in the form of confirmation of suspicion. Did Notre Dame truly deserve to be ranked No. 5 going into the game against Northern Illinois? I for one was not fooled, and neither were others. We chalked it up to the typical media hype about ND, hype which, surprise, surprise, was yet again unfounded.
If one thought that we had the early season body bag games behind us, think again. Did we really need to see Georgia beat up on Tennessee Tech, or Texas A&M beat up on McNeese, just to name two of dozens of examples? Ironically, the most lopsided game came from Indiana of all teams, who obliterated Western Illinois 77-3.
But at least some games were interesting and competitive.
BYU @ SMU
This “great game no one is talking about” tuned out to be just that. The two teams fought hard and closely the entire game, and the fans got their money’s worth in the process…unlike at Indiana, Georgia, Texas A&M, Boston College, Miami (Fla.), Missouri, etc., etc.
Texas @ Michigan
This game was the “ticket to die for”, and going in, how could it not be? We learned much from this game. Michigan, the defending national champions, were supposed to be the bullies, the boa constrictor, the team that will keep you in its clutches until you die. Again, they were supposed to be. What we forgot was that unlike Ohio State, Texas, Georgia, or Alabama, Michigan is not a team in a position to reload. When Harbaugh was still there, he recognized this systemic limitation, and thus invested in a robust development program. The thing is, it takes time to develop players, and when you graduate a heap of them after winning the big one (including your quarterback), the team is apt to not play at the same level. Plus, Jim Harbaugh has left to coach in the NFL.
Meanwhile, Texas has not only reloaded, they are arguably stronger than last year, particularly in their receiving corps. But that’s not the half of it. The Longhorns outgained the Wolverines on the ground, 143 to 88 yards. That means that Texas beat Michigan up front, even with the latter’s vaunted defensive line.
Texas has some tough teams further into its schedule. Nevertheless, if they play the way they did in Ann Arbor, it’s a reasonable prediction to say they’ll make the final four of the playoffs.
Liberty @ New Mexico State
This “best non-Power 4 matchup” lived up to its hype, with the Flames triumphing in Las Cruces, 30-24. Despite the Aggies losing at home, look for NM State to continue to bring a tough game to whomever they play. To that end, keep an eye on them when they play Fresno State (the team that gave Michigan a surprisingly hard time the previous week) next week.
Houston @ Oklahoma
The Sooners won this game, 16-12. Needless to say, such an outcome left us scratching our heads. Is Houston’s defense that good, or is Oklahoma’s offense that inconsistent? Regardless, the Cougars should consider this result a moral victory, and deserve to leave Norman with their heads held high, with one of the few times where a team loses a game but still looks like they are headed in the right direction.
Colorado @ Nebraska
Nothing like a classic Big 8 matchup, especially with such an intriguing coaching matchup in Deion Sanders vs Matt Rhule. Going into the season, there were rumors that that Coach Prime had improved his personnel on the offensive line. Yet the Buffaloes managed to eke out only 16 net yards on the ground, compared to the Cornhuskers’ 151 rushing yards. Ouch. The final score of 28-10 reflected that lopsided comparison well. Looks like Coach Prime has more work to do up front.
NC State vs Tennessee in Charlotte
By the 3rd quarter, one thing became quite clear: the Wolfpack may be a good team, but the Volunteers is simply much better. So much better in fact, that we are all intrigued to see what sort of problems they can give Oklahoma, Alabama, or even Georgia this year.
Arkansas @ Oklahoma State
The Razorbacks came into Stillwater, outgained the Cowboys on the ground by 173 yards, and yet stil managed to lost the game. It has been said time and again that the team that makes the fewest mistakes wins. For Arkansas to have such a great game on the ground and still lose it means they had to have made a staggering amount of mistakes. Looks like Sam Pittman has some further work to do.
Boise State @ Oregon
After the Ducks struggled to beat Idaho last week, many observers of the game called for a pumping of the breaks about all the hype about said Ducks being a shoe-in for the playoffs. Nevertheless, to their credit, they did manage to break a losing streak against…the Broncos, of all teams, and did so in a game that was arguably the best of the week, in hindsight.
