College Football Week 6 Awards October 6, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona State, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, Ball State, Baylor, Big XII, Boise State, Boston College, Bret Bielema, Buckeyes, Butch Jones, BYU, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado, Dave Doeren, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, Gamecocks, Gary Pinkel, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa State, James Franklin, Kansas, Kentucky, Larry Fedora, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Mark Richt, Maryland, Miami (Ohio), Mississippi State, Missouri, N.C. State, NFL, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Paul Rhoads, Penn State, Pittssburgh, Rutgers, SMU, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Troy, UMass, Urban Meyer, Utah State, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington, Western Carolina, Western Michigan
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 6] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Vanderbilt
Lucky guy: Mark Richt, Georgia, and also Mack Brown, Texas
Poor guy: Butch Jones, Tennessee, and also Paul Rhoads, Iowa State
Desperately seeking a clue: Mack Brown, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dave Doeren, NC State
Desperately seeking … anything: Larry Fedora, North Carolina
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 20 Texas Tech (defeated Kansas 54-16)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: South Carolina (defeated Kentucky 35-28)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to Oregon 57-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Troy (lost to Duke 38-31)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Ohio U (defeated Akron 43-3)
Dang, they’re good: Florida State
Dang, they’re bad: Akron
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Arizona State
The Fix is in: Texas
Did the season start? Cincinnati
Can the season end? Western Michigan
Can the season never end? Baylor
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Georgia 34, Tennessee 31
Play this again, too: Rutgers 55, SMU 53, 3OT
Never play this again: No. 8 Florida State 63, No. 25 Maryland 0
What? Ball State 48, Virginia 27
Huh? Missouri 51, Vanderbilt 28
Are you kidding me? South Florida 26, Cincinnati 20
Oh – my – God: Indiana 44 Penn State 24
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 6, pre-week 7)
Ticket to die for: Texas vs. No. 12 Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout (Dallas)
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Georgia Tech @ BYU
Best non-Big Six matchup: Boise State @ Utah State
Upset alert: No. 14 South Carolina @ Arkansas
Must win: No. 9 Texas A&M @ Ole Miss
Offensive explosion: No. 2 Oregon @ No. 15 Washington
Defensive struggle: Miami (Ohio) @ UMass
Great game no one is talking about: Pittsburgh @ No. 24 Virginia Tech, or, No. 19 Northwestern @ Wisconsin.
Intriguing coaching matchup: Steve Spurrier of South Carolina vs. Bret Bielema of Arkansas
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 3 Clemson @ Boston College
Why are they playing? Western Carolina @ Auburn
Plenty of good seats remaining: Eastern Michigan @ Army
They shoot horses, don’t they? Temple @ Cincinnati
Week 6 in Review:
There are times when in hindsight you know that you should have trusted your instincts instead of trying to out-think the room (which, let us be honest, can never end well. Just ask the NFL when they decided to put the upcoming Super Bowl in frigid New Jersey). Case in point: last week, yours truly tried to out-think the room – against my own better judgement – in prediciting that this week’s “offensive explosion” would be Ohio State @ Northwestern. Yes, it was a good game, worthy of a Musburger-Herbstreit broadcast tandem. And yes, the overall score was not exactly paltry at 40-30 (in favor of the Buckeyes, naturally). But then there was Baylor vs. West Virginia, whose score was so high, we needed our collective oxygen tank (final score: 73-42). What was my main reticence in following my instincts and selecting this game for a more accurate prognostication? The fact that West Virginia has been wildly inconsistent this year. One week they embarrass themselves against Maryland, the next week, they upset Oklahoma State. Right now, we the fans do not know what team we are getting week-to-week with the Mountaineers.
All Good Games at Night?
Aside from the satisfying SEC slugfest between Georgia and Tennessee in the 3:30 time slot, and the 3-OT shootout between Rutgers and SMU, all the good games this past week were in the evening. LSU vs. Mississippi State (3 out of 4 quarters, at least), South Florida vs. Cincinnati (surprisingly), Ole Miss vs. Auburn, TCU vs. Oklahoma, Kentucky vs. South Carolina (the Gamecocks allowed for it to be a good game, regrettably), Notre Dame vs. Arizona State, Ohio State vs. Northwestern, Washington vs. Stanford, even Louisiana Tech vs. UTEP (!) all turned out to be competitive, engaging matchups. It was one of those nights where you wished you had four or five flatscreens, all right next to each other, so as to enjoy as much simultaneous action as possible.
A Tale of Two Rivals.
Oklahoma did it the right way. They played a highly respected TCU bunch in a close, hard-fought game, and triumphed in the end, 20-17. There is a school of thought, not one without merit, that states that this is the perfect approach before throwing down the following week with a bitter rival. To follow this line of logic, the Sooners are well-prepared for the Red River Shootout this upcoming week.
On the other side of the coin is Texas, who thought that they could beat up on Big XII lightweight Iowa State as a tune-up. As things turned out, they needed not one, but two scandalous calls by the referees to get their behinds out of some seriously hot water (basically, two “gift” calls of not recognizing fumbles as actual fumbles). Let that sink in for a moment.
College Football Week 5 Awards September 29, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Uncategorized.Tags: Air Force, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Army, Auburn, Boston College, Butch Jones, BYU, Clemson, college, Colorado, Dana Holgersen, Duke, Ed Orgeron, Florida International, football, Georgia, Georgia State, Houston, Kansas State, Lane Kiffin, Les Miles, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, LSU, Mark Richt, Memphis, Miami, Mike Gundy, Mississippi State, Navy, NCAA, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pat Fitzgerald, Pat Haden, Purdue, Rich Rodriguez, South Alabama, South Carolina, South Florida, Southern Miss, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, Temple, Tennessee, Tony Levine, Troy, Urban Meyer, USC, Utah State, Wake Forest, Washington, West Virginia
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 5] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Mark Richt, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Les Miles, LSU
Lucky guy: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Poor guy: Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Tony Levine, Houston
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Desperately seeking … anything: Lane Kiffin, USC
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 15 Miami [FL] (defeated South Florida 49-21)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Tennessee (defeated South Alabama 31-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Wake Forest (lost to No. 3 Clemson 56-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Troy (lost to Duke 38-31)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Northern Illinois (defeated Purdue 55-24)
Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: Louisiana Tech
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Oklahoma State
Did the season start? Purdue
Can the season end? Wake Forest
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 9 Georgia 44, No. 6 LSU 41
Never play this again: No. 3 Clemson 56, Wake Forest 7
What? Tennessee 31, South Alabama 24
Huh? Arizona State 62, USC 41
Are you kidding me? Northern Illinois 55, Purdue 24
Oh – my – God: West Virginia 30, No. 11 Oklahoma State 21
Told you so: No. 12 South Carolina 28, Central Florida 25
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 5, pre-week 6)
Ticket to die for: No. 15 Washington @ No. 5 Stanford
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Army @ Boston College
Best non-Big Six matchup: BYU @ Utah State
Upset alert: Kansas State @ No. 21 Oklahoma State
Must win: No. 10 LSU @ Mississippi State
Offensive explosion: No. 4 Ohio State @ No. 15 Northwestern
Defensive struggle: Air Force @ Navy
Great game no one is talking about: No. 24 Ole Miss @ Auburn
Intriguing coaching matchup: Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern vs. Urban Meyer of Ohio State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 2 Oregon @ Colorado
Why are they playing? Georgia State @ No. 1 Alabama
Plenty of good seats remaining: Florida International @ Southern Miss
They shoot horses, don’t they? No. 7 Louisville @ Temple
Week 5 in Review:
Last week had so many horrible, “body bag” matchups that we were all better off just firing that week’s worth of games into the Sun, never to hear from it again, and good riddance! This week was different. First off, there was one of the games of the year in LSU @ Georgia, which did live up to its billing. Even the noon games, normally throw-aways, were intriguing. South Carolina v@ UCF was surprisingly competitive. Ditto with Oklahoma State @ West Virginia, and the results of that game were positively shocking. The evening games were also very entertaining, what with Arkansas giving Texas A&M a solid game, and Wisconsin doing the same at Ohio State.
Meanwhile, out on the west coast, a real offensive explosion took place between USC and Arizona State, and ironically, the 62-41 result in favor of the Sun Devils resulted in some much bigger fireworks after the game. As soon as the Trojans got back to Los Angeles, USC athletics director Pat Haden literally pulled head coach Lane Kiffin aside on the tarmac to inform him that his services will not be needed for the remainder of the season. Yes, Kiffin’s overall record in four seasons was 28-15, which is not terrible, but it’s not up to USC standards, either. Moreover, he lost 7 of the past 11 games, was 3-2 this year, and lost both of his conference games thus far. Things clearly were headed in a negative direction. Yes, the NCAA had unduly hamstrung the Trojans’ program with restricted scholarships all because somebody not affiliated with the program had given Reggie Bush’s parents a sweetheart deal on a house in San Diego. Still, after four years, one would expect some meaningful progress to be made from the undue setback, and unimaginative offensive play-calling, combined with inept execution is most certainly not a reflection of progress! Ed Orgeron, the defensive coordinator, (and formed Ole Miss head coach) has been named the interim head coach. Who says the SEC is geographically insular?
ETC.:
West Virginia’s upset win at home over ranked Oklahoma State could probably save Dana Holgersen’s job after his ignominious loss to Maryland the previous week. Louisville, meanwhile, remains a formidable team, but the only problem is, their temporary conference home (American) is so weak that every other game is a “body-bag” game. Take the upcoming week’s game at Temple, for example. South Florida and Memphis do not do the Cardinals’ strength of schedule any favors, either. On a positive note, the Oct. 18 game against Central Florida could turn out to be a dandy of a game, folks!
College Football Week 4 Awards September 22, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Big XII, Bobby Petrino, body bag, Boise State, Bowling Green, Brady Hoke, Bronco Mendenhall, BYU, Central Florida, Central Michigan, Colorado State, Dana Holgersen, David Shaw, Duke, FIU, Florida, Florida A&M, Florida International, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Jim McElwain, Kansas State, Ken Niumatalolo, Kent State, Kyle Flood, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, MTSU, Navy, Nick Saban, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, P.J. Fleck, Pac-12, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, South Alabama, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tim DeRuyter, Troy, UCF, UCLA, UConn, Virginia Tech, Washington, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 4] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: David Shaw, Stanford
Glad I’m not him: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Lucky guy: Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State
Poor guy: Bronco Mendenhall, BYU
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Brady Hoke, Michigan
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Kyle Flood, Rutgers
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Dana Holgersen, West Virginia
Desperately seeking … anything: P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 7 Louisville (defeated FIU 72-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 11 Michigan (defeated UConn 24-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Troy (lost to Mississippi State 62-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Colorado State* (lost to No. 1 Alabama 31-6)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Iowa (defeated Western Michigan 59-3)
Dang, they’re good: Stanford
Dang, they’re bad: Western Michigan
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Arkansas
Did the season start? Michigan State
Can the season end? Central Michigan
Can the season never end? UCLA
GAMES
Play this again: Fresno State 41, Boise State 40
Play this again, too: Pittsburgh 58, Duke 55
Never play this again: No. 4 Ohio State 76, Florida A&M 0
What? Iowa 59, Western Michigan 3
Huh? Fresno State 41, Boise State 40
Are you kidding me? Texas 31, Kansas State 21
Oh – my – God: Maryland 37, West Virginia 0
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for: No. 6 LSU @ No. 9 Georgia
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Northern Illinois @ Purdue
Best non-Big Six matchup: Navy @ Western Kentucky (honorable mention: Akron @ Bowling Green)
Upset alert: No. 23 Wisconsin @ No. 4 Ohio State, or, No. 12 South Carolina @ Central Florida
Must win: No. 10 Texas A&M @ Arkansas
Offensive explosion: Arizona @ No. 16 Washington
Defensive struggle: MTSU @ BYU
Great game no one is talking about: Virginia Tech @ Georgia Tech (Thurs.)
Intriguing coaching matchup: Ken Niumatalolo of Navy vs. Bobby Petrino of Western Kentucky
Who’s bringing the body bags? South Florida @ No. 15 Miami
Why are they playing? South Alabama @ Tennessee
Plenty of good seats remaining: Kent State @ Western Michigan
They shoot horses, don’t they? Troy @ Duke
Week 4 in Review:
*: This was the “body bag” game that did not quite turn out to be one. On paper, Colorado State was to be the lamb being led to the slaughter. After all, the fortunes of the Rams have been nothing like the halcyon days under former head coach Sonny Lubick. Moreover, in a week where every other game seemed to be a body bag game, this one should have been no different. Consider an under-performing Mountain West Conference team journeying over a thousand miles from Fort Collins, Colo., to Tuscaloosa, Ala., only to go into one of the most hostile places in the land in which to play football, with none other than Nick Saban, arguably the best coach in the business, to be the pitiless executioner.
All things considered, the 31-6 loss could have been much worse. The Rams actually did a good job of gaining yardage against the Crimson Tide. The only problem was, the bulk of that yardage was between the 20 yard-lines. Once Colorado State made it into the red zone, Alabama started to show more of its true defensive colors, as the score attests. Still, head coach Jim McElwain – coincidentally, the former offensive coordinator at Alabama – came in with a sound game plan, and that was to keep his team’s offense on the field for as long as possible, and conversely, to keep Alabama’s offense off the field as long as possible. They took plenty of risks – including lots of screen passes – in order to try to make that happen. One thing that was particularly telling of some degree of success in the overall game plan, despite the loss, was that Saban kept his headset on and kept coaching his team literally as the final second of the fourth quarter ticked off the clock. One normally does not see that sort of behavior from a coach – no matter how skilled they are in the business – during a so-called “body bag” game.
But this game aside, even some of the better matches on paper (say, Tennessee at Florida, or Michigan State at Notre Dame) turned out to be exercises in ineptitude on both sides of the ball. Even Purdue, who acquitted themselves well against Notre Dame last week, came out flat against Wisconsin this week.
Speaking of “body bag” games, though, this weekend was lousy with them. Records have become so important in terms of one’s BCS standings, that teams have largely become risk-averse, and since most conferences do not mandate that at least nine conference games be scheduled (notwithstanding the Big XII and Pac-12), we the fans had to suffer through lots of garbage matchups (hello, Florida A&M @ Ohio State) this past week. Next week will thankfully be different, though, as most teams have some sort of conference game, and even those that do not still [mostly] have some interesting opponent to play (e.g., Northern Illinois at Purdue, South Carolina at an up-and-coming UCF, Oklahoma at Notre Dame, and Navy at Western Kentucky). The bottom line is, let us blot this past week out of our memories, and just look forward to that which is immediately ahead.
College Football Week 3 Awards September 15, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: 40 Acres, Aggies, Akron, Alabama, Arizona State, Baylor, Boilermakers, Boise State, Boston College, Brian Kelly, BYU, Central Florida, Charlie Strong, Crimson Tide, Florida, Florida A&M, Florida International, Florida State, Fresno State, Gary Andersen, Gary Patterson, George O'Leary, Georgia Tech, Greg Robinson, Hawaii, Johnny Football, Johnny Manziel, Kansas State, Longhorns, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, Mack Brown, Mark Dantonio, Mark Helfrich, Michigan, Michigan State, Nevada, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon Sate, Penn State, Purdue, Rebels, Ron Turner, South Alabama, South Florida, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Todd Graham, USC, Utah, Utah State, UTEP, UTSA, Weber, Western Kentucky, Willie Taggert, Wisconsin, Zips
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 3] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Glad I’m not him: Gary Patterson, TCU
Lucky guy: Todd Graham, Arizona State
Poor guy: Gary Andersen, Wisconsin
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: George O’Leary, Central Florida
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Ron Turner, Florida International
Desperately seeking … anything: Willie Taggert, South Florida
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 10 Florida State (defeated Nevada 62-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 11 Michigan (defeated Akron 28-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Tennessee (lost to No. 2 Oregon 59-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Purdue (lost to No. 21 Notre Dame 31-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: USC (defeated Boston College 35-7)
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Florida International
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Penn State
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? South Florida
Can the season never end? Ole Miss
GAMES
Play this again: No. 1 Alabama 49, No. 6 Texas A&M 42
Play this again, too: Oregon State 51, Utah 48
Never play this again: Utah State 70, Weber 6
What? Arizona State 32, No. 20 Wisconsin 30
Huh? South Alabama 31, Western Kentucky 24
Are you kidding me? Texas Tech 20, No. 24 TCU 10
Oh – my – God: Central Florida 34, Penn State 31
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for: Tennessee @ No. 19 Florida
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Utah State @ USC
Best non-Big Six matchup: Boise State @ Fresno State
Upset alert: Purdue @ No. 24 Wisconsin
Must win: Kansas State @ Texas
Offensive explosion: Boise State @ Fresno State
Defensive struggle: Hawaii @ Nevada
Great game no one is talking about: Utah @ BYU, or, North Carolina @ Georgia Tech
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mark Dantonio of Michigan State vs. Brian Kelly of No. 22 Notre Dame
Who’s bringing the body bags? Florida International @ No. 7 Louisville
Why are they playing? Florida A&M @ No. 4 Ohio State
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTSA @ UTEP
They shoot horses, don’t they? Louisiana-Monroe @ No. 20 Baylor
Week 3 in Review:
The game that has been billed by the media and built up in the minds of many a fan nationwide certainly lived up to its billing/hype yesterday. No. 1-ranked Alabama is sure to retain atop the mountain of college football rankings after defeating the home team No. 6 Texas A&M in a thriller of a game. The key to the success of the Crimson Tide was figuring out how to contain the Aggies’ QB Johnny Manziel, by not allowing him sufficient access to the outsides of the hash marks and instead forcing him inside, up the middle (both of running and throwing) as a means of containing the threat of his talents. In the end, it worked. Best of all, “Johnny Football” seemed surprisingly humble, contrite, and team-oriented during the postgame press conference. After witnessing all of his antics the previous weeks, this was a rather pleasing development. Time will tell if he truly did learn a lesson or two from this loss, or whether he will devolve back to the cocky, reckless punk he was earlier.
Other random thoughts:
A curious case of both Michigan and Notre Dame arose this past Saturday. The former team had to struggle at home to beat the Akron Zips, and only doing so in the last minutes of play. Meanwhile, Notre Dame, an ostensibly revitalized, nationally viable team under head coach Brian Kelly, had to earn – in every sense of the word – a win against a Purdue team whose performance prior to this game was suspect at best. Perhaps this strange case is a result of a hangover from big game between the two the following week. Lots of media hype and team energy went into that game, and as anybody who has any real experience in college football can tell you, one of the biggest challenges in the sport is trying to get 19-20 year-olds to play consistently week in and week out. Or, it could be at both Akron and Purdue are better than we thought they were. Concerning the latter, it could have been that the Boilers were looking past Indiana State (could you blame them?) and devoted some extra prep time to dealing with the Fighting Irish. Certainly a plausible scenario, no? What remains intriguing about this case is that, in all likelihood, Michigan and Notre Dame will be just fine. But it could also be that Akron and Purdue are on the rise from the doldrums in which both programs have been stuck for the past several years. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, Texas lost another game, this time at home, against a respectable opponent in Ole Miss. The Longhorns were supposed to have gotten things together, so we were told. After all, before last week’s BYU debacle (in which they lost 40-21), they were ranked No. 15 in the nation. This week, the Rebels came into Austin ranked #25. Yet the Horns lost again, this time 44-23. It is conceivable that Texas could turn things around and that the defense could get more settled under new defensive coordinator Greg Robinson. Or, it could be that the wheels are coming off the program, and as much as Longhorn Nation likes head coach Mack Brown personally, it is time for a changing of the guard. Right now, though, things are not looking good on the 40 Acres, and the prognosis for the second Saturday in October is not that rosy, either.
College Football Week 1 Awards 2013 September 4, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Air Force, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Bill Snyder, Bobby Petrino, Boise State, Buffalo, Butch Jones, BYU, Cincinnati, Clemson, college, Dabo Swinney, Eastern Illinois, Eastern Washington, FBC, FCS, Florida, football, Georgia, Hugh Freeze, Idaho, Indiana, Indiana State, Iowa State, James Franklin, Jordan-Hare, K-State, Kansas State, Kentucky, Kevin Wilson, LSU, Mark Richt, McNeese State, Miami (OH), Michigan, Mike Riley, Mississippi, Missouri, NCAA, Nebraska, Nicholls State, North Carolina, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Purdue, Rocky Long, San Diego State, Sanford, SEC, South Alabama, South Carolina, South Florida, Southern Utah, Syracuse, Tennessee, Tennessee-Martin, Toledo, Towson, Tulane, Utah State, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Wyoming
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That special time of year has come yet again, when college football teams all throughout the land knock heads to see who is the best. Moreover, now that the first week of college football has past, it is now time to give out the first weekly awards for the year!
(NOTE: all rankings are Week 1 AP up to “Next Week”, in which case they are for Week 2)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Glad I’m not him: Mark Richt, Georgia
Lucky guy: Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss
Poor guy: James Franklin, Vanderbilt
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bill Snyder, Kansas State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Kevin Wilson, Indiana
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mike Riley, Oregon State
Desperately seeking … anything: Rocky Long, San Diego State
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 3 Oregon (beat Nicholls State 66-3)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 18 Nebraska (beat Wyoming 37-34)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Purdue (lost to Cincinnati 42-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: North Carolina (lost to South Carolina 27-10)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Indiana 73, Indiana State 35
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Sir Charles says “They’re Turrable”: San Diego State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Georgia
Did the season start? BYU
Can the season end? Iowa State
Can the season never end? Clemson
GAMES
Play this again: No. 8 Clemson 38, No. 5 Georgia 35
Play this again, too: Ole Miss 39, Vanderbilt 35
Never play this again: Indiana 73, Indiana State 35
What? McNeese State 53, South Florida 21
Huh? Eastern Illinois 49, San Diego State 17
Are you kidding me? North Dakota State 24, Kansas State 21
Oh – my – God: Eastern Washington 49, No. 25 Oregon State 46
Told you so: Western Kentucky 35, Kentucky 26
NEXT WEEK
Ticket to die for: No. 6 South Carolina @ No. 11 Georgia
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Toledo @ Missouri
Best non-Big Six matchup: Idaho @ Wyoming, or Utah State @ Air Force
Upset alert: No. 14 Notre Dame @ No. 17 Michigan
Must win: Miami (OH) @ Kentucky
Offensive explosion: West Virginia @ No. 16 Oklahoma
Defensive struggle: No. 14 Notre Dame @ No. 17 Michigan
Great game no one is talking about: Syracuse @ No. 22 Northwestern
Intriguing coaching matchup: Bobby Petrino of Western Kentucky vs. Butch Jones of Tennessee
Who’s bringing the body bags? San Diego State @ No. 2 Ohio State
Why are they playing? Tennessee-Martin @ Boise State
Plenty of good seats remaining: South Alabama @ Tulane
They shoot horses, don’t they? Buffalo @ Baylor
The First Week in Review:
The previous week’s “Ticket to Die For” was obviously the Georgia-Clemson game, and it lived up to its billing, remaining close and hard-fought for all four quarters. Georgia fans do themselves and their team a disservice, however, by lamenting that their season is now in the tank and that it is time to jettison head coach Mark Richt. Let us keep in mind that Clemson right now is on fire, and has their best offense in roughly 30 years if not the whole history of the school. The Bulldogs losing to such a team at that moment is no disgrace.
That said, there’s no rest for the wicked regarding Georgia, for now their hated cross-border rival South Carolina comes to Sanford Stadium this next weekend. The Bulldogs might be in danger of starting the season 0-2, which which really send the UGA faithful into a panic.
Meanwhile, Alabama is such a good team, that even with several offensive miscues throughout the game, they still handily defeated a respectable Virginia Tech squad 35-10. Still, it was a rough week for the SEC. As somewhat prognosticated, Washington State did give Auburn plenty to deal with in their rather narrow loss at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Georgia’s rather heartbreaking loss in Clemson was already noted. Kentucky lost much worse than what the score (35-26) to Western Kentucky in Nashville, Tenn. Yes, I know that the last game mentioned is an outlier in that A, this is Kentucky we’re talking about here, not, say, LSU, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, or even Auburn or Arkansas. On the other side of the coin, Western Kentucky is no ordinary Sunbelt Conference team, either, as they are coached by Bobby Petrino, likely giving the Hilltoppers a decisive edge over the rest of their conference competition, or even chronic SEC cellar-dwellers for that matter.
One thing that particularly sticks out about the past week, though, was the resounding success that FCS teams had over FBS teams. Time was — very recently — that when D-1A (pardon me, FBS) teams scheduled D-1AA (pardon me, FCS) teams for a game, it was an easy win for the former, and the latter got a relatively hefty paycheck (by their standards) to take a drubbing. Not anymore. Southern Utah beat South Alabama 22-21; Towson defeated UConn 33-18; North Dakota State upset Kansas State 24-21; Eastern Washington also upset Oregon State, 49-46; McNeese State thrashed South Florida, 53-21; Eastern Illinois did the drubbing on San Diego State, 40-19; if that’s not enough, Northern Iowa also beat Iowa State, 28-20. To be sure, most of the aforementioned FCS teams (Towson, E. Washington, E. Illinois, and N. Iowa) are ranked, whereas most of their defeated FBS counterparts are, well, sucking (yet it still does not account for K-State’s or Oregon State ignominious losses). Still, this is a powerful wake-up call that FBS vs. FCS are no longer gimme-games for the former. We’ve been warned.
College Football Opening Weekend 2013: What to watch August 29, 2013
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Aaron Murray, ACC, Alabama, Arkansas, Arlington, Atlanta, Auburn, B1G, Bayou Bengals, Bearcats, Big 10, Big East, Big Ten, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Brent Musburger, Brian Kelly, Bulldogs, Butch Jones, BYU, Cal, California, Cincinnati, Clemson, college, Cotton Bowl, Cougars, Cowboys, Crimson Tide, Dabo Swinney, Dallas, Dan Mullen, Darrell Hazell, FIU, Florida International, football, Fort Worth, Gary Patterson, Georgia, Giants, Golden Bears, Gus Malzahn, Herbie, Hilltoppers, Hokies, Horned Frogs, Kentucky, Kirk Herbstreit, Les Miles, Louisiana Tech, LSU, Mark Richt, Mark Stoops, Maryland, Mike Gundy, Mike Leach, Mississippi State, N.C. State, NCAA, New York, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pac-12, Pat Fitzgerald, Peach Bowl, Penn State, Purdue, Rose Bowl, Seahawks, Seattle, SEC, South Carolina, Syracuse, T. Boone Pickens, TCU, Tennessee, Tigers, Tommy Tuberville, USC, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, Western Kentucky, Wildcats
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Note: Rankings are based the ESPN-Coaches Poll, not the AP Poll as is usually the case on this blog.
Though many good games kick off the season on Thursday (hello, North Carolina @ South Carolina!) and Friday, the real action begins, as it always does, on Saturday (Aug. 31, in this case). Let us cut through the clutter and focus on the good games to watch.
Noon (12:00 PM, EDT): Let’s face it; in recent years, most noon games have been throw-away games (generally, lots of lower-tier Big Ten, ACC and Big East matchups). This seems to be mostly the case this time around, too (case in point: Florida International @ Maryland, which makes Louisiana Tech @ N.C. State look like a marquee game). Yet one game in this time slot is rather intriguing, that being Purdue @ Cincinnati. Both programs have new coaches. Purdue’s Darrell Hazell is working diligently to breathe new life into a program that has underachieved since the 2003-2004 season. Meanwhile, U-Cincy brought in Tommy Tuberville to provide some stability to a program that lost Brian Kelly to Notre Dame after the 2009 season, and just lost Butch Jones to Tennessee prior to this upcoming one. From a business managerial standpoint, the two new coaches make for an interesting study in contrast in that Hazell’s role is clearly turnaround CEO, while Tuberville’s role is that of caretaker to a program that Kelly built up quite well and Jones did reasonably well in maintaining. Talent-wise, it ought not to be close, as odds are the Bearcats could dust the Boilermakers. Nevertheless, this game is far more interesting than the rest of the game fare offered at noontime, and it goes without saying that this game merits a nod for “Intriguing Coaching Matchup” award.
3:30 PM EDT: Normally, one can always look forward to at least one strong SEC matchup during this time slot, but there are none to be had on this date. Syracuse @ Penn State makes for a poor substitute indeed. BYU @ Virginia is for more intriguing than that. Still…next!
With that said, a potentially good game that few people are talking about occurs at this same time, that being Mississippi State at Oklahoma State. The Bulldogs have grown in strength under head coach Dan Mullen, while the Cowboys have also grown in stature under Mike Gundy’s leadership (not to mention T. Boone Pickens’ money). Seeing these two teams butt heads could be very engaging.
5:30 PM EDT: Granted, this is not your traditional time slot for a Saturday game, but it’s the opening weekend, so who cares? If anybody doubts that Atlanta is one of THE epicenters of college football, then they would be well-served to take not that No. 1 Alabama opens the season in the Georgia Dome against Virginia Tech. On paper, it’s a decent matchup in that a top-tier SEC team is about to take on an upper-tier ACC team. But as decent as the Hokies are, the game could very well be a bloodbath, as odds are the Crimson Tide is going to roll. Still, it’s better than the 3:30 PM options.
7:00 PM EDT: Washington State @ Auburn — now we’re getting somewhere. We the fans are not treated to SEC vs Pac-12 matchups enough, in my estimation, so when it happens, it is always something to be relished. What makes this game especially interesting is that the dread pirate Mike Leach is trying to turn around the Cougars program while Guz Malzahn has just been brought in to revive the Tigers’ very quick fall from grace. Could be interesting, especially when one considers how a Pac-12 team not named USC can handle a hyper-hostile SEC stadium crowd.
The other interesting game that evening is the Western Kentucky vs. Kentucky game in Nashville, Tenn. This too merits an “Intriguing Coaching Matchup” nod in that it also pits first-year coaches at both schools, both of whom came there under radically different circumstances. Mark Stoops took the UK job as a top-rated assistant coach at Florida State, with the mission to turn around a perennially struggling Wildcats squad. Thus far he has made lots of recruiting hype, but the actual product he can deliver on the field remains to be seen. On the Hilltoppers’ end is Bobby Petrino, one of the best coaches in the business, but left his CEO job at Arkansas in disgrace and scandal. The WKU job is a rung or two down the ladder from the jobs he has previously had, thus is objective is twofold: maintain what predecessor Willie Taggart had already built (something at which he is more than adept), and also rehab his reputation. Look out for a possible Hilltopper upset over the Wildcats, as it is always dangerous to give Petrino more than a week to prepare for a game.
8:00 PM EDT: No. 5 Georgia @ No. 8 Clemson — easily the biggest game of the day, if not the whole weekend. Head Coach Mark Richt takes a loaded Bulldogs team led by talented QB Aaron Murray (no relation, sadly) in to Clemson to take on a Tigers program that Dabo Swinney has slowly yet quietly strengthened over the past several years (they did beat a strong LSU team in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, after all). This will be a great opening test for the Bulldogs, who are no doubt looking to eventually unseat Alabama at the number one spot in both the conference and the nation. Odds also are that you will be “looking LIVE, at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C.,” as in all likelihood this will be the game that Brent Musburger calls along with Kirk “Herbie” Herbstreit, folks!
9:00 PM EDT: No. 12 LSU vs. No. 20 TCU in Dallas (Arlington, Texas, specifically). Just as Atlanta has its season kickoff Peach Bowl with a SEC-ACC game, over the past few years, Dallas has endeavored to do the same thing with a season kickoff Cotton Bowl of sorts, usually bringing in an SEC and a Big XII team (though there has been the occasional SEC vs Pac-12 game thrown in sometimes, read: LSU vs. Oregon in 2011) as is the case this time. Les Miles almost always has the Tigers up for big games, while it will be a quasi-home game for the Horned Frogs as they have but a half-hour drive (at the most) from their home base in Fort Worth. Moreover, Gary Patterson has built up a strong program over the course of more than a decade, even recently taking TCU to a Rose Bowl just a couple of seasons ago. Moreover, though the Horned Frogs are ranked lower than the Bayou Bengals, they have the good fortune of playing LSU at the beginning of the season, which is historically when the team is most vulnerable to a loss.
10:30 PM EDT: No. 22 Northwestern at California. Normally, the only game one might find on the cable tv guide this late at night is a home game at Hawai’i. Not this time, though. This time, head coach Pat Fitzgerald takes his nimble Wildcats westward from Evanston, Ill., to the west coast. The rankings could be deceiving. Yes, on paper, Northwestern could possibly crush Cal. But that could easily be nullified because of geography. Take a team in the eastern or even central timezone out to the Pacific timezone, and strange things happen to them. Pro teams do not have this issue (say, the New York Giants journeying out to Seattle to play the Seahawks), because they’re older, more mature, and, well, professionals. But in the college game, folks*, you’re dealing with 19-20 year-old kids, who are far more apt to be out of their element when traveling such a distance. Let us also not forget that Northwestern’s internal clock will still be on Chicago time (9:30 PM), not San Francisco time (7:30 PM), which could also make a difference. One could therefore expect a close, hard-fought game, if not even an upset by the Golden Bears. That said, Pat Fitzgerald is one of the most underrated coaches in the business, and has proven to be very adept, time and again, at not only recruiting decent players into a school with the most academically-rigid standards in the Big Ten Conference, but also coaching them up to be competitive in that conference and in bowl games, too. No doubt he’ll have a trick or two up his proverbial sleeve to try to nullify the problems of geography and time discrepancy. We shall see soon enough, as that is why they line up and play.
* Another Musburger-ism, in case you missed the reference!
Teams that hit the wall November 29, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: 'Canes, ACC, Alabama, Arkansas, Austin, Ball State, Baylor, BCS, Belk Bowl, Big 12, Big East, Big XII, Bobcats, Bowl, Bowling Green, Bulldogs, Butch Jones, Cardinals, Charlie Strong, Cincinnati, Clemson, college, Dan Mullen, Dana Holgorsen, Duke, Egg Bowl, Florida State, football, Frank Solich, game, Hurricanes, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Kent State, Longhorns, Louisville, LSU, MAC, Miami, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Mountaineers, MSU, NCAA, North Carolina, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh, Rebels, Rutgers, Scarlet Knights, SEC, Southern Miss, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, U of L, USF, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, WVU, Yeoman
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Ohio U: The Bobcats were off to a great start under Frank Solich. They won seven consecutive games, and were even ranked No. 24 going into the Miami (Ohio) game on Oct. 27. After that game, they were undefeated no more. The team lost the next four of five games, including their last one to currently No. 18 Kent State. That loss was understandable, even excusable. Losing to Ball State the previous week? Less understood, even less excusable. But losing to Bowling Green? No excuse at all. Perhaps the Bobcats just ran out of energy, which is one form of hitting the proverbial wall.
Correction: A well-informed, experienced observer brought something else to my attention regarding Ohio U. The biggest reason they hit the proverbial wall was injuries, especially injuries to their offensive line. By season’s end, they were playing third-string linemen without any subs — brutal! Upon further review, that might explain their loss to Bowling Green after all!
Mississippi State: Poor MSU (the Magnolia State MSU, not the Great Lakes State MSU). They try so hard, but they try to excel in the most brutal of all college football neighborhoods. Dan Mullen has done the Yeoman’s work making the Bulldogs more than respectable, and making their fan base believe in the team’s potential. Seven consecutive games, seven consecutive wins: so far, so good. Then came the game at Alabama: automatic loss. Fair enough. Still ranked No. 16, they were to play Texas A&M at home. That turned out not so well, either. The next game was at LSU; care to guess how that turned out? The thing was, after the big win over Arkansas (45-14), one would think that the worst was behind them. After all, in the Egg Bowl (their traditional rivalry game against Mississippi), they were favored. Ole Miss is mediocre, and Mississippi State has had, all things considered, a great season. But then they inexplicably lost to the Rebels 41-24. What gives? They obviously hit the wall, but how? Was it loss of energy, in clear case of Ohio U, or was it just the more brutal part of their schedule? The latter cannot explain things alone, since, hello, they lost to Ole Miss, and though the Rebels have improved, they have not improved that much. The answer might therefore be, a little of both. Let us hope Dan Mullen can allow for some of the energy in the team to recover for the bowl game.
West Virginia: The Mountaineers were flying high after their big debut in the Big XII, beating Baylor at home in an offensive explosion for the ages, 70-63. The following week, they journeyed to Austin to take on then-No. 11 Texas, where they beat the host Longhorns 48-45. It went downhill for five straight weeks after that, with consecutive losses to Texas Tech (49-14), Kansas State (55-14), TCU (39-38), Oklahoma State (55-34), and Oklahoma (50-49). Welcome to the Big XII, Dana Holgorsen. The obvious wall WVU hit was tough schedule, plain and simple. That said, five tough losses obviously took something out of the Mountaineers as well, since they had to struggle to beat Iowa State this past weekend. Whether they have recovered any energy at all will be demonstrated when they play Kansas this upcoming week for what should be a fairly easy clean-up win.
Louisville: So much for running the table for Louisville after losing to Syracuse 45-17 on the road for their tenth game. To be sure, most of their wins up to that point were a little more than close for comfort, such as beating North Carolina only 39-34, beating Southern Miss 21-17 (the rain notwithstanding), or beating awful South Florida only 27-25. With such a pattern of wins, one would think an ugly loss would be inevitable, if only to get it out of their system. Sadly, whatever ailed the Cardinals in Syracuse did not yet pass, for the following game, they coughed up another loss at home to Connecticut in the third overtime. Worse yet, they only have until this Thursday to bounce back on the road against Rutgers in order to win a BCS bowl berth. The Scarlet Knights lost badly that same day to Pittsburgh, so both teams are in a must-win situation. But with the recent pattern of play, the concern remains that U of L might have lost their energy. Thus, the upcoming proposition is dicey at best. Charlie Strong might want to go easy on his boys so they can get their energy.
Addendum 12-07-12 — Duke: Part of me says “poor Duke,” while the other part of me says “hey, all things considered, they’re doing pretty well.” But nevertheless, they were flying high during the middle of the season, or high by Duke standards at least! Throught Oct. 6, they were 5-1, with the one loss coming to them on the road against Stanford. Any reasonable person would quickly excuse that! Then the next week, they lossed to Virginia Tech, 41-20. Fair enough. Moreover, credit goes to this team, as the following week, they rebounded to beat North Carolina 33-30. Then came four consecutive losses in their last four regular season games, first to Florida State (48-7; imagine that!), then to Clemson (56-20), then to Georgian Tech (42-24 — keep in mind that the Yellow Jackets run out of the flexbone!), and then lossed a shootout to Miami (52-45). In the first three out of four, they were clearly out-manned. The last loss could be attributed to having too much stuffing beat out of them by the first three of those four teams, hence having nothing left in the tank against the ‘Canes. But at least they got a Belk Bowl berth, and have a decent shot at winning it, too, since Cincinnati’s head coach Butch Jones just took the Tennessee job.
College Football Week 13 Awards November 25, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Air Force, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, B1G, BCS, Big 10, Big Ten, Bill Snyder, Boise State, Brian Kelly, Buckeyes, Charlie Strong, Cincinnati, Clemson, college, Columbus, Commodores, Connecticut, crasher, Dana Holgorsen, Dores, Eastern Michigan, Fighting, Florida, Florida State, football, Fresno State, FSU, Gamecocks, Gators, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Iowa, Irish, Jay Cutler, Jimbo Fisher, Joker Phillips, Kansas, Kansas State, Kent State, Kentucky, Kyle Flood, Lane Kiffin, Liberty Bowl, Los Angeles, Louisville, MAC, Mack Brown, Madison, Michigan, Mississippi State, NCAA, Nebraska, Nevada, Nicholls, Noles, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Penn State, Pete Carroll, Pittsburgh, rival, Ron English, Rutgers, Seminoles, South Alabama, South Bend, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Tallahassee, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Tigers, Todd Graham, Trojan, UConn, Urban Meyer, USC, Vanderbilt, Vandy, Washington, Washington State, West Virginia, Will Muschamp, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [post-week 13, pre-week 14] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Will Muschamp, Florida
Glad I’m not him: Mack Brown, Texas
Glad it’s finally over: Joker Phillips, Kentucky
Lucky guy: Todd Graham, Arizona State
Poor guy: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Desperately seeking a clue: Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kyle Flood, Rutgers
Desperately seeking … anything: Ron English, Eastern Michigan
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Alabama (beat Auburn 49-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Nebraska (beat Iowa 13-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Georgia Tech (lost to No. 3 Georgia 42-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Washington State (beat Washington 31-28, OT)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Ole Miss (beat Mississippi State 41-24)
Dang, they’re good: Stanford
Dang, they’re bad: South Florida
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Arizona (lost to Arizona State 41-34)
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? Kansas
Can the season never end? Florida
GAMES
Play this again: No. 12* South Carolina 27, No. 11* Clemson 17 (notwithstanding Baylor 52, Texas Tech 45, OT)
Never play this again: Fresno State 48, Air Force 15
What? TCU 20, No. 15* Texas 13
Huh? UConn 23, No. 20* Louisville 20, 3OT
Are you kidding me? Pittsburgh 27, No. 18* Rutgers 6
Oh – my – God: Ole Miss 41, Mississippi State 24
Told you so: No. 13* Oklahoma 51, No. 21* Oklahoma State 48, OT
*Week 13 AP rankings
NEXT WEEK
Ticket to die for: No. 2 Alabama vs. No .3 Georgia in Atlanta
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: (none)
Best non-Big Six matchup: No. 19 Northern Illinois @ No. 18 Kent State (MAC Championship, Friday night)
Upset alert: No. 7 Kansas State @ No. 23 Texas
Must win: Alabama vs. Georgia in the SEC Championship game (notwithstanding Louisville @ Rutgers)
Offensive explosion: Baylor @ Oklahoma State
Defensive struggle: Cincinnati @ UConn
Great game no one is talking about: Louisville @ Rutgers, Thursday
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mack Brown of Texas vs. Bill Snyder of Kansas State
Who’s bringing the body bags? Nicholls @ No. 16 Oregon State
Why are they playing? South Alabama @ Hawaii
Plenty of good seats remaining: New Mexico State @ Texas State
They shoot horses, don’t they? Kansas @ West Virginia
Rivalry Week in Review:
Give Urban Meyer a ton of credit: Ohio State had nothing to play for this year. Nothing. No matter how well they played this regular season, they were ineligible for any sort of bowl game or any other post-season play, not even the Big 10 Conference championship game. That is too bad, because they currently, er, lead the Leaders division of the conference by a virtual mile (two games, to be exact). Moreover, the team they lead is Penn State, who is ineligible for a much longer stretch of time, sadly, and for even more bizarre reasons. The Buckeyes’ current lead in the conference is three games ahead of the actual eligible member of the Leaders division, that being Wisconsin, whom Ohio State defeated in Madison, Wis., in overtime. As stated earlier, the Buckeyes had nothing to play for this year, and as such could have just lied down and given up early on. Yet Coach Meyer has kept his team focused and hungry every week. Best of all, they capped off an undefeated season by beating arch-rival Michigan 26-21. If these shadows remain unchanged, then the future in Columbus, Ohio is very bright indeed.
Yes, Florida won: But give Jimbo Fisher a ton of credit. He has brought Florida State back to near-football factory status, which has, in turn, brought the Sunshine State Rivalry back to prominence, which is good for football. The Seminoles put up on heckuva fight against the Gators in Tallahassee, but in the end, the latter’s defense proved too much for the former, as Florida triumphed in the end, 37-26. Yet to put things in perspective, this “rivalry” had been rather one-sided since 2004, be it in recent wins on the part of the ‘Noles (31-7 in 2010, 21-7 in 2011), or in consecutive wins (the Gators won all matchups with FSU from 2004 to 2009). The level of play, the overall excitement, and reasonably close score indicate that the one-sidedness has come to an end, at least temporarily. Expect this rivalry to retain its regained intensity in the future years to come!
Speaking of Florida, it looks like Muschamp is “the guy” after all. Folks had left him for dead at the end of last year after he went only 7-6 in his first season as head coach of the Gators. Yet this year, he has lost only one game, has just defeated his No. 10-ranked, in-state rival, and his team is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation. The Gators look to be in good hands after all.
Is the USC-Notre Dame rivalry back? Could be. Brian Kelly has put enough pieces together at Notre Dame to make the team recall the physical squads that made the Irish top contenders for years on end. Meanwhile, Lane Kiffin has gradually been putting pieces back together at USC after years of probation. Notre Dame was downright dormant as a former national power for a decade and a half. Meanwhile, USC was severely weakened by scholarship reductions due to probation, which they have now survived, and are looking to get back to where they were under Pete Carroll’s tenure. Going in to the most recent game, this rivalry, like the previous one mentioned, was also one-sided over the past decade. The Trojans won all but one of these games since 2002, and embarrassed the Irish in South Bend last year, 31-17. This year, Notre Dame stepped up and won in Los Angeles, 22-13, against a Trojan team with a back-up redshirt freshman and a team that has yet to find itself in terms of a necessary level of discipline and consistency. Regardless, though, the game was competitive, and we look forward to more of it in the coming years.
Speaking of one-sided rivalries: The South Carolina-Clemson game is one that has overall been in the latter’s favor, as the Tigers led the rivalry 65-41-4. Nevertheless, with the Gamecocks’ recent win, they have now won the last four games between them and the Tigers. This is the first time South Carolina has repeated this streak since from 1951-1954, and it ties the record for their longest win streak against their upstate rival. Moreover, South Carolina has won five out of the last seven of such games.
Is it too early to say that this is the greatest Vanderbilt team of modern times, if not of all time? Don’t laugh. When is the last time you saw the Commodores go 8-4? In recent memory, Vandy teams showed some signs of brilliance (the Jay Cutler-led squads, for example), but even they struggled to win six games, most of the time falling short of that mark. This team not only surpassed that mark for bowl eligibility, it blew passed it completely. Along the way, they blew out Kentucky, Tennessee, and Wake Forest. Not the most impressive opponents, to be sure, but the fact that they were able to hold off a rapidly-improving Ole Miss should count for something. To be sure, they have proven not to be able to handle the true heavyweights of the conference, losing badly to both Georgia (48-3) and Florida (31-17), and lost the season opener at home to South Carolina (17-13). Still, despite these weaknesses, the ‘Dores are bowl eligible for the second season in a row, something unprecedented in the history of the program. If that is not enough, the team reached other key milestones as well. The evidence speaks for itself. That said, if any doubts remain, last year, Vandy went only 6-6 before losing to Cincinnati in the Liberty Bowl. This year, they are a stronger team, and are 8-4; a bowl win should quell any doubt that they are the greatest Commodore squad of modern times, if not since the program’s inception in 1890.
Here’s something to blow you mind: Iowa and Kentucky, both cellar-dwellers in their respective conference divisions, are the only reasons why there is not some undefeated MAC team out there threatening to crash the BCS. Check it out. Iowa beat Northern Illinois by one point in the season opener, and Kentucky beat Kent State 47-14 in week 2. Want to make things even more interesting? Ask yourself the following question: would either of these “Big Six” teams beat any one of those two MAC teams at this stage of the season?
Oh yeah, and Notre Dame will be playing for the national championship for the first time in 24 years. Yay.
Teams that could beat Notre Dame November 22, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: 2012, A&M, Aaron Murray, Aggies, Alabama, Bama, Bayou Bengals, BCS, Bowl, Brian Kelly, Buckeye, Bulldogs, Capital One, Cardinal, college, Cotton, Crimson Tide, defense, Fighting, Florida, football, Gamecocks, Gators, Georgia, Glendale, Independence, Iowa, Irish, Jadeveon Clowney, Jeff Driskel, Johnny Manziel, Kevin Sumlin, LSU, miracle, Mississippi State, NCAA, ND, Nick Saban, Notre Dame, offense, Ohio State, Our Lady, Pasadena, Penn State, Purdue, SEC, South Bend, South Carolina, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, Sugar, Tennessee, Texas, Tigers, UAB, Urban Meyer, Wisconsin
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From the latest edition of Sports Illustrated. The Latin phrase at the top translates to “The Miracle of Our Lady 2012”
In case some dear readers have been hanging out in a cave for an extended period of time, Notre Dame is now the no. 1 college football team in the nation for the first time in 19 years to the month. Given the national following the Fighting Irish have, there has been more than a bit of hoopla over this development. Without going into obscene details, I can see Regis Philbin and other ND-loving celebrities losing control of themselves right about now. But just because the Irish are no. 1 by default, does not mean they are invincible? Of course not. Yes, they are undefeated; yes, they have beaten some decent teams. To be fair, Notre Dame is formidable. Brian Kelly has done an incredible job of bringing in a talented receiving corps for the offense while massively upgrading the team’s talent defensively. Their front five and front seven are both sufficiently physical to compete with anybody. But there are teams out there that would give ND fits, if not ruin their season outright if the two played each other. I therefore submit this list of teams to a candid world:
Practically sure things:
LSU: Without a doubt, LSU would give Notre Dame all it would want and then some. Over the past decade, there is no team that has been known to show up in big games and win them like LSU. Yes, they lost at home to Alabama this year. Yes, they lost the national championship game to Alabama at the end of last season. Yet ought these not to be a strong commentary on the Crimson Tide’s prowess rather then to the Bayou Bengals’ detriment? The Tigers have won two national titles within a decade. Aside from the BCS game this past season, they have won almost all of their bowl games*. Stretch the scale of time back to 15 years, and every time the Irish have played the Tigers in a bowl game (the 1997 Independence Bowl, the 2006-’07 Sugar Bowl), LSU has won both games handily. The odds, talent, and the mindset are all in LSU’s favor. Notre Dame ought to pray that the two teams do not meet anytime soon.
*LSU’s only bowl losses were to a tough Texas team in the 2003 Cotton Bowl, and inexplicable losses in the Capital One Bowl to both Iowa (30-20 on Jan. 1, 2005), and Penn State (19-17 on Jan. 1, 2010).
Stanford: Don’t laugh. Yes, they already lost to Notre Dame this year, but by that same token, let us put things into perspective. A), the game was in South Bend, B) the weather was horrible, C) what did the Cardinal in was two consecutive horrible play calls on the goal line in overtime. Now imagine the two teams playing each other again, this time on a neutral field, and reasonable weather. Stanford has the personnel to fight the Irish effectively on the line on both sides of the ball. They sport a very physical front seven, and their offense is ground-and-pound. This approach was two horribly-called plays shy of working under very adverse circumstances on the road. Imagine how well it would work in, say, Glendale, Ariz., or Pasadena.
Texas A&M: The Aggies have proven that they can move the ball on tough defenses. Quarterback Johnny Manziel has gotten better and better as the season has progressed. They moved the ball effectively on Alabama, after all. Moreover, Coach Kevin Sumlin has proven to be an excellent motivator in getting his men ready for big games. Some of their margins of victory are impressive. For example, they beat a respected Mississippi State squad 38-13, and then turned around the following week and beat then-no. 1 Alabama. What this tells me is that you can count on consistent play from A&M at this stage of the season. That, plus quick defense and superior quarterback play add up to being too much for the Irish to handle.
Ohio State: Yes, Brian Kelly has proven to be one of the best coaches in the college game. But so has Urban Meyer, and his resume of winning big games with more teams, one could argue, trumps Kelly’s. Never count out Meyer in big games. Moreover, once he brings in more of his own style of players, they will execute his spread offense all the more effectively. True, the Buckeyes were playing some teams too closely for comfort earlier in the year. After all, they only scored 29 points on abysmal UAB, of all teams! But lately the offense runs like a well-oiled machine. During their last games, they have averaged scoring 49 points each. Their lower scores during that span were 29 points (where Purdue’s defense actually showed up) and 21 points against Wisconsin’s traditionally stout ‘D.’ Notre Dame has not encountered anything like Ohio State’s offense throughout this memorable season of theirs.
Questionable teams:
Florida: Yes, their defense is practically impregnable. Good luck moving the ball on the Gators. The problem is on the offensive side of the ball. Jeff Driskel is a mediocre quarterback at best, and Notre Dame’s defense will not play dead simply because they are facing such a vaunted program. The game would be very low-scoring, with the outcome depending on how well Driskell executes, which is a crap-shoot.
South Carolina: On paper, this team should be a very formidable foe for the Irish. A strong running game, one of the best QB’s in college football in Connor Shaw, and defense with potential NFL talent, anchored by Jadeveon Clowney. The problem lies in consistency. The Gamecocks blew out a tough Georgia team earlier in the year, only to embarrass themselves at Florida a few weeks later. After that, they played an awful Tennessee much more closely than the game should have been, again, on paper (they won that game only 38-35). The Ol’ Ball Coach triumphing over the hot-headed Irish Coach will depend on the team that gave Georgia its only loss of the year to show up.
Georgia: The Bulldogs have an incredibly talented offense led by experienced, highly-rated quarterback Aaron Murray. On paper, the offense would give Notre Dame’s talented defense all they could handle. Defensively, Georgia sports a typical talented, ultra-quick SEC defense. The problem, like that of South Carolina, is consistency. Yes, they could theoretically take Notre Dame, but it all comes down to which team shows up against them: the team that beat Florida handily on an ostensibly neutral field, or the team that lost badly earlier on to South Carolina?
Alabama: Easily the least-questionable team within this category. The only reason they are in said category as opposed to the above one is that Texas A&M exposed a chink or two in their impressive armor. Their defense is talented, but young, and their offense is not the most imaginative of teams at their level. But let us say that the two – Bama and ND – end up playing each other in the BCS national championship game. Give Nick Saban a month to prepare – a luxury no team has had thus far, to be sure – and he is practically unstoppable. Advantage, Crimson Tide.
If any dear readers think other teams merit being added to the list, I would be more than happy to entertain suggestions! (P.S.: Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!)
College Football Week 12 Awards November 18, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, AP, Army, Art Briles, Atlanta, Baylor, BCS, Bears, Bill Snyder, Bulldogs, BYU, California, championship, CHip Kelly, Clemson, Collin Klein, Crimson Tide, Dabo Swinney, David Shaw, Derek Dooley, Ducks, Eastern Michigan, Eugene, Florida, Florida State, football, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Jeff Tedford, Johnny Manziel, Joker Phillips, K-State, Kansas State, Kent State, Kentucky, Lane Kiffin, Longhorns, Los Angeles, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike Riley, national, national championship, NCAA, New Mexico State, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, OT, poll, SEC, South Carolina, Stanford, TCU, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tommy Tuberville, UAB, UCLA, UNLV, USA Today, USC, Vols, Volunteers, Waco, Wake Forest, Western Carolina, Wildcats, Wofford
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [post-week 12, pre-week 13] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Art Briles, Baylor
Glad I’m not him: Bill Snyder, Kansas State
Lucky guy: David Shaw, Stanford
Poor guy: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Desperately seeking a clue: Jeff Tedford, California
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech
Desperately seeking … anything: Derek Dooley, Tennessee
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Alabama (beat Western Carolina 49-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Kansas State (see below)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Wake Forest (lost to Notre Dame 38-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Wofford (lost to No. 13 South Carolina 24-7)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Baylor (see below)
Thought you wouldn’t get your butt kicked, you did: Army (see below)
Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: UAB
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Kansas State (see below)
Did the season start? Michigan State
Can the season end? Tennessee
Can the season never end? LSU
GAMES
Play this again: No. 8 LSU 41, Ole Miss 35
Never play this again: Temple 63, Army 32
What? Utah State 48, No. 20* Louisiana Tech 41, OT
Huh? No. 23* Oklahoma State 59, No. 24* Texas Tech 21
Are you kidding me? No. 13* Stanford 17, No. 2* Oregon 14, OT
Oh – my – God: Baylor 52, No. 1* Kansas State 24
* Week 12 AP rankings
NEXT WEEK
Ticket to die for: No. 6 Florida @ No. 10 Florida State (notwithstanding No. 13 South Carolina @ No. 12 Clemson)
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: (none)
Best non-Big Six matchup: Ohio U @ Kent State
Upset alert: Baylor over Texas Tech in Waco
Must win: No. 1 Notre Dame @ USC
Offensive explosion: No. 24 Oklahoma State @ No. 12 Oklahoma
Defensive struggle: No. 20 Michigan @ No. 4 Ohio State
Great game no one is talking about: No. 5 Oregon @ No. 16 Oregon State
Thanksgiving Day Special: TCU @ No. 18 Texas
Cloud Nine Bowl: No. 8 Stanford @ No. 17 UCLA
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mike Riley of Oregon State vs. Chip Kelly of Oregon
Who’s bringing the body bags? Georgia Tech @ No. 3 Georgia (notwithstanding Northern Illinois @ Eastern Michigan, Friday)
Why are they playing? BYU @ New Mexico State
Plenty of good seats remaining: UNLV @ Hawaii
Plenty of good seats remaining, SEC East edition: Kentucky @ Tennessee
They shoot horses, don’t they? Akron @ Toledo (Tuesday night)
Instant BCS Chaos: In just one night, the BCS standings have turned upside down. All Kansas State and Oregon had to do was win out, and they would have been matched up in a very intriguing national championship game in Miami. Scratch that; ain’t gonna happen. Oregon lost a close, hard-fought game in Eugene, Ore., to a tough Stanford squad. The game went into OT, and the Duck’s failure to score on their opening possession gave the Cardinal an opportunity to win the game with a field goal, which they did. Another one bites the dust.
Yet half-way across the country in the heart of Texas (Waco, to be exact), something even more improbable developed. Kansas State, at that time ranked No. 1 in the land, went down to spectacular defeat at the hands of Art Briles’ Baylor [Baptist] Bears. The score itself was improbable: when is the last time any top-ranked team went down to an un-ranked team by a score of 52-24? Nothing accounts for that. Credit Briles and Co. with coming up with an amazing game plan that effectively attacked the Wildcats where it hurt them the most, and they never let up the entire night.
Not in five years has there been such BCS standings chaos in one night of regular season football. Yet things get even more intriguing from this point onward. For the first time in 19 years, almost to the week, Notre Dame is the No. 1 team in the nation. No doubt plenty of rejoicing erupted in South Bend., Ind., instantly upon Kansas State’s defeat, and no doubt the merriment doubled again in light of Oregon going down at home in OT. After winning close game after close game, Brian Kelly has brought the Fighting Irish back to national prominence and is in the driver’s seat to punch their ticket to Miami come early January. Meanwhile, an entire nation will scrutinize Notre Dame to see if they themselves can stand prosperity as they journey to Los Angeles this upcoming weekend to take on traditional rival USC.
And just like that, the SEC is back in the national discussion: Alabama’s upset at home to Texas A&M last week seemed to wipe out the Crimson Tide’s hopes of repeating as national title contenders. With last night’s, er, developments, despair has instantly transformed into renewed hope and ambition. Bama is now second in both the AP and USA Today Polls, and Georgia is no. 3. Should both those teams win out – extra emphasis on ‘should’ – it will be a very interesting contest in Atlanta for the SEC championship come Dec. 1.
Dooley Fired: Not only is now-former Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley “Desperately seeking…anything.” Now he’ll be desperately seeking…a job. The University of Tennessee decided to cut its ties with Dooley after their embarrassing loss in Nashville to up-and-coming, in-state rival Vanderbilt, 41-18. The firing is effective immediately, as it has been reported on Tennessee’s athletics website that offensive coordinator Jim Chaney (with whom I worked while a student manager at Purdue, as he was an assistant under Coach Joe Tiller) will be the interim head coach for the upcoming game against Kentucky. Evidently, the powers that be are not giving Dooley a couple of curtain calls like those UK’s Joker Phillips has received.
Yesterday’s embarrassing loss to the Commodores was just the last straw in one bad development after another for the program; the final blow to prove to the Volunteer nation that things need to be guided in a newer, better direction. This year alone, the Vols have gone 4-7, and 0-7 in the SEC, something entirely unacceptable to a large, proud fan base, to say nothing of a program with such massive tradition and resources behind it. In just one game shy of three complete seasons, Dooley is just 15-21 with Tennessee, but worse yet, 4-19 in the SEC, and 0-15 against top-25 opponents. Let us not forget that his hiring was essentially a stop-gap move in the wake of Lane Kiffin’s sudden departure for the USC job. Let us also not forget that under Dooley’s leadership last year, Tennessee lost their annual season-closer to Kentucky for the first time since 1984, and it is not a given that the Vols will Triumph over the Wildcats this year, either. Come to think of it, has Kentucky ever defeated Tennessee in football for two seasons in a row?
Paging Bobby Petrino…
Heisman talk: Quarterback Collin Klein of K-State was the Heisman frontrunner, but after his team lost ignominiously, and his performance was mediocre at best (27 for 50, 286 yards, 2 td’s but 3 int’s), could it be that “Johnny Football,” Johnny Manziel, himself of Texas A&M, is the new award frontrunner? Food for thought, in any case.
intellectualgridiron 