College Football Week 11 Awards November 12, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: 1954, 1957, 1968, Aggies, Alabama, AP, Auburn, BCS, Bear Bryant, blowout, Boston College, Buffalo, Bulldogs, Charlie Strong, Cincinnati, Clemson, college, Cotton Bowl, Crimson Tide, Ducks, Florida, football, Gene Stallings, Georgia, Heisman, Horned Frogs, Houston, Indiana, Iowa, Jacksonville State, James Franklin, Jim Mora, John David Crow, Junction Boys, Kansas State, Kentucky, Kevin Sumlin, Lane Kiffin, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisville, Mike Leach, Missouri, Missouri State, N.C. State, NCAA, Nick Saban, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pat Fitzgerald, poll, ranking, Red Sea, Rocky Long, Rutgers, Samford, San Diego State, Senior Day, South Carolina, Southern Miss, standing, Stanford, Sugar Bowl, Syracuse, Temple, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tommy Tuberville, Tulsa, UCLA, UMass, USA Today, USC, Utah, Utah State, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington State, West Virginia, Western Carolina, Wildcats, Wisconsin, Wofford
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [post-week 11, pre-week 12] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Glad I’m not him: Nick Saban, Alabama
Lucky guy: James Franklin, Vanderbilt
Poor guy: Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
Desperately seeking a clue: Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Rocky Long, San Diego State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Desperately seeking … anything: Mike Leach, Washington State
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 4 Georgia (beat Auburn 38-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 3 Notre Dame (beat Boston College 21-6)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Indiana (lost to Wisconsin 62-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Louisiana-Lafayette (lost to No. 7 Florida 27-20)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Tulsa (beat Houston 41-7)
Dang, they’re good: Oregon
Dang, they’re bad: Southern Miss
Ya’ know, they’re not so bad: Virginia
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Louisville (see below), notwithstanding Alabama (see below)
Did the season start? Utah
Can the season end? Iowa
Can the season never end? Texas A&M
GAMES
Play this again: No. 9** Texas A&M 29, No. 4** Alabama 24
Never play this again: Wisconsin 62, Indiana 14
What? No. 6 Florida 27, Louisiana-Lafayette 20
Huh? Missouri 51, Tennessee 48, 4OT
Are you kidding me? Syracuse 45, No. 9* Louisville 26
Oh – my – God: No. 15* Texas A&M 29, No. 1* Alabama 24
Told you so: Syracuse 45, No. 9* Louisville 26
* rankings are AP, Week 11
** reflects current, Week 12 AP rankings
NEXT WEEK
Ticket to die for: No. 14 Stanford @ No. 3 Oregon
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Samford @ Kentucky
Best non-Big Six matchup: Utah State @ No. 20 Louisiana Tech
Upset alert: N.C. State @ No. 13 Clemson
Must win: No. 12 Oklahoma @ West Virginia
Offensive explosion: No. 19 USC @ No. 18 UCLA
Defensive struggle: Tennessee @ Vanderbilt
Great game no one is talking about: No. 23 Rutgers @ Cincinnati
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jim Mora Jr. of UCLA vs. Lane Kiffin of USC
Who’s bringing the body bags? Western Carolina @ No. 4 Alabama
Why are they playing? Jacksonville State @ No. 7 Florida
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTEP @ Southern Miss (notwithstanding Buffalo @ UMass)
They shoot horses, don’t they? Wofford @ No. 8 South Carolina
Week 11: Another Two Bite the Dust
Two more undefeateds went down this week, one semi-expected, one hardly expected. Louisville’s first defeat of the season was semi-expected, and for a number of reasons. For one, most of Louisville’s wins were hardly overwhelming. Moreover, their defense seemed to be increasingly under-performing during most of the season. Their average margin of victory has been only 12.8 points, including an early-season blowout over Missouri State (35-7) and last week’s blowout over Temple (45-17). Add Syracuse’s unpredictable competitiveness at home to the mix (it was their Senior Day, after all), and in the back of my mind, something was about to give.
But all is not lost for the Cardinals. They are still in the running to win the Big East, and if they are able to defeat Rutgers in Piscataway on Nov. 29, they can clinch the conference total, though it nevertheless remains a relatively tall order.
The same cannot be said for as-of-yesterday No. 1 Alabama going down to surprising, almost shocking defeat (almost!) at home to No. 15 – and climbing! – Texas A&M. The game already had a special feel to it regardless of the rankings, given that this was the first time the Crimson Tide was to play the Aggies since the 1968 Cotton Bowl. Even Aggie and Crimson Tide legends showed up for Week 11’s aptly-labeled “ticket to die for”, including John David Crow (the only Bear Bryant-coached Heisman Trophy winner [1957, from A&M]), and Gene Stallings, both of whom were part of Bryant’s 1954 “Junction Boys” at A&M, the latter of whom coached against Bryant in the Cotton Bowl in ’68 (Bryant for Bama, Stallings for A&M), and who later coached Alabama to its last national championship (1992-’93), before Nick Saban’s tenure.
To observe the special meeting between the two teams, they even mimicked the uniform contrast of the opposing sides from roughly 44 years ago. In the 1968 Cotton Bowl match-up, Alabama showed up in all-white (helmets included) to contrast against A&M’s maroon helmets and jerseys. This time it was A&M who showed up in all-white (helmets included) to contrast Bama’s traditional crimson helmets and jerseys.
At right shows Alabama vs. Texas A&M in the 1968 Cotton Bowl. The Crimson Tide showed up in all-white to contrast the Aggies’ traditional maroon uniforms. In a nod to that game from over 44 years ago, this time it was the Aggies that showed in all-white yesterday (left) to contrast Bama’s traditional crimson unis. Look carefully, and notice how little the stripes on the teams’ pants have changed in four and a half decades!
The game itself, oddly enough, made things even more memorable. Before yesterday’s game commenced, Alabama’s defense only allowed an average of six points in the first quarter. In the first 15 minutes of this game, they allowed three touchdowns. Such lying down on the job is what made the game more interesting than necessary, and ended up costing Alabama the game, the top-ranking, and likely a shot at the national championship. One can quibble over whether a lapse of discipline on the part of a defensive player with 40 seconds left in the game cost Alabama just that with an offside penalty, thus giving the Aggies an automatic first down. But such a penalty would have been moot had Bama’s defense played up to its usual standards in the first half. Credit Kevin Sumlin for putting together a game plan that took the fight to the Tide in their home stadium.
The new championship race: Some have speculated that Bama’s unexpected loss has, if you’ll pardon the expression, parted the Red Sea in two for Notre Dame to walk into national title discussion. I might borrow Lee Corso’s famous line of “not so fast my friend” and remind such speculators that both Oregon and Kansas State are ahead of Notre Dame in the rankings, both the AP kind and the BCS kind. The latter standings are a result of superior strength of schedule on the part of both the Ducks and the Wildcats. It shall take a loss of one of those teams – not likely, but not impossible – for Notre Dame to be legitimate contenders. The same will have to be the case for Alabama to work its way back into such discussions, now that they are behind Georgia in the USA Today Poll (@ No.5), though ahead of them in the AP Poll (@ No. 4). Not an egregious fall, but one that might be just insurmountable enough without a little outside help. Can we say “Alabama-Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl” if these shadows remain unchanged? If nothing else, it would be another legendary match-up!
Quick uniform note: TCU once had one of the nicest-looking helmets in college football. That is, until they temporarily compromised the look by succumbing to the flat, matte helmet epidemic that seems to have gripped a number of teams. Thankfully, the team has chosen to grant themselves a respite from that visual impairment disease, at least temporarily. Last night in their valiant loss to Kansas State, the Horned Frogs sported helmets that closely recalled their traditional beautiful purple shells. Their helmets on TV seemed shinier than ever before; perhaps a special polish was put on the metallic purple, or, even better, they went for a chrome purple look. Whichever it was, here’s hoping they go forward with keeping this current helmet look and throw the matte shells onto the ash heap of regrettable trends.
College Football Week 9 Awards October 29, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Air Force, Arizona, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, Big 10, Big Ten, Bob Stoops, Brian Kelly, Bryant-Denny Stadium, Buffalo, Bulldogs, Butch Jones, Central Florida, Charlie Strong, Cincinnati, Clemson, cocktail party, college, Colorado, Crimson Tide, Dan Mullen, Danny Hope, Darrell Hazell, Duke, East Carolina, Fighting Illini, Florida, Florida State, football, Gators, Georgia, Hoosiers, Horned Frogs, Huskies, Illinois, Indiana, Joker Phillips, Kansas, Kansas State, Kent State, Kentucky, Kevin Sumlin, Kyle Flood, Louisville, LSU, Miami, Milan Puskar Stadium, Mississippi State, Missouri, N.C. State, Navy, NCAA, North Carolina, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, Purdue, Rutgers, SEC, SMU, Southern Miss, spread offense, Stanford, Steve Sarkesian, Tarheels, TCU, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, toilet bowl, Troy, Tulsa, UAB, UMass, USC< Alabama, Washington, West Virginia
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [post-week 9, pre-week 10] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Glad I’m not him: Kyle Flood, Rutgers
Lucky guy: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Poor guy: Butch Jones, Cincinnati
Desperately seeking a clue: Joker Phillips, Kentucky
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Darrell Hazell, Kent State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Desperately seeking … anything: Danny Hope, Purdue
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Oregon (beat Colorado 70-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Texas (beat Kansas 21-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Auburn (lost to No. 16 Texas A&M 63-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Kansas (lost to Texas 21-17)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Navy (beat East Carolina 56-28)
Thought you wouldn’t get your butt kicked, you did: Texas Tech (lost to No. 3 Kansas State 55-24)
Dang, they’re good: Kansas State
Dang, they’re bad: Temple
Can’t stand prosperity: Ohio U. (lost to Miami [Ohio] 23-20)
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? Purdue
Can the season never end? Notre Dame
GAMES
Play this again: No. 7 Georgia 17, No. 8 Florida 9
Never play this again: No. 3 Oregon 70, Colorado 14
What? Michigan State 16, Wisconsin 13, OT
Huh? No. 10 Georgia 7, No. 8 Florida 9
Double Huh? Washington 20, No. 13 Oregon State 17
Are you kidding me? Kent State 35, Rutgers 23
Oh – my – God: Arizona 39, No 18 USC 36
Told you so: No. 12 Louisville 34, Cincinnati 30, OT
NEXT WEEK
Ticket to die for: No. 1 Alabama @ No. 6 LSU (notwithstanding No. 2 Oregon @ No. 9 USC)
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Tulsa @ Arkansas
Best non-Big Six matchup: SMU @ Central Florida
Upset alert: No. 10 Clemson @ Duke
Must win: Texas @ No. 20 Texas Tech
Offensive explosion: Arizona @ UCLA
Defensive struggle: Miami (Ohio) @ Buffalo
Great game no one is talking about: No. 16 Texas A&M @ No. 17 Mississippi State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Kevin Sumlin of Texas A&M vs. Dan Mullen of Mississippi State
Who’s bringing the body bags? Colorado @ No. 15 Stanford
Why are they playing? Troy @ Tennessee
Plenty of good seats remaining: UAB @ Southern Miss
They shoot horses, don’t they? UMass @ Northern Illinois
Week 9 in Review: Upsets and Conference Toilet Bowls Abound
The whole purpose of a given “Toilet Bowl” is to pit the two worst teams against each other to find which is, in fact, the worst of the worst. Such was determined twice yesterday. In the Big 10 Toilet Bowl, Indiana trounced Illinois 31-17, in the Fighting Illini’s home stadium, no less. Illinois, now 2-6, is now the undisputed – though clearly not undefeated – bottom-feeder of the conference for this season. They are winless in the Big 10, and have no time to lick this very revealing wound, as next week they venture into Columbus, Ohio to take on Ohio State.
Meanwhile, in the Toilet Bowl, SEC Edition, Missouri defeated Kentucky in CoMo (which is what the locals refer to as Columbia, Mo.) by a similar score, 33-10. Kentucky is in a sadly familiar spot in the most brutal of conferences in college football. What is even more revealing, though, is UK’s response in the wake of the loss.
“It’s tough, because we knew we were better than those guys,” so said Kentucky tailback Raymond Sanders. Better than them, even when losing by 23 points? Such denial of reality is why head coach Joker Phillips has merited the above award for the week (see: Desperately seeking a clue).
Undefeateds going down: Fewer teams remain undefeated today than when they woke up to play games yesterday. Rutgers was the highest-ranked team in the Big East before going down to one-loss Kent State. Inexplicably, the Golden Flashes’ sole defeat came at the hands of Kentucky.
Mississippi State’s first defeat of the season was the most understandable of all first losses of the year, given that they were going up against No. 1 Alabama, in Bryant-Denny Stadium, no less. The Bulldogs’ head coach, Dan Mullen, said it best going into the weekend when he pointed out that, “[Y]ou’ve got to try to run the ball (on Alabama) whether you’re having success or not.” Despite Mississippi State’s best efforts, they were very slowly and methodically ground down by the Crimson Tide, 38-7.
On the West Coast, undefeated Oregon State lost that distinction in their loss to Washington. Steve Sarkesian’s Huskies have earned the reputation of being a “giant killer” of sorts this year, as they handed previously-undefeated Stanford its first loss of the year as well. Keep an eye on the program on the rebound in Seattle.
Finally, Florida was another team to bite the proverbial dust and suffer its first loss to Georgia in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in Jacksonville, Fla. Though scoring was relatively low (17-9 in favor of the UGA Bulldogs), there were plenty of plays to keep the crowd enthused. In the end, the old adage of “the team that makes the fewest mistakes wins” rang true yet again, which explains how the Bulldogs reigned victorious.
More chrome: North Carolina – of all bloody teams! – has jumped on the chrome dome bandwagon, as they sported chrome-silver helmets during their last-minute upset over rival N.C. State. Moreover, the main decal was an oversized Tarheel logo (the Carolina blue-colored foot with the tar on the heel), in breaking with the traditional “NC” decal they usually display. On all-dark blue jersey and pants ensemble complimented a very different look for a team normally known for its “Carolina blue” helmets and jerseys. Oh well: it beats the trendy “matte” look!
Choke-lahoma: That moniker was earned/demonstrated yet again last night, as Oklahoma squandered a golden (if you’ll pardon the expression) opportunity to hand Notre Dame its first loss of the year. Stoops and company have nobody to blame but themselves for deliberately holding themselves back. They had an offensive line capable of controlling the line of scrimmage, and yet they repeatedly passed up on the opportunity to establish a ground attack. On the passing side of things, they also held themselves back by concentrating on short-yardage increments that are the bread-and-butter of the one-sided spread offense. They did this while being thoroughly capable of throwing the ball further down the field, and by not doing this, never forced the Irish secondary to respect either the deep threat or the short yardage attempts. Head Coach Bob Stoops has proven once again to be something of a schoolyard bully of the coaching ranks; arrogant and blunt with reporters, lots of bluster, but having little to, er, “bring,” when genuinely challenged.
Looking ahead: some other games to keep an eye on, aside from the upcoming games listed above includes Air Force @ Army in an all-service academies showdown. Another intriguing matchup is TCU venturing into Morgantown, W.V. to play the Mountaineers. The big question going in to that game will be, how will West Virginia respond to two consecutive drubbings after being ranked so high in the polls? Moreover, how the Horned Frogs will handle the Milan Puskar Stadium crowd is a question no doubt in the back of the minds of many a fan and observer. In the wake of the SEC “Toilet Bowl” 2012, Missouri takes on Florida and Kentucky takes on Vanderbilt, meaning that the respective cellar-dweller status of either team is unlikely to change anytime soon. After Oklahoma was embarrassed at home to Notre Dame, how will they respond at Iowa State, a team that has shown surprising formidability this year? Can Duke show that it has staying power by bouncing back after a tough though understandable loss to Florida State in time to put up a good fight against inconsistent Clemson? More importantly, can USC bounce back from being upset in the desert by Arizona in time for a primetime showdown against Oregon at home?
College Football Week 5 Awards October 1, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, Army, Art Briles, Auburn, Baylor, Bayou Bengals, Big 10, Bo Pelini, Boilermakers, Boise State, Boston College, Cincinnati, college football, Colorado, Commonwealth Stadium, Cougars, Dana Holgorsen, Danny Hope, Derek Dooley, Fighting Illini, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Huskers, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky Wildcats, Kevin Sumlin, Kevin Wilson, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Monroe, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Marshall, Miami Hurricanes, Miami Redhawks, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee State, Mountaineers, NCAA, Nebraska, New Mexico State, Nittany Lions, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Purdue, Sonny Dykes, South Carolina, Southern Miss, Stony Brook, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Thundering Herd, Tim Beckman, Towson, Tulane, UCLA, uniforms, unis, Urban Meyer, Virginia Tech, Washington State, West Virginia, Wisconsin Badgers
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Glad I’m not him: Derek Dooley, Tennessee
Lucky guy: Bo Pelini, Nebraska
Poor guy: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Danny Hope, Purdue
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Sonny Dykes, Louisiana Tech
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Tim Beckman, Illinois
Desperately seeking … anything: Kevin Wilson, Indiana
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: North Carolina (defeated Idaho 66-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: LSU (defeated Towson 38-22)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to UCLA 42-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Marshall (lost to Purdue 51-41)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Penn State (beat Illinois 35-7)
Dang, they’re good: Florida State
Dang, they’re bad: Army
Did the season start? Virginia Tech
Can the season end? Indiana
Can the season never end? Oregon
GAMES
Play this again: West Virginia 70, Baylor 63
Never play this again: Louisiana Monroe 63, Tulane 10
What? Cincinnati 27, Virginia Tech 24
Huh? Stony Brook 23, Army 3
Are you kidding me? Penn State 35 – Illinois 7
Oh – my – God: Middle Tennessee State 49, Georgia Tech 28
Told you so: No.5 Georgia 51, Tennessee 44
NEXT WEEK
Ticket to die for: No. 5 Georgia @ No. 6 South Carolina
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Miami (Fla.) @ No. 9 Notre Dame (assuming one were to count Independents as “non-Big Six, otherwise, it would be Miami (Ohio) @ Cincinnati.
Best non-Big Six matchup: Louisiana Monroe @ Middle Tennessee State
Upset alert: No. 8 West Virginia @ No. 11 Texas
Must win: No. 17 Oklahoma @ Texas Tech
Get-well opportunity: No. 20 Michigan State @ Indiana
Offensive explosion: Washington State @ No. 18 Oregon State
Defensive struggle: No. 4 LSU @ No. 10 Florida
Great game no one is talking about: Michigan @ Purdue
Intriguing coaching matchup: Urban Meyer of Ohio State vs. Bo Pelini of Nebraska
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kansas @ No. 7 Kansas State
Why are they playing? No. 24 Boise State @ Southern Miss
Plenty of good seats remaining: Boston College @ Army (or, New Mexico State @ Idaho, take your pick)
They shoot horses, don’t they? Arkansas @ Auburn
What we have learned after Week 5:
Remember last week’s predicted “Offensive Explosion”? Scratch that. Yes, hindsight is indeed 20-20, but West Virginia’s Big XII debut against Baylor was far more than an “Intriguing Coaching Matchup” between the Mountaineers’ Dana Holgorsen and the Bears’ Art Briles. The score of the game was so high, in what has become to be a seemingly typical Baylor fashion these days, that one needed oxygen to read the numbers. The Mountaineers made a very splashy conference debut, winning at home 70-63.
Also, remember last week’s predicted “Defensive Struggle”? Scratch that one, too. Penn State defeated Illinois in the Fighting Illini’s home stadium, 35-7. That cannot be attributed alone to the Illini wearing dark blue helmets for the first time since, well, pretty much ever. The available evidence on hand indicates that Illinois has worn orange helmets since at least 1945, if not earlier. I cannot find any photographic record yet of them ever wearing blue helmets, but the search shall continue. Just don’t hold your breath in the meantime. That aside, has Penn State found some offense, or is Illinois that horrible? The Nittany Lions have sputtered offensively practically the whole season until yesterday, while the Fighting Illini were 2-2 going into that game.
The Purdue-Marshall match-up in West Lafayette, Ind., was tagged for this past week’s “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They” slot. The selection was by default, since the odds of a major blowout anywhere else aside from other chosen games seemed much higher. But while the Boilermakers were making gamey mincemeat out of the Thundering Herd in the first half, they let off the gas too soon in the second half. A clearly visible epidemic of dropped passes in the third quarter especially raised concerns for Purdue’s prospects in the Big Ten. Until now, plenty of talk has abounded regarding the Boilers having a very attainable shot at representing the Leaders division of the Big 10 in the championship game in Indianapolis. After this game, some doubts will no doubt linger. Much work is to be done if Purdue is to triumph at home next week against Michigan, and quell the justifiable newfound doubts in so doing. Get it together, Boilers.
The LSU-Towson matchup was to be, on paper, a slaughter so massive as to border on a war crime. Most fans could not even point Towson’s location out on a map (hint: it is a very nice suburb in the northern part of Baltimore). The only factor one can attribute to LSU’s inexplicably close margin of victory (38-22) is that the Bayou Bengals must have kept the playbook very, very limited so as to avoid divulging any trade secrets as they prepare to take on a quietly improving Florida team next week.
The Upset Alert prediction of last week (South Carolina @ Kentucky) seemed to almost come to fruition, as the Gamecocks wasted an entire half, trailing the Wildcats in Commonwealth Stadium by more than a touchdown. Only after they made the proper halftime adjustments did they assert themselves like a top-ten team should, and pulled themselves out of an unnecessary hole with a modest score of 38-17. South Carolina will not have such a luxury of using an entire half of a football game as their learning curve next week, when they will take on cross-border, arch-rival Georgia in what will without a doubt be the game of the week.
Awesome unis:
The Wisconsin-Nebraska game was not only a great game to watch from a purely game-play standpoint, with great execution on both sides of the ball. It was also a feast for the eyes from two teams who historically where rather stodgy uniforms. Both teams had sick-looking alternate, quasi-throwback unis (and we mean “sick” in the hip, with-it, good way!). The Badgers’ red helmets and red shoulders on white jerseys was a feast alone for the eyes, to say nothing of Huskers’ red jersey-pants combo with tasteful black trim, along with the first black helmets the team as ever donned – EVER. The proverbial icing on the cake was the large school letters worn on the front of both teams’ jerseys. All in all, a nice combination of throwback elements from the 1920s, 1940s, and 1950s! Speaking of which, did anybody notice the nice late ‘50s-style numbers on Wisconsin’s jerseys? One word: neato!
While we’re on the awesome uniform topic, it was nice to see LSU where purple jerseys again, as they have been known to do once in a blue moon. Moreover, I am prepared to designate Ole Miss’ road uniforms as the nicest away unis in the SEC. The all-gray is a unique touch, but the red-on-navy blue trim is an unbeatable combination, especially as it scrolls over the shoulders. On the other side of the continent, what is up with Oregon wearing gray pants? This thought especially came to mind as I watched them play Washington State in Pullman, Wash. Did the Ducks not know full-well that the Cougars were wearing gray pants at home? Would it have been too much trouble to wear green pants instead to provide a better contrast on the field? Sheesh.
College Football Week 3 Awards September 17, 2012
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, awards, Ball State, Boise State, BYU, Cal, California, Charlie Strong, Clemson, college football, Colorado, Connecticut, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Florida State, Fresno State, Gene Chizik, Idaho, Indiana, James Franklin, John L. Smith, Joker Phillips, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, LSU, Mack Brown, Mark Dantonio, Mark Richt, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Missouri, Navy, NCAA, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pat Fitzgerald, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, rivals, South Carolina, Stanford, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Todd Berry, Troy, UAB, USC, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Yahoo!
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It was so much fun. Every Sunday afternoon in the Fall of very recent years, we looked forward to the sportswriters of Rivals/Yahoo.com giving us their take on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the college football games and teams from the previous day. Their awards were very informal yet well to the point, and never failed to produce a number of chuckles and at times a few belly laughs. Those days seem to be gone. Yahoo!’s online sports section has been given a sleek makeover, but in this new format, the weekly awards seem to have been lost by the wayside. Maybe one could account for this because one of their main writers, Tom Dienhart, now blogs for the Big Ten Network. Who knows? The bottom line is, despite my best efforts, I cannot find it anymore. What website that is worth its weight in attracting eyeballs would make such an enjoyable weekly post so hard to find?
With all of this in mind, inspiration hit me last night to take it upon myself to dole out the awards instead. Afterall, I’m an alumnus of a Big Ten program, and have worked with coaches now on a number of “Big-Six” conference teams. It may not be Rivals/Yahoo!, but if you love college football, you might be apt to find this to be the next best thing. I have tweaked some of the awards to suit the unique situations that arise from week to week, but for the most part, the awards are the same. Therefore, I offer the awards for the third week of major college football, and aim to continue to do so until the able writers at Yahoo! ‘get it together’ and resume their Sunday duties.
Wish I were him: Mack Brown, Texas
Glad I’m not him: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Lucky guy: Gene Chizik, Auburn
Poor guy: Todd Berry, Louisiana-Monroe
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Charlie Strong, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Joker Phillips, Kentucky
Desperately seeking … anything: John L. Smith, Arkansas
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Purdue (beat Eastern Michigan 54-16)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Mississippi State (beat Troy 30-24)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Idaho (lost to LSU 63-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Pittsburgh (beat Virginia Tech 35-17)
Thought you’d reach a turning point, you didn’t: Tennessee (lost to Florida 37-20)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Colorado (or Kentucky: take your pick!)
Ya’ know, they’re not so bad: Cal
Did the season start? Penn State
Can the season end? Navy
Can the season never end? Stanford
Play this again: Stanford 21, USC 14
Never play this again: Fresno State 69, Colorado 14
Unbelieveable Irony: Connecticut 24, Maryland 21
What? Ball State 41, Indiana 39
Huh? Notre Dame 20, Michigan State 3
Are you kidding me? Pittsburgh 35, Virginia Tech 17
Oh – my – God: Western Kentucky 31, Kentucky 30
Told you so: Louisville 39, North Carolina 34
NEXT WEEK
Ticket to die for: No. 11 Clemson @ No. 5 Florida State
Best non-Big Six vs. Big Six matchup: Florida International vs. Louisville
Best non-Big Six matchup: BYU @ Boise State
Upset alert: Kansas State @ Oklahoma
Must win: USC vs. California
Offensive explosion: Arizona @ Oregon
Defensive struggle: Temple @ Penn State
Great game no one is talking about: Missouri @ South Carolina
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mark Richt of Georgia vs. James Franklin of Vanderbilt
Who’s bringing the body bags? Florida Atlantic @ Alabama
Why are they playing? UAB @ Ohio State
Plenty of good seats remaining: Memphis @ Duke
They shoot horses, don’t they? Maryland @ West Virginia
What are your thoughts, dear readers? Comments are welcome!
intellectualgridiron 