College Football Awards, Week 13 (2019) November 25, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Air Force, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Army, Auburn, B1G, Baylor, Buckeyes, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, college, Colorado, football, Gary Patterson, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Herm Edwards, Iowa State, James Franklin, Kansas State, Kevin Sumlin, Lincoln Riley, Mario Cristobal, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan, Minnesota, Navy, NCAA, Nebraska, Nick Rolovich, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion, Oregon, Penn State, Rice, Rutgers, Ryan Day, Samford, San Diego State, SMU, Sonny Dykes, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, Tom Herman, Troy, UCLA, UMass, USC, UTEP, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Ryan Day, Ohio State
Glad I’m not him: James Franklin, Penn State
Lucky guy: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
Poor guy: Gary Patterson, TCU
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Sonny Dykes, SMU
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Nick Rolovich, Hawaii
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mario Cristobal, Oregon
Desperately seeking … anything: Tom Herman, Texas
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Auburn (defeated Samford 52-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Georgia (defeated Texas A&M 19-13)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Maryland (lost to Nebraska 54-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: TCU (lost to No. 9 Oklahoma 28-24)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: USC (defeated UCLA 52-35)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Troy
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Oregon
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? UMass
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: Arizona State 31, No. 6 Oregon 28
Never play this again: No. 5 Alabama 66, Western Carolina 3
What? Colorado 20, Washington 14
Huh? Hawaii 14, San Diego State 11
Are you kidding me?? Navy 35, No. 25 SMU 28
Oh – my – God: Arizona State 31, No. 6 Oregon 28
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 14, pre-week 14)
Ticket to die for: No. 2 Ohio State @ No. 13 Michigan
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: none
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 19 Cincinnati @ No. 18 Memphis (Friday, Nov. 29)
Upset alert: Kansas State @ No. 22 Iowa State (hon. mention: No. 5 Alabama @ No. 15 Auburn)
Must win: No. 12 Wisconsin @ No. 10 Minnesota
Offensive explosion: No. 9 Oklahoma @ No. 21 Oklahoma State
Defensive struggle: inconclusive
Great game no one is talking about: Wyoming @ Air Force
Intriguing coaching matchup: Kevin Sumlin of Arizona vs Herm Edwards of Arizona State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 4 Georgia @ Georgia Tech
Why are they playing? Rutgers @ No. 8 Penn State
Plenty of good seats remaining: Texas State @ Coastal Carolina (dishon. mention: Rice @ UTEP)
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Charlotte @ Old Dominion
Week 13 Thoughts:
Baylor vs Texas
Once again the Longhorns disgraced themselves with tepid outputs on both offense and defense. The Longhorns had such high expectations going into the season. Now, they sit at 6-5. What happened? For starters, they graduated lots of experienced players after their Suger Bowl win. This year, they have a young team, made younger with lots of injuries on defense and at running back. For that, they need time for the injuries to heal. Much more systemic are the questions of Texas’ identity on offense. For that, they cannot excuse injuries. Nor can they excuse their lack of player development despite good recruiting classes during Tom Herman’s tenure. So how can they do better? Three things: develop an offensive identity; do better at developing your players; also, learn to get out of your own way. Oklahoma and A&M have figured out how to do so: what is Texas’ excuse?
Ohio State vs Penn State
The game was a good game, and it should not have been as good as it was. Some key mistakes, namely turnovers in the 3rd quarter, allowed for Penn State to come within less than a touchdown of the Buckeyes. Ohio State will have to button things up better if they expect to defeat their bitter rival up north come rivalry weekend. Such urgency for discipline is even greater for the B1G championship game in Indianapolis, be it Wisconsin or Minnesota. This is a reminder that the road to the playoffs still has a critical amount of potholes that only vigilance shall help avoid.
All that said, on to Rivalry Weekend!
College Football Awards, Week 12 (2019) November 18, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, B1G, Baylor, BYU, Cal, California, Clemson, Cyclones, Duke, Florida, Floyd of Rosedale, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Golden Gophers, Hawaii, Hawkeyes, Herm Edwards, Idaho State, Iowa, Iowa State, Jason Candle, Kansas State, Kirby Smart, liberty, Lincoln Riley, Longhorns, Louisville, LSU, Mario Cristobal, Matt Rhule, Middle Tennessee State, Minnesota, Missouri, Navy, Nick Saban, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Old Dominion, Oregon, Oregon State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rocky Long, Rutgers, San Diego State, SDSU, SEC, SMU, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, Toledo, Tom Herman, UMass, USC, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Walt Bell, West Virginia
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Nick Saban, Alabama
Lucky guy: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
Poor guy: Matt Rhule, Baylor
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jason Candle, Toledo
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Rocky Long, San Diego State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Tom Herman, Texas
Desperately seeking … anything: Walt Bell, UMass
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: BYU (defeated Idaho State 42-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Florida (defeated Missouri 23-6)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Rutgers (lost to No. 2 Ohio State 56-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Syracuse (defeated Duke 49-6)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: USC (defeated Cal 41-17)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: Texas State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Minnesota
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? Georgia Tech
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 10 Oklahoma 34, No. 13 Baylor 31
Never play this again: No. 3 Clemson 52, Wake Forest 3
What? Oregon State 35, Arizona State 34
Huh? West Virginia 24, No. 24 Kansas State 20
Are you kidding me?? No. 20 Iowa 23, No. 8 Minnesota 19
Oh – my – God: Iowa State 23, No. 19 Texas 21
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 12, pre-week 13)
Ticket to die for: No. 9 Penn State @ No. 2 Ohio State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Liberty @ Virginia
Best non-Power Five matchup: SMU @ Navy (hon. mention: SDSU @ Hawaii)
Upset alert: Syracuse @ Louisville
Must win: Texas @ No. 13 Baylor
Offensive explosion: (inconclusive)
Defensive struggle: Tennessee @ Missouri
Great game no one is talking about: Pittsburgh @ Virginia Tech
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mario Cristobal of Oregon vs Herm Edwards of Arizona State
Who’s bringing the body bags? Samford @ No. 16 Auburn
Why are they playing? Western Carolina @ No. 5 Alabama
Plenty of good seats remaining: Old Dominion @ Middle Tennessee
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? BYU @ UMass
Week 12 Thoughts:
Iowa vs Minnesota
This had to have been one of the biggest face-offs for the Floyd of Rosedale trophy in recent memory. Funny things happen in rivalry games such as this, and a few small errors ended up making the difference in the Hawkeyes’ favor. The Golden Gophers have an easy outing against Northwestern. Such should be a tune-up game for the following week, when Wisconsin comes calling and the berth for representing the Western Division in the B1G title game hangs in the balance.
Iowa State vs Texas
Despite the Longhorns’ offense inexplicably sputtering most of the game, Texas could have won the game after Iowa State missed a field goal with two minutes left in the game. Instead, Texas got an offsides penalty at the worst possible time. It allowed for the Cyclones to get further downfield, kill the clock, and kick the game-winning field goal at the buzzer. No excuses, Tom Herman. Do better.
Looking ahead:
Shoutouts to Texas A&M, Georgia, Missouri, and Tennessee: they are the only SEC teams who had the guts to play real games this upcoming week. While the rest of their fellow SEC members are wasting everybody’s time with pointless body bag games (e.g., Western Carolina @ Bama; Abilene Christian @ Mississippi State), The Aggies, the Georgia Bulldogs, the Mizzou Tigers, and the Volunteers will give us real games this week. Technically, the same should go for LSU and Arkansas. While on paper it’s a glorified body bag game, at least those two teams are keeping it in-conference. To the rest of you in the SEC: get it together. Step up and play real games.
College Football Awards, Week 9 (2019) October 27, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arizona State, Arkansas State, Auburn, B1G, Badgers, Big Ten, Big XII, Boston College, Bowling Green, Brian Kelly, Buckeyes, Central Florida, Clemson, college football, Dana Holgorsen, Ed Orgeron, Florida, Georgia, Gus Malzahn, Houston, Illinois, Iowa State, Jim Harbaugh, Josh Heupel, Kansas, Kansas State, Lincoln Riley, LSU, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi State, NCAA, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Purdue, SMU, Sonny Dykes, Sooners, South Alabama, Steve Campbell, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tom Herman, UAB, UCF, UCLA, USC, UTSA, Wildcats, Wofford
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan (hon. mention: Ed Orgeron of LSU)
Glad I’m not him: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Lucky guy: Sonny Dykes, SMU
Poor guy: Dana Holgorsen, Houston
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Lincoln Riley
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Josh Heupel, UCF
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Tom Herman, Texas
Desperately seeking … anything: Steve Campbell, South Alabama
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Minnesota (defeated Maryland 52-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Texas A&M (defeated Mississippi State 49-30)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Boston College (lost to Clemson 59-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Illinois (defeated Purdue 24-6)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Michigan (defeated Notre Dame 45-14)
Dang, they’re good: LSU
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Iowa State (hon. mention: Oklahoma)
Did the season start? Texas
Can the season end? South Alabama
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 2 LSU 23, No 9 Auburn 20
Never play this again: No. 4 Clemson 59, Boston College 7
What? UCLA 42, No. 24 Arizona State 32
Huh? Oklahoma State 34, No. 23 Iowa State 27
Double-Huh? TCU 37, No. 15 Texas 27
Are you kidding me?? No. 19 Michigan 45, No. 7 Notre Dame 14
Oh – my – God: Kansas State 48, No. 5 Oklahoma 41
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 9, pre-week 10)
Ticket to die for: No. 8 Georgia vs No. 6 Florida in Jacksonville
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: UAB @ Tennessee
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 16 SMU @ Memphis
Upset alert: No. 7 Oregon @ USC
Must win: Georgia vs. Florida (in Jacksonville)
Offensive explosion: SMU @ Memphis
Defensive struggle: Mississippi State @ Arkansas
Great game no one is talking about: Kansas State @ Kansas
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mack Brown of North Carolina vs Bronco Mendenhall of Virginia
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 14 Michigan @ Maryland
Why are they playing? UTSA @ Texas A&M
Plenty of good seats remaining: Akron @ Bowling Green
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Wofford @ No. 4 Clemson
Week 9 Thoughts:
Am I the only one who has noticed that waaaaay too many teams have bye-weeks for upcoming week 10?
Kansas State vs Oklahoma
Oh, Kansas State. What are we to do with you? You play under your potential all season long, then, when folks least expect it, you unleash your top potential against the toughest opponent all year, and produce one of the biggest upsets of the year in the process. Does this mean than the Wildcats are the new world-beaters of the Big XII? Hardly. One might expect a regression to the mean starting next week. It is not inconceivable that KSU could lose three of their remaining five games. Then again, it is not inconceivable that they could win out.
Kansas State has started to intrigue us to see if their sudden improvement is an anomaly, or if it’s here to stay. Next week they play in-state rival Kansas, who also shows continued improvement. The game’s outcome will be of little consequence in the grand scheme of things, but it shall be a “discovery game” all the same for both teams. Who says one cannot continue to learn new things as the college football season progresses?
Texas vs. TCU
Texas losing to LSU is more than understandable. Indeed, they acquitted themselves well. Losing to OU was also excusable, given that the Sooners are on fire and one of the favored teams to make the playoffs at the time. But losing to unranked TCU? That was at least raise a few questions, right? Actually, it raises fewer questions than one would think. The Longhorns’ problem is that they were always a little more vulnerable to the pass than they were to the run. It was LSU’s key to defeating them, after all. But as the season wore on, Texas’ injuries on their defense kept piling up, especially in their secondary, making them even more vulnerable to the pass.
The bottom line for the Longhorns is that it is going to take an offseason for the injuries to heal up and for Tom Herman to bring in another solid recruiting class (especially some top-rated defensive backs).
LSU vs Auburn
Here we witnessed a hard-fought “discovery game” in which LSU passed another key test and Auburn proved they deserve to be a top-ten team, even with a close loss. Note to Auburn fans and administration: Gus Malzahn has proven he is a good coach. Keep him and pay him.
Meanwhile, all the LSU faithful who doubted where Ed Orgeron was the right man for the job are now eating some serious crow.
Michigan vs Notre Dame
What to make of this outcome? Many had left Jim Harbaugh for dead by now. Then again, if Michigan had played all four quarters against No. 6 Penn State last week the way they played against them in the second half, they would have won that game, too. Sure, the Wolverines started out ranked No. 5 only for their offense to sputter and for them to take a nose dive in the polls and in the esteem of fans. Not anymore. After thrashing the Fighting Irish at home in prime time, they appear to finally play like a team that belongs in the top ten. What gives? The most likely explanation is that it took this long for the team to finally gel. These things sometimes happen it football it’s part of the game, and always yields new discoveries in the process. We continue to learn new things as this college football season progresses.
Ohio State vs Wisconsin.
Personally, I predicted that the Buckeyes would beat the Badgers, maybe by two touchdowns, if that. Instead, we witnessed a 38-7 thrashing of Wisconsin at the hands of Ohio State. Is anybody going to contend that OSU should not be ranked No. 1 in the nation by now?
Two body bag games are up next for the Buckeyes (after a bye-week at that. Maybe their QB’s lower back and can heal some during that time). Then, Ohio State closes out the season with two solid challenges, first against Penn State, then against Michigan (now that the Wolverines are finally playing up to par). We’ll see if their current roll continues strongly enough to steamroll over their last two worthy opponents.
College Football Awards, Week 7 (2019) October 14, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Bowling Green, Brian Kelly, Bronco Mendenhall, Buckeyes, Buffalo, Clay Helton, Clemson, college, Duke, Ed Orgeron, Florida, football, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Herm Edwards, Hurricanes, Jalen Hurts, Jim Harbaugh, Kentucky, Kirby Smart, Kyle Whittingham, Lincoln Riley, Longhorns, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, LSU, Maryland, Memphis, Miami, Minnesota, Missouri, NCAA, Nebraska, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, P.J. Fleck, Penn State, playoffs, Purdue, Red River Shootout, Rutgers, Scott Frost, SMU, Sooners, South Carolina, Temple, Texas, Toledo, Tulane, UConn, UMass, USC, Utah, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest, Washington State
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma (hon. mention: Ed Orgeron, LSU)
Glad I’m not him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Lucky guy: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Poor guy: Clay Helton, USC
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: P.J. Fleck, Minnesota
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia
Desperately seeking … anything: Scott Frost, Nebraska
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Utah (defeated Oregon State 52-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Georgia (lost to South Carolina 20-17 in 2OT)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: UConn (lost to Tulane 45-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Arkansas (lost to Kentucky 24-20)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Purdue (defeated Maryland 40-14)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Rutgers
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia
Did the season start? Washington State
Can the season end? Georgia Tech
Can the season never end? Oklahoma (honorable mention: LSU)
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Oklahoma 34, No. 11 Texas 27
Play this again, too: No. 5 LSU 42, No. 7 Florida 28.
Never play this again: Louisiana Tech 69, UMass 21
What? Bowling Green 20, Toledo 7
Huh? Temple 30, No. 23 Memphis 28
Double-Huh? Miami 17, No. 20 Virginia 9
Are you kidding me?? Louisville 62, No. 19 Wake Forest 59
Oh – my – God: South Carolina 20, No. 3 Georgia 17, 2OT
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 7, pre-week 8)
Best game of the week: No. 16 Michigan @ No. 7 Penn State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: none
Best non-Power Five matchup: Temple @ No. 19 SMU
Upset alert: No. 5 Oklahoma @ West Virginia
Must win: No. 17 Arizona State @ No. 13 Utah
Offensive explosion: No. 25 Washington @ No.12 Oregon
Defensive struggle: Michigan @ Penn State
Great game no one is talking about: Duke @ Virginia
Intriguing coaching matchup: Kyle Whittingham of Utah vs. Herm Edwards of ASU
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 3 Ohio State @ Northwestern
Why are they playing? Minnesota @ Rutgers
Plenty of good seats remaining: Buffalo @ Akron
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Missouri @ Vanderbilt
Week 7 Thoughts:
Oklahoma vs Texas
Rivalries are a funny thing. On paper, the Sooners should have defeated the Longhorns by at least two touchdowns, given the disparity in ranking (No. 6 vs. No. 11). Yet the Horns’ defense stepped up in a huge way, was able, at least some of the time to, to contain Jalen Hurts and the OU offense.
Louisville @ Wake Forest
Great win/upset for Louisville. Yet the score concluded at 61 to 52. Ever heard of defense, guys?
Florida @ LSU
The other game of the week (outside of the Red River Shootout in Dallas) was resurgent Florida @ LSU. This game as well lived up to its hype, with big plays on both sides, and in the end, the Bayou Bengals triumphed over the Gators, 42-28. In light of the massive development in Athens, Ga. (see below), expect LSU to move up a notch in the rankings.
Possible playoff scenario
Georgia lost in shocking fashion to rival South Carolina, at home, in double-overtime, 20-17. In light of this huge development, here is a new, possible playoff scenario, should other current shadows remain unchanged: Ohio State, Oklahoma, LSU/Alabama, and Clemson. The latter two are plausible placeholders for the perennial southern/southeastern representatives that have come to dominate the playoffs as of late. But with the Buckeyes and the Sooners both in the picture, that would bring in a larger national audience, what with representation both from the Plains and, more importantly, the Midwest. As a not-so-distant aside, Ohio State and Oklahoma alone would be a game we would all love to see, playoffs or no playoffs.
College Football Awards, Week 4 (2019) September 23, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Appalachian State, Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Bobby Petrino, Bowling Green, Camp Randall Stadium, Charlotte, Cowboys, Dana Holgorsen, Delaware, Florida, Florida State, Gary Patterson, Georgia, Iowa, Iowa State, Jeremy Pruitt, Jim Harbaugh, Kansas, Kansas State, Kent State, Kirby Smart, Les Miles, Longhorns, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, Mack Brown, Maryland, Memphis, Miami (OH), Michigan, Middle Tennessee, Navy, Nebraska, North Carolina, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Penn State, Pitt, Pittsburgh, San Jose State, Sanford Stadium, Scott Satterfield, SJSU, SMU, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, UCLA, UMass, USC, Utah, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Washington State, Willie Fritz, Willie Taggart
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee
Lucky guy: Willie Taggert, Florida State
Poor guy: Scott Satterfield, Louisville
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Mack Brown, North Carolina
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Willie Fritz, Tulane
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Desperately seeking … anything: Dana Holgorsen, Houston
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated Miami, Ohio 76-5)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Georgia (defeated Notre Dame 23-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Charlotte (lost to Clemson 52-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: SMU (defeated TCU 41-38)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Kent State (defeated Bowling Green 62-20)
Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad: Arkansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: TCU
Did the season start? Stanford
Can the season end? Tennessee
Can the season never end? Iowa State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 3 Georgia 23, No. 7 Notre Dame 17
Play this again, too: No. 12 Texas 36, Oklahoma State 30
Never play this again: No. 6 Ohio State 76, Miami, Ohio 5
That will leave a mark: Iowa State 72, Louisiana-Monroe 20
What? Appalachian State 34, North Carolina 31
Huh? San Jose State 31, Arkansas 24
Double Huh? USC 30, No. 10 Utah 23
Are you kidding me?? SMU 41, No. 25 TCU 38
Oh – my – God: No. 13 Wisconsin 35, No. 11 Michigan 14
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 4, pre-week 5)
Possible best game of the week: No. 18 Virginia @ No. 10 Notre Dame
(Possible second choice): Nebraska @ No. 6 Ohio State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Northern Illinois @ Vanderbilt
Best non-Power Five matchup: Navy @ Memphis
Upset alert: Maryland @ No. 13 Penn State
Must win: UCLA @ Arizona
Offensive explosion: Washington State @ No. 19 Utah
Defensive struggle: (inconclusive)
Great game no one is talking about: Kansas State @ Oklahoma State (also: Iowa State @ Baylor)
Intriguing coaching matchup: Les Miles of Kansas vs. Gary Patterson of TCU
Who’s bringing the body bags? Towson @ No. 9 Florida
Why are they playing? Delaware @ Pitt
Plenty of good seats remaining: Akron @ UMass
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Middle Tennessee @ No. 18 Iowa
Week 4 Thoughts:
Week 4 has been arguably the best week for college football thus far in the 2019 season. Friday started off the weekend with a bang with an engaging matchup between USC and Utah. The following first time slot of Saturday (noon EDT) was great, at least on paper. Michigan faced Wisconsin in Camp Randall Stadium, and left the game exposed for having severe weaknesses on offense that must be addressed or Jim Harbaugh’s future with his alma mater may be in doubt.
That said, two key games in the following time slot (Louisville at Florida State and Auburn at Texas A&M) lived up to their billing. Louisville is clearly headed in the right direction as a program, but much improvement remains. Perhaps it is unreasonable for Scott Satterfield to turn things around so quickly, given the mess that Bobby Petrino left in his wake. Meanwhile, the Aggies fought the good fight at home, but came up short against a gradually but steadily ascendant Auburn. Both were good game, regardless.
The evening time slot proved that the best was yet to come that day. Oklahoma State came calling at Texas, for one. The Longhorns had failed to beat the Cowboys the previous five seasons, so the urgency was clearly there to get that proverbial monkey off the Horns’ collective back.
Then, a half-hour later, the “ticket to die for” lived up to its billing as Notre Dame put up a strong fight against Georgia in Sanford Stadium. The game was a close defensive struggle for three and a half quarters before the Bulldogs finally asserted themselves in accordance with their full potential. In other words, in the latter half of the fourth quarter, the cream finally rose to the top.
With so much great football having been played on Sept. 21 from noon through 11 PM Eastern, such will be a very tough act for Week 5 to follow. Case in point: no game for Week 5 offers a “ticket to die for”, which is more the pity.
College Football Awards, Week 3 (2019) September 19, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Arizona State, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Auburn, Boston College, Bulldogs, BYU, Chattanooga, Chis Klieman, Citadel, Clay Helton, Clemson, college, Dabo Swinney, Dan Mullen, FIghting Irish, Florida, Florida State, football, Furman, Geoff Collins, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Hurricanes, Iowa, Iowa State, Jeff Brohm, Jim Harbaugh, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisiana, Louisville, LSU, Mark Stoops, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, NCAA, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Rutgers, San Jose State, South Alabama, Southern Illinois, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, Virginia Tech, Washington, Wisconsin
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Glad I’m not him: Clay Helton, USC
Lucky guy: Dan Mullen, Florida
Poor guy: Mark Stoops, Kentucky
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Chris Klieman, Kansas State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech
Desperately seeking … anything: Jeff Brohm, Purdue
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Notre Dame (defeated New Mexico 66-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Virginia Tech (defeated Furman 24-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Arkansas State (lost to Georgia 55-0)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Temple (defeated No. 21 Maryland 20-17)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Tennessee (defeated Chattanooga 45-0)
Dang, they’re good: Oklahoma
Dang, they’re bad: South Alabama (honorable mention: Indiana)
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Maryland
Did the season start? Purdue
Can the season end? Georgia Tech
Can the season never end? LSU
GAMES
Play this again: No. 9 Florida 29, Kentucky 21
Play this again, too: No. 18 Iowa 18, Iowa State 17
Never play this again: Louisiana 77, Texas Southern 6
That will leave a mark: Miami 63, Bethune-Cookman 0
What? Kansas State 31, Mississippi State 24
Huh? Temple 20, No. 17 Maryland 17
Double Huh? Citadel 27, Georgia Tech 24
Are you kidding me?? BYU 30, No. 24 USC 27
Oh – my – God: Arizona State 10, No. 18 Michigan State 7
NEXT WEEK (rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for: No. 7 Notre Dame @ No. 3 Georgia
Best game of the week (second choice): No. 8 Auburn @ No. 16 Texas A&M
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: No. 23 Washington @ BYU
Best non-Power Five matchup: Air Force @ No. 22 Boise State
Upset alert: No. 23 Washington @ BYU
Must win: No. 10 Michigan @ No. 14 Wisconsin
Offensive explosion: Oklahoma State @ No. 12 Texas
Defensive struggle: Boston College @ Rutgers
Great game no one is talking about: Louisville @ Florida State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mario Cristobal of Oregon vs. David Shaw of Stanford
Who’s bringing the body bags? Charlotte @ No. 1 Clemson
Why are they playing? San Jose State @ Arkansas
Plenty of good seats remaining: New Mexico State @ New Mexico
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Southern Illinois @ Arkansas State
Week 3 Thoughts:
Too many body-bag games to in the first three weeks for college football in 2019. At least next week starts with a bang with Michigan vs. Wisconsin in the noon time slot, and we are treated to an early Big XII quasi-rivalry with Texas vs. Oklahoma State in the evening, which will be an intriguing distraction from the game of the week, in which the Notre Dame Fighting Irish venture down to Athens, Ga., to take on the Bulldogs “between the hedges”. Oh, and Auburn plays Texas A&M in the 3:30 EDT time slot, so prepare for an engaging Saturday come the 21st!
Also, belated shout-out to an incredible game the previous week with LSU at Texas. Had the Horns done a slightly better job of stopping the Tiger’s passing game, they might have triumphed. As it is, LSU seems to be a top-flight QB this season, and, based on their stellar performance in Austin, could end up vying for the SEC West divisional title. Mark you calendars for November 9 now.
College Football Awards, Week 9 (2018) October 28, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Alcorn State, Arizona, Bethune-Cookman, Bill Clark, Bobby Petrino, Cal, California, Charlotte, Clay Helton, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, James Franklin, Jim Harbaugh, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas, Kentucky, Kirby Smart, Louisville, LSU, Mark Stoops, Mississippi State, Nebraska, New Mexico State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Penn State, Purdue, Rice, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Tom Herman, UAB, USC, Utah State, UTEP, Wake Forest, Washington, West Virginia, Willie Taggert
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 9] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Willie Taggert, Florida State
Lucky guy: Mike Stoops, Kentucky
Poor guy: Mike Helton, USC
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Tom Herman, Texas
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Bill Clark, UAB
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M
Desperately seeking … anything: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Nebraska (defeated Bethune-Cookman 45-9)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: TCU (lost to Kansas 27-26)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Florida State (lost to Clemson 59-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Kansas (defeated TCU 27-26)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Wake Forest (defeated Louisville 56-35)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: Louisville
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Texas
Did the season start? Washington
Can the season end? UTEP
Can the season never end? Notre Dame
GAMES
Play this again: No. 17 Penn State 30, No. 18 Iowa 24
Play this again, too: Oklahoma State 38, No. 6 Texas 35
Never play this again: No. 2 Clemson 59, Florida State 10
What? Arizona 44, No. 19 Oregon 15
Huh? Missisippi State 28, No. 16 Texas A&M 13
Double Huh? Cal 12, No. 15 Washington 10
Are you kidding me?? Oklahoma State 38, No. 6 Texas 35
Oh – my – God: Kansas 27, TCU 26
NEXT WEEK
Rankings are current AP (week 9)
Ticket to die for: No. 1 Alabama @ No. 4 LSU
Another key game to see: No. 7 Georgia @ No. 12 Kentucky
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Louisiana Tech @ Mississippi State
Best non-Power Five matchup: Utah State @ Hawaii
Upset alert: No. 13 West Virginia @ No. 6 Texas
Must win: Purdue @ No. 18 Iowa
Offensive explosion: No. 8 Oklahoma @ Texas Tech
Defensive struggle: inconclusive
Great game no one is talking about: No. 3 Notre Dame @ Northwestern
Also: Purdue @ No. 18 Iowa
Intriguing coaching matchup: James Franklin of Penn State vs. Jim Harbaugh of Michigan
Who’s bringing the body bags? Louisville @ No. 2 Clemson
Why are they playing? Charlotte @ Tennessee
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTEP @ Rice
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Alcorn State @ New Mexico State
Playoff scenarios based on the latest AP Polls (Week 8, 2018) October 18, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Atlanta, Auburn, Austin, B1G, Big Ten, Buckeyes, Bulldogs, Chicago, Clemson, Crimson Tide, Dallas, Florida, Fort Worth, Georgia, Houston, Hurricanes, Iowa State, Lee Corso, Longhorns, Los Angeles, Lou Holtz, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, New York, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Sam Ehlinger, San Antonio, SEC, Tennessee, Texas, USC, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia
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Week 7 in college football for the 2018 provided considerable thrills – and headaches – for fans, what with upsets abounding, especially near the top of the rankings. Unranked Tennessee taking down then-No. 17 Auburn, and unranked Virginia beating then-No. 16 Miami (Fla.) are small potatoes compared to upsets elsewhere that week.
Indeed, no fewer than four AP top ten teams went down in defeat in Week 7 of 2018. For starters, No. 17 Oregon outlasted then-No. 7 Washington, 30-27, in overtime. Unranked Michigan State toppled No. 8 Penn State on the road, 21-17. Iowa State leveraged their special night-time atmosphere to help them beat then-undefeated (and then-No. 6) West Virginia 30-14. Even more significant was No. 13 LSU pommeling then-No. 2 Georgia 36-16.
As a result of these four key upsets, Washington fell from the No. 7 ranking to No. 15. Penn State fell from No. 8 to No. 18. West Virginia fell from No. 6 to No. 13, while Georgia fell from No. 2 to No. 8.
Last year, the Bulldogs made it to the national championship game. Now, the prospect to return is in jeopardy. At least it’s October and not November, meaning there is still time to recover.
Regardless, the current AP Top Ten now suggests some very intriguing playoff possibilities. These are important for the health of college football. An all-southern/all-SEC college football championship game my thrill the faithful in the southeastern region of the country, but it turns off the rest of the country. That’s bad for business. If your sport starts to be perceived as regional in its nature, that hurts your national image, and prevents you from engaging the markets you need to be interested in order to ensure its long-term strength and viability. Alabama vs. Clemson and Alabama vs. Georgia thus saw a TV ratings decline, whereas Texas vs. USC (2005-’06) and Ohio State vs. Oregon (2014-’15) where perfect matchups to bring in robust, national audiences. Ohio State vs. Florida (2006-’07), Ohio State vs. LSU (2007-’08) and especially Ohio State vs. Miami (2002-’03) were decent-to-great matchups as well for this purpose. Alabama vs. Notre Dame (2012-’13) was good on paper, but the outcome of the game proved that it was a mismatch, with the Irish clearly being overrated at the time.
Start with a basic premise that it’s good for business when traditional powers do well. If Georgia does well, that engages the Atlanta market, which is pretty big, in case you forgot. If Notre Dame does well, it engages the Chicago and New York City markets. If USC does well, it engages the Los Angeles market. If Ohio State and Michigan do well (either or both), that engages much of the Midwestern markets, as well as the Big Ten alums who have left the Midwest for the East Coast, the South, or the West Coast. If Texas does well, it engages the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston Markets. You get the picture.
Now, back to the Week 8 Top Ten rankings from the AP poll. At No. 1 remains Alabama. Ok, fine. With Georgia knocked out of the No. 2 spot (but still in the top ten), that allows for Ohio State to take over that position. This is good for the sport. Clemson has moved a spot to No. 3, while Notre Dame has quietly moved up to the No. 4 ranking.
Just by looking at these current top four spots, if these remain unchanged and translate directly into playoff rankings, one would have a great playoff scenario to engage a critical mass of the viewing public. Alabama and Clemson would be there to keep the South’s fever pitch at maximum levels, while Ohio State and Notre Dame enjoy national audiences so as to include enough of the rest of the country as well. The Fighting Irish’s ranking this time is no wishful thinking. Thoughtful analysts concur that this 2018 ND team is much stronger and more athletic than its overrated 2012 counterpart. Fox Sports’ Colin Cowherd has gone so far as to observe that this is the best ND team since the Lou Holtz era. As ESPN’s Lee Corso would exclaim, “Yo!”
While there is no west coast team in sight in these current rankings, that is not a deal-breaker, either. There are enough Big Ten grads on the west coast to keep those markets engaged should Ohio State make it to the playoffs. The Buckeyes, in this scenario, would represent the West Coast as well as the Midwest.
Naturally, much football remains to be played, and the remainder of the top ten shall make all efforts to crack their way into the playoffs as well. Of those currently poised for such possibilities, some of them, too, offer intriguing engagement opportunities. LSU sits at No. 5 after their ripping upset victory over the Bulldogs, and are destined for a major showdown with the Crimson Tide come Nov. 3, in Baton Rouge, no less. Michigan sits at No. 6 after their big win over Wisconsin last night. If they maintain their momentum, their Nov. 24 annual grudge match with the Buckeyes in Ann Arbor could be epic.
Meanwhile, Texas has survived another test and now sits at No. 7. If QB Sam Ehlinger stays healthy, who knows how much further the Longhorns could continue to climb? This is key to note because Texas in the playoffs engages a different market than the Southeast. The beauty of Texas in the championship game is that they can theoretically engage two markets simultaneously, as a B1G team can do vis-à-vis both the Midwest and other regions. In Texas’ case, not only can a Longhorn playoff appearance pique the interest of the DFW and Houston metro areas (San Antonio and Austin don’t hurt either, as that is another combined 4 million-plus people in that mini-megalopolis), but the Southeast could vicariously join in, too.
An Oklahoma (currently No. 9) playoff appearance, while a different region than the Southeast, has a limited upside. Yes, it engages the central plains, but there is not much major population there). Best case scenario is that it will interest the OU grad transplants living in the major Texas markets. The Longhorns, thankfully, have done their part, though, in making the more market-significant team better-poised for a playoff run at this point.
This is not a swipe at the SEC, or the fans therein, for a personally love southern football and identify with the South. As someone who is concerned about the national and long-term health of college football, however, perspective must be maintained. Fans in SEC country will watch the playoffs no matter who is playing. Fans elsewhere, though, will only watch if they feel they have a stake in things; that they are being represented. We have enjoyed such perfect or near-perfect matchups in the past, such as the aforementioned Texas-USC games and the Ohio State-Oregon games, for example.
Meanwhile, more big games remain, and the way things have gone thus far, more upsets are likely to occur. Teams currently in the bottom half of the top ten could claw theyr way up with help from such theoretical upsets. After all, we’re halfway to regular season’s end, and the stakes and urgency only intensify from here. Let’s enjoy the ride, and cheer on the key wins that would help make for the best playoff matches with optimal, national appeal while we’re at it!
College Football Awards, Week 4 (2018) September 23, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Appalachian State, Arkansas, Army, Bill Snyder, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Boilers, Boston College, Cardinals, Cavaliers, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado State, Crimson Tide, David Shaw, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Fresno State, Gardner-Webb, Georgia, Hurricanes, Illinois, Illinois State, Jeff Brohm, Justin Fuente, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Luke Fickell, Mario Cristobal, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Mike Gundy, Mississippi State, Navy, Nebraska, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion, Oregon, Pac-12, Penn State, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Sam Darnold, Scott Frost, SMU, Southern Cal, Stanford, Tennessee State, Texas, Texas Tech, Toledo, Tom Herman, Trojans, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, West Virginia
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 4] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Tom Herman, Texas
Glad I’m not him: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Lucky guy: David Shaw, Stanford
Poor guy: Mario Cristobal, Oregon
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Luke Fickell, Cincinnati
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
Desperately seeking … anything: Scott Frost, Nebraska
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Penn State (defeated Illinois 63-24)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Oklahoma (defeated Army 28-21 in OT)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Tulane (lost to No. 9 Ohio State 49-6)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Army (lost to Oklahoma 28-21 in OT)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Texas Tech (defeated No. 15 Oklahoma State 17)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: Arkansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia Tech
Did the season start? Nebraska
Can the season end? Rutgers
Can the season never end? Alabama
GAMES
Play this again: No. 7 Stanford 38, No. 20 Oregon 31
Play this again, too: SMU 31, Navy 30
Never play this again: Appalachian State 72, Gardner-Webb 7
What? Purdue 30, No. 23 Boston College 13
Huh? Texas Tech 41, No. 15 Oklahoma State 17
Double Huh? Illinois State 35, Colorado State 19
Are you kidding me?? Kentucky 28, No. 14 Mississippi State 7
Oh – my – God: Old Dominion 49, No. 13 Virginia Tech 35
NEXT WEEK (Rankings are current AP, week 5)
Ticket to die for: No. 4 Ohio State @ No. 9 Penn State
Also: No. 7 Stanford @ No. 8 Notre Dame
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Pitt @ UCF
Best non-Power Five matchup: Toledo @ Fresno State
Upset alert: Texas Tech @ No. 12 West Virginia
Must win: Purdue @ Nebraska
Offensive explosion: Toledo @ Fresno State
Defensive struggle: Florida @ No. 23 Mississippi State
Great game no one is talking about: No.18 Texas @ Kansas State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Bill Snyder of Kansas State vs. Tom Herman of Texas
Who’s bringing the body bags? Louisiana @ No. 1 Alabama
Why are they playing? Southern Miss @ No. 10 Auburn
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTEP @ UTSA
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Tennessee State @ Vanderbilt
Week 4 Thoughts:
Purdue has started the season as a major head-scratcher. Coming off a surprising winning season after the Hazell-era doldrums, including a bowl win, the Boilermaker faithful had high hopes for the team in 2018. Thus far, after an understandable, opening-season loss to then-ranked Northwestern, Purdue proceeded to lose squeakers at home to beatable teams, including [shudder], Eastern Michigan – a directional school. Chalk it up to an undisciplined defense and a lack of a running game. Regardless, the Boilers have their first win of the year, and, all things considered, it’s a rather big one, handily defeating No. 23 Boston College 30-13. To be sure, Purdue did step it up on defense, and if they can maintain this newfound intensity on that side of the ball, there’s hope for the season yet. All that said, sometimes it takes a few weeks for a good team to find its footing and thus to play up to its potential.
The team now becoming an even bigger head-scratcher is Louisville. Sure, they lost badly to Alabama, but the Crimson Tide is such a juggernaut this year that most winning-season teams will look pathetic against them. What really raised concerns was having to struggle, at home, to beat Western Kentucky – another directional school! Let us thus give the Cardinals an ex-post-facto “Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t”. But now they got embarrassed, on the road to a beatable team in Virginia. At 27-3, are the Cavaliers that much better than the Cards? Is their offense that poor that they failed to punch it into the endzone, with only a sad field goal to open the 3rd quarter? A comparison of recent seasonal performances of both teams would say no, but today’s score would suggest so. Here is one possible diagnosis of Louisville’s under-performance. In the last few years (basically since Lamar Jackson was QB), Petrino has been fixated on “skills” players while acting as if he can get any lumbering lummox to block on the line. So, while he might have NFL-caliber talent on the wings, he has no way of executing plays. Has the time come to where Petrino would be better off as an offensive coordinator instead of a head coach? Further observation and analysis of the team’s performance shall tell us yes or no.
What about USC? Before losing badly on the road to Texas last week, they were ranked and poised to compete for the Pac-12 title again. But on Friday night, they had to play hard at home to beat unranked Washington State. One possible explanation: Sam Darnold’s talent at QB papered over the mediocrity of talent on the coaching staff. While I’m not a Trojans fan personally, I nevertheless recognize that when a traditional power like USC does well, it’s good for college football (same goes for other traditional powers like Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State, or even Miami (Fla.)). Conversely, a mediocre Southern Cal team is thus not great for college football. Let us hope that they can eventually rise back to national title contention to help keep the west coast markets engaged in the game. After all, it’s never good for a sport to become regional (looking your way, Major League Baseball).
Speaking of Texas, are they “back”? And why were they ever, well, not back? This article by Pete Thamel explains the nature of why a national brand and a massively-valued program ever needed turning around in the first place (hint: turning around an aircraft carrier takes much, much longer than turning around, say, a personal sailboat). Forget, for a moment, that the program sure did not help anybody, least of all themselves, by laying an egg on the road to Maryland, and then under-performing at home the next week against Tulsa. The Longhorns’ big win over USC last week might not indicate that the team is “back” as strongly as one would think due to USC’s apparent mediocrity at the moment. But then again, Texas did follow up with another big win, this time over No. 16 TCU, 31-16. So the current conclusion is, if they’re not “back” yet, they’re certainly headed in the right direction. Onward and upward.
College Football Awards, Week 14 (2017) December 7, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Aggies, Alabama, Appalachian State, Army, Auburn, Boise State, Bryan Harsin, Chad Lunsford, Clay Helton, Clemson, David Shaw, Florida State, Fresno State, Gary Patterson, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Gus Malzahn, Jimbo Fisher, Kirby Smart, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Miami Hurricanes, Navy, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Scott Satterfield, SEC, Seminoles, Stanford, TCU, Texas A&M, Tigers, USC, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 14] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Lucky guy: Clay Helton, USC
Poor guy: David Shaw, Stanford
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bryan Harsin, Boise State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Gary Patterson, TCU
Desperately seeking … anything: Chad Lunsford, Georgia Southern
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Florida State (defeated Louisiana-Monroe 42-10)
Thought you’d put up a fight, you did: Stanford (lost to No. 10 USC 31-28)
Thought you’d put up a fight, you didn’t: Miami (lost to No. 1 Clemson 38-3)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Oklahoma (defeated TCU 41-17)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: Louisiana-Lafayette
Did the season start? Stanford
Can the season end? Georgia Southern
Can the season never end? Oklahoma
GAMES
Play this again: No. 8 Ohio State 27, No. 4 Wisconsin 21
Play this again, too: No. 10 USC 31, No. 12 Stanford 28
Never play this again: Appalachian State 63, Louisiana 14
What? Boise State 17, No. 25 Fresno State 14
Are you kidding me?? No. 8 Ohio State 27, No. 4 Wisconsin 21
Oh – my – God: No. 6 Georgia 27, No. 2 Auburn 7
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP, post-week 13)
Ticket to die for: none. The only game next week is the annual Army-Navy game. Enjoy, and God Bless America!
Week 14 Random Thoughts:
Not bad for Florida State salvaging bowl eligibility, even if it meant resorting to resuming a postponed body bag game in order to do so. More importantly, though, it boggles the mind why Jimbo Fisher up and left the FSU gig for the Texas A&M job. One would think that would be a come-down in occupations. The Seminoles have multiple national titles to their name, while the Aggies have but one, and that was way back in 1939. Good luck living up to Aggie nation’s insane expectations, Coach Fisher.
Meanwhile, there has been much controversy surrounding the fourth team selected into the Playoffs. Many contend that Ohio State should have gotten in instead of Alabama. It would certainly be better for business if we had a traditional power representing the Midwest instead of all four teams being from the Sunbelt. But consider this: scouts who have watched all top teams play live say that they were disappointed in how Ohio State struggled to put away Wisconsin, a team with far few NFL-caliber bodies than the top three SEC teams, Bama included.
In hindsight, it ought not to be a surprise how the SEC championship resulted. Auburn was banged up after playing two massive games in a row against top-ranked teams. The Tigers simply had nothing left in the tank come this past weekend.
Yes, the Miami Hurricane’s performance was disappointing against Clemson, but their high ranking earlier this season was a reflection on the fact that they were playing ahead of their stage of development. Come next year, they should be more formidable, and thus a more legit contender for the playoffs.
One of my favorite conference championship game traditions is the two Big Ten team bands getting together on the field pre-game to play the national anthem together. It’s not only a wonderful sight to behold, but musically it’s spot-on, too, as we can always count those bands to deliver a rousing rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner!
Now that the bowl games are lined up, an article on them shall be forthcoming. Until then, let us enjoy the Army-Navy game!