College Football Awards, Week 10 (2019) November 4, 2019
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Appalachian State, Arkansas, Auburn, Ball State, Boise State, Brian Kelly, Bryan Harsin, Clemson, college, Dan Mullen, FIghting Irish, Florida, football, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Hokies, Huskies, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, James Franklin, Justin Fuente, Kansas State, Kirby Smart, liberty, Liberty Bowl, LSU, Maryland, Memphis, Minnesota, Mustangs, NCAA, Nebraska, New Mexico, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, P.J. Fleck, Pac-12, Pat Fitzgerald, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, SMU, Sonny Dykes, South Alabama, South Carolina, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, Tigers, Tom Allen, UMass, Utah, Utes, UTSA, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Washington, Western Michigan, Wisconsin, Wofford, Wyoming
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COACHES
Wish I were him: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Glad I’m not him: Dan Mullen, Florida
Lucky guy: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Poor guy: Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bryan Harsin, Boise State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Tom Allen, Indiana
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Sonny Dykes, SMU
Desperately seeking … anything: Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Clemson (defeated Wofford 59-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Auburn (defeated Ole Miss 20-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: UTSA (lost to Texas A&M 45-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Georgia Tech (lost to Pittsburgh 20-10)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Liberty (defeated UMass 63-21)
Dang, they’re good: Georgia
Dang, they’re bad: Arkansas
Can’t Stand Prosperity: SMU
Did the season start? TCU
Can the season end? Rutgers
Can the season never end? Oregon
GAMES
Play this again: No. 8 Georgia 24, No. 6 Florida 17
Never play this again: No. 4 Clemson 59, Wofford 14
What? Georgia Southern 24, No. 20 Appalachian State 21
Huh? Purdue 31, Nebraska 27
Are you kidding me?? No. 8 Georgia 24, No. 6 Florida 17
Oh – my – God: No. 24 Memphis 54, No. 15 SMU 48
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 10, pre-week 11)
Ticket to die for: No. 1 LSU @ No. 2 Alabama
Next-best game of the week: No. 5 Penn State @ No. 13 Minnesota
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Appalachian State @ South Carolina
Best non-Power Five matchup: Wyoming @ No. 21 Boise State
Upset alert: Iowa State @ No. 9 Oklahoma (hon. mention: Virginia Tech @ No. 22 Wake Forest)
Must win: No. 20 Kansas State @ Texas
Offensive explosion: Kansas State @ Texas
Defensive struggle: No. 18 Iowa @ No. 16 Wisconsin
Great game no one is talking about: Ball State @ Western Michigan
Intriguing coaching matchup: James Franklin of Penn State vs P.J. Fleck of Minnesota
Who’s bringing the body bags? Maryland @ No. 3 Ohio State
Why are they playing? New Mexico State @ Ole Miss
Plenty of good seats remaining: South Alabama @ Texas State (dishonorable mention: Purdue @ Northwestern)
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Vanderbilt @ No. 6 Florida
Week 10 Thoughts:
Again, am I the only one who has noticed that waaaaay too many teams have bye-weeks for upcoming week 10?
Notre Dame vs Virginia Tech
Earlier in the awards list, I listed Justin Fuente as the “Poor Guy” of the week. Really, though, I should have created a special, one-off category for him this week called “Stupid Guy” instead. His Virginia Tech team snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the last few minutes of the game by persistently playing a “prevent” defense (specifically, rushing only three and dropping back the remaining eight) that allowed for Notre Dame to pick the Hokies’ secondary apart in the final minutes, play by play. Not once did Virginia Tech mount anything resembling a pass rush, and the Irish made them pay dearly for not doing so. All it would have taken would be to rush a couple of extra men, as one or two sacks in the process would have ruined Notre Dame’s day. But no. Once again, we are reminded that the only thing the prevent defense prevents is the implementer of said defense from winning the game. Period.
Georgia vs Florida
Can anybody recall, within recent memory, a Georgia-Florida game with as much drama, excitement, and close play as this week’s matchup? Neither can I.
SMU vs Memphis
Another undefeated bites the dust. May your undefeated season rest in peace, SMU. Still, what a game, and what a moment. ESPN’s College Gameday crew visited Memphis for the first time, and the fans came out in droves to celebrate the arrival and to show their support for their Memphis Tigers. The latter point is especially worth noting. U-Memphis has historically been known as a basketball school. Yet an ESPN-televised game at night, in front of a sellout crowd in the Liberty Bowl stadium, with ranked Memphis taking on then-undefeated SMU shows that UM’s football prowess is on the rise, and that is always a wonderful thing, notwithstanding the unfortunate side-effect of SMU’s undefeated season going by the boards.
Utah vs Washington
Utah needed to bring their A-game to Seattle, since the Huskies can be unpredictable at times. Eventually, the Utes did just that. Combine their win at Washington with USC’s crushing loss at home to No. 7 Oregon, and Utah controls their own destiny regarding clinching a Pac-12 South berth for the conference championship game.
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 13 (2018) November 25, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arkansas, Boise State, Bronco Mendenhall, Cincinnati, Clemson, David Cutcliffe, Derek Mason, Duke, East Carolina, Georgia, Iowa State, Jeremy Pruitt, Jim Harbaugh, Jonathan Smith, Justin Fuente, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Marshall, Memphis, Michigan, Middle Tennessee, NC State, North Texas, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Pat Fitzgerald, South Carolina, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, UAB, UCF, UConn, Urban Meyer, Utah State, UTSA, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington, Washington State, West Virginia, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 13] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Glad I’m not him: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Lucky guy: Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
Poor guy: Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: David Cutcliffe, Duke
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Derek Mason, Vanderbilt
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee
Desperately seeking … anything: Jonathan Smith, Oregon State
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Kentucky (defeated Louisville 56-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Texas (defeated Kansas 24-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: East Carolina (lost to Cincinnati 56-6)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: UTSA (lost to North Texas 24-21)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated No. 4 Michigan 62-39)
Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad: Louisville
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Washington State
Did the season start? Wisconsin
Can the season end? Arkansas
Can the season never end? Clemson
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Oklahoma 59, No. 13 West Virginia 56
Play this again, too: No. 22 Texas A&M 74, No. 7 LSU 72, 7OT
Never play this again: Temple 57, UConn 7
What? Minnesota 37, Wisconsin 15
Huh? No. 23 Boise State 33, No. 21 Utah State 24
Double Huh? No. 16 Washington 28, No. 8 Washington State 15
Are you kidding me?? No. 22 Texas A&M 74, No. 7 LSU 72, 7OT
Oh – my – God: No. 10 Ohio State 62, No. 4 Michigan 39
NEXT WEEK
Rankings are current AP (week 13)
Ticket to die for: No. 14 Texas vs No. 6 Oklahoma also: No. 1 Alabama @ No. 5 Georgia
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Marshall @ Virginia Tech
Best non-Power Five matchup: UAB @ Middle Tennessee
Upset alert: No. 19 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Ohio State
Must win: Any conference championship game
Offensive explosion: inconclusive
Defensive struggle: inconclusive
Great game no one is talking about: Memphis @ No. 9 UCF
Intriguing coaching matchup: Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern vs Urban Meyer of Ohio State
Who’s bringing the body bags? East Carolina @ NC State
Why are they playing? Drake @ No. 25 Iowa State
Plenty of good seats remaining: inconclusive
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Akron @ South Carolina
College Football Awards, Week 11 (2018) November 11, 2018
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arkansas State, Army, Auburn, BC, Boise State, Boston College, Brian Kelly, CHip Kelly, Cincinnati, Citadel, Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Florida State, Fresno State, Georgia, Iowa, Iowa State, Jeff Brohm, Jeff Monken, Kentucky, liberty, Lincoln Riley, Louisville, LSU, Mark Stoops, Michigan, Mike Gundy, Minnesota, Missouri, NC State, North Carolina, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Paul Chryst, Purdue, Rice, Rutgers, San Jose State, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UAB, UCF, UCLA, UMass, Utah State, UTSA, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Willie Taggart, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 11] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Glad I’m not him: Willie Taggart, Florida State
Lucky guy: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
Poor guy: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jeff Brohm, Purdue
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jeff Monken, Army
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Mark Stoops, Kentucky
Desperately seeking … anything: Chip Kelly, UCLA
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Michigan (defeated Rutgers 42-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: NC State (lost to Wake Forest 27-23)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Louisville (lost to Syracuse 54-23)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Boston College (lost to Clemson)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Arkansas State (defeated Coastal Carolina 44-16)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: UTSA
Can’t Stand Prosperity: NC State
Did the season start? Wisconsin
Can the season end? North Carolina
Can the season never end? Notre Dame
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Oklahoma 48, Oklahoma State 47
Play this again, too: No. 19 Texas 41, Texas Tech 34
Never play this again: Utah State 62, San Jose State 24
What? Minnesota 41, Purdue 10
Huh? Boise State 24, No. 23 Fresno State 17
Double Huh? Northwestern 14, No. 21 Iowa 10
Are you kidding me?? Wake Forest 27, NC State 23 (Thurs.)
Oh – my – God: Tennessee 24, No. 11 Kentucky 7
NEXT WEEK
Rankings are current AP (week 11)
Best game of the week: No. 13 Syracuse @ No. 3 Notre Dame
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: UAB @ Texas A&M
Best non-Power Five matchup: Cincinnati @ No. 12 UCF
Upset alert: No. 22 Iowa State @ No. 19 Texas
Must win: Wisconsin @ Purdue
Offensive explosion: No. 9 West Virginia @ Oklahoma State
Defensive struggle: Missouri @ Tennessee
Great game no one is talking about: Cincinnati @ No. 12 UCF
Intriguing coaching matchup: Paul Chryst of Wisconsin vs Jeff Brohm of Purdue
Who’s bringing the body bags? Rice @ No. 7 LSU Also: Citadel @ No. 1 Alabama
Why are they playing? UMass @ No. 5 Georgia
Plenty of good seats remaining: Western Carolina @ North Carolina
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Liberty @ No. 24 Auburn
College Football Week 10 Awards November 9, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arizona State, Art Briles, Baylor, Bob Stoops, Butch Jones, BYU, Charlotte, Clemson, Colorado, Dabo Swinney, Darrell Hazell, Duke, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Florida State, Gary Patterson, Houston, Justin Fuente, Ken Niumatalolo, Kentucky, Kevin Sumlin, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Memphis, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Navy, Nebraska, North Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, San Jose State, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tigers, UMass, UTSA, Vanderbilt, West Virginia
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(Note: All rankings are current CFP [week 10] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Glad I’m not him: Gary Patterson, TCU
Lucky guy: Butch Jones, Tennessee
Poor guy: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Ken Niumatalolo, Navy
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Justin Fuente, Memphis
Desperately seeking … anything: Darrell Hazell, Purdue
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Michigan (defeated Rutgers 49-16)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: BYU (defeated San Jose State 17-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to No. 11 Stanford 42-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (lost to No. 10 Florida 9-7)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Oklahoma State (see below)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Memphis
Did the season start? Texas A&M
Can the season end? Rutgers
Can the season never end? Clemson
GAMES
Play this again: No. 1 Clemson 23, No. 16 Florida State 13
Never play this again: Arkansas 63, UT-Martin 28
What? Auburn 20, No. 19 Texas A&M 10
Huh? Navy 45, No. 13 Memphis 20
Are you kidding me? No. 12 Oklahoma State 49, No. 8 TCU 29
Oh – my – God: Nebraska 39, No. 7 Michigan State 38
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current CFP (post-week 10, pre-week 11)
Ticket to die for: No. 10 Oklahoma @ No. 4 Baylor
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: BYU @ Missouri
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 25 Memphis @ No. 16 Houston
Upset alert: Oregon @ No. 8 Stanford
Must win: Pittsburgh @ Duke
Offensive explosion: Memphis @ Houston
Defensive struggle: Kentucky @ Vanderbilt
Great game no one is talking about: Texas @ West Virginia
Intriguing coaching matchup: Art Briles of Baylor vs. Bob Stoops of Oklahoma
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kansas @ No. 13 TCU
Why are they playing? Western Carolina @ Texas A&M
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTSA @ Charlotte (also: UMass @ Eastern Michigan)
They shoot horses, don’t they? North Texas @ Tennessee
Week 11 Take-aways:
Two quick notes. One, it might time to put the expression “[I]t’s time to put “Clemsoning” to bed” to bed. “Clemsoning,” if you’ll recall, refers to the Tigers usually choking (horribly at that) in big games. They always coughed it up to the then-stud teams of the ACC, especially Florida State. A few years ago, they went to the Orange Bowl to play West Virginia, and lost…horribly! That was early January of 2012. By the time the Tigers – at No. 12 — returned to the Orange Bowl two years later, this time to play No. 7 Ohio State, the situation was considerably different. In what cannot be ignored as a statement game, Clemson beat the Buckeyes 40-35, and have not looked back since. Now they currently sit at the top of the College Football Playoff poll. Bully for them!
The other quick take-away is that it is now November. Teams are what they are at this point in the season. But more to the point, these next few weeks, including this past weekend, will be one of separation. Teams that were hitherto unbeaten – or at least ranked in the top ten – will now start to butt heads. Separation shall thus ensure (read: Alabama’s dominating win over LSU). Indeed, it hath already begun. What a glorious month of college football this shall become!
College Football Week 8 Awards October 27, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Al Golden, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Cal, California, Clay Helton, Clemson, Doc Holliday, Florida, Florida State, George O'Leary, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Gus Malzahn, Hurricanes, Idaho, Iowa, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas, Kentucky, Kevin Sumlin, Louisiana Tech, Mark Helfrich, Marshall, Maryland, Miami, Mississippi State, Missouri, New Mexico State, North Carolina, North Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Paul Johnson, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rice, Rutgers, Stanford, Syracuse, Temple, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Todd Graham, UCF, UCLA, UNT, USC, Utah, UTSA, Vanderbilt, Washington, Washington State
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Georgia Tech blocked a last-second field goal attempt by Florida State, and returned said blocked kick for a game-winning touchdown in one of the most fantastic finishes of the season.
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 8] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Clay Helton, USC
Glad I’m not him: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
Lucky guy: Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
Poor guy: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Doc Holliday, Marshall
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Al Golden, Miami
Desperately seeking … anything: George O’Leary, UCF
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Oklahoma State (defeated Kansas 58-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Pitt (defeated Syracuse 23-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Rutgers (lost to No. 1 Ohio State 49-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Maryland (lost to Penn State 31-30)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Mississippi State (defeated Kentucky 42-16)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: UCF
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Utah
Did the season start? Arizona
Can the season end? Kansas
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 8 Alabama 19, Tennessee 14
Play this again, too: Arkansas 54, Auburn 46 (4OT)
Never play this again: No. 6 Clemson 55, Miami 0
What? UCLA 40, No. 20 Cal 24
Huh? No. 24 Ole Miss 23, No. 15 Texas A&M 3
Are you kidding me? Georgia Tech 22, No. 9 Florida State 16
Oh – my – God: USC 42, No. 3 Utah 24
Told you so: Vanderbilt 10, Missouri 3
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 8, pre-week 9)
Ticket to die for: No. 11 Florida @ Georgia in Jacksonville
Also: USC @ No. Cal
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: No. 11 Notre Dame @ No. 22 Temple
Best non-Power Five matchup: Louisiana Tech @ Rice
Upset alert: Tennessee @ Kentucky
Must win: Arizona @ Washington
Offensive explosion: No. 10 Stanford @ Washington State
Defensive struggle: Maryland @ No. 12 Iowa
Great game no one is talking about: North Carolina @ No. 25 Pitt
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mark Helfrich of Oregon vs. Todd Graham of Arizona State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 17 Oklahoma @ Kansas
Why are they playing? Tennessee-Martin @ Arkansas
Plenty of good seats remaining: Idaho @ New Mexico State
They shoot horses, don’t they? UTSA @ North Texas
Week 8 Take-aways:
And to think that everyone thought it would be a down week for football. That was before Texas won a ground-and-pound game at home, in the rainy remnants over Hurricane Patricia, over Kansas State. That was also before Georgia Tech, who has had a down year compared to the previous season, recreated Michigan State’s improbably win from last week by A) blocking a field goal, B) against No. 9 Florida State, and C) ran it in for a game-winning touchdown as the final seconds ticked off the clock, in one of the greatest fantastic finishes of the season, if not the decade. This of course, is NOT to discount Michigan State’s fantastic finish from the previous week!
In the SEC, a noticeable upset occurred in the evening when Ole Miss held Texas A&M to only a field goal for the entire game. Speaking of the SEC, Tennessee apparently continues to improve, as their annual rivalry game between Alabama lived up to said rivalry’s prestige, for the Vols played the highly ranked Tide as if they themselves were also a top-ten team. Though Tennessee ultimately lost, it ought to be considered a moral victory, and foreseeably, teams will take the Vols lightly at their own peril.
Then to cap things off for the day, USC upset No. 3-ranked Utah at home, 42-24. It was more than a defeat, it was a demolition. Apparently nothing galvanizes a team with good talent like their coach being let go mid-season under unconventional circumstances and then being left for dead by everybody who pays attention to their sport. Such a win no doubt generates some degree of momentum, but can the Men of Troy maintain it and salvage their season in so doing? They shall have a solid test to prove that they can against insurgent Cal next week. Fight on?
Apropos of nothing, who could have guessed at the beginning of the season that Auburn, who started off ranked no. 6 in the nation, would be 4-3 and 1-3 in the SEC by the end of eighth week?
College Football 2015 Week 1 Awards September 9, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Army, Auburn, B1G, Big 10, Big Ten, Boise State, Bret Bielema, Bronco Mendenhall, BYU, Central Florida, Charlie Strong, college, David Shaw, Duke, FIU, Florida State, football, Gene Chizik, Georgia, Hawaii, Jeff Monken, Jerry Kill, Jim Harbaugh, Kentucky, Kevin Sumlin, Larry Fedora, LSU, Marhsall, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike Riley, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Carolian, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Alabama, South Carolina, Stanford, Steve Spurrier, TCU, Temple, Tennessee, Tennessee-Martin, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, Tulane, UCF, UCon, Urban Meyer, UTSA
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The battle for Carolina in Charlotte started the 2015 college football season well. It was very aesthically pleasing to see North Carolina and South Carolina both wear their home colors, too!(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 1] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Glad I’m not him: David Shaw, Stanford
Lucky guy: Bronco Mendenhall, BYU
Poor guy: Mike Riley, Nebraska
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jerry Kill, Minnesota
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Charlie Strong, Texas
Desperately seeking … anything: Jeff Monken, Army
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 9 Georgia (defeated LA-Monroe 51-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: No. 22 Arizona (defeated UTSA 42-32)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Texas State (lost to No. 10 Florida State 59-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Central Michigan (lost to Oklahoma State 24-13).
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: No. 11 Notre Dame (defeated Texas 38-3)
Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad: Tulane
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Stanford
Did the season start? Texas (Honorable Mention: Penn State)
Can the season end? Tulane
Can the season never end? Notre Dame
GAMES
Play this again: No. 6 Auburn 31, Louisville 24
Play this again, too: No. 2 TCU 23, Minnesota 17
Honorable Mention to play again: South Carolina 17, North Carolina 13
Never play this again: No. 17 Ole Miss 76, Tennessee-Martin 3
Say what? BYU 33, Nebraska 28
WHAT? FIU 15, UCF 14
Huh? Northwestern 16, No. 21 Stanford 6
Are you kidding me? Texas A&M 38, No. 15 Arizona State 17
Oh – my – God: Temple 27, Penn State 10
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 1, pre-week 2)
Ticket to die for: No. 7 Oregon @ No. 5 Michigan State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Houston @ Louisville; also: Minnesota @ Colorado State
Best non-Power Five matchup: Marshall @ Ohio U
Upset alert: No. 19 Oklahoma @ No. 25 Tennessee
Must win: Kentucky @ South Carolina
Offensive explosion: No. 22 Arizona @ Nevada
Defensive struggle: No. 14 LSU @ No. 25 Mississippi State
Great game no one is talking about: Minnesota @ Colorado State; also: No. 20 Boise State @ BYU
Intriguing coaching matchup: Mark Stoops of Kentucky vs. Steve Spurrier of South Carolina
Who’s bringing the body bags? Hawaii @ No. 1 Ohio State
Why are they playing? South Alabama @ Nebraska
Plenty of good seats remaining: Army @ UConn
They shoot horses, don’t they? NC Central @ Duke
Week 1 Take-aways:
- Ohio State seems to have not skipped a beat during the offseason. After the occasional hiccup in the second quarter, they made every halftime adjustment one could think of and demonstrated why they deserve to retain the top ranking.
- Had Louisville not made mistake after mistake, the results of the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game would surely have been considerably different. That said, Auburn is not a team with which to be trifled.
- Evidence of the Big Ten gaining strength compared to, say, seasons 2005-2013, could not be further on display, and not just with the top dog Ohio State. Mighty Stanford travelled eastward to take on Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. They did not return to the West Coast victorious. Few pigskin prognosticators saw THAT coming.
- Arizona State has potential to be a tough team. Dropping the ball – figuratively — to Texas A&M did not help their case. Either the Sun Devils were highly overrated going into the game, or they picked a horrible time to take the night off.
- Either South Carolina is starting to struggle a bit as a program, or North Carolina has greatly improved. At this point, I suspect the latter. Larry Fedora has proven to be a capable coach, and Gene Chizik’s influence on the Tarheel’s defense quickly showed itself.
- Jim Harbaugh shall no doubt make Michigan into a respected power again. Their loss to Utah in Salt Lake City seemed to be a speedbump towards that goal. The immediate discernment is that the Utes are becomingly an increasingly respected program in the post-Urban Meyer era. In the meantime, signs that Harbaugh is shaking things up in Ann Arbor is already readily apparent. For one, their legendary helmet design now has metal flake in the both the yellow and blue parts of the distinct pattern – a first for the program. Moreover, they were wearing [gasp!] white pants with traditional stripes, which is a far cry from the plain yellow pants they have worn for decades. That last item alone is proof that Hades has officially frozen over!
Such is the ‘rousing start to the 2015 college football season. One more week of an excess of body bag games to go, and things ought to be even more interesting!
College Football 2015 Quick Preview September 3, 2015
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas State, Auburn, Baylor, Bethune-Cookman, Bobby Petrino, Boise State, BYU, Central Michigan, Clemson, Colorado State, Eastern Michigan, Elon, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Gus Malzahn, Houston, Idaho, Kevin Sumlin, LA Monroe, Louisville, Marshall, Miami (Fla.), Miami (Ohio), Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Nick Saban, Norfolk State, North Carolina, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Old Dominion, Paul Chryst, Presbyterian, Purdue, Rutgers, SavannahState, SMU, South Carolina, Southern Miss, Stanford, state, TCU, Tennessee Tech, Texas, Texas State, Todd Graham, UConn, UNLV, USC, Utah, UTSA, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan, Wisconsin, Wofford
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Atlanta bolsters its stature as one of the epicenters of college football by being the host city for arguably the best game of Week 1. Photo by Paul Abell, USA Today Sports.
Another glorious season of college football is about to commence. Come the evening of Thurs., Sept. 3, teams will have kicked off the most exciting three months in all of sports (four if you count the bowl game postseason), and come late Monday evening, the fans, analysts and pundits alike shall have had a look at whether or not the preseason rankings are worth any count.
What is particularly attractive about this particular opening weekend is that, unlike in some years past, there is a critical mass of high-stakes games from the beginning. Sure, the body-bag games abound as they usually do during Week One. However, there are many high-ranked teams that are about to butt heads with other ranked teams, or teams that are near-ranked and hungry for respect from the voters.
From the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic in Atlanta, to an incredibly delectable home opener for Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., to a Carolina border war Thursday evening, to a revenge game for Urban Meyer & Co. in Blacksburg, Va., on Labor Day evening, this weekend has it all. Below is thus faithfully submitted a list highlight and lowlight games on which to keep a fan’s eye. Enjoy, and God Bless America!
Ticket to die for: Auburn vs. Louisville in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff in Atlanta; possible Texas @ Notre Dame, too.
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Western Kentucky @ Vanderbilt; BYU @ Nebraska
Best non-Power Five matchup: UNL @ Northern Illinois; Ohio U @ Idaho
Upset alert: Texas @ Notre Dame; TCU @ Minnesota (don’t laugh);
Must win: Ohio State @ Virginia Tech; Purdue @ Marshall
Offensive explosion: Arizona State @ Texas A&M
Defensive struggle: BYU @ Nebraska
Great game no one is talking about: South Carolina vs. North Carolina in Charlotte; Michigan @ Utah; Washington @ Boise State; Stanford @ Northwestern
Intriguing coaching matchup: Gus Malzahn of Auburn vs. Bobby Petrino of Louisville and Paul Chryst of Wisconsin vs. Nick Saban of Alabama; Todd Graham of Arizona State vs. Kevin Sumlin of Texas A&M
Who’s bringing the body bags? Baylor @ SMU; Akron @ Oklahoma; Mississippi State @ Southern Miss; UTSA @ Arizona; Michigan State @ Western Michigan; Texas State @ Florida State; Wofford @ Clemson; LA Monroe @ Georgia – and that’s the short list!
Why are they playing? Savannah State @ Colorado State; Oklahoma State @ Central Michigan; Norfolk State @ Rutgers; Arkansas State @ USC
Plenty of good seats remaining: Villanova @ UConn; also, Presbyterian @ Miami (Ohio); also Old Dominion @ Eastern Michigan;
They shoot horses, don’t they? Bethune-Cookman @ Miami (Fla.); Georgia Southern @ West Virginia; Tennessee Tech @ Houston; Elon @ Wake Forest
College Football Week 8 Awards October 19, 2014
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Appalachian State, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Art Briles, B1G, Baylor, Big Ten, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Boilers, Boise State, Brian Kelly, Bruins, Buffaloes, BYU, Cal, Central Florida, college, Colorado, Darrell Hazell, Doc Holliday, FIghting Irish, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Florida State, football, Furman, Georgia State, Golden Bears, Golden Gophers, Indiana, James Franklin, Jerry Kill, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, LSU, Marshall, Miami, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, NCAA, Nevada, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Seminoles, SMU, South Carolina, TCU, Temple, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Troy, UAB, UCLA, Urban Meyer, USC, Utah, UTEP, UTSA, Virginia Tech, Washington State, West Virginia, Will Muschamp
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 8] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Glad I’m not him: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
Lucky guy: Jerry Kill, Minnesota
Poor guy: Darrell Hazell, Purdue
Desperately seeking a wake-up clue: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Doc Holliday, Marshall
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Art Briles, Baylor
Desperately seeking … anything: Will Muschamp, Florida
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: No. 8 Michigan State (defeated Indiana 56-17)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Louisville (defeated North Carolina State 30-18)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Colorado (lost to No. 22 USC 56-28)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Kansas (lost to Texas Tech 34-21)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: No. 7 Alabama (defeated No. 21 Texas A&M 59-0)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: SMU
You know, they’re not so bad: Minnesota
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Baylor
Did the season start? Texas A&M
Can the season end? Georgia State
Can the season never end? Florida State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 2 Florida State 31, No. 5 Notre Dame, 27
Play this again, too: No. 20 Utah 29, Oregon State 23
Never play this again: South Carolina 41, Furman 10
What? Nevada 42, BYU 35
Huh? No. 14 Kansas State 31, No. 11 Oklahoma 30
Are you kidding me? No. 7 Alabama 59, No. 21 Texas A&M 0 (the shear blowout)
Oh – my – God: West Virginia 41, No. 4 Baylor 27
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 8, pre-week 9)
Ticket to die for: No. 3 Ole Miss @ No. 24 LSU
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: (none, notwithstanding the “Why Are They Playing” entry)
Best non-Power Five matchup: Temple @ Central Florida
Upset alert: Texas @ No. 11 Kansas State
Must win: No. 22 West Virginia @ Oklahoma State
Offensive explosion: No. 15 Arizona @ Washington State
Defensive struggle: Miami @ Virginia Tech
Great game no one is talking about: BYU @ Boise State
Intriguing coaching matchup: Urban Meyer of Ohio State vs. James Franklin of Penn State
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 1 Mississippi State @ Kentucky (also: UConn @ No. 18 East Carolina)
Why are they playing? UAB @ Arkansas
Plenty of good seats remaining: UTEP @ UTSA
They shoot horses, don’t they? Florida Atlantic @ No. 23 Marshall
Week 8 Random Thoughts:
- While Michigan State is a solid choice for the “Thought you’d kick butt, you did” weekly award, the truth is, a number of teams ended up kicking butt, that in hindsight made sense that they would. Start with South Carolina (see: last week’s “Why are they playing?” nod), who beat relatively hapless Furman 41-10. In hindsight, a resurgent Ohio State team against a Rutgers team still learning to navigate the terrain of the Big Ten was also a clear would-be drubbing (result: 56-17). Even more obvious was the Colorado @ USC match-up. The Buffaloes still cannot get things together, while Steve Sarkesian is slowly building the Trojans back to national prominence. The 56-28 result, therefore, came as not surprise.
- While Alabama could not be a more obvious choice for the weekly “Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did” award (59-0 over Texas A&M, their biggest lopsided shutout in 35 years), other games would have been decent choices as well. Start with Marshall’s butt-kicking of Florida International, 45-13. Even more of a surprise, though, was TCU’s drubbing of Oklahoma State, 42-9. On paper, these were closely-matched teams (No. 12 vs. No. 15, respectively). Turns out that in reality, they were not that close in terms of competitive prowess after all. Further down the food chain, Appalachian State – a newcomer to the FCS – beat up on Troy unexpectedly, 53-14. Sounds like the latter is a “Can the season end?” candidate. Stay tuned.
- Last night’s Notre Dame @ Florida State slugfest is already an instant classic. Clearly one of the biggest, best games of the season thus far, it wins the “Play this again” award hands down. That said, despite some lop-sided victories in football this past weekend, plenty other games merit a second look nevertheless. Start with the late Thursday night game on the West Coast, Utah @ Oregon State. The Utes went into Reser Stadium, took the Beavers into overtime, and walked out victorious. Speaking of the West Coast, take a look at the final score between UCLA @ Cal (spoiler alert: 36-34). Consider that you have the Bruins vs. Golden Bears, and two different shades of blue and gold going head-to-head, in the same conference, no less. With such similarities, such a score result is only fitting. In the Big Ten, one was able to enjoy an interesting matchup between Minnesota and Purdue. On one hand, the Golden Gophers have quietly risen to the top of their division in the conference, while Purdue has quietly improved from their doldrums. Indeed, the Boilers almost won on the road.
- Notre Dame remains an enigma. After so many close calls against inferior teams, surely they would not have played No. 2 Florida State as closely as they did on the road. Not when having to result to strokes of luck to win against Stanford. Not when allowing Purdue to play them as closely as they did in Indianapolis. Yet on Saturday night, they played in Tallahassee like they deserved to be the 5th-ranked team in the nation. Further monitoring of the team will be in order to make sense of this inconsistent behavior. Fortunately, the schedule is such that it will allow for further clarity to be reached as it plays out. The Fighting Irish journey to Tempe, Ariz., to play Arizona State in three weeks, followed by Northwestern and then Louisville at home. Then, they cap off the season in Los Angeles against USC. One takes any one of those teams lightly at his own peril (translation: if the Irish fail to bring their A-game to any one of these matchups, they’re doomed).
- As an aside, part of Ole Miss now being taken seriously in the national rankings (No. 3, currently), is that their defense is given plenty of respect with an up-and-coming brand: the “land shark” defense. One must admit, that has a nice ring to it!
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.
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