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 12 (2017) November 19, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Akron, Arkansas, Badgers, Baylor, Boston College, Bruins, BYU, Central Florida, Charlie Strong, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Clemson, Dave Clawson, Egg Bowl, Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida State, Frank Solich, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Jim Harbaugh, Jim Mora, Kansas State, Kentucky, Kevin Sumlin, Kilane Sitake, Kirk Ferentz, Longhorns, Louisville, Matt Luke, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Navy, NC State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Paul Chryst, Purdue, Scott Frost, South Alabama, South Carolina, South Florida, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, UCF, UCLA, UConn, USC, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Washington, Washington State, Wisconsin, Wolfpack
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 12] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Paul Chryst, Wisconsin
Glad I’m not him: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Lucky guy: Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M
Poor guy: Matt Luke, Ole Miss
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Frank Solich, Ohio U
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Dave Clawson, Wake Forest
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kirk Ferenz, Iowa
Desperately seeking … anything: Kilane Sitake, BYU
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Louisville (defeated Syracuse 56-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Mississippi State (defeated Arkansas 28-21)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Illinois (lost to Ohio State 52-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Navy (lost to No. 8 Notre Dame 24-17)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Northwestern (defeated Minnesota 39-0)
Dang, they’re good: Ohio State
Dang, they’re bad: South Alabama
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Iowa
Did the season start? Oklahoma State
Can the season end? Tennessee
Can the season never end? Oklahoma
GAMES
Play this again: Texas A&M 31, Ole Miss 24
Play this again, too: Kansas State 45, No. 13 Oklahoma State 40
Never play this again: Florida State 77, Delaware State 6
What? Akron 37, Ohio U 34
Huh? Wake Forest 30, No. 19 NC State 24
Are you kidding me?? Kansas State 45, No. 13 Oklahoma State 40
Oh – my – God: Purdue 24, Iowa 15
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 12, pre-week 13)
Ticket to die for: No. 9 Ohio State @ Michigan also: No. 1 Alabama @ No. 6 Auburn
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: none
Best non-Power Five matchup: South Florida @ No. 15 UCF
Upset alert: No. 2 Clemson @ South Carolina also: No. 8 Notre Dame @ No. 22 Stanford
Must win: Indiana @ Purdue also: No. 9 Ohio State @ Michigan
Offensive explosion: No. 14 Washington State @ No. 18 Washington
Defensive struggle: Florida State @ Florida
Great game no one is talking about: Louisville @ Kentucky
Intriguing coaching matchup: Scott Frost of Central Florida vs Charlie Strong of South Florida
Who’s bringing the body bags? Baylor @ No. 12 TCU
Why are they playing? Florida Atlantic @ Charlotte
Plenty of good seats remaining: UConn @ Cincinnati
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Vanderbilt @ Tennessee
Week 12 Random Thoughts:
Today yielded no earth-shattering upsets. How could it, with so many highly-ranked teams inexplicably engaged in body bag games so late in the year? Nevertheless, some interesting upsets did ensue. Pathetic Akron took down perennial MAC contender Ohio U, for example. Kansas State defeated Oklahoma State on the road. Unranked Wake Forest (now 7-4, surprisingly) upset No. 19 NC State, putting a blemish on an otherwise impressive year for the Wolfpack. Even more amazingly, Purdue went on the road to play Iowa, a game where nobody, least of all yours truly, gave them a chance to win, and yet they did anyhow. Don’t ask how the same team that embarrassed Ohio State by the worst margin in more than two decades could lose two weeks later at home to a lesser team. There is no rational explanation.
Texas earned a great win, on the road, over West Virginia. Two weeks ago, the Longhorns gave a pitiful offensive performance against TCU, and offered only a middling performance in their win over Kansas last week. Naturally, this turn of events gave the Longhorn faithful cause for concern. Whether these concerns are no longer valid remains to be seen. But adjustments were clearly made, to the point where Texas was able to win, convincingly, in a tough environment, against a favored team. Looks like progress, and the Horns are now bowl-eligible to boot. Next week they close the regular season at home against Texas Tech, which will be a decent test to see if they can maintain their current level of performance.
Remember my earlier speculation about Purdue’s bowl chances having evaporated? Wad that thought up and toss it out the window. Purdue’s surprising upset over Iowa – on the road, no less – has given their season a new life. Don’t ask how this came to pass. Be all that as it may, this upcoming week, both Purdue and in-state rival Indiana shall play each other for two things, not just one. Not only will they play for the Old Oaken Bucket trophy, but also for bowl eligibility. No telling the last time the stakes were that high for the two teams.
Every season, there is always a surprise or two. One such this year is Central Florida, who currently undefeated and ranked first in the All-American Conference East Division. At a current rank of no. 15, head coach Scott Frost seems to know what he is doing. This is the same Scott Frost who was the capable, tough, dependable quarterback who led Nebraska to a share of the national title with Michigan in the 1997 season. After several years as a back-up QB in the NFL, he gradually worked his way up the ranks in coaching. With a relatively easy schedule remaining, the Golden Knights could remain undefeated going into the ultimate conference showdown at season’s end. Then, they face 9-1 South Florida, led by Coach Charlie Strong. Surely that is to be one of the most intriguing of coaching matchups of the year!
Shout-out to Notre Dame for wearing very cool-looking, throwback-inspired uniforms during their game against Navy. I sincerely hope that more teams with gold in their school colors have the good sense to copy those nice-looking gold pants that the Irish wore this week.
Just several weeks earlier, Louisville could not beat Wake Forest or Boston College. Now, they seem to have turned things around. Their 56-10 walloping of Syracuse is a sure sign the Cardinals are playing back to form, and are doing so just at the right time, as they take on in-state rival Kentucky this upcoming week.
UCLA just fired Jim Mora, Jr. Ironically, the Bruins lost last night to cross-town rival USC by a respectable margin, 28-23. But the powers that be in Westwood clearly did not like the direction the program was headed. Mora helped create high expectations for the Bruin faithful, but sadly failed to deliver (UCLA is now 5-6). Then again, the school is only partially committed compared to USC, or to any other program that is determined to compete for a national title. Firing the current head coach shall thus not solve this systemic problem.
With Wisconsin’s win over Michigan, the Badgers continue their undefeated streak and are on a certain course to represent the Western Division in the Big Ten championship. All Ohio State has to do is beat Michigan this upcoming week for the rights to butt heads with the Badgers. My scenario for the best possible playoff scenario thus continues, but more pratfalls remain.
The best game on Thanksgiving is not played in Detroit or Dallas. No, rather it is usually the “Egg Bowl,” the annual Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State grudge-match that shall once again kickoff on the evening of the fourth Thursday in November. Let us enjoy it, and God Bless America!
Where Joel Klatt is right and wrong about Notre Dame October 28, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Ara Parseghian, Brian Kelly, Colin Cowherd, David Cutcliffe, David Shaw, Duke, football, FOX, FS1, James Franklin, Jim Harbaugh, Joel Klatt, Michigan, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Pat Fitzgerald, Penn State, Stanford, Urban Meyer, Vanderbilt
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Joel Klatt is a rising star in college football broadcasting, and rightfully so. His analysis during the games he helps broadcast of FOX is very insightful. His talent makes him the perfect up-and-coming asset that an up-and-coming network like FS1 needs right now. Klatt’s sit-down interviews with regular TV show hosts on FS1 are just as informative, and his input always makes for great conversation. Any engaged listener can always walk away from listening to such interviews thinking that their understanding of the college game has deepened.
On the matter of the state of highly-ranked academic powerhouse schools in the “Power Five” of college football, however, the veracity of his analysis is mixed. It all centers around his understanding of the current state of Notre Dame football.
As Colin Cowherd of FS1 has noted for years, Notre Dame flourished at a time when it was one of the very few programs that was reliably put on national TV every week of the season. All that changed when sports networks decided to start broadcasting more teams consistently in the 1990s. With that, Notre Dame’s monopoly on national attention soon evaporated. Soon, ND had to compete with schools whose campuses offered warmer winters and prettier coeds, institutions such as Texas, Florida, USC, LSU, Florida State, Georgia, and the like. None of these schools had the same level of academic requirements as ND, either, meaning it is much easier to admit recruits there as well.
None of this is to say that cold-weather schools cannot do well at the highest level, and Klatt quickly points this out. On the contrary, in the 2014-2015 playoffs, Urban Meyer’s Ohio State team beat out a tough Alabama squad to play for the national title. Indeed, the Buckeyes handily defeated Oregon to win it. Moreover, Michigan has been considerably on the rebound since they hired Jim Harbaugh, and Penn State has returned to national power status under recruiting wizard James Franklin.
Even ND hired a highly-capable coach in Brian Kelly in December of 2009. By the 2012 season, he took Notre Dame to a national title game. To be sure, they got crushed my Alabama, 42-14, and in highsight, much of ND’s high ranking was a product of wishful thinking. This season (2017) they are currently top-ten in the rankings (No. 9 as of Oct. 27), but they have reached their ceiling with a senior-dominated team, and even they lost at home to an even better team in Georgia.
Moreover, other academically-rigid schools have been winning games (e.g., Stanford), and in some cases, have started to win more than they have in a long time (e.g., Duke). So clearly schools with high academic standards can win some games. So why is Notre Dame still limited in this day at age?
It turns out that a school with cold weather and high academic standards does not automatically mean that the football team will be a conference/Power Five doormat, provided that you have the right coach. Northwestern seems to have that, for example, in Pat Fitzgerald. In the Wildcats’ case, it helps that the campus in is the vibrant, urban setting of Evanston, Ill., right on the edge of Chicago proper and a half-hour commuter train ride into downtown and all the scads of action that huge city has to offer.
In the case of Duke, they are in Durham, N.C., part of the “Research Triangle”, an area with much growth and dynamism as of late. Plus, the winters are much milder there than they are in the Rustbelt. It also helps that Duke found a capable coach in David Cutcliffe.
In the case of Stanford, which is even more academically stringent than Notre Dame, it enjoys the advantage of the idyllic beauty of Silicon Valley. Temperatures in December can sometimes peak in the lower 70s. Stanford University is one of the most architecturally amazing college campuses in the world. Even with the extra recruiting hurdle of having to admit each player to the school as a student before they can sing a letter of intent to join the team, David Shaw still manages to make them competitive in the Pac-12 north division, sometimes winning the division outright.
In addition to Notre Dame’s cold weather setting and academic rigidity, two other factors hinder the program today. One is the religious overtones (a turn-off to recruits who have far more options today, both in the Big Ten and also the warm-weather schools). The other is that its relatively isolated. It takes almost two hours to drive to the heart of Chicago. The next-closest spot of major population is Fort Wayne, Ind., followed by Toledo, Ohio. Neither Northwestern, Duke, Stanford, or even Vanderbilt have to contend with those two recruiting hindrances.
These factors, all combined, have hurt Notre Dame’s brand in the eyes of many coveted recruits today. Joel Klatt acknowledges the earlier-mentioned factors (cold weather and academics), but has ignored these latter items, which combine to make a considerable difference.
To be sure, there are schools even more isolated than ND. Nebraska is geographically worse off, as is Penn State. The latter is back in contention, again, thanks to the recruiting prowess of James Franklin (it helps that PSU is arguably the most amazing campus in the B1G, and Beaver Stadium is the second-largest stadium in the country by capacity).
Is Klatt correct in that Notre Dame is still a strong brand? Yes, but only for legacy/tradition reasons. Because of their past success, they are still a legitimate “traditional power”, but that legacy has increasingly less cache to marquee recruits who might look askance at Michiana’s dreary winters, the school’s religious overtones, etc.
The real take-away from this discussion is how insane ND fans are who call for Brian Kelly’s ouster. Without him, the team would be lucky to go 7-5 this season, as opposed to the top-ten rankings the team currently enjoys. Just to observe, the Irish will be lucky to win two of their next four games. But that aside, the fan base’s insanity is a function of unrealistic expectations that need to be tempered in a day and age where the Rustbelt is no longer the heart of the American economy and talented football players have far more options of where to play than they did during the days of Ara Parseghian.
In conclusion, can Notre Dame still win games? Absolutely. As Fitzerald, Shaw, Cutcliffe, Harbaugh, and Franklin have demonstrated, the right coach at the right place proves that winning football games in a prestigious academic setting is indeed possible. Brian Kelly is surely the optimal coach for Notre Dame, and his accomplishments are nearly miraculous in the context of his strategic difficulties. Given the aforementioned problems hindering Notre Dame, the program is at best an eight-win program. To win any more than eight ought to exceed expectations if those, too, are properly tempered in the context of the current age.
College Football Awards, Week 8 (2017) October 22, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Baylor, Boston College, Bulldogs, Butch Jones, BYU, California, Clay Helton, Coastal Carolina, Colorado, Eastern Michigan, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Houston, Hurricanes, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, James Franklin, Jeff Brohm, Jim Harbaugh, Kansas State, Kentucky, Kirk Ferentz, Kliff Kingsbury, Larry Fedora, Matt Campbell, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike Gundy, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, NC State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, P.J. Fleck, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, Sam Ehlinger, San Jose State, South Carolina, South Florida, Spartans, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tigers, Tom Herman, Tulsa, UCF, UConn, Urban Meyer, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Vols, Volunteers, West Virginia, Western Michigan
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 8] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: James Franklin, Penn State
Glad I’m not him: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
Lucky guy: Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Poor guy: Tom Herman, Texas
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Matt Campbell, Iowa State
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Clay Helton, USC
Desperately seeking … anything: Larry Fedora, North Carolina
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Virginia Tech (defeated North Carolina 59-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Miami (defeated Syracuse 27-19)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Tennessee (lost to No. 1 Alabama 45-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Baylor (lost to No. 23 West Virginia 38-36)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Missouri (defeated Idaho 68-21)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Georgia Southern
Can’t Stand Prosperity: USC
Did the season start? Michigan
Can the season end? Tennessee
Can the season never end? Penn State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 9 Oklahoma 42, Kansas State 35
Play this again, too: No. 10 Oklahoma State 13, Texas 10
Never play this again: Missouri 68, Idaho 21
What? Rutgers 14, Purdue 12
Huh? Iowa State 31, Texas Tech 13
Are you kidding me?? Boston College 41, Virginia 10
Oh – my – God: No. 13 Notre Dame 49, No. 11 USC 14
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 8, pre-week 9)
Ticket to die for: No. 2 Penn State @ No. 6 Ohio State (B1G game of the year?)
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: (none)
Best non-Power Five matchup: Houston @ No. 16 South Florida
Upset alert: No. 14 NC State @ No. 9 Notre Dame
Also: Florida State @ Boston College
Must win: No. 3 Georgia @ Florida
Offensive explosion: No. 10 Oklahoma State @ No. 23 West Virginia
Defensive struggle: Vanderbilt @ South Carolina
Great game no one is talking about: California @ Colorado
Also: Mississippi State @ Texas A&M
Intriguing coaching matchup: James Franklin of Penn State vs Urban Meyer of Ohio State
Also: Kirk Ferentz of Iowa vs. P.J. Fleck of Minnesota
Who’s bringing the body bags? No. 8 Miami (FL) @ North Carolina
Why are they playing? Austin Peay @ No. 18 UCF
Plenty of good seats remaining: San Jose State @ BYU
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Texas State @ Coastal Carolina
Week 8 Random Thoughts:
Poor Texas. Try as they might with their strong defense, offensively they cannot score enough points to get over the proverbial hump. Yesterday in Austin, they held No. 10-ranked Oklahoma State, with the most productive offense in the county, to only 13 points. However, the Longhorns in turn could only score 10 points. Texas seems to have a capable quarterback in Sam Ehlinger, but he is only a true freshman, and the offense seems to rely too much on his guts and determination alone. Part of the problem is that many of the offensive players are still young, and shall have to grow in experience, and presumably in capability as well. The tentative verdict is that it will simply take time for the Horns to return to Top-10 status. They are close, but not there yet.
Speaking of taking time, Purdue practically controlled their own destiny. Current trajectories indicated they had a clear path to start a decent winning streak after getting beat up by a couple of conference heavyweights. Then they lost by two points on the road to Rutgers. Yes, Rutgers. What happened? Most likely, defensive coordinators around the league have taken notice of the tricks that Jeff Brohm has been left no choice but to use on account of the dearth of talent that his predecessor has left him. Thus, for Purdue to show marked, consistent improvement, things shall take more time. Basically, Brohm will need to bring in better recruiting classes so as to beat his opponents on the field with talent instead of trickery. This of course is not to blame the man for what he is doing right now. If we were in his proverbial shoes, we would likely find ourselves left to resort to the same things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8MBWj6YzqQ
Tennessee, meanwhile, is officially a dumpster fire. Sure, we all knew at this rate that Alabama would blast them into defeat, but what none of us anticipated was the lack of dignity on the Vols’ part. The obscene gesture to Bama’s fans by one of Tennessee’s defensive backs after a pick-six is a black eye to the program, and could only hasten Butch Jones’ eventual departure as head coach. But that aside, the Volunteers do have talent on their team. Jones has sadly failed to harness it properly, to say nothing of orchestrating that talent into a cohesive effort at the top level that the SEC demands.
To put it another way with regard to the Vols and their current dumpster-fire status, they are to play Kentucky next week. Tennessee is currently 3-4, while the Wildcats, who usually only barely belong in the SEC, are 5-2. Yes, that means the world is officially upside-down.
Meanwhile, it’s always mildly intriguing when two conference foes who are about to butt heads share the same thing in common. Think: Mississippi State vs. Georgia, as both are the Bulldogs. Think also: LSU vs. Auburn, or Missouri vs. LSU, or Auburn vs. Missouri. All three are the Tigers. In the case of Mississippi State and Texas A&M, though, both have the same school colors of maroon and white, and both play each other next week. What makes things even more intriguing is that both have quietly amassed a respectable 5-2 record in the course of the season. After that game, those records shall inevitably diverge.
This week was a statistical anomaly, specifically with a cluster of defensive struggles. Who would have thought that Indiana at Michigan State would have been such a defensive struggle, with a 17-9 outcome in the Spartans’ favor? Even more to the point was the aforementioned 13-10 outcome at Texas. That the Horns held the Cowboys’ high-powered offense to just 13 points (including one overtime) must surely cause Mike Gundy to reach for the Rolaids while watching film today. If that’s not enough, the Purdue-Rutgers affair ended at 14-12 in favor of the Scarlet Knights. Northwestern and Iowa kept the score low at 17-10. UConn triumphing over Tulsa 20-14 does not count in past eras, but might as well in a time where the hurry-up, no-huddle offense is de rigueur. Same thing goes for Western Michigan over Eastern Michigan, 20-17…in overtime, no less.
College Football Awards, Week 3 (2017) September 17, 2017
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Aaron Rogers, Auburn, Baylor, Bobby Petrino, Boilermakers, Cardinals, Clemson, Dabo Swinney, David Cutcliffe, Duke, East Carolina, Eastern Michigan, Ed Orgeron, Florida, Florida International, Gamecocks, Georgia, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Jeff Brohm, Jim Harbaugh, Jim McElwain, Jim Mora, Kansas State, Kentucky, Lamar Jackson, Louisville, LSU, Matt Rhule, Memphis, Miami, Michael Vick, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Pitt, Purdue, Rice, South Carolina, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Tigers, Toledo, Tom Herman, Tulane, UCF, UCLA, UMass, UNLV, USC, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Will Muschamp, Wolverines
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 3] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Glad I’m not him: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Lucky guy: Jim McElwain, Florida
Poor guy: Jim Mora, UCLA
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Will Muschamp, South Carolina
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: David Cutcliffe, Duke
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Ed Orgeron, LSU
Desperately seeking … anything: Matt Rhule, Baylor
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Oklahoma (defeated Tulane 56-14)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Auburn (defeated Mercer 24-10)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: East Carolina (lost to No. 16 Virginia Tech 64-17)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (defeated No. 18 Kansas State 14-7)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Purdue (defeated Missouri 35-3)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: UTEP
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Kansas State
Did the season start? LSU
Can the season end? Rice
Can the season never end? Duke
GAMES
Play this again: No. 4 USC 27, Texas 24
Play this again, too: No. 24 Florida 26, No. 23 Tennessee 20
Never play this again: Arizona 64, UTEP 16
What? No. 24 Florida 26, No. 23 Tennessee 20
Huh? Memphis 48, No. 25 UCLA 45
Double Huh? Northern Illinois 21, Nebraska 17
Are you kidding me?? Vanderbilt 14, No. 18 Kansas State 7
Oh – my – God: Mississippi State 37, No. 12 LSU 7
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 3, pre-week 4)
Ticket to die for: No. 16 TCU @ No. 6 Oklahoma State
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: UCF @ Maryland
Best non-Power Five matchup: Ohio U @ Eastern Michigan
Upset alert: No. 17 Mississippi State @ No. 11 Georgia
Must win: Notre Dame @ Michigan State
Offensive explosion: Toledo @ No. 14 Miami
Defensive struggle: Pitt @ Georgia Tech
Great game no one is talking about: Duke @ North Carolina
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jim Harbaugh of Michigan vs. Jeff Brohm of Purdue
Who’s bringing the body bags? UNLV @ No. 10 Ohio State
Why are they playing? UMass @ Tennessee
Plenty of good seats remaining: Florida International @ Rice
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Georgia Southern @ Indiana
Week 3 Take-aways:
The Clemson-at-Louisville game was the game of the week, and on paper, such a designation was obvious. But sometimes these “games of the week” become lopsided affairs. This was sadly such a game, whereby the Tigers triumphed over the host Cardinals, 41-27. Did the game’s outcome have to weigh so heavily in favor or Clemson? No. The problem for Louisville was a combination of a few things. For one, the Tigers’ offense had incredible speed in their skill positions that kept Louisville’s secondary on their toes the whole night. The second was their powerful offensive line opened up huge gaps up the middle, allowing their runningback to gain lots of yardage between the tackles. Much of that could have been cancelled out had Louisville’s offense been allowed to fire on all proverbial cylinders. Why the hindrance? Because head coach Bobby Petrino seemed bent on trying to mold Heisman winner Lamar Jackson into another Aaron Rogers, when he is clearly another Michael Vick instead. Petrino is apparently so bent on micro-managing his quarterback that he has forgotten that an artist needs to be allowed to be, well, an artist. Let Jackson play to his strengths, and Louisville’s offense shall rise to the level of its potential. But as long as Petrino continues to micromanage the offense the way he currently is, the Cardinals’ offense shall continue to stagnate. The choice is that simple.
Meanwhile, what a game in Los Angeles. The 2005-2006 BCS National Championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena was the greatest college football game of my lifetime. This was the first time Texas and USC had played each other since, and like the previous game, it did not disappoint, with plenty of drama and big plays on both sides. Despite the unranked Horns’ eventual loss, the moral victory is theirs in that they took the No. 4-ranked Trojans into overtime and only lost by a field goal. For the first time this year, Texas finally played up to its potential. Even though moral victories are not counted in any statistic or record book, this is one that Coach Tom Herman can build upon if he is smart about it.
That said, the moral victory for Texas might have been an actual one had it not been for the Longhorns’ four turnovers that game.
Meanwhile, what a difference an offseason and change of coaches can make. Purdue was a gutter team last year. Then, out with previous head coach Darrell Hazell, in with new head coach Jeff Brohm, and the difference in team performance is as stark as night and day. The Boilermakers have grown into a team not to be taken lightly. Their only loss was to a strong Louisville team. The following week they won, handily, over Ohio U, one of the best teams in the MAC. This week, they journeyed to Missouri to take on the Tigers, whom the Boilermakers rolled, 35-3. This upcoming weekend, they play No. 8 Michigan. On paper, the odds heavily favor the Wolverines, but do not be surprised if Purdue takes Michigan to the wire just like Texas did with USC this week.
As an aside, Kentucky has beaten South Carolina for the fourth straight time. The past two times, Will Muschamp has been at the helm of the Gamecocks. How many more times are the fans going to tolerate such an embarrassing loss to a team that barely belongs in their conference before they run Muschamp out of town on a rail?
College Football Awards, Week 13 (2016) November 27, 2016
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Air Force, B1G, Bedlam, Big Ten, Bobby Petrino, Boise State, Brian Kelly, Butch Jones, Cardinals, Charlie Strong, Clemson, college football, Colorado, Cotton Bowl, Cougars, Eastern Michigan, Ed Orgeron, Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa State, Jim McElwain, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, LSU, MAC, Memphis, Michigan, Mississippi State, Navy, NCAA, Nebraska, New Mexico State, Nick Saban, North Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Ohio U, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, P.J. Fleck, Pac-12, Paul Johnson, Penn State, Purdue, Rebels, SMU, South Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Tom Herman, Tommy Tuberville, Urban Meyer, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington, West Virginia, Western Kentucky, Western Michigan, Wildcats, Wisconsin
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The Game lived up to The Hype.
(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: Charlie Strong, Texas
Lucky guy: Kevin Wilson, Indiana
Poor guy: Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking … anything: Butch Jones, Tennessee also: Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Virginia Tech (defeated Virginia 52-10)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Louisville (lost to Kentucky 41-38)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Iowa State (lost to No. 19 West Virginia 49-19)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Kentucky (see above)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: UTEP (defeated North Texas 52-24)
Dang, they’re good: Clemson
Dang, they’re bad: New Mexico State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Nebraska
Did the season start? Louisville
Can the season end? Texas also: Ole Miss, Notre Dame
Can the season never end? Western Michigan
GAMES
Play this again: No. 2 Ohio State 30, No. 3 Michigan 24
Play this again, too: Georgia Tech 28, Georgia 27
Never play this again: No. 4 Clemson 56, South Carolina 7
Close call: Indiana 26, Purdue 24
What? Vanderbilt 45, No. 24 Tennessee 34
Huh? Air Force 27, No. 21 Boise State 20
Double-Huh? Memphis 48, No. 18 Houston 44
Are you kidding me? Iowa 40, No. 17 Nebraska 10
Oh – my – God: Kentucky 41, No. 11 Louisville 38
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 13, pre-week 14))
Ticket to die for: No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 8 Penn State in the B1G Championship
also: No. 11 Oklahoma State @ No. 8 Oklahoma
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: none
Best non-Power Five matchup: Western Michigan vs. Ohio U in the MAC Championship, Friday
Must win: too many to list!
Offensive explosion: No. 6 Washington vs. No. 9 Colorado in the Pac-12 Championship
Defensive struggle: No. 13 Florida @ No. 15 Florida State
Great game no one is talking about: Louisiana Tech @ Western Kentucky
Intriguing coaching matchup: Nick Saban of Alabama vs. Jim McElwain of Florida
Think there’s enough purple? Kansas State @ TCU
Who’s bringing the body bags? Baylor @ No. 14 West Virginia
Why are they playing? Wisconsin vs. Penn State in the B1G Championship (ever heard of Ohio State?)
Plenty of good seats remaining: New Mexico State @ South Alabama
They shoot horses, don’t they? Georgia State @ Idaho
Week 13 Take-aways:
Rivalry week has yielded some decent drama, and upsets, as one would expect. Purdue, hapless all year, acquitted themselves well against a far-superior offense in IU. Highly-ranked Louisville gave up the game via four turnovers to in-state rival Kentucky, at home. The collapse of Louisville within the past couple of weeks is the most unsettling thing witnessed in major college football this year.
The annual coaching carousel hath begun its merry ride. Charlie Strong is out at Texas (after much unnecessary vacillation and drama on the part of the Texas Athletics Department), and Tom Herman is in. Such drama sadly bled over to Herman’s Houston team, who clearly was not focused when losing to formidable Memphis on Friday, despite being favored on the road. Meanwhile, Ed Orgeron earned a well-deserved promotion from interim head coach to full-time head coach at LSU. Orgeron is perfect for the role, what with his love for the school, his extensive experience in many big-name programs, his long-time conference presence (he was once the head coach at border rival Ole Miss), to say nothing of his deep Cajun drawl. His performance in the interim job itself was a strong case, as the Tigers went 5-2 under this leadership (one of those losses was to Alabama, where LSU held the Tide to only 10 points). Justice has been met in this special case.
Despite Mississippi State’s disappointing year, Dan Mullen has ended the year well by convincingly beating their main rival, Ole Miss. The Rebels started the year with high rankings and hopes, but injury and other bad luck put the team into a freefall. Losing their starting QB Chad Kelly to season-ending injury obviously contributed to this, to be sure.
In the world of weird football news, Navy beat SMU 75-31 (yes, this was a football game, not a basketball one). What do these two teams have in common? They’re the only two teams that beat Houston this year. That aside, who says the triple option cannot be a high-scoring offense?
More regarding the world of weird football news: Eastern Michigan is, after this week, 7-5, and obviously bowl eligible. Let us all pause as our collective jaw drops to the floor.
Now we await the conference championship games next week, and immediately afterwards, we shall finally ascertain the teams that shall be in the playoffs. One intriguing game is the MAC Championship. Should Western Michigan win and continue their undefeated season, they could qualify for a major bowl game. Might P.J. Fleck be able to lead his team in rowing the proverbial boat all the way, say, the Cotton Bowl? We shall all find out in due time. Let the games begin…and continue!
College Football Awards, Week 12 (2016) November 20, 2016
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Army, Baylor, Big XII, Bobby Petrino, BYU, Cardinals, Charlie Strong, Clay Helton, college, Colorado, Cougars, Duke, Ed Orgeron, Florida, Florida State, football, Gary Patterson, Houston, Hurricanes, Iowa State, Jason Candle, Jim Harbaugh, Jim McElwain, Kansas, Kentucky, Kyle Whittingham, Longhorns, Louisville, LSU, Mark Helfrich, Maryland, Memphis, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, NCAA, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Rice, Rutgers, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas State, Toledo, Tom Herman, Trojans, Troy, UMass, Urban Meyer, Utah, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Washington, Washington State, West Virginia
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 12] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Tom Herman, Houston Hon. Mention: Jim McElwain, Florida
Glad I’m not him: Ed Orgeron, LSU
Lucky guy: Mark Helfrich, Oregon
Poor guy: Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Bobby Petrino, Louisville
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Jason Candle, Toledo
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Gary Patterson, TCU
Desperately seeking … anything: Charlie Strong, Texas
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: BYU (defeated UMass 51-9)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Ohio State (defeated Michigan State 17-16)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Syracuse (lost to No. 17 Florida State 45-14)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Kansas (defeated Texas 24-21)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Pittsburgh (defeated Duke 56-14)
Dang, they’re good: USC
Dang, they’re bad: Texas State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Louisville
Did the season start? TCU
Can the season end? Texas
Can the season never end? Florida
GAMES
Play this again: No. 12 Colorado 38, No. 20 Washington State 24
Play this again, too: No. 21 Florida 16, No. 16 LSU 10
Never play this again: Army 60, Morgan State 3
Close call: No. 3 Ohio State 17, Michigan State 16
What? Oregon 30, No. 11 Utah 28
Huh? No. 21 Florida 16, No. 16 LSU 10
Are you kidding me? Houston 36, No. 3 Louisville 10
Oh – my – God: Kansas 24, Texas 21 (OT)
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 12, pre-week 13))
Ticket to die for: No. 3 Michigan @ No. 2 Ohio State (game of the year?)
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Rice @ Stanford
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 18 Houston @ Memphis
Upset alert: No. 6 Washington @ No. 23 Washington State
Must win: No. 24 Tennessee @ Vanderbilt
Offensive explosion: No. 6 Washington @ No. 23 Washington State (Friday)
Defensive struggle: No. 13 Florida @ No. 15 Florida State
Great game no one is talking about: No. 21 Utah @ No. 9 Colorado also: Duke @ Miami (FL)
Intriguing coaching matchup: Urban Meyer of Ohio State vs Jim Harbaugh of Michigan
Who’s bringing the body bags? Kentucky @ No. 11 Louisville
Why are they playing? No. 19 West Virginia @ Iowa State
Plenty of good seats remaining, B1G Edition: Rutgers @ Maryland
They shoot horses, don’t they? Troy @ Texas State
Week 12 Take-aways:
The playoff picture is instantly minus one controversy with Louisville’s decisive, almost ignominious defeat on the road against a resurgent Houston squad. In hindsight, the quick turnaround time from Saturday night to Thursday night (from playing fundamentally-sound Wake Forest to the Cougars) was too insurmountable a task for even a formidable team like the Cardinals. Now with extra time to prepare for in-state rival Kentucky, the Cardinals can potentially end the season with a big win (provided they execute properly), and can still aim for a good New Year’s Day bowl game. Before the Playoffs came into being, when a team capped off their season in such a way, that feat was universally hailed as a success.
Meanwhile, Bobby Petrino could learn a thing or two from this defeat and from Florida’s win over favored LSU. For one, recruit better offensive linemen. Houston put real athletes on the defensive line against the Cardinals, and they made Lamar Jackson’s life difficult all night long. For another, recruit more marquee white players, as they will provide more consistency and better discipline to team play. If white defensive linemen can make sizeable contributions for a program such as formidable as Florida, sure they can do the same for Louisville. Obviously, too many whites leads to a deficit of team talent and athleticism. But conversely, an excessive imbalance of black players leads to a break-down in discipline and too inconsistent of a team effort. Think of black players as bricks and white players as mortar. You need both in order to build a strong wall that is your team.
November’s cruelty against Ole Miss sadly continues. As a reminder, they did start off the season ranked No. 11. Now, they just lost to Vanderbilt. Currently 5-6, they must win next week’s game – against in-state rival Mississippi State, no less — just to be bowl eligible.
It appears as though we are back to a version of Texas from earlier in the season, the one where the season was shot. Hindsight continues to change the more the season unfolds, but it remains 20-20 nonetheless. After losing to Oklahoma State unexpectedly, then to Oklahoma, then later to Kansas State, we had given up the Longhorns for dead. Moreover, we were certain that Charlie Strong had signed his own death warrant. Then suddenly, Texas handed Baylor its first loss of the season, and followed that up with a win on the road in a shootout against Texas Tech. Might Strong have righted the ship after all? No reasonable person could have said no, since they lost by only four points on the road to a dangerous West Virginia squad. But losing to Kansas (as in, 2-9* Kansas)? That is the last straw.
*Kansas was 1-9 (0-7 in the Big XII) before this week’s game.
Now at 5-6, the Longhorns face a TCU team that was humiliated at home by Oklahoma State, and will be out for redemption. Translation: bowl prospects remain bleak for the second year in a row. Regardless, major boosters have permanently soured on Charlie Strong, and after Tom Herman’s huge win over Louisville, they are, by that same token, calling for Herman to replace Strong. The writing on the wall could not be bolder or in bigger strokes.
On the west coast, USC may have gotten off to a rough start (namely getting their doors blown off by Alabama during the opening week), but few teams, if any, would want to face the Trojans now. Their win over Washington on the road last week was decisive and dominating. The eyeball test of how they line up against other teams shows that there are “men” on the Trojans’ side of the ball. Granted, Alabama would still beat them if the two played right now, but the score would not be so lopsided as it was week 1. Clay Helton deserves considerable credit for bringing about such an improvement in his team’s performance, though to be sure, his coaching staff talent remains, inexplicably, lackluster. Nevertheless, the record (three losses this year) might not show it, but USC is back.
College Football Awards, Week 7 2016 October 17, 2016
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Alabama, Arkansas, B1G, Badgers, Baylor, Big Ten, Bowling Green, Buckeyes, Camp Randall Stadium, college football, Crimson Tide, Dan Mullen, Dave Doeren, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Hurricanes, Illinois, Jim Mora, Justin Fuente, Kansas, Kent State, Kirby Smart, Kyle Whittingham, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Memphis, Miami, Miami (OH), Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Mike Novell, Mississippi State, Missouri, NC State, NCAA, Nick Saban, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Prairie View, Purdue, Rice, Rutgers, SEC, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, toilet bowl, UCLA, Utah, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Volunteers, Wake Forest, Washington State, West Virginia, Wisconsin
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(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 7] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES
Wish I were him: Nick Saban, Alabama
Glad I’m not him: Dan Mullen, Mississippi State
Lucky guy: Dabo Swinney, Clemson
Poor guy: Dave Doeren, NC State
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: Mike Norvell, Memphis
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Desperately seeking … anything: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
TEAMS
Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Baylor (defeated Kansas 49-7)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Florida State (defeated Wake Forest 17-6)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Kansas (see above)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Duke (lost to No. 7 Louisville 24-14)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: West Virginia (defeated Texas Tech 48-17)
Dang, they’re good: Alabama
Dang, they’re bad: Kent State
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Virginia Tech
Did the season start? Georgia
Can the season end? Purdue
Can the season never end? Ohio State
GAMES
Play this again: No. 2 Ohio State 30, No. Wisconsin 23, OT
Play this again, too: No. 22 Arkansas 34, No. 12 Ole Miss 30
Never play this again: Army 62, Lafayette 7
Close call: No. 7 Louisville 24, Duke 14
What? North Carolina 20, No. 16 Miami 13
Huh? Northwestern 54, Michigan State 40
Double-Huh? Syracuse 31, No. 17 Virginia Tech 17
Are you kidding me? No. 22 Arkansas 34, No. 12 Ole Miss 30
Oh – my – God: Vanderbilt 17, Georgia 16
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 7, pre-week 8))
Ticket to die for: No. 6 Texas A&M @ No. 1 Alabama
Also: No. 2 Ohio State @ No. 11 Wisconsin
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: Middle Tennessee @ Missouri
Best non-Power Five matchup: BYU @ No. 15 Boise State Also: Memphis @ Navy
Upset alert: BYU @ No. 15 Boise State
Must win: NC State @ No. 7 Louisville
Offensive explosion: South Florida @ Temple
Defensive struggle: Mississippi State @ Kentucky
Great game no one is talking about: TCU @ No. 20 West Virginia
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jim Mora of UCLA vs. Kyle Whittingham of Utah
Who’s bringing the body bags? Illinois @ No. 4 Michigan
Why are they playing? UMass @ South Carolina
Plenty of good seats remaining: Miami (Ohio) @ Bowling Green
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Middle Tennessee @ Missouri
Week 7 Take-aways:
Louisville barely escaped with a win at home to Duke. As I have said before, beware of bye-weeks, for they can be deceptively perilous to teams.
Who would have thought that the offensive explosion of the week would have been Northwestern vs. Michigan State, much less thinking that the Wildcats – underperforming all season thus far – would win?
The results of the Toilet Bowl, B1G edition, are in, and it’s Rutgers that is at the abyss of that conference, having lost to Illinois, 24-7. Sarcastic congrats to the Scarlet Knights!
Ohio State proved their mettle by defeating what is perhaps the toughest Wisconsin team within my memory. Not only that, but this win was on the road, in the evening. For those “in the know,” it is understood throughout the Big Ten that Camp Randall Stadium is the worst snake pit to play in within the entire conference. It is relatively the loudest, with a compact 80,000 seemingly right on top of the teams. Compound that with the fact that Wisconsin fans enjoy a certain, er, reputation throughout the league. Compound that further with the fact that night games give these already rowdy fans extra hours to get extra inebriated, hence extra loud. A night game in Camp Randall is a baptism by fire for a visiting team. Ohio State proved that they belonged in the No. 2 spot in the rankings by coming from behind, then dominating in overtime.
Yes, Tennessee lost badly to Alabama at home today, 49-10. But are we really surprised? The Volunteers have had one emotional game after another. Sooner or later, after so many games, they would experience an energy nadir as a result. Couple that with that fact that Nick Saban has the Crimson Tide rolling into a juggernaut of a team, and the loss should be seen as a minimal disgrace. As things currently stand, it is not unreasonable for Tennessee to end up 10-2 in the regular season, which is a remarkable turnaround from the doldrums in which the program found itself just a few years ago.
Oh, and it has been established that Florida and LSU will be playing after all. The catch is, they’ll play it at LSU instead, on Nov. 14, and to compensate, the Tigers will face Florida on the road for two consecutive years afterward. This does not even take into consideration that to make the Nov. 14 date work, both teams had to drop would-be body bag games (hello, easy money to the teams they would have played), which is actually a big win for the fans overall. So, the SEC East will have some clarity after all. Or will it?
College Football Week 5 Awards 2016 October 2, 2016
Posted by intellectualgridiron in Sports.Tags: Bo Schembechler, Boise State, Butch Jones, BYU, Cal, Cardinals, Charlie Strong, Chris Petersen, Clemson, college, Colorado, D.J. Durkin, Dabo Swinney, David Shaw, Duke, FIghting Irish, FIU, Florida, Florida International, Florida State, football, Gators, Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Indiana, Jimbo Fisher, Kansas, Kentucky, Kirby Smart, Kirk Herbstreit, Longhorns, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisville, LSU, Mark Dantonio, Mark Richt, Maryland, Miami Hurricanes, Michigan, Michigan State, Mike MacIntyre, NCAA, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pitt, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Red River Shootout, Rutgers, SEC, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, USC, Utah, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Vols, Volunteers, Washington, Woody Hayes
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqSLiQl4pG8
(Note: All rankings are current AP [week 5] unless otherwise noted.)
COACHES Wish I were him: Chris Petersen, Washington
Glad I’m not him: Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
Lucky guy: Butch Jones
Poor guy: Kirby Smart, Georgia
Desperately seeking a wake-up call: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Desperately seeking a P.R. man: D.J. Durkin, Maryland
Desperately seeking sunglasses and a fake beard: David Shaw, Stanford
Desperately seeking … anything: Charlie Strong, Texas
TEAMS Thought you’d kick butt, you did: Ohio State (defeated Rutgers 58-0)
Thought you’d kick butt, you didn’t: Florida (defeated Vanderbilt 13-6) T
hought you’d get your butt kicked, you did: Louisiana-Monroe (lost to Auburn 56-7)
Thought you’d get your butt kicked, you didn’t: Vanderbilt (lost to Florida 13-6)
Thought you wouldn’t kick butt, you did: Maryland (defeated Purdue 50-7)
Dang, they’re good: Washington
Dang, they’re bad: Purdue
Can’t Stand Prosperity: Stanford
Did the season start? Michigan State
Can the season end? Georgia State
Can the season never end? Clemson
GAMES Play this again: No. 5 Clemson 42, No. 3 Louisville 36
Play this again, too: No. 11 Tennessee 34, No. 25 Georgia 31
Never play this again: No. 20 Arkansas 52, Alcorn State 10
Close call: No.13 Baylor 45, Iowa State 42
What? Virginia 34, Duke 20
Huh? Cal 28, No. 18 Utah 24
Double-Huh? Indiana 24, No. 17 Michigan State 21
Are you kidding me? North Carolina 37, No. 12 Florida State 35
Oh – my – God: No. 10 Washington 44, No. 6 Stanford 6
NEXT WEEK
(rankings are current AP (post-week 5, pre-week 6)
Ticket to die for: No. 9 Tennessee @ No. 8 Texas A&M
Also: No. 23 Florida State @ No. 10 Miami
Best non-Power Five vs. Power Five matchup: BYU @ Michigan State
Best non-Power Five matchup: No. 6 Houston @ Navy
Upset alert: No. 5 Washington @ Oregon
Must win: Texas vs. No. 20 Oklahoma also: No. 25 Virginia Tech @ No. 17 North Carolina
Offensive explosion: No. 21 Colorado @ USC
Defensive struggle: LSU @ No. 18 Florida
Great game no one is talking about: Georgia Tech @ Pittsburgh
Intriguing coaching matchup: Jimbo Fisher of Florida State vs. Mark Richt of Miami
Also: Rich Rodriguez of Arizona vs. Kyle Whittingham of Utah
Who’s bringing the body bags? TCU @ Kansas
Why are they playing? No. 4 Michigan @ Rutgers
Plenty of good seats remaining: Vanderbilt @ Kentucky (the SEC Toilet Bowl)
Also: Florida International @ UTEP
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? No. 19 Boise State @ New Mexico
Week 5 Take-aways:
So much for “Texas is back”. After losing on the road to California and now losing on the road to an unranked Oklahoma State, something is wrong. The rot in Denmark is all the more apparent when one considers that A) defense was supposed to be Charlie Strong’s specialty, and yet B), the Longhorns lost to both respective teams 50-43 and 49-31. Notre Dame, it turns out, was highly overrated going into the season. That became rather obvious after getting embarrassed by Michigan State and then laying an egg at home to Duke. Oh, and overrated as the Fighting Irish are, they still scored 47 points on the Horns, in Austin. Let all this sink in for a moment. Once it has sunk in, the logical conclusion is that Strong’s seat cannot get hot enough.
But don’t take my word for it.
In any case, so far what we have seen is that Tennessee is capable of coming back strongly to dominate a rising Florida Gators team. Last year, their problem was that they had to learn to “close the deal,” which they eventually did, but not before losing to both Florida and Oklahoma.
This time, their problem is reversed. Instead of needing to “close the deal” – something they demonstrated in abundance last week – they need to learn to play four full quarters of football. Case in point: during the game at Georgia, they slacked off for the entire first half, save for the last drive of the second quarter. In so doing, they spotted the Bulldogs 17 points before they finally decided to start playing with appropriate urgency.
That urgency could not have been more palpable than in the final seconds of the game, whereby it took a Hail Mary pass that was actually completed in the end zone (!) for the Vols to come away with the win. Tennessee has no time to take a breather, though, as they face undefeated Texas A&M next weekend.
In other news, Michigan beat Wisconsin in a 14-7 slugfest, where both teams kept the ball mostly between the tackles. Both Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler were nodding approvingly. Interestingly, this was the Wolverines’ first win over a top ten team since 2008.
But let none of this obscure the showdown of the week in Clemson’s Death Valley with visitor Louisville. This “ticket to die for” certainly lived up to its hype, with high drama and a back-and-forth score. The Tigers triumphed in the end, 42-36, largely due to the fact that the Cardinals took too long to get going and also because Clemson refused to fold. The fact that the referees did not call Clemson’s subtle holds on receivers at all certainly did not hurt, though it certainly does call Dabo Swinney’s coaching ethics into question. That aside, the Tigers have a clear path to the playoffs, to say nothing of an ACC championship. The Cardinals, meanwhile, still have an 11-1 season for which to play, which would still command a premium bowl berth. Indeed, Kirk Herbstreit insisted that the Cards’ playoff hopes are not dead yet. He may very well be correct. After all, Houston still lurks on their schedule.
With all the excitement going on, one is apt to overlook that Colorado is now ranked again (No. 21); they have made the polls for the first time in roughly 15 years. Nice going, Coach Mike MacIntyre!
College football in October has started off with a huge bang, for this was one fantastic week for the sport. Next week entails a number of solid matchups (I honestly had to reach for both “Why are they playing” and “They shoot horses, don’t they”, which rarely happens), but they do not add up to anything as exciting as that which we enjoyed this time. Then again, they cannot all be this exciting all the time. As far as let-downs go, next week will be just fine, especially with the Red River Shootout awaiting in first shift.
intellectualgridiron 