And now, something to read while you ponder the injustice of Beyonce losing to Taylor Swift.
What started out as a drab week for college football ended up setting the bar high for the rest of the season. Sure, there were the blow outs (Seriously, Florida? Charleston Southern and then Troy?), but the fireworks of a couple of big games in addition to some upsets made me long even more for Panny or Sammy.
First, I’ve got to admit that it hurt me last week to take the MAC out of TTUN’s nickname. It was, in my opinion, quite humorous. So, I was ecstatic to see the the Spartans choked against Central Michigan’s Chippewas, allowing me to call them MAChigan State for the rest of the year! Hooray!
In another life, I made jokes about the “horrors” of swine flu, and how it was the “crisis of the moment” during a slow summer news cycle. Well, “not so fast, my friend…” Wisconsin was one of the many institutions who are dealing with outbreaks this fall. Yet they managed to overcome the swine and the Bulldogs of Fresno State in two overtimes.
In the “oh, crap- here’s one more thing I’m going to have to hear about” game of the week, UCLA and Slick Neuheisel traveled to Rocky Top and knocked off the Volunteers and their extravagantly paid coaching staff. I was actually hoping it would end in a tie, since the first tiebreaker would be “fastest to a NCAA violation”. It was a game worth talking about… too soon?
Here’s the big one: Number 5 Oklahoma State fell to Houston. I guess being a man doesn’t carry the weight that it used to. With this, and Choklahoma, and Texas struggling, is the Big 12 experiencing a down year? I wonder what the “Fighting T Boone Pickins” loss says about Georgia, last week’s toOSU victim?
Well, we know that, even with a QB’s strained shoulder the Dawgs could beat the ‘ol ball coach. Remember when Spurrier used to win big games? Yeah, me neither.
State Penn handled Syracuse easily- somehow, Paulus couldn’t get the “charging” calls like he used to. UW WON A GAME! Of football!! Texas struggled with Wyoming, but then blew it open. Mizzou struggled with Bowling Green (I’m not sure MACzzou has the same ring to it). Nebraska hammered Arkansas State. Vandy scared LSU, UNC squeaked by UConn (I think that was played on a basketball court… I’ll check and get back to you), and Auburn owned the Bulldogs. The Fighting Zooks bounced back against ISU, and the Kansas State rebuilding process is still looking for parts to rebuild with. The Manginos defeated UTEP, and TCU made this happen to Virginia:
And now, the marquee matchups of the week:
Congratulations are in order to the Mich1gAAn Wolverines– they played a marvelous game and took advantage of the opportunities given them in their upset of “national championship contender” Notre Ame. Freshman quarterback Tate Forcier made things happen when the game was on the line, and proved that the decision to start him was one of Rodriguez’ smarter moves.
That being said, and me being who I am- here are other observations:
It’s official– Charlie Weiss is an idiot. With time running out in the game, and Mich1gAAn clinging to their last two time outs, he chooses two consecutive passing plays which (after falling flat) stop the clock. 4CA even said as much- TTUN having those two time outs left allowed them to drive for the winning score (Unfortunately, I’m about to revisit this in in three paragraphs or so). This has been your weekly “Charlie Weiss is an offensive genius” reminder, brought to you by Ty Willingham.
Mach1gAAn looks good, but still has major concerns in their secondary. I’m convinced that “Cissoko” is Latin for “Feel free to throw deep on me”. If quarterback Pickles has the arm that he’s supposed to, this game ain’t close.
Also, be aware that the Wolverines played very well, but there’s a reason that we spell it “Ntre Ame”. Not exactly known for their defensive prowess.
The Shoedown in the ‘Shoe ended as most tOSU games against big programs have recently, with a loss to a top 5 team. I’ll be talking a lot more about this either tomorrow or Tuesday (once the pain goes away) but let me say that Weiss wasn’t the only coach with clock management issues. The normally conservative Tressel chose, at the end of the first half, to pass twice with the clock running out ant U$C out of timeouts. The Trojans got the ball with enough time to kick a field goal that tied the game at 10 and proved to be the winning margin.
In addition, their freshman QB played a great game but it was the 4th quarter work of Joe McKnight that won it for U$C. Given the accolades and worship for Barkley after it was all through, I think it’s safe to say we’ve found our next “Tebow of Nazareth”.
Small schools- In our Game From Obscurity, Brevard used 375 yards of rushing to best Chowan 27-24. As always, Tornadoes beat Hawks.
Games this week. Lane Kiffin and friends get to visit their bestest buddies ever ever. I’m sure it will be fun. THE Ohio State University will play Mich1gAAn’s arch rival Toledo in Cleveland; hopefully the defense can continue their poise. U$C has a tough time against Washington in a trap game against his former coordinators. Pete, prove everyone wrong about your ability to keep your team focused.
State Penn continues its walk through Dunkin’ Doughnuts as Temple comes to call, and Mich1gAAn hops to keep the MAC away against Eastern. Louisville and UK meet in the “gosh, I’m glad it’s football season, aren’t you?” game of the week. Kansas and Duke continue the basketball theme, while Nebraska travels to Hokie Country. TCU and toOSU play Texas State and Rice, while Georgia looks to barbecue some Razorback. WVa travels to Auburn for what looks to be a great cross-conference matchup, and Vandy hosts MSU.
Tune in Thursday for this week’s GFO. And now, your Monday Morning randomness:
No, I don’t think we’re having that type of season.
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