Time for the stroll through the week’s absurdity in college football… this week’s soundtrack is inspired by a conversation with a colleague and the Stomping in the ‘Shoe- Enjoy the Stone Foxes.
The big game of the week, according to the folks at the four letter network, was Saturday Night’s matchup between LSU and West By God Virginia. When the smoke had cleared (not from burning couches, ironically), all we knew was how good the Tigers are, particularly on defense. That’s not a commentary on their O- it’s great to see Princeton HS star Spencer Ware excel- but the fact of the matter is that the LSU defense is the best in college football. In today’s poll has Les Miles’ team at the top, and given their victories over ranked teams (Oregon, Mississippi State, WVa), I can’t say that I disagree. You want to be the man? Beat the man… and LSU has done just that.
Those who might be wondering how LSU manages to both recruit top athletes AND to keep them motivated may have found an answer on Saturday night- I’m pretty sure that’s a benefit, although I will withhold judgement on if it’s improper (mostly ’cause I’m jealous).
The second huge matchup of the week saw our friends in the Big 12-2-1 squaring off in College Station as a part of the Aggy Farewell Tour. The Cowboys of TBPU showed off their new happy helmets but fell behind significantly in the first half. Reason to celebrate, right? Well… Oklahoma State ripped off an offensive juggernaut at the start of the third quarter, and held on to win with a late interception. Great victory for the Fighting Gundys… although Heisman Candidate Blackmon certainly had a major forgettable moment- he’s probably pretty grateful that TBPU ended up with the win.
Note- It was brought to our attention this week that Googling TBPU brings you to our little slice of the universe– definitely something that will be mentioned in this year’s Christmas letter. So, when another reader informed us that Pat Forde over at the four letter network referred to the conquest as “a great victory for T. Boone Pickens University”, we were more than flattered- although would a little linkage or credit have been so difficult? Ah well, it’s not like that network’s contributors have a history of “borrowing” things from blogs without crediting them.
Sunday also saw the official announcement of Texas A&M to the SEC, so they’ll not have to worry a bout Oklahoma State anytime soon. I’m sure the “Big 12” cheers at the end of the game Saturday will remind the Aggies that they just jumped from the frying pan into the fire. The coming years will be sure to see if they’re a good fit– for now, though, it’s not even close.
The final significant match up of the week saw Florida State looking to rebound against a Clemson Team that’s wearing Auburn’s Championship Belt after last week’s game. While this looked to be a battle for ACC supremacy, the victory by Clemson gave Buckeye fans both an introduction to one of the teams that should be in the hunt for National Title and a wistful wishes for Tiger QB Tajh Boyd (although I’m not sure how serious he was about tOSU, or even if there was a chance he was headed to Columbus). At any rate, though, dreams of Boyd at QB had to be tempered by at least one of the decisions… easily the most significant gaffe of Saturday:
Under normal circumstance, this would have been a game-changer, but Florida State had issues of their own, so for now Clemson sits atop the ACC.
Ah, the ACC- Interesting what Miami looks like when they don’t have two weeks to prepare, isn’t it? Kansas State’s Wildcats caught the Hurricanes napping, and Jacory Harris’ last ditch efforts fell short in an almost unimaginable way. Oh, and if history has proven itself, KSU fans will still be hearing about that officiating decision numerous years in the future. The ACC’s fashion plate, the Maryland Terrapins were embarrassed at home, and that’s just talking about their latest uniform decision. Then the game started, and Temple made the embarrassment go away… all the way up to the scoreboard. Here’s an idea, Terps… stop worrying about your costumes and start worrying about how your team performs. Fix what you can, in other words.
Temple is featured prominently in this week’s “Fun With The Transitive Property”- Penn State > Temple > Maryland (at home!) > Miami > tOSU. Oh and Penn State Athletic Medicine?- Yeah, you’re doing it wrong.
Speaking the ACC and Ohio State opponents, the ‘Cuse were able to hold off the Toledo Rockets in overtime… well, in an overtime that shouldn’t have happened. For our Hurricane readers, this is what it looks like to have a game stolen from you by a bad call.
Two Big lEast hoops schools met in ketchup stadium, and the ugliness between NoTOre Ame and Pitt had people (OK, me) wondering why the B1G would want either team in their conference. Even though the Irish emerged victorious, Brian Kelly still had his moments of mirth and joy… I’ll leave it up to you to determine what “Eff-Con” level he’s at.
Craig James did a pretty good job calling the Ohio State/Colorado game on Saturday, but America should never forget.
We had some great candidates for our “Catch of the Day”- Here’s the first candidate. And be sure to check out the second one as well. I’ll be honest, though… it’s going to be tough to beat out the current leader for catch of the year-
Heading into B1G Conference Play, it was great to see the teams hit up one last round of cupcakes. Nothing like a foe from a lower division or non BCS school to warm up for… what’s that now? Indiana lost to North Texas? Are we sure that’s even a real team? I can see Minnesota losing to North Dakota State- the Gophers haven’t been able to beat a “Dakota” team for the past two season, and Jerry Kill is still rebuilding in Minneapolis (if it doesn’t send him to an early grave- Seriously, thoughts and prayers, coach). And when Illinois fell behind to Western Michigan and Nebraska was at 14-7 to Wyoming, it looked like another long week for the nation’s oldest conference. Thankfully the Huskers and Illini managed to win and set the conference off on a 7-2 weekend.
We’re proud of all things B1G here at tBBC (although we’re not ones to publicly demonstrate the totality of our spelling prowess in public), so kudos to Denard Robinson for his second September Heisman Trophy, and the third consecutive such award for Wolverine offensive players. You’ll notice I didn’t say “quarterbacks”- the QB of the month is still RG3 at Baylor, who currently has more touchdown passes than he has incompletions. Later this week, Jason Winrow will take a statistical look at the Heisman race after one month- be sure to check that out.
Oregon did what Oregon does- just overwhelming and out scoring the Arizona Wildcats. Arizona State had a much better day, upsetting Southern Cal for the first time since the 90’s, and had yet another opportunity to exhibit their academic excellence.
In case we forgot- Today’s “Duck of the Week” award for moving violations while in a vehicle that’s registered to a University official goes to the Lobo recruit who was pulled over and sited for a DUI in coach Mike Locksley’s vehicle. I’m sure the coach responded appropriately. UPDATE- And… he’s gone.
ODU’s Panthers fell to 2-2, and host Wayne State this week for Homecoming.
We end where we started, in the SEC. Kentucky fell to Florida for the 25th consecutive time. Alabama and Arkansas looked to be a good game on paper, but everyone knows that paper people can’t return punts like this. The ball was a precious commodity as the Commodores and the Gamecocks met up… Wheeeeee!!!!!!!
Next week’s matchups include what many see as the precursor to the B1G championship, as the children of the corn travel to Madison to jump around with the Badgers. Good luck, Huskers… Badger fans have already started drinking. We’ve got a matchup of the fanbases pictured earlier (see? This is why you always click on the hyperlinks) when aTm starts their SEC experience against former SWC foe the Arkansas Razorbacks. Alabama and Florida will be the game that the four letter network chooses to over-hype this weekend, although the VaTech/Clemson matchup should be a good one as well.
It’s Monday, you’re at work… here’s a little something to kill time between TPS reports. You’re welcome.
Oh, and where was this when I was in college?
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