(1)Alabama 25, (21) Ole Miss 0
Just when you think that Alabama has to look out for an upset alert they produce this game. We thought that Ole Miss had a chance to come away with a victory and were we wrong. The Tide defense proved to be the difference. The two players that impressed us the most were LB CJ Mosley and safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Both players were embarrassed by their performance earlier this year against Johnny football. They took it out on Bo Wallace and company. Ole Miss was held to only eleven first downs. This was a big game for Rebels WR Donte Moncrief in terms of showing the NFL what he could do against a top defense. Moncrief was held to six receptions for 60 yards.
Alabama was up only 9-0 at halftime and had only 36 yards rushing at the break. In the second half the running game got going and they wound up with 218 yards on the ground in the second half. TJ Yeldon led the way with 117 yards on only 17 carries.
When Nick Saban shakes hands with the opposing coach at the center of the field after the game we think what is really going through his mind is an old Bobby “The Brain” Heenan quote:
“When you go to bed, I’m still up. ….. when you get up, … I’ve been up, …. because I am the Brain! ……. always staying six steps ahead of the Joe six- pack masses, ……. planning, scheming, plotting & executing my next exceptional conquest to the complete bewilderment of the ham & eggers!!!!!
(9) Georgia 44, (6) LSU 41
Game of the year so far! No doubt. What a fun game to watch. Story of the game was Georgia won the battle on the lines. In the first half Georgia had a rushing edge of 143 yards to 13. This was a major surprise considering how Clemson and South Carolina ran on the Bulldogs earlier in the year.
The second half was back and forth. Have to hand it to Zach Mettenberger and the LSU passing game. Mettenberger had a game you will be talking about in April. He threw for a career best 372 yards and three touchdowns.
Les Miles strikes again defensively. The Tigers couldn’t get pressure on Aaron Murray all day long. Miles rarely blitzed. Murray had all day to pick apart the Tigers secondary. Murray threw for 298 yards four touchdowns and a pick. His pass to Justin Scott-Wesley with 1:47 to go was the game winner.
The Bulldogs running game was hurt in the second half because stud RB Todd Gurley left the game with an ankle injury. He never played in the second half.
NFL.com wrote this week that all five NFL scouts they interviewed thought Mettenberger is a better pro prospect than Murray. Reason is that they believe Murray has very little upside. Mettenberger all predicted would go higher in the draft because he has the ideal size and arm strength of a NFL. Murray has had a much better college career and we do remember that they said the same thing about Russell Wilson.
The scouts think Murray goes in the third round.
(4) Ohio State 31, (23) Wisconsin 24
Something had to give when the Wisconsin defense ranked first in the conference giving up 10 points per game went up against the conferences number one offense in the Buckeyes who were scoring 52 points per game. Braxton Miller had a very efficient game by completing 68 percent of his passes for 198 yards and most importantly four touchdowns. Miller ran for 83 yards as well. He showed no ill effects of having missed a few games.
The Buckeyes prevailed in what was a strange game. You would think that if Wisconsin kept it close they would have run the ball well. The Buckeyes shut down the Badgers running game to the tune of only 104 yards. Wisconsin QB Joel Stave played a better game than we expected. He passed for almost 300 yards and two touchdowns.
Draft: Badgers LB Chris Borland was all over the field. He looks like a player that has the instincts to play on Sundays. Buckeyes CB Bradley Roby looked great against the run but his pass coverage was suspect. Badgers WR Jared Abbrederis caught ten balls for 207 yards. Many of those were with Roby in coverage.
Only a RICO Indictment by the Justice Department’s Organized Crime Unit could derail the Columbus Crime Family of Don “Urban Blight” Meyer and his latest stacked roster of Rhodes Scholars & upstanding citizens. By the way did you see him go for it on 4th and 6th last week up 55-0 against lowly Florida A&M? This assault on the decency of College Football to such a scale that the massacre is being reviewed by The World Court in The Hague for evidence of War Crimes.
(14) Oklahoma 35, (22) Notre Dame 21
Two big differences between Notre Dame last year and this year. First the quarterback play isn’t as good. Tommy Rees was horrible throwing three first half interceptions, one of which went back for a touchdown. Rees completed only nine passes all day. Not good enough. Notre Dame was held to twelve first downs on the day. Finally the Irish are unable to get pressure with a four man rush. Louis Nix and Stephen Tuitt are top prospects but Blake Bell had way too much time to pass the football. Bell is more known for his legs and he lit up the Irish with 232 passing yards.
Last year Notre Dame physically beat up Oklahoma in Norman. Notre Dame outgained Oklahoma by over 200 yards. This year the Sooners had a 126 yard edge.
So since Oklahoma did get a win, “Big Game” Stoops will get to commission a giant, gaudy, personalized ring commemorating the Victory, as he does every single time the Sooners win, which he places alongside all the other rings commemorating every Sooner triumph in a massive, ostentatious, open glass top coffee table that he keeps in his personal office.
This functions as “Glitz Accessory Envy” to influence impressionable recruits to come to Norman & join the Sooners in acquiring booty from all the inferior teams they beat up on every year. But we can’t pay the players of course.
(3) Clemson 56, Wake Forest 7
Tajh Boyd led the way as usual accounting for 380 yards of total offense and five touchdowns. Clemson has so many weapons this year. DJ Howard took a swing pass in the first quarter and went 75 yards for a score. Boyd, Howard and Sammy Watkins have so much speed it’s a defensive coordinator’s nightmare. Wake had no answers for the speed that Clemson has on offense or defense.
The excitement is gone from the Wake program. Jim Grobe had it going well a few years back. Maybe they need to bring back grad Ras Chapman who back in 1981 got too excited on the sidelines during a game between Wake Forest and North Carolina State. Ras liked to employ head banging into his routine, sometimes a little too vociferously, he repeatedly smashed his head into a full Gatorade jug until he put himself into a coma.
(10) Texas A&M 45, Arkansas 33
Floyd “Money” Mayweather loses $300,000 supposedly on this one as A&M doesn’t cover the spread. You know it’s just a matter of time before we find out that he’s broke.
Johnny Manziel accounted for 320 yards of total offense in the victory.
When you compare to Johnny Manziel, Arkansas’s QB Brandon Allen moves as slow as Clem Kadiddlehopper. In his defense Allen was coming off of injury.
The big play in the game happened with A&M up 24-20 in the third quarter. Allen threw a pick six to Aggies Deshavor Everett. That put the Aggies up 31-20. A&M defense is still a concern. The Razorbacks moved up and down the field and the game was closer than the score would indicate.
Aggies WR Mike Evans continues to build on his resume after the strong Alabama game. Evans caught two more touchdowns and had 116 receiving yards.
(2) Oregon 55, Cal 16
This game could have been costly for Oregon. Super fast RB De’Anthony Thomas was injured on the opening kick-off and was seen later in the game on crutches. Oregon didn’t discuss the injury further. This game was played in a driving rain storm. Cal QB Jared Goff came into the game leading the country in total offense with 429 yards per game. He couldn’t hold onto the ball. It was a joke. Goff was replaced in the first quarter after gaining only 22 yards.
The rain slowed Marcus Mariota too. Mariotta had three touchdowns but only 150 yards of offense. Mariotta is turning NFL scouts heads. He has already moved up into the top half of the first round. Some draft experts have Mariota as their number one quarterback.
Because EA Sports will no longer make a college football game after this year my sons believe Ed O’Bannon should be placed in history right next to Hilter, Cassius, Brutus, Judas and the guy that invented Astro Turf.
(5) Stanford 55, Washington State 17
David Shaw should follow Jim Harbaugh into the pros. What a great job he has done with the Cardinal. Stanford is not a west coast finesse team. They are a strong physical intimidating team. In the third quarter within minutes of each other Stanford sent two Cougar quarterbacks to the sidelines with clean hard hits. Wazzu starter Connor Halliday never returned. The Stanford defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the third and blew open the game.
Offensively Kevin Hogan threw three touchdown passes. Stanford has a fleet of strong running backs. We don’t think any are great pro prospects but all are strong college players.
WashingtonState came in with a three game winning streak. After last weeks game Mike Leach got into a heated exchange with Idaho coach Paul Petrino (Bobby’s brother). Reading lips after a short exchange at midfield it look like Leach tells him “*&^% You”. Cougars won that game 42-0.
UB 41, UConn 12
This was the biggest win in Jeff Quinn’s era. The Bulls played their best all around game in years. The defense set the tone early with a couple of early turnovers. Adam Redden had a strip sack and Najja Johnson returned an interception for a touchdown. This didn’t look like the same UConn team that nearly beat Michigan last Saturday.
The Bulls pass rush got to Chandler Whitmer and sacked him five times. The pressure forced two interceptions.
The Bulls offense got off to a slow start in the first quarter but turned it on the rest of the way. Bo Oliver had 90 yards on 23 carries and found the end zone once. Joe Licata completed only ten passes but three of those were for touchdowns. The Bulls even their record on the year at 2-2. With games like this the Bulls may need to wear the all black uniforms permanently.
(15) Miami 49, USF 21
Stephen Morris came into the game with an ankle injury and he left the game with an ankle injury but in between he hit 11 of 16 passes for 222 yards and two touchdowns. Morris throws one of the nicest deep balls you’ll ever see. He showed that in the Florida game and showed it in this contest too. Miami scored a defensive touchdown against the Bulls which is nothing new this year for USF. Six times this year teams have scored defensive touchdowns against USF. Miami gained 251 yards on their first three possessions and the rout was on. Morris in his postgame press conference called the Bulls “dirty”.
USF has been horrible under first year coach Willie Taggert. Being blown out by McNesseState and Florida Atlantic is not the way Taggert envisioned this season starting.
West Virginia 30, (11) Oklahoma State 21
What a horrible football game OklahomaState played. They turned the ball over four times, had ten penalties and their special teams were the worst we’ve seen all year. All this contributed to a big upset for West Virginia. The Cowboys were the pre-season favorite to win the Big 12. This is a down year for the conference. OklahomaState was 1-3 last year on the road with their only win over lowly Kansas. This is a West Virginia team that lost 37-0 last week to Maryland.
Dana Hologrsen, a former Cowboys assistant, started Clint Trickett at QB. Trickett was 24 of 50 for 309 yards and a touchdown. Trickett is the son of longtime FloridaState offensive line coach Rick Trickett.
West Virginia defense is much better than it was last year. The Mountaineers held Cowboys star running back Jeremy Smith to a nightmarish day. Smith had one yard on 15 carries and a key fumble. J.W. Walsh wasn’t helped by dropped passes but he was horrible on the day. The Cowboys QB completed only 20 of 47 passes and he had two interceptions. It was a mystery who he was throwing his last pick to which wound by sealing the game.
Former West Virginia grad Adam “Don’t Call Me Pac Man anymore because I’ve changed” Jones was cited, (not arrested) for “Disorderly Conduct” during a Drunk Driving pullover early Monday morning where the female driver he was riding with was arrested. The Cincinnati Police were not impressed with Adam’s critique of their actions during the incident & he was cited for his abusive behavior, language & clearly impaired state. This is at least his ninth incident involving Law Enforcement since he entered the NFL.
(12) South Carolina 28, UCF 25
We thought this could be a tough game for South Carolina. UCF had already knocked off PennState in Beaver stadium earlier this year. The first half was all Knights. They built a 10-0 lead and knocked out Gamecocks QB Connor Shaw.
Late in the first half and into the fourth quarter South Carolina took over. South Carolina outgained Central Florida 244-10 from that stretch of time. South Carolina built a 28-10 lead behind the running of Mike Davis, who had 167 yards and three touchdowns.
We like UCF QB Blake Bortles, he’s a tough QB. Borltes was good and bad on the day. He did throw for 358 yards and two touchdowns but also threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.
(8) Florida State 48, BC 34
Who would have thought that FloridaState would have needed a Hail Mary at the end of the first half to take a lead into the half against lowly BC? The Eagles built a 14 point first half lead before the Seminoles woke up. Jameis Winston threw a 55 yard “Hail Mary’ pass to Kenny Shaw as time expired in the second quarter to give FloridaState a 24-17 halftime lead. BC never went away even in the second half. The Eagles raked up 407 yards against one of the best defenses in the country. FloridaState ranked coming into the game in the top seven nationally in passing defense, scoring defense and total defense.
Not sure if you saw the typical stonewall Bill Belichick’s comments at his press conference regarding injuries this week. When they remake “Hogan’s Heroes”, Bill Belichick plays John Banner’s character.
(16) Washington 31, Arizona 13
Bishop Sankey is a beast. Everyone say it together Bishop Sankey is a beast. The Huskies running back carried the ball 40 times for 161 yards and two touchdowns. Here is how the draft might play out for us at running back. We wouldn’t take any running back in the first round but there are four running backs that we would love in round two. Sankey, Gurley (Georgia), Seastrunk (Baylor) and Grice (ArizonaState) are all future NFL stars.
Huskies are very tough in their new loud Husky stadium. Last year Arizona blew out Washington 52-17 in Tucson. The Wildcats came into this game as a little bit of a mystery having beat three light-weights. Wildcats have a good back of their own in Ka’Deem Carey. Carey did everything offensively for the Wildcats. He accounted for 181 total yards and a touchdown.
(20) Florida 24, Kentucky 7
This was the first game without QB Jeff Driskell and DT Dominique Easley for Florida. Easley was the bigger loss. He was lost for the season with a knee injury. Easley was a first round pick for sure before the injury. It will be interesting to see if he still goes in the first round come April.
In this game, no Driskell and no Easley meant no problem. The Florida defense is still top notch. Kentucky was held to only 173 total yards. Florida wanted to give their WR’s coach Joker Phillips a little revenge. Phillips was fired last year as Wildcats coach.
Offensively Matt Jones carried the load. The Gators RB had 176 yards on 28 carries.
Finally:
Two NFL teams struggling:
The Giants looked horrible last week in Carolina.
Well we knew the G-Men had some Offensive Line issues, we just didn’t know that they didn’t actually have an Offensive Line. If this keeps up, Eli Manning will once again end up following the lead of his older brother Peyton and end up the recipient of career threatening neck surgery before the snow hits the ground on one of Jimmy Hoffa’s alleged resting places in the Meadowlands.
The Giants obviously did not properly read their crystal balls, chicken bones, tea leaves or rodent entrails correctly before their overconfident trip to North Carolina and this disemboweling by the banged up – Injury Report laden but dangerous Dark Leopards of Charlotte.
The most ominous, cryptic & obscure warning may have come from New York’s own “Blue Oyster Cult” who in 1972’s ode to the nefarious nature of Long Island night life; “Before the Kiss, a Redcap” warned of the perils of unpreparedness in encounters with lame Cimmerian felines possessing human form:
One thrill and mundane, here at last
Expect the cross one more
Lecherous, invisible
Beware the limping cat!
Whose black teeth grip between loose jaws
Still ripe and fully bloomed
A rose that’s not from anywhere
That you would know or I would care
And Tampa Bay:
The Schiano regime in South Florida is in danger of extinction with open player revolt, unhappy free agents, a lame duck quarterback, restless fans and declining ticket sales.
The Owner, Management & Fans complained that the Bucs’ previous Head Coach Rahim Morris was too Leo Buscaglia/Deepak Chopra for their liking, so they put him on a short leash after one good year and one mediocre one, and he was fired.
So two years ago they hired via Rutgers, “Hard-ass” Greg Schiano who thinks he’s “The Great Santini” & tries to coach as he imagines George S. Patton would. However, Patton was a big proponent of aggression, unpredictability & seizing the Offensive Initiative. Although the Buccaneers are somewhat aggressive on defense, Schiano doesn’t even understand the concept of Offensive Initiative and the only thing predictable about the St. Petersburg Privateers is that they will send many of their fans to the parking lot before the end of the third quarter.
Schiano has now anointed his third round draft pick, NC State’s Mike Glennon to start at Quarterback this week at home against the Cardinals. After watching this string-bean fold continually under pressure time after time during his college career, it’s hard to see things getting better for Tampa.
I’m sure that even with all this anxiety, TampaBay practice & team meetings should return to Coach Schiano’s normal, orderly & disciplined norm this week likely to be as smooth and uneventful as a trip to a Kenyan shopping mall.
