(4) Ohio State 40, (16) Northwestern 30
Ohio State held off a game Northwestern team looking for an upset to extend “Pope” Urban Meyer’s unbeaten streak as coach of the Buckeyes. The Wildcats couldn’t match the Ohio State strength up front and as a result Carlos Hyde ran for a career high 168 yards and three touchdowns. Braxton Miller didn’t have a great game. He turned the ball over twice. Northwestern took the lead 30-27 with just over eight minutes to go on a Trevor Siemian pass to Cameron Dickerson from 12 yards out. The Buckeyes marched right down the field and Hyde went over from seven yards out to give Ohio State the lead they would never relinquish. Ohio State did a good job of keeping Northwestern’s all purpose back Venric Mark in check. Mark, a Darren Sproles type of player, just coming back from injury was held to 104 all purpose yards.
The Wildcats were the best team left on Ohio State’s schedule. Buckeye fans were mad this week when Vegas said they would be a double digit underdog in the national championship game to any SEC school.
Stock down: CB Bradley Roby- as mentioned in this article last week everyone has taken notice of how Wisconsin’s WR Jared Abbrederis took Roby to lunch last week. Roby was the top prospect at corner but that is in serious jeopardy. Roby recovered a punt for a TD but was suspect in coverage again vs the Wildcats.
History lesson: Pope Urban II
In the 11th Century, in just an eleven year reign, he simultaneously fought a civil war in France, went to war with Germany, battled the Islamic Caliphate of the Eastern Mediterranean and fought a continuous bloody struggle against a Rival Pope. Then he launched the “First Crusade”, which was the first of “Nine” that eventually resulted in little permanent gain, millions of dead and displaced people and centuries of untoward suffering.
Ultimately it did result in greater understanding, empathy and unity between Islam and Christianity, and produced the enlightened copacetic relationship between them that we all still benefit from to this present day.
(5) Stanford 31, (15) Washington 28
Ty Montgomery took the opening kickoff 99 yards for a TD and the Cardinal led wire to wire to improve to 5-0. Montgomery is certainly a NFL prospect. He had a horrible game last year as the Huskies upset Stanford for their only loss of the year. This year he was the difference maker. Montgomery had 290 all purpose yards. Washington outgained Stanford by over 200 yards in the game (489-279). Keith Price looked great under pressure for UW. The Huskies QB has a great trait that the NFL loves in when he scrambles he keeps his eyes downfield and looks to make the big play. Price threw for 350 yards and two touchdowns with an injured thumb. The game ended when Price completed a fourth and ten pass from the Stanford 49 but officials overruled the call and said the ball hit the ground. It was a shame we would have loved to seen overtime. It was a game that you hated to see end. Both teams were impressive.
Stock up: Bishop Sankey RB- Sankey has been a workhorse back this year for the Huskies. Love his balance and toughness. Sankey rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns against a tough Stanford front seven.
Stock up coach: Steve Sarkisian, Washington- The former USC assistant might have to answer questions about that job until the Trojans name their man. Will he leave for the lucrative Southern California job, of which he will have to deal with Temptation on an Epic Scale that only Sampson, Jesus Christ, Bernie Madoff & the lead singer of the Grass Roots would appreciate?
(8) Florida State 63, (25) Maryland 0
Maryland came in ranked third nationally in defense but they had played the likes of West Virginia, UConn, Old Dominion and Florida International. It was actually a game for most of the first half. Maryland QB CJ Brown went out just before halftime and it was game over. Maryland stopped the Florida State running game pretty well so the game was totally on the shoulders of freshman Jameis Winston. This was his most impressive game all year. He was outstanding! Winston threw five touchdown passes and for 393 yards. Seminoles get a week off before huge game against Clemson.
Apparently Maryland needed to wear their Underarmour WWII Bismark Battleship Dazzle Painting Camouflage Uniforms to confuse opponent.
(20) Texas Tech 54, Kansas 16
Kansas actually jumped out to a 10-0 lead early in the first quarter and it looked like this could be a big upset. Then talent took over and Texas Tech rattled off the next 54 points. The win maybe costly as Tech QB Baker Mayfield was injured in the last play of the third quarter. Mayfield threw for 368 yards and has led the Red Raiders to five straight victories. Kansas had the “Claude Raines” running attack with 53 yards on 37 carries.
Congratulations, Kansas! Hope you’re happy now. Several years ago, the basketball department and administration, not liking the competition and attention a “winning” football program brought to campus, ran ex-coach Mark Mangino out of town under the guise of political correctness. Some of the complaints circulated revolved around Mangino’s huge girth, hygiene, language, and the poor image it reflected upon the University of Kansas.
One critic said it was like watching “Jabba the Hut patrolling the sidelines, but with a less stylish wardrobe.”
Well, two coaches and a ton of losses later, things sure are better. Now they lose to teams like Rice and barely beat non-BCS entities like South Dakota State while Fred Flintstone prowls the sidelines wearing clothing from the Goodwill/Salvation Army line– confirmation that the Charlie Weis genius myth was a Belichickian-induced mirage.
(19) Michigan 42, Minnesota 13
Michigan figured out a way not to have Devin Gardner turn the ball over. Don’t throw. Devin Gardner has turned into a turnover machine. He had eight interceptions coming into the game. You can’t throw an interception if you don’t throw. Gardner didn’t attempt his first pass until midway through the second quarter. A close game at halftime turned into a rout in the second half. Star of the game offensively was Michigan WR Devin Funchess who had 7 receptions for 151 yards and a touchdown.
Stock Up: Ra’Shede Haheman- DT Gophers- athletic freak inside that will be a match-up problem for everyone next year.
(3) Clemson 49, Syracuse 14
Why is Tajh Boyd one of the best QB’s in the country and a first round pick next year? One reason is he takes care of the ball. Coming into the game he had thrown 114 passes and had yet to be intercepted. Boyd did throw two interceptions but in three quarters of work he threw for 455 yards and five touchdowns as well. Can you say front runner for the Heisman trophy. This was the first game for Syracuse in the ACC. Not a good start as they had only 139 yards at halftime and were down 35-7.
Stock Up: Sammy Watkins- this could be a stock down for Marqise Lee as well of USC. Watkins has surpassed Lee as the top WR on the board. Lee’s injury hasn’t helped this forgettable season for the Trojans.
(14) Miami 45, Georgia Tech 30
The Hurricanes erased a 17-7 second quarter deficit by going on a 38-6 run over 37 minutes to win the game going away. Duke Johnson was a beast for Miami with 325 all-purpose yards. Stephen Morris had a very efficient game going 17 of 22 for 325 yards and three touchdowns. Hurricanes are now 5-0 and off to their best start in nine years.
Miami averaged over 10 yards per snap gaining 551 yards on 53 snaps.
Stock Down: Stephen Morris QB Miami- I know we just said he had a good game and he did– but, overall, he makes too many mistakes and is very inconsistent. Potential only lasts so long.
(6) Georgia 34, Tennessee 31 OT
This final score would indicate that Georgia played poorly to avoid an upset. The Bulldogs gutted out a win with almost every key player injured. Star RB Todd Gurley and safeties Tray Norman and Connor Matthews never dressed for the game. During the game RB Keith Marshall and WRs Michael Bennett and Justin Scott-Wesley were injured and couldn’t return. Aaron Murray led a come from behind win. Murray forced overtime with just five seconds left with a 2 yard TD pass. Tennessee’s Pig Howard almost scored a touchdown in OT but he fumbled just before going over the goal line and the ball went out of the end zone for a touchback. The Bulldogs won it with Marshall Morgan’s 42 yard field goal. Murray became the all-time SEC leader for passing yards in the game.
Stock up: Antonio Richardson OT and DT Daniel McCullers- Tennessee is having problems this year but they have been good in the trenches. Richardson has gotten rave reviews from Jadeveon Clowney in the past and McCullers is a huge space-eater in the middle of the line.
(18) Florida 30, Arkansas 10
The Gators defense played shutdown better than Harry Reid and John Boehner. After giving up a touchdown in the first quarter, the Gators defense gave up three points the rest of the way. DB Loucheiz Purifoy intercepted a pass and ran 42 yards for a touchdown that put Florida up for good in the second quarter. Purifoy needed a big play for his resume for the draft. Solomon Patton caught two Tyler Murphy touchdowns as Florida improved to 4-1 on the season.
Stock down: Dominique Easley Florida- Easley was having a great year as a DT/DE for the Gators. He was a force in every game. Problem is now he is a guy with surgery on both knees. Bad break for a great player.
(11) Oklahoma 20, TCU 17
Bob Stoops made a good point this week about the SEC. He said the defenses weren’t as good now that the quarterbacks have improved in the league. That’s a true statement. Are the Big 12 defenses getting better or are their quarterbacks are getting worse?
At halftime, TCU had 16 total yards and minus one yard rushing. Oklahoma was dominating the game. The Sooners defense forced nine straight three and outs. Problem for Oklahoma is they only had 13-0 lead. The Sooners offense struggles to put away teams. You had a feeling that this was going to become a game and it did.
Oklahoma did find offense late in the fourth quarter. Brennan Clay went 75 yards to put the Sooners up 20-10. After the Horned Frogs cut it to three again, Blake Bell was able to run out the clock and preserve victory.
Stock up: Jason Verrett, CB TCU- You saw LSU stay away from him all game. Respect they have for him. Verett the leader of a very good Horned Frogs secondary.
(10) LSU 59, Mississippi State 26
The good news for LSU is that their offense is the best we’ve ever seen it. The bad news is the LSU defense gives up more points than we can remember in the last 10 years.
LSU WR Odell Beckham was unstoppable. He would run a ten yard out and the Bulldogs corner wouldn’t even be in the screen shot. Beckham had nine receptions for 179 yards and two touchdowns. Jeremy Hill rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns as well.
Stock up: Zach Mettenberger QB LSU- in spite of the loss to Georgia last week, Mettenberger made himself some money. He has all of the physical tools. Needs to polish up his skills but his skill potential is higher than most. Mettenberger continued his great play this week going 25 of 29 against MississippiState for 340 yards and two touchdowns.
(13) South Carolina 35, Kentucky 28
Bone spurs in Jadeveon Clowney’s right foot have been the main reason for a less than stellar start to the season for him. Clowney was held out of this game with bruised ribs.
Gamecocks QB Connor Shaw was supposed to miss three weeks after landing on his shoulder last week in a win over Central Florida. Shaw is so tough ne never missed a start and played well throwing for 262 yards and accounted for two touchdowns. Jared Whitlow was all of the offense for the Wildcats. He accounted for 247 of their 301 total yards.
Kentucky like Kansas, Indiana, North Carolina and Duke should all have their football charters revoked or be demoted from the Premiership down into the English Division, where they can whack around with the likes of Burnley, Brighton, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Blackburn, Bolton & Barnsley.
It is obvious after all these years, that their interest in being in “BCS” football only exists to provide ridiculous amounts of cash to be funneled to their basketball programs all the while pretending that they are really, really, really, really trying to win at football, but circumstances (and the traditionalist weasels in the administration and the booster groups that support basketball) always conspire against their success.
Notre Dame 37, (22) Arizona State 34 (in Dallas)
It was an entertaining game in Jerry Jones’s Taj Mahal. Both teams wore uniforms that the youth would love and would make older traditional fans cringe. Last week we said that Notre Dame was struggling with a four man rush. This week: Stephon Tuitt, Louis Nix and Prince Shembo pressured Arizona State QB Taylor Kelly into a few key mistakes that wound up being the difference in a close game. Notre Dame had six sacks in the game– by far their best pressure of the year. The ND front seven took State’s RB Marion Grice out of the game. He had only 51 yards on 12 carries. Brian Kelly stood behind QB Tommy Rees after a horrible performance last week against Oklahoma. Rees responded by throwing for 279 yards and three touchdowns.
Stock up: Louis Nix Notre Dame– This match-up had two of the best DTs in the league with Nix against Will Sutton of Arizona State. Nix had the better game against the run and as a pass rusher.
(17) Baylor 73, West Virginia 42
Last week we told you how improved West Virginia’s defense is. Going into this game they had given up these numbers in terms of total yards: 309, 435, 220, 330 and 433. In the first quarter against Baylor they gave up 369 yards. Baylor gained 864 yards for the game. That’s right, we said the first quarter. Lache Seastrunk is such a great running back. His speed and vision make him an elite back. Seastrunk rushed for 172 yards on only 15 carriers and he scored twice. If we were Texas, we would be calling Art Briles.
Baylor was forcing West Virginia to throw the deep ball. The Bears safeties were playing eight yards off the line of scrimmage for most of the first half. West Virginia couldn’t burn them and make the pay.
Stock up: Cyril Richardson- Baylor- G– Guards aren’t always taken in the first round but we saw a few good ones taken last year. Richardson will be taken this year. Expect him in the middle of round one. He’s a plug in player for 10 years. Baylor gained 468 yards on the ground and averaged 7.5 yards per rush vs WV.
Auburn 30; (24) Ole Miss 22
Auburn needed a big win over a ranked opponent. It was their first win over a ranked team in two years. Auburn has already matched their win total from last year at four. The Tigers built a 28-9 lead before turning the ball over in the fourth quarter to help aid a Rebel comeback. Bo Wallace hit Donte Moncrief twice to cut the Auburn lead to five. That would be as close as they got. Ole Miss has now dropped two in a row and their offense remains their biggest problem.
20 Ole Miss Football players were involved in an ugly incident during a performance of”The Laramie Project” this week. The play is about the 1998 death of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Sheppard. Original reports were that the 20 football players started disrupting the performance with anti-gay slurs. After (we’re sure) a complete and thorough investigation the University found no evidence any football player did anything wrong. We think the committee that investigated included: Anita Bryant, Mel Gibson, Kirk Cameron and four unidentified rap artists.
Finally:
First Lane Kiffin:
3AM last Sunday morning at the tarmac of the Burbank Airport, the team bus of the USC Trojans is stopped by Airport Security,Wonder-Kid Head Coach is removed from said bus. He briefly meets the USC Athletic Director Pat Haden {Rhodes Scholar/NFL Bust at QB with the then LA Rams, and with his own height complex issues} in a limousine. The reign of Lane Monte Kiffin is over, fired by the Ken Drydenesquely dull Haden. Lane is not even allowed to retrieve his personal belongings from the bus, and like the parting shot of a 1940’s Film Noir scripted by Raymond Chandler, he bleakly walks alone into the sympathetic harmony of the inky blackness of night. All should have listen to Al Davis years ago who nailed Kiffin perfectly after firing him as Raiders coach. Media outlets labeled Davis as old and out of it. Tennessee and USC wishes they would have listened.
And the Tampa Bay saga:
We warned you about Bucs rookie QB Mike Glennon. He’s an interesting development project hybrid, currently combining Chris Simms’s footwork, Jeff George’s arm, Trent Dilfer’s early career decision making & Steve Grogan’s giraffe-like neck.
The drama this week in Tampa surpassed the finale of “Breaking Bad” for drama, ego, weirdness, implied betrayal and self destruction. Josh Freeman deserves a better head coach than “Tiger Dad/Tough Love/Drill Sergeant Psychopath” Greg Schiano.
Speaking of Walter White & Co. the choice of Badfinger’s “Baby Blue” to end the series was intriguing, appropriate & symbiotic to the series.
The actual story of Badfinger is a compelling, real life drama every bit as interesting as Vince Gilligan’s homage to blue Methyl amphetamine. The band experienced every music business obstacle and cliché in spades: innocence, ambition, talent, their relationship with the Beatles, corruption, sex scandals, management and record company issues, organized crime involvement, financial crime and court trials, multiple lawsuits, mental health issues, competing versions of the band touring the planet at the same time and the premature/tragic death of two members by actually hanging themselves.
Oakland Raiders 11:30 pm Start
Good News for the Raider Nation! This week’s game against the Chargers has been moved to an 8:30 pm local time, to accommodate the glacial pace of changing the lovely Coliseum field & stands from baseball to football configuration after the A’s Saturday Night game against the Tigers.
This means the hordes that constitute Raider Nation, the Black Hole & Rubber Necking Disaster Junkie Voyeurs will crowd into the cockroach dilapidated dump on 7000 Coliseum Way after a full day of indulgement, dancing with all the stimulants, barbiturates, amphetamines, psychedelics & opiates known to science, and some that are not.
The result will be a “live” Tarantino/Rodriguez/Clive Barker version of the Felliniesque “Rocky Horror Picture Show” Midnight Showings that have gone on for the last thirty plus years, except with actual weapons, more revealing costumes & less tolerance.
The resulting “energy” should aid the Raiders in their game against arch rival San Diego, as the spectacle of real-time disembowelments in the stands may distract/intimidate some of the visiting Chargers.
Suffice it to say, the stadium parking lot will be the most dangerous place in America around midnight Pacific time on Sunday night, slightly worse if the Raiders lose.
With Oakland, like Detroit, in the midst of a financial crisis and police shortage, the resultant aftermath of this game might more resemble a certain rock concert that once took place at an abandoned racetrack in nearby Altamont than an athletic event at Oakland & Alameda County Coliseum.
