For the 12th
straight year, Alabama won the Third Saturday In October. I can barely even
remember what it feels like to beat the Crimson Tide. Holy crap. Let’s just
start there….
Alabama
wore out Tennessee again and scored the most points in the history of the
rivalry
This game was over in the
first five minutes when Alabama drove the field, scored a TD, rocked Vol QB
Jarrett Guarantano, forced him to fumble, and then scored again. The only worse
sequence was the start of the second half, when Tennessee’s Ty Chandler
signaled for a fair catch on the kickoff at the 2 yard line AFTER he caught the
ball, followed immediately by Vol QB Keller Chryst tripping over an offensive
lineman and falling into the end zone for a safety, which was made worse when
running back Jeremy Banks picked up a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
If you wanted to explain this game to someone, you’d just show them those two
sequences, as well as Guarantano getting clocked in the chest so hard that he had to leave the game in the first half.
I’m not going to freak
out over this game, one that Tennessee didn’t have a chance in hell of winning,
but there also wasn’t really anything positive to take away either. I like that Jeremy
Pruitt continues to be aggressive, but it’s incredible to me that the Vols have
executed a surprise onside kick to almost near perfection three times this
season and still haven’t been able to come up with the ball a single time. What’s
even more amazing is that the offensive line has been unable to block
consistently for the last decade-plus. They’ve had multiple NFL draft picks and
All SEC performers and they’ve still been mostly an abomination. I get it; every once
in a while a team is going to have issues with protection. Sometimes you have
injuries, sometimes you lose a ton of guys to graduation/NFL, but eventually
you figure things out up front. No program, particularly one like Tennessee, with the
resources it has, should have this much trouble finding a five man unit that
can hold blocks long enough to be able to consistently create offense. Of
course, no program with the resources of Tennessee should be this atrocious for
over a decade. Holy hell. This is why I drink.
Alabama was incredible,
of course. Their defense played probably the best game they have all season,
and if they can get by LSU in Tiger Stadium in two weeks (and I think they
will), then I don’t see any team being able to play them within two touchdowns
unless Tua gets hurt. 2018 Alabama is like the super team you’d create on
Madden, only you’d play the entire schedule on Rookie Mode and just murder
everyone. And Tua is like what would happen if a video game became real life.
He and Nick Saban are just running through these SEC programs every week like they’re
the American troops at Custer’s Last Stand.
I guess it’s… onto South
Carolina? What a stinker on Saturday. Geez. The Vols aren’t close.
Which brings me to this:
when the hell is Tennessee going to beat Alabama again? It won’t be next year;
the game is in Tuscaloosa and Tua will still be the quarterback. How about
2020? Maybe? Tua could’ve gone pro by then, but it’s not like Alabama has been
a push over without a great QB. 2021? Again, that game will be in Tuscaloosa.
If Pruitt works out, 2022 will be his fifth year. Do we really have to wait
that long? Holy hell.
Speaking of things that
suck…..
Butch
Jones got a Gatorade bath
Butch has been an intern
on the Alabama staff this year and got doused with Gatorade after the game. He
also smoked victory cigars in the locker room. What a chump. You really know
your career has gone up in flames when a team you recruited a majority of the
players for gets blown out by more than 30 and you celebrate like you won the
national title. What an absolute indictment of your coaching career. This goes down as the undisputed dumbest coach moment of the
week, dumber than LSU’s strength coach intentionally slamming his
head into players helmets.
Ohio
State got annihilated on the road by Purdue
The box score on this
game is incredible; Ohio State actually outgained Purdue by 7 yards, only had
one turnover, got 7 more first downs, won the time of possession, got 470
passing yards from Dwayne Haskins, and still lost by 29.
OSU’s issue was that they
slogged around for the first 40 minutes, and only really ratcheted it up after
they were down 28-6. This is typical Buckeyes though; about once a year they don’t
show up for a game and get blasted by an inferior opponent. Last year it
happened when they went to Iowa and lost by 31. In 2014, they lost to a 7-6
Virginia Tech team by 14 points in Columbus. They aren’t out of the playoff
discussion, but the margin for error is completely gone now; plus, with as
sloppy as they’ve looked the last month, they don’t look like a team that’s
capable of running the slate, which is exactly what they’ll have to do if they
want to being playing in a semifinal game. I know that the Michigan game is at
home, but with as good as the Wolverine defense has been, and as poor as the
Buckeyes have been running the football (only 76 yards on Saturday), I can’t see them
being able to move the ball all that much against them unless Dwayne Haskins
just plays out of his mind. That Michigan State game in East Lansing could be
tough also.
I’m not shedding a tear
for them either, by the way, considering this is the same university that still
employs Urban Meyer despite the fact that he’s both a hypocrite and a liar. He’s
the college football version of a televangelist that constantly preaches against gay
marriage and then gets caught with a male escort.
Side note: this game
ended up being my coldest take of the season. When I made my prediction on
Friday, I said “Ohio State (by a million)”. Really nailed that one. Whoops.
The
Pac 12 is one team away from missing the playoff for the third time in five
years.
Colorado lost by two
touchdowns to Washington, while Oregon got shellacked by Washington State.
Another cold take from me; I thought the Ducks were really good but they got
completely run off the field in the first half by the Cougars, who are now the
only team alive for the playoff from the Pac 12. Here’s the remaining Washington State schedule: at Stanford, home for Cal, at Colorado, home for Arizona, home for Washington.
I was really impressed by them on Saturday, and I think Mike Leach is a really
good coach, but that schedule looks like it includes at least one loss; it might even be at
Stanford this weekend. Of course, just because the Pac 12 will be out doesn’t
mean the playoff picture will be any clearer. But more on that later.
Side note: I’m not sure what
kind of sway Pac 12 commissioner Larry Scott or the rest of the conference’s
athletic directors have with the rest of the playoff committee, but I can’t
imagine they’ll be happy with being left out of the playoff AGAIN. And imagine
if the Big Ten doesn’t make it for the second consecutive year…. I’m not in favor of an eight team
playoff, but that’s ultimately where this thing is headed. There’s too much
money to be made for these big time conferences to accept being left out.
The
ACC is pitiful
Great, Clemson smacked
around an N.C. State team that would be a three or four loss team in any other league.
If that’s the second best team in the conference, then who is the third best?
Miami? They got taken apart by LSU, trailed Willie Taggart’s FSU team in the second
half, and lost to Virginia. How about those Cavaliers? They lost to Indiana and
were N.C. State’s “signature win” coming into Saturday. Virginia Tech? They
gave up over 600 yards to Old Dominion. Syracuse? I like Dino Babers but they
needed overtime to beat an absolutely abominable North Carolina team. Duke?
Please. I’ve been eliminating teams from playoff contention once they lose
their second game, but with as atrocious as the ACC is, I’m going to go ahead
and drop any team from that league that loses a single game. Meaning N.C. State is already
done. This is a one team league that’s flanked by a whole lot of garbage. And
yes, I’m sure this entire paragraph just triggered Danny Kanell, though
not as badly as that time when the 7th best program historically in
the SEC, Texas A&M, poached the head coach from his alma mater, Florida
State, which is arguably the best job in the ACC. Sucks to suck.
Is
Michigan one of the four best teams?
The Wolverines took apart
Michigan State in East Lansing on an disgusting day in what was probably the
best defensive performance by any team all season. The Spartans had just 94 total yards the whole game and only 15 on
the ground. MSU QB Brian Lewerke was a Nathan Peterman-esque 5-25 with only
66 yards passing.
Here’s the points and
yards allowed by the Michigan defense in every game this season:
Notre Dame: 24 points (only
three in the second half) and 302 yards
Western Michigan: 3
points and 208 yards
SMU: 20 points and 319
yards
Nebraska: 10 points and
132 yards
Northwestern: 17 points
and 202 yards
Maryland: 14 points and 220
yards
Wisconsin: 13 points and
283 yards
Michigan State: 7 points
and 94 yards
Good lord. In an era
where defense has almost completely vanished (have you seen the Big 12?), the
Wolverines are like an old school team that’s built on mauling opposing offenses
every week. No team has gotten better from the first snap of the season until
now than Michigan, and the funny thing is that they haven’t even really gotten
good play from their quarterback Shea Patterson yet. I like them at home by two
touchdowns in two weeks against Penn State. They’re a definite playoff team if
they win out. Hell, I might take them over everyone except Alabama on a neutral
field right now.
Teams
still alive for the playoff
Every Group of Five Team
has been eliminated because none of them are worthy of making the playoff EVEN
IF they went undefeated. I’ve also eliminated every two loss team from the Power
5 conferences, with the exception of the ACC, which is such a bad league that
one loss eliminates you. Can we just relegate the entire conference to the
Group of Five?
From my count, we’ve got
14 teams still alive (* by the undefeated teams)
SEC: *Alabama, LSU,
Georgia, Florida, Kentucky
Georgia could eliminate
Florida if they win the Cocktail Party on Saturday, or be eliminated themselves
if they lose. If they beat the Gators, they’ll have the same scenario on
November 4th when they play at Kentucky. Alabama can bury the Swamp
Monster’s hopes when they go into Tiger Stadium in two weeks and win. If the
SEC East winner makes the Conference Championship game with just one loss
opposite an undefeated Alabama, the Tide could eliminate that team if they win.
But what would happen if that one loss East division team beats Alabama? Obviously
that team would make the playoff, but would the committee take a one loss
Alabama team over a one loss conference champion? Or what if the East division
winner has two losses and then beats Alabama? Would that eliminate the SEC entirely?
Probably not? Maybe? Still a ton up in the air.
Big Ten: Michigan, Ohio
State, Iowa
The road map for these
three is easy; win the rest of your games. I’m not sure how good Iowa actually
is, but I know for a fact that I’d take the Michigan-Ohio State winner over the
Hawkeyes if Iowa made the Big Ten Title game against one of them. Right now I think Michigan has the best chance of these three to run the table.
Big 12: Texas, Oklahoma,
West Virginia
WVU still has games
against both OU and Texas, and I think they’ll lose one of those and eliminate
themselves. But if any of these three win out they’d inarguably have a better
resume than a 13-0 Clemson team. Not saying that will put them in, though.
ACC: *Clemson
I don’t think the Tigers
are one of the four best teams, but I can’t see them getting left out if they
run the table.
Pac 12: Washington State
I think the Cougars will
lose one of their final five games, but they’d have a good case if they win
out. Their defeat by a three loss USC team is a pretty tough pill to swallow
though.
Independents: *Notre Dame
The Irish have already
played the most difficult part of their schedule, and their toughest remaining
opponent is probably Syracuse, a game they’ll get at home. No way an undefeated
Notre Dame team gets left out.
Here’s something
important to remember though: in the playoff era, we’ve only had three
undefeated teams: 2014 FSU, 2015 Clemson, and 2016 Alabama. That’s less than
one a year. Odds are at least one of the Alabama-Notre Dame-Clemson trio will
lose before the end of the year, and based on the last four years, maybe two of
them. If Clemson loses once they’re out because of the garbage league+shaky
play equation. Notre Dame would be sweating too, though they’d be helped if
Michigan keeps wearing everyone out. I’d be shocked if anyone beats Alabama.
Like always though, the committee will land on four teams by early December and
we’ll all tune in to watch the playoff.
My
Top 4
Alabama
No one has been within 3
touchdowns of them all season. They’ve got the Heisman Trophy winner at
quarterback and the best coach in the history of the sport. There is no one
else to consider here.
Michigan
Yes, yes, I know Notre
Dame beat them in Week 1, but that game was in South Bend and the Wolverines
really outplayed them in the final three quarters. If they played today on a
neutral field, with as well as the Michigan defense has played all year, I
think they might break Ian Book.
Notre Dame
The Irish were idle this
week, and have a weird game in San Diego against Navy on Saturday.
LSU
The Tigers slogged their
way through Mississippi State on Saturday, a game where Bulldogs head coach Joe
Moorhead revealed himself to be a traveling tube sock salesman. I thought Nick
Fitzgerald was one of the best returning quarterbacks in the conference; why
were the Tigers begging and daring him to throw? Let’s be honest, going from
Dan Mullen to Joe Moorhead is like going from dating Jessica Alba to dating
Rosie O’Donnell.
Coach O has a chance to
become and LSU legend if he can knock off Alabama in two weeks. Hell, they
might literally need Orgeron to turn into a Swamp Monster and take the field to
beat the Crimson Tide. But more on that one in two weeks.
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