It was another awesome college
football Saturday, full of comebacks, overtimes, and… another… Tennessee loss…
As always, we’ll start
there… I guess….
Tennessee
Butch’d The Hell Out Of The BYU Game
I can’t believe I didn’t invoke the name of Butch when I wrote about this debacle the other night, but it’s certainly
an appropriate way to describe what happened on Saturday. The Vols had over
a 99% chance to win the game with 30 seconds to go according to statistical
projections, and yet, they allowed a 60+ yard pass that put the Cougars in field
goal range. The kick to send it to overtime made it by only about six inches. From there, the defense collapsed, and BYU escaped Neyland victorious.
Frankly, I’m still at a
loss for words. The game, the state of the program, everything. I just can’t
believe they lost that way again. No other
program in the country has taken this long to “figure out how to win”, and yet,
that always seems to be what is said after these meltdowns. We heard that throughout
the entire Butch Jones tenure, and it’s being postulated again. So I guess
Tennessee “knew how to win” when they went to Auburn and knocked off the Tigers
last year? Or when they dominated Kentucky in Neyland last November? They’ve
just forgot how to win now? BS.
Every Vol fan hates
Jarrett Guarantano more than the Taliban, and while he was really poor
on Saturday night and probably cost them the game just as much as that 60+ yard
pass, I don’t think they’re better if he’s on the bench and someone else is
playing. You think there’s some magic quarterback on this roster who is
going to drastically change their fortunes? Who? There’s not a Josh Dobbs-level
guy sitting on the bench waiting to come in and make plays. Guarantano might be below average, but, and as sad
as this might be, he’s probably the best quarterback they have. Otherwise, why
the hell would he still be playing? The goal is winning right? Some Tennessee
fans act like Guarantano is only out there because he caught Pruitt with a
horse in his bed. Come on guys.
There are no easy fixes
in Knoxville apparently. Just more losing forever until they fold the program.
LSU
Went Into Austin And Knocked Off Texas
LSU QB Joe Burrow played the
best game of his career (471 yards, 4 TDs) as the Tigers scored 45 points to
win by a touchdown over a top ten Texas team.
Sam Ehlinger was great
also (401 passing yards, 60 rushing yards, 5 total TDs) as he torched the
veteran LSU defense, but ultimately the game swung in the fourth quarter on a Joe
Burrow 61 yard TD pass to Justin Jefferson on 3rd and 17.
As long as Saban remains
at Alabama, this season will probably be Ed Orgeron’s best chance to win the
SEC West, the SEC, and make the playoff. The Tigers are loaded with veterans on both sides of the ball, and this is best passing attack they've had since Zach Mettenberger was under center for them in 2013. LSU’s toughest games before they travel to Alabama on November 9th are Florida and Auburn, but both schools come
to Baton Rouge. Assuming the Tigers win both of those games, that showdown in Tuscaloosa against
what will probably be an undefeated Alabama team should decide the division.
True, the Tide have outscored Orgeron’s LSU teams 63-10 in the last three meetings, but
the Tigers also haven’t brought an offense this good in a long while into that game either.
Do I really think the Cajun
Swamp Monster is going to beat Saban in a football game? No. But if there was
ever a year for hell to freeze over, it’d be with this LSU team.
Michigan
Needed Overtime And A Missed Field Goal To Beat Army
This would’ve been a back-breaker
for Jim Harbaugh in what is an extremely important fifth year for him and the program.
If Army’s kicker could’ve hooked his 50 yard attempt just a little bit more to
the left at the end of regulation, the Black Knights leave Ann Arbor victorious while Michigan is forced to answer all kinds of questions about Harbaugh’s long time viability
as the head coach of this football program. Instead, everyone will eventually forget
about the details of this game and instead remember that while it was tight for
a while, the Wolverines survived. Never mind the fact that Shea Patterson was horrific
(2 lost fumbles and some really bad throws) or that Michigan questionably went
for it back to back possessions on fourth and short in the final period and
were stopped both times.
This was the year, with Urban
Meyer off doing TV, that Michigan needed to beat Ohio State, win
the Big Ten, and contend for a playoff spot. Instead, it looks like another 9-3
or 8-4 type season for the Wolverines. Their next game is at Wisconsin in two
weeks, a team that has yet to surrender a point to anyone this season. If they
struggled to move the ball against Army, how are they going to do against that defense?
And honestly, who has looked like the better team between the Buckeyes and
Michigan the first two weeks? One shut out a good Group of Five Team in
Cincinnati on Saturday; the other needed overtime with Army.
Scott
Frost Is Now 5-9 Through 14 Games At Nebraska, The Same Record As Jeremy Pruitt
Through 14 Games At Tennessee
That record comes thanks
to Colorado, who trailed 17-0 at halftime but scored 34 points after the intermission,
including a TD with 46 seconds left that sent the game to overtime, where the
Buffaloes eventually won. The Huskers were the media’s pick to win the Big Ten
West before the season, but that doesn’t look probable now with how the first
two weeks have turned out. Throw in Chip Kelly at UCLA (who lost to San Diego State
by 9 on Saturday to start 0-2) and Willie Taggart at FSU (who needed a missed
extra point in overtime to beat Louisiana-Monroe), and we’ve got a plethora of
second year coaches at big time programs who have struggled to get things off the
ground.
The only one of these
four that I’m 100% sure isn’t going to work out is Taggart at FSU. The fan base
has already turned on him and no one was shocked at all at how the ULM game
turned out on Saturday. I definitely wouldn’t bet on either of the remaining three
to ever win a conference championship. Kelly hasn’t had a winning season since
2014 with the Eagles, Pruitt lost to Georgia State and blew the BYU game, and
Frost has gotten a ton of hype because he’s the most handsome man in college
football coaching.
Who survives the longest?
I guess I’d bet on Frost, who is an alum and has had the most high level success
recently out of all four with what he did at UCF. I see the administration
being slightly more patient, meaning he could be disappointing next season and
still get a fourth year, whereas I’m not sure about the other three places.
Clemson’s
Defense Destroyed Texas A&M
This game wasn’t as close
as the 24-10 score would suggest. The Tigers defense held Texas A&M to less
than 300 yards of offense, forced two turnovers, sacked Aggie quarterback
Kellen Mond twice, and must have hit him half a dozen other times or more.
Despite their offensive
woes, A&M was actually pretty good on defense, as they held the high
powered Clemson attack to 389 yards, and even picked Trevor Lawrence off once.
The good news for Clemson
is that they get to play a Syracuse team next week that gave up 63 points to Maryland
on Saturday. After that, it’s nothing but cupcakes until whoever their playoff
semifinalist opponent is.
As for A&M, they’ve
got a lot of things to figure out on offense before they host Auburn in two
weeks. The Tiger defense held that Oregon offense with future NFL quarterback
Justin Herbert to 21 points; what do you think they’ll do to the A&M offense
led by Kellen Mond?
USC
Outscored Stanford 42-3 To End The Game
So I guess because Clay
Helton got bailed out again by a freshman quarterback, this time Kedon Slovis, that means
he’s a good football coach? This means he’s doesn’t belong in freshman baseball
dugout? Come on guys. This was a nice win for the Trojans but there will still
be a new coach at Southern Cal next season.
My
Top Four
I think it’s safe to do one
of these now after two weeks of football.
1. Clemson
The
offense has been a bit clunky, but if Lawrence can get things figured out they’ll
be back to where they were at the end of last season. And even if he doesn’t,
this team will still win every game on their schedule by double digits until
the playoff.
2. Alabama
I
wanted to put LSU here, but with the whole “there’s no way in hell that Coach O
is beating Saban” thing, I’ll put the Tide here until they do something to
convince me otherwise. They face their first real “test” this weekend at South
Carolina.
3. LSU
The
Tigers had the best win of the entire season thus far with their victory over Texas
in Austin on Saturday. If the Longhorns run the table and win the Big 12, while
LSU finishes 11-1 with their only loss being on the road to Alabama, how could
you justify putting Texas in the playoff over the Tigers?
4. Oklahoma
Why
not the Sooners here, who have scored 119 points in their first two games. OU
goes to UCLA this weekend, a game that they’ll probably win by 100.
237. Tennessee
And
that might be too high.
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