While it might’ve been a
great weekend to be a Tennessee Vol, the same can’t be said for the fans of
other schools, namely Oregon, who saw their playoff hopes go up in flames in Sun
Devil Stadium, or Penn State, who lost to Ohio State for the third straight year.
Let’s just start with the
Vols, like always….
Tennessee
Beat Missouri To Become Bowl Eligible
The Vols, after a putrid
1-4 start, have rebounded to win five out of their last six and will now get to
host an atrocious Vanderbilt team on Saturday with a potential January 1 Bowl
Berth on the line.
No one would’ve predicted in September that Tennessee would be in this position, with a chance to finish with a winning
record in conference play, after the way they started the year, with two atrocious home losses
to Georgia State and BYU. I’m just glad they’re finally playing up to their
potential.
Under normal circumstances,
Jeremy Pruitt would be the SEC Coach of the Year, but with Ed Orgeron and LSU
having the kind of season that they are, that award will probably end up in Baton Rouge.
As happy as I am, the
Vols still have a lot of work to do. Winning four in a row is great, but ultimately,
the fanbase is going to want those wins to start coming against Florida, Georgia,
and Alabama. They’re going to want SEC Championships and Championship Game
appearances. They’re going to want wins over ranked teams.
I know this makes me a “snowflake”,
but can Jeremy Pruitt stop putting his hands on his players? Again, I don’t
think he should be severely reprimanded for this, but he shouldn’t be dragging Shawn Shamburger around and
acting like he as the head coach is the biggest bully on the prison block either.
Anyone who is defending this behavior, I’d just ask you:
1. What
would you do if your boss put his hands on you at work like that? Wouldn't that violate every workplace norm know to man? Wouldn’t you
want to take a swing at him? And wouldn’t
your company fire your boss for that behavior? Wouldn’t you be horrified and
angry, if at your job, your boss put his hands on another employee like that?
2. How
does this make Shamburger better? That’s what everyone always says when defending
this style of "coaching". Pruitt put his hands on him and now Shamburger won’t
hit Kelly Bryant late out of bounds anymore? What? How does that make sense? You
know what’s way better and is completely within the bounds of acceptable
conduct? An ass chewing and a benching. You can coach a player “hard” without attempting
to assert yourself over him physically. A head coach should be able to
communicate with his players without resorting to putting his hands on them. How hypocritical is it for Pruitt to demand ultimate composure from his players, but then display none of that himself?
Georgia’s
Offense Sucks
The ‘Dawgs crappy offense
gained just 260 yards, and Jake Fromm completed only 11 out of his 23 pass
attempts. Luckily for them, their defense was able to hold Texas A&M to -1
rushing yards on 20 attempts. -1? How do you get that physically dominated up
front if you’re the Aggies?
The fact that they held
A&M to negative rushing yards but only won by six points should be concerning
to Georgia. They’re going to beat the hell out of Georgia Tech on Saturday, but
the SEC Championship against LSU, a must-win for the ‘Dawg playoff hopes, looks
more difficult by the day despite the Tigers bad defense.
Georgia isn’t going to be
able to completely shut down the LSU attack, and if they can’t figure out a way
to generate more of an offensive push themselves (and I don’t think they’ll be
able to), they could find themselves on the outside of the playoff again.
Which brings us to this:
are we sure Kirby Smart made the right decision at quarterback? Since his
tenure at Georgia began, Kirby has had Jake Fromm, Jacob Eason, and Justin
Fields on the roster at the quarterback position. Now, only Fromm remains. Eason
v Fromm was a debate in the past, but it’s pretty much over now that Eason is
the quarterback of a five loss Washington team. But how about Fromm v Fields?
Fields is the quarterback of the high flying Ohio State Buckeyes, who rank inside
the top five nationally in many offensive categories. I’m 100% certain that
Fields is a better quarterback than Fromm. He’s a better athlete, more accurate,
equally strong arm, etc. Do you really think Fields would’ve transferred to Ohio
State if Kirby had told him he was going to be the starter at some point last
year? And do you think Georgia loses to South Carolina in the fashion they did
if Fields was their quarterback? And what happens to the Ohio State offense if
they don’t have Fields? Are they even close to being as dynamic? No way, right?
And what would happen to the Ohio State offense if Fromm was their quarterback?
They certainly wouldn’t be better.
Ohio
State Beat Penn State By Double Digits
And it would’ve been more
if the Buckeyes didn’t lose three fumbles, including one right at the goal line
as Fields was diving for a touchdown.
The Buckeyes outgained
the Nittany Lions by almost 200 yards and held the football for almost ten more
minutes in a game that wasn’t as close as the 28-17 score would suggest.
I’ve maintained for most
of the season that Ohio State is the most complete team in the entirety of
college football, and despite having a less impressive resume than LSU, should
be ranked ahead of them because of the Tigers bad defense. If they could’ve
held onto the football, I think that’s the position most people would’ve held
coming out of the weekend.
Ohio State’s toughest test
of the year might come on Saturday, when they travel to Ann Arbor to take on surging
Michigan, who has won their last four games by 25 points or more. Do I think
Jim Harbaugh is going to be Ohio State? No. But his team is playing really well
and the Buckeyes don’t necessarily need to win this game to make the playoff.
Could they be asleep at the wheel a little bit? Saturday should be fun.
No
One Was At Vanderbilt’s Game Against ETSU on Saturday
This comes on the heels
of Vanderbilt announcing that Derek Mason would be returning next season.
Is Mason really that bad
of a coach? He’s certainly not James Franklin, but he has beaten the in-state
rival Vols three years in a row (damn) and has been to two bowl games in six
years. What are the expectations in Nashville exactly? SEC titles? Nine wins a
year?
James Franklin was a historical
anomaly for the Commodore program. It won’t happen again for decades that a guy
like him shows up in that program and wins nine games back to back years. Mason
isn’t a great football coach, but he’s pretty par for the course for the history of that program.
Ed
Orgeron Roasted Arkansas
After racking up over 600
yards of offense and scoring 56 points against Arkansas, Ed Orgeron, in response
to his team’s lack of celebration, told the media, “There wasn’t going to be a
celebration for beating Arkansas. They haven’t beaten anyone in a long time.”
The lows keep on getting lower
for the Razorbacks.
Oregon
Is Out Of The Playoff
The Ducks (and Justin
Herbert) sucked for three quarters, and when they finally got things together, their furious comeback was killed by Sun Devil quarterback Jayden Daniels’s 81
yard touchdown pass.
Herbert finished with
over 300 yards passing, but he threw two costly interceptions and his completion
percentage was below 50% before the comeback.
Saturday night just goes
to show you why no team in the history of college football has ever won nine
conference games AND the conference championship game in the same season. That’s
what Oregon was going to have to do if they wanted to make the playoff. That
extra conference game against an opponent with comparable talent gives you that
much more of a chance to slip up. Oregon didn’t have the luxury of playing Western
Carolina like the Alabama did this weekend.
Utah, on the other hand,
was impressive again. Their 35-7 victory over Arizona gave them their seventh
straight win, and six of those seven have been by 18 points or more. The Pac 12’s
playoff hopes rest on Utah winning their next two now, though Oregon certainly
won’t roll over for them in two weeks in the conference title game.
Teams
Alive For The Playoff
As always, you remain in
playoff contention as long as you have one loss or fewer in a Power 5
conference, with the exception of the ACC, which is such an awful league that one
loss would eliminate you. (* by the undefeated teams)
ACC: *Clemson
The only thing between
the Tigers and their fifth straight playoff appearance is a terrible South
Carolina team and either Virginia or Virginia Tech in the ACC title game. So
they’ll be in the playoff.
Big 10: *Ohio State,
Minnesota
The Buckeyes are in if they
win out or win the Big Ten Championship. What would happen if Ohio State beat
Michigan this week, but then lost to either Minnesota or Wisconsin in the Big
Ten Title Game? Wisconsin has been eliminated from playoff consideration due to
their two losses, but would a 12-1 non-conference champ Ohio State still get
in? What if Minnesota beat Wisconsin this weekend and then beat Ohio State in the
Big Ten Championship Game? Would the Big Ten get 12-1 Minnesota and 12-1 non-champ
Ohio State both in? And what if Georgia beat LSU in the SEC Championship Game?
Who gets left out between 12-1 SEC Champ Georgia, 12-1 non champ LSU, 12-1 Big
Ten Champ Minnesota, and 12-1 non champ Ohio State, assuming that Clemson wins
out and finishes 13-0? How about 12-1 Big 12 Champ Oklahoma or 12-1 Big 12 Champ
Baylor or 12-1 Pac 12 Champ Utah? We could have levels of chaos never seen
before in the history of the playoff.
Big 12: Oklahoma, Baylor
Did Oregon’s loss open
the door for the Big 12 champ? Is the committee going to value 12-1 Oklahoma or
12-1 Utah higher at the end of the year? So far it’s been Utah, but what happens
if the Utes lose to Oregon in the Pac 12 Title Game and Oklahoma wins out? The
door is very much open for the Big 12 still.
SEC: *LSU, Georgia,
Alabama
I’m leaving the Tide here
only because they have one loss, but out of every team listed, they have the
fewest opportunities remaining to bolster their resume, because they won’t be
playing in a conference championship game. Plus, there’s a good chance they lose
to Auburn on the road this week.
Georgia has to win out to
get in.
Pac 12: Utah
The Utes must do the same
thing as Georgia.
My
Top 4
1.
Ohio State
The
most talented team in the country.
2.
LSU
The
best resume in the country.
3.
Clemson
I
guess.
4.
Georgia
Their
offense is poor, but they maul teams defensively. Their isn’t a great choice at
number 4.
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