What a fantastic weekend
of football! Tennessee won (albeit ugly), Minnesota pulled off the biggest victory in
the modern history of their program, and LSU and Coach O finally knocked off
the Tide. I don’t think anyone outside of the most hardcore and delusional Bayou Bengal fans ever thought that would happen.
Let’s start with the Vols,
like always….
Tennessee
Beat Kentucky For The 33rd Time In 35 Tries
In doing so, the Vols
improved to 81-25-1 in the “rivalry”, and moved their record to 5-5 on the year.
Amazing how things have changed
in Knoxville. A month ago, Tennessee was off to a disastrous 1-4 start
that had a large portion of the fanbase calling for Jeremy Pruitt’s head. Now
they’re a win away from bowl eligibility, and two wins away from finishing with
a winning record in conference play for only the second time in the last 12 years.
Just another stat that perfectly explains how dire the situation has been on
Rocky Top the last decade-plus.
Tennessee gets their bye
this Saturday, and then finishes at a free-falling Missouri team and at home
against an awful Vanderbilt team. The Vols could very easily win both of those,
and could potentially find themselves playing in a January 1 Bowl Game, something
that, again, seemed impossible a month ago.
I’ve been, at times, really
critical of Jeremy Pruitt, particularly earlier in the year when the Vols
looked like the worst team in the SEC. But I don’t think he’s getting enough
credit nationally for the job he’s done the last six weeks. If Ed Orgeron didn’t
have LSU on their way to an undefeated regular season and a probable playoff
berth, I think Pruitt would inarguably be the coach of the year in the conference.
This team could’ve quit on the season and the coaching staff a million different
times, and yet, they’ve stuck it out and improved every week. The offense is
still a bit clunky, and the defense is frustrating sometimes, but this team has
shown a lot of heart down the stretch and seem to have bought into what Pruitt
is selling.
With all that said, the
job is still a long way from being done. Tennessee fans know this, and while it’s
fun to celebrate these kinds of wins, ultimately, if Pruitt is going to be considered a
success, he’s going to have to start winning games against Florida, Alabama,
and Georgia. Every Tennessee coach, even the bad ones have been able to beat Vanderbilt
and Kentucky with ease. Most have done well against the South Carolinas and
Mississippi States of the world. Derek Dooley won four straight games at the
end of 2010 to become bowl eligible. He got fired two years later. Butch Jones
had strong finishes in 2014 and 2015 and still became the most reviled man in
Tennessee athletics by 2017.
Pruitt hasn’t had REAL
expectations on him yet, like what Butch faced in 2015 and 2016. If the Vols
win out and finish the year 8-5, we all know how the fanbase is going to be
feeling about this team going into next year. The Vols will probably be ranked
in the preseason Top 25, and the fans will be looking at what should be a more manageable
schedule (Florida and Alabama come to Knoxville, and the Georgia game has been
moved to November. At Oklahoma will be a tough game, but the Sooners will have
a new quarterback) and come away with the expectation that Tennessee will be
able to compete in the East.
I went to the Orange and White Game in 2015 with my old man, and I remember two things from that trip: 1.
He devoured about 500 bags of Cheetos in two hours and 2. Their was an energy in the stadium,
and between mouthfuls of snacks, my old man made a comment to me about how much
buzz there was around the program, a type of feeling that hadn’t been there for
years.
We all know how that
turned out, of course. The Vols were frustrating in 2015, and outright
disappointing in 2016. Butch became the most hated man to ever be associated
with Tennessee athletics for a lot of reasons, but it all started with his lack
of ability to come close to the rightful expectations of the fanbase.
How will Pruitt respond
to those expectations? People were mad about how this year began, but no one
expected Tennessee to be contenders in the division. Next year, they will. And
if they are still getting pounded by Florida in his third year, are the fans
going to accept the only tired clichés of “We are playing too many young guys”
or “We have to learn how to finish” or “We need to execute better”? They barely
bought that crap this year.
LSU
Went Into Tuscaloosa And Beat Alabama For The First Time Since 2011
Joe Burrow clinched the
Heisman (barring a 5 interception showing somewhere in their final four games)
with his marvelous performance yesterday. He had 393 yards passing and
three touchdowns, but even more impressive were some of his scampers on third
downs that extended LSU drives, particularly in the second half.
Alabama couldn’t figure
out a way to tackle Clyde Ewards-Helaire (180 scrimmage yards and four total
TDs), but what really undid them was their first half. Tua had an atrocious
redzone fumble on their first drive, and their punter failed to catch the snap
on their next drive. Both mistakes led to Tiger points. And then, down 26-13 late
in the half, Tua threw a back breaking interception that led to another LSU TD
and an almost insurmountable twenty point halftime deficit. It didn’t matter
that they outscored the Tigers 28-13 in the second half because they had dug
themselves such a deep hole in the first 30 minutes.
Congratulations to LSU
and Orgeron though, because almost no one (including me) thought they were
going to go in there and get the win.
As for Alabama, I don’t
think they’re done in the playoff race, but the problem they’re going to have
going forward is that 1. At Auburn on Thanksgiving Weekend is going to be a
tough game and 2. Even if they do win out and go 11-1, they’ll have one quality
win (at Auburn) and won’t be a division or conference champ and 3. The teams behind
them in the playoff race currently all have an opportunity to improve their
resumes in a greater way than the Tide do. Oregon/Utah can finish 12-1, win
their conference, and get another quality win against each other. Baylor could
go 13-0 and win the Big 12 (though I think they will lose against Oklahoma this
weekend), or Oklahoma could 12-1 and win the Big 12, picking up more quality
wins along the way. If Georgia were to win out and beat LSU in the SEC
Championship Game, both the ‘Dawgs and the Tigers would be more deserving of being
in the playoff than Alabama.
I don’t think the Tide
will get in unless there is a lot of chaos the last couple of weeks. We’re
talking about two loss champs in both the Big 12 and the Pac 12, only one
playoff worthy team in the SEC, maybe only one playoff worthy team in the Big
Ten, and a Clemson team out of the ACC that finishes with a loss. I don’t think
the committee is going to reward them for playing a soft non-conference
schedule, and not winning their division or conference unless multiple playoff
contenders screw up.
I think Ohio State is
still the best team in the country, and I would pick them to beat LSU, but I
think the Tigers have to be the number 1 team in the country this week. They’ll
have had four quality wins (at Texas, at Alabama, Auburn, Florida), and all
those teams were ranked in the Top ten when they beat them. The eye test is a
factor, but I don’t think what Ohio State has put on film surpasses what the
Tigers have put in their resume.
Minnesota
Held On To Knock Off Penn State And Capture Their Biggest Win In The Modern
History Of Their Program
The Golden Gophers picked
off Sean Clifford three times, including the game clincher as the Nittany Lions
were driving for the winning score.
I don’t think Minnesota
will make the playoff or win the Big Ten, but their passing offense was
incredible and Penn State’s normally stout defense had no chance of covering their
receivers. Their quarterback Tanner Morgan only had two incompletions, and Rashod Bateman picked up
203 yards on only seven catches.
Assuming the Gophers win
the Big Ten West (and they can do that with victories the next two weeks), they
won’t be a pushover against either Ohio State or Penn State in the Big Ten
Title Game. We already know they can beat the Nittany Lions, though I don’t know
if they could do it again, and while Ohio State will probably be a ten point
favorite or more in that hypothetical matchup, I think the Gophers could hang with them for three quarters.
Row the boat!
Arkansas
Fired Chad Morris
His dismissal comes on
the heels of a 45-19 home loss against an average Western Kentucky team. The 2019
Razorbacks were worse than the 2018 Razorbacks, and have arguably been the
worst program in the history of the SEC this season.
Morris leaves Fayetteville
at 4-18 and 0-14 in conference play. What a disaster.
If I were Arkansas, the first
person I’d call would be Mike Leach. I get it, he’s kooky and his unhinged
press conferences about zombies and marriage would wear thin if the team continued
to be terrible, but the guy is a hell of a coach and has won a lot of games at
Texas Tech and Washington State, two places that are in the middle of nowhere
and have been tough to win at historically. Plus, the kind of offense that
Morris was trying to implement at Arkansas isn’t all that different from what
Leach has been running for the last twenty years. It wouldn’t be like shoving a
square peg in a round hole, which is what Morris was attempting to do by transitioning
away from the “three yards and a cloud of dust” offense that Bret Bielema built
for the five years prior. Morris has already taken some of the steps, which
would make the transition to Leach easier, at least on that front.
The other person I’d call
would be Lane Kiffin. I already made the case for him at Florida State, but the
guy is still young, knows how to coach offense, and is a hell of a recruiter.
He’s going to get another bigger job than FAU at some point, so why not this
one? Of course, maybe Kiffin thinks he’s better than Arkansas, so I’m not 100%
sure he’d take the job if it was offered to him. Hell, are we sure that Leach
would be thrilled about competing in the same division with Alabama, LSU,
Auburn, and Texas A&M every year? I think it’s easier for him to win at
Washington State than it is for him to win at Arkansas. Which means they’d
probably have to blow him away with an offer, which is not something they might
be capable of considering they’re still paying Bret Bielema’s buyout and now
have to foot the bill on Morris’s, which is over $10 million. This could be the
first coaching search in history where a school settles for their 50th
choice.
Will
Muschamp’s Seat Is Hotter Than All The Plates Of Hot Wings He’s Devoured To Get
His Gut
South Carolina lost at
home to Appalachian State on Saturday night, all but guaranteeing that they’ll
finish the season with a 4-8 record. The Gamecocks have games at Texas A&M
and home against Clemson left, and they'll be double digit underdogs against both.
Muschamp is 11-12 in his
last 23 games at South Carolina, and is a miracle win against Georgia this
season away from being 3-9. He’s lucky as hell that the powers in Columbia handed him
a ridiculous contract that gave him a buyout of $22 million. $22 million! For
Will Freaking Muschamp, who has one season of more than seven wins in four
years.
Regardless, that dollar
amount will keep him employed for at least another season, which is good news
for the rest of the SEC.
Teams
Still Alive For The Playoff
As always, teams remain alive
for the playoff as long as they are in the Power 5 and have one loss or fewer,
with the exception of the ACC, which is such an awful league that one loss
eliminates you. (* next to the undefeated teams)
ACC: *Clemson
The Tigers beat the hell
out of another one of their terrible conference opponents, this time NC State.
As long as Clemson wins out, they’ll be in the playoff for the fifth straight
year, even if they realistically aren’t one of the four best teams.
Big 10: *Ohio State, *Minnesota,
Penn State
Penn State’s loss in
Minneapolis won’t eliminate them from the playoff, because they needed to beat
Ohio State on the road on November 23 to make the playoff anyway. I suppose the
loss mandated that they can’t get in without winning the Big Ten Championship
Game, but realistically, they probably would have needed to do that anyway
because I don’t think a 12-1 non-conference champ Penn State would've gotten in over
a 12-1 Minnesota Big Ten Champ.
Big 12: *Baylor, Oklahoma
These two play in Waco on
Saturday night. That game is probably a playoff elimination game, particularly
for Oklahoma. If Baylor goes 13-0, they’ll be in. If they go 12-1, I think they’ll
be left out, based on the initial playoff rankings that placed them 12th. OU has a better chance to make it, but I think they’ll be left out
because the committee will hold their atrocious defense against them.
SEC: *LSU, Alabama, Georgia
LSU makes it in assuming
they go at least 12-1, based on the eye test and their resume, which is by far
the best in the country. Georgia only makes it in if they finish as the 12-1
SEC Champ. Alabama needs a lot of help.
Pac 12: Oregon, Utah
The only chance for one
of these teams to make it in is if they finish as the 12-1 Pac 12 Champion, and
even that might not be good enough.
My
Top 4
1.
LSU
By
far the best combination of resume and eye test.
2.
Ohio State
I
think they have the best roster in the nation, but the Chase Young situation
could end up costing them, as he’s their second most important player outside
of Justin Fields.
3.
Georgia
I’ll
slot the ‘Dawgs here based solely on how dominant their defense has been.
Georgia has three shutouts in 2019.
4.
Alabama
I’ll
leave the Tide here for now, though I don’t think they’ll be here at the end of
the season. One of the other playoff contenders will run the table and bump the
Tide.
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