College Football 2015-16

Damn, i've missed a bunch. Since last being able to sit down and dissect, I went to CU/Zona (CU BLOWS ANOTHER ONE). However, traveled to Corvalis and got to see the Buffs get a Pac 12 victory. Right now their run is 1 win in every 14 conference games. Great! Next up @ Ucla and back to some reality.

At this point in the season, I honestly don't know what is happening. TCU and Baylor both have a tough stretch of games and then of course play each other. One of those teams will have 2 losses. LSU still goes to Bama and Ole Miss. Iowa @ Indiana could be tough, but have a good chance of winning out. Winner of Mich St and Ohio St looks to be in good shape, though Ohio St @ Mich will be tough. I think the last 5 weeks of the season will be fun to watch and I doubt anyone can predict the final 4 right now and get them all right.

 

Getting started a little early; 2nd straight week of mostly non-ranked team matchups, can the big boys avoid slipping on a banana peel?

Least surprising happening of the week is Al Golden getting shown the door at Miami after getting annihilated by Clemson. Worst stadium situation in America + Horrible practice facilities + Bad Salaries for their HC and assistants = Delusional Canes thinking the EWWW is still an elite job.

Tough week for Encore as Minnesota's coach Jerry Kill retires due to his ongoing health issues. He did an excellent job at both Southern and Northern Illinois before moving up to the Big 10 and getting the Gophers moving in the right direction. If Michigan hadn't a bye before this week I might of picked Minnesota in the 'upset alert' section.

#9 Notre Dame at #21 Temple: One of my best college buddie's Dad was a professor at Temple and he went back and did his graduate work there, and he has never been so excited for a Temple sporting event in his life than this week. I'll be cheering on the Owls, but my track record this year for my rooting interests is pathetic.

Georgia v #11 Florida. Annual rivalry game in Jacksonville. Mark Richt probably still has a job because he has won 3 of the last 4 in this clash. Will take the Gators to take this one.

#8 Stanford at Washington State. Who would've ever thought after losing to Portland State in week 1 that Wazzu would be contending in the Pac 12 North. Luke Falk is the latest in the Mike Leach 'Air Raid' legion of prolific QBs. Stanford will wear them down, but things could get dicey in Pullman.

Upset Alert: I think this is tougher than last week, but I'll take a flier on..

#3 Clemson at North Carolina State. Wouldn't be the first time an highly ranked team loses in Raleigh. Matt talked about 'Cooging it" aka Wazzu blowing a game, Clemsing it happens at the time when you begin to think they are for real.

 

Yes, the hits keep on coming for Minnesota sports. Ugh. Best decision for Jerry though! Hopefully the next coach can build upon what Jerry did, especially with the new $150 million+ sports practice facility breaking ground at the U of Minny this week!

 

Actually, yes. Anything to move the conversation off of the stripper parties investigation.

 

Figured hoops season would just brighten the spotlight on that one. Is Pitino really going to survive this?

 

I don't see how. Even if only a double digit percentage of what Ms. Powell alleges in the book is true, he has to go. The question is when. Will he struggle through a subpar season like Eddie Sutton did at Kentucky in '88-'89 after the Emory Worldwide cash envelope scandal? Or will he be forced out as too much information comes out in drips and drabs over the course of the season, if not before it starts? My money's on the latter. It's news every day here right now, today being ACC media day, which he skipped on advice of counsel. There are too many people still out there who know something about some of the events described who we haven't heard from yet. Meanwhile the school's reputation is taking a beating. At some point you've got to face reality and stop the bleeding. Couple that with his dalliance with Karen Sypher not so very long ago and you've got a recipe for disaster. Not good.

 

Not to mention they employ Petrino as well.

 

Yes. Also a factor, whether anybody wishes to admit it or not.

 

Especially for the Athletic Director.

 

Getting back to football, week 9 sees the Spurrier-less Gamecocks roll into Kyle Field. We should win this one (favored by 16) but after watching our offense implode the last 2 weeks I'm not taking anything for granted. We've got some hologram all black unis where the logo on the helmet shows up under the lights. So we're scheduled to play at 11am .

Agree on Minnesota, Joe. Tough deal losing Kill, but that could serve to fuel them. I don't think the Gophers have enough, but that game could be interesting.

Notre Dame @ Temple - I'm not big on transitive properties in sports but Temple beat UMass by 2 & the Irish beat them by 35. Temple hasn't played a team on ND's level yet & their offense is, putting it kindly, poor. Domers roll.

Georgia v Florida - The Cocktail Party hasn't been kind to the favorite but we've seen what happens when you take away UGA's run game. The Gators have one of the best front 7's in the country & I think they ride that defense to victory.

Stanford @ Wazzu - The Coogs can put up points & late night on the Palouse should be wild. But I think the Tree are just too physical & I don't see State having an answer for Christian McCaffrey.

Feels kinda empty w just 3 games to pick. On to upsets...

I think this is a shakeup week for the B12. WV could cause "just good enough" TCU problems tonight. Texas travels to Iowa State & the Cyclones usually give them a tough game. But I'm going with #12, unbeaten Oklahoma State to lose @ Tech. When it comes to football, there is nowhere stranger than Lubbock on Halloween. I just wish this was a night game.

Other longer shots I kinda like but can't quite pull the trigger on...

Vandy @ Houston (-12) - The Dores have a really good defense & Houston could get caught looking ahead to that showdown with Memphis. Unfortunately Vandy's offense stinks & they're on the road.

Miami @ Duke (-11) - New coach, new life or have the Canes quit? They have enough talent to pull the upset if they haven't mailed it in.

Ole Miss (-7.5) @ Auburn - War Eagle is starting to find their way & the Rebs have been very up & down since beating Bama. The early start times (11 am) can be trouble for road teams.

 

Domers big I think. Could be close at half, but ND to keep piling on in 2nd half.

Surprised by what Florida has done this year, but I'm scared to go against them, so I will stick with UF.

What in the heck is happening with the Coogs? I'm taking them late night and at home. So I guess this counts as my upset as well. Mostly because I just didn't see anything I liked.

 

As for Stanford, they will hit you. My boy and I have watched their games and I agree with SCJ that Wazzu can't handle the physicality of the Tree. Check out RB Tyler Ervin with San Jose St. - he's having a great year. Cal, successful as well, so the Bay Area, in general, is paying more attention to college football right now then I can remember for many years. Yes, Stanford has been good for some time, but that's an island on the peninsula...

 

Three straight conference wins here, still with a shot at winning the conference and it's homecoming against Norfolk State. A win here and we control our fate with a showdown with NC A&T on the final game of the season.

Also, GO PACK.

 

Yet another insane ending, this time in Miami @ Duke. Refs made a real hash of it but I thought they'd screwed Miami on Duke's go ahead drive, so whatever.

My upset pick of Tech looked good when they led 24-7 w a minute left in the 1st qtr. They went on to give up 63 pts over the next 3 qtrs & 1 minute to lose by 17. Well placed tackling dummies could have offered more resistance.

Staying up for these late night Saturday PAC 12 affairs has been entertaining & Stanford @ Wazzu was no different. Couging it really knows no ends. Stanford should have woken up today with 2 L's.

Gutsy, courageous effort by Encore's Gophers. Heartbreaking ending.

My Ags bounced back with a good offensive effort against a poor South Carolina team. Defense had an off day & helped the Gamecocks make a game of it. Kyler Murray was exciting & brought back memories of #2. Curious to see how he fares as the competition improves.

Am I the only one surprised JT Barrett only gets a one game suspension for dui? Manziel missed more time for signing memorabilia.

 

No because Urban Meyer has a history of being pretty lenient on punishment.

 

Not surprised either on Barrett, to placate those that think Meyer is too soft he took him off scholarship for a term, but let's keep it real Sparty is coming up in 3 weeks.

Only saw highlights, but the Pac 12's lone chance for representation in the playoff was saved by a razor's edge margin, Coogin' It indeed.

Have no idea what replay officials were looking at in the Duke-Eww game, pretty gutless or complete blindness not to see the knee down.

Coaches keep getting shown the door, by either firing or retiring. Norm Chow at Hawaii axed, George O'Leary 'retires' at UCF. Have to give major props to the next retiree Frank Beamer at Virginia Tech. Absolute legend who had one helluva ride in Blacksburg. Literally built that program from scratch and came so close to winning the National Title with Michael Vick. Not sure if he was ready to go, but he's been class personified.

 

Louisville should have lost, Kentucky lost, Indiana didn't play (thankfully). And ditto on Frank Beamer, who made some noise at my alma mater, Murray State, before making his alma mater a very competitive program. Enjoy retirement, Coach Beamer. You did right by us.

 

No idea if Beamer was ready to go, but it was time. Just shows how class he is, that he's stepping aside and not making it messy for them. Much like Snyder at K State, Beamer is Hokie football & leaves them in far better shape than he found them.

 

The 'whatever they are called' committee came out with the first 'whatever it's called' rankings of the season. All it really meanings is the playoffs are unofficially here and elimination games start this week in earnest;

Games of the Week:

#16 Florida State at #1 Clemson. Game lost a little shine when the Noles lost to GTech. If Clemson wins this week (and I think they will) the rest of the schedule is relatively easy.

#2 LSU at #4 Alabama. This is going to be a game of field position and turnovers. I'll take Saban against Miles every time, but LSU is more than capable of winning it. Tide in a close one

#8 TCU at #14 Oklahoma State. Wow, pretty easy to infer what the committee thinks of these Big 12 55-52, 70-53 games and their respective rankings. The winner of this one presses on, and there is no way back into playoff race for the loser. Trevone Boykin is a better qb than Mason Rudolph so I'll take the Frogs on the road.

The FUSA Special:
#9 Iowa at Indiana. On paper this looks like an easy Hawkeye W. However, the Hoosiers went to the wire in Bloomington w/Ohio State, and more importantly they've had 2 weeks to get ready. Can Iowa handle their high ranking? They get by this banana peel and 12-0 is a real possibility.

Upset Alert: I tend to look for teams still undefeated (ala Toledo losing for the first time last night) that you just can't see going the whole year without a blemish:

Navy at #13 Memphis. Memphis QB Paxton Lynch is flying up the draft boards and the Tigers should get by Navy. However, Navy has only lost to Notre Dame and that triple option can give teams fits.

 

After the emotional rollercoaster of Coach Kill resigning (for all the right reasons) and a heart-wrenching loss to the Wolverines at home, game #2 of the dreaded Gopher Gauntlet (Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin) doesn't look any less daunting with J.T. Barrett on the shelf as we already know what the other QB can do. And anytime you roll into the Horseshoe, you're going to have a bad time.

I think my prediction earlier this year of, "we'll struggle to get to 6-6" or something like that still holds or may be a bit optimistic.