College Football 2018-19

I'll simply say yes, the Ags won, but it wasn't too much of a bad matchup, they weren't fazed by the atmosphere and if their freshman quarterback doesn't take a bad sack on 3rd down of OT, it certainly could have gone the other way. This ain't your grandfather's Kentucky football team. They could win out (although I'm not sure anybody will beat Georgia this season). But they've got them at home, so we'll see. They're for real.

 

@FulhamDC, we've all looked clueless, but it's another Saturday. Major shakeup last week, the casualties include:

- Penn State; Sparty at the buzzer finishes their chances.
- Washington (and the Pac 12); Freshman Kicker misses, they lose in OT, and I just can't see Oregon and their non-conference schedule enough to get them in, even if they ran the table.
- WVU; it's not just a loss, it was the type of loss that is unlikely to be overcome.
** I have to apologize to LSU, they put an shellacking on Georgia. It's not the end for the Dawgs, but their margin for error is gone.

What's on tap?

#16 NC State at #3 Clemson. Not going to lie, haven't seen a snap of the Pack, so have to go with Clemson at home.

#6 Michigan at #24 Michigan State; This is going to be an old fashion donnybrook. Already regretting this Meatchicken pick, but there it is.

#12 Oregon at #25 Washington State; For 15 straight years the Cougar flag every Saturday has flown where ever College Game Day is televising (over 200 straight games). Now for the first time the ESPN trucks have shown up on the Palouse. Ducks lost their left tackle and will have their hands full w/Wazzu having two weeks to prepare. To steal Mateo's line, just when it looks perfect for WSU they will 'Coug it', going w/Oregon.

#22 Mississippi State at #5 LSU; Hard to pick against LSU after that performance last week, so I won't, but it would not be a shock if the Cowbells pull off the upset.

SCJ Kiss of Death; @sacffc I apologize in advance. Sac's Princeton Tigers are steam rolling everyone and will put the final nail in Harvard's coffin.

Upset Alert'
#2 Ohio State at Purdue; @encorespanish, I saw the 3rd quarter of the Minnesota at Ohio State game. The Gophers ran wild at the Horseshoe (well over 200 yards by mid-way of the 3rd), and if the kicker hadn't missed 2 short field goals and an extra point, Minnesota would've been leading going into the 4th. Nick Bosa is gone, Urban Liar looks eerily similar to his final year in Gainesville. Add in Purdue is well coached, have a good running back, and are much better then their 3-3 record, and I'll go with the Boilers.

 

You’re right Jump, UK is a good team and a far cry better than most, if not all, Wildcat teams in my lifetime. But I don’t see how you’re disputing it was a bad matchup. A&M held UK and Snell well below their season averages and when they dared Wilson to beat them he couldn’t. How many times did UK cross the 50? #41 for the Cats is a beast. Excellent edge rusher who can cover? Crazy!! He reminds me of Von Miller when he was at A&M.

NC St @ Clemson- the Pack look a little pass heavy and Clemson has been good against the pass (aside from that 2nd half v us). I’ll take the Tigers at home.

Michigan @ Mich St - going to keep riding that Wolverine d. Meatchicken.

Oregon @ Wash St - Wazzu has won 3 straight in this series but Gameday has been a bit of a bad omen. Plus, Coogin It. I’m taking the Ducks.

Miss St @ LSU - the Bulldogs offense has been a sputtering mess since conference play started. They’ve had a bye to try and fix it but I’ll take LSU at home. Defense is outstanding and the offense is coming into its own.

Upset Alert - Ohio St is a good bet given the number of chunk plays they’ve given up and Purdue’s offense is capable of producing those plays. If Turnover Christian could ever stop coughing it up 3+ times a game they could play up to their early ranking. But OU has fired their dc and had a week to try and right the d. So I’ll go with...

Maryland @ Iowa - these early games can often favor the road team. Iowa has been good against the run but the last time they faced a 250 yd/g run team they gave up 200 and got beat. The Terps are averaging 260 and have been good at creating turnovers. It’s probably just wishful thinking but I’ll take the Turtles for the surprise upset.

 

That's OK SCJ, I'm also going to risk jinxing them by actually saying something about this one (and the Tigers are up 10 in the 2nd quarter). So let's give them a big Ivy League cheer:

Harass them,
Harass them,
Make them relinquish the ball !!!

Really stirs your blood, doesn't it? There's another cheer that dates from the 1890's (when you played in the first college football game, the traditions are a little older).

 

Well, it was a wild one. Princeton won the first 3 quarters 10-7 and then won the 4th quarter 19-14; final 29-21. 5 Tds in the 4th. Twice Princeton looked to have it sewed up and then Harvard got another TD. So they're 6-0 for the first time in a very long time.

 

That's Josh Allen from Montclair, NJ. He'll be playing on Sunday next season. Played his first three years of HS in Abbeville, AL before returning to Jersey. How Saban and Co. missed him, I'll never know. Kentucky beat out Buffalo and Monmouth to get him. Go figure.

 

Straight to it:

@sacffc 2 undefeated teams looming next week, will Princeton be caught looking ahead?

#18 Iowa at #17 Penn State. @LaxAttack Iowa has been flying below the radar, while PSU has been all over the map. Hawkeyes more then capable, but will go with Nittany Lions not dropping a 3rd game in Happy Valley (hope I’m wrong).

#16 Texas A&M at Mississippi State. It’s in Cowbell Stadium so Aggies need to jump on them early and force the pass, no problema.

#9 Florida vs #7 Georgia: Biggest outdoor cocktail party in the world has added significance. This is a true playoff game, the loser is toast. I have to go with the Dawgs and hope that dismal performance at LSU was an aberration.

#14 Washington State at #24 Stanford; Beware of the hangover. Wazzu had Gameday, the storming of the field, and all the trappings of a letdown. Trees win.

Upset Alert
#2 Clemson at Florida State @MicahMan Its been a rough first year for Taggert, but the Noles have improved and Francois appears to finally be healthy. While Clemson will likely find a way to win or perhaps FSU finds a way to lose, I think this will be a late 4th quarter game.

 

I love the thought, but FSU just stinks this year. Clemson runs away with this one I think.

 

Iowa @ Penn St - my problem with Iowa in recent years is that their stout defense doesn’t travel well. My problem with PSU has been Franklin’s inexplicably stupid in game decisions. He’s hurt his team 3 games in a row. That said I’ll go with McSorley making the big plays to get the Nitanys the home win.

A&M @ Miss St - our offense has been rather inefficient the last 3 games so hopefully we used the bye week to get the fundamentals straight and to eliminate the mental mistakes. State’s problem is that Fitz doesn’t fit Morehead’s scheme. He can’t make the throws they’re asking of him. Thought they might change that during the bye week but they didn’t, so I think this is the week Fitz gets benched for Thompson. We have an elite run d by the numbers so with a team that struggles throwing it, I think we win a defensive battle 24-14 or so. If we made good use of the bye week, we win big.

Florida v Georgia - Georgia sent a lot of players from their d to the nfl last year and their absence is finally showing. On the other side UF’s d is very good and their rb Scarlett is really hitting his stride. Think this likely comes down to turnovers. UGA is 45th at +2. The Gators are 7th (+9) with an impressive 18 takeaways. I’m going with the Gators here.

Wazzu @ Stanford - new Pac12 rule. Whatever I think the outcome will be, I’m picking the opposite. I’ve been that bad at picking big Pac12 games. So Coogs win.

Upset - Not a lot to choose from this week so I’ll take Northwestern at home to give the #20 Badgers their 3rd loss and knock them out of the rankings.

Won’t be surprised if either Oklahoma or Texas drops one they shouldn’t this week, but don’t like either of the matchups enough to pick one.

 

@MicahMan, I was right about FSU-Clemson; not about the score which you were spot on about, but that it would be a 4 quarter game

Huge week:

Dartmouth 7-0 at Princeton 7-0 @sacffc Have to ride w/your Tigers. Going to throw out my annual call for Ivy League champ (if worthy, which if the winner of this game finishes undefeated would be) to play in FCS playoffs. Its only a maximum of 3 extra weeks (if they were to get to the Title game). Ivy League has zero issues with hoops extending their season into March and it’s a longer season then football.

SEC Showdowns:

#1 Alabama at #3 LSU. Bama is a 15 pt favorite at Death Valley on a Sat. night Tua vs Burrow, Sagan vs Coach O is no contest, so impossible to pick against the Tide.

#6 Georgia at #9 Kentucky @jumpkutz Biggest game in UK history? Cats got lucky at Mizzou, while Dawgs took it to Florida. If Kentucky controls tempo aka run the ball they have a chance, but I think Georgia wins

Big 12 Showdowns

#13 West Virginia at #17 Texas. Longhorns coming off an upset loss at OU Lite. WVU Had a nice bounc back at home. @FulhamDC The Mountaineers bad loss the last time they traveled has me going w/the Horns.

#7 Oklahoma at Texas Tech. Best Tech team in a few years, so this will be a fun one to watch. Picking Sooners, but wouldn’t be surprised if Red Raiders finish off the Land Thieves playoff hopes.

Best of the Rest:

#14 Penn State at #5 Michigan; I believe Meatchicken’s revenge tour continues (Wisconsin & Sparty already victims). However, I’m curious to see what happens if a team gets ahead of them in the 4th quarter. Not sure if Shea Patterson can bring them back.

Upset Alert:

Hard to find.
#16 Iowa at Purdue wouldn’t be too big of a surprise.

#4 Notre Dame at Northwestern. @tim This is a Hhhhuuugggeee game in Chicago. When I went to high school the Irish were far and away the most covered and most popular team in town (Northwestern, U of Illinois got red headed stepchild treatment). I would expect the Cats to give ND a battle.

 

I was hoping for this. Dartmouth beat Harvard last week by 7 while we squeaked by Cornell 66-0. Both 7-0 and the game's at Princeton (late season games in Hanover NH can be really cold).

Go Tigers !!!

And I agree about the FCS playoffs, particularly since the field has been expanded.

 

Don’t know if it’s the biggest in school history, but it very well may be. I think the outcome will depend, again, on Kentucky’s freshman QB, Terry Wilson, Jr. A & M dared him to beat them, but they (and he) spit the bit in OT. And yeah, they got lucky at Mizzou. But...historically, by now, they’ve lost one or two key players for the season. Not this season (knock on wood). Historically, that would have been Benny Snell or Josh Allen, for this season. Both are fit and still playing. Defense is usually a problem. Except for this season. All four DB starters returned, and they’re pretty talented. There are some big play wide receivers that haven’t had very many so far.
I haven’t seen Georgia this season, but I’m sure they’re worth the ranking. But...this UK team feels different. I’m going to pick them. Then cross my fingers.

 

Tough one last week in Starkville. I hate those !@&$! cowbells. Our secondary is our Achilles heel and wouldn’t you know, Fitz picked last week to rediscover his accuracy. Meanwhile, the self inflicted wounds continued for us out of the bye week. At Auburn this week and Stidham is good enough to exploit our secondary. The difference is he doesn’t run and they’ve struggled moving it on the ground. If that holds, we aren’t forced to bring a safety into the box, giving us a chance. We’re also much better when we can run the ball and Trayveon has had big games v Auburn. Should be another cardiac inducing affair.

Did I just see Joe’s Cats have won 2 straight?!?

Bama @ LSU - the Tigers are 3-1 as an FPI dog but can’t pick against the Tide for all the reasons Joe gave.

Georgia @ Kentucky - Josh Allen should find success against the Dawg line but I think UGA’s too good offensively for the one dimensional Cats to keep up.

WV @ Texas - the Horns aren’t great against the pass. Not really sure how good the Mountaineer d really is, but I’ll go with Grier making enough plays to get the win. WV is looking for a little payback after Texas knocked them off last year when Grier left the game in the 1st qtr with a season ending hand injury.

Oklahoma @ Tech - tempting to pick the upset with a night game in Lubbock on Halloween weekend (kinda). Historically, they’ve pulled some notable upsets this time of year. But I’m going with Kyler Murray and that explosive offense outpacing them.

Penn St @ Michigan - hard to pick against that Wolverine d, so I won’t.

Upset - I like the Northwestern pick. ND has been good since the qb switch but hard to say how good with that schedule. Averaging almost 150 against on the ground for a team winning by 20 most weeks is concerning. But since Joe took it, I’ll go with...

Stanford (+10) @ Washington - the Pups feel a bit like fools gold with losses to Cal, Oregon and Auburn, albeit all 3 were on the road. They really don’t have a good win. So sticking with my new Pac12 rule (2 for 2 so far) I’ll take Stanford even though the stats suggest UDub should win this one fairly comfortably.

Oh yeah, Princeton over Dartmouth because...no clue. Just a blind ass guess. Harass them!!

 

@AggieMatt, Arizona on a bye, so that's 3 straight weeks w/out a loss

#10 Ohio State at #18 Michigan State; If MSU had even an average offense I'd pick them. Not going to put the last nail in the Buckeye coffin just yet, but no shock if Sparty does.

FUSA Special
Northwestern at #21 Iowa; @tim @LaxAttack Sorry Tim, the Cats gave Notre Dame all they wanted, just think there will be nothing left in the tank against the Hawkeyes.

#16 Mississippi State at #1 Alabama; From here on out, it won't be who will win the game, but if Bama will cover. The point spread is 23 and yes they'll cover.

#24 Auburn at #5 Georgia; A little surprised Auburn is ranked, but they won't be after today.

Oklahoma State at #8 Oklahoma; Bedlam, and LandThieves going to pile on OU Lite.

#2 Clemson at #17 Boston College; The weather needs to get nasty at Chestnut Hill for BC to keep it interesting, but think Clemson will win.

Upset Alert
Got 2: #11 Kentucky at Tennessee; Same reason as Northwestern. Really hard for college teams to bounce back after a tough loss.

#8 Washington State at Colorado; @dtowndough I know the Buffs have had it tough the last few weeks (blowing a 31-3 lead to Oregon State was inexcusable), but got a sneaky feeling the razor thin playoff hopes for Wazzu going to be dashed today.

 

3 straight weeks without a loss and you’ve made it to hoops season.

Ohio St @ Mich St - Buckeyes even though I don’t trust them on the road.

Northwestern @ Iowa - the Hawkeyes are very good at home, especially on d. Going with Iowa.

Miss St @ Bama - Bama. State might cover at home but not on the road.

Auburn @ Georgia - the Tigers shouldn’t have won last week, so yeah, the ranking is odd. I agree though, it’ll be short-lived. Dawgs roll.

Bedlam in Norman - yeah, no scare this year. Sooners early and often.

Clemson @ BC - Clemson has been playing really well this past month. I don’t think BC has anything for them.

Upset - Ole Miss @ A&M - we’re a 13 pt favorite. The Rebels have a lethal passing attack that will shred our secondary and lead to quick scores. On the other side, Ole Miss has the worst run d in the SEC so we’ll move the ball at will and try and keep it away from their offense. Unfortunately our ongoing red zone inconsistencies lead to too many fg’s, half of which our kicker misses. And that’s how we’ll lose.

 

Alabama always schedules a cupcake the week before the Iron Bowl (of course every team on their schedule seems to be a cupcake this year ). Unfortunately, the SEC for the most part have decided to copycat. Here is the list of opponents (besides the few conference games) the so-called best conference in America is playing: The Citidel (Bama's game), Idaho, Middle Tennessee, UMass, Liberty, UAB, Rice, and Chattanooga.

The real games:

FUSA Special: #22 Northwestern at Minnesota. @tim, @encorespanish Congrats to my fellow SoCal, Northwestern will be playing for the Big 10 Championship in a few weeks after clinching the West at Iowa. Encore's Gophers coming off their best performance under Fleck by stomping Purdue. WIll stick w/the Cats, but a Minnesota win would not be a shock.

#12 Syracuse vs #3 Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium; The Orange has their best team since Donovan McNabb was the QB. How is the health of the Irish QB Ian Book? I'm going w/an upset and the Cuse, but I keep expecting ND to lose and they find ways to win.

#24 Cincinnati at #11 UCF; All good things must come to an end, and I think the 22 game winning streak for the Knights is ended here.

#16 Iowa State at #15 Texas; Coin flip game that will likely go to the end. The Cyclones have been on a great run and will take them.

Upset Alert:
Already picking a few Dogs, but the season is almost over and I haven't picked Arizona once..Not going to pick them this week either . They travel to #8 Wazzu in Pullman, and hoping they give the Coogs a game.

 

Your beef should be with the NCAA. Everyone played 8 conference games, but after realignment, 3 chose to go to 9 to deal with the new scheduling. The SEC and ACC stayed at 8. The NCAA should be the ones saying all p5 leagues need to play the same number of conference games, not leaving that decision to the individual conferences. The ACC puts all of theirs up front while the SEC teams save one for the back end of the schedule. Not sure why that rankles so many people, it’s the smart thing to do. Regardless, Mid Tenn is 7-3 and UAB is 9-1 and ranked in one poll. Both would beat the cellar dwellers in those other 3 conferences. Shoot, Liberty would give them a run. They blasted Baylor last year. On to the games.

Northwestern @ Minnesota- not sure what happened to the Gophers this year. Seemed like they’d built some momentum last year. Not a lot separating them statistically and the Gophers are 5-1 at home. The Cats are missing 3 starters in the secondary due to injury as well. Throw in the fact that they’ve clinched the division and the Gophers are playing for bowl eligibility, and I’ll take Mighty Minny. PS, please take the stupid oars off the helmets. That’s Fleck’s gimmick and has f all to do with the school...and it looks cheesy.

Syracuse v Notre Dame - the Irish keep finding ways to win because they have a very good defense. I think that holds again this week. I’d have liked the Cuse’s chances better in the Carrier Dome.

Cincinnati @ UCF - all good things do come to an end but I don’t think it happens until the Conf Champ game or the bowl game. I’ll be pulling for Cincy but think the Knights will win. The Big 12 missed an opportunity not adding UCF and either USF or Cincy when they considered expanding to 12. Seriously doubt UCF would have this streak but that would have certainly strengthened that conference.

Iowa St @ Texas - another location game. I’d have liked the Cyclones in Ames, but going with the Horns at home.

Upset - for all of Joe’s hand wringing, one SEC team usually slips up in these late OOC games. I’m tempted to pick against my Ags again since it worked out so well last week but I’ll go with Middle Tennessee @ Kentucky (-16). The Cat d is probably enough to carry them to victory and MTSU’s defense is poor enough for UK to possibly get their offense back on track. However, Raider qb Stockstill can light it up and I think they have a chance to pull the upset in a little bit of a shootout. Snell only has 1 100 yd game in 6 weeks.

Congrats to Jump’s Racers for their amazing comeback win last week. If you missed it, Google it. Wild stuff. Speaking of Jump, wonder if Louisville really can lure Brohm home from Purdue.

 

@sacffc Would be remiss not to congratulate Princeton for finishing their undefeated season in style by smashing Penn. They did indeed harass everyone they played.

 

Thanks Joe. What a great year -- first undefeated season since 1964. It's just too bad they won't be able to test themselves in the playoffs. They were #9 in the polls before the Penn game. Here's more than you probably want to know about the game.

One of the great traditions when I was there is that on the Ivy League football weekends, the staffs of the student newspapers would have a touch football game. (If they're still doing it now it's a website of course.) Then you could read in the school newspaper that the mighty touch football team had extended their years-long unbeaten streak. Of course, if you looked at the other school's newspaper, they were also declaring a continuation of THEIR years-long unbeaten streak. If it's in the paper, it must be true, right?

And then there was the halftime shows. My favorite when I was a student was the time the Harvard band formed the top half of a topless bathing suit -- two tubas stayed on the field while the rest of the band stood on the sidelines and played "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things". The Princeton band, the year before I started there, did a halftime show that can not be described on a family-friendly site! The traditional military-style marching around just doesn't do anything for me.

Thanks all for indulging me while I celebrate -- it's been a fun season, and I even got to see them on TV a couple of times.

 

I don't know if Vince Tyra, Tom Jurich's successor, can lure Jeff Brohm away from Purdue. I'm not sure if he's the right hire anyway. The Boilers are better, but defense is still a problem. And they are only 5-6 heading into the Old Oaken Bucket game against Indiana in Bloomington. He would seem to be the natural choice, but I have doubts. But the way things are now? A definite upgrade. And the Racers' good fortune didn't last. Bounced by Austin Peay yesterday in Clarksville.