Games I saw (some of):
(1) Alabama 42-21 (12) Ole Miss
Yawn. This is Nick Saban just being a gentleman to his Ole Miss cohorts. Never close even for a second but the score wasn't a total slaughter, Ole Miss can still pretend like they gave their all. Remember when I said Alabama was mortal? I was mistaken. I take it all back.
(3) Oregon 24-31 (OT) Stanford
Okay...hold on...*deep breath*....I need to get this out of my system... The last 2 minutes of this game was the worst football I've ever seen in my life. On their last drive, Oregon mismanaged the clock, giving Stanford an extra time out and an extra 30 seconds or so to give them a chance at a comeback. Stanford starts the game-tying drive with two false start penalties. After a sack knocked their QB out for a play (I'll come back to this), the backup came in and runs for no gain instead of throwing the ball away and stopping the clock. Somehow in a 95-ish yard drive, they managed only two nice pass plays. If you're wondering whether Oregon lost this game or Stanford won it--let me be clear: Oregon lost it. Stanford didn't even play well in the game-tying drive! They totally sucked and still managed to go 95 yards and score the big TD. How? The refs helped a lot--yeah, even the refs sucked in this game! The targeting penalty--and yeah, I know, you're gonna call me crazy--there was no helmet-to-helmet contact, the QB's head buckles because he got hit low from behind at virtually the same moment. Oregon's best pass rusher (Thibodeau) got tossed from the game for a penalty I am convinced he didn't commit. This is not the best replay but watch Thibodeau's hands, they're both on the QB's shoulder meaning there wasn't enough room for his helmet to make contact. And, oh, the QB came back the next play, suggesting he didn't go even through 20 seconds of concussion protocol. If that hit was as bad as it looked, that QB would not have come back--he wouldn't have time to come back even if he wasn't hurt! This is a trick of photography and Oregon losing their best pass rusher on the final drive definitely made a difference.
And that wasn't the only difference the refs made: they called defensive pass interference on the final play of regulation, when it was the WR who pushed off! How the fuck do you make that call anyway, but especially when it's the WRONG call? And not to be outdone: you couldn't even see the nearside action in the end zone on the telecast, so even ABC got in on the true awful-ness of the conclusion of this game. So just to recap: Oregon let this madness happen, Stanford tried their best to still not win the game, but the refs' terrible calls kept it alive and the TV broadcast made it all even harder to watch.(6) Oklahoma 37-31 Kansas State
Oklahoma was the better team throughout, that's not insignificant. But they never looked like a top ten side with top five recruits, they never looked like the annual national powerhouse they ought to be and yet Kansas State never looked particularly dangerous--even though they came close to really putting the Sooners in jeopardy. The onside kick: brilliant play when seen live, excellently executed on the first replay though--and I saw it right away, not sure why the replay guys needed two looks at it--the kicker actually double tapped the kick; I wasn't sure whether this was illegal, though I assumed it was and the next replay overturned the call giving the ball to OU with excellent field position (which ended in a lame interception). I was fascinated by the notion that you can't review a reviewed play, which made me wonder how Kansas State was supposed to lodge their complaint: how do you review a review of a reviewed play? K State needed Matlock more than a pass rush on this day. Look, with everyone else writhing in mediocrity, it is clear that Oklahoma is still on their way to the playoff, but it's also clear they're gonna carved up a fat tuna on live TV if they don't figure some shit out real quick.
(7) Cincinnati 24-13 (9) Notre Dame
I'm in on the Bearcats, man, scrappy, gutty, gritty, hard nosed, full throttle on every play--I like these guys. They're fun to watch and they're the kinda squad that won't go down without a fight (at the moment I would much rather see them than, say, Oklahoma in the semifinal this year). In a year where Clemson and Notre Dame and the Pac-12 are already out of the running, I'm up for Cincy getting a shot at the big time, they're well on their way to earning it. As for Notre Dame, there's something not quite right about this team, but I don't think they suck and since their schedule is a conference buffet, I think they can still put together a good resume if they can get their shit together. Yeah, strange to say, but I can still see them being in the mix at the end, because I don't think an L to Cincinnati is gonna be that bad.
(14) Michigan 38-17 Wisconsin
Man, Wisconsin is the worst 4th quarter team I've seen in ages! Against Penn State, Notre Dame and now Michigan, they were a perfectly good hang for three quarters and then got smoked like a hog on the way out making all their losses look like blowouts, when actually Wisconsin has been pretty competitive with good teams this year. Oh well. Michigan needed a big W and this is it, Wolverines are on the move and with games against the Buckeyes and the Nittany Lions, they're definitely still in the running for the big time.
Top 25
Handled their business
(1) Alabama, (2) Georgia, (4) Penn State, (5) Iowa, (7) Cincinnati, (11) Ohio State, (13) BYU, (14) Michigan, (16) Coastal Carolina, (17) Michigan State, (19) Oklahoma State, (22) Auburn, (23) North Carolina State, (24) Wake Forest
Won but did not impress
(6) Oklahoma. Another week, another unimpressive W for the Sooners. Am I supposed to be wowed that they keep getting wins or is it fair to say these guys are really just mediocre?
(25) Clemson. Man, didn't think it was possible for Clemson to be this lackluster. Then again: John Calipari has twice failed to make the NCAA tournament since he got to Kentucky, so I guess the impossible does occasionally happen.
Bad beat
(9) Notre Dame. Yeah, I'm calling this a Bad Beat because I'm in on Cincy, I think they're good. They were clearly better than Notre Dame in every phase of the game. For the Irish to go down at home is disappointing but I gotta say they lost to a better team and I don't think this loss will actually hurt them.
(21) Baylor. Lost a tough conference game on the road to a higher-ranked opponent. Nothing wrong with that....though that doesn't mean that Baylor's not overrated.
Not so good
(3) Oregon. I'm sorry but Oregon's L was so bad--SOOOOOOOOO BAAAAAD!--that I just can't take them seriously for a while. The fact that UCLA lost keeping Oregon relevant in the Pac-12 is not exactly curling my toes either. I saw Oregon give away that game at Stanford and I can't see un-see that--seriously, that's the worst loss I've seen in years.
(10) Florida. Hmmmm....losing to Kentucky makes me re-evaluate their game against Alabama. Looking back on it, I'd say that Bama didn't bring their A-game, didn't take Florida seriously, dared the Gators to steal the game away (and they almost did). So instead of Alabama looking mortal or Florida looking like a contender, Nick Saban jedi-mind-tricked us all into overrating Florida. Florida thought that Kentucky would be an easy win and it wasn't. And, oh by the way: Kentucky's offense still sucks, this was all D from the Cats, so Florida's L gets even less impressive when you really think about it. (On a personal note: I can no longer say I was in attendance the last time Kentucky beat Florida in Commonwealth Stadium....that was the last thing I had going for me....*sigh*....ha!)
(15) Texas A&M. I'm done with all of the SEC West. A&M is cooked, Arkansas had their shot and they blew it, LSU's loss to UCLA just keeps looking worse, Auburn is okay but nothing special, Ole Miss has already had their shot at glory and it eluded them and I got a feeling Mississippi State is gonna end up being the top of the also-rans while still being a barely top 20 team. None of these teams are going to beat Alabama, so why are we still bothering to rank them? They're just taking up space and I'm ready to be done with all of them.
(18) Fresno State. Oh, Fresno, you had your chance.
(20) UCLA. Hmmmm, getting smoked by Arizona State at home is not now nor has ever been a good look. Done with the Bruins, let me know if you beat Oregon.
Next week's intriguing matches:
(6) Oklahoma @ (21) Texas (overrated Oklahoma versus overrated Texas--brother, it don't get more overrated than that!)
(13) Arkansas @ (17) Ole Miss (jk, I couldn't care less what happens in this game, the football equivalent of a tree falling in a forest with no one around to hear)
(2) Georgia @ (18) Auburn (okay, Auburn, here's your chance to be relevant)
(4) Penn State @ (3) Iowa (Boom! Game o' the week! An Iowa W would pretty much guarantee the Big 10 champ to be in the playoff, right? A Penn State W gives them an even larger target on their back with Buckeyes, Wolverines and Spartans still on the schedule. Since they're in different divisions, this is not a loser-leaves-town match, both teams will still be in the mix come Sunday. I'm expecting a tight one and I'm looking forward to it)
LSU @ (16) Kentucky (nah, this doesn't really mean anything, but when was the last time UK was favored over LSU? Doesn't happen often)
(1) Alabama @ Texas A&M (Remember in the off-season when you circled this game on the schedule? Well, I got a feeling that circle is where Nick Saban is gonna detonate the biggest bomb since that Murphy Brown re-boot. Yeah, I'll say it now: mortgage the house, get the kids' college money, put it all on Alabama and the over, feels like easy money to me)
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