A good weekend of football to be certain! Fair warning: anyone caught using many days late Halloween puns in the comments section will be shot.
Baylor-24, #3 Oklahoma State-59
I've said it before and I'll say it again: jump on the Oklahoma State bandwagon at your own peril. I am legitimately curious to see how well this team will perform when it runs up against a good defense. The Big 12 really seems to be the conference of the glass cannon; every team in the league seems to be capable of posting huge numbers of points while allowing equally huge numbers of points. Oklahoma State has allowed at least 24 points in all but one of its games.
Yes, most of those opposing teams' points came late, but Oklahoma State has yet to play the best defensive team in their conference: the rival Oklahoma Sooners, and defense still trumps offense. Assuming that the Cowboys get through their remaining schedule and the Sooners, it's highly likely they'd have to play LSU or Alabama in the national title game. Regular readers note that I always pick defense over offense, especially in bowls. Therefore, if it comes down to Oklahoma State vs. SEC champ, I'm taking the SEC team all the way. (Especially if it's Alabama and their under-a-touchdown-allowed-per-game scoring defense.)
And Baylor...well, at least they're not getting laughed at anymore. Sure, they're an even more extreme example of imbalance than the Oklahoma State team cited above (Baylor's stats: 9th best scoring offense in the country, 115th scoring defense), but at least the Bears aren't the Big 12's doormat anymore! That's Kansas's job...
#5 Clemson-17, Georgia Tech-31
Virtually every fanbase whose team has not lived up to past glory has a set of fans who choose to live in the past. Miami fans still think it's the '80s, Notre Dame fans still think it's the '70s, Virginia Tech fans are starting to become entrenched in 1999, and Clemson fans are locked in their nuclear fallout shelters with "Vote for Reagan" slogans and anti-Soviet propaganda decorating the walls around their "Tigers: 1981 National Champs" poster. This season seemed like it could be the year that Clemson fans got to update their calendars, but alas, it was not to be.
Clemson struggled to defend the option, which is sort of mind-blowing when you consider how well Miami and UVa did just that in the previous two weeks. The Georgia Tech defense played well, and Clemson just couldn't get anything going it seemed. Near-comebacks were cut short by defensive stands and turnovers, and the ACC faded out of the national championship race once again. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't totally unexpected. Once Clemson hammered beat Virginia Tech, this was supposed to be the matchup to decide which ACC school got to compete for a title. Then Georgia Tech stumbled along the way, meaning that they could do little but spoil Clemson's national title hopes. Which they did.
Ah well, that's ACC football. Let's just sit back and enjoy it, take some time to watch more madness unfold as one team (likely still Clemson) plays its way to a BCS bowl and the other 11 sort of squabble for the other bowl slots the conference gets. Those of us who love football will shake our heads and stare. My friends who are Carolina fans are already counting the days to basketball season. What fun.
#6 Stanford-56, USC-48 (3OT)
Alright, before we go any further, I want you to read this previous post. Go ahead, I'll wait.
There. Now I don't have to go on a rant against overtime. I do have to gripe, however, about Southern California's presence in the non-essential AP rankings. Why were the Trojans ranked 20th? They have beaten precisely one decent nonconference foe, and precisely zero decent conference foes. Look at the record: a 2 point win against the worst team in the Big 10, a drubbing of a mediocre team in the worst AQ conference, and 3 in-conference wins against teams which are all 1-4 or 1-5 in the Pac-12. Aside from a good win on the road against Notre Dame, the Trojans did absolutely nothing of note until this Saturday, when they took Heisman winner (it's OK, just accept it) Andrew Luck and the Cardinal into OT. Now that I've made my case that Southern Cal isn't very good (and they aren't), let's extrapolate:
Stanford could be in real trouble here. They will likely smash Oregon State this weekend, but their game against Oregon looms large as the deciding factor in which team will go to the Pac-12 championship. Right now, it's tough to see the Cardinal winning that one. But no worries, Luck has ESPN on his side and a catchy last name, so unless Stanford loses 2 of its remaining 4 games, he'll still going to win the Heisman.
Side note: Mad props to Lane Kiffin for criticizing the officiating in Saturday's game. I detest Southern Cal, but I detest bad officiating more, especially since it is the root cause of my Southern Cal hatred. Oh, and they fined Kiffin $10,000 for being a critic, which is wrong but also kinda funny. I assume Tennessee and/or the Ghost of Al Davis was involved.
Washington State-28, #7 Oregon-43
Sweet, an easy one. Oregon crushed th--Oh what the heck?! How was this game this close? Maybe that Oregon/Stanford game will be good after all.
#9 Oklahoma-58, #8 Kansas State-17
Kansas State, meet reality. Reality, Kansas State. OK, good that you've been introduced, that will really help save time.
OU should do pretty well with its remaining schedule up until the big game with Oklahoma State. Kansas State has a chance to play spoiler against OSU, but the Wildcats had been playing beyond their ability all season long. We may be in for a Wisconsin-style slide from this team.
#10 Arkansas-31, Vandy-28
Arkansas really shouldn't have won this game. They shouldn't have been in it, and without a freak 94 yard fumble return for a touchdown, this game would have ended up being something like 35-24 Vandy. As it stands, Arkansas is looking much more mediocre than they should be, but if Sports Illustrated is to be believed, then the whole SEC is mediocre aside from #1 and #2. I don't think it's as bad as the article makes it sound, but games like these certainly make the case that the top of the SEC isn't quite as dominant as it has been in recent years.
#11 Michigan State-3, #14 Nebraska-24
MSU came out and did...well, nothing. This was a hideous offensive performance and it can be credited as much to incompetence as to Nebraska's defense. Don't get me wrong, the Huskers ran well and the Spartans had trouble against the Blackshirts, but if it was only Nebraska's defense slowing MSU down then the score would have been closer. It seems that Michigan State is in very real danger of repeating last season's theme: spoiling things for schools in their conference, but stumbling into a tie with the conference leaders. Look for MSU to make another glorious trip to the Champs Sports Bowl or something similar.
Nebraska's still in the hunt for the division title of what I will call the "West" division of the Big 10, and it looks like their November 19 game with Michigan will determine the winner of that branch of the Big However Many We Have. Provided, of course, that Michigan doesn't pull their now-annual yearly fall-apart routine.
#12 Virginia Tech-14, Duke-10
I really hope this is Tech underestimating Duke. Because, frankly, about 115 of the D1 teams out there would have beaten Tech the way they played this weekend. But many smashed soda cans and a few curse words later on my end, the Hokies emerged with a narrow win over one of the worst teams in the ACC. They'd best get their stuff together in the next week, or the Thursday game against Georgia Tech will be an uglier version of the GT/Clemson score above.
Also: Duke is going to have real trouble making a bowl, but they're not out of it yet.
#13 South Carolina-14, Tennessee-3
The Vols defense is just about where it needs to be. They have to start playing solid D for 4 quarters, but the defense is there. The offense? Not so much. Even with Tyler Bray at the helm, the Vols were racking up points against largely inferior competition. They always seem to have a front-loaded schedule, though, which is a product of the bygone era when Tennessee was a national power. Things will get easier for everyone's favorite band of Knoxvillians, provided that they survive to late November.
South Carolina's in trouble, though. They're clinging to a high ranking for another week, but the game against Arkansas will be a real test of whether or not they can beat a good opponent without Marcus Lattimore. We shall see...
#15 Wisconsin-29, Ohio State-33
If I were Wisconsin's coach, my secondary would be running up and down stairways reciting the play-by-play calls of the two Hail Marys that have beaten the Badgers in back to back weeks. There's no excuse to get burned twice in a row like that, especially in scenarios when you know the opponent's throwing deep! Yes, it was 2 fluke plays in a row, but those 2 plays have turned Wisconsin from undefeated title contender to barely ranked also-ran.
Also, congrats to Ohio State on winning a big game. Now, go back to obscurity. We'll call you if we need you to upset Michigan or something.
Missouri-38, #16 Texas A&M-31
Analogy time! 2nd half : Texas A&M lead :: crowbar : kneecap
I don't think this requires any further explanation.
Rice-34, #17 Houston-73
Congrats to Houston's Case Keenum for taking the all-time TD record. Good job! Also, your strength of schedule is pathetic and your team will get destroyed the second it encounters a semi-competent defense. OK, bye!
Purdue-14, #18 Michigan-36
Purdue exists to defeat one ranked foe per year. This year it was Illinois, so Michigan got a free pass here. I'm curious to see if Michigan can beat Iowa this weekend, or if their 3-1 conference record is a result of playing 3 of the worst 4 teams in the Big 10 and one decent one. My bet is...well, you already know what my bet is.
Illinois-7, #19 Penn State-10
This wasn't so much good defense as "our offenses don't work really well in a snowstorm." The result is a game with literally 3 highlights: 2 TDs and a field goal. I'm all for low-scoring games, but not when they're incompetently played. Penn State is currently ranked much higher than they should be. However, JoePa did get the D-1 record for coaching wins, thereby surpassing Methuselah for that coveted title.
Iowa State-41, #20 Texas Tech-7
Texas Tech served its purpose last week. The team's entire season led up to that splendid victory in Norman, which has been followed by this debacle. Iowa State hammered Tech from beginning to end, and I can't put a silver lining on it because there isn't one. This isn't so much a "hangover" game as it is a "we're still drunk on victory, so much so we might have to go to the emergency room" game.
Colorado-14, #21 Arizona State-48
Very few things are consistent in this crazy world. But you can set your watch by Colorado football, ever since the 2006 season. I kinda wonder, now that conference expansion/realignment is well and proper nuts, if the Pac-12 regrets adding Colorado. Not Utah, yet. The Utes were in a non-major conference and they're in the process of building up a team. Colorado, meanwhile, has been in a major conference since at least 1982 and they're not competitive. The Pac-12 probably wishes they'd held out for a more Pacific-area team, like West Virginia or Miami...
Arizona State? Eh, it's so hard to tell about teams in the lowest 5 slots of the top 25. The Sun Devils' loss to Illinois looks worse by the week, but the only other team to beat them was a home-standing Oregon squad. Because ASU plays some seriously bad competition in their final 3 weeks, it looks as though the Pac-12's championship game will be our next opportunity to see how good/bad the Sun Devils are.
#22 Georgia-24, Florida-20
So, does Florida's climb to #12 in the rankings playing the likes of UAB seem silly to anyone else now after they went 0 for October? I thought so!
Georgia, meanwhile, has pretty much saved their coach's job. Richt seems like a nice enough fellow, but he'd best start competing for SEC Championships if he wants to keep his job for a long time. That may not be a fair expectation of anyone, but it's the way things are in Athens.
Ole Miss-23, #23 Auburn-41
Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt is going to be fired. He needs to start doing outlandish things to entertain us before his coaching career in Oxford ends. Kick punts on 2nd down! Fire live ammunition skyward to signal playcalls! Run over the opposing coach with a car on the field. That's what I'm talking about.
Auburn, meanwhile, is still riding high (OK, not high, but they're still ranked) based on the strength of their national championship last year. The Tigers really aren't the 23rd best team in the country, the computers just have a machine crush on them.
Kansas-0, #24 Texas-43
Kansas is awful. Texas still isn't that great and their personal propaganda network has benefited them about as much as Notre Dame's private deal with NBC has helped the Fighting Irish. That is all.
#25 West Virginia-41, Rutgers-31
Sadly, the return of Eric LeGrand didn't lift Rutgers to the victory they wanted over West Virginia, but for me (and many others) seeing LeGrand on the field again was the highlight of this game. Keep getting better, young man.
And now Tales from the Bottom 95
NC State has been really bad in the ACC this year...Syracuse smashed the Big East's lone ranked team last week and then went out and lost to Louisville...UNC dashed Wake Forest upon the rocks of reality...Again...Mississippi State beat Kentucky in a battle of unranked SEC teams. Hooray?...Notre Dame beat the snot out of Navy, so I guess one aspect of college football's back to normal...and poor Ol' Hawaii had to travel to Idaho. Yeah, think about that the next time you complain about going anywhere.
That's all for this week! See you next time!
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