OK let's see what's going on for the last weekend of Sept. Still more than a few fluff games for the big guys this week but also some really good ones. Friday: #12 PSU at Maryland ..PSU struggled to beat Pitt 2 weeks ago, looks different after Pitt took down undefeated UCF last week. Now they go to Maryland who was looking like a juggernaut in their first 2 games, then Temple beat them and made them look ordinary. Still it's the conference opener for both teams. PSU can't afford to lose a game like this. Arizona State at #15 CAL ...that would be surprising CAL. Undefeated CAL, CAL who went into SEC country and got the win. Now ASU is 3-1, one good win (at MSU) and one close loss to Colorado at home. Don't know what the spread is but I bet it's close. Saturday: Top 10 #1 Clemson at UNC ...after Mack's boys pulled off the upset vs South Carolina, and then beat Miami I think a lot of people were thinking...Mack's BACK. Losses to Wake Forrest and to App State...have tempered that and I'd expect that Mack has a beat down coming from Dabo and the boys. #2 Alabama vs Ole Miss ....there was a time when Hugh Freeze roamed the sidelines at Ole Miss this might have been a game that Bama might worry about. But not this year. They lost to Memphis (not really a bad loss) and they have the controversial loss to CAL ( which Pac12 officials says is not controversial). Tua will feast, maybe 'Bama will even find their running game. #3 UGA ...Bye, recoup before they head to Knoxville to open their SEC schedule. #4 LSU ...Bye ...getting ready for a visit from the Aggies...of Utah State! #5 Ohio State at Nebraska ...can you imagine the import of this game back in '95 when the greatest of all Husker teams won the Nat'l Champ. Ohio State with Bobby Hoying, Eddie George, Terry Glenn, Mike Vrabel and John Cooper. It'd been epic! Instead the Buckeyes non-conf big game was Notre Dame, who they beat! But instead I'm sure the Husker Nation is going to be out in full force, but it's a little early in the Scott Frost regime to expect to win. You can bet though that Husker fans will be gracious as usual to the visiting fans! #6 OU at Texas Tech ...Do you guys remember when Tech was ranked #2 going to Norman, after beating #1 ranked Texas earlier in a last second upset with a TD pass to Michael Crabtree that still get's Longhorn fans in a dither. Who threw that pass? None other than current USC OCoord Graham Harrell. This was the year that the Big 12 ended in a 3 way tie because of that game. Well OU had lost to Texas with Sam Bradford at the Helm and Colt McCoy running Texas..it was a shootout and the Longhorns beat the #1 Sooners. Well long story short it was all there for Mike Leaches greatest season and the Sooners schooled him 65-21! Then of course there was last years scoring fest where OU won 51-46, both teams were gassed at the end. But that wasn't as good as the 2016 Tech/OU game that ended 66-59 there were a couple of pretty good QB's in that game ...Baker Mayfield/Patrick Mahomes. I remember watching that game. Both defenses were totally gassed and nearly defenseless against the passing of those two guys. So what's the point....don't expect any of those types of game, expect a Jalen Hurts show. #7 Auburn vs Miss State ...one of those trap games for Auburn, after a draining win at College Station and before they and their traveling band of Clown/Refs go to Gainesville! #8 Wisconsin vs Northwestern...not a trap game they play Kent State after this game. They are on a roll...poor Pat Fitzgerald and Northwestern. #9 Florida vs Towson State...or is it the Washington Generals? #10 Notre Dame vs Virginia. Irish only top 10 team to face a ranked opponent. As I've said elsewhere Irish can't let Georgia beat them twice. Other games: USC at Washington. USC on it's 3rd 5 star QB this year, each one having one a game and each one looking better than the guy they replaced. If Fink goes down they are screwed though. But this is a huge game for both teams, both have 1 loss but Washington has 1 conference loss so they can ill afford to lose more than USC. Washington has one of the many QB transfers in Jacob Eason a former 5 star QB who went to Georgia first. USC WR are really really impressive from what I've seen and Harrell being an Air Raid guy they don't really worry too much about the running game. Washington State at Utah. A redemption game both teams were favored last weekend and both found ways to lose. Both now have 1 conf loss, although since the Pac12 = Parity maybe 2 losses still can get you to the Champ game. Utah known for defense, Wash State of course known for offense. Got to go with my buddy Kes and his boys to ease the pain of that loss last weekend. Kansas State at Oklahoma State OSU showed that even though the offensive cast is very new they are still the same traveling circus on offense led by the Coach with the best mullet in College Football. KSate however has transitioned to Chris Kleinman very well and are undefeated and ranked in the top 25. Remember Kleinman was the Nick Saban of FCS. I don't think anybody expected him to turn the team in 1 season, beat OSU and they might. Indiana at Michigan State ...Mich State the home of the 12th man! They however redeemed themselves by handling Northwestern last week. But they are awful on offense. Prediction...a FG could be important. Hopefully the MSU kicker will not forget to count the players before allowing the snap. Oh MSU is 3-1 so life isn't so bad in E.Lansing. Texas A&M vs Arkansas ...Aggies get well with the Hogs...when did they stop playing this game at Jerry's World? My spies tell me the folks at Texags.com were very unhappy with the loss to Auburn and some wonder how they can get out of the contract with Jimbo....I guess they don't remember the entire 75M is guaranteed. Mich vs Rutgers ...Wolverines get a chance to get well with the Knights coming to the big House. I hear that khakis are not the preferred pants for UM fans for the moment. Not sure who will start at QB, Maybe Bobda can shed some light. Is Patterson hurt? Other news... in a some what odd move Univ of Houston QB D'eric King and one of this top WR's have decided to redshirt this year and come back next year as graduate students. Neither are injured. They are taking advantage of the 4 game rule. I guess Holgerson has convinced them that the team will be great next year and they could finish out their careers on a better team and get a bump in the NFL draft. Also with USC QB's going down like flies their top recruit a 5 star QB from USC feeder school Bryce Young the nations top dual threat QB has flipped to Alabama. There is a trend in California now of their top players leaving the state. Of this years 16 committed player in the ESPN 300, all but 2 are leaving the state. Urban Meyer cna't get there soon enough to stop the bleeding!
Oh yeah Longhorns are off this week, gearing up for West Virginia! Maybe even getting an injured RB back for the game.
about the USC QB recruit situation.. The guy they lost was the nations top 2 way threat QB. Lost in all of the celebration that this kid chose Alabama, is the fact that USC silently picked up the commitment of the nations #2 pocket passer QB. For what they do now in Trojanland, they may come out winners here. I was watching the SEC Network while I was zoned out from treatment today. Both Finebaum and the terrible Greg McElroy's hot take program mentioned the staggering number of top flight Californians who are leaving California to play in the SEC. It's happening. Alabama's best RB is a California kid. Ole Miss' starting QB is a California kid. A few of Georgia top targets are California and Nevada kids. The Pac12 better get it together or they will get passed. Of course, if someone out there hires Urban Meyer, he'll put an end to all of that. Last note: I think there will be at least 3 upsets this week.
Do y'all really think Meyer is going to USC? Is there some labor law on how many times you can "retire"?
Oh god...our biggest attribute lately is we're nice. We're in trouble. Look for my sign Saturday morning...."Help us Obi Wan Corso"....
Good Lord, I hadn't paid attention until this week just how bad Arkansas is! Which of course means they'll drink some kind of superman juice and play out of their minds against the Aggies. We'll still win in OT (cuz they're still Arkansas), but I'll be a wreck before it's over.
Scott ...interesting that SMU got better when he left and Arkansas got worse when he took over. Now granted he took over a roster built for the Bilema offense and is trying to install his version of the Air Raid. But Ark people are going to have to be patient I think. This year though it's a bad year. But having been bitten by one of these bad teams myself at both Texas and ND, I know what you are talking about.
This was the week last season when Dabo sat Kelly Bryant down and named Trevor Lawrence the starter at Clemson. Of course Bryant wasn't having any of that and left the team and Lawrence became the Nat'l Championship QB.
The folks at Arkie are in for a long road (that is already about 7+ years running) They hired an offensive coach who's X/O expertise is diametrically opposed to the personnel he was left with. It will take a full reset to get the guys they need to run a cohesive offense and the defense isn't any better. I listened to one of their sports shows today, and he said they are starting two OL's who are in the 270+lb range. What was Bielemma doing??? Those guys are going to get totally blown up by the DL's they are about to face. I honestly felt sorry for them.
Some unscientific poll on which fanbase bugs you the most. Michigan, Michigan State fans among those who bug other college sports fans the most
I know you guys are wondering how the Hat is doing with recruiting. Here's an evaluation from InsideTexas 4. KANSAS - 84.24 Commits: 26 (1 four-star, 25 three-stars) Footprint: Miles is recruiting like a head coach whose last two stops were in Louisiana and Oklahoma. He's hitting Da Boot hard, as well as the deeper south while also targeting the Midwest. Overview: Kansas needs a huge re-stocking of talent and that's what Miles is doing with 26 players already committed. It's a long rebuild but he's finding guys who either have the requisite twitch or size, and in a couple of cases, both. The baseline athleticism of the Kansas roster is about to get a big jolt but a number of these players will take longer than normal to develop. Similar to Matt Rhule at Baylor you have to play the long game but so far I like what I see, especially on defense. I do wonder if Les Miles is getting a little antsy and taking too many players. It would likely be more wise to remain patient and spread these scholarships out over a few classes. Headliners: Dallas Bishop Dunne's Brennon Scott is the most well known name to Texas fans. He has a high floor and will likely be a Mike for the Jayhawks. I like two other linebackers in Taiwan Berryhill (NOLA) and Krishawn Brown (Tulsa). My favorite player in the class is JaCobee Bryant from Alabama. He's slight of build but light on his feet and not afraid to throw his body around. Another corner, Tanner Hooker (Shreveport, LA) also stood out. There are quite a few more interesting athletes including defensive end Chris Jones (Pompano Beach, FL). O-lineman Jackson Stoefen (Eldridge, IA) could grow into a good one. Currently there's no quarterback in the large class. Kansas should be an attractive destination for grad transfers looking for playing time.
I attended one UF-Bama game at legendary Legion Field and one UF-Bama SEC Championship game at the Georgia Dome and in both cases I had very good interaction with Bama fans.... so they are low on the bug me list and that is not reflected in this list. Some others on there I'm not so sure about.....
All of the Friday evening games were boring, except the Pac12 after dark episode which is 7-7 at the half. Good game.
CAL loses the and game and their starting Qb. Pac 12 has no undefeated teams left. I'm betting that all the top Pac 12 will have 2 losses and no CFP again.