Time to put week 7 behind us and look at week 8. There was a lot of shaking up in college football last weekend that's for sure. Big games this week. So.Cal at Notre Dame...this amounts to an elimination game for the playoffs, both are 1 loss teams and a 2nd loss pretty much eliminates that team from the playoffs even if they win out. Irish are a slight favorite at home. Oklahoma State at Texas...another important game. Texas of course just fighting for a winning season, but OkState still has a shot at the playoffs and the B12 championship, a loss to Texas ends that. Texas needs to continue to be competitive in these games if they don't win. Certainly OKState is the favorite, but I think Texas can give them a battle and maybe pull off the upset. Tenn at Alabama .....who knows what will happen here, it's not like Tenn doesn't have the talent, they have not recruited like Alabama but they have consistently had top 10 recruiting classes during the Butch Jones years. It could be ugly or Tenn could bow up and make it a game. I can't see Bama losing but maybe Tenn can make it interesting. I wonder when Tenn has ever been a 34 point underdog. OU goes to a fading KState that was manhandled last weekend, OU has to keep winning they still have a shot at the playoffs, they need big wins to offset the stink of that Iowa State loss. Michigan at Penn State ...this is a huge game for both teams, Penn State is sitting pretty and can't afford to stumble and Mich needs to win out to have a shot at the playoffs. Mich offense right now is not good, Penn State offense is lights out, and there will be a sellout riled up Penn State crowd all in white on Sat night. Colorado at Wash State....Cougars need a bounce back after that beat down by CAL. Colorado coming off a win vs a woeful Oregon State team. Did you know the Wash States Martin Stadium only holds 33K fans? Syracuse at Miami...Did Syracuse use up all it's magic last weekend vs Clemson? Maybe, but Miami has been using magic to win it's last couple of games as well. LSU at Ole Miss ... used to always be played on Halloween weekend. Has LSU and Eddie O turned a corner? Ole Miss not very good so might not be able to tell with this game. Indiana at Mich State ...IU fought tough against Mich last weekend, Sparty has to keep it going after some really good wins to show that they are back. A couple of keep and eye on games of not a lot of intereste. UCF is going to Annapolis to play Navy, Navy option game is always tough, the Middies lost last weekend to Memphis and UCF is undefeated at 6-0 with 3 games that were cancelled and only 1 was rescheduled that was Memphis who they beat a few weeks ago in the rescheduled game. Scott Frost the UCF coach is a hot property right now. Navy at 5-1 leads the AAC West while UCF is tied with Charlie Strong's USF in the East both undefeated. Another game to keep an eye on is Boston College at UVA, Bronco Mendenhall seems to have UVA going in a good direction being 5-1 so far, and BC is coming off of a great game vs Louisville, they destroyed Lousiville their RB AJ Dillon had a hell of a game. TCU plays woeful Kansas at home and should be able to name the score. Where are we with the Heisman? Well one thing is for sure Lamar Jackson will not repeat. Penn State RB Saquon Barkley has everybody's attention right now and is the leader. Baker Mayfield still in it, as is Sam Darnold but both those QB's need to finish strong and have their teams finish strong. The Stanford RB Bryce Love is sort of forgotten out there on the West Coast as is Rosen the UCLA QB. Barkley has several big time games coming up with Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State ...so he'll have the eyes of the voters if he continues to perform well.
If you can get 3 to 1 odds, take Bama and give up 50 points. Tennessee has not scored a touchdown in 10 quarters. Bama will be playing 3rd tuba at QB position and the whole percussion section on offensive and defensive lines by the 2nd quarter. The cheerleaders (female) will be wide receivers after the 1st half.
I needed a bye... I've got a million honey-do's piled up and this may give me a chance to put a dent in them. C'mon Tom your kids have more pride than that.
Feelin that same frustration Tom about UF vs. Ga. And relieved that this year I don't have to watch a Gator beatdown by Bama in what is supposed to be a game of "champions" in Atlanta. At least Ga vs Bama will be competitive until the 3rd quarter.
This game with Alabama probably seals Butch Jones fate at Tenn, I don't know if it's better to let a guy go midseason or have him endure the taunts and negativity that come his way when he coaches out the season. It's widely assumed that letting a guy go early lets the AD contact other coaches through their agents and negotiate, which many/most coaches won't do when the old coach is still there. That was supposedly the logic when the Gators fired Ron Zook early, got them a head start in the Urban Meyer sweep stakes....it worked then. But last year when LSU let Les Miles go early to get a head start on the Tom Herman sweep stakes it didn't work out and now they have Eddie O. I feel for guys who know they are going to be fired, and things are going badly on the field. I can't even imagine being one of their kids who has to go to school everyday knowing that most of the kids hate their dad and want him fired. The wives also probably have to deal with negativity. Happens all over the Sports world, pro and college and even HS.
I think everybody has heard of the minor trend of bringing in former football players to work on the Scout team. I think Alabama has done it with one of their RB's from the past, and some other teams have also brought back former stars. But this is the first time I've seen a coach taking snaps. This short clip is of UCF Coach Scott Frost who was a Option QB at Neb back in the good old days...taking a snap on the scout team simulating the Navy offense. He looks like he could suit up and play right now. Scott Frost at QB on Scout Team Video on Twitter http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/ucf-knights/knights-notepad/os-sp-ucf-news-1018-story.html
This is the 3rd Saturday in October. For those of you who are not aware, that is the traditional date of the Alabama / Tennessee game. MCG, for your information Tennessee is really one of our traditional "rivals". Win/loss records do no not matter. 8)
I am very disappointed in this season. I am not on the fire Butch Jones bandwagon. My disappointment is in the so called Vol fans that will add to the problem booing the team from the stands. What possible good can that do. They are not part of the cure. This team has lost all confidence and there is no getting that back.
Tom, at least your fans are showing up for the games, unlike Notre Dame, many of whose fans are whores who don't care if there are 35,000 fans of the opposing team in the stadium as long as they get the price they want for their tickets. :evil:
Tom I'm with ya on that. There is still a small but vocal contingent of Aggies that believe it is their destiny to choose our next coach, and they insist it needs to happen NOW. Even tho it's obvious changes have been made to the program that are bearing fruit and improvement. NOPE, WE KNOW BEST! FIRE HIM! :evil:
"MCG, for your information Tennessee is really one of our traditional "rivals". Win/loss records do no not matter." Kp, During the Spurrier and Meyer/Tebow years the fact that Bama and UF got together for such high stakes many times.... with UF actually winning a few... quite a few... made most Bama fans sit up and take notice when the UF game was on tap. Now.... ****... we're Vandy as far most Bama fans are concerned... and I don't blame em for that assessment. Tenn for Bama on the other hand is like Georgia is for UF.... an enduring rivalry that most times is quite contested.... but not this year.
MCG, that's kind of my point. The Auburn and Tennessee games are just different to most avid Alabama fans. Every year. No matter the records. In my mind that's what makes them rivals as opposed to opponents. 8)
Jon Gruden to take the Tenn job and return to coaching!! That's the hot internet coaching rumors! Not till next season of course. His wife is a Tenn grad and former cheerleader, he was a Grad Asst for the Vols and that's how he met his wife. Notre Dame fans will be outraged as many of them have desired to have Gruden come to South Bend, way back when he was still with the Oakland Raiders it was rumored he would be the next Irish HC but that the Pres of the Univ nixed it because he had to wait till after the end of the Oakland season and he thought they needed somebody right away. I think it was after Davie was fired. Since then his name is always on the top of Irish fans wish list, right after Nick Saban and Urban Meyer!
I agree with all of that Kp. We play LSU every year but that doesn't make em Georgia or FSU. Seems like the media namely ESPN and CBS were trying this year to make it more than it is.... just a highly competitive annual game that we do get up for.... but not a heated rivalry, etc.
I got married on the 3rd Saturday in October. Do you know how I got people to show up? I paid for an open bar and more importantly, my buddy and I hooked up a giant flat screen right next to the bar and appropriated the signal from a nearby business. The only time the TV was off was during the actual wedding. Like, we cut the TV when the bride was coming down the aisle and we put it back on as soon as the ceremony was over. I had my friend's BBQ joint (Whitt's) cater the event. Literally the only way I could get people to our wedding was free booze, free BBQ and a big screen with the game on... Tennessee is a big damned deal here.
Whitt's BBQ is the best on the planet. When Cindy and I were traveling by RV, we would go to Whitt's every trip to Tennessee. We would leave Tennessee with 10 pounds of pulled pork in the fridge. We still stop for a pulled pork sandwich on every trip but can't bring any back with us.