OK after an off week everybody is back in play with real opponents! Starts with the Egg Bowl on Thursday night ...Ole Miss at Miss State. Ole Miss limping to the end and facing NCAA sanctions....alas this last chance for glory might go south in Starkvegas. BTW why is Starksville called Starkvegas? On Friday we have a bunch of good games. Miami travels to the frozen north to see if they can ice skate on Heinz Field and beat the Pitt Panthers and sew up an unbeaten regular season. I wonder when the last time a Miami Team played this far north in a meaningful game. Pack your mittens Hurricanes! Baylor at TCU ...The Horned Frogs only need to beat a Baylor squad who has had a terrible year and has only won 1 game. Froggies have a new and highly touted QB name Shawn Robinson who filled in for Kenny Hill in last weeks win vs Texas Tech. This kid is a stud. I don't know if Hill is ready to go or not, but Robinson is better. South Fla at UCF ...a big AAC game. UCF is undefeated, USF with veteran coach Charlie Strong has only lost 1 game. It's a very big game for both schools. Scott Frost is widely expect to leave UCF after the season for some big time job. Charlie Strong should stay where he's at. Iowa at Neb ...The Corn Bowl, or is it the Corn Flakes Bowl? I don't know, I just remember now deceased member JB Browning not liking Iowa and those Blue Plate specials when they crossed the border to Neb. Could be Mike Riley's last game as a Cornhusker, Iowa Coach Ferentz is likely to continue on at Iowa till he wants to hang it up. No clue how this game will go, nothing is really on the line. Texas Tech at Texas ...Longhorns qualified for a Bowl with the win last week at Morgantown. So the win isn't as critical as once thought. Still the team is on a roll and no doubt it would be a cherry on the top to finish off the season with a win. I think Sam Elhinger will be the starter at QB, and we'll see a freshman RB named Young. Red Raiders have bad defense we have had a bad offense most of the year. Nothing helps a bad offense more than an opponent who has a bad defense. Our defense though has been good and the Tech offense has been pretty good. I like our chances. Many are wondering if this is Klff Kingsbury's last game as the Tech HC? Not sure where they can go if they fire him though. It's not like it's a plum job. CAL vs UCLA. This is weird I always thought the USC vs UCLA game was the last game of the reg season for both schools. What happened. UCLA has fired Mora, and CAL is in the first season with their new HC. Who knows what will happen when the hippies from the north play the hippies from the south! Sat starts off with... Ohio State goes to Michigan. UM has no healthy QB's and Ohio State has a healthy and mean defense. Ohio State needs to win out and win out impressively to impress the committee. No better place to start than Ann Arbor. I predict a big win for the Buckeyes. Fla State at Fla.... it's been a long time since both teams were unranked and had losing seasons. Both coming off big wins in their scrimmages last week. So who knows what will happen here. Maybe after the game the Gators will announce Chip Kelly as the new coach. Georgia at Georgia Tech. Tech depends on the run oriented Triple Option. Ga has the defense and speed to beat that, I don't see UGA getting challenged very much here, that loss to Auburn stung a lot and I expect they will take it out on a decent Ga. Tech squad. Indiana at Purdue...actually a big game. Purdue with a win will become bowl eligible and finish 6-6. IU is already Bowl eligible, but I'm sure they just want to beat the hell out of Purdue anyway. Jeff Brohm has had a better 1st season than many expected and so has IU. Alabama at Auburn is the key game of the day. If Auburn is thought to be the best 2 loss team in the country, and Stidham their transfer QB has developed into probably the best SEC QB. Alabama has had a great season but has had some critical injuries to their defense and could be vulnerable. I have no doubt Auburn will come with a ton of engery and that Jordan/Hare will be a snake pit. If Auburn wins they are into the SEC Champ game and there is a good chance Alabama is out of the CFP, not absolute but depending on other stuff it could finish that way for them. Wisconsin at Minn...Badgers likely to sink P.J.Flecks row boat and go to the B1G Champ game unbeaten to face Ohio State. But they have to take care of business this Sat. West Virgina at OU. Baker Mayfield will not start and will not be a team captain for being jerk of the year vs KU last weekend. He'll play and since Will Grier is out for WVA they will cruise to the B12 Champ game vs TCU. Vanderbilt at Tenn ...no comment, SEC refs disguised as FEMA disaster relief specialist will keep the Vols in the locker room till late and force a forfeit. :shock: Oregon vs Oregon State ...is this the Civil War? Arizona vs Arizona State ...what is this one called? Desert War? Clemson at So.Carolina ...this is a big game, not just because these guys hate each other, but Clemson can not lose this game and stay in the CFP talk. Lose and they will still face Miami for the ACC Championshp but that would take them out as a 2 loss team..that loses late. Texas A&M at LSU ...huge game. Sumlin coaching for his job, and has to do it in Baton Rouge. While nobody is calling for Coach O's job lately I'm sure he wants and needs to get this win as much as the Aggies. Aggies looked pretty good in the 2nd half vs Ole Miss. Who knows. Notre Dame at Stanford. A huge game for the Irish, need to win to cap off a good year and settle the fans down a little bit. Stanford's fate is done, if Wash State wins the Apple Cup they are in the Pac12 Champ game and if Wash wins the Apple Cup they are out. ND game doesn't do anything to them, that said they want to win. There is no love lost between David Shaw and the Irish. The Apple Cup ...Puppies vs Cougars. A lot on the line here as well esp for Wazzu who if they win they are the Pac12N champions. Washington can't win the Pac12N no matter what, but they can screw over Wazzu.
Terry, minor correction. IU is 5-6, same record as Purdue. The winner becomes bowl eligible. The loser's season is over.
Terry, fantastic breakdown of rivalry week, appreciate the analysis... Couple things...I have no idea why Pitt is remotely considered a rival outside of the ACC and we play on the same weekend..??? Go figure... And your question was when the last time Miami played up North in a meaningful game...I took that as when was the last time the Canes played in temps that didn’t make the chamber of commerce smile. And....That old pirate Mike Leach of Washington St fame defeated the Hurricanes in El Paso in a snow storm in 2015, 20-14....
T, Phenomenal job again. My takes: 1. Egg Bowl: You never really can tell in this game, but I'll take State. 2. Pitt's commitment TO VERTICAL RUNNING OF THE DAMNED BALL (whew excuse me there, got caught up in a bad memory), will keep Miami reacting instead of attacking. Still, Pitt's QB is **** and the Canes are playing for a shot at a title. I'll take the Canes close. 3. Yawn... TCU in a boring game in a boring conference that will set up the imaginary title game with Oklahoma. I just hope they expose Mayfield in that game. 4. The biggest game in Florida all year doesn't involve the big 3. This should be a lot of fun. 5. Iowa and Nebraska... the corn bowl...Nebraska has shown they can score. Iowa really hasn't, except for the **** kicking they put on Ohio State.. I really want to take Nebraska in this game, but I just can't. Iowa, Iowa style. 24-17 with nap breaks and 30 minutes of unwatchable punting exhibitions. 6. Kingsbury is a fantastic coach, but his team sucks this year. Texas wins. 7. Cal and UCLA. These 2 really do not like each other at all. UCLA needs a win to make a bowl game. Cal's new HC is a fantastic defensive mind. I'll take Chosen Rosen to grab the bowl spot. 8. Michigan has Ohio State right where they want them. It won't matter though. The team that makes the fewest mistakes in this game wins. 9. Florida-Florida State.... double yawn. If points for punts was a thing, this game would have an arena score. Sadly, it's not a thing and this game still has to be played. Gators by a safety. 10. Tech always pulls out all the stops for Georgia. This game is almost always a down to the wire event. I see the same thing happening here this year. Tech will throw the ball 10 times, 3 of them on double reverse passes. Georgia will attack the triple option, and Johnson will just have his QB hit the vacated hole. Georgia's running backs will only be stopped by the tunnels at the end of the end zone. I'll take Georgia by 4. 11. Indiana and Purdue should be a shootout. There will probably be a few personal foul penalties in this game. The loser commits the fewest mistakes in the 4th quarter. I'll take Purdue. 12. Every time that people say you're playing Alabama and they are vulnerable, you best put a cork in your ass and stay seated otherwise it's going to get ugly for you in a hurry. That being said, Auburn has 2 stout backs. Alabama has 4. Hurts vs Stidham. Defense vs defense.... I think the OL who doesn't **** the bed wins this game. I'll take the Tide by 2. 13. On Wisconsin 14. No Grier, no Mounties. OU wins. It will probably be a little cold in Oklahoma this weekend so look for Mayfield to use fewer fingers for his crotch grab this week. 15. This game has been fun recently. It's not the best football, but it's finally becoming a rivalry... and that's good for football. 16. Oregon will win the civil war big. 17. Zona and ASU. The spork vs the fork. Zona's multifaceted attack vs Arizona State and whatever the hell it is they are going to do this week. I'll take State since they are at home. 18. Muschamp, if you have one hair on your ass, this is the time to show it. I'm bettering you don't and Clemson beats you by 10. 19. Sumlin is already fired. LSU will win this by 12. 20. ND Stanford.. if ND runs vertically and completes the play action pass, this game gets ugly. If we don't, or we mickey mouse around the perimeter, it'll be a slugfest. Irish by 20. 21. GOD DO THESE TWO NOT LIKE EACH OTHER. They both have mad genius head coaches, but one of them is funny. I'll take Wazzu on a hunch.
:idea: - ASU vs AZ is the Territorial Cup: since 1899. If AZ wins the ASU coach is toast. - re: Berkeley vs Westwood: our hippies are richer than their hippies. - Oregon vs. Oregon State is the Civil War - David Shaw is a talented, arrogant arse. He's perfect for Stanford.
That Nick Fitzgerald injury was pretty gruesome. Was surprised to see him come out of the locker room to cheer on his team. Hope he's OK and back for 2018.
You can do it Corey...all ya gotta do is hit the button and match it up with 25 big ones... Besides, we beat Purdue and they lost to them. Gonna be 65 and no wind today...thats all the motivation you need. It's Mike's Ice Cream party today...bet the farm and the whole field of corn.
I am not completely shocked by the Pitt upset of Miami. Road game up north in cold weather and an opponent that they might have thought they could walkover is a receipe for an upset. Getting crazy here at the end.
Big fight in the Baylor/TCU game, every player on both teams were assessed unsportsmanlike penalty... never heard of that before. Big 12 says they will review the film to see if additional penalties and/or suspensions are warranted. Baker Mayfield not involved! 8)
To show my maturity... I had to go watch the Pitt/Miami game in the bedroom so I wasn't near my wife and daughter (the boy's out fishing) and they didn't have to witness me throwing my own poo like a GD monkey and cursing at the television because Pitt, with about half ND's talent, DID EXACTLY WHAT I SAID YOU NEED TO DO TO BEAT MIAMI AND THEY DID IT. Oh no, instead we hiked up our skirt and waited for a nice gentleman to come help up across the mud hole. Not to take anything away from Ralph and they Canes. They whipped our ass. I just could have lived with it a bit more had we ACTUALLY TRIED TO WIN THE GD BALL GAME instead of running around the perimeter and dropping back in an umbrella on defense allowing Miami to have their way with us. (That was the 2nd time we hiked up our skirt in that game).. Patient, vertical attack of Miami's front 7. You win a football game in an accumulation of individual plays and that son of a bitch Kelly just sat there with **** running down his leg while he played for one big play after another. But I digress, pounding Miami vertically negates their speed which is undeniable and it forces their LBs to stay close to the LOS rather than flood passing lanes so they can break out that damned turnover chain. The only thing that we turned over in that game was ourselves and we spread it wide. Hats off to Pitt for actually watching film, formulating a game plan and sticking to it. Where I was wrong about Pitt was the true freshman making his 1st start. That kid was the 3rd biggest reason they won that game. Pitt won at the LOS and their defense attacked Miami's OL to take away the running game, forcing their QB to beat them passing. But right after those two, that freshman QB did what he had to do when he had to do it.. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to sit over in my corner and resume eating bananas.
Corey I agree 100%, I added a picture of our last regular season game with Pitt... Picture of coach Richt being escorted off the field....
Corey gets it. And I get Corey. The kid takes a lot of flak ( although I'm guessing his old man is grinning while he types his shots at him ) . 8)
Bielema fired at Arkansas. Not a shock of course. He was so successful at Wisconsin, but couldn't get it done at Arkansas.