Things getting real now, only a couple of weeks left in the regular season. Every game matters, whether for the CFP or just angling for the best bowl invitation! 1. Georgia ..off week..that is playing Charleston Southern 2. Alabama vs Arkansas Hogs aren't a pushover this season. Tide likely to win of course but if they don't get off to a good start this will worry kp! 3. Cincinnati vs SMU The ponies have a terrific offense with OU transfer Tanner Mordecai having a great year as their QB. Bearcats need to bring their A game or they could be in trouble. Although after running off 7 wins to open the season SMU is 1-2 in the last 3 games. 4. Oregon @ Utah Utes are a really good team, at home in SLC at altitude in Nov this will be a real test for the Ducks. Both teams are 6-1 in Pac 12 play, this game is huge for both teams. If the Ducks lose they can pretty much kiss the CFP good bye. 5. Ohio State vs Mich State The Spartans have ruined the season for the Buckeyes before, can they do it again? The loser is out of the CFP race, out of the Big 10 Championship race, so we might say the stakes are high here! Both teams are healthy I believe. Should be rocking at Columbus and I think there will be real Midwest November weather this saturday. Senior Day in Columbus? 6. Notre Dame vs Ga. Tech Irish should roll. 7. Michigan State 8. Michigan @ Maryland The Terrapins are a .500 football club, Tualia Tagovaiola is a good QB, who has been erractic this year. If he's hot he could give UM some problems. If UM is hung over from the emotional win at Happy Valley, this could be a closer game than they want. No doubt though UM can not lose another game. 9. Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech OSU in a position where if they win out they could in a really wild finish end up in the CFP, but realistically they are playing for a New Years 6 bowl and a B12 Championship. Tech has a new HC and he's an assistant to Sonnie Cumbie the interim HC, I'm not sure that has ever happened. But they got a good win at the bell with a big FG, so there is some fight left in the Red Raiders. OSU has excellent defense, which is always needed on the road. 10. Ole Miss vs Vanderbilt This shouldn't be very close for Ole Miss, Vandy is not a good team. 11. A&M open date vs Praire View A&M Die is cast for the Aggies this year. 12 Wake Forrest @ Clemson No doubt Clemson needs to win, so does Wake. Clemson for all its problems does possess a defense something that Wake does not. Clemson offense should get well vs Wake. A shootout? That seems to be the only way Wake wins this year, but maybe that Clemson defense shows up and puts them on the Short end of any shootout. Wake is undefeated in ACC play so a loss here isn't fatal to their hopes of playing in the ACC Champ Game. 13 Baylor at KSU Nothing ruins a big upset more than a letdown in the next game. Kansas State is a solid team that Baylor can not overlook. This is a must win game if the Bears are to make the Big 12 title game and keep hope alive for a New Years 6 bowl FSU @ BC Two teams that are trying to finish strong. BC has looked good since getting Phil Jurkovec back at QB and FSU coming off a big emotional win vs Miami. A big game for both to finish the season on the upswing. Texas @ West Virgina Under usual circumstances its always a rough trip to Morgantown, but lord knows what Longhorn team will be making the trip. The no heart bunch of losers, or a team with superior talent who is embarrassed by that loss to KU and is focused and ready to play and play for 4 quarters. Another loss and I can't imagine it in Austin. Nebraska @ Wisconsin Huskers know that their coach will be back, they are however short some coaches as their offensive staff was fired. Badgers on the other hand seem to have found their mojo and are playing well. They can't afford to lose to the Bugeaters. Huskers still shooting themselves in the foot at critical times. If Ohio State couldn't put them away easily I don't think the Badgers can either, another game down to the wire, what happens if the Huskers don't shoot themselves in the foot? A big upset? Virginia @ Pitt A very big game for the ACC Coastal, Pitt in the drivers seat but can't afford to lose to UVA. Big question is will Brennan Armstrong play at QB for UVA. He didn't against the Irish and without him the offense was rudderless. If he's healthy and plays this could be a very good game. If not Pitt should roll Fla @ Missouri Missouri isn't really very good, but the Gators are a team in trouble. Like Texas which team will make the trip, the more talented bunch of losers or an embarassed team ready to show people that they haven't quit.
This just in, Justin Fuente is out at Va.Tech. He was great at Memphis, got off to a good start at Tech but the wheels came off in the last few years. Tons of players left the program was an indication that something was wrong besides losing. Also Miami fired their Ath Director. Speculation on Manny Diaz is high although since he went with Tyler Van Dyke at QB they have been doing better but that loss to FSU last weekend had to have hurt.
I could argue that the die was cast for the Aggie's season when Haynes King broke his leg. We found that we have a sericable backup, but he's not dynamic enough to make the offense really run for a whole season. All eyes on the Big 10 this week. Clarity will begin for the CFP after the dust settles Saturday night. I'm hoping SMU knocks off the Bearcats. I don't want to see them get housed in the first round to prove their schedule didn't prepare them to face the best. Heck OU has already shown us that recipe several times.
Another gut shot for the Longhorns. AA RB Bijan Robinson has a season ending elbow injury. Season that started to well for him, Heisman talk, some really great games then as the team went down so did he and now this injury. He'll be back next year and hopefully the Longhorns will have found their hearts and courage by then as well.
I imagine we'll see more firings soon, as schools try to get a coach in place ahead of the early signing date. No Coach on the early signing date can certainly mean some of the players who have given their verbal won't sign and look at schools that have offered in the past and will have a coach returning.
The committee didn't have any big changes. OU dropped 5 slots, ND and Oklahoma State moved up to 8 and 9, while Wake Forrest moved back into the top 10.
Texas AD, Chris Del Conte, on depth issues due to recruiting issues and keeping/developing them. I saw another prediction not from the AD that there is going to be some roster churning in the portal, some expect as many as 33 new players between recruits and the portal. With all that said, it's important that we discuss the reality of the situation facing Coach Sark and our Football program. It came up in Monday's press conference and is something we've talked about. This isn't to cast any blame or make excuses; it's just factual that we have some real depth issues. As injuries mount, it's even more glaring. When you look at it, 52% of our 2018 signing class and 46% of the 2019 class are no longer here. That's nearly half of the student-athletes from two classes that were ranked as the third-best in the nation and should be making up the juniors and seniors on our roster today. Overall since 2018, we've lost 33 percent of the last four classes. That's a lot of attrition to manage. And when it rains, it pours. We had 25 guys miss practice last week due to a flu bug and virus and missed three others who were out due to COVID-19 protocols.
Since there is some chance that the Irish end up in the CFP, not a big chance, but a chance, so it's a topic of discussion. Interestingly there is a large contingent of Irish fans that hope that we just miss out on the CFP and go to a NY6 Bowl game instead. Now last year there would have been a uproar if we had missed out and A&M got the #4 slot instead of us. This year a lot of Irish fans just feel like while we are a pretty good team that given a month to prepare that Georgia (assuming they are #1) would just embarrass us with their defense. Our offense while pretty good isn't at the level that it would have to be in order to keep us in the game. So going to a NY6 Bowl and playing a team that is more on our level gives us a chance to win and finish the season on a good note.
I was listening to ESPNU talk about the 2 really significant games this weekend Ohio State/Michigan State ..basically an elimination game. But they said Michigan State has a terrible pass defense and that Ohio State is going to score a ton of points on them with their passing game. The Spartans are 18 point underdogs. Hard to imagine that there is that much difference between the # 5 ranked team and the #7 ranked team. Oregon/Utah Again an elimination game for the Ducks, lose and they are done. The #3 Ducks are 3 point underdogs at Utah the #24 ranked team, again like the Ohio State odds this is really very surprising. But the narrative is that the Utes are a team on the rise and have been playing really well and being at home and their only conference loss was on the road to a good Oregon State team. Change at QB in game three after starting 1-2 has turned the team around.
That loss of Bo Nix pretty much assures Alabama that they will finish the season 11-1 and play Georgia in the SEC Championship game. I read an article on the Houston Chronicle website about A&M. Very critical of Jimbo and his offense, not sure how fair it is given they are playing the season with a backup QB though. COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M’s offense went seven quarters without scoring a touchdown during a critical stretch of SEC play. The Aggies’ inability to reach the end zone this season is the overwhelming reason they’re no longer in contention for a division or national title. The man behind the offense is the same man responsible for A&M’s revival as a contender in the first place. And A&M fans are finding out what Florida State fans long knew: The otherwise dynamic Jimbo Fisher, who’s also a rancher, is as stubborn as his cattle when it comes defending his plodding offense. On the Aggies: Fisher's offense has held back A&M this season Next year with Haynes King healthy and I assume most of the OL coming back that the Aggies will be a lot more dynamic on offense. They also have a stud QB (Conner Weigman) in the 2022 class who I wonder if he'll end up the backup rather than Calzada? He's also a stud baseball player. Hopefully the MLB draft won't take him away from College Football.
Again listening to ESPNU when the subject came up of #9 ranked Oklahoma State, what would happen if they win out, that would mean they would beat Texas Tech, OU and win the B12 Championship game. Would they jump over Notre Dame if we also win out? They certainly would have played a tougher finishing schedule. If they beat OU then unless Baylor picks up another loss they would play Baylor for the B12 title, they beat Baylor earlier in the season. Assuming Ohio State beats MSU and Utah Beats Oregon, both ND and OSU win this weekend, the CFP standings could look like this. 1. Georgia. 2. Alabama 3. Cincinnati 4. Ohio State 5. Michigan 6. Notre Dame 7. Oklahoma State. If the following weekend Oklahoma State beats OU while ND beats Stanford they could swap places and slip into the 5-6 slot with the winner of the Ohio State/Michigan game at#4. 1. Georgia 2. Alabama 3. Cincinnati 4. Ohio State/Michigan Winner 5. Oklahoma State 6. Notre Dame 7. Ohio State/Michigan Loser 8. Oregon 9. ?? 10. ??
Just doesn't seem like there are any sure fire Heisman candidates this year. All these players are great players but for some reason none of the seem to have "it" that you sort of expect from a Heisman winner. The closest I think is Kenneth Walker III with that amazing game vs Michigan but he's been quiet in the last 2 games. A big game at Columbus will be a boost. He's maybe the best story though so far. Current Heisman odds, per Caesars: QB Bryce Young (Alabama) +180 QB C.J. Stroud (Ohio State) +280 RB Kenneth Walker III (Michigan State) +280 QB Matt Corral (Ole Miss) +700 QB Kenny Pickett (Pitt) +2,500 QB Caleb Williams (Oklahoma) +4,000 RB TreVeyon Henderson (Ohio State) +4,000 QB Sam Hartman (Wake Forest) +5,000 QB Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati) +6,000 DL Jordan Davis (Georgia) +8,000 LB Will Anderson Jr. (Alabama) +8,000
Wow....Mel Tucker is getting ready to be paid big $$ by Michigan State... Michigan State and football coach Mel Tucker are closing in on a new contract, one that will make him among the highest-paid coaches in college football. A source close to the negotiations confirmed to The Detroit News on Wednesday that Tucker will get a 10-year, $95 million contract that will make him the highest-paid coach in the Big Ten and the second-highest paid coach in the country behind Alabama's Nick Saban, a former MSU coach who makes $9.753 million. The new deal would also increase the salary pool for assistant coaches, which was at $6 million when Tucker was hired. The source requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deal. The deal is expected to be announced as early as Thursday, according to the source.
I'm a little torn as far as the CFP is concerned. Certainly we are not as talented as we have been the other playoff seasons but then again After Ga. there are no other real quality standouts. Being in the CFP has to help in recruiting and the experience has to be good for the younger players. I'm willing to bet that the same cranks that always complain about recruiting, don't want us to go. If we could get a rematch with Cincy I'd be all for it but if our O line is going to have to face Ga......nope! On a related note, as the post above points out, November is when you learn about how deep teams are. ND was missing a number of key players last Sat. but the bench did a great job filling in. This is the time of year when programs like OSU and Alabama show how deep they are.
I was just fine with how things went last year ( as I said then ND had the better resume so I wasnt offended that they got in over the Aggies) and was very happy to win the Orange bowl as opposed to being squashed by #1.
If I was going to be critical of Jimbo it would be that he's kept our WR coach, not how the offense has underperformed this year. You can only do so much with a limited QB. But when VERY talented WRs continue to do things poorly/ inconsistently, I lay that on their position coach. He must be a heck of a recruiter cuz he ain't much of a teacher.
Here's a first, the B12 has taken action against the Texas Tech radio crew over things they said during the broadcast. I wasn't aware that a league had power over a teams radio crew. The Big 12 on Wednesday issued a public reprimand of the Texas Tech football radio announcers for their call of Saturday's 41-38 home win over Iowa State. Play-by-play host Brian Jensen and analyst John Harris were critical of the officials during the game, going so far as to list off individual names. As a result, the league also said Jensen and Harris will be removed from calling this weekend's home game against Oklahoma State.
About Mel Tucker, he's done a great job cleaning up the mess that Dantonio left. Seems to me that MSU doesn't want to lose a coach that's showing great promise. They had a pretty good on a while back but he left for LSU. What ever happened to that Saban guy?