I am not in the mood for the usual folderol.
Why it is so shall now become obvious.
In a fifteen minute interlude Saturday afternoon, Pitt snatched defeat from the proverbial jaws of victory in the final seconds against rival West Virginia. Call it Rich Rod’s Revenge.
Josh Heupel’s mind melt when he had Georgia by the short and curlies had Vols fans cancelling their reservations for Dollywood on Sunday. “No, honey, I don’t care if the kids are going to be crushed, we’re driving home to sulk. And no
stopping at Buc-ees either.”
And TDJ had to cover his eyes when a botched snap by a vet on a conversion hold was the difference in a last second L to A&M in South Bend.
Alabama, Kentucky, Miami . . . thank you.
But, like Artie Fufkin apologizing to the Tap, I’ll own my mess up.
Worst weekend of the season at 3-3. Still 16-8 for the entire campaign.
And, ye naysayers who give me grief for picking walkovers, get a load of this lineup. Only “gimme” is the Cards.
This week’s winners:
Texas Tech @ Utah. The Texas Tech Fightin’ Cody Campbells are 3-0. Three rummies at home. They got one of the biggest payrolls in the sport. Question is whether Joey McGuire can coach ’em up to championship level. Meanwhile the Utes Kyle Whittingham has proven he knows football. 21 years now in Salt Lake City. Two Ws for every L. Injuries did Utah in last season. So far this season they’ve won at Wyoming, never an easy place to play. Two stellar QBs, both completing over 70% of their passes. Only one pick between ’em. Beehive staters swarm the visitors at home, stay squarely in the conversation for a CFP slot.
Southern Methodist @ Texas Christian. I weigh in on this game every time it’s played. Like the last four seasons, which the schools have split. For a simple reason hearkening back to the Saturday afternoons of my youth. There’d be like one game on TV each week. Then a scoreboard show. And I’d know most all the teams, but there was something mysterious for my eight year old brain about two initial teams playing each other. SMU vs. TCU. Oh what small things we remember from back when. The Horned Frogs ruined Whatsisname’s debut on Tobacco Road. The Mustangs have been a bit wobbly so far. But, who’s that sneakin’ down the alley with a W? It’s the Mustangs, Sally.
Michigan @ Nebraska. So how did the Wolverines steal that multi million dollar rookie QB Bryce Underwood from LSU? Money. (And Connor Stalions was a HS coach.) Larry Ellison is now the richest man in the world. In one day last week thanks to a surge in Oracle’s stock price, his worth went up One Billion Dollars. Yes, Billion. His wife matriculated in Ann Arbor, loves Michigan. Supports the program. The Underwood kid is good. But, as he learned in Norman, winning on the road is tough. Especially against a hungry upticking league foe. I like the Huskers.
Illinois @ Indiana. Velly velly velly interesting, this one. The most intriguing battle of the weekend. One that matters between two peripheral CFP hopefuls. Brett Bielema’s Illini have the only P4 W among the duo’s six early victories, a smackdown of Duke. Though IU’s win over Old Dominion is looking a smidge more significant after that foe got Virginia Tech’s coach fired. Saturday Night Prime Time. Sell Out in Bloomington, home of Nick’s, one of theathletic.com’s Ten Best College Town Bars. Curt “Google Me, I can Schedule” Cignetti is always strong at home. But the visitors are the oldest, most stable program in the land. Only school in FBS with same QB, OC and DC for three straight seasons. Illini will slip out of town with a W.
Bowling Green @ Louisville. In a conundrum that is wacko college pigskin in a nutshell, the Falcons mascot is a cat. No, not some dude with a paper maché cat head, a real one. Described as a “three year old exotic Persian shorthair.” Which feline is being credit for BG’s best start in over a decade under their new coach. Were Falcons’ new HC Eddie George lining up at RB — even at his age — this one might be more interesting. He’ll be on the sideline wearing headphones. Petting the cat, one must suppose. Should this be a fraught battlle, the Cards have more problems than we might have been willing to recognize. U of L.
— c d kaplan
