It was a nightmare scenario for the ACC as three of their top teams went down to defeat at home.
Cal 29 Louisville 26 (OT) – The
Golden Bears gained bowl eligibility and a big upset in a dramatic way. After the Cardinals kicked a field goal with 11 minutes to go in regulation, the teams combined for seven punts and a kneel down that left them knotted at 23-apiece. In the top half of overtime No. 1, the ‘Ville lost six yards and had to connect on a 49 yard field goal. Cal achieved a 1st & Goal at the 8 yards line, but three short rushing gains had them at 4th down at the 3. Instead of attempting the chip shot field goal to continue the affair in more extra frames, coach Justin Wilcox opted to go for the win and succeeded.
This impending bowl invite will be Cal’s third straight appearance in post-season festivities.
Wake Forest 16 Virginia 9 – An 88-yard punt return and three long field goals (40, 50, 49) propelled the Demon Deacons to an upset on the road over the Cavaliers. Despite being outgained 203 to 327, the Double-Ds took advantage of three lost fumbles by the Wahoos. UVa had a chance at a touchdown on a 4th & 3 at the 5 yard line, but a pass attempt fell harmlessly to the turf with 13 seconds to go.
UConn 37 Duke 34 – The Blue Devils (5-4, 4-1) were not going to get an at-large bid. But believe it or not with one conference loss, they are still in the running for a spot in the ACCCG. How hilarious would it be if they could win at home vs UVa, @UNC, home vs Wake, and then the Championship game??
ESS-EE-SEE
Alabama 20 LSU 9 – The Tide defense stifled LSU, keeping them out of the end zone and stripping a pair of ball carriers of their prized possessions. It got so bad for Garrett Nussmeier, that the preseason Heisman favorite was benched in favor of a guy named Michael Van Buren.
Bama QB Ty Simpson missed a couple of passes, but also had some real nice ones that picked up some big chunks. It was no beauty pageant on offense but Bama came out on top and even covered the spread.
Vanderbilt 45 Auburn 38 (OT) – With Hugh Freeze on his way to Destin, the War Tigers had a little bit of fight in them. As we have seen several times this season, some teams have shown some inspiring play following the dismissal of the head coach. Aub was looking good up 17-3 with Jackson Arnold glued to the bench. Ashton Daniels would go on to complete 31 of 44 passes for 352 yards and 2 TDs in the game, while Jeremiah Cobb ran for 115. But the Swiss cheese defense let them down as Diego Pavia brought Vandy back and took a 4th quarter lead.
Daniels tied it up late at 38-all by throwing a 23-yard TD pass to Cam Coleman before finding Coleman again for a 2-point conversion with 5:27 left. However, the War Plainsmen had a pass batted down in the end zone at the end of regulation. In overtime, it took Pavia’s posse three plays to score a TD. Auburn could not answer with Daniels overthrowing Coleman in the end zone on 4th & 7.
This defense-optional game saw both teams gain well over 500 yards and 30 or more first downs. Aubie committed 12 penalties for 91 yards to 3-21 for the ‘Dores.
Kentucky 38 Florida 7 – It’s official: DJ Lagway is trash. He was 11 of 19 for a measly 83 yards with one TD and added THREE more interceptions to his FBS-leading total of 12. He was benched in favor of someone named Tramell Jones (9/17-60-0-0). Despite his performance, interim coach Billy Gonzalez says Lagway is still QB1.
UK lost three fumbles including a muffed a punt, but the Gators could not capitalize on the turnovers any more than one touchdown. The ‘Cats rolled up 401 yards of offense and did not punt.
Texa$ Tech 29 BYU 7 – The Red Raiders defense clamped down on the Coogs, allowing only 67 rushing yards and 188 through the air. The idiots who just look at the scores (AP voters, CFP Committee) will think this was a dominating effort. For the defense it was, but the O had issues moving the ball. The Mormons had three turnovers inside their own 25 yard line, but Tech could only manage field goals after each. The TT kicker accounted for 17 points on 5 for 5 on field goals and two extra points after two touchdowns from the rest of the offense. Tech also got stopped on 4th goal on the last play of the first half.
Oregon 18 Iowa 16 – Kirk Herbstreit was SO close to picking this score exactly right. On GameDay, he predicted a 16-15 Iowa win. But alas, Oregon drove 54 yards over the final 1:48 to boot a 39-yarder as time expired.
ESS-EE-SEE
Texas A&M 38 Missouri 17 – This one should not have been a big surprise. Mizz is down to their third quarterback, freshman Matt Zollers (7/22-77-0-0), who MU originally thought would redshirt this season. Even so, TAMU looked pretty solid in all facets of the game.
Georgia 41 Mississippi State 21 – UGA did their typical slow start thing by trailing 7-0 and 7-3 after 15 minutes. But then they opened a can of whup-ass with 21 second quarter points and cruised from there.
NOTHING TO ESS-EE-SEE HERE
Ole Miss 49 The Citadel 0 – Five first downs and 106 total yards for the visitors. 35 and 603 for the Ackbars.
OTHER STUFF
Rutgers 35 Maryland 20 – Five straight defeats for Mike Locksley’s crew. The road ahead looks rocky for Locks as the fans are no longer behind him. Maryland would owe him roughly $13 million should they fire him, which is the cheapest buyout in the Big Ten.
North Carolina 20 Stanford 15 – The Tar Heels blew a 20-3 lead but held on for their second consecutive win. Carolina must win 2 of their final 3 to get to a bowl: @Wake, vs Duke, @NCSU. The odds are against them.
Clemson 24 Florida State 10 – The Dabo Tigers (4-5) snapped a two game slide while the Seminoles (4-5) have lost 5 of 6 games.
Hawaii 38 San Diego Maradona State 6 – We have some mini-chaos in the MWC as the Rainbow Warriors handed the Aztecs their first conference defeat of the season. SDSU was in the running for the Participation Trophy slot of the CFP, but not now.
WHAT THE…?
Wisconsin 13 Washington 10 – Despite being a 10.5 point home underdog, the Badgers willed themselves to an upset in a game that ended in a snowy field rush.
TOP HEAVY B1G
Indiana 27 Penn State 24- The Brittany Lions snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory. With PSU going with a back-up quarterback named Ethan Grunkemeyer, this game started just as you’d expect. Indy led 20-7 despite QB Fernando Mendoza being a little flat (but SHHHH! Don’t tell the National Press!).
Following a PSU field goal, the Hoosiers punted and the Lions went 85 yards on 5 plays for a TD. Momentum had definitely swung. On IU’s second play, Mendoza was intercepted by former Bama reserve King Mack. PSU ran the ball right down Indiana’s throat and took a 24-20 lead.
After an exchange of punts, Indy got the ball back with no timeouts and under 2 minutes to play. On the first play, a Brittany got a big sack on first down and the guy spent a good 4 to 5 seconds doing a stupid dance and celebrating, instead of getting back on defense. An unprepared Penn State defense then gave up a 22 yard pass on the next play and it was basically over from that point. Omar Cooper made a phenomenal toe-tap catch on a high throw for the win.
…because nobody cares outside that ugly midwestern state.
Ohio State 34 Purdue 10 – anOSU gets win No. 9 but they had to do it with the starters playing most of the way against this 8-loss B1G doormat.
ACC FOOTBALL Y’ALL
DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE WEEK BY A QB
This was a huge momentum swing. Southern Cal drove the field for a touchdown and did not look back. The Trojans won 38-17.
CLOWN OF THE WEEK
How fitting that the Participation Trophy slot in the CFP might go to these clowns from JMU?
GOOFIEST WAY TO GAIN A YARD ON AN EXTRA POINT OF THE WEEK
QUICKEST SCORE OF THE WEEK
Of note, this kick returner played four seasons at NIU before transferring to Toledo.
WILDEST START TO A GAME OF THE WEEK
USF picked off UTSA on the first offensive play of the game. In the next possession, the Bulls had a scoop and score to go up 14-0 without an offensive play. When they finally did get the ball, the South Florida punt returner muffed the punt. USF won 55-23.
DUMBEST TAKE OF THE WEEK
Nicole stumping for Indiana and the Big Ten again. Shocker.
FREE PLAY OF THE WEEK
AMORAL FAKE PUNT OF THE WEEK
Southern Cal’s regular punter, Sam Johnson, wears No. 80. On this 4th down, the Trojans sent No. 80 out onto the field who threw a dart for a first down. However, it wasn’t Johnson, it was backup quarterback Sam Huard. According to Ryan Kartje of the Los Angeles Times, Huard – who is listed on So Cal’s roster as No. 7 – officially changed his number to No. 80 (the same as Johnson) for one week. Clearly, this was a premeditated play by Lincoln Riley and he probably knew it was against the rules. Of note, the Trojans do not have names on the backs of their jerseys which further sells the ruse. IMHO, this is dirty pool. About what I’d expect from Riley.
UPDATE: On Monday, the Big Ten declared that So Cal should have been penalized, citing an NCAA rule under “Unfair Tactics” that reads: “Two players playing the same position may not wear the same number during the game.” While it is a good thing that the conference came out and admitted the screw-up, where is the fine? These guys just keep pushing the limits of cheating with no repercussions (remember Dan Lanning intentionally using 12 players to run clock? No penalty. And of course Harbaugh).
BLOWN COVERAGE OF THE WEEK
BAMA FAN OF THE WEEK
What better place to celebrate a Championship than Titletown? If he ever wants to leave the hustle and bustle of Tinsletown, I am sure Kalen DeBoer could help him find a job…
1990s BAMA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
2010s BAMA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Crazy Tony.
BAMA MAMA OF THE WEEK
And they say Alabama can’t claim Jalen Hurts as one of their own. Pshaw.
FORMER BAMA PLAYER OF THE WEEK, TRANSFER CATEGORY
Four schools (juco, Bama, FSU, Oregon) in four forgettable years for Malik Benson. He will be remembered in Eugene for this catch.
NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD ENVY HAWAII FOOTBALL
DERP OF THE WEEK, FBS
Turf monster with a spectacular play on 4th down.
DERP OF THE WEEK, FCS
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
Yeah, I suppose that was a facemask penalty.
STOP TRYING TO BE GERMIE BERNARD
Another bro trying to steal Germ’s celebration. In all fairness, it was only Nate Frazier’s second rushing score of the year, so maybe he didn’t know what to do.
FOR YOUR OWN HEALTH, STOP TRYING TO BE NAJEE
STOP TRYING TO BE TEXAS A&M
Never copy the Fake Army, Bullies.
DUMB FIELD RUSH OF THE WEEK
Not much else going right in Madison. Might as well.
CREEP OF THE WEEK
This is not a parody account. Chaston Tavares is a radio guy in the New Orleans area and he seriously thinks these are good qualities in a college president. First off, this guy LIVES in the dorms? He plays hide and seek and throws pizza parties?? WTF??? Does he have pajama parties and play spin the bottle too? I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t want a creepy grown up man living in my kid’s dorm.
SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING SABAN WOULD SAY
I WONDER WHAT TEAM HE WILL BE ON NEXT YEAR
WORST KICKOFF RETURN OF THE WEEK
WORST SCRAMBLE OF THE WEEK
WORST PUNT OF THE WEEK
WORST OUTSIDE CONTAINMENT OF THE WEEK
I’D LIKE TO REPORT A MURDER
Stand there like a statue and that is what happens.
FAT GUY ON FAT GUY VIOLENCE OF THE WEEK
JMU vs Marshall
BAD PARENTING OF THE WEEK
Not like this, son.
PUNT OF THE WEEK
Overthrown SMU receiver vs BC.
SCARY
OLD COOT OF THE WEEK
Alabama fans may recall the trip to Wisconsin last season when the Badgers’ quarterback Tyler Van Dyke went down to a season ending knee injury. It kept him off the field the rest of last season and allegedly this season. He began his college career at Miami-FL way back in 2020. He redshirted that year. The next season, his Hurricanes opened the season against the Crimson Tide in Atlanta. Bama beat the tar out of the ‘U’ and Van Dyke got a few garbage snaps late in the game and would eventually take over the starting job from godawful D’Eriq King. He was a part-time starter through the 2023 campaign and would transfer to Madison. Now at SMU, he is filing for a 7th year in college at SMU or somewhere else. THANKS, EMMERT!
NAME OF THE WEEK
Is there a better name for a blue-collar tight end who plays in the Rockies in the hometown of New Belgium Brewing than ROCKY BEERS??
STATS OF THE WEEK
- Center Florida safety Phillip Dunnam intercepted three passes – one a pick six – against Houston, but his team still lost 30-27. They were the first three takeaways of the season for Dunnam.
- Purdue has lost 18 straight games against power conference teams. Their last win was ironically over Indiana to conclude the 2023 season.
- According to CBS Sports, LSU’s performance on Saturday was only the third game in the last ten years that the Cajun Tigers did not score a touchdown. All instances came against Crimson Tide teams.
THE WACKY WORLD OF CORSO GUEST PICKERS
These MFs. ESPN continues to troll Alabama with their College GameDay guest pickers. At location not rhyming with “Buscaloosa”, the guest picker has been someone with strong ties to the home school. Former Red Raiders QB Patrick Mahomes joined the crew in Lubbock for the BYU at Texa$ Tech game.
This Stanford Steve meathead continues his mediocrity.
Of note, Pat McAfee – who kept his clothes on this week – streamed GameDay live on his Twitter account. By the time the clock hit 11am/noon, it had 528.7K views. If you are without access to ESPN, he will likely do it again this week.
GD is heading to Pittsburgh for an elimination game between Notre Dame-Pitt. I predict Dan Marino will guest pick.
Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff was in Iowa City for Oregon-Iowa and Mark Ingram showed out! [Of note, Alabama has never played Iowa in football. Thus, this move by our King Gump is totally acceptable.]
BNK is headed to the Wrigley Field in Chicago for the Michigan-Northwestern game. GO ‘CATS!
ADOPT-A-TEAM
- Southern Miss (7-2) – The Golden Eagles held off rival Arky State 27-21. Texas State (3-6) comes a-calling.
- Georgia Tech (8-1) – After a bye week, the Yeller Jackets head to sad little Boston College.
COUSINS
- Jacksonville State (6-3) – The Gamecocks survived a trip to UTEP 30-27 and gained bowl eligibility. Kennesaw (7-2) is next. Both teams are 5-0 in the C-USA. Winner takes first place in the league
- South Alabama (2-7) – The Jags had a week off to prep for @UL Monroe.
- Troy (6-3) – The Trojans were also off but play at Old Dominion on Thursday as a 10.5 point underdog (?!?!).
- West Alabama (5-3) – Scott Cochran’s Tigers again tried to play Lincoln University (CA), but again it was cancelled by the visitors. D-II football, y’all.
THAT ANNOYING GUY WHO TAKES UP TWO PARKING SPOTS
- UAB (3-6) – The Dragons were shut out in the second half en route to a 24-17 loss to Rice. With North Texas and USF up next, it doesn’t seem likely Bham U. makes it to a bowl.
SALUTE TO OUR TROOPS
- Army (5-4) – The Black Knights snuck by Temple 14-13. The Owls punted the ball away with 9:53 left in the game and never got another snap as Army ran 18 plays to run out the clock. Tulsa come to town. A Cadets’ win means a bowl game.
- Air Force (3-6) – The Falcons staved off bowl elimination for another week with a win over San Jose Canseco State 26-16. Alas, a trip to UConn (7-3) might do them in.
- Navy (7-2) – With star QB Blake Horvath on the shelf, the Midshipmen could not hang with Notre Dame, 49-10.
I’m sorry to say this about Navy coach Brian Newberry, but it almost feels like he white flagged this game before it began, so that he could save Horvath for the rest of the season rather than attempt to pull a monumental upset. Horvath allegedly suffered the dreaded “upper body injury” toward the end of the loss to North Texas and was a game time decision against the Irish. Reports on Sunday already said that Horvath would likely return this Saturday when Navy faces South Florida.
Newberry was asked afterward about the decision not to play Horvath, who was dressed and participated in pregame warmups, but came out wearing sweatpants and a hoodie prior to kickoff: “I didn’t feel like he was ready to play and didn’t want to put him in harm’s way and make something potentially worse. I just didn’t feel comfortable putting him out there,” he said. Newberry grew annoyed when pressed for more details.
ELIMINATED FROM PLAYOFF CONTENTION
Eliminated: Washington State, Oregon State, Boston College, Cal, Clemson, FSU, UNC, NC State, Stanford, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Arizona, Baylor, Center Florida, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Sparty, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, Washington, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Miss State, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee
Endangered: Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Texa$ Tech, Georgia, Ole Miss, Tejas
Extremely Endangered: Duke, Louisville, Miami-FL, Pitt, SMU, Virginia, Arizona State, BYU, Cincinnati, TCU, Utah, Houston, Michigan, Oregon, Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Vanderbilt
A way WAY WAY too early look at the College Football Playoff (CFP) picture
THE 2
(Happy?)
- SEC – Seven teams from this conference have a shot at a slot in the CFP.
- Big Ten – anOSu and Indy keeping beating up on soup cans.
SECOND 2
- Big 12 – Texa$ Tech took care of BYU. The Red Raiders are the odds on favorite to win the conference.
- ACC – As mentioned above, Virginia and Louisville were both upset at home while picking up defeat No. 2. The conference would be hard-pressed to sell either of these teams as at-large picks in the CFP. Pitt (7-2) made a change at quarterback (Eli Holstein to Mason Heintschel) and have been on a roll. They host Notre Dame in an elimination game on Saturday.
AT LARGE
- Indies – On Saturday, we are all Pitt Panthers for a day with Notre Dame (7-2) visiting.
PARTICIPATION TROPHY CHAOS
Tulane 38 Memphis 32 – Green Wave QB Jake Retzlaff threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another in an upset win in the Liberty Bowl. This result sends the AAC into chaos.
- Tulane (7-2) Topped Northwestern, Duke, Memphis. Fell to Ole Miss by 35 and UTSA by 22.
- Memphis (8-2) Losses to Tulane and godawful UAB. Beat USF.
- South Florida (7-2) lost to Miami-FL and Memphis. Wins: Florida, Boise, North Texas.
- Navy (7-2) lost to the Irish and North Texas.
- North Texas (8-1) was off this week. They were destroyed at home by USF 63-36 a few weeks ago. The Mean Green’s schedule has been pretty soft – no Tulane, Memphis, or East Carolina. Their best win is probably Navy and they finish pretty weak too: @UAB, @Rice, vs Temple.
- San Diego State (7-2) blew their chance after losing to Hawaii.
- UNLV (7-2) is a longshot.
- The Sun Belt’s James Madison (8-1) in the playoff would be a joke. Their best win is Old Dominion. Good grief.
RANK ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM
Wow, how uninspiring were last week’s CFP rankings? The top six teams of the CFP rankings matched the AP Poll exactly. The next six were the same teams but just in slightly different order. Nos. 11 and 12 were Texas and Oklahoma. However because of the stupid participation awards, the ACC’s UVa got No. 11 and non-Power Memphis took No. 12. BYU is most likely out.
My predictions (NOT my picks):
- anOhio State
- Indiana
- Texas A&M
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Ole Miss
- Texa$ Tech
- Oregon
- Notre Dame
- Texas
- Georgia Tech*
- South Florida*
*Auto-bids.
The second College Football Playoff rankings will be announced tonight (Tuesday) on ESPN beginning at 6pm CT/7pm ET.
LET’S GO BOWLING!
- BYU’s defeat drops the number of undefeated team to three: Indiana, Ohio State, Texas A&M.
- There are now 60 FBS teams with 6 or more wins with 20 at 5 wins.
- Newly bowl eligible are Arizona, Cal, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Iowa State, Jacksonville State, Missouri State, Ohio, and Wake Forest.
- Missouri State is at 6-3 in their first FBS season.
LET’S GO BLOWING!
SHSU 21 Oregon State 17 – My gawd, what a train wreck of a game.
- With Sam Houston (1-8) upsetting Oregon State (2-8) and UMass (0-9) getting throttled by Akron (4-6), the Minutemen are the last team with a shot at the Triple Golden Sombrero of three sets of four strikeouts (aka 0-12).
- Boston College is 1-9. Oklahoma State (1-8) had a week off. They are both winless against FBS opponents in 2025.
- At 6-3, Ohio is the sole leader of the MAC. Every other team in that league is 5-4 or worse.
- Penn State (3-6) will need to win out to get to a bowl, which is not out of the realm of possibilities seeing how they finish @Sparty, vs Nebr, @Rutg.
- Michigan State, Penn State, and Purdue are combined 0-19 in conference play. So, NO, Big Ten fans. IT is not a “Any Given Saturday” situation in your conference.
- Colorado (3-7) goes from the national press darlings to eliminated by Nov. 8 after losing to a fellow slog in West Virginia (4-6).
- Welcome to defeat No. 7: Colorado, Syracuse, Stanford, Northern Illinois, ironically named Bowling Green, UTEP, Tulsa, and Colorado State.
Krazy Kristi’s “SHUT UP!” of the Week goes to ESPN for trying to convince YouTube TV customers to storm the gates so that the Mouse can get more money out of the Google-owned streaming service and in turn hand the expenses down to the consumers.
YouTube TV subscribers lost access to Disney and ESPN networks after Google and Disney couldn’t reach an agreement on a deal and the Mouse is acting like they are the victims here. YTTV is no innocent either but it is the strong arm tactics of Disney – NO COINCIDENCE IN THE MIDDLE OF FOOTBALL SEASON – which caused this impasse.
YouTube claimed that Disney threatened to remove its content if a new deal to pay Disney more money wasn’t completed before a Friday midnight deadline.
KK’s recommendation is cancel YouTube and get a Sling TV Day Pass on Saturdays. It costs $5 and allows 24 hours of access to the Sling Orange package, which includes ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPN3. This one-time fee provides 24-hour access without a long-term contract. You can also do a Weekend Pass for $10 (Friday-Sunday) or a Week Pass for $15 if you just HAVE to see those MAC games. The only problem is you don’t get the SEC Network.
HEISMAN HYPE
Fernando Mendoza was pretty flat all day long (14/21-131 yds-0 TD-1 INT, fumble recovered by teammate, sacked 2 times before the final drive) against Penn State. Unfortunately, the Heisman voters don’t watch the games. All they will see are the ESPN highlights that make him look like Superman on the final drive. During the Oregon-Iowa game, CBS predictably broke away from the game for a “Heisman Watch” which showed the Indiana QB throw the winning pass which was actually a phenomenal catch on a throw that was too high. He was 5-8 on the final drive and the final two completions were incredible grabs by receivers.
Heisman Odds per FanDuel:
- Julian Sayin (Ohio State) +160
- Fernando Mendoza (Indiana)+170
- Ty Simpson (Alabama)+500
- Marcel Reed (Texas A&M)+850
- Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt)+2000
- Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State)+2500
R.I.P.
Bama Nation lost a great one in Woodrow Lowe who passed away at the age of 71. Lowe starred at Central High School in Phenix City, Alabama, before enrolling at the University of Alabama in 1972. He was named a 3-time All-American linebacker in 1973, 1974, and 1975. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers and was a mainstay in their defense for 11 seasons (1976–1986). Lowe was named to the 40th and 50th Anniversary Chargers Teams, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
THE SICK REPORT
- Auburn safety and team captain Champ Anthony has suffered a leg injury and one unconfirmed source believes he may miss the remainder of the season. In 2024, he broke a leg in the Arkansas game that required surgery. There is no info on whether this new injury is in the same leg area as that previous incident.
- UVa starting QB Chandler Morris left the Wake Forest loss on Saturday night in the second quarter after taking a hit on a run. The Cavalier slid at the end of the 6-yard gain, which, once he went into the baseball slide, should have signaled the end of the play, but two Wake defenders both made contact with the QB and a 15-yard personal-foul penalty was assessed. He did not return to the game, but he was back on the sidelines in the second half in street clothes. He should be available for Duke this weekend.
- Florida Gators WR Eugene Wilson will miss the remainder of season following an ankle injury.
- Kentucky football’s defense will be down at least two normal starters in their push for bowl eligibility. Junior outside linebacker Sam Greene and senior safety Jordan Lovett will miss the rest of the season after suffering injuries in the win against Florida.
- LSU wide receiver Nic Anderson suffered a knee injury this past Saturday against the Alabama Crimson Tide. LSU interim coach Frank Wilson announced that the team received positive injury news on Anderson with the diagnosis better than initially expected. The injury does not require surgery.
DRAMARAMA
- Crazy times in Baton Rouge continue. In his first day in office last Tuesday as LSU school president, creeper Wade Rousse made the announcement to promote Verge Ausberry to athletic director. A day later, Rousse proudly announced on live radio “I removed the interim tag, he’s the acting AD. He has my full authority to go find us a coach for the best job in America.” As if things could not get more absurd in Red Stick, the BY GOD PRESIDENT of the school does not know the difference between :“interim” and “acting”. I suppose Thesauruses have not made their way down to the Bayou libraries quite yet. In addition, it seems like a pretty lazy choice after so much fanfare over making big changes, but okay.
- Ausberry is a former LSU linebacker who is in his 24th year with the LSU athletics department, serving as an associate athletic director to senior athletic director to deputy athletic director. Although, he has no experience as the head man handling all sports.
- From nola.com: “Ausberry was suspended for 30 days in 2021 and ordered to take training on a variety of topics, including sexual misconduct and domestic violence, following an investigation into the LSU athletic department’s failures to properly report and respond to allegations of sexual assault involving athletes. Police reports showed that former LSU football player Drake Davis texted Ausberry in 2018, admitting to hitting his girlfriend – a former LSU tennis player. Ausberry never reported the incident to police, LSU’s Title IX office or to other authorities, the investigation found. Ausberry told The Advocate in 2020 that he called Davis immediately after receiving the text and recanted his confession.” Nice. Looks like they have some great leadership at this school (sarcasm font).
- Auburn and Notre Dame have agreed to a home-and-home in 2027 and 2028 and the Aubies are acting like they invented playing tough out-of-conference opponents.
KOACHES KORNER
- Coaching changes:
- Arkansas
- Auburn
- Colorado State
- Florida
- Kent State – filled
- LSU
- Oklahoma State
- Oregon State
- Penn State
- Stanford
- Virginia Tech
- UAB
- UCLA
- The Advocate reports that Brian Kelly has rebuffed all lump sum buyout offers and requests that LSU pay the nearly $54M, a sum that would be paid in equal monthly installments through the end of his contract in 2031, or they will take the school to court. I don’t like the guy, but good for him.
- Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh announced last Thursday that coach Luke Fickell will return to lead the Badgers in 2026. UW responded with an upset of then-No. 23 Washington. Fickell’s team has @Indy, Illin’, and @Minnie remaining on the docket.
- It’s NFL news but the NY Giants fired coach Brian Daboll. He was Bama OC during the 2017 National Championship run. He will easily have offers as an NFL OC. Might he give college head coaching a try?
- Urban Meyer wanted to use “penis” as a website password, but it was rejected because it was not long enough.
- Fat F*** Phil Fulmer is on a strict diet of 1,200 calories per day. Nights, however, are a different story.
KOACHES WHO KAK:
- Former LSU head coach Brian Kelly.
- Auburn’s interim head coach D.J. Durkin.
TEEVEE
Alabama is losing sports anchor/reporter/tight dress wearer Simone Eli to WPIX 11 in New York City. She worked several years for CBS 42 in Birmingham and WKRG News 5 (CBS) in Mobile. Although she is from Genoa, Ohio and attended Bowling Green State University, she was always a good little converted Gump. We have word from Simone that she is taking her HS football coach husband, Bart Sessions, with her – which might be a good thing for Alma Bryant who went 3-7 this season.
THIS WEEK
Below is just a sampling highlight of games of interest this week. If you REALLY MUST know about the BIG Wyoming-Fresno epic showdown, click here.
Tuesday, November 11
Kent State at Akron 6:30/7:30 ESPNU – MACalacky
Ohio at Western Michigan 7pm/8pm ESPN2 – MACadoobydoo
Wednesday, November 12
Buffalo at Central Michigan 7pm/8pm CBSSN – MACreligious
Northern Illinois at Mass 7pm/8pm ESPNU – MAC-n-cheese
Toledo at Miami (OH) 7pm/8pm ESPN2 – MACandforth
Thursday, November 13
Troy at Old Dominion 6:30/7:30 ESPN – The only game on, unless you count the Jets-Pats (and if you do, may God have mercy on your soul.)
Friday, November 14
Clemson at Louisville 6:30/7:30 ESPN
Minnesota at Oregon 8pm/9pm FOX
Saturday, November 15
SEC
South Carolina at Texas A&M 11am/noon ESPN
Arkansas at LSU 11:45/12:45 SECN
Tennessee Tech at Kentucky 12:30/1:30 ESPN+
New Mexico State at Tennessee 3:15/4:15 SECN
Florida at Ole Miss 6pm/7pm ESPN
Texas at Georgia 6:30/7:30 ABC
Mississippi State at Missouri 6:45/7:45 SECN
* Aub and Vandy are off.
National – CFP Eliminator
** Notre Dame at Pitt 11am/noon ABC – GO PITT!!!!!
Up All Night. Ooh, Ah, Staying Up All Night ~ The Boomtown Rats
TCU at BYU 9:15/10:15 ESPN
#ALABAMA
- Watching highlight shows and listening to the national blabbermouths, it is pretty curious that they all raved about the Crimson Tide’s performance against the Bayou Bengals. It seems only Bama fans are talking about the less-than-perfect aspects of the game. Outside of the missed field goal, special teams have been strong. The defense is again among the top 10. The passing game is good. But Alabama has a running game problem. The Tide is 14th in the SEC in rushing yards per game with a paltry 111.89. They are 13th in rushing touchdowns at 10. Eight conference teams have 20 or more ground scores. Jam Miller had 8 runs for 13 yards against LSU and has 54 yards in the last three games combined. One big issue seems to be hesitancy of backs at the line of scrimmage. Just take the ball and fkn run! But you tell me. How does Alabama fix this liability?
- Kam Dewberry started the LSU game for Alabama at left guard, but he only finished the game with 12 snaps. Coach Kalen DeBoer said on Monday that Dewberry “got dinged up a little bit in the game.” But DeBoer expects Dewberry “to be ready to go” for the Oklahoma game.
- With Dewberry out, Geno VanDeMark (30 snaps) and William Sanders (22.) stepped in.
- Right guard Jaeden Roberts started the game at right guard and ended up seeing all 64 offensive snaps.
- Wilkin Formby was in on 48 plays while Michael Carroll played 16.
- Others of note per PFF: CB Dijon Lee (53), CB Domani Jackson (11), NB Red Morgan (24), NT Tim Keenan (24), NT London Simmons (24), DT James Smith (24),EDGE Justin Hill (15).
- Center Parker Brailsford was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week. He earned a team-high 92 percent grade from the Tide coaches, did not allow a sack or pressure on the night, and registered six knockdown blocks in the win.
- Yhonzae Pierre had two tackles… BOTH SACKS! If you had a prop bet on the redshirt sophomore leading the Tide in sacks this year, start planning on how you are going to spend that money. He has 6.0 for -67 yards. He also caused an LSU fumble.
- Safety Bray Hubbard had four solo tackles, 1 assist, a forced fumble, and a PBU.
- Punter Blake Doud again had a fine outing, pinning LSU deep all three times he kicked. He averaged only 40.0 yards per punt but more importantly, he left the Tigers inside the 20: fair catch at the 7, out of bounds at 17, and downed at the 2 late in the game.
- The Crimson Tide had only two penalties for 25 yards.
- The Alabama-Eastern Illinois game will be a 1pm/2pm kick and air on ESPN+. It will be Senior Day.
GAME 10: Saturday, November 15, 2025 – HOMECOMING
Alabama Crimson Tide (8-1) vs Oklahoma Sooners (7-2)
Tuscaloosa, AL ~ 2:30/3:30 ABC
- Editorial: Alabama is looking for some revenge on their disastrous loss in Norman last season. Okie had the week off following a big win at Tennessee. Will they be rested and ready to go or will they be rusty?
- Oklahoma Coach: Brent Venables is in Year 4 with pressure to win big after a 6-7 campaign a year ago. The defensive guru finally has a quarterback worth taking note.
- Oklahoma 2025: In September, Oklahoma defeated Michigan and Auburn. But then suffered their first loss by falling to Texas in the Red River Shootout. That was followed by a road victory at South Carolina. Then came the first home loss at the hands of Ole Miss. The Sooners rebounded with a surprising win at Tennessee. This past week, Okie was idle.
- Oklahoma injuries: Senior defensive end and team captain R Mason Thomas (6.5 sacks, two forced fumbles) was injured early in the Sooners’ 33-27 win over Tennessee, suffering a leg injury on his 71-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Linebacker Kobie McKinzie has been out since the Oct 25 loss to Ole Miss. Both are questionable.
- Series: Alabama is 2-4-1 all-time against the Sooners. Bama needs to fix that.
- Pre-Game Concert: Country singer Joe Nichols (“Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off”, “Brokenheartsville”, “Sunny and 75” )
- Honoring: Bama is honoring 1965 National Championship team. Honorary Captains are OL/TE Jerry Duncan and TE Wayne Cook. Go ask grandpappy.
- Weather: It should be a beautiful fall day in T-town with mostly sunny skies and a high temperature around 77°, but dropping to the 50s as the sun sinks in the west.
- TV Announcers: Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and Molly McGrath.
- Radio: Chris Stewart, Tyler Watts, Corey Reamer on Alabama Radio.
- Vegas: The FanDuel point spread has Alabama as a 6.5 point favorite with an Over/Under is 46.5.
- Thank you, Veterans. You guys and gals ROCK!
