I will confess; this was the first Saturday where I was able to, unfettered, watch an entire day's worth of college football. Don't yell at me. I play rugby and our games are on Saturday. So lay off; I've been watching during Saturday evenings and nights.
Now, the major plot-line of this season (one with no developments this weekend) is the number of teams with nothing in the loss column. And folks, it's getting real late. Assuming TCU and Boise State don't get completely and utterly shafted, we could have five undefeated teams in BCS bowls. And how fun would that be? Four could win. That's what I'm rooting for: chaos. Then the head honchos will have to admit the system isn't working. HA! (Aw, who am I kidding?)
This weekend, meanwhile, turned out to be pretty weak matchup-wise, so thanks for welcoming me back to free Saturdays, NCAA. No one in the top 10 played anyone mildly threatening. Just one game between ranked teams (three were ranked vs. almost-ranked). But even in an off week, there were plenty of dramatics and plot lines, with the smoke clearing in the Pac-10 race, the second party in the ACC title game determined, and multiple cases of unfathomably horrid late-game coaching. And since national angles made little headway this week, here's a rundown: what happened, and what we learned from the third-to-last week of college football.
Oklahoma State 31, Colorado 28 (Thursday)
What happened: The Cowboys snuck past a bad Colorado team. Also, they learned with QB Zach Robinson out: Alex Cate, bad (started, went 0-for-9 with a pick); Brandon Weeden, good (10-16, 268 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs).
What it means: They remain in the BCS hunt, hopefully in the back of the line needing help. And if they have a problem with two non-BCS teams going over them they shouldn't have lost to Houston.
Ohio State 21, Michigan 10
Really, this oft-lauded rivalry is not really relevant now thanks to Michigan's worthlessness. Ohio State is still the class of a mediocre conference which, again, peaked with Iowa-over-Arizona and Michigan-over-Notre Dame. And while Rich Rodriguez deserves another couple more years to get his system working at Michigan, this season was putrid. At a big program like that, the leash is not very long and it gets tight in a hurry. Ask Charlie Weis a couple games down.
Florida A Lot, Florida International 3
What happened: A November scrimmage.
What it means: Nothing.
Alabama 45, Tennessee Chattanooga 0
What happened: Tennessee Chattanooga added Alabama to the list of other teams that have beaten them: Appalachian State, Elon, Georgia Southern, and Furman. Yay, SoCon.
What it means: Nick Saban takes his foot off the throttle earlier than Urban Meyer (10 second-half points). Then again, it was an FCS team loaded with players rejected by Sun Belt teams like, well, Florida International.
Clemson 34, Virginia 21
What happened: Clemson pulled away from Virginia in the second half, beating a team that it should have beat. (If you know Clemson, you know this is no given.)
What it means: Clemson will play in the ACC title game for the first time. Of course it wouldn't be a Clemson season if the results were clean cut. Their two ACC losses, both close, came against Georgia Tech (10-1, and in the title game with Clemson), and Maryland (0-6 ACC, 1-9 overall against Not Clemson in '09). Still, Clemson finally got there, and somewhere Terry Bowden is sad.
Connecticut 33, Notre Dame 30 (2 OT)
What happened: An incredible game overshadowed by the pending doom resonating through Notre Dame Stadium. The way this season has transformed for the Irish, no one there could have believed this would end well. And it didn't. Cue TV shots of fans crying. Female fans also shed tears.
What it means: Charlie Weis will probably be fired. In a hilarious twist (well, funny for us, sad for him) it will come in a season where his team is bowl eligible and hasn't lost a single game by more than 7. But with Irish fans, you'd be better off calling the Four Horsemen sissy-boys than calling consecutive losses to Navy, Pittsburgh, and UConn acceptable moral victories. A good (and pissed) Stanford team might be willing to provide a proper sendoff for Weis.
Cal 34, Stanford 28
What happened: In a game in which both teams made comebacks, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was intercepted at the three by Mike Mohamed with 1:42 left. This was mystifying. A Toby Gerhart reception (on which he carried two defenders on his back for the last few yards) had gained the Cardinal 29 yards to the 13. So clock was no longer a factor, and the 235-pound back had also bulldozed for 139 yards on 20 carries. Most defenders would rather tackle a bonfire. And you have four downs to get the next 10 yards. So why would you throw the ball to the end zone two straight plays?
If anything, you want to take time off the clock. And did I mention you have a human wrecking ball and Heisman candidate at tailback ... who has 1,531 yards rushing on the year, with 23 touchdowns, including ALL FOUR Saturday? And Luck has had a great freshman year, but had completed just 10-of-28 passes before those final two plays. One play-fake I get. And on third- and fourth-and-long, maybe the hand is forced. But you don't give Gerhart a shot (or four) to give some Bears a piggy-back ride into the end zone? And the announcers/analysts I've heard/read seemed to have no issue with that? Am I taking crazy pills? Do I need to start taking crazy pills?
What it means: Stanford finishes 6-3 in the Pac-10, Rose Bowl shot crushed. (It would have been later that night regardless, but this was an arch-rival they had beaten once since 2001.) Oregon State losing to Oregon could result in a mega-tie there. Cal (must beat Washington), and the USC/Arizona winner (each would also have to dispatch an inferior arch-rival) could join Oregon State and Stanford at that mark. There's never been less separating the Holliday, Sun, Emerald, and Vegas Bowls.
Mississippi 25, LSU 23
What happened: If the decisions by Stanford left me confused, this one left me Googling the reservation policies of local mental institutions. LSU spiked the ball on a play starting with one second left. Let that sink into your skull a minute. In another rivalry game between competitive teams looking to improve their bowl lot, LSU had pulled rabbits out of the hat all night, including the slickest onside kick recovery I've ever seen. But the one thing they needed (other than the two-point conversion after their TD with 1:17 left) was one extra second to kick a field goal after a 42-yard, fourth-down miracle bomb to get to the six.
Of course, that second and more like it had been readily available after the previous mistake, a misguided screen pass (which came after a sack that took them out of long field goal range). Over 25 seconds were left at the end of that screen. Nine remained when they realized, yeah, probably a good spot for a timeout. Because, you know, if by some act of the football gods we survive this 4th-and-26, we'll be in field goal range, and the clock will stop just long enough for chains to move. So we might want time for a spike before the impending field goal.
And Les Miles was running down the sideline violently mimicking the spiking motion to his quarterback in the confusion after miracle bomb. No field goal team ready, no wherewithal to realize there was no time for a spike. Brilliant.
What it means: LSU fans now realize that Les Miles is not Nick Saban. And Ole Miss climbs into a virtual tie with the Tigers for the third spot in the pecking order for SEC Bowl spots. Both will be playing on New Years Day anyway, so mostly, pride is the real gain. Or in this case, loss.
Oregon 44, Arizona 41 (2 OT)
What happened: The most incredible game of the day. Several ties and lead changes, two overtimes, and Jeremiah Masoli had a career night with 6 touchdowns (3 running and 3 passing), 284 yards passing, and 61 more rushing.
Frosh LaMichael James pitched in 117 yards on just 19 carries, and had people saying LeGarrette Who? (And caustically wondering how Oregon kept finding running backs in France.) But down seven with 2:58 to play and the ball at their own 20, it was Masoli that carried the load. Outside of two big James carries for 25 yards, the ball was put in Masoli's hands on each of the other 13 plays in the drive. With 0:28 left on 4th-and-5 at the 23, he completed an 8-yard pass to Eric Mahel (also a monster: 12 catches, 114 yards, 2 scores). Then he hit Ed Dickson from eight out with just six seconds left.
After that, Oregon was not to be stopped. The opening drive of OT took five plays to hit paydirt (thanks to James' 21-yard run to the four) and after Arizona tied it and then settled for a field goal to go up 41-38, the last drive of OT took the Ducks just four plays (thanks to Masoli's 23-yard pass to Dickson to the two). And who plowed in for the winning score? Who else?
What it means: Arizona will not play in its first Rose Bowl. A Pac-10 that started the week with four teams in the race now has two. Oregon will be the team to formally end USC's reign with a win over Oregon State. A loss, and Oregon State will tie Oregon for the title and head off to the Rose Bowl. The Civil War just got a lot less civil.
Enjoy your rivalry games this week. And the turkey. Oh, the turkey.
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