www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7biZdViH_s%5B/embedyt%5D
Well… this was, by far, the craziest weekend of the still-young 2018 College Football season.
Let’s just go ahead and get in, because there’s a lot to discuss:
There are only 20 undefeated teams left.
4 weeks are in the books, and – out of 130 FBS teams – there are only 20 undefeated teams remaining.
- SEC (4)
- Alabama
- Georgia
- LSU
- Kentucky
- Big 10 (2)
- Ohio St
- Penn St
- ACC (4)
- Clemson
- West Virginia
- Syracuse
- Duke
- Independents (1)
- Notre Dame
- Big 12 (1)
- Oklahoma
- Pac 12 (3)
- Stanford
- Cal
- Colorado
- AAC (3)
- UCF
- USF
- Cincinnati
- MAC (1)
- Buffalo
- C-USA (1)
- North Texas
This coming week, we actually get 3 matchups of undefeated teams… Syracuse at Clemson, Stanford at Notre Dame, and Ohio St at Penn St. And there are a myriad of other interesting games that you wouldn’t normally think about, like Oregon at Cal, Army at Buffalo, Louisiana Tech at North Texas, etc.
Stanford absolutely stole one in Eugene.
Halftime: Oregon 24 – Stanford 7.
Final Score: Stanford 38 – Oregon 31 (OT)
If this isn’t the most David Shaw game ever, I don’t know what is.
Walking out of Autzen Stadium.
Oregon fan, smiling, to David Shaw: “Shaw, you’re one son of a bitch.”
David Shaw, smiling, to Oregon fan: “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
They laughed, shook hands and congratulated each other. #GoStanford
— Alan George (@treeSIDjorge) September 23, 2018
Stanford looked just as bad as the score indicated in the first half. And, honestly, Oregon should have gone up 31-7, but an ill-timed fumble (after an inexplicable non-TD reversal), led to a scoop and score that gave Stanford life at 24-14. Then they scored again.
Oregon finally went up 31-21, and that looked like it might have been the ballgame… but we know better than that. Stanford drive right down the field and scored a touchdown… but couldn’t get a stop after the kickoff, and all Oregon had to do was take a knee to run out the clock.
But Oregon called a running play, which got a first down… but they fumbled. Stanford recovered. Stanford went 40+ yds, setup in field goal range, and tied the game. Oregon was so shell-shocked, that I didn’t believe they stood any chance in overtime. And I was right… they failed to score, and Stanford walked out with the win.
So this sets up 2 very interesting games this week… Stanford travels to Notre Dame, and Oregon travels to undefeated Cal. Does this win springboard Stanford to a massive win over the Irish? And does the heartbreaking loss bleed over into this week and cost Oregon a game in Berkley?
Iowa miscues give the Big 10 West to Wisconsin.
Iowa turned the ball over 3 times, and Wisconsin didn’t turn the ball over at all. That’s about all you need to know in this one.
If you didn’t watch the game, the last touchdown was with less than a minute left, after Iowa turned the ball over (again) on a drive that could have won the game.
Wisconsin capitalized on their opportunities, and the Hawkeyes showed they don’t quite belong in the upper echelon of the Big 10 just yet.
I’m not sure that this proves that Wisconsin belongs either… but they made winning plays, and Iowa gave the game away.
Kentucky’s win over Florida wasn’t a fluke.
Kentucky is actually really good. Or is Mississippi State just not nearly as good as we thought?
I think it’s the former. At what point do we stop looking at the logo on the helmet and just focus on what they’ve done? Kentucky has 2 top 25 wins, although only one of those teams is still in the top 25 (Mississippi St).
Kentucky gained 229 rushing yards on Mississippi St, who was only giving up 85 yds per game through the first 3. But that’s not all – they also held Miss St, who was averaging 312 rushing yds per game, to only 56 yds rushing for the entire game (and only 52 total yards in the 2nd half).
This was a mauling.
Kentucky hosts South Carolina this coming weekend, and travels to a better-than-expected Texas A&M the first weekend in October… if they win both of those games, this team could really make some noise in the SEC this year.
Last week, we werent sure Texas was back… are they officially back now?
Another situation where we’re not sure if Texas is actually good, or if TCU just wasn’t as good as we thought they were. Which is kind of ridiculous.
Texas now has 2 Top 25 wins, just like Kentucky, but the wins are over 2 teams that are no longer in the Top 25 (USC, TCU).
Those 2 wins were actually pretty close until mid-way through the 3rd quarter… and, in both games, the Longhorns ran away with it. They dominated the line of scrimmage late, and they converted turnovers into points, etc.
So, the question remains, as Texas goes on the road at a not-very-good Kansas St team next week… is Texas back? I think so, but I’ve been fooled before.
What happened to Virginia Tech? Or is this what they actually are?
Virginia Tech lost 49-35 at previously 0-3 Old Dominion on Saturday, and a lot of people will try to point to the fact that their starting QB, Josh Jackson, went out with an injury.
But this loss had nothing to do with losing Jackson.
This was all on the defense, who gave up 495 passing yds and 4 TDs to Old Dominion’s backup QB Blake LaRussa. On top of that, VT’s defense gave up 137 yds rushing (4.03 avg per carry) and 3 rushing TDs.
Virginia Tech’s defense could not get a stop at any point in the 2nd half. It was terrible.
So that big win at Florida St that looked so good on Labor Day night, during week 1, has been completely undone here, and Virginia Tech dropped from #13 to unranked before a trip to undefeated Duke this coming Saturday night.
This isn’t an ACC loss… but it definitely stings the pride a little bit, and anybody that had the over on 8 wins is feeling a little less sure about themselves today.
More Notes:
- Previously winless Purdue, who had lost 3 games by a combined 8 points, got their first win over a ranked team in freaking forever, beating #23 Boston College 30-13.
- Michigan absolutely demolished Nebraska, 56-10, and used Scott Frost’s comments from a loss to Michigan in his first season at UCF (“We lost the game, but we outhit Michigan today”) as motivation to embarrass an undermanned Cornhuskers squad.
- Notre Dame started Ian Book at Wake Forest, and after a 56-27 win, behind 5 TDs from Book, it’s pretty obvious that Brandon Wimbush ain’t getting his job back. ND looks like they belong in the top 10 now, after already having been there all season.
- Army gave Oklahoma everything they had in a 28-21 overtime win for the Sooners. Army ran for 335 yds and kept the ball for 44:15. Just absurd the efficiency Jeff Monken’s team has.
- Tennessee turned the ball over 6 times and was never even in the game in a 47-21 loss to Florida. It’s going to be a LONG rebuild in Knoxville for Jeremy Pruitt.
- What the hell happened to Oklahoma St? After a convincing 44-21 win last week over G5 darling Boise St, Oklahoma St turned around the following week and got blown out 41-17 at home by Texas Tech. Kliff Kingsbury’s team seemed to have every right play call in this game, and I’m still amazed when I look at the box score.
