1. I could do ten thoughts on Ole Miss/Alabama alone, but I'll try to condense it.
*The experts get it wrong sometimes. But sometimes they don't. And I think they didn't on that Ole Miss recruiting class from a couple years back. Those guys are now the nucleus of a team that went in to Tuscaloosa and hung 43 on the Tide and won.
*Ole Miss has some serious athletes at receiver. Combine that with Bama's still questionable secondary and it made for a lot of big plays.
*Watching Robert Nkemdiche play reminds me of watching Sheldon Richardson play.
*It does say something about Bama that they were -5 in turnovers and still had the ball with a chance to win in the final minute.
In case you didn't see it, here's the play of the weekend:
2. On the other side of the state...
Just to prove that things are the same everywhere, there are Auburn fans asking for Gus Malzahn to be fired. This is the guy who played for a national title two years ago. And delivered maybe the most painful play in the history of Alabama football to his rival. And is still 2-1 with the only loss on the road at LSU. Yes, Auburn looks really bad. Anyone asking for Malzahn's job should quite obviously be checked for a head injury.
3. BYU's playoff hopes ended some time after the country was asleep.
The Cougars were up 20-10 on UCLA last I knew and then got a taste of their own medicine as the Bruins came back for a 24-23 win. BYU had beaten Nebraska and Boise. Add wins over UCLA and potentially Missouri to that down the road and they'd have had a great shot to get in. But they probably had to be undefeated. Not sure a one-loss BYU can get in.
4. Grayson Lambert had a day. All the UGA quarterback (who not many were sold was actually on solid footing as the quarterback) did was go 24-25 against South Carolina. That set an NCAA record for completion percentage by a QB with at least 20 completions (it's 96% in case you suck at math). Sorry, Mizzou fans, but the rest of the SEC East is CLEARLY looking up at Georgia. Doesn't mean nobody else can win it, but they're easily the most complete team (Nick Chubb had his 11th straight 100 yard game on the ground, which is one short of a school record by some kid named Herschel) and the schedule looks a little less difficult with the Auburn struggles.
5. Remember Trevone Boykin? He started out as the preseason Heisman favorite (I voted him second last year) and has been a little under the radar early on. 454 yards and 5 touchdowns against SMU last night should put him back on the minds of voters. Yeah, it's SMU, but that's still a pretty eye-popping day. Oh, he also had a 20-yard touchdown run.
6. So, I guess everybody can struggle. Ohio State a 20-13 winner over Northern Illinois? Really? Five turnovers, two by Cardale Jones who was benched and one by J.T. Barrett who replaced him. Remember two weeks ago when everyone was trying to call tOSU the best team in the history of forever? And now they're not. Hey, the Buckeyes can still win the national title. And then they'll belong in the discussion of the best teams of all time. Until then, people overreacted last week and they're probably going to overreact this week.
7. I hate to do it, but even I have to give Notre Dame and Brian Kelly credit. I've never liked the Irish at all, and I like them even less with Kelly as the head coach who, for some reason, has always irritated me. But they've lost four starters for the season already, including the quarterback, and they just beat a pretty darn good Georgia Tech team. You think eventually the injuries will catch up with them, and they probably will, but for now, they're unbeaten and probably deserve that top ten ranking.
8. In the If this was only 1995 Bowl, Nebraska's crazy comeback went for naught. The Huskers were down 33-10 with 8:36 left and then put up almost as much offense in the final nine minutes as they'd had in the first 51 to force overtime. But Nebraska threw a pick in OT and Miami made a field goal and just like that Go Big Red is sitting at 1-2 with losses to programs that were great 20 and 30 years ago, but not so much now. With a three-game stretch of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Northwestern, it's entirely possible the Huskers go into the season finale against Iowa having to win to get to .500 and qualify for a bowl game. Wouldn't think that would go over well for Mike Riley in the Land of Unrealistic Expectations.
9. The Missouri game may just have become Kentucky's season. The Cats started last year 5-1 and then lost a million games in a row to end the year and lost a bowl game. They won the first two games this year and battled Florida, but fell 14-9. So now they're 2-1. They face Eastern Kentucky after Mizzou so that's a win, but then the next four games are Auburn, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Georgia. That's a pretty tough stretch. If the Wildcats lose to Mizzou, a bowl game is starting to look pretty tough (and may ride on the final regular season game against Louisville). No shame in losing the game UK did last night, but it removed any real margin for error they have.
10. Texas, LOL. The Horns started a quarterback they apparently should have been starting all year and Jerrod Heard went nuts and put up 527 yards of total offense and led two touchdown drives in the final ten minutes, cutting a 45-31 deficit to 45-44 and everybody was happy and DKR Memorial Stadium was rocking and oh my goodness, we're Texas and we're back baby! And then this happened:
<iframe src="" width="600" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe><script src="https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js"></script>
And it was awesome. And the congregation said "Amen." Texas faces Oklahoma State this weekend. And then TCU. And then Oklahoma. Enjoy 1-and-5, coach Strong.
And finally, five games to watch next week.
UCLA at Arizona, Friday.
Utah at Oregon, Friday.
Both could go a ways toward determining PAC-12 division champions. Oregon can't lose again or they're out of the playoff picture. UCLA survived a scare, but will get a real test in Tucson.
TCU at Texas Tech, Saturday
Texas A&M at Arkansas, Saturday
Don't ask me why, but I think these are two very potential upsets.
Mississippi State at Auburn
One of these teams will have two SEC losses. One will still be in the running to make some noise.
*The experts get it wrong sometimes. But sometimes they don't. And I think they didn't on that Ole Miss recruiting class from a couple years back. Those guys are now the nucleus of a team that went in to Tuscaloosa and hung 43 on the Tide and won.
*Ole Miss has some serious athletes at receiver. Combine that with Bama's still questionable secondary and it made for a lot of big plays.
*Watching Robert Nkemdiche play reminds me of watching Sheldon Richardson play.
*It does say something about Bama that they were -5 in turnovers and still had the ball with a chance to win in the final minute.
In case you didn't see it, here's the play of the weekend:
2. On the other side of the state...
Just to prove that things are the same everywhere, there are Auburn fans asking for Gus Malzahn to be fired. This is the guy who played for a national title two years ago. And delivered maybe the most painful play in the history of Alabama football to his rival. And is still 2-1 with the only loss on the road at LSU. Yes, Auburn looks really bad. Anyone asking for Malzahn's job should quite obviously be checked for a head injury.
3. BYU's playoff hopes ended some time after the country was asleep.
The Cougars were up 20-10 on UCLA last I knew and then got a taste of their own medicine as the Bruins came back for a 24-23 win. BYU had beaten Nebraska and Boise. Add wins over UCLA and potentially Missouri to that down the road and they'd have had a great shot to get in. But they probably had to be undefeated. Not sure a one-loss BYU can get in.
4. Grayson Lambert had a day. All the UGA quarterback (who not many were sold was actually on solid footing as the quarterback) did was go 24-25 against South Carolina. That set an NCAA record for completion percentage by a QB with at least 20 completions (it's 96% in case you suck at math). Sorry, Mizzou fans, but the rest of the SEC East is CLEARLY looking up at Georgia. Doesn't mean nobody else can win it, but they're easily the most complete team (Nick Chubb had his 11th straight 100 yard game on the ground, which is one short of a school record by some kid named Herschel) and the schedule looks a little less difficult with the Auburn struggles.
5. Remember Trevone Boykin? He started out as the preseason Heisman favorite (I voted him second last year) and has been a little under the radar early on. 454 yards and 5 touchdowns against SMU last night should put him back on the minds of voters. Yeah, it's SMU, but that's still a pretty eye-popping day. Oh, he also had a 20-yard touchdown run.
6. So, I guess everybody can struggle. Ohio State a 20-13 winner over Northern Illinois? Really? Five turnovers, two by Cardale Jones who was benched and one by J.T. Barrett who replaced him. Remember two weeks ago when everyone was trying to call tOSU the best team in the history of forever? And now they're not. Hey, the Buckeyes can still win the national title. And then they'll belong in the discussion of the best teams of all time. Until then, people overreacted last week and they're probably going to overreact this week.
7. I hate to do it, but even I have to give Notre Dame and Brian Kelly credit. I've never liked the Irish at all, and I like them even less with Kelly as the head coach who, for some reason, has always irritated me. But they've lost four starters for the season already, including the quarterback, and they just beat a pretty darn good Georgia Tech team. You think eventually the injuries will catch up with them, and they probably will, but for now, they're unbeaten and probably deserve that top ten ranking.
8. In the If this was only 1995 Bowl, Nebraska's crazy comeback went for naught. The Huskers were down 33-10 with 8:36 left and then put up almost as much offense in the final nine minutes as they'd had in the first 51 to force overtime. But Nebraska threw a pick in OT and Miami made a field goal and just like that Go Big Red is sitting at 1-2 with losses to programs that were great 20 and 30 years ago, but not so much now. With a three-game stretch of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Northwestern, it's entirely possible the Huskers go into the season finale against Iowa having to win to get to .500 and qualify for a bowl game. Wouldn't think that would go over well for Mike Riley in the Land of Unrealistic Expectations.
9. The Missouri game may just have become Kentucky's season. The Cats started last year 5-1 and then lost a million games in a row to end the year and lost a bowl game. They won the first two games this year and battled Florida, but fell 14-9. So now they're 2-1. They face Eastern Kentucky after Mizzou so that's a win, but then the next four games are Auburn, Mississippi State, Tennessee and Georgia. That's a pretty tough stretch. If the Wildcats lose to Mizzou, a bowl game is starting to look pretty tough (and may ride on the final regular season game against Louisville). No shame in losing the game UK did last night, but it removed any real margin for error they have.
10. Texas, LOL. The Horns started a quarterback they apparently should have been starting all year and Jerrod Heard went nuts and put up 527 yards of total offense and led two touchdown drives in the final ten minutes, cutting a 45-31 deficit to 45-44 and everybody was happy and DKR Memorial Stadium was rocking and oh my goodness, we're Texas and we're back baby! And then this happened:
<iframe src="" width="600" height="600" frameborder="0"></iframe><script src="https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.js"></script>
And it was awesome. And the congregation said "Amen." Texas faces Oklahoma State this weekend. And then TCU. And then Oklahoma. Enjoy 1-and-5, coach Strong.
And finally, five games to watch next week.
UCLA at Arizona, Friday.
Utah at Oregon, Friday.
Both could go a ways toward determining PAC-12 division champions. Oregon can't lose again or they're out of the playoff picture. UCLA survived a scare, but will get a real test in Tucson.
TCU at Texas Tech, Saturday
Texas A&M at Arkansas, Saturday
Don't ask me why, but I think these are two very potential upsets.
Mississippi State at Auburn
One of these teams will have two SEC losses. One will still be in the running to make some noise.
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