As always, ten non-Mizzou thoughts for your Sunday.
1. We start with the biggest college football game. EVER.
The attendance was listed at 156,000 plus some. I think it's a really cool idea. Only one thing would have made it better.
2. As for the actual game at Bristol, Tennessee proves once again why what you do one week very often has very little impact on what you might do the next week. The Vols were awful in week one. Should have lost to App State. And then kicked VaTech up and down the speedway for three quarters and looked much more like the team many expected. The transitive property just doesn't work when you're dealing with 18-22 year olds. Momentum and emotion and a million other things factor in. So for anyone who thinks UGA is a lot easier because they barely beat Nicholls yesterday (FWIW, Nicholls was a 55.5 point underdog and that would have been the biggest upset in CFB history), Missouri won't get that same effort. The Bulldogs will be better.
3. Florida vs Kentucky is more lopsided than Mizzou vs Nebraska used to be. The Wildcats lost 45-7 to the Gators yesterday. It was the 30th consecutive Florida win in the series (that's six more than the Huskers strung together from 1979-2002. The older George Bush was President, Crocodile Dundee was the No. 1 movie in the country and a gallon of gas cost 85 cents. Yesterday's result was 45-7. "Yes, Mr. Stoops, the Athletic Director would like to see you in his office."
4. Louisville's Lamar Jackson accounted for five touchdowns...and wasn't even close to the most productive player of the week. That would be Arizona State's Kalen Ballage, who tied an NCAA record (Illinois' Howard Griffith did it first) by scoring eight touchdowns in a 68-55 (yes, 68-55) win over Texas Tech late last night. He had eight touchdowns in the first 13 times he touched the football. Which is efficient.
5. Five is for Fifth Down type situations. So, Oklahoma State has a three-point lead over a game Central Michigan team with four seconds left. The OSU QB Mason Rudolph drops back and fires a pass high in the air toward the sideline on fourth down. Clock runs out, OSU wins. Except the officials call intentional grounding (it was the right call, by the letter of the law, OSU didn't even send anyone out on a pass pattern, but was it right by the spirit of the law? You could argue that one).
The officials assess the penalty and give Central Michigan (because it was fourth down and intentional grounding comes with a loss of down) one untimed down. And this happens.
And the Chips win and it's madness and Mike Gundy is a moron. Except the play never should have happened. Because on a penalty that includes a loss of down, no extra play is to be run. The game should have been over. And the officials admitted it.
So, just like the refs knew that Colorado got five downs and that the outcome changed because of it, they aren't doing anything about it. There is one difference: The CMU player actually got to the end zone. Charles Johnson still hasn't crossed the goal line.
6. The Big 12 is the new SEC. Remember last week when everyone was talking about how terrible the SEC was? Heat's on the Big 12 this weekend. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and TCU were the top three teams in the league in the preseason. Two weeks into the season, they all have a loss, two of them at home. And, oh, by the way, the Sooners host Ohio State this week. The Big 12 might very quickly find itself in the awkward position of having to root for Baylor to have a spot in the playoff.
7. For the college football quote of the year, we take you to Tuscaloosa
Cecil Hurt is a great follow on Twitter. Here's what he wrote about the whole thing this morning.
8. Deshaun Watson, what's with the hangover? Hey, Auburn has legit athletes and talent and okay, you only beat them 19-13, it's week one, whatever. But Troy? 2016 Troy? Demarcus Ware ain't walking through that door, Trojan fans. And yet Clemson needed to survive, 30-24, at home, against Troy on Saturday. Watson averaged 5.5 yards per attempt, ran for just 55 yards and had two interceptions. The Heisman frontrunner--and his team--look like they thought they were just going to show up in the CFB playoff this year. Not so much. Now you're the hunted. It's gonna take a better effort.
9. Tough week for FBS teams in Illinois. The Illini lost 48-23 to North Carolina (which isn't a horrible loss). Northwestern lost 9-7 to Illinois State (which absolutely is).
10. Five games I want to watch this week:
Florida State at Louisville, Saturday, 11 am, ABC--This one should be good. And I'm not sure why (it may be because I follow quite a bit of Louisville media on Twitter and they all seem like enormous fanboys), but for the first time in a LONG time, I'm rooting for Florida State to win a football game.
North Dakota State at Iowa, Saturday, 11 am, ESPN2--You want a low key upset possibility? Here you go. One of the top FCS teams in the country (probably the top), early kick on the road. Don't sleep on the Bison.
Oregon at Nebraska, Saturday, 2:30 p.m., ABC--Both of these teams are 2-0, but I'm not sure anybody knows what to make of either one. It's not like the national headliner game of the week that it might have been in some years past, but it's still a pretty intriguing matchup.
Alabama at Ole Miss, Saturday, 2:30 p.m., CBS--Get the popcorn ready. The Tide owes the Rebs. As you saw above, Nick Saban is pissed off at his team. But Ole Miss does have the talent to win this game in Oxford if it plays well.
Ohio State at Oklahoma, Saturday, 6:30 p.m., Fox--A loss eliminates the Sooners from any chance to get in the playoff. A win might put them right back in the discussion...and probably wouldn't eliminate tOSU. This one might be fun.
1. We start with the biggest college football game. EVER.
The attendance was listed at 156,000 plus some. I think it's a really cool idea. Only one thing would have made it better.
2. As for the actual game at Bristol, Tennessee proves once again why what you do one week very often has very little impact on what you might do the next week. The Vols were awful in week one. Should have lost to App State. And then kicked VaTech up and down the speedway for three quarters and looked much more like the team many expected. The transitive property just doesn't work when you're dealing with 18-22 year olds. Momentum and emotion and a million other things factor in. So for anyone who thinks UGA is a lot easier because they barely beat Nicholls yesterday (FWIW, Nicholls was a 55.5 point underdog and that would have been the biggest upset in CFB history), Missouri won't get that same effort. The Bulldogs will be better.
3. Florida vs Kentucky is more lopsided than Mizzou vs Nebraska used to be. The Wildcats lost 45-7 to the Gators yesterday. It was the 30th consecutive Florida win in the series (that's six more than the Huskers strung together from 1979-2002. The older George Bush was President, Crocodile Dundee was the No. 1 movie in the country and a gallon of gas cost 85 cents. Yesterday's result was 45-7. "Yes, Mr. Stoops, the Athletic Director would like to see you in his office."
4. Louisville's Lamar Jackson accounted for five touchdowns...and wasn't even close to the most productive player of the week. That would be Arizona State's Kalen Ballage, who tied an NCAA record (Illinois' Howard Griffith did it first) by scoring eight touchdowns in a 68-55 (yes, 68-55) win over Texas Tech late last night. He had eight touchdowns in the first 13 times he touched the football. Which is efficient.
5. Five is for Fifth Down type situations. So, Oklahoma State has a three-point lead over a game Central Michigan team with four seconds left. The OSU QB Mason Rudolph drops back and fires a pass high in the air toward the sideline on fourth down. Clock runs out, OSU wins. Except the officials call intentional grounding (it was the right call, by the letter of the law, OSU didn't even send anyone out on a pass pattern, but was it right by the spirit of the law? You could argue that one).
The officials assess the penalty and give Central Michigan (because it was fourth down and intentional grounding comes with a loss of down) one untimed down. And this happens.
And the Chips win and it's madness and Mike Gundy is a moron. Except the play never should have happened. Because on a penalty that includes a loss of down, no extra play is to be run. The game should have been over. And the officials admitted it.
So, just like the refs knew that Colorado got five downs and that the outcome changed because of it, they aren't doing anything about it. There is one difference: The CMU player actually got to the end zone. Charles Johnson still hasn't crossed the goal line.
6. The Big 12 is the new SEC. Remember last week when everyone was talking about how terrible the SEC was? Heat's on the Big 12 this weekend. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and TCU were the top three teams in the league in the preseason. Two weeks into the season, they all have a loss, two of them at home. And, oh, by the way, the Sooners host Ohio State this week. The Big 12 might very quickly find itself in the awkward position of having to root for Baylor to have a spot in the playoff.
7. For the college football quote of the year, we take you to Tuscaloosa
Cecil Hurt is a great follow on Twitter. Here's what he wrote about the whole thing this morning.
8. Deshaun Watson, what's with the hangover? Hey, Auburn has legit athletes and talent and okay, you only beat them 19-13, it's week one, whatever. But Troy? 2016 Troy? Demarcus Ware ain't walking through that door, Trojan fans. And yet Clemson needed to survive, 30-24, at home, against Troy on Saturday. Watson averaged 5.5 yards per attempt, ran for just 55 yards and had two interceptions. The Heisman frontrunner--and his team--look like they thought they were just going to show up in the CFB playoff this year. Not so much. Now you're the hunted. It's gonna take a better effort.
9. Tough week for FBS teams in Illinois. The Illini lost 48-23 to North Carolina (which isn't a horrible loss). Northwestern lost 9-7 to Illinois State (which absolutely is).
10. Five games I want to watch this week:
Florida State at Louisville, Saturday, 11 am, ABC--This one should be good. And I'm not sure why (it may be because I follow quite a bit of Louisville media on Twitter and they all seem like enormous fanboys), but for the first time in a LONG time, I'm rooting for Florida State to win a football game.
North Dakota State at Iowa, Saturday, 11 am, ESPN2--You want a low key upset possibility? Here you go. One of the top FCS teams in the country (probably the top), early kick on the road. Don't sleep on the Bison.
Oregon at Nebraska, Saturday, 2:30 p.m., ABC--Both of these teams are 2-0, but I'm not sure anybody knows what to make of either one. It's not like the national headliner game of the week that it might have been in some years past, but it's still a pretty intriguing matchup.
Alabama at Ole Miss, Saturday, 2:30 p.m., CBS--Get the popcorn ready. The Tide owes the Rebs. As you saw above, Nick Saban is pissed off at his team. But Ole Miss does have the talent to win this game in Oxford if it plays well.
Ohio State at Oklahoma, Saturday, 6:30 p.m., Fox--A loss eliminates the Sooners from any chance to get in the playoff. A win might put them right back in the discussion...and probably wouldn't eliminate tOSU. This one might be fun.
