Yesterday was busier than normal with other things, but as promised, the Ten Thoughts are still rattling around and better late than never, or so they say. Here we go:
1. Ole Miss is the national champion of the first half. For the second time in three weeks, the Rebels took a three-touchdown lead against a top five team. And for the second time in three weeks, they got beat. Ole Miss led Alabama 24-3 (tied for the largest deficit Nick Saban has ever faced as the Tide's head coach...let that sink in). But from there, it was a 45-6 run for Bama, which then held on to win 48-43. Alabama scored on offense, defense and special teams and the Rebels were left wondering if they could petition the NCAA to shorten games to 30 minutes. Ole Miss is an enigmatic team. They're not good enough to do it over a full season, but in any given week, they can beat anybody in America.
2. I've only seen one play from Oklahoma/Ohio State, but it was the play of the year. I mean, if you haven't seen this catch by Noah Brown, prepare to pick your jaw up off the floor:
My word.
3. I've never seen a better big game performance than Louisville this weekend. I'll be honest, I'm no fan of Louisville. I don't root for Bobby Petrino (does anyone outside the Louisville city limits?) I follow a number of Louisville media on Twitter and they are, let's say, not the most objective group of people I've ever seen. So, for the first time in my life that I can recall, I wanted Florida State to win a game. And the Noles weren't close. 63-20 and I'm not sure that was indicative of just how thoroughly Louisville beat them. The last time I remember a team playing that well, being that thoroughly dominant, in a defining game was USC throttling Oklahoma 55-19 in the 2005 Orange Bowl. Before that, it was Tommie Frazier and Nebraska 62-24 over Florida, which gives me a chance to once again post the video of the best individual play I've ever seen in a college football game:
4. Colorado is on the road to recovery. The Buffs aren't ever again likely to be what they were in the early 1990's. And they're not a great team. But they had a two-score lead on Michigan in the Big House before losing 45-28. This is after outscoring Colorado State and Idaho State (not powerhouses by any means, but still) 100-14 in the first two weeks of the season. The Buffs don't have an easy schedule because the PAC-12 is full of a bunch of pretty good (but not great) teams, but they've got a shot to go back to a bowl game. CU made 18 bowl games in 23 years from 1985-2007. They haven't made one since. They were one of the best programs in the country when I was growing up and they haven't even been on anyone's radar in a decade.
5. The "what the hell was he thinking" award of the week goes to South Carolina State kickoff return man Ahmaad Harris. Not that it made a difference in a 59-0 Clemson win, but it did get SCSU on all the highlight shows.
6. Another one bites the dust in the Big 12. Oklahoma is out of the national title picture. So is Oklahoma State. So, probably, is TCU. And now, Texas loses 50-43 at Cal in a game that probably happened while most Mizzou fans were either asleep or drowning their sorrows. Cal lost to San Diego State last week. The Big 12 now has only Baylor with any sort of a legitimate shot to make the College Football Playoff. And I have to believe NOBODY in the Big 12 really wants to root for the Bears at this point in time.
7. The teams that are thanking their stars they survived this week: Arizona State and Wisconsin. The Sun Devils trailed most of the night before beating Texas-San Antonio (if you knew they had a football team, you're a step ahead of me) 32-28 in Tempe. Wisconsin needed a fourth quarter drive to beat Georgia State 23-17 at Camp Randall. College football, man.
8. The early Heisman straw poll:
Lamar Jackson, Louisville
(big gap)
Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
Still on the radar:
Deshaun Watson, Clemson
Leonard Fournette, LSU
9. My top five if I had a vote, which I don't:
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Louisville
4. Houston
5. Michigan
10. Five games I'm watching other than (instead of?) Mizzou/Delaware State:
Clemson at Georgia Tech, 6:30 Thursday, ESPN--Thursday nights are weird. Georgia Tech is decent. Keep an eye out for an upset.
Georgia at Ole Miss, 11:00 Saturday, ESPN--I don't think the SEC East is very good, but it would sure do the division a little bit of good if the Bulldogs could win in Oxford. The Rebels will be desperate not to fall to 1-3.
Florida at Tennessee, 2:30 Saturday, CBS--Tennessee is without Cam Sutton, probably its best defensive player. Florida is without Luke Del Rio, its starting quarterback. Winner assumes the early favorite role in the East.
LSU at Auburn, 5:00 Saturday, ESPN--Gus Malzahn needs to start winning some games. Quickly. This is no easy task. LSU can still make a run, but it has to be perfect the rest of the way after losing at Wisconsin to open the season.
Arkansas at Texas A&M, 8:00 Saturday, ESPN--Winner of this one is going to inherit the "can they make a run at Alabama in the West?" throne. I don't think either one can, but the winner is going to be a top ten team after four weeks.
1. Ole Miss is the national champion of the first half. For the second time in three weeks, the Rebels took a three-touchdown lead against a top five team. And for the second time in three weeks, they got beat. Ole Miss led Alabama 24-3 (tied for the largest deficit Nick Saban has ever faced as the Tide's head coach...let that sink in). But from there, it was a 45-6 run for Bama, which then held on to win 48-43. Alabama scored on offense, defense and special teams and the Rebels were left wondering if they could petition the NCAA to shorten games to 30 minutes. Ole Miss is an enigmatic team. They're not good enough to do it over a full season, but in any given week, they can beat anybody in America.
2. I've only seen one play from Oklahoma/Ohio State, but it was the play of the year. I mean, if you haven't seen this catch by Noah Brown, prepare to pick your jaw up off the floor:
My word.
3. I've never seen a better big game performance than Louisville this weekend. I'll be honest, I'm no fan of Louisville. I don't root for Bobby Petrino (does anyone outside the Louisville city limits?) I follow a number of Louisville media on Twitter and they are, let's say, not the most objective group of people I've ever seen. So, for the first time in my life that I can recall, I wanted Florida State to win a game. And the Noles weren't close. 63-20 and I'm not sure that was indicative of just how thoroughly Louisville beat them. The last time I remember a team playing that well, being that thoroughly dominant, in a defining game was USC throttling Oklahoma 55-19 in the 2005 Orange Bowl. Before that, it was Tommie Frazier and Nebraska 62-24 over Florida, which gives me a chance to once again post the video of the best individual play I've ever seen in a college football game:
4. Colorado is on the road to recovery. The Buffs aren't ever again likely to be what they were in the early 1990's. And they're not a great team. But they had a two-score lead on Michigan in the Big House before losing 45-28. This is after outscoring Colorado State and Idaho State (not powerhouses by any means, but still) 100-14 in the first two weeks of the season. The Buffs don't have an easy schedule because the PAC-12 is full of a bunch of pretty good (but not great) teams, but they've got a shot to go back to a bowl game. CU made 18 bowl games in 23 years from 1985-2007. They haven't made one since. They were one of the best programs in the country when I was growing up and they haven't even been on anyone's radar in a decade.
5. The "what the hell was he thinking" award of the week goes to South Carolina State kickoff return man Ahmaad Harris. Not that it made a difference in a 59-0 Clemson win, but it did get SCSU on all the highlight shows.
6. Another one bites the dust in the Big 12. Oklahoma is out of the national title picture. So is Oklahoma State. So, probably, is TCU. And now, Texas loses 50-43 at Cal in a game that probably happened while most Mizzou fans were either asleep or drowning their sorrows. Cal lost to San Diego State last week. The Big 12 now has only Baylor with any sort of a legitimate shot to make the College Football Playoff. And I have to believe NOBODY in the Big 12 really wants to root for the Bears at this point in time.
7. The teams that are thanking their stars they survived this week: Arizona State and Wisconsin. The Sun Devils trailed most of the night before beating Texas-San Antonio (if you knew they had a football team, you're a step ahead of me) 32-28 in Tempe. Wisconsin needed a fourth quarter drive to beat Georgia State 23-17 at Camp Randall. College football, man.
8. The early Heisman straw poll:
Lamar Jackson, Louisville
(big gap)
Christian McCaffrey, Stanford
Still on the radar:
Deshaun Watson, Clemson
Leonard Fournette, LSU
9. My top five if I had a vote, which I don't:
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Louisville
4. Houston
5. Michigan
10. Five games I'm watching other than (instead of?) Mizzou/Delaware State:
Clemson at Georgia Tech, 6:30 Thursday, ESPN--Thursday nights are weird. Georgia Tech is decent. Keep an eye out for an upset.
Georgia at Ole Miss, 11:00 Saturday, ESPN--I don't think the SEC East is very good, but it would sure do the division a little bit of good if the Bulldogs could win in Oxford. The Rebels will be desperate not to fall to 1-3.
Florida at Tennessee, 2:30 Saturday, CBS--Tennessee is without Cam Sutton, probably its best defensive player. Florida is without Luke Del Rio, its starting quarterback. Winner assumes the early favorite role in the East.
LSU at Auburn, 5:00 Saturday, ESPN--Gus Malzahn needs to start winning some games. Quickly. This is no easy task. LSU can still make a run, but it has to be perfect the rest of the way after losing at Wisconsin to open the season.
Arkansas at Texas A&M, 8:00 Saturday, ESPN--Winner of this one is going to inherit the "can they make a run at Alabama in the West?" throne. I don't think either one can, but the winner is going to be a top ten team after four weeks.
