Believe it or not, there were other games played beyond our little cone of sadness. Let's talk about them to get our minds off the disaster we all witnessed:
1. If you're just judging on what's happened on the field, Clemson is a clear No. 1. They won it all last year. Then they started this year by suffocating Auburn and then humiliating Lamar Jackson and Louisville last night. Jackson ended with 317 and three touchdowns, but he was throwing all night because at one point Clemson was up 33-7. The defense had 11 sacks against Auburn and the offense held the ball for 36 minutes against Louisville. They're very, very, very good. Again. And some will immediately say "Can we hire Brent Venables?" I don't know. All I can tell you is he's been a high profile defensive coordinator for 15 years and multiple schools including his alma mater have had a chance to hire him and none ever have. There has to be a reason even if I don't know what it is.
2. The Big 12 title game is going to be a Bedlam rematch...and might be for a spot in the playoff. The Sooners won their 13th straight, which is the most in college football and Baker Mayfield is the early leader for the Heisman...unless Mason Rudolph is. The Cowboys QB threw for 497 yards and five touchdowns...and sat for the final quarter and a half. He basically turned an ACC team (Pitt) into Missouri State. The Pokes are pretty dangerous folks.
3. The early season surprise in the SEC is Vanderbilt. The Commodores out Snyder'ed Bill Snyder last night in a 14-7 win in Nashville. The stadium was sold out (Cat fans probably had a hand in that) and the Dores got a monstrous win over a top 20 team and are likely to be in the rankings themselves this week. Not sure how long it will last with home vs Alabama, at Florida and home vs Georgia in the next three weeks, but if Vandy can pull one win out of those three, it's going to be a better than expected season.
4. Meanwhile, the team most dismayed about what happened to Mizzou yesterday might be South Carolina. The Cocks probably thought they were pretty good after the win here last week. But what if it was just because Missouri is pretty bad? Carolina went home to face a Kentucky team that hadn't looked all that good. And all of a sudden Kentucky looked really good. Maybe the Cocks aren't as stiff as we all thought last week.
5. Mississippi State deserves to be talked about before No. 5. Damn, the Bulldogs blew the doors off LSU. I don't know how good this LSU team is, but I know Nick Fitzgerald at Mississippi State is a player. Definitely the best win of the week in the SEC, and maybe in all of college football.
6. Play of the week (year?)
That's as poorly as you can defend a Hail Mary pass. I didn't see this game because Mizzou was playing at the same time, but apparently there were some other questionable decisions by the Tennessee head coach. It's like all of a sudden people are discovering Butch Jones might not be a very good head coach! Who would ever have thought that?!?!?!?
7. I don't think Missouri is the worst Power Five team in the country, but you don't have to go far to find them. It could be Illinois. But it's probably still kansas.
42!!!! The last Jayhawk road win came September 12, 2009 at UTEP. The streak includes losses at perennial powers Rice, Rutgers, Memphis, Southern Miss, Northern Illinois, Duke and now Ohio.
8. Speaking of misery Mizzou fans can enjoy, people in Lincoln aren't happy this morning. You might have heard Northern Illinois beat the Huskers 21-17. In Lincoln. By scoring one offensive touchdown. The Huskies had 213 yards and 13 first downs, but scored on two pick sixes of Tanner Lee for the win. A sampling of thread titles from the Huskers' premium board:
"Let's talk buyouts..."
"Does this team even practice?"
"The next head coach will be..."
"When did you lose faith in Riley?"
"Les Miles" (You're not alone Mizzou fans)
And my favorite for its simplicity
"Ugh"
9. If you love quarterback play, you loved UCLA/Memphis. If you love defense, not so much. Josh Rosen was 34/56 for 463 yards and four touchdowns...and might not have been the best QB on the field. Memphis' Riley Ferguson was 23/38 for 398, six touchdowns and one interception as the Tigers beat UCLA 48-45. It was less because of Ferguson than because of the 1980s Cincinnati Bengals style helmets that were, as the kids say, "straight fire."
10. Five (actually more) games I'll watch next week outside of Auburn vs Missouri (which doesn't seem likely to be overly competitive or compelling)
Texas A&M at Arkansas 11:00 am, ESPN--I don't much care about this game other than to see which coach gets to cool his seat off for a week and which one heats his up, but I need something to watch early since Mizzou plays at night.
Alabama at Vanderbilt, 2:30 pm, CBS--I think this could actually be pretty entertaining. People are starting to pay attention in Nashville. The way both teams play, it might finish 7-3.
TCU at Oklahoma State, 230 pm, ESPN--Oklahoma State should win pretty big. But this offense is fun to watch. I might watch them every week.
Duke at North Carolina, 230 pm, ESPNU--Oh, hang on, it's football? Shit. Never mind.
Michigan at Purdue, 3:00 pm, TV unknown--I don't think Michigan is as good as people think. I think Purdue might be better than people think. Boiler Up.
Oklahoma at Baylor, 5:30 pm, TV unknown--I hope the Sooners score eleventy billion. Baylor has a legit shot at 0-8 when they face kansas in November.
Florida at Kentucky, 6:30 pm, SEC Network--Florida has won like 2405 straight games against Kentucky. Do the Cats have enough to get this one done? Winner is the top (only?) challenger to Georgia in the SEC East.
1. If you're just judging on what's happened on the field, Clemson is a clear No. 1. They won it all last year. Then they started this year by suffocating Auburn and then humiliating Lamar Jackson and Louisville last night. Jackson ended with 317 and three touchdowns, but he was throwing all night because at one point Clemson was up 33-7. The defense had 11 sacks against Auburn and the offense held the ball for 36 minutes against Louisville. They're very, very, very good. Again. And some will immediately say "Can we hire Brent Venables?" I don't know. All I can tell you is he's been a high profile defensive coordinator for 15 years and multiple schools including his alma mater have had a chance to hire him and none ever have. There has to be a reason even if I don't know what it is.
2. The Big 12 title game is going to be a Bedlam rematch...and might be for a spot in the playoff. The Sooners won their 13th straight, which is the most in college football and Baker Mayfield is the early leader for the Heisman...unless Mason Rudolph is. The Cowboys QB threw for 497 yards and five touchdowns...and sat for the final quarter and a half. He basically turned an ACC team (Pitt) into Missouri State. The Pokes are pretty dangerous folks.
3. The early season surprise in the SEC is Vanderbilt. The Commodores out Snyder'ed Bill Snyder last night in a 14-7 win in Nashville. The stadium was sold out (Cat fans probably had a hand in that) and the Dores got a monstrous win over a top 20 team and are likely to be in the rankings themselves this week. Not sure how long it will last with home vs Alabama, at Florida and home vs Georgia in the next three weeks, but if Vandy can pull one win out of those three, it's going to be a better than expected season.
4. Meanwhile, the team most dismayed about what happened to Mizzou yesterday might be South Carolina. The Cocks probably thought they were pretty good after the win here last week. But what if it was just because Missouri is pretty bad? Carolina went home to face a Kentucky team that hadn't looked all that good. And all of a sudden Kentucky looked really good. Maybe the Cocks aren't as stiff as we all thought last week.
5. Mississippi State deserves to be talked about before No. 5. Damn, the Bulldogs blew the doors off LSU. I don't know how good this LSU team is, but I know Nick Fitzgerald at Mississippi State is a player. Definitely the best win of the week in the SEC, and maybe in all of college football.
6. Play of the week (year?)
That's as poorly as you can defend a Hail Mary pass. I didn't see this game because Mizzou was playing at the same time, but apparently there were some other questionable decisions by the Tennessee head coach. It's like all of a sudden people are discovering Butch Jones might not be a very good head coach! Who would ever have thought that?!?!?!?
7. I don't think Missouri is the worst Power Five team in the country, but you don't have to go far to find them. It could be Illinois. But it's probably still kansas.
42!!!! The last Jayhawk road win came September 12, 2009 at UTEP. The streak includes losses at perennial powers Rice, Rutgers, Memphis, Southern Miss, Northern Illinois, Duke and now Ohio.
8. Speaking of misery Mizzou fans can enjoy, people in Lincoln aren't happy this morning. You might have heard Northern Illinois beat the Huskers 21-17. In Lincoln. By scoring one offensive touchdown. The Huskies had 213 yards and 13 first downs, but scored on two pick sixes of Tanner Lee for the win. A sampling of thread titles from the Huskers' premium board:
"Let's talk buyouts..."
"Does this team even practice?"
"The next head coach will be..."
"When did you lose faith in Riley?"
"Les Miles" (You're not alone Mizzou fans)
And my favorite for its simplicity
"Ugh"
9. If you love quarterback play, you loved UCLA/Memphis. If you love defense, not so much. Josh Rosen was 34/56 for 463 yards and four touchdowns...and might not have been the best QB on the field. Memphis' Riley Ferguson was 23/38 for 398, six touchdowns and one interception as the Tigers beat UCLA 48-45. It was less because of Ferguson than because of the 1980s Cincinnati Bengals style helmets that were, as the kids say, "straight fire."
10. Five (actually more) games I'll watch next week outside of Auburn vs Missouri (which doesn't seem likely to be overly competitive or compelling)
Texas A&M at Arkansas 11:00 am, ESPN--I don't much care about this game other than to see which coach gets to cool his seat off for a week and which one heats his up, but I need something to watch early since Mizzou plays at night.
Alabama at Vanderbilt, 2:30 pm, CBS--I think this could actually be pretty entertaining. People are starting to pay attention in Nashville. The way both teams play, it might finish 7-3.
TCU at Oklahoma State, 230 pm, ESPN--Oklahoma State should win pretty big. But this offense is fun to watch. I might watch them every week.
Duke at North Carolina, 230 pm, ESPNU--Oh, hang on, it's football? Shit. Never mind.
Michigan at Purdue, 3:00 pm, TV unknown--I don't think Michigan is as good as people think. I think Purdue might be better than people think. Boiler Up.
Oklahoma at Baylor, 5:30 pm, TV unknown--I hope the Sooners score eleventy billion. Baylor has a legit shot at 0-8 when they face kansas in November.
Florida at Kentucky, 6:30 pm, SEC Network--Florida has won like 2405 straight games against Kentucky. Do the Cats have enough to get this one done? Winner is the top (only?) challenger to Georgia in the SEC East.
