Trending Upward

Notre Dame:

On Saturday, Notre Dame has their first convincing win of the season. Wake Forest is no pushover, but Notre Dame did have their way with them. Ian Book got the nod at quarterback for the first time this season and brought considerable change to the offense by scoring five total touchdowns. Book led the offense to their highest point total this year at 56 points, over double what their next highest point total was. Book threw for 325 yards and had no interceptions. The offense also just had a spark that hasn’t been seen all season. This is even better with Dexter Williams returning next week, giving the Fighting Irish a definitive answer at running back. Notre Dame’s secondary came up big only allowing just 4 yards per pass attempt and 110 yards from San Hartman. The one concern for Notre Dame (besides keeping their gold helmets as shiny as possible) will be their run defense as they gave up 259 yards on the ground and they face Bryce Love next week.

Oregon:

Oregon lost a game on Saturday against a very good Stanford team that they should have beaten (I know this is a very backhanded compliment). After being up 24-7 at halftime, just about everything that could have gone wrong for Oregon went wrong. While this loss is frustrating for the Ducks, it shows that things are definitely looking up with new coach Mario Cristobal. Justin Herbert threw for 346 yards, true freshman running back CJ Verdell had 115 yards on the ground, and Dillon Mitchell had 239 yards receiving. Verdell looks to have established himself as the Oregon’s number one running back option that they’ve been searching for since the departure of Royce Freeman. Defensively, they were able to slow down Bryce Love and Stanford’s rushing attack. The downside of focusing so much on stopping the run is that they also allowed KJ Costello to throw for 327 yards and three touchdowns. Some costly mistakes and mental errors in the second half are what cost the Ducks this game, but this loss should leave fans hopeful for the future.

Kentucky:

Kentucky looks to be good again as John Calipari has brought in another great recruiting class. The Wildcats definitely will make noise in the tournament. Oh wait, it’s football where Kentucky has been forcing their will upon teams and are undefeated? Well this is interesting as Kentucky, a usual SEC doormat, sits at 4-0 with wins over Florida and a ranked Mississippi State team. Terry Wilson has steadily been improving his play at quarterback and also poses a threat running the ball. Benny Snell is becoming one of the best running backs in the country as he gained 165 yards on the ground and had four touchdowns against a very good Mississippi State defensive line. Their offensive line deserves credit as well for Snell gaining as many yards as he did. The Wildcats defense stepped up and only allowed 201 yards of offense. The Wildcats have two challenging opponents ahead in South Carolina and Texas A&M, so more will be known about this team after those two games.

Texas:

(Warning it’s kind of hard to stifle my excitement here as a Longhorns fan) Texas has won two consecutive games against ranked opponents after starting the season off with two shaky performances. After having his starting credentials questioned, San Ehlinger has improved his play under center and hasn’t thrown an interception since the Maryland game. The receiving core led by Collin Johnson and Lil’Jordan Humphrey is looking better each week. While there isn’t a single running back at the caliber of D’Onta Foreman or Chris Warren, Tre Watson and Keaontay Ingram are able to get hard yards on the ground. The Longhorns defense shined this week as well with three interceptions and a fumble recovery. Freshman safety Caden Sterns has two interceptions that put the Longhorns offense in good field position. This team has won two games this year that I didn’t think they’d pull off at the start of the year. There is a lot to be happy about if you are a Texas fan but I worry that it’s just them playing to the level of their opponents and that they’ll have to hit out a close win against Kansas State next week. But for now, I’m just going to be happy about this win.

Texas Tech:

So it’s starting to look like Texas Tech might actually have a good defense (I’m still wrapping my head around the absurdity of this). Couple that with finding their quarterback of the future in Alan Bowman and it is easy to see why things are looking up for the Red Raiders. Winning at Oklahoma State isn’t an easy task as they have not beaten the Cowboys since 2008, but they did and won convincingly behind Bowman, their defense, and Demarcus Felton rushing for 130 yards and two touchdowns. By starting the season 3-1, Kliff Kingsbury has also been able to cool his hot seat. Next week against West Virginia will be a big test for the Red Raiders, but they look ready for it after their performance against Oklahoma State.

Army:

Army took Oklahoma down to the wire this week in a game where they were expected to be blown out. They did this by forcing Oklahoma to play Army football. The Black Knights dominated time of possession and continued to grind out yards while they made Oklahoma fight for every stop. This game, despite being a loss, has to reflect positively for Army. With their commitment to the triple option and forcing other teams into playing a knock down drag out style, it’s hard for their opponents to distance themselves. Army is 2-2 so far and has played the best two teams in their schedule already. It is conceivable for them to finish the year with 8 or 9 wins.

Trending Downward

Virginia Tech:

Virginia Tech suffered their first loss of the season to Old Dominion. They gave up 49 points, which was the most ever given up by a Bud Foster defense. On top of giving up 49 points, their defense gave up 637 yards (I hope my mental math on that was right). Old Dominion quarterback Blake LaRussa (son of Daniel from the karate kid) threw for almost 500 yards and made Virginia Tech’s defense look silly the whole game. This game saw the Hokies give up more points and yards than they did in their first two games combined. Virginia Tech’s offense was fine, and till held up decently when Josh Jackson went down, but they didn’t quit dominate Old Dominion’s defense like kid expect. Defense is something that Virginia Tech prides itself on and to get shredded like that is a bad sign. It is also a bad sign that defensive end Trevon Hill was dismissed from the team. With all that said, I still give Bud Foster the benefit of the doubt at defensive coordinator.

Mississippi State:

Mississippi State fell apart in their game against Kentucky. Their offense only put up seven points as Nick Fitzgerald struggled to find his groove throwing the ball. Running the ball, they only put up 2.8 yards per attempt, and only 4.5 yards per attempt through the air. Nick Fitzgerald has been disappointing all season, but it did not matter against much lesser opponents. In an even matchup against Kentucky, it was a big factor in the Bulldogs losing. Aeris Williams needs to step up running the ball as he has also struggled through this season so far. Their defensive line did well with the pass rush, but did nothing to stop Benny Snell and Kentucky’s run game. Hopefully for Bulldogs fans, this loss is what whips their team into shape because they will not get much done in the SEC trying to coast by.

Oklahoma State:

Oklahoma State was riding high after a week three win over Boise State. They then came crashing down after getting trounced by Texas Tech on Saturday. Taylor Cornelius looked like a first year starter at quarterback after being picked apart by Texas Tech’s defense. Their defense gave up over 600 yards and could not provide any help when their offense stalled out in the second half. Justice Hill was the one bright spot for the Cowboys with 111 yards on the ground but for some unknown reason, he was only given 12 carries. With Cornelius struggling, I feel like Hill should have gotten more carries. The Cowboys defensive shortcomings have usually been counteracted by an explosive offense, but when their offense is ineffective, they will not be winning too many games. These offensive shortcomings may continue as Jalen McCleskey has said he will no longer play in 2018 and grad transfer to play somewhere else in 2019. I think a quarterback change may be in play for the Cowboys or at least some changes to their offensive scheme.

Kansas State:

In the two games Kansas State has played against good teams, they have been blown out. It is not disappointing that the Wildcats lost to West Virginia, it is disappointing that they did not even put up a fight. Kansas State has a reputation as a plucky team who will always compete with better teams and even win those games occasionally (unfortunately a lot of them have been at the expense of Texas). Despite having a highly touted offensive line at the start of the season, their offense just seems to have a hard time ever getting going. As their schedule transitions to Big 12 play, their shortcomings on offense will need to be fixed if they want to have a good season.

Louisville

It appears though the impact of Lamar Jackson on offense and Jaire Alexander on defense were underestimated while they were at Louisville. Louisville may be in the middle of a quarterback controversy and it is warranted as their offense has had trouble doing too much when they have to play decent competition. The Cardinals needed a late comeback to beat Western Kentucky, and looked dreadful in their loss to Virginia on Saturday. Bobby Petrino’s coaching chops need to be shown as this team is clearly less talented than their team last year. It looks like Louisville may need to chalk this year up as one for rebuilding and look to next year.

Iowa

What best summarizes the issues with Iowa’s offense is the fact that their two best offensive weapons are two tight ends (TJ Hockenson and Noah Fant are both really good but still it’s not a good sign). This also happened when they played Iowa State, but the issue was not as prevalent since they won that game 13-3. Iowa needs a running back that they can use to grind out games, and they have yet to find that guy this year. While Nate Stanley is a better passer than the Hawkeyes are used to, a hard yard running back is a staple in Iowa’s offense. Iowa also needs their secondary to play better. Alex Hornibrook should not be able to throw for three touchdowns against them. While this loss is hard to handle, I still believe Iowa is the second best team in the Big 10 West.

Some Random Thoughts

1. Paulson Adebo was pretty great in coverage for Stanford on the overtime drive even though he did get flagged.

2. Boston College stalling offensively I guess is what happened when the worst 3-0 team takes on the best 0-3 team.

3. SMU going for two in overtime was a very gutsy call. I have to respect it because I know I would be too scared to do it. Also the play call was pretty genius by Sonny Dykes.

4. Nebraska is bad. Scott Frost has his work cut out for him. I don’t know if Nebraska will go undefeated next year also.

5. So I just want everyone now to think about who the second best team is in the ACC (Notre Dame absolutely does not count). This conference looked like garbage this weekend.

6. In some good news for the ACC I guess, Florida State did win a rematch of the 2013 Orange Bowl against Northern Illinois. The fact that Northern Illinois made a BCS Bowl is still crazy to me.

7. So I think I have found the most controversial question to ask in college football this year. Is Feleipe Franks a passable starter. I legitimately have no idea.

8. Kenneth Murray and Curtis Bolton were unbelievable for Oklahoma’s defense. Murray had 28 total tackles while Bolton had 23. Those number are both insane.

9. Wisconsin actually threw the ball well against Iowa. This is a new wrinkle for a game where until this year the forward pass was banned, as well as running outside the tackles, and each offensive and defensive line engaged in a battle bloodier than Gettysburg (or so I assumed). Also Jonathan Taylor is still very good.

10. N’Keal Harry had just 20 yards in Arizona State’s loss against Washington. I think this mostly because Washington has an insanely good secondary. I’m excited to see how they fare against Justin Herbert.

11. Oregon’s clock management definitely needs to be brought into question. With 52 seconds left, and the other team with one timeout, how come they could not find a way to kill the clock. On second down, they give it to someone who just dodged tacklers for as long as they can. On third down they kneel it out and if they face fourth down, do what they did on second down. I do not feel like it would be that hard. Also just do not fumble the ball.

12. Coming from a totally non biased angle, TCU deserves to lose after punting it down 15 with 2:44 left.

13. Wake Forest’s kicker forgetting to run on the field was hilarious especially since he actually hit the field goal as well.

14. Stanford’s kicker is named Jet Toner. This guy has a future in the printer business if football does not pan out.

15. Texas putting TCU’s band in the nosebleeds is the kind of petty stuff that makes me love college football.

16. LSU’s band playing the office theme song has officially made them my favorite band in college football.

17. So I guess Duke is pretty good. Quentin Harris looks like a pretty solid quarterback.

18. So I guess California is also good or at least undefeated. Their game against Oregon next week will determine how for real they are

19. Trevor Lawrence being named the starter for Clemson seems like the right call but I hope Kelly Bryant will still be used.

20. Why on earth is Jalen Hurts playing? If he plays at all, he will waste a year at backup. I just want to see him succeed at a new school, and it will be easier to succeed with two years of eligibility as opposed to just one.

So I went to first ever college football game featuring two P5 teams last Saturday as I saw Oregon State play Arizona in Corvallis. It was a lot of fun (especially since my two tickets cost seven dollars combined), and I thought why not use it as a way for content so here are some thoughts I had about the game.

1. Oregon State flaunts the fact that Corvallis was voted the best college town in the Pac 12 pretty hard. Then again, what else can they flaunt besides that and their baseball team.

2. The chainsaw sound effects were very loud and startled me more than I’d care to admit. Also I am all in on the turnover chainsaw as a prop.

3. I have so many questions for this guy I saw wearing a Johnny Manziel Browns jersey.

4. Khalil Tate is being used incorrectly still. I get that he may be injured, but if he is out there they have to run him more. He set the National record for rushing yards in a game by a quarterback so can Kevin Sumlin please just let him run.

5. Having Dutch bros served at games is the most Oregon thing ever.

6. JJ Taylor was an absolute beast. 284 rushing yards is quite impressive as well as his ability to cut and his explosiveness.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

Like this: Like Loading...