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Down 8 with less than two minutes to go against Oregon, Washington was facing a 4th and 10...and elected to punt. They immediately snapped the ball over the punter's head and out of the endzone, earning themselves a well-deserved safety and a 26-16 defeat.
There's video of Coach Lake kind of slapping a player in his facemask too. Not going the full Woody Hayes by any means but combined with the other stuff...not great for him. Makes it look like he's melting down, no control. Season falling way below expectations for them.
Anyhoo, Arizona and UNLV both won this week, so I presume the End Times are nigh
UMass has fired their coach, Walt Bell, after losing to Rhode Island this weekend by 2 touchdowns. I almost posted about that being a horrible loss yesterday but realized no one cares about UMass. Rhode Island regularly loses to Brown U.
Eventually these guys are going to realize they don't belong in FBS.
The cynic in me agrees with you. But Jimmy Lake made a universally-panned OC hire that has torpedoed his offense, lost to Montana, spent the week of the Oregon game mocking Oregon's academic standards and then managed the end of the game like a certifiable idiot. Add this minor incident to all of that, and I'm of the opinion Jimmy Lake is lucky to still have the job.
I remember Cal having a lot of problems last year, too. I’d be curious as to their vaccination rates. The uber liberal enclaves overlap with Banjoville, Mississippi on vaccine opinions.
I remember Cal having a lot of problems last year, too. I’d be curious as to their vaccination rates. The uber liberal enclaves overlap with Banjoville, Mississippi on vaccine opinions.
They claim their team is overwhelmingly vaxxed. All breakthrough cases. So most of them probably don't feel bad. Five years ago, I suspect, if a player told you he was good to go but visibly sick, most coaches would play him. But it's an interesting ethical question.
1. Georgia. Another week another throttling of an SEC East opponent. Missouri had little chance even with Connor Bazelak, and none whatsoever without him. Georgia looks to be able to afford the loss of Adam Anderson, but the offensive line injuries could be a problem down the road. This week's trip to Knoxville could be intriguing, as the Vols are coming off a big win over Kentucky and have found an offense with Hendon Hooker at QB. This figures to be Georgia's toughest regular-season test remaining. They should handle it fine, but it could be interesting early in the second half.
2. Oklahoma. The Sooners have finally reached the toughest quarter of their schedule-- at Baylor, ever-dangerous Iowa State, and then Bedlam. They might be catching Baylor at a good time, as the Bears are coming off an upset loss to TCU and are suddenly having turnover problems. But this is going to be a tough row to hoe, especially that last one in Stillwater. Caleb Williams and company give them a chance against anybody, but OU's defense is going to have to find some answers on the backend. They're 112th in the nation in pass efficiency defense, and the QBs they're facing down the stretch are good enough to light them up.
3. Alabama. Six rushing yards. Six. I never thought a Nick Saban-coached Alabama team would put up six rushing yards in a game, much less in a game they'd end up winning. But here we are, and the Crimson Tide managed to turn away an LSU team that played better than their record suggested they would. This was a compelling Bama-LSU game, after all, even if it wasn't a particularly well-played one. The Tide get a week to recharge(well, they get New Mexico State, which amounts to the same thing), and then they get Arkansas at home before heading to the Plains for the Iron Bowl. It's tough to see either Arkansas or Auburn throwing the ball well enough to take out this Alabama team, but crazy stuff has happened in the Iron Bowl, especially at Jordan-Hare.
4. Cincinnati. Let's begin with the obvious: a top-five team should not need two goal-line stands in the final two minutes to beat Tulsa. Cincinnati has been decidedly meh the last three weeks, and were at their meh-est last Saturday against the Golden Hurricane. If they keep this up much longer, they're getting beat, and the Group of Five playoff dream dies for another year. But this ranking tries to grade the season as a whole, and the Bearcats still have a top-ten road win, which of the teams on this list, only Oregon can match. They're still one of only four unbeatens left. I said weeks ago this was their spot until they lose it, and I stand by that. It just looks more likely that they could lose it than it did three weeks ago.
5. Oregon. The Ducks weren't overly impressive in terrible conditions in Seattle, but even with their substandard academic prowess(according to Washington head coach Jimmy Lake), they managed to get the job done. Not much else to say here-- they get Washington State at home this week in a game that will establish the first-place team in the PAC-12 North, as somehow the Cougars are 4-2 in the conference standings without a permanent head coach. I think they get through this one, but next Saturday's game at a Utah team that just murdered Stanford...that's going to be good.
6. Ohio State. Continuing the theme of teams that didn't blow overmatched opposition away, Ohio State struggled at times to put away a Nebraska team that seems cursed to be exactly competitive enough to lose close games to anybody. But their defense continues to solidify-- the Buckeyes are now tied for the national lead in sacks, and they've climbed into the top 20 in scoring defense. Still, they can be surprisingly sloppy at times, and C.J. Stroud alternates between looking lost and looking nearly automatic. I don't think the Buckeyes falter this week against Purdue-- the Boilermakers aren't going to sneak up on them this week, and Ohio State isn't completely out of its depth in trying to cover people in the passing game.
7. Michigan State. Speaking of Purdue, I'd like to thank the Boilermakers for their valorous service on behalf of this ranking this week. Last week, this spot looked all wrong for the Spartans. After their 40-29 loss in West Lafayette, though, this spot looks just right. Unlike the playoff committee, I can't drop MSU below Michigan only a week after the Spartans beat Michigan. I can, however, say that the problems their pass defense had against Michigan and then against Purdue seem unlikely to be fixed by the time they have to go to Columbus.
8. Michigan. Michigan recovered well enough from what could have been a devastating loss in East Lansing to dispatch a broken Indiana team in a relative snooze of a game. This week's critical contest at Penn State may well be decided by red-zone efficiency-- Penn State's defense has allowed only 10 TDs on 34 red zone possessions. Michigan, by the NCAA's curious reckoning, is seventh nationally in red-zone efficiency, but of Michigan's 42 red-zone scores, 17 have been field goals. If Jake Moody continues to be Michigan's most dangerous offensive weapon, it's going to take a remarkable effort from the Michigan defense for the Wolverines to get out of Happy Valley with a win.
9. Notre Dame. I still don't think Notre Dame's going to have enough marquee wins to challenge for a playoff spot, even if they finish 11-1(as they almost certainly will). But that blowout win over Wisconsin is looking better every week. The Irish don't seem to do any one thing particularly well, but they're doing everything well enough. Virginia this week could give them some problems, as long as Brennan Armstrong has recovered from his injury. But UVa's defense is so poor(they're 122nd in the nation in total defense) that even if the Cavaliers manage to get a lead, they don't figure to hold it.
10. Oklahoma State. I kind of wrote the Cowboys off after they started so poorly this season. This oSu team doesn't fit the usual Cowboy/Mike Gundy profile-- they win largely on defense, ranking third in the nation in total defense(behind only Wisconsin and Georgia), third in third-down defense and in the top fifteen in passing efficiency defense. They're 8-1, and a luckier spot late against Iowa State might have gotten them to 9-0. Now they get a pair of games against teams that have fired their head coaches(TCU and Texas Tech) before they host Oklahoma. I don't think this is a playoff team in the end, but they might keep Oklahoma from being one.
Next Ten: Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Wake Forest, Houston, UTSA, BYU, Baylor, Coastal Carolina, N.C. State, Iowa
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