College Football Questions and Answers: Week 4

Subtitled: Southern Exposure

The SEC took center stage in week 4 and while there weren’t really any big surprises, there was plenty of good football to watch. And in case you didn’t see it, Tennessee is still Florida’s bitch.

The first question I posed was whether or not the LSU-Auburn game could live up to its’ prime-time billing. It certainly did. Both defenses controlled the tempo of the game and seven total turnovers swung momentum back and forth like a pendulum. LSU made more plays including rolling the dice on a half-back pass (which went for a touchdown) and an onside kick in the 3rd quarter (which they successfully recovered).

Even with all that, LSU still had to come up with a touchdown in the last two minutes to pull ahead and win. LSU still has quarterback questions and Auburn continues to have consistency issues on offense, but both teams proved to have very solid defenses. Incidentally I wrote that Auburn would cover the 2 1/2 point spread, which in retrospect was an awfully stupid prediction. They didn’t cover, losing by 6.

I questioned whether Tennessee had any heart left.

Tennessee actually played Florida tight statistically speaking outgaining them in total yards, but crucial errors and questionable coaching decisions put the margin of victory into “whoopin’ ” territory. Two of UT’s three turnovers came at the end of promising drives inside the Florida 5 yard line. Throw in the fact that the Vols insisted on kicking to Brandon James (130 return yards, punt return for a touchdown) instead of just kicking the ball out of bounds/squibbing or falling to the ground in the fetal position.

Then there’s Phil Fulmer’s typical sprinkle of magic- going for two in the 4th quarter when the score reads 27-6. I’m sure Fulmer was just trying to spark some momentum for a downward-spiraling team, but in typical Tennessee fashion, that plan backfired. According to this chart, technically Fulmer might have been right. Still, Tennessee starts the year 1-2 again and this time, I don’t think Fulmer will be able to bring them back.

I picked Tennessee to cover the 7 1/2 point spread here and of course they didn’t. In fact, Florida more than tripled the spread.

Georgia beat Arizona State 27-10 in what turned out to be a letdown (for viewers). The luster was taken off the game a week prior when ASU lost to UNLV, and Arizona State was never really in contention. Matthew Stafford proved to the better quarterback and Georgia Running Back Knowshon Moreno added more yards and highlights to his Heisman film reel.

Ohio State rebounded after USC but didn’t cover the 20 1/2 point spread against Troy, winning by a tally of 28-10 (predicted that one right). The quarterback battle never emerged as Terrelle Pryor played nearly the entire game, and former starter Todd Boeckman was limited to only two snaps.

As I highlighted on Friday, Texas once again whipped Rice, 52-10. We get it Texas- you can beat Rice. Well done, we’re all verrry impressed. Now get them off your freaking schedule.

Finally, I picked Michigan State to beat Notre Dame. That pick was like taking candy from a baby- final score MSU 23 - ND 7. It turns out Michigan State only needed Javon Ringer to beat the golden domers. Ringer rushed for 201 yards and had two touchdowns vs. the one touchdown and 258 total yards of offense for Notre Dame. If they game weren’t in East Lansing, MSU could have just put Ringer on a scooter and had him drive himself over to South Bend.

You’re welcome.