College Footbal Questions and Answers: Week 9

With the losses sustained by both LSU and Ohio State, the BCS picture thinned out in the middle but remained crowded at the top. Here are your questions and answers from week 9:

1.) Regarding Texas Tech -v- Kansas, I questioned TT’s manhood a bit, instructed you to take the over, and suggested Texas Tech would lose. Score me 1 for 3 on that one- the over/under was 67 and the combined point total was 84. You’re welcome if you laid your kids’ college fund down on that bet (I expect 7%). I’m still not a believer in Texas Tech but I must give their defense credit for holding a decent (albeit one-dimensional (75th in rushing) offense in check. Turnovers played a big part in the game- with Texas Tech having a + 4 advantage. Let’s not get too carried away though with a win over Kansas. Keep in mind KU was ranked 23rd and is the very first ranked team Texas Tech has played this year.

Gut check time this coming weekend when # 1 Texas comes in to Lubbock. I still think Texas Tech is going to lose their next three games, but job well done against an opponent with a pulse.

2.) I nearly nailed Oklahoma -v- Kansas State. The line for OU-KSU was 18 but I said the Sooners would win by 30+. Final score Oklahoma- 58, Kansas State- 35. That’s a 23-point margin in case you went to an SEC school so not 30+ but definitely beating the spread. The Sooners have a fascinating stretch run with Nebraska at home this Saturday, road trip to Texas A&M then an off-week before finishing up with Texas Tech at home and Oklahoma State on the road. Looks like the Big XII is going to continue to be a lot fun to watch the next few weeks.

3.) No sense in lingering over my awesomeness in picking a Florida blowout over Kentucky.

Despite my prediction, I was still stunned at the dominance Florida produced following an off-week against a team that they could have easily coasted by. Next up is the big one with Georgia this Saturday- the same Georgia team mind you that beat Florida last year and kicked ‘em in the nuts with their full-team touchdown celebration. Here’s the video in case you need a refresher:

You better believe that moment has been stewing in Sensei Urban Meyer’s psyche for an entire year. He and the Kobra Kai Gators will be ready for Georgia and they will sweep the leg- no mercy on the Bulldogs (skip forward to 1:42 of the clip).

After Florida beats Georgia this weekend, they’ll take over 1st place in the SEC East and finish with Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Citadel, and Florida State. Following wins in those games, they’ll move on to beat Alabama in the SEC championship game and then likely take Penn State’s spot in the national championship (assuming Texas wins out). Like it or not, the Gators are not going away this year.

4.) I highlighted the differences in quarterbacks between Georgia and LSU as the biggest key to the game. On LSU’s 1st offensive play from scrimmage, QB Jarrett Lee threw an interception which was returned for a touchdown by Georgia. Lee followed it up with two more interceptions in LSU’s 52-38 loss. Neither defense played very well in a game that featured nearly 1,000 yards of offense, but Georgia did enough to get the win and keep their title hopes alive leading up to Florida this weekend. LSU still has Alabama on the schedule, but even if they win out, they need Alabama to lose another conference game to make the SEC Championship. They won’t so expect Alabama to play (lose to) Florida.

5.) Which defense has more of a right to be pissed off- Ohio State or Tennessee? The Volunteer defense has played with heart this year, despite zero support from the offense. How little support? Try 18.4 points per game which is good (bad) for 107th in the country. That’s the sole reason why Tennessee is 3-5 this year and barring a miracle, they won’t be bowling for the second time in four years. Also consider since the national championship in 1998, the Volunteers are 3-5 in the bowl games they’ve made it to. All of that spells the likely end for Phil Fulmer so go ahead and get your resumes in: http://www.utsports.com/. Wouldn’t it be ironic too for Fulmer to be fired on the 10-year anniversary of his national championship. You wanna bet too that the day that happens, Spurrier calls him up to ask for a tee time?

6.) As I predicted, Michigan State did beat Michigan. No matter how bad Ohio State fans feel, at least they’re not Michigan who’s 2-6 with all four games remaining on their schedule as conceivable losses. If you keeping score at home, and I know you are, Michigan currently holds the record for most consecutive bowl appearances (33) and the longest current streak of non-losing seasons (40). Both of those records are getting rich-rolled (trademarked) this year. If you also assume they’re going to finish 2-10 (gasp), you have to go back to Bump Elliott in 1968 when the last time a Michigan team played so badly (2-7 final record). It’s not all RichRod’s fault of course, saying the cupboards are bare in Ann Arbor is a gross understatement. Still, Rodriguez has managed to undo 20 years of Bo Schembechler’s hard work in one season- way to go.

7.) Arizona did stay close with USC losing 17-10. The ‘Zona defense played admirably holding USC to only 17 points but like Tennessee and Ohio State, got zero support from the offense. Arizona totalled 188 yards on 61 offensive possessions, or a little over 3 yards per play. Nice.

8.) That crazy Juice Williams. Just when I highlight that he had only thrown one interception in the last three games, he comes up with three interceptions against Wisconsin. Score that as me getting Jacquizzed by Juice. And now that I’ve typed that, pornographic advertisements probably will start showing up on this site- thank you Google Adsense. In all seriousness- how about the Big Ten “powers” this year- Michigan is 2-6 and both Wisconsin and Illinois are 4-4. Damn.

9.) As I predicted, Texas beat Oklahoma State but it was much closer than Vegas thought it would be (4 points instead of 12). Oklahoma State had Texas on the ropes at several points but either because of mistakes or lack of execution just couldn’t get it done. The Cowboys availed themselves to be a very quality football team and will be a challenge for whomever they play in their bowl game.

10.) One play. It’s not fair for the kid (Terrelle Pryor), but it all came down to one play. About 11 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, OSU up 6-3, Penn State had just missed a game-tying field goal, and Ohio State was finally starting to establish some continuity in the running game. Full-blown run out the clock Tressel-ball. 3rd and 1 and a QB sneak was called. Pryor saw the Penn State defense rushing the line of scrimmage like Democrats to the voting booth and decided to kick outside. The ball gets knocked loose, Penn State recovers. One 15-yard pass interference call and a couple lunges forward and backup QB Pat Devlin is the hero.

I certainly didn’t expect Tressel-ball to break out what with Penn State coming averaging many dozens of points per game. The problem with that plan is that it’s far too dangerous to play Tressel-ball with a freshman at Quarterback. Not that Todd Boeckman necessarily would have done any better, it’s just not realistic or fair to ask a freshman to play a mistake-free game against a defense as good as Penn State. And that’s the strategic mistake that the Ohio State coaching staff made that cost the team the game, a shot at a third Big Ten title in a row, and perhaps a chance at playing in the national championship (again).

Further breakdowns to come on this game, but needless to say, I was wrong in picking Ohio State to win.

You’re welcome.