MOVING THE CHAINS: Takeaways From College Football, Week 6

It’s highly improbable for a team playing at home to blow a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter. It’s virtually impossible for a team playing at home to blow a 13-point lead in the final two minutes. Memphis would beg to differ.

Houston 33, Memphis 32. Maybe not the most exciting game of the weekend, but definitely more exciting than a haircut.

A Tale of Four First-Year Coaches

1. Brian Kelly’s LSU Tigers got hammered in Death Valley by the visiting Tennessee Volunteers, 40-13. Kelly, formerly of Notre Dame, suffered his second loss in games played in the state of Louisiana. At this point, the jury is still out on whether or not he’s the right man for the job in Baton Rouge.

2. Billy Napier’s Florida Gators finally notched their first conference win of the year, beating Missouri, 24-17. The Gators started the game with 65 yards of offense and three first downs, which would have been good for an opening drive. Only it was their sum total for the entire first half. The Florida defense — specifically, a pick-six and a touchdown saving interception — was the difference in the game. Of concern: Missouri converted four consecutive third downs in the fourth quarter: the first three being third and 22, third and 16, and third and 18. Also of concern: Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson, who has two settings: hot and cold. Against Missouri: cold. The jury is out on Napier as well.

3. Oklahoma’s Brent Venables, who won his first three games as the Sooner head coach, now is mired in a three-game losing streak. The encouraging news is that the defense improved on the 41 points they surrendered to TCU in the first half last week. Against Texas, the Sooner defense only gave up 28 points to the Longhorns in the first half. Final score: Texas 49, Oklahoma 0. Incidentally, the Oklahoma defense has allowed 146 points during their three-game losing streak. The jury is not only out on Venables, it is well into deliberations. Venables’ argument that a bad offense and a bad defense amounts to ‘balance’ isn’t winning any of the jurors over either.

4. At Southern Cal, the verdict is already in on Lincoln Riley: Trojan for life! Armed with an arsenal of players he took with him from Oklahoma, USC won its sixth game without a loss and is firmly cemented in the Top Ten. Trojan faithful anticipate a return for USC to the glory days of OJ Simpson. Wait, let me try again: the glory days of Todd Marinovich. OK, one more chance: the glory days of Reggie Bush. Never mind.

Now is a good time to mention once again how ridiculous college football rankings can be. A little over one month ago, Oklahoma was the No. 5 team in the country. As it stands currently, the Sooners are the No. 10 team in the Big 12, a conference with only 10 teams.

Speaking of three-game losing streaks, Arkansas is in the midst of one as well after losing to Mississippi State, 40-17. Like the Sooners, the Razorbacks were ranked as one of the best teams in the nation as recently as a month ago. Now they’re off the radar.

The top two teams in the country, Alabama and Georgia, were featured in CBS’ SEC doubleheader. As their opponents were Texas A&M and Auburn, respectively, I can understand why CBS chose to air them. However, when you examine the point spreads — 28 and 24 points, respectively — it’s one of those things that make you go hmmm. I get the attraction for the intense rivalry of an Auburn-Georgia game, but come on: the Bulldogs beat the point spread by four points. Georgia 42, Auburn 10. Unlike the Houston-Memphis game, this one was about as exciting as a haircut.

As for Alabama, the Crimson Tide dodged a failed last-second Aggie TD pass from the own two-yard line and escaped with a narrow 24-20 win. At the moment, both Alabama and Georgia remain undefeated at 6-0, but Nick Saban’s team looks vulnerable to a solid team with a proficient quarterback. (Remember their one-point victory over Texas, who played the last three quarters without budding superstar and future Heisman winner Quinn Ewers? I guarantee Alabama does.)

Incidentally, second-year Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin’s record with the Tigers is now below .500: 9-10. In Harsin’s case, the jury is about to render a verdict — and it’s not going to be a favorable one.

An update on predictions, one from last week and then a couple from preseason:

Kansas may not win another game this season: No. 17 TCU 38, No. 19 Kansas 31. One down, six to go.

In South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler’s ‘race to 10,’ with one touchdown pass and one interception against Kentucky, his season total now stands at five and eight, respectively. First one to reach 10 determines his fate for the remainder of the season, although if he hits 10 interceptions first, expect Rattler to use this week’s victory over a ranked team on the road as leverage to keep his starting job. As for No. 13 Kentucky, the ranked team that lost at home to the Gamecocks, their late-season slide — starting a bit early this year — continues. Final score: South Carolina 24, Kentucky 14.

In the Big Ten, nothing new in the East: No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan both won big, while No. 10 Penn State had the week off. The West remains a crapshoot, as evidenced by the fact that Nebraska, fresh from firing coach Scott Frost, is currently tied for first place.

In the ACC, No. 5 Clemson continues to rule the roost, although there are several teams hanging tough (Syracuse, UNC, NC State, Wake Forest) in hopes of shaking things up a bit. Georgia Tech, 2-1 in conference play, wants their presence known as well (so noted), but let’s be real here: Georgia Tech? Didn’t they just fire their coach, too?

In the Big 12, undefeated No. 7 Oklahoma State is the favorite to be crowned conference champs on the heels of their 41-31 win over Texas Tech. They still have to get by Texas in two weeks, but at least the game will be played in Stillwater. Then again, Texas will have (fingers crossed) a healthy Quinn Ewers behind center, so it won’t be easy — like their season-ending game against Oklahoma appears to be at this point.

In the Pac-12, No. 6 USC and No. 18 UCLA both remain undefeated halfway through their regular season schedules. Oregon also remains undefeated in conference play, despite a humiliating 46-point loss to Georgia in their season opener. If the last man standing in the conference — USC and UCLA can stand up, everyone else sit down — finishes the year undefeated, expect the Pac-12 to be represented for just the third time in the nine-year history of the playoffs.

Finally, No. 8 Tennessee dismantled No. 25 LSU in Baton Rouge, 40-13. I mention it for two reasons (1) I find great joy in seeing LSU lose, and (2) I just might enjoy seeing Brian Kelly lose even more.

(It’s my column; I can say that.)

This coming Saturday my alma mater, the University of Florida, is celebrating the first Tom Petty Day in Gainesville. Guess who they play in the swamp Saturday night? Yep, Brian Kelly’s LSU Tigers.

As Tom Petty would say: ‘we won’t back down.’

Like I said: it’s my column.