Moving the Chains: Takeaways from College Football – Week Five

By Scott Ludwig, [email protected]

Thursday first.  North Texas beat Tulsa 45 – 44 in overtime in one of the most exciting games of the season.  At least that’s what I was told by someone who watched it.  I’m almost sorry I missed it.   

On to Friday.  Penn State suffered an embarrassing THREE TOUCHDOWN loss to Northwestern, thereby officially surrendering the fourth spot in the Big Four Conference –  Ohio State, Michigan, and Oregon are the other three – to Indiana.  If the Wolverines are looking in their rearview mirror, Southern Cal may be closer than they appear.

Two ACC teams with perfect 4 – 0 records, Pitt and Virginia Tech, traded blows for 60 minutes before the game ended with (a) the visiting Panthers winning, 35 – 33, and (b) Tech missing a 36-yard field goal that barely missed outside the left upright.  Or did it?  The officials thought so, the kicker didn’t, and the controversy will undoubtably live on forever.  One question: why isn’t there video replay for something as critical as a game-deciding field goal?  Game-winning touchdowns are examined under a microscope.  Now a suggestion: give the Tech kicker another chance to make the field goal.  Like they did for Michigan a while back when they were given a second chance to beat Western Michigan.   

As for Saturday:

#3 Notre Dame beat ACC pushover Nort Carolina 37 – 26.  Next week the Irish face Stanford, another easy win courtesy of the ACC.  However, the conference may get the last laugh when Notre Dame takes on #4 Miami in November.  The Hurricanes are not the stereotypical ACC team, ‘an offense-first, pass-happy squad that is viewed as fast and skilled, yet often accused of lacking the week-to-week physical and mental grit of the SEC or Big Ten.’  If that description offends anyone, take it up with Artificial Intelligence: it came up with it.    

Never mind what I said about Michigan earlier.  They can forget about being in the Big Four after their 20 – 14 loss to Minnesota.  For first-year Wolverine coach Kyle Whittingham, who put together an impressive record of 177 – 88 in 22 seasons with Utah before taking the same job at Michigan, a 3 – 2 record at this point in the season has to be giving him second thoughts about leaving Salt Lake City for Ann Arbor.  Keep in mind one of those three wins was the controversial Western Michigan game which would have resulted – had the officials done the right thing – in a Wolverine loss, not a win.  Otherwise his record would be 2 – 3.  

#5 Ohio State and #14 Iowa met in a Top 25 matchup in the Big Ten.  Most of the damage was inflicted by Jeremiah Smith (11 receptions for 206 yards and 2 TD’s), who modestly said after the game that he was ‘the best player in the country.’  That should (switching to facetious font) endear him to the Heisman voters.  Final score: Buckeyes – 31, Hawkeyes – 14.  

#6 Indiana continues to rack up wins with a 47 – 15 victory over Rutgers, a team that gave #18 Southern Cal all it could handle two weeks ago before falling just short and losing 52 – 45.  In his third year coaching the Hoosiers, Curt Cignetti has already won a National Championship and 31 games while losing only 2 – both of them two seasons ago in his first year at Indiana.    

In the first of two Top 25 matchups in the SEC, #7 Alabama took on #16 Mississippi State in Starkville.  In what was thought by many to be a competitive game, it was over in less than seven minutes into the game when the Crimson Tide took a quick 14 – 0 lead – thanks to a couple of turnovers by the Bulldogs’ quarterback: one a fumble and the other a pick-six (Alabama’s fourth of the season).  From that point on, the Tide cruised to an easy 56 – 23 win.  #3 Georgia, Alabama’s opponent next week, had an easy game as well: a 38 – 14 win over Vanderbilt.  

The SEC’s other big game matched #8 Florida against #25 Missouri in Columbia.  The outcome was effectively decided on the Gators’ opening drive when they best they could do after getting a first down inside the Missouri five-yard line was a field goal.  From that point on, the Gators  played like they were still coached by Billy Napier – who you may remember was relieved of his duties a season ago for continually producing sub-par teams.  The Gators, after experiencing a dramatic rise in the ratings last week when they climbed from #21 to #8 after their upset win over #4 Ole Miss, should experience a similar drop this week after a humbling if not humiliating FOUR TOUCHDOWN loss to Missouri, 45 – 17.  Adding insult to injury, Gator running back Jadan Baugh effectively removed his name from Heisman contention (12 carries for 13 yards).  Missouri’s Jamal Roberts did what Baugh needed to remain in the running: carry the ball 24 times for 211 yards and 3 touchdowns, the last two on runs of 77 and 80 yards.  

#4 Miami took on Clemson, an interesting game for two reasons: (1) to find out if Clemson is making a comeback after a disastrous loss to LSU in their opening game, and (2) to see if Miami QB Darian Mensah is the real deal after throwing more TD passes (14) than incompletions (12) – while completing 94 of his 106 passes without throwing an interception – in his first four games.  First, as far as the playoffs are concerned, Clemson has one foot in the grave after suffering a 41 – 13 loss front of the home crowd in Death Valley.  Second, Darian Mensah is indeed the REAL DEAL: 18 of 27 for 227 yards and a touchdown – without an interception, of course.  It’s almost incomprehensible that his performance against Clemson lowered his completion rate for the season to 84%.  

Finally, #10 BYI had a ho-hum win against TCU, 17 – 10.  It’s hard to get excited for a Top Ten team getting just 15 first downs and 216 yards (with only 62 through the air via just 11 completions in 24 attempts) of offense.  Compare that to the team ranked just behind BYU at #11, LSU.  The Tigers’ offense racked up 39 first downs and 731 yards in their likewise ho-hum 63 – 14 win over McNeese.  

#1 Texas and #9 Ole Miss were idle, giving them an extra week to get ready for Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, respectively.  Not that they need it: neither one of their opponents has won a conference game yet this season.  

Finally, a friend of mine – who knows my wife and I are Florida alums – offered his consolation for the Gator’s first loss of the season: ‘Aside from that 20-minute stretch where Missouri scored 35 straight points, your team did OK.’

I know he meant well, but this is how it sounded: ‘Other than that, Mr. Lincoln, how was the play?’