College Football Week 3 Recap

Game of the Week: South Carolina-38, Georgia-35

            Oh Mark Richt, how I know thee. In the 4^th quarter, the Dawgs, trailing 38-35 came up with the biggest defensive play of the game (which is funny, because it seemed to be the only defensive play of the game) picking off Dylan Thompson which set-up Georgia inside the South Carolina 10-yard line. Up to that point, Georgia had every excuse if they went on to lose the game. They were on the road, hostile environment against a conference opponent, there was an hour delay, it was raining, yada yada yada. But Georgia finally got their big break, and all they had to do was pound it in with the best college running back since Adrian Peterson.

            1^st and 10, Hutson Mason play-action bootlegs and throws the ball into the ground, which was correctly ruled as intentional grounding. Now 2^nd and long, they run off tackle with Gurley gaining 2-3 yards. But now they are at the right hash, and on 3^rd and long, Mason tries throwing into coverage, well before the first down yard mark, which is nearly picked off. But its 4^th down now and your automatic field goal kicker, who has already missed once this game, shanks the kick again and you lose 38-35.

            But blame the players? Absolutely not. I am not going to blame that awful defensive performance either. This loss, once again falls on Mark Richt. When Georgia took over late in the 4^th quarter, after that interception, there was 4:35 left. South Carolina had 2 timeouts, and had no answer for the Georgia running game. On first and goal, a play-action pass was called. Now that could have been the offensive coordinator Mike Bobo’s call, but right there and then that’s when a head coach needs to come and go “absolutely not”. Georgia needed to do two things on that drive, eat some clock, and score any points, at the very least. But the “play-action grounding play” happened and the Dawgs were pushed back.  Let’s go to third-down, the clock was still running thanks to the run play by Gurley, but now the Dawgs are on the right hash, and elect to throw. This call should also have been run play, where Georgia could have placed the ball in the center of the field, making it a much easier attempt, and also would have kept the clock running. The worst-case scenario for Georgia should have been tie the game at 38, with 2 minutes to go, putting all the pressure on Dylan Thompson. However an even worse case scenario took place, Georgia lost the game.

            Georgia is still alive in the playoff, if they can win the rest of their games, however they were unable to shed that “Georgia identity” I warned everyone about last week. Another letdown game could, and probably will keep Georgia on the outside looking in. But one has to wonder will Georgia take a look inside and wonder if Mark Richt has done all he can do at Georgia.

Player of the Week: Gunner Kiel, Cincinnati, QB (25-37, 418 yards, 6 touchdowns)

            Once regarded the best quarterback in High School, it has been a tumultuous ride for the prized recruit. Many do not remember that Gunner Kiel chose three different schools before finally settling at Notre Dame (committed to LSU and Indiana) but fell quickly on the depth chart behind Everett Golson and Tommy Rees. So Kiel decided to transfer to Cincinnati and finally got his chance to shine Friday night. Now granted Tulsa is not a top defense, but this is an explosive offense in Cincinnati, and the talent has never been questioned. The Bearcats will have one more tune-up before Ohio State comes to town and that should prove to be an exciting one. If Kiel can do similar things against the Buckeyes, he will be shooting up scout’s boards.

Disappointment of the Week: USC

            It’s a trap! But not even Hans Solo could rescue the Trojans last night. The Trojans, who have one of the best defenses in the country, surrendered 452 yards on the ground. Yikes! Boston College ran over, around, and through the USC defense and proved how tough it is to fly across the country after a big win. The bookie gods were smiling on this one.

Game to Watch: Mississippi State @ No. 10 LSU, 7:00 PM, ESPN

            Too most people, this would probably be the 3^rd or 4^th best game next week behind the Thursday night matchup between Auburn and Kansas State, or the Clemson-Florida State matchup, or the Florida-Alabama game. But I think this Mississippi State/LSU game will be the best matchup. It is going to be a tight race this year in the SEC West, and whomever wins this game will be right in the middle of that race. The Bulldogs need this win, in the worst way, to convince not only the rest of the nation, but themselves that they can play with the big boys, and they get no bigger than at LSU, at night. If LSU wins the game, they are going against the logic, that this young LSU team, needs time to grow and that there will be growing pains. But we have not seen any yet. That LSU defense has returned to post back to back shutouts and with the young explosive talent on offense, LSU could be a dark horse for the playoff. This is a must watch game.

2014 NFL Mock Draft

Pick	Team	Player	College	Position
1	Oakland	Marcus Mariota	Oregon	QB
2	St. Louis	Jameis Winston	Florida State	QB
3	Dallas	Randy Gregory	Nebraska	DE/OLB
4	Washington	Amari Cooper	Alabama	WR
5	Tampa Bay	Andrus Peat	Stanford	OT
6	Cleveland	Todd Gurley	Georgia	RB
7	Cleveland (from Buffalo)	Cedric Ogbuhei	Texas A&M	OT
8	Jacksonville	Landon Collins	Alabama	S
9	New York G	Shilique Calhoun	Michigan State	DE/OLB
10	Kansas City	Brett Hundley	UCLA	QB