College Football Week 9 Recap

Game of the Week: Utah 24, USC 21

            In front of the largest home crowd in the history of Provo, Utah was able to score a touchdown in the ending timbers of last night’s late night affair. Utah made the Pac-12 South standings even more complex by beating the Trojans, who lost for the second time in the conference in the final seconds, by creating a three-way tie for first place. Utah, Arizona, and Arizona State all have just one lost in the conference, while USC and UCLA both have two losses, and they were supposed to be the only ones vying for the title. This marquee win for Utah will gain the Utes some national attention, but their next four games will determine their fate as the travel to Arizona State,  home against Oregon, at Stanford, then home vs. Arizona.

                         

           

Player of the Week: Trevone Boykin, QB, TCU (22-39, 433 yards, 7 Toucdowns)

            Head Coach Gary Patterson has constructed one of, if not the most potent offense in all College Football. The Horned Frogs are averaging 50 points a game and over 500 yards of total offense. On Saturday, TCU blew way past their averages. TCU scored 82 points against Texas Tech, led by their star quarterback Trevone Boykin. Boykin threw for 7 touchdowns, and has increased his TD-INT ratio to 21-3. Boykin may be entering Heisman consideration conversation.

           

Disappointment of the Week: Ole Miss Offense

            Ole Miss and their undefeated season finally came to an end on Saturday night at LSU. While it wasn’t all bad as the Ole Miss defense certainly showed up in Baton Rouge, but the offense managed just 313 of total offense, and star quarterback Bo Wallace was 14-33 for 176 yards. However what was the most compelling storyline, beside the upset win, was the final play.

After Ole Miss tried lining up for 42-yard game winning field goal and committed a false start penalty, the offense took the field one more time. With Wallace having 7 seconds left, there was more than enough time to try a throw on the sidelines and get one more chance at the field goal. Instead Wallace threw a deep pass down the sidelines, in what he commented after the game as “one on one” coverage (apparently he didn’t see the safety playing over the top, or he doesn’t understand what one on one coverage is) which was promptly intercepted to end the game. But head coach Hugh Freeze chose to make the story compelling after the game when he commented that: “the plan was to throw to the flats or to the sideline”.  There has always been a documented history of tension between Bo Wallace and Hugh Freeze, and if you watched College Gameday and saw the story of the relationship between Wallace and Freeze, you know just how intense it was during their Arkansas State days.

Despite the loss, Ole Miss may be in the best shape than any other 1 loss team. If the Rebs can win out, which would include winning the Egg Bowl over Mississippi State and the SEC championship game, Ole Miss will have no problem making it to the playoff. However, the storyline that manifested at the end of the night in the Bayou may make waves for Ole Miss. It will be interesting to see how and if Ole Miss can respond to the adversity.

                         

Game to Watch: Auburn @ Ole Miss, Saturday 7:00 pm, ESPN

            Ole Miss will have to respond very quickly because they will be hosting the defending SEC champions Auburn Tigers. This game is a “Fork In the Road” game, in which the outcome will provide two totally different directions for both programs. If Ole Miss is able to defend their home turf, put aside their controversy, Ole Miss will continue down the path they have designed to the playoff. However if Auburn wins, they may be the sleeping giant of the SEC. With only one loss (to Mississippi State), if Auburn is able to defeat Ole Miss, and win out their remaining games, which includes beating Alabama, perhaps they can make some noise for the playoff as well. The Ole Miss defense versus the Auburn high-octane offense will make for a entertaining and intense affair. But what makes this game some compelling is that whomever loses, their season’s ends. Two desperate, polar-opposite SEC foes going at it…must-see t.v.

           

Coach on the Hot Seat: Brady Hoke, Michigan

            Heeeee’s BAAAACCCKKK! Yesterday’s 35-11 loss to in-state rival Michigan State, which was by no means surprising, Brady Hoke had a little bit of a screechy temper tantrum when asked if his players “showed up”. Whether the players have quit on Hoke or not at this point is redundant do the point that Michigan is no where near the same class as the “basketball school” Michigan State. You would have to think that its only a matter of time before Brady receives his pink slip. Just feels right to have Brady Hoke back in this category.  But how I am looking forward for this story to end.

Playoff Prediction:

1. Florida State

2. Oregon

3. Mississippi State

4. Alabama

             

1. Florida State: A tough matchup looms on Thursday Night, when Florida State travels to Louisville. The week off for the Seminoles should be able to clear up an early-week issues and the extra time to prepare should give coach Jimbo Fisher a significant edge. But don’t sleep on the Cards. This may be the final test for Florida State.  

2. Oregon: Cal proved to be a good tune-up for Oregon and Marcus Mariota who threw for 5 touchdowns, but the true Bear in the room was that the Stanford game is just one week away. Next Saturday night, Oregon will have to confront their demons and figure out their way past the academic elites. Stanford may not be ranked, but they have been number 1 on Oregon’s schedule all year.

3. Mississippi State: Mississippi State was able to get out of Lexington with a win, but Heisman hopeful Dak Prescott suffered an injury, which he and the team claims is not serious. Thankfully Mississippi State faces Arkansas who has not won in the SEC in the past two seasons. If Miss State can get up early, they may want to rest Prescott because the Alabama game is just two weeks away.

4. Alabama: Alabama gets the week off to prepare for their most important two game stretch of the season. In two weeks Alabama battles rival LSU in Baton Rouge, and if they are able to defeat their fated foe, Alabama gets Mississippi State at home. To be a fly on the wall at those Alabama practices this week.

Don’t Count Them Out Yet: Georgia & Ohio State

            Ohio State was able to squeeze out a over-time victory over Penn State and Georgia continues to win an await the arrival of Todd Gurley. And they both continue to lie in the weeds.

           

           

2015 NFL Mock Draft

Pick	Team	Player	College	Position
1	Jacksonville	Randy Gregory	Nebraska	DE/OLB
2	Tampa Bay	Marcus Mariota	Oregon	QB
3	Oakland	Leonard Williams	USC	DE
4	New York J	Amari Cooper	Alabama	WR
5	Minnesota	Andrus Peat	Stanford	OT
6	Washington	Cedric Ogbuhei	Texas A&M	OT
7	St. Louis	Jameis Winston	Florida State	QB
8	Houston	Connor Cook	Michigan State	QB
9	Tennessee	Shilique Calhoun	Michigan State	DE
10	Atlanta	Todd Gurley	Georgia	RB
11	Cleveland	Brandon Scherff	Iowa	OT/G
12	Miami	Landon Collins	Alabama	S
13	Pittsburgh	Mario Edwards	Florida State	DT
14	New Orleans	Vic Beasley	Clemson	DE/OLB
15	Cleveland (from Buffalo)	Sammy Coates	Auburn	WR
16	Arizona	Markus Golden	Missouri	DE/OLB
17	New York G	La’el Collins	LSU	OT/G
18	Chicago	Dante Fowler	Florida	DE
19	Kansas City	Jalen Strong	USC	WR
20	Carolina	Devin Funchess	Michigan	WR/TE