Inside The Helmets Of Alabama- Mississippi State, OU-Bayor And Can Clemson Keep Winning
Well Sparty, it was fun while it lasted.
But surely even the most die-hard fans can’t be too green over the loss; after all you beat Oregon only when their receiver dropped a clear touchdown that would have won that game, Michigan was a pure fluke and you barely beat Purdue and Rutgers, teams so bad they should be demoted to non-scholarship Division III level.
Still, the play should have been called back; who was in the replay booth, the guy from the Duke-Miami game?
Ole Miss – which has fallen face first into its Hottie Toddie since somehow beating Alabama – got a bit of lucky-play payback with that “is this really happening!?” play against Arkansas.
The Rebels then compounded their misery by getting a facemask penalty on the first two-point try and are now trying to prove that they are not just an early-season fluke. After all, this is two years in a row they’ve started strong and faded like old blue jeans in the second half of the season.
The third most significant factor of last weekend is that two of the top teams in the Big 12 actually played each other. What took so long!? And there’s another one this week but it’s a mere tease, a single game. Why don’t they either spread these out over the season or have a couple big games the same week?
Otherwise, it’s hard to have any interest in – and respect for – this league.
Now, onto this week’s games. All times PT.
Friday’s Key College Football Game
USC at COLORADO (6 p.m., ESPN2)
What the heck is a major program like USC doing playing on a Friday night, and not even on the main network ESPN!? Even though it’s against Colorado, a team the Prognosticator thought would pull an upset last week but was back to its woeful self, it’s not the right time or place for a school of USC’s statue. The only reason you would do this – I would think – is to hide from everyone. It’s like having a date with an ugly girl and taking her to the table at the back of a dark bar hoping the whole time none of your friends will see you. That may have been a sound strategy the way things started this year for Troy but now this is a team that needs to be showcased. Or at the very least, respected enough to play on Saturdays. Winner: USC
Saturday’s Key College Football Games
GEORGIA at AUBURN (9 a.m, CBS)
Including this game here is for a friend of the Prognosticator, an otherwise fine man nicknamed named Auburn, who has the misguided notion that the Tigers are on the rise. One of his arguments actually sites an Auburn loss, which tells you all you need to know about this season. After Aubie gets chewed up by the not-so-Junkyard Dawgs, the bigger issue will be how hot the coach’s seat gets in the burning Plains. One trend that has been ignored – not really even noticed – by anyone outside of the Prognosticator is how the two coaches with the spread-em-out, hurry-up, send-players-in-every-direction offenses are now in charge of the two worst teams in the SEC West. Another year of this 5-4 stuff an Gus will be on the bus. Winner: Georgia
CLEMSON at SYRACUSE (12:30 p.m., ABC)
Being the well-deserved #1 team in the nation means you get your game featured here – and as the featured afternoon game on ABC – even against a crappy opponent. This game won’t even look good, because it’s played in the sterile confines of the Carrier Dome. The big thing to watch here is for any twitches by the Tigers. Because if they do pull a Clemson, this is the time and place they would do it. Winner: Clemson
ALABAMA at MISSISSIPPI STATE (12:30 p.m., CBS)
It’s not just the cream that rises to the top, but also the Crimson. Alabama arrives in Starkville and not StarkVegas– despite what ESPN and State Dog’ers will try and have you to believe, this town if far more stark than Vegas – with a ferocious defense playing with a nasty attitude. If Mississippi State wins, then it’s solely because of Dak Prescott and if that’s the case, the New York Downtown Athletic Club should jump on a plane and hand him the Heisman Trophy right there on the field. It would be that impressive. The cowbells will be ringing – and to further illustrate the first point here, when is the last time you heard cowbells in Vegas? – and it will be a difficult environment for the Tide, especially the week after LSU. So Bama better have its act together and play well in order to prevail. Winner: Alabama
OREGON at STANFORD (4:30 p.m., FOX)
The Ducks are more like the lame ducks entering into this game, which used to be one of college football’s marquee matchups. Now it’s a down to “oh, are they playing this weekend?” It’s safe to say that since the Ducks had trouble beating Stanford when they were good, they are likely to get plowed on The Farm. Winner: Stanford
OKLAHOMA at BAYLOR (5 p.m., ABC)
What’s this, a big matchup in the Big 12? Well, we’ll see. Are the Schooner Sooners for real or painting one of their patented pretty landscapes for us only to be as much of a pushover as tumbleweed? Baylor is hard to pinpoint – it has yet to play a team with a winning record – but with that schedule one thing is for sure. It’s a well-rested, if not well tested, team. Winner: Baylor
UTAH at ARIZONA (7 p.m., Fox Sports 1)
Predicting an Arizona team is about as accurate as the weather while you’re on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean – it can change at anytime. One week the Cats and Devils will look like the best team in the league and the next appear as if they had never before encountered that odd-shaped device known as a football. That’s why the students party so much at the Arizona schools – why sweat the details!? The Utes are clearly the more stable team but sometimes you’ve just got to go with the rambunctious group. Winner: Arizona
WASHINGTON STATE at UCLA (7:30 p.m., ESPN)
The Baby Bears have been hiding, too, in hibernation with a schedule of Cal, Colorado, Oregon State and Wazzu in successive weeks. You couldn’t have things any easier if you were, say, playing in the Big 10. There is, of course, the remote chance that Wazzu’s quarterback – who leads the nation in passing yards – could light up the night sky in Pasadena like meteor shower failed to do this week, but it’s running teams that give the Bruins the most trouble. Or the Bruins themselves. Here they go again, already talking about playing in the Pac-12 Championship game with key games remaining ahead of them. Winner: UCLA
Leave a Reply