WEEK 3 REVIEW

So I know there wasn’t a blog released last week, BUT I have a very good excuse. After typing up one of my best blogs ever, I forgot to save it and it disappeared forever. And it was good! Oh well, last weekend still provided a really good Saturday slate of college football games that I have to look back on.

Quick Thoughts

Clemson is the best team in the country. They may have the 1 next to their name yet in the rankings but they definitely do in mine. From shutting down a passing quarterback against Auburn, to shutting down a running quarterback and heisman winner against Louisville, their defense is terrifying. They can get pressure with a 4 man rush, while their fast secondary closes off the back end. They also have versatile linebackers that can play coverage, as well as stop the run. Kelly Bryant has filled in for Desean Watson and kept the offense rolling and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon, especially with Florida State being down a starting quarterback.

Just how good is USC? Are they the team that dominated Stanford? Or are they the team that took multiple overtimes to beat Texas? Yes, the Texas team that had 50 points scored on them by Maryland is the same team that USC struggled to move the ball on. They still have talent and speed, but I’m starting to think their quarterback Sam Darnold is a little overrated. He can make some throws but is he the guy that can really lead them to the playoffs? The defense seems to be very good, but overall we still have a lot more to learn about the Trojans.

Maybe I was wrong about LSU. As we all know before the season, I picked LSU to win the SEC, primarily because Alabama can’t win every year( I don’t think). Anyways, I also picked Mississippi State to be my sleeper in the conference and when those two teams met, I expected a close game. What I didn’t expect was a 30 point beatdown of LSU. Matt Canada and his dynamic offense was supposed to change all of that. For YEARSSS, LSU has not had an offense and right when we think they might, they don’t and we’re back to square one. It doesn’t help that star running back Darius Guice is now out with an injury for this weekend’s game. If Canada, or head coach Ed Orgeron don’t want to hear from fans, they need to get this fixed immediately.

Way to early conference outlook

We’re 3 weeks in, and due to some national weather incidents, not all teams have played 3 games. However, it’s never to early to at least discuss the Power 5 conferences and how they’ve looked so far and how many teams truly look like they could be there at season’s end.

ACC

Clemson is CLEARLY the class of the ACC and I don’t see that changing. Hell, as I said before they’re the best team in the country. Florida State has a brand new quarterback who’s never played a college game in his life so I don’t expect them to be great. Miami has had 2 weeks off due to Hurricanes so we don’t  know much about them yet. Virginia Tech looks good early but they’ve literally played nobody. Louisville, while talented is more pretender than contender as they can’t move the ball unless Lamar Jackson runs wild.

BIG 10

Now this conference has been impressive so far. Penn State looks dominant on both sides of the ball, and they may have the future heisman winner in Saquon Barkley at running back. Wisconsin’s defense remains elite, but I still don’t trust their offense. I can echo that same thought when I think about Michigan. No team with Speight at quarterback is going to the playoff. And as long as JT Barrett is the quarterback of Ohio State, I don’t believe in them either.

BIG 12

This is clearly a 2 team race that won’t be solved until Bedlam in November. Oklahoma State and Oklahoma have both looked spectacular. I give the edge to Oklahoma with the impressive victory of beating Ohio State on the road. But I give the heisman edge to Mason Rudolph. He has looked nothing less than steller through the first few weeks of the year. I am looking forward to seeing him play TCU this weekend as they get their first real test of the year.

PAC 12

I’ll leave USC in the conversation for now, but until I see them be more consistent, I can’t believe in them too much yet. Oregon looks great so far but they still have a lot to prove!! Washington still has to be in the conversation as well.

SEC

Alabama is still the class of the SEC. The winner of Mississippi State and Georgia will also likely jump into the race as well. Overall, this conference appears to be trash so far. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong by seasons’s end but I doubt it.

Primetime Topic of the Week

"Coaches on the Hot Seat"

I know it’s early but with the amount of fan bases nationally calling for their coach to be fired, you would think it was week 12.I’ll take a look at 5 coaches who are firmly on the hot seat.

1. Brian Kelly  - I thought he should have been gone last year to be honest. This is a guy who NEVER takes responsibility for his team’s losses. He blames everything on his players, or other coaches and never accepts blame for doing anything wrong. He even said recently that he was too busy doing fundraising last year and that’s why his team’s record was terrible. Notre Dame desperately wants to get back to prominence and I don’t think he’s the guy to get them there.

2. Kevin Sumlin - We knew this going into the season. The A.D. even mentioned it. Sumlin started off hot when he first got to Texas A&M. He has the heisman trophy winner, beat Bama in Bama and he used a helicopter called the “Swagcopter” to go recruit players! He was the hottest coach in the land for a minute. Then all of sudden, he had players leaving, coaches leaving, and not enough wins to satisfy the fan base. He’s had hot starts but terrible finishes, and starting the season off blowing a 34 point lead to UCLA definitely didn’t help.

3. Bret Beilema - Even though I never believed he would, Bielema was supposed to come to Arkansas and fix the mistakes made by Bobby Petrino and John L. Smith. People gave him a pass the first couple of years but that seems to have expired as message boards and social media have begun to show signs that the Razorback fan base is fed up. Some say he’s losing the locker room, just like he’s losing games. Last years collapse didn’t give anyone faith that he would be able to turn things around this year. Bielema has a huge buyout so he may feel secure but if Arkansas doesn’t win 8 games this year, I don’t think that will matter.

4. Butch Jones - It’s always maybe next year for the Volunteers and it doesn’t appear this year will be the year either. They get good recruiting as they seem to have talent each year, however Jones doesn’t seem to be able to put it all together in a way to allow success. I think he’s a good coach, just not for Tennessee.

5. Kliff Kingsbury - Kliff is a GREAT offensive mind, as you would expect from a guy who has been in that system since he was 18. However, his issue is defense and you can only outscore so many teams before fans start demanding wins. His offenses will always score 40+, but if you can’t stop anyone, then it doesn’t matter as much. I expect him to be able to last another year but he has to finish in the upper echelon of the Big 12 for that to be true.

Week 4  Picks

I’ll admit it. This isn’t the most glamorous week of college football. We don’t have a ton of big time top 25 battles going on, or big rivalry games but there are still a few games to keep your eye on! Week 4 Picks

TCU VS OKLAHOMA STATE

This is another test for TCU. Oklahoma State has proven to be great, specifically on offense as they have a heisman caliber quarterback as well as some of the best skill position players in the league. Kenny Hill and TCU will have their hands full. The Cowboys defense is solid enough to contain them and if they can get pressure with a 4 man rush on Hill, he is liable to make a mistake. While this game won’t be as easy as last week for Oklahoma State, I still expect them to pull it off.

Oklahoma State 38

TCU 20

MICHIGAN VS PURDUE

Michigan has a great defense, but they haven’t played an offense as versatile as Purdue’s has been this year. New head coach Jeff Brohm has brought a creative, wide open offense to the Boilermakers and they have been extremely explosive this year. If not for letting a few runs from heisman winner Lamar Jackson go in week 1, they would be undefeated right now. Michigan doesn’t have the offense to score with them so they will try and keep the score low. I don’t think they will have much success with that strategy, especially on the road.

Purdue 27

Michigan 23

MISSISSIPPI STATE VS GEORGIA

Mississippi State turned some heads nationwide when they blasted LSU by 30 last week and now they have another chance to prove themselves. Their defense is fast and athletic which is has to be again in order to slow Georgia running back duo of Nick Chubb and Sonny Michelle. Nick Fitzgerald seems to be a quarterback who is making a name for himself and making play after play. Georgia still has questions at quarterback and thats what I think keeps them from winning this game.

MSU 30

Georgia 20

ARKANSAS VS TEXAS A&M

This should be an entertaining game as both teams need a win. Arkansas was most recently seen getting blown out against TCU, and they may be missing their starting running back on Saturday. Texas A&M hasn’t looked impressive this season either and fans are still talking about the 34 point lead they blew in week 1. Both coaches need this win badly. I don’t trust Austin Allen at all to win this game and Texas A&M has their quarterback issues as well. This game will come down to the running game and defense. I give the Aggies the edge.

TEXAS A&M 27

ARKANSAS 17

UCLA VS STANFORD

I hate picking this game. I don’t trust Josh Rosen of UCLA at all, but I also don’t trust Keller Chryst either. UCLA is good on offense but terrible on defense. Stanford is solid on defense and bad on offense. So clearly that makes this a tough call. Rosen has to play better than he did against Memphis last week where he made throws and decisions that literally cost his team a road win. Bryce Love is a great back who will likely make plenty of plays against the Bruins. I’m not sure how much I believe in this, but I’ll make a pick anyway.

UCLA 31

STANFORD 30

College Football fans, understand this! Even though this week’s slate doesn’t look great, in the past it’s been weeks like this that have given us some of the greatest games! Upsets do indeed happen, and any possibility could be brewing this weekend. If not, there’s always next week!

WEEK 2 TALK

Finally, we had football on a Saturday! While some games didn’t live up to the hype, others definitely did. The biggest matchup that most people were looking forward to with Alabama and Florida State ended up being a dub. Alabama dominated the game eventually winning 24-7, while putting Seminoles quarterback Deondre Francois out for the season with a knee injury. Ohio State closed well against Indiana, but it did take them more than a half to get rolling. All in all, it was what we expected in a first week of college football. Slow starts by USC and UCLA, but both rebounded and came away with impressive victories. At least we got to see some of our favorite teams before a huge week 2 comes up!

Most Impressive

1 – Michigan’s Defense

Wow! I mean, after losing almost all of their starters from last year’s team, I expected Michigan to take a step back this season. Instead, they put on one of the most physically DOMINATING performances I have seen in a while. Florida couldn’t breathe, and if not for 2 pick 6’s by their own defense, the outcome would have been ugly. Florida struggled to move the ball on the ground and through the air as they even tried multiple quarterbacks to no success. This Michigan defense definitely showed they will be a force to be reckoned with this season.

2 – Baker Mayfield

I know he didn’t play against the best competition but did any other quarterback look more flawless than Mayfield? I know he had a rough offseason with head coach Bob Stoops retiring, and of course his arrest in Arkansas, but those incidents clearly drove him to be even better this year. He was able to put the ball wherever he wanted against UTEP, but we’ll get to see how good he is on Saturday when his Sooners travel to Columbus.

3 – Oregon

I picked Oregon to be really good this year and I know it was only Southern Utah, but wow! They scored at ease and this is a team who last year really struggled to move the ball. It appears new head coach Willie Taggart has quickly made an impact with this roster. Justin Herbert played like the quarterback I believed he could and the skills guys were all great. Oregon travels to Nebraska this weekend.

Least Impressive

1 – Florida State

Wow, you can easily tell that Dalvin Cook is no longer on the field for the Seminoles after Saturday. I watched him literally save FSU numerous times in his career and he’s clearly gone. Florida State’s offense was extremely limited against Alabama as most teams are, but they could hardly move the ball. Talent, speed, athleticism and they did nothing with it. And they lost their quarterback in the process.

2 – Texas A&M

For 3 quarters the Aggies were on the previous list. Up 44-10, and literally doing whatever they wanted to UCLA. And then it all fell apart. The secondary which was great early on completely folded and let Josh Rosen pick them apart as UCLA never scored again and ended up losing their quarterback and the game 45-44. Kevin Sumlin needs to recover quickly and win 10 games this year or he will be gone.

3 – Texas

Texas is still not back after giving up 50+ points to Maryland, yeah, the basketball school. After getting a good recruiting class and inheriting talent from previous head coach Charlie Strong, Texas still didn’t look great. They scored over 40 themselves but couldn’t make the plays they needed to win the game. If that defense which was beyond terrible last year, continues to play the way it did Saturday, we’ll see how long Texas fans go before calling for new head coach Tom Herman’s head.

Primetime Topic of the Week

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer brought up a good point today that I may have never heard. He spoke on how sick he is of hearing coaches and media give a team an excuse when they get a new head coach. This excuse typically being that the new coach needs time to get “his” players in the program, and that once you sign that contract the current players are “your” players.

I never put too much thought into this as I just always went with the flow and when you hear college football analysts repeatedly say “Well once that coach gets a couple recruiting classes in”, or “Once that coach gets guys that fit his system in”, you start to believe it. But after further consideration I agree 100% with Urban Meyer. I hate that excuse. We can’t give coaches a pass just because you’re new. You have been hired to take the talent you’re presented with, and the talent you are able to recruit in year 1 and win. We have seen too many coaches be successful in year 1 to continue letting coaches and media use that excuse. I’m glad Urban came out and said this. It will put more pressure on those 1^st year coaches who feel they get a 2 year window before real progress is expected. For example, I remember when Arkansas hired Bret Bielema and people gave him a pass saying that he was thrown into a bad situation, or that he had rebuild the team/culture. No, he had to win! Here he is years later and Arkansas is still a middle of the road team. Now, do I think the average new coach can go take over a middle of the road program and win a national title in year 1? Probably not, but they should be expected to and have that as a goal. Look at Jim Harbaugh for example. They can’t keep having a goal of coasting until you get “your kind” of players in. We will see if the narrative changes now that Meyer has brought it to the forefront.

Week 2 Picks

This is an exciting week in college football as there are several ELITE games and matchups early in the year! We have a major conference opener in the PAC 12, as well as cross conference matchups that will certainly tell us where some teams are.

TCU 38 Arkansas 24

This should be one of the better games of the day as TCU travels to Arkansas. I remember watching Arkansas win this matchup in overtime the last time they faced off. I don’t expect that to be the case this year as TCU is looking to bounce back from a subpar 2016 season. Quarterback Kenny Trill is a senior and knows this is last year to probably ever be a quarterback so he will be looking to get the ball to his playmakers early and often. I don’t trust Austin Allen of Arkansas to make the plays and I definitely don’t trust his offensive line. I think TCU wins the battle in the trenches and they win the battle on the hill.

Penn State 34 Pittsburgh 17

Revenge game for Penn State as they lost this matchup last year, and possibly their shot at the playoff. They are clearly the superior team and heavy favorites in this game. Trace McSorely and maybe the best running back in the country Saquon Barkley form a tremendously talented backfield, and that defense feels they have unfinished business. The loss of offensive coordinator Matt Canada to LSU will definitely impact Pittsburgh this season, and this game will show that.

Stanford 24 USC 20

Major conference opener here! USC has been picked to go to the playoff, and quarterback Sam Darnold has been picked to win the Heisman. I’m sure David Shaw and his team have heard the buzz as well and look to show they are still contenders in the PAC 12. USC’s defense looked very suspect against Western Michigan last week and Cardinal quarterback Keller Chryst and running back Bryce Love will surely look to take advantage. They should win the line battle and be able to win a close one.

Clemson 31 Auburn 20

This is one of the games I am looking forward to the most. Clemson’s new quarterback Kelly Bryant looked just fine stepping in for Deshaun Watson last week and the defense is still elite. Auburn brings in a team which is very talented as well, with new quarterback Jared Stidham who has been out of football for a year. They have a good running game and a defense but I expect Bryant to make a few big plays on it and the Clemson defense to eventually shut down the Auburn defense. Also, I don’t think you take a year off from football and walk back in and beat the defending champs.

Ohio State 34 Oklahoma 31

I’ll say this. I’m literally only picking Ohio State because they are at home. I think the talent is pretty even all around and I also know Baker Mayfield is MUCH better than JT Barrett, but the home field advantage is what I’ll give the edge too. Ohio State is a better defensive team, but Oklahoma is definitely better offensively. Defense wins games and even though Barrett won’t make some big game winning pass, he’ll at least get them in field goal range to close it.

It’s so great to have Saturdays like this again! After the Florida State-Alabama game failed to live up to the hype, it’s great to have 5 bigtime games on the schedule to make up for it. It’ll be interesting to see how our impressions change after this week as some teams could take a big hit to their playoff hopes with a loss. I’m also looking forward to see what Florida State does at quarterback now that Francois is out, and they have that big game against Miami next week, and Alabama is replacing 2 linebackers. And of course, all season long we’ll be on Sumlin watch at Texas A&M. Until next time…