Last week was boring. This Saturday was everything a college football fan could want and more. There were so many upsets today that the college football playoff is getting harder to predict. After today you’re looking at Florida State, Auburn, Baylor, and Notre Dame as your four. Yep, we have hit chaos in early October. In the BCS this occurred in November. That’s the bad part of picking four teams instead of two.
Loser: Prestigious Programs
I’m talking Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and USC level of prestige. All lost to schools who are still trying to prove themselves nationally. Mississippi State, Ole Miss, TCU and Arizona are very much alive for a playoff spot. Arizona State’s loss to UCLA may be too much to overcome.
Winner: Hail Mary Passes from Arizona Teams
Both Arizona and Arizona State have now defeated a PAC-12 team this year on a desperate pass from midfield. California saw its undefeated season disappear two weeks ago to Zona. Now, USC may fall out of the Top 25 after failing to bat down the ball against Arizona State. The Sun Devils scored on a 46-yard pass as time expired. It appeared that the Trojans simply waited for the pass to come down. That’s how a Hail Mary can work.
Loser: Wisconsin
The Badgers are a lock to drop out of the Top 25 after a bad loss to the Wildcats of Northwestern. Northwestern has lost to Northern Illinois of the MAC but has now defeated Penn State and Wisconsin on consecutive weeks. For Wisconsin, the Big Ten West favorite, its odds of making it to the Big 10 championship game became extremely difficult.
Winner: Marshall
The Thundering Herd destroyed Old Dominion 56-14 and should move into the Top 25 for the first time since 2002. Marshall has scored at least 40 points in every game this season and is currently 5-0.
Loser: South Carolina
The Gamecocks are looking at a Music City Bowl appearance as a best case scenario. My Kentucky Wildcats scored 21-straight in the fourth quarter to beat South Carolina in Lexington 45-38. South Carolina is 3-3 and still has to play Auburn, Florida and Clemson. A 6-6 season would be an achievement.
Winner: College Football Fans
All of the upsets we’ve been expecting the past month occurred in the first three days of October. We wanted to see how the college playoff system would work and now we have an ideal scenario to test it out. Plus, the upsets have been fun to watch.
A problem of living in the Eastern Time Zone is all the PAC-12 games happen late. Luckily, I’m a night owl and was able to see Twitter explode about a Hail Mary touchdown to propel Arizona to a 49-45 win over California. The Wildcats rallied from a 31-13 deficit at the end of the third quarter to break the hearts of Golden Bears fans everywhere. Three touchdowns came in the final 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
As you can bet, Arizona was excited on social media after the win. Like a comic book geek meeting Stan Lee level of excitement.
OH MY GOODNESS! TOUCHDOWN! AUSTIN HILL CAUGHT THE BALL. 48-YARD RECEPTION AS TIME EXPIRES TO WIN. #BEARDOWN
Arizona is still unraked but remains one of seven undefeated teams in the PAC-12. This is what the celebration looked like in the locker room. Zona will travel to No. 2 Oregon on Thursday Oct. 2 in a game that will test the team’s resolve even more. But as Coach Rich Rodriguez said, they’ll “enjoy the Hell out of this one.”
That confident crew you saw there is a sharp contrast from the prayer they made before the Hail Mary.
California could only pump out a short final score tweet after the game and rightfully so. It’s easy to say something you shouldn’t after giving up 36 points in a fourth quarter. The Bears did respond brilliantly with this retweet after some breathing time.
It’s a shame too as California was on the brink of tripling its win total from last year. In the competitive PAC-12, the Golden Bears will need every win to reach bowl eligibility. Colorado comes to Berkely Saturday in what appears to be the easiest game remaining on Cal’s schedule. A rebound against the Buffaloes is a must to avoid a season letdown.
Pirates Own the Tar Heels
It was a surprise when East Carolina defeated Virginia Tech a week ago but the Pirates decided to pummel another ACC school to validate themselves. ECU destroyed North Carolina 70-41 Saturday. SEVENTY!
Phil Steele along with other experts picked North Carolina to win the Coastal Division in the ACC this year. The beatdown was a big black eye for the conference as fellow members Miami, Syracuse and Pittsburgh lost to Big 10 schools too. East Carolina has positioned itself as the best school in the state for recruiting. The only other school that could compete with it is Duke and it’s a basketball school. As for ECU hanging 70 on a team, well it’s been a while since that last occurred.
East Carolina’s 70 points vs. UNC 2nd most ever behind 74-0 win vs. – not making this up – Newport News Apprentice School in 1959
The American Athletic Conference went 7-1 in non conference play Saturday and is having a great year overall.
Purdue Forgets How to Win
The Boilermakers have had a tough couple of years in football but won its second game of the year against FCS Southern Illinois. The school appears to be out of practice as some newbie in the athletics department hung the “W” flag upside down over Ross-Ade Stadium.
How out of practice are the Boilers at winning? Raised the ‘W’ flag upside down. In distress perhaps? pic.twitter.com/x9yhEsWqIi
The bright side to all this is how Purdue won’t have to raise another “W” flag this season as the Boilers will be a underdog the rest of the season.Northwestern on November 22, however, will be Purdue’s best chance for a Big 10 win.
Volleyball and the 700 Club
The New Hampshire women’s volleyball team defeated Rhode Island Saturday in five sets (23-25, 25-20, 26-24, 26-28, 15-12). The real story though is it was 700th victory of Coach Jill Hirschinger and the photo-op was on. This tweet shows how the Wildcats used their tall volleyball bodies to spell out 700.
UNH has started the season 6-9 but should do well in conference play as the Wildcats are the defending American East champions.
Minnesota is “Dressed for Kill”
Check out these shirts Minnesota passed out to fans in their game with San Jose State to play with the name of its coach Jerry Kill. The Golden Gophers handled the Spartans 24-7 Saturday to move to 3-1.
They’re going fast #Gophers! Students, come pick up your “Dressed for Kill” free shirt in the Jerrysota lot now! pic.twitter.com/f3kRA53Rbj
Look for Kill and his team to go bowling for a third straight year and perhaps give Wisconsin trouble in the Big Ten West.
Kentucky and Lincoln
Kentucky and Louisville is one of the biggest rivalries in college athletics but the men’s soccer matchup caught my eye this week. The two teams meet tonight and Wildcats are going with a famous historical figure to trash Louisville.
That’s right; Kentucky is saying Abraham Lincoln was a Cats fan. The school will pass out shirts that say exactly that in the soccer game. Fans are encouraged to manufacture a top hat and other 19th century garb to dress up like the 16th president himself.
Better than Vampire Hunter
In a way it’s a cool idea as Lincoln was born in Central Kentucky. Problem is the University of Kentucky was not established until 1865, the year Lincoln was assassinated. Louisville was around when Lincoln was born so I’m sure Cardinal fans are ready to argue. Still, it’s a pretty cool marketing technique connecting sports to history of the Commonwealth in a nerdy way. Hard to beat that. Plus, if Lincoln was born today where he was there is little chance he’ll be pulling for Louisville. You’re on an island Jefferson County.
Popcorn Galore
Every wondered what 200 containers of popcorn looks like? Well East Tennessee State gave away free popcorn to 200 fans at its soccer match this weekend.
CBS keeps getting these crazy games that always ends up being the talk of the weekend. Not sure if this means the SEC is the only league worth watching or that CBS has figured out how manipulate outcomes like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix. I’ll assume the latter until proven otherwise.
Anyway, Auburn somehow turned an insurmountable fourth and 18 Saturday into a game winning touchdown on this zany pass against Georgia.
Here’s how Georgia described the pass with fan reaction.
Two Georgia players had the ball in their hands deep down field, but neither one grabs it & the AU receiver catches it for the TD #UGAvsAUB
Between the Tigers’ good fortune, the Bulldogs’ bad defensive fundamentals, and CBS working the matrix, it was a breath taking play. On top of that it changed the BCS picture. Auburn still has championship hopes while Georgia’s season has been reduced to playing state rival Georgia Tech in two weeks.
Sure it was a great play, but was it better than the stunt Nebraska pulled on Northwestern two weeks ago?
That pass was a legit Hail Mary in the end zone as time expired. The catch will probably end up costing Northwestern a bowl game this year. You thought you had it bad Georgia fans.
Still, both plays are no match to this Hail Mary throw that crippled Kentucky fans everywhere (including me) in 2002. Fans were charging the field thinking Kentucky had won long after LSU scored.
Party in Kansas
Auburn’s touchdown was not the only wacky item of the weekend. A solid runner up came at Kansas where the Jayhawks snapped their 27-game losing streak in Big-12 play. Kansas dominated reeling West Virginia 31-19 as it had 31-7 lead in the fourth quarter. This is the same West Virginia team that handed No. 10 Oklahoma State it’s only loss on the season, but has since dropped five of its last six.
For Kansas it was time to party. Basketball schools like Kansas know how to make a big deal about the slightest football success. Those goal posts were coming down!
Ignore the fact you just beat a team that was only 4-6. Ignore the fact your program is asking Charlie Weis to save the day. Throw those goal posts into the nearest body of water you can find!
Another great example on how a college football game impacts people even when the teams have little to play for.
ACC struggles on the hardwood
It’s hard to read much into college basketball in November but it is noteworthy how the ACC is not off to good start. Boston College lost Toledo. North Carolina was upset by Belmont, and Notre Dame (ACC in basketball) went down to Indiana State. That’s about as bad as a beginning to college basketball season a power conference can have. We’ll see how it impacts the number teams that receive tournament bids in March.
Nothing gets a locker room filled with men with high testosterone fired up for a game better than the slogan “Live Purple”
It was the game you probably didn’t see but showed everything about college football that’s amazing. A division 1 program fighting adversity. An upstart FCS school trying to make a name for itself. And a wild Hail Mary play to end the game. Forget the fact the two schools were ranked in the bottom 20 percent of the nation according to Sagarin. This was a pillow fight turned instant classic.
New Mexico State was trying to snap its 18-game losing streak by paying FCS Abilene Christian, a school in year one of division one ball, to show up for homecoming. Problem is the Aggies, a program that’s been outscored 792-289 during the streak, has to work hard to beat a high school. There is no such thing as an easy win for NMSU.
ACU had a 22-21 lead going into the fourth but NMSU scored 13 straight points to make it 34-22. The Wildcats scored a touchdown with under a minute to go to make it a 5-point game and recovered an onside kick. FCS ACU had a chance to win its first game against a FBS program. Sure it’s NMSU but still.
Talk about awful announcing. I’ll let ACU’s Facebook page describe the play for us.
ACU falls to New Mexico State, 34-29. The Wildcats’ final, desperation play falls three yards short as a Hail Mary throw from John David Baker to Monte Green-Avery was caught and then lateraled to Taylor Gabriel, who sprinted down the far sideline for what looked like it would be the game-winning touchdown. But Gabriel was brought down at the 3-yard line and the Aggies escaped with a win to snap an 18-game losing streak. Great effort by the Wildcats. #LivePurple #ProudToBeAWildcat
So even though ACU lost it’s pretty happy with its effort and how close it came to knocking off a FBS school. Good Christian attitude to have since, you guessed it, Abilene Christian is a Christian school located in Abilene, Texas. Abilene Christian entered the game 5-3 but had a schedule loaded with division 2 schools as the program makes the transition. While the Wildcats talked up how close they came to winning, the New Mexico State Aggies boasted the fact it won a game.
FB FINAL SCORE Aggies 34, ACU 29. Aggies get first win of the season! #AggieUp — NM State Aggies (@NMStateAggies) October 27, 2013
Aggie Up? You were three yards away from blowing your homecoming game against a team that was Division 2 just 10 months ago.
The latest example of the decline of western civilization.
The announcers, that I could hardly stand, said the Aggie coach was drenched in Gatorade. That’s how desperate it was for NMSU. A loss Saturday night would not have been depressing. It would have rendered the sober Aggie fans catatonic. I say sober fans because these were the t-shirts the students were given for showing up to the game. I’ll let you infer the meaning. Not only was this a great pillow fight game but it was also sinners versus Christ followers.
I love watching these types of games. Casual fans may think it was meaningless but to the players, coaches, and 300 sober fans at Las Cruces, it meant a lot.
Bonus great finish: Texas State converts on fourth and forever.
Trailing at home to South Alabama 31-30 with time winding down in the fourth, Texas State desperately needed to get into field goal range. The Bobcats faced third and four at its own 46 when a completed pass seemingly gave the home team a first down. That’s when the officials stepped in and called the rarer than rare offensive pass interference penalty on Texas State. After a false start penalty and an incomplete pass, Texas State faced a fourth and 24 with 41 seconds remaining. Game over Bobcats. Start partying Jaguars. Then the unthinkable happened.
Bobcats complete 4th and 25, putting the ball on the Jags 23-yard line. 28 seconds remaining.
— Texas State Bobcats (@TXSTATEBOBCATS) October 27, 2013
Texas State quarterback Tyler Jones rolled out of the pocket for a desperation throw that landed in the hands of receiver Ben Ijah, who took it 51 yards. The Bobcats would kick a field goal to take a 33-31 win and move to 5-3 (2-2 Sun Belt). That’s right, Texas State is only a win away from bowl eligibility thanks to an insane fourth down conversion.
For 3-4 (1-2 Sun Belt) South Alabama it’s the exact opposite. The Jaguars will have little left to play for this season as they can only reflect on how it gave a game away in the most painful manner we’ve seen a team do so this year. At least they are better than New Mexico State.
NC2A Nerd 