Wk 13: Surprise!

Well not really...nothing much in college football surprises me anymore. A few eye-brow raising moments this past Saturday that forced some serious poll movement. Four of the Top 15 lost...two to un-ranked teams. A bit atypical for this time of the season but it happens to the best of 'em.

Even a late 4th Quarter prayer
wasn't enough to lift the Gators.

Baylor, Oregon, Florida...what happened? Those were real head-scratchers. And IMHO Muschamp should stay at Florida. Ignore the fans and go with your gut; you hired the guy for a reason and that reason is still there. Often after a team or a coach hits rock bottom is when they finally discover what is really wrong and can focus on fixing it. Give him another year.

I have just two words for BYU: halftime adjustments. Just not enough plays in their book. They looked very talented and they are, but they are also too predictable. (Note - that is not the first time I have had only those two words for BYU coaches...but I do hope it's the last).

Georgia....ouch, I really hated seeing the injury to Murray. The injury curse hit Georgia hard this season but Murray was able to shun it until his final home game. The OC tried to pull him after he tweaked his knee on a long run but Murray insisted on returning to the game. That was probably one of those times he should have taken the OCs advice instead of calling his own audible. Not how he wanted to end his career, I'm sure.

A sad, sad scene for Dawg fans.

Next week...Auburn vs Bama and TA&M vs Mizzou to decide the SEC title match-up. Then there is UCLA vs USC and Clemson vs South Carolina. Also - we'll see Northern Illinois (vs W. Michigan) and Fresno State (vs SJ State) try to keep their BCS bowl bids alive. Need I say more?

E N D - Z O N E
The complete team. Something every coach seeks. A team that is robust on both sides of the ball and on special teams. And it is often the complete teams that have some of the best talent in the game. And also the team that is at the top of the pile. And quite often it is not that team that takes home the most coveted of all college football awards - The Heisman.

Take AJ McCarron and Aaron Murray. McCarron is on the verge of taking Bama to its 3rd BCS title, yet he is a long-shot to take the Heisman and may not even be invited. He holds the best record (36 - 2)  for any QB. This year Murray became the SEC QB record holder for total passing yards, total TD passes and total all-purpose yards. On Saturday, his 52nd consecutive start, before the injury he passed the 3,000 yard mark for 2012 making him only the third QB to do that in all four years. The other two? Timmy Chang of Hawai'i and Kellen Moore of Boise State, the latter of which was invited to New York. But Murray did that in the SEC.

The difference is the team; the supporting cast around these guys. The Heisman is awarded to the most exciting player. Usually that is a player who is playing above and beyond what other players do because (1) they have the talent, and (2) they have to in order to win games. Murray and McCarron have such great supporting casts on both sides of the ball that individual heroics are simply not required. The stats show they are more talented than most QBs, but their teammates are, too. So they win as a team...they lose as a team...and the most coveted college football award eludes them...and that's OK because they understand why and they would have it no other way.

ps: I called these two guys out because I am familiar with their careers. There are plenty of others in the same situation.

pss: Interesting to note that some of the most talented QBs in SEC history are playing this year and their last names all start with "M": McCarron, Murray, Manziel, Mettenberger, Marshall. Though injured there was also Tyler Murphy (Florida) and Maty Mauk (limited playing time at Mizzou). Even Aaron Murray's back-up is named Mason. Isn't that just a bit weird?

Wk 12: Now what?

Now what are going to end up with? I was still hoping for a miracle Bama - Stanford showdown (not gonna happen now). Are we back to a possible Bama - FSU showdown? Oregon? Baylor? Ohio State? Maybe the Buckeyes really are good...but I don't think we'll know until the BIG-10 Championship game.

BYU won 59 - 13 over an FCS opponent in the rain and cold. Given a more worthy opponent than a 3 - 7 FCS team I would have normally attended the game but I chose instead to stay warm and watch the Georgia - Auburn game. And I chose wisely (that was for you Foote). The Cougars have one more shot at making national noise next week in South Bend. Let's hope they're ready this year.

If you like controversial calls (click HERE), comebacks, and freakish luck then the Georgia - Auburn match-up was for you. Georgia was down 37 - 17 going into the 4th but stepped it up and scored three TDs in under eight minutes to go ahead 38 - 37. With just over a minute left the Georgia D got Auburn to 4th-and-18. But the Hail Mary must have had a few prayers behind it...and those prayers were answered (watch it HERE). Great game...just not what I was hoping for. (Side note: Georgia is 1 - 3 versus "Tigers" this season).

And click HERE for a great game summary from SI, with all the season-of-emotions of both teams as well as post-game comments from players and coaches.

Keep your eyes on the ball
and good things will happen.

So can Auburn pull off the win against Alabama in two weeks? Sure - well, maybe. Bama is not invincible and I was very impressed with Auburn's offensive attack and their first half-defensive effort was great. But I've also watched Bama play. Auburn may pull it off but the Dawgs exposed the chinks in the Auburn defense (ie: 435 passing yards, mostly from short slant routes). McCarron and company should have no problem if they use that recipe.

E N D - Z O N E
Plenty 'o folks are hoping for anyone besides Bama to step up and take the title. There are even those at the Wall Street Journal tired of Bama and pulling for Auburn (see article HERE).

You gotta love any win that
merits storming the field.

And then there is Ohio State...doing only what they can do, win, but wins against a patsy schedule simply does not sit well with fans of the game or the voters. They continue to add "style" points but to no avail. So they may be left out of any title game talks along with Fresno State and Northern Illinois. They become just another undefeated team with wins that don't matter as much as a close loss to a mediocre SEC team. And who knows? Maybe they really are good. But without wins against known good teams we simply won't know. Tough luck...but that's the system we have.

And really? Duke over Miami and on to the ACC Championship? I thought they only played basketball.

Wk 11: The Real BCS Buster

No one expected it last year...but it happened again. Stanford over Oregon and Baylor over Oklahoma. And go ahead and admit it...you were thinking that LSU would pull off the big one against Bama.

Call Utah the original BCS Buster. Call Boise State and TCU one, too. But the real BCS Busters are those that screw up the grande finale that everyone wants: Bama and Oregon. As for me...I love it when that happens. And after seeing Stanford put the hurt on the Ducks I would much rather see Bama and Stanford. (Of course, Utah busted that possibility up a few weeks ago).

Speaking of Utah...as bad as they have been playing it looked like they were going to knock off another ranked PAC team...until 2.5 minutes left. Utah is struggling in the PAC-12. And BYU...as much as I like their recent success and new-found umpph, Saturday was simply a reminder that they are not yet ready to play with the big boys. They had their chance to make some national noise but they still have some work to do. They'll do fine the rest of the year and I think even pull off the win at ND and make a good showing against a mediocre PAC-12 team...and it will all be good practice for next year.

E N D - Z O N E
It's the biggest mystery of college football...pull off a big win and lose to a nobody (or vice-cersa). C'mon, we've all seen it and asked yourself...

• How does Stanford pound Oregon and hold them scoreless for three quarters only a few weeks after inexplicably losing to Utah?
• How did BYU lose to Virginia (now 2 - 8) and beat down Texas the following week?
• How does LSU hang with Bama after losing to Mississippi?
• How did Clemson not even show up to the FSU game?
• Why is Ohio State even talked about for the title game? (OK...I just threw that one in there. I'll save that for next week).

We've all wondered how in the heck that happens. My conclusion: there is no one answer. It is as different as the match-ups. sometimes it is just better coaching, sometimes it is the game plan, sometimes it is the rival or revenge or just the classic answer of "who wanted it more". But it is a wonderfully inexplicable part of the game that keeps it interesting year after year.

Wk10: November...

This is the month when championships are decided, when some of the best rival games are played and when the bowl picture begins to focus. It's when the teams that have played a soft schedule now have to man up. It's when the best get better and the pretenders are exposed.

The annual World's Largest Cocktail Party, aka: the Georgia-Florida game, the flag-fest or fist-fest, did not disappoint. It was a game of halves: The st half showcased the Georgia offense we knew in the early season balanced by a stingy defense that only gave up 3 points. But the tables turned in the 2nd half as Georgia went scoreless and barely hung on for the W. My oh my...rarely a dull moment even though it looked like a possible shut-out by the end of the 1st quarter. Never give up on the cocktail party...or any other college game for that matter.

Florida sure knew how to get the Georgia players riled up. I do not recall any game I've ever seen with so multiple (three?) cancelled calls all from "un-sportsmanlike conduct". Todd Gurley was one of the worst offenders as he was swinging almost every time he got up from the bottom of a pile. They must have known how to get under his skin.

I'm not real big on historical win-loss stats...except when it comes to this match-up. It really can't be denied (see chart below). The tables turn every 20 years. So chin-up Dawg fans as history says the next 15 years will most likely go your way in this series.

BYU...was idle this week. Hopefully they were paying close attention to the Wisconsin win and hopefully planning on arriving in Wisconsin at least 48 hours prior to kick-off.

E N D - Z O N E
Next week is HUGE in college football. We have Oregon-Stanford AND Baylor-Oklahoma both on Thursday night, then 'Bama-LSU on Saturday. If any of the undefeateds are gonna fall it will likely happen next week.

Florida State finally has me convinced. They didn't last year like many were expecting...they were obviously a year too early. But they look precise and fast on offense and stingy on defense and like they are on a mission. But unless someone up top loses they will have to "settle".

And then there is Ohio State. Also...waiting and hoping for a few upsets so they can play a real team. Or maybe they're just fine...sitting high in the polls from their high-scoring shut-outs of 1-7 teams. Maybe they are really good, maybe not. The world may never know...