Upsets and Close Calls

All hail the underdog...Georgia Tech, Illinois, BYU and Vandy...and a few others that came close. All this just serves the reminder that no matter how well you think you can predict - you can't.

Upsets

• Illinois over the best defense in the land.
• BYU over undefeated Boise State. That was the best 3rd quarter of football BYU has played in a long, long time.
• Georgia Tech over Miami...in Miami.
• Vanderbilt pulling off the upset over Missouri when Mizzou was having visions of the SEC-East crown.

Close Calls

• Kentucky and Georgia scoreless at halftime? OK - there was a torrential rain but the Dawgs looked eerily similar to last week in their 2OT loss to South Carolina. (Maybe they're just holding back for the Florida - Auburn - Missouri - SEC Conference (?) games?).
• Michigan almost regained some footing by tying up the white out game... but they are gone for good in 2019 if they lose to Notre Dame next week.
• Washington seemed to have it all sealed up and then Oregon came back. Three losses was not the UW expectation this year.
• Texas barely held off Kansa - the Mad Hatter is at it again. 
• South CArolina kept things interesting with Florida hoping to pull off a second upset in as many weeks.
• And the Sooner Schooner took a tumble - but everyone was OK.

More in Week 9?

Feasibly...

• Auburn could knock off LSU.
• Wisconsin could knock off Ohio State.

Not likely but it would make things interesting...

• Michigan may just have enough stored up anger to pull off a W over the Irish.

ohhh - we're halfway there...

Halfway mark has been reached and as we all expected deep down, just not what we really expected six weeks ago...

Clemson no longer holds the top spot...or the #2 spot.
Bama has the top spot but LSU and OSU are getting votes, too.
(That Bama - LSU game is gonna be wild!).
Oklahoma showed some weakness but they still have a full package.
Georgia - not the dominant team we expected (but we had already noticed).
Washington can't decide if they want to be good or not.
Arizona, ASU and Oregon are getting noticed and rightfully so.

Will the PAC-12 have a playoff team this year afterall?. Maybe so if the SEC-west beat each other up.

And to the Georgia Dawgs...hang on. Remember Auburn 2017? And LSU 2018? You went on a tear after those surprising losses and you really could not be stopped. Here's to hoping you go on the same kind of tear and continue to disrupt the Top 10.

Month One is Done

Clemson: Showed some cracks that others will expose.
Alabama: Back on top...for now. LSU and Auburn are prepping.
Ohio State: Enough with the high scores already. Let your 2nd string guys get some reps before the 4th quarter.
Georgia: Hope that rest did ya good. Still got a long row to hoe.
BYU: Starting RB out for season. Starting QB out for a while. Lose a close one and sitting at 2-3. Ugh...
Florida: Voters are fearful of putting you up there.
LSU, Auburn, Wisconsin, Oklahoma: Not much respect...yet.
SMU: Wow...in the top 25. Kudos!

Now We're Rolling

Utah was exposed, SoCal found yet another great QB hiding on the bench, and we can now just write Michigan off for 2019.

Utah did not have an answer for USCs 3rd string QB who has been sitting the bench for three seasons. If he was this good, and he was, didn't the coaches know that already? USC may have found an answer for what was looking to be another dismal season. With UW and ND ahead they needed a spark and they got it. No idea what happened to the vaunted Utah defense. They were a no show.

The Georgia - Notre Dame game lived up to the 5-year hype. Georgia pulled it off with a little help from the fans (see NDs false start stats) and a 3rd quarter defense that had been idling the first half. But Georgia did not look ready to take on the likes of Bama, Clemson or even LSU - yet. They've got work to do.

The other top teams took care of business but with seeing UCF go down, the UCLA comeback, you gotta wonder if one of those top teams will also slip up.

BYU played about the same as they did in the OT win over USC - but they were simply outmatched against a UW offense that executed a near perfect game.

And to sign off - why does OSU continue to run up the score on lesser teams. Do they think anyone cares? It is shameful in this day and age. It's a carry-over form the Whiner Meyer years (who also did it at UF and UU) and it should be stopped. It's soooo 1970s.

Week 3 Excitement

Week 3 is not much of a factor in the playoff scheme of things but it was rather exciting.

• BYU pulled off another win in OT over the [erroneously] ranked USC Trojans. This was the most put together and complete BYU team I've seen in a long, long time. The offense was consistent and played four quarters while the defense stepped up their game against a very capable passing game. BYU has go tot feel good about their chances with #22 Washington next week.
• Iowa and Iowa State had a showdown until the end.
• Penn State had a scare with Pitt but showed they have work to do.
• ASU is showing some life hanging in there with Michigan State.
• Maryland was...well maybe can be....or we just don't know yet. There's something there we're just not sure what.
• Florida showed some depth in a last minute win over Kentucky. They'll need it with Franks out for the season.

Playoffs

Clemson is just on cruise control. Bama "just" has to prep for showdowns with LSU, Auburn and likely Georgia. The LSU - Auburn will be a factor as will Georgia - Florida and Georgia - Notre Dame next week. OSU has a fairly easy road ahead. Oklahoma has a few tests (Texas and OK State) but are looking every bit as good as the last two years. And Utah appears to be the only hope for a PAC-12 entry. The dark horse: maybe OK State.