By: Tre Bailey
SKSergioKosco Blogger
I felt as if this image was a perfect way to start things off
Weekly Recap
Wow wow wow absolutely wow, the way the Michigan vs Michigan state game ended last weekend was one for the books. Probably one of the greatest finishes I have ever seen in college football history, let alone football in general. To return a fumble from the punter in the closing seconds of the game is truly a miracle, while I truly despise Michigan State I hate Michigan even more so watching them concede defeat due to a punting mishap is absolutely amazing. While I do feel for the punter who probably shouldn’t step out of the practice facility until the Ohio State game. I really enjoyed Michigan fall like that. While we are on the topic of Ohio State, Urban Meyer finally came to his senses and named J.T Barrett the starter this weekend. His performance against Penn State earned him the starting job. While Cardale is a true one of a kind athlete, J.T just adds an additional aspect to the Buckeye offense that isn’t there with Cardale. All there is to do now is get some timing down with his receiving core and look for the Buckeyes to be back in rhythm and on track to defend that title. Staying within the conference Iowa was able to remain undefeated after cruising to a 40-10 victory over northwestern. While we all had high hopes for Northwestern going into the season, these last two weeks have been nothing but tough for the wildcats. The Hawkeyes are off to one of the best starts in program history, and look to come out of the western side of the division to contend for the Big 10 title this year. Only time will tell as the Hawkeyes strive for perfection.
Meanwhile in the SEC Ole Miss falls to a very good Memphis team. Texas A&M isn’t able to back up any of that trash talk as they are absolutely manhandled by Alabama at home losing 41-23 I mean if you are going to talk trash to a consistent power program, and your school motto is BTHO ( insert opposing team name here) then I expect nothing less than a victory especially at home. I suppose Manziel was a onetime wonder capturing A&M’s sole victory against Bama back in 2012. LSU and Florida go down to the wire but the tigers withstand all late game attempts by the gators and pull out a 35-28 victory behind the legs of Fournette. While “what ifs” are a figment of the imagination. One can’t help wonder what the game would have been like if Will Grier hadn’t been suspend a week before one of the biggest games of the years. Personally I think he would have been that added dynamic the offense needed to push them to victory against the tigers. While Harris did an outstanding job keeping the Gators in the game, it’s just difficult to start when there is no rhythm between the QB and his receivers. Georgia and Missouri have an offensive shootout with Georgia coming out on top in convincing fashion 9-6. While the Gamecocks found their first SEC victory against Vanderbilt only one week after Steve Spurrier’s abrupt retirement. Auburn also finds their first conference win against an up and coming Kentucky squad who in the next few years will be a much underrated team.
Meanwhile in the ACC Clemson and Florida state continue to dominate. There honestly isn’t much of a conversation when it comes down to this conference what so ever. Every now and again Duke, or UNC. Or maybe even Georgia Tech will present some problems, but majority of the time the conference is run by these two programs on a yearly basis. I would like to see the ACC dominated by a rambunctious University of Miami team again. Now the early 2000’s were the days. Watching the U play without any cares in the world was some pretty darn good football, and I’m waiting for them to re surface to dominance like back in the day. Guess it’s time for shady recruiting, and paying the players like they need to be.
Moving back west to the big 12 my favorite to win Baylor is absolutely handling business. With one of the deepest receiving corps in the nation, it is nearly impossible to stop the Bears high octane offense. Think of it this way, the Bears have only scored less than 60 points one time this season, and that was opening day. TCU is still finding ways to win games even though they struggle early on. Although I still thing TCU is overrated they find ways to win games which is highly respectable. They struggled early against Iowa State, but ended up finishing them with a blowout 45-21 I still see them losing 2 games this year. Oklahoma bounced back HUGE against K-State in a 55-0 victory. I guess losing to UT lit a fire under OU’s belly and they realized that they knew how to play football. Texas Tech has regained some ground after dropping 2 straight to Baylor and TCU. At the pace they are going I wouldn’t be surprised if they only lost 1-2 more games. Their offense is better than ever against Patrick Mahomes, just defensive inconsistencies will be their downfall.
As I said before and I will say it again the Pac 12 is the most competitive conference in the NCAA. Stanford has come back from that terrible week one loss to prove that they are be best team in the conference. The 56-35 victory over UCLA only added to their resume of victories this season. Since Saturday UCLA found the taste of victory against Cal on a short week Thursday night. Freshman QB Josh Rosen set a school record for completions in a game with 34. Now let’s talk about probably the best team in the conference in UTAH. They are absolutely taking care of business this year, and don’t count them short they are the real deal. The UTES are playing some of the best football out there and are currently ranked 3rd in the nation. Now USC is still struggling, and probably will until they are able to separate themselves from the whole coach Sark ordeal. As for Oregon, we haven’t seen or heard much from them. Aside from having the best jerseys in the nation, the Ducks go from being a consistent top 5 team the past few years to unranked this year. Guess they are having trouble filling some pretty large shoes left by Mariota.
Memphis in Review
So who would have thought the Memphis Tigers would be off to a program best 6-0 start finding themselves ranked the highest the school has ever been at 18 in the most recent polls. Since taking over in 2012 the first couple of years were a struggle for Coach Fuente, as it is for most coaches taking over a program that has some rebuilding to do. Leading the tigers to a 10-3 record last season and the tigers first bowl victory since under Tommy West in 2005. Tiger fans could say Fuente has done a more than amazing job at reconstructing the program into the national spotlight. The tigers were able to find victory this past weekend against Ole Miss for the first time since 2004. The offense led by 6’7’’ QB Paxton Lynch has been able to put points on the board for the tigers all season long. While the defense is finding a proverbial 5th gear late in the game to be able to finish off opponents. This win over Ole Miss is one for the books for the tigers, and they are able to build off of this momentum over the next few weeks as they prepare to face one of their toughest conference opponent Houston followed by Temple the week after. Memphis has the potential to finish in the top 10 this year if they can continue to find ways to win football games. While Tulsa and Navy shouldn’t be an issue, it’s always the unranked teams that bring opponents down at their peak. If the tigers can get through this mid seasons threshold, and go into Houston full of confidence then I see no problem finishing their season undefeated, and ranked in the top 10.
Games of the Week
Texas A&M vs Ole Miss- Both teams coming off of embarrassing loses, they both look to bounce back. While Ole Miss found a way to beat Bama, I think all of that momentum has worn off since then. On the other hand A&M struggled severely against Bama showing none of their offensive strengths. This should make for a good game
Texas Tech vs Oklahoma- A lot plays into this game here. OU QB Baker Mayfield transferred from Tech so there’s that. OU seems to enjoy losing to unranked teams, Tech has an offense where their QB is the 3rd leading passer in the nation. I don’t like OU so I guess I am a little biased. I can see Tech giving Mayfield a reason that he shouldn’t have left in this potential upset
Utah vs USC – USC is looking to bounce back finally after consecutive losses, and UTAH is searching to strive for perfection. While USC has a great balanced attack that Utah defense is just difficult to play call against. Utah will most likely remain undefeated while this will be a pretty good game
Memphis vs Tulsa- Memphis looks to extend its winning streak to 7-0 which can only happen if they get past this Tulsa team. While Tulsa isn’t anywhere near of a threat that Ole Miss is, you still have to consider the fact that Memphis is on top, and conference opponents will look to knock them off of the throne. Expect a high intensity game from Tulsa as Memphis cruises by to victory (knock on wood)
My Top 10
This is the part where I’ll be sharing my top 10 teams in the NCAA opposed to the current how it is now.
1. Ohio State- Still undefeated even though they are looking for offensive answers, they seem to keep it together and find ways to win the game. Despite not having to play a ranked opponent yet.
2. Baylor- the nation’s top offense capable of scoring in 30 seconds you can’t argue with that
3. LSU- the best running back in the nation, and a defense that can chase the ball all around the field. Well deserving of the number 3 spot
4. Utah-Remaining undefeated Says a lot about a team
5. Clemson- I like what they are doing out there offensively with Deshaun Watson calling the shots.
6. Michigan State- Finishing the way they did, not giving up is admirable
7. Alabama- although they beat Georgia in convincing fashion, they still lost a disappointing Ole Miss team
8. TCU-Overrated but finding ways to win games
9. Florida State- the Second Best team in the ACC
10. Stanford-after a week one loss to only bounce back and win the important games matters
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