For every hero there’s a villain, and college football is no different in that regard. Here are a few who let themselves down this weekend:
College GameDay: the venerable and normally excellent ESPN pre-game show is pretty much the gold standard as far as such shows go, but last weekend wasn't their finest hour, as a weeks’ worth of bad publicity detailed.
Some questionable signs – one that suggested Ole Miss’ non-conference schedule was as easy as their female students, and another making fun of Urban Meyer’s medical condition that saw him quit Florida – were allowed to go to air. Needless to say, the controversy swirled, particularly after Meyers’ family made comment, and the show sustained a rare black eye. Fan signs are one of the hallmarks of GameDay, but producers have a duty to ensure nothing controversial gets to air, and they failed miserably on this account.
Texas Christian’s defense: the Horned Frogs offense might be humming along nicely, but their compatriots on the other side of the football aren’t exactly playing at a championship level. TCU gave up 607 yards and 52 points to unranked Texas Tech. The Horned Frogs were lucky to win, and their defense needs serious work. Maybe they’ll score more points than they give up in the wild Big XII but that approach won’t fly in the playoff, should the Horned Frogs reach that stage.
Virginia: the Cavaliers couldn’t do much right on Friday at home against Boise State. The opening play from scrimmage saw QB Matt Johns have a pass intercepted by 300-pound Boise defensive lineman Justin Taimatuia and taken back for a pick-six touchdown. Johns threw two more picks and was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone which resulted in a safety. There were two other turnovers – for five in total – on a night where the Cavs were embarrassed 56-14.
Missouri: lost 21-13 to Kentucky to continue an incredibly lackluster season in Columbia. The Tigers will certainly drop from the AP Top 25 after their latest performance.
Arizona State: four turnovers and a shocking lack of general fundamental execution saw the Sun Devils in a 35-0 hole at half time against USC at home. On a night when ASU were looking to jump back into the Pac-12 race, they were shown up by a more committed opponent. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s any talk through the week about the future of head coach Todd Graham.
Oregon’s defense: I’ve asked questions of their ability in past weeks, giving up big yardage totals to schools like Eastern Washington, and I guess we now have our answer on the Ducks. They were terrible on Saturday night, giving up 530 yards and 62 points to Utah at home. That’s the most shocking thing of their capitulation: it happened at Autzen Stadium, which has been something of a graveyard for visiting teams in recent years. Not tonight, and not again anytime soon if the Ducks defense continues to play like it did tonight.
Georgia Tech: remember back when the Yellow Jackets were expected to be serious ACC contenders? Those days seem a long way away now, after back-to-back losses (to Notre Dame and then Duke) in which Paul Johnson’s men have played terribly. Saturday’s loss is going to make their pursuit of the ACC coastal division championship hard.
Texas: another week and another special teams disaster costing them a probable win. This time, it was Australian-born punter Michael Dickson who missed the snap deep in Longhorn territory, and managed to get away only a miniscule punt, which allowed Oklahoma State to kick a field goal and win a game that seemed to be headed to overtime. The Longhorns fall to 1-3 on the season, and that’s a fairly deep hole to dig out of. So, we can expect another week of loud talk in Austin.
Auburn: another loss, this one 17-9 to Mississippi State, and there are surely going to be more questions asked of highly-paid defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, not to mention head coach Gus Malzahn, after the Tigers fell to 0-2 in conference play. Amongst the ugly numbers for Auburn: they were just four of thirteen on third down. You’ll never win football games with a conversion rate as bad as that. It seems a long time ago that they were ranked sixth in the nation, and being talked about as potential playoff candidates.
Brigham Young: the Cougars offense looked as anaemic as any unit we’ve seen this season, barely totalling a hundred yards of total offense. QB Tanner Mangum, who’s looked like a superstar since replacing injured starter Taysom Hill, averaged a putrid two yards per pass in the Cougars’ 31-0 loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Tennessee: the Volunteers gave up two touchdowns in the last five minutes – including a 63-yard game winner – to lose to hated rivals Florida in one of the more miraculous finishes in the long history of tight games between these two schools. Like Auburn, pre-season predictions of SEC glory for the Volunteers seems a long way away now.
No comments:
Post a Comment