For every hero there has to be a villain, even on the college football field. Here are some teams and individuals who didn’t exactly cover themselves in gridiron glory this weekend:
Texas: the Longhorns lost 38-20 to West Virginia and fall to 0-5 on the road this year. Over the course of those five losses, they’ve been outscored 150-30. Once more, it’s going to be a long week for Charlie Strong in Austin. In order to reach a Bowl game this year, Texas will need to win both of it’s remaining games, against Texas Tech and Baylor. You wouldn’t put the house on it.
Mississippi State’s offensive line: the Bulldogs front five was shocking in their 31-6 loss to Alabama, whose defense sacked quarterback Dak Prescott an unbelievable nine times. And when they didn’t actually get to him, the Tide defense was well and truly in the hunt, hurrying Prescott at every opportunity. The Bulldogs quarterback didn’t get any help from his big men up front.
Boise State: lost on the blue turf in Boise for only the fifth time in their last one hundred and one games, falling to a New Mexico squad that became Bowl eligible for the first time since 2007. That’ll be a Boise-area trivia question one day.
Stanford: when the Cardinal beat USC in Los Angeles, they were unranked and USC were ranked and highly favoured. On Saturday night, Stanford were the highly-favoured ranked team at home, and were expected to handle Oregon. It didn’t happen, and all the work the Cardinal have done to climb out of the hole that appeared after their opening weekend loss to Northwestern is for naught.
Utah: the Utes went down the same rocky road as Stanford – losing to an unranked opponent – and with their defeat went the Pac-12’s last chance to feature in the college football playoff.
Baylor: the Bears had a golden primetime network television opportunity to prove to the world that they’re a good team, no matter who they played, but their first big test on Saturday night proved too big of one, falling to Oklahoma 44-34.
Louisiana State: the Tigers didn’t just lose to Arkansas, they were belted to the tune of 31-14, and for the second time in as many weeks, an SEC defense – and not exactly a top-notch one this time around – has managed to successfully bottle up the otherwise rampant Leonard Fournette. A week after being repeatedly stoned by Alabama’s front seven, Fournette was limited to just 92 yards and a touchdown on nineteen carries, good for just 4.8 yards per carry. Those are low numbers for a guy who’s averaged 175 yards or thereabouts this year. Fournette’s Heisman hopes are hanging by a thread now. LSU has lost two in a row – that’s rare, folks!
Everett Golson: the Notre Dame transfer was supposed to be the main man for Florida State, but instead, following a return to his Fighting Irish ways – turning the football over seemingly at will – Golson was replaced by Sean Maguire at quarterback in the Seminoles win over NC State. On five possessions, Golson committed three turnovers and engineered just seven points. The FSU offense looked much better with Maguire under centre, and Golson’s status going forward will be a key storyline through the week.
Georgia Tech: the Yellow Jackets lost 23-21 at home to Virginia Tech on Thursday night, and now cannot make a post-season Bowl game. What a giant fall from grace for a team expected to really challenge in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Instead, Tech, Bowl participants in eighteen straight seasons, will be watching from home this December and January.
Michigan State: the Spartans, heading into a showdown next Saturday with Ohio State, beat Maryland 24-7, but lost quarterback Connor Cook to what was reported as being a shoulder injury. He didn’t play the entirety of the second half – and, to be honest, didn’t look that great in the first half – and now the Spartan fan base will be eagerly awaiting a further update as to his status for the Buckeye game. Simply put, MSU needs Cook under centre to have any hope of winning that one.
Texas Christian: the Horned Frogs lost QB Trevone Boykin to injury and barely squeaked home, 23-17, against a 0-9 Kansas Jayhawks team that would struggle to beat a decent Pop Warner squad. Boykin appeared to sustain an ankle injury on the second play of the game, and his availability going forward will make or break TCU’s season.
Utah State: two weeks ago, the Aggies controlled their own Mountain West Championship Game destiny and looked likely to play off for a conference crown. Then, last Saturday, they lost surprisingly to New Mexico State. And this week, they lost to Air Force, whose passing game doomed the Aggies and now they drop to 4-3 in conference.
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