With the good always comes the bad, and inevitably, there
were some performances on the weekend that were less than something to write
home about. Here are Week Nine’s villains:
Duke
Eight laterals and a long run later, and the 2015 Blue
Devils will be forever remembered for being on the wrong side of the wildest
ending to a football game – at any level! – that I can remember.
The attempt looked dead so many times, but as close as Duke’s
tacklers got, they couldn’t quite close the deal, and, somehow, the ‘Canes
found a lane, got a few blocks, and headed to the end zone. The shots of the
crowd in the stadium after the game said everything. It was a heart-breaker
that makes Michigan’s last-second loss to Michigan State two weeks ago pale
into insignificance.
Arizona State
The Sun Devils outgained Oregon 741-501 in total yardage and
had eleven more first downs than the Ducks, yet lost a heartbreaker at home in
3OT, 61-55. The last play was an interception thrown by Sun Devils QB Mike
Bercovici and I’m still trying to work out why they threw rather than ran,
against an Oregon defense that had been on the field an eternity, and were
clearly worn down.
Texas
The Longhorns were shut out 24-0 by an Iowa State squad who
are by no means a high-flying outfit themselves. The offensively-challenged Longhorns
were held to just 204 yards of total offense, whilst the Cyclones racked up 425
on a Texas defense that has very good days and very bad days, and precious
little in between.
Look at it like this: Iowa has given up an average of 34
points per game this season ranked 103 in the nation as far as scoring defense
goes. Yet the Longhorns couldn’t score so much as one. Not even a measly field
goal! Texas’ offense made the Cyclone defense look like the 1985 Chicago Bears!
It looks like being another long week foe embattled head
coach Charlie Strong.
California
A bright 5-0 start and suddenly things were looking good for
Sonny Dykes and the Golden Bears out in Berkeley. Since then, though, Cal’s
lost three straight, and suddenly highly-touted QB Jared Goff isn’t looking so
crash hot. He threw two picks today, in a 27-21 loss to USC, including one that
was returned for a touchdown by Adoree’ Jackson.
With a few good teams left on the docket, Cal might be lucky
to escape the season with a 6-6 record. What that means for Dykes, in his third
year in the Bay Area, is anyone’s guess.
Texas Tech
So, yeah, defense isn’t exactly a priority in Lubbock these
days, but even so, the Red Raiders need to make some changes, because it’s
starting to get embarrassing now. For the third time this year, they’ve given
up 60 or more points – today, they lost to Oklahoma State 70-53 – and have
given up 55 or more five times. These numbers are shocking.
Minnesota
For a while there, before the madness in Durham, the Gophers
could lay claim to the craziest ending of the week. Initially, a pass from QB
Mitch Leidner looked like a touchdown, but a review had the receiver down at
the one-yard line. The clock started rolling thereafter, and the Gophers messed
about, changing formations, and got in a pass play that fell incomplete,
leaving two seconds left. Down three, you figure they’d go for a game-tying
field goal, right?
Wrong. Instead, the Gophers decided – exactly why, I’m not
entirely sure – to forego overtime and instead win it in regulation. Except, it
didn’t go the way the Gophers had drawn it up. They were stuffed at the goal
line, and Michigan won. Shocking game-management.
J.T. Barrett
The Ohio State quarterback was cited on Saturday morning for
operating a vehicle whilst intoxicated and will miss the Buckeyes’ next start
against Minnesota. The way the quarterback battle in Columbus is on a knife’s
edge, this might be a key moment. And Barrett deserves no sympathy. It was an
idiotic and dangerous thing to do.
Nebraska
Turnovers kill. Nebraska knows that better than most after
today: their five turnovers, including four thrown by freshman QB Ryker Fyfe,
consigned the Cornhuskers to a 55-45 loss to lowly Purdue. It goes from bad to
worse in Lincoln, with the Huskers dropping to 3-5 on the year. Mike Reilly’s
debut season is fast becoming a nightmare.
No matter what you might say about Bo Pelini’s tenure in
Lincoln, at least he never lost to the Boilermakers, long bottom feeders in the
Big Ten. Pelini’s replacement, Reilly, can’t say the same, can he?
Nebraska has to win its final three games—against Michigan
State, Rutgers and Iowa—to qualify for a post-season Bowl and, right now, it doesn’t
look all that likely.
Central Florida
The Knights are reeling. After a horrible week – there’ve
been a few of those during this season – that saw legendary coach George O’Leary
resign, UCF went on the road to Cincinnati, where their interim head coach
Danny Barrett was an All-American quarterback three decades ago, and were
pounded 52-7. The Knights defense allowed Bearcats QB Gunner Kiel to complete
all fifteen passes, including 5 touchdowns.
It must seem like a lifetime ago that the Knights defeated
Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl, one of the more shocking upsets that the BCS era
provided.
Oregon
Look, it didn’t matter in the end, but sending out a wide
receiver to run a trick play on a two-point conversion attempt in triple
overtime wasn't the smartest idea Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich has ever had.
Why would you want anyone but your ballin’ quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. taking
that snap? The play was ugly, doomed from the start, and Oregon are lucky that
sequence didn’t doom them. Sometimes I wonder what on earth play-callers are
thinking. Their defense still needs help, too.
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