Another weekend of college football is in the books, so let’s go through who let themselves down on the gridiron with my Week Seven Villains:
Todd Gurley: There’ve been plenty of recent examples of the NCAA suspending and sanctioning players for making money from their own names throughout their college careers – a cynical view might be that the NCAA prefers keep that privilege for themselves, especially if you browse through the number of jerseys available at their website – but it seems that some players never learn.
Count Gurley, the star running back of the University of Georgia, amongst that number. He was suspended indefinitely this week for an alleged violation of NCAA rules. Specifically, he’s supposedly sold autographed memorabilia through a dealer who may or may not have then reported it.
Look, I don’t think the way the NCAA does things is fair, but rules are rules, and the rules, as they stand, make doing what Gurley’s alleged to have done illegal. He knew the risks and now he’s paying the price. Moreover, his team are left without their best offensive weapon, possibly for the entire season. Selfish actions by an individual in a team sport. Not cool.
Arizona: The got back into the game against USC late, failed on a two-point conversion, recovered the ensuing onside kick, drove to within 36 yards of a game-winning field goal and kicker Casey Skowron pushed his attempt wide right, giving the Trojans a desperate 28-26 victory. There are now no unbeaten teams in the Pac-12.
University of California: Consistently one of the more exciting teams in the nation, averaging 50 points per game, and responsible for some epic shootout games so far this year. Where was all of that on Saturday? They managed just 7 points against Washington, falling 31-7 to the Huskies, whose defense hasn’t been that great this year. A head-scratcher for Sonny Dykes’ squad.
Texas Christian University: Had their chances against Baylor. Boy oh boy did they have their chances, and, you know, when they picked off Bryce Petty and took the football in for a defensive score, their lead was 58-37 and you figured they’d run the ball and waste time. Wrong. They continued to come out throwing, which became their downfall. Give the ball back to Petty and that Baylor offense, and they’re gonna score. Bad game management by the Horned Frog coaches. Should’ve been better.
Will Muschamp: The under-siege Florida Gators coach had the good sense to sit his starting quarterback Jeff Driskel midway through another uninspiring performance last week, and Florida went on to win, erasing a 9-0 deficit. Pretty compelling reason to go with the guy who got you the win, right?
Wrong, apparently. Instead, Muschamp elected to go back to Driskel, and the infuriating quarterback repaid the faith by tossing two interceptions. His second was returned to the Florida 36-yard line that set up a 50-yard field goal by LSU kicker Colby Delahoussaye with three seconds left. Not sure how or why it happened, but fairly certain that Muschamp will have some tough questions to answer this week.
Florida State: Their 38-20 win over lowly Syracuse was hardly an inspiring victory for the ages, and considering how well Mississippi State are going, chances are good that the ‘Noles will lose their No. 1 spot atop the AP rankings when they’re released tomorrow because, right now, although both teams are undefeated, the Bulldogs would be favourites if they were playing FSU tomorrow. And, with yet more drama swirling around QB Jameis Winston, there might be some testing times ahead in Tallahassee. Not undeserved, mind you.
Missouri: At home against a Gurley-less Georgia, the Tigers were warm favourites with many pundits – including myself – and unleashed one of the more epic flops we’ve seen in recent years. QB Maty Mauk was just 9-21 for 97 yards and four turnovers. A golden opportunity goes begging for the Tigers, and they’ll be feeling this one for a while.
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