College Football's Week 12 Villains

Another weekend of college football is in the books, so let’s go through who let themselves down on the gridiron with my Week Twelve Villains:

ESPN Australia/New Zealand: One game of football on a Sunday in November, and football pre-empted by replayed soccer? Unforgiveable. Coverage is going downhill when it should be on the uptick as we enter the final, crucial weeks of the season. College football fans are being sadly short-changed by a network that generally serves them well. Not so much recently, though.

Notre Dame: Boy, as a USC fan, I love seeing the Irish lose. More than that, I like seeing their promising season come to a crushing apocalyptic end! A week after being blown out by Arizona State mostly because they failed to execute the football fundamentals – you know, not throwing insanely stupid interceptions, not protecting the ball when under pressure in the pocket, and not collecting a snap to make a hold for a field goal try – they were doomed by turnovers at the worst possible time.

How’s this for a rundown from hell? Normally sure-handed RB Cam McDaniel fumbled late as Notre Dame were trying to run out the game, a mistake that led to a game-tying field goal for the Wildcats. Earlier, the Irish went for two in the fourth, when Brian Kelly later admitted their chart said kick the PAT. They also had a missed PAT returned for two points by Northwestern. The old, fierier Kelly would’ve lost his mind. The newer, calmer one just about did, too.

Washington: Led 17-7 against Arizona, turned the football over with 1:26 to play, up 26-24, and then watched head coach Chris Petersen call a time out as Arizona kicker Casey Skowron…missed. It didn’t count, due to the stoppage, and Skowron didn’t miss a second time. Washington fall to a disappointing 2-5 in the Pac-12 this year.

Minnesota: Couldn’t take advantage of three Ohio State turnovers and couldn’t stop QB J.T. Barrett on a snowy Saturday afternoon in the Twin Cities. Had they been able do to a little of both, they might’ve beaten the Buckeyes. Instead, they went down by a touchdown, 31-24.

Mississippi State: Not only did the Bulldogs lose 25-20 to Alabama in Tuscaloosa, some of their best wins of the season – LSU, Texas A&M and Auburn – were beaten today, devaluing those earlier victories. After subpar wins against Kentucky and Arkansas before this week, I wonder if Hail State will slip from the number one spot when the next College Football Playoff rankings are released.

Texas Christian: Yes, the Horned Frogs won 34-30, but they trailed woeful Kansas 13-10 at the half, and then were forced to rally from down ten points in the third quarter to escape Lawrence with a very sketchy win. Let’s see what that does to their perception in the new College Football Playoff rankings. Honestly, as the fourth-ranked team in America, and as bad as Kansas have been since Todd Reesing graduated, they should have won by sixty or more.

Florida: Up 17-10 against South Carolina and looking like a different team to the one that’s appeared in these columns in recent weeks, the Gators proceeded to then take their place here for another week, succumbing 23-20 to South Carolina in overtime. How? Well, the Gamecocks blocked a Florida punt with 39 seconds to play, and ended up in the end zone and headed to overtime 17-17. Whilst Florida kicked a field goal, they gave up a touchdown run to South Carolina QB Dylan Thompson, and almost certainly lost Will Muschamp his job.

Nebraska’s Defense: The Cornhuskers are going to see Melvin Gordon trampling them in their dreams – actually, their nightmares – for about a month. In fairness, the way the Wisconsin back was toting the rock, Alabama’s recent championship defensive units might’ve struggled to get him down, but still, the numbers are bad: 581 yards rushing against. The Cornhusker D is going to be the answer to a football trivia question one day soon. They were gashed and mauled and ripped in every imaginable way.

Duke: Three turnovers were converted into the 17 points that Virginia Tech needed to beat the Blue Devils 16-17, and now Duke must win their final two games in a wild and unpredictable ACC Coastal Division. They have North Carolina and Wake Forest to come, both winnable games, but, then, so was the Hokies game. As an aside, VT are great at season-wrecking wins. Remember, they dealt Ohio State it’s only loss back in September.