Another weekend of college football is in the books, so let’s go through who let themselves down on the gridiron with my Week Fourteen Villains:
Notre Dame: Remember when the Irish were being talked about as possible College Football Playoff participants? I bet those days feel a long time ago for Brian Kelly’s squad, whose late-season implosion – fuelled by a rash of injuries, suspensions and, crucially, poor football fundamentals – reached it’s merciful end at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday.
Unfortunately for legions of Irish fans, it ended with the Trojans putting the cleaners through the Irish, winning 44-14 in a game that was far more lopsided than that. This is a USC team who were themselves pummelled by UCLA last week. QB Everett Golson threw one interception and was fairly inept for most of the first half, resulting in his benching in favour of Malik Zaire.
Worse, Notre Dame’s performance was historically bad. They’ve played more than 1230 games over 127 years since 1887, but Saturday’s game was the first time that a Golden Dome defense has given up six touchdown passes. So USC’s QB Cody Kessler gets that record, tossing them to five difference receivers.
It’s a tough pill for the Irish to swallow. I can only imagine the reaction around South Bend over the next few days. Historically, Notre Dame don’t get torched. The last time they were opened up like this…the BCS National Championship Game in January 2013 against Alabama, so USC are in good company.
Auburn: They had a half-time lead, and they had chances to make it even bigger than it was, but poor red zone execution resulted in three field goals rather than touchdowns and the Alabama comeback came as we expected it would. If there’s one certainty about playing against the Tide it’s that you must play four quarters of mistake-free football. The Tigers didn’t, hence their 55-44 loss in an Iron Bowl that was gripping throughout and featured far more points than I expected.
Michigan: Finished 7-9, lost to Ohio State – again – and Notre Dame – again – and Michigan State – again – and were so bad so often that head coach Brady Hoke is almost certain to lose his job. Nothing good came out of Ann Arbor this season, so perhaps the imminent forced departure of Hoke, who really seemed like the guy who would rebuild Michigan, might be a good thing.
In retrospect, Hoke’s debut year where they beat Ohio State and won the Sugar Bowl probably raised expectations a little too high, but there’s always expectations at Michigan, and season 2014 falls so far below them it isn’t even funny. It’s a shame to see the program imploding as it has.
UCLA: Beat USC last week convincingly, and apparently forgot to turn up to play Stanford this week. In fact, the Bruins were about as motivated on Friday as USC was last weekend, and the result was the same. Stanford won 31-10, thanks to a dominating performance on defense. The Bruins just couldn’t keep up. There goes their chance at playing for a Pac-12 Championship.
Mississippi State: The season has really imploded for the Bulldogs, ending with a 31-17 loss to in-state rivals Ole Miss, which will see them ousted from the College Football Playoff four-team bracket. Such a shame for a perennial middle-of-the-road SEC team who, for a time, had a serious shot at something so much more.
Quarterback Dak Prescott, once a Heisman contender, did what he could (282 yards and a score through the air, and 48 yards rushing with another touchdown) on Saturday but the Bulldog defense couldn’t slow down Bo Wallace, who, to the disappointment of State fans everywhere, was appearing in his guise as ‘Good Bo’ this week, when they really needed ‘Bad Bo’ to turn up.
Florida: In Will Muschamp’s final game, the Gators couldn’t capitalise on four Florida State turnovers – including three first-quarter interceptions from Jameis Winston – to send their sacked coach out with a memorable win. As has been the case so often in the Muschamp era, it was a case of ‘so close yet so far’.
Marshall: The Thundering Herd got themselves into the mother of all shootouts against Western Kentucky on Friday and it was indeed a Black Friday for the previously-undefeated Conference USA team who succumbed 67-66.
Maryland: The Terrapins were up 35-10 on Rutgers late in the third. This is a Rutgers team who’s offensive showings this season have left a lot to be desired. Yet, somehow, the Terps managed to give up that 25-point lead, losing 41-38. A stunning collapse that sours Maryland’s otherwise-pretty-successful debut Big Ten campaign. Doubtless, they’ll remember this one for a long time to come, and not in a fond manner, either.
Oregon State: The Beavers were steamrolled by Marcus Mariota and co, and really didn’t start to show any sort of offensive output until they were in a 30-0 hole. To be fair, though, the way Mariota was up and about, Alabama would’ve had trouble slowing him down.
Kentucky: Opened the season 5-1 and proceeded to lose their next six straight, including a 44-40 heartbreaker to in-state rival Louisville, following a pre-game melee in which coaches were involved. It’s the fourth straight year that the Wildcats will miss out on playing a Bowl.
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