College Football Random Thoughts From Around the Country: Hurricanes be damned!

The regular season is halfway over. Are you having fun yet?

LSU 0 Florida 0 Postponed - Mark this one down as a loss for Florida, a loss for LSU, and a big black eye for the SEC. The arrival of Hurricane Matthew was among many conversations for several Athletic Directors earlier in the week. Only the shiftiness of Jeremy Foley, the arrogance of Joe Alleva, and the weak leadership SEC Commish Greg Sankey led to a cancellation. First off just know that Gainesville, FL is in a "very low risk hurricane zone." It is very rare that a hurricane makes landfall more than a dozen miles. Gainesville is 70 some miles from the east coast. It is actually closer to the Gulf of Mexico to the west. There were no meteorological predictions that Gainesville would be effected by any more than some rain and winds. Furthermore, there were no reports that it would hit them on Saturday. Yet, Foley made the ridiculous decision to "postpone" the game with no back-up plan in place. Weak-kneed Sankey who was heard to say "well golly gee, Mr. Foley. If you think that is the right thing to do, then I guess we gotta," readily agreed.

Some observers were wondering if Foley was trying to duck out this game with so many injuries to the Gators, especially QB Luke Del Rio - who is expected to return this Saturday against Mizzou. The long-time Gators AD has already announced his retirement effective Nov. 1. Maybe there is a part of him that does not want to go out with losses to Tennessee and LSU? Regardless if his intentions were true or not, it was shocking to see such a respected AD make such little effort to get this game played, whether it be at another location or on Sunday.

The best make-up Saturday would be Nov. 19 when Florida plays Presbyterian and LSU hosts South Alabama. A Florida buyout of $500,000 would be required. LSU's buyout of USA would be $1.5 million. Plus the Tigers lose $3 million because it loses its home game. Now it is time for Alleva to do some posturing. On Monday he stated th following:

"We have a home game on Nov. 19, and we're going to have a home game on Nov. 19. We are not going to change that situation."

And then this little gem regarding moving the South Alabama game to Oct. 29:

"We have an open date before the #Alabama game. I'm not in favor of playing that day unless Alabama plays that day."

This man has absolutely no respect for Sankey. There is so much arrogance coming from this man. Remember, this is the same guy who fired Les Miles in the middle of the season.

Sankey for his part needs to stand up and show these two bozos who is in charge. Mike Slive would have never put up with such insolence.

One alternative could be for LSU to play the Jags on Dec. 3. (Yes, that is the same day as the SEC Championship, but c'mon, LSU. We all know you won't be invited to Atlanta that weekend.) I am sure it would not take much for Presbyterian and South Alabama to organize a game on Nov. 19 if they wanted.

For their part, LSU players wanted to play this game come rain hurricanes or whatevs.

As far as Saturday in Gainesville was concerned:

Put it on ABC and look at what Notre Dame and NC State are playing thru...then realize this is what Gainesville looks like pic.twitter.com/l3XhlXQ5Po

— Aslan Hodges (@AslanHodges) October 8, 2016

RAIN? WHAT RAIN?

NC State, UNC, and Duke all had home games. The Research Triangle had worse weather predictions than Gainesville did and soldiered through anyway. Respect.

NC State 10 Notre Dame 3 - This was a fun game to watch. It was an old school, down in the mud, driving rain, whoever-makes-the-last-mistake-loses kind of game. The difference was a fourth quarter blocked punt returned 16 yards by the Wolfpack for a touchdown. The teams combined for five turnovers, had a total of 10 fumbles and lost four of them. Notre Dame's Brian Kelly inexplicably continued to pass the ball, despite the ineffectiveness of the passing game in the conditions. Poor DeShone Kizer's QB rating took a hit despite being the game's leading passer with 54 yards on 9/26 passing. In typical Kelly fashion, he threw his centers under the bus, calling the snapping "atrocious". He is awful good at pointing fingers.

Virginia Tech 34 North Carolina 3 - Unfortunately for UNC, this was not the kind of game that smiles on passing. Mitch Trubisky could only muster 58 yards through the air and an anemic rushing game could not make up for it. The Hokies were able to ground out 189 rushing yards, the most of these three games.

Duke 13 Army 6 - Another sloppy sloggy wet mess with fumbles galore and no scoring in the second half.

CHECK OUT THE BIG BRAIN ON BRAD

Sunday? We coulda played on Sunday. Well, gee willickers. Why didn't I think of that.

Georgia 28 South Carolina 14 - On a bright sunny Sunday, UGA messiah Jacob Eason did not have one of his better days. He was only 5 of 17 for 29 yards with a TD and an INT. The Dawgs relied on the running game of Sony Michel (133 yards) and a finally healthy Nick Chubb (121 yards, 2 TD). SC was just the opposite with 288 yards passing and only 30 yards rushing. This was a one score game before Terry Godwin returned an onsides kickoff 43 yards for a score with 1:33 remaining.

~~~~~

I FALL TO PIECES

Notre Dame is not the only historical power program that is seeing their season crumble.

Washington State 42 Stanford 16 - Stop me if you have heard this one before: the defense keyed on stopping Christian McCaffrey. Either the Cardinal have no other options when it comes to offense, or this is a terrible coaching job by David Shaw. The former Heisman hopeful had eight carries for 35 yards before heading to the locker room in the second half with an unknown injury.

Wazzu is the Arkansas of the PAC-12. After losing their first two to FCS Eastern Washinton and Boise, they have reeled off three straight wins including Oregon and Stanford.

BYU 31 Michigan State 14 - The Mormons hand Sparty a third straight defeat in a rout. Only 85 rushing yards for MSU.

Oklahoma 45 Texas 40 - It took six weeks into the season for Texas to get their first interception. They picked off two Baker Mayfield passes on Saturday but it wasn't enough. The 'Horns were the last FBS team to record their first interception this season.

Washington 70 Oregon 21 - Four straight losses for Nike U. The Ducks seem more concerned in what uniforms they are going to wear than winning ball games. With Az State, So Cal, Stanford, and Utah left on the schedule, Oregon is in extreme danger of missing a bowl for the first time since 2004.

Arizona State 23 UCLA 20 - The preseason great hope of the PAC-12 are now 3-3. Will Jim Mora Jr ever get over the hump in Westwood?

Alabama 49 Arkansas 30 - Minkah! This game was not as close as the score indicates. The last Arky score came against Alabama back-ups.

Texas A&M 45 Tennessee 38 (2OT) - The magic ran out for the Vols.

Auburn 38 Mississippi State 14 - The Tigers are a completely different team from a month ago. What could've been... The Tigers could do a little damage in the SEC.

Kentucky 20 Vanderbilt 13 - If UK can beat MSU and Austin Peay, plus a win at Mizzou, they are bowl eligible.

Clemson 56 Boston College 10 - TCB.

Ohio State 38 Indiana 17 - J.T. Barrett ran for 137 yards but passed for only 93. Indy was held to 99 on the ground.

Michigan 78 Rutgers 0 - Michigan outgained the Scarlet Knights 600 yards to 39 (5 passing). The Jersey Boys recorded a grand total of TWO first downs, the same number of completed passes.

GRAB BAG

Florida State 20 Miami 19 - The 'Canes fans emerged from out of the shadows to jump on the Mark Richt bandwagon. Now they can go back to the beaches and bodegas, and leave their stadium empty again. A blocked PAT by FSU with 1:38 left was the difference.

Oregon State 47 Cal 44 (OT) - I really didn't think Cal would lose this one but last week, I think I may have mojo'd it into happening:

"Cal is 2-0 vs ranked teams and 1-2 vs unranked and 0-2 in non-neutral road games. "

The Bears have defeated ranked Texas and Utah at home but lost @San Diego St, @Az State and @Ore St. Their other win was over Hawaii in Australia.

~~~~~

BAMA STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

• Southern Cal (3-3) brought Colorado back down to Earth with a 21-17 win.
  
• WKU (3-3) Ugh, thanks for nothing. The Hilltoppers fall to Louisiana Tech 55-52 in a game with 988 yards of offense.
  
• Chattanooga (6-0) The Mocs defeated Mercer 52-31. Still #3 ranked FCS team.
• Kent State WINS! 44-20 over Buffalo. The Flashes are 2-4.
  
• Kentucky(3-3) sneaks by Vandy 20-17.

~~~~~

ADOPT-A-TEAM

• Jacksonville State (4-1) crushed Tennessee Tech 40-21. They remain the #4 FCS team.
  
• South Alabama (3-2) had the week off.
  

SALUTE TO OUR TROOPS

• Army (3-2) loses a wet one at Duke 13-6.
  
• Air Force (4-1) suffers a surprising loss at Wyoming 35-26.
  
• Navy (4-1) seems just fine without Keenan Reynolds.
  

ELIMINATED*:

Now, there should be no doubt that HOUSTON is out of the CFP hunt. Right?*

NORTH CAROLINA - Home loss to Va Tech 34-3.
COLORADO - Lost to So Cal 21-17.
ARKANSAS - Home loss to ALABAMA 49-30.
MIAMI - Only their first loss but they aren't getting by Clemson and/or Louisville.
MARYLAND - It was only a matter of time before they got their first loss. This one was to lowly Penn State.
ARIZONA
AUBURN
BOSTON COLLEGE
CAL
DUKE
FLORIDA STATE
GEORGIA
GEORGIA TECH
ILLINOIS
INDIANA
IOWA
IOWA STATE
KANSAS
KANSAS STATE
KENTUCKY
LSU
MICHIGAN STATE
MINNESOTA
MISSISSIPPI STATE
MISSOURI
NC STATE
NORTHWESTERN
NOTRE DAME
OKLAHOMA
OKLAHOMA STATE
OLE MISS
OREGON
OREGON STATE
PENN STATE
PITTSBURGH
PURDUE
RUTGERS
SOUTH CAROLINA
SOUTHERN CAL
STANFORD
SYRACUSE
TCU
TEXAS
TEXAS TECH
UCLA
VANDERBILT
VIRGINIA
VIRGINIA TECH
WASHINGTON STATE

* crazier things

THE CONTENDERS

A way WAY too early look at the College Football Playoff (CFP) picture:

• ACC - Clemson is looking good. Louisville's hopes took another hit when Houston lost.
  
• Big Ten - Ohio State and Michigan. Nebraska is 5-0 but they haven't really played anyone yet, and won't until they travel to Wisconsin Oct 29 and Ohio State the following week.
  
• Big 12 - Baylor and West Virginia are the only undefeated teams left. They play each other in the last game of the season. Did they plan it this way? Both teams have yet to play TCU, Texas, or Oklahoma.
  
• PAC-12 - Nine of the conference members have two or more losses. Only Washington stands unbeaten. A trip to one-loss Utah in two Saturdays looms.
  
• SEC - The Crimson Tide faces Tennessee this week and Texas A&M the next.
  
• Notre Dame - Rob Gronkowski is 27 years old and in his seventh NFL season. The Irish have not won a National Championship during his lifetime.

~~~~~

Krazy Kristi's "SHUT UP!" of the Week goes to the Houston Cougars. They better get a hiring committee together for the next head coach cuz this one is outta here!

~~~~~

• Alabama suffered a few injuries in the clash with Arkansas. Freshman sensation Joshua Jacobs, LB Reuben Foster, and OG Alphonse Taylor left the game at different points. Nick Saban said Jacobs "hit a nerve in his elbow." He could be seen on the sidelines with trainers flexing his arm with a football in his arm after the first quarter goal line fumble. He was cleared to play in the second half but did not return. Foster got "a little concussion" and Taylor also had a "minor concussion". They did not practice on Monday but should be available for the Tennessee game.
• Tennessee redshirt senior defensive lineman Danny O'Brien has been dismissed for the dreaded "violation of team rules". If the rumors are true, it is ugly. We won't go into that here but feel free to speculate in comments.
  
• The Vols are pretty banged up coming into the Third Saturday in October. On nine occasions, the game stopped because a Tennessee player was laid out on the turf.
• UCLA QB Josh Rosen twice left the game with Arizona State due to injuries. He is questionable for Saturday's game against a surging Washington State team.
  
• Christian McCaffrey was knocked out of his game as well with apparent hip injury. His status is in doubt for this week’s rivalry game against Notre Dame.
• On Monday, Miami announced freshman receiver Sam Bruce, a four-star member of its 2016 recruiting class, had been dismissed from the team for "multiple" violations of team rules, as well as a "failure" to meet the expectations. It is good to see Mark Richt is settling in. Bruce chose the 'U' over Ohio State and to a lesser degree Florida. Alabama had an offer out to him at one point.
  

STAT OF THE DAY

The leading yardage passers in Week 6 were Pat Mahomes 504 (Texas Tech), Josh Rosen 400 (UCLA), Austin Allen 400 (Arky), and Josh Dobbs 398 (Tenn). All four lost.

KEY & PEELE PLAYER NAME OF THE WEEK

Washington State DE Hercules Mata'afa

LET'S GO BOWLING!

The following teams are bowl eligible at 6-0 (although 5 wins is seemingly enough to get a team into a bowl these days):

• Alabama
  
• Clemson
  
• Michigan
  
• Texas A&M
  
• Washington
• Western Michigan

Arkansas State and Georgia State both managed a win this week. Only Miami-Ohio (0-6) and Rice (0-5) are winless.

HEISMAN HYPE
With the exception of TWO YEARS, the Heisman Trophy voting is basically a hype award. That being the case, we'll bring you "Who Will Win" and "Who Should Win".

• Who Will Win - Some of these bozos with microphones are starting to blab about J.T. Barrett. He is a fine quarterback on a very good team but the dude was 9 of 21 passing for 93 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. He also had 137 rushing yards but it was against wet paper towel Indiana. He is 60th on the Adjusted Total Quarterback Rating which values the quarterback on all play types on a 0-100 scale adjusted for the strength of opposing defenses faced... Louisville didn't play this week, so the short attention span of commentators made them forget about Lamar Jackson for a moment or two (Squirrel!). But it will amp back up real soon... Jim Harbaugh is clearly campaigning for Jabrill Peppers, letting him run wildcat against overmatched Rutgers. He is a very good defensive back but has he even been tested yet? He has 0 interceptions, 0 pass break-ups, 1 forced fumble, and 0 fumbles recovered this year. In the last three games, he has recorded only ten tackles (6 solo, 4 asst).
  
• Bye-bye Mr. American Pie - With 84 rushing yards in the last two games and 0 TDs of any kind in the last three, Christian McCaffrey is likely out of the running (no pun intended).
• Who Should Win - Still Lamar Jackson.
  

Well, we survived another arduous trial at the mercy of CBS this past Saturday. When the clock hit 0:00 on regulation of the Tennessee-Texas A&M game, their broadcast was at four hours and 35 minutes. If it wasn't for Dobby's interception early in the Vols 2nd OT frame, it would've easily surpassed the five hour mark. As it stands, the game lasted 4:52.

We are getting to that point in the season where there are football games on almost every night. Below are the greatest hits.

Times are CT/ET.

Wednesday, October 12
Appalachian State at Louisiana Lafayette 7/8pm ESPN2 - What else are you gonna watch?

Thursday, October 13
Navy at East Carolina 6:30pm/7:30pm ESPN - Game rescheduled to Nov. 19 due to "possible floods". See how easy that was?

Friday, October 14
Duke at Louisville 6pm/7pm ESPN - 'Ville had a week off to think about their loss to Clemson. Poor Dukies.
Mississippi State at BYU 9:15/10:15 ESPN - This is gonna get ugly for the Bullies.

Saturday, October 15

SEC:

Vanderbilt at Georgia 11am/noon SECN - Will UGA be caught looking past Vandy to Florida?
Missouri at Florida 3pm/4pm SECN - The Florida Chickens are back in action.
Ole Miss at Arkansas 6pm/7pm ESPN - This should be a slugfest.
Southern Miss at LSU 6:30pm/7:30pm SECN - A tune-up for their game with Ole Miss.

(Texas A&M gets to rest up for Bama - Thanks, Sankey! Auburn, South Carolina and Kentucky are off as well.)

DURING COMMERCIALS:

NC State at Clemson 11am/noon ABC- The Wolfpack is 4-1 and feeling good about themselves. This should put an end to that.
Kansas State at Oklahoma 11am/noon ESPN - Is Bob Stoops' act growing stale in Norman? K-State is 3-2.
West Virginia at Texas Tech 11am/noon FS1 - WVU has already taken two bye weeks.
Wake Forest at Florida State 2:30pm/3:30pm ESPN - Wake has quietly made their way to 5-1.
Southern Cal at Arizona 2:30pm/3:30pm FOX - I don't understand why the PAC doesn't play more early games.
North Carolina at Miami 2:30pm/3:30pm ABC- Two teams, licking their wounds.
Iowa State at Texas 6pm/7pm - How's that Longhorn Network working out for ya, Tejas?
Stanford at Notre Dame 6:30pm/7:30pm NBC - This looked like an important game about two months ago.
Ohio State at Wisconsin 7pm/8pm ABC- I get the feeling anOSU wins big.

(Nothing else worth mentioning.)

CAN'T SLEEP?

Colorado State at Boise State 9:15/10:15 ESPN2 - This is what the Smurfs do. They beat up on lame PAC-12 teams, run their MWC schedule, and then beat their chest about how great they are.
UCLA at Washington State 9:30/10:30 ESPN - Wazzu is trending up, while the Bruins circle the drain.
UNLV at Hawai'i 10:59/11:59 Alohavision - For insomniacs with a satellite dish in the back yard only.

#ALABAMA

ALABAMA at Tennessee 2:30pm/3:30pm CBS- Third Saturday in October where it belongs! Unka Verne & Gary D

Texas A&M at ALABAMA will also be a 2:30pm/3:30pm game on CBS.

#RollTide!