College Football Random Thoughts From Around the Country: Streaks

After seven weeks of college football, only two P5 teams stand at 7-0. Is it any surprise that those two teams are Alabama and Clemson?

10 wins in a row for Alabama over Tennessee.

10 consecutive October wins for the Crimson Tide.

10 straight non-offensive points scored going back to the safety vs. Florida in the SEC Championship Game.

9 straight games that Alabama has non-offensive touchdowns.

19 Bama wins in a row.

7 consecutive victories for Alabama in true road games against ranked teams.

2 straight Alabama-Tennessee games that Peyton Manning has attended that the Tide has won.

13 successive Tennessee losses to SEC West teams.

13 straight TSIO in which the Vols have scored less than 21.

Alabama 49 Tennessee 10 - D-O-M-I-N-A-T-I-O-N! Consider that the Vols had one penalty to Bama's five, plus one turnover to two for the Tide, and still got destroyed by 39 points. If it wasn't for Quinten Dormady 36 yard pass in garbage time, both passing and rushing yards for the orange team would have been under 100 yards. UA non-offensive points outscored all of UT's points 14-10.

Without getting to Gumpy, this could be a really special Alabama Crimson Tide team.

~~~~~

MORE STREAKS

9 straight SEC losses for Mizzou.

4 consecutive losses for Michigan State after climbing to #8 in the polls. They were defeated by lowly Northwestern 54-40 in East Lansing.

4 losses for Oregon too, even though they had the weekend off so they could shop for pretty uniforms for their next game.

4 straight Ws for Washington State after opening the season with defeats to Eastern Washington and Boise. They defeated a sad UCLA (3-4) team 27-21.

3 in a row for Bert Bielema over Hugh Freeze.

STREAKS ENDED

14 game winning streak for North Dakota State came to an end. The winner of the last five FCS National Championships were downed by their neighbors to the south. South Dakota State completed a fourth down 2 yard TD pass with 1 second left to earn a 19-17 win.

11 scoreless quarters for Rutgers ended when they punched one in against Illinois in the 4th quarter - their only score of the day... and the last three weeks. The Scarlet Knights have been outscored 174-14 in the last four games. BIG TEN, WOO!

2 game win streak for UGA over Vandy was snapped. They also lost to them in 2013.

Arkansas 34 Ole Miss 30 - This was a good ol' fun back-&-forth-knock-em-in-the-mouth that went right down to the wire. Expect these two teams to be heated rivals for years to come.

Florida 40 Missouri 14 - Well well well. Imagine that. Luke Del Rio returns and the Gators look strong again. The real story overshadowing this game was that Gators AD Jeremy Foley agreed to play LSU on Nov. 19, but the game will instead be played in Baton Rouge with a return game to The Swamp by LSU next season. Surely, Foley saw how foolish he had been this past week and did not want to be remembered that way when he retires this year.

Vanderbilt 17 Georgia 16 - One of the most baffling calls of the year came in the waning moments of this game when on fourth and one, UGA put Nick Chubb at fullback and diminutive receiver Isaiah McKenzie in at running back to carry the ball. Chubb looked clearly lost and McKenzie was stopped for no gain by Pinson, AL native Zach Cunningham (19 tackles). Neither Chubb or Sony Michel had great games but why you don't give the ball to one of them or throw to your talented tight end, Isaac Nauta, is beyond me.

This game is the kind of game that Mark Richt would have and did lose while at Georgia. It might take awhile for Kirby Smart to change the culture at UGA. One first step that Smart did not take was running off the troublemakers, the bad attitudes, and the problem children regardless of their talent. In an interesting parallel, Athens PD's most wanted Jonathan Ledbetter played his first game after serving a 6-game suspension for multiple off-season arrests and other issues.

For those of you still holding a grudge, Maurice Smith was one of the Dawgs' captains for this homecoming game. Be careful what you ask for.

LSU 45 Southern Mississippi 10 - Give Ed Orgeron credit for whatever he said at halftime because these Tigers sleepwalked through a 10-10 first half. Derrius Guice broke off touchdowns of 61 and 20 yards early in the third quarter to put the Bayou Bengals ahead. He finished with 162 yards on 16 carries.

BYU 28 Mississippi State 21 (2 OT) - A late night and a long flight home for the Bullies. After being tied 14-14 in regulation, MSU scored a touchdown in the first overtime. In their half of the frame, the Cougars QB had the ball stripped by MSU's A.J. Jefferson only to have it picked up by a BYU teammate who ran for a 6 yard gain. They would later score to send it to the second overtime. BYU scored on their first play while the 'Dogs were stopped on downs at the 12 yard line.

THE ACC, Y'ALL

Clemson 24 NC State 17 (OT) - NC State's Kyle Bambard missed an easy game-winning 33-yard field goal as regulation time expired. It was his third miss in four attempts. Clemson would go on to win in overtime and their idiotic fans rushed the field after the game. Their excuse is that it is a "tradition". Is that like getting on buses after warm-ups, driving a circle around the stadium just so you can run down the hill? Just plain stupid.
Louisville 24 Duke 14 - Lamar Jackson put up his double 100s but this was a tight game throughout.
North Carolina 20 Miami 13 - THE 'U' IS BACK ... in the basement.
Syracuse 31 Virginia Tech 17 - A week after obliterating UNC 34-3 and finding themselves ranked #17, the Hokies got a little full of themselves and got reamed by a pathetic team.
Florida State 17 Wake Forest 6 - FSU floundered around for four quarters and somehow found themselves ahead when the clock hit zeroes. FSU fans keep kidding themselves that Deondre Francois is some kind of elite quarterback.

Houston 38 Tulsa 31 - The team that is supposed to break through the P5 blockade struggled to put away the Golden Hurricanes at home. Houston broke a 31-all tie on a fortunate scoop & score with 1:21 to go only to see Tulsa drive the field. Unfortunately for the away team, they would be stopped at the 1-yard line as time expired.
Boise 28 Colorado State 23 - The Smurfs are 6-0 and ranked #14. Only one of their defeated opponents has a winning record. Pollsters are so freakin' lazy.

GRAB BAG

Ohio State 30 Wisconsin 23 (OT) - Wisky squandered leads of 16-6 at halftime and 23-20 late in the fourth. J.T. Barrett was good and he was bad. It's going to catch up with him sooner or later.

~~~~~

BAMA STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

• Southern Cal (4-3) might be figuring things out with Sam Darnold at the helm as they destroyed Arizona on the road 48-14.
  
• WKU (4-3) slipped by Middle Tennessee 44-43 in double overtime when MTSU missed an extra point.
  
• Chattanooga (6-1) The Mocs lost to #8 Citadel 22-14.They drop to #8 while Citadel rises to #6.
  
• Kent State (2-5) was sadly defeated 18-14 by an awful Miami-Ohio (1-6) team.
  
• Kentucky (3-3) had a bye week. Believe it or not, UK is in third place in the SEC East.
  

~~~~~

ADOPT-A-TEAM

• Jacksonville State (5-1) made Austin Peay his pants 34-14. Jax has move up to the #2 FCS team.
  
• Not a good day for South Alabama (3-3) as they lost to Arkansas State 17-7.
  

SALUTE TO OUR TROOPS

• Army (4-2) defeated the Lafayette Leopards of the Patriot League 62-7, not the one in Looziana.
  
• Air Force (4-2) inexplicably lost to New Mexico 45-40. It is their second straight loss since upsetting Navy. For some reason, this game was played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas (capacity 92,100) in front of an "official" total of 18,230.
• Navy's (4-1) game with ECU was postponed due to flooding. I am not sure what the issue was. They had the US Navy at their disposal. The make-up date will be Nov. 19 - same day as a certain SEC make-up game.
  

ELIMINATED*:

All non P5 teams.
ARIZONA STATE - It was just a matter of time.
MIAMI-FL - The honeymoon is over.
TENNESSEE - What do y'all think? Are the Vols out?
WISCONSIN - They overachieved to get this far.
ARIZONA
ARKANSAS
AUBURN
BOSTON COLLEGE
BYU
CAL
COLORADO
DUKE
FLORIDA STATE
GEORGIA
GEORGIA TECH
ILLINOIS
INDIANA
IOWA
IOWA STATE
KANSAS
KANSAS STATE
KENTUCKY
LSU
MARYLAND
MIAMI
MICHIGAN STATE
MINNESOTA
MISSISSIPPI STATE
MISSOURI
NC STATE
NORTH CAROLINA
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
WAKE FOREST
WASHINGTON STATE

* crazier things

THE CONTENDERS

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

• ACC - Clemson is still king of the ACC but they are flirting with disaster. Louisville's ten point win over Duke did not help their case very much.
  
• Big Ten - No change. Ohio State and Michigan with Nebraska in the wings. Wisconsin had a chance to knock the Buckeyes out, but folded in the end.
  
• Big 12 - Baylor and West Virginia remain unbeaten. WVU had a bye week in preparation for a visiting TCU team. Tick...tick...tick...
  
• PAC-12 - It's looking like Washington or nobody from the left coast. If the Doggies don't go 13-0, chaos will ensue.
  
• SEC - The loser of Alabama and Texas A&M will not be entirely out of the chase.
  
• Notre Dame

The CFP Committee will begin to produce rankings following week nine of the college football season. Members will again meet in person, on Mondays and Tuesdays. The committee will issue its first rankings on Tuesday, November 1. My seedings of the New Year's Six are as follows:

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Clemson
4. Washington
5. Texas A&M
6. Michigan

What does your top 6 look like?

~~~~~

Krazy Kristi's "SHUT UP!" of the Week goes to Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly. Just STFU already. What a classless finger-pointing little crybaby. Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick hilariously gave Kelly a six-year extension at the beginning of this year, so unless they can squeeze a few million out of the alumni, they are likely stuck with him for at least one more dreadful season.

~~~~~

• Alabama has no injuries to report! ROLL TIDE!
• Florida LB Jarrad Davis suffered a badly sprained ankle against Missouri and should miss some time.
  
• Senior Tennessee LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin had shoulder surgery and is done for the season.
• In what might be a game time decision, LSU's Leonard Fournette (ankle) may play against Ole Miss.
• Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson (ankle) returned to practice, though his status for the Arkansas game is yet to be determined.
• Clemson's Wayne Gallman missed bulk of Saturday's win over NC State with a concussion. Without their top running back, the Tigers managed only 103 rushing yards. Clemson is off this week before a showdown with FSU on Oct. 29.
• In a baffling move, the Big 12 voted Monday to remain at 10 members and not expand. According to blowhard commish Bob Bowlsby, it was a unanimous vote. He added that expansion would no longer be "an active agenda item." Bowlsby is taking the arrogant approach of we're not broken. The playoff system is broken. On one hand, I can see that the candidate schools are less than desirable, but the B12 will continue to get shut out of the CFP and the money that goes with it. Such stubborn short-sightedness...smh. Don't be surprised if a few B12 member schools defect to another P5 conference in coming years.
  
• Purdue mercifully fired Darrell Hazell. The Jim Tressel disciple found some success in two seasons at Kent State but could never get anything going in W. Lafayette. In three and a half seasons, he won only 9 games while losing 33. Hazell was off to at 3-3 start but you have to wonder if the administration wanted to get rid of him before he won enough games to make a bowl and they'd be stuck with him for another year. Call it the Les Miles Effect. Hazell's predecessor, Danny Hope, was 7-6 with a bowl win in 2011 but was fired before a bowl appearance in 2012 with a 6-6 season.
  

Darrell Hazell

Kent State Golden Flashes (Mid-American Conference) (2011–2012)
2011	Kent State	5–7	4–4	3rd (East)
2012	Kent State	11–3	8–0	1st (East)
Kent State:		16–10	12–4
Purdue Boilermakers (Big Ten Conference) (2013–2016)
2013	Purdue	1–11	0–8	6th (Leaders)
2014	Purdue	3–9	1–7	7th (West)
2015	Purdue	2–10	1–7	7th (West)
2016	Purdue	3–3	1–2	-
Purdue:		9–33	3–24

STAT OF THE DAY

Tennessee's Trevor Daniel punted 10 times vs. Alabama for 483 yards - 320 yards more than the UT offense produced. His 45 kicks on the season are third most of any player in FBS behind a punter from Rutgers and one from Fresno. He is just ahead of the punters from Syracuse, UConn, FAU, Texas State, UMass, Kent State... You get where I am going with this?

KEY & PEELE PLAYER NAME OF THE WEEK

• Oklahoma Sooners' Ogbonnia Okoronkwo - got your "O" face on?
• Honorable mention Porn Name of the Week: Wisconsin QB Alex Hornibrook

LET'S GO BOWLING!

• Notre Dame (2-5) is two losses away from missing a bowl this year. There is no way they would accept a bowl invitation at 5-7. Their remaining schedule: vs MIAMI, vs NAVY, vs ARMY, vs VT, @ Southern Cal. Brian Kelly is going to run out of people to blame.
• RedHawks WIN! RedHawks WIN! Miami-Ohio's first win of the season leaves Rice (0-6) as the only winless FBS team.

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 - The love that is being thrown J.T. Barrett's way is ridiculous. He has not been any better than Jalen Hurts. Or Chad Kelly or Austin Allen for that matter. Barrett is a good quarterback for the system he is in, and plays on a very good team. That is seemingly enough for some of these idiot voters...
• Who Should Win - Still Lamar Jackson until further notice.
  

It was a classic CBS move. The Bama-Tenn game was so boring at the beginning of the second quarter that they thought it would be prudent to do an interview with Peyton Manning - DURING GAME ACTION! They even felt the need to do several shots of Manning with Verne and Gary. I guess it was just to prove that YES, he really is there! YES, Gary is really wearing a robe! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Get it? A robe! Just like in the commercial! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

At one point, Gary made a comment that I will paraphrase: "For all the fans in Alabama - and there are only about five of them that like us - and two of them are relatives..." See, they DO read your comments. I am so proud of all of you.

On the bright side, the game finished almost perfectly in it's allotted time of 3 hours 30 minutes. For that, we owe a debt of gratitude to an underappreciated and masterful clock-eating drive by Cooper Bateman that ate up a massive 8:42.

Times are CT/ET.

Thursday, October 20

Miami at Virginia Tech 7/8pm ESPN - Two teams coming off disappointing losses.
Troy at South Alabama 6:30pm/7:30pm ESPNU- A BIG in-state grudge match. Go Jags!
BYU at Boise 9:15/10:15 ESPN - The Smurfs and their lame schedule are 6-0. Go Mormons.

Friday, October 21
South Florida at Temple 6pm/7pm ESPN - yuck.
San Jose State at San Diego State 9:30/10:30 ESPN2 - blurgh.
Oregon at Cal 9:30/10:30 ESPN - meh.

Saturday, October 22

SEC:

UMass at South Carolina 11am/noon SECN- Mass vs. a mess.
Middle Tennessee at Missouri 3pm/4pm SECN- bleh.
Arkansas at Auburn 5pm/6pm ESPN - Aubie opened as a nine point favorite???! Get thee to a casino and take the underdog post haste!
Mississippi State at Kentucky 6:30pm/7:30pm SECN- UK has lost 7 straight to MSU. Could this be their year?
Tennessee State at Vanderbilt 6:30pm/7:30pm ESPNU- Yet another team called the "Tigers". Reason enough to root for Vandy.
Ole Miss at LSU 8pm/9pm ESPN - A pivotal game for both teams.

(Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee are all off.)

DURING COMMERCIALS:

Not much worth flipping over for.

Wisconsin at Iowa 11am/noon ESPN
NC State at Louisville 11am/noon ABC-  The Wolfpack are 5 of 11 in field goals. With a better kicker, they might be 6-0.
Colorado at Stanford 2pm/3pm PAC12 - The Buffs are a fun team to watch.
Memphis at Navy 2:30pm/3:30pm CBSSN - GO NAVY!
Illinois at Michigan 2:30pm/3:30pm B1G
Purdue at Nebraska 2:30pm/3:30pm ESPN2
TCU at West Virginia 2:30pm/3:30pm ABC- might WVU get their first loss?
Utah at UCLA 3pm/4pm FOX - The Bruins are circling the drain.
Oregon State at Washington 6:30 PM PAC12 - See what the Huskies are all about.
Ohio State at Penn State 8:00 PM ABC- A great game... 20 years ago.
Oklahoma at Texas Tech 8:00 PM FOX

(Nothing else worth mentioning.)

CAN'T SLEEP?

Washington State at Arizona State 9pm/10pm PAC12 - With Wazzu on a hot streak, naturally they should lose this game.
Fresno State at Utah State 9:30/10:30 CBSSN - For insomniacs only.
Wyoming at Nevada 9:30/10:30 ESPN2 - See above.

#ALABAMA

Texas A&M at ALABAMA 2:30pm/3:30pm CBS- Be strong Bammers! It's Unka Verne & Gary D

#RollTide!