Random Thoughts: Did Orgeron Chicken Out?

In what hopefully is an anomaly, four SEC games were cancelled/postponed this past weekend.

Alabama at LSU
Texas A&M at Tennessee
Georgia at Missouri
Auburn at Mississippi State

Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated reported that “seven of eight SEC teams involved in a postponement have less than 5 positives. But 30+ are quarantined for contact tracing.” I don’t want to get off on a rant, but the whole concept of “contact tracing” is totally f’d up. With everyday testing, shouldn’t that make contact tracing moot - especially if caught early enough and a player has several consecutive negative results? There are no firm guidelines on contact tracing and it is open to interpretation - and manipulation.

Miami coach Manny Diaz claimed that his team was “on the brink” of not playing this past weekend. But it was crappy ol’ Va Tech and he wanted to get this game in. Suppose that weekend’s opponent had been Notre Dame? Might the last guy on the depth chart suddenly become stricken with a mysterious “upper body” issue?

As we saw last week, Cal cancelled a game because of one positive test result, but they figured that one guy probably went around sneezing on the salad bar. This past week, one particular SEC team cancelled what was shaping up to be a program-rocking defeat at the hands of the number one team in the country. The move was very suspicious. Coach Ed Orgeron screwed up when he told reporters that his LSU team was practicing for Arkansas at the beginning of the week - BEFORE the game with Alabama had even been called off! You are going to have a difficult time convincing many people that O did not manipulate the numbers to push for the stoppage. However, the alleged ploy may have not worked.

This past week, the SEC presidents and chancellors approved Dec. 19 as a make-up date for games that have been postponed this season because of sicky-poo. The SECCG is still scheduled for that day as well. By all accounts, it appears that the two division champs will be Alabama and Florida. Thus, some schedule shuffling is needed to get all the games in.

The talk is that the SEC will reschedule Alabama-LSU for Dec. 5 and push Bama-Arkansas one week to Dec. 12. The easiest fix for this scenario is for LSU-Ole Miss to be moved to Dec. 19 and the Rebels pick up two bye weeks before that meeting. It is all talk for now but the below grid is updated to reflect such a plan if it was approved.

The LOL is the instant karma reigned down on the Bayou Bengals for their attempts to dodge the Crimson Tide. They would finish the season with five straight weeks of @Arkansas, @Texas A&M, Alabama, @Florida and Lane Kiffin’s Ole Miss with three weeks to prepare. The Tigers may not win a single game. Comeuppance, thy name is LSU.

SEC

Florida 63 Arkansas 35 - This one was over early with UF building a 35-14 halftime lead and cruising to an easy win. Kyle Trask had a field day passing for 356 yards and 6 touchdowns. Feleipe Franks did not get his revenge on Gators fans but played a solid game (15/19, 250 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT) and never lost his cool - something you could not have said during his career in blue and orange. He might just get drafted on Day 3.

Kentucky 38 Vanderbilt 35 - For the entire game, UK would build a lead, put it in neutral and allow Vandy to come back. Rinse. Repeat. As late as the fourth quarter, the Wildcats led 38-21 but held on to get the win. Terry Wilson was back under center and had some decent stats (13/15, 110 yds, 2 TD). RB Chris Rodriguez had a career high 149 rushing yards and two scores. The listless Kentucky defense, who had not given up more than 20 points in any of the last four games, looked like Swiss cheese on Saturday. Vandy’s Keyon Henry-Brooks carved the ‘Cats up for a career-high of 121 yards on the ground.

Ole Miss 59 South Carolina 42 - The most entertaining game of the day turned out to be these two cellar dwellers duking it out. Despite the score, it was a pretty tight game with six lead changes and four ties that came down to SC running out of juice and OM having to “score every time” as Lane Kiffin put it. Matt Corral set an Ole Miss school record of 513 passing yards to go with 4 scoring tosses. The Gamecocks had a pretty good strategy of old school ground and pound mixed in with shots to WR Shi Smith (10 rec, 117 yds, TD) that worked really well, but the defense could not contain Kiffin’s play sheet. SC running back Kevin Harris’s 5 touchdown, 243 yard rushing effort was for naught.

THE REST

Indiana 24 Michigan State 0 - The Hoosiers led 24-0 at the half and then shut it down. It’s only the second shutout of a Power-5 team this season. Can you guess the other?

Notre Dame 45 Boston College 31 - The Irish win again but that is a lot of points to give up.

Nebraska 30 Penn State 23 - ‘Huskers redshirt freshman Luke McCaffrey (yeah, that’s his brother) made his first start at quarterback in place of returning two-year starter and team captain Adrian Martinez, who turned in two flat performances in losses to open the season. Nebraska jumped out to an early advantage and took a 27-6 lead into halftime. In the locker room, each Cornhuskers got a warm cup of cocoa and a kiss on the forehead before returning to the field. PSU made a valiant comeback effort and got down to 1st & goal at NEB 9, but could go no further. It is only the second time the Brittany Lions have started a season 0-4 in their long and illustrious history.

Wisconsin 49 Michigan 11 - UM quarterback Joe Milton completed his first two passes of the game. Unfortunately, they were to Badgers. This guy is a true junior and he is this bad. Michigan may want to consider just putting WR Ronnie Bell back there and let him run the Wildcat.

BLOWN LEADS

Miami 25 Virginia Tech 24 - Hokies led 24-13. The ‘Canes are angling for a NY6 bowl.
Oregon 43 Washington State 29 - Wazzu was up 19-7.
Southern Cal 34 Arizona 30 - Zona scored a TD on 1st & Goal from the So Cal 6 with 1:35 left. Methinks the Trojans may have let them score. A minute and a half was plenty of time for a Sedon Klovis comeback.
North Carolina 59 Wake Forest 53 - Ya know why it’s called the ACC? Cuz there ain’t no D. Wake blew a 45-31 lead in the fourth. Amazingly, both teams found the time to collectively punt ten times.
Texas Tech 24 Baylor 23 - BU had a 23-12 advantage entering the final frame. Dave Aranda is 1-5 in his maiden voyage as a head coach. [SIDE NOTE: Joe Brady is not exactly lighting the world on fire with the Carolina Panthers.]

Iowa 35 Minnesota 7 - This score is included so that you can see the Iowa trolling^^^. Personally, I would have gone with “Six in a ROW”. There are many others involving a sinking boat, etc. The biggest regret in football might be P.J. Fleck’s decision to use a boat as an analogy for the progress of the Gophers.

UNCLE JIM

Central Michigan 40 Northern Illinois 10 - The Chippewas were up 33-0 before NIU scored against the CMU scrubs late in the game.

KEY & PEELE ALL-STAR

SMU running back Ulysses Bentley IV.

DICK MOVE OF THE WEEK

Luke Fickell called a fake punt against East Carolina up 42-10 in the fourth quarter. I don’t want to hear the excuses. That is bush league. Fick learned how to be a dick from the best. The GDOAT if you will.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ OF THE WEEK

Stanford’s starting quarterback Davis Mills and starting wide receiver/kick returner Connor Wedington missed the first game of the season Nov. 7 against the one playoff hope for the PAC-12, Oregon, and lost. It turns out, The PAC screwed up. How convenient.

CLASS MOVE OF THE WEEK

Kentucky OL coach John Schlarman passed away this week after a two-year battle with cancer. He was all of 45 years of age.

SMARTEST MOVE OF THE WEEK

We bag on the PAC-12 a great deal for their ineptitude, but they actually did something right this week. The Cal-Arizona State and Utah-UCLA games scheduled for last Saturday (Nov. 14) were both cancelled. As a compromise, Cal and UCLA played on Sunday (Nov. 15) at the Rose Bowl. It wasn’t much time to prepare, but the Golden Bears had already scrapped their Week 1 game vs Washington and would’ve been down to a 4+1 season. UCLA won 34-10.
[SIDE NOTE: Arizona State-Colorado set for this week has already been axed. It’s a tough break for the Buffaloes (2-0) who are playing pretty well. Maybe they can play Miami of Ohio.]

WELL, DUH! OF THE WEEK

I’m glad the mainstream media is finally picking up on this.

LOL PLAY OF THE WEEK

RANDOM THOUGHTS RANDOM THOUGHT

Some team that is hungry for exposure should try early kickoffs. Starting at 9 or 10am would put them front and center as the only game on TV. It’s not like they have to be concerned about fans attending the games this year.

STATS OF THE DAY

• Ole Miss and South Carolina combined for 1,256 yards and 101 points. I cannot recall a time when an over/under was triple digits but we might see one before the season is out.
• Washington State punter Oscar Draguicevich had punts of 56, 42, 42, and 78 yards against Oregon.
• When reserve change-of-pace quarterback Mike Wright ran for a score in the third quarter against Kentucky, he became the first signal caller to rush for a touchdown for Vanderbilt since 2017.

THE WACKY WORLD OF DESI

College GameDay raised their tents at Augusta National this week. While they were indeed on the property, they were set up just east of Butler’s Cabin on Ike’s Pond of the Par 3 course. The fact that ANGC allowed this truly blows my mind. That place is one of the most selective and hallowed golf courses in the world, and to let this worn-out carnival bring their ridiculous show to town is surprising. It’s not like the club needs the promotions. There will always be people willing to shell out money to step on that grass.

On the subject of Desi, here again we had an asymptomatic case who was back after a few days.

ADOPT-A-TEAM

• Indiana (4-0) - Is it a tad crazy to adopt a Power-5 team? You have to like how Tom Allen runs his program. He progressively installed the S&C duo of David Ballou and Dr. Matt Rhea. Despite their departure to Alabama, it is still paying dividends. His team plays hard for 60 minutes and are fundamentally sound. The Hoosiers are No. 3 in the nation in turnover margin (+8) and have forced ten interceptions in only four games (2.5 ipg). They have already broken hearts of Penn State and Michigan. Next is a shot at the biggest of B1G boys, Ohio State. Come Saturday, we are ALL Hoosiers.
• LaLaLaffy! (6-1) - The Rajuns toyed with poor South Alabama 38-10, stacking up 506 yards of offense. FCS Central Arkansas comes a-callin’.
• Coastal Carolina (7-0) - The meeting with Troy was “postponed”. The Trojans already have a makeup game on Dec. 12. They would play CCU on Dec. 19 if by some fluke the Chanticleers don’t make the Sun Belt Championship Game which is played on the same day. The one deterrent for Coastal might be Appy State who they play this Saturday.

LOVE-HATE

• Liberty (8-0) - WOW, some of you have strong feelings about Liberty University. However, this Flames football season is an intriguing story and Ima keep writing about them. They predictably thumped poor little Western Carolina 58-14. They have perhaps the biggest game of their season coming up against a solid but not great NC State squad (5-3). Win that one and it is hard to deny the accomplishments of a team that won three ACC games on the road.

COUSINS

• Troy (4-3) - The Trojans game with Coastal Carolina was axed. See above. The Troys will try again with MTSU.
• South Alabama (3-5) - The Jags fell to ULLL 38-10. Hated rival Georgia State is up next.
• North Alabama (0-3) plays BYU this Saturday. It is the final game of their 4-game self-made schedule. They also lost to Liberty, Jax State and Southern Miss. It’s better than sitting at home.

THAT ANNOYING STEP-BROTHER WHO LICKS OFF A SPOON AND THINKS IT IS CLEAN

• UAB (4-3) - The Dragons vs North Texas was cancelled. Then on Friday, Birmingham U. flushed their upcoming game with UTEP. Not sure how they can prognosticate who will be positive a week in advanced, but okay. Rescheduling is possible but unlikely for both games.

SALUTE TO OUR TROOPS

Reports are saying that if Air Force and Army cannot reschedule, Navy would retain the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy since there will be no outright winner.

• Army Training, Sir! (6-2) - The Black Knights fell to Tulane 38-12 exposing something I had suspected most of the season - Army is not as good as their record indicates. Georgia Southern is next - triple option vs triple option. The game should be over in 2 hours.
• Navy (3-4) - The Midshipmen postponed Memphis. Navy now has two games to make up with Tulsa being the other one. Since neither Navy or Memphis are in the running for the AAC title, They could make up the game on Dec. 19. Tulsa is still hoping to reach the AACCG. Next for Navy is a trek to USF and then the big one versus Army Dec. 12.
• Air Force (1-2) - The Falcons have not played since Halloween. They’ll try again Friday with a visit from New Mexico.

ELIMINATED

• Rutgers, Northwestern, Maryland, Purdue, Indy, Nebraska, Illinois, Sparty, Minnesota, Michigan, Penn State,
• Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor, WVU
• Duke, Wake Forest, Syracuse, FSU, Georgia Tech, NC State, L’ville, Pitt, UVa, BC, Va Tech, UNC
• BYU - That schedule is still too weak.
• The entire PAC; Sorry, Oregon.
• Vandy, Arky, Missouri, UK, SC, MSU, LSU, Tennessee, Ole Miss

ELIMINATION, ENDANGERED:

• Iowa, Wisconsin
• Oklahoma Lite, Oklahoma, Texas
• Miami, Notre Dame, Clemson - The Hurricanes are still mathematically in it but almost blew it Saturday vs Va Tech.
• Texas A&M, Florida, UGA, Auburn

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

Here’s where it starts to get weird.

• ACC - ND, CU, loooongshot Miami.
• SEC - Bama, Fla, and TAMU. Things look dire but Georgia isn’t completely out.
• Big 12 - Waiting on the Bedlam to put in the final nail.
• Big Ten - Can Indiana pull this off?
• PAC-12 - There is no way they are putting in a 7-0 team. Is there?
• Indies - The lazy flapping gums out there keep looking at scores and think “BYU is AMAZING!” Yet the Cougs still have not played any team of substance.

RANK ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM

With so many teams on the sidelines, there were no changes among the top 8. However, Notre Dame oddly lost one top vote to Alabama. Of course it doesn’t really matter at this point.

Miami dropped three spots due to their near miss to VaTech. UGA dropped one spot for doing nothing. Tulsa has returned to the rankings and SMU dropped out.

The first CFP rankings will be revealed Nov. 24.

1. Alabama (60) *
2. Notre Dame (1) *
3. Ohio State (1) *
4. Clemson *
5. Texas A&M *
6. Florida *
7. Cincinnati +++
8. BYU +++
9. Indiana *
10. Wisconsin *
11. Oregon *
12. Miami *
13. Georgia *
14. Oklahoma State *
15. Marshall +++
16. Coastal Carolina * (Kansas)
17. Iowa State *
18. Oklahoma *
19. Northwestern *
20. Southern Cal *
21. Liberty * (Syracuse, Va Tech)
22. Texas *
23. Auburn *
24. ULL * (Iowa State)
25. Tulsa +++ (lost to Okie St 16-7)

* Has beaten a P-5 team.
+++ Has NOT beaten a P-5 team, PAAWWLLL.

Krazy Kristi’s “SHUT UP!” of the Week goes to the Fake Crowd Noise. The stands of Boston College’s Alumni Stadium were void of human life yet it sounded on TV like I was watching the Notre Dame game with a vacuum cleaner running.

HEISMAN HYPE

With the exception of TWO YEARS, the Heisman Trophy voting is basically a hype award. Often times voters fall in love with someone and refuse to REALLY look at what a player has accomplished.

WHO WILL WIN

CLARIFICATION: This section is not who deserves to win. It is who the slobbering press and other voters will callously crush on.

+ There will be no trips to New York City this year. The trophy will be awarded virtually. Not sure how that will work for the winner. Does an unmarked van wait around the corner and then they rush up like Publisher’s Sweepstakes and hand him the trophy?

1. Kyle Trask (QB, Jorts U., Sr.) - The voters have a bright new shiny toy. This is how stupid this process is. Because all the others were idle, only Trask was around to look at. He’ll be the crush for a week until the Messiah comes back and thrashes FSU.
2. Trevor Lawrence (QB, Dabo Cult, Jr.) DNP
3. Justin Fields (QB, anOSU, Jr.) DNP
4. Mac Jones - DNP
5. A token running back - Travis Etienne of Clempson DNP. Najee Harris DNP. Iowa State’s Breece Hall DNP.
6. Ian Book gonna get those Notre Dame votes.
7. BYU QB overinflated stats against cupcakes.

WHO SHOULD WIN

CLARIFICATION: This section IS for who deserves to win it.

• Sunshine will undoubtedly be the first pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. But he is flawed and has NOT been the most outstanding player in college football this season. Mac Jones has. And he didn’t lose to Texas A&M.
• Trask has had a solid season and is a close second.
• Justin Fields still ain’t played nobody, Paul.

THE SICK REPORT

• Arizona State coach Herm Edwards was among the Sun Devils team who tested positive for the wackity-wack. The 66-year old will be back in 10 days just like all the others.
• The Journey is over. Penn State running back Journey Brown is medically retiring from football after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

DRAMA

• Los Angeles County refused to let Utah starting OL Nick Ford enter their sacred realm to play UCLA. The game ended up being canceled due to “the recommendation of local and regional health officials.”
• Top Florida State wide receiver Tamorrion Terry has left the program. Potential first round NFL prospect defensive tackle Marvin Wilson (leg) is out for the season. Former starting quarterback James Blackman will transfer. So, how was your week?
• Reserve Auburn linebacker Josh Marsh has entered the transfer portal.
• Due to harsh restrictions in their home state, the New Mexico Lobos football team has taken up full-time residency in Las Vegas. The team is headquartered in an NBA-like bubble at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa which is halfway between the Strip and Lake Mead. A study hall has been set up where the Lobos can continue online classes. Practices and home games are held at UNLV’s Sam Boyd Stadium, which has been vacated by the Runnin’ Rebels in favor of the Raiders’ Roomba Stadium.
• South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn announced that he is sitting out the rest of the season to prepare for the 2021 draft.

KOACHES KORNER

• Will Muschamp becomes the first Power-5 head coach to be fired this season. South Carolina parts ways with the former Florida coach amid his fifth campaign in Columbia. His Gamecocks coaching record ends at 28–30 overall and 17–22 in the SEC. Combined with his Gators days, he stands at 56–51 for his career and 34-37 in the conference. The Gamecocks will be paying his salary through the 2023 season. With Butch Jones coming off the Tennessee payroll at the end of Feb. 2021, Coach Boom would be a likely candidate to take his place at the Alabama analysts rehab center. Offensive coordinator Mike Bobo will finish out the season as interim head coach at SC.
• Hugh Freeze agreed to a contract extension to coach Liberty through 2026. What a waste of ink.
• Speaking of Freeze, he is a top candidate among Twitterverse to replace Muschamp at South Carolina. It would be a glorious hiring since Freeze would surely give Kirby Smart and Dan Mullen fits for years to come. However, SEC Commish Greg Sankey may not approve of his hiring. You may recall when Nick Saban tried to hire Freeze as an assistant in 2018, Sankey reportedly shot it down. A few other names mentioned include Billy Napier of ULL, Oklahoma assistant Shane Beamer, Bama OC Steve Sarkisian, Clemson DC Brent Venables, and Jamey Chadwell of Coastal Carolina. The name of Iowa State’s Matt Campbell is also being floated around but that doesn’t feel like a good fit. Retaining Bobo is a possibility as well, but IMHO that would be a huge mistake.
• Kirby Smart thinks New Year’s Day bowl games are where you go to get haircuts for the new year.
• Urban Meyer’s favorite comedy movie is “The Fault in Our Stars”.
• Fat F*** Phil Fulmer never wears yellow, because it causes kids to run after him thinking they missed the school bus.

TEEVEE

Clemson-Notre Dame was the most-watched Notre Dame on NBC matchup in 15 years.

THIS WEEK

(Below is an abbreviated list of highlighted games of interest. If you REALLY need to know about the big UNLV-Colorado State showdown, you can find the details here.)

Tuesday, November 17

Two MAC games on sports networks.

Wednesday, November 18

Three MAC games, all starting at 6pm/7pm. Bravo.

Thursday, November 19 - in alphabetical order:

Tulane at Tulsa 6:30/7:30 ESPN
Utah State at Wyoming 8pm/9pm CBSSN - snow is in the forecast.

Friday, November 20

Syracuse at Louisville 6pm/7pm ESPN - waiting on basketball to start.
Purdue at Minnesota 6:30/7:30 BTN
UMass Suicide at FAU! 7pm/8pm CBSSN
New Mexico at Air Force 8:30/9:30 FS1

Saturday, November 21

SEC

Fingers crossed, it’s a FULL slate! Well, that didn’t last long.

Florida at Vanderbilt 11am/noon ESPN - Everybody plays!
LSU at Arkansas 11am/noon SECN - LSU had three weeks to prepare. They’d better win.
Ole Miss at Texas A&M 2:30/3:30 CBS - Can Kiffin keep up this pace?
Kentucky at Alabama 3pm/4pm SECN - FINALLY!
Tennessee at Auburn 6pm/7pm ESPN - Refs brainstorming how to win this one for Awbern.
Mississippi State at Georgia 6:30/7:30 SECN - A self-esteem game for UGA QBs.
Missouri at South Carolina 6:30/7:30 SECN Alt - ugh.

ET AL

Indiana at Ohio State 11am/noon FOX - Can the Hoos pull off the upset?
Clemson at Florida State 11am/noon ABC - Sunny gets a cush game to ease back into.
Appy State at Coastal Carolina 11am/noon ESPN2 - Yuge Sun Belt implications.
Cincinnati at Center Florida 2:30/3:30 ESPN - Worth watching to see the Knighties lose their third game of the season.
Oklahoma State at Oklahoma 6:30/7:30 ABC - BEDLAM! One of these teams is definitely eliminated.
Liberty at NC State 6:30/7:30 ESPN3

SLEEPY TIME

Southern Cal at Utah 9:30/10:30 ESPN - Can the Two Utes expose this fraud?
Washington State at Stanford 10pm/11pm FS1
Boise at Hawaii 10pm/11pm CBSSN - Aloha...

MACK and SABAN vs. OZ and LAVELL

Mack Brown picked up a win. Nick Saban is still in a holding pattern.

[For those of you new to RBR Random Thoughts, we count all on-field wins in Division I-A, aka FBS. So, before you go squawking about Frank Beamer, 42 of his wins came at Murray State. Brown had six victories in one season with Appalachian State when they were still in what was known at I-AA (FCS today). In addition, we don’t recognize NCAA sanctioned forfeits. If you won on the field, it counts in our books.]

#ALABAMA

• As you have probably heard, Traeshon Holden has taken up residence in Nick Saban’s doghouse. During the bye week, the team was given the week off to go home for the weekend. It’s understandable that the freshman wide receiver could not jet home to Kissimmee, Fla. You would think maybe a teammate would offer to take him home with him and maybe some did. Instead, he ended up five hours away in Baton Rouge as a guest of wide receiver Koy Moore of LSU - who the Tide would have been playing next - and they got into trouble at a party at an apartment complex. Can you count with me how many things are wrong with this? Ah, to be young and stupid.
• Alabama linebacker Kevin Harris has entered the transfer portal. The redshirt freshman has yet to appear in a game since joining the team in January 2019.
• Crimson Tide OL Deonte Brown has accepted an invitation to play in the Senior Bowl.
• Do you realize the Alabama defense has not given up a single point since Oct. 24?
• Looking ahead, but not looking ahead: I’d be shocked if the Iron Bowl was not once again tarnished by the ear-piercing noise of Gary Danielson.

GAME 7: Saturday, November 21, 2020

Kentucky Wildcats (3-4) at Alabama Crimson Tide (6-0)

Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, AL ~ 3pm CT/4pm ET, SECN

• Kentucky has had struggles on offense but has a formidable defense when they feel like playing. It will be a good test for the Tide offense coming off a two week layoff.
• Announcers: TBA.
• Eli Gold on Alabama Radio.
• Alabama is 37-2-1 all-time against the Kentucky. The Crimson Tide defeats came in 1997 in overtime in Mike DuBose’s doomed 4-7 rookie season and in 1922 by the score of 6-0. Don’t expect a repeat.
• The line on this game is around Bama -30. Over/Under is 58½.