If you missed this weekend of college football, I’m sorry. But look no further than right here to catch up on what happened.
- The best part of Christian McCaffrey was Kevin Hogan.
I can’t think of a hotter man on campus than Christian McCaffrey at the end of last year. A large portion of the college football faithful thought he should have won the Heisman, and just to make his name even bigger he put on an absolute show against Iowa in the Rose Bowl. Bovada gave him 8-1 odds to win the Heisman at the beginning of the year, and even our Heisman writer, Brendan Smith, had him number two at the beginning of the year. Well, the past two weeks have not gone as expected. McCaffrey has rushed 20 times for 84 yards. He hasn’t had less than 20 carries in a single game since week 5 of last year and hasn’t had less than 80 rushing yards in a game since week 2 of last year. Why is this happening? You can blame the graduation of Kevin Hogan. Teams couldn’t stack eight in the box against Stanford last year because they had a very capable quarterback in Kevin Hogan who they had to defend. Without Hogan behind center, teams are daring the trees to throw it. And it’s working.
- Out goes Houston.
Drink, Houston fans. Drink and keep drinking. Not only are you most likely going to lose your coach at the end of this year, but you lost your chance at a CFB Playoff appearance. I truly believe if they would have gone undefeated with wins against Oklahoma and Louisville, they would have made the playoff. But all it takes is one loss to Navy to replace those expectations with…. well, alcohol. Now we can finally stop talking about how the selection committee will treat an undefeated mid-major team. Except…
- In comes Boise State?
Bronco fans are drinking, too. But not in the same way as Houston fans. After winning 10 or more games every year from 2006-2012, the same success hasn’t been there in Boise recently. Have they been successful? Of course, but the thought of them making the playoff hasn’t even been a side thought. Now they are 5-0 with a win over Washington State. Will 12-0 in the Mountain West get you a bid to the playoff? A lot pieces are going to have to fall into place for it to happen, but it’s a storyline worth following.
- Tennessee’s luck finally runs out.
Every week it feels like Tennessee sends out the JV team in the first half, builds a huge deficit then puts the Varsity team in for the second half and comes back to win. You can’t do that against Texas A&M. After going down 21-7 in the first half, the Volunteers had enough steam to send it into a couple of overtimes, but not enough to pull off the win. If they want a chance at the playoff, they need to bring the big boys out for all 60 minutes of the Alabama game.
- #CollegeKickers were in full effect in Miami.
The “YOU HAD ONE JOB” phrase fits no better than with Miami and Michael Bagdley. Brad Kaaya drove the Hurricanes all the way down the field for what should have been the game tying touchdown. This was the win Miami needed. This was the win Miami deserved. And Bagdley did the one thing he couldn’t do…miss the PAT. Was the snap low? Yes, but the holder still managed to get it up. That was simply a low kick. This was a tough one for Hurricane faithful to swallow, but I really think Mark Richt has that team trending in the right direction. This will put them a step back though.
- Virginia Tech might be good sooner than we thought.
It was kind of presumed that Virginia Tech was entering a rebuilding stage in the program. They haven’t won more than eight games since 2011, a new quarterback was being broken in, and a first-year coach was at the helm. Now all of a sudden after a thrashing of North Carolina, the Hokies find themselves in the thick of the ACC Coastal hunt. North Carolina, Pittsburg, and Miami all have one loss behind them, but without Clemson, Louisville or Florida State on their schedule it looks like it is their title for the taking. Watch out, ACC. The Hokies are going to back soon. Sooner than we thought.
- The Big Ten is the best conference this year.
Last year, SEC teams were like the seniors on campus, and Big Ten teams were the juniors. The Big Ten was still good, but the SEC was just better. We saw LSU beat Wisconsin, Alabama demolished Michigan State, and they were the big guys on campus. Now they are the fifth-year seniors who just linger around. They like to say they are still the best, but they aren’t. Those juniors who turned seniors are the big guys on campus now. Wisconsin shoved it to LSU, Michigan and Ohio State are legit national championship contenders and Nebraska looks like an elite team again. SEC, we like that you guys are still around. But you aren’t the best anymore, so quit acting like you are.