Things We Learned in College, Week Four
I don’t think anybody could have predicted some of things that went down in college football yesterday. It was a great slate of games with some crazy endings.
Let’s review:
Remember when Michigan used to struggle to run the ball? Those days are over. The Wolverines have been using four running backs fairly steadily this season, and all four have double-digit carries and at least two touchdowns. That’s not counting Jehu Chesson, who’s technically a receiver but has a 17-yard rushing touchdown, or fullback Khalid Hill, a short-yardage and goal-line guy with only nine carries but four scores.
Penn State struggled mightily with Michigan quarterback Wilton Speight getting out of the pocket and throwing on the run. Speight is reasonably shifty, but no one is going to mistake him for Denard Robinson. Keep an eye on how the Penn State defense handles Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner, a more mobile guy, next week.
The numbers would seem to tell you Wisconsin and Michigan State played a close game. Most favor Wisconsin by a small margin; in fact, the Spartans actually out-gained the Badgers in total offense by eight yards. The three stats that were noticeably lopsided in favor of Wisconsin were third-down conversions (7 of 16 WIS, 4 of 13 MSU), pass completions (16 of 26 versus 20 of 43), and turnovers (Wisconsin 2, Michigan State 4). Not gonna win many games without winning those battles, Sparty.
Don’t worry if you turned off the Florida-Tennessee game at halftime. All you missed was nearly 400 yards of offense and 38 consecutive points for the Vols, before Florida scored late to narrow the gap.
I don’t have strong feelings about Oregon’s “Duck” uniforms for the game. College football is supposed to be fun- if changing up the uniforms is fun for the players and the students, it’s not hurting anyone. I’m curious about why they picked this weekend for the Duck uniforms though- why not the game before Halloween?
Notre Dame suffered their biggest upset loss in twenty years, losing at home to Duke. Yes, Duke. Yes, in football. A 21-point favorite, the Irish were downed 38-35.
Syracuse wide receiver Amba Etta-Tawo had a decent day against my home-state UConn Huskies, with 12 receptions for 270 yards and two touchdowns. Not surprisingly, his quarterback Eric Dungey put up some impressive numbers as well, going 26 of 40 for 407 yards and the two scores to Etta-Tawo. (It was a good thing the passing game was clicking, as the Orange could only muster 62 yards on the ground in the 31-24 win).
Tough not to be gutted for LSU last night (unless you’re an Auburn fan, obviously). To think you had not only won the game, but won against a conference rival in such dramatic fashion and then to be told oops, sorry, you didn’t get the snap off in time… ouch. Especially since, as the broadcasters pointed out, Danny Etling was under center, and it was pretty much impossible to see when the snap actually happened.
I won’t repeat what I yelled when Leonard Fournette appeared to be injured, because this is a PG website. I’m relieved the injury didn’t appear to be serious- he’s fun to watch- but why was he back in the game after that? Isn’t he awfully valuable to be using, even as a decoy, when he’s clearly hurt? How well could he possibly have even blocked at that point? Derrius Guice could start basically anywhere else in the country. Put him in.
It looks like the SEC West will come down to Texas A&M at Alabama on October 22.
I’m not sure how UMass is 1-3, because every time I hear something about them, they’re putting a scare into one of the big boys. They’ve kept games with Florida, BC, and now Mississippi State competitive well into the second half, and have games South Carolina and BYU coming up later in the fall. That’s some ballsy schedule-making. I may have to get up to Amherst to see a game at some point.
Lamar Jackson is up to 25 touchdowns this season (13 passing, 12 rushing). He can’t possibly hit triple digits… can he? Probably not- as the Cardinals get into the bulk of their conference schedule, his numbers should drop off at least a bit. But I think at this point, it’s his Heisman to lose.
Stanford QB Ryan Burns was hot and cold all game, but he had ice water in his veins on the final drive. Eli Manning had several games like that his first year as a starter for the Giants, where he would be maddeningly inconsistent for almost entire games, then march down the field like a vet in the two-minute drill. I’d say Eli turned out okay.
Wisconsin-Michigan, Georgia-Tennessee, and Louisville-Clemson are the big games on the docket next weekend. I’ll be here next Sunday morning with my thoughts. Have a great week everybody!
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