Welcome to Week Nine Midweek Musings! I realize it’s a little past midweek, but… well, the short version is, blame American Airlines. Anyway…
Michigan
I think it’s safe to say very few people were expecting that outcome. The smoke emanating from Jim Harbaugh’s seat has dissipated, at least for now. Should the Wolverines get through their next three games (Maryland, Sparty, Indiana) without a loss, and at least make the Ohio State game competitive, I think Harbaugh is safe for another year.
This game was the coming-out party for receiver Mike Sainristil, who left Haiti for the U.S. as a child. Yahoo did an article about the true freshman here.
Maryland-Minnesota
I don’t know what could have gone worse for the Terps in their 52-10 loss to Minnesota. Mike Locksley has his work cut out for him turning that program around.
Kansas-Texas Tech
The ending of this game was ridiculous. A friend on Twitter called it “the most Les Miles thing I’ve ever seen”. If you didn’t see it, here it is:
Kansas State-Oklahoma
Arguably the biggest upset of the season took place in the Little Apple this weekend. Kansas State is now ranked in both the Coaches’ and AP polls after beating what was #5 Oklahoma. Our Steve Rhea covered the game here.
Unfortunately, the most serious injury of the season took place in this game as well. Linebacker Eric Gallon’s knee injury was gruesome enough that ABC opted not to show any replays of it. (I promptly went to Twitter to find the video because I’m weird like that, and… yeah, don’t watch it). Needless to say, Gallon is done for the season. The fifth-year senior, whose dad was a K-State running back, was finally starting to see significant playing time.
Texas
The Longhorns’ two losses going into Saturday were both excusable ones: LSU and Oklahoma, both of which looked like playoff teams at the time and once of which still does. However, the TCU loss is puzzling. The 4-3 Horned Frogs have three losses, all to fairly good teams (SMU, Iowa State, Kansas State), but they haven’t been ranked except for one week in the AP poll.
Big XII Playoff Hopes
They may be just about gone. At this point, Oklahoma and Oregon each have one loss- Oklahoma to unranked Kansas State, and Oregon to what was #16 Auburn in Week One. Should both teams win out, the Sooners need to hope the Wildcats can pull off wins- big ones- against Texas and Iowa State. Even that may not be enough to get them in over one-loss Ducks.
Washington State-Oregon
This video of Cougs QB Anthony Gordon banging his head in frustration after a turnover was extremely relatable. It also made me think of one of my all-time favorite sports videos, this one from the late 90’s of Gus Frerotte- although Frerotte was excited, having just scored a touchdown.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqmH2-UiSlI
Sorry about the quality, this was the best one I could find.
Louisville
The Cardinals have the potential to win at least two or three of their last four games, but It’s going to be a little more difficult after kicker Blanton Creque tore his ACL on Saturday. Talk about your crappy luck- how often do you see a kicker end up with a season-ending injury?
Highlight of the Week
Someone has been watching his Odell Beckham Jr. highlights:
Those are my Week Nine not-quite-Midweek Musings. Sorry for the delay!
