Power 5 week 9 recap: Hello Pac-12, not nice to see you again
The Pac-12 underwhelms, Notre Dame notches a big win, is Indiana for real? Plus Maryland gets another solid W and Liberty takes down Va Tech.
By: The Waco Kid
Let’s be honest, the Pac 12 is only good for those late-night games, you know once all the real teams have played and there is no more football for the day, you can count on the Washington State’s and Arizona’s of the world to finish off Saturday with some subpar football. Shout out to Kevin Sumlin, still love you even though it didn’t work out in the SEC. The conference started off their season with an overrated USC team hosting the Arizona State Sun Devils. Now, I say overrated because we haven’t seen this team in action, we have no idea what the Trojans are capable of and yet they have #20 in front of their school name. It’s like the media throwing Jamie Newman’s name into the Heisman race during the preseason. Do you remember Newman, Georgia's starting quarterback? No one does because he opted out of the biggest season of his collegiate career. Anyways, SC was coming off a five loss season so I am not sure what all the hype was about, but they delivered an entertaining performance that could only okurrr within the city limits of Los Angeles.
Roll the R
The Sun Devils took a 17-14 lead into halftime and extended that lead in the third quarter. The Trojans found themselves in a 27-14 deficit after the first few minutes of the fourth quarter but did not let that faze them. Bru McCoy, a once USC-defector turned Texas-defector, returned to USC (mind blown), caught a touchdown pass to close the gap to a 6-point lead. An onside kick was then recovered by SC to put them in a position to score once more and take the lead, and they did exactly that. The Trojans used great protection to allow quarterback Kedon Slovis to shoot his shot to receiver Drake London for the game-winning score, sending ASU back to the desert with morale breaking 28-27 loss.
Oregon pretty much ate Stanford’s lunch and left them with a few crumbs to enjoy on their way back to California. But Cali is a state of sharing, so I am sure others distributed their hard-earned food to the returning players. Oregon ended up being another team that came in with a high ranking and nothing to show for it, but the Ducks showed up and took care of a Cardinal team that will cause the Pac-12 problems throughout the year. The quarterbacks, for lack of a better word, sucked in this game. Neither one was effective in the passing game. Both teams were elevated by their rushing attack. Oregon by running back CJ Verdell and Stanford by running back Austin Jones, both of which rushed for over 100 yards and at least one score. The Ducks were the better bird in this contest and sent the Cardinals down south for a comfortable winter, 35-14.
The ACC had one high profile game and then had the Miami game. The Canes were traveling to North Carolina to face the NC State Wolfpack which B&S said may be a good one in last week’s Wednesday newsletter. After Miami’s underwhelming UVA win, the staff agreed that the U would need to come out and play a lot better to defeat a talented NC State team. D’Eriq King did just that, throwing for 430 yards and 5 touchdowns and ran for 105 yards. Those are Heisman type numbers. The Pack kept it close due to special team efforts by Zonovan Knight but ultimately Miami’s offense was too much to keep up with, falling to the Canes 44-41.
The luck of the Irish finally peaked for Brian Kelly’s Notre Dame squad this past weekend. Clemson traveled to South Bend, Indiana for a College GameDay showdown of the #1 and #4 teams in the nation. Trevor Lawrence was with the team but unable to participate in the game due to Covid protocol. This left freshman DJ Uiagalelei in control of an explosive Tiger offense but made the game that much more interesting with the most electrifying player in the nation watching from the sidelines. The first-year quarterback tore apart the #4 ranked Fighting Irish, throwing for 439 yards and two touchdowns, but Notre Dame did what they knew they would have to do in order to secure the win; they neutralized the Tiger rushing attack led by Travis Etienne and effectively forced the true freshman to beat them on talent alone. Uiagalelei gave everything he had, but when you have a ground game that’s top rusher puts up only 28 yards, it is tough to come away with a win no matter who you are. The Drew Brees and Tom Bradys of the world cannot win with those kinds of rushing stats (Tampa’s backs proved this on Sunday night football). For starters, you cannot control the clock like most teams want to do, and for Clemson, you then become a one-sided offense led by a 19-year-old. This led to a 47-40 upset by the Irish. Dabo Swinney will have to answer to the people and media for the rest of the year on why they should still have a playoff shot.
Notre Dame was also able to expose a Tiger defense that was thought to be one of the best in the nation. Running Back Kyren Williams took the Clemson defense out to a nice dinner, jumped out the bathroom window, and never paid nor called, leaving them to answer for a bill that included 140 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. Quarterback Ian Book was quite rude as well, not only did he disagree with the Tigers’ pregame rankings, he challenged it by throwing for 310 yards and 1 touchdown. The Catholics made the most of Trevor Lawrence’s absence and will likely ride that high into an ACC Championship game. If you are a father to a 21-year-old, it is time to hide your daughters, because the Irish apparently like taking advantage of tall blondes.
Father’s beware of the Irish.
The Big 10 is already proving to be a pain in my ass. We have Minnesota and Penn State, who came into the season ranked and now have a combined one win between the two of them over three weeks. Great job, way to represent the conference. Then there’s Indiana, what to do with them? I mean they have already beaten Penn State, Michigan, and Rutgers. Are they good, or is the Big 10 just horrible? Sure there’s Ohio State but is there any other team in the conference that can even compete? And if not is the Big 10 really any better than the Sun Belt or the Independents? Only time will tell.
Ohio State came out firing against a Rutgers team that may have had high hopes, but hopes were not high throughout the rest of the nation. Justin Fields, once again, proved that if you are a top college recruit you should definitely sign with a Big 10 or Big 12 team because the competition is not as fierce and you can win a lot easier. He threw for 314 yards and 5 touchdowns against the Scarlet Knights in a 49-27 victory and was undoubtedly the best player on the field. Every year Oklahoma and Ohio State have a more achievable path to the playoffs than other conferences - prove me wrong. This year OSU will have to face Indiana as their top opponent and Oklahoma’s best game will be next week when they take on Oklahoma State. Do we really have to argue that these are the best teams based on their schedule?
Indiana and Michigan faced off in a top 25 battle. I think for the first time in history Indiana was the top football team in this game. Michael Penix Jr. made a mockery of a Jim Harbaugh coached defense. He threw for 342 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Hoosiers won 38-21 without the Wolverines getting anywhere close to making it a game. Harbaugh is the Mark Richt of the Big 10, great coach, and will get you 8-10 wins a year but will never be able to get over that hump. And honestly, I like Richt more.
Photo: UGA Athletics
Oh how we miss you, Slick Richt.
One thing that the B1G may be credited with is the emergence of another Tagovailoa in college football. Taulia, the younger brother of Tua, took Penn State to church in a 35-19 win over the former top 25 team. In the first half alone he threw for 3 touchdowns, leaving the Nittany Lions in a hole they could not dig themselves out of. The Terps ended up with a 35-19 win.
Oh, and then there is the Big 12, what a circus they are. No matter how many losses or close games Texas and Oklahoma play, they will remain at the forefront of the top 25 because the playoff committee owns no bigger bitches than Lincoln Riley or Tom Herman. Speaking with a friend, recently, he was telling me that no matter what Herman does at Texas, he is out next year. This makes sense because the university and supporters are stuck in a time frame where the University of Texas is still relevant. It’s just not reality, they cannot expect to win year after year, there has to be a rebuilding period that donors refuse to acknowledge which puts these high profile coaches that they hire in a conundrum. For instance, take Charlie Strong and Tom Herman: expectations are out of this world and when they aren’t met it is an “anomaly”. As an example, Texas beat West Virginia 17-13 this past weekend. Was it impressive? No, but at the end of the day, it is still a win and should not be overlooked. Still, Tom Herman will still have to keep checking over his shoulder for the remainder of his time in Austin because the boosters are looking for any reason to get rid of him. Sam Ehlinger, once again, led the team and was able to cement a win against a West Virginia team that is sneakily good. He passed for 2 touchdowns and 184 yards. Neither team seemed like they showed up to play this game. There was no run or pass game, there was just simplicity and mediocrity.
In the Oklahoma-Kansas game, it was a predictable blowout by the Sooners. Spencer Rattler put up less than commendable starting quarterback numbers, throwing for 212 yards, a touchdown, and an interception against one of the worst teams in the Power 5 conferences. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson carried the offense with 104 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. It is worth noting that my Waco guy, Tanner Mordecai, went 7 of 8, for 128 yards and a touchdown. Mordecai is a baller and can out throw Rattler on any given day, if Oklahoma really wants to run the tables they need to give this kid a shot. Rattler will continue to be the starter but OU should not expect to make a bowl game better than the Cotton Bowl.
Photo: Sports Illustrated
“Hey Justin’s Fuente. I got one thing to say: How you like me now? Heh.”
I do not like to give compliments to the independent teams of the world but the Liberty Flames should gain some traction in the rankings for the week. This team traveled to Blacksburg and overtook a Hokies team that the NCAA ranked in the top 25 to start the season. Former Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze has Liberty University competing with teams they should not even be on the field with. This is a solid indication that Freeze may be destined for greater things. Quarterback Malik Harris passed for 217 yards and 3 touchdowns astoundingly matching the exact number of the VA Tech quarterback Hendon Hooker. This was an obvious numerological sign that anything could happen, and it did. Liberty overtook the Hokies, 38-35 in a battle of Virginia. The Flames may be a top team and I am interested to see where they end up over the next few weeks.
The Big 10 and Big 12 are terribly mediocre, minus (the) Ohio State. The top SEC and ACC teams continue to impress and the Pac-12 is a joke until proven otherwise.
See you on the couch next week.