Review of Week 5
Cigar Butts for Week 5
Alabama vs Mississippi – Let’s address the elephant in the room first. Alabama beat the stuffings out of Ole Miss, 66-3. It wasn’t so much that they won the game in front of the home crowd, it’s how they won. This was a complete beat down. Coach Saban told his players during the week that they (Alabama) hadn’t really beaten Ole Miss since these players had been in school. Thus, the Crimson Tide squad was determined to break the spirit of the Rebels, to destroy any self-confidence they possessed. Mission accomplished. UM was able to kick a field goal in the first quarter and that was it. It wasn’t only that Alabama was playing to beat Mississippi – they were – but they were playing to rid themselves of their demons from losing the National Championship Game. In the third quarter, with Alabama up, 35-3, the players were reminding each other of how they lost the national championship and not to let up no matter how big the lead was. This does not bode well for the rest of the SEC.
USC vs Washington State – WSU hasn’t beaten a top-five team since Drew Bledsoe lead the Cougars to victory over Washington in 1992. QB Luke Falk was on fire, throwing 340 yards with two touchdowns. Everyone knew the Cougs were going to move the ball and score, what no one expected was that the defense was able to slow the high powered Trojans, and slow them they did. With the game on the line, and the possibility of an USC come-back win, the Wazzu defense put pressure on QB Sam Darnold, forcing him to fumble, which the Cougars recovered, thus ending the game. The best way to describe this win was when Head Coach Mike Leach described the pandemonium as, “This is like Woodstock only everyone has their clothes on.” WSU is now a favorite to win the PAC-12. Not the only favorite, but a favorite, nevertheless.
Georgia vs Tennessee – In another dominant win the Bulldogs not only truncated Rocky Top, they blew the entire mountain apart. UGA was on a mission, in the last six games this contest has been decided by eight points
or fewer. That is not what happened Saturday. The Dawgs beat UT, 41-0. There was not going to be any suspense or last minute miracle finishes, no Hail Marys, none of that stuff. At the half the Dawgs lead 24-0, and at no time did they come close to letting the Vols score. The only touchdown pass for the home team was when Peyton Manning threw a pass to the endzone at halftime when they honored him for being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Butch Jones can’t sit down, the seat is so hot.
Clemson vs VA Tech – Â In what become the Kelly Bryant show, Clemson left VA Tech grasping for air. QB Bryant ended up running for a ton of yards, but only 94 yards down field. He scrambled around the pocket and for some reason the defense just couldn’t get him. It was so impressive that Hokie defensive coordinator Foster commented after the game, “What a dynamic kid, we couldn’t get him on the ground.” For most of the game Clemson only allowed Tech a field goal, it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that they surrendered two touchdowns. The defensive linemen were the other stars of the game as they stonewalled the Hokie running game. After this game it is obvious the Tigers are the standard bearer of the ACC.
Mississippi State vs Auburn –Ok, confession time, we drank the kool-aid, we overvalued Mississippi State. After they beat LSU, we thought the Bulldogs were on to something. But after LSU lost to Troy (more on that below), and Misissippi State losing to Georgia last week, and now Auburn, it’s obvious they were living a pipe dream. Auburn tore into Miss State. As the game went on, the Tigers got better and better. QB Jarrett Stidham finally got into a throwing rhythm and passed for 264 yards and two touchdowns. RB Kerryon Johnson ran for three TD’s. The Plainsmen did everything they wanted, when they wanted, and the outmanned Maroon dogs had nothing with which to stop them. Either Auburn has gotten very good or Mississippi State is not who we thought they were. Or both.
Troy vs LSU – The Alabama Trojans took it to the Tigers on LSU’s home field, and at Homecoming, no less. The Bengal defense could not stop the ground attack of Troy. Then the Tiger offense didn’t show any signs of life until the 4th quarter when they did mount a semblance of a comeback, only to fall short. Things are not well in Baton Rouge. There is no question that LSU has talent, but they are not playing like a team, not even in the loosest sense of the word. They don’t have leadership on the line, the defense is mostly in disarray and the quarterback play is questionable at best. Coach Orgeron is either bringing this team down, (like he did at Ole Miss) or the cupboard is completely bare and he has a ton of recruiting to get done. Whatever it is, LSU is in trouble, big trouble.
South Carolina vs Texas A&M – In the first half it looked like South Carolina might start A&M on their annual SEC slide, leading the Aggies, 10-7, The Daughter’s blood pressure was quickly rising. Fortunately, the Aggies got it together and provided relief before her blood pressure spiked into dangerous territory. In the fourth quarter A&M scored 14 unanswered points, winning the game, 24-17. This brings A&M to 4-1, and next week they will be hosting Alabama. Who knows, with the toilets fixed at Kyle Field, the Aggies might flush something. They m-m-m-might.
UTEP vs Army- At the end of the second quarter, 0-4 UTEP was tied with 2-2 Army. This was not expected and was causing great anguish to the editor of CSF. Then the Black Knights appeared to hear the screams and opened it up against the Miners, scoring 21 points and winning the game 35-21, thus continuing the streak! The UTEP coach returned to El Paso and quit. Go Army! Beat Navy (and everyone else they play).
Cigar Ashes
Texas did not lose to Iowa State, winning, 17-7
Miami didn’t even let Duke come close, 31-6
Nebraska beat Illinois, 28-6, so maybe the bottom hasn’t fallen out for the Cornhuskers
Penn State opened up a 28-0 first quarter lead over Indiana and never let up, winning, 45-14. So much for a blind-side game.
Utah State stomped BYU, 40-24. How hot is BYU coach’s seat?
Wisconsin had a comfortable lead against Northwestern, only to let the Wildcats come back and darn near pull off the upset, but they didn’t, and the Badgers won, 33-24
South Florida continued its winning ways against East Carolina, 61-31
Florida overpowered Vanderbilt in the second half to win, 38-24. Del Rio lost for season as Gator QB.
Notre Dame beat Miami (OH), so now the press will clamor that the Irish are a top ten team. Like Miss State, they’re not
Maryland beat Minnesota. The Terps actually beat Minnesota. What’s going on in College Park, Maryland? Not sure what it is but they are playing great! Uh-oh. Ohio State this week.
Washington had no problems with Oregon State, 42-7
Oklahoma State outshot Texas Tech, 41-34
North Carolina is now 0-3 after being taken down by Georgia Tech, 33-7.
NC State beat Syracuse 33-25, no surprise there
Wake Forest almost, ALMOST beat Florida State. It was so close! But FSU came back and won. The Demon Deacons are playing so much better than they have in years. Good job Wake Forest
Kansas State added to Baylor’s misery, winning, 33-20. But the Bears showed some life.
Stanford beat Arizona State
Michigan State beat Iowa. Could this mean the Spartans are returning to a winning form?
Ohio State shut down Rutgers. Oh, what a shock! (Total sarcasm)
San Diego State got past Northern Illinois, eyepoke and all, 34-28. The Aztecs are good
Memphis did not do well against UCF, losing 40-13. Really thought the Tigers could beat the Knights
UCLA some how managed to beat Colorado, 27-23.
Oregon quacked all over California, 45-24, but lost their QB before Washington State comes to town
Colorado State over Hawa’i, 51-21, in case you’re interested
UNA did not do well to West Georgia, losing 37-23. This is not good for my Lions.
