Week 4 Review
Cigar Butts for Week 4
Week 4 is in the books. Some of the top teams got a scare, others fended off the pretenders. History is a great teacher, it allows us to view what teams were and predict which way they’re going. As the saying goes, “Those that don’t study history are destined to repeat it”. So, let’s look at some recent history.
Thursday night got the ball rolling with Auburn at the little apple, Manhattan, Kansas, to take on Kansas State. The Wildcats were their usual daunting defense. They kept the Tigers from the ucla (ugly corner of lower Alabama) on their heels. They were disruptive stopped Auburn’s vaulted running game. Their only recourse was to go to the air. Tiger QB Nick Marshall threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns. But he wasn’t the savior of the game. That honor goes to….K-State themselves. The Wildcats were able to move the ball on the Tigers, but then they’d turn the ball over, or miss a field-goal (they missed four. FOUR. FOUR!) Auburn escaped.
Florida State also received a gift, from Clemson. Who’d a thunk it? With Heisman winner QB Jameis Winston proving once again he’s incapable of being a leader off the field and Coach Jimbo Fisher proving he is against punishing his immature and irresponsible QB, Clemson had a chance. What did they do? They Clemsonized, they blew it. The teams were tied, less than two minutes to go, with the ball in FSU territory. All they had to do was run the clock down and kick a field goal (which wasn’t their strong suite that night) to win. Instead they ran the ball up the middle, fumble, and the game goes into overtime. FSU wins. Something about missing field goals and turnovers, appears to be a theme.
Alabama didn’t want to be left out of the miscue theme, so while they hosted Florida. Bama’s game-plan seemed to be to move the ball a bit and then put it on the ground and allowed the Gators to recover. Florida scored all their points off turnovers;- that would be three touchdowns. The Tide, however, had a secret weapon up their sleeve, Amari Cooper. He had a Heisman break out party! 10 receptions , 3 touchdowns and 201 yards. He was on fire, which ignited the rest of the team and the Red Elephant offense could not be stopped. Darth Henry put on a show, this guy plays like a young Earl Campbell, 20 carries for 111 yards, 1 TD. QB Sims showed the world that he can throw the ball more than 7 yards and complete the pass! Who knew? From a biased Alabama perspective, the best thing about the Tide was the return of Alabama’s defense, Bama ball! Florida couldn’t run and Alabama’s secondary, which allowed West Virginia to throw the ball at will, has improved so much that its hard to compare them with the lot that opened the season.
For all of those that stayed up late to watch the Oregon – Washington State game, it was not disappointing. This set of cats (Tigers, Wildcats, Cougars – anyone see a Caracal around?) had a defensive front that disrupted Oregon’s rhythm. They learned that history lesson that Stanford and Arizona taught last year. Wazzou sacked Mariota five times in the first half! Oregon had only given up three sacks in their first three games. But Oregon did have Marcus Mariota who put the game on his sore shoulders and willed his team to a victory, 38-31. Let’s give Coach Mike Leach and his Cougars a cigar, nobody predicted that they would do that well against the Ducks. Oregon is one of the most complete teams in the nation, they had a tough time Saturday night, but they pulled it out, not on turnovers or missed field goals, but by sheer willpower. They deserve the number one ranking.
Mississippi State did the seemingly impossible against LSU. They went into Baton Rouge, at night, and beat the Tigers, 34-29! How is this possible? LSU is unbeatable in Death Valley at night. However, Dak Prescott, QB for the Bulldogs, didn’t get that memo. He played like another one of Dan Mullen’s students, Tim Tebow. Prescott passed for two touchdowns and 268 yards and rushed for 105 yards. LSU couldn’t stop the Maroon running game. Prescott wasn’t the only one who ran for 100 yards. RB Josh Robinson ran for 197 yards. The score is not indicative of the game. LSU scored two touchdowns in the last few minutes to make it look closer than it was. If this is an indication of what LSU has going for them, it’s going to be a very long year for Les Miles. The other SEC teams better take note because the SEC West just got a whole lot tougher. Didn’t realize that was possible. Are you listening, PAC-12? Any smart-aleck (mixed audience) comments, Motormouth Stoops?
In other games,
West Virginia gave OU all they could handle for one half, then the Sooners ran away with it. 45-33
Texas A&M buried SMU, 58-6, but the highlight of the game was when an SMU receiver almost ran into A&M’s mascot, Reveille, and a cadet blocked the receiver with his body, and the dog never moved! Just to let you know how important Reveille is, the Commandant of the Cadet Corps is awarding our blocker his Senior Boots! That’s a big deal at A&M. Hats off to the Cadet.
Vanderbilt darn near beat South Carolina, thanks to two kickoff returns. Either Vandy is getting better or South Carolina is slipping. We’re going with the improvement.
Wisconsin set a rushing record against Bowling Green, the Badgers put up some unbelievable number, 644 yards.
The Mighty Giant Killers of Indiana beat Missouri 31-27! The one guy in the world that was crazy enough to lay down a couple of dollars on the Hoosiers in Vegas is having the time of his life!
Virginia invaded the West by taking on BYU and played a whole lot better than Texas did in their invasion. UVA lost, but it was a great game. BYU just might be for real here.
Nebraska got the lead over Miami in the second quarter and never let it go. Sure thought the Curse Of The Hat was going to come into play. Keep the faith, history teaches us that it will.
Iowa upset Pitt, 24-20. If you haven’t seen the highlight of the one-handed catch by a Hawkeye receiver, it’s worth downloading. Wow!