CigarSmokinFootball

Cigar Butts Week 11
Shake up Saturday! Upsets, upsets, upsets. Everywhere you looked, the underdogs were conquering their giants. Numbers 2, 3, 4 all went down in defeat. No one was safe, except Alabama, the Imperial Death Star forces are still number one, much to everyone else’s chagrin. Now the selection committee has an extremely tough time ahead of them. No matter what their decisions may be, the talking heads are going to argue that they got it wrong. BUT, take it easy people, big breath, there’s still plenty of football games left to be played.
North Carolina vs Duke– This should have been our first indicator of what was coming. In a game where it appeared the Blue Devils were completely overmatched, where they should have been blown out of the stadium, instead the Tar Heels found themselves tied at 21 at halftime. UNC was making a charge toward a return to the ACC championship game. The one thing that they could not do was to lose to an unranked Duke team. So what do they do in the second half? They score only 6 points and gave up 7. North Carolina lost, 28-27, first big upset. But the harbinger of things to come.

Mississippi State vs Alabama- The Bulldogs came into Tuscaloosa riding high and confident. They upset A&M last week and now they were attacking the Death Star. Only this time, the Rebel forces didn’t even get a chance to mount an attack run. The Crimson Tide unleashed a balanced attack of passing and running plays that took everyone by surprise. WhooHoo! Lane Kiffin and QB Jalen Hurts must have read CigarSmokinFootball.com because they were able to put together an offensive game plan that confused the MSU defense. On top of that, the Bama Defense unleashed an imperial attack that would have made any Sith Lord proud. No upset here, Alabama is still Number One.

Pittsburgh vs Clemson – The Tigers, South Carolina variety, have been playing it pretty close all season long. They have had plenty of scares and close calls. It was only by the skin of their teeth that they got by North Carolina State. Now they had Pittsburgh, a team they have never beaten. Granted, they’ve only played once, back in the 70’s, but nonetheless they’ve never beaten the Panthers. Pitt is a much scrappier team than people have noticed. They don’t quit, they play hard no matter what, and they believe they can beat anyone. With a field goal kicker who had already missed two kicks in the game, in the dying seconds, Pitt lined up for a game winning field goal. After he had missed his last kick, Head Coach Pat Narduzzi talked to him, kissed him on the head and made him laugh. Now, with the game on the line, coach slobber on his check, Christ Biewitt nailed the 48 yard field goal and the Panthers upset the number two team in the nation.

Michigan vs Iowa- Years and years ago, when Jim Harbaugh was the quarterback of Michigan, the Wolverines played Iowa and in the final seconds, the Hawkeyes kicked a game winning field goal, upsetting mighty Michigan. Now Head Coach Harbaugh brought his overrated team into Iowa. In a close defensive struggle the Hawkeyes shut down everything UM threw at them. How’s that saying go? “Those that don’t study history are doomed to repeat it.” Obviously Coach Harbough did not study his own history. In the closing minutes Iowa took the ball from the 50 yard line down to the 15, one field goal kick later and number three mighty Michigan went down in flames.

USC vs Washington – The Huskies had made a believer out of me, I thought they were going to make a run for the PAC12 title, nothing was going to stop U-Dub! Only, the Trojans had a different game plan. They turned UW every which way but loose. By halftime it was obvious the Trojans were going to win. Washington didn’t give up, they tried, but, bless their hearts, they just couldn’t get it together. Hats off to Southern Cal, after starting the season looking like a patsy of a team they have reinvented themselves into a winner.

Auburn vs Georgia– Every now and then there are those games when you see the score, a big smile spreads across your face. This was one of those game. Auburn was being talked about as the biggest threat to Alabama, and they still might be, but against Georgia they met their Waterloo. Nothing they tried worked, and yet they entered the second half with a seven point lead. I was not smiling at this point. Then the Bulldogs shook off their lethargy and took the lead, 13-7. Number 9 team sinks below the surface, and, yes, I laughed, I really did.

Ole Miss vs Texas A&M – Coach Huge Freeze burned the red shirt of QB Shea Patterson, and in doing so, he might have just saved the season and gotten the Rebels in a much better position for next year. In his debut the true freshman threw for 338 yards and two touchdowns. The Rebels still don’t have a running game to speak of, but they did have a hundred yard rusher. The Aggies didn’t just roll over and let Ole Miss thump them. It was a back and forth game with neither team letting up. In the fourth quarter, the Rebs scored 28 points to pull out a win. Someone has to take a serious look at A&M, every year they collapse in the month of November. This should not be, but it is.

Ohio State topped Maryland 62-3 but the Buckeyes still don’t control their own destiny
Louisville had to score 34 points in the 4th to defeat Wake Forest;-yes, the Demon Deacons were ahead at the start of 4th.
Wisconsin had no problem with Illinois
Penn State had to come back from 24 points down to subdue Indiana
Baylor did not play well against Oklahoma, 45-24.
Colorado easily defeated Arizona, 49-24.
Oklahoma State made one more tackle than Texas Tech, 45-44. We predicted this.
Georgia Tech some how or other defeated Virginia Tech, 30-20 Did not see this one coming
West Virginia held off Texas, 24-20. Is it true, is West Virginia for real?
Minnesota almost upset against Nebraska, but didn’t, 24-17.
Washington State walked all over California, 56-21.
LSU ran over Arkansas, 38-10.

Florida held on to its SEC-East Lead by chomping South Carolina. Another loss for Coach Boom.
Kentucky just doesn’t want that sixith win for a bowl as they lost again, to Tennessee, of all people.
Iowa State doubled its wins by taking down Kansas, 31-24
Michigan State remembered how to win against Rutgers, 49-0. Rutgers remembered how to lose.
Northwestern 45, Purdue 17. Anyone surprised?
North Carolina State got to .500 by thumping Syracuse, 35-20
I thought Virginia would give Miami a better game, but they didn’t, 34-14.
Missouri beat Vanderbilt, not sure how they did it, but they did, 26-17
Stanford is now at 7-3 by making Oregon 3-7. Cardinal won, 52-27
Memphis should have beaten South Florida, BUT didn’t, 49-42
UCLA still has a losing record, even after beating Oregon State, 38-24.
North Alabama ended its regular season by destroying Mississippi College, 42-7. Next stop, PLAYOFFS!!