After Week 3!

Another week finished and after three of them we know very little about the true identity of most of the 120 FBS teams.  We have learned that USC's depth concerns were valid at least with regards to the offensive line after Stanford easily exploited the Trojans not having their starting center due to injury (by the way, the left tackle was the starter, but he had a horrible game).  We have learned that my concerns over Urban Meyer's implementation of a zone defense scheme was warranted after wide receiver Keenan Allen destroyed it (why not play man-to-man with the corners and defensive line OSU has?!).  We have learned that when Alabama puts their third-string quarterback and fifth-string running back in the game, that the network apparently puts their second-string cameraman in.  Blake Sims' touchdown run was all but missed because the cameraman fell for the read-option and thought Howell had the ball.  We have learned that Louisiana-Monroe, if they keep playing like this, will probably be able to participate in their first ever bowl game this season.  We still have a lot to learn though, like how good most of the teams that are deemed to be at the top really are.  The great thing is that with so many interesting storylines that we've already had ... that was only Week 3!  Dear Notre Dame, that was the first time I've been wrong (and I was way off) about you in quite some time.  Let's not let that happen again, okay? 

Thank you, Mike Pereira.   Pereira is the NFL’s former Vice President of Officiating and currently an analyst for Fox Sports.  He does a great job of breaking down and explaining controversial calls in both college and NFL football games.  While watching Saturday’s USC/Stanford game, I saw what I thought was a block in the back on Stanford’s game-winning touchdown pass.  It wasn’t called and I was curious if I was correct in thinking it was a blown call, so I asked Pereira about it via Twitter (@MikePereira).  He informed me that indeed a block in the back was missed on that play, but that I should keep two things in mind.  First, if it had been called correctly, Stanford would have gotten the ball at USC’s 22-yard line and we don’t know if the call would have kept them from scoring, plus it would have helped Stanford eat up even more clock.  Second, there was a missed call on an earlier touchdown run by USC’s Silas Redd as well.  Redd was clearly pulled into the end zone by one of his offensive linemen, which Pereira explained was against a rule that says a player cannot be pushed, pulled, or otherwise aided in entering the end zone.  He said it is rarely enforced, but is a rule nonetheless, and if called USC would have had a 3rd-and-goal at the 6.  Would they have scored anyway?  We can’t know.  He later mentioned both of these calls in his Sunday morning column.  A big thanks to Mike Pereira not only for verifying the missed call I felt was missed, but also on offering some perspective when finding fault with it.  He also gave a little background on a rule I was only vaguely familiar with, but that I find fascinating.

Speaking of knowing the rules …  There’s 11:36 left in the first quarter, it’s 4th-and-6 at the Arkansas 43, and the Razorback line up to punt in a scoreless game.  It’s a horribly-high snap and sails easily over punter Dylan Breeding’s head and towards the opposing end zone.  Breeding turns and runs in pursuit and catches up with the ball at the 6-yard line at which time he kicks the ball in an attempt of sending it through the end zone.  He clearly felt Alabama players coming behind him and thought it’d be better to give up a 2-point safety than set-up or allow Alabama to score a touchdown.  Unfortunately, he did just that.  He was called for illegal kicking, a penalty that sounds a bit odd for a game with the word ‘foot’ in its name.  It’s a loss of down, spot of the foul, penalty, so it became Alabama’s ball at the 6.  Breeding’s idea of taking a safety wasn’t a bad one, but one would think a senior would have a better grasp of the rules.  In order for his plan to have worked he could have scooped the ball up and ran it into the end zone or batted it with his hand through the end zone (this is a little riskier because if he doesn’t bat it hard enough, it could be recovered in the end zone for a touchdown).  This play led to Alabama’s only score in the first quarter and there was yet another bad snap on Arkansas’ field goal attempt later that quarter.  I’m not saying this play was the difference in the game, but it was certainly a horrible way to start a game in which the Razorbacks were big underdogs and turned a play that looked like it would start the Crimson Tide deep in their own territory into them instead starting on Arkansas’ 6.  What a swing!

Least talked about upset of the weekend.  The upset everyone is focusing on is Stanford beating USC because of the disparity in “rankings”.  The one that surprised me the most was Pittsburgh’s 35-17 win over Virginia Tech!  We could focus on VT being “ranked” thirteenth overall and Pitt being unranked at the time, but given that I think rankings are silly this early in the season that wouldn’t do it justice.  VT was expected to be the third best team in the ACC, behind Clemson and Florida State.  Pittsburgh lost to an FCS school, Youngstown State, in Week 1 by nearly the same margin (31-17).  When I saw this score I immediately thought of 2010 when the Hokies were upset by an FCS school, James Madison.  Granted, this isn’t quite the same because they didn’t lose to an FCS school this time, but isn’t losing to a team that lost to an FCS school just as bad?  While it wasn’t a direct hit on “strength of schedule”, that battleship took a major blow in my view.  They’ll have to make a major run in the ACC to make up for this loss -- like beating both Clemson and Florida State convincingly.  If you’re superstitious, or a fan of irony, you’d be interested to know Virginia Tech was ranked 13th when they lost to James Madison and again this week when losing to Pittsburgh.  Virginia Tech fans, your  team just lost to a team that lost to the only team in the FBS or FCS whose nickname is the Penguins.  Indirect Penguin hit -- ouch!
Especially college football fans!  Dana Jacobson, former host of ESPN’s “First Take”, made a great statement via Twitter (@danajacobson) about being a sports fan:  “What do people who aren’t sports fans do to drive themselves crazy and how do they learn about blind loyalty?”  Jacobson is a great follow on Twitter, despite her being a Michigan fan and alum, as she has interesting viewpoints on what’s going on in sports.  I wish she had said CFB fans instead of sports fans, because I think it would have been a little more fitting. While there are certainly fans of other sports who are as “fanatic” as those of college football, I think a higher percentage of college football fans apply to her statement than the others.  I’d even say that often times the loyalty that she describes as being blind is also selectively deaf.  College football fans definitely do a great job of driving themselves crazy and equally great job of driving each other crazy.  I like to say that it is that craziness that is both frustrating and fantastic about the game.  That craziness drives debates and discussions that are sometimes based on logic but often based on loyalty (blind and selectively deaf) and allegiance.  I am a passionate sports fan, and I am a passionate college football fan, and I thought Dana Jacobson hit the nail on the head on this one.  I don’t know very many people who are just absolutely not sports fans, so I wonder if there is something else that people are “fans” of that leads to them driving themselves crazy and blind loyalty.  I’d love some feedback on that one.

We knew there’d be one, but there may well be two.   When Bobby Petrino was fired, I said this season would basically be an audition for coaches to get the Razorbacks job.  Many familiar names are trying their best to have a great season this year so that they will be considered.  So, we knew that after this season at least one SEC head coaching job would open up because we knew John L. Smith was not going to keep this job.  He was a lame duck from the beginning and he is living up to that description quite well thus far.  Yes, he's been without his All-SEC quarterback for 6 of the 12 quarters his team has played, but there's nothing that gives the impression that he is leading his team -- that he is inspiring his team.  Say what you want about Petrino's character, but he is one of the best playcallers in college football and more importantly, he had his team believing it was an elite club.  They were 21-4 over the last two years and now they're 1-2 after a schedule that included Jacksonville State and Louisiana-Monroe.  I'm fairly certain the SEC will have a second job opening after this season:  Kentucky.  The Wildcats come off a week in which they lost to a team new to the FBS and within its own state, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.  I guess the Hilltoppers’ loss to Alabama the previous week didn't really hurt their confidence.  They won in overtime on a bit of a trick play on a two-point conversion in which the quarterback threw a backward lateral to a receiver who then threw a pass to the quarterback running a route in the flat.  (Funnily enough, I saw this play in four different games on  Saturday and all of them led to at least a first down if not better)  Joker Phillips, in his third year as head coach, may get some leeway because he's been on the staff for ten years and played wide receiver for the Wildcats.  I don't think he'll get too much though given the SEC's competitive nature and constant claim to be the deepest conference in the nation.  Having teams win a mere four games against conference opponents and 11 games total over the last two years and then starting the next year 1-2 with one of those losses against Western Kentucky is rarely acceptable.  Would it surprise anyone if Bobby Petrino was the next head coach at Kentucky?  It wouldn't me.  He already has a recruiting staple in the state having turned around Louisville and Kentucky doesn't like being known as a basketball-only school.  We'll see!

Note:  Congratulations to Johnny Majors whose jersey (#45) was retired by Tennessee on Saturday.  Majors was a two-time SEC MVP and an All-American halfback at UT.  He went on to coach at UT a year after coaching Pittsburgh to an undefeated season and national championship in 1976.  He also was quite an entertaining sports talk radio host!