I view Tennessee as one of the most diverse states in the country. Just as I could never imagine Isaac Hayes playing a gig in the Smoky Mountains, the idea of a country honky tonk in downtown Memphis seems just as strange. However, the state of Tennessee pulled together in one sense: on Saturday, three dramatic comebacks shined.
Tennessee spotted long-time tormentor Florida a 21-0 lead then roared back with 38 unanswered points in front of 100,000+ orgasmic Vol fans. In Murfreesboro, Middle Tennessee State trailed Louisiana Tech 27-7 in the 3rd quarter before roaring back to win, 38-34. At game’s end, Middle had to thwart La Tech on 4 downs inside their 10-yard line to secure the victory. La Tech now has the interesting distinction of losing the last two Saturdays despite 550+ yards of offense in both defeats. With shootouts like that, it is almost like Sonny Dykes never left!
Vanderbilt came from behind to force overtime with a TD on the final play of regulation. Down 21-17 with 2 minutes to go, the Commodores’s prospects were bleak as Western Kentucky had a first and goal. However, the D stiffened and forced a field goal. Vanderbilt, led by their so-so QB, Kyle Shurmur, had 67 seconds to go down the field lacking any timeouts. For that fateful minute, Shurmur inexplicably morphed into Joe Montana to the dismay of the largest crowd to ever watch a WKU home game. Vandy then scored another TD to go ahead 31-24 in OT only to see Western Kentucky score a TD. Jeff Brohm rolled the dice on a 2-point conversion and the potential game-winning pass was tipped away. Anchor down, baby!
Memphis did not have any chance to join the other three Division 1-A Volunteer state teams in dramatic heroics. When you are leading 56-3 at the half, the scope for dramatics is pretty limited. The Tigers had to settle for having 11 different players score TDs as they handed Bowling Green their worst loss in history, a 77-3 throttling. This broke a record that had only stood for 3 weeks. Previously, the worst BG loss in history was their 77-10 embarrassment at Ohio State on September 3.
For those who read this blog religiously, we expressed an opinion prior to the opener that we thought that the Wake Forest season win total of 5.5 wins, expected by the experts, seemed a tad low to us, largely thanks to a tissue soft first half of the schedule. We even fantasized about the possibility of Wake rolling into their October tilt in Tallahassee with a 6-0 record. Then reality smacked us in the kisser as the stench from Wake Forest’s offensive performance in their opener was unmistakable. The Demon Deacons were held to 174 yards of total offense against Tulane, yet, remarkably, against all odds, still pulled out a narrow, 7-3 win over the Green Wave. Our dream of a 6-0 start for Wake seemed to be an LSD-fueled fantasy. John Wolford’s anemic performance in the opener prompted an eventual QB change to the more dynamic Kendall Hinton. After some excellent play, Hinton got hurt and they had to go back to Wolford, veteran of 24 previous starts. The situation was reminiscent of a guy who temporarily dumps his wife for his mistress only to later go back hat-in-hand to ask the wife for forgiveness. after he discovers that his mistress is the first cousin of Glenn Close. Well, maybe only slightly reminiscent.
Wake might have been a bit lucky against Indiana in yesterday’s 33-28 triumph. IU’s quarterback, Richard Lagow, heaved a TD bomb in the game’s first minute and torched Wake for 496 yards. However, the Demon Deacons were resilient enough to pick off 5 Lagow passes and fought off a spirited Hoosier rally. (By the way, our other two picks on the season win total were Houston over 9 or 9.5 and Middle Tennessee over 7.5 wins. Sorry for bragging, but we are not always this good, so we wish to take advantage of the opportunity!!). This week, Wake travels to Raleigh and starts off as 10.5 point dog versus the Wolfpack. Stay tuned to see if the Demon Deacons can pull off a third straight upset.
We close with a note of compassion for the USC football program. We do realize that our blog last week regarding the current state of Trojan football could have been viewed as slightly harsh. Further, College Football Odyssey does not wish to receive a 15-yard penalty for piling on. Thus, we will not dwell on USC blowing a 24-10 lead against Utah on Friday night. We also pledge not to do any research as to whether Clay Helton’s lifetime 1-5 head coaching record is the worst in Trojan history.
Let’s all Fight On this week! We always love to hear from you. Rick Rock