Author: rickro51 Page 15 of 36

Running an elite college football program is big business.  Check out the vast number of names in a typical athletic department staff directory.

Even head coaches as elite as Nick Saban rely on assistants such as Kirby Smart, Jimbo Fisher, Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian to keep them atop the college football world.

Consider the Clemson coaching tree.  Inevitable that Clemson assistants would be plucked to run other programs.  How have they fared?  Abysmal is not in any way hyperbolic.

Chad Morris proved to be in of the worst hires in SEC history after his Arkansas debacle.  First-year Oklahoma coach, Brent Venables, is mired with a 5-5 record for the proud program..  Sooner fans are wondering if the Sooners will make it to bowl eligibility.  Not that becoming bowl eligible will start to make up for a historic 49-0 beatdown in the Red River Rivalry.

Tony Elliott is currently dealing with tragedy at Virginia with the senseless shooting of three of his players.  So, we do not want to be cruel and pile on.  However, Elliott’s departure from Clemson as offensive coordinator has seemed to have two results.  Clemson QB, DJ Uiagalelei, has improved from terrible to slightly better than average in Elliott’s absence.  But the shocking change has been the unthinkable demise of Virginia QB, Brennan Armstrong.  Armstrong was one of the very best QBs in 2021.  His regression in 2022 has been stunning.

Last and far from least.  Earlier this month,  South Florida fired Jeff Scott after a humiliating blowout at the hands of Temple.  USF was willing to pay a buyout that may approach $10 million.  Big money for a program with small attendance.  Scott’s awful 4-26 mark forced USF’s hand.

Given these records, the Odyssey totally bows down to Dabo.

After Arizona’s spine-tingling 34-28 upset over UCLA at the Rose Bowl Saturday night, the Odyssey offers the following observations:

The Wildcats are the best team with a losing record (4-6) in the country with no close second.   With their upset over UCLA, Arizona added its win over the Bruins to quality wins over North Dakota State and San Diego State

With whirling dervish Jayden DeLaura at QB, there is no more entertaining team in the country.  He can be erratic with his never-say-die scrambles in the pocket, but DeLaura is incredibly dangerous and always great theater.

The Wildcats may have the best receiving corps in the country.  Some great receivers are going to be the recipient of single coverage.  Jacob Cowing broke UTEP’s heart by transferring to UA this year.  Freshman Tetairoa McMillan is one of the most heralded recruits in Wildcat history.  Sophomore Dorian Singer has had a breakout campaign.  De Laura also has a talented safety valve in tight end Tanner McLachlan, another sophomore.  While Cowing may opt for the NFL, this crew is going to continue to be a headache in 2023.

Arizona’s downfall in 2023 has been the byproduct of a porous defense and an unrelenting schedule (Their last 5 games have been against Washington, Oregon,  USC, Utah and UCLA.  YIKES!!!).   The Wildcat D finally showed up in the Rose Bowl.  Dorian Thompson-Robinson was under pressure all night.  As the expected point total for UCLA was 48.5 per our friends in Las Vegas, this Wildcat D was not supposed to make its presence felt in Pasadena.

With home games left against Washington State and Arizona State, Arizona has a chance to become bowl eligible.  The last time their archrivals paid a visit to Tucson, the Sun Devils laid a historic 70-7 humiliation on the Wildcats that brought shame all the way to Bisbee.  If somebody offers you UA+62 against ASU in the 2022 Territorial Cup, my advice is to take the wager!  Arizona will be sky high for this year’s ASU tilt!

Arizona’s combined record in 202o and 2021:  1-16, lowlighted by their ASU 2020 humiliation and a loss to Northern Arizona.  Congrats to Jedd Fisch for resurrecting a once proud program!    2023 cannot come soon enough for the Arizona football program.

The Big 10 West is the Division that nobody has taken a strangle hold.  Illinois has already beaten Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota and is currently in the driver’s seat with a 4-2 division record.  If the Illini win in Champaign against Purdue on Saturday, they will have a hammerlock on the West title.

BUT IF ILLINOIS LOSES ON SATURDAY…….

Can you believe there is potential for a 5-way tie for the West at 5-4 that is not far fetched?!?!

Let’s assume that Illinois also loses at Michigan before beating Northwestern in the finale.  Illinois finishes at 5-4.

Purdue, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota all sit at 3-3.   Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin all play each other.  For a 5-way tie to occur, the trio needs to go 1-1 against each other and win their other division game.

Wisconsin plays at Nebraska on November 19.  The Badgers will likely be favored.

Iowa is home versus Nebraska on November 25.  Iowa will definitely be favored.

Minnesota is a 17-point favorite over Northwestern this Saturday.

With an Illini loss to Purdue, all the above looks plausible.

However, Purdue’s future looks like the weak link in the 5-way-tie scenario.  Purdue’s final two games are against the Big 10’s 2 weakest teams:  Northwestern and AT Indiana.  Rivalry games are unpredictable so an Old Oaken Bucket upset is not impossible.

The Odyssey cannot recollect a 5-way tie for a title and we do enjoy occasional chaos.  What would be the tiebreaker in event of a 5-way tie?  The first tiebreaker would be the record against the other 4 co-champions:

Illinois would be in good shape with a 3-1 mark.

Iowa would be 2-2.

Wisconsin would be 2-2.

Purdue would be 2-2.

Minnesota would be 1-3.

The Odyssey’s mischievous side is rooting for a 5-way tie!  However, the experts in Las Vegas say that the Illini are a touchdown favorite to put all such chaos to rest.

Each year, some obscure records get set that will likely never get equaled. For example, Weber State lost its game against Montana State because of the 4 times Weber’s long snapper hiked the ball over the head of its punter!! The resulting points from the four Safeties for Montana State provided more than the margin of victory for the narrow Bobcat win.

There are 5 FBS teams in Alabama (Don’t worry, Jacksonville State. The Odyssey will include you in 2023). The 5 squads from Alabama were less than 6 minutes away from all 5 squads being involved in overtime!!

LSU’s epic 32-31 victory over Alabama was the headliner. Brian Kelly showed a lot of guts in having the Bayou Bengals go for 2 in the game’s first overtime. Auburn battled back from a 21-point deficit at Cowbell U to force overtime. Alas, the TIgers fell short in OT for interim coach, Cadillac Williams.

In Birmingham, UAB lost a heartbreaker in double OT to Texas San Antonio as their cursed 2022 campaign continues. Their 4-5 record is deceptive as all 5 losses were of the one-possession variety.  Bill Clark is definitely missed!

Troy ventured to Lafayette to play ULL.  The Trojans were facing a 17-0 deficit in the third quarter before Troy mounted a comeback.  The Trojans knotted the game before Kimani Vidal scored on a 22-yard scamper with 5 seconds left.  Nice comeback that averted overtime.

Like Troy, South Alabama overcame a double-digit deficit to triumph against Georgia Southern.  LaDamian Webb, who ran wild all game to the tune of 247 yards, broke a 31-31 tie with the game winning TD.

Those Alabama football  fans who cannot handle high stress levels had a tough Saturday.  Lesson learned for those who love “Sweet Home Alabama”:  Win the damn game in 60 minutes!

Nobody, and I mean nobody, predicted what has transpired in the ACC’s Coastal Division this year.

Two months ago, if somebody had circled the October 15th Duke-North Carolina game as the Division’s pivotal contest in 2022, you would have thought that they were the village idiot.

North Carolina’s TD with 18 seconds to play against the Blue Devils produced a 38-35 victory over their archrivals.  The 74-yard drive was led by Freshman wunderkind Drake Maye.  Maye quickly dispelled any angst over the departure of Sam Howell.  Nobody, and I mean nobody, has been better than Maye, with due apologies to Bryce Young and CJ Stroud.

Duke has been an even bigger surprise under new coach, Mike Elko.  The Blue Devils also have a QB revelation in Riley Leonard.  But Leonard is far from the whole story. Elko’s chops as a defensive coordinator have produced defensive wonders in Durham.  The Blue Devils look nothing like the team that was predicted to win all of 2.5 games in 2022.   If Duke had just held on against the Tar Heels, you would now have a tie for the top in the Coastal.  As it stands, North Carolina’s 2-game lead in the Coastal looms huge.   If Mack Brown can rid itself of his 0-for-forever record in Charlottesville tomorrow, the Coastal title becomes close to a certainty.

The Carolina schools have been the division’s pleasant surprises.  In the zero-sum game of division winners and losers, there have been huge disappointments.  Nobody, and I mean nobody, foresaw Miami’s dual humiliations at home by both Middle Tennessee and Duke.  Mario Cristobal was supposed to be their savior when he bolted from Oregon.  Wow!! One of the 10 Commandments says not to worship false Gods.

Defending ACC champ Pitt has also been a massive disappointment.  The Panthers already are sporting 3 conference losses, including a stunner to a Georgia Tech that has already fired its coach.  What on earth happened to the team that took Tennessee to overtime?  Kedon Slovis’ QB regression is part, but certainly not all, of their malaise.

One certainty:  No division has produced more surprises to date than the ACC Coastal.  Just another reminder that college football can be very unpredictable!

When Miami visited Virginia on Saturday, one of these massively disappointing squads was going to feel some relief.  ONLY because overtime mandated that one team had to win.

Quarterback play for both squads has been shockingly poor.  Brennan Armstrong was arguably the most dynamic QB in 2021.  Then, all hell broke loose in Charlottesville.  Last year, Armstrong threw for an astounding 4,449 yards with 31 TD passes.  In 6 games, the talented lefty threw for 400+ yards.  However, 2022 has been a different story.  Armstrong has had to endure a rebuilt offensive line that was crippled by the defection of 2nd team all-American center, Olusegun Oluwatimi, to Michigan.   Bronco Mendenhall surprisingly retired.  New coach, Tony Elliott,  has not exactly provided the secret sauce.  In Armstrong’s 8 games this year, he has thrown more picks (9) than TDs (6).  Armstrong is averaging a paltry 202 yards passing per game.

Armstrong must feel beyond frustrated.  Against the Hurricanes, tight end Grant Misch dropped a pass in the end zone that would have provided the game’s ONLY touchdown.  The Cavalier defense must also be beyond frustrated.  For the 2nd consecutive game, Virginia allowed the opponents fewer than 300 yards and ZERO touchdowns.

As disappointing as Virginia’s season, Miami has proved to be an even bigger dud.  With all the hoopla surrounding the hire of Mario Cristobal, nobody could have imagined home losses to Middle Tennessee State and Duke even if one was an inhabitant of the Twilight Zone.  If one was penciling projected wins for the Hurricanes in August, those two games would have been at the top of the list.

Tyler Van Dyke grabbed Miami’s QB job, mid-2021, and was considered one of the best QB’s entering 2022.  The Todd McShays of the world were touting him as a future high draft pick.  Mysteriously, the bottom has fallen out for Van Dyke in 2022.  He relinquished the QB post to Jake Garcia after some dreadful performances.  Van Dyke did not even see the field in Charlottesville.

As if to echo the disappointing QB play, no touchdowns were scored in regulation — or the first overtime — or the second overtime.  Miami finally won on a 2-point conversion in the 4th overtime to mercifully end the game.  If there was real justice, the game would have ended in regulation as a 6-6 tie.

The lack of offense provided yet another example as to the dangers of betting on college football.  At halftime, the score of the snoozefest was 3-0.  Condolences to the bettors who sagely took the total of under 21.5 in the 2nd half.  The bane of “under” bettors is overtime.  It took the fourth overtime for the second half “over” to come home in the 14-12 drama.

Nobody and I mean NOBODY saw the lack of offensive production for either squad in 2022.  Some elements of college football will remain an eternal mystery.

The Odyssey was sickened when Oklahoma and Texas announced their move to the SEC in 2021.  SICKENED!!

In so doing, the two traditional powers decided to destroy many zesty regional rivalries.  The worst outcome will be the end of the annual Bedlam game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.  REALLY?!?!  C’mon Oklahoma state legislature — earn your keep and do whatever it takes to keep this game on the schedule.  We scoff at their athletic directors who say that scheduling the game will become impossible.  Get real!!  Your fans would love the banishment of a non-conference cupcake off the schedule in favor of Bedlam.

With the actual exit date of the Sooners and Longhorns still unclear, their 2022 games at many conference venues may be their final visit.  Texas Tech fans get far more geeked up to play Texas than any other team.  When the Red Raiders hosted the Longhorns and upset Texas in overtime last month, a joyous field storming resulted.  Last Saturday, Texas generously coughed up a 14-point lead and lost at Oklahoma State, 41-34.  Don’t you think the spirit of Boone Pickens celebrated like it was 1999?

TCU’s sendoff of Oklahoma in Fort Worth was the most deliciously emphatic.  Brent Venables was hired as the new coach in Norman due to his defensive chops.  Wonder how Venables felt when TCU torched his defense for 478 yards:  in the FIRST half!  The Horned Frogs 55-24 blowout of Oklahoma has been one of the season’s shockers.

There are 5 more chances for vengeful sendoffs in the last 5 weeks of the regular season:

10/29   Oklahoma at Iowa State

11/5      Texas at Kansas State (Get healthy, Adrian Martinez)

11/12    Oklahoma at West Virginia

11/19    Texas at Kansas (Be fantastic if the Jayhawks can again upset UT)

11/26   Oklahoma at Texas Tech

Make no mistake.  All 5 of these home teams will be sky high for these “farewell” tilts.  Make no further mistake:  The Odyssey will root for these home squads to go 5-0, but would gladly “settle” for 4-1.

Since Texas has not been able to win a Big 12 championship in seemingly forever, moving to the SEC and being a middle-of-the-pack member may not produce a big change in their results.

However, we think Oklahoma is making a mistake in moving to the SEC from a success standpoint.  The Sooners’ recent dominance of the Big 12 will not be matched in the SEC.  Mark that down as a certainty.  We wonder how well that Oklahoma will do in the NIL, money-is-first era.  The Sooners have always heavily relied on Texas preps for their excellence over the past 70 years.  With Texas and Texas A&M having deeper pockets their virtually any other program, the Odyssey questions whether the Sooners will maintain their same level of success in recruiting the Lone Star state.  Toss in the fact that an upcoming Arkansas program also heavily recruits Texas and we predict a Sooner dropoff in the SEC.

In which case, could Oklahoma become a new version of Nebraska?  A former power that falls on harder times and unsuccessfully flails away in an effort to regain glory.

The Odyssey sure hopes so.  We are mad at the crippling of a great regional conference.  Rock groups often go on farewell tours to adoring fans.  The farewell tours of Oklahoma and Texas won’t exactly be met with the same fate as the  Eagles.

The team with the weirdest results to date?  Notre Dame beyond any shadow of a doubt.

The Golden Domers have 2 impressive wins away from South Bend.  The Fighting Irish handed North Carolina its only loss in Chapel Hill and looked good in beating BYU, 28-2o, in Sin City (Major irony that the Mormons play the Catholics in Las Vegas.  The Odyssey loved it).

Notre Dame’s defense also got rave reviews in its opener.  The Irish slowed down the unstoppable, Ohio State’s prolific offense, holding the Buckeyes to 21 points, a truly impressive feat.

But when Notre Dame plays in front of its Leprechaun and its supporters in South Bend?  The stadium might need a fumigation!

10 games have been played where a favorite of at least 16 points has been upset.  Notre Dame has been a victim in 2 of those shockers.  Marshall came to South Bend and upset Notre Dame.  Perhaps a massive hangover from the Ohio State game provided some explanation.

Last Saturday’s upset 16-14 loss to Stanford was equally troubling.  Notre Dame scored all of 14 points against a suspect defense.  How many other FBS teams have Marshall and Stanford beaten in 2022?  A big fat ZERO.

Notre Dame’s 3rd home game was against a so-so Cal team that could not beat a winless Colorado team last Saturday.  The Irish got behind, rallied and then had to sweat a bobbled Hail Mary to ensure victory.

First-year Coach, 36-year-old Marcus Freeman, has had a learning curve.  His head coaching baptism in the Fiesta Bowl was brutal.  Oklahoma State mounted its biggest comeback in school history, rallying from a 21-point deficit to win 37-35.  Freeman’s record to date: 3-4.  The former defensive coordinator may not be able to fix Notre Dame’s offensive inconsistencies in 2022.

However, judging Freeman prematurely may prove a mistake.  In July, he secured a QB commitment that shook the earth in Ann Arbor.  CJ Carr, a standout from Saline, Michigan, made himself the jewel of Notre Dame’s 2024 signing class.  Carr is the grandson of Lloyd Carr.  What on earth is going on??  Signficant NIL promises? Freeman charm?  Lloyd Carr angst toward his former employer?

However, the Odyssey would strongly advise Freeman to improve his stock so he can see the fruits of his recruiting coups.

Saturday, at roughly 7:15PM EDT (4:15 PDT), was college football’s most amazing point in time in 17 years to THE day.

Consider:  Alabama had been foiled in their attempt to break a 49-49 tie when Will Reichard’s 50-yard field goal try sailed wide right.  With only 15 seconds left, overtime seemed imminent at raucous Neyland Stadium.  Except overtime never happened.  The incredible Hendon Hooker threw a couple of quick darts down the field to set Chase McGrath up for a 40-yard knuckleball, game winner that barely cleared the upright.  A sea of orange descended upon the field as the SEC fined Tennessee $100,000 that Volunteer nation was more than happy to pay.

Alas, you might not have seen the last few seconds of this SEC thriller if you were glued into the TCU- Oklahoma State double overtime thriller in another battle of unbeatens.  In Fort Worth, the Horned Frogs had been swimming upstream all afternoon, fighting back from a 17-point deficit to force overtime.  As in Knoxville, incredible QB play resulted in a 43-40 triumph for TCU.

Meanwhile, another double overtime thriller was going on in East Lansing between two wounded teams fighting to salvage some pride.  Thanks to Jayden Reed, the Spartans narrowly averted their 5th straight setback for their $95 million dollar coach.  The stellar wide receiver THREW a 25-yard TD pass to start off the first overtime.  Wisconsin equalized.  A terrific catch on a 27-yard throw from Payton Thorne to the stellar wide receiver in the 2nd OT was the walkoff decider.

If that was somehow not enough, ESPN+ was streaming another thriller.  The 4th quarter of the James Madison game at Georgia Southern proved stellar.  An undefeated and ranked James Madison squad had overcome both 4 turnovers and  a 37-28 deficit, to grab a 38-37 lead with 2:28 to play  Way too much time to leave Eagles’ QB, Kyle Van Trease, who had been on fire all game. Van Trease promptly lead Georgia Southern down the field for the deciding TD as he wound up with an incredible 578 yards passing against a proud Dukes’ defense.   If you love passing, you were totally infatuated with this game as JMU quarterback, Todd Centeio, threw for 468 yards (albeit with 3 picks).

I flashed back to October 15, 2005.  Gameday was at South Bend to see if Notre Dame could derail a USC juggernaut that had won 27 straight.  The Irish almost did.  The legendary Bush Push propelled Matt Leinart into the endzone with 3 seconds left to give USC a spinetingling 34-31 victory.  Notre Dame faithful still lament that the Bush Push an illegal action in 2005.  No flag, just massive heartbreak.

At virtually the same time, Michigan’s Chad Henne threw a 10-yard TD pass on the game’s final play at the Big House to give the Wolverines a 27-25 thriller over an undefeated Penn State team. (Penn State should give up playing in Ann Arbor on any October 15 after their 41-17 faceplant on Saturday).

A third 2005 thriller was simultaneously playing out.  Like TCU last Saturday, West Virginia had overcome a 17-point deficit to force overcome.  Riding behind Steve Slaton’s 6 TD’s, the Mountaineers survived, 46-44, in triple overtime.  Rich Rodriguez had become a God in Morgantown.  Regrettably, he now knows that he should have stayed put in John Denver country.  Wisdom is sometimes attained only through great pain.

Saturday’s games resulted in no fewer than 5 field stormings:  Tennessee, Syracuse, TCU, Colorado (the Buffs actually won a game in yet another overtime thriller) and Utah.

The Odyssey cannot wait for the next October 15 that falls on a Saturday!

Consider 3 top games of Week 7:

Alabama at Tennessee

Penn State at Michigan

Oklahoma State at TCU

Undoubtedly, 3 terrific battles of undefeateds.   These tilts overshadow a mammoth FCS game:  #2 South Dakota State travels to Fargo to take on #1 North Dakota State. Not nearly enough attention is being paid to the 113th edition of the Dakota Marker game.  North Dakota State leads the series, 63-44-5.

Both sport a narrow loss on the road.  South Dakota State lost to Iowa, 7-3,  NDSU looked impressive in a  31-28 loss  at Arizona.  The SDSU defense and the NDSU offense showed to be at high levels in their FBS losses.  Something will have to give at Fargo.  The Jackrabbit defense only allows 12.2 points and 57.5 rushing yards per game.

SDSU will be tested by a terrific and experienced North Dakota State rushing attack led by a seasoned offensive line and uber-efficient quarterback, Cam Miller.  Uber strengths collide!  One other Bison element of their rushing offense makes the Odyssey smile.  In Tucson,  on the Sunday morning after NDSU’s loss to Arizona, the Odyssey happened to be at the breakfast bar with 2 men wearing NDSU gear.  Turns out that these two men turned out to be the father and the brother of NDSU running back,  TaMerik Williams.  They lamented the fact that Williams only had 4 carries.  Clearly, the lack of carries was not correlated to the lack of production as Williams gained 53 yards on those 4 totes.

The family was quite frustrated at their perceived underutilization of Williams.  For the Williams’ family, “It’s The Same Old Song.”  He had transferred from SMU’s pass-happy offense to get more action.   Patience finally paid off.  The family must have been absolutely beaming after North Dakota State’ 31-26 win at Indiana State on Saturday.  Tamerik’s line: a career-high 145 rushing yards and 3 TD’s.  While the Odyssey is appalled at some aspects of the “instaportal,”  some players blossom at a new school.  Perhaps the most extreme example of 2022 portal ecstasy belongs to Purdue’s Charlie Jones.  Perhaps Jones saw Iowa’s pass-challenged offense and said, “I’m outa here, gotta get to a school and a QB who can throw the ball.” Jones has 50 catches in Purdue’s first 6 games place him among the country’s most prolific pass catchers.  Jones had 38 grabs in his previous 3 seasons in Iowa City.

North Dakota State lost twice to the Jackrabbits in 2021.  If the game was played at Brookings or a neutral site, we would think that SDSU could triumph for the 3rd straight time.   However, the game is in Fargo.  Regardless, an annual subscription for $69.99 gets you a year’s worth of ESPN+.  A bargain!  The Odyssey will be tuned in at 2:30 PM, Fargo time!