Author: rickro51 Page 18 of 29

The revered host of the 1932 Olympics, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, underwent a much-needed facelift in the off season that was needed every bit as much as those undergone by  60-year olds, living in Hollywood, who were once  starlets.  Job well done!

Yet this transformation was one-upped by another for the Trojans.  USC was implementing the air raid offense, even after Kliff Kingsbury bolted for the Arizona Cardinals (talk about failing forward!!).  Another Texas Tech alum, Graham Harrell, was tabbed as the offensive coordinator after Kingsbury’s unexpected departure.

Except for a goal-line interception thrown by JT Daniels, the Air Raid was humming in the first half to the tune of 300+ yards.  Then, disaster!  Just before halftime, Daniels’ night came to an abrupt end when he was sacked.  After being helped off, worst fears became realized on Sunday when ligament damage ended Daniels’ 2019.

Despite being significantly outplayed, Fresno State managed to go into halftime down by only 17-10.  Knowing that USC would be going with a backup QB in the second half, the Bulldogs had to feel that they were truly a live dog that could potentially add to the glorious first week for the Mountain West (Arizona was upset by Hawaii, Missouri was shocked at Wyoming, Purdue collapsed at Nevada — all were double digit favorites against the Mountain West teams.  In addition, Boise State was physically the much stronger second-half team in the mugginess of Tallahassee as they upset Florida State).

Enter true freshman Kedon Slovis (no, he did not prep in  Fresno’s largest suburb, Clovis) as Daniels’ replacement.  What had happened to Jack Sears?  In Sears’ one 2018 start, he played well against Arizona State.  Sears evidently had a tough camp and was not even clearly designated as the 2019 backup.  He entered the transfer portal last week.  Prematurely, one could not help but think?

To make matters worse for Trojan worshipers, not even the most ardent USC fan would say that Clay Helton was the coaching equal of his Fresno counterpart, Jeff Tedford.  Tedford’s last two years produced the greatest turnaround of the 21st century – easily.  Fresno State won only 1 game in 2016.  Enter Tedford.  In 2017-18, the Bulldogs won 22 games under the helm of the former Fresno State QB.   Tedford previously led another stunning turnaround at Cal, before some recruiting deficiencies did him in at the end of his 11-year tenure at Strawberry Canyon.

Critics of Helton often pointed to his indecisiveness and game mismanagement.  Both issues were borne out Saturday night.  Velus Jones electrified the crowd with an opening 75-yard kickoff return.  After an interminable delay, USC was flagged for having 2 players wearing the same number. Really?  THIS malpractice on the first play of the season?  With 9 months to prepare?

Jones was heard from again.  Was he ever! His 3rd quarter KO return touchdown gave USC’s raw freshmen QB some needed breathing room.  Such room was needed as one of the surprises of the night was the play of unheralded JC transfer, Fresno QB Jorge Reyna.  His elusiveness frustrated the Trojans all night.  Perhaps we should not be surprised as Tedford has had a well deserved reputation as a QB whisperer (Marcus McMaryion was much improved as a QB in 2017-18.  Tedford was also key in the development of Aaron Rodgers and Trent Dilfer).

Nursing a 31-23 lead in the waning moments, USC made a reasonable decision to go for it on 4th and 1 in plus territory.  What resulted was a Keystone Kop play as a USC running back and Slovis collided after the snap.   Fresno ball.  A 30+ yard pass play gave Fresno the ball deep in Trojan territory.  An end zone interception preserved a narrow USC win.

Talent-wise, Fresno had no business staying so close to USC.  Take another bow, Jeff Tedford!   Can USC beat a tough Stanford defense this Saturday night with Slovis?  As Stanford may also be playing a backup QB, this could be a first-to-17 game.   By all accounts, Clay Helton is a nice guy.  Which is a shame, because he is going to need to do well in 2019 against a tough schedule with a true freshman QB.

 

HAIL WEEK ZERO!!  2 for 2 in compelling games is a wonderful ratio.

While the Miami-Florida game was not a masterpiece, the intensity of the game was breath taking.  As predicted, two young offensive lines were often overwhelmed by two very capable defenses.  If this passionate, dormant in-state rivalry can be revived, will the athletic directors at Texas, Texas A&M, Pitt and West Virginia PLEASE notice and act?

For night owls, the nightcap in paradise was must see TV.  Two former WAC teams, Arizona and Hawaii, produced offensive fireworks that was delightfully reminiscent of the WAC’s heyday.  So many story lines!  Thankfully, the wonderful Khalil Tate is healthy again.  The phenom passed for 361, ran for 108 and almost pulled a rabbit out of the hat in his desperation gallop on the game’s last play that came up one measly yard short thanks to heroic effort from one of Hawaii’s defensive tackles

Despite his health, storm clouds existed in Honolulu for the Wildcats that produced no rainbows.  Hawaii piled up 595 yards of offense, highlighted by Cedric Byrd’s 224 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns.  Yep, the Arizona defensive backs may be a problem all year.

Bizarrely, Hawaii’s 45-38 upset could have been a rout if not for 6 turnovers in the first three quarters by the Rainbow Warriors.  How many times does a team bench its starting QB late in the 3rd quarter who has passed for close to 400 yards?  Hawaii did not have to punt until its very last possession.

The UA-Hawaii game resulted in nostalgia for one of the best coaches in the history of both schools:  Dick Tomey.  Kevin Sumlin, you are no Dick Tomey!  Sorry to pile on a seemingly nice guy but nobody in College Station now regrets that Jimbo Fisher is the head man (except maybe for the person actually cutting Fisher’s huge checks!).

For the Rainbow Warriors, we hope Coach Nick Rolovich stays on the Islands and does not repeat June Jones’ fateful mistake of leaving for perceived greener pastures.  Hawaii’s former star QB belongs in Honolulu.

As we eagerly look forward to Week 1, the Odyssey offers a few predictions.  Teams that will exceed expectations:  Virginia, Syracuse, Minnesota and Northwestern (when will Pat Fitzgerald cease to be an underrated coach?).

Teams falling short of expectations:  Mississippi State (loss of too many defensive studs will help remind all that Dan Mullen will continue to be missed), Michigan (tough schedule and loss of too many defensive studs), Stanford (tough schedule) and Purdue (If Minnesota and Northwestern are going to surprise in the Big 10 West, well, college football is a zero-sum game).

 

In this era of large conferences, there are too many teams to play each conference foe (with the notable exception of the Big 12 — a conference that, ironically, could not do a round robin if they really had 12 teams).  Thus,  conference and division races can hinge on an especially favorable or unfavorable schedule.

To start, scheduling condolences to South Carolina:  The only school to have Clemson, Georgia and Alabama on their schedule.  The playoff committee ought to be on speed dial with the Gamecocks come selection Sunday.

Speaking of the SEC East, nobody thinks Missouri is nearly as good as Georgia.  Few think Mizzou is as good as Florida (despite convincing wins over the Gators in 2017 and 2018).  Look at the trio’s two “crossover” opponents from the West.  Georgia plays Auburn and Texas A&M from the West on consecutive weekends in November.  Florida plays LSU and Auburn on consecutive weekends in October (How nice that Florida and Auburn play this year.  Before the SEC expanded to 12 teams, they played annually in a fun series).  Missouri plays the two rebuilding teams from the West predicted to finish at the bottom:  Ole Miss and Arkansas.  If Georgia and/or Florida stubs its toe, Missouri has a real shot to backdoor into the East championship.  If you think Missouri has a relative breather in their SEC schedule, check out their non-conference schedule (rebuilding Wyoming, rebuilding West Virginia, SE Missouri and Troy).  Mizzou’s schedule is so easy, compared to their SEC counterparts, that they may have less injury attrition to deal with when they play Georgia and Florida in November.

Consider the SEC West.  Phil Steele has listed Auburn’s schedule as the ninth toughest.  There is NO way that there are 8 tougher schedules than that of the War Eagles. NO! WAY! as John McEnroe used to sputter.  In addition to the always tough SEC West and their battles with the two best teams in the SEC East, Auburn’s opener is with an Oregon team with a star quarterback and, arguably, the nation’s best offensive line.

Steele thinks Texas A&M’s is the nation’s toughest. schedule, in no small part to road games at Clemson and Georgia.  However, their other SEC East crossover game is with a good-but-not-close-to- great South Carolina team.

Auburn and A&M would both be getting more support for serious contention for the SEC West title if not for these gauntlets.  Meanwhile, Alabama is getting help (Alabama needs help?!?!?!).  Their 2 crossover opponents are South Carolina and rebuilding Tennessee.  What is clear in the SEC is that when you only play 2 of the 7 teams in the other division, scheduling becomes quite important in the division races.

In the Big 10, the inequity is not quite as bad since you have 3 “crossover” games but the imbalance is still pronounced and could  easily determine the Big 10 West winner.  Wisconsin is looking to rebound from a disappointing 8-5 year.  However, the Badgers face what the Odyssey believes are the 3 strongest teams of the East:  Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State.  OUCH!  Their last two road games are at fellow contenders Nebraska and Minnesota.  If the Badgers can survive and win the West, the division crown will be fully earned and then some.

Scheduling is why nobody should sleep on the Golden Gophers.  Their crossover games are with Rutgers, Maryland and Penn State.  Consider Minnesota to have a  a 2-game lead over Wisconsin in August!  Nebraska’s schedule is also favorable.  While the Huskers do draw Ohio State, their other crossovers are against Maryland and Indiana.  Further, their two November home games are against fellow contenders Wisconsin and Iowa.

In the MAC, Ohio is a clear favorite in the East.  The top teams in the West are projected to be Toledo, Western Michigan and Northern Illinois.  WMU and NIU crossover to play Ohio.  Toledo does not.  Advantage, Rockets!

In the Pac 12, fewer scheduling anomalies exist because there are 4 crossover games against 6 teams in the other division.  But exist they do.  While Utah would likely have been the favorite to win the PAC-12 South in any event, missing Oregon and Stanford from the North rates to help.  Meanwhile one of Utah’s chief competitors from the  South,  USC,  has a tougher Pac-12 slate, missing Oregon State and Washington State from the North.

In track, the starting lanes are staggered to insure equality.  In college football, the starting lanes are also staggered but as for equality?  One could view this quirk as one of the maddening and imperfect beauties of college football.

 

When a coaching change is made, recruiting dictates that such change is made as close to the end of the regular season as possible, especially with recent changes in the recruiting cycle that allows an early signing period in December.

By this new standard, Temple’s hiring of Manny Diaz was late, announced on December 13th.  He tried to keep Temple’s recruiting class intact over the next frenetic week.

On December 30th, Diaz was interviewing an Offensive Coordinator candidate, when he got a stunning call.  Mark Richt had bailed on Miami (or he was thrown overboard after the Hurricanes no-showed in a  35-3 bowl loss in a chilly Big Apple).

For Diaz, the U was his dream job.  His father had been Mayor of Miami.  Plus, he knew the Hurricane’s personnel, being Richt’s defensive coordinator.  Diaz’ tenure at Temple lasted a whopping 18 days.  The Odyssey wonders if Diaz actually cashed any paychecks from the Owls.

For Temple, the Diaz departure was a public relations nightmare.  Four previous Owl coaches had used the Temple job as a springboard to a Power 5 job in the past decade (Al Golden to Miami, Steve Addazio to BC, Matt Rhule to Baylor and Geoff Collins to Georgia Tech) but an 18-day tenure.  Ouch!  Everybody in the college football world had to feel a degree of compassion for the Owls.

The irony is that the previous 4 Temple coaches had lifted the Owls program to a level never before attained on a consistent basis.  Against all odds, the football program had overcome the stigma of being kicked out of the Big East due to years of football follies.  GameDay even made a visit in 2015 when Notre Dame played in Philadelphia.

Almost as surprising as the Miami head coaching vacancy was Temple’s hire, two weeks later, of Rod Carey.  Carey had fashioned a very respectable 52-30 record at Northern Illinois, winning 2 MAC championships and sported a gaudy 4-2 record against the Big 10.

Mind you, Carey certainly has coaching chops (OK, his bowl record was an embarrassing 0-6, but everything else was thumbs up) but successful MAC coaches graduate to the Big 10, a long-standing tradition going back to the days of Woody and Bo.  Carey was a standout offensive lineman at Indiana so his Midwestern ties run deep.

In November, Carey received a 4-year extension which would pay a base salary of $2.4 million over the four years.  His first-year compensation at Temple is reported to be $2 million.  When trying to resolve a mystery, looking at money is often a good starting point.  Mystery resolved.  Carey went out of his way to say that Temple could name its buyout and the brass smartly did so.   To the reported tune of $10 million during his first two years and grading down thereafter.

I hope this unexpected marriage between Carey and Temple works. The repeatedly jilted football program deserves a break.  As for Diaz, the Odyssey understands his U-turn BUT Diaz should never complain if a heralded recruit decommits from the U at the 12th hour.

 

 

Even a title game between 2 elite 14-0 teams cannot hide the warts of holding a college game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

A college game should never be hosted again at Levi’s Stadium.  EVER. ANY game.  Not just the playoff.

The San Francisco area is not overly interested in college football.  That prices for tickets fell to roughly 25% of their face value is just the latest piece of anecdotal evidence.  But incredibly far from the only wart:

Stanford, San Jose State and Cal all are saddled with poor attendance.  If you were to graph program excellence relative to attendance, Stanford would be at the top of such list during the past decade.  We were in the press box for Stanford’s opener against a quality San Diego State squad in August.  Stanford’s team was quite hyped, highlighted by “Bryce Love for Heisman” talk.  On 6pm during a picture-perfect early evening, the stadium was half full.  Before the Pac-12 championship game moved to Levi’s in 2014, Stanford hosted a 2012 Pac-12 title game against another California team, UCLA.  The announced attendance was 31,622.  Palo Alto is only a 15-20 minute drive from Santa Clara.

One has to go back decades for the last big crowd at San Jose State’s aging facility. When the Spartans hosted an excellent Army team at nearby Levi’s on October 13, announced attendance was a paltry 16,527.

The Odyssey went to a “Big Game” at Cal in 2014.  We were disappointed to see the game was not a sellout.

The Pac 12’s delusional commissioner, Larry Scott, was so proud to move the Pac 12 championship game to Levi’s in 2014.  The 49ers’ stadium holds 75,000.  The championship game is so lightly attended that parts of the stadium are “tarped off.”

With a Rose Bowl bid on the line, November 30’s Washington-Utah tilt had announced attendance of 35,134. Game time prices were under $15.  Lackluster attendance screams that such games return to campus sites.  Logistic issues haunt Levi’s Stadium.  If you have ever driven in the Santa Clara area at 5pm on a Friday evening, you have all our sympathy.  We have not even talked about turf issues and parking issues.  A composite nightmare.

When Washington played in the 2016 championship game at Levi’s, Alaska Airlines tossed in two free tickets for certain flights from Seattle to San Jose.  What, giving away pretzels was more expensive?

Larry Scott has navigated West Coast football into a ditch.  The Pac12 Network has small exposure (about 18 million households) compared to the SEC Network (70 million) or the Big 10 Network (60 million), in part due to its perceived small value with cable carriers.  Of course, this does not keep Scott and Company from having lush headquarters in downtown San Francisco with annual rent of a cool $7 million.  Compare this rent to the SEC office’s annual rent of $300,000+.

Bear Bryant’s first major bowl bid was not with the Crimson Tide but with his 1949 Kentucky team.  The Wildcats wound up an Orange Bowl loser, 21-13, to Santa Clara.  Despite Santa Clara’s success, they would soon give up big-time football (as did a successful University of San Francisco program that went undefeated in 1951).  Both administrations knew a graveyard when they saw one.

If folks from the area are more interested in how fruity, nutty, dry or full-bodied their wine is, the Odyssey has no problem with this set of priorities.  Just recognize said reality in scheduling football games in the Bay Area.  Getting a Pac 12 commissioner who has clear vision would aid in this process.

Thankfully, both Clemson and Crimson Tide fans were sufficiently fanatical to prevent yet another total embarrassment.

The Odyssey will return in August for our 4th year.  We appreciate any word-of mouth.  Until then, ………

 

 

 

To say that offense has exploded in college football is hardly a news flash.  The median offensive output in 2018 per team was 404 yards.

In Mississippi State’s 5 losses, the defense allowed an average of 280 yards per game.  With this stat, one would have expected the Bulldogs to have won at least 4 of those contests.  Their Tuesday loss to Iowa was the microcosm of an extremely disappointing season.  Iowa wound up the game with negative rushing yardage and was soundly outgained,  yet somehow triumphed 27-22.

Joe Moorhead, a touted offensive guru at Fordham and Penn State, did a faceplant in terms of Hail State’s 2018 offensive production.  True, Nick Fitzgerald sometimes needed a GPS to find his receivers but their running game should have been sufficient to complement their stifling defense.

With the graduation of Fitzgerald as well as defensive line monsters Simmons and Sweat, 2019 looks very iffy for Mississippi State in the savage SEC West.  Dan Mullen left the cupboard full for Moorhead in 2018 (Anybody who does not exult Mullen as a head coach did not pay close attention to developments at 2 schools this year). 

In former times, it would take a couple bad seasons to get a coach canned.  Times have changed.  One really bad game in this year’s bowl season was enough to end the tenures of Mark Richt and Major Applewhite.

The Odyssey likes Joe Moorhead.  Enough to really worry about his 2019.

 

When powerful Big 10 mogul, Jim Delany, voiced his openness last week to expanding the playoffs, the college football world took massive notice.  The earth moved for than just Carole King.   In college football’s hierarchy, there are few, if any, bigger movers and shakers than Delany.

Delany is the commissioner of a Big 10 conference that has been shut out of the playoff 2 consecutive years.  No wonder he is interested in expansion.  Many think 8 teams is nirvana.  The Odyssey has major reservations.

If the playoff doubled in size, the importance of conference championship games would be greatly diminished.  This year, Georgia-Alabama and Michigan-Ohio State had the feel of quarterfinal playoff games.  Since the inception of the 4-team playoff in 2014, de facto quarterfinal games have existed each year.  The Odyssey would favor elimination of conference title games in Power 5 conferences if the playoffs expand to 8.

The 4-team playoff has never had a 2-loss team get selected.  With an 8-team playoff, 2-loss teams like 2018 Georgia (probably deserving) and 2018 Michigan  (probably not deserving) will dot the playoffs.  The utter importance of each week will be diminished.  Will the SEC be OK with dilution of its  conference championship game that currently is must-see television?  Delany’s Big 10 title games are often of interest.  On the other hand, the Pac 12 would do handstands with an 8-team playoff.  Not only could they get a team in the playoff, their conference title game could humanely receive a mercy killing.  Their Santa Clara site has resulted in an annual tidal wave of no-shows.  Their commissioner, Larry Scott, has often suffered from delusions of grandeur.

The Odyssey would be much more enthusiastic with a compromise:  an expansion to 6 teams.  The 5 conference champions would automatically get in.  If the best Group of 5 team satisfied certain criteria, you have #6.  If not, the best at-large team is tabbed.   We believe this would be a great solution in several regards:  The conference championship becomes critical.  The best two teams would receive a well-deserved bye.  In fact this solution is almost perfect except for two important words:  Notre Dame.  You cannot have 5 conference champions plus Notre Dame plus the best Group of 5:  High math indicates this equals 7.  Notre Dame currently plays 5 Atlantic Coast Conference games.  If the Irish schedule could incorporate 8 ACC games, problem solved.

If expansion ultimately goes to 8, credit the non-stop bleating of the 2017 alternate national champion, Central Florida, as a contributing factor.  The NCAA and the Power 5 might be worried by a successful legal action.  UCF’s 25-game winning streak and their bowl conquest of Auburn have given the Group of 5 much more legal bite than previously existed.

But, please, stop with too much tinkering with by far the best regular season in sports.  PLEASE!

Memphis had a somewhat disappointing 2019.  Despite 3 conference losses, the Tigers watched as their American West competitors stumbled in November so they could come back from the dead and have a rematch with UCF in the title game.

The really bizarre part:  Arguably, Memphis’ 3 most important games were the duo with UCF and yesterday’s Birmingham Bowl against Memphis.  In all 3, Memphis sprinted off to sizable double-digit leads.  And the Odyssey does mean sprint, as the total points scored by the Tigers in the 3 games totalled a whopping 96.  Now, the impossible to believe part:  total points scored by Memphis in the 2nd half in the trio:  9!!!  All morphed into stomach-churning defeats.

How could this happen?  Mike Norvell gets lauded as a quality coach.  Maybe so, but their halftime adjustments must be among the worst in college football.  I suppose one might make the excuse for the bowl game that human bowling ball, Darrell Henderson, elected not to play yesterday.  But such excuse would be lame when you have other excellent running backs in Patrick Taylor and Tony Pollard.

From 96 to 9?!?!  Some questions are just far too difficult to answer. One can almost hear “96 Tears” by Question Mark & The Mysterians.

40 years ago, Shalamar had a Top 10 hit, “The Second Time Around”  The Odyssey believes this might work better in romantic relationships than for head coaches.

When it comes to a head coach coming back for a second time at a school, the results are quite mixed.  We bring this up because Gary Andersen was hired two weeks ago at Utah State to replace the departing Matt Wells.  WIll Andersen’s 2nd stint go as well as his 2009-2012 tenure for the Aggies?

We have some doubts.  First, Andersen will have to defend his abrupt decision to bail on the Oregon State program mid-year.  We also have the history of 3 iconic coaches to consider.

JOHN ROBINSON:    From 1976-82, Robinson’s USC teams were a gaudy 67-14-2 with 3 Rose Bowl triumphs.  Then the Rams came calling.  Robinson resurfaced as the Trojan coach from 1993-97.  The Second Time Around resulted in a 37-21-2 mark.

BILL WALSH:  The architect of the West Coast offense had a brief, but successful stint in 1977-78 as the Stanford head man.  A 17-7 record was good enough for him to land the 49er job where he was fantastic.  His 1992-94 redo at the Farm was not so fantastic:  a 17-17-1 mark.

 

We think recruiting and the incredible needed energy is usually a young man’s game.  Perhaps this is why Robinson and Walsh’s encores were a far cry from their initial stint.  Then, we come to:

BILL SNYDER:  He took over the worst, historical program in Division 1-A in 1989 and brought K-State to unimagined heights over the next 17 years.  The Wildcats were a game away from playing in the inaugural BCS game in 1998 until derailed by a heartbreaking loss to Texas A&M in the Big 12 championship game.  Snyder retired at age 66.  Ron Prince could not successfully follow up the Snyder Story during the following 3 seasons.  Snyder was lured back in 2009 for another decade in the Little Apple.  The Wildcats had good success until the past 2 years.  Snyder’s last game, as a 79-year old, resulted in a dramatic come-from-ahead loss at Iowa State.  We would grade his redo as a success but it is pretty easy to recruit against a 79-year-old.  We urged his retirement early this season.  Snyder clearly wanted his son, Sean, to be his replacement but this wish understandably made the K-State brass nervous.  We are delighted he stepped down so as not to unduly tarnish his legend.

As for Andersen, perhaps he will prosper again in the Cache Valley.  We think he may but the tales of 3 legends are sobering.

 

 

Last week, we posted how Virginia, Michigan and Washington State all kept being owned by their rivals despite each being favored to win on November 24.

We commented, “Winning begets winning and losing begets losing”

As Georgia and Memphis were to find out to their eternal regret on Saturday, truer words were never written.

In both cases, that truism was applied with maximum cruelty.

Georgia’s previous two losses to Alabama cost the Bulldogs one certain national championship and a second likely national championship (Alabama went on to humble Notre Dame in the 2012 BCS title game).  In the 2012 SEC title game, Georgia’s last ditch drive stalled on the Alabama 5.  This January, an overtime lightning bolt from Tua saved the Tide.

On Saturday, Georgia held leads of 21-7 and 28-14 late in the 3rd quarter.  For the first time this year, Tua looked human as the Bulldogs picked off two of his passes.  Despite Tua being forced from the game with an ankle injury, Alabama rallied behind Jalen Hurts.  Regardless, there was one ominous sign for Georgia.  Their incredible place kicker, Rodrigo Blankenship, missed a 30-yard chip shot.  Hurts led the Tide back to 28-28 midway in the 4th quarter.  On 4th and 11, Kirby Smart, a truly fine coach, allowed Nick Saban and Alabama’s mystique to fog his thinking.  At midfield, why not punt and leave Bama with poor field position?  Especially with the mediocre-passing Hurts at QB.   NOPE.  Fake punt.  True failure.  A short field for Bama to navigate.  Ballgame.  A 3rd straight heartbreaker of unfathomable magnitude.  You can still feel the pain in Athens three days later.

Unlike Georgia, Memphis had risen from the dead in the American Athletic Conference.  Saddled with 3 conference losses a month ago, including one-pointers to Navy and UCF, getting to the conference title game seemed impossible.  Yet, the impossible happened in the wacky West.  Memphis had come oh-so-close to breaking UCF’s two-year unbeaten streak on October 13th.  At the Liberty Bowl, the Tigers made UCF look anemic in jumping off to a 30-17 lead that did not fully reflect the Tigers’ actual dominance.  Bad weather came into play, which one might have thought would favor the run-heavy Memphis offense in the 2nd half.  But, no, Memphis coughed up the lead to trail 31-30.  A promising drive looked like it might yield Memphis a chance to attempt a game-winning field but some poor time management scuttled that possibility.

In the title rematch, Memphis had a huge opportunity because of the tragic leg injury to Mackenzie Milton, Honolulu’s other quarterback superstar.  And just like the first game, the Tigers proceeded to pulverize UCF in the first half behind the dominant running of Darrell Henderson.  Does anybody run with more angry explosion than Henderson?  We doubt it.  Does anybody have a 3rd-string running back with the talent of Tony Pollard?   We also doubt that.   Memphis rolled to a 38-21 halftime lead behind 400 yards of offense.  Could backup QB, Darriel Mack, lead a 2nd half comeback in Orlando?  The answer was an emphatic yes as UCF rallied to win, 56-41, behind a terrific 2nd half from Mack and 698 yards of offense for the game.

For Memphis, the result was a Knightmare as the Tigers succumbed to UCF for the 13th consecutive time.

As painful as 13-in-a row is for Memphis fans, their heads still have to be spinning in one regard. How is it possible to score 68 points in the first halves of 2 games and then all of 3 points in the second halves??  Short of a mass abduction at halftime,   even Stephen King does not have that much imagination to contemplate how that could be.