Author: rickro51 Page 19 of 36

In the latest game of conference musical chairs, one of the winners has been Southern Miss.  Its triumph was desperately needed and long overdue.

In the 1960’s, the Odyssey greatly admired the Southern Miss program.  How did this obscure program in an equally obscure part of Mississippi —  Hattiesburg — be able to rise and occasionally bedevil  SEC schools?  The Southerners (not the Golden Eagles in those days) scored consecutive wins in 1967-68 over Mississippi State.  The 1970 team won at Ole Miss that featured an obscure quarterback named Archie.  In 1968,  Southern Miss took on Alabama in the last game the #7-ranked Crimson Tide has ever played in Mobile.  The Tide escaped in a 17-14 nailbiter.  The Southerners’ near upset against the Tide was not a singular occurrence as Southern Miss has beaten Alabama 5 times in their 43 meetings despite never having the advantage playing the Crimson Tide in the state of Mississippi .  Their occasional success against the big boys seemed hard to fathom given the lack of financial resources and affiliation with a strong conference.

However, Southern Miss had one element working in their favor – geography.  Alabama, Ole Miss and Mississippi State all are located in the northern parts of their states.   Auburn is close to the Georgia border, 220 miles from Mobile.  Thus, the Golden Eagles were the only proximate team to the football-rich Gulf Coast.  A passionate fan base helped fuel decades of solid football.

Then, the 21st century happened.  A glut of TV games were on each weekend as TV viewers became a much more important component to team success than in the 2oth century.  The Golden Eagles’ last victory over Alabama was in 2000 and have since become cupcake material on their visits to Tuscaloosa.  The Odyssey attended a field-storming in 2003 when Southern Miss’ 40-28 over a 10-0 TCU team propelled Southern Miss to their 4th Conference USA title under Jeff Bower.  After Jeff Bowers was inexplicably fired in 2007 after a successful 17-year run, highlights have been hard to find.  Their last Conference USA title occurred in 2011 after Southern upset an undefeated Houston team in the title game.  When Larry Fedora left to coach North Carolina at season’s end, the Golden Eagles cratered to unprecedented depths in 2012-13, sporting an unspeakable 1-23 record.

Their Conference USA affiliation had been a strength until a decade ago when the American Athletic Conference pilfered numerous members.  Southern Miss’ tradition of excellence and a solid fan base could not overcome their location.  Hattiesburg is a small town located in a Bermuda Triangle for TV – roughly 95 miles equidistant from New Orleans, Mobile and Jackson.  TV had become the prime driver in conference affiliation. The eyeballs in a very rural part of a rural state were deemed insufficient.   Conference USA had suddenly morphed into a weak sister with the Golden Eagles relegated to conference purgatory.

Notwithstanding an awful team this year,   the record in recent years had rebounded to “middling”, albeit against poor competition.  If an SEC team were to play Southern today, none of the former respect would still exist. Another blow to Southern Miss football has been the recent ascendancy of South Alabama to FBS status.  Not only had their geographic monopoly disappeared, Mobile is a very attractive town to lure recruits.

The Odyssey sees last week’s invite to the Sun Belt as a win for a once-proud program in desperate need of a life raft.  Regional rivalries with South Alabama, Troy and the 2 Louisiana schools will spur interest.  The Sun Belt has really improved in the past 2 years.  Finally, the Golden Eagles seem to have fared well in conference musical chairs.  An excellent development for a once-proud program!

Saturday’s intrastate slugfest in East Lansing did not lack in entertainment value.  So much so that Fox may feel justified in immediately raising its ad rates (of which there must have been many in a game that took almost 4 hours.  Take a bow, Mel Tucker, in forcing Michigan’s stellar kicker, Jake Moody to make 4  field goals on consecutive plays despite 3 time outs by Tucker at the end of the first half. PLEASE, make a rule change, NCAA!)

Nor did it lack in irony.  On Michigan’s first offensive possession, UM had to dig out from its own 1 yard line.  No problema!  Just find a Freshman recruit from East Lansing, with no meaningful previous experience, and have him speed 93 yards for a TD reception that totally silenced Spartan faithful.  Andrel Anthony made a name for himself in a game that meant the world to him!!

At several junctures, Michigan seemed just a play or two away from taking total control of the game but State never broke.  When the Spartans took a 14-13 lead in the second quarter behind the second of Kenneth Walker III’s 5 touchdowns, MSU had successfully fought off early Wolverine dominance.  Speaking of Walker, his ability to cut on a dime was reminiscent of another back who regaled fans of this region, Barry Sanders.  What also makes Walker special is his ability to not go down when confronted by the first would-be tackler.  His 195 rushing yards augmented his NCAA-leading yardage and screamed, “Heisman!”

The Wolverines scored 17 unanswered points and seemed in control with 4 minutes to go in the third quarter, leading 30-14.  MSU had a decision to make with 4th and 4 at the UM 29.  No field goal attempt.  Instead, Payton Thorne looked a perfect 28-yard strike.  After two touchdowns and 2-point conversions (one mildly controversial as a Wolverine DB did wind up with the ball), Spartan Stadium had a 30-30 thriller on its hands.

Michigan was driving for a go-ahead score.  Cade McNamara had been hit hard on a blindside blitz.  Perhaps this was why Freshman five-star, JJ McCarthy, reentered the game.  His reentrance had nothing to do with McNamara’s stellar performance as McN threw for 388 and made fools of all the experts who had questioned the ability of Michigan’s passing game in his hands.  McC came in and promptly fumbled twice.  Michigan recovered the first when a greedy Spartan tried for a scoop and run instead of falling on the ball.  The ball skittered out-of-bounds and allowed the ever reliable Moody to put UM up 33-30.

After a defensive stop, UM again appeared to have control until McC again fumbled at the Wolverine 41.  A Spartan recovery and Walker’s legs put MSU’s fans into orbit for the 37-33 final score.

The Odyssey believes that coaching was a key element in MSU’s triumph.  The Spartans’ offensive coordinator, Jay Johnson, was a creative playcaller.  Michigan was perhaps too stubborn on the amount of runs given to their two feature backs when MSU never had an answer for the passing game of the Maize and Blue.  Further, UM’s defense appeared disorganized on a number of plays where late substitutions made a mad dash on the field.

MSU fans live to see UM go down.  Sparty lovers have a lifetime bonus in that they find the most devastating ways to score some of its victories in the heated series.  Yesterday was an excruciating defeat for the Wolverines and, especially, Jim Harbaugh, as UM was repeatedly close to shutting the door.  Added to even more exasperation as none of the key reviews seemed to go Michigan’s way – including a strip sack-and-score TD that was overturned. Three other memorable Sparty wins over their former big brother.

1. The blocked punt TD on the game’s final play in 2015 after a questionable Harbaugh decision to punt.
2. The 2001 “Spartan Bob” timer game where MSU was generously given 1 second to throw the walk-off TD pass winner.
3. The 1990 game where the comeback of a #1-ranked Wolverine team was foiled when Desmond Howard was tackled in the end zone on the game’s pivotal 2-point conversion.  No call.

The Odyssey does wonder why Kenneth Walker III transferred from Wake Forest and beautiful Winston-Salem.  Can you imagine what undefeated Wake Forest’s offense would be like if he had stuck around?  Even without Walker, the Demon Deacons seemed to do the impossible in their game at Army last week:  have less than 18 minutes of possession and score 70 points!!

Who saw Wake Forest and Michigan State both undefeated as we enter November?  Wake Forest was a remote possibility, but never a Michigan State team that many thought would inhabit the cellar of the Big Ten East.  In this playoff era where the country has become numb to the ongoing dominance of Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Georgia, wouldn’t it be fun if these two outsiders made the playoff?

Next Saturday will mark the Odyssey’s return to Spartan Stadium after a 48-year hiatus!!  Never have the bitter instate rivals faced each other undefeated at this stage of a season.

Just how much has college football changed over the past 50 years? We offer the following anecdotal evidence from the Odyssey’s other visit to East Lansing for a UM-MSU game in 1971.  Michigan won a 24-13 slog in front of MSU’s largest home attendance ever to date, 80,000+.  Tom Slade, the UM starter, threw a total of 9 passes, completing 3 for a whopping 45 yards.  UM fans are ever grateful that another Tom, Brady, was too young to witness Bo Schembechler’s cave man approach to play calling.  He never would have ventured East from San Mateo.

In 1971, the Odyssey learned first-hand just how passionate Spartan fans are  when the Wolverines visited.  Schembechler, to his considerable regret, had learned that hard lesson 2 years earlier.  In the Ohioan’s first visit to East Lansing as UM’s head coach, the wily Duffy Daugherty, made one of the most brilliant maneuvers in this rivalry.  The previous week, MSU was embarrassed, 54-21, to an Ohio State team that had been considered one of the all-time best squads.  Daugherty unveiled a triple option offense that caught the Wolverines with their pants down.  MSU scored a 23-12 upset that would prove to be UM’s only 1969, Big Ten loss.  Post-game, Schembechler ruefully admitted that he did fully grasp how intense the rivalry was.  Bo learned his lesson exceptionally well.  He would finish with a 17-4 record against the Spartans and with one exception, in 1987, the crusty Schembechler would never lose again in East Lansing.

Michigan’s vaunted defense will be tested Saturday.  MSU again has very talented receivers, Jayden Reed and Jalen Nailor,  while Michigan still has  cornerbacks Gemon Green and Vincent Gray that were torched in MSU’s 27-24  upset win last year.  Mel Tucker has done an amazing job, using the transfer portal for both quality and quantity.  He plucked Kenneth Walker from Wake Forest and has been rewarded with Walker’s gaudy stats that have made him a Heisman contender. (The Odyssey wonders what Wake Forest’s prolific offense would be like if Walker had elected to stay in Winston Salem).

One big change in UM’s defensive philosophy in  2021 will impact this game.  In previous years, Don Brown, dubbed “Dr. Blitz”, would often leave his corners in man-to-man coverage.    This approach was often successful but its limitations were glaringly obvious in last year’s MSU game as well as the past two games against Ohio State’s other worldly receivers where the Buckeyes embarrassed the UM D to the tune of 118 points.  Jim Harbaugh parted ways with Brown and instituted a more conservative defensive approach.

The key to the game may well come down to how well an improved MSU offensive line can handle a very talented Wolverine defensive line, headed by legacy Aidan Hutchinson.  If MSU can hold the Blue’s D Line at bay, we believe the home crowd will go home happy.  Otherwise, …….

Imagine yourself as a recruiter for truck drivers.  Given our acute supply-side issues to retailers, this is a very timely job, especially with the large reduction in the number of truckers in recent years.  You are not a sports fan and spy Brady Hoke.  Wouldn’t your first inclination be to offer him a signing bonus on the spot?  Because who looks more like a truck driver than Brady Hoke?

Hoke is the coach of an undefeated San Diego State team that heads to Air Force on Saturday.  As usual, the Aztecs possess a primitive defense that seriously restricts access to their end zone.  This calling card has been a constant over the past dozen years.  Combined with a running game that has featured Donnel Pumphrey, Rashaad Penny and, now, Greg Bell, the Aztecs have had considerable success. In SDSU’s last 9 games against their Big Brother, the Pac-12, the Aztecs sport a gaudy 7-2 mark.

Now comes the “but”!  Last Friday’s game was a 6-6 slog at the end of regulation against San Jose State.  Lucas Johnson came off the bench to throw his only two completions of the game, both TDs, in SDSU’s 19-13 double OT triumph.

California breeds quarterbacks in the same way Spring features flowers.  Why cannot San Diego State get one?  To characterize Aztec QBs over the past decade as “game managers” might be an insult to game managers.  Off the top of my head, the last Aztec gunslinger who scared opponents was Ryan Lindley – more than a decade ago.

Thus, a memo to Coach Hoke:  Do not come off as a truck driver and hit the California roads hard in search of a QB with an arm.  As it is, the Aztecs’ formidable run defense takes on an Air Force rushing game which is numero uno in the country.  Expect another rock fight and hope that Coach Hoke develops a good gift of gab in the recruiting wars.  Because if SDSU gets a quality QB and retains the above attributes, the sky is the limit.

One element that absolutely separates college ball from the NFL is the lack of parity in the college game.  Thus, there are many more blowouts but when David rises to smite Goliath, great theater results.  I root for the Davids of the world as they endure so much disappointment in their frequent roles as sacrificial lambs.

Saturday, hapless Vanderbilt was the beneficiary of 4 South Carolina turnovers and was nursing a 20-14 lead with just over a minute remaining.  The Gamecocks had exhausted their timeouts.  They promptly moved on a 75-yard drive to win the game, 21-20.  I was nauseous the entire drive.  Vanderbilt had varied its quarterback pressures during the game to reasonably good success.  On South Carolina’s game-winning drive, Vandy rushed only 3 on every play.  Backup QB, Zeb Noland,  had all day to throw.  If Vandy had 8 folks patrolling the passing lanes, no clear evidence existed as the Gamecocks effortlessly breezed down the field.

A sage once opined: “The prevent defense prevents you from winning.”  AMEN.  The defense called in the 6oth minute was so lame that we wonder if first-year coach Clark Lea will lose his team.

My anger turned into amazement Saturday evening by a stunning turnaround by another have not, Louisiana Monroe.  Being down 14-0 against a quality Liberty squad at halftime was no surprise since Liberty went off as a 32-point favorite.  What was shocking was that an often moribund offense exploded for 4 TD’s behind a backup QB.  At 28-28, after much thought, ULM elected to try a 53-yard field goal.  GOOD and the season’s biggest upset came to pass.  Regrettably, there were too few fans in attendance to have a proper field storming.  Oh, well, you can’t have everything.

Several non-stop trends to note in the 21st century:

Global warming (sadly)

More strikeouts in baseball

Offenses besting defenses in college football.

The Red River Rivalry has been played  117 times (62-50-5 in favor of Texas).    Check out the dates of the 4 highest scoring games in the fabled Texas-Oklahoma series:

2021      OU 55, Texas 48

2020      OU 53, Texas 45

2018       Texas 48, OU 45   “Dicker the Kicker”

2016       OU  45, Texas 40

Notice a trend??

Another benchmark of defensive futility.  Check out some defensive stats of Arkansas State, a respected Sun Belt program that has spawned the Power 5 coaching careers of Gus Malzahn, Hugh Freeze and Bryan Harsin during the past decade.

VERSUS:

Memphis                                 680 yards of defense

Washington                            367 yards of passing defense to an anemic offense that                                                       scored a total of 17 points in its prior 2 games

Tulsa                                        663 yards of defense

Georgia State                          503 yards of rushing defense

Coastal Carolina                    683 yards of defense

Even Arkansas State’s new coach, Butch Jones, must be wordless at this point — no small feat since Jones is the master of meaningless platitudes.

Not convinced yet?  Then you probably did not watch Ole Miss’ 52-51 thriller over Arkansas which featured three TD’s in the last 82 seconds of the game.  In August, Alabama’s D was reputed to be one of its best in a decade.  What does offensively-challenged Texas A&M do with its backup QB against the Tide:  41 points!!  Have they cleared the fans off the field yet in College Station?

Probably just as well that Bo and Woody have passed on.  If they had not, they might have had coronaries  watching 21st-century defenses flail away.

Last Saturday night was a programming first for ESPN.  A regular season game between two FCS schools, Eastern Washington and Montana, was broadcast on ESPN2 in prime time.  Likely this was a byproduct of a spectacular September for the Big Sky, where the conference could boast of 4 FBS scalps (ranked Washington, Arizona, UNLV and Tulsa).

Based on the thriller, ESPN should offer more FCS broadcasts.  Eastern Washington survived, 34-28, but only after a pass in the end zone was batted away on the game’s final play.

Vibrant would be a vast understatement for all aspects associated with one of the very best games of the year.  Eastern Washington’s red turf, dubbed the “Inferno”, does make one feel that they are at the Gates of Hell.  The nation got to see EWU’s stellar QB, Eric Barriere, who once again threw for over 400 yards.  The winner of this game would be in line to receive a top seed in the FCS playoffs.

Fortunately, ESPN+ does offer a lot of FCS telecasts.   There are excellent FCS tilts most weekends.  You could do lots worse than to watch North Dakota State vs Northern Iowa  and/or South Dakota State vs Southern Illinois.

Don’t feel that you are slumming by enjoying FCS football!  Stream away!!

The media is so playoff-obsessed that many interesting stories are given short shrift.   Saturday, in Amherst, Massachusetts,  is going to provide both temporary relief and ample joy to one team.

UConn will make a quick 50-mile road trip to play UMass.  One team will emerge victorious.  Neither team has won a game since 2019!  Future prospects for both programs are beyond bleak.  Both teams are orphans, relegated to independent status.  Scheduling games becomes a nightmare once conference play around the country starts in earnest.

Arguably, UMass never should have ascended to FBS status.  UConn is in perhaps a more painful situation.  UMass is a “never was” in the highest tier of football.  When UConn left 1-AA football in 2000 and later landed in the Big East, not only were the Huskies in a strong conference, UConn experienced success.  As 2010 co-champs, the Huskies represented the Big East in the Fiesta Bowl.  Heady times.  Their coach, Randy Edsall, abruptly left for Maryland and the program careened downward.  The Big East imploded as a football conference but the Huskies found a landing spot in the American Athletic Conference.

The death knell for UConn fortunes came when their abysmal record and indifferent attendance led the American Athletic Conference to kick the Huskies to the curb.  In utter desperation, UConn rehired Randy Edsall, a move so disastrous that he “retired” after the 2nd game of 2021, a 38-28 clunker to FCS Holy Cross. Car buffs might label his 2nd tenure as a real Edsel.

Post-Edsel, UConn, unlike UMass, has come to life and stopped sputtering the past 2 Saturdays.  Last Saturday, UConn QB, Steven Krajewski, scored on a 17-yard scamper with 1:07 left to put UConn ahead of Vanderbilt, 28-27.  However, the D did not do their part and allowed Vandy to walk it off with a 31-yard field goal.  UConn’s performance in their previous game was stunning.  UConn scored a TD against unbeaten Wyoming with 4 seconds left to make the score 24-22 but could not convert the tying, 2-point conversion.

The Odyssey sees no viable path for either to continue at the FBS level in any meaningful fashion. If they persist in their FBS status,  we do suggest that the teams schedule each other 6 times a year.  Not only is the short travel ecologically attractive, winning does solve some problems.  Their mutual issues seem so massive the older elements of their fan bases might yearn for the long gone days of the Yankee Conference.

The experts in the desert have put the total points in the game at 55.  With these defenses?  Seems a touch low to the Odyssey.

What we do know is that the players on both squads have put in so much effort for so little reward.  We wish both teams could win on Saturday.  For the winners, there is a going to be a hell of a celebration come Saturday evening.  Well deserved!!

K’Vaughn Pope is an Ohio State linebacker — check that — WAS an Ohio State linebacker.  Disgruntled at being subbed out in last Saturday’s Akron, Pope stormed off the field, ripped off his uniform and later tweeted “F*ck Ohio State”  He has been dismissed from the team.

Others have dismissed themselves.  Utah embraced Charlie Brewer.  Brewer gave up on his chance to start games at Baylor for a 5th straight year.  Brewer expressed a desire to go to a winning program.    This felt like a slap in the face to a program that believed in Brewer.  Brewer, who prepped at Austin’s Lake Travis, always wanted to follow in the footsteps of numerous family members who had been Longhorn QB’s.  His dad, Robert, was the MVP of the 1982 Cotton Bowl.  Baylor offered Charlie.  The Longhorns did not.  Brewer was having a tough day against San Diego State and was benched in the third quarter.  Less than 48 hours after his benching, Brewer said goodbye to the Utes.  Possibly Brewer thought he was being loyal to the Utes — after all, he could have called for an uber to LAX at the end of the 3rd quarter of the San Diego State game.   Meanwhile, Baylor upset Iowa State last Saturday to start 2021 with a 4-0 bang.

Bailey Hockman was also benched two Saturdays ago during Middle Tennessee’s game at Texas San Antonio.  Less than 48 hours later, he announced his retirement from football for family reasons.  Was there a family emergency on the Sunday after his benching?  Perhaps nobody should be surprised that Hockman continued to be a rolling stone.  He had previously been at Florida State and North Carolina State.  Thankfully, for Middle Tennessee, the Blue Raiders finally found the right QB to lead their team, Chase Cunningham.  Cunningham has had his disappointments the previous 2 years but he stayed the course.  The Odyssey was in attendance last Friday night in Charlotte as Cunningham threw for 389 yards in an excellent effort for the Blue Raiders.

Like Cunningham, another QB showed that perseverance can pay off after being benched.  Jeff Sims had given way to Jordan Yates at the Georgia Tech QB.  Sims came off the bench and was stellar in the Yellow Jackets’ 45-22 upset of North Carolina last weekend.  We salute the perseverance of both Cunningham and Sims!

As for folks like Brewer, Pope and Hockman, the Odyssey says “good riddance.”  Even as crazy as the antics of Georgia Southern lineman Gavin Adcock were last Saturday (chugging beer on top of a moving bus in pre-game!!!), we know that we would even prefer the Gavin Adcocks of the world to ungrateful quitters if forced to choose.

Friday night, we were in Charlotte at one of the unique FBS stadiums.  The stadium capacity is the smallest in FBS (if you exclude that the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors are playing in temporary digs) at 15,314.  Building an on-campus stadium this small is either pessimistic or genius, depending on your perspective.  For most Group of 5 programs with larger capacities, empty seats tend to be plentiful.  For example, the Odyssey was appalled at the vast swaths of empty seats at the September 16, Thursday night game when Louisiana hosted Ohio, particularly when Louisiana is one of the most ballyhooed Group of 5 teams.  One further element  in the decision to have a smaller stadium: Charlotte is an NFL town.  Generally, this saps the energy and the fan base for the local college team.  That the Washington Huskies draw reasonably well in Seattle is a case of the exception proving the rule.

Even though the Middle Tennessee-Charlotte did not rate to be must-watch football, in addition to being saddled competition from local Friday night prep games, the atmosphere was of a well attended game despite attendance of 11,000.  Chalk up one vote for genius.  Further, the fans went home both entertained and happy as the 49ers held off Middle Tennessee, 42-39,  Both Chase Cunningham and Chris Reynolds passed for over 300 yards in a tilt with ample offensive fireworks to the tune of 1,059 yards.

The second unique aspect of Charlotte’s stadium is that its omnipresent bricks strongly suggest design and construction by a mason.  Even the Engineering Halls that overlook the North end zone conjure memories of the Commodores’ “Brick House”.

Saturday, we eagerly looked to “Enter Sandman” as Virginia Tech’s players enter Lane Stadium to perhaps college football’s most passionate welcome.  If only the Hokies were able to retain such passion for FCS foe, Richmond.  Virginia Tech’s opening TD drive was as easy as a knife through better.  Two series later, Justin Fuente stuck in his backup quarterback, Knox Kadum   What could go wrong in a game where the QB of an FCS team has already gone down?   Turns out, plenty!   A Richmond pick and a very short field resulted in a 7-7 score.

The Hokies slept walked through a 21-10 triumph over the Spiders.  The offense proved a massive disappointment, as one of their TDs was provided courtesy of a  60-yard punt return by Tayvion Robinson.  Braxton Burmeister throws a  ball as pretty as his hometown of La Jolla but we wonder if is capable of being the field general needed by Virginia Tech to win the ACC.

Richmond suffered some terrible luck on their first drive which seriously put into question any chance of an upset.  Their run-first QB, Joe “Macho Man” Mancuso, galloped wild for 29 yards on Richmond’s second play from scrimmage.  Dinged up on the hit, his initial carry  also proved to be his last carry.  At least he can brag to his grandkids that he averaged 29 yards a rush at Lane Stadium.

If the day provided any consolation to Virginia Tech, more proof was provided that Clemson is no longer a super team as they fell at NC State in double overtime.  With their key victory over North Carolina in hand, the Hokies have a lot to play for in coming ACC contests.