Category: Uncategorized Page 11 of 29

If the University of Texas athletic department were instead a woman in the 16th century, assuredly UT would be forced to wear a scarlet letter in public.  For no administration has done as much damage to college football for its own selfish interests than Texas in the 21st century.

The former Big 12 conference was terrific before the Texas got too big for its britches and established the Longhorn Network in cahoots with ESPN.  When the Longhorn Network announced its plans to air high school games, Texas A&M (and others) cried foul.  Missouri followed A&M out the door to the SEC.  Colorado escaped to the Pac12.  Nebraska found a lucrative financial haven in the Big 10.

The revamped Big 12 was still a strong, viable conference with the additions of TCU and West Virginia.  For the second time, the Longhorns pulled the rug under the Big  12 by bolting for the SEC in July (with help from accomplice Oklahoma).  Again, remaining members of the Big 12 were imperiled.  The second time around, the Big 12 again did its best to mitigate damage by adding BYU, UCF, Cincinnati and Houston.  Still, the Odyssey remains pissed that Texas again did not give a damn about the general good of the region and its Big 12 brethren.

Therefore, the Odyssey attended Texas’ finale against K-State on Friday with a grim satisfaction.  The Longhorns were riding a 6-game losing streak (its longest since 1956 which was the catalyst in hiring the legendary Darrell Royal for the 1957 season) and were greeted by indifference of a half-full stadium in their home finale.  All of the Stadium’s references to  the Longhorns’ many conference championships further mocked the current state of the program: 25 in the Southwest Conference (yet another conference Texas was instrumental in breaking up) but none since their last Big 12 championship in 2009.

That the Longhorns could hold K-State scoreless in the second half and hold off the Wildcats 22-17 did not seem just to the Odyssey.  K-State likely would have been victorious if started QB Skylar Thompson had not been sidelined.  The Wildcats’ reincarnation of Darren Sproles in Deuce Vaughn could not overcome their total lack of a passing game.

The sad thing about having disdain of the Longhorns for their many traitorous actions is that there is lots to like in the Texas program.  Its band is absolutely terrific as its pre-game show is worth the price of admission.  Its legacy songs of “The Eyes of Texas”, “Deep In The Heart of Texas” and “Fight Texas” would warm the heart of the coldest souls.

So, please excuse the Odyssey if we do not root for Texas in the SEC.  Our hope is that Vandy will enjoy the company in the bowels of the augmented superpower.

There are many huge games on rivalry weekend.  The Odyssey will not be in attendance for any of them.  Instead, we will be in Austin to see if the Texas Longhorns can break their 6-game losing streak against Kansas State.

Just the mention of the word “Kansas” should give all Longhorn fans the shakes after the events two weeks ago.  Texas made a Kansas QB, Jalon Daniels, scheduled for a redshirt, into a national star in a stunning 57-56 overtime loss. Daniels, forced to scramble out of the pocket, found walk-on fullback, Jared Casey, for the game-winning 2 pointer.

The aftermath:

Kansas fans in Austin were chanting “SEC” after the game.

Casey is making commercials thanks to NIL.

Matthew McConaughey has gone into hiding.

Steve Sarkisian is making regular phone calls to his agent to make sure his buyout language is ironclad.

Texas does catch a potentially big break.  Kansas State QB, Skylar Thompson, is listed as questionable.  Even if Thompson plays, he is likely to be less than 100% – a big deal since Thompson’s legs have been an important element to the Wildcat offense.

Kansas State would love to win this game.  A victory would tie the all-time series at 11.   Who knows how many more KSU-Texas games will come off in the future.

The Odyssey wishes all a HAPPY THANKSGIVING (especially in the Sarkisian household).

Based on recent games, the Odyssey suggests SMU hosting Tulsa this Saturday.

Check out the scores of their recent contests:

2020    Tulsa 28, SMU 24     2 Overtimes

2019     SMU  43, Tulsa 37     3 Overtimes

2018     Tulsa 27, SMU 24

2017      SMU  38, Tulsa 34

2016     Tulsa 43, SMU 40     Overtime

History suggests that the Mustangs will be celebrating on the Hilltop come Saturday night.  The home team has won all of these nailbiters.

Once Texas and Oklahoma decided to abandon their Big 12 brethren for more greenbacks, speculation has run rampant as to how the SEC would adapt to its schedule with 16 teams.

There appears to be consensus on one important point:  The number of conference games will increase from 8 to 9.

Many speculative references to “pods” brought back images of Woody Allen in “Sleeper”.  Option #1 would result in 4 pods, as follows:

POD #1:   Georgia, Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina

POD #2:   Alabama, Auburn, Vanderbilt and Tennessee

POD #3:   Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU and Texas A&M

POD #4:   Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri

You would play the other teams in your Pod annually.  In a 4-year period, you would each team in the other pods twice.  The Pod approach would address one complaint in the current 14-team format: One rarely plays most teams in the other division.  The Odyssey finds this Pod feature to be quite attractive.  However, there would be winners and losers in such construction.

Before we go into our deep dive, we believe Texas A&M and Missouri could be interchanged.  Texas and Texas A&M should play each other annually.

WINNERS of this POD Approach:

Arkansas:  Renewing its rivalry with Texas and starting a rivalry with neighboring Oklahoma is spicy.  Nor will the Razorbacks mind not having to play Alabama every year.

Auburn and Alabama:  You get Vandy each year, which means a fun trip to Nashville every other year for your fans.

Florida and LSU:  No longer would they be each other’s  annual crossover opponent.  Most years, that will ease their schedule relative to others.

LOSERS of this POD approach:

Ole Miss:  No more annual game with Vandy?  Boo hoo.

Kentucky:  Losing its two neighbors in Tennessee will badly hurt.  The lost tradition in the Tennessee-Kentucky rivalry would be painful.  Nobody in their Pod is an easy drive from Lexington.

Tradition:  In addition to Texas-Texas A&M and Tennessee-Kentucky, several other traditional rivalries would no longer be played annually:  The Deep South’s oldest rivalry, Auburn vs Georgia would no longer be annual event.  The two SEC schools closest to each other, Alabama and Mississippi State, would not play annually.  OUCH!

Conference title game:  In some years,  the Pod approach will be less straight forward than the Division format in determining who plays in Atlanta.

OPTION #2 would do much better at preserving traditional rivalries by retaining the two-division approach, as follows:

EAST:  Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

WEST:  Ole Miss, Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma

In Option #2, only 2 crossover games would be played.  Meaning that in any 8-year cycle, you would play members of the other division only twice.

Since the Odyssey is a staunch believer in tradition, we have some preference for Option #2.  Option #2 is also more equitable than being in a Pod which turns out to be unusually strong or weak in a given year.

Please let the Odyssey know what you think.  We will be happy to forward all comments to the SEC.

Saturday. At 7pm EST (4pm on the West Coast), the need for multiple devices with WIFI and/or, at the very least, being adept with a remote became apparent.

Miami had rallied from a 17-point deficit at Florida State to take a 28-23 behind 4 TD passes from star freshman QB, Tyler Van Dyke. In the final minute, the Seminoles converted a 4th and 14 to stay alive. Jordan Travis’ sneak with 30 seconds to go sent Seminole fans home deliriously happy.

If you dialed into this rivalry game, you were missing out on Iowa State’s furious comeback from 21 down to tie Texas Tech 38-38. No problema for the Red Raiders. Just dial up a walkoff 62-yard field goal.

ESPN+ was offering another nail biter. North Texas and UTEP were locked in a 17-17 tie that seemed destined for overtime until a 58-yard pass was completed in the waning 15 seconds. This enabled a game-winning field goal for the Mean Green.

Three thrillers came to a conclusion in the matter of minutes. No wonder we love this sport!!

Imagine it is August 2021.  A psychic tells you that Illinois will be 4-6 through its first 10 games.

You peruse the Illini schedule and are tasked to figure out where their 4 wins would come from:

• Nebraska
• UTSA
• at Virginia
• Maryland
• at Purdue
• Charlotte
• Wisconsin
• at Penn State
• Rutgers
• at Minnesota

You would have had no shot at guessing the 4 accurately.  Rutgers, Maryland and UTSA would all be likely choices.  NOPE.  0-3 against those folks.

How about beating Nebraska, at 10th ranked Penn State, at a ranked Minnesota squad among the Illini’s 4 triumphs?   The only “predictable” win among their 4 proved to be Charlotte.

New coach Bret Bielema has relied on a ground attack (surprise, surprise) to give the Illini a chance to score upsets.  Illinois rushed for an astounding 357 yards against a good Penn State defense and controlled the game in Minneapolis with their rushing attack.  Illinois came ever so close to a 3rd impressive road win at Purdue.

Weird!  But not more bizarre than playing a 9-overtime game with 10 consecutive failures on 2-point conversions!  If Rod Serling and the Twilight Zone were still active,……..

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.