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One fine was more than welcome:  Texas A&M was fined for faking an injury.  Hallelujah!!

The second fine was puzzling.  Stanford was penalized $50,000 for fans on the field after its surprising upset over Florida State.  The Odyssey’s reaction:  Stanford has fans?

While not as head scratching as Delaware’s decision to go for 2 at the end of the first half last week, the Odyssey wonders if “the spread” had any influence on 2 decisions in the last 2 minutes of the Michigan State – Indiana game.

IU was on an extended drive late in the 4th quarter.  Leading 35-10 with 4th and 1, Indiana had an interesting decision.  The gambling spread was IU by 27.  The Hoosiers elect to attempt a 31-yard field goal attempt.  Good!  38-10, as the spread is now covered.

Until it wasn’t.  MSU drove down the field with its backup QB and had a 4th and 12 at the IU 16 with 33 seconds left.  They decide to kick a 34-yard field goal.  Good!  MSU covers.

The Odyssey wonders whether the spread entered into either of the late decisions.  In this era where big boosters tend to run the programs, it seems as if more coaches are cognizant of “the spread.”  Or is the Odyssey off base here?  Perhaps.

The Odyssey enjoys perusing betting sites which offer all types of odds.  Wednesday night, Delaware played at Jacksonville State in a pretty obscure game.  The first half total intrested us.  At one site, you can grab over 27.5 if you were willing to pay 20% juice.  At one other site, the total was 28.5.  These figures bracketed the key first half total of 28.

Jacksonville State races off to a 21-0 lead.  Delaware scored a TD with slightly under 2 minutes to go in the first half.

21-6.  Inexplicably, the Fightin’ Blue Hens go for 2!  A trick play seemingly works but the receiver in the end zone, all alone, drops the 2-point conversion pass.  Jacksonville State proceeds to drive down the field and narrowly misses a 47-yard field goal to end the first half.

The 21-6 halftime score was costly to those who had the over of 27.5 or 28.  If Delaware had just kicked the extra point, the gambling impact was significant.

Now, exactly why did Delaware go for 2??  We still have no idea.  But we wondered if some cynics about the impact of gambling came to a likely faulty conclusion:  That the Blue Hens went for two to try to beat the 28 and 28.5 totals out there.  That we would think such a thought is very likely a byproduct of an overactive imagination.  Then again, we remember Pete Rose betting on his own team.  The corrosive shadow of gambling strikes again!

That USC won a pivotal Big 10 game against Michigan on a typically splendid October day in LaLa land was not surprising.  However, the Trojans’ 31-13 romp was stunning in two regards.  One might have expected sych a result to be a byproduct of the stellar receiving duo of Lemon & Lane.  While this esteemed pair each had a TD grab, a 3rd string, walkon, King Miller, stole the show with 158 rushing yards as USC surprisingly  outrushed Michigan.  Give that man a scholarship, pronto!

A heretofore leaky Trojan D showed up in a big way, harrassing Bryce Underwood and severely limiting Justice Haynes on the ground.

The Odyssey had mentioned in yesterday’s preview that Michigan’s defense might be overrated.  USC’s offense rolled up 489 yards.  Clever playcalling helped as quick developing plays neutralized a Wolverine pass rush that had terrorized Nebraska.

USC’s triumph sets up a huge game at Notre Dame this Saturday.  If the Trojans pull off a minor upset, 11-1 and a playoff berth are on the horizon.  Notre Dame must win this game to retain playoff hopes. Should be a fascinating encounter between 2 excellent teams.

The Odyssey will eagerly head up to LA to see a Rose Bowl redux when Michigan visits the Coliseum.  OK, the Maize and Blue has not played in the Coliseum in 68 years but you get the point.

Both squads are sporting one loss and desperately need a win today.  Michigan has subtle advantages and disadvantages in this matchup.  Bryce Underwood is no longer a callow Freshman playing in front of a hostile crowd.  Michigan has already played at 2 tough road venues in Oklahoma and Nebraska.  As for that “hostile” USC crowd, maybe not so much as many UM fans are expected to be in attendance.

UM’s disadvantage:  is a touted defense all it is cracked up to be?  The Odyssey is not so sure.  We expect Jayden Maiava and his vaunted received corps to do well against a defensive backfield that may be overrated.    In other words, we do not expect Michigan to make a Lemon out of Lane in USC’s passing attack.

Thus, more scoring than anticipated?  We shall see.  What we do know is that this game rates to be close to a toss up.

Sometimes, coaches overthink things….or want to show incontrovertible genius by tinkering.  Such was the case Wednesday inight n El Paso.

UTEP’s overcaffinated and underbrained coach, Scotty Walden, appears to be guilty of such malpractice.  Former five-star recruit via USC and Boise State, Malachi Nelson, was benched for last night’s game against Liberty.  Nelson was just two games removed from 404 yards passing against Louisiana Monroe.  True, UTEP was limited to 11 points in their last outing, albeit against a stingy Louisiana Tech defense that had previously LSU to 23 points.

Liberty should have represented a “get well” night for any offense as the FLames’ defense was downright offensive.  UTEP’s new starting QB was Skyler Locklear.  Too bad, his name was worlds better than his performance:  In 17 passing attempts, he netted 90 yards and 2 throws skied into Liberty’s waiting arms.  Locklear was benched and Nelson came off the bench with a 4 for 10 performance which netted a paltry 21 yards.  Way to break Nelson’s confidence , coach!  You now have zero QB’s!!

UTEP finally managed a consolation TD in the second half.  Big deal!

Walden’s post-game nonsense continued.  He exhorted his troops to win 5 of their last 6 to become bowl eligible.  This decrepit Miner squad might not be able to beat any of the 5 best high school teams in El Paso, especially with Walden at the helm.

Some trends, like pet rocks, make no sense.  However, underdogs are increasingly doing something quite clever this season.  Big underdog and score early?  Why not onside kick after a score?  UCLA and Syracuse have done so and scored after successful recoveries.  Down go Penn State and Clemson, respectively, after big momentum fueled starts by big underdogs.

Tulsa also executed a successful onside kick against favored Navy.  This tactic makes so much sense on many levels.  An underdog rates to have their defense on the field a good amount of time, so why not try to steal a possession that will result in a fresher D in the fourth quarter?  For an underdog, attempting to maintain momentum can be paramount to pulling off an upset.

Success breeds imitators.  Expect this tactic to be more common among the dogs.

Whose stock increased the most on Saturday?  Easy question!  Answer:  Nico Iamaleava, the belittled UCLA (and former Tennessee QB).  Portrayed as a greedy and overly entitled brat, Iamaleava did the seemingly impossible:  Leading woebegone UCLA to a shocking upset over Penn State.  The hapless Bruins  were 24 point dogs to a Penn State squad many had tabbed as the pre-season favorite to win the Natty.

UCLA had not held a lead all year – even more remarkable because 2 Mountain West teams ( UNLV and New Mexico) and Northwestern were among those who had punked the Westwood boys.  So, the shock when UCLA raced off to a 27-7 lead over the Nittany Lions was considerable.  Did Iamaleava do it with “pretty boy” passing throws?  No, not primarily.  While he did throw 2 TD tosses, the Tennessee refugee showed considerable grit by running for 128 yards and 3 TDs.

Iamaleava had considerable help from the game plan.  Jerry Neuheisel was newly tabbed as the new OC after Tino Sunseri’s firing earlier in the week.  Neuheisel’s game plan was brilliant, aided by a successful onside kick after the Bruins’ first score.  This was not the first time “off the bench” for Neuheisel to produce a memorable UCLA upset, as he was pressed into service as a Bruin QB in 2014 and engineered a memorable upset over Texas.

Penn State certainly contributed to this Nittany Lion debacle.  Clearly, the heartbreaking Oregon double OT hangover had not been fully dealt with.  Plus, the travel from State College to the West Coast is daunting as the nearest significant airport is 90 minutes away in Harrisburg.  As brilliant as UCLA’s play calling was, Penn State’s was questionable.  Only 8 rushing attempts for Kaytron Allen?  Down 42-35, with a climactic 4th and 2, running Drew Allar on an option?

The outcome was stunning and provided major rehabilitation for Iamaleava.  Still, perhaps not the biggest surprise on Saturday.  That may have been tuning to a game at Wyoming on October 4, only to see a snow-filled field!

If one wants to minimize aggrivation in their life, one of the last endeavors to be considered is betting on college football.

Two recent examples:

Auburn is trailing Oklahoma 22-17 in the final 2 minutes.  Auburn is a 6.5 point dog.  A safety for the Sooners makes the final score 24-17.

Last Saturday, Iowa and Indiana are locked in a 10-10 deadlock at halftime.  The halftime line is Indiana by 5.5.  A late TD puts the Hoosiers ahead 20-13.  However, a “preemptive safety by Indiana makes the final score 20-15.

To be in Oxford, Mississippi for a college football weekend is like going to an exquisite spa.  After your visit, you leave one of the small-town jewels of the South refreshed, rejuvenated and admiring the wonders of life.

Oh, by the way, a pivotal SEC game took place Saturday afternoon.  Fourth-ranked LSU came to town.  Not only is the Magnolia Bowl rivalry intense, but Ole Miss wanted to get the bad taste of their never-behind-until-the-final-gun, overtime loss to the Bayou Bengals in 2024.

Mission accomplished after a very slow start by the Rebels.  LSU totally shut down the Rebels on the first two drives and quickly took a 7-0 lead.  Then, Lane Kiffin opened up the playbook and let wonderkind, Ferris State supersub, Trinidad Chambliss, loose.  Nice adjustment, coach!

Ole Miss took aver the game, having a 480-254 edge in yardage.  Those offense stats did not tell the “hold” story.  Ole Miss committed so many holding penalties that the last time the Odyssey saw so much holding, we must have been watching a “Dancing With The Stars” segment.  LSU chipped in as one Old Miss TD drive was largely comprised of 3 major penalties on the Tigers.

The LSU offense remains an issue – a surprising develop given all the pre-season hype over QB Garrett Nussmeier.  Nussmeier was just OK and was the second best QB on the field.  A pre-season Heisman Trophy candidate outplayed by the pride of Big Rapids, Michigan??  Only in college football!

Clinging to a 24-19 lead with under 2 minutes to play, Ole Miss had a 4th and 2 in LSU territory.  The swashbucking Kiffin dials up a pass.  Ballgame!

A great week for Lane Kiffin!  The SEC Network rolls out a sympathetic hour piece on Kiffin and now his team is 3-0 in the brutal SEC.  The Odyssey hopes he does not leave for another college gig.  Ole Miss’ last SEC championship was during the Johnny Vaught salad days in segregated 1963.  Is this the year?