Week of 11/23

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11/28:

  • The playoff hopes for the Big Ten and Pac-12 took a big hit when Oregon State beat Oregon (Go Beavers!) and Ohio State had to cancel their game against Illinois because of a COVID-19 outbreak. The Buckeyes will now have to play both their remaining games to qualify for the Big Ten Championship game. As for the Pac-12, even if USC wins out and takes the league championship game, it is unlikely that they can make the jump to playoff consideration.

  • Here’s to hoping that Sarah Fuller makes history today! The goalkeeper on Vandy’s SEC championship soccer team, tried out as a kicker for the football team and was added to the roster. She has traveled with the team to Missouri, and if she sees game action, Fuller will become the first woman to play in a Power Five football game. Two women have previously played football in the FBS - Katie Hnida (New Mexico) and April Goss (Kent State).

  • I will be watching two games that are not rivalry or trophy games: San Jose State at Boise State and Kent State at Buffalo. The Spartans are looking for their first win over Boise State and hoping for a chance at their first conference title since 1991. While the two MAC teams are both undefeated and boast great offenses. Both should be great games!

  • Also - I must mention that BowlSeason.com (official website of Bowl Games) has released their first-ever bowl game projections for the upcoming season!

11/27:

  • Black Friday is one of my favorite days during the college football season, and this year is no exception. There are not a lot of games on the schedule, but you can watch great games or rivalries from noon until bedtime. The best game could and should be the Iowa State at Texas game - which is on at noon.

  • Thanksgiving came and went without the Egg Bowl - a game I have enjoyed watching on Turkey Day since the end of the Texas/A&M series. It will be a great game to follow on Saturday though because of two factors: The first Lane Kiffin/Mike Leach coaching matchup in this great rivalry, and the one-year anniversary of Elijah Moore’s dog impersonation.

  • I am hoping that we don’t see too many cancellations today of tomorrow’s games - especially the Ohio State/Illinois game.

11/26:

  • Happy Thanksgiving to all!

  • The Colorado State at Air Force game scheduled for today has been canceled. It is the fourth trophy game to be canceled this week. In a bit of good news though for the Falcons - their game with Army has now been rescheduled for December 19th - a week after the Army-Navy game.

  • Oklahoma assistant head coach, and son of Hall of Fame coach Frank Beamer, Shane Beamer will interview for the South Carolina head coaching vacancy. An assistant on Steve Spurrier’s staff from 2007-2010, Beamer has emerged has a strong candidate for the job.

  • Buckeye fans are hoping that their game against Illinois goes on as planned, because if it is canceled, Ohio State would be at the limit of allowable games to qualify for the Big Ten Championship.

11/25:

  • Earlier this week I was concerned about the longest uninterrupted series (Minnesota-Wisconsin) coming to an end because of positive COVID-19 cases from within the Gopher program. Last night it became official. Barring an unforeseen event, Wake Forest-NC State will pass this series in 2023 after having played 114 straight years.

  • Another cancellation that bothers me a bit is the Southern Miss-UAB game. The Blazers Rushing King, Spencer Brown, has a chance to pass 4,000 yards rushing for his career. He has been stuck at 3,862 yards since Halloween because of three postponed/canceled games. Hopefully he will get to play at least two more games before his UAB career ends.

  • And can’t end until I mention the initial College Football Playoff rankings. No surprise about the first four selections - and the order seems to make sense to me. What I don’t understand is BYU at number 14! They have not played a challenging schedule by any means, but they have dominated their opponents and their quarterback should be considered a Heisman candidate. I’m not sure how Georgia, Oklahoma or Iowa State are ranked higher…

11/24:

  • Not sure where I have been for the last 31 days. I say that because I just read that Army was the first team to be offered and accept a spot in the 2020-2021 bowl season on October 24th after a win over Mercer. They will be headed to the Independence Bowl and the Black Knights are slated to face a team from the Pac-12.

  • Some new schedule adjustments for this weekend: Western Kentucky at Charlotte game has been moved to next Tuesday, the Louisiana Tech at FIU game has been postponed, and the SEC has announced a couple of changes - the Arkansas/Missouri and the Tennessee/Vanderbilt games have been postponed and Vanderbilt will now play Missouri.

  • A great article on ESPN this morning. A story about UCF’s McKenzie Milton looking to get back on the field after a gruesome knee injury two years ago against USF.

11/23:

  • We have already lost two trophy games for next week - one of them being a favorite of mine, the Apple Cup game between Washington and Washington State. I can only hope that the Pac-12 is able to reschedule the game, perhaps on December 19th. The other game lost was San Diego State at Fresno State - a very good Mountain West rivalry.

  • The Hoosiers showed heart against the Buckeyes in Columbus on Saturday. Falling behind 35-7 early in the third quarter, Indiana cut the lead down to seven with most of the fourth quarter still to play, They couldn’t finish the comeback, but this basketball school has a sold football team this year.

  • Hard to believe that Utah finally got to play its first game of the year this past Saturday, but what is harder to believe is seeing Penn State 0-5 for the first time in the history of the program that goes back to 1887!

Week of 11/1

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11/6:

  • Looking at last night’s scoreboard this morning - the scores of all three games surprised me. The Wolfpack gave the Hurricanes more of a battle than I expected, while the margin of BYU’s win on the blue turf got a wow from me - even though the Broncos were down to their 3rd string quarterback. The biggest surprise - the Spartans moving to 3-0 with a big win over San Diego State on the road.

  • At least one impressive streak will come to an end today, and quite possibly up to three will be finished: Notre Dame has won 22-straight at home, but Clemson has won 14 consecutive true road games and 28 consecutive games against ACC opponents. And last, but not least, Michigan has won 24-straight over Indiana.

11/5:

  • A great read is the story on ESPN about Northwestern’s run to the Rose Bowl 25 years ago. One of the more memorable seasons for a team that I can remember. I’ll never forget that first game of the year against Notre Dame, or the Rose Bowl games against USC. A story worthy of a movie…

  • Unfortunately for Florida Atlantic their highest-ranked commit for 2021, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, flipped his commitment from the Owls to Jackson State. No surprise that he wanted to play for his father.

  • More cancellations for Saturday: Arizona at Utah, Charlotte at Middle Tennessee, and UTSA at Rice.

11/4:

  • Last night was the return of MACtion, and there were some tight games, while others were over early because of turnovers and miscues. Buffalo scored three defensive touchdowns, putting an end emphatically to their losing streak against Northern Illinois.

  • Utah announced that have signed Kyle Whittingham to a contract extension that will go through 2027. Whittingham, who has guided the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 South championships is only 11 wins away from becoming the all-time winningest coach at Utah. The record for wins is currently held by Ike Armstrong, whose record from 1925 through 1949 was 141-55-15.

  • Unfortunately there was a flurry of game cancellations today: Tulsa at Navy, Washington at Cal, Louisiana Tech at North Texas, and the most painful of all…..Air Force at Army.

11/3:

  • Conference USA has rescheduled seven games that had been postponed earlier this fall. These newly scheduled games will be played the first two weeks of December.

  • The Big Sky conference released their Spring 2021 schedule. Twelve teams are playing six games each, and this scheduling was probably made a bit easier when Sacramento State announced last month that they will not partake in the spring football season.

  • And because of the pandemic (Louisville is having positive COVID-19 tests), the Virginia-Louisville game has been postponed this week, and will now (hopeful, but doubtful) be played next Saturday.

11/2:

  • No surprise that the Purdue-Wisconsin game was canceled. It’s unfortunate for the Boilermakers, because the Badgers were down to their 4th-string quarterback. Now Purdue will have to wait until next year to try and end their 14-game losing streak to Wisconsin.

  • In other schedule news, the FIU-UTEP game has been canceled (the 4th postponed or canceled game for the Panthers this year), and Charlotte announced that they scheduled a game with Gardner-Webb, which is to be played next Saturday.

  • Autzen Stadium is now home to the largest video board, surpassing Jordan-Hare Stadium by about 1,500 square feet. An additional feature to this video board is that there is also a small screen on the backside so people can view highlights, etc. from outside the stadium.

11/1:

  • Even without Trevor Lawrence playing, hardly anyone was surprised that the Tigers came back in the second half to defeat the BC Eagles. What was most surprising was that it was freshman quarterback DJ Uiagaleilei bailing out the Tigers and not their defense.

  • How long before we see the end of the Jim Harbaugh era at Michigan? Losing at home when you are a three touchdown favorite to a rival should not be tolerated in Ann Arbor. Maybe the Spartans aren’t as bad as what they showed one week ago against Rutgers, but there is no excuse for the Wolverines to lose this game.

  • Leave it to Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide to shutout a Mike Leach team for the first time in nineteen years.

  • I was thrilled to read that the NCAA granted The Citadel a waiver so that they can play twelve games this year between Fall and Spring. What this means is that they will now play Furman for the 100th time on April 10th!