Last Saturday's games were interesting, to say the least. Some were a lot of fun to watch while others were just massacres or exposed undeserving teams.
#1.
Clemson 52 – Charlotte 10. The 41 point spread was covered.
There were 111 of the Clemson Tigers who played in this game. Amazing number. They played everyone including the water boy. Coach Dabo Swinney was very happy for his team to get experience in a real game. Was it a real game? Technically, yes, but I’m quite sure Clemson's 3rd team defense is much better than Charlotte’s 1st team. This was a blowout in every aspect of the game, just as predicted.
In the first half, Clemson scored on every drive. Clemson had a very balanced attack with 231 yards passing and 235 yards rushing.
Charlotte, who resurrected their football team in 2013 (they hadn’t fielded a team since 1948) had 11 penalties for 106 yards.
The most exciting happening in this game was halftime when actors dressed as the Clemson Tigers ran down the hill toward the field. The magic of Hollywood was on Clemson field to film a movie based on ex-Clemson player, Ray Ray McElrathbey.
Clemson travels to North Carolina on Sept. 29th as a 25.5 favorite.
#2.
Alabama 49 – Southern Miss 10. The 39 point spread was covered.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa had his second-5 passing touchdowns game. He passed for 293 yards in just 3 quarters before making way for the second and third-team quarterbacks. But, the truly amazing athlete of the game was wide receiver, Henry Ruggs III. His speed is incredibly fast. His top speed on the 81-yard reception touchdown was 24mph, let’s compare that to Usain Bolt whose average speed was 23.3mph in 2009. Not bad for a college receiver. Tagovailoa has 17 touchdown passes and no interceptions so far this season.
If there is one thing that most irritates Coach Saban, it is penalties. Last weeks game was penalty laden with the Tide being penalized ninety-two yards. The Tide was able to come out of this game with only one penalty for fifteen yards. I’m quite sure that made for a happy Coach.
Alabama had another game with over 500 yards total offense with 338 of those from passing.
Alabama will host Ole Miss on Sept. 29th as a 34.5 favorite.
#3.
Georgia 23 – Notre Dame 17. The 14 point spread was not covered.
The best game of the day in my opinion. I love defensive games! Notre Dame's Brian Kelly said it was "probably one of the most physical games I've coached." This game was a lot of fun to watch. These two teams were very well matched.
Notre Dame came into the game as a 14 point underdog but that didn’t seem to faze them as they stuck in this game until the very end.
Georgia went into Halftime in a 10-7 deficit. This game showed the importance of a reliable field-goal kicker. The Bulldogs had 3 field-goals in this game and the Irish had one. Look again at the score, this game would have ended tied 14-14 without the kickers.
The most disgusting thing I saw in this game was two Notre Dame players faking injuries. Both on Georgia drives. The first player was pulled down by his jersey by his own teammate. The second just laid down on the field. Seemed to be fine after some eye drops. Of course, Coach Brian Kelly denied the injuries were fake. After being evaluated on the sidelines both players were able to return to the game. I can’t say whether or not these were true injuries. Here is the video, you decide. https://www.al.com/sports/2019/09/watch-as-it-appears-notre-dame-is-faking-injuries-to-slow-georgias-pace.html
Georgia will enjoy a bye week and then will travel to Tennessee on Oct. 5th.
#4.
LSU 66 – Vanderbilt 38. The 23.5 spread was covered.
104 combined points between these two SEC teams. It has been said by some that LSU looks more like a Big12 team this season. Powerful offense and zero defense. These wide-open spread offenses are making it appear like this. There is virtually no way to stop them and when they click like LSU is nothing an opposing team can do.
Quarterback phenom Joe Burrow had 398 passing yards and 6 touchdowns before leaving the game in early in the fourth quarter.
This is the second game this season, Vanderbilt has hosted a Top-10 team from the SEC, and sold out their stadium to the opposing school's fans. It was estimated that 75% of the fans in Commodore Stadium in Nashville were LSU fans.
The Tigers won’t be able to get away with fumbling a touchdown in the end-zone or throwing a late pick-six when they are playing most of the other SEC teams. The Tiger defense allowed the Commodores to gain 374 yards of total offense.
LSU has a bye week coming up and will host Utah State on Oct. 5th.
#5.
Oklahoma enjoyed a bye week
Oklahoma hosts Texas Tech on Sept. 28th as a 27.0 favorite.
#6.
Ohio State 76 – Miami of Ohio 5. The 39 spread was covered.
Justin Fields threw his first interception of the season on his way to leading the Buckeyes to an offensive showcase of talent for 76 points. The Sophomore Georgia transfer is showing just how talented he is, he was able to pass for four touchdowns and rushed for two TD’s.
The Buckeye’s began the game in a deficit after Fields fumbled the ball in the back of his own end-zone to give the RedHawks two points for a safety. Fields recovered and never looked back leading Ohio State to over 600 yards offense.
The Buckeye defense held the RedHawks to only 70 yards rushing and 60 yards passing and forced three turnovers.
This game ended with 2:40 remaining due to lightning, both coaches agreed to end the game.
Ohio State will travel to Nebraska on the Sept. 28th as a 17.5 favorite.
#7.
Notre Dame 17 – Georgia 23. Georgia did not cover the 14 point spread.
This game was discussed above, here are stats from the game
Notre Dame hosts Virginia on Sept. 28th as an 11.5 favorite.
#8.
Auburn 28 – Texas &M 20. TAMU did not cover the 3.5 point spread.
Auburn went to College Station, Tx as a 14 point underdog. They played like they didn’t know that. TAMU who held Clemson to only 24 points just two weeks previously was much lauded for their extreme defense. It was predicted they would hold the Tigers offense. This proved not true. What the prognosticators didn’t figure in was just how good Auburn's defense is.
This was not a game of gaudy, flashy numbers or statistics. This was a game of two well-matched, tough SEC West competitors. It came down to who wanted the most and that was the Tigers of Auburn. Even though TAMU won in every statistic, Auburn simply wanted to win and found a way to do it.
Texas A&M came out a bit flat against Auburn allowing the Tigers to get up 21-3 before the Aggies team decided to show up. It was like they were sleepwalking through the beginning of the game. When they woke up it was too late.
Auburn hosts Mississippi State on Sept. 28th as an 11.0 favorite.
#9.
Florida 34 – Tennessee 3. The spread for this game was off.
The big question of the season… can Tennessee get any worse? They seem to be imploding. Sad for Vol Coach Jeremy Pruitt and his team. But, let us just say this, there have to be some internal problems. Recruiting is down, the team is not “jelling”.
On to the stars of this show, the Florida Gators! The gators began this game missing four starters, it didn’t show as they put on an exhibition of strength in front of the home crowd who absolutely loved watching their Gators annihilate their SEC East opponent.
While Florida’s offense played great and looked solid it was their defense that shined. Defensive End John Greenard played like a professional, he had four tackles, broke up three passes and caused the Vols to fumble the ball. He played his best game so far.
Florida hosts Towson on Sept. 28th. The spread for this game is off.
#10.
Utah 23 – USC 30. The 3.5 point spread was not covered.
Most everyone that knows anything about NCAA Football, knew the Utah Utes were overrated. A team like USC was able to expose them in this game.
Mistakes made the difference in this game. The Utes had 120 yards of penalties on 11 violations. They also had a field-goal blocked and lost a fumble near the USC end-zone. It is hard to come back after this kind of miscues.
Even though Utah was able to rack up 457 yards total offense, they got their drives stalled mostly by themselves. They couldn’t make plays happen when they got to the red-zone.
Let’s remember USC is the team that lost to BYU just a couple of weeks ago. I think it is pretty evident the Pac 12 will again go without a playoff contender. Utah drops from the top ten. Everyone knew it was just a matter of time.
The Utes will host Washington State on Sept. 28th as a 5.0 favorite.
The games coming up this coming Saturday should show us more about who will be jockeying for playoff positions.
Until next week,
Mama
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