Bigger Than Football
The one thing I love about College Football and sports in general is that it brings people together. Even in the midst of a tragedy, fans can look outside of competition and heated rivalries to show sportsmanship and compassion in sad times. The scene that took place on the field in Columbia after RB Marcus Lattimore's gruesome injury with nearly the entire Tennessee sideline on the field praying for and comforting Lattimore was such a heartwarming gesture. Sometimes its bigger than football and hats off to not only Tennessee but everyone across the country that has shown their support for #21. As a Clemson fan, I'll be the first to say I hate everything about South Carolina Athletics, especially football. But my heart breaks for #21. He already came back and beat the odds from his torn ACL last season and now he has to start a long rehab process all over again. You hate to see these kind of injuries that can very easily end careers. Hopefully Saturday was not the last time we will see Lattimore in garnet and black, or playing in general. He's a fun to watch, a great player, and a great person. He represents his school well, stays out of trouble, and he's not much for the trash talk, he just goes out and plays football and I respect that. A lot. I wish him the best in his recovery and rehab.
Now lets take a look back at what went down Saturday....
I'll start with the Gamecocks. After two rough losses on the road and three very physical games, many wondered how the Gamecocks would fair. However, they answered the call and found a way to outlast the Volunteers at home in front of a solid crowd in Williams-Brice Stadium, 38-35. The loss of Lattimore sucked the life out of the fans in Columbia and it appeared as if Tennessee was going to "steal" one as they drove down the field late in the 4th quarter. However, Bray's long pass down field was intercepted by Victor Hampton and South Carolina took a knee and escaped with the win. They now get to rest up on the their bye week and hope to have everyone back at 100% (besides Lattimore) when they take on Arkansas Nov. 10th. Bray had a solid game on the road tossing for 368 yards, 4 TDs and 1 INT, but the Gamecocks defense came out on the winning side on two late Tennessee drives and secured the victory. The win proved to be much bigger than the Gamecocks imagined. With the Florida loss, they technically aren't exactly out of the equation for winning the SEC East. More on that later on.
The Kansas State bandwagon picked up some more speed this weekend as the Wildcats took down Texas Tech, 55-24. Collin Klein had another strong showing throwing for 2 TDS and rushing for 2 more on the ground. This guy is the real deal and is the front runner for the Heisman. Not sure how anyone would be able to beat him out with the year he's had thus far. The Wildcats are now 8-0 and have accumulated three straight wins over top 15 opponents. This is a talented group of football players and they will without a doubt have an argument for being in the national title game if they win out the rest of the way, which....I think they will. The Wildcats have have proven the last few weeks they are legit and can hang with the big dogs of college football. I'm interested to see how they would fair against an Alabama or Florida defense but I think either way this team would make plays. They've done it all year long, but can they do it on the biggest stage of all against Alabama or Oregon? Only time will tell.
Clemson kept its ACC title dreams alive Thursday night going into Winston-Salem and having no trouble with the Demon Deacons, 42-13. The Tigers led 35-7 at halftime and QB Tajh Boyd broke the school record for passing yards in a game with 428. (5 Touchdowns) One of those big plays came on a hook-up with Sammy Watkins on a 61 yard play that showed us what we've been waiting to see all year long from the sophomore. The Tiger defense and secondary especially did fairly well against Wake Forest. There were some missed assignments here and there but for a group that had little experience, they did well. WR Adam Humphries also showed some promise and we will likely see more of him on the defensive side of the ball down the stretch. Both Peake and Bryant both stepped up and had touchdown catches in the win as well. The 7-1 Tigers now prepare for a Saturday night date in Durham with the Blue Devils. The early line on that match-up is 14.5 as of Monday night.
Florida was set to clinch the SEC East if they could have beaten their rival, Georgia. However, the Gators suffered 6 turnovers (including 4 fumbles and 2 interceptions) plaguing their chances and the Bulldogs came out on the winning side, 17-9. Gurley had a big day racking up 118 yards on the ground and 1 touchdown. The UGA defense led by Jarvis Jones, stood tall and forced Florida into bad plays all day long. This game makes the East race a lot more interesting. Florida could have clinched the East outright with a win over Georgia. Now things get a little more cloudy with Georgia in the back round and South Carolina on their heels. It will be interesting to see how the Gators will react to their first loss of the year and a loss to their rival. Will they hang their heads and let UGA beat them twice? We will see when they take the field back at home against Missouri.
Well I guess its time to admit I was wrong cause after Saturday's display, it is clear that Notre Dame is worthy of getting some BCS praise. Not only did the Irish go into Oklahoma and get a win, they dominated the Sooners and left no doubt that they were the better team scoring 17 unanswered points in the 4th to secure the 30-13 win. The Irish defense gave Oklahoma no breathing room holding the Sooners to an average of 0.6 yards per carry and a total of just 15 yards on 24 total carries. Cierre Wood had the highlight of the night on a 61 yard rushing TD that gave the Irish their first score of the game. I've been doubting this team all year and waiting for them to trip up but they keep getting the job done and proving me wrong. Well, I'm tired of being wrong and I'm starting to "drink the Kool-Aid". These guys are legit and should be playing in a BCS bowl game when its all said and done.
Oregon keeps doing what its done all year long, blowing out its opponent, this time dropping 56 first half points en route to a 70-14 old school beat down at the expense of Colorado. The Ducks seem to look better almost every week and simply aren't even facing legitimate competition. The Black Mamba De-Anthony Thomas showed the nation once again how lethal he can be taking a punt return 73 yards to the house early in the first quarter. The Ducks scored early and often and had control from kickoff to the final whistle. With 21 straight games with at least 30 points, Oregon is now only one game away from tying the FBS record held by 06-07 Hawaii team as well as the Oklahoma State teams from 2010-2012. Oregon faces a test as it takes on USC next week. The game will not be quite as anticipated with the Trojans falling to Arizona Saturday but nevertheless it should be a solid game with a great atmosphere. Can the Ducks keep the streak going?
In other college football news, Auburn lost yet another one falling to Texas A&M 63-21.That makes it five straight losses for the Tigers and you better believe that the fans are getting rowdy. The question is will Chizik be gone after the season is "officially over" in November? ...cause lets face it, its already over. With UGA and Alabama still on the schedule, the Tigers have to hope they can take care of New Mexico State and Alabama A&M to try and salvage the scraps that are left from this season. Another interesting stat I saw the other day is that Chizik and Cam Newton are a combined 2-13 this season. Ouch. Funny how quickly times have changed for those two. Cam Newton will get it back together and the Panthers will have a better season next year but I'm not so sure Chizik will get the opportunity. The fact that there was big buyout for Tuberville plays into his hands as right now, Auburn literally may not be able to afford another coach at the moment. That being said, you can't go 1-7 and win less in SEC play at Auburn and not expect to catch a lot of heat. In other news, Washington pulled another big upset at home Saturday knocking off then-undefeated Oregon State 20-17. Duke was no match for the Seminoles and fell in conference play 48-7. Alabama kept its streak alive and handled the Bulldogs of Miss St., 38-7. Arizona upset #9 USC 39-36 and Texas rallied to beat Kansas 21-17. This week I went 8-3 making my overall season record 78-29. Halloween is Wednesday so that means Thanksgiving is right around the corner and that can only mean one thing around these parts...Clemson/South Carolina along with other major rivalries will be taking place soon. With BCS implications in many of these rivalry match-ups, its going to be an exciting end to the 2012 regular season!
Clemson kept its ACC title dreams alive Thursday night going into Winston-Salem and having no trouble with the Demon Deacons, 42-13. The Tigers led 35-7 at halftime and QB Tajh Boyd broke the school record for passing yards in a game with 428. (5 Touchdowns) One of those big plays came on a hook-up with Sammy Watkins on a 61 yard play that showed us what we've been waiting to see all year long from the sophomore. The Tiger defense and secondary especially did fairly well against Wake Forest. There were some missed assignments here and there but for a group that had little experience, they did well. WR Adam Humphries also showed some promise and we will likely see more of him on the defensive side of the ball down the stretch. Both Peake and Bryant both stepped up and had touchdown catches in the win as well. The 7-1 Tigers now prepare for a Saturday night date in Durham with the Blue Devils. The early line on that match-up is 14.5 as of Monday night.
Oregon keeps doing what its done all year long, blowing out its opponent, this time dropping 56 first half points en route to a 70-14 old school beat down at the expense of Colorado. The Ducks seem to look better almost every week and simply aren't even facing legitimate competition. The Black Mamba De-Anthony Thomas showed the nation once again how lethal he can be taking a punt return 73 yards to the house early in the first quarter. The Ducks scored early and often and had control from kickoff to the final whistle. With 21 straight games with at least 30 points, Oregon is now only one game away from tying the FBS record held by 06-07 Hawaii team as well as the Oklahoma State teams from 2010-2012. Oregon faces a test as it takes on USC next week. The game will not be quite as anticipated with the Trojans falling to Arizona Saturday but nevertheless it should be a solid game with a great atmosphere. Can the Ducks keep the streak going?
In other college football news, Auburn lost yet another one falling to Texas A&M 63-21.That makes it five straight losses for the Tigers and you better believe that the fans are getting rowdy. The question is will Chizik be gone after the season is "officially over" in November? ...cause lets face it, its already over. With UGA and Alabama still on the schedule, the Tigers have to hope they can take care of New Mexico State and Alabama A&M to try and salvage the scraps that are left from this season. Another interesting stat I saw the other day is that Chizik and Cam Newton are a combined 2-13 this season. Ouch. Funny how quickly times have changed for those two. Cam Newton will get it back together and the Panthers will have a better season next year but I'm not so sure Chizik will get the opportunity. The fact that there was big buyout for Tuberville plays into his hands as right now, Auburn literally may not be able to afford another coach at the moment. That being said, you can't go 1-7 and win less in SEC play at Auburn and not expect to catch a lot of heat. In other news, Washington pulled another big upset at home Saturday knocking off then-undefeated Oregon State 20-17. Duke was no match for the Seminoles and fell in conference play 48-7. Alabama kept its streak alive and handled the Bulldogs of Miss St., 38-7. Arizona upset #9 USC 39-36 and Texas rallied to beat Kansas 21-17. This week I went 8-3 making my overall season record 78-29. Halloween is Wednesday so that means Thanksgiving is right around the corner and that can only mean one thing around these parts...Clemson/South Carolina along with other major rivalries will be taking place soon. With BCS implications in many of these rivalry match-ups, its going to be an exciting end to the 2012 regular season!
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