What We Learned: Week 10

Week 10 Review 

Roll Tide, Roll! 

I expected another boring defensive struggle between these two teams on Saturday and until the Clemson game went final I did not even bother flipping the channel to watch the game. But luckily for me, things got really interesting just as I switched over halfway through the 3rd quarter. It appeared, for a moment, that LSU was going to pull the upset. But as I tweeted in the 4th quarter, I just had a feeling that someway Alabama was going to find a way to come back and win....and they did. That is what champions do. Even in the midst of playing against a hostile crowd and talented team and having all the momentum building up against them, they were able to deliver the knockout blow via a T.J. Yeldon 28-yard catch and run that put Bama ahead 21-17 with just 0:51 seconds left in the game. QB AJ McCarron grew up a lot Saturday and showed poise and leadership and led his team to huge win going 14-27 for 165 yards and also rushing for another TD from 9 yards out. Alabama is sitting pretty right now atop of the SEC and welcomes TAMU to town next weekend. At this point I would be extremely surprised if they don't win out and win the SEC Championship.

Don't forget about UGA

Since looking like a JV team at a 1A high school against South Carolina, UGA has looked  much better and are now only one win away from clinching the SEC East. If they can beat Auburn on Saturday, they will punch their ticket to the SEC championship where they will, baring some crazy turn of events, face Alabama. On Saturday, the Bulldogs allowed Ole Miss to hang around for a while and actually trailed them, but in the end, it was clear who was the better team with the rebels falling in Athens 37-10. Murray led the way for UGA on 21-28 for 384 yards passing and 4 TDs. Gurley had another strong outing rushing for 117 yards on 16 carries. UGA had trailed Ole Miss 10-0 before scoring the next 37 points in the game and sending the rebels packing. There was a article that came out last week predicting a UGA-Clemson showdown in the Sugar Bowl....I can't tell you how pumped I would be for that. A nice preview of the home and away series we (Clemson) have with them starting next season in Death Valley.

When it comes to football, Duke is still Duke 

During Duke's Pregame show, they were noted saying that "Clemson's receivers were not as good as FSU's and that would help them pull the upset." Not sure if word reached Clemson right before kickoff or not, but Boyd tore apart the Blue Devils secondary passing for four, yes FOUR TD passes in the 1st quarter alone. Three of the touchdowns were to Deandre Hopkins and Clemson made it look easy. Boyd has grown up a great deal since last year it and its showing. The Tigers are averaging 40 plus points per game and along with Oregon are the only teams that have scored at least 35 points in their last eight games. The Tigers racked up 718 yards of offense and had no trouble moving the ball against Duke. Clemson is now 8-1 overall and prepare for Homecoming against Maryland who is just trying to make it to the off-season alive. Along with having to play their 5th string QB...who had been playing LB, they also lost their team leading tackler, D. Hartsfield with a torn ACL. Times are rough in College Park right now though I expect we will still get their best shot in Death Valley this weekend. Duke can still make it to the ACC Championship but Clemson has to hope VT can knock off FSU for Clemson to take the first place seat. But as I mentioned, if Clemson can win out, they put themselves in position to snag an at-large BCS bid with a 11-1 record. It should be fun three weeks to close out the regular season.

High Scoring Showdown

Oregon and USC had a high scoring boxing match but the Ducks persevered and survived in large part thanks to Kenjon Barner who scored 5 TDs on 321 yards. He simply could not be stopped, those are absurd numbers...video game numbers. But they are real. Barkley's play helped keep USC in the game (485 yards, 4 TDs 2 INTs) but it wasn't meant to be. Oregon would survive 62-51 and take one big step closer to the BCS title game. Barner helped prove he is Heisman worthy and with Klein nursing and injury, this could be his chance to "steal" the trophy at the end of the season. The most telling stat of the game was total offense, USC earned 615 yards while Oregon added 730 to combine for 1,345 yards. That is a lot of yards, folks. Hard to believe both teams were able to rack up some many yards and light up the scoreboard the way they did. Its a tough blow for USC who now has three losses at 6-3 after having so much hype for a big year coming into the season.

Other News From the Weekend....

 West Virginia fell in double overtime on a 2-point conversion to TCU 39-38. After looking like BCS contenders Geno Smith and company have lost three striaght, and two of the games were blowouts. Kansas State outlasted Oklahoma State 44-30, but have possibly lost QB Collin Klein. ND stayed perfect by knocking off Pitt, 29-26. Florida escaped the upset and beat Missouri 14-7. Texas A&M hammered Miss St, 38-13. Texas knocked off Texas Tech, 31-22. A late TD put Nebraska past Michigan St, 28-24. Miami rocked VT 30-12 on Thursday night. UVA took out some frustration on a struggling NCST team, 33-6. Tennessee avoided the upset against Troy, 55-48. Vanderbilt blanked Kentucky 40-0 and Joker Phillips was told he would not return as head coach next season. Finally, OSU rocked Illinois, 52-22. This week I went 11-2 overall to improve my overall record for the season to 89-31. Looking forward to Week 11!