College Football Superlatives from Kramer's Korner: The Painful Game
The college football season is rife with agony. With so much emotion poured into each week—from the fans, to the coaches to the players—disappointment is inevitable. For this entire operation to run smoothly, teams need to lose. Expectations must shatter. Hearts are required to break.
For teams hanging their hopes on the bigger picture—Georgia and West Virginia, for example—disappointment worked its way into the picture based strictly on results, or more specifically, a lack thereof. Although each suffered defeat in different ways during Week 10, the aftertaste is bitter for all.
Arkansas, meanwhile, has endured the full gauntlet of dissatisfaction. The latest in a run of almosts came against Mississippi State—the nation’s current No. 1—although the Razorbacks’ hopes fell short as Brandon Allen’s attempt at a game-tying touchdown ended up in the hands of the wrong team. There is nothing left to be said at this point; if you know an Arkansas fan, buy them a drink. It won’t serve as a worthy consolation, but it can’t hurt.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
And then there is the football pain where actual physical pain is involved, and there is nothing that comes close to matching this anguish. As Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday—the nation’s leading passer—and superb Ole Miss sophomore wide receiver Laquon Treadwell lay on the ground, their lower legs mangled, the definition of pain was put in perspective.
Each player suffered gruesome, season-ending injuries on Saturday in defeat. Halliday’s production-crazed collegiate career is now over after an ugly play against USC, while Treadwell was awkwardly pulled to the ground a foot before finding the end zone against Auburn late in the fourth quarter. The resulting fumble all but ended the Rebels’ College Football Playoff run.
Regardless of circumstance, disappointment makes itself felt in various degrees. Perspective is gained when the well-being of one of your own suddenly trumps all discussions of conference standings and playoff resumes. When these events are somehow interconnected, however, the conversation shifts entirely.
We sign up for this, and in many ways, it makes the celebrations that much more euphoric. And even through the sadness, optimism seems to triumph given limited time to reflect.
"Injuries part of the game we love to play, god has a plan for everyone & with that plan come obstacles. Keep your faith & jump the hurdle!
— Laquon Treadwell (@SuccessfulQuon) November 2, 2014"
Offensive Player of the Week: Brian Hill, Wyoming
Hello, America. Meet Brian Hill. He was the nation’s No. 167 running back recruit in the class of 2014, per 247Sports, which is why you likely haven't heard of the Wyoming freshman.
Hill has taken on a more significant workload in the past two weeks, and the experiment has worked out lovely. Entering Week 10, Hill had only 48 carries, 28 of which came last weekend against Colorado State. Against Fresno State, however, Hill exploded.
In the Cowboys’ 45-17 victory, Hill carried the ball 23 times for 281 yards and two touchdowns. To complete the video game performance, he added three catches for 106 yards. His 387 yards set a single-game Mountain West record.
Not bad at all. Please shake his hand and remember his name.
Dominant Defender: Zach Patt, Rice
Hello again, America. Meet Zach Patt. Hopefully you’ve loosened up to the idea of embracing new stars, because I’m not sure we’ve seen a defensive surge quite like this one.
Patt, a senior defensive end at Rice, entered Saturday having totaled three sacks, seven tackles for loss and three forced fumbles for his career. Take that previous box score production and throw it away; it’ll do you no good now. Not after a five-sack performance.
Yes, Patt finished with five sacks and doubled his career forced-fumble output, forcing three in 60 minutes against FIU. His 6.5 sacks for the season now put him in a tie at No. 20 in the nation. His three forced fumbles put him in a tie at No. 10 overall.
It doesn’t matter if it came against FIU—most of us would struggle to come away with a five-sack performance against air.
Video Game Box Score
—Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs had himself a day. The sophomore threw for 301 yards, ran for 166 more and scored five touchdowns. Maybe most impressive, however, is that his video game-esque showing forced Steve Spurrier to walk out of a press conference in less than one minute. More on that in a bit.
—Duke and Pittsburgh, coming off a 58-55 hoops-ish finish in 2013, did it again. The Blue Devils got their revenge in double overtime, beating the Panthers 51-48. Beyond the 99 points, the two teams combined for 1,032 yards, 530 rushing yards and 62 first downs. It doesn't scream must-see on paper, but the matchup going forward is just that. Guaranteed weirdness.
Anti-Video Game Box Score
—Georgia State did not give up 600 yards rushing as it did last week, which was a positive after last weekend's destruction. The Panthers still allowed more than 469 yards on the ground, which still counts as improvement, I suppose. The rest of the game against Appalachian State, however, was not.
—East Carolina outgained Temple by nearly 300 yards of total offense, although the ranked Pirates never stood a chance. Doing its best Pitt impression, ECU lost five fumbles. As a result, Temple’s 135 total yards and 70 yards passing were good enough to upset a team in the College Football Playoff Top 25.
—Oh, Team. I thought you were so much better than this. Behold what a few bad snaps can do to your rushing totals, courtesy of North Carolina.
Biggest Surprise: Part 1
Gary Pinkel’s response was the only appropriate response. It was your response, my response and the only reasonable reaction to a positive Florida football development. Following Missouri’s win against Kentucky, Pinkel received news that his Tigers were in first place in the SEC East after the Gators took down Georgia.
He then laughed.
When you lose to Indiana and you still control your own SEC East fate, what other expression is there?
Biggest Surprise: Part 2
You don't see a team refusing to shake hands with its opponent very often. Maryland indeed pulled this maneuver against Penn State, which prompted a slew of outrage followed by apologies.
If I were one of the Penn State players being snubbed a greeting, my response would have been short and sweet.
"Good. I didn't really feel like shaking hands with a Medieval Times character today. Have a wonderful game and life."
Best Moment
Western Michigan finished 1-11 in P.J. Fleck’s first voyage as head coach in 2013. One year later, and the Broncos ended Week 10 at 6-3 and bowl eligible.
WMU’s 41-10 dismantling of Miami (Ohio) on the road served as yet another stepping stone for a program undergoing a serious overhaul. Behind Fleck, the 33-year-old football conductor, Western Michigan has become competitive overnight.
Oh, and he has the soundbites to match.
"We went from B to B, from toilet bowl to bowl eligible in one year with 18 freshmen and 85 percent of your roster being sophomores," Fleck said in his postgame interview (via MLive.com). "But, that's over. We wanted to get rid of that six, that big white elephant that's standing in the room, get that out of here and now we can focus on our three-game stretch with a great bye week coming up."
Keep this name in mind. You will hear it come up plenty in the coming years—perhaps even months—as jobs start to open up.
For the Highlight Reel
A team that lost 48-7, getting steamrolled from the start, also delivered the weekend’s most impressive play. Down 31 points in the third quarter, Northwestern wideout Mike McHugh provided the CATCH OF THE YEAR OF THE WEEK OF THE MOMENT.
(We tend to do this a lot, so just go along with it.)
Regardless of where this beautiful one-hander stacks up, McHugh’s effort along the sideline certainly belongs in the conversation.
Oh, and Northwestern ended up not coming away with points on this drive. Of course it didn’t.
For the Anti-Highlight Reel
Behold the worst trick-play attempt of the season, courtesy of Syracuse.
To truly appreciate it and all its failure, however, you must cue up the Price is Right horn of failure.
If the College Football Playoff Started Today... (or Why I Hate Your Team)
You know the drill. In an effort to anger the Internet masses, here is what our College Football Playoff would look like if it started today. Keep in mind, we were doing this exercise long before the selection committee decided to take over our televisions. We were here first, you see.
To add to the intrigue, we’re expanding our updated playoff to include the first four teams out.
1. Mississippi State
2. Florida State
3. Auburn
4. Oregon
Angry 1. TCU
Angry 1.2. Alabama
Angry 1.3. Kansas State
Angry 1.4. Michigan State
Five Leftovers to Chew on
1. Myles Garrett is just an absolute monster. There is no other way to put it. The true freshman defensive end broke Jadeveon Clowney’s SEC sacks record for freshmen on Saturday, and he’s now No. 3 in the nation with 11 sacks this season. Although Texas A&M needs fine-tuning in plenty of areas, it has found a dominant pass-rusher for two more seasons.
2. On the topic of youth, how about Florida State's freshmen? Dalvin Cook, Travis Rudolph and Ermon Lane each scored touchdowns in the Seminoles’ second-half comeback against Louisville, and their presence changes the outlook of the Seminoles entirely. Cook, in particular, adds an element the running game has lacked at times. He also looks as though he’s running with a rocket engine attached to his rear end.
3. Oregon indeed solved its Stanford problem with a 45-16 win on Saturday, and it did so with a straightforward blueprint. As important as quarterback Marcus Mariota is to his team, the 267 rushing yards—some of which came from the QB—will ultimately be what allows this offense to churn. A healthy Thomas Tyner and fabulous frosh Royce Freeman give the Ducks one of the nation’s best one-two attacks at the position. If they keep moving, Oregon might not lose another game.
4. Colorado has become Arkansas West. The team plays hard, grabs leads, scores points, and yet, it can’t seem to finish the drill. After a fast start against Washington, it again came undone in the second half for another loss. Part of this is simply a lack of talent, which will change if Mike MacIntyre hangs around a while longer. He’s done a fabulous job making this group competitive, however, and it will break through at some point. Perhaps as early as 2015.
5. Now the fun truly begins with the College Football Playoff selection committee. While there were no glaring omissions or major errors with the initial rankings, the nuances of the Top 25 releases to follow will be fascinating. Although we used to sit and wait for the No. 1 and No. 2 teams to lose, the movement between the No. 5 and No. 12 teams will actually matter. Controversy, ahoy.
Trick Play of the Week
Don’t ever let anyone tell you the hidden-ball trick doesn’t work. Just ask Indiana State.
Down a single point to Missouri State with less than a minute ago, the Sycamores decided it was time for some special teams tomfoolery. Not only did this bit of playground magic work, but Indiana State ended up riding this momentum to a game-winning field goal.
Mascot of the Week
There’s no good reason to dress up as a giant yellow jacket and then throw your body into a goal post without warning. Then again, there’s no good reason not to do this, either.
You do you, Buzz.
Fan of the Week
I watched this entire game. There were roughly 400 people in the stadium, and the announcers sounded like they were delivering the play-by-play from a submarine. This gentleman sitting in the upper deck deserves all the praise you can possibly give and also years and years of therapy.
Band Member of the Week
There's not much one can add to this, really.
Press Conference of the Week
Following a loss to Tennessee, South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier spent roughly 54 seconds explaining the game to reporters. He didn’t take questions. He didn’t extrapolate on the game. In fact, he just walked out.
Although we’d love to hear the Ol’ Ball Coach’s thoughts on this loss, we understand that tee times are very important and they will sometimes charge your credit card if you’re not on time. Assume this was the issue and let’s move on.
When Keepin' It Real Goes Wrong
I admire the effort out of San Jose State quarterback Joe Gray. Truthfully, I do. He did everything in his power to not take a sack and complete a pass in a tight game against Colorado State.
Unfortunately, however, the ol’ toss-it-underhand-while-being-pressured-and-falling-to-the-ground does come with a disclaimer.
When You've Got to Go, You've Got to Go
If you don't see at first glance, look again. You'll see it.
From the Peanut Gallery (Best Tweets of the Weekend)
"They need a sign for that? At #NDvsNavy pic.twitter.com/pom1n0npHE
— Robert Franklin (@TheRobFranklin) November 1, 2014"
"Go to the game dressed as a cow they said...it will be fun they said pic.twitter.com/CFGgRIu6qY
— Brady Finn (@BFinn7) November 1, 2014"
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
