Since there will be no Football Fridays for the next two weeks, let me take a moment today to review football stuff from last weekend. I’ll start in college football…
The Linfield College Wildcats won their first-round game in the Division III college football playoffs beating Pomona-Pitzer 51-24. This week the Wildcats welcome Bethel to McMinnville, OR for a “Sweet-16 level” game. Go Wildcats!
Vandy beat Florida 31-24. Maybe Vandy’s upset of Kentucky two weeks ago was not as big a surprise as it seemed at the time. Vandy needs one more win to get to a bowl game – – but that last game is against Tennessee and the Vols should be up for that game because…
Tennessee lost badly to a mediocre South Carolina team 63-38. Tennessee had been ranked #6 in the nation going into that game. No longer…
Arkansas beat Ole Miss 42-27. Ole Miss will get a bowl bid – – but the quality of the bid they will get went down as of the conclusion of that game.
Michigan beat Illinois 19-17. This was a lot closer than the oddsmakers thought it would be. Illinois led 17-10 at the start of the 4th quarter but could not hold on for an upset win.
TCU beat Baylor 29-28. TCU remains undefeated and in the conversation as a CFP participant. This was not a pretty win for the Horned Frogs – – but a win is a win.
K-State beat W. Virginia 48-31 to maintain its shot at playing TCU in the big-12 Championship Game. There was an oddity in this game:
- K-State led 28-19 at the end of the first quarter.
USC beat UCLA 48-45 in a game devoid of defense. The Trojans are now ranked #5 in the country.
Oregon beat Utah 20-17 ending any hopes the Utes may have had for competing in the CFP.
Texas A&M managed to beat UMass 20-3 which is an embarrassingly close game for the Aggies. So, here is a quick quiz:
- What was the more disastrous investment?
- Putting your money in crypto on FTX – – or – –
- Hiring Jimbo Fisher for $105M?
Moving on to some quick looks at NFL results …
The Cowboys beat the Vikes 40-3. What to make of that game? My thought is that the Vikes are not that bad, and the Cowboys are not that good. Both teams will make the NFC Playoffs and if they meet again the game will not be decided by more than 5 TDs.
The Pats beat the Jets 10-3; the game was decided on an 84-yard punt return with 5 seconds left in the game. Up to that point this game was nothing more than ugly. Consider just a couple stats from that game:
- 11 “drives” started by both teams ended up as three-and-out
- 19 total first downs in the game – – both teams combined
- 10 QB sacks recorded in the game
Just an observation but Zach Wilson throws a lot of passes off his back foot – even when he does not have to as a way to avoid being hit in the throwing process. Yes, I know that Aaron Rodgers does this, and Patrick Mahomes does this too – – but the much more effective way to throw a football for most human beings is to step into the throw and not to throw off the back foot. Perhaps someone might want to work with Wilson on those mechanics?
The Eagles rallied in the 4th quarter to beat the Colts 17-16. It was the defense that won this game for the Eagles keeping it close until the offense decided to wake up in the final 10 minutes of the game.
The Commanders beat the Texans 23-10. As the teams left the field at halftime, the Texans Total Offense for the first half of the game was 5 yards – – or 180 inches.
I said last week that I thought the Giants were shoo-ins for the playoffs unless they got hit with a rash of injuries. Maybe I jinxed the Giants. Last week, they lost to the Lions 31-18 and lost 6 players during the game to injuries – – on top of having 4 other starters out for the game.
The Ravens beat the Panthers 13-3 scoring late in the game to provide the margin of victory. Actually, Baker Mayfield threw 2 INTs in the 4th quarter of the game to assure defeat for the Panthers.
The Chiefs rallied in the final two minutes to score a TD and beat the Chargers 30-27. As usual, Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert put on an entertaining show for fans.
The Niners dominated the Cards in Mexico City 38-10 – – and it was not that close. Right now, I think the Niners are playing the best football in the NFC.
Finally, apropos of nothing, let me close with this remark by Fred Allen:
“Hollywood is a place where people from Iowa mistake each other for movie stars.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
I think you may want to look at University of Washington’s QB Michael Penix, who has thrown for 3,869 yards and 26 TDs against 6 interceptions. Plus, the Washington State Cougars stand waiting in Pullman (where?) to derail the 9 – 2 purple-and-gold.
TenaciousP:
Penix had some very good days with Indiana before using the Transfer Portal to get to Seattle and the Huskies. The onlyh negative thing I would say about his stats is that there are no “great defenses” in the PAC-12 this year; three of the top teams (Oregon, USC and UCLA) are weak on defense.