College Football Thoughts: Week 13

By: Joe Cardoso

Rivalry Week is gone and it did NOT disappoint at all! We saw an EPIC battle between Michigan and Ohio State in the end the Buckeyes made plays when it mattered most. The Texas Longhorns ended a bad deal with Charlie Strong, LSU made Ed Orgeron its next head coach and the Cougars of Houston lost Tom Herman to Texas. So, all in all, pretty tame weekend huh? Just a few of the highlights and now we wait to see what the members of the College Football Playoff committee thought of the games. If you ever wondered why college football is freaking awesome this was the weekend for a reminder.

1. Michigan Vs Ohio State: Well everyone knows I am a Wolverine fan till death, and Saturday was our Super Bowl and chance to end 4 years of beatings. Wilson Speight had some bad throws and a costly fumble. YES, the refs were horrible and seemed to be Buckeye alumni BUT I feel the Wolverines left some plays on the field and should have won the game. You must give Urban Myer and his staff props for sticking with it and getting it done. J.T. Barrett was so so until it counted and he made plays with his arm and legs. A bitter loss for Michigan who I have been saying all season, in my opinion, is a year away from being a monster. The win locks up a playoff spot for OSU and maybe a rematch with Bama. I will say this as much as I love Jim Harbaugh you cannot go bonkers and get a 15-yard penalty at the point of the game he did. Elite coaches do not have that happen. A New Year’s six bowl in still in the cards just a question of which one. And I can’t stress enough with all they lost last year how impressive the Buckeyes have been this season.
2. Auburn had quarterback drama all the way leading to kickoff and to quote Linkin Park “IN the end it doesn’t even matter.” Alabama ROLLED over them in the Iron Bowl and is on to the SEC championship game and most likely a spot in the final four as well. The Tide defense was on lockdown mode and it wasn’t until 25 minutes into the game Auburn got a first down, not a typo 25 minutes! For the bama seniors, how does 49-5 record sound to you? Jalen Hurts started off playing like a true freshman but was able to bounce back and make plays. For all the hoopla Gus Malzahn gets why is quarterback such an issue lately?
3. Texas Longhorns: Native son Tom Herman comes in to try and bring a once proud program back to life. But before we go singing to the high heavens let’s take a moment to talk about how much the Longhorn athletic department screwed the Charlie Strong firing and how it came to the public. This is the type of blown opportunity we would expect from a second-rate program NOT the Longhorns. This was a bad fit from day one and I give Coach Strong a ton of credit for handling it all with nothing but class when a lesser man would have roasted them. And it won’t take long for him to bounce back and be a first-rate defensive D coordinator or head man. How long will it take Herman to get the team to play his style of ball and will the fans and alumni give him the time?
4. Everyone has that fun, happy go lucky uncle and now he is the coach at LSU with the hiring of Ed Orgeron. If he can get the right staff things just got really exciting in Baton Rouge. Shout out to the Colorado Buffalos it has been DECADES since the Buffs have been a player on the national scene. Do we need to cue the Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five? Is this the end girl for Brian Kelly at Notre Dame? But it was all good just a week ago, wasn’t it? All the 90’s kids who were college football fans how long has it been since you saw the University of Washington ballin like they are. U Dub in the building for sure!

Games I can’t wait to see

-Clemson Vs Virginia Tech: Can the Hokies pull this off?
-Wisconsin Vs Penn State: The Badgers have been tough all year, and James Franklins kids have ZERO fear should be a fist fight.
– Oklahoma State Vs Oklahoma never dull, never boring just pure BEDLAM.
Bowl bids and the final four is coming fast, let’s keep talking following our sports blog @NutsAndBoltsSP or me @Cright. Fellow Michigan fans it’s going to be all right the Suckeyes will be tamed sooner than we think.