November 3, 2016 v3 p61
Week nine in college football had a bunch of great games on the schedule. Some were conference rivalries, and others were among top ranked teams. There were some surprises, and some more evidence as to what some teams are, but most importantly the first ranking by the playoff committee came out afterward.
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Michigan – Jim Harbaugh took his Wolverines to East Lansing trying to exact some revenge for a last second special teams mistake that cost them a victory last season over their in-state rival. This game started out looking like it was going to be the blow out that the betting line and many media people thought it was going to be. In the second half Michigan looked like a tired team, like a team that hasn’t had to play its starters on defense for a full four quarters. They did make key stops when needed and Jabrill Peppers put the game away with a last second two-point-conversion fumble return where he really showed off world class sprinter speed.
Michigan State – The Spartans took the opening kick-off and ran the ball right down the field against the Wolverines to take an early 7-0 lead. They struggle the rest of the first half, but on the strength of an inspired team against their rival and on the back of RB L.J. Scott they made it an interesting game. I said early in the season that Scott was their best runner, and he proved that this week, but he should have been given that chance weeks ago.
Ohio State – The Buckeyes hosted Northwestern as a follow up to their stunning loss against Penn State last week. They opened up a lead early and were able to hold on for a 24-20 victory. Some people are saying that Ohio State may not be as good as initially advertised, I agree some, but Northwestern may be a lot better than anyone thought they were.
Wisconsin – The Badgers hosted the game of the week in the B1G as they welcomed Nebraska to Camp Randall Stadium. An early lead quickly went away in the second half and the game was forced into overtime. The strength of the Wisconsin team, the defense, really showed up in the overtime, forcing a sack to win the game as the Corn Huskers attempted to tie it in the first overtime period.
Alabama – The Crimson Tide scheduled their bye week for week nine. Is that a coincidence coming right before their rivalry game against LSU, I don’t think so. The Tigers haven’t lived up to their preseason ranking, but Nick Saban better watch out because LSU controls their own destiny to the SEC Championship game.
Notre Dame – The Fighting Irish welcomed the University of Miami (FL) in a renewal of “The Catholics vs. The Convicts.” The Hurricanes aren’t what they used to be on or off the field but sure showed resiliency after falling behind 20-0 early. Notre Dame had their best finish of the season with a 10-0 run of their own after falling behind 27-20, and came away with their third victory of the season, keeping their faint bowl hopes alive.
Clemson – The Tigers faced the last team in their conference that really stood a chance to upset the defending conference champs. The Florida State Seminoles showed portions of why they were ranked in the top five early on in the season. Clemson took over in the fourth quarter though, showing why they’re still ranked in the top five after week nine.
Washington – The Huskies traveled to Salt Lake City to take on the Utes of Utah (yup, the Utes). This was a back and forth game as Utah had an answer for most of what Washington was able to throw at them. Ultimately the Huskies were able to put it away in the fourth quarter, as any good team should be able to.
Oklahoma – The Sooners are surprisingly the last undefeated team in conference play after both teams I was wondering if they would take hold of the conference, Baylor and West Virginia, were upset over the weekend. The only losses Oklahoma has are non-conference games against Houston, who isn’t looking as good as they were, and Ohio State, ditto. With as much of a mess as the Big 12 is both one loss teams on the Sooner schedule, Baylor and West Virginia, may not be as close as one might have thought they would be a couple of weeks ago.
Western Michigan – The Broncos rowed their boats to Scheumann Stadium in Muncie, Indiana for some Tuesday night MACtion. They opened up the scoring early with a pick six from their top cornerback, Junior Darius Phillips. The rest of the game PJ Fleck allowed his quarterback to throw the ball where he wanted, as long as it was to Corey Davis, who set a conference single game receiving record with 272 yards.
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By the time kickoff game in East Lansing at noon the betting line on the battle for the Paul Bunyan trophy was up to 24.5 points. I never thought that was realistic. The Spartans looked like a team that was inspired by the rivalry and really brought everything they had to the game. I mentioned before that Michigan looked tired in the second half. This marks the second straight game where they’ve struggled a little after the bands perform. That’s a small downside to being able to rest your players early in the season, it starts to show effect their conditioning. Ultimately the Wolverines have way too much talent and were severely overmatched. In speaking with some Spartan fans, they agree with me and wonder why L.J. Scott hasn’t had a bigger role this year. He certainly looks like a Spartan back in the likes of Jevon Ringer and Le’Veon Bell.
The first rankings by the College Football Playoff committee were released on Tuesday. It was a bit surprising to see unbeaten Washington fall to number five behind on loss Texas A&M. Surprising, but not necessarily wrong. The Aggies only loss came at the hands of the top team in the nation, Alabama. These rankings show us how the committee see the conferences rank in their eyes. The B1G, SEC, and ACC all have five teams in the top 25. The Big 12 and PAC 12 each have four and Western Michigan and Boise State are the two teams ranked from “the other 5.” With Texas A&M getting the nod over Washington is shows that the committee feels the SEC is the strongest conference in the land. There isn’t a whole lot of evidence to show that Washington deserves to be ranked ahead of them.
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November brings cold weather, leaves to rake, and Thanksgiving. It also brings some of the best games of the year that couldn’t have been predicted as big back in September, I can’t wait.
The Sporting Dad 