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Ten Piece Nuggets-NCAA Football

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The beginning of the work week is upon us.  And, the beginning of almost exclusive NCAA football conference play is also upon us.  You have to take care of business every Saturday in conference play.  If you don’t, someone will be there to take food off of your table.  Here are ten nuggets for your breakfast table to kick start your week.

  1.  A week ago we called the lack of movement in the top ten “frankly boring.”  Like the weather, that changed this past Saturday.  The new AP top 25 is out.  And, Alabama took care of it’s business to remain # 1 with a solid conference road victory over the Texas A&M Aggies 47-28.  Tua T threw his first pick of the year and Alabama had 11 penalties accepted against them.  That’ll make this week’s practice for the Tide anything but frankly boring when Saban tears into his team.
  2. And, previous #5 became this week’s #2.  The fighting Tigers of LSU trailed a talented Florida team after one drive in the third quarter 28-21.  But from there for real Heisman candidate Joe Burrow took over on offense, and Dave Aranda’s leaky defense took over Florida’s offense.  LSU scored 21 unanswered to secure a 42-28 win.  It was it’s second win of the year over a top ten team.  Apparently the voters were impressed.
  3. Clemson and THE Ohio St. University slid one spot each to #3 and #4 respectively.  Clemson rolled a below average Florida St. team 45-14, while THE took the week off after it stymied an offensively challenged Michigan St team 34-10 the week prior.
  4. Oklahoma fans are hot.  The now #5 Sooners beat the then #11 ranked Texas Longhorns by seven points.  Oklahoma feels like they should be ranked higher.  If their Red River Rivalry score would have better reflected how they dominated Texas between the 20’s, maybe they would be.  Jalen Hurts dazzled at times and at others made poor decisions.  The only ranked team left on the Sooner’s schedule is down the road with #18 Baylor.  They’ll need some help to climb.  And, they’ll likely get it.
  5. Knock knock.  Who’s there?  The Big 10.  The Big 10 who?  The Big 10 who now have Wisconsin at #6 and Penn St. at  #7 to go along with THE at #4.  Wisconsin shut out said offensively challenged Michigan St. 38-0.  It’s Whisky’s fourth shutout in six games.  On the year they have allowed a mere 29 points in total.  Impressive.  Penn St. held off offensively challenged Iowa in Iowa 17-12.   Iowa has scored 18, 3, and 12 in conference games worth mentioning.  Thirty against Rutgers doesn’t count for much.
  6. The loud thud you heard was Georgia falling from #3 to #10.  We stated above that you have to take care of business every Saturday in conference play.  If you don’t, someone will be there to take food off of your table.   The Gamecocks of South Carolina took away UGA’s dog bowl and did so between the Athens’ hedges.    It’s a big win for Will Muschamp’s continued tenure at SC.  It’s a big loss for Kirby Smart’s team.  They’ll now need to beat Florida, win the SEC East, and beat the West opponent in the SEC Championship Game to have any shot at barking about inclusion in the playoffs.
  7.  Notre Dame sits somewhat quietly at #8.  Georgia beat them a few weeks ago.  We aren’t sure how they get the #8 spot, two ahead of Georgia.  But, Georgia only has Georgia to blame.  The Irish ran for over 300 yards in South Bend, and held on at the wire to defeat a game USC team.
  8.  Oregon remains the highest ranked PAC 12 team checking in at #12.  They’ve been impressive after a season opening loss to Auburn.  Don’t believe us?  Ask Colorado who got worked on both sides of the ball in a 45-3 wipe out.  On defense, the Ducks lead the conference with an average of 8.7 points per game surrendered. Oregon does face a test in Week 8 — a road trip to No. 25 Washington that is a must-win if the Ducks look to keep any shot at the playoff alive. The Ducks are a 2 1/2 point early week favorite.
  9. Who else remains undefeated after seven weeks?  If you said Boise St #14, Baylor #18,  SMU #19, Minnesota #20, and Appalachian St. #24 you’ve been watching too much college ball.  Is there a 2017 UCF type run in one of them?  We don’t know.  But, don’t sleep on Baylor.  Their schedule toughens from here.  But, Texas and Oklahoma both have to travel to Waco.
  10.  Congrats to Tennessee for getting an SEC win 20-10 over the Mississippi St. Bulldogs.  The season opening loss to Georgia St. stings a wee bit less now.  The Volunteers should not celebrate for very long, however.  They travel to Tuscaloosa this weekend for their yearly “natural rival” game v. Alabama.  Bama is a big 34 1/2 point favorite to kick around the team with the blue tick hound.  Big spreads litter the Vegas Strip this week.  Ohio St, Clemson, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and LSU  are favored over conference opponents by 27, 23, 29, 33, and 19 points respectively.

It’s a quick 4 days till Friday.