If college football was a horse race the announcer would exclaim, “they’ve hit the far turn.”  Eight games, or two-thirds in of twelve, the games never fail to intrigue.  As they make the turn, we head to the nuggets.

1.  A speed horse is one that jumps way out front and burns out, eventually giving way to the field.  But, Alabama is no speed horse.  It’s the class of the race.  Sitting unanimously at no. 1 in the new AP Top 25, it’s looking back at the field wondering if there is a worthy challenger.  They stay in the barn this coming week prepping for a Baton Rouge run v. the now # 4 LSU Tigers.
2.  THE Ohio St. wasn’t running a clean race for weeks, but was still rambling down the backstretch in second.  They were. Purdue handed them their third loss in three years to an inferior Big 10 opponent.   The Boilermakers of Purdue kicked mud in THE’s eye.  THE fell back hard to 11th.  If they win out and beat Michigan in the season finale, who knows?
3. Clemson jockeyed to second with a convincing romp of undefeated pretender North Carolina St.  Clemson wants everyone to know that they still own the ACC.  In a distant second in the ACC is, well, North Carolina St. The Wolfpack dropped back to 23.
4.  Notre Dame is 3 and LSU, off of an uneven but defensively dominating 19-3 win over Mississippi St., now holds the coveted 4th spot.  They’ll likely hold it next week too as they lick their wounds from a tough early track with an off week as well.  Alabama visits on 11/3.  One would wager that College Gameday will visit on 11/3 as well.
5. Michigan, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Florida make up the next five through nine.  They are all tightly bunched and one or two could break free as we soon turn for home.  They all have one loss.  Michigan stands out though.  They are lurking at 5.  The Wolverines allowed a meager, paltry, miserly 94 total yards to decent in state rival Michigan St. Their only loss was in week one to the Fighting Irish, and is a minor blemish now.
6. One of Georgia and Florida will be put out to pasture as far as title aspirations go this weekend.  The “Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” that you cannot call “The Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” anymore gets served straight with ice on Saturday.  The #9 Gators opened yesterday as a nine-point dog to the Bulldogs.
7.  UCF wants to know if anyone cares to notice that they are #10.  It seems not.  They seem to only run in claiming races.  And, no one claims them.   They really need to schedule stronger out of conference foes.
8.  For 13 years no one noticed Washington St. either.  For 216 straight weeks of GameDay shows, someone’s shown up to wave a giant Washington State flag, no matter how far away from Pullman, WA.  On this past Saturday, college football took notice and Oregon paid for it as 20k plus Washington St. faithful watched the ESPN show on campus.  Then, even more watched the show that Mike Leach’s team put on .  The final was 34-27 Cougars over the Ducks of Oregon, but the first half Cougar domination was impressive.  They bolted all the way up to 13th.  It’s the highest ranked PAC 10 team.  That’s good for them and not so good for the left coast.
9. Hello Appalachian St.  Is there a more appropriate nickname than the Mountaineers?

   

   They are ranked for the first time ever at 25.  After being a major thorn in then called D-1 schools for a long while, the Mountaineers joined the FBS in 2014.   They play in the Sun Belt Conference if you don’t know, and sport a 3-0 record in bowl games thus far.  ‘Where are they from,’ you ask?  Well, they hail from proud Boone, NC. of course.

10. The SEC has spots 1,4,7,9,12, and 16 this week.  Wow!  Over the final month they’ll beat each other up as almost all games left are in the divisions inside of the conference.  One stands way out, while some of the others hope to ascend to greater notoriety.
11. (or plus one)  Some early lines are out.  Missouri -6 hosts Kentucky.  It almost seems like the wrong team is favored.  Almost.  Washington St. is a 3 point road dog to Stanford.   The happy Cougars need to avoid a low after the Pullman high.  NC St is a one point dog at Syracuse.  The one loss Wolfpack get little respect.  Maybe they haven’t earned much?  Clemson is a 17 point road favorite over Florida St.  WWBBS?  What Would Bobby Bowden Say?

Till five days from now.

And, quickly, five weeks are in the textbooks in college football.  There is a lot to chew on.  Let’s go straight to the nuggets.

1.  Bama rolled.  Georgia keeps chugging right along.  THE Ohio St. came back with a vengeance to make Happy Valley (The “Happy Valley” is a nickname for the State College area. Apparently, the term was coined during the Great Depression when the town was not hit as hard by the economic situation due to Penn State University’s influence.) not so happy.  And Clemson struggled but survived at home.  Despite that struggle these are the four highest rated teams in the new AP Poll and rightfully so.  At the moment they seem a bit separated from the others.
2.  Clemson wears orange, but the Orangemen from Syracuse nearly peeled Clemson from any title aspirations as unwelcome visitors.  Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence should be ready to go this week after a brutal hit Saturday.  Syracuse has become the Power 5 team that no one wants to play anymore.  They will “scrap you for a ball” as Les Miles once said.
3. There are about 4 or so “want to be’s” below these four teams.  One of them is Notre Dame.  They sent Stanford, the Cardinal, and it’s Tree back to Cali rather rudely.   How good is ND?  Good enough to beat now #14 Stanford and now #15 Michigan.   They head to Va Tech Saturday.   They have an opportunity to climb as those above have a tougher stretch run.
4.  Another one is Oklahoma.  They scored 1.1 points per minute, 66 in all, in demolishing Baylor.  This week they get resurgent Texas in the Red River Shootout, er Showdown, er Rivalry.  Depending on how politically correct you are, you can call it what you want.   ESPN College Gameday will be there.  If Coach Lee Corso picks Oklahoma as the winner, DUCK.
5. West Virginia is yet another.  They went into Lubbock and took care of a team that contenders must take care of in Texas Tech.  They held on at 42-34 after owning a 35-10 halftime lead.  They are undefeated, ranked 9th, and have both Red River Rivalry teams still ahead.  The opportunity is there and the strength of schedule would make for a good case if they ran through it.  Do they have enough D? We will see.
6.  Perhaps LSU is the fourth other.  The boomboomsroom.com staff sat through a constant light rain to see them throttle Ole Miss 45-16 to up their season mark to 5-0.  They say it never rains in Tiger Stadium.  They fibbed.  Ole Miss isn’t good.  Their defense is offensive.  Vegas isn’t sure that LSU is that good either.  As we write Vegas has LSU with a less than 50% chance in each of the following upcoming games- Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and A&M.
7.  Here is a quick quiz.  Who is undefeated since the end of the 2016 season, has had a game cancelled in 2017 and 2018, and has scored 56,38,56, and 45 points in a 4-0 start in 2018?  If you said the University of Central Florida, or UCF, you know yourself some college football.  Unfortunately, for them, they probably aren’t one of the “others.”   Their strength of schedule isn’t a strength on their yearly resume’.  Bonus question.  What’s their nickname?  The Knights.  Who knew?  No wonder they held a “championship” parade for themselves last year.

   

   As Rodney used to say, “NO RESPECT.”

8. Someone who is starting to get some respect and quickly is Kentucky.  The Wildcats followed up their 28-7 Miss St. beat down with a solid take down of South Carolina, 24-10.  The Bulldogs and Gamecocks might not have great O’s, but 17 total points allowed to two SEC schools is what it is.  Kentucky has but one important thing to do to climb from AP #13.  They need to keep winning.
9. Spots 21-25 in the poll are much like a revolving door.  Welcome in this week Colorado (the lone undefeated PAC 10 school), Florida, NC State and Oklahoma St.  Welcome back Virginia Tech who had a very nice road, bounce back win over Duke.  A week earlier Va Tech lost at home by 14 to…..remember………Old Dominion!
10.  Some early lines are out.  LSU is -2 at Florida.  Notre Dame is -4.5 at VaTech.  Texas A&M is -6.5 at Kentucky. and OU is -8 vs Texas.   Our first glance favors the home dogs and Texas in Dallas.

Until week six.

PS.  Two great tiebreaker MLB games play off today.   Enjoy.

Four weeks into the 2018 CFB season some interesting trends have begun to emerge.   There are also some conference nuggets to digest.  Let’s kickoff.

1.  In the previous three weeks we have asked if everyone is playing for second.  Bama is playing like no one else when you consider 16 quarters of football in their portfolio.  Well, Vegas certainly agrees.  The Golden Nugget out there has the following odds on Bama v. the top four opponents should they meet in the playoffs.  THE Ohio St is +10, Georgia is +11, Clemson +12, and Oklahoma +17.  Jeez.
2. Old Dominion beat Virginia Tech after Va Tech looked pretty darn good beating Florida St.  24-3 and dismantling William and Mary 62-17.   Wow is the word.  The week off due to the East Carolina postponement as Florence wobbled did Va Tech no good.
3. Boston College, after a solid-looking start to their season,  got pushed around by then 0-3, now 1-3 Purdue.  Meanwhile Duke came in at #22 in the just released AP poll after it took care of business to move to 4-0 with a 55-13 shellacking of NC Central.
4. So, where does this leave the ACC?  It leaves them with Clemson at # 3 and Duke in the top 25.   Clemson aside, the ACC looks like a cross between a train wreck and a dumpster fire.  It also leaves Clemson in a must win situation it seems.   Duke is the only ranked opponent for them from now until any possible ACC championship opponent.  A loss against a non-ranked opponent would open the door  for other conferences to get into the playoffs and leave the ACC at home.
5.  Kentucky entered the top 25 all the way up at #16 after a surprising and thorough working of the Bulldogs of Mississippi St.   The last time Kentucky was in the top 25 was 2007.  The Dow was 13,700 then.  It went on a rollercoaster down to just under 7000 by March of 2009.  Today it stands well over 26,000.  It’s been a long, bumpy road back for the index and the Wildcats.  Are you buying or selling the Wildcats now?
6.  We’re buying Benny Snell, the Kentucky running back extraordinaire.  He might need to stop by New York in December to pick up some Heisman hardware before he’s drafted early next April.   He’s only a dark horse right now, but winning in the SEC changes that status by the week.  Saturday he produced 165 yards running on 25 carries against a front seven that is very good.  He crossed the goal line four times too.
7.  Oklahoma almost pulled off their annual Oklahoma melt moment Saturday.  Army, yes Army, extended them to overtime before the Sooners prevailed 28-21.  The phrase “stats are for losers” comes to mind when you realize that  Army ran 81 plays to Oklahoma’s paltry 26.   The time of possession favored Army by nearly 45 minutes to a very frugal 15.  The Sooners have to be better on defense to be considered an elite team.  And, the sooner the better is recommended with Big 12 foes and wide open offenses headed their way in the next two months.
8. Tom Herman told us that his team was way better in 2018 than 2017.  He said this in the post game press conference after losing to Maryland in the season opener.  We chuckled.  Maybe Tom is about to get the last laugh.   The Longhorns sent TCU back to Fort Worth after their rather convincing win. He has the attention of the fickle Texas faithful. Football is fun again in the Lone Star capital.
9.  Two big games with significant national implications will get our attention this Saturday.    It’s Penn St. hosting THE Ohio St., while Notre Dame hosts Stanford.  That’s four top 10 unbeatens that will be cut down to two by nightfall.
10. Some early lines are out.  Syracuse (4-0) travels to Clemson and gets no Vegas respect at +22.  Florida and Dan Mullen travel to Mississippi St. and get no Vegas respect at +7.5.  THE is -4 at Penn St.  And, ND is favored by 5 in South Bend over Stanford.  LSU is -13.5 over Mississippi in BR town.  Mississippi can score some points.  We like Florida and Mississippi.
11. One leftover nugget.   Scott Frost your team didn’t show up Saturday to play in Ann Arbor.   It was 39-0 before the half and 56-10 at the final gun.  At least the leaves are changing in Lincoln this fall.   The Cornhuskers are 0-3.

1. If you are a college football fan (and if you aren’t what is wrong with you?) and you wait roughly 243 days (who is counting?) for your favorite team to begin the 2018 season hope springs eternal in the early fall.  And then the game begins.  And then mercifully it ends.   If you are a Miami, Florida St, Michigan, or Arizona fan among others, you’re disappointed.  You can almost hear your rival yell “OVERATED.”  Worry not, the season is 12 or more games long.  One game does not a season make.  Overreaction reigns supreme when the body count is high and the body of work is incomplete.

2.  That same mentality permeates the press.  They have to fill your mind for 24/7/365.  More impressions, hits, views, and dare I say it, newspapers are the goal.  Power rankings and polls before the season and in the first few weeks of the season are worthless.  You won’t know how good you are until you know how good you are.  After one game the work shapes the perception.  One game.  After six games, half of the year, the body of work shapes the reality.  The sample size is far better.

3.  Urban Meyer should resign.  Of course he won’t though.  Of course.  His body of work (including his stint in Florida that stank towards its closure) creates a thumbs down reality.   When you are the state’s highest paid public employee and your job description includes proper/procedural reporting of employees immoral or illegal behaviors, and you don’t, its bad.  When you are charged with leading 17/18 year old “boys” that get to your program to manhood, and you deceive, delete, deny, and act if the entire process is beneath you aren’t leading.  And, that might even be worse.  Simply stated,  you are setting a bad example of behavior to many kids at a time that they most need good examples.

4.  That said, just like I doubt nike will sell less shoes because of their Kapernick campaign, I doubt that many, if any, recruits will spurn THE Ohio St. University.  Moms, if your goal is to win, go to THE.  If you want the best overall program for your son’s continued overall mental, emotional, and physical development, don’t.  Don’t do it at least until Urban Blight Meyer, aka Suburban Urban, aka THE Buckeye’s Blackeye feigns that he wants to spend more time with his family and does the right thing.

5.  Do we really need projected bowl match ups and an updated final four playoff championship bracket after one week?  Hell no.  That said, mine are Bama, Wisconsin, Clemson, and Georgia.  Notre Dame’s schedule, unfortunately, will keep them in the discussion until Brian Kelly turns as red on the sideline as the Irish Leprechaun is green.  This occurs as the leaves turn each fall when they underachieve at just the wrong moment.

6.  Lefty likes Kansas St. plus and Shorty loves Colorado St. plus v the spread this weekend.  Soon we will have a little fun with point spreads on the site on a weekly basis.  Keep some powder dry my friends.

7.   So, who is the better coach Tom Herman or Ed Orgeron?  The narrative for 18 months has been that LSU blew it by hiring Coach O when they failed to corral Tom Herman.  He was supposedly nearly locked and loaded to BR town in November, 2016.  They “settled” for the local cajun.  They went cheap.  Well, one season, one bowl season(Texas stayed home, LSU lost to ND), and one game into the next season makes one pause when answering this question.  The programs that they now lead are still works very much in progress.   But the results are beginning to show that the narrative should take a zig from its previous, persistent zag.

8.  Is everyone playing for second again this year except Bama?  Roll Tide Roll.   Nick Saban insists that his team “focus on the process and the results will take care of themselves.”  Well, the process in week one processed a Louisville team straight into the Waste Management proverbial dumpster fire.  How good is Louisville?  Me thinks not very, very.  They look 8-4 to 9-3 to me in an average (Clemson aside) ACC.  How good Louisville is, or for that matter how good anyone is, may not matter.  Bama is the process.  PS.  Nick, be nice.  Tiger on tour is smiling now and as competitive internally as ever.  The internal burn need not light the external ass quite so often.

9.  Congrats to Kevin Sumlin.  He brought his same exposed O to Tuscon and he is getting paid to do so.  He got the same results in a different uniform against a BYU team that sports average talent but wanted it more, far more, down the stretch.  And, it looked like they were better conditioned for four quarters.   If I am a money man at Arizona or a board guy there I would aspire to do better.  No TE and one WR in motion so horizontal that he is effectively out of the play post snap puts the Oline at a serious disadvantage.  You can rush five on five and still have six covering five.  It worked for two years in lovely College Station because of two reasons.  One, Manziel could run for his life to cover this shortfall.  Two, it was still new to the SEC, and they had enough talent to make it go pretty well. Then, after an off season of studying tape it didn’t fool too many.   But, it can wear out a D.  Remember UCLA’s insane comeback v the Aggies two years ago?  Or, ask Arizona already.   The combo is exposed against good running teams that have well coached D’s.      The law team of Fournette, Guice, Chavis, and Aranda cannot defend you either.  Sumlin never beat LSU.

10.  We hope you like this format that we intend to use on occasion.   We welcome your responses, complaints, or suggestions to it.  And we expect them on its content.  Engage.  Enrage.  Enjoy.