Football 2014 - Week 6

My recap of the only football games that matter

It was a very interesting football week so let's get started.

In our current quest to fill every media outlet with a football game every night we once again begin with Thursday games. In the pro ranks I think there was a game that involved the frozen tundra (maybe not frozen yet) and was a blowout. The fireworks were in the college ranks. This wild weekend began when unranked Arizona beat #2 Oregon in Eugene 31-24. Just the first of many.

My one bright spot over the past couple of seasons continued on their winning ways. Bishop Kenny beat district rival Ribault 20-6. The Trojans scored first on an interception but that was it for them. The Crusaders then reeled off 20 straight points. They too had an interception for a TD. Not a very good offensive showing by either team. Kenny only had 247 yards of offense and Ribault was held to 89 yards. It was a sloppy game. Ribault had four turnovers and the Crusaders had six, four interceptions and two lost fumbles. A win is a win. BK remains undefeated at 4-0, 3-0 and lead their district. Next up they travel to the Westside Wolverines (the former Forrest Rebels) which is also undefeated in district play.

As usual this season LD Bell got clobbered 35-8 by Richland. Total yards were 432-190. The Blue Raiders had only 34 passing yards, two interceptions and a fumble. Inept might be an appropriate description. They are now 0-6, 0-2 on the season. They will be 0-7, 0-3 after the next game against their main local rival Trinity Trojans. In two weeks Bell plays the also winless Haltom Buffaloes. That should be an exciting game.

If you are a college football fan, Saturday was amazing. I'm sure millions of dollars were won and lost on bets and the underdogs won the money this time. I'm sure all the college football fantasy leagues are in shambles.

Let's start with my college teams games, one of which was involved in one of those big upsets. The South Florida Bulls had an open week. The Gators traveled to Knoxville for an SEC East game against onetime big rival Tennessee. For a few years the Gators and Vols were the cream of the crop in the SEC East. No more although Tennessee fell sooner and farther. This was a game between offensively inept teams. Florida scored ten fourth quarter points for a thrilling 10-9 victory. Neither team deserved to win. Total yard were dead even. The Vols mostly through the air and the Gators mostly on the ground. Each team had three turnovers. There was only one TD scored in the game and that was by the Gators on a magnificent five play 30 yard drive. The one bright spot is that brain dead head coach Muschamp finally benched QB Jeff Driskel after his third interception. We'll have to wait and see if freshman QB Treon Harris starts the next game. Florida now amazingly has a 3-1, 2-1 record. Next up is LSU in Gainesville. LSU hasn't looked great this season, but they do look better than Florida.

Monday update - freshman QB Treon Harris has been suspended from the team pending investigation of an alleged sexual assault.

On to the great news. The #4 Oklahoma Sooners came to Fort Worth to play the lowly #25 TCU Horned Frogs. Oklahoma did not go back to Norman with that #4 ranking. It was an exciting game. TCU got out to a 14-0 lead but OK tied it at the end of the first quarter. Then they traded scores for a 24-24 halftime score. It was again tied at 31 after three periods. TCU scored early in the last quarter on an interception and then the defenses took control. Final score Frogs 37, Sooners 33. A great day for TCU and Ft. Worth. As expected in a dog fight like this, the stats were close. TCU won the total yardage battle 469-461. Frogs had three turnovers and the Sooners two. Unfortunately for TCU they can't savor this victory for long. Next week the have to go to Waco to battle the now #5 Baylor Bears.

Now a short recap of the other major surprises. In the SEC #11 Mississippi beat the mighty #3 Alabama Crimson Tide. Not to be outdone by their state rivals #12 Mississippi State beat #6 Texas A&M. My guess is that the entire state of Mississippi is still celebrating and will be at least until next Saturday's games. I cannot remember both Mississippi teams being this good at the same time. In fact neither team is considered a contender in the SEC West very often. Kentucky beat a fast fading South Carolina. All the SEC games were in-conference so the final tally for the week was 6-6. Arkansas and Missouri were idle.

Outside the conference there were other big upsets too. Utah State beat #18 BYU, Utah won over #8 UCLA, Arizona State topped #16 Southern Cal and #17 Wisconsin lost to Northwestern. Of course this all played havoc with this weeks polls. It also left many of the talking head "experts" with egg on their faces. 

FSU remains at #1, the state of Mississippi is in third place as Ole Miss and Mississippi State tied for #3, they meet in Oxford on 11/29. TCU moved up to #9. Despite all the shakeup, the SEC still has four teams in the top seven, six in the top 15 and seven in the top 25. The playoff picture is very cloudy. There are still several undefeated teams and many of the preseason favorites have stumbled. Stay tuned.

Pro Sunday was a perfect 0-3 for me. Let's start with the still winless Jaguars. Not a blowout as they lost to Pittsburgh 17-9 but once again the offense was terrible and did not score a single TD. This was Blake Bortles first NFL start so we'll cut him some slack. He was 22/36 for 191 yards with two interceptions, one for a pick six. The Jags led at the end of the first quarter and only trailed 10-6 at halftime. They only managed 56 yards on the ground and the Steelers had the ball over 10 minutes longer. Jacksonville's defensive unit has done pretty well but eventually the offense needs to score some points. Hopefully Bortles learned a few things. The Jaguars are now 0-5 and next go to Tennessee for an AFC South game.

Atlanta went to New Jersey this week to get beat by the Giants 30-20. On paper it looks like it should be a Falcons win. They outgained NY and had one turnover to NY's two. The problem was on 2-13 third down conversions. Atlanta falls to 2-3 and next heads home to host the Bears.

Tampa Bay played NFC South rival New Orleans. A close game that the Saints won in OT 37-31. The hapless Bucs led 31-20 early in the fourth quarter. From there, they failed to either score or keep NO from scoring. They even gave up a safety which enabled the Saints to tie the game with a FG in the last couple of minutes. Talk about snatching a defeat from the jaws of victory. To be fair, New Orleans did dominate the yardage stats but they also had three turnovers. Too bad, it would have been a nice lift for TB. They fall to 1-4 for the season and next host the Ravens.

So, no good news in the pros but TCU pulled off a big upset over Oklahoma and the Gators eeked out a sloppy victory. Bishop Kenny continues to win. Let's do it again this weekend.

wjh