Desert Fans Episode # 5: Surprises

        We will lead off the last weekend of September 2021 with the biggest surprise that occurred: the Wolfpack did beat the Tigers in Double Over Time, as I had facetiously forewarned could happen in last episode’s letter. The Clemson offense that did little against highly considered Georgia in the first huge national game of the season way back on Labor Day weekend, again came up short for points—only two TDs in regulation— and the Wolves overcame the Tigers (21 – 27 2OT). Perhaps this is the sign of the end of the era of Clemson dominance, or maybe it is over-reacting to a throw a program down that has been par excellence since at least 2016; it will be interesting to see how Clemson recovers the rest of this year, and in the years to come. Now the pundits are saying that the ACC has no chance at real FBS glory this year. Maybe true, maybe true. Boston College beat Missouri of the SEC, so there is one team still holding the torch for the Atlantic Coast. Next up for Clemson: the Eagles of Beantown. I expect Clemson to recover and win, but things are iffy now, for sure.

              Wake Forest is the other lone undefeated 4-0 school in the ACC. This is a wide open conference now, but the championship bowls are looking like long shots for all of them. Miami? Still in there.

Speaking of private universities, maybe this is the year for religious schools? If BC wins again this next weekend, that would be mighty impressive, because so far the Catholics, the Baptists, the Methodists, and the Latter-day Saints are doing pretty well. (More on most of them a bit later.) Sorry Liberty Flames: we could not be as ecumenically giving as some would hope for you, after going down to the ‘Cuse. Jerry Falwell, founder of the Lynchburg enterprise, stated years ago that BYU was smart for having a good football team. And as expressed before, BYU only wants to be like Notre Dame. This is how some ‘Mericans wage Holy Wars. No crusade, no jihad, just bragging rights on Saturdays.

              Georgia handled business as we thought they would, against the lowly Vanderbilt Commodores. Vandy is not just the worst team in the vaunted SEC, but is one of the worst programs in the whole country. Final score predictable, 62-0. Next for the defense-driven Bulldogs: Undefeated and impressive looking Arkansas. Watch out for the Razorbacks (4 – 0), they are having a season so far.

              Big news—sorry for the delay and teaser—but the most impressive Desert Fan win of the weekend was by the Notre Dame Irish over the highly touted and ranked Wisconsin Badgers. After three hard fought quarters, the flood gates opened up in the fourth and the Irish dumped 31 points on the benumbed flagship state school of the north. Incidentally, for anybody wondering as to the recent whereabouts of the Wisconsin state flag that used to be displayed boldly by my sleeping quarters, I bequeathed it to a real Wisconsinite. He earned the right to it, born and raised there, while I only did a couple canoe trips up in the northern parts as a youth. On Wisconsin! the More-than-Lucky-Leprechauns showed you how to eat cheese and curds.

Props to the young men of South Bend. Perhaps they have found their mojo, and possibly the real season of high expectations are upon us? I know some fans that really hope that this is the case. Best of luck. Next up: the # 8 Cincinnati Bearcats, the team that I reported on last week, who did not prove to me that they are a top 10 team. But, I have been very wrong before. It should be a very interesting game.

With a current top three performing teams for us Desert Fans, they are Georgia, Notre Dame, and Clemson (even though the Tigers have slid out of the top 20), the next ranked are my BYU Cougars. Leading 28-6 at the half over the lower tier ranked South Florida Bulls, in a loud Provo at night (which sits at approximately 4300 feet elevation, which tires many opponents out), I thought that the Cougs were on their way to an easy outcome. Not so fast, my friend! (See Lee Corso). The freshman-led Bulls showed a lot of moxy, making a fierce second half charge; the final score was 35 - 27. Silane Kitake’s boys were busted on defense by the end; they could not adequately “get off the field”, but there were some great plays by the Cougar offense that got them the early lead and enough by the end to win. Despite a blocked Field Goal that effectively would have sealed it, Brigham Young now plays in-state rival Utah State of Logan, who put up a dud to Boise State, 3 – 27. I expect BYU to have better defensive personnel on the field, and whether the regular QB starter Jaren Hall, or his talented back-up Baylor Romney, who is quite adept at long passes to a multiplicity of receivers. Friday night lights in Utah. Get ready, Aggies.

The last three teams to report on will go in this order: Auburn, Miami, Indiana. As it now stands that seems to be the order of their strength. There was some talk from the Auburn opponent, who lost by 10 (War Eagle over Georgia State 34- 24), accusing some poor officiating for their loss. Well, home cooking happens everywhere, so if not in South, where can ya get it? Just kidding, rules are rules, and no matter how the game shaped up, Auburn is still ranked in most polls as #25 or #26. Up next: The LSU Tigers, 3-1. Their one loss was to one loss (to Fresno State) UCLA, the Bruins, who were proving impressive until taken down by their fellow state school. USC got blasted by Oregon State, which makes me happy. For the record, I attended UCLA, which is a great school, glad they accepted me, but I learned to loathe the cross-town Trojans. Haha! Way to go, Beavers.

Miami laid it on heavy over the overpowered Devils of Central Connecticut. As discussed, the ACC is pretty open for takers right now. Could the Hurricanes take that crown? It could happen, stay tuned. The Canes now have to face the Virginia Cavaliers in a Thursday night match up. UVA has not been that good, but they do have some good talent, now  2-2 overall. Between UNC, BC, and the U, we could see which of them might lead to the ACC championship a couple months away. But as discussed above, it looks grim for the Atlantic Coast Conference to provide a College Football Playoff level team by the New Year’s. Miami, like Indiana, is now hovering around 50 in the CBS polls; there is a lot of improvement to show the next month for the Hoosiers and the ‘Canes.

By the way, we have made it to Fall now; soon enough into Fiscal Year 2022. The Desert Fans have come a little closer to their goals. Props to you! Knocking it out.

Finally … my IU Hoosiers, like Miami, considered barely top 50 now. They hung on to win, 33 – 31, on the road. Some things in the IU game improved from the second half fiasco of last week against Cincinnati, but this was against a lesser opponent in Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers had the highest passing yardage average in the nation entering the game. The Indiana defense, despite allowing quite a bit of scoring by the end, managed to stop enough of the passing to hold them to under 400 yards, well below their average, accumulated against lesser opponents.

Better yet was the Indiana offense, which unlike in the games against Iowa and Cinncy in their disappointing losses, held onto the ball well, moved it down the field, and scored consistently, albeit many times settling for field goals (4 for 4, great on the kicker). IU next plays the mighty Penn State Nittany Lions, at Beaver Stadium (aka Happy Valley, where they just beat Auburn). I have my doubts and my fingers crossed about staying in this match, but again, the Hoosiers are now not a major consideration for bowl projections, which is sensible, as they have been highly inconsistent, stemming from the QB who throws too many interceptions, to their star receiver (Ty Fryfogle), who drops too many passes. And, the best defensive player, Micah McFadden, did not get kicked out for targeting as he did  against the BearCats.

So, there we go, Desert Fans. After 4 games, a decent third of the regular season, we are at:

Georgia               #2 (4-0)

Notre Dame       # 5 (4-0)

BYU                     # 13 (4-0)

Auburn               # 25 (3-1)

Clemson             # 29 (2-2)

Miami                 #49 (2-2)

Indiana               #50 (2-2)

 

All the teams are still battling for the best seasons possible. As it stands, the three undefeated ones may be on to something special. This will still be salvageable for the rest if they play to their potential. Stay tuned, my friends! Keep enjoying the process. So far, pretty fun to observe from afar.