Episode 10: Desert Fans, Mostly Good Stuff for the Group
This
past weekend was pretty good to the lot of us. Not so fast, Indiana Hoosiers!
More on their sad state of affairs later…
The
number one Georgia Bulldogs are still on the path to dominance. They crush the
Gators in the Swamp 34 to 7; it looks inevitable that the Dawgs are on their
way to the SEC Conference Championship still, likely to face the Rising Tide of
‘Bama. Alabama only slipped against the Aggies from College Station, and are
surging ever since, as they normally do. Georgia and Alabama in the same
conference is high drama. Things should be fun in December leading up to the
bowls, and likely seeing them play once more. Potentially they could play each
other three times by the end of the season (two teams have not played each
other in the same year three times since… maybe ever.) More likely one will be
left behind the top four at end, which definitely would be Alabama if they lost
again. But let us talk about the now more.
NEXT for #1 of Athens: Missouri Tigers (4-4). Mizzou will be
lucky to score more than once. Best of luck, Show Me State. The Dawgs are
hungry.
The Irish of Notre Dame handle
their business versus the potent North Carolina Tar Heels, staying ahead on
points 44 – 34. The defense may be suspect, but everyone has to respect the way
the Irish can score.
Notre Dame’s next up: Navy (2-6) goes to South Bend. The
match of the Golden Domes (both wear all gold helmets) should go to the home
team; the Cadets are struggling to win, and sometimes even score. I predict
Notre Dame by at least 21. They should be able to rest their starters a lot.
War Damn, they say? You got it.
These Auburn Tigers are for real, I
proclaim. They held down a then number 10 ranked Ole Miss squad, 31 to 20.
Interestingly, both teams only traded a field goal in the last two frames, so
at the half the tally was War Eagle over the Rebels by 28 – 17, and it did not
change much from there for the next 30 minutes of game time. Perhaps the
respective defenses learned some lessons as the game progressed. I feel like
Auburn knows how to win; again to reiterate: Auburn’s opponents and their
losses in those games have been highly respectable. Penn State does not look as
strong as the beginning of the season, but still, it is hard to win in Happy
Valley, PA. And we know Georgia is the toughest in the land.
NEXT for Auburn (#13, ): plays 14th Ranked Texas A &
M. This game should be very interesting.
My Brigham Young Cougars asserted
themselves in the first quarter, against the former 13 year coach Bronco
Mendenhall, 21-7, then 28-7 early in the second quarter. But the wheels fell
off the defense before the end of the half, and the UVA Cavaliers lead 42 to
38! BYU needed the break badly. The Wahoo QB Brennan Armstrong was unstoppable
for a quarter plus. Luckily for the home team, the defense regrouped, holding
Virginia to only one second half touchdown and the BYU offense kept chugging
and won out 66 -49. Yep, a basketball score at Lavell Edwards Field on a
Saturday night.
NEXT for BYU (#15, 7 -2): Idaho State (1-7). This game should
let top rusher Tyler Allgeier and other Cougar starters get a good amount of
rest, as the Vandals (no… Tigers?) are only a smaller Football Championship
Series (FCS) team. The Cougar’s third stringers would/should be able to handle
them pretty well. After scoring so much against Virginia, a big school, (the
most points scored on former defensive Mendenhall ever!), BYU might score 70.
Although, Sitake does not like to run up scores.
Way to go, Tigers! Playing like
they know that they can. Clemson is regrouping and beats a resurging Florida
State Seminoles. This makes yours truly happy as well as another desert fan.
Perhaps their offense is now solidified going into the last full month of the
season. Best of luck in a topsy- turvy Atlantic Coast Conference. Despite all
the members losing a bit, it will be interesting to see how the championship
teams shake out. Could the Tigers still make the conference championship? They
could.
NEXT Clemson (5-3): at Louisville Cardinals (4-4)
Woot, woot, ‘Canes!!! Proud of you.
Miami beats an up till then pretty sound Pitttsburgh team, so the Hurricanes
might be on the path to redemption. Van Dyke is slinging at Quube and the
defense is playing decently.
NEXT Miami: Georgia Tech goes to the southern part of the
Sunshine State. I predict Miami again, now with a nice winning streak.
Indiana… I told a Maryland graduate
at a Halloween party that I feared the Turtle (we all know this man but he acts
like he doesn’t care about his alma mater, but recounts how the local fans
burnt a lot of furniture when he was there after a big upset[i]).
Suspicions confirmed about me fearing the Terps. IU goes down 35 -38. We found
some offense in a new third string true freshman QB. Last year at this time Donavan McCulley was
probably doing virtual math and history like the rest of the high school people
during the lock down. Now he faces the Big Ten defensive opponents, like… the
Wolves of Ann Arbor.
NEXT UP for IU (2-6): Michigan (highly ranked, maybe #11,
7-1 record after a close defeat to cross-state foe Spartans). We beat Michigan
last year during a special pandemic season, taking down the vaunted Wolverines.
This was the second time in my lifetime that the Hoosiers have beaten the
dreaded rivals to the north. The first time I was 16, and I had no idea I would
be this old before I saw another Hoosier victory. It may happen again by the
time I am 80, if I live that long.
This
would be a huge upset this weekend, but I am not holding my breath. With close
losses to Michigan State and Maryland, I cannot see Indiana winning out and
miraculously saving their post-regular season hopes. They need to develop some
youth and maybe notch a few more wins, beat Purdue at the end. That would make
the season much better, of course.
THIS WEEKEND ON TAP: Army plays Air
Force. Both 6 – 2 and formidable teams. Wake Forest is still undefeated, as is
Cincinnati and Oklahoma. Utah looks to win the PAC-12 (but BYU beat them and three other conference opponents!).
I love this game, I hope you can
find some idle or fun moments to do the same.
Till then, friends and colleagues
of the desert. Fobu (?) is a new app I was tipped to steam live games. It was
great to see my Cougars take down the Wahoos after some moments of fret in the
middle game, to a coach that I really loved, and still root for in my current home
state of Virginia. (Well, the home of my children, anyway.)
Oh, another thing! We have a new
desert fan added to the distro. She says she is a neophyte to the game, but she
is willing to entertain some musings, ramblings, and some enthusiasm about the
game that some of really get into. Welcome this late in the fall! May you end
up being a fan of at least one of the above teams, preferably mine. Then again,
suffering with Indiana is not something I wish on most people. BYU is a safer
bet, as are the others covered.
Peace in the Middle East and stay
cool in the cooling desert.
[i]
This same “not so fan” (Debbie Downer) of his undergrad school at College Park,
upon me informing him in passing that Maryland should go to a bowl based on
getting past my alma mater, replied, “Yeah, probably to the Nobody Cares Bowl!”
Bah, humbug, sir. In Bloomington we do not take any bowls for granted, because
we Hoosiers usually wind up in the toilet bowl. Any bowl in December or January
is a sweet ride.
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