I love college football. You know that. So what’s better than a bunch of games going into overtime, eh? Let’s recap those games right off the hop OK sounds good let’s go.
- Michigan 24 Army 21 (2OT) – What a game this was….for Army. Michigan did not play well at all and it kind of felt like they had no idea what to do with Army’s triple option. Even so, Shea Patterson stunk and the playcalling was puzzling at times. Michigan lucks out by getting a strip sack in double overtime to stay in the Top 10. As for Army, watch out for them if no teams end up undefeated this season.
- Colorado 34 Nebraska 31 (OT) – A classic Big 8 matchup that was a barnburner. It looked like the Huskers were going to destroy the Buffs until a late game comeback by Colorado put them into overtime. A missed field goal clinched the game and now I am starting to feel kind of stupid for drinking the Nebraska Koolaid (which was obviously cherry-flavoured).
- Kent State 26 Kennesaw State 23 (OT) – The earlier women’s field hockey game was stopped in double overtime so that this game could start on time. Absolutely crazy. And then we almost see Kennesaw State pull the FCS-over-FBS upset. Kent State escapes and continues to be known for bad things, one much, MUCH worse than the rest.
- Florida State 45 ULM 44 (OT) – Good god Willie Taggart. What is going on in Tallahassee? Most of the fans had left by the time this game ended. And for a while it looked like the Warhawks would win in regulation. Instead, FSU tied it up and then won the game thanks to a ULM missed extra point. Yeesh. Not a good look for the Noles who may have hit a bit of a rock bottom.
- BYU 29 Tennessee 26 (2OT) – Since we are talking about once-proud teams who have fallen far, let us check in on the University of Tennessee Volunteers football program. Gross. They could not put BYU away. And to top it off they have a coverage breakdown and allow BYU to go more than half the field with under 15 seconds to play to get the tying field goal just to make it to overtime. Expect Jeremy Pruitt to now be on every hot seat list in the country.
- Minnesota 38 Fresno State 35 (2OT) – College football this past weekend conspired to not allow me to go to bed at a reasonable time…and when I say reasonable time I mean 2 in the morning. A great back-and-forth game which ended on a great Antoine Winfield Jr. interception in double overtime. Maybe other Big Ten teams should take note and not make trips to the West Coast.
This week of college football really had a dearth of marquee games, as is somewhat usual for Week 2. However, the action this week was damn good. A fun Saturday of college football was had by all (who watched). Let’s go through the week that was!
- Let’s take a trip out to Seattle for a game that didn’t start until 1:30 in the morning. I am not joking. Thanks to some severe weather they had to delay the game by almost three hours. I did not stay up to stay updated on this game and I missed a great one of course. Washington did not play well at all and let Cal stick around for far too long. This led to the Golden Bears winning on a last-minute field goal and furthering the Pac-12’s overall misery.
- Kansas lost a game…at home…to Coastal Carolina. So yeah it is going to take quite a long time for Les Miles to turn this thing around.
- Clemson made relatively easy work of Texas A&M. Yes they only won by 14 but it never felt like the Aggies were in this one. So the Tigers beat yet another SEC team. I think they need to stop this whole “Oh yeah well Clemson doesn’t have an SEC schedule” horseshit. They are damn good, plain and simple. And they are still the favourite to win the whole thing in January.
- Don’t look know but there might be a new contender in the ACC Coastal. Step right up Mack Brown! The Tar Heels looked good against Miami and won the game late in front of a raucous home crowd in Chapel Hill. Yes, the same team that almost beat Florida in one of the worst college football games of the year so far. Considering the state of the ACC Coastal beyond Virginia, don’t be surprised if North Carolina isn’t at least bowl-eligible by the end of the year which would be a huge complement to Mack Brown’s coaching ability.
- Breaking news! West Virginia is awful. No wonder Dana Holgorsen left for a Group of Five team. Neal Brown is going to have a tough go here in 2019. I sincerely hope that the Mountaineer faithful are patient with this as this will not be a fun season in Morgantown, that’s for sure.
- Maryland blew Syracuse out of the water on Saturday, winning by 43. No that is not a misprint and no it’s not a joke. The toughest division in college football just got a lot tougher as the Terps are looking seriously good this season so far. As for the ACC, Virginia will replace Syracuse in the Top 25 but will more than two teams ever get into the rankings? It doesn’t look good for the conference.
- On Friday night, Boise State beat Marshall but it sure wasn’t convincing. 14-7 doesn’t exactly speak dominance and the fact that freshman quarterback Hank Bachmeier was average at best in this one…let’s just say I am still not convinced the Broncos will be the Group of Five representative in the New Year’s Six if this keeps up.
- Joe Burrow was absolutely fantastic in the primetime ABC game as he threw for the second-most yards in LSU history. The Tigers beat Texas but Texas also hung around as well. Both teams need to play better defense as the season wears on but these two offenses may be two of the best in college football this year. And Burrow may force himself into the Heisman conversation whether people like it or not.
- Ohio State shutout Cincinnati in Luke Fickell’s return to Columbus. I don’t know, it feels like Ohio State is going to look really good at least into October and then they will lay an egg or three and we will wonder what kind of team they really are. You know, like almost every other season they have had.
- Everyone was wondering how Kedon Slovis would play against Stanford. Well, Clay Travis can breathe a bit of a sigh of relief as Slovis was excellent, the Trojans played a nearly flawless game, and we continue the narrative that no one really wants to win the Pac-12. Except maybe Utah.
- I don’t think Charlie Strong is long for this 2019 season. Another loss, this time to a rebuilding Georgia Tech team, puts the Bulls at 0-2 to start the season and at eight straight losses stretching back to last year. For a team that not too long ago was battling with UCF to be the big-time team in this conference, this is a stunning fall and Strong is going to be the scapegoat for it, rightly or wrongly (mostly rightly).
- Oh and how could I forget UCLA? They lost again, this time to San Diego State. UCLA was behind most of the game and never really seemed in it. I don’t know if it’s just Chip Kelly not having the right personnel to run his offense or what. But for a team that many (including myself) thought would at least be going bowling this season, it’s not a good look, for the Bruins or for Kelly himself.
Recap complete! Considering the schedule was one of the worst I have seen (beyond the top two games) it was a super fun weekend to watch college football. The lesson? Never assume when it comes to this sport. Some great schedules create horrible weeks (in terms of quality of the actual games played) and some shitty schedules produce some of the most historic weeks. You never know. Anyway, here’s the return of the Bossman Top 25:
| #1 | Clemson |
| #2 | LSU |
| #3 | Alabama |
| #4 | Georgia |
| #5 | Ohio State |
| #6 | Oklahoma |
| #7 | Michigan |
| #8 | Florida |
| #9 | Auburn |
| #10 | Notre Dame |
| #11 | Utah |
| #12 | Penn State |
| #13 | Wisconsin |
| #14 | UCF |
| #15 | Texas |
| #16 | Michigan State |
| #17 | Texas A&M |
| #18 | Oregon |
| #19 | Iowa |
| #20 | Washington State |
| #21 | Washington |
| #22 | Boise State |
| #23 | Iowa State |
| #24 | Maryland |
| #25 | Virginia |
As per usual I am close to the current polls but have a few differences. And yes, I have LSU leapfrogging Alabama for #2. Bama ain’t played nobody and LSU just beat Texas so I have to give them the nod here. I don’t have USC in the Top 25, yet. Not entirely convinced that they belong there but if they win next week they will be there. Other than that I am confident that this is the perfect Top 25. You all agree, right? Don’t answer that.
Another recap done. Hurricane Dorian was devastating to the Bahamas. The States were mostly spared from the destruction. So for now, we can safely say there will not be games added during conference championship week. If you have read this blog before, you know my thoughts on these games. Now they are at the peak of hurricane system so as long as they can get through the next few weeks unscathed there shouldn’t be any scheduling issues and, most importantly, no more damage to people and their property.
Same old, same old with the college football schedule Thursday and the NFL schedule Friday. We are back in football season, ladies and gentlemen and it feels oh so good. Enjoy your week everyone.
Bossman's Blog 
FSU was SO lucky to escape. I believe ULM’s coach blew it twice in the last 1:30 of regulation and OT. First, there was a 4th and 3 from the FSU 7 with 1:30 to play and he went for the FG to tie when there was no reason to think FSU could stop them had they gone for it (given everything that had transpired to that point). Then, in OT he went for the PaT rather than going for two when again, there was no reason to expect FSU could have stopped them. I was equal parts relieved and surprised by both those decisions.
FSU’s offence is showing a lot of promise (although I want to see how the o-line holds up against UVA before getting too excited) but the defence is an absolute car-wreck.
Elsewhere it’s nice to see that the end of last season was not a mirage and LSU has indeed updated their offence ten years after they should have done so. With a functional offence they could actually again become a realistic threat to Bama – at the least they should become a more regularly formidable cross-over opponent for the Gators which I’d like to see.
This weekend’s schedule is looking pretty barren – though as you say, you just never know. With so many games it’s almost inevitable that there will be some noteworthy surprises.
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