2015-09-29 11:27

Verkehrte Welt! (means Inverted World)

I will come right to my BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 4 and will start with the Utah-Oregon game.

Sat. Sept. 26 - 8:30 pm ET
#18 Utah @ #13 Oregon
I did a very soft preview on that game, because I was sure this would be a 40-something to 10 win for Oregon.
I mean, Oregon was quick, did score very good and it was at home, so what could have gone wrong?
EVERYTHING!
When I saw the result my jaw did drop to the floor.
Utah did win 62-20!
The biggest defeat of Oregon since 1977 and the most points they had to swallow since ever!
Oregon had 2 Interceptions thrown, 1 crucial fumble they lost, 1 crucial fumble they recovered, but on a 4th down.
They did look awful on defense, really bad on special teams and their offense was almost non existing.
Utah did almost everything right and more.
Bad snap on a punt? No problem, the punter catches the snap one handed and did get a 1st down on his feet!
Bad punt by Oregon, but still to the sideline to cover the returner in a good way?
An Academy Award to the midfield returner ACTING like he gets the punt and everyone did buy it, letting the real returner run the ball into the endzone.
With that kind of plays you win BIG and that what Utah did.
Now Utah is the 2nd force in the PAC12 South and Oregon got the Out-of-Competition-card early, at least regarding the national playoffs, having 2 losses now.
My pick did went totally wrong.
Utah 62 - Oregon 20 -> Jacks Score: 8-5

Sat. Sept. 26 - 4:45 pm ET
#3 TCU @ Texas Tech
I did predict a wild game and it was one.
107 total scored points does not sound like a defense battle, right.
I did expect the Red Raiders to win this and they were really close.
Really close.
Around 30 seconds close.
The Red Raiders were leading 52-48 when TCU had a 4th and goal with a few ticks left on the clock.
The ball was thrown to the leading TCU receiver, which got surrounded by 2 defenders in the endzone and the ball was tipped and went to the end of the endzone.
There was another TCU player, who had the concentration to pick the ball out of the air and kept 1 foot on the endzone.
Touchdown for the 55-52 win.
That was a major stunner.
Texas Tech was not able to keep TCU out of the endzone the whole game and you might argue over "rightful", "unrighteous", "lucky" or "unlucky", but if you want to win such a game, you better play good the whole game, not only a few plays.
TCU had in addition to all this lucky at the end of the game, 2 missed FGs during the game.
This time did TCU survive an upset. I'm sure it will come, sooner or later.
TCU 55 - Texas Tech 52 -> Jacks Score: 8-6

Sat. Sept. 26 - 8:00 pm ET
#9 UCLA @ #16 Arizona
This was another stunner, because Arizona was totally unable to get things going.
One of the ESPN Analysts did say before the game, that Arizona would need a perfect game.
In the 1st half they had 2 lost fumbles and 1 interception, then trailing 42-14!
Their defense was unable to stop UCLA from anything and their offense did OK, if they did not turn the ball over.
The 2nd half got better, but for UCLA that was already garbage time.
A huge statement by UCLA, which did become the driving force in the PAC12 after this win.
I'm curious to see, if they can prevail this momentum for long.
UCLA 56 - Arizona 30 -> Jacks Score: 8-7

Sat. Sept. 26 - 10:30 pm ET
#19 Southern California @ Arizona State
At least that game went as expected.
Arizona State has some real problem this season and it will be interesting to see, if they can get a mid field position at least of if they will fall to the pit of the PAC12, which would be unusual.
The game against USC was over when half time came up, with USC leading 35-zip.
USC 42 - Arizona State 14 -> Jacks Score: 9-7

What a bad picking this gameday.
I still enjoy the season, because that way it gets much more exciting and every gameday something unexpected does happen.
Much more fun than a already decided division or conference or even national champion.

Now I will give you some more results worth to mention:
Memphis bests Cincinnati 53-46. The Bearcats are off a bad start in the conference.
Boise State destroyed Virginia 56-14. Looks like the Broncos did find their mojo again.
Rutgers did beat Kansas 27-14, which does mean, Kansas is still not turning things around. Another bad season is coming.
Bowling Green wins on the road against Purdue 35-28. The Boilermakers are off a bad start and it looks like a long season for them.
On the other hand did Indiana win their 4th game, this time against Wake Forest, 31-24, and are now UNBEATEN, so far.
Duke did beat Georgia Tech 34-20. Now does the coastal division gets wide open, with the favorite (at least my favorite) losing and it will be fun to see, which team will be the last standing.
Michigan did blank BYU 31-0, which does end all hopes and dreams of stunning season of BYU. There is still room for many wins. Interesting is, that Michigan gets already some credit again after the bad start. The reason for that is the great start of Utah, which did beat the Wolverines only by 7 points.
Oklahoma State did survive against Texas, 30-27. The Cowboys did score the tying FG with about 1:30 min left to play and Texas had to punt after 3 downs. The punter did let the snap get through his hands, recovered the ball and kick the ball away for -6 yards. OSU basically only had to kick the game winner from 40 yards out and it was over. The heat is getting hotter in Texas.
East Carolina won against Virginia Tech, 35-28. The Hokies did not look very well on defense.
Florida bests Tennessee 28-27. Florida did score late in the game the leading TD and the Vols did march over the field, did had a penalty to get a worse field position for the game winner and did miss the FG twice. The 1st one was missed, while the Gators coach did call a timeout and the 2nd one was missed so close the Vols did start even to celebrate only to learn they just sucked up again.
Kentucky did beat Missouri 21-13 and who ever things the Tigers will repeat the division title this season should better start praying.
Northwestern keeps on winning with 24-19 against Ball State. Northwestern is still unbeaten and is a bit under the radar, because they did beat not really very good teams. Or let's say, the teams are not valued as very good teams so far. But Stanford is coming back at the moment and also Duke makes some noise. Now does the BIG10 schedule start for the Wildcats and this will clear things up quickly.
Cal did beat Washington 30-24 and now is still unbeaten to make some noise in the PAC12 North.
Army did beat Eastern Michigan for their 1st win of the season, 58-36.
James Madison (FCS) did outscore SMU 48-45. That one must have hurt for the Mustangs fans.
Akron beats Louisiana Lafayette 35-14 and is now 2-2, which is for Zips-Circumstances a masterpiece.

'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

PS: Back from vacation and ready to rock

Tags: Block of Granite, News