2016-10-24 12:53

And another HC got fired.
Tim DeRuyter, now former HC of the Fresno State Bulldogs was fired after a 1-7 start into the season.
He became the coach of the Bulldogs in 2012, won the Mountain West twice (2012 and 2013), the division in 2014 (6-8 overall record) and went 3-9 in 2015 and now 1-7 in 2016.
His contract had 2 years left, so the schools owns him still 7.5 mio dollars, which should be enough to cover expenses ....
His overall record with the school is 30-30 and he went to a bowl 3 times, but lost all of them.

It will be interesting to see, who will be hired to righten the ship again, for now OC Eric Kiesau is named interims coach.
Rumor is, that Lane Kiffin, at the moment OC at Alabama might get a shot for the job, since he played for the team a long time ago.
After two ship wrecks in USC and Tennessee I would not give him a team again (which might be unfair) but that's only my take.

Overall was the past weekend a bit of a earthquake in college football, even if it was just a minor one.
For the big shake-up an Alabama loss would have been needed, but the Penn State win against Ohio State did also cause some trouble and SMUs upset over Houston did bury almost every hope for a group of 5 (non-power5) team to get into the playoffs.
Of cause there is still a lot of room for changes and second chances and we will see some more big games coming, but for some teams this weekend does mean a change of direction regarding their season goals or at least a much more difficult piece of work is needed, including sometimes a hope for help.
Louisville and Ohio State are the highest ranked 1-loss teams right now at #5 and #6 and especially Louisville does need a prayer in form of an upset win by Florida State over Clemson and another miracle Clemson loss to win the division and to win the conference and to get back into the playoff picture, while Ohio State "just" needs to win against the so far unbeaten Michigan Wolverine on season finale and some luck to avoid a 3-team-tie and to win the conference.

Best 2-loss team in the ranks is now Wisconsin at #11, followed by Florida State at #12.
The Badgers do need a lot of prayers to get to #4, having a lot of teams losing to win the division and also winning the conference and Florida State needs at least to win the ACC, which means beating Clemson and having Clemson AND Louisville lose inside the conference AGAIN, and having a lot of teams outside the ACC starting losing like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde transformation.
That sounds quite unlikely, but things will for sure still change a bit until beginning of December.
Especially the conference finals might have some funny results which might lead to funny new rankings.

The most fun part of all this is, that the REAL rankings for the playoffs will be done by the playoff committee, not the AP, so those people will likely have a slightly different view on wins and losses of teams and will value that different, leading to different ranks.
To be fair, the playoff ranking in the past 2 seasons was not totally dump, but did produce some questions.

The October is coming to and end next week and that means the hot phase of the season will start quickly.
Still too early to sort out the field in big chunks, but the conferences are shaping into a list of contenders and pretenders quickly.
I think even the Big12 will grant us a better view on their REAL contenders in 2 to 3 weeks and THEN we will have an exciting finishing touch.

Let's have a look at the BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 8

Sat. Oct 22 - 12:00 PM ET
#10 Wisconsin @ Iowa
Winning against the Hawkeyes is not easy, especially when they play at home.
The Badgers and the Hawkeyes played a quite defense driven game and Wisconsin was just better overall.
It's not a good news for Iowa fans if your team does lose such an important game as this was after such high expectations in the preseason, but I think beside the HOPE to win it, it was for likely they would lose against that great Wisconsin team, than winning that game.
My take on this is, that Iowa does just not click as they did last season.
Something is missing and the Badgers were just better in creating opportunities than Iowa.
Iowa is now basically out of competition for the division, while Wisconsin can still hope for some miracle (and needs to won against Nebraska).
Wisconsin plays Nebraska next week, at home, Iowa has a bye week and will than face Penn State on the road, which got a lot tougher after this weekend.
Wisconsin 17 - Iowa 9 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 21-15

Sat. Oct 22 - 3:30 PM ET
#6 Texas A&M @ #1 Alabama
Oh man, that game was hyped all over the place, while Vegas had a better feeling for it. I thought it will be at least close, but forget about it.
At the end was Texas A&M not on the same level.
The Crimson Tide defense is really strong this season and might bring them all the way to the National Championship game.
They do add points to the score every week so far.
The SEC does look really boring right now, because Alabama is the BIG favorite to win it and every team they have to play is the pity double-digit-underdog.
It's not all done right know, but it looks quite one-dimensional right know.
Only hope for a bit more interesting SEC are LSU and Auburn, two teams which were basically labeled as DONE after the first few weeks.
It's not that A&M is out of chances right know, but they need help, a lot of help, as does every SEC team beside Alabama.
The Crimson Tide will face LSU on the road after a BYE week, the Aggies will play New Mexico State as cup-cake-game next weekend.
Texas A&M 14 - Alabama 33 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 22-15

Sat. Oct 22 - 3:30 PM ET
TCU @ #12 West Virginia
To make this short, TCU did not look good and therefore did West Virginia look good against them, did win the game and the whole "West Virginia for playoffs"-train does move a bit faster now.
Are they really contender?
I don't know and the next few weeks will only tell us the truth.
They play Oklahoma State on the road next week and also Texas on the road mid-November, plus Oklahoma and Baylor a bit later, both at home.
Only them might be the playoffs train be in full speed, or it could be a wreck.
Right now it's hard to tell, whether they can win all of those 4 games, just 3 or maybe even lose all 4 games.
I still have doubts to be honest and I think they will drop 2 of those 4 games and will therefore vanish from the playoff picture.
Which one is open for debate.
TCU on the other hand is not in contention anymore, they need to win some games to get a bowl spot.
Possible, but not easy.
Next week they get a visit from Texas Tech.
They better win this.
TCU 10 - West Virginia 34 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 23-15

Sat. Oct 22 - 6:00 PM ET
#17 Arkansas @ #21 Auburn
Wow.
I was stunned when I did see the result.
Auburn did really come together on this one and maybe for the rest of the season.
Arkansas had no chance and had to swallow 50+ points while they were unable to do ANYTHING and score just 3 points in the whole game.
Auburn has so far only lost against Texas A&M inside the SEC, so if they win the remaining games, they might be able to win the division and the conference.
They play at Ole Miss next week, which could become a trap game and have still some other games coming, including the Iron Bowl at season final at Alabama, but they do look much more like the teams some did expect to see, than the team we say starting of the season.
Arkansas on the other side seems to miss something to play a full season with the big boys.
They will likely get at some point another win for a bowl spot, but the West contention is off the table.
Next week they have a bye week and will than battle Florida at home.
Arkansas 3 - Auburn 56 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 23-16

Sat. Oct 22 - 9:00 PM ET
#23 Ole Miss @ #25 LSU
I can't tell why, but I like it how Orgeron did change the Tigers.
Believe it or not, but they do look like a legit threat to Alabama in two weeks now.
They did outrun Ole Miss, especially in the second half and did win this one as 3rd win in a row (with the Florida game postponed in between) and are now still in the mix for the SEC West, believe it or not.
With Alabama coming to town next week they might have at the moment the best weapon to beat the Tide, a good running game, which means a time control and less chances for a pick-six.
I'm really curious to see this.
I think right now almost every purple and gold fan is willing to give Orgeron a contract and if he wins next week against Alabama, the school might drop the interims tag for sure.
Rumors is, the AD is hot on Orgeron and the coach did so far prove he can do things in tough situations, twice (USC a few seasons ago and now LSU).
I keep you updated.
Ole Miss will play Auburn next week, at home, which looks much tougher than a few weeks before.
Ole Miss 21 - LSU 38 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 24-16

Other interesting games:

Sat. Oct 22 - 3:00 PM ET
Colorado @ Stanford
Ugly, low scoring game, ending 10-5 for Colorado. Colorado stays in the hunt for the South, which is a major surprise overall this season and Stanford is basically out of contention now.
The Buffalos will host UCLA after a bye and Stanford will play in the desert against Arizona.
Jacks interesting games Score: 26-15

Sat. Oct 22 - 3:30 PM ET
Memphis @ #24 Navy
Navy did it all against Memphis and won 42-28, fueled by a good running game.
The Midshipmen are now on top of their division, but will face some tough teams in the next week weeks.
Next after a bye is Notre Dame at home, a non-conference game.
Memphis will play a strong Tulsa team, at home, next week.
Jacks interesting games Score: 27-15

Sat. Oct 22 - 4:00 PM ET
#19 Utah @ UCLA
This will be interesting to see. The Utes RB, Joe Williams had retired from football to finish his sociology degree early in the season, battling some injuries and loss of passion for football.
After some injuries on the team did the Utes HC call him and asked him to return to help the team.
He did.
He ran for 332 yards and 4 TDs against UCLA this weekend and became a major part of that 52-45 victory over the Bruins.
I'm curious what will happen, after the season.
Retiring again? NFL?
We will see.
The Utes will play unbeaten Washington next, at home.
The Bruins will play Colorado on the road.
Jacks interesting games Score: 28-15

Sat. Oct 22 - 8:00 PM ET
#2 Ohio State @ Penn State
And here is the upset of the week.
Penn State did win against Ohio State 24-21.
BOOM.
How?
Beginning of the 4th quarter did Ohio State punt the ball, leading 21-7.
Penn State went over the field in 5 plays and scored a TD, 21-14.
Ohio State was stopped and had to punt again.
6 plays later did Penn State kick a field goal, 21-17.
Ohio State knew they had to move the ball, so they did and were stopped at the PSU 28 yard line, at 4th and 7.
The field goal team did try a field goal and the kick was blocked and fell basically in front of the most far out running Penn State player, who did return it for a TD (that CB almost tackled by a DE after a long catch up run, how is that possible?).
Penn State suddenly ahead 24-21 and they stopped Ohio State to win the game.
The Buckeyes will face Northwestern at home next week, while Penn State visits Purdue.
Jacks interesting games Score: 28-16

Sat. Oct 22 - 10:00 PM ET
Washington State @ Arizona State
Wazzou did win 37-32, in the desert and is still in the hunt for the PAC12 North.
ASU is more or less out of contention for the PAC12 South now.
Cougars will play Oregon State on the road next week, while ASU will visit Oregon.
Jacks interesting games Score: 29-16

And some other results which might be interesting:
Virginia Tech did win against Miami 37-16 to stay on top of the ACC coastal division.
Temple did beat South Florida 46-30, which gives them a shot for the division title in the AAC East.
Cal won against Oregon 52-49 in 2 OT, resulting in a still winless Ducks team inside the PAC12. Rumor is, Helfrich, the Oregon HC, is on a major hot seat.
North Texas overcame Army 35-18. Army now 4-3 after a 3-0 start.
UCF did beat UConn 24-16. UCF still in the mix for the division title hunt in the AAC East.
Northwestern did win against Indiana 24-14. The Wildcats are behind Nebraska for the Big10 West division.
Texas lost against Kansas State 24-21. Not a good sign for Strong to keep his job.
Syracuse did win against Boston College 28-20. BC still winless in the ACC.
Hawai'i won against Air Force, 34-27. The Rainbow Warriors now 4-4 this season, which is a huge turnaround.
NIU did beat Buffalo 44-7.
Middle Tennessee did upset Mizzou 51-45. Big win for the CUSA team against a SEC team.
Charlotte did beat Marshall 27-24. Charlotte nor 2-2 inside the CUSA.
SMU did upset Houston 38-16. Houston now with 2 losses out of contention for a playoff spot and also in big need of a miracle to win the division.
Oklahoma did outscore Texas Tech ... take a deep breath ... 66-59! Both teams did more or less forgot about playing defense as it seems.
Cincinnati did beat East Carolina 31-19 for their first AAC win this season.
Maryland did beat Michigan State 28-17. Michigan State still winless inside the Big10 this season.
Kentucky won against Mississippi State 40-38.

Tags: Block of Granite, News