2021-09-16 08:09

Oh my god the end is near!

That would be eventually the reaction of Florida State fan, or an Ohio State fan, or some other teams, which had a really bad weekend.
You will see some of them in my reviews.

The BLOCK OF GRANITE GAMES FOR WEEK 2

Sat. Sep 11
#12 Oregon @ #3 Ohio State
I did write '...I hope the Ducks can make this an interesting game.'
Boy, that became an interesting game.
After a scoreless 1st quarter, the Ducks lead 14-7 at the half.
They did increase the lead in the 3rd to 28-14 and then slowly did Ohio State get the Ducks offense under control.
But too, late.
After a TD to cut the Ducks lead to 7 points did Ohio State try too much and an INT did end their hopes.
Oregon did look much sharper than the week before and Ohio State is lucky to have the big shots inside their conference only later in the season.
#12 Oregon 35 @ #3 Ohio State 28 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 3-3

#10 Iowa @ #9 Iowa State
Iowa State did score 1st, but Iowa did score the most until the final peep.
The Cyclones had not really a chance, trailing at the half only 10-14, but then lost the 3rd quarter scoreless and had to play catchup then.
Iowa looks really good this season, while Iowa State might not be good enough to challenge the Big 12 elite for a conference championship.
#10 Iowa 27 @ #9 Iowa State 17 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 4-3

#21 Utah @ BYU
Autsch, that must have hurt.
The game did look open until BYU did score at the end of the half for the 16-7 lead.
The 3rd quarter was all BYU and when Utah got back into the game, it was too late and likely garbage time.
The Utes streak of 9 wins is over and I'm wondering whether this was just one of those rivalry games, which will just look odd at the end of the season or whether this will be marked as 'the Utes meltdown started here'.
Only time will tell.
#21 Utah 17 @ BYU 26 -> Jacks TOP GAMES Score: 4-4

Other interesting games:
Washington @ Michigan
Michigan won 31-10 and Washington is definitely not going into the right direction. With the past few coaches the results were much better, so I wonder, how much time the coach will get? I think it depends on the results, but this season will be a hot one, for sure.
Jacks interesting games Score: 6-1

Stanford @ #14 USC
Stanford did play strong and won 42-28, which is a huge win, if you have the betting line in your head with USC -17.0.
A major setback for the Trojans and right now it looks like it is Oregon or bust for the PAC 12 playoff hopes.
USC is in trouble, but the coaching change, see below, will eventually change the direction instantly.
Jacks interesting games Score: 6-2

Pittsburgh @ Tennessee
Pitt was not shy and DID play and won 41-34, thanks to 27 points in the 2nd quarter.
That means the favorite won, which seems to me still like a miracle.
The ACC could be interesting this season.
Jacks interesting games Score: 6-3

Other interesting or funny scores:
Coastal Carolina won against Kansas 49-22. Whoever did thing this BIG 12 team would maybe win against a Sun Belt team. Think again.
Texas A&M barely won against Colorado 10-7. Great game by the Buffalos, if A&M is really a favorite for the SEC. Still of course a loss.
Notre Dame had problems but won against Toledo 32-29. Will the Irish do this in every game now, play a good as the opponent, but never much better?
Arkansas won 40-21 against Texas. Looks like Texas has a lot of issues to solve.
Miami did hopefully not their best, but enough to beat Appalachian State 25-23. They should play better against other, better teams, or they will lose some important games.
Virginia did beat Illinois 42-14. It looks like the Illini will need a lot of patient this season.
Army won 38-35 against Western Kentucky. Not their best game, but a win.
South Carolina had luck and won 20-17 against East Carolina. Gamecocks do also look like a team, which needs a LOT of rework.
Minnesota got their 1st win, beating Miami (Ohio) 31-26. A win is a win, but boy that does not look convincing.
As the win of Oklahoma State against Tulsa does also not look good, just 28-23. Either the quality of the teams become much more equal the past season, or the boys have problems to concentrate.
Duquesne (FCS) won against Ohio 28-26. Ohio just looks odd this season. I’m wondering whether the short term named new HC will survive the season.
Air Force won against Navy 23-3. Navy did not look good so far in the season.
Liberty won against Troy, 21-13. Liberty had great results last season as independent, and it starts good again this season.
Jacksonville State did beat Florida State 20-17. THIS is a very bad game for FSU. Very bad.
San Diego State won against Arizona 38-14. Tough loss for Arizona.

What does that mean now for the season?

Well, for some teams and their coaches it is already 2 Minutes to Midnight. Or even 2 minutes PAST Midnight.
For some this was just a small setback, but the season is long, and nobody can say, whether all now unbeaten teams will stay unbeaten.
No, likely most of them lose also games, maybe even more than once.
In the year 20217, the last time a 1-loss team became national champion (Alabama).
And 2007 even a 2-loss team got the national championship (LSU).

So, it's far from over, but granted, as a fan, the results of some teams in the past 2 weekends do not look promising.
Likely some are already out of the playoff debate, but honestly, the most were already eliminated anyway.
Since most teams did play non-conference games so far, the damage done so far is quite limited.
Every team can still win their conference, but of course the teams who did already dump a game INSIDE the conference do have a small disadvantage.

Regarding coaches did USC run out of patients and did fire Clay Helton. He did survive 5 full seasons and got the job as interims coach before that.
Now Donte Williams will coach for the remaining season, with the chatter already running hot who will come to southern California to get things done last time Pete Carroll did last in 2009.
They did choose poorly since then, taking coaches with issues and a big bag of problems (granted sometimes only be seen afterwards) or just not the big shots the program needs.
The list of possible new ones is long and includes some interesting people, funny most would be coaches from somewhere else to be bought from, some coaches are basically in retirement and work as TV analyst.
Good luck.

Something odd did happen after the Navy game. The OC Ivin Jasper was fired by the AD Chet Gladchuk, likely unsatisfied with the offense production. But HC Ken Niumatalolo, who is with the team since 14! Seasons, was NOT involved and totally not OK with the move. Ivin Jasper was then hired again but demoted to QB coach and the HC will call plays now. Honestly, how on earth can that happen? We are not talking about some misbehavior / program threatening events, when the AD has to protect the program. No, we are talking about an employee who did his job (obviously not to the satisfaction of the AD) who is also with the team since 14 seasons and the AD does this, without consulting with the OCs superior, the HC? Man that man must have been angry, but this is totally unprofessional.

Let’s go to the forecasts for next weekend.

The BLOCK OF GRANITE GAMES FOR WEEK 3

Sat. Sep 18
#1 Alabama @ #11 Florida
If your betting line against one of the TOP 4 teams inside the SEC is -15.5 it means either you play in another, higher league, or the betters are way too confident.
Alabama is very high favored here, as away team.
Granted I do also pick Alabama to win this, but with a 15.5 point or more margin?
Dan Mullen did wonders in Mississippi State, so I do expect him to prepare the team the best he can.
Alabama has some advantages in overall coaching staff and recruiting, but nothing a good game plan at Florida cannot equalize.
I think Florida has a chance, if they play good, very good.
If they can stop the Alabama offense, they can do this.
The problem for me is, I doubt they can do this often enough to stop Alabama from winning.
Watch out for a close game.
Crimson Tide win.

#22 Auburn @ #10 Penn State
Auburn is very interesting this season.
The program has Bryan Harsin from Boise State as new HC and it will be interesting to see, whether this guy can do something his predecessor was unable to do, do better than Alabama regularly and win the National Championship.
The predecessor won the SEC in his 1st season and then only was able to win the division one more time in those 7 seasons.
Harsin did start good so far in Auburn and won all game, but now faces the so far also unbeaten Penn State.
Their HC is on every list for an upgrade on job level and with USC now open, the chatter won't stop.
But will he let this one distract his team, I guess not.
Penn State is favored by 6 points to win this.
I'm willing to follow that, since Auburn did so far only beat cupcakes, while Penn State did beat Wisconsin already.
Nittany Lions win.

#19 Arizona State @ #23 BYU
A bit of a surprising ranked vs ranked game here with ASU favored by 3.5 points.
Which is a bit surprising, since the Sun Devils did only win against some weaker teams, while BYU did crush Utah last week and they play at home.
I'm willing to give the Cougars a bit credit for that and see them ahead here.
If Herm Edwards team does get out with the defense sharp and dominant, this will get close and with just a few points, but I trust BYU to get something done at home.
Cougars win.

Other interesting games:
Virginia @ #21 North Carolina
This is tough for me, because I'm happy both teams did get things sorted out better than way in the past and (like every year) they meet here.
UNC is favored by 9 and that's likely fair.
But the Tar Heels did also suck in week 1 and Virginia was great last week but played not a team like UNC so far.
Tough. I hope for a close one.
Tar Heels win.

Oklahoma State @ Boise State
Something is wrong, if a team, even Boise State, is favored against a quality Big 12 team. At least I would think that, if I would be a Cowboys fan.
Boise is favored by 4.5 points on the smurf turf. They have lost against UCF on week 1.
Oklahoma State is perfect but had in 2 meaningless games against way weaker teams a lot of problems to secure the win.
So ... I think Boise can do this and likely will crush the Cowboys.
Broncos win.

Fresno State @ #13 UCLA
I make it short here. UCLAs betting line is -11.5.
They did beat Hawai'i and LSU, while the Bulldogs lost (close) against Oregon and won against a FCS team.
This is UCLA all over.
Bruins win.

Enjoy the weekend. I will go on vacation the next 2 weeks, but will try to cover the stuff.

'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

Tags: Block of Granite, News