2015-09-21 17:28

Götterdämmerung! (means Twilight of the gods)

When I did a 1st look at the results during my vacation I was totally stunned.

Alabama downed, Ohio State did struggle big time, USC lost at home, BYU got almost home with another upset.
This looks like a season we will remember.
There are many games ahead of us and many of them won't go as we (or maybe just as I) expected them to be.

For those who might like to know, I'm currently on the small island of Amrum in the northsea, in the north of Germany.
Just google it, if you like to know how it looks like there.

Yesterday we had an awesome sunny day, but today it's raining a bit, with a short period of sun at noon.
Best conditions to get the blog entry finished.

Most stunning games (beside my games of the week) were:

Minnesota - Kent State 10-7
Minnesota did start with a FG and added 2 interceptions. After that start only punt, punt and punt.
Good for the Gophers, that their defense was good and because of this had Kent State not any success on offense.
Later in the 2nd quarter did Minnesota score a TD, which gave them a 10-0 lead at the half.
The Gophers did start with a good drive after the kickoff for the 2nd half and were even in the Kent State redzone, but fumbled the drive away and did let Kent State score a return TD.
After that it was just defense.
Kent State did try everything, played even a 4th and something deep in their own half and were stopped.
Minnesota did miss the FG after that.
With that performence it will be a long season in the BIG10 for the Gophers.

North Carolina - Illinois 48-14
Before this game, the Tar Heels lost to South Carolina and won against a quite weak team.
Illinois did win big time against 2 weaker teams.
There was no reason to expect a one sided game here.
But it was a game were North Carolina was able to do everything they liked to do, while Illinois did look bad, during the whole game.
I think North Carolina would like to have it always that way.
Illinois did look like their old self again, which some people did hope was gone after the impressions of the first 2 games.
Well, the season will show, how both teams will perform in the future.
For sure is, this one did spoil my pick game at espn.

Missouri - UConn 9-6
This was awful. True and completely awful.
Mizzou did start the scoring with a blocked punt, which bounced out of bounce in UConns endzone. Safety!
The next Mizzou drive was intercepted and UConn scored a TD, but got their XP blocked.
The Tigers were unable to do anything and punted, UConn fumbled and after a few plays did Mizzou try a FG, which ... no, it was not blocked, but they missed it.
UConn did play a little football after that, but was forced to punt.
To keep them in the game did Mizzou fumble the return and gave the ball away, in their own half.
The Huskies were gentle enough to play the 4th and 8 on the Mizzou 23 yard line to turn the ball over, while leading 6-2!
That did confuse both team enough to keep on playing meaningless plays until halftime.
Uconn came out of the half and started a nice drive, only to miss a 49 yard FG.
The Tigers did answer with a long drive, playing even a 4th and inches on the UConn 2 yard line and did finally score a TD (and made the XP), now leading 9-6.
Missouri was able to get back into UConn territory, twice, but was stopped on 4th down, twice.
The last UConn comeback try at the end of the game was doomed.
They lined up for a game tying FG, but faked it, got intercepted and the ball was returned a mile.
Game over.
So bad execution on that fake-FG-try that it hurt.
I hope Mizzou did find some better juice to play in the SEC, otherwise it will be a long season.

Ohio State - Northern Illinois 20-13
The game looked bad, if you are a Buckeye fan.
Ohio State did turn the ball over many times and only their defense was the reason for the 10-10 tie at the half.
Normally NIU should have scored more points here.
In the 2nd half it become a bit better, but not much. Still turnovers, but a bit more even spread and the Ohio State defense did score a TD.
Overall, this was bad and I hope for the Buckeyes fans the team does step up against the tougher teams.
Otherwise Michigan State will be in the championship game and Ohio State will play in a pitty bowl.

Miami - Nebraska 36-33 OT
There are voices which would like to have Al Golden, the HC of Miami, fired.
Some hired even a plane to show a banner with that wish before the game.
Well, AFTER the win against Nebraska their case got at least a bit smaller.
Just a bit smaller, because Miami was leading 20-3 at the half and did lead 33-10 later in the game.
But this lead was blown away until the end of the game and they went into OT.
The Hurricanes did intercept the Huskers ball and were able to score FG to win the game.
So ... just a little relieve for Al Golden, but not much, even with a 3-0 record.

Furman - UCF 16-15
UCF did lead 12-0 at some point (FG, TD and a safety) when Furman did score a TD.
Then, in the 2nd half, did Furman score another TD (but failed the 2-point-conversion) for the 13-12 lead.
UCF did score a FG and Furman did score a FG in the next drive.
Then did not really happen very much, but the late comeback attempt of UCF was denied by an interception.
Nice win by Furman and UCF looks bad at the moment, losing even against a FCS team.

Texas Tech - Arkansas 35-24
When you are a SEC HC and you are complaining that a SEC team has to face so many ranked teams, while a very good BIG10 team only has to face 1 ranked team over the whole season, then you better win at least the easy games against unranked teams.
Well, Arkansas did lose against unranked Texas Tech and HC Bielema of Arkansas is the laugh of the week.
The Razorbacks better get tougher or they will be the worst team in the SEC.

Cal - Texas 45-44
I think it's getting hot in Texas.
Cal is not really known as a football giant and if you play at home, you are supposed to win. At least in Texas, Longhorn Nation.
Well ... until halftime the game was wide open, with a score of 24-24.
Then did Cal score some more points and did lead 45-24 when Texas did wake up and started scoring again.
They needed the whole rest of the game to get close to the Bears score and FAILED the XP on their final TD.
Hence the score.
Strong, the Longhorns HC is for sure feeling the heat rising it Texas.

South Alabama - San Diego State 34-27 OT
This is a bit surprising, since San Diego State was meant to challange some other teams for the Mountain West crown and South Alabama was meant to play in the the SBC for a mid field position.
Well, at least now it's nice to see, not all meant to be things do happen.
Nice win for South Alabama and SDSU should start winning once the conference games do start.

Stanford - USC 41-31
Everything did look good for USC.
They were successful, their next opponent did suck the few games before and this could have been a walk in the walk.
Except Stanford did play good and USC did not, Stanford did win and USC not.
Stanford did lead 24-21 at the half and most USC fans probably did hope for a nice 2nd half.
It was a nice one, if you are a Cardinals fan, since they did score way more points than USC in the 2nd half and did give USC something to think about.
USC is now no longer in the driver seat to get into the conference final.

Toledo - Iowa State 30-23 2OT
Toledo needed 2 OTs, but at the end they did win against another power5 conference team this season, even those 2 were only Arkansas and Iowa State.
Great for the program and great for the team.
I hope they will get this kind of performence into the conference games.

Now let's have a look at the BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 3

Sat. Sept. 19 - 3:30 pm ET
#14 Georgia Tech @ #8 Notre Dame
I have to admit, Notre Dame does look a lot more legit, after the did beat Georgia Tech.
They were able to stop them often enough to win the game and they were also able to play enough offense with their backup QB to ... well, win the game.
The Irish did lead 30-7 late in the game, when GT started their comeback attempt.
And until then, the Irish were not even 'perfect'.
They had turnovers and did not play well, on every play, but well enough to keep GT in check and some Yellow Jackets errors did help them also.
That last comeback attempt of GT was great.
They did score a TD and made the 2-point-conversion.
Then an onside-kick, which they won and 2 plays later they did score for the 30-22 score.
But with only 22 ticks on the clock it was clear the next kick would be another onside-try and this time it failed.
GT is still in the mix for the ACC, but got their playoff bid a bit tarnished.
Georgia Tech 30 - Notre Dame 22 -> Jacks Score: 6-3

Sat. Sept. 19 - 3:30 pm ET
#18 Auburn @ #13 LSU
I think there were some people thinking the Auburn Tigers would win this.
Based on the reputation from last season.
But the 1st few games of the season did show areas where Auburn has to improve.
So, I think many Tigers fans did WISH they would win that game against LSU.
Now, after the game, I think there are not many left, who're thinking Auburn will dominate the division and will win it all.
The Auburn Tigers are not on the level they were on last season.
They did not score a single point in the 1st half, trailing 24-0 at that point.
After that point it became a bit like garbage time and the final score is a bit misleading.
Auburn had NO chance and LSU does look like a contender for the division.
They look also not like they did last season, but that's a good development.
Auburn 21 - LSU 45 -> Jacks Score: 7-3

Sat. Sept. 19 - 9:15 pm ET
#15 Ole Miss @ #2 Alabama
It was a close game, but Ole Miss did the unthinkable, they did beat Alabama, at home, the second season in a row.
Big win.
The offense of Alabama didn't look that good and granted, Ole Miss had some luck during the game, but overall it looks like Ole Miss is playing for the title, again.
There are many games left to play, so we will have to wait, which team will rise at the end of the season, but that loss did hurt Alabamas ambitions and did help Ole Miss big time.
Not many teams will beat the Tide, I'm sure, but the Rebels did.
The Tide fans did leave way to early (at some point did Bama trail 24-43) and they might even had missed a great comeback. Almost.
Alabama did scored and recovered an onside kick to score again.
Only 6 points behind did they try to get the last TD, but Ole Miss did hold the line and that last push for a score was denied.
They had to play the 4th down and failed and the Rebels were able to run down the clock.
Ole Miss 43 - Alabama 37 -> Jacks Score: 7-4

Sat. Sept. 19 - 10:30 pm ET
#19 Brigham Young @ #10 UCLA
I did expect a blowout here, with BYU being the victim, but they were leading at the half 10-3.
Not much, but much more than expected.
UCLA was almost invisible on offense and BYU did score when possible.
The game become a bit more open in the 2nd half and late in the game were UCLA able to catch up.
BYU tried a late comeback drive, but was stopped on 4th down with an interception and the BYU magic did run out.
Still, they managed to get much more than expected and maybe BYU will have a very nice season, overall.
Brigham Young 23 - UCLA 24 -> Jacks Score: 8-4

Now I will give you some more results worth to mention:
Clemson did win against Louisville, 20-17. Louisville did miss a game tying FG in the 4th quarter and were intercepted on their last comeback try.
#9 ranked Florida State won against Boston College 14-0. The BC defense did look quite good, allowing only 1 TD (the other one was a Defense-TD by FSU), but their offense was awful.
Michigan did beat UNLV 28-7. The Wolverines did not look that good, just good enough to beat the Rebels. It will be interesting to see them playing against some better teams.
On the other hand did Michigan State beat Air Force 35-21 and is now, after the new ranks came out, #2 in the country. Not sure if that's valid, but so far the people do rank them that high. Even a #1 rank was given, once.
Ranked Texas A&M overcame Nevada 44-27. Aggies now 3-0 and do look more like the team they were in the past with Johhny Football on the roster, than they look like the team of last season.
Wake Forest barely did beat Army 17-14. I'm a bit sorry for Army, they would have deserved that win, but if you miss a FG during the game and turn the ball over, it's no wonder you lose. Wake Forest did score the game wining FG with time running out.
Northwestern won against Duke 19-10. Dukes offense better wake up soon. And Northwestern might become a player in the BIG10 this season.
Temple did win by 2 against UMass. 25-23. It's not really convincing if you only beat that not-so-good-MAC-team by 2 points. Was that UMass over performing, Temple under performing or Temple self impoding after the last 2 games?
Memphis beats Bowling Green 44-41. Memphis really did spoiled the home game opener of Bowling Green here.
Indiana had to turn on the afterburner to win against Western Kentucky 38-35. Indiana was trailing 28-17 at the half and did need a big 3rd quarter to turn the game.
Georgia did destroy South Carolina 52-20. Big statement by Georgia and an interesting measurement of the Gamecocks strength.
Southern Miss won against Texas State 56-50. Defense was non-existing at that game.
The Rocky Mountain Showdown ended with a win of Colorado against Colorado State 27-24 in OT. Nice step foreward for the Buffalos.
Florida survived against Kentucky 14-9. The Gators did lead early, but almost lost in the last few minutes.
Iowa did kick a game winning FG with time running out to win against Pitt 27-24. It will be interesting to see, if Pitt is that strong or Iowa had again a down game.

‘Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

Tags: Block of Granite