2015-10-05 12:18

Erdbeben! (means Earthquake)

This weekend was really an earthquake on the power landscape of football.
And to give you a hint, I like to quote a headline of an ESPN article:
"Utes take over top spot in ESPN Power Rankings".
Not that Utah is a fine program, but the strongest of all?

Not in my book and probably not in many books, but it shows the cluelessness of the sports community about this seasons teams.
Utah had bye week this gameday and they were able to jump all other teams to the top spot at ESPNs power rating.
That's odd and that shows how strange the results of this weekend were.
The former #1 in that power ranking, Ohio State did win, but in a so bad way that they dropped to #4.

I will start with my featured games and then will give an overview over the others.

The BLOCK OF GRANITE TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 5

Sat. Oct. 3 - 12:00 pm ET
#23 West Virginia @ 15 Oklahoma
This one was one of the few games with TOP25 impact, which went as expected.
The game was more or less Oklahomas all the time, but West Virginia was right behind them until around 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter.
A Sooners defender did hit the QB, the ball came lose and the Sooners did return the fumble for a 17 point lead.
After that play was West Virginia not the same.
They had to hurry, they had to gamble and that did cost them.
I have to say, the game went on with more points than I would have expected, but at the end the results is within a margin which is OK.
Oklahoma did for sure show that they will have a word to say inside the BIG12 and West Virginia will have a tough time getting back into the driver seat.
West Virginia 24 - Oklahoma 44 -> Jacks Score: 10-7

Sat. Oct. 3 - 3:30 pm ET
#13 Alabama @ #8 Georgia
Sometimes I wonder what makes the kids tick.
When Alabama did face Ole Miss this season, the story was clear: revenge, stay perfect, get it done.
The lost.
When Georgia did face Alabama this weekend, something must have been terrible wrong in Georgia and very good in Alabama.
Mark Richts Bulldogs did again lose against the Saban Crimson Tide and it wa snot even close in Athens.
The 2nd quarter was the early coffin nail, after which Georgia did trail 3-24.
There are not many teams which did came back from that kind of difference and won against Alabama.
But the worst thing in that game was, that Alabama did start quite sloppy and Georgia was unable to get anything out of that.
The Tide did fumble early and Georgia went 3-and-out, short the FG range.
Alabama did score 1st, and Georgia did score also, 3-3 then.
The 2nd quarter was demonstration of defense strength and special team play on Alabamas side.
Georgia did look bad.
That block punt was bad, but that Alabama was able to even return it for a TD was too easy.
The final game changer was the pick six in the 3rd, which did give Alabama the 31-3 lead.
After that did both teams play, but Georgia was only able to keep the margin intact, no comeback.
With this win did Alabama show the nation that they are not done.
And Georgia did proof once again, that they do have a big-game-allergy.
They might win the SEC East, but I have doubts regarding the SEC.
Hell, I even have doubts regarding the SEC East.
Alabama 38 - Georgia 10 -> Jacks Score: 10-8

Sat. Oct. 3 - 7:30 pm ET
#21 Mississippi State @ #14 Texas A&M
OK, fine.
Also this game went as expected.
Texas A&M did look good.
So good that someone gave them a 1st place vote in the AP-Poll.
Wow.
Not so fast from my point of view, but on the other hand did they win against the Bulldogs without any real problem.
At halftime were they leading by 14 points and did held the Bulldogs scoreless in the 3rd.
It will be interesting to see them playing a few of the bigger names of the SEC West.
Mississippi State 17 - Texas A&M 30 -> Jacks Score: 11-8

Sat. Oct. 3 - 8:00 pm ET
#6 Notre Dame @ #12 Clemson
This one was close and for me not as clear as expected.
The weather conditions were bad, rain, rain and rain and that did change a lot.
Tackling was sometimes awful, special teams had not a good day and many turnovers did happen.
Clemson did lead early and at the end of the 3rd this lead was build up to 21-3.
Over?
Not yet.
Give Notre Dame credit for not quitting.
They scored a TD at the start of the 4t, but failed the 2-point-conversion. 21-9.
Clemson made a FG and did lead 24-9.
The Irish answered with a quick score and did cut the lead to 24-16.
Clemson was unable to score, but the Irish did turn the ball over and in the following drive did Clemson missed a FG.
Finished?
Not yet.
The Irish did get near the endzone and did fumble the ball, Clemson had to punt and the Irish got the ball with about 30 ticks left.
Under bad weather not really good, but Notre Dame DID score! 24-22.
They did try a 2-point-conversion to tie the game, but the keeper was stopped.
Overall a nice game and Notre Dame can still hope a bit, at least for a big bowl, but Clemson has now a national television big win.
So keep on winning and you are in.
Notre Dame 22 - Clemson 24 -> Jacks Score: 12-8

OK, that did not sound as dramatic as an earthquake, but now I will show you the epic results.
I will give you the AP TOP 25 count down:

#1 Ohio State did play against Indiana and won only 34-27 after the trailed at halftime and were not able to hold off Indiana from scoring regularly. A not really convincing win (that's why they dropped in the ESPN rankings).

#2 Michigan State did win against Purdue only 24-21. Also not really convincing. Purdue did almost had a great comeback in the 4th and were stopped in mid field on their last drive on 4th down.

#3 Ole Miss got crashed by #25 Florida and lost 38-10. Ole Miss was the new hot thing from the SEC, but not for long. Now Florida got that label.

#4 TCU did destroy and took a dump on Texas, won 50-7. After that almost-lost-game of TCU last week, this was a demonstration of power on a powerless Texas team.

#5 Baylor did slaughter Texas Tech 63-35. THIS is a demonstration.

#6 Notre Dame vs #12 Clemson is mentioned above.

#7 UCLA had a bad day and was beaten by Arizona State 38-23. Now does the PAC12 starts to make no sense at all.

#8 Georgia vs #13 Alabama is mentioned above.

#9 LSU did win again on the ground against Eastern Michigan 44-22. That's not a demonstration, but a win. LSU against other SEC teams will be interesting.

#10 Utah did not play and therefor became the ESPN Power Ratings #1 team ....

#11 Florida State did beat Wake Forest 24-16, which is not really a good one.

#14 Texas A&M vs #21 Mississippi State is mentioned above.

#15 Oklahoma vs #23 West Virginia is mentioned above.

#16 Northwestern did shutout Minnesota 27-0, which is a very good result.

#17 USC did not play.

#18 Stanford did beat Arizona with a 50-burger 55-17. Stanford really makes statements in the PAC12.

#19 Wisconsin did lose against Iowa 10-6. Iowa is not really good, but still under the radar, even they got now ranked after that weekend.

#20 Oklahoma State did beat Kansas State 36-34. Not sure if this is really a good one, we will judge that later in the season.

#22 Michigan did held Maryland scoreless and won 28-0. Michigan is crawling back into the spotlight and does look quite good.

#24 California did beat Washington State in a close one 34-28. Cal is still unbeaten, but if they can really survive the season, not sure.

Most surprising was the Ole Miss loss, the poor play of the leading BIG10 teams and the UCLA loss.
I think we will need some more weeks to get the teams lined up for the playoffs.

The conferences do from my point of view really benefit from that performance, since the more is unknown, the more excitement.

More interesting results:
Cincinnati did beat Miami 34-23 and the fire-that-damn-HC-talk starts again.
Tulane did beat UCF 45-31 which means, UCF is still winless and they seem to have a long season in front of them.
Houston did best Tulsa 38-24. Houston has a really good start so far and is still unbeaten.
Missouri wins against South Carolina 24-10. The Gamecocks are so far 0-3 in the SEC.
Pittsburgh has won the game against Virginia Tech 17-13. Looks like the new HC did turn the things around quickly.
Louisville scored its 1st win in the conference by beating so far unbeaten North Carolina State 20-13.
Toledo stays unbeaten with a win against Ball State 24-10. Toledo is now ranked as #24 in the AP-Polls.
Central Michigan did beat Northern Illinois 29-19. Looks like NIU will not rule the conference, this season.
Navy did beat up Air Force 33-11 and this might already be the deciding game for the Commander-In-Chief-Trophy, since Army is not that strong. But the final result of cause will be there at the end of the season, after the famous Army-Navy-game.
Liberty (FCS) did win against Georgia State 41-33. Georgia State is not very long a FBS member, but every upset by a FCS team is fun.
Western Kentucky did beat Rice 49-10. Looks like Rice has a defense problem this season.
North Carolina was able to beat Georgia Tech, 38-31, which means GT is falling behind in the ACC race for the division title.
Illinois did beat Nebraska 14-13, which is a quite odd result for 2 offensive teams.
Southern Miss did best North Texas 49-14. Looks like the Golden Eagles might get a good season.
Arkansas won against Tennessee 24-20. The Vols are no 0-2 in the conference.
UNLV wins in the Battle for Nevada against Nevada 23-17. After 8 wins in a row by Nevada did ULNV win in 2013, Nevada again in 2014 and ULNV won again in 2015. Since 2012 did always the road team win.
Utah State did overcome Colorado State 33-18. The Rams are now 2-3 overall under the new HC.
UTSA won their 1st game against UTEP, 25-6.
New Mexico did beat rival New Mexico State 38-29. The Rio Grande Rivalry is now won 3 times in the row by the Lobos.

'Til next time
Jack6 on BLOCK OF GRANITE

Tags: Block of Granite, News