College Football Week 7 Round Up
We had a FANTASTIC slate this week. Lots of ranked teams going head to head, and conference play was in full swing. We had some chaos at the top of the rankings, but ultimately, I don’t think too much will change.
Week 7 Preview
Just a quick tidbit to help everyone at home understand these headlines. I’ll use the first game as an example “USC 27 @ 9 Notre Dame 30” means: Unranked USC played #9 in the nation Notre Dame and Notre Dame won 30–27. I wrote this whole blog and realized having so many numbers can be a bit confusing, but the important thing is if there’s a number before a team’s name, it’s their national ranking, a number after their name indicates that teams score.
USC 27 @ 9 Notre Dame 30
This game always lives up to the hype. It’s one of those games where it doesn’t matter what the rankings are, it doesn’t matter whos better, this game always comes down the wire. This year did not disappoint. I have talked about Notre Dame QB Ian Book a few times, and I have to say, I’m just not impressed by him. Notre Dame’s season is already over after the Georgia loss, but if they sneak in the playoffs (they won’t), he can’t be trusted to make National Championships level throws. I don’t think he’s bad, he finds a way to win, but when you get to the playoff there are zero margins for error. That being said I am declaring the 5–1 Irish season officially over, I know it sounds weird coming off a win, but sitting at week 7, I don’t see them getting into the top 4 without a conference championship
Speaking of Georgia:
South Carolina 20 @ 3 Georgia 17 (2OT)
This is a program defining victory for South Carolina, they know have a unique opportunity where over the next 3 years, this game can catapult them back into the national spotlight. The shame of it is all is that it’s South Carolina and Coach Will Muschamp has never been the guy that can change a program like this, but he’s also never upset the number 3 team in the nation Keep an eye on these guys over the coming years because the student and alumni deserve better, and they may finally have their dream come true.
On the other end, poor Georgia, poor poor poor Georgia. They are the epitome of “always the bridesmaid, never the bride”. Consistently a top 5 team in the country, with the unique disadvantage of being in the same conference as Alabama. For the first time in a decade, Alabama doesn’t really look like Alabama, and Georgia finally had a sliver of hope that MAYBE this was their year. And then South Carolina came to town and ripped their hearts out.
Not to kick Georgia fans when they’re down but in the last 5 years, they have had some horrible sports luck. Starting with the Atlanta Falcons giving up a 28–3 lead in the super bowl before losing the Patriots. Followed by the Braves getting bounced from the MLB playoffs in the first round in back to back years. And this isn’t necessarily the last five years but two (2) professional hockey teams have packed up and left town. It is not fun being a sports fan in Georgia right now.
10 Penn State 17@ 17 Iowa 12
Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy, sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. This type of performance does not beat Ohio State, and it certainly does not win a Big 10 Championship. I assume the narrative will be “Iowa is a difficult place to play”, but ya know where else is a difficult place to play?
And the difference is the Buckeyes are bigger, stronger, faster, and better than Iowa.
PSU Coach James Franklin is an elite recruiter and a dogshit play-caller. We need a new offensive coordinator, who calls the plays, or we will never make it to the top of the mountain. I am not saying fire James Franklin, but the best thing for the program is for him to give up play-calling duties.
Late in the 3rd quarter officials inexplicably overturned a Penn State touchdown giving us first and goal from the 1. I am not here to talk about the absurdity of overturning this call, the rest of Penn State media will tirelessly harp on this as if the sky was falling. However, the real story is what happened next.
1st and goal from the 1 Penn State inexplicably get into shotgun. We need to move the ball 3 feet forward, yet elicit take the snap 15 feet back from the line of scrimmage. Why did we turn a 1-yard opportunity into 6 yards? Obviously Iowa tackled Penn State for a loss putting us at 2nd and 1.5 yards. Guess what Coach Franklin does?
Shotgun
He puts us back in Shotgun. Can you guess what happened next? Spoiler: It wasn’t a touchdown. 3rd and goal from the 1-yard line and now James Franklin is given a 3rd opportunity to put Sean Clifford under center, and move forward 3 feet. I think you already know what happens. SHOTGUN! next a holding penalty moves us back 10 yards for 3rd and 10, a pass interference brings us back to 3rd and 20, and you’re not going to believe what happened next. Sean Clifford takes the snap and drives it up the middle for a 5 yard gain, making it 4th and 15 and a field goal.
Lets recap:
1st and 1- no QB sneak — no touchdown
2nd and 1 — no QB sneak — no touchdown
3rd and 1 — no QB sneak — no touchdown
3rd and 20 QB run for 5 yards
Granted it was not a designed run, and it did come from shotgun. But come on James. Sean is a big boy, he can get you 3 feet if you don’t put him 15 feet away from the goal line. This is the story of this game, and I will not listen to anyone who tries to tell me otherwise.
Maybe you’re thinking: “Chris, aren’t you being a little harsh? How do you know a QB sneak would have ended that drive with 7?”
We’ll let me introduce you to Warren Sharp, the lead football analyst in the NFL. This guy breaks down every snap, of every play, of every game, and does the analytics to tell you statistically how likely you are to end up successful. He works for several teams in the NFL, and although only he knows who those teams are, its widely believed he is the guy behind the two teams who use analytics more than anyone else in the NFL. The New England Patriots, and the Philadelphia Eagles. Do you know what those two teams have in common? They are the only two teams who have won a Super Bowl in the last 3 years.
Our friend Warren Sharp ran the numbers, as he always does, and let’s see what he has to say about short-yardage plays:
Remarkable, if you snap the ball under center and fall forward, you’re more likely to gain 1 yard, than you are if you snap the ball 5 yards away. Who would have thought? Surely not James Franklin.
Again he is an Elite Recruiter and he is the reason we are in the Play-off conversation, but fair is fair, and if I am giving him credit for his success he deserves blame for his failures.
