College pigskin recap: week 5

Finally – a week of meaningful games.

#6 Oregon beat #3 Penn State in OT. I didn’t watch that game, but as I reviewed the stats, I couldn’t figure out how Penn State made it that close. Oregon had more passing yards, more rushing yards, fewer turnovers, more first downs, fewer punts, and greater time of possession. They didn’t just do a little bit better, they dominated every category. Given all that, I’m glad the game went their way. A loss would have been unjust. I have been thinking that Oregon and Ohio State are the top two teams this year, but the dream match-up will not occur, at least not during the regular season. There are so many teams in these new super-conferences that the teams can’t play each other every year.

#4 LSU got bumped off by #13 Ole Miss. That’s another game where the score was close, but the stats were not. Ole Miss totally dominated, 484 yards to 256.

#5 Georgia also lost, to a resurgent Alabama. It was another close game, this time between evenly matched teams. Alabama went Full Fridge in that game. Ty Simpson threw a pass to Kadyn Proctor, who is approximately the size of Galactus. (Just your typical svelte, speedy, nearly 400-pound wide receiver!) Proctor just stomped on a few puny humans on his way to a first down, just short of a TD. The big galoot never really got tackled. He just sort of stumbled clumsily out of bounds. It goes into the books as a rushing play because the passer was ahead of the receiver, so it’s technically a lateral. (Video). By the way, Georgia mysteriously finished that game with a missing player. Most people believe that Proctor ate him.

How many headlines did I read about #8 Florida State’s “shocking” loss. Shocking? Say what? Did people think they could keep playing Kent State every week? I wasn’t expecting them to lose, but I wasn’t at all surprised. For the last two weeks I have listed Florida State among the most overrated teams o’ the week. Their #8 ranking was baffling. It wasn’t as baffling as Illinois being in the top ten for a while, or South Florida being in the top 20 for a week, but it was a case of overrating. If you really pay close attention, that game wasn’t even an upset. The bookies favored the Seminoles by 7, but Sagarin’s computer system actually had Virginia as a (very slight) favorite in that game.

With 3, 4, 5 and 8 all losing, there were opportunities for the other teams to advance in the polls. Oregon rose to #2, as expected. Ole Miss vaulted nine spots to #4. Indiana and Alabama joined the top ten.

The computer rankings

Full scoreboard

Overrated teams o’ the week:

We are now getting to the time of the year when the computers and the voters are approaching agreement. There are still two teams out of line:

Iowa State. Computers #28, polls #14. Given their schedule, Iowa State has an outside chance to finish the season undefeated, which would undoubtedly get them into the playoff. I don’t think any of the pre-season pundits predicted anything like that.

Georgia Tech. Computers #33, polls #17. Well, they’ll finish the regular season by hosting Georgia, as usual, so an undefeated season would be tough, but they always play tough against Georgia. Two years ago, when Georgia came into the game #1 in the nation and Tech was 6-5, the game was 31-23. Last year, when Georgia held the home field advantage, the Ramblin’ Wrecks dragged the game out to eight overtimes before giving up the ghost. (Tech actually beat two top ten teams last year, and also had to face Georgia and Notre Dame. Tough schedule!)

Totally irrelevant opinion: The Ramblin’ Wrecks would be the best team name ever! “Yellowjackets” is pedestrian.

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Following the Big 4 on the disappointment circuit:

Oklahoma State and UCLA lost again. It’s gonna be a long, hard year for those kids, especially for UCLA. The B Ruins are 0-4 and still have to play three teams currently among the top eight in the country. The computers now have them ranked below Troy. OUCH!

Pre-season darlings Clemson and Florida were spared further humiliation because they didn’t play this week. Florida is 1-3, with their only win coming over a punching bag team. Their remaining schedule this year is just as tough as UCLA’s. They still have to face Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee – all of them currently in the top 15 in the nation. The Gators were #15 in the pre-season polls, but will be very fortunate to avoid a losing record.