This past Saturday’s match up’s were not the most appealing of the regular season, yet we still found a way to watch, didn’t we 😉 Here’s what went down:
- Tennessee vs. Alabama (45-7) – If there was a game that Butch Jones could had changed his status as head man to a better favor, it was this one. However, losing bad has been the Vols mojo this season and Alabama only made things worse for coach Jones current job situation. Even if UT wins out, I don’t forsee how Butch Jones is the head coach in 2018.
- Michigan vs. Penn St. (42-13) – You want a heisman favorite? Watch Saquon Barkely out of Penn St. The stud running back ran for 108 yards on 15 carries with 2 touchdowns, as the Nittany Lions defeated Michigan last Saturday, 42-13. I’m curious when Jim Hardbaugh is going to turn the corner at Michigan. He took this job because he loves Michigan and loves to win. Is the honeymoon period over? Because I don’t see anything that tells me that Michigan is going to be a contender right now. I will say this, if he doesn’t beat Ohio St., the dogs will start barking.
- Syracuse vs. Miami (27-19) – The Miami Hurricanes don’t really dominate their opponents, but they find ways to win. They did it again against Syracuse last Saturday. The Orange are a solid football team that just upset Clemson only a week ago, but you can tell Miami had a great game plan and shutdown the Orange’s offense for most of the game. Hurricane Quarterback Malik Rossier threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns. If he keeps putting up numbers like this, he could sitting next to some special people on the second Saturday of December.
- USC vs. Notre Dame (49-14) – Since their 20-19 loss to Georgia, Notre Dame has been on fire. The Fighting Irish put on an clinic against the Trojans of USC last Saturday night, winning 49-14 in South Bend. Irish Quarterback Brandon Wimbush passed for 2 touchdowns and ran for 2 as well. Coach Brian Kelly had a great game plan that kept the Trojans on their heels all night. A well balanced offense usually wins games, but the defense allowed only 76 yards rushing! Bravo. Notre Dame still has to play Stanford, Navy, NC State, Miami, and Wake Forest on their schedule. If they can run this gauntlet, they will be sitting fine in the playoff.
- Oklahoma vs. Kansas St. (42-35) – Once again, the Sooners find a way to rescue themselves from mistakes and set backs and win a game. This is starting to become a habit. Kansas St. rushed for 268 yards against Oklahoma last Saturday, exposing a defense that was suppose to be better from a year ago. Bill Synder’s group gave the Sooners all they could handle, and them some. If the Sooners are going to win the Big XII, they better make defense a priority or they will not be winning anything significant.
JDubb's Sideline Report 