The great thing about college football in Septemeber is that you get quality football come to your television. Let me explain- you usually don’t get marquee matchups until late in the season, like rivalry week, or even when the bowls begin. However, sometimes you get years were the main course comes out before the appetizer. This past Saturday night we got the main course- Notre Dame vs. Georgia. If you remember, these two teams played each other two years ago in South Bend where the bulldogs pulled out the win with help from their “second string quaterback”- Jake Fromm. That game was Fromm’s coming out party. Fromm has been one of the most accurate quarterbacks in college football the past two seasons. Don’t believe me? Ok, check these stats out:
2017- 181/291 CMP/ATT, 62.2 CMP%, 2615 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 7 INT’s.
2018- 206/306 CMP/ATT, 67.3 %, 2749 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 6 INT’s.
So far in 2019, he is on pace to throw of ver 3,000 yards. This is remarkable, but to do it in the toughest league in college football is even more an accomplishment. Notre Dame on the otherhand, who was called out before this game that they were too soft and didn’t have the man power to go toe-to-toe with the bulldogs, held their own throughoput the game. The irish lost the game because they could not establish any kind of ground game. The bulldogs seemed to slow them down in the third quarter. They also had penalities throughout the game that seemed to be elementary but cost them on many drives. Even though Notre Dame lost, they gained a ton of respect in the football community, and if they can win out, maybe the luck of the irish can play them into the playoffs. The bulldogs on the other hand control their own fate- just keep on winning.
Another team I was impressed with on Saturday were the Auburn Tigers. This team didn’t have the biggest off-season or was predicted to finish high in 2019 but they sure have found a quarterback in true freshman Bo Nix. So far Nix has thrown for 645 yards in four games, a long with five touchdown passes. He’s a dual-threat, perfect for the Gus-Bus system down on the plains. Now he’s got his team to a 4-0 start but the gauntlet is about to begin:
Miss St, Florida, Arkansas, and LSU are their next four games. If they can somehow come out if those four games with a W, they will be sitting pretty towards the end of the season until they play Georgia and Alabama. Those will be two games that will decide if the Tigers are truly ready for the playoff.
Lastly, I wanted to mention Ohio St. The buckeyes have played four games and have scored a total of 214 points! Last week alone, the team scored six touchdowns in one quarter. Georgia transfer, Justin Fields is dominating the opposition with his athleticism and his golden arm. This week the travel to Lincoln, Nebraska to take on the cornhuskers in a early B1G matchup. Nebraska isn’t quite there yet while they are currently in rebuild mode with second-year coach, Scott Frost. The buckeyes true test will come on October 26, when they take on Wisconsin.
Septemeber is almost over but we’re starting to get some clarity over the haves and have nots of college football- and remember, it can change on a dime.
JDubb's Sideline Report 