Another weekend of college football is in the books, so let’s go through who let themselves down on the gridiron with my Week 8 villains.
Texas A&M
What do you say about a team that went down 59-0 to a rampant Alabama, except to say that they were as awful as any ranked team I’ve seen take the field in years. It went from bad to worse to downright horrendous very quickly in Tuscaloosa, and Kevin Sumlin’s men had no answers. As far as capitulations go, this was up there with the best of them. Worse, it happened on national television.
The numbers are downright scary. The Aggie offense managed only 168 total yards (including a woeful 27 rushing yards) while their defence surrendered 602. Alabama had 30 first downs, Texas A&M had eight. Where to from here for an Aggie team who, at the beginning of the season looked like a legitimate threat to win the conference, and now seem little more than a punching bag. I certainly didn’t see today’s result coming.
The Big XII
Baylor lost for the first time, Oklahoma lost for the second time and there are suddenly zero undefeated teams out of that conference. Peculiarly, Kansas State is undefeated in conference play, but lost an early-season match-up to Auburn.
K-State might be the Big XII’s best chance of getting a team into the playoff, but they’re going to have to hope that Auburn don’t lose any further games in the SEC and don’t lose any themselves in their conference. That’s always dicey. The Big XII might be the power five conference on the outside looking in come Selection Sunday.
Florida
How on earth did Florida lose a game where their opponent, Missouri, amassed only 119 total yards. The Gators had more than twice that many – 283 to be exact – but gave up a 96-yard kick-off return touchdown, an 82-yard punt return touchdown and a 21-yard fumble return touchdown.
Not for the first time this season, I can report that quarterback Jeff Driskel was absolutely horrible, but this week he was particularly bad. He went 7-19 for 29 yards, two interceptions and the fumble. About the only thing he didn’t do was throw a pick six to a Missouri team who are probably still scratching their heads and trying to work out how the hell they won that game.
There were loud “Fire Muschamp” chants going around the Swamp, which was about as full as Florida Panthers NHL home games – basically empty – by the time the Gators got on the board late in the third quarter, by which time Driskel was riding the pine. If Muschamp survives this week, it’ll be by the very skin of his teeth.
Kentucky
The Wildcats, carrying a 5-1 record coming in, looked like they were primed to bust into the national rankings and at least be competitive against an inconsistent Louisiana State outfit, but instead were blown out 41-3. Mark Stoops’ men were ineffective offensively and horrible defensively against the run, letting the Tigers roll up 308 yards on the ground. Terrence Magee will give Kentucky nightmares for days, after notching 127 yards on just nine carries.
Stanford
Didn’t put up much of a fight against Arizona State, and didn’t get much from their inconsistent quarterback Kevin Hogan, who completed less than 50 per cent of his passes (19-39 for 212 yards and no scores) as the Cardinal lost to the Sun Devils 26-10. Surprisingly, Stanford are 4-3 on the year. Didn’t see that coming.
Brigham Young University
Watched quarterback Christian Stewart (39-63 for 408 yards and four touchdowns) tear up the Nevada defence throughout, but the Cougars defensive players were similarly monstered, unable to stop the Wolfpack in the second half, allowing them to come from 28-13 down to snatch a 42-35 win in Provo, Utah. Gaudy offensive numbers aside, the program misses injured quarterback Taysom Hill. They just haven’t been the same since.
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