CFB HEADLINES: WEEK 9

Folks, Big 12 Blood Week giveth, and Big 12 Blood Week taketh your Red Raiders and wrings them out like wet towel. Please remember that Les Miles is the universe’s #1 agent of chaos and the roulette wheel landed on us this week. Take heart in the fact that this insanity will 1000000% happen to other conference opponents through Les’ tenure and we’re going to laugh and laugh and laaaauuuugh.

BIG 12

#5 Oklahoma 41, Kansas State 48

The first of the sacrifices, the Sooners enjoyed an early lead and seemed fine, if not a little sluggish. And then Skylar Thompson happened. The Wildcats ended up running roughshod over Oklahoma’s defense, and OU themselves couldn’t seem to stay out of their own way. Even then, Jalen Hurts’ 490 yards of total offense & 4 combined TD’s were able to keep the Sooners in it until the very end when, would you know it, OU got involved in an officiating controversy that concluded the game. That’s never happened! (It’s happened a lot, re: 2005 OU-TTU ,2006 OU-Oregon [which they are still incredibly mad at l-o-l]

#15 Texas 27, TCU 37

In honor of Big 12 Blood Week, it was incredibly generous of former Hesiman contender and preseason Big 12 QB darling Sam Ehlinger to donate the ball 4 times to TCU for their festivities. TCU frosh QB Max Duggan had himself a fun coming out party against the conference’s worst pass defense, throwing for 273 yards and rushing for a team leading 72 yards. We’ll see if Duggan is indeed the answer at quarterback the Frogs have been desperate for, but beating a ranked Texas squad isn’t a bad way to establish yourself.

Oklahoma State 34, #23 Iowa State 27

Brocktober. . . is over. Brock Purdy has finally been dealt a loss in the month of October after a particularly gutty performance by the Cowboys. OSU let Chuba Hubbard do his thing and QB Sanders gave the ball away (slightly) less than normal while the Pokes were able to nabbed 3 picks themselves in the 4th quarter, including the go-ahead pick-6 by Malcolm Rodriguez. The only logical explanation is that Iowa State is still recovering from the high of beating a formidable Texas Tech team they had no business beating. Oklahoma State, you are welcome.

NATIONAL

Ponies, Up

Sooooo SMU is still undefeated, will have GameDay present in Memphis for them this weekend, and oh ya they get the ABC primetime slot. What a time to be alive, etc., etc.

Not To Be Forgotten

Other undefeated teams include Minnesota, Baylor, & Appalachian State. Appy State has South Carolina left on the schedule, while Minnesota gets to look forward to Penn State, Iowa, & Wisconsin. I don’t care enough about Baylor to look up their coming opponents.

Tua? Who-a? (Thank you)

Sometimes not having your insanely talented starting QB is an issue. Other times, you’re playing Arkansas. #1 Alabama beat the Hogs 48-7. As in many instances, Arkansas: Not Good!

Tigers Prevail Over Tigers

It never rains in Tiger Stadium, but a prolonged stiff dew made field conditions. . . less than ideal. #9 Auburn hung with #2 LSU all game with stout defense and some good running, but in the end LSU just ended up being better than the 20-23 score indicates. I’ve talked about him in this space before, but if you haven’t watched Joe Burrow this season, do yourself a favor. He lead his first TD drive of the game after getting the following pop:

My Bad-ger, Part II

Sooo, Wisconsin. You got beat by a bad Illinois team, which isn’t great. At least you came back and [Chase Young forces another sack-fumble]. Oh dear. I apologize for giving you the kiss of death this season in this column. #3 Ohio State re-upholstered #13 Wisconsin 38-7 in a game that wasn’t that close, and Chase Young has taken over the Memorial Defensive Player 4 Heisman role of 2019.

Late Night Special

Washington State – Oregon was quite the corker on Saturday night, featuring fine vintage of both Oregon RB’s and Mike Leach offense finding every got-danged hole in soft zone coverage to appear unstoppable. The Ducks won on a clock-expiring chip shot field goal from a true freshman kicker. Also, Oregon RB CJ Verdell is incredibly fun to watch and had 257 yards (!) rushing.

Michigan Domes The Irish

Noted Staking The Plains CFB Headlines Reader Jim Harbaugh had some thoughts on my comments last week as #19 Michigan shellacked #8 Notre Dame 45-14. Speaking of shellack, were you aware that the golden paint on the Notre Dame helmets is made with chips from the actual golden dome on campus? The more you know!

Rankings

  1. LSU (⇑1) 
  2. Alabama (⇓1)
  3. Ohio State (-)
  4. Clemson (-)
  5. Penn State(⇑1) 
  6. Florida (⇑1) 
  7. Oregon (⇑4) 
  8. Georgia (⇑2) 
  9. Utah (⇑3) 
  10. Oklahoma (⇓5) 
  11. Auburn (⇓2)
  12. Baylor (⇑2)
  13. Minnesota (⇑4)
  14. Michigan (⇑5)
  15. SMU (⇑1)
  16. Notre Dame (⇓8)
  17. Cincinnati (⇑1)
  18. Wisconsin (⇓5)
  19. Iowa (⇑1)
  20. Appalachian State (⇑1)
  21. Boise State (⇑1)
  22. Kansas State (NR)
  23. Wake Forest (⇑2)
  24. Memphis (NR)
  25. San Diego State (NR)

 

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