The way I would describe Week 5 of the college football season is the invisible fence test. If you’re not familiar, and you shouldn’t because I just created it, I’m referring to the phenomenon of large dogs shrugging in the face of electric fence shocks.
My uncle Mark has a yellow lab – I believe his name is Grizz – and Grizz isn’t worried about a shock. When he saw freedom, he was gone. I have an old chocolate lab, aptly named Karma, who will spend the next day (weekend) in the garage after the weakest noise a collar has to offer.
Shows as resilient as Grizz are rare. Alabama went to Fayetteville, lost their title winner Heisman, to a 28-point lead dropped to five early in the fourth game, and still won 23. Georgia spent most of their evening in Columbia just to track Mizzou to methodically eliminate and take the lead with four minutes remaining in the competition. Clemson’s turn to survive a test was last week, and if you think that’s a bad omen, the Tigers beat No. 10 NC State and QB Devin Leary in a 30-20 win that’s not nearly by score. final. Michigan didn’t have the easiest time with Maryland a week ago, and Ohio State’s mental breakdown came in Week 1 ahead of Notre Dame.
Those five teams — Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State, and Michigan — are the only teams ranked in the preseason top 10 that are still there. Of the other 5 schools that make up those 10, only Utah lost by 1. Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Baylor all have two L’s on their resumes. The Utes are likely to return to the top 10, but the Bears are the only one of the overrated teams with a spot remaining in the top 25 this week.
If you want to swap Oklahoma for USC because of the Lincoln Riley factor, I’ll allow it. However, what I’m really trying to figure out about home is that the number of shows that can actually win a national championship is six, up to eight. The move to expand the College Football Playoff to 12 was Pandora’s Box (if the original four-team tourney wasn’t there yet) for more complaints and calls for an expansion.
The four main bowl games – Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar – are the perfect number because it really is the ideal number. You have your power five winners and three big bidders. Earning a trip to LA, Miami, Tempe or New Orleans means you’ve had a great year and only so many great years can happen.
Four teams is too few, and I don’t want to admit it, the SEC deserves two bids most of the season. When you’re on 12 teams, it’s impossible to justify a team of three winning over another. The top 10 is sure to fluctuate before the end of the year, but after the conference’s title games, the top 8 to 10 ish shows have survived enough scares, pitfalls, nasty bids, trauma and almost collapse to know who is the real damage an exception.
Aside from the fact that I love Tet big bowl games, the reason I’m trying a different approach to the “12-team tournament is dangerous” is because people talk too much about it. College football players are explosive athletes, and a lot of them fly around like they’ll never compete again. Anything in three rounds is too much, and until these kids are paid, overinsured and have a pension plan, they won’t be subject to 16, maybe 17 contests a year. .
While we were all competing after Tua Tagovailoa started on national television on Thursday, I watched his younger brother Taulia suffered a fierce blow against Michigan Last Saturday, left, went to the tent, and got back into action. It was not a head injury. He had just been parried with a throw-in at the slick defence, and dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Regardless of the head injury, I watched it live and remembered that half of his organs must have been bleeding internally.
If you want an incident as terrifying as Tua’s, the Sevyn Banks backing LSU’s defense is injured his neck in the opening match in the Bayou Bengals game against Auburn last night. Thankfully, team officials said he had sensation in all of his extremities.
I didn’t watch that match live, but I flipped the channel when people started to get on their knees and it’s amazing how common injuries like these are today, and it’s all the more disturbing when they I move away from it when it’s a special team player or college student rather than a star midfielder.
Here are some highlights to make it to the end of my words
First, who doesn’t love the return of a bet for an encounter. It’s even better when a man returns to have to work for it, and Nikko Remigio of Fresno State.
Despite using a full button layout on the 87-yard scanner, UConn beat the Bulldogs 19-14.
And now we’ll end with Liberty’s Jaivian Lofton making a 34-yard touchdown like it’s a frisbee and he has a beer in his hand.
Paternalism is the best lipstick when it comes to capturing that splendor. The score helped Flames beat Old Dominion, 38-24.
