After Clemson, most all the other ACC teams are quite inconsistent. Great one week, terrible the next. GT beats Miami. Canes beat FSU. Noles beat Boston College. Wake beats NC State, then loses to Virginia Tech. Similar ups and downs by Louisville and UNC. Only thing that's certain is that Clemson won't be challenged until they make the playoff. Might not be a good thing for them.
UVA showed up Saturday against GT. Homecoming in Charlottesville. GT scored quick to lead 7-0 and 14-7. But the Hoos came back and went ahead. Doesn't mean they're a good team. Jackets have showed improvement from earlier this year. As has QB Graham. They're going to need better athletes to better compete in the ACC.
GT kicker Wells missed an easy field goal. The kicking game cost them the Citadel game. This area must be addressed for next season. GT is a Division 1 school. There are better kickers out there. THEORY: average kickers are attracted to GT because they see the average kickers already at GT, and know GT has a low standard. Average kicker after average kicker. And average = not excellent. Guys this is a relatively easy area to improve.
As expected Clemson handled NC State. Thought the #5 Tigers might run up the score to send a message to the playoff committee, but Dabo inserted backup QB Chase Bryce early in the second half. With a chance to clinch the division championship, Clemson wore their orange pants.
UGA beat Missouri. The score could've been worse. Several passes were dropped. One Pickens TD was called back because the freshman WR had lined up incorrectly. Rodrigo attempted four field goals. Had the Dawgs been able to push across two of those drives the score could've been 45-0.
Young Pickens was a 5 star recruit. Only a freshman. The difference between LSU and Alabama and UGA may be that the LSU and Alabama receivers catch everything thrown their way. In Athens only Cager does this. Too many drops by the other UGA receivers. Pickens may have stepped it up Saturday night, but he still had some slipups. Kirby will need Pickens' A-game Saturday at Auburn.
Rodrigo was 4-5 against Missouri. He's got an uphill battle to make the final Lou Groza Award cut down to three finalists, after his South Carolina miss. And he won SEC Special Teams Player of the Week. Again.
Dawgs have yet to allow a rushing TD this year. That may change at Auburn. In fact the Dawgs will do good to come out of Auburn with a win. Bet you the house Georgia's first play on Saturday night will be Swift up the middle. Too predictable. Sure you gotta establish the running game, but mix it up sometimes.
LSU got out to the big lead at halftime but Bama came back to make it a game. I'd had a long day and wasn't feeling that great. Had to be at a friend's house at seven, so at halftime of LSU/AL I went to take a nap. A pretty good second half. Great catch by an LSU receiver.
Bama was showin' out their new LED light system, playing not just Sweet Home Alabama but other country classics as well. Lots of fiddle playin going on. Prediction: soon the GA & AL marching bands will be coordinating halftime shoes with the LED lights. Next thing you know we've got a full on SpongeBob Bubble Dome performance.
Penn State lost at undefeated Minnesota (below). The Golden Gophers moved up from 17 to 7. Can they give Ohio State a game? Minnesota head coach PJ Fleck wears cleats, like Michigan's Jim Harbaugh. I would wear turf shoes myself, like Bill Curry used to do.
Falcons looked good. Kills me that a football team can't play more consistently. Drew Brees was rattled. Birds finally found a pass rush now that head coach Dan Quinn gave up his defensive coordinator role. Nice to win in the Big Easy, especially after the Saints played a video of the Pats Super Bowl comeback. No class.
New Atlanta kicker Younghoe Koo drilled all four field goals. Also slowed down the Saints return man on a long return. Hope he can stick around. Some call him the greatest number 7 in Falcon history. I countered with Pat Sullivan. Falcons have gone through several punters due to injuries. Yesterday the Saints roughed the punter, who limped off the field. Later the punter held for a field goal, but I didn't see whether he was still limping.
Ravens QB Lamar Jackson had another good game. Can he keep it up?
Next week Tech, Georgia, and Clemson all play at 3:30 pm.
330 VT@GT
330 #19 Wake Forest @ #4 Clemson
330 #5 GA @ # 11 Auburn
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