Week 14. Two great games

No real UPSETS so the RECAP of WEEK 14 Top 25 losers this week #4, #14, #17, #21, #22

First, the two good games:

#5 OU #14 Texas redux. The O/U was 79 but you should have bet the under. Everyone expected an offensive showdown.Instead, UT looked very good for a while and then OU just took over. Turning point followed a long pass OU ran inside the Texas 10 10 yard line but fumbled for a turnover. Two plays later a sack in the end zone for a safety. Kyler Murray’s 379 yards passing seemed a bit light. UT was hurt by several poorly timed but noncontroversial penalties. 

#1 Alabama and #4 Georgia. The SEC conference championship winner has a pretty decent chance of winning it all in any given year even stretching back to the BCS. An SEC team won 6 of 8 BCS championships and 2 of 4 CFP National Championships. Alabama came into the game looking all powerful but Georgia had been on a roll since their LSU loss. Anticipation was high for a great game and that is what we got. Georgia played like the dominant team and lead most of the game. Jake Fromm was impressive. When Tua was injured, Jalen Hurts was back at QB for the Tide to lead a victory that felt like an upset. It was a great football game.

MOST BORING GAME OF THE WEEKEND: In the brief history of the PAC-12 Championship game, the average combined score has been 60 points. The lowest scoring game was 51 points and the highest 80. At the half Friday night, Washington lead Utah 3-0 so we knew something was wrong. What was wrong was #11 Washington and #17 Utah played a boring football game. The over/Under on this game was 45, so at least we know that Las Vegas wasn’t expecting this level of ennui. The 4th quarter blocked punt by Utah when they were down 10-3 should have inspired their lackluster offense and 5:10 was plenty of time. But no, they threw an interception right away to go with their other two turnovers. In spite of this, Washington’s offense could only put up a field goal with the lone TD on a 66-yd pick 6. In the waning minutes of the game, Utah put on their best drive of the night starting on their own 5. Too little, too late. The Utah kicker did put up a nice 53-yard FG in the 3rd Q for the offensive highlight of the game. 

#8 UCF went into the game 11-0 against 8-4 Memphis for the AAC title. Long time readers know how unimpressive the UCF strength of schedule is. And now they faced a Memphis team coming off their best game of the year against Houston and without their QB and leader McKenzie Milton. He was injured badly in last week’s game and faces some serious surgery ahead. I have faith you will see him in the NFL some day. Memphis ruled from the opening plays but UCF came roaring back to dominate the game. Ranked this high, UCF is bound to face a decent Power 5 team in a Bowl game. Then we can see.

No one expected #21 Northwestern to do much against the vaunted and playing for a shot at the Championship #6 Ohio State team. But even at 8-4 I had been a fan of the Northwestern team’s work all year. Fan or no, Ohio State was the better team tonight.

#22 Boise State and #25 Fresno State met for the Mountain West championship and made the case for “Why we should only rank the top 20.” This one was decided with white snow covering the blue “smurf turf” as Fresno State upset the home team in OT. Yawn.

Finally, in the “huh?” game of the week, Drake played against #23 Iowa State. Drake is an FCS team that is 7-3 with losses to Montana, Stetson and USD. Not SD State, but USD. For those of you who don’t know, Drake is a small (3000 wish undergrads) private school in Des Moines most famous for …well, nothing. Nonetheless, Iow State only managed to beat Drake by a Touchdown. Further proof that we only need the top 20.

Finally, my beloved Stanford Cardinal have had a tough year and the (at least one Saturday a year) hated Cal Bears have improved. A fire and smoke delayed game saw the two with identical 7-4 records and both likely Bowl Bound. Nonetheless, my Cardinal prevailed and pulled away with a 23-13 victory.