NCAAF 2024 - WEEK FIVE

[Log]

34 minutes ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

And SPEAKING of Nevada-Las Vegas...

It's now being reported that one of the casino magnates out there, tried to pay the remainder of the money to Sluka to get him to stay.  UNLV turned down/blocked the request.

That's cause they would've "owed him a favor" if he put up the money.

[RIPPA]

Liberty at App State is off due to the hurricane

The game won't be rescheduled so Liberty is now trying to find a 12th game so it doesn't get boned in the College Football Playoffs (at least in their minds)

[EVA]

The entire word of college football has the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever.

[Brian Fowler]

Honestly it still kinda feels like the end game might be a PAC-12/MWC merger. When you are down to trying to recruit MAC schools to fly cross country, it's probably time to just admit you both fucked up and do what you should've in the first place.

[Contentious C]

Virginia Tech is giving Miami all they can handle. Heck of a game so far.

[Tabe]

Up 10, Virginia Tech tries a fake FG for no apparent reason. It fails, Miami scores immediately. VT then has a touchdown called back on a BS holding call. Feels like a big momentum shift... 

[Tabe]

And then, on the very next play, VT draws a PI call on Miami and drives for a touchdown! Back up 10!

[Tabe]

Miami with two of the more ridiculous completions you'll ever see in a single drive, finishing with a TD, now leads by 4.

[Tabe]

Ho hum, just a double possession Hail Mary for Virginia Tech to seemingly win on the final play only to be overturned on replay. I'm in agreement with the announcers and rules guy that there was no clear and convincing evidence that the on-field call was wrong. 

Edited September 28, 2024 by Tabe

[Dolfan in NYC]

RUN!  GET OUT OF THERE BEFORE THEY CHANGE THEIR MINDS 

[EVA]

Yeah, that…probably was not a catch, but the replay process did not justify an overturn. VT got jobbed.

That was especially hard for me to watch, because I had VT as my preseason ACC Spoiler pick, and after 4 weeks of absolutely embarrassing me, they were about to make me look like a genius, dammit.

[EVA]

So we’ve got Bama/Georgia tonight.

Coming off the SEC Championship disappointment to Bama, the ugly Kentucky game, and a bye week, you would expect Georgia to come into this game focused and looking to make a statement in classic Saban/Smart fashion. They always tended to win the get-back game in emphatic fashion. That said, I think there’s also way more pressure on Georgia here than Bama. In the era of the 12-team playoff, this isn’t a competitive must-win, but I think it *is* a bit of a psychological must-win game for the Dawgs. With the Bad Man gone from Tuscaloosa, the onus is on Smart/Georgia to assert themselves as the undisputed dominant program in the SEC now, and I’m interested to see how they handle that.

There’s a lot of mystery about both teams right now because they’ve only played 3 games. Bama has only played one game with their full starting OL. And how much of the full DeBoer offense have they actually shown? And what to make of Georgia, who have had their own injury issues, but looked like a Death Star against Clemson (who…might be good?) and then came perilously close to losing to a thoroughly “blah” Kentucky team?

The on-field matchup to watch is Georgia’s run game vs Bama’s run defense. UGA has really struggled to establish a new offensive identity without Bowers/McConkey through 3 games. I think the *idea* was to lean on Travis Etienne and the run game while the pass game figures itself out, but that hasn’t emerged yet. And as we saw against Kentucky, when the run isn’t there, Carson Beck looks pretty average at QB and things can get ugly. I expect UGA to scheme up a lot of misdirection and play-action early to try to pick on Bama’s young secondary (who have turned some receivers LOOSE this season but haven’t been made to pay for it yet) and help Beck out.

Good news for Georgia: Bama had some struggles defending the perimeter run against USF (radically different offense, sure) and in the 2nd half vs Wisconsin (maybe Bama switched off in a blowout, sure), so there’s potential for UGA to get right in the run game tonight.

If they do, UGA’s gonna have a great night. Because surely, SURELY, Smart is gonna have a great plan for containing Jalen Milroe and roughing up 17-year old freshman sensation WR, Ryan Williams. Like, Kirby might commit seppuku at midfield after the game if his secondary gets victimized by that kid. If Bama wins this game, it will be because Kalen DeBoer earned his money as an offensive mastermind to create opportunities for the 2 things Bama does really well (run Milroe, throw deep to Williams) against Georgia’s resolute desire to NOT let them do those things.

It would be a hell of a statement if the Jalen/Jam/Justice triumvirate just ran roughshod over UGA. I don’t necessarily see that happening, but I think that’s the game state that most likely leads to a Bama win, short of Georgia cracking under pressure and pissing down their own leg, which is kinda what happened in the SEC title game.

[Pete]

In today's "say what?" trivia, Ryan Williams was nine months old the last time Bama kicked off as a home underdog (11/3/2007 vs LSU, lost 41-34).

[Brian Fowler]

Michigan starting to melt down a bit. Grr 

[hammerva]

Man if Minnesota gets this game to at least OT the entire state of Michigan might do a search party for Connor Stallions 

Man they got extremely lucky on that penalty on the onsides

Edited September 28, 2024 by hammerva

[Raziel]

Michigan really wanted to lose that game.

[Brian Fowler]

Offense was terrible. Defense played well most of the way but clearly ran out of gas when Minnesota went tempo and got absolutely lit up down the stretch. They escape but they absolutely did not deserve to win that game today the way they played. 

Meanwhile, in Mississippi...

[hammerva]

wait Indiana is 5-0?  I wasn't even born the last time that happened and I am old as hell

[EVA]

UNLV is beating Fresno 45-7, and the new QB is 13/18 for like 180 yards and 3 TDs, plus 100+ rushing with another TD.

I think the Sluka kid *might* have misplayed his hand a bit.

[EVA]

Payton Thorne gave Auburn fans hope for 56 minutes, and then threw a pick-6 to give OU the lead.

A storybook ending.

[EVA]

I mean, Auburn can still come back and win this, but still. That was hilarious. A totally clean game, and then…

[EVA]

Don’t know how much it really would’ve mattered in the end, but Auburn being penalized a 10-second runoff because the refs badly miss-spotted a ball and incorrectly gave them a first down felt wrong. That’s a rule that needs tweaking.

[hammerva]

Well that first drive was too easy even with the Bama penalties 

[Brian Fowler]

Ohio State getting off to another slow start. That could be a real problem for them when they finally start playing teams with a pulse.

[EVA]

DeBoer in his bag: Confirmed