"Week 9 Review”
Written by Wendi
Unlike the previous two weeks, there were no upsets in the top 10. However there has been a major coaching shift. Brian Kelly is out at LSU and so is his OC/QB Coach Joe Sloan. He has over a $50 million buyout which is being negotiated. I would love to coach just to get fired and still have that kind of money owed to me. Brian Kelly’s departure came after a disappointing second half against 3rd ranked Texas A&M after being up at the half. A&M outscored LSU 35-7 in the last 30 minutes of the game and only mustered 278 total yards of offense. A&M went on to win 49-25.
8th ranked Ole Miss traveled to take on 13th ranked Oklahoma. Maybe it’s just me but Oklahoma’s QB Mateer doesn’t seem to be back to normal with his passing game after his injury. He can still out run you, but his passing game has been off. Ole Miss needs to figure out how to keep a two-score lead in the second half. They couldn’t keep the lead against Georgia last week but the Rebels were able to make a defensive stop and won 34-26.
Speaking of blowing leads. South Florida had Memphis in a chokehold just about the entire game. The Bulls held a two-score lead a couple times throughout the game. In the fourth quarter, Memphis scored 17 unanswered points to take the lead and won 34-31. It was a big win for the Tigers and a big loss to the 18th ranked Bulls that were looking towards a group of 5 spot in the playoffs. That was the Bulls’ second loss of the season.
Kansas fell completely flat at home against Kansas State on a wet and rainy day that plagued a lot of the Midwest teams. As I always say, it’s hard to win a game with turnovers. Kansas had four turnovers that were costly, and the Wildcats were able to capitalize from those mistakes. Kansas has not beaten Kansas State since 2008. Crazy. Kansas State won 42-17.
BYU handled business at Iowa State 41-27 and remain unbeaten. BYU is now ranked #10 and is on pace to make it to the Big 12 Championship. They’ll need to get past Texas Tech in a couple of weeks, TCU, and Cincinnati who's undefeated in conference play.
Hey Mike H, Auburn won…Finally. Auburn gave Arkansas their 6th straight loss 33-24 and it was Auburn’s first win after a four-game losing streak (thanks to the refs…haha). It wasn’t a pretty game, but… a win is a win, right?
10th ranked Vanderbilt hosted 15th ranked Missouri and I was a little disappointed. I thought it would be a high scoring game. Vandy only had 265 total yards and Missouri had 376. Maybe the SEC is learning how to play defense again? Nevertheless, Vandy won 17-10 and is now ranked 9. Scary times we are living in.
Washington hosted 23rd ranked Illinois and it was ugly as soon as it started. It might have been close at the half, but it really wasn’t. The Huskies went on to win 42-25. Illinois had a couple of turnovers and now a third loss in the last five weeks. Illinois may have their hands full this week against Rutgers. That was kind of funny just typing that.
Toledo went into Spokane to handle business against Washington State but the problem was, they couldn’t. Toledo went into the matchup with a top 3 defense and could not stop the Cougars. At all. Washington St won 28-7.
24th ranked Arizona State struggled to move the ball and field goals at home against Houston. The Sun Devils had two missed field goals and a fumble. They finally were able to score 16 points in the fourth quarter but still came up short 24-16. Houston is looking to be a good team this year.
On to Pick’ems…
The top 4 remained the same and Sam still has a commanding 17-point lead over Sean in second place. Would it be awkward if someone copied their son’s picks? Asking for a friend. Sean took a hit this week on his picks and Sam needed that for his advantage. It was not the week Sean hoped for, but he is still in the running for some cash money in this competition. 3rd place is 16 points behind him where Adam is trying to lose that ranking. I sit one point behind third and it is mine for the taking. Who is that I see in 5th place? Could it be a certain someone from the depths??? Is that Cindy I see???
Mike H is starting to flounder downward, but hey at least Auburn won right? Marc took a bit of a tumble down toward the bottom. Guess he wanted to hang out with Mike M and Evelyn. Even though Kim and Rick didn’t have the best of weeks, they are still in the middle of the pack and trying to break through any gap that is given. Noah, David, and Chris… this is not your year. Go ahead and accept the "L” and start prepping for the Bowl games. You too Marc, Evelyn, and Mike M. The adults are playing now. Well, except for a shifty 12-year-old who none of us can seem to shake from first place. Other than week two, Sam has been in first place each week. What is going on? I haven’t looked at the picks yet, I am almost too scared to look. But I guess I must after I write this article. Ugh.
Happy Halloween!!!
Most points for the week: Chris won $20 by nailing 42 points. Who invited him to play again?
Least points for the week: Rick is lucky his last two games pulled through. It was 9pm local time (Central) and Rick only had 5 points. He finished with 17 points.
Best pick of the week: There were a few picks that made a big difference. I was the only one to pick Memphis over USF, Mike M and Marc picking Kansas State over Kansas, and Chris and Rick picking Houston over Arizona State.
Worst pick of the week: Everyone gets a pass this week. I honestly don’t think any were bad picks. Did we expect Arizona State to fall flat against Houston? No. Did we expect South Florida to lose a 3-score lead in the fourth quarter to Memphis? No.
Letters to the Editor:
Does Wake Forest sneak out a win in Tallahassee?
I know I will catch it from Sam, but the way both teams are playing, it is highly probable. I’m going low on Wake Forest. I know it was already mentioned from the FSU AD that any discussions regarding the retainage or firing of the head coach would be after the season but if FSU takes another loss, he may be the next coach to get fired.
So, Texas is back now, right?
Just stop already…NO!!
Vandy is back!!
<shrugs shoulder>
Are Sean and Sam going to have to arm wrestle for
first place? If so, Sam needs to start
working on his muscles.
Now I would pay to see that.
Who would have thought Chris would win some money
after forgetting to do his picks a few weeks ago.
Pretty impressive and the funny part is, there are 3
people below him in the rankings.
Here are the rankings after Week 9:
1.
Sam – 339 points
2.
Sean – 322 points
3.
Adam – 306 points
4.
Wendi – 305 points
5.
Cindy – 299 points
6.
Mike H – 294 points
7.
Kim – 288 points
8.
Rick – 282 points
9.
Noah – 271 points
10.
David – 268 points
11.
Chris – 267 points
12.
Marc – 265 points
13.
Mike M – 259 points
14. Evelyn – 247 points
92 points separate first and
last place!
