On College Football: Being a Duke, Georgia, or Texas Fan Stinks Right Now
By Ty Duffy
Week 9 appeared placid. True to form, it was anything but. Games were close. Endings came unhinged. Narratives took abrupt turns. The weekend was pure, unadulterated college football.
No result shook up the playoff picture, though there were close calls. Saturday hit the cycle for painful ways to lose football games. We saw heart-breaking flukes and final minute failures. We saw demoralizing, potentially tenure-redefining futility.
Missed Field Goal: The Pirate Ship emptied its ammunition, but Washington State fell just short, losing 30-28 to Stanford with the game-winning field goal going wide. The kicker will blame himself. However, giving up 112 yards and two touchdowns on the ground to Kevin Hogan happened. So did Washington State throwing a bad pick at midfield with the lead, the ball, and just over three minutes remaining.
Good Job, Good Effort: Undefeated Temple hosted GameDay, played the highest profile game in school history, got the luck they required (two interceptions in the red zone), but were not quite talented enough to take down the Irish in a 24-20 loss. They received a standing ovation for the effort and won the acclaim of many. Nothing pours the salt on a loss quite like being patronized.
Rival Beatdown: Georgia committed five turnovers, played porous defense, and lost 27-3 against Florida. The Bulldogs have now lost at least three games for the seventh time in eight years. Mark Richt last won an SEC title in 2005. He has not reached a BCS strongowl since 2007. Brian Schottenheimer never made sense and the failure has strongeen strongrutal. Richt may stronge a good coach. Georgia fans will (and should) stronge wondering why the school can’t attract a great one.
What Happened There: Here was the WTF!? box score of the week most saw the next morning. Rich Rodriguez’s Arizona were blown out 49-3 on the road to Washington. The Wildcats turned the ball over five times. They allowed freshman QB Jake Browning to throw for 10-plus yards/att and score five total touchdowns. That face above is familiar enough to send a shiver down a Michigan fan’s spine.
Oh, Charlie… The Longhorns bounced back from a rough start with two straight wins over Oklahoma and Kansas State. Then Iowa State shut them out 24-0. The Cyclones will pull out weird wins. It happens. But, this was inexcusable. There were no fluke plays. There were no costly turnovers. This was a comprehensive, four-quarter beat down. Iowa State out-played and out-coached Texas. Neither should ever happen. Charlie Strong’s balloon of accrued good will has been popped.
Losing to Purdue: Nebraska fired 9-10 win Bo Pelini. It hired nice guy Mike Riley from Oregon State. Instead of raising the ceiling, the floor has come crashing down from under them. Purdue beat Nebraska 55-45 on Saturday. Purdue. A late rally made it closer than it appeared. The Cornhuskers have fallen to 3-6, 1-4 in the Big Ten. Some of that is hard luck (1-5 in one-score games). Still, it’s not the most auspicious start to the Riley era. “Success” may now be getting back to where they once were, which wasn’t good enough.
Another Major FBS Program Will Be Hiring
Virginia Tech beat Boston College 26-10. Frank Beamer announced his plans to retire after this season. It was time. Beamer built the Hokies program. He led Virginia Tech to 11 double-digit win seasons, 7 BCS bowl appearances, and five conference titles during a 13-year peak from 1999 to 2011. Things have fallen off since. Virginia Tech is 21-22 against FBS and 13-15 against ACC opponents the past four seasons.
Beamer deserved the opportunity to turn things around. It’s become clear he is no longer up to it. Where do the Hokies go from here? We had Virginia Tech among our third-tier jobs. One could argue loyal defensive coordinator Bud Foster deserves a crack. One could argue the malaise screams for an outside shakeup. But, Virginia Tech will be among the top plausible landing spots for Rich Rodriguez.
Tech is far closer to home than Arizona. It offers a better recruiting base, and an easier route to playoff contention. For a small-town guy, it’s farther off the media radar than Miami or South Carolina. Virginia Tech AD Whit Babcock did work with Rodriguez at West Virginia. If Rodriguez declines, how attractive is that job for another coach?