We’re 4 weeks into the season and this is my first post about college football. I guess that shows the priority I’ve been giving college football?
San Diego State
Earlier this year I made some donations to buy enough priority points so that I could have the privilege of buying better men’s basketball tickets. This is the game of college athletics, right? The result? Our football experience got better. Now we get parking right next to the stadium and invites to the Aztec Club hospitality tent for free food and beverage before the game.
Sadly, that’s the only improvement I’ve seen for Aztec football in 2013. After getting waxed by lower division Eastern Illinois in the opener and then getting waxed by free-tattoo-and-discount-cars Ohio State two weeks ago, the Aztecs came out swinging against Pac-12 bottom feeder, Oregon State.
The crux of the game happened with about 12 minutes to go. Up by 13 and offensive coordinator Bob Toledo decided to take the foot off the gas and start trying to milk the clock. Problem is that our offense doesn’t have a running game. Dumb move, Bob. Poor clock management forced a first-time starting QB into a position he wasn’t prepared for. Consequently, he tossed two quick picks and the game was over.
The season isn’t over for SDSU. Even starting 0-3 we can still win the conference… the Mountain West seems pretty flat this year with a bunch of mediocre teams. And for this team, winning their division is still be a huge victory.
Way-too-early prediction for SDSU? 6-6 (loses against Fresno State, Boise State, and San Jose State) At 6-6 we don’t go bowling.
Notre Dame
For the first couple possessions of the Temple game I thought Notre Dame had changed. We were finally going to blow some teams out. Yeah, that hasn’t happened.
I’ve been impressed with Tommy Rees. He’s got all the makings of an NFL back-up, he looks good in a cap and understands defenses. But he’s gotten the job done. Unlike his early career at Notre Dame, he’s been smart with his passes.
I loved how NBC played up the Michigan State rivalry. This was an intentional snub to Michigan, way to get the last laugh.
The Michigan State game was a nail biter, as they all are. I think all Irish fans were waiting for Sparty to get his lucky bounce. But alas, a typical lack-of-discipline cost State in the end. 115 yards in penalties, most of which resulted in first downs, were a mountain to high to climb.
Way-too-early prediction for Notre Dame? 9-3 (USC & Stanford as loses) At 9-3 I think they get a BCS invite.
Elsewhere in CFB
Did you see the Friday night game between Fresno State & Boise State? That was a fun college game under the lights. It was a showcase of why the Mountain West is perfect for ESPN. Late night entertainment for the East Coast.
The end of the payday games. Last week saw the end of a weird era in college football, the cream puff bowl game. Because BCS qualifying teams are too afraid to schedule a quality non-conference opponent and risk a loss, they were willing to pay lesser teams to come in for a beating. SDSU grabbed one of these a couple weeks back in playing Ohio State for $1.2 million. (More than their bowl game last year.) The new playoff system will punish teams for playing weaker opponents more severely, so we’ll start to see more important games early in the season. And I really hope it means that teams/conferences schedule more home & away match-ups to make it more fair. I suspect we’ll start seeing cross-conference challenges like we see in college basketball, ACC vs. SEC and Pac-12 vs. Big 12.
Way-too-early National Championship prediction: Stanford versus LSU.
Week 5 Predictions
- Oklahoma at Notre Dame – ND 48 OK 10
- San Diego State at New Mexico State – SDSU 30 NMSU 7 (and 2 arrests by NMSU players)
- Virginia Tech at Georgia Tech – Georgia Tech
- OK State at West Virginia – West Virgina
- South Carolina at UCF – South Carolina
- Miami at South Florida – Miami IS BACK!
- Wake Forest at Clemson – Clemson
- LSU at Georgia – LSU
- Florida State at Boston College – FSU
- Ole Miss at Alabama – Ole Miss
- Arizona at Washington – Washington (The Huskies are tough at home; slipper-less on the road.)
- A&M at Arkansas – Arkansas
- Florida at Kentucky – Florida (Uh, why is Kentucky in this conference?)
- Wisconsin at Ohio State – Ohio State
- Stanford at Washington State – Stanford
- California at Oregon – Oregon
- USC at Arizona State – ASU is too tough at home for the fragile Trojans
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