Between The Hashes Week 11: John McCain meets Sparky, Tiger Dog

Each week, the college football team here at SI will delve into the fun, the weird and the wacky of college football with a series called Between The Hashes.

Each week, the college football team here at SI will delve into the fun, the weird and the wacky of college football with a series called Between The Hashes. It’s a way to decompress from the madness of the week, and to find a few things that you might have missed.

Every leaf that falls to the ground is a reminder that winter is coming (shout out to Jon Snow), but more importantly that the football regular season is soon drawing to a close. November is when snowfall hits, when teams have to play in pouring rain, when it's 40 degrees, when those dang heaters get in the way and end up hurting somebody and when everybody looks funny wearing all that extra clothing.

It's also some of the last chances for college football's strangest moments to take place. Don't forget: the Urban Meyer pizza picture came after the Big Ten title game last year. There's still plenty of time to leave your mark on Between The Hashes lore. 

Here's the best of Week 11.

Running Mates

This picture of John McCain dropping the pitchfork before the coin toss of Arizona State's 55-31 win over Notre Dame is just so good, I want it blown up to poster size and sold at local retailers.

• RICKMAN: Arizona State starts hot, closes strong to top Notre Dame

With @SparkyArizonaSt before the coin toss to kick off the big #NDvsASU game #ForksUp #SaluteToService pic.twitter.com/IrnQTuotti

— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) November 8, 2014

Dance, Jerry, Dance

Jerry Kill has danced before. He will dance again. And he danced on Saturday, for all of us to enjoy after Minnesota smacked the heck out of Iowa on Saturday.

Irreplaceable 

The Florida State band has the right idea. It played "Single Ladies" recently, and brought back more Beyonce when the 'Noles played Virginia. I appreciate the effort to go the extra mile and acknowledge the goddess herself, and hopefully other schools will follow suit with an appropriate tribute.

Post game Beyoncé by the band. pic.twitter.com/aEyhfbF4VN

— Maryjane Gardner (@MaryjaneG10) November 9, 2014

The Uga I–Uga VIII Memorial Mascot of the Week

We've seen a Tiger Dog before out of LSU (and Clemson, for that matter), but it doesn't mean we can't celebrate this year's gigantic edition. 

LSU fans painted their Great Dane named Elmer to look like a tiger. pic.twitter.com/Rp0br2i1Xe

— Laken Litman (@LakenLitman) November 8, 2014

I Can't Sleep

A few weeks ago Ohio State's football team was awakened by air horns in the middle of the night. And the sleeplessness hasn't stopped there. In East Lansing, the Buckeyes couldn't figure out the Sleep Number beds in their hotel and were having all kinds of trouble. Luckily it didn't show on the field, as Ohio State grabbed a critical 49-37 win over the Spartans.

• ROSENBERG: Barrett, Ohio State prove they are here to stay

“@RyanGinnBSB: Twitter would indicate that Ohio State's bed situation is less than ideal. #Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/Qh1k3SPZTe” #accuratetweet

— Stephen Collier (@S13Collier) November 8, 2014

Les Miles Honorary Coaching Decision of the Week

This week's award goes to Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, for challenging an incomplete pass with his team down 51-7 and under a minute to play. Iowa would later score on the drive to get the deficit to a much more respectable 37-point margin.

Kirk Ferentz really just challenge a play with :21 seconds left down 45 points??

— Brian Towle (@BrianRTowle) November 8, 2014

Quotes/Tweets of the Week

Let's not waste any time. We've all got important things to do.

I said the same thing. Haha RT @billymckee10: @plaxicoburress @NDatRivals yea I guess you could say we are shooting ourself in the foot

— Plaxico Burress (@plaxicoburress) November 8, 2014

“@CFBHeather: good thing @jefflongUA says the committee will start with a clean slate each week. It's gonna need one after this.” We do

— Jeff Long (@jefflong21) November 9, 2014

I told Stoops #Sooners fans were really angry on social media. His reaction: "Oh, you're kidding. So what?" Get the feeling he doesn't care.

— John E. Hoover 🌮 (@johnehoover) November 9, 2014

Ha, Gerod Holliman knew the NCAA interception record before the season. How? "I Googled it."

— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) November 9, 2014

The Ricky Dobbs All-Stars

As a general refresher, each week we will highlight some of the best stat lines of the week, in honor of former Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs.​​

• Northern Illinois RB Cameron Stingily: 148 yards, 2 TD vs. Ball State
• Ohio RB A.J. Ouellette: 155 yards, 2 TD vs. Buffalo
• Clemson WR Artavis Scott: 8 catches, 122 yards, 2 TD vs. Wake Forest
• Baylor WR Corey Coleman: 224 yards, 1 TD vs. Oklahoma
• Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon: 205 yards, 1 TD vs. Purdue
• Georgia KR Isaiah McKenzie: 90-yard kick return TD, 59-yard punt return TD vs. Kentucky
• New Mexico RB Teriyon Gipson: 205 yards, 3 TD vs. Boise State
• Washington State QB Luke Falk: 471 yards, 5 TD vs. Oregon State
• Boise State QB Grant Hedrick: 367 yards, 4 TD vs. New Mexico
• TCU QB Trevone Boykin: 219 yards, 1 TD, 123 rush yards, 3 rush TD vs. Kansas State
• Texas RB Johnathan Gray: 101 yards, 3 TD vs. West Virginia
• UCLA QB Brett Hundley, 302 yards, 2 TD, 2 rush TD vs. Washington
• Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett: 300 yards, 3 TD, 86 rush yards, 2 rush TD vs. Michigan State
• Oregon QB Marcus Mariota: 239 yards, 3 TD, 114 rush yards, 1 rush TD vs. Utah