Rankman's "last call" Saturday Wrap (Updated)
History of the weekend, Part 1:
Thursday and Friday made a blatant and egregious play to upstage Saturday with two “great” games that ended too late for any God-fearing working man.
Boise State’s 28-27 win over Brigham Young on Thursday featured five turnovers for the winning team and BYU faking a punt on fourth-and-19 from its own five.
Hmmm, interesting—it didn’t work.
“Well, on film we thought we had it,” BYU Coach Kalani Sitake said on television on his way to the locker room at halftime.
BYU has had a lot close calls this year—losing four games by a total of eight points—but this wasn’t one of them. That was insane.
Anyway, moving on, to California’s 52-49 win over Oregon on Friday night. This one ended at 3 a.m. in the East and featured 203 total plays and 1,086 yards.
It went two overtimes. The teams combined for 14 penalties for 279 yards yet the only turnover came on the last play, a Justin Herbert interception to clinch it for Cal in the second OT. Herbert, a promising Oregon freshman who threw six touchdowns in defeat, cried on the field with his helmet on. That’s what you do when you’re a kid. He had to be consoled by teammates and it was about as close-knit as anyone’s seen the 2-5 Ducks all season.
Three hours later, morning horns started honking in the Bronx.
Doesn’t anyone play defense in the Pac 12, someone asked before knowing Colorado, the next day, would improve to 6-2 with a 10-5 win at Stanford?
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Slept through my inner alarm clock to the sound of Louisville leading North Carolina State, 44-0, at the half. At…the…half. It may have been the first time a Heisman Trophy has been clinched before my morning coffee was poured on an Oct. 22.
Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson had 355 yards passing and appears unstoppable now on his way to NYC.
It’s been an interesting week for Louisville’s scandal-plagued power coaches.
On Friday, basketball leader Rick Pitino took an NCAA bullet for “failure to monitor” regarding the matter of a secret brothel being run for his players in the dormitory.
Is that wrong?
Pitino, a hall of fame coach with 743 wins, may face suspension (pending appeal) but pleaded the Sgt. Schultz defense--“I know nothing!”—as he blamed it all on a “lone-pimp” staffer.
“I’m guilty of trusting someone,” Pitino said.
If Pitino needed a scandal shoulder to cry on, well, he could walk down a hall and lean on coach Bobby Petrino. He is leading a top-10 football program only four years after he crashed on his motorcycle, also containing his mistress, while he was at Arkansas.
Petrino got fired, went away for a while, but is now back—bigger than ever.
This isn't as heartwarming as Ben Hogan returning from a car crash to win the U.S. Open. But the lesson here may be: bad things sometimes happen to bad people—it’s how you deal with it that matters.
Afternoon had me heart monitoring, among other things, No. 6 Texas A&M at No. 1 Alabama. The only question was how big Alabama was going to win. You could also play a drinking game this year based on taking a swig every time the Crimson Tide scores a non-offensive touchdown. Alabama made it 12 for the year with a second-half fumble return for score.
The only suspense during Alabama games this year is whether Nick Saban yells at Lane Kiffin for calling a dumb play.
Tell me something new: Western Michigan won again and Texas didn't, putting more "heat" on coach Charlie Strong.
An ESPN announcer made the very wrong move of saying the “noose was tightening” on Strong, but he later apologized on Twitter.
In other Rocky Mountain news, but not the Rocky Mountain News (RIP), Colorado shocked Stanford, somewhere near Palo Alto.
Colorado winning isn’t a shock anymore, actually, because the Buffaloes are now 6-2 and 7-0 against the spread.
If you can believe it, the Pac 12 South division could be decided by the Expansion Brothers on Nov. 26, when the Utes play at Colorado.
Utah improved to 7-1 with a hard-fought, 52-45 win over UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
Doesn’t anyone play defense in that league!?
Utah back Joe Williams, who came out of “retirement” last week and ran for 179 yards against Oregon State, added 332 more in the win over UCLA.
He was immediately named AARP player of the week.
The win set up a huge North-South showdown next week when Utah hosts Washington in a battle of the last two Pac 12 schools with any shot of making the playoff.
If Utah wins, there may be no shot.
History of the weekend, Part 2
7 p.m., dinner break, celebration for relative, trying to sneak updates on smart phone during familial talk.
What, Houston lost to Southern Methodist, and it wasn't even close?
Maybe the "hot name" coach coming out of the game should be Chad Morris, not Tom Herman.
This just in: Oklahoma 66, Texas Tech 59. Come on, you're kidding me, that's a WAC score from the 1990s.
If Boise State and Nevada did this a decade ago the result would have been dismissed as children's play. But it's "OK" if Oklahoma allows 59 in a win.
The statistics for Oklahoma-Texas Tech were sent straight to the Pinball Hall of Fame. The teams combined for 125 points and an NCAA record 1,708 yards. Texas Tech quarterback Pat Hahomes threw for 734 yards--and lost.
Understatement line of the night from the AP roundup story: "Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops was disappointed in his unit."
Well, at least No.2 Ohio State took care of business at sanctions-destroyed Penn State, right? The Buckeyes probably won with their usual, stellar special teams play. Right?
Wrong. Penn State blocked a punt and a field goal that was returned 60 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
Take away: Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer, in Big Ten play, is mortal.
The whole sport has gone nuts. Auburn beat Arkansas, 56-3?
We already knew coaches were bananas. Arizona State Coach Todd Graham, at the end of a 37-32 home loss, called Washington State Coach Mike Leach "chicken-blank" for accusing Graham of stealing signs.
Leach's team, FWIW, is 4-0 in the Pac 12 North. After starting 0-2, Washington State has made chicken salad out of Leach's "chicken blank."
Next you'll be telling us Oregon and Michigan State have lost, combined, 10 straight games.
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