Hey All,
I wish you all a very happy Autumnal Equinox to mark the start of Fall. Now, here's this year's first Fall edition of Notes On a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
USC Flashback Summary
September 19, 1981, USC 21- Indiana 0: As if USC doesn't spend enough time in Indiana, the Trojans decided to take two trips to "The Crossroads of America" in '81. The first trip would see Marcus Allen take the second step in his Heisman campaign. A crowd of 51,167 Hoosier fans and an ON TV audience back home in Los Angeles saw Allen run over, around and through the Indiana defense in a 21-0 Trojan win. The Trojans nursed a meager 7-0 lead at the end of the third quarter thanks to 19-yard TD jaunt by Allen. The game was close because Indiana forced three Trojan turnovers. However, The Trojans would put away the Hoosiers in the final quarter on an 11-yard TD run by Fred Crutcher and Allen's second TD ramble of the day. Allen would finish the game with 274 yards on 40 carries and that pair of scores. The USC defense pitched a shutout, holding the Hoosiers to just 190 total yards. A month later, USC would return to Indiana and beat Notre Dame, 14-7 with Allen gashing the Irish for 147 yards rushing.
Fun Fact: Indiana's HC was ESPN College Gameday's Lee Corso.
Observations
...They didn't get the memo; Evidently, Notre Dame didn't receive the memorandum that South Florida had the schematic advantage over them last Saturday. ND flattened the Bulls, 52-0. I guess USF Offensive Coordinator, Charlie Weis, Jr. is really a chip off the old block.
...That looked so 1950s; North Carolina State RB Rickey Person, Jr. threw an old school jump pass for a TD v. Wake Forest last Saturday. Frankie Albert Approves
...Living on Stillwater time; Oklahoma State barely escaped another embarrassment for the Big XII with 13 fourth quarter points to beat Tulsa, 16-7. Tulsa's clock management and numerous penalties gave me flashbacks to an former USC coach who shall not be named.
...Jarring thought; USC HC Clay Helton is known for holding practices that feature very little contact. It's scary to imagine that he'll do with the team during this pandemic. Somehow, Professor Harold Hill's "Think System" comes to mind.
...Paid himself first; Old Leisure Suit Larry fo the Pac 12 paid bonuses to himself other high ups a month before laying off/firing everyone at the Pac12 Network. Facepalm Not Surprised
...The sea was angry that day my friends; Navy found themselves down 24-0 to Tulane at the half. The Midshipmen had been outscored 79-3 in six quarters of football to start the season. Then, the Middies rallied to pull off a 27-24 comeback win and save their season. Oh, and they did it through the air. Navy only threw 12 passes, but they accounted for 108 of their 373 total yards and the game-tying TD and two-point conversion.
...Looking to the past; Starting to love how "modern" offenses are looking more and more like 1950s football every day. I'm just loving the jump passes and spin-a-rama handoffs and direct snaps to the RBs.
...Nobody available; North Carolina has been looking for an opponent for 9/26 after their opponent for 9/19, Charlotte canceled the game due to COVID related reasons. The Tarheels will have now have two weeks off before facing Boston College.
...Love for the kicker; Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs gets a special shoutout for his two 58-yard field goals, the second of which was the game winner in OT vs. San Diego. Oh and by the way, his final kick was really three kicks. He first made a 53-yarder to watch it get nullified by a false start, then booted a 58 yarder that didn't count due to San Diego calling at timeout at the snap. Finally on the third try he nailed the official game-winner. The kid is nails in the clutch.
...More than socially distanced; The Pac 12 Network, for those actually get it, is just showing reruns of old games. Period. There are no personnel to run studio shows of any kind. Heck, they even fired the guy who does the crawl on the bottom of the screen. It hasn't changed in days.
...Prime Time takes on the FCS; Neon Deion Sanders has been officially named the HC at Jackson State. Somewhere, Walter Payton is amused.
...Shutout; Citadel held Clemson or rather had pity taken on them by Clemson with the Tigers not scoring in the second half of a 49-0 rout. Funny enough it was the first time Clemson hadn't scored in the second half of a game since 2014.
...Its Gore-Tex Jerry, Gore-Tex!; We now pause for moment to pay our respects to Robert W. Gore, the man who invented Gore-Tex. He passed away this past week. George Costanza has sent a condolence card with a donation to The Human Fund in Gore's name.
...They're in... for the Buckeyes; The Big Ten opted back into the football season last week and came out with an eight game schedule that greatly favors TheeeOhio State. Check it out here. Big Ten Slate
...As the Pac 12 turns; Over the weekend, Pac 12 Presidents, AD's and HCs had some pretty contentious meetings about the lack of a plan to return to football and the fact that several teams can't be ready until November.
....Tough Trojan Trivia; What position was Kennedy Pola originally recruited to play at USC?
...102 years and masks; Georgia Tech alum, Thomas Carter had a photo taken of him at a Yellow Jackets game in 1918 during the Spanish Flu pandemic. Just about 102 years later, his great-grandson was in those same seats last Saturday rooting on the Ramblin' Wreck and had this second photo taken.
...Be careful what you wish for; After all that whining and complaining by Nebraska about not having a football season, they get to play now... on 11/24...on the road...at Ohio State. Hmmmmmmmmmm
...A Cardinal road block; Stanford has told their football players that they can comeback to practice, but they have to find their own off campus housing and pay for it on their own dime. Stanford's policy is if regular students aren't allowed to live on campus, then the football team shouldn't either.
...Tough Trojan Trivia answer; Kennedy Poll came to USC as a highly recruited Linebacker form Mater Dei High as a freshman in 1982. Bonus: his freshman year jersey number was 56.
...No contest; I still think the Pac 12 doesn't play game this year.
...Shocked; I'm actually pretty shocked to see the College Gameday this week will be at Miami for the Florida State-Miami game. With the SEC starting this week, I was sure they'd be somewhere in SEC country. It's kind of like realizing that ESPN's Sunday Night baseball doesn't involve either the Yankees or Red Sox or both on a given week.
Ugly Uniform of the Week
North Texas wins this week's award for sporting that awful color green they like and for having a uniform the basically is an homage what was easily the USFL's worst team, the Washington Federals. Yes, I know this uniform was worn as a salute former UNT HC Hayden Fry who led the Mean Green in the '70s, There just has to be another way to do that. I still can't decide though if the helmets really invoke the look of the Federals or what could be the logo for a new Mexican airline.
Departments
Low Score Game of the Week: Crete, NE- The Doane Tigers rallied form a 6-0 deficit in the final quarter for a 13-6 win over the Briar Cliff Chargers in NAIA action. Briar Cliff held that 6-0 lead thanks to a 4-yard pass from QB John Bell to WR Clark Kreggor. Doane rallied on a pair of short TD passes from QB Adam Wasserman. The first was an 11-yard scoring connection with WR Josh Baker and the game-winner came from 3-yards out. Doane's defense held firm in the final quarter and stopped the Chargers on a 4th and 4 from the Doane 28-yard line with 1:49 to go to seal the victory.
Blowout Game of the Week: Canyon, TX- The West Texas A&M Buffaloes wiped put the Panhandle State Aggies, 58-7. The Buffs stampeded their way to 415 yards rushing with only one back, Brandon Blair, eclipsing the 100-yard mark with 117 yards on just six carries and a TD. QB Nick Gerber threw for 187 yard three TDs in the rout. The crazy stat from this game is that the Buffaloes didn't force a single turnover in the runaway win. It's kind of cool to write about a Buffalo team that wins.
This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...
This last Saturday it felt like fall in Southern California and that's a welcome thing.
Carnival Eats is my new binge TV show.
We grew pumpkins this year in the back yard and that's pretty cool.
Until next time folks, remember that just because a league starts up this fall, that doesn't mean it will finish the season.
-The Commissioner
