Week 8

 Hey All,  is time for yet another wonderful trip through the weekend that was in football with another  edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.

Observations

...Sorry, not sorry; TheeeOSU HC Ryan Day apologized for not taking a knee in the final seconds of the Buckeyes blowout of Nebraska. His explanation for punching it in the end zone one more time was, " I had a younger quarterback in the game, and I didn't feel like we had the personnel to take a knee, and I probably should have done that." What a joke. Every QB at some point has taken a knee to end a game. Really, telling the QB to just take the snap and fall down required a special personnel package with a 45-17 lead? Facepalm. 

...Just call dad; This story slipped by me a week or so ago and was b brought to my attention by this blog's  field office rep in La Quinta, California. FCS power Stephen F. Austin HC Colby Carthel tested positive for COVID on 10/14.  Did Carthel panic when he had leave his team to play without him that week? No, he just called his dad, Don, a retired FCS football HC to take over the team for the week. Dad coached SFAU to a win over Angelo State.  Read all about it here, He left the tractor running  

...Not crying for Nick; I am sorry that Alabama star wideout Jayklen Waddle blew out his ankle on the opening kickoff v. Tennessee. I'm not sorry for Nick Saban.  Saban has someone just as talented on the bench ready to take Waddle's place. 

...1987; That was the last time an Indiana team upset a top ten team.  The Hoosiers incredible win over Penn State took a little shine off the penny that was TheeeOSU at Penn State this week for College Gameday who had already announced they would be in Happy Valley. 

...You're right, we were wrong, here's your fine; Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin was fined for being right last week. In the Rebels, 35-28 loss to Auburn, A kickoff return in which it appeared that Auburn kick returner Shaun Shivers touched a ball that then rolled into the end zone and was called a touchback. The game was never stopped by the replay official so a review could take place.  The Rebels held a 28-27 lead at the time and could have gone up 35-27 if a review had been made and the call gone their way. The SEC admitted their mistake and then fined Kiffin for criticizing the officials.  It's good to know that the SEC has picked up the slack for bad officiating since the Pac 12 hasn't started up yet this year. 25K

...Memo to Rutgers; Way to go on getting a Big Ten win for the first time in forever! Just remember you needed to force seven turnovers to get a 37-28 win over a Michigan State team that has an offense so poor it needs Waze to find the end zone. 

...Fall color; Snapped this screen shot of the trees turning just outside of Purdue's Ross-Ade Stadium during a replay in the Iowa-Purdue game. (Sorry for the window reflection in the shot)

...A thin line between Friday night and Sunday morning; Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz had a great game for the Badgers in their 45-7 rout of Illinois. Then Sunday Mertz found out he had tested positive for COVID. Wisconsin's third string QB has tested positive too.  That means with the training camp injury to original starting QB Bert Coan, the Badgers top three QBs are out for this week's game. 

...Buzz on hold; Simple reason why 6-0 Clemson and 5-0 Notre Dame aren't grabbing many headlines right now.  The pair play each other in two weeks. If they both get by their next opponent, just watch the hype machine set this up as the game as the next "Game of the Century" Oh, and you count on College Gameday being in South Bend too.

...Can you really call it a game then?;  possibly for the first time since the 1930s, TheeeOSU played a game where nobody dotted the I in the script Ohio. 

...NDSU South?; Kansas State is 4-0 and on top of the Big XII.  HC Chris Klieman has the Wildcats playing hard and tough like his North Dakota State Bison did while had a stranglehold on the FCS.

...Gone in 60 minutes;  In one game, Va Tech went from contender in the ACC to irrelevant.  The Hokies lost to Wake Forest, 23-16.  The loss invokes the little known ACC humiliation rule that states that any team that loses to Wake Forest must be treated as a joke for the rest of the season.  

...Just a rumor; There's no truth to the rumor that Graham Mertz is related to Fred and Ethel. 

...The kid is good;  Nebraska is gonna have their struggles this year, but Husker QB Luke McCaffrey is really good.  Well, he is Ed McCaffrey's son, Christian's brother and his mother, Lisa was a star athlete in college too. So, there is some talent in the bloodline. 

...Westwood Foodies;  Evidently UCLA HC Chip Kelly is a foodie and his team doesn't win, but they sure eat well according to the very large amount of money the spent on gourmet fare.  Food unequal to Wins

Dull Uniform of the Week

This week's award goes to UNLV for sporting this ensemble v. San Diego State. These all whites with the silver numbers and letters are dull. They are especially dull for a team from flashy, gaudy, Las Vegas.  The team played as dull as these togs in a 34-6 loss to the Aztecs. 

Departments

Blowout Game of the Week: Newton, KS- Once again we find ourselves in the NAIA ranks, where the Threshers of Bethel College walloped the Ottawa University (KS) Braves, 78-23. Thresher QB Zach Esau only completed six of nine passes in the game, but they went for 164 yards and three TDs. He also ran the ball 13 times for 100 yards and two more scores.  Bethel racked up 358 rushing yards as a team with six different ball carriers scoring seven TDs on the ground. This was the Threshers second straight game topping the 70 point mark and they are scoring on average 60.2 points per game. 

Making Your One Game Count This Week: This newly made up award goes to Bluffton University who played their one and only game of the fall and made it count with a 28-21 lead over Adrian College.  The Beavers of Bluffton ran for 372 yards, with RB Darian Greeley having a huge game.  He lugged the leather 42 times for 297 yards and three TDs.  

This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...

While a good portion of the country got hit with snow, it finally felt like fall in Southern California. Which means it dropped below 70 here. 

Not looking forward to turning the clocks back this weekend.

Fifth Avenue candy bars rock.

Until next week folks, remember that just getting to game day for these teams is an achievement this year. 

-The Commissioner 

Week 7

 Hey All,

After a rather lackluster football weekend, it's time once again for another edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard.  We still miss you, Alan Malamud.

Trojan Flashback: Jim Hardy and the Terrible No Good, Very Bad Game

I know we've all had our share of bad days.  Jim Hardy's made football history. Jim Hardy was a USC legend. As a QB at SC, Hardy was named MVP of the 1945 Rose Bowl when the Trojans shutout Tennessee, 25-0. Hardy went on to a career in the NFL. He played for the Chicago Cardinals. He also had one of the worst games a QB could ever have. Hardy set an NFL record for throwing eight interceptions in a single game.  On face value that's awful.  This intrepid reporter just discovered some extra facts about this game that really make this story worth retelling. Discovered, really meaning I had just not heard these facts before.

The awful game took place September 24, 1950.  This was the opening game of the season in the NFL and the Cardinals were hosting the Philadelphia Eagles.  Hardy's bad day started before he even got to the stadium.  Hardy was driving to Comiskey Park which served as the Cardinals home field.  Hardy was driving fellow teammates Charley Trippi and Mal Kutner to the game. The trio of Birds got into an accident on the way to the stadium. Trippi and Kutner were able to leave the scene of accident and make it to the game in time for warmups. No such luck for Hardy. He stayed with the car and made out the police report.  Hardy made it to the game in time for kickoff.  He wasn't checked over by the team doctor, didn't warm up and was sent in to start the game at QB by HC Curly Lambeau. Hardy threw three interceptions in the first half and the Cardinals trialed, 31-0 at intermission. Hardy would throw five more picks to set the all-time NFL record in what would be a 45-7 loss.  Oh, and in addition to his eight interceptions, he also fumbled twice. Hardy was responsible for 10 turnovers. The add insult to injury, Hardy was finally pulled form the game in the fourth quarter, but it did no good. His backup, Frank Tripucka lasted just three plays. Tripucka got injured and Hardy had to come back in and finish the game.  Things did get better for Hardy.  The very next week he threw six TD passes in a 55-13 rout of the Baltimore Colts. 

Observations

...Not impressive; This football weekend was pretty dull. That point was enforced by the fact that the Big XII, one of the three Power Five conferences playing right now, only played one game and that was between West Virginia and Kansas. 

...Feeling special in Big D; SMU is 5-0.

...Pac 12 release update.  The Pac 12 released its' minimum standards for players needed to play a game and all its' tie-breaker ruled for this crazy season. 53 is a magic number

...Karma is still the champ; Florida HC Dan Mullen whining about crowds and screaming for a full house v. LSU  got a double shot of Karma.  The LSU game was postponed this past week due to positive COVID tests at Florida and Mullen himself announced his positive test last Saturday. 

...A 10,000 lakes legend; 100-year old Minnesota Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman passed away this past week.  He was still active writing three columns a week.  His first column was printed in 1944. The man had 21,000 bylines. Good bye, Sid

...329 ain't fine; Ole Miss gave up 329 yards less than they did last week and still surrendered 394 total yard to Arkansas. Facepalm. 

...Emptied Benches;  Clemson totally emptied their benches in their 73-7 rout of Georgia Tech. Tigers Punter Will Spiers saw time at QB. The former high school QB completed two of three passes for 13 yards and a first down v. the Yellow Jackets. 

...Not cool; Former ASU HC and current Hawaii coach Todd Graham had a collection of title rings form his coaching career stolen. Not easy to fence

...Trivia about nothing;  The NCAA has allowed players to wear the number 0 this year.  That got me thinking about how the NFL outlawed the use of 0 and 00 back in the early '70s.  Those who already wore the number were allowed to wear them for the rest of their careers. Who were the last players in the NFL to wear 0 and 00?   

...A rumbling in the midwest.  The Big Ten returns to play this week. How do I Know? There is a fresh article about how bad Jim Harbaugh is at Michigan. Har-gone?

...Not a good sign;  Tennessee just fired their D-line coach after the Volunteers lost at home to Kentucky for the first time since 1984. Oh, and this week the Vols take on Bama.

...A mess in the land of the Hawkeye; Players who allege they've suffered racial discrimination at Iowa are demanding 20 million from the school and for HC Kirk Ferentz to be fired. Hawkeye Pain

...Victory comes at a price; Kentucky LB J.J. Evans got kicked into groin by Tennessee WR Ramel Keyton during the Wildcats win over the Vols. Keyton was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, but not ejected.  Low Blow

...A trophy on the line; Week one of the Big Ten schedule features a battle for the Little Brown Jug between Michigan and Minnesota.  

...Early returns are in;  Arkansas HC Sam Pittman could probably win any statewide election right now as a write-in candidate.  

...PETA slam; A pair of protestors form PETA ran onto the field during the first half of the Texas A&M-Mississippi State game at Starkville.  The protestors were ran down and tackled by security, then taken off the field to the cheers of MSU fans and the ring of their cowbells.  I can't blame the crowd for cheering, those were the best defensive moves made by anyone representing Mississippi State in weeks. 

...A strange anniversary; 10 years ago Rufus, the Ohio U Bobcat took a punch at Brutus, TheeOSU's Buckeye mascot.  Really, Rufus?

...Hero to zero;  Mississippi State QB K.J. Costello went from transfer hero in the Bulldogs  season opening upset over LSU to a benched zero in the Bulldogs third straight loss last week to Texas A&M. Mike Leach made Costello's starting status going forward uncertain when he said postgame that the starting QB slot "will be evaluated" during the  Bulldogs upcoming bye week. 

...They didn't make it to week one; Purdue HC Jeff Brohm tested positive for COVID with symptoms this week. He will not be on the sideline for the Boilermakers opener. 

...1933 perspective;  Yes, South Carolina beat Auburn for the first time since 1933.  However, the series between the schools is only 13 games long and the pair didn't play each other from 1934-1995. 

...Trivia Answer;  The answers to this nothing of a question are Ken Burrough and Obert Logan. Burrough spent his whole 11-year career as a WR for the Houston Oilers wearing 00.  Obert Logan had a very short NFL career, but wore 0 for the 1967 New Orleans Saints. 

A Hockey Farewell

Legendary NHL play-by-play man Mike "Doc" Emrick has hung up his microphone.  He announced his retirement Monday and left this wonderful farewell video behind.  So long, Doc

RIP Occidental College Football 1894-2020

Last week, Occidental College officially dropped football. To those who followed the fortunes of the Tigers this decision was not a shock. The program had been on life support for the last few seasons as regular alums and former players tried to save the team. Still, the decision finally coming down leaves a sad and hollow feeling for this old Tiger. Oxy faded from the upper levels of college football in the late 1920s- early 1930s as USC grew into a national power and UCLA started its' rise to become a rival to the Trojans. Many men played for Oxy in anonymity, but they played because they loved the game. With the program terminated,  Oxy does go out as holding the edge in the big rivalry with Whittier College.  The Tigers will now forever hold a 57-53-2 edge in the series, but not the series trophy. The Trophy for the game known quite appropriately as "The Shoes",which is just a pair of bronzed cleats on a trophy base, resides at Whittier. The Poets won the last two games in the series. One of my favorite memories playing at Oxy was in 1987, when as a freshman and member of the field goal block unit, I crashed through the line with several of my teammates to snuff out a fake field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter. The special teams stop was a key part of Oxy's 6-0 win that cold November night so many years ago. Good bye, Oxy football. 

Departments 

Blowout Game of the Week: Spearfish, SD- This week's game comes form the D-II Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Colorado Mesa Mavericks whipped the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets, 56-7 in game that featured the right conditions for Mesa's ground attack.  It snowed the entire game and the field was covered in the white stuff from the kickoff until time ran out.  RB Jesse Rodriquez was the workhorse for the Mavericks. He toted the rock 24 times for 161 yards and a TD, while backfield mate D'aris McMillan tallied three TDs on only eight carries. Mesa racked up almost 600 yards of total offense with 392 coming on the ground. The Mavericks took a 21-7 lead into the half and then dominated the second half, blanking the Yellow Jackets, 35-0 for the big win. 

Razorback Report: Fayetteville, AR- Well, how about the defense for the Hogs?  They took on the Ole Miss offense that put up over 600 yards on Alabama the week before and held it to a little over half of that and picked off Ole Miss QB Matt Corral six, count 'em six times in a 33-21 win over the Rebels. The Razorbacks are now 2-2 on the year and are really a bad call away from being 3-1 in the SEC.  Best part of Saturday's Razorback win is that Hudson Clark, the DB that picked off three passes in the game is no longer a walk on.  HC Sam Pittman awarded Clark a scholarship after the game.  That's a feel good story if there ever was one. Up next for the Hogs is a bye followed by a date with the Texas A&M Aggies on Halloween. 

This Week's Three Things About Nothing...

Three Musketeers is the candy bar equivalent of Cotton Candy; It's just some flavor and sugar with mostly air inside.

Man, it's hard to find a new refrigerator these days.

Oh Henry! is an underrated candy bar.

Until Next Week Folks, remember that winning or losing should never come down to a field goal attempt.  

-The Commissioner 

Week 6

 Hey All,

While the temps around here feel still feel more like summer than fall, take a minute to sit back and enjoy another edition of Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard.  We still miss you, Joe Jares.

Observations

...A post and pre game whine;  Florida HC Dan Mullen blamed part of the Gators, 41-38 loss at Texas &M on the crowd that was allowed to attend the game.  Kyle Field was at 25% capacity, which means there were around 25,000 fans there instead of the normal 102,733. Mullen then went on to plead for a full crowd  to be allowed at the Gators home game next week v. LSU. What garbage, Mullen leaned on the crowd as an excuse for losing and has now given his team one for possibly losing next week. Oh, and if he'd seen any LSU games this year, he'd realize he doesn't need a full home crowd to beat the Tigers. SMH.

...Three games; Usually it takes Mike Leach until near the end of the season to throw his players under the bus. Malcontents

...Rest for the big two;  The Big XII's top two teams both have byes this week. That's right, Iowa State and Kansas State both have next Saturday off.

...That's so 2020; Louisiana Lafayette is ranked this week and LSU isn't in the AP Poll. Hmmmmm

...They're now off too; Oklahoma State, the Big XII's other top contender won't play this week as their game at Baylor has been postponed due a COIVID outbreak with the Bears. 

...Spotlight waning;  BYU is 4-0 and nobody cares. 

...1st game moved; The SEC just announced their first postponement of the year. Vandy-Mizzou game is being moved because Vandy will not be able to field the minimum 53 players required to play a game under the league's COVID rules. 

...Not what they expected;  I'm sure with all the points and yards being put on the scoreboard in the SEC this week, fans of Mississippi State did not expect to score just two points v. Kentucky.

...It had to end;  Virginia Tech's winning ways while being down at least 15-20 players each week due to COIVD are over. North Carolina took down the Hokies, 56-45 last Saturday.

...Oh come on, Nick; Following his Bama squad's 63-48 win over Ole Miss, Nick Saban openly theorized that the Rebels had known his defensive signals coming into the game.  No way. Nick, you were just out schemed by the Rebels.  

...Let's play 14; With positive COVID tests and postponements of games on the rise in the NFL, it might be in the league's best interest to cut the schedule down to 14 games. They could take out two games and use them as extra bye weeks for more schedule flexibility due to postponements. 

...Credit the man; With most coaches not understanding the concept of how to wear a mask, I have to give credit to Nick Saban for wearing his mask properly the entire time during the Bama-Ole Miss game.

...Just playing felt fine;  After losing the first five weeks of their season due to COVID cancellations, Houston must be very happy to have played a game, much less winning and being 1-0 after beating Tulane, 49-31 last Thursday.

...4-1 was a long time ago;  The last time the Cleveland Browns were 4-1, these tow guys were the HC and DC back in 1994.

...Gassed;  With no spring practice, not a lot contact and no real formal workouts over the summer, it's easy to see just how tired teams are art the end of games this year. You can especially see it on the defensive side of the ball.  

...Upon further review; It's easy too see now that Dak Prescott's passing up of a 4 year, 135 million dollar contract extension at the start of the season was not a good move.

...Afterthought;  Anybody else realize that if Ole Miss had not forced a fumble on their own goal line early  v. Alabama, the Rebels would have given up 70 points to the Crimson Tide?

...Beating a dead defense; The Mississippi defense is giving up on average a fraction under 642 yards and 52 points per game this year. In fact, the defense has already allowed more than a mile in total yards in just three games. Wow. 

...4-0;  The Pittsburgh Steelers are 4-0 for the first time since 1979.  They won the Super Bowl that year.

...She ain't happy; After an interception thrown by Texas QB Sam Ehlinger sent the Longhorns down to defeat in the fourth OT v Oklahoma, one Texas fan expressed the feelings of the entire Longhorn fan base.

Special Section: Arkansas and the Inadvertent Whistle 

Before we take a look at the blown call and the poor SEC defense of that blown call, two things have to be made clear.  One, you never want to be in position where a blown call will cost you the game.  Two, if Arkansas had just made a first down on their final possession, this special section would not be in this column.  So, with that said, here we go.

Trailing 28-27 with a few seconds left, Auburn had just moved into field goal range for a chance win the game.  The Tigers had no timeouts left and the clock was ticking down. The Tigers needed to spike the ball and stop the clock so that their PK, who missed his last attempt just a few minutes ago, had a chance to pull out the win.  Auburn QB Bo Nix went in under center and barked out signals. The ball was snapped and Nix fumbled it. He then picked it back up to spike it, but he turned away from the line and spiked it backwards. Yes, backwards. The refs watched for a moment as confusion reigned.  Some players stopped playing as the whistle blew the play dead while others went to grab the ball thinking it was a fumble.  Then after another few moments of confusion, the refs threw a flag on the play.  The refs inexplicably ruled that the spiking of the ball was not a backwards pass and that the QB intentionally grounded the ball.  Meanwhile, Arkansas HC Sam Pittman is screaming the the ball was thrown backwards and it should be the Hogs ball. The buzzer then comes down from the booth and a review of the play ensues. Inexplicably, the refs upheld the bad call.  They placed the ball where it was thrown backwards as enforcement of the intentional grounding, giving the ball back to Auburn. The Tigers go on to kick the wining field goal on the next play and escape with a ref-aided, 30-28 victory. Major Major Facepalm.  An hour later, the SEC released this absolutely dumb explanation/excuse for the blown call.

I sent this explanation to the this blog's field office for officiating in La Quinta, California.  The field office rep's reactions were immediate and swift. He dismantled the explanation from the SEC quickly...

"Well, that's wrong. This was a case of an inadvertent whistle. Only application of the rule is a replay of the down form the previous spot, which would have screwed Arkansas no matter what. Impossible to have an intentional grounding on a backwards pass, no such animal. The statement is not correct and the rule referenced does not apply. " He also added, "I believe the incident caught the crew off guard as they were anticipating a spike. Then they see it happen, (ball striking the ground), and jump to a quick conclusion. The replay booth should have inferred that in the convo (during the replay review). There was nothing to see in that cute little pedestal (that the ref was looking at on the sideline)."

After that we had both agreed that it's also hard to stand by the fact that there was no immediate continuing football action leading to a recovery because they inadvertently blew play dead in the first place!

Departments 

Low Score Game of the Week: West Point, NY- The Black Knights of the Hudson held off a late rally by The Citadel for a 14-9 win on a beautiful sun-splashed fall afternoon in upstate New York. The Citadel opened the scoring with a 29-yard field goal by PK Colby Kintner.  Army took a 7-3 lead into the half when WR Reikan Donaldson hauled in a 29-yard TD pass from QB Jemel Jones.  The Black Knights extended their lead to 14-3 in the third period when Jones knifed into the endzone from five yards out.  The Citadel made the game close when RB Darique Hampton broke through the Army front wall for a four-yard TD run with 3:21 to play in regulation.  The Bulldogs then went for two, but their pass failed and Army ran out the clock on their ensuing possession to secure the win.  This was a game between two teams that run the option. The game was played in under three hours with as many passes completed as there were punts. Old school football it was. 

Blowout Game of the Week: Sioux City, IA- The Mustangs of Morningside College whipped the Briar Cliff Chargers, 68-3 in NAIA action. QB Joe Dolincheck threw for three TDs for the Mustangs while RB Arnijae Ponder toted the rock only 14 times, but four of his carries went for TDs. Morningside scored their 68 points in just three quarters, then called off the dogs the rest of the way in this Homecoming victory. 

Razorback Report: Auburn, AL- Well Hogs fans, we all saw the hosing the team got at Auburn. There are however a few good things to hang your hat on with this team. One, they do play defense this year. Two, they have heart and three they look far more disciplined than they have in the last few years. This team is headed in the right direction. Up next for the Razorbacks is home date with the Ole Miss Rebels. 

This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...

With as much as the debate over DOTS aroused a great deal of passion among my family and friends, the debate over Junior Mints v. York Peppermint Patties v. Andes Mints looks to be a much bigger deal.

It's flat out amazing how the Amazon guy can't just put small packages in the box on the porch that's meant for them. 

Took a nice drive down south last week on Pacific Coast Highway. Hadn't done that in a long time. Almost felt like life was normal.  

Until next time folks remember, that just because a QB can run doesn't meant he should.

-The Commissioner 

Week 5

 Hey All,

Here's another edition of the column that makes Tuesdays feel better than Mondays, Notes on a Pac 12 Scorecard.  We still miss you, Alan Malamud.

The Pac 12 Schedule

Yes, there is now a third edition of the Pac 12 schedule for this crazy year. It is a seven game schedule that begins play hopefully on 11/7 and ends with the Pac 12 title tilt on 12/18.  Each team will play all five division opponents and one team from the other division.  Each team will have three home games and three away games. Oh, and on the same date as the title tilt, the other 10 teams in the league will be playing seeded consolation games against members of the other division. That's where every team gets that seventh game in. This link shows what the full schedule looks like Pac 12 Grid  Here's my quick breakdown of the USC's slate.

11/7: v. ASU 9 am kickoff at the Coliseum.  Surprisingly enough both teams agreed to play this game at this time according to the Pac 12 Senior Associate Commissioner for Football  Operations, Merton Hanks.  Hanks spoke to the San Jose Mercury news reporter and Pac 12 Hotline writer Jon Wilner. He told Wilner, "That's a tough game to make on Week One. It's great exposure, but the institutions stepped to the plate and said, 'We'll take it on."  So yes Trojans fans, SC agreed to this miserable kickoff time. Sigh. This game is the Big Noon Kickoff game of Fox that week. Sigh again.

11/14 and 11/21: These two weeks Trojans go on their only two true road trips of the year. The first one should be beautiful weather-wise as SC will play at UofA.  Then, SC goes to Salt Lake city to take on Utah.  Three things make this game very winnable.  One, Utah is down a lot of talent  from last year's squad. Two, this game isn't on a Friday night for once.  Three, there most likely will be no crowd or very little crowd in attendance. Maybe SC can get a win in Utah for the first time since 2012.

11/28 and 12/4: USC comes home for what should be an easy game against Colorado. After the Buffs get run out of the Coliseum, the Trojans will have a quick turn around for a Friday night home game with Wazzu.  Wazzu will have an extra day of practice ahead of the game. However, the Cougars may be deflated as they will be coming off playing the Apple Cup game v. rival Washington. 

12/12- SC travels crosstown to their second home, The Rose Bowl, to take on the bRuins.  Trojans fans should be happy that is also a Saturday game. In fact, it is the only Pac 12 rivalry game to be played on a Saturday this year. 

Quick Hits on the rest of the slate:

...Not feeling the TGIF; UCLA will host Utah, then go to Oregon on consecutive Friday nights.

...Sneaky tough crossover game; Washington going to Cal on11/7 looks like an upset win for the Golden Bears.

...Bring a life preserver; More rain will fall at Husky Stadium for the Oregon-Washington game on 12/12 than in Southern California for a whole year. 

...At least one game will be cancelled due to COVID.  This schedule doesn't have any room for postponements.

...A Pac 12 team will not make the College Football Playoff... again.

...Oregon State may just screw up the races in both divisions. Their game at Utah makes this a possibility.

...A tossup; This intrepid reporter is having trouble deciding which Pac 12 game will be the least watched in week one.  Will it be Wazzu at Oregon State or UCLA at Colorado?

...The Network is Down;  All Pac 12 games this year will be on either Fox or ESPN. 

...Rivalry by Division;  All three rivalry games in the Pac 12 North will be played 11/27 which is the Friday after Thanksgiving.  All the Rivalry games in the Pac 12 South are in week six, which is 12/11, 12/12.

..An ancient foe left behind; USC and Cal have squared off 106 times on the gridiron, but they won't play this year. The last time the teams didn't face each other in football was 1919. Back in 1919, Woodrow Wilson was president, the White Sox hadn't become the Black Sox yet, and neither Memorial Stadium in Berkeley or the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum existed. 

...Just a rumor; There's no truth to the rumor that Leisure Suit Larry Scott moved the start of the Pac 12 Schedule back a week form 10/31 to 11/7 because he was hosting a Halloween themed tennis watch party that included charcuterie trays with appropriately paired Napa wines.

Observations

...Feels so rad; With students getting kicked out of games and the football team being undefeated at 4-0, it must feel like the '80s again at SMU.  

...COVID strikes the Pac 12; Arizona HC Kevin Sumlin has tested positive for COVID-19. Positive

...The Frogs and the Over;  When TCU took an intentional safety to run out the clock in their upset of Texas last week, they swung a few fortunes in the process.  The Over/Under for the game was 62.5 points.  The safety took the total score from 62 to 64. Hmmmmmm

...Sunk; Navy still can't tackle.

...2-0 miracle; VaTech is 2-0. The Hokies destroyed both of their opponents this year with at least 20 players out each game due to COVID. wow.

...Not football related; Rams DB Jalen Ramsey and Giants WR Golden Tate got into a scrap after the Rams 17-9 win over Big Blue went final.  However it didn't; have anything to do with the game. check out the TMZ worthy story here. That's for my sister!

...A simple question; Who out there thinks Will Muschamp is a decent HC?  The man has failed upward into two SEC gigs and can't beat anybody. 

...Of course it happened to him;  Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin actually had to tell the media he wasn't on the toilet during the weekly SEC coaches teleconference last week prior to the Rebels showdown with Kentucky. When you gotta go...

...What a shame; I guess football isn't so easy for OU HC Lincoln Riley with a starting QB that some other coach hadn't trained for a few years. 

...Memo to Mississippi State fans;  You've just had your introduction to "The Mike Leach Experience." A great win followed by a head scratching loss is just what he and his teams do.  Get used to going to the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl.  

...All quiet in Orlando;  I hope Tulsa's upset of UCF will silence all those who keep saying UCF is a playoff contender. 

...They just roll on;  Alabama is just a machine, they should win it all again.

...Don't see it; I just don't see Miami staying close to Clemson this week. 

...Rescue the man;  I think Sam Darnold would be a great Raider. 

...Red River blah; No Texas State Fair, and both teams off to a poor start has taken the luster off this year's OU-Texas game. 

...Quietly making noise; Cincinnati is 3-0. 

...Magnolia State bookends;  Arkansas won at Mississippi State to snap a 20-game SEC losing streak.  Before last Saturday's win, the Hogs last SEC win was a 38-37 thriller at Ole Miss on October 28, 2017. 

...Forth Worth crossing their minds;  You can sure as heck bet that the Longhorns will ponder for a long while the fact that TCU owns a 7-2 record over Texas since they joined the Big XII. 

...Knock knock. Who's there? Owen, Owen who? 0-2;  Oklahoma is now 0-2 in Big XII play.  

...Booted in Big D; The entire SMU Student section was ejected in the first half of the Mustangs game with Memphis for not following COVID protocols. The SMU PD backed up by the Dallas Sheriffs Department sent the kids packing. See Ya! Wouldn't want to be ya!

...A sobering fact; Despite Oklahoma State's 3-0 start, the team with the inside track to Big XII title right now is Iowa State.

...Orange happiness; Tennessee is 2-0 and is playing a lot better than they have in years. 

..Just hit mute;  Just hearing USC HC Clay Helton drone on about the football starting back up in the Pac 12 makes you realize why he isn't called upon to speak on any of the college football pregame shows as a face of the league.  Pure drivel. 

...Least, but really really least;  The NFC East is worst division I've seen in forever in the NFL.  The Eagles are atop the standings with a 1-2-1 record and the only thing keeping the division form having two winless teams is an amazing onside kick by Dallas a few weeks back. Facepalm. 

...Hard to hype this one; Notre Dame coming off COVID quarantines and limited practices v. a hapless at best Florida State squad is not must see TV this week. 

Good Looking Rivalry of the Week

Georgia v. Auburn is billed as "The South's Oldest Rivalry." I was glad to see that both schools didn't opt for some lame alternate uniform. They both kept the uniforms traditional and classy.

Departments 

Blowout Game of the Week: North Newton, KS- The Threshers of Bethel College methodically destroyed the Mid-America Nazarene Pioneeers, 83-35 in NAIA action.  This game would be a shootout with the schools knotted at 21-21 at the end of the first quarter.  Ummm, no. The Threshers put three more TDs on the board in each of the next three quarters, while their defense shutdown the Pioneers the rest of the way. The only blemish on the day for Bethel was a missed PAT in the second period. 12 different Threshers handled the ball in this laugher with QB Blake Atkins throwing for 237 yards and two scores.

Low Score Game of the Week: McPherson, KS- The Bulldogs of McPherson College scored a TD with 12:40 left in the fourth quarter to take a 20-17 lead over the Friends University Falcons. The Bulldogs defense then hunkered down the rest of the way to secure the victory.  I only put this game in here so I could tell you that Friends University of Kansas makes funny acronym. 

Razorback Report: Starkville, MS- All the hype in this game was for MSU HC Mike Leach after his team's stunning upset of LSU last weekend.  The Hogs were expected to lose as they had in their previous 20 SEC games.  However, despite being outgunned and outgained, the Hogs pulled off the win.  Arkansas actually held MSU to half their offensive production of the prior week and won the biggest stat battle in any game; the turnover battle.  They forced four Bulldogs turnovers and ended up +2 on the day.  Offensively, QB Felipe Franks completed 20 of 28 tosses for 212 yards and two TDs in the win.  Up next for the Razorbacks this week is a trip to Auburn. 

This Week's Three Notes About Nothing...

I didn't realize how many people were split about whether or not DOTS is a good candy.

Hard to think about pumpkins and all when it has been 95 degrees outside for the past week.

SNL's skit about the COVID outbreak at the Pittsburgh Department of Name Changes made me laugh hard. 

Until Next week folks, remember that winning ugly is always better than losing pretty.

-The Commissioner