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
