2011 - week 13

Chaos finally ensued, as it always does this time of year. In the last two weeks, there have been upsets galore, especially at the top. LSU and Alabama are headed for a rematch in the BCS title game, as they are clearly the two best teams. Everyone is playing for second fiddle. Unless Armageddon somehow happens, we're going to have a sixth straight BCS champion from the SEC.

On a somber note, once again I start with bad news. Two weeks ago it was the Penn State fiasco, last week it is an untimely death that hits home. Arkansas redshirt freshman tight end Garrett Uekman died Sunday, at this point the cause of death was a bad heart condition. What is known is that this is tragic. A 19 year old student athlete from Little Rock, who was living his dream of playing for the Razorbacks. Reports from other players and coaches is that he was a good kid, someone whom everyone liked. He was just a freshman, but played in almost every game, and seemed to be in line for the starting tight end spot next year. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends, as well as the Razorback nation.

On to the football field.

Same story as before.

Remember what I said when Arkansas and Alabama played? About how Arkansas wasn't ready, was less talented, and the defense was extremely overrated? Well it happened again against LSU. Why I thought we had a chance I don't know. Arkansas started off great, driving down and scoring a touchdown, guess who caught it? Yep, Jarius Wright. And even made a great defensive play when Tramain Thomas put a big hit on Spencer Ware causing a fumble that was picked up mid air by Alonzo Highsmith, who took it back for a td. And then it all went to crap. LSU proceeded to get pissed, and run all over the Hogs for the rest of the game. Tyrann Matheiu ran a punt back 92 yards for a td, their offense scored at will, and their defense completely shut down the "explosive" Hog offense holding them to just 254 yards total. After that 14-0 deficit, LSU outscored Arkansas 41-3 the rest of the game. LSU and Alabama are far and away the best teams in the SEC, the country, and maybe, the world. Arkansas was the third best team in the conference, but didn't come close to competing with the other two. Maybe in ten years. Final score 41-17, LSU.

What a way to end it.

What seems to be the last time Texas and Texas A&M play for the foreseeable future, ended in a great game. In yet ANOTHER game where had the halftime lead, you knew Texas wasn't going to go away quietly. It was only a 16-7 lead, but it didn't even take until halfway through the third quarter for Texas to take the lead with a 58 yard pick six, and a field goal a few minutes later. A&M has had an extremely disappointing season(a dallasnews.com sports guy picked the Aggies to go 11-1, haha), and this was just end of a bitter rivalry gone bad. A&M took the lead back in the fourth quarter on a td pass with just 1:48 remaining. Texas then gave the Aggies the ultimate screw you for going to the SEC where you're going to get dominated anyway, by driving down and kicking a field goal as time ran out. A walk off field goal to say, good riddance. Because let's be honest, Texas owns A&M, and now they won't be able to ever take it back. Final score 27-25, Texas.

Didn't exactly live up.

As much as the media tried to hype up the Iron Bowl this year as some classic revenge showdown for Alabama and Auburn, everyone knew it wasn't. Yes the last two years were epic games, especially last year when Auburn came back from a 24-7 halftime deficit in Tuscaloosa to win. But this year was different. Auburn was sitting at 7-4, exactly where EVERYONE thought they would be, while Alabama's only loss was to #1 LSU. I mean come on, did anyone really thing this was going to be a good game? Arkansas got hammered by Alabama, while the Hogs dominated Auburn. So it just wasn't going to be an instant classic. Alabama completely controlled the entire game. Auburn's only scores were a fumble recovery in the end zone, and an 83 yard kickoff return for a td. It's pretty clear now Bama has special teams problems don't you think? Trent Richardson rushed for 203 yards right into the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Final score 42-14, Alabama.

Speaking of the Heisman.

Andrew Luck had a ho hummer of a day with 233 yards and 4 td's hosting Notre Dame. Stanford is 11-1 to finish the regular season for the second year in a row, and primed for a second straight BCS appearance as well. This was a team that went 1-11 five years ago, nice turnaround. They are a nationally relevant program now, and look to be in good shape. But of course we'll see how much of that was Luck(pun intended). Andrew is off to the NFL next year, so it's up to Stanford to reload like all the other good teams do. Granted they won't be 11-1 again, but if they want to be taken seriously as a program, they need to sustain it without Luck. Just as Notre Dame does, who seems to be in good hands as well with head coach Brian Kelly. Final score 28-14, Stanford.

Speaking of ho-hum.

A not so impressive day for the Sooners going into Bedlam week. I know Iowa State was fresh off the upset of a century for them after beating Oklahoma State, but they're still Iowa State. The effects of no Ryan Broyles is starting to set in, as OU cannot score in the red zone at all anymore. I don't see how a team with this much skill on offense has to resort to the Bell-dozer to score on goal to go situations. In case you don't know what the Bell-dozer is, it's when they send backup QB Blake Bell in to run the read option while he keeps it himself every time and gains one yard. Luckily when they put him in they only need one yard for a first down or touchdown. When that doesn't work, they resort to Landry Jones throwing a fade pass to the corner of the end zone for an incompletion, then try to run it normally with a running back, only to get stuffed. Good strategy. Case in point, 509 total yards on offense, two touchdowns, four field goals. If they want to continue Mike Gundy's OU-fer at Okie State, they can't do that. At least they took care of business against the Cyclones, however lackluster it was. Final score 26-6, Oklahoma.

Funnier every week.

Texas Tech STILL has not won a game since beating OU over a month ago. I swear they thought the season ended that day. Not only have they lost, they have been dismantled in all but one game. They lost 41-7 to Iowa State, 52-20 to Texas, 66-6 to Okie State, 31-27 to Missouri, and last week got run out of the stadium 66-42 to Baylor. I mean, what in the world happened? They couldn't even win one? Come on.

Breaking news.

I'm a genius. If anyone wants to refer back a few weeks ago where I said first year head coach Luke Fickell at Ohio State wouldn't last more than one year, go ahead and confirm it for me. Oh what's that, he didn't even last the whole year before they hired Urban Meyer to take over for next season? Oh yeah, they did. It wasn't Fickell's fault, he walked into a bad situation after Jim Tressell left the program in complete shambles. They're best players didn't play most of the year, and they had to turn to a true freshman QB who wasn't ready. All of that was before they had to play their biggest rival in Michigan last week. The Wolverines were looking for big things for the first time in a while. A 10 win season, a big time bowl bid, and a return to glory. they  just had to get past the Buckeyes who they had lost to every year since '03. And while that freshman QB for Ohio State Braxton Miller played his head off, throwing for 235 yards and two scores, and also rushed for 100 and a td, it wasn't quite enough. Michigan QB Denard Robinson had 337 total yards of his own with five touchdowns. A great game that Michigan almost found a way to lose. They had to intercept Miller's last ditch effort with just seconds remaining to pull it out. Michigan better enjoy this one, because the Meyer train is coming in Columbus. Final score 40-34, Michigan.

It was Rivalry Week, but unfortunately, there wasn't much to talk about other than the ones already mentioned.

Here is what happened in some of the biggest "rivalries."

Mississippi State over Ole Miss, 31-3.

Florida State over Florida, 21-7.

USC over UCLA, 50-0.

Oregon over Oregon State, 49-21.

Georgia over Georgia Tech, 31-17.

South Carolina over Clemson, 34-13.

At least Kentucky beat Tennessee for the first time in 27 years! Yes, 27 years.

Until next time. As I leave you this week, it is with sadness that I say this will be my last college football post. It is time for me to end this endeavor at this time. I feel it is a good time to move on and see what else is out there. As Tiger Woods said when he fired his long time caddie Steve Williams, "it just feels like it's time for a change." I feel I have done my duty on this blog network, and  hope I have given those of you who may not enjoy the game as much as I do, a little better understanding. Ultimately I hope you have enjoyed reading these posts, as much as I have enjoyed writing them. If I have been able to inject a little passion and knowledge into your college football life, then I have done my job. I thank you all for the kind words you have given me these last three years, and most of all I thank you for taking the time to read. I love you all, and GO HOGS!