Our Week Eleven contest features two bowl-bound ACC teams who took different directions last week, but both may show up a little hot under the collar. If Louisville (6-3, 3-3), off a 34-10 victory over James Madison we attended last Saturday, can carry over a little of the anger from that game, they can possibly negate the anger Clemson (8-1, 6-0) brings back from its loss at Notre Dame. Tiger HC Dabo Swinney will stir that pot all week. The No. 10 Tigers come home for the first of three final home games as seven-point favorites. Prior to their first loss last week, they struggled to win prior games against Florida State and Syracuse.
Momentum in Louisville’s favor?
The Cardinals have ripped off four straight wins. Aside from their opening loss to Syracuse, they’ve been in every game since. They have a well-balance passing attack and running game with Malik Cunningham at QB. Their defense shut down a very proficient JMU attack last week. They have allowed 14.4 ppg in their last four. HC Scott Satterfield started the season in a hot seat hand has remedied his team back to bowl eligibility.
With Clemson followed by NC State and archrival Kentucky, his team seems ready to make a statement here. It could start with the Tigers who seem off-balance at times. The crowd will be behind the Tigers, but they had issues before with NC State and Syracuse at Clemson Memorial. If the Cards can get a lead into the second half, they may be able to fend off Clemson in an upset. Collegefootballfan.com looks forward to our first game ever at Clemson.
Is anyone excited about “opt-out” (formerly known as Bowl) season?
An on-line heading on PSU’s “Nittany Lions Wire” this week read, ”Win over Indiana boosts NFL draft stock for Penn State prospects.” Should Nittany Lion fans, or any other college football fans actually be excited about this? We at collegefootballfan.com dread this. No fan of any college football team supplanting “Penn State” in the title should find favor with this. What we read here is that the half dozen players feature in the article will be on hand to play in the final three regular season games. A 10-2 record would be great here, but if achieved, most likely, these players won’t stick around for a game they consider “meaningless”.
There should be no “I” in team, but there is in “tennis”
To fellow teammates who played to get to this level and the fans who cheered them on (and paid for tickets, parking, travel, concessions, etc.) to get to a great bowl, this comes as the reward to the entire school community. Instead, all these guys will be looking into their future and only seeing this game as a potential risk to their health. After all the hard work and team work, all of a sudden, these guys won’t be there. The coaching staff will sub with generally inexperienced players. The team they field in a bowl game does not represent the talent they relied on all season to get to this goal. Solution? Besides taking up tennis instead, a true individual sport.
Answer: Expand CFP invitations
Like the FCS, expand the playoffs to 24 teams. All others can play in bowl games if they want to continue those traditions, but let’s get a system where players aren’t going to opt-out. Now, most of these bowls are now totally meaningless to them. With expansion which should happen sooner rather than later, at least all these players have chance to play for the national championship. Will there still be op-outs? Probably, but if these players came to this school just to play pro ball, well? Another solution we suggest here is let the pros pick the best out of high school and let the pros develop them at their expense.
Answer No. 3: Grow up – fast!
If they are that good, skip college. It’s coming down to that. The NFL puts all the risk on the colleges to develop their future product. Let them draft the best right after high school graduation among the kids who have played college ball for three years. Scholarships should become contracts, especially with the NIL money now. You don’t play, you don’t get paid. That contract should state a player gets paid, but he has to remain a member of the team. It’s more complicated that this of course, but they’ve got to negate the sole draw of money somewhere in this entire scenario. Individuals need to be accountable to others throughout life.
You want to earn a living? A player has to play. We’re not talking lunch money any more. These student-athletes are making more while supposedly going to college which most of their families never envisioned. If they want to be paid like adults, start making commitments as adults.
Georgia defense dominates, QB stays steadfast and true
Watching Georgia’s defense last week on TV impressed us, especially against explosive Volunteer QB Herndon Hooker. We look forward to seeing the Dawgs in person when we see them play Kentucky and QB Will Levis in Lexington on November 19. They’re second in the nation in ppg allowing only 10.8. Equally impressive is QB Stetson Bennet’s game management. He does what he needs to do to assure his Bulldogs win. However, since his defense can hold just about anybody down, he doesn’t get challenged too often to turn things up when needed to display skills of urgency.
Last season, he showed his worth in the CFP final in the 33-18 victory over Alabama. His stats don’t compare numerically to Heisman candidates CJ Stroud of Ohio State and Hendon Hooker of Tennessee. However, he’s 13th overall in yards per pass and has only thrown three INTs and been sacked seven times. These past two season, the UGA offense averages 39.5 ppg under him. He does what it takes to get the win.
Too bad the Heisman selection comes before all the bowl results. If Georgia repeats as champs, we would envision the former walk-on’s game management skills along with his 29-1 record in consideration for the Heisman. Granted, his team counters with a great defense to keep his opponents in check. However, he’s accomplished much including performances that allowed him to beat out other top QBs thought to be better than him. He didn’t transfer. He shows great inspiration as a leader, as a competitor, and as a teammate for college football to display what college football should be all about.
D-3 playoff selection show this Sunday
Thirty-two D-3 schools will be selected this Sunday for the 49th annual tournament with the final game, The Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, to be played on Friday, December 16 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. In the past, we’ve referred to this as the “Mount Union Invitational Tournament” as the Purple Raiders won 13 titles since 1993. Not to take anything away from Wisconsin-Whitewater who also took the title six times under current Kansas HC Lance Leipold, but all six Warhawk wins came over Mount Union.
Week Eleven is the final week of Division III play with some interesting games. Ithaca and Cortland will both be 9-0 coming into their season finale known traditionally as the Cortaca Bowl in upstate NY. In the last six years, finals were played among Mount Union, current No. 1 North Central (ILL) who took the title in 2019 over Whitewater, and Mary Hardin-Baylor of Texas. MH-B took the title in 2021 and 2018 respectively over North Central and Mount Union. No championship took place in 2020 due to Covid.
All games will start on Week Twelve and the full tournament will be played weekly until the championship game on December 16th. Heading into Week Eleven, the six top rated D-3 programs in the six designated regions include: Delaware Valley (8-0) of Doylestown, PA; Carnegie Mellon (9-0) of Pittsburgh; Belhaven (7-1) in Jackson, MS; Albion (8-0) of Michigan; Aurora (7-1) of Illinois; and Bethel (7-1) of Minnesota. Too bad the FBS can’t opt out of their bowl structure and determine a playoff format like this one.
D-2 Playoff selections this Sunday, too!
Week Eleven also closes the final Week of the D-2 regular season. Recent upsets have started the wheels churning to determine the final 24 teams. The D-2 playoffs like the D-3 series, are all held at the home of the higher seed until the Final which will be hosted at McKinney ISD Stadium in McKinney, Texas on Saturday, December 17. With 24 seeds, unlike D-3, the four top seeds receive byes. The Division is divided into four Super Regions. Each super region consists of four conferences making this rating system very pragmatic. Going into Week 11, these four teams rank first in their respective Super regions: Shepherd (9-0) of West Virginia though in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference now; Benedict of Columbia, SC; Grand Valley State (10-0) of Michigan where Brian Kelly of LSU got his head coaching start; and Angelo State (10-0) of Texas.
The FCS plays its final regular season in Week 12. Its playoff schedule will be announced on November 20. The FCS Championship is held in Frisco, Texas. More information on this next week.
Review of Week Ten and Preview of Week Eleven among our top teams
Of course, heading into Week Eleven, the Top 25 upsets changed the rankings. More to come for sure. No. 1 Georgia looked solid defeating Tennessee last week, of course, 27-13. They’re at Mississippi State (6-3) this week. No. 2 Ohio State (9-0) got by Northwestern, 21-7. No concern though. In high winds and on a sloppy field, the 1-8 Wildcats are “mudders”. Penn State beat them in similar conditions, 17-7. Speaking of the No. 14 Nittany Lions (7-2), they beat Indiana, 45-14, and return home to take on Maryland (6-3) in a Big Ten East clash.
Bama (7-2) dropped to No. 10 after losing in OT to LSU, 32-31. This week Nick Saban visits his former OC Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss (8-1) ranked at No. 11. Another nail-biter in the SEC West? Clemson’s at No. 12 with Louisville and us for this “mad” weekend. Texas at No. 18 comes home off a 34-27 win over Kansas State, 34-27, to host now No. 4 TCU (9-0). Longhorns face Baylor (6-3) when we see them collide on Friday after Thanksgiving. The Bears host K-State and TCU before Austin. Things could be either interesting or all finished in the Big Twelve when we see them meet.
Other teams in Week Eleven action on our 2022 slate
Air Force defeated Army (3-5), 13-7, to win the 2022 Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy. Navy (3-6) lost to Cincinnati, 20-10. With Notre Dame and UCF up next for the Mids, they will bring in a lot of pent-up energy when they meet Army in Philly on December 10. Houston (5-4) of the American Athletic put up 63 points vs. SMU, but the Ponies put up 77 combining for the most points ever in a non-OT FBS, final score. Purdue could not generate enough offense, but Iowa did in their 24-3 victory over the Boilers. No. 21 Illinois (7-2) awaits the Boilermakers’ visit for Week Eleven.
SEC fodder
Kentucky (6-3) eked out against Mizzou, 21-17, with doormat SEC Vandy (3-6) looming next before their visit from No. 1 Georgia. South Carolina (6-3) did the Dores in, 38-27. So much for VU HC Clark Lea’s brash talk about a national championship soon. Auburn (3-6) put points on the board once again in their 39-33 loss to Mississippi State (6-3). They might match up well this week with disappointing Texas A&M, also 3-6. Aggies seem to be considering time to look for Jimbo Fisher’s replacement soon.
Wake Forest (6-3) fell to NC State, 30-21, a week after a 48-21 loss at Louisville. Demon Deac alum/fan, “Bugalug” Harton, reports that QB Sam Hartman has to start throwing the ball to his own receivers. He’s thrown three INTs in each of those last two games. Week Eleven gets no easier when No. 15 North Carolina (8-1) comes calling. Like Clemson, their lone loss is to ACC “killer of dreams”, Notre Dame.
Belt it out!
Troy, now attracting votes at 7-2, defeated Louisiana in a Sun belt contest 23-17. They welcome Army at home this Saturday. The Trojans two losses came against at No. 11 Ole Miss and in a last second, “Hail Mary” pass at Appalachian State. In other Sun Belt action, Texas State 3-6 fell to UL Monroe (3-6). 31-30. The loss may have sealed the fate of Bobcat HC Jake Spavital. Next, the Bobcats head to South Alabama (7-2). We see them host Louisiana in their final game on Saturday, November 26.
C-USA follies
Regretfully, maybe popular HC Rick Stockstill at Middle Tennessee has concerns as the Blue Raiders (4-5) fell to Louisiana Tech (3-6), 40-24. He can possibly get his team to .500 starting with 2-7 Charlotte in Week Eleven followed by two 4-5 teams, FAU and FIU, all in Conference-USA play. MTSU’s rival, Western Kentucky (6-4) plastered Charlotte last Saturday, 59-7. They look to fry Rice (5-4) this weekend in their final home game of 2022.
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