Random Thoughts: The Beauty Contest Gets Ugly; Bama Rolls

As we get deep into October, it is time for the playoff hopefuls to polish their resumes - especially those with sad cupcake schedules. There is no place for struggle wins over one-win teams.

FRAUDS

Oklahoma 35 Kansas 23 - The Sooners came into this game as a 38½ point favorite and trailed this godawful KU team 10-0 at halftime with four 1st downs - and this is with Spencer Rattler cozying up with a good book on the bench. God’s latest gift to the world wasn’t getting anything done. Caleb Williams was sacked on 3rd & 5 in his first series, threw a pick in the second, and stalled out at the KU 33 in the third possession. OU got it going in the second half, but could not put the Jayhawks away until late in the game. For this piss-poor Okie effort, the pollsters dropped the Dirt Burglars down to #4 in both polls. More on the ridiculous one-sided TV coverage of Caleb William in KRAZY KRISTI’s section below.

Cincinnati 27 Navy 20 - Cincy is supposed to be kicking everyone’s arses because of their lame schedule but struggled against this 29-point underdog one-win team. And it wasn’t just because the Middies run the triple option. Bearcats QB Desmond Ridder sucked (18-30, 176 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT, 5 RUSH, 6 YDS). Cincy had 95 total rushing yards. They committed 11 penalties and had four 3-and-outs. The Naval Academy made it a one score game late and recovered an onsides kick with 48 seconds left but the have no passing game to complete a comeback that they needed. Even with this outcome, UC remained at #2. This is NOT a top 4 team.

STRONG

Alabama 52 15essee 24 - It’s fifteen in a row for the Tide over the Garbage Man Convention. Bama had some blown coverages, allowed a blocked punt, roughed a punter, and fumbled in the red zone. These mistakes and others allowed Tennessee to keep it close for a long while. Bryce Young took over the game late in the third quarter and turned it into a rout. In the end, Alabama outgained the Vols 574 to 346 and had 33 first downs to UT’s 10. Tennessee came into the weekend fifth in the nation in rushing. After gaining only 64 yards on the ground against Alabama, they exit TSIO with the fifteenth largest average.

It’s funny how the press tried to feed us the concept that this game wasn’t a rivalry anymore. Would a non-rivaly have a celebration like what we saw Saturday night (see video above)? We here at RBR have done our best to keep alive the stories of our elders. There are so many reasons to despise that “orange that that you can’t sit with.” Mainly it is the backstabbing snitch Fat F*** Phil Fulmer who tried to take down the Tide with his backroom handshakes with the NCAA that backfired in the long run. It is also Peyton Manning directing the band playing “Rocky Top” (which they stole from UTC btw) at Legion Field. I know you all adore him now, but never forget he is still one of them.

SEC

Ole Miss 31 LSU 17 - Kiffin memed with a side eye to the cameras. O mumbled about something. Tigers quit. Maybe LSU should just join the Big 12. They sure tackle like a Big 12 team. Tigers QB Max Johnson was plain awful, completing 13 of 21 for 146 yards with 0 TD, 1 INT, and lost two of three fumbles. He was politely led to the bench with a snuggie and a hot cup of cocoa while Garrett Nussmeier took over. Matt Corral was okay for OM. It was more the running game which made the difference tallying 266 yards with three scores.

[SIDE NOTE: It was Eli Manning Day in Oxford and they actually retired the former Rebs QB’s number. Can you imagine if Alabama retired all the numbers of worthy players? Everybody would have to swap around wearing 43, 59, and 91. Manning’s win-loss record was 7-4, 7-6, and 10-3 in his three seasons as starting signal caller for OM. Is that really worth retiring a number over? AJ McCarron had a better college career.]

Texas A&M 44 South Carolina 14 - Ainais Smith had a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown and Jalen Wydermyer added two TD catches. Devon Achane and Isaiah Spiller both went over 100 yards rushing for the Aggs. Stephen Garcia 2.0 was back to his mediocrity (12-24, 187 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT). Zach Calzada has had two games with over 200 yards passing: New Mexico (275) and Alabama (285). Those two games are also the only ones in which he had three passing TDs. To tell you what kind of day SC had, they had five fumbles. They only lost one but five is a lot. They punted seven times. Zeb Noland might just go back to coaching full time after the beating he took.

SEC YUCK

Arkansas 45 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 3 - About what you’d expect.

Mississippi State 45 Vanderbilt 6 - Clanga avoided a hangover letdown but only had 61 rushing yards. Vandy had 155 total yards and five first downs. In the post-game on-field presser, Mike Leach rambled on for several minutes about what Halloween candy he likes. Take Kentucky no matter the spread.

HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN

Pitt 27 Clemson 17 - The Panthers put up 464 yards and 26 first downs on CU. Kenny Pickett threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns D.J. Uiagalelei was atrocious passing 12-25 for 128 yards, 2 INT, one pick-6, and no scores. He was benched for Taisun Phommachanh but that dude was not much better (3 for 7, 23 yds). Dabo’s Pizza Party Cult (4-3) is now 115th in the nation in scoring with an average of 20.0 ppg.

OTHER STUFF

Oregon 34 UCLA 31 - The Bruins jumped out to a 14 point lead in the first quarter. The Dux would outscore UCLA 34-3 but LaLaLand was not done yet. QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson would lead the Bruins to two straight touchdowns. UCLA had one last drive in the them but Thompson-Robinson was injured and the back-up QB threw a pick to end the game.

STUPIDEST GAME OF THE WEEK

Illinois 20 Penn State 18 (9 OT) - Every week there is one: the classic slog that is Big Ten football. This one was the most Big Ten of all. It was 10-10 after regulation, followed by two overtime field goals each. In the third extra frame (each team has to go for two point conversions), both teams dropped passes that would have been easy scores. The fourth and fifth OTs went by with no conversion as well. Two more scoreless overtimes went by until finally in the eighth the Illini scores... and then so do the Nittany Lions. But in the ninth inning, Illinois gets the walk-off win by converting with the back-up quarterback while the Lions failed to score. Ridiculous.

UNDEFEATED NO MORE

Appalachian State 30 Coastal Carolina 27 - The Appy stadium seats only 31,061 but boy did they give their Mountaineers a home field advantage. ASU kicked a 24-yard field goal as time expired for the upset. CCU fell to 6-1.

Iowa State 24 Oklahoma State 21 - If you are a regular reader of “Random Thoughts” (I thank you), you may recall earlier in the season, I mentioned that the Cyclones will always lose a game or two that they shouldn’t and then they will blow some team’s season up. Because they are ISU. That is what they do. The two-loss ‘Clones were actually the favorite in this game. Brock Purdy had one of those kinds of games (27-33, 307 YDS, 2 TD) that gets the hearts of the talking heads all aflutter. More often than not, he has been pretty blah.

After the win, of course the stupid fans rushed the field. Um, guys. You were the favorite.

SUCKER PUNCH OF THE WEEK

Houston vs ECU.

UGLIEST UNIFORMS

Did Phil Knight make the team paint his house before he’d write his next check?

LAMEST THROWBACK UNIFORMS

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

PSU made a rare and unpopular decision to wear so-called “throwbacks” but all it was was their usual unis with numbers on the helmets and a blue stripe on the pants. How did that work out for you, Litany Nylons? I doubt we’ll ever see those again.

TROLL OF THE WEEK

Is it any shock that it is Lane Kiffin? For the uninformed when LSU traveled to Los Angeles earlier this season, Ed Orgeron got into a very public smack talk with a Bruins fan and he called the UCLA jerseys “sissy blue”. It is part of the reason Cajun Chizik is out after the season.

FUNNIEST NERDIEST TWEET OF THE WEEK

MOST CONFUSED FAN OF THE WEEK

It goes on your foot, son.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS FIXED

Miami improbably upsets NC State 31-30.

WORST TRICKERATION OF THE WEEK

Army should never pass ever.

CLUSTERF*** GAME ENDING OF THE WEEK

Were you just cringing like I was?

CLUSTERF*** FIRST HALF ENDING OF THE WEEK

STUPIDEST FLAG THROW OF THE WEEK

Remember that little mid-play handshake Sparty did a couple of weeks ago? That wasn’t all that bad but it was worse than this. What was it? Maybe half of a high-step with no opposing player anywhere close by? Ridiculous call. Fortunately for ISU, they would score a few plays later.

KID BROTHER

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

Taulia Tagovailoa (17-27, 189 YDS, 1 TD, lost fumble) and Mike Locksley (three straight losses) had another rough day as the Terps lost to Minnesota 34-16. The Turtles (4-3) have Indy, PSU, @Sparty, Mich, and @Rutgers remaining. Yikes.

NAMES OF THE WEEK

UTSA running back Sincere McCormick. Don’t you love babies with adjectives for a first name?

STATS OF THE WEEK

• PSU-Illin’ was the first game to go eight or nine overtimes. @Great rule, fellas. That’ll end game faster.@
• Alabama was an astounding 15 of 20 in third down efficiency. The Tide had 43 pass attempts and 49 rushes. UT was at 28 and 26. Bama won the clock as well: 40:26 to 19:34.
• LaLaLaffy RB Chris Smith had 24 carries for 238 yards in a win over Arky State. That is a 9.9 ypc average.
• Vanderbilt gained 9 yards in 17 attempts against MSU. That comes to just over a half yard per carry average.

COLLEGE GAMEDAY

GameDay will be in East Lansing this Saturday for Sparty-Michigan.

ADOPT-A-TEAM

• UTSA (8-0) The Roadrunners keep on rolling, dumping Louisiana Tech 45-16. It’s a week off for the San Antones before a big clash with UTEP (6-1). Winner takes the lead in the C-USA West.
• UCLA (5-3) - The Bruins had the College GameDay crew in town but could not upset Oregon. It doesn’t get too much easier for LaLaLand with a road trip to Utah.
• UT-Martin (6-1) - The Skyhawks beat SE Missouri State 38-30. Austin Peay is next (no, not Austin Pee. That’s Texas).

COUSINS

• Troy (4-3) - The Trojans had a week off to rest up for a trek to Coastal Carolina this Thursday.
• South Alabama (4-3) - I told ya this one would be tough. The Jags fell to improved ULM 41-31 after blowing a 31-24 lead. Terry Bowden can still coach a little. Butch Jones and Arkansas State come to Mobile.

THAT ANNOYING GUY WHO TALKS REAL LOUD ON HIS CELL PHONE WHILE IN LINE RIGHT BEHIND YOU

• UAB (5-3) - Oh my goodness. We’ve got ourselves a natural disaster. The Dragons were upset at home by lowly Rice 30-24 on UAB’s Homecoming. The Owls were a 24-point underdog. A win would have made Bham U bowl eligible and kept them in a tie for first in the C-USA West Division.

SALUTE TO OUR TROOPS

Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

Wake up early for a BIG Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy game that plays next Saturday (Nov. 6) with Army traveling to Air Force at 10:30/11:30am on CBS. The Falcons have already defeated Navy. With a win, AFA clinches the CICT.

• Army (4-3) - The Black Knights had a shootout with undefeated Wake Forest but fell 70-56. Army has a week off.
• Navy (1-6) - The Midshipmen lost 27-20 but may have just ruined Cincy’s hope for a CFP invite. Next for Navy is a trip to Tulsa.
• Air Force (6-2) - The Falcons dropped a tough one to San Diego Maradona State 20-14. A week off before the big one with Army.

COMMANDER-IN-CHUMPS TROPHY

Four weeks until a champion is crowned.

9/2/21 Tennessee 38 Bowling Green 6
9/11/21 South Alabama 22 Bowling Green 19
11/20/21 South Alabama at Tennessee - Championship!

ELIMINATED FROM PLAYOFF CONTENTION

Premature elimination: Wake Forest soon...

Definite elimination: Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville, FSU, NC State, Syracuse, Clemson, UNC, Virginia, Pitt, Boston College, Miami, Virginia Tech, Kansas, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Kansas State, TCU, West Virginia, Texas Tech, Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, Rutgers, Minnie, Wisky, Purdue, Maryland, Iowa, Cal, Oregon State, Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, Colorado, Southern Cal, Utah, UCLA, Washington State, Washington, Mizzou, Vandy, Tennessee, South Carolina, Missy State, LSU, Texas A&M, Arky, Kentucky, Auburn, Florida, BYU. NEW: Oklahoma State, Penn State.

Endangered: Ohio State, Baylor, Oregon, Ole Miss, Alabama, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Cincy NEW: n/a

Premature endangered: Michigan State soon...

A way WAY WAY too early look at the College Football Playoff (CFP) picture:

• ACC - Wake Forest (7-0) is putting off the inevitable loss to Ole Miss in the Gator Bowl. Remaining schedule: vs DUKE, @ UNC, vs NCST, @ CLEM, @ BC. They could win ‘em all or lose as many as three. We’ll see...
• Big 12 - Oklahoma beat up historically bad Kansas and doubts have creeped in. Okie Lite is dead unless they beat the Sooners twice. Ain’t gonna happen.

• Big Ten - It is time to thin this herd. PSU is done for but they can play spoiler. [SIDE NOTE: Minnesota is now 3-1 in the conference and could actually win the B1G West.]
• PAC-12 - Oregon still has an outside shot.
• SEC - UGA had a bye week. Alabama is still in the hunt as long as they keep winning. Ole Miss could have a chance.
• Indies - Can the Irish sneak in the back door? That would be tragic.
• Non-Power 5 - Cincinnati beat Navy. By 7. Whoop-dee-doo.

RANK ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM

Somebody explain to me how Oklahoma can win on the road by 12 to a terrible one-win team and drop in the polls while Cincinnati won on the road by 7 to a terrible one-win team and stay at #2. Imma hang up and listen.

AP Poll Top 8:

1. Georgia
2. Cincinnati
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. Michigan
7. Oregon
8. Michigan State

All Gump aside, here are my top four:

1. Georgia
2. Ohio State
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma

** Give us your top 4 or top 6 or top whatevs in comments. **

We are ONE short week away from the first CFP Committee rankings on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021.

LET’S GO BOWLING!

• 13 new teams picked up their sixth win this past weekend. They are Houston, Pitt, UVa, anOSU, Notre Dame, BYU, Liberty, NIU, AFA, Oregon, OM, TAMU, ULL.
• 30 teams are now eligible for one of 41 bowl games.
• 16 teams are one win away from six including Aub and Arky.

LET’S GO BLOWING!

• If you are going to lose, do so with style. How appropriate is it that the team in Vegas has a sideline prop that is all flashy and makes crazy noises but in the end never pays off?
• The Triple Golden Sombrero, signifying an imperfect 0-12 season, is still alive! Both Arizona and UNLV blew 14 point fourth quarter leads and both fell to 0-7.
• Joining Vegas, Zona and Connie as bowl eliminated teams with seven losses are Ohio (no wonder Frank Solich retired) and New Mexico State (coming to a stadium near you!).

Krazy Kristi’s “SHUT UP!” of the Week goes to the slobbering press going all gaga over Caleb Williams. Even before the Kansas debacle, there were idiots on TV who were campaigning for the Oklahoma quarterback to be a Heisman candidate. A few of them called him the LEADER. After six quarters of play. Some of these bozos cite the reason for his candidacy based on Vegas casinos putting odds on him. Don’t they understand how this works? Vegas doesn’t think he’s going to win it. They just want naive Sooners fans to plunk down their hard earned money on it, so they can buy another solid gold toilet seat for their dog’s pool house’s guest bathroom.

Kirk Herbstreit announced that Williams will be the “face of college football” for the next three years.

After beating mighty Kansas this week, there were words like “magical, “precocious”, “outstanding”, and “heroic” being tossed around. A particular four-letter network claimed Williams “rescued” the Sooners on Saturday. Is it really a rescue if he is the one who steered the ship into the rocks to begin with?

KK FOLLOW UP: Have you noticed that the zebras have chilled the F out on targeting calls as of late? Keep up the good work, people!

HEISMAN HYPE

Most years, the Heisman Trophy voting is basically a hype award. Often times voters fall in love with someone and refuse to REALLY look at what a player has accomplished. Of course there are exceptions.

WHO WILL WIN

CLARIFICATION: This section is not who deserves to win. It is who the press has been hyping.

LEADER

• QB Bryce Young (Soph, Alabama) 9 CAR, 81 YDS, 2 TD, 10 RUSH, 42 YDS, 2 TD - Made a big impression in prime time but the flapping gums aren’t gushing over him like they should.

POTENTIAL CONTENDERS

• QB CJ Stroud (Soph, anOSU) 21-28, 266 YDS, 4 TD - Putting up big numbers but the media is waiting for November.
• QB Kenny Pickett (Super-Sr, Pitt) 25-39, 302 YDS, 2 TD - He is getting the love, but it’s Pitt and it’s the ACC.

NOT OUT

• QB Matt Corral (RS-Jr, Ole Miss) 18-23, 185 YDS, 1 TD, 12 RUSH, 24 YDS, 1 TD - Not great numbers but Kiffin is stumping for his QB and he did EXACTLY what I said he would: pretend like Corral was hurt and then he plays and Kiffin would call him a “Warrior”. All of that happened.

FADING

• QB Desmond Ridder (Sr, Cincinnati) 18-30, 176 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT, 5 RUSH, 6 YDS - Blah numbers with a blah win.

TOKEN RUNNING BACK WHO WON’T WIN

• Kenneth Walker (Jr, Michigan State) Bye week DNP - Back by popular demand: Sparty STILL ain’t played no one, PAAAWWWLLL! (no sarcasm)
• Bijan Robinson (Soph, Texas) Bye week DNP - Famous 4th quarter disappearing act.
• TreVeyon Henderson (Fr, anOSU) 9 CAR, 81 YDS, 2 TD - please.

WHO SHOULD WIN

CLARIFICATION: This section IS for who deserves to win it.

I know many of you have been saying that Will Anderson should be in the running. Don’t get me wrong. I love the guy and think he is an outstanding player at his position. But... He hasn’t caused or recovered a fumble. No interceptions and only one pass break-up. In addition, he didn’t do much in Alabama’s loss to TAMU. He is valuable to this team but he isn’t on the level of the most important man on the team.

Speaking of... Young had another big game and has looked the best for the full season.

Stroud is on a three game roll but the competition has been meh. We’ll see what he can do down the stretch.

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

THE SICK REPORT

• Washington’s Alex Cook (above) was carted off the field after suffering an injury against the Arizona. There was a ten minute stoppage of play as medical teams tended to him. Fortunately, he is in concussion protocol and the prognosis is good. It was a freak accident. The Huskies safety went low on a runner and upon contact went straight to the ground. It just goes to show, the NCAA can make all the rules they want. Football will always be a dangerous sport.
• Georgia RB Kendall Milton suffered an injured MCL at practice last week and is out indefinitely. He is the Dawgs’ third leading rusher with 243 yards and a score.
• With Michael Penix out against Ohio State, Indiana started Jack Tuttle but he was knocked out of the game. The Hoosiers went to backup Donaven McCulley but he was so bad (1 for 6) that they went to their fourth stringer Grant Gremel. This is why teams need to sign at least one quarterback ever recruiting cycle. BTW, Alabama’s fourth QB would be a walk-on.
• South Carolina QB Luke Doty hurt his foot and is out for season.
• Miami’s best defender Bubba Bolden is done for 2021 due to a bad shoulder. It’s probably because the targeting rules make him lead with his shoulder on 200 pound running backs.

REALIGNMENT FEVER!

Six Conference-USA schools - FAU!, Charlotte, North Texas, UTSA, UAB, and Rice have accepted invitations to join the American Athletic Conference. The AAC recently lost Cincinnati, UCF, and Houston to the Big 12. This maneuver brings the conference to 14 teams in football and basketball. No date has been set for the schools to make the move, but word is that the earliest they could join would be the 2023-24 season.

The choices seem rather random. Rice is an exceptionally odd one, unless the AAC foolishly thinks the Owls capture any significant piece of Houston eyeballs to TV sets. The same could be said for North Texas which is located in the Dallas suburbs.

The Sun Belt Conference got sloppy seconds, picking up Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss. The SBC will also be adding FCS power James Madison who will transition to FBS. These programs hope to join their new conference mates in 2023 bringing their numbers up to 14.

The mad scramble leaves the C-USA in shambles down to five member schools. The teams left behind are FIU, Louisiana Tech, MTSU, UTEP, and Western Kentucky. What is to become of them? Why were solid programs such as WKU, LaTech, and UTEP passed over for losing machines Rice and Old D?

DRAMA

• Drama Queen of the Week goes to Bob Bowlsby. The Big 12 Commissioner whined to the press that he considers Texas and Oklahoma’s departure for the SEC a “personal betrayal”. What a dick. This guy sucks at his job and wants to play for sympathy by being the victim. How 2021.
• Jeremy Pruitt has lawyered the F up and is going scorched earth on Tennessee. Stock up on popcorn because this is going to be good. If you have the misfortune of having a Vols fan for a neighbor/co-worker/in-law who whines about Pruitt, remind them that this is ALL because of their sainted false idol Fat F*** Phillip Fulmer.

• It’s so sad. The corndogs really think that Lincoln Riley would leave Okie for LSU. If he ever leaves Norman, it’s going to be for the NFL.

KOACHES KORNER

• The guys on the SEC Network have made a good point about Ed Orgeron: Why is he still coaching this team? Why is a lame duck coach still recruiting and continuing to be the face of the program? According to the separation agreement, O is required to appear at a public event at least once a year for the next four years at the request of LSU. WHY would you want this embodiment of crash and burn to maintain a presence in Baton Rouge? This part of the deal only benefits Orgeron’s ego. There is nothing he would love better than to schmooze around with boosters telling stories about 2019 while ogling their teenage daughters. Is it possible that O knows where the skeletons are buried and he used that to his advantage?
• Texas Tech has fired coach Matt Wells after two-plus seasons. He was 4-8 and 4-6 in his first two campaigns. He had improved to 5-3 this year but has yet to play Okie, ISU, Okie Lite, or Baylor. Smells like 5-7 for the Red Raiders. Could Bill O’Brien be a candidate in Lubbock?
• The Jacksonville Jaguars had the weekend off. That gave Urban Meyer time to get back to one of his favorite relaxation exercises of drowning kittens in the toilet.
• Fat F*** Phillip Fulmer has a new hero.

TEEVEE

Kentucky-Georgia averaged a 3.65 rating and 6.37 million viewers on the SEC on CBS Saturday afternoon, comfortably ranking as the most-watched game of week seven.

Ranking a distant second for the weekend, Alabama-Mississippi State drew a 2.0 and 3.53 million on ESPN Saturday evening, but ranking third for the season on cable. ESPN previously drew 3.85 million for Arkansas-Georgia and 3.79 million for Auburn-LSU on October 2.

In third-place, ABC drew a 2.0 and 3.45 million for Purdue’s upset of Iowa. The fourth spot with a 1.9 and 3.43 million went to TCU-Oklahoma. FOX drew a 1.85 and 3.13 million for Oklahoma State-Texas in its Big Noon window. haha

THIS WEEK

(Below is an abbreviated list of highlighted games of interest. If you REALLY need to know about the big UMass-Liberty showdown, you can find the details here.)

Thursday, October 28

IMG Academy at Auburn HS 6pm/7pm - If you have the misfortune of being stuck in Lee County on Friday, check out Bama commits Tyler Booker and Jaleel Skinner.
Troy at Coastal Carolina 6:30/7:30 ESPN2 - CCU coming off an upset loss.
USF at East Carolina 6:30/7:30 ESPN - ECU (3-4) has a shot at a bowl if they win this one.

Friday, October 29

Navy at Tulsa 6:30/7:30 ESPN2 - Two teams that need a picker upper.
UNLV at Nevada 9pm/10pm CBSSN - I bet this game sucks. Get it? “Bet”?

Saturday, October 30

THE TIME OF BIG TEN RECKONING IS AT HAND

* Michigan at Michigan State 11am/noon FOX - Two teams enter. One team leaves.

* Penn State at Ohio State 6:30/7:30 ABC - Come oooon, spoiler.

SEC

It’s another round of SEC bye weeks. Thus, only four conference games this week.

Missouri at Vanderbilt 2pm/3pm SECN - ugh
Georgia at Florida 2:30/3:30 CBS - TWLOCP: UGA’s last real regular season challenge.
Ole Miss at Auburn 6pm/7pm ABC - The SEC will surely send the worst officiating crew to do this one.
Kentucky at Mississippi State 6pm/7pm SECN - It might surprise you to learn these two teams have played 48 times! Clanga leads the series 25-23.

OTHERS ON SATURDAY

SMU at Houston 6pm/7pm ESPN2
North Carolina at Notre Dame 6:30/7:30 NBC - Can UNC eliminate the Irish? Only if Jekyll Heels shows up and not Hyde Heels.

DON’T LET THE BEDBUGS BITE

Fresno at San Diego Maradona State 9:30/10:30 CBSSN
Washington at Stanford 9:30/10:30 FS1

SABAN vs. MACK, POP & BEAR

• To begin the third quarter, Alabama had two three-and-outs and kicked a field goal to hold a precarious 24-17 advantage. The usually cool as a cucumber Bryce Young was visibly frustrated for the first time all season. It was at this point that Nick Saban had a little conversation with him (above). When Young reentered the game, he led the Tide to four straight touchdown scoring drives without an incompletion.
• Saban’s Crimson Tide have scored 30+ points in 34 straight games - the longest streak in FBS/D-I.
• At the conclusion of TSIO, Saban did an on-field interview with ESPN’s Katie George in which he said some complimentary things and seemed in good spirits. The Crimson Tide made some glaring mistakes in the game but still won by four touchdowns. The idiots with microphones were all flabbergasted/disappointed that Mean ol’ Nick Saban wasn’t all angry bear and didn’t go on another classic rant. How are they not catching on to what Saban is doing at this point? Privately, he may have been mad as heck at the imperfection. But on the exterior, he made his comments based on what he thinks his team and the fans need to hear. The atmosphere in Tuscaloosa was electric and he wants more of that. To the players, Saban is sending another message. After the loss to Texas A&M, he stated that he wanted his team to “remember how they feel and not forget it.” Here again, he wants them to remember how important every game is and to remember how fun it is to beat a rival. 5-D chess.

#ALABAMA

• Against Tennessee, Alabama was again without linebacker Drew Sanders (hand). However, there is optimism that he will be back for the LSU game in 11 days. No other injuries were reported! Roll Tide!
• Bama wide receiver Agiye Hall has been in the doghouse lately but may just be back on track. Crootin’ sources have said that the freshman was helping out with recruiting and talking up the program this past weekend.
• Alabama has won 33 straight games against SEC East opponents.
• The Crimson Tide now have a two game win streak against unranked teams. They have only 99 to go to break the record. (RxBob)
• Bryce Young was named SEC offensive player of the week.
• Bama is now second in the nation in scoring offense. They are averaging 45.9 points per game. This after losing the starting QB, RB, OT and two WR to the first round of the NFL Draft, a center in the second round, a guard in the sixth, and OC Steve Sarkisian to Texas.
• Sporting News included Will Anderson and Evan Neal on their 2021 Midseason All-Americans team. CBS Sports dot com had the same notion. ESPN dot com did them one better including Young as the starting QB along with Neal and Anderson.
• Anderson leads the nation in sacks (8.5) and tackles for loss (16.5). Oh, by the way. He’s a sophomore. 18.5 more sacks and he’ll tie Derrick Thomas.
• It was Homecoming for Alabama. The school honored the 1971 SEC Championship team that included legendary All-American Johnny Musso. In a separate ceremony, former Tide All-American EJ Junior was recognized by the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame, where he will be inducted in December. He played for Bama from 1977 to 1980 and played 13 seasons in the NFL, mostly for the Cardinals.

With the Crimson Tide football taking the weekend off, check out the basketball team. They are gonna be gooooood. Parker and the fellas will have tons of preseason coverage for you this week.

This coming Saturday is a bye week for the Crimson Tide as they prepare for LSU. Despite the disappointing season the Tigers are having, it will still be a tricky game for Alabama. LSU will be playing with “nothing to lose” which makes any team a dangerous one. Orgeron would like nothing better than to go out with wins over Florida and Alabama so he can childishly mumble over his shoulder something like “ah dun tol ya ahm deh bess cowch fo dis here schoo garbledee goombelee goo!”

GAME 9: Saturday, November 6, 2021

LSU Tigers (4-4) at Alabama Crimson Tide (7-1)

Tuscaloosa, AL ~ 11am ESPN or 2:30pm CBS or 6pm ESPN

An RBR source says that CBS is most likely going to pick up Bama-LSU in two weeks. If Auburn beats Ole Miss this weekend, they may go with Aub-TAMU but still no guarantee. ESPN really wants Bama-LSU for the prime time slot. That would leave the number one team in the nation, UGA, playing at noon ET versus Mizzou. lol

Things to do this Saturday:

• Watch college football.
• Get married.
• Go to Disney World (too soon?).
• Watch the Braves beat the Astros in Game 4 of the World Series.
• Spend time with your family... until college football comes on.

A few of the co-editors and writers on this here website were a little concerned about Clanga and/or UT before Bama faced them. I, on the other hand, was not. The team I am worried about is Auburn. The Tide have had two big struggle games on the road at Florida and TAMU with hostile crowds. Aubie will certainly have that atmosphere, and all the digressions of the season would float away if they could win the Iron Bowl this season. In addition, the Tigers always have some weird flukey BS go their way in the IB and have already had plenty of it this season against other. So, here is our poll: