Chase Young and the Heisman race, and LSU and the College Football Playoff in the latest Cavalcade of Whimsy.
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Sorry if this column sucks, it’s not my fault …
It was just trying to do its job, and yet Mike Leach was … Mike Leach.
ESPN, there’s no “appreciation” for this tweet or for Leach. Support your people, especially considering Molly McGrath has won as many conference championships as some “genius” head coach.
It’s a name, not a description of what all the suburban dads do the nanosecond they get a night out in the city
I’m bad at just about everything. You name it, and I probably suck at it.
Except for Heisman voting.
I will put my talents as a Heisman voter up against anyone, and will ball out and win every debate by sticking to what works.
When it comes to voting for this thing, it’s about 1) who the signature player is in a given college football regular season who also, if possible, 2) has made the biggest impact on the national championship chase.
It’s why I was dead-on right when I didn’t fall for the shiny objects and voted for Deshaun Watson over Lamar Jackson in 2016, and Derrick Henry over Christian McCaffrey in 2015, and Tim Tebow over Sam Bradford in 2007.
It’s why the Charles Woodson-over-Peyton Manning debate of 1997 is the easiest big sports argument to win.
I voted for Manti Te’o over Johnny Manziel in 2012, partly because the Notre Dame linebacker came up with massive play after massive play on the way to the BCS Championship appearance. I also put Ndamukong Suh No. 2 on my 2009 ballot behind Mark Ingram.
Why this boorishly pompous preamble? There’s a belief system here, and it works for defensive players, too.
I love Chase Young. You love Chase Young. The people who finally paid full attention to an Ohio State game and decided to tweet/write about it now really love Chase Young.
Chase Young isn’t winning the Heisman.
CFN Podcast: Looking back on a wild week, Chase Young for Heisman, Florida-Georgia, who’s winning each conference race …
If the ballots were due today, is he the signature player of the 2019 college football season? No, that’s Joe Burrow, with a great case to be made for Jalen Hurts – who was brilliant, by the way, against Kansas State.
Is he the reason Ohio State is in the national championship chase? Ehhhhh, not really. There are ten other Johnny Five-Stars on that Buckeye defense. (Want to take pretentiousness to a whole other level at your next dinner party? Make the not-that-far-off statement the CB Jeff Okudah might be Ohio State’s best defensive player.)
In an MVP sort of way, who’s been more important in the 8-0 start, Young, or Justin Fields, who has thrown 24 touchdown passes with one pick, and rushed for 319 yards and nine touchdowns? Does Tate Martell have those numbers if he stuck around?
These debates always stink, because there’s nothing even remotely negative to say about what Young has done so far.
The guy leads the nation in sacks, is second in tackles for loss, has five forced fumbles, and – another part of my way-too-snooty way of looking at this – he has come through in the big moments in the primetime games.
Yeah, you’re not entirely wrong if you want to make that claim that Chase Young is the best player in college football so far this season.
He’s still not winning the Heisman.
And now, the punchline …
NEXT: Because it’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a slew of “Your an idiot” correspondence …
From the Department of BEGGING To Get Slammed By A Slew Of Really, Really, REALLY Angry People Who’ll Say Things Like, “I Don’t Care If We Go 1-11 As Long As That Win Is Against (insert rival here)”
You’re going to vehemently and violently disagree with me here, and then a few hours or a few days later, it’s going to dawn on you how much sense this makes.
One BIG caveat here. We have to assume that the SEC isn’t trending towards getting three teams into the College Football Playoff. More on that in a later blurb, but going under the assumption that a 12-1 Big Ten champion gets in no matter what this year …
Ohio State is going to beat Maryland. It’s going to win at Rutgers, and it’s probably going to beat Penn State, too. If all that happens …
You sit Chase Young, Justin Fields, JK Dobbins, and all the other star players against Michigan.
OF COURSE that’s not going to happen because it’s Michigan vs. Ohio State, and OF COURSE Ohio State will want to take care of business itself when it comes to the CFP. However, realistically, all that matters for 11-0, Big Ten East Champion Ohio State is to win the Big Ten Championship.
In a world of analytics, next gen stats, and really smart people doing really smart things, the one metric that trumps all else is having all the star players healthy and available.
The Buckeyes will have the division clinched already, and sitting the key guys against the Wolverines would 1) give the stars a rest because 2) you can NOT lose Young, Fields or Dobbins, to a big injury that might keep one of the main men out of College Football Playoff.
3) You still might beat Michigan without them, which would twist the knife that much further into the Harbaugh Can’t Beat The Buckeyes narrative, and 4) if you don’t, who cares? A 12-1 Ohio State is almost certainly in the CFP no matter what, and seeding doesn’t make a lick of difference in this tournament.
And how would the playoff people look at this? It might offend their sensibilities, but how can they not think that Ohio State really is one of the four best teams considering all the main guys are healthy?
Of course, the 2014 team lost JT Barrett against the Wolverines and still went on to win the national title, but that was playing with fire. This time around, you need all hands on deck for the hell that’s almost certainly coming to breakfast in what should be an epic final four.
I know, I know, this isn’t going to happen, but don’t come whining to me if some key part of the puzzle is getting carted off in what amounts to a glorified exhibition.
NEXT: HOWEVER, here’s the real reason why this won’t happen …
Week Two of the Cavalcade’s “USE A CUCK-TAYEL STICK”
Oh that’s it. I’m having more kids until I get a boy, I’m going Marv Marinovich on him, and 18 years later, he’s going to Charlotte to play for this man.
If I didn’t lose you already to the sit Ohio State guys vs. Michigan thing …
Two wacky College Football Playoff thoughts that just might be true …
Let’s just assume the LSU-Alabama loser finishes 11-1. Is that it?
Before we start, I’m a firm believer in the church of If You Can’t Win Your Conference, And Especially If You Can’t Win Your Division, You Shouldn’t Be Able To Win A National Championship. However, that’s not how the world works.
The College Football Playoff types are supposed to pick what they think are the four best teams. So let’s assume that LSU wins at Ole Miss and beats Arkansas and Texas A&M to close things out. If it loses at Alabama in an acceptable manner – say, 27-23, no matter who’s at quarterback for the Tide – that’s going to be the most forgivable loss of the college football season.
With the win over Texas on the road, and over Florida and Auburn at home, the resumé is fine. And then we get into the real meat of the theoretical debate.
Clemson plays NO ONE. The one slightly-decent win was at home against Texas A&M. What happens if LSU annihilates the Aggies in what would be its – say – fourth-most impressive win of the season?
Side-by-side taste test, whose path does the CFP like more, 11-1 LSU or 13-0 Clemson?
Okay, scratch that. 13-0 Clemson is absolutely, no questions asked, in. Sorry to waste your time. But if 11-1 LSU belongs in, too, then who’s out?
It’s not going to be the SEC champion, assuming that no matter who it is has no more than one loss. And then take this a step further.
What happens if 11-1 Georgia or Florida beats 12-0 Alabama for the SEC title? You’re not leaving out the SEC champ, and you’re not leaving out a 12-1 Alabama team that beat LSU.
You’re certainly not leaving out a 13-0 Big Ten champion, and after leaving the conference out to dry over the last few years, you’re probably not leaving out a Big Ten champ if it ends up 12-1.
And now we’re back to LSU.
SEC champ is in, Alabama is in, and then – Big 12 is out if Baylor isn’t 13-0, and Pac-12 is out – let’s say it comes down to 11-1 LSU, a 12-1 Big Ten champion, and a 13-0 Clemson whose second-best win is against Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow Tech. On a four-best team theory …
Now LSU is probably out, but there will be some SERIOUS howling. Triple that if the Big Ten is out and the second-best conference in college football doesn’t have its champion in this sucker for a fourth straight year.
How about if 12-0 Ohio State or Penn State loses to two-loss Wisconsin in the B1G Championship?
Let’s save that for another day – in the CFP era, we have yet to have the massive upset in a conference championship game.
It’s a wee bit different if Alabama loses, because it still has to play at Auburn.
If Tua Tagovailoa can’t go against LSU, that changes the dynamic. The CFP would give Bama a break as long as it finished 11-1, and assuming that Tua is back and healthy for the CFP.
Way-long blurb short, LSU can probably lose and be just fine, but Alabama had better win or ol’ Auburn might be licking its chops and the prospect of delivering a CFP knockout blow.
And then there’s …
NEXT: Crazy College Football Playoff theoretical discussion … Part 2
Crazy College Football Playoff theoretical discussion before the thing is even out and with a whole slew of things still to deal with, Part 2
What if Florida beats Georgia and wins out in the regular season, but loses the SEC Championship?
Georgia still has to play Missouri, at Auburn, and Texas A&M. It still has work to do, and with the South Carolina loss, it can’t lose the SEC Championship, if it gets there.
But what if 7-1 Florida beats Georgia, takes out Vanderbilt, wins at Missouri, and beats Florida State. And then it loses to LSU in the SEC Championship in something other than a blowout?
13-0 LSU would be the slam-dunk College Football Playoff No. 1 seed. So … should Florida be punished because it couldn’t beat the one of ones?
So what if the Gators lost to the Tigers twice, or to a 13-0 Alabama team? If Alabama is the No. 1 seed, and 11-1 LSU is in, then in a four-best-team theory, Florida might still be one of the four best teams even at 11-2.
And the college football world would take it so well if three SEC teams were in the College Football Playoff.
NEXT: Five Cavalcade of Whimsy footballey opinions and, like, other stuff
Five Cavalcade of Whimsy footballey opinions and, like, other stuff
5. “R! U! RAH! RAH! R! U! RAH! RAH! RAH!”
The 150th anniversary of the first college football game is coming up on November 6th. How embarrassing would it have been if the team that won that game had as many wins this season – one – as it did in 1869?
It’s been a brutal campaign for Rutgers. It fired coach Chris Ash early on, some of the star players are done, and there’s been absolutely no fun with no offense in blowout after blowout following the one win over a miserable UMass team.
Okay, so it’s not great that the program hasn’t progressed much over a century-and-a-half, but it blew out Liberty 44-34 on Saturday.
Good for you, Rutgers. All players should get to have a little fun once in a while.
4. Jim McElwain
As we all get fired up for the Florida-Georgia showdown coming up, give former head coach Jim McElwain a wee bit of credit – there are a lot of his recruits that Dan Mullen is dancing with.
Meanwhile, McElwain has taken a Central Michigan team that went 1-11 last season to 5-4 this year and on the cusp of bowl eligibility. Northern Illinois, at Ball State, Toledo – win one, and get eligible. Win two, and in. Okay, so the Chippewas lost to Buffalo 43-20 last week, because …
3. Everyone beats everyone else in the MAC
If you can find a historically more competitive conference race this deep into a season, go for it.
There are 12 teams in the MAC, and only Akron is realistically out of the chase for a division title and a bowl game. At the moment, nine teams have two or three conference wins, 1-3 Eastern Michigan is still in the hunt in the West, and 1-3 Bowling Green still has an outside shot at least tying in the East if it catches fire fast.
Eight teams have four wins or more and have a realistic shot at being bowl eligible, and that doesn’t count a Northern Illinois team that just won last week. Technically, Ohio leads the East and Ball State leads the West, but it’s totally fluid.
2. Scott Frost
So when does it officially become time for everyone to start hammering on the Scott Frost era at Nebraska?
Next year right about now if there isn’t a massive improvement.
To be fair to Frost, he really does need time, recruiting classes, and more players. To be truly fair, give him a four-year recruiting cycle and then watch out for Year Five, but that’s not how the world works now.
Because he’s not about the bluster like Jim Harbaugh was after taking over at Michigan, and because there haven’t been the spectacular losses like Florida State suffered under Willie Taggart, Frost has enjoyed a bit of a national free pass after an 8-12 start. But the Huskers were annihilated by Minnesota 34-7 two weeks ago, got time off to refresh, and lost to … Indiana.
Indiana is decent, but Nebraska was supposed to be a thing this year, and it’s really, really not.
At Purdue, Wisconsin, at Maryland, Iowa. It’s not that awful a slate the rest of the way, but if somehow the Huskers lose this week in West Lafayette, and they have to sweep Wisconsin and Iowa to get bowl eligible … yuck.
1. Pac-12, your table is ready
This whole SMU vs. Memphis thing in primetime on ABC thing is cute, but … come on. SMU is a nice story, and it should actually be a whale of a game, but it’s the first week in November and America is getting …
SMU vs. Memphis.
Good for these teams, and good for the American Athletic Conference. All barbs aside, watch this game because it really will be fantastic.
But the big games this week are in the Pac-12.
Okay, Pac-12, this is your chance to get out of the dark and dazzle a nation.
Oklahoma has left the door open, and now it’s up to Utah to push through with a huge afternoon clash against Washington. Okay, fine, you’re all going to be watching that Cocktail Party around then, but at night it’s Oregon at USC.
SMU vs. Memphis is a good fight for a New Year’s Six game. Oregon vs. USC is a chance for one side to push harder for playoff consideration, and for the other to push hard for its head coach to stick around and to stay in control of the Pac-12 South race.
Gameday is making its way to Memphis, which means …
NEXT: The sure-thing picks of the century for this week
This week’s reason I should be the SIXTH prognosticator on the set of the new FOX College Football Pregame thingy …
FOX, I’m serious here. I have the idea for you.
Two on-site pregame shows. One in Seattle for the Washington showdown against Utah – the 4:00 ET game on FOX – and one in Los Angeles for the primetime USC battle with Oregon.
And then …
A third one. Go to Tuscaloosa THIS week, and start previewing Bama-LSU in advance. There’s a whole world of Tide and Tiger SEC fans with nothing do this week – cater to them.
Whip it around. Be on-site for three atmosphere pregame shows, with the SEC look-ahead version taking up around 25% of the time, and the Pac-12 ones getting the rest of the love.
But that requires a lot of on-site talent to do all of that …
The sure-thing, 100%, rock-solid lock, sell the house, sell the kids, no doubt about it picks of the century for this week
PICK SO FAR: 44-17 SU, 31-30-2 ATS
If you’re a veteran reader of mine, you know how it all works.
If I’m off like I’ve been on these picks for the last few weeks, then you ride that pony, baby, and go the other way until it throws you off. However …
It also means I’m way overdue for my annual stupid run of blind-squirrel-finds-nut near-perfection.
Fortunately, these picks are all correct.
But if they’re not, then you know what to do. If you choose to dabble, sign up with BetMGM though this link to take part in any of these games or other action on the schedule.
– Bowling Green -6.5 over Akron
– Florida +5.5 over Georgia (but Georgia to win outright)
– Pitt -7.5 over Georgia Tech
– Virginia +2.5 over North Carolina
– SMU +5.5 over Memphis
– SMU/Memphis OVER 70.5
– Hawaii -2.5 over Fresno State
C.O.W. shameless gimmick item …
The weekly five Overrated/Underrated aspects of the world
5) Overrated: Notre Dame vs. Michigan in 2033
Underrated: Notre Dame vs. Michigan in 2034
4) Overrated: Using binoculars at a sporting event
Underrated: Not having to spend extra money on binoculars when you can probably sit on the field at the Syracuse game on Saturday for the asking.
4) Overrated: Losing your job by being hit by a bus.
Underrated: Any athletic director worth his or her salt at least placing a phone call to see if Urban Meyer might have any interest whatsoever in taking a school’s gig.
2) Overrated: LSU vs. Alabama
Underrated: Penn State vs. Minnesota
1) Overrated: Your school’s fight song
Underrated: The Gameday fight song in the Home Depot ad
Sorry if this column sucked, I wasn’t my fault …
It tried to tackle Oklahoma State WR Tylan Wallace. It did not go well.
