Journal Sentinel reporter breaks down Wisconsin’s win over Washington
The Journal Sentinel Badger talks to writers Mark Stewart and John Stepp about Wisconsin’s 13-10 win over Washington.
USC’s deception has crossed the line, the ACC is in turmoil, and Florida and Florida State are in a futile flirtation not seen since the Jimmy Carter era.
Here are the 10 worst flops from Week 11 of the college football season.
USC fake punt, number swap
Lincoln Riley gave new meaning to QB sneaks. In Friday night’s win over Northwestern, Riley sneaked third-string QB Sam Hurd onto the field in a punt formation. And why didn’t Northwestern realize their QB was lining up to punt? Well, Hurd, who usually wears No. 7, was wearing No. 80, which punter Sam Johnson usually wears. Hurd completed the first-down strike for the Trojans. “This was the result of a lot of thought by some of our staff,” Riley said after the game. Here’s what I think: It’s a bull***. Play with integrity, not duplicity.
wisconsin fans
Rushing onto the field after defeating a Washington team that was unranked in the U.S. LBM Coaches Poll proved two things.
- This season has been a really bad season for the Badgers.
- Camp Randall sells more beer than anywhere else (h/t Matt Brown).
Congratulations on your win, Luke Fickell. And your athletic director guaranteed your return for another season. But lo and behold, your crimes are among the worst in this country. The home shutout streak was bad, but if you need more proof:
- On Saturday, it took the Badgers 29 minutes to complete their first forward pass.
- Punter was the top passer in the 13-10 win with just one completion for 24 yards.
As I said earlier, watching Wisconsin football makes me want to drink.
ACC
The first College Football Playoff rankings showed what the selection committee thought of the ACC, with one-loss Virginia and Louisville coming in 14th and 15th. They now have two losses to Virginia and Louisville after Wake Forest upset the Cavs and Cal beat the Cards with a courageous fourth-down call in OT.
It also didn’t help that Duke, which is 4-1 in ACC play, lost to UW, an 8.5-point favorite.
Five teams in the ACC have one loss in league play. The road to Charlotte is going to be tough.
The ACC is unpredictable, but Boston College always loses. Bill O’Brien said in a midweek press conference that the Golden Eagles showed more fight than they’ve shown this season. O’Brien fired back at a reporter who asked about the team’s tough season. “You come here asking these tough questions. I’m not depressed. I don’t know what year you graduated from BC, but this is the program we’re building,” O’Brien gasped. On Saturday, Boston College lost 45-13 at home to SMU, dropping to 1-9 (0-6 in the ACC). BC’s only win this year came against FCS Fordham. “What’s wrong, Trevor?”
BYU’s violations
The Cougars’ offense, led by Baer, was hibernating until the first three quarters when BYU traveled to Lubbock for the Big 12 season’s marquee game. BYU didn’t get to its fifth play in Texas Tech territory until nine minutes left, by which point it was already leading 26-0. The Cougars averaged 36.3 points per game this season, but were held back by Jacob Rodriguez and others. CFP still has high hopes for BYU, but that will likely require a win in the Big 12 championship game.
One has already fired his coach, and the other should do the same. College football is better when Florida and Florida State are better. Maybe it’s just the Florida boy in me speaking, but there’s more to this than that. The Gators, who fired Billy Napier two weeks ago, were unable to be competitive in a 38-7 loss to Kentucky. The Seminoles lost 24-10 to Clemson, but it wasn’t much better.
Florida State (3-6) left before Ole Miss and Tennessee finished their games against Florida State. The Seminoles (4-5) will play Virginia Tech and North Carolina State before the final game against the Gators. Both of these teams are flirting with missing the bowl. When was the last time UF and FSU missed a bowl in the same season? 1978.
brawl
Bethune-Cookman and Grambling State were throwing haymakers, and Louisiana’s rough-and-tumble Cajuns were certainly rough after the Texas State game.
Hopes of American CFP
Will someone from AAC come forward and take the lead? The league continues to win on its own, and Memphis’ loss to Tulane on Friday night cleared the way for a non-U.S. team to sneak into the College Football Playoff as the top-ranked Group of 5 champion. North Texas is the only AAC team with one loss, and the Mean Green has a cake schedule remaining. We can put them in the conference title game, but they have to win it. James Madison (Sun Belt, 8-1) is lurking. UNT was No. 27 in the latest U.S. LBM Coaches Poll. JMU was 28th.
Midwest weather
Saturday was dire across the Midwest. I was going to say Big Ten Country, but it’s expanded from Jersey to Hollywood these days. Games at Iowa, Wisconsin and Notre Dame saw continuous rain, some with sideways freezing rain. It’s too early for that garbage.
mike locksley
After a 4-0 start, some on the website waxed poetic about Mike Locksley and Maryland’s comeback after last season’s failure. How about a sequel? The Terrapins have lost five straight since Saturday’s 35-20 loss to Rutgers. A week ago, some fans were calling for Locksley’s firing. Over the past seven years, he has gone between 36 and 40 years old, ranking him among the top 20 longest-tenured FBS coaches. Locksley has one of the most talented freshman quarterbacks in the nation in Malik Washington, but a 17-45 record in the Big Ten is quite an albatross. The seat gets quite warm.
Bonus: Oregon
The Beavers lost at home to previously winless Sam Houston State late Saturday night. Just brutal. This left UMass as the only winless FBS team.
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