With many of the top teams cancelling their games we saw some great action from teams we’re not used to having on our screens. Check it out what you missed this weekend plus my thoughts on cancelling games, rescheduling games, Trevor Lawrence and his big return AND who we should be praising for North Carolina.
Top 25:
1 Alabama
2 Ohio State
3 Notre Dame
4 Clemson
5 Cincinnati
6 Florida
7 Oregon
8 BYU
9 USC
10 Indiana
11 Texas A&M
12 Miami
13 Wisconsin
14 Georgia
15 Oklahoma State
16 Coastal Carolina
17 Oklahoma
18 Texas
19 Auburn
20 North Carolina
21 Marshall
22 Iowa State
23 Liberty
24 Louisiana
25 Northwestern
Weekly Awards
Offensive Player of the Week: Kyle Trask, QB, Florida
Defensive Player of the Week: Jaelan Phillips, Miami
Freshman of the Week: Terion Stewart, Bowling Green
Coach of the Week: Dan Mullen, Florida
Where I was Right – Where I was Wrong
Right: The Florida Gators are off to a great start to their season and look like they will be playing in the SEC Championship game in December. I’m going to toot my own horn this week talking about Dan Mullen. Mullen has been one of the best offensive minds in college football since his first gig at Florida under Urban Meyer and continues to be on top today. Mullen has molded Kyle Trask into a complete quarterback and Trask has taken big strides himself and looks like a first round quarterback. Before the season started I predicted a big year from Trask, mostly because of Dan Mullen, and the duo continues to prove me right. Even without Kyle Pitts on the field.
Wrong: I should pre-apologize to all Indiana Hoosier fans. I’m about to admit I was wrong about your team which means you really have no chance against Ohio State after I jinx you. But the Hoosiers have been playing phenomenal football this season and are very deserving of their No. 9 ranking. A wild opening weekend win against Penn State and a win against Michigan is something to be very proud of, even if those teams are having down years. This shows that Indiana can build something and compete in the Big Ten. Something I never thought I would say. So I apologize for doubting you after a close win over Penn State. Good luck this Saturday in Columbus, OH.
$100 Handshakes – Underclassmen that stood out or draft eligible players that improved their stock
Quarterbacks:
Sam Howell, North Carolina
Malik Willis, Liberty
Grant Wells, Marshall
Running Backs:
Kevin Harris, South Carolina
Caleb Huntley, Ball State
Chris Rodriguez Jr., Kentucky
Receivers/Tight Ends:
Elijah Moore, Ole Miss
Ty Fryfogle, Indiana
Dazz Newsome, North Carolina
D-Line/EDGE
Jaelan Phillips, Miami
Jerrod Hewitt, Virginia Tech
Drake Jackson, USC
Linebackers
Dax Hollifield, Virginia Tech
Tavante Beckett, Marshall
Chazz Surratt, North Carolina
Defensive Backs
Tiawan Mullen, Indiana
Shakur Brown, Michigan State
Marquel Dismuke, Nebraska
Final Thoughts:
Cancelling games: I don’t know about the rest of the nation but I am worried, once again, that we will not finish this season. At least not the way we thought we would. This weekend we saw six games cancelled with top 25 ranked schools and I have a gut feeling that was just the beginning. With both Alabama and Ohio State having to cancel/postpone their games I wonder how many games we will see the top four teams play for the remainder of the season. If Alabam shut their season down right now would the college football playoff committee still let them in? I think they would and the same could be said about Ohio State and probably Notre Dame too. It makes me nervous. I enjoy sitting down for hours upon hours every Saturday to watch games and I want to see this season through, obviously with everyone in good health, but with the power five conference cancelling and postponing games, I wonder how many more games will be cancelled this coming weekend.
Rescheduling: Even though we are going through a mass cancellation of games, Arizona State and Colorado have already cancelled their game for Saturday, I love that the Pac 12 let UCLA and Cal play a game on Sunday. I would love to see this going forward with other games this season. If your team is healthy and ready to go and you can find an opponent and make it work, let the kids play. Some of these players are playing in their last collegiate season and may never play football again. Let them get every last drop of competition they can get. For the first time in forever (Elsa voice) the Pac 12 got it right.
Trevor Lawrence: This weekend we get the return of Trevor Lawrence against Florida State. There has been a lot of talk about what Lawrence will do after the season, is he still in the Heisman race and how will he play after being out for two weeks? I personally hope he goes on a tear. I don’t think we’ve seen Trevor Lawrence play his best football yet and I hope the few remaining games give us a Trevor Lawrence we’ve never seen. And maybe he can get his name back up there for the Heisman.
North Carolina: The Tar Heels were a very popular team in the offseason and many people, myself included, knew this offense was going to be dangerous. But we didn’t know how dangerous. I mean I’m not surprised at all by their 43.1 points per game. I didn’t know they would be this dangerous on the ground! North Carolina is averaging 233.5 yards per game on the ground and have had multiple games with two rushers going for 100+ yards. So while Sam Howell, Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome get their love, and deservingly so, let’s also remember the bangup job the offensive line is doing for Michael Carter and Javonte Williams – who each have 800+ rushing yards through eight games this season.
Week 12 Preview: Hopefully all these games are played
9 Indiana @ 3 Ohio State, 11:00 AM, FOX
Appalachian State @ 15 Coastal Carolina, 11:00 AM, ESPN2
LSU @ Arkansas, 11:00 AM, SEC Network
7 Cincinnati @ UCF, 2:30 PM, ESPN
10 Wisconsin @ 19 Northwestern, 2:30 PM, ABC
14 Oklahoma State @ 18 Oklahoma, 6:30 PM, ABC
Top 25 Big Board
- Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson
- Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon
- Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
- Ja’Marr Chase , WR, LSU
- Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State
- Patrick Surtain ,CB, Alabama
- Wyatt Davis, iOL, Ohio State
- Jaylen Waddle ,WR, Alabama
- Rashod Bateman, WR, Minnesota
- Joseph Ossai, EDGE, Texas
- Gregory Rousseau, EDGE, Miami
- Trey Lance, QB, NDSU
- Pat Freiermuth, TE, Penn State
- Zach Wilson, QB, BYU
- DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama
- Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, LB, Notre Dame
- Samuel Cosmi, OT, Texas
- Jabril Cox, LB, LSU
- Kwity Paye, DL, Michigan
- Kyle Trask, QB, Florida
- Chris Olave, WR, Ohio State
- Trey Smith, iOL, Tennessee
- Najee Harris, RB, Alabama
- Caleb Farley, CB, Virginia Tech
- Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern