College Football Week 15 – Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Oklahoma
We are the champions, my friends
“And we’ll keep on
fighting till the end.”
Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Oklahoma get a chance to
keep fighting till the end. They are the four playoff teams.
Alabama secured its spot, winning the SEC championship
game, 35-28, over Georgia. It was championship weekend and the SEC title game
was definitely the best of the bunch. Ironically, the game paralleled, in many
ways, the Alabama-Georgia national championship game of last season.
Both games were played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in
Atlanta. In both games, Alabama trailed Georgia at halftime. In the national
title game last season, Alabama trailed Georgia 13-0 at the half. Saturday,
Alabama trailed Georgia 21-14 at the break.
Last season, Alabama trailed Georgia 20-7 in the third
quarter and 20-10 at the end of the third. Saturday, Alabama trailed Georgia
28-14 in the third quarter and 28-21 at the end of the third.
Here’s another parallel, but with a twist. Last season, backup
quarterback Tua Tagovailoa entered
the game at the beginning of the second half, replacing quarterback Jalen Hurts. Tagovailoa rallied
Alabama, as the Tide scored 13 unanswered points to tie the game 20-20 at
the end of regulation. Alabama went on
to beat Georgia in overtime, 26-23 (OT), on a 41-yard touchdown pass from
Tagovailoa to DeVonta Smith.
Saturday, backup quarterback Jalen Hurts entered the game
early in the fourth quarter, replacing injured quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
Tagovailoa suffered a game-ending ankle injury. Hurts rallied Alabama, as the
Tide scored 14 unanswered points to beat Georgia 35-28 in regulation. Alabama’s
scores came on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Hurts to Jerry Jeudy and a 15-yard run by Hurts.
A Hollywood screenwriter could not have scripted the
Alabama-Georgia game any better. Even down to the dumbest play call of the
season, which did not parallel last season’s game.
With 3:11 remaining, and the score tied 28-28, Georgia
faced a 4th-and-11 from midfield. Georgia coach Kirby Smart called for a fake punt, even though Alabama did not
have its punt return team on the field. Bama kept its defense on the field,
expecting the possibility of the fake.
The center snap went to backup Georgia quarterback Justin Fields. Fields desperately scampered
but only gained two yards. Just like that, it’s first-and-10 Alabama with the
ball on their own 48. It took the Tide only two minutes before Jalen Hurts ran
into the end zone from the 15-yard line. Alabama up 35-28. Alabama wins 35-28.
Today, Georgia fans are calling Kirby Smart – Kirby
Stupid.
The second best of the conference championship games was
the Big 12 title game between Oklahoma and Texas. This game was a rematch
between the Sooners and the Longhorns. Texas won the first game 48-45. In the
earlier game, during the season, Texas led throughout the game, only to have
Oklahoma rally in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 45-45. But Texas
ultimately won on a 40-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining.
Saturday, Texas led early in the game. But Oklahoma came
back in the second quarter to take the lead – a lead the Sooners never
relinquished. But Texas kept it close until late in the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma won, 39-27. Sooners quarterback Kyler
Murray put on a heck of a show, passing for 379 yards and three touchdowns.
Friday night, Washington won the Pac-12 championship,
beating Utah, 10-3. It was a close game, but a boring game. It was a defensive
battle.
The other two Power Five conference title games were
disasters. Clemson pulverized Pitt, 42-10 in the ACC championship. In the Big
Ten title game, Ohio State and Northwestern were a little more interesting, but
not much. The Buckeyes beat the Wildcats 45-28.
There were no blowouts in the Group of Five conference
championship games. All the games were close to reasonably close. UCF won by the
biggest margin – 15 points – beating Memphis, 56-41 in the AAC title game. But
the game was exciting because the Knights had to rally from a 30-14 deficit to
beat the Tigers.
Speaking of rallies, Northern Illinois rallied to beat
favored Buffalo, 30-29, to take the MAC championship.
UAB scored on a late fourth quarter field goal to beat
Middle Tennessee, 27-25. The win gave UAB the C-USA championship. The win was
paybacks for UAB who had just lost to Middle Tennessee, 23-3, on the same field
the week before.
And speaking of paybacks, Fresno State knocked off Boise
State, 19-16 (OT), for the MWC championship. Three weeks earlier and on the
same field – the Blue Carpet – in Boise, Fresno State lost to Boise State,
24-17. This championship game was played in the snow.
Louisiana kept things close until near the end when
Appalachian State pulled away to beat the Rajin’ Cajuns, 30-19, in the Sun Belt
championship game.
In addition to the 10 conference championship games,
there were six other games played over the weekend. One was a postponed game.
Stanford and California were originally supposed to play on November 17. But
due to the poor air quality in the Berkeley area, as a result of the wildfires,
the game was postponed to Saturday. Stanford beat California 23-13. It was the
Trees ninth-straight win over the Golden Bears.
The other five games were played between teams who had
games canceled early in the season due to bad weather and Hurricane Florence.
The results of these games: Iowa State edged Drake, 27-24; NC State smashed
East Carolina, 58-3; South Carolina took care of Akron, 28-3; Virginia Tech
plastered Marshall, 41-20, and Liberty downed Norfolk State, 52-17. As a result
of the outcomes, two of the teams became bowl eligible – Virginia Tech and
Liberty.
As mentioned above, Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and
Oklahoma, in that order, are the four playoff teams. Georgia finished 5th
in the rankings and Ohio State was 6th. UCF was 8th. In
one semifinal, Alabama will play Oklahoma in Miami Gardens, Florida, in the
Orange Bowl on December 29. In the other semifinal, Clemson will play Notre
Dame in Arlington, Texas, in the Cotton Bowl Classic on December 29. The two
winners will meet for the national championship one week later in Santa Clara,
California.
Along with the conference championship games, the
coaching carousel remained active last week and over the weekend. Six coaches
were fired, one retired, five were hired and several coordinators and
assistants were dismissed.
Retired – Kansas State’s Bill Snyder.
Just yesterday, Kansas State announced that football
coach Bill Snyder is retiring. In two stints in Manhattan, Snyder coached the
Wildcats for 27 seasons. His record was 215-117-1. Kansas State finished 5-7
this season – 3-6 in Big 12 play.
Snyder, a former offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
at Iowa, first coached Kansas State from 1989 to 2005. During that time, he
revitalized the K-State program, turning the Wildcats into a winner. Snyder
retired after the 2005 season. With K-State suffering under Snyder’s
replacement, he returned to coach the Wildcats from 2009 to 2018. Bill Snyder
is 79.
Fired – Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson, East Carolina’s Scottie
Montgomery, Western Kentucky’s Mike
Sanford, Charlotte’s Brad Lambert,
Central Michigan’s John Bonamego and
Akron’s Terry Bowden.
Paul Johnson, 61, had coached Georgia Tech for 11
seasons. He had an 82-59 record. Johnson’s Yellow Jackets won the ACC
championship in 2009. His teams finished first or second in the ACC’s Coastal
Division seven of his 11 seasons. Georgia Tech was 7-5 this season.
In three seasons at East Carolina, Scottie Montgomery was
9-26 – 4-20 in AAC play. The Pirates were 3-8 under Montgomery this season.
Saturday, under an interim coach David
Blackwell, East Carolina lost to NC State, 58-3.
Western Kentucky fired Mike Sanford after only two
seasons. Sanford was 9-16 during the two years. The Hilltoppers were 3-9 this
season.
At Charlotte, Brad Lambert was 22-48 in six seasons – 5-7
this year. He was Charlotte’s first and only coach. The 49ers began their
football program with Lambert as the inaugural coach six years ago.
After a 1-11 season, Central Michigan fired coach John
Bonamego. In four seasons at CMU, Bonamego was 22-29. This year, his Chippewas
were 0-8 in Mid-American Conference play.
Akron fired Terry Bowden, after finishing with a 4-8
season – 2-6 in MAC play. In seven seasons at Akron, Bowden was 35-52. Ironically,
one of Akron’s few wins this season was over Northwestern, 39-34.
In all, 15 coaches have now been fired and one has retired.
Hired – Mack Brown
at North Carolina, Matt Wells at
Texas Tech, Tyson Helton at Western
Kentucky, Jake Spavital at Texas
State and Jim McElwain at Central
Michigan.
Mack Brown returns to Chapel Hill where he coached the
Tar Heels from 1988 to 1997. He was 69-46-1 during that stint. Brown left North
Carolina for Texas where he coached the Longhorns from 1998 to 2013. Brown has
been a college football analyst for ESPN the past five years.
Texas Tech hired Utah State coach Matt Wells. Wells, 45, has been the Utah State coach for the past
six seasons. He had a 44-34 record with the Aggies – 10-2 this season.
Shortly after Western Kentucky fired Mike Sanford, the Hilltoppers hired Tyson Helton. This season, he has been the offensive
coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Tennessee. Helton is the younger brother of
USC coach Clay Helton.
West Virginia offensive coordinator Jake Spavital was hired as the new head coach at Texas State.
Yesterday, Jim
McElwain was hired to be the coach at Central Michigan. A former Colorado
State and Florida head coach, McElwain was the receivers coach at Michigan this
past season. Prior to Colorado State and Florida, McElwain was an offensive
coordinator at Alabama.
We also learned that Purdue coach Jeff Brohm won’t be the new coach at Louisville. Brohm, a
Louisville grad, had been offered the job, coaching the Cardinals. But last
week, he formally notified Louisville that he was staying at Purdue.
A couple of head coaches spent the week shaking up their
staffs. USC coach Clay Helton fired
his offensive coordinator Tee Martin,
quarterbacks coach Bryan Ellis,
defensive line coach Kenechi Udeze
and defensive backs coach Ronnie
Bradford.
A couple days later, Helton hired the fired Texas Tech
coach Kliff Kingsbury to be the
Trojans new offensive coordinator. Kingsbury likely will serve as quarterbacks
coach too.
At Ole Miss, coach Matt
Luke fired his defensive coordinator Wesley
McGriff.
The ACC announced last week that its new network – the
ACC Network – will launch on August 22, 2019. The inaugural game broadcast by
the network will be one week later, Georgia Tech at Clemson on Thursday night,
August 29.
The ACC is the fourth of the five Power Five conferences
to showcase a network. The Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC have had their networks in
place for several years. Once the ACC Network gets going, the Big 12 will be
the only Power Five conference without its own network.
Although he has another year of eligibility left, we
won’t be seeing Oklahoma quarterback Kyler
Murray playing for the Sooners next season. Murray announced last week that
he is leaving football after this season for baseball. This past June, he was
the No. 1 draft choice of the Oakland Athletics and the ninth draft overall.
And finally, UCF got its wish – not only playing, but beating
Alabama. But it was in basketball, not football – and for the second time. UCF
downed Alabama, 70-64, last week in Orlando. It was the Knights second-straight
basketball win over the Tide. Last year, UCF downed Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
This contest featured a couple of signs from UCF fans at
the Alabama-UCF basketball game.
“Was Your Football Team Too Scared To Show Up?”
and
“I Can See Why They Call You Guys A Football School”
And speaking of basketball/football, Kansas introduced
new football coach Les Miles to the
KU fans at the Jayhawks home basketball game Saturday. Les was even given a
tasty sample of grass from the football field to eat. And it wasn’t seasoned
with Bevo poop.
Yes, we are the champions, my friends. And we’ll keep on
fighting till the end.
Happy Hanukkah.
Touchdown Tom
December 3, 2018
Weekend Recap
GAME OF THE WEEK: Kirby
Stupid – Alabama 35, Georgia 28 (Touchdown Tom said: Alabama 28, Georgia 22).
Yeah, that fake punt wasn’t exactly smart. Georgia had more first downs, more
total yards and dominated time of possession – more than 35 minutes. The Dawgs
even had zero turnovers to two for Alabama. But the Crimson Tide had more
points. Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm
was 25-39-0, passing for 301 yards and three touchdowns. Alabama takes the SEC
championship. Attendance in Atlanta: 77,141
RUNNER UP: Boomer had beef for dinner – Oklahoma 39,
Texas 27 (Touchdown Tom said: Oklahoma 35, Texas 33). Texas led up until 18
seconds left in the first half. That’s when Oklahoma first took the lead at
20-14. The Sooners never gave up the lead from that point on – although the
score was tied late in the third quarter at 27-27. Two and a half minutes into the fourth quarter
Oklahoma retook the lead and held on for the win. Oklahoma dominated the stats
– first downs, total yards, rushing yards, passing yards and time of
possession. Texas only had 88 yards rushing. Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger passed for 349 yards. OU
quarterback Kyler Murray passed for
379 yards. Oklahoma takes the Big 12 championship. Attendance in Arlington: 83,114
REST OF THE BEST:
No headaches for Urbie – Ohio
State 45, Northwestern 24 (Touchdown Tom said: Ohio State 34, Northwestern
22). This game started out to be a rout. Ohio State jumped out to a 24-7
halftime lead. But in the third quarter, Northwestern closed the gap. The
Wildcats pulled within three points of the Buckeyes – 24-21. Even as the third
quarter ended, Ohio State only led Northwestern by 10 – 31-21. Early in the
final quarter Northwestern closed the gap again, trailing the Buckeyes by seven
– 31-24. Then Ohio State caught fire and poured it on, scoring 14 unanswered
points. The teams combined for 1,025 total yards. The Buckeyes had 607 of those
yards. The Buckeyes didn’t have much of a running game – only 108 yards – but
they made up for it in their passing game – 499 yards. Ohio State dominated
time of possession – almost 36 minutes. Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins threw five touchdown
passes. Ohio States claims the Big Ten championship. Attendance in
Indianapolis: 66,375
Really – Clemson
42, Pitt 10 (Touchdown Tom said: Clemson 34, Pitt 15). This game was a
contest for about one and a half quarters. With five minutes to go in the
second quarter, Clemson led Pitt, 14-10. Then the Tigers proceeded to score 28
unanswered points. Pitt only had 200 total yards – just 8 yards passing.
Clemson didn’t have much of a passing game either – only 118 yards. But the
Tigers made up for it on the ground, rushing for 301 yards. Clemson running
back Travis Etienne rushed for 156
yards. Pitt suffered three turnovers. Clemson grabs the ACC championship. Attendance
in Charlotte: 67,784
Can you say,
defense? – Washington 10, Utah 3 (Touchdown Tom said: Washington 30, Utah
26). Not much offense in the Pac-12 title game, especially from Utah. The Utes
only had 188 total yards – only 51 yards rushing, only 12 first downs.
Washington dominated time of possession – more than 38 minutes. The Huskies
will move on and play in the Rose Bowl. Washington takes the Pac-12 title. Attendance
in Santa Clara: 35,134
Paybacks – Fresno
State 19, Boise State 16 (OT) (Touchdown Tom said: Boise State 29, Fresno
State 23). At the end of four quarters, the game was tied 13-13. But Fresno
State settled it in the first overtime. First Boise State kicked a field goal
to go up 16-13. Fresno State countered with a touchdown to win the game. Boise
State dominated the stats – first downs, total yards and time of possession.
But the Bulldogs dominated the points. Boise State running back Alexander Mattison rushed for 200
yards. Fresno State wins the MWC title. Attendance in Boise: 23,662
Déjà vu – UCF 56,
Memphis 41 (Touchdown Tom said: UCF 30, Memphis 24). When these two teams
met earlier in the season, Memphis jumped out to a 16-point lead. UCF came back
in that game and won 31-30. In this game, Memphis jumped out to a 17-point lead
– 31-14. But like the first game UCF came back. Only this time, the Knights won
by 15 points. The teams combined for 1,281 total yards. UCF had 698 of those
yards. Memphis running back Darrell
Henderson rushed for 210 yards. UCF running back Greg McRae rushed for 206 yards. UCF takes the AAC championship. Attendance
in Orlando: 45,176
Better late than
never – Northern Illinois 30, Buffalo 29 (Touchdown Tom said: Buffalo 32,
Northern Illinois 21). The game belonged to Buffalo. The Bulls controlled the contest
throughout – that is until the fourth quarter. Buffalo led 7-0 at the end of
the first quarter, 22-10 at halftime and 29-17 at the end of three quarters.
Then Northern Illinois outscored Buffalo 13-0 in the fourth quarter. The teams
were basically even in the stats. But Buffalo possessed the ball for more than
35 minutes. NIU quarterback Marcus
Childers passed for 300 yards and 4 touchdowns. Northern Illinois captures
the MAC championship. Attendance in Detroit: 10,255
Second time is a
charm – UAB 27, Middle Tennessee 25 (Touchdown Tom said: UAB 23, Middle
Tennessee 19). UAB trailed 13-3 at the end of the first quarter. Then the
Blazers outscored Middle Tennessee 21-3 in the second quarter. At the half, UAB
was up 24-16. In the second half, the Blue Raiders scored 9 unanswered points
and went back up 25-24. UAB won the game on a 28-yard field goal by Nick Vogel with 3:23 left in the game. Middle
Tennessee only rushed for 94 yards, but the Blue Raiders passed for 362 yards.
UAB rushed for 225 yards. UAB takes the C-USA title. Attendance in
Murfreesboro: 15,806
Cajuns couldn’t
download the App – Appalachian State 30, Louisiana 19 (Touchdown Tom said: Appalachian
State 31, Louisiana 19). Louisiana made a game of it. At the end of the third
quarter, the Rajin’ Cajuns only trailed App State by 4 points – 20-16. But App
State outscored Louisiana 10-3 in the fourth quarter. It was a ground game for
both teams. Neither had a passing game – only 85 yards passing for Louisiana
and 75 yards for App State. Two turnovers – both interceptions – hurt
Louisiana’s effort. Appalachian State captures the Sun Belt championship. Attendance
in Boone: 14,963
….AND ONE TO KEEP AN EYE ON:
Trees shed on
Berkeley – Stanford 23, California 13 (Touchdown Tom said: Stanford 28,
California 24). Up until late in the fourth quarter, Stanford only led by 7
points – 13-6. Then within a 1:18 span, Stanford scored 10 unanswered points
late in the fourth quarter. The Trees went up 23-6 with 2:27 left in the game.
The stats were fairly close, but Cal suffered three turnovers to only one for
Stanford. Stanford quarterback K.J.
Costello passed for 227 yards. Cal running back Patrick Laird rushed for 116 yards. Attendance in Berkeley: 57,857
Week 14 Results: 9 correct picks, 2 fumbles (81.8 percent)
For the Season: 147 correct
picks, 62 fumbles (70.3 percent)
Superlatives
Impressive
Passers:
Ohio State’s Dwayne
Haskins – 34-41-1 for 499 yards (5TDs); NC State’s Ryan Finley –
32-44-1-409 yards (3TDs); Oklahoma’s Kyle Murray – 25-34-0-379 (3TDs); Middle
Tennessee’s Brent Stockstill – 29-45-2-362 (2TDs); Texas’ Sam
Ehlinger – 23-36-1-349 (2TDs), and UCF’s Daniel Mack – 19-27-0-348
(2TDs).
Impressive
Rushers:
Memphis’ Darrell
Henderson – 210 yards (3TDs); UCF’s Greg
McRae – 206 yards (1TD); Marshall’s Brenden
Knox – 204 yards (2TDs); Boise State’s Alexander
Mattison – 200 yards (1TD); Clemson’s Travis
Etienne – 156 yards (2TDs), and UAB’s Spencer
Brown – 156 yards (1TD).
TT’s Annual Picks
My choice for “Coach of the Year” from each of the FBS
Conferences
AAC: Luke Fickell
– Cincinnati; Runner-up: Willie Fritz
– Tulane
ACC: Dino Babers
– Syracuse; Runner-up: Bronco Mendenhall
– Virginia
Big 12: Matt
Campbell – Iowa State; Runner-up: Dana
Holgorsen – West Virginia
Big Ten: Pat
Fitzgerald – Northwestern; Runner-up: Kirk
Ferentz – Iowa
C-USA: Bill Clark
– UAB; Runner-up: Rick Stockstill –
Middle Tennessee
MAC: Lance Leipold
– Buffalo; Runner-up: Chris Creighton
– Eastern Michigan
MWC: Nick Rolovich
– Hawaii; Runner-up: Matt Wells –
Utah State
Pac-12: Mike Leach
– Washington State; Runner-up: (tie) Herm
Edwards – Arizona State and Justin
Wilcox – California
SEC: Mark Stoops
– Kentucky; Runner-up: Ed Orgeron –
LSU
Sun Belt: Scott Satterfield – Appalachian State;
Runner-up: Blake Anderson – Arkansas
State
My choice for 2018’s national “Coach of the Year”
1.
Brian Kelly
– Notre Dame
2.
Josh Heupel
– UCF
3.
Jeff Monken
– Army
If I had a vote for the Heisman Trophy, my ballot
would be cast as follows
1.
Kyler Murray
– Oklahoma
2.
Tua Tagovailoa
– Alabama
3.
Dwayne Haskins
– Ohio State
2018’s most surprising team or teams from each of the FBS
conferences
AAC: (tie) Cincinnati and Tulane
ACC: Syracuse
Big 12: Iowa State
Big Ten: Northwestern
C-USA: Charlotte
MAC: (tie) Buffalo and Eastern Michigan
MWC: (tie) Hawaii and Nevada
Pac-12: (tie) Washington State and Arizona State
SEC: (tie) Kentucky and LSU
Sun Belt:
(None)
2018’s most disappointing team or teams from each of
the FBS conferences
AAC: (tie) Navy and South Florida
ACC: (tie) Florida State, Miami, Virginia Tech
Big 12: TCU
Big Ten: Wisconsin
C-USA: Florida Atlantic
MAC: (None)
MWC: (tie) San Diego State and UNLV
Pac-12: (tie) USC and Arizona
SEC: South Carolina and Auburn
Sun Belt: Louisiana-Monroe
Quotes of the Week
“There are problems in Auburn.
There always has been problems in Auburn. And for some reason, there will
continue to be problems in Auburn. I don’t know anyone out there who wants to
get into this mess. Do you think Bob
Stoops wants to get into this mess? He dropped a better job than this,”
former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville,
on the ridiculous rumor that Auburn was going to hire Bob Stoops.
“We’re planning on winning next
year,” new North Carolina coach Mack
Brown.
“It’s been a good run,” fired
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson.
Touchdown Tom’s Prediction for
This Week’s One Biggest and Most Intriguing Game…and then none
GAME OF THE WEEK:
1. Army (9-2) vs. Navy (3-9)
– (Ind. vs. AAC) – After Navy won 14-striaght games and 17 of the last 19
(1997-2015), Army came through and won two-consecutive games in 2016 and 2017.
Army wasn’t favored in those two years. But the Black Knights are favored this
year and it looks like the Cadets will make it three in a row – the first time
Army has done that since 1994 to 1996. Navy has definitely been a
disappointment this season, falling way below expectations. Army has exceeded
expectations. The Cadets continue to exceed expectations – Army 26, Navy 15.
YE OLDE
STOMPING GROUNDS:
Georgia (11-2)
and Texas (9-4) have completed their
seasons.
Your 2018 Conference Champions
AAC: UCF
ACC: Clemson
Big 12: Oklahoma
Big Ten: Ohio State
C-USA: UAB
MAC: Northern Illinois
MWC: Fresno State
Pac-12: Washington
SEC: Alabama
Sun Belt: Appalachian State
Touchdown Tom
P.S.
Not exactly college football
related, but with the gray skies of early December upon us, the college
football season was fading fast. As the
fans were talking about new coaches, bowl games and the Heisman Trophy, the
number one song in the country…
…75 years ago this week in 1943 was “Paper Doll” by The Mills Brothers
…70 years ago this week in 1948 was “Buttons and Bows” by
Dinah Shore
…65 years ago this week in 1953 was “Rags To Riches” by Tony Bennett
…60 years ago this week in 1958 was “To Know Him, Is To
Love Him” by The Teddy Bears
…55 years ago this week in 1963 was “I’m Leaving It Up To
You” by Dale & Grace
…50 years ago this week in 1968 was “Love Child” by Diana Ross & The Supremes
…45 years ago this week in 1973 was “Top Of The World” by
The Carpenters
…40 years ago this week in 1978 was “You Don’t Bring Me
Flowers” by Barbra Streisand and Neil
Diamond
…35 years ago this week in 1983 was “All Night Long (All
Night)” by Lionel Richie
…30 years ago this week in 1988 was “Baby, I Love Your
Way/Freebird Medley” by Will to Power
…25 years ago this week in 1993 was “I’d Do Anything For
Love (But I Won’t Do That)” by Meat Loaf
Not
exactly college football related, but there were four passings of note last week
– Bernardo Bertolucci, Stephen Hillenburg, George H.W. Bush and Ken Berry.
Bernardo Bertolucci, the Italian filmmaker
whose movies ranged from intense dramas to historical epics, died last week at
his home in Rome. He was 77. Bertolucci’s “The Last Emperor” (1987), a lavish
biopic of Pu Yi, who became the emperor of China at the age of 3, won all nine
Academy Awards for which it was nominated, including best picture and best
director. But his best known, and most controversial, film was “Last Tango in
Paris” (1972), starring Marlon Brando
and Maria Schneider. The film was
lauded by some and denounced by others. “Last Tango in Paris” received an X
rating, landed on the covers of Time and Newsweek and earned $36 million in the
United States alone. Bernardo Bertolucci
was born on March 16, 1941, in Parma, Italy. The family moved to Rome when he
was a teenager. Despite early success as a poet, Bertolucci chose to devote
himself to cinema.
Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of the
megahit Nickelodeon cartoon series “SpongeBob SquarePants” died last week. He
was 57. The cause was ALS. Hillenburg graduated from Humboldt State University
with a bachelor’s degree in Natural Resource Planning and Interpretation, with
an emphasis on marine resources. He then became a marine biology teacher at the
Orange County Marine Institute in Dana Point, California. This interest,
combined with his artistic talent and love of the sea and its creatures, led
him to write and illustrate stories as teaching tools. His characters would
later become the denizens of SpongeBob’s home – Bikini Bottom. In 1992,
Hillenburg earned a Master of Fine Arts from the California Institute of Arts
in Valencia. In the late 1990s, he began to work full-time on writing,
producing and directing the animated series that would eventually become
“SpongeBob SquarePants.” The first episode aired on Nickelodeon on May 1, 1999.
The series has aired 250 episodes to date. Hillenburg also wrote, produced and
directed “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie” in 2004. Stephen Hillenburg was born
on August 21, 1961, at Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma, while his father was
stationed there in the military.
George Bush, the 41st
president of the United States, died last week. He was 94. Bush served as
president from 1989 to 1993. Before that, he served as vice president under Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1989. Bush,
a Massachusetts native, joined the U.S. armed forces on his 18th birthday
and became the youngest naval air pilot at the time. He flew 58 combat missions
during World War II, including one where he was shot down by Japanese forces.
After graduating from Yale and venturing into the oil business, Bush jumped
into politics and became a congressman, representing the 7th Congressional
District in Texas. Later, he served as the U.S. ambassador to the United
Nations, Republican National Committee chair and CIA director. George H.W. Bush was born in Milton,
Massachusetts, on June 12, 1924.
Ken Berry, an actor and dancer who
played the affable and clumsy Captain Wilton Parmenter in the 1960s sitcom “F
Troop,” died on Saturday. He was 85. “F Troop” was on only from 1965 to 1967
but the show lived on and became very popular in syndication. After “F Troop,”
Berry went on to star in “Mayberry RFD,” a spinoff of “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Berry’s last television series was “Mama Family,” which aired for six seasons
beginning in 1983. He appeared in the movies “Herbie Rides Again” and “The Cat
From Outer Space.” He also made frequent guest appearances on many television
shows, including “The Golden Girls,” “Love Boat,” “Fantasy Island” and “CHiPs.”
Berry was born in Moline, Illinois, in 1933. He started out as a singer and
dancer.
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