College Football Week 21 – The final chapter
Knocking on Heaven’s Door
“Mama, take this
laptop from me
I can’t use it anymore
I hate for this time to come every year.
It’s getting dark, too
dark to see
Feel like I’m knockin’
on heaven’s door”
The 2018 college football season is complete. I know, the
Clemson fans are still celebrating. Still partying. And rightfully so. But the
2018 season is finished. It’s over. It’s gone.
But it made its mark on history.
But it made its mark on history.
The only thing we can do now is wait for spring practice in
March. Wait for the preseason magazines to hit the racks in June. Wait for the
conference media days in July. Wait for fall camp in August. And most
importantly, wait for the 2019 season to begin on August 29. Who says I’m
counting the days?
“Knock, knock,
knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’
on heaven’s door”
Before we take a well-deserved rest. Let’s look back on the
season that was. It had its highs and its lows. It had its bright spots and its
dull spots. It had its winners and its losers . But among all else, it left us
with some thrills and some memories we’ll never forget.
During preseason the news was dominated by “Terpgate” and
“Meyergate”. In College Park, Maryland, Terrapin coach D.J. Durkin was accused of running an abusive program. The
accusations stemmed from the death of Maryland player Jordan McNair earlier in the summer. McNair died from heatstroke after
a workout. Accused of being verbally and physically abusive to players, Durkin
was placed on indefinite paid-administrative leave.
Meanwhile, in Columbus, Ohio, Buckeye coach Urban Meyer was also placed on
paid-administrative leave. Meyer was accused of lying about his knowledge of
domestic violence allegations against a former assistant coach – Zach Smith. The domestic violence
allegations occurred in 2009 at Florida when Meyer coached the Gators and in
2015 in Columbus after Meyer was at Ohio State.
Around the country, most seemed to think that Meyer should
be fired. Ultimately, an Ohio State investigation committee recommended that
Meyer be retained as coach but serve a three-game suspension – the first three
games of the season. The recommendation was upheld.
In Manhattan, Kansas, Bill
Snyder, 78, signed a new contract. The Kansas State coach received a five-year
extension, extending his tenure with the Wildcats through the 2022 season. But
all would change at the end of the season.
The Top 4 teams at preseason were Alabama, Clemson, Georgia
and Ohio State. Oklahoma was 7 and Notre
Dame was 14.
And in Rockledge, Florida, Rockledge Gator couldn’t stop talking about Will Grier’s wife. To say that he was infatuated with her was an
understatement.
In Week 1, the
Game of the Week was Washington vs. Auburn in Atlanta, Georgia. The Tigers beat
the Huskies, 21-16. UCF extended the nation’s longest winning streak to 14
games, as the Knights opened with a big win over Connecticut – 56-17.
Notre Dame got Jim
Harbaugh off to a rough start and LSU got Mark Richt off to an even rougher start. The Irish beat Michigan,
24-17, while the Tigers clipped Miami (Florida), 33-17. Florida State fans
weren’t happy with Week 1. Virginia Tech topped the Seminoles, in Tallahassee,
24-3. Texas got a jolt in its opener. Maryland downed the Longhorns, 33-29.
In addition to Florida State’s Willie Taggart, a couple more highly-prized debut coaches had
disappointing starts. Chip Kelly’s
UCLA Bruins fell to Cincinnati, 26-17, while Kevin Sumlin’s Arizona Wildcats were shocked by BYU, 28-23. But
Arizona State first-year coach Herm
Edwards got off to a rousing start. Edward’s Sun Devils beat UT-San
Antonio, 49-7.
Several games were delayed by weather during Week 1 and two
games were weathered-out. Akron at Nebraska and South Dakota State at Iowa
State were cancelled due to severe storms.
As a footnote to “Meyergate,” a member of Ohio State’s board
of trustees resigned in protest of the mild punishment handed out to Urban Meyer. The trustee believed
Meyer’s punishment should have been “harsher” and “more profound.” He wasn’t
the only one.
In Week 2, I
wrote that hell froze over. Why? Well, Kentucky beat Florida, that’s why. Yes,
after 31-straight losses to the Gators, the Wildcats beat Florida for the first
time since 1986. Kentucky won 27-16.
And it was frosty in Lincoln, as Scott Frost stumbled in his opener with the Huskers. Nebraska lost
to Colorado, 33-28. The Buffs scored with 1:06 remaining in the game to win.
The Game of the Week in Week 2 was a dud. Georgia beat South
Carolina, 41-17. Will Mustake
strikes again. In what turned out to be the Game of the Week, Clemson escaped
College Station, beating Texas A&M by 2 – 28-26. The Aggies rally came up
short.
In two other big games, Stanford downed USC, 17-3, while
Penn State rattled Pitt, 51-6. Herm
Edwards improved to 2-0. Arizona State edged Michigan State, 16-13. But Chip Kelly and Kevin Sumlin degenerated to 0-2. UCLA lost to Oklahoma, 49-21, and
Arizona lost to Houston, 45-18.
Rockledge Gator
went on a dear…..I mean…..deer hunting trip with Laura Rutledge. He was two-timing Jeanne Grier.
After watching the Week
3 games, I wrote that Alabama was going to beat Ohio State in the national
championship game. Little did I know then. But Bama looked so good beating Ole
Miss, 6-2-7, and likewise, the Buckeyes looked strong beating TCU, 40-28. How
could it not be Alabama and Ohio State for the national title? Oh well.
And how could Nebraska be riding a 6-game losing streak? But
the Huskers were after losing to Troy, 24-19. Scott Frost was still looking for his first win. Arizona’s Kevin Sumlin got his first win –
Arizona 62, Southern Utah 31 – but Herm
Edwards finally lost – San Diego State 28, Arizona State 21. Chip Kelly advanced to 0-3 – Fresno
State 38, UCLA 14.
In some other big games in Week 3, LSU beat Auburn 22-21,
Syracuse trounced Florida State, 30-7 and Texas upended USC, 37-14. Several
games, including West Virginia at NC State and UCF at North Carolina were
cancelled due to Hurricane Florence.
I asked Rockledge
Gator how was deer hunting with Laura
Rutledge. He said he didn’t go because he couldn’t decide if he wanted to
be in a deer stand with Laura or a duck blind with Jeanne Grier. Ultimately, he ended up in the doghouse with Bootsie. She sent him to the store to
buy lettuce and he came home with cabbage. I’m sure he had Laura, or was it
Jeanne, on his mind.
“Knock, knock,
knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’
on heaven’s door”
Week 4 was Take
Me Home Country Roads as Swamp Mama
and I hit the road for West Virginia to visit with a relative and friends and
attend the Kansas State-West Virginia game.
Our first stop was in Hurricane, West Virginia, for a visit
with Bill Thompson, a cousin I had
not seen in many years. After a couple of great days with Bill, we took a
circuitous route to Valley Head, West Virginia, via Buckhannon, Elkins and
Green Bank.
In Valley Head, actually Mingo, we visited Fred and Sally Adkins. Sally is an old acquaintance who, like my cousin, I
had not seen in many years. On Saturday, the four of us traveled to Morgantown,
where we watched West Virginia beat Kansas State, 35-6.
Our visit with Fred and Sally was perfect, but on Monday, Swamp Mama and I began our trek back to
Florida. There were some good games over the weekend and one strange one. In
Week 4’s Game of the Week, Stanford beat Oregon, 38-31 (OT). It was a game
Stanford should not have won but did due to so many mistakes by Oregon and so
much luck for Stanford near the end of the game.
Kentucky continued to win, beating Mississippi State, 28-7.
Alabama pounded Texas A&M, 45-23, and USC slipped by Washington State,
39-36. In the strange game, winless Old Dominion beat Virginia Tech, 49-35. The
Monarchs were 29-point underdogs going into the game.
Week 5 brought a
big surprise. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney
demoted his starting quarterback Bryant
Kelly. This after Kelly had led the Tigers to a 4-0 start. Kelly was
benched for freshman Trevor Lawrence.
Kelly announced he would transfer.
In an ironic twist, in Clemson’s game against Syracuse,
Lawrence was injured. Chase Brice
came in for Lawrence and bailed Clemson out of trouble. The Tigers beat the
Orange, 27-23.
In the Game of the Week, Ohio State won a thriller over Penn
State, 27-26. The Buckeyes rallied in the fourth quarter to win. Week 5’s other
big games saw Notre Dame beat Stanford, 38-17, West Virginia down Texas Tech
42-34 and UCF blast Pitt, 45-13. The Knights extended their winning streak to
17 games.
Nebraska fell to 0-5, as the Huskers lost to Purdue, 42-28. Scott Frost was still looking for his
first win as Nebraska’s coach. Chip
Kelly (0-4) lost again. Colorado beat UCLA, 38-16.
Three teams – Oklahoma, LSU and Kentucky – who entered Week 6 with a 5-0 record lost for the
first time. In a thriller in the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, Texas upset
Oklahoma, 48-45, in the Game of the Week. After the game, OU coach Lincoln Riley fired his defensive
coordinator Mike Stoops.
Then in The Swamp in Gainesville, Florida knocked off LSU,
27-19. Bootsie, Rockledge Gator, Swamp Mama
and I were in Gainesville for the game. It was one of the loudest we have ever
attended at Florida Field. The Swamp was full of emotion, excitement,
enthusiasm, nail-biting and noise. And, as always, our stay at The Laurel Oak
Inn in Gainesville was perfect.
Finally, in College Station, Texas A&M handed Kentucky
its first loss. But it wasn’t easy. The Aggies beat the Wildcats, 20-14 (OT).
In two other games during Week 6, Notre Dame downed Virginia
Tech, 45-23 and Miami (Florida) squeaked by Florida State, 28-27.
UCF extended its winning streak to 18 games, beating SMU,
48-20. John Gagliardi, college
football’s winningest coach, died.
Three more undefeated teams – Georgia, West Virginia and Colorado – lost for the first time in Week 7. Chip Kelly won for the first time, Scott Frost almost did and Jeremy
Pruitt got his first SEC win.
In Baton Rouge, LSU stomped on Georgia, 36-16. The game
wasn’t close. In Ames, Iowa State surprised West Virginia, 30-14. The game
wasn’t close. And finally, Colorado fell to USC, 31-20.
Chip Kelly’s UCLA’s Bruins beat California, 37-7. Nebraska
lost a nail-biter to Northwestern, 34-31 (OT), and Jeremy Pruitt’s Tennessee
Vols shocked Auburn, 30-24.
Trailing Memphis, 30-14, UCF had to rally to beat the Tigers
31-30. Alabama and Ohio State continued their winning ways. The Tide beat
Missouri, 39-10, while the Buckeyes downed Minnesota, 30-14. In a thriller out
West, Oregon downed Washington, 30-27 (OT).
Hurricane Michael, a strong Category 4/weak Category 5 storm
struck Florida’s northern Gulf Coast between Panama City and St. Marks, causing
destruction in its path. Michael moved northeast through Georgia.
Bowling Green fired head coach Mike Jinks.
“Mama, put these
notebooks in the ground
I can’t write in them
anymore
There’s a long, black
cloud comin’ down
Feel like I’m knockin’
on heaven’s door”
For the second week in a row, the No. 2 team lost. Last week
it was Georgia, In Week 8, No. 2
Ohio State lost to Purdue. And boy did the Buckeyes ever lose. Purdue pounded
Ohio State to the tune of 49-20.
In a battle of unbeatens, Clemson topped NC State, 41-7, and
Cincinnati lost for the first time. In Philadelphia, the Bearcats fell to
Temple, 24-17 (OT). Nebraska and first-year coach Scott Frost got their first win of the season. The Huskers downed
Minnesota, 53-28. Nebraska ended its 10-game losing streak.
In my favorite game in Week 8, Washington State toppled
Oregon in a thriller, 34-20. In the wildest game of the week, Old Dominion beat
Western Kentucky 37-34. Out West, Chip
Kelly beat Kevin Sumlin. UCLA
edged Arizona, 31-30.
Week 9 was a sad
state of affairs in the State of Florida – Florida, Florida State, Miami, South
Florid and Florida Atlantic all lost. Only FIU won. UCF was off.
At the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party in
Jacksonville, Georgia beat Florida, 36-17. Clemson plastered Florida State,
59-10. Miami fell to Boston College, 27-14. Houston dumped South Florida,
57-36, and Florida Atlantic lost to Louisiana Tech, 21-13. In the only bright
spot, FIU downed Western Kentucky, 38-17.
Three of the best games in Week 9 occurred in the Pac-12.
Washington State kicked 42-yard field goal
with 19 seconds remaining in the game to beat Stanford, 41-38. California
shocked Washington in a defensive battle, 12-10, and down 31-3 in the third
quarter, Oregon State rallied to knock off Colorado, 41-34 (OT). It was the
Beavers first Pac-12 victory in 14 games.
In two other big games, Kentucky beat Missouri, 15-14, and
Syracuse downed NC State, 51-28.
Ongoing since the preseason, “Terpgate” came to a turbulent
end in Week 10. After a two-month or
so investigation, James Brady, the
chairman of the Maryland board of regents, announced that football coach D.J. Durkin had been absolved of any
wrong doing. Durkin was to be reinstated as coach. The board of regents told
Maryland president Wallace Loh that
he would be fired if he didn’t reinstate Durkin.
The announcement sent shockwaves around the University of
Maryland community. Students, faculty and staff were outraged. Loh defied the
board of regents and fired Durkin. Maryland’s governor backed Loh. Board of
regents chairman Brady resigned.
There were supposed to be three big games in Week 10 – Alabama-LSU, Georgia-Kentucky
and Penn State-Michigan. But all three were flops – big time. Alabama skunked
LSU, 29-0. The Tide beat the Tigers for the eighth-straight time.
Georgia-Kentucky was a flop – big time. The Dawgs beat the
Wildcats, 34-17. Penn State-Michigan was a flop. The Wolverines pulverized the
Nittany Lions, 42-7.
What turned out to be the Game of the Week was West
Virginia-Texas. Trailing Texas 41-34, the Mountaineers scored with 16 second
remaining in the game to pull within one – 41-40. Rather than kick the extra
point to tie the score, WVU went for two. The Mounties succeeded, not once but
twice, and beat Texas in Austin, 42-41.
Nebraska gave Ohio State a scare. The Buckeyes held on to
beat the Huskers, 36-31. Purdue upended Iowa, 38-36, on a last second field
goal. In two other games, Oklahoma beat Texas Tech, 51-46, and Washington
slipped by Stanford, 27-26.
With help from the officials, UCF beat Temple, 52-40, and Kansas
fired head coach David Beaty.
“Knock, knock,
knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’
on heaven’s door”
Bootsie, Rockledge Gator, Swamp Mama and I were back in Gainesville in Week 11 for the South Carolina-Florida game. Actually, we
week-ended in Ocala for this encounter.
Late in the third quarter, Florida was trailing South
Carolina, 31-14. But the Gators rallied and beat the Gamecocks, 35-31.
Afterwards, I wrote that South Carolina coach Will Muschamp is still Will
Mustake.
Texas beat Texas Tech, 41-34, and Louisville fired head
football coach Bobby Petrino.
Week 12 was the
annual Cupcake Week. It’s the week before the last weekend of the season when the SEC teams and a few of the others
play absolutely nobody. I mean nobody. Some of the highest ranked teams in the
country were playing teams like Idaho, Massachusetts, Middle Tennessee, The
Citadel, Rice, etc. etc. Remember back at the beginning of the blog when I said
the season had its bright spots and its dull spots. This was one of the dull
spots.
In Week 12, the next to the last week of the regular season,
we all but knew who three of the playoff teams would be – Alabama, Clemson and
Notre Dame. What we didn’t know is who the fourth team in the playoff would be
– Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State or Michigan.
In some of the non-cupcake games, Notre Dame beat Syracuse
36-3, Oklahoma State rallied to beat West Virginia, 45-41, and Nebraska and
Michigan State played defense, with the Huskers winning, 9-6. Out West, Chip Kelly’s UCLA Bruins beat crosstown
rival USC, 34-27.
Lo and behold, Kansas hired Les Miles – that didn’t take long – but Colorado fired head coach Mike MacIntyre.
Week 13 was time
for family, friends, food and football. It was Thanksgiving Week. It was the
final week of the regular season.
Family: Princess
Gator, Bama Gator, Gator Gabe and Gator Babe came to spend Thanksgiving with Swamp Mama and me. Friends: In addition to family, we had six
friends over for Thanksgiving dinner. Food: From the turkey to the cold pizza,
what more can I say. Football: How about 59-56, 62-39, 41-14, 52-21, 38-13,
56-35 and 74-72.
Oklahoma beat West Virginia, 59-56. OU scored eight touchdowns
and a field goal. WVU scored eight touchdowns and no field goals.
Ohio State beat Michigan, 62-39. Yes, Jim Hairball coughed up another one to the Buckeyes. Hairball is
0-4 against Ohio State.
Florida beat Florida State, 41-14. The loss kept FSU out of
a bowl game.
Alabama beat Auburn 52-21. No surprises in the Iron Bowl
this year.
Vanderbilt beat Tennessee, 38-13. The win put Vandy into a
bowl game. The loss kept the Vols out of a bowl game.
Clemson beat South Carolina, 56-35. And would you believe
that after the game, Clemson fans were complaining about the Tigers defense?
They were.
And finally, the longest game of the season. After seven
overtimes, Texas A&M beat LSU, 74-72. The game began at 7:30 pm ET and was
still going at midnight ET. People were posting, tweeting and texting that they
made it to the end.
In two other games during Thanksgiving Weekend, Iowa kicked
a 41-yard field goal as time expired to beat Nebraska, 31-28, and out in apple
country, Washington beat Washington State, 28-15.
North Carolina fired head coach Larry Fedora and Texas Tech fired head coach Kliff Kingsbury. Swamp Mama
dressed in black went into mourning.
Week 14 was
championship week, as in conference championships – 10 of them. Among the Power
Five conference championships, two were close, one was boring and two were
blowouts.
The best of the Power Five title games was the SEC. Alabama
trailed Georgia, 28-14 in the third quarter. But with Jalen Hurts replacing Tua
Tagovailoa, the Crimson Tide rallied and beat Georgia, 35-28.
The second best Power Five title game was the Big 12.
Oklahoma revenged its mid-season loss to Texas. The Sooners downed the
Longhorns, 39-27. Kyler Murray put
on quite a show – a Heisman winning show. The OU quarterback was 25-for-34, passing
for 379 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The boring contest: Washington beat Utah, 10-3, to take the
Pac-12 title. The blowouts: Clemson 42, Pitt 10 for the ACC title and Ohio
State 45, Northwestern 28 for the Big Ten title.
Among the five Group of Five title games, UCF extended its
winning streak to 25 games, beating Memphis 56-41.
Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame and Oklahoma were the top four
teams, in that order, in the final playoff rankings. Georgia finished 5th
and Ohio State was 6th.
Kansas State coach Bill
Snyder retired. So much for that five-year contract extension he got at the
start of the season. Six more head coaches were fired. Kliff Kingsbury was named offensive coordinator at USC, and Mack Brown was named the new head coach
at North Carolina.
“Knock, knock,
knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’
on heaven’s door”
In Week 15, Army
beat Navy, 17-10. It was the Black Knights third-straight win over the
Midshipmen.
Oklahoma quarterback Kyler
Murray won the Heisman Trophy. Murray beat out Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for the award. Ohio
State quarterback Dwayne Haskins
came in a distant third.
And Touchdown Tom provided his predictions for each of the
bowl games.
In Week 16, the
first five of the bowl games were played. Of note, Fresno State beat Arizona
State, 31-20, in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Wow! Army 70, Houston 14. Fourteen more bowls were played in
Week 17 and Army’s win over Houston in
the Armed Forces Bowl was simply astounding.
Ohio State coach Urban
Meyer announced he would retire, following the Buckeyes’ Rose Bowl game
against Washington on January 1. Upon the announcement, Ohio State announced
that offensive coordinator Ryan Day
would be the Buckeyes new coach. Day had served as interim coach during Meyer’s
three-game suspension at the beginning of the season.
It wasn’t long after Meyer’s announcement, when Ohio State reported
that he would teach a “character and leadership” course in the college of
business at Ohio State. Character? Are you serious? Must be some course. Then,
a few days later, Meyer was named the assistant athletic director at Ohio
State.
Swamp Mama and I
drove to the Florida panhandle to spend Christmas with Princess Gator, Bama Gator,
Gator Gabe and Gator Babe. After Christmas, we returned to the warmer climes of
east-central Florida and more bowl games.
Speculation arose that backup Georgia quarterback Justin Fields would transfer.
In bowls of note during Week 17, Wake Forest and Memphis
went back and forth in the Birmingham Bowl. Ultimately, the Demon Deacons beat
the Tigers, 37-34. In the Quick Lane Bowl, Minnesota was too quick for Georgia
Tech. The Gophers beat the Yellow Jackets, 34-10.
The Texas Bowl was all defense. TCU beat California, 10-7.
And Wisconsin wiped up on Miami (Florida), 35-3, in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Week 18 was a
wild and turbulent week in college football. After their bowl-game disasters,
Miami’s Mark Richt and Houston’s Major Applewhite were shown the door. The
Hurricanes, meanwhile, didn’t waste any time, either. Within hours of giving
Richt the axe, Miami announced that Manny
Diaz would be the new coach of the Hurricanes. Diaz, of course, had just
accepted the Temple head coaching job 17 days earlier. Oh well.
The semifinals of the college football playoff were routine
– ho-hum. Alabama and Clemson easily dispersed of Oklahoma and Notre Dame
respectively. Although OU did give Bama a bit of a fight – eventually.
The Music City and Gator Bowls were similar to Army-Houston
in the Armed Forces Bowl. In the Music City, Auburn annihilated Purdue, 63-14.
Likewise in the Gator, Texas A&M destroyed NC State, 52-13.
In three other bowls of note, Washington State got by Iowa
State, 28-26 in the Alamo Bowl. Florida finally beat Michigan in the Peach
Bowl. The Gators won 41-15. And in a stunner, Texas hooked Georgia in the Sugar
Bowl. The Horns won, 28-21.
After only a couple of weeks on the job, Kliff Kingsbury resigned his post as
offensive coordinator for the USC Trojans to become the head coach of the
Arizona Cardinals. Swamp Mama
immediately became an Arizona Cardinals fan.
And as the season came to an end in Week 19, Clemson surprised most all, beating Alabama in the
national championship game. And beat them they did. The Tigers downed the Tide,
44-16.
“Knock, knock,
knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’
on heaven’s door”
So in the waning days – Week
20 – of the 2018 season, a few tidbits for the appetite. Troy and Temple,
the last two schools looking for new coaches, filled their voids. Troy hired
Kansas offensive coordinator Chip
Lindsey to be the Trojans new coach. Lindsey, who was the offensive
coordinator at Auburn this past season had more recently become the OC at
Kansas under new coach Les Miles.
Meanwhile Temple hired Northern Illinois head coach Rod Carey to be the Owls new coach.
Carey, 47, compiled a 52-30 record in 6-plus years at NIU. Now, Northern
Illinois has to find a new coach.
As it stands now, 26 schools will have new head coaches next
season – 11 Power Five teams and 15 Group of Five teams.
Backup Georgia quarterback Justin Fields announced he is transferring to Ohio State and will
start classes in Columbus this month. Under NCAA rules, Fields must sit out the
2019 season, as undergraduate transfers must sit out a year before they can
play. Fields, however, is seeking an appeal to get permission to play in 2019
based on a hardship clause. Fields was verbally accosted last year by Georgia
students who used racial slurs against him.
Several coordinators have made moves in the last few days.
Alabama co-offensive coordinator Josh Gattis
is leaving the Tide to become the OC at Michigan, while Alabama quarterbacks
coach Dan Enos has become the new
offensive coordinator at Miami (Florida) under Many Diaz.
Meantime, Steve
Sarkisian, turned down an offer from the Arizona Cardinals to be their
offensive coordinator to accept an offer from Alabama to be the Crimson Tide’s
new offensive coordinator.
Georgia offensive coordinator Jim Chaney is leaving the Bulldogs to become the OC at Tennessee.
Georgia, in turn, promoted its quarterbacks coach James Coley to be the offensive coordinator for the Dawgs.
Former Florida quarterback Kerwin Bell is leaving his head coaching position at Valdosta State
to become the new offensive coordinator at South Florida.
As I mentioned earlier, the 2019 college football season
begins on Thursday, August 29 – the first day of the five-day Labor Day
weekend. There are some potentially good games to look forward to on opening
weekend – Auburn vs. Oregon (in Arlington, Texas); Florida vs. Miami (in
Orlando, Florida); South Carolina vs. North Carolina (in Charlotte, North
Carolina); Florida State vs. Boise State (in Jacksonville, Florida); Northwestern
at Stanford; Utah at BYU; Ole Miss at Memphis, and Houston at Oklahoma.
On the tails of opening weekend, there are some good
encounters in Weekend 2 – LSU at Texas; Texas A&M at Clemson; West Virginia
at Missouri; BYU at Tennessee; Stanford at USC; California at Washington; and Nebraska
at Colorado.
By the way, the college football playoff national championship
game won’t be back on the West Coast again until January 2023, when it will be
played in Los Angeles. Next season’s championship game will be in New Orleans.
Then, Miami Gardens in January 2021 and Indianapolis in January 2022. Houston will
host the title game in January 2024.
There will be no more “We Want UCF” or “We Want Bama” signs.
UCF’s 25-game winning streak and Alabama’s 16-game winning streak came to an
end. Clemson now has the nation’s longest winning streak in FBS football – 15
games. The Tigers are followed by Army with a 9-game winning streak. Ohio State
is third with a 6-game winning streak.
And who will Jalen
Hurts be playing for in 2019?
Bootsie passed
along a good one the other day: “Did you hear about the Alabama championship
tee-shirts? Buy Tua, get one free.”
The time has finally come to put Touchdown Tom on the shelf
for several months. CFW is temporarily closed for business.
“Mama take the blogs
from me
I can’t post them anymore
It’s getting dark, too
dark to see
Feel like I’m knockin’
on heaven’s door”
Touchdown
Tom
January 14, 2019
Quotes of the Week
“I
felt like Otis Redding at the end of
the game last night, because I was sittin’ on the dock of the bay, watching the
Tide roll away,” Clemson fan, calling into the Paul Finebaum Show.
Tweets of the Week
“Will
Urban Meyer be Tim Tebow’s best man?”
“Is
Nick Saban on the hot seat?”
And
finally, notables from the football nation who left us during this past
football season included George Andrie,
78, Dallas Cowboys defensive end; Tommy
McDonald, 84, NFL receiver; John
Gagliardi, 91, winningest college football coach; George Taliaferro, 91, first African-American drafted by the NFL,
and Jim Taylor, 83, Green Bay
Packers fullback.
Also,
Dick Modzelewski, 87, NFL defensive
tackle; Wally Triplett, 92, early
African-American player for Penn State and in the NFL; Ron Johnson, 71, Michigan and NFL running back; John Rossovich, 72, USC and NFL
football player; Bill Fralic, 56,
Pitt and Atlanta Falcons offensive lineman, and George Welsh, 85, former Navy and Virginia football coach.
Touchdown
Tom
P.S.
Not exactly college football related, but
in mid-January as college football fans were putting the lid on another great
season and shifting their attention to college basketball, the number one song
in the country…
…75 years ago this week in 1944 was “Shoo-Shoo
Baby” by The Andrews Sisters with Vic
Schoen and His Orchestra
…70 years ago this week in 1949 was “Buttons
and Bows” by Dinah Shore
…65 years ago this week in 1954 was “Oh!
My Pa-Pa (O Mein Papa)” by Eddie Fisher
…60 years ago this week in 1959 was “Smoke
Gets In Your Eyes” by The Platters
…55 years ago this week in 1964 was “There
I’ve Said It Again” by Bobby Vinton
and “I Want To Hold Your Hand” by The
Beatles
…50 years ago this week in 1969 was “I
Heard It Through The Grapevine” by Marvin
Gaye and “Crimson and Clover” by Tommy
James and The Shondells
…45 years ago this week in 1974 was “The
Joker” by The Steve Miller Band and
“Show and Tell” by Al Wilson
…40 years ago this week in 1979 was “Too
Much Heaven” by The Bee Gees and “Le
Freak” by Chic
…35 years ago this week in 1984 was “Owner
Of A Lonely Heart” by Yes
…30 years ago this week in 1989 was “My
Prerogative” by Bobby Brown and “Two
Hearts” by Phil Collins
…25 years ago this week in 1994 was “All
For Love” by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart
and Sting
Not
exactly college football related, but notables from other sports who left us
during this past football season included Stan
Mikita, 78, Chicago Blackhawks player; Diane
Leather, 85, distance runner; Tex
Winter, 86, basketball coach; Willie
McCovey, 80, San Francisco Giants first baseman; Willie Naulls, 84, NBA player, and Mel Hutchins, 90, BYU and NBA basketball player;
Not
exactly college football related, but notables from the entertainment world who
passed away during the 2018 football season included Lorrie Collins, 76, rockabilly singer; Aretha Franklin, 76, Queen of Soul; Barbara Harris, 83, actress; Ed
King, 68, Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist; Robin
Leach, 76, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” host, and Neil Simon, 91, playwright and
screenwriter.
Also,
Carole
Shelley, 79, actress; Gloria Jean,
92, child singing star; Burt Reynolds,
82, actor; Bill Daily, 91,
television actor; Marty Balin, 76, singer
and founder of Jefferson Airplane; Charles
Aznavour, 94, French singer; Peggy
Sue Gerron Rackham, 78, the Peggy Sue of the song “Peggy Sue;” Scott Wilson, 76, actor, and Tony Joe White, 75, singer/songwriter.
Also,
Roy
Clark, 85, country music singer and musician; Bernardo Bertolucci, 77, Italian film director; Stephen Hillenburg, 57, creator of
“SpongeBob SquarePants;” Ken Berry,
85, television actor; Nancy Wilson,
81, singer: Sondra Locke, 74,
actress; Penny Marshall, 75, actress
and film director; Daryl Dragon, 76,
the “Captain” of Captain and Tennille; Dean
Ford, 72, lead singer for Marmalade, and Christine McGuire, 92, one of the singing McGuire Sisters;
Not
exactly college football related, but well-known folks from other walks of life
who passed away during the 2018 football season included Kofi Annan, 80, former secretary general of the United Nations; John McCain, 81, U.S. Senator from
Arizona; Paul Allen, 65, co-founder
of Microsoft; George H.W. Bush, 94, former
U.S. President; Herb Kelleher, 87,
founder of Southwest Airlines; Sylvia
Chase, 80, network television news anchor and correspondent.
