Ten Thoughts on the Weekend in College Football
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1) Overall, this was a pretty terrible weekend of college football. The only game of any real national impact was the Cocktail Party. This was the first time since 1996 that the top three teams in the AP poll had the same weekend off. In essence, the top five were off because No. 5 didn't play and No. 4 played Wofford. There's nothing that can be done about it, it was really just a coincidence that the off week fell at the same time for everyone. Bad weekend for Mizzou fans on a bye though. This is when you want your team to be playing a game so you have something worth watching.
2) Speaking of watching, I sat in the stands for a college football game for the first time since Nov. 3 2001, when Missouri played at Colorado. It wasn't the most well played game I've ever seen, but Notre Dame/Virginia Tech was exciting. Virginia Tech is a slightly better version of Kentucky. Quincy Patterson isn't quite as good a runner and might be a worse passer than Lynn Bowden. Tech has a pretty good defense, though. At one point, Patterson was 4/17. He finished 9/28 for 139 yards.
But I wish everyone would have watched this game. Because the lesson it would teach is it doesn't just happen to your team. Notre Dame had four drives in the red zone that got the Irish zero points. Ian Book threw two picks and Notre Dame missed a 35 yard field goal. But the worst was the final drive of the first half. ND led 14-7 and really should have been up more. With 20 seconds left, they had 3rd and goal at the Hokie 1. Jafar Armstrong (yes, that one) went up the middle and a helmet hit right on the ball. It popped straight to VT DE Devine Deablo (top five name in college football) who ran it back 99 yards for a touchdown that tied the game at 14. VT then led for the first 29:31 of the second half.
Here are a couple of texts I got from a friend that is an ND fan who knew I was at the game:
"You are getting a full 'why I hate my favorite team' experience in South Bend"
"Ian Book is the worst player in America."
The Irish won when Book led an 18 play, 87 yard drive and capped it with a 7 yard touchdown run with 27 seconds to play. I texted my friend to ask "Still the worst?"
His response: "They are a garbage overrated piece of s--- program."
So, yeah, it happens to a lot of teams...and all of those teams' fans react the same way.Side note: I've wanted to go to a game in South Bend for 30 years. Worth the experience. And I don't even like Notre Dame.
3) Let's go back in time for a minute. Baylor didn't play all that well, but beat West Virginia 17-14 in Morgantown on Thursday night.