College Football: Week 10 Pollsand Week 10 Opponents

We'll see the addition of the championship committee's rankings on Tuesday. In the meantime let's look at the polls from earlier in the season. Some changes happened with the loss by then #3 Ole Miss. The margin of victory also impacted a few team's placement.

This week we have a couple of games that will have ranked teams opposing each other and a few that could result in upsets. Should be a good weekend.

 Ranks on the left are those of the AP/Coaches Top 25/CBSSPORTS.COM 128 Polls as reported by CBSSports.com. NR = Not Ranked. The Committee’s report will be making their report Tuesday night.

1/1/1 Mississippi State (7-0) The Bulldogs will host the Arkansas Razorbacks (4-4). Rebels win.

2/2/2 Florida State (7-0) The Seminoles will head north to face the Louisville Cardinals (6-2) on Thursday night. Louisville. On Thursday night. Maybe. Unlikely, but it could happen.

3/3/3 Alabama (7-1) The Tide have his weekend off.

4/4/4 Auburn (6-1) The Tigers visit the #7 Ole Miss Rebels (7-1). Tigers will prevail in a very. Very close game.

5/6/5 Oregon (7-1) The Ducks host the Stanford Cardinal (5-3). Ducks. This isn’t last year.

6/7/8 Notre Dame (6-1) The Fighting Irish hit the road to play the Midshipmen of Navy (4-4). Notre Dame in a rout.

7/9/6 Ole Miss (7-1) The Rebels host the #4 Auburn Tigers (6-1). Tigers…barely.

8/5/9 Michigan State (7-1) The Spartans are idle this week.

9/8/7 Georgia (6-1) The Bulldogs host the Florida Gators (3-3). Bulldogs win going away.

10/10/10 TCU (6-1) The Horned Frogs visit the #20 West Virginia Mountaineers (6-2). TCU will need to discover a better defense than they have shown much of this year. Mountaineers win at home.

11/11/11 Kansas State (6-1) The Wildcats host the Oklahoma State Cowboys (5-3). They’re not perfect, but they are close. Wildcats.

12/12/12 Baylor (6-1) The Bears host the Kansas Jayhawks (2-5). Good way for the Bears to get back on the winning track.

13/13/15 Ohio State (6-1) The Buckeyes host the Fighting Illini of Illinois (4-4). The Buckeyes will take the fight out of the Illini.

14/15/13 Arizona (6-1) The Wildcats visit the #25 UCLA Bruins (6-2). Wildcats win this one too.

15/14/16 Arizona State (6-1) The Sun Devils host the #18 Utah Utes (6-1). Sun Devils win a close one.

16/17/17 LSU (7-2) The Tigers have this weekend off.

17/16/14 Nebraska (7-1) The Cornhuskers host the Purdue Boilermakers (3-5). Cornhuskers win.

18/18/18 Utah (6-1) The Utes are on the road to face the #15 Arizona State Sun Devils (6-1). Utes wil fall in a close one.

19/20/20 Oklahoma (5-2) The Sooners go to Ames to play the Iowa State Cyclones (2-5). Sooners are accustomed to Cyclones. They’ll win this one.

20/22/21 West Virginia (6-2) The Mountaineers host the #10 TCU Horned Frogs (6-1). The Mountaineers can pull this out.

21/19/22 East Carolina (6-1) The Pirates head to Philadelphia to face the Temple Owls (4-3). Yo ho ho!

22/21/23 Clemson (6-2) The Tigers are idle this weekend.

23/23/19 Marshall (8-0) The Thundering Herd have the weekend off.

24/24/24 Duke (6-1) The Blue Devils are on the road to face the Pittsburgh Panthers (4-4). Devils should win, but it will be close.

25/25/NR UCLA (6-2) The Bruins host the #14 Arizona Wildcats (6-1). Wildcats win.

NR/NR/25 Louisville (6-2) The Cardinals host the #2 Florida State Seminoles (7-0) on Thursday night. It’s Thursday in Louisville. Don’t bet against an upset.

My Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-3) have had a couple of tough weeks (Ohio State and then Nebraska) and it won’t get much easier this week as they host the (5-2) Wisconsin Badgers. Rutgers is going to have to stop the nation’s third best running games. Rutgers struggled in doing so against Nebraska’s seventh best rushing attack last week giving up long runs to Ameer Abdullah who amassed 225 yards rushing and scored three TDs (of 53, 48 and 23 yards) in a 42-24 loss to Nebraska. Wisconsin comes off a 52-7 rout of Maryland.

College Football: Week 9 Results

Then there were three--undefeated teams, that is. #3 Ole Miss got beat by #24 LSU while M#1 Mississippi State and #23 Marshall won their games and #2 Florida State was idle. That one lose, however, should make for some movement at the top of the polls.

More importantly, there will be a new poll taking over for the AP. The twelve person playoff selection committee will be releasing their first Top 25 list on Tuesday night.

Ranks on the left are those of the AP/Coaches Top 25/CBSSPORTS.COM 128 Polls as reported by CBSSports.com. NR = Not Ranked)

1/1/1 Mississippi State (7-0) The Bulldogs outlasted the Wildcats of Kentucky (5-3) 45-31. A 61-yard kickoff return with 2:22 remaining gave the Bulldogs a lead that was—finally—out of reach for the stubborn Wildcats. Dak Prescott rushed for two TDs and threw for a third while teammate Josh Robinson rushed for 198 yards and two TDs for the Bulldogs. Patrick Towles threw for 390 yards and two TDs and scored one TD on the ground for the Wildcats.

2/2/3 Florida State (7-0) The Seminoles were idle this week.

3/3/2 Ole Miss (7-1) The Rebels were upset by the staunch defense of the #24 LSU Tigers (7-2) 10-7. The Tigers turned the ball over four times—a factor in keeping them off the scoreboard for much of the first half—but the game was finally decided with 2 seconds left when Bo Wallace threw his first interception  of the year at the goal line. Ole Miss decided not to try for a 47-yard field goal that would have tied the game and instead put the ball in Wallace’s hands for a chance to win or, at least, get a little closer. Leonard Fournette rushed for 113 yards for the Tigers.

4/4/5 Alabama (7-1) The Tide rolled over the Tennessee Volunteers (3-5) 34-20. Amari Cooper caught TD passes of 80 and 41 yards on Alabama’s first two possessions. T.J. Yeldon and Blake Sims scored on runs of 1 and 28 yards respectively as the Tide jumped out to a 28-0 lead early in the second quarter. Tennessee would score 17 unanswered points to give their fans hope but that wouldn’t be enough. Cooper finished the day with nine catches for 224 yards.

5/6/4 Auburn (6-1) The Tigers outlasted the South Carolina Gamecocks (4-4) in a 42-35 shootout. Like a tennis match, these two traded scores throughout the first three quarters by which time it was tied 35-35. Nick Marshall then scored his third rushing TD in the fourth quarter to provide the winning margin. Marshall also threw for a TD. Dylan Thompson completed 29 of 50 passes for 4-2 yards and five TDs for the Gamecocks who came up short win the fourth quarter.

6/7/6 Oregon (7-1) The Ducks defeated the California Golden Bears (4-4) 59-41. Marcus Mariota threw for five TDs, again. He set a school record for career yards. He ran his string of pass attempts without an interception to 253. And he threw an interception--his first since the game against Oregon State last year. It was a pass that was tipped—twice. This being Oregon, they needed that offense, plus two rushing TDs by Royce Freeman (22 carries for 112 yards) and a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown by Charles Nelson as Cal did not fold. Jared Goff passed for 360 yards and two touchdowns for Cal.

7/8/7 Notre Dame (6-1) The Irish had this weekend off.

8/5/9 Michigan State (7-1) The Spartans drubbed their in-state rival, the Wolverines of Michigan (3-5) 35-11. Jeremy Langford rushed for 177 yards and three TDs on 35 carries, Connor Cook threw for a TD and R.J. Williamson returned an interception 29 yards for a score for the Spartans who had 446 yards net offense as compared to Michigan’s 186 yards.

9/9/8 Georgia (6-1) The Bulldogs had this weekend off.

10/10/11 TCU (6-1) The Horned Frogs routed the Red Raiders of Texas Tech (3-5) 82-27. Yes, the Frogs put 82 points on the board. Davis Webb (Texas Tech) threw for 230 yards and two TDs in the first quarter but then he threw and INT and fumbled twice helping TCU put points on the board. Lots of points. Webb finished the game with 300 yards but was knocked out of the game in the third quarter. Meanwhile, Trevone Boykin was completing 22 of 39 attempts for a personal best 433 yards and seven touchdowns and Jaden Oberkrom was hitting field goals of 45, 43, 47, and 27 yards for the Frogs. Add the ten extra points and Oberkrom scored 22 points—as the place kicker.

11/11/10 Kansas State (6-1) The Wildcats shut out the Texas Longhorns (3-5) 23-0. DeMarcus Robinson (50 yards and one TD), Charles Jones (49 yards and one TD) and Joe Hubner (46 yards); Jake Waters throws for 224 yards; no turnovers; and just 3 penalties for 25 yards. Your typical K-State game.

12/13/13 Baylor (6-1) The Bears did not play this week.

13/12/12 Ohio State (6-1) The Buckeyes defeated the stubborn Penn State Nittany Lions (4-3) in two overtimes, 31-24. Down 17-0 at the half, Penn State came back to tie the game on a mix of defense (Not only did they shut down Ohio State in the second half, but Anthony Zettel returned an interception 40 yards for a TD.), offense (Christian Hackenberg hit Saeed Blacknall for a 24-yard TD.), and special teams (Sam Ficken hit a 31-yard field goal to tie the game with 9 seconds left.). But J.T. Barrett ran for two TDs in over time (the first matched Bill Belton’s TD run for PSU) to put the Buckeyes ahead for good. Still it took a sack of Hackenberg on a 4^th and 5 yards to go play to seal the deal.

14/14/18 Arizona State (6-1) The Sun Devils beat the Washington Huskies (5-3) 24-10. With the score tied at 10 all in the fourth quarter, Taylor Kelly lead the Sun Devils down the field and threw a 7 yard TD pass to Gary Chambers to take the lead. It was Kelly’s second TD pass and Chambers’ only reception. Armand Perry finished the scoring by returning an interception 61 yards for the Sun Devils. Earlier, John Timu had returned an interception 63 yards for a Huskie TD.

15/15/14 Arizona (6-1) The Wildcats defeated the Washington State Cougars (2-6) 59-37 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score would indicate. Arizona put 24 points on the board in the first quarter starting with Davonte’ Neal’s 81-yard punt return. Anu Solomon threw for 294 yards and five TDs for the Wildcats. Connor Halliday leads the nation in passing and became the leading career passer in school history, but his 56 of 79 for 489 yards and four touchdowns (with two INTs) wasn’t nearly enough for a team that just can’t seem to muster any defense.

16/16/15 Nebraska (7-1) The Cornhuskers beat the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-3) 42-24. It was Ameer Abdullah Day in Lincoln. Abdullah had touchdown runs of 53 and 48 yards in the first half and opened the second half with a 49-yard run on Nebraska’s first play from scrimmage. He finished the day with 225 yards and three rushing TDs and had 341 all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving, returns). Gary Nova hit Leonte Carew on a 71-yard TD pass in the first quarter. Caroo finished the day with five catches for 127 yards but he would finish the game without Nova who left at the end of the first half after injuring his knee in the final seconds.

17/18/16 Oklahoma (5-2) The Sooners were idle this week.

18/17/19 East Carolina (6-1) The Pirates beat the Connecticut Huskies (1-6) on Thursday night 31-21 in a surprisingly tight contest. The game was tied 21 all at the end of the third quarter. Shane Carden Completed 38 pf 64 pass attempts for 445 yards and two TDs for the Pirates. Chandler Whitmer was 18 of 30 for 303 yards and two TDs for the Huskies.

19/19/21 Utah (6-1) The Utes slipped past the #20 Southern California Trojans (5-3) 24-21. Travis Wilson threw a 1-yard touchdown to Kaelin Clay with 8 seconds left to lift the Utes over the Trojans. After engineering last week’s double overtime win against Oregon State, Wilson’s pretty sure of starting next game. Utah’s Davion Orphey returned a fumble 53 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter and USC’s Adoree’ Jackson had a 100-yard kick return in the second quarter. Javorius Allen had 27 carries for 101 yards for the Trojans while Devontae Booker carried the ball 26 times for 102 yards and one TD for the Utes.

20/21/22 Southern California (5-3) The Trojans fell to the #19 Utah Utes (6-1) 24-21. See above for more.

21/20/20 Clemson (6-2) The Tigers edged the Syracuse Orange (3-5) 16-6. For the third time this season, Clemson scored just one offensive touchdown yet came away with the win because of a strong defensive performance. That TD came on a 19-yard pass from Cole Stoudt to Stanton Seckinger in the fourth quarter. Ammon Lakip hit field goals of 38, 18 and 41 yards for the other nine points. Two Cole Murphy field goals of 43 and 50 yards were all Syracuse could muster as they were held to just 170 net yards (88 yards rushing, 82 yards passing).

22/24/23 West Virginia (6-2) the Mountaineers unhorsed the Cowboys of Oklahoma State (5-3) 34-10. For the Mountaineers, Clint Trickett threw for 238 yards and two TDs, Wendell Smallwood rushed for 132 yards, and Dravon Henry returned an interception 52 yards for a TD.  

23/22/17 Marshall (8-0) The Thundering Herd took their time—they trailed 16-14 at halftime—but ended up drubbing the Owls of Florida Atlantic (3-5) 35-16. Devon Johnson rushed for a school record 272 yards and scored four touchdowns for the Herd. His TDs came on runs of 58, 62. 66 and 7 yards. BTW, last spring he was a backup linebacker, tight end and fullback. This preseason he was a backup running back whose job it was to protect the quarterback Rakeem Cato. In eight games, Johnson has now rushed for more than 1,000 yards.

24/23/NR LSU (7-2) The Tigers edged the #3 Ole Miss Rebels (7-1) 10-7. See above for more.

25/NR/25 UCLA (6-2) The Bruins edged the Colorado Buffaloes (2-6) 40-37 in two overtimes. UCLA led 31-14 going into the fourth quarter and saw it all disappear as Bryce Bobo scored twice on passes from Sefo Liufau and Will Oliver hit a 35-yard field goal with second left to tie it at 31. The two teams traded field goals in the first OT and Colorado went up by three in the second overtime period before Brett Hundley ran the ball in from 8 yards out to win. Hundley finished the day with 110 yards rushing and 200 yards passing and Paul Perkins added 180 yards rushing and two TDs on 19 carries including a 92 yard dash on the opening “drive.” Michael Adkins II had 107 yards rushing and one TD for the Buffaloes.

NR/24/NR Minnesota (6-2) The Golden Gophers fell to the Fighting Illini of Illinois (4-4) 28-24. The Illini jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead only to see the Gophers climb back to a 24-17 lead after three. Then C’Angelo Bentley returned a fumble 12 yards with 6:33 to play, giving Illinois a 28-24 lead they would not relinquish.

NR/NR/24 Duke (6-1) The Blue Devils had this weekend off.

Saturday Doings by Terry and Me

Terry's EGA Convention ended last night with their closing banquet. Today she successfully made her way from Phoenix to Anaheim today. She says she had to make one brief stop at a Shell station to have her two front tires looked at. The fancy sensor stems were leaking/cracked/broken. The guys replaced them with regular stems so she could get on her way and gave her the fancy ones to take to the Jeep dealer when she gets home. (Now she needs to get her oil changed--Monday AM at 8 AM.)

Other than that she says it was windy along I-10. Oh. And sunny. Lots of sunny. And hot. Very hot.

She and Jess will be going to the "Park" (Disneyland) tomorrow (Sunday).

******

I got outside again today (after watching Rutgers lose to Nebraska) and dug my trench in the garden. Windy and overcast, the temperatures--high 50s--were excellent for working outdoors. Since it was still light enough when I got done digging, I got the lawnmower out and went to work cutting the grass and mulching up the leaves. I'd get maybe five minutes of cutting before the bag was full and I had to empty it. I filled the trench and filled an area set aside for leaf litter and then some--and still have about half the lawn to cut--the flat half. I should be able to get that done tomorrow.

St Crispin's Day

October 25 is St. Crispin's Day, the feast day for St. Crispin and St. Crispian who were martyred back in 286.

It's also the day of the Battle of Agincourt (1415). It's this battle in which Henry V participated and employed the longbow to great effect.

William Shakespeare wrote of this battle in the play Henry V and put these words in the King Henry's mouth as the battle neared:

This day is called the feast of Crispian:

He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,

Will stand a tip-toe when this day is named,

And rouse him at the name of Crispian.

 

He that shall see this day and live old age,

Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,

And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispin's:'

Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.

And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'

Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,

But he'll remember with advantages

What feats he did that day.

Then shall our names,

Familiar in their mouths as household words,

Harry the king,

Bedford and Exeter,

Warwick and Talbot,

Salisbury and Gloucester,

Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.

 

This story shall the good man teach his son;

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remember'd;

 

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition:

And gentlemen in England now a-bed

Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Sunny Day! At last!

After several days dreary, overcast, foggy, and mizzling skies we finally got to see the sun at the Aerie today. Despite all the moisture in the air, we only had 0.15 inches of rain in the gauge.

I got outside this afternoon to do some work in the garden. Pulled the two tomato plants and then turned the soil in the 8' x 16' bed. Removed quite a few weeds from that area as I worked.

Tomorrow, I'll spend some time digging a small trench in that garden bed so I can compost the mulched leaves and grass clippings from the final cutting--which I will do on Sunday.

I've got to space these things out so as to not put too much strain on my back.

******

Speaking about my back.... Being idle the last few days hasn't helped. I probably should have gone to the mall or spent time on the stationary bike but I just didn't have the desire to do either.

Got a call earlier in the week from the neurologists office letting me know that the doctor would not be available on October 30th and they were going to move my appointment to November 5th. I told her I was hoping for an earlier date rather than a later one and she responded that if they get a cancellation, she would call me. *sigh* That's another reason why I haven't wanted to go to the mall. Do not want to get too far from the phone since they may not have my cell number.

Foggy Day at the Airie.

I woke up this morning to a very foggy day and it never burned off. The Aerie stayed in the clouds all day. When I went down the hill at 10 AM to fetch the mail, I did get below the clouds at around 1700 feet of elevation, but found myself reentering the cloud as I came home.

Terry asked if it was raining, I told her that it couldn't be "rain" since rain has to fall. This stuff was moving sideways and even up the hill. It was more like the trees, house and even the grass were acting as a sieve grasping the droplets of moisture from the air as they passed by.

A lot like these:

The Fog Collectors: Harvesting Water From Thin Air

 

College Football: Preweek 9 Pollsand Week 9 Opponents

We turn the midway point of the 2014 season with just four undefeated teams out of the 128 FBS teams remaining and although three of them are at the top of the charts only two of those three have any chance at all of going all the way. (#1 Mississippi State and #3 Ole Miss will play each other on November 28^th.) Currently ranked #23, Marshall is the Rodney Dangerfield of the group. Their (very) weak schedule will probably result in an undefeated season, but little love from the pollsters.

Ranks on the left are those of the AP/Coaches Top 25/CBSSPORTS.COM 128 Polls as reported by CBSSports.com. NR = Not Ranked)

1/1/1 Mississippi State (6-0) The Bulldogs are on the road playing the Wildcats of Kentucky (5-2). Look for the Bulldogs to continue their winning ways in a tough game.

2/2/3 Florida State (7-0) The Seminoles will be idle this week.

3/3/2 Ole Miss (7-0) The Rebels will play on the road against the #24 LSU Tigers (6-2). Ole Miss will handle LSU easily to remain undefeated.

4/4/5 Alabama (6-1) The Tide hits the road to face the Tennessee Volunteers (3-4). The Tide’s too much for the Vols.

5/6/4 Auburn (5-1) The Tigers host the South Carolina Gamecocks (4-3). Tigers will enjoy the company.

6/7/6 Oregon (6-1) The Ducks will go south to face the California Golden Bears (4-3). It is fall so the migration south is welcome to the Ducks. They’ll head north with a win when it’s over.

7/8/7 Notre Dame (6-1) The Irish have this weekend off.

8/5/9 Michigan State (6-1) The Spartans will host their in-state rival, the Wolverines of Michigan (3-4). Big Game” it used to be. Spartans win big.

9/9/8 Georgia (6-1) The Bulldogs will have this weekend off.

10/10/11 TCU (5-1) The Horned Frogs will host the Red Raiders of Texas Tech (3-4). Frogs jump all over the Red Raiders.

11/11/10 Kansas State (5-1) The Wildcats host the Texas Longhorns (3-4). Kansas State should easily win this one.

12/13/13 Baylor (6-1) The Bears will not be playing this week.

13/12/12 Ohio State (5-1) The Buckeyes will play on the road against the Penn State Nittany Lions (4-2). Penn State has been struggling to find and hold on to an identity. Ohio State learned its lesson against Virginia Tech. Ohio State wins this one big.

14/14/18 Arizona State (5-1) The Sun Devils head north to face the Washington Huskies (5-2). This will be a close but high scoring game. I think the Sun Devils will prevail.

15/15/14 Arizona (5-1) The Wildcats head north to play the Washington State Cougars (2-5). Washington State has shown it can score. Problem is it can’t stop anybody. Arizona.

16/16/15 Nebraska (6-1) The Cornhuskers will host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-2). Rutgers has the toughest schedule in the Big Ten. Last week it was Ohio State, this week it’s Nebraska and Wisconsin and Michigan State loom on the horizon. I want the Scarlet Knights to win. I dream of the Scarlet Knights winning. But reality is that they are not quite big enough on the line to go with these teams. Rutgers will beat the current spread (17.5 pts), but the Cornhuskers will win the game.

17/18/16 Oklahoma (5-2) The Sooners are idle this week.

18/17/19 East Carolina (5-1) The Pirates will be hosting the Connecticut Huskies (1-5) on Thursday night. The Pirates will win this one easily.

19/19/21 Utah (5-1) The Utes host the #20 Southern California Trojans (5-2). The Trojans will have to bring their A-game but they should win this in a close contest.

20/21/22 Southern California (5-2) The Trojans are on the road to face the #19 Utah Utes (5-1). Trojans.

21/20/20 Clemson (5-2) The Tigers will play host to the Syracuse Orange (3-4). Clemson’s colors include bright orange. It’s the only thing that will make Syracuse feel good. Tigers win big.

22/24/23 West Virginia (5-2) the Mountaineers head west to face the Cowboys of Oklahoma State (5-2). West Virginia is on the cusp of being an elite team in the Big 12. They may push the envelope in this one. Mountaineers shoot down the Cowboys.

23/22/17 Marshall (7-0) The Thundering Herd play host to the Owls of Florida Atlantic (3-4). Rollin’, rollin’ rollin’. Keep them doggies rollin.! Call it Herd mentality. Marshall in a blowout.

24/23/NR LSU (6-2) The Tigers host the #3 Ole Miss Rebels (7-0). Ole Miss gets a win in Baton Rouge.

25/NR/25 UCLA (5-2) The Bruins hit the road to play the Colorado Buffaloes (2-5). UCLA should win this one handily.

NR/24/NR Minnesota (6-1) The Golden Gophers will be on the road to face the Fighting Illini of Illinois (3-4). Gophers win.

NR/NR/24 Duke (6-1) The Blue Devils will have this weekend off.