Les Is Never More
So let’s work this one by the numbers.
1. Down by two scores, so you quickly get a TD with less than two minutes to play.
2. Successfully recover an onside kick.
3. 4th and 26, desperation play as the clock ticks down, pass to the five-yard line, one second on the clock
4. Field goal for the win… I MEAN, you have your QB spike the ball.
Brilliant. Because I guess Les Miles thought the clock doesn’t start on snap when he doesn’t want it to? We’ll skip the three paragraphs at what a mentally unstable, destined for a straight jacket, bonehead that man is, and let his decision-making speak for itself. Now, I was in New Orleans for about 48 hours before the game, so I’d like to think that my disdain for LSU wore off just a little and somehow contributed to the overall demise of Les “Let ‘er rip” Miles. Yes. Geaux Tigers.
If you’re curious about whether he really told his QB to spike the ball , start watching below at the 1:23 mark … Les’ story may say “no,” but the video says “yes.”
I got another number for you, Texas 51, Kansas 20. Ouch.
Or, do you like apples? Texas Tech 41, Oklahoma 13. How do you like them apples?
As the degradation of the Big 12 continues, Oklahoma is on pace for a 6 – 6 season, while the really “crazy” predictors had them at 8 – 4 this year, others had them in the title game, and yet crazier folks had them winning the title game. That’s a long way from 6 – 6, which is where the Sooners are destined to be after losing for the third time at home during Bob Stoops’ tenure at Oklahoma State. National title game to 6 – 6 in just eleven short months. Interesting.
Stanford was blinded by Roses and glory and forgot to win. With all the talk of Stanford’s rise to greatness (defeating USC and Oregon), the Cardinals slipped into euphoric Rose Bowl dreams while the Cal Bears came to town and took care of business. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
So either the Iowa defense is made of legendary player sure to go down in the college football hall of fame, or Minnesota’s offense is so horrible it couldn’t score on a Pop Warner team. How many tries does it take to score from the two-yard line? Apparently the answer is significantly more than four, as the Gophers proved so ineffective in the red zone it kind of made moving the ball those first 80 yards seem silly. It was actually painful to watch.
Florida and Bama beat up on FIU and Chattanooga, respectively. Good quality November football for sure.
Michigan managed to ensure back-to-back losing seasons – a feat not accomplished in Ann Arbor since the 1960s (RichRod bucking yet another tradition).
Don’t look now, but Temple is 9 – 2. Yeah, I didn’t believe it either.
Arizona took the Ducks of Oregon into double overtime before finally succumbing to a late-night field goal. The Wildcats also were in a position to grab some Pac 10 title, but as with Stanford, they forgot to win, which is what counts in any system on Earth, except, of course, the BCS .
Utah, BYU and TCU all took care of business. Army laid the wood to North Texas – yeah, that’s right.
Oh, and lookout. Apparently trick plays are now considered unsportsmanlike conduct in the Mountain West…
Ole Northwestern, that’s the “Stanford and Notre Dame are ok, but we’ve been kicking butt for years” Northwestern, wandered into Madison and showed the Badgers a thing or two about racking up a W, and not on a helmet, but where it counts … on the scoreboard.
And last but not least, when I was picking the games that Notre Dame would win and lose this year, I’m pretty sure their home game against UCONN was in the “W” column. Oops. Double overtime. Heisman candidate QB on one side. Big East record of 1 – 4 on the other. Let’s just say talent isn’t Notre Dame’s issue.
Parting Shot
As the year winds down and Texas, Florida, and Bama all keep winning, the Mountain West is poised to get shafted yet again. After Utah went undefeated and followed up with a good ole fashioned butt whipping of Bama in the Sugar bowl, the BCS apparently is incapable of learning any lessons at all, as TCU is likely destined to the same fate. The US Supreme Court tossed out discrimination decades ago, but it’s alive and well in college football.