The Woodshed Week 3: School is session, and lessons have been learned

We have three weeks in the books for the college football season, and we’ve learned some lessons. Lesson number one: There were some teams way over-ranked in the pre-season.

Wisconsin was one of the teams I specifically spoke about. I was scratching my head. How are they a top-five team? Did the Badgers all of a sudden get this great offense and defense in the offseason?

The answer is no, and thanks to BYU’s 24-21 victory in Madison, we can all relive Dennis Green’s famous words:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmQbk5h86w

Seven of the 12 Big Ten teams lost in week three to non-conference opponents. Rutgers losing to Kansas and Nebraska losing to Troy were the “Um, you want to stay in the Big Ten” losses that made the conference look bad.

Akron beating Northwestern wasn’t as bad in my book. Akron likely would have beaten Nebraska had the game not been canceled. The Zips can play. The Big Ten West Division was never going to contend for the playoff anyway. It’s either Ohio State, Penn State, or even Michigan, if Harbaugh can get his team rolling injury-free.

FLORIDA BACK IN THE W COLUMN

A 48-10 win over Colorado State in the Swamp was a nice rebound after losing to Kentucky. I saw my friend wearing his little Blue Gator hoodie in the office today, so that must mean he’s feeling good about Feleipe Franks’ three TD passes. He has nine on the year, which matches his total a year ago.

Florida probably isn’t ready to be KING BEAR in the state quite yet. A win in Knoxville on Saturday will help the healing over that Kentucky loss. KENTUCKY, you lost to Kentucky. Reminds me of somebody talking about practice.

FLORIDA STATE ALREADY WEARING THE BROWN PAPER BAGS

Sep 15, 2018; Syracuse, NY, USA; Florida State Seminoles head coach Willie Taggart reacts to a call against the Syracuse Orange

Go ahead and raise your hand if you know FSU fans who already want to fire their head coach. NO, nobody is wearing brown paper bag in the cubicle forest quite yet, but the thought was discussed for one fella in the office.

Did you know there were eight, count ‘em eight, GoFundMe accounts set up to fire Willie Taggart?

The Seminoles lost to Syracuse for the first time in 52 years by a score of 30-7. Yes, there is more going on here than just being outmatched on the offensive line.

Clock management was poor at the end of the first half. FSU had the ball on the Syracuse 20 with 11 seconds left. Nyqwan Murray doesn’t get out of bounds after a catch and is stopped at the 11-yard line. With no timeouts, the ‘Noles just watch the remaining seconds tick off without a fight.

It’s one area that fans can point to about the coaching because it looked like they were not prepared for that situation. That and the fact that FSU had nine penalties in the first half, yes … nine! That’s a team that’s not playing disciplined.

The calls for Taggart’s job can chill for now. The Garnet and Gold are sitting well in the recruiting game with 4 top 100 players according to 247 sports:

The recruits themselves don’t seem a bit concerned that Taggart’s team is off to a slow start. If the kids jump ship, that will be the first sign that a change is needed at the top. But for now, the future looks bright.

UCF DIDN’T PLAY ANYBODY

The argument on whether (or, weather) or not UCF didn’t play anybody to keep their win streak alive is accurate. UCF was a victim of a hurricane for the second year in a row on their one and only big game vs a non-conference opponent.

Due to Hurricane Florence, North Carolina canceled the home game. So the Knights take their 15-game win streak up against the Lane Train of FAU, who are winners of 12 of their past 13.

The next step for both programs is to get on Florida, FSU, and Miami’s schedule so we can truly see who the King Bear is.

This will be a game for the Heisman campaigns of either FAU’s Devin Singletary or UCF’s McKenzie Milton. Both will be relied on heavily to earn the victory Friday night. UCF is favored by almost two touchdowns in this game, and it will be a high scoring affair. But I wouldn’t sleep on those boys from Boca.

THE BATTLE FOR THE 305

The Miami Hurricanes and Florida International Panthers have not played in 12 years. The darkest days of the rivalry happened in 2006, when a bench clearing brawl happened on the field and in the stands. The melee saw 13 players out of the game and was eventually collateral damage for Larry Coker.

Miami comes into the game with a 2-1 record, beating MAC opponent Toledo 49-24 in Northern Ohio. ‘Canes QB Malik Rosier was 13-of-23 for 205 yards and two TDs. Sophomore wide receiver Jeff Thomas had five receptions for 105 yards and a score. He’s emerged as their gamebreaker.

Fans of “The U” are more optimistic now that LSU knocked off Auburn; that 33-17 loss doesn’t look so bad does it? Spin it how you want; I’m not buying stock quite yet.

Butch Davis’ FIU comes into the rivalry game 2-1 was well, with the lone loss to Indiana. Though Panthers fans may think they have a shot in this game, Miami will always be the big brother in the city, and you won’t be knocking them off anytime soon.

COACHING MATTERS, PETER PAN

Perhaps Willie Taggart should read the following paragraph. The best highlight of the year happened with North Texas spanked Arkansas at home 44-17. Don’t get them confused for The Fighting Armadillos, that’s Texas State.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0zgO-bMeqc

The Mean Green punt returner Keegan Brewer caught the Arkansas punt as if it were a fair catch. It turns out the team had been planning this play for months, and there are a number of ways to foul it up. What if there’s a quick whistle, what if the refs missed the fair catch signal too and decided to blow the whistle dead? A number of factors go into this, all of which were properly planned out by special teams coach Marty Biagi.

What’s awesome about the story is the Razorbacks defender kept asking why the whistle had not blown. The sad part for North Texas is they wasted a great play in what turned out to be a blow out. It went for a score, and no doubt will be a play of the year contender. What I love most about it was that it took an entire team to be in on it and coached properly for it to go the distance.

We have some movement in the Woodshed Top 10:

#1 ALABAMA (3-0)

Well, if you listen to one network, they’d have six SEC teams as the top five teams in the nation. The only one that is legit elite is Alabama, and it’s because their offense is rolling with Tua Tagovailoa at QB. Tagovailoa has passed for eight TDs in three games, he hasn’t really played more than 3 quarters in a game.

Bama crushed Mississippi 62-7. It was never a game. And it’s not like the Rebels don’t have NFL talent on the roster, either. They do. The Tide host Texas A&M on Saturday, in what will be a better gauge as to how good this team is.

Oh, in case you’re excited to stay for all four quarters of every blowout, just wait till next year. The 2019 schedule was released and it’s a doozie.

I personally like the two bye weeks before their two toughest games of the year. Cupcake city!

#2 CLEMSON (3-0)

Sep 15, 2018; Clemson, SC, USA; Clemson Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) looks to pass the ball during the second half against the Georgia Southern Eagles

I know, I know. Clemson won and still dropped a spot. That’s the eye test! I normally favor strength of schedule, throw weight behind teams that have good wins. Clemson has one of the better wins of the season going into College Station and beating Texas A&M. I’m also a fan of the defensive line, which is filled with NFL-caliber talent.

Where I’m struggling with Clemson is the offense. Which quarterback do you go with: Kelly Bryant or Trevor Lawrence? Bryant gives you rushing yards and senior leadership; Lawrence is the young gun who will beat you with his arm. And since we’re talking about Lawrence, can we just start calling him Sunshine?

#3 OHIO STATE (3-0)

The Buckeyes traveled to Dallas and beat TCU in Jerry’s World, 40-28. Though the Buckeyes are loaded on both sides of the ball, the offense did sputter a bit inside the red zone despite averaging 4.3 yards a carry.

Ohio State did have 344 yards of offense, and TCU is a top-20 team, so there is nothing to be concerned about other than maybe suspect play calling. QB Dwayne Haskins has 890 yards and 11 TDs through three games, better than any other QB worth noting for the Heisman at this point. Only Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray is close, adding another 169 yards rushing.

The Buckeyes have things to figure out on at linebacker and safety positions, they are giving up too big plays to be elite. The defense took a massive blow with the injury to Nick Bosa, who is out until at least November. Bosa will have his name called very early in the NFL draft and is a menace up front.

Ohio State gets Urban Meyer back in his full capacity. He had a bit of PR to do on Monday.

Urban and his silver bullets face Tulane this week before heading to Happy Valley to face Penn State for all the marbles in the Big Ten and a possible playoff bid.

#4 GEORGIA (3-0)

The Bulldogs are hard to compare to anyone because the competition hasn’t been all that great. They beat Middle Tennessee 49-7 last Saturday. Georgia is exciting to watch when the ball is in the hands of Mecole Hardman. He’s the biggest game-breaker they have.

South Carolina was their toughest test in the SEC East, and I don’t expect Georgia to get tested until they face LSU and Auburn. We’ll keep a close eye on this team. A playoff with these top four would be fun to watch.

#5 OKLAHOMA (3-0)

Sep 15, 2018; Ames, IA, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray (1) runs the football against the Iowa State Cyclones

The Sooners are rolling with QB Kyler Murray. He threw for 348 yards and three TDs in a game against Iowa State that was closer than Lincoln Riley may have wanted (37-27 was the final score). The Cyclones were down seven late in the third quarter before Oklahoma added the field goal. Marquise Brown had 191 yards receiving for Oklahoma, which takes on Army this Saturday and won’t be tested until October 6 when it plays Texas.

#6 LSU (3-0)

If we went just on best victories and strength of schedule, then LSU is No. 1. LSU dominated Miami 33-17 and then came from behind to beat Auburn 22-21. LSU has two of the best stories in college football. Enter Cole Tracey, a kicker for Assumption College in Division II a year ago, now living his dream kicking for the LSU Tigers.

You can add being carried off the field to the dream as well, as Cole kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired. The 42-yard dagger keeps LSU’s playoff hopes alive in the SEC West.

The other great story is LSU graduate transfer quarterback Joe Burrow, who engineered the game-winning drive. Burrow’s numbers don’t jump off the stats page, but what does is his poise and the fact that he’s unbeaten as a starting quarterback. And as if LSU didn’t have enough fans, just so you’re aware, all of Buckeye nation is behind LSU as well.

The Tigers have Louisiana Tech up next before Ole Miss in two weeks.

#7 PENN STATE (3-0)

Ok, so Penn State went to overtime to beat Appalachian State in the first week. Since then, they’ve outscored opponents 114 -16.

It’s really tough to pinpoint how good this team is because Pitt is down and Kent State is an average MAC team. I love teams that have a great quarterback, and the Nittany Lions’ Trace McSorley is a great one. Trace accounted for five TDS and broke a PSU career record for most rushing TDs by a QB when he rushed for his 24th. The Lions head to Champaign to play Illinois before hosting Urban Meyer’s crew in two weeks.

#8 MISSISSIPPI STATE (3-0)

Dec 30, 2017; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs linebacker Montez Sweat (9) celebrates after a play during the first half of the game against the Louisville Cardinals

Again, it’s the Woodshed theory of a great defensive Line and veteran QB that will take you to the promised land. Mississippi has both in Montez Sweat and Nick Fitzgerald.

Sure, they have an uphill battle with LSU, Auburn, and Alabama in the division, but they are my sleeper pick in the SEC. They have outscored their first three opponents 150-26, and Kansas State is no cupcake. The Bulldogs go to Kentucky this week in what will be their best measurement yet.

#9 STANFORD (3-0)

Are they really better than Washington? I’m not sure at this point. They haven’t looked great so far, but they haven’t looked bad either in dominating an overrated USC team. Bryce Love was dinged up a bit, so we have yet to see what he’s really capable of this year. They face Oregon this week, so we’ll get a better idea as to “who we thought they were.”

#10 NOTRE DAME (3-0)

The Irish are probably not better than Auburn or Washington, either, and close victories over Vanderbilt and Ball State are not really resume-builders. But undefeated is undefeated, and the Irish have that going for them. QB Brandon Wimbush has thrown four interceptions this season. If he continues to turn the ball over, the season will be lost. Irish head to Wake Forrest this week, which will shockingly be another close game for the Irish.