Tire Store Report -- MSU

That is a great job, Commissioner.  We were a little worried that Mississippi State had found something extraordinary in its new quarterback and with the physical and emotional toll of last week weighing on the team, the Crimson Tide might struggle a bit with the Bulldogs.  Silly us.

Those Grades are so good, that beat down was so epic, and next week’s opponents looking to be just a little outmanned, we thought we’d take a gander at the rest of what went on last weekend.

Seems like there is just one weekend every football season where there is a nationwide fog in the air.  You can’t really feel it coming on.  Sometimes it’s on Halloween and everyone blames that.  We think it is actually more common in November.  Whichever way, the upset miasma descends over college football and good teams with quality coaches and enthusiastic fan support suddenly go from thinking about conference and national championships to instead worrying about whether they were really as good as they thought.

We haven’t done much research about it; we sure haven’t done any, you know, math, but we just don’t recall a weekend where so many top teams (at least according to the polls) well, blew it -- at least outside of bowl season. 

By our count, five of the top 10 teams lost, including Texas A&M, which would have made the playoff if it had started two weeks ago, dropping its second game in a row to a team from Mississippi with a losing record.  Just in case you are counting:

#2 Clemson lost to Pitt (6-4), after being an 18-point favorite.

#3 Michigan lost to Iowa (6-4).  The Fightin’ Harbaughs were an 18.5-point favorite.

#4 Washington lost to USC (7-3), after being a 10-point favorite.

#8 Texas A&M lost to Mississippi (5-5).  The Aggies were a 20-point favorite.

#9 Auburn lost to Georgia (6-4).  Auburn was a 9-point favorite.

And while you are at it, #5 Louisville managed some late scores to make people not notice that they entered the fourth quarter losing to Wake Forest.  Wake has a good team this year, but they should not be beating the number five team (which is led by the current Heisman favorite) in the fourth quarter.  Ever.  In fact, the nation’s longest college winning streak came to an end when John Carroll (whoever he is) knocked off the Mount Union Purple Raiders who were riding a 112-game regular season winning streak in Division III.  Uh, no word on the betting line for that one.

(And ok, we did a little research.  It happens from time to time, like when we have to find out if there’s any way Pee Wee could get electrocuted putting tires on one of those fancy Tesla cars.)

So then how refreshing was it to see Alabama go out and take care of business in the dominating way the Commissioner described?  No upset in Tuscaloosa, except among the cowbell ringers who had a week long delusion that they were suddenly back to elite status.  The offense ran over through and around the Bulldog defense like a bunch of maroon highway cones.  The defense introduced the freshman quarterback to a defensive skill set that he had not seen against the Aggies from Texas.  (Though we admire his toughness).  This is a credit and testament who had the players ready to play the week after LSU and the players who came out and asserted themselves from the opening kickoff.

While we are at it, let’s take a look at the SEC East.  We’ll wait a minute so you can cringe.  Some seriously ugly stuff is going on in the other half of the conference, folks.  Florida controls its destiny and has a facially respectable 7-2 record, though the losses to Tennessee and Arkansas (by three touchdowns) make you question the Gators’ bona fides.  Next, they must beat a powerful LSU team in Baton Rouge on Saturday, in the delayed Hurricane Bowl (remember all that hoo ha? We are betting LSU does.)  If Florida should lose Tennessee holds the tiebreaker.  So, if the Volunteers can get by Missouri and Vanderbilt, they would represent the East in the SEC Championship despite losing three conference games in a row (Texas A&M, Alabama, South Carolina) and giving up nearly 600 yards of offense to Kentucky last Saturday.  Kentucky, y’all.  And we are talking about the good teams from over there.  General Neyland is whirling around in his grave.

No use worrying about any of that.  The next game is the important one because it is the next one.  The University of Tennessee (Chattanooga) Moccasins come to Tuscaloosa on Saturday.  As this past Saturday showed, you better not take anyone for granted.  We are also holding our breath that this is not the year that some reporter asks Coach Saban about Auburn, or the SEC Championship, or the election results, before the game, thus causing his head to explode.

Roll Tide, everyone.

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