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College Football  |  Bias against Clemson is embarrassing

11/25/2022

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KJ Henry and his Clemson teammates find themselves No. 8 in the CFP rankings -- behind a pair of two-loss teams, LSU and Alabama. The anti-Tigers sentiment, fueled by national pundits, frankly, has gotten way outta control.
​Pardon my luke-warm kudos to the talking heads for finally coming around.
 
By and large, those commenting about the College Football Playoff and the possibility of it expanding have held old-school beliefs close to their hearts: Don’t do it. Just leave four-team tournament alone. Opening it up to more entrants will just water down the product. We’re already seeing blowouts with just four teams in it.
 
Oh, and at all costs, keep Clemson out of it.
 
Not for nothing, but that – all of that – has been pitched almost since the CFP’s inception. If you weren’t a recognized blue blood by those on TV already biased from being products of blue blood programs or from genuflecting at them for decades, then you had no business being in there.
 
And no ACC team, not even a dominant one, would be worthy of such elite status.
 
Even with the words getting shoved back in the experts’ faces during a six-year run of Clemson in the CFP that included four title-game appearances and two national championships for the Tigers, and growing evidence that more teams in it would enhance the CFP, not to mention the regular season leading up to it, the geniuses stayed true to their BS.
 
Until this year. Now they all want expansion. It’s their weekly staple anymore. Every show, or discussion, linked to college football comes around to that.
 
Heck, maybe Clemson even would be worthy then.
 
But not this year. Good lord, no, not this year. Not with it still just four teams involved.
 
The pretzel logic surrounding that silliness knows no bounds. As the Tigers crept to an 8-0 start, the prevailing sentiment across the country was dread, especially as the prognostications started coming in that Game No. 9 – at Notre Dame – had, in the know-it-alls' own words, no chance of yielding defeat, that it likely would produce another Clemson win and, ugh, pave the way to yet another CFP berth for the Tigers.
 
Much to their surprise, and glee, the Irish did win, and win BIG. Ahhh, more fuel for them to fry Clemson.
 
Big surprise ... not.

Now, though, the hypocrisy has reached hilarity.

 
Just this week, in explaining the “failure” of the CFP, a system previously hailed vociferously by him, Joel Klatt, the “authority” of college football for Fox Sports, actually used one-loss Clemson being ranked behind two-loss Alabama (No. 8 to No. 7) as a problem with the CFP and its rankings. How that’s wrong and off and blah, blah, blah. Then, he showed his own rankings, and not only did the guy have Alabama (like the CFP, at No. 7) ahead of Clemson, but he moved up Penn State (yes, that Penn State) several spots to get between the two.
 
Does this guy even follow the sport, aside from covering Big Ten schools seemingly every week and kow-towing to SEC ones definitely every week?
 
Now Notre Dame, roundly viewed as a joke when it hosted Clemson, is portrayed as this omnipotent squad by Klatt is his ilk, so the No. 15 Irish potentially prevailing in Los Angeles this weekend will lessen the blow to No. 5 USC’s image.
 
Somehow, No. 6 LSU’s loss to Florida State also is seen as “better” than Clemson’s win over the same school – on the road, too, and not at a neutral site.
 
Look, the reality is, Clemson is not winning any beauty contest this season. Aside from a quarter here, a half there, a KJ Henry sack here, a Will Shipley hurdle there, it has not passed the “eye test" to be a shoo-in for anything.
 
But it surpasses the likes of LSU and Alabama on record and “comparison shopping.” Ignore reality all you want, but the Tigers have beaten five teams that were either ranked when Clemson played them or they are ranked now.
 
Put it this way, Clemson is a legit buy ahead of both as being worthy of CFP consideration this season thus far, and if the Tigers top South Carolina this Saturday afternoon and USC falls to Notre Dame that night, Clemson is worthy of – at worst – the No. 5 spot in the rankings, with the possibility of being higher depending on how No. 3 Michigan-No. 2 Ohio State plays out.
 
UPSET WATCH
With so many rivalry games this week, it stands to reason that we’re probably looking at a stunner or two. Maybe not so much Michigan-Ohio State or Oregon State-Oregon or Notre Dame-USC since every team in those matchups is ranked and clearly capable even to just the passing-interest fan’s eye.
 
But Tennessee-Vanderbilt, UCF-USF, and Auburn-Alabama, now if the Commodores, Bulls, or Tigers somehow managed to pull off the unexpected, if not unthinkable, that would be something.
 
Here’s the one nobody is considering: Dumpster-fire Texas A&M shocking LSU. Thing is, the stars seem to be aligning for that to happen. The Aggies have failed to live up to expectations in positively stunning fashion, so much so that Jimbo Fisher’s job seems to be in legit jeopardy even with an $85 million price tag that would come with his ouster.
 
But they’re hardly lacking in talent, they’re playing at home, and they’re facing a squad that has been pumped up by the national media over the last month it appears to be the perfect target for an ugly reality check – which, if that happened, would right the ship on the ridiculous possibility of a two-loss team making the college football playoff.
 
Frankly, Brian Kelly may have to pull off his motivational best coaching job this season to get the Tigers to avoid an upset.
 
3 AND OUT
- Todd Centeio began his college football career at Temple way back in 2017, threw for almost 3,000 yards last season at Colorado State and now finds himself ranked among the nation’s passing leaders as a super senior at James Madison, his third school in a well-traveled six-year span. He was never more than a gadget player for the Owls, but he was part of the last three winning seasons for Temple, which has had three losing ones ever since he left the Philly school.
 
- Interesting to see Delaware not only sneak into the FCS playoffs despite suffering a last-minute, 29-26 at CAA rival Villanova to fall to 7-4 on the season, but also snag a home game in the first round. The Blue Hens will host St. Francis on Saturday at 2 p.m. QB Nolan Henderson, a sixth-year super senior just like Centeio, has accounted for 31 total TDs this season for Delaware, which started 2022 at 5-0.
 
- After having his 100-yard rushing games streak snapped at 10 the prior Saturday, Illinois junior Chase Brown got back on track this past Saturday with 140 yards (and 2 TDs) on 29 carries in a gut-wrenching loss at No. 3 Michigan. Take note, the snap-streaking game … he rushed for 98 yards (and 2 TDs) on 23 carries. He leads the country in rushing with 1,582 yards.

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College Football  |  Oh, what could have been with CFP expansion

11/16/2022

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With luck and circumstance, LSU may find itself in the college football playoff this season. Had expansion already taken place, the Tigers would be poised to do some major damage, and perhaps bring head coach Brian Kelly his first national title at the FBS level.
… And then there were four.
 
When there really needs to be 12. Or 16.
 
If ever a college football screamed out, “it’s time to expand the playoff,” the current one is it.
 
There are just too many good, quality teams, many of them with BIG names, to remain limited to the current constraints of just a pair of national semifinals and a national final to determine a champion.
 
Imagine if we had a 16-team tournament, going off the latest CFP rankings. We’re looking a first-round matchup between the two programs that have dominated the sport the better part of the last decade: No. 8 vs. No. 9 Clemson.
 
Who wouldn’t want to see that? Especially if you’re hoping to hammer home the narrative the one of their dynasties is done.
No. 13 North Carolina, with Heisman hopeful Drake Maye, probably knocks off No. 4 Texas Christian.
 
Heck, No. 16 UCLA might even give No. 1 Georgia a scare. The Bruins actually have the talent on offense, led by their three-headed monster of quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, wide receiver Jake Bobo and running back Zach Charbonnet, to test the Dawgs’ vaunted defense.
 
Frankly, the only mismatch of the bunch seems like it would be No. 15 Kansas State against No. 2 Ohio State. The others – No. 10 Utah vs. No. 7 USC, No. 11 Penn State vs. No. 6 LSU, No. 12 Oregon vs. No. 5 Tennessee, and No. 14 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 Michigan – all appear like pretty good, and even, pairings.
 
Kinda seeing a quarterfinal round of No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 1 Georgia, No. 10 Utah vs. No. 2 Ohio State, No. 6 LSU vs. No. 14 Ole Miss, and No. 13 North Carolina vs. No. 12 Oregon.
 
Then the semis, No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 13 North Carolina and No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 6 LSU.
 
And the final, No. 8 Alabama vs. No. 6 LSU.
 
With the Tigers, in a stunner, beating the Tide for the second time this season, setting off another round of silly takes on Alabama and head coach Nick Saban’s demise.
 
Ah, just imagine … Brian Kelly, after so many years of being unable to get over the hump at Notre Dame, winning a title at the FBS level in his first year in Baton Rouge.
 
Pretty entertaining stuff – and all possible had the playoff expanded.
 
HARD TO FIGURE
North Carolina is 9-1, rising in the polls, currently on a six-game winning streak and already slotted to face ACC juggernaut Clemson in the upcoming conference title game next month in Charlotte, yet, the Tar Heels are kinda hard to figure.

Why? Well, aside from Florida A&M in the annual FCS season-opening sacrifice and Virginia Tech, they haven’t dominated anyone. Six of their victories have been single-score differentials, and they’ve trailed in the second half of their last four games before rallying.

Really, the only thing about them that isn’t hard to figure is their quarterback play – which has been outstanding.

Not for nothing, but redshirt freshman Drake Maye – up to this point – has had the best season in college football. He’s top five in every statistical category for QBs, leads the country in total TDs (34 passing, 5 rushing), and is cool as a cucumber, hence, UNC’s uncanny knack for comeback wins. He’s also the Heels’ leading rusher with 584 yards, averaging 4.4 a pop.

Whether UNC is a team to keep an eye on may be in question. Maye being a player (even a player in the race Heisman race) to keep an eye on is not.

UGH-MA MATER MATTERS
Both my schools – Temple and Illinois – took it on the chin this past Saturday, and not quite sure which hit stings more.

Sure, the Owls played – gulp – heroically on the road in Houston, led by quarterback E.J. “Son of NFL Hall of Famer Kurt” Warner’s 486 yards and 3 TDs passing, the last sparking the go-ahead margin of 36-35 with just 1:22 remaining. The problem is, the Cougars scored the game-winning TD just 40 seconds later.

Way to slam the door there, boys. Ugh.

Two weeks ago, the Fighting Illini were sitting pretty in the Big Ten West Division, looking about as close to a lock for their first trip to Indianapolis for the conference title game. But after back-to-back losses – at home, no less – to underachieving Michigan State and now Jekyll-and-Hyde Purdue, with a date at No. 3 Michigan looming this Saturday, and – AND – NCAA rushing leader Chase Brown likely out due to an injury suffered during a last-ditch drive to salvage things against the Boilermakers … Ugh.

QUICK HITTERS
- Clemson RB Will Shipley has two of the season’s best runs, the latest being an incredible, almost Matrix-like hurdle over one defender before splitting two others en route to a 25-yard score Saturday in the Tigers’ win over Louisville. Thing is, his roommate, Phil Mafah, had the better game (career-high 106 yards on 10 carries, one being a 39-yard TD).

- Nice to see the re-emergence of former powers of late. Teams like LSU, Notre Dame, Florida State and … Coastal Carolina. Even without their starting QB, Grayson McCall, who is out the remainder of the season due to a leg injury, the Chanticleers (the feel-good college football story in Year 1 of the pandemic) improved to 9-1 and jumped back into the polls after beating Southern Miss by a field goal.

- Remember when Syracuse was 6-0 and ranked No. 14 in the country? Me, neither – not after the Orange racked up their fourth straight loss, this time in embarrassing fashion to FSU, 38-3 … in the friggin’ dome.

- Kudos to Jim Mora and UConn. With Saturday’s 36-33 upset of No. 19 Liberty, the Huskies, in Mora’s first season as their head coach, earned bowl eligibility for the first time since 2015.

- Same to Vanderbilt for snapping a 26-game skid in SEC play.
 
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College Football  |  'Bama, Clemson dynasties done? Maybe one

11/9/2022

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Alabama's Nick Saban pleads his case with an official on Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La., where his Crimson Tide lost, 32-21, to LSU on the final play of the game - a two-point conversion by the host Tigers.
Full disclosure: Been a Clemson fan, a full-blown one, for a long time.

Long before Trevor Lawrence was even a glean in his parents’ eyes, before C.J. Spiller was born, before Brian Dawkins was drafted by the Eagles, before “The Fridge” became a household name among football fans, before the Tigers were winning their first national championship under a guy not named Dabo Swinney.

No, this guy was hooked on the Orange & White and the Paw and the alternate purple way back when All-American wide receiver Dwight Clark was hauling in passes from a guy not named Joe Montana.
So, what in the names of Steve Fuller and Danny Ford is going on here?

After losing – badly – at unranked, three-loss Notre Dame last Saturday night, Clemson finds itself on the cusp of being out of the College Football Playoff for a second straight season after earning a spot in six of the first seven CFPs.

Is it’s a run among the nation’s elite over? Are the Tigers in complete freefall?

Well, considering they’re 8-1 and slotted 10th in the latest CFP rankings, you’d have to hedge “probably not.”

But they may be. Especially compared to other longtime college football top dog Alabama as every expert and their “yes, man” sidekick getting ready to pull the rip cord.

Put it this way: The Crimson Tide has lost twice this season, in epic battles, against ranked teams, and longtime SEC rivals, on the final play in each game … by a total of four points combined.

The Tigers? They got smoked 35-14 by an Irish squad that just found its smash-mouth identity the week before in blowing out Syracuse, which, frankly, had Clemson dead to rites last month before RBs Will Shipley and Phil Mafah rescued the Tigers from the noose from which D.J. Uiagalelei once again had them hanging.

The casket being wheeled out for ’Bama is laughable. This isn’t just a team that won the 2020 national title in frighteningly impressive fashion, it also smashed even 2021 national champ Georgia in last season’s championship game (very convenient how most “forget” that when it gets in the way of the narrative). Kudos to the Dawgs for returning the favor a few weeks later.

And, again, it has lost twice by a grand total of four points. To two teams ranked in the top 7 by the CFP committee: Tennessee (5) and Louisiana State (7). Both times on the road.

Some pundits are actually floating out there that Tide HC Nick Saban may be losing his touch. You know, now being 71 and all.

Maybe. Maybe not. But if he were Swinney’s shoes, he’d certainly be smart enough to grasp that his best player – by far – on offense is Shipley, not D.J. or even his ballyhooed backup, Cade Klubnik, and would devise a game plan that featured the standout sophomore instead of focusing on propping up whoever lines up behind center.

OH, THE IRONY
For all those moaning for some team to take Clemson’s place in the CFP’s top 4, following last week’s rankings, and, frankly, bitching about the Tigers’ place in the national pecking order for, jeez, about 7-8 years now, enjoy Texas Christian’s soon-to-be short-lived run as a contender. Man, if you think Clemson wins all too often by the hair of its chinny chin chin, check out the Horned Frogs’ resume. No, really, check it out instead of just nodding your head in agreement when any talking-head clown on TV professes how TCU has the better resume than this team, that team, and especially Clemson.

Go ahead and count on reality turning ugly Saturday night when the Frogs visit No. 18 Texas.

STAY AWAY
It’s so easy to fall for No. 6 Oregon, with its speed and style and superb response to getting boat-raced by Georgia in the season opener for both. After losing by 46 in that one, the Ducks have won in alternating thrilling and dominating fashion – with QB Bo Nix conducting the proceedings.

The Auburn transfer has been brilliant, earning his spot – albeit an outside one – in the Heisman hype.
Thing is, he’s been brilliant before. A lot. But he always imploded at some point, in some game, usually a crucial one. And that’s likely going to happen again – because it always had in his previous four seasons as a college starter.

SET THE ALARM
The country seems to be sleeping on …

- No. 15 North Carolina, now 8-1, and its brilliant redshirt freshman QB Drake Maye, who has accounted for 35 TDs already.

- The powder keg brewing in LA with No. 8 USC and No. 12 UCLA looking the parts of Pac-12, and possibly CFP, contenders set to meet in a regular-season finale.

- The likelihood that both Notre Dame and LSU benefited from HC Brian Kelly leaving the former for the latter.

- Coastal Carolina, the darling of pollsters during the height of the pandemic, being – again – a damn good football team. Chants are 8-1 … but just lost QB Grayson McCall for the rest of the season with a foot injury.

- The fact that not only does the SEC (6) have more teams in the CFP rankings than the Big Ten (4), but so does the Pac-12 (5) … and the forever ridiculed ACC (4) has just as many.
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College Football  |  The time of year that Clemson ticks off everyone

11/2/2022

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Clemson head coach Dabo Swinner has his football team pointed in the direction of another playoff berth. The unbeaten Tigers, who visit Notre Dame this coming Saturday night, checked in at No. 4 of the initial CFP Rankings.
It’s not that the pretzel-logic isn’t prevalent from the opening kickoff of each college football season, it’s just that once the CFP rankings come out in Week 10 the mustard really starts to fly.
​
Pro or con, whenever someone wants to make a point, whether they’re a rabid fan of a certain program or a supposedly unbiased expert on some TV network, perception – or propaganda – often trumps reality.

Somehow Ohio State’s win at Penn State this past Saturday, a game in which it trailed in the fourth quarter, was more impressive than its principal rival, Big Ten connection or not, and fellow unbeaten Michigan was in completely dismantling the Nittany Lions two weeks prior.

Which is why the Buckeyes are the CFP’s Top 4  –  at No. 2  –  and the Wolverines are not.

Michigan fans can be comforted, though, with the knowledge that Blake Corum is being pushed for the Heisman – even though he’s the second-best running back in the conference behind Chase Brown of Illinois.

Some other narratives getting the overkill treatment: Georgia (No. 3 in the CFP) being unbeatable, Tennessee (No. 1 in the CFP) being a fluke, and Clemson being a pain in the y’ass to the whole CFP process. As usual.

Oh, Clemson, you rat bastard.

If it’s November, you can be rest assured that the Tigers are being picked apart for their good standing in the rankings. They check in at No. 4, and if they held that spot the rest of the way, they’d be playing in a national semifinal two months from now, with a chance to win their third natty since 2016.

Those crumb bums. How dare they …

The annual Clemson hate fest pretty much follows the same storylines just about every year: the Tigers are unbeaten, but they suck, because their conference sucks, and they haven’t played anybody.

And their presence in the Top 4 is royally screwing over some other squad much more deserving of that spot.

Snore.

Texas Christian is being pitched as the poor soul this time around, as stronger unbeaten due to the classic Rece Davis-speak “more impressive resume.”

Truth? Not gonna dismiss that TCU had a nice, four-week run of victories against ranked teams. It was nothing to sneeze at. But, if you’re really going to break it down, where things stand now, the Horned Frogs don’t have the better resume. Comparable, yes. Hell, the same, yes. Better? No.

Clemson rattled off wins against three ranked teams in a span of four weeks, and then beat a team that had been ranked the following week.

Only two of TCU’s victims are ranked in the CFP now – Kansas State and Oklahoma State, and the latter is a pretty shaky entrant with two losses in its last three games, including a 48-0 whiff at the former.
All three of Clemson’s victims are ranked in the CFP now.

Coming clean, if you asked me, Clemson has NOT been one of the four best teams this season thus far. Frankly, the opinion here is that’s largely due to the fact that head coach Dabo Swinney and offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter have failed to grasp that running backs Will Shipley and Phil Mafah are the keys to whatever the Tigers do with the ball.

Regardless, Clemson has not looked the part of a top-four team.

No, in order, these are the teams that have: Tennessee, Michigan, Georgia and Ohio State.

Wouldn’t have Clemson or TCU fifth, either.

Alabama – remember Alabama? – would check in there for me.

The one caveat? If Clemson wins out, beating a likely top-10 North Carolina in the ACC title game … yeah, it would be worthy of top-four standing.

QUICK HITTERS
Wonder what motivational speech Shane Beamer has for South Carolina after it entered the AP Top 25 last week for the first since 2018 and promptly fell out with a losing effort against mediocre Missouri.

How in the world does hesitancy exist as to whether Penn State should pull Sean Clifford in favor of Drew Allar at this point?

North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye is the best player no one is talking about … enough.

Ummm, anyone else notice the turnaround job that Jim Mora is pulling in his first year at Connecticut?

Considering what little respect the ACC and Pac-12 conferences have received over the years, it’s interesting to note that they – not the Big Ten or Big 12 – match the mighty SEC with teams ranked in the CFP. Each has 5. Both Bigs have 4.

Tulane, the most overlooked story of the season, and Central Florida, repping the American Athletic Conference, hold down the other two spots.

Wake Forest went all “Barry Switzer Era at Oklahoma: The Wishbone Crazy Years” with seven – that’s 7 – turnovers in a single quarter in losing at Louisville and imploding its top-10 status.

Quinshon Judkins, remember the name. Freshman RB for Ole Miss has rushed for 1,086 and 13 TDs while splitting carries thus far this season.

Super senior lefty QB Holton Ahlers already has 12,500 yards passing and 1,300 yards rushing in his East Carolina career, accounting for 111 TDs in the process. But now he’s doing the improbable, having the Pirates on the cusp of the Top 25 at 6-3 after directing them past Brigham Young this past Saturday
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College Football  |  'Cuse coaches give master class in how to lose

10/26/2022

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PARTNERS IN CRIME; Forget the complaints about poor clock management and bad officiating, these two (Syracuse offensive coordinator Robert Anae, left, and head coach Dino Babers) teamed up on Saturday to take down their own squad in a matchup of ACC unbeatens in Clemson, S.C. How? By failing to get the ball to their best player, 2021 All-American RB Sean Tucker. The junior only touched the ball 10 times (5 rushes, 5 catches) all afternoon in the Orange's 27-21 loss to Clemson.
Both big-time running back recruits. Both starters since their freshman seasons. Both among the best players in the ACC.

Sean Tucker and Will Shipley, each representing an unbeaten squad squaring off in upstate South Carolina this past Saturday, Tucker for No. 14 Syracuse and Shipley for host Clemson, ranked fifth in the country.

Their individual duel was poised to be one of the highlights of Week 8 in college football, if not the entire 2022 season. It was positioned to play the deciding factor in the outcome of the game. Certain to impact the course of the rest of the conference campaign. Maybe even give a preview of a terrific Heisman race next season between two ACC stars.


Only it never materialized.

Why?

Because one team gave its guy the ball, and the other didn’t.

Oh, Shipley showed up and answered the bell, even getting up from a potentially disastrous second-half fumble, to record his best day as a collegian, a day so good (172 yards and 2 TDs rushing, 53 yards on two kickoff returns, and another 17 yards on three receptions) that it earned him the Doak Walker National Running Back of the Week honors.

Tucker showed up, too. Only there was no bell to answer as the Orange inexplicably opted to use the jet-powered junior as nothing more than decoy for three hours on a glorious sunny afternoon. All told, Tucker got 10 touches (five carries and five receptions for a total of 72 yards and Syracuse’s first TD).

Utterly ridiculous. So much so it cost the ‘Cuse the game (Clemson won, 27-21, to extend its ACC home win streak to a record 38 games).

When Tucker saw the ball within the game’s last couple of minutes after seemingly going 90 minutes since the last time he had, ESPN announcer Sean McDonough (a Syracuse grad) sarcastically noted how it was nice to see Tucker “out of the witness protection program.”

Orange head coach Dino Babers and quarterback Garrett Shrader only made things worse post-game by saying that the Tigers’ defense had done things to take away Tucker. As someone who watches Clemson religiously, you can bank on the legitimacy of this call of “bullshit” right here.

No, what Babers and offensive coordinator Robert Anae did was the equivalent of San Diego Padres manager Bob Melvin not using extraordinary reliever Josh Hader in the eighth inning in Sunday’s Game 5 of the ALCS and then watching Shipley go all Bryce Harper in delivering the clinching home run, a 50-yard TD gallop.

Frankly, it was a fire-able offense for Babers, Anae … and Melvin.

Tucker can tweet all he wants that he was “PL34SED” with his effort … and really mean it. But he can be, and really should be, PO’d beyond belief at how underutilized he was against Clemson.

As Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney said, “We felt he was the one guy who could beat us.”

Too bad Babers and Anae didn’t know.

REDEMPTION TOUR
The continuing evolution of Bo Nix leaning more toward Dr. Jekyll instead of Mr. Hyde during his final season as a collegian, as quarterback at Oregon after a turbulent three-year run at Auburn, has been one of the better storylines in the sport, whether anyone cares to notice or not.

Following the Ducks’ disastrous depantsing at the hands of defending national champ Georgia in their opener, the guy has averaged better than 300 yards per game passing and running and accounted for 25 TDs. Oregon is 6-0 during that stretch, including this past Saturday’s 45-30 upending of previously unbeaten UCLA in which Nix was his best yet, throwing for 283 yards, 5 TDs (0 INTs), and running for another 51 yards.

OUT OF BOUNDS
Is there anything more hollow than a blowout victory for Penn State a week after it ended a blowout victory? This cycle is old and stale, James Franklin. Raise expectations against a soft schedule only to detonate them once some real competition arrives, then “salvage” something by rebounding against more softness … it just doesn’t hold any weight. Fortunately, 106K on fall Saturdays still don’t get that.

Aren’t the people ripping Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher now the same ones who previously raved about his recruiting prowess and touted how he had positioned the Aggies into being a real power of a program, the kind likely to challenge Alabama in the SEC, if not overtake it?

The only guy on ESPN’s College Gameday who knew Illinois RB Chase Brown was the nation’s leading ground gainer heading into games last weekend was Desmond Howard … really?!! Hey, ahem, “experts,” any idea who happens to be the leader entering this week? Hint: Nothing changed since last week.

Ummm, is this what everyone was talking about with returning “The U” to its past glory? Not for nothing, but Miami fans might be longing for the glorious mediocre days of Al Golden if things keep up as they have. Favorite son Mario Cristobal’s “Hail the Conquering Hero” return home, take 1, has the ‘Canes 3-4 at this point, with four losses in their last five games, including a 45-21 pounding at the hands of Duke. Yes, Duke.

WATCH OUT
Don’t look now but something special is going in the Carolinas. Both Mack Brown's North Carolina (6-10) and Shane Beamer's South Carolina (5-2) find themselves ranked in the top 25 (at Nos. 21 and 25) and riding current win streaks of three and four games, respectively. Both have schedules that will afford the opportunity to jump up the polls, too; the Tar Heels still have dates against No. 10 Wake Forest and No. 24 N.C. State and the Gamecocks against No. 3 Tennessee and No. 5 Clemson.
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UNC, if it reaches the ACC title game, likely would face Clemson, too.
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