CFB 2010 Week 13 Rewind: Blue Monday Edition

Nov 29, 2010

Wow!

Sorry for such a straightforward intro, but what else can I say about the wild holiday weekend of football we just experienced?

There were so many epic games, so many landscape-altering outcomes and so many monumental choke jobs over a 48-hour span that it’s difficult to pick a place to start describing it. But that’s what happens when you get a slate of games that was more intense than the new Harry Potter movie.

I guess the best place to start would be with the two biggest choke jobs, which also happened to involve two of the top four teams in the previous BCS poll. One team, Auburn, was the beneficiary of said gagging, as Alabama blew a 24-point lead and lost 28-27 in one of the craziest Iron Bowls on record. The other club, the Boise State Broncos, saw its two year unbeaten streak, and its spot in a BCS bowl, evaporate in a heartbreaking 34-31 OT loss at Nevada.

In that game Boise led the Wolf Pack 24-7 late in the third quarter, only to have Nevada come roaring back to tie the game at 24 with less than five minutes to play. After trading late touchdowns, the Broncos were poised to win when Kellen Moore found Titus Young for a 58-yard gain with two seconds left, setting up a 26-yard field goal for normally reliable Kyle Brotzman.

I guess you figured out he missed the chippie.

Not only did Brotzman shank the game winner, he also missed a 29-yarder in overtime, and shortly after Wolf Pack freshman kicker Anthony Martinez booted a 34-yarder, sending the denizens of Mackay Stadium into a frenzy and the blue Broncos back to the Humanitarian Bowl on their home Smurf turf.

Just hours earlier Auburn avoided a similar soul crushing fate, as one man hype machine Cam Newton led his lifeless team back from the brink of BCS Championship game elimination to stun the Crimson Tide nation.

Alabama played like the defending national champs for the first 30 minutes, with QB Greg McElroy dissecting the porous Tiger pass defense to the tune of 324 yards and three touchdowns as Bama built a 24-0 lead. But two Tide turnovers and a dropped touchdown pass shifted momentum Auburn’s way, and when Newton tossed a 70-yard touchdown pass to open the second half, you got the feeling there was something special happening for War Eagle at Bryant Denny.

Another Newton TD pass and a patented touchdown run sandwiched a measly Bama field goal, and when McElroy left the game with a concussion after a vicious sack in the final minutes, it was all over but the crying – and cursing – in Tuscaloosa.

Those two matches clearly dominated the post Turkey Day discussions, but there was plenty of other exciting action that impacted the polls and the bowls. Let’s recap the meaningful meetings, starting with a rundown of the new BCS Top 10:

Auburn (12-0) the win over their bitter rival on the road allowed Auburn to jump over Oregon into the top spot again, but it won’t matter if the Tigers don’t beat South Carolina in the SEC title game on Saturday; their dream season comes down to that one game
Oregon (11-0) another come-from-behind win, 48-29 over Arizona, for the Ducks did little to impress the pollsters, but their season comes down to one game as well. Beat in-state enemy Oregon State in the Civil War on Saturday and they are in the BCS championship game; lose and it’s yet another disappointing end to what could have been a special season
TCU (12-0) despite struggling early with putrid New Mexico, the Frogs overcame a sluggish strecth and the loss of starting quarterback Andy Dalton to destroy the Lobos, 66-17. Dalton will be back for TCU’s bowl game, which looks like a trip to Pasadena right now unless Auburn or Oregon falters
Stanford (11-1) quietly Jim Harbaugh and the Cardinal have climbed back into the BCS bowl picture, setting themselves up for a big payday following their 38-0 trouncing of the Beavers. But with Wisconsin and TCU probable for the Rose Bowl, Stanford might have to settle for a trip to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl, and Cardinal fans don’t travel well
Wisconsin (11-1) for the third time this season the Badgers dropped at least 70 points on a helpless opponent, this time torching Northwestern by the score of 70-23. Although it finished in a three way tie for the Big 10 title, Wisky will get the Rose Bowl bid thanks to its higher BCS ranking
Ohio State (11-1) the Buckeyes might not be going to Pasadena, but they should get a BCS at large bid following their latest dismantling of “rival” Michigan, 37-7. Not even their modern ‘throwbacks’ and a slew of unsportsmanlike penalties for celebrating scores could keep Jim Tressel and his Buckeyes from notching their sixth straight win in the Big Game.
Arkansas (10-2) the Razorbacks ended LSU’s run of miraculous victories with a sound 31-23 victory Saturday, and in the process lined themselves up for a spot in a BCS bowl and got quarterback Ryan Mallet back in the Heisman talk. Wooopigsoooey indeed.
Michigan State (11-1) pity the poor Spartans. Not only do they get left out of the BCS bowls due to their lower poll ranking, but they have to endure conference rival Wisconsin getting the Rose Bowl bid even though Sparty is the only team to have defeated the Badgers this season. Just doesn’t seem right, does it?
Oklahoma (10-2) don’t look now but everybody’s (okay, my) favorite punching bag is back in the BCS bowl picture after outlasting Oklahoma State and knocking them out of the Big 12 championship game, 47-41, in the latest installment of the Bedlam series. Should the Sooners knock off Nebraska in the Big 12 title game Saturday, they will be headed for the Fiesta Bowl
LSU (10-2) the party’s finally over, Les

OTHER GAMES OF IMPORTANCE:

-Florida State got a huge win for the program and for Coach Jimbo Fisher with a 31-7 beatdown of the reeling rival Gators. While the Noles notched their first 9-win season since 2003, Urban Meyer steered his team to its first 5-loss season since 2004 and his worst season ever as a head coach. The Noles will head to the ACC title game to play Va. Tech on Saturday, thanks to Maryland’s 38-31 win over NC State, while the Gators can look forward to a trip to their namesake bowl in nearby Jacksonville

-The Big East, which will automatically send its champion to a BCS bowl over other, more worthy candidates like Michigan State, Boise and LSU, is still up for grabs heading into the final weekend of the season. If UCONN beats USF Saturday, the Huskies are BCS bound. But should they stumble, either Pitt or West Virginia will “earn” the berth, despite all three teams having at least three losses. Sick, isn’t it?

-and speaking of USF, the baby Bulls went down to South Beach and, using a walk on freshman quarterback, knocked off the mighty Hurricanes, 23-20 in overtime. The loss dropped the Canes to 7-5 and got embattled coach Randy Shannon fired shortly after the debacle.

-Iowa, which was once ranked as high as #9, fell to lowly Minnesota on Saturday, capping an unbelievable free fall that saw the Hawkeyes lose three straight and four of six despite handing Michigan State its only loss of the season. Hmmm, maybe MSU’s omission from a BCS bowl isn’t so sad after all.

-Notre Dame ended an eight game losing streak to USC with a 20-16 victory in the Coliseum Saturday night, as both “proud’ programs finished up miserable 7-5 campaigns. Well at least the Domers will be heading to a bowl game, unlike Tosh Kiffin’s ineligible Trojans.

There you have it, a recap of one of the best weekends of the season in 1,500 hundred words or less. Barely. Next week the post should be a lot shorter, since the schedule is a lot smaller.

But with BCS bids still up in the air, and the top two teams facing must-win games, smaller doesn’t necessarily mean less important.