2019 Week 11
November 13, 2019
We had the game of the year, so far at least, at Alabama last Saturday. Whoo boy was that a real slugfest. So much for all those Bama/LSU 9-6 type games. 46-41 -- I haven't seen so much scoring in Tuscaloosa since Judge Moore's visit to the Northridge High School prom.
After the game the press reported that Coach Ogre had a few colorful things to say about Alabama, including what he'd like to do to people who say "Roll Tide". A good Cajun like Coach is sometimes tough to understand but I don't think anything was lost in this translation, especially after he followed it up by humping a stuffed red elephant then making a doody on the midfield stripe at Bryant-Hare Stadium.
With that the Bayou Bengals jumped to #1 in the BS rankings with Ohio State rated #2, which is ironic because LSU has a former OSU quarterback in Joe Burro. Meanwhile OSU has a former Georgia quarterback, Georgia has Alabama's former defensive coordinator, and Bama has LSU's former coach. I haven't seen so much incestuous behavior since the Royal Family's most recent cousins reunion.
The Buckeyes had a rather easy time with Maryland, winning 73-14. Ohio State was held to just 10 points in the third quarter so they will have some things to work on this week in their showdown with Rutgers.
The other big showdown of undefeated teams took place in Minneapolis of all places, as the Minnesota Golden Buffaloes had an exciting 31-26 win over Penn State. I got to watch the game with Minnesota legend Bronko Nagurski and to say he was fired up doesn't quite cover it. When Penn State made a late comeback he was throwing tables around and smashing bottles. Of course when Minnesota jumped out to a double digit lead Bronko was throwing tables around and smashing bottles. It's just something he likes to do.
Finally, as Penn State, trailing by 5 points late in the contest, drove into the Red Zone Bronko turned to me and said "I hope some of those kids who were victimized at Penn State grew up to be Big Ten refs". The very next play the refs called offensive pass interference on the Nittany Lions, greatly reducing their chances of winning and Minnesota held on for the victory. Bronko just laughed and said "told ya, Jerry's kids saved the day".
No, I do not know how JoePa felt about the game. I've been here for 7 years yet not only have I not seen JoePa, nobody here wants to talk about him or where he might be.
In a battle of expansion states, Western Kentucky blew out R Kansas, 45-19. The Hogs' loss was so embarrassing that they fired their coach Chad Morris after the game. I'm guessing they now regret giving the heave ho to his predecessor, Wisconsin legend Coach Butthead.
While they had the weekend off, Indiana is now rated in the polls for the first time in a quarter century. The Hoosiers have done very well with two fine quarterbacks, but I understand that one of them, Michael Penix, is now out for the year. That could hurt them in scrimmages as they will no longer be able to see whether Penix can penetrate the IU D.
We are starting to see some of the trophy games take place. Illinois pulled off a huge comeback to beat Michigan State at Chippewa Stadium. It's good for Illinois that they won because they were so confident going into the game that they glued the trophy, "Santa's Beard", to Coach Lovie's face.
In other trophy games, Notre Dame blasted Duke in "The Battle for the #2 Pencil". Tennessee held off Kentucky in Lexington to keep the coveted "Golden Tooth".
One of the other truly exciting finishes happened in Norman as Iowa State came within a failed two point conversion of upending Oklahoma, losing 42-41. Now I'm still a bit confused about these overtime rules, I thought teams had to go for two after TDs. I guess Oklahoma must have scored their final TD and kicked the extra point in regulation then, when overtime started with OU up 42-35, Iowa State scored and had to go for two. They didn't make it and the Sooners held on.
Next week features a lot more conference action and traditional rivalries like Navy at Notre Dame, Michigan State at Michigan, Georgia at Auburn, and Alabama State at Florida State. Looking forward to it!