Yay For Football!
If you are a football fan, you probably enjoyed yourself this weekend. Whether you are into the NCAA or NFL, there was plenty to watch. Close games, not-so-close games, upsets- all in all, a pretty good weekend for football.
I sure do love the sport of football, so I try and watch as many games as possible. If I’m home, there’s a good chance a game is on somewhere. My wife even gives me a hard time for waking up early on Saturday to watch College Gameday. But who’d want to miss the panel talk about the game, looking at the signs, and watching a fan kick a field goal and miss horribly, then saying “man, I can do that.” To which I insist on going to the local high school and trying to kick it. I never go, by the way. But that’s beside the point.
This weekend had some fun games to keep tabs on. Let’s look at what happened in college first.
Ohio State @ Texas
This game wasn’t really a game until it was. Going into the fourth quarter, the Buckeyes had a 20-point lead. They were showing why they were ranked number one. They were putting a hurt on the number four team in the nation. Then the fourth quarter .
came around. The Longhorns decided to Hook ‘em and put up 21 unanswered points. Texas was in control of the 4th quarter, holding the ball for 10:04 out of 15:00. The final touchdown didn’t come easy for the ‘Horns. They struggled to punch it in from the OSU one-yard line. Even getting lucky, recovering their own fumble with less than a minute and down six, to keep their hopes alive.
But they did it. With 25 ticks on the clock, they were able to get the ball over the goal line, then kicked the PAT and took the lead. Ohio State’s next drive ended in an interception, which would end the game. So, if you’re into the rankings of the top 25, you’d understand that wasn’t exactly a good look for the number one team. The voters agreed. The Buckeyes dropped five spots to number six while Texas jumped everyone to take the top spot. Seems good to me. But what really happened? Did Texas finally wake up, or did Ohio State choke like the Falcons in the Super Bowl? Sorry, Atlanta, I had to. You can’t really blame either side of the ball completely. Yes, the defense gave up three touchdowns and 236 yards in the fourth quarter alone, but to be fair, the offense wasn’t exactly pulling their weight either. A three-and-out, a seven-play drive that ended in a missed FG, and an interception. Not ideal. I’ll give some credit to the Longhorns, but I think it’s pretty clear both teams need to get back to the drawing board and figure some things out. Hell of a game, though.
Oregon @ Oklahoma State
Speaking of teams that need to figure out some things. What the heck is going on in Eugene? A week after narrowly escaping with a win over Boise State, the Ducks lost to an unranked Oklahoma State team. A Cowboys team that lost to Tulsa, a non-Power Four school, the week before and did not look good. I will give respect to Tulsa, though. They received 18 top-25 votes this week. Back to this week. Oregon’s lone touchdown in the first half was a long drive. It was insane! One yard.
Yep, you read that right. An interception set the Ducks up at the one-yard line, allowing them to run it in. Despite the lack of production, the Ducks seemed to keep it close enough to be interesting. The largest lead for the Cowboys was ten. It was a close game, but it probably shouldn’t have been. We’ll see what the Ducks do against a 0-3 Portland State team this week to judge just how “good” they are.
Oklahoma @ Michigan
Another close one. Not a lot to talk about. A bounce-back game for Michigan after their “win” last week against Western Michigan. But down goes the number 11 team in Oklahoma. Maybe Michigan can compete with the best. Maybe last week was a fluke. We’ll see this week. It was interesting to see how Michigan would respond to all of the media focus on last weeks game. They showed up and got the job done.
Now let’s look at the NFL.
Of the 15 games that were played (I’m writing this on Monday) this week, seven were one-score games. Makes for some fun games to watch. Being able to watch 4 games at once is both a blessing and a curse. Sitting in my living room, I watched eight games at once. The morning slot provided plenty of action. Here are a couple of games that caught my eye.
Chicago @ Carolina
I definitely didn’t see a 96-point game. And Chicago scoring 59? Wow. It is interesting; some could say Bryce Young outplayed Caleb Williams. Let’s look at it. Young racked up 361 yards with 3 TDs. However, he did throw one pick. Williams, on the other hand, threw for 269 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Williams did have 2 rushing TDs to Young’s 1. Williams did have a lot of help on the ground. Carolina couldn’t stop the run, allowing two 100+ yard rushers and 6 TDs on the ground (including Williams’ two). We’ll say this: it was at least even in the QB category. I’d be interested to see how the Bears do against stronger teams and how Bryce Young will perform moving forward.
Buffalo @ Houston
Buffalo survived. Their defense came up clutch with a strip sack to seal the game. But don’t forget, Coach Ryans has Houston’s defense doing great things. So, racking up 409 yards while getting 7.9 yards per play is respectable. The Bills do need to figure out some things in the red zone. Going 1-3 isn’t going to cut it in the long run. Give Houston their credit. Stout defense. The Bengals put up 33 points this week against Tampa. So it’ll be interesting to see how the Texans' defense does against Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase. Buffalo will take on Detroit, a team that survived against the Saints, and have a chance to put up some real numbers. We shall see.
49ers @ Rams
It’s pretty obvious I have to talk about the Niners, right? I didn’t get to watch most of the game, but it was nice to see the red and gold getting a dominant win. The Rams came into the season as favorites to win it all. I think the “experts” can calm down and reassess the Rams’ situation. They aren’t winning every game this year. Now to make things worse, their Superstar DE Myles Garrett is going to be out for a little while. The good news for them is that they are getting Aaron Donald back. Being out of the NFL and coming back can be tough. I really enjoyed watching him play, but I’m curious to see how it goes this time around. The Niners, on the other hand, looked pretty good. Mike Evans was a good pickup. I liked it when he was brought in. A good red zone threat and veteran presence. He knows what to do in those rough situations. Having Deebo back is a good thing. He scored a TD, and it looks like he is having a good time being back in San Francisco. A healthy SF team can be dangerous. That’s just it, though. Staying healthy seems to be a perennial issue for the Niners. It continued this year. Both Jake Tonges and De’Zhaun Stribling were hurt. Stribling will be out at least a month, and Tonges is out for an undetermined amount of time. Injuries are a part of the game. It’s time to adapt and adjust.
It’s good to have football back. I can't wait to see what this season will bring. With upsets happening all over the place already. Both college and NFL. It looks like this could be an exciting, unexpected season. Here’s to a fun year. Enjoy. And as always. Go Niners, go ‘Dogs (Fresno State), and go Vandals (Idaho)!
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