So hey, I’ve got some good news and I’ve got some bad news. The bad news is, a quarter of the college football season is over. That’s right, we’re 25 percent of the way (for most teams) to losing “I’ve got to watch the game, honey” as an excuse for not getting anything done on Saturday.
The good news? A quarter means you’ve still got 75 percent of the season to go, and last I checked math-wise, 75 is more than 25, so the sun’s still out and you have a lot of football left to enjoy. It’s been quite a year already, but some stories stand far above the rest. And here they are.
5. USC, Oregon, and Oklahoma are at different points of big trouble
USC has too much talent to be 1-3, and even if they’re 1-3, they need to look better in the process. They were completely non-competitive against Alabama, and then there have been varying reports of unrest between players and coaches. Could Clay Helton be out after one year? As for Oklahoma, they were the prohibitive favorite in the Big 12, but it’s reasonable to suggest they’d lose to Houston and Ohio State. But they were clearly outclassed in both. Then you’ve got Oregon, losers at home to Colorado at home with their backup quarterback. They look like they’ve fallen off the cliff quick, fast, and in a hurry from what we’ve come to expect with Oregon.
4. Alabama found a quarterback … and he’s a freshman
It’s nice that such a downtrodden fan base has the opportunity to finally get a promising freshman quarterback to give them hope going forward. We knew Alabama would be damn good on defense, but if you were going to get them, it was going to (hopefully, if you’re an SEC team) be on the other side of the ball, breaking in a new quarterback and workhorse running back. Nah. Jalen Hurts has been a revelation thus far, and a dual-threat issue to deal with (as if you needed Alabama to do something else well that they normally don’t). He has accounted for eight touchdowns and has thrown only one interception. Have fun the next four years as he improves, everyone.
3. The Big Ten is the best conference in college football
Remember when the world was shoveling dirt on the Big Ten? Well, something funny happened. Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer are now in the conference. Mark Dantonio has proven to be really damn good. And Wisconsin might be as good as or better than they’ve ever been. What it all rolls into is the fact that the Big Ten is once again your father’s Big Ten, which is the best conference in the land. The B1G has put together a host of impressive out of conference wins on very eyeball-demanding stages, and for a few of the teams, the only ones that look like they’re capable of taking them out are their own conference brethren.
2. The Fighting Irish are surprisingly not good
Notre Dame … by any reasonable man’s measure, at least a contender for a playoff spot prior to this season starting … is once again looking a lot more like the Notre Dame that made them starved for a guy like Brian Kelly to coach rather than a Notre Dame coached by a guy like Brian Kelly. Be it Bob Davie, Ty Willingham, or Charlie Weis, the Irish have screamed “mediocre” with spurts of success rolled in, but it was supposed to change with Kelly. This also doesn’t follow Kelly’s career arc, which has been historic success wherever he’s set foot. It’s a true oddity.
1. Les Miles out at LSU
Say what you want about the off field stuff or the on field/overall oddness of Les Miles the football coach, but under him, LSU averaged 10.4 wins per season in 11 full years. That’s not going to be an easy number to come close to, let alone fully replace. Yes, there were plenty of reasons to let Les go, but after four games when he clearly wouldn’t have been fired had they gotten a snap off a second earlier? Seems too convenient. What’s not convenient? LSU winning the SEC consistently has less to do with Les, and much more to do with Nick Saban existing on Alabama’s sideline.
