Week 7 in college football as explained by The Who
It seems like just yesterday that the college football season started – those warm, late summer mornings giving way to evenings illuminated by the glow of stadium lights. It's hard to believe we're almost halfway into the season now, especially since there are still so many unanswered questions for so many college football teams. So, who better to recap the week's action and pin down the identities of these teams than, well, The Who?
The Middle of the Big Ten is completely up in the air: "Who Are You"
The Big Ten will be won by Ohio State, barring upsets that would allow Michigan to sneak in and win the East. Either team is more than capable of dealing with whatever the West throws them, and we've known that for a while. But apart from those two teams, things are completely up in the air. Yes, Nebraska and Wisconsin are ranked, but Nebraska looked vulnerable against a weak Indiana team. The Northwestern offense that struggled to put up seven points in a loss Illinois State just put up 54 on Michigan State, who now have four losses. Purdue, somehow, was able to score 35 points against Iowa. For fans of the Big Ten teams that are lingering in 3rd or 4th place in their division, games have been wildly unpredictable, since nobody really knows who these teams really are yet. (Who-who, who who).
It's time to start paying attention to P.J. Fleck and the Western Michigan Broncos. At 7-0 after shutting out the Akron Zips, and facing a back half of the schedule that is a lot less difficult than the front half, there is a very, very real chance that the Broncos end the season without a loss. It's a shame, then, that because they are in the MAC, they'll likely be overlooked by bowl committees. The Broncos are a truly great team that have been hamstrung by their conference and schedule (their best win came against Northwestern in their season opener) and they deserve better than the bowl they'll probably get. You can practically hear the Broncos fans calling out to bowl organizers to see them, feel them, touch them, and heal them, and rightfully so. Gazing at this team, I get the heat.
When Brian Kelly first signed that Notre Dame contract, it was more than a handshake then. But the fact remains, after they imploded against Stanford this past week, Notre Dame won't be able to find enough wins to make a bowl game. And now, continuing a trend that has been active throughout his tenure at the school, he has lashed out once again – this time at a Stanford coach. Now, to be fair, the coach did utter a patronizing "bye bye" to Kelly that prompted a heated exchange between the two, but regardless, Kelly is systematically alienating everyone around him. This is great for people like me who hate Notre Dame, but not so great for Notre Dame fans, since Kelly seems to be yelling incoherently instead of actually identifying problems and solving them through coaching. At some point, Kelly will be left with nobody to blame for the team's failures but himself, and then he'll learn the brutal truth of how many friends he has really got.
Nobody would be surprised if you told them last year that Alabama would be No. 1 in the country after 7 weeks of play. But they might be surprised if you told them specifically how they did it. They have played only one game that was decided by less than three scores, a 48-43 contest over Ole Miss. Their next closest game was a 19 point win over Arkansas. And just last week, they took down a strong Tennessee Volunteers squad by a score of 49-10. Alabama does head into a more difficult schedule starting next week against Texas A&M, but the fact remains that already, there isn't a single team in the country that seems ready to keep the Crimson Tide from rolling on to another title. At this point, they're the face, and the rest of the league are just third class tickets by them.
Kirby Smart's seat is setting uncomfortably warm already: "Won't Get Fooled Again"
After a humiliating loss to Vanderbilt (at home, no less!), Bulldogs fans are already having second thoughts about Kirby Smart. This isn't a "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" situation, unfortunately. At 4-3, and with Florida and Auburn still on the schedule, it'll be tough for Smart to put together a season that will satisfy fans and faculty. But no matter how the season actually ends, Georgia would be wise to give Smart some time to succeed, despite the pressure. Sure, there's no chance Smart gets fired before next season starts, but in order to improve this Bulldogs team from a coaching standpoint, Georgia's going to need to smile and grin at the change all around for a bit, and give Smart a chance to succeed. They know firsthand what happens when people decide that a change has to come – the world looks just the same, and history doesn't change. In fact, it gets worse.
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