College Football’s Sunday Summary Is Making the Points

As we hit November, this week’s College Football Sunday Summary has schools proving points; sometimes our points that we have been making, and sometimes their own points that might have been getting missed.

Miami Doing Miami Things

We say it every year. Just when you think Miami has become reliable, they revert back to being the Hurricanes’ special version of reliable. Mario Cristobal is in his fifth year as head coach at Miami. His win percentage in August through October is 77.4%. In November and December, it’s 26.7%. Cristobal is a guy who hates to see Halloween end and November begin every year.

So the loss to SMU was foreseeable, right? Yeah, kind of. And they still have to play Pitt, and that is also in November. In case you haven’t noticed, the Panthers are pretty darned good.

Speaking of SMU

The overtime win against Miami was the Mustangs’ first win at home over an AP Top-10 team since 1974.

How did they do it? They changed quarterbacks. No, not really. But it seemed like it. Last week, in the last-second loss to Wake Forest, Kevin Jennings was 21 of 39 for 171 yards, no touchdowns, and one interception. Against Miami on Saturday, the same Jennings was 29 of 44 for 365 yards and a touchdown.

Cavs Making Their Point

In case you have not noticed, and too many have not, the Virginia Cavaliers are the only team in the ACC still without a conference loss. UVA got its first-ever win in the Pacific Time Zone with a 31-21 win over Cal. The Cavaliers were clinging to a three-point lead in the closing minute with Cal driving. But the Cavs’ Kam Robinson ended the game once and for all with a 35-yard pick-six. Virginia is now 8-1 overall and 5-0 in ACC play.

Numbers Making the Point

Can a freshman win the Heisman? Two redshirt freshmen have done it. Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston did it back-to-back years. Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin could be the third one.

Saturday in the win over Penn State, Sayin was an amazing 20 of 23 passing (87%). He had 316 yards and four touchdown passes. For the season, Sayin is an 80% passer, with 2,188, 23 touchdowns, and only three interceptions. His one bad game of the season was the opener against Texas, his first-ever start. He merely completed 65% of his passes for 126 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Longhorns.

Speaking of Texas

Arch Manning’s up-and-down season continued by going both up and down in the same game.

In the first quarter of the Vanderbilt game on Saturday, Manning was eight of 11 for 144 yards and two interceptions.

In the second quarter, Manning was all of four of five for 56 yards and no touchdowns.

Manning picked it up again in the third quarter by going 11 of 14 for 111 yards and a touchdown.

And then it was the ride back down in the fourth quarter, as Manning was two of three for 16 yards with no touchdowns. That coincided with Vandy outscoring Texas 21-0 in the quarter, and being just inches from recovering an onside kick before losing 34-31.

Manning lived an entire season in one game, proving our point that he has a long way to go before being “that guy.”

Conversion Points

Duke won at Clemson Saturday, 46-45. The Blue Devils were a perfect five for five on fourth down conversions. How did they have so many fourth-down attempts? Because they only managed to convert on three of 14 third-down conversions. Was that what kept Clemson hanging around all game? Well, the Tigers were three of three on fourth down conversions after being three of 10 on third down conversions.

Have we even seen a game where two teams were a combined eight for eight on fourth down conversions? Doubtful, and it is too early on a Sunday to go through the history of college football to find out for sure.

Getting to the Point

LSU had the week off. Governor Jeff Landry needed it. After personally firing Athletic Director Scott Woodward, maybe Landry is being fitted for a headset so he can call the plays at Alabama on Saturday. If you are going to be involved in the football program, dive all in.

And if you think this is strange, having politics and college football so intertwined, well, get acquainted with LSU. Have you ever noticed all the windows on the outside of the stadium? Think they are odd?

They are there because Tiger Stadium used to be only a 20,000-seat stadium. Louisiana’s larger-than-life Governor Huey P. Long wanted to boost the size of the stadium. So he ordered that the space within the stadium, under the seating, be transformed into dorm rooms. They were mostly for football players, but other students also lived there. By adding dorm living for another 1,500 students, Long found his justification for using taxpayer funds to increase the size of his beloved football stadium.

The Fashion Point of the Week