Coach Mangino must hate his job…

Hot: Starting with a bang!

Just when it looked like Titus Young was going to fumble the opening kickoff and give Nevada an easy first score, he picked up the ball and ran it all the way back for a thrilling Bronco touchdown and statement about just who is the best team in the WAC. As usual, the Broncos stomped the Wolfpack (ten times straight now) and clinched the WAC title. Ho hum….just another day in Bronco Nation. Business as usual. Beyond the weather and the terrible officiating (see below) the only down point in this game was all the injuries. Thankfully they were mostly minor and everybody should have time to heal before a bowl appearance (and can rest up next week against NMSU). I think I might ask Coach Pete if I can fill in for anyone…shouldn’t really make much of a difference.

Not: Six blind zebras, six blind zebras, see how they run (for their lives after the game)

Um. Was it just me, or did the refs in the BSU/Nevada matchup really blow? I sure hope they got fined or egged or SOMEthing. If you missed it, here is a recap of some of the excellent calls they made in the freezing cold, rainy WAC championship-deciding game. Super Call #1: Defensive holding on an ineligible receiver. Yeah…whatever that is. I didn’t even know there were defensive receivers. Did you? Super Call #2: Pass Interference on a defender two yards ahead of the intended receiver, who fell down. Super Call #3: Giving the ball to Nevada after a questionable fumble during which Nevada picked up the ball after the play was blown dead. Fumble or no fumble, I’m pretty sure when a play is blown dead, everything that happens after that does not count. It’s like having something stricken from the record in court. Super NON Call #4: Not flagging the Wolfpack when the ENTIRE team came out on the field during an official review, instigating a chant from the stands of “Get off our field. Get off our field.” And in all seriousness, Nevada should throw a party for whichever booster slid those refs some cash money under the table before the game! Without the excellent officiating, Nevada wouldn’t have been in the game at all.

Hot: WAC losers win!

Both games may have been decided by three little points, but this weekend, Utah State took down Idaho to get their fourth win of the season, and San Jose State took down New Mexico State to get their second. Utah State may not have a lot of W’s on the board this season, but they are stepping up their game, and I like to see them come out on top sometimes! In fact, I would be thrilled to see the Aggies go to a bowl game next year! And San Jose State is just so sad this year. Their coach is out and their only other win came against Cal Poly. It’s nice that they had a little something to celebrate about this Thanksgiving weekend.

Not: Passing Time

Just for a second, put on your coaching hat and tell me what you would call in this situation: you are deep in your own territory, so deep you are snapping in your end zone, with 2.5 minutes left in the game and you are up by three points. What’s the call? I am willing to bet it wasn’t to try three passing plays in a row. More likely you dialed up some run plays to take time off the clock and keep control off the ball. Yet, for some reason Coach Mangino’s staff thought that was the right thing to do in the end of their matchup against Mizzou Saturday. So, after running about 10 seconds off the clock on downs 1 and 2, the Mizzou defense sacked the qb in the end zone to get a safety and the ball with, yes, more than two minutes and a timeout to play with. Needless to say, they got a field goal and the win, and solidified Coach Mangino’s need to send out resumes.

Hot: Running all over your rivals

Georgia may be having a questionable season, but they still had more than enough in the playbook to trample the Yellow Jackets on the road Saturday. The Bulldogs might not have been able to crush Tech’s chances at a conference title, but they definitely did some damage to their place in the rankings. Plus, it’s just good fun to beat a rival on their turf, no matter the circumstances!

Not: Farewell Florida’s Football God

Lame as it may be, I actually got misty eyed watching Tebow’s last snaps in the swamp. The stadium was a glittering sea of flashes from cameras capturing these final moments of a great leader at home. Can you imagine a Gator team without him at the helm? Has there been another player in recent history who has had such an impact, such a dominant presence, such a following among all college football fans? It is a little bit sad to see it all end. Two more games and Tebow’s college football career will be complete.

Hot: Paybacks

Okay, we all know Rice is just plain awful, but even they must have been ashamed of their showing against Houston this week. The Cougars scored 59 points in the first half, for heaven’s sake! So much for the Owl’s hopes for a repeat of last year’s dream crushing performance against Houston. I’m pretty sure Most of the Cougar’s grandpas were out there playing the second half of the game, and they still couldn’t help but put more points up. The most scored by any team this season; 73 in all.

Not: One really is the loneliest number

There may be six undefeated teams left as we close out November, but there is not even ONE one-loss team out there. There are a few one-win teams left. And a few one-conference-loss teams. But no overall records with one loss. Not sure if this is a reflection of parity in college football, or just the overall suckiosity of the majority of teams this season.

Oh no! You still suck!

(or so said the sign held up by Bronco fans late in the game against Idaho)

Hot: EVERY SINGLE BRONCO!

Seriously, where do you even begin to start handing out gold stars for Saturday’s performance? EVERY Bronco was outstanding. But since I love them, I’m gonna go ahead and give awards to everyone. Will the following Broncos step up to the mic and make an acceptance speech? Kellen Moore, who threw for 299 yards and five touchdown passes. Titus Young, who had a 100-yard kickoff return. Kyle Wilson, who returned an interception 71 yards for a score. Austin Pettis, who had 123 yards receiving on eight outstanding catches, scored four touchdowns, and partially blocked a punt. Aaron Tevis, who recovered a fumble and made an interception. Derrell Acrey, who made a heads-up interception (my personal favorite). Brandyn Thompson, who caught an interception. TWICE. Byron Hout, who recovered a fumble. And, Jeremy Avery, who had 14 carries, 110 yards, and 1 touchdown. Wow Broncos! Gold stars all around!

Not: Seeing Red…or scarlet anyway

Despite big hopes for a revenge-win to make up for last year’s loss to Rutgers, South Florida fell flat on their horns Thursday night. The Bulls had four turnovers all together. They also had a punt blocked and let their quarterback get sacked seven times, as many sacks as they had first downs. In 13 years, South Florida has only been shut out one other time, in their 2005 bowl appearance against NC State. Rutgers certainly left the Bulls seeing red.

Hot: Streak-free Clean

Consider Stanford the Windex of the college football world. Thanks to some help from some other PAC 10 opponents, they managed to wipe away several USC streaks (barring an apocalypse in the coming weeks, anyway). USC’s streaks of seven straight BCS bowls, 11-win seasons, high poll finishes, and 12-game home wins (last broken by Stanford, remember?) are all over. What’s more, the Trojans have given up 111 points in the last three games, the most allowed in three games in program history.

Not: My mom told me to pick the very best one and you are not it

Miami started the season strong and has beaten a handful of ranked opponents, but somehow it doesn’t seem right that they are ranked ahead of the team that beat them this week. It just doesn’t make any sense to claim that a team is better than a team they just loss to. Beyond that, the two have the same 7-3 record. And, the Tarheels just beat a ranked Virginia Tech team that took down Miami earlier in the season. Doesn’t add up right to me.

Hot: UNIted we stand 

In a salute to our troops, South Carolina wore camouflage cleats and special black jerseys with camouflage on the shoulders. Instead of their names, the players’ jerseys bore inspirational words like courage, loyalty, integrity and service. The jerseys, gloves, shoes, etc. were auctioned off after the game: the proceeds are being given to the Wounded Warrior Project, which provides services and programs for wounded soldiers. As part of the salute, three wounded veterans served as the Gamecocks’ honorary captains Saturday, and one spoke to the team earlier last week. Honoring our soldiers is always hot.

Not: BYU is still fooling the critics

Am I wrong, or is BYU having a mediocre season in a non-BCS conference? Last time I checked, the simple act of playing ranked teams didn’t make you good. You used to have to beat them too. Let’s recap the season, shall we? BYU beat Oklahoma (who is not ranked anymore) by one point, because Sam Bradford got injured. After beating Tulane (who stinks), they turned around and got destroyed by an unranked Florida State, at home. Since then they have beaten Colorado State, Utah State, UNLV, Wyoming, and BARELY beat the winless New Mexico. With the exception of Wyoming, none of those games have been blowouts. AND, don’t forget that TCU manhandled the Cougars. Does that sound like the schedule or performance of a team ranked as high as 18, still? Sure doesn’t to me. I’m beginning to think that the pollsters just draw team names out of a hat each week.

Hot: Making them earn it

Here’s a big nod to the #6 WAC team for keeping it close against an SEC big dog this weekend. La Tech may very well be the best 3 win team in the country. That said, the last time they managed a win against LSU was in 1904. On Saturday, though, they played like they believed they would win, and were even up 13 to 10 at the half. This marked their first lead against LSU since that big win a century ago. The Bulldogs held the ball for 13 minutes more than the Tigers, and stayed relevant the entire game, which finished with a score of 16 to 24. “We ran ball as well as you can run it against them,” Tech coach Derek Dooley said. “We went toe to toe and we weren’t affected by the environment. We weren’t playing in awe of LSU.” Doing that and doing the WAC proud is definitely hot.

Not: Battle of the Big East’s Suckiest

If Saturday’s match-up between Syracuse and Louisville wasn’t the pillow fight of the week, I hate to think what was. Both teams came into the game winless in the Big East, and showed why. Combined, the two teams managed barely more than 400 yards, and 19 points. The entire first half saw two sad little field goals, while the second was riveting with its two touchdowns. In fact, the game may have even had a snooze-fest of an overtime were it not for a muffed extra point by The Orange, which left them one point shy when time expired. Louisville couldn’t have been more pleased, as the victory snapped their nine-game conference losing streak .

What the Quack?

Hot: Oregon, the real THRILLER
Woo, Ducks! I knew you could do it! Saturday night, my new best friends handed the Trojans’ their worst loss in 12 years! And the 47 points they scored are the most the Trojans have allowed since 1996. Oh, AND the 613 total yards the racked up? Yeah. That is the most allowed since Pete Carroll arrived on the scene. Oh, oh. One more! Pete’s Trojans have not lost by more than a touchdown since that first season.

Not: WVU= Was Very Unimpressive
South Florida roads, take us home, to the place, where we belong: West Virginia, with our mommas. Take us home, South Florida roads… I’m pretty sure that was the song the Mountaineers were singing in the locker room after the Bulls schooled them this weekend. Noel Devine came into the game averaging a ridiculous 130 yards per game, but those mean old Bulls held him to 42 yards. Worse, South Florida’s quarterback’s 336 yards accounted for more offense than the Mountaineers managed as a team. Ouch!

Hot: Thursday Night Throwdown
Okay. This season hasn’t gone the way the Tar Heels would have liked. But, Thursday night they did a lot to make up for it! The Seminoles may have gotten the best of them last week, but the Hokies did not fare so well. UNC got their first win over Virginia Tech since the teams have been ACC conference-mates. After a five-game losing streak against the Hokies, the Tar Heels proved that the 6th time is the charm!

Not: Career-high Performance
Normally, a career-high performance is a great thing, but not when it refers to the number of balls your quarterback has picked. Oklahoma State’s quarterback, Zac Robinson, threw four interceptions against Texas Saturday night. And if that’s not bad enough, two of them were returned for touchdowns. Really not the type of performance you’d hope for when you are facing one of the top teams in the country. All totaled, Texas scored 28 points off the Cowboys’ five turnovers.

Hot: Miami, OH!
Miami, Ohio will probably still have a reserved spot in the Bottom 10, but at least they finally got a w. That’s right! They beat Toledo 31 to 24. Go team, go!

Not: Running out of Steam
Look, Hoosiers. I’m sorry I had to leave to go watch BSU stomp San Jose State. But I thought you had things under control. I didn’t know you needed me to hold your hand in order to beat Iowa. I mean, I turn my back for one quarter and you let the Hawkeyes play an entire game’s worth of ball! In the 4th quarter, Iowa gained 266 yards and scored 28 points! For the second week in a row, the Hoosiers blew the game in the last quarter. Last week, they had a 25-point lead against Northwestern. Maybe they only play for 3 quarters in Indiana?

Hot: Fashionisters
The Volunteers begged their coach and AD for permission to wear all-black for Saturday’s game. They only got half their wish, but apparently the ability to make a fashion statement had more than surface-level transformative effects. According to DT, Dan Williams, “The guys were excited and I think it gave us a little extra excitement and had us ready to play.” I guess the clothes really do make the man. Or at least the team.

Not: Purdue-doo
This Halloween, the entire Purdue team decided to dress up as New Mexico (aka, the worst team in the country). Saturday, against Wisconsin, the Boilermakers managed only 8 first downs, just five more than their number of turnovers. This is Purdue’s worst loss in 17 years. Maybe next year they should try dressing up as BSU instead! Just a thought.