The Sunday Blog comes at you from our layover in Atlanta where I am working on no sleep. I wish I had a great story to tell about postgame in Nashville but I just couldn’t sleep.
1. The Stoops family always prides itself on defense so Saturday had to be one of the worst days in the family’s coaching history. Bobby and Mark Stoops saw their two defenses give up 111 points to Baylor and Georgia. The Sooners have now lost two conference home games in a season for the first time under Bobby Stoops.”I take full responsibility,” he said. “It all starts with me. I didn’t do a good enough job.” And has anybody else noticed how Kentucky has slumped since Mark Stoops received a contract extension?
2. Here there is an Auburn fan walking between gates. I kind of want to give him a hug. It was almost like all of the Gus Malzahn luck ran out on one awful day. Not only did Auburn lose to Texas A&M because of two late fumbles, but rival Alabama beat LSU in a game it looked as if the Tigers had one. That personal foul penalty was a killer and Les Miles didn’t seem too happy about it. But the kickoff out of bounds was another huge mistake. I only saw the last three minutes and OT of that game but it appears that’s all I needed to watch.
3. You have to give Urban Meyer credit. The guy is a great coach no matter how you feel about him personally. There weren’t many of us who thought Ohio State could go into East lansing and win but the guy wins big games. “This is one for the ages,” Meyer said after the win over Michigan State. I don’t think Ohio State will be in the new Final Four when it is announced Tuesday but there is a lot of football to be played which means there are going to be more losses. That’s the thing about a Separation Saturday like we had this week — for every winner, there is a loser.
4. The way Marcus Mariota played against Utah I don’t know if it would have mattered but the most bizarre play of the college football season was the Utes Kaelin Clay dropping the ball at the one-yard line and it turning into an Oregon touchdown. That’s just dummy. Why do some players feel a need to relieve themselves of the ball on a big play? Jacquez Green used to drive Gator fans crazy because he’d drop it at the goal line on a long touchdown. It would have been 14-0. Instead, it was 7-7. I’m guessing Utah fans are in the jar today, too.
