I’m still not sure how to describe the first half of Saturday’s Florida-Tennessee game except to say that the best strategy for both teams might have been to punt on first down. As someone tweeted, they turned The Swamp into Benny Hill Griffin Stadium.
Time for Four From The Field:
1. Well, we knew it would probably be a stinker of a Saturday and it was. The Michigan-UConn game made it worth staying up late but we had scores involving top 25 teams of 70-7, 77-7, 76-0 and 72-0. I understand the finances of football but the watering down of the sport is getting out of hand. All of us who have been screaming for the death of the BCS now need to focus our attention to the development of super conferences that will only play each other. That may never happen, but this was an awful Saturday for the game of college football.
2. I exchanged texts with Urban Meyer Sunday morning about Tyler Murphy. Murphy, as you probably know, sent film to Meyer who then invited him to visit. “We thought Murphy was a real good athlete and was a great kid when he visited,” Meyer texted. “Great high school video.” It will be interesting to see how Murphy does the rest of the way, but this Florida team appears to be snakebitten with injuries.
3. Brian Poole wasn’t the only player ejected Saturday for targeting. Stanford lost All-American safety Ed Reynolds and Texas lost linebacker Steve Edmond. All three players will miss the first half of their next games. I think that’s ridiculous. I’m not in favor of the ejections but to carry them over seems too penal. What if you are ejected on the first play of the second half vs. the last play of the game? I’m all for player safety, but it’s a dumb rule.
4. Some Texas fans were wearing “Saban 2014” t-shirts at the Texas-Kansas State game Saturday. I think they’re dreaming, but if Mack Brown gets fired, that will be six of the 15 BCS national championship coaches will have been dumped (Brown, Phil Fulmer, Bobby Bowden, Larry Coker, Jim Tressel, Gene Chizik) and three more will have left voluntarily (Meyer, Nick Saban at LSU, Pete Carroll). That’s college football in a nutshell. The only ones still coaching at the schools where they won the crystal are Bobby Stoops, Les Miles, Saban and Brown.
