THE MAIN CHARACTER, Week 3: Actually, the 4-team playoff is plenty
Some highlights:
Clemson escaping the Yellow Jackets preserved the conference’s title hopes, I guess.
The Noles deserve special recognition for being worse than anyone under the age of 50 ever thought possible.
The thing about watching college football is that, every single week, you see something you never really imagined before. Did you know a punt could be incompletely downed? Has the thought ever even crossed your mind before?
https://ftw.usatoday.com/2021/09/week-3-college-football-recap
September 21st, 2021 at 11:57 AM ^
When is that damn ND loss coming?!?!
September 21st, 2021 at 12:02 PM ^
Maybe two Ls in a row? They've got Wisconsin and Cincinnati on tap, I believe.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:25 PM ^
I wouldn't be shocked if ND runs the table. The only team on their schedule that has recruited better than ND on a consistent basis is USC, and that game is in South Bend, as are all the other tough games ND has, namely Wisconsin*, Cincinnati, and UNC. Their toughest road game is probably Stanford at the end of the season.
I don't like Brian Kelly any more than anybody else does around here, but he's proven himself to be a damn good coach. Over the past four full seasons, ND has lost only one home game, and that was a 1-point loss to Georgia in 2017.
*As fishgoblue1 pointed out, the Wisconsin game is in Chicago.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:34 PM ^
It pisses me off a bit, because Toledo had them. They absolutely HAD them.
I mean, kinda like Army absolutely HAD us in 2019 (and Akron in 2013).
September 21st, 2021 at 12:36 PM ^
I hate you, but that's persuasive. I think that Kelly is about to edge Knute Rockne or someone canonical like that in total ND wins. Just a horrible, horrible specimen, but a successful one.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
Kelly is in his 12th season at ND, and he currently has 105 victories.*
Rockne had 105 in 13 seasons.
* Notre Dame's victories in the 2012 and 2013 seasons were vacated by the NCAA because of their use of ineligible players, but I don't think that's going to prevent Notre Dame from celebrating Kelly's next victory.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:59 PM ^
He tied Rockne last week with 105 wins at ND. But what they don't talk about is that Rockne coached only 122 games at ND while Kelly has coached 144.
Rockne 105-12-5 Winning 88% over 13 seasons.
Kelly 105-39 Winning 73% over 12 seasons.
September 21st, 2021 at 2:21 PM ^
I don't know that we'll ever see another Rockne.
That said, Kelly does have the 7th highest winning percentage of active coaches who have been at their current schools for at least 5 seasons (behind Saban, Riley, Swinney, Smart, Orgeron, Chryst) with that .730 win percentage.
Jim Harbaugh is 11th on the list with a .703 win percentage at UM, behind Fickell, David Shaw, and Gary Patterson, and just ahead of #12 Frames.
September 21st, 2021 at 4:21 PM ^
So your saying percentage is more important than most wins?
September 21st, 2021 at 12:49 PM ^
ND vs Wisconsin is being played at Soldier field. Wisconsin is the designated Home Team. Weird because next year they play in Green Bay and ND is the designated Home Team.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:55 PM ^
Thanks for the correction—forgot that weirdass playing site. I'd still favor ND, but you never know playing away from your own stadium.
September 21st, 2021 at 1:02 PM ^
I wonder why they decided that home team would be the team that traveled the farthest.
September 21st, 2021 at 1:04 PM ^
Cuz Notre Dame.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:57 PM ^
Coan vs. Mertz has W00ND written all over it.
September 21st, 2021 at 1:16 PM ^
Could very well be! Both of those offenses, well...leave a bit to be desired.
September 21st, 2021 at 1:26 PM ^
FPI has ND favored to lose against Wisconsin, @VT, NC, and Virginia. Cincinnati and Virginia are toss-ups. USC and GT are loseable.
The only guaranteed win is Navy.
September 21st, 2021 at 4:00 PM ^
Is "they are favored to lose" like "they were found to be missing"?
September 21st, 2021 at 3:29 PM ^
Brian Kelly Killed a guy
September 21st, 2021 at 3:41 PM ^
On relative recruiting, revealed choice theory indicates that Wisconsin recruited more than twice as well as ND at least for QBs.
On a more serious note, Wisconsin is the better team.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:45 PM ^
I was at Toledo / ND. There is no way Notre Dame runs the table.
Jack Croan is a bad QB. Their offensive line isn’t great and I don’t think their defensive line is anything special.
They will lose at least 2 games coming up. They beat Purdue, barely beat Toledo at home and edged an awful Florida State team in OT.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:56 PM ^
I hope you're right and I have to eat my words. What's bad for ND is good for Michigan, and vice versa. I've hated ND since I was a kid, since my dad hated them.
September 21st, 2021 at 1:16 PM ^
They don't play any world-beaters but between currently-ranked Wisconsin, Cincinnati and North Carolina I suspect they're going to end up with at least one loss. Georgia Tech and Navy look like the worst teams left on their schedule; some of the others may turn out to be reasonably good as well (e.g., Stanford and USC, possibly Virginia or Virginia Tech).
I mean, their most convincing win so far has been a 14-point victory against a Purdue team that has gone 2-4 and 4-8 in their last two seasons. I just don't see them sliding through the rest of the year undefeated.
September 21st, 2021 at 10:57 PM ^
Like that one year where they barely slid by Purdue, BYU and Pitt by 3 en route to a National Championship blowout loss to Alabama?
September 22nd, 2021 at 2:04 AM ^
Absolutely. In many ways we compete for recruits more with them than OSU. Higher academic school in the Midwest with tons of tradition. I don't follow recruiting super closely, but I feel like I hear more about our battles with ND than anyone else. I'd love to see them have another bad stretch, not as bad as I'd love to see it from OSU though of course.
September 21st, 2021 at 1:05 PM ^
September 21st, 2021 at 4:39 PM ^
I too see Wisconsin taking care of ND
September 21st, 2021 at 12:02 PM ^
The punt thing should be known by any punt returner even at a high school level. If it touches the other team in any way it is considered a free ball and you only really have upside in going after it.
Our high school coaches drilled picking up the ball and handing it to a ref for the punt team.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:07 PM ^
In reading the SEC's explanation, the kicking team never "took possession" of the ball. They touched it, but did not take possession. To your point, picking it up and handing it to a ref is a pretty clear signal "I have possession."
September 21st, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
How is it not downed if the defender put his hand on the ball that was on the ground while his knee was touching the ground? Is that not the example of what a downed ball is? Possession of the ball while your knee is touching the ground?
September 21st, 2021 at 2:18 PM ^
Having your hand on the ball doesn't mean that you possess it - they never grabbed the ball, they only touched it.
September 21st, 2021 at 4:08 PM ^
The ref had thrown the beanbag and had his arms over his head. That is the shaky part for me.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:53 PM ^
Yeah, our HS coaches emphasized this too - worst case scenario is the ball is down where it was touched. There is literally no downside to the return team picking it up and running with it.
September 21st, 2021 at 3:33 PM ^
We had one in high school--thank god we won the game. We all gathered around the ball but no one downed it. As we were jogging back to our sideline, we looked up to see it being run 70 yards for a TD.
Some asses were chewed that day, my friend.
September 21st, 2021 at 7:41 PM ^
I bet; can’t even imagine the awful things that would’ve come out of coach’s mouth had something like this happened in a game.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:04 PM ^
I think about the downed punt thing all the time. Just figured I was weird.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:06 PM ^
I forgot to put this in the OP
September 21st, 2021 at 12:59 PM ^
It's really too bad there are so many games on the Pac-12 network this year. It's the only network I don't have access to - or at least don't pay extra for. I would've rather seen this UCLA/Fresno State game on ESPNU than Stanford/Vandy. Or they could've bumped the game 15 minutes and had it on FS2 after that wild Air Force/Utah State game (Devin Gardner announced). What a bummer. I ended up listening to the 4thQ on SiriusXM. Unreal.
September 21st, 2021 at 5:42 PM ^
It’s annoying, but you get free trials on their website. If you watch it on incognito you can get unlimited free trials (just have to refresh when it times out). I did that for the Washington Montana game
September 23rd, 2021 at 8:37 AM ^
That's amazing. Thanks for the tip!
September 21st, 2021 at 12:11 PM ^
Oddly enough, I had wondered about an incompletely downed punt in the past. Playing in Canada, we have on-side punts so shit can get real.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:12 PM ^
Relying exclusively on twitter posts makes this feature lose a little something compared to what the Bama site does (honestly can't think of the name of it right now), or what TWiS used to bring.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:13 PM ^
I'm watching three non-Michigan teams out of the corner of eye:
- Michigan State ... because I'm trying to figure if there's something there. I suspect there is. They're not 3-0 based only on stupid dumb luck;
- Arizona ... because of the"former Michigan coaches" angle, as well as the fact that my home is in Tucson; and
- University of Louisiana Monroe ... because of the "former Michigan coach" angle (Rodriguez is the OC there).
Fisch/Brown have a grace period, but I doubt a winless season will be looked upon with much forgiveness, even in a town that's mostly focused on basketball.
September 21st, 2021 at 12:51 PM ^
I watched the end of that ULM/JSU game. Had no idea RR was the OC. Thanks for the heads-up. ULM barely squeaked out that win.
September 21st, 2021 at 1:21 PM ^
To make matters a bit worse for Rodriguez, his son Rhett is the quarterback there. It would be one thing if he was doing relatively well, but ...
- Passing: 25 of 46 (54.3%) for 206 yards
- Rushing: 16 attempts for -11 yards
There's a freshman quarterback (Chandler Rogers) who's seen a little game action, but he's not doing any better.
It may be a long season for Rodriguez.
September 21st, 2021 at 1:26 PM ^
What about SDSU ?
September 21st, 2021 at 3:28 PM ^
Yes, I keep an eye on them as well. But I think what we will see out of Hoke is somewhat to be expected: at SDSU he'll have good teams that will win 7 to 9 during the season, and will do well in a non-NYD bowl. I'm happy for him: he's in a good spot; he's in a spot that matches what he's capable of providing. May we all be so fortunate.
September 21st, 2021 at 3:44 PM ^
Losing to Northern Arizona isn't going to get much forgiveness either. Lol
September 21st, 2021 at 4:06 PM ^
Those guys have no players at all. You need to be hands off the coaching for a minimum of 24 months (at seasons end). Its a complete rebuild.
September 21st, 2021 at 6:25 PM ^
Mel Tucker might disagree with that sentiment in this day and age. Especially this year.
September 21st, 2021 at 7:29 PM ^
I'd agree with you up to a point. Losing to Northern Arizona is a tough thing to accept. It's one of those games that was counted on to be a win, even if overall the team is rebuilding.