Today's Schedule of Games
We started this wacky COVID season without a dog in the hunt, and we might finish it that way. We certainly don't have a dog in the hunt today, as Michigan - Maryland is cancelled for COVID.
But college football mercifully moves on without us, and there are a few games of interest today.
At noon, not much. Texas A&M at Auburn, I guess, but I don't think it will be close. There are some morbid-curiosity games, to see who winds up the most miserable if 1-5 Penn State loses to Rutgers, or 1-4 Nebraska loses to Purdue, or Ohio State looks bad against MSU after all the fuss about getting all their games in.
In the afternoon, Iowa State/Matt Campbell can play their way into an unprecedented Big 12 Championship game with a win over WVU. Indiana at Wisconsin should be interesting, but Indiana losing QB Penix will be tough to overcome.
In the evening, an impromptu meeting of undefeated teams caused by a Liberty COVID cancellation - BYU at Costal Carolina. Costal Carolina is a great story (admit it, you didn't know they were D1 either), and I hope they win. In this week's edition of "How Great Players Can Make Ordinary Coaches Look Like Great Coaches", a Joe Burrow-less Coach O and LSU will get crushed by Alabama. Cajun Brady Hoke indeed.
This week's Pac 12 After Dark Special(s) - meaningless and wacky games played just for the fun of it - UCLA at Arizona State and Oregon St. at Utah.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2020:
AWAY HOME TIME TV
#4 Ohio State at Michigan State 12:00 PM ABC
#5 Texas A&M at Auburn 12:00 PM ESPN
#15 Oklahoma State at TCU 12:00 PM ESPN2
Western Carolina at #17 North Carolina 12:00 PM ACCN
Rice at #21 Marshall 12:00 PM ESPN+
Toledo at Northern Illinois 12:00 PM ESPN3
Kansas at Texas Tech 12:00 PM FS2
Texas at Kansas State 12:00 PM FOX
Nebraska at Purdue 12:00 PM BTN
Penn State at Rutgers 12:00 PM FS1
Memphis at Tulane 12:00 PM ESPN+
Arkansas at Missouri 12:00 PM SECN
Troy at South Alabama 2:00 PM ESPN3
Bowling Green at Akron 2:00 PM ESPN3
Ball State at Central Michigan 2:00 PM ESPNU
Eastern Michigan at Western Michigan 2:00 PM ESPN+
Syracuse at #2 Notre Dame 2:30 PM NBC
UL Monroe at Arkansas State 3:00 PM ESPN3
#6 Florida at Tennessee 3:30 PM CBS
West Virginia at #9 Iowa State 3:30 PM ESPN
#12 Indiana at #16 Wisconsin 3:30 PM ABC
#19 Iowa at Illinois 3:30 PM FS1
#24 Tulsa at Navy 3:30 PM ESPN2
Boston College at Virginia 3:30 PM ESPN3
Stanford at #22 Washington 4:00 PM FOX
Georgia Tech at NC State 4:00 PM ACCN
#13 BYU at #18 Coastal Carolina 5:30 PM ESPNU
San José State at Hawai'i 6:00 PM -
Florida Atlantic at Georgia Southern 6:00 PM ESPN+
#23 Oregon at California 7:00 PM ESPN
Colorado State at San Diego State 7:00 PM CBSSN
Colorado at Arizona 7:00 PM FS1
#3 Clemson at Virginia Tech 7:30 PM ABC
South Carolina at Kentucky 7:30 PM SECN
#1 Alabama at LSU 8:00 PM CBS
#10 Miami at Duke 8:00 PM ACCN
Baylor at #11 Oklahoma 8:00 PM FOX
Fresno State at Nevada 9:00 PM FS1
Wyoming at New Mexico 10:30 PM CBSSN
Oregon State at Utah 10:30 PM ESPN
UCLA at Arizona State 10:30 PM FS1
December 5th, 2020 at 11:22 AM ^
Here's a fancy schmancy schedule link with some nice aesthetically pleasing graphics:
December 5th, 2020 at 11:40 AM ^
I'll admit I'm really amped for the Coastal Carolina-BYU game. That team has been a breath of fresh air this year, and kudos to BYU for stepping up to travel and play them on short notice. These kinds of stories are what makes college football so damn great.
December 5th, 2020 at 1:15 PM ^
Agreed. I'd go as far as to say it's the only game worth watching as a neutral observer today
December 5th, 2020 at 1:50 PM ^
I saw the Chanticleers play App State and they are a really fun team. They play a mix of plays options, zone reads. The QB is quite athletic. Coach Jamey Chadwell is young and cerebral. He will be riding the coaching carousel to a power 5 school next year.
as you say kudos to BYU. Zachary Wilson is a special talent. With a completion rate of 73% and solid wheels, he’s become a dark horse Heisman candidate and potential 1st rounder.
Winner probably gets a NY 6 bowl game invitation.
December 5th, 2020 at 11:45 AM ^
definitely watching the ISU game
December 5th, 2020 at 2:22 PM ^
Yes, gonna watch ISU and Boston College, for no particular reason...
December 5th, 2020 at 11:58 AM ^
I really hope msu beats osu... as much as it pains me given how this season went...
Can't stand Herbstreit... His beloved team always wins, he knows nothing about true suffering with an up n down team.
December 5th, 2020 at 12:00 PM ^
Boston College / Virginia seems like the sort of game that could not only adopt the base philosophies of Beamerball but take them to a level previously thought unattainable.
December 5th, 2020 at 12:16 PM ^
How was that a roughing the passer?
December 5th, 2020 at 12:23 PM ^
Dumb forearm to the head. Totally unnecessary. Freshman mistake.
December 5th, 2020 at 12:21 PM ^
OSU could just run a qb sneak every play and still win this game.
December 5th, 2020 at 12:37 PM ^
If that’s true against MSU he will break every rushing record there is against UM with that strategy.
December 5th, 2020 at 1:35 PM ^
I actually thought MSU had a shot with the OSU OL decimated by Covid. Scratch that.
December 5th, 2020 at 12:22 PM ^
Expect OSU, Bama, ND and CU to win easily today.
I think the third string at OSU has more athletic ability than MSU’s first string, so 5 starters won’t slow their train. The other top teams are running at full speed.
Auburn should challenge TAMU but clearly not the home field advantage that Auburn usually enjoys.
December 5th, 2020 at 12:27 PM ^
we made lombardi look like tom brady
December 5th, 2020 at 1:55 PM ^
To be fair, the officials decided to enforce DPI as the rules are written, not they way they've previously called it (no blood, no foul) this season. Remember peak Sparty's Cover 4 scheme? It's just Michigan's snake-bit, 21st Century luck that this is the season when the defense had fully adapted to the old rules, AND had a historically weak defensive backfield.
December 5th, 2020 at 12:44 PM ^
I don't think MSU is interested in scoring any points today.
7-0 might be good enough for the W.
December 5th, 2020 at 12:47 PM ^
Welp. 14-0 will definitely do it.
Thanks for playing, MSU.
And remember, kids -- MSU *dominated* us (even though the score was relatively close), and OSU is missing 20+ kids today, including 5 starters.
So...
I'm ok if The Game doesn't happen next Saturday.
December 5th, 2020 at 12:50 PM ^
Fields is just jogging around their D - MSU doesn’t have any team speed and they have no shot to stop him or the other speedsters. OSU defense only needs a few stops but they’ll probably get a shutout.
OSU needs style points and they will likely run up the score.
December 5th, 2020 at 1:52 PM ^
I don't really know if OSU needs style points, if they are undefeated, 0% chance they get left out. They might even be a lock at one loss
December 5th, 2020 at 2:02 PM ^
If they end the year 6-0 and aren't conference champs, there are going to be a lot of one loss teams that played a full schedule that are going to have strong arguments. Clemson has one loss and is already ahead of them. The only team with a pulse they've played the entire year was Indiana, and it was a one score game in the 4th quarter. How much credit should they get for beating Nebraska, Rutgers, Penn State, and MSU? I mean, that's almost like 4 byes this year.
December 5th, 2020 at 4:55 PM ^
There's no argument that Cincinnati and A&M would be ahead of them. Undefeated OSU would not be left out of the playoff
December 5th, 2020 at 2:12 PM ^
They are also fortunate Oklahoma (i.e. Big XII) isn’t relevant this year.
December 5th, 2020 at 12:54 PM ^
Our loss to this MSU team is impossibly bad
There's NOTHING worth saving on this team or in the recruiting class
Burn it all down and give the keys to anyone else
December 5th, 2020 at 12:59 PM ^
Yup. It just keeps looking worse and worse.
Along those same lines, though, Northwestern should be embarrassed, too.
December 5th, 2020 at 1:37 PM ^
Nw is who we thought they were
3-9 last year and they didn't suddenly turn it all around by adding the worse of the two Indiana qbs
Wisconsin isn't anything special either, which says how insanely far behind we are now
December 5th, 2020 at 1:55 PM ^
Northwestern has improved from last year. They’re one of the better teams in the west this year. They slipped up in a game. We’re just donkey doodoo. Burn it down indeed.
December 5th, 2020 at 2:59 PM ^
They've improved, but they're not a top fifteen team in the country. One score wins in each game over Iowa, Nebraska, and (apparently) a bad Purdue team
December 5th, 2020 at 3:08 PM ^
Yea. The big 10 is trash. ACC level trash and Michigan is in the bottom of said trash heap. Yay.
December 5th, 2020 at 12:59 PM ^
These commentators are really suckin off ohio state
December 5th, 2020 at 1:07 PM ^
They are really fucking good, what do you expect?
December 5th, 2020 at 1:05 PM ^
staee with zero first downs and 32 total yards so far....
December 5th, 2020 at 1:06 PM ^
If you ever wanted to know how far we are behind OSU just look at what they are doing to MSU with 20+ players out. This is where recruiting comes in to play. We might somewhat stack up with OSU in the first 22 players, its after that where the gap widens majorly
December 5th, 2020 at 1:17 PM ^
It’s recruiting and coaching. Harbaugh and staff need to go. He only did well when using Hoke’s players. How do fans not see this. Misses at DT/CB, constantly recruiting NE where HS football is weak, and never ever developing a QB. The QB position playing very well and cover lots of holes on the team.
December 5th, 2020 at 1:33 PM ^
I know coaching is a big part of it but as you say a qb can make up for a lot of holes. We could say Hoke won with RR's players too. I also think recruiting could make up for a lot of the coaching errors. Don Brown has to go though
December 5th, 2020 at 2:49 PM ^
End of day, Hoke wasn’t a great hire. RR not sure, entire change in philosophy to only get 3 years is tough. Harbaugh was home run hire at time, but now it’s over. Lost locker room. Hasn’t done enough for extension. You trust Warde is good enough to hire the right guy. Campbell or Fickell to me. I hate the fan that looks back and says we can’t make a change out of fear on the RR/Hoke hires.
December 5th, 2020 at 1:19 PM ^
And the depth also means the starters face much better competition in practice every day. Show up on Saturday to simply repeat the effort and execution from practice - it turns into winning results.
December 5th, 2020 at 1:54 PM ^
No way do UM's first 22 come close to OSU's first 22. OSU could play 23-44 and they would still beat our starters by 21.
December 5th, 2020 at 2:02 PM ^
It’s not just recruiting. Our player development is non existent. Our schemes make little to no sense. Every qb we’ve had here is meh to bad and that’s on the coaching 6 years in.
Im sure well never recruit like OsU but we should recruit and play tough enough that we can occasionally beat them.
December 5th, 2020 at 2:16 PM ^
Yeah, the 3 stars we do develop just end up leaving the program.
Our only serious hope is Day bolts to the NFL and they hire a RichRod. OSU competes with Alabama for recruits while we consistently lose top in-state talent to OSU, PSU and the SEC.
December 5th, 2020 at 2:08 PM ^
I'd agree with that this year, however not Harbaugh's first 5 years, where many have already mentioned that a lot of those recruits were Hoke's. In 2016 our first 22 were better than OSU's first 22. In 2016, Grant Newsome went down - that one injury led to Speight's injury, our crap loss to Iowa and the robbery in the Shoe. Lack of 0-line depth killed us.
Generally, our first 22, outside of QB play, have been NFL type players, even if not the 1st and 2nd rounders OSU is pumping out.
Bama and OSU just plug the next 4 or 5 star in. We have holes at key positions most years, and when we don't, one injury can destroy the season due to lack of depth.
This year, between opt outs, injuries and recruiting and roster mismanagement we are a dumpster fire. It's on Harbaugh and the staff.
December 5th, 2020 at 1:12 PM ^
I just can't get into this season and not just because we suck. The number of cancelled and reschedule games makes it just feel like an exhibition. And the "rules" setup feel like it's just whatever needs to happen to setup that CFP with Clemson, OSU, Alabama, and maybe SEC#2.
December 5th, 2020 at 1:17 PM ^
Agreed, and a big part of it for me is the (understandable) rule of no fans in B10 stadiums. Watching the UM-MSU game this year on TV, when that first aerial shot showed the empty Big House, well...that was just depressing, quite honestly.
And then kickoff happened...
Heh.
December 5th, 2020 at 1:25 PM ^
I take a different angle -- if Michigan was even just decent -- like 8-4 / 9-3 decent -- I would be into a lot of games. But the team is a total clusterfuck, and I just can't. To see the team you love mishandled in such a way is pain. Fuck it.
December 5th, 2020 at 1:13 PM ^
I've also been curious since we've went to the speed in space style of offense (in theory, I know), why don't we recruit dual threat qb's? If you watch Fields today, hes made all the key plays with his legs.
December 5th, 2020 at 1:40 PM ^
FWIW, I don’t know how much you can put stock into the 247 listing of QBs as PRO vs. DUAL. Take DMac for instance, he was listed as a PRO, but could certainly burn a defense with his legs.
Shea Patterson was also listed as a PRO style, but he too had some running ability, even if it did regress with time.
A non-UM QB example is the guy ranked one spot ahead of Justin Fields from their recruiting class: Trevor Lawrence. He is certainly more of pocket passer than Fields has been, but Lawrence can still move and threaten the defense with his legs.
December 5th, 2020 at 4:03 PM ^
December 5th, 2020 at 1:18 PM ^
Still can't believe we got pushed around by this MSU team. Absolute coaching malpractice
December 5th, 2020 at 2:17 PM ^
We can't even use the injury excuse, we were healthy and coming off what felt like a big win and got outcoached and outworked by this meager Sparty team. One of the worst losses of Harbaugh's career
December 5th, 2020 at 2:34 PM ^
It was staee's super bowl and we barely showed up. A couple calls, a couple breaks, make a play or two and guess what....yup we lose again!!!