4 Hard Downs: Close The Door USC, UNC Woof, Mizzou Loves Playing With Fire
North Carolina, as a state, is down bad, Finishing The Drill & Texts From Teammates
Is Indiana good?
Seriously.
Of course they smoked Charlotte but at the end of the day this team, under Curt Cignetti (his brother Frank was at UNC while I was there), seems to just be doing the thing. They’re averaging 50.5 points a game. They are beating teams, on average, by 41.25 points. Just FBS teams you say? 30.3 per game. Just P4 Teams? 29.
Curt got them cooking.
But today isn’t about Indiana, it is about closing the proverbial door where we saw some teams succeed and others leave a gap or, in the words of any church goer, open a window just like God.
Won’t he do it?!
That was my intro written between Saturday night as I was watching K-State get housed by BYU and Sunday before my run. Then I was going out, top popped, because God also decided it should be 90 degrees, and here comes my neighbor asking for help.
She and her husband had an uncontrollable pipe burst situation and so instead of the 5k I had planned I was over there, with firemen (who occupy my Harris Teeter during the week), figuring out how to shut the water off and help them clean up. 2 mains, and a meter later, we spend a lot of time getting the water out of their brand new, as of a year, hardwood floors waiting for the restoration company.
Horrible for my neighbors, but a real parallel for Week 4 in CFB (I did still get the mile in, no 5k though. I had them over for tacos to mitigate the stress of being underwater which is a true nightmare)
stop the bleeding
minimize damage
finish the drill
Speaking of finishing the drill apparently my kid had a sore throat so in addition to the Sunday I had, I’ve then had a Monday of, “Daddy, I don’t feel well,” while I was trying to work, hence the Tuesday post.
I’m already running late from no causes of my own, let’s go ahead and SPOT THE BALL!!!
1st Down: Tennessee Finished The Drill
USC had the game in their hands after remarkable halftime adjustments at Michigan in the Big House. Gave up a TD in the final minute to submarine every single positive they built in the previous 27 minutes.
If you don’t close the door, anyone can get in. If you don’t lock the door, anyone can get in.
And Michigan got in.
So, while it wasn’t the most gorgeous win, the Vols were able to close the door, lock it and honestly, they set the alarm and slept comfortable on Saturday night.
Nico Iamaeleava was fine (13 for 21, 196 yards, 1 TD isn’t a banger game). He was in a different world in Norman and it clearly exhausted him mentally and getting hit a lot also exhausted him physically.
But him and the Vols finished the drill. They got it done. They got the win, in a hostile road environment, in OU’s first SEC game. Defense was aggressive and forced OU to sub out Jackson Arnold, break out Michael Hawkins and hey, Dylan Sampson cooked.
The best part of this game was Tennessee’s defense. We can talk about putting 71 up on Kent State or 51 on NC State, however, 25-15 over OU holds more clout, thus far, than any of that.
2nd Down: The State of North Carolina Couldn’t Stop The Bleeding
Which brings us to the next point, the state of NC really had their lunch money stolen this weekend and didn’t even fight back.
-UNC loses 50 to 70 to JMU
-NC State gives up 28 in the first quarter and loses 59 to 35 to Clemson
-App State goes down 48 to 14 to South Alabama
-ECU loses to Liberty
Is Duke the only hope?!?!
But shout out to my boy Stephen Hartzell and his Dukes.
3rd Down: UNC Has Got Folks Who Care Really Upset
Not boosters. Not Walmart fans. Not call in radio folks
Yeah, I do have a Samsung. My memory is unlimited y’all.
My old teammates. Guys who have been through that locker room. Guys who ran through that tunnel. Guys who illegally parked in Kenan because they didn’t want to be late to a workout. Guys who moved from UNC into the NFL or CFL or at minimum, like me, played enough to have a jersey on the wall in their, or their mama’s, home.
3-0 team. 10.5 favorite. 48.5 over/under.
JMU, by themselves hit the over before halftime. Hats off to Alonzo Barnett, what a freaking day.
Heels scored 50 and lost the game by 20.
For non-UNC people, this has happened one other time:
It took ECU all game to do what JMU did almost before half. JMU’s halftime score of 53 still wins by a field goal in this game.
I talk about my family on here but I don’t usually get this personal about my actual college life and teammates, but whew buddy…
The Boys (as we always call ourselves) were hot. Heels are down bad right now after starting out with a shady 3-0.
4th Down: Mizzou Is A Nightmare
Mizzou went to OT with Vandy this weekend and that could mean Vanderbilt is good but it could also mean Mizzou must likes playing with fire. BC game. Vandy game. Just hanging around to win but still flirting with the playoff and knowing you’re going to the bye before whatever this disaster with A&M is going to be.
By the way can we give a shout out to Theo Wease Jr? Give this man, who I loved coming out of high school, going to Oklahoma, his propers because he is balling. Great 1-2 punch at WR plus with the QB Cook running around and Nate Noel the App State transfer putting in work and this team has weapons. Just want to see consistency.
The nightmare is a pick six, like we saw USC give to Michigan. The nightmare is getting a fumble and then the running back taking it away from your fat boy like we saw USC do to Michigan.
Football is a fickle mistress and she’s never on your side, you just woo’d her enough to make things work for a bit.
Cheers!!!