The Ole College Try

Small sample size, but some important points I wanted to make, so you get a column.

Game of the Week

Navy 31 - Army 7.  Actually, not a good game at all, but it was the only one on the menu!

Best Team Performance

Navy Midshipmen.  Despite giving up a touchdown to their most hated early in the first quarter, Navy thoroughly dominated Army to win 31-7.  Despite an allowing 78 yards to Army on its scoring drive, the Midshipmen held Army to a total of 148 yards, or just 70 more yards for the rest of the game.

Least Impressive Team Performance

Army Cadets.  The Cadets were bombarded by Navy and lost 31-7, and only gained a total of 148 yards.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Offense)

Malcolm Perry, QB - Navy Midshipmen.  Perry rushed for 304 yards (an Army-Navy game record) and scored 2 touchdowns all while literally quarterbacking the potent Navy rushing attack.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Defense)

Jacob Springer, LB - Navy Midshipmen.  Springer finished the game with 7 total tackles (4 solo), and even more importantly 1 sack.  The sack is important because Army only attempted to pass 8 times (6 pass attempts/2 sacks).

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Special Teams)

Bijan Nichols, K - Navy Midshipmen.  Nichols was successful in all 4 of his PATs, and was 1-2 in his field attempts (including the only successful field goal of the game).

Goat of the Week (Player Edition)

No goats this week, as the game played out exactly as people thought it would.

Goat of the Week (Coach Edition)

No goats this week, as the game played out exactly as people thought it would.

Breakthrough Performance

Malcolm Perry, QB - Navy Midshipmen.  Who else?

Finally

Malcolm Perry, QB - Navy Midshipmen.  Again, who else?

Impact Injury

N/A

Team Rising

Navy Midshipmen.  The 23rd ranked Midshipmen will travel to Shreveport, Louisiana to play Kansas State in the Liberty Bowl.

Team Falling

Army Cadets.  Army finished the season 5-8.

Player(s) to Watch

Malcolm Perry, QB - Navy Midshipmen.  Who else?

My New Favorite Player

Malcolm Perry, QB - Navy Midshipmen.  Who else? Actually, it is because of this story, Perry was not even on the roster his first season, but when the Midshipmen were hit with some injuries his freshman year, Perry was asked to join the team for some depth.

Players of the Week

5.  Christian Anderson, RB - Army Cadets.  Anderson finished the game with 56 yards rushing and a touchdown, the Cadets' only score.

4.  Diego Fagot, LB - Navy Midshipmen.  Fagot finished the rivalry game with 8 tackles and 1 sack (again, on 8 dropbacks for Army).

3.  Jamale Carrothers, RB - Navy Midshipmen.  He rushed for 75 yards and 1 TD, while also catching a pass (for 1 yard) and another score.

2.  Jacob Springer, LB - Navy Midshipmen.  See above.

1.  Malcolm Perry, QB - Navy Midshipmen.  See above.

(No Longer) Predicted Playoffs/Championship Match Ups

LSU Tigers (1) v. Oklahoma Sooners (4)/ (2) Ohio State Buckeyes v. (3) Clemson Tigers

Remaining Unbeatens

Clemson, LSU, Ohio State

Remaining Winless Team

Akron - Only winless team on the year, as Akron has finished its season.

Rant(s) of the Week

For those of you spouting off about the investigations into the "white power OK hand signal" used in the stadium in the Army-Navy game, just know that your defense of the "circle game" is way off base.  First, in the circle game, the object is to make someone look at the circle as it is placed somewhere on your body below the waist.  If you could just do the OK sign anywhere, people would always look.  Second, more than one person would not be doing the circle game at the same exact time, and at the same exact time as the camera was being pointed at them (the object is one person trying to make others look at "the circle", not everyone doing "the circle".  Third, yes using the OK sign as a white supremacist symbol started as a troll on 4chan, but the trolling actually caught on with white supremacist groups, who now use it as their own.  So, 4chan trolled themselves, basically.  And, fourth, there is a well-documented history of white supremacy in the service academies.  Look it up, it isn't hard to find.  In fact, Army, the United States Military Academy, just dropped one of its long-standing mottoes - "God Forgives, Brothers Don't" - because it was created as a motto by white supremacist gangs.

Last Week's Trivia Answer

Last week's questions were:

1.  Ohio State's wide receiver K.J. Hill broke the school career reception record in the Big 10 Championship game.  Which Buckeye receiver's record did he break?

2.  LSU's Joe Burrow set the single season SEC record for most touchdown passes thrown.  Which SEC quarterback had the previous record?

The answers are:  David Boston, who had 191 career receptions; and Drew Lock, who threw for 44 touchdowns in 2017.

Match up(s) to Watch

Bowl games start this week, but I couldn't figure out if I wanted to write the matchups to watch for this week, or for the whole Bowl Season.  Lucky for you, I decided the whole Bowl Season.  Why?  Who knows - it's my column.

6,  USC Trojans v. Iowa Hawkeyes (San Diego County Credit Union Holiday Bowl).  Both teams have played better than the recognition they received this year, plus the Holiday Bowl is usually zany. This game may kill that history.

5.  SMU Mustangs v. Florida Atlantic Owls (Cheribundi Boca Raton Bowl).  This bowl game has changed its name from the Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl (Yes, Seriously), so it is picked just so I could type Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl.  It also features two relatively exciting teams whose type of play could lead to an exciting shootout - even without Lane Kiffin on the sidelines.  Plus, this might be the last time FAU is relevant with Willie Taggert taking over next year.

4.  Memphis Tigers v. Penn State Nittany Lions (Goodyear Cotton Bowl).  The battle of the Big Cats, as Memphis takes the Group of 5 spot in the New Year's Bowls. Memphis is great, and should have won their only loss - as a horrible call led to them losing - the subject of one of my earlier rants.  Too bad Mike Norvell is leaving for Florida State, as he was really building something in Memphis.

3.  Minnesota Golden Gophers v. Auburn Tigers (Outback Bowl).  I am interested in seeing a rugged Minnesota team play the speedier Auburn Tigers.

2.  Georgia Bulldogs v. Baylor Bears (AllState Sugar Bowl).  Baylor's only two losses came to the Oklahoma Sooners, one of those in overtime.  Georgia's two losses include a defeat at the hands of LSU.  Both LSU and Oklahoma play each other in the semifinals.  What does that have to do with this game?  Nothing.

1.  Clemson Tigers v Ohio State Buckeyes (PlayStation Fiesta Bowl).  The best game in the bowl season (except for the finals - unless Oklahoma defeats LSU).

Trivia Question of the Week

What is the all-time record for the Army-Navy game?

The Ole College Try

The Conference Championships sorted out the entire college football playoff for us, with no real arguments as to the contenders.

Game of the Week

Oklahoma Sooners - Baylor Bears 23 (Big 12 Championship Game).  The Baylor Bears proved that this season was not a fluke as they played favorite Oklahoma to a virtual draw, once again.  The Sooners scored a touchdown in overtime that Baylor, playing with a third string quarterback whose name was not even on the depth chart provided to the media - Jacob Zeno, could not reciprocate.  Jalen Hurts once again is a conference champion, although this time of the Big 12 and not the SEC, but wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was the showstopper.  I am certain he will make my All-American team later this month.

Best Team Performance

Clemson Tigers.  Not only did the overwhelming favorites in the ACC Championship game beat Virginia, they destroyed them 62-17.  Trevor Lawrence passed for 302 yards, Travis Etienne rushed for 114 yards and Tee Higgins had 182 yards receiving as the Tigers annihilated the Cavaliers, sending them to their doomed Orange Bowl game against Florida.

Least Impressive Team Performance

Hawaii Rainbows.  I don't want to pile on too much on the Virginia Cavaliers here, so Hawaii gets the nod as they lost to Boise State in a non-competitive Mountain West Championship 31-10.

A special mention goes to the Utah Utes, who underwhelmed in their 37-15 defeat at the hands of Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship.  Had Utah won, it would have been a really interesting discussion as to whether Utah or Oklahoma would receive the final playoff berth.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Offense)

CeeDee Lamb, WR - Oklahoma Sooners.  Lamb finished the Big 12 Championship game with 8 catches for 173 yards, but honestly, with only 1 71 yard catch in the first quarter he takes this award.  Check it out here.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Defense)

LSU Tigers.  This is a collective award this week, because after being somewhat maligned for giving up a large amount of points, the LSU defense has buckled down and tightened up, allowing Georgia to only score 10 in the SEC Championship game.  LSU will be heavy favorites in the national semi-final.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Special Teams)

I was really hoping that someone would make or miss a kick that would cause chaos for the playoffs, but that didn't happen.

Goat of the Week (Player Edition)

Utah Utes.  They could have made the playoff scenarios way more interesting, but they did not.

Goat of the Week (Coach Edition)

Kyle Wittingham, Utah Utes.  Same as above, we simply just wanted to see chaos, and Utah failed to deliver.

Breakthrough Performance

C.J. Verdell, RB - Oregon Ducks.  On a team led by supposed to have been the overall number 1 draft pick last year quarterback Justin Herbert, Verdell dominated the Pac-12 Championship game by gaining 208 yards and scoring 3 TDS on 18 carries.

Finally

Trevor Lawrence, QB - Clemson Tigers.  It seems incredulous to say that a national championship winning quarterback is "finally" playing well, but truth be told, he started slowly, and even when he played well as of late, Clemson has not been challenged.  In the ACC championship game, Lawrence looked like Lawrence, going 16-22 for 302 yards and 4 TDs.

Impact Injury

Tua Tagavailoa, QB - Alabama.  The biggest "what if" of the season.

Team Rising

Baylor Bears.  Yes, they lost in the Big 12 Championship game, but by following up their narrow loss to Oklahoma just weeks ago, with taking them to overtime in the Big 12 Championship game, Baylor proved that they are a legitimate team and were a legitimate playoff contender this year.

Team Falling

Utah Utes.  I should not have to type it out again.

Player(s) to Watch

Justin Fields, QB - Ohio State Buckeyes.  Of the two quarterbacks who have not played in the playoffs previously (Lawrence and Hurts having won championships), Justin Fields is the only first year starter.  And, with apologies to Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Travis Etienne, Fileds has the best running back on his team, which means Ohio State will have an opportunity to go far, perhaps even win, the championship if Fields plays well.

My New Favorite Player

Jacob Zeno, QB - Baylor Bears.  Zeno, an apparent fourth, fifth or sixth string quarterback who was not even listed on the team depth chart sent to the media prior to the Big 12 playoff game, entered the game after an injury to the starting quarterback and poor performance by the backup.  Although Zeno did not set the world on fire, he helped keep Baylor in the game with his 2-6 for 159 yards and 1 TD.  Good by you Mr. Zeno.

Players of the Week

6.  Levi Lewis, QB - Louisiana Rajun Cajuns - Lewis was 24-46 for 364 yards and 4 TDs as Louisiana fell to Appalachian State 45-38 in the Sun Belt Championship game.

5.  Tee Higgins, WR - Clemson Tigers.  Higgins caught 8 passes for 162 yards and 3 TDs as Clemson coasted to the ACC Championship.

4.  Joe Burrow, QB - LSU Tigers.  Burrow was 28-38 for 349 yards and 4 TDs as LSU defeated Georgia 37-10 in the SEC Championship game.

3.  C.J. Verdell, RB - Oregon Ducks.  See attached.

2.  J.K Dobbins, RB - Ohio State Buckeyes.  Dobbins rushed for 172 yards and scored 1 TD in Ohio State's Big 10 Championship win over Wisconsin Badgers.

1.  CeeDee Lamb, WR - Oklahoma Sooners.  See above.

Predicted Playoffs/Championship Match Ups

LSU Tigers (1) v. Oklahoma Sooners (4)/ (2) Ohio State Buckeyes v. (3) Clemson Tigers

Remaining Unbeatens

Clemson, LSU, Ohio State

Remaining Winless Team

Akron - Only winless team on the year, as Akron has finished its season.

Rant(s) of the Week

Damn you Utah Utes!!!

Last Week's Trivia Answer

Last week's question was:

Since the Iron Bowl was important this week, the question is how many consecutive times has Auburn won the Iron Bowl when the game was played at Jordan-Hare Stadium and both teams entered the game ranked in the AP Poll?

The answer is 7.

Match up(s) to Watch

1. Army v. Navy - Not only is this a phenomenal game to watch year-in-and-year-out, it is also the only game next week.

Trivia Question of the Week

Two questions this week:

1.  Ohio State's wide receiver K.J. Hill broke the school career reception record in the Big 10 Championship game.  Which Buckeye receiver's record did he break?

2.  LSU's Joe Burrow set the single season SEC record for most touchdown passes thrown.  Which SEC quarterback had the previous record?