2) I'm not one to place college football players on a pedestal very often. However, sometimes players come along that are truly once-in-a-lifetime players. If you have a chance to watch Deshaun Watson play, do yourself a favor and do it. This kid is incredibly talented. He might stay at Clemson all four years, or he might go to the NFL after next season. If the latter should be the case, he would only be in a Tiger uniform for at most 22 games - and that would mean Clemson playing in back-to-back national championship games. The numbers only tell a small story, but they're worth looking at:
- Watson, just a sophomore, is 12-1 as Clemson's starter. The lone loss came last year at Georgia Tech when he went down with a knee injury early in the game with Clemson winning and driving for a bigger lead at the time.
- Three weeks ago against the No. 1 defense in the country, he passed for 420 yards and three touchdowns. This week, he was 23-30, 383 yards, five TDs through the air and ran another, equaling his six total TDs scored a year ago against North Carolina (all six in that game were passing TDs).
- When he accomplished that feat, he became the first Clemson QB in history to throw for six scores and the first freshman in ACC history to do so.
- Perhaps the most notorious feat, Watson led Clemson to its first win over South Carolina in six tries on a torn ACL. Again, as a freshman.
Seriously, when Clemson plays FSU next week, find a way to get to a TV and watch how special this kid is. He plays with a sense of calmness and control I've never seen.
3) Clemson left a lot to be desired on the field - offensively, missing out on a chance to put the nail in NC State's coffin several times; defensively, not being able to stop NC State with a big lead. I've harped on this before and thought those demons were exorcised against Miami. The Tigers still need to find that killer instinct. Before Florida State would be preferable.
4) Baker Mayfield and the Oklahoma Sooners walloped Kansas, as expected. The win doesn't do much other than prove OU has a plethora of talent and the Jayhawks do not. The best thing that could come out of yesterday for the Sooners was next week's opponent, Iowa State, shut out Texas, 24-0. With Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State following the Cyclones, there may have been a chance for the Sooners to look past Iowa State. Not anymore.
5) It was mostly status quo through the early part of Saturday. Then, the fireworks happened. Georgia Tech, off its miracle win over Florida State last week, flopped to a 27-14 loss at previously two-win Virginia. Clemson and NC State had a wild start which included two blocked PATs, a kickoff returned for touchdown, both QBs scoring TD runs, and a 13-13 game, all within the first 4:33 of the game. Texas Tech and Oklahoma State left their defenses in the locker room. The Red Raiders sprinted out to a 17-0 and 24-7 lead, but saw the Pokes race to 70 points for a 70-53 win in Lubbock. Then, night fall and all heck broke loose...
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| (Photo courtesy Getty Images) |
6) For the third straight week, a special teams blunder led to an unbelievable walk-off finish. This time, the previously de-pantsed Miami pulled off the miracle in Durham with an eight-lateral kickoff return for touchdown to beat Duke 30-27. That would be enough to go crazy about, but what ensued from the referee crew was inexplicable. There were two reviews that totaled nearly 10 minutes. It culminated with the head ref saying all the laterals were legal, there was no knee down (arguable) and they picked up a block in the back flag. If there ever was a time for a conference office to thoroughly explain that process, Monday morning would be that time.
Michigan State-Michigan: Punt Georgia Tech-Florida State: FG Miami-Duke: Kickoff What special teams walkoff play will next week bring?— Ben Whitehead (@thebenwhitehead) November 1, 2015
Everyone needs to slow their role saying "The U is back." Hardly. Needed a miracle to beat Duke. Sad state when that means you're "back"— Ben Whitehead (@thebenwhitehead) November 1, 2015
7) Michigan survived another wild finish, this time thanks to some stupid coaching on the part of Minnesota. With the Wolverines leading 29-26, the Gophers completed a pass, which was initially ruled a touchdown. Upon review, the ball was marked at the one-yard-line with about 17 seconds remaining. Minnesota lined up, then shifted formations. All the while, the clock kept ticking. After the play was stuffed at the goal line, Minnesota called timeout with two seconds to go and called a quarterback sneak. The Wolverines again stopped the play and reclaimed the Little Brown Jug.
8) If that wasn't enough for you, there were two more fantastic finishes. Temple showed toughness and grit, but ultimately lost to Notre Dame. The Irish used another comeback behind the clutch arm of Deshone Kizer. The Owls were a much better team than many thought. The hope here is that Temple didn't put all its eggs in this basket and continues to play like it did Saturday.
8B) And finally, #Pac12AfterDark gave us Stanford escaping Pullman, Wash., and defeating Washington State 30-28. The Cardinal struggled mightily early on, but outscored the Cougars 20-6 to close out the game. They needed a missed field goal by Wazzu as time expired to clinch the win. Now, Stanford is in complete control of the Pac-12 North and could head into a huge finale with Notre Dame with both teams needing a win to stay alive for a potential Playoff berth.
9) Week 10 is here at last! Baylor at Kansas State (Thursday), LSU at Alabama, Florida State at Clemson, Duke at North Carolina, TCU at Oklahoma State, Notre Dame at Pitt. Also, the College Football Playoff Committee will release its first rankings Tuesday. Let the debate begin.
10) The Noles have won three straight over the Tigers, including their last visit to Death Valley. You might remember that one, a 51-14 drubbing to effectively ruin Clemson's season. Oh yeah, and it propelled Jameis Winston to Heisman status and FSU to National Champions. Time to end the streak and start one of our own. Beat Florida State.
