MISSISSIPPI BURNING
Alabama’s victory over Ole Miss started out the same as many of their others against outmatched conference foes have. A 9-0 lead to end the first half followed by a 17-0 shutout in the second half.
Alabama toyed with Ole Miss on both sides of the ball like an ant underneath a magnifying glass on a sunny die and then waited for them to fry from the intensity of the heat. The Crimson Tide offense still lacks any sort of explosiveness, but methodically wore out them out with Kenyan Drake and TJ Yeldon in the second half, then dissected the Ole Miss defense.
Bo Don’t Do It, Please Don’t Do It, ‘Cause One Of Us Goes In And We All Go Through It
Ole Miss quarterback Bo Wallace may want to avoid making headlines for a while. This week, he inadvertently awoken a sleepwalking giant when he started drinking his own hype and opened his big mouth to the press during the week when shortcomings when asked about Alabama’s secondary woes.
Via al.com:
"I wouldn't say a drop off, but when you have first-round corners every year, I don't know if they are exactly first-round corners," Wallace said. "But if you have a guy going in the top 10, you're going to have a little bit of a drop off the next year.”
Alabama responded by splashing Wallace with a dose of reality and a vintage shutout. They even topped it off with a sack of Wallace that ended with a safety. That’s right Bama’s defense outscored Wallace’s offense.
They say they miss the old Bama, Bo don’t tempt me.
Wallace also made the assertion that the Rebels receivers are better than A&M’s, which can only mean one thing. Either Wallace was extremely overrated or he just served as an example to the rest of the nation about running your mouth against Alabama.
Man On Fire – it has a whole new meaning this week.
Pat Haden is a cold dude. Two weeks ago, Lane Kiffin was AGS’ “Man on Fire” for a different reason after his win over Boston College seemed to redeem his USC Trojans and silence his numerous critics. Unfortunately, it was a flash in the pan. Lane was ignominiously fired after the Trojans after their 62-41 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils. To make matters worse, Kiffin was pulled off hte team bus when they landed at Los Angeles International Airport and had the news broken to him by haden and school administrators in a parking lot.
The Trojans were slammed with a two-year bowl ban and severe scholarship restrictions by the NCAA months after Kiffin was hired. We’ll never know if those restrictions played a significant role in his firing. Kiffin ran out of time. He leaves a mess behind in his wake.
In case you’re wondering who their next head coach may be, look north to Washington where Steve Sarkisian is doing yeoman’s work with the Washington Huskies. Sarkisian has made similar stops as Kiffin. He was the Oakland Raiders quarterbacks coach for a season and succeeded Kiffin as the Trojans offensive coordinator in 2007. He’s not the flashiest choice though. There’s also Vanderbilt’s James Franklin, who exudes a Pete Carroll-type persona even though he has no West Coast recruiting connections.
Notre Dame Got Their Bells Rung
For only the second time in 11 meetings, the Sooners emerged victorious over the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame can probably still hear the ringing in their ears after Blake Bell ran for 59 yards, threw for 232 yards, a pair of touchdowns and continued burnishing his Heisman credentials. Bell, who began the season on the benching after losing the quarterbacks competition to Trevor Knight has changed the entire outlook of the Sooners offense.
Notre Dame’s Tommy Rees watched 9 of his 24 attempt hit the turf and averaged just 4.34 yards per attempt. Actually, that's not entirely true. Three of the incompletions he was credited for were caught by the defense. The clamoring for Brian Kelly to burn freshman Malik Zaire’s redshirt and push him to into the starting role to ignite a spark like Bell has done with OU has never been louder.
Oregon was touchdown dancing in the rain
Speaking of benching quarterbacks, Sonny Dykes was swapping out quarterback aces yesterday with the quickness of a blackjack dealer. The Golden Bears’ 55-16 self-esteem killing loss to Oregon in the torrential downpour appears to be a tragic performance by the defense, until you notice the four fumbles on Cal’s first four drives. Goff, who led the nation in passing yards per game coming into this week, was responsible for a pair of his own and was on the bench before halftime when Oregon led 41-3.
Mama Said Knock You Out
A week after West Virginia was drugged and beaten 37-0 by Maryland and their hallucinogenic helmets, the Mountaineers knocked the No. 11 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys out of the national championship race with a stunning 30-21 victory. Oklahoma State was not the first. This is going to start happening a lot more as conference play ramps up nationwide. Another coach found his quarterback. Florida State transfer Clint Trickett seems to have secured his position as Dana Holgerson's starter, at least for the short-term. Trickett was a tourniquet for an offense that was severely inept in the month of September.
