Headlines Week 3 2018

Back-and-forth Affair Under the Lights in Dallas

In a marquee matchup inside the gleaming edifice of Dallas Cowboys stadium, the Ohio State Buckeyes battled the Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Frogs. It was truly a tale of two halves.  When it mattered most, the Horned Frogs defense was suffocating in the 1st half, allowing the Buckeyes offense to score only 3 points.  The TCU offense, led by quarterback Shawn Robinson, constructed a pair of touchdown drives that would give them the lead heading into the half.  The lone Ohio State touchdown in the 1st half came when Buckeyes defensive end Nick Bosa sacked Robinson deep in his own territory and forced him to fumble.  The ball was barely recovered in the endzone for a touchdown by Ohio State.

The Horned Frogs extended their lead on the running back Darius Anderson's 2nd rushing touchdown of the game. After that, however, the Buckeyes took control.  Ohio State scored 3 touchdowns in a period of just under 4 minutes, the most exciting of which was a long reception from the arm of quarterback Dwayne Haskins to the hands of excellent receiver Parris Campbell.  The more pivotal one, though, was an interception return for a touchdown by defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones.  The Horned Frogs kept the game close with a long touchdown pass of their own, but Ohio State pulled away for good when Haskins sauntered into the endzone for a score at the end of a efficienct drive.  And so, yet again, the Buckeyes departed the magnificent stadium with a huge victory.

I also have to tell you the story behind Dwayne Haskins.  Ten years, he and his family visited the Ohio State campus.  Upon touring the area showcasing the past glories of Ohio State sports, young Dwayne expressed his desire to one day attend college there.  When his father inquired further as to why he wanted to be a Buckeye, Haskins declared, "I'm going to play quarterback here someday."  Quite a vivid reason to dream big and try your hardest to achieve it.

The Annual "Battle of the Tigers" Comes Down to the Final Play

The yearly contest between the Auburn Tigers and the Tigers of Louisiana State University usually provides college football enthusiasts with one of the best games of the year.  Aside from the obvious similarities, both teams compete in the hotly-contested SEC West division, often have championship hopes, and have fiercely loyal fan bases.  Can you spell, R-I-V-A-L-R-Y!

These important division matchups are won or lost in the trenches, a term for the game-long shoving match between each teams' offensive and defensive lines.  Looking at the final rushing stats, the result of that was basically a draw. 

LSU quieted some of initial enthusiasm of the Auburn home crowd by taking a 10 point lead halfway through the 2nd quarter.  Then, Auburn roared back with two rushing touchdowns to jump ahead 14-10 going into halftime.

Auburn jumped further into the lead at the end of a two minute drive when quarterback Jarrett Stidham completed a short TD pass to receiver Darius Slayton.  After that, the LSU defense tightened up, refusing to surrender any more points.  This allowed LSU to storm back in the final 20 minutes of play.  They scored first on a field goal by Cole Tracy and then leapt to within 2 points after a long touchdown pass and catch from quarterback Joe Burrow to receiver Derrick Dillon. 

Beginning with 4 1/2 minutes remaining in the game, Burrow, a transfer from Ohio State, led his team on a methodical, 14 play drive receiver that included a clutch 4th and 7 completion to Dee Anderson.  Later in this critical drive, a pass interference call on Auburn guaranteed LSU would at least get a chance for a last second field goal.  Kicker Cole Tracy, who had missed a long field goal in the first half, came on to attempt a 42 yarder with 2 seconds to go.  Tracy became the hero on campus for the next week when he nailed the kick right down the middle. With that, the LSU Tigers are now the top challenger to the Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC West.


The Struggle of First Year Head Coaches 

In the current world where fans expect results quickly, there are plenty of fan bases dissatisfied with their first year head coaches.

Let's start with Kevin Sumlin at Arizona who is 1-2 after two head-scratching losses where the offense played poorly, followed by a easy win over a weak opponent.  Then you have Willie Taggert at Florida State whose team got manhandled in a big opening game against Virginia Tech, barely defeated   little known Samford, and then got blown out by Syracuse.

Scott Frost, who coached UCF to an undefeated season last year, has yet to secure a win at Nebraska.  His Cornhuskers have suffered two close losses, the first in a well-fought rivalry against Colorado, which I wrote about in Week 1, and an upset loss to the Trojans of Troy, Alabama.  However, that result is more understandable when you know that the Trojans marched into LSU's home stadium and upset them last season as well.

Most surprising is Chip Kelly's terrible 0-3 start at UCLA.  He is a well-regarded former NFL head coach, originally viewed as one of the best of the new coaching hires.  But the college game is very different from managing professionals.  His Bruins were even listed as underdogs against the Fresno State Bulldogs, a team from a weaker conference.  When the Bruins lost that game on Saturday, Vegad was proved right.

The one bright spot has been Herm Edwards at Arizona State.  He is best known as an NFL analyst and had not coached in 10 years!  But he is sitting comfortably at 2-1, mainly because one of those victories was a superb upset of #13 Michigan State.