Thriller in Texas
Texas A&M's Kyle Field can hold a near national high capacity of 102,000 fans, and most of them were cheering in raucous fashion for the home team as the Aggies battled the highly ranked Clemson Tigers. Clemson eventually built a 15 point lead largely on the fine performance of senior quarterback Kelly Bryant. Also providing a valuable contribution was freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence. His best play was his first, when he fired a beautiful pass to receiver Tee Higgins who caught it dodged a defender and raced for a long touchdown. However, Texas A&M proved to be a very worthy opponent, mounting a determined comeback in the 4th quarterback, as quarterback Kellan Mond and his cadre of receivers showed their own amazing skills. The comeback came up just short, though, when their two point conversion attempt failed with under a minute to play. Teams facing Texas A&M in the future better get ready for a ferocious battle
Good News for Kansas At Last
The Kansas Jayhawks are known as a team that struggles to win, especially on the road. They had lost 46 road games in a row before an impressive defensive effort helped them end the streak against Central Michigan. The Kansas defense forced 5 turnovers and quarterback Peyton Bender tossed 2 touchdown passes as the Jayhawks could finally return home with a satisfying victory.
A Renewed Rivalry Provides a Nail-biting Finish
Nebraska is known for having a long string of consecutive sellouts at home and Saturday was certainly no exception as the Colorado Buffaloes, who used to be a conference rival, came rumbling into town. The teams were neck-and-neck throughout the contest, as they were tied or within a point 3 different times. A trio of rushing touchdowns for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 2 by freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez, gave them a 21-17 lead at the half. The star for Colorado was their quarterback, Stephen Montez, who threw for a total of 351 yards and 3 touchdowns. The most important of these came in the closing minutes, after a totally unnecessary and stupid hit by a Nebraska player, who I will leave unnamed for his own good, extended a Buffaloes' drive. Montez fired a perfect pass that sailed over two defenders to wide receiver Laviska Shinault Jr. who snagged it for the touchdown. Nebraska tried to mount a furious comeback in the final minute with backup quarterback Andrew Bunch forced to play as Martinez had suffered an injury earlier in the final quarter. He played admirably and led his team to a position to attempt a game winning scoring pass. Unfortunately, for Cornhusker fans his final desperation pass fell incomplete and the Buffaloes would gallop away with the victory.
Also of note, Colorado wide receiver Jay McIntyre, son of head coach Mike McIntyre, caught a short touchdown pass. Mike was very emotional about that in a post game interview.
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Wednesday, September 5, 2018
Headlines Week 1 2018
1. The most highly anticipated and important game of the week was certainly the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Game which pitted 2 top 10 teams, the Washington Huskies and Auburn Tigers, against each other. The game took place in the dazzling new Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, giving Auburn a decided advantage in fan attendance because Auburn University is located in the nearby state of Alabama. It appeared like this had some effect on the game as Auburn jumped out to an early 12-3 lead. Washington caught up in the 2nd quarter when Huskies quarterback Jake Browning found his groove and his receivers made a couple of fantastic catches. But inability to score touchdowns in the red zone in the 2nd half doomed Washington when Auburn scored a late touchdown. This is yet another example of how the PAC 12, the conference that Washington is a part of, usually fails to win a big game on the national stage.
2. In Charlotte, North Carolina, West Virginia soundly defeated a capable Tennessee squad, 40-14 behind the 5 touchdown passes thrown by West Virginia quarterback Will Grier. This came as welcome news to me because it bolstered my theory that West Virginia will challenge Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship this year.
3. Are the Knights of the University of Central Florida the best team in Florida? When my fellow college football expert George Winston asked who I thought the best team in Florida was, I quickly responded, "The UCF Knights!" He responded with a chuckle, which is understandable with teams like Miami, Florida, and Florida State who generally are more talented and play far tougher schedules. However, after games late in the weekend in which Miami was soundly defeated by LSU and Florida State was embarrassed at home by Virginia Tech, I might be onto something. UCF certainly played well in their 56-17 shellacking of UConn after a long trip up to Connecticut. This just goes to show that the Knights are no flash in the pan.
2. In Charlotte, North Carolina, West Virginia soundly defeated a capable Tennessee squad, 40-14 behind the 5 touchdown passes thrown by West Virginia quarterback Will Grier. This came as welcome news to me because it bolstered my theory that West Virginia will challenge Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship this year.
3. Are the Knights of the University of Central Florida the best team in Florida? When my fellow college football expert George Winston asked who I thought the best team in Florida was, I quickly responded, "The UCF Knights!" He responded with a chuckle, which is understandable with teams like Miami, Florida, and Florida State who generally are more talented and play far tougher schedules. However, after games late in the weekend in which Miami was soundly defeated by LSU and Florida State was embarrassed at home by Virginia Tech, I might be onto something. UCF certainly played well in their 56-17 shellacking of UConn after a long trip up to Connecticut. This just goes to show that the Knights are no flash in the pan.
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
2017: A Great Year With a Disappointing Finish
I have got to say that 2017 has been a great year of college football. It saw the Knights of UCF forge an incredible undefeated season, winning the American Conference Championship Game, and securing a spot in
the Peach Bowl where they faced Auburn. Even more spectacularly, UCF defeated Auburn in a monumental upset with the help of their head coach Scott Frost, who displayed an all too rare show of integrity by coaching the Knights despite his future plans to coach Nebraska.
But sadly, the Crimson Tide had to inject their all too predictable dominance into the tail end of the season. Their opponents in the National Championship Game were the fellow SEC member Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia played a marvelous 1st half, taking a 13-0 lead into the locker room thanks to a TD drive just before halftime.
Then the ever wily Nick Saban opted to put backup Tua Tagovailoa, a true freshman, into the game. I have to get Tagovailoa props for painting two crosses on his face with eye black to showcase who the glory really belongs to. The young gunslinger played exceptionally well, passing for 2 touchdowns and leading his team to 20 points in the 2nd half. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs only managed a single great offensive play after the half, an 80 yard touchdown strike from quarterback Jake Fromm to speedster Mecole Hardman.
The game went to overtime due to egregious missed field goal by Alabama kicker Andy Pappanastos on the last play of regulation. On Georgia's possession in overtime kicker Rodrigo Blankenship bailed out the struggling Bulldogs offense with a perfect 51 yard field goal. But an inexcusable blown coverage by the Georgia secondary allowed Tagovailoa to complete his third touchdown pass of the day to end the game in head-scrathing fashion.
Yet again, Alabama has achieved another championship that stuffs their trophy case and puffs them up with even more pride. I say that because quite a few times during the game the Alabama players pushed Georgia players around unnecessarily, acting like they were the kings of college football and no one had any right to defeat them. One Alabama player even shoved the head of the Georgia quarterback, an incredibly immature action which should have been called a personal foul. I can only hope that next year will end on a better note.
This is Jonathan Fry, signing off for this year.
the Peach Bowl where they faced Auburn. Even more spectacularly, UCF defeated Auburn in a monumental upset with the help of their head coach Scott Frost, who displayed an all too rare show of integrity by coaching the Knights despite his future plans to coach Nebraska.
But sadly, the Crimson Tide had to inject their all too predictable dominance into the tail end of the season. Their opponents in the National Championship Game were the fellow SEC member Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia played a marvelous 1st half, taking a 13-0 lead into the locker room thanks to a TD drive just before halftime.
Then the ever wily Nick Saban opted to put backup Tua Tagovailoa, a true freshman, into the game. I have to get Tagovailoa props for painting two crosses on his face with eye black to showcase who the glory really belongs to. The young gunslinger played exceptionally well, passing for 2 touchdowns and leading his team to 20 points in the 2nd half. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs only managed a single great offensive play after the half, an 80 yard touchdown strike from quarterback Jake Fromm to speedster Mecole Hardman.
The game went to overtime due to egregious missed field goal by Alabama kicker Andy Pappanastos on the last play of regulation. On Georgia's possession in overtime kicker Rodrigo Blankenship bailed out the struggling Bulldogs offense with a perfect 51 yard field goal. But an inexcusable blown coverage by the Georgia secondary allowed Tagovailoa to complete his third touchdown pass of the day to end the game in head-scrathing fashion.
Yet again, Alabama has achieved another championship that stuffs their trophy case and puffs them up with even more pride. I say that because quite a few times during the game the Alabama players pushed Georgia players around unnecessarily, acting like they were the kings of college football and no one had any right to defeat them. One Alabama player even shoved the head of the Georgia quarterback, an incredibly immature action which should have been called a personal foul. I can only hope that next year will end on a better note.
This is Jonathan Fry, signing off for this year.
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