It’s time we give the No. 7 Huskies the respect they deserve ... The Trojans don’t look like contenders ... Oregon looks good, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves
They lack the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.
They don’t carry the cache of a traditional college football powerhouse.
And playing in the Pac-12 doesn’t do them any favours to NCAA gridiron pundits living in the Eastern timezone who claim their games are played too late at night to watch.
But Dawg-gone it, just when are the No. 7 Washington Huskies going to get the respect they deserve?
When it came to the Pac-12, the off-season buzz was all about QB
Sam Darnold and his USC Trojans — the nation’s top-billed quarterback leading a team destined to make this year’s College Football Playoff.
The Left Coast loop also hyped another future Sunday pigskin pivot in Josh (The Chosen One)
Rosen and his UCLA Bruins. Then there was the ever-dangerous Stanford Cardinal.
Meanwhile, the Huskies were left to ask the question, ‘Remember us? Conference champions last season, a CFP final-four team and booster of QB Jake Browning, who finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting last December?
‘We’re back, planning to take it one step further.’ But nobody’s listened. Well ... so far, the Pac-12 isn’t quite playing out as prognosticators saw it.
Darnold hasn’t exactly lit up the world — with six interceptions vs. just seven touchdown passes — and the Trojans nearly lost to the terrible Texas Longhorns in Week 3, pulling out an overtime victory in a 27-24 contest that didn’t exactly showcase USC’s so-called offensive firepower. Darling Darnold and the can’t-miss crew just don’t look like national contenders.
Earlier Saturday, it was Rosen tossing away UCLA’s conference chances with a couple of ugly, untimely INTs in a 48-45 loss to the Group of Five’s Memphis Tigers.
And then to cap off the day, Stanford went and lost 20-17 to another Group of Five program, the San Diego State Aztecs.
So USC’s pulling it’s usual no-show in the national spotlight, while UCLA and Stanford are already a cut or two below the true contenders.
Cue the Dawgs — arf, arf — much to the ho-hum of so many out there.
Sorry, folks, but UDub’s got it all together thus far with a championship-calibre defence and an offence that’s getting better every week behind Browning. And a Week 4 win over a stubborn Colorado Buffaloes squad late Saturday (way too late for those of you in the East) should further solidify a repeat run to the final four.
SECOND & LONG
OK, so how about a resurgent No. 24 Oregon crew (3-0) in the Pac-12, you ask? Wins over FCS Southern Utah, enigmatic Nebraska and listless Wyoming don’t exactly inspire confidence. Let’s just give this season a little more time to unfold before we crown the Quack Attack back in contending form … Plenty of rust on No. 12 Florida State (0-1), which reboots the season Saturday against N.C. State after Hurricane Irma cancelled one game and postponed another. And FSU goes to war behind QB
James Blackman, the squad’s first true freshman starter under centre since 1985 after Heisman hopeful Deandre Francois went down in Florida State’s only game, a Sept. 2 loss to Alabama. That said, it’s weird to see a winless team in the top 25 after three weeks of action … Speaking of Alabama (3-0), we here at College Football Frenzy love how prognosticators are touting a possible upset of the No. 1 team by SEC weak-sister Vanderbilt (3-0) in Week 4. Vandy over ’Bama? Not a chance.
THIRD & SHORT
The season of No. 25 LSU (2-1) took a hit last week in the lopsided 37-7 loss to Mississippi State (3-0, and now RB Derrius Guice (knee) — the SEC’s leading rusher (300 yards) and a Heisman hopeful — is out for LSU’s Week 4 home tilt against Syracuse (2-1) … Former starting QB, Sean White, of Auburn (2-1) was booted from the team after being charged with public intoxication last weekend. That’s just added pressure now on Auburn’s sophomore QB Jarrett Stidham, who’s been overhyped … Head coach Mike Riley’s seat likely just got a little hotter after Nebraska (1-2) fired its athletic director,
Shawn Eichorst, on Thursday. The football team’s bid to avoid a 1-3 start, which would be its worst since 1957, against Rutgers in Week 4 didn’t help the AD. The Big Ten school’s certainly paying through the nose these days, with Riley just getting an extension through 2020, Eichorst still owed $1.7 million and the school paying Northern Illinois (2-1) $820K to host last week’s game — that Big Red lost 21-17 — in Lincoln, Neb. Ouch!
FOURTH & INCHES
Sad news with the death of FCS sophomore Robert Grays, a Midwestern State football player who died Tuesday from injuries sustained from making a tackle during a game last Saturda … ESPN College GameDay broadcasts Saturday from — of all places — Times Square in New York City. Yes, strange place for college football …Love the cool name of the Fresno State Bulldogs’ equipment truck — ‘Bulldogimus Prime’ … Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World is now not only 20 years younger but has a comical sidekick in Fox’s football funny-guy Rob
Riggle. It just isn’t right, but hey, ‘Stay Thirsty, my friends.’ Thirsty for Saturday football, that is.