Snap judgments from college’s Week 5
College football fans love to overreact after every new batch of games. And we are here to help. Below, the storylines fans are sure to be talking about after another wild week in college football.
Clemson’s defense as good as you think
No. 2 Clemson smothered No. 12 Virginia Tech, winning 31-17 on Saturday:
It starts up front and with the defense, where Christian Wilkins, Dexter Lawrence, Clelin Ferrell and Austin Bryant routinely dominate opposing offensive lines. But it’s not just the big guys. The Tigers are big and fast all over. Midway through the third quarter, trailing 24-3, Virginia Tech went for it on fourth-and-3 near midfield. Jackson threw right, a bubble screen. It never had a chance. The receiver was swallowed up. The play lost 5 yards. That’s only to say this:
Most offenses, most nights, never have a chance against this defense, which is why Clemson might be the best team in the country. The Tigers’ offense won’t light up scoreboards against better defenses – for example, Bud Foster’s Virginia Tech bunch – but it doesn’t have to.
In a lot of ways, Clemson’s m.o. now looks more like Alabama of recent vintage: The defense asphyxiates. The offense grinds and then pulls away.
USC – and possibly the Pac-12 – is out of the playoff race
The Pac-12 is in trouble. The darling of the preseason, USC, looked downright dreadful for stretches in its 30-27 loss to Washington State in Pullman Friday night. Washington, which did not look like a postseason team in the first half at Oregon State, has a weak non-conference schedule. USC has limped through its early season wins instead of dominating like it should have, and it won’t play Washington unless both reach the Pac-12 title game. The Trojans’ depth also took a major hit Friday night with a rash of injuries.
None of this will impress the CFP committee. That means unless someone goes through the regular season undefeated and wins the Pac-12 championship game (maybe Washington State, which is 5-0?) the Conference of Champions might be spending New Year’s Eve at home.
Florida in trouble without Luke Del Rio
The Gators won and lost Saturday in their 38-24 victory against Vanderbilt. Yes, it’s another notch in the win column and will help Florida defend its back-to-back SEC-East division titles. But there’s no positive spin to put on losing your quarterback. Luke Del Rio, the son of Oakland Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, won the starting job last week after rallying Florida to a comeback win over Kentucky but is now lost for the season after suffering a left shoulder injury. Feleipe Franks filled in nicely for Del Rio, but there’s a reason he was pulled in favor of Del Rio last week. The aftershocks of Del Rio’s injury are likely to be felt all season.
Butch Jones is about to be fired
Did you see the Tennessee-Georgia score? Us, too. Getting smoked 41-0 when you’re on the hot seat does not inspire much confidence in the fan base or administration. Jones said afterward that Saturday was the worst offensive performance he’s been involved in since moving to Knoxville, and 142 yards of total offense would back up that statement. The Vols turned the ball over four times. It was their worst home loss since 1905. Outside of powerhouse Alabama, the SEC is mostly mediocre, and Tennessee should be performing better than this. Jones won’t make it through the season.
No team will troll another better than Troy trolled LSU
First the Trojans picked off LSU quarterback Danny Etling on the Tigers’ final drive, sealing a huge 24-21 upset win in Death Valley. Then, whoever runs the official Twitter account for Troy University earned his/her paycheck when this message posted to the account at 10:28 p.m.: “Hey @LSU, thanks for having us down for homecoming! We really enjoyed it!” They included a smiley face emoji.
Hopefully, the $985,000 check LSU wrote to Troy had already cleared. It will be tough to top that level of trolling, but there’s always the Michigan-Ohio State game on November 25.
(USA Today/TNS)