[GAMEDAY] Saturday, October 12, 2024 (#2 OSU @ #4 Oregon, #1 v #20 Red River, #6 Ole Miss @ #13 LSU, #3 Penn St @ USC, KSU @ CU, #10 ISU @ WVU, UF @ #11 UT, Cal @ #21 Pitt, Zona @ #16 BYU, and others)

LOlhio State University. What a way to lose the game.

That was very weird.
- Very anti-climatic.

I keep expecting Bama to play better defense, or to dominate lesser teams. Then it dawned on me. This isn't Saban's Bama. This team is just like DeBoer's Washington. Where every game is close. Where defense is leaky, and lets other teams get back into the game. There are few blow outs, even against weak teams. This is the new Bama. DeBoer's Bama.

¹Texas v. ²⁰ oklahoma

It's 2:38 PM in Dallas and ou still sucks

The roar of "ou sucks" chants is music to my ears. They are sucking a little more than I anticipated
RRS is always one of those "throw the records out" games. Neither team ever looks truly comfortable in Fair Park, but both of them are chock full of highly-recruited DFW kids trying to show each other up with a ton of friends and family there.
Breakfast Taco UT finally starting to look decent.
Man OU really just refused to tackle for an entire series huh
Fumble into the end zone to recover for a touchdown! Exactly how we drew it up. Not stressed about nearly causing a touchback at all, nope
ou misses their field goal! The "yet to trail this season" streak lives on a little longer
- Well, OU tried to give y'all chances, but Ewers looks really rusty.
- RIP always lead streak
What's wrong with Ewers. He missed 2 wide-open receivers for sure TDs. Are you sure his injury wasn't to his head?
- Looks like he's trying to play too quickly and is missing reads (probably doesn't want to take too many hits). I had a hunch he would be like this, but more so that Sark's aggressive play calling is not doing him any favors -- I usually love that, but this actually ticks me off a lot that he doesn't dial it back in situations like this where he should be just trying to ease Ewers in.
I don't mind Horns-down as a hand-sign at all. Texas schools having hand-signs they're overly attached to is just kind of a thing, and it's ripe for mockery. Where it gets cringe is commissioning custom jewelry, like the OU staffer the broadcast just showed. Or maybe worse, if it's not custom, and you're literally putting money in the pocket of Roller-Derby UT.

Also, a team that fumbles shouldn't be allowed to benefit from the ball having rolled forward. Just feels bad, man.
- I don't mind much either. Same thing with holstering the Texas Tech guns -- it's just having a bit of fun with the old SWC hand signs. But non-SWC teams doing the hand signs feels kind of lame
Y'all always have sparklers on your flags?
- I think we've had them for about 10 years or so. It's a little gimmicky but I like it
THE HAT IS OURS!

SC QB can't count. Dude went for the TD 3x instead of the FG. That's an entirely winnable game he threw away, literally.

Man they almost had em. THAT woulda been a fun back to back leading into TSIO next week lol
- I am so disappointed in that lmao. Blue balled to death
He's a kid isn't he?
- Depends on perspective I guess. Yes, he is, even if he's over 18, he's young. Alternatively, no, he's over 18 and he's paid to do this now, and is a professional to a point. It's not the highest pro league, but it's near enough.

The fall of Bama is amazing to watch

It's a different Bama. I think if you look at last year's Washington Huskies' season, then you have a better grasp of this year's Bama. They have enough talent to go to national championship. But because they never blow away teams they should, they will get ranked lower and lower, and get underestimated. Like last year's Washington team. Huskies were always ranked lower than their fans thought they should, even with better record. It wasn't until the final week or 2 the picture cleared, and they were in the final 4. Even then there were doubters, but their performance in the championship game showed they belonged.

Absolute shit call. That was an interception for Oregon.

I just can't believe Sooners let Gabriel go so they can start some guy who's on the bench now. what a bonehead mistake.
Wild ending to this one. When Oregon kicked the go-ahead FG with ~30 seconds left I thought that was too much time, but I did not expect an Ohio State to mismanage the clock so badly (not that I'm complaining!)
- Yep, thought OSU would win. Just an absent minded mistake by the qb. I also am not complaining at all.
If Oregon loses it's because they made too many mistakes and an absolutely moronic ejection because the guy spat. How dumb is that? Not to mention egregiously unsportsmanlike.
Ooh, I know Oregon normally has good unis. But I really like these

SAFETY ON MILROE! Hell yeah, Gamecocks!

🤙
Those last 2 minutes of the 1st half just showed every weakness of Milroe where he's just not developing fast enough to be the QB of a contending team. Poor passing mechanics. Poor decision making. Even his decision-making in the running game which is supposed to be his strength, is iffy. You can see why Milroe got benched last year. You can see how Saban protected Milroe last year giving him simple reads and limited passing game.

Neal Brown needs to fucking go. Dude is awful. 21 from the defense AND two 3 and outs coming from the half and you did fuck all with it. Neal is a sham.

Florida @ ¹¹ Tennessee

I hate this game, I do not want this to go to extra time. Please just finish it
- I think y'all'll get it. EDIT: or not. This game is so damn stupid.
  
  Also was hopeful about that replay until I saw the puff of sand.
Tennessee successfully failed to lose. 🤣
- It was a back and forth hard fought effort, but ultimately it was the gators who came out on bottom
"Gutsy throw" = announcer speak for "Stupid freshman throw that somehow worked out".

I don't hate that fourth down decision or the call. Sometimes they don't work out, and Creepy Zombie Science UT clearly has the momentum.
Gotta stop grabbing the shoulder-numbers, pumpkins.
Well fuck me
That was an... interesting series for the Tennessee offense.
- Yeah normally I like Heup's playcalling. It can be controversial but it's aggressive... that wasn't
AAAHHHHHH IM GONNA THROW UP
Can we please cool it with the damn boobirds when a gator goes down?
- The last one looked a bit sus, but as they mentioned you wouldn't want to have a key pass rusher out on a key third-and-long. I would in general be in favor of having to stay out more than one play if you have to come off, though. Realistically, can you even be properly evaluated in the 30-60 seconds that a play could reasonably take in real time?
BAH, there we go. I knew Lagway wouldn't go under center. He takes spikes and kneeldowns from shotgun.

Being in the gun is a disadvantage. Jet sweep against a fast team is dumb and why Billy is probably still going to get fired this year.
Picking up right where we left off
Give me a replay, because Nico made that reach I'm telling you
- I thought he stepped out and was still a bit short, but I admit I was pleasantly surprised by that spot.
How is that the play that goes our way lol
THAT'S THE HEUP PLAYCALLING I LIKE TO SEE
- LOL, yeah, that was bonkers in the fun way.
  
  Fuckers.
This game has got to be incredible to watch for anyone who hates the gators and the Vols
- So... a certain percentage of Georgia fans, or a certain generation of Alabama fans? 🤣
Interception! LOL.

Gotta give Heupel credit. After his playing days, he didn't do any Kingsbury/Reilly bullshit. No sir, with athletic fitness no longer a key requirement, the man went full fat-dad. I can appreciate that.

Neither team wants to score any points. Jeezus.
- Neither team wants to score any points. Jeezus.
  
  This times a million. Billy seems like a good dude, but he coaches DUMB.
Unfortunately I feel OT favors the gators here
- I feel exactly the opposite. This Gators team is not built for high pressure situations where mistakes are punished.
That kid can freaking get it
And THAT is why it's so frustrating when we stall out. The pieces are obviously still there
Crowd noise was a given. Billy might lose close and still get tarmac'd. Such an underwhelming coaching display.
- To wit, the play calling FOR LAGWAY was much more aggressive when it was his designated possessions, but now Billy is acting like he's a raw backup with no reps.
Just when I was prepared to call our secondary "improved"
Somehow Florida gets a brilliant improvisational play for a TD, and decides to do some bizarre trick play, but then says nope at the last second. PAT good. This game is very stupid, LOL.
That is exactly what the doctor ordered!
- Worst part is, I can't even blame that on Billy. Lagway just forgot defenders are allowed to jump.
Florida scores a TD.

Mertz has non-contact injury. Johnson still out.
- I have this game on in the background while I do chores and I swear every time I check back in I see an injured Gator. I'm new to the SEC -- is this field really cursed as was purported in The Blind Side?
- Apparently they also sacrificed the entire defense. Nice drive, undersaturated orange team.
Points is points.
Man our oline is just not good
FUCK. Decent call. Goddammit.
These god damn oline penalties
Montrell Johnson twisted all funky on that tackle (it was clean, best I can tell, though sort of an unintentional hip-drop). Not optimistic he'll be back tonight.
- Yeah that last gator drive was attritional to say the least
Punting is smart for Tennessee. The more plays Florida has to run, the greater the chance Billy Napier does something stupid. Big Brain Heupel.

RRS is too stressful, so seeking brief reprieve in ³ Penn State at USC. This is a beautiful uniform combo.

I, uh, did not know that the C doesn't have to line up at center and can snap on the end of the line and be an eligible receiver. That was a beautiful TD by Penn State's center there
- I think he's a tight end. 12 receptions so far. LOL. More than half of the team's.
Agreed. Their "Cardinal and Gold" is nice but not that special to me on its own, but it complements a lot of other teams' combos really well.
Penn State survives! I really thought the B1G travel curse would get them. I hope that means an Ohio State University will succumb to the West Coast trip
The hell going on with Penn State defense. They've given up 144 yards rushing in 1st half already. Edit: make that 164 now. Just ripped off 20 yarder right after I posted.
44 for Penn State is single-handedly winning the game for his team. SC can't seem to stop him.
Refs single-handedly deciding the game for Penn State in OT. Not calling TWO pass interference on them in OT on same drive. Just disgusting.

Ole Miss-LSU

This ending was nuts. Really, really did not expect LSU to win, especially in that fashion.
Nussmeier was 21-51 but he balled out when it was needed most. Gamer.
OMG LSU is making Dart look like a great runner.

That last drive of Bama was perfect play calling protecting Milroe. They took away decision-making from him by calling runs and short passing game where passes were essentially run plays. The TD pass was a simple read, throw there if guy is open, otherwise run or toss the ball away. Gamecocks were lulled into sleep with repeated run plays and blew their coverage, gave up a TD.

This BYU - AZ game is pretty competitive, but BYU is about to make it not so

Lol @ Gus thinking BYU could kick a fg from their own 40
- Now I'm wondering how high of elevation you would need to make it possible. Like, if Justin Tucker was on top of Mount Everest could it be done?

Every now and then Bevo demands blood

It is known. Georgia learned this the hard way when they tried to introduce Uga to Bevo in the 2019 Sugar Bowl

Iowa is totally getting jobbed here. I know it's just 3 pts but that was not a field goal! I absolutely cannot believe the ref said it was good. Honestly he should be suspended

Lol, and a few minutes later Iowa has a nearly identical borderline FG kind of negating UW's earlier one.

EXTEND YOUR FIELD GOAL POSTS, IOWA

Fwiw, some people have taken to calling the UF-UT game the Third Saturday in September. I just call it the fucking florida game

I heard that for the first time this morning and was very confused.

I love when matchups have names, but I never cared for the ones that are named after a specific date. Especially with all the changes recently in cfb (and the lack of reverence for history by TV execs), there are no guarantees that rivalries will continue to even be played, let alone occurring on a traditional day
- Third Saturday in October hits just a little different though (totally recognizing my bias here but still)
I didn't even know we played it mostly on the same weekend. 🤷‍♀️ It's an important game, but unless we're both in top form, it's our #3 rivalry, and the LSU game is closing in.

Now, to be clear, Florida is nowhere near spitting distance of being close to top form. Billy doesn't even need to win today to fend off the reaper, just look like a competent college coach that might win this game in a year or two.

In fact, I really can't lose today. Either we win and give fans of Runaway-Truck-Ramp UT fits for another year, we lose close and look competent, or we lose big and get a head start on stealing somebody's coach.

What is dead may never die.
- I didn't either, I just know that I can count the wins I've seen against florida on one hand. That's the only team that's true for. Even the other members of the "big 3" that we face every year were "easy wins" when I was young. This game has always been a special game to me, so I've always hated the gators with a passion. As far as the name goes, I don't really like it. It feels like people were just trying to match TSIO (which to be fair when the florida game started to really become a rivalry bama was not really an exciting game). Here's to a good one today