Afterbirth (Week 5)

You know... the stuff that just kind of falls out when the party's over.

What's the Deal with Week 5?

In the first month of the season, you knew something wasn’t quite right when Vanderbilt broke into the Top 25, and Wake Forest looked like the best team in the ACC. During those first four weeks, you hope you can start to get an idea which teams are genuinely good, and which teams are simply riding a worthless wave of media hype. And right when you think you’re starting to make sense of it all, Week 5 arrives. In Week 5 last year, five of the top ten teams lost. This year four of the top ten teams, and nine of the top twenty-five, lost. If I’m a coach at a major college, I’ve got to at least think about how to adjust my schedule to get a bye week in Week 5.

Badgers? We Don't Need No Stinking Badgers.

What does it take to revive bowl hopes in Ann Arbor? A vastly overrated Wisconsin team. After dominating the first half, and leading 19-0, the Badgers fell asleep in the locker room. Following the intermission, Michigan scored 27 unanswered points, and held on to win 27-25. Wisconsin’s next five games: Ohio State, Penn State, @ Iowa, Illinois, @ Michigan State. This is a team that will be 6-3 by the second week of November.

The Hits Just Keep on Coming

I hate Miami, but you have to give them credit for two crushing blocks on the same punt return in their loss to North Carolina. Video below:



How About a Handoff?

It’s easy to sit on a barstool, beer in hand, and second guess some of the decisions made every weekend in the fall. I’ll admit it’s MUCH easier than being the guy making the decisions. Having said that, I couldn’t help but wonder why Louisville was passing the ball on 3rd and 7 from their own 40 yard line with 2:56 left in the game, and a one point lead. Connecticut quarterback Tyler Lorenzen had left the game with a broken foot, and the Huskies’ offense had been inconsistent. You’ve got to like your chances punting from near midfield, and that’s assuming a third down handoff wouldn’t have gotten the necessary first down yardage. Instead, Cardinal quarterback Hunter Cantwell threw an ugly pass into the flat that was intercepted and returned for the winning touchdown. Do you think Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe would like to have a do-over on that one?

Thanks for the 411. Now Piss Off.

I hate sportswriters. Talk about lemmings. How much propaganda did we have to read about USC before this season started, and right up until 11 o’clock Thursday night? After that, every writer in the country was scrambling to revise his previous assessment of the Trojan prowess. Now everyone wants to point out that USC has lost to Stanford, UCLA, and Oregon State over the last three years. Oregon State twice. Why didn’t you tell us that before Thursday night?

Sportswriters are in on the same conference calls, and get the same information every week. They share their thoughts so that mistaken impressions get compounded. Rumor becomes idea. Idea becomes story. Story becomes fact. Then it gets crammed down our collective throats like it’s the gridiron gospel. It takes a hard worker and a sharp thinker to see things from a different angle. So what you tend to get is different versions of the same story. Unlike most people, I was not impressed with USC’s win over Virginia in Week 2, and I said so, right here.

I’m not always right. Far from it. But I’m right just about as often as the people who present themselves as experts. That’s something that should scare you. Especially when you think about how much you rely on media for information.