Dad's Football Recap

In an effort to keep my pops updated on the football scene, as well as anyone else who finds themselves too busy or otherwise engaged to sit in front of the boob tube all weekend long on a beautiful fall weekend, here’s the lowdown on the most important games and what they mean to the big picture. Remember, no mind numbing stats here, so fantasy geeks will have to look elsewhere for your insight. I don’t have a clue as to who you should start as your 3rd wide-out this week, nor do I much care. And if you are looking for prognostication turn to ESPN, those guys know it all and will tell you what they know 24/7, mostly in a high volume that makes you wonder if they aren’t broadcasting from Times Square on New Year’s Eve. All you’ll get here is the stuff you need to know, in case you missed it, and so you can sound halfway intelligent around the water cooler today. And if someone starts going on about their third string wide-out on their fantasy team, tell ‘em to get a life already!

We’ll start with the college gridiron, where the upstart Texas Tech Red Raiders continued to pile up points at an Arena League clip and beat a good Oklahoma State Cowboys team. Tech passed their first big challenge against a team from the Sooner state, the actual Sooners loom large on the schedule in a couple weeks. They had to win to keep pace with conference rivals Oklahoma (OU) and the Texas Longhorns (UT) who also won big and continued the dominant run of the Big 12 Conference this year, which unlike the Big 10 actually does have the amount of teams their name suggests. Tech’s QB Graham Harrell is also the front-runner for the Heisman, and you might want to throw in something like, man that Harrell is gonna be getting his trophy at the Downtown Athletic Club next month and he’ll be playing on Sundays next year. Don’t worry if you don’t exactly know what it all means, nobody will challenge you and you’ll sound like you are in the know. Remember, it’s not what you know, but what people think you know that is the key.

Roll Tide Roll is the battle cry for the Alabama Crimson Tide, and Nick Saban’s boys did just that by beating the defending champion LSU Tigers, known in college circles as the Bayou Bengals. Saban used to coach the Tigers, and he led them to a national title a few years back, but then left to take a pro job and apparently the Baton Rouge faithful still haven’t forgiven him as they were seen burning him in effigy before the game. Nothing like the spirit of good sportsmanship, although I guess they do have a predilection toward burning stuff in the South. The Tide are still ranked number one in the AP poll, which is the gold standard of football rankings, and their conference rival, the Florida Gators (UF) also won big and the two are poised to play each other for the SEC championship in early December, a game which could easily vault the winner into the title game in early January.

In Rose Bowl country, or at least what used to be so before the BCS got a hold of a great system, the Penn State Nittany Lions took it on the chin to the Iowa Hawkeyes, in all likelihood costing 84 year-old coach Joe Paterno, affectionately known as Joe Pa, a shot at a second national title. The men of Troy, the USC Trojans (’SC) won again, rolling over yet another inferior Pac-10 foe, this time the Cal Bears, to inch a step closer to the title picture, but they will need a few more losses by the teams ahead of them if Pete Carroll’s boys are to get a shot at yet another title. An ’SC-Penn State match up in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen though, assuming neither team makes it to the big money game.

As for those that get paychecks for their work, two teams from the opposite ends of the spectrum stayed perfect, this season’s feel good story, the Tennessee Titans beat da’ Bears to go to 9-0, while the news got worse in the heart of auto country as the Detroit Lions lost again to drop to 0-9. They play each other in a few weeks, and it would be something, and not entirely impossible to have an unbeaten team go down to a winless team.

The defending champs proved that the road to the Super Bowl in the NFC still goes through the Big Apple, or at least through East Rutherford, New Jersey, which is where the New York Giants play their home games. The Giants beat their division rivals from Philadelphia in a hard fought Sunday night match up, and QB Eli Manning is really starting to come into his own as a star in the league.

Eli’s still more famous, for now at least, older brother Peyton had a big day as well, leading his Indianapolis Colts to a huge victory over the tough Pittsburgh Steelers on the road, the first win for the Colts franchise in the Steel City in 40 years. It was a potential season saver for the Colts, as they needed the win to get above .500 at 5-4 and to stay in the playoff picture, and it has to give them a much needed boost of confidence that they still got it. The play of the game was a great goal line hit by the Colts rookie Defensive Tackle, #68, who decleated the Steelers running back, knocking him on his backside and saving a touchdown late in the game. I played that one over and over until I had my fill, and I’m getting goose bumps now just thinking about the play.

So all in all, another big weekend in football, I’ll check in on Friday morning with a look at the action to come next weekend. Until then, enjoy the work week and the water cooler banter, as you are now up to speed on the happenings in our true national pastime.