12:14 AM
The devil's greatest trick was convincing the world he wasn't real.
The poison you put out this week was delicious.
Imagine an entire college football world spending a week assuming Nick Saban is done. Imagine how happy he would be if he heard all that doubt.
Alabama was cast in the role of David and slayed a giant whose entire history pointed to this outcome. It was the greatest trick of all time, and it was performed by the greatest magician of all time. The things we assumed we understood about college football in 2021 were erased by the man who always writes the final narrative.
We will call it an upset. This is Alabama. This is a man named Saban. It was deus ex machina, a constant force that lulled us into a comfortable sleep before it struck with righteous fury.
The entire season was scripted to bring us here, to the twist ending we should've seen coming. Bruce's ghost, a sled named Rosebud, was a coach who was playing the part of a loser when he was Keyser Soze.
Think of a carousel of surprises in 2021. The person slumped. Oklahoma lost two games and lost its coach. Michigan and Cincinnati are in line for playoff berths, while Ohio State is watching from home. You know, Pasadena. Not a bad prize. It was a year in which the top 10 teams lost on a weekly basis, and the AP poll should have installed a revolving door. The Jayhawks beating Texas was the funniest thing to happen to the Longhorns in 2021.
We assumed that things would be different for Alabama too.
They were fools. All of us.
They say death and taxes are the only certainties in life. A good accountant can help you get out of a tax bill, and there's a chance that Musk will come up with a formula for immortality. Is Nick Saban in the College Football Playoff? That is etched in stone.
It's not as if we didn't have reason to doubt him. Georgia dominated all comers this year. In the regular season, the defense gave up eight touchdown. The leader by a mile was the No. 1 team in the country. Kirby Smart was killing time until he could hoist a trophy. Georgia fans have seen this movie before. They must have known the end.
The Alabama team was not from Alabama. The loss to Texas A&M was one of many close calls. The Tide's O-line was destroyed by the Tigers a week ago, and only a miracle drive led by Young saved them from a second defeat. Young's drive and Bryan Harsin's decision not to go for two in overtime were both stupid. The Alabama team was more of a team of escape artists than a team of magicians. But he tried to warn us that they sounded dumb complaining about close wins. We must have known the ending.
Saturday provided us with other drama.
The goal-line stand by the Bears saved them from defeat in the Big 12 title game. Oklahoma State ran 17 plays inside the Bears' 10 and came away with just one touchdown. The loss knocked the Cowboys out of the playoff conversation, and while the committee will likely consider three quality wins, revenge against one of the teams it lost to, it's almost impossible to imagine a path for a two-loss team to make the playoffs.
Cincinnati was criticized for its close wins, but never offered a retort like a Saban one. The Bearcats beat SMU, East Carolina and Houston by double digits down the stretch. The first Group of 5 team to make the playoffs could've been Cincinnati. Alabama is the most likely team to see in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
Jim Harbaugh was out of a job a year ago. The Michigan fans were dissatisfied with the 2-4 campaign. The annual Ohio State-Michigan game was canceled due to COVID-19. Harbaugh rose from the ashes, building a championship foundation on defense and hard-nosed running. The feed store for Hawkeyes fans was forced to close on Saturday because of Michigan's dominance in the Big Ten championship game, which the Wolverines won, 42-3. Harbaugh might be the coach of the year, but that's not the type of trophy that is going to be added to the case.
We'll talk about the playoff over the next 312 weeks, and that conversation will begin with Alabama. We'll build a case for why Michigan's pass-rushing tandem can be the ultimate antidote to Bryce Young, or maybe even a Cinderella tale for Cincinnati, or maybe a revenge fantasy for those hapless bulldogs. We have to do this because we don't want to admit we know the ending.
Go ahead and dream. This won't be Nick Saban's year again.
It's important to have hope. Just know that the man thinks it tastes great.
Your doubts give Nick Saban strength.
The year of change.
Northern Illinois won the MAC title and started the championship game slate. The Big 12 championship was secured by a victory against Oklahoma State. Utah State dominated San Diego State to win the Mountain West. Michigan won the Big Ten title game.
What are the things that all those conference champions have in common? They were terrible last year.
The NIU went from 0-6 to 9-4. The team went from 2-7 to 11-2. Utah State went from 0-6 to 10-3. Michigan went from a poor 2-4 to 13-1 and likely a playoff spot.
It's up to the wild impacts of COVID-19, which created havoc for first-year coach Dave Aranda at Baylor, or to better health, like Aidan Hutchinson's return from a season-ending injury at Michigan, or to a smart coaching hire.
It's a combined improvement of 38 wins between them, whatever the magic formula was.
Kenny won the award.
Pitt's Kenny Pickett deserves a spot among the finalist for the award, even though he didn't win it, because of his performance against Georgia.
He had a season total of 47 after Saturday's 45-21 win over Wake Forest.
The veteran Pitt running back faked a slide and ran 58 yards for a touchdown to open the game.
Play.
The Wake Forest defense was fooled by Kenny Pickett and he took it 58 yards for the opening touchdown.
He followed that with two touchdown passes that pushed him ahead of Dan Marino for the most in school history, and then Deshaun Watson for the most in a single season in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Not bad for a day's work.
Young's heroics in each of the past three weeks for Alabama were not as great as the one by Pickett. In the two losses, Pickett was brilliant, throwing six touchdown passes against Western Michigan and 519 passing yards against Miami. Pickett never had a really bad game. He finished with less than 300 yards of total offense in both of Pitt's victories this season, and his total on Saturday was limited by a few sacks and Pitt's dominant second-half defense.
Consistency might be enough to win the award. It will have to be enough for Pickett to know he beat Marino and won the conference title, and that he will get a chance to play in a New Year's Six bowl.
A rising star.
The Utah Utes will head to the Rose Bowl as one of the hottest teams in the country after they wrapped up the Pac-12 title with a win over Oregon on Friday. The biggest reason is the quarterback.
Charlie Brewer was the quarterback for Utah in the season opener. The Utes lost at San Diego State and at BYU after beating Weber State. Brewer was benched midway through the Aztecs game, and Rising threw three touchdown passes in a comeback that fell just short.
What if Rising had been on the field all along?
Utah is 8-1 in Rising's starts, and he has racked up 23 touchdown and five picks.
The departure of Brewer seems to have inspired both Utah and Baylor to play in New Year's Six. It's rare for someone to leave and still be happy.
The bowl game is yet to be played, but Rising has 18 touchdown passes this season. That's an impressive number at Utah. The last time Utah played in a New Year's Six bowl and finished in the top 10 was in 2008, and the last time a quarterback topped 20 in a year was in 2008.
The winner is Napier.
If history is any indication, Billy Napier will have to pay a hefty buy out in three years. He left the Ragin' Cajuns with one last win.
Levi Lewis threw a touchdown pass and ran for another as the Ragin' Cajuns defeated Appalachian State in the Sun Belt title game.
After losing to App State in the Sun Belt title game last year, and seeing his previous title tilt canceled due to the coronaviruses, this was the first Sun Belt championship for Louisiana coach Billy Napier. This was Louisiana's first conference title. It's a great gift.
Brian Kelly's tenure at LSU will be compared to that of Billy Napier at Florida, the in-state school that hired the local guy in favor of a coach who is occasionally ragin' but most certainly not Cajun.
The playoff hopefuls are being analyzed.
The eighth College Football Playoff is upon us, but before we find out what Gary Barta and the rest of the gang decide, let's dig in on each of the contender and get some insight from new LSU coach Brian Kelly, who was gracious enough to take some time out of his
The Alabama Tide is 12-1
People doubted Nick Saban. That was not a good idea. If there's ever any doubt that this sport is for Alabama, it's erased by the fact that the Georgia defense was demolished by the Tide.
You can win up to $1 million with your bowl picks. Pick your favorites.
Alabama doesn't need to state its case. The committee should give the Tide a first-round bye.
Kelly's take: "My mama's gumbo is more spicy than that of Bryce Young." A boy.
Georgia is 12-1
This time, the Tide didn't have to go to a backup quarterback to win the game. That feels worse.
Georgia has been at the top of the heap all year, and one bad game against Alabama shouldn't distract from that. If that happens, it will likely lead to a repeat of the national championship between the two teams. The Dawgs would have to get revenge on an even bigger stage. How much more suffering can UGA fans expect if they don't?
Kelly wants to echo the cries of his ancestors and say: South-Eastern-Conference. South-Eastern Conference! Is that right?
Michigan is 12-1
The result of Championship Week was that Iowa was demolished 42-3, making them wonder if they would've been better served punting on first down.
It will make Ohio State fans angry. Michigan would like to win a national title and all, but this is about hurting Ohio State.
Kelly can't respect a coach who wears khakis. For me, it's swamp waders.
The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame are 11-1
Notre Dame was unable to attend Championship Week because of a previous engagement. Its sincerest regrets.
Notre Dame didn't lose to a Power 5 team all season. Please no follow-up questions.
Kelly's take: "Well, sir, I'll tell you what my grandpa told me when he came home from the oil rig: 'I'm married to the sea now, and you just bring back too many hard memories'."
The Cincinnati Bearcats are 13-0.
The Cincinnati defense held Houston to just one touchdown after the first quarter. Cincinnati is the last remaining perfect team in the country after Georgia's loss to Alabama.
Cincinnati has not lost a regular-season game in two years. You're already writing in "Notre Dame", aren't you?
Kelly loves some of the jambalaya they got up in the parts. They laughed in my face when I asked them to serve my food.
Cincinnati is on the verge of history.
The Bears are 11-2
The Championship Week result was a 21-16 win by Oklahoma State. They did it without their starting quarterback.
Three wins over top-15 teams was the pitch for the playoffs. It avenged one of its losses by beating the Cowboys. Do you really want to put two SEC teams in?
"This Dave Aranda fella used to coach right here in the great state of Lou-zee-anna but then went and quit on his team and went to work for the Bears." I find that reprehensible.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are 10-2.
The loss to Michigan knocked Ohio State out of the Big Ten title game. Nobody at Ohio State wanted Michigan to part ways with Jim Harbaugh. The loss was a three-dimensional chess maneuver to preserve the conference's dominance.
The Buckeyes have more quality losses than any other team in America.
Kelly said that the offense is sweeter than the beignets in the Quarter.
The LSU Tigers are 6-6)
The result of the Championship Week is that LSU beat Texas A&M, which means the Tigers are essentially SEC runners-up.
The 11-1 record should be enough for Kelly to bring his assistants with him from Notre Dame. If Kelly could win 11 games without SEC athletes, imagine what he could do with this team in a playoff. Since the SEC would never schedule Cincinnati, the lone loss shouldn't count here.
The peanuts out of a Coca-Cola would be what the Tigers would be like if they were out of the playoffs. They should spell it P-L-A-Y-E-A-U-X-F-. Go to the games. I mean, Ti-gerrrs. Ti-guss? Dang it. I've been listening to old news conferences while on the treadmill. I will get it eventually.
The winner of the Heisman was five.
We're not allowed to reveal our final ballots, but we'll be looking at a lot of the other candidates, from the defensive stars like Will Anderson Jr., to the top quarterbacks such as Bryce Young and Kenny Pickett. Let's honor the other heroes of 2021.
1. The Pole assassin's monkey.
Nothing tops the Texas monkey situation in a year filled with unlikely storylines. This was the last bite anyone at Texas showed this season.
2. The cat is in Miami.
Play.
The best catch from Week 2 of college football was not on the field, but in the stands, as a cat hanging from a balcony at Hard Rock Stadium.
The same school that saved a falling cat has left a man hanging.
3. The Arizona State fox.
Play.
A fox runs onto the field and runs into the tunnel during the Arizona State vs USC game.
The fox ended up higher on the draft boards than Daniels. The New York Jets are looking at it.
4. The dog is from Louisville.
Play.
A fan's dog in the stands gets up in the air as a Louisville player runs for a touchdown.
The dog didn't vote on Cunningham's ballot. Everyone is a Kenny Pickett fan.
5. Mission 2.
#MACtion is a picture.
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December 4, 2021.
We were holding this spot for Uga X, but the mascot from Northern Illinois upset us. Jordan Lynch crashed a Heisman party at NIU.
The play of the week was under the radar.
This play was not good and we will not tolerate any Matt Araiza slander here. We should all be happy that the San Diego State blocker survived being hit by one of Araiza's punts.
Play.
The ball bounces out of the end zone for a safety after San Diego State's Matt Araiza kicked the ball off.
The game of the week is under the radar.
In the second round of the playoffs, East Tennessee State was in danger of being eliminated as Kennesaw State held a 31-17 lead. The score was 31-24 with just 88 seconds remaining when the Buccaneers scored a late touchdown. The onside kick was recovered by ETSU and the team scored on a third-and-goal play and converted a 2-point try. The traffic on I-75 for nine hours made it difficult for the school to think about what happened on the bus ride.
Play.
The ETSU overcame a 14-point deficit with under two minutes left to stun Kennesaw State and advance in the playoffs.
