This week was set up perfectly for the Big 10 to show the conference is relevant and belong in the talk for the playoffs at the end of the year. They had 3 big game matchups: Ohio St vs Virginia Tech, Michigan @ Notre Dame, and the big one Michigan St @ Oregon. Unfortunately for the Big 10, they went 0-3 and some were ugly losses. Michigan failed to score a single point in their loss to Notre Dame 31-0. Ohio St lost at HOME to an unranked Virginia Tech 35-21. Granted the last TD for the Hokies came on a pick 6, but it was a horrible pass and shouldn't have been thrown. Michigan St played Oregon very close in the 1st half. In fact, they had a 24-18 halftime lead. However, Oregon broke out in the 2nd half and put the game away outscoring the Spartans 28-3 giving Oregon a 46-27 victory.
The SEC took the week off by playing FCS and lower-level FBS teams to rack up easy wins. The only exception being Ole Miss beating up Vanderbilt 41-3. Derek Mason isn't looking good in his 1st year as head coach of the Commodores. The top ACC teams (Florida St & Clemson) also took the week off beating up FCS schools.
The only other big game this week took place in the Pac-12. USC played at Stanford. This is turning out to be a really good rivalry. All of the games in the last 4 years have been decided by 8 points or less and have come down to the last possession of the game. This one was no different. USC kicked a 53-yd field goal with 2:30 left in the 4th to take a 13-10 lead. Stanford still had plenty of time and were moving the ball down the field. They got all the way inside the USC 30-yd line and then J.R. Tavai came from the blindside and forced a fumble while sacking Kevin Hogan and USC recovered with :19 seconds left. Being an SC fan, I'm happy for the win, but it was not the best played game on both sides. There were lots of penalties on both teams, some were horrible timing and caused the way the game turned out. Overall, Stanford outplayed USC and was able to move the ball pretty easily until they got within the 35-yd line of USC. USC's defense would stiffen and either cause turnovers, missed field goals, turnover on downs, or Stanford would hurt themselves with a penalty.
Now I have to say something about Oklahoma. This is something that has bothered me for some years now and it happened again on Saturday. Oklahoma was playing at Tulsa and had a 45-7 lead in the 3rd quarter. I turned on the game with about 3 minutes left in the 3rd and Oklahoma had the ball deep in their territory around the 5-yd line. Oklahoma had their starters still in the game and Knight went back to pass deep down the field to his receiver around the 50-yd line. I thought, "OK, they'll just run the ball now to take time off the clock since they had a 38-point lead." Nope, they continue to throw the ball and eventually scored a TD to go up 52-7. I stopped watching because I was so disgusted with Bob Stoops and showing no class by running up the score. I'm hoping that was Knight and the other starters last series, but who knows. Wouldn't surprise me if he kept them in for most of the 4th quarter.
This isn't the first time he has done this. I remember a few years back Oklahoma was playing another weak opponent, can't remember who it was. Oklahoma was up like 45-14 with 2 minutes left in the 4th. They had the ball around the 10-yd line. All they had to do was run the ball or take a knee to burn the clock. What does Stoops do? He has his starters in again and throws for a TD. This was even more egregious than today.
I'm sorry, but Bob Stoops has no class and he is also a sore loser. He has no problem speaking his mind and calling out the SEC, which I'm fine with. When he loses though, he is a sore loser. He can never give respect to the coach or team he lost to. He never admits his team lost to a better team that day. I specifically remember this one because I have the DVD of the game and it has both the halftime and post-game interview with Stoops. In the National Championship game against USC where USC won 55-19, "Big Game Bob" (really? he loses most big games) never gave credit to USC or Pete Carroll. All he did was give excuses as to how his team lost. He couldn't admit he lost to a better team that day.
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