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Hello everyone and welcome to the first edition of the NUDE KICKOFF I'm here with fellow coach @llamas to bring you the only pregame show presented straight from campus strip clubs. Today we're here in beautiful Urbana-Champaign with our guest picker, the beautiful lady Champagne at the Pink Champaign Showgirls. First up, today's schedule. We are kicking off with a nice noon Michigan State - Indiana appetizer. Quick lunch break then diving into this evening's trifecta: Cal at Michigan, Iowa at Purdue, and of course Ohio State at Illinois. Let's dive in to take a closer look at each. First off: Sparty and the Hoosiers. Michigan State comes into this game limping as expected. Losing to TCU and LSU was expected, as was Michigan. A win against CMU was nice but not very informative about this team and we really don’t know what to expect yet. They are likely better than their 1-3 record (0-1) record indicates, hence why the spread is MSU by 6. This does feel like a bit of disrespect to Indiana though, the last undefeated B1G team at 4-0. They got here through a much easier route: Kentucky, Wisconsin, Ball State, Texas State is not exactly a murderers row. They have however looked dominant and winning this game is another step to proving they belong in discussions for the division race. Below, our B1G Boi Table™ to compare the two. Indiana Michigan State Team Talent Rank 82nd 63rd Strength of Schedule 144nd 43rd Elo 13th 80th Points for/against 40 – 16.25 29.25 – 33.75 Yards for/against 419 – 251 395 – 389 Pass/Run/Balanced? Balanced all over Balanced, weaker run D Best Players P P.K. Crowe (#1 nationally!), DE Vondrae Ledbetter, RB Kamar Blackmon, QB Rangi Grey ILB Luke Blankenship, DE Arthur Trahan, WR Antonio Jackson Turnovers/Takeaways 3/6 3/2 OL Rating 4.03 (59th) 3.65 (82nd) Sacks given/taken 10—7 5 – 12 All Time Series 1-8 Won last year 31-28 As you can see, Indiana has looked much, much better but against much worse competition. As for the pick: I've got Indiana to not only cover the spread, but to win outright and keep that undefeated season going. And our celebrity guest picker Champagne: They may not be as good as the Trojans, but Spartans are still a cooler nickname than the Hoosiers so Michigan State for me! Next up: Iowa at Purdue. Both schools are 3-1, Iowa has nice wins over Minnesota and the el assico! Fest against Iowa State. They dropped a game against PSU but look ok thus far. Purdue’s best win is Syracuse and with a loss to Notre dame they aren’t exactly sterling, but the stats paint a much brighter picture for them as seen below: Iowa Purdue Team Talent Rank 53rd 14th Strength of Schedule 51st 79th Elo 43rd 20th Points for/against 26.75 – 26.25 26.75 – 18.75 Yards for/against 332.75 – 340 365 – 295.5 Pass/Run/Balanced? Weak Pass O, good run D Weak run game, slightly better pass D Best Players SS Ricky Chambers, CB Marcedes, DE Joe Hanley, TE Alec Rowell DE Landon Crowder (leads nation with 8 sacks), K Mason Williams (9/10, 2/3 from 50+) Turnovers/Takeaways 3 / 3 2 / 4 OL Rating 4.03 (60th) 4.33 (40th) Sacks given/taken 7 – 7 13 – 4 All Time Series 5-4 Won last year 42-26 A nice divisional matchup here as Purdue is favored by 5 and wants to hop into the lead for the West division which is wide open right now. I have Purdue both for the win and the cover. Champagne: You know, Iowa City actually does not have any strip clubs at all. 0. Unbelievable, an absolute travesty. It has to be Purdue here for that reason alone Our only OOC matchup, Cal comes to Ann Arbor for a chilly evening against the Wolverines. Cal already has beaten Kansas State and USC en route to a 3-1 record, dropping a matchup against Oregon. For their part, Michigan has a nice win over Vanderbilt and a loss to Notre Dame along with cupcake Ws over Rutgers and Wisconsin. At the big house Michigan is favored by 1. Cal Michigan Team Talent Rank 86th 26th Strength of Schedule 66th 69th Elo 32nd 50th Points for/against 25.5 – 19.25 24.8 – 21.8 Yards for/against 360.75 – 288 342.4 – 281 Pass/Run/Balanced? Great running team, and a run-stuffing D Balanced O, balanced D Best Players ILB D’Andre Phillips, DE Jamal Dorsey, RB Zachary McFadden ILB Luke Blankenship, DE Arthur Trahan, RB Nick Rowland Turnovers/Takeaways 3 – 4 5 – 7 OL Rating 4.53 (29th) 4.96 (12th) Sacks given/taken 6 – 3 11 – 6 All Time Series 0-0 First ever matchup! As the OFFICIAL B1G partner TV Show we can’t in good conscience pick against our own conference so it’s unanimous, Michigan by 10. On a serious note, Michigan is hoping for a big win, because their kicker is atrocious this season, going 4/10 on FGA, 1/7 from 40+ so stalling outside the red zone is bad news. Next trip we take to Ann Arbor we’ll be asking the local clubs if they’ve seen him around skipping practices or something. And now the big one, Ohio State at Illinois. The spread is Illinois by 3, coincidentally the benefit of the home team, indicating these two are equally-matched. Illinois has already lost to Minnesota and does not want to start 0-2 in conference, and they have two nice wins against UVA and Washington to show their competence. Ohio State beat some patsies and Arizona State before losing a shocking upset to Virginia Tech on their last outing. They should be out for redemption here, or did the Hokies expose vital flaws? Illinois Ohio State Team Talent Rank 5th 28th Strength of Schedule 19th 86th Elo 33rd 30th Points for/against 22.5 – 15.75 26 – 14.75 Yards for/against 363.75 – 268 378.5 – 226.25 Pass/Run/Balanced? Pass heavy, bad at running. Good run D Balanced O, great pass D Best Players DE Xavier Rawls, ILB Rakeem Phillips, TE Byron Hubbard, QB Jordan Harrison DE Condon, DE Damien Atkins, TE Jonas Schumacher, RB Julius Wesley Jr. Turnovers/Takeaways 5 – 5 5 – 5 OL Rating 4.83 (15th) 3.54 (91st) Sacks given/taken 11 – 6 12 – 9 All Time Series 1-0 Last lost 27-20 I do think OSU has a pretty weak OL here that will be there undoing. I'm going with Illinois albeit not with a whole lot of confidence. Champagne: well I don't know who will win this one, but I did find @llamas doodling this, so uh. Please leave Sadly our time is up. The budget apparently only gets us an hour with Champagne in Champaign so we're going to turn it over to ESPN U and let's get started with some football!

This week the Power Rankings went "hopeful" with discussion and commentary, looking at the bright side (mostly) of where teams sit after Week 6. It feels like some serious clashes are coming, both this week and in Week 8, which makes for one excited Power Rankings writer. Don't worry, Miami is clearly gonna take a tumble when Troy McMurray and Marshawn Matthison run circles around the Dolphin Defense...we know, we know. There were a couple surprises this past week, but mostly the favorites did what they needed to, to stay on top. I think we're seeing a real separating of franchises here, for the first time: parity is less common that IRL NFL, which is fascinating. Agree? Disagree? Put it in the comments... Remember, if you don't like where you are in these Rankings...play better! Battle Royale 1. Detroit Lions 2. Kansas City Chiefs This will, likely, be the last time these two are grouped together at 1 and 2, as their matchup this weekend is the most hotly anticipated game of the season to date. The Lions have absolutely steamrolled everyone, including last weeks 31-6 romp on the road at this writer's preseason Super Bowl pick CAR. The Chiefs have been only slightly less impressive--and who knows how last week's Monday Nighter would have turned out had the zebras put on their glasses and given Jankowski the catch. KC got a little lucky there, as they did in catching a couple of their opponents nursing injury. Still, the Chiefs are trotting out the best statistical QB in the League and the best RB (yardage-wise) in the League and a defense that has risen to the occasion. This is going to be a GREAT game, and the winner should feel relieved. We'll see if the loser drops... The Rear View is Clear, For Now 3. Jacksonville Jaguars 4. Miami Dolphins 5. Washington Football Club 6. Buffalo Bills 7. Las Vegas Raiders It feels a little weird to see the Bills and WAS in this group, but you cannot overlook only 1 loss on both resumes. The Bills haven't really played anyone yet: the only playoff team currently was their loss to the Chiefs in week 2. That changes this week with the Raiders coming to town. The Bills get pressure on QBs like no one else, so Nick Hall may be running for his life. If he can plant his foot, though, Hall is still more than capable of breaking down a Bills secondary that is the weak link on their defense. Washington, meanwhile, is coming off a really nice home win over the Eagles to stake their claim to the NFCE throne currently. Tanner Bowman put on a clinic WITHOUT his top target SHW. That Washington defense solved the Bridgewater conundrum as well. I like WAS to stay on top, barring injury, in the most competitive division in the NFC. Jacksonville tops this particular tier with a relentless, bludgeoning style, while Miami is right there at the top of the heap, with arguably the "best" loss in the Top 5 (week 2, KC). Coming off a bye, the Dolphins will cruise against an over-matched Denver team that just gave up 1,000 yards to Nick Hall & Co. Well-Above Average 8. Green Bay Packers 9. Atlanta Falcons 10. San Francisco 49ers  11. Philadelphia Eagles 12. Indianapolis Colts This tier is super interesting. The Packers have at times looked invincible, but other times come out and really shown their vulnerabilities. The Falcons have a couple excellent W's, but a confounding tie and a weird loss, and travel to Carolina this week, so who really knows what the heck to make of the Falcons. I DO know that Donald Culver is not in the same category as the rest of the QBs (including whomever PHI trots out) as the rest of the teams in this tier. Speaking of excellent QB play, Aaron Shea must be ever-so-glad that the IND FO went out and got him a reliable RB, as J.B. Blacknall ripped the band-aid off the 100-yd meme for the Colts as they effectively took over second place in the South (by also shelving Thomas Wheeler for the rest of the season). The Eagles have two very-tight losses, to the Falcons and WAS, and seem to be slightly hemmed in with Alex Bridgewater instead of Alan Taylor. Still, to be 4-2 at this point without their leader is truly impressive. The 49ers early season cupcake schedule finally caught up to them on Sunday with the loss to the Rams. It doesn't get any easier for SF this weekend, heading to PHI. How did the Rams hold Solomon to 53? Who knows, but the Niners had NO response. Scratching, Clawing, Inching Toward the Playoffs 13. Tennessee Titans 14. Los Angeles Rams 15. Pittsburgh Steelers  16. Baltimore Ravens  17. Dallas Cowboys  18. Carolina Panthers There's a lot to like with this tier: teams generally on the rise (perhaps excepting CAR) who have just lost to better teams, but continue to improve. I'm most impressed by the Ravens' and Cowboys' offensive shifts to Pro Style/pass-first offenses. That happened on-the-fly, and the success therein has been palpable. The Rams, I believe the "oldest" team in the League, are beginning to play some good ball, especially on defense. They will continue to push the Niners in the West, and may even overtake them. I like the two-headed RB monster in LA, even if I wish they were both slightly more efficient. Carolina and Tennessee could actually be lumped together as "Would-Be Contenders" but for completely different reasons: you have to feel for the Titans, who were on cruise control in the AFCS, but just lost their everything at QB; while Carolina has underperformed all season, likely due to the lack of youthful talent influx the last couple of drafts. Pittsburgh is on the rise against, winning three straight after starting out 0-3, to take the lead in the AFC Norris. HUGE matchup this weekend in the Steel City against their co-leaders Baltimore and Marcus Black. Hit-Miss-Hit-Miss-Hit--? 19. Chicago Bears 20. Seattle Seahawks 21. Houston Texans 22. Minnesota Vikings 23. Los Angeles Chargers of San Diego I probably could have included any of these teams in the tier above, as they have all (at some point in the season) looked to be "on the rise." But...as is the charge with the Power Rankings, we have to look at recent results, and really on the Bears and Seahawks have been playing well enough to move up lately. Seattle rightly stunned the hot/cold Texans, bottling up Alex Leshoure and getting Marcus Williams out in space for some nice yardage. Not sure where they're headed, but the coaching in Seattle continues to be a strength. The Bears are helmed by a confident Mohamed Foster, who is really putting it all together, and staying mostly upright. While I don't believe the Bears will TRULY challenge the Lions/Pack in the North, they could play spoiler more than once going forward, and then turn on the jets in 2024 and beyond. At this point, I think it's between Foster and Ryan Harris for Most Improved Player in the League. I really don't know what to make of the Vikings, who sit at 3-3 but have not impressed in any way. Minnesota heads to Green Bay for the Border Battle before a bye week, where they will most likely be licking some wounds. The Chargers have done yeoman's work getting to 2 wins, and may still tack on a couple more (cough...Denver...cough), including this week at the fire-selling NY J-E-T-S. Quick shout-out to Brannon Austin: he's not a "good" RB yet, but he's improving, and that's all you want to see, really. "When's the Draft?" 24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25. New York Jets 26. Denver Broncos 27. New England Patriots 28. New York Giants  29. New Orleans Saints One. One stinking win for everyone in this tier. One. The Bucs top the group since theirs was last week, over the Saints. That game saw a pissed-off Taylor Heiden go HAM on the New Orleans secondary. The Jets are in free-fall after the Erik Wegert injury (kudos to their FO for making the fire-sale decision now); the Giants have chosen to the let Eric McLean get beat up this season, which is unsurprising; the Broncos have played "well" just twice this year, which is dwarfed tremendously by the four TERRIBLE outings, and now travel to Miami for a humbling; and the biggest news of the week concerning the Patriots was that some people feel creeped-out when I label the Pats as NEP. Which I will now type five times: NEP, NEP, NEP, NEP, NEP. New England Patriots. NEP. Come ON, Just Win ONE! 30. Cincinnati Bengals 31. Arizona Cardinals  32. Cleveland Browns  Ouch, babe. The Bengals experience the indignity of birthing a new definition to the phrase "adding insult to injury" as Adrian Jankowski's should-have-been-a-catch then sideline meltdown then team fine typifies a lost season for the Striped Ones. The Cardinals wrote the Epigraph for their season by listing "W: Reason to Live (draft picks)" on their trade bait posting. And the Browns have more players itching to leave the organization than want to play for the worst team in the League. The Browns are finding new and interesting ways to tank, including signing someone named Doug Kirby (clearly a ploy by the owner Kirby to have similarly-named players in his franchise) to enter into a QB battle with someone named Jordan North. Let's look ahead at schedules, to see when someone here might get a first win: CIN has WAS, JAX, then CLE; ARI has BYE, NYG, HOU; and CLE has BYE, BAL, CIN. So, I'm going with the Cardinals to get a win first, in their week 8 game at New York. Will it happen? COULD BOTH ARIZONA AND CLEVELAND LOSE TO BYE?!?!?!??

Berea, OH. It seems like time is finally running out for starting quarterback Jordan North. Hopes were relatively high (at least not 0-6) from the Cleveland Front Office going into this season. They decided to make the bold move to part ways with perennial starter Ryan Clark, and in turn opt for the young North to take over the starting job, however, through six games the Browns are currently winless and have really been competitive in only one game, on the road to the Giants, which they ultimately still lost. This week Cleveland announced the free agent acquisition of Doug Kirby, who is a five year veteran of the NFL, and whom is also rumoured to be a distant relative of Owner/Head Coach Kirby. Coach Kirby had the following to say on the situation: "We've got a bye week now to try and work this out, and then we come back to two big divisional games. It would be silly to say that Doug will come straight in and start, because as a Quarterback it's just not easy to plug and play. However, don't be surprised if we make that move after the Baltimore game if Jordan fails to impress us. That being said, I've had a quiet word with JN (Jordan North). He knows what is required of him in that game and going forward, and he seems like he is up for the challenge. If he shows us more, then we will have a big decision to make. We are going to give him this opportunity now, to try and win us back over, because the fact is through six games he's really struggled to make any plays worth noting. No team sets out to go 0-16 before the season starts and right now we are sitting winless through six games. We still have some winnable fixtures coming up and it's our job to execute and get that 0 off our name. I just want the fans to know, we are determined to right this ship. In hindsight, we may have jumped the gun a bit fast with starting Jordan, and for that we have to take some of the burden. I do however have the utmost confidence in my players, including Jordan, and my fellow staff members, to get things going in the right direction." North has completed only 53% of his passes so far through six games, however what is even more concerning is that he has thrown 11 interceptions to only 5 touchdowns. These are simply not NFL level numbers and it wouldn't surprise us if Cleveland decides to pass the torch to the more seasoned Kirby in the coming weeks, unless North can show flashes of the talent that he does have in there somewhere. #DawgPound

The Streak Ends: How We Got Here RB J.B. Blacknall on his streak ending rush Late in the 4th Quarter of the Colts win over the Tennessee Titans, J.B. Blacknall took a hand-ff from Aaron Shea on 2nd and 11 and rushed for 6 Yards. The Colts Sideline exploded. This run didn't seal the win, the game was already over. It wasn't a career game for Blacknall. No, instead, this rush put him at 103 Yards. The Colts haven't had a 100-Yard Rusher since the Divisional Round of the 2018 Playoffs. A streak of almost 4.5 Seasons. How Did the Streak Begin In the 2014 Draft, the then Pittsburgh Steelers selected RB Tony Peaks out of Florida State in the 2nd Round. As we now know, the Steelers would move to Indianapolis and become the Colts shortly after the Draft. From the outset, Peaks is a stud. He rushed for 764 Yards, and broke 100-Yards 3 Times. In 2015, Peaks played even better, rushing for over 1,200 Yards and breaking 100-Yards 7 Times. 2016 was a special year for the Colts, and Peaks was a big part of that. He rushed for 1,176 Yards, rushing for 100+ Yards 7 Times once again. So far in his career, he's rushed for 100-Yards in over half of his starts. The Colts made it to the Super Bowl, with Peaks leading the way on the ground with over 90 Yards/Game. Although the Colts lost that Superbowl, Peaks was still a star and among the best RBs in the league. With how good he has been, he somehow got even better in 2017. He rushed for 1.385 Yards and broke 100-yards 6 Times. 2017 was a disaster for the Colts, so no playoffs for Peaks. 2018 was his best season of his career. Tony rushed for 1.373 Yards and broke 100-Yards 4 Times. The Colts went 12-4 and earned a bye in the first round. In that game, a tough loss to the Broncos, Peaks rushed for 109 Yards and 2 Touchdowns. Over the first 5 years, the Colts had 69 Games, and had 27 100-Yard Rushing Games. The Colts had a superstar in the making at QB with an All-Pro RB at the helm. The Colts were primed to make deep playoff runs for year. Then disaster happened again. 2019 In the 2019 Pre-Season, Tony Peaks started in Week 1 versus the New York Giants. On his fifth carry, he cut outside and was forced back up the field by Aaron Hammond, and on that second cut with no contact, Peaks tore his ACL and was gone for the season. There wasn't a true replacement in place. So, in stepped 7th Round Rookie Mamadou Heard out of Maryland. It was clear pretty soon that Heard was in over his head. He rushed for 819 Yards, and the closest he came to 100-Yards was 87 Yards in Week 4 against the Seahawks. The Colts had a tough exit against the Jets, Mamadou Heard rushed for just 26 Yards in that game. Season One of no 100-Yard Rushers. 2020 In the 3rd Round of the NFLHC Draft, the Colts selected RB Elijah Harden out of Florida State. It was clear that the Colts were grooming Harden to be the replacement to Peaks once he retired. Although Tony was back from injury, he was far from the player he once was. In the first two weeks of the season, he rushed for 96 Yards on 29 Attempts. His legs were done, and he was physically beat. He said on Social Media at the time "My legs seem to have given up, and I can't deal with the day to day grind of the NFL anymore". He wouldn't officially retire until the end of the season, but he was effectively done at that point. Elijah Harden became the starting RB, and like Heard a year before him, he was not ready. The most yards he'd rush for in a game would be Week 11 against the Bears. He ran for 84 Yards on 22 Carries. The Colts had yet another early round playoff exit, this time against Baltimore. The Colts turned to Mamadou Heard to be the starter, where he rushed for 43 Yards. Season Two of no 100-Yard Rushers. 2021 RB Lavontae Jackson was signed to be the starter, but was benched after two games. He rushed for 39 Yards on 17 attempts. Elijah Harden was then named the starter. He started for two weeks himself. He ran for 33 Yards on 15 Carries. Something had to change, the Colts traded ILB Griffin Perrin and a 2022 4th Round Pick to the Detroit Lions for James Otero. Otero had had a solid career, but his time in Detroit was over. The Colts instantly named him the starter. He played better than his two predecessors, but was not great himself. In Week 11 against the Chargers, Otero ran the ball 20 times for 98 Yards. 2 Yards. 2 Dang Yards. He ran for 96 Yards in Week 13 against the Chiefs and for 92 Yards in Week 15 against the Titans. The Colts came so close on 3 occasions to ending this streak. But, no dice. No playoffs for the Colts, so no attempts in the post-season. During the season, the Colts traded Elijah Harden to the Giants for a 2022 4th Round Pick. Season Three of no 100-Yard Rushers. 2022 James Otero entered the season as the starter. The run game had been greatly de-emphasized at the beginning of the season, so the Colts didn't really try to get to 100. But, the scheme changed a little here and there and the Colts came so close again. Otero ran for 95 Yards in Week 9 against the Patriots. He then ran for 94 Yards in Week 17 against the Texans. For most of the season, there was no hope of getting to 100-Yards. No playoffs again for the Colts. Season 4 of No 100-Yard Rushers. 2023 The Colts entered the season with a different offensive scheme than the past couple of years. They decided to run the ball a little more, but it wasn't effective. The Colts were getting to 85+ Yards, but not efficiently. The end of the streak wasn't even in sight. Then, after Week 4, the Colts did the danged thing. They traded a 2024 2nd, a 2025 1st, and CB Samir Ware to Denver for RB J.B. Blacknall. Denver was in the middle of a rebuild, and decided to move their young stud RB for future assets. His start in Week 5 was much anticipated around Indy-Land. The fanbase was met with disappointment as Blacknall ran the ball 14 times for 70 Yards. The Colts lost a close game, and they didn't get to 100 Yards again. Would this streak ever end? But, Week 6 came. And so came that 6-yard run late in the 4th Quarter. The Streak is over. Finally. Our national embarrassment is over. We can watch the game without praying for 100 Yards, that's done. Now, we can just enjoy the game. Bless You J.B. Blacknall.

WEEK 7 CONFERENCE STRENGTH RATINGS I have been keeping track of some numbers over the course of the season so far, and I have been intending to do some media pieces with them. Unfortunately, I have been very busy, so I have not been able to do what I had hoped. That being said, I had a little extra time on my hands, and I put together my conference strength ratings. Let me know what you think! 1. Big 12 - 9.22 2. SEC - 8.00 3. Big Ten - 7.07 4. Pac-12 - 6.97 5. ACC - 6.73 6. American - 5.59 7. Mountain West - 4.12 8. C-USA - 3.96 9. MAC - 3.21 10. Sun Belt - 1.54

The #1 blog for Illinois State opponent watches About last week: A 52-yard field goal missed by Eric Tilley ended up being the difference in this one. A 3 point loss to Tulsa is disappointing, until you remember that FCS teams rarely are capable of beating their cooler "I just found out about this cool new thing called playoffs" FBS older brothers. As a Bears fan I regret posting this gif but it's oddly appropriate of how close this team was to pulling off the upset. Time to shift our focus now to teams that play on our level. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE ROAD AHEAD YALE (0-5) Last Week: Lost vs. Northern Iowa 14-10 RECAP: Ugh, what a horrible, horrible game by both teams. Neither team eclipsed 150 passing yards. Neither team ran for more than 75 yards. Both teams had 2 turnovers. Both teams' kickers went a combined 1/5 on field goals. Both teams had a sack. This was an evenly matched slugfest of two teams who are hoping to fall ass backwards into a playoff berth, and unfortunately for Yale, UNI has a bigger ass. At opponent watch, we pride ourselves on bringing back dead memes This team is as frightening as: Playing peek-a-boo. The baby might be afraid that their mom disappeared without a trace, but we smart and clever adults know it was all a ruse to trick the dumb baby into shutting up. Fear Level: 1.5 ISU should worry about: Having a letdown game after playing Tulsa tough and coming up short. Just because Yale has looked lifeless on offense doesn't mean they'll be that way forever. They're becoming more and more desperate to save their season, and they'll pull off all the stops against the Redbirds. ISU can sleep soundly about: ISU's pass defense has been not great against Charles Palmer and Felix Luck, but that's because those are both talented QBs. Logan Hayes is...not that talented. He might be a little better than Gage at Montana, which should tell you all you need to know. When they play ISU: A nice palette cleanser right before a bye week to get the team prepared for the second half of the season. (Wait, the season's half over? WTF?) Next week: Gametime [AFTER THE JUMP: Cats, Colors, Dogs, Snakes, Birds, and more Birds] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW HAMPSHIRE (1-5) Last Week: Lost vs. Harvard 35-21 RECAP: The difference in this game is that the Crimson were able to finish drives, and the Wildcats were not. This is a trend we've seen a lot with the Cats. 9 times this year New Hampshire has kicked a field goal when they have gotten into the red zone. They've made all 9 field goal attempts, but at some point you have to put the ball into the end zone if you want to win games. They had drives stall at the 3 and 9 yard line, and if they had been able to get 7 instead of 3, they might have been able to win the game. But that's the story of the Wildcats in 2023: a lot of coulda, shoulda, woulda. This team is as frightening as: Someone threatening to fight you but as soon as you step up to them they retreat. Fear Level: 3 Don't bring fists to a shovel fight, UNH ISU should worry about: You think at some point they will be able to finish drives, right? Their offense has been above average so far, and it's only a matter of time before they can get over the hump. ISU can sleep soundly about: If this game turns into a shootout, ISU's offense is capable of putting up major points on this weak defense. A steady diet of BOOOOONE should put this game away. When they play ISU: ISU will be coming off a bye, fresh and rearin' to go. Next week: Bye ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HARVARD (3-2) Last Week: Beat New Hampshire 35-21 RECAP: A very solid, much needed win for Harvard. Cameron Whaley seems to have recovered from getting relatively shut down by North Dakota 2 weeks ago as the Crimson scored their highest point total on the year. They went up 28-10 early in the third and were able to coast the entire 2nd half. Not much fault you can find with this performance. The defense could use some work but they did stop UNH twice on goal-to-go situations, so that feels a bit nit picky. I'd rate this performance an A-, which is actually like an F at Harvard so sorry about that. This team is as frightening as: Popcorn reading. You just sit there and pray that your classmates continue to ignore you and you don't have to read for the class. Fear Level: 6 Here's an extra dead meme for ya ISU should worry about: Beckwith has shown that he can make plays with his arm when needed, and with ISU's shoddy pass defense, it might be what they need to get the win. ISU can sleep soundly about: Their defense has been average, and North Dakota had a big day offensively against this team. Even though they are a mostly passing team, they still got over 100 yards rushing. Expect ISU to have similar levels of production. When they play ISU: Brace yourselves, because winter is coming. Next week: vs. South Dakota State ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JAMES MADISON (2-3) Last Week: Bye RECAP: No game, bye This team is as frightening as: A severe thunderstorm warning. Of all the weather storm warnings, its the least threatening, but that doesn't mean you can go out and have a barbecue. Fear level: 6.5 Imagine Dragons songs are so deep and meaningful ISU should worry about: This JMU team is one big break away from the floodgates opening up. A close loss to Delaware and a bye week to regroup might be the last time we talk about this sleeping giant, because it will have awoken. ISU can sleep soundly about: The Dukes have played against 2 high quality opponents in UC Davis and Delaware. They lost both games, thanks to each team having a superstar player on offense (Luck for UCD, Barack Holmes for Delaware). ISU has Wardwell/BOOOOONE, and it will only take one of them to have a great game in order to get the win. When they play ISU: After playing Montana, Yale, and Youngstown St., and a bye. A solid chance that both teams win out before meeting week 12, which would be pretty hype. Next week: @ Montana ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FLORIDA A&M (2-3) Last Week: Bye RECAP: No game, bye. This team is as frightening as: The swordsman from Indiana Jones. Fear Level: 2 Indy isn't putting up with your shit, FAMU ISU should worry about: This team beat Portland and Montana, so they are somewhat capable of winning games. ISU can sleep soundly about: Being more than capable of winning games. When they play ISU: Later Next week: vs. Youngstown St. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DELAWARE (4-2) Last Week: Lost vs. North Dakota State 20-10 RECAP: Coach OSU overthought this game. Delaware found themselves in a 7-0 hole after one quarter and they decided to just not give the ball to Barack Holmes anymore. He had an uninspiring 8 carries for 25 yards and no scores. NDSU took the game out of his hands partly, but this one falls on the play calling. 39 passes for Eric Jenkins, even though he has improved, is still too much when you have Barack Holmes in the backfield. Delaware's defensive prowess will get overshadowed by the fact the offense crumbled under the lights. A disappointing game for Blue Hen fans. (Humble brag alert: ISU is still the only FCS team in the past 2 seasons to beat NDSU) Barack Holmes what are you doing! You're upside down, turn around Barack! Oh no, he has Air Pods in, he can't hear us! Oh God! This team is as frightening as: An angry and now more hungry Barack Holmes. Fear Level: 7 ISU should worry about: Delaware won't make the same mistake twice. This will be the last time Holmes doesn't threaten 100 yards in a game. ISU can sleep soundly about: If Delaware is forced to pass, even with ISU's not great pass defense, we saw NDSU's shaky secondary be able to shut down Jenkins, which should give confidence to this team. When they play ISU: Expect a better game plan. Next week: A much needed bye week ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOUNGSTOWN STATE (3-2) Last Week: Beat Portland 27-21 RECAP: Another win for new coach Booker T. and the Youngstown Penguins, albeit this one is arguably less impressive. Portland is the bottom of the FCS, and a close 6 point win as the home team should be concerning for the Penguins. Brad McCaffrey had a nice game, as did Troy Norris. The defense could do better, though. Giving up a 44-yard touchdown run to get the other team back in the game is a big no-no. Don't look now, but this team is right in the thick of the playoff seeding race. They'll qualify comfortably, and at this rate they will probably host a first round game, and be a tough draw for whoever is in the top 4. This team is as frightening as: A swarm of gnats. Really just more annoying than scary. Fear Level: 5 Pesky little buggers, aren't they? ISU should worry about: This emerging offense. Brad McCaffrey has been overshadowed by the other star QBs in the league, but he has been quietly efficient for this team. If he keeps playing like this, his confidence will continue to grow, and he'll be tough to stop. ISU can sleep soundly about: The Penguin defense allowed Portland to score 21 points in the second half. ISU should be able to exploit their weaknesses and outscore the Penguin offense. When they play ISU: The season will be over Next week: @ Florida A&M ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OBJECTS IN THE REARVIEW MONTANA (0-18) Last Week: Bye RECAP: Can't lose a bye week! Next week: vs. James Madison ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UC DAVIS (3-2) Last Week: Lost @ Kentucky 17-9 RECAP: Another close FCS vs. FBS game. Felix Luck threw for a season worst 185 yards and the Aggies could not find the end zone. Two times the Aggies kicked a field goal inside the 20, and if they were able to score TDs on those drives instead, this game would have gone to OT. But like ISU, they came up short against a more talented team. They shouldn't hang their hats too much, though. Kentucky may have been 0-5, but they are still an SEC team, and UC Davis made them sweat for 4 quarters. This team is a dark horse candidate for an FCS title. Next week: vs. Northern Iowa ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EASTERN WASHINGTON (1-4) Last Week: Bye RECAP: No game, bye Next week: @ Portland ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PORTLAND STATE (0-5) Last Week: Lost @ Youngstown St. 27-21 RECAP: In the words of Lee Corso: "Cloooose. CLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE." Portland was in position to snag this game, but it fell right through their hipster town fingers. At some point close is going to equal victory, but for now, Portland will always be stuck with close. CLOOOOOOOOSE Next week: vs. Eastern Washington

oh.

UMASS WON A GAME

Brian Hill has done the same routine every Saturday for the past 40 years. He gets up early to make a pot of coffee, then he heads towards the University of Montana campus to meet up with his friends that he first met way back when they were all students there. They spend the morning discussing a wide range of topics, but the one thing they always talk about, regardless of whether its gameday or not, is Montana football. "We love our Griz football, through our ups and downs" Hill said. "But in all honesty this is a pretty bad time to be a Montana Grizzlies fan." Describing the current position of Montana football as "pretty bad" is looking at it extremely optimistically. This program has played a full season and a half of not winning games, and they are expected to finish 0-12 for a second consecutive season. And with no head coach leading this squad, they are not doing so well in recruiting either. There are no players that Montana fans can look at and see a positive future. This team has looked absolutely lost every time they step onto the field. After getting destroyed by defending FCS champs North Dakota State this past week, let's take a look at how Montana got here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE PAST The University of Montana opened in 1895, 26 years after some students from Rutgers and Princeton got together to play a newly invented sport that we now lovingly call "College Football". What happened between then and 2019 is irrelevant, because 2019 is when the FCS was added to CFBHC, albeit none of the teams could be user controlled. That year Montana went 2-10, which is bad, but if Montana were to go 2-10 this year it would be seen as a huge improvement. The following year the Griz went a respectable 6-6. They lost a close fight to eventual National Champion Eastern Washington, and though they didn't qualify for the postseason, the team improved so much that they were excited to see what 2021 would bring. What happened was another 6-6 season, though if you ask Montana fans like Brian Hall, they could have easily won their conference if a couple calls in a few crucial games went their way. "We got robbed on more than one occasion, and that's all I can say on the matter because if I keep talking about that season I'll go into an expletive filled rant" he said. To say the 2022 football season was a disaster for Montana would be an understatement. It started off on a hopeful note, with the Griz barely losing to Harvard by 3 points. As of week 6 2023, this is the closest Montana has come to winning a football game in the last 2 years. They followed up that Harvard loss by losing to New Hampshire by 2 touchdowns. This would be New Hampshire's only win of the entire season. Their next 4 games against Youngstown St., North Dakota St., Delaware and Illinois St. were all blowouts, as they were outscored 139-29 in that 4 game stretch. Against Delaware, Montana's QB Gabriel Gage went 2/4 for 14 yards. That box score is still the only time I've seen not one but TWO empty slots in the receivers section. They would go into Provo, UT and lose 52-0 with Gage going 7/21 for 60 yards and 3 interceptions. Coach acolyte_girl was trying all sorts of offensive and defensive schemes to try to generate ANY positive results, but nothing was working. In week 11, Montana cut it close with UNI but ultimately lost 37-28. Fans were starting to call for the coaches firing, though anybody that was watching this team could easily see that it wasn't just the coach, it was everybody. Players not hustling on plays, coaches not showing any emotion, and an administration that didn't seem to care about athletics at all. Montana was (and still is) the equivalent of scheduling a generic FCS team in NCAA14 so that your team could get an easy win on their schedule. Montana would finish 2022 with not close losses to North Dakota, South Dakota St., James Madison and Eastern Washington, thus capturing an 0-12 season. Their offense actually showed signs of improvement, but the defense regressed heavily since week 1. They only forced 2 turnovers all season, and gave up an average of 350 yards per game. With the way the new FCS was, Montana still made the playoffs, though they were quickly dispatched by the Illinois State Redbirds 27-7. Coach acolyte_girl would not return as coach, and with a bad recruiting class incoming, Montana fans were beginning to feel like this team would be bad for more than just one season. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE PRESENT For 2023, Montana had one goal in mind: win a game. It's a pretty pathetic goal, but considering how bad this team was last year, it was a goal that they needed to set. They came out flat against Nevada, and for the second year in a row, they lost 52-0 to an FBS team. While nobody expected Montana to compete in these FBS games, the least they could do is score some points, something that nearly every other FCS team has managed to accomplish. But this is Montana, where things are actually worse than they seem. Blowouts to Illinois St. and Youngstown St. followed that embarrassing Nevada loss, and then something happened that hadn't happened in almost a year: Montana was in a close game heading into the 4th quarter. Florida A&M was a recent addition to the FCS this season, and with that their roster is sub-par compared to most other teams. But compared to Montana, they seemed to be evenly matched, with FAMU getting the edge. This would be Montana's best shot at winning a game at least until they play Portland St., who is also new and lacking in talent. In week 5, on Sunday night, while barely anybody was watching, Montana was competing with another football team. After 3 quarters, Montana trailed 21-16 (they missed an XP in the 2nd quarter, because why not). This was it, Montana would finally break through and win a game. They traded field goals in the first half of the 4th, and Montana found themselves with the ball down 24-19 with a minute left. The drive ended on the first play with a Gabriel Gage interception, and FAMU would kneel out the clock. Montana would follow that close loss by losing 59-3 to the Bison. And that's where we find ourselves today. Montana is 0-18 in the past 2 seasons, getting outscored 632-208 in that time. Without a coach, this team has no gameplan, no recruiting strategy, no future. They are most likely going to go 0-12, and even if they do manage to win a game or 2, they aren't going to be in a better position next year or the year after that at this rate. Every other FCS team has something to be happy about; Montana doesn't. They are trapped in this football purgatory, and there's no sign of them getting out of this anytime soon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE FUTURE As Montana fan Brian Hill puts it, "I'll be here till the day I die. But man, it'd be real nice to finally break this streak with a win." What Montana needs to get that win is the right person. Somebody who knows that this rebuild is not a 1 year fix but will take multiple years of losing and learning and improving. Somebody who can convince recruits that playing football at Montana is worth it. Somebody who the fans can look to and say "that's our guy". Who is this man or woman? Do they even exist? Only time will tell. Whoever this person is, if they can turn around this program, they deserve to have a statue built of them outside their stadium. They will be remembered as a legend, helping the Grizzlies exit this football hellscape they currently find themselves in. And when Montana finally gets their guy, it'll be the first win for this program in years.

The best of the PAC-12 after week 6, in the nation's most exciting Conference. One of these things is not like the other... PAC-12 quarterbacks have mostly played extremely well through the first portion of this 2023 season. The race for All-PAC 1st Team QB features studs like Washington's Jake Davis (11th nationally in QBR), UCLA's Aaron Harden (3rd nationally in passing yards, tied for 2nd nationally (with Davis) with 13 TDs thrown), and Washington State's Bradley Hassan (6th nationally in passing yards). But alongside this talented trio, two more gunslingers deserve special notice for their efficient and effective season starts. Arizona's Christian Noonan (JR, 3.0/4.0), USC's Riley Sharp (FR, 1.5/5.0), and ASU's Parker Townsend ((SR), 4.0/4.0) are all Top 30 nationally in QBR, and have registered 17 TDs to only 5 INTS between them. Noonan has resolved many of the Wildcat's insecurities at the position that loomed over the program in 2022, and Townsend is coming off the best performance of his career in leading Sparky to a mini-upset of Harden and UCLA. Riley Sharp is on pace for the best freshman QB season in sim history (just ask Jumbo, he's got the numbers on dial-up). These slight surprise seasons have boosted programs that are scratching for recognition...well, not USC, but certainly the two Territorial schools. Explosive Runners PAC-12 ball carriers have been electric this early season, with a host of players breaking off huge runs. That extends to backup RBs and even QBs, as the pro scouts are found wiping the drool from their watering mouths looking at the eye-popping YPC numbers Conference-wide. CAL's Naiquon Barner leads the country with a blistering 11.71 ypc mark, and other surprising young backs follow closely behind: UCLA's Ualesi Maimoana (10.38), Arizona's Akrum Toney (8.31), and even Aaron Harden and CAL's Nick Ellison are over 6.5 YPC. Starting backs Tremaine Clemons and Israel Carlson are both sporting Trevon Yeldon-esque 7 YPC numbers that highlight their talent levels, and typically run-averse Washington State is surprising all with Lawrence Sykes-Clayton at 5.90. These huge chunk plays in the run game are not terribly surprising, as six PAC schools are averaging 4.4 or above in OLine rating, which is top 20% nationally. Perfect Kickers Big shout out to Arizona State's Rafael Guinn and Wazzu's Benjamin Gray for being perfect kicking the football so far. Gray has connected on 13 of 13 PATs and 5 of 5 FGs with a long of 53 yards. Guinn, on the other hand, is 15/15 PAT, and 11 of 11 on FGs, with a long of 50. Huge legs, and tremendous accuracy: these two 4.5/4.5 SRs will be playing on Sundays. National Air Defense Unheralded defensive backs playing out of their minds is a fantastic part of the Conference this season. Gavin Andrews-Bradley (ASU's 3.5/3.5 SR corner) and USC's Darren Tamayo, a 2.5/4.0 (FR) opposite uber-corner Max Wilcox, both are tied for the national lead with 3 INTs on the year, and have contributed in run support as well, with 9 and 10 tackles, respectively. Similarly, freshman CB Kayvon Harris from Oregon has pilfered two passes this season, out-pacing, at least thus far, his far more heralded teammates Jamir Lacey and Donte Terry. Harris is Oregon's nickel defender in 2023, and looks to jump into the starting role fully in 2024.

So I don't like tipping my servers at a restaurant. I do it because they make their money on tips but I wouldn't mind getting rid of tips. I don't think I should have to pay the employees salary though I would still probably tip occasionally. I don't tip bartenders if they are like giving me a bottle at a bar. I will tip on a draft beer or mixed drink. Draft beer and simple mixed drinks (like a Jack and Coke) I'll tip a dollar a drink usually, sometimes two for the first mixed drink and one for every subsequent one. Cocktail drinks will be a decent bit more of a top, but that's the one bar thing that is based more on the speed I get the drink and stuff like that. If it's a bartender I know, particularly if they hook me up with free or reduced price drinks, I'll tip more too. I generally don't think you should get a tip for doing your job, but I can't not tip if they make their livelihood off of it. I like tipping for exemplary service and stuff like that though.

Figured it would be cool to have a general season discussion up to this point with teams currently in the playoffs and stat leaders listed below. Undefeated Watch: (6-0) Kansas City Chiefs, (5-0) Detroit Lions Winless Watch: (0-5) Cincinnati Bengals, (0-5) Cleveland Browns, (0-6) Arizona Cardinals) Current AFC Playoffs (6-0) Kansas City Chiefs (5-1) Buffalo Bills (4-1) Jacksonville Jaguars (3-3) Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1) Las Vegas Raiders (4-1) Miami Dolphins Outside looking in: (4-2) Tennessee Titans, (3-3) Baltimore Ravens, (3-3) Houston Texans, (3-3) Indianapolis Colts Current NFC Playoffs (5-0) Detroit Lions (5-1) Washington Redskins (3-1-1) Atlanta Falcons (4-2) Los Angeles Rams (4-2) Green Bay Packers (4-2) San Francisco 49ers Outside looking in: (4-2) Philadelphia Eagles, (3-3) Chicago Bears, (3-3) Dallas Cowboys, (3-3) Minnesota Vikings QB Rating Leaders Ryan Harris, KC - 115.78 Darrell Murphy, LAR - 113.28 Aaron Shea, IND - 108.85 Tanner Bowman, WAS - 107.22 Taylor Rodriguez, JAX - 106.24 QB Touchdown Leaders Graham Burnett, DAL - 18 Ryan Harris, KC - 17 Christian Skaggs, CAR - 15 Aaron Shea - 14 Norris Brooksheer - 14 Aaron Devereaux - 14 RB Yardage Leaders (Touchdowns) Terrence Rodgers, KC - 605 (5) Troy White, PHI - 585 (6) Kenyon Randall, DET - 560 (4) Maurice White, WAS - 551 (5) Solomon McLaughlin - 550 (5) WR Yardage Leaders (Touchdowns) Rodney Montgomery, DAL - 660 (7) Allama Banta, LAR - 579 (3) Sean Jenkins - 550 (3) Raheem Robinson, JAX - 546 (5) Kevin Williams, TEN - 531 (2) DEF Tackles Leaders (TFLs) Akeel Morris, ARI - 37 (3) Tyrone Jones, BAL - 35 (7) Cameron Jonah, DEN - 35 (2) Rodrick Milligan, PHI - 35 (1) Markus Golden, LAR - 34 (2) DEF Interceptions Leaders (PDs) Sean Burton, IND - 4 (4) Justin Davis, MIA - 3 (5) Dave Stokley, NE - 3 (4) Travis Chatman, DAL - 3 (3) Jack Ramsey, TEN - 3 (2) Troy Marshall, BAL - 3 (2) Kordell McKinnon, DET - 3 (2) DEF Sack Leaders (Fumbles Forced) Carlos Washington, PIT - 10.5 (2) Derrick Martin, WAS - 8.0 (0) Doug Carolan, DET - 7.5 (1) Jeff Holleyman, CHI - 6.5 (1) Anthony Ortiz, BUF - 6.5 (0)

FCS COACHES POLL Week 8 - 2023 Rank Team Record Points 1 North Dakota State Bison (6) 6-0 83 2 Illinois State Redbirds (1) 4-1 76 3 Delaware Blue Hens 4-2 71 4 UC Davis Aggies 3-2 58 5 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 3-2 49 6 Harvard Crimson 3-2 48 7 James Madison Dukes 2-3 37 8 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 3-3 36 9 Youngstown State Penguins 3-2 29 10 New Hampshire Wildcats 1-5 18 11 Eastern Washington Eagles 1-4 16 12 Florida A&M Rattlers 2-3 12 Next 2 In Northern Iowa (11), Montana (1) *Harvard's highest vote was #3 **Youngstown State's highest vote was #5

This is perhaps already the most unpredictable season in the Big XII since 2014, if not ever. Sure, TCU, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State are all favorites over the rest of the field. But when TCU can rebound from a 21-point walloping at the hands of Oklahoma State and wallop another top-10 team by the same margin while Oklahoma State takes everything they can handle from a fearless Iowa State, how can you know what's going to happen one week to the next? When a 1-4 West Virginia knocks off Kansas State after the Wildcats had taken impressive Cal and Texas Tech teams to overtime while the Texas team that previously beat West Virginia loses at home to a Kansas team that just lost to West Virginia, how can you even begin to tell who's up and who's down? The nation's most exciting conference is as close to a ten-deep league as it's ever been, and that just makes it all the more compelling to watch. So let's talk about the games. Thursday Night West Virginia 27, Kansas State 16 Halftime Speech: The first half of this game wasn't much to write home about. Neither offense was able to keep the ball moving downfield on a drive-to-drive basis, and after both teams exchanged short field goals to start the game neither was able to put anything else up on the board for the remainder of the half. When both teams came out of the locker rooms, the tone and tenor of the game changed entirely. Suddenly, Mike Freeman was finding running lanes and Martin Lake was firing darts to Corey Easley and Etena Catingub. Suddenly, Shane Kruse was connecting more often than not with his receivers. But only West Virginia was able to maintain their newfound offensive consistency through the end of the game. Martin Lake finished with 240 yards on 18-of-28 passing, accounted for two of the team's three touchdowns, and didn't turn it over as West Virginia scored 24 points after the half--their highest second-half scoring total since the 2020 Big XII Championship Game. Kings of Kansas: West Virginia's second win of the season also gives the Mountaineers their second straight sweep of the Kansas schools, holding them to an average of 18.0 points per game in the process. This two-game streak is highlighted by what they've been able to do up front on defense. In both games, the trio of Elvis Cornejo, Riley Reardon, and Dominic Acuna each had at least a partial sack. They've combined for 6.5 sacks, 3 tackles for loss against the run, and two fumbles forced--and they're the tiniest bit unlucky that neither fumble became a turnover. It's not just a case of Acuna opening things up for everyone else because this has consistently been a very good defensive line. But it does allow West Virginia to be comfortable only rushing four, which helps them out covering downfield. Kruse-ing Into Rocky Waters: A week after giving up 4 touchdowns (and collecting 2 interceptions) against Christian Graham, West Virginia was able to keep Kansas State's passing game largely in check. Shane Kruse came back down to earth a bit after posting an average of 318.8 yards per game with 10 touchdowns to 2 interceptions in his first four times out. This game was a reminder that Kruse is indeed a redshirt freshman who will indeed sometimes have freshman moments. He finished the game just 22-of-41 for 206 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. He had less of a run game to rely on as Jaiden Givens only carried the ball for 30 yards on 9 rushes. Givens was actually more effective as a receiver, catching 3 passes for 42 yards and a touchdown. Whether Givens or Gabriel Vinson is in the starting lineup, this offense is going to be pass-first, pass-second, pass-third most of the time, and they can count on Kruse to be better than this most of the time. Next Up: Kansas State falls to 2-3 (0-2) and is now in must-win mode with only four games remaining against teams not ranked in the top 10. Barring a bigger shocker than the horrific 2018 team's win over Houston, they'll need to go on the road to beat an enigmatic Baylor next week. West Virginia improves to 2-4 (2-1) and gets a bye before an entirely different challenge at home against Texas Tech. Friday Night Kansas 30, Texas 24 (OT) Quarterbacks in the Clutch: The last time Christian Graham met Sam Milner, the result wasn't pretty for either of them: they combined to complete 27-of-48 passes for 293 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions in a ballgame that ended 16-10. This time, Graham alone exceeded all of those totals (except for the interception count), and Milner was no slouch himself. The Frog-turned-Longhorn threw for 242 yards and 2 scores, but the biggest play of the ballgame was an option keeper on 1st-and-goal to score a rushing touchdown and pull Texas within 24-22 with just three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter--then convert for two points on a designed quarterback draw to tie the ballgame up. But for every play by Sam Milner, Christian Graham had an answer. He finished with 328 yards and 3 touchdowns on 30-of-52 passing. After Texas failed to convert in the top half of the first overtime, Graham was not about to let this game come down to Kansas's own kicker. He worked between Mark Poole (9 for 153 yards, 1 TD) and Cameron Bowers (8 for 75 yards, 1 TD), and on 3rd-and-goal he found runningback Bryce Dubose sitting in the flat wide open for the game-winning touchdown. It was the fourth time in Graham's career that Kansas has gone to overtime. He has won all four of those games. Strength Up Front: Texas turned what could have been a liability into a strength this season with their play up front, and Kansas turned to a player who's been quiet this year to reassert their own strength at the line. Zion Gaines and Thomas Sanders tore up the middle-to-right side of the Kansas offensive line with three combined sacks between the two of them. Gaines also wrestled Andre Black down behind the line for a loss and forced a fumble from Christian Graham. They hit hard, but so did Kansas. Shaq Stewart peanut-punched a ball out of Shaq Dixon's grasp, though Shaun Lyles fell on it before Kansas could recover. Jamari Callahan made his season statsheet debut in a big way, recording career sack number 23.5 to pass Hudson Adam and Anthony Ortiz for second place on the conference career leaderboard and recording three tackles for loss against the run. True freshman Eddy Cuevas also had a sack and a tackle for loss. But the key player was middle linebacker Evander Lawton, who had a team-high 7 tackles, intercepted a pass from Sam Milner, and jarred a fumble loose from Dontae Alford for a turnover. It's his first fumble forced since the Texas game to open last season. Here's the Kicker: When Kansas drove the field in overtime, they didn't want to rely on kicker Otto Hahn. They'd just seen an object lesson in why not when Texas had the ball. After missing a crucial field goal in the loss to TCU and another one in the loss to Iowa State in his only two field goal opportunities of the season so far, Devin Bollinger found himself benched. He was on thin ice due to a shaky 2022 season, but Iowa State was the last straw for the senior. Redshirt freshman Christopher Bliss was named the starter, and on his very first kick of the game he...missed the extra point after Texas's first-quarter touchdown. That ultimately ended up being the reason the Longhorns needed Milner's clutch two-point conversion, so at least that was forgiven. Bliss also knocked home an easy 30-yarder in the third quarter. He'd get another chance in overtime to give Texas the lead from 39 yards out--but he pulled the kick wide left to give Kansas the chance to win with any score. And the rest was history. Next Up: Texas drops to 2-3 (1-3) but should be able to get back to .500 as massive favorites against Liberty. Kansas improves to 2-3 (1-2) and--still in must-win territory--will take on Texas Tech at home next. Saturday Evening #14/#7 TCU 38, #8/#6 Duke 17 Cooking with Fire: At some point in between the loss to Oklahoma State and TCU's first possession against Duke, the light bulb switched on in Taylor Cook's head. He played the game that his fans and coaches always believed he was capable of, and the game that should put the rest of the country back on notice. Not only that, but Cook arguably had the best single-game passing performance ever by a TCU quarterback when accounting for production, efficiency, and opponent. He finished 22-of-31 for 340 yards and 3 touchdowns without an interception. His passer rating of 195.0 is "only" the 9th-best in school history--but the eight that were better were all on fewer pass attempts and produced 301 yards or fewer. And sure, his 340 yards "only" rank 4th in school history--but Felix Luck's two more productive performances were on 50 or more attempts including his 421-yard game against a West Virginia defense that was at the time much worse than Duke's defense was, and Nathan Burden's 349-yard game came with one touchdown and one interception. Cook is capable of doing it all, he was able to get Finn Nielsen and Miguel Aguilera heavily involved, and this TCU offense finally has the passing dimension it needed this year. His Position is Scorer: Meanwhile, Griffin McHanna hasn't let up on the do-everything train. He caught one of Cook's three touchdown passes, collecting 64 yards receiving on 3 catches. He carried the ball 5 times for 45 yards and a touchdown. He even ran a punt all the way back to the house to become the first player in Big XII history to score a touchdown via rush, via reception, and via special teams in the same season, let alone in the same game. Oklahoma State's Raheem Robinson and Baylor's Jayden Tinsley are the only other Big XII players to score in those three ways in a college career. If McHanna really wants to shoot for the stars, he'll need a kick return touchdown and a passing touchdown to match Robinson in scoring diversity--and maybe even a defensive touchdown, a safety, or a field goal to pass him. A Plague of Frogs: But not to be lost in TCU's offensive explosion was the way they swarmed on defense. With a new-look front, the unit looked completely rejuvenated. They negated Christian Collins and sharply limited Bryce Thompson, who finished with 166 total yards, 2 total touchdowns, and 2 turnovers. Patrick Ross had an interception and a pass breakup, but often the ball just never got that far because Richard Farrell (7 tackles, 2 TFL, 1.0 sack) was flying off the edge, Kwon Shaw (3 tackles, 1 TFL, 1.0 sack, 1 FF) was eating up the middle, and Jefferson Cruz (1 tackle, 0.5 sack, 1 FR) was plugging up any gaps that developed. Just as was the case with the offense, TCU's defense finally looked like exactly what it was supposed to look like--and not a moment too soon. Next Up: With the most impressive win of the week in the nation's most exciting conference, TCU vaults to 4-1. Two of the biggest tests of the season rewards them with yet another playoff-level matchup, this time taking on #1 Oklahoma. Their win over Duke means that their playoff bid still has life to it, and it means that a loss to Oklahoma won't necessarily end their chances but will still be a serious blow. However, the win against Duke does mean that a second straight high-level win would put them back in the driver's seat to be back in the field of eight. #4/#2 Oklahoma State 20, Iowa State 14 Building Bridges: Oklahoma State's offense just wasn't finding much purchase against an Iowa State defense that came into this matchup allowing just 17.6 points per game. Amral Brown had a respectable--but not Amral Brown-esque--98 yards on 21 carries and could not find the endzone. Ian Baldwin was just 19-of-35 for 187 yards with one touchdown through the air and one interception--though he did also execute a surprise quarterback sneak to score his first rushing touchdown and extend the lead to 14-0. Albert Wenzel didn't do much from the slot, coming up with just 24 yards on 3 catches. The one thing that was working on a consistent basis, though, was Jeremy Bridges. That's not something that's been said much in a season that's been difficult for the senior, but he had 5 catches for a team-high and personal season-best 67 yards and the only receiving touchdown of the game for the Cowboys. He's third on the team in receiving yards with 311; his success can mean the offense hums like a machine, but his success can also be the difference between an ugly win like Saturday's or an ugly loss like this could have been. Vexing Vaughn: Even if Oklahoma State's offense was out of sync, its pass defense was on point. Jurrell Jordan was of course making his way into the Iowa State backfield, recording his 8th tackle for loss, his 3rd sack, and also his 9th tackle for loss of his freshman season. In the defensive backfield, Sebastian Byrd intercepted a pass for the second straight game, tying him with Troy Marshall for 6th on the Big XII career list with his 16th. Senior nickel corner Eric McNeal also recorded his third career interception, and the defense held Vaughn Sheppard to just 15-of-32 through the air for 148 yards and 2 interceptions. Sheppard's career-best streak of 8 straight games with a touchdown pass is over, and the 73.2 passer rating he put up was his lowest since a 60.7 rating against Texas Tech as a freshman. Resisting Rallies: Kofi McCullough still nearly brought Iowa State all the way back by himself. He only had 18 carries, but he made as much of them as he could. He finished with 100 yards on the dot. He was responsible for both of Iowa State's touchdowns, and he also had a 26-yard carry that set up a field goal attempt for Evan Shipley...which clanged off the upright from 43 yards. He just couldn't get Iowa State close enough, because Oklahoma State was doing just enough to keep them at arm's length. Iowa State's second-half red-zone defense was on point, but the best red-zone defense is to keep the opponent as far away from it as possible. They couldn't do that. Oklahoma State got as far as the 10-yard line in the third quarter, and Iowa State forced them to settle for a field goal. They got as far as the 8-yard line in the fourth quarter, and Iowa State once again forced them to settle for a field goal. But those field goals were enough cushion to keep Oklahoma State out in front and stymie the upset bid. Next Up: Iowa State drops to 4-2 (2-1) and has a bye week from all of their spookiness before road dates at Oklahoma and TCU. Even if they don't win those games, they'll still have a good shot at bowl eligibility with Kansas, West Virginia, and Kansas State on the horizon. Oklahoma State survives and improves to 6-0 (3-0), becoming the first Big XII team to reach bowl eligibility. They'll get a bye before facing those same three opponents--Kansas, Kansas State, and a rematch with a West Virginia team that beat them last year. Byes: #1/#1 Oklahoma (5-0), Baylor (3-2), #23/NR Texas Tech (4-1)

Huge shoutout to @robcarlson77 for stepping in and doing a great job the past two weeks! Match-Up: Marshall (2-3) at Kent State (2-3) Stormstopper Line: Kent State (-2.5) Coach @Traith and the Flashes host the Thundering Herd. Both teams are scoring under 17 Points/Game, yet allow over 20. QB Cameron Hare has struggled this season, throwing more interceptions than Touchdowns and completing just under 53% of his passes. It's hard to imagine him improving much over the remainder of the season, but if Kent State has any hopes of going Bowling, Hare has to step up. RB C.J. Williams has improved recently, and now sits just under 400 Yards on the year on 4.68 YPC. He's rushed for 4 Touchdowns as well. This Flashes Offense really needs Williams to play well. If he can pace the offense and keep them ahead of schedule, this team has a real chance at winning games. TE Mark Ashley has been Hare's favorite target, leading the team with 20 Receptions. Behind are WRs Ashton Hannah and A.J. Addison with 12 and 18. This passing game is essentially broken right now. Kent State averages 259.8 YPG. It's hard to see them winning with that kind of output. Defensively, Marshall defends the pass pretty well, giving up just 226 PYPG. DE Enrique Mendez (3.5/3.5) for the Herd will be in Hare's face all game long. OLB Milo Mize (3.5/4.5) will be the key guy to defend. He plays off of Mendez very well and is able to get outside and hit the Quarterback regularly. The Thundering Herd Secondary isn't all that talented, but they've played well so far this year, not having given up more than 240 Yards in any game. The success for Kent State will have to come on the ground. Offensively, it's the QB Francesco Griffiths (3/3.5) show. The Scrambler has to do basically everything for this team. Marshall gets just 269 YPG on Offense, with 210 coming through the air. Marshall's wins this season have come win they rush for 100 Yards. That seems like an obvious strategy to win. It should be noted that they also threw for 200 yards in those two wins, and haven't done that in any of their losses. RB Griffin Ames (2.5/3) is Griffiths' backfield partner. He's, not good. Francesco has to lead the way on the ground as well if Marshall wants to win. The Herd Receivers aren't great, their top guy is Jonah Kitchen (3/3), while the #2 guy is Greg Sprague (2.5/3.5). Neither of these two should really scare Kent State. Marshall's OL is bad, I can't see this unit getting consistent push against the Kent DL. On that DL is DE Geno Mason, who has been disappointing this season. He has 5 Tackles and 2 Sacks. This defense needs him to be a constant presence in the opposing backfield, if he can do that, the rest of the defense is unleashed. ILB Cooper Merritt will be the top guy in shutting down the run, he leads the team with 27 Tackles. He has to shut down Ames. Kent State's secondary isn't great, but they are more talented than what Marshall has out wide, so that should be a victory for the Flashes. In the end, I think Kent State's defense is better than Marshall's. My Prediction: Kent State 20 Marshall 13 Match-Up: Miami (OH) 0-5 at Buffalo (1-4) Stormstopper Line: Buffalo (-4) Coach @chawsley continues to look for his first win as the Redhawks travel to Buffalo to take on Coach @Jordan and the Bulls. The Miami offense has been an unmitigated disaster. They're scoring just 6.2 PPG, while gaining under 200 YPG. Just, bad. The first 4 games were a pass heavy attack from the Redhawks, but last week they went super run heavy to try and limit the impact of their QB. Ashton Hilliard has been the worst QB in the MAC, and there are some bad ones in the conference folks. He's completed under 50% of his passes with 3 TDs and 6 Picks. Getting a QB Rating under 100 is very bad in the college game, Hilliard currently sits at 88.74. RB Nazir Randolph has been almost as bad. he's rushed for 237 Yards on 3.76 YPC with just one TD. If you're @chawsley, who do you turn to? The top receiver for the Redhawks has been WR Ahmed Crosby with 15 Receptions for 186 Yards and 1 TD. Miami has a 3.1 OL Rating, and has allowed 10 Sacks. The OL should be the strength of the offense, but they've played very poorly as well. For Buffalo defensively, they're a mess right now. They're allowing over 320 YPG, and just over 28.2 PPG. Buffalo has managed to sack the opposing QB only 3 Times this year. Can Buffalo defend the run? Sometimes. They're allowing 89.4 RYPG, but they've played Bowling Green and BYU - two teams who don't want to run. They gave up over 100 to Stanford and over 150 to Akron. I don't know if Buffalo can contain the Miami rushing attack. If Randolph goes for over 130 again, it may be hard for Buffalo to have the ball enough to extend their lead. On Offense, Buffalo is a team. They don't pass well, however in Week 6 (their lone win), they aired it a little more and it was fairly effective. QB Levi Thompson has been...ok. He's completing 60% of his passes for 3 TDs with 1 Pick. That kind of passing attack can be stomached if he's also making plays on the ground, which he is not. He's rushed for just 76 Yards on 3.8 YPC. RB Alec Self has mostly been solid, but not much else. He has 597 Yards with 6 TDs on 5.06 YPC. Their best rushing game of the year was also against Bowling Green. If Buffalo can continue to run the ball like they did in Week 6, this team can win some games. For as bad as the offense has played, I think Miami's defense has actually played pretty well. They're giving up 26.6 PPG and over 330 YPG. Those numbers aren't great, but they really should be much worse. This offense has left the Defense out to dry in a bad way, and they've reacted fairly well. DT Morris Jackson is a key guy right up the middle. The big fella has to get a good push into the backfield and force Self/Thompson to adjust their runs. DE Josiah Ornelas will need to apply pressure from the outside and help force the running game into Jackson, or get pressure on Thompson as he tries to throw the ball. ILB Kayden Shaw has to keep the middle of the field locked down, while CB Jeremiah Christy will lock down whoever the Bulls throw against him. Buffalo really should be a touchdown or two better than Miami, and I think they will be this week. My Prediction: Buffalo 17 Miami 7 Match-Up: Appalachian State (0-5) at Central Michigan (3-2) Stormstopper Line: Central Michigan (-32) Coach @robcarlson77 and the Chips host Coach @Nittany Boiler boiler and the Mountaineers. QB Byron Suggs is my lord and savior. I've sang his praises all season long. The Junior (please declare) is completing 63% of his passes for 1,720 Yards with 15 Touchdowns and 1 Interception. Jesus. When your QB has as much weight of the offense as Suggs does, and he just doesn't turn the ball over, you've got a great QB there. RB Daveed Huff was bad for 4 games, and then decided to be good against Miami. he has 319 yards with 5 TDs on 4.49 YPC. If his play in Week 6 continues into Week 7, App State will be out of this game by the end of the 1st Quarter. Central has 4 guys with 298+ Receiving Yards and 3+ Receiving TDs. Suggs really fed Aikman and Peppers last season, but has spread the ball around much more efficiently this year. Instead of covering 2 guys, you now have to cover 4. The Chips OL is the biggest weakness of this offense. They average a 3.7 Rating (actually pretty good for the MAC) and have given up 7 Sacks. This unit playing well will only make this offense even better somehow. For App State on Defense, their best game was a 25 Point effort giving up to UL-Lafayette. They allow 38.2 PPG and give up about 390 YPG as well. Do you want to throw on App State? Go right ahead. Do you want to run on App State? Please, be my guest. This defense doesn't have any playmakers. The top guy is CB Shane Pepper (3.5/4) and for as good as he is, this Defense needs more. ILBs Zach McNeal (2.5/3.5) and Kayden Whitfield (2.5/3.5) are the other top guys, that's just not good. I can't envision this defense getting consistent pressure on Suggs, consistently covering all the Receivers, or consistently stuffing Huff in the running game. Offensively, they aren't much better and may actually be worse. They score 12.8 PPG and are able to muster just 214.6 YPG. QB Kareem Witherspoon (3.5/3.5) is a Dual Threat guy, but doesn't have the support to make plays consistently. RB DeVante Mingo (2.5/2.5) is not much help. WRs Ronnie Wallace (3/3) and Julian Shipman (2.5/2.5) are backup quality players who are being forced to start. The Mountainer OL is possibly the worst in FBS. On Defense for Central, the Chips allow 21.8 PPG and give up 290 YPG. After the first couple games, Central's Defense has really clamped down and held their past three opponents to under 300 Yards each (including Toledo). DE Dante Joiner, DT Kareem Lindsey, and DE Jay Huff have combined for 34 Tackles, 4.5 Sacks, and 10 TFL. This trio has played so well this year, and they should feast this week. ILB Justice Noriega leads the team with 30 Tackles and shuts down the middle of the field. CB DeSean Mathis has played well too, picking off 2 Passes and Defending another. This defense isn't great, but they've stepped up recently and are playing well. I just don't see how App State keeps this close. My Prediction: Central Michigan 52 Appalachian State 7

Cincinnati, OH - The Redskins entered week 7 fresh off of a critical divisional overtime win over the Philadelphia Eagles. The Bengals were coming off of a Monday Night Football game where they should have knocked off the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs if not for a terrible call. This felt like a trap game for the Redskins, but Tanner Bowman had other ideas. The Redskins jumped out to a quick 14 point lead and never looked back putting up a season high 49 points. The Bengals offense would do their best to keep the game close but it was always just slightly out of reach and at the final whistle the Redskins notched a 49-33 victory, their 4th straight. QB Tanner Bowman set multiple single game franchise records during the game including passing yards (459), yards per attempt (13.9), and he turned in a perfect passer rating, all without his #1 WR. Speaking of his #1 WR, Sam Hiller-Weeden was spotted without a walking boot on the sideline during the game. After the game Coach HAFFnHAFF was asked about Hiller-Weeden's progress and he said, "Sam has been progressing steadily and he feels really good. We are anticipating him being back at 100% next Sunday." It wasn't just the Tanner Bowman show though. Former college team mates Ty Royal and Maurice White both had career days themselves. White turned in a 150 rushing yards and 2 TDs performance while Royal recorded 8 receptions for 178 yards and 2 TDs. All of those are career highs for the young Sooner duo. In addition, rookie TE Frank Moffett recorded his first career TD in an 8 reception, 121 yard performance. It wasn't just about the young guys on Sunday though, long time franchise DT Fred Romanowski also set a franchise record. In the 2nd quarter Romanowski planted RB Michael Duckworth at the line of scrimmage and jarred the ball lose for the 6th forced fumble of his career. The Redskins wouldn't recover, but it is still good for the franchise mark. Romanowski now holds the record for tackles (186), FF (6), and FR (4). His 14 TFL rank 1 behind Steven Jordan for the franchise record and his 29 sacks rank 5 behind Mike Hill. The Redskins now turn their attention to a 2 game home stand against the Seahawks and 49ers.

ohhhh shitttttt now STANDINGS TOO??!!?

This Week's Blue Hen is... Senior Quarterback Eric Jenkins Eric Jenkins is the senior captain of the Blue Hen football team. Known more as a game manager out of high school, Jenkins has led the Blue Hens to a perfect record within the FCS thus far in the season. The media has had a serious focus on Barack Holmes- as they should- while Jenkins has been in the background. They have attributed much of UD's success to how well Barack and the defense have played. To be fair to them Jenkins didn't have many performances to write home about at the beginning of the season. Recently, however, Jenkins has turned it up a lot, going 20/28 and 17/23 for over 350 yards and 3 touchdowns. All of these stats have been put up with 0 interceptions. Many of the naysayers in the FCS community think that Jenkins is the piece that is holding the Blue Hens back. Coach Osu said of Jenkins, "Eric doesn't have the mobility of some of our other QB's, but he has great leadership qualities, and has the most consistent arm of all of our guys. He's is a great locker room guy, and when he's on the field, he's really on." The critics are correct, however, in saying that Jenkins has to be great or UD will have no chance of winning the FCS championship. We spoke to Eric about his recent performances and what UD has to do to have a chance against the reigning FCS champs. "Most of my recent success can be attributed to the big boys up front. They're a real experienced group and have kept me upright all year. We've all been really focused at practice the last couple of weeks and it's continued over into this week. Coach has done a great job with the game plan and preparation, now it's up to us players to execute. I think Barack has been really the catalyst that has propelled us to where we are, he allows so much room for the rest of us to make plays when he takes up so much attention." Eric and the rest of the receivers have been working in extra practice sessions in order to prepare for the tough defense of NDSU. Jenkins statistically has been middle of the pack this whole season in just about every category other than yards/ attempt, in which he is number one. The play action game is one of the most important aspects of this year's Blue Hen team. As Eric said holes open up across the middle and deep downfield when whole defenses are worried about your rushing attack. You can see Eric and the rest of the Blue Hens against North Dakota State at 3:30 on Saturday. Go Hens!

Winners Losers Conference Leaders * Khalil Barbour (CHAR) and Zion Gay (ODU) also have 2 INTs Standings PFA= Points For Average PAA= Points Against Average Recruiting Rankings: TBD Major Commitments: Rice DE Teejay Perry 6-6 250 Fr Comanche (Comanche TX) 2.0 of 5.0 [Contain]

With week 6 done, the Sun Belt's coaches voted and ranked how they view each team in the conference. Let's take a look at what they think: Poll Team Record (Conf. Record) Change from last week 1 UL-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns 3-1 (1-0) - 2 UL-Monroe Warhawks 3-2 (1-0) - 3 Georgia Southern Eagles 2-3 (1-0) +4 4 Georgia State Panthers 3-2 (1-1) -1 5 Arkansas State Red Wolves 1-3 (0-0) - 6 Texas State Bobcats 2-3 (1-0) +2 7 South Alabama Jaguars 1-3 (1-0) -3 8 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 1-4 (0-2) -2 9 Appalachian State Mountaineers 0-4 (0-1) +1 10 Troy Trojans 0-5 (0-2) -1 And now, the chart: Notes: 1: With the showing on the last game, Appalachian State is not the 10th team in the conference anymore. This place belongs to Troy, now. 2: Since becoming the leader on the week 3, Georgia State has gone down every week. 3: Coastal Carolina started the season ranked 2nd. Now, is ranked 8th. 4: Georgia Southern is the big winner of the week, gaining 4 spots on the rankings after beating Troy.

If you turned off your TV early, you may have missed some of the biggest plays of the week in the nation's most exciting conference. Admittedly, not the biggest game of the week was decided by halftime in Stillwater. But Texas Tech's fourth quarter brought them within a score of tying up or defeating Oklahoma as massive underdogs, Iowa State's fourth quarter saw haymaker after haymaker land until Baylor was down for the count, and West Virginia's fourth quarter saw a rally for the ages as the Mountaineers outscored Kansas 20-3 in the final 15 minutes to come away with their first win of the season. Without further ado, let's talk about the games. Thursday Night West Virginia 34, Kansas 31 Miracle in Morgantown: Down 28-14 entering the fourth quarter on a chilly and rainy day, most of the West Virginia faithful stuck around hoping to see one last spark. They didn't have to stick around long before Bryce Madison came into motion from the slot, took a handoff on the sweep, and caught Kansas's defense napping en route to a 40-yard touchdown run to get the Mountaineers back into the game. Kansas's offense responded, driving as far as the 20 before kicking a field goal to bring the lead back to 31-21. That 10-point advantage lasted all of 10 seconds. Jamel Herron seemed to hesitate a moment before taking the ensuing kickoff out of the endzone, but when he committed to it he was full speed ahead. He bounced to the outside, his blockers sealed the coverage team inside, and Herron was off to the races for his first career kick return touchdown. With only five minutes left on the clock, West Virginia needed to get the ball back--fast. And it looked like they had an opportunity when Dominic Acuna strip-sacked Christian Graham, but the ball bounced directly to Bryce Dubose who fell on it. The loss of yardage was enough to put Kansas off-schedule and force a three-and-out, and West Virginia took advantage by driving all the way down to the Kansas 3-yard line--only for Mike Freeman's third-and-goal carry to go for no gain. Without enough time to guarantee another possession, they took the chip-shot field goal and tied it up. They left a lot of time on the clock for Christian Graham. But on the very first play of the next drive, Graham tried to throw deep under pressure and didn't get enough on it. Bucky Richardson, sitting underneath the route, snagged his second pick of the night and returned it deep into Kansas territory. Kansas couldn't stop the clock, and they couldn't stop West Virginia from getting to the 11-yard line and centering the ball with 3 seconds remaining. On again came the true freshman Zane McRae for the biggest kick of his young career. The snap: good. The hold: good. The kick: straight down the middle. West Virginia pulled off the biggest fourth-quarter rally in school history, becoming the fifth Big XII team to come back from a two-touchdown deficit in the final quarter to win and snapping their 0-4 start to the season in the process. Fixed and Broken: West Virginia's offense had struggled noticeably heading into this game, resulting in what proved to be a one-game benching for Martin Lake. That seems to have been exactly the spark they needed to light a fire, as they put up 471 yards on the Jayhawk defense including explosive play after explosive play. Martin Lake finished 20-of-26 for 294 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. Most of that went to Corey Easley (138 yards and 1 TD on 8 catches) or Etena Catingub (72 yards and 1 TD on 3 catches), both of whom racked up huge yards-after-catch totals. Mike Freeman (126 yards on 22 carries) and Bryce Madison (51 and 1 TD on 5 carries) gashed the Jayhawks on the ground. They controlled both lines of scrimmage, sacking Graham 4 times and pressuring him into two picks. And perhaps the biggest difference-maker was special teams. Otto Hahn missed the two lengthiest of his field goal attempts, whereas Zane McRae drilled both of his. West Virginia put themselves in good field position after each Kansas score with 182 kick return yards--and, of course, Herron had the kick return touchdown. Despite 346 yards and 4 touchdowns from Graham, West Virginia won in all three phases by game's end. Next Up: Kansas drops to 1-3 (0-2) and things don't get much easier for them with a road trip to Texas coming up next. West Virginia improves to 1-4 (1-1) and will look to double their win total when they travel to Manhattan to take on Kansas State. Saturday Afternoon Iowa State 27, Baylor 13 Big Play Hunters: It was a low-scoring game, until it wasn't. It was a defensive game, until it wasn't. And it was a turnover-filled game, until it wasn't. Both defenses were going for the big play. Garrett Powers led the way for Baylor with 9 tackles (2 for loss) and a strip of Kofi McCullough that the runningback recovered himself. Samuel McGee had a strip-sack that become a turnover when Alexander Talbert got to it first. Zachary McHale had 6 tackles, 3 for loss. On the other side, Paul Bryant had 7 tackles (1 for loss), an interception, and a pass breakup. Antoine Garvin had a sack and stripped Miles Street for Milo Devine to recover for a turnover. Taua Aloese had 3 tackles (2 for loss) and a sack. The defenses made a havoc play around one in every six snaps, and the result was a game that was 10-6 in favor of Baylor entering the fourth quarter. Explosive Potential: But in the fourth quarter, Baylor didn't quite finish those big plays on defense, and Iowa State took full advantage. It started with Kofi McCullough breaking a tackle behind the line of scrimmage, planting his foot and changing direction, and finding no backside contain to stop him. There wasn't anyone else who got a hand on him in the 82 yards between the line of scrimmage and the endzone. The touchdown run was the longest of his career and the longest by any Big XII player not named Solomon McLaughlin. That explosiveness was on display again on the next drive, as he closed it with a 33-yard touchdown run to put Iowa State up 20-10. Baylor made it a one-score game again with a field goal, but the passing game was able to take advantage of Baylor's renewed focus on the run game. Vaughn Sheppard's downfield strike to Luka Snell was the touchdown that broke the camel's back. Sheppard finished with 250 yards, half of which went to Snell, and McCullough finished with 175 yards on 25 carries. They didn't reach the endzone until the fourth quarter, but big play after big play let them take the lead and break it open from there. Conference-Play Offense: Since the start of the 2021 season, Baylor has averaged 33.2 points per game in non-conference play (including their bowl against Mississippi State) and 22.4 points per game against Big XII foes. This year's been even more pronounced of a difference. They put up 45 points a game against Houston, Boise State, and Troy. They put up at least 38 points in all three of those games, but they've scored just 37 in their two conference games so far. Miles Street ran for 138 yards and 2.3 touchdowns per game out of conference this season, but has had 117 yards total without a touchdown in two conference games. Caleb Olmsted completed over 70% of his passes in all three non-conference games without an interception, only to fall below 60% and throw 3 touchdowns to 3 interceptions so far in conference play. Their non-conference play was a genuine improvement over last year's non-conference play. But they still need to show that they can sustain that offense against the best competition the nation has to offer. Next Up: Baylor drops to 3-2 (0-2) and will have a bye before hosting Kansas State. Iowa State is now 4-1 (2-0), which is already their highest win total since 2019. Their game against Oklahoma State this week is probably the biggest one they've had since 2018, and they'll get the chance to pull the upset in front of their home fans. Saturday Evening #1/#2 Oklahoma 20, #22/NR Texas Tech 17 Blueprint: Texas Tech became the first team this season to show that Oklahoma is, indeed, human after all. As brilliant as Nick Brohm was in the win over Auburn, he struggled under pressure and turned in easily the worst performance of his young career: 18-of-37 for 189 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, one fumble (forced by Curtis Jones but not lost), and three sacks taken. None of the other big names on offense could bail him out. Chase Reardon had a solid game with 75 yards and the lone offensive touchdown on 6 catches. But Jaiden Douglas was held to just 62 yards on 15 carries, and Lucas Dykes found himself completely locked up by cornerback Leon Travis. He had 3 catches for 30 yards all day, whereas Travis had an interception, a pass breakup, and 4 tackles. It was an across-the-board bad day on offense for Oklahoma against a good Texas Tech defense. Most teams won't be able to replicate the formula of pressuring the backfield and blanketing Dykes--but if they can, the blueprint is written. Counterblueprint: Likewise, Oklahoma showed just how to slow down Texas Tech's offense. They kept Hayden Dyer in check, holding him to 82 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. It could've been two touchdowns if Isaac Kohler hadn't taken a one-yard run into the endzone. Just as Texas Tech controlled the line of scrimmage when Oklahoma had the ball, Oklahoma controlled it when Texas Tech had the ball. Jeremiah Melvin had 2 sacks and a tackle for loss, Lorenzo Croft had a third sack, and Grayson Gillette also had the worst game of his young career as he couldn't find any of Texas Tech's receivers open. He finished 13-of-26 for 125 yards and didn't find the endzone. He did find Elijah Williams for an interception, which is just an occupational hazard of playing Oklahoma. But considering that Texas Tech came within three points of winning this game on the road despite their freshman quarterback playing like a freshman quarterback, it's about as strong of a performance as you could ask for shy of a win. Wild Card: And just as was the case in the West Virginia win over Kansas, this game turned on special teams play. Oklahoma's been killer there so far this season, and Ladarius McKinnon's second punt return score of the year put them up 20-10 in the third quarter to give the Sooners a bit of a cushion. He had room to do so because the defense had pinned Texas Tech so deep that they had to stay back in protect mode rather than release into coverage, and McKinnon's too dangerous when he has room to operate. Early in the fourth quarter with the same score, Texas Tech had the chance to make it a one-possession game on a Jeffrey Gauthier field goal. He had hit from 40 in the third quarter, but from the opposite hash he tugged it wide left from 39. It's just the second time that he's missed from inside 40 yards in his career, and it prevented Kohler's touchdown run in the fourth from tying the game up. Next Up: Texas Tech's undefeated start to the season ends, but they remain 4-1 (1-1). They will get a bye before traveling to a reeling Kansas. Oklahoma survives and improves to 5-0 (2-0). They will also be on bye this week before a massive road game against TCU with conference title game implications abound. #6/#8 Oklahoma State 38, #4/#1 TCU 17 Bowling A Strike: Amral Brown's often been described as a bowling ball rolling downhill on opposing defenses. That analogy was apt, and TCU had no way to stop their pins from being knocked down. Brown finished with 142 yards and 2 touchdowns on 23 carries, challenging the middle of the TCU defense and beating it head-to-head over and over again. Meanwhile, Ian Baldwin was unflappable himself. He finished with 237 yards and 2 touchdowns on efficient 21-of-28 passing, spreading the ball out between Albert Wenzel (5 for 81 yards), Jeremy Bridges (6 for 53 yards, 1 TD), and Samuel Barfield (3 for 40 yards, 1 TD). Oklahoma State had almost no trouble moving the ball at will. They went up 14-0 on TCU in the first quarter, the largest deficit TCU's faced through 15 minutes in nearly 4 years. They didn't let up in the second quarter, extending the lead to 28-7 to put TCU in its largest halftime hole since the 2020 Big XII Championship Game. And they certainly didn't let up after halftime, matching TCU point-for-point the rest of the game to hand them their worst loss since an identical 38-17 scoreline in the 2021 College Football Playoff semifinal against Purdue. Havoc Differential: TCU's defense simply didn't have an answer for Oklahoma State; they were reacting rather than acting, and you can tell by their lack of tackles for loss, sacks, or turnovers forced. Lardarius Pendleton had a pass breakup, which represents the only havoc play TCU's defense made all day. For Oklahoma State, it was a different story entirely. Taylor Cook's game was a walking nightmare--again--and the freshman finished 15-of-29 for 211 yards, a touchdown, 2 interceptions, and a fumble. (Not dissimilar to Nick Brohm's line, come to think of it.) Jurrell Jordan had two tackles for loss and a strip-sack all on his own. Sebastian Byrd had an interception; Prince Pruitt did him one better with a pick-six. Those plays tend to either kill drives or put the opposing offense off-schedule, so it's no surprise that Oklahoma State was 5-of-9 on third down to TCU's 3-of-12. In all respects, Oklahoma State left no doubt. Gadget Griffin: The one positive for TCU was Griffin McHanna's play. Taylor Cook may have struggled, Matteo Cates may have averaged barely four yards per carry, but McHanna made something happen anytime he touched the ball. He carried the ball 5 times--and one of those carries went for a 51-yard touchdown run. He caught 3 passes--and they went for an average of 21 yards apiece including a touchdown catch. McHanna has been on both sides of the line between tweener and gadget player throughout his TCU career, and his future in the NFL will depend on which side of the line GMs think he'll come down on. Even if nothing else went right, this game was at least a notch in the column for gadget player. Next Up: TCU's undefeated run ends as they fall to 3-1 (1-1). They don't have any time to fix what went wrong, because Bryce Thompson and the Duke Blue Devils are coming to town, immediately followed by Nick Brohm, Elijah Williams, and Oklahoma. This might be the biggest three-game stretch anyone in the country has all season. Oklahoma State is now 5-0 (2-0) and will look to secure bowl eligibility on the road against a spooky Iowa State team. Byes: Kansas State (2-2), Texas (2-2)

Around the FCS: Week 6 Recap Apologies for the hiatus, life has gotten busy... For that reason I'm going to combine the 'Around the FCS recaps' and 'FCS Statistical leaders' into one article which will feature a lot less writing and just highlight the stats and standings of the conference aka the interesting bits! Standings Team Statistics Individual Statistics

Washington and Cincinnati have committed an act of scorigami.

Hello all, and welcome back to Pounding the Rock-ies! Finally we have gotten into conference play, and boy does the MWC look competitive. Only Nevada, San Diego State, and San Jose State had a bye. Well, technically San Jose State had to play UNLV, but coming in at 13th in our most recent power poll, UNLV is counted as a bye week in the MWC! Or, used to be, coach @ChizDippler did just get hired, so we'll be keeping an eye on his program to see if they become more competitive. Saturday Night Football Wyoming Cowboys @ Colorado State Rams UW: Positives: Talk about an underdog fight. @SyndaKyt's crew walked into Fort Collins, and pressed the rams for everything they had. While the offense didn't move the ball effecctively, they converted big plays. Negatives: Aside from the big gains, the offense struggled to move the ball, and Coffman struggled to complete passes. Looking Ahead: Wyoming is now in a tough position to compete for the West title. They wanted to steal 2 out of their first 3 conference games, that now requires a home win against SDSU. CSU: Positives: 4-1. It wasn't pretty, none of their wins have been, but the defense keeps coming up with enough stops to keep the Rams winning. Any running game we thought the Rams would have is a mirage. If D'Gale doesn't find a way to spark the offense, the whole season will be a series of unbearable rock fights. Negatives: A well-rounded defense continues to show up. While the offense doesn't look great, the defense is giving them enough to win. Looking Ahead: The Rams take on UNLV this week, and need to not overlook what can be a solid win. If we don't see an impressive offense here, I don't expect to see one all season. New Mexico Lobos @ Hawaii Rainbow Warriors NM: Positives: Dean Fagan will hold this spot until someone else wills the Lobos into contention for a win. He wreaked havoc on Fraser all day, but couldn't make up for a weak secondary. Negatives: Aiden Colbert needs to be more effective, and cannot keep losing fumbles. He needs to put the offense on his back by matching Fagan's energy. Looking Ahead: New Mexico and @DarthJarJar get a bye to rest up and prepare for a tough game against Wyoming who will be looking to compete for the West after playing SDSU. UH: Positives: JT reminded us all why we were looking forward to seeing him this season. 380 total yards including a 50 yd TD scamper. He is one of the most exciting players in CFBHC this year. Negatives: This defense couldn't lock down a one dimensional offense, which doesn't bode well against more well-rounded outfits. Looking Ahead: Hawaii and @GigemAgs play a tough and confident Boise State next week, looking to prove they are as talented as pre-season projections predicted they would be. Fresno State Bulldogs @ Utah State Aggies FS: Positives: Bend don't break defense. Despite surrendering 221 yards through the air, @Hchou17's squad stole 2 picks backed up against their own goal line, and never let the Aggies into the endzone. Negatives: An inefficient performance by Cagle will be the main limit on this Bulldog offense. Wyatt can only do so much. Looking Ahead: A bye will be welcome to heal up before diving into the rest of their conference slate. USU: Positives: Not much went right for the Aggies in this fight, luckily Jermon Ransom showed up with 3 tackles, one for loss, and a sack. Negatives: @Clearlander is fighting a tough battle. With a one dimensional offense, it can be tough to find ways to move the ball. Looking Ahead: The Aggies have three tough games coming up before their bye. Stealing one or two could be huge in wrecking someone else's season and building program confidence. UNLV Rebels @ San Jose State Spartans UNLV: Positives: WINLESS NO MORE! @ChizDippler came in and lit a fire under his guys. This was one of the most winnable games of the year, and with a huge 4th quarter surge, he got it done! Negatives: Nothing. This team came out and competed all 4 quarters. A balanced offensive attack, along with a solid red zone defense, the Rebels ought to celebrate! Looking Ahead: Things don't get easier for UNLV who now has to go on the road to the reigning West champs, but they should have confidence. Scoring 23 points would put them in the thick of a game against CSU. SJSU: Positives: SJSU was hoping to steal a win here, shown by Jeremy Whitmore's nose for the ball. Coming up with 6 tackles and a sack, he harassed the Rebels all day. Negatives: Coach @JacksonHitchcock was fired for apparently not showing up to his own practices. We can see that the team really needed him their as the offense constantly looked confused and outschemed. Looking Ahead: The Spartans get a bye week before taking on Fresno. The best hope for them is to figure out the coaching situation and get a gameplan by kickoff. Officially Unofficial Mountain Best Game of the Week Boise State Broncos @ Air Force Falcons This was definitely the game to watch this week. Both the Broncos and Falcons entered the season with hopes of taking the West crown. As the two favorites, this game figured to go a long way in deciding that. The Bronco side wanted to leave nothing in doubt. While the score was a manageable 21-10 at half, the dominance by the Broncos was felt by every Falcon fan. They knew the halftime score was a mirage, and both teams proved it in the second half. CeeCee Henderson chewed the clock away for Boise as they only put up 10 points in the final two frams, but ate up 22 minutes of the clock. BSU: Positives: Congrats! You're now in control of the West. A well rounded performance on both sides of the ball bodes well for holding onto that lead. This Boise State team is a dangerous one! Negatives: Nothing. You can get nit picky about the 58% completion percentage, but 3 of those incompletions were trying to score with almost no time left in the first half, and didn't negatively affect the Broncos. Looking Ahead: They play @ Hawaii, then get UNLV and CSU at home. Win two of the next three (both home games) and they will be ready to punch their ticket to the CCG. AF: Positives: Tran Nguyen. A highly coveted 'croot coming out of high school caught 7 passes for 120 yards and a TD. He shows promise for the Falcon's future. Negatives: A season that began with Conference Title hopes has devolved a bit into a fight for bowl eligibility. This team can win, they just need to find their offense, and fast. Looking Ahead: They need a win next week against Army. Losing there will drop them to 3-5 and a mad dash for bowl eligibility. Win, and the ship looks a whole lot better. Feel free to let me know how I nailed the review of your team below. Obviously, 0 errors were made! We wish you the,

Thursday Night saw Eugene Salas, have the best game of the season so far in a stunning performance. Salas threw for 465 yards, 5 touchdowns, and a pick, yet Arkansas State never held the lead in the game. They ended up losing by 33-45 to Troy...TROY! How did Troy become the Achilles(get it?) of Arkansas State and scare the crap out of the Sun Belt? Let us take a look. For Arkansas State, despite every leading receiver having at least 1 touchdown catch, they also had a lot of drops, and apparently Ark St.'s offensive line can't stop the pass rush of wet paper bags. On the defensive side, Arkansas State couldn't stop a team of toddlers from scoring. As for Troy, Jose Lynn had the best game I have ever seen him play, going 18/23, throwing for 309 yards, and tossing a couple of touchdowns. Lynn also rushed for 68 yards on 8 attempts. Running back David West had a field day, rushing for 167 yards and had 2 of his own touchdowns. Coach @Buckyb praised his offense in the post game press conference, ""The offense played flawlessly, we knew we had play-makers in Lynn, West, and Strange and we just schemed to get the ball in their hands. They did the rest!" As Troy's defense, they couldn't stop Salas but they could do enough to slow him down. They had 3 pass deflections and the interception, and they were all over the back field racking up FIVE sacks. The coach finished the press conference by saying "We knew our defense was up against a stiff opponent, but they were up to the task. We asked them to get pressure on Salas, and they did just that recording 5 sacks and forcing an interception. We have some things to work on, but for now we are going to celebrate a conference road win." This was a statement game from Troy, and the Sun Belt has been put on notice.

Thursday Night Score: Bowling Green 27 Northern Illinois 13 My Prediction: Bowling Green 27 Northern Illinois 23 POTG: Bowling Green QB A.J. Coyne - 26/43 for 299 yards and 2 touchdowns What happened: A.J. Coyne had a productive night through the air passing for 299 yards, 2 touchdowns and no turnovers. Coyne’s favorite target was WR Brandon Lockhart who caught 10 passes for 128 yards. Coyne’s efficiency was the difference in the game as he outperformed his counterpart, NIU QB Emmett Mast. I went with the upset pick in my preview and it paid off. NIU had a little more success on the ground, running the ball for 44 yards, which almost doubles their season total as they had only 58 yards rushing through 5 games. But NIU is still sticking to airing it out and it just isn’t working for them. Coach @Tyrone28 will have to figure out a game plan that fits the personnel and it just hasn’t happened yet. Score: Ohio 18 South Alabama 17 My Prediction: Ohio 38 South Alabama 13 POTG: Ohio Kicker Sam Clifford - 4 for 5 on field goals What happened: Coach @rocksaucesundae called me out for my score prediction and nearly proved me wrong. He certainly proved that his Jaguar squad should not be overlooked. The Jaguars held a 14-6 halftime lead, but were not able to come away with the victory. In the end, it came down to the kicking game as the deciding factor. Ohio Kicker, Sam Clifford, connected on 4 of his 5 field goal attempts (missed from 42 yards) while South Alabama Kicker, Samuel Laird, connected on only 1 of 3 attempts (missed from 43 and 53 yards). The Ohio offense was able to move the ball accumulating over 300 yards of offense, but had to settle for field goals too often. Luckily for the Bobcats, their Freshman kicker was up to the challenge. Friday Night Score: Kent 16 Akron 13 My Prediction: Akron 23 Kent 21 POTG: Kent State RB C.J. Williams - 22 carries for 106 yards and 1 touchdown What happened: I stated in my preview that I simply did not have a good gauge on how this game would play out, but I felt that Akron would win a close one. This game was close, but it was Kent State who would come out with the win. In a game that featured five field goals and only two touchdowns, the Golden Flashes defense was able to keep Akron in check holding their offense to 243 yards. The kicking game ended up being the difference as Kent State Kicker, Jonah Schofield, connected on all three of his attempts (all from under 30 yards), while Akron Kicker, Phillip Lane-Hickey, connected on two of three attempts, failing to connect from 47 yards out. Score: Central Michigan 35 Miami 10 My Prediction: Central Michigan 42 Miami 13 POTG: Central Michigan RB Daveed Huff - 19 carries for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns What happened: I figured it would be the Byron Suggs show in this game, and while he played fine, it was Daveed Huff who finally emerged from his slumber as he rushed for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns. Huff had only rushed for 191 yards through his first 4 games, so this was a welcome sign for the CMU faithful. Miami came out with a new game plan to try and run the ball. While it was somewhat successful, as Nazir Randolph rushed 30 times for 135 yards and 1 touchdown, the passing game was non-existent completing only 2/4 passes for 22 yards. 157 yards of total offense (40 yards less than their season average) isn’t likely to get the job done against many opponents. Score: UMass 20 Eastern Michigan 17 My Prediction: Eastern Michigan 31 UMass 21 POTG: UMass RB Rick Strauss - 21 carries for 128 yards and 1 touchdown What happened: My what will happen prediction focused on the success of EMU RB, Tyler Pearson, but it was UMass RB, Rick Strauss, who outperformed the talented EMU back. This was a very evenly matched game with UMass slightly outgaining EMU 320 to 291. UMass has played their competition tough in several games this season and it finally paid off as they get their first win of the season with the 20-17 win over EMU. For the Eagles, they will go back to the drawing board to see what they can change as they move into conference play. Saturday Afternoon Score: Western Michigan 35 Western Kentucky 14 My Prediction: Western Michigan 38 Western Kentucky 21 POTG: Western Michigan QB Keith Jackson - 20/30 for 270 yards and 3 touchdowns, 4 carries for 8 yards and 1 touchdown What happened: The Broncos continued to take care of business on Saturday as they handled Western Kentucky 35-14. It was the Keith Jackson show as the talented Bronco QB led WMU to a 21-0 halftime lead and simply cruised in the 2nd half. The Hilltoppers struggled to run the ball (7 carries for 20 yards) and QB Riley West was only able to complete 50% of his passes while throwing for 199 yards and 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The talent gap and lack of offensive output was simply too much for the Hilltoppers to overcome My Prediction Accuracy (Week): 4-2 My Prediction Accuracy (Season): 7-4

At this point, I don't pay enough attention to the sim to continue actively playing. I have a fun 3 years here even if I was kinda unattentive for the past 12 months. I had a lot of fun on this site but at least for the next month or so, I don't really have the energy to stay ontop of everything and am generally preoccupied with other things. Some chance I come back somewhat down the line though when things clear up. So I'm resigning from CFBHC. Best of luck y'all.

(New attempt at an article series: any advice or criticism welcome) VS Overview Two of the top three teams in the FCS meet up in this midseason showdown that is sure to set the tone for the rest of the season. General consensus is that these two teams -along with Illinois State- are the real contenders for the FCS championship. NDSU is coming off a rout of Montana in which QB Zach McAllister threw for 441 yards and 4 touchdowns. On the other hand the Blue Hens come off a big win over JMU in which their star RB Barack Holmes was stuffed for only 81 yards and a touchdown. The Bison have a bit more momentum coming into the game, however, the Blue Hens are coming off of a much tougher opponent. Who can get the upper hand in this matchup of FCS giants? Keys to the Game Zach McAllister- While an obvious choice Zach has been the leader of the NDSU offense and will probably need to put in a big performance in order for NDSU to come away with a positive result. McAllister has been almost unstoppable throwing for over 200 yards in every single game so far this season, exploding last week for over 400. If McAllister returns to where he left off this game may get out of hand. Barack Holmes- As already mentioned, Holmes was almost shut down completely last week against JMU. This was the first time the whole season Holmes was held under 100 yards rushing. Despite this Holmes has never received less than 20 carries in a game for the Blue Hens. Holmes needs to rebound in order for Delaware to be successful. Eric Jenkins- Assuming Holmes is at least somewhat slowed by the NDSU front seven Eric Jenkins will need to step up for the Blue Hens. Jenkins played extremely well last week ,when Holmes was shut down by JMU, and saved the day. If Jenkins plays well it could be a tough day for the NDSU secondary. NDSU Secondary- This is a secondary that has given up a passing touchdown in every game, except for last week against Montana. At times there have been busted coverages and wide open receivers. If Delaware needs to fall back onto the passing game NDSU might get into a little trouble on the back ends. The reigning champions of the FCS have gone through the first half of the season with very little resistance. To be honest this quite possibly could be the toughest opponent NDSU will face all year. They do not meet up with the other frontrunner in the division in Illinois State, and the toughest matchup they have otherwise is probably UC Davis. Knowing all of this you can expect coach SolutionA to have his players ready to play. McAllister was mentioned in the keys to the game, but he just overshadows the other beast who has been somewhat quiet the whole season. Week 3 against Yale was the coming out party for RB Daniel Taylor. Overshadowed by both his own teammates and other elite running backs, Taylor has quietly put up over 350 yards and 4 touchdowns over the past three games. Delaware will have a very tough time controlling the three headed monster with WR Joe Welch at X on the outside. Welch also put up 135 yards and a touchdown last week. It's almost a given that NDSU should be able to score on the average Delaware defense but can they outscore the high powered Blue Hen offense. DE William Thompson has had a field day against opposing left tackles this year, and looks to put a lot of pressure on Jenkins this week. In the middle big freshman DT Laremy St. Oliver has been a force, allowing very few rushing yards inside. In fact, as a unit the NDSU front seven has been dominant. They have held opposing RBs such as Cameron Whaley (HAV) and Kenneth Love (NHU) to under 100 rushing yards. Hopefully for the Bison they will also be able to keep Barack Holmes in check. Past the front seven is where the issues may arise for the Bison. The secondary has been a little shaky at best to start this season. The pair of junior outside corners have struggled a bit with the better WR and QB combos they've faced this year. Regardless, Delaware doesn't really have the strongest receiving corp anyway. The most important member of the defense for NDSU tomorrow will be CB Miles Bush. Antonio Brown, the Blue Hens' best receiver, tends to line up in the slot occasionally. If Bush is lined up over Brown it could be a very long day for the true freshman and his confidence. There are only two other options. One option would be to let CB DeSean Gay shadow Brown all day around the field. This could work for Brown, but could still give Bush a tough matchup on the perimeter. The other option would be to send out one of the coverage linebackers, OLB Howard Andrews or ILB Brandon Delgado, to cover Brown when he's in the slot. The problem with this method will be taking a man out of the box. This makes Barack Holmes' life much easier. Overall figuring out how to cover Antonio Brown in the slot may be the most important key to the game for the Bison. The Blue Hens have had a very surprising start to the season to say the least. Everybody knew that RB Barack Holmes was good, but he has shown he could very well be the premier back in the FCS. Both Holmes and QB Eric Jenkins are mentioned in the keys to the game, but who else makes that offense run? The answer to this question is the offensive line. Delaware's offensive line is a veteran group with three out of the five starting linemen being seniors. If the line can give Jenkins time and open up holes for Holmes like they have all season then there will be a lot of Blue Hen offense in this game. Some other unsung heroes for the offense are the tight ends. At 6'8 TE Daniel Padgett is one of the most un-coverable receivers in the FCS. Grad transfer TE Kingsley Webb helps shore up blocking even more in power sets when he's in the game. Junior receivers Glenn Lawrence and Zachary Anderson are ready to make a big impact in the game. We talked about him in the NDSU section, but WR Antonio Brown could be the biggest key to this football game. Brown's insane ability from the slot makes covering him all the more difficult for opposing secondaries. With both Brown and Padgett lined up inside NDSU will either have to start going dime, or allow them to be covered by linebackers. I don't think going dime is something NDSU would like to do with their already weak cornerbacks. Taking linebackers out of the box should allow for more Barack Holmes action. If NDSU doesn't adjust to Brown this may be his breakout game. Defensively ILB Eddie Mills Jr. is going to have to plug up all of the gaps on the interior. Delaware has had some issues with the interior run defense over the course of this season, and that has led to Mills having to step up in terms of run defense. His counterpart on the outside, OLB Roger Odom, should have the slot receivers locked down all day. You don't see his name on the stat sheet much because opposing QB's don't throw at him. In the secondary the most important battle will be between NDSU's John Welch and true freshman CB Jermon Chester. Chester is very young and hasn't really covered anyone like Welch throughout his career. Welch should be shadowed by Chester throughout the entire game. This game will be the true litmus test to see if his coverage skills are for real. Prediction At the end of the day there are two major components that will decide the winner in this football game. Will Barack Holmes, Eric Jenkins, and Antonio Brown be able to put up some points on a below average NDSU secondary? They should. It will be a pretty rough awakening if Delaware is not ready to put up points in this game. NDSU is a physical imposing defense up front, however, Barack Holmes are not the only offensive weapons on that team. To have any sort of chance the passing game needs to show up in a big way, and I believe they will. Will Delaware be able to keep up in a shootout with NDSU's offense? I doubt it. NDSU is the best team in the FCS for a reason, the combination of their elite running back, top end QB, and top receiving talent will just be too much for the Blue Hens. NDSU should be able to stop Delaware a few times especially after they understand what the Blue Hen's gameplan is. I don't believe that the Blue Hens are built for stopping NDSU multiple times, and for that reason I have North Dakota State in a shootout! 45 - 38

This is a democracy but I'm not afraid to ban people who are wrong.

Sparky continues their surge, knocking off previously unbeaten UCLA. How did that affect those teams and the other members of the Conference of Champions when it comes to the Table of Questionable Worth? Let's find out. Remember: If you don't like where you are, then you should probably get more people to vote. Or perhaps you should vote, that too. Pac-12 Power Rankings after Week 6 Rank (Poll Pts.) Team (First Place Votes) Record (Conf. Record) Streak Change from Last Week 1 (84) Oregon Ducks (7) 4-0 (1-0) W3 - 2 (77) Washington Huskies 3-1 (2-0) W1 - 3 (67) California Golden Bears 3-1 (1-1) W3 +1 4 (58) USC Trojans 4-1 (2-1) W1 +2 5 (53) UCLA Bruins 4-1 (2-1) L1 -2 6-tie (51) Arizona State Sun Devils 3-2 (2-0) W3 +1 6-tie (51) Washington State Cougars 3-1 (0-0) L1 -2 8 (30) Oregon State Beavers 3-2 (1-1) L1 - 9 (28) Arizona Wildcats 2-2 (0-1) L1 +1 10 (26) Colorado Buffaloes 1-3 (0-2) L3 -1 11 (14) Stanford Cardinal 1-3 (0-2) L2 - 12 (7) Utah Utes 1-4 (0-3) L4 - Number of voters: 7 12 points awarded for first, 11 for second, etc. And this week's Chart... Welcome to the top half of the Table, Arizona State! They beat the Bruins 31-23 to take early control of the Pac-12 South race, and now their week 9 game at USC has a TON of significance for the division. A side beneficiary of the UCLA loss is Cal, who moves up another spot to third behind Washington and Oregon. A team who didn't benefit from this game (or from USC's victory over Stanford)? Washington State, who falls another couple of spots into another tie with Sparky. Harsh, yes, but it's not as bad as it looks - there's a grand total of 2 points separating the Cougs (and Sun Devils) from UCLA, and they're 7 away from USC. Looking further down it seems the coaches have respect for the Beavers as they held steady - if barely- to their rank despite falling to the Huskies. Zona and the Buffs trade spots while on bye; perhaps Colorado missing recruiting had something to do with that? This week's games: (* denotes non-conference) California (3-1) at Michigan (4-1)* Arizona State (3-2, 2-0 conf.) at Washington State (3-1, 0-0) Stanford (1-3, 0-2) at Oregon (4-0, 1-0) Arizona (2-2, 0-1) at Washington (3-1, 2-0) Colorado (1-3, 0-2) at USC (4-1, 2-1) Byes: Oregon State (3-2), UCLA (4-1), Utah (1-4) The P12 Network's Pick to Click? California at Michigan. The Golden Bears travel to Ann Arbor to take on the Michigan Wolverines. This will be a big chance for @noodlz2's boys to show they can be sp00ky outside the Pac-12, and what better stage to do so than the Big House? Michigan has been a very balanced team offensively with running back Nick Rowland averaging about 120 yards on roughly 20 carries a game, and QB Evan Perkins averaging 221.6 passing yards although the TD/INT ratio isn't great (6/4). When Perkins does throw it's primarily to his big targets on the outside; junior Tyler Sterling (27 rec for 324 yards, 2 TDs) and true freshman Antonio Jackson (33 rec for 442 yards, 4 TDs) account for nearly 70% of Michigan's receiving yards. Cal needs DT Adam Gibson to play one of the best games of his career Saturday and against Miguel Prieto, the 2024 draft's best center prospect, that's a tall ask. But it's one he needs to answer to hurry Perkins' clock and prevent freshman corner Zachary Riggins from being exposed against Jackson. On the other side of the ball, Cal wants to run, then run, then run some more. They have nearly as many rushing yards (685) as they do passing yards (758), but with Zachary McFadden and Naiquon Barner in the backfield it's hard to blame them. This could be a strength-on-strength matchup as @jmjacobs's defense is strongest up the spine with DTs Mason Ragland and Frank Cuadrado, ILB Luke Blankenship, and SS Paul Cline. If anything will give Cal hope, it's that the Wolverines haven't really looked incredibly menacing this season and had some ugly looking games even in victory (13-10 at Rutgers, anyone?). With Michigan averaging 24.8 PPG and surrendering 21.8 PPG, this could be a game where things hang in the balance until the end. And a game where things could hang in the balance until late is the kind of game a team like Cal wants to play on the road.

I'll stick to the Large Dozen because that's what I know the most about and I'll stay positive and list a winner for each team... Winners - I don't think anybody really expected them to be 4-1. Kofi McCullough has been the best back in the conference this division so far and Vaughn Sheppard actually has the 3rd highest passer rating. ISU is sneaky scary this season. Fans - For the first time since Dylan Stewart graduated KSU fans finally have something exciting to watch. Sure they are only 2-2 right now, but QB Shane Kruse is at least exciting. He is going to rewrite the record books in Manhattan. Naiquon Crosby - As a true freshman Crosby has already made a big impact. He has 4 sacks and 3 TFL in his first 4 games. It's not gonna be a pretty season for the Jayhawks, but Crosby is a definite silver lining. Sam Milner - The last time we saw Milner was 2020 in a TCU jersey when he completed 54% of his passes and threw for 2,243 yards, 16 TDs, and 15 INT. With a change of scenery he seems to have revived his career. He is on track to complete 67% of his passes for 3,039 yards, 33 TDs, and 3 INTs. That is quite the turnaround. Life After Solomon - Turn out there is life after Solomon in Lubbock. The Red Raiders are a better team this season than they were last year with their only loss coming to Oklahoma after pushing them to the brink. QB Grayson Gillette is playing well and while Hayden Dyer will never be Solomon, he is on pace to be a top back in the conference. The young backfield - Oklahoma features a new starter at QB in sophomore Nick Brohm and a new starter at RB in sophomore Jaiden Douglas. They have been up and down this season but they make the winners list because when they have had a down game the rest of the team has picked them up. In 5 games so far this season the Sooners have tallied a total of 2 punt return TDs, 1 kick return TD, and 2 defensive TDs. While that production isn't sustainable, it has given Brohm and Douglas more time to settle in. Amral Brown & Ian Baldwin - It's all about the 1-2 punch of Brown and Baldwin in Stillwater. Brown leads the Big XII in rushing TDs with 9. Baldwin is 2nd to only Sam Milner in passer rating and 2nd to no one in completion %. Defenses facing the Cowboys basically just have to choose how they want to give up TDs. Griffin McHanna - After a long and winding path to get there, McHanna seems to have found his place in the Horned Frogs offense as a gadget type player. On the season he has 227 yards rushing (5.97 YPC) and 4 TDs. He has added 63 yards and 1 TD through the air. Caleb Olmsted - After a step back in 2022, Olmsted has taken a big leap in 2023. His completion % is up 8%, YPA up almost a yard, passer rating up 24 points, and his TD:INT ratio has more than doubled. Dominic Acuna - The redshirt freshman DE has been on a tear in Morgantown. In 5 games he has recorded 3 TFL, 4 sacks, and 2 FF. The Big XII record for FF in a career is 4. Acuna is on pace to force 19 fumbles in his career (assuming a 4 year career but not factoring in post season play.)

2023 NFLHC Players of the Week - Week 6 COLTS RB J.B. BLACKNALL, BILLS DE ANTHONY ORTIZ & TEXANS K T.J. BENDBROOK NAMED AFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 6 Running back J.B. BLACKNALL of the Indianapolis Colts, defensive end ANTHONY ORTIZ of the Buffalo Bills and kicker T.J. BENDBROOK of the Houston Texans are the AFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played the sixth week of the 2023 season, the NFLHC announced today. OFFENSE: RB J.B. BLACKNALL, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS Blacknall ran the ball 19 times for 109 yards and 1 touchdown in the Colts' 30-17 win at Indianapolis. DEFENSE: DE ANTHONY ORTIZ, BUFFALO BILLS Ortiz had 2 tackles, 1 TFL, and 3 sacks in the Bills' 34-10 win at the New York Jets. SPECIAL TEAMS: K T.J. BENDBROOK, HOUSTON TEXANS Bendbrook converted 3 or 3 field goals from 51, 27, and 45 yards in the Texans' 24-9 loss at Seattle. BUCCANEERS QB TAYLOR HEIDEN, 49ERS OLB BRANDON THOMAS & REDSKINS K NEAL WATSON NAMED NFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 6 Quarterback TAYLOR HEIDEN of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, outside linebacker BRANDON THOMAS of the San Francisco 49ers and kicker NEAL WATSON of the Washington Redskins are the NFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played the sixth week of the 2023 season, the NFLHC announced today. OFFENSE: QB TAYLOR HEIDEN, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS Heiden completed 22 of 29 passes (75.9 percent) for 408 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions for a 156.97 passer rating and rushed 2 times for 11 yards in the Buccaneerss' 38-34 win against New Orleans. DEFENSE: OLB BRANDON THOMAS, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS Thomas had 5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble in the 49ers' 19-17 loss at the Los Angeles Rams. SPECIAL TEAMS: K NEAL WATSON, WASHINGTON REDSKINS Watson kicked 2 field goals of 26, and 35 yards including the game winner in overtime and went 4/4 on extra points in the Redskins' 34-31 win against Philadelphia. This is the second time Watson has won this award this season.

The Chiefs vs Lions game might actually be one of the best things we've had during the regular season ever. That was fucking hype as shit.

GG Loins, the game lived up to the hype I would say

YOU HEAR THAT GUYS WE"RE BETTER THAN THE SUN BELT

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER... This is a call for any coach, regardless of conference affiliation, to vote in the inaugural FCS coaches poll! This poll will be much less official than the FBS version considering there is no real "selection" for our playoffs. It is still interesting to see where the coaches of CFBHC have all of the teams ranked. This also requires NO commitment and takes way less time, so any coach can feel free to fill out the form at any time, any week. For conversational sake the rankings still go from 1-12 based on the format of the playoffs. LInk to Poll: https://forms.gle/quQ1GC449Wq7ZdRE6 PLEASE VOTE!

Winners Losers Conference Leaders Standings PFA= Points For Average PAA= Points Against Average Recruiting Rankings: TBD

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Byes: Ball State , Buffalo , Toledo Thursday Night Match-up: Northern Illinois (1-4) at Bowling Green (1-4) Stormstopper Line: NIU (-12) Coach @Tyrone28 and the Huskies head east to challenge Coach @PoopyRhinoPickle and Bowling Green in one of two crossover games on this week’s schedule. Both teams are coming off hard fought losses with NIU playing Rutgers tough for 3 quarters before falling 20-6. BGSU failed to make it two wins in a row as MAC East foe Buffalo won 28-24. What to watch for (NIU): Can Emmett Mast stop turning the ball over? Look, unless the coach has had a change of heart, there’s no question what NIU is going to do on offense. If you’re going to commit to throwing it as often, then you can’t afford to have your QB turn the ball over as frequently as Mast does (9 TD’s, 12 INT’s). If the Huskies want to win, then Mast must take care of the ball, but my gut says that is unlikely to happen. What to watch for (BGSU): Can BGSU rebound from the Buffalo loss? While technically the underdog last week (+0.5), I have to imagine that coach PoopyRhinoPickle thinks the game against Buffalo was a missed opportunity. So the first year coach will be tasked with trying to focus his team on NIU and not let Buffalo beat them twice. The line says BGSU are 12 point dogs, which would make you think this is an easy win for NIU. But outside of the top teams, there’s a lot of parity in the MAC. What will happen: Here I go again questioning a @stormstopper line right off the bat, but the -12 for NIU seems too high. I’m a man who likes to air it out, but I think NIU may rely on the passing game a bit too much. Coach Tyrone28 pays no mind to the run game and at this time, Mast doesn’t seem talented enough to carry the entire load of the offense. I think this is going to a battle of the QB as both teams like to throw the ball. BGSU puts a little more emphasis on the run, but not much. Thus far, A.J. Coyne has been much more trustworthy with the ball compared to Mast and I think turnovers are going to be the difference in this game. I’ll probably be wrong, but I’m going with the upset and taking BGSU in this one. Prediction: BGSU 27 NIU 23 Match-up: South Alabama (1-3) at Ohio (3-2) Stormstopper Line: Ohio (-19) The first non-conference game of this week’s slate will feature a Sun Belt team seeing how they measure up against a MAC opponent. At 1-3 on the season, South Alabama and coach @rocksaucesundae has had a tough go of it. They will face a tough challenge against MAC East favorite Ohio and coach @bbates728. The Bobcats handled a talented Toledo team last week winning 31-20. What to watch for (South Alabama): Can the Jaguars accomplish anything on offense? The Jaguar offense is not very good. They average a mere 262 yards of offense per game, have allowed their QB to be sacked 13 times and have managed only 4 offensive touchdowns all season. If those numbers hold true, South Alabama is going to struggle to keep this game competitive. What to watch for (Ohio): Can QB Austin Lowe replicate last week? Yes, I’m pretty much recycling my question from last week, but deal with it. This team’s success hinges on the play of their QB. Passing for 309 yards and 3 TD’s last week on their way to an upset win over Toledo showed just how valuable Lowe is to the Bobcats. If he can have a similar performance, Ohio should have nothing to worry about. What will happen: Lowe will pick up where left off last week and guide Ohio to a convincing victory. The Jaguar defense has a few solid pieces, as does the offense, but they haven’t put much together this season. You also have to average more than one offensive touchdown a game if you want to have a chance. Prediction: Ohio 38 South Alabama 13 Friday Night Match-up: Akron (2-2) at Kent State (1-3) Stormstopper Line: Kent State (-1.5) The only game this week that features a single digit spread will see the Zips of Akron coached by @Garappogoat take on the Golden Flashes of Kent State led by coach @Traith. Akron is coming off of a bye week and Kent State looks to rebound after being handled 31-14 by a very good Western Michigan team, though they did manage to beat the -22.5 point spread. What to watch for (Akron): Can Freshman QB, Cole Richter, avoid playing like a Freshman? Coach Garappogoat made the change from Senior Jake Alves to Richter and it resulted in a win over Buffalo. Richter was efficient, but not spectacular, passing for 146 yards and 1 touchdown while also adding a score on the ground. Richter has the higher upside, but will inevitably show his inexperience at some point. If he can avoid the mental mistakes this week, Akron could improve to 2-0 in MAC play. What to watch for (Kent): Can Kent replicate their success from Week 2? The Golden Flashes have one win on the season taking down BGSU in Week 2 by a score of 28-16. The offense enjoyed the most success of the season in that game accumulating 347 yards of offense. In their three losses they’ve gone for 185, 184 and 235. In order to win this game the offense will likely need to be around 300 yards of total offense. What will happen: I have absolutely no idea how this game is going to play out. This seems like two evenly matched teams who have struggled to move the ball. Akron seems to be a bit better on both sides of the ball and I think they’ll do just enough to come away with the road win. Prediction: Akron 23 Kent State 21 Match-up: Miami (0-4) at Central Michigan (2-2) Stormstopper Line: CMU (-15.5) Under new leadership, coach @chawsley takes his Miami squad across the Michigan-Ohio border for the second MAC crossover game of the week. The RedHawks enter the game fresh off a bye week, while Central Michigan defeated Ball State 38-7 to improve to 2-2 (2-0). What to watch for (Miami): Can the Miami offense accomplish anything? No, you’re not having deja vu, this is the exact same question I asked of South Alabama. Surprisingly, the Miami offense is significantly more inept than South Alabama’s offense. The RedHawks average less than 200 yards per game (198), have allowed 10 sacks and have turned the ball over 7 times. That is not a recipe for success. To stand any chance against CMU, Miami will need to score some points, which may be asking a lot considering the teams has scored only 21 points all season. Coach chawsley has his work cut out for him, but this team will likely start to put up more of a fight under a new regime. What to watch for (CMU): Can the Chippewas handle their business? No disrespect to Miami and their new coach, but Miami is a team likely to finish at the bottom of the MAC. If CMU executes their game plan and Byron Suggs continue his stellar play, then CMU should be able to come away with the victory. That said, the Chippewa defense is the weakest link and if they struggle, things could be closer than expected. What will happen: Byron Suggs has been on a tear since a letdown performance in game 1 against Oregon State, averaging 386 yards passing while throwing for 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in his last 3 games. This trend continues as the Chippewa offense will be too much for the Miami defense and their offense won’t do enough to help them out. Prediction: CMU 42 Miami 13 Match-up: Eastern Michigan (1-3) at UMass (0-4) Stormstopper Line: EMU (-16.5) Our second non-conference game features Eastern Michigan and coach @cobaltblade99 paying a visit to the east coast to take on the coach @TBoostR and the UMass Minutemen. The Eagles were on a bye last week and find themselves as 16.5 point favorite. UMass played FIU tough last week before falling 33-23. What to watch for (EMU): Can the Eagles stop the pass? EMU has done a good job getting to the QB having recorded 9 sacks on the season, but the defense has given up 280 yards passing per game. In EMU’s lone win, they held the opposition to 186 yard passing. In their 3 losses, the opposition has thrown for 245, 342 and 346. If EMU can prevent UMass from having success passing the ball, then they should be in control of the game. What to watch for (UMass): Can UMass contain EMU RB Tyler Pearson? Pearson is by far the most talented player on the EMU offense averaging 125 yards per game with 4 touchdowns on the season. Given Pearson’s skill, EMU puts more emphasis on the run game. UMass will likely need to keep Pearson below 125 yards in order to give them their best shot at a win. What will happen: Despite being 0-4, UMass has played their competition pretty tough this season. I think EMU will come away with the victory, but I don’t see them covering the spread. The outcome of this game will likely depend on what Pearson is able to do on the ground. Prediction: EMU 31 UMass 21 Saturday Afternoon Match-up: Western Michigan (4-0) at Western Kentucky (1-3) Stormstopper Line: WMU (-15) Our third and final non-conference game of the week features a battle of the Westerns. Coach @Pskeate takes his undefeated Western Michigan Broncos south to take on coach @boogyman10 and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. This game also features the third match-up in which a team from the MAC is favored by double digits. What to watch for (WMU): Can WMU continue the status quo? It’s well known that the Broncos are a very good team on both sides of the ball. They are going against a team that has struggled thus far, but WKU does have some talent at QB and RB. If WMU continues to perform like they have through the first 4 games, they shouldn’t have much to worry about. What to watch for (WKU): Can WKU put it all together? Offensively, WKU has a solid QB and two very good RB’s. In my brief research I was surprised they have only managed a 1-3 record. It may be a matter of figuring out what game plan works best for this group, but there’s talent on this roster. Like other WMU opponents, WKU will likely need to bring a perfect game to stand a chance against the Broncos. If the Hilltoppers can put together a complete game, they may find themselves hanging around. What will happen: Clearly something is not clicking for WKU. Unless they have figured it out, I can’t see them coming out with a win. As mentioned, it’s just a matter of WMU doing what they do. If they continue their performance of late, they should bump their record to 5-0. Prediction: WMU 38 WKU 21

Didn't know stinsy picked up Heiden in the offseason to pair with Bowman in the ultimate two QB system. No wonder Washington was comfortable trading away Ryan Clark

For those wondering, here are the ratings for the Independents and the FCS: Independents - 2.54 FCS - 0.50 @Osu @joedchi @SolutionA

2023 NFLHC Players of the Week - Week 5 CHIEFS RB TERRENCE RODGERS, STEELERS DE CARLOS WASHINGTON & CHARGERS P NICK BALDWIN NAMED AFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 5 Running back TERRENCE RODGERS of the Kansas City Chiefs, defensive end CARLOS WASHINGTON of the Pittsburgh Steelers and punter NICK BALDWIN of the Los Angeles Chargers are the AFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played the fifth week of the 2023 season, the NFLHC announced today. OFFENSE: RB TERRENCE RODGERS, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS Rodgers ran the ball 21 times for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Chiefs' 27-0 win over Denver. DEFENSE: DE CARLOS WASHINGTON, PITTSBURGH STEELERS Washington had 2 tackles, 3 sacks, and a forced fumble in the Steelers' 23-3 win at Cincinnati. This was the second straight week Washington won the AFC Defensive Player of the Week Award. SPECIAL TEAMS: P NICK BALDWIN, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS Baldwin punted 8 times for an average of 49.3 yards in the Chargers' 38-14 loss at Buffalo. REDSKINS QB TANNER BOWMAN, COWBOYS DE JAVIER GRADY & PACKERS K BRIAN EVANS NAMED NFC PLAYERS OF WEEK 5 Quarterback TANNER BOWMAN of the Washington Redskins, defensive end JAVIER GRADY of the Dallas Cowboys and kicker BRIAN EVANS of the Green Bay Packers are the NFC Offensive, Defensive and Special Teams Players of the Week for games played the fifth week of the 2023 season, the NFLHC announced today. OFFENSE: QB TANNER BOWMAN, WASHINGTON REDSKINS Bowman completed 24 of 32 passes (75.0 percent) for 345 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 140.76 passer rating in the Redskins' 35-10 win at the New York Giants. DEFENSE: DE JAVIER GRADY, DALLAS COWBOYS Grady had 2 tackles and 3 sacks in the Cowboys' 31-20 win at San Francisco. SPECIAL TEAMS: K BRIAN EVANS, GREEN BAY PACKERS Evans kicked 3 field goals of 49, 26, and 35 yards and went 2/2 on extra points in the Packers' 27-23 loss at Philadelphia.

Syracuse is the best 1-4 team in the country.

Ok I love ketchup but anyone who pours it directly on top of a pile of fries is a sociopath and I will report you to the FBI

Hello all, and welcome back to Pounding the Rock-ies! We know that it's been a hot minute...and we want to be there for you. However, our potato stores were low just before the harvest. The kind gents from Idaho provided us with enough tots to power our computers at least through the season. Rumor has it that there are lines that carry power comin' out our way. I'll believe it when I see it! But, a lot has continued to happen while our electronics were down. The MWC has taken it's lumps. Hawaii and Nevada are 2-2 coming out of OOC play, and SDSU is a better than it looks 1-3. All three teams have played extraordinarily tough schedules in attempts at playoff runs. The only chance the MWC had left was held by Fresno State, a team that Coaches Gigemags, D'Gale, and Pumph had previously talked about as a threat to win the West. Sitting at 4-0 after OOC play, they opened against SDSU, with a recap below. Before we get to that, though, it appears that we missed one MWC conference game, between two Mountain teams, Colorado State and New Mexico. CSU was heavily favored, but an inspired effort from the Lobos and Dean Fagan made it a close game. However, the talent was too much as the Rams walked away with a win. Friday Night Football Air Force Falcons @ San Jose State Spartans AF: Positives: They won the game. This puts them at 1-0 in conference, and allows them to ramp up for Boise State. When it came time to put up or shut up, the Falcons found a way to convert on 4th down. Negatives: A bad Spartans team was able to push them to the brink. The rushing was anemic, and the defense didn't lock down like Stinsy generally expects. Looking Ahead: No time to dwell on this. Boise is surely looking at the film to find a way to take an early lead in the race for the division. SJSU: Positives: Talk about a gutsy effort. For a team that was just abandoned by its coach, they certainly tried to work some magic! Negatives: 206 yards on 13 completions is just too high to expect to win a game. Looking Ahead: Don't count this Spartans team out from playing spoiler in a couple games this year. Saturday Night Football Nevada Wolfpack @ New Mexico Lobos Nev: Positives: Tausa'afia Faletolu torched the Lobos secondary en route to a solid win. The focal point ot New Mexico's offense was shut down amassing only 89 yards in the game. Negatives: Except for one good run by Billings, he was largely held in check. But, in a game that your defense dominates, Tresselball isn't a bad thing. Looking Ahead: Nevada is ramping up to make a run at the West crown, and the week off should help them prepare. UNM: Positives: Dean Fagan is a hero. He garnered all of the attention of spare blockers in the rush game, and was avoided through the air. While his stat sheet doesn't look impressive with only 5 tackles, he drastically changed the Wolfpacks gameplan, shown by the breakdown of where plays went. Negatives: 3 points. I don't care who you are, winning a game in this day and age while scoring only 3 points is impossible. Looking Ahead: Find a way to win. They have been close in several games this year. They just need to put it all together. Officially Unofficial Mountain Best Game of the Week San Diego State Aztecs @ Fresno State Bulldogs As mentioned above, this was the game where the Bulldogs were supposed to announce their intention to make the playoffs. The Aztecs wanted to use it to show they were still alive. It was exactly the game MWC viewers wanted to see. Edmondson and Garrett double teamed the Bulldog defense accounting for 21 points by midway through the third quarter. Then, down 21-7, coach Hchou hammered down on his men during a TV timeout. The defense created several stops, and they tied the game. With just under 3 minutes to go, York hit the go ahead field goal for SDSU. The bulldogs didn't panic and drove back down the field. As time wound down, they were going to try to gain a few more yards for an easier kick, when Pumph got risky. He blitzed Micah English who rewarded his call with a sack. The ensuing 41 yard field goal attempt fell short, and the Bulldogs couldn't steal a win. SDSU: Positives: The offense lives and is dangerous. This is going to be a tough team to beat, despite their record. Negatives: Sadly, any hopes for a playoff run are in the trash. 8 penalties for 67 yards isn't helping them win any games either. Looking Ahead: Two bye's over the next three weeks should leave them in good position to manage a tough run down the stretch. FSU: Positives: Ian Wright is a bright spot with no drops, 10 catches, 121 yards and 2 touchdowns. In a day when Fresno had to have their best, he gave it his all. Negatives: A loss hurts their chances to win the West crown. The biggest negative is the fact that this was a winnable game, and they let it slip away on their home turf. Looking Ahead: Take a day, breathe, and figure out how to contain Kieron Farmer next week. Win the next game, and watch other teams stumble. The division crown is still within reach.

Appalachian State (0-4) at Louisiana-Monroe (3-2) App St. Passing Name Completions Attempts Completion % Yards Yards/Completion TD's INT's Kareem Witherspoon 56 108 0.52 683 12.20 0 6 Rushing Name Rushes Yards TD's Yards/Rush Kareem Witherspoon 24 108 3 4.50 DeVante Mingo 80 355 4 4.44 O-Line Rating 2.35 Sacks Allowed 14 Louisiana Monroe Passing Name Completions Attempts Completion % Yards Yards/Completion TD's INT's James Harvey 118 207 0.57 1217 10.31 9 5 Rushing Name Rushes Yards TD's Yards/Rush Tion Mays 7 28 1 4.00 Todd Wolfe 46 136 2 2.96 O-Line Rating 2.96 Sacks Allowed 15 App St.'s qb has yet to throw for a touchdown, and their defense couldn't even stop a Pop Warner league team from scoring. ULM wins BIG.