By Mike Luce
1. Florida State.
Beat #24 Clemson 23-17 (OT).
Florida State pulled out a win without star quarterback Jameis Winston. The sophomore served a one-game suspension after reportedly screaming obscenities in the quad. The game gave Winston time to research the next hot internet trend and, presumably, reflect. Or whatever.
(As a further result, Winston is also being accused of ruining a perfectly good (NSFW) internet meme. Winston, along with these Florida State fans, apparently didn’t know that the meme itself was based on an elaborate hoax.)
NFL wags bemoaned Winston’s immaturity, claiming the latest incident will torpedo his stock in the NFL draft. We doubt it. We look forward to Oakland making Winston a top five pick. He would look great in a Raiders jersey.
2. Oregon.
Beat Washington State 38-31.
Oregon’s Heisman-hopeful Marcus Mariota avoided the dreaded Sports Illustrated jinx by racking up 329 yards passing and 5 TDs. Mariota added on 58 rushing yards just for good measure.
3. Alabama.
Beat Florida 42-21.
Emmitt Smith has seen enough of Florida QB Jeff Driskel. The former Gator tweeted his displeasure during Driskel’s forgettable outing against ‘Bama: 93 yards passing, two interceptions and only one touchdown. But Driskel’s performance was moot. The feeble Florida defense surrendered a record 645 yards of total offense and allowed the most points since 2007.
4. Oklahoma.
Beat West Virginia 45-33.
The Sooners are legit. West Virginia faced #2 Alabama on a neutral field in Week One and nearly pulled off a huge upset. The Mountaineers welcomed Oklahoma to Milan Puskar Stadium on Saturday, an intimidating environment at any time, much less at night after the infamously rude fan base has been pregaming all afternoon. No matter, OU shrugged off a 24-24 tie at half and ground down the Mounties, led by freshman running back Samaje Perine’ 242 yards. (Of the Pflugerville Perines, as you know.)
5. Auburn.
Beat #20 Kansas State 20-14.
The Tigers, possibly aided by stealing K-State’s playcalling signals, avoided an upset on Thursday night. You might say Auburn stole the game. (Ho, ho.)
6. Texas A&M.
Beat Southern Methodist 58-6.
A&M pulled Heisman candidate Kenny Hill at halftime after a 38-3 start. Smart, very smart. Even the A&M mascot, or rather his handler, got in on the action.
7. Baylor.
Had the weekend off. Took the opportunity to study. Heh-heh.
8. LSU.
Lost to Mississippi State 34-29.
Score one for the “teams we like” from the preseason! The upset vaulted Mississippi State into the Top 25 (to #14) and sank LSU to #17.
9. Notre Dame.
Had the weekend off. We’ll resume hating them next week.
10. Pistol Pete.
Happy birthday!
Others receiving votes:
The Brady Hoke Death Watch has started in earnest in Ann Arbor. Now even his lieutenants aren’t listening to him . . . The Kansas Twitter feed favorited a tweet calling for KU to fire head coach Charlie Weis . . . Diehard Gator and Tide fans squared off in a battle of who can look more ridiculous . . . Tim Tebow blasphemes . . . After a shocking win over #18 Missouri, Indiana makes a rare appearance in Big Ten bowl projections . . . the Nebraska student section is terrifying . . . The Big Ten rebounded, going 12-1 on the weekend . . . Even Northwestern scored a victory . . . And finally, our props to Northwestern State. The Demons bucked the 23-point spread and not only covered, but won straight up over Louisiana Tech 30-27.
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Mike Luce is our man on campus – every Friday and Monday. He welcomes your comments.
Posted on September 22, 2014