Thoughts From The Valley

The Hangover

How I am feeling: Extremely blessed. No, this is not because the Penn State Nittany Lions earned a hard-fought 20-6 win in West Lafayette to improve to 6-0. Rather, it is because my loyal canine pal, The Mighty Eli, emerged from cancer surgery today with the best possible outcome: He does not actually have cancer. Yeah, he had a weird large growth on his stomach. But apparently it was no big deal. Today, Eli feasts on whatever he wants: Steaks, burgers, sausage. Whatever his heart desires. And he desires much.

What I am drinking: Victory Hop Devil. Sorry, not very original today, but it is Saturday night, I am sleeping downstairs to keep an eye on Eli and make sure he does not pull out his stitches, and I had no time to run out to the store and get anything new for this week. So Hop Devil it is. Greatest autumnal beer ever, however.

What I am listening to: The ever-soothing sounds of Mike Patrick and Todd Blackledge, the guys who are currently calling the Ohio State-Wisconsin game on ABC. Mike Patrick is right up there with Brad Nessler and Verne Lundquist in the Group of Truly Elite College Football Play-By-Play Guys. And Blackledge is awesome for the simple reason that he led Penn State to the 1982 National Championship. Against an SEC team.

My thoughts on the weekend: Quite a bit happened this weekend, folks, but nothing was more important than what happened Saturday evening in Nashville, where the long-suffering Vanderbilt Commodores turned in probably the biggest win in school history.

There was nothing particularly impressive about the win, mind you. I mean, it wasn't necessarily very thrilling. Yes, Vandy beat supposedly-No. 13-ranked Auburn. And on paper, that looks great, although it must be noted that Auburn has been overrated all year, and has an offense that recalls, well, the Syracuse Orangemen. Seriously, Auburn is that bad.

But no matter. This was a titanic win for Vanderbilt. A hard-fought, hard-won victory on the big stage--the kind of win that Vandy just hasn't seen much, if at all, in the past thre decades. This is a program, after all, that hasn't been to a bowl game since 1982. They've been beaten up and beaten down by those SEC big boys for decades.

For the simple reason that Vandy has been really, really bad for a long, long time.

This year, though, they're not bad. They're actually quite good. Good enough to make a bowl game, at least, and maybe even good enough to play on New Year's Day.

Don't believe me? Well, if you take a look at the SEC standings today, you'll see Vandy--the lonely academic superstar in the SEC's football-centric universe--sitting alone in first place.

Ahead of Florida.

Ahead of Georgia.

Ahead of South Carolina and Kentucky and Tennessee, too.

It's almost impossible to imagine. I have a hard time believing it even now. But it's true.

And college football is better because of it.

Go Vandy.

Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust

 

 

Three: OK, so I grew up in a different time. Specifically, the 1980s. You know, back when Notre Dame was good. But I am not so jaded toward the Irish that I cannot appreciate their great history, their wonderful tradition, and the fact that, even despite the fact that they have not won a bowl game since 1993, they are the greatest program in the history of college football. That being said, I have one complaint with the Irish of today: The game-day scene at Notre Dame Stadium is awful. I mean, it's pitiful. I have watched the last two Notre Dame home games on NBC (a chore, I assure you), and the atmopshere in South Bend is stale, so incredibly quiet, that if you tuned in and couldn't see the uniforms, you might think you were watching an NFL (snore) game. Irish fans, please wake up.

Two ...: A freshman quarterback takes the field at Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium, his team trailing 17-13 late in the fourth quarter. His team is backed up to their own 20. The Camp Randall crowd is going nuts, sensing a huge win and a legendary night of partying to be on the way. You can probably guess what happens next, right? The freshman melts down and 80,000 people rush to the bars of State Street, singing "On Wisconsin" and/or "Jump Around." Well, that's what you might think would happen. That is, unless the freshman quarterback is named Terrelle Pryor, who instead calmly marched his team 80 yards, completed two clutch third down throws along the way, and then finished off the drive--and the Badgers--with an 11-yard touchdown run with a minute left. God, this kid is going to be good.

One ...: Surprised that Alabama struggled with Kentucky? Don't be. It's real simple, folks. The days of the "gimme" game in league play are over. See: Oregon State vs. USC. See: Florida vs. Ole Miss. Heck, see: Maryland vs. Virginia. It's as plain as say--if you've got a conference game, you better show up, or you're gonna get beat. And by the way, what's up the the USA Coaches Poll dropping 'Bama from No. 2 to No. 4? Rankings truly are ridiculous.

Touchdown ...: Clear your calendars for next Saturday, folks. I mean, just take a look at the schedule: No. 1 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Texas in the Red River Rivalry; No. 4 Missouri vs. No. 17 Oklahoma State; No. 12 Florida vs. No. 3 LSU; No. 6 Penn State at No. 24 Wisconsin; No. 19 Michigan State vs. No. 22 Northwestern; heck, even Notre Dame vs. North Carolina should be pretty interesting. In other words, it should be a simply fantastic day of college football. Viva October.