The Table is Set

 My plans this past weekend were altered, and thus I did not make the trek to Arlington, TX, for the Big 12 Championship Game.

And so, just like that, the 2023 college football regular season has come to an end. The die is cast, and there is one deserving team that’s left on the outside looking in. Many of us without a dog in the fight were looking for even more chaos than what ensued this past weekend. With Alabama knocking off two-time reigning national champion Georgia, this opened the door for some good old-fashioned controversy. 

Florida State went into the ACC Championship Game undefeated against a two-loss Louisville team. It was believed that they needed to win big and win pretty to secure their spot in the final four. The reason being that they would be without Heisman-hopeful quarterback Jordan Travis who broke his leg two weeks ago. They would be led by a freshman QB, as their number two was also out due to concussion protocol. The Seminole’s defense was up for the challenge as they shut down the Cardinal’s offense. However, the Nole’s offense was equally as inept as Louisville’s on the night. The Noles won, but didn’t win convincingly enough for the committee to not slide Alabama into the fourth playoff spot, which is exactly what happened.

The College Football Playoff will feature the aforementioned Alabama Crimson Tide taking on the Michigan Wolverines in the Rose Bowl on January 1. In the other semifinal, Texas will square off against the University of Washington in the New Orleans Sugar Bowl on January 1. Next year with the playoff expanding, we won’t have these controversies, right?

In conference championship news (that mattered), Michigan, Washington and Texas dispatched their opponents to secure their conference trophies and invites to the playoff. In the Big Ten final, Michigan shut out Iowon’t 26-0. The Texas Longhorns in their final Big 12 ship, playing in a sea of two shades of orange in Jerry World, annihilated the Cowpokes from Stillwater 49-21. And the Huskies of UW clawed out their second victory of the year over the Ducks from Eugene 34-31 to secure the final PAC 12 championship trophy.

Other conference champions:
AAC -. SMU
CONUSA -. Liberty, Liberty, Liberty ♯♯♯
MAC - Miami Ohio
MWC -  Boise State
Sun Belt - Troy

Bieber: FSU fans would say the 13-person CFP committee is well deserving this week — and they may very well be. But let me point out something even more bothersome to me: Have you noticed that “the rise” in football pants is analogous to the rise of mini skirts in the 1960s? Players' pants no longer have knee pads or material covering their knees. In fact, Mrs. Tailgate inquired the other day, ”Why are those players wearing shorts?” It is almost a contest now to see how high up they can wear their pants. Larry Bird in his short shorts of the 80s would be proud to endorse. However, with no knee pads, more bone bruises and other types of knee injuries are probably more prevalent now than they were before this latest fashion statement. So this week, we awarded the trophy for the first time ever to a clothing fad! Hey pants, stick the trophy in a pair of football pants, you won't be covering up much of it, so all can still enjoy.

He wears short shorts.......

Ginger: In a world of me, me, me, and “I am taking my talents to (insert your favorite school here),” it is refreshing to see a young man who is a contrarian to his generation. Utah State starting quarterback Levi Williams is walking away from college football to take a shot at becoming a Navy Seal to serve his country. After leading his team with a five-touchdown game two weeks ago, and making them bowl eligible, Levi made the surprising announcement. The 6’5, 230 pound QB had at least one more year of eligibility remaining. Instead, he stated that he felt it more important to serve his country that he loves deeply. We salute your move here Levi and wish you the best in your courageous endeavors. Ginger up, Sailor!

Next up: I hope to make at least one bowl game and possibly the FCS Natty in Frisco, TX. I will update you all here when I make the call.

Happy Tailgating!

Wacky Wilvawee Weekend!

In what is known as rivalry weekend, the two days following turkey day did not disappoint this year. We will get to the games in a moment, but first the narcissist in me must discuss what the hell I did this weekend. (Also, you are correct. I failed again last week to send out an article. This is a possible Bieber infraction.).

For the tenth time since 2001, I made my way to “The Farm” in Palo Alto for the Notre Dame/Stanford game. It took me three and a half hours from our new place in Cali to get there with the Thanksgiving traffic. Naturally, I passed the time listening to many of the exciting games on ESPN radio. Once in Palo Alto, I linked up with my old neighbor Drubaca at the patio bar for a quick beer and loaded tater tots. Then we embarked on a brisk one mile walk to meet the Harkin clan from Donegal, Ireland in the Masters Grove for a few more pops. 

Notre Dame owns "The Farm" once again!

As is customary, more than half the stadium was filled with Notre Dame fans sporting their green colors and a healthy glow from their tailgates. After several first quarter turnovers that put Notre Dame in a brief hole, the Irish dominated play for the next two plus quarters, rolling to a 56-23 smackdown of the lowly Cardinal. Notre Dame’s offense was led by Jerome Bettis’ Clone, Audric Estime, who ran for 238 yards and four touchdowns. I also finally got to see Sam Hartman play live after several failed attempts since tracking his career from his high school days on the Netflix series QB1. Oh, and what would a Stanford game be without me ranting about how disgusting and vile that joke of a so-called scatter band is? They remain an absolute disgrace to a very integral part of college football. The drive home was much shorter with no nighttime traffic and another helping of Thanksgiving dinner awaiting me.

Around the country: In a weekend full of close rivalry games, it depends on your personal loyalties  as to which game was the best — but there was definitely no shortage of exciting matchups. In what is called “The Game,'' we saw Ryan “Charmin” Day lose once again to a Michigan team whose head coach was in timeout. My sister stated that Ryan Day looks like he kicks dogs. This most likely eliminates the overrated Buckeyes from playoff contention and possibly cryin Ryan from his current employment status. The only thing that makes me happier is watching Lincoln Riley lose (sorry SC friends).

In the Iron Bowl, Alabama pulled off what will now be called the “Milroe Miracle.” Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe threw a 40 yard strike to the corner of the end zone to his stud receiver Isaiah Bond for a come-from-behind 27-24 win over their hated rival Auburn. The #1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs struggled in the game known as “Good Old Fashioned Hate” against the Nerds from Georgia Tech. The Dawgs squeaked by with a 31-23 victory, their 29th straight.

 In the Apple Cup, it took a late field goal for the Huskies to narrowly secure another win to remain undefeated on the season. Final score UW 24, WSU 21. In the Civil War, Oregon easily bested Oregon State 31-7. After losing, OSU head coach Jonathan Smith pulled a Lincoln Riley and bolted for Michigan State. In the Commonwealth Cup, Kentucky knocked off Louiville, eliminating any outside chance they had at crashing the playoffs. Florida State, playing without injured all world QB1 Travis Hunter, managed to come from behind and beat their in-state rival Florida 24-15. Arizona capped off their best regular season in a decade with a crushing defeat of Arizona State in the Territorial Cup. In Group of Five action, Liberty ended their regular season 12-0 with a win over UTEP, and Tulane finished their campaign with an 11-1 record and possibly a top 20 ranking. Finally, FCS, D2 and D3 playoffs also got underway this weekend.

Donnelly sibs at Navy 0n 11/15

Conference championships for next weekend:

The Final Pac 12 Ship:  Oregon vs. Washington

SEC:  UGA vs. Bama
Big 12:  Texas vs. Okie State

Big Ten:  Michigan vs. Iowon’t

ACC:  FSU vs. Louisville

AAC:  Tulane vs. SMU

MWC: Boise vs. UNLV
Sun Belt: App State vs. Troy

CUSA: Liberty vs. New Mexico State

MAC: Miami-Ohio vs. Toledo

Bieber award: … Can you guess? Once again the award goes to perennial Bieberite, the Stanford Band and their lame mascot for not entertaining or amusing me. Simply put, in the harshest of terms, they suck. No talent, no humor, no respect. In fact, they are so bad, I am going to make them crawl the length of a muddy football field to obtain their latest Bieber trophy and then crawl back to their mansions in Woodside and Atherton, CA, to put it on their mantle. Honorable mention goes to all those who bailed on joining me at Stanford.

Ginger award: Goes to Oklahoma QB Dillon Gabriel for playing on Friday after getting hurt the previous weekend and being listed as doubtful. Not only did he play, but he threw for 400 yards, three touchdowns and even ran one in leading the Sooners to a 69-45 shootout over TCU. Do you think the Sooner fans miss Caleb now? Look at these comparative stats:

Well done DG, and come back for one more year please!

Next up: I am off to Arlington, TX, to catch the Big 12 Championship and attend a tailgate sponsored by Tailgate Connect®. It will be hard being in a sea of all that awful orange, but I consider it a mission of mercy and charity to kick off the Christmas season.

Happy Tailgating!

Tiger Bait

 I will start off by begging for your forgiveness for not getting an article out last week. This is my first miss of the season. I did attend two games in one day in the great state of Alabama that Saturday (11/4) at UAB and the University of Alabama. Forrest Gump would have been proud of all my running around. Check out pictures below from the missed weekend.

Clockwise from top left- Utah Pig Bus Tailgaters, BC Pops & Peg enjoying the win at Cuse, The Duncan boys on opposite sides at USC/UW game and Friends of Frank Tailgate at Rutgers pre gaming!

Rollllllllllllll Tide Rolll!

This past weekend had me once again traversing the highways of the Deep South to make my third SEC matchup in as many weeks. This time, my trusty F-150 pointed me due west on Interstate 10 and took me the five hours for my third trip to Baton Rouge, LA. The purpose of the trip was to visit three of our stellar tailgates that we at Tailgate Connect offer at LSU. The Tigers were hosting the Florida Gators, and the game, of course, would be played at night in Death Valley — which is the only way to see a game there. This meant that most LSU tailgates would be well underway by 8 a.m. and folks would have their glow on by noon. As I have mentioned before, LSU is consistently one of the top tailgate experiences every year.

I arrived at 1 p.m. and started the day with our newest Tailgate,The Krewe of Damn Strong. While new to Tailgate Connect, this tailgate has been around 20 years and is run by Stephen Cannon and his family and friends. I was treated to some of the most amazing tailgate food I have ever had: Alligator sausage, meatballs, boudin, alligator piquante over a bed of noodles … Oh, and let’s not forget the stellar bread pudding. All of this was washed down with a swig of homemade moonshine, giving this tailgate a real bayou feel. 

The Damn Strong Tailgate bringing the you in Bayou! 

I then made my way to our second and third tailgates, two long-time affiliate hosts of ours, where we had over 100 customers in attendance . KOCKA and Bayou Bandits are the names. At KOCKA, I spent time with a group of 10 customers from the Boston area that were doing a guys trip in Louisiana. At the Bayou Bandits tailgate, I met a group of 12 folks who were down from Canada and having the time of their lives. We also had a bachelor party and a group of 12 guys who all went to high school together in Danville, CA, back in the last 1970s. Through it all, the Abita beer kept flowing at the Bayou Bandits party.

Bayou Bandits and KOCKA Tailgates at LSU.

Stephen, the host of the Damn Strong tailgate was beyond generous and even provided me with a ticket to the game. Way better price than what Mrs.Tailgate paid for that Colorado ticket last month :). Kickoff was at 6:30 p.m., so the 102,000 fans started making their way into Death Valley to take their seats while another 100,000 continued partying outside the stadium. I also was given a free gameday program (which are rare by the way) from the program stand guy. It must’ve been my charm or the stupid look on my face, not sure which.

LSU entered the game toting a 6-3 record,with Florida sitting at 5-4. LSU was led by one of the most dynamic players college football has seen in some time, QB1 Jaden Daniels, while Florida was captained by Wisconsin transfer QB Graham Mertz. If you have not seen Daniels play in person, you are missing out on one of the all-time greats IMHO. He did not disappoint on the night as he set a record as the only QB to throw for over 350 yards while also running for 235. The game teetered back and forth until midway through the third quarter when LSU and Daniels swung the momentum fully in the Tigers’ favor. After falling behind 28-24 early in the third, LSU ran off 28 points to Florida’s seven for a 52-35 swamp beating. If Daniels is not a Heisman finalist, I will call out the Heisman committee for being as corrupt as the Nobel Peace Prize committee. To top off an awesome game, the massive LSU marching band treated us to a patriotic Veterans Day halftime tribute.

Military halftime tribute by the marching band

Around the Country:  Michigan, absent Coach Harbaugh passed their first real test of the year by beating the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley. Out west, Oregon held on for a close win over Benedict Riley and the USC Trojans. Rumors are swirling that Lincoln is already looking to leave to protect himself when Caleb moves on to the NFL and leaves him completely exposed. (Can you tell I am still bitter about how he did Oklahoma?). In the Big 12, we witnessed Oklahoma righting their rocking ship by running wild all over the WVU Mountaineers. In the ACC, Florida State stayed perfect by scalping their in-state and conference rival, the University of Miami. I must also give the SEC a second mention as it is hard to ignore how well Georgia has been playing, winning their 27th straight game by blowing out Ole Miss 52-17. In Group of Five action, San Jose State upset Fresno State by showing them the way out of San Jose, 42-18. In Division 2 action, Frostburg State finished their season with a big win over Fairmont State completing a 7-3 campaign.

Bieber: Although there must be enough evidence that will prove Coach Harbaugh was complicit to some degree in the now notorious sign stealing scandal, he has not been officially charged. This did not stop the knee-jerk Big Ten administration from bowing to the whining of the other Big Ten schools to have ole mom pants suspended. Once upon a time in America, one was not convicted and punished until officially proven guilty. I suppose the paste eaters in the Big Ten admin skipped their classes in civics as they took it upon themselves, in an unconstitutional manner, to suspend Harbaugh from coaching on Saturdays for the rest of the season. This was not even sanctioned by the NCAA or Dean Wormer at Faber. In the words of Otter from Delta Tau Chi, “Isn’t this an indictment of our entire American society? We’re not going to sit here and listen to you bad mouth the United States of America!” Well, Big Ten administration, you might not have the backing of John Belushi and the rest of the Animal House, but you do have some nice, shiny new Bieberware!

Ginger: This goes to my new friend and chairman of the Damn Strong tailgate Stephen Cannon for the amazing amount of work and pride he puts into his tailgate along with his Krewe. Here is a brief video of just a snippet of what goes into his preparation each Saturday for an LSU home game:

https://youtube.com/shorts/t1VCng4TINs?si=S94T2IItycDlghwQ

Next Up:  We have the Donnelly Family and Friends Tailgate for the “Causeway Classic'' at UC Davis as they host crosstown rival Sacramento State. The tailgate will be underway by 9 a.m. with a noon kickoff.

Happy Tailgating!

Dawgs bite harder than gators!

 This past weekend was my annual boys’ trip with my high school crew from Seneca Valley in Germantown, Maryland. We chose “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party'' in Jacksonville, Florida, as our excuse to reconvene. Of course, this is the neutral site location of the annual matchup between the universities of Florida and Georgia. There were seven of us coming in from different parts of the country. We rented a spectacular house in Ponte Vedra situated right on the beach. The same coming of age stories were retold all weekend, only more legendary than the last time they were spun. Ample beers, whiskeys, and cigars were enjoyed on the deck overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. And massive gourmet meals were cooked up by accomplished chef Brian, one of our crew members. 

As for game day itself, through a myriad of miscues and missteps, we found ourselves not going into the stadium after taking in several hours of the pregame atmosphere in the surrounding area. Yes, this is Bieber-worthy on paper, but there are mitigating circumstances that were in play here. Instead, we loaded up and headed back to Chubby’s sports bar in Ponte Vedra and watched several key matchups on TV. Georgia thoroughly dominated the action from the mid-first quarter on, scoring at will and holding Florida’s offense in check. Final score Georgia 43, Florida 20.

The Magnifcant Seven rides again!

Around the country: It pains me to write these words, but my beloved Sooners lost in a stunner in Lawrence, Kansas, to a much improved Jayhawk team. Rock Chalk Jayhawk, I suppose. Oregon thoroughly dominated Utah in the best contest of the day in the soon to be defunct PAC 12. In ACC action, Louisville skunked Duke 23-0 and kept its playoff hopes alive. Since Michigan didn’t play, no cheating was discovered in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, Northwestern quietly won its fourth game of the season, knocking off Maryland. Air Force remains perfect by besting Colorado State in the snow in Fort Collins. In FCS action, South Dakota State demolished South Dakota, further solidifying their top ranking in the FCS.

The Bolt/Munding clan braving it in Lawrence, KS.

 Disillusioned USC fan Major Rodrick adopting Baylor as his go to team

Bieber: If you haven’t heard the name Connor Stalions by now, you are probably living under a rock. The aforementioned Mr. Stalions is the member of the University of Michigan coaching staff that is at the center of the cheating scandal that has rocked the college football world. I will summarize the narcissist's actions here: Apparently, he was attending the games of future opponents and sitting across from the coaches to learn their play calling signals. In turn, these signals were used on game day against those opponents by the Michigan coaching staff, with Coach Harbaugh possibly being implicated. The analytics purportedly show that the Michigan defense is much stingier against teams they had signals for versus those they didn’t, or the teams that were onto their shenanigans. Furthermore, in Stewie Griffin/Ted Kazinski fashion, Stalions wrote a 600 page manifesto on how he would one day run Michigan football. He had been planning this since the age of 15 and he is now 28 years old, so let’s just say he has been playing the long game. Mr. Stalions has been suspended for the time being and will probably be dismissed; however, he will always have his newfound Bieber hardware!

Ginger: Third-year Holy Cross quarterback Joe Pesansky got his first start Saturday after waiting patiently the past two and half seasons for his shot. He did not disappoint as he led the Crusaders to a 49-47 victory over Patriot League foe Fordham. Young Pesansky absolutely lit it up with 337 yards in the air and three touchdowns. Proud grandpa Mitch Chaney sent the stat line as he is a loyal DFTer. Way to go, Joe, and enjoy your Ginger “badass” award for absolutely tearing it up in your first career start.

Crusader QB1 Pesansky celebrating the win!

Next up: Off Saturday morning to the University of Alabama Birmingham for their game against FAU, followed by a night game in Tuscaloosa between Alabama and LSU.

Happy Tailgating!

R&R

 This past weekend was all about rest & recovery before the approaching storm of six straight weekends with a game and tailgate. I was also able to recapture part of that lost bronzing I acquired over the summer with shirtless walks on the beach while scaring the hell out of sunbathers. Well, it is almost Halloween, right? A good chunk of the weekend I was able to work the remote in our Florida bungalow, and I am happy to report it still functions to perfection. We also spent part of the day watching CFB at Boshamps Oyster House in Destin.

Catching SEC action at Boshamps

Around the country: Penn State at Ohio State turned out to be a very ugly offensive affair as neither team looked particularly adept on that side of the ball. Ohio State and Cryan Ryan Day scored a 20-12 victory. Alabama was able to enjoy those victory cigars by completely outplaying Tennessee in the second half after forgetting to show up in the first. Final tally, Bama 34, Rocky Top 20. Duke played Florida State close until late in the third quarter when Florida State started overpowering the scrappy Blue Devils. Duke’s starting QB Riley Leonard played for the first time after his ankle injury he suffered against Notre Dame a month ago. Unfortunately he re-injured that same ankle in the third quarter. The Noles earned a 38-20 win. Utah owned USC, once again beating them in the Coliseum 34-32. Oklahoma fans do not miss Benedict Riley or crying Caleb one bit. Speaking of Oklahoma, they narrowly escaped an upset at the hands of UCF by scoring 31 to their 29. Texas also avoided an upset by winning 31-24 over Houston. However, Texas QB1 Quinn Ewers suffered a shoulder injury that will keep him off the field for a few weeks. The Washington Huskies and star QB Michael Penix were lucky to get the W over lowly Arizona State. If not for a pick six thrown by the Sun Devils’ QB late in the game, UW might be a one-loss team now. How about those Wahoos from Virginia knocking off Drake Maye and previously unbeaten North Carolina? In celebration, UVA sportswriter Whitey White was seen leading the crowd streaking through the quad. Air Force remains perfect on their season by sinking Navy 17-6 in Annapolis. 

Brady's Navy Tailgate

Stan Fitzwater making his first appearance on DFT supporting WVU

Jamie Newton rocking the Penn State pants in Columbus

Tori Santa Maria Geauxing strong at Death Valley

Bieber: This week’s award goes to perennial Bieberite, ESPN. This time it’s for sending ESPN Gameday to cover “The” Ohio State for the 59th time since its inception. This is not an exaggeration, it is a fact. 24 of those visits have been in Columbus and the other 35 on the road. The next most visited school is Alabama. Outside of the state of Ohio, most people don’t give a sloth’s fecal cake about the Buckeyes. In fact, most college football fans despise them and think the majority of their fans are some of the most obnoxious, cocky creatures you will encounter. We, the college football fans, want to see a new school every week, and there isn’t anything you can say or show about Ohio State that is remotely interesting. We are also sick of your love affair with Cryan Ryan Day. Just because Herbie was a QB back in the day there (and not even a very good one) does not mean you have to keep appeasing him every year with a trip home. My advice: Take the Bieber hardware and go visit other schools we have not seen yet. 

Last week’s Bieber vote winner:Was Mrs.Tailgate for her “expensive taste in tickets”. I apologize for the technical issues in the vote setup. We will do better next time.

Ginger: We have co-winners this week. #1 LSU for painting their end zones in camo to honor their opponent, Army. #2 Oklahoma coaches for wearing pink in honor of breast cancer awareness, which is near and dear to my heart.

Next up: I am heading back to Jacksonville for the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” at the Florida-Georgia game with my high school crew. If you receive a call in the middle of the night for bail, please answer it!

Happy Tailgating!

The Collapse in Colorado

 

Perhaps it was the effect of the solar eclipse this weekend, but I believe I witnessed two of the biggest collapses in all my time of going to college football games. Mrs. Tailgate and #1 daughter joined me on another trip to Boulder for #3’s Family Weekend. Game time for the Buffs was 8:20 p.m. on Friday night against the lowly Stanford Cardinal. Pregaming took place at the Chateau featuring street tacos and libations prior to wandering to a myriad of other parties. 

Pregaming on the Hill in Boulder and some game action.

The game — or the Colorado collapse or Deion’s debacle or the failure on the Flatirons as we now know it — is quite simple: The Buffs stormed out to a 29-0 halftime lead. Most people thought the game was over. Many left the stadium and viewers across the country flipped their TVs off. When they awoke on Saturday morning, they saw that Stanford came back and won 46-43 in double OT. How did this happen, you ask? Stanford made a few simple halftime adjustments and Colorado never countered them. Deion and his staff were out coached. 

On Saturday, I ventured up to Fort Collins to watch the Boise State Broncos take on the home team Colorado State in a Mountain West Conference matchup. The last time I went to a CSU game was 19 years ago at the genesis of my DFT quest at the old Hughes Stadium. It was game three of a three-game weekend with my brother when I decided I wanted to go to a home game at every Division 1A stadium. And 19 years later, I made my return. But this time to their new on-campus stadium, Canvas Stadium. For pregame activities I was joined by Luke Lorick and Dave The Viking. We successfully moochgated at the alumni tailgate and dined on a nice BBQ dinner. The stadium is a beautiful 36,000 seat facility built in 2017 with great views of the mountains to the northwest. The house was packed and full of excitement for this homecoming matchup. CSU had never beaten Boise State. 

CSU with Duff Man and the Viking

Much like Colorado the night before, Boise jumped out to a commanding 17-0 halftime lead. With a little over four minutes remaining in the ball game, Boise was on top 30-10. Then their collapse began as CSU scored two quick touchdowns to narrow the gap to six points. On CSU’s final possession, QB1 Brayden Nicolosi heaved a 33-yard hail Mary that was batted down only to be caught by wide receiver Dallin Holker before the ball hit the ground to tie the game. CSU converted the extra point to seal the win, and those who were left in the stadium stormed the field.

Around the country: In the game of the week, we witnessed another coaching blunder by cocky Coach Dan Lanning of Oregon. With a narrow lead and less than two minutes to go, Lanning decided to go for it on fourth down instead of punting the ball and pinning their opponent, the Washington Huskies, deep in their own territory. The play failed, UW got the ball back and scored the game-winning touchdown for a 36-33 victory. The fighting Irish exposed all the holes in the veneer that is the Lincoln Riley-led USC football program with a resounding 48-20 drubbing. Down in Knoxville, TN, the Vols sailed away with a 20-13 win over the Texas A&M Aggies. In ACC action, one week after knocking off the Fighting Irish, Louisville had a meltdown losing to the underdog Pitt Panthers by a score of 38-31. In Big Ten action, Sparty appeared to be righting their ship by racing out to a 24-6 lead over Rutgers by the end of the third quarter. It appears as though they forgot to show up for the final set as Rutgers ran off 21 straight points and a 27-24 win. In Stillwater, Okie State came from behind to top Kansas 39-32. Perhaps the new Group of Five darling is James Madison as they improved to 6-0 by pounding Georgia Southern 41-13. Too bad they are not yet eligible for a post-season bowl game.

Dusty Johnson & Big Orange Tailgate in Knoxville. Dan Lusk and his Vol Navy College Football Club

South Dakota Coyotes Homecoming Bus, The Duncans at UW and two felons at the JMU game.

Bieber: You get to vote this week as the candidates are: Deion for the Buffs’ collapse, Coach Dan Lanning for poor decision-making in the Oregon loss, Boise State Coach Andy Avalos for squandering a 20-point lead late in the fourth quarter, and last but not least, my beloved Mrs. Tailgate for paying $482 for her ticket when mine was only $100 and a better seat.

Click below to vote:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfO2Gq5pFfe6aKe2CBSM3EN6e6_jXbfeiwMnQxgHkRwpWq5pw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Ginger: Ginger has taken this week off.

Next week: Beach time back in Florida on the white, sugary sands of 30A. In two weeks, I will return to Jacksonville for the Florida - Georgia rivalry game.

Happy tailgating!

Ground Control

 Best laid plans don’t always come to fruition. As such, my planned outing to the Montana at UC Davis game did not happen due to unforeseen circumstances.  Devastated as I was, I took solace on my couch with the remote and a days worth of games to watch.

Around the country: This year's Red River Shootout was perhaps one of the best ever out of the 119 meetings in this storied rivalry. Both teams came in undefeated and ranked. The Sooners were embarrassed last year in this rivalry game by losing 49-0. With revenge on their minds and a much improved team, the Sooners punched hard early and often. Texas was equal to the task and punched back throughout the game as momentum seemed to shift constantly. In the end, the Sooners led by QB Dillon Gabriel mounted a game-winning drive to seal a 34-30 victory. Elsewhere, Miami dropped from the ranks of the undefeated at the hands of Georgia Tech on a last-second touchdown. (More on this outcome later.) If anyone was doubting whether UGA should still be top dog, those doubts were laid to rest as the Dawgs destroyed the previously undefeated Cats from Kentucky with a final tally of 51-13. Out west in the LA Coliseum, Caleb Superman Williams led USC to a triple OT victory over the University of Arizona. In the Big Ten, Michigan improved to 6-0, sinking PJ Fleck and his Gopher boat. In “Group of Five” action, last week’s darling Fresno State went down in defeat at the hands of the Cowboys from Laramie, Wyoming, 24-19. 

Clockwise from Top Left - The Bolt Boyz at Red River, Colonel Holter and his crew at Iowa, Captain Dan Lusk winning the tailgate at Minnesota and a Yeti sighting in Boise

Bieber: As promised, here’s more on that Georgia Tech victory. Miami had possession of the ball and was leading the game 20-17 with just over 30 seconds left on the clock. All they had to do was take a knee, run the clock out and go celebrate like 99.999% of teams typically do. But Miami head ball coach Mario “Two Hands” Cristobal misplaced his thinking cap and decided to run the ball instead of taking a knee and running the clock out. Mr. Murphy reared his ugly head and created a fumble, which Georgia Tech recovered. They would throw the ball twice down field and score on the second one on a blown coverage by the Miami defensive backfield, securing the upset victory. Coach Cristobal, next time look into your crystal ball so you can better predict your future before you do something so Bieberish! For now, your shiny Bieber hardware will have to do.

Ginger: The Hawkeye Wave. I have mentioned this one before, but it is always worth drawing attention to this tradition. I was reminded of it again yesterday when my buddy attended the Purdue at Iowa game and sent me a picture of the fans waving to the children in the hospital windows next to the stadium. I had the honor of being at the first Hawkeye Wave ever that was performed on Labor Day weekend, 2017. I remember getting a chill up my spine at how touching this gesture was and what it must mean to the kids. Many of these kids are fighting battles against very severe illnesses, and something like this goes a long way in improving their spirits. The children’s hospital rises from the east like a phoenix above Kinnick Stadium on the campus of the University of Iowa. At the end of the first quarter, all the kids and their families gather at the windows of the hospital. The 70,000 fans in the stadium all stand and wave in unison to the kids. This truly is one of the most moving experiences you will ever have at a college football game. It goes without saying that this is beyond badass and worthy of multiple Ginger awards!

The Hawkeye Wave!

Next up: Heading back to Boulder for Family Weekend and a Friday night matchup in the now winter temps of the Rocky Mountains. This is only two weeks after I was playing drinking games outside in my dad shorts. There is a possibility I will also head up to Fort Collins for Colorado State’s Saturday night game against the Boise State Broncos.

Happy Tailgating!