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!
🐣🥚
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