Dear Readers,
I hope all you Notre Dame fans enjoyed the bye-week. The Fighting Irish are on a two-game winning streak after an 0-2 start. THis football team will be traveling to Vegas (aka Sin City) for a neutral-site game (in Las Vegas, NV) against BYU in the annual Shamrock Series. Other than that vacated 2013 win over Arizona State, Notre Dame is 9-0 in that annual big game. I had two players to think about who to choose and place in my Weekly Heisman Trophy Ballot. I did consider Alabama LB Will Anderson Jr and Michigan RB Blake Corrum. When I looked at Anderson’s stats, I knew it would take 7 tackles and 1 TFL to be on this week’s ballot. Corrum did great but he needed more than 4 rushing yards per carry. Not every week has been easy to pick three deserving players on my Weekly Heisman Trophy Ballot.
I love Oklahoma but the Sooners were the most overhyped teams in the nation. This football team was ranked #9 in those two major polls and later #6 in the nation before having a home loss against Kansas State. This past week, Oklahoma had a decisive road loss against TCU. New Head Coach Brent Venables inherited some talent coming back (i.e: WR Marvin Mims) and got some transfer players, (i.e: former UCF QB Dillon Gabriel).
Teams that have become a disappointment are Houston and Wisconsin, who are currently standing with a 2-3 mark. The UH Cougars were favored to be one of two teams to play in the AAC Championship Game but after a 27-24 road loss against Tulane, all doors are open for other teams. The Badgers were heavily favored to win the Big Ten West Division but now that division is apparently wide-open after Purdue had a 20-10 road win over then-undefeated Minnesota. I am pulling for the Boilermakers to win the West Division title and play in the Big Ten Championship Game.
I don’t like it when schools fire head coaches and choose someone on staff to finish out the remainder that season as the interim head coach. This past weekend, Colorado and Wisconsin fired their head coaches after their disappointing season. So far, Arizona State, Colorado, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, and Wisconsin are in the market for a new head coach. The big ? is who would fill those head coaching vacancies.
My predictions came true with which teams would win in a battle of undefeated teams this past SAT, which were all the home teams. Mississippi defeated Kentucky, Clemson defeated N.C State, and UCLA defeated Washington.
I refer the SBC as the Sun Belt Conference.
Anybody undefeated team who wins this coming weekend will be bowl-eligible-CAN’T WAIT FOR THIS COMING WEEKEND!
Sincerely, RICH
RICH’S WEEKLY HEISMAN TROPHY BALLOT
1. Dorian Thompson-Robinson, QB, UCLA
(40th career start. 368 total offensive yards and 4 TDs responsible for in the Bruins’ 40-32 home win over Washington. Passed 24-33, 315 yards, and 3 TDs. Rushed 10 carries, 53 yards, and 1 TD from 2 yards out. Also had a 13-yard carry. His 72 career passing TDs are second-most in school history. His 74.3 pass completion percentage leads the Pac-12 and fourth nationally.)
2. Deuce Vaughn, RB, Kansas State
(Rushed 23 carries for 170 yards, including a 69-yard carry, in the K-State Wildcats’ 37-28 home win over Texas Tech. His 2,684 career rushing yards are fifth-most in school history. His 638 rushing yards lead the Big 12 and third nationally.)
3. Caleb Williams, QB, USC
(392 total offensive yards and 4 TDs responsible for in the Trojans’ 42-25 home win over Arizona State. Passed 27-37, 348 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT. Rushed 8 carries, 44 yards, and 1 TD from 1 yard out. Also had a 15-yard carry. His 8.8 passing yards per attempt are second in the Pac-12.)
RICH’S TOP TEN
1. Ohio State (2)
2. Alabama (3)
3. Georgia (1)
4. Michigan
5. Clemson
6. Oklahoma State
7. Mississippi (8)
8. USC (OTM)
9. Penn State
10.Tennessee (OTM)
OTHER TEAMS TO MENTION (OTM):
UCLA, TCU, Utah, Syracuse, Coastal Carolina, and Cincinnati.
RANKINGS ANALYSIS:
There is some mix and match in my top ten rankings this week. I had Ohio State, Alabama, and Georgia switch places. The UGA Bulldogs overcame a 22-12 deficit to have a 26-22 comeback road win over Missouri in the Zou. The Crimson Tide is coming off a 49-26 road win over Arkansas. One thing I liked about ‘Bama against the Razorbacks is how they responded after those Hogs were catching after the Tide had a 28-23 lead, which is why they are #1 in the major polls.The Buckeyes had a dominating 49-10 home win over Rutgers after spotting the Scarlet Knights a 7-0 lead to draw first blood. Ohio State will have an easy road game against Michigan State this SAT (4 PM, ABC) while Alabama will have a home game against Texas A&M this SAT (8 PM, CBS) and Georgia will have a home game against rival Auburn this SAT (3:30 PM, CBS)…Michigan remains ranked at #4 in the nation after a 27-14 road win over Iowa. The UM Wolverines could’ve done better than winning by 13 points in their road win over the Hawkeyes. I have to keep this football team ranked at #4 because Michigan will be undefeated before their Nov.26 road game against rival Ohio State. The Wolverines will have a road game (for a second straight week) against Indiana this SAT (Noon, FOX)…Clemson remains ranked #5 in the nation after a 30-20 home win over N.C State. The Tigers still have a lot of improvements to make on offense. This football team has a road game against Boston College this SAT (7:30 PM, ABC). I can’t wait to see how Boston College WR Zay Flowers matches up against the DBs…Oklahoma State has exercised that demon from last year, which was an upset loss against Baylor in the 2021 Big 12 Championship Game that cost them a berth in the eighth annual college football playoffs. The OSU Cowboys came off a bye-week to get a 36-25 road win over DA Bears to remain ranked #6 in my top ten rankings. This football team has a home game against upset-minded Texas Tech this SAT (3:30 PM, FS1)…Mississippi moved up from #8 to #7 after a hard-fought 22-19 home win over Kentucky. The Ole Miss Rebels dodged a major bullet when their defense produced a fumble recovery (on 1st and 10 with 0:51 remaining) to seal their home win over the UK Wildcats to remain undefeated. This football team has a road game against Vanderbilt this SAT (4 PM, SECN)…USC moved up from among my OTMs to #8 after their 42-25 home win over Arizona State. No surprise the Trojans had a home win over the Sun Devils. This football team has a home game (for a second straight week) against Washington State this SAT (7:30 PM, FOX). USC better not look past this game for their road game against defending Pac-12 Champions Utah the next weekend….Penn State remains ranked #9 after a 17-7 home win over Northwestern. The Nittany Lions could’ve done better than winning by 10 points in their home win over the Wildcats. I have this football team ranked #9 because their only losses will be against (at) Michigan (Oct. 15 after a bye-week this coming weekend) and Ohio State (Oct.29)… Tennessee finally moved up from among my OTMs to #10 after having a bye-week. These next two games will be very challenging for the UT Volunteers because this football team will have a road game against LSU this SAT (Noon, ESPN). This football team can’t look past these once-beaten Tigers for their Oct.15 home game against rival Alabama because this game can be a trap game for the Vols…I finally decided to have UCLA among my OTMs after a 40-32 home win over Washington. Also, Utah is coming off a 42-16 home win over Oregon State, including scoring 21 points after having a 21-16 lead going into the 4th quarter. The Bruins will have a home game against the Utes this SAT (3:30 PM, FOX). If the winner of this game also gets a win over USC, they will likely play in the Pac-12 Championship Game…Syracuse is the most surprising team in the ACC. The Orange is coming off a 59-0 homecoming win over Wagner, which marked their first 5-0 start since 1987. This football team will have a bye-week before a Oct. 15 home game against N.C State before an Oct. 22 road game against Clemson…Coastal Carolina is the top team in the SBC East Division. The CCU Chanticleers are coming off a 34-30 comeback home win over Georgia Southern. The only teams that I think that could beat this football team are Appalachian State (Nov.3) and (at) James Madison (Nov.26). Coastal Carolina will have an easy road game against UL-Monroe this SAT (8 PM, ESPN+)….I decided to have Cincinnati among my OTMs. It looks like the UC Bearcats will be one of two teams you will see in the AAC Championship Game, regained their rhythm after losing a lot of players to graduation after last season, and come a long way since their season-opening road loss against Arkansas. This football team is coming off a 31-21 road win over Tulsa. Cincinnati will have an easy homecoming game against South Florida this SAT (2:30 PM, ESPN+)… I can’t wait for the games this weekend…
