Samples’ football wrapup: Alabama, Notre Dame up; Auburn, Purdue down
By CHUCK SAMPLES
ISL Correspondent
What we learned from our latest weekend in college football.
1. Alabama is free and clear for the BCS title game. With Oregon likely to win out and Kansas State hitting its stride, one fan base is going to be severely disappointed come early December if current trends continue.
2. Florida’s offensive inconsistencies picked a baaaad time to show up again. This time it cost them dearly.
3. Michigan will go as far as Denard Robinson can take it. Even against an inconsistent team like Nebraska, the team isn’t using its other weapons well enough to compensate when Robinson can’t play. And I’m still not sold the heat has lessened under Bo Pelini’s chair.
4. Notre Dame has returned. Brian Kelly has worked his magic again.
Head coaches who had best polish their resumes for any open coordinator position:
Danny Hope, Purdue. Boilers laid an egg against Minnesota. Letting a quarterback account for three touchdowns in his second start may have spelled the end of the Hope era in West Lafayette.
Gene Chizik, Auburn. The 63-21 home loss to Texas A&M is why Iowa State fans were none too concerned when Chizik left.
Jon Embree, Colorado. Another week, another big loss.
Helmet taps to these players:
Matt Scott, Arizona. Quarterback torched USC for 469 total yards, helping Wildcats counter Matt Barkley’s 493 passing yards and another 345 yards receiving from Marquise Lee. By the way, Barkley and Lee also deserve a big helmet tap.
Trayion Durham, Kent State. The 260-pound running back hammered Rutgers for 131 yards and a score, helping the Golden Flashes notch their first win ever against a ranked opponent.
Game I’m looking forward to the most come Saturday:
Duh. Alabama-LSU. After the Tide’s dismantling of Mississippi State, LSU possibly represents the biggest chance of an Alabama stumble. Neither program should have any problem with focus, so we’ll see if Les Miles’ Tigers can execute well enough to force the Tide off its game.
Follow Chuck Samples on Twitter: www.twitter.com/chucksamples.
