Thoughts on College Football's Week 13 and NFL Week 12

1. Best of the Week

Best Game: The Iron Bowl (Alabama vs Auburn)

This game never disappoints. Auburn had no reason to be in this game except for the fact that it was a home rivalry game. Payton Thorne led the Tigers well and they confused Jalen Milroe quite a bit. But on a 4th and Goal from the 25 he heaved up a prayer and the football gods answered. What a tough loss for Auburn. Can Alabama capitalize and make the CFP with a win against Georgia?

Best Player: Rashan Gary (EDGE) - Packers

Never bet on the Lions on Thanksgiving. Detroit came in flying high, but Gary went off, with 3 sacks, 7 total tackles, and a fumble recovery. Gary is a former number one recruit out of high school, but never quite figured out how to translate that talent into huge counting stats for the Wolverines. Credit to him for working on his craft and unlocking his full potential. The Packers may have questions on offense, but Gary has the defense on lockdown for the near future.

Best Uniform: Kansas State vs Iowa State

Name something better than a snow game. On a weekend where so many families had a Turkey Bowl, nothing evokes memories of tackling your friends in the backyard like a snow game. Shoutout to the grounds crew for making sure the lines could be seen, the camera crew for featuring all the snowmen that fans made, and for Iowa State not wearing their white helmets so we could figure out where the heck they were. 10/10.

2. Run the Ball

Football, like all sports, is a cyclical game. We see a style of play come in on offense, it takes over, defenses learn how to defend it, and then a new style takes over. I don't think we will ever go back to a game where everyone lines up and runs iso 20 times a game (sorry, Iowa). But I think we are in an era where being physical up front and having a dominant run game is coming back into favor.

On Saturday, Michigan asserted their dominance up front against Ohio State. Gone were the days of a huge Buckeye aerial assault blowing out the plodding Wolverines. Texas and Oregon pounded the rock on Friday to great results. Alabama and Georgia win with ruthless efficiency. In the NFL, we see the Bills struggling as they rely on deep passes, the Chiefs run the ball and play defense better than they have at any point in the Mahomes era, and the Eagles and 49ers are maybe the two best teams in the League and the two best rushing offenses.

Why is this the case? I think defensive backs have gotten better at playing the spread attacks and defensive tackles have been taught to penetrate and disrupt the passing game rather than plug up space. What do more defensive backs on the field and defensive tackles flying up field mean to an offensive coordinator? Pull a guard to kick out the tackle and get the other big fellas on the skinny guys down field. It's rushing nirvana.

3. Rivalry Weekend

This weekend is why college football is my favorite sport. The emotions, the pettiness, the great endings, it was electric. Not every game had the stakes of The Game, with a college football playoff birth on the line. But Virginia Tech wanted to keep Virginia in the little brother spot on the gridiron and the Hoos turned on the sprinklers when the Hokies went back on the field to take a picture. Neither Purdue nor IU could make a bowl game, but they wanted to win bragging rights and the Boilermakers sent IU's coach packing. Georgia Tech, Auburn, and Washington State had no business being in their games on Saturday but rode the emotions to outstanding performances. Florida went into Tallahassee and gave the Seminoles a scare.

There is a lot to hate about college football. The NCAA could teach a Masterclass in ineptitude, boosters and coaches are often sleazy, and the kids deserve a piece of the pie. But I don't hug strangers and jump up and down watching a tv series, like I did in the Big House on Saturday. Fraternity brothers don't paint their chests and stand in the cold for 5 hours for movies. Alumnus don't get together in the same parking lot every year to drink beer and eat hotdogs because they took Physics exams together all those years ago. These towns across the country come together for football, and I will always be thankful for that.

4. Trackman Quarterbacks

Watching Justin Herbert's pass to the flat get tipped by Kyle Van Noy on 3rd and 1 on Sunday made me think, "is Herbert the QB equivalent of the Trackman golfer or baseball player?". Nowadays, there are plenty of golfers and hitter who have perfect swings, perfected in a lab. But those golfers often can't hit off weird lies and those hitters often don't know how to protect the plate on a two-strike count. Could there be quarterbacks that are the same?

Herbert is everything you want in a quarterback. He has size, mobility, a rocket arm, is a good guy in the locker room by all accounts. But for some reason we keep getting less than the sum of his parts. I know this can seem unfair to rag on the guy, but I think we have a lot of those quarterbacks now, with more coming up the ranks. Sometimes it feels like we teach athletes how to memorize the textbook instead of how to think critically through the exam, and that makes the game more like math and less like life.

5. Play of the Week

A lot has been made about going for it on 4th down, which is all the rage in football. Often, it is a dive up the middle, a sneak, or some quick throw out to the flat after sucking in the defense with a fake. No bigger 4th down conversion occurred this weekend than the one by Washington on Saturday. The Huskies were 70 yards away from the end zone, losing to their rival at home, and an undefeated regular season was slipping away. They found a creative way to get the ball to their best playmaker on the edge in space. Let's check out how they did it.

• Washington lines up in the shotgun, but with a lot of big dudes up front. Odunze (dot 1) is out wide, covered in man because Washington State is ready to stop the run.
• A theme of the year, the running back (dot 2) is to the same side as not just one, but two tight ends (dot 3). This gives him plenty of space for a potential dive as Washington State has to account for every gap on that side. They have a player in either A gap (dot 4, or either side of the center) and then a player in B and C gap (dot 5). The corner has come down to be outside contain.

• Odunze (dot 1) didn't come in motion for the end around, he just started at the snap. Since everyone is worried about the inside run, no one sees him coming besides the corner who was covering him (dot 2) who is heading to cut him off and trying to alert the safety (dot 5).
• Penix fakes the handoff (dot 3) and the linemen all crash down line it is inside zone (dot 4). This is where it gets tricky for an offense. In order for this play to have a chance, you have to COMMIT and make the defense believe you are running inside zone. But that leaves Odunze fully exposed with no blocker. It takes stones to call this, but is the only way you could run a play like this.

• Odunze (dot 1) is almost to Penix, who clearly has the ball (dot 2). The corner (dot 3) sees it, but is thinking he has to stop Penix on a read option. The backside corner is still yelling but the safety (dot 5) is still dissecting the play.

• Here's a fun twist to a normal triple option. Penix doesn't run at the corner (dot 1) and then pitch it. He turns around and hands it to Odunze (dot 2). This allows Odunze to get the best angle for him and keeps the corner from stringing the play out if Penix gets in a dance with him. It also puts Penix between him and Odunze. This is great as either the backer or safety that could still make the play if it were an option are taken out of the equation.

• Penix gets in the way of the corner (dot 1) and Odunze is off the the races. There is a ton of turf in front of him and Wazzu can only chase.

• I wanted to give a shoutout to the corner who originally started on Odunze at the beginning of the play. He hustled all the way across the field and got just enough of him that his teammates could make the tackle. That is incredible effort and something I hope he gets commended for by the coaching staff.
• What a play by the Huskies. People are doubting them like no other 12-0 team before. I hope they keep the train rolling.