Thoughts on College Football's Conference Champ Weekend and NFL Week 13

1. Best of the Week

Best Game: Oregon vs Washington

We have to start with this one. Washington, undefeated Washington, were 10 point dogs to everyone's favorite one-loss team, the Ducks. The Huskies played like a team that was disrespected, and were up big at half. Oregon responded, the most physical team west of Texas moving the ball down the field. But Washington can wreck the most sound gameplans because they have the best downfield passing quarterback paired with a bunch of amazing receivers. It was a thing of beauty to see those crossers beat Oregon's cover 3 on Friday night, and a testament to showing up and shutting everyone up.

Best Player: Dak Prescott (QB) - Cowboys

Dak has become this generation's Kirk Cousins. He's good, you can win a lot of games with him, but you know he's not THE guy. Throw in the fact that as the Cowboy's quarterback he gets a ton of endorsement deals, and he is going to get a ton of hate. Well, these are the games Dak is supposed to lose. He can't make the late drive, throw the touchdown, convert the two point conversion, and then go get an insurance field goal. But he did all of that! The Cowboys have had to change their identity throughout the season because of injuries and good for Dak on stepping up and getting the win.

Best Uniform: SMU vs Tulane and New England Patriots (TIE)

Two of my favorite uniform schools faced off in the American conference championship and did not disappoint. The powder blue and green versus the white with red and blue. Throw in Tulane having maybe the best looking turf in football (seriously, why does everyone else's show the rubber pellets like pet hair?) and it was a welcome sight amongst all the indoor games.

sheesh @EzekielElliott 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/u0rE9JgJPE

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 3, 2023

On the pro side of the slate, this is just perfection. Pat the Patriot being back is what the NFL needed and seeing the jersey in the elements took me back to the dismantling by Tom Brady against the Titans when Randy Moss was running go routes. I hope Pats fans can also still remember those days, because they are in it now. 

2. Steph and Cheetah Motion

Steph Curry revolutionized basketball in a lot of ways. One way that I keep thinking about recently is how the Warriors started running handoffs to the corner with Steph. No one used to move like this to the baseline, because why would you put yourself in the corner trapped like that? Well, you get your best player the closest 3 point shot on a clean look and create a new way to stress the defense. Take a look at an example below:

To me, this is what Tyreek Hill's Cheetah motion has brought to football. No one would ever have a player sprint at the sideline pre-snap, because that is wasted space. Until it makes the defense freak out, the corner flips his hips, and Tua has a guaranteed 20+ yard completion. 

Tyreek is on pace for 2,000 receiving yards and the Dolphins are in first place. Obviously there is more happening than one motion. But we now see it all over all levels of football, I'm sure everyone saw a play with it this weekend (the 49ers ran it with their fullback for goodness sakes). I said early on that the orbit motion was the motion of the year, but it's actually the year of the cheetah.

3. RIP PAC-12

With the conference championship game on Friday night, all the conference games of the PAC-12 are done. It is pretty ironic that the College Football Playoff is expanding the year when you could have all big four conference champions play for the national title every year.

The only game my entire family would watch growing up was the Rose Bowl. Every year, on snowy Midwest New Year's Days, we would turn on the tv and see the sunshine of California to see if a team from our part of the country could head out west and make us proud. It was during the Pete Carroll USC years, so we often were upset as we saw the Trojans beat the Big Ten's best.

What I learned about college football was the regionality of it, and the PAC-12 was known as the place of quarterbacks and a finesse brand of football. What will it mean that now their four biggest brands are now a part of my conference, the conference of "four yards and a cloud of dust"? I don't know, but I'll always be nostalgic for the old days.

4. RIP ACC

With the final College Football Playoff ranking, all I could think of was this rant by Herm Edwards:

I get that Bama is a better team and that the committee has been asked to pick the four best teams. But if Florida State would have listed Jordan Travis as "questionable" with a broken leg would they have got in? Florida State worked like mad men to leave the ACC last year because the revenue split hurt their chances nationally. They went out and thumped on LSU, they stepped up without their quarterback, and it doesn't matter. If A&M can pay $72M for Jimbo to leave, FSU can pay $100+M to leave for the SEC so this never happens again. 

They're the best team in Florida, a top 3 recruiting state, and they won't have to convince talent to play conference games in states far from home (like Nebraska and Rutgers in the Big 10 or Colorado in the PAC 12). They already play Florida (who they beat) and would fit in great culturally (athletics like baseball, Greek life, awesome stadium, you can already hear fans on the panhandle chanting "SEC" if you close your eyes). Clemson, North Carolina, Miami, and Virginia would all find new homes quickly, as would Duke with their basketball prowess. It's over. Get your Twitter (X) fingers ready next summer.

5. Awards

College

National Champion: Michigan Wolverines

We can all feel how we want to about how we got to the final four, but what a final four this will be. Who is the world rooting for in the Alabama vs Michigan semifinal, maybe the most hated two teams in the sport right now? I think Michigan's physicality, combined with just enough big plays, wins this one (I had Bama over Michigan in my preseason picks, no big deal). I may change my mind; my favorite team to watch is Washington, and Texas is fully back. Thankful it's not all red teams this year, there will be some beautiful uniform matchups.

Heisman: Michael Penix Jr (QB) - Washington

Undefeated, driving the ball downfield, taking big hits, having big moments. I get that Jayden Daniels has better counting stats, but if that's all that mattered then Texas Tech and Hawaii's trophy cases would be littered with Heisman trophies.

NFL

Super Bowl Champion: San Francisco 49ers

Conference Winners: Chiefs over Ravens (AFC) 49ers over Eagles (NFC)

The 49ers are the pro version of the Wolverines, ironic since Jim Harbaugh used to coach there. If you can get them down and make Purdy sit in shotgun, you can beat them. That is really freakin' hard to do. I still don't know if I trust the Ravens, but I think Lamar has some postseason moments. What a final four this would be, I think we all want to see 49ers-Eagles as many times as possible.

MVP: Christian McCaffrey (RB) - 49ers

I am going to fight for this one being a non-quarterback, whether McCaffrey or Hill. McCaffrey is a Swiss Army knife. He could be a dominant receiver, which he often plays, and he is the best player in football in yards after contact. The reason the 49ers can win a Super Bowl without one of the top 5 quarterbacks is because of what McCaffrey allows Kyle Shanahan to scheme up. It's amazing, I love it, let's have an MVP for the other guys.

6. Play of the Week

Boise State has been on a heater since firing their coach (sorry to everyone who tailed my UNLV pick). Their best feature this year is having a massive quarterback who can move and can push the ball downfield. On Saturday, they did a great job of showcasing all his skills, riding the waves of big plays, and getting the win. Let's check out a quarterback power they ran for a touchdown.

• Boise's outside receiver (dot 1) comes in motion and he is followed by the corner (dot 2). The stress of Boise's rushing attack has put UNLV in man across the board.
• The two outside edge players (dots 3 and 5) are bringing the heat, while the inside linebackers (dot 4) are flowing with the motion.

• Boise fakes the jet sweep (dot 1) while the running back takes on the playside edge player (dot 2) and the backside guard pulls around to take on the playside linebacker (dot 3) who has flowed with the motion. The rest of the linemen crash down the other direction and form a nice seam for the quarterback to run through.
• That seam should be filled by the backside linebacker (dot 4) but he is flowing with the motion, along with the corner (dot 5).

• The quarterback (dot 1) has all the space to run as the linebacker has overcommitted (dot 2). There is a ton of running room.
• Part of the joy of having a power running game in the spread is all the open space. This is further created by downfield fake routes (dot 5) and receivers blocking (dots 3 and 4).

• The receiver isn't able to get on the corner, but the corner jumps outside and the quarterback bends it back to the middle of the field. All of those players up front can't catch up in pursuit.

• Look at those downfield blockers (dots 1 and 2). The quarterback has great vision and bends it back to have the numbers. This is the benefit of not always sprinting full speed because you can often outrun your blocks.

• The blocks spring him free and it's a touchdown. Amazing win Boise, I'm sorry for ever doubting you.