Wow. The Tennessee/Vandy game was a nail-biter, but the Vols managed to pull it out. The fourth quarter made all the difference for Tennessee, but the problem for the Vols was - oddly - Cassen Jackson-Garrison, who ended up going for 82 yards on 22 carries. The only justification / reasoning I can think of for this game was a combination hangover / trap game. The defense played great against Arkansas and they'll need to do the same next week. Game ball goes to Arian Foster, who didn't score but set up the TD for the Vols to cut the deficit to 24-22 and rushed for a lot of the yardage that allowed Lincoln to kick a FG that served as the final margin. Fun fact: once I turned off the audio on the game the Vols outscored the Commodores 16-0.
UL-Monroe will win against Alabama at 'Bama. Huge, huge upset - and don't look now, but the Sun Belt is starting to shed some of their doormat image. The conference isn't good yet, but they could give, say, the MAC a run for their money at least. I wonder if the Sabanophiles are going to still worship the ground he walks on after today.
Short of those games, there's ...not a whole lot happening, again. It's been a pretty quiet week. LSU is up 21-7 on Ole Miss now, Wisconsin took the lead on Minnesota - although that's obviously within a score, and I'm reduced to watching Duke / ND during commercial breaks. God, this LSU / Ole Miss game needs to get interesting fast.
Update 1:
These games are teasing me. Miami finally pulled within a score only to see VA Tech put together probably their best drive of the year - and I'd flip over to watch it, but I still can't watch ACC football of my own accord yet. God, this conference needs to get good fast if I'm going to be stuck watching all their regional coverage.
Minnesota just tied it against Wisconsin, but of course I can't watch that game. (No, I don't have cable; wouldn't that game be on the Big 10 Network anyway?) Meanwhile, Penn State is letting MSU back into the game; it's 24-21 with the Spartans just scoring a TD.
Nothing new elsewhere; George O'Leary even pulled Kevin Smith, so he's still stuck on his old numbers. Ole Miss managed to cut it to 21-10, but LSU kicked a FG to restore the old margin. I've got 5 different Gamecasts open hoping something, anything will happen. I'm almost reduced to following Northern Illinois / Navy even though I can only name one guy combined between the two teams and I can't spell his name. Maybe ABC will change their coverage.
Update 2:
I'm about to write a sentence I never even dreamed of writing.
I want to watch Big 10 football. Seriously. LSU just extended their lead to 17 points so I'm putting that game on the back burner now. I've willingly subjected myself to watching an ACC blowout in hopes that they change the broadcast over. It's a 23-point margin in this game. Meanwhile, I'm staring at my Gamecast and seeing that Penn State is only up by 3, but no. I'm watching Miami. And it's not going anywhere.
In other games ....what do you think? Wisconsin is finally rolling, Washington is beating Cal enough that I'm taking notice (same margin, but now it's the 4th quarter), and that's really about it. Updating a line from way earlier, Memphis looks like they'll win against UAB.
I'm actually waiting for hockey to begin now. Maybe I can fast-forward my life by an hour.
Update 3:
This'll be the last update before the night games post It doesn't look like there will be anything exciting on the horizon, either. LSU has put it away, and Indiana did beat Purdue on a last-second FG. I guess that counts for something.
Meanwhile, ABC was no help at all, as Penn State ended up blowing their lead. Did we see any of it? Nope. Western Michigan beat Iowa 28-19 on the arm of Tim Hiller (357 yards, 3 TDs). Short of that, there wasn't a lot going on. In the meantime, I'm going to watch some hockey.
Be back with a preview shortly.
