Jon Joseph

J Duck, did you watch the Penn State/Ohio State game yesterday? Woefully inconsistent on calls and non-calls. The B1G refs in Iowa stole the Hawkeyes game-winning punt return. The only ones confused by whether or not the player signaled for a fair catch were the refs. None of the Minnesota players thought that a fair catch was called or held up on the play because of a fair catch signal. And I still haven't forgiven B1G refs for not calling Dyer down. I think there is equal opportunity for bad refereeing across the CFB landscape. But Pac-12 refs are always in contention to be the most rotten apples in the barrel. Dilly's 4th down attempt in the 4th quarter last night was another case of not taking the points. But how the refs could have waived off PI the play before is beyond me.

Doctor, the beavers may be too busy paying lawyers to make the smart decision. But why go earn playoff money when you can rip off playoff money earned by other teams?

W - Wishing for a B12 invite?

This week's pretend 2024 Playoff field - Week 9 AP rankings, accounting for conference realignment, and a 5 conference champ 7 at large format. Playoff seeding due to 4 highest ranked champs being seeded 1 - 4 does not necessarily match AP rankings. 1. Georgia - SEC vs. 9 OREGON at 8. Texas 2. Michigan - B1G vs. 10. Alabama at 7. Oklahoma 3. FSU - ACC vs. 11. Penn State at 6. Washington 4. Oregon State - MW vs. 12. Utah - B12 at 5. Ohio State. 5 B1G/ 4 SEC /1 ACC, B12, MW. Yes, Virginia, there is a Power 2. And no, Virginia, you are not a member. (But one heck of a win at UNC!)

Whoops! That's 8 Oregon.

Puddles best be wide awake flying into SLC to take on The Wizard of Wasatch (thanks, Jon Wilner) and his gritty group. This Saturday's game is the CFB Game of the Day, #9 at #13, on a day that features but 2 top 25 vs. top 25 matchups. (The other game is 20.Duke at 18. Louisville.) Utah will be fired up after its great win and LA.

Week 9. Only 2 Top 25 vs. Top 25 games. 20. Duke at 18. Louisville and the weekend headliner, 9. OREGON at 13. Utah. On Big Fox at 3:30. Meanwhile, 5 (?) UW is shuffled off to FS1 for the second week in a row. Probably a good thing for Harry the Husky that no one was up late enough to watch UW stumble and bumble its way to a win. 6. Pac-12 teams ranked with UCLA moving up to 23. and USC hanging in at 24. Someone, please explain to me why 11. Oregon State with 2 top-25 wins is behind 10. Penn State? Penn State has zero top-25 wins and was found floating face down on the 50-yard line in Columbus.

What a great gritty win by the Utes. 4 in a row for a team with character galore against a bunch of posers. (And hosers.) As David noted, SC players show up to be interviewed after Ws but not Ls. Great way to install character in your players, right Riley? And hats off to the Heisman winner who did not stick around to congratulate the other team including a 2-star QB who engineered the win. BTW - It's official. Rising and all-conference TE Kuithe, are both out for the season. Many believe that Rising will use this as a red shirt year and be back in 2024. If so, he will probably lead Utah to a B12 title.

There are hangovers, and then there are massive, migraine hangovers. ASU is UW's nemesis. UW is now 5-19 all-time vs. ASU. Last year's loss at ASU denied UW a trip to the 2022 champ game. UW's 1st win in 22 years without scoring a TD on O. 13 rush yards by UW is the lowest total in a win in 25 years. Another 4th down folly, this time by Dilly. ASU was up 7-6 late in the 4th quarter and had the ball 4th and 3 on the UW 12-yard line. ASU's D had dominated the Huskies. Instead of kicking a FG to push the lead to 4, Dilly goes for it and it's a Pick 6 and the winning points for UW. SIGH. As Charles so noted, bad referring (what's new out West) but kick the darn FG. In the last 2 seasons J. Smith, Dan Lanning, and Dilly, have left points on the board in one score defeats in Seattle. Fortunately for UW, the game was played late at night on FS1. AP voters must have been asleep and not watching because UW remains ranked at #5. I think this game was more of a case of what UW did not do instead of what ASU did. Next up for UW, at Stanford at 7 PM Saturday again on FS1. Meanwhile, 9. Oregon trips to 13. Utah to play The Wizard of the Wasatch in the game of the day. (Thank you, Jon Wilner, for the Wizard reference.) Oregon opened at -3.5. This is only 1 of 2 top 25 vs. top 25 games being played on 11/28. (The other is 18. Louisville vs. 20. Duke.) If GameDay is not in SLC, where else is it going to go? Kyle Whittingham had a terrific comment after the great and gutty win by Utah against now 24. ranked USC - (paraphrase) 'Our pig farmer QB (UTES walk-on QB Bryson Barnes grew up on a pig farm) beat the Heisman-winning QB.' This was Utah's 4th straight W over USC. One program has guts and is greater than the sum of its parts, and then there is USC. Oregon best show up in SLC with a bad attitude and ready to play ball from the jump.

UW has the choke out and they are pulling on it. Does anyone want to win the Heisman? How about BO!

Rock, paper, scissors? Or, the team with the best uniform combinations?

Based on this evening in the Coli, you may need to cheer against B12 teams.

WOW! On a Saturday that only featured 4 top 25 vs. top 25 games, could you ask for anything more? Bama was getting punched in the mouth but as has often been the case this season The Tide owned the 2nd half vs. the Vols. UNC loses to UVA! UVA? Mario wins his first ACC home game and the Dabo's now have 3 Ls. FSU looked good late vs. a tough Duke. Duke? The 2 B12 teams ticketed to the B12 champ game, TX and OK, barely survived. Oregon wins but Cam Ward goes 34 of 48 for 438 yards! More than 100 yards the presumptive Heisman winner put up last Saturday. Thank goodness for a great run game but the Ducks best be ready for a 15-rounder in SLC. Utah behind its 2nd, 3rd, whatever string QB, wins in LA. Next week in SLC will not be an easy out. Whit is a heck of a coach, and this could be his best season ever coaching the Runnin' Utes. Rising will red shirt. Oregon State shutting down Utah in Corvallis is looking even better. But look out Beavers for AZ in Tucson. I watched the Ohio State vs. Penn State heavyweight fight and could not help but think that OREGON and UW would beat both of these teams. Michigan plastered Michigan State. B1G deal. Michigan has played and plays no one until it trips to Penn State. The all-time Under was on the line for Minnesota at Iowa and the Gophers 12-10 win went under the under. Man. this season is so much fun. Be it the portal, NIL, or whatever, parity abounds. GO DUCKS!

Hats off to the Ducks for not letting the last game get you down and not looking ahead to SLC. That's good play and good coaching.

Ask Michigan?

Noon Eastern time for Penn State at Ohio State is drawing close. As discussed on the B1G Noon pregame show, how messy would this be? Ohio State defeats Penn State Penn State defeats Michigan Michigan defeats Ohio State All finish 11-1. Today, the B1G would have to go to the 5th tiebreaker to determine the East Division Champion. At 11-1, all 3 teams would go 3-0 in cross-division games. The winner of the East would be determined by which 3 West opponents finish with the best cumulative record. As of now, Penn State would be on top, the win over Iowa helps, with its opponent being a combined 5-6. Have mercy. In 2024, the B1G, thankfully, will be divisionless.

In the current 2024 B1G recruiting rankings, Oregon is 2nd behind tOSU and SC is 9th. UW 13 and UCLA 16.

I guess Horton had 'poetic license?' Not sure how many briars and brambles surround New Orleans? I am reasonably certain that rabbit shows up in a Cajun dish or two.

You're cruel man, cruel!

James Madison was also a Founder to be reckoned with. Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson, all considered Jemie to be the brightest of the bunch. Jemie stood 4'11" tall (short?). Wife Dolly, 4'9". When the British burned down the Presidential Mansion in 1814, Dolly refused to leave before the portrait of George Washington was rescued. Later that evening, after the British had burned down much of Washington, the fiercest hurricane to ever hit Washington came up and eviscerated the British Army. Shortly thereafter, on September 18, 1814, Francis Scott Key, a 35-year-old lawyer from Washington, and a prisoner on a British warship in Baltimore Harbor, witnessing a Baltimore fort under attack by the British Navy, wrote the Star Spangled Banner, officially adopted by Congress in 1931 as the USA National Anthem. Andrew Jackson, who would become president and is on the bills in many a wallet (but not enough in my case), made his bones at The Battle of New Orleans, fought on November 15, 1815, nine days after the War of 1812 concluded with the Treaty of Ghent but before news of the treaty reached the USA. No telegraph, no phone, no internet. A Liberal Arts education is a terrible thing to waste. Or, perhaps, a waste?

Sports bar? If you have a computer all games can be found streaming on your computer. Many without cost.

No matter the KO times, even if it's OREGON vs. Rutgers, on BTN millions of folks will have the opportunity to watch. Both the pre and post-game coverage will be B1G. Compared with the Pac-12 Network this is a bonus. And for cache. I'd rather play early Pacific time than kick off late at 10:30 Eastern time. No more light hidden under Larry's bushel.

After all, SC is close to the 1 0h 1, no? And the tied guy will probably trip to Eugene. Seems to me that more SoCal kids are heading up the I5 than staying in Lost Angeles. As of now in B1G recruiting rankings, It's Ohio State 1, no surprise, and the Ducks 2, and SC at 9 behind Michigan, Penn State, and also behind several B1G teams that are just over the W/L Mendoza line. The Duck who laughs last? SC was a team chosen by many 'experts' to go to the Final 4 in 2023. How about trotting to the Holiday Bowl? Then again, El Paso is a great place for horses to get under the Sun in December. Granny Holtz called out Ohio State for being soft, right? He should have looked West. SC's OL in South Bend looked like it attended the same Matador school as did the Trojan D. 5 sacks. 11 TFL, Ole! But it's all good sayeth Lincoln Riley. When you start to believe in your own male bovine excrement you may be in trouble.

Good house call Doc. It was 2016 when the Ducks last won in SLC. My bad. JH threw 4 TDs after halftime. 24-7 all-time vs. the Utes. 9-7 in SLC. The last Utah home loss to a Pac-12 team was vs. USC in 2020. Often wrong, but never in doubt. Unless a good Doctor is on the scene to save me. 😍 Thank you, Sir.

And via NCAA rules, of course, JMU is not eligible for a bowl game in 2023. Two words: Ding and Bats.