“We will try and know whatever we will try. We will be gone but not forever.” – Jason Molina
We love you Little Will. Thanks for making the name cool again. Rest easy my man and we’ll be with you again one day. Memorial contributions in his name may be made to the Thomas Beaver Free Library (tbflibrary.org) in Danville, Pa., with reference to the William R. Crider Fund for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
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Saturday was one of those college football days when tomfoolery ran wild. Tons of upsets, plenty of big games and some real fine footballing. But who didn’t have a real good time this weekend? Let’s dig into some posts in this week’s Vibe Check.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Bama fans have truly forgotten how to handle a loss. It’s obviously disappointing to already have two losses at this point in the season when you started it ranked #1. There are obvious issues: Bill O’Brien’s play calling, penalties, Bill O’Brien’s play calling, recent struggles on the road, Bill O’Brien’s backwards hat, etc. These all are correctable issues moving forward. And the losses, games in which Bryce Young played injured, were on the road to ranked opponents by a combined four points. Games aren’t played on paper and other teams are allowed to try to be good too. Some Bama fans are all too eager to burn everything down after the LSU loss. It’s a new era of college football; the dynasty isn’t dead by any means but the landscape is wholly different. And if you think things can’t get any worse, I’ll leave you with two words: Arety’s Angels.
Tennessee Volunteers
The Vols took a tough loss to Georgia on Saturday. It definitely didn’t end their playoff hopes but it removed all margin of error and style points may be needed. But unlike Bama fans, Vols fans are stoked for the team’s future. And they should be. Heupel’s system is sexy for offensive skill players, and the Vols will be a very attractive option now for both recruits and transfers. I’m really looking forward to future Heupel-Kirby matchups if Tennessee can keep its coach on campus. I really miss the days of Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, and endless Grumors.
Clemson Tigers
I expected Clemson to lose to Notre Dame but I didn’t think it’d be as bad as it was. And when I saw DJU was still the starter despite being pulled against Syracuse, I didn’t even bother keeping up with it. Nothing against 5 but Dabo has moved on from an established QB for a young talent before and I feel like leaving DJU the starter just caused doubt and confusion. Like Josh Pate said, Saban is always looking to adapt whereas Dabo is slow to change. I do wonder if he’s still up for the challenge now though. He’d mentioned retiring if college players were changed and like I said above the game’s different now, so maybe he’s quiet quitting?
Miami Hurricanes
Canes fans are pulling a Roberto Duran and no mas-ing the rest of the season. This metaphor only makes sense if you’re 45 or older. The loss to Florida State on Saturday is not going to look good to recruits and transfers. The state of Florida’s big three programs are all in a state of flux but it’s feeling as if Miami is falling behind the rest and Mario Cristobal is losing the fans. Is that fair? Probably not in the least. It’s still his first year on campus and it’s not like he took over a well-oiled machine. They need momentum going into the offseason though so it’s far too soon to think about tossing the rest of their games. Roster and staff changes are coming and Miami HAS to make itself attractive outside of living in a fast city and being good 20 years ago. And Mario needs to do more than recruit so if he doesn’t improve as a coach, Bama will be more than happy to get him back on staff.
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Those are the vibes for Week 10. Join us next week to see which teams have the worst of game days. Will Lane bring the pain train to Bama fans once again this season? Will Texas be back from not being back? Added bonus: sexy AAC action between UCF and Tulane in the Big Easy! Have a good week, everyone.
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