USC’s deception crossed the line, the ACC is chaos, while Florida and Florida State flirt with futility not seen since the Jimmy Carter presidency.
Here’s the worst from Week 11 of the college football season with our Flop 10:
USC fake punt, number swap
Lincoln Riley gave a new meaning to QB sneak. In Friday night’s win over Northwestern, Riley snuck third-string QB Sam Huard onto the field in punt formation. And how did Northwestern not realize a QB lined up to punt? Well, Huard — who normally wears No. 7 — was wearing No. 80, which is usually worn by punter Sam Johnson. Huard completed a strike for a Trojans first down. ‘It was just a well-thought out thing by several of our staff members,’ Riley said postgame. Here’s my thought: That’s some bull****. Play with integrity, not duplicity.
Wisconsin fans
Rushing the field after beating a Washington team not ranked in US LBM Coaches Poll proves two things:
This season has been truly awful for the Badgers.
More beer is sold at Camp Randall than anywhere else (h/t Matt Brown).
Congrats on the win, Luke Fickell. And on your athletic director assuring your return for another season. But my golly, your offense is among the worst in the country. Those back-to-back home shutouts were bad, but if you needed more evidence:
It took the Badgers 29 minutes to complete their first forward pass Saturday.
The punter was the leading passer with a single 24-yard completion in a 13-10 win.
As we said earlier, watching Wisconsin football will drive you to drink.
ACC
The first College Football Playoff rankings showed us what the selection committee thought of the ACC with one-loss Virginia and Louisville slotted at 14th and 15th. They are now two-loss Virginia and Louisville after Wake Forest upset the Cavs and Cal knocked off the Cards in OT on a gutsy fourth-down call.
It also didn’t help that Duke, which is 4-1 in ACC play, lost to UConn as an 8.5-point favorite.
Five ACC teams have one league loss. Things are going to get messy on the road to Charlotte.
Boston College
As unpredictable as the ACC is, one constant has been Boston College losing. Bill O’Brien showed more fight in his midweek news conference than his Golden Eagles have shown this season. O’Brien fired back at a reporter who asked about the team’s rough season. ‘You come in here with these down questions. I’m not down. I don’t know what year you graduated from BC, but this is a program that we’re building,” O’Brien huffed. On Saturday, Boston College dropped to 1-9 (0-6 in ACC) with a 45-13 home defeat to SMU. BC’s only win this year is against FCS Fordham. ‘What’s up, Trevor?’
BYU’s offense
The Cougars offense — led by a Bear — hibernated through the first three quarters in BYU’s trip to Lubbock in the marquee game of the Big 12 season. BYU didn’t reach its fifth play in Texas Tech territory until there was nine minutes to play — and already trailed 26-0 at that point. The Cougars were averaging 36.3 points per game this season but were held in check by Jacob Rodriguez and Co. There’s still CFP hope for BYU, but it likely requires a Big 12 championship game win.
Florida and Florida State
One fired their coach already and the other should. College football is better when Florida and Florida State are good. Maybe that’s just the Florida boy in me speaking, but this ain’t it. The Gators, who fired Billy Napier two weeks ago, weren’t competitive in a 38-7 loss to Kentucky. The Seminoles weren’t much better in a 24-10 loss to Clemson.
Florida (3-6) has Ole Miss and Tennessee left before finishing against Florida State. The Seminoles (4-5) have Virginia Tech and at NC State before the finale against the Gators. Both these teams are flirting with missing a bowl. The last time UF and FSU missed a bowl in the same season? 1978.
Brawls
Bethune Cookman and Grambling State were throwing haymakers, and those Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana were certainly ragin’ after the Texas State game.
American CFP hopes
Will someone from AAC step up and take control? The league keeps eating its own, and Memphis’ loss to Tulane on Friday night opens the door for a non-American team to sneak its way into the College Football Playoff as the highest-ranked Group of Five champion. North Texas is the only AAC team with just one loss, and the Mean Green have a cake schedule remaining. You can pencil them into the conference title game, but they’d have to win it. James Madison (Sun Belt, 8-1) is lurking. UNT was 27th in the latest US LBM Coaches Poll. JMU was 28th.
Midwest weather
It was miserable across the Midwest on Saturday. I was going to say Big Ten country, but that stretches from Jersey to Hollywood these days. Games at Iowa, Wisconsin and Notre Dame featured steady rain, some of the sideways frozen variety. It’s too early for that garbage.
Mike Locksley
A 4-0 start had some on this website waxing poetic about Mike Locksley and the Maryland turnaround after last season fell apart. How about a sequel? The Terrapins have lost five in a row after Saturday’s 35-20 loss at Rutgers. A week ago, some fans were chanting for Locksley’s dismissal. He’s 36-40 over the past seven years, which puts him among the top 20 longest-tenured FBS coaches. Locksley has one of the most-talented freshman QBs in the country to build around with Malik Washington, but a 17-45 Big Ten record is quite the albatross. The seat is warming, significantly.
Bonus: Oregon State
The Beavers lost to previously winless Sam Houston State late Saturday night… at home. Just brutal. The leaves UMass as the only winless FBS team.
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This story was updated to change a video.