In a weekend filled with nailbiters, gamewinners, and agonizing missed field goals, CD had a lot to take away from this past weekend in both the college and professional ranks. This is CD’s Cover Two.
INT of the Year?
When you look back at this past weekend, you have to start with what will likely go down as the interception of the year courtesy of Oklahoma’s D.J. Graham. There were a lot of references to OBJ’s iconic one-handed grab on a lot of the highlight shows, but this was on another level.
For a moment in time it looked like the sophomore corner was in the matrix and somehow he came down with the football. To be honest, this entire column could be about the crazy highlights from both college football and the NFL but this was the play that we’re probably talking about for the next decade or so.
Trojans Back In Business
After USC fired Clay Helton after only two games, the program felt like they were in a state of flux and were headed into their Pac-12 opener against Stanford. Then came Saturday night and the Trojans played an almost perfect game on the way to the first win for interim coach Donte Williams.
Will this lead to him becoming the full-time head coach? Don’t count on it, but a really great moment for a program that is looking to see days more similar to the Pete Carroll days and not so much the Sarkisian/Helton days.
Gators Hold Their Own Against the Tide
Much like the Tom Petty song that blares out of the speakers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the Florida Gators didn’t back down and came pretty close to a monumental upset of Alabama in a rematch of last year’s SEC Championship game.
The Gators had scored a touchdown late, and they were poised to secure a win that could have turned the world of college football on its head. Dan Mullen put fear into the heart of Nick Saban. However they couldn’t complete the two-point conversion needing one more yard. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this matchup in December.
Auburn Needs to Re-Evaluate Offense
Earlier in the week, the phrase “Scared money don’t make money” entered the lexicon in the heart of Cajun country thanks to Billy Napier’s gutsy call to end the first half against Ohio on Thursday. After Saturday’s painful loss to Penn State, Auburn saw being bone-headed offensively doesn’t make you any money either.
The Tigers faced a 4th and goal at the Nittany Lions two-yard line and pulled a play out of Seattle’s bag of tricks and tried an endzone fade over handing it off to Tank Bigsby, who already had two touchdowns against Penn State’s defense. It’s pretty early in the Bryan Harsin era in Auburn, but the coach of the Tigers/Plainsmen/War Eagle has some explaining to do.
SEC Officials Doing SEC Officials Things
Sticking with the SEC theme, the officials definitely saw better days this past weekend, not just in the Auburn-Penn State contest but also in the final moments between Memphis and Mississippi State. The call during a punt in the contest between the Tigers and Bulldogs wound up being more egregious because it was a key part of Memphis pulling off the upset of Mike Leach’s team.
The statements from the SEC came out and it was great to see the conference that just means more, but the damage has been done. Also, when SEC Shorts is parodying your officials you know you messed up big time.
QB Injuries Mar Week Two Action
The injury bug hit the NFL hard in week two, especially when it came to quarterbacks. From veteran Andy Dalton to second-year QB Tua Tagovailoa, the NFL lost a lot of talent at the position on Sunday afternoon and it makes you wonder who will be the next one to fall.
Based off of how the Saints offensive line looked yesterday against the Carolina Panthers, Jameis Winston may need to be put in bubble wrap until gameday.
NFC Best?
I said a lot on Under the Dome with CD (which you can listen to Saturdays from 10 am-12 pm on Acadiana’s Sports Station!) during the offseason that the NFC West was going to be the most competitive in all of the National Football League.
Two weeks in and outside of a gut-wrenching loss by Seattle to the Dallas Cowboys behind the leg of Greg Zuerlein, every team is undefeated. Are the Rams vulnerable? Yes. Do the 49ers have a horrible curse afflicting their running back corps? Possibly. Are the Cardinals beneficiaries of an easy schedule early on in the season? Definitely, but you have to respect the division living up to the hype and looking like a monster two weeks in.
Zach Wilson = Sam Darnold 2.0?
The New York Jets are awful and continue to be awful. Outside of the two years Mark Sanchez looked like a competent QB, the Jets have been cursed with awful QB play and Zach Wilson is the latest to be in the pit of misery that is the Jets franchise.
The BYU standout looked decent against Carolina in week one, but may have been seeing ghosts a lot like Sam Darnold did against the Cleveland Browns in week two in 2019. Four interceptions by the New England Patriots defense was great for my fantasy team (still 0-2 though) but not exactly a great look for a franchise that saw Darnold look all-pro against the New Orleans Saints.
Gus Johnson on NFL Commentary Is Tremendous
This take might not be one everyone agrees with, but I loved the energy that Gus Johnson brought to the late afternoon contest between the Arizona Cardinals and the Minnesota Vikings. He was classic Gus and that missed field goal call to end the game was nothing short of spectacular.
More Gus Johnson calling NFL games please.
Penalties for Taunting are the Worst
I think there are three penalties that the football loving fanbase hates with an absolute passion: targeting, roughing the passer, and taunting and we saw three instances of all these being very questionable and at least somewhat ruining a game.
Give John Mara the dunce of the week – could say more than that, but I’ll keep it clean on this blog post.