2014 College Football Pool – Week 14 Results

Rivalry week is always among the strangest weekends in college football. This week we had:

• Two teams combine for three fumbles on the one-yard line, one of which was returned for a touchdown (Georgia Tech-Georgia);
• Two teams combine for fifteen touchdown passes (a I-A record), 74 first downs, and over 1,400 yards of total offense (with both teams going over 700!), and with 133 points, tie the record for the most points in a game involving a ranked team (Western Kentucky-Marshall);
• A team that gave up 456 yards passing, a school record 628 yards, and 44 points, and somehow still won by double figures (Alabama, against Auburn);
• A team with a 25-point lead with 2:18 left in the third quarter need a 2-point conversion stop to avoid overtime (Baylor, against Texas Tech);
• The first I-A team to throw four interceptions in a game and yet still win (Florida State, against Florida);
• A team score 41 unanswered points in just over 17 minutes of game time (Louisiana Tech, against Rice in a 76-31 win);
• A game finish 42-35 in which neither team had more than a seven-point lead at any point (BYU-California);
• A team give up two defensive touchdowns and still win (Louisville, against Kentucky)

I’m sure that if I looked a little more, I’d find other news of the weird. You just never know what you’ll see in this game.

The classic example of “all dressed up, with no place to go” this year has to be Georgia Southern. The Eagles, in their first year in I-A, have won the Sun Belt Conference outright with an 8-0 record, capped with a 22-16 win over Louisiana-Monroe. However, due to the NCAA regulations about transferring divisions, Georgia Southern cannot represent the conference in a bowl game unless there are not enough qualifying teams to fill all the bowl games (and there are already 80 such teams to fill 76 slots). Their only hope at this point is in an appeal to the NCAA. One would think that the outright conference champion should have the right to go to a bowl, but given the NCAA’s track record…

One of the longest tenures in coaching ended last week. Larry Blakeney wrapped up his 24^th and final season at Troy on Saturday with a 42-23 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette. Blakeney was the second-longest tenured coach in I-A behind only Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech. He won 178 games (all at Troy), won or shared eight conference championships, made two I-AA semifinal games, and is one of only two coaches to oversee a program transition from Division II to I-A. His name is already on the field at Troy’s Veterans Memorial Stadium.

In small school news, Wisconsin-Whitewater will be losing their coach after this year. This is a fairly big deal, seeing as Lance Leipold isn’t your average Division III coach. In his eight years at the school, Leipold has a 106-6 record, good for a 94.6% winning percentage. He reached 100 wins in fewer games than any coach in NCAA history. In his seven full years of coaching, he’s won five national championships, and is still alive to win a sixth this year. Leipold will be heading to Buffalo, making it a rare circumstance of a Division III coach taking over a Division I-A program, but as has already been stated, he’s not an average Division III coach.

Congratulations to Crimson Gator, who wins week 14 with 172 points! The Tradition and SicEmFrogs tied for second with 165 points, and maestro and JagRag were one point back with 164.

Overall standings after 14 weeks:

This is the final week of picks, and there are only eight games to pick. But it is such a tight race at the top that one game might make all of the difference! And remember, there are other titles to win, so make sure to pick to be eligible for those! The first game this week is the Pac-12 Championship Game, Arizona versus Oregon. It is December 5^th at 9 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!