2016 e-Systems College Football Pool – Week 10 Results

Welcome to November, where the stakes are higher and the games are more important no matter who you play. If you don’t believe me, ask Texas A&M, which had its College Football Playoff hopes derailed in a 35-28 loss at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 28-7 lead and held on, earning their second SEC win of the season. Or ask Florida, who went into Fayetteville, Arkansas to play an Arkansas team that was 84^th in the country in total defense, and could only manage twelve rushing yards and three offensive points in a 31-10 defeat.  Or ask Baylor, who gave up 688 yards of total offense and lost 62-22 to rival TCU in a game they had to have in order to stay alive for the Big XII championship.

However, some teams not only survived the crucible of their first November game, but did it in style. Ohio State looked every bit the championship contender in a 62-3 win over Nebraska that represented the biggest loss for the Cornhuskers in 12 years and was the second-biggest win ever by an AP top 10 team in a game against another AP top 10 team. Louisville took the Lamar Jackson show to Boston College’s 7^th ranked total defense and made them look, well, like almost every other defense Lamar Jackson has faced this year in a 52-7 win. Jackson accounted for seven more touchdowns in this game, leading some to say the Heisman discussion is all but over at this point.  And Washington continues to impress, racking up 704 yards of total offense in a 66-27 win over California that should firmly establish the Huskies as the #4 team in the next CFP rankings.  Jake Browning threw for 378 yards and six touchdowns in the game as he set Washington’s single-season record for TD passes – with at least four games yet to play.

The drive chart for the Notre Dame-Navy game has to be one of the strangest I’ve seen in a while. Here it is, condensed: Navy had the ball for seven possessions the entire game. They never punted, but they only scored on four of those drives. They still beat Notre Dame 28-27 because those four scores were all touchdowns, Notre Dame only had six possessions the entire game, and the Irish scored three touchdowns and two field goals. Notre Dame opted for a field goal with 7:28  left in the game to make the score 28-27, hoping for a defensive stop. They never saw the ball again, as Navy drained the final 7:28 off the clock with a 14-play, 57-yard march.  Notre Dame had all of two offensive possessions in the second half. In the modern game of football, where offenses move at lightning pace, this kind of game sticks out like a sore thumb. By comparison, the Texas A&M- Mississippi State game featured 30 possessions between the teams.  The TCU-Baylor game had 29.  Even the Alabama-LSU game that ended 10-0 had 25 offensive possessions between the teams.

Teams with better records than you might think: how about those Minnesota Golden Gophers?  Everyone talks about Michigan and Ohio State (and to some degree, Wisconsin) in the Big Ten, but Minnesota has quietly established a 7-2 mark this season, with the two losses by a combined 10 points. We’ll get to see how good they are in the upcoming three weeks; they close at Nebraska, against Northwestern, and at Wisconsin. Then there’s Idaho.  The Vandals are the team no one wants, literally: the Sun Belt Conference dropped them (and New Mexico State) after the 2017 season. With no other FBS conference showing interest, and with no desire to try to go independent again (as they did in 2013), Idaho decided to make the unprecedented move from FBS to FCS in the 2018 season.  However, they’re enjoying a renaissance of a season thus far as a lame duck in the Sun Belt. They’re 5-4 thus far, and 3-2 in conference play; one more win makes them bowl-eligible for the first time since 2009. For a team with a total of 15 wins in the six seasons since, this is saying something.  Their last three games are against teams with a combined 2-13 record in conference play, so there’s a really good chance the Vandals get that sixth win.

In small school news, it’s time once again for the Monon Bell Classic. The annual contest between two small Indiana schools 30 miles apart from each other is one of the most famous Division III rivalries.  This year’s game between the 8-1 Wabash College Little Giants (yes, that is their nickname) and the 7-2 DePauw University Tigers will be the 123^rd playing, with Wabash owning a 60-53-9 lead in the series. The game is played for the Monon Bell, a 300-pound locomotive bell from the Monon Railroad, whose Section #4 line runs through Crawfordsville (home of Wabash College) and Greencastle (home of DePauw University). The university traffic was so important in the heyday of the railroad that it used the schools’ colors of red and white of Wabash (and larger school Indiana) on the passenger cars and the gold and black of DePauw (and larger Purdue) on the freight locomotives.  The Monon Bell itself was introduced as a trophy for the game in 1932 at the suggestion of a DePauw alumnus; since the Bell has been awarded, Wabash holds a 41-37-6 advantage.  As a side note, the Bell has been stolen at least nine times by students; if you’re interested, Google “Operation Frijoles” to read about the most famous of these pranks.

Congratulations to AUBrian, who wins week 10 (their second weekly win in a row) with 216 points! Barner4Life was second with 214 points, and Ryan K and Shame! Shame! finished tied for third with 213 points.

Standings after ten weeks:

This week’s picks are super-sized! There are no less than 23 games on the schedule this week, the biggest slate of games since week 2, and every single matchup is a conference game! This week is a great chance for those in striking distance to earn a lot of points and make up ground on the leaders. The first game is not the #MACtion game between Western Michigan and Kent State, sadly, as it takes place on Tuesday. Rather, the first game will be between North Carolina at Duke, Thursday, November 10 @ 7:30 PM ET, so make sure to get your picks in by then!