And the (just past midseason) winners are ...
— -- If you are an avid reader of Flipping The Field (thanks, Dad) then you know that around here we love giving out awards. Like a whole lot of awards all the time, even after we've just given out the same awards just a few days earlier. In other words, we are the country music awards show circuit of college football columns. From the Frank Reich Backup QB of the Week to the Tommy West Coach's Press Conference of the Week we like to start our week by giving out lots of Stuff of the Week.
But it's when we get to this week that we like to especially recognize the season's not-so-weak. That's right, just like the American Country Music Academy of American Country Music of America, it's time for our second annual Flipping The Field Just Past Halfway Season So Far Awards, the FTFJPHSSFAs. And no, we won't be giving anything to Florida Georgia Line.
The Pre-Halloween Heisman, presented by the Peyton Manning Foundation: Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville. In the current issue of the ESPN The Magazine, a handsome young writer who kind of looks like Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst praised the Cardinals quarterback for his otherworldly stats but also warned of the dangers of trying to award the bronzed stiff-armed man before the autumn leaves start changing color. You can read it here. Alas, he did look human for the first time this season Friday night vs. Duke. But double alas, his stats are still crazy and his team is still just a few inches from being undefeated.
The Won't Be Invited To The Party Even Though He Should Be Award, presented by me in middle school: Donnel Pumphrey, RB, San Diego State. My 2016 man crush continues to power his way through the record books. On Friday night against Bottom 10 resident Fresno State, he rushed for 220 yards and a pair of TDs, reaching 1,111 yards for the season and leapfrogging LaDainian Tomlinson, Herschel Walker and Archie Griffin to reach eighth on the NCAA all-time rushing list. His fifth 200-yard rushing game tied the Mountain West Conference record and with 62 TDs and 57 rushing TDs he is now one behind Marshall Faulk for the San Diego State school record in each category. The Aztecs still have six regular season games remaining with the high likelihood of both the MWC championship and a bowl bid to be added. Despite all that, his being on a non-Power 5 roster probably will keep him from having a seat on the front row at December's Heisman ceremony. Just ask former Navy QB Keenan Reynolds.
The "We can't repel firepower of that magnitude!" Award, presented by Admiral Ackbar: Alabama Crimson Tide . Remember all of those questions about the Tide back in August? They've had an answer for all of them, rolling up all of those preseason magazines and beating us over the head like a spider in their den. Nick Saban has embraced offensive innovation and the results have been devastating. Just ask Tennessee, which spent the last five years inching closer and closer to catching the Tide, only to be handed the most lopsided loss in the century-plus history of the series. The current AP top 25 poll is packed with points of debate. "Who is No. 1?" is not among those topics.
The Titanic Coach's Tweet, presented by Tom Herman: Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati. Remember when Pokemon Go was still a thing? Tubs does.
The Game of the Year So Far, presented by Madden 2017 with all the easy settings turned up: Tennessee 34, Georgia 31. Week 5 gave us a finish for the ages Between The Hedges, a Hail Mary-finished contest that was such a roller coaster the home crowd started leaving, bum-rushed the gates to get back in and then left again. The day was so great that a few hours later the second-best game of the year was played only 90 minutes up the road, when Clemson outran Louisville.
The Manufacturing Drama Award, presented by my ex-girlfriend: LSU. After the embarrassing 2015 double-clutch and hug-it-out non-firing of Les Miles, the LSU football offices had already re-lit their dumpster fires by halftime of the season's first game. By Sept. 25 Miles was out. Then, just as the Tigers were getting on a roll, they entered into an equally embarrassing spat with Florida over how/why/when to reschedule a game washed out by Hurricane Matthew.
The You Looked So Pretty We Were Willing To Overlook Your Flaws And Tried To Make It Work Anyway Award, also presented by my ex-girlfriend: Houston. Did we learn nothing from 2015?
The You Let Us Down But We Totally Should Have Seen It Coming From A Mile Away Award, presented by "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice": Oklahoma, Stanford, Notre Dame, USC, Michigan State and UCLA. Like Alabama, there were plenty of on-paper flaws entering September. Like Alabama, we believed that you would all find ways to plug those holes and keep the ship steaming ahead. Unfortunately, none of these programs are Alabama.
OK, we're out of hardware ... well, until we get to the weekly awards later on. Speaking of, let's get on with the business of Flipping The Field.
From the Ridonculous Stats Department: Western Michigan's Jarvion Franklin rushed for 281 yards vs. Akron, second most in an FBS game this season. Lane Kiffin's Alabama offense has now outscored the two places where he served as head coach -- USC and Tennessee -- by a combined score of 101-16. Alabama has scored 11 touchdowns via just its defense and special teams while several FCS teams -- including SEC cohort South Carolina -- haven't scored that many TDs on offense. Vandy linebacker Zach Cunningham had 19 tackles against Georgia. Four FBS quarterbacks threw for 400-plus yards during Week 7 ... and two lost.
"We're going streaking!" Oklahoma had its 107th straight sellout, spanning every game of the Bob Stoops era. Iowa's win at Purdue was its ninth straight road win, breaking a record set in 1920-23. That's third best in FCS, behind Alabama, which won its 10th straight, and Ohio State which earned its 20th in a row. Urban Meyer is the first coach to win his first 20 road games at a school since Walter Camp in 1888. Walter Camp?! Nebraska had to sweat it out against Indiana, but is 6-0 for the first time since 2001. Speaking of sweating, Clemson had to go to OT to win the Textile Bowl over NC State, but stretched its home win streak to 20 straight, best in the nation and a school record, and earned its 45th consecutive victory over an unranked opponent.
"Get in the car, Frank ..." According to co-worker and Tweetmeister Brett McMurphy, when Rutgers scored late in its 24-7 loss to Illinois, it was its first touchdown in 177 minutes and 49 seconds, a drought that covered four games. Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason finally earned his first SEC road win, snapping an 0-for-9 drought and it came at the most unlikely place. The Commodores were a 13.5-point underdog on Saturday and hadn't won at Georgia since 2006. Washington State beat UCLA 27-21 but did so without a passing TD, ending its streak at 41 games. According to the mathematical masters at ESPN Stats & Info, Wazzu QB Luke Falk had thrown a TD pass in 22 straight games. That was tied for tops in the nation with Clemson's Deshaun Watson. Now Watson is alone.
Cool Kicks. If you've seen "Last Chance U" on Netflix then you are already familiar with East Mississippi Community College football. If you haven't, then you probably don't know what their mascot is. Here's a hint.
Cool Threads. Syracuse called these their "Icy Alternates" for an old school Big East matchup with Virginia Tech. Honestly, unless someone slapped a sticker of Elsa on there I don't really see much icy about it, but they still looked cool.
Tommy West Coach's Press Conference of the Week: Dino Babers, Syracuse. OK, yeah, this isn't actually a press conference, but I don't care. You have to watch it.
And a Player's Press Conference of the Week too! Colorado is 5-2 and is being powered there by running back Phillip Lindsay. Against Arizona State he rumbled for 219 yards and three TDs, becoming the first Buff back to top 200 yards since 2002. Instead of taking all the credit, he brought his entire offensive line with him.
Danny Ford Scientific Rocket Quote of the Week: Brian Harsin, Boise State. The Broncos head coach addressed a Statue of Liberty fake-turned TD pass that was run during a tough scrum with Colorado State. Yes, Boise was wearing its 2007 Fiesta Bowl throwback uniforms. But no, that's not why they ran the play. "We weren't game planning for nostalgia."
Remembering Brandon Jackson. Army is having its best season in a long while, routing Lafayette to reach 4-2 on the season and inch closer to its first bowl bid since 2010 and only its sixth ever. The Black Knights continue to play inspired by the memory of teammate Brandon Jackson, their cornerstone defensive back who died in a car accident the night after Army's Week 2 win over Rice. At Michie Stadium, one of college football's most gorgeous venues, the 28-yard line honors the memory of No. 28.
Frank Reich Backup QB Of The Week Award: Conor Rhoda, Minnesota. Mitch Leidner missed his first start in 27 games, so the Gophers looked to Rhoda, a former walk-on, and even went so far as to name him a co-captain for the game. He quietly executed a safe game plan, completing seven passes and one for a score, as Minnesota earned its first Big Ten win of the season, beating Maryland on the road.
Comeback of the Week Award, also named for Frank Reich: Texas. We might have to consider renaming this by replacing Frank Reich with Iowa State. The Cyclones led the Horns 6-3 at the half, but Texas came back to win 27-6. No, it wasn't exactly a big comeback. And no, it certainly wasn't the fourth-quarter double-digit collapse we've seen from ISU over the previous two games. So, why is it worthy of this? Because it was the first time in 15 tries that a Charlie Strong-coached Texas team trailed at the break and won.
Then again ... Lamar trailed Northwestern State by 15 points in the third quarter and 13 points in the fourth but scored two touchdowns in the final 1:43 of the game, including the clincher with six seconds remaining to win 32-31.
Weston Steelhammer Name of the Week: Carson Earp, QB, Lamar. Yeah, that's right. We're going with two Lamar entries this week. A dude with a double cowboy name playing quarterback at a college in Texas? Are you kidding me? On Saturday he threw for 412 yards and four TDs.
The Guy You Should Know About, But Probably Don't: Carlos Henderson, WR, Louisiana Tech. Against UMass he caught a dozen passes for 326 yards and five TDs. That's a yards per catch average of 27.2! The past two weeks he has racked up 558 yards receiving.
The Guy(s) You Used to Know About But Forgot About But You Should Know About Again: Oklahoma. Last week in Flipping The Field we had coaches discussing how to salvage a season when the initial list of preseason goals and expectations have been unexpectedly chainsawed down to a much more humbling set of goals. Those coaches talked about the difference between good teams and bad ones being in their ability to rebound, reset and get back on track. By that measure we can mark the Sooners down as a good team again. After a 1-2 start The OU we've seen the last two weekends is the team we all read and wrote about over the summer, particularly an offense that is back to slinging and flying and scoring points (see: Joe Mixon TD pass vs. Kansas State). The swagger in Norman is back and I think we can all agree that Baker Mayfield's bandana and Tweet replies feel a heckuva lot cooler when the scoreboard looks like it does now. Though they might want to run some How To Celebrate drills with their offensive linemen.
The Team You Should Know About But Probably Don't: West Virginia. The Eers are still undefeated and (gulp) played some serious defense at Texas Tech. Dana Holgorsen, his hair and a can of Red Bull would like to talk to you about all this "Baylor is the Big 12's last chance" stuff.
The Game You Should Know About But Probably Don't: South Dakota State 19, North Dakota State 17. That's right, the Bison actually lost, their first defeat in 15 games. They not only lost, they did so in dramatic fashion, and to their archrival. The Jackrabbits, trailing by four with 2:27 left, marched 80 yards in a drive that included a pair of third-down conversions and a 2-yard TD pass on fourth-and-1 with one second remaining. According the ESPN's FPI formula, when that drive began NDSU's win probability was 93.1 percent. Now the Jackrabbits get to take the Dakota Marker back to Brookings ... and if you've seen that marker you know it'll take a few dudes to carry it anywhere.
The Game You Should Be Psyched For But Probably Aren't: BYU at Boise State (Thursday, 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). The Cougars have survived their heartbreak gantlet of September, when they lost to Utah, UCLA and West Virginia by a 2.3 average margin of victory, by winning three straight vs. Toledo, Michigan State and Mississippi State. Now they head to Idaho to face 6-0 14th-ranked Boise. If the Broncos are going to have any hope of crashing the Power 5 Playoff/New Year's Six party this will be their last chance to make a nonconference statement.
Extra Point: The Auburn Tigers had the weekend off but awoke Saturday morning to the terrible news that Quentin Groves, the program's all-time sacks leader (26) and a key cog in what was then the most successful senior class in Auburn history with 50 wins, had died. Diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome before the 2008 NFL draft, he had surgery to combat the condition, which causes a rapid heartbeat. He'd finished his pro career in '15 and was coaching at Coahoma Community College when he died in his sleep Friday night. The Saturday outpouring of emotion through social media was striking, from former teammates and rivals alike. We should all be so fortunate to impact the lives of so many in such a short period of time, only 32 years of age.
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