Gridiron, week six

Last Saturday, I traveled to the north country so that Mrs. bee could spend an afternoon with our youngest grandson. There weren't any games on TV that interested me, so I didn't miss anything.

Today is one of those Saturdays featuring several high profile matchups. The earliest is the Red River Shootout in Dallas, Oklahoma vs Texas. Years ago, this was one of my favorite college rivalry games. Texas was in the SWC, Oklahoma in the Big Eight. I hated the longhorns, and OU was one of the teams that could occasionally give them a sound thrashing. OU never played A&M in those days, so I could pull for the sooners without reservation.

Bob Stoops has recently lost some of his sparkle and regularly gets kicked around in so-called Big Games. His prize-winning quarterback is gimpy, and pundits are in unanimous agreement that Texas will give Stoops still another spotlight game ass-whipping. I'll probably watch until Texas gets 10 points ahead, a lead which should be impossible to overcome.

The other highlight game is Southern Cal at Notre Dame in their traditional rivalry. For a few years, USC operated in a zone of its own, clearly superior to nearly every other team playing college football. They've returned to reality (4-1) a little bit this year. Notre Dame's been spotty for some time now, but seems to be having an up year (4-1). With both teams playing at similar levels of proficiency, this should be a game worth seeing. I'll be rooting for the Trojans, naturally.

Other games I'll watch at least parts of are Texas Tech at Nebraska, Arkansas at Florida, and Kansas at Colorado. Based on its level of overall excellence, Florida has assumed the role of my second-favorite college team, right behind USC. Since Arkansas already gave the Aggies the expected stomping, I'll pull for the Gators to give the hogs a taste of how a stomping feels. The two Big 12 games feature teams that TAMU plays later on, so I'll scout TexTech and CU as future opponents, with no particular rooting interest.

Added 4:34 pm: No one can say Texas never catches a break. They knocked Bradford out of the game in the first quarter, and managed to sneak off with a 16-13 win. The only team in their division capable of challenging them is now in the L column without their starting QB.

Added 6:25 pm: Teams that are undefeated and play for national championships always have a few things in common: good offense, good defense, good kicking games, good coaching, and assorted lucky breaks at the right time. Florida, unbeaten and ranked number 1, fits the pattern. The Gators got a few lucky breaks today and survived their game with Arkansas 23-20, scoring the winning FG with nine seconds left. Arkansas didn't get anything resembling a stomping, and is better than I gave them credit for being. The Aggies are lucky they weren't whipped worse than they were up in Arlington.

Because I was so wrapped up in the Florida game, I missed large parts of USC at Notre Dame. The Trojans also survived (34-27), but Notre Dame was in it until literally the final second. Anyway, I went 2-1 for the afternoon, and might have gone 3-0 if Sam Bradford had stayed healthy.