Tuesday Morning QB: a good Saturday, Clemson QB injury impact, surprising prep scores, state of Ga. football, great HS kickers 'round here
There was a 139-point game that went seven overtimes.
There was the sister of a player in said game who rushed the field.
Florida State lost in the final seconds at home.
Florida's holder botched the point-after hold, and the Gators lost at home to LSU, which is still almost silly on offense.
Nick Saban called compliments and positive words "rat poison."
Tulane scored more points in one game as Georgia Southern has in four. And yessir, let's note that Tulane head coach Willie Fritz spent two seasons at Georgia Southern.
Texas A&M stayed with Alabama.
Michigan State beat the Jim Harbaughs in Khaki Stadium.
Iowa State, a 31-point underdog, won at Oklahoma for the first time since when, long before the birth of Joel Lanning, who played quarterback and linebacker –on the road, at Oklahoma, in a win.
Every time you start to say, “Meh, looks like a slow – “ stop yourself in mid-sentence and prepare to be surprised.
Ready, set ...
Does the ankle injury to Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant change that national championship picture?
Probably not, but we won't know until his status is updated.
His absence won't make much of a different this week at Syracuse, and it's huge that the Tigers have a week off before welcoming Georgia Tech.
That will be a better game than people think, Clemson's defense against Tech's offense. Interesting.
Hunter Johnson and Zerrick Cooper were fine after Bryant left, and they'll get first-team reps.
Frankly, there's little reason to push Bryant for Syracuse. Have him in uniform, but don't expect to use him. ...
Tulane scored 62 points Saturday.
Tulane's football team. Scored 62 points. Not against Tulane's defense.
That's a step forward.
The Wave did score 72 in 1998 when they went 11-0 under Tommy Bowden.
And it's not like Tulane is much better than Tulsa. ...
Four high school scores that surprised Friday night:
West Laurens 27, Spalding 25 – Spalding is a team that’s way out of the region race, and it’s closest previous loss was by 17 points, albeit to a Class 6A team.
Bleckley County 42, Washington County 28 – The Golden Hawks seemed to have momentum after a poor start, and Bleckley County was off a road loss. That Washington County gave up 36 second-half points – the clinching 21 in the fourth quarter - is the eyebrow-raiser.
Dodge County 42, Dublin 21 – It’s always a surprise for Dublin to lose a region game, but Dodge County keeps proving it’s for real, winning its last four games by 43, 24, 23 and 21.
John Milledge 49, GMC 13 – The GISA wins the battle again, and by 36 points. GMC isn’t playing a region schedule, but was at home. Clearly, John Milledge could beat a fair number of GHSA Class A teams and more higher-class teams than some would admit. …
If Georgia Tech’s game with Central Florida hadn’t been cancelled, the Yellow Jackets would be in the top 25 now rather than on the fringe. They can get inside the top 20 with a win Saturday afternoon against a perhaps-overrated Miami group. …
The state of Georgia has six Division I- and remember, Division I is I-A and I-AA – football programs that have combined for an 18-11 record: Georgia 6-0, Georgia Tech 3-1, Georgia State 2-2, Georgia Southern 0-4, Kennesaw State 4-1 and Mercer 3-3. …
Among the toughest positions to determine who’s best in Central Georgia – and maybe the state - high school football is kicker.
Cory Munson of Northside, Mitchell Fineran of Peach County and Eli Mashburn of Warner Robins are better than a fair amount of Division I kickers. That the offers are a little lean – Fineran has a preferred walk-on offer at Georgia Tech, which isn’t a great place to be a kicker – is astounding.
Munson is steady, Fineran has a huge leg, and Mashburn has only hit three game-winners in the first half of the season. …
From the Seattle Times’ Sideline Chatter feature:
“Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, to The Dallas Morning News, on why he has no hard feelings about the Cowboys canning him seven years ago: ‘If I had a vendetta against any team that fired me, I’d have a quarter of the league.’