Bama hasnt looked great like usual. I figured they were due a loss at some point. They are still a top 5 team, due to all the talent they have and coaches.
Ark vs old Miss was a fun game to watch. Not a lot of defense.
I didnt get to watch TX vs OK as the cable company is fighting with the people who run abc. Looked like a fun game.
As for Penn state vs Iowa. Where do i start. Game management at the end of both halves was pretty bad for Iowa. Iowas offense didn't look great, but it is somewhat hard to blame it on them. Nearly EVERY time Iowa has a big play, a penn state player would be injured. Pretty convenient to get a free timeout as soon as Iowa gets momentum.(i saw a lot of flopping in the old miss game too for free timeouts) The play calling for Iowa wasnt great. Outside of a QB sneak, why are we trying to run an option play with the least mobile person in america? Penn state could not stop QB sneaks, so why not do more of them. Our QB even with nothing but grass in front of him, refused to take it. Instead he would run backwards where he would be caught.
The defense isnt that impressive either. They give up so many large chucks in their zone defense. Iowa has always struggled against teams who have a very mobile QB and can throw very accurately.(which is what all the top teams have) The home crowd made a big difference, causing numerous penalties. Idk if it was the audio settings that the broadcasters used, but that crowd sounded louder than any other game i watched today.
Both Offense and defensive lines for Iowa while good, are still too inexperienced. They are too inconsistent. Next year is when i expect them to be more dominant, and hopefully have a more consistent running game.(then again, look at what happened with Iowa state when they brought back all those starters)
Anyways, i am not convinced Iowa is #3 in the nation. They are use to playing in messy close games, but they didn't look good.
I do fear that in the coming years, the fake "im injured" stuff will be used more often. I see it more year after year. It is footballs version of the flop you see in other sports. I hope if it does get out of hand, they try and do something to stop it. I want to say penn state was the better team and would of won had clifford not been hurt. Of course, what would have the game looked like had Penn state not had so many free timeouts. Mich state used a similar tactic a while back at iowa, and it worked out for them.
Such a crazy year, who knows who will make the playoffs anymore. No one looks great except for maybe georgia. We will see if ohio state is legit in a few weeks.