1) The ESPN article on the crazy one season spent by Lane Kiffin was not only excellent, but it also made me think about what could have happened had Kiffin remained as the coach of the Volunteers.
Looking at the various messes since with Derek Dooley, Butch Jones and currently Jeremy Pruitt, I'm not sure that things could have been worse for Big Orange. but I'm not sure that they would have been much better either.
Kiffin was only 34/35 years of age as head coach of the Vols and I'm not sure he was mature enough to be a top-notch head coach.
Tennessee would have likely recruited well under Kiffin and that would have helped give them a chance at success, but could they continue to recruit well if the drop off in record occurred?
My guess as to the most likely result? Tennessee wins some games that they likely would have been the underdog in, lost others to teams of lesser talent and would have had lots of entertaining media events and clashes with other teams.
I would think that Lane Kiffin would have a shorter shelf life even with success and he would be unlikely to still reside in Knoxville.
2) The Arizona State-Michigan State game from East Lansing (10-7 ASU ) was a snoozer until the last three minutes or so, but two notes on the contest.
Mark Dantonio might need to either accept that offensive schemes for Sparty need to be updated because what the Spartans have been doing over the last three seasons just isn't getting the job done.
Dantonio might be so stuck in his Jim Tressel-like ways that he may not be able to make the changes that need to be completed, but Michigan State needs to at least talk to him about those potential moves.
The officials botched the final field goal attempt after Michigan State seemed to have tied the game at 10, a review saw Sparty called for 12 men on the field and another field goal try to tie the game.
On that kick, the kick drifted wide, but Arizona State had a player that should have been called for leaping, which would have given Michigan State another chance to force overtime.
The visiting team's conference provides the officials, so the mistake was by Pac 12 officials and an apology issued, which as always is too late.
3) The big run by Maryland sputtered to a stop after a 20-17 loss in Philadelphia to Temple.
It's not only the loss to a group of five school, but it is also that after showing a great deal of offense against Syracuse, the Terrapins had multiple chances to win this game.
Temple slammed the door twice on Maryland back Anthony McFarland from the one-yard line with three and a half minutes to go and again stopped Maryland at the ten with seconds remaining.
Now the conference schedule starts for Maryland against Penn State this Saturday and even though Maryland's four games that follow Penn State are all possible victories (at Rutgers, Indiana, at Purdue and Minnesota), the end of the season is brutal as they finish up with Michigan, at Ohio State, Nebraska, and at Michigan State.
The season's not lost, but it feels like a missed opportunity for Mike Locksley's first Terrapin team.
4) And there is the ACC, who deservedly pats itself on the back for the number one rated team in the nation in Clemson, but collectively appears to be about as competitive as the Washington Generals against the Harlem Globetrotters.
Other than 25th ranked Virginia (3-0) the conference doesn't have another ranked team and other than Wake Forest, doesn't have another undefeated team, which is pretty sad only three weeks into the season.
Last Saturday saw N.C. State lose at West Virginia by 17, which isn't a terrible loss, but also saw Virginia Tech need a rally in the fourth quarter to defeat 1-AA Furman, Pitt throw away a chance to upset Penn State and the two worst losses of the day with I-AA Citadel defeating Georgia Tech at home and Kansas, who hadn't won a road game against a power five team in eleven seasons, crunching Boston College by 24 in Boston!
I would say it is very likely to that the Clemson opponent in the ACC title game will have three losses and possibly four.
Not a great matchup to attract fans to your title game.
5) The hottest coaching seat has to be occupied by USC's Clay Helton after the Trojans road loss to BYU in overtime.
It's not just the loss to the Cougars, it's the next three games, all against ranked teams (Utah, Washington, and Notre Dame) that they will be underdogs against and two on the road.
A 2-4 start isn't out of the question for Helton and with a new AD to be hired soon after the resignation of Lynn Swann, Helton is more likely to be shown the door than stay around for 2020.
6) I found it interesting that former Northern Illinois and Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill has been brought on staff at Virginia Tech as a special assistant to Justin Fuente.
Kill was forced from the Gophers head job after 2015 by doctors that recommended he leave coaching to avoid neurological damage from epileptic attacks.
Fuente's Hokies finished 6-7 last season and their 2-1 record is less than impressive with a near loss to Furman and a road loss at Boston College, who as mentioned earlier was blasted by hapless Kansas at the same stadium.
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