By: Heath Moorman (@Heat1017)
Colorado has a Roster of Track Stars
Colorado came out in Week 1 and decided it would be the Taylor James show. In Week 2, they decided they would keep teams honest and started the game by giving Speedy Hernandez a first-half hat-trick. That’s right. Hernandez started the game with 4 catches for 108 yards and 3 TDs in the opening half. Colorado then shifted gears at halftime and gave their workhorse some of the load in James. Maybe he just needed a breather after toting the rock so heavily last week.
Long story short, this Colorado team looks immensely dangerous and my favorite to win the Big XII this season. Between Speedy, Taylor, Jules Sanders, Jayden Sanders, and Jacob Wadsworth, this team is fielding some serious speed. I’m confidently putting Colorado in the Semi-finals this season. They may be my favorite to walk in there and win it.
Iowa Prayer
If you weren’t watching the Clemson at Iowa game Wednesday night, go and give it a rewatch. At least the final 5 minutes. This was a hard-fought battle between two teams with history. Iowa hosts two transfers who were stars for Clemson last season, and they were out for blood against their old team. The opening kickoff saw Clemson’s Daunte Terry take it to the house with several missed tackles as the Iowa special teams were still waking up. The game then saw five lead changes and two ties. I’ll do my best to summarize the final minutes of what I can only describe as a prayer.
Iowa scores on a Declan Murphy read option to the right to take the lead 30-26 with 5:33 left in the ball game. They go for two and convert on a Beau Styles run right up the gut, making the score 32-26, Iowa.
Clemson then methodically marches the ball down the field primarily behind the legs of TD Hurd and Bojack Merriweather, with a huge help from a long corner route to Jackson Klock. Clemson scored on an 8-yard Robert Wetzel carry up the middle and kicked the PAT to go up 33-32 with 2:56 remaining.
With plenty of time remaining, Iowa gets the ball and runs a conservative offense, showcasing Beau Styles’ late-game ability to drain the clock. The drive also included backup Manny Mercy using his speed to get outside and pick up a critical first down. This happened shortly before Iowa was faced with a 3rd and 5 with right at a minute left in the game. Freshman Quarterback Declan Murphy made a game-ending mistake by throwing an interception to Clemson CB Sammuel Ramsay with 52 seconds left on the clock.
Both teams still have all three timeouts, and Clemson gets the ball at the 20. They open the drive with two straight hand-offs to TD Hurd that result in them facing 3rd and inches with 44 seconds left. That is when Iowa’s defensive line stands up Clemson’s Offense and allows MLB Colt Moorman to shoot through the interior and bring Bojack down for a loss of four on the play. Timeout Iowa, 41 seconds to go.
Iowa returns the punt to their 46-yard line, before throwing a Tony-Ten to star TE Leland Everett on the first play. They sprint to the line in the flying-V formation that we know means they will clock the ball, but with 19 seconds remaining, they run the clock down to 2 seconds. Seemingly a nightmare situation for the Hawkeyes that only needed about 8 more yards before they could consider attempting a field goal. However, on 3rd and inches with 2 seconds to go, Arnez Gray gets behind the Clemson defense and catches a pass in stride and carries it into the endzone for a walk-off touchdown.
That was a lot of words to get to my hot take for this one: the Iowa Prayer is the play of the week, and the Clemson vs. Iowa faceoff should be named game of the week. Anything less would be a disgrace to the masterpiece that was the beginning of a new rivalry.
Trouble in Tuscaloosa
I told you last week that if Alabama was unable to right the ship in Week 2 against Miami, then things might get tough for them going forward. They’ve only played great teams so far, and have another great team to play this coming week in Texas A&M. They get an easier opponent in Week 4 in Tennessee, who just let newcomer Nebraska put a 50-burger on them. But then turn around and play Georgia the following week, who has looked very strong. If I were Athletic Director David Ware, I would be calling the league office to make amends for whatever he did to anger the schedulers. My hot take here is that Alabama sees its first losing season since Season 11.
Do the Hokey Pokey
Sing it with me now:
You put your right foot in
You put your right foot out
You put your right foot in
And you shake it all about
You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around
That’s what it’s all about!
Virginia Tech has gotta turn things around in Week 3 after that absolute embarrassment against Auburn. Auburn is a good team, heck, they may even be a great team. They have the pieces to maybe find themselves making a late run in postseason play. But you can never, ever, under any circumstance, only have a SINGLE RUSHING YARD. I don’t care if you have Jay Duke throwing the ball, and your receiving core is JT Cass Jr., Deuce Bolden, and Titus Price, and your running back is a 90-year-old woman with arthritis and a slipped disk. You have to run the ball effectively if you want to have any semblance of an offense. Get it right, Virginia Tech. Get. It. Right. Ohio State puts up the most yards of any team in any game this season this week against VT. We’re talking 800-plus numbers.
Quick Hitters
Jaylen Tyree Looks Electric but Sloppy: putting up 470 total yards and 4 total TDs is impressive for any QB and would normally result in a win, but not when you tack on 3 INTs as well. Tyree will need to improve going forward for Ohio State to be successful.
Troy League’s Arm: League has thrown the ball 137 times through two weeks of non-conference play. His arm better be made of titanium if he doesn’t want to have shoulder surgery at the end of the season. Impressive part: he’s yet to throw an INT. I think that will end soon as his arm wears down and opposing defenses see where he likes to throw.
Young QBs are Slingin’ It: the top 5 QBs in yards are all underclassmen. I don’t know if this is an early sign that we’re seeing a new generation of air it out guys or if the league is shifting towards a more heavy pass league. Regardless, these young guys are impressive.
Penn State is Good: last week, this made my Quick Hitters list as “Penn State Might be Good?” and this week it makes the list again, but this time with them firmly establishing themselves as a powerhouse for Season 23. Watch out, Big 10, the Nittany Lions are coming.
ACC Stumbling: The Current state of the ACC looks like Miami is going to take the cake, with the only team who seems capable of challenging them right now being North Carolina. We’ll see what happens with Clemson, Virginia Tech, and Florida State going forward.
SEC Offenses are Cooking: Auburn and Georgia lead the league in yards per game through week 2 with 700.5 and 678.5, respectively. Both of these teams are being led by Freshman QBs. Will they keep the momentum or falter in conference play? All I’ve got to say is they play each other in Week 6, and that is my pick for game of the week.
