CFB Week 11: The thousand-beer edition

It’s week 11 and I have to keep it brief, as I’m on the way to Blacksburg to watch the Hokies “play”–if what they do on the football field lately could be described as such.

November 8, 2012; 6:00 AM • by Ross Catrow

This week, week 11, I’ve got to keep it short as I’m headed down to Blacksburg THIS VERY MOMENT to watch the Hokies fudge the bucket against an in-every-way superior FSU team. I’m actually excited, because my fan-related stress levels are at historic lows. If it’s a blowout, we may even leave early (gasp)!?

As Notre Dame narrowly avoided losing to Pittsburgh this past weekend, millions of sportswriters across America dusted off their trusty “luck of the Irish” headlines. Here’s the guy who leads the nation this week in “who needs to see a sports psychologist most”:

Right after the Irish fumbled the ball away in double overtime, you simply cannot follow it up with a missed field goal.

Here’s a couple notables from this past weekend that you may have missed:

We all knew this was coming, but Texas A&M dismantled Mississippi State, 38-13. The Aggies are probably the only team left in the country with a shot to beat Alabama.

Army beat Air Force for the first time in something like a dozen years.

Virginia beat NC State, 33-6, on the road–which was one of my Stupid Picks from the Heart! Every year the Wahoos knock of someone they shouldn’t, and this year it was the Wolfpack (could be the Hokies in a couple weeks, too).

Who feels worse this year: Hokie fans or Mountaineer fans? This week the ‘Neers lost to TCU in double overtime. As WVU continues to dig into their Big 12 scheduled, they continue to lose. In fact, they could lose their next two (Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) as well.

It took Oregon three whole quarters to beat USC, 62-51–which is a first this season. The Ducks have the hardest path to the national championship (aside from Louisville), even if they go undefeated: a combination of a “weak” schedule and the nation’s East Coast-bias might leave them sitting on the outside come January. Plus the first punt in this game came after 45 minutes of play. Makes me raise a skeptical eyebrow at that Duck defense.

Alabama beat LSU, and thank God it wasn’t the other way around. Hopefully any nascent rematch talk has been quashed.

— ∮∮∮ —

Virginia Tech vs. #10 FSU

Thursday, 7:30 PM; ESPN

Hokie RB JC Coleman (who I think should be getting the majority of the carries, but whatever) summed up Thursday’s debacle appropriately:

Spoon fed that W to Miami. #Respect to them though.— J.C. Coleman (@jc_coleman4) November 2, 2012

So after that trash of a game, Tech hosts #10 Florida State at home tonight. What is there to say? Corn hole will be played. I will drink a thousand beers. Tech will be dominated in all phases of the game. Maybe I won’t even remember the football part of tonight.

Virginia vs. Miami

The Wahoos did it! Just like I thought they would! Upsets are always exciting to watch, but I maintain that the ability of the ACC’s middle-of-the-road teams to upset the top-tier teams is the main reason “the ACC sucks.” If the teams that were supposed to win would just win, dangit, our conference would have a better national reputation.

Anyhoo, the Cavs take on Miami at noon. Miami should roll after their victory over the Hokies last week and a couple extra days to rest/prepare.

Games worth watching

Thursday, 7:30 PM, ESPN; #10 Florida State at Virginia Tech — Go Hokies?

12:00 PM, ABC; Miami at Virginia — Go Hoos?

12:00 PM, ESPN 3; #9 Louisville at Syracuse — Did you realize Louisville is undefeated, with only Syracuse, UConn, and #23 Rutgers left on their schedule? I know this never happens, but what if there are, like, five undefeated teams at the end of the regular season?

3:30 PM, CBS; #15 Texas A&M at #1 Alabama — It’s Alabama’s last, best chance at losing a football game (not that I think it’ll happen).

7:00 PM, FOX; #2 Kansas State at TCU — KSU! TCU! Just one more speed bump on the road to the Wildcat’s undefeated season (I hope!).

8:00 PM, ABC; #4 Notre Dame at Boston College — Last week, Pitt almost beat Notre Dame. At 4-5, Pitt is not a good football team. At 2-7, BC is an awful football team. I’ve seen crazier things happen, but it looks like Notre Dame keeps on winning this week.

— ∮∮∮ —

Etc.

• Game of the Week — Texas A&M at Alabama.
• Gus Johnson Watch — Oregon State at Stanford.
• Stupid Picks From the Heart — Boston College over Notre Dame! Texas A&M over Alabama!

November 8, 2012 6:00 AM 1