A bye week for the Longhorns meant a 3-hour block that was opened up to me to watch more college football. I have to say, it was nice to be a neutral viewer and appreciate the several competitive games from Saturday night. Week 4 gave us some upsets, some surprisingly close games, and a certain wide receiver, who will receive my first shoutout, that told possibly the best cover corner in the country to hold his dick.
On that note, let's proceed to the shoutous!
Shoutout to the WR who is hinted at above, Amari Cooper, for causing All-American Florida cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III to have vivid nightmares of the number "9" devouring him whole for at least the next couple of weeks. The guy had more yards by himself (201) than the whole Florida offense (200)! I don't think I have seen a WR dominate a matchup that overwhelmingly since Justin Blackmon did it every game he played when he was still at Stillwater (and still actually playing football). It's almost a decent comparison actually. Blackmon possessed greater strength and physicality than Cooper at his stage of his career, but they are both 6'1", aren't the fastest guys on the field, but still have the natural ability to turn in big plays downfield despite tight coverage. Blake Sims had a GREAT game, no doubt about it, but there were some throws where you saw Sims winding up to launch it downfield, and before he even released the ball, you knew Cooper was going to catch it. Not only is Cooper the undisputed favorite for the Biletnikoff (award for best WR), but I believe he should be top 5 in the Heisman race right now, possibly top 3. Easily a top 10 pick in the 2015 NFL draft, and my guess is Cooper has, at the very least, a long pro career with multiple 1,000 yard seasons.
Shoutout to Samaje Perine for strapping the #4-ranked Oklahoma Sooners on his back and leading them to victory against a very scrappy West Virgina squad. The Mountaineers don't make it easy on anybody, do they? In a contest where the Sooners' vaunted defense struggled, and Trevor Knight reverted back to his 2013 regular-season form, Perine answered the bell and took 34 carries for 242 yards and 4 touchdowns as Oklahoma's workhorse. Usual lead back Keith Ford was out with an injury, so head coach Bob Stoops was forced to turn to the true freshman Perine. At 5'11" and 243 pounds, Perine is a beast of a running back, and this fact is very visible when watching him run. He is an absolute load to handle, and West Virgina defenders were just bouncing off of him like they were bumper cars. I believe this run pretty much illustrates Perine's dominance well. Perine figures to be a huge problem for Big 12 defenses, and the Sooners' run game will only be more lethal when Ford returns to the backfield in a couple of weeks. Oklahoma definitely looks determined to nab a spot in the playoffs, and their on-field performance is justifying their placement in it as of now.
(Mini-shoutout to West Virginia QB Clint Trickett, as well as his top two wideouts Kevin White and Mario Alford. Those guys are playing some seriously good ball right now, and I gotta think Big 12 defensive coordinators are tearing their hair out attempting to devise a game plan to slow them down)
Shoutout to Dak Prescott for making me look brilliant/foolish depending on how you interpret my thoughts on his chances of upsetting LSU. Prescott, who threw for 262 and 2 and ran for 105 and 1, stole the show in Death Valley Saturday night as Mississippi St. did indeed take down the Tigers. This will most likely go down as Prescott's career game because of the result more than his stats, but his numbers were excellent anyway. Watching him is even more of a treat though. The color commentator for the game, whose name escapes me, compared Prescott to Tim Tebow in terms of his ability to extend plays with his legs, power running style, and, most importantly, his enthusiasm and leadership. Prescott led the Bulldogs to that victory, in every sense of the word. RB Josh Robinson was extremely impressive in carving up the LSU defense for 197 yards on only 16 carries, but it was Prescott who orchestrated this win. This win should end the universal underrating that Mississippi St. is often subject to. Their offense is dynamic, their defense is physical and athletic, and their quarterback has to be at the top of everyone's Heisman dark horse lists. The Bulldogs' next two games are absolutely brutal, as they have to face off against back-to-back top 10 teams in Texas A&M and Auburn. Somewhat of a silver lining is that they are both home games, and it is no easy task to come to Starkville and escape with a win. Without a doubt those two match-ups will determine whether or not the 4-0 Bulldogs are legitimate contenders in that daunting SEC West.
Shoutout to Shane Carden in what seems like a weekly segment for me at this point. The insanely good East Carolina QB frankly took a dump on UNC on Saturday, throwing for 438 yards and 4 TD's while also adding 2 scores on the ground. Bottom line, Carden is on par with Bryce Petty, Jameis Winston, Kenny Hill, and all the other best pocket passers in the country. He is now third in the country in passing yards, only behind the QB's who pilot the most pass-heavy offenses in the country (East Carolina's running game is very much a present part of their offense, as showcased by RB Breon Allen's 211-yard performance on Saturday). Carden is surrounded by a stable of talented wideouts, like Justin Hardy, Isaiah Jones, Cam Worthy and Trevon Brown, but where would those guys be without their stud QB? If I'm the GM of NFL team looking to pick up a QB with above-average arm strength and accuracy in the middle rounds of the draft, I would not hesitate to grab Shane Carden and feel confident that I have a potential starter on my team. That's how highly I think of him. And honestly, you should too.
Finally, shoutout to entertaining games. Week 4 finally saw them return to our lives with a couple ones that went down to the wire. Of course, the Clemson-Florida State OT thriller was exceptional to watch, especially in the second half as both young quarterbacks started to pick up their play and give us some solid offensive drives. Defensive playmakers were flying around all night, especially Clemson OLB Vic Beasley, who looks every bit the part of a star NFL pass rusher. The tight contest culminated with a game-winning touchdown scamper by RB Karlos Williams in OT, giving #1 Florida State the victory. Another game that didn't make me want to turn it off in the middle of the second quarter was the Oregon-Washington State game. Shockingly, Washington State hung around with the Ducks for all four quarters, something basically no one does besides Stanford sometimes. Mariota was brilliant as always, but Oregon was not able to pull away from the Cougars as a result of the ineffectiveness of their running game. Although 172 yards on the ground would be solid for most teams, that number on 42 carries (4.1 YPC) constitutes an off day for the Ducks. Luckily, Mariota is ridiculous and has enough talent to win the game for Oregon exclusively through the air. He went 21/25 with 329 yards and 5 TD's, easily one of his most brilliant performances strictly passing in his entire career in Eugene. Washington State QB Connor Halliday put up mind-bending numbers, as always, which kept Washington State behind by only one touchdown until 3:34 left in the game when he was sacked on 4th down, giving the ball to Oregon who was able to run off the rest of the clock. Lastly, how about LSU's dramatic near-comeback at home against Mississippi State? As I mentioned above, the Bulldogs pulled off the upset, but what I did not discuss was the furious charge the Tigers staged in trying to steal the game. With the score 31-10 after three quarters, LSU outscored Mississippi State 19-3 in the fourth quarter, as a pair of true freshmen left it all on the field in an attempt to save LSU's undefeated season. QB Brandon Harris and WR Malachi Dupre hooked up on scores of 31 and 30 yards within 28 seconds of each other, bringing the score to 34-29 (Kenny Hilliard plowed his way into the end zone for a 1-yard TD in the beginning of the fourth quarter). Mississippi State then recovered the ensuing onside kick, but failed to convert a first down, instead giving the ball back to LSU at their own 20 yard-line with only 20 seconds left. After driving up the field and getting into Bulldog territory, a last second heave to the goal line was intercepted by Mississippi State, ending the game. Still, it was nice to see that type of fight out of LSU, whose season is certainly not over despite the conference loss. All in all, I hope to see a trend begin to develop now that conference play is starting toward close, competitive games that force me to watch all 60 minutes.
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