Greetings, football aficionados and fellow humans!
Your best friend’s favorite football column returns after a one-week hiatus. It felt rather inappropriate making football jokes last week — for multiple reasons. First, there was Hurricane Helene, from which a number of our wonderful friends here in the southeastern United States are still recovering. So many of you have been a part of the recovery efforts, and for that, we thank you.
The second part centered around losing the services of two of the great friends we have in this business.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch decided last week it no longer needed the services of Mike Barber and David Teel. As a proud son of the Commonwealth and fellow sportswriter, Mike and David join our great friend Damien Sordelett in Roanoke as the pre-eminent storytellers of Virginia college sports. David is royalty in our world — he frequently serves as the pool reporter at NCAA basketball regionals and holds a number of high offices in sportswriting organizations. Mike and I have shared a number of media scrums and “backstage” areas while waiting for coaches and players to speak.
Anyone who has spent any time being an ink-stained wretch will tell you that this business is incredibly rewarding, but it also sucks. It sucks because you can put in literally decades of distinguished work and have it torn away from you because some disconnected hedge fund bro miles away doesn’t understand the value of what you do and wants to increase margins by a negligible amount. There’s little sympathy for the so-called devil of sports journalists anymore — and I’m not seeking it — but believe me when I tell you that Mike and David are damn good at what they do and two of the best people you’ll meet anywhere. They deserve better. May they both get the last laugh.
Let’s look back at last week and ahead at this week with some of the storylines around the sport.
• Alabama took down Georgia, 41-34, in a game in which it led, 30-7, at the half. Carson Beck threw for three scores while also throwing for three picks — the last of which coming on a late drive as the Bulldogs were trying for another late equalizer. The game lived up to the billing — mostly — but also spawned the usual takes from the playoff sycophants screaming about how the expanded playoff meant that the teams would live to fight again down the road. Never mind that they could very possibly meet in the SEC championship game — and would probably have been in the playoff even if they didn’t — everything has to be about the bloated cash grab that is the new playoff. Learn to appreciate great games as they happen, for crying out loud.
• Michigan escaped Minnesota, 27-24, to claim the Little Brown Jug. While the Wolverines claimed the decision, Alex Orji throwing for just 86 yards on 10 completions illuminates a point of concern for Michigan fans. Michigan were 10.5-point favorites coming into the contest, and there has to be some palpable tension in Ann Arbor at the moment. Two of the Wolverines’ next three dates are away from home, with trips to Washington this weekend and Illinois two weekends after that looming on the horizon.
• Arch Manning is 1-0 in the SEC, coming off a 35-13 result against Mississippi State. Manning hit on 26-of-31 tries for 324 yards and a pair of scores, while Tre Wisner logged 13 totes for 88 yards. The maiden voyage into the circuit went well for the Horns, but after an off week, they venture into the Red River Shootout (again, not calling it Rivalry, sorry) and a home date with a likely pissed-off Georgia squad in back-to-back weeks. Jokes about Texas being back are as tired as I am after updating the score of a Hawaii home game after it finishes, but if it escapes those two weeks unscathed, it might be about time to have some serious discussions.
• A lot of people scoffed at JMU after Curt Cignetti left for Indiana, but Bob Chesney’s Dukes are 4-0 this season following a throttling of an admittedly overmatched Ball State club. Alonza Barnett continues to overcome his early shaky play, logging six total touchdowns against the Cardinals and slinging the ball for 280 yards despite not needing to throw a bunch. Every game on JMU’s remaining schedule is winnable — not saying it will win them, of course — but the Dukes’ victory in Chapel Hill a couple weeks ago may have been the start of something even bigger in Harrisonburg.
• At the FCS level, Elon and Gardner-Webb both tumbled to 1-4 after losses last week. Richmond knocked off the Phoenix with a 10-point victory in Elon, while Gardner-Webb got 50-pieced by a really good Tennessee Tech club in Boiling Springs. There’s still plenty of time, obviously, but it’s getting late early for two clubs with at least decent playoff potential when the season started.
• Also at the FCS level, ETSU got a win most people expected, doubling up The Citadel, 34-17, in Charleston. The win wasn’t the story, however. ETSU coach Tre Lamb is one of the most impressive people and leaders you’ll find anywhere, and his comments after that game really drove home that point. Tre showed a striking combination of strength and vulnerability in his remarks.• Man, talk about emotion, and tears just pouring out. Talk about a situation worse than you can imagine, and a team galvanizing for a win.
Tre is the best. Seriously.
Now, about this week — here are a couple options for you outside of the huge ranked vs. ranked matchups:
• Syracuse (3-1) at #25 UNLV (4-0) (9pm Friday, FS 1, UNLV -6.5): The Rebels withstood the loss of Matthew Sluka and all the hoopla around it, pummeling Fresno State, 59-14, behind 182 passing yards and three scores from Campbell transfer Hajj-Malik Williams. Things aren’t exactly easy ahead for Vegas even if it gets past this one, but that they can overcome all the noise and be on the lip of the cup from bowl eligibility with a win here is pretty notable.
• Boston College at UVa (noon, ACCN, UVa -1): It’s not a common thing for Virginia to be favored — even at home — against a league school over the last few years, and it’s especially odd to see against the athletic and talented Eagles. Virginia getting time for Anthony Colandrea will be a key storyline here, as will its ability to control the clock; only Clemson and Wake Forest rank worse among ACC team defenses.
• #7/6 North Dakota (4-1) at #2/2 North Dakota State (4-1) (3:30pm, ESPN+, NDSU -14.5): We’ve talked about NDSU quite a bit in this space this season, with the Bison a late-game disaster at Colorado away from being undefeated at the moment. The lone win on the ledger for the Fighting Hawks with both schools as D1 combatants came last season — a 49-24 result at North Dakota. North Dakota hung an eye-popping 600-plus yards of offense and 72 points on Murray State last week. The Bison are a much taller task, however.
All times Eastern. No part of this feature should be considered gambling advice in any manner.
There you have it — another week in the books. May you have a wonderful weekend filled with football, family, and — if you need it — peace after a trying few weeks. Until we meet again…