What We're Sayin: Week 7 Recap

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Well, that was an interesting week, five of the top ten go down in defeat, two to unranked opponents, Carolina won a game that mattered and Bill Belichick smiled for the first time since Jordon told him she was over 21. Mike Norvell demonstrated he wasn’t a dead man walking after all, and in the postgame news conference he credited the callout from 4^th & Forever as a big motivational factor in his team’s strong performance against Miami. Wake rolled, AGAIN, and even lowly Rutgers won a game. Now, without further ado, on to the games.

Washington 38 Purdue 26

The Huskies tried to give the game away, five turnovers is usually very highly correlated to losing, but Purdue had two turnovers of their own, went 1 for 4 on 4^th down, even though none were 4^th and forever (ha, ha, ha!), and two questionable calls late in the game both went Wahington’s way. The Boilermakers are 3-4, but every game left on the schedule except Indiana looks winnable, so a bowl game is a possibility and would be a significant improvement over the last three seasons.

#21 Wake Forest 41 California 7

I was at a party Saturday night, and we didn’t flip the channel to the Wake game until after the ND game ended and by the time we did the Deacs were up 27-0, time for another beer! Cal didn’t put star quarterback JKS, which stands for something with a lot of vowels in it, into the game until late in the 3^rd quarter when they were down by 41. That seems like an odd coaching decision. Don’t start him because he’s nursing an injury but send him in and risk further injury when the game has been decided? He did go 15/18 for 110 yards in mop up duty, but Wake Forest was in control all night and it was never close. After a week off UVA comes to Winston-Salem on Halloween night. The Deacs are ranked #17 and sporting a quiet confidence that serves them well; one game at a time boys, just keep doing it.

#4 Ohio State 19 #5 Indiana 15

This was the biggest college football game in Bloomington since the ’67 Purdue IU game with the Rose Bowl on the line, and it delivered. The 4^th down pass into the end zone with a minute to go may have secured the win for the Hoosiers, but the wide open receiver’s foot came down out of bounds and that was the game. It was the biggest win for the Buckeyes in Bloomington since 1996 when a 27-17 win prompted OSU fans to storm the field, tear down the goal posts (not kidding) in celebration of the immortal John Cooper’s win over IU and the upcoming trip to the Rose Bowl. IU had their chances, two missed fields goals, one off the upright and a 55 yarder that come up short left them needing a touchdown to win instead of a field goal. Ohio State won the game but lost starting QB Julian Sayin to a throwing arm injury for “several weeks”. Strangely, he was not replaced by sophomore and former five star recruit Tavien St. Clair but by freshman Luke Fahey. Both have excellent hair and don’t waste time going to class, so they’re well prepared, but it is a curious decision. It’s known that Michigan is in the market for another overpaid, underachieving five star QB, so maybe Bellefontaine, Ohio native St. Clair, which is between Zanesfield and Logansville, could make the leap to the school up north.

#6 Alabama 10 #14 Tennessee 26

Tate has tough time watching this game every year because it’s impossible for both teams to lose. I hope he wasn’t self-medicating with more Smirnoff Skittles and Little Ceasar’s.

If any of you kids with some time on your hands want to serve your fellow man, and possibly make some money, create an AI Keith Jackson. Google him, he’s the greatest broadcaster in college football history and a native of Roopville, Georgia; so he’s one of our boys and has the perfect accent and folksy expressions to call southern football, or any football for that matter. Make a voiceover of him calling the Tennessee game, copywrite it, if that’s possible, and sell it Vols fans and the athletic department. They’ll be showing clips of that on the jumbotron at Neyland Stadium for decades, Vols fans will use it as their ring tone, it will be all over the place. Then you’ll need to hire a good lawyer because I’ll be suing you for stealing my idea and profiting from it.

Alabama lost consecutive games for the first time since Saban’s first season. The Auburn game just got a lot more interesting, but two conference losses to teams that are ahead of them in the league standings may mean it’s Citrus Bowl time for Bama.  

Florida State 35 #3 Miami 43 (2OT)

No wide right this time, but FSU lost a heartbreaker and the Miami victory was aided by two questionable calls. The holding call on the first successful Hail Mary and the debatable interception call on the second. Questionable calls are part of the game, but it seems a bit suspicious that several games this year that ended on questionable calls went to the team that the bosses of the conference officials and replay officials calling the game would have wanted to win. Michigan over Western Michigan, Miami over FSU, and Big 12 officials calling the BYU Notre Dame game. Also, called or uncalled penalties on the field can’t be reviewed, except for targeting, but possession and time on the clock calls are routinely reviewed. Hmm . . .

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 WHAT YOU SHOWED ME, BILL: AND I'M STILL NOT SATISFIED

Belichick brought home the Victory Bell and showed Carolina fans something that matters. But elsewhere in North Carolina, another football program is demonstrating what comes next.

Well, I'll be damned. Bill Belichick showed me something else. And this time, it wasn't just about football.

Carolina went to Durham, beat Duke 24–20, and brought the Victory Bell back to Chapel Hill. But what impressed me most wasn't simply the victory. It was watching Belichick celebrate it. There he was, ringing that bell with his players, smiling like a man who understood that beating Duke meant something different to the people who love Carolina. He understood the assignment.

For a coach who has spent a lifetime treating football as a business of preparation, execution, and results, Saturday demonstrated something equally important: He cared about what mattered to Carolina fans. And I give him credit for that. I also give him credit for a team that refused to fold after surrendering a 17-point lead. Jaylen McGill's late touchdown and Kenton Dopson's game-sealing interception demonstrated a toughness Carolina football has too often lacked.

So, Bill, you showed me you could compete with Notre Dame. You showed me you could beat Pittsburgh. And now you've shown me you understand why beating Duke matters. Good.

Now show me you can beat a bad football team the way you're supposed to.

Because about 80 miles west of Chapel Hill, somebody is providing a pretty good demonstration.

Wake Forest is 6–1, nationally ranked, and absolutely dismantling opponents. The Demon Deacons embarrassed Stanford 57–3, handled NC State 38–14 in Raleigh, and traveled across the country to dispatch California 41–7. That's 136 points scored and just 24 surrendered over three games.

Readers of my previous column know how I feel about Carolina's institutional advantages over these typed. But I'll give credit where it's due. Jake Dickert has the Deacs playing some serious football (although, ranked higher than LSU?  I don't buy it).

Interestingly, Dickert and Belichick arrived at their respective North Carolina institutions at the same time. Both inherited programs needing direction, and both faced the realities of modern recruiting, NIL, and the transfer portal. And Wake is getting considerable production from quarterback Gio Lopez, who spent last season at Carolina before finding a new home in Winston-Salem.

Funny how this football business works. But that's a conversation for another day.

For now, the lesson is simpler. Good teams don't just find ways to win. They learn to win convincingly, especially when the opponent gives them the opportunity. Carolina has demonstrated resilience. Now it needs to demonstrate control.

So enjoy the Victory Bell, Bill. You've earned it. You've shown me that you understand Carolina a little more than I gave you credit for and that your players are learning how to finish. Now show me more.