Randy Smith
Who'da thought one weekend could cause such great turmoil in college football? I didn't. I knew this deep into the season there would be some upsets but never in my life did I think that there would be this many. For the first time in more than thirty years, the number two, three and four teams in the country all lost. Since all of them bit the dust on the same day it likely doesn't hurt as badly. All three are still alive for the College Football Playoffs but the show tonight on ESPN should be eye opening to say the least.
I would have never thought Clemson would lose to an unranked opponent on the Tigers home turf.
However Clemson has flirted with disaster all season long. Eventually those close calls would catch up with them and on Saturday they did. Pittsburgh led by former Tennessee quarterback Nathan Peterman got the job done as Pitt scored a 43-42 win in "Death Valley." The loss by Clemson overshadowed a great statistical day for Tiger quarterback Deshaun Watson, who completed 52 of 70 passes for 600 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw three picks in the game, which led to the Tigers demise.
Michigan also lost on Saturday, dropping a 14-13 decision at Iowa. The Hawkeyes led most of the way until Michigan took a 13-11 lead in the fourth quarter. Like Clemson, Michigan blew a chance to run the clock out by not picking up first down yardage. Like Pittsburgh, Iowa drove down the field and kicked a last second field goal for the win. The loss exposed some weakness in the Michigan offense, as the Wolverines had not played the toughest schedule in the country going into the game.
Washington also lost last week, being edged 26-13 by Southern Cal on their home turf. USC led from the beginning of this one as the Trojans stopped the nation's number two scoring offense.
All three teams were knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten, leaving just top-ranked Alabama all alone at the top. While those other three teams were being upset, 'Bama was thrashing Mississippi State 51-3, which brings up the question.......Can anyone in the country beat the Crimson Tide?. The answer is yes, though it may not happen. Alabama is so good, so well-coached and so well-balanced it's really hard to imagine anybody being able to beat them. It's not going to happen in the SEC, as after playing UTC, 'Bama will have Auburn at home, and then either Tennessee or Florida in the SEC Championship Game. Regardless of which team they face, they will be a double-figure favorite.
The happenings of last weekend have opened the door for teams with just one loss to get back in the playoff conversations. Louisville being one, and Ohio State being another. Which also means that expanding the playoffs is back in those conversations as well. In a perfect world with four unbeaten teams you have a perfect scenario for a four team playoff. But that hasn't happened yet, won't happen this year and will probably never happen. The College Football Playoff Committee needs to seriously look at expanding within the next few years. That's the only way to make it more fair than it is now.
Who'da thought?
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have five grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, Mattingly, DellaMae, and CoraLee.