BAHL Revere: The Color & Pageantry Top 25

College Football

Top 25

1. Clemson, 9-0, 2
2. Ohio State, 9-0, 1
3. Baylor, 8-0, 3
4. Oklahoma State, 9-0, 12
5. Notre Dame, 8-1, 7
6. Alabama, 8-1. 8
7. Louisiana State, 7-1, 5
8. Stanford, 8-1, 10
9. Iowa, 9-0, 11
10. Florida, 8-1, 9
11. Texas Christian, 8-1, 4
12. Oklahoma, 8-1, 13
13. Utah, 8-1, 14
14. North Carolina, 8-1, 20
15. Michigan State, 8-1, 6
16. Florida State, 7-2, 15
17. Houston, 9-0, 17
18. Michigan, 7-2, 18
19. Mississippi State, 7-2, 23
20. UCLA, 7-2, 24
21. Wisconsin, 8-2, NR
22. Northwestern, 7-2, NR
23. Navy, 7-1, NR
24. Southern Cal, 6-3, NR
25. Oregon, 6-3, NR

OUT: Memphis (16), Toledo, (19), Ole Miss (21), Temple (22) and Texas A&M (25)

VOTES: Memphis, Temple, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Washington State, Toledo, Brigham Young, California, Auburn, Georgia, Miami, North Carolina State and Pittsburgh.

FLORIDA STATE ANALYSIS

Deshaun Watson eludes Terrance Smith
Photo/NBCSports.com

Florida State traveled to Death Valley in Clemson SC to take on the highly ranked Tigers, and although it looked good for much of the game, the Seminoles fell to the powerful Tigers 23-13 after a late touchdown put the game away for Clemson. Florida State came in ready to play, with Dalvin Cook breaking loose for a 75 yard touchdown run on FSU's second play from scrimmage. Cook would finish with 194 yards rushing on 21 carries. FSU, leading 7-0, went down into the Tiger red zone on the next possession, thanks to another breakaway run by Cook, but quarterback Sean Maguire, making only his second start, threw an ill advised pass that was intercepted. The missed opportunity would end up being significant, and it highlights the lack of success this season the Seminoles have had in the red zone. Offensively, there were some nice catches, but the receiving core is not where it needs to be at this time. I was disappointed the coaches did not utilize Cook more often out of the backfield with screens, giving him an opportunity to break long gains in space. Up front, the line I thought did a fine job, as Clemson has a dominant from seven. Up front, the Seminoles did a decent job. Clemson DE Shaq Lawson had his moments, but the unit gave FSU a chance for balance and the chance to win. However, there was a period in the third quarter where the unit lost concentration and was hit with a series of dead ball procedure penalties. In a game like this, those execution failures are magnified exponentially. On the stop side, there is no doubt the Seminoles defensive unit performed very well. Clemson is considered a high powered offensive unit, with good reason, and for most of the evening they were held in check. The 'Noles were stout in the interior, with each of the tackles having heir moments. This group is young and will be a force moving forward, although upper classmen Niles Lawrence-Stample and Giorgio Newberry will be missed. Clemson did a lot of misdirection, and worked a lot of short passes to spread out the defense. Tiger quarterback Deshaun Watson is an emerging star. Watson made quite a few plays, some timely ones with his legs, and showed to poise for a sophomore. Derwin James, Marquez White, LaMarcus Brutus and Jalen Ramsey played well, and having Terrance Smith back helped. But the Tigers were resilient. Clemson did mount a touchdown with freshman sensation Deon Cain hauling in a touchdown grab. The Tigers got a late run, catching some defenders out of position, to gain the final score of 23-13. Clemson is a top flite football team, one certainly capable of winning the national championship. There is elite talent on each level both offensively and defensively. The young Seminoles, for a young team with an inexperienced quarterback and youthful receivers and offensive lineman, comported themselves quite well on the road against the #1 team in the nation. Good on Clemson. FSU is a very young team, and this may be the last time FSU loses (the game in a couple of weeks at Florida will be a tough one to be sure) for quite some time. As Bud Elliot of Tomahawk Nation appropriately noted, "I've covered Florida State wins and losses, and I've never seen Jimbo Fisher so proud of his team after a loss. That speaks to the knowledge that Clemson had a clearly superior team, and that Fisher's team is extremely young. He knows the future is bright". Indeed it is.

NEBRASKA ANALYSIS

Alex Gordon
Kansas City Royal OF
Former 'Husker All America OF
Photo/Huskers.com

Led in part by the stellar play of outfielder Alex Gordon, a former University of Nebraska All America baseball player, the Kansas City Royals won the 2015 World Series. A 432ft home run by Gordon was the pivotal play helping the Royals win game one. With the recent struggles of the Cornhusker football team, which appeared to consist of issues within the locker room, it became apparent the Nebraska football could learn quite a bit from the world champion Royals. Kansas City is a team which does all the little things, is principled in their beliefs with the players believing in each other and holding each other accountable. Accountability and teammate support seemed missing, particularly in the game last week at Purdue, which was a humiliating a loss as Nebraska has suffered in decades of moons. Seventh ranked Michigan State came to Lincoln with a chance to become a playoff team with veteran signal caller Conner Cook, who must have been chomping at the bit to fire passes against the 'Huskers woeful secondary. But, while perception if often reality, for those in the know Nebraska is a better team than their record, and play, would indicate. It is simply a matter of execution, and team that takes on the characteristics present with the Royals. Nebraska put it to Michigan State early, and had a chance to blow the game open. But Sparty is worthy of a champion, and Michigan State would come back to take a halftime lead. It would have been an appropriate time for the 'Huskers to fold, particularly if players veered toward individualism rather than the adoption of those Royal characteristics. Not so fast my friend. Nebraska played well across the board. Quarterback Tommie Armstrong almost gave the game away, with two very poor interceptions in the red zone tossed. But with Armstrong, most often the bad is far outweighed by the good. And on this night, a night with visible team enthusiasm, Armstrong was hero. Complimenting the passing efforts of Armstrong was a strong running game, a combined effort of Imani Cross, Terrell Newby and Andy Jankovich, along with Armstrong on some quarterback runs. The line, playing against some real fine players, perhaps had their best performance of the season, complete with Armstrong recognizing the time clicking on each play. As Armstrong said,"They got pushes. They had a sense of urgency and they had a different attitude."The receivers, led by Jordan Westerkamp and Alonzo Moore, were stellar. Westerkamp got crushed several times, but kept up his high level of play. Down by two scores late, Armstrong directed a brilliant Husker comeback. After posting a touchdown, Michigan State failed to record a first down and punted, downing the ball at the Nebraska 9. It what seemed impossible, Armstrong fired twice to Jordan Westerkamp, for gains of 28 and 33 yards. Then, Armstrong hit Brandon Reilly for a 30 yard score. Sparty had a chance afterward, but Nebraska stood tall and for only the second time in 40 years, an unranked 'Husker team beat a top ten team. In addition, it was the first win over a top ten team since Nebraska beat top ranked Oklahoma in 2001. This was a HUGE victory for Mike Riley and this team. They have taken a two by four to the forehead more than any team, and it took some intestinal fortitude to come out and battle this strong Spartan squad for 60 minutes. Perhaps these 'Huskers did steal a page from the Royals playbook, one which has the team working individually in support of one another. It was a total team effort at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska is not a 4-6 team, and showed that to Sparty and the nation. While the effort, and the win is sure something to celebrate, and we all did, the more important thing is to build upon this, and collect wins (inclusive of a bowl game for which at least more win is necessary) to set the stage for a run at the Big Ten Championship in 2016. #GBR