This photo was taken at Wake Forest in 2008. The Ole Miss Rebels were taking on the Demon Deacons. This was also the weekend that left us with an adventure as we left Indiana after school Friday. Hurricane Hannah was wreaking havoc. We went any way. There was an Ole Miss game to see. The irony is that as we were watching this under clear skies in Winston-Salem, thirty miles down the road in Greensboro, they were getting ten inched of rain. I always tell my mother the rain has to stop and start somewhere.
The Ole Miss Rebels play the Kentucky Wildcats in Oxford on Saturday. On three occasions I have seen these two play in Lexington. The Rebs got the Wildcats in 2001 when Eli Manning was a sophomore. My Aunt Barbara came up for that one. In 2006, my dear wife, Carrie, and I left at halftime after the Rebs had 4th and half a yard on the Wildcat 23-yard line in the final minutes of the first half. The QB turned around and pitched the ball back to BenJarvis Green-Ellis, a former Indiana player, six yards behind the line of scrimmage for a two-yard loss. I couldn’t stay. UK won. In 2011, I went with my father-in-law to Lexington. UK won again. The Rebs have pretty much owned the Wildcats in Oxford. I hope that trend continues.
The Indiana Hoosiers will take on the Maryland Terps for win number five. That would be 5-0 for the first time since 1967. I was born a couple months after that team played in The Rose Bowl. This is a big one. And they are only going to get bigger. No, Coach Cig is not going to get his 50,000 fans in Memorial Stadium on a rainy day like we had for the 14-10 poncho-soaked upset of Michigan in 1987. If the Hoosiers beat Maryland today and Northwestern next week, Indiana has a week off and fans will have two weeks to gather their spot in Memorial Stadium to see a 6-0 Hoosier team take on Nebraska. We shouldn’t be able to get anyone in the stadium with a shoehorn if the Hoosiers come in 6-0, for no other reason than historic value.
Last week the picks went 12 winners and 2 losers. Season total 46 winners and ten losers. Eight of those came in week 2.
On to this week’s picks:
Ole Miss beats Kentucky… Jaxson Dart does it again. Look for the Rebs to score fast and often in Oxford. The Rebs won last week and dropped in the poll. Those things matter.
Indiana beats Maryland… 5-0. Say it with me! 5-0! This is Indiana Football we are talking about.
Michigan beats Minnesota… Goldy comes to The Big House and it will play out as usual.
Nebraska beats Purdue… The Huskers lost a heartbreaker in Lincoln last week to the Illini in OT. The Corn boys will admire the fields and crops around West Lafayette and grow a few points of their own at Ross-Ade.
Tulane beats South Florida… The Green Wave had made strides in their football program the last few years. Tip of the cap to them today!
Louisville beats Notre Dame… I think the ball will bounce the way of the Cards today. They beat the Irish in Louisville last year. Coach Jeff Brohm won’t tell you this, but winning a game in Notre Dame Stadium is a trophy for the heart and mind and memory.
Arkansas beats Texas A & M… Am I this crazy? Yes, I am. The Hogs are not a bad team, and they are getting better every week.
Oklahoma beats Auburn… The Sooners put a number on Coach Freeze who is starting to thaw.
USC beats Wisconsin… Games like these are Rose Bowls being played in the middle of the season. These are matchups I will be able to enjoy for a couple of years.
Texas beats Mississippi State… Will Arch start this week? How bad is State anyway? Toledo came to Starkville and collected a check will leaving a butt-whipping on the Bulldogs. Are the cow bells getting rusty?
Duke beats North Carolina… Last week Coach Brown asked his players if they had quit on him? He didn’t frame it that way, but that was the question. UNC game up 70 points last week to James Madison and Curt Cignetti was coaching the Hoosiers that day.
Clemson beats Stanford... This is an ACC classic! Standford in the ACC. Strange times indeed.
Alabama beats Georgia… Yes. I think so. Biggest game of the season so far. UGA struggled vs. UK. Bama has a great deal to prove, and this one is on their turf. Look for Coach Smart to take off that visor and throw it down in the third quarter.
Penn State beats Illinois… The Illini is a confident bunch. How good in Ole Miss? Illinois’ QB Luke Altmeyer transferred from Ole Miss. Altmeyer has ten TD passes and 0 interceptions. If I were a great QB prospect, I would look for Lane Kiffin.
The weather has been brutal the last couple of days. Wind and rain and I don’t know what all. Things are tough for a great many folks right now in places of the country I have visited time and time again. My heart aches for them. Makes sitting here blowing off about college football seem meaningless. Still, it is what I do each week of the season and there is that “keep pressing onward” sensibility that, if I am going to preach, I better practice. That’s what we all do really. We keep pressing onward. F. Scott Fitzgerald knew what he was talking about when he alluded to boats against the current to the end. He wasn’t thinking about Daisy Buchanan or Jay Gatsby. He was thinking about all of us.
Speaking the rights and looking for the Hoosiers to go 5-0…
Danny Johnson