Week 12 of the 2022 College Football Season.

Ouch.

This post is being written to Brian Wilson’s 2015 release titled No Pier Pressure.

Four years ago this weekend, my dear wife, Carrie, and I were under this pier.

The Santa Monica Pier.

Indulge me one more time.  Going to the Rose Bowl to watch UCLA play USC with my Dad in 2016 and then taking Carrie in 2018 to see this iconic game in a more iconic stadium than any one I know, well, after the last few years, it means that much more.

Pretty darn cool.

Yes, UCLA hosts USC in the Rose Bowl with fans for the first time since Carrie and I were there.  The game will be televised by FOX at 8 PM EDT.   We will be watching.

Last week’s picks were not memorable.  So, this week:

Pitt beats Duke…Yes, I am for the Dukies.  But the weather?  Might play a factor.

Michigan beats Illinois…The last warm-up before going to visit Brutus.

Purdue beats Northwestern…As the Boilermakers look for a trip to Indy for Big Ten Champ Game.

Nebraska beats Swissconsin…Yes, you are correct.  I can’t stand Bucky.

Notre Dame beats Boston College…Where have you gone, David Gordon?  I was lying on a couch in the house across from Hancock Chapel Church, where I lived with my old friend Malcolm “Corner King” Lincoln.  In 1993, David Gordon kicked a 41-yard field goal for BC that took down a #1 ranked Notre Dame team.  I jumped off the couch.  I did not know there was a sturdy, faulty spring hanging out of the section that was under my left arm at the time.  When I jumped up, my left arm felt a tug.  The scar is still there.  I can show it to you.  Stitches were probably needed.   There was more college football to watch that day.

Georgia beats Kentucky…Imagine, what would happen if, oh, never mind.

NC State beats Louisville…I know U of L is a darling right now.  How is Cunningham?  It won’t matter.  NC State is the better team and they will find themselves in Cardinal Stadium feeling unabashed.

Iowa beats Minnesota…Yes, I am a glutton for punishment.  But I still love those Iowa boys.  Great place.  Great coach.  Go Hawkeyes!

North Carolina beats Georgia Tech… Drake Maye. If this played in the SEC he would already be handed the Heisman Trophy.  You heard it here.  Watch.

Auburn beats Western Kentucky… Right?

Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma… He’s a man!  He’s 40!  Bedlam.  I don’t want to imagine college football with it.  Watch while you can.  Dollars are winning over tradition.

Ole Miss beats Arkansas… Lane Kiffin, if you have a brain, you will hang with Oxford!  Have you been to Auburn lately?

Wake Forest beats Syracuse…The Deacons don’t lose this one at home.

UCLA beats USC… I would love to be there again.  Look, I have been to many college football stadiums.  I have seen 73 of the FBS teams play in person.  Walking into the Rose Bowl the first time with my Dad, and spending time on the field there in an empty Rose Bowl the second trip, thanks to some kind folks, did something to me.  A child of the Big Ten who dreamed of seeing his Indiana Hoosiers play there one day, I got there myself.  Few places live up to the hype.  The Rose Bowl Stadium exceeded my dreams. Not many dreamers can say that.

Watching my Dad walk into that tunnel is an indelible image for me.

Go Bruins!

Speaking the Rights.

Danny Johnson

First things first.  The important things.  

This morning we lost a legend.  Mr. Jim.  That is what my second cousin, Camden Fulton, from Mississippi called Jim Nolot when he came up to Indiana to do some deer hunting a few years ago.  Mr. Jim. I enjoyed listening to the two of them going back and forth in meaningful conversation.  Priceless.

When I had learned that Jim Nolot, who had been ill for some time, left us, I thought about the last time we played golf together.  There were a bunch of us.  Jim was the common denomintor that got all of us there.  Breakfast and bad golf.  Not a bad way to spend half the day.  I can still hear Jim telling anyone standing still about the putt I made on #12 at Lucas Oil Golf Course.

“You should have seen Danny’s putt.  We were playing in the same foursome.  On number 12 he had a putt role in from more than 40 feet.  It was a double breaker that slowed just right and fell in the hole.  It was a heck of a putt.”

Thank you, Jim.  You will be missed.  Peace to your wonderful family.  Too many to mention.  I hate leaving anyone out.  But I will mention your wife, Pam.  You were two peas in a pod.

Writing about which football team is going to win tomorrow is rather meaningless right now, after writing the paragraphs above.  But it is what we do.  I think Jim would want all of us to keep doing what we do.  He led that way.

Arkansas beats LSU…Last week I picked Notre Dame to beat Clemson.  I thought they would.  I didn’t think it would be a Tiger-kicking contest.

Tennessee beats Navy…Annoying as they are, the Vols will win.

Pitt beats Virginia…I could have sworn these two already played twice this year.  That’s ACC football for you.

Illinois beats Purdue…The Illini won’t get beat by Purdue, will they?

Michigan State beats Rutgers…Sparty is at home this week and next against the Hoosiers.

Kentucky beats Vandy…The Wildcats are still having a decent season.  The Anchor Boys won’t get in the way of that.

Duke beats Virginia Tech…The Dukies are shockers this year.

Ole Miss beats Alabama…Sorry, Brother Tim and Brother Virg.  The Rebs are for real. Running, passing, and hopefully tackling.

NC State beats Boston College…The Wolfpack haven’t lost in Carter-Finley Stadium in a long while.

Clemson beats Louisville…Howard’s Rock will be rubbed down.  Hope the Cards pull the upset.

Penn State beats Maryland…I thought ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky was seriously in love when the Nittany Lions played the second string QB last week.

Michigan beats Nebraska…We are all waiting for Michigan and Ohio State in a couple weeks.

Florida beats South Carolina…The Gators don’t lose this at home.

Georgia beats Mississippi State…Have you seen the DAWGS lately?

Last week saw 11 winners and 3 losers.

We lost a whole lot more this morning.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

First things first.  10 winners and 4 losers last week.  I hope that winning trend continues.

Last week my dear wife, Carrie, and I were in Huntington, West Virginia to watch the Marshall Thundering Herd take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.

I will be the first to tell you a visit to Joan C. Edwards Stadium is a treat.  The atmosphere is fun.  Folks are glad to be there.  Even when the team is getting beat, folks are much more respectful and entertaining here than any other stadium I have ever been to.

The Herd got beat 24-13 to a tough one loss Coastal team.

Great sky before the game.

The Herd moving the ball.

The Chants moving the ball and scoring.

On to this week’s picks!

Florida beats Texas A&M… Florida is due and the Aggies are a wreck.

Purdue beats Iowa…Noon kick at Purdue.  Iowa can’t score.  Can they?

Kentucky beats Mizzou…The Cats will be a fierce bunch in Columbia.

Minnesota beats Nebraska…Goldy shells the Cornhuskers.

North Carolina beats Virginia…Tar Heels keep rolling.

Ohio State beats Northwestern…Yuckeyes.

Illinois beats Michigan State…Just how hard are the one loss Illini kicking themselves for getting beat by Indiana?

Pitt beats Syracuse…The Orange can’t keep this up.

Georgia beats Tennessee…So fast Vols!

Alabama beats LSU…Two losses for Bama before Ole Miss?  Never!

Mississippi State beats Auburn…The Auburn dumpster fire lives!

Notre Dame beats Clemson…Every now and then there really is something to that “Wake up the Echoes” song.  That’s why they keep singing it.

Louisville beats James Madison…Cards at home after the stunner against Wake and good NCAA news.  Good stuff keeps going.

UCLA beats Arizona State…Will be Bruins make it to the Big Ten?

I took this one a couple days ago on the walking trail.  Autumn’s golden gown is here for us to kick our way.  My apologies to Jeff Wayne.

I will be in Bloomington tomorrow with this guy!

This is a photo from our last foray on Bloomington before the Hoosiers played Michigan in 2019.  Let’s hope Indiana fares better against the boys from Penn State tomorrow. Yes, that is my UCLA hoodie under my IU pancho.  It was just a matter of time.

Enjoy the weekend.  Don’t forget to set those clocks back!

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

It is back to The Joan on the campus of Marshall University.  Joan C. Edwards Stadium will see the Marshall Thundering Herd take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers.  The last time Carrie and I were in The Joan was to see Louisiana Tech take on The Herd on November 16, 2019.  It was a cold night.  The Herd whipped Tech.

It was indeed a night for layers.

Ironically enough, we have a night game again.  Kickoff is at 7 PM.

This week’s College Football action kicks off in about a half an hour.  I need to get on it!

First, congrats to the Brownstown Central Braves for giving Triton Central a game last night when no one expected the Braves to be anywhere near the competition.  Triton came in ranked 4 in 3A.  BC came in on crutches.  The Braves held their own on Elm Street and ended their season 6-5.

On to today’s picks.

Last week my prognostication was disastrous, not unlike Indiana’s performance against Rutgers.

Arkansas beats Auburn…Even on the plains.

Florida State beats Georgia Tech…The Ramblin Wreck in a wreck.

Ohio State beats Penn State…The Nittany Lions only hope for a win is me picking Brutus.

Minnesota beats Rutgers…Goldy is happy to be home.

Illinois beats Nebraska…And to think, Indiana beat Illinois.

Wake Forest beats Louisville…The Demon Deacons will gain more yards than Air Coryell.

Northwestern beats Iowa…The wheels are off in Iowa City.  U-G-L-Y is the Iowa battle cry.

South Carolina beats Mizzou…The other USC is golden at home.  No one else wants to play there.

Marshall beats Coastal Carolina…I want to see the team that beat Notre Dame tonight.  Coastal Carolina, a team I have never seen, was ranked coming into the season.

Tennessee beats Kentucky.…Go Cats.

USC beats Arizona…Tommy Trojan likes the dry air.

Ole Miss beats Texas A & M…Kyle Field will be loud.  Those folks in Texas know they know more than the visitors from Mississippi.  Sure they do.

Michigan beats Michigan State…Poor Sparty.  The respect-a-meter is down this year.

UCLA beats Stanford…The Bruins in the Rose Bowl for a night game.  Be still my beating heart.

P.S.  I was never a great fan of ESPN’s College Football Gameday.  When Desmond Howard laughs he sounds like a whacked-out Ace Frehley.   I didn’t think anything could put me off more, until Pat McAfee walked onto the set.  Justin Hayward sang it.  “We’re living in Strange Times.”

Speak the rights!

Danny Johnson

Last night the North Harrison Cougars closed out a successful varsity football season.  Seven wins and three defeats.  The older I get the faster football season comes and goes.  I don’t like that. This team was fun to watch.  A good bunch of guys.

Friday Night Lights certainly have their place.

The west endzone has always been my favorite end of the field.

The turf stayed true all season.  That was nice.  It took a long to get a decent playing surface on this field.   Glad it finally made it.

Lonely bale on the fringe.

A nice natural tunnel on my walking trail.  This too is here and gone in a hurry.  But it sure is cool.

A calm Blue River.

Fall in Southern Indiana.

Too soon they will all be sticks.

There are a few cows if you dare look into the light.

Look, if I can’t pick college football games with any more success than I have the last three weeks, at least I can share a few pictures!

Rutgers kicking an extra point against Indiana last year in the safest place in America.

And this was before folks left at halftime!

Today the Hoosiers are at Rutgers.  That would mean Piscataway, New Jersey.  Ah yes, Big Ten Country in all its Glory!

Well, here we go with week 8 picks.

Indiana beats Rutgers…If there was ever a must win for Indiana, this is the one.  If the Hoosiers lose this one, well, I don’t want to talk about it.

Clemson beats Syracuse…The pick I hope goes South.  Syracuse can’t keep this up.  Can they?

Miami beats Duke…Another one I hope to miss.  This is a Miami isn’t it?  The boys from Durham may be distracted.

Wake Forest beats Boston College…The SAT is trickling from college requirement to the politics of high schools these days.  I’d take some these players’ SAT and ACT scores and put them up against any other two teams playing today.

Maryland beats Northwestern…The Wildcats have been limping all season.  The Terps win.

UCLA beats Oregon…The old coach goes back to the old school.  This is always a great scenario.  Chip Kelly lose to the Ducks?  Never!  Go UCLA!

Arizona State beats Stanford…I know.  Stanford beat Notre Dame.  Well, so did Marshall.

Mizzou beats Vandy…Vandy is better this year.

Alabama beats Hail State… I think.  Could be a good one.

Penn State beats Minnesota…The boys from Happy Valley will be ready to improve over last week’s Michigan debacle.

South Carolina beats Texas A&M…The Aggies love the Kyle Field advantage.  The hole South Carolina plays in works against the Aggies.

Pitt beats Louisville…Hope I am wrong here.  The Cards have yet to find their team.

Washington beats Cal…Penix throws five touchdown passes, of course.

UCF beats East Carolina…John Rhys Plumlee can dance!

Enjoy and speakthe rights!

Danny Johnson

Why do I hear Dolly Parton singing 9 to 5?

Last week was the third week in a row I was betrayed by some of the teams I picked to win and yes, 9 winners and 5 losers.  Of course, I did leave the Hoosiers out of the mix last week.  This ole Homer will never pick against the Hoosiers.  I can, however, defer.  In earnest I was proud of the Indiana Hoosiers effort last week against the 4th ranked Michigan Wolverines.  The score was 10-10 at halftime.  The game is based on two halves.  With that said, we know Indiana was bested in the second half.  Still, they played hard and they are making progress.  This week things will get better for the Hoosiers.  They will beat Maryland.

This week:

Ole Miss beats Auburn…The Rebels are having a great season and that will not be lost this week.  Look for the Rebs to score 40.

Illinois beats Minnesota…The Illini are a fun team to watch and they are ranked in the Top 25.  Their only loss?  The season opener against the Indiana Hoosiers.

Michigan beats Penn State…The Wolverines will bounce back in a big way against the Nittany bunch.  After Michigan waded through the Hoosiers for a half, they will be ready to play.

Alabama beats Tennessee…A Top 10 matchup that should be a good one.  Are the Vols poised to take one from Bama?  I don’t think so.

Indiana beats Maryland…The Hoosiers have a new O-Line Coach and he is a Mallory Man.  That can’t hurt anything.

NC State beats Syracuse…The Wolfpack still have a great deal to play for.

Georgia beats Vandy…Yes, I too am bestowed a cupcake now and again.

Washington beats Arizona…The Huskies look to avenge a loss to that other Arizona team.

Florida beats LSU…In the Swamp?  Can LSU lose two in a row?  Yes.  Yes they can.  Gators make Coach Kelly ache again.

Mississippi State beats Kentucky...The Offense for Coach Mike Leach’s Cowbell Gang will be too much for the Wildcats.  Kentucky won’t be able to keep up.

Purdue beats Nebraska…The Boilermakers are doing better.

North Carolina beats Duke…The Tar Heels have hit their stride.  This is a football game, by the way.

USC beats Utah…USC has to try to keep up with UCLA.  Last week the Bruins beat Utah 42 to 32 and it was not that close.  College football is better when these future Big Ten teams from LA are doing well.

Clemson beats Florida State…Clemson is enjoying their good times that once belonged to the Seminoles when Bobby Bowden was coaching in Tallahassee.

Hope all are safe and sound.  Enjoy your weekend!

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Can we be in week six of College Football already?  

Say it isn’t so!

Last week was another exercise in futility for picking games.  Two consecutive weeks now of 9 winners and 5 losers.

Hopefully things will be better this week.

Wish we had more time to chat.  Need to get straight to the picks.

Mississippi State beats Arkansas…The Cowbells are louder than Pig-Sooooie!

Florida beats Mizzou…Gators all the way.

Purdue beats Maryland…Will the real Purdue Boilermakers please stand up!

Oklahoma beats Texas…Classic matchup.  Texas is struggling and so is OK.

Tennessee beats LSU…Will the TIgers be ready at 11 AM?  I don’t think so.  TV setting start times spit on tradition.  This is a night game if there ever was one.

Georgia beats Auburn…Rumor has it I will be coaching Auburn next year.

UCLA beat Utah…The Bruins are 5-0 and ranked and rolling.

Ole Miss beats Vandy…Hope that scoreboard in Nashville has new bulbs in it.

Pitt beats Virginia Tech...Panthers look good this week.

Ohio State beats Michigan State…The Buckeyes may score 50.

Illinois beats Iowa…This is my only hope of a Hawkeye win.

UK beats South Carolina…Wildcats played Santa Claus and helped Ole Miss make the Top 10.

USC beats Washington State…Could be a good one.

Washington beats Arizona State…Penix has another fine outing, of course.

That all the time we have today, boys and girls.

Keep speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

How’s it going, group?

Hope all are doing well.

College Football will be a treat this weekend.  There are many great games featuring a few conference tilts that are bound to be entertaining.

Last week was not kind to the picks.  9 winners and 5 losers.    The season total is 41 winners and 15 losers.

Speaking of losing.  C’mon, Marshall!  You beat  Notre Dame in South Bend and turn around and lose to Bowling Green and Troy the next two weeks.   Gardner Webb comes calling to Huntington this week.  The Herd better win this one.

Ole Miss beats Kentucky…The Rebs offense will be in high gear and the Cats will have a hard time keeping up.  UK QB Will Levis is the best in the country.  Good luck in showing me another player who means more to his team.

Louisville beats Boston College…The Cards gave USF a beating last week.  That momentum on offense continues.

Michigan beats Iowa...There is nothing much better than watching these two Big Ten teams go at it.  Put these two uniforms on the field and you can’t lose as a fan.  See how they run.

Minnesota beats Purdue…Goldy is on a roll.

Alabama beats Arkansas…Roll Tide will do exactly that.

Penn State beats Northwestern…The Wildcats are having a tough time.  The Nittany Lions will take care of the ball and win a hard fought game.

Mississippi State beats Texas A & M…Coach Mike Leach will keep the Aggie defense guessing and will fool them one too many times.

Washington State beats Cal…The Cougars have won some good ones and loss a tough one against Oregon last week.  They get Cal.

Auburn beats LSU…How pathetic is it that so much attention is given to who will replace Bryan Harsin as head coach at Auburn.  Folks talk about that more than they talk about the game they are playing this week.  That should be a BEWARE for any coach.

Indiana beats Nebraska…The Hoosiers need this one.  Connor Bazelak will lead the Hoosiers in a game that sees fewer defensive lapses while the offense protects the ball.      2-0 in the conference sounds pretty good.  Yes, I am a homer!

Duke beats Virginia…I picked the Dukies over Kansas last week.  Duke played them tough in Lawrence.  They were just a few plays away.  They will make those plays this week.

Pitt beats Georgia Tech…The Rambling Wreck in indeed a wreck.

NC State beats Clemson…The biggest game the ACC will see in the regular season.

USC beats Arizona State…The Men of Troy are getting better and better on offense.

Have a great weekend all!  Enjoy the pigskin.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

This evening I walked to this album.  The 1974 Electric Light Orchestra classic title Eldorado.

Lights.  Lights make a picture.  In my concert going life I have seen some interesting lights.  Pink Floyd in 1987 at Rupp Arena.  The lasers going crazy.

Roger Waters’ 2017 show at The Yum Center.  The former Pink Floyd frontman always puts on a spectacle.

This was quite interesting.  The take on their Animals album cover.

Wish You Were Here.

And the Jeff Lynne ELO show in Nashville in 2019 was over the top.

This was really something to soak up.  The sights and sounds.  Jeff Lynne is the most gifted creative musical talent I have ever witnessed.  I believe that.

But, I believe this was better.  This was on my walk this evening as I listened to Jeff Lynne and ELO’s 1974 offering Eldorado.

I was delighted to catch a leaf in a fence.  It was waiting for me.

My own natural light show.  The only problem was there was nobody there to share it with.  I suppose that is why we are here now.

I tend to take time to look at these closely after I have discovered them.

I discovered a few turkeys.  This one was flying.

This guy was strutting, of course.

If only I had kept my composure when I came upon a deer not far from the photo below.

I know how fleeting this time of the year is.  Leaves turn.  The walnut tree leaves go first.  The sycamore is close behind.  We look up and see yellows, reds, and golds of autumn flying around in all their glory.  A strong north wind will show up in late October or early November and, like a thief in the night, we wake up to find our lovely trees have betrayed us only to tease us one more time.  They have their own way of telling us they will be back in full measure once again.  They tell us to be patient.  We are not like that.

So, we listen to our music.  We watch the lights come and go.

And through it all, we walk it off!

This was given to me by a dear old friend on my 40th birthday.

Look. Listen. Take it in.

Speaking the rights.

Danny Johnson

Oh my.

Sometimes we just know.  Had a student walk up to my desk this morning.  His name is Sawyer.  He runs the ball for the North Harrison High School Football team.  He had a look that indicated he was looking to run for 300 yards tonight in the homecoming game against Eastern (Pekin).

A Good Homecoming Crowd

The Cougars shook off an early opening TD drive by Eastern and took control.

This extra point made it 43-12.

I just got home from the game a little while ago.  No.  Sawyer did not run for 300 yards.  He did run for a bunch.  The result of the game was golden for the North Harrison Cougars.

FINAL SCORE:  North Harrison Cougars  50            Eastern Musketeers  12

North needed a win.  It is always nice to get a “W” on homecoming night.  After starting the season 3-0, the next two games were rough.  We were defeated by a strong Charlestown team and lost one to a Brownstown Central team with far less talent on the field than North possesses.  It was just not North’s night.  I hate to complain about refs.  But when a North Harrison receiver gets pushed in the back in the endzone and a blind zebra to attend to nothing, you know it is going to be a long night.  I’d say it was the same blind zebra who called a touchdown pass incomplete.

Last week was a tough one to take.  Losing to Brownstown Central always turns my stomach.  We don’t have time to get into all of that.

On to this week’s College Football Picks.

The Herd let me down last week.  Beat the Irish at Notre Dame and lose to the Facon at Bowling Green.  I have been to Notre Dame Stadium.  It is imposing.  I have seen Bowling Green’s stadium along Interstate 75 travelling toward Toledo.  The place looks like high school stadium in comparison.  That’s why we watch this crazy game.  We just don’t know what is going to happen.

10-4.  That was the number last week.  For the season that makes 32 winners picked and 10 losers picked through the first three solid weeks of college football.

Let’s see how things play out this week.

Indiana beats Cincinnati…The Hoosiers find a way to score early for a change.

A Hoosier PAT against the UC Bearcats last year.

Mississippi State beats Bowling Green…State needs to light up the scoreboard.

Wake Forest beats Clemson…It is at Wake’s cracker box.  I just have a feeling.

Duke beats Kansas…I know.  Kansas is on a roll and the stadium is sold out.  It’s too good to be true if you are a Jayhawk fan.

Michigan beats Mayland…The Wolverines will throw for a mile.

Louisville beats South Florida…I hate to put a coach on the spot.  But this feels like the one we will look back when it comes to Coach Satterfield’s future at U of L.

UCLA beats Colorado…The Bruins will find a bigger crowd in Boulder than they are getting in The Rose Bowl in Pasadena.  I got an email from UCLA today advertising a ticket to the Washington game and a game T-shirt for just 24 bucks.  I’d give 50 bucks just to sit in The Rose Bowl for four hours.

Florida beats Tennessee…Can the Vols really be this good?  I don’t think so.

Ole Miss beats Tulsa…The Rebs are rolling.

Iowa beats Rutgers…The Hawkeyes need this one.  And they need to find their offensive playbook too.

Marshall beats Troy…A Sunbelt Conference game.  Marshall gets it done in their conference debut.

Kentucky beats Northern Illinois…The Cats play everybody.  Next week the head to Oxford to play the Rebs.  Looking forward to that one.

USC beats Oregon State…The Men of Troy have a nice offense.

Washington beats Stanford…The Michael Penix reboot is alive and well.  Good for him and the Huskies.

That is it.  Getting late at my house.  Hope all have a great and safe weekend.

Speaking the rights…

Danny Johnson