NCAA Week 12: Good Snark Bad Snark
Published on 20-Nov-2017 by Alan Adamsson
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When a sport has a kajillion teams across three divisions, it's better than even money that something wacky will happen somewhere.
And on those vanilla weekends when not much of note is occuring on the field, we merely need to look at the antics near it.
Turns out a certain Sooner slinger should think twice before telling others how he really feels.
Bummer, really.
- First of all, when it comes to entertainment, we need villains. That's just the way it is. Baker Mayfield's fills the bill in a relatively harmless way.
- Secondly, dude gets played for a sucker, and he's the one in trouble.
- Thirdly, if ever he missed a true moment, it was after the coin flip at Kansas.
Assuming those two munchkins weren't in on the Jayhawks' no-touchie scheme, Mayfield shoulda turned to them like he does to secondary receivers and shook their hands.
Now, that woulda flipped the script.
Instead, dude fell for the Kansas captains' dastardly plan of upsetting him to the point of dulling his performance.
Gotta say, it worked for a half.
- The Kansas defense forced Oklahoma's high-octane offense into four three-&-outs;
- Mayfield was making poor decisions in his choice of route-runners; and
- He was 7-13 for a mere 105 yards.
Clearly, the Sooner coaches righted his senses during the intermission, they completed the 41-3 thrashing that everyone expected. Still no one expected this:
So now, Mayfield doesn't get to be a captain on Senior Day in Norman and will not start the game against West Virginia.
That'll probably hold if or unless the Mountaineers jump out to a lead.
After all was said and done, then, here's the moral of the story: Kansas covered.
Good Snark: Helmet catch in traffic ... When a QB's tosses aren't quite on the mark, it helps to have acrobatic receivers who won't be denied.
It's not often one of them is a tight end navigating heavy traffic, but Indiana's Ryan Wattercutter is a former walk-on who takes nothing for granted:
Bad Snark: Shoulda copied Mayfield ... Virginia WR Doni Dowling forgot pass-catching Rule No 1: catch the ball with your hands.
Rule No 2: if not, use them to protect soft tissue. Otherwise ... well, let's just say it coulda been worse.
Good Snark: Speaking of not being denied ... A key reason for Iowa State's hot season is WR Hakeem Butler understanding that surprising teams need super efforts. Dude delivers:
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With a catch like that, Butler could be the Cyclones' version of Yasiel Puig.
Bad Snark: Bad math ...Here's the latest case against chasing points too early, even though there was just over a minute left in the game.
In short, the Iowa Hawkeyes were warping perspective, to their detriment:
Strange things can happen in football, but not if you don't give them a shot at popping up.
Good Snark: Coaching deke? ... Then there's Washington's Chris Petersen, whose Huskies had just rallied with a last-minute drive to tie Utah, 30-30. Their defense got a three-&-out, and all-time punt return TD leader Dante Pettis called for a fair catch on the Washington 27.
Did Peterson pwn Utah coach Kyle Whittingham into thinking the Huskies were just gonna run out the regulation seconds and head for overtime? If so, Whittingham took the bait.
Petersen's got too much class to show up a fellow coach, so we'll never know his intent.
As a dude known for trick plays, though, that first-down run may have been the most subtle of them all.
Bad Snark: Who didn't see this coming? ... With the much-unloved Butch Jones sent packing after getting smashed, 51-17, at lowly Missouri, hope ran rampant that the players would rally to the news with an uplifting effort against LSU.
With Brady Hoke being named interim coach?
Who's next? Charlie Weis?
Good Snark: The knuckleball move ... Legendary baseball bumbler Bob Uecker had a sureproof method for catching those weaving and darting knuckleballs.
I'd wait for it to stop rolling and pick it up.
Wisconsin punt returner Nick Nelson must've figured that'd work in football, too:
That's the way to conclude a regular season.
On to Indianapolis.
Bad Snark: End of an era ... The Idaho Vandals began playing football in 1893 and were members of what would ultimately become the Pac-12 until 1958.
But circumstances finally caught up with them. With Washington State's campus only six miles away and Boise State rising from community college to Other Five power, there was just no place for street-fightin' Vandals.
Since the Sun Belt Conference booted them for travel-expense reasons, the Vandals are gonna be the first FBS team to drop down to the FCS next season, joining the Big Sky Conference.
They'll obviously be taking the Kibbie Dome with them.
Ironically, their last home game was a loss to Coastal Carolina, 13-7, in the FBS' smallest venue: 16,500 capacity.
The Chanticleers have moved in the other direction, up from the FCS. They'll now inherit the distinction of playing in the FBS' smallest venue. Brooks Stadium's due for an upgrade, but for now, it seats 15,000.
Snarkalicious: Full of grace ... Full marks to the Stony Brook Seawolves for finishing a 9-2 season -- 7-1 in conference -- and making a strong statement for a high seed in the NCAA's real Division I football championship.
Here's how QB Joe Carbone and Harrison Jackson pulled out a last-second, 20-19 triumph over Maine:
Maybe next season, Idaho will join them in the bracket.