Who’s your daddy now?

It was a weekend when the so-called experts were so very sure the Fighting Irish would finally expose Miami, teach the ‘Canes what playing a real football team entailed. And were proven oh so very wrong in the Chain vs. Rosary battle to the tune of Miami 41 Notre Dame 8.

Who advised you in advance what was really going to happen? Need I say his name? I don’t think so.

It was a weekend when Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs were going to steam roll Toomer’s Corner, proving they deserved the #1 ranking, but were gobsmacked 40-17.

Who advised in advance that toilet paper would be a flyin’ in Roy Moore Country? Need I say his name? I don’t think so.

He’s the same dude who assured you the Badgers were real, when skeptics were saying it was time for a Hawkeye comeuppance. The same prognosticator par excellence who continued to have faith that the Louisville Cardinals weren’t done yet.

Of course, Kentucky did what Kentucky does. Which is remain totally quixotic, incapable of empirical assessment. Winning when they should lose and versa vice. So He Who Obviously Hasn’t Lost His Touch had a 1 on the right hand side of the ledger. 4-1 for the weekend. 34-26 for the campaign.

The kid is back on track.

Here we go again, ye faithful followers:

UMass @ Brigham Young. There are a lonely four major college football independents. Two stand 8-2: The aforementioned Notre Dame and the Long Grey Line of West Point. The other two haven’t played worth a squat, with only three Ws apiece. One will have a fourth after this week’s encounter, when the seriously disappointing Cougars host the peripatetic Minutemen of the University of Massachusetts. Already having amassed a bundle of frequent flier points, the guys from Amherst are off to Provo for a face off to see who escapes the cellar of independence. I can advise without fear of contradiction that I have passed along to you the sum total of my knowledge of this duo of lesser lights. Don’t know their coaches or QBs or any stat, significant or otherwise. Thus, using the reasoning that’s made me America’s premier pigskin predictor, I’m going with the home team. Joseph Smith shall be celebrating somewhere with one or more of his brides.

Middle Tennessee @ Western Kentucky. It’s been awhile since we’ve previewed such a directional school matchup. And a hotly contested game it should be. Both stand 3-3 in the league. That would be Conference USA. Both would be 5-5 overall. However they are trending in different directions. The Blue Raiders have won two in a row, though the Ws have been at the expense of UTEP and Charlotte, the worst teams in the conference. Meanwhile the Hilltoppers have lost three in a row, which came after a four game win streak. Can we get some consistency here? WKU obviously misses Jeff Brohm, now roaming the sidelines for the Boilermakers. Middle Tennessee . .  . well . . . I really don’t know anything about ’em, except that they went to Hawai’i and beat Hawai’i in the Hawai’i Bowl after last season. The trip to Bowling Green shall be shorter if not as exotic. The trip home as the vanquished shall seem just as long.

Texas @ West Virginia. So, how are matters in Austin during Year I of the Tom Herman Era? Geez, I thought I’d never ask. About as expected actually. The Hook ‘Em Horns have won the games they were supposed to win and lost the ones they figured to lose, like Southern Cal, Oklahoma, Okie State and TCU. They nudged Iowa State in Ames, which is, one supposes, a quality W. We do know the Horns are well hydrated. Serious consequences ensue for any team member spotted anywhere on campus with his H2O bottle. Will that help in Morgantown? Probably not, the Mountaineers are their usually respectable selves again, 7-3, bowl-bound, but sitting outside the national conversation. The Longhorns look to improve. At least over the next few seasons. I don’t think they’re quite ready for this venture. The Orange get burnt.

Kentucky @ Georgia. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that the Bulldogs will suffer a letdown after their shellacking last time out. There also isn’t a doubt in my mind that it will not matter. I made a mistake picking against UK last week. But that was Vanderbilt. This is Georgia. Picking against Kentucky when the Cats are playing a significantly better, perennially better SEC power that is resurgent, whom UK has bested but 12 times in 70 meetings, is not a mistake.

Syracuse @ Louisville. It doesn’t take much. The Red & Black Faithful, those who were searching the Google to see if they could discover Peter Sirmon’s address so as to know where to place the For Sale signs, are back on the bandwagon. The Cardinals looked moderately better against a mediocre Virginia squad, but it’s of no matter. The Orange have lost three straight and replaced the improving Cardinals as the cellar dweller in the ACC Atlantic. They gave up 63 last week to Wake Forest. At home. The reigning Heisman holder might be responsible for that many himself on Saturday. It shall be interesting to see how many Cardinal fans show up for what one has to think will be the last home game of Lamar Jackson, the most transcendent pigskinner ever to matriculate on the Belknap campus. Those who do show shall celebrate a U of L victory.

— Seedy K