Pigskin Pundit: 9/19 Edition

So, ya think that Nick Saban guy down in Tuscaloosa wishes he’d gone after the QB now calling signals in South Bend, instead of the one who did so last season?

Asking for Harvey Updyke.*

* Updyke is the rabid Crimson Tide fan, the owner allegedly of a hundred or so Alabama ballcaps, who poisoned the oak trees at rival Auburn’s Toomer’s Corner.

Tyler Buchner (+ Ty Simpson + Jalen Milroe) ≠ Sam Hartman.

Those heralded Dreamland ribs ain’t tastin’ so tasty these days.

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Speaking of QB dismay, ya think Tom Allen up in Bloomington is lamenting the departure of long gone Michael Penix Jr.?

In three resounding Ws, the now UDub Huskie has tossed 12 TDs against a single pick, for 1,332 yards, at a 74% completion rate (84/113).

John Heisman, look NW, my man.

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By the by, schools in the PAC?? now comprise 1/3 (almost) of the Top 25.

That Washington squad plus Southern Cal, Utah, Oregon, UCLA, Oregon State, Washington State, and the School I Cannot Bring Myself To Name Because I’m Tired Of Hearing It Already.

The future looks so bright out west. Enough for at least one of the coaches to wear shades all the time.

Uh, oops, nevermind.

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Mel Tucker, I gotta ask, what da hell were you thinkin’?

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During the Cardinals’ game with Murray State, I thought about Frank Beamer, who once coached the Racers.

And bested U of L in a game I wish I could forget already.

Beamer went on to a Hall of Fame career at Virginia Tech.

Which in today’s what-did-you-do-for-me-ten-seconds-ago society would have never come about.

In his first five campaigns in Blacksburg, he had two six W years. In the other three, he went 2-9, 5-6, and 3-8.

In S6, his Hokies were 2-8-1, and . . .

. . . He Wasn’t Fired.

Obviously.

Those days are long ago far away.

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There’s a great article in the New York Times about U of L Cardinal walk on RB Mario Agyen.
Hellbent on getting out of his hardscrabble existence, he took his talents to play for infamous Bishop Sycamore.*

*The odd name of that faux school always makes me laugh. For whatever reason, it reminds me of a character in 1969’s cult classic, Robert Downey Sr’s “Putney Swope.” A nun named Sister Basilica. Which moniker, like Bishop Sycamore, always brings a smile, though she hasn’t a thing to do with college football or the subject at hand.

Anyway, Agyen is an honor roll student, on course to get his degree in December.

Incredible fortitude.

— c d kaplan