As the college football season winds down, so does another season of the Report Card.
It has been a pleasure bringing you the craziness of another season, and there was nothing like what was witnessed on Saturday that makes this sport so special.
Remember, the same thing goes as far as grading as last season. High marks will be only for the spectacular, and failing grades have no chance of being reversed.
So for the final time in 2022, here is this week’s analysis of how fans, teams, players and coaches fared.
Follow every game: Live NCAA College Football Scores
Home is where the disappointment is
On this Thanksgiving weekend, a lot of us have a lot to be thankful for and with it, the saying ‘home is where the heart is.’ But for Cincinnati and Clemson, the two teams with the nation’s longest home winning streaks, home did them no favors in trying to drive momentum into New Year’s Six or a College Football Playoff berth.
Clemson went into the Palmetto State clash against South Carolina with a seven-game winning streak in the series and watched Spencer Rattler and the nation’s best special teams provide a masterclass in upset protocol to end the Tigers’ 40-game streak at Death Valley.
Cincinnati had a conference title berth on the line in the AAC but Tulane wasn’t having any of it and sent their league counterparts off to the Big 12 with a stunning defeat. The Bearcats had to hope that USF beat UCF but were left disappointed, when the Knights claimed an AAC title spot with an unbelievable last minute touchdown.
Other Top 25 teams to disappoint in front of home fans include Ohio State, North Carolina and Mississippi.
Home cookin‘: F
When keepin’ it real goes wrong
College football is emotional. Fans, players and boosters alike are known for some head-scratching behavior when things concerning their teams go sideways. Leave it at that, because when players do stupid stuff, that’s the first excuse that is usually uttered.
Oregon blew a 21-point lead and lost to Oregon State but instead taking on that responsibility, defensive end D.J. Johnson let his hands do his talking when he appeared to hit a fan that had stormed the field after the win. If you are trending because of a connection to LeGarrette Blount, that’s not too good.
Meanwhile, in the Kentucky-Louisville matchup, a Gatorade bottle seemed to be weapon of choice as Louisville freshman wide receiver Chris Bell shot-putted the bottle in the stands at some Wildcats fans after Louisville lost the Governor’s Cup for the fourth consecutive time.
Moral of the story: Keep your hands and your bottles to yourselves, kids.
Bad behavior: Expulsion
Stats for you:
4 – FBS teams (UMass, Colorado, Northwestern, South Florida) that finished the 2022 season with one win
15 – Consecutive seasons Alabama has won 10 or more games
32 – Home winning streak by Cincinnati snapped by Tulane
40 – Home winning streak by Clemson snapped by South Carolina
43:45 – Time of possession by Vanderbilt against Tennessee. They lost 56-0.
61 – Consecutive games against AP-ranked opponents that Tulane had lost to before beating Cincinnati
Best and worst of the week:
NOT exactly Ali-Frazier
Mascot combat: D
Salute the one-handed catch
Army acrobatics: A+
Too cute for your own good
Clemson clumsy: F
Not exactly in the playbook
Giving thanks to luck: A
High-fiving
Celebration station: A++
The Dog of the Week: New Mexico at Colorado State
It’s a safe bet to assume this game wasn’t on anyone’s radar coming into the biggest weekend of impact games all year. For the pups, fortunately this one was played on Friday far from peering eyes that actually cared, except for the estimated 20,000 that showed up to Canvas Stadium.
The Lobos and the Rams ended up playing the lowest score game of the week, a 17-0 Colorado State victory, the 11th consecutive victory for the Rams in the series. Here is what the fans had to look forward to: Entering this slugfest, the Lobos were dead last in total offense and the Rams were dead last in scoring offense.
New Mexico ranked 130th (next to last, for those who are counting) in third-down conversions. Want to take a wild guess who the Lobos ranked ahead of in that category? You leave with a parting gift if you said Colorado State and then the teams showed their total ineptitude and proceeded to convert 6 of 29 third-down chances.
You get the point, but at least Colorado State is consistent. In its three victories this season, it scored 17 points in each of them.
Follow Scooby Axson on Twitter @scoobaxson.
