Game of the Week: No. 15 Ole Miss (31) @ Texas A&M (28)
There were not a lot of great games this week, especially in terms of playoff implications, but Ole Miss and Texas A&M leapt off the page in Week 9. Ole Miss is having a wonderful season yet again under Lane Kiffin and any college football fan can tell that Ole Miss is becoming something they have not been in decades, which is a stable program. They have a clear identity, they seem to play to their strengths every week, and the more they continue to mount their successes, the better prospects they should be able to recruit.
Now take everything I just said there, and invert those facts for Texas A&M.
The Aggies have dropped to an abysmal 3-5 on the season (1-4 in the SEC), and what once promised to be a promising year for A&M has turned into their worst under Jimbo Fisher. Texas A&M has no identity, no stability (especially at the quarterback position) and seem to be rudderless heading into the closing part of the season. Just two weeks ago, it appeared LSU would be one of the laughing stocks in College Football (Brian Kelly’s pre-season dancing videos helped) but even the Tigers have turned things around in just one season.
Hard questions are going to have to be asked and answered this offseason with Texas A&M and many of those questions will be, and should be, centered around Jimbo Fisher.
Who would have thought in the same division as Mike Leech, Lane Kiffin, and Brian Kelly’s New Orleans accent, that Jimbo Fisher would be the guy on the hot seat?
Player of the Week: Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee (19-25, 245 yards, 4 Total TDs)
While this may not have been Hooker’s most impressive game this season, it is still one to note. This weekend’s game against Kentucky had all of the signs for a trap game and instead of falling into it, Hooker and the Vols routed Kentucky 44-6 to set up one of the biggest regular season games in recent memory.
Hooker has been nothing short of miraculous this season, and the Heisman front runner put another exclamation point on his season with this win over Kentucky. Hooker has completed over 70% of his passes this season with 21 touchdowns and just one interception.
It can no longer be denied, Hooker is not just the Heisman favorite, he has now emerged as one of the better quarterback prospects should enter the 2023 NFL Draft.
Disappointment of the Week: Syracuse
Now when I say Syracuse is the disappointment of the week, I don’t mean it like I usually do. If that was the case then Oklahoma State would have won it for the third time this season. But Syrcause’s loss to Notre Dame was only disappointing because, the Orange, seem to finally be building expectations in western New York.
Syracuse had gotten off to a great start this season under Dino Babers, who has been one of the more underrated coaches in the country. Syracuse started 6-0 this season and battled Clemson to the very end, in Clemson just two weeks ago. Had Syracuse beaten Notre Dame this past weekend, and looking at the rest of their schedule, the Orange could have shocked the nation by winning 10 games in 2022, the first time doing so since 2018, which would be the second time that has happened in the Dino Babers era.
While the ACC did not have any lofty expectations heading into the 2022 season, besides Clemson, and with Miami and Florida State still in a state of mediocrity, it seemed dim for the conference. But schools like Syracuse, Wake Forest, NC State, and North Carolina have really helped bring legitimacy back to this one proud football conference and while we continue to talk about the super conferences that are forming (and the ACC still has a small chance to survive) it is nice to see that Clemson has legitimate competition in conference yet again.
It is not a disappointment that Syracuse lost to Notre Dame in the embarrassing sense, but in a rooting sense. Syracuse was becoming, and perhaps still is, one of the darlings of the 2022 season.
Game to Watch: No. 1 Tennessee @ No. 3 Georgia
We don’t need a lot of words for this one…
This is one of the biggest regular season matchups in recent College Football memory. All eyes will be on Tennessee and Georgia.
Coach K’s Top 10:
2023 NFL Mock Draft:
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