STARTING FIVE
Ricardo Louis snatches victory out of thin air.
1. The Immaculate Deflection
Reasons why Ricardo Louis’ game-winning touchdown catch in the Auburn-Georgia game belongs right up there with Doug Flutie’s miracle in Miami and Kordell Stewart’s heave in Ann Arbor:
–It came on 4th-and-18 from Auburn’s own 27 with just :25 remaining.
–Georgia had scored its own go-ahead touchdown on a gutsy 4th-and-goal-from-the-five-tuck-and-run charge by quarterback Aaron Murray, capping a fourth-quarter comeback in which the Bulldogs had erased a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit.
–The fact that the post route was underthrown by Nick Marshall, a Georgia native and former Dawg, so that not one but two Dawgs had a chance to either bat it down or intercept it. In fact, if that pigskin never touches the hands of Georgia safety Josh Harvey-Clemons, it falls harmlessly to the turf. Instead, Harvey-Clemons inadvertently acted as a libero, setting the ball and sending it on a parabolic arc over Louis’ helmet and onto his fingertips.
–Tradition. Two old rivals (Auburn now leads the series 55-54-8) whose history extends across three centuries who were clad in their classic uniforms.
–Grief. Watch as the Georgia coaches react to Louis’ unlikely catch.
Auburn covered, smothered, scattered, chunked and topped Georgia on Saturday afternoon
—Waffle House. Auburn coach Gus Malzahn and his wife have a tradition extending back to his high school days that they visit a Waffle House after a W (which is why he’ll never coach in the Pac-12). After Saturday’s miracle, Malzahn said, “This is definitely a Waffle House night.” (For the record, this couple was not the Malzahns).
–The Iron Bowl. Auburn now has a full fortnight to bask in the victory, roll Toomer’s Corner (oops, sore subject) and prepare for a visit from the No. 1 team in the nation. And at 10-1, the War Damn Eagles could win the SEC West while also spoiling Nick Saban’s plans for global hegemony. Can you think of a better way to spoil Harvey Updyke’s Thanksgiving weekend?
2. Thumbs Up On Your Lawn Ornament
“A bird on your land…
It’s the classic tale of cuckolded husband, except that said husband owns three strip clubs, purchases the lakefront home adjacent to the one in which his ex-wife and her new guy reside, and has a fertile, if crass, imagination when it comes to holding a grudge. This all happened in Orchard Lake, a leafy suburb of Detroit, and leaves me to wonder how come Hung never had plotlines this funny.
…. is worth two in the bush.” Ex-wife Lea (left) and stepdaughter (Lenka).
Alan Markovitz, 59, reportedly spent $7,000 on the 12-foot statue, which is lit by a spotlight in the evenings. He also says of his ex-wife, Lea Tuohy (who did not adopt Michael Oher), “I’m totally over her.”
Well, of course.
3. Death in Mexico
Caselli: Off-road, and possibly off rodent.
The annual Baja 1,000 is a legendary 1,000-mile (as the name suggests) off-road race that snakes through the Mexican peninsula and has a huge underground following (read: my brother…and a few others). All types of vehicles enter. On Friday Kurt Caselli, 30, who was leading the motorcycle division of the trek nearly 800 miles in, crashed and was killed.
Initially it was reported that locals had booby-trapped a spot on the course, instigating the fatal crash, but that report has since been quashed. An updated statement from Caselli’s team suggests that Caselli may have struck a small animal, which led to the fatal crash.
4. USC Puts on Its “O” Face
Coach O: If he was good enough for Leann Tuohy (no relation to Alan Markovitz)….
Highlights of Southern Cal’s 20-17 upset of No. 4 Stanford at the Coliseum: College Gameday’s Tom Rinaldi, during a live segment that ran before 8 a.m. local time, inviting Trojan interim coach Ed Orgeron to do an impression of one of his own players doing an impression of him…Lee Corso, who is now 21-0 picking games that involve USC and head gear, absorbing a minor flesh wound after jousting with Herbie…Stanford, on its opening drive, calling two timeouts followed by Ty Montgomery letting a 40-yard completion fall through his hands…Tyler Gaffney’s touchdown run, another lesson in never whistling a Card run play dead too soon…Brent nonchalantly informing us that he was headed to Las Vegas the following day (maybe he had to see a guy about a thing?)…the referees measuring a third-and-short, the cameras clearly illustrating that the Cardinal are an inch short, and the zebras giving the Cardinal the first down anyway. Herbie: “Can we rewind that?” (no, we couldn’t, apparently; the truck never did)…Nelson Agholor’s second-effort drive to move the sticks on third down. Showed more want-to than most Card players did all night…Coach O, who had hand-written each Trojan band member a letter of thanks (See? He can spell) recently (onus now on you, every other FBS coach), leading said band using Tommy Trojan’s sword as his baton after the game. Take that, Mike Leach.
Why would USC want to do anything to replicate a scene such as this?
Should USC keep Orgeron? Why not? The players already believe in him –that’s half the job right there — and the fans love him. The Coliseum welcomed 92,000 on Saturday evening, as opposed to last month when media members were sending TwitPics of a nearly empty Mausoleum 20 minutes before kickoff of the Utah game.
Is Kevin Sumlin that superior? How many games has he won in College Station minus Johnny Football and why isn’t his defense better?
USC athletic director Pat Haden is a smart man, a decent man. But a smart man. My feeling is that if USC runs the table, beats UCLA, that he’ll reward Coach O with at least a short-term (three-year?) contract. What Coach O’s detractors, who point out his Ole Miss record (10-26),undersell is the effort a man gives when life gives him a second chance. Also, Haden may be thinking that his football team may not be best-served by a third father figure in six months.
USC will always have talent, and soon it will also have depth. And it’s built on the Alabama/Stanford model of pro-set offense, power running, and superior defensive specimens. No one is asking Coach O to put an even newer spin on the read option here.
I’d keep Coach O. And bask in the good karma.
5. Jack’s Back
Taylor, at five-foot-ten, should become the first college player to eclipse 100 points in a game who will not be drafted by an NBA team.
Division III Grinnell College, the program that eschews hoops orthodoxy, is back at it. Last weekend Jack Taylor, whom you may remember scored 138 points in a game last November, went for 109 in a 173-123 win versus Crossroads College. Taylor went 24 for 48 from beyond the arc, and if you think Grinnell unapologetically chased a century club game for Taylor if for no other reasons than 1) to keep the players interested and 2) garner media attention via items such as this, you’d be correct.
Taylor, a five-foot-ten guard from Black River Falls, Wisc., now holds at least two NCAA basketball records: Most Points In One Game (138), and Most Times Scoring More Than 100 points in a game (2).
The six-foot-nine Francis was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors in 1956, but never played for them. The Warriors would later nurture their own 100-point scorer.
In case you are wondering, Clarence “Bevo” Francis (113, for Rio Grande College) and Frank Selvy (100, Furman College) are the only other two college players in the Century Club.
Reserves
Boston College running back Andre Williams, the nation’s leading rusher and here’s why, gallops for 339 yards in a win versus N.C. State. The senior is now averaging 181 yards per game after gaining 634 yards in his past two games. You may want to start mentioning Williams along with Johnny Football, Jameis, A.J. and Marcus.
Andre Williams, 181 rushing yards per game. Mark Ingram in his Heisman 2009 season: 118. Reggie Bush in his Heisman season: 133 (although Bush had 222 all-purpose yards per game). Ron Dayne, 169.5 yards per game his ’99 Heisman season. Texas’ Ricky Williams averaged 193.9 when he earned the Heisman in ’98.
The interesting aspect about Williams: He has already rushed for more yards in this, his senior season (1,810), than he did in his previous three years at B.C. combined (1,542). Which explains why he was on nobody’s Heisman radar.
Cartel does not have the nickname OPEC, though I’m all for it.
Meanwhile in Division III, Cartel Brooks of Heidelberg (John Buccigross’ alma mater) gains an NCAA-record 465 yards on just 38 carries in a 41-14 win versus Baldwin-Wallace. You’ll also enjoy learning that the school, located in Tiffin, Ohio, has as its mascot name The Student Princes. The five-foot-nine Brooks is from Kokomo, Ind., which was ravaged by yesterday’s tornadoes.
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Passmore, right, seconds before the wipeout.
Here’s video of Kirk Passmore’s final wave. His father wants as many people as possible to see this ride.
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Worth investigating: The Auburn scorekeeper. Just before halftime Georgia attempted a pass into the end zone. The ball hit the turf with :02 remaining. The scorekeeper at Jordan-Hare Stadium allowed the clock to run to :01, stopped it, then after a beat of about two seconds, ticked off the final second: :00. Fortunately for the Dawgs, the zebras on the field overruled him. UGA lined up for and made a field goal.
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Sportsmen of the Year?
All-Blacks: My under-the-radar choice for SI’s Sportsman of the Year.
In rugby news –because you asked — the New Zealand All-Blacks won their 13th consecutive match without a defeat this year versus England at Twickenham. The Kiwis take on Ireland this weekend in Dublin, and if they win would become the first national rugby squad to go undefeated since international professional play began in 1995.
Minor victory for the Brits: the fans at Twickenham broke into a roaring version of “Swing Low” during the Kiwis’ pregame Haka dance, rendering it inaudible.
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Niagara Fall
Rule No. 1, people. Rule No. 1.
Check out the top left corner of your screen. This Bills fans thought it might be a good idea to slide down the rail. Luckily for him, he survived. Beer + railings + gravity = stadium deaths.
Remote Patrol
Patriots at Panthers
ESPN 8:30 p.m.
GQ looks and a superstar’s resume and talent. Can Cam become the next Tom Brady?
It’s been a few years since Cam Newton won the Heisman Trophy, a national title and we were discussing a “bag man”, but tonight will be his national coming-out party as a pro. Keep an eye on superb Panther second-year linebacker Luke Kuechly as well.
Would you say that prostrated GA player was basking in deflected defeat or just playing ‘Simon Sez’ with his coaches? Of all the tipped-TDs this football season, I must say that one was the MOST ‘canyoubelieveIT?!’ of them all.
If the Steelers would perform the Haka before every game while continuing to wear those blinding, godawful throw-back “bee” uniforms, they could sneak into the Playoffs. Although I think “blinding your opponents” should technically be illegal.