by Matt Kupec
October 13, 2019
This past weekend in college football was the weekend we have been waiting all season for! Exciting games pitting ranked and unbeaten teams against each other. Stunning upsets. And some really spectacular performances from some very talented players.
We saw seven teams in the Top #25 go down in Week #7 of the season. The top, and most stunning, upset was South Carolina taking down #3 Georgia in overtime in Athens, GA. Watching Jake Fromm throw three interceptions and just look out of sync for the first time in his college career was a rare sight. The Georgia Bulldogs are not out of the national playoff picture but it will take them to run the table, beat Florida and win the SEC Championship game to get a shot at an invite.
The other Top #25 teams to fall were #7 Florida, #11 Texas, #19 Wake Forest, #20 Virginia, #23 Memphis, #24 Texas A&M, Florida, Wake and Memphis drop from the unbeatens leaving 10 FBS teams still unbeaten for this season.
Some notable points from Week #6:
- Not Your Grandfather’s Offense! I enjoy the new Buick commercials which feature consumers pointing out the new, slick looking Buick automobiles, with the impressed consumer expressing their surprise with the great statement, “that is not my Grandfather’s Buick!” Well, the offenses of Alabama and LSU are not your Grandfather’s Crimson Tide and Tiger offenses! Maybe when Joe Namath was throwing it for Alabama did the Crimson Tide have a wide-open offense. I have never seen LSU look this good on offense. In fact, I find myself channel surfing to watch both of the Alabama and LSU offenses on the television. Never before in my life have I done that! Tua and Burrows are slinging it and it is so enjoyable to watch. We can’t wait for that showdown in November!
- Shout Out to Baylor! Head Coach Matt Rhule has down a great job resurrecting the Baylor program from the ruins left from the Art Briles controversy. Baylor is undefeated and looking more and more like the real deal each week.
In this column, each week my son Matthew and I will review the weekend games and make a few observations and provide some thorough analysis. If you have any comments, questions or perhaps disagree with our analysis, please send your comments by going to mattkupecqb.com and submit through the contact section. We’d love to hear from you!
Biggest Surprise
Matthew Kupec – Louisville. Playing against Wake underated at Wake, bringing Lousivlle backYou have to hand it to Florida Head Coach Dan Mullen for the big win over Auburn this week. I really thought Florida was in trouble, having to play with their back-up QB who
Matt Kupec – Army. After nearly stunning Michigan in Week #2 of the season when the Cadets fell 24-21 in the overtime game against the Wolverines, Army has dropped two consecutive games including an awful performance against Western Kentucky this past weekend. In the 18-7 loss, Army could only generate 208 yards of offense, including a season low 137 yards on the ground. When I was watching Army almost beat Michigan and control the ball for 45 minutes of that game, I though the Cadets were going to have a special year like last year. Now, at 3-3, every game is critical to get the minimum number of wins to receive a bowl bid.
Best Performance
Matthew Kupec – Joe Burrows, LSU. Playing against a top ten defense in Florida, Burrows continues to prove that he is an elite quarterback. LSU seems unstoppable on offense and Burrows continues to rack up big numbers. The confidence that LSU continue to gains on offense as it showcases its big play potential has really been a joy to watch.
Matt Kupec — Joe Burrows, LSU. The LSU offense is for real! And Joe Burrows is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate. Burrows went 21-24 for 293 yard and 3 TD’s and led the LSU offense for a total of 511 yards against the vaunted Florida defense. Wow! The LSU offense has become must-see TV!!
Biggest Disappointment
Matthew Kupec — Michigan State. In a top #25 match-up against #7 Wisconsin, Michigan State gave a very disappointing and underwhelming performance. They got totally whipped! Long known for their toughness and ability to grind against the best teams in the nation, the Spartans came up with nothing and didn’t show much fight at all.
Matt Kupec — Jake Fromm. The statistics for Jake Fromm in the shocking loss against South Carolina tell some of the story – 28-51 for 295 yards, 1 TD and 3 INT’s. We are used to seeing Jake complete 65-70% of his passes. What was shocking is the many of open receivers that Fromm missed on Saturday. He has always been such a pinpoint, accurate passer but on Saturday his rhythm seemed off and he was very wild with his throws. So uncharacteristic for Jake. I submit he will return back to his stellar outstanding thrower for the weeks to come but Saturday was very disappointing.
Picks for the Final 4 Playoff Teams
Matthew — Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, LSU
Matt — Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, LSU.
About the Authors
Matt Kupec is a former record-breaking four year starting quarterback for the UNC Tar Heels. During his career he set 19 passing records, two of which still exist (most consecutive games with a TD pass and most wins as a starting QB). He was named MVP of the 1977 Liberty Bowl and 1979 Gator Bowl becoming the 1st player in ACC history to be named MVP of two bowl games.
Matthew Kupec is a senior at East Chapel Hill School in Chapel Hill, NC. Matthew played defensive back for the East HS football team last year and set a school-record when intercepting three passes in one game. As a baseball junior last year, Matthew led the conference with the lowest ERA (earned run average).