Speaking of: Alabama, Vanderbilt, FSU, Miami's 5-0 start and the number 71?
By Dave McMahon
Last week, two top-five teams lost including the No. 1 team in Alabama when they lost to Vanderbilt. It was the first time that Vanderbilt has ever defeated a top-five team. Vandy was 0-60 against top-five teams entering the contest. The final score was 40 to 35. The Commodores scored a total of 40 total against the Crimson Tide in their seven previous meetings (2001 to 2022). The prior time that Vandy had defeated the Tide was in 1983. That was the first season after Bear Bryant retired from Alabama. The Vanderbilt head coach that season was George MacIntyre. MacIntyre won the prestigious Bobby Dodd Award as the National Coach of the Year, the previous season in 1982.
Speaking of the Bobby Dodd Award…
Last year’s winner was Florida State Head Coach Mike Norvell. The Seminoles have started this season with a 1-5 record and lost last week to Clemson. When the Tigers won that game, their head coach Dabo Swinney earned his 174th coaching win and in the process passed legend Bobby Bowden (and former FSU coach) for the most wins leading an ACC program.
Speaking of ACC programs…
The University of Miami is currently the one of two teams in the ACC that has not lost a game this season. Last week they defeated Cal by the score of 39 to 38. The Hurricanes trailed by 25 points at one point, but scored on its final four possessions to win. It was the Canes’ second largest comeback in team history after the 28-point comeback against Boston College in 1999.
The other ACC that has not lost this season is Pitt. The Panthers have started 5-0 for the first time since 1991. Quarterback Eli Holstein won the ACC Player of the Week as well as the Rookie of the Week. He is the first Pitt quarterback to win his initial five starts since Dan Marino in 1979.
Speaking of 1979…
The winner of the Emmy Award for Best Comedy in 1979 was Taxi. One of the stars of that show was Christopher Lloyd. Lloyd was also one of the stars in the movie Back to the Future. Lloyd played a character named Emmett “Doc” Brown. San Jose State has a quarterback this season named Emmett Brown who is tied for fifth in touchdown passes this season with 15. One of the players he is tied with is Pitt’s quarterback Eli Holstein. Back to San Jose State, their wide receiver Nick Nash leads the nation in both receptions with 55 and touchdown receptions with nine (he also has two touchdown passes this season). 71 FBS teams this season have fewer than nine touchdown receptions as a team.
Speaking of the number 71…
Ohio State’s Emeka Ogbuka had exactly 71 yards receiving in his nine receptions last week against Iowa. Three of those nine receptions went for touchdowns. The 71 yards receiving gives him 2,290 for his career or tenth on the career Buckeye list. His teammate Jeremiah Smith has 453 yards receiving, but he is just a freshman. That is the second most by an Ohio State freshman in school history behind Cris Carter’s 648 in 1984. This week, Ogbuka, Smith and the rest of the Buckeyes will take on the Ducks of Oregon. It will be the second ranked team going against the third ranked team.
So, no matter what happens… another top-five team will guarantee to lose.