By Rock Westfall
The Ghost of Bob Gibson Haunts The U
The late Bob Gibson lives in infamy. He was the New York Giants offensive coordinator in 1978 when the Miracle of the Meadowlands ended his career. The Giants had a certain victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. All New York had to do was take a knee and head to the locker room to celebrate. But Gibson called for QB Joe Pisarcik to hand off to Larry Csonka. Disaster struck when Pisarcik fumbled, and Philadelphia’s Herm Edwards scooped up the ball for a 26-yard game-winning TD.
The disaster was the last play call of Gibson’s career. He spent the rest of his life in virtual hiding. Gibson bought a bait shop in Florida and was never heard from again. But Gibson has an enteral legacy. He gifted football coaches the ultimate lesson of what never to do at the end of a securely won game.
Miami Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal keeps cutting Gibson 101 from his class list. Last Saturday night, with victory secured against Georgia Tech, Cristobal allowed Miami to run a play instead of kneeling. Miami fumbled, and the Yellow Jackets recovered. With one second to play, Georgia Tech’s Haynes King hit Christian Leary with a 44-yard TD pass to win the game. Miami is 4-1 instead of 5-0. They blew a game where they outgained the Yellow Jackets 454-250.
What makes Cristobal’s blunder even more inexplicable and unforgivable is that he made a similar mistake while head coach of the Oregon Ducks. In 2018, Stanford was gifted a 38-31 win at Oregon because of Cristobal’s game-ending incompetence.
Mario Cristobal is an exceptional recruiter, perhaps the best in college football. But his game management offsets much of that. We have been reminded that Cristobal can be the ultimate idiot savant.
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Red River Shootout Exposes Tea Sippers
The Oklahoma Sooners rallied for a thrilling 34-30 win over the Texas Longhorns in a Red River Shootout for the ages. While Texas is vastly improved and can still win the Big 12 title, they showed their soft side against OU.
The Horns failed to deliver on a first and goal from the OU 1-yard line. And they failed to protect a 30-27 lead with 1:17 remaining in the game. Oklahoma drove 75 yards in five plays for the game-winning TD.
When it mattered most against their arch-rival, Texas was still sippin’ tea. Texas is not fully back. Perhaps they are on that road. But the Red River Shootout was two steps back after a big step forward earlier this year in a win at Alabama.
Second-year Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables is riding high after a rough rookie campaign.
The Ultimate Wannabe that May Never Be
A picture is a thousand words. Proof came last week with stunning CBS camera shots of Kyle Field, the Texas A&M Aggies home. The overhead view showed over 108,000 fans stacked into the sky of the triple-deck stadium. Shots of the famed Yell Leaders, Corps of Cadets, and Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band illustrated why College Football is God’s Game.
Texas A&M boosters print money. The program wants for nothing. And its recruiting has been touted as among the nation’s best. Yet that picture worth a thousand words was tricked.
In an all-too-familiar story, the Aggies fought hard and led the Alabama Crimson Tide 17-10 at halftime. This Alabama team was far more beatable than the version the Aggies defeated two years ago. But A&M failed to finish. And head coach Jimbo Fisher’s poor clock management at the end was a contributing factor. Alabama escaped with a 26-20 win.
When Fisher arrived at College Station, he was presented with fancy cowboy boots and a national championship trophy in anticipation of what would come. Except it hasn’t come close to happening.
Most alarming is the lack of game-breakers and speed on the Aggies. Many of their players are downright plodding. Fans wonder about all those recruiting rankings of the past.
Nobody wants to win more than Texas A&M. Aggie fans and donors believe they should win regular nattys. Yet, the last national title at College Station was in 1939. The last conference championship was in 1998 (Big 12). Since 1995, the Aggies have only two final rankings in the top ten, with one of those in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.
Texas A&M may someday live up to what it believes itself to be. But Fisher is now in his sixth season with a decent but hardly dominant record of 43-23. Most alarming is that Jimbo is 25-19 in the SEC.
At some point, a Heavy Hitting Aggie booster will have to decide that it just ain’t gonna happen under Fisher and stroke a large check. And then decide that it might be time for Urban Renewal.
Urban Meyer Will Never Go to a Second-Rate Program
Last week, there were absurd rumors that Urban Meyer was talking to Michigan State about taking over as head coach. No way was that going to happen. Meyer only takes over turnkey national championship programs.
Sorry, Sparty, you are a potentially good but historically second-rate program. Former head coach Mark Dantonio took MSU as far as it could possibly go. Sparty has never been a serious national title contender since integration. And spare me the 2015 playoff talk. Michigan State was destroyed 38-0 by Alabama.
Now, if a place like Texas A&M opens, we may have something to discuss.
The Grinch That Stole Defense
The USC Trojans are ridiculous. The Trojans needed triple overtime to escape with a 43-41 win over Jedd Fisch’s improving Arizona Wildcats. The easy target for USC’s woes is defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. And there is justification for the criticism. USC ranks 112th overall in FBS for defense and 91st for takeaways.
Grinch had a decent reputation before hooking up with USC head coach Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma in 2019. While at OU, he took a helpless defense and made it somewhat better. But at USC, it’s been a debacle. And the imagination runs wild as to why Grinch has kept his job.
Still, a fish rots from the head down. The ultimate blame rests with Riley. He has never demonstrated that he takes defensive football seriously. Apparently, Riley believes he can outscore all opponents with his offensive mastery. But championship football requires more than a defense ranked among the nation’s worst. There is zero reason to believe significant improvement is coming.
This week, the Men of Troy have a dangerous prime-time road game at Notre Dame, where the Irish want to atone for their embarrassing 33-20 road loss to Jeff Brohm’s upstart and undefeated Louisville Cardinals.
Pittman’s Season Becoming a Not-So-Well-Done Hog Roast
Upon taking over the Arkansas Razorbacks in 2020, head coach Sam Pittman won fans and converts as the runt of the coaching litter. After a 9-4 breakout in 2021, the Hogs slipped to 7-6 in 2022. Now they stand at 2-4 after a 27-20 loss at Ole Miss.
Pittman’s roster is outclassed most weeks. And the erosion is beginning to alarm Arkansas backers. No relief is offered this week with a game at the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Pittman’s path looks similar to his old boss Bret Bielema, who he served as offensive line coach at Arkansas. Bielema had a promising start in Fayetteville, including three straight bowl seasons, before fading fast and getting fired.
