I greet you this morning with news that Cade Stover is my new hero.
Does OSU TE Jeremy Ruckert get a discount on meat from Stover Farms?
— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) November 3, 2021
Rucks ass aint getting cheap meat, cmon. pic.twitter.com/JlhaFa8aGL
Word of the Day: Deign.
TWO AT THE TOP. Wild as it sounds, there are only two teams that have been ranked in every single set of College Football Playoff rankings dating back to 2014 and Ohio State is one of them.
I bet you can probably guess the other.
@AlabamaFTBL and @OhioStateFB have the most appearances all time in the CFP top 25 pic.twitter.com/EF9caTEUNs
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 3, 2021
It's worth noting that Clemson had never been left out of the rankings until this week, and now it's looking like it'll be quite a while until they're back. You just hate to see that, don't you?
I eagerly await Alabama's imminent collapse so that the Buckeyes can claim this crown all by themselves.
TARGETING INEQUITY. Steele Chambers might set the record for the longest-served targeting penalty this weekend as he'll miss the entire first half of Saturday's game after missing all but one play of the second half of last week's game.
In total, he's going to miss 59 minutes and 27 seconds of game time. The only way you could top that is if you got flagged for targeting on the opening kickoff of a half.
Ryan Day doesn't really think that's very fair.
Not only did Chambers have to miss all but one play of the second half for Ohio State, but he will also be out for the first half of the Buckeyes’ games against Nebraska this weekend. Had Chambers been called for targeting on the last play of the first half, he would be available to play from the start versus the Cornhuskers.
This is what Day finds troubling with the rule and believes there is a simple solution.
“It’s a unique situation in that it was the first play of the second half,” the head coach said. “So it’s really brought light, in my eyes, to the fact that there’s some inequity in this rule where if it’s the first play of the second half or the last play of the second half, that’s significantly different. So in my mind, the rule should be changed into a 30-minute penalty as opposed to the number of halves because when you do it shouldn’t be the determining factor on how the penalty is assessed, if that makes sense.”
One of my favorite, underrated qualities of Ryan Day is his willingness to consider the game and what could improve it, then not be shy about voicing his opinions.
He's already come out pretty strongly in favor of banning kickoffs, has openly advocated for narrower hash marks, and now this. Regardless of if I even agree with him on everything, I appreciate that he cares and is attentive enough to even consider these things when not every coach does.
HISTORICALLY UNDESERVING. Yesterday, I went full #MadOnline about the committee's lack of respect for Cincinnati and the Group of Five in general, but honestly, that wasn't even the most ridiculous part of the rankings.
When ESPN unveiled Alabama as the No. 2 team in the country, I think the collective eye roll across the country was probably enough to permanently shift Earth's rotation. I mean, you had the analysts on the broadcast second-guessing as soon as they saw it. Hell, even the analytics guy whose numbers say Alabama is decidedly a top-three team hated it.
Haaaaaate Alabama being No. 2. Hate it. Too early for a one-loss team to be that high.
— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) November 2, 2021
And the reaction is totally fair because Bama's ranking with its current resume is completely unprecedented.
- Alabama is the only non-undefeated team to ever be ranked in the Top 2 in the initial rankings. Previously, the earliest a non-undefeated team had been ranked in the Top 2 was 2015 Alabama in Week 10 after a win over #2 LSU. Of the 83 total Top 2 teams in all CFP rankings, only 24 had a loss.
- Alabama is just the 4th non-undefeated team ranked in the Top 4 without a win over a current top 10 team (2015 Alabama, 2017 Notre Dame and Clemson)
- Alabama’s loss to Texas A&M is the 5th worst loss by a Top 4 team. 2014 Ole Miss lost to #19 LSU, 2015 Alabama lost to #18 Ole Miss, and the aforementioned Oregon and Clemson lost to unranked Stanford and Syracuse, respectively.
My favorite lie the committee tells every year is that the rankings do not take past seasons or overall team prestige into account. That's just not true, and it's never been more apparent.
Alabama is ranked where it is because it is Alabama. If any other team had that resume, it would be outside the top five. But hey, I guess that's just what happens when you win five national titles in 10 years.
THICC SIX. I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching Jerron Cage turn into husky Usain Bolt, and hearing him talk about it probably won't get old, either.
The Thicc 6...?!?
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) November 3, 2021
This Week's Buck of the Week... @CageJerron! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/nZ6Hiyl4zD
God bless his grandchildren, who will hear this story twice a week until he dies.
SONG OF THE DAY. "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith.
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