In a two-paragraph apology, Texas A&M head football coach Kevin Sumlin has dismissed grad assistant Michael Richardson for his two shots on West Virginia players in yesterday's Liberty Bowl in Memphis:
If you're a student assistant for a football program, you're the lowest on the totem pole.
You're the guy that analyzes film at really odd hours
You're the guy that makes index cards for whoever wants them for game planning
You're the guy that makes those really big placards that have the symbols that, supposedly, tell the offense what the next play is
But, you're not the guy that is supposed to do this to West Virginia players during the Liberty Bowl
TWICE!!! Once to corner Daryll Worley and the other to RB Andrew Buie
The Texas A&M assistant, Michael Richardson, was given the football equivalent of being sent to his room- he was told by head coach Kevin Sumlin to remain in the locker room for the second half.
More on the future of Richardson when we know more...
The Texas A and M Aggies are not happy this day after Thanksgiving.
The are mad because they feel a no-call by the referee's cost them the game Thursday night vs. LSU.
Driving down the field with less than 2 minutes left in the game, the Aggies lined up to pass, when it appeared that LSU's nose tackle may have jumped---albeit barely--offsides.
The whistle did not blow, but Aggie QB Kyle Allen did what he thought was the right thing and continued the play, throwing a wounded duck of a pass that was picked off by a Tigers Defensive Back.
Quite honestly, LSU should have won the game easily. They dominated time of possession, holding the ball for over 41 minutes.
Fabulous freshman Leonard Fournette ran for 146 yards and an amazing TD, where he ran over an A and M safety like he wasn't there.
The win moves LSU to 8-4 on the season, 4-4 in the SEC West. A and M drops to 7-5, 3-5 in the SEC West.
Both teams will be playing in Bowl games this December.
You shouldn't like Nick Saban when he's angry. For that matter, you probably shouldn't make Nick Saban angry.
Just a week after Saban went ballistic on everyone questioning how good his Alabama team was after barely beating Arkansas, the Tide took out a bit of frustration against an overwhelmed Texas A&M team.
The final score: 59-0. And it wasn't that close. It was 45-0 at the half.
Blake Sims threw for 268 yards and 3 TD's and T.J Yeldon ran for 114 yards and 2 TD's, which was way more than enough to secure an Alabama win.
As for the Aggies, who started out as everyone's darlings after blowing out a mediocre South Carolina team, it's their 3rd straight loss. And QB Kenny Hill, who played so well in that game that he started looking into how to trademark the nickname "Trill" Hill...well, he threw for 138 yards and questions about his abilities have began creeping up in College Station.
The game reinforced that Alabama is going to have a say as to who wins the brutal SEC West. And it may have said, the winner is going to have to prove they can beat the Tide, which is not going to be easy.
Mark Stoops was able to do something that his successors have not been able to do- actually beat an SEC opponent for the first time in almost 1,100 days...
The Wildcats knocked off Vanderbilt (who are looking to be a really bad football team, by the way) in Lexington- even as a favored program heading into Saturday.
Strangely, fans would like to see the stands at Commonwealth Stadium more-filled than they currently are...
Just ask them...
On the flip side, the HQ would like to know what Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema was thinking in overtime running to the right on a 4th and 2 when he needed a first down to keep the period moving- and your running game was non-existent.
You had your chance, Arkansas, and you flat blew it.
"A lot of things that caused us to lose this game today came from within our locker room," Razorbacks coach Bret Bielema said postgame. "Our third edge we talk about is playing clean, and that means playing penalty-free. ... The good news is we can correct those things. Our guys did several things throughout the course of the game to get excited about. But obviously, not enough to close it."
Here's your local look...
The HQ had heard about this yesterday, but now we have definitive proof that the folks in College Station DO NOT mess around when it comes to Reveille VIII.
If you're a receiver and you get within the area code of the Texas A&M mascot, this might happen to you...
Vlahos tells us that A&M sophomore Ryan Kreider gets all ths kudos with the shoulder tackle...
According to a report, Auburn University is the latest in a line of college football schools who are or have decreed themselves national champions…multiple times.
Confused? Yeah, so are we.
The Tigers are trying to decide if on opening day, August 30th, if they should raise national championship banners for 7 different squads. All of whom in school officials eyes, have a claim for the titles.
Most of the titles they want to lay claim to happened in the early 1900's, or for you young ins', before the BCS existed.
However, they also want to claim the 2004 title, even though that years undefeated squad didn't make the BCS title game. The logic, USC is apparently claiming it too.
Still confused. Yeah. This makes little to no sense. For their part, Auburn cites Texas A&M claiming titles in 1919 and 1927 after they moved to the SEC in 2012. USC is claiming 1939 and 2004.
If you are still confused, read this story from Auburn Undercover RIGHT HERE
---Sigh---
We really don't understand the logic here. Sure, we realize the whole "College Football Champion" thing has been hotly debated, misunderstood and argued for generations, but how can you legitimately claim something you aren't recognized by the governing body as winning?
It's kind of like in the TV News world saying "____ network had an exclusive interview with the president". Yeah, you were the only ones who talked to him, at that time.
So to Auburn, and any other school that feels so insecurely about themselves that they feel compelled to bestow an honor they didn't earn to….themselves, we say…
Uh, yeah, so....um....Texas A&M football quarterback Johnny Manziel, (aka Johnny Football), well, he's back in the offseason spotlight. And at least this time it's kind of funny.
Manziel found himself at Saturday night's Atlanta Hawks vs. Charlotte Bobcats game in Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta.
((note---He's in the ATL preparing to lead his Aggies vs. the Duke Blue Devils in the Chick Fil A Bowl game Tuesday night))
And as what seems to be his (Manziel's) norm, he got a lot of attention.
So much so that he got called out of the crowd and was asked to take part in a "Skills" competition. Which is when THIS happened....
Anybody still want to argue that the SEC is the best conference in college football?
Saturday's game action proved one thing--They're not.
Pretty much every "name" program in the conference lost. And not for the 1st time this season.
We start in Vanderbilt where the limping Georgia Bulldogs continue their tumble down the polls. And ironically, the Dawgs were up 13 going into the 4th quarter in Nashville.
But that's when the wheels fell off.
A fumbled punt, a botched punt snap and a solid performance by Vandy's backup QB Patton Robbinette was all it took for that lead to evaporate and Vanderbilt to get the their 1st win over a ranked team since the 2008 season, 31-27.
Your highlights from CBS Sports:
The craziness continued just 3 hours East in Knoxville when Tennessee knocked off media darling South Carolina when Michael Palardy drilled a 19-yard field goal at the buzzer giving the Vols a 23-21 win.
The Gamecocks didn't exactly help themselves with 3 turnovers and 9 penalties. This despite a big game by star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.
But Tennessee stayed close, and a circus catch by freshman WR Marquez North was enough to put Palardy in position to give his team their 1st win over a ranked team since 2009.
Your highlights from our friends at ESPN:
And while that was happening, Missouri took full control of the SEC East by dominating an outmanned Florida team in Columbia, Missouri.
QB Maty Mauk stepped in for the injured James Franklin and threw for 295 yards and a TD, Henry Joseph ran for 136 and a score and the Tigers defense sacked beleaguered Gator QB Tyler Murphy 6 times and was in his face pretty much the entire game.
The 36-17 win will get Missouri a place in the Top 10 and a now 2 game lead over their closest competition in the SEC East.
Your Highlights again from our friends at ESPN:
And finally Auburn continues in run towards regaining relevance by taking down Johnny Football and Texas A&M in College Station early Saturday evening.
Auburn QB Nick Marshall threw for 236 and 2 TD's and ran for 100 yards and two more to lead the Tigers to a crazy 45-41 win.
The Tigers were winless in the SEC in 2012 and arguably one of college football's worst teams. The change this season under new coach Gus Mazlahn is nothing short of miraculous.
No, there wasn't a lot of defense played in this game, Manziel threw for 434 yards and 4 TD's and his WR Mike Evans caught 11 passes for 237 yards and a couple of scores. But when Manziel went down with a shoulder injury, the Aggies defense couldn't stop Auburn. Manziel would return, but had a hard time throwing.
The loss pretty much eliminated the Aggies from SEC West or any national title contention.
Your highlights from CBS Sports (There are a lot of them):
