ICYMI: Oregon Blows out Florida State in Rose Bowl

((ht: espn.com))

It was a close game at the half.

The Oregon Ducks went into the locker room at halftime with an 18-13 lead over the undefeated Florida State Seminoles with a berth in the National Championship game on the line.

And no, even the Ducks couldn't have imagined what would happen next.

The once-invincible Florida State team, winners of their past 29 games started making mistakes.

Four straight Seminoles turnovers led to Oregon points.

The Ducks scored 27 points in the third quarter. And the game was over.

A 41 point 2nd half gave Oregon the statement win they were looking for, their first over a Top 2 team ever. The Ducks beat the Seminoles 59-20. And it could have been worse.

QB Marcus Mariota threw for 338 yards and 2 TD's and ran for 62 yards and another score, leading his team to the win.

As for FSU star Jameis Winston, he had a tough day. He threw for a lot of yards, but had an interception and perhaps one of the ugliest fumbles you'll ever see.

Oregon moves on to the National Title game versus Ohio State in Dallas.

Notes:

--Many of the FSU players left the field before shaking hands with the Oregon players and coaches. A big breach of sportsmanship that should be addressed. (Winston and several others stayed for a long time to congratulate the Ducks)

---Several Oregon players may--and should be in trouble for what they did after the game. A video showing them on the podium mocking the FSU Tomahawk chop and chanting "No means no" has been making the rounds. Once made aware of it, Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said they players involved will be disciplined.

Here's the video from Fox Sports West producer Bear Heiser:

Jameis Winston Almost Answers Questions In FSU Hearing

((HT: WCTV))

But, instead, he chose to read from a prepared statement and then invoke the Code of Conduct hearing equivalent of the 5th Amendment.

When asked if he would go any further, he volunteered his version of verbal and physical agreement and stated the sex he had with his accuser two years ago was consensual.

Major Harding wrote in his letter to Winston when the proceeding was all over: "I do not find the credibility of one story substantially stronger than that of the other."

So, technically, the ploy worked even if it wasn't all that believable.

Andy Alcock sits down with another lawyer to discuss the case


Winston's accuser could appeal or file a lawsuit and that may be the only way Winston would be compelled to answer any kind of question about the matter.

Mark Schlabach views the issues more in depth hyah...

And you yourself can view the Harding decision hyah...

DEVELOPING: Winston Cleared In FSU Conduct Case

((HT: CBS Sports/Fornelli))

Of course, he was...

Florida State QB Jameis Winston was cleared on sexual assault allegations in his Code of Conduct hearing on campus.

Winston's attorney, David Cornwell, announced the decision on his Twitter account Sunday afternoon:

"In sum, the preponderance of the evidence has not shown that you are responsible for ANY of the charged violations of the Code."

This does not mean that the accuser in the case is locked out of options. She and her legal representation could pursue a civil case- which is highly likely. But had Winston's Code of Conduct case come back with a decision against him, he could have been expelled (among other things you can to to a student in an evidentiary hearing setting).

And, to no one's surprise, the way the university handled the Winston case might have been a little different than the others the school has handled in the past that were similar in charge and scope.

Andy Alcock examines...
((HT: WCTV))

Morning Wrap: FSU Holds off GaTech to Stay Undfeated

((ht: espn.com))

Raise your hand if you are fan of going undefeated in College Football. Question: Does that entitle you to a playoff berth and/or a #1 ranking.

In our minds--yes, it does.

Florida State has a legitimate claim as they held off a game Georgia Tech squad in the ACC Championship game Saturday night 37-35.

The win ran FSU's record to 13-0 on the season. The Seminoles haven't lost a game in over two years and are the only undefeated FBS team in the land.

Jameis Winston threw for 309 yards and 3 TD's and RB Dalvin Cook added 177 yards running on 31 carries to lead the Seminoles to the win.

Tech fought hard, Synjyn Days ran for 3 scores and a late TD with 1:47 left, gaving Tech one last shot at winning. But FSU recovered the onside kick and Cook got a first down with less than 1 minute left in the game and FSU was able to run out the clock.

Yes, the win locks up a College Football playoff berth for Florida State and it should. The only questions remaining for them is who they will be playing, when and where.

Saturday night's highlights from ESPN.com:

"Automatic" Aquayo Saves Florida State's Season.

FSU's Roberto Aquayo's Game Winner

Florida State kicker Roberto Aguayo is known in Tallahassee as "Automatic Aquayo".


He had to be on a rainy afternoon at Doak Campbell Stadium kicking his first game - winning field goal of his career.  A 26 yard field goal that sailed through the uprights and saved the Seminoles defeating Boston College 20-17.



“To win a game, I’d never felt that feeling,” Aguayo said.

So the undefeated season remains intact.  The winning streak has reached 27 games but with the three point win over a pretty good Boston College team the game control wasn't there.

You got to have that to impress the College Football Playoff committee.

We're undefeated." Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher said.  "We finish every game. Everybody else in the country has not finished at least one game. We've finished every one of them. Isn't that the object?"

Yes it is however game control seems to carry more weight that just winning it.

College Football Playoff selection committee chairman Jeff Long said on Tuesday night: "It's more of, the committee watches the games and then we discuss the game and we talk about whether the game was a back-and-forth contest, whether someone assumes control in the game early and keeps it throughout, (or) whether they assumed (control) in the second quarter or the third quarter or the fourth quarter and controlled it to the end."

If game control is your metric of where teams should be ranked than Florida State slipped again.

Saturday's opposing head coach, Steve Addazio sides with his conference rival.

"The object is to win football games and find a way to win and they have obviously
done an unbelievably great job of doing that, that’s what I really look at." Addazio said. "They play in a Power 5 conference, I think one of the better Power 5 conferences, and week in and week out they find a way to win."

"We were downgraded every time we blew someone out last year, so think of the irony of that." Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston said.  "If we win the game close, we're bad, when we blow someone out, we're bad."

“Florida State is the number one team in the country." Addazio said.

The bottom line is all Florida State has to do is finish in the Top four of the CFB Playoff poll and they are in.

You would think though that the only undefeated team in major college football would be the number one seed, conference affiliation be damned.

Florida and Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship Game remain on Florida State's schedule and both games will be difficult to control from the kickoff on.

Judging from the Seminoles past performance close games are the norm.

Morning Wrap: FSU Rallies Against Miami; Stays Undefeated

((ht: espn.com))

We will say this about the Florida State Seminoles; they ain't pretty, but they keep winning.

FSU scored the go-ahead TD with just over 3 minutes left in the game Saturday night vs. Miami, saving their undefeated season and winning the game 30-26.

The 26-yard game winning run by Running Back Dalvin Cook capped a furious rally that continued a pattern where the 'Noles fall behind in the 1st half, only to right the ship and rally, coming back for the win.

Jameis Winston threw for 304 yards and a TD, Cook had 92 rushing yards and scored twice for the 10-0, 7-0 in the ACC. For the Hurricanes, Duke Johnson ran for 130 yards and a score. Miami drops to 6-4, 3-3 in the ACC.

The path to the playoffs continues getting wider and wider for Florida State as the other undefeated teams continue to fall while the Noles keep coming back and winning. The final two games of the season for FSU are both easily winnable. And while not garnering lots of respect among the College Football Experts, FSU is an early lock for the CFB Playoff.

Your highlights from ESPN.com:

Jameis Winston's Attorney Trying to Get Disciplinary Hearing Delayed

((ht: tampabay.com))

It appears the tug-o-war over Florida State Quarterback Jameis Winston's student disciplinary hearing looks like it may get delayed yet again.

Winston's high-class attorney David Cornwell, fresh off publishing the name of Winston's accuser has officially filed to have the hearing delayed from it's November 17th date. Cornwell says he has not had enough time to effectively prepare both his and his clients case.

The agreed upon person to hear the case--former Florida Supreme Court Judge Major Harding will have final say in the matter, it's believed he will agree.

For those unaware--the hearing is based on accusations Winston sexually assaulted a now former FSU student in December of 2012. No, Winston has yet to be charged in the case, the district attorney declined to pursue charges and the hubbub began over who knew what and when.

We--and most others, believe Cornwell will never let the agreed upon hearing ever happen. He will be unable to speak for or with Winston during the hearing. And anything said can and quite possibly could be used to pursue charges or in a civil procedure.

Combine that with FSU hitting the homestretch of their schedule undefeated and a likely playoff participant....and you have a recipe for nothing happening here other than some posturing for the next couple of months.

Morning Wrap: FSU Gets Comeback W vs. Louisville

((ht: espn.com))

It wasn't pretty.

But pretty doesn't matter as long as you are undefeated and have nothing but teams you should beat left on your schedule.

The Florida State Seminoles overcame a 21 point deficit Thursday night at Louisville and came back to beat the Cards 42-31.

The game was somewhat of an offensive shootout, 1000 yards of offense between the two teams. FSU QB Jameis Winston threw for 401 yards...but also had three INT's. Louisville RB Michael Dyer ran for 134 yards and 3 TD's and Cardinals receiver DeVante Parker had 214 receiving yards.

But after sleepwalking through most of the first half, FSU got a touchdown just before the end of 2nd quarter and went into halftime down 21-7.

The win moves FSU to 8-0 on the season. They will be heavy favorites in their last 4 games, with only 1 road game, a visit to Miami in mid-November.

The Seminoles, love them or hate them, will be one of your 4 playoff teams this season.

ESPN.com gives us the highlights:

Jimbo Fisher Does Not Like Jameis Winston Questions, Then He Answers Them Anyway...

((HT: al.com, Crenshaw/Lost Letterman))

This is what the HQ calls an interview that is cut short...


The All-In head coach was supposed to speak to Birmingham's Monday Morning Quarterback Club.

The HQ has no idea why Fisher would think that questions would be about other things besides what is in and around his program that have happened recently.

But Fisher got hot under the collar and prematurely ejected...

Later that same morning, he went under another round of questions and admitted that "if the facts change" he will consider discplining his quarterback...

Props to Solomon Crenshaw for the response. Obviously, someone in garnet and gold got to Fisher and explained how the pee-ahr of the walk-out wouldn't go over well if that was the last image stuck in Birmingham media.

The Hypocrisy Of Postgame Comments From Tallahassee

((HT: gifdsports Vine/Larry Brown Sports))

FSU head coach Jimbo Fisher is running heavy on either hubris or silliness or both these days...

After the win over Notre Dame, these were his words to Tom Rinaldi...
((HT: ESPN))


Pardon the HQ a bit if we laugh out ooud at the assessment...

But the more interesting part of the dynamic was on display before the interview itself, but the HQ is always a fan of the hot mic...

Here's the short version to Jameis beforehand...


And the translated version from FOSG Jimmy Traina
"Calm down, be very passive here. Understand what I'm saying? Humble. Humble pie."

Always coaching these days...

Always coaching...

Barely: FSU Escapes With Win Over Notre Dame

It was a heck of a game under the lights in Tallahassee Saturday, almost living up to the attempt at hype.

Florida State held on to beat Notre Dame 31-27 in a game that ended on a offensive pass interference call.

The Irish thought they had the game won when QB Everett Golson on 4th down, lofted a 2-yard TD pass to Corey Robinson with 13 seconds left in the game. The TD would have been a game winner.

But the referees called a penalty against one of Notre Dame's split receivers appeared to block the defender trying to cover Robinson.

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly was apoplectic saying "We coach that play every day. And we do it legally and that's the way we coach it. We don't coach illegal plays".

Well, it sure looked like a pick. Instead of bouncing the defender the receiver drove the guy backwards.

Anyway...

The maligned Jameis Winston was impressive for Florida State, throwing for 273 yards and 2 touchdowns. His passing was needed as the Seminoles were only able to run for 50 yards.

It also sets FSU up for a straight run to the College Football Playoff. They will finish the season with a run of crappy ACC teams and finish the regular season with the hapless Florida Gators. They'll likely end up undefeated.

Your highlights from ESPN:

FSU: No Evidence Winston Got Money for Autographs

While many of us were out enjoying our Friday night, Florida State University issued a statement about their "internal" investigation of Jameis Winston and his certified autographed memorabilia for sale on the Internet.

Athletic Director Stan Wilcox said, among other things; "At this time, we have no indication that he (Winston) accepted payment for items reported to bear his signature thereby compromising his athletic eligibility."

This is not a surprise. And Wilcox is correct. There's no proof Winston took money for signing the nearly 2000 items on the web with his signature. Therefore there is no reason he shouldn't be able to play.

The autograph situation is completely different than the issues facing Georgia Running Back Todd Gurley. Someone stepped up with evidence Gurley got paid. And agree or disagree, that is technically a rules violation unless proven otherwise, which it hasn't been yet.

The whole issue is stupid for the simple fact the NCAA makes millions off jersey's etc with the names of these kids and the kids see NONE of that money.

Do we think Jameis Winston got paid to sign stuff that is being sold online. Hell yeah we do. There's no logical explanation for that much signed stuff being available unless he did a mass signing for someone.

But there is no proof thus far, which means he can play, he can move forward--for now.

NOTE---Also on Friday, Winston's attorney David Cornwell confirmed the process of Winston's Student Judiciary hearing is moving forward as of now. Cornwell says while he still disagrees with the whole set-up, he's made his choice as to which of the three judges made available for the hearing that he'd like recused.

The hearing, that's a whole other issue...

Hubris Is An Amazing Emotion: Just Ask FSU's Football Team- Now It's Autographs...??? But, You Knew That Already...

((HT: Warchant.com/ESPN.com, Rovell))

Just ask Jimbo Fisher- especially when he slaps the media in his weekly press conference


Half-truths and "the facts are the facts..."
"Taint them toward their side..."

"There is no victim because there was no crime."

It's all our fault...
And it will continue to be...

Of course...

But, also, Florida State is now investigating the possibility that JSA (James Spence Authentication) may have Winston's John Hancock on memorabilia just they do with UGA's Todd Gurley. Gurley's JSA case is currently under investigation and Winston may not be far behind.

But you already knew that...

Saturday morning, here at OSG Sports, we told you about:

1) The RacingToARedLight.com search chasing Winston down the JSA rabbit hole and,
2) Brother Phil's subsequent search seeing that Winston's autograph was attached to documents in the same queue as Gurley (pictured at right)

From the Rovell story... here's the numbers...

JSA authenticates items as it receives them and attaches the serial numbers in sequential order. JSA authenticated 76 of the exact same Florida State logo footballs in order with serial numbers J65886 through J65962 and 70 of the exact same signed mini helmets in order with serial numbers J66829 through J66896. The company also authenticated 53 jerseys in a row (J66947 through J67001), 38 11-by-14 photos (J66026 through J66064), 18 of the exact same footballs (J66919 through J66936) and 11 signed Rawlings baseballs (J66898 through J66911).

According to ESPN, Fisher asked Winston if he signed autographs for money at the Syracuse game this past weekend. Winston told Fisher that he did not, but the HQ can see right through the semantics of that answer.

Darren Rovell discusses...


Good to see everyone catching up in all of this...

Lost Letterman did make an excellent point this afternoon...

Jameis Winston could be the Al Capone of the NCAA if this pace keeps up...

Hmmm....Did Jameis Winston Do Same Thing Todd Gurley Did?

((ht: racingtoaredlight.com))

With all the hubbub over University of Georgia running back Todd Gurley's suspension over possibly getting paid to autograph memorabilia, someone decided to look and see if anyone else's name might show up on the same EBay website.

And lo and behold someone did.

We can't take credit for doing the original search, the Website Racing to a Red Light did it first.

Read their story RIGHT HERE

But after reading their story, we decided to check it out our own selves.

And not surprisingly, guess who's name shows up in the same authenticated NCAA memorabilia page next to Gurley.

None other than the Famous one himself, FSU Quarterback Jameis Winston...

((Note--This is only a partial list on the screen grab to the right))

The page itself is RIGHT HERE

Yes, there are 7 signed Gurley items on the page, ranging from $49 to $246. And the other 5 items on the page have Mr. Winston's name attached.

Mind you...this may be perfectly legitimate. Nothing here says overtly that Winston was paid to sign anything. Nor does it say Gurley was paid either.

But the items have been authenticated by the same service, Spenceloa.com that was used to authenticate the Gurley items.

If in fact, this is what incriminates Gurley with the NCAA and is the cause of his being suspended the rest of the season, since the video only alleges to show him signing but not being paid, then should the same thing apply to Winston?

We are just raising the question. One that won't be answered now, but probably needs to be asked sooner rather than later...

Decide for yourselves...

In the meantime, check out this story done by our friends at 11Alive TV which asks the question--Could the man named as the person who paid Gurley be sued by Georgia?

Good question:

FSU to Make Winston Face Disciplinary Hearing

((ht: espn.com))

Overnight, word leaked out the Florida State University notified the lawyer for star QB Jameis Winston that he will be facing a disciplinary hearing.

The hearing is about the charges he sexually assaulted a woman back in December of 2012.

The investigation of that assault has been highly controversial, with charges that police and FSU officials helped to try diverting attention from what happened. And that they were less than forthcoming with the district attorney's office once word got out and an official investigation into charges began.

Mind you, the hearing is only to determine if he should be charged according to the school's code of conduct rules. If charged, he could be facing 4 different violations.

The hearing should take place sometime during the week.

More from ESPN.com RIGHT HERE

The perception by many outside of Tallahassee is FSU is executing a "CYA" move. They've had numerous opportunities to move in this direction in the past 20 months, but until now, have done nothing.

It should be noted Florida State is being investigated for Title IX violations in the way they handled this case and a FOXSports report on Friday detailed evidence they were not exactly forthcoming in sharing information with prosecutors investigating what happened.

We suspect nothing significant will come out of this, despite Mr. Winston's continuing lack of good behavior. But we could be wrong.

Since this is an ESPN based report, let's listen to the folks in Bristol discuss this on the phone with their legal guy Roger Cossack:

Report: FSU Complicated Jameis Winston Investigation

((ht: foxsports.com))

Oh boy. An excellent piece of investigative reporting by FOX Sports has turned up proof that Florida State administrators had a hand in making the investigation of star QB Jameis Winston's rape allegations much more difficult to prosecute.

Reporter Kevin Vaughn dug into a mountain of e-mails along with audio and video recordings which show that FSU on more than one occasion gave information to their hand-picked attorney for Winston before giving or releasing the same information to investigators.

If this is proven in a court of law, things, um...well, they could get a bit more interesting.

Read Vaughn's excellent and detailed report RIGHT HERE

It essentially says that both University Police, Tallahassee Police and FSU athletics assistant Monk Bonasarte ran interference, deflecting both reporters questions and making sure that Winston's attorney's had the most up to date information on witnesses and others before District Attorney Willie Meggs' office did.

And yes, we know, while that unto itself does not prove that Winston committed a crime, it does indicate what many have suspected. The atmosphere in Tallahassee appears to be set-up to protect Winston or other football players at the expense of potential victims or anyone who calls athletes out for possible misdeeds.

Your Video story from FOXSports1

The Dirty Dozen and Bottom of the Barrel: Game On!

Yup, finally, after 4 weeks of mostly cupcake games or arguably exhibition games, the College Football season "kicks it up a notch"



A bunch of good, hopefully competitive games with possibly the best of them being Alabama vs. Ole Miss.

And when's the last time you could say Ole Miss was in a game with title implications?

Without further ado, we'll jump right into things: Oh, wait...we were 12-0 last week in our picks.

Wait, what? Yeah, 12-0 bitches...that makes us 47-5 on the season.

Tell 'em Sir Paul:



Okay, enough fun stuff time to get down to business and as Casey Kasem always said, "On With The Countdown"...

THE DIRTY DOZEN:

1) Florida State 4-0. Arrghh...we hate to put these guys here. Mostly because we want Jameis Winston to lose. And he almost did last week, but when NC State went up by 10 in the 3rd quarter, Winston and his teammates responded. (This Week: vs. Wake Forest, Our Pick: FSU 48, Wake 10)

2) Alabama 4-0. Okay, so maybe the odd couple will work. Saban and Kiffin BFF's, who knew? The Tide is good, though not as good as past teams. But this year, it still may be enough--if they can survive the SEC West gauntlet. (This Week: at Ole Miss, Our Pick: Alabama 24, Ole Miss 23)

3) Oklahoma 4-0. Yes, Oklahoma. They are probably gonna run the table guys. Deal with it. Unless they go bonehead, this will be one of your 4 Playoff teams. And they should be, they are pretty good. (This Week: at TCU. Our Pick: Oklahoma 31, TCU 23)

4) Oregon 4-0. Sorry Ducks, you fall after barely beating Washington St. Yes, we know it was in god-forsaken Pullman, but still. The Mike Leach's aren't that good. If you want to be a title contender, you need to win more convincingly. Deal with it. (This Week: vs. Arizona, Our Pick: Oregon 41, Arizona 33)

5) Auburn 4-0. Right, they beat La. Tech. So what...They struggled early and pulled away late from a team they shouldn't struggle with. But we don't blame them for being uninterested. It gets real for them this week. Les Miles real. (This Week: vs. LSU, Our Pick: Auburn 43, LSU 27)

6) UCLA 4-0. The Bruins finally looked like the team everyone thought they'd be last week at Arizona State. Brett Hundley stepped it up and UCLA just flat ran away from the Sun Devils. Big win. (This Week: vs. Utah, Our Pick: UCLA 37, Utah 21)

7) Texas A&M 5-0. Barely. Not barley. Oh boy, Kenny Hill is the real deal. He rescued the Aggies who nearly lost to Arkansas. In College Station. It wouldn't have shocked us, just surprised us. But that's only the 1st test. (This Week: at Miss. St., Our Pick: UPSET--Miss St. 27, Aggies 23)

8) Notre Dame 4-0. Yes, they get to be #8. For now. But honestly folks, outside a game vs. FSU, there's nothing on the schedule that will trip these guys up. But we could be wrong. (This Week: vs. Stanford, Our Pick: Irish 31, Trees 21)

9) Baylor 4-0. This is a flawed team. You may not have seen it yet. But we don't believe the defense is strong enough to get these guys to the playoff. We could be wrong, but we are pretty confident in this despite Bryce Petty being pretty awesome. (This Week: at Texas, Our Pick: Baylor 43, Texas 21)

10) Ole Miss 4-0. That's right peeps. Ole Miss stays in the #10 slot this week. And their 1st shot at glory in a long, long time. This is a good team, but they've not played anyone but cupcakes. That is about to change in a big way. They'll keep it close on energy alone. (This Week: see #2)

11) Miss. St 4-0. Two Mississippi teams in the Dozen. This may never happen again in our long and proud future. But it's happening this week. Beating LSU in Death Valley..at night. And doing it convincingly...almost. That's big. This week is arguably bigger (This Week: see #7)

12) Georgia 3-1. If you have Todd Gurley, you have a chance to be great every week. The Bulldogs haven't been, but Gurley has been enough to beat just about everyone. We think the defense will get better, but they need to find a quarterback who can throw the ball further than me. (This Week: vs. Vanderbilt, Our Pick: Gurley Men 43, Vandy 17)

THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL:



5) Idaho 0-4. Oh, ye poor Vandal fan. Sure, you've been close in most of your games, but you were manhandled by South Alabama a below average Sun Belt team. But hey, winter is coming. So there is that. (This Week: at Texas St, Our Pick: Texas St. 30, Idaho 20)

4) Troy State 0-5. Hey, smile Trojan man, you nearly beat La. Monroe. That has to be a bright spot...right? Coming off the Georgia massacre, it has to be encouraging. (This Week: at New Mexico St., Our Pick: NM State 33, Troy 28)

3)UMass 0-5. MAC Action...catch the fever! We will hand it to the Minute men. They dropped 42 on Bowling Green last week. But they gave up 47, so yeah, that's another one in the loss column. Tide's have to turn for these guys at some point, maybe this will be their week. (This Week: at Miami, OH, Our Pick: UMass 31, Miami--Oh)

2) Miami, OH 0-5. Yes, we've moved them out of the bottom of the bottom of the barrel...for now. With one of the worst rushing attacks in all of College Football (ranked 102nd), the Redhawks, well, they struggle at times. 2 straight seasons without a win will do that. (This Week: See #3)

1) SMU 0-4. Yes...SMU. They've earned the worst of the worst moniker for one reason. 12 points in 4 games. That's 3 points a game and that is pretty damn bad. Statistically, they are at the bottom of pretty much every list. But then again, that's why they are the worst team in College Football too. (This Week: at East Carolina (yikes!), Our Pick: ECU 70, SMU 3)

Special thanks to the folks at Delta this week because as we finish this weeks column, we're about 30,000 feet over America's heartland headed to Denver for a little R and R and a trip to the Great American Beer Festival.

Cheers y'all....

The Dirty Dozen and Bottom of the Barrel: Anarchy...or Not?

Well, so far, we've had a few close calls, a few upsets (minor) and a lot of overhyping. All three things have defined a College Football season that so far can be defined as: Meh...

Outside last week when Jameis Winston cost himself the Heisman Trophy repeat and nearly cost Florida State a shot at a repeat title, everything that happened happened and no real chaos ensued...



Or not...

Surely that is in our future, but uh...not this week, the slate of games, while not exactly cupcake week, doesn't exactly feature any barn burners either. Those happen--we hope...in October.

It sure is helping our bottom line as evidence by us going 12-2 last week in picks. That puts the total thus far at 35-5, which folks, is pretty darn good.

With so little to talk about folks, we'll throw Casey out there and say "On with the countdown"


THE DIRTY DOZEN:

1) Florida St. 3-0. This pains us. Morally we want them to lose so maybe they understand how they are enabling Jameis Winston. But that ain't happening right now. This applies:



And that ain't happening this week. (This Week: at NC State. Our Pick: FSU 41, NCState 23)

2) Oklahoma 4-0. The Sooners had a tough time in West by god Virginia, but that wasn't a surprise. They still won. We aren't sold they are in this for the long haul, but there is nobody in the Big 9 we think that is capable of knocking them off. (This Week: BYE)

3) Oregon 4-0. The Duckies also struggled at Washington State, but did eeek out the win. We see this team as being very similar to Oregon teams in the past. They haven't played any of the PAC 12 teams that will push them hard. Yet. (This Week: BYE)

4) Alabama 4-0. Yes, the Tide annihilated a highly overrated Florida team. But this is still a team with flaws. However, Blake Sims has been a revelation and Amari Cooper has been fantastic. Oddly, the defense may be their biggest concern. (This Week: BYE)

5) Auburn 3-0. We were surprised to see how much they struggled with a game K-State team. Even though it was a road game. The Wildcats kept the Tigers offense largely in check. And had a chance to win, but didn't. One more week for Auburn before schedule gets tough. (This Week: vs. La.Tech. Our Pick: Auburn 49, La. Tech 12)

6) Texas A&M 4-0. Trill Hill continues to put up big numbers, the Aggies continue to roll. But consider the opponents, 3 cupcakes and a South Carolina team with so-so defense. It's about to get tougher as the SEC West schedule kicks in in earnest. (This Week: vs. Arkansas. Our Pick: Aggies 37, Ark. 23)

7) Mississippi St. 4-0. Yeah, beating LSU in Death Valley will get you here. Now can you stay? Dak Prescott was awesome and until a late 4th quarter collapse, so was the defense. They looked like a title contender. Will it last? (This Week: BYE)

8) Baylor 3-0. Stop us if you've heard this before. Tons of points, questionable defense and conference with few challengers. Oh, and likely to fold when pushed. Yeah, all these have described Baylor for the past couple of seasons. And that isn't going to change. (This Week: at Iowa St. Our Pick: Baylor 51, Iowa St. 38)

9) Notre Dame 3-0. Arggh! This hurts us to put these guys here. The schedule has been cupcake palooza. But they are ND and they get ranked if they win. And we don't wanna put a one loss team above them...yet. (This Week: at Syracuse. Our Pick: ND 30, Cuse 20)

10) Ole Miss 3-0. Again undefeated and they've dominated a string of cupcakes. What'cha gonna do when the pressure is on? Oh, did we add they are in the brutal SEC West? The schedule kicks in soon, but not this week. (This Week: vs. Memphis. Our Pick: Ole Miss 35, Memphis 21)

11) Georgia 2-1. Okay, yeah, we put a one loss team here. The feeling is this team will get better as the season goes on. The defense is the only question and they are young. But they won't be tested as much as we thought. Or will they? (This Week: vs. Tennessee. Our Pick: UGA 37, Vols 23)

12) Arizona St. 3-0. Time to find out if they are contenders or pretenders. And yes, they are undefeated. And no, they haven't really played anyone of note. That's about to change. (This Week: vs. UCLA. Our Pick: UCLA 28, Arizona St. 21)

THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL



5) UMass 0-4. Oh you poor Minutemen. You still are masters of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. And you've been a perennial occupant of our list of crappy teams. We don't expect that to change anytime soon. (This Week: vs. Bowling Green. Our Pick: BGU 13, UMass 12)

4) Rice Krispies 0-3. Sigh. We thought about making Rice Krispies jokes, but we've used up most of them over the past couple seasons. Regular readers..or reader should know this. So we will stop. (This Week: at Southern Miss. Our Pick: Southern Miss 21, Rice 17)

3) Troy 0-4. Zoinks. They play UGA, get ball first, drive down field and miss a field goal. They never came close to scoring again getting beat 66-0. Yes, 66-0. Sigh...(This Week: at LaMonroe. Our Pick: Monroe 45, Troy 13)

2) Miami OH 0-4. Another long time cellar dweller who hasn't really shown any signs of climbing out. MAC Inaction! Woooo! (This Week: at Buffalo. Our Pick: Buffalo 33 Wings, OH Miami 10)

1) SMU 0-4. How can you score 12 points in 4 games and call yourselves a Division 1 football team? Oh, and your coach walked away from the mess after 2 of those games. Don't expect to leave this spot all season long. (This Week: vs. TCU Our Pick: TCU 47, SMU 3)

Enjoy your late '70's early '80's concept music video:

Contradiction: Victims Lawyer Says Jameis Winston's Lawyer Offered to Pay Them Off

((ht: orlandosentinel.com))

Quickly on the heels of a statement released by the lawyer for Florida State University QB Jameis Winston, saying the woman accusing Winston of sexual assault wanted to be bought off, comes a direct contradiction.

John Clunie responded to a report on TMZ.com that said Winston's lawyer David Cornwell was saying Clunie's client was looking for $7 million to go away and never be heard from again.

Read the TMZ report RIGHT HERE

Clunie said it was actually Cornwell who reached out to the woman's original lawyer, Patricia Carroll with intent to by the accuser off. And that after being rejected on the phone, Cornwell showed up at Carroll's office in Tampa to negotiate in person.

Clunie added during that meeting; "Settlement discussions were immediately unproductive as Cornwell was crude and insulting going as far to say 'your client likes to @#$! football players'"

He added that Cornwell accused the woman of waiting to file a complaint until 2-years later when in fact she came forward after FSU approached her in October of 2013 investigating Winston for allegations of a second report of misconduct against another woman.

Read the entire story from the Orlando Sentinel RIGHT HERE

All this legal "He said, she said" adds yet another layer to a very bizarre investigation that stemmed from an incident in 2012. The D.A in Leon County declined to move forward with charges and FSU is alleged to have barely investigated the incident in which neither party denied there was a sexual incident of some sorts.

The stories are a bit different and the summary investigations, or lack thereof has FSU the target of a Title IX investigation by Federal Investigators.

Winston, according to his lawyer is said to be cooperating in that investigation, which would be a contradiction of all the others, which he didn't.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the latest investigation closes in the next few weeks.

Jameis Winston "Cooperating" With Title IX Investigation... Was There An Attempted Extortion...?

((HT: WCTV-TV/TMZ))

While the attorney for FSU QB Jameis Winston, David Cornwell, admits that his client is cooperating with the Title IX investigation on campus, he also says that the accuser in the previous rape case tried to extort money from his client.

$7-million worth of being left alone...

TMZ has a copy of the letter and it claims that the accuser's attorney, Patricia Carroll, was ready to deal:

According to the letter -- obtained by TMZ Sports -- the alleged victim's lawyer, Patricia Carroll, demanded $7 MIL to settle her client's claims against FSU and Winston, telling Cornwell, "If we settle, you will never hear from my client or me again -- in the press or anywhere."

Cornwell says he rejected her offer and 4 days later she went to the media.

Fisher is now ready to move on and make sure that his quarterback is going to not get into any more trouble.

Here's the Jimbo Fisher press conference from this week where he addresses the "miscommunication" between staff and coaches involving the wearing of the uniform for the Clemson game.


The HQ still has tremendous issues with Winston even being on the field Saturday. We always thought "suspended" meant something the equivalent of staying at home, not being in attendance, and learning some kind if lesson in all of this.

The HQ doesn't buy the whole "miscommunication" gambit and the idea that the network broadcasting the game actually had 48 cut-aways (as counted by Deadspin) of him watching his team on the sidelines is appalling.

The glorification of a suspended athlete has nothing to do with subplot and it wouldn't have if he was off the field- where he belonged- in the first place.

The HQ is also not fond of Winston jumping into the middle of Sean McGuire's moment after the win and we're fairly sure there's a huge disconnect in Winston's brain when it comes to "getting it."

Which he, surely and consistenty, has not and will not. Entitlement and coddling are two words that seem to be fairly consistent in the administration of Winston's life path and we're pretty tired of it.

There's nothing wrong with being a "heel." Each sporting element has them and needs them for the sake of daily argument. But Winston, through all of his instances, has gone past that role into one of an individual who we're all waiting to fall and won't have any sympsthy when he does.