The Hook
Indiana’s Toe Tap Touchdown
As the 3rd quarter was coming to a close, it looked like #2 Indiana was going to cruise to victory up 20-7 against a hampered Penn State team in Happy Valley. Nittany Lions’ Freshman backup QB Ethan Grunkenmeyer led a furious comeback, scoring 17 unanswered points en route to a 24-20 lead. The Hoosiers got the ball back with 1:51 left and 80 yards to go, paving a way for likely the best drive of the season as Fernando Mendoza surgically picked apart the navy and white secondary, culminating in a toe-tap TD by Omar Cooper Jr in the back of the endzone that moved IU to an unblemished 10-0 record.
Defense Lifts Texas Tech Over BYU
Speaking of toe-taps touchdowns, #8 Texas Tech had one in the first quarter on their way to a 29-7 win over the previously undefeated #7 BYU in the most hyped game of the weekend. The Red Raider defense stole the show in Lubbock. TTU LB Jacob Rodriguez had a game to remember with 16 tackles, a fumble recovery, and an interception, hitting the famous Heisman pose after the pick and thus rocketing his name into the conversation for the best player in the nation.
Ohio State Cruises
My Hook and Ladder Game of the Week picked Purdue to beat the Goliath that is this year’s Ohio State Buckeyes. Purdue was up 3-0 at the end of the first, but Ohio State dominated the other 45 minutes on their way to a 34-10 win. Purdue may not have won as I predicted, HOWEVER, this game was Ohio State’s first loss against the spread all year, which has to count for something.
The Ladder: The Future of College Gameday
I love ESPN’s College Gameday. Well, I guess I loved College Gameday. The weekly show travels the country and showcases the most rabid fanbases on the sport’s biggest stage. Lately, for a variety of reasons, I think the show has started to run stale, and I’d like to propose my fixes to bring back what made College Gameday (CGD) the best part of Saturday mornings for so long.
I’ve seen a lot of discourse about what CDG should be. Some say it should be the best game of the week, and some say it should be the best storyline in the nation. I think it should be what made it great when it started in 1993: a celebration of the sport of college football.
I’m not saying that it’s absolutely terrible right now. Nick Saban’s presence has been incredible, Pat McAfee is starting to find his stride after a couple of rocky years, and the student field goal bit has produced some awesome moments (pretty salty they didn’t have it for me, though because I’d be about $500k richer right now). Yes, they’ll never recreate the magic of Lee Corso and his headgear picks, but that’s okay!
What’s not okay is substituting the straight-up pick section at the end of the show for picks against the spread. I like to bet a little on Saturdays, don’t get me wrong, but ESPN shoehorning their own sportsbook into programming like that feels borderline sacrilegious.
My final piece of advice to ESPN: go where you’re wanted. It’s old hat for some fanbases and campuses that are used to the success and caravan of pregame shows. The CGD trip to Berkeley last year was incredible, and you could tell how much they cared and wanted them to be there.
For the past couple of weeks, the citizens of Arkadelphia, Arkansas, campaigned for CGD to come down and witness the Battle of the Ravine between Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State in what would be the show’s first appearance at a DII matchup. ESPN is instead taking the crew to Notre Dame @ Pittsburgh. Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi remarked about the matchup: “It’s not an ACC game. I’d gladly get beat 103 or 110 to 10”. Way to go, ESPN.