LOVE IT: I love the fact that Kirk Ferentz invited former Hawkeye player and assistant, Dan McCarney, back to Kinnick to serve as an honorary captain. I know, I know, Danny Mac coached our arch nemesis for a decade (and for some unfathomable reason, ISU thought they could do better—how’s that going guys?). But there’s always room for welcoming a native son back home. Ferentz and McCarney, although former rivals, got their coaching start under Coach Hayden Fry. Being that this past weekend was FryFest where a new statue of Coach Fry was unveiled, it just all seemed to make sense. It would have been extra awesome for Mac to serve as captain for the Iowa State game, but that wouldn’t be fair to him.
LEAVE IT: Wisconsin shook up the entire college football world this past weekend with a stunning 16-14 victory over national title contender LSU. That part is awesome (even if it is those damn Badgers). What is not awesome is what happened on LSU’s final play of the game. Offensive lineman Josh Boutte laid a vicious hit on Wisconsin’s D’Cota Dixon after Dixon had grabbed the game-clinching interception. Les Miles announced Monday that Boutte will be suspended for one game. That game? Jacksonville State. Yeah I know LSU can’t control their schedule and how things lined up. But if you want to send a message, you take your guy out in a game that actually matters.
LOVE IT: Max stole my thunder a bit on this one, but you cannot rate the Nebraska tribute to their fallen teammate, Sam Foltz, as anything other than an A+. I got chills watching this and it’s just an awesome thing to watch. There really isn’t much else to say. For those who haven’t read Max’s column, please watch here:
ICYMI: @HuskerFBNation's tribute to Sam Foltz was perfect. #SF27 https://t.co/hIffAYAo7b
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) September 4, 2016
LEAVE IT: ESPN reported this week that Penn State will formally honor disgraced former coach Joe Paterno this month. It will be the 50th anniversary since JoePa’s first game as the Penn State head coach. My initial reaction to this was a bit of shock, followed by a lot more anger when I realized I shouldn’t be shocked. Any casual perusing of the blogosphere and message boards reveals that Penn State fans are extremely defensive of JoePa and any obvious alleged role he had in the Jerry Sandusky cover up scandal. This episode is another notch in their belt of delusion.
LOVE IT: How can you not be moved by the story of Florida State player Travis Rudolph eating lunch with an autistic elementary student who was eating alone? Granted, we here in the Midwest love to kid the state of Florida (and if you’re a Family Guy fan like myself, you’ve heard some pretty awesome Florida jokes). But simple acts like this bring us back to the reality that football is just a game and the players are human too. Rudolph followed up by giving the boy and his family free tickets to an FSU football game. Great job by Mr. Rudolph.
LEAVE IT: In this week’s edition of you-reap-what-you-sow, USC is tucking its tail between its legs after Alabama delivered them a merciless beatdown this weekend. You may remember that USC fired now-Alabama OC Lane Kiffin a few years ago. You may also remember how that firing took place: getting pulled off the team bus and fired right there at the airport. Well Kiffin certainly hasn’t forgotten and took to Twitter this weekend to make sure USC knew it.
Post game w the game ball!!! #3:14AM-LAX pic.twitter.com/cxQkJ89254
— Lane Kiffin (@Lane_Kiffin) September 4, 2016
That’s Kiffin’s son with the game ball. Harmless. But 3:14 AM is the exact time Kiffin was fired at...you guessed it...LAX, 3 years ago this month. Lesson to all AD’s and Presidents out there considering firing your head coach: you reap what you sow. If you choose to fire someone in a fairly disrespectful way (even to someone I consider a bit sleazy), don’t be surprised when it comes back to bite.
That’s all I got. Just like Travis Rudolph, do something awesome for someone this week.