We made it through the bye-infested Week 10. Unfortunately, Week 12 is about as soul-crushing with byes, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. On to Week 11, where we actually have a solid late-night slate for us night owls. This week, I put on my tinfoil hat for a bit, which is my favorite type of hat.
P4 Playoff Gravy
Few things in life are better than an elite breakfast gravy. If you spent any amount of time at a southern or midwestern greasy spoon diner, then you know exactly what I mean. On chicken fried steak…yep. On biscuits…absolutely. It’s perfect. Sometimes, I get drunk just so I can eat it hungover.
Gravy matchups for CFF are ones that you look forward to all season due to the undeniable shootout potential. G5 options are a bit easier to spot, but here are some P4 programs that are backloaded with more gravy in the playoff weeks than a Southern kitchen.
West Virginia – Baylor, UCF, at Texas Tech
Stanford – Louisville, at Cal, at SJSU
Syracuse – at Cal, UConn, Miami
Notre Dame – Virginia, Army, at USC
Michigan State – at Illinois, Purdue, Rutgers
Penn State – Purdue, at Minnesota, Maryland
The Carousel Has Stalled
Player movement has made Dynasty CFF and C2C formats challenging to prognosticate, but the recent increase in coach movement has also added to that challenge. Do we possibly see the coaching carousel spinning at a snail’s pace for a change this offseason with a number of the hot seat jobs cooling off?
Napier is outperforming expectations, given the injuries to key Gators (Mertz, Lagway, Wilson). The AD likely needs to be fired before Billy is let go. Spavital appears to have saved Aranda’s bacon.
Speaking of bacon, how much weight will the Hogs victory over the Vols carry for Pittman if they were to get to seven wins with a soft final two weeks on the schedule? Beamer is looking Cock strong. All of a sudden, Mack Brown isn’t looking so blue.
However, some seats are starting to warm up a bit. I’m looking at you, Pry, Locksley, Walters, Malzahn, Troy Taylor, and Norvell.
The coaching carousel tends to be spun from the top down. If none (or few) of these higher-profile jobs open, there is less downstream coach movement, leading to fewer 30-day coaching change portal window openings and, therefore, less player movement.
More Like SMACtion…Am I Right?
Good lord, Kent State. Ya’ll be getting smacked. Can you at least even act like you care about football? I know it has been a tough go since the mass exodus of Sean Lewis and his all-star MAC cast, but can I poke you with a stick so you will do something? Actually, don’t. Please continue your predictable ways. Not only are you winless and dead last in the nation in rushing yards allowed at 270 yards/game, but you somehow lost to St. Francis while giving up over 200 yards on the ground.
You still have Miami (OH), Akron, and Buffalo on the docket. It’s all systems go for Keyon Mozee, Jordon Simmons, and Al-Jay Henderson. Do your job and let them eat like the good little MAC defensive doormat you have become.
Wide Receiver Transfer Portal Candidates
Any DARK fans here? No? It’s only the greatest show ever to grace Netflix. Anyways…Johntay Cook is about to touch the God Particle and enter the portal. He has inspired me to identify some others who could be on the move once the portal season kicks off.
Ja’Kobi Lane and Zach Branch, USC– Two for one special. Lane has already taken to social media to voice his displeasure with the staff. Branch can’t be far behind with how much his stock has dropped in LA.
Denzel Boston, UW – Tinfoil hat time. I think there is a legit chance that Alabama will make a run at the Husky that the Tide staff recruited and developed before his breakout season. They need someone to pair with Ryan Williams.
Eugene Wilson III, Florida – Worst kept secret all season. A knee surgery could make things less clear, though. Players going through a surgery and rehab process don’t often transfer.
Elic Ayomanor, Stanford – It’s been a rough start to the Troy Taylor tenure. Stanford players don’t often transfer due to the value of the diploma, but Ayo has Sunday football aspirations.
Omari Kelly, MTSU – He’s already spent time in the SEC. We know there are going to be some successful G5 guys who attempt to move up despite our silent wishes for them to stay put.
Micah Hudson, Texas Tech – Limited by injuries, but Tech can’t afford to have the guy mentioned in the same breath as Jeremiah Smith, Cam Coleman, and Ryan Williams do absolutely nothing.
Jaquaize Pettaway, Oklahoma – Something isn’t right behind the scenes for him to get such little run despite all the WR injuries. Could be fun at the right landing spot.
Bold Prediction
Does anyone have the Cyclone backfield figured out yet? Yeah, me neither. But that won’t stop me from bringing the heat. The Pulse is all about takes hotter than a frog’s ass on a Mississippi sidewalk in August.
I’m calling Abu Sama to finish strong and become more of the workhorse RB that many thought he would be coming into the season. I don’t have any priors I’m sticking to on Sama. I was agnostic on him in the preseason, but my eyes and the metrics tell me that Hanson just isn’t special. Sama looked like the clear best option for the Cyclones in week 10. Maybe the Des Moines native is a sicko that prefers cold weather like we saw in the Farmageddon “2024 Blizzard Edition”.
Cheers to Week 11! Good luck, all. As is customary every post-Halloween Pulse, here is my daughter rocking yet another dinosaur costume this year.
