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          Ready for Rivalry Week? We thought so

          • Ryan McGee
          Nov 21, 2016, 12:06 AM

          On Sunday morning, around 8 a.m., I stepped off the elevator in my Coral Gables, Florida hotel and was greeted by a family that was checking out and loading up their SUV. The mom wore a blue Michigan Wolverines home jersey. Her husband, busy bungee-cording the luggage rack to the roof, was wearing a Woody Hayes-ish block "O" ball cap.

          "It's like this every year," their teenage daughter said to me as she sat on the curb and flipped through her phone. "We're headed to the Keys. When the game is on my mom will stay in the room and watch and my dad will probably go to the hotel bar."

          Naturally I asked her where she would be during The Game. "At the pool," she replied. "I'm going to Wisconsin in the fall. They're both still mad at me about that."

          Ah yeah, Rivalry Week is here.

          This is the week when you show up at work with your school colors and change your email inbox alert to a blast of your fight song, turned up just loud enough that the scoundrel in the next cubicle over has to hear it all week.

          This is the week when schools and their fans go a-raiding their way across conference lines and state lines, like an invading army.

          This is the week when college football wields a big ol' ax and uses it to split neighborhoods, bloodlines and dinner tables clean in half. I mean, you saw how Stanford was running around with that ax after beating Cal, right?

          "When I was coaching I knew that no matter what I did during all the other games, if I figured out a way to win that last one then they'd probably let me come back the next year," says former Clemson head coach Danny Ford, who went 7-3-1 in the Palmetto Bowl against archrival South Carolina. "People always said, 'Danny, I bet you didn't have to pay for lunch anywhere in the state after you won that game.' I'd tell them, well, that depended on what colors the guy who owned the restaurant was wearing."

          With all due respect to other sports which love to push the idea of rivalry, none can approach the fervor and fanaticism of college football. When the NFL touts the Steelers vs. Ravens, they are talking about a pair of teams that first squared off in 1996. That's cute.

          Ohio State and Michigan have played 112 times. The first time they met was in 1897. William McKinley was in the White House. The first Iron Bowl between Auburn and Alabama was played four years earlier. Iowa and Nebraska first met in 1891, as did Indiana and Purdue. Minnesota and Wisconsin beat them by one year.

          And the teams who win those games get Old Oaken Buckets and statues of pigs and barrels and bells and ... did we mention the axes? "I only got to hold Paul Bunyan's Axe twice," recalls Glen Mason, who coached Minnesota from 1997 to 2006, earning possession of the tool twice by beating Wisconsin in '01 and '03. The original, created in 1948, was sent to the College Football Hall of Fame after the '03 game and replaced with a new one. Says Mason: "I told them they'd have to come steal it from my office first."

          What does the winner of the Patriots-Colts game receive? A pat on the back? Stock options?

          I'm pretty sure that in 2017 no one will stand guard by the new Peyton Manning statue outside Lucas Oil Stadium to protect it from shenanigans. That's what USC did last week with Tommy Trojan in the days leading up to their Victory Bell game with UCLA.

          "When I transferred to Wisconsin I was like, man, they've been playing all of these teams for a hundred years and every game we win they give us a funky trophy," NC State-turned-Badgers-turned-Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson once said of his one year at Camp Randall Stadium. "I was like, I could get used to this. There's nothing like it."

          There's especially nothing like it when those games really mean something when it comes to determining championships, both conference and national. Think about how much more intense The Game has felt in Ann Arbor and Columbus the past two seasons. Or the attention that's being focused on the Apple Cup, when Washington and Washington State will meet for the 109th time with a Pac-12 title game berth on the line. Or Bedlam, which will have a Big 12 championship to be decided during the 111th meeting between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

          To borrow a phrase from the SEC, always the epicenter of Rivalry Weekend with its bowls of Iron and Egg and a slate of regional ACC throwdowns ... it just means more.

          "Yeah, well, to the media it might mean more or to people watching the playoff stuff," Clemson running back Wayne Gallman said when asked about the upcoming matchup with South Carolina. "But down here in this state, it doesn't mean more because to us it's never not meant more."

          Mr. Gallman has a point. Just ask Thomas Jefferson.

          Now that I'm all fired up, let's get on with Flipping The Field.

          Donnel Pumphrey Watch: San Diego State had a rough afternoon on Saturday, falling to Wyoming 34-33 after a Hail Mary TD but failed two-point conversion. Pumphrey was held to 76 yards on 17 carries, but still moved past Tony Dorsett into third place on the NCAA all-time rushing list. He's at 6,127 yards, trailing Ricky Williams (6,279) and Ron Dayne (6,397), who earlier last week said Pumphrey's numbers should come with an asterisk because they include bowl stats ... and then backed up by saying he wished the kid all the best.

          Jabrill Peppers Watch: During Saturday's unexpected dogfight with Indiana, the Human Swiss Army Knife settled in at his natural position of linebacker, where he was for 45 of his 66 snaps, with 12 at nickel, eight at corner and one at safety. His five tackles, two tackles for loss and one pass breakup all came at linebacker. According to ESPN Stats & Information, it was easily the most time he has spent at LB in a game this season, vs. the 19.9 snaps spent there during the season's first 10 games.

          Jeremy McNichols Watch: That's right. We're adding a third watch this week because this dude has earned it. The man Boise State calls "The Weapon" spent Friday night torching UNLV for 205 yards rushing and four TDs. We'd go over more of his stats, but we'll let his school do it for us.

          From the Ridonculous Stats Department: East Carolina's Zay Jones hauled in a dozen catches during a loss to Navy, setting a new NCAA career receptions record at 392, breaking the mark set by former Pirates teammate Justin Hardy. Also awesome in a bad loss was Texas running back D'Onta Foreman, who rushed for 250 yards on 21 carries. The Horns became the first FBS team this season to lose a game with a 250-yard rusher. A few hours later West Virginia did the same, as Justin Crawford ran for 331 yards in a loss to Oklahoma. Christian McCaffrey made it look like it was 2015 again vs. Cal, setting a Stanford single-day rushing record of 284. Pitt's James Conner's two TDs vs. Duke moved him into first place on the ACC's career TD list with 53. The number of lives the cancer defeater has touched is impossible to count.

          Old Dudes Rule! Joe Thomas Sr., father of Green Bay Packers linebacker Joe Jr., fulfilled a lifelong dream by finally playing college football, making it onto the field for his son's alma mater, South Carolina State ... at the age of 55! His first carry went for 3 yards. You can hear it here via the radio booth of opponent Savannah State and play-by-play man Spencer Turkin.

          "We're going streaking!" Western Michigan has won a school record 13 straight games. Stanford's seventh straight win over Cal matches the Cardinal's longest streak in the history of The Big Game. Ohio State has held 15 straight opponents to less than a 60 percent pass completion rate. Colorado has won five straight games, the Buffs' longest win streak since 2002. Florida clinched its record 11th appearance in the SEC championship game. Their opponent in that game will be Alabama, their record ninth matchup.

          "Get in the car, Frank..." Instead of wasting time with other teams, this week we're focusing solely on Kansas and its win over Texas. According to the math masters at ESPN Stats & Info, the Jayhawks' victory did the following: snapped a nine-game losing streak (longest in FBS), snapped a 19-game conference losing streak (longest in FBS), snapped a 23-game losing streak to FBS teams (longest in FBS) and snapped a 13-game losing streak to Texas (tied for longest in FBS). It was also Kansas' first win over Texas since Sept. 24, 1938.

          Old Dudes Rule! Part 2. Any media member who has ever been fortunate enough to be in the press box at Virginia also has been fortunate enough to see John Risher do his work as UVa football statistician ... like any media member for the past century or so. If you haven't, then you need to see the story College GameDay ran Saturday morning.

          Tommy West Coach's News Conference of the Week: Bob Stoops, Oklahoma. When asked about next week's Bedlam matchup with Oklahoma State, a game that will determine the Big 12 title, Stoops brought up the 9-2 Cowboys and their controversial Week 2 loss to Central Michigan. "In my eyes, they've only got one loss, you know, if you'd played by the rules ... I do. I mean, they review everything else out here. They review a first down. You couldn't review if that play should have been called or allowed or not? Yeah, I mean, I had one of those that, I count myself one extra victory, that one out at Oregon that everyone counted as a loss. So, my record book's a little different than everybody else's." In that '06 trip to Eugene the Ducks were awarded recovery of a late onside kick despite replays showing Oklahoma had recovered the ball. Oregon scored in the closing seconds to win. The following week the entire Pac-12 officiating crew was suspended.

          Danny Ford Scientific Rocket Quote of the Week: Zach Kline, QB, Fresno State. "Fresno State is bigger than yourself." It might feel easy to snicker about that as it came from a 1-10 team. But after a heartbreaking loss to Hawaii, the Bulldogs' senior signal-caller already was talking about the importance of next week's season finale vs. San Jose State. Here's his whole postgame pep talk.

          Old Dudes Rule! Part 3. At Winston Salem State, they take the idea of Senior Day very, very seriously.

          Weston Steelhammer Name of the Week: Equanimeous St. Brown, WR, Notre Dame. His full name is Equanimeous Tristan Imhotep J. St. Brown and he has two younger brothers, named Osiris Adrian Amen-Ra J. St. Brown and Amon-Ra Julian Heru J. St. Brown. If you have a problem with any of this, feel free to take it up with their father, John Brown, a former two-time Mr. Universe and three-time Mr. World weightlifter.

          Frank Reich Backup QB of the Week Award: Tyler Chadwick, Coastal Carolina. I know, I know, I've already mentioned him a couple of times this season. But last Thursday, on a night when he was supposed to be honored at halftime alongside his teammates from the College World Series champion baseball team, he was instead being coached up. Why? Because an injury to Chanticleers starter Tyler Keane was forcing the former CCU infielder to step in behind center. The volunteer assistant coach-turned-backup QB had gotten in for a few token plays this year, but now he was really playing, completing 6 of 9 passes for 71 yards.

          Comeback of the Week Award, also named for Frank Reich: Virginia Tech 34, Notre Dame 31. The Hokies trailed 17-0 just seven seconds into the second quarter and trailed by 10 twice, including the start of the fourth quarter. But 13 unanswered points in that final stanza handed Tech the win, handed the Irish their first losing season since 2007 and handed Brian Kelly an offseason full of Pepto-Bismol.

          The guy you should know about, but probably don't: Ed Oliver, DT, Houston. In this offense-obsessed time, it's becoming easier to overlook defensive players. But if you watched Thursday night's drubbing of Louisville, then you know that the Cardinals' offensive line didn't overlook Oliver, he was too busy running past them. He racked up six tackles, a pair of sacks and a forced fumble during the 36-10 win. On the season he now has 61 tackles -- 19.5 for loss and 43 solo -- along with nine pass breakups. All of those are tops among all defensive linemen. And oh yeah, he was playing with an MCL sprain in his right knee ... and he's a freshman!

          The guy you used to know about but forgot about but you should know about again: Dalvin Cook, RB, FSU. He was on everyone's preseason Heisman short list, but vanished from the national spotlight after the Noles fell to 3-2. But Cook rushed for 225 yards and four TDs vs. Syracuse, breaking Warrick Dunn's FSU's career rushing record (4,166 vs. 3,959) and tying Greg Allen's career rushing TD mark (44).

          The team you should know about, but probably don't: Vanderbilt. The Commodores started the season 2-3 but have since gone 3-2 with unexpected wins over Georgia and Saturday's 38-17 romp of Ole Miss. Now 5-5 Vandy will host its most hated neighbor, Tennessee, with bowl eligibility on the line. Win or lose, the fact that "bowl eligibility" and "Vandy" were just in the same sentence is pretty remarkable.

          The helmets you should know about but probably don't: North Texas. The Mean Green has always been underrated when it comes to logos, merchandise and such. For Saturday's Senior Day win over Southern Miss, they were wearing chromed-out lids that tug on the heart of a hot rod lover like me.

          The game you should be psyched for but probably aren't: Michigan State at Penn State. With all the chatter about Ohio State-Michigan and all of the talk about Penn State vs. those two vs. Wisconsin vs. the playoff committee, etc. ... I mean ... you did see Sparty nearly beat Ohio State, right?

          Extra point: I was in South Florida over the weekend to cover the NASCAR Sprint Cup finale and sneaked over to Florida International's home game vs. Marshall. I was curious to see if new head coach Butch Davis, hired the week before, might be lobbing around the stadium. To his credit, he was not. I say to his credit because there are few situations more awkward than the just-hired coach looking over the shoulder of the interim head coach and his team who are trying to salvage a lost season. I distinctly remember being on the Belk Bowl sideline with Tommy Tuberville after he'd been hired at Cincinnati, but wasn't going to actually be in charge until after the game was over. "I don't want to bug these guys," Tubs said. "You think they'd find me an empty skybox to go hide in?" Davis' plan over FIU's final two weeks was to be on campus during the week, but avoid the team as it does its work and go home to North Carolina on the weekends so as to not step on any toes. Then he'll begin the process of evaluation and interviewing to see what he has heading into the homestretch of recruiting season. "The enthusiasm around here has been pretty incredible," one of the few but proud FIU fans still hanging around in the fourth quarter of the 31-14 win said to me Saturday night. "But it's also cool that he's letting these guys finish out on their own terms."