How the mighty have fallen

How the mighty have fallen…

Did I tell you guys how much I LOVE football??

Today after watching all those great college football games, I had to take some time to talk about it. I hope some of you read some my blogs on the “greatest running backs ever”, I will update that as the days go on.

And I say this to many readers, I love sports but I try to be kind in what I say sometimes. If I get out of line, I apologize because sometimes sports can bring out great emotions. There are lots of things I can get ticked off about, but in general I love sports enough to talk about it. I mean, just like you, I have my favorite teams and players, and then there are those I don’t care for. I hope you understand.

Anyway, we were talking about the college football upsets.

It makes sense to share a biblical quote since today is Sunday (as I write this) and the title is “how the mighty have fallen”. This is actually a scripture quote from David when King Saul was seeking to kill him. But King Saul’s son, Jonathan, did not want to kill David, but at the same time did not want to disobey his father.

As the scriptures go, the Philistines fought against Saul and his army and eventually killed them all. This once mighty army had fallen in complete defeat to an enemy that should have NEVER beaten them, but because there was unrighteousness and disagreement, the army of Saul was divided on the king’s commandment to kill David. It was one of the elements to their down fall.

Fast forward to the upsets of 2008 (as of Sept 27th).

It appeared the sign was on the wall when Southern Cal lost to Oregon State. The signs were there even then. USC had lost there 2 of the last 3 times, and USC had lost to Stanford in a game they should not have lost. Whereas a lot of folks might have thought the Trojans “untouchable”, they indeed were…especially away from home.

And then on Saturday, many armies fell….

Florida losing to Ole Miss…who saw THAT happening. I sure didn’t. Everybody was talking about how Florida might be in the top 2 or three, but they also said that every SEC game was going to be a war. I see the SEC as a candy shop…every game looks soooo good to watch. But nevertheless, the Gators fall flat on their face…

Better than on the sword, as King Saul voluntarily did….

And let’s not forget Georgia, who had aspirations of being the number one team in the nation, with a HOME game against Alabama. We knew that would be a big fight, but Georgia never seemed to get it out of gear until it was too late to catch up. Could it be that they were more impressed by the fans and the “blackout” than the job they needed to do on the field? Sometimes the mark of a true champion is those that can stay the course when things go off to the left OR the right. Some teams can’t handle success too well, and get caught up in the moment. It cost Georgia that number one spot.

How the Wisconsin Badgers have fallen…what happened there?

I watched this game and noticed how long that 6-0 score sat there, thinking that if Wisconsin does not play more aggressively, they will give Michigan hope. When you play an away game vs. a big opponent, you MUST control them or they will get hope. When the score was 19-0, I remember saying that if Wisconsin scores one more touchdown, they would win the game because Michigan would have their hearts broken and could not possibly amount an attack.

But Wisconsin failed to do that. In fact, it almost seemed like they were playing not to lose. They gave Michigan hope, and once the “on” button was flipped, they kept moving forward. Apparently Wisconsin turned the switch off, and could not get it started again. It turned out to be a most embarrassing loss for this team, and they will pay for it when they see the next number beside their name.

Oh Wake Forest, what happened to you?

The best team in the ACC may fall out of the top 25 entirely, reducing the entire conference to a much lesser power than already believed. I watched this game thinking that if Wake could just get ahead by a touchdown or two, then they could almost mail it in because the option is a failure when a team is behind by more than two scores. But it also works this way: if the option works, then the team controls the clock much more than the opponents (in this case, Wake Forest) would like.

Beaten at home, in celebration of this new BB&T structure (of which I am NOT a fan of…I have personal and moral issues against BB&T), but I was a fan of Wake Forest and their style of play. But offense has been a major issue with this team the last few weeks. We even saw this when they beat Florida State. When I saw that their QB had 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, that kinda was problematic…it surfaced when the interception party started. So Wake Forest, the best team of the ACC, has fallen.

And so has Clemson.

It is quite possible that there may be no ACC team on the top 25 poll, a most embarrassing situation for the conference (although I think Virginia Tech or Maryland might get up there). Wasn’t Clemson supposed to be the best team in the ACC? Weren’t they as high as #8 in the nation? What a tumble! Even if Maryland turns out to be better than we thought, Clemson still has to take this one on the chin because this is a very crippling loss to the program.

But who has fallen harder than ECU?

This team started out knocking out Virginia Tech, and making all kinds of noise. Remember they beat Boise State in a bowl last year, so they are on big roll. Then the next week they knock off West Virginia, and now the entire nation is singing praises of the Pirates possibly in the BCS.

Then they barely win in Tulane, and the signs were there…ECU could not handle fame.

Their loss to NC State proved this, and then a loss at home to Houston sealed the deal. In two weeks, they have gone from possible BCS busters to hopefuls to the Liberty Bowl.

How indeed has the mighty fallen.

And somewhere in the midst of the fallen warriors, the Badgers, the Gators, the Trojans, the Pirates, the Tigers, the Bulldogs and the Demon Deacons, there is a previously fallen warrior who seems to have a grin on their lips….

A Buckeye……