Halloween and the candy grab that comes with it are just days away, a time crunch that's bound to have a number of college football figures in a lurch.
What with practice, film sessions, classes, TV/radio commitments and the likes, finding time to conjure up a costume idea isn't always doable -- and that's where The Blitz comes in.
As a public service, and after multiple trips to temporary Halloween stores and Google searches to sort through the litany of Wonder Woman, Batgirl and Princess Leia costumes (hey, it's research), this is what some choice selections from around the game should be sporting this year.
He's basically the ruler of the galaxy, as it pertains to college football with back-to-back national titles and the No. 1 ranking. Then there's the very Palpatine-like way he exhorts fans to stay -- or else. Also, you know he'd totally be into being able to shoot lightning from his fingers to punish reporters in instances like this.
Heavily hyped and when it came down to it, they fell flat as the Tigers were trounced by Florida State and the Cardinals knocked out of the BCS title race courtesy of UCF. Sounds exactly like the Ian Zierin/Tara Reid vehicle. Plus, imagine the death stares and catty talk Dabo Swinney and Charlie Strong will resort to when they both show up to a party wearing the same costume.
He's no stranger to using threads as a statement, sporting a Tim Tebow jersey this summer at a party and his autograph scandal only brought more attention to the fact that he's making gobs of money for A&M and the NCAA. So what better getup that an ATM machine, and of of course he can even wear his Aggies helmet since it pretty much says "ATM" on it anyway.
Take your pick, NCAA. You can go as Johnny Lawrence ('The Karate Kid'), Greg Tolan ('Just One of the Guys') or Chas Osborne
('Back to School'), Zabka has the villain covered. After the way the
Miami debacle and Johnny Manziel's autograph probe ended, the NCAA was
left looking marginalized and nearly powerless, basically like Zabka in
the final turn of his flicks. For the record, The Blitz's vote is for an
army of Cobra Kai-threaded investigators hitting a campus near you.
Headquartered in Columbus, Oh., the hamburger chain dominates the Midwest but doesn't register much in ACC, SEC or Pac-12 regions -- basically it's exactly what's going on with the Buckeyes. The preseason No. 2, they were first bypassed by Oregon, then Clemson and most recently Florida State in sitting fourth in the Associated Press Top 25. Imagine Urban Meyer dressing up as a massive slider, or in a pinch, Harold and Kumar.
While the Trojans' infractions cost them a national title, two bowl seasons and 30 scholarships, they recently got to watch Miami's self-imposed, two-year bowl get only nine scholarship deductions added to it by the NCAA. That came on the heels of Ohio State and Oregon also getting lesser punishments for their penalties. Pat Haden should simply dress his Trojans up in Buckeyes, Ducks or Hurricanes garb (you're choice, Pat) and see if the governing body will reconsider.
Patterson has his season's goal pryamid that the Horned Frogs take part in and and Swanson has the Pyramid of Greatness. Patterson, like Swanson, isn't afraid to speak his mind, slamming LSU's Les Miles earlier this season; and both are musicians, Patterson on the guitar and Swanson on the saxophone. To be fair, it would also be pretty awesome to see Patterson sporting Swanson's mustache.
Seriously, for a team that has 15,357 different uniform combinations, doesn't the unexpectedness of each and every game day already make you feel like you're already in costume if you're a Duck?
The guillotine has yet to claim another coach since Lane Kiffin (USC), Paul Pasqualoni (UConn) and Don Treadwell (Miami of Ohio), but that doesn't mean there aren't a number of head men who could be next for the headsman.
Here's a look at the top three remaining coaches on the hot set and for a refresher, where's where things stood a month ago.
The Jayhawks are 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the Big 12 and Weis still has yet to win a conference game in 12 tries. Kansas doesn't seem to get getting close either as its been outscored 174-66 in league games this season, a rough stat to face considering Weis' offensive guru resume.
Another former assistant lauded for his offensive acumen, Chow's Warriors sit at 0-7 and have just one win over an FBS team in his two-year tenure. Chow's crew has been decent through the air, ranking 21st in passing, but are 78th or worse in 19th different major statistical categories.
It has been five seasons since English took over in Ypslianti, and frankly, the program is going nowhere. The Eagles have had just one .500 season, coming in '11, and overall are 11-45 in English's tenure, including 1-7 and 0-4 in the MAC this year. In the past five games, they've allowed an average of 51.6 points.
*Note: Mack Brown was first in September and while he has Texas rolling, it would still be stunning to see him back on the sidelines in Austin next season.
Devonta Freeman and the Seminoles thumped N.C. State to set up a clash with No. 7 Miami. (Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports)
No letdown, just another romp as Jameis Winston and Co. smashed North Carolina State 49-17, but the good vibes didn't end there for Florida State. With Miami rallying to beat Wake Forest 24-21, the Seminoles will now get their second top-10 matchup in less than a month as they host the seventh-ranked 'Canes on Saturday, providing another potential boost in the BCS standings.
So much for clarity. With South Carolina knocking off then-No. 5 Missouri -- a game that had the potential to all but wrap things up for the Tigers -- the Gamecocks are now very much in play to get to Atlanta and so too is Mizzou and Florida and Georgia, with two SEC losses each. At least the Bulldogs and Gators' World's Largest Whatever It Is They're Calling It These Days clash will remove one team from the equation in this headache of a division.
Stanford nearly put a damper on their Nov. 7 clash with No. 2 Oregon at Autzen Stadium as Oregon State drove to the Cardinal's 7-yard line with 30 seconds left with a chance to tie the game, but threw four straight incompletions as the Cardinal held on to win 20-12. Now, the Pac-12 gets its game of the year and the Ducks their first shot at a top-10 team potentially until the postseason.
Give the Red Raiders credit, they proved they were for real and are still alive in the Big 12 race. But unfortunately they couldn't leave Norman with a win and are now playing from behind with No. 18 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Baylor and Texas, which is 4-0 in conference, ahead of them. Beating the Sooners would have been a big step forward for Kliff Kingsbury and Co. and the loss showed they're just not there yet.
UCF has established itself as the front-runner to claim the AAC's BCS bowl berth, but don't sleep on the Cougars. They're now 5-1 and 3-0 in conference after ripping Rutgers 49-14 on the road (the same Knights that Louisville beat 24-10) and their lone loss came vs. BYU, by one point. A Nov. 9 date with No. 19 UCF is looking more and more intriguing.
Just before the conclusion of Saturday's 34-23 loss to Minnesota, legendary Cornhuskers QB Tommie Frazier took to Twitter to once again take a shot at coach Bo Pelini, simply writing "Do I need to say anymore?" Nebraska's defeat was its first against the Gophers since 1960 and this one came as a 111th-ranked Minnesota offense burned the Huskers for 430 yards.
Garrett Gilbert's 635 yards vs. Temple were the seventh-highest single-game total in NCAA history. (Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports)
He set a Mustangs' single-game record with 538 yards passing in a 59-49 win over Temple and with 97 rushing yards, had the seventh-highest yardage total (635) in NCAA history. In a bit of a statistical oddity, 63.3 percent of Gilbert's 2,634 passing yards this season have come from two games: Saturday's performance and his 484 vs. Rutgers on Oct. 5.
He loomed large in the Blue Devils' 13-10 win over No. 14 Virginia Tech -- their first over a ranked opponent since 1994 and first vs. the Hokies in 13 tries -- totaling a game-high 19 tackles, including six solo, and deflected a pass on the Hokies' last drive that was picked off by Kelby Brown.
It was Sloan that missed an extra point in the second overtime as the Midshipmen lost to Toledo in Week 8, but he found redemption vs. Pitt. The sophomore nailed a 30-yard field goal as time expired to win 24-21 and said that missed PAT wasn't weighing on his mind. "I thought of it as just another kick," he said. "That's all I can do."
Despite being 7-0 and No. 7 in the AP poll, the Hurricanes are getting no respect in this matchup, opening as 22-point underdogs. There's obviously a reason for that as they beat 2-5 North Carolina by four and 4-4 Wake Forest by three. Meanwhile, the Seminoles are rolling, scoring 54.5 points the last six games and Winston looks like a shoo-in to reach the Heisman ceremony. While Duke Johnson (519 rushing yards the last four games) could give Florida State's 29th-ranked rush D some trouble it may not matter considering Miami's defense just allowed 302 yards to the Deacons' Tanner Price.
The Pick: Florida State 41, Miami 20
Basically, the winner remains in the SEC East race (just barely, though), while the loser is out. Georgia QB Aaron Murray is expected to get RB Todd Gurley and WR Michael Bennett back, which should aid what's been a stagnant offense through back-to-back losses. It could make for an interesting chess game against the Gators' fourth-ranked defense, and likely the most defining part of this game with Florida's well-documented offensive woes. Look for the Bulldogs to keep their slim division hopes alive.
The Pick: Georgia 20, Florida 10
How will the Red Raiders respond after the loss to Oklahoma, which was the first ever for Kingsbury as a coach? The Cowboys passing game is a mess as they had just 78 yards against Iowa State, though they may have found a runner in Desmond Roland, who had 219 vs. the Cyclones. As the Sooners showed, controlling the clock on the ground is the safest recipe to beating Texas Tech, but Oklahoma State just seems to one-dimensional to follow suit with QB Clint Chelf and his 49.4 percent completion percentage expected to start.
The Pick: Texas Tech 35, Oklahoma State 31
Last Week: 2-1
Overall: 18-5
