conspectus
\ kən-ˈspek-təs \
noun
1: a usually brief survey or summary (as of an extensive subject) often providing an overall view
Each week, Greg Brandt and Brad McDaniel will write a conspectus from the week of football that was. This week, there were several key injuries, a couple of upsets that ruined one conference’s CFP hopes, record-breaking QB performances, and coaches squarely on the hot seat after one month.
Injuries
Zack Moss suffered an injury to the AC joint in his left shoulder against USC. His absence for the majority of that game was devastating to the Utes near the goal line. There isn’t a timetable for his return, and his absence will crush Utah’s hopes of winning the PAC-12.
Laviska Shenault was absent from most of Colorado’s upset of Arizona State. He only appeared in one and a half series before leaving with an undisclosed injury. His status appears to be up in the air as Colorado heads into a bye week. We may not know much until we get closer to the Buffs’ next game.
LSU WR Terrace Marshall will miss some time with a foot fracture. This should lead to Ja’Marr Chase being LSU’s unanimous number 1 WR in a very potent Tiger passing game after a career game against Vanderbilt.
Kedon Slovis was the hot name for a few weeks in the college football world but was knocked out of the Trojans’ upset victory over Utah on the second play from scrimmage. Slovis is in the concussion protocol but Matt Fink stepped in and had a solid performance in his absence. His numbers were great but had a number of great plays aided by his receivers. The Trojans will head to Washington to take on the Huskies and will need all the help that they can get this weekend.
It appeared that Michigan might finally be moving on from QB Shea Patterson during their embarrassing blowout against Wisconsin. Dylan McCaffrey played the majority of the second half snaps until he was brutally taken out of the game. McCaffrey is now in the concussion protocol and it appears Michigan will have to stick with Patterson at QB for now.
Ole Miss QB Matt Corral suffered a rib injury in the fourth quarter against Cal. He told coaches he was having trouble breathing. That’s all we know about the injury and his status is uncertain for next week’s game at Alabama.
QB Performances
Joe Burrow, LSU
With his school-record 6 TD passes at Vanderbilt this weekend, Joe Burrow now has 17 TD passes in just four games this season. For comparison, Burrow threw 16 TDs in 13 games in 2018. This LSU offense is scary, and Burrow has solidified himself as a Heisman candidate.
Justin Fields, Ohio State
Not to be outdone by Joe Burrow, Fields was responsible for 6 TDs in a single quarter Saturday, against Miami (OH). Fields threw TD passes to K.J. Hill, Binjimen Victor, and Chris Olave (2) and ran in 2 more. Fields has a Big Ten record 19 TDs in four games, putting him ahead of Dwayne Haskins’ school-record 54 total TDs last season.
Anthony Gordon
Gordon broke the PAC-12 record with 9 TD passes in a single game in a wild loss to UCLA. He completed 41-of-61 passes for 570 yards. Gordon has 21 TD passes through the first four games of the season.
D’Eriq King
Going into Thursday night, D’Eriq King and Tim Tebow shared the NCAA record for consecutive games with a passing and rushing touchdown. With a second quarter TD run, King now stands alone in the record books at 15 straight games with both a passing nad rushing TD (and counting).
Brock Purdy
Purdy bounced back from a disappointing loss to Iowa with a day he’ll never forget. He completed 21-of-27 passes for 435 yards and 3 TDs. He also ran for 75 yards and 3 more scores in a 72-20 walloping of UL Monroe.
PAC-12
It seems like the PAC-12 is intent on cannibalizing itself this season. After one month, California is the only undefeated team left after a controversial finish in Oxford Saturday.
Going into this week, it appeared Utah had the best chance to represent the conference in the CFP. Their defense was doing what we expected (allowed 29 points in 3 games). Their offense was starting to find their stride. Then they gave up 30 points to USC’s third-string QB Matt Fink Friday night while not being able to capitalize on scoring opportunities themselves.
When Utah lost, it looked like Washington State might be in the PAC-12 driver’s seat. Through two and a half quarters against UCLA, we had no reason to think otherwise. Then that game went full PAC-12 After Dark. Down by 32 points in the third quarter, UCLA started pecking away at the lead and before you knew it, it was a ballgame. Demetric Felton took a screen pass to the end zone with 1:07 left in the game to give UCLA the lead. WSU’s Anthony Gordon had 9 TD passes at that point, so there was no reason to think that he wouldn’t get number 10, but he was sacked and fumbled on the first play of the drive ending a wild, wild game.
Hot Seat Update
Before the season, I wrote a coaching hot seat article for both the Power 5 and Group of 5 conferences. With the season a month old, where do we stand?
Clay Helton is doing everything he can to keep his seat as cool as possible this season. He’s down to his third-string QB, a guy in and out of the Transfer Portal in Matt Fink. With a new athletic director search underway, it feels like anything short of a PAC-12 championship won’t be enough for Helton.
Jeremy Pruitt’s Tennessee team has regressed from 2018 despite having “the best coaching staff in the country.” After the biggest loss to Florida since 2007, things don’t get easier for the Vols. After a bye week, they face a three-week stretch where they host Georgia and Mississippi State before traveling to Alabama. A three-win season is starting to look like a real possibility for Pruitt.
Jim Harbaugh got out-coached and embarrassed by a Wisconsin team on a mission. His seat is about as hot as it’ll get at Michigan. Considering the history between the two, would Michigan actually fire him? Probably not. Odds are, he’ll “fail up” into another NFL job.
Willie Taggart’s Seminoles are 2-2 this season, albeit in unspectacular fashion. It’s the same story every week for FSU. They start fast, build a halftime lead, then proceed to blow that lead in the second half. They lost to the two best teams they’ve played so far in Boise State and Virginia. They “beat” LA-Monroe on a missed PAT in overtime and they squeaked past a rebuilding Louisville team this week. If this trend continues, the lack of good teams in the ACC might be Taggart’s saving grace.
