Mike Kern’s Fraud Five
November 15, 2020
Not easy, in a week where 15 games were cancelled or postponed due to the virus. But America insists that we try. Fifteen games. Think about that for a moment. And how many other teams did play despite having Covid issues to deal with. I’m thinking of teams like Temple. Just doesn’t seem fair. But it’s the world we’re trying to live in, as best we can.
Michigan — Once again. It’s OK to lose to Wisconsin, even at home. But certainly not by 49-11. Something is terribly wrong. Time to break up this marriage.
Penn State — Once more. Shouldn’t be losing at Nebraska by 24 at halftime. I know they rallied behind their backup quarterback, but ultimately it didn’t matter. The Nits dominated the stats, except that turnovers and red-zone issues continue to plague them. So they’re 0-4. With Iowa coming to visit next week. But I keep picking them to turn things around, so maybe it’s just me. That’s been known to happen. Did I forget to mention that the Huskers were using a redshirt freshman QB making his first start?
SMU — The No. 19 ranked team was an 11-point fave at Tulsa and lost 28-24. And they Ponies were up 24-7 with 18 minutes left. Oh well. This, from a team that was averaging 40 points per.
Rutgers — This is a tough one, one that probably wouldn’t have happened in a normal week. But Illinois isn’t that good, and Rutgers was home, and the Knights were favored by a TD. So there. Somebody had to do it. Might as well be me. And again, it was a different kind of week. There probably will be more. Sorry.
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz — He called three timeouts near the end of what became a 35-7 win at Minnesota, after Minny took a time with the ball near the Iowa goal line to try and score to avert the shutout. Yo. And afterward of course he was whatever when asked about it. Great. Can’t we all just grow up. They’re supposed to be big boys. But sometimes I think they get so caught up in being coaches that they forget that at some points it’s just a game. I know he wanted to keep Minny out of the end zone, and will no doubt blame the Golden Gopher coach for throwing the first salvo. Get over it. Isn’t 35-7 pretty much just as good as 35-0. Especially in these goofy times. Or maybe I’m just missing the overall again. Guess I’m wired differently.
Toledo — Which was leading by 10 in the final minutes at Western Michigan, in a game it had never trailed. Then WMU scored with 45 seconds left, missed the PAT, recovered an onsides kick and got the winning TD on a 19-yard pass with 17 seconds to go. After they faked a QB spike. Now that’s a bad beat.
And now, for a positive take for a change, just because I can. Marshall, which is ranked 16th in case you haven’t been paying close enough attention, beat Middle Tennessee at home, 42-10, on the 50th anniversary of the plane crash that killed 75 members of the program’s traveling party returning from a game at East Carolina. It’s the worst disaster in U.S. sports history. The players wore special black uniforms and the No. 75 its helmets to honor those who were lost. May they always be remembered.
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