The Fraud Five by Mike Kern – Week 6 Edition

October 8, 2023 –

Mike Kern’s Fraud Five

Miami — Even coach Mario Cristobal said afterward that they should have just taken a knee. His ranked Hurricanes had rallied from seven down in the fourth quarter at home against Georgia Tech and led by three with time winding down. But instead, they tried to run the ball. And they fumbled it away. So naturally Tech went 74 yards in 24 seconds, scoring on a 44-yard pass with a second showing. It can’t happen. Reminded me of a Temple game in the Al Golden era when a similar thing befell the Owls at Navy and they ended up losing in overtime. Oh well.

Central Florida — A repeat offender, in the same week they gave their coach a contract extension. Go figure. One week after blowing a 30-point lead at home against Baylor late, the Knights lost at Kansas, 51-22. Just seems a bit excessive to me. But what do I know? Guess the Big 12 isn’t the American.

Atlanta Braves — Sorry, it’s OK to lose to the Phils, even at home, in the series opener. But you might want to at least score a run. Especially when you had your best pitcher going, and the Phightins used almost their entire staff after taking their starter out in the fourth. So now the team that won 100 games has to beat Wheeler on Monday to avoid coming back to Philly down 0-2 in the best-of-five. Didn’t we see this last October?

Kentucky — It’s OK to lose at Georgia as a two-TD dog, even when you’re unbeaten, but it was 51-13. After being 21-zip and 34-7 at the half.

Notre Dame — The Irish were favored by nearly a TD on the road against unbeaten Louisville. The final was 33-20. The Cards scored 16 straight points in the fourth quarter. So maybe the wrong team was favored. Just saying. But to be fair, ND hadn’t lost an ACC game in forever. They will go to Clemson in November. But they won’t be going to the playoffs. Remember when they almost beat Ohio State?

Dishonorable Mention

Texas — I know this is harsh, because the Oklahoma game is their rivalry. And both teams were unbeaten, although OU hadn’t really played anyone yet. Horns were favored by almost a TD, and rallied from being 10 down early in the third. They took the lead with 1:17 left, on a 47-yard field goal. But the Sooners got the winning TD on a 3-yard pass with 15