Kansas Hires Les Miles
The Kansas Jayhawks have hired former LSU coach, Les Miles, to replace head football coach David Beaty. In his career, Les Miles is 142-55 and won the 2007 national title game. Being a significantly more recognizable name, Miles will immediately give them a boost in their ability to recruit. Unfortunately for Miles, he is going to have his work cut out for him. This season, the Jayhawks are 3-8 and have desperately needed a turnaround within their program. To make matters worse, they only have one commit for next year’s program. The deal will be paying Miles about $2.7 million per year for five years, and from the looks of it, he is going to have to work hard to bring Kansas back to respectability.
Big Matchups Looming This Week
No. 6 Oklahoma (10-1) at No. 12 West Virginia (8-2)
The Oklahoma Sooners are led by quarterback and Heisman candidate Kyler Murray. On the season, Murray has thrown for 3,310 yards, 34 touchdowns versus just 6 interceptions. He has also rushed for 739 yards and an additional 10 touchdowns. Aside from Murray, Trey Sermon has also done damage on the ground, rushing for 851 yards and 10 touchdowns.
For West Virginia, they are led by Will Grier at quarterback. Grier has thrown for 3,325 yards, 33 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions. On the ground, West Virginia is led by Kennedy McKoy, who has rushed for 648 yards and 6 touchdowns. Leddie Brown and Martell Pettaway have also rushed for over 400 yards and have 4 touchdowns apiece.
No. 16 Washington (8-3) at No. 7 Washington State (10-1)
Number 16 Washington Huskies would love nothing more than to come in and unseat Washington State on Saturday. Washington is led by quarterback Jake Browning and running back Myles Gaskin. Browning has thrown for 2,485 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 8 interceptions while also rushing for 109 yards and another 4 touchdowns. Gaskin has led the ground attack with 906 yards and 7 touchdowns.
For Washington State, they have a dynamic quarterback in Gardner Minshew. He has thrown for 4,325 yards, with 36 touchdowns and just 7 interceptions. He has also rushed for 92 yards and 3 touchdowns. James Williams has shown to be a dual threat back as he has rushed for 487 yards and 10 touchdowns, but he has also caught 69 receptions for 530 yards and 4 touchdowns.
No. 4 Michigan (10-1) at No. 10 Ohio State (10-1)
As if Ohio State didn’t have enough reason to get excited for this home game, Michigan running back Karan Higdon gave them a bit of bulletin board material on Monday guaranteeing Michigan would win. On the season, Higdon has run for 1,106 yards and 10 touchdowns. In addition to Higdon, Michigan is led by quarterback Shea Patterson, who has thrown for 2,177 yards, 18 touchdowns and has only thrown 4 interceptions. Number 4 Michigan will look to move to 11-1 as they visit Ohio State.
For the Buckeyes, they are looking to upset the Wolverines in this one. Offensively, they are led by quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Throughout the season, Haskins has occasionally come up in Heisman conversations as he has thrown for an impressive 3,685 yards, with 36 touchdowns versus 7 interceptions. He has also rushed for 93 yards and another 4 touchdowns. K.J. Hill (772 yards, 5 touchdowns) and Parris Campbell (711 yards, 9 touchdowns) are his leading receivers.
UCF Up To Number 8
Unfortunately, playing in the American Athletic Conference doesn’t always garner you a whole lot of love in the standings, but UCF is starting to turn some heads. In the most recent AP Poll, UCF has moved up into a tie with LSU for 8thin the nation. They have been rolling through their competition, including a 38-13 win over Cincinnati last weekend. Despite being undefeated, they still have an uphill battle if they want consideration to be in the national championship playoffs, but their new rankings do give some credence to the idea that they are gaining some respect.
Aside from UCF, the top of the poll still has Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Michigan, Georgia, Oklahoma, Washington State, and LSU.
Return Of Ian Book Helps Notre Dame Easily Put Away Syracuse
After sitting out a week, Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book came back to play last week in a 36-3 demolishing of the Syracuse Orange. Book went 23 of 37 for 292 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. He also rushed 6 times for 16 yards. With Notre Dame entrenched in the number 3 spot right now, the health of Book is important as they go down the home stretch. Brandon Wimbush, who was the Fighting Irish opening day starter, is serviceable, but Notre Dame’s offense has looked a whole lot better with Book under center. Notre Dame will travel to USC this Saturday for a 7:00 pm kickoff.
Arkansas Suspends Defensive Backs
In this week’s edition of “sometimes coaches need to remember these are unpaid kids,” Arkansas has suspended defensive backs Ryan Pulley and Kamren Curl for their game against Missouri this week. Why were they suspended? For flirting. Apparently, the two were flirting with members of the Mississippi State dance team before the game last Saturday. Granted, it was a bad look considering that Arkansas got smoked 52-6, but for a team that has gone 2-9 on the season, there are a lot worse things that college athletes could be doing.
