Scattershooting November football, Bedlam, and your good friend Matt Luke

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Tatum Bell..

- I realize everyone is focused on the two game skid to start November, but let’s see if I can convince you to maybe not throw in the towel on the season just yet. If Alabama continues to steam roll over it’s remaining schedule, and A&M were to close out the season with three straight wins at Kyle Field, your Fightin’ Texas Aggies would finish the season in second place in the SEC West. We still have meaningful football ahead of us. Nobody gets off the roller coaster when it makes the loopty-loop. You ride it out. Sure you want to throw up a little sometimes, but that’s part of the fun right? ETR.

- One of the most fantastic moments of the season happened on Saturday evening when Coach Holgo and the Mountaineers scored a touchdown with 14 seconds left and now trailed Texas in Austin by one point. I’m convinced 99% of the college coaches out there would have kicked the extra point and sent the game into OT to be decided. Going for two took a huge set of huevos for sure, but the real brass balls came after WVU ran their two point play, scored on it, but then had it negated due to a Tom Herman time out called at the last second. The Mountaineers had just revealed what had to be their #1 option for a two point play. So they lined up in the same formation and ran a QB draw around the end for the go ahead score. Holgo never flinched and never looked rattled. He looked like a man ready to chug another Red Bull and lease that third jet ski for the summer. Herman was literally shaking on the sidelines before the ball was snapped, and the expression on his face suggested he had serious regrets about eating that chili burrito at halftime.

- Ole Miss coach Matt Luke looks like your buddy that always has a story about the last time he was at Lowe’s and “accidentally let out a really loud fart over by the washer-dryer’s.” And I mean that in the most endearing way possible. It’s always fun to have your buddy Matt Luke hanging out and drinking a few Coors Light at the tailgate. Good guy. Anytime you need to move some furniture, Matt Luke will offer up his pickup truck. And when you and Matt Luke are coaching your daughter’s soccer team, and the other coach yells something at one of your players, Matt Luke knows how to handle it. We all need a Matt Luke in our life.

- There are lots of reasons this game against Ole Miss is important; an SEC West win at Kyle Field, bowl eligibility, a win at home in November. But the biggest reason when need to win this game is to be able to claim a transitive win over Texas Tech. And if the Raiders were to take down Texas in Lubbock Saturday night, it would turn into a transitive win over the Longhorns. Which would delight all of the people in the camp of “we don’t need them anymore” the most. You know, the fans that don’t actually enjoy the football games of college football.

- Eight of the top 10 teams are double digit favorites this weekend. Shapes up for a boring November Saturday without any real drama right? NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND! We have a weekend like this every season where it looks on paper to be a ho hum slate, where the big time teams roll through the weekend resistance free. That’s when chaos strikes. Let’s get an early win in the day, and then keep your head on a swivel the rest of Saturday for an upset in the making.

Rivalry of the Week

noun: bedlam;

1. a scene of uproar and confusion.

Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State. 38-35 Overtime. 51-48 Overtime. 62-52. As of late, with these two high flying offenses, uproar and confusion describes this game perfectly. Historically, there’s no denying it’s been a lopsided affair. OU currently has a 87-18-7 stranglehold on the series. It certainly appears to be a Big Brother vs Little Brother series. But that doesn’t take away from the nastiness in this game, and what it means to both teams. I was fortunate enough to attend this game in Stillwater back in 2008 when the teams were ranked #3 and #11. For Oklahoma State fans, this game is their chance to stand toe to toe with one of the premier programs in college football. For OU, the fans love to talk about how they own that little school in Stillwater, but they are deeply afraid of losing this one. That fear resides in the back of their minds, always creeping out when the Pokes are throwing deep. They know how bad it sucks to lose to that smaller in-state rival. This year’s edition will be in Norman and the Sooners are currently a three TD favorite. I suspect Gundy will have his team ready to scrap. Can’t wait to see if they can make a game of it.

Food Fight

We have the 11:00 am kickoff this week, and the weather is supposed to be cloudy, cold, and damp in the air. We need something hearty to keep you warm and get you awake and ready to get Kyle Field shakin’, So we’ll start the night before on this particular favorite of mine. You’ll need two pounds of pinto beans, rinsed and ready. One purple onion, diced. 6 strips of bacon. 4-5 jalapeno’s diced. 2 cups of Clamato juice. 3-4 cups of grated pepper jack cheese. A dozen eggs and some tortilla chips of your choice.

Slice up the bacon and fry it up in a pan with a little olive oil. Once you get some fat rendered out, throw in the onions and let them get lightly browned, throw in the jalapenos to simmer for a few minutes as well. Pour in the Clamato juice to deglaze the pan and soak up the tasty bits. Pour and scrape all of that into your crock pot, add the beans, and add enough water to have a few inches of water above the level of the beans. Add salt and black pepper to taste, go easy on the salt. Set on low heat and let simmer overnight. Saturday morning, wake up, grab some coffee, and turn the beans up to medium. Grab a bowl and you’ll want to layer the tortilla chips on bottom and cover with the grated cheese. Fry an egg to your liking (sunny side up or over easy). Use a slotted spoon to load the beans on top of the chips and cheese (you don’t want a bunch of bean juice on this), then add the fried egg on top. This will go great with Bloody Mary’s, or beers, or some cold Topo Chico. It’s November football. Wake up, get pissed, and get loud. BEAT THE HELL OUTTA ole miss!