CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team

CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position

BY THE NUMBERS: How many Rivals250 prospects are on AP Top 25 rosters?

Even before I started working at Rivals.com, I would spend my Saturdays watching as many college football games as possible. Now that I have interacted with most current college football players, it gives Saturday’s a different perspective. Each week, I will watch as many games as possible and share my thoughts in this space, examining weird moments and sharing some throwback recruiting stories as well.

Chase Brice’s moxie

When the week started, Chase Brice wasn’t thinking about being called upon to keep Clemson’s national championship hopes alive. But by halftime of the Tigers' game against Syracuse there he was, the Tigers last healthy quarterback charged with leading the team back from a nine-point deficit against Syracuse. After some hiccups followed by some help in the running game, Brice came up big in the fourth quarter, including leading the Tigers to the game-winning touchdown. As a recruit, Brice took a lot of flack for choosing the Tigers, especially considering that five-star Hunter Johnson was in the same recruiting class as him and five-star Trevor Lawrence committed before Brice signed. But during the process Brice was steadfast that he made the right choice, often citing the fact that if he wasn’t playing football, he would want to go to school at Clemson. After running fourth-string as a freshman and then getting passed by Lawrence on the depth chart this year, it would have been easy for the former Rivals250 prospect to jump ship. Instead, he stuck with it and is now a folk hero among Clemson fans. Brice’s story is one of the reasons we all love college football.

Emotional coaches

With the season approaching the midway point and new coaches still working to instill new cultures at their respective schools, this week saw several emotional incidents both on the sideline and in the postgame press conference. Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt got choked up while discussing the Vols' hard-fought loss to Georgia, Jimbo Fisher grabbed linebacker Tyrel Dodson by the facemask and in doing so caused a mini-Twitter firestorm, while Nebraska coach Scott Frost lamented his team’s struggles with penalties but calling the Huskers “one of the most undisciplined teams in the country.” Changing the culture is never easy and while Fisher is having more success than Frost and Pruitt, this week’s outbursts shows just how difficult it is for a new coach to come into a situation and turn things around.

Bizarre coaching decisions

Last week we glossed over the debacle that was the end of the Oregon-Stanford game, when the Ducks fumbled late in the game when they probably should have been kneeling out the clock, mainly because this column isn’t for breaking down situational play calling. But after another week of bizarre decisions, we have to bring it up. Louisville seemed poised to run out the clock and get a win against Florida State, but the Cardinals drew up a passing play and promptly threw an interception in the red zone with less than two minutes remaining. Florida State the drove down the field from the go-ahead score. The same level of questioning is directed at Penn State coach James Franklin today, after the Nittany Lions elected to run the ball on 4th and 5 from the Buckeyes' 43-yard line. The call was questioned by the announcers on air and even led to Franklin getting into a brief argument with a fan after the game. Hindsight is 20-20, but in a game of that magnitude and with the way he was playing it was odd to see Franklin go away from Trace McSorley.

UCF’s dominance

What is weird about the fact that UCF keeps on rolling? Well, nothing really, except the fact that the Knights did it on Saturday against a Power Five opponent. Obviously Pittsburgh isn’t the best the ACC has to offer, but the fact that the Knights thoroughly outclassed the Panthers shows that their talent level is easily at a Power Five level. The Knights have now won 17 games in a row and if it weren’t for the hurricane earlier this month, the streak would likely be at 18 and include two wins over Power Five opponents in September. I still think it’s unlikely the Knights get a shot at the College Football Playoff if they go undefeated but if they get to that point I think they will have a pretty compelling argument.

Weird wedding

To make up for that serious football talk, we have to examine the fact that there was a wedding during halftime of the West Virginia-Texas Tech game. I get mad enough at people that have Saturday fall weddings as it is, but having one at midfield during halftime of a game on a football Saturday? Get out of here.

The weirdest play of the week game when a Georgia fumble turned into a touchdown for tight end Isaac Nauta, but the weirdest moment surely came in the aforementioned West Virginia-Texas Tech game when a pair of linemen squared up like they were going to have a boxing match in the middle of the game. It was West Virginia offensive lineman Yodny Cajuste against Texas Tech defensive lineman Eli Howard and based on the clip I saw, Cajuste is the betting favorite if and when the two eventually step in the ring.

The Cardinals lost but at least they have boxing gloves, which are surely meant to pay homage to Muhammad Ali, a Louisville native.

Justin Jefferson is the latest in a line of family members to have success at LSU and in Saturday’s win over Ole Miss, he broke through with five catches for 99 yards, including two touchdowns. The former two-star was actually a late signee with LSU after not receiving any commitable scholarship offers following his senior season. Jefferson was on our radar early in his career, but as offers failed to come in, he fell off the radar. LSU did a great job sticking with him as he worked to qualify academically and now he’s looking like a major steal.

Ugo Amadi was a high school quarterback but a camp warrior at defensive back, earning his way onto the radar by standing out at several offseason events. But our love for Amadi wasn’t shared by others, as he was a Rivals250 prospects but seen by other rankings services as a three-star. After commitments to Ole Miss and LSU, Amadi landed at Oregon where he has played pretty much every game for the Ducks while working at corner and then safety. In Oregon’s late-night win over Cal on Saturday, Amadi had two interceptions, including one he returned for a touchdown. It was his second pick-six of the young season and Amadi’s play is a big part of why Oregon’s defense has been much improved this season.

Pete Thamel, my colleague at Yahoo! Sports, took some heat at the beginning of the year when he suggested that Petrino was on the hot seat heading into the season. After blowing the game against Florida State as mentioned above, things aren’t looking great for Petrino. It’s possible Lamar Jackson covered up a lot of issues for the Cardinals and with inconsistent quarterback play and the heart of the conference schedule coming up things might not be getting better anytime soon.

These two teams have provided plenty of entertainment this season already and Saturday’s matchup was no different. The game ultimately came down to a late drive by the Pirates that led to the game-winning field goal with 38 seconds left. It was the fifth lead change of the game and another wild one featuring the Pirates, whose season includes a loss to an FCS team and a blowout victory over North Carolina. The player to keep an eye on going forward is true freshman quarterback Holton Ahlers, who led the Pirates in rushing with 63 yards for a touchdowns and brings back memories of Tim Tebow with his aggressive style.