OBSERVATIONS FROM SOMEONE HALF-WATCHING | OCT 11, 2026
The Alabama-Georgia game looked like it lived up to everything it should be. Two good teams that will probably play again this year at some point.
Question…why in the world does the SEC not have full-time referees? Seems like this would be a win for everybody. I know there must be a reason, just not sure I have heard it.
Auburn had a bye week and I am the better for it.
Quick shout-out to Full Moon Bar-B-Que on getting to bring the food out to the ESPN GameDay cast Saturday morning in Tuscaloosa. I thought that was fantastic for one of our Birmingham-based favorites.
Absolutely loved the “Reck Day” helmets for Georgia Tech featuring the Ramblin Wreck. They should use these all the time. Got the W wearing them, too, picking up a win over Duke in a close one.
How ’bout Navy picking up a win over Tulsa on the day the U.S. Naval Academy celebrated turning another year older. The Naval Academy was founded October 10, 1845!
How great of a job is UCLA coach Bob Chestnut doing in Year 1 at UCLA?! I have never understood why they are not better than they have been. Looks like he has tapped into maybe making this the program it should be. Hope they can keep it up the rest of the season.
Will Stein at Kentucky is another one doing special things so far in Year 1…and at Kentucky! Kentucky has always had a fan base that wanted this, it just seemed to never quite come together. May be happening this season. Keep it up Big Blue!
What happened to Florida…2 weeks in a row? They got shellacked by South Carolina. This is why I don’t gamble much. Who saw that coming? I didn’t see any of the game but did love seeing Spurrier talking about his love for coaching at both places. Say what you want, but there was never anybody else like him. And go by his restaurant in Gainesville (it’s pretty awesome) if you are down that way.
Lastly, I can’t decide if I liked Western Kentucky‘s “position specific” helmets or not. Never seen anything like that. I’m landing on I am digging it.
Get ready for Jacksonville State‘s game Tuesday night as they take on FIU at AmFirst Stadium.
I forgot to mention this last week, but Northwestern‘s new stadium is awesome! They are now 2-0 at the new Ryan Field after picking up a win against Ball State yesterday. They are 4-1 on the season as they head to Michigan State this week. Ryan Field cost $875m, the most expensive college football stadium ever built, and seats 35,000. That makes it the smallest stadium in the Big 10. I want to go. And…I think they should play 1 game a year at the awesome 12,000-ish seat temporary lake-front field they played at while Ryan Field was being built. It was the coolest thing going.
There’s better analysis elsewhere but come back again next week for some more surface-level analysis.