Four-Down Friday: Yes, Butch Jones really has to face Alabama

Butch Jones actually has to go up against Alabama on Saturday, which seems kind of cruel at this point.

Week 7 of the college football season, while a tad unexpected, was easily the most insane week of the college football season thus far. Of course, the insanity was highlighted by the fact that four top-10 teams came up on the losing end, beginning with Clemson dropping their first contest of the season to Syracuse on Friday night, and concluding with Washington also suffering their first defeat of the year, a stunning 13-7 loss to Arizona State.

We’re all still recovering from the madness that was Week 7 last weekend but now it’s time to focus on Week 8 coming up, and the storylines that come along with it.

We must begin this week with the fact that Butch Jones, completely immersed in his lame duck state, has to go on the road to Tuscaloosa.

Cruel and unusual punishment coming for Butch Jones and Tennessee

Everyone in the country is well aware to this point that Butch Jones will not be manning the sideline in Knoxville next season. As if the 2017 campaign hadn’t been miserable enough, Jones and the Volunteers were dealt an ugly loss last weekend at the hands of South Carolina, 15-9. If the point wasn’t driven home enough that Jones’ time with the program was done for following the 41-0 embarrassment against Georgia, this was definitive proof he’s out the door sooner rather than later.

Some had assumed Jones would meet his end as the head coach of Tennessee on Sunday, or sometime early in the week, seeing as sending him on the road with this team to face off against the pain machine that is No. 1 Alabama really served no purpose. But, no, Jones is still the head coach, and Saturday should provide one last reminder — as if we still needed any to begin with — that the Vols administration will be on a thorough coaching search very soon.

Nick Saban’s Alabama team currently enters this year’s showdown with Tennessee as a 36-point favorite, and while that number is really up there, the sad truth is it may not be high enough. With Tennessee’s struggles in basically all phases of the game, there’s ample reason to believe the Tide won’t even break a sweat in trouncing the Volunteers and Jones by more than 36 points. Matter of fact, they may be flirting with that deficit by halftime of this one.

Truth be told, Saturday afternoon we’ll be given one of the lasting images of the Butch Jones era in Tennessee, and it likely won’t be pretty. Honestly, the brass in Knoxville should probably have cut the cord following last weekend’s loss to save the man more embarrassment than he’s already endured.

I mean, grocery stores are calling for his ousting, for crying out loud…

Syracuse looks to go 2-for-2

As we’ve already mentioned, last weekend it was the Syracuse Orange that got the ball rolling on all the Week 7 craziness with their upset of then-No. 2 Clemson. Already known as one of the top-10 killers, they actually get the chance this weekend to further solidify that status as they head down south to take on the No. 8 Miami Hurricanes. Can the Orange pull off their second upset of a top-10 ranked squad in as many weeks?

If they are going to pull off this outstanding feat, it’s clear they’re going to have to do it riding the arm of quarterback Eric Dungey. The Orange rank 14th nationally in passing offense with Dungey throwing for 2,080 yards with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. During that Clemson upset, he introduced himself to the country by torching the acclaimed Tigers defense for 278 yards on 20-of-32 passing with three scores. Ranking second in the ACC in passing yards, Dungey has the ability to tear your secondary apart, a message that was sent to Clemson of all teams on national television in one of the more stunning upsets of the season.

Miami, while 5-0 on the year along with their No. 8 ranking, could easily be 3-2 entering this one. They barely squeaked by Florida State and Georgia Tech their last two games, and as everyone is screaming “THEY’RE BACK,” the truth of the matter is they’re flirting with disaster. With a shaky secondary that Dungey might be able to have some fun with, Mark Richt’s crew’s luck may just run out this time around, which would certainly propel Syracuse on the road to a huge end to their season.

Which is perfectly fine, because that just means we get more wonderful Dino Babers postgame speeches.

Is Michigan’s defense enough to halt Penn State?

There are few things we’re ever really sure of when it comes to college football, but this season one thing we could probably all agree on is that Michigan’s offense is — not good. Yes, we’ll leave it nice and polite at that. However, come hell or high water, Jim Harbaugh will always find a way to keep his team’s head above water, and he’s doing that this year with a remarkable defensive unit. To further elaborate on just how remarkable this Wolverines defense is, they’re ranked No. 1 nationally in total defense, cementing them statistically as the most dominant unit in the game. Offense be damned, this defense will put the team on its shoulders, close their eyes and try to mow their way through the rest of the Big Ten schedule they have upcoming.

But Saturday night in Happy Valley, Harbaugh’s ferocious defense will face unquestionably its toughest test this season as they take on the No. 2-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions in Beaver Stadium. While putting “Michigan vs. Penn State” on a poster is enough to entice college football fans to tune in, the matchup everyone really wants to see here is the Wolverines’ top-ranked defense try and cut the head off the snake that is the Penn State offense. The clear-cut matchup on Saturday night is whether or not they have what it takes to slow down Heisman frontrunner Saquon Barkley.

While Barkley is still topping most everyone’s Heisman lists, the last two games for the Lions have shown he is indeed mortal. He failed to break over 100 yards on the ground against both Indiana and Northwestern, and in their last win over the Wildcats, the all-purpose phenomenon only totaled nine yards on two catches. Prior to the Northwestern game, the lowest receiving total this season for Barkley was 45 yards in the win over Pittsburgh.

Suffice to say, Michigan’s defense is is much better than that of Indiana or Northwestern, all due respect to the Hoosiers and Wildcats, respectively.

With a showdown looming next week in Columbus against Ohio State, there’s a very good chance Penn State’s head won’t fully be concentrated on this matchup in Happy Valley. If this stout Michigan defense can play near its best game of the year and shut down Barkley in the process, which is really saying something in regards to this unit, then the entire Big Ten East could end up being more interesting than it already has become.

College Football Playoff hopes on the line

Michigan traveling to Penn State on Saturday night is just the first of two big primetime matchups. In the same 7:30 p.m. ET time slot, No. 11 USC hits the road themselves to take on No. 13 Notre Dame in the latest edition of their rivalry, and this year it carries some pretty big implications.

Both coming into this game with just one loss, the Trojans and Irish both have hopes of securing one of the College Football Playoff slots come early December when the final rankings are released. Although, to this point, Notre Dame’s loss — to 7-0 Georgia — looks better than USC’s to Washington State who was recently blown out by unranked Cal, 37-3.

Still, these two will collide on Saturday night, and the loser will be all but eliminated from playoff contention. And to add some drama to the equation, given what happened in the madness that was Week 7, a USC loss may end up keeping the Pac-12 Conference out of the playoff mix altogether.

Quarterback Sam Darnold and USC were almost part of the casualties last weekend, but they were ultimately able to escape with a win at home over Utah. While Darnold has been inconsistent this season and not the Heisman contender we all assumed he would be, he’s continuously shown he can put this team on his back when it needs him to, as he showcased once again in the win over Utah.

But, this Notre Dame team doesn’t appear to be a slouch by any stretch. Gone are the 4-8 jokes from last year, as head coach Brian Kelly and his team are rolling at 5-1 on the year. The success of this team, without question, is due in large part to the success they’ve had rushing the ball, which is an effort led by Josh Adams. The junior from Pennsylvania has burst onto the scene for Notre Dame, rushing for 776 yards and five touchdowns while averaging an impressive 9 yards per carry. The Trojans’ rushing defense has been an Achilles heel for them at times, which creates a rather interesting dynamic in this one.

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It’s always fun to watch the Notre Dame-USC rivalry add another chapter but it’s even more fun when there are national championship implications on the line. That is the case on Saturday evening in South Bend, and when the final whistle blows, one of these teams will be watching their playoff hopes fade away.