CFB: Week 4 Napkin Rankings and I Love the Pac-12
California was taking it to Arizona in Tuscon last night. The air-raid offense seems to have finally taken hold, and they took a 28-6 lead going into the half. It was shots fired by Cal to the rest of the Pac-12 trying to stake their claim for respect and relevance.
After three quarters it was a 31-13 lead for the Golden Bears making the Wildcats look like they couldn’t “bear down” on anything much less this game. But, of course, there are four quarters played in a football game at a minimum, and to borrow from Kings head coach Darryl Sutter, you don’t win anything for three quarters.
I was busy paying attention to Oregon and their struggles at Wazzu, and I glanced at the scores and realized that Arizona made a game of it! All of a sudden they were down 45-42 with the ball on Cal’s 47-yard line with a chance to win on the Hail Mary. These plays rarely work, but when they do they’re unbelievable.
Holy shit. It worked!
The Wildcats completed their comeback thanks to a field goal and FIVE touchdowns they scored in the fourth quarter alone. I guess Cal isn’t experienced enough to realize that when you have an opponent down, make sure they stay down. And Arizona won’t give up.
And this is why I love the Pac-12. Here are the Napkin Rankings this week:
1. BYU (9 points)
2. MISSISSIPPI STATE (8 points)
OKLAHOMA
4. TEXAS A&M (7 points)
5. PENN STATE (6.5 points)
UCLA
7. ARIZONA (6 points)
AUBURN
EAST CAROLINA
GEORGIA TECH
NOTRE DAME
OREGON
Slowly yet surely they’re starting to look accurate.