Stanford Turnaround? College FB Roundup; Tush Push Mania; Carroll-Harbaugh; Kirk Shooting Reaction

After two disappointing losses at Hawaii and BYU in which the offense was AWOL, Stanford rebounded with an impressive upset win over two-touchdown favorite Boston College in its home opener Saturday night.

Embattled quarterback Ben Gulbranson had a solid game, completing 13 of 22 passes for 186 yards, including a 69-yard TD to tight end Sam Roush.

He was helped by the emergence of a strong running game. The Cardinal pounded out 216 yards on the ground, 157 of them by sophomore Micah Ford (below), the former high school quarterback from Toms River, NJ.

Defensively, after giving up 275 yards passing in the first half, the Cardinal held Boston College scoreless in the second. 

Defensive tackle Clay Patterson, the transfer from Yale, and senior linebacker Matt Rose were outstanding throughout, and cornerback Collin Wright, who soon will be playing on Sundays, had a huge pick six.

Next up, two winnable games against Virginia and San Jose State. 

Elsewhere:

• Cal improved to 3-0 with a convincing 27-14 win over Minnesota, again relying on the left arm of quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. The true freshman threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.

• Clemson continued to disappoint, falling to 1-2 on a last-second 55-yard Georgia Tech field goal. QB Cade Klubnik, our early pick for the Heisman Trophy, still hasn't found any rhythm and the Tigers can't run the ball.

• Notre Dame lost a heart-breaker 41-40 to Texas A&M on a fourth down touchdown pass in the final 13 seconds. The Irish, at 0-2, must win 10 straight to have a chance at the College Football Playoff. Last year they reached the national championship game.

• Georgia outlasted Tennessee in an instant classic, 44-41 in OT,  thanks to a missed field goal by the Volunteers on the final play of regulation. 

• Arch Manning continued to struggle. The over-hyped Texas quarterback completed only 5 of 16 passes in the first half against mighty UTEP, throwing 10 straight incompletions at one point, and drawing boos from the Longhorn crowd.

• Staggering UCLA fell to unranked New Mexico, 35-10, in yet another embarrassing performance. Coach DeShaun Foster, who was in way over his head, got the axe yesterday. An 0-12 season is possible for the Bruins, unless interim coach Tom Skipper can right the ship.

• The SEC has 11 teams, count 'em, in this week's AP Top 25 rankings.

  
  

Tush Push Mania: Watching yesterday's Super Bowl rematch--Eagles vs. Chiefs--I was completely disgusted by Philadelphia's continuing use of the "tush push," not just on the goal line, but on several other third or fourth-and-short plays.

I know I'm repeating myself here, but the tush push has no place in professional football. The "play" is an embarrassment and a disgrace. I can't believe they allow it.

Carroll-Harbaugh--Speaking of rematches, there's an interesting one tonight, when Pete Carroll's Las Vegas Raiders take on Jim Harbaugh's Los Angeles Chargers.

The two coaches have some history, you might say.

In 2007, Harbaugh's Stanford Cardinal upset Carroll's USC Trojans, who were favored by 41 points, 24-23, in the biggest upset in college football history.

Two years later, Stanford completely humiliated USC, 55-21. Adding insult to injury, Harbaugh went for two points after a late touchdown, leading Carroll to ask him, "what's your deal" after the game.

That was a long time ago. Since then, Harbaugh has gone on to the 49ers, Michigan Wolverines, where he won a national championship, and now the Chargers. Carroll, after winning national championships at SC, won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks.

They both have amazing pedigrees, and long memories. It'll be an interesting night. 

Kirk Shooting: In the aftermath of the murder of a high-profile political figure, American presidents have usually offered words of healing and calm, and pleas for unity and non-violence. Most eloquently, after the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln sought to "bind up the nation's wounds...with malice toward none, with charity for all."

But following the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the current occupant of the White House continued his tirades against political opponents, blaming Kirk's murder on the "vicious and horrible" people on the "radical left."

President Donald Trump called the murder the "tragic consequence of demonizing those with whom you disagree," conveniently ignoring the fact that he demonizes those who disagree with him on a daily basis, and uses the DOJ to pursue investigations and criminal charges against them.

He went on to say "those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst mass murderers and criminals," claiming this rhetoric is "directly responsible for the terrorism we're seeing in our country today."

Again, Trump conveniently ignores his own divisive, hate-filled rhetoric, and the fact that violent attacks have also been directed at Democrats and liberals, including the shooting of two Minnesota legislators, the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband, the plot to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer and the attempt to burn down the house of Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro.

As for Kirk, I disagreed with him on virtually everything. However, I take no pleasure in his passing. Political violence is a real scourge on our country and has no place in a democracy.

Ironically, one of the things I disagreed on with Kirk most passionately was gun control. He advocated no limits on gun rights, proclaiming:

"Yes, people die from gun violence. It's tragic. But that's the price of freedom. Unfortunately, it's worth it to keep the Second Amendment intact. I think it's worth it. It's worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God given rights. That's a prudent deal."

Not really.