The Steelers are suddenly hot, and have now recorded four straight wins. None was bigger than the victory in Baltimore over the Ravens. The Steelers never said it, but it was a must game. The Steelers did a great job converting on third down and scoring in the red zone. And what more can we say about James Conner? Once again he was fabulous with over 100 yards rushing plus several receptions, including his first career touchdown pass. The good news is the Steelers won a hard fought game. The bad news is they have a short week to get ready for Carolina at home.
* The play of the game might have been the first down throw by backup quarterback Josh Dobbs. He replaced Ben Roethlisberger for one play when it looked like Big Ben was seriously hurt. Dobbs made a heck of a throw on his only play deep in Pittsburgh territory. The Steelers went on to score on the drive. Dobbs sure delivered with the pressure on him.
* I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one who was a little nervous after Chris Boswell missed another extra point. It could have been very costly. Boswell seemed to rebound after his early season struggles. Now after his latest miss you wonder if he can be counted on in the clutch.
* IUP still has a chance to get to the playoffs, but it’s looking more and more unlikely they’ll get there. The Crimson Hawks took care of business in a hard fought win at Edinboro. Unfortunately, the teams above them in the rankings kept winning. At this point it’s probably going to take a miracle for IUP to get in, and that’s a shame.
* Penn State hasn’t been the same since blowing a late fourth quarter lead at home against Ohio State. They blew another lead at home against Michigan State on homecoming, and were absolutely manhandled over the weekend at Michigan. This wasn’t just a loss for the Nittany Lions, it was a beat down. Everyone connected with the Penn State program should be embarrassed, and it starts with head coach James Franklin. Franklin and his staff have done a fabulous job recruiting, but their coaching leaves a lot to be desired.
* Pitt has suddenly turned its season around. The Panthers got a huge victory on the road at Virginia. They’re suddenly in the thick of things in the ACC race. A few weeks ago it looked like Pitt’s season was over. Now, they have a chance to turn it into a pretty good year.
* Alabama is LSU’s Daddy, as former Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez would say. I covered LSU for fourteen years and there’s nothing like a big game under the lights in Tiger Stadium. The atmosphere Saturday night when Bama came to town was electric. Unfortunately for LSU, the Tigers’ offense suffered a power outage. Bama is the gold
standard in college football. They went into Death Valley and dominated the third ranked team in the country. Right now there’s Alabama and everyone else in college football. It was a heck of a statement win by Nick Saban and his team. It will take a Herculean effort from some team to deny Bama another national title.
* West Virginia’s Dana Holgerson gets my vote for coach of the week with his gutsy call in the final seconds at Texas. Instead of trying the point after to tie the game with 16 seconds left, Holgerson elected to go for two and the win. When star quarterback Will Grier took it in himself WVU got the thrilling win, and Holgerson got a lot of respect around the country. Great call, gutsy call, and a huge win for West Virginia.
* The Pens have looked lousy since returning from their undefeated Canadian road trip. They’ve now lost three in a row and are really struggling. It’s hard to figure out. Just when it looked like the Pens had put it all together, they managed to take a few steps backward. I’m sure it’s driving coach Mike Sullivan utterly crazy.
* It’s not the least bit surprising that the Pirates declined the options on infielders Josh Harrison and Jung Ho Kang. There’s no chance the Bucs will bring Jay Hay back. He was a heck of a Pirate but will definitely play elsewhere next year. It’s not out of the question that the Pirates would bring Kang back, but only at the right price. In the meantime, they have several holes to fill. The question is will they be willing to spend the money to acquire the talent they need to be a contender? My guess is, no.
* RIP Willie McCovey. I remember seeing the guy they called Stretch hit a towering homer against the Pirates at the old Three Rivers Stadium. McCovey was a giant on the field and wore the Giants logo on his jersey. The fact that they call the body of water outside the Giants’ stadium McCovey Cove tells how great a Giant Willie McCovey was in San Francisco. He will be missed.
