The Loop
P.J. Fleck and his infinite weirdness is our college football star of the week
Let's get this out of the way now: Coach O and the LSU Tigers won the weekend. With their 46-41 victory over Alabama, they're now in the driver's seat. Their resume is now so good that you could almost make the case they'd still get into the College Football Playoff with a loss in the SEC Championship, though we wouldn't recommend it. The way Coach O is talking, they may never lose again.
While we'd love to give Ed Orgeron our college football star of the week award, because he certainly earned it, we've got to change it up. Joe Burrow won our inaugural award way back in September. A month later, we gave the entire program the award following an epic victory over Florida in Death Valley.
At the risk of going overboard on the Tigers, we went with the next best choice this week, instead naming P.J. Fleck and all his infinite weirdness our college football star of the week. A lot of college football fans can't stand him and think he's a phony with all his sayings and mantras. But guess what, he's got the freaking Minnesota Golden Gophers at 9-0 after a huge home upset of No. 4 Penn State:
Do you know the last time Minnesota's football team started a season 9-0? 1904!! Do you know how many times the program has totaled 9 or more victories in a season since that 1904 season? Three... THREE TIMES in 115 years. Hate on Fleck's "Row The Boat" crap all you want, but it works. It works at a little program like Western Michigan, it works at a Big Ten program like Minnesota and it might just work at a big-time program, or perhaps even an NFL organization, if that's where Fleck decides to take his next step.
For now, he might just row the Golden Gophers to the College Football Playoff. If that sounds like crazy talk, it shouldn't. They do have a tough road game at Iowa this week, but then they get lowly Northwestern at home and a not-as-good-as-we-thought Wisconsin team at home to finish out the year. If they get through all that, a monumental Big Ten Championship game against Ohio State awaits. Fleck is going to need an absolutely enormous diamond if they win that one:
LOL. A diamond! This guy is such an odd dude, but all of his haters are in full salt mode right now. Minnesota is having way more fun than whatever team you root for (unless that team is LSU of course):
Honorable Mentions
Mini P.J. Fleck
You know you've made it when little kids start dressing up as you and it's not even Halloween. No one has ever said this but I'm going to roll with it.
This LSU band geek
We said we were going to praise someone other than LSU people this week, but c'mon, this guy deserves some shine:
Hi H8ters.
Extra smedium ref
We get it, you lift. Just relax dude.
The kid who got this sign into College GameDay
"College GameDay"'s sign police are notorious for confiscating all the signs that are actually funny and good. They failed in a big way on Saturday at Minnesota.
The Illinois Fighting Illini
Given the fact it was Illinois vs. a garbage Michigan State team, many college football fans probably missed this game over the weekend. I saw the final score and simply thought "wow, nice win for Lovie Smith and Illinois on the road." Nice win? Try the greatest comeback victory of the 2019-'20 college football season:
What an absolutely insane game that no one but alumni of each of these schools watched. As big of a dagger as that was for MSU, it took a hail mary at the end of the half, an 83-yard touchdown on 3rd & 2 to start the fourth quarter, a 76-yard interception return for a touchdown and a 4th & 16 conversion with under two minutes to play. In other words, it took four miracles. You can't really defend four miracles. Awesome win for Lovie and the Fighting Illini, who started 0-3 in Big Ten play and have since ripped off four straight.