Pigskin Prophet: Spit the Bit Edition

Pigskin Prophet - Contributor - Friday, September 13 2024

GameDay? In Columbia? Really?

That was my response when I was called while vacationing in Pigeon Forge and told to come home. ESPN made the decision to bring the College GameDay crew to the LSU-South Carolina game, and I needed to leave the alpine coasters and Dolly Parton cinnamon bread behind. There was work to be done.

I packed my bags in the small cabin I had rented and pondered what I had been told. South Carolina? A team that was a 3-yard drive and a 5-yard drive away from losing to Old Dominion? The same South Carolina team that was indeed riding high after beating a Kentucky team that forgot what the forward pass is for? The same LSU team that lost to USC and was getting smacked around by Nicholls St. in the third quarter?

Yes. Those two wonderful programs.

I was told, and you can’t tell anybody this, but ESPN was banking on Kentucky beating the Hens. That would have set up a GameDay visit for the Kentucky and Georgia game, where the hosts could slobber all over Kirby Smart. With that out the window, there were a few other good games, including Kansas St. hosting Arizona (they are both ranked!!). But that game is being played tonight, and you can’t have GameDay after the fact.

West Virginia at Pittsburgh was next, but there is a rule that SEC teams can’t go three weeks without being featured. Of course, someone could have sent the crew to Boston College at Missouri, but an ESPN representative didn’t want an ACC team for the second time in three weeks.

Of course, all of this was borne out when Kirk Herbstreit tweeted out that Kentucky “spit the bit,” and now he has to go to Columbia for sub-par football.

Somebody spit something. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Because Kentucky spit the bit last week. CGD was a lock for UK if Cats won last week and we would have called the game as well. But South Carolina dominating that game we always adjust to the results from the previous week. https://t.co/tFwmXtGS9g
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) September 12, 2024

Of course, now I have to clean up the area around the stadium, and several citizens have been moved to other locations in and around the city to facilitate a more welcoming atmosphere. Like, grown men yelling the C word.

FRIDAY NIGHT

ARIZONA AT KANSAS ST.

Two Big 12 teams in a game that doesn’t count as a Big 12 conference game? College football is crazy, right? Arizona’s offense is really good, but that Kansas St. attack is steady and grinds down the opponents. As Friday nights go, this one should be fun. KANSAS St. 35, ARIZONA 27

SATURDAY

WEST VIRGINIA AT PITT

It’s the Backyard Brawl. The Panthers have turned to a freshman quarterback, Eli Holstein (NIL milk endorsement coming soon!!!) and he’s been better than advertised. West Virginia has been decent despite struggling against Penn St. in the opener. They have the ability to control the line of scrimmage, but I like Pitt at home here. Heck, Pittsburgh deserves to have at least one good football play in that stadium. PITT 30, WEST VIRGINIA 28

COLORADO AT COLORADO ST.

Maybe you saw that a shirtless man made his way onto Colorado’s Folsom Field earlier this week and was chased by the police. It turns out he’s the first Colorado guy to rush for over five yards this season (badoom hiss). The Buffaloes have two really good players in Shadeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, but the lines of scrimmage are bad and the coaching is lackluster at best. The gameplan is to run into a wall on first down, throw a wild pass on second down and get the QB hit, then throw it up for Hunter on third down and hope he makes a play. Another heartbreaker for Colorado St.? Probably. COLORADO 38, COLORADO ST. 34

ALABAMA AT WISCONSIN

Alabama was in a fistfight, again, with South Florida last week before pulling away late. Wisconsin is…..Wisconsin. They have Tyler Van Dyke (yeah, from Miami) and some talented offensive players. But it won’t be enough once that Tide attack starts to roll. ALABAMA 30, WISCONSIN 20

MEMPHIS AT FLORIDA ST.

Florida St. should win this one. Right? RIGHT??? Actually, the Seminoles were supposed to beat Georgia Tech. And didn’t. They were supposed to beat Boston College. And didn’t. Maybe going out of the conference will help their quarterback find his accuracy and the lines find their manhood. Maybe. FLORIDA ST. 27, MEMPHIS 24

LSU AT SOUTH CAROLINA

The Spit the Bit Game. This will forever be known as the Spit the Bit Game. LSU has issues on defense, and it takes a while for the offense to get rolling. Maybe neither one is very good? That’s what we are counting on. Who will Spit the Bit first? South Carolina. Everyone knows chickens have tiny mouths. LSU 27, SOUTH CAROLINA 20