Desperately Seeking A Thrilling Game

Well, wasn't that refreshing? A weekend in the fall that didn't involve a Brandon Allen pick six, a collapsing secondary, a fifty point score for the other team, or a bout of acute football depression after yet another loss for the Hogs. If you enjoyed it, and I did, take heart. Though the bye week is over, we'll get another one of these breaks in November before the season itself is mercifully over. Without the Hogs to worry about, I went channel hunting for what turned out to be rather elusive animal, a thrilling college football game.

The 2013 season began with Ole Miss and Vanderbilt trading back to back touchdowns in the final minutes of a Thursday night game. But since then, I have not seen all that many WOW! games this season. College football is supposed to be where the crazy and the unexpected happens, but this year? Not so much, thus far. Oh, yeah, well there was also Alabama vs. Texas A&M. But the rest of the season has been boring enough you almost wish Alabama and Texas A&M could meet again.

Though I plodded through the predictable Vanderbilt vs. A&M, OSU vs. Iowa State, the snoozer that was Alabama vs. Tennessee, and checked in to see how Brandon Mitchell was doing verses Florida State (not very good), my football weekend didn't get interesting until I happened on OU vs. Texas Tech, which didn't get decided until near the end of the fourth quarter. But the prize of the bye weekend was Missouri vs. South Carolina.

I was split in my thinking about those two. Which one to pull for? On the one hand, I hate Missouri's newcomer success while we are struggling. Plus, I just think they should be in the Big Ten instead of the SEC. On the other hand, South Carolina did just put a whoopin' on us, and to see them in misery would have some charm to it. In the end, I was just pulling for a good game. And with the appearance of Connor Shaw off the bench, it became just that. I am a big fan of the college overtime rules and pull for overtime whenever a game doesn't involve the Hogs. Yeah, I much rather be a spectator of overtime than a fan participant because they are so nerve racking.

If you saw the game, then you know that Missouri's fate was sealed by a kicker hitting the goal post with the old pigskin. Unexpected, soul crushing for one fan base, shouts of joy for the other, that is just how a college football game should end. I was happy with the result, for now the SEC East is a bit more chaotic, and as a college football fan, that is just how I like it.

Tell us about your college football consumption in the poll. Did you hunt channels for a score that stayed close? Did you leave the gridiron behind altogether?