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College football Week 12 report card: Texas A&M fans turn empty Kyle Field into playground

scooby axson, usa today
·4 min read
17

Welcome to the penultimate College Football Report Card for the 2022 season.

Remember, the same thing goes for grading as last season. High marks will be only for the spectacular, and failing grades have no chance of being reversed.

Last week’s low marks went to Penn State’s front-running coach, James Franklin, for his impromptu pushup session on the sideline, and to a Nebraska running back for his hurdle fail. A high score was earned by Mississippi State coach Mike Leach for his latest entertaining halftime interview.

Without further ado, here is the Week 12 analysis of how fans, teams, players, and coaches fared.

This week in ref ridiculousness

In college sports – or any sport, for that matter – emotions are looked upon as being bad. We are not talking about taunting a player to his face – we are talking about celebrating when you get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In Saturday's Purdue-Northwestern matchup, Boilermaker linebacker Jalen Graham picked off an errant pass from Cole Freeman and proceeded to do his best Deion Sanders impression from the 30-yard line all the way to the end zone. The score put Purdue up 21-3.

But, not so fast. The officials were quick to litter the field with the yellow hankies and the touchdown was taken off the board because of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for "high-stepping into the end zone," as the referee so eloquently put it.

Purdue finished the drive with a field goal for a 17-3 lead. The Boilermakers went on to win 17-9, sending Northwestern to its 10th straight loss.

High-steppin' hijinks: Graduation

Referee in his feelings: Expulsion 

No shirt, no problem

There is always a dilemma for every home game in College Stadium, Texas, especially this season: Do you sell your soul and join more than 100,000 other Texas A&M students, fans, and boosters for three hours of mind-numbing torture? Or, when you get to Kyle Field, do you say "screw it" and act a fool like young adults tend to do? If you chose the second one, you are in luck.

With the majority of seats empty late in the fourth quarter against UMass, some brave, shirtless youngsters decided to play a game in what looked like the slowest relay run on record. What should this new game be called? The "transfer portal transfer?" How about the "No. 1 recruiting class relay?" 

The participants seemed to have fun and whatever they were doing was apparently better than the action on the field. The only people who got their money's worth was UMass – it got paid $1.7 million for the trip and to lose 20-3.

Texas A&M track meet: C

Texas A&M's Kyle Field before the Aggies' game against UMass.
Texas A&M's Kyle Field before the Aggies' game against UMass.

Best and worst of the week

Unlikely touchdown of the year

Dream come true: A 

Pac-12 honors Virginia trio

Honoring D'Sean, Devin and Lavel: A+

To tell the truth: Texas A&M's attendance figures

Disseminating drivel: F

Jordan Moore ... that is all.

One-handed goodness: A

What's worse? This Anthony Richardson interception or the Gators losing to Vanderbilt?

Florida follies: F

The Dog of the Week: Teams from the SEC, aka the South'easier' Conference

Since it is scrimmage week for half of the Southeastern Conference, there are plenty of dogs to choose from this week. Alabama was entertaining Austin Peay; Mississippi State threw the ball all over the yard against East Tennessee State; and Texas A&M handed out free gifts to one-win UMass. You get the point. Millions were made and fourth-stringers earned their letters. Missouri (vs. New Mexico State), Auburn (vs. Western Kentucky) and LSU (vs. UAB) also pretended like it was early September for their revenue-generating home games.

Follow Scooby Axson on Twitter: @scoobaxson.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football Week 12: Texas A&M fans turn stadium into playground