Week 9 of the college football season provided plenty of excitement and drama but the wildest finish came off a series of botched calls by officials. Meanwhile, the top-ranked team in the country was forced to suspend its starting quarterback following a DUI incident off of the field. Talk about eventful. Here are four important updates from the college football world in this week’s news and notes.
ACC Officials Suspended
The latest in a series of wild finishes in the college football world came when Miami upset Duke 30-27 on a return for a touchdown that should have been blown dead several times before the ball actually ended up in the endzone. The ACC acknowledged the series of mistakes the officials made at the end of the game and suspended them for two games. Perhaps more importantly, they opted not to overturn the result of the game even after admitting to the mistakes. Duke fell out of a potential tie for top spot in the ACC Coastal division as a result and it could very well cost the Blue Devils their season when it is all said and done. They were in the Top 25 prior to this and should have remained – if not climbed higher. Not their standing and reputation have taken a big hit.
Mauk Suspended For Remainder of the Season
For all of the shocking outcomes on the field, it was Missouri that shocked the college football world for the decision they made off of it when they announced they had suspended junior quarterback Maty Mauk for the rest of the season for disciplinary reasons. The Tigers had just reinstated Mauk six days earlier and did not reveal what the suspension was for but will go with freshman Drew Lock moving forward. It’s been a tumultuous season for Mauk, who was once a Parade All-American and was named Ohio’s Mr. Football. It seemed like he would be a generational player at Missouri but he might not even be on the team anymore by the time this is all said and done.
Hawaii Fires Norm Chow
It certainly wasn’t a surprise considering how they have underperformed all season but Hawaii finally made the decision to cut ties with Norm Chow as head coach. This came in following a brutal 58-7 home loss to Air Force over the weekend. The Warriors fell to 2-7 on the season and had a 10-36 overall record under Chow, so something had to give eventually. Hawaii announced that Chris Naeole will be the interim coach for the remainder of the season as the team continues its search for a long-term action. They likely won’t get someone in a permanent role until the offseason.
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J.T. Barrett Suspended
Just when it seemed the Ohio State Buckeyes had finally figured out their quarterback situation with J.T. Barrett being named the starter, there came news on their bye week that Barrett had been involved in a DUI incident. As a result, he was suspended one game by the team. His scholarship was also revoked for one term. It was head coach Urban Meyer that made the final decision on Barrett’s punishment and while that is interesting for a number of reasons, the reality is that the Buckeyes are in the very fortunate position of being so talented that they can turn back to Jones now and not miss a beat.
The interesting part of the equation is the question of what Ohio State will do when Barrett returns from suspension – especially based on how Jones performs in this week’s game against Minnesota. The Buckeyes will play Michigan and then visit Michigan State in their final two games of the season and that will ultimately be when quarterback play matters the most as they look to stay perfect and return to the College Football Playoff with a chance to defend their title as national champions.
