Sep 17, 2016; Iowa City, IA, USA; North Dakota State Bison place-kicker Cam Pedersen (36) celebrates with placeholder Cole Davis (7) after kicking the game winning field goal on the final play of the fourth quarter against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium. North Dakota State won 23-21. Photo Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
One day last week, my friend Bob Lochamy and I were talking about Leonard Postosties. Some of you, probably the ones over 40 years old, may remember Leonard, or at least you may have heard about him.
He was Leonard Postero, an Athens, Ga. native and big, really big, Georgia fan. About 13 years after serving as a Navy aviator during World War II, he taped his first “Leonard’s Losers” radio show, looking ahead to the next weekend’s college games, but telling the audience why a team would lose, not why he picked one to win.
Joined on-air by Percy Peabody (a non-existent sidekick, also played by Leonard), Postero had listeners around the country anxiously awaiting the show every week to find out if their favorite teams would make the dreaded list. He mixed country twang and Southern slang, and made-up colorful mascot names. (The hated Florida Gators were the “giant water lizards.”) At one point, the show was on more than 1,400 stations, including Armed Forces Radio worldwide.
As a grammar schooler, I listened regularly to Leonard’s show, wondering for years why any family would be named after a breakfast cereal. I wanted to know about his friend Percy and why he always asked Percy to get him “outta here.”
At a happenstance meeting in the mid-1990s, I could have gotten the answers. I was at a self-service gas station in northeast Georgia when coincidentally Postero was at the same counter. I was so awestruck with meeting him that I forgot to ask the questions. I didn’t get another opportunity. Postero died in his beloved Athens in July, 2001.
Leonard was on my mind on Sunday in the aftermath of college football from the day before. There were some significant winners last weekend, but there were more gigantic losers. For the winning teams, there’ still a lot to play for and a lot more chances to stumble. But, for the losers … the biggest losers … their 2016 season dreams are already finished – and there’s still another game to play in the month of September.
So, with gratitude to Leonard Postosties, here are the biggest losers from last weekend. Let’s call them “Scarbrough’s Sad Seven.”
In alphabetical order …
Auburn – Where do you start? The defense is probably the best in at least a decade. The kicking game is among the nation’s best. But, offensive play-calling and execution looks like the Keystone Cops, and that is an insult to old policemen everywhere. It’s not the fact that the Tigers have lost to undefeated Clemson and Texas A&M. It’s the way that they’ve lost two very winnable games due to inept offense from the players, and more importantly, mystifying strategy from the coaches. Auburn has been ranked in the national Top 10 in recruiting in each of the past four seasons … and this is the best you can get? Is this really worth $4 million? The loss to the Aggies was the fifth SEC game in the past two seasons when the Tigers have been within a touchdown in the fourth quarter and lost them all (Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Georgia in 2015 and Texas A&M in 2016) … and don’t forget the Clemson game three weeks ago. Unless things improve dramatically and quickly – and there’s absolutely no reason to think that will happen – Auburn could win four games, spend the holidays at home, and resumes could be heading to the Loveliest Village. Auburn played in two of the past six national championship games. Those days seem like a long, long time ago.
Florida State – In a weekend of underachieving losses, this one takes the cake. You’re the No. 2 team in the country, co-favorite along with Clemson to represent the Atlantic Coast Conference in the four-team College Football Playoff, and favored on the road to win at Louisville … and you decide to kick a field goal with 51 seconds remaining in the game to pull to within 43 points! How embarrassing is that? The Cardinals doubled the Seminoles in total yardage, led by 25 points at halftime and by 46 points late. Florida State completed only eight of 24 passes, while Louisville’s super talented Lamar Jackson … backed by chants of “Heisman, Heisman” … looked like the second coming of Cam Newton or even Jameis Winston, who played his ball in Tallahassee. It was the most points ever allowed in Florida State football history. Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, the game in Papa John’s Stadium is what people will remember about the 2016 FSU season.
Iowa – Had the Hawkeyes not read up on North Dakota State? That’s the Bison, the team that has won five consecutive Football Championship Series (FCS) national championships. Iowa somehow led, 21-14, after three quarters, but was outscored the rest of the way, 9-0, on its home field, including the 37-yard winning field goal as time expired. The Bison lost its record setting quarterback to the NFL after last season, but you couldn’t tell in Iowa City on Saturday. This one was no fluke. North Dakota State had 132 more yards total offense and had the ball for almost 37 minutes. The undefeated Hawkeyes are still alive in the Big Ten, but if you can’t beat an FCS team at home, how likely are you to win at Penn State or when Wisconsin, Michigan and Nebraska come to town? By the way, this was the sixth consecutive win for North Dakota State over a Football Bowl Series (FBS) team. Here’s a good suggestion … don’t schedule the Bison!
Notre Dame – This was supposed to be a special season for Notre Dame. Lindy’s rated the Fighting Irish at No. 11 in the preseason. With DeShone Kizer and Malik Zaire, the Irish had two experienced quarterbacks. The kicking game returned intact. Only two offensive line starters returned, but one of them was Lindy’s All-American junior Mike McGlinchey. Maybe a great season was too much to expect after the Irish lost three all-star defensive starters and skilled position players on offense after last year. The opening loss to Texas didn’t look too bad … until the Longhorns gave up 50 points in a loss to California, which had given up 45 in a loss to San Diego State. Then on Saturday, Michigan State dominated the game in South Bend, having the ball for almost 38 minutes, and leading 38-14 after three quarters before the home team scored two late touchdowns to at least make it look respectable. With a 1-2 record already, and games still to come against Stanford, Miami, Virginia Tech and Southern Cal, there’s no guarantee for the rest of the season.
Oklahoma – No team has fallen faster than the Sooners. Admittedly, they have lost to Ohio State and Houston, teams ranked No. 2 and No. 6 respectively in this week’s Associated Press poll, but when the season started, Oklahoma was also there, ranked even higher. The Sooners, who played last season in the College Football Playoff, were ranked at No. 3 in the preseason by Lindy’s. Ohio State was No. 4; Houston was No. 12. They returned senior Baker Mayfield, Lindy’s second team All-American quarterback, All-American defensive lineman Charles Walker, and one of the program’s all-time great runners, Samaje Perine. Most troubling was how the Sooners lost on Saturday. Playing at home with so much on the line, they didn’t offer much competition. The Buckeyes led, 42-17, early in the third quarter and coasted the rest of the way. The visitors had the ball for almost 36 minutes, controlling the contest from the start. Ahead for Oklahoma … at TCU, Texas in Dallas, at Texas Tech, plus Baylor and Oklahoma State at home. The Sooner Schooner could be sitting on its axles.
Ole Miss – Here’s another team whose College Football Playoff dreams are gone just three weeks into the season. Most worrying for the Rebels is the trend already set … get a big lead, then totally collapse. First it was blowing a 22-point second quarter lead to Florida State (that same FSU team that lost by 43 on Saturday – see above). Then, it was a 21-point second quarter lead over Alabama, followed by another collapse. With under three minutes left in the first half, the score was 24-3. In the next 27 minutes, Alabama outscored the Rebels, 45-6. Late scores made it look respectable, but the collapse issue can’t be covered up. Still ahead for Ole Miss, games at three nationally ranked teams (Arkansas, LSU, Texas A&M). Hotty toddy, anybody?
Southern California – National playoff hopes are gone here, too, but like Auburn, at least there weren’t high preseason expectations. A lot of people thought this could be a mediocre season … and they were right. There were nine starters back on offense, including one of the nation’s top wide receivers, JuJu Smith-Schuster. But, there was a new starting quarterback, and the entire starting defensive line from 2015 was gone. On Saturday, the Trojans lost by a comfortable margin to Stanford, the second double digit loss to a Top 10 team this season. Looking ahead, there’s not much to get excited about with games at Washington and UCLA, plus home games against Arizona State, California, Oregon and Notre Dame. And, they’re an underdog to Utah this weekend!
I do miss Leonard’s Losers, but in a way I’m glad Leonard Postero hasn’t had to suffer through some of the bad football, colossal collapses and monumental losses that have happened in just the first three weeks of the season.
If you do remember Leonard’s Losers, or have thoughts about teams on the loser list, hope you’ll let us hear about it.
In the meantime, I’ve had all of the losing that I can take for one weekend.
Get me outta here, Percy!
