This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/Pollaski on 2023-10-23 17:25:56.
The Tank Job of the Week is an award for the FBS team that did the best job of humiliating itself over the weekend. Whether they blew a large lead, choked away a spot in the limelight, lost a game they had absolutely no right losing, or completely screwed everything on a last second blunder, the TJOTW winner sets the gold standard in college football misery.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
- Baylor Bears (lost to Texas State 42-31)
- Nevada Wolf Pack (lost to Idaho 33-6)
- Oklahoma State Cowboys (lost to South Alabama 33-7)
- Minnesota Golden Gophers (lost to Northwestern 37-34)
- UCF Knights (lost to Baylor 36-35)
- Miami-FL Hurricanes (lost to Georgia Tech 23-20
- Boise State Broncos (lost to Colorado State 31-30)
LAST WEEK: It was probably one of the deepest fields we’d had in a while, as I think Louisville, Washington State, Michigan State, West Virginia and USC all put out efforts that could have won this award in most weeks. But it came down to Colorado and Boise State, and for the first half-hour or so of voting, it was all Colorado. I didn’t count, but it wouldn’t have shocked me if the first 29 votes had been for the Buffs. But then Boise State came roaring back, and they ended up winning pretty comfortably. So congrats, Broncos! We’re halfway through the season and we have two Mountain West winners and none from the SEC. Weird times.
Also, somehow we ended up having a discussion about Pakistani cricket, and I can safely say that I know enough about the sport to say that was definitely a Tank Job worthy performance by the Shaheens.
Onto this week, and yes it’s a considerable step back in nominee quality from last week, which is understandable considering Week 7 was one of the best (worst?) weeks ever. It could have been much spicier, as several top ten teams like Oklahoma and Texas came very close to being upset, but managed to escape.
NOTE: For Ease of Counting, please use carats in your vote, like this: . Thank you, and thanks for participating!
HONORABLE MENTIONS
- I don’t want to talk about it.
And now, the nominees for Week 8 are…
ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (lost to Washington 15-7)
Dang it, I have to talk about it. The Sun Devils came in 28 point underdogs and, to their credit, took the fight to the fifth-ranked Huskies, forcing four turnovers and essentially knocking Michael Penix, Jr out of the driver’s seat in the Heisman race. But they could only muster seven points off those turnovers. What nominates them, however, came with eight minutes left to play when, instead of electing to kick a field goal to go up 4 against a team that had been unable to get even near the end zone all night, instead went for it on fourth down and promptly threw a pick-six to Uno reverse card what might have been the biggest upset of the year.
ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS (lost to Mississippi State 7-3)
Sometimes a game’s just so bad that you have to nominate the loser no matter what. This was one of those games. It was physically painful to watch, but probably even more painful for Razorback OC Dan Enos, who woke up Sunday morning to find himself out of a job.
ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (lost to Wisconsin 25-21)
Illinois entered this game badly needing a win to salvage their sinking season, and looked well on their way when they finished the third quarter up 21-7. Maybe it was karma or whatever, but Wisconsin then came back in roaring fashion, snapping off two 80±yard touchdown drives in about three minutes each, as part of an 18-0 rout to send the Illini packing yet again. Like I said before, the B1G West is a hamburger factory, and Illinois is well on their way to becoming the 73/27 chub of the group.
IOWA HAWKEYES (lost to Minnesota 12-10)
If you told Iowa fans that they would face their two most ancient and hated rivals in back-to-back games and surrender zero touchdowns over 120 minutes, they’d probably be elated. And then the monkey’s paw curls, and the Hawkeyes still end up snapping a eight-game win streak against the Gophers. And yes, I know Iowa fans are still furious with the refs about that called back punt return, but at the same time those refs aren’t what held Iowa to a pathetic 12 yards of offense in the second half.
MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS (lost to Michigan 49-0)
The Spartans sowed the seeds for this baby-seal clubbing back last year with the tunnel incident. Add in the controversies that emerged around the Michigan program this week, and it was inevitable that Jim Harbaugh was going to choose as much violence as possible. And even with that setup, it’s still hard to imagine the pasting the Wolverines provided being as bad as it was. Let’s be honest, the most offense Michigan State showed all night was from the pregame videos on the scoreboard
NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS (lost to Virginia 31-27)
If a Top 10 team loses at home to a 24-point dog, 1-win conference bottom feeder and nobody sees it because its stuck on a fourth-rate network, does it still get nominated for a TJOTW? Yes, yes it does. This was Virginia’s first ever road win over a top 10 team, and marks the end of their winless drought over FBS teams at just one day past a year.
SAN DIEGO STATE AZTECS (lost to Nevada 6-0)
I’ll be honest, when I first got this update, I thought the “Final” was a mistake and the game was really at halftime. But nope, this is actually how Nevada’s 16-game losing streak comes to an end- with two first half field goals, twelve total punts, and an Aztec fumble at the Nevada 23 to seal this horror show of a game.
TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS (lost to Alabama 34-20)
The Vols came into the Third Saturday in October sizeable underdogs, and promptly came out firing, punching Bama in the mouth by scoring the first 13 points and taking a 20-7 lead into halftime. And then… meltdown. The lead was gone in about eleven minutes and the game was out of reach in another ten as Bama dominated the second half 27-0.