A Saturday of upendings

 Some things we know now, on a day that proved Chris Schenkel was right when he rhapsodized about all those glorious Saturday afternoons in the fall:

* Alabama might actually be a football program comprised of semi-normal college kids and not, you know, Cylons or Terminators or skillfully crafted digital components.

* More teams should do what Texas A&M did to the Crimson Tide, which is blitz the hell out of them on defense.

* Michigan is still undefeated, but not as undefeated as we thought, because Nebraska is not as 3-4 as we thought.

* Iowa is still undefeated, but (sorry, Hawkeye fans) wouldn't be if Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford hadn't gotten hurt.

* Notre Dame is now 5-1, but the quarterback position is now a multiple-choice question and some Domeheads think Brian Kelly keeps getting the answer wrong.

About that last ...

At least one person on the interwhatsis yesterday thought Kelly, the winningest coach in Notre Dame history, should be fired for starting Jack Coan against Virginia Tech last night. Way to keep that fabled perspective intact, Irish fans!

Hard telling what they're thinking this morning, though, after Kelly started Coan, benched Coan for freshman Tyler Buchner, then brought back Coan after the freshman did some freshman stuff.

Coan, of course, went on to do senior stuff, coolly driving Notre Dame to the tying score and two-point conversion, and then to Jonathan Doerer's game-winning field goal. And all in the last 2:26.

Which makes for a fun mental exercise, imagining how Domer Nation reacted to all of it.

"Finally!" the Nation cried, when Kelly yanked Coan in the second quarter after a stumbling start.

"Yes! Buchner's our man!" it roared, after the kid ran for a touchdown and threw for another.

"Farts!" it thundered, after Buchner threw two interceptions that led to Virginia Tech scores in the third quarter.

"Double farts!" it howled, after Kelly put Coan back in.

And then, after the Irish squeaked through with Coan at the helm ...

"Uhhhh ..."

Kelly was somewhat more expansive.

"You guys should be thinking about great things to write about that guy because that doesn't happen very often," he told the media.

Forgive the Blob's eternally suspicious bent if it thinks Kelly laying it on that thick might have been a subtle middle finger to certain unappreciative Domer elements. Bash me for sticking with Coan, will ya? Well, sit on this and rotate!

OK, so maybe not. But it's a happy thought, on a happy Saturday of upendings.