Heated rivalries, coaching chaos and more: The CFB weekend that had it all

"Ryan, wake up, the Egg Bowl is on ..."

That's precisely how my Thanksgiving college football rivalry weekend started, in a mountain house overlooking Lake Lure, North Carolina, with my legs draped the wrong way over the arm of a leather chair, gravy stain on my shirt, and I'm not sure but I might have been snoring. Can you blame me? I'd made my annual attempt to watch an entire NFL game, and Chargers-Cowboys, combined with a large helping of turkey tryptophan, had been like a tranquilizer dart.

I was not assigned to cover a college football game over the weekend, which was just fine with me. My family hasn't seen me a whole lot this fall, so I'd promised them I'd be there for Turkey Day and…