5 Teams from week 1

[bjorks]

who surprised me with their efforts. I'm also looking for the classic 2002 LSU, Louisville, and Navy teams you can ride the entire year regardless of the number Vegas puts up.

1) USC - Despite being from a BCS conference, Virginia isn't that great, but traveling coast-to-coast is still no easy feat. The Trojans defense, as I thought, was stellar and the offense looks pretty darn good too. I always pick SC to lose a game in the PAC, but if they play like they did against Virginia, there's nobody in the PAC who's going to come within 10 with that defense. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a faster team on defense. They fly to the ball on defense.

2) Clemson - OVER-RATED (clap-clap-clapclapclap). This team really showed zero heart against Bama. I don't know why I expect so much from a Tommy Bowden team, but the Tigers are horrible. They'll probably win their 8 or 9 games and make it to a decent bowl, but show some heart!

3) Arizona - I knew they'd put up points. I knew Stoops was a total dickhead and would try to run it up. I just didn't think they'd transition to the spread that easily. Are they going to beat SC? Probably not, but I'd be very scared to play in Tucson this year because they can score and score fast. The over looks good in their games, but more than anything they may lead the PAC in total offense this year. They almost have an Arena League mentality, or at least a June Jones one, we don't care if you score, you're not stopping us either and we'll try to out gun you. If they avoid injury and the defense can bend and not break, Stoops may be on to something.

4) Fresno State - For a team a lot of people were hyping I wasn't impressed. Schiano completely over coached his team and the vaunted Fresno offense was nothing it was hyped to be.

5) BYU - I may be on BYU every week. This is your BCS at large team!!! They will walk through the MWC and I don't think Utah can hang with them, especially at their place.

Honorable Mentions
Kentucky - How are they going to score in the SEC this year? That offense is terrible.
Minnesota - Nothings changed. Capable of putting up points, but can't stop anyone.
Army - terrible, horrible, very bad.

 

[counselor]

Minnesota - Nothings changed. Capable of putting up points, but can't stop anyone...

All I know is they're undefeated and have a better record than the likes of Michigan and Illininois.

:cheers:

:tiphat:

4) Fresno State - For a team a lot of people were hyping I wasn't impressed. Schiano completely over coached his team and the vaunted Fresno offense was nothing it was hyped to be...

A lot of hyping? They're ranked 25. I don't know how much over-hype that is, but they did go into Rutgers and beat a good coach and a team with some experience. Dominated them, basically. By 17. I was impressed with their defense. The offense can run the ball, now...

 

[JumpOnBoard]

I understand that Fresno struggled at times offensively, but field position never was a position to attack much in the first thirty mins...Pat Hill played it close to the vest IMO and then challenged his team physically at halftime..

they travelled across the country and beat a team that's been pretty consistenly in the top half of their BCS conference the last three years...and they did it up 17 points..

Sure they didn't look like BCS contenders yet...but it was a good performance...it might not have been spectacular..

But what I saw from Fresno was a football team...I'll take that most any day.

 

[Marlo]

All I know is they're undefeated and have a better record than the likes of Michigan and Illininois.

:cheers:

:tiphat:



A lot of hyping? They're ranked 25. I don't know how much over-hype that is, but they did go into Rutgers and beat a good coach and a team with some experience. I was impressed with their defense. The offense can run the ball, now...

Wheres the slurpy emicon

 

[Matador]

I think you're wrong about Fresno. Offensively they played a bad half mainly because they had bad field position and hardly had the ball. Something like 24 offensive plays in the first half. Once they got rolling, RU had no answer for Matthews or Ajirotutu. Offense has no obvious weaknesses and defense was good enough. DL looks improved and starting Jefferson full time at CB helps the secondary. Should be 7-0 in the WAC heading in to the Boise showdown. What more did you expect?

 

[counselor]

I understand that Fresno struggled at times offensively, but field position never was a position to attack much in the first thirty mins...Pat Hill played it close to the vest IMO and then challenged his team physically at halftime..

they travelled across the country and beat a team that's been pretty consistenly in the top half of their BCS conference the last three years...and they did it up 17 points..

Sure they didn't look like BCS contenders yet...but it was a good performance...it might not have been spectacular..

But what I saw from Fresno was a football team...I'll take that most any day.

Well put
:shake:

 

[counselor]

Wheres the slurpy emicon

 

[RetroVK]

pittsburgh has to make this list. they collectively grabbed their throats.


ucla defense looked pretty salty to me , going to be a very nice team to back at home this year , as dogs and agaisnt weak competition where the defense will put offense in manageable spots.

florida looked terrible. realize they were playing without 1/3 of their projected starters and against a team that they knew they could just show up and beat but the performance was anything but impressive. team is way too soft to be considered a legit title contender imo.

The pac-10 impressed me. oregon arizona usc and cal all looked solid.

alabama/clemson --- either one is way above expectations or one way below .... not sure which yet....

 

[bjorks]

You guys are probably right about Fresno, I was just expecting more I guess. What that "more" is, I'm not even sure, I just thought even though they played sloppy/bad/bad field position, I'm expecting more from a team some are saying is a dark horse for the BCS.

 

[G8RB8]

florida looked terrible. realize they were playing without 1/3 of their projected starters and against a team that they knew they could just show up and beat but the performance was anything but impressive. team is way too soft to be considered a legit title contender imo.

Honestly, what did you want them to do? 3 of every 4 plays could have involved kneeling the ball and they still would have won handily. . . Punt return proved to be dangerous again, and 2 pick-6's were positives. I didn't expect them to show ANYTHING they they didn't have to, and they still won by 46, and almost everyone had Hawaii covering the 35.

I'd much rather they peak later in the season, then be Alabama who looks like they peaked in week #1.

 

[RetroVK]

Honestly, what did you want them to do? 3 of every 4 plays could have involved kneeling the ball and they still would have won handily. . . Punt return proved to be dangerous again, and 2 pick-6's were positives. I didn't expect them to show ANYTHING they they didn't have to, and they still won by 46, and almost everyone had Hawaii covering the 35.

I'd much rather they peak later in the season, then be Alabama who looks like they peaked in week #1.[/quote]


true enough. They have talent all over the field and a coach who knows WHEN to push the buttons. So they could certainly improve over what they were last year and what they showed week1 ( you are right they didnt need to ) . I had them power rated preseason as best team in the country prior to barrage of injuries that they suffered. Guess I just think after watching them again that we might be expecting too much improvement out of the defense , especially when secondary gets hit that hard by injury bugaboo. just one game though , and as you say they didnt have much incentive to show a lot with miamifl on deck. just get the hell out of there with a win and all the players healthy was the likely goal.

 

[G8RB8]

I fully expected Meyer to try everyone out. . . when Tebow gets only 14 passes and no rushing TD's, you can tell he was just spreading the wealth around. I was excited to see the big play potential, and something I'm not used to - a freaking great situation at Running Back with LOTS of choices.

I'm waiting to see how they do against Tennessee to figure out what kind of class I put them in. I do believe that they will beat Miami with little threat, but I think the DL and secondary of Tennessee will be a very strong guage as to how far they've become. I know they were routed last year, but a lot of people forget that game was pretty close until Florida busted it open with a long TD from a turnover that was a 14 pt swing and took all the wind out of the sails for the Vols.

I do have a question for you though, I haven't watched a whole lot of Utah football in the last couple years (since they're not on TV here and I'm always at games), but was Saturday's brain farts indicative of what's to come from this team? IMO, they should have beaten Michigan by 30+, but just let them keep hanging around by shooting themselves in the foot. Are they typically this undisciplined? I hope not, because they looked like they had a very solid team all the way around

Thanks dude

 

[bjorks]

I think one thing that gets overlooked in the Utah/Michigan game is if you've never played in front 100K+, it's surreal. I've been on the field for Michigan/Minnesota games before and the crowd is right on top you, let alone the field is built into the ground.

Add to that your boosters and the national media expect you to pull off an upset and it's a lot to take in.

I think more than anything it was rust they were working through, but to an extent nerves too. If they do that against BYU, they won't win, but against a struggling Michigan team they can.

I think Utah will be find as soon as the gel gets a little better. They're usually a team that meshes pretty well together with what they're trying to do.

 

[G8RB8]

Guess I just think after watching them again that we might be expecting too much improvement out of the defense , especially when secondary gets hit that hard by injury bugaboo.

and I certainly agree with that. . . I'm scared shitless about this defense, and I'm not as optimistic about the 180 degree turnaround that most people have them doing.

At least they're probably gaining some confidence, but they still are scary to try and figure out.

 

[RetroVK]

bjorks porbably hit it ont hehead .. the atmosphere was hard for them coupled with a tough opponent and they had to do it all the first week out of the gate.
They are a well coached team and don't make nearly the mistakes you sw in that game. Last year they only had one game where they had more than 2 turnovers and just one game where they had more than 10 penalties ( 11) .

They averaged roughly 6 penalties a game for roughly 58 yards a game last year and averaged roughly 1.7 turnovers per game last year.

so the 15 penalties for 137 and the 3 turnovers were an anamoly.

 

[G8RB8]

Thanks guys. . . I want to do whatever possible to get that "undisciplined" tag for them out of my head next time I look at their lines:cheers: