CFB Week 3 (9/11-9/13) News and Picks

[RJ Esq]

2005-06 CFB Record
77-71, +0.52 Units

2006-07 CFB Record
70-48, +51.29 Units

2007-08 CFB Record
53-52, -33 Units

2008-09 CFB Record
11-5 +7.1 Units

Picks
Cal -11' (-110) L
Oregon -5 (-110) W
CMU -3 (-110) P
Zona -10 (-110)
Vandy -7 (-110)
UNC +12' and KU +10 Teaser (-110) W
Iowa St +14 (-120) W

 

[B.A.R.]

SMODOD

 

[JumpOnBoard]

I like em all...

GL to ya.

 

[tru]

very smododish

 

[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">2:44 PM (42 minutes ago)
ND's Return To Glory Postponed. Again.

from The Sporting Blog

NBC will turn the mikes on Charlie Weis for a few seconds and, once Charlie completes a few words leading up to an obvious profanity, they intelligently mute the mikes and go back to the beleaguered announcing NBC announcing team. They currently stand tied at 7-7, but it is a deceptive number: before the final drive of this half for Notre Dame, they had converted exactly one first down and had looked just as arrhythmic as they looked in their 3 win debacle of 2007. Their only score came off a blocked punt followed up by a touchdown thrown to a wide open receiver standing over his defender who, true to form, had fallen down on the play.

Notre Dame and any echoes must be put on hold yet again, since San Diego State, brought in as the tomato can to get 2008 off to the right breezy start, has looked just as good as the Irish. Read that again. It's no typo. In addition to this mind-melting statement, please also consider that the game next week against Michigan, which many had penned in as a win for the resurgent Irish after the Wolverines' struggles early, now looks like a bonified fight of two tattered, penniless aristocrats seriously down on their luck fighting over a moldy tuna sandwich they found in the trash. Watching will be an act of cruel, sadistic voyeurism. We can't wait.





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[RJ Esq]

Nebraska Downs San Jose State - 35 to 12

from Big Red Network
Nebraska needed touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams to defeat San Jose State in Lincoln, 35-12. Niles Paul's 85-yard kick off return for a touchdown sparked the Cornhuskers in a game that was very tightly contested for three quarters.
San Jose State out gained Nebraska 353 to 315 on the afternoon, but special teams proved to be the defense. While San Jose State was missing extra points and field goals early in the game, the Cornhuskers got a clutch touchdown on a kickoff on a return from Paul at a time when the NU was leading just 14-12, early in the fourth quarter.
San Jose State struck first in the game, going up 6-0 nothing following a 12 yard scamper by quarterback Kyle Reed that capped a 59-yard drive. Nebraska would answer with a 86 yard drive that ended with a Quentin Castille touchdown run. NU would take the lead when defensive tackle make an interception from a tipped Reed pass and lumber 49 yards.
San Jose State controlled play in the second quarter as NU hamstrung itself with penalties and missed opportunities. The Spartans would only have a field goal to show for their efforts, and NU went in to the locker room leading 14-9.
In a more evenly played third quarter, both teams went scoreless. Nebraska had a promising drive end when Castille fumbled an option pitch from quarterback Joe Ganz.
In the fourth quarters, NU seized control after Niles provided the spark with his special teams touchdown. Roy Helu and Marlon Lucky put the finishing touches on 35 and 74 yard scoring drives for the Huskers to put the game out of reach.
San Jose State was stymied by an injury to Reed. Without him under center, the Spartans were unable to move the ball as effectively late in the game.
Statistical Leaders
For San Jose State, Reed led the way before he was injured. He threw for 161 yards and rushed for 32 in a game where he outplayed his counterpart for NU at times. Jurovich was his favorite target, catching 84 for yards worth of receptions. The Spartans would total 137 yards rushing on the day, powered by Davis going for 58 on just 7 carries out of the spread formation.
For Nebraska, Joe Ganz threw for 216 yards. Sixty of those yards came on seven connections with go-to receiver Nate Swift. The Huskers rushed for just 99 yards on 30 carries. But Roy Helu provided consistent play in the second half, gaining 59 yards on nine carries.
The Spartans move to 1-1 on the year, and play San Diego State at home next week. For 2-0 Nebraska, they face New Mexico State next week in Lincoln.

 

[RJ Esq]

San Jose State Postgame OverReaction - Humble Pie/Eating Crow Edition

from Corn Nation by corn blight
All week long I’ve made fun of our opponent coming into this game. There was the 72-3 preview (which I wasn’t serious about 72-3, but maybe hopeful). There was the 56-20 prediction. Humble pie or crow, you can take your pick, but I deserve every bit of crap that anyone wants to give me this week.

- Time to adjust your expectations about this season. For those of you who pegged us at 10-2, what are you thinking now? Still possible with some corrections?

- Mike McNeil has to do a better job of blocking from the end position.

- Mike Huff is driving me crazy. The guy isn’t finishing his blocks. That can be corrected, but it’s reflected in the play of the rest of the line. The coaching staff can track all the pancakes they want, but until they start releasing the statistics or mentioning them you can be sure of one thing - this line isn’t being NEARLY as physical as it should be.

- On that same regard, Barney Cotton can defend his guys and he should. He’s right when he says that we can’t block five guys with four, but they’d better figure out how to correct the lack of a running game because we’re going to see that all season long

- For the game day thread, I made a reference to the movie ‘300’, stating that “They’re gonna get killed. The only question is whether or not they’ll be as dramatic in the process.” The Spartans played tough football, congratulations to them. They died when Kyle Reed left the field.

- I like the idea that Castille was back in the game not long after his fumble on the option play.

- Defensive line played very well. Two interceptions by defensive linemen? Think they have something to prove?

- Linebackers, secondary.… ah... not so much.

- Adi Kunalic is an underrated weapon that will serve us well in Big 12 play. Think Jeremy Maclin.

- After seeing the play several times, I am guessing that Barry Turner is done for the year.

- We found a return guy. Niles Paul changed the game, thank God.

- Penalties. Need I say more?

 

[RJ Esq]

Beanie-less Buckeyes Get a Scare

from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
Filed under: Ohio, Ohio State, Big 12, MAC

Ohio? O H I O Ohio? Really? Them's the facts and we write them. Ohio State beat Ohio U 26-14 today, and did it without injured back Beanie Wells but hoo boy was it ugly. The Buckeyes were listless in trailing 7-6 at halftime. They later found themselves trailing 14-6 in the third quarter before getting their acts together.

Of no surprise, the Buckeyes' defense saved the day, forcing five turnovers against an otherwise poised Bobcat team. Several methodical offensive drives in crunch time provided the winning margin as Ohio's offense was shut down through most of the second half.

A more dominant Buckeye victory almost assuredly would have set up a No. 1 vs. No. 2 battle next Saturday in Los Angeles against USC. Look for them to drop in the polls, however. The good news for them is that they did emerge victorious and Wells appears to be ready to be cleared to play at some point. The national media will still converge upon L.A. and week three will have its marquee game. All is not lost.

 

[RJ Esq]

SMODOD

Assholes.

 

[RJ Esq]

4-2 last week with one of my losses being on a freeplay. So works out like a 4-1 week money wise.

Very good for a card I didn't like.

 

[RJ Esq]

Images from last week courtesy tvtanline.blogspot.com:

Apparently UT was playing the Mexican National Team:

 

[RJ Esq]

2008 - Week 2 College Football Polls

from Fanblogs.com by Ben Prather
The college poll rankings for week 2 (games through September 6th)
Associated Press AP College Football Top 25 Poll
1. USC (33) 1-0 1,577
2. Georgia (23) 2-0 1,525
3. Oklahoma (2) 2-0 1,458
4. Florida (4) 2-0 1,438
5. Ohio State (1) 2-0 1,347
6. Missouri (1) 2-0 1,336
7. LSU (1) 1-0 1,231
8. Texas 2-0 1,100
9. Auburn 2-0 1,067
10. Wisconsin 2-0 910
11. Alabama 2-0 865
12. Texas Tech 2-0 845
13. Kansas 2-0 825
14. East Carolina 2-0 762
15. Arizona State 2-0 744
16. Oregon 2-0 616
17. Penn State 2-0 607
18. Brigham Young 2-0 537
19. South Florida 2-0 493
20. Wake Forest 2-0 404
21. Fresno State 1-0 290
22. Utah 2-0 258
23. California 2-0 195
24. Illinois 1-1 164
25. West Virginia 1-1 163
Others Receiving Votes
UCLA 150, Clemson 73, Florida State 50, Boise State 22, Tennessee 15, Georgia Tech 14, Oklahoma State 11, Vanderbilt 7, TCU 6, Kentucky 6, Virginia Tech 4, Tulsa 3, South Carolina 2, Arizona 2, Connecticut 1, North Carolina 1, Rice 1
Dropped From Rankings
UCLA 23, South Carolina 24
USA Today College Football Coaches Poll
1. USC (34) 1-0 1,481
2. Georgia (18) 2-0 1,454
3. Oklahoma (3) 2-0 1,370
4. Florida (3) 2-0 1,306
5. Ohio State (1) 2-0 1,289
6. Missouri 2-0 1,212
7. LSU (2) 1-0 1,198
8. Texas 2-0 1,069
9. Auburn 2-0 1,017
10. Wisconsin 2-0 946
11. Kansas 2-0 854
12. Texas Tech 2-0 755
13. Arizona State 2-0 737
14. Oregon 2-0 665
15. Brigham Young 2-0 628
16. Alabama 2-0 611
17. Penn State 2-0 547
18. South Florida 2-0 475
19. Wake Forest 2-0 419
20. East Carolina 2-0 375
21. Fresno State 1-0 300
22. Utah 2-0 235
23. Clemson 1-1 175
24. West Virginia 1-1 145
25. California 2-0 128
Others Receiving Votes
Illinois 124, UCLA 86, Florida State 50, Kentucky 28, Boise State 22, Tennessee 21, TCU 18, Nebraska 16, Georgia Tech 15, Arizona 11, Virginia Tech 11, Vanderbilt 8, Oklahoma State 7, Iowa 4, Colorado 3, Notre Dame 3, Tulsa 2, Connecticut 2, Bowling Green 1, South Carolina 1, Northwestern 1.
Dropped From Rankings
South Carolina 24, Illinois 25

 

[RJ Esq]

A Tale of Two Offenses: vs Clemson and vs Tulane

from Roll 'Bama Roll by Todd
ed.- the graphs are fairly wide in this post, and therefor disappear under the right sidebar if you don't have the "wide" display option. It's over on the left just underneath the blog logo. What a difference a week can make. After a dominating performance over Clemson to open the season, a week's worth of "Bama's Back!" hype from the national media, and a swelling sense of cautious optimism from the fanbase, our beloved Tide went out against a vastly inferior team and slept walk their way to an ugly win. Just looking at the numbers, there isn't a lot positive we can say about the Alabama offense's performance yesterday other than they didn't lose the game. Take a look at the comparison from the past two weeks: <table align="center" width="600"><tbody><tr><td align="center">

</td></tr></tbody></table> The brutally efficient juggernaut that held the ball for nearly twice as long as Clemson last week sputtered almost the whole game, managing only one drive of ten plays or longer (an 11 play, 77 yd drive capped by Ingram's 15 yd TD run), and going a miserable 3 of 11 on 3rd down. Against the Tigers, we were 11-17, a key reason we were able to hold onto the ball for so long and put up such huge numbers. Last season we probably would have been placing all the blame on Wilson (rightly or not) for the offensive woes, but to his credit he avoided making the kind of mistakes that cost us several games last season and played relatively smart football. Here are his numbers from the past two weeks: <table align="center" width="600"><tbody><tr><td align="center">

</td></tr></tbody></table> The two key numbers from his stat line this week are 4 and 0, the number of sacks and the number of INTs. Clemson got little to no pressure on him last week, while the Tulane defense was in his face all evening yesterday by rushing hard off the edges and bring pressure from the outside with the DBs, and a big part of the drop in his completion percentage was the number of balls he had to throw away to avoid a sack. Just looking at the stat line, you'd think he had had a very bad day, but in reality it was a step forward for Wilson who likely would have thrown those balls into coverage last season. Having Andre Smith out at LT and then Marlon Davis pulled early for a hamstring tweak didn't help him, as the offensive line never gelled during the whole game and simply wasn't able to pick up the blitzes Tulane was bringing. Making matters worse was the fact that the running backs apparently forgot how to pass block as well after a great game in that regard last week. I'm sure much will be made over the course of this week about how great the special teams and defense played, and they deserve all the credit for this win. Javier Arenas is the reason we sit at 2-0 right now, and the defense stood up in the red zone to hold Tulane to FG tries on four deep drives (they actually haven't given up a TD yet this season, so they have that going for them, which is nice), but having positive efforts from two out of three aspects of the game isn't going to be enough to carry us through the heart of the schedule. Overall it was a disappointing display, and the Girl summed up the mood at my place Saturday night best when she said "It feels like we lost." The hard truth here is that we easily could have and probably should have. Take away two amazing special teams plays, and the Tide had only seven points in that game, while Tulane had four shots at field goals. If you take away our special teams scores (which are fairly rare, especially two in one game, and cannot be counted on) and Tulane makes just one more FG last night then the score could have been 9-7 and Tulane would have opened their season with a win. We got incredibly lucky this weekend, and the best thing that can come from this is a reality check for the players that maybe read a little too much of their own press, plenty of film to study on how they can improve next week, and positive game experience for the backup offensive linemen that came in to help them fit in a little better in the future should their services be required again.

 

[RJ Esq]

Defensive Drive Chart: Texas Tech v. Nevada

from Double-T Nation by Seth C
The Drive Chart is a look at each and every drive by both the Texas Tech offense and defense. Thoughts, comments and opinions appreciated.
TEXAS TECH DEFENSE
Drive 1: NEVADA 1st T30 12:33 Downs T10 10:31 *FIELD GOAL 5-20 2:02
A bad 4th down call gave Nevada the ball on the Texas Tech 30. The Texas Tech defense allowed one 1st down, but held Nevada on 3rd and 2 for one yard. This was the first in many 3rd down stops for the Texas Tech defense.

Drive 2: NEVADA 1st N40 09:18 Interception N41 07:51 Punt 3-1 1:27
A Harrell interception gave the ball to Nevada on their own 40, but a holding on Nevada put them at 1st and 20 from the start. M. Williams made 2 tackles and the play of the drive, another 3rd down stop, was B. Williams knocking down a Kaepernick pass.
Drive 3: NEVADA 1st N20 07:51 Kickoff N39 04:39 Punt 5-19 3:12
This drive didn't start off so well with two 14 yard completions, and Nevada turned to Lippincott for two plays gaining 9 yards and putting Nevada at a 3rd and 1. A holding penalty pushed the Wolf Pack back to 3rd and 11 and M. Dixon showed off some quickness with a Kaepernick sack for a loss of 8 yards. Texas Tech with another 3rd down stop.
Drive 4: NEVADA 1st N17 02:25 Punt T25 14:55 Missed FG 7-58 2:30
Starting at their own 17, Nevada drove down the field, but once they got to the Texas Tech 30, they were effectively stopped. A Taua rush and a Kaepernick rush, both for 3 yards, left Nevada with a 3rd and 4 where Lippincott was stopped by Victor Hunter for only a yard. Nevada missed the field goal.
Drive 5: NEVADA 2nd N44 13:34 Punt T09 07:24 *FIELD GOAL 12-47 6:10
One of the more impressive drives of the game for Nevada, but it only resulted in a field goal. Starting at their own 44, Nevada pushed their way down the field, including a nice 4th down conversion. Nevada eventually got down to the Texas Tech 10 yard line and the defense held. Bird makes three straight tackles, starting with a Taua rush for 6 yards, the play of the drive, a 10 yard sack on Kaepernick, and then a tackle on a completion to Wellington for 6 yards. Held Nevada to a field goal. Another 3rd down stop and big props goes to Bird on this drive.
Drive 6: NEVADA 2nd N29 05:11 Kickoff T14 03:27 Interception 4-57 1:44
This drive started off poorly as Kaepernick rushed for 40 yards, and then a 9 yard completion. McNeill needed to meet with his boys and get them straight, callss a time out. The very next play, Kaepernick rushes for 8 yards on a 2nd and 1 and it's not looking good. That is until the cat-like quickness of Richard Jones intercepts Kaepernick. How awesome is that.
Drive 7: NEVADA 2nd N28 02:22 Punt N32 01:35 Punt 3-4 0:47
This was Texas Tech's best drive, as Taua rushed for 4 yards (tackle by Bird), and two Kaepernick incompletions led to a blocked punt. I can't remember who got their hand on it, but it was nice.
Drive 8: NEVADA 3rd N04 15:00 Missed FG T26 15:00 *FIELD GOAL 6-70 0:00
In limited time, Nevada drove down the field and the Texas Tech defense yielded a field goal. Not the best effort of the day, but I'd rather give up field goals than touchdowns.
Drive 9: NEVADA 3rd N20 15:00 Kickoff T00 09:37 Fumble 12-80 5:23
This was a nice sustained drives by Nevada that included what we thought was a nice 3rd down stop, but ended up being a holding penalty on Texas Tech prior to the punt. This led to Nevada driving from their own 35 to the Texas Tech 3 yard line. Big chunks of yards on this drive and this was probably where I was at my most nervous. But a huge, and I mean huge fumble by Kaepernick (I can't remember who caused it, but you sir will receive $100 DTN bucks) and D. Charbonnet recovers. This is just huge.
Drive 10: NEVADA 3rd T29 08:33 Downs T14 06:40 *FIELD GOAL 5-15 1:53
This was one of the 4th down miscues by the Texas Tech offense that gave the ball to the Wolf Pack at their own 29. A Kaepernick 13 yard run led to a 2 yard sack by Dixon and Sesay. Kaepernick would throw an incomplete pass and D. Charbonnet got a huge 3rd down tackle, resulting in a Nevada field goal.
Drive 11: NEVADA 3rd N21 05:14 Kickoff T26 00:19 Missed FG 11-53 4:55
Another sustained Nevada drive and it's obvious the Texas Tech defense is getting a little winded. Again, the defense gave up pretty decent size chunks of yards, but once Nevada got inside the Texas Tech 30, the defense held, due largely because of two Kaepernick incomplete passes, but I'll take it. I think B. Williams had a pass deflection here on 3rd down. Nevada would miss the 44 yard field goal.
Drive 12: NEVADA 4th N47 14:21 Interception N47 13:19 Punt 3-0 1:02
A quick 3 and out for Nevada. Nothing to see here.
Drive 13: NEVADA 4th N35 11:25 Kickoff T00 10:30 *TOUCHDOWN 4-65 0:55
This was a punch in the groin, Texas Tech gave up all kinds of short passes, but managed to stave off the deep pass until Kaepernick completed a pass to Mitchell. I think Wall was on coverage, and it was a pretty pass, but still unacceptable, especially this late in the game, when a couple of quick scores could have been devastating and changed the game.
Drive 14: NEVADA 4th N27 06:11 Kickoff T21 02:46 Downs 8-52 3:25
Nevada drives down the field, again with relative ease, but B. Williams had a sack on 2 consecutive plays and the Wolf Pack needed 32 yards for a 1st down. Kaepernick would get 24 of those yards, but not the first down and Wall made up for the deep pass in the previous drive with a nice 4th down coverage.

 

[RJ Esq]

Offensive Drive Chart: Texas Tech v. Nevada

from Double-T Nation by Seth C
The Drive Chart is a look at each and every drive by both the Texas Tech offense and defense. Thoughts, comments and opinions appreciated.
TEXAS TECH OFFENSE
Drive 1: TT 1st T21 15:00 Kickoff T30 12:33 Downs 4-9 2:27
Perhaps the first bad decision, in what would turn out to be many for Captain Leach. The drive started on the Texas Tech 21, and a Morris completion for 3, a Woods' run for 2 and a Woods' run for 4 yards led to a 4th and 1 by Harrell and he was denied, giving the ball to Nevada at the Red Raiders 30. Luckily, the defense held and only gave up a field goal, but it wasn't smart to give the ball to Nevada so early.

Drive 2: TT 1st T20 10:31 Kickoff T36 09:18 Interception 5-16 1:13
Not starting off too well. Crabtree's first reception for 9 yards and a Woods' run for 12 got an easy first down. Harrell then threw an incompetion to Lewis, a 5 yard penalty (1 of 9 for the day), another incompletion and then an awful interception by Harrell. Two drives and two bad decisions (one by the coach and one by Harrell). Again, the defense forced a Nevada punt in their subsequent drive.
Drive 3: TT 1st N00 07:51 Punt N00 07:51 *TOUCHDOWN 0-0 0:00
This is exactly what this team needed after two stalled drives, an Eric Morris punt return for 86 yards. Yea! Eric Morris.
Drive 4: TT 1st T25 04:39 Punt T44 02:25 Punt 6-19 2:14
Only one positive gain in this 7 play drive and it's nice to see Tramain Swindall make a significant contribution as Harrell and Swindall hooked up for a 24 yard 3rd down completion. After this play, Harrell threw an incomplete pass to Morris, a rush for no gain and a pass broken up, intended for D. Lewis.
Drive 5: TT 2nd T25 14:55 Missed FG T42 13:34 Punt 5-17 1:21
Another inept offensive drive. The drive started nicely with a Morris rush for 6 yards, a Batch run for 12, and a Crabtree catch for 4 yards. Two Harrell incompletions and a Texas Tech penalty, put the Red Raiders at 4th and 11 and LaCour shanked the punt for a net punt of 14 yards.
Drive 6: TT 2nd T32 07:20 Kickoff N00 05:18 *TOUCHDOWN 5-68 2:02
First productive drive of the game came in the 2nd quarter. Harrell went 3-3 for 59 yards, including a 50 yard reception by Crabtree. Of course on the half-empty side of things, the pass to Crabtree wasn't a thing of beauty and Crabtree was tackled at the Nevada 1. Bygones. Woods' punched in the touchdown from 1 yard. I, for one, breathed a sigh of relief after this drive.
Drive 7: TT 2nd T20 03:27 Interception T23 02:22 Punt 3-3 1:05
Nothing to see here. An interception by Richard Jones gave Texas Tech the ball at their own 20, but couldn't do a damn thing, except for a batted ball that ended up complete to Stephen Hamby, who gained 3 yards. LaCour redeemed himself with a 49 yard punt.
Drive 8: TT 2nd N24 01:35 Punt N11 00:53 Missed FG 7-13 0:42
Harrell was 1-5 for 13 yards on this drive after the defense gifted Texas Tech great field position with a blocked punt. Only 1 complete pass to Britton eventually led to a Carona blocked field goal.
Drive 9: TT 3rd T20 09:37 Fumble T29 08:33 Downs 4-9 1:04
I think we're developing a theme here. Harrell was 1-3 on this drive with a 9 yard completion to Crabtree. Another bad decision by Captain Leach to go for it on 4th and 1 from their own 29 and Crawford, not his fault, was stopped for no gain.
Drive 10: TT 3rd N39 06:37 Kickoff N00 05:20 *TOUCHDOWN 6-39 1:17
Daniel Charbonnet recovered a Nevada onside kick that gave Texas Tech pretty good field position. Harrell was 2-5, completing an 11 yard pass to Batch and a 15 yard 3rd down pass to Swindall, his 2nd 3rd down reception of the game. The drive resulted in a beautiful Morris run for a touchdown. Morris' ability always amazes me, he shouldn't be able to do what he does at 5'8"/170.
Drive 11: TT 3rd T26 00:19 Missed FG T28 14:21 Interception 3-2 0:58
I've lost count as to how many bad drives there have been, but this is another one. It starts off nicely with a long completion (underthrown, I think) to Lewis for 27 yards. A holding penalty (Byrnes) and a facemask (Reed), puts the Red Raiders at 1st and 35. Harrell throws an awful interception
Drive 12: TT 4th T07 13:19 Punt N00 11:34 *TOUCHDOWN 4-93 1:45
Perhaps the highlight of this game with a 82 yard reception by Crabtree from an underthrown Harrell pass, he spins our of a Nevada player grabbing for his jersey and races for the touchdown. Thank you Mr. Crabtree, thank you.
Drive 13: TT 4th T16 10:25 Kickoff N00 06:18 *TOUCHDOWN 11-84 4:07
For me, this was the best drive of the game. Texas Tech lined up with 2 tight ends for a large portion of the drive. The drive started off with two incompletions and Swindall coming up with another huge 3rd down catch for 15 yards. What was next was 5 runs in 9 plays that was interesting to watch (the 4 other plays were 4 Harrell incompletions). Batch broke off a 23 yard run, Crawford ran for 2 and 1 yards, while Woods had a 2 yard and 21 yard touchdown run. Best part about this drive was that it ate up 4:22 of the clock.
Drive 14: TT 4th T21 02:46 Downs N45 00:00 End of half 6-34 2:46
Again, two tight end sets with 5 of the 6 plays running plays. The only purpose of this drive was to run out the clock and Batch and Woods did a good job of doing that.

 

[RJ Esq]

Spaulding Roundup: Getting Ready For Mighty BYU

from Bruins Nation by Nestor
Well it looks like some BYU fans are already looking beyond next weekend’s game against UCLA. They are obviously riding high after yesterday afternoon’s heart stopping win against UDub at Seattle. Notwithstanding the questionable call at the end of the game, they pulled off an impressive victory at a tough Pac-10 venue and we have to give them credit for it.
One of the biggest concerns for UCLA heading into next weekend’s game is to figure out a way to stop Max Hall. He was deadly against the Huskies. He completed 30 of 41 pass attempts for 338 yards, 3 TDs and 1 interception. His job was made easier by the running game of a beastly Unga who punished the Husky defensive line for 136 yards in 23 carries. Unga was setting up Hall with short yardage situations all day and he made the Husky defense pay. The BYU offensive converted on 3^rd downs 12 out of 14 times (full box score here). So needless to say there is going to be a lot of pressure on our secondary next Saturday and with that in mind Walker opened up the FS position for competition between Ware and Moore:

"That's good that he's doing that so we can both stay on our toes and continue to work hard, rather than get comfortable and feel good that you're starting," Moore said. "It's a good thing. May the best man win. I don't want anything given to me, and I'm sure (Ware) feels the same."
Both players made their first career starts in last week's win against Tennessee, but Ware did so at strong safety, filling in for Lockett.
Now, Ware is back at a more familiar position.
"You're never promised a position no matter who you are," Ware said. "That's fine."
Settling down the secondary is a key as the Bruins travel to No. 15 BYU on Saturday.
When UCLA beat the Cougars early last season, BYU ran for 44 yards and quarterback Max Hall threw for 391 yards. In the rematch at the Las Vegas Bowl, which the Cougars won, BYU mustered 34 rushing yards, and Hall threw for 231 yards.
​

Hopefully Lockett can provide a more steady effort at SS and Ware be more comfortable at FS. He didn’t do much to make himself stand out last weekend against Tennessee. In addition to Ware, we will need better efforts from Courtney Viney who found himself out of position a number of times against the Volunteers’ mediocre passing attack. Viney and his team-mates will not be able to get away with the same level of play against the Cougars’ more precise and efficient passing attack.
Meanwhile, on the offensive side in addition to putting together some clock chewing drives, CRN has been trying to get his team to play smart ball keeping field position in mind. As a result Aaron Perez has become a pivotal part of our overall game plan:

You punt. You win.

As coaching rhetoric goes, this hardly ranks with "win one for the Gipper." Still, UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel has gone about convincing his team that sending punter Aaron Perez onto the field is not crying uncle.

When Perez casts his punts against blue-gray October sky, victory is at hand . . . really.

"People hear 'punt' and the first thought is, 'Oh we didn't score.' Or, 'we didn't get a first down,' " said Perez, a senior. "But if you have a punter who can help you in the field-position game, you put the defense on the field where it can create some turnovers or back the other team up and make them punt. The field keeps getting shorter and shorter, and you win."

This is a necessary philosophy for the Bruins this season. With an offense going through on-the-job training and a defense that has a hefty resume from the last two seasons, the best option sometimes is to have Perez give things a swift kick. […]

"It's imperative that we make it a long field," Neuheisel said. "With Aaron Perez and his leg, we can do that. As we grow in terms of our explosiveness and our ability to run the ball, we've got to be mindful of field position. So punting is not a bad thing."
​

Hopefully that lesson now has been totally planted into everyone’s brain after those 4 interceptions in the first half against Tennessee.
Speaking of ball control, Mark Saxon from the OC Register has a write up on WR Taylor Embree, who has the potential to emerge as the next money receiver in a Bruin uniform. We heard during both spring and fall camp, how Taylor catches everything thrown his way. We saw what that meant during the second half against Tennessee. The offense is going to need Taylor and his team-mates to step up the same way next weekend in Provo and keep racking up first downs so that they can keep the BYU offense off the field.
We will have more on the BYU game. The Cougar fans can keep discussing their team’s rankings after its victory over UCLA, but here on BN we just need to focus on how we can remain competitive against the mighty BYU.
GO BRUINS.

 

[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">9:48 AM (2 hours ago)
Sunday Morning Rewind: The new purple power, Buckeyes lay low, and whatever happened to the Crimson Tide?

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton

I was flipping through my Phil Steele to find the last time any team from anywhere opened the season with consecutive wins over top 20 teams, and in the last six years, anyway, it hadn't happened until Saturday. Only a handful of teams have even played two ranked opponents in a row to open the season, and of those, only Notre Dame in 2005 (over No. 23 Pittsburgh and No. 3 Michigan, both disappointments at season's end) started the season 2-0, and the Irish ended that season in the Fiesta Bowl. Even if you expand the search and look at teams that faced two ranked teams in the first three games, or in the first four games, the only other outfit to make it out of such a gauntlet unscathed is Ohio State in 2006, the juggernaut Buckeyes that rolled into the mythical championship game unbeaten before going down to Florida.That's pretty rare company for East Carolina, and from here on there will be no avoiding speculation about the Pirates' prospects of raiding one of the big money bowls in January (aside from the presumably cushy C-USA schedule, the only remaining non-conference games are against no-scoring ACC stiffs N.C. State and Virginia) and making Skip Holtz a very, very rich man, one way or the other.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, though, take in exactly what ECU did to West Virginia Saturday: in the first place, the Pirates held on to the ball offensively, "winning" time of possession by a gaping eleven and a half minutes, including four different drives that drained at least six minutes off the clock; even though WVU's rushing numbers look alright on paper (the Mountaineers averaged exactly 5.0 per carry as a team, and Noel Devine averaged a sky high 7.8 on a dozen runs), a pair of fumbles and the steady, turnover-free Pirate offense meant the 'Neer attack didn't have as many opportunities to break free, and by the second half Pat White was forced into trying to chuck his team out of the hole from the pocket, with predictable results. This was exactly the post-Rod nightmare West Virginians swore Bill Stewart's hiring did not portend: the Mountaineers were held without a touchdown for the first time since 2001, Rich Rodriguez's first year in Morgantown, and stopped short of 300 total yards for only the second time since White took over as the starting quarterback in 2005 (the first time was last year's regular season finale against Pittsburgh). And how many players can you name off the Pirate defense? Pierre Bell, Van Eskridge and C.J. Wilson may not be on your radar now, individually, but just give them another couple months.
- - -
Games I Watched:
• Florida 26, Miami 3
The Gators did enough in the fourth quarter -- 196 yards and 17 points on the last four possessions, including back-to-back drives of 86 and 95 yards -- to salvage a sense of 'mission accomplished,' but the first three quarters essentially belonged to an extremely young Miami squad that did exactly what it needed to do to leave feeling good about itself: the Canes clearly frustrated the Florida offense, pressured and hit Tim Tebow, and turned the game into a slog with long, clock-draining drives. The nearly nine-minute, 16-play drive Robert Marve engineered in the first half was a regressive, cloud-of-dust masterpiece, only netting three points on the board but stopping Florida's early momentum cold: the Gators' next five possessions ended punt, punt, punt, punt, punt.
That said, once UF's offensive line got a grasp on Miami's pass rush -- which was probably wearing down at that point, as well -- and Tebow had a little time, the Gators were every bit as explosive as advertised, and the Canes couldn't even pretend to have an answer for that; the game was over at 16-3, and if they hadn't lined up in the wrong formation later on, Tebow's long, negated touchdown pass to Louis Murphy in the fourth quarter might have eliminated whatever sense of progress the Canes built through the first three by pushing the score to 30-3. An e-mailer lightly chided me for using the word "swagger" in writing about this game Friday, but without having a legitimate chance to win, I think that's exactly what Miami was playing for, and what it largely achieved -- defensively, anyway, UM should have walked out of the Swamp feeling better about itself than when it went in, and the way the ACC is shaping up, it won't take much offense to make a serious run at the conference title, anyway.

• Ohio State 26, Ohio U. 14
I may be in the minority, but the Buckeyes' struggles here don't bother me much. That's not to say OSU didn't play poorly, which it clearly did -- Ohio U. was still within five points in the fourth quarter after committing four turnovers, each of which should have rung out like a nail being driven into a coffin -- and it's not that I think Chris Wells means that much by himself. There's still a very good chance Beanie won't be himself next week in the Coliseum.
But I got a distinct sense of rope-a-dope, which strikes me as part of Jim Tressel's M.O. -- his best teams in 2002 (against Purdue and Illinois) and 2006 (Illinois) had god awful, skin-of-the-teeth performances against much inferior teams immediately prior to winning their biggest games, and by the time I turned this one on in the second half, the jig was most definitely up. When the Buckeyes decided they needed to go ahead and roll out of bed for this team, they handled the Bobcats pretty easily: see 20 unanswered points following Ohio's fumble recovery in the end zone to go up 14-6 around the nine-minute mark of the third quarter. Botched shotgun snaps and the like will get OSU beat next week, of course, but the biggest concern -- other than USC, in general -- is still Wells' toe. Is there stock available in Buckeye State Novacaine Ltd?
• BYU 28, Washington 27
The storyline for this game will forever be "Washington got jobbed," and I agree -- there are situations where the spirit of the law trumps the letter, and the fate of the game-tying extra point with two seconds remaining is one of those situations; the best judgment in that case is to ignore a bad rule that no one would have paid the slightest attention to, anyway -- but the Huskies might have a little bit better complaint if they'd come close to slowing down the Cougar offense. BYU outgained U-Dub by 140 yards, converted an incredible 12 of 14 third downs, and if not for losing a goal line fumble at the end of a 97-yard drive early in the fourth quarter, would have never been in a position to take a game by quasi-crook. And they did block the decisive extra point, after all, just like they did to beat UCLA on the last play of last year's Las Vegas Bowl. If you ask me which team deserved to win this game, it's BYU, without a doubt.
• Auburn 27, Southern Miss 13
The Eagles came on a bit in the second half, but in reality were never in this game, despite covering the 17.5-point spread and turning in a moderately competitive box score. In fact, it should have been much worse: Auburn fumbled twice inside the red zone on its first two possessions, once in the end zone, and had two touchdowns called back on penalties in the third quarter. It's a minor miracle the USM defense was able to buckle down against the Tiger running game, which gashed Southern early, but Chris Todd rebounded from his terrible opener against UL-Monroe with a parade of open receivers who ran for 248 yards, mostly after the catch. Damion Fletcher never had any room to operate on the ground (2.2 per carry, after averaging 10 last week against UL-Lafayette), and from my point of view, USM is lucky to have scored at all. You know, Auburn looks like Auburn, and the Eagles suddenly just hope they can stay on the field with East Carolina.
Box Scorin'.
Making sense of what I (mostly) didn't see.
• Michigan 16, Miami of Ohio 6. Like Ohio State, I think the Wolverines should be satisfied enough with getting out of this thing with a comfortable win, although it's clear Michigan's offense is in big trouble for the long haul. This time, Utah goat Nick Sheridan came off the bench and outplayed Steven Threet, but the passing game was still a dismal, screen-heavy effort, the longest gain of the day coming on a catch-and-run by Martavious Odoms into the flat that owes more to Miami's safety overrunning the play than any acumen by Threet. Freshman running backs Sam McGuffie and Michael Shaw were vastly more promising than against Utah (Shaw only had two carries, but for 30 and 15 yards), but this is a one-dimensional attack in the worst possible way -- even a bowl game seems like a stretch if not for the defense, which is shaping up as fairly outstanding.
• UConn 12, Temple 9 (OT). The Huskies failed to score a touchdown in regulation and were abysmal in the passing game -- Tyler Lorenzen was just 10 of 22 for 86 yards and an interception -- but for a few hours, prior to Pitt and USF's late victories, this was the premiere win by any team in the Big East to date. Give them this, at least: UConn pushed the Owls around physically, paving the way for Donald Brown to grind out 214 hard-earned yards on 36 carries, with a long of just 19, despite the lack of air support from Lorenzen. I don't know how much solace that is, unless you consider that no other team in the conference has looked much better.

• Georgia Tech 19, Boston College 16. Tech ran 40 times, but almost half its yardage came on two carries: a 43-yard run by Jonathan Dwyer and a 30-yard run by Josh Nesbitt. Otherwise, the Jacket offense didn't do much good. But Boston College had to settle for field goals in scoring position -- three of them in the first four possessions, along with a punt in Tech territory on the other. Paul Johnson's flexbone was far less effective than in the opener, but the ACC's going to have a lot of games like this: Tech finished one more drive in the end zone, and that was good enough.
• Akron 42, Syracuse 28. Someone just put Greg Robinson out of his misery, please. Akron -- this is Akron, which is Akron -- jumped out to a 14-0 lead, and after 'Cuse rallied to tie it at 28 in the fourth quarter, the Zips tacked on two late touchdowns to put the Orange away. The legendary Chad Jacquemine completed 20 of 26 passes en route to leading Akron to 478 yards total offense, and if there was a bottom to the abyss, surely SU has hit it with a sickening thud.
• Wake Forest 30, Ole Miss 28. You can go two ways with this one: on the bright side for the Rebels, Ole Miss, SEC afterthought, played possibly the best team in the ACC to the final play, with a legitimate chance to win on a dramatic last minute touchdown. Then again, for Wake and ACC haters, it's an SEC afterthought taking the best team in the ACC to the final play, and the Deacs needed three turnovers to hang in the game and a borderline pass interference call to set up the winning field goal. Riley Skinner was generally outstanding, but another year of Last Second Swank doesn't instill a whole lot of confidence.
• Arizona State 41, Stanford 17. So much for the Cardinal turnaround. Not only was opening week victim Oregon State destroyed in merciless fashion by Penn State, but Stanford looked like the old, hapless Stanford: the running game was stagnant, and the offense cycled through three quarterbacks who combined to complete a lousy 14 of 31 with three interceptions. The defense, meanwhile, was picked clean by Rudy Carpenter, who was picked once but otherwise turned in a flawless night, leading ASU to points on seven of its first nine drives. And on the two it didn't score, it moved the ball (31 yards and 43 yards, respectively) before turning it over, setting up ten of the Cards' 17 points. Seems both of these teams are about what we thought they were coming into the year -- and Oregon State is much, much worse.
• Alabama 20, Tulane 6. Regression of the day: Alabama, off destroying Clemson in the season's most impressive debut, eked out a mere 172 yards, and only one drive longer than 30, against one of the rock-bottom defenses of one of the rock-bottom defensive conferences. Two of the Tide's three touchdowns were special teams scores in the first quarter, a long punt return by Javier Arenas and a blocked punt run in for six, and with a safe lead, the offense completely shut down. So whether a brick like this puts Bama back at square one, I don't know. But it doesn't help anything.

By the Numbers.
The week in wild statistics.
- - -
Navy ran for 346 yards but allowed three touchdown passes over 30 yards in a 35-23 loss at Ball State. . . . Javon Ringer ran for five touchdowns in Michigan State's win over Eastern Michigan, the longest from six yards out. . . . Wisconsin completed eight passes for longer than 20 yards in a win over Marshall. . . . Illinois ran for 399 yards but also allowed 183 on the gorund to Eastern Illinois' Travorus Best. . . . Iowa gained 512 total yards against Florida International, the Hawkeyes' highest total since late 2006 against Minnesota. . . . Nebraska was slightly outgained by San Jose State and allowed 7.1 per carry to the Spartans' top three running backs in a 35-12 win (but only 14-9 entering the fourth quarter). . . . Tyrod Taylor was sacked three times in eight attempts in Virginia Tech's win over Furman. . . . True freshman Ben DeLine hit three fourth quarter field goals, the last on the final snap of the game, to lift Colorado State over I-AA Sacramento State, 23-20. . . . Oregon rolled up 688 total yards on Utah State, over 400 on the ground, in a 66-24 win. . . . After being shut out last week against Kentucky, Louisville's offense gained 451 yards and scored 37 of the Cardinals' 51 points in a blowout over Tennessee Tech. . . . Colorado scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to overtake Eastern Washington, 31-24, the winning margin on an interception return. . . . Clemson rebounded with a 28-point win but allowed 427 yards to the Citadel. . . . Cal gashed Washington State for 391 yards rushing on almost 10 yards per carry in a 66-3 laugher. . . . TCU outrushed Stephen F. Austin 320 yards to 3 in a 67-7 rout. . . . Arkansas State ran for 440 yards and completed 9 of 10 passes in an 83-10 obliteration of Texas Southern. . . . Chase Daniel completed 16 of 17 passes and his backup, Chase Patton, hit 7 of 8 in Missouri's cakewalk over SE Missouri State. . . . Tulsa's David Johnson passed for 418 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions in the Hurricanes' win over North Texas, making him the nation's highest rated passer for the second week in a row. . . .
Aaaaand your Stat of the Week: Oklahoma State gained 699 total yards in a win over Houston, on 9.7 per play, and had drives of 65, 67, 80, 75, 86, 82, 62 and 58 yards. In the third quarter, the Cowboys scored 28 points on 20 offensive snaps.






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[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">12:41 PM (5 minutes ago)
San Diego State at Notre Dame: The Aftermath

from Rakes Of Mallow by CW

This is the first look at the San Diego State game, which comes after reading limited commentary from elsewhere on the internet and not getting to watch the Tivoed version yet. I watched this game at the ND DC game watch and missed some things due to being in a bar and drinking myself into oblivion when it became apparent we might lose to San Diego State, but I assure you, that mistake (attending the game watch) will never be made again and future commentary will be far more informed on the first draft.

I think the most important thing to take from yesterday’s game is that while Notre Dame, for the most part, played really, really poorly, made a ton of stupid mistakes and looked generally anemic on offense, they won. Yes, San Diego State is not a good football team, the line was set north of three touchdowns and no Irish fan should go into work bragging Monday, but this is an improvement. Last season, the Irish would play really, really poorly, make a ton of stupid mistakes, look generally anemic on offense and lose, so progress has been made.
We’ll start with the defense, which I think played pretty well yesterday, although it’s become glaringly apparent there will not be any pressure on the quarterback this season without the aid of a blitz. As far as linebackers go, the veterans who we assumed wouldn't contribute didn't and the young guys who have been impressive impressed. Despite a couple slip-ups, I think the addition of Sergio Brown to the Bruton/McCarthy defensive back tandem will produce some needed turnovers for the Irish.
Kudos to Chuck Long, Ryan Lindley and a patched together offensive line for not being flustered by the Tenuta blitzes, calmly finding hot routes and utilizing the shovel pass to escape (save for Neal’s fantastic interception). The Irish will probably be blitzing a lot and freeing up these quick hitters this season, so the tacklers on the second and third levels will have to be wrapping up and denying the slot receivers and tailbacks’ bids to turn those quick dump offs into big plays. Lindley is a red-shirt freshman, playing in his second game, on the road, in a big-time environment I can’t imagine he’s seen before, and he handled himself quite adequately.
His Irish counterpart, Jimmy Clausen, also played a solid game for the opener, and if he’d only cut his hair, I think most Irish fans could embrace him. I guess the first interception was his fault, as it is sort of a dick move to throw a pass that hits a guy squarely in the numbers, but I suppose we could place the blame for the second one on Kamara, the play call and Clausen, as it was a perfect storm of horrendous offense in the Aztec end zone. Regardless of the talent differential between the two teams or expectations of the final score before it started, the Irish were down going into the fourth with their running backs banged up and had to start throwing. At that point, Clausen stepped up his game the way you want and need your quarterback to in crunch time. It would probably be a benefit to Clausen if the best receivers on the team were permitted to play all the time, but hey, he’s got to earn that right.
The offensive line play left quite a bit to be desired, especially when you project this effort looking at the Michigan game. The difference between the Aztecs and Wolverines, especially after the wave of injuries that smote a lot of San Diego States defensive linemen, is drastic, and Coach Rodriguez is probably excited to unleash the unit, which already has ten sacks this season against respectable competition. A lot of Irish fans were wondering if something happened to the right side of the line, because despite it having two rather large, highly-touted players – and their success in springing Armando Allen for his largest run of the game – Notre Dame upped the level of difficulty by never utilizing them (there seems to be a theme developing).
A lot of us found it odd that despite being the only offensive player to produce last season (things like yardage, touchdowns, broken tackles, which I think contribute to scoring points, which then helps to win football games) and doing himself no harm in camp, Robert Hughes got a grand total of one carry in the first quarter. Odder still was after being inserted as the primary back in the initial drive of the second quarter, Hughes immediately helped roll the Irish 73 yards down the field. And if you want to turn this into an episode of The X-Files, the eeriness increases when you consider that Golden Tate also got two balls thrown to him on that highly productive, near-touchdown scoring drive.
We could actually make a feature film out of this mystery when you toss in the fact that the one catch Michael Floyd has was for a touchdown, and those at the game testified that he was getting separation the few times he was in the game. Common sense and a rudimentary understanding of how collegiate football works might make you think that running Hughes right and throwing to Tate and Floyd might be the best way for the Irish to score points, but Coach Weis chooses not to do that. You could potentially counter that statement by saying “Well, Weis was saving stuff for Michigan,” at which point my jaw would drop slightly and I’d stare at you for a beat to make sure you weren’t joking before screaming “3-9 TEAMS DON’T SAVE THINGS!”.
As a wise philosopher once said, you play to win the game, and I’m so tired of Weis defenders citing this mystical season-long game plan as an excuse for mind-boggling personnel decisions. Saying that “Well, he’s the coach for a reason,” isn’t a defense either, because he might not be the coach for much longer unless things start improving. “You don’t understand everything going on in the program, at practice, in meetings, etc.” is a more legitimate argument, but unless there’s some huge attitude problem or something of that ilk nobody in the press or the stands picks up on, it’s probably a good idea for the players who perform best in the games to then play more in the games.
This was supposed to be a guaranteed win, and a lot of the other “guarantees” people were tacking onto their 10-2 record predictions after last week are not really sure things. We play at Washington, and as much as we love to make fun of Ty (and trust me, the way their game ended yesterday was hilarious), the Huskies have now come just shy of knocking off Ohio State, Southern Cal and BYU at home in the past two seasons, and those teams are probably a thousand times better than Notre Dame has looked since Our Fair Brady departed. Navy’s offense still has some weapons to go along with their poor defense, and anyone can win a shootout. Stanford, despite falling at Arizona State (and not covering the spread, either), was close with the Irish last season and seems to be turning into a solid team under Jim Harbaugh. I can’t really make a good case for the Orange, but I couldn’t for the Aztecs either, and that didn’t stop them from coming very close to winning yesterday.
From watching a decent amount of Michigan’s two games this season, they’re incapable of sustained offense but are more than capable of capitalizing on turnovers and penalties. The Irish are going to be in a dog fight next weekend, and if it’s as close as I imagine it will be, then they’re already at a huge disadvantage due to having a field goal unit that resembles a Monty Python skit at this point. The Irish played their best in the fourth, which is a testament to all sorts of good things, but unless a lot of areas are cleaned up during this week, the deficit is going to be too wide to overcome no matter how many touchdown passes Clausen throws.






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[RambleOn]

Good stuff RJ.

 

[RJ Esq]

Thank you, Esq.

 

[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">2:41 PM (3 minutes ago)
Postgame React, Week 2: Texas at UTEP

from Burnt Orange Nation by PB @ BON
The outcome was: Unimpressive<ins>.</ins> I started the summer thinking this team's likely deficiencies would net 2-4 losses. The annual end-of-summer surge of optimism combined with our season opening beatdown of FAU to make me think heading into El Paso that this team might challenge for the conference title. After last night... I'm back where I started.
On the one hand, it was a night game against a funky opponent whose fans thought they were in the Rose Bowl. On the other hand, the '05 Longhorns would have beat those Miners by 60. And this year's Sooners might have, too.
If there's a silver lining, I thought last night's contest was just plain strange, lacking any semblance of the normal flow of a football game--like a night visit to Lubbock or something. Of course, that's not much of a silver lining to hang your hat on: Texas gets Tech on the road this season in a time To Be Announce. Odds we'll kick off at 7 pm? 99 percent.
The Offensive MVP was: Fozzy Whittaker<ins>.</ins> The night on offense really belonged to Colt McCoy (20-29, 282, 4-1) and Quan Cosby (8-154-1), but the sparkling debut of Fozzy was most important. In terms of long-term value, his emergence was the story of the night.
When asked on the radio this summer about the offense, Whittaker was always the wild card I cited as the potential game breaker, and I always described his running style as "looking like he was being controlled by a joystick in a video game, his fluid hips and quick feet allowing him to change direction laterally with remarkable smoothness." He certainly looked the part last night, but I think the analogy can be extended a little further: Whittaker also emerges from piles of bodies without being tackled just as only happens in the NCAA Football video game series, in which brushing shoulders with defenders who don't secure the tackle is commonplace. The little dude's like a pinball, with a low center of gravity and strong legs.
I'm calling right now for at least two 50+ yard touchdown runs this year in which he appears lost in a pile of bodies before squirting out the other side to burst through the second level and gone.
The Defensive MVP was: <ins>Roddrick Muckelroy.</ins> Again. Christ, looking back at last week's piece, I needn't change much of anything:

Fellow linebacker Sergio Kindle was the most fearsome athlete on the field today, but Muckelroy was the only Longhorn in the back seven who played consistently great football. Not only did Muck lead the team with six fourteen tackles (including one for a loss), but he was one of the only defensive players who was always right where he needed to be, whether it was backside contain or manning a zone in pass coverage or picking up a fumble to return for a touchdown.
​

The offensive Offensive LVP was: Greg Davis. Games don't just "lack flow" on their own. Generally, either the players are bumbling or the coaches are lost. In this case, we saw a version of the latter, especially on offense in the third quarter, when Texas time traveled to 2007, complete with the "We're gonna pass with McCoy whether it's a good idea, a bad idea, or a wholly nonsensical idea" game plan. Such incompetence doesn't ding a team like Texas A&M in the loss column against a squad like Arkansas State or UTEP, but if you're looking for reasons why losses may await the 'Horns against Missouri, OU, Texas Tech, Pokie State, or Kansas look no further than last night's disappointing stretches of offensive football.
Whereas Texas had no trouble picking apart the oh-so-soft zone Florida Atlantic sat in last Saturday, the chaotic blitz party from UTEP at times gave Greg Davis fits. I say Davis, instead of the players, because it was so clear that when whatever UTEP was doing on defense was what we expected, the result was a hugely successful play for the 'Horns. For example, the O-Line''s ability to open up enormous holes by pushing around the smaller Miners was apparent... but only when UTEP was doing something basic with their defense. As they mixed it up, our ability to dictate a play was mystifyingly neutralized.
Not only shouldn't that happen, but it provides our far more competent upcoming opponents with the game plan for defensive success. Brent Venables filled with drool at least two cheat-wagons last night.
The offensive Defensive LVP: MLBs. Both Jared Norton and Rashad Bobino were disappointments last night. I don't wanna talk about it.
John Chiles Watch: <ins>2 carries, 5 yards / 0-0 passing.</ins> He simply was not a part of the game plan, so the question is: Should he have been? In my mind, absolutely.
Greg Davis has this mistaken notion that when Texas is facing a hyper-aggressive defense, the only possible solution is to heave everything on Colt McCoy's shoulders and try to pass our way out of the pressure. Again: nightmare flashbacks to 2007.
Dear Greg: there are alternatives. They involve misdirection and using the defense's aggression against them--not just by trying to complete a deep heave (EPIC FAIL), but by, oh let's say... a reverse! Or a naked bootleg. Or any of a number of other things which John Chiles could have done to calm the UTEP defense. Part of the reason they so fearlessly blitzkrieged our offense is because we weren't giving them any reason to pause and consider alternatives.
Colt McCoy is doing a mostly great job with everything so far. But you know what? Chris Leak did a mostly great job with his offense as a senior, and Urban Meyer didn't conclude, "We can't use Tebow where he can help us. No." Gregory, please try using that which you have on hand. Thanks.
The Q Package: Non-existent. There was one neat play, in which Chiles came around on a fake reverse and was starting to turn down field on a wheel route which would have been wide open, but our line couldn't hold off the Miners and Colt threw the ball inside before Chiles could move into his peripheral vision. This package has potential, but we haven't seen it yet.
Cerberus Watch: <ins>McGee: 6-18-3.0, 0 TD / Ogbonnaya: 1-1-1.0, 0 TD / Whittaker: 12-72-6.0, 0 TD.</ins> The game plan sucked and the stretch plays to McGee were painful to watch, but I'm taking the Fozzy debut as my point of focus because I don't want to cry in my beer any more than I have already.
Foz-zy! Foz-zy! Let's just hope he's our central point of attack for the rushing game heading forward. He needs 15-20 touches per game, period.
Arkansas Fear Factor: <ins>2 out of 10</ins> (5) is the baseline. (-1) for this; (-1) for this; (+1) for Greg Davis' UTEP performance; (-1) for Fozzy's debut; (+1) for the distance between our secondary and Good; (-1) for Casey Dick's inability to throw a ball out of a wet paper bag; (-1) for improvement when Texas' coaches see the film and realize they crapped the bed.
Heading into next week I feel: Fine. If I weren't so locked in on this year as a training ground for 2009, I'd conclude from the above that my hopes in a Big XII title were depressingly far-fetched. As is, I see the potential of this team and I'm fine with bumps in the road to whatever extent they serve as lessons for improvement.
That of course requires the coaching staff to do their part, and you can't blame a Mack-Davis pessimist for seeing last night's game as a bad sign for the times ahead. I'll wait for more data to draw any long-term conclusions, noting only my to-do list for Greg Applewhite:

• More Chiles to keep defenses honest
• Whittaker to the starting spot and majority rush weapon
• Steady development from Williams, Buckner, and Collins

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[RJ Esq]

Big Ten Market Letter #2

from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
Filed under: Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Big 10

Since the Feds have taken over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, you can expect sheer unmitigated chaos in the markets Monday morning. I can't help you with real investment advice, but I can help you find some of the buys, sells, and holds in Big Ten football after two weeks.

Right now I'm making Penn State's Spread HD offense a strong buy. Last season PSU fans would've traded Jay Paterno for some pocket lint and half a Twix bar, but the early returns on his new boy-wonder offense are quite promising indeed. Sure, it helps that the defense is playing out of its heads and didn't miss two suspended starters on the defensive line one bit against Oregon State (yes, yes, I know, I was wrong; it's not like it's the first time), but the offense has been nothing short of brilliant so far. With their next two games against Syracuse and Temple, look for big gaudy offensive numbers and lots of hype heading into the September 27 game with Illinois. And, the way the Illini defense has played so far, they might well have gaudy numbers after that game, too. It might take until October 11th's Wisconsin game to know if the Spread HD is just a dog-and-pony show, but for now, it looks like the real deal. You want in on the ground floor of this one.

Meanwhile, it's a good time to establish a short position on Northwestern, who I am downgrading to sell. The Wildcats came out flat in the opener against Syracuse (Syracuse!) and the offense struggled against Duke yesterday. That's a worrisome sign to me. The offense was supposed to be clicking better, with lots of experience at the "skill" positions, but their motto at the moment seems to be "start slow, and taper off." The Cats should be able to get to 3-0 with Southern Illinois coming to Evanston this weekend, but then comes Ohio, and I think we saw yesterday they're not going to lay down for anyone.

Meanwhile, the rest of the college football world is piling on Ohio State for their flabby performance against those same Ohio Bobcats yesterday, but I'm saying hold the Buckeyes for now. I'm not saying I agree with the excuses explanations coming from the Bucknuts (no Beanie Wells, Tressel doesn't want to give USC too much film to work with, the Buckeyes have always had some trouble with the spread) but I do think they're at least plausible.

I'm putting you on notice, though, Angry Caps Lock Guy: If the Buckeyes don't beat USC and look good doing it, then not only is there no hope for a return to the title game, the Big Ten race may not be the foregone conclusion you thought it was.

 

[RJ Esq]

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Postgame: Kent State

from Clone Chronicles by BryceC
Last night ISU knocked out the second nonconference game of their season against Kent State posting a score of 48-28. It's tough to find too much wrong with a 20 point victory (and one where they obliterate the 7.5 spread) but this game left a lot to be positive about and a lot that needs to be improved upon.

It is games like these that really make me want to make friends with a bookie because I really had no doubt ISU would beat that spread. However it's how they got their points that was simultaneously frustrating as well as gratifying. Let's talk about the positive things first though simply because it's more fun.
The good:


ISU might have good special teams? The simple thought is hard to comprehend after watching the disaster that was last year, especially considering there are so many true freshman prominently involved. If you count it up, there were two blocked punts, a fumble recovery on a punt, Brandtner putting three balls inside the 20 and putting a punt from his own endzone all the way to the 45, Mahoney making a 48 yarder, true freshman Leonard Johnson tearing up kickoff returns, etc. Literally one could go on and on about the improvement and great play on special teams.
The passing game was once again surgically precise. Arnaud was 8/11 for 166 yards and one TD while Bates was 3/6 for 48 yards and 1 TD. No INT's yet on the year and Bates made some great plays with his legs again. Arnaud completing his passes at an almost 77% clip. Both still are making cases for that overall #1 starting spot. Life is good for the Quarterbacks.
RJ Sumrall is a senior at ISU and has had a pretty solid career at ISU at WR but had yet to catch a touchdown pass. Against Kent State he had what was arguably his best game as a Cyclone going for over 100 yards and two scores. You really have to be happy for the kid.
Also, the unheralded Houston Jones really made some noise at WR at well, making a few great catches. He also had a great catch in the SDSU game and he really may be positioning himself for a larger role in his last two seasons.
The bad:


It's tough to get too down about a game where your team wins by 20 but as good as some units did others were just as bad.
Mental mistakes were terrible in this game again. Arnaud has two fumbles, neither of which should have happened. Bates got pulled in the 2nd quarter after taking two huge losses on consecutive plays. There was another bevy of personal fouls. No pass rush to speak of without heavy blitzing. There were probably more missed tackles than ISU rushing yards gained. I think at this point it would be helpful if we found out Andre Kimm was a professor ISU and was interested in one last run because we know that guy can wrap up.

Andre does not eat raw meat. 'Cause Andre is a vegetarian.
The running game was nonexistent. I know people will be quick to point out that Alexander Robinson didn't play but there is no cure for your offensive line not opening holes. With the exception of Bates' 56 yard run in garbage time, ISU rushed 44 times for 104 yards at 2.36 per rush. That's terrible. If you take out all quarterback rushes tailbacks gained only 55 yards on 27 rushes for a 2.04 average.
I think a game like this is better than just running a buzzsaw through the opposing team but there are obvious problems with this team. I hope we can get to 6-6 and I'd love to win next week but there are some big things that need amended before I'd put money on either.
Overall Feeling:


Basically I like that they won and put up back to back 40+ point games. Good stuff. However I'm wary that it really took forcing a bunch of turnovers and great special teams play to really put away Kent State. It's only going to get tougher from here and there are a lot of problems that need addressed.






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[RJ Esq]

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The Week That Was: Week 2

from Saturday Sound Offs by Eric
1. The Ruling on the Field is.....Atrocious.

I'm sorry, I'm really, really getting sick and tired of the NCAA pulling out all the stops to suck the fun out of college football. I really am. Hey, here's a grand idea, let's make it more like the NFL. Yeah, that's a good idea.

The NCAA Gestapo has stuck again, folks, and in case you were living under a rock all Saturday, Washington was the victim. BYU gave up a last-minute drive to the Huskies while Jake Locker capped it off with a TD run, but, he threw the ball in the air after he scored. What a gloating bastard.

Of course, who knows how that would have affected the outcome of the game. There was definitely more added pressure on the offensive line which may or may not have led to BYU having a better shot at blocking the FG-range extra point. Lou Holtz said it best (did I just say that?) when he mentioned that, hey, maybe Washington would have gone for two, maybe the kicker, blockers, and snap holder would have been in a different mindset and the same could be said for BYU's special teams smelling blood in the water. Still, whether or not it was blocked, it's beside the point. The NCAA has cracked down on this too much. If you watched the game Friday night, Nate Davis was flagged for spiraling a ball after rushing for a first down and Enrique Dozier was penalized for celebrating after a sack.

Excessive celebrations should be just that: Excessive. There's nothing egregious about the three instances that I mentioned. Diving into the endzone? Fine. Taunting a player? Fine. Spiking the ball? Maybe. But it really does depend on the situation. If it's the first quarter and Locker hauled the ball in the air, maybe it matters. But you have to take into consideration the point of the game because the adrenaline and meaning at that specific time means more to the player. I'm not saying the 1st quarter isn't as important as the 4th quarter, but when you score with 2 seconds, you can't blame the players for being more excited than scoring on 2nd and goal with 8 minutes left in the second quarter.



2. A College Football Fan's Conundrum.

Another year, more dreadfulness. And Notre Dame played absolutely dreadful. That's probably going to be the word I use a lot to describe Notre Dame: Dreadful. It's a team that played a dreadful San Diego State team, made dreadful offensive decisions, has a gross lack of development which in turns makes the players play dreadfully, and they're just a dreadful team.

I have to say, as a Michigan fan, I enjoyed last season for the Fighting Irish. It was my guilty pleasure to see them lose to Navy and Air Force and to get stomped against Michigan, State, Georgia Tech, Penn State, and USC. But, I try to separate my fanhood from my objective bloggerhood, and while I don't take myself that seriously, I'd like to be fair to Notre Dame. And, analyzing the game, they played poorly. San Diego State has gotten an unfair beating for losing to Cal Poly, in what was a pretty evenly matched game. Even though the Aztecs should go 2-10 or something in that neighborhood, it's not like they're Army or Utah State (we'll get to them in a second). If they lose to Idaho later, then we'll start talking. I think I have the issue pegged down when it comes to Charlie Weis, and it's that he's a very smart x's and o's guy, but he has no idea how to surround himself with a staff that assists him in developing players. Watching Notre Dame, I can't say that there was one guy who really wowed me compared to last season. It still looks like the same old team. It doesn't matter what their recruiting rankings are judged by Rivals or Scout, it matters if there are coaches in tact who know how to develop them. Ed Orgeron is a perfect example, and Charlie Weis is another. He's not long for the Golden Domers if Notre Dame continues this. As for their futures, I think a bowl game is a possibility. It's not a given. I mean, plenty of analysts, for one reason or another, seem to be circling North Carolina, Washington, and Pitt as victories, but those are far from easy games for Notre Dame. I'm giving them 6-6.

But, on to that conundrum that I mentioned. While every college football fan who isn't a lover of the Irish wants to see Notre Dame fail, there's an underlying theme in every fan's subconscious that wants to see Notre Dame succeed. Admit it, you know it. Isn't college football more fun when a team that you really, really don't like wins and pulls out miracles at the last second? Sure it's frustrating, but you watch the games with more passion than you would otherwise. I can say for a fact that Notre Dame was really annoying in seasons like 2002 and 2005, but you watched them with a passion, didn't you? It's a weird situation where I can never truly be satisfied. I should probably see Sigmund Freud, maybe he can straighten me out.

3. Forget the Race for the Top, the Bottom is Really Interesting, too.​

Did anybody watch Army on ESPN Classic? Anybody? Well, the Wildcats won 28-10 in what is projected to be a down year by Wildcat standards without Ricky Santos at QB.

Army is really bad, guys. They're trying to follow the Navy option formula for success, but it's not working out yet. They still need to find the right fit as a head coach, because the Bobby Ross era was pretty stagnant and Stan Brock obviously has no clue what he's doing. But besides Army, there's Idaho who could be the worst team in the nation. They got drilled by Arizona 70-0 on the opening day, but they did manage to beat Idaho State who is a bad team, even at the FCS level. Still, that game was more competitive than it should ever have been so that's not good, either. I guess the third team in the running would be Utah State, but they at least managed to score some points on Oregon. I realize the Ducks won 66-24, but I would honestly be a little worried that the Aggies scored 24 points on my defense. The fact of the matter is, that the three regimes here are pretty hopeless and Brent Guy, with a stunning vote of confidence from the Utah State administration, may be out of a job by 2009 or possibly at the end of this year and Robb Akey will be synonymous with utter failure in the college football ranks. And, obviously, you can't forget about Florida International.




4. Mascots......Gotta Love 'Em!

It was kind of surprising for me to see aggressive coaching backfire, like the Temple/UConn game, for instance. I didn't see it, but I recall Charles Arbuckle talking about a failed fourth down for Virginia in yesterday's game against Richmond.

But, at the Liberty Bowl, Rice seems to be experiencing a second wave of luck reminiscent of the 2006 run to a New Orleans Bowl stomping against Troy. The Owls picked off a pass late against Memphis QB Arkelon Hall who was about 15 yards shy of setting up a reasonable field goal and took it back all the way, causing the Rice mascot to take a stumble or attempt at cartwheel, I couldn't quite tell which on the video. When I saw that play developing, I thought for sure that Arkelon Hall was going to toss a pick. He seemed uncomfortable with the pressure cranked up a notch and it seemed when they got the no-huddle going that he felt the need to make a play where there wasn't one. It shouldn't have been all that hard to throw against Rice's putrid secondary with athletes at receiver like Carlos Singleton and Maurice Jones, but the Tiger defense screwed the team over by giving up three Owl touchdowns in the 4th quarter and the two-point conversion.

It just seems odd to me that you can possibly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory by nursing a 35-20 lead in the waning moments of a football game. Anyway, it was a fun game and it was what college football is all about. As for an underlying literary reference (as SMQ would put it), Hall's stitched name was falling off of the back of his jersey on that drive. Kind of like how his name might be falling on the depth chart after this game. Clearly, a bit of foreshadowing. In all seriousness though, I believe that Will Hudgens give Memphis the best chance to win. They play Marshall on the road next week, a make-or-break game for their bowl aspirations. Rice though will try to continue their streak of good luck against suddenly not-cellar-dweller Vanderbilt.



5. Rocky Mountain Blues.

After the Rocky Mountain Showdown, the two rivals, Colorado and Colorado State, were able to cool their jets off and take it easy against Eastern Washington and Sacramento State, respectively. Should be good depth-builders, right? Nu-uh.

Neither game was accessible to me via television, so checking the box scores, the games sounded ridiculously close. I know EWU is one of the favorites to win the FCS title this year, but there's really no reason why Colorado needed two late scores to finally put the Eagles away. The Buffaloes were actually down by 17 at one point, but Cha'Pelle Brown picked off a Ryan Nichols offering and took it back for a touchdown during the final moments of the game. I hate to brag, but I actually called this as being a close game in July with my Eastern Washington preview where I listed Colorado under "Ehhh....Maybe...". Nostradamus-esque, I know it.

As for Colorado State though, their performance sounded hideous. The Hornets aren't a very good team to begin with who finished 3-8 last season while losing to New Mexico 58-0. Hornet QB Tony Washington connected on a 40 yard touchdown pass to take the lead, 20-17 in the fourth quarter. But, the Rams set up a FG with under two minutes. While Sacramento State got the football back, Mike Pagnotta recovered a fumble which allowed Ben Deline to set up for a chip-shot FG as time expired. Final score, 23-20 Rams. Not a performance that Steve Fairchild has to feel comfortable in, and by the looks of it, this is not a good football team.

Anyway, just thought these particular games were interesting. How about that week for the Big Sky, though? Montana comes through with a road win against elated Cal Poly, Weber State was beating Hawaii at the half, Eastern Washington was oh-so close to pulling off a shocker against Colorado, Idaho State being as bad as they are held their own against Idaho, and Sacramento State almost won a game they had no business being in.




SSO's Totally Worthless Top 25:

1. Georgia
2. USC
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. Ohio State
6. Missouri
7. Texas
8. Auburn
9. LSU
10. Penn State
11. Oregon
12. Wake Forest
13. Wisconsin
14. Cal
15. Alabama
16. Kansas
17. USF
18. Texas Tech
19. ECU
20. BYU
21. Utah
22. Arizona State
23. West Virginia
24. Georgia Tech
25. Clemson

Others Receiving Meaningless Consideration: Fresno State, Arizona, Tulsa, Oklahoma State, Illinois

Game Balls!​

​

Okay, so it's North Texas. But the Gus Malzahn offensive train keeps on-a-rollin' with David Johnson, the new generically-named Tulsa QB. He had 418 yards and 6 scores through the air. Impressive. Of course, you have to give Giovannia Vizza some credit here because the Mean Green are notorious for turning the ball over and not scoring points to go along with their oodles of yardage, but Vizza had 247 yards and 2 TDs with no picks.









I'm going to go ahead and give the silver football to the entire ECU football team. If there's ever a scenario where the Pirates are one of two or fewer undefeated non-BCS schools, I say give them a shot on three conditions: NC State and Virginia turn out to be average and not terrible like they look so far, West Virginia and Virginia Tech compete for their conference championships, and that no more than one team from C-USA comes within a hair of beating them. If that's the case, it's not a stretch to suggest that they may beat out a one-loss Ohio State, who you know is at the mercy of skeptical voters.

I'm getting a little off-track, back to the game. ECU may or may not have pulled off an upset, but it was a good win with great defense and enough offense to get by. As has been stated, they probably have the most athletic defense in all of the non-BCS ranks and have been worthy of skipping ahead of BYU and Utah in the polls. Congrats.


What a day for Cal and Jahvid Best. The Golden Bears whooped up on the hapless Washington State Cougars by a score of 66-3, but Best bested the Wazzu run defense with 14 carries and 200 yards. Not to mention, 3 scores and a YPC of about 14 yards. This guy is absolutely sensational.















I'm going to take the Kool-Aid Alert segment to discuss the Ohio State/USC game coming up next week. The Ohio game is insignificant. The Bobcats never had a chance from the opening kickoff because you knew they were going to screw up somehow and basically give the game away, even with Ohio State not trying. But the Buckeyes played well in the fouth quarter and they looked disinterested most of the game. It's okay, there will be another day, Ohio State fans. While it's not necessarily a good thing that they didn't try, they were suffering from "looking ahead" as many over the weekend pointed out. It's not a big deal, the much-anticipated game will not be a blowout, and Ohio State isn't as bad as they looked. Relax.



Word of the Week: Apprise.

-verb
to give notice to; inform

Somebody has to apprise the mainstream sports media of a few things. I noticed throughout the day some glaring errors from ESPN and one from NBC sports. The one from NBC was a small deal, but I just thought it was funny that they misspelled Steven Threet's last name as "Threat". Just thought it was ironic because he hasn't been much of one lately. But as for ESPN, I recall Lee Corso saying something about Pitt's record, which I believe applies to season openers. I could be wrong, I'm not sure. But I think he went on to say something about how they haven't lost to the MAC, but they did lose to Toledo in 2003 and to Ohio in 2005, so the Bowling Green loss isn't out of the ordinary for Pitt, at least in this millennium. I might be talking out of my butt because I had just woken up, but I remember him saying something incorrect about the MAC. Anyway, moving on. The bottom line for ESPN was really confusing for me yesterday. I noticed that the bottom line said Northern Arizona was playing "New Mexico High" which took me back for a second. I suddenly realized that they were talking about New Mexico Highlands. Later in the day, the bottom line said that NAU was facing off against "Las Vegas." Which isn't the case, they were as a matter of fact, playing NM Highlands. The other error came in the form of St. Cloud State. Yes, they play football, not just hockey, but their game yesterday was against transitioning North Dakota, which the bottomline had correct midday. But, later that night it was switched to "Grand Forks". Puzzling. But, after a little research, it was obvious that ESPN had, for some reason, switched the name of the school with the town they were located in (NM Highlands in Las Vegas, New Mexico and UND in Grand Forks, North Dakota). I just thought it was weird because I've never heard of a D2 team called Las Vegas or Grand Forks.

And the other thing, tell the operators of the Arkansas broadcast to update their bottom line once in a while. They had games that ended two hours ago still in the 3rd quarter and I had no idea what down and yardage there was with their graphics. There was a crucial 3rd and 9 late in the Arkansas/UL Monroe game that the Razorbacks converted, but when I saw it, I thought it was 1st down.





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[CapTwo]

great start to this year so far RJ, routine

and this weeks card looks even better. go get em

 

[RJ Esq]

Adding:

Cal -11'
Oregon -5

 

[cubsker]

700 yards for okie light. impressive no matter who you're playing imo.

 

[RJ Esq]

I watched that Okie Lite game on gametracker. It was making me sick. No defense at all. Would've been more of a blowout but OSU had 3 1H turnovers.

 

[Yanks27Sox9]

great early grab on those 2

 

[Timh]

See you on Cal early and I think that's probably a good play. MD just looked awful against MTSU this week. I was extremely disappointed as I thought having Turner start this week was really going to help our team. He looked terrible and was way off with his throws. Franklin is trying to put the West Coast offense in and our passing game is just all fucked up and we're not throwing the ball downfield at all. Everything looks bunched up and very horizontal right now. Bey scored on basically a WR screen where he made a great run, but MD really didn't throw it downfield very much at all. I am extremely disappointed with their performance this past week and I'm not sure I'm really enamored with the scheme their trying to put in offense. GL this week.

 

[RJ Esq]

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It's Ohio State against ... Well, Everyone

from Buckeye Commentary by Massey
Lest you had any doubts, everyone is picking Ohio State to lose on Saturday night (collectively speaking). We can quit saying negative things about the team and Boeckman (but keep it up on the scoreboard until they quit it) and focus our energies on what is, without question, the most exciting week of the season.

​

Game analysis still on its way (may include some negative comments).​

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[RJ Esq]

Kirk Bohls: Whittaker sends running game in a new direction

By Kirk Bohls
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, September 08, 2008
EL PASO — Texas found a leading rusher.
And thankfully, it is someone other than its starting quarterback.
After watching quarterback Colt McCoy lead all Texas backs with 103 yards rushing in the opener against Florida Atlantic, the Longhorns turned to a more conventional source of rushing yards, assuming the third-team tailback is conventional.
Technically, redshirt freshman Fozzy Whittaker is the backup to sophomore Vondrell McGee, with senior Chris Ogbonnaya used as a third-down receiver and pass blocker. But Whittaker sure looked like the best back in a Texas uniform this early season as he made his long-awaited college debut after being on campus for more than 20 months.
After enrolling in January 2007, sitting out all 13 games last year and being sidelined for the first game last week because of an injury to his left knee from the final preseason scrimmage, Whittaker made his presence felt Saturday. He gained 72 yards on the first 12 carries of his college career in a workmanlike, 42-13 victory over Texas-El Paso.
The coming-out party was not on the order of Jamaal Charles' quick-striking 135 yards against Louisiana-Lafayette in 2005 or Ricky Williams' bulldozing 95 yards in Honolulu in 1995 — or even Earl Campbell's "hello, college football" 85 yards against Boston College in 1974. But in the place where Priest Holmes was discovered by North Carolina's Mack Brown and the sports world in the 1994 Sun Bowl, Whittaker's outing was at least respectable.
"I was just trying to make yards," Whittaker said. "When you go out there, you feel it's worth the wait."
And did the offensive linemen acknowledge his first carry, a 13-yard sweep around right end?
"Nope," Whittaker said. "It was all back to business."
Following that initial rush, he carried two more times on consecutive plays, running behind Kyle Hix and Cedric Dockery for a pair of 8-yard gains. After Texas gained all of eight rushing yards on its first two scoring drives totaling 133 yards, offensive coordinator Greg Davis turned Fozzy loose.
And Davis liked what he saw in a player who has really impressed the staff with his toughness.
"We've got a couple of downhill slashers (in McGee and Ogbonnaya), but Fozzy's got great lateral movement, and he's pretty quick," Davis said. "He's more like (scatback) Hodges Mitchell. He runs in there, and it's cloudy, but he'll find a soft spot."
Whittaker has terrific vision and finds what little daylight might be presented. He has a sudden burst that allows him to accelerate quickly even if he's never run a 40-yard dash. (He was more of a relay man in track.) He possesses a ruggedness that belies his 5-foot-10-inch, 190-pound frame. The Foz has a schnoz for the hole.
"Fozzy's a shifty guy," said Texas defensive tackle Roy Miller, who used to try to tackle him on the scout team. "In open spaces, he's pretty dangerous. In fact, he's electrifying."
If Whittaker didn't win the starting running back job outright, he sure appeared to gain an upper hand. For someone playing in his first game at this level, he looked remarkably comfortable, even with that left knee brace he doesn't figure to discard any time soon.
In truth, don't look for Mack Brown to veer away from this committee of running backs. They offer enough versatility to all play a role. McGee's the consummate inside runner, although the bulky Cody Johnson is going to vulture a lot of 1-yard touchdown plunges this season, as he did on Saturday.
That's cool with the backs. They're here to serve the common good. Texas must make do with what it has. At least, until Chris Whaley shows up in 2009.
The Longhorns may not have that one special difference-maker, certainly not an Adrian Peterson type and maybe not even a DeMarco Murray, who's the class of the Big 12. Brown may have to settle for competent, solid backs who can keep the chains moving.
The running game didn't so much look sour against the Miners as slightly suspect. After all, UTEP outrushed Texas 145 yards to 122, never a good thing. And Texas may never return to the power running game it once thrived on behind Earl Campbell and Steve Worster. It's a different game now. And besides, most of the elite running backs seem to be playing for Southern California anyway.
But Whittaker earned his stripes in high school, when he became the sixth-best all-time rusher in Texas 5A history with more than 5,700 yards, and once stepped off 415 yards on 35 carries in a game.
He'll likely never get near that workload in a Longhorn game, but he figures to be very productive when he does touch the ball.
"We loved Jamaal," offensive tackle Adam Ulatoski said, "but we have faith in our backs. Vondrell is our goal-line back, and we know Chris can play. Fozzy's fast, and he can move. If you rely on one guy, that's not a team."
They're all dependable, solid backs. And Longhorn fans have to hope dependable and solid are sufficie

 

[~Utah]

GL this week RJ

 

[pags11]

GL rj...

 

[RJ Esq]

Cap, Gurv, Pags--Thanks. You too, so long as you're not going against me. In that case, good health.

 

[RJ Esq]

College Football Songbook: You Ruined Our Dreams, Bill

from The FanHouse - NCAAfootball
Filed under: East Carolina, West Virginia, Big East, Conference USA, FanHouse TV
The College Football Songbook is a weekly feature in which we'll be making as much fun as humanly possible of the most embarrassing moments in college football. Through words, music, and related video we'll leave a lasting memory implanted on the brains of the vanquished that they are not soon to forget.

Ugh! I couldn't side step this one again. The show goes on, even when it's your team.

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Video Link

Photo Credits:

fansedge.com
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Getty Images

 

[RJ Esq]

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Monday Headlinin': Knowshon up, Buckeyes down

from Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports by Matt Hinton
• Super Shon. Knowshon Moreno laughs at your petty conception of gravity:

Like me, Mark Richt was baffled this run didn't make the national highlight shows. See the video here, and nod in agreement.• This we know: we don't like you. Voters remain divided on who's number one, dividing 108 of 131 first place votes in the AP and Coaches' polls between USC and Georgia, with the Trojans coming out on top of both for the second week in a row. They do, however, agree on one thing: it ain't Ohio State. The Buckeyes drop from third to fifth in both polls after waiting a little too long to drop the hammer on Ohio U., with a mass exodus of primary backers: from 15 first place votes by the AP last week and 10 first place votes by the Coaches, OSU nets exactly one first place vote in each poll this week, with almost all the defections filtering off to USC and Georgia.
More insulting: the early line for Saturday is USC by a gaping 10.5, easily the biggest spread the Buckeyes have faced under Jim Tressel. For comparison, in the last two years, Vegas has expected Arkansas (+8), Oregon (+8), California (+6), Notre Dame (+8), Nebraska (+9) and Arizona State (+3) to play the Trojans closer than 10.5 points. Although, for the record, none of those teams was remotely close to covering.
• Well, that little iceberg was no trouble at all, was it? Somewhat unsurprisingly, Charlie Weis found more positives than negatives in Notre Dame's come-from-behind, 21-13 squeaker over probably the weakest team on its schedule, particularly the forced goal line fumble by San Diego State that kept the game within reach and set up the Irish's fourth quarter run. So, yes, the offense was moribund until it came out in the no huddle with the game on the line, and yes, ND was probably inches from defeat before the crucial fumble. Why do haters keep harping on that little nick in the stern? Don't you hear the band playing? This ship is steaming along just fine.

Quickly . . .
• Central Florida fans got a hold of Matt Grothe's cell phone number and bombarded the Bulls' quarterback with calls and text messages, including a death threat to Grothe's dad, Matt Sr. . . . Freshman Mark Ingram was a bright spot in Alabama's narrow win over Tulane, but the Tide better wake up as it hits SEC play. . . . Chris Todd takes over full time as Auburn's quarterback after carving up Southern Miss. . . . Florida's defense is suddenly a strength, although Miami's offense is -- well, what the hell, it's a strength. . . . Deliciously named Shady Salamon is hungrier for a bigger share in Minnesota's backfield. . . . Daryll Clark is doing exactly what Penn State partisans hoped he would: reminding them of Michael Robinson . . . or Kerry Collins? . . . What's up with Wisconsin's slow starts? . . . Randy Shannon said recruits were impressed with Miami's fight in the Canes' loss at Florida. . . . D'Vontrey Richardson stole the show in Florida State's win over hopelessly overmatched Western Carolina. . . . Nebraska defensive end Barry Turner is likely out for the season. . . . Oklahoma's empty backfield sets were effective against Cincinnati, although don't expect Seattle businessman/new Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennett to show his face in Husky Stadium Saturday. . . . USC assistant coach Dave Watson talks about his addiction to painkillers. . . . And Arizona State is already clamoring for Georgia.






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[RJ Esq]

Knowshon's run referenced above:

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[RJ Esq]

More insulting: the early line for Saturday is USC by a gaping 10.5, easily the biggest spread the Buckeyes have faced under Jim Tressel. For comparison, in the last two years, Vegas has expected Arkansas (+8), Oregon (+8), California (+6), Notre Dame (+8), Nebraska (+9) and Arizona State (+3) to play the Trojans closer than 10.5 points. Although, for the record, none of those teams was remotely close to covering.

That section is sooooooooo interesting.

 

[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">5:52 AM (1 hour ago)
The Beanie Factor

from Conquest Chronicles by Paragon SC
After watching tOSU "struggle" against Ohion on Saturday one thing is for sure...the Buckeye's missed starting RB Beanie Wells. It was no secret that Wells was probably not going to play after he suffered a foot injury against Youngstown St. but the manner in which he was finally scratched from the game left a lot of people pondering just what the real story was.
There were going to be questions about Wells' injury regardless but I would taken all the speculation out of it and simply said that as a precaution he isn't going to play against Ohio. Players like Wells have a certain vibe about them and the team reponds to how those types of players are performing. When those sorts of players are out of the game the team might react differently because the flow of the game is changed.
Before SC went to the running back rotaion it was pretty much Bush or White...pick your poison. If one of those two went down the other would pick up the slack but we all know loosing Bush would meant going back to a traditional running game that would have lacked the explosiveness and variety that Bush provided for us. Players are human so would it be a total surprise if the play on the field was affected when you lose your star player.
Wells fills the power back roll well but he can also break it open. The defense will have to do a solid job containing him while also keeping an eye on the receivers like Robiskie. Wells also provides a spark in pointing out his teammates short comings.

Running back Beanie Wells stalked the sideline with his injured right toe, waving his cap in excitement at replacement Dan Herron, providing water to the offensive linemen during timeouts and exalting his teammates with a halftime speech when they trailed, 7-6.
"He said that we were moping around with our heads down and that we didn't want it as much as they do," center Jim Cordle said. "Beanie can get you fired up. He's the best leader we have."
And the best runner. The run game wasn't frightening anyone without him, especially on a day when the line didn't play its best. The plan is for Wells to return against USC, and the Buckeyes proved how much they need him.
​

Here is Nick Holt's take on preparing for Beanie.
Beanie will be on the field no question, but will he be effective? We won't know that until the game is underway. So SC is will be prepared regardless. Even if he isn't in the game tOSU is still dangerous. They may lose a very important cog in their machine but they have other weapons as well. Not having Beanie may make them a little more predictable but not to the point of not taking them seriously.
One other thing to look for will be Terrell Pryor. He made not have made a lot of noise but he did just enough for SC to wary of him.

Either Jim Tressel was trying sneak Pryor through Ohio without giving the Trojans a good look or the kid was somehow hurt. And trust me, he wasn't hurt. In two quiet series, Pryor rushed five times for 37 yards (zero for two passing).
It's not like the Buckeyes couldn't have used him. Todd Boeckman struggled mightily at times either finding his receivers or getting his feet set behind a sometimes shaky offensive line. Boeckman also had several passes dropped. In the end, he did not look like a quarterback ready to go into the Coliseum and beat the Trojans.
Tailbacks Brandon Saine, Maurice Wells and Dan Herron are nice guys and OK runners, but they're not ready to punk the Trojans either. That brings us back to Pryor. He is the X factor next week. There's no doubt Tressel needs Wells to be healthy and play well, but conventional weapons might be useless against this USC defense. Boeckman is a stationary target.
​

SC has had their struggles with mobile QB's in the past, see Vince Young, Dennis Dixon and to a lesser extent Jake Locker. So hey will really need to stay at home and not over run some of these plays especially if Pryor is in the game. It doesn't take much to break him loose. Pryor isn't yet on the level of Young or Dixon but I don't want SC to be the team he breaks out against either.
Ohio State's win over Ohio on Saturday was hardly a thing of beauty and for a team that has been to two consecutive BCS title games they hardly looked like world beaters but that doesn't mean they won't be taken seriously. The SC coaching staff is already making sure that the team is not getting complacent.

But before the top-ranked Trojans split up into position groups to watch film of the Buckeyes, Coach Pete Carrolladdressed his players about the hype that has been simmering for months and will ratchet into overdrive leading up to Saturday's game at the Coliseum.

"I did make them aware that this is a game that's different to a lot of other people," Carroll said when he emerged from the meeting in Heritage Hall. "To us it's the same."
​

Change nothing...treat this game like any other. The hype is for the pundits and the fans.






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[RJ Esq]

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The Rope-a-Dope

from Conquest Chronicles by Paragon SC
As I discussed yesterday, it was pretty apparent that Jim Tressle probably kept a lot of cards close to his vest in not wanting to "show" SC anything special before the big game this coming Saturday. I understand the thought process but I am not sure how accurate that is.
Doc Saturday seems to think that Tressle was doing a rope-a-dope.

But I got a distinct sense of rope-a-dope, which strikes me as part of Jim Tressel's M.O. -- his best teams in 2002 (against Purdue and Illinois) and 2006 (Illinois) had god awful, skin-of-the-teeth performances against much inferior teams immediately prior to winning their biggest games, and by the time I turned this one on in the second half, the jig was most definitely up. When the Buckeyes decided they needed to go ahead and roll out of bed for this team, they handled the Bobcats pretty easily: see 20 unanswered points...
​

I don't necessarily buy it.
I can't believe that Tressle would tell his players to allow Ohio to get 3 sacks on Boeckman. That's a matter of pride. Nor can I beleive that the Defense as stout as they are would allow Ohio to rack up 145 rushing yards just to keep it vanilla. tOSU just looked sloppy yesterday. I would believe that they were looking ahead but I can't believe the sloppy play was by design. When they needed to, Tressle opened the flood gates but a lot of that was on Ohio miscues that gave the Buckeyes great field position.
I have never completely bought into the notion that holding back the playbook the week before a big game doesn't give your upcoming opponent anything significant for that upcoming game. It would seem to me that any coaching staff worth its salt would have compiled significant film on the opponent, especially one as big as tOSU, in the off season to look at how they approach certain situations. This is even more true with a team like tOSU who are bringing back most if not all of their starters. If its Tressle's M.O. to dumb down things before a big game that would indicate that he is a creature of habit. The only "NEW" wrinkle on offense is Pryor and SC has seen that type of player in the past. So I wouldn't expect any earth shattering looks.
To support my thoughts that this really isn't a rope-a-dope even the players are disappointed by their effort.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel would never admit it, but the Buckeyes’ lackluster victory against Ohio University might make his job a little easier this week.
No doubt he’ll have his players’ complete attention and they’ll be even more eager to wipe away the memories of that ugly performance as they prepare for the nonconference game of the year at No. 1 Southern California on Saturday.
“I don’t want to read too much into it because everyone has (bad games), but I have a tough time believing a lot of those other top teams in the country would’ve played like we played today,” an angry wide receiver Brian Hartline said after Ohio State’s 26-14 victory.
​

Of course players can say anything but these kids are such competitors that I have a hard time believing that it was all staged. They take a lot of pride in their level of play and it was not up to par on Saturday. Not team wants to be the next victim of an App. St. or Stanford and this win was a little too close for comfort. So, while Tressle was probably holding some stuff back and with the players looking ahead to the 13th its not inconceivable that it could result in lackluster win.
The one thing that keeps nagging me is that I know that tOSU can get up for big games but we have also seen how they have performed when their opponents have top talent in those big games as well.
Just a thought, and I haven't even brought up the Beanie factor....






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[RJ Esq]

Morning Coffee Seeks Context

from Burnt Orange Nation by PB @ BON

As good as his name... He was the story this spring, the hope this summer, the standout this August, and now, following his exciting debut against UTEP, all the rave this week. Coming off a late-August knee injury which kept him out of the opener, Texas tailback Fozzy Whittaker didn't enter Saturday's contest until the second quarter, but his impact was immediately appreciated.
With Texas leading 14-6 early in his second quarter, Whittaker got his first touch on a 2nd and 5 after Vondrell McGee rushed on for five up the middle--one of his better rushes on the evening, ironically. His debut was a memorable one, the redshirt freshman picking up a first down on a 13 yard rush to the UTEP 17. He stayed in the game and immediately ran off back-to-back 8 yard carries to set up 1st and Goal from the 1. Cody Johnson punched it in on the next play, Texas led 21-6, and UTEP's Super Bowl was over.

There are two kinds of mistakes. If you're wondering when Greg Davis lost it and Texas blew its chance to hang 60 on the Miners, look no further than the the first three drives of the third quarter. Leading 28-13 on the second half's opening drive, Davis became enamored of his junior quarterback and called for passes on six of the 'Horns' eight plays, the last of which ended in interception. On Texas' next possession, the offense went three and out on a trio of pass plays. Finally, with 6:49 remaining in the quarter, Davis got back to Fozzy... but only momentarily. After Whittaker ran for 5, 13, and 4 yards in succession, Texas turned to McGee on consecutive plays, he picked up 4 of the needed 6 yards for a first down, and the 'Horns punted.
It's hard from the words alone to get the full context of those three drives, but if you peruse the BON game thread for a few minutes, you can see the frustration mount through these three drives, peaking with Texas_Fight's comment, "this is horrible....shades of '07".
And it was. The third quarter struggles on offense were enough to make me choose a gloomier lead theme for the Postgame React than my long-term contentedness and optimism might otherwise have dictated.
"What's your point, PB?" Only this: On any team or player's road to meeting its potential, mistakes, and even mediocrity, are not only acceptable, but inevitable. The only thing truly to fear is the same mediocrity from the same mistakes.

At least half the story. If I sound excessively focused on the offense's performance, it's for the reason cited above:Greg Davis' non-VY offenses have all hit the same wall in critical games against quality defense. Clearing that hurdle with the '08-'09 group will be vital if any title run is going to be more than just talk.
With that said, the Longhorns will also need the defense to develop into the dominant part most fans expect Will Muschamp can and will mold. Texas' young defense looked the part for the last two-thirds of the season opener, and, Muschamp says, throughout the majority of Saturday's game in El Paso:

"You take away the first series and the last series of the first half, and we played a pretty good football game."
​

There's some truth to that: The Miners' scored 10 points on those two drives, accumulating 143 yards on 21 snaps--6.9 per play. For the rest of the game (56 snaps) UTEP managed only 269 yards--just 4.8 yards per play. And for all the talk of Texas failing to generate any pressure, Trevor Vittatoe was sacked four times on the evening. The defensive line clearly missed Lamarr Houston, but on the whole turned in a good-enough performance.
As was the case for the defense as a unit. Texas' trip to El Paso likely won't be a game tape Will Muschamp shows off to his grandkids, but like the offense, there was enough good to live with the bad.
So long as there's improvement down the line.

 

[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">2:54 AM (4 hours ago)
Lots of Positives In Auburn's Win Over Southern Miss

from Track Em Tigers by Jay Coulter

Brad Lester fights through the rain against USM. - photo by al.com​

I've seen fire and I've seen rain. That old James Taylor lyric sums up what Auburn fans saw on the field and in the stands during Saturday's 27-13 win over Southern Miss. On a day when most people went home sunburned and soaking wet, Auburn put on a performance that was both masterful and confounding.
It took quarterback Chris Todd less than 10 minutes to throw for more yards than he and Kodi Burns did combined a week earlier against ULM - a team that suddenly looks much better after losing in the closing moments to Arkansas. Eleven Auburn receivers caught passes Saturday, the most in a game since 2005.
On the flip side, the Tigers five fumbles were the most since the 2001 Florida game. Auburn's two touchdown win could and should have been at least twice that much. Tommy Tuberville knows that fumbling like they did Saturday will cost them the SEC West in two weeks.
"It kept them (USM) in the game," said Tuberville. "That is part of it. Hopefully, we got it out of our system. Eric Smith's fumble right there at the end is a true no-no when you are trying to run the clock out. We gave them an opportunity to possibly get back in the game. We learned from all of these situations with our young guys playing.
"We fumbled twice in the red zone. We have to get better. Last year, I think in the second game we played we turned it over a lot of times and couldn't win the game. We turned it over a few times, but our defense stood up and kept us in the ball game and got the ball back in good field position. It was a good team game. It was truly a team game."
The biggest news of course, came at quarterback where Chris Todd put a strangle hold on the starting job. It's apparent that Todd has a much stronger and deeper grasp of how Tony Franklin's system works. My guess is the battle is far from over and Tuberville seemed to indicate that on Sunday.
"He's (Burns) been supportive of Chris and Chris of him," said Tuberville. "You've got to move on. We're going into the conference. He's been a big part of what we've been doing and he'll continue that. That's not to say in a couple of week's he's not the starter. That's how the business goes."
Through the first two games, Todd has completed more than 60 percent of his passes, racking up 318 yards through the air with a touchdown and an interception. Burns has been less successful throwing the ball, completing only 4 of 14 passes for 14 yards and one interception.
Running the ball is another story. Burns has rushed for 68 yards on eight attempts and scored once. Look for Burns to become a situational quarterback in the coming weeks. Inside the five yard line it's darn near impossible to keep him out of the end-zone as Southern Miss learned Saturday.
With all eyes on the quarterback you may have missed what was happening on the offensive line. Hugh Nall's guys turned in one of the great performances in recent memory. They manhandled the Golden Eagle defensive line and gave Todd enough time to drink a beer back there before throwing the ball. And what makes it even more impressive is how they did it - with a make shift lineup due to injuries.
Ryan Pugh moved from right tackle to center, replacing Jason Bosley who started at Pugh's position. Bosley has been nursing a sore shoulder that has made it difficult to snap the ball when lined up in the shotgun formation. Needless to say, it went off without a hitch.
Ninth-ranked Auburn takes on MissState from Starkville on Saturday night at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by ESPN 2. Keep your eye on Hurricane Ike this week. Where he makes landfall could have an impact on the weather. The game has the potential to be very wet. The Bulldogs enter the contest with a 1-1 record after defeating Southeast Louisiana 34-10 on Saturday.






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[RJ Esq]

5 Thoughts ... Sept. 8
Five Thoughts: 2007 Thoughts | Week 1
And It Rains A Lot In Seattle[FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2]By Pete Fiutak [/SIZE][/FONT]
1. Don't whiz on my head and tell me it's raining.

Just say you blew it.

Officials, we know you make mistakes all the time and we accept that as part of the sport, but if you’re going to have any semblance of credibility and believability, you have to admit that wrong is wrong.

Larry Farina, the vilified official who threw the flag for unsportsmanlike conduct on Jake Locker for spontaneously winging the ball in the air after scoring a thrilling last-second touchdown to pull within one of BYU, was wrong, and to argue the other way is moronic. There was no excuse for that call in that situation, and that includes using the rule book as a crutch. The public doesn't care about the silly rule, and the players and coaches certainly don't care that the rule is in place. Yes, it was a judgment call, and making matters worse was Dave Parry, the National Coordinator of College Football Officiating, who, shock of shocks, stuck by his own and defended Farina.

Just say you blew it.

Yeah, if you go by the absolute strict definition of Part C of Rule 9-2-1-2, stating that throwing the ball in the air in celebration is a penalty, what Locker did could technically get flagged. But if officials are really going with the “letter of the law” defense, then why isn’t there a holding call on every play? Pass interference could be called on 75% of pass plays. By the rule book, there’s something that could be flagged almost every time the ball is snapped, and why doesn’t it happen? Judgment. Officials are supposed to be able to judge what’s really holding and what players should be able to get away with. Yes, there's room for an official to use common sense, and that includes what Farina should've used after the Locker throw, and for Parry to stand behind the rule book in this situation makes all officials look bad.

Just say you blew it.

I’m a believer that an official should make the same calls in the final minute that they do in the first quarter … if it affects the play. Yes, the same pass interference call on the final throw into the end zone for a possible win should get a flag just like it would if the score was 66-3. However, throwing the ball in the air on a celebration call doesn’t affect the play. It has nothing to do with the game. It’s paperwork. It’s procedural. BYU wasn’t being shown up, and it wasn't being put at any disadvantage. Arizona State CB Terrell Carr threw the ball in the air Locker-style after making a pick late in the blowout win over Stanford, and that came several seconds after the play was over. There wasn't any flag. There were at least three other moments that I saw after the Locker penalty on Saturday where a player chucked the ball after a really big play. Are the officials in those games going to be reprimanded for not throwing a flag? If not, why not?

So, Dave, here's the deal. Either you review the tapes of all the games on Saturday and you fine/suspend/reprimand all the officials that didn't follow the rule book to the absolute letter when it comes to the celebration rule, or you man up and admit that one of your officials made a bad call.

Just say your guy blew it, and all will be forgiven. Keep defending the horse(bleep) call, and officials everywhere will look bad.
But Yeah, It Really, Really Was A Bad Call ... [FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2]By Pete Fiutak [/FONT][/SIZE]
2. Again, bad call, horrible call, shouldn’t have been made call … and there’s no question about it by any reasonable standards. However, and this seems to get lost in all the weeping and gnashing of teeth, Washington didn’t lose because of the penalty, it lost because it couldn't overcome the adversity and failed to execute. BYU blocked the 35-yard extra point attempt and sealed the win.

It’s the same argument I made when Oklahoma lost to Oregon in the controversial replay game of 2006 (and still get hate mail for). Oklahoma got completely and totally hosed, but it still had a shot to come up with the win by making a defensive stop, and then when that didn't happen, but blocking on the game-winning field goal attempt (which was blocked by the Ducks). Coaches preach all the time to control what you can control, and Oklahoma didn't do that in that game, and neither did Washington against BYU.

Yes, it was a bad call on Locker, but if Washington had properly blocked BYU and the extra point was good, no one would've cared about the flag on Locker. It would've been a quirky side note.

Good teams overcome everything to get the win. Yeah, Washington got a bad break, but it should’ve hit the extra point to force overtime. And that’s another factor; who’s to say BYU wouldn’t have won in the extra session?

So yes, be mad at the NCAA for its silly rule and for making us all talk about this today instead of a surprisingly fun week of games. Blame Farina for making the call. But don’t say the Huskies lost because of it.








In Praise Of The Pirates
By Richard Cirminiello

3. If there’s any space left on the Boneyard bandwagon, I’d like admission because East Carolina is for real. Beating Virginia Tech was a terrific footnote in school history. Snuffing out No. 8 West Virginia, however, is the type of win that could catapult the program into the stratosphere of college football. Move over, BYU. ECU is the team to beat among this year’s wannabe BCS busters. What makes the Pirates so intriguing is their total lack of star power. There’s no Alex Smith. No Ian Johnson. No Colt Brennan. In lieu of Heisman contenders and All-Americans, they’ve got Skip Holtz at the controls, terrific play along both lines, and a no-name defense that just doesn’t miss tackles in the open field. Oh, and they also have a quarterback named Patrick Pinkney, who makes great decisions and has been razor sharp in the two upsets. Don’t know him? Don’t feel stupid. Few outside Conference USA did before the season began. Yet, he’s doing a spot-on impression of Brad Banks, the anonymous senior quarterback from Iowa, who came out of nowhere to darn near win the Heisman in 2002. Can East Carolina run the table, which would include two more wins over ACC teams and a league title game? It won’t be easy, as each game brings more pressure and media scrutiny. For now, the Pirates can revel in their new-found celebrity as the story of the early going. Enjoy it now, ECU, because most of the country will jump ship if you don’t stay perfect.

At Least They're Not Playing An SEC Team By Matthew Zemek

4. Very simply, ladies and gentlemen, if you think that Ohio State is in trouble against USC because of the way the Buckeyes played against Ohio, you know nothing about college football and have failed to pay attention to this sport during your lifetime.

Nothing more need be said.
Yeah, But They'll Still Show Up
By Steve Silverman [FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=-2] [/FONT][/SIZE] [FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]
5[/FONT]. How in the name of all that is holy will the Buckeyes find a way to stay in the game next week against USC. If we only looked at this situation through the most basic set of numbers it would be scary enough. USC, which enjoyed a week of rest, absolutely destroyed Virginia on the road in its season opener. The final score was somewhere in the vicinity of half a hundred to a field goal and as they say in the business it could have been worse. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes were trailing into the fourth quarter against MACified Bobcats before escaping in the final quarter. Next week the Buckeye go to the ancient L.A. Coliseum to take on a team they haven’t beaten since 1974. Pete Johnson was playing for the Buckeyes in those days and Woody Hayes was stalking the sidelines. Fear for the Buckeyes in this one. Even if Beanie Wells can get his foot to cooperate and he can play in this one, he can’t possibly be at top-speed or full strength. USC coach Pete Carroll lives for this kind of reputation-cementing games and it could get ugly and embarrassing. Jim Tressel needs to come up with an answer that he believes and can sell to his team or the Buckeyes may have a real-life nightmare on their hands.

 

[RJ Esq]

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Post Mortem: Texas Tech v. Nevada

from Double-T Nation by Seth C
These are my post-morten thoughts on Texas Tech v. Nevada, but check out RaiderAde's, Hyatt's and Classless Clowns thoughts as well:

• The offensive line bothers me. Harrell has been under more pressure than he was all of last year combined. He's been hurried and that's affected how well or poorly he's played. I've always trusted that offensive line coach Matt Moore does an excellent job only caring about having the most talent on the line, regardless of position. I'm guessing that Vasquez sat out on Saturday, although he could have played, but the staff felt that the extra week, along with he not being absolutely vital, let to him sitting out Saturday's game. I'm okay with that. However, I'm not sure that having Hamby at guard is working out so well and I wouldn't mind seeing Lonnie Edwards move over to the guard when he's not spelling Reed. I think he's plenty big and athletic enough to hold his own, but there's something wrong with the offensive line, and Moore needs to figure out who his best options are really quick.
• I feel awful for Donnie Carona. He's just 18, but for whatever reason, he just can get the kicks high enough. Keep working on it and it will happen, but for now, it may be time to give Fowler a shot at a few field goals. Let's keep Carona kicking off.
• Tramain Swindall is skinny, but he can play and is one hell of a receiver. Thought his three 3rd down receptions were as important as Crabtree's big catches. Swindall showed up when some of the other receivers did not. He's going to be replacing someone soon.
• I've always had a problem with the defense not being able to make plays. It's probably been one of the more frustrating aspects of watching Texas Tech play over the past few years. I know that the defense gave up a ton of yards against Nevada, but I think some credit is owed to the defense. The defense was on the field for 12 more minutes than the offense so it's natural to think that the defense is going to give up yards (especially when both Texas Tech and Nevada had 14 possessions a piece).
  
  For the year, the Red Raiders already have 4 interceptions, 7 sacks for 66 yards (only 26 for the year last year), 13 tackles for a loss for 83 yards (79 last year), and 4 interceptions (10 last year). By my math, other than the tackles behind the line of scrimmage, we're making some significant improvements on game-changing plays.
  
  Although I could never back this up, I think what I saw on Saturday night was a defense that hits harder and tackles better than just about any Texas Tech defense I can remember. Granted, there's plenty of room for improvement, including the long completion for a touchdown and the volume of yards, but I can see improvement.
• As far as individual defensive performances that I thought were great . . . I kept thinking throughout the game that the play of Brian Duncan and Bront Bird was exceptional. It was good to see McKinner Dixon and Brandon Sesay get involved and the more time those two see over the next two games is going to be huge. In just 1 game, Dixon had 5 tackles and 1.5 sacks while Sesay had a tackle and 0.5 sacks (combined with Dixon on that sack). I also don't want to forget about Brandon Williams, whose 2 sacks were great and thought he really exhibited his speed.
• Shouldn't we be the least worried about Graham Harrell? I mean he's shown over the years that he's going to find a way to get it in the endzone and as horrible as the Nevada game was for Harrell, and it was conceivable that it could have been that much worse with underthrown deep passes that likely should have been picked off, it didn't. Harrell had one of the worst games of his career and Texas Tech still won, which is a rare feat when we've talked about bad Texas Tech losses in the past.
  
  Texas Tech won despite Harrell and, in some way, despite Captain Leach. Throw those two variables together and you've normally got a recipe for disaster that this team was able to overcome.
  
  Credit the running game that racked up 124 yards for a 5.6 average and closed out this game. Again, when was the last time that Texas Tech fans were able to say that the running game efficiently finished out a game? I'm happy to see that Batch (6 carries for 47 yards), Woods (7 carries for 45 yards) and Crawford (5 carries for 15 yards) are all sharing time somewhat equally.
  
  Again, just think about this, Texas Tech won running the ball the last two offensive drives of a game and despite an absolutely awful game from the quarterback.
  
  Harrell will bounce back in a big way, I'm confident of that, but most importantly this team learned how to win differently (without depending on the quarterback position) and that is invaluable.

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[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">7:49 AM (1 hour ago)
Central Florida Fans Violate a Small Rule of Etiquette, Threaten to Kill QB's Father

from The Sporting Blog

The War for I-4 isn't one of college football's marquee matchups, consisting of a recently invented rivalry between USF and UCF, two commuter schools with burgeoning football programs just learning the ins and outs of proper rivalry behavior. Cut them some slack for their lack of understanding in the matter; they're new at this thing. They don't know that if you get the opposing QB's number, you do what LSU fans did to Tim Tebow last year before the game: you threaten him first for weeks leading up to the game, and leave it at that. UCF fans who acquired USF qb Matt Grothe's number before this weekend's USF/UCF game committed a gross violation of fan ethics by threatening Grothe's father, since it's clearly part of the fan charter (section 3, subclauses 15-18) that family members are explicitly off-limits.
We do not kid about the death threats: Grothe's family was under precautionary police protection prior to the game Saturday after a UCF fan threatened to kill Matt Grothe, Sr.

UCF fans got hold of Matt Grothe’s cell phone number and bombarded him with hundreds of calls and text messages. Matt Grothe’s father, Matt Sr., even received a death threat from a UCF fan on Saturday. Grothe’s family was protected by state troopers during the contest and there were no incidents.
​

To review: leave the family out of it, keep your mad, 3 a.m. bomb threats to the quarterback and the quarterback alone, and be sure to floss every single day. This has been a joint production of The Sporting Blog and The American Council For Weeping Openly Over the Doomed Fate of Our Ignorant Species.





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[RJ Esq]

Numbers to chew on through week two

[FONT=georgia,serif]<small>• By Jared Poertner | Monday, September 8, 2008 at 12:10 pm </small>[/FONT]

<!--content with more link--> Yes, the Hoosiers have faced some pretty unproblematic competition in the first two weeks of the season, but there are still some numbers that have been produced thus far that are worth taking a look at.
Interesting numbers through week two:
First Downs: IU - 50, Opponents - 24
Rushing Yards: IU - 551, Opponents - 91
Rushing TD’s: IU - 8, Opponents - 0
Average Yards Per Rush: IU - 5.9, Opponents - 1.6
Total Offense IU - 926, Opponents - 431
Total TD’s Scored: IU - 10, Opponents - 1
Sacks By: IU - 7, Opponents - 2
Third Down Conversions: IU - 32%, Opponents - 31% (This is a problem)
Interesting notes through week two:
Kellen Lewis - The once suspended and “in the dog house” quarterback has completed 66.7 percent of his passes so far (32-for-48). He has thrown two TD’s and one interception, as well. Lewis, individually, is averaging 248.5 yards per game in total offense.
Ben Chappell - Seen quite a bit of playing time the first two weeks of the season - whether this will remain the case once the Big Ten schedule rolls around remains to be seen - but he has done a good job of running the offense when given the opportunity. He has completed 7-of-10 passes, and has rushed for a touchdown, as well. Between the two quarterbacks, Indiana as a team has completed 67.2 percent of it’s passes.
Chris Hagerup - Don’t let his season average of 37 yards per attempt fool you - he improved immensely on Saturday from his previous performance against Western Kentucky, and a couple shanks have brought that average down tremendously. He’s punted six times this season, and two of those gone 50+ yards.
Jammie Kirlew - Currently leading the team in total tackles - with 13 - and nine of those are solo. He also has 2.5 sacks for 13 yards two games into the season.
Ryan Marando - Currently leading the team in TFL’s with 3.5 for 13 yards.
IU Offense - They have scored just one touchdown in the fourth quarter in both games. Yes, they haven’t needed to score, but this could hurt the Hoosiers down the road when they find themselves in a close game, needing a score to win late in the game.
IU Defense - They have given up a total of just three points in the first half to both opponents, allowing the offense to get settled in and take control of the game.
Attendance - The Hoosiers’ average attendance at Memorial Stadium has been 30,095 through two games. Capacity for “The Rock” is 49,225.

 

[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">9:09 AM (22 minutes ago)
Peace, Love, And Understanding

from mgoblog by Brian
9/6/2008 – Michigan 16, Miami (Not That Miami) 6 – 1-1

​

Could you maybe throw it at the receivers? No? Well, I tried.​

Michigan fans have had a lot of ominous signs presented to them in the first two weeks of the season. There is a walk-on at quarterback. When Mark Ortmann was injured last week, a walk-on replaced him at left tackle. At one point during last week’s game the skill players went like this: sophomore, freshman, freshman, freshman, freshman. Steve Brown is reminding folks of the sucky version of Ryan Mundy. There has been much to fret over.​

But nothing has struck fear in me like what occurred late in the fourth quarter of yesterday’s ten-point win over a MAC team: the students burst into a chorus of “It’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine.”
On the one hand, get it in while you can, kids. On the other: you have got to be kidding me. Why stop there? Let’s rush the damn field.
---------------
Game two was a virtual replay of game one minus some opponent competence, and does little to reassure that Michigan isn’t going to struggle its way towards a rinky-dink bowl that won’t actually be in Shreveport but might as well be.
Outside of two Actual Touchdown Drives, the offense was more of the same minus even one downfield completion. The defense was pretty good but Miami’s receivers did them a whole host of favors; it does not look as dominant as it needs to be given the Yakety Sax on the other side of the ball.
Which, like, okay. It kind of sucks that this season is going to be rough but given the cards Rodriguez was dealt it’s understandable. If this was Carr and the future stretched out like tapioca pudding, I would understand it and perhaps participate. But it’s not.
The discontent from some quarters is as obvious as it is petulant. When Michigan got the ball back after their second touchdown drive, the case for Lloydball could not have been more obvious. Every pass you throw is an invitation to disaster. You’re up two scores with around 6-7 minutes left in the game. Your defense has given up six points. You can’t lose unless you do something disastrously stupid, which happens to be your offense’s speciality.
So you do the obvious, boring thing: run-run-run-punt. And then some guy in the stands turns to me and says “not even one pass?” and I die a little bit inside because this man has no idea about game theory and no patience for a transition and was probably one of those guys posting spleen on the internet you may have run across if you’re a glutton for punishment or it’s kind of your job.



That’s an extreme example of a guy who seemed to seize an opportunity to sarcastically grumble about TINYFMF*, but I see lesser examples criticizing Rodriguez for “not adapting his offense” or “sacrificing this season” and all that, and I just think “what are you supposed to do when not even Tacopants can catch any pass thrown more than ten yards downfield?” There is no offense you can adapt to when your quarterbacks are slow white guys who can’t throw and your offensive line is a patchwork melange of who-dats, freshmen, and walk-ons.
Everyone’s permitted their immediate “#&$*!” when Steven Threet launches a pass into the troposphere or McGuffie is swarmed in the backfield or Steve Brown demonstrates his mastery of non-Euclidean geometry. Outside of that your best course of action is patience, tolerance, and whiskey.
*(This Is Not Your Father’s Michigan Football)
Bullets of crank:

• I just want to note this for the record: you can’t find a Michigan blog out there that has leveled anything resembling criticism of the new regime. Meanwhile, there are plenty of You Shouldn’t Extrapolate But HA HA HA columns in the newspapers. This will be ignored in two years when papers are filled with stories about how Rodriguez is triumphant over the eBays, message blogs, internets, and assorted other insane rabble.
• The students started a wave when Michigan was up four points in the third quarter. This is unacceptable. Waves require at least a two-score lead. We need some senior leadership in the stands, too.
• Also unacceptable: the RAWK MUSIC backing to the highlights shown at the end of the third quarter. What is this, Michigan State? After the band takes the field, the only music in the stadium comes from them. Someone find the guy who made that decision and put him in stocks on the diag.
• WHERE IS MY CRANBERRY JUICE?
• I’ll be the last man on earth to say it: Donovan Warren’s audition for the punt return job should be over. He’s not good at it, he’s too valuable to risk, and he refuses to make a fair catch. Boubacar Cissoko had some promising kickoff returns; let him have a crack.
• Michigan’s problems with underneath coverage continued; the little dreads guy on Miami must have caught 4 or 5 little hitch routes that he managed to turn upfield because a late-arriving linebacker—usually Thompson—did not tackle immediately.
• I’m worried about Troy Woolfolk, who the coaches seem deathly afraid to put on the field. I’m dying for a 4-2-5 nickel package against these spread teams.
• I LOLed at the Miami coach’s clock management. Actually, that’s not true. Despite the fact that it was helping Michigan win I was livid because for some reason clock malfeasance drives me crazy, but: Miami was running, huddling, and watching the clock wind down when they were down two scores with six minutes left, and they didn’t even use all their timeouts on Michigan’s final run-run-run-punt drive. What a maroon.
• Who’s excited for the worst Michigan-Notre Dame game ever?

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[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">9:48 AM (1 minute ago)
Lamarr Houston to return to Texas lineup

from Bevo Beat
Longhorn defensive tackle Lamarr Houston will return to the team’s lineup Saturday against Arkansas. Houston is facing a drunken-driving charge after being in a car wreck in the wee hours after Texas’ season-opening win over Florida Atlantic. He did not travel with the team to El Paso.
“We take very seriously what he did,” Mack Brown said Monday in announcing Houston’s return. “He has a long, hard discipline action ahead.”






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[RJ Esq]

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</td><td class="cc c">9:48 AM (1 minute ago)
UTEP 'wasn't a thing of beauty,' Mack says

from Bevo Beat
Mack Brown opened his weekly news conference by saying that the trip to UTEP provided a good learning experience for his team. “It was a good challenge. … It wasn’t a thing of beauty. This team’s a work in progress.”
He praised Roddrick Muckelroy as the team’s top defensive player for his 14 tackles and fumble return for a TD and Colt McCoy as the team’s top offensive player.
“The game was a great setup for us to learn from,” Brown said, noting the late start of the game and the fact that it was on the road.
“That wasn’t the same UTEP team that showed up for the Buffalo game. If you saw the Buffalo game, you’d be shocked.”
He noted that the Texas defense got off to too slow of a start, allowing UTEP to get up 6-0.
“I’m sure our guys underestimated UTEP,” Brown said.






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