Ncaa Cfb Week Two
- Thread starter SHSUHorn
- Start date
SHSUHorn said:
Wanna hear something crazy bro?
I play in a flag football league in Fairfax, Virginia....I had to guard this one short mother fugger last week and guess what his name was?
MIKE IMOH! (he was fast as shiet tho) LOL.....
VTECH to Fairfax, VA flag football league......NICE! LOL......
KingKrunked
Resident Bad Ass
yikes....iowa down to 19 (+100) and oregon to -3
lotta movement...good luck tomorrow!!
lotta movement...good luck tomorrow!!
Guy Vincent
Well-Known Member
Thought Pittwas going to lose it for us tonight put they managed to pull it out. 
SHSUHorn
Thief
Texas +2 ($200 future play at sportsbook) & Texas –2.5 ($300)
Save the best for last. I’ll be at this game and it will be electric. Just arrived in Austin today and this city is going nuts right now about this game. This is the biggest home game ever for Texas as this is the first #1 vs #2 game in Austin.
First stat I’d like to throw at you. Mack Brown at Texas is 72-0 when he out rushes the opponent. Now I’m not much on trends but that sure does beat the damn Buckeye fans proclaiming OSU is 6-0 at night at the Shoe last year.
I'm not much on the heat factor but if you are the high tomorrow will be around 94 degrees with some good ole Texas humidity to go along with it. Pretty sure its not that hot in Columbus right now.
So where to start with this game? Many are betting on OSU because they have the huge edge at QB and have an explosive offense which is true. Troy smith is a better QB then Colt McCoy. No question. Problem is they don’t defend each other. Troy Smith is facing a Longhorn defense that may be the best in the country. In last year’s game Smith was 5-11 and had 27 yards on 13 carries for a 2.1 ypc average. Not very impressive. So we will hear the argument that it was Troy’s first game back, they were playing two QBs even though Zwick didn’t play bad at all minus the fumble at the end, etc. Problem is the offensive playcalling was horrible and very conservative. Outside of the perfect pass Smith threw to Holmes for the TD OSU didn’t try anything deep or have any other big plays. They were 5 of 15 on third down conversions. Is that pretty much customary for Tressel? Win with defense and special teams.
OSU only scored 1 TD even though they had an avg starting field position of their own 47 if you take out the turnover on downs before the safety at the end of the game. They had the ball inside the Texas 37 4 other times on turnovers and a long return plus a personal foul call. Only 1 TD. The punter for OSU pinned Texas inside the 20 4 times.
So let me get my take on the Buckeyes and feel free to let me know if I’m way off base here or not.
Okay so will go back to it was the first game of the year for Troy Smith vs Texas where they rotated the QBs and many people have pointed to that game as rust for Smith and having to deal with the QB rotation. Fine I’ll go with that. Let’s move to the only other team on their schedule that had a pulse which was the 5TH game of the year vs Penn St. (don’t give me Iowa because their pass defense was one of the worst in the country ranked 96th). PSU had the 12th ranked defense in the country (Texas was 10th). In that game OSU again only scored 1 TD and had trouble moving the ball and the playcalling was very conservative. Smith’s stat line 13-25 1 INT, 139 passing yards and 19 carries for 15 yards.
But after that game is where everyone points to Troy Smith and this offense turning the corner. The next 7 games OSU averaged a ton of points and yards. No question. But look at how shitty those defenses were:
MSU ranked 87th in total defense
Indiana ranked 93rd in total defense
Minnesota ranked 90th in total defense
Illinois ranked 115th in total defense
Northwestern ranked 117th in total defense
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Now lets go to the teams that have just fueled the hype. Both his games vs Michigan and the bowl game vs ND.
Michigan ranked 36th in total defense and had the best defense in OSU final 7 games but cmon. Any Michigan fan will tell you that DC Jim Herman had absolutely had no idea how to stop a dual threat QB. Jesus you can go all the way back to the Tony Rice days. I knew this and even said on Covers that VY would have the game of his life vs his defense and I think I made the right call on that.
Notre Dame – I guess everyone forgets that ND defense ranked 75th last year including a secondary that didn’t have a single player run under a 4.5. Maybe that’s why they were ranked 103 out of 119 Div1 teams against the pass.
Not saying that Troy Smith is a bad player but please stop with the VY comparisons. I think he’s a great QB but he’s not going to carry this team on his shoulders and win the game by himself. Factor in his games vs good defenses combined with Tressel’s conservative approach OSU has struggled on offense vs good defenses and well Texas has a pretty good fuckin defense this year. I hear of the improvement by Smith and Co. on offense I just want to see it vs a good defense. If he does it in this game I’ll be his biggest fan and believer.
At RB the added addition of Chris Wells to compliment Pittman makes this a great combo. Will Tressel use the true frosh in a game of this magnitude this early on? I don’t see why he wouldn’t because he used Clarett right off the bat and Wells has “college” Clarett talent. Wells is going to be a star eventually. Glad we don’t see him in two years.
At WR I know all about Teddy Ginn and him making every preseason first team All-American publication LAST YEAR. Santonio Holmes was the best WR on that team last year though. With Holmes and Ginn no team could roll their coverage to either side, as you had to respect both players speed and ability. How will Ginn fare now that he will be guarded by each team’s #1 corner? Gonzalez is the key here as most team will roll their coverage toward Ginn and I’m sure he will see plenty of double teams. There was a reason why NFL teams thought Holmes was the best WR in the NFL draft since he was the first chosen.
At OL Less experienced but supposedly stronger according to Buckeye fans. They lose the top C in college football last year and the first center chosen in the NFL draft in Mangold and Rob Simms at G a 4th round pick. Datish supposedly the best OL on the team moves from LT to C now which might be a good thing because Texas DL Tim Crowder was killing him last year. Sophomore Boone now takes over that spot and he has a ton of potential and should be a good matchup. Even with the loss of Mangold this unit looks really strong.
My take on this offense is:
1. How much has Ginn improved?
2. How much will the loss of Holmes mean to the passing attack?
3. How many carries will Wells get? He could be the difference maker.
4. Will Tressel open up the playbook and not play so conservative?
5. Will Troy Smith be able to use his legs vs a top ranked defense?
On defense I’m not sure where you start. I watched the game last week vs NIU and they didn’t look to great to me. The returning DT’s are damn good but the scheme OSU runs is the front line engaging the OL letting the LBs run free and make the plays ala last year with Hawk, Carpenter, and that other white dude who’s name slips me Shlegal (sp?).
I heard it was vanilla defense that was run but not sure you employ vanilla tackling and assignments though. They have two LBs that IMO are going to get abused bad in this game. Kerr and Laurinatis are slooooowwwww and will have trouble tackling a shifty Jamal Charles or keeping up with TE Jermichael Finley.
5’7 170 pound Garret Wolfe is all of a sudden Barry Sanders now to the state of Ohio after his game against them. Obviously it had nothing to do with the defense, poor tackling, and missed assignments. Wolfe had 170 rushing and 5 catches for 114 yards receiving. Texas with a bigger and much better OL, and a good combo at RB in Charles and Selvin Young should be able to move the ball on the ground through this defense and I’m sure the OSU gameplan will be to bring the heat so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of swing passes to the RBs especially to Charles who was the leading receiver in last years game with 6 catches.
Everyone keeps mentioning the loss of Brown and the matchup with OSU WRs vs Texas DBs but have we flipped the coin and looked at the other side? The Texas WRs were getting open all day long last year vs a very good OSU secondary that had all 4 players move on to the NFL. Texas WR rotation last year was Limas Sweed and Brian Carter (ended up losing his job mid year) on the outside with Billy Pittman in the slot. Ramonce Taylor was the fourth WR and eventually got moved back to RB. Sweed and Pittman are back and now Quan Cosby starts on the outside the position he grabbed in the midpoint of the year due to his layoff from baseball and Jordan Shipley the #2 national prep record holder in every category is back from injury. You can say that Texas #3-#5 WRs in Cosby, Shipley, and Hardy are all better then Carter or Taylor were last year. If Texas runs 4 WRs in this game does OSU have the depth to match-up? Will see.
So of course I’m a Texas homer and this write-up is definitely written through burnt orange tinted glasses but I just don’t see how OSU wins this game. Tressel is 7-6 SU in his last 13 road games and they were damn close to being 7-7 if they didn’t pull out of their ass vs a bad Michigan team last year when they were down 21-12 in the 4th quarter. If Tressel calls this game conservatively or like he always does and trys to win with his offense and special teams they are in trouble. The kicking game is not where it was with Nugent and Huston and the defense doesn’t touch last years. Texas defense shut down OSU last year and that was only the second game under new DC Gene Chizik who many will tell you is the best in the business on the defensive side of the ball.
Maybe somebody can tell me differently because the only reason I’ve heard that Texas will lose is because VY is gone. That’s all you have? If your placing your bet based on Colt McCoy is not VY therefore they will lose. BOL especially since you probably don’t know how much Colt is going to surprise you Saturday night and that Texas is returning 16 starters that went into the Shoe and beat OSU and also have championship rings from beat according to ESPN the greatest team that ever played college football.
GL
Save the best for last. I’ll be at this game and it will be electric. Just arrived in Austin today and this city is going nuts right now about this game. This is the biggest home game ever for Texas as this is the first #1 vs #2 game in Austin.
First stat I’d like to throw at you. Mack Brown at Texas is 72-0 when he out rushes the opponent. Now I’m not much on trends but that sure does beat the damn Buckeye fans proclaiming OSU is 6-0 at night at the Shoe last year.
I'm not much on the heat factor but if you are the high tomorrow will be around 94 degrees with some good ole Texas humidity to go along with it. Pretty sure its not that hot in Columbus right now.
So where to start with this game? Many are betting on OSU because they have the huge edge at QB and have an explosive offense which is true. Troy smith is a better QB then Colt McCoy. No question. Problem is they don’t defend each other. Troy Smith is facing a Longhorn defense that may be the best in the country. In last year’s game Smith was 5-11 and had 27 yards on 13 carries for a 2.1 ypc average. Not very impressive. So we will hear the argument that it was Troy’s first game back, they were playing two QBs even though Zwick didn’t play bad at all minus the fumble at the end, etc. Problem is the offensive playcalling was horrible and very conservative. Outside of the perfect pass Smith threw to Holmes for the TD OSU didn’t try anything deep or have any other big plays. They were 5 of 15 on third down conversions. Is that pretty much customary for Tressel? Win with defense and special teams.
OSU only scored 1 TD even though they had an avg starting field position of their own 47 if you take out the turnover on downs before the safety at the end of the game. They had the ball inside the Texas 37 4 other times on turnovers and a long return plus a personal foul call. Only 1 TD. The punter for OSU pinned Texas inside the 20 4 times.
So let me get my take on the Buckeyes and feel free to let me know if I’m way off base here or not.
Okay so will go back to it was the first game of the year for Troy Smith vs Texas where they rotated the QBs and many people have pointed to that game as rust for Smith and having to deal with the QB rotation. Fine I’ll go with that. Let’s move to the only other team on their schedule that had a pulse which was the 5TH game of the year vs Penn St. (don’t give me Iowa because their pass defense was one of the worst in the country ranked 96th). PSU had the 12th ranked defense in the country (Texas was 10th). In that game OSU again only scored 1 TD and had trouble moving the ball and the playcalling was very conservative. Smith’s stat line 13-25 1 INT, 139 passing yards and 19 carries for 15 yards.
But after that game is where everyone points to Troy Smith and this offense turning the corner. The next 7 games OSU averaged a ton of points and yards. No question. But look at how shitty those defenses were:
MSU ranked 87th in total defense
Indiana ranked 93rd in total defense
Minnesota ranked 90th in total defense
Illinois ranked 115th in total defense
Northwestern ranked 117th in total defense
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Now lets go to the teams that have just fueled the hype. Both his games vs Michigan and the bowl game vs ND.
Michigan ranked 36th in total defense and had the best defense in OSU final 7 games but cmon. Any Michigan fan will tell you that DC Jim Herman had absolutely had no idea how to stop a dual threat QB. Jesus you can go all the way back to the Tony Rice days. I knew this and even said on Covers that VY would have the game of his life vs his defense and I think I made the right call on that.
Notre Dame – I guess everyone forgets that ND defense ranked 75th last year including a secondary that didn’t have a single player run under a 4.5. Maybe that’s why they were ranked 103 out of 119 Div1 teams against the pass.
Not saying that Troy Smith is a bad player but please stop with the VY comparisons. I think he’s a great QB but he’s not going to carry this team on his shoulders and win the game by himself. Factor in his games vs good defenses combined with Tressel’s conservative approach OSU has struggled on offense vs good defenses and well Texas has a pretty good fuckin defense this year. I hear of the improvement by Smith and Co. on offense I just want to see it vs a good defense. If he does it in this game I’ll be his biggest fan and believer.
At RB the added addition of Chris Wells to compliment Pittman makes this a great combo. Will Tressel use the true frosh in a game of this magnitude this early on? I don’t see why he wouldn’t because he used Clarett right off the bat and Wells has “college” Clarett talent. Wells is going to be a star eventually. Glad we don’t see him in two years.
At WR I know all about Teddy Ginn and him making every preseason first team All-American publication LAST YEAR. Santonio Holmes was the best WR on that team last year though. With Holmes and Ginn no team could roll their coverage to either side, as you had to respect both players speed and ability. How will Ginn fare now that he will be guarded by each team’s #1 corner? Gonzalez is the key here as most team will roll their coverage toward Ginn and I’m sure he will see plenty of double teams. There was a reason why NFL teams thought Holmes was the best WR in the NFL draft since he was the first chosen.
At OL Less experienced but supposedly stronger according to Buckeye fans. They lose the top C in college football last year and the first center chosen in the NFL draft in Mangold and Rob Simms at G a 4th round pick. Datish supposedly the best OL on the team moves from LT to C now which might be a good thing because Texas DL Tim Crowder was killing him last year. Sophomore Boone now takes over that spot and he has a ton of potential and should be a good matchup. Even with the loss of Mangold this unit looks really strong.
My take on this offense is:
1. How much has Ginn improved?
2. How much will the loss of Holmes mean to the passing attack?
3. How many carries will Wells get? He could be the difference maker.
4. Will Tressel open up the playbook and not play so conservative?
5. Will Troy Smith be able to use his legs vs a top ranked defense?
On defense I’m not sure where you start. I watched the game last week vs NIU and they didn’t look to great to me. The returning DT’s are damn good but the scheme OSU runs is the front line engaging the OL letting the LBs run free and make the plays ala last year with Hawk, Carpenter, and that other white dude who’s name slips me Shlegal (sp?).
I heard it was vanilla defense that was run but not sure you employ vanilla tackling and assignments though. They have two LBs that IMO are going to get abused bad in this game. Kerr and Laurinatis are slooooowwwww and will have trouble tackling a shifty Jamal Charles or keeping up with TE Jermichael Finley.
5’7 170 pound Garret Wolfe is all of a sudden Barry Sanders now to the state of Ohio after his game against them. Obviously it had nothing to do with the defense, poor tackling, and missed assignments. Wolfe had 170 rushing and 5 catches for 114 yards receiving. Texas with a bigger and much better OL, and a good combo at RB in Charles and Selvin Young should be able to move the ball on the ground through this defense and I’m sure the OSU gameplan will be to bring the heat so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of swing passes to the RBs especially to Charles who was the leading receiver in last years game with 6 catches.
Everyone keeps mentioning the loss of Brown and the matchup with OSU WRs vs Texas DBs but have we flipped the coin and looked at the other side? The Texas WRs were getting open all day long last year vs a very good OSU secondary that had all 4 players move on to the NFL. Texas WR rotation last year was Limas Sweed and Brian Carter (ended up losing his job mid year) on the outside with Billy Pittman in the slot. Ramonce Taylor was the fourth WR and eventually got moved back to RB. Sweed and Pittman are back and now Quan Cosby starts on the outside the position he grabbed in the midpoint of the year due to his layoff from baseball and Jordan Shipley the #2 national prep record holder in every category is back from injury. You can say that Texas #3-#5 WRs in Cosby, Shipley, and Hardy are all better then Carter or Taylor were last year. If Texas runs 4 WRs in this game does OSU have the depth to match-up? Will see.
So of course I’m a Texas homer and this write-up is definitely written through burnt orange tinted glasses but I just don’t see how OSU wins this game. Tressel is 7-6 SU in his last 13 road games and they were damn close to being 7-7 if they didn’t pull out of their ass vs a bad Michigan team last year when they were down 21-12 in the 4th quarter. If Tressel calls this game conservatively or like he always does and trys to win with his offense and special teams they are in trouble. The kicking game is not where it was with Nugent and Huston and the defense doesn’t touch last years. Texas defense shut down OSU last year and that was only the second game under new DC Gene Chizik who many will tell you is the best in the business on the defensive side of the ball.
Maybe somebody can tell me differently because the only reason I’ve heard that Texas will lose is because VY is gone. That’s all you have? If your placing your bet based on Colt McCoy is not VY therefore they will lose. BOL especially since you probably don’t know how much Colt is going to surprise you Saturday night and that Texas is returning 16 starters that went into the Shoe and beat OSU and also have championship rings from beat according to ESPN the greatest team that ever played college football.
GL
RSMS9999
The Prodigy
SHSU
I know you used J Stewart in your reasoning for picking the ducks and I know if you caught him last week you know how freakishly good he is and will be this year. However, he has not practiced all week and is a gametime decision. Reports are that he will not start but probably will play. Oregon has another sophmore, Jeremiah Johnson who is good but not stewart good and little depth behind him. I am hoping he will play but I dont think that he will be 100 percent. I like the pick but everyone is worried about stewarts health, especially with Oklahoma, ASU, CAl and UCLA all coming up.
GL
I know you used J Stewart in your reasoning for picking the ducks and I know if you caught him last week you know how freakishly good he is and will be this year. However, he has not practiced all week and is a gametime decision. Reports are that he will not start but probably will play. Oregon has another sophmore, Jeremiah Johnson who is good but not stewart good and little depth behind him. I am hoping he will play but I dont think that he will be 100 percent. I like the pick but everyone is worried about stewarts health, especially with Oklahoma, ASU, CAl and UCLA all coming up.
GL
SHSUHorn
Thief
Got this from an insider report from an Oregon site.
A healthy Jonathan Stewart makes a trip to a hot Bulldog Stadium at Fresno State University on Saturday a lot more appetizing for Oregon Head Coach Mike Bellotti. The Ducks top man hopes what Stewart, the team's trainers and doctors are telling him is true. Bellotti indicated on Tuesday that Stewart should be available when Oregon takes on Fresno State this Saturday night.
"He (Stewart) feels, along with our trainers and doctors that he'll be fine and totally ready to play," said Bellotti during the Pac-10 media conference. "That excites me obviously because he's a big factor in what we do offensively."
Stewart ran for nearly 170 yards and scored twice in just three-quarters of play last Saturday against Stanford.
Bellotti answered questions during his weekly media conference and the Pac-10 media conference and asserted that his star running back was making fast progress in healing a slightly sprained ankle suffered near the end of the third quarter in Oregon's 48-10 victory over Stanford at Autzen Stadium last weekend. Stewart, making his first start as a Duck ran for 168 yards on 22 carries and crossing the goal line twice in an impressive performance before a national television audience.
Oregon travels to Fresno State this weekend to take on the Bulldogs who are fresh off a 28-19 home win over Nevada last Friday night. This will be the fifth time Bellotti has faced Fresno State as head coach and has been victorious in all four of the previous meetings with the latest being a 37-34 thriller last year at Autzen. This week's game will be carried live on a regional basis by ESPN2, but Bellotti thinks the FSU-Oregon series is TV-worthy and he'd like to see rivalry continue. The Oregon head coach believes the weather will be hot and that there will be high emotions running through the Fresno State crowd when the Ducks take the field on Saturday night. Any thought that he is overlooking FSU and towards Oregon's showdown with Oklahoma the following week, was quickly dismissed.
"The Fresno series consumes me and concerns me the most," responded Bellotti to a question of how he is preparing his team for FSU and Oklahoma. "I don't talk about who we play next (after game coming up)."
While many of the Duck faithful may still be basking in the one-sided victory the Ducks enjoyed last Saturday, Bellotti has quickly moved on, as he is not entirely certain how good Stanford was in that opening game. A better test could well come this week as FSU presents an outstanding running game featuring a big back, Dwayne Wright, who racked up 158 yards against Nevada. Bellotti thinks that FSU fields a solid running game and that Wright will have a big, experienced offensive line anchored by center Kyle Young to operate behind. Wright was named WAC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Nevada.
"Their (FSU) offensive line returns 4 out of 5 starters led by Kyle Young, their 330-pound center," "He (Wright) might be the biggest center in the United States, he's also one of the most talented."
Bellotti went on to say how FSU is committed to the run and employ a 260-pound tight end (Bear Pascoe), a 220-pound tailback (Wright) that runs with a great deal of power. The Oregon head coach thinks FSU runs a lot of "downhill plays," meaning that the direction of the run is straightforward. The coach specifically noted how impressed he is with how the FSU line blocks.
"They are very aggressive," Bellotti said of the FSU line. "They utilize zone blocking schemes to the max and do a very good job."
The challenge that the Fresno State running game presents to the Oregon defense could be the best indication of how this season projects for the Ducks. Last week, Stanford was unable to establish a running game against Oregon and consequently one of the key factors that the Cardinal wanted to utilize -- play action, did not work. Last season, when the Ducks had one of the best run-defenses in school history, the Bulldogs were held to 112 yards of rushing but gave up 418 yards of passing. Gone from last year's FSU roster is Paul Pinegar as signal caller but Tom Brandstater is this year's quarterback, and he had a respectable 124 yards and a touchdown toss in his first start against Nevada.
The question then seems to be how well will the smaller but quick and physical Oregon defensive front fare against FSU?
During the Pac-10 media conference, Stanford's Walt Harris offered that the Oregon defensive front is better than last year's because it is faster. Harris should know as his quarterback, Trend Edwards is considered by many to be the best in the conference and was held to 20-of-34 for 234 yards and a solo touchdown. Only Edwards scrambling ability kept him from being sacked more than the three times that was recorded. Bellotti gave high marks to one of the new faces on the defensive line, Jeremy Gibbs, who recorded five tackles including a sack, plus a blocked field goal.
"Jeremy Gibbs responded with a great effort in his first outing as a Duck," praised Bellotti of Gibbs' efforts against Stanford. "He should have been player of the week."
Like Stanford, FSU boasts a stable of tall, fast receivers, particularly senior Paul Williams, 6-2, 210, a player many believe will be a 1st round NFL draft pick next year. Williams had two catches for 22 yards last week against Nevada but last year was better in Eugene when he enjoyed a big day with five catches for 122 yards and a touchdown.
However, the key question that still remains is whether Stewart will play on Saturday. By all indications according to Bellotti, things look good for Stewart to be on the field. Bellotti reported that the swelling in Stewart's right ankle is down and while there is some stiffness, Bellotti believes the stiffness can worked out. The coach anticipates Stewart will practice on Wednesday in some fashion and will be good to go for the game. Even if Stewart is not 100 percent by game time, the Ducks have another weapon in the form of Jeremiah Johnson, who had a very good day on Saturday picking up 79 yards on 10 carries with a long of 56 yards and scored one touchdown.
"Jeremiah may have to be the guy starting this week," Bellotti mentioned in the case Stewart is not totally ready. "I think he's (Johnson) prepared to do that."
A healthy Jonathan Stewart makes a trip to a hot Bulldog Stadium at Fresno State University on Saturday a lot more appetizing for Oregon Head Coach Mike Bellotti. The Ducks top man hopes what Stewart, the team's trainers and doctors are telling him is true. Bellotti indicated on Tuesday that Stewart should be available when Oregon takes on Fresno State this Saturday night.
"He (Stewart) feels, along with our trainers and doctors that he'll be fine and totally ready to play," said Bellotti during the Pac-10 media conference. "That excites me obviously because he's a big factor in what we do offensively."
Stewart ran for nearly 170 yards and scored twice in just three-quarters of play last Saturday against Stanford.
Bellotti answered questions during his weekly media conference and the Pac-10 media conference and asserted that his star running back was making fast progress in healing a slightly sprained ankle suffered near the end of the third quarter in Oregon's 48-10 victory over Stanford at Autzen Stadium last weekend. Stewart, making his first start as a Duck ran for 168 yards on 22 carries and crossing the goal line twice in an impressive performance before a national television audience.
Oregon travels to Fresno State this weekend to take on the Bulldogs who are fresh off a 28-19 home win over Nevada last Friday night. This will be the fifth time Bellotti has faced Fresno State as head coach and has been victorious in all four of the previous meetings with the latest being a 37-34 thriller last year at Autzen. This week's game will be carried live on a regional basis by ESPN2, but Bellotti thinks the FSU-Oregon series is TV-worthy and he'd like to see rivalry continue. The Oregon head coach believes the weather will be hot and that there will be high emotions running through the Fresno State crowd when the Ducks take the field on Saturday night. Any thought that he is overlooking FSU and towards Oregon's showdown with Oklahoma the following week, was quickly dismissed.
"The Fresno series consumes me and concerns me the most," responded Bellotti to a question of how he is preparing his team for FSU and Oklahoma. "I don't talk about who we play next (after game coming up)."
While many of the Duck faithful may still be basking in the one-sided victory the Ducks enjoyed last Saturday, Bellotti has quickly moved on, as he is not entirely certain how good Stanford was in that opening game. A better test could well come this week as FSU presents an outstanding running game featuring a big back, Dwayne Wright, who racked up 158 yards against Nevada. Bellotti thinks that FSU fields a solid running game and that Wright will have a big, experienced offensive line anchored by center Kyle Young to operate behind. Wright was named WAC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Nevada.
"Their (FSU) offensive line returns 4 out of 5 starters led by Kyle Young, their 330-pound center," "He (Wright) might be the biggest center in the United States, he's also one of the most talented."
Bellotti went on to say how FSU is committed to the run and employ a 260-pound tight end (Bear Pascoe), a 220-pound tailback (Wright) that runs with a great deal of power. The Oregon head coach thinks FSU runs a lot of "downhill plays," meaning that the direction of the run is straightforward. The coach specifically noted how impressed he is with how the FSU line blocks.
"They are very aggressive," Bellotti said of the FSU line. "They utilize zone blocking schemes to the max and do a very good job."
The challenge that the Fresno State running game presents to the Oregon defense could be the best indication of how this season projects for the Ducks. Last week, Stanford was unable to establish a running game against Oregon and consequently one of the key factors that the Cardinal wanted to utilize -- play action, did not work. Last season, when the Ducks had one of the best run-defenses in school history, the Bulldogs were held to 112 yards of rushing but gave up 418 yards of passing. Gone from last year's FSU roster is Paul Pinegar as signal caller but Tom Brandstater is this year's quarterback, and he had a respectable 124 yards and a touchdown toss in his first start against Nevada.
The question then seems to be how well will the smaller but quick and physical Oregon defensive front fare against FSU?
During the Pac-10 media conference, Stanford's Walt Harris offered that the Oregon defensive front is better than last year's because it is faster. Harris should know as his quarterback, Trend Edwards is considered by many to be the best in the conference and was held to 20-of-34 for 234 yards and a solo touchdown. Only Edwards scrambling ability kept him from being sacked more than the three times that was recorded. Bellotti gave high marks to one of the new faces on the defensive line, Jeremy Gibbs, who recorded five tackles including a sack, plus a blocked field goal.
"Jeremy Gibbs responded with a great effort in his first outing as a Duck," praised Bellotti of Gibbs' efforts against Stanford. "He should have been player of the week."
Like Stanford, FSU boasts a stable of tall, fast receivers, particularly senior Paul Williams, 6-2, 210, a player many believe will be a 1st round NFL draft pick next year. Williams had two catches for 22 yards last week against Nevada but last year was better in Eugene when he enjoyed a big day with five catches for 122 yards and a touchdown.
However, the key question that still remains is whether Stewart will play on Saturday. By all indications according to Bellotti, things look good for Stewart to be on the field. Bellotti reported that the swelling in Stewart's right ankle is down and while there is some stiffness, Bellotti believes the stiffness can worked out. The coach anticipates Stewart will practice on Wednesday in some fashion and will be good to go for the game. Even if Stewart is not 100 percent by game time, the Ducks have another weapon in the form of Jeremiah Johnson, who had a very good day on Saturday picking up 79 yards on 10 carries with a long of 56 yards and scored one touchdown.
"Jeremiah may have to be the guy starting this week," Bellotti mentioned in the case Stewart is not totally ready. "I think he's (Johnson) prepared to do that."
RSMS9999
The Prodigy
I agree the line is falling because of stewarts injury. Behind Jeremiah Johnson, there is just a walk on rb because our third string transferred to UTEP right before the season started. Also, Stewart is one of if ot the best kick return man in the nation, leading the ncaa in return yard average last year, and returnign his only kick last week 54 yards. THe injury also takes away stewart in the return game which should also be important.
Aztec4Life
Montezuma Mesa Survivor
Palko -38.5 Passing Yards vs Grutza (-180) ($400)
Holy crap Horn! Awesome prop bet man! You'd think with Cinci's dual headed QB situation, it should have been closer to -70 passing yards. Again...great call/hit, and best of luck today!! :cheers:
Holy crap Horn! Awesome prop bet man! You'd think with Cinci's dual headed QB situation, it should have been closer to -70 passing yards. Again...great call/hit, and best of luck today!! :cheers:
TroyStacks
18" Pythons
imoh in flag football. that kid def had talent to make it pro. funny how a kid goes from all star at robinson hs and all state to all conference at tech puts up great numbers and lets his attitude screw him out of the nfl what a fucking joke.....
Yanks27Sox9
CTG Partner
BOL today, Horn
Enjoy the festivites, bro.:shake:
:drink:
Enjoy the festivites, bro.:shake:
:drink:
Sparky1019
Pretty much a regular
BOL Horn :shake: :beer:
