From The Sidelines

The Yearly Portrait

2012-02-16T20:53:00.002-05:00

We got a few new faces this year...as well as a few old timers who look flat out miserable to be there (I'm looking at you, Spurrier, trying to shrug off handsy Uncle Mike). Things that stand out to me: Gary Pinkel looks hungover and just chomping at the bit for a bloody mary; does Muschamp where a black leather jacket? You're god damn right he does; Petrino where's a dickie; Hugh Freeze looks like he has a mild intellectual disability. From TeamSpeedKills:

With a name like Tanner Brock...

2012-02-15T15:03:00.002-05:00

...you know he's: a) Texan b) a football player c) specifically, a linebacker or quarterback and d) on or selling drugs (link form edsbs). The star Horned Frog was just one of four TCU players netted in an anti-drug sting operation that led to 17 overall arrests. From Doc Saturday:

"The arrests were the result of a six-month investigation by the Fort Worth police department and campus police after students and several parents had called into the authorities with tips.
According to TCU Chief of Police Steve McGee, the drugs being sold were marijuana, cocaine, the club drug "molly" (some in powder form, some in pill form), acid and prescription drugs including Xanex, hydrocodone and others similar to OxyContin. They were sold to undercover officers, among others, during hand-to-hand transactions."

Well done, Tanner. See, this is how you celebrate stepping up to the big time; as soon as your new BCS conference schedule's announced, you lose four players to drug charges. We call it the Miami dichotomy. I can't wait to see how the Frogs blow up the Fulmer Cup standings.

A Note on USC.

2012-02-15T11:23:00.001-05:00

In all likelihood, Matt Barkley's Trojans will be ranked in the top-3 headed into 2012. If they take care of business, they should get a shot at the national title, and bringing home the trophy would more than validate the rising senior's decision to return to USC. Honestly, I'm beginning to think of the Trojans as my solid number one for the preseason. They always have talent across the O-line, so their golden boy will be protected, and he's got great young receivers in Lee and Woods to throw to in what should be the nation's dominant passing offense. The running back spot might seem a little less established with Curtis McNeal competing against some underclassmen, but rest assured that whoever established them self at starter will be a great compliment to the pass game. The defense is a little lacking, finishing at 54th overall, but that was mainly due to a sieve like secondary, manned by two sophomores and a freshman, that gave up passing yards in chunks. This season, with some experience under their belt, things should be more tightened-up. It will also help that Stanford and Oregon will not be the offensive powerhouses they were in 2011. Honestly, the most likely stumbling block to the Trojans' success is probably their head-coach. He is always a potential hazard it's not implausible for him to do something to ruin the season in Southland. But even Junior seemed a little more even keeled, a little more tight -lipped, and - dare I say it - increasingly competent over the back half of last season. All in all, I think it could translate to a great year in L.A.

Also, never, ever, feel bad for Matt Barkley:

(Twitter)

Signing Day's Eve

2012-01-31T21:28:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the first signing day under the new cap for the SEC...but it hasn't really seemed to hurt the most serious violators Saban has talked solid recruits from out of state to ostensibly gray shirt and sit out a year waiting to play in T-town. While not a technical, official signing letter gray shirt, it'll have the same effect if the kid sits out and refuses to play anywhere else. LSU - not a serial cap hog, but always a recruiting powerhouse - has seemed unfazed, winning recruiting battles against everyone around them. Who's hurting as we look ahead to tomorrow? Who do you think? Georgia. The Dawgs' haul is average at best and we don't look to be on the cusp of any upsets tomorrow. Remember when we won ten games in a row? Well, so do a handful of two and three star recruits. Remember losing to Boise, SoCar, LSU, and Michigan State? Well, so do a bunch of four and five star players. There's still hope for a couple big fish, though. Jaquay Williams from Sandy Creek will announce around 8:30 am and there's still an outside shot he'll pick the in-state Dawgs. And, we still have hope for the state's best recruit, Josh Harvey-Clemons. Rumors out of Valdosta today are that the Clemons family was spotted buying red and black streamers at Party City this afternoon...that could be very good news. He'll make his announcement at 9:15 and could really help move this class up to the next level. There's also time to flip the commitment of Josh Dawson from Nashville to Athens, but don't hold your breath.

R.I.P Joe Paterno

2012-01-22T21:28:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure what to even say. Paterno is an icon; a symbol of everything that college football was and is. But now, his entire image is tainted. Anyone discerning person with a conscience will forever affix a figurative asterisk to everything the man ever did, and, in the end, that will be JoePa's legacy. Did he have an amazing career and almost single-handedly bring Penn State - not just the football program but the entire university - to prominence? Yes. Will we ever forget the Sandusky scandal and what someone we once thought a great man did? Absolutely not. Either way, the black shoes are finally hung-up forever and college football has lost one of its most dominant presences. So, rest in peace, Joe; my thoughts are with your family and I hope the university you loved so much recovers, as does this whole sport, of which you were such an important part.

I Couldn't Work for Spurrier

2012-01-18T18:28:00.000-05:00

According to Josh Kendall, a South Carolina sports writer, Steve Spurrier made some olff the cuff comments about his unwritten criteria for members of his coaching staff. Kendall released some of the key criteria in a series of tweets today and after reading them, I realized Steve Spurrier would never hire me.

"Asked Steve Spurrier criteria for hiring asst. coach. Second on list: "non-smokers" Why? "Because it's stupid. Smoking is stupid."

"In addition to looking for non-smokers, Steve Spurrier says he doesn't want "fat, sloppy guys" as assistant coaches."

"Sorry no link yet but Spurrier story also details why he likes married coaches more than single ones. You'll like that one, too."

Well, that knocks a fat, unmarried smoke like me right out of the running. He may as well throw-in "unmotivated" and "binge drinking" as detractors, too. And before you start telling me that my actual football knowledge and experience would have washed me out way sooner than my personal characteristics, I'll direct you to the on-field success of one Ace Journeyman. Your loss, Steve.

Wrapping Up

2012-01-16T10:49:00.001-05:00

Well, it's been a week since the title game and I figured it was finally time to swing back by here and start the off-season process. We're only three weeks from signing day, so we need to officially cap this year off with a final top-25 and start some way-too-early looks ahead to next season.

Top-25 Here's the final FTS rankings for 2011. I went with 'Bama at number one, unchallenged, after their BCS Title game win. There performance was just dominant. It helped that Jordan Jefferson just looked confused and frustrated all night long, but no one can argue the Tide's near perfection on the defensive side of the ball. LSU drops to number two, staying ahead of Oklahoma State who needed a Stanford combo of poor decision making/bad kicking to win in OT. If you compare the resumes, there's nothing to discuss. Period. The Cowboys lost to Iowa State; LSU lost to Alabama. The Cowboys beat Oklahoma; LSU beat Alabama. The rematch makes the BCS math a little trickier. I the computers were still crunching numbers, Alabama and LSU would be one-two, but by a larger margin than before thanks to the rematch, 'Bama would get a huge boost for beating the number one team, who already got a boost from beating Alabama. If they played again, thanks to that bump, I'd gamble they'd stay one-two, as the numbers on who they've beaten would be enough to absorb the extra loss since it was still a loss to one of those two teams. Deep, huh?

Next up is the PAC-12 knot. It's basically a three-way tie, with Oregon taking the higher spot for that dominant Rose Bowl win. Stanford choked in their bowl, but at least they got to play in one, unlike USC. Arkansas gets the next spot, and you could argue for them be higher, busting up the west-coast three way ahead of them. Boise State gets a very Boise-like ranking at eight, while Wisconsin and South Carolina round out the top-10.

Kansas State is the second highest ranked Big-12 team, coming in at 12, right behind a very solid Michigan State. Baylor and their traveling laser show end up in the top-15. Oklahoma sits at 15. I know the Sooners destroyed K-State, but this isn't the same OU team. You can always just watch the malaise set-in over the Sooners over the second half of almost every season. One regular season loss and they just kind of curl up.

Beyond that, it's 'throw-it-up-and-see-what-sticks' situation. West Virginia gets a bump thanks to the 70-points they dropped on Clemson. Conference foes Clemson and VA Tech get coupled at 20. and 21. and three little guys finish out the top-25: BYU, Cincy, and No. Ill. The Bearcats could arguable be higher, but that blowout loss to Tennessee earlier just looks ugly now and Vanderbilt isn't a stringent enough cleanser to take that stain away.

Looking Ahead Let's get right back into it, shall we? Even when you look at who left early, there's not a lot of drop of for LSU and Alabama. But, we saw this with 'Bama after '09 and Arkansas will have a lot to say in the SEC Western division next season. I have a sneaking suspicion that we will see the end of the SEC's string of national titles, unless an overrated Georgia team with an inflated record wins the SEC CG and the BCS CG - which trust me, as a Georgia fan, I can tell you, will NOT happen. So, who replaces them in the void? A perennial contender? Maybe. But my money's out west. No one survives the SEC unbeaten, USC and Oklahoma play for the national title, highest rated SEC team ends up number two. Here's an early top-12 for 2012.

USC
Alabama
Oklahoma
Arkansas
LSU
Oregon
TCU
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Georgia
Virginia Tech
South Carolina

Whoever emerges from the SEC East will be served up in Atlanta to the West champ - much like UGA-LSU this season. The Dawgs will have a great defense and a VERY EASY schedule, but could wrap their season up with two losses again (SEC CG and a bowl). South Carolina will again have a good season and I see them finishing strongly with wins over Clemson and in a bowl. Wisconsin loses Wilson, but they still have Ball so they could very easily get to a third Rose Bowl. West Virginia seems a little high, but we've seen what happens when Smith clicks in Holgo's air raid and there won't be all the off-season drama in Morgantown. I see a much more focused 'Neers squad. Virginia Tech? Why not.

While we're at it, let's take a look at some key players who could be headed to NYC at season's end.

Montee Ball
Matt Barkley
Tyler Wilson
Braxton Miller
Marcus Lattimore
Kenjon Barner/De'anthony Thomas
Denard Robinson
Geno Smith
Landry Jones
Eddie Lacy

Bowl Picks - Conclusion

2011-12-29T10:59:00.000-05:00

Well, here's the last of the true college football action for the 2011 season. By January 10th, we will have crowned this year's BCS champ, know who won what, and be picking over the final polls. I do love bowl season, but I hate to see it come every year, as it brings the end of the season, and I really hate to see it go, leaving us college football-less once again. I've put the GoDaddy.com and Compass bowls first - I think we all know why - and then picked the New Year's games and lastly, the BCS bowls. It's the last official prognostication from FTS for this season, so enjoy.

Compass Bowl - May as well be the Inconsistency Bowl. With what's happened in Pittsburgh, it would make sense to take SMU, but remeber June Jones' 'just the tip' moment with Arizona State. I think the Panthers will be angry - very angry - and will have enough in them to top the 'Stangs. Pitt 27, SMU 20.

GoDaddy.com Bowl - Don't overlook this one. Granted, I do hate the middies sneaking their bowls up in the schedule, but that won't dampen the fireworks. These are to streaking teams and logic says to go with the Wolves, but my gut says take the firepower from up north. No.Ill 33, Arkansas State 28.

New Year's Bowls:

Ticket City - Wow. Even with Sumlin leaving Houston, it's hard to go with the dumpster fire in State College. There's going to be chaos on both sidelines, but, for some reason, I'm going with the skill of Keenum. Despite the skill of Penn State's defense, I think the Cougs can still put up enough points. Houston 29, Penn State 28.

Outback - I know both teams lost their conference championship games, but I think one's taking it better than the other. While Sparty was still talking about how close they were to the Rose Bowl, the Georgia players were already enjoying their Outback blowout and talking about how much fun Tampa was gonna be. Michigan State has a more than capable defense, but so does Georgia, and I think it'll be harder to stop Murray than Cousins. Take the Dawgs to cover, Georgia 30, Michigan State 16.

Capital One - This is a tough, tough, game to pick. Without Lattimore, South Carolina's a scary pick. But, there's something else to this game. I don't see either team really setting off the offensive fireworks, which means it could be a hard-fought, low-scoring affair. And nobody can drag an opponent down into the muck and beat 'em like South Carolina. Look for a key defensive TD to tun things for the Gamecocks, South Carolina 21, Nebraska 19.

Gator - Another tough one to pick. Originally, I was using Ohio State's performance against Michigan as my measurement for picking the Bucks. But then I remembered 2006. So, even though I promised I wouldn't do it, I'm calling for the SEC sweep on Jan. 2, Florida 21, Ohio State 20.

Cotton - And the sweep will continue through Jan. 6...but be careful of that 8 point spread. I'm taking the Hawgs, but close: Arkansas 32, Kansas State 27.

BCS Bowls:

Rose - I love Russel Wilson and Montee Ball; look for the two of them to give Oregon's defense fits. However, while the Badger defense has been solid all year, I don't see them being able to slow down the Ducks' high-powered run game. It'll be fun to watch early, but Oregon will pull away late, Oregon 37, Wisconsin 29.

Fiesta - Stanford has talent and Andrew luck is an able leader, but the Cardinal is just not as battle tested as the Cowboys. It ought to be a shootout, but I'm taking the Poke's resume to life them, Oklahoma State 41, Stanford 31.

Orange - Be wise, take the points. Clemson 28, West Virginia 27.

Sugar - While the Orange Bowl is probably the least interesting match-up, this one is the most questionable. VA Tech's limping in after being embarrassed by Clemson and Michigan slides in with two-losses and without having played in their conference title game. Clemson is the only team we've seen beat Va Tech, but we've seen Michigan come out flat on occasion, as well. I'm hoping both come out hot, but calling for three shootouts in five BCS bowls is wishful thinking. Look for defenses to overshadow the contest, Virginia Tech 19, Michigan 17.

BCS Championship - The Rematch. LSU's had a tougher slate down the stretch and could be more prepared for the big game, but it's hard for me to pick against Alabama. They outplayed the Tigers offensively last time, but came up short on special teams - don't look for that to happen twice. Look for more than 15 points in this one and never give Nick Saban a second chance: Alabama 21, LSU 16.

A Look Back - BCS Bowl Predictions

2011-12-25T10:14:00.000-05:00

Here's a simple one to kill some yule-time this morning. How did my predicted BCS bowl bids compare to the actual match-ups? Take a look:

Well, the rematch threw everybody off, I'd bet, since most folks put the second best SEC team in the Sugar Bowl. Of the ten teams that get BCS bids, I got five of them right: LSU, 'Bama, VA Tech, Oregon, and Wisky - but Alabama and Wisconsin were the only teams I got in the right spot. The fact there was no BCS-buster shot me (picking Houston) and everybody else (picking Boise State) in the foot. And who really thought the ACC would get two BCS bids?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM FTS!

2011-12-25T00:07:00.002-05:00

A Look Back - Conference Predictions

2011-12-25T00:04:00.001-05:00

So far, we've reviewed how my summer preseason picks stacked up to the actual season results. Today (well, actually a couple days ago, as this post is scheduled for Xmas and I won't be blogging that day), we'll look at how accurate my prognostications were in the conference blasts. The easiest way I could think of was to make a table matching my picks against the actual end-of-the-year conference standings. I'll comment below:

Now for the commentary.

The Big East: Pretty much the only thing I got right was West Virginia being in the mix. I had the 'Neers getting edged by the Bulls in the end, though. Louisville and Cincy were both surprises, as I had them near the bottom of my preseason standings.
The Big 12: What a LOL-fest. First, I had Texas winning, but in August I finalized my pick with Oklahoma winning the league. Still wrong. I put too much faith in Texas A&M (even giving them a good shot at an at-large bid) and not enough in OK State who really stepped up this season. Once again, there were two surprises: Kansas State and Baylor, who I had at 5th and 8th, respectively.
ACC Atlantic: Close enough...except for Wake.
ACC Coastal: More than close enough. I mean, who saw this Virginia team coming?
B1G Legends: Sparty did a much better job building on 2010 than I predicted. I thought Nebraska would have a much better season, maybe even getting an at large BCS bid. Instead, Michigan - who I picked for five losses - snuck into the Sugar Bowl.
B1G Leaders: NAILED IT.
PAC-12 South: OK, but who saw that weird shit coming? /Neuheisel'd.
PAC-12 North: Again, NAILED IT.
SEC West: This whole rematch business helps me out a bit, because I did call for 'Bama in the BCS title game. But I did not see LSU beating the Tide in T-town. I'd call it close enough if weren't for the gross overvaluing of Dan Mullen and Chris Relf; the Other Bulldogs really let me down.
SEC East: HAHAHA. I picked Georgia to start 2-0 and then fall apart. Then the opposite happened while Florida skidded through at 6-6. Meanwhile, Tennessee took a step back and Vandy surged forward. I was all kinds of wrong.

My Big-12 and SEC East picks were just straight dumpster fires. Beyond that, it's not too terrible. Next up, we'll finish up the look-backs by comparing the FTS Preseason Top-25 to the final AP rankings...should be fun!

A Look Back - Big Game Predictions II

2011-12-23T14:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we looked back at how accurate my summer non-conference predictions were for ten big games. They weren't too bad overall, but I definitely missed out on some big ones . Today, we're gonna revisit the preseason picks I made in twelve big conference clashes. The original post is here if you wanna re-familiarize yourself with what I said back in June.

Oregon at Stanford - original pick: Oregon 34, Staford 24 - actual outcome: Oregon, 53-30.
- Right pick, but with the wrong supporting details. Obviously, I thought Oregon was going to be better in '11 than they've turned out to be - I had them picked for the title game. And I didn't think Stanford would end up with just one loss. But, everything in this game just screamed a Ducks win...even way back in June.

LSU at Alabama - original pick: Alabama 27, LSU 19 - actual outcome: LSU, 9-6.
- Wrong pick, but right about one thing: 'Bama playing in the BCS CG. I don't think anyone was picking this game to be touchdown-less, but my score prediction way as well have been 40-38.

Nebraska at Wisconsin - original pick: Wisky 23, Nebraska 20 - actual outcome: Wisconsin, 48-17.
- I saw Wisconsin being good; I didn't see them being this good in this game.

Texas-Oklahoma (Dallas) - original pick: Texas 30, Oklahoma 20 - actual outcome: Oklahoma, 55-17.
- By far the worst pick I made and it concerns the team I put the most misplaced faith into, Texas. Not only was I wrong about the winner and way off on the score, I was wrong about personnel. Back in June, I said, "Gilbert will be comfortable by the RRR." Wow, what a terrible, terrible prediction. This game was a massacre and I completely whiffed on it. I did predict Oklahoma fairly accurately, though.

TCU at Boise St - original pick: Boise State 20, TCU 17 - actual outcome: TCU, 36-35.
- Wrong. It did come down to the kick game, though.

Arkansas-Alabama - original pick: Alabama 31, Arkansas 23 - actual outcome: Alabama, 38-14.
Right, but I was scared to call for Arkansas to score lower than 20 points. This 'Bama defense is good.

Clemson at Virginia Tech - original pick: VA Tech 31, Clemson 20 - actual outcome: Clemson, 23-3.
- Wrong, but who honestly saw Clemson starting the season 7-0? I think this is one my most regrettable lines from all of the preseason picks: "The Hokies could be a very serious contender next year." Lol.

Arizona State at UCLA - original pick: UCLA 23, Arizona State 21 - actual outcome: UCLA, 29-28.
- Right! And who else was giving the Bruins any credit this preseason? It was pretty obvious this would decide the Pac-12 South, since USC was banned, but I honestly thought both teams would have slightly better records. Oh well.

Michigan State at Nebraska - original pick: Wisconsin 37, Michigan State 20 - actual outcome: Sparty, 37-31.
- Wrong. Damn you, Hail Marys.

West Virginia at USF - original pick: USF 30, WVU 26 - actual outcome: WVU, 30-27.
- Wrong. But only a fool puts faith in any Big East picks, preseason or otherwise.

Florida State at Clemson - original pick: Clemson 16, FSU 14 - actual outcome: Clemson, 35-30.
- Right. I might not have seen Clemson's early season success coming, but I did see the 'Noles slipping in this one...granted, I thought it would be because of their big heads coming after beating Oklahoma (see yesterday's post).

Utah at USC - original pick: USC 40, Utah 20 - actual outcome: USC, 23-14.
- Not the beatdown I predicted, but it still counts.

So, 6-6 overall. Ouch. My preseason thoughts on Texas have to be, by far, the biggest dud from my summer predictions and it showed in the RRR pick. In fact, the Big 12 was really the weakest of all the prognostication I did back in june and July, but we'll get more into that in the next few days.

Nice.

2011-12-22T21:07:00.000-05:00

A Look Back - Big Game Predictions

2011-12-22T09:09:00.000-05:00

Every summer, I do my pre-season picks, predictions, and polls in preparation for the upcoming season. And at the end of every regular season, I look back through it and laugh at how terrible I am at all of this. I always mean to officially revisit it in a blog post to wrap up the year, but either forget or lose the energy. Well, I think I've found the perfect solution. I'm going to break down my preseason prognostications into several blog posts, looking back on big non-conf. game predictions in this one, conf.-games. in one, conference standings in another, and my preseason poll in the last.

Back in June, I posted two sets of picks, one calling the big non-conference games for 2011 and another where I did conference games. Let's start with the nonconference games, first.

1. Oklahoma at Florida State - original pick: FSU 30, Oklahoma 24 - actual outcome: Oklahoma 23-13
- Wrong. Both teams ended up with disappointing years; I saw OU's coming, but apparently drank the kool-aid flowing out of Tallahassee.

2. Oregon-LSU (Arlington, TX) - original pick: Oregon 29, LSU 27 - actual outcome:Oregon 40-27
- Super wrong. I obviously didn't see the Tigers' season coming before this game kicked-off. The defense out-athleted an fast Oregon squad and created enough turnovers to keep the Ducks out of it. It only took this game for most of us to see how scary LSU was going to be.

3. Boise State-Georgia (Atlanta) - original pick: Georgia 34, Boise State 24 - actual outcome: Boise State, 35-21
- Wrong again. OK, I admit it, I rode the homer wagon to this pick. I would like another shot at the Broncos now, though...

4. Alabama at Penn State - original pick: Bama 27, Penn State 6 - actual outcome: Alabama, 27-11
- Pretty dead on, actually. And NO ONE saw the news that was about to break out of State College a few weeks later.

5. Arkansas - Texas A&M (Arlington, TX) - original pick: Arkansas 38, Texas A&M 30 - actual outcome: Arkansas, 42-38
- Not bad.

6. Auburn at Clemson - original pick: Clemson 29, Auburn 24 - actual outcome: Clemson, 38-24
- Here we go, picking up some steam now. Admittedly, I didn't foresee Clemson having the start to their season that they did, but I did call Auburn's loss.

7. LSU-WVU - original pick: LSU 20, West Virginia 13 - actual outcome: LSU 47-21
- Technically right. But, once again, I wasn't picking the Tigers to be the beasts they turned out to be this year.

8. Arizona at Oklahoma State - original pick: OK State 37, Arizona 24 - actual outcome: Oklahoma State, 37-14
- Not too bad, I just gave Arizona too much credit. I think a lot of people did, actually.

9. San Diego State at Michigan - original pick: Michigan 34, SDSU 27 - actual outcome: Michigan, 28-7
- Why I thought this was one of the ten biggest games is beyond me now. I knew Shoelace was going to be great again this year, but I didn't think some of the other parts would click so quickly.

10. Texas at UCLA - original pick: Texas 21, UCLA 13 - actual outcome: Texas, 49-21
- Once again, technically right. I just underestimated the firepower.

So, 7-3 overall. Not too bad at first glance, but I was obviously off when it came to the tone of some of these match-ups or how successful some of these teams would be. Tomorrow, we'll revisit the games I picked as the biggest conference clashes of the year.

Bowl Picks, Part II

2011-12-22T08:28:00.001-05:00

So far, I'm 2-3 in my bowl picks, but I've been pretty successful in calling the tone of the games. I went with the favorites by one point margins in Utah State and SDSU and they ended losing by one and two points respectively. Not only that, but I've been fairly spot-on in what the scores have been. So, I'm close; I've just been scared to pull the upset trigger, I guess. Well, not anymore. Below is the bowl slate through New Year's Eve. Most of the spreads are sub-3.5, so we're talking glorified pick 'ems, here. It's been a challenge to my prognostication skills, but I've made picks for each match-up...some of them pretty 'out there' picks, too. By the way, had I been betting against the spread this bowl season, I'd by 5-0...keep that in mind if you're looking for some gambling advice this holiday season.

Independence Bowl - Everett Withers' bags are packed and his caps set for Columbus. Larry Fedora's waiting in the wings. The Tar Heels are somewhere in the middle, most likely distracted. Missouri, on the other hand, has some positive excitement around their team. They're riding in on four straight wins and almost knocked off RGIII and Baylor the week before the streak began. Plus, I like them to make a statement headed into their new conference, Missouri 29, North Carolina 24.

Little Caesar's Bowl - Ah, beautiful Detroit (/dodges stray gunfire). Purdue has had some solid wins this year...but they had some dreadful losses, too. It's always hard to go against the big boy when you get to these kids of match-ups, but I'm not ready to say the Boilermakers have turned the corner yet and Western Michigan can actually be a pretty good team at times, too. Their air raid usually runs like a dream under Alex Carder and their defense should be able to hang with a Purdue offense missing their leading rusher. The Broncos get their first bowl win, Western Michigan 30, Purdue 21.

Belk Bowl - Charlie Strong has done a great job with the Cardinals, taking a team predicted for last in the Big East and almost getting to a BCS game. Tom O'Brien is an idiot who ran-off Russell Wilson but whose team somehow fell ass-backwards into seven wins. Talent wise, the Wolfpack have the edge, but Louisville is the definition of pesky and they love to cover. It's only a 2.5 point spread, so you might want to go all out on the Cardinals. I won't though; call it cowardly, but I'' take the 'Pack, NCSt. 27, Lousiville 26.

Military Bowl - Neither Toledo nor Air Force will meet their ridiculous scoring averages in this game. Triple options are easier to figure out with extra time to prepare, but Tim Beckman already has his ticket punched to Champaign and I don't see his charges being too focused. Not only that, but Air Force should be able to keep the ball away from the Rockets long enough to disrupt Toledo's rhythm. Air Force reps the bowl's namesake well, AF 20, Toledo 16.

Holiday Bowl - All signs here point to Cal: Texas is very young, the 'Horns struggle at QB, the game's in Cali, and the Bears have played well the last four games, including taking Stanford to the wire. But I'm not reading the signs. The young Longhorns and their two new coordinators have had three weeks to prepare and McCoy has emerged as the go-to kid. Cal's simply out of excuses. Tedford has done some great things in Berkeley, but you've got to wonder if it's enough for the new Pac-12. I'll take the mistake prone young 'uns over the mediocre and unmotivated west-coasters, Texas 24, Cal 17.

Champs Sports Bowl - OH MY GOD, THE DREAM MATCH-UP, FSU-NOTRE DAME! Oh yeah, it's not 1992 anymore. Sorry. These teams have become fairly irrelevant the past decade, so it's fitting they'd get matched-up in a bowl. In a showdown to see who's more insignificant, I'll take the better defense. The Noles should hassle Rees and contain Wood en route to a boring win. At least one of the 'Noles few TD's will come of a pick-six, FSU 21, Notre Dame 17.

Alamo Bowl - You know how Heisman winners sometimes lay an egg in the bowl? Well, not this time. Washington is a scrappy team and the Shark has the, at least turned in the right direction, but none of that can make up for the lack of talent in that 115th ranked secondary. RGIII should have a field day. The Bears D isn't great either, but I'll take the man in the Superman socks in a shootout, Baylor 38, Washington 30.

Armed Forces Bowl - Nothing pays homage to our armed forces like Mormons and Okies. I have no real 'feel' for this game. My gut went Tulsa first, but the Hurricane have wilted against any true test this season and BYU's had some impressive wins down the stretch. I know it will be high scoring, but beyond that, I'm very unsure. I'd flip a coin, but I don't have one on me, so I'll go with the 'Cougs no.19 defensive ranking, BYU 31, Tulsa 28.

Pinstripe Bowl - How is Rutgers favored in this bowl? Surely it's not the 'home' field advantage of NYC, is it? Does Rutgers have any real fans who go to games? If so, do they really want to see this game? Despite the time zone, cold weather, 'hostile' crowd, or whatever the bookies dreamed up as the Knights' advantage, I'll go with the battle hardened boys from Ames. They played three ranked teams in a row to end the season (including the upset win over OK State), and will be ready for this bowl. Rutgers does have a solid D, but their resume doesn't hold up. Take the Cyclones and the points, Iowa State 27, Rutgers 17.

Music City Bowl - I don't have much to say about this snoozer other than go with the SEC for the win, but take the seven points, MSU 20, Wake 17.

Insight Bowl - Which Oklahoma team will show up? If it's the focused Sooners, they'll cruise. If Big Game Bob's had too much time to get in their heads, they'll limp to a win. Needless to say, I don't ever put my faith in a Stoops and 16 points is a ridiculous spread with a ground and pound team like Iowa. The Hawkeyes are outclassed, but Marcus Coker could keep them in it at least through halftime. Sooners win, but take the points, OU 30, Iowa 20.

Meineke Car Care Bowl - Kevin Sumlin will give A&M the shot in the arm they need...just not in time for the bowl. Northwestern is not a team to overlook (ask Auburn) and Persa should be completely healthy and ready for the showdown. He's a 70+% passer who takes care of the ball and will keep his team in it late. I will say that I don't see a Sherman-esque second half collapse in this one for A&M, but 11 points is too big for this game. Aggies end on a high-note, but it'll be hard fought, Texas A&M 30, Northwestern 23.

Sun Bowl - Always go against Tech when the opponent gets time to prepare. Utah 20, Georgia Tech 19.

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl - Is there any motivation here? Illinois fell apart after a good start and they showed Zook the door. UCLA stumbles into a bowl with a 6-7 record and is also newly coach-less. Both programs have made hires to fill their respective voids, but it won't be enough to take effect by NYE. In the end, I like the Illini defense and the play of QB Nathan Scheelhaase, Illinois 27, UCLA 19.

Liberty Bowl - I like Vandy in this one. Sure, Cincy has a good defense and a great QB, but they also came too close to a BCS bid to get fired up for this one. The 'Dores, though, don't get that many pre-season shots and they'll be damned if they blow this one. James Franklin has changed the attitude in this program and they'll be ready to show out down the road in Memphis. I'm taking a pumped-up, battle-tested Vandy squad, Vanderbilt 27, Cincinnati 22.

Chick-Fil-A Bowl - I'd like to pick Auburn, but it's a risky call here.Their QB situation is shaky, their best rusher is suspended for the game, their OC is bound for Arky State, their DC is at home in Orlando, and their defense is ranked 80th in cfb. Mix that with a upstart and excited opponent like Virginia, and it could be a long day for the Tigers. BUT, Virginia's not a sure thing by any stretch of the imagination. They're mediocre in pretty much every category and the last time we saw them play they were torched by VA Tech, 38-0. I know I've touted focus and motivation in a lot of these picks, but this one's a nod to athleticism, of which Onterio McCalebb and Tre Mason have tons. Look for long runs and kick/punt returns to boost the Tigers; call me crazy, Auburn 27, Virginia 24.

Bowl Picks, Part I

2011-12-16T16:43:00.000-05:00

SO MANY GAMES...

It's that time of year again: Bowl Season - the wild and wonderful - sometimes disappointing and confusing - way we wrap up the college football season. Sure it has it's flaws, but I don't see it changing anytime soon, so we may as well embrace the insanity. Personally, I think this year's slate is one of the better sets of bowls we've had in recent memory. Admittedly, there are some undeserving - or just plain uninteresting - teams in the mix, some weak spots schedule wise, or games that we already know will be boring affairs, but I do love the sport and I'll take it any way I can get it...especially with so much time to fill in the next couple of weeks. In the next week or so, I'll have up the second set of picks, but for now, here's what I'm thinking about the games between now and Christmas Eve.

New Mexico Bowl - Don't make fun, this is actually a nice starting match-up. Temple is a traditional ground-and-pound team with a great back in Bernard Pierce, while Wyoming's Brett Smith is a fun to watch, dual-threat QB. It should be a good game early, but I think the Owls can control the clock, keep the ball away from the Pokes for huge chunks of time late in the game, and maybe force a desperate mistake or two. Look for the run-game and a fourth quarter turnover to be the difference: Temple 30, Wyoming 21.

Idaho Potato Bowl - Here's another underrated gem. Ohio is a good football team - at least by MAC standards - led by another exciting dual-threat QB, Tyler Tettleton. They came up short in the MAC CG, so they should be fired up to get the win. Utah State's an up and down, albeit exciting, season; starting with the near-upset of Auburn to kickoff the season and including eight games decided by five or less points. They lost their star freshman half way through the year, but have a ground-churner in Rob Turbin. It'll be spread vs. spread, but I'll take the Aggies to pull it out, Utah State 27, Ohio 26.

New Orleans Bowl - San Diego State's a five point favorite here and RB Ronnie Hillman is a big reason why. He's a yardage machine and Louisiana-Lafayette will have a hard time containing him. But, the Ragin' Cajuns are playing in their own backyard and there could see some home-cooked voodoo in the air. I'll give it to the Aztecs, but take the points, SDSU 28, UL-L 27.

Beef O'Brady's Bowl - Another five-point spread. Honestly, Florida International and Marshall are two teams that it is very hard for me to get psyched-up about. Cristobal's done a great job with the Panthers program, but I've only seen them play once. The Hilton kid's a beast at receiver, but don't overlook the Herd's ability to clamp down defensively. It should be a lower scoring affair and is probably a game you could pass on, FIU 21, Marshall 19.

Poinsettia Bowl - Not even the nouveau riche Frogs should sleep on this Louisiana Tech squad. The Bulldogs started 1-4 (including a two-pointer to Southern Miss, a one-pointer to Houston, an overtime loss on the road at Mississippi State), but have won seven straight (including a win at Ole Miss) and are looking to pull a huge upset to get win number nine. TCU on the other hand might be a little upset about being left out of a big-boy bowl. That could either mean they'll be angry and focused or disappointed and sluggish. I'll call for the latter and say it'll take the Frogs a while to finally out the pesky Tech'ers away, TCU 30, LA Tech 20.

Las Vegas Bowl - Here we have yet another possibly disappointed and unfocused upset candidate. Boise State's one kick away from a possible BCS Title game berth and you can't tell me that's not hanging around the back of all the players' minds. I think the Broncos are definitely bitter. Will that be a motivator or a handicap? With a leader like Kellen Moore at the helm, I'll call it a wash. If Arizona State wasn't on a four-game skid or wasn't welcoming a new coach, I'd like the Devils' chances a bit more. As it is, though, take the Broncos. Boise State 37, Arizona State 20.

Hawaii Bowl - Ring in the birth of sweet little baby Jesus with this Christmas Eve classic between Southern Miss and Nevada. The Eagles are a six point fave, but their house is in total disarray and nothing quite appeases the volcano gods and island trash storms like an upset. The Eagles' coach has gone to baby blue-er pastures and their athletic director is on his way out; they might have superior talent, but they won't have any focus. I'm calling for the upset, Nevada 29, Southern Miss 27.

My Heisman Ballot

2011-12-10T19:12:00.000-05:00

The biggest award night is here and the five finalists are in NYC, awaiting the big announcement. This field is as good as I remember recently. From the Heisman website:

"For the fourth straight year, two Heisman finalists will face each other in the BCS National Championship Game as Tyrann Mathieu will go up against Trent Richardson on January 9, 2012.

Montee Ball is leading the nation with 1,759 rushing yards as well as 32 rushing touchdowns for Wisconsin. He holds second place all-time at UW with 60 career touchdowns and 54 career rushing touchdowns. He has the opportunity to join two other Badgers in this elite fraternity: Ron Dayne (1999) and Alan Ameche (1954).

Robert Griffin III has the opportunity to be the first player from Baylor to receive The Heisman Memorial Trophy. The junior quarterback is ranked second in the nation in total offense with 387 yards per game. This season he threw 36 touchdowns and passed for 3,998 yards. Griffin and former Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow are two of four players in major college history with at least 9,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing in a career.

Andrew Luck is looking to be the second Cardinal to take home The Heisman Trophy after Jim Plunkett won in 1970. The red-shirt junior passed for 3,170 yards and 35 touchdowns this season. Luck leads the Pac-12 in passing efficiency with 167.5 and broke Stanford's records for career touchdown passes and single-season touchdown passes. While leading the Cardinals to an 11-1 record, he rushed for 153 yards and scored 2 touchdowns.

Tyrann Mathieu is looking to be the second LSU Tiger to win The Heisman Memorial Trophy after Billy Cannon won in 1959. The sophomore had 71 tackles, 5 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions this year. He also gained 420 yards and 2 touchdowns in punt returns during LSU's 13-0 season. If Mathieu wins, he will be the second cornerback to be inducted into this group of outstanding college football players joining Charles Woodson (1997).

Trent Richardson rushed for 1,583 yards and had 20 touchdowns this season for Alabama. In nine of his twelve games, the running back rushed for over 100 yards for the 11-1 Crimson Tide. If awarded the Heisman, Richardson will only be the second player from Alabama to receive the trophy after 2009 winner, Mark Ingram, Jr."

To me, the decision comes down to RGIII or Mathieu. The Honey Badger is the definition of playmaker and certainly deserves to be in the running for the most outstanding player in the country. I think the fact he never really plays offense is going to hurt him, though. We love gamebreakers, but, deep-down, we prefer our Heisman to be on the offensive side of the ball. I think that's why I've gotta lean toward Robert Griffin. Thirty-six touchdowns in 4,000 yards passing? I'll take it every time. What's truly outstanding, though, is that he only threw 6 INTS and finished up with a disgusting 72.4 completion percentage. He might not be as pure of a quarterback as Luck, but he's been more exciting to watch.

If I had to rank the five, I'd go with:

Robert Griffin III
Tyrann Mathieu
Trent Richardson
Andrew Luck
Montee Ball

Awards Night

2011-12-08T20:27:00.003-05:00

It's that bittersweet time of year again: Awards Night. It's nice to see these kids win awards, celebrate their accomplishments, and gear up for the big trophy Saturday night. But awards season also marks one of the most depressing things: the end of the college football season. Our Saturdays are now dreary and dull again. The pomp and pageantry quieted, the drama dialed down for a spell, and nothing left to get us through but bowl season. The full slate of award-winners will be announced on ESPN tonight, but here's who I think should win - at least for some of the trophies, anyway.

Biletnikoff Award (Wide Receiver) - Justin Blackmon
I don't really need to qualify this, do I?

Doak Walker (Running Back) - Montee Ball
If I'm just assessing these running backs on their 'running back-ness', it's hard to overlook Ball. He's an almost unstoppable force, has rushed for more yards than anyone else, and has a whopping 32 touchdowns. Even Richardson doesn't rate that high by simple RB numbers. Ball might not be as transcendent as the Tide back on the field, but he's done more than enough for the Walker.

Chuck Bednarik Trophy Defensive Player of the Year - Tyrann Mathieu
This kid has earned his nickname. He's a ball hawk, a hidden yardage wizard, and blitzes like a linebacker. He picks, sacks, and forces fumbles; he has a football homing device Ronnie Lott would envy and hits just as hard. Not to beat a dead meme, but he just don't care. That kind of playstyle is rare and needs to be honored when it appears. To me, he's the best overall player in the nation - Maxwell-style, not Heisman style - and the clear-cut Bednarik winner.

Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award - Andrew Luck
For pure quarterbacking, you're not getting better than Luck. He might not have the flash and flair we look for in a Heisman winner, but you can't deny his skills. He pretty much runs the offense, Peyton-style, on the field - something almost unheard of in college - and is a lock for the number one pick in the draft. He has the mechanics, the power, the accuracy, the leadership, the decision-making, the everything. Robert Griffin III might have been more outstanding overall, but if I'm choosing a QB to build a team around, I'm picking Luck. And, to me, anyway, that's the definition of this award.

Jim Thorpe Award (Defensive Back) - Too Tough To Call, but I Guess Morris Claiborne
David Amerson's absolutely disgusting. He has 11 picks; those are video game numbers, man. But Claiborne's just a beast. I think he's more athletic than Amerson and has probably faced bigger, tougher receivers. Speaking of beasts, I can't really discount Barron, either. He doesn't have the numbers, but he's got the hits. Fierce, disruptive, drive-killing hits. Gun to my heard, I go Claiborne...but it's close, with Amerson's gaudy stats edging out Barron's physicality.

Maxwell Award (Best All-Around Player) - Trent Richardson
I honestly would have voted Mathieu here, as well, but he wasn't a finalist. Instead, my nod goes to Richardson. I know it seems odd to go with him here when I didn't even give him his own position award, but I feel he did better 'all-around' things than either of the two QB's nominated. Skill is an integral part of college football, no doubt, but so is lore...and Richardson has ingrained himself in a program steeped in the stuff. His juke against Ole Miss and the monster game against Auburn are enough to qualify him...the 1500 yards and 20 touchdowns don't hurt, either. He might not have the same numbers other backs do, but nobody has done it the same way Richardson has. For that, he should get the Maxwell.

Kicker Awards - I don't really know...or care that much. I'm still upset that LSU's Wing didn't get a finalist nod.

Wednesday Top-25 and the BCS Title Game

2011-12-07T20:19:00.000-05:00

Here it is, the last poll heading into the post-season and, with it, my vote for the BCS title game. I think we all agreed LSU was number one and a CG lock after going 13-0 in such an impressive fashion. Where the big debate raged was the number two spot; should it be Alabama or Oklahoma State? Alabama is 11-1, their only blemish against LSU - a game that was tied after four quarters. Okie State is also 11-1, but their loss came on a coughed up 17-point lead at Iowa State. Sure, Stanford was a possibility with their 11-1 record, but they'd been sliding a bit recently and the Pokes truly made it a two-team conversation by throttling rival OU in Bedlam while the Cardinal were inactive. So, who would it be? Oklahoma State or Alabama; the upstart or the rematch? Well, we found out Sunday night that the system went with the rematch...and a lot of people were not happy. But, most of these people were expressing their outrage by having the wrong discussion. Many wanted OK State to get that second spot, not because they honestly think that the Cowboys are better than the Crimson Tide, but because Alabama has already had its head-to-head shot at LSU and lost. I do understand that sentiment, honestly, I do. It just doesn't fucking matter. Like, at all. The BCS exists to match up the number one and number two teams in coleege football. Period. And that's what it did. Look at my poll. Alabama's still at number two. Oklahoma State rose a spot to number three. Just becasue the Tide stayed home Saturday doesn't mean I have to drop them. And just because the Pokes dominated the Sooners doesn't mean they get a free ride past a team that I honestly think is better. I still feel that Alabama is the second best team in the country...and that's what the system's there for: to match #1 and #2. We shouldn't fudge the facts just to feed the narrative we want. If you're not happy with the rematch, your argument shouldn't be based on what you want, or what should happen, or what's fair. Your argument should be that the system sucks. You want Oklahoma State to have a shot? Or one-loss Boise? Or Stanford? Or anyone else? Then we need a playoff.Or a seeded, plus-one. Or something. But, until then, you'll be hard pressed to convince me - and most of the other voters, apparently - that Alabama isn't deserving of the number two spot. And as the #2, they get a ticket to the big dance. It's just how it is. Case closed. You really want to bitch about something? what's up with that VA Tech bid...? Anyway, the top-3 was pretty clear cut. Beyond that, it's as wrecked as an urban war zone and probably more confusing and chaotic.

Early Lean.

2011-12-07T20:18:00.000-05:00

Um, Navy. I guess. Sigh, I can't believe it's over.

/looks for something else to occupy time
/finds bourbon

Wrap-Up and Monday Night QB

2011-12-05T18:00:00.000-05:00

There's not much to say about the SEC CG. The first half was great - unexpectedly so, with some great coaching calls - but the Dawgs still made their typical mistakes: dropped passes, poor blocking, missed field goals, and bad kick coverage. So, even with the defense holding the mighty Tigers to 30 yards and no first downs, Georgia only led 10-7 at the half. I didn't get to watch the second half - can you believe there are some people for whom college football is not the center of the universe? - but did listen to it on the way out of town to dinner. And, honestly, I'm glad I didn't see it fall apart. LSU is so ruthlessly efficient when it comes to finishing a team off and I probably would have burned my friends' house down had I seen the pick-six coup de gras. Instead, I read it on gametrax while stuffing my face with fired catfish. That certainly helped some. It's hard to be too upset, though, and we saw a lot to make us feel good for next year. Now it's time to focus on getting ready for Sparty down in Tampa on Jan. 2.

As for the rest of the games, my attention was pretty hit or miss (seriously, who are these people who plan social outings during BIG GAMES?!). I was too drunk Friday night to really remember much of the second half of the PAC-12 game. Then I was hungover for the early games Saturday and gone for most of the first half of the night games. So, while I could write you a review of Bonner's Triple B Restaurant, I'll just re-visit my weekly picks and look to see just where I went wrong...

1. Prediction: West Virginia 30, SoFla 23; Actual score: 30-27. Not too bad here. It was a pretty tough game to really get into, especially considering it was competing with Community, Parks and Rec, The Office, It's Always Sunny, and The League.

2. Prediction: Northern Illinois 38, Ohio 34; Actual score: 23-20. I remeber not one minute of this game.

3. Prediction: Oregon 49, UCLA 10; Actual score: 49-31. I at least got the Ducks' score right. After the impotent showing the Bruins gave against USC, I didn't see them scoring. Granted, one TD came very late and I was already very inebriated.
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4. Prediction: Houston 31, So. Miss 21; Actual Score: SoMiss, 49-28. UPSET. And I must confess, i napped through most of it.

5. Prediction: Texas 29, Baylor 27; Actual score: Baylor, 48-24. Only saw a little of this before the SEC CG started. But I do think this game locked up my Heisman vote for RGIII.

6. Prediction: LSU 34, Georgia 17; Actual score: 42-10 - see above.

7. Prediction: Oklahoma 34, OK State 26; Actual score: OK State, 44-10. In my fucking face. I saw the second half and was surprised to see the run game be the truly deciding factor for a team featuring Wheedon and Blackmon. The Sooners looked absolutely flat and pathetic and State took advantage of every careless moment. Too bad the Pokes couldn't keep that lead in Ames three weeks ago...

8. Prediction: VA Tech 27, Clemson 24; Actual score: Clemson, 38-10. - In my face, again. I didn't watch as much of this as I did Bedlam and the B1G CG. Too bad it didn't mean anything...the Hokies got a better bowl out of the ass-whooping. It's a fact: in the BCS era, Sugar>Orange.

9. Wisconsin 34, Michigan State 20; Actual score: 42-29 - I Gametrax'd the first half at dinner because there was a Michigan State fan out with us (Once again, who are these people? A Georgia fan and a Sparty fan missing conference championship games? For dinner? People eat dinner every day, for christ's sake). It looked bad early, but State turned some things around in the second corner and missed most of it on the road back home. The second half was good, but I'm now I'm a little scared of Michigan State heading into the Outback Bowl and I wonder if Oregon has a plan to keep Montee Ball out of the endzone.

So, I predicted terribly, coming in at 4-5. Too bad there's only one game to pick for this weekend...the season flies by so quickly. On a more serious note, I was happy to miss a little football and celebrate with an old friend - had a great time, too!

GO DAWGS!

2011-12-03T11:24:00.000-05:00

Nicely Put.

2011-12-01T19:10:00.004-05:00

If you don't read EDSBS's Spencer Hall's weekly 'The Alphabetical' over at SBNation, then you're an idiot. Sorry to be so blunt, but if you love cfb, then you should also love EDSBS and Spencer/Orson. Anyway, while lamenting the final chapter of what we know will likely unfold this season, Spencer summed up the last five years thus:

"E is for Endpoint. So where, if anywhere, is this leading? The same place we usually end up in college football: nowhere. Consider, if you will, how carefully we edit endings to make them anything like sense.
2005: Two undefeateds! And one dead Sooners team in the swamps of Miami.
2006: Florida sneaks in to be walloped by an undefeated Ohio State! And the Big Ten's been cringing ever since.
2007: A two-loss LSU team wins. We're still not really sure how this happened besides saying "Les Miles," and then making laser noises while waving our hands like a magician.
2008: Another Oklahoma'ing, this time by Florida.
2009: Alabama just sort of sits on Texas until they cough up a piece of Colt McCoy's shoulder and a win. Hey, remember Garrett Gilbert playing really well in relief? Neither do we, but it happened.
2010: Oregon quits on a victory by one unpursued tackle on Auburn's Michael Dyer. TO THE WHISTLE, BOYS. ALWAYS TO THE WHISTLE."

Fantastic. Sometimes we forget how easily some of these BCS title games could have turned. And sometimes we forget that Florida wasn't "supposed" to be in that '06 game and Michigan "was." Then the Gators blasted the Bucks 41-14....while Big Blue got rolled by USC. I love that BCS title game; it was the dawning of the era of the SEC. And, if my Bulldogs play their cards (and dice, and battleship pieces, and brass knuckles) right, they could be the champions of a league that will claim six BCS champs in-a-row.

Weekly Picks

2011-11-30T21:38:00.001-05:00

West Virginia 30, SoFla 23 - I've closed the gap in the score a little here. I do like Holgo's offense over the Bulls' D, but it's the Big East. And I never trust my gut with the Big East.

Northern Illinois 38, Ohio 34 - I know the Huskies are favored, but I also don't like counting Solich out here. The more I think about it, though, the more I like this game turning into a shootout. And the Bobcats aren't beating the boys from the 'Burbs in a shootout.

Oregon 49, UCLA 10 - Yep, I changed the score in this one, too. The Bruins have been granted some amnesty for mediocrity, with the NCAA approving UCLA's bowl petition waiver. This means the Bruins can go bowling because they did win 6 games...even though they'll likely have a losing record after this CG. So, just like last week, with nothing to play for, look for the Bruins to come out flat and get even flatter by the fourth quarter. If that 50-0 shellacking they took from SC is any indicator, it'll be a long night for the boys in baby blue. I know it sounds insane with a spread as big as 31, but take the Ducks to cover.
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Houston 31, So. Miss 21 - I hope the Cougs don't get too cocky. Keenum is rewriting all the record books and he and Patrick Edwards might be a better tandem than Wheeden-Blackmon. But that won't overcome hubris and we've seen Sumlin's team suffer from that a time or two this season. If Houston comes out as focused as they did last week against Tulsa, they'll make short work of the Eagles. But, I think they've got BCS bowl bids dancing in their eyes, and it'll be a quarter or two before they snap out of it.

Pitt 25, Syracuse 24 - Narrowed the score here a bit, too. BIG EAST FOOTBAW.

Texas 29, Baylor 27 - Griffin's probable, and his recovery gives me pause, but something about this Texas team, and this league in general, make me feel something wacky in the wind.

This crazy sumbitch should probably be COTY.

LSU 34, Georgia 17 - I hate typing this. But I know, if any other team were playing LSU here, I'd call for the Bayou Bengals to win, no questions asked. Instead, the Tigers are playing my team, and that does, I hate to admit, give me some Homer-ish pause. There are a hundred ways Georgia could win this game, and I will be thrilled if they did - and maybe not that surprised - but, I just can't, in good conscience, call for the upset of a team as good as this LSU squad. They've efficiently dispatched highly ranked foes all season long, and won a toe-to-toe slugfest with Alabama in T-town. True, Georgia's won 10-straight, has a top-10 defense, and should not be overlooked. But the Tigers have won 13-straight, have the number two defense, and a top-20 run game. I'll be pulling for the Dawgs with every ounce of my being, but I won't be laying any money down.

Oklahoma 34, OK State 26 - The Sooners take Bedlam. It'll be a rough night for Poke fans; they'll say goodbye to Blackmon before the game and then watch their outside BCS title shot fade away in the next three quarters. Yes, there will be big plays from Wheedon to Blackmon, but not enough to push State by their in-state rivals.

VA Tech 27, Clemson 24 - Take the points, but don't doubt the Hokies. Clemson's faltering, losing three of four, and Tech seems a lot more confident now than they did in September. I know there's a lot of athleticism on this Tigers squad, especially offensively with Boyd and Watkins, but they didn't really call down the lightning against Georgia Tech, NC State, or South Carolina and I don't see them finding it this weekend against the surging Hokies. Side note: How empty will the stands in Charlotte be this year?

Wisconsin 34, Michigan State 20 - No Hail Marys this time. Sparty does have a great D...and they're gonna need it against Montee Ball and Russell Wilson. I just can't see the Badgers coming into this one unfocused and sloppy again. Rather, I see them rolling in pissed off and ready to prove a point. Wilson might use this as a stage for some last-minute Heisman love, or Ball might use to tack onto his staggering TD tally (29!), or both.

Leach to Wazzou - Makes Sense.

2011-11-30T17:39:00.000-05:00

I'm glad Mike LEach found a new home. And I'm glad it wasn't the rumored move to Ole Miss. You see, to me, Mike Leach to Washington State makes sense. Ole Miss taking him did not. The dread pirate needed to re-emerge at a spot like Pullman and work his way back to up the ladder. Oxford is not, despite the recent stretch, a necessarily bad place to coach and they should get a solid coach who can start to re-establish the Rebels in the SEC West pecking order. It'll be hard in that division, of course, which is why I wouldn't gamble on a wild card like Leach...I'm not sure anyone in the SEC should. The Cougs, on the other hand, are absolutely OK taking Leach. The whole Apple State needs a shot in the arm; the Magnolia state - right in the heart of dixie - can find a quicker path to recovery. I've said before that top-level football in Washington State might be kaput. The weather, fan bases, and resources set a certain glass ceiling for how successful a program can be. The right coach, developing the right three star players (of which there are a plethora in Oxford) could turn the corner for the Battlin' Black Bears without a bunch of unsubstantial flash and fireworks. Honestly, either way, these teams are clawing to get out their respective divisional cellars and can probably only hope to make the middle of the pack - but getting there means very different things in each league, and there are very different needs that need to be addressed for that to happen. Leach can probably make it happen sooner than later at Wazzou...he'd be hard pressed to do it at Ole Miss.

Tuesday Top-25

2011-11-29T14:35:00.000-05:00

Not gonna lie, this was a tough one to cobble together. One and two were obvious, and I knew who I was going to honorably mention at 24. and 25., but parsing out the in-between was rough. I had a good idea who I was going to put in, but I knew fuck all where I was going to put them.

For the three spot, I went with Virginia Tech over Oklahoma State. Losing at home is bad, but losing to Iowa State is a shade worse. Throw in the fact that I think the Hokies will take their rematch with Clemson this weekend and the Pokes will fall to the Sooners, and this was a pretty easy call. Keeping Arkansas in the top-5 was not so easy, but I wanted them ahead of the PAC-12 knot. The Trojans get to lead said knot, as they've looked the most impressive the last few weeks. Stanford is demoted to the 8-spot because they've looked borderline mediocre.

Consider 9- and 10- almost head-to-head. I'll give the Broncos the nod right now, mainly because that win over Georgia keeps looking better and better. South Carolina and Georgia get in the top-15, mainly because I'm not excluding from 10-win SEC teams from the top-tier, no matter how fortunate their scheduling is. I did split the Cocks and Dawgs, though, with the B1G contenders, but see Wisky holding that spot alone after Saturday night.

Michigan and Kansas State hold down the next two spots. The Wolverines just wrapped up an impressive 10-2 campaign that could help sneak them into a BCS Bowl. The 'Cats need a win against Iowa State this Saturday to hit double digit wins...but their conference is too top heavy for them to pull a bid to the BCS. Baylor keeps its slight lead on TCU based on their early head-to-head showdown.

Penn State didn't climb too high here before that Badger beat-down they just suffered, so they're back at home in the bottom five. Clemson has dropped a long way down to 22 after losing three of their last four...and I'm thinking that'll be four out of five after the ACC CG. The last three spots are odd balls. I knew I wanted SoMiss and Arky State to close out the poll, but mainly as an honorable mention. I don't honestly think either team could beat some of the big conference members who are nursing 4- or 5- losses (think Auburn vs. Arkansas State). That left me with an empty 23 spot. After a lot of thought, I went with a 3-loss team in BYU instead of some of the other 4-loss options out there, even though some of those bigger boys could probably easily beat the Cougs.

Early Leans - Championship Week

2011-11-29T05:32:00.000-05:00

The MAC, PAC, ACC, B1G, and SEC all have their conference championships this weekend, while the Big East, Big 12, and some mid-majors wrap-up their regular season play. There are some big games, contests that should be a lot of fun to watch, and more than one that could be a blowout. I'll have the final picks locked-in Thursday, but until then, here are the early leans:

West Virginia 31, SoFla 20
Ohio 24, No. Illinois 23
Oregon 41, UCLA 16
Houston 31, So. Miss 21
Pitt 27, Syracuse 24
Texas 29, Baylor 27
LSU 34, Georgia 17
Oklahoma 34, OK State 30
VA Tech 27, Clemson 24
Wisconsin 34, Michigan State 20

Don't Blame the Pac-12

2011-11-28T17:12:00.002-05:00

We are going to get a terrible, terrible contest Friday night, but it should have been one of the marquee match-ups of cfb's last regular-season weekend. Of course, I'm talking about Rick Neuheisel's death march into Eugene. The Ducks and Bruins are slated for the newly expanded league's first championship game, which should be about as competitive as Balboa-Lang I. Oregon is certainly the deserving representative from the North; they beat Stanford - pretty decisively - and only have one conference loss. But UCLA is a terrible rep from the South. They are 6-6, coming off of blowouts losses in two of their last three games, and lugging around a lame duck head coach who never truly got his team to buy-in what he was selling.* But don't blame the PAC-12 for this; this is not a problem arising from a lack of competitive teams. It's a problem of misplaced sanctions in NCAA punishments. Pete Carroll presided over Reggie Bush when Bush was receiving crazy amounts of improper benefits. Yes, that is wrong and should be punished. But, no, that's not what the NCAA did. Instead, they punished a group of kids who had nothing to do with anything during the Bush-era. It's the current Trojans who have been banned from the post-season, while Carroll and Bush rake in millions in the NFL. It's these kids who suffer from the actions of shady adults. And it's these kids, these current Trojans, who truly deserve a shot at the inaugural PAC-12 title. They're 10-2, took Stanford to the wire, and beat Oregon in Eugene - you can't tell me they wouldn't make a better opponent than UCLA (a team they just crushed 50-0). If you watch any of the game Friday night, save the 'west coast football is overrated' and '[insert team A] could easily win that conference' arguments, and place the blame where the blame is due: the antiquated way with which the NCAA deals with amateur football in this country.

"What'd you expect? I'm Rick Fuckin' Neuheisel. Lawyered."

-------------------------------------------------
* Of course, he was selling the coaching equivalent of flea-market quality knock-offs being hocked out of the back of a dirty rape-van.

Urban Renewal

2011-11-28T10:14:00.000-05:00

It's official, Urban Meyer's headed to Ohio State. While it's unfortunate for Fickell, it makes sense. Fickell was an interim coach at best and the gig in Columbus is too good for a big name coach to pass up. And, let's be honest, if you were rebuilding a program and had a dual threat like Miller, what available coach would you want? Urban's a perfect fit. Now, hopefully for the Buckeye faithful, all of his heart and family issues are squared away (or never existed if you believe the conspiracy theorists in Gainesville). If they are, and he puts all his talent an focus in the job - and why wouldn't he? - then things will pick up quickly for Ohio State. Brady Hoke, you are officially on alert...

By the way, who else is hoping for an Ohio State-Florida Gator bowl, now?

Sunday Night QB

2011-11-27T20:54:00.002-05:00

The weekend got kicked off Thanksgiving night with a great Lonestar State showdown. Texas won on a last second FG, capping another A&M second half collapse. It was exciting, though, and great way to say goodbye to the rivalry...at least for a while. I don't see this one getting shelved for too long; it's too important to the people in the state and it's too great of a rivalry for the sport as a whole to lose.

This is just cruel: according to Pete Thamel's twitter, "Akron Coach Rob Ianello got the call he was fired while driving to NY for his mother's funeral." Christ, that's awful.

I was wrong about the Tulsa upset of Houston. Very wrong. The Cougs rocked the Hurricane, 48-16. That's more impressive than Oklahoma's, Oklahoma State's, and Boise's wins over Tulsa. I know they don't really play 'anyone', but they dispatch these guys with as much - if not more - ruthless efficiency than the big boys. If they do it again in the CUSA CG, I'll be fine with them getting their BCS bid. Hell, I think they're more qualified than whoever's going to come out of the dumpster fire that is the Big East.

After Clean, Old-Fashined Hate (Go Dawgs!), I tuned in for the end of The Game. I checked in early, and Michigan looked like they were going to cruise. But then they were down by one at half and it seemed the Buckeyes were going to steal this one. The last few minutes were fun to watch, at least for someone who's not a big fan of either team, as Denard and Co. had a shot to put it away, had a TD called back, had to settle for a FG and a six-point lead, and give their rival the ball with a minute-and-a-half left. Miller sailed a sure TD on first down, spiked the ball for some reason that's still unclear, and then threw a pick to seal it. Miller says the coaches' told him to kill it on second down, but after an incompletion, there was nothing to kill. Terrible way to lose a down in a game like that. Maybe it is time for some Urban renewal in Columbus.

Kentucky finally beat Tennessee. It was an U-G-L-Y game all around, the 'Cats edging the Vols, 10-7. Neither team will qualify for a bowl, but, hey, at least they're not Ole Miss. Vandy, on the other hand, locked up a bowl by routing Wake Forrest. I'll feel a little bit better when James Franklin's gone on to greener pastures.

Florida State and Florida hate offensive football. Don't let the final score fool you, nothing offensive happened in this game. if you didn't see any of it, really get in there and explore the box-score. It's horrific.

In other ACC-SEC action, South Carolina stuck it to Clemson. Quote of the weekend: "We aren't LSU, and we aren't Alabama. But we sure ain't Clemson." - Steve Spurrier.

There were a few crazy minutes to end the first half in the Baylor-Texas Tech game. Tuberville got into it with some officials, RGIII took a brutal hit, and there was a little skirmishing on the field. We found out later that Griffin actually suffered a concussion, but not before he checked back in and scored a TD on a keeper up the middle. He didn't pay in the second half. The medical team wouldn't clear him after, as Coach Briles said, "We got in at halftime, he had a little trouble remembering what was going on." So that last TD was just some concussed read-optioning. Christ, that's impressive. The Bears did go on to win 147-132...or something like that.

To the Pac-12:

Is it just me, or has Stanford not looked that impressive the last few weeks. Luck looks good - maybe not Heisman-level impressive - but, overall, they're not helping their case to edge out the other one-loss teams. That Notre Dame team is not very good and the Cardinal should have crushed them.

You know who has looked Heisman caliber the last few weeks? Matt Barkley. He went for 423 yards and 6 TD's last night, as the Trojans completely thrashed UCLA, 50-0. USC, due to all the infinite wisdom of the NCAA, cannot play in the post-season, including the Pac-12 CG. So, the Bruins were already a lock to face Oregon heading into last night's game. Wow. What an inaugural championship game the NCAA has blessed this conference with. A USC-Oregon rematch would have been amazing.

Final Note:

I've been against the idea of a 'Bama-LSU rematch, but I'm starting to think there's no better option. Alabama stated their case yesterday, throttling Auburn on the Plains. And I'll say having one overtime loss to the number one team in the country makes you a better team than one who lost at Iowa State. I mean, how do you, in all honesty, compare losses to Iowa State and LSU and decide the ISU one is more forgivable? If the system is set up to match-up the two highest ranked teams. the best teams, then that's what it should do, whether or not it's the game I want to see. And that's what we forget, it's not about what we want, but what the system decides. And I hope the system, with all its algorithms and computer polls, is smart enough to tell the difference between losing to LSU and losing to Iowa State, because I imagine most humans will drop the ball on this one if OSU wins Bedlam. Even if LSU loses to Georgia, they'd deserve to play in the Title game. They'd have one-loss to a top-15 team, and that's still better than losing to Iowa State. Would that rematch be what I want? Probably not. Would it be what's right? Probably so.

Tech Wrecked...and a Career Saved

2011-11-27T11:49:00.001-05:00

When Georgia started 0-2, Mark Richt was definitely on the hot seat. But the heat switch had been thrown two seasons earlier when talented Bulldog teams underachieved, the defense was almost non-existent, and a general malaise had seemed to settle over the entire program. And make no mistake, the responsibility for that kind of funk lands directly at the head coach's feet. And responding to that challenge, Richt went 6-7 and lost to UCF in the Liberty Bowl, making some seriously cowardly calls along the way. So let's not soften things up, Richt's seat was thermonuclear heading into this season and justifiably so. That first loss only kicked the heat up a notch, but the second one felt like a slight reprieve; it wasn't coaching that burned us, but execution from a young team that put up 42 points but managed to give away 28. It was a start - a corner turned heading into an easy FCS game and then the meat of the easiest SEC draw of a schedule. Richt had time.

And he used it. The young guys came together on offense, Bobo called plays that matched their strengths, the defense gelled, and some transfers asserted their dominance. Sure there was Murray overthrowing everybody at UT, Bobo's ridiculous Wildcat calls at Vandy, and the failure stopping the run against the same Dores squad. But, overall, things were good; Georgia went 5-0 headed into the bye week, and the heat under Richt had been turned down some. Then we beat Florida. Florida is not very good this year, but beating them means more than simply outperforming them on the field. The Gators live in our heads. They dominate our gridiron psyches like a puppet master and overcoming that meant way more than a 4-point win over a .500 team. It gave us confidence. We closed out the year with 5 more wins, riding the high from that Florida win into thrashings of NMSU and Auburn. We played poorly against Kentucky, but still won and sealed the SEC East, stealing a CG bid from SoCar, the Gamecocks cursed with a road trip to Arkansas that dropped them out of contention. And then we capped ten wins in a row with a road victory over our in-state rival - a great way to end a regular season.

Yesterday wasn't as particularly dominant as I wanted it to be (of course, it'll probably never be 100-0), nor was it as dominant as it could have been. We still really don't have much of an answer for the triple option, giving up 245 on the ground. And, while that's almost a hundred yards below Tech's average, it's way higher than our 81 ypg heading into the game. I really detest playing this offense, too. I've stated before how much I hate cut-blocking and the entire system at Tech revolves around it. It's also very difficult to coach against modern offenses all season and then try to implement anti-flexbone option techniques in a week. It all just adds up to a dangerous, dangerous game - for the scoreboard, records, bowl bids, and people's knees. All you can do is hope to contain it and outscore it when you've got the chance.

Despite those few shortcomings against the offense, though, I felt pretty good about the defense overall. There weren't nearly as many pays of 25 yards+ as they've gouged us for in the past and we created more third and longs than the Bees are comfortable with. Also, remember how much people lauded the passing part of the offense earlier this season? Well, it was almost non-existent yesterday. Tevin Washington was knocked around in the pocket and threw two picks, as Tech, trying to climb out of 3 score deficit, only put up 80 yards of offense in the second half. I'll take that every time.

Offensively, things were a little more shaky for us. Aaron Murray looked a little rough early, but settled into a great game overall, with his 250 yards and 4 TD's erasing the early INT. But I'm not comfortable with having to rely on him. Something has got to give in our run game - soon. Crowell was hurt and didn't play. Thomas looks like he's not even part of the team anymore. Samuel's still recovering from his ankle injury. Harton and Malcome just aren't talented enough to carry the workload. Smith and Boykin are speedster options at best and won't work as every down backs (just look at the long sack in the third quarter as evidence of what happens when you use a CB to block on third and long). We need a running game solution and we need to find it before next week.

I do like the game plan we went with once we realized we had to work around our porcelain run game. We saw passes work on first down and ran a lot on second down to set up later play-actions. The only questionable call I saw was using Smith at RB on the third and long. It led to Tech's only sack and knocked Georgia out of field goal range. Now, play-action certainly wouldn't have worked there, but I don't think we needed to give up protection, either. Now, speaking of special teams...ugh, Blair Walsh. Boykin had a great return and our kick-off coverage was solid, but Walsh gives the whole unit a black eye every time he misses. This kid was a Groza finalist - what the fuck happened? Much like the run game, kicking will need to get sorted out before next week.

In the end, though, it was a win. And a rivalry win at that. But it was so much more, too. It was the tenth win in a row for a team that started 0-2. It was a great confidence builder headed into the SEC title game. And, perhaps most importantly, it was a win that warmed the faithful back up to Mark Richt, but certainly cooled his seat off for a while.

James Franklin and Chop-Blocking

2011-11-24T12:45:00.000-05:00

I pretty much like everything James Franklin's done so far at Vanderbilt. He's led them to five wins, taken three SEC teams to the wire in his six losses, instilled some pride and respect in a program that needed it, and has just generally changed the overall attitude in Nashville. But now he's gone on record with something I vehemently disagree with: defending chop blocking. He hides behind the cut block as technique pro forma, but it honestly isn't - and he should know that. Cut-blocking is semi-acceptable, but when it becomes your team's de rigueur, you're in a gray area that's one bad decision away from a personal foul penalty...or worse, severely injuring another player. Chop-blocking is just dangerous football. And, if you ask me, it's actually done more harm than good for Vandy; they had two huge plays in late drives called back on cheap blocks against Florida and Tennessee, two close losses that might have had a better chance to go the other way without the flags. If he wants to move to the next level, then he needs to get beyond cheap tricks on the O-line and move away from something as questionable and cowardly as openly supporting chop-blocking.

Happy Thanksgiving from FTS

2011-11-24T09:19:00.000-05:00

The love and thankfulness I feel today has no chance of overcoming the Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate I've carried in my heart all week. Happy Thanksgiving and WRECK TECH!

Weekly Picks

2011-11-22T19:07:00.001-05:00

Ohio 30, Miami (OH) 17 - I think we've all forgotten how good of a coach Frank Solich can be.

Texas A&M 27, Texas 26 - I like A&M here in a close one. They're playing for a strong close to the season, while the 'Horns still have a showdown with Baylor left next weekend. Call the Aggies more focused on Turkey Day.

Tulsa 36, Houston 35 - UPSET ALERT Tulsa has three losses, but they're all to top-10 teams (Boise, OU, OK St.). I think they have the firepower to score with Houston and I wouldn't be surprised if they catch the Cougs day-dreaming about a BCS bid.

Nebraska 29, Iowa 17 - Picking Iowa games is like picking the Big East.

LSU 24, Arkansas 21 - UPSET ALERT (kind of) I think it will be close, but the Tigers will pull it out. Arkansas has certainly chosen the best time to start streaking, but I don't see them being able to do enough against the Tigers. There will be a late score that will stir things up a bit, but Les' boys survive to roll into ATL the next weekend unscathed.

Oklahoma 41, Iowa State 27 - Don't look for another upset from the Cyclones. I'll take a pissed off Oklahoma team in Norman all day long.

Georgia 28, Georgia Tech 27 - UPSET ALERT - The Bulldogs are excited about their SECCG bid, probably a little too excited. I've heard more about the showdown in the Dome in two weeks than I have about the Tech game this weekend. If our players and coaches are taking the same approach, look for the Bees and their triple option to blast the unfocused Dawgs. I'll take the better athletes on Georgia's sideline, but it'll be close.

Michigan 31, Ohio State 24 - The streak-breaker. The Wolverines can end eight years of Buckeye dominance and, in doing so, build a lot of support for the Hoke regime.

Alabama 27, Auburn 20 - Closer than the experts think, but I've still got 'Bama.

Virginia Tech 27, Virginia 24 - UPSET ALERT The Hokies had better be very careful.Mike London has done a great job in C'ville and the Cavs have one point left to prove: Beat the Hokies.

Wisconsin 30, Penn State 17 - Why is Penn State winning this game such a foregone conclusion? I know they're tough, solid on D, and riding a wave of emotion, but that doesn't automatically equal being able to stop Montee Ball and Russel Wilson. The Badges are still hurting from two hail mary losses and I don't see them giving up another in Camp-Randall.

South Carolina 21, Clemson 16 - Because it would just make sense now.

Florida State 27, Florida 15 - That loss to Virginia stung the 'Noles a lot more than we realize and there's no better place to exercise demons than in an in-state rivalry game. State realeased a lot of pent up frustration with last year's big win and could be overlooking the Gators, but I won't call the upset.

Stanford 29, Notre Dame 19 - Notre Dame would have been a great upset pick if the Cardinal were rolling in 11-0, but Luck and Co. are 10-1 and carrying a bit of a chip on their shoulder.

Top-25

2011-11-22T07:32:00.000-05:00

Well, this one was certainly tough to compile. After the carnage of last weekend, the whole poll feels like a train wreck and no one really looks like they deserve their ranking except the top-3 teams...and maybe only the top-two. How high do rank the upsetters? How far do we drop the upsetees? Were some of those losses truly upsets? I'll give you Iowa State over Okie State, but Baylor just out-deuled Oklahoma and USC took it to the Ducks right away. It was certainly a lot to contemplate in compiling these rankings, and, in the end, I'm not sure if the extra thought produced a better product than just throwing all the names in a hat. Let the dumpster fire commence:

I did go with the SEC West at 1-2-3. I've got Virginia Tech at four, but I don't feel too good about that. I kept Oklahoma State in the top-5, but that probably won't last very long, either, with Bedlam coming up soon. I have Houston over Boise State by way of the loss column.

I have Stanford much lower than the other polls; that win over Cal was ugly and because of that, I've got them at the end of the three-way Pac-12 knot to close out the top-10. USC leap-frogged a ton of teams in front of them to crack the top-10, and with their win I gave them the nod for the top of that west coast jumble.

Oklahoma dropped to twelve, behind the highest-ranked B1G team on the ballot, Sparty. South Carolina and Georgia are neck-and-neck inside the top-15 with Wisconsin and Michigan hot on their heels. Clemson dropped the furthest of any of this weekend's losers, ending up behind the sliding doors at no. 17.

Baylor re-emerges in my poll at no. 19, but I will acknowledge that they could be much higher. I have TCU right behind them based on h-2-h. A reeling Nebraska falls to 21, a spot higher than the Penn State squad they squeaked by two weeks ago. Georgia Tech hangs solidly in the bottom-5, with two newcomers appearing to close things out, Virginia and Tulsa. Both the Cavs and the Golden Hurricane could make some serious noise with their games next week against VA Tech and Houston, respectively.

RIP To A Damn Good Dawg

2011-11-21T10:31:00.005-05:00

He's calling games from the press box in the clouds, now.

Early Leans

2011-11-21T10:22:00.001-05:00

Here we go, the early leans for Thanksgiving Week. I've got some teams on upset alert who will need to bring their A-game and make sure they're not overlooking their opponents. I've been pretty spot on calling for the close ones, but not always accurate with who I picked puling it out.The final picks will be up Wednesday, so call that first MAC pick locked-in.

Ohio 30, Miami (OH) 17
Texas A&M 27, Texas 26
Tulsa 36, Houston 35 - UPSET ALERT
Nebraska 29, Iowa 17
LSU 24, Arkansas 21 - UPSET ALERT (kind of)
Oklahoma 41, Iowa State 27
Georgia 28, Georgia Tech 27 - UPSET ALERT
Michigan 31, Ohio State 24
Alabama 27, Auburn 20
Virginia Tech 27, Virginia 24 - UPSET ALERT
Wisconsin 30, Penn State 17
South Carolina 21, Clemson 16
Florida State 27, Florida 15
Stanford 29, Notre Dame 19

Sunday Morning QB

2011-11-20T11:16:00.002-05:00

I wish I had been watching this live:

It was just that kind of weekend, I guess.

Oklahoma State lost at Iowa State Friday night, the first step in making a LSU-Alabama rematch even more likely. With only one undefeated team left, the computers will become even more important in deciding who will get the top-2 BCS spots. The microchips love the Big 12, but Baylor did everyone that's not a Sooner fan a favor by knocking off Oklahoma in a shootout. Southern Cal pushed Oregon out of contention, surviving the Ducks furious 4th quarter comeback. And Clemson showed themselves the door by overlooking NC State, then paying dearly for that mistake in a blowout loss. What we're left with is a good chance that the top-3 spots in the BCS standings will be owned by SEC West teams, LSU, 'Bama, and Arkansas. The Sooners could further the chances of an SEC rematch by giving Oklahoma State a second loss in Bedlam next week, an outcome that would likely keep a Big 12 team out of the top-2 spots. Christ, the SEC West is dominant.

Conversely, the SEC East looked pathetic yesterday. Tennessee and Vanderbilt bitch-slapped each other all the way to overtime while Georgia and Kentucky put on a clinic of ineptitude. Meanwhile, Florida and South Carolina struggled to dispatch their respective FCS foes. I guess it's fitting that a team that played as bad as Georgia did yesterday would emerge as the winner of this division.

In the Big Ten, Michigan State clinched their spot in the B1GCG by crushing the life out of hapless Indiana. Michigan cruised against an straight-up outplayed Nebraska team, but it wasn't enough for the Wolverines to overcome the head-to-head loss they suffered to the Spartans earlier this season. Sparty will play the winner of next week's Penn State-Wisconsin game.

Remember when I almost picked Texas to win the Big 12? lolz

That Oregon-USC game was a good one. We've talked about LaMichael James and his Heisman chances, but where's the love for Matt Barkley? He went for 323 and 4TDs in the upset win, starting out an insane 12/13 for 2 scores in the first quarter. His ratio for the season now stands at 29/6. For comparison, Andrew Luck's ratio heading into the Cal game was 29/7.

6-5 Louisville leads the Big East. Also, the Big East makes no sense.

In the ACC, Clemson still has the Atlantic locked-down, despite that turd they laid in Raleigh. The Coastal, though, will come down to next week's Virginia Tech-Virginia in Charlottesville. And nobody saw that shit coming back in August. London's done a great job with the Cavs, but I doubt it'll be enough to knock-off the surging Hokies who really want another shot at the Tigers.

There were some ridiculous stats in that Oklahoma-Baylor game. RGIII passed for 480 yards and 4 scores, adding 70 more on the ground. Landry Jones threw for 450 and Blake Bell, the Sooners' goal line QB, rushed for 4 TDs. Throw in the drama of that last minute and it made for a hell of a game.

Ticket Punched.

2011-11-20T07:59:00.001-05:00

Well, despite the big question marks and a ton of sloppy play, Georgia finally earned an SEC championship berth with Saturday's win over Kentucky. But our execution was so bad, the team so unfocused looking, that I wonder how good of news that actually is. If this team that played today - and I use the word 'played' loosely here - shows up next week against Tech or the next weekend in the Dome, things could get ugly, fast. First, we need to address our run game concerns. Crowell went out after his second carry and we didn't see him again all day. His sturdiness is now just as questionable as his character, and I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't go next week at Tech. Carlton Thomas didn't play today for "personal reasons", and while that could mean any number of things, I get the sneaking suspicion he's fucked up again and had to sit out. This could have been his game, instead we had to rely on Brandon Harton and Ken Malcome, neither of whom is premier enough of a back to handle the workload effectively. With Samuel still recovering from an ankle injury, there's more questions than answers in the backfield.

Because of the lacking run game, we weren't able to get a whole lot of offense going today. Murray, who had finally started living up to his potential, failed to find a rhythm and we resorted to settling field goals throughout the first half. I HATE settling for field goals. It's become symptomatic of an overall failure of the offense to perform effectively and with the struggles we've had in the kick game this season, I cringe every time the field goal team trots out on the field. But, much to my pleasant surprise, Blair Walsh was perfect on the day (Georgia's lone missed FG was on Bogotay). Hopefully, he can build off of it, restore his confidence, and return our kicking game to it's place as a reliable team strength and not the crap-shoot it's become in 2011.

We finally scored a touchdown in the third quarter and it looked like the game was going to turn big time in favor of us, but we just couldn't stay on the gas pedal. Even with great field position after key turnovers, we saw Murray and the boys coming off the field after third down time and time again. This has got to be cleaned up before we go on the road to Bobby Dodd next Saturday.

Defensively, today was a continuation of the impressive resurgence the Dawgs have had this season. His personality faults aside, Grantham has done a fine job implementing his scheme and the addition of some key personnel has the defense playing as a top-5 unit. Jarvis Jones has emerged as the star of the unit and led the way against the Wildcats, racking 2.5 sacks and forcing a key fumble. He even made an impact after the game, when after he was asked about leaving for the NFL, he answered, “I am definitely coming back. Like I’ve said before, I’ve got a great coach and our whole defense is coming back next year." While it's great he'll be around in 2012, I just want to make sure he and the rest of the D bring the intensity they've been packing the last few games to Atlanta the next two weekends.

Kentucky did rack up 65 yards on a good looking first drive, but that was pretty much it for the Wildcats. They settled for a FG then and scored a TD on a short field after a turnover, but they were smothered the rest of the game, earning only one first down in the second half. The Kentucky defense was a little better, as Georgia only put up a little over 300 yards, but most of that was due more to the Dawgs ineptitude than the 'Cats' dominance.

But, a win's a win and it put us into the SECCG. Also, Coach Richt making out with his wife made ESPN.

Get some.

Heading into next week, the season finale at Tech, Georgia needs to be on guard for several things. They need to make sure Crowell gets healthy. They need to make sure Thomas gets his shit straightened out. They need to make sure the offensive game plan is conducive to helping Murray find a rhythm. They need to make sure the D brings their fire and intensity. And, perhaps most importantly, they need to make sure that all this SEC Championship hoopla doesn't have the guys overlooking their in-state rivals. /WreckTech!

Back to Work

2011-11-19T19:59:00.000-05:00

I know it's been pretty barren here this week - no top-25, Sunday QB, early leans, news, picks, or commentary - but I just couldn't bring myself to get into the world of cfb the past few days. I think it's mainly the Penn State scandal that has been watering down my interest; every time I sat down to write-up anything, it was all I could think about and it just turned me off. That a thing like this ever happens is sickening, that it occurred in the arena of college football is depressing, and that there are still victims out there dealing with the pain is just unfair. So unfair, depressing, and tragic that it was all I could think of when my fingers hit the keys, and I simply didn't want to deal with it anymore. Now, though, with the week behind me and a football Saturday under my belt, the last tailgate done and packed away, my Bulldogs on their way to the Dome, and the conference races wrapping-up, I feel ready to be a part of this world again. So, it's back to work tomorrow with commentary on today's ugly win over Kentucky and the Sunday morning QB. See you then -

Building Confidence

2011-11-13T17:31:00.001-05:00

Well, that was quite the big win between the hedges yesterday and it feels like it's a continuation of a general trend that's been building since the bye week. The defense suffocated Florida in the second half and we did enough to win, that win gave us a little pep in our step, a little extra confidence in ourselves and our game plans. We have since then dispatched New Mexico State and Auburn with extreme prejudice, both games already being decided by the half. I think the well placed bye gave us a rest at the perfect time and the win over Florida gave us the mental push we needed to actually benefit from everything we've invested in the program this season. If play like this carries into next week against Kentucky, we should have no trouble locking-up the SEC East and cruising into Atlanta on a nine-game streak the next weekend. As for yesterday's game itself, there's not much to say, so I'll just leave you with this screen-grab of the box score from ESPN:

It Took A While,

2011-11-10T07:58:00.000-05:00

but Penn State's beginning to do the right thing. I do not think Joe Paterno is a bad person, I think he made a huge error in judgement. And now, it's cost him his job as head coach - something that needed to be done in light of the grand jury testimony. I think heads need to continue to roll today, too, though; that school needs to clean house and remake their leadership from scratch. I'm sure there will be more news coming out of State College throughout the day.

Weekly Picks

2011-11-09T18:37:00.001-05:00

Thursday

Georgia Tech 24, Virginia Tech 21 - I think would just make sense with these teams in this conference. I do think the Hokies are a better team, but you just know Tech's gonna make a little more noise headed into Clean, Old Fashioned Hate and the ACCCG.

Houston 44, Tulane 17 - Cougs roll, Keenum keeps the record books open.

Friday

South Florida 22, Syracuse 21 - BIG EAST FOOTBAW.

Saturday

Oklahoma State 39, Texas Tech 21 - Man, have the Raiders fallen off after their big OU-upset, or what? I think they can make it a game early, but this won't be Okie State's slip-up...but mark my words, they will lose.

Nebraska 27, Penn State 21 - I want the Huskers to STEAMROLL the Nits in Happy Valley, but there's going to be some serious energy bouncing around that place. It'll be confusing and emotionally conflicting and create an atmosphere that JoePa's team might feed off of, but I'm taking truth and justice in the end, even if that comes in the form of Bo Pelini. Question: If you're Pelini, do you give Paterno the basic coach-respect of pregame chats and post-game handshakes? I don't know if I would.

Florida 21, South Carolina 19 - C'mon, Gators. Honestly, I was leaning towards South Carolina, but with Shaw being so questionable health-wise, I'm gonna take Muschamp and Co. to get it done in an ugly way.

Texas 31, Missouri 21 - The Longhorns are a quietly rising two-loss team. Missouri will give them all they can handle - much like they've done all season - but it won't be enough to stop a UT team that's good and getting better.

Michigan State 23, Iowa 20 - It will be close. It will be weird. It will be B1G time football...take that for what it's worth.

Auburn 27, Georgia 24 - The Moviegoer described this one perfectly (paraphrasing): "If it's close, Auburn wins because Georgia can't trust its kicking game. If it's a blowout, it'll be all Georgia, judging by the way Auburn's played on the road." I agree. I also don't see Georgia bringing a blowout into this one. I hate to say it, but the Tigers steal one in Sanford.

Alabama 24, Mississippi State 13 - I think the Tide have a little let-down after last week's OT loss; god knows the players are still feeling that game int heir bones. It'll be slow going for 'Bama to build up a head of steam offensively, but even sleep walking, this D will smother Miss. State.

Oregon 34, Stanford 31 - Shoot-out, classic Pac-12 style. I love Andrew Luck and I know the Cardinal will score points, but I'm wondering if Stanford can stop the Oregon offense at full speed. James and Thomas will not only be fully healthy, but I think they'll be focused, pumped, and primed for this match-up. I know it's on the road, but I'm taking the Ducks.

Not Enough.

2011-11-09T12:58:00.001-05:00

So JoePa has made the decision to retire at the end of the season. This is how we reward what happened under his watch at Penn State? Allowing him to set his own terms on leaving, letting him set his own timeline for adulation-filled farewells, keeping him in-place to coach this Saturday against Nebraska in a setting that's likely to become a pro-Joe pep-rally, televising a man living his life unchanged under a program reeling from scandal while the victims get to sit at home and watch? Pathetic. I rarely say this, but in this situation, I don't care about the legal system. Sometimes just the legal responsibility is not enough; sometimes you have to do what's right. With something as bad as child molestation, there is no middle ground, no c-y-a and move on, and to me, anyway, no second chances. Reading the grand jury testimony, following the timeline of events, hearing from the victims, it's all too much to take-in today and be satisfied that Joe got to pick his time to go. Paterno, Mr. "Success with Honor" himself, is now a figurehead for a program that allowed one of the worst things that can happen to go on; as such, he - and everything remotely connected to his administration - should be let go. Immediately. Letting him go out on his own terms, allowing him to stick it out to season's end, giving him his last month on the sideline (or, in the press box, actually)is simply not enough. 'Not enough' - a phrase that, in the end, sums up the cowardly effort these individuals put into one of our most basic responsibilities as human beings, protecting children.

Tuesday Top-25

2011-11-08T17:48:00.002-05:00

All the news coming out of State College this week has been outright sad. It's really killing any interest I have to explore, discuss, or debate anything college football related. This makes improper benefits, illegal agent contact, pay for play, free tattoos, rental cars, sold jerseys, and smack talk look like upstanding behavior and more and more I'm worried some folks who acted in a very disgusting, immoral, and cowardly manner might walk. So, tonight, you get my top-25, but I've got no commentary to add right now. I'm just kinda depressed about the whole sport right now. Ugh.
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EDIT: From the Harrisburg Patriot-News. The more I think about it, I'm not sure they truly nailed it - I'm starting to lean towards cleaning house immediately.
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Where Will He Pop-Up Next?

2011-11-07T15:35:00.000-05:00

Houston Nutt will be done at Ole Miss at the end of the season...and no one's surprised. My question: where will he end up? This will not be a Nutt-less landscape for long. Kentucky could be looking for a new coach soon; would they give the Right Reverend a third SEC shot? Or, could he find a new home at an Arizona or even a higher tier C-USA team? We can't say for sure. All we know is, he will be missed.

Monday Afternoon QB - BCS Title Game Speculation Edition

2011-11-07T13:53:00.001-05:00

I'm a little late getting this out, but there was a lot to process this weekend and I was distracted all day yesterday with the Falcons and then monitoring my fantasy teams. And also napping. Lots of napping.

First, let's go ahead and address the big one, LSU-Bama. I really enjoyed watching this game. Suffocating defense and an entire contest turning on special teams. It was truly old school-style football out there, but with a modern twist: those are by far the fastest and hardest hitting players in the nation. To me, even considering the kicking mishaps, Saban lost the game when he called the wildcat pass downfield. I'm not saying it wasn't a good call, I'm just saying that it's the play the conclusion of the game turned on. At that point, LSU looked tired up front and Richardson was beginning to loosen them up for more ypc. If Saban keeps plugging away, the Tide most likely wear down the D further, let there's rest more, and even if they only get a field goal, it's unlikely LSU drives for the tie that late. Instead, with the INT , LSU gains a little momentum, puts together a drive against a less-rested Bama D and send us to OT where they trump Bama's questionable special teams. This game truly was a chess match and Miles came out ahead by playing it safe - and no one thought that would be the case.

Now there's a lot of talk about a rematch. I really wouldn't want to see one. To me, it's not fair to LSU. They've already beaten 'Bama - on the road, mind you - and to make them do it again seems like the wrong call. Besides, what do we really prove if Bama pulls out a win on a neutral field in January? Nothing. You'd then need a third game somehow to truly decide the series and you're not getting it. Just treat it like a play-in game: Bama lost, they lose out on a shot. Of course, all of this is obviously predicated on both teams winning out.

Who would LSU's opponent in the SECCG be if it were today? Georgia. That's a really weak East division. The Dawgs still likely have to beat Auburn to go - unless SoCar loses at Florida - and even then, I doubt they'll pose much threat to the Bayou Bengals. LSU is almost a lock for ATL, because even if they lost to Arkansas, the SEC tie-breaking procedure allows for them to win the division based on the fact they beat 'Bama. Unless Arkansas is within 5 BCS spots when it happens...

Of the other two unbeatens, I like Stanford right now. Okie State still looks like they've got a loss coming their way Sooner or later (get it?). If Stanford falls to Oregon and OU wins Bedlam, you'll most likely get the Sooners in the BCSCG against LSU. That seems like one of the more boring potential NC match-ups, honestly. Of course, there's always Boise State. If Georgia made it to the SECCG and won, the Broncos would have a VERY solid argument for the title game; likely playing Oklahoma. Who they beat in the Fiesta Bowl a few years ago. Ooh, the drama.

Obviously, if Stanford wins out, they'd trump a one-loss Oklahoma team. But, if the Cardinal win out and Okie State takes care of business in Bedlam, the Cowboys would get the nod over Luck and Co. to play LSU. If LSU drops the ball somewhere, you get Stanford - OKSU. If they all lose one, you could still get Alabama back in the title game, maybe against a then one-loss OU or even undefeated Boise State. Then Michael Wilbon could put his money where his mouth is.

Welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!

2011-11-06T10:55:00.001-05:00

As official as it gets, the official SEC announcement.

Everybody Scores!

2011-11-06T10:51:00.000-05:00

KAREMPELIS!

Smith, Harton, Bennett, Boykin, Conley, Charles, White, Karempelis, and McGowan. All nine of these guys scored a TD yesterday against New Mexico State. There's really not much more to say about Georgia's win. Overall, I'm pleased with the way we dispatched an outmatched foe in a money game, even with a completely depleted running back corps. We were able to establish our backups' backups in the running game and had two quarterbacks find rhythms against the Aggie D (Murray tossed five TD's, Mason one). Defensively, we did give up almost 100 yards to Kenny Turner, but most of those came in the second half. Sure, there were some sloppy moments, but not enough to draw any honest complaints.

More importantly, South Carolina came up short on the road against Arkansas, putting us alone on top of the SEC East. I'm realistic to know that this is like winning a competition to get kicked in the balls - especially after watching the LSU-Bama game last night - but true competitors want a chance at the best and we might get it. We just have to take care of Auburn and Kentucky first. The Wildcats seem manageable, but I have no clue about this Auburn match-up.

The Heart of the Matter

2011-11-02T15:03:00.000-04:00

There's been a lot of speculation that Georgia's running backs were actually given the drug test they failed before the Florida game, and that the results were in before Saturday. That would mean the coaching staff decided to wait until after the annual showdown in Jacksonville to release the results and carry-out the suspensions. That would make sense, with this week's opponent being New Mexico State, a game that's much more survivable without a full roster than a conference tilt. Now, there's no proof this is the case, it's just been speculation and rumor, but if it is true, could anyone blame the staff? I'd imagine every D-1 coach would do it the same way. I think it would be more egregious if there was a uniform drug violation policy, but there's not. At least UGA administers there own tests at multiple times a season - many programs wait for pressure from the NCAA - and UGA's in a small group of schools who actually punish first time offenders. There are many schools who do not punish first time offenders at all - ten of them are in the SEC. As a matter of fact, only Georgia and Kentucky hand out first-time offense suspensions.* So, if they did wait, it doesn't seem that important since nobody truly seems to care about the issue anyway. It takes a special kind of homer to blindly defend players at every turn, but it's also a pretty rare breed who criticizes the way one team doles out punishments when their school doesn't even consider the offense a problem.

Me? I couldn't care less about minor drug/alcohol stuff. I don't have much patience with big stuff like sexual assault, domestic abuse, blatant improper benefits, felonies, etc. - but college kids are college kids. I hope they learn from this, keep their heads on straight and reserve the weed for winter and spring. I mean, c'mon, guys, it's a college town; just abuse alcohol like everyone else. And, if rival fans are going to continue to go after Richt's handling of the situation, we should just change our drug test/penalty policy to one more like their school has - none.
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* Along with Georgia and Kentucky, Miami, Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, and Baylor are the only BCS schools who have any punishment for a first-time drug offender.

Running Backs Suspended

2011-11-01T14:57:00.002-04:00

UPDATE: From Team Speed Kills: "ESPN is reporting that the actual cause of the suspension was the three of them failing a drug test last week. It doesn't say what kind of drug they tested positive for, not that it really matters, but a one-game suspension for a first failed test is the standard policy for UGA."

If it was a drug test, then maybe I was a little too harsh earlier; especially if it's an LSU-style synth-marijuana bust. I mean, I know rules are rules and these kids are dumbasses for breaking very clear-cut guidelines, but I find it hard to judge college aged kids for doing college-aged - and beyond - things. They should definitely sit out a game as per S.O.P, but I'll tone down my earlier judgement a bit...for now.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Three running backs - Isaiah Crowell, Carlton Thomas, and Ken Malcome - have all been suspended for this week's game against New Mexico State. When asked what the suspensions are being served for, Richt would only reply, "They didn't do things the Georgia way." I'm guessing they haven't been doing things the proper way for a while now, if that one quarter suspension Crowell served against Vandy is any indicator. But, you know what, though? If they fuck up, sit 'em, and if they keep fucking up, cut 'em. I can't stand to have shit heads on my team, period. Other teams can sign these guys and play out dream seasons admist the controversy, but I don't want any part of it. Would it hurt to lose these guys, Crowell, especially? Yes. Does that mean it's OK to do things in a shady way? Absolutely not. Of course, I'm definitely in the minority here, and I know it.

Specifically, I'm very concerned about Crowell, now. I've heard he's quite the prima donna; spending the summer showing up late for or missing whole practices, focusing on himself more than the team around him, and just generally being a douchebag. If one suspension didn't snap him out of it, chances are this one won't either. We might need to think of life without the talented freshman as a real possibility. But, for this week, with Thomas and Malcome out and Richard Samuels hurt, who's going to run the ball? My guess is we'll see a lot of Smith and Boykin on offense come Saturday, because I'm assuming we're not confident turning the entire workload to Brandon Harton. What I hope is that this little suspension is what these kids need to straighten up and fly right; what I know is, these kids better wake up, and soon, or they'll be gone.

Of course, I'm sure they can always find a home out in the SEC West.

Tuesday Top-25

2011-11-01T10:32:00.002-04:00

A firm grasp on the number one ranking is at stake in Tuscaloosa this Saturday when LSU and Alabama finally face-off. Beyond that, everything else is still a bit of a mess, though it's a contained clutter through the top-7 or so. Right now, Oklahoma State gets the nod over Stanford for the three spot, but it's a razor thin margin. Next, it my be sacrilege to some, but I do have a handful of one-lossers ahead of undefeated Boise State. Those one-lossers are ranked by this logic: I think Oregon could beat Oklahoma and Oklahoma could beat Clemson. I'm sorry, Broncos, but you get less and less impressive with your late season cavalcade of cheese-dick opponents. Two SEC teams with a big date of their own this weekend round out the top-10. Note: I am NOT comfortable with having either of these teams this high.

After that, it's just a Jackson Pollack-esque splattering of chaos. Yes, that is Nebraska ranked so high. Yes, I do remember them getting blasted by Wisky, but that was before the Badgers got double Hail Mary'd. Michigan State retains an inflated spot, mainly by necessity. Arizona State refuses to go away and Penn State is slowly creeping up the poll, one 3-point win at a time. Kansas State plummets after finally being exposed, but with their resume, they're still a top-20 team. Texas Tech is gone, baby, gone after that shit show at Iowa State, though - big win over OU or not. Undefeated Houston and Case Kennum's magic touchdown laser round out the top-20.

21-25 is just a holding ground. I'm still not ranking Cincy or So.Miss. I'm not that impressed with Georgia, even with the Cocktail Party win, though Auburn is slowly coming back around to my football consciousness. Like the Tigers, West Virginia re-emerges with a conference win. Georgia Tech gets back in it by knocking off a cocky Clemson team and Washington hangs around by virtue of their only two losses being to top-15 teams. Texas A&M has been knocked out for now, but remains on the cusp should any of these hangers-on topple off anytime soon.

It's the Little Things, Sometimes.

2011-10-31T16:34:00.000-04:00

Confession: I'm notoriously bad at college football pick 'em and that hasn't changed much this season. In fact, one week, my confidence points went completely unsaved in all three pick 'em leagues in which I participate. That's the last time I try that 'import picks' trick, since all three leagues have different games slated for us to pick. Anyway, apparently, the stars aligned just the right way this weekend and I actually took first place for the week in TeamSpeedKills' league. For my impressive - and very, very lucky - performance, I've won a gift certificate to gamedaydepot.com. This really isn't that impressive, but I've felt like I was sleep walking on another continent all day today and this little shot of good news has helped brighten things up a little bit. Now for some cold beer and a scary movie...Happy Halloween, everybody!

Early Leans

2011-10-31T08:45:00.001-04:00

I've gone 11-4 and 14-4 the last two weeks, bringing me to 91-25 on the year. It's not too shabby, and I've hit some of the big upsets, but I've been too hesitant with some of my upset alerts and it's cost me some wins. There's a lot on the slate this week, so let's get to it.

Tuesday

Toledo 31, Northern Illinois 28

Wednesday

Temple 29, Ohio 26

Thursday

Miami 30, Akron 10

Tulsa 34, UCF 23

Florida State 31, Boston College 17

Friday

Central Michigan 27, Kent State 16

USC 38, Colorado 13

Saturday

Iowa 24, Michigan 23

Texas Tech 27, Texas 26

West Virginia 30, Louisville 17

Stanford 44, Oregon State 20

Oklahoma 33, Texas A&M 19

Arkansas 31, South Carolina 17

Arizona State 27, UCLA 21

Oklahoma State 35, Kansas State 21

Oregon 32, Washington 25

Alabama 24, LSU 22

Sunday

Hawaii 30, Utah State 29

Sunday Evening QB

2011-10-30T20:01:00.001-04:00

This is all I have for you today:

At Least Georgia Hasn't Done This...

2011-10-28T13:59:00.000-04:00

...yet.

But don't think Blair Walsh isn't capable of pulling this Saturday.

It's Almost Halloween

2011-10-26T17:53:00.000-04:00

Here's your dose of terrifying, straight from Kegs 'N Eggs:

Thanks

Weekly Picks

2011-10-25T17:25:00.000-04:00

Football every night of the week, folks - let's get ready. Sun Belt tonight, Big East tomorrow, and a C-USA/ACC double-up Thursday. I don't even time for early leans, for fucks sake.

But make no mistake, I LOVE it. Except for that whole 3-18 record thing...

Tuesday

FIU 24, Troy 16 - The Trojans find themselves in a new situation this season: lacking any semblance of an offense. Usually, Troy makes even the big boys on their schedule a little nervous. This season, Even the Golden Panthers are favored over the boys in crimson.

Wednesday

Pittsburgh 27, UConn 17 - THIS CONFERENCE MAKES NO SENSE! I'm kinda glad it's dying.

This is how I feel about the Big East.

Thursday

Houston 44, Rice 31 - Case Keenum looks to keep piling on to his total yardage number. Rice is just looking to keep it competitive.

Friday

TCU 34, BYU 17 - This is a very angry Horned Frog squad. They should be more than up for hosting what can best be described as a streaking BYU team. It should be a good one early, but I like TCU to pull away in the second half.

Saturday

Nebraska 27, Michigan State 26 - Oddsmakers are favoring the Cornhuskers right now, and I don't blame them; this is still the same Sparty squad that was thumped by Notre Dame. True, that loss seemed to wake up the defensive coaches, but I still don't see State winning this one on the road. I'll take NU, but it'll be closer than the 6-point line.

Texas A&M 31, Missouri 24 - A&M better be very careful; Missouri is finally going to catch one of these favored teams one weekend soon. The Tigers can run the ball very well, and should be better matched-up defensively against the Aggies than they were against OK State last week. It should be hard fought through three, but Christine Michael should be enough for A&M to ice it late.

Oregon 51, Washington State 22 - The pain train continues towards it showdown with Stanford.

Oklahoma State 37, Baylor 24 - I keep waiting for the bottom to fall out for the Cowboys, but State just keeps winning. I've looked for losses against A&M, Texas, and Mizzou and been wrong every time. Well, I'm changing my tune a little here. I'd like to call for RGIII and his Bears to finally spring the trap, but I'll go with the undefeated Pokes. All of this is predicated upon Blackmon playing, however.

Oklahoma 51, Kansas State 19 - This is going to be a VERY angry Sooners team Saturday. I already didn't like this match-up, but given the venom factor, it could get ugly fast. The WIldcats can run the ball very well, but their passing game is a disgrace (110th in the country!). Even with Willie Martinez as DB's coach in Norman, the Sooners secondary should be more than ready to handle whatever Kelin can dish out. Beyond that, those big OU linemen and backers will just load up the box and stuff the run. Look for the Sooner offense to be on the field a lot, and a tired State D to get torched, time and time again. I wouldn't look for Stoops to pump the breaks any time early, either. If you're a Wildcat fan, you better pack a lunch, cuz it's gonna be a long day and a bad way to see an unbeaten season come to an end.

Penn State 24, Illinois 21 - Zook's slide will be complete and the Nits ascension will begin in earnest.

Florida 27, Georgia 17 - I don't want to talk about it.

Tennessee 23, South Carolina 22 - UPSET ALERT The first of four upset alerts to close out the picks. Tennessee has played the best halves anyone has so far against LSU and Alabama, they just couldn't keep it up after half time in either game. The Vols are also finally finding a running game, matching their season total against 'Bama - which was also the most the Tide had allowed all year, btw. Dooley burned Worley's redshirt late in last week's loss, so look for the highly touted freshman to get the start and maybe bring some new energy to the offense with him. Meanwhile, Spurrier is down to his second dtring QB and has lost Lattimore, the backbone of the Cock's offense. It'll be a close one, but I'm taking the Vols to get their first conference win.

Georgia Tech 31, Clemson 30 - UPSET ALERT I can't explain why I'm feeling this, just know I hate it with every fiber of my being. This is one week I'll be all for Clemson - it's just also the week I see them finally falling.

Stanford 29, USC 27 - UPSET ALERT Stanford better be very careful with this road trip to L.A. Luck and the Cardinal are on fire right now, but the Trojans might have just enough in them to put out the flame. In the end, I think maturity and leadership will pull Stanford through, but young and fiesty SoCal will make it a true test. Hopefully, with the national audience, this Cardinal squad will get some much deserved attention, too.

Wisconsin 27, Ohio State 24 - UPSET ALERT Wisconsin better not let the cloud of last week's loss hang around their heads for too long, because this Buckeye squad would love to catch the Badgers slipping. I'll call for a little sleepwalking in the first half, but Wilson, Ball, and Co. should be able to pull it out.

Monday Night QB and the Top-25

2011-10-24T20:45:00.003-04:00

It's a two-fer, folks.

I didn't have a Georgia game to write-up a Sunday morning review of and their was too much excitement late to start getting my thoughts down clearly before the Falcons kicked-off yesterday (Rise Up, BTW). So, this week, you get the Sunday Morning QB and the weekly poll all wrapped up into one neat bundle. I'm going to take my rankings pretty much team-by-team, throw in some thoughts on a few un-ranked squads, then give you a quick top-25 cheat sheet at the end. Enjoy!

Dear god, did LSU look good destroying Auburn Saturday afternoon. I honestly thought that game would be pretty close, maybe even be a trap-ish game for the personnel-short Bayou Bengals. Damn, was I wrong. Tennessee hung around with Alabama for two impressive quarters, but somehow I think we all knew doom was inevitable. Both LSU and 'Bama get a week off to prepare for their Nov. 5th showdown - it should be a good one.

Stanford is an impressive, impressive football team. And, just because you're not watching them on TV doesn't mean it ain't so. The Cardinal racked up 450 yards rushing against a surging Washington team, have a top-5 defense, and Luck is the best QB in the nation. But, it won't do them any good. People think the Stanford schedule's too soft and tend to overlook the Cardinal when they're ranking the un-beatens. Hopefully for Luck and Co., more heads will turn when they beat USC and Oregon. Until then, at least I'll fight the good fight for them.

Clemson and Oklahoma State round out the top-5. I am not comfortable with either of these teams, honestly. It just keeps felling like the bottom's gonna fall out as soon as I put my faith into them. Maybe I'm unfairly judging them by past slides and disappointments, but I feel like Clemson will drop at least two before the ACC CG and OK State will get straight dropped in Bedlam.

Oregon got trounced by LSU. Arkansas was similarly thrashed by Alabama. But the more unbeatable those two juggernauts look, the more positively those losses to them can be interpreted. Texas A&M gets to hang around in the top-10 by the same principle. They do have two losses, but they're to the aforementioned Cowboys and Razorbacks. And, oh yeah, Kansas State's still undefeated. No, seriously.

Michigan State's defense was truly, truly impressive Saturday night. The Spartan's coaching staff threw more fronts and blitzes at Wisconsin than the Badgers could adjust to. I know I'm high on Wilson, Ball, Toon, and the O-line, but they need some help up top from the position coaches and coordinators. Put simply, the Spartans are one finely coached team. That - and the win, of course - is why they trump Boise for a top-10 spot.

Boise State will need to better than staving off Air Force to earn enough props to stay highly ranked.

Wisconsin and Oklahoma dropped pretty far. I kept the Badgers over the Sooners mainly because OU really has no excuse losing in Norman. Texas Tech receives one of the biggest jumps in FTS poll history, debuting at no. 13. They do have two losses, but they're A&M and Kansas State, both top-10 teams, and I felt they deserved to be higher than the team they just beat. Of course, I think Wisky and OU will rebound - but they've got several weeks of poll left to climb back to their proper perch...or fall even farther.Nebraska's thrown in there for good measure at no. 13, appropriately behind Wisconsin, but not too far from their previous spot.

Michigan, South Carolina, and Arizona State did not play and are awarded by getting to hover near their previous ranks. Virginia Tech and Houston won, but not with great flair or over great competition; they, too, hover. BTW, Case Keenum is now the total yardage career leader - deal with it.

I can haz all the yrdz?

Penn State has very quietly gone 7-1, with their only blemish a fairly close - by comparison, anyway - loss to Alabama. Another win and I'll have to move them into the top-15.

I have to agree with Matt Barkley, it felt like Notre Dame quit. They should have used their timeouts, but chose not to, instead allowing the Trojans to drain over six minutes with running plays. For their win, SoCal gets a ranking. And, dare I say it, Kiffin did not seem completely, well, Kiffin-y. Things could be turning in L.A.

I know Washington got BLASTED by Stanford this past weekend. But, if I honestly believe what I wrote above about the Cardinal, I can't fault the Huskies too much for the loss can I?

Lastly, for lack of better options, Georgia and Texas get the last two spots. I know some people are going to rank Syracuse, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Southern Miss, Georgia Tech, or Illinois, but not me. WVU lost to 'Cuse, who lost to Rutgers - that DQ's both those teams. Cincy got owned by Tennessee. Would you rank Tennessee? I didn't think so. SoMiss is the most likely of the bunch to get my vote, but not until they atone for that loss to Marshall with a few more wins. As for GA Tech and the Zookers? They're done until we see more dubs. Also, Wreck Tech, hahaha!

Any questions? Here's the poll:

LSU

Alabama
Stanford
Clemson
Oklahoma State
Oregon
Kansas State
Arkansas
Texas A&M
Michigan State
Boise State

Wisconsin
Texas Tech

Nebraska
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Virginia Tech
Michigan
Arizona State
Penn State
USC
Houston
Washington
Georgia
Texas

Good News Out of Louisville

2011-10-22T11:39:00.000-04:00

In last night's upset of Rutgers, Louisville ended a three-game losing skid but lost cornerback Anthony Conner. In tackling Knights' wideout Mohamed Sanu, Conner's head collided with Sanu's knee. The hit didn't look that bad at first, but Conner didn't move after the play; he had broken his neck. It's one of the more terrifying aspects of what is a very violent sport. At any moment, any player can have his career, mobility, or even his life, taken away from him. When it happens, like with Conner last night, you get a pit in your stomach and hope for the best...but fear the worst. Well, good news this morning: doctors are saying that paralysis will not be an issue in Conner's recovery. He most likely will never play again, but he will walk again. While it's always sad to see a career cut short, we can take solace in the fact that Conner will recover.

Weekly Picks

2011-10-20T09:19:00.002-04:00

Lots of games to pick this weekend. I was 13-2 last week, with all my upsets hitting home, making me 66-18 on the year. I forgot to do early leans this week, but I've certainly changed my mind between Sunday night and now. There are some junk games on this slate, but I'm standing by my 'pick all the games' rule when it comes to non-Saturdays.

Thursday

UCF 30, UAB 16 - This will be a boring game in the lowly Conference-USA. Read: still better than baseball.The Knights have hit the skids this year, but the Blazers are completely off the tracks.

Arizona 33, UCLA17 - OUT ON A LIMB The Wildcats are 1-5 and replacing their coach. If anyone can fuck this up, it's Rick Neuheisel. I'm taking Nick Foles to gut it out over the Bruins.

Friday

West Virginia 44, Syracuse 20 - I think this one could be competitive early. 'Cuse is much improved this season and the Carrier Dome could be rocking with fans looking for good things from a 4-2 squad getting ready to jump to the ACC. It won't mean much by the third quarter, though. The 'Neers just have better athletes and once Geno Smith finds a rhythm, the Orange D is done.

Louisville 27, Rutgers 26 - UPSET ALERT Rutgers is 5-1, but barely. Louisville is only 2-4, but Strong just got an extension and the Cardinals are perched for a resurgence. Also, it's the Big East. Nothing makes sense there except that which makes no sense.

Saturday

Oklahoma State 31, Missouri 27 - UPSET ALERT I just don't trust the Pokes to keep it going. I do like Justin Blackmon, though. It'll be a great pass and catch that seals the deal for State over a Mizzou team looking to prove themselves to another conference.

Clemson 24, North Carolina 23 - Why do I keep tryin' these Tigers up? They crushed VA Tech, survived Maryland, and should be able to beat UNC thoroughly. But, they're Clemson. So, UPSET ALERT #DABO!

Kansas State 34, Kansas 19 - The Wildcats will be 7-0 and possibly in the top-10 after this one. /shudders

Arkansas 45, Ole Miss 17 - Why'd I even pick this one?

LSU 20, Auburn 10 - TIGERS TIGERS WEIRD SHIT TIGERS

Boise State 49, Air Force 20 - The Blue Turf will be ablaze with the Broncos' offensive firepower, as Kellen and the gang want to put on a show for anyone tuned in on Versus. The Falcons will not be able to keep up, but will add a late score to make it look better. Well, a little better.

Nebraska 44, Minnesota 13 - See: Arkansas at Ole Miss

Texas A&M 40, Iowa State 21 - The Aggies have learned to play a complete game.

Georgia Tech 24, Miami 19 - Tech is coming off a loss in Charlottesville and Miami is coming off of two exciting games. Harris and Co. will look good on offense, but they'll give up some big plays early before their D settles in on the Jackets. A turnover will turn the tide in the third and Tech will eat up enough clock to keep the 'Canes from coming back.

Oregon 51, Colorado 20 - Even if they don't have James or Thomas, the Ducks should be able to fly all over the hapless Buffaloes.

Penn State 20, Northwestern 17 - Penn State will continue they're quiet roll.

Wisconsin 38, Michigan State 17 - Sparty has a great defense; they shut down Shoelace and Big Blue last week and are looking for a repeat this weekend. I don't think they find it. The Badgers have too many weapons, and though they may start slow, they'll eventually wear State down. Look for Ball and Wilson to put it out of reach in fourth.

Stanford 31, Washington 21 - This could be a game that comes down to QB's; Washington's found a true star in Kieth price, and Stanford has the best signal caller in the country.. I think the Huskies scrap early, but Cardinal pull it out late.

Sunday

Hawaii 33, New Mexico State 16 - The Warriors will not take kindly to that upset last week.

Williams, Gathers Suspended for Florida

2011-10-19T15:21:00.004-04:00

Well, at least the first half, anyway. The SEC reviewed the game tape from last Saturday night's UGA - Vandy game in Nashville. Gathers was chop blocked form behind Logan Stewart in the third quarter and responded with by punching Stewart in the back of the helmet. It's the punch that drew the suspension. For his part, a pretty nasty back-of-the-knee clip, Stewart, the Commodores' center, has also been suspended for Vandy's game against Army. Williams drew personal fouls on two separate occasions but it's the second one that drew the suspension, a flagrant foul that violated NCAA Rule 9-1-4: “No player shall target and initiate contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless opponent with the helmet, forearm, elbow or shoulder.”

Here's a clip showing Stewart's late, dangerous shot and Gathers' dumbass reaction:

Both of those are certainly suspension worthy, one for safety, one for sportsmanship. Here's Williams absolutely inexcusable hit on a defenseless receiver:

You know, I wonder why these Georgia guys play like this? Could it have anything to do with their DC, the man who's supposed to be responsible for teaching and disciplining these players? No, couldn't be; Grantham's a level-headed saint. /sarcasm

Mark Richt Says "Dumbass" and Grantham Re-visited

2011-10-18T18:39:00.000-04:00

Nice.

A video from a local Nashville station captured what happened when James Franklin and Mark Richt finally met up after the game. Franklin recaps what happened immediately post-game - getting taunted by Williams, pointing that act out to Georgia staff, and the unfortunate Grantham altercation - and, honestly, Richt seems completely unsurprised. He must know that Williams is a "dumbass" and Grantham is a goddamn childish asshole.

I've caught some flack from other Georgia fans for criticizing Grantham. You can say maybe I'm not as big of a Georgia fan as someone who blindly supports him, but fuck that noise. I'll say I'd rather be a thoughtful, intelligent fan of my team and the whole game itself than be a simple homer. Grantham is completely inappropriate, from the Florida choke to the new Vandy hulk-out, he's shown he has no decorum or self control. That means he has no discipline. Raging out over a bad call or calling out reporters in press conferences is one thing, taunting kids and physically attacking other coaches is a whole new bag. And that bag is full of shit. And any Georgia fan who wants to carry that bag for Grantham is as big of a dumbass as the DC they admire so much.

Top-25

2011-10-18T17:36:00.000-04:00

LSU
Alabama
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Stanford
Boise State
Oregon
Clemson
Oklahoma State
Arkansas
Nebraska
Kansas State
Texas A&M
South Carolina
West Virginia
Virginia Tech
Georgia Tech
Michigan State
Michigan
Arizona State
Auburn
Washington
Illinois
Houston
Penn State

The top-5 is unchanged here, but Oregon is on the rise, taking spot #7. With James and Thomas out, though, can they keep playing at this level? Clemson slips a bit, with Kellen Moore and Boise State taking a step ahead of the Tigers who almost dropped to Maryland. In a serving of counter-intuitiveness, Kansas State climbs by surviving their close scrape with Texas Tech. Arkansas and Nebraska get a bump with teams ahead of them finally losing. People need to keep an eye out for this Razorback squad; they're getting overshadowed by the West division big boys, but the Hawgs - and that pesky War Eagle - are dangerous, dangerous teams. Texas A&M is OK at 13 by product of their two losses being to top-10 teams. South Carolina takes one step forward, but that could be a big leap backward with Lattimore out and a tougher slate down the stretch. Georgia Tech and Arizona State are evening out. Auburn gets to stay in the 20-25 range with that win over Florida. Michigan State passes Michigan, but I need to see something besides a stout Sparty defense to get excited, so I'm keeping them low for now. Look at the Huskies staying tough; that loss to Nebraska still looks acceptable and the Dub is playing Tough right now. Illinois is coached by Ron Zook, 'nuff said. Houston's still Houston, getting a nod for obliterating ECU. Rounding out the poll, Penn State only has one loss, and that to Alabama, but those six wins seem shaky at best. Even though they won, Georgia has to kick rocks for that shitty display in Nashville.

Take a lesson

2011-10-17T18:27:00.000-04:00

This is how you keep it real:

This is not:

That's two, Grantham. Do us all a favor and grow up. I get that Franklin singled out a player - but the player deserved singling out. Your defense played like dip-shit children the entire second half, taking out their own athletic failures to make stops with unnecessary roughness and personal fouls. Now whose fault is that? Um, YOURS. You're not making it better by then going out and acting like a child yourself. If you're not willing to get things straight then I hope Mark Richt is.

Sunday Evening QB

2011-10-16T17:24:00.000-04:00

I don't see anyone on left on Wisconsin's schedule that looks like they can stop the Badgers. Wilson had a pedestrian day passing, going 12/17 for 170 and a TD, but he caught a Montee Ball half-back pass, remained the nation's leader in pass efficiency, and guided his team to a absolute crushing of Indiana. Ball went for 142 and White added 87 behind that big, corn-fed, cheese-bred offensive line. Michigan State looked pretty solid retaining the Paul Bunyan Axe, but it'll take more than that for the Spartans to top Wisky in two weeks. When do we start including the Badgers on equal footing with Oklahoma?

God, was that South Carolina - Mississippi State game boring. The last few minutes got kind of exciting, but it was 7-7 deep into the fourth. On a side note, I wish Marcus Lattimore a speedy recovery, he might have gouged Georgia two seasons in a row, but he's a beast, and I gotta respect that; he also seems like a pretty good kid. Let's hope the spraind diagnosis stands true and he gets better soon.

Texas A&M asserted themselves with a big win over Baylor. The Aggies do have two losses, but they're to Arkansas and Oklahoma State, both of whom are top-15 teams. If Texas stays as bad as they are right now, A&M really only has Oklahoma standing in the way of a 10-win season. Not a bad way to leave the Big-12.

Boise State pounded another hapless MWC foe, and still nobody cares. With each conference patsy they cream, voters get further and further away from the Georgia win in week one. In a week or two, The Broncos will slide to the bottom of the undefeateds in the polls.

After sleep walking through the first quarter, LSU woke up and pounded Tennessee. The Vols finally found a semblance of a run game, but it wasn't enough to even inconvenience the Tigers. That November 5 showdown with Alabama is getting bigger and bigger each week, but LSU needs to be careful not to overlook Auburn next week.

By the way, Trent Richardson is sickening. There should be a penalty for flagrant intentional embarrassment and he should have been called for it a few times against Ole Miss. He looked like a goddamn video game out there. Alabama could have scored a hundred if they wanted to.

And Rutgers is your Big East leader this week, folks. Oh, and a terrible UConn team beat previously ranked South Florida. Jesus, I hate trying to make sense of this league; it's like Les Miles if Les Miles were a conference.

What is about Georgia Tech and road trips to Chancellorsville? Something about Thomas Jefferson's architecture is like kryptonite to the Yellow Jackets. Still, though, LOL. Tech wrecked. While we're on hilariously ended undefeated seasons, let's talk about Illinois. Nathan Scheelhaas has finally been Zook'd. He doesn't know the score during the game and he called a punt from his opponents 30 yard line. Even the gutsiest of quarterbacks can't stand up to that kind of idiocy.

Why was Aubie wearing a tie-dyed shirt? Actually, scratch that, judging by the rest of the game, it makes perfect sense.

I wish I had been able to watch Clemson-Maryland, it looked like it was a good one. Clemson tried to be all Clemson-y, but Sammy Watkins said 'no.' The Tigers winning ways continue. I hope they mouth rape Georgia Tech in two weeks. Kansas State also kept its streak alive, turning back a scrappy Texas tech team in Lubbock Saturday evening. With lowly Kansas next week, it looks like the Wildcats will be unbeaten when they host Oklahoma in two weeks.

Oregon kept rolling last night, thumping Arizona State. But in consecutive weeks they've lost LaMichael James and Darron Thomas. The Ducks are going to need all their pieces back and healthy for that showdown with Stanford.

Louisiana-Lafayette is 6-1. Their one loss? To Oklahoma State. The Ragin' Cajuns could probably best half the SEC East.

Escape From Nashville: Field Goals and Embarrasment

2011-10-16T07:21:00.003-04:00

Reader Warning: Negativity Alert.

There's not a lot to be happy about from last night's game, but there's certainly a lot to try and figure out.

Isaiah Crowell had to serve a one-quarter suspension. When asked why the star freshman sat out the first period, Richt responded, "He didn't play because I love him." Cheesy, yes. But indicative of some minor infraction for which a small, hopefully maturing, punishment was needed. Since nothing showed up in the police blotter, I'm guessing missing class or breaking curfew; maybe something with alcohol or a girl - likely just typical college stuff. Maybe he wasn't focused for the game. Of course, if that was the problem, then Georgia wouldn't have been able to play anyone in the first quarter. We looked flat, lackadaisical, and just uninterested. Responsibility for that lands at the coaches' feet; they have to get the team up, even for Vanderbilt.

It's not just the coaches, though. Aaron Murray is still too uneven and Blair Walsh is becoming truly disappointing. Mike Bobo apparently went on record saying he loves Murray's "progress", and that he's a real "perfectionist." What QB is he watching? Murray stares down receivers, makes bad decisions, and is sometimes just downright careless with the football. Yes, he's a talented QB and can make great plays, but there's no difference between this Aaron Murray and the kid from last season. That might not be regression, but it's certainly not progress, either. And Walsh? What. The. Fuck. Blair? If you've given up, just quit the team so the coaches can get someone else out there for FG tries. Are Bogotay and Lindley just godawful kickers? There's no other reason I can think of for not trying someone else. I know he was the leading scorer last night, but that says more about our execution/play-calls than his talent.

Our old defensive friend, lack of discipline, showed up last night, too. James Franklin pulled out some gutsy calls and the 'Dores executed them near perfectly, but our D certainly helped them out, leaving people uncovered, making poor tackles, and, at times, just looking like we had no idea what we're doing. We were especially vulnerable against the run, allowing Rodgers and the Vandy backs to gash inside, through the linebackers, and into the secondary. We did deliver some monster hits, but overall, the D was very 'meh.' The long drive at the end of the third quarter and our inability to stop Rodgers in the 4th was the killer. It looked a hell of a lot like third-and-Willie again in Nashville last night. And, on a more personal note, Grantham needs to grow up a little. Sometimes he's just a childish douche bag and that certainly showed with that little end-of-game altercation. He should be ashamed.

Special teams was a little weak, too. How did they fall for that fake punt? Everyone and their brother knew something wasn't right there, with all the movement and shifting, why not drop into a blanket coverage? And what happened on that Vandy kickoff return for a TD? It looked like there was no coverage plan drawn up.

Going back to Bobo for a bit, why run the wildcat stuff? The play-calling was atrocious on that series and just didn't make any sense. I did like the playaction fake playcall, but the execution was terrible. Murray has a lot to learn to get to the Greene-level of PA passing. Also, we've got to address this O-line. They should be ashamed of themselves. They're the biggest line in football -college or pro - and they still can't open bigger holes for running backs or protect Aaron Murray. Will Friend needs to get on this, BIG time. I know I'm critical of Murray, but I will say he took that brutal shot to end the third like a champ.

I know some folks are happily watching the East standings with big dreams of an SEC Championship appearance, but we've got a long way to go to get there. We'll have to get by Florida and Auburn first, and judging by that turd we laid last night, that ain't gonna happen. Thank god we missed 'Bama, LSU, and Arkansas this year, or else we'd be suffering another losing season and the Richts would be getting ready to pack-up their shit. I just feel like I don't know what we're doing anymore, and it seems like that feeling is shared by the entire team, coaching staff, and support crew. Simply put, we are not a good football team and this game should be treated like a loss.

Weekly Picks

2011-10-12T21:28:00.000-04:00

Thursday

San Diego State 23, Air Force 22 - Technically, this is an upset. The Falcons are favored by 6', but they got their wings clipped pretty bad by Notre Dame last week and the Aztecs are not the team to be careless against. Look for Air Force to come out angry, but the sunny style zen masters use it against them, judo-style.

USC 26, Cal 24 - Kiffin's getting ready to burn the redshirt off of George Farmer in hopes of finding an offensive spark of some sort. Cal's just hoping to find a way out of the downward spiral of the last two weeks. The Bears don't get it done this week.

Friday

Hawaii 41, San Jose State 19 - The Spartans don't have much going on. Not that Hawaii's much better, but the Warriors have enough to stuff SJSU.

Saturday

Michigan State 23, Michigan 21 - UPSET ALERT This isn't really an upset, though; Sparty's favored by 3 right now. I think they have the D to back it up. Denard and Co. think they've got the O to finally put State in their place. It's showdown time in the Pleasant Peninsula and, while I love Shoelace, I'm taking the Green and White to keep it real in East Lansing.

Texas A&M 31, Baylor 27 - A&M plays two full games in-a-row; Baylor loses two games in-a-row.

South Carolina 27, Mississippi State 17 - Connor Shaw was light's out last week and Spurrier showed no signs of letting up, calling for a deep passing TD in the last minute against hapless Kentucky. While the Bulldogs are better than the Wildcats, they're still susceptible enough to big plays for me to take the Gamecocks in this one. I've re-thought the margin of victory - 33 was a bit much - but still see it being decisive as SoCar tries to solidify their hold on the East race.

LSU 37, Tennessee 20 - Tennessee's going to have to pass to stand a chance here; their run game is non-existent. While Chris Simms is a backup, he's good enough to make some plays when necessary. None of that matters, though. The Vols are hosting a mystical voodoo tour, helmed by a mad-hatter petting a honey badger. Nothing you do against them is good enough and Tennessee will learn that the hard way.

Miami 31, North Carolina 24 - Does anyone care about this match-up? Wake up early, run some errands, eat lunch during Gameday, then switch to this for a nice mid-day nap.

Oklahoma State 30, Texas 20 - Texas showed no signs of life last week, rolling over like a prison bitch in Dallas last weekend. They'll show more signs of life Saturday, but they'll still be starting the same corners and neither of them will have an answer for Blackmon.

Ohio State 27, Illinois 26 - UPSET ALERT At some point, the Illini will get Zook'd. They have to! Scheelhaase cannot keep winning despite his coach's "coaching," eventually, things have to fall apart. While I don't like putting my faith in this particular Buckeye squad, fuck it. It's that kind of B1G this season, baby!

Alabama 34, Ole Miss 7 - THIS.

Clemson 24, Maryland 23 - UPSET ALERT I'm too scarred to call for the Terp win, but I will say the Tigers need to be careful. This trip to College Park is a trap game. it's trpp-y enough that normally I'd make this Admiral Akbar trap game of the week, but I just dropped a Star Wars reference in the last pick.

Texas Tech 31, Kansas State 30 - UPSET ALERT Kansas State feels a little like Illinois right now, in that a loss seems inevitable. Texas Tech, on the other hand, seems bound for a decent win. May as well be now.

Auburn 25, Florida 24 - I do not feel comfortable with this call. At all. Sure, it seems obvious enough. No Brantley and two ass-whippings in a row haven't made the Gators seem like a team bound for a win. But, this AUburn team hasn't shown me anything this year that makes me want to pick their games using any kind of 'trend' or 'facts.' It'll be ugly. And weird.

Oregon 41, Arizona State 29 - I hope LaMichael James is back. I also hope Vontaze Burfict slobber knocks Daron Thomas. I can't lose! The Skittles will be flowing on the Sun Devil sideline, but it won't be enough to slow the Ducks in Eugene.

My Favorite Players

2011-10-12T08:27:00.003-04:00

I love college football. Hell, we all do. And chances are, if you love the sport at this level, you have a team that you are attached to beyond any separation. They can do no wrong in your eyes. You were dyed in the wool at an early age and the resolve has only steeled over time. They are "your" team; you use "we" when you discuss them. Their highlights give you goosebumps and their lowlights break your heart. You are, simply, a fan. But that little word belies how much emotion goes into that actual state of being. Of belonging to something as ethereal, yet as powerful, as a Dawg-nation or Tiger Nation. For your ears to prick up and your heart to race at a "Go Dawgs", "War Eagle", or "Roll Tide." When it comes to this team, everyone on the roster is special to you. They are all your favorites and you root for them every down, no matter what.

We all know what that's like. But this post isn't about that. This post is about something else, something beyond your team. Who do you really enjoy watching play football? Who do you pull for when your team is completely removed from the equation? Do you base it on their talent, the excitement when they take the field? Or are they an underdog, a walk-on, a sentimental story that tugs at your heart strings? Is it the swagger? The humbleness? What makes a player one you enjoy watching and want to see do well?

Well, I've thought about that and decided to compile my list for 2011. Sure, I could have filled it with Georgia Bulldogs, but that would defeat the purpose. I wanted to get down on paper (well, in pixels) the guys I pull for. The ones I enjoy watching for the sake of the game and would love to see succeed for no reason other than they appeal to me. And now, with no further ado, joaj34's favorite players in cfb:

1. "Shoelace" is the man, a human highlight reel as amazing as any I remember. He hasn't had the stability of some of the other greats, yet still he thrives. He's not a great traditional QB, especially mechanically, but he as instinctive of a playmaker as I can remember watching. He's over 80% of the team's overall offense and is a constant threat to score from anywhere on the field. And the dreads, man, the dreads.

2. I obviously love the dual threat QB. I also have always liked Wilson ans truly hoped he'd return from baseball and give his senior year a shot. When Tom O'Brien handed the star QB the "football or nothing" ultimatum, I immediately began rooting for him in earnest. I thought it was bullshit and that he should use the open door to transfer to a better program. He did, and. boy, did he pick a great place. I've always liked the Wisky style of football, and now he gives him the play-caller/maker behind center to reach the next level. E'ry day I'm Russell'n!

3. I mean, c'mon, he's a head-hunting, spleen-splitting, rib-rocking linebacker who eats Skittles on the sideline. That kind of swag is so unreal you can't help but love it. He's been criticized as a dirty player, but that kind of talk didn't keep Fairley from the NFL. I only wish he was a D-end; I have a soft spot for crazy-ass, freak show DE's. But linebacker is a close second.

4. His nickname says it all: Honey Badger just don't give a fuck. They say hidden yardage is a forgotten key to championship seasons. If that's true, then LSU is on a cakewalk to the crystal football and Mathieu is leading the way. Sure, he plays great covereage, ball hawks like Ed Reed, hits like Thomas Davis, and can shatter a sternum on a blitz, but he also is more responsible for Tiger field position than anyone else. He returns opponents' punts, but also has a knack for downing LSU punts inside the 20. In short, he's only 5'8", but does whatever the fuck he wants and I love it!

5. LaMichael James is on fire. He's topped 200 yards the last three games and he always seems to do it with such aplomb and grace. Not only that, but he's a leader who seems to genuinely be the heart of his Duck offense; especially more so than Darron Thomas. I also like how humble he is. He handles the press like a pro, even cracking jokes about his separated elbow like it was no thing. Probably because to him, it is no thing. If he can go, he'll go, If he can't, he'll help the next guy get ready. That's an underrated characteristic for a football player to have these days.

6. Fuck it, I cheated. Just one Bulldog, I promise. This kid's had my heart since signing day, but he's earned my respect on the field. He seems to want every carry, even though that demand has left him dinged and dented. And, even with the scrapes, pulls, and sprains, he goes right back at it, as hard as he can. It's a lot of pressure for a true freshman, but he seems OK with it. In fact, the only time I've seen him frustrated on the sideline has been in the wake of his own mistakes, a missed block or bad route. And each time he knows he could do better and all he wants is another chance to get on the field and show it. How can you not love this kid?

7. Luck showed up on everybody's radar last season, leading Harbaugh's boys to a one-loss, BCS-bowl winning season. He plays the role of the classic quarterback; a leader in the huddle, easy under center, and tough in the pocket. Luck has a Cardinal crew with a new head coach primed to make noise in the BCS and we all know they wouldn't be anywhere near here without him. He has the humble, quiet charisma of a natural leader, and you can't help but respect him. Oh yeah, the motherfucker catches passes, too. Baller.

8. Blackmon has always been fun to watch. And like LaMichael James, you just know that if a bigger school had taken him, he'd seem like a superstar. But they thought he was too slow. Blackmon has proven them wrong by torching almost every defense he's been matched-up against. He's a big, physical guy, not afraid to bang around with corners and safeties, and that's my favorite kind of wideout. His hands are also just sick. It seems he has a nasty, high-light reel worthy catch every game. When State's on, do yourself a favor and watch. I don't even hold the DUI against him; everybody likes to have a little too much fun every know and then. And, don't even get me started on the College Gameday spot about leukemia patient Olivia Hamilton and her relationship with Blackmon. /choppingonions

9. I love fundamental football. It's why I enjoy watching teams like Wisconsin and Alabama - they'll gladly kill you with the run, but they do it my way. They don't need to rely on a cutesy system or retro run game, they do it out of a pro-set, one-back, or I-form. They do it up front with disciplined O-lines. They allow a responsible field general to head it up, and it all relies on powerful backs who can carry the workload. When one of these field-churners can also be a D-burner, then you've got lightning in a bottle, and that's exactly what Richardson is. He doesn't lead the nation in rushing, but he's got a 6.3 ypc, has topped 100 yards in five games despite sitting out big chunks of time in blowouts, and has gone for 200 all purpose three times. He's the best weapon in the Tide's offensive arsenal and may be the first offensive player from 'Bama to strike my fancy in the Saban era.

10. I'm gonna cheat again and make the tenth spot my honorable mention spot. Here are some other players from across the country that I've got a soft spot for. Tank Carder, LB, TCU - a wild man, a defensive MVP, an ALL-American, and when he was paralyzed from the waist down in a 7th grade car accident, he said, "well, I’ll just join the wheelchair Olympics." That's how you won that shit, son. Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor - until last week, he had more touchdowns than he did incomplete passes. That's some that's a stat that make's no normal sense, man. Also, he already sounds like the junior Senator from Texas; that's the kind of front-man we should all get behind. Alabama's/Wisconsin's O-lines - the defintion of Hawg-Maulies, baby! Nick Foles, QB, Arizona - this kid is a lot better than his team's record shows, and he's got more heart than Rudy, judging by the fact he keeps popping up after the beatings he's taking week-in and week-out. But he doesn't let it stop him, he just gets up, throws a TD pass, and keeps fighting, even into the waiting arms of defeat.

Tuesday Top-25

2011-10-11T17:50:00.001-04:00

Completely stolen from EDSBS.

OK. This week it's LSU. I have a feeling it's gonna be a Tiger/Tide seesaw until November 5th. I know a lot of folks want to lump OU in there, but Texas sure did help the Sooners out on Saturday. I'm not trying to take anything from them, they're just a perfect number 3 to me right now. Call it homerism if you want. After that, I like Wisconsin and Stanford's finally convincing me they're top-5 good. Boise's on their downward skid down the polls due to the level of competition we see them play; it's getting herder and harder to remeber how good they looked opening night. I reluctantly elevate OK St, but await their two almost certain upcoming losses. Ditto for Shoelace and Co. who will run up against a talented Sparty D Saturday. Arkansas can keep their seat just outside the top-10 and I'm hesitant to just dump A&M considering who they lost to. The other surprise undefeateds are scattered among the one-loss teams by order of where I think they'd finish head-to-head. Except South Carolina. They're just 15 because that team screams fifteenth right now. Yes, I have allowed Washington into the poll. And 24. and 25. are two hard-to-predict, pretty close to mediocre SEC teams who will go head-to-head for the right to stay ranked next week. Say what you want about Florida, but this is the most brutal 3-week slate in the nation. Oh, and speaking of mediocre SEC teams who probably shouldn't be ranked, Georgia.

LSU
ALABAMA
OKLAHOMA
WISCONSIN
STANFORD
CLEMSON
BOISE STATE
OREGON
OKLAHOMA STATE
MICHIGAN
ARKANSAS
WEST VIRGINIA
ILLINOIS
NEBRASKA
SOUTH CAROLINA
KANSAS STATE
TEXAS A&M
ARIZONA STATE
BAYLOR
HOUSTON
MICHIGAN STATE
GEORGIA
WASHINGTON
AUBURN
FLORIDA

Early Leans - Upset-a-licious

2011-10-11T17:25:00.001-04:00

I went 11-3 last week and am clocking in at a very respectable 53-16 on the season. There are some trap games this week, as well as some sure fire stumbling blocks for some of these still unbeaten upstarts. I don't have all of my ideas ready or my final picks locked in, but I do know that I like Sparty's defense and Zook's incompetence to finally pay off.

San Diego State 23, Air Force 22
USC 26, Cal 24
Hawaii 41, San Jose State 19
Michigan State 23, Michigan 21 - UPSET ALERT kinda, I guess
Texas A&M 31, Baylor 27
South Carolina 33, Mississippi State 17
LSU 37, Tennessee 20
Miami 31, North Carolina 24
Oklahoma State 30, Texas 20
Ohio State 27, Illinois 26 - UPSET ALERT
Alabama 34, Ole Miss 7
Clemson 24, Maryland 23 - UPSET ALERT
Texas Tech 31, Kansas State 30 - UPSET ALERT
Auburn 29, Florida 24
Oregon 41, Arizona State 29

Peace, brah

2011-10-11T17:17:00.000-04:00

"Yo, girl, can I crash at your place?...I don't know, till like December?"

And he walked out of our lives forever. Steve has dismissed Stephen. The embattled, oft-suspended QB was kicked-off the team for failing to do something that sounds official in some capacity, but really translates into "chemicals." My guess was that they found "Dude, Connor Shaw is a much better QB" or "Leading the nation in INT's" in Garcia's system. But, apparently, it was alcohol and marijuana. Why does the NCAA hate freedom so much, bro? Like, that's not what this country's about and stuff, man. /applies zinc oxide to nose /sex waxes surfboard

Sunday Morning QB

2011-10-09T07:05:00.000-04:00

Another weekend of college football down, another round up of things that stood out to me:

La Michael James is the man; I hope he gets healthy again quickly.

I was wrong about Fresno State Friday night. Boise State finally broke out of the slump of relatively unimpressive wins they'd been in the last few weeks and took the west coast bulldogs behind the woodshed. Moore was his usual clinical self, finishing with a 175 rating and 3 TD's.

Unrelated to football, but I saw Donald Glover in downtown Athens Friday night. Awesome.

Somewhere in the third quarter, Oklahoma was started to play not just against Texas on the field, but also against LSU-Alabama in the minds of the pollsters. The Sooners had the 'Horns on the ropes all day, but Stoops never really let off the pressure and his starters were in very late. Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling him out for it. I'm just wondering how much good it did.

Maybe Connor Shaw is the answer in Columbia. I know Kentucky is about as dumpster-y of a fire as you can get, but Shaw didn't make any mistakes

We finally saw points taken off the board for taunting. Because of a punter. From Australia. Wow. The letter of the law says "egregious." That was NOT egregious. Oh, well.

We might have seen Clemson's dream season carted off the field along with Tajh Boyd.

It feels like Nathan Scheelhouse is undoing everything Ron Zook has tried to implement at Illinois. I mean, he wins and shit; that is not Zook-ball!

Florida State has reverted back to the mean. I feel more comfortable that way.

Kansas scored an early TD against OK State. Three minutes later, they were down 7-14 in a first half that saw the Cowboys put up 56 points.Wheedon was ruthlessly efficient, throwing 5 TD's on his way to a first half rating of 231 before sitting the rest of the game. Ri. Dic. U. lous.

Yes, Pittbull, we all want to have a real good time, but bourbon'll get you there a lot faster than Dr. Pepper will. While we're on the topic of commercials, why the NAPA commercial, CBS? WHY?!

That VA Tech game-Miami game turned out to be exciting. Not real sure how the Hokies let themselves blow that lead, but it made for a fun game. It seemed like every offensive player had their difficulty set to the lowest level. And Jacory didn't throw a pick all day. I know, right?

Very childish, Texas Tech; I bet A&M can't wait to leave you behind. I'm glad they played the whole game and put the Raiders and their birther coach in their proper place. While we're in the Big-XII, Kansas State is 5-0. WTF?

Shoelace threw three picks. But he also racked up 442 total yards and 4 TD's. I know Northwestern's not Wisconsin, but there was a statement made in Evanston tonight. I thought they'd lose and things would start evening out for this team, but i was wrong. The Wolverines can play through adversity and Hoke's doing a good job. An 8-4 year looks likely and that's a good thing.

Arkansas-Auburn was not nearly as crazy as it was supposed to be. It actually wasn't crazy at all. Very disappointing; you guys are supposed to be the wacky ones. I guess I was surprised by how bad Auburn looked overall. We all knew Roof would get burned, but where were the points?

Earlier I asked how much good Oklahoma pouring it on in the second half did. After seeing what LSU and Alabama did, I'd say not much. The Sooners looked good, but Texas did a lot of the damage to themselves; it won't be enough to overtake the SEC West schools.

With Rutgers dominating Pitt, it's good to know that the Big East makes as much sense as ever.

No. 100

2011-10-08T23:26:00.001-04:00

Well, Richt has won one hundred games as the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs. The centennial mark came in a hard fought game in Knoxville, Georgia struggling to put away the Vols late, threatening to keep the head man stuck at 99 for the moment.

The first half was an ugly affair, with both offenses plodding along, eating clock, and settling for field goals. It wasn't necessarily defensive; there was only one punt overall in the first two quarters and the only other possession that didn't end in points was a missed Tennessee FG in the first. In fact, both defenses looked a little shaky. The Dawgs could never really get a pass rush going and refused to cover the tight end for whole drives at a time. Tennessee played questionable coverage downfield, with safeties letting Georgia wideouts consistently get behind them. Lucky for them Aaron Murray's just not playing that well right now. He overthrew wide open receivers who had their men beat and when he finally connected on one, it was a terrible under-throw, forcing Mitchell to backtrack and killing the chance for the TD. At least he didn't throw a pick.

Going back to Mitchell for a moment; that kid plays nonstop balls-out and I love it. The 'Dream Team' kids have been great, not just for getting talent on the field, but for changing the attitude around the program a little. Mitchell's the leading receiver right now and another true frosh, Isaiah Crowell, is the leading rusher. He's also won SEC Freshman of the week three times already. Hell, Crowell's probably the MVP of the entire team so far this season. The problem is, without these kids, we don't have much on offense. That's a lot of pressure for true freshmen. It also means we have to play them a lot, which means they could get hurt. In fact, Mitchell had to leave the game in the third quarter after pulling a hammy on a long pass and Crowell was banged up from the first or second drive of the game. If we're not careful, we'll lose these guys for a game or two.

The defense picked up a little in the third, keeping an already anemic Vol run game stuffed and finally getting in Bray's face on two big third down stops. It would have been nice to see that paired with better coverage, but most of the mid level routes are linebacker responsibilities and we're a little thin at that position, so I guess it's understandable.

Something that's not understandable? 3rd & 57. That stretch of penalties early in the 4th was ridiculous. And they were followed with equally as ridiculous play calling. I get a screen or draw on 2nd, but a dive on 3rd down with over half the field to go? Seems a little yellow to me. The most frustrating thing about all of it is that drive felt like it was going to be the back-breaker. Another touchdown there would have put the game too far out of reach for the way Tennessee was playing. Instead, we got unfocused, undisciplined, and let the Vols hang around a little bit longer than they should have. This is something that has got to be addressed.

Overall, though, a win's a win and now we've had four-in-a-row. This is definitely an improvement from the past year or two. And, despite how unsatisfied I've been with certain aspects of Richt's tenure recently, I am glad he was able to reach win number 100. What would be great is if he got to 108 by season's end...

Same Old Genes, Brand New Pants

2011-10-08T17:40:00.001-04:00

The Rock's paint job for UGA-UT, from Clay Travis:

Weekly Picks

2011-10-06T19:05:00.000-04:00

Thursday Night

Middle Tennessee 29, Western KY 13 - These teams are terrible and this game's gonna be ugly, but somebody has to. They have to.

Oregon 44, Cal 24 - Cal was having a decent little year until last week's trip to Seattle; I don't see the Bears bouncing back with a trip to Eugene. LaMichael James and Darron Thomas will have big games tonight - Fightin' Ducks roll.

Friday Night

Boise State 30, Fresno St. 20 - I've adjusted this pick a little from my early lean. I like Fresno to put up a bit of a fight. It'll be closer than people are thinking and the Broncos will look uncomfortable almost all night. Little Carr's having a solid season and might take the Bulldogs close, but Kellen Moore will be almost perfect in the fourth, sealing the Boise win.

Saturday

West Virginia 42, UConn 17 - Holgo's Hillbillies are looking to make statements. They made up for the LSU loss by shellacking Bowling Green and would love to keep the hurt rolling into this week's Big East opener. UConn had a shaky start and is coming off a loss to Western Michigan; they need this win to start piecing things back together. They won't get it.

Oklahoma 27, Texas 19 - I'd LOVE to see Texas win this game. I went back-and-forth on the 'Horns so much this summer, I'd feel a little validated with a UT win, even though I eventually did settle on OU. I still don't think the Longhorns can do it, though, and the Sooners will prove too much to contain in Dallas. You gotta love the RRR!

GA Tech 40, Maryland 30 - I don't see Maryland being the team that will stop Tech's offense. Orwin Smith is averaging a ridiculous 15 ypc and the passing game has clicked in every game so far. Maryland has been regressing since the opening weekend, following the opening win over Miami with two loses and a lackluster win over an FCS team. That kind of effort won't be enough for the Terps to stall the Jackets; come Saturday night, the nerds are gonna be 6-0./gag

LSU 31, Florida 13 - No Brantley? No chance. Hell, they barely had one with Brantley.

Missouri 27, Kansas St. 26 - The Tigers, fresh off their decision to start breaking up with their conference, are ready to make a statement. The better they look, the more attention they'll get from other suitors, like maybe a certain handsome gentleman from the southeast... Anyway, look for Mizzou to end K-State's run at four games...but the 'Cats will certainly make it interesting.

Arizona State 24, Utah 17 - My new adjective: Vontazious.

Arkansas 33, Auburn 31 - I'd like to think Malzhan learned his lesson last weekend: run the ball, rest your D, win games. But his hubris will be his undoing. The Hawgs won't be able to slow the Tigers early, and he'll just gash away and gash away, leaving Roof out to dry when the Arkansas O hits the field. It'll be close - and a little crazy - but Petrino comes out on top.

Northwestern 34, Michigan 27 - Denard just had quite the breakup. I already had the Wildcats picked to win here, but the drama made me even more confident of the pick. Sorry, UM, but actually competing for a B1G title is still a year or two off. Dan Persa out-passes Shoelace in the suburbs.

Texas A&M 31, Texas Tech 23 - I like A&M. I do not really care for Texas Tech. I guess that's it. Then I found five dollars...

Tennessee 27, Georgia 18 - Here's a change-up from my early leans. I was in a fever of Homer-ism Monday night when i made those picks. Now that it's time to lock it in, though, I'm gonna keep it real. Richt-ball won't quite get it done and Aaron Murray has not looked sharp enough to carry us to a win on the road. Look for a costly turnover by #11 late to make all the difference.

Nebraska 40, Ohio State 20 - The Huskers are a little angry after that beat down in Madison.

Early Leans

2011-10-04T09:08:00.019-04:00

So far, I am a very respectable 42-13 on the season. Too bad this isn't reflected in any of my pick 'em leagues...

Middle Tennessee 29, Western KY 13
Oregon 44, Cal 24
Boise State 33, Fresno St. 14
West Virginia 42, UConn 17
Oklahoma 27, Texas 19
GA Tech 40, Maryland 30
LSU 31, Florida 13
Missouri 27, Kansas St. 26
Arizona State 24, Utah 17
Arkansas 33, Auburn 31
Northwestern 28, Michigan 27
Texas A&M 31, Texas Tech 23
Georgia 26, Tennessee 18
Nebraska 40, Ohio State 20

Top 25

2011-10-03T04:28:00.000-04:00


Russell Wilson is a B1G reason that Wisconsin's so high in the rankings.#E'rydayI'mRussell'n

Well, we're headed into week 6 of this football season and it's time to for me to start posting my weekly Top-25. We've all had fun with the 'Why Not?' rankings, but now we need to get down to serious business. We've seen five weeks worth of football, quick starts die off, and a few teams establish themselves as conference front-runners and BCS contenders. I probably should have done this last week, but it just kinda slipped my mind. So, now, without further ado, here's the FTS poll:

Alabama
LSU
Wisconsin
Oklahoma
Boise State
Clemson
Stanford
Oregon
Georgia Tech
Oklahoma State
West Virginia
Florida*
Michigan
Arkansas
Texas A&M
Nebraska
Texas
Auburn
Illinois
South Carolina
Kansas State
Arizona State
Virginia Tech
Houston
Michigan State
Georgia

I added the extra spot just so I could throw in Georgia. #homer.

I think it's clear now that Alabama and LSU are the best two teams in the country and their Nov. 5 showdown will basically be to put the top spot on lockdown. Both teams need to be careful, however, of a pesky and unpredictable Auburn squad. Wisconsin is arguably just as good as Bama and LSU, but ti'll be hard for them to slide past the SEC West powers until we get deeper into conference play. Oregon and West Virginia are unbeaten save for their beatdowns at the hands of LSU and the Tigers are playing so strong that those losses are more and more forgivable. It's the same idea behind Arkansas and Florida in regards to Alabama. *The Gators have an asterisk because this high of a ranking is completely dependent upon John Brantley being able to play. If he's gone for the season - or even the next few weeks - there's no way UF can hold this spot. Georgia Tech has looked great- at least offensively - in every game so far, so until they're stopped, we have to treat the Jackets like a top-10 team (/shudders /gags). I know it seems odd to have two undefeated teams ranked so low compared to some one- and two-loss teams, but Texas and Illinois haven't quite sold me yet. South Carolina is a hot mess and K-State's sneakily on the rise; the rest of this is all guesswork.

Sunday Afternoon QB

2011-10-02T18:05:00.000-04:00

This man is very happy...you just can't tell.

The college football weekend got started off with some UPSET FEVER Thursday night. Pitt demolished a what-had-been-impressive South Florida team, with Ray Graham gouging the Bulls for over 200 yards on the ground. It was an impressive win for sure, but you just never know what it actually means in the Big East. In an overlooked game, the Miners of UTEP took Case Keenum and the Cougars to the wire. Houston pulled it out, but barely. I haven't watched them play since week one and I don't think I'm alone in that. This will be a forgotten team soon - and a forgotten heisman cmapaign for Keenum.

What are the knocks on Wisconsin now? The Badgers absolutely crushed Nebraska last night in every facet of the game. Russel Wilson looked sharp but Montee Ball looked dominant. He slashed the vaunted Blackshirts for a buck-fifty and 4 TD's. Defensively, Wisky hounded Tyler Martinez all game long and picked him three times. I don't say this often, but I honestly think this Badger team could play with anyone in the country, even Alabama and LSU.

Texas A&M hates playing football in the fourth quarter.

Alabama once again steamrolled a very good opponent. It looked almost identical to the Arkansas game; suffocating defense, smart QB play, and a whole lotta Trent Richardson. I don't know if even LSU will be able to stop this team. On a more sour note, that injury that put John Brantley out of the game looked pretty terrible.I know he's a Gator, but I hope he's not seriously/permanently injured. The Gators need to be praying for his speedy return; without him, they'll struggle through the rest of the year.

I know it was just Minnesota, but damn, Michigan.

Auburn finally gave their defense some time off the field and guess what? It paid off. Dyer carried the ball, like, a million times (OK, really 41) and churned out 141 yards. It might only be a 3.4 ypc average, but it ate clock and gave Roof's D much needed breaks. It also helped that Stepehn Garcia played all Stephen Garcia-y.

Andrew Luck, wideout:

Is Clemson for real? I thought for sure the losses would be piling up soon, starting this weekend in Blacksburg. I was wrong. Dead wrong. The Tigers didn't just win, they dominated. The Hokies couldn't get anything going and once Clemson found its rhythm, it was ballgame. #DABO That GA Tech matchup at the end of the month is gonna be a big one. The Jackets' offense looks unstoppable (35 TD's through 5 games!) and if they figure Talh Boyd out, Tech could become a BCS lock.

Hey, Notre Dame won.

That Pacific Northwest is finally getting it's act together. It wasn't that long ago we were wondering if good football would return to the Evergreen State. Now the Apple Cuppers are a combined 8-2 after Wazzou beat Colorado and Washington drilled Utah in SLC. I bet the Huskies would like another shot at Nebraska now.

Richt-ball

2011-10-02T14:06:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a solid win. Solid, not great. Just acceptable; a satisfactory mark on a pass/fail scale, but the definition of average on grade scale. The first half was good, but the second half had more malaise than the Carter presidency. Yet, it seemed very familiar. Almost comfortably familiar. It was, almost to textbook specifications, Mark Richt football. Predictable, safe - sometimes cowardly - playcalling, good defense (when was the last time we could say that?), and just sitting on a lead through the second half. No flash, no flair, no fun; just a win.

The defense looked really good most of the game. They were getting nickled and dimed for short passes early on, but made the appropriate adjustments and Sanders Commings played nasty coverage, finally getting a pick after being so close twice. Grantham dialed up blitzes at the right moments and Georgia sacked Relf five times and held the Other Bulldogs' offense to 3 points. It was like 2005 again.

Offensively, things felt a little less together. Crowell topped 100 yards again, but Murray looked flat out atrocious at times. He threw passes he had no business throwing and got picked three times. I just don't understand what's happening to him; how has he not progressed anymore than this? It almost seemed like we should have brought Mason in, just to try something different. If Murray keeps playing like this, we're gonna be screwed when it come to some of the tougher games.

Speaking of once reliable people becoming train wrecks, what the fuck's wrong with Blair Walsh? Another missed FG and another day of him apparently just not giving a shit. We have other kickers - maybe it's time to use them.

Beyond that, I could criticize the second half game plan, but a win's a win, and we haven't been getting enough of them the last few years to be too picky right now. At least Cornelius Wahsington knows how to celebrate. /idiot.

Weekly Picks

2011-09-29T18:53:00.000-04:00

Thursday

Pitt 23, SoFla 22 - UPSET ALERT! I've heard Thursday night described as the place ranked teams go to die. I'm afraid this could hold true tonight in Steel Town. Truly, there's no reason the Panthers should be able to pull this one out, but it's almost October and it's a weeknight game: weird - shit - happens.

Houston 45, UTEP 19 - Case and the Cougs roll. I wouldn't normally have picked this game at all, but, hey, fuck it, there's not a lot to choose from on a Thursday night.

Friday

BYU 40, Utah State 31 - Put the Cougars on UPSET ALERT, but still pick them to pull it out. The Aggies have had two close losses and would love to close out an FBS opponent, but I think BYU feels they've got something left to prove and would love to do that tomorrow night in Provo.

Saturday

Arkansas 38, Texas A&M 30 - I'd love to see the Aggies win, but I don't see it happening. That one point loss to OKSt took a lot out of A&M and it might be hard to get back up for the showdown in Arlington. The Razorbacks on the other hand just got pissed off by that embarrassment against Alabama last week and will be wanting to take their frustration out on the nearest target.

LSU 44, Kentucky 12 - Cake walk. Which is just when the grass is pulled out from under you, ay, Les?

Boise State 47, Nevada 21 - Boise State remembers last season. That OT loss kept them from a BCS bowl - and possibly the BCS Championship - and Kellen and Co. would love to stomp a mud hole in the 'Pack as pay back. Look for the Broncos to be amped up at home on the blue turf, too.

Auburn 31, South Carolina 30 - UPSET ALERT. Both of these teams have been a little down so far this year. Despite their 4-0 mark, the Gamecocks have looked like a mediocre team at times. Especially disappointing has been pre-season darling Stephen Garcia, whose 3/7 ration makes me think even Auburn's "Roof on fire" defense could stop him. Melvin Ingram will have another TD, somehow, but the Tigers will convert a fake punt somewhere to make up the difference. This one should have all the crazy you can handle.

Virginia Tech 27, Clemson 26 - It's time now, Dabo. Everyone knows it; you, me, the Hokies. It's been fun and all, beating Auburn and Florida State, but Bud Foster has the narrative for the rest of your season folded up neatly in his lunch pail.

Alabama 24, Florida 13 - Florida looks like the best team in the SEC East right now. Maybe not so much after Saturday. This one's for Will "Fan Boy" Muschamp: No match for Saban are Muschamp and Weis; suffocated by the Tide D will they be. There is no try; do ro do not. And the Gators will not.

Wisconsin 27, Nebraska 17 - Russell Wilson, his 2,000 pound line and his two thousand yard backs are tired of hearing how overrated they are. Nebraska is a good team, but anything coached by Bo Pelini and QB'd by Tyler Martinez seems like it's one bad play from full on dumpster fire. The Blackshirts will do the best job of containment we've seen all season, but it won't be enough. E'ry day we Russell'n!

Let's Talk About Expansion

2011-09-28T18:03:00.002-04:00

Well, it looks like conference expansion has heated up to a point of no return now. Syracuse and Pitt have made a jump to the ACC and A&M has officially been added to the SEC. Whether you like it or not, it's happening all around you and now it's time for the FTS take on what direction the SEC should go for a 14th team. You might not like what I have to say, but if your biggest argument is tradition, you obviously hate expansion anyway and your opinion is moot. Me, I'm looking forward and seeing great potential in this shake up, especially when it comes to giving the SEC even more power in the world of cfb.

First, I like Texas A&M. No matter who - well, almost - a Texas team is a boon to the conference. The state's population addition on its own, 20 million+, is enough to make a Lone Star add-on worthwhile, but the Aggies in particular are an attractive draw. A large chunk of that number is A&M fans. In fact, the Aggies have a large fanbase across the entire country; a little over 2 mil, actually. That makes it the largest fanbase in the entire conference. How is that not a great addition? The Aggies also have tradition. They played their first game in 1894, have an overall winning record, a National Title, and a Heisman winner. And, for you academics, they're an AAU school (making it only the 3rd in the SEC after Vandy and Florida) and would enter as the second highest ranked school after Vandy. It's the complete package and will make beaucoup cash for an already dominant conference.

Who should be the 14th team? I say screw 14, go 16. A sixteen team, four division conference is where it's at. As the first conference to go to twelve, split into divisions, and add a championship game, the SEC should be the first to add a divisional semi-final round. Of course, there's the revenue argument again; lots of money would roll in off those two extra games. Especially if they were played at neutral sites and operated as mini-"bowls" for the conference coffers. But you also add a whole new experience to the game. Conference championships are fun, imagine the fan experience in a play-in scenario. Bayou Bengal fans traveling and tailgating in Atlanta, Dallas, Jacksonville, Tampa, Charlotte, Memphis, wherever - it's awesome.

Criteria: My choices for expansion candidates are based on a few things. I want states contiguous to the current SEC but avoid those that are distinctly "northern" or already too culturally aligned with a traditional power. So, West Virginia and Missouri schools are fine, Indiana or Ohio schools not so much. I'm thinking stay east of the Brazos River and south of the Ohio River. Next, I want schools in states where there is no current SEC member - states that already have SEC schools bring nothing to the table. Money comes from untapped areas, not states already firmly under SEC control; we're empire building, not adding on a breakfast nook. Besides, the current members are ready to block any in-state expansion. SoCar will block Clemson, Florida will block FSU, UGA will block GT (and GT should not get an invite on principle - they had their membership and quit. Losers.), so why even open that can of worms? I'd also like better academics if we can get it, but it's not a back breaker if the other factors fit.

Before I give you my picks, a quick note on TV/money/expansion. The real money for television rights doesn't come from your big games - it comes from the small ones; the Tier 3 games. The entire country can watch Tier 1 and Tier 2 SEC games on CBS or ESPN. The extra money comes from selling the smaller games. Right now, each school handles their own T3 games themselves - think the Peachtree TV nooner - and they bring in a decent amount of money doing it. Outside of SEC territory, it doesn't make as much - almost 20x less. If you could package them into a new TV deal combined with the rebidding/renegotiations caused by expansion, you could really increase profits across the entire league. You also prevent ESPN from trying to ruin another league like they did with the Longhorn network. For more on this aspect, check out this Clay Travis piece; he explains it better than I can.

So, if we're going sixteen, who do we get? My votes using my criteria above: Missouri, NC State, and Virginia Tech.

There are A LOT of Mizzou haters out there, but I don't think they're thinking about everything that makes up the game today, especially on the business side of things. The state has a population of 6 million and a lot of that is concentrated in two major urban areas: St. Louis and Kansas City. That's a whole new state - arguably two with KC straddling the border the way it does - watching, consuming, and buying subscription rights to SEC games. As a football program, they'll be healthily competitive in the middle of the pack with only one direction to grow with new conference pipelines into states like Louisiana and Florida. True, Oklahoma is a powerhouse dripping with tradition, but with Missouri, you get to add to your middle class, you don't have an annoying in-state add-on (OK St.) to worry about, and you don't get any prima donna preconceptions. Oh yeah, Mizzou's also an AAU school with academic standing higher than most SEC'ers. You can argue geography, and it's certainly a legitimate concern, but it's not big enough of a problem to exclude the Tigers. They're further east than College Station and not that much further north than Lexington. Do they fit perfectly? No. Could they blend in sooner rather than later? Absolutely. Plus, most people don't realize that Missouri shares a border with Tennessee - imagine the fun cross-division rivalry you could build there.

On to NC State. Yes, they're a weaker draw than UNC and Duke who would bring strong basketball. But let's be real, this is a football decision and we all know it. Any added basketball incentives are just icing. And, the fact that they don't quite blend in with the other two makes them a good pick-up. UNC-Duke will never leave the ACC. State might. Once again, you get a new state in the conference footprint, but one that's geographically viable for the SEC. They bring a population over 6 million and the markets of Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham. Not too shabby. Not only that, but they're a solid middle-class addition, program wise, and should be easy to get. I'd bet they're tired of living in the athletic shadow of Tobacco Road and would enjoy finally having something the other guys don't. Academically, they don't bring much, but I'd be willing to overlook that for how good of a fit the Wolfpack are otherwise. They feel just like South Carolina did back in '91.

Lastly, Virginia Tech. This should be pretty self-explanatory. They always field a good team, and it would only get better with new pipelines into the recruit rich SEC. They'd become another natural rival for Tennessee and they haven't been in the ACC long enough to truly feel at home. It's almost too perfect. As far as we know, there's no rabid legislators waiting to force a Virginia tag-along so it seems now that it's just a matter of an invitation. The high academic standing, large state population, and access to new markets doesn't hurt anyone, either.

As a consolation prize, I would accept West Virginia. The school's fair at best, the state's small, secluded, with a small population, and no major markets, but the Mountaineers have a rabid fanbase and a solid program.

Final Why Not? Rankings

2011-09-27T21:10:00.000-04:00

1. Tyrann Mathieu - the king of "hidden yardage."
2. LSU-BAMA - I can't decide. Only god can judge them, now.
3. Oklahoma - I guess. Please, someone, beat Big-Game Bob so we can end this charade.
4. Boise State - It's amazing how many people just straight up HATE on this team.
5. Stanford - More than luck.
6. Florida - Are you gonna catch Rainey and Demps?
7t. Cool Weather
t. Oktoberfests
t. Scary Movies
#Autumn, baby
10. Hashtags
11. Georgia Tech - Once again, are you going to stop them?
12. Wisconsin - Can't wait to hear the excuses when they WAX Nebraska.
13. Vontaze Burfict's mental games against Matt Barkley
14. A&M to the SEC
15. Robert Griffin III - Has more touchdowns than he does incompletions. Yes, you read that right.
16. Nebraska - This will be a nice place holder until Saturday
17. Oregon - LSU keeps making them better and better
18. South Florida

Wheel-about-to-fall-off division:

19. Michigan
20. Oklahoma State
21. Clemson
22. South Carolina
23. Illinois

The Tail End

24. Late night BBQ in downtown Athens
25. Winning Sports Trivia and getting ready to defend the title

Tuesday Night QB

2011-09-27T20:52:00.000-04:00

I know it's late, but I got a little caught up with some things and then didn't feel like doing shit after work yesterday. But, now I'm a little more rested and realxed and ready to rehash the weekend.

Alabama and LSU are the best teams in the country. Alabama didn't just beat Arkansas - which is a little impressive on its own - they completely shut the Hawgs down. Offensively, they dominated the line of scrimmage and Richardson averaged over 7 ypc on the ground en route to a 200+ total yard performance. I'm remembering why this was my Heisman favorite on my number one team. What I didn't see in the off-season was how strong this LSU team would be. What they've done outside of Baton Rouge to ranked opponents makes me fear what they'll do to un-ranked foes inside Tiger Stadium. Now that I've written this, watch Les stumble over Kentucky...

I think Florida is the best team in the SEC East. It has some to do with the success they've found so quickly under new management and some to do with how spotty South Carolina has been. Honestly, SoCar was outplayed by Georgia. But we learned Saturday that Richt is content to play Richt-ball, choking kickers and hot seats be damned, so count out a late season Bulldog surge. Kentucky's wretched and Vandy can't quite close, so right now, it's all Gators. If they really want to impress me, beat 'Bama this weekend.

Oklahoma State - Texas A&M was a great game. Too bad our new brothers in College Station came up short. To their credit, Blackmon is ALWAYS OPEN ALWAYS. At least now I don't have to feel guilty pulling for the Aggies over Arkansas this weekend.

Well, it's finally time for Wisconsin to shine. It seems like everybody has been joining the chorus of "Yeah, they're good, but they haven't played anybody" and Wilson and Co. are in a perfect place to shut them up. The transfer QB has looked sharp and focused and the O-line still moves mountains, opening holes for twin thousand yard backs. I have been in love with how they've been winning more than who they've been beating. I feel like Nebraska's going to need to on fire for their fB1G welcome.

Denard gon' Denard, brah - don't try and stop it and certainly don't try and predict how.

Vontaze Burfict is the best defensive player not in the SEC West...if not the best period. He also has trouble with rules, limits, velocity control, skittles addiction, and RAGE. If I lined up across from him and he pointed at me, I'd just hand him the ball, retire my helmet, and take up kite-flying. The Sun Devils are a close loss to Illinois away from 4-0 and should not be overlooked out west.

Yes, that's right, Illinois. They are 4-0, even though they almost Zook'd it up this weekend. I guess his players actually want to win now.

When will the wheels fall of for Clemson? This weekend in Blacksburg seems like a good guess.

Round-Up: Toledo got screwed, Maryland got waxed, Godspeed, coach Kill, Will Muschamp does not like Star Wars, stop asking, pink slips are being printed in Oxford as we speak, and seriously what took so long to fire Mike Locksley? Seriously...?

Weekly Picks

2011-09-22T18:35:00.001-04:00

Thursday Night

Cincinati 36, NCSt 27 - The Bearcats will win, put there will be some ugly spots in this game. O'Brien's sketchy punt calls and some serious Cincy interceptions. Somehow there will still be a lot touchdowns scored, though.

Friday Night

BYU 20, UCF 17 - These teams are both coming off serious disappointments, especially the Cougs who coughed up the ball 7 times en route to a 10-54 thrashing at the hands of Utah. I think this will be relatively boring with BYU pulling out the win.

Saturday

Michigan 33, SDSU 23 - This summer, I picked SDSU to upset the Wolverines in the Big House. I AM NOT standing by that. Watch for the Aztecs to make some noise, but they won't be able to compete athletically. I'll take Shoelace to secure the victory.

Georgia Tech 34, UNC 21 - Why not? The Jacket offense is ROLLING right now and I don't see a depleted Tarheel D stopping them.

Notre Dame 27, Pitt 24 - The Irish getting back on track with two-in-a-row.

Georgia 31, Ole Miss 17 - CMR needs to win this one. I'm being a little conservative with the points; I think the Dawgs could score way more. Me thinks I smell a dumpster aflame in Oxford...

Alabama 33, Arkansas 20 - I have a feeling that the Tide will be clicking on all cylinders this Saturday. Arkansas will be a scrappy team, led by their offense, but they won't be anywhere near enough.

Texas A&M 41, OKSt. 37 - This could honestly go either way. If the Aggies can't find an answer to Blackmon, the Pokes could very easily take the W.

Clemson 26, FSU 23 - As far as we know, Manuel' s still out. For me, that's enough to pick a Tiger team that's surging over a 'Noles squad that's slumping.

South Carolina 30, Vanderbilt 20 - This will be a boring game.

Oklahoma 41, Missouri 23 - Sooners roll.

LSU 30, West Virginia 13 - Things could get crazy in Morgantown: Holgo, Les Miles, that nasty Tiger D, and these two fan bases lubed up on stadium beer. Right now, this pick is all about LSU's defensive play. I don't see the 'Neers being the team to find a way through it.

Oregon 44, Arizona 17 - The Ducks will quietly roll to 11-1 and the PAC-12 championship.

Arizona State 27, USC 26 - Take the Vontaze and the points!

Vontaze likes Skittles...and quarterback rib particulate.

Early Leans

2011-09-20T12:32:00.001-04:00

Cincinati 36, NCSt 27
BYU 20, UCF 17
Michigan 33, SDSU 23
Georgia Tech 34, UNC 21
Notre Dame 27, Pitt 24
Georgia 31, Ole Miss 17
Alabama 33, Arkansas 20
Texas A&M 41, OKSt. 37
Clemson 26, FSU 23
South Carolina 30, Vanderbilt 20
Oklahoma 41, Missouri 23
LSU 30, West Virginia 13
Oregon 44, Arizona 17
Arizona State 27, USC 26

Week 3 Why Not? Rankings

2011-09-19T17:48:00.000-04:00

1. James Beam - a man for ALL seasons.
2. Oklahoma - beat Florida State
3. LSU - dear lord that defense
4. Alabama - a quiet and unassuming terror
5. Boise State - precision
6. Wisconsin - Everyday I'm Russell'n
7. Bulliet Bourbon - had it on flight of bourbons; it won h2h against all comers.
8. Beef - it's what's for dinner
9. Nebraska - a reckoning will be had in Madison
10. Florida - how is this truly more ridicuouls than having SoCar this high this early?
11. Lee Corso picking OU
12. Stanford - just lost their best defender for the year
13. Texas A&M
14. Oklahoma State
15. The upcoming Texas A&M - OK State match-up
16. Dan Mullen's white hot RAGE /cowbells in the background
17. South Carolina - how patriotic to keep Navy in the game
18. Clemson - They look a lot better than VA Tech now
19. Maker's Mark - great neat, better with a splash of spicy ginger ale
20. South Florida - is it a hate crime to beat on HBCU like that?
21. Arkansas - Alabama's making bacon this weekend
22. Baylor - keep an eye on that Iowa State showdown
23. West Virginia - Holgo's Hillbillies like vicodin, air rifles, and cheese sticks
24. Oregon - pay no attention to the Ducks...
25. Michigan - No directional school can stand up to the SHOELACE

Monday Afternoon QB

2011-09-19T17:27:00.000-04:00

This will be pretty short. I kept a very close eye on the Georgia-Coastal Carolina game, but shortly thereafter, everything got real blurry. First, the Thursday game. Dear god did LSU's defense look good. And Alabama's is supposed to be even better? What's in the Mississippi River runoff?

On to Saturday. Ole Miss looked like a train wreck in Nashville; I hope they're as generous with the ball this Saturday when the Dawgs come knocking. Auburn's defense was an especially orange shade of on fire at Clemson; thankfully they get a pretty terrible FAU squad to rebound this week.

On, Wisconsin. I know No. Illinois is not a powerhouse, but I was really thinking this game would be their annual, early-year, near toe-stubbing. Not so. Russell Wilson dropped almost 350 and both backs topped 90 yards in the 49-7 romp. That Wisky-Nebraska game will be HUGE...or should I say B1G.

Bourbon is delicious.

The night game: Oklahoma won. That's about all I remember. I know a backup came in and another player got seriously injured. Then I went home and passed out at my desk.

RIP to the Big Twelve and the Big East. Surely these conferences' days are numbered, with the Super Pac-16 rumors recirculating and Syracuse and Pitt jumping to the ACC. UConn and Rutgers are running fast behind the Orange and the Panthers and TCU is wondering what the hell just happened.

David Bennett Got His Dawgs.

2011-09-18T12:27:00.000-04:00

A win is a win, even it comes against the likes of Coastal Carolina. The win is nothing to get too excited about, but how we won makes me ecstatic. I only noticed a few questionable things and the execution was crisp all the way around. It was a fun match-up, too - with Georgia having donated the equipment that Coastal used to start their program. And I learned more about the chanticleer mascot; a chanticleer rooster actually does have blue-ish feathers in and around the tail and the mascot name was inspired by Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Pretty Cool.

What wasn't cool? The kicking game. I know Walsh nailed a 56-yarder and all, but that first miss was atrocious. That makes three misses so far and we're only through three games. This is something that could bite us right in the ass in a close game. Also, the first offenive play call was questionable. Why run what's basically a wide receiver screen to start the game against an FCS opponent? I don't mind passing a lot early to help Murray find a rhythm, but let him use his athletes against inferior coverage - run deeper routes; they'll be open. Speaking off Murray, it seems like he's, well, just missing something. It feels like there's been no growth or improvement since last year. Very troubling.

I was also a little angry we went with Carlton Thomas so much when we're trying to establish Crowell as our feature back. But, that one became a little clearer when we saw the trainers seeing to Crowell on the sideline...I'm very concerned that this nagging injury thing could eventually sideline him for good. If that happens, add him to the junk heap of busted backs that have come through here. Something else: just go ahead and switch either Crowell or Smith to no. 21; then you can use them at the same time. Imagine the pays you could run out of a Smith-Boykin-Crowell package.

Now, I don't just want to complain and criticize. There were a lot of good things yesterday. We did shut them out, which is always nice, even against an FCS team. The defense showed some speed and Grantham deployed some fun sets, with Jenkins at end some and mixing up the front, with as few as two and as many five men playing down. We still didn't get a sack, but we did force some bad throws with pressure. Overall, a good day deensively.

Lastly, get well soon, Larry!

Weekly Picks

2011-09-15T18:41:00.000-04:00

Thursday Night

LSU 30, Mississippi 22 - This a true Thursday night treat! It would be even better had the Other Dawgs had pulled it out last week, but I'll take weeknight SEC football where I can get it...especially with two ranked opponents. I have a feeling that Mullen's boys will be a little pissed heading into this game and charge out with enough jacked-up energy to make it a game. But, I just don't think it will be enough to knock off Les Miles and his grass-jinn voodoo. Tigers late.

Friday Night

Boise State 44, Toledo 13 - The Broncos might be a little rusty when they take the field in Toledo tonight, but I doubt it. Last week might not have been an anomaly and Toledo could be that scrappy, but I doubt it. Kellen Moore could have a tragic Coach-style high-fiving accident and be unable to play, but I doubt it. Broncos look sharp all night and ground the rockets.

Saturday

West Virginia 31, Maryland 23 - The Terps will be in another uniform combo this weekend; this time, it's the all-blacks (which are kinda bad-ass). There's something I like about this Maryland squad, but I don't think they'll have enough mojo to fend off Holgo's Hillbillies.

Auburn at Clemson - I'm gonna say lightning won't strike thrice and Auburn finally loses. From the summer picks: "The '07 CFA Bowl, this 2010-'11 home and home, and the 2012 CFA kick-off classic; this cat fight's becoming quite the rivalry. Last year was a hard-fought, OT come back for Cam and crew that left Kyle Parker picking up pieces of lung. This year, Auburn has lost most of that BCS title team and Clemson brings back a lot of talent. While I don't think AU will struggle as much as Phil Steele does, I do think Death Valley gets the better of them. Clemson 29, Auburn 24"

Nebraska 30, Washington 13 - I think this will be less like the Holiday Bowl, and more like last year's regular season match-up. The Huskies might be 2-0, but they've certainly struggled to get there, including a squeaker over an FCS team. Nebraska didn't look great against Fresno State, but the ship will get righted this week and the blackshirts will be hungry. I've adjusted a bit from my early lean and picked a lower scoring affair, but it's still pretty much all Huskers.

Wisconsin 27, No. Illinois 16 - Yes, Wisconsin will win. Yes, it will be ugly. This is basically a home game for Northern, as the game will be at Soldier Field, and the Badgers are due for their early season odd job. It will be an ugly game at the half, but things will even out a bit for Wilson and Co. late. Double digits? Yes. Impressive? No.

Michigan State 31, Notre Dame 30 - HAHAHA

Florida 23, Tennessee 20 - Amongst all the talk about South Carolina and their clear path to ATL, Florida has unassumingly handled their cupcakes with juggernaut aplomb, sharpening their teeth for conference play. Tennessee has looked good in spurts, especially Bray, but Precious' boys won't be ready for the Swamp. They'll make it a game late, but Muschamp steal this one.

Texas 26, UCLA 24 - The Horns have Gilbert in the rearview and soon, the Bruins will have Rick Neuheisel in theirs.

Oklahoma at Florida State - This is INSANITY. Logically, I know FSU won't win, but my gut keeps telling me to pick 'em. So, once again, from the summer picks: "Throw last year out the window. I know the Sooners are going to be a lot of folks' favorites for the BCS title in '11, but I'm not seeing it. I'm thinking there'll be some early struggles before the ship rights itself and the Seminoles in week 2 will be a tough opponent to play while OU's still finding themselves. Maybe I'm drinking the Jimbo-Aid, but I think FSU will be ready. FSU 30, Oklahoma 24"

Miami 30, Ohio State 20 - The Ineligi-Bowl. After seeing the turd the Buckeyes laid last week, it's hard to take them seriously...especially against more athletic players. It will be ugly, and likely boring, with the 'Canes pulling away late.

Stanford 43, Arizona 23 - Couldn't pas up the late game!

New Pro Combats

2011-09-13T22:05:00.000-04:00

"Spartans, what is your profession?"

The next round of Nike's Pro Combats have been released, and they're honestly pretty cool. At least most of them are. The Academies got a good treatment, especially Navy, and Michigan State has some really nice features. Sparty's feature a familiar base of dark green, but includes accents of black and bronze. Some say Michigan State did wear bronze as color in the 30's/40's, but I like to think it's a shoutout to the bronze age. Speaking of, check out the inside of the collar. It's Greek for "Come and take them!" A quote that Herodotus attributes to Leonidas at the battle of Thermopylae. Man, Nike went all 300 for this shit! Navy's helmt features the classy gold anchor logo and their undershirt features a Revolutionary flag motif taken straight from the banner flying on John Paul Jones' ship itself. Tradition, baby! LSU's are a bit plain, but have these sick 'eye of the Tiger' gloves. Ohio State's unis aren't that bad, but suffer from the UGA 'Why is this stripe so wide?' syndrome. Then there's Stanford. All I can say is, Cardinal, I feel your pain. Nike needs to tweak the recipe on their reds and then work on not using so much of it in their designs.The matte black helmet is kinda cool, though.

"Anchors Aweigh!"

The Best Wisconsin Shirt Ever.

2011-09-13T21:37:00.000-04:00

If this god damn "Everyday I'm Shufflin'" song must exist and then be turned into horrendously unfunny captions, shitty memes, and lame message board jokes, then I'm glad whatever Madison-based t-shirt company designed this also exists.

Crowell Named Starter

2011-09-13T17:46:00.001-04:00

And a resounding "duh" rises up from across Bulldawg Nation. He's the leading rusher so far in 2011 and hit SoCar for 118 and a couple scores last week, playing behind an injury-hampered Richard Samuel. That's a lot of pressure for the kid, but I agree with Richt, Isaiah's "a very special back."

h/t ABH

Early Leans

2011-09-13T17:39:00.000-04:00

Heading into weekend three, it seems there are plenty of questions left to be answered for just about every team. I certainly do not have the answers to them and some of the key match-ups make picking a winner a coin-flipping prospect. I'm already a sub-par 10-9 on the year*, yet, I trudge on loyal readers, and here are my early leans for this weeks games:

LSU 30, Mississippi 22
Boise State 44, Toledo 13
West Virginia 31, Maryland 23
Clemson 29, Auburn 27
Nebraska 40, Washington 21
Wisconsin 27, No. Illinois 16
Michigan State 31, Notre Dame 30
Florida 23, Tennessee 20
Texas 26, UCLA 24
Florida State 30, Oklahoma 24
Miami 30, Ohio State 20
Stanford 43, Arizona 23

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* While they do count as losses, I did basically call SoFla and Baylor in week one.

Jaws Keeps it Real, Apologizes.

2011-09-12T22:44:00.000-04:00

Ron Jaworski absentmindedly slipped a 'shit' into the MNF telecast last night. It's not really a big deal and it's hardly noticeable, but in this world, you gotta be safe. So, he had to apologize a few minutes later. Man, you should have heard the expletives I was popping-off; I have Brandon Marshall in both of my leagues and needed just a few more points to win. Don't even get me started...

Oh, well. Here's the clip. The line is, "Shit, you have to get rid of this ball just a split second quicker."

Week 2 Why Not? Rankings

2011-09-12T19:59:00.001-04:00

Here you go:

1. Alcohol - undefeated against better judgement.
2. Alabama - slowly choking their opponents like a rag soaked in tree-poison and chloroform
3. Oklahoma - Sooners 44, BYE 0
4. LSU - My dad has a degree from Northwestern State.
5. Relatively custom uni-free weekend
6. Wisconsin - my secret crush team for '11. I text them when Georgia's not looking.
7. Boise State - The Broncos wideouts are still open in the Dome.
8. Stanford - academic honors blowout bump!
9. Wheedon-to-Blackmon. All day, e'ry day.
10. Florida State - ready for big game Bob.
11. Texas A&M - soon to be in the SEC.
12. Melvin Ingram's one recorded tackle vs. his TWO TOUCHDOWNS?!
13. Arkansas - They love America.
14. Virginia Tech - ECU's a bitch, man.
15. Baylor - Man, BYE was everywhere this week.
16. Oklahoma State - see no. 9.
17. South Carolina - beating Georgia doesn't get you much these days.
18. South Florida - Ball State ain't nothin' to fuck wit.
19. Denard Robinson
t. Lights in the Big House
t. The last minute of that game
22. Nebraska
23. Houston
24. The David Bennett interview.
25. Um, one that team that beat that other OK team.

Sunday Evening QB

2011-09-11T16:06:00.000-04:00

Well, I've got a sore knee, a crick in my neck, and sore throat/lost voice - all-in-all, I'd say the first home game weekend pretty well. Well, everything leading up to the game went well. On the field, things look a little bleak, but oddly enough, maybe not as bad as they did last weekend. Most of my day was consumed with either pre-gaming for or watching South Carolina-Georgia, so I didn't see as much as I would have liked. But between napping fits, late night hazes, highlight shows, and replays, here's what stood out to me.

First, 0-2's never good.

At least Auburn keeps football fun. They might not be a contender in the West, but they're 2-0 and have kept their games interesting...for the casual fan, anyway. I'd imagine it's been quite frustrating for Tiger fans, while heartbreaking for Utah State fans and downright confusing for those cheering for Mississippi State.

While we're at it, chalk-up that Georgia-South Carolina as another game where the casual fan probably had more fun than an invested party, especially the 4th quarter.

Alabama is exactly who we thought they were. I understand Penn State is not really a true proving ground in cfb anymore and that 'Bama didn't exactly roll over the Nits, but the Tide showed us exactly what we expected: Saban-ball. Alabama hit almost 200 rushing yards, had one QB play all day (QB with floppy hair who protects the ball, mind you), and their defense pretty much suffocated Penn State until late in the 4th. It's not pretty, but it wins.

Russell Wilson and Montee Ball looked great leading Wisconsin. But can they do it against a big-time opponent?I don't see why not. Every Wisky report is topped with a qualifier deriding the caliber of the Badgers' opponents. I think we all know that UNLV and an Oregon State squad coming off a loss to an FCS team are not powerhouses. But the Badgers haven't even looked momentarily uncomfortable at any point in these games. I'm not saying they'll blowout more serious competition by similar 30-40 point margins, but why do we treat them they - unlike some other teams with similar opening weeks - have so much to prove?

How about that first night game in the Big House? If you wondering if Denard Robinson could still do all those things that made him Denard Robinson in the constraints of the new offense, rest your head. Shoelace will always be Shoelace. If you were wondering about Michigan's defense, um, keep wondering. I saw a lot of this game through a sleepy haze, but there was no denying the excitement of that last minute.

Ohio State almost embarrassed themselves against Toledo. Actually, after a re-tabulation, we're being told that only beating the Rockets by five points is still pretty fucking embarrassing.

Speaking of re-tabulation, how's that official final from the Utah-USC game going over in Vegas?

Last, but certainly not least, my best wishes to Jerry Kill and his family.

A loss, and a reprieve

2011-09-11T11:16:00.001-04:00

That pretty much sums up how 0-2 feels. h/t Dr.Sat.

0-2. It's never a good way to start the season, but there are untold stories in that mark that can change the entire shade of a season. Last week, the gnashing of teeth and the lamentation of our women could be heard across the entire Bulldawg nation, but, like I said, there was more to it than just "a loss." It was the way we lost. We looked undisciplined, poorly coached, out of sorts, and all types of other things I don't want to re-hash today. And we placed the blame in one spot: squarely on the head of the head coach. For a man as hounded and beleaguered by fan dissatisfaction and hot seat rumors as Richt, how could he allow his team to look like that? The turd laid on that GA Dome field only lit more torches and sharpened more pitchforks across the land of red and black; CMR was on his way out. His shot at slvation? The SEC opener against a favored rival, South Carolina. Needles to say, we didn't have much faith. Sure, some of us though the players would win, but none of us felt good about the coach's chances. Now, with that game in the books, the roars have quieted...somewhat. I find it hard to blame Richt for this one. If you want to argue that there were some individual, questionable calls, you certainly could - but, you could do that after every game called by every coach. There was nothing in this loss that I see as being laid solely on Richt. And while the masses will still cry out for his blood, their numbers will diminish slightly this week, as the more discerning among us take a step back and let a man who has certainly earned a bit of good faith have a fair chance. For me, and others who want to make a good decision for our program, not just have a reaction to the last two years, Richt has bought some time, some slack in the rope. Now, whether or not he takes extra rope and hangs himself with it, that's up to him. We are almost guaranteed a win next week, but the conference slate heats up after that, and depending on how Richt regroups, his seat could be heating up right along with it.

NFL on LTD!

2011-09-08T17:07:00.002-04:00

Alongside Arizona's trip to Stillwater tonight is one of the most glorious events of all sports: the first NFL game. This Packers-Saints game this evening is a great way to kick things off, but there are a couple of other intriguing match-ups this weekend. I'm going to be neck deep in the NFL this season, as I've got two fantasy teams and a survivor league to keep up with. For some insight and prognostication, check out my man ltdx over at Living the Dream. He also brings some sweet pro wrestling nostalgia, as well!

Weekly Picks

2011-09-08T09:30:00.003-04:00

Thursday

Oklahoma State 41, Arizona 24 - I have no doubt that the Cowboys will score points. I just wonder how many they'll give up after allowing one of the local-Louisiana's to drop 30. I'm leaning towards things being a little more tightened up this week, so I'll take the Fightin' T.Boones to be more than the Wildcats can handle. I do like Nick Foles (and his almost perfect game last week), but he just can't do it all himself.

Friday

Missouri 30, Arizona State 27 - I was all set and ready to pick Arizona State here. I feel like they've got the depth and experience to win a match-up like this, not to mention Vontaze Burfict and the curse that causes the demon inside him to only be sated by the broken bones of his opponents. But then the Sun Devils went and called for a blackout. And while I'm a fan of the new unis in Tempe, this has 'jinx' written all over it. Nothing like all black in 115 degree weather, huh, Dennis? Give me the Tigers by a field goal.

Saturday

Wisconsin 40, Oregon State 20 - Man, the Beavers were embarrassing last week. I look to see them fired up when they hit the field, hoping to make up for last week's disaster against FCS Sacramento State. I just don't think it will be enough early or hold out long enough to stop the Badgers. Man, I love this Wisky team and see them rolling away late behind that O-line, on the feet of their twin stud backs, and the with the arm/vision/athleticism of their new warlord, Russell Wilson. The 20 points is generous.

Mississippi State 31, Auburn 30 - Look for the Tigers to rebound from that nigh-on turd-ish performance last Saturday and give State all they can handle. Relf and the Other Bulldogs should be able to hold on, but not before Malzahn's offense torches them from goal line to goal line. Defense will be optional in this one.

Alabama at Penn State - Even without the QB spot settled, I'll still toss it back to my summer pick: "It'll be defense and Trent Richardson early and often and Penn State will slowly be suffocated...much like last season. Bama 27, Penn State 6"

Georgia 24, South Carolina 17 - Why do I do this to myself. Why?

Texas 27, BYU 14 - It took a gift wrapped TD from Ole Miss for the Cougars to leave Oxford with a win. I don't see the 'Horns being as charitable. Gilbert played fine and Malcolm Brown will only get better. As long as no one does anything stupid, this one could be locked away by the third.

Iowa 34, Iowa State 17 - Unfortunately, someone has to win and go home with the hideous Cy-Hawk Trophy.

TCU 30, Air Force 28 - And now we have no idea how to pick TCU. Air Force runs a tricky triple-option and the Frogs got out of sorts early last week. Honestly, any outcome outside of a Falcon-blowout would seem normal here. I'll take TCU by a narrow margin based on nothing other than the last few seasons' dominance in the MWC.

Stanford 56, Duke 3 - I just felt like picking a blowout this week.