Monthly Archives: September 2007

Week Four

Auburn lost again, this time to perennial SEC underdog Mississippi State. Sadly, this was not an upset, either. There was one bright side to the game: after two interceptions in his first two passes, Brandon Cox was sidelined in favor of Kodi Burns, a true freshman. Here are the players’ stats from Saturday:
Cox, passing: 4/10 for 42 yards and 2 INTs
Cox, rushing: -2 yards on 2 attempts
Burns, passing: 8/12 for 65 yards and 1 INT
Burns, rushing: 87 yards on 22 attempts
Based on those numbers, which one do you think should be Auburn’s starting quarterback? I don’t think Burns is going to fix our problems by himself. I doubt he’s ready for the pressure of high-profile games, either. I do know this: Cox’s play should be regularly supplemented with Burns’.

Congratulations, Brandon Cox! You are no longer the undisputed starting quarterback!

In other news, USC trounced Nebraska 49-31. Somehow this victory was enough to preserve the Trojans’ precious No. 1 ranking in both major polls. Meanwhile, LSU posted a measly 44 points on Middle Tennessee State, in addition to producing another shutout. Outscoring your opponents 137-7 in three games is somehow not good enough for a No. 1 ranking. Then there’s Oklahoma. 184-26? Ridiculous. Of course, the Sooner schedule has been a little easier so far.Florida followed close behind with a 59-20 spanking of Tennessee in Gainesville. LSU at Florida on October 6 (8 PM ET, CBS) is probably going to be the best game of the season (until the rematch at the SEC Championship). I’d be surprised if either team loses its division, barring some kind of miracle in Tuscaloosa. Alabama did beat Arkansas and supposedly looked good doing it. I didn’t watch the game after ‘Bama went up 21-0, because I thought it might send me into a severe depression. An Auburn loss with ‘Bammer and Trojan wins is more than my little heart can bear.

Tebow is so amazing that he can convince opposing teams to carry him into the end zone.

Finally, Michigan is not the worst team in the country. That honor goes to Notre Dame, who has opened 0-3 for the second time in school history. Both teams are poised to lose on national television this Saturday; the Irish host Michigan State (3:30 PM ET, NBC) and the Wolverines host Penn State (3:30 PM ET, ABC). The Nittany Lions have lost the last eight meetings. I know a few PSU fans, so I’m looking forward to the streak’s end.

“It’s not like it matters, anyway. We’re both going to get fired.”

This Weekend in College Football: Week 3

Week 3, ahoy! All times eastern, all games picked arbitrarily.

Noon:

  • Pittsburgh @ Michigan St., ESPN – Why is this on here? Who knows! I’m not even sure who’s going to win, so I’ll guess MSU.
  • Central Michigan @ Purdue, ESPN2 – See above; Purdue.
  • Virginia @ North Carolina, LF/Gameplan – The “lolacc” bowl! Two throughly bad/mediocre teams face off in Chapel Hill. Virginia has beaten a 1A team this year, though it was Duke, so I’ll give them a slight edge.

12:30: Mississippi State @ Auburn, LF/Gameplan -USF has sent the Auburn faithful’s, well, faith into tailspin (just see below). However, while this game may not restore the faith, per se, it will sure help. Auburn rolls.

1:30: Iowa @ Iowa State, Versus – Included only because it’s a rivalry game, and apparently the most expensive ticket in Iowa (if not one of the most in the country, especially considering the potential quality of play here). Iowa may get some in trouble because they’re away, but should prevail.

3:30:

  • Tennessee @ Florida, CBS – Potentially the best game of the day. Both of these teams have lots of questions with precious few answers this far into the season. Tennessee got beat by Cal, but had a tasty cupcake in the form of Southern Miss. Despite what Troy did last night, that doesn’t really validate Florida’s win over them. As pointed out by other sources, home team doesn’t necessarily confer an advantage in this rivalry, nonetheless I like Florida here.
  • Notre Dame @ Michigan, ABC – The game of various names. I call it the Lame Duck Bowl, but I’ve also heard other good ones that I escape me right now. Both teams will start freshman quarterbacks, both of whom got experience last week (Clausen started, Mallett came for the supposedly injured Henne).
  • Ohio State @ Washington, ESPN – This game looks a lot more interesting than it did at the beginning of the year. But I don’t think the freshman QB for Washington has seen a defense like Ohio State’s, so I still like them here.
  • Texas @ Central Florida, ESPN2 – UCF beat NC State last week, sure. But make no mistake, Texas is – hold on a second here, Texas at Central Florida? Well, Texas will probably win, but hopefully they saw what Troy did to Oklahoma State – they need to be on their toes.

5:00:

  • California – Los Angeles @ Utah, Versus – Why did I include this on the list? Why not? Oh, I guess I like UCLA.
  • Ball State @ Navy, CSTV – See above. I like Navy. Well, I don’t like Navy (Dad went to West Point, after all). I think there is a good chance they will this contest, however.

6:45: Arkansas @ Alabama, ESPN – Will Nick Saban have time Houston Nutt’s crazier-than-weasels offense? I don’t buy into Alabama being back here, and I think, and hope, that McFadden leads the Razorbacks to victory in Tuscaloosa.

7:00:

  • Fresno State @ Oregon, Gameplan – Fresno State almost got the job done in College Station last week, but that said, the game went into multiple overtimes. I can’t imagine the Bulldogs being anything but sapped after that experience. Look for this to be close to the half, but Oregon pulls away in the 3rd quarter.
  • Mississippi @ Vanderbilt, Gameplan – “DaCoachO” rolls into Nashville. I saw some promise in Vandy last week, but precious few points outside even if they did get shafted again. My heart says Vandy, but my head isn’t sure.

7:30: Louisville @ Kentucky, ESPN Classic – Another early-season rivalry game put into the backwaters of sports programming. Look for this game not to feature a lot of defense. (I’m not a betting man, but I might consider taking the over here.) Louisville wins, 55-35 or something like that.

8:00:

  • Southern California @ Nebraska, ABC – Nebraska needed a few breaks to escape Wake Forest with a win. I see no reason why you should watch Southern Cal steamroll them when you could be watching…
  • Boston College @ Georgia Tech, ESPN2 -The first real test for Georgia Tech all season. Once again, I’m nervous because the so-called experts seem to think GT will win on the basis of its defense and Tashard Choice and friends. I have to admit, I like the idea. But I’m also very nervous about Matt Ryan. The crucial factor in this game is the amount of time he has to sit in the pocket. If we can break the pass rush, he will not have enough opportunities to exploit what is by far the weakest area of the Georgia Tech defense – the cornerbacks. If he can camp out back in the pocket, he will have a field day. The numbers are fuzzy on whether or not Boston College’s run defense is any good. But hopefully Taylor gets over the jitters he had at Notre Dame and can complete some passes when BC is putting 8-9 guys in the box to stop Choice. If he can do his part to keep BC off balance, I like our chances here.

10:00: Florida State @ Colorado, ESPN – Man, if this were, like, 1991 this would probably be a great matchup. Now? Not so much. FSU has done little to impress me. I like Colorado here.

That’s all folks. Have a great Saturday!

Week Three

I apologize profusely for my tardiness. Schoolwork and girlfriend time got in the way of college football, and I beg forgiveness from all of you.
I think it is now safe to say that ‘Bama is back! After an impressive 52-6 clobbering of Western Carolina (2-9 in I-AA in 2006) and a noteworthy 24-10 shellacking of Vanderbilt (4-8 in I-A in 2006), the Tide is well on its way to an undefeated season and national championship under new head coach Nick “The Bear II” Saban. ‘Bama is about to roll through home games against Arkansas and Georgia before traveling to Jacksonville to take care of Florida State. Daggum!
Ha ha ha…I remember this.
The Pac-10 pulled a likely stunt Saturday when all of the six active teams in the conference won their games. I wish I could chalk it up to weak opponents, but only Washington State’s (San Diego State) was questionable. That and the domination of Tennessee by Cal just eat me up inside.
Surprise, surprise: Auburn is still an awful football team. The loss to South Florida would not have been less embarrassing had it been a win. Tiger tailback Mario Fannin fumbled on consecutive drives in Auburn territory. Receivers dropped passes, and defenders missed tackles. The defense looks slow. When we play a team that can run around the end, game over. The punting and punt coverage were even worse than last week.
My thoughts exactly.
And then there is Brandon Cox, who was so bad that he gets a paragraph all to himself. Cox was 16 of 35 passing with a pair of interceptions and a fumble on a quarterback sneak. (Let that sink in for a second.) He did run for near first down yardage once, but he looked hesitant doing it. Brandon Cox is at least 70% of the reason that Auburn will lose a lot of games this year. Now I know how a Florida State fan has felt in recent years.

Unfortunately, this is not worth any points.

I suppose it could have been worse. South Florida’s placekicker had a Vaughn-esque night, missing three of six attempts with another blocked. Had he made any of those, overtime would have been unnecessary. Speaking of overtime, Tuberville somehow decided that letting the clock run out with two timeouts was a better idea than trying to get downfield and kick a field goal to win. That was a little confusing.

Will Auburn make a bowl game? Who knows. Out of the ten games left, only New Mexico State and Tennessee Tech look like definite wins. Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Georgia, and Alabama are question marks. I’m not even going to hope for Florida, Arkansas, or LSU. In fact, I sold my ticket to the Swamp when I realized it wouldn’t be much fun to drive six hours to watch us get clobbered. At least we’re not…

Michigan, who was annihilated 39-7 in the Big House by Oregon. The Ducks made a mockery of Michigan’s secondary, and the Wolverine offense was anemic once more. Perhaps a win over Notre Dame on the 15th will help Lloyd Carr keep his employment hopes alive. It wouldn’t mean much, though; the Irish are 0-2 as well (this is the first time in history that both teams have had such poor starts).

Dear Michigan fans: This guy made your team look like a joke.


LSU looked phenomenal in their signature win over Virginia Tech. 48-7 is almost unbelievable. After a week off against Middle Tennessee State, Les Miles takes on Steve Spurrier. This will be the Tigers’ only test until they host Florida on October 6. Besides Alabama, all of LSU’s toughest games are at home. If there was ever a year to make a championship run, this would be it. Wouldn’t it be great if they had a chance to destroy USC?

Maybe the Gators will trip them up, though. Apparently quarterback Tim Tebow learned how to throw during the summer. He’s 31 of 46 so far, with 536 yards and six touchdowns. My only reservation is the defense, which looked iffy against a Troy squad that put up 31 points. I guess we’ll see what happens against Tennessee this weekend.

You should probably watch TV this weekend, because it is the best one so far. Like I mentioned, Florida hosts Tennessee (3:30 PM ET, CBS), Michigan hosts Notre Dame (3:30 PM ET, ABC), and Arkansas goes to Alabama (6:45 PM ET, ESPN). I think Ohio State at Washington (3:30 PM ET, ESPN) could be a thriller, as could Boston College at Georgia Tech (8 PM ET, ESPN2). Why is GameDay going to USC/Nebraska (8 PM ET, ABC) for the second year in a row? Beats me.

Finally, prepare yourself for another Florida throwdown as the Hurricanes host the Golden Panthers! Pre-fight football game at 3:30 PM ET, then the punches start flying at 7!

On Notice: Week 2 (Special Guest Edition!)

Well, I’m doing On Notice! this week. You’re just going to have to deal with it.

  1. “Da ‘U'”: When I wrote that I expected Oklahoma to win, I meant that Miami might actually bother showing up to Norman and give them a run for their money. Instead, Miami absolutely wilted. We now know for sure that neither of Miami’s quarterbacks are any good and that Patrick Nix is still a terrible offensive coordinator.
  2. Auburn University: Sorry Tito. This game was fascinating in that it seemed as though both teams were desperately trying to lose up until USF punched in the winning touchdown.
  3. Keys: A recent article reminded me of a phenomenon that I really hate: students and spectators shaking keys. At Tech (and I imagine, most of the South) it symbolized the suggest that perhaps the opponent should being to warm up their busses. In the North (and places influenced by them, see Virginia Tech) it symbolizes a “key” play. Both uses are really terrible, and the former is just downright classless. Please stop doing it.
  4. Green Bay Packers: You may be wondering why a NFL team is on here. I’ll tell you why. Because there’s a decent chance Jared Lorenzen is going to start at quarterback in place of the injured Eli Manning for the Giants Sunday. Jared was a staple of those awful Kentucky games on JP Sports back in The Day, and I find it pretty amazing he managed to actually stay at quarterback all these years instead of being moved to say, fullback. So, yeah, Packers, you better watch out.
  5. Temple University: Temple confirmed their status as the worst team in major college football by getting blown out 42-7 in their MAC opener. And it wasn’t a good MAC team either, it was perennial Bottom 10 contender Buffalo. Yeah.
  6. Duke University: Duke continues on their quest for a second consecutive winless season, as they lost to probably the only ACC team they had a chance of beating, Virginia.
  7. University of Michigan: On here until they win, which they have a fair chance of doing against fellow winless team Notre Dame in the Lame Duck Bowl this Saturday.
  8. Boston College: 2 of the 5 teams in major college football without the word “University” in their official school titles meet in Atlanta this Saturday. I expect this to be our first real test of the year, but I’ll save the specifics for Friday.

Week 2 Games of Interest!

Couple of interesting games this week, but mostly crap. At any rate, we continue onwards! All times Eastern.

11:00: West Virginia @ Marshall (ESPN2): The Battle of West Virginia! WVU wins going away.

Noon:

  • Miami (FL) @ Oklahoma (ABC): I’m not sold on either of these teams – they gorged themselves on cupcakes last week. That said, I have to give the edge to OU based on how terrible Miami’s been the past couple of years.
  • Nebraska @ Wake Forest (ESPN): Another ACC-Big 12 game! Wake didn’t exactly look awesome last week. I’m giving a slight edge to Nebraska here, even if I am rooting for wake.
  • Duke @ Virginia (LF/Gameplan): Both are terrible, but one is much more terrible than the other. Virginia wins a game!

12:30: Alabama @ Vanderbilt (LF/Gameplan): I so desperately want this to be close and for Vandy to pull off the upset. My brain tells me that it will probably go otherwise, as ‘Bama fans are packing Nashville to see the Saban.

1:30: Samford @ Georgia Tech (ESPNU): Included even though I don’t get das ‘U’. Tech should win this one without much trouble, and hopefully Bennett can work off his nerves in a half of work and get his timing down for the passing game.

2:00: California @ Colorado State (CSTV): Cal’s second toughest OOC game – they need to win this to stay in the national picture after taking care of Tennessee this week. CSU and CU looked about level last week, so the boys from Berkeley should take this going away.

2:30: NC State @ Boston College (ESPN2): Important ACC divisional matchup, but NC State is still terrible as Tom O’Brien faces the school he jilted. BC wins to go to 2-0 heading into Atlanta next week.

3:30:

  • Oregon @ Michigan (ABC): Ahahahahahaha. Sorry. Anyway. Oregon runs a spread-offense with a speedy quarterback, the same formula that App State uses. Oregon wins what originally looked like an intriguing matchip.
  • Fresno State @ Texas A&M (FSN): Is Fresno back to its giant-killing ways? Probably not. TAMU wins.
  • Boise State @ Washington (FSN NW/FCS Pacific): Washington claims to have a found a saviour in its young freshman QB. Boise State claims to be a legit contender. This is probably the Broncos’ most import game until they play Hawaii. I’m going say Washington gives them a run for their money, but they’re still Washington and Boise should win.

5:45: South Carolina @ Georgia (ESPN2): I hope against hope the boys from Columbia can go into Athens and whip the dogs. I hope is probably unfounded, though – UGA looked pretty good last week against Oklahoma State while the Gamecocks looked lackluster against UL-Lafayette.

6:00: Notre Dame @ Penn State (ESPN): Georgia Tech’s renowned defense terrorized ND’s QBs into 9 sacks last week. Penn State’s renowned defense should do similar damage. Happy Valley should be pretty happy about this one.

7:00: TCU @ Texas (FSN): TCU also is claiming to be a mid-major to contend with this year along with Boise and Hawaii. To prove it, they need to go giant-killing in Austin. Will they prove it? Probably not, but they may make it interesting.

9:00: South Florida @ Auburn (ESPN2): Auburn shouldn’t have any trouble with the Golden Bulls. However, they also weren’t supposed to have any trouble with Kansas State last week. If the AU offense bothers to show up for more than the last 5 minutes of the game this week they should win this going away – however, USF is probably better than KSU and if Auburn stagnates again they may not get as many second chances.

9:15: Virginia Tech @ Louisiana State (ESPN): The marquee matchup of the weekend – we’ve got real national title implications here, folks. Baton Rogue will be as nuts as they can get, which is pretty nuts. Virginia Tech looked…uninspired on offense against East Carolina last week and let them hang around way too long. Meanwhile, LSU took a business-like approach in beating Mississippi State (who is probably just as good, if not worse, than ECU). I feel like overall, LSU is probably more competent on offense and just as good as VPI on defense. This, plus home field advantage, gives them a slight edge here. I don’t expect a lot of points, though – something like 14-10 for a final would not be unsurprising.