Monthly Archives: November 2013

THWG Thought of the Day: 11/30

Men, Georgie’s a fine football team, a very fine football team. Georgie’s bigger and faster than we are. Probably a little tougher, too.

That’s okay, because we’re smarter than they are.

Now, let me tell you what’s going to happen. That Georgie team’s going to come running out of the tunnel screaming and foaming at the mouth and smashing one another upside the head just to get warmed up.

We won’t do any of that. While they waste their energy, we’ll conserve ours. I’ve told you that they’re bigger, faster, and tougher than you. That’s true. But we do have that one big advantage.

We … are … smarter.

Think about what I teach you. Play field position. Play great defense. Make no mistakes on offense. Be great in the kicking game. Do that and we’ll keep it close.

As the game goes on, they’ll start to get tired because they wasted so much energy in the beginning. Because we’re smart, we’ll have plenty of energy left, and at some point in the fourth quarter they’ll make a mistake.

When they do make that mistake, we’ll get the football. And when that happens, I’ll think of something and we’ll win!

Coach Bobby Dodd, as told by Bill Curry

This Weekend in College Football: Week 14

As usual, all times Eastern and predictions wrong.

Noon:

  • Ohio State @ Michigan (ABC): Michigan isn’t disaster at this point simply because Florida still makes them look good. Ohio State should win easily.
  • Florida State @ Florida (ESPN): Whoops!

    So … Georgia Southern’s passing downs success rate was higher than Florida’s. GS didn’t complete a pass.
    — Bill Connelly (@SBN_BillC) November 26, 2013

    So yeah, not feeling good about UF’s chances here.

  • Duke @ North Carolina (ESPN2): I hate Duke so much. I also hate all the teams that managed to lose to Duke for no apparent reason after Georgia Tech went and dismantled them. I don’t have a very good idea who is going to win this game because I don’t think Duke is that good, but Carolina has been pretty not… great this year. I’m begrudgingly picking Duke.
  • Kansas State @ Kansas (FS1): Kansas is still awful, K-State rolls.
  • Temple @ Memphis (ESPNEWS): I’ll take Memphis’s three wins over Temple’s one.
  • Rutgers @ Connecticut (ESPNU): Again, I’ll take the five win team (Rutgers) over the one win team.
  • Minnesota @ Michigan State (BTN): It’s hard to see how things get any easier for Minnesota’s 70th-ranked offense against Michigan State’s defense of death.
  • Wake Forest @ Vanderbilt (SEC): Vandy is the superior team here.

12:30: Maryland @ North Carolina State (ACC): Maryland isn’t very good, but NC State is worse, so…

2:00: Colorado @ Utah (Pac12): Utah has lost five straight games since beating Stanford, making that game even more inexplicable. Despite this, they still appear to be more solid than Colorado.

2:30: North Texas @ Tulsa (FSN): North Texas should put an end to one of college football’s most disappointing outfits this season.

3:00: Brigham Young @ Nevada (CBSS): Nevada struggled much of the year before their upset last week over San Jose State. BYU had a wrenching loss to Notre Dame, but despite these factors, BYU is the better team.

3:30:

  • Georgia @ Georgia Tech (ABC): Once again, we need play basically flawlessly. Everything has to go right for us and bad for them. But, above all: To Hell With Georgia.
  • Alabama @ Auburn (CBS): This should be a great time, for a time. Alabama, though, is just too good, too efficient. Auburn’s strides since last season are nearly amazing, but I think this game will show how far they still have to go.
  • Pennsylvania State @ Wisconsin (ESPN): Wisconsin should roll as per usual.
  • Baylor @ Texas Christian (ESPN2): Baylor should be able to regain their mojo against a struggling TCU team.
  • Virginia Tech @ Virginia (ESPNU): UVA is awful, but that hasn’t stopped VPI from taking bad losses so far this season. That said, UVA is one of the few teams with a worse offense statistically than VPI’s, so they should be okay in this one.
  • Purdue @ Indiana (BTN): Once again, I’ll take Indiana’s four wins against Purdue’s single win.
  • Boston College @ Syracuse (ACC/FSN): Syracuse needs this win for bowl eligibility, but I just don’t think they’ll get it.

4:00: Iowa State @ West Virginia (FS1): These teams are evenly matched. That’s not really a good thing for WVU, who probably did not hire Dana Holgersen to run the nation’s 90th ranked scoring offense. Does Holgo still have the mojo to beat Iowa State? It’s probably going to be closer than many WVU fans would like.

7:00:

  • Notre Dame @ Stanford (FOX): The nation’s 75th ranked offense will be getting no favors from Stanford’s defense. The Tree should roll, much like a log rolling downhill.
  • Clemson @ South Carolina (ESPN2): I think Clemson is the better team here. However, that doesn’t mean I feel great about their chances. The ACC will almost certainly get two teams into the BCS first for the time ever if Clemson and Florida State win. More importantly for Clemson fans, they’ve lost four straight in this one. This is their best chance to overturn it so far.
  • Tennessee @ Kentucky (ESPNU): Tennessee’s motto at this point could well be “well, at least we’re not Kentucky”.

7:45: Texas Agricultural and Mechanical @ Missouri (ESPN): TAMU has lost three games this year, and I think it’s about to become four, and it’s almost entirely because of their awful defense.

8:00: California-Los Angeles @ Southern California (ABC): Call me crazy, but I’m actually calling this for USC. Southern Cal and DACOACHO have started to play like, well, Southern Cal. Meanwhile, after failing to upset either of the Pac-12’s top two teams, losing to Arizona State last week killed any chance for the preseason Pac-12 South favorites.

9:30: Arizona @ Arizona State (Pac12): Arizona’s out-of-nowhere upset followed losses to UCLA and Wazzou. I like the Sun Devils, but these teams actually look pretty evenly matched. This one could be interesting.

10:15: New Mexico @ Boise State (ESPN2): This one, less so. Boise should roll.

10:30: San Diego State @ Nevada-Las Vegas (ESPNU): And finally, a day that is bound to be gut-wrenching for many wraps up with a little affair out in Vegas. At stake in this Mountain West clash? Not much, due to the Aztech’s overtime loss to Fresno back in October. This should be close, at least for a bit, but SDSU should prevail.

THWG Thought of the Day: 11/29

Unfortunately, I have been way too busy to post these this year. So unfortunately it’s not going to be THWG week this year so much as “THWG Friday and Saturday”. So let’s make up a little for lost time. And remember, To Hell With Georgia.

Like Wake Forest or Maryland or somebody…

Bowl Predictions 2013: Week 6

Oregon’s dismantling and Baylor’s first lost could cost them both dearly in the BCS picture. Which one gets left out?

BCS

  • Still sticking with Alabama and Florida State. If something does happen with Florida State’s QB, they should still win their remaining games and make it to the national title game.
  • I think yesterday’s results hurt Oregon more than Baylor. For starters, that makes it Oregon’s second loss. Second, Baylor gets to play two more game and show that they’re still okay, while Oregon has just one more game. I may be forced to revise this after the polls come out to see how far each falls, but that’s how I see it right now.
  • I think Clemson is a BCS lock if they beat South Carolina.
  • I like Auburn over Missouri for the obligatory second BCS team. For starters, the Sugar will be forced to take Central Florida, so they’re going to want the biggest name they can get, an that is probably still a 2-loss Auburn over a 2-loss Mizzou.
  • The other candidates for that Oregon/Baylor final alternate spot in the Orange Bowl are probably 11-2 Michigan State and 10-2 Wisconsin.
  • Non-AQ watch: UCF is close to jumping Fresno in the computers. Fresno has two more games, including the MWC title game which will be either Utah State or Boise State. Meanwhile, UCF’s games are decidedly less attractive: South Florida and SMU. UCF also trails in the human polls, but remember, all UCF has to do is pass Fresno and/or Northern Illinois and that will shut out both. [Late edit: the in the newest BCS standings, NIU passed UCF. I will update the predictions to reflect this if I get a chance.]

Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time to do a full run-down this week. Things will get really interesting starting this Saturday night anyway, so I’ll have a full look at the whole picture on Sunday and Monday next week.

This Week in College Football: Week 14

As usual, all times Eastern and all predictions wrong.

Tuesday
7:00: Western Michigan @ Northern Illinois (ESPN2): One of these teams is 1-10. The other is 11-0. I think you guys got this one.

Thursday
7:30: Texas Tech @ Texas (FS1): Texas Tech has come down in recent weeks from their loft undefeated start of the season, going from 7-0 to 7-4. (Of course, considering their awful non-conference schedule, this wasn’t exactly a shock. Their best win on the season is probably SMU.) Texas started with a disaster of a season and managed to turn it around to something reasonable. The Longhorms are still in play for the title, and I think they’ll remain so after this.

8:00: Mississippi @ Mississippi State (ESPN): Miss State needs this Egg Bowl win to get to 6-6, but their offense is struggling to a pretty high degree as of late, and they needed to overtime to beat a beyond moribund Arkansas team last weekend. I’m going with Ole Miss here.

Friday
Noon:

  • Iowa @ Nebraska (ABC): Both of these teams struggled on offense, and Nebraska has had too many shaky wins against bad teams. Iowa’s defense appears legit, and this could be a classic Frentez-win, you know, a 9-7 Iowa win or some such.
  • Southern Methodist @ Houston (ESPN2): Houston’s been a slightly more well-rounded team over the course of the season. They’ve had three straight tough losses to the American’s “best” teams, so if they can get over that they should be good enough to beat SMU.
  • East Carolina @ Marshall (CBSS): This is a tough, tight battle for the C-USA East crown. I like ECU better but I can’t really explain why. This should be a good one if you get theCBS Sports network, though.

1:30: Bowling Green vs. Buffalo (@Orchard Park, NY; ESPNU): Did you know Bowling Green has the nation’s sixth ranked scoring defense? It’s true! I like them here.

2:30: Arkansas @ Louisiana State (CBS): Arkansas just isn’t very good. I mean, LSU isn’t great or anything, but they’re good enough to win.

3:00: Florida International @ Florida Atlantic (FS1): FAU is 5-6 and FIU is 1-10, so FAU by default.

3:30:

  • Washington State @ Washington (FOX): It feels like weird stuff always happens in the Apple Cup, but while Wazzou is improved, I think UDub is still just better.
  • Miami @ Pittsburgh (ABC): Miami has been extremely inconsistent, and honestly, that was true before they lost their best player. But the talent, man, the talent is still good enough to beat Pitt.
  • Fresno State @ San Jose State (CBSS): Living in San Jose, I know the local press have thought of this as something of a lost season for the Spartans. I’ve got two other reasons to pick against them, though. First, Fresno is pretty good. Second, they started running these awful TV ads last weekend that talked about the “tradition” of an inaugural edition of their “rivalry” with Fresno State. Wha?

7:00: Oregon State @ Oregon (FS1): The Ducks will be out for blood after last weekend. At least, they should be.

8:00: South Florida @ Central Florida (ESPN): USF’s last two games are losses to SMU and Memphis. They scored a combined 16 points in those games. This should be a gimme for UCF.