Saturday Football Fever

Here’s some random thoughts on the week 3 games after having a day to digest everything.

- As I watched the Maryland-Cal game, something stuck me: it wasn’t too long ago that these were two programs on the rise.  Neither seems to have been able to make the leap to occasional challenger to elite power.

The team Ralph Friedgen inherited in 2001 had gone 5-6 the previous year.  They went 10-2 and won the ACC and followed that up with 11-3 (2002) and 10-3 (2003).  In 2004, things seemed to turn sour, with the Terps going 5-6 followed by 5-6 in 2005.  They snuck up on some folks in 2006 and finished 9-4, only to drop back to mediocre in 2007 at 6-7.  They just can’t seem to take that next step to become a major player in the ACC year in and year out.  With the ACC having an off year so far, maybe this is the year Maryland can turn things around.

In 2003, Jeff Tedford finally got his shot as head coach, taking over a Cal team that had won only 1 game the previous season.  He immediately raised expectations when he finished 7-5 in his first season.  Over the next few seasons, Cal steadily improved, going 8-6 (2003), 10-2 (2004), and 8-4 (2005).  Tedford finally broke through and lead Cal to a 10-3 record and became co-Pac-10 champions in 2006.  They promptly took a step back last year, when they 6 of their last 8 and finished 7-6 on the season.  In each year that Tedford has been at Cal, they have been mentioned as the team that could knock USC of their throne, but each year they slip up against teams that they should beat.  They just can’t seem to become the Pac-10 challenger that the conference needs.

It was strange to see these two teams who are on opposite sides of the country and have taken the same path face off.

- Speaking of the Maryland game, they have one ugly end-zone.  It’s not as bad as the one in Knoxville, but it’s certainly not attractive.  I don’t understand why they decided to put the state flag in the end zone as opposed to the team name or logo.

- Did anyone else notice that stands were pretty bare at the Clemson-NCSU game?  The cameras panned the crowd right after the start of the 3rd quarter and it looked like an Atlanta Hawks game.  The announcer even mistakenly said a “crowd of 80” before correcting himself to 80,000.  Memorial Stadium has a seating capacity of 80,301 and the attendance for the game was reported as 76,500.  But the stands looked to be holding considerably less.  I was hoping that the good people of Clemson had finally realized that their season could only end in heartbreak as long as Tommy Bowden was their coach and decided not to show up in protest.  But I guess that’s not the case.

- USC dominated Ohio State.  It wasn’t even close.  USC looked like they were playing a high school team.  That makes 3 straight big games in which Ohio State has choked.  At some point, the coaches and the AP writers will have to realize that they are over rated and stop ranking them in the top 5, right?  It’s one thing to beat up on the weak teams in the Big Ten, but its whole different beast trying to beat teams with equal or greater talent than you.  And Ohio Stat just can’t do it.

- The Gamecocks seem to have some sort of hex on the Bulldogs.  They always manage to keep the game close, no matter the talent disparity (and it is considerable).  They almost stole the game from the Dawgs, but Chris Smelley struck again and threw a killer pick near the goal line in the closing seconds that would have sent the game in to OT.  SC also lost a fumble in the end zone that could have tied it up earlier in the game.  But in the end the Dawgs escaped and their title hopes live on.

- Another thing I noticed about the UGA game was the announcers unashamed love for Matthew Stafford.  They couldn’t do enough to kiss the ass of the “best NFL QB prospect in the country”.  This is the same Matthew Stafford who needed his defense to make plays to beat the Gamecocks because he couldn’t.  The same Matthew Stafford that could only manage 146 yards and no TDs against SC.  When he made a mistake, it was the fault of his offensive line or his receivers.  In fact, the announcers were talking about his progression over the years and mentioned that he struggled at times last year.  And why did he struggle?  Not because he’s not a very good QB or because he makes poor decisions.  It was because “his receivers let him down.”  When will people stop making excuses for Stafford?  If he played on any other team, he’d be labeled a bust or an underachiever.  But fortunately for him he has a great offensive line and a stable of stud running backs that are able to carry the team.  Because he is clearly not cut out to do so.

- Sure it was against Nevada, but Chase Daniel put up some impressive numbers.  That kid is good.  He‘s another one who falls into the height trap that I don’t understand.  Under 6 foot and foolishly shunned by the big schools in favor of “prototypical” QB’s.

- The Tide seemed to get their act together again, after not scoring an offensive TD against Tulane.  Arkansas is up next and Bama hasn’t won in Fayetteville since 2002.  They are to Alabama as SC is to UGA.  They just play us tough every year, no matter how good or bad they are.  This will be the first real test (and no, Clemson was not a test) that the Tide will face.  This will give us a better idea of how the season will go.

- And I have to include this, since Mickey is a Michigan fan, but they performed poorly against Notre Dame.  Michigan turned the ball over 6 times.  With that many turnovers, even Notre Dame will be able to stay in the game.  The good news is that Michigan has a much brighter future ahead of them.  Rodriguez has been able to win at every place he’s coach.  Weis struggled against New Mexico State, despite having the talent from three straight top 5 recruiting classes on his side.

- I’m guessing that the win over Tennessee was just a fluke.

Filed under: Weekly Thoughts

Tags: acc, alabama crimson tide, arkansas razorbacks, big 10, big 12, byu cougars, california golden bears, charlie weis, chase daniel, chris smelley, clemson tigers, georgia bulldogs, jeff tedford, maryland terrapins, matthew stafford, michigan wolverines, nevada wolfpack, north carolina state wolfpack, notre dame fighting irish, ohio state buckeyes, pac 10, ralph friedgen, rich rodriguez, sec, south carolina gamecocks, tennessee volunteers, tommy bowden, tulane green wave, ucla bruins, usc trojans

Today’s post is an homage to some of the idiots of college football.

Notre Dame Head Coach, Charlie Weis

Weis has a standing rule with his football team: don’t provide the opposing team “bulletin board” material.  So what did Charlie Weis do this summer?  Provide Michigan with bulletin board material.  Weis is of course now back tracking, saying he did it out of respect to Bo Schembechler.  Sure.  I have a slightly different theory.  Take a look at what Weis says before the Michigan comment.  He  says that they will make a statement against San Diego State.  Sadly, the statement they made was “Notre Dame football is a giant turd”.  He goes on to talk about the excuses that Michigan will have when they arrive in South Bend.  Now Weis is making excuses for his lame ass comment.  What he’s really trying to do is cover his incredibly large ass, so that after Michigan beats Notre Dame into the ground, he’ll be able to tell people, “I said that out of respect.”  If his defensive backs could back-pedal this well, then maybe SDSU wouldn’t have put up 274 yards in the air during Notre Dame’s statement.

New Mexico State cornerback, Davon House

What did Davon do to make it on this list?  He boasted that the NMSU DB’s would be well prepared to face the Nebraska receivers, since the receivers they see in practice everyday are “10 times better than their receivers”. Smart move, Davon.  Your team has won 8 games in the last 3 seasons and you decide to give Nebraska some motivation for beating the crap out of you.  It’s like the smallest kid on the playground telling the 6-4 kid with a beard who’s repeating 8th grade for the 3rd time “Your mom’s a whore.”  Before, he would have just beaten you for the fun of it – now he’s got a good reason to beat you within an inch of your life, drag you back a few feet and beat you some more.  I’m sure Davon’s secondary mates are real excited to face the Nebraska receivers on Saturday.

Former Cincinnati QB, Matt Mauk

For the love of God, Matt, let it go.  You’re not getting another year of eligibility.

University of Washington President, Mark Emmert

If there’s one way to assure that your son will get beat up at school, it’s to ask the bullies not to beat him up.  Suddenly, he weeping and trying to protect his head as the big kids punch him and yell “Mama’s boy!”  Well, that’s basically what Emmert has done to Tyrone Willingham.  I can understand what Emmert is trying to do, but he’s only making life worse for his coach.  The average Husky fa will see this as yet another person making excuses for Willingham’s poor performance.  To be honest, I’m surprised Washington hasn’t shown much improvement since he arrived.  He did much more with much less at Stanford and he had a respectable record at Notre Dame (basically the same record as Charlie Weis through 3 years – just a different skin color).  You can point to the schedule as being tough (and it is brutal), but at some point, Willingham has to take some responsibility for not producing.  And having his president making excuses for him won’t help with the already blood thirsty fans.

Filed under: Misc News and Thoughts

Tags: big 10, big 12, bo schembechler, charlie weis, cincinnati bearcats, conference usa, davon house, mark emmert, matt mauk, michigan wolverines, mountain west, nebraska cornhuskers, new mexico state aggies, notre dame fighting irish, pac 10, san diego state aztecs, stanford cardinal, tyrone willingham, wac, washington huskies

By now, most people have probably already seen Knowshon Moreno’s leap.

Unless, that is, you were waiting to see it on Sports Center.  Apparently, the worldwide leader buried the UGA highlights and didn’t even show Moreno’s leap.  And Mark Richt is complaining about it.

According to Richt, “They missed the boat or didn’t do their homework or whatever. I don’t know how they couldn’t have noticed that as thorough as it seems like that are most of the time.”

Here’s the deal coach.  You are playing the Central Michigan Chippewas and you blew them out.  You’re not going to be the lead highlight on ESPN, especially when there are upsets to show.  And really, who cares what Knowshon does against a small time team?  Outside Athens, GA, no one.  Had this come against the elite athletes that play for USC, Florida or Oklahoma, then it would be noteworthy.  But he’s leaping over an undersized safety who wasn’t good enough to get a scholarship offer from a Big Ten school, including Northwestern.  Why is that supposed to be mind blowing?

Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice play.  But for Richt to chastise ESPN for not playing it is ridiculous.  Had it been a truly, utterly amazing play, then I could see his point.  But its not as impressive as Richt seems to think.

Filed under: Player News

Tags: big 10, central michigan chippewas, espn, florda gators, georgia bulldogs, knowshon moreno, mark richt, northwestern wildcaats, oklahoma sooners, sec, usc trojans

Some random thoughts about week after having a day to digest everything.

- Washington got screwed. I understand that the excessive celebration penalty was called as it is stated in the NCAA rule book, but I think the spirit of the rule was not upheld.  Did Locker toss the football in the air?  Yes.  Did he do it to taunt BYU or excessively celebrate?  No.  He was charged up from scoring in the final seconds of the game to seemingly send the game to OT and give his team a chance to win.  There is a lot of emotion in college football and as long as Locker wasn’t doing it in an unsportsman like manner (and he wasn’t), then it shouldn’t be called.  The game should have been decided on the field and not by a poor call by a referee.

- Why were Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno still playing late during their blowout of Central Michigan?  My guess is that it had something to do with padding their stats for thier Heisman campaigns.  But doesn’t Richt know what can happen when a coach foolishly leaves in his best player late in a blowout?  That was a dangerous move to keep those two in the game, especially when UGA is trying to make a title run.

- Notre Dame looked BAD (3-12 on 3rd down, 4 turnovers) against San Diego State. Jimmy Clausen didn’t look very good and they didn’t run the ball very well (3.1/carry).  And I LOVE it!!!!!  I HATE Notre Dame.  They won 3 games all of last year and they got more coverage than teams like BYU and Cincinnati, that actually had winning seasons.  This year, its more of the same.  They are undeserving of all the hype and media attention they get.  And I hope they fall on their faces again.  HARD!

- Miami is on its way back to being a dominant program.  They played Florida tough, but just ran out of gas at the end.  That is attributed to their lack of quality depth, but that will be solved with a few more recruiting classes like this past one.  Randy Shannon is going to turn them around.

- How about East Carolina?!?! They knock of their 3rd consecutive ranked opponent (going back to the bowl game last year) and their first top 10 team since 1999.  And they didn’t just squeak by West Virginia – they DOMINATED them.  Looks like Skip Holtz could be on his way to a Conference USA title and giving BYU a run at being this years BCS buster.  Keep your eye on ECU.

- If Alabama is going to be taken seriously, then they’ll need to have more games like the Clemson game and less like the Tulane game.  They didn’t score a single offensive TD and only had 172 total yards.  Sure, they were missing some O-Linemen, but they need to execute better to be able to beat the heavy weights in the SEC.

- The ACC didn’t do much to redeemed itself after being beat up in week 1.  Maryland was whipped by Midde Tennessee State, Duke lost to Northwestern in the Turd Bowl, Virginia managed to only put up 16 points against FCS team Richmond and Miami was beaten by Florida.  When they added BC, VT and Miami back in 2004, they expected to beocome the new superpower in college football.  We are still patiently awaiting that moment.

- Sam Bradford continues to put up better numbers than Matthew Stafford agasint similar (if not better) competition.  Why does he still not get as much Heisman love?

Filed under: Weekly Thoughts

Tags: acc, alabam crimson tide, bcs, big 10, big 12, boston college eagles, byu cougars, central michigan chippewas, cincinnati bearcats, clemson tigers, conference usa, duke blue devils, east carolina pirates, fcs, florida gators, heisman trophy, jake locker, jimmy clausen, knowshon moreno, mac, mark richt, maryland terrapins, matthew stafford, miami hurricanes, middle tennessee state blue raiders, mountain west, mwc, ncaa, northwestern wildcats, notre dame fighting irish, pac 10, randy shannon, richmond spiders, sam bradford, san diego state aztecs, sec, skip holtz, sun belt, tulane green wave, uga bulldogs, virginia cavaliers, virginia tech hokies, washington huskies, west virginia mountaineers

ESPN is reporting that Ohio State coach Jim Tressel has just re-worked his contract to make him the highest paid coach in the Big Ten.  Considering all things, there is no doubt he should have that title.  The question is, who was the highest paid coach before they redid the contact?  Rich Rodriguez?

Tressel will receive $3.5 million in 2009, with 3-4 percent annual raises until 2013.  With everything he’s done for that program, I think he’s worth every penny.

Filed under: Coaching News

Tags: big 10, contract, jim tressel, ohio state buckeyes, rich rodriguez, salary