Posted on 11/05/2009 2:24:43 AM PST by GOP_Raider
With November now upon us, I have a few disjointed things lying around on my desktop that have been there for several weeks, and since they're all not compelling enough by themselves to introduce a thread, I'll go ahead and get them out of the way now and regroup with some much better philosophy for the next few weeks or so.
--Here is a neat quiz that might give some of you grief. Name the 26 teams with the most all-time wins in the Division Formerly Known as I-A in 7 minutes or less and you get to brag about it to everyone else on the thread for the whole weekend. (For the record, I got a mere 21/26).
--Some of you like to make fun of our pal Man50D for his FWIW Top 10. It is now that I issue a challenge to our good friend. If you all click here you can see one of our resident UConn Huskies do battle with ranking the Top 25. The FWIW Top 25 is what I've pined for at least three seasons now, so get to it!
--Over the past several years in the BCS era, there's always a fair amount of grandstanding in the form of Congressional hearings about the fairness of the thing. In my mind, the worst thing about this is that there's always that one hack in the state-run media that's whines about Congress needing to "solve health care" or something similar instead of representatives pontificating to the folks back home on C-SPAN. Ultimately, it's not Congress's business per se, but then health care probably shouldn't be either. Keep in mind the next time you hear some doofus in your local paper or on a major network bloviate about health care or some other "reform" no one asked their opinion on, it's that person's way of saying "it's not fair that I make $9 an hour and get crummy benefits, so I'm going to complain for a page or two that my fellow taxpayers should pay for my Viagra and thorazine."
--Do we really care that much about how uniforms look?. I kind of had a sneaking suspicion that as I got older, we'd see jerseys similar to that. On the other hand, I also thought that we'd all have flying cars and living up in the exosphere next door to the Jetsons by the time I hit 30.
You know what, let's just get to the matchups for this weekend before the observations get even more mediocre (I told you these weren't my best ideas).
Virginia Tech vs. East Carolina (Tonight, 7:30 pm) Many of you may not realize this, but the Hokies were in this same position going into their 9th game of the season last year. One could also construe that last sentence as one where I basically say to you Hokies out there that "see, the season is not a complete loss just yet". Last year, the Hokies suffered an opening week loss to the Pirates, thanks in part to a very Beamerball-esque blocked punt by ECU that sealed the deal. But, both the Hokies and the Pirates did wind up winning their respective conferences last season, and this game in Greenville may be the toughest game left on the schedule for the boys from VPI. But should VT get to a BCS game, you're all going to show up and/or watch, right?
Boise State vs. Louisiana Tech (Friday, 8:00 pm) So the question can probably be asked at this point based on recent events: just how good are the Broncos? Is their opening night win at home against Oregon enough of a barometer to judge this team? Or do you have the same line of reasoning as a lot of others do and judge this team solely on the fact that they're in the WAC. (Which reminds me, did anyone say "oh well, they play in the WAC" in the Frank Kush era of Arizona State football? Just asking.) But this week's opponent may not provide much more of a litmus test than any other subsequent opponent. The Bulldogs have given up on average this season about 372 yards of total offense. By WAC standards, that's not bad, but "not bad" is "not good" when your opponent is unbeaten and in the Top 10.
Central Florida vs. Texas (High Noon) If a game like this one is on the schedule where it's patently obvious that not a lot of us are going to spend much time breaking down the game, I typically try to highlight the opponent and introduce you all to their school and whatever academic prowess they may have. So this week, we highlight the University of Central Florida, which is considered a "space-grant" institution, or to put it another way, the people one might want to count on if an asteroid were to collide with earth a la the movie "Armageddon". For reasons we're not quite sure of, UCF once had Joe Biden speak at the UCF commencement in 1978. We're also not sure if that's even Biden's real hair or not, so let's get back on task before this stream of consciousness takes another wrong turn.
Northwestern vs. Iowa (High Noon) Someone that has this handy may want to look this up, but who was the last team to have a QB throw 5 interceptions and still win? That's pretty much been the charmed life that the Hawkeyes have lived throughout much of this season. Someone that gets paid to do things like this asked the question "if this were Michigan or Ohio State with the same record, would they be ranked #1 or #2?" Who knows, but ahead of the Hawkeyes this week are the Northwestern Wildcats, who are confident that QB Mike Kafka will play this Saturday. Unfortunately (and per the Chicago Tribune article), Iowa has only given up an average of 15.8 points per game. So now you're starting to see at least one reason why the Hawks are still unbeaten.
Syracuse vs. Pitt (High Noon) Just when you thought the Big East was the Cincinnati Bearcats to lose, there's the Pitt Panthers biding their time, winning games and waiting for a big showdown. Currently sitting at 7-1, let's familiarize ourselves with this year's edition of the Panthers. QB Bill Stull is having a far better season than 'Cuse QB and former Duke point guard Greg Paulus, and RB Dion Lewis has averaged about 128 yards per game this year. If you don't count Pitt's only loss to NC State, they've played some very solid football. The Orange, on the other hand, might be looking ahead to basketball season and as someone who did much of the same thing throughout the 1990s, I can completely understand.
Virginia vs. Miami (High Noon) In case you missed it last week (and I did), you have to watch this comeback by the Canes last week at Wake Forest. (you can click here if your internet access is kosher). The U gets to within 20-14 to end the half, and the Deacs have the lead with 94 seconds to go. Then, Jacory Harris launches a pass to Aldarius Johnson for the first down and keeps the drive alive. That play would set up the victory for Miami by a single point. The Cavaliers have yet another bewildering loss to try to decipher, as they gave up 19 fourth quarter points in a home loss to Duke. Both the Canes and Cavs are also looking up at the Blue Devils in the ACC Coastal Division and clearly this is something I'll never quite understand of all of the things that have happened this season.
(for kevkrom) Purdue vs. Michigan (High Noon) Whither the Maize and Blue? The Wolverines stand at 5-4 and let's face it, we probably thought that the current record would be a lot better than this. Perhaps the fortunate thing about this week is that both the Boilers and the Wolverines are going in similar directions. Purdue was dominated in a shutout loss to Wisconsin and Michigan had the lead at the half and didn't have the lead at the end of the game, which is really when you want the lead to be honest. Could this be the kind of game where Rich Rodriguez needs a win to save some face and possibly to save his job?
Oregon vs. Stanford (3:30 pm) Left coast dwellers, your long regional nightmare is over, thanks to the Ducks decisive domination over USC last week. Punch-drunk Duck RB Legarette Blount may not be back for this one (provided that this is true), but do any of you believe that the Ducks might be better without him? Freshman RB LaMichael James needs but 82 yards to eclipse the 1,000 yard mark on the season, and we're all too familiar with the exploits of Jeremiah Masoli. But what does Stanford bring to this party besides prolific matriculation? Well, the Cardinal have the Pac-10's leading rusher in Tony Gerhart and QB Andrew Luck has completed more passes than not and has a mere 3 interceptions. The Cardinal have a chance to be bowl eligible for the first time since 2001 when they played in the Seattle Bowl, which no longer exists.
Wake Forest vs. Georgia Tech (3:30 pm) Congratulations Yellow Jackets, you are now the best team in the ACC, what are you going to do next? What they will do remains to be seen, of course. Here for you now is an update on how the most high profile option offense in all the land is doing. Right now, the Ramblin' Wreck has bumped up it's average number of rushing yards per game to 304.1, 2nd in the country. QB Josh Nesbitt and RB Johnathan Dwyer have run for many of those yards, but the question as has been the case this season for the Jackets is how their opponents will do against them defensively. As I mentioned above, the Deacons had a golden opportunity to get back into the ACC Title hunt last week, but had a two score lead slip away from them as well as QB Riley Skinner go down with a concussion. So now the state-run media can do even more stories on how severe injuries can happen in the game of football, as though that's never ever happened before.
Ohio State vs. Penn State (3:30 pm) We shouldn't kid ourselves, most of us had this game circled on the calendar as the de facto Big 10 Championship Game at the beginning of the year. Earlier in the year, I asked our loyal members of the FR College Football Ping list this question: are Daryll Clark and Terrelle Pryor somewhat similar QBs? Okay, I'll concede that Clark is probably the better pocket passer and Pryor may have the edge as a scrambler, but does anyone else see anything similar in these two QBs? This game will likely be an elimination game for the losing team's BCS and Big 10 title hopes and if the Buckeyes hope to have a shot at the conference title, a better game from Pryor is going to be needed.
Washington State vs. Arizona (3:30 pm) Here is an interesting team in Arizona that may have more to say about who wins the Pac-10 than we all realize. The Wildcats stand in 2nd place in the Pac-10 standings and if they can find a way to win out (not exactly the easiest thing to accomplish given who remains for the U of A), the Wildcats will go to their first ever Rose Bowl. But before we put the cart before the horse, Wazzu comes into the Old Pueblo. And by "come in", I mean they are coming off a lopsided loss to Notre Dame last week and if you want to look at the bright side, at least the Cougs have won a game this season. Was it really that long ago that Wazzu was in the Rose Bowl?
TCU vs. San Diego State (4:00 pm) I don't want to be the guy who sits there and says "you're team is undefeated and in the Top 10 and there are still plenty of good seats still available at Amon Carter Stadium", but you do have to wonder. Here you folks in the DFW Metroplex have a Top 10 football team right in your own neighborhood (if you live in Tarrant County at least) and there's still empty seats. Well, it doesn't matter this week, since the Frogs take to the road against the Aztecs, who sit at a very commendable 4-4 and still have an outside shot at becoming bowl eligible. But this may not be the game that gets them closer. Consider that after the Frogs narrow escape on October 10 against Air Force, TCU has been absolutely dominant, obliterating Colorado State, byU, and UNLV. While the Aztecs are playing much better, this may not be quite the warmup to the de facto MWC title game some may hope. Hey, speaking of the de facto MWC title game's other opponent...
(for sean327) New Mexico vs. UTAH (6:00 pm)...perhaps it's somewhat rude in my situation to make this about me, so forgive me for writing this with my own team in mind. Last week's game against Wyoming in which I attended unfolded rather strangely. Down 10-3 to the Pokes at half, the switch was made at QB to have true freshman Jordan Wynn come in replacing starter Terrence Cain. Well, it worked, as the Utes outscored the Cowboys in the 2nd half 19-0 and got the victory. Meanwhile, it may appear as though the bottom may have finally dropped out for UNM and perhaps the rebuilding and the healing can truly begin. But before I continue, I often wonder who wrote this entry in Wikipedia. I've never referred to our game against the Lobos as "The Bowl", so I think somebody must know something that I don't.
Vanderbilt vs. Florida (7:15 pm) Many of you are probably heading for the lofty moral high ground after what Gator LB Brandon Spikes did against Georgia last week. Let me throw this out there for you all to contemplate: would people be on Coach Urban Meyer's case if Spikes were to be suspended for a full game instead of just half of a game? So naturally, we can all get into spirited sports talk radio style debates on whether punching an opponent in the face or an eye gouge is worse. (I can say which one I would assume is more painful and it would have to be the latter. That and a really attractive blond girl said I had "pretty eyes" when I was in middle school, so I think I've got that going for me). Besides, I think a guy like Spikes really isn't necessary to beat Vandy that badly---at least not this season.
(for Bat_Chemist and Palmetto) Florida State vs. Clemson (7:45 pm) The Game Formerly Known As The Bowden Bowl. In the beleaguered battle in the Atlantic Division of the ACC, the Tigers have the lead and indeed control their own destiny. The Noles still have a shot at bowl eligibility this year, and the fact I just typed that doesn't sit well with anyone associated with FSU football. Worst of all is the fact that last week's shootout victory against North Carolina State saw FSU give up 538 yards of total offense. So of course, the team you want to see play after a game like that is a Clemson squad with C.J. Spiller and the NCAA indoor champion in the 60 meters Jacoby Ford.
(for Biggirl and Man50D) UConn vs. Cincinnati (8:00 pm) The tale of two injured QBs may be the stories for both teams, as UConn loses Cody Endres for the rest of the year and Bearcat starting QB Tony Pike has a splint on his arm. Zach Collaros is set to start in this one. That has to be a nice thing to have, sort of similar to the New England Patriots of the early part of the decade when they had Tom Brady starting and if he was sort of healed, there was Drew Bledsoe. The Huskies at this point have to be wondering the same thing Jimmy Ruffin was when he asked "what becomes of the broken hearted?" Last week, the Huskies took the lead against Rutgers thanks to a Jordan Todman TD run. But the Scarlet Knights connected on an 81 yard TD pass to Tim Brown for the victory. A win here would make a lot of folks in the Nutmeg State a little happier, one would think.
USC vs. Arizona State (8:00 pm) Did any of you ever think you would see a Trojan defense play as poorly as they did last week at Autzen? More importantly, did we all see this team through some very red-tinted glasses? I looked it up--because that's what I do--and wanted to find out when the last time a USC team gave up 40 or more in a game. Sure enough, it was the 2006 Rose Bowl and national championship defeat to Texas, where they gave up 41 (they also gave up 42 against Fresno State a few months before that, but did manage to score 50). Luckily for SC, no one will confuse this year's version of the Sun Devils with a Frank Kush or Bruce Snyder team. Or for that matter, a Dennis Erickson coached team when Erickson was truly in his prime. That doesn't mean that they couldn't make a few teams lives a living hell for the remainder of their schedule.
Oklahoma vs. Nebraska (8:00 pm) If my most obvious vanity post in my tenure as a FReeper may suggest, I enjoy studying history. Few games each year invoke more historical references, more legendary players and games, and more respectful hostility outside of possibly Army/Navy. Between the two schools, they've won 87 conference championships, 11 national titles, and captivated (and maybe even irritated) millions of college football fans throughout the country. So regardless of how disappointing both schools have been this year, this is as good of a game as any for us to reminisce about the days before the internet and the lobbying for gay marriage and when you were simply expected to behave like an adult.
...and now, the Game of the Week.
LSU vs. Alabama (3:30 pm) The Tide had a bye going into this week and if you became addicted to reading the message boards of college football like I have, that's pretty much license for Bama fans and Tiger fans to banter and smack talk each other to death. Right now, I think these may be two of the top defenses in the entire country, so what could make the difference? It might be the Bayou Bengal offense, which should give us pause to wonder what Jordan Jefferson will be able to do against the Bama D. The winner of this game will be well on their way to Atlanta and possibly to Pasadena, but are games like this the true reason why a lot of us say that it's difficult to run through the labyrinth that is the SEC conference slate?
Enjoy your games this weekend.
LSU seems to be playing alot better and Bama has peaked. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J70hiH45qN0UGA dirty play.
Two words to understand Duke this year: David Cutcliffe. Duke finally found their bank account after 40 years and opened it up.
We’ll have our hands full with UNC this weekend.
I just read in the Gainesville Sun Spikes will be suspended for the entire game.
FWIW correction Alert! I inadvertently swapped rankings between Alabama and Penn State. It should read: 8. Alabama, 9. Penn State
Can they run the table? Who knows and who cares about the rankings? It's been a dream season--so far.
“It’s just guys growing up, playing in the games they didn’t win, being
sick of that,” quarterback Ricky Stanzi said. “You’ve been there before
and you don’t want to lose the close ones. There’s nothing fun about it.
There’s no such thing as a moral victory when you lose a close game.”
Too bad PSU vs. OSU or LSU vs. ‘Bama could not be moved to primetime. Will be using the remote a lot to switch back and forth.
WOW!! I hope Stanzi is a Republican.
I didn’t know you ever bowed to pressure! lol I can’t believe Texas Tech is in there - we’ve played musical chairs with our injured (oops, keep that on the down low please) QB’s - hoping to have #2, who is really our #1 back for Okie State next weekend..... Good luck to everyone else while my rolaids intake takes a break this Saturday.
Boomer Sooner!
(and go, Boise State!)
Supposedly the Big Ten won’t play night games after October.
Yeah, I wrote the actual matchups before I posted it last night and I didn’t see that update until last night.
Well, I would like to state for the record that it was more of a challenge to you than simple peer pressure. Very nicely done as usual.
Not true, I've seen them play night games in November in the recent past.....
Not in November.
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/1938/jaypa-no-more-big-ten-night-games-in-nov
Especially LSU/Bama. See-BS could just as easily bump whatever primetime programming nobody is going to watch anyway and air that game.
Would you mind re-posting that YouTube link, I couldn’t get anything when I clicked on it. Thanks.
It’s been a long time since the OSI Buckeyes have had consectutive games coming up with as much importance as the next 3 games.
Most in these parts think they’re losing 2 of these games. Me’ if the offense keeps being as dysfunctional as we’ve seena. they won’t win this week or next.....
We’ll see
Well I stand corrected, thanks. Strange rule though.
Also I think Air Force plays Army and hopefully Navy will upset Notre Dame again. Speaking of the Oklahoma-Nebraska game. ESPN Classics will show the 1971 game between those two teams tomorrow evening. Its too bad that people put Iowa down because of Ohio State. I’ve noted that since 2003 Iowa has played 3 New Years Day Bowl games versus SEC teams and has won 2 of those 3 games.
Or heres an idea. You can tune your TV to Ohio St-Penn St while watching the LSU-ALabama game on you puter at www.cbssports.com.
Kirk Ferentz has actually done a very commendable job since he’s been HC there. I have to think that a lot of what the Hawkeyes have been able to accomplish this year has been due to Ferentz.
If I had TiVo, I’d record that OU/Nebraska game, as I’ve always wanted to see that game in its entirety.
The Penn State game might be a very tough game for the Buckeyes, but I can see next week’s game being very low scoring—in fact I think that might be the conventional wisdom. If both teams score more than 21 points I’d be shocked.
Things to ponder...
1. Has any national, name, program fallen as far, for as long, as Syracuse..
2. Anyone willing to take Texas and give me 50 points?
3. Bobby Bowden announced that he, and ONY he, will ahve the final say in picking a new defensive coordinator for next season, though of course Jimbo will have significant input. Anyone who through that ole Bobby would go quietly after this season is obviously seriously delusional...as, BTW..is ole Bobby hisself..
4. I can't figure out if the Oregon uniforms are a secret weapon..they make them make them look slower..thus confusing opponents. I wonder how many top recruits decide against the Ducks..because no way they want to wear that stuff..
Thanks, I think before I get the thread going this weekend, I may have to post the list of each school and their NFL player and/or coach.
Let me go through each of your points here.
1. I would have to say that Colorado would have to be up there too, I had thought that Dan Hawkins would at least be able to get them into the Big XII title game once in a while.
2. Well, most of the lines I’ve seen average out to about 34 points in favor of UT, so maybe tease it up to 40 and you might be on to something here.
3. The thing I would consider with Bowden is that he is the guy that took the FSU football program and brought them from the abyss. He probably could have joined the SEC instead of the ACC (though I think Bat_Chemist our resident Seminole might have a little better insight on that), but aside from that he does have two national titles and ACC titles galore, so maybe those that have said that Bowden should leave on his own terms are correct?
4. Per the video I posted this week from College Gameday a few years ago on the UO unis, the players had a lot of input about how the uniforms should look. Maybe it’s me, but sometimes I get more of a kick out of the garish looking uniforms than I do the more traditional ones?
Colorado never decided that some point guard should automatically be their quarterback.
Colorado doesn’t have a Jim Brown, and Ernie Davis, or a Ben Swartzwalder in its pedigree..way back in the day..the ‘Cuse was HUGE...
I have a few moments trying not to strangle fellow coworkers, so now is as good of a time as any to remind all of you that tonight we’ve got a good one on ESPN2. It’s Boise State taking on Louisiana Tech. I’ll probably have some wiseacre things to say on Twitter, provided I don’t have a nervous breakdown or anything.
Dont bother ESPN Classics is showing Yankee games tonight. Oh well never believe that Comcast tv guide button. Fortunately for me it was on ESPN Classics on wednesday afternoon and I taped it. I recently found out that a gentleman who goes to my church played in that game (and then played for the Raidders for a few years).
Go UConn! PLEASE do not EMBARESSED US again! Thanks!:)=^..^=
Ironic, the stadium that holds Rutgers football, the same team beats UConn last week!
Thanks for the heads up. It’s not often you get Boise St. and LA. Tech on TV at the same time. :^)
LATech gave Boise a run for their money -
It’s finally Noon in the East and we’re about to get started
In the Top 25
Wisconsin/Iowa
Pitt/Syracuse
Central Florida/Texas
Northwestern/Iowa
Miami/Virginia
Coming up at 2:30
Navy/Notre Dame
I’m going to start off monitoring Central Florida/Texas since I had my TV on FSN when I went to sleep.
You know, in case anyone actually cares.
I hadn’t realized how good Syracuse was back in the day. A lot of folks my age probably associate them more as a basketball school, even though the ‘Cuse did produce McNabb and Marvin Harrison.
Speaking of Syracuse
Syracuse 3
Pitt 0
11:35 in the 1st
The Hawkeyes are on their way
Iowa 7
Northwestern 0
11:45 in the 1st
Well, the Panthers get three after a long 9 play drive
Pitt 3
Syracuse 3
8:05 in the 1st
3-0 Miami
Looks like the Longhorn D is playing very well thus far. Still scoreless.
One update I’ll get to before I put on my contacts
Wisconsin 7
Indiana 0
1:18 in the 1st
A surprising score from Austin at the end of the 1st
Central Florida 0
Texas 0
Just saw that the Canes tied it up at 10. I haven’t seen it on Channelsurfing.net at all otherwise I’d be watch it a little closer.
UCF musters up enough offense to take the lead
Central Florida 3
Texas 0
13:05 in the 2nd
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