This Week in College Football 8/31 - 9/4

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I have to admit Pitt squashing Virginia disturbs me somewhat. Surely I can't be alone in thinking that Pitt (with Dave Wannstedt) trying to challenge for the BCS is one of the worst things that could happen in college football this year.

I wouldn't worry about it that much. Palko looked very good, but UVA has a way of making middle-of-the-road teams look like worldbeaters, especially towards the beginning of the season. I watched almost the whole game--UVA's playcalling was just terrible. 38 points was a combination of two things: 1) Palko getting off two huge, huge bombs, one of which was extremely lucky, and 2) UVA getting no pressure from their 3-4 defense. It's probably time to change that--the 3-4 worked in 2004, when you had 5 future NFL players between the d-line and the LBs, but this year all the veteran talent is gone and the LBs are untested. They're not getting the pressure they need and they're tremendously weak against the run. The playcalling for our new QB, Christian Olsen, was also terrible--I know he was tentative and making his first start on the road, but there wasn't a single pass play designed to go downfield more than 15 yards.

 

Pitt looked good, not great, and'll probably finish something like 8-4 this season. Louisville will still wreck them. UVA looked like ass but with a few bright spots, and I think they'll get things sorted out against Wyoming and Western Michigan, then have a much better gameplan when they go up against Georgia Tech.

[Damaramu 0]

I'm hoping the OU defense plays better against Washington than they did against UAB. Maybe Washingtons o-coordinator won't be able to out guess Venables like Watson Brown did. Venables just looked foolish.

The OU defense has just been missing something since Mike Stoops moved on. Maybe it's intensity? Maybe it's heart? I don't know but the team hasn't been the same since the lost to KSU. Not on offense or defense. Sure in 2005 they were able to skate through on talent and the fact they had Peterson and White but once they met up with a great team(USC) it was all over.

I think KSU broke OU. Damn where's my super glue?

 

I'm still calling a loss to Oregon(i think it'll be a blowout loss actually) and a loss to Texas and a possible thrid loss in College Station or Stillwater.

[Secret Agent 0]

Dama, why don't you come up with your own thoughts on OU instead of repeating the exact same thing you heard Jim Traber and Al Eschback saying on the post game show last night?

[Damaramu 0]

Because Al is a friend of mine and I agree with him wholeheartedly. He hit it spot on. Venables was totally destroyed by Brown. His defense looked absolutely foolish. We've discussed this stuff before and I'm sure I'll talk to him more about it at the Tuesday press conference. And I expect Stoops to be in another bitchy mood like he was last week.

Traber however was wrong about Paul Thompson.

I think Thompson was a bright spot. Yeah he made a couple of bad passes. He overthrew and underthrew some guys. But for someone that has had only one start at QB in his career and played horrible in that game? For someone that has been a wide receiver for the past year? I think he played pretty damn well. I don't know if anyone in Oklahoma even expected him to throw a TD much less 2. And yeah he had two ints but I think everyone expected those to be "right at the defender" type ints.

[Secret Agent 0]

I expected Thompson to do just fine. Unlike most folks around here I remember when Paul was doing mop up for Jason White and he threw TD's and made plenty of fine passes then. Stoops didn't recruit Paul Thompson for QB because he thought he'd be a shitty QB, he saw something in him.

 

Also, you have to kind of blame the defense for those missed tackles and all around crappy defense. The players should have made those stops regardless of what play was called; UAB ran the same option half of the game!

[Guest]

UAB ran the same option half of the game!

That's why I think that the game wasn't any indication of how good or bad OU is. UAB ran a weird offense.

[Secret Agent 0]

UAB ran the same option half of the game!

That's why I think that the game wasn't any indication of how good or bad OU is. UAB ran a weird offense.

 

Yes, but a good defense has got to be prepared to stop anything! I will rest on the fact the OU's defense has never really lit the world on fire the first game of the season. Even in 04 the defense got burned on the long ball so many times and that was a team that played in the national championship.

 

By time Texas comes I think this team will be ready, but I hope it's by the time we go to Oregon.

[Damaramu 0]

I remember Thompson playing mop up for Jason White. He just didn't do a whole lot of it. But he did have a 60 something yard TD run.

I noticed that Thompson forgot he could run last night. The play right before OU kicked the field goal. If he'd just turned on the jets and ran for the corner he would've burned the linebacker and been in the end zone. Instead he hesitated like he was going to put a move on the guy, looked for a receiver, and then went right at the guy. He needs to remember he has those jets. He did have a nice run that was called back though b/c Peterson was holding.

 

I'll wait until next week before i pass judgement on OU's defense. I do remember how they improved last season but unfortunately they play Oregon in 2 weeks! And Texas in 4!

 

The thing was that everytime Venables brought the pressure Brown seemed to know it and he had a play designed to counter it. Basically everything OU did on defense Brown had the perfect counter for. And the OU defense did the same thing that ALWAYS pisses me off. They never seem to just make the tackle. They go for the strip everytime the runner gets a big gain. If it's a two yard run or something then yeah they make the tackle. But if that runner or receiver gets over 5 yards then they try to strip the ball. I don't understand it. There were a lot of sloppy and missed tackles and I was having flashbacks of Ty Gunn from TCU and Stephen McGhee from A&M watching OU players miss tackles on the QB and watching them slide off of him.

 

The defense wasn't a total wash though. Rufus Alexander is still a stud and the guys on ABC were saying he may be the best defensive player in the country. Reggie Smith did his job well after the secondary was so maligned the past few years. I was worried about the safeties but Keenan Clayton had a nice little game.

DJ Wolfe's performance was inexcusable though. He got burned twice big! He's lucky that the receiver dropped one.

 

I guess we'll see how they do next week. If they play the same way and Washington runs up the score into high double digits then we know there will be trouble. Doubt Washington will run an option repeatedly though. That option gave OU a lot of trouble last season so I may just mark it down to that being the problem.

 

The offense is fine though. The receivers were doing their job, the O-Line finally started doing theres in the second half, Thompson did his job, and Peterson as always did his to perfection. 4 turnovers does suck though.

[Spicy McHaggis 0]

Well, Booty was amazing, I can't believe how well he played. Seriously, the Trojans exceeded all of my expectations. It was great to see Desmond Reed gets so much playing time. I'm worried about Josh Pinkard.

[nogoodnick 0]

I know they're only playing Kentucky, but through 90 seconds Louisville looks pretty damn good. Bush just took off for like a 40 yard score on the 3rd play.

[iggymcfly 0]

Looking even better now at 31-0. They've been dominant on both sides of the ball throughout the first half. They're so good at home that I can't see them losing to Miami or WVU, and they don't have a tough road game on the schedule. I really don't see them losing a game this year.

[Damaramu 0]

Hey USC fans(909, Porter, Spicy) give me a rundown on the new backs and receivers. I was watching the game last night and I was like "who the hell is that guy?" several times.

[Damaramu 0]

I was thinking

"Man no way AD can beat Bush for the Heisman. He's just as good of a runner and he has a better line and a QB to remove pressure from him. No way AD can get the Heisman unless he hurts himself."

Now I feel bad for thinking it. It's my fault!

[Bored 0]

Michael Bush broke his leg, done for the season.

[iggymcfly 0]

That's huge. Just saw what happened now. It's kinda funny because all the announcers were talking about getting Brohm out of the game since he'd had the knee trouble, and then Bush turns around and breaks his tibia.

 

I said I didn't see them losing a game before this, but now, I think Miami takes them down. They'll still be breaking in their new backs at that point and the Canes have too good of a defense to be beaten with a one-dimensional attack.

 

Too bad as I think the Cardinals could have made it to Tempe if they stayed healthy.

 

My new national championship prediction? Ohio State over USC. I was thinking about bumping the Buckeyes up anyway after how good they looked against NIU, and now, they'll likely make it in, even if they pick up a loss.

[cabbageboy 0]

I feel sick right now. Can we redshirt Bush and he and Brohm can come back as seniors next year?

[Urban Warfare 0]

Yes, Bush can get a medical redshirt. A similar situation happened with Andre Caldwell last year when he broke his leg in the third game of the season. Caldwell got a medical redshirt and is still a junior.

[Damaramu 0]

I just saw the Sunday conversation with Bobby Bowden. I love that guy. I don't know what it is but he's just awesome. Maybe it's the fact that he's one of the most honest coaches I've ever seen. If something sucks on the team he'll tell you.

I still remember halftime of the Orange Bowl against OU. Rather than going "Well you know we need to turn the intensity up but we're still in good shape!" He was like "Well we're just not playing good at all!" and then admitted why they were playing bad. He didn't dance around it. I swear I've heard him say that players suck too when they're playing bad.

[Guest]

Hey USC fans(909, Porter, Spicy) give me a rundown on the new backs and receivers. I was watching the game last night and I was like "who the hell is that guy?" several times.

The new backs are combo backs for the most part. All I know is what I've seen of them on high school tape and what I've heard. Gable is going to be a star runner, but I don't know if he can catch the ball. He's most comparable to Antonio Pittman. Stafon Johnson is a speed back, and I don't know too much about Moody. Chauncey Washington is a great back that can't stay eligible for some reason. He hasn't been in a game situation in his two years at SC because of it.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Didn't Bush pull out of the draft at like the last moment, too? Geez... that's cruel. And why you don't stay in school for football.

[teke184 0]

On the LSU front-

 

QB-

 

JaMarcus Russell is officially the #1 QB with Matt Flynn in behind him. Thankfully, Miles isn't as hard-headed as Saban when it comes to putting in #2 Flynn or #3 Ryan Perriloux.

 

 

Perriloux, along with fellow newcomer RB Keiland Williams, put together a solid drive with the 3rd string late in the 4th quarter and would have scored if Miles hadn't let the clock run out. (No point in running it up on an in-state team who's generally non-competitive)

 

 

WR-

 

These guys don't die, they multiply.

 

 

Despite losing Skyler Green and Bennie Brazell to graduation and Xavier Carter to full-time Track competition, they still had an impressive group out there.

 

Brandon Lafell, in his first LSU play EVER, scored on a 58-yard strike from Russell early in the first quarter.

 

Early Doucet, who was injured partway through last year, got on the board with a Russell TD pass in the 2nd.

 

Dwayne Bowe, who was held out of the first few series because of some post-game altercations with Miami at the Peach Bowl, got on the board in the 3rd due to a Matt Flynn pass. He finished with a game-high 88 yards receiving on 4 catches.

 

Craig "Buster" Davis caught 4 passes for 82 yards, meaning that the Tigers had multiple receivers with a 20-yard receiving average.

 

 

 

 

RB-

 

The RB corps is still a little banged up, but Alley Broussard was still #1 even with an abbreviated appearance in the game.

 

Justin Vincent was the starter and wasn't too effective before finally leaving on a wobbily knee in the 2nd.

 

After Vincent went out, Miles gave the ball to FB Jason Hester and RB Charles Scott, who were effective enough to punch it into the end zone.

 

Broussard came in the game in the 3rd quarter, along with Matt Flynn, and proceeded to get an immediate 20-yard gain, bowling over tacklers and proving his form hasn't changed since the injury.

 

 

 

Defense-

 

DBs-

 

The DB corps was very good, as expected. The surprise was that the star of this unit wasn't LaRon Landry, as expected, but Jonathan Zenon instead. Zenon picked off two ULL passes, running one back for a TD.

 

 

LBs- Solid, but nothing special.

 

D Line- The big winner here was DE Tyson Jackson, who picked up multiple sacks. New DT Glenn Dorsey was impressive as well, showing good speed for someone his size.

 

 

Special Teams-

 

This one was a killer.

 

The good- The Kick Return team, Kickoff team, Field Goal unit, and Extra Point team all performed well. The last two are good because LSU is somewhat notorious for having shitty placekickers.

 

 

The bad- The Punt Return and Punt teams made some major mistakes that, in the hands of a better team, could have put quite a few points on the board.

 

The PR team muffed two punts and lost them, one of them setting up ULL's only score.

 

The Punt team also had at least one 15-yard penalty for interference because the man closest to the ULL returner let the ball hit him in the head. (This one was a weird one as, technically, you'd think the ball would be called down by contact there)

 

 

If they muff punts against Auburn and give them the ball deep in their territory, that'll be a killer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, the Tigers did well in many areas, but they still have concerns with the durability and power of their RBs as well as their Punt teams.

 

They appear to have the talent and the desire to go far this season, but that depends on the breaks as well as how they handle an ugly road schedule. (They play at Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, and Arkansas, but those trips each have two home-games in between them.)

[cabbageboy 0]

I don't think Bush would have been a real high draft pick had he gone pro after last year. Thus he decided to come back and hopefully get U of L to the BCS for the first time. It sucks.

 

That said, U of L isn't really going to fall apart due to this. It'll have to be more of a running back by committee, but the thing is U of L has already done some of that anyway. Kolby Smith and George Stripling were both solid last year (I believe to the tune of 1100 yards) and last night they had 156 between them.

[Damaramu 0]

Thanks King. As much as I hate USC I decided after watching Saturday's game that I'd better get to know these guys as soon as possible because I think I'm going to hear a lot about them this year and next year.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Cal was overrated, but Tennessee is still no higher than #15 right now until they beat Florida. And it's gonna happen this year. LSU worries me a lot more. It's Tennessee or Georgia out of the East, because Georgia will beat Florida this year also. Those will be Florida's two losses.

[teke184 0]

Cal was overrated, but Tennessee is still no higher than #15 right now until they beat Florida. And it's gonna happen this year. LSU worries me a lot more. It's Tennessee or Georgia out of the East, because Georgia will beat Florida this year also. Those will be Florida's two losses.

You'll probably be pleased to hear that FoxSportsNews is now predicting Tennessee to win the SEC Title and go to the Sugar Bowl.

 

 

I know I'm speaking from the perspective of an LSU fan here, but it seems a little early to vault Tennessee up so high based on beating Cal.

 

If Cal goes through the rest of the season and plays well, it reflects better on Tennessee.

 

However, Cal may be this year's pre-season Top 10 flop like Tennessee was last year, at which point a win over them becomes much less impressive.

 

 

You're right in that Tennessee probably shouldn't go high until they beat Florida, at which point they've beaten a legitimate tough team and have the inside track to the SEC East.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Tennessee's win really meant nothing... just about any team in the nation could have pulled away in the 2nd half like they did.

[Damaramu 0]

I'm still firmly entrenched behind Auburn to win the SEC. Because of my football curse though that means they'll lose 4 games.

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

ESPN had a good little article talking about how Cal has been treated like a national power for the past few years when their only "statement game" during that time period was a close LOSS to USC (at a time when the media was treating close losses to USC like wins against anyone else) and they have also had some embarassing defeats (this week, vs. Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl, and so on).

[cabbageboy 0]

I dunno, Cal did actually beat USC in 2003. I believe that was the last time USC lost a regular season game. That said, Cal is hardly any great powerhouse. They seem like the sort of team who can have a good year in the Pac 10 if a lot of other teams suck.

[Bored 0]

Awwwwwwww crap, not Mike Patrick.