The College Football Thread 9/17 - 9/20

[Bored 0]

This week is going to be all about ESS EEE SEE Speed, which based on the two nationally televised conference games this past Saturday is all on the defensive side of the ball. The biggest game of the week is a Top 10 battle between LSU and Auburn with the winner taking early control of the SEC West. Hopefully they'll combine to score more than five points.

 

What was supposed to be the biggest game of the week was Georgia/Arizona State but the Sun Devils screwed the pooch late Saturday night by blowing a ten point, 4th quarter lead and subsequently losing in overtime to lowly UNLV. This game is truly uncharted territory for UGA as from 1998 to 2007, they traveled only a total of 358 miles for non-conference road games and it will be the first trip west of the Mississippi since 1960.

 

And finally there is the traditional early season rivalry game between Florida and Tennessee. Expect plenty of mentions of Tim Tebow and filipino foreskin.

 

Network/Basic Cable Schedule

 

WEDNESDAY

Kansas State at Louisville, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN

 

THURSDAY

#21 West Virginia at Colorado, 8:30/5:30 PM, ESPN

 

FRIDAY

Baylor at Connecticut, 8:00/5:00 PM, ESPN2

 

SATURDAY

#15 East Carolina at N.C. State, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN

Iowa at Pittsburgh, Noon/9:00 AM, ESPN2

 

Arizona at UCLA, 3:00 PM/Noon, FSN

#4 Florida at Tennessee, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBS

Notre Dame at Michigan State, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC/ESPN*

Virginia Tech at North Carolina, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC/ESPN*

Miami at Texas A&M, 3:30/12:30 PM, ABC*

#20 Utah at Air Force, 4:00/1:00 PM, Versus

 

#18 Wake Forest at #24 Florida State, 7:00/4:00 PM, ESPN2

Rice at #7 Texas, 7:00/4:00 PM, FSN

#6 LSU at #10 Auburn, 7:45/4:45 PM, ESPN

#3 Georgia at Arizona State, 8:00/5:00 PM, ABC

 

Digital Cable/Satellite/GamePlan Schedule

 

THURSDAY

Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Alcorn State, 7:30/4:30 PM, ESPNU

 

SATURDAY

Troy at #13 Ohio State, Noon/9:00 AM, BTN*

Temple at #16 Penn State, Noon/9:00 AM, BTN*

Florida Atlantic at Minnesota, Noon/9:00 AM, BTN*

Ohio at Northwestern, Noon/9:00 AM, BTN*

Central Michigan at Purdue, Noon/9:00 AM, BTN*

Mississippi State at Georgia Tech, Noon/9:00 AM, Raycom*/GP

#9 Alabama at Arkansas, 12:30 PM/9:30 AM, Raycom*/GP

Akron at Army, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, ESPN Classic

UCF at Boston College, 1:00 PM/10:00 AM, ESPNU

Wyoming at #14 BYU, 3:00 PM/Noon, Mtn.

Indiana State at Northern Illinois, 3:00 PM/Noon, GP

Rutgers at Navy, 3:30/12:30 PM, CBSCS

Northeastern at Syracuse, 3:30/12:30 PM, GP

Idaho at Utah State, 4:00/1:00 PM, GP

#12 USF at FIU, 5:00/2:00 PM, ESPNU

Ball State at Indiana, 7:00/4:00 PM, BTN

Sam Houston State at #19 Kansas, 7:00/4:00 PM, FCS Central

Portland State at Washington State, 7:00/4:00 PM, FCS Pacific

Wofford at South Carolina, 7:00/4:00 PM, GP

Southeastern Louisiana at Louisiana Tech, 7:00/4:00 PM, GP

TCU at SMU, 8:00/5:00 PM, CBSCS

#25 Fresno State at Toledo, 8:15/5:15 PM, ESPNU

Iowa State at UNLV, 9:00/6:00 PM, Mtn.

 

All Other Div I-A Games

 

SATURDAY

South Carolina State at #23 Clemson, ESPN360

Eastern Michigan at Maryland, ESPN360

Buffalo at #5 Missouri

UL Monroe at Tulane

Boise State at #17 Oregon

Houston at Colorado State

Marshall at Southern Miss

Alabama State at UAB

Massachusetts at #11 Texas Tech

Vanderbilt at Mississippi

New Mexico at Tulsa

Kent State at UL Lafayette

Middle Tennessee at Arkansas State

Tennessee Tech at Western Michigan

Miami of Ohio at Cincinnati, ESPN360

Nicholls State at Memphis

San Jose State at Stanford

New Mexico State at UTEP

[Damaramu 0]

Both #1 and #2 are off this week. I wonder if an impressive Georgia victory moves them back to #2? Me expects a musical chairs with the #2 position this season.

[Bored 0]

In case you missed it, and I like everyone else did, we nearly had the Blue Grass Miracle II in the MTSU/Kentucky game on Saturday.

 

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

Both #1 and #2 are off this week. I wonder if an impressive Georgia victory moves them back to #2? Me expects a musical chairs with the #2 position this season.

 

Probably only if they really kill Arizona State. A win over ASU doesn't hold anywhere near the value it did before the Sun Devils went out and lost to UNLV.

[Art Sandusky 0]

That video is agonizing. Credit to the Kentucky defender for staying alert, but that sucks for MTSU.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

I-AA Spotlight Games

 

Jacksonville (2-1) @ UNC-Pembroke (2-1)

#6 Delaware (1-1) @ #24 Furman (2-1)

Maine (2-1) @ #2 Richmond (2-1)

#12 South Dakota State (2-1) @ #8 Northern Iowa (1-1)

Weber State (2-1) @ Sacramento State (2-1)

#17 Elon (2-1) @ #16 Georgia Southern (2-1)

NC A&T (2-1) @ Hampton (2-1)

#1 Appalachian State (1-1) @ #5 James Madison (2-1)

#13 Cal Poly (1-1) @ Northwestern State (2-1)

 

I really don't like the pre-season polls in the I-AA division either and wish records would be a better indicator. Granted, Eastern Washington played two I-A teams and lost but they're 0-2 and ranked at #14. Elon and Georgia Southern are both 2-1 while playing I-AA opponents and yet are ranked 17th and 16th respectively.

 

Early player spotlight...

QB Liam Coen (Massachusetts): 61/96 (63.5%) for 826 yards and 9 TD vs. 1 INT. Listed at 6'2" and 225 lbs.

QB Bryant Lee (Southern): 65/98 (66.3%) for 680 yards and 7 TD vs. 1 INT. Listed at 6'2" and 200 lbs.

RB James Mallory (Central Connecticut State): 46 carries for 372 yards (8.09) and 2 TD. Listed at 5'10" and 200 lbs.

WR John Matthews (San Diego): 14 catches for 294 yards (21.0) and 5 TD. Listed at 6'0" and 203 lbs.

WR Ramses Barden (Cal Poly): 14 catches for 292 yards (20.9) and 3 TD. Listed at 6'6" and 227 lbs. Could be turned into a TE at the next level or play a Marques Colston role.

 

Ryan Perriloux Watch: 33/54 (61.1%) for 274 yards and 4 TD vs. 2 INT. 24 carries for 102 yards (4.3) and 1 TD.

Bobby Reid Watch: 33/64 (51.2%) for 372 yards and 2 TD vs. 3 INT. 40 carries for 44 yards (1.1) and 3 TD.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Portland State is taking on Washington State this Saturday! Now, I'm not normally much of an optimist when facing I-A teams, but this is Wazzu we're talking about! They suck! But PSU is terrible ever since Glanville took over. I'm seriously convinced Tim Walsh was a better coach at this point.

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

BSU at IU is gonna be a great game.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I wonder why Boise State at Oregon isn't televised. This is probably a huge game for the Broncos and they're both undefeated; a loss to either one might kill their chances at a divisional championship.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

their chances at a divisional championship.

bwaaa?

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Portland State is taking on Washington State this Saturday! Now, I'm not normally much of an optimist when facing I-A teams, but this is Wazzu we're talking about! They suck! But PSU is terrible ever since Glanville took over. I'm seriously convinced Tim Walsh was a better coach at this point.

 

You know I love the run & shoot but looking at last year's results, it looked like a mix of bad luck and poor defense (A Glanville staple at Hawaii).

 

What bugs me about Portland State and most uses of the run & shoot is that they just don't run the damn ball enough. In their first win of the year, they threw it 61 times and their leading RB had 15 carries for 48 yards but scored 4 TD. In their loss to UC Davis, they threw it 51 times and their RB had 5 carries for 44 yards!

 

You don't think he could've gotten maybe 15 carries? God forbid, even 20? What maddens me is that Davis with the Gamblers back in 1984 had his 2 RB average together 16 carries per game (18 Games) and it seems like to Glanville, June Jones, and others that to run the ball more than 15 times with their main RB is a sin and a deviation from the true idea of the offense.

 

Look at Hawaii: They've played 3 games and their 4 main RB have combined for 53 carries (18) for 250 yards (4.72) proving that you can still run the ball within the run & shoot offense. They're averaging 83 yards on the ground. *Bashes Head*

[Guest Vitamin X]

their chances at a divisional championship.

bwaaa?

Conference, sorry.

 

And yeah I know Oregon is having its annual injury issues at quarterback this year, but come on. We've seen lesser teams upset USC before. Look at UCLA just a couple years ago.

 

What bugs me about Portland State and most uses of the run & shoot is that they just don't run the damn ball enough. In their first win of the year, they threw it 61 times and their leading RB had 15 carries for 48 yards but scored 4 TD. In their loss to UC Davis, they threw it 51 times and their RB had 5 carries for 44 yards!

 

You don't think he could've gotten maybe 15 carries? God forbid, even 20? What maddens me is that Davis with the Gamblers back in 1984 had his 2 RB average together 16 carries per game (18 Games) and it seems like to Glanville, June Jones, and others that to run the ball more than 15 times with their main RB is a sin and a deviation from the true idea of the offense.

 

Look at Hawaii: They've played 3 games and their 4 main RB have combined for 53 carries (18) for 250 yards (4.72) proving that you can still run the ball within the run & shoot offense. They're averaging 83 yards on the ground. *Bashes Head*

The first game this year was against Division II Western Oregon. Anyone's going to look like a stud against them (sorry cheech). The problem is, just like last year, the offensive line is awful. We somehow are able to keep bringing out great receivers year after year, but we haven't had a good running back since Darick Holmes. And I don't think this got much play, but PSU also had a bit of a controversy happen during the summer where Glanville kicked several guys off the team citing "academic concerns" and some other b.s. that the players refuted and some of these guys were starters.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

And yeah I know Oregon is having its annual injury issues at quarterback this year, but come on. We've seen lesser teams upset USC before. Look at UCLA just a couple years ago.

 

Or Stanford last year.

 

The first game this year was against Division II Western Oregon. Anyone's going to look like a stud against them (sorry cheech).

 

Hey, I went to Willamette, not Western.

[Kinetic 0]

I have a sneaking suspicion that my favorite college football team is going to crush Patrick Spoon's favorite college football team this weekend.

[Guest Vitamin X]

The first game this year was against Division II Western Oregon. Anyone's going to look like a stud against them (sorry cheech).

 

Hey, I went to Willamette, not Western.

 

Whoops, I just took a wild guess. I figured since you lived down there, you'd go to WOU since that's what most Salemites seem to do.

[Slayer 0]

Purple pants?!

 

What the fuck, Prince

[MFer 0]

My old team Northern Michigan (I wasn't even on the team a full year btw) is gonna play on FSN Detroit tomorrow night against hated rival Michigan Tech.

 

EDIT: It'll be on College Sports Network as well (8:00 P.M.)

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

The thing is, even though USC gets upset every season in the past few years, they still managed to win the conference.

[Damaramu 0]

The thing is, even though USC gets upset every season in the past few years, they still managed to win the conference.

 

They probably wouldn't have won it last year if Dixon hadn't gotten hurt. Then again, they were still in position to grab it after the injury.

 

 

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

their chances at a divisional championship.

bwaaa?

Conference, sorry.

I was more confused about the implication than the choice of terms; since Oregon's in the Pac-10 and Boise in the WAC, the only sort of championship chances this could affect would be those of the national variety.

 

Also, I am thrilled that there is a Michigan Tech. It just sounds so...brutalist.

[PUT THAT DICK IN MY MOUTH! 0]

Also, I am thrilled that there is a Michigan Tech. It just sounds so...brutalist.

 

Haha you don't know the half of it. Check out where it's located:

 

[Damaramu 0]

So this KSU-Louisville game is....interesting. Freeman shows he still likes to throw to the other team.

 

Man did anyone catch Mark May and Lou Holtz arguing over USC? Both Holtz and Rece were telling him that they could lose any game if they're not focused and they were bringing up the Stanford game and May was like "Not this team. It's not going to happen. No. LALALALALA."

 

Well Mark, why are we even playing the season!? Just give them the trophy!

[Kinetic 0]

Yeah, well, that's ESPN for you. Mark May will be singing a different tune if and when USC does lose to Oregon State or Stanford or whoever. "Did I say that USC was the most talented team in the country? I meant that somebody else was.":-/

[Guest Vitamin X]

their chances at a divisional championship.

bwaaa?

Conference, sorry.

I was more confused about the implication than the choice of terms; since Oregon's in the Pac-10 and Boise in the WAC, the only sort of championship chances this could affect would be those of the national variety.

 

The implication is that Boise State's the only undefeated team left in the WAC, and this would help them keep an edge on the only ranked team in their conference, Fresno State, and Oregon needs to stay undefeated as well to have a shot at the Pac-10 title with USC.

 

Not to mention there's that whole "Boise State's playing with the big boys to prove they belong" thing. I hope I can get this at least on a regional broadcast.

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

their chances at a divisional championship.

bwaaa?

Conference, sorry.

I was more confused about the implication than the choice of terms; since Oregon's in the Pac-10 and Boise in the WAC, the only sort of championship chances this could affect would be those of the national variety.

 

The implication is that Boise State's the only undefeated team left in the WAC, and this would help them keep an edge on the only ranked team in their conference, Fresno State, and Oregon needs to stay undefeated as well to have a shot at the Pac-10 title with USC.

 

Not to mention there's that whole "Boise State's playing with the big boys to prove they belong" thing. I hope I can get this at least on a regional broadcast.

 

The game is supposed to be on Oregon Sports Network and/or CSN Northwest, so I'm pretty sure you will be able to pick it up in Portland (or at the very least watch it at a bar). I'll be there live and in color in the student section, as usual.

[Art Sandusky 0]

I have a sneaking suspicion that my favorite college football team is going to crush Patrick Spoon's favorite college football team this weekend.

Like I said in the other thread, it's going to be a good one this time. I won't say that Florida's doomed like I usually do around this time of year, but 7.5 is too many points. Honest pick: Florida, 24-20 or something, sealed with a Crompton pick at 1:15 remaining in the 4th and I break something at work.

 

At least I'll be off work by the time LSU/Auburn starts. This game is quickly becoming an annual highlight for me. I don't predict so much ESS EEE SEE SPEED as I do some of the hardest hits anyone's ever put on someone else for free. Regarding that, I'm a little troubled by the rapidly improving performance of the college football player. I know they signed on and all, but college kids are getting really strong and fast now and the rate of injury stoppages in games I've watched has seemed high. With NFL players whose literal job it is to destroy each other it's one thing but these are still amateurs at the end of the day. Oh, and legal horse collars!

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

their chances at a divisional championship.

bwaaa?

Conference, sorry.

I was more confused about the implication than the choice of terms; since Oregon's in the Pac-10 and Boise in the WAC, the only sort of championship chances this could affect would be those of the national variety.

 

The implication is that Boise State's the only undefeated team left in the WAC, and this would help them keep an edge on the only ranked team in their conference, Fresno State, and Oregon needs to stay undefeated as well to have a shot at the Pac-10 title with USC.

 

Not to mention there's that whole "Boise State's playing with the big boys to prove they belong" thing. I hope I can get this at least on a regional broadcast.

But...out of conference play has no effect on conference standings. A 9-3 team that's 9-0 in the Pac-10 wins over an 11-1 team that's 8-1 in the Pac-10. Anyway, enough grousing and eyebrow raising on my part. This is the part of the season that I really start to get into ridiculous fits of lust about the weekly SEC games. Anything involving two of Auburn, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, and UF gets my full attention. This week's pair of matchups are especially intriguing given the uncertainty about Tennessee and Auburn's overall quality--that Tennessee lost a close one to a team that BYU made its 6th wife and that Auburn participated in the 3-2 aberration last week have me wondering. The Miami defense keeping UF and the mighty Tebowsaurus in check until the 4th quarter has me very puzzled about the UT/UF outcome. Verne, I'm coming for you.

[cabbageboy 0]

Good win last night for U of L against a fairly decent Kansas St. team. I saw about half of the game since due to the wind storm I didn't have any cable, net, or phone for 4 days. The part I did see was by going down the road to a Chinese restaurant, and they closed at 10. The rest I had to listen to on the radio.

 

 

[Slayer 0]

KState did a good job of keeping it close, especially near the end, but it seemed like every time they would put together a good string, boom, Anderson would just run right over them...

 

Not that it matters too much anyway, since KSU plays a murderous in-conference schedule with OU, KU, Mizzou and Nebraska all in a row

[Guest Vitamin X]

But...out of conference play has no effect on conference standings. A 9-3 team that's 9-0 in the Pac-10 wins over an 11-1 team that's 8-1 in the Pac-10.

OH. Well, that's just ignorance on my part. I wasn't aware of that, I thought overall record meant something with conference titles, I guess it only has influence on the BCS (which Boise State, with their schedule ahead, likely has very little shot at). I haven't been watching college football that long, maybe a couple years.