General Chat / BOWL GAMES!

Michigan is in the Big 10 buddy.... well, there are 11 of them, but you know. I think Oregon proved that Michigan's issues are for real and Appalachian State wasn't a fluke win. That said, Michigan will not lose to Notre Dame this weekend. The domers are just awful this year and don't have the talent Michigan does to make up for it. Plus with Clausen not being mobile like Dixon or Edwards, Michigan's defense should prove more successful. Michigan will lose to Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, and maybe Michigan State unless they miraculously find ways to plug some major holes.

^ What he said.

I'm rooting for Michigan this week, because when it comes down to things, Notre Dame hating >> Michigan hating.

I'm with you Cork. My parents both went to Ohio State, so that makes me a quasi Ohio State fan (behind OU and Mizzou). So I know I am supposed to hate Michigan and all that jazz. But I just can't bring myself to root for Notre Dame. I just hate, loath, and despise them too much. Maybe its their independent status that allows them to get into BCS games without even trying and keep out more deserving programs, resulting in hideous blowouts and effectively ruining one BCS game a year. Maybe its the fact that they are constantly overrated. Or perhaps the entitlement the fans feel despite not being relevant for some time. Whatever it is, I just hope Michigan lays in on the Domers this weekend.

As for other games of interest. I have no idea why people are actually taking Nebraska over USC. USc is going to stomp them and it won't be anything close to pretty. And I say that wanting USC to lose (no hard feelings Cork). I actually like Tennessee to pull the upset over Florida however. Yeah, Florida has an offense. But Tebo won't have the same success against a decent D and we will actually get to see what Florida's young defense is made of. Wouldn't be surprised at all if Washington walks away with a win this weekend either. Ohio State has looked too suspect thus far, especially over Akron. However, if I were a betting man I wouldn't put money on it. Kentucky over Louisville, Georgia Tech over Boston College, and Alabama over Arkansas.

well... one of em HAD to win today

Just got back from the Miami vs. FIU game. The pressbox was great as always and the game was decent, Miami won 23-9. Pretty nice that our D can hold UM to 23 points and we even put a few points on the board this year.

After the game I got quotes from players and stuff and had to cross the field to get where I was going. Well the place was almost empty so I got my papers together and pulled out my cell phone to use it's stopwatch and run the 40-Yard-Dash at the Orange bowl right there on the field. I ran a shitty 6.54, but I don't think I stopped it in time, I had stuff in my arms and was wearing long pants. To top it off I had not ran in a long time and the pain in my hip/groin was really bad for the next few minutes.

I'll run something in the 5 second range before the season is out even if I really hurt myself

Time to check the rest of the scores...

Oh and most importantly here is the view I had on the sideline at the end of the game

Good place to view from.

Oh and would someone change the name of the thread to "Notre Dame gets served again". Even Michigan, with all our issues, plowed effortlessly over the Irish with Freshman QB Ryan Mallet.

Next week isn't looking promising though...

Ride6

WEEK THREE:

Winless Michigan vs Winless Notre Dame.
Something had to give, and as I expected, it was hapless Notre Dame, which looks like it would get crushed by Appalachian State, or even Miami Northwestern High School. As as USC fan, it's always hilarious to see the Irish humiliated, but this is starting to get sad. And not just because Michigan unloaded two weeks of frustrations in a 38-0 shutout! After three games, here are some interesting states for Notre Dame:

- ZERO offensive touchdowns in three games this season.
- 0-3 for only the second time in school history.
- The Irish are at -8 yards rushing for this entire season. MINUS EIGHT!!! How do you get that? Well, besides penalties...
- The Irish have given up 15 sacks in three games. Jimmy Clausen was sacked EIGHT TIMES TODAY ALONE.

Wow. That's sad. You knew Michigan wasn't that bad, and you knew Notre Dame is always overrated, but this was just humiliating. And I love it!

Florida Tebows Tennessee Out of Town
Damn. This team's good. 59-20 against a Tennessee team that doesn't exactly suck, ya know. It's funny how last year, Tim Tebow was basically a fullback, and people were like "But can he throw?" since he was the QB of the future. Well, he wasn't a record setting high school quarterback for nothing, and he's been torching opponents this year. Florda vs LSU will be amazing in three weeks. The winner of that game has a pretty good path to the BCS title game, I'd think. But lets include Florida back into the elite (with LSU and USC).

Oklahoma Continues to Destroy
54-3. Ouch. Well, OU has the easiest track to the BCS title game, because with the Big 12 sucking ass and no team that seems to stand a chance against the Sooners (Nebraska isn't quite that good, and Texas is the most awful #6 team in a while), OU stands a very good chance of going undefeated, unless they lose to some crappy team they were underestimating. Sam Bradford continues lighting it up, and Sooner fans have to be happy... at least until they play an actual good team and get blown out again.

At least Utah St. wasn't Norfolk St
Which lost to Rutgers 59-0. It wasn't long ago that Rutgers was the team on the receiving end of a score like that. Wow.

Speaking of Shut Outs... LSU's Defense Ain't Bad
44-0 over Middle Tennessee. I don't agree with the argument that they deserve the #1 rating, since they've beaten two bad teams and one overrated team. But I will understand people who argue for LSU at #1. Their defense is damn scary, and allowing only seven points in three games is impressive no matter what team you are. Although, then again, Notre Dame has only scored 13 points total this year too. Imagine if LSU went up against Notre Dame. That would be a slaughter that would make Michael Vick look humane....

What? Too soon?

Dear Louisville: Defense Matters
Brian Brohm and Anthony Allen came back for their senior year to win a BCS championship. They should have brought a defense with them. After squeaking out a 48-46 shootout against Middle Tennessee State last week in a game that would have made defense lovers commit suicide, this week, they actually fall to Kentucky... known more for basketball offense than football offense. Well, there goes that. But remember, Louisville... at least you're not Notre Dame.

UCLA Demonstrates Overratedness Earlier than Scheduled This Year
I guess they wanted to be nice to their fans and not get their hopes up. I mean... you have UCLA, ranked #11, facing a team that they were 8-0 against in history. Utah came in 0-2, winless this season. UCLA came in with a highly touted defense. So what happened? They dropped the ball--a lot. And threw a lot of interceptions. And got demolished for 44 points in a 44-6 upset. Hi-larious! Although I have to admit that it would have been cool for UCLA to keep winning until their end-of-the-season matchup with USC, where we'd demolish them and show their overratedness. Oh well, guess it won't quite be a repeat of 2005.

Hawaii Keeps Lighting It Up... Even If No One's Watching
Colt Brennan has thrown for like 48,000 yards this season so far, or something like that. He added 298 yards in the air to demolish UNLV. Hawaii could very well be this year's Boise State and run through their schedule undefeated. And unlike Louisville, their defense is either slightly strong enough to hold off their weaker opponents... or they just have weaker opponents. It's a fun team to watch, though, that's for sure.

USC is #1. Period.
Yeah, there was that part of the end of the first quarter and beginning of second quarter where Nebraska was executing the West Coast Offense beautifully and Sam Kellar was looking like he did against 'SC a few years ago... and then our defense finally stepped up and locked the Cornhuskers down IN LINCOLN for the next 35 minutes of so until the score was 42-10 and the game was basically over with a quarter left to play. Final score definitely doesn't indicate how we basically took over the game and quieted and raucous crowd. In my (admittedly biased, but I still believe I'm making a valid point), this is more impressive than LSU over VaTech because this was in a hostile crowd, against a storied opponent, with response to adversity. VaTech was in Baton Rouge and clearly not all together with it, and they basically rolled over.

But I repeat: I think it should be USC vs LSU in the BCS Championship game. Yes, even if OU goes undefeated. Because right now, my college football rankings would be:

1. USC
2. LSU
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. West Virginia
6. Wisconsin
7. California
8. Penn State
9. Rutgers
10. Texas

I should also mention I don't recall this many upsets this early in the season in a while. So far, we've had Michigan, Boise State, Auburn, Arkansas, Louisville, and UCLA falling from the ranks of the unbeaten well before people expected them to. Just thought it was interesting.

Finally, I typically don't catch things when they happen, so it was only today that I heard about the [b]Oregon Duck teabagging the Houston Cougar in the most hilarious mascot fight I've ever seen. Okay, so all mascot fights are pretty hilarious, but I guess this was actually real, not staged, when it happened two weeks ago. But man... talking about embarrassing for the University of Houston. You've got a COUGAR for a mascot and he gets owned by a DUCK. Not only that, but the Duck effing teabags you.

BTW, the holes our offensive line were creating were ridiculous. Stafon Johnson got a TON of gaps and made the most of them. I really like this kid. He proved tonight that he's our #1 running back, although CJ Gable ain't bad either, and we still have Chauncey Washington and a slew of other great running backs. But at one point in the game, we started calling Stafon "Moses." Because the Cornhuskers were getting parted like crazy. Their D was giving up more holes than Swiss cheese. And it was delicious to watch.

But I repeat: I think it should be USC vs LSU in the BCS Championship game. Yes, even if OU goes undefeated. Because right now, my college football rankings would be:

1. USC
2. LSU
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. West Virginia
6. Wisconsin
7. California
8. Penn State
9. Rutgers
10. Texas

AP Poll:
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Florida
4. Oklahoma
5. West Virginia
6. California
7. Texas
8. Ohio State
9. Wisconsin
10. Penn State

Your list is fine btw...except RUTGERS??? and not us???
thats crazy
Rutgers will end up with an 8-4 record. Cincy in a couple weeks will be big trouble for them.

Ohio State...not the team as in years past I admit...but in a year of very average teams (exception of USC, LSU, and Florida), OSU could be up there...
I'd still put USC up there as #1...but I must say that LSU and Florida looked really really good...
Also..just want to say that I haven't seen Oklahoma play yet, but since their schedule is a cakewalk...well, its going to be hard for them to stay up there in the BCS rankings unless they are beating the ever living crap out of everyone on their schedule.

ESPN is hilarious. I just love how every week you hear on and on about how these two teams are the greatest, and then the next week its completely different. Last week it was LSU and OU, this week it was USC and Florida. Not saying these aren't warranted after their performances, just love how the order always shifts around. We are definitely seeing that this is one crazy year with a very solid elite (USC, LSU, OU, Florida) and then a whole lot of average teams. At this point, I really don't think we are going to have many 1 or 2 loss teams evens, parity is really up. If I had to do my rankings after this week

1. LSU- Still have looked to be the most dominant this year. The offense is extremely balanced and they can apparently plug in the back up QB and have equal results. The defense continues to smother teams, I think they have two shutouts so far. Impressive. That said, they get way too much credit for the VT win. VT will probably finish with no less than 4 losses this year. VT has a terrible, terrible, terrible offense.

2. USC- Really showed off the talent Saturday. The O Line stole the show, an elderly woman in a walker could have gone for 5 every down through the holes they were opening up. Nevermind that Nebraska had to replace most of its line, to manhandle anyone that much is impressive. I still feel like this team is very beatable though. Nebraska still is just a middle tier program, and they had some success early. I have no idea why Callahan abandoned the pass when the game was still very much in contention. Booty still needs to prove to me he can win it by himself in a close late game before I am ready to jump all over them.

3. OU- Could be bias, but I really like this team so far. I know the level of competition hasn't been much, but it has been the same as LSU and USC have played with very comparable results. I have never seen an OU team jump to a start like this, even in 2003-2004 where they ended up being pretty decent. They always get off to slow starts. I love the way the offense is working, just so many weapons and they spread it around so well. It is a very patient and methodical offense, small quick plays, but they have the athletes to turn any of them into homeruns. I think the offense is right up there with USC's and better than LSU's, however both teams edge OU on defense.

4. Florida- I think Florida is being pumped a little too much after the Tennessee win. Yes, it was a very impressive performance. But Cal did roughly the same thing. Tennessee has been decisively mediocre the past few seasons (think like a .500 record almost), and are always severely overrated on name alone. However, Florida's offense is downright scary. They have so many different looks, so much speed, and the threat of Tebow taking off makes it tough to lock down. However, I think you see them getting in a couple shootouts this year as their defense that won them the title last year simply had to replace far too many people to have the same kind of success. While this may well be one of the best teams in the nation, the possibility of having to play LSU twice could really kill them. I personally am hoping they split the games.

5. Ohio State- I am going to go ahead and chalk the Akron game up to Ohio State always playing down to a team or two every year. That was a much improved Washington team that they beat on Saturday, and the defense played very impressively for the most part. Locker had some success, but mobile quarterbacks normally give the Big 10 fits. They made the plays when they have to, and probably the only coach I trust to play such close games and still win every time is Tressle. They are not lights out on offense, but they don't necessarily have to be. I know this might be a bit high for them, but I think they are more complete and solid than the teams beneath them.

6. California- A lot of speed at the skills position, and Jackson has been tearing it up on special teams. He is a game breaker and will be good for some big momentum turners when things aren't going the Bear's way. The defense is not stellar, but should be able to slow most teams they play outside of USC.

7. West Virginia- The defense is a big question mark, and I think it will cost them a game or two to some of the more balanced Big East teams such as Rutgers or South Florida, or even Cincinnati. Louisville's offense, being more balanced, might also be better equipped to hang in a shootout. I think at minimum they are a two loss team this year. However, the duo of White and Slaton is hard as hell to shutdown. White seems to have developed the pass game a little more this year.

8. Penn State- They have really been humming this year on both sides of the ball, and the Big 10 is down making it a prime year for them to have a good showing. I am just not sold on Morelli as a quarterback, he is woefully inconsistent and costs them at least one game this year.

9. Boston College- A very convincing win over a good Georgia Tech team. I was very impressed with how dominant the Eagles were, in Atlanta to boot. Ryan is a great quarterback and an experienced leader. The defense is also very solid, holding a great back in Tashard Choice to only 31 yards. With the ACC as down as it is this year, Boston College is in a good position to take the crown.

10. Texas- I don't like them this high based on how they have performed thus far at all. But there is too much talent on this team to completely drop them. The longhorns have played the three most uninspired games of football I have seen out of any team considered for the top ten right now. They have been so underwhelming. Talent wise the team is good enough to get through the season with only a loss to OU. But Mack Brown is such a piss poor excuse for a coach that he probably costs them another game as well. As an OU fan, I have watched all the OU and Texas games on tv so far, and having seen both teams, I have never been more excited going into the Red River Shootout.

Some teams on the rise in rankings, but still not ready to call them top ten:
-Oregon: The offense is really clicking and Dixon looks like a stud. However, same thing happened last year before the whole team went to crap. Wait to see if this version has staying power, cause if it does they could give the Pac 10 a run.
-South Carolina: Having Spurrier as a coach never hurts, and this team has been just shy of really good for the past few years. The defense has been superb, but the offense comes in spurts. The win over Georgia was impressive. Still need to prove that was more than this team's upset for the year and they can actually sustain being more than competitive against the SEC big boys.
-Alabama: The team looked incredible jumping out to a 21-0 point lead, but then fell apart allowing Arkansas to make it a game before pulling it out. Is this the team that played in the first half or the second?

Guess who just won...

Ride6

buckeyes won 58-7!... even though it was against N'Western who lost to Duke, boeckman finally threw well for the whole game!

buckeyes won 58-7!... even though it was against N'Western who lost to Duke, boeckman finally threw well for the whole game!

Zzzz... Blowouts really aren't fun to watch nor was that an important game. Michigan > Penn State 14 to 9 on the other hand...

It was, easily, the most defensive game I've ever bothered watching.

Ride6

Bah, well USC played alright.

Losing to LSU 28-16 isn't too bad. Especially when you can't stop the run to save your life for 2 quarters.

Zzzz... Blowouts really aren't fun to watch nor was that an important game. Michigan > Penn State 14 to 9 on the other hand...

It was, easily, the most defensive game I've ever bothered watching.

Ride6

It's the most defensive game you have bothered watching because both offenses suck. Say what you will, you would just love to see Michigan put up those kinds of numbers. Because let's be honest, Appalachian State wasn't that important of a game either. Michigan still has the talent to do very well against more conventional teams, and their woes so far are mostly due to spread offenses. And yeah, they shut down Penn State, but Morelli is a piss poor inconsistent QB who costs them games on a regular basis. But the fact that Michigan's offense has been so lethargic this year should have you worried. That said, Ohio State has really impressed the last few weeks, the offense proved there is some life there even against a bad Northwestern team. The defense is strong enough to carry them, and there is nobody I like more in close games than Tressel.

I thought South Carolina played a very good game against LSU. That fake field goal was one of the best executed plays I have ever seen, incredibly unexpected, and a back breaker. None of the spots went their way with some costly 4th down attempts (not saying they were wrong, just luck wasn't on your side). South Carolina plays very good football, but the offense just doesn't have the weapons to beat the elite. I still really like them to make a splash in the SEC this year.

Alright, so my rankings for the week:

1. LSU- I think that South Carolina team was a good one, and LSU moved the ball on them with surprising ease at times. I think overall they have earned their ranking more than anyone else right now and have proved more on the field with just complete dominance.

2. USC- Another decent win. Kinda wonder about that Nebraska win though, with Nebraska struggling to pull out a win against Ball State the Huskers have played poorly all season. So I still don't feel like USC has really proved that they are this good yet, but the talent is there so I will give them the benefit of the doubt.

3. OU- Miami win suddenly looks that much better and OU did a very good job of adjusting to a complicated and talented Tulsa offense, plus continued to roll racking up 62 points of their own. Looking more and more solid every week.

4. Florida- Probably here only because I can't in good conscience put my next team in front of them. Florida has a lot of play makers and talent on offense, but there is no excuse for playing a close game with Ole Miss.

5. Ohio State- They are playing good football once again and the defense is smothering, plus the offense proved it has some kick. they may not be world beaters, but they win the tight ones. I think they are more stable and vary less from week to week than any other team in the top ten.

6. West Virginia- They have talent on offense, and a solid defense by Big East standards, but I still feel being a mostly one dimensional team is good for at least one loss this year.

7. California- Another rout, the offense has been playing the way it should. Still don't know how you let Arizona score 27 on you, their offense is inept.

8. Texas- Showed there is still talent on the team and they can flex their muscle when they need to. Those early struggles though weren't aberrations, there are problems all over that football team.

9. Boston College- Another strong showing this weekend, having Ryan at QB will carry this team. With everyone else in the ACC struggling, I like their chances.

10. Rutgers- Inactive this week, haven't played anyone yet so we will see how this stands up.

AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH!!!!

Pyro, what the heck happened? Out of all the upsets, OU was not one I was expecting... ever. And vs Colorado... lol. Did you transfer out of there yet? Either way, there's a certain sense of irony as to how that relates to you.

And upset watches are abounding today, since Texas is losing, as is Rutgers (at this moment).

Wow.

Damn, (0-4) FIU 0 - (0-4) Middle Tenn. St 47

I hope we do better in the second half

But hey UM scrapped out a win vs. Duke

Boy, I have never been more relieved to win by only three points!

In a day where it seems like everyone was getting upset, USC seemed determined to give the Huskies a chance to create a headline that puns on the whole "underdog" motif. Four turnovers, nearly twenty penalties (or seemed like it), horrible offensive mistakes... we played horribly, and it was only because of our good defense stifling an inexperienced one-man-team that kept us ahead at the very end. Hopefully, we can learn from these lessons and play better on the road in a rowdy environment. But man... crazy game.

Speaking of which... I don't think ANYONE saw Oklahoma losing to Colorado. Out of all the BCS teams, I thought OU had the easiest path to the BCS game, since the Big XII sucks this year. They just ate it against Colorado. Wow.

Texas was obviously looking ahead too--their weak defense this season was finally exposed when they got destroyed by Kansas State. Not that I'm upset or anything. It's pretty hilarious that they got killed.

Florida losing to Auburn... deja vu. I'd have to agree and say the SEC is the best and toughest conference. Auburn was on their way to a lackluster season, and they repeat history by upsetting Florida. It'd be interesting if this ended up being their only loss of the season... again.

BTW, did anyone in the world ever imagine that Kentucky, Boston College, Hawaii, and South Florida would be undefeated while Michigan, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisville, and West Virginia would have one or more losses?

What a crazy season it's been. More teams have gone down this early than I ever remember. Crazy stuff.



Through week five, my college rankings:

1. LSU
2. USC
3. Cal
4. Ohio State
5. Wisconsin
6. South Florida
7. Boston College
8. Florida
9. Kentucky
10. West Virginia
11. Oregon
12. Oklahoma
13. Georgia
14. Virginia Tech
15. Hawaii
16. Texas
17. Missouri
18. Clemson
19. Rutgers
20. Nebraska

This doesn't mean necessarily that overall I think that Florida isn't as good as, say, Boston College. But I feel that rankings are relative to the week they're on, and not necessarily overall.

we played horribly, and it was only because of our good defense stifling an inexperienced one-man-team that kept us ahead at the very end.

Stifling defense?? USC was supposed to win that game by THREE touchdowns and they won by THREE points. Allowing Washington to score FOUR times is not stifling....Ohio State held them to 14 points....THAT is stifling...

But wow...you moved USC down to 2??? I'm surprised at you A win is a win, isn't it? Honestly, I have to say at this point that anyone can win this year. I said before there were about three really good teams and everyone else was average....I'm going to say now that there are a bunch of average teams out there and no one is standing out. Sorry, Cork, but USC just does not look any more impressive than other teams this year, LSU and Florida didn't look that good, although I'd still put LSU on top. I never did think Texas or OK were that good to be on top of Ohio State...CAL, I have not seen play yet, so no judgment there.....and RUTGERS...well, I told you they weren't as good as everyone thought. They are going to lose again next week at CINCINNATI...who are going to make people stand up and take notice of the 'other' team in Ohio.