College Football!

[Rich-n-Texas]

GEAUX TIGERS!!!

Tim TiVo WHO???

[kexodusc]

As for my Trojans, we face a Stanford team with a rookie quarterback that has never taken a college snap. Lucky kid gets thrown into the grinder at a venue where his opponents haven't lost since 2001. No pressure. That said, the way my boys are playing right now, there is no way we beat the ridiculous 49 point spread. Oh, we'll win. The problem is this game won't tell us anything. If we look great, is it because Carroll righted the ship or because we're playing Stanford? Who knows?

Good luck to your teams, guys.

Well Speedy, all I can say is the pain goes away after a big win the following week...Unbelievable...

[dean_martin]

Another interesting weekend of college football! I was sitting in Bryant-Denny Stadium watching the Tide cruise to a 23-pt lead thinking I might get out of the sun after their first score of the second half. Man it was hot - my seat didn't get shade until late 4th quarter, but I couldn't leave. It kept getting closer and closer until finally Bama won with an interception on the last play of the game. Nobody was really happy - relieved, yeah. But Houston wasn't supposed to be that close.

Then I go out for wings and catch the first half of LSU/Florida. Florida came to play. I was thinking maybe it's just too much pressure for these kids to win big games at home with over 90K screaming fans. Florida had just went through that last weekend. I get back to my room in time to watch the 2nd half. (Oh yeah, I remember seeing a highlight of Booty getting picked off by a Stanford defender while I was licking the wing sauce from my fingers. I thought to myself, "Never with a Booty." Of course I was referring only to a national championship. There's no way they'll lose to Stanford.)

During the 2nd half, LSU stayed in the game by methodically moving the ball - not a lot of flash, just persistence on offense. Any one of those gambles by Miles could've lost that game. I thought he was sticking his neck out too far. Conventional wisdom is you go for the tie at home. I guess he was feeling lucky and his luck never ran out. (Oh yeah, then they announce a final score - Stanford 24 USC 23. Like I said last week, "That's conference play." Someone is always in jeopardy of getting snake-bitten from a bottom dweller.)

I'm taking next weekend off and staying home in front of the tube. I have to rest up for the 3rd Sat. in Oct. which means Alabama vs. Tennessee. Hmmm...Tennessee beat Georgia who beat Alabama which means...very little this year.

[topspeed]

F**k.


That is all.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Would you rather talk about the pro results TS?

How 'bout this:

EAGLES didn't lose YEAH!

[GMichael]

Would you rather talk about the pro results TS?

How 'bout this:

EAGLES didn't lose YEAH!

It would have been some trick if they found a way to loose on their off week.

[topspeed]

I thought to myself, "Never with a Booty." Of course I was referring only to a national championship. There's no way they'll lose to Stanford.

Believe it or not, you're not the first one to tell me that. Years ago, when JDB came in after skipping his senior season in HS, I had other people tell me he would never lead my team to the promised land. I guess his brothers were legendary chokers as well. I dunno, never saw 'em. Honestly, I don't know if I can blame this on Booty. Sure, the 4 picks didn't help, but as with his other int's this year, a lot of the blame can be put on the receivers, who by all accounts SUCK. Wrong routes, alligator arms, stone hands. I've never seen this many dropped passes in only 5 games! I'm of the firm belief that at this level, especially if you play for a program like 'SC, if the ball hits you in the hands...you should catch the f*****g thing! I don't care if you have to reach for it, be a man and sell out! If you get your mitts on it, you should pull it in. Simple as that.

Perhaps my biggest gripe with Booty is his lack of leadership. He's so damn laid back, it kills me! After the Washington game, his response was "We all have bad games. I guess this was mine." The man was practically asleep when he said that. How 'bout saying something about what needs to be changed, because he showed up just as bad at the Stanford game. If you don't recognize your mistakes, you can't fix them.

As for the rest of the team, we had an offensive line that couldn't block or protect, a secondary that couldn't defend, and a special teams coach that should have been fired yesterday. Sure, we're banged up, but we're also as deep as the Mariannes Trench. For all that supposed talent, I'm not seeing a team right now.

Look, I'm a diehard Trojan, win or lose. I lived through the black hole that was SC Football from basically '90 until '02 and I'll live through this. That said, there is no way we deserve a 10 ranking right now. From the stanpoint of a CFB fan, not a Trojan, we should be unranked.

Truth.

'SC is riding on reputation, not ability on the field. I haven't seen my boys play this bad since before Carroll arrived. This is the most undiciplined, unispired group of players I've had to endure since Paul Hackett defined "mediocrity" at 'SC. Perhaps spoiled by our previous success, the bottom line is fans and alumni expect a championship team every single year.

No exceptions.

This is not a Championship Team. Not even close.

[topspeed]

Well Speedy, all I can say is the pain goes away after a big win the following week...Unbelievable...

or it's compounded by consecutive losses!

I'll be at the game and at this point, I have no idea what to expect. A win is certainly not a given.

[topspeed]

Would you rather talk about the pro results TS?

Sorry, Rich. I haven't seen a complete NFL game in 5 or 6 years. I'm too burned out from watching CFB on Saturdays.

I did note the following:

Matt Leinert: Broken clavicle, out for the season (he lost his job anyway)

Reggie Bush: 0-5

Carson Palmer: 1-3

It isn't exactly a good time to be a Trojan.

[Woochifer]

Ouch!

If LSU had choked away that game against UF, I would definitely have gotten my affairs in order for the end times!

I think I'm in unison with Speedy this time -- WHEN THE F' DOES BASKETBALL SEASON BEGIN?

Geez, this weekend's loss to the Domers was about as bad a loss as I've seen in the Karl Dorrell era (and believe me, there have been many). The team was not prepared, no one stepped it up when QB Ben Olson went down with a knee injury and in came a first-year walk-on QB to replace him. The walk-on Bethel-Thompson did not look good, no surprise there considering that he only graduated from high school in June, but no one else on the offense did him any favors. If you got an inexperienced QB, you can't have false starts, dropped passes, personal fouls, predictable play calling, etc., and all of that happened.

The defense played a great game despite the score, but if the offense coughs up the ball 7 times, even the '85 Bears defense would only hold back the inevitable for so long. A friend of mind commented that it would have been better to just take a knee on every play after taking the early lead and punt the ball on every possession. Had they done that the Bruins would have easily won the game, because at least a punt would have forced the Domers' awful offense to start in their own territory rather than giving them repeated short field opportunities (or in one case, giving them the ball on the one yard line, a drive in which the Domers wound up going for big negative yardage before settling for a field goal).

Make no mistake, Notre Dame looked like a bad team out there, which makes this loss all the worse for my Bruins. The internet and press chatter have put Coach Dorrell's hot seat on meltdown mode, with plenty to chew on with a bye week this week and a showdown with Cal the week after.

Speaking of Cal ... LSU thankfully kept the Bears from assuming the #1 ranking! Even though I am a Cal grad school alum, I will say that Bear fans are insufferably obnoxious enough with just a fleeting whiff of success (and their success over the past 60+ years has been very fleeting). The Bay Area fans and media would have been on grand delusional overdrive had Cal taken over the top spot in the polls. Thankfully, the Tigers spared everyone of that agony for another week! As I've been saying, Cal will not run the table. They've got great playmakers on offense, but their defense is suspect and one of these weeks they'll come up short in a shootout.

Of course, none of this talk of a #1-ranked Cal would have been possible if not for yet another mother of all upsets over the weekend. I agree that the Trojans have looked beatable as of late, but never would I have guessed that the hapless Cardinal would be the team to break through. Seemed that while the Trojans did everything they could to give the game away, the Cardinal took advantage of those opportunities despite being undermanned at just about every position. The Bay Area media had been ripping Stanford all week long, and now they've displaced Cal as the darling of the moment.

[kexodusc]

Anyone else got a feeling LSU is next with Kentucky playing Cinderella?
Just kinda feels like that's the way this season's going...

[dean_martin]

Can any of you left coasters elaborate on what Jim Harbaugh was up to during the week leading up to the 'SC game? I read or heard snippets here and there suggesting he was going Gundy or somethin'. Whatever it was, it apparently worked.

KEX - who in their right mind would make a prediction on any game at this point?

[Woochifer]

Can any of you left coasters elaborate on what Jim Harbaugh was up to during the week leading up to the 'SC game? I read or heard snippets here and there suggesting he was going Gundy or somethin'. Whatever it was, it apparently worked.

KEX - who in their right mind would make a prediction on any game at this point?

Harbaugh's been kind of a loose cannon with his quips since the pre-season. At first, he got under the skin of Trojan fans by opining that Pete Carroll's got only one year left before he bolts to the NFL (not that outrageous a suggestion given that the Chargers might again be looking for a coach by the end of this year). Then this week, he spent the whole time talking up how the Trojans were the greatest team in history, etc. No idea if this was disingenuous or what, but Harbaugh obviously got his team to totally play over their heads on Saturday.

My understanding is that his practices aren't especially organized, but he gets the players to play with an enthusiasm not seen on the Farm in years. And just getting the players to buy in (after the dour disciplinarian Walt Harris totally lost the team last year) has paid dividends. I doubt that the Cardinal will win too many more games -- their talent level's just not that good -- but they've now proven that they can pull off the upset on any given week.

[dean_martin]

Harbaugh's been kind of a loose cannon with his quips since the pre-season. At first, he got under the skin of Trojan fans by opining that Pete Carroll's got only one year left before he bolts to the NFL (not that outrageous a suggestion given that the Chargers might again be looking for a coach by the end of this year). Then this week, he spent the whole time talking up how the Trojans were the greatest team in history, etc. No idea if this was disingenuous or what, but Harbaugh obviously got his team to totally play over their heads on Saturday.

My understanding is that his practices aren't especially organized, but he gets the players to play with an enthusiasm not seen on the Farm in years. And just getting the players to buy in (after the dour disciplinarian Walt Harris totally lost the team last year) has paid dividends. I doubt that the Cardinal will win too many more games -- their talent level's just not that good -- but they've now proven that they can pull off the upset on any given week.

That's cool. Every conference has its doormat that can step up. The week leading up to the Auburn/Miss St. game, Coach Tuberville really praised Coach Croom and the way he was handling his program. Tubs seemed to be going overboard with the compliments. Before long everyone who didn't know much (including me) was saying "yeah, right." Come Sat., Miss St. beats Auburn in Auburn. Who besides Tubs knew?

Man, I just watched the end of that Dallas/Buffalo game. It was just like the Arizona/Chicago game last year. Then I watched the Yankees go down. I'm suffering from a serious sports overload.

[topspeed]

Regarding the MNF game, was I the only one praying for the Bills to not throw on 3rd down when Edwards tossed the pick that put Dallas back in the game?!? They were easily in field goal range and 3 points would have made it a 2 score game, just like a touchdown! As soon as I saw Edwards drop back, I KNEW he was going to throw a pick in the flat!

Crazy game. Oh, yeah...I hate Dallas.



Back to college:

I honestly think LSU has a very good chance to go undefeated. They've had some close games, but they aren't making the same mind numbing mistakes the Trojans are. Kentucky is good, their quarterback possibly great, but to keep the LSU defense honest you need a killer running back to keep Dorsey out of the backfield all day long. Who knows, maybe that's LSU's weakness?

Shoot, we've got enough problems rather than worrying about LSU right now!

[kexodusc]

Holy crap!

Cal, you're next!

[jrhymeammo]

Did you guys see how UK fans "Stormed" the field?
I live in Lexington and this town really dont give a hoot about college football. I just hope they wont lose a game until Nov. 24th!!

UT will win the East.... I hope.

[dean_martin]

Holy crap!

Cal, you're next!

Kexo - you're on a roll. Please post your picks for next weekend's games.

First BCS poll comes out today, I think. Should be interesting.

[kexodusc]

Kexo - you're on a roll. Please post your picks for next weekend's games.

First BCS poll comes out today, I think. Should be interesting.

LOL.
Yeah, me and 4 million other people picked the big upsets. Always seem to pick them when I have no money riding on the games.
Wow.

This has definitely been one of the more entertaining seasons in recent memory so far.

Never thought I'd see OU back at #4 this year....

[Woochifer]

Wow! Yet another crazy weekend -- definitely one of the more unpredictably entertaining seasons in recent memory, but also not for the faint of heart or those who are emotionally invested in any of the frontrunners!

The Bay Area is still reeling from that Cal game over the weekend. OMG was that a bizarre finish. Of course, Memorial Stadium was also the site of "The Play" (the infamous 9-lateral romp through the Stanford band that ended John Elway's collegiate career and his last chance for a bowl game) so weirdness on the field is pretty much the norm in that part of Berkeley. It's been a long time since I've seen that kind of a total brain fart by a QB (going down with the ball on a scramble with less than 12 ticks on the clock and no timeouts), but geez I feel bad for the kid because he's a freshman back-up getting thrown into an emergency start.

Understandably, there will be hiccups whenever a team has to go with a freshman back-up QB (as my Bruins so charitably demonstrated against ND), but Cal has to overcome that kind of adversity if they want to lay claim to a top-two ranking. A team with #1 aspirations should not be in a position where an inexperienced freshman QB can cost them a game on one boneheaded play. Needless to say, it's been a long time since I've seen a crowd that stunned at Memorial Stadium.

Talk about weirdness in the Pac-10, Arizona State is now alone in first place in the conference, while UCLA is still somehow alone in second place. If my Bruins can get injured QB Pat Cowan back, then I think they can beat Cal and bounce them out of any chance for even the Rose Bowl. Amazing to think that around 7pm on Saturday, Cal was momentarily the #1 team in the country. Now, they're one loss away from being lucky to hold onto a Sun Bowl bid.

Meanwhile, SC wins and drops in the rankings.

[topspeed]

Meanwhile, SC wins and drops in the rankings.

We deserved it, trust me. There was no way we should have been ranked #10 in the first place. Seeing them in the flesh only cemented what I feared;

USC is not very good...and we're going to get worse.

Yep, another game, another rash of injuries. Besides losing our two-time All American LT Sam Baker (You know, the guy that keeps our quarterback's uniforms nice and shiny?), we also lost All American MLB Rey Mauluaga (the heart of our D). Throw in another cornerback and another right guard injured and you have a Trojans squad that looks nothing like the one we thought we were putting on the field in the pre-season. We have one starter left on the O Line, the rest are 3rd string or converted defensive ends (I'm not making this up ) We've got a 3rd string corner on one side and a true freshman at the other. Let's not forget our back-up quarterback, Mark Sanchez, who quickly threw two picks on consective passes in the 2nd quarter.

Hoo boy...gonna be a loooooong year.

As for the rest of the nation, a guy on ESPN said it best when asked who is going to be Number 1 in the BCS rankings: "Who cares?!? They going down next week anyway!!!"

I'm hereby declaring Kex as the Official Upset Alert maven! Some people see dead people, Kex sees dead teams.

*Question*
Does anyone really want to see OSU in the Big Game?!? Seriously, who have they beaten?!? Kent? The Citadel? Any Big Ten team? Big whoop...and yet here they are at #1. They, and their league, were exposed last year and this Buckeye team isn't even as good as the one last seen left for dead in Miami.

In what is, by all accounts, a bizarre season we have to remember that it's only half over!

[kexodusc]

*Question*
Does anyone really want to see OSU in the Big Game?!? Seriously, who have they beaten?!? Kent? The Citadel? Any Big Ten team? Big whoop...and yet here they are at #1. They, and their league, were exposed last year and this Buckeye team isn't even as good as the one last seen left for dead in Miami.

In what is, by all accounts, a bizarre season we have to remember that it's only half over!

I don't particularly think OSU is any better than the 5 teams underneath them but what do I know. I still think LSU has a chance if they win out the rest of their games, but will they do that?

The big question now is can convincing wins and a 1 loss record be enough to put a team in the BCS title game? My Sooners have the rough part of the season behind them, and a renewed sense of opportunity - I think LSU has one more loss in them still with Alabama and Ole Miss in their future.

Can Michigan State keep the upset streak alive? I'm going to have to say no chance on that one...Boston College seems to be the more likely target this week, and I believe will go down to Virginia Tech. They're a #7 or #8 team ranked at #2 by no doing of their own...time to live up to expectations.

South Florida is safe....for this week.

[kexodusc]

South Florida is safe....for this week.

Well, my little streak is over, but more importantly my Sooners have caught another huge break here, and the bizarro-world NCAA Football season continues to be a memorable one.

...having second thoughts on my "no chance" call on the Michigan St. upset over Ohio St.
Who wouldn't?

[topspeed]

Am I the only one that is completely confused by this season? Rankings mean absolutely nothing. Every team is succeptible to an "upset," if that's what you want to call it.

Right now, being promoted to a top ranking is akin to Darth Vader promoting you to admiral. Good luck with that!

[topspeed]

USF goes down to Rutgers
Cal chokes at UCLA
South Caroline loses to...uh, Vanderbilt?!?

Ahh...another wacky weekend of College mayhem.

Troy looked good at Notre Lame, but I could put a team together from the local Adult Education school that could beat the Frightened Irish. Wow, they suck. 'Course, no idea if the real USC is going to show up. Still too many bone-head penalties, still too many dropped passes, still too many guys hurt. After facing the nation's worst most and offensive offense, we get the nation's Numero Uno at Oregon: 550ypg and 46.5ppg.

Gulp.

OSU may finally meet a real team in Penn State at Happy Valley, the last place they lost to a Big Ten opponent. No idea if JoPa's kids are any good after watching them choke against Michigan, but I'm rootin' for 'em. The Buckeyes are frauds and I can only hope one of the weaklings in the Big Ten can muster enough to prove that true. LSU, even with a loss, is a better team. Unfortunately, I still can't shake the image of the Michigan game out of my mind and have to go with OSU.

Boston is having a nice October, eh? Sox are in the series and the Eagles slid into the 2 spot. If they can beat VaTech in Blacksburg, the Eagles will very likely run the table. The rest of their schedule is very doable. FSU, Miami, Clemson, & Maryland don't exactly instill abject fear in their opponents like the good ol' days. The Hokies have been playing good ball the last month, so this could be the "upset" of the weekend. Here's hoping for the Hokies.

Arizona State hosts a demoralized Cal squad that has every reason to go into the tank for the rest of the season. From #1 (briefly) to #21 in two weeks. Oof. After two tough losses, will Tedford shake that glazed look out of their eyes or are the Bears done for the season? Because it's in Tempe and because Cal's players looked shell shocked after the UCLA game, I'm going with the Devils.

How'd your teams do, fellas?