College Football Weekend 12 September

First things first, I need to apologize for getting this out so late this week, I’ll endeavor to get it done by Wednesday evening or Thursday early morning (west coast time, not your sissy east coast time). This was a short week because I was busy being tired Monday so I got nothing done other then going to the movies and watching some aliens get abused. But on to the football side of things, I had a rusty first week, I basically flipped a coin and went with Oregon, and if it was an MMA fight I would have been right, if we were scoring some kind of football game I was wrong. Also nobody can possibly hold that BYU/Oklahoma game against me, even the most diehard BYU fans didn’t call that one. I had someone try and tell me that they bet on BYU to win, it turns out that person had bet on BYU to beat the spread, and later on I ended up cleaning that person’s puke out of a sink…those two things are not at all related.

BYU’s defense was just much better then I think anyone predicted. Even before Sam Bradford got hurt they didn’t look sharp. In the end BYU’s defense just looked greatly improved from years past (more on that later). Shock I believe was the main feeling everyone had about that game.

This week holds one giant matchup, as well as some smaller games between schools that will look to put themselves on the map this year, normally I would have written about the game between Georgia Tech and Clemson but I just got done watching that game so I can’t retroactively predict who will win, oh well. I’m only going to touch on three games this week, which is kinda cheap of me but don’t be surprised if you a number of upsets this weekend, maybe South Carolina over Georgia, or Vanderbilt over LSU (who was not sharp against Washington last weekend). On to the comments:

“No mention of Bucknell at Duquesne? Pennsylvania is disappointed” – Dan
Oh I mentioned it, to myself, as a game that NOBODY was interested in, not even the state of Pennsylvania. We all know the battle for Pennsylvania happens this weekend when mighty Lehigh takes on Villanova. Also, I want everyone out there to know that Dan is bad at fantasy football and I don’t respect his ability to draft a team.

“I'm very excited that you decided to start these up again. However, you are already 0-1 and you also gained weight? Eat more salads! Lastly, no mention of Notre Dame? And you call yourself a fan...

PS I still think you're neat.” -Cali
I actually lied about the gaining weight thing L sorry. But in my defense I assumed that nobody would care. If it makes you feel any better the boxing trainer at the gym put me through one of the top 5 workouts of my life last night and today I can’t flex my stomach at all. Also Notre Dame is going to get mentioned this week. They looked sharp last week shutting down a team that had one of the better offenses in the country last year. Also I think you’re neat too /wink.

This next comment is about BYU from a huge BYU fan:
“I was totally stunned. I am still totally stunned. Usually my voice is gone by the end of the game. But I was so stunned, no sounds were exiting my mouth, just drool. I was catatonic. It was so awesome though - I could not believe my eyes.

I mean, we gave up 31 points/game over the last 7 games last year, routinely giving up over 350+ yards of offense. We got no big recruits on D. Basically the same personnel. And yet, we held Bradford & Co to 10 points on 96 yards passing for a full half. How????

Well, I've had two days to mull it over - 1) We made a clear philosophy change, and decided to go back to blitzing almost every down. Last year, we gave up the underneath routes and dropped 7 as our basic. I believe it allowed other offenses to get in a rhythm, and demoralized our defense over time. 2) Coach Mendenhall gave up defensive play calling to our D coordinator for the first time. Perhaps that had something to do with it also.

Man, it is serious euphoria in cougar land - lots of milk and cookies parties :-) There were so many hits on the main message board site cougarboard.com, that the site crashed. It was pretty funny.” – Brian
Couldn’t have said it better, let’s see if your boys can stay strong all year.

“I'm so happy. This is the sole source of information on college football for me, but at least it provides me with sufficient situational awareness that I understand the college football conversation around me! Thanks!” – Anonymous
Who the heck is anonymous! On to the games!


Saturday 12 September
#18 Notre Dame at Michigan 3:30PM EST
A week ago I wouldn’t have written about this game, but that was before the Notre Dame fighting Irish shut down Nevada with a great offensive and defensive performance. Don’t be fooled, the Irish should have won that game, but there’s no way that they should have dominated like they did by shutting out Nevada. It’s like me eating healthy on the weekend, there’s no way I’m going to make it a full Saturday without having something bad. The Irish were led by QB Jimmy Clausen who had more touchdowns than incompletions, and he has a heck of a tandem of receivers to throw to in Michael Floyd and Golden Tate.

The Michigan Wolverines in the meantime took on a bowl team from last year in Western Michigan and convincingly stomped them 31-7. Michigan runs the spread offense brought over by coach Rich Rodriguez from West Virginia so you will see a number of guys running all over the place on Saturday (they had four guys attempt more than one pass last weekend) although freshman Tate Forcier (from San Diego) has been named the starter.

Notre Dame’s defense isn’t likely to have another amazing performance when they go play in front of 100,000 people in the Big House at Michigan. That being said it’s going to be as tough as my mom’s Christmas fruitcake for Michigan to stop the vertical passing attack of the Irish, unless it rains. The Irish have a much better offense and defensive secondary, especially with some Michigan starters hurt. Notre Dame should eek out a close one on the road unless it rains in which case it will be more interesting than watching a dog try to pick up a ball that’s too big for them. Also in the interest of full disclosure, and before I stop receiving calls from her, I should mention that my mother has never to my knowledge baked a fruitcake. But you can be rest assured that if she did it would be appropriately tough.

Lehigh at Villanova 7PM EST
Well well, if it isn’t the real battle for Pennsylvania. Look for the courageous Mountain Hawks (Engineers) to try and rebound from their heartbreaking loss last week at the hands of…oh come on…Central Connecticut State???? (What the heck? How do I spin that? You guys only managed 184 yards of total offense…) Well anyway look for the pass happy Hawks led by Junior J.B. Clark to put the ball in the air early and often. The Villanova Wildcats, renowned cheaters and tax evaders, were able to squeeze a win against Temple last weekend with the leadership of junior QB Chris Whitney. I would never pick Lehigh to lose publically so I won’t finish this section. Instead I’ll stop it in the middle of a sentan

#3 USC at #8 Ohio State 8PM EST
I remember watching this game last year at an Ohio State bar with my friend Cara (who is from Ohio and is a huge OSU fan) and her husband Brian. The fans there were insane, cheering for every yard the Buckeyes were able to muster. And although they were not able to celebrate victory on that day, Cara and Brian should have something a little more important to celebrate this year, as they welcomed their first child (a boy who I’m sure ahs been properly attired in Ohio State gear by this point) a couple weeks ago. I write this because I forgot to send Cara a note a couple weeks ago congratulating her on the momentous occasion and wishing her all the best.

As much as I want for Cara and company to be happy again this weekend, standing in the way is the University of Southern California Trojans, who ran for 342 yards last weekend led by Junior Running Back Joe McKnight. In addition to a fearsome running game the Trojans have for the first time in their storied history opted to start a true freshman Quarterback Matt Barkley, who seems to be destined to follow in the recent line of USC quarterback success stories. Both of whom will be protected by the mauling offensive line of USC that according to some analysts has 5 out of 5 future draft picks in the NFL.

The Ohio State University Buckeyes had a less then impressive victory over Navy last weekend, needing to intercept a two-point conversion by the Midshipmen at the end of the game to seal the win. The gave up a surprising amount of rushing yards to the much smaller Navy team, much of it coming because the defensive line was pushed around by Navy. If they are to win this game OSU will need to rely on dual threat QB Terrelle Pryor, who will need to create some plays behind OSU’s physically underwhelming offensive line.

Last week I thought USC would just push OSU around and that would be the end of it. I still think that’s the case but since the game is at Ohio State and 100,000 plus fans perhaps the Trojans and their young quarterback will fold. Look for USC to run the ball again and again over the OSU defense. Also look for me to be barbequing a bunch of food during the first couple quarters of this game, stop on by if you are hungry.

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