DOG DAY AFTERNOON & MORNING & EVENING
There were 43 games on my sheet for Saturday. Underdogs covered 23 of those games, not all that startling, I have seen worse, I don't remember when, but I'm sure there was a Saturday like this. What was startling, was 15 of those underdogs won straight up, more than a third of the games. Even more strange, 6 of those underdog winners were more than a 7-point underdog, capped by Virginia, Maryland & UTEP underdogs of 13, 13 & 16 1/2 points respectively. These 3 teams were a combined 2-9 going into Saturday's games. There were quite a few weird games to talk about.
Let's examine the 12th ranked Houston Cougars vs. the 1-3 UTEP Miners shall we? In a game that featured 99 points & 1,245 yards of total offense, we won't even try to pinpoint a key defensive moment in the game. Houston's QB Case Keenum, threw 76 passes, completed 51 of them for 536 yards, 5 touchdowns, zero interceptions & they lost by 17 points! UTEP committed 11 penalties for 102 yards & they won by 17 points! Go figure. The Miners' Donald Buckram shredded the Cougars for 262 yards rushing & 4 touchdowns, all in the 2nd half. I can't recall a team amassing 664 total yards & losing by 17 points. Never, ever. This certainly isn't the biggest upset in history, not even close to Stanford's win at USC as a 42-point underdog, but it ranks right up there amongst the strangest I've ever seen. Probably top-5 all-time strange.
Miami(Fla.) certainly bounced back from their 31-7 drubbing by Virginia Tech last week by beating Oklahoma, 21-20. The Sooners will have to run the table to get into a BCS Bowl, their national championship aspirations are D.O.A. The Hurricanes fought their way back from a 10-point deficit & overcame interceptions on their first 2 drives. When Oklahoma needed a stop late in the 4th quarter, down by 1, they couldn't get it. Their vaunted defense failed them.
Notre Dame continues to live on borrowed time. In a game that had 987 yards of total offense, it was the Irish defense that saved them. Washington had 7 shots inside the 5-yard line to win the game & came up short, settling for a field goal that sent it into overtime. I'm beginning to wonder how Michigan beat them with 11-seconds on the clock. Oh yeah, I bet on Notre Dame that day, that's it.
The California Golden Bears have proved to be a fraud. USC steamrolled them 30-3. Cal has scored 6 points the last 2 weeks in PAC-10 showdowns while surrendering 72. Surrender is the key word. The Trojans have a week off then travel to Notre Dame, which could be interesting. Their trip to the suddenly revitalized Oregon Ducks on Halloween could prove even more interesting now that Oregon is going to try to reinstate RB LeGarrette Blount. You remember Blount's meltdown after the Ducks upset loss at Boise State to open the season? Oregon threw Blount off the team, then let him practice, now that USC has a conference loss, they suddenly have had a change of heart yet again, wanting to reinstate Blount. It's really up to the PAC-10 conference to lift Blount's suspension. Will they make USC's run for the national championship tougher? Stay tuned.
LSU continues to win, all the while impressing no one. If they win next week versus Florida, they'll have my support. The hadn't won at Georgia since 1987, but they made the Bulldogs look pretty sad Saturday afternoon. Georgia couldn't run the ball & QB Joe Cox missed too many open receivers.
Auburn, now 5-0, continues to sneak up on the rest of the Southeastern Conference. They beat Tennessee 26-22 in Knoxville. When they hired Gene Chizik away from a dreadful Iowa State team, alums screamed bloody murder. The cries got louder after last season's 1-7 conference record. They still have road games with Arkansas, LSU & Georgia, plus a season-ending grudge match with Alabama, but they are easily the most improved team in the SEC.
Penn State & Ohio State whipped up on cream puffs Saturday. Thankfully they play each other, so we won't be subjected to both of them in BCS Bowl games. In other Big-10 action, Wisconsin might be the ugliest 5-0 team in the land, they can run the ball, end of story. Michigan State beat Michigan for the 2nd year in row. No big deal you say? They haven't beaten the Wolverines 2 straight since the 60's.
The Nevada Wolfpack was shut out by Notre Dame, beaten by Colorado State & Missouri. Last evening they demolished UNLV 63-28, rushing for 570 yards. Nevada had 773 total yards, more than 100 yards gained by anyone else this season. Running back Mike Ball had 184 yards & 5 touchdowns, QB Colin Kaepernick had 173 yards & RB Luke Lippincott added 170 yards. In spite of 15 penalties for 169 yards, the 0-3 Wolfpack prevailed.
With so many college games having clever names like "The Red River Shootout"(OU & Texas), "The Border War"(Kansas & Mizzou), "The Civil War"(Oregon & Oregon State) & "The Backyard Brawl"(Pitt & W. Virginia), I give you "Farmaggedon". The Kansas State-Iowa State game, won by the Wildcats yesterday at Arrowhead Stadium, was called "Farmageddon" much to the dismay of both schools. I doubt this neutral site matchup will continue after their contract with the Chiefs is satisfied following next year's game. Too bad, damn good name don't you think?
One really good note, on Friday night at O'Hare airport in Chicago, the FBI arrested Michael David Barnett. The 48-year old Barnett was charged with interstate stalking. He's the perv who shot the nude videos of my girl, ESPN's Erin Andrews, in her hotel room & then posted them on the internet. This genius wasn't making the kind of cash he felt he deserved, so he got in contact with Harvey Levin's TMZ to try to sell the videos. Levin notified authorities & since Ms. Andrews & Mr. Barnett had both crossed state lines, the FBI became involved. He's now looking at 3-8 years in jail, plus Andrews intends to file a civil suit. Ms. Andrews was reporting from her sideline post Saturday night in Knoxville while Barnett cooled his heels in the Graybar Hotel. This creep had called several hotels in Knoxville trying to pin down where she was staying. He was in O'Hare, apparently on his way to Knoxville, when he was apprehended. Cue the Erin Andrews photos.
Let's examine the 12th ranked Houston Cougars vs. the 1-3 UTEP Miners shall we? In a game that featured 99 points & 1,245 yards of total offense, we won't even try to pinpoint a key defensive moment in the game. Houston's QB Case Keenum, threw 76 passes, completed 51 of them for 536 yards, 5 touchdowns, zero interceptions & they lost by 17 points! UTEP committed 11 penalties for 102 yards & they won by 17 points! Go figure. The Miners' Donald Buckram shredded the Cougars for 262 yards rushing & 4 touchdowns, all in the 2nd half. I can't recall a team amassing 664 total yards & losing by 17 points. Never, ever. This certainly isn't the biggest upset in history, not even close to Stanford's win at USC as a 42-point underdog, but it ranks right up there amongst the strangest I've ever seen. Probably top-5 all-time strange.
Miami(Fla.) certainly bounced back from their 31-7 drubbing by Virginia Tech last week by beating Oklahoma, 21-20. The Sooners will have to run the table to get into a BCS Bowl, their national championship aspirations are D.O.A. The Hurricanes fought their way back from a 10-point deficit & overcame interceptions on their first 2 drives. When Oklahoma needed a stop late in the 4th quarter, down by 1, they couldn't get it. Their vaunted defense failed them.
Notre Dame continues to live on borrowed time. In a game that had 987 yards of total offense, it was the Irish defense that saved them. Washington had 7 shots inside the 5-yard line to win the game & came up short, settling for a field goal that sent it into overtime. I'm beginning to wonder how Michigan beat them with 11-seconds on the clock. Oh yeah, I bet on Notre Dame that day, that's it.
The California Golden Bears have proved to be a fraud. USC steamrolled them 30-3. Cal has scored 6 points the last 2 weeks in PAC-10 showdowns while surrendering 72. Surrender is the key word. The Trojans have a week off then travel to Notre Dame, which could be interesting. Their trip to the suddenly revitalized Oregon Ducks on Halloween could prove even more interesting now that Oregon is going to try to reinstate RB LeGarrette Blount. You remember Blount's meltdown after the Ducks upset loss at Boise State to open the season? Oregon threw Blount off the team, then let him practice, now that USC has a conference loss, they suddenly have had a change of heart yet again, wanting to reinstate Blount. It's really up to the PAC-10 conference to lift Blount's suspension. Will they make USC's run for the national championship tougher? Stay tuned.
LSU continues to win, all the while impressing no one. If they win next week versus Florida, they'll have my support. The hadn't won at Georgia since 1987, but they made the Bulldogs look pretty sad Saturday afternoon. Georgia couldn't run the ball & QB Joe Cox missed too many open receivers.
Auburn, now 5-0, continues to sneak up on the rest of the Southeastern Conference. They beat Tennessee 26-22 in Knoxville. When they hired Gene Chizik away from a dreadful Iowa State team, alums screamed bloody murder. The cries got louder after last season's 1-7 conference record. They still have road games with Arkansas, LSU & Georgia, plus a season-ending grudge match with Alabama, but they are easily the most improved team in the SEC.
Penn State & Ohio State whipped up on cream puffs Saturday. Thankfully they play each other, so we won't be subjected to both of them in BCS Bowl games. In other Big-10 action, Wisconsin might be the ugliest 5-0 team in the land, they can run the ball, end of story. Michigan State beat Michigan for the 2nd year in row. No big deal you say? They haven't beaten the Wolverines 2 straight since the 60's.
The Nevada Wolfpack was shut out by Notre Dame, beaten by Colorado State & Missouri. Last evening they demolished UNLV 63-28, rushing for 570 yards. Nevada had 773 total yards, more than 100 yards gained by anyone else this season. Running back Mike Ball had 184 yards & 5 touchdowns, QB Colin Kaepernick had 173 yards & RB Luke Lippincott added 170 yards. In spite of 15 penalties for 169 yards, the 0-3 Wolfpack prevailed.
With so many college games having clever names like "The Red River Shootout"(OU & Texas), "The Border War"(Kansas & Mizzou), "The Civil War"(Oregon & Oregon State) & "The Backyard Brawl"(Pitt & W. Virginia), I give you "Farmaggedon". The Kansas State-Iowa State game, won by the Wildcats yesterday at Arrowhead Stadium, was called "Farmageddon" much to the dismay of both schools. I doubt this neutral site matchup will continue after their contract with the Chiefs is satisfied following next year's game. Too bad, damn good name don't you think?
One really good note, on Friday night at O'Hare airport in Chicago, the FBI arrested Michael David Barnett. The 48-year old Barnett was charged with interstate stalking. He's the perv who shot the nude videos of my girl, ESPN's Erin Andrews, in her hotel room & then posted them on the internet. This genius wasn't making the kind of cash he felt he deserved, so he got in contact with Harvey Levin's TMZ to try to sell the videos. Levin notified authorities & since Ms. Andrews & Mr. Barnett had both crossed state lines, the FBI became involved. He's now looking at 3-8 years in jail, plus Andrews intends to file a civil suit. Ms. Andrews was reporting from her sideline post Saturday night in Knoxville while Barnett cooled his heels in the Graybar Hotel. This creep had called several hotels in Knoxville trying to pin down where she was staying. He was in O'Hare, apparently on his way to Knoxville, when he was apprehended. Cue the Erin Andrews photos.
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