RED RIVER STINKOUT, BAD OFFICIATING ABOUNDS & MY PRO PLAYS
The Red River Shootout between Oklahoma & Texas was a real stinker. Compared to last year's game, it's hard to believe we had the same teams, coaches & quarterbacks. Eight turnovers, 5 by OU & 21 penalties for 228 yards, yikes. Plus OU QB Sam Bradford, who injured his shoulder in the season opening loss to BYU, hurt the same shoulder, the same way, being sacked in the 1st quarter. I wonder of he'll ever play for the Sooners again. Colt McCoy pretty much played himself out of Heisman contention, he was especially dreadful in the 1st half. He fumbled at the OU 6-yardline & threw a pick. The Sooners were worse, handling the ball like it was covered in grease or throwing it any old place. Ryan Broyles returned to the OU lineup & scored their only TD. Freshman Marquise Goodman caught a touchdown pass for the Longhorn's only score. I'll tell what else stunk about this game, it took forever, more than 3 1/2 hours of boring, sloppy football.
The mighty Purdue Boilermakers, 1-5 going into Saturday's contest with Ohio State, manhandled the Buckeyes for most of 3 quarters & then hung on to win. OSU QB Terrelle Pryor is regressing, his reads take forever & then he's wrong about 75% of the time. The Buckeyes looked like they were sleepwalking thru this game & the scoreboard showed it. The good news is they're now out of contention for the BCS Championship, so we won't be subjected to seeing them slaughtered again in the title game. As unimpressive as Penn State is, the Buckeyes are still a distant third in the Big-10 behind undefeated Iowa & the Nittany Lions.
I hope all the bluster I've heard from Nebraska fans will cease after they were humiliated at home 31-10 by Texas Tech. Did you see coach Bo Pelini turn back towards the field as he entered the tunnel at halftime? He wanted to see what 80,000 people were booing about. It was his team. The 3 North Division teams that were considered contenders all got their hats handed to them. Mizzou looked like crap losing to Oklahoma State & Kansas had their undefeated season ruined by by 1-4 Colorado & they looked bad losing in Boulder. Kansas State, crushed 66-14 last week by Texas Tech, smoked Texas A&M 62-14 & Iowa State even won, whipping Baylor 24-10. The have-nots had a decent day in the Big-12 Saturday.
Kansas couldn't stop 5'6" 173-pound Buffalo tailback Rodney Stewart & they turned the ball over 4 times, a bad combination. Kansas has never beaten Colorado 4 straight, they'd won the last 3, so I guess it figured they'd blow up. QB Todd Reesing was sacked 6 times & threw a pick that was returned to the 1-yardline. Now they square off with a pissed-off Oklahoma squad next Saturday in Lawrence. The Sooners offense was anemic, but the Jayhawks can make anyone look good with their D.
We watched in horror as Blaine Gabbert kept limping all over the field, a thought came to mind, what in the hell is Gary Pinkel & Dave Yost thinking? The play calling was horrendous. Third & less than a yard, no one in the backfield except Gabbert, 4th & less than 1, same formation, forcing the gimpy Gabbert to throw while avoiding a blitz. Ever thought of running the ball for 1 stinkin' yard guys? The coaching staff told a whole bunch of lies about Gabbert's ankle, it was clear during warmups he wasn't right. Wes Kemp dropped a touchdown pass a minute before half & then the Tigers watched as Zac Robinson led the Cowboys to a score with 2 seconds remaining in the half. I'd also say the officiating was as bad as Mizzou's play calling. A phantom holding call on an 88-yard kickoff return, then the replay official stuns the broadcast team not once, but twice, by not reversing fumble calls. Fumble calls that were so clear, the ESPN guys were left laughing at how ridiculous the calls were. Even if the calls would have gone Mizzou's way, they still would have lost. They can't run the ball in crucial situations, well really, they can't run the ball anytime.
There was a bunch of lousy officiating in the Arkansas-Florida game. It makes you wonder what's going on when they continue bailing out the Gators as they floundered thru their afternoon. It was really bad. Tebow was even lousy, lost a pair of fumbles, sacked 6 times, the zebra's helped out twice on their game-tying drive. I have no horse in this race, I just want to see a game called cleanly & fairly. Ditto the Mizzou game.
The most exciting game of the day was the USC-Notre Dame contest won by the Trojans 34-27. The Irish had 3 shots in the last 9-seconds inside the USC 3-yardline. A narrow miss to tight end Kyle Rudolph was sandwiched between two plays that never had a chance. The Irish give up too many big plays, that & they miss WR Michael Floyd. Still, it was an exciting game right down to the last second. Looking forward to the Trojans' trip to Oregon on Halloween in what could be the showdown for the PAC-10 title & USC's chance to get into the BCS Championship game.
The 1st BCS poll comes out Sunday afternoon. Look for USC to vault over Boise State. Florida will be 1, 'Bama will be 2, Texas will be barely ahead of USC, even tho they lost to an unranked opponent. Boise State, TCU, Cincinnati & Iowa could all go undefeated & they'll never get a whiff of the Championship game. It will be Florida/Alabama versus Texas/USC. Unless USC loses at Oregon. USC carries that much national clout with writers who vote in the AP Poll. So does Ohio State, but they've lost twice already & still have Penn State, Iowa & Michigan on their schedule, so they're not going anywhere, thankfully.
Saw some of that great PAC-10 defense tonight. Stanford & Arizona combined for 81 points & 1,137 yards of offense. The PAC-10 & Big-12 are fun to watch, but in these conferences, there's very little defense played outside of Texas, Oklahoma & USC. While writing this, I have the TV on in my office with the only remaining game on, Washington at Arizona State. Arizona State just threw a 50-yard touchdown pass with :05 left in the game to win 24-17. Danny Sullivan to Chris McGaha, right down the middle, no defense to worry about, I have no earthly idea where the safeties were. Where was the vaunted "prevent defense"? What happened to "keep everything in front of you"? Wow, that was really terrible. Steve Sarkisian has a lotta work ahead of him turning the Huskies around. That play perfectly defines the word "miscommunication".
Georgia Tech completed 1 pass in tonight's game with Virginia Tech. ONE lousy completion. And yet their time of possession was a ridiculous 38:22. They monopolized the ball by running & in turn running the clock. They beat the Hokies 28-23 running for over 300 yards & most of the plays stayed in bounds, keeping that clock moving.
As I previewed on Friday, I had Iowa +2 1/2, they won 20-10. I had Houston -17, they won 44-16. I had Georgia Tech +3 1/2, they won 28-23. So it was a clean sweep Saturday. I'm on a ridiculous run right now, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I've won every week & my record thru yesterday is 18-6, I know it can't continue at a 75% pace much longer. But how about it continuing one more day.....please? Here's what I'm looking at for Sunday:
It's going to be a Big Apple afternoon, as I like both of the New York teams, the Giants getting 3 at New Orleans & the Jets giving 9 1/2 to the Bills at the Meadowlands. The Giants have been a monster road team over the last 2+ years. They're my Super Bowl pick, you give me points with this team & I'll take 'em & bet 'em. The Jets were really unhappy with their defensive performance Monday night in Miami. Good news is on the way in the form of the Buffalo Bills. The same Buffalo Bills that lost at home to the winless Browns, 6-3. This team is right on the verge of imploding & a sound ass-whippin' by the Jets just might push them over the edge. I like the Vikings -3 a little, Raven QB Joe Flacco has played exactly one game in a dome & he got smoked by the Colts, 31-3, in his second start last year. He's going to have his 3rd string tackle lined up against Jared Allen & the poor guy won't hear the snap count half the time. They'll have to keep a tight end in to help him & that takes away from a passing game that's been really decent at times & really bad the past 2 weeks. If the line stays at -3, I'll take the Vikings too.
The mighty Purdue Boilermakers, 1-5 going into Saturday's contest with Ohio State, manhandled the Buckeyes for most of 3 quarters & then hung on to win. OSU QB Terrelle Pryor is regressing, his reads take forever & then he's wrong about 75% of the time. The Buckeyes looked like they were sleepwalking thru this game & the scoreboard showed it. The good news is they're now out of contention for the BCS Championship, so we won't be subjected to seeing them slaughtered again in the title game. As unimpressive as Penn State is, the Buckeyes are still a distant third in the Big-10 behind undefeated Iowa & the Nittany Lions.
I hope all the bluster I've heard from Nebraska fans will cease after they were humiliated at home 31-10 by Texas Tech. Did you see coach Bo Pelini turn back towards the field as he entered the tunnel at halftime? He wanted to see what 80,000 people were booing about. It was his team. The 3 North Division teams that were considered contenders all got their hats handed to them. Mizzou looked like crap losing to Oklahoma State & Kansas had their undefeated season ruined by by 1-4 Colorado & they looked bad losing in Boulder. Kansas State, crushed 66-14 last week by Texas Tech, smoked Texas A&M 62-14 & Iowa State even won, whipping Baylor 24-10. The have-nots had a decent day in the Big-12 Saturday.
Kansas couldn't stop 5'6" 173-pound Buffalo tailback Rodney Stewart & they turned the ball over 4 times, a bad combination. Kansas has never beaten Colorado 4 straight, they'd won the last 3, so I guess it figured they'd blow up. QB Todd Reesing was sacked 6 times & threw a pick that was returned to the 1-yardline. Now they square off with a pissed-off Oklahoma squad next Saturday in Lawrence. The Sooners offense was anemic, but the Jayhawks can make anyone look good with their D.
We watched in horror as Blaine Gabbert kept limping all over the field, a thought came to mind, what in the hell is Gary Pinkel & Dave Yost thinking? The play calling was horrendous. Third & less than a yard, no one in the backfield except Gabbert, 4th & less than 1, same formation, forcing the gimpy Gabbert to throw while avoiding a blitz. Ever thought of running the ball for 1 stinkin' yard guys? The coaching staff told a whole bunch of lies about Gabbert's ankle, it was clear during warmups he wasn't right. Wes Kemp dropped a touchdown pass a minute before half & then the Tigers watched as Zac Robinson led the Cowboys to a score with 2 seconds remaining in the half. I'd also say the officiating was as bad as Mizzou's play calling. A phantom holding call on an 88-yard kickoff return, then the replay official stuns the broadcast team not once, but twice, by not reversing fumble calls. Fumble calls that were so clear, the ESPN guys were left laughing at how ridiculous the calls were. Even if the calls would have gone Mizzou's way, they still would have lost. They can't run the ball in crucial situations, well really, they can't run the ball anytime.
There was a bunch of lousy officiating in the Arkansas-Florida game. It makes you wonder what's going on when they continue bailing out the Gators as they floundered thru their afternoon. It was really bad. Tebow was even lousy, lost a pair of fumbles, sacked 6 times, the zebra's helped out twice on their game-tying drive. I have no horse in this race, I just want to see a game called cleanly & fairly. Ditto the Mizzou game.
The most exciting game of the day was the USC-Notre Dame contest won by the Trojans 34-27. The Irish had 3 shots in the last 9-seconds inside the USC 3-yardline. A narrow miss to tight end Kyle Rudolph was sandwiched between two plays that never had a chance. The Irish give up too many big plays, that & they miss WR Michael Floyd. Still, it was an exciting game right down to the last second. Looking forward to the Trojans' trip to Oregon on Halloween in what could be the showdown for the PAC-10 title & USC's chance to get into the BCS Championship game.
The 1st BCS poll comes out Sunday afternoon. Look for USC to vault over Boise State. Florida will be 1, 'Bama will be 2, Texas will be barely ahead of USC, even tho they lost to an unranked opponent. Boise State, TCU, Cincinnati & Iowa could all go undefeated & they'll never get a whiff of the Championship game. It will be Florida/Alabama versus Texas/USC. Unless USC loses at Oregon. USC carries that much national clout with writers who vote in the AP Poll. So does Ohio State, but they've lost twice already & still have Penn State, Iowa & Michigan on their schedule, so they're not going anywhere, thankfully.
Saw some of that great PAC-10 defense tonight. Stanford & Arizona combined for 81 points & 1,137 yards of offense. The PAC-10 & Big-12 are fun to watch, but in these conferences, there's very little defense played outside of Texas, Oklahoma & USC. While writing this, I have the TV on in my office with the only remaining game on, Washington at Arizona State. Arizona State just threw a 50-yard touchdown pass with :05 left in the game to win 24-17. Danny Sullivan to Chris McGaha, right down the middle, no defense to worry about, I have no earthly idea where the safeties were. Where was the vaunted "prevent defense"? What happened to "keep everything in front of you"? Wow, that was really terrible. Steve Sarkisian has a lotta work ahead of him turning the Huskies around. That play perfectly defines the word "miscommunication".
Georgia Tech completed 1 pass in tonight's game with Virginia Tech. ONE lousy completion. And yet their time of possession was a ridiculous 38:22. They monopolized the ball by running & in turn running the clock. They beat the Hokies 28-23 running for over 300 yards & most of the plays stayed in bounds, keeping that clock moving.
As I previewed on Friday, I had Iowa +2 1/2, they won 20-10. I had Houston -17, they won 44-16. I had Georgia Tech +3 1/2, they won 28-23. So it was a clean sweep Saturday. I'm on a ridiculous run right now, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I've won every week & my record thru yesterday is 18-6, I know it can't continue at a 75% pace much longer. But how about it continuing one more day.....please? Here's what I'm looking at for Sunday:
It's going to be a Big Apple afternoon, as I like both of the New York teams, the Giants getting 3 at New Orleans & the Jets giving 9 1/2 to the Bills at the Meadowlands. The Giants have been a monster road team over the last 2+ years. They're my Super Bowl pick, you give me points with this team & I'll take 'em & bet 'em. The Jets were really unhappy with their defensive performance Monday night in Miami. Good news is on the way in the form of the Buffalo Bills. The same Buffalo Bills that lost at home to the winless Browns, 6-3. This team is right on the verge of imploding & a sound ass-whippin' by the Jets just might push them over the edge. I like the Vikings -3 a little, Raven QB Joe Flacco has played exactly one game in a dome & he got smoked by the Colts, 31-3, in his second start last year. He's going to have his 3rd string tackle lined up against Jared Allen & the poor guy won't hear the snap count half the time. They'll have to keep a tight end in to help him & that takes away from a passing game that's been really decent at times & really bad the past 2 weeks. If the line stays at -3, I'll take the Vikings too.
Comments