CABLE OFF THE HOOK, SEC REFS SUSPENDED & CRABTREE'S DEBUT
The Napa County district attorney's office announced today they had declined to charge Oakland Raider coach, Tom Cable, with assault. Cable allegedly broke the jaw of Oakland assistant coach Randy Hanson in an August incident that occurred at the Raiders training camp. Things looked bad for Cable until Napa County officials interviewed all other witnesses & it's rumored not one of the 3 corroborated Hanson's version of the story. Hanson is left to a civil suit if he wants to pursue any more litigation against Cable or the Raiders.
Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor must feel like a pull toy. Saturday, he played the worst game of his Buckeye career, throwing 2 picks & losing a pair of fumbles, in a loss to a bad 1-5 Purdue team. During the post-game news conference, "Coach Sweatervest"(Jim Tressell) pointed out all of Pryor's mistakes. Then Tuesday, his high school coach chimed in with criticism of Tressell & the Buckeye offensive scheme. Then last night LeBron James began calling & texting the slumping quarterback. I'm not a fan of Tressell & I think his old H.S. coach's observations were spot on, this offense confines Pryor in the pocket, asks him to throw downfield to receivers who don't appear to have the skills to get open & catch the ball. Tressell doesn't have a very good talent level on the offensive side of the ball & misusing Pryor only puts more pressure on the kid. He has definitely regressed. LeBron's comments about his confidence being battered were correct as well. Tressell has tried to "reinvent the wheel" for the past 5 years & his teams just keep getting worse.
The Southeastern Conference has suspended the entire crew that officiated the Arkansas-Florida game last Saturday. They blew 3 calls that changed the momentum in the game & gave the Gators a chance to tie the game late in the 4th quarter from point-blank range. This crew was also responsible for the hideous unsportsmanlike conduct call on Georgia's A.J. Green for an excessive celebration 2 weeks ago. This call caused Georgia to kickoff from the 15-yardline, giving LSU great field position to start their game-winning drive. All 4 calls made by this crew were really horrible, I'm glad to see them suspended for 3 weeks.
USC coach Pete Carroll has stressed all week to be patient when Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers has the ball. In a season & a half, the diminutive running back has 387 carries & 67 receptions without a fumble. The 5-7 Rodgers is also a very patient runner, waiting for his blockers to provide a hole or lane for him to accelerate thru, he had 186 yards in last season's upset of the Trojans in Corvallis. The Beavers have won 2 of the last 3 against USC, but the game is in L.A. & the Trojans have won 21 straight at home. Oregon State coach Mike Riley is 14-2 coming off a bye week, so there's just too many trends on both sides for me to take a stand, money-wise. But I think the 21 points USC is laying, is too much.
A couple of other strong trends for Saturday would include Penn State's inability to win in the "Big House" at Michigan. JoePa's gang haven't won there since 1996, even when they've been the clear favorite, something always seems to go wrong for the Nittany Lions. The Wolverines getting 4 1/2 at home might be one of my plays, I'll let you know.
Another strong trend is the Texas Longhorns, 11-0 following the Red River Shootout under current coach Mack Brown. What will keep me off the 'Horns is Colt McCoy's injured right thumb. Texas doesn't have much of a running game & if McCoy's thumb hurts his performance, anyone laying 13 points might feel kinda queasy Saturday night.
Washington defensive coordinator, Nick Holt, finally faced the music yesterday, attempting to explain what went wrong in the closing seconds of their 24-17 loss to Arizona State. This was the worst defensive play I've seen all season. Twin receivers running uncovered & untouched down the hash marks & one of them, Chris McGaha, caught QB Danny Sullivan's 50-yard pass for the winning touchdown with 5-seconds remaining. Holt claimed they were playing a Cover-3 prevent scheme, but after watching the replay several times, I'll tell you, the Huskies had 10 defenders within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage. Most "prevent" schemes I've seen have 2 safeties standing on the goaline & 2 more at the field goal "maximum line". Anyway, after ducking questions since Saturday night, Holt accepted full blame for the loss. 'Bout time.
Two impact players for the Dallas Cowboys will be limited Sunday in their showdown with Atlanta. Running back Marion Barber has a fractured thumb & OLB DeMarcus Ware will be slowed by a stress fracture in his foot. Wade Phillips said he expects both to play but how effective they are won't be known until gametime.
Minnesota all-pro cornerback Antoine Winfield won't play Sunday in Pittsburgh. He sprained his foot last week in the 1st half vs. Baltimore. He was wearing a walking boot at today's practice. Cardinal wide receiver Anquan Boldin hasn't practiced the past 2 days with an ankle sprain. He'll be a gametime decision.
The San Francisco Forty-Niners will start holdout wide receiver Michael Crabtree Sunday in Houston. Crabtree signed 2 weeks ago tonight, so he's had to get into football shape, plus learn a segment of the playbook in a very short time. He's bumping fellow wide receiver, Josh Morgan, from his starting spot & he's not very happy about it. I'm going to be watching this game to see just how much impact Crabtree has with the Niners.
Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor must feel like a pull toy. Saturday, he played the worst game of his Buckeye career, throwing 2 picks & losing a pair of fumbles, in a loss to a bad 1-5 Purdue team. During the post-game news conference, "Coach Sweatervest"(Jim Tressell) pointed out all of Pryor's mistakes. Then Tuesday, his high school coach chimed in with criticism of Tressell & the Buckeye offensive scheme. Then last night LeBron James began calling & texting the slumping quarterback. I'm not a fan of Tressell & I think his old H.S. coach's observations were spot on, this offense confines Pryor in the pocket, asks him to throw downfield to receivers who don't appear to have the skills to get open & catch the ball. Tressell doesn't have a very good talent level on the offensive side of the ball & misusing Pryor only puts more pressure on the kid. He has definitely regressed. LeBron's comments about his confidence being battered were correct as well. Tressell has tried to "reinvent the wheel" for the past 5 years & his teams just keep getting worse.
The Southeastern Conference has suspended the entire crew that officiated the Arkansas-Florida game last Saturday. They blew 3 calls that changed the momentum in the game & gave the Gators a chance to tie the game late in the 4th quarter from point-blank range. This crew was also responsible for the hideous unsportsmanlike conduct call on Georgia's A.J. Green for an excessive celebration 2 weeks ago. This call caused Georgia to kickoff from the 15-yardline, giving LSU great field position to start their game-winning drive. All 4 calls made by this crew were really horrible, I'm glad to see them suspended for 3 weeks.
USC coach Pete Carroll has stressed all week to be patient when Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers has the ball. In a season & a half, the diminutive running back has 387 carries & 67 receptions without a fumble. The 5-7 Rodgers is also a very patient runner, waiting for his blockers to provide a hole or lane for him to accelerate thru, he had 186 yards in last season's upset of the Trojans in Corvallis. The Beavers have won 2 of the last 3 against USC, but the game is in L.A. & the Trojans have won 21 straight at home. Oregon State coach Mike Riley is 14-2 coming off a bye week, so there's just too many trends on both sides for me to take a stand, money-wise. But I think the 21 points USC is laying, is too much.
A couple of other strong trends for Saturday would include Penn State's inability to win in the "Big House" at Michigan. JoePa's gang haven't won there since 1996, even when they've been the clear favorite, something always seems to go wrong for the Nittany Lions. The Wolverines getting 4 1/2 at home might be one of my plays, I'll let you know.
Another strong trend is the Texas Longhorns, 11-0 following the Red River Shootout under current coach Mack Brown. What will keep me off the 'Horns is Colt McCoy's injured right thumb. Texas doesn't have much of a running game & if McCoy's thumb hurts his performance, anyone laying 13 points might feel kinda queasy Saturday night.
Washington defensive coordinator, Nick Holt, finally faced the music yesterday, attempting to explain what went wrong in the closing seconds of their 24-17 loss to Arizona State. This was the worst defensive play I've seen all season. Twin receivers running uncovered & untouched down the hash marks & one of them, Chris McGaha, caught QB Danny Sullivan's 50-yard pass for the winning touchdown with 5-seconds remaining. Holt claimed they were playing a Cover-3 prevent scheme, but after watching the replay several times, I'll tell you, the Huskies had 10 defenders within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage. Most "prevent" schemes I've seen have 2 safeties standing on the goaline & 2 more at the field goal "maximum line". Anyway, after ducking questions since Saturday night, Holt accepted full blame for the loss. 'Bout time.
Two impact players for the Dallas Cowboys will be limited Sunday in their showdown with Atlanta. Running back Marion Barber has a fractured thumb & OLB DeMarcus Ware will be slowed by a stress fracture in his foot. Wade Phillips said he expects both to play but how effective they are won't be known until gametime.
Minnesota all-pro cornerback Antoine Winfield won't play Sunday in Pittsburgh. He sprained his foot last week in the 1st half vs. Baltimore. He was wearing a walking boot at today's practice. Cardinal wide receiver Anquan Boldin hasn't practiced the past 2 days with an ankle sprain. He'll be a gametime decision.
The San Francisco Forty-Niners will start holdout wide receiver Michael Crabtree Sunday in Houston. Crabtree signed 2 weeks ago tonight, so he's had to get into football shape, plus learn a segment of the playbook in a very short time. He's bumping fellow wide receiver, Josh Morgan, from his starting spot & he's not very happy about it. I'm going to be watching this game to see just how much impact Crabtree has with the Niners.
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