USC GETS DUCKED UP, BIG-12 GOES TO TEXAS & IOWA ESCAPES AGAIN
I said way back in August, USC wasn't as good as they've been in recent years & when coach Pete Carroll made the comment about the Trojans continuing as a top-5 team, I said karma would cause problems for them. I was right, the Trojans aren't as good as they've been in recent years. I was wrong about the karma, karma had nothing to do with the ass-whippin' USC took tonight at the hands of the Oregon Ducks. For the 4th year in a row, USC lost a game in the state of Oregon, losing twice to the Ducks & twice at Oregon State. The game was tied at 17 late in the 2nd quarter & shortly thereafter the beatdown commenced. The Ducks outscored the Trojans 30-3 the rest of the way. The Ducks had 613 yards of total offense, the most ever surrendered by a Pete Carroll-coached team. USC could only muster 327 of their own. Running back LaMichael James totaled 184 yards & QB Jeremiah Masoli added 164 yards rushing to go with his 221 yards passing. Oregon now controls their own destiny, win out & the Rose Bowl is their's. All the "USC might be the best team in the entire country" crap should die now, thankfully. If you can recall opening night way back on September 3rd, Boise State beat Oregon handily, holding them without a 1st down until midway thru the 3rd quarter. After the game, running back LaGarrette Blount had his meltdown, humiliating the entire program, getting himself kicked off the team. Oregon coach Chip Kelly, severely under fire from the alumni & media, reinstated Blount in an effort to help a troubled kid who screwed up badly. He righted the ship, the Ducks got on a roll & now they look Rose Bowl-bound. Blount might be placed back on the active game roster if the PAC-10 goes along with Kelly. I also told you last week, an Oregon win over USC would help Boise State as much as it helped the Ducks. I sure hope I don't look at the BCS standing tomorrow & see Oregon ranked ahead of Boise State.
The Big-12 North continues to confuse even the most experienced college football followers. Kansas State, the division leader, played very well at Oklahoma. They were down 21-0 before you could blink & they hung in, fought their way back into contention before losing 42-30. Brandon Banks caught 9 passes for 156 yards & returned his fifth kickoff for a touchdown, an all-time Big-12 record. Mizzou played pretty well in beating Colorado 36-17. The Tigers ran for 184 yards while holding the Buffs to -14 on the ground. QB Blaine Gabbert's noticeable limp from an ankle sprain was gone, altho he was moving rather gingerly on it. WR Danario Alexander continues his monster season with 8 more receptions for 123 yards & 2 touchdowns. DE Aldon Smith, the redshirt freshman from Raytown, picked up 3 more sacks, giving him 8 for the season. This young man is going to be something special in the future. Kansas, despite losing 3 fumbles, was tied at Texas Tech 21-all in the 4th quarter, then the roof caved in. Tech scored 3 times in less than 8 minutes, one on a return of lost fumble #4, to severely damage theJayhawks' North Div. title hopes. They travel to revitalized Kansas State next week, followed with Nebraska, Texas & Mizzou, making a 5-3 conference record almost impossible. K-State's task isn't any easier with Kansas, Mizzou & Nebraska left on their schedule. Nebraska, a 20-10 winner at Baylor Saturday, has Oklahoma, Kansas, K-State & Colorado left. Mizzou can only hope to get to their November 28th showdown at Arrowhead with Kansas with a chance to win the division. They have Baylor, K-State, Iowa State before the "Border War" game with KU. The division's a mess & all you really win is a chance to get slaughtered by a Texas team bent on getting to the BCS Championship game.
The offensive display put on by the Houston Cougars was almost "video game-like". Houston defeated Southern Miss 50-43 while compiling 750 yards of total offense, 559 passing & 191 rushing. QB Case Keenum was 44 of 55 for 559 yards & 5 touchdowns. After the Golden Eagles tied the game at 43 with 57-seconds left in the game, Keenum calmly directed his offense downfield on a 5-play 77-yard drive to win the game. On Southern Mississippi's 28-yardline, the Golden Eagles showed blitz, about 4 guys jumped offsides & Keenum did the right thing, he threw it deep to WR Patrick Edwards who caught it for the winning score with 21-seconds left. The winning drive took 36-seconds. Why this kid isn't mentioned in the Heisman Trophy talk is beyond me. Houston's defense isn't good, but he's a QB, not a linebacker. In 398 passing attempts this season, Keenum has thrown but 5 interceptions & 25 touchdowns, the Cougars have beaten Oklahoma State & Texas Tech along with 6 others. This isn't a great team because of their defensive shortcomings, but Keenum is playing as well as any quarterback in the country, period. He'll finish waaay behind Tebow, McCoy & Jimmy Clausen, but he shouldn't. Truth be told, he should be invited to New York as one of the 4 finalists.
In other lopsided contests, 6th ranked TCU gained 578 yards, while holding hapless UNLV to 160, skunking the Rebels 41-0. Notre Dame buried Washington State 40-14 while totaling 592 yards of offense. Georgia Tech let Vanderbilt back in the game briefly before burying them 56-31, while rushing for 404 yards, led by Jonathan Dwyer's 186 yards & 3 TD's. Tech QB Josh Nesbitt completed only 6 passes, but they went for 193 yards.
The Texas beatdown of Oklahoma State pretty much sealed the Big-12 South for the Longhorns. The have the conference's only unbeaten record, in fact since there aren't any 1-loss teams, they have a 2-game lead. Remaining on their schedule are Central Florida, Baylor, Kansas & A&M, not what you'd call real tests for mack Brown's team. This team is peaking right now, beating OU, then Mizzou & Okie State on the road. They are hitting on all 8 cylinders, offense, defense & special teams. They should have no problem advancing past whatever mediocre team comes out of the North Division on their way to the National Championship game, you know the one they should have played in last year?
I told you Thursday about Minnesota's Eric Decker, the school's all-time leading receiver & his inured foot. Sadly the foot will require surgery next week & his Gopher career is over. Decker has 3,119 receiving yards for Minnesota. His recovery is lengthy, maybe as much as 8 months, hurting his NFL draft status. I had him as a 3rd or 4th round player, now I have no clue as he won't be able to attend the combine or work out before the draft.
The Iowa Hawkeyes should thank their lucky stars they were playing the Indiana Hoosiers today. That & a friendly replay official who overturned an Indiana touchdown. The Hawkeyes won going away, 42-24, but if you didn't see this game, trust me, it was off the charts strange. The Hawkeyes scored 5 touchdowns in the last 20-minutes of the game & a couple of them were simply unbelievable. Safety Tyler Sash caught an Indiana pass that caromed off 4 other players in the Hoosier backfield & took it 86-yards for a touchdown. Iowa QB Ricky Stansi, who threw 5 interceptions & lost a fumble, went 3 for 3 in the 4th quarter for 172 yards. He threw a 15-yard pass to WR Marvin McNutt who went 92 yards past a very confused Indiana secondary. Then he threw a 10-yarder to WR Darrell Johnson-Koulianos who took it 66-yards past a bunch of non-tackling Hoosier defensive backs. Then RB Brandon Wegher added two rushing touchdowns for an 18-point victory, covering a 17 1/2 point spread. Iowa coach Kirk Farentz said "if the BCS computers had eyes, they'd say 'are you kidding me"? He's right, this team's unblemished 9-0 record hasn't been pretty to watch, but in the final analysis, if they beat Ohio State in Columbus November 14th, they're headed to the Rose Bowl. How long they're able to keep this horseshoe up their ass is anyone's guess. I give them credit, they may look bad doing it, but when the game is on the line, they make the plays that win.
I didn't play Michigan State as the line went to 3 1/2. I also stayed away from the USC-Oregon total, I was going to bet it, I even told my man I'd call him before the game kicked off, I just wanted to be sure Houston, my big bet, covered. Then as the day wore on, I decided it wasn't as strong a play as I originally thought. Good thing, the game flew over the 47 1/2 point total. Well the Cougars made me sweat, the defense surrendered a big lead in the 4th quarter before Keenum & company roared back to win by 7, covering the 6 1/2 points, thank you. I moved the small play I was going to make on Michigan State over to Texas & never had any worries with the Longhorns covering 9 1/2.
The Big-12 North continues to confuse even the most experienced college football followers. Kansas State, the division leader, played very well at Oklahoma. They were down 21-0 before you could blink & they hung in, fought their way back into contention before losing 42-30. Brandon Banks caught 9 passes for 156 yards & returned his fifth kickoff for a touchdown, an all-time Big-12 record. Mizzou played pretty well in beating Colorado 36-17. The Tigers ran for 184 yards while holding the Buffs to -14 on the ground. QB Blaine Gabbert's noticeable limp from an ankle sprain was gone, altho he was moving rather gingerly on it. WR Danario Alexander continues his monster season with 8 more receptions for 123 yards & 2 touchdowns. DE Aldon Smith, the redshirt freshman from Raytown, picked up 3 more sacks, giving him 8 for the season. This young man is going to be something special in the future. Kansas, despite losing 3 fumbles, was tied at Texas Tech 21-all in the 4th quarter, then the roof caved in. Tech scored 3 times in less than 8 minutes, one on a return of lost fumble #4, to severely damage theJayhawks' North Div. title hopes. They travel to revitalized Kansas State next week, followed with Nebraska, Texas & Mizzou, making a 5-3 conference record almost impossible. K-State's task isn't any easier with Kansas, Mizzou & Nebraska left on their schedule. Nebraska, a 20-10 winner at Baylor Saturday, has Oklahoma, Kansas, K-State & Colorado left. Mizzou can only hope to get to their November 28th showdown at Arrowhead with Kansas with a chance to win the division. They have Baylor, K-State, Iowa State before the "Border War" game with KU. The division's a mess & all you really win is a chance to get slaughtered by a Texas team bent on getting to the BCS Championship game.
The offensive display put on by the Houston Cougars was almost "video game-like". Houston defeated Southern Miss 50-43 while compiling 750 yards of total offense, 559 passing & 191 rushing. QB Case Keenum was 44 of 55 for 559 yards & 5 touchdowns. After the Golden Eagles tied the game at 43 with 57-seconds left in the game, Keenum calmly directed his offense downfield on a 5-play 77-yard drive to win the game. On Southern Mississippi's 28-yardline, the Golden Eagles showed blitz, about 4 guys jumped offsides & Keenum did the right thing, he threw it deep to WR Patrick Edwards who caught it for the winning score with 21-seconds left. The winning drive took 36-seconds. Why this kid isn't mentioned in the Heisman Trophy talk is beyond me. Houston's defense isn't good, but he's a QB, not a linebacker. In 398 passing attempts this season, Keenum has thrown but 5 interceptions & 25 touchdowns, the Cougars have beaten Oklahoma State & Texas Tech along with 6 others. This isn't a great team because of their defensive shortcomings, but Keenum is playing as well as any quarterback in the country, period. He'll finish waaay behind Tebow, McCoy & Jimmy Clausen, but he shouldn't. Truth be told, he should be invited to New York as one of the 4 finalists.
In other lopsided contests, 6th ranked TCU gained 578 yards, while holding hapless UNLV to 160, skunking the Rebels 41-0. Notre Dame buried Washington State 40-14 while totaling 592 yards of offense. Georgia Tech let Vanderbilt back in the game briefly before burying them 56-31, while rushing for 404 yards, led by Jonathan Dwyer's 186 yards & 3 TD's. Tech QB Josh Nesbitt completed only 6 passes, but they went for 193 yards.
The Texas beatdown of Oklahoma State pretty much sealed the Big-12 South for the Longhorns. The have the conference's only unbeaten record, in fact since there aren't any 1-loss teams, they have a 2-game lead. Remaining on their schedule are Central Florida, Baylor, Kansas & A&M, not what you'd call real tests for mack Brown's team. This team is peaking right now, beating OU, then Mizzou & Okie State on the road. They are hitting on all 8 cylinders, offense, defense & special teams. They should have no problem advancing past whatever mediocre team comes out of the North Division on their way to the National Championship game, you know the one they should have played in last year?
I told you Thursday about Minnesota's Eric Decker, the school's all-time leading receiver & his inured foot. Sadly the foot will require surgery next week & his Gopher career is over. Decker has 3,119 receiving yards for Minnesota. His recovery is lengthy, maybe as much as 8 months, hurting his NFL draft status. I had him as a 3rd or 4th round player, now I have no clue as he won't be able to attend the combine or work out before the draft.
The Iowa Hawkeyes should thank their lucky stars they were playing the Indiana Hoosiers today. That & a friendly replay official who overturned an Indiana touchdown. The Hawkeyes won going away, 42-24, but if you didn't see this game, trust me, it was off the charts strange. The Hawkeyes scored 5 touchdowns in the last 20-minutes of the game & a couple of them were simply unbelievable. Safety Tyler Sash caught an Indiana pass that caromed off 4 other players in the Hoosier backfield & took it 86-yards for a touchdown. Iowa QB Ricky Stansi, who threw 5 interceptions & lost a fumble, went 3 for 3 in the 4th quarter for 172 yards. He threw a 15-yard pass to WR Marvin McNutt who went 92 yards past a very confused Indiana secondary. Then he threw a 10-yarder to WR Darrell Johnson-Koulianos who took it 66-yards past a bunch of non-tackling Hoosier defensive backs. Then RB Brandon Wegher added two rushing touchdowns for an 18-point victory, covering a 17 1/2 point spread. Iowa coach Kirk Farentz said "if the BCS computers had eyes, they'd say 'are you kidding me"? He's right, this team's unblemished 9-0 record hasn't been pretty to watch, but in the final analysis, if they beat Ohio State in Columbus November 14th, they're headed to the Rose Bowl. How long they're able to keep this horseshoe up their ass is anyone's guess. I give them credit, they may look bad doing it, but when the game is on the line, they make the plays that win.
I didn't play Michigan State as the line went to 3 1/2. I also stayed away from the USC-Oregon total, I was going to bet it, I even told my man I'd call him before the game kicked off, I just wanted to be sure Houston, my big bet, covered. Then as the day wore on, I decided it wasn't as strong a play as I originally thought. Good thing, the game flew over the 47 1/2 point total. Well the Cougars made me sweat, the defense surrendered a big lead in the 4th quarter before Keenum & company roared back to win by 7, covering the 6 1/2 points, thank you. I moved the small play I was going to make on Michigan State over to Texas & never had any worries with the Longhorns covering 9 1/2.
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