CLIFFHANGERS APLENTY & IT'S PETE CARROLL VS. THE WORLD
Watching college football Saturday was not for the faint of heart. On rivalry weekend, there was one cliffhanger after another. When the Mizzou-Kansas game ended at 41-39, the nail biters continued. Tennessee hung on to beat Kentucky 30-24, the Wildcats had the ball & a chance to win in the last minute.
Texas Tech beat back a late Baylor attempt to tie the score in the last minute. Georgia upset #7 Georgia Tech, but not before stopping what could've been a game-winning drive with less than a minute to play. BYU beat Utah in overtime 26-23, Arkansas missed a 38-yard field goal in overtime, losing to LSU 33-30.
Arizona kicked a game-winning field goal with no time left to nip in-state rival Arizona State 20-17, after the Sun Devils scored 2 4th quarter touchdowns to tie the game. Hawaii, a 9-point underdog, beat Navy 24-17, by withstanding a late rally by the Midshipmen inside the Rainbow Warriors' 15-yardline.
The best game of the night was the Notre Dame-Stanford matchup. It was a slugfest, The Irish's Jimmy Clausen vs. Stanford's Toby Gerhart. Clausen threw 5 touchdowns, Gerhart ran for 205 yards, 3 touchdowns & threw a TD pass on his 1st attempt of the year. It was a great game to watch, sadly it should be Charlie Weis' swan song. He will be fired very soon. Stanford & Oregon are 2 teams that, right now, no one wants to play. I can't wait to see the Oregon State-Oregon showdown Thursday night for the Rose Bowl.
The other night contest pitted UCLA & USC. It was a sloppy game, USC led at half 7-0 on an interception returned for a touchdown. The Bruins turned the ball over 4 times & with the exception of the one return in the 1st half, the Trojans couldn't do anything either. USC finally went ahead 21-7, scoring their 3rd touchdown with 1:30 left in the game. UCLA suffered their 4th turnover, an interception with :50 to go in the game. Do you recall 2 weeks ago when Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh went for a 2-point conversion while leading the Trojans 48-21 at the time? Pete Carroll was really hot, wanted to know what his team had done to be so disrespected. I documented how Carroll had done the same thing to other less fortunate teams, running up the score, throwing touchdown passes in the last 2 minutes while holding big leads. Carroll questioning anyone's "sportsmanship" is a joke. With :50 to go, leading 21-7, the Trojans threw a 48-yard bomb for a touchdown against the shocked Bruins. Then the USC bench erupted with dancing, finger pointing & taunting towards the UCLA sideline. After a few minutes of this, the majority of the Bruin team started toward the USC sideline. The Trojans did likewise & if not for the coaches & game officials, there would have been a riot at midfield. Both sides were ready to go. It took about 10 minutes to restore order so the last :44 could be played. Carroll walking up & down the sideline laughing & backslapping, his counterpart, UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, glaring across the field all the while. This looks as tho the decade's old rivalry has been rekindled by the actions of Carroll & his team. When the day comes that Neuheisel runs the score up on USC, believe me, he will & Carroll gets all indignant, remember this day.
Not in the cliffhanger category was the Houston-Rice contest between crosstown rivals. Tho Rice held a 32:30 to 27:30 advantage in time of possession, Houston led 59-0 at halftime & 66-0 in the 3rd quarter before the Owls got on the board with a couple of touchdowns. The game ended 73-14, with Houston having 684 yards of total offense, a staggering amount against any opponent, but that total doesn't include a 99-yard kickoff return or a 45-yard interception return, both going for touchdowns.
I won with Nevada Friday night, Houston & Florida on Saturday. My lone loser was one I can live with, Mizzou -3 1/2. As for Sunday, I like Miami a little & possibly Cincinnati, depending on Sunday's adjusted lines. There are so many injuries to so many impact players around the league, it might be that I'll take my profit from college & sit it out till next week.
Texas Tech beat back a late Baylor attempt to tie the score in the last minute. Georgia upset #7 Georgia Tech, but not before stopping what could've been a game-winning drive with less than a minute to play. BYU beat Utah in overtime 26-23, Arkansas missed a 38-yard field goal in overtime, losing to LSU 33-30.
Arizona kicked a game-winning field goal with no time left to nip in-state rival Arizona State 20-17, after the Sun Devils scored 2 4th quarter touchdowns to tie the game. Hawaii, a 9-point underdog, beat Navy 24-17, by withstanding a late rally by the Midshipmen inside the Rainbow Warriors' 15-yardline.
The best game of the night was the Notre Dame-Stanford matchup. It was a slugfest, The Irish's Jimmy Clausen vs. Stanford's Toby Gerhart. Clausen threw 5 touchdowns, Gerhart ran for 205 yards, 3 touchdowns & threw a TD pass on his 1st attempt of the year. It was a great game to watch, sadly it should be Charlie Weis' swan song. He will be fired very soon. Stanford & Oregon are 2 teams that, right now, no one wants to play. I can't wait to see the Oregon State-Oregon showdown Thursday night for the Rose Bowl.
The other night contest pitted UCLA & USC. It was a sloppy game, USC led at half 7-0 on an interception returned for a touchdown. The Bruins turned the ball over 4 times & with the exception of the one return in the 1st half, the Trojans couldn't do anything either. USC finally went ahead 21-7, scoring their 3rd touchdown with 1:30 left in the game. UCLA suffered their 4th turnover, an interception with :50 to go in the game. Do you recall 2 weeks ago when Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh went for a 2-point conversion while leading the Trojans 48-21 at the time? Pete Carroll was really hot, wanted to know what his team had done to be so disrespected. I documented how Carroll had done the same thing to other less fortunate teams, running up the score, throwing touchdown passes in the last 2 minutes while holding big leads. Carroll questioning anyone's "sportsmanship" is a joke. With :50 to go, leading 21-7, the Trojans threw a 48-yard bomb for a touchdown against the shocked Bruins. Then the USC bench erupted with dancing, finger pointing & taunting towards the UCLA sideline. After a few minutes of this, the majority of the Bruin team started toward the USC sideline. The Trojans did likewise & if not for the coaches & game officials, there would have been a riot at midfield. Both sides were ready to go. It took about 10 minutes to restore order so the last :44 could be played. Carroll walking up & down the sideline laughing & backslapping, his counterpart, UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, glaring across the field all the while. This looks as tho the decade's old rivalry has been rekindled by the actions of Carroll & his team. When the day comes that Neuheisel runs the score up on USC, believe me, he will & Carroll gets all indignant, remember this day.
Not in the cliffhanger category was the Houston-Rice contest between crosstown rivals. Tho Rice held a 32:30 to 27:30 advantage in time of possession, Houston led 59-0 at halftime & 66-0 in the 3rd quarter before the Owls got on the board with a couple of touchdowns. The game ended 73-14, with Houston having 684 yards of total offense, a staggering amount against any opponent, but that total doesn't include a 99-yard kickoff return or a 45-yard interception return, both going for touchdowns.
I won with Nevada Friday night, Houston & Florida on Saturday. My lone loser was one I can live with, Mizzou -3 1/2. As for Sunday, I like Miami a little & possibly Cincinnati, depending on Sunday's adjusted lines. There are so many injuries to so many impact players around the league, it might be that I'll take my profit from college & sit it out till next week.
Comments