COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 11, WHAT I SAW
Wow, today was an eventful day in college football to be sure. The cheers from Southeastern Texas could be heard all the way to Idaho. The tears flowed freely in Pennsylvania & there's a player who is deserving of Heisman mention yet no one knows his name. Let's get to it.
Toothless Gators hoping for .500.
Talk about a quick fall, the Florida Gators, losers in 5 of their last 6, are a shell of the team Urban Meyer left when he "stepped away" from coaching. Maybe he knew something or could it be the cupboard's bare down in Gainesville? Except for a couple of sprinters/running backs, Florida has little to threaten anyone with & facing Furman & Florida State in their last two, I think they're hoping for .500 this season. Quite a fall.
Remember all the hoopla surrounding Illinois' 6-0 start?
Don't hear a peep coming out of Champagne anymore after 4 consecutive losses. The Fighting Illini have scored just 42-points in their 4 losses & with Big Ten bully Wisconsin coming to town next Saturday, 6-5 is looking like a real possibility.
Was that an earthquake in Houston today around 5:50PM?
Nope it was the collective cheers from Houston Cougar fans who realized with Boise State's loss, their team is now looking like the BCS Buster, the team from a non-automatic qualifying conference that will be invited to a BCS bowl game as an at-large team. Boise & TCU have cornered the market in recent years, but no more. With wins vs. SMU & Tulsa, plus a victory in the Conference-USA championship game, Houston is in, something they've never experienced. Congrats to coach Kevin Sumlin for leading this team down the path to the promised land. Just don't stumble guys.
I told you Boise's kicker would cost them eventually. Eventually came today.
For the second year in a row, a Boise State placekicker missed a last-minute field goal, costing them a BCS bowl bid. The #5 ranked Broncos were defeated by TCU in Boise, breaking their 35-game home conference winning streak. Senior QB Kellen Moore had never experienced a home loss in his career. PK Dan Goodale, who has missed 6 PAT's this year, pushed a 39-yard attempt wide right in the 36-35 loss. To be honest, Boise shouldn't even have had the last second field goal attempt. TCU was flagged for a bogus pass interference penalty on 4th & 7, giving the Broncos another chance to get into field goal range, which they did. TCU QB Casey Pachall tore up the Boise secondary with 5 touchdown passes & 473 passing yards, a record for a Gary Patterson coached team. Patterson proved he had a pair when he went for a 2-point conversion with a minute left to put his team ahead. They converted & headed back to North Texas with their biggest win of the season.
Bob Stoops has to be saying "How the hell did these guys beat us?"
Texas Tech went into Norman Oklahoma three weeks ago & embarrassed the Sooners on national television 41-38. Since then the Red Raiders have been outscored 159-33 in three straight losses. Oklahoma State ran Tech right out of their own building today, beating them by the most lopsided score in Red Raider history, 66-6. As I watched this game, I wondered aloud several times "How the hell did this team beat OU?" I'm guessing OU coach Bob Stoops has said the same thing over the past three weeks. The Cowboys have a road date at Iowa State next Friday night before 2-weeks off leading up to "Bedlam," their showdown with Oklahoma for the Big-12 championship.
Baylor sleepwalks thru 3 quarters before RG3 leads a furious comeback.
I gotta give the Kansas Jayhawks some props, they had the Baylor Bears on the ropes for more than three quarters. It was their best conference performance of the 2011 season. Unfortunately, football games consist of 4 quarters & Robert Griffin III led his team to 3 unanswered last period touchdowns to tie the 'Hawks. Griffin threw his third touchdown pass in overtime to take the lead but the Jayhawks weren't going away. QB Jordan Webb threw a 25-yard TD pass on their first play to pull within 1 of tying the game & sending it to another O.T. period. But KU coach Turner Gill decided to go for the win & a 2-point conversion, which fell incomplete. Baylor was damn lucky they were playing Kansas, anybody else in this conference probably would've closed the deal.
Why isn't this guy mentioned in the Heisman discussion?
If you've been lucky enough to see the Kansas State Wildcats play this season, you've seen quarterback Collin Klein. How this kid isn't mentioned in the Heisman discussion is way beyond me. He led the Wildcats to a 4-overtime win against Texas A&M today, scoring 5 touchdowns running & throwing for a sixth in the Cats' 53-50 win. This guy is the main weapon coach Bill Snyder has & he delivers. Klein has rushed for 1,009-yards & 24 touchdowns in 10-games. He's thrown for 10 touchdowns, 1 today with 281-yards thru the air. The Cats have been ranked for 6-weeks & with Texas & Iowa State remaining on the schedule, they could finish with 10-wins. Folks that would be amazing. It's a credit to Snyder's leadership & Klein's ability to keep a less talented team in all but one half of football this season.
LSU is in the driver's seat to play in the BCS title game, but look out in 2 weeks.
The #1 ranked Bayou Bengals won tonight, pounding hapless Western Kentucky 42-9. They play Mississippi State next week, which they should also win handily, but it's their opponent in two weeks to be wary of. #8 ranked Arkansas play the Tigers that week & LSU has a miserable record against the razorbacks of late. Their only win over Arkansas in the past 4 years was an overtime victory in 2009. The 9-1 Hogs only loss was to Alabama, they've won 6 straight since. In 2007, Arkansas knocked off the #1 Tigers in the season's final game to ruin their chances for a national championship. Could it happen again?
New Mexico beat you? Seriously?
The mighty UNLV Running Rebels lost to 0-9 New Mexico tonight, 21-14. The Lobos had been outscored 410-113 in their nine losses. I still want to know what kind of shenanigans were going on back in September when 19 1/2 point favorite Hawaii was beaten by UNLV 40-20?
Five points? Really?
The 4-5 Mizzou Tigers got a measure of revenge on the team that has basically broken up the Big-12. The #16 ranked Texas Longhorns rolled into Columbia Missouri riding high. They had run for nearly 900-yards in the past two games. Not today, the Mizzou defense rose to the occasion, holding Texas to just 76-yards on the ground & were only in the redzone once in the game. Texas RB Fozzy Whitaker sustained what looked to be a knee injury & Missouri's Henry Josey tore his ACL, MCL & PCL in the third quarter. He was the nation's 5th leading rusher & led the Big-12 before this very serious injury. He may not be ready to play next season, but here's hoping he'll be back in black & gold soon.
Stanford doesn't have the speed to play with Oregon or the proper cleats.
How do you play on your home field & not have the proper footwear to stay on your feet? I never saw such one-sided slipping & sliding in one game in my life. The Stanford receivers & DB's were falling down every play for the entire game, they looked like they were on ice skates. Oregon was too, for about one series & then they changed to longer spikes & swoosh, they were off to the races. The Ducks were so much faster than Stanford & sure handed. The Cardinal dropped way too many passes & lost three fumbles. The loss could dampen Andrew Luck's hopes of winning the Heisman Trophy. He threw for three TD's but was charged with 2 interceptions, one his fault, one that was not. He was also minus his two leading receivers for the entire game. I think the race just got a little more interesting. If Oregon can handle visiting USC next Saturday night, they will win the PAC-12 North, assuring them of a spot in the first-ever conference championship game.
No one wants to win the PAC-12 South, except for the Trojans & they can't.
As I'm finishing this post I have the Arizona State-Washington State game on & once again the Sun Devils are blowing their opportunity to clinch the PAC-12 South. Wazzu is leading by 10 with less than 2-minutes to play. After UCLA was hammered by conference newcomer Utah, 31-6, ASU had a chance to clinch. But it wasn't to be & it could spell the end of the Dennis Erickson era in Tempe. USC would've won this division easily but they're on the 2nd year of a post season ban thanks to Reggie Bush, his parents & the NCAA.
Not a dry eye this morning at Beaver Stadium.
In a scene like I'd never witnessed, the run up to kickoff between Nebraska & Penn State was something I'll always remember. Both teams came to the center of the field & went to their knees, led in prayer by Nebraska's team chaplain. The prayers were for the victims of sexual abuse & their families. As the ESPN cameras panned around the stadium, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. The agony the Penn State football program, university & their fans have gone thru this past week came flowing out in an emotional display by over 100,000 people. It lasted for nearly 5 minutes. The players shook hands, patted each other on the back, then returned to their sideline to prepare for kickoff. Penn State moved the ball well on their first possession but came up empty, they didn't threaten to score until late in the third quarter. They weren't so flat, they just aren't very good offensively & it showed. No matter how hard they tried, they just weren't a good matchup against the Cornhuskers. Today, for the first time, people around the nation could feel the obvious pain felt by the Penn State community. I've been very tough on the university's administration & the Nittany Lion coaching staff but not their players, who saw their senior day ruined & their fans who openly wept. I'm sure many of these people felt guilty even tho they had absolutely nothing to cause these events. But it was clear, the message reached most everyone, children were harmed because their leaders failed to lead. Let's hope & pray it never happens like this again.
Toothless Gators hoping for .500.
Talk about a quick fall, the Florida Gators, losers in 5 of their last 6, are a shell of the team Urban Meyer left when he "stepped away" from coaching. Maybe he knew something or could it be the cupboard's bare down in Gainesville? Except for a couple of sprinters/running backs, Florida has little to threaten anyone with & facing Furman & Florida State in their last two, I think they're hoping for .500 this season. Quite a fall.
Remember all the hoopla surrounding Illinois' 6-0 start?
Don't hear a peep coming out of Champagne anymore after 4 consecutive losses. The Fighting Illini have scored just 42-points in their 4 losses & with Big Ten bully Wisconsin coming to town next Saturday, 6-5 is looking like a real possibility.
Was that an earthquake in Houston today around 5:50PM?
Nope it was the collective cheers from Houston Cougar fans who realized with Boise State's loss, their team is now looking like the BCS Buster, the team from a non-automatic qualifying conference that will be invited to a BCS bowl game as an at-large team. Boise & TCU have cornered the market in recent years, but no more. With wins vs. SMU & Tulsa, plus a victory in the Conference-USA championship game, Houston is in, something they've never experienced. Congrats to coach Kevin Sumlin for leading this team down the path to the promised land. Just don't stumble guys.
I told you Boise's kicker would cost them eventually. Eventually came today.
For the second year in a row, a Boise State placekicker missed a last-minute field goal, costing them a BCS bowl bid. The #5 ranked Broncos were defeated by TCU in Boise, breaking their 35-game home conference winning streak. Senior QB Kellen Moore had never experienced a home loss in his career. PK Dan Goodale, who has missed 6 PAT's this year, pushed a 39-yard attempt wide right in the 36-35 loss. To be honest, Boise shouldn't even have had the last second field goal attempt. TCU was flagged for a bogus pass interference penalty on 4th & 7, giving the Broncos another chance to get into field goal range, which they did. TCU QB Casey Pachall tore up the Boise secondary with 5 touchdown passes & 473 passing yards, a record for a Gary Patterson coached team. Patterson proved he had a pair when he went for a 2-point conversion with a minute left to put his team ahead. They converted & headed back to North Texas with their biggest win of the season.
Bob Stoops has to be saying "How the hell did these guys beat us?"
Texas Tech went into Norman Oklahoma three weeks ago & embarrassed the Sooners on national television 41-38. Since then the Red Raiders have been outscored 159-33 in three straight losses. Oklahoma State ran Tech right out of their own building today, beating them by the most lopsided score in Red Raider history, 66-6. As I watched this game, I wondered aloud several times "How the hell did this team beat OU?" I'm guessing OU coach Bob Stoops has said the same thing over the past three weeks. The Cowboys have a road date at Iowa State next Friday night before 2-weeks off leading up to "Bedlam," their showdown with Oklahoma for the Big-12 championship.
Baylor sleepwalks thru 3 quarters before RG3 leads a furious comeback.
I gotta give the Kansas Jayhawks some props, they had the Baylor Bears on the ropes for more than three quarters. It was their best conference performance of the 2011 season. Unfortunately, football games consist of 4 quarters & Robert Griffin III led his team to 3 unanswered last period touchdowns to tie the 'Hawks. Griffin threw his third touchdown pass in overtime to take the lead but the Jayhawks weren't going away. QB Jordan Webb threw a 25-yard TD pass on their first play to pull within 1 of tying the game & sending it to another O.T. period. But KU coach Turner Gill decided to go for the win & a 2-point conversion, which fell incomplete. Baylor was damn lucky they were playing Kansas, anybody else in this conference probably would've closed the deal.
Why isn't this guy mentioned in the Heisman discussion?
If you've been lucky enough to see the Kansas State Wildcats play this season, you've seen quarterback Collin Klein. How this kid isn't mentioned in the Heisman discussion is way beyond me. He led the Wildcats to a 4-overtime win against Texas A&M today, scoring 5 touchdowns running & throwing for a sixth in the Cats' 53-50 win. This guy is the main weapon coach Bill Snyder has & he delivers. Klein has rushed for 1,009-yards & 24 touchdowns in 10-games. He's thrown for 10 touchdowns, 1 today with 281-yards thru the air. The Cats have been ranked for 6-weeks & with Texas & Iowa State remaining on the schedule, they could finish with 10-wins. Folks that would be amazing. It's a credit to Snyder's leadership & Klein's ability to keep a less talented team in all but one half of football this season.
LSU is in the driver's seat to play in the BCS title game, but look out in 2 weeks.
The #1 ranked Bayou Bengals won tonight, pounding hapless Western Kentucky 42-9. They play Mississippi State next week, which they should also win handily, but it's their opponent in two weeks to be wary of. #8 ranked Arkansas play the Tigers that week & LSU has a miserable record against the razorbacks of late. Their only win over Arkansas in the past 4 years was an overtime victory in 2009. The 9-1 Hogs only loss was to Alabama, they've won 6 straight since. In 2007, Arkansas knocked off the #1 Tigers in the season's final game to ruin their chances for a national championship. Could it happen again?
New Mexico beat you? Seriously?
The mighty UNLV Running Rebels lost to 0-9 New Mexico tonight, 21-14. The Lobos had been outscored 410-113 in their nine losses. I still want to know what kind of shenanigans were going on back in September when 19 1/2 point favorite Hawaii was beaten by UNLV 40-20?
Five points? Really?
The 4-5 Mizzou Tigers got a measure of revenge on the team that has basically broken up the Big-12. The #16 ranked Texas Longhorns rolled into Columbia Missouri riding high. They had run for nearly 900-yards in the past two games. Not today, the Mizzou defense rose to the occasion, holding Texas to just 76-yards on the ground & were only in the redzone once in the game. Texas RB Fozzy Whitaker sustained what looked to be a knee injury & Missouri's Henry Josey tore his ACL, MCL & PCL in the third quarter. He was the nation's 5th leading rusher & led the Big-12 before this very serious injury. He may not be ready to play next season, but here's hoping he'll be back in black & gold soon.
Stanford doesn't have the speed to play with Oregon or the proper cleats.
How do you play on your home field & not have the proper footwear to stay on your feet? I never saw such one-sided slipping & sliding in one game in my life. The Stanford receivers & DB's were falling down every play for the entire game, they looked like they were on ice skates. Oregon was too, for about one series & then they changed to longer spikes & swoosh, they were off to the races. The Ducks were so much faster than Stanford & sure handed. The Cardinal dropped way too many passes & lost three fumbles. The loss could dampen Andrew Luck's hopes of winning the Heisman Trophy. He threw for three TD's but was charged with 2 interceptions, one his fault, one that was not. He was also minus his two leading receivers for the entire game. I think the race just got a little more interesting. If Oregon can handle visiting USC next Saturday night, they will win the PAC-12 North, assuring them of a spot in the first-ever conference championship game.
No one wants to win the PAC-12 South, except for the Trojans & they can't.
As I'm finishing this post I have the Arizona State-Washington State game on & once again the Sun Devils are blowing their opportunity to clinch the PAC-12 South. Wazzu is leading by 10 with less than 2-minutes to play. After UCLA was hammered by conference newcomer Utah, 31-6, ASU had a chance to clinch. But it wasn't to be & it could spell the end of the Dennis Erickson era in Tempe. USC would've won this division easily but they're on the 2nd year of a post season ban thanks to Reggie Bush, his parents & the NCAA.
Not a dry eye this morning at Beaver Stadium.
In a scene like I'd never witnessed, the run up to kickoff between Nebraska & Penn State was something I'll always remember. Both teams came to the center of the field & went to their knees, led in prayer by Nebraska's team chaplain. The prayers were for the victims of sexual abuse & their families. As the ESPN cameras panned around the stadium, there wasn't a dry eye in the place. The agony the Penn State football program, university & their fans have gone thru this past week came flowing out in an emotional display by over 100,000 people. It lasted for nearly 5 minutes. The players shook hands, patted each other on the back, then returned to their sideline to prepare for kickoff. Penn State moved the ball well on their first possession but came up empty, they didn't threaten to score until late in the third quarter. They weren't so flat, they just aren't very good offensively & it showed. No matter how hard they tried, they just weren't a good matchup against the Cornhuskers. Today, for the first time, people around the nation could feel the obvious pain felt by the Penn State community. I've been very tough on the university's administration & the Nittany Lion coaching staff but not their players, who saw their senior day ruined & their fans who openly wept. I'm sure many of these people felt guilty even tho they had absolutely nothing to cause these events. But it was clear, the message reached most everyone, children were harmed because their leaders failed to lead. Let's hope & pray it never happens like this again.
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