Great Day for College Football

[MWM]

What a great college football day. Lots of good games, lots of meaningful games.

We learned a couple of things about Ohio State, even though I wouldn't consider this a real test. First, we learned that the defense is more vulnerable than some thought. There were times in the game where Wisconsin moved it pretty easily. Second, we learned that they're capable of bouncing back after some adversity. After the 3 and out following Wisconsin's go ahead TD, I was seeing 1998 Michigan State all over again. Boy was I wrong. They completely took over the game with theri O and D lines and dominated a decent Wisconsin team from there on out.

Folks, LSU is not THAT good. I'm not suggesting they're a bad team or that there are a lot of teams better, but they're not the juggernaut many thought they would be. They're incredibly undisciplined as a team and Les Miles is, well, just insane. Seriously! I think the guy is whacko. They're capable of beating anyone in the country with the talent they have, but they're also capable of losing to a lot of teams they should beat. I don't think they're well coached and they've been INCREDIBLY lucky to squeak out a few of their victories (see incredibly boneheaded play by Albama QB to ive them the ball on the 3 yard line). I wouldn't at all be surprised to see them falter at some point to a team they should easily beat (like UK). I just don't have any faith in their coaching.

And I know I've said this before, but it bears repeating. University of Michigan - run fast away from Miles. You want not part of that psycho. There's a reason why he's not very popular in Baton Rouge. I think he's exposed himself this year, so I don't see them making a run at him. But if they do, it's going to be a long few years in Ann Arbor.

I don't think anyone can stop Oregon's offense. They're just too good. Now, the defense isn't very good, so it's possible to outscore them. But if you want to play with them, you better be ready for a shootout. They're that good.

Dennis Dixon is the Heisman winner. Period. It shouldn't even be a close vote. There's no one else I can think of worth voting for.

It's nice to see Michigan State is still Michigan State, even with D'Antonio. Once again, they lose a game they had well in hand. That team should never play with a lead. There's must be something in the water there in East Lansing that makes them fold once they have a game in hand.

Michael Hart is a special football player and, in my mind, is a great representation of all what college football is about. The guys plays with such a passion that's rare. And his balance is off the charts unreal. The play of the game today that allowed Michigan to sustain their final drive was a play where Mallett fumbled and he picked it up, completely dodged Spartan defender and wound up with a first down. It's was an amazing play, and I doubt Michigan wins the game had they lost that fumble; or even if they hadn't gotten that first down.

As always, Oklahoma is the most over-rated team in the nation.

I'm officially tired of the whining about the east coast bias. I was watching the Oregon-ASU game and the announcer was going on and on about how unfair it was for players on the west coast never getting the exposure they need to get a fair shot at the Heisman. Last time I checked, 3 of the last 6 Heisman winners were from the Pac-10. Stop crying about bias. And it looks like this year will be 4 out of 7.

What a train wreck in Nebraska. Callahan is also a little nuts. Actually, he's a LOT nuts. Goes to show that getting to one Super Bowl doesn't make you a great coach. It also shows that getting an NFL coach doesn't always work (see Pitt for exhibit B, Georgia Tech for Exhibit C, Virginia for D). It's too bad because there are no better college football fans than in Lincoln, Nebraska. They deserve better.

For all the talk about weak schedules in the Big 10, SEC powerhouses played Tenesse Tech and Troy today. And Georgia struggled a bit against them. Troy gained 485 yards of offense and scored 34 points. I thought this didn't happen in the SEC. I thought they had so much speed, no one else was supposed to be able to play with them.

What if Kansas goes undefeated? It's really not that much of a stretch. They have to play Oklahoma State and Missouri, but they could win both of those game. Then they'll likely play Oklahoma in the conference championship game. And we all know that Oklahoma is more than capable of losing in big games. I still don't think it will happen, but it wouldn't be shocking if it did. But if they do, I don't see how they don't play for the National championship. Other than the Buckeyes playing for the title, there's nothing I'd rather see more than a Kansas - BC national title game. Looks like BC won't make it through the night, but a guy can hope.

This is the year the Wolverines beat OSU. Mark it down. There's no way Mike Hart loses 4 times to the Buckeyes. It's in Ann Arobr. Manningham is finally looking like Manningham and OSU is vulnerable to the run. My prediction is a close game, but Hart will put on a clinic of how to take over a game as a tailback. He'll go down as one of the greatest Michigan RBs in their storied history.

How can Notre Dame be THIS bad? I'm not kidding. I think everyone knew it would be a down year. I have a lot of ND fan friends and they all knew it as well. I figured they'd be a game or two under .500, but for the love of all that is holy, how could this ever happen at ND. The general consensus among Irish faithful is that this is the residue of just how bad at recruiting Willingham was. The ND junior and senior class is almost completely devoid of talent. How much of the blame falls on Weis? I've always been of the mind that Weis was a really good coach and I don't understand how he could have forgotten how to coach in the off season. So I'm inclined to give him the benfit of the doubt simply because the last two years they looked like a well coached team. But is the talent really THIS bad? He's put himself in a situation where he MUST show some serous improvement next year, or he's going to have to go. But apparently, they continue to sign blue chip recruits. This is supposedly one of the top recruiting classes ND has had in a long time. It's also the #1 recruting class in the country. We'll see.

I don't like Nick Saban one bit. But he's going to have Alabama back as a big time contender REAL soon. I hope I'm wrong, but the guy can coach.

Speaking of recruiting, how can Michigan's class be rated ahead of Ohio State's pretty much every year, yet OSU continues to have the better teams? That also begs the question, there are certain teams that seem to have top 5 recruting classes every year, but rarely are they top tier teams. How does that happen?

And finally, boy do I love college football.

[WMR]

Someone find Puffy and Razor and talk them down off the bridge.

[WMR]

Let's top it all off with the over-rated BC Eagles losing to Gentleman Bowden and his Florida State Seminoles.

[Hoosier Red]

And Indiana gets their 6th win(scheduling genius to put the final MACrifice this late in the season)
It may not be enough, but for the first time since before I went to IU, the Hoosiers will not have a losing season.

[OnBaseMachine]

MWM, agreed about Oregon's offense. They are incredibly good, the best in the country IMO. However, injuries to killing them. Backup RB Jeremiah Johnson is out for the season, along with 2nd and 3rd WR's Brian Paysinger and Cameron Colvin. 4th WR Derrick Jones is also hurt but should be back next week. Dixon got banged up tonight but it appears to be minor. Their depth at WR is very thin now, they've already pulled the redshirt off three WR's (Scott, Davis, and Pflugrad). We'll see how this affects them down the road.

[OnBaseMachine]

One other thing: Those Heisman all came from USC. SC gets a ton of national exposure, unlike the othe nine Pac-10 teams. And you can plame Pac-10 commish Tom Hansen for that. His TV contract is horrible, they need to get some sort of TV contract with ESPN like the Big-10 has.

[GoReds33]

I really hope that today's win will propel the Bearcats back into contention for the Big East title. This is a season that can make or break a program. If they continue winning they will pick up better prospects. Just look at the prospects lists on some of the recruiting websites. Since the start of the year, as they got better, the prospects got better and better on some of the websites. This is a season that really excites me for the future of UC football.

[Chip R]

I'm beginning to think Les Miles has a horseshoe and a 4 leaf clover with him 24/7 cause they have been really lucky this year.

I think the Heisman's Dixon's to lose. About the Pac 10, I think a problem is that a lot of their games start really late at night so they don't get the attention the schools in the east do.

The folks in Lincoln, NE are not too happy these days. And it couldn't happen to a better school. That 70 points Kansas put up was swee revenge for all the times Nebrasa used to beat the Kansases and the K-States and the Iowa States and the Missouris and the Oklahoma States of the world 72-3 back in the day. I'd be a little surprised if Callahan were fired before the end of the year but there's no way he keeps his job after this year. My prediction is that they bring back former Husker QB Turner Gill in to restore the tradition.

And here's to my alma mater, the #1 FCS team in the land, the Universty of Northern Iowa Panthers for capturing their 13th Gateway Conference championship today. One team. One goal.

[paintmered]

Originally Posted by GoReds33

I really hope that today's win will propel the Bearcats back into contention for the Big East title. This is a season that can make or break a program. If they continue winning they will pick up better prospects. Just look at the prospects lists on some of the recruiting websites. Since the start of the year, as they got better, the prospects got better and better on some of the websites. This is a season that really excites me for the future of UC football.

With ND losing again, maybe some of those GCL kids would like to return to Cincinnati?

TEAM		CONF. W-L	OVERALL W-L
Connecticut	4-0		8-1
West Virginia	2-1		7-1
Cincinnati	2-2		7-2
Louisville	2-2		5-4
Pittsburgh	2-2		4-5
Rutgers		2-3		5-4
South Florida	1-3		6-3
Syracuse	1-3		2-7

UConn and WVU have yet to play. UC plays UConn and WVU the next two weekends. Conceivably, if WVU beats UConn (which they probably will) and UC wins beats both, UC and WVU will have tied for the Big East title. Since UC would have the head-to-head victory, they'd win the conference. UC does control their own destiny. But so does UConn and WVU.

However, I haven't seen anything that suggests UC will actually beat West Virginia. UC beat UConn at their place last year in a close game.

[dman]

As far as OSU goes, Todd Boeckman looked to be improving, that is until today's game. Beanie Wells was clearly the savior of this one, as far as the offense is concerned. I do think that Boeckman is one of the best QB's that OSU has had in pocket situations in quite some time, and the guy has a cannon of an arm, but at 6'5", he looks like Shrek running a football.

[Sea Ray]

As a fan, Big Ten football is boring to me. I'm talking about the competition of the season not game calling, coaching etc.

Every year it's OSU and Mich and no one else. Once again it'll all come down to that meaningful game the week before Thanksgiving. In other conferences the top team loses once or twice making many games key to winning the title. In the Big Ten is there really any reason to watch these games other than OSU-Mich? Todays intra-state game between MSU and MI was good but it really didn't mean anything. Even if MSU pulled off the upset it was still going to come down to OSU-MI in a couple weeks. Ditto for Wisc-OSU.

In the SEC and PAC 10 different games every week effect the SEC race. Some weeks it involved KY, some involved LSU, on and on. But in the Big Ten what game really means anything other than OSU-MI?

[MWM]

I'd really rather not rehash the whole Big Ten - SEC thing for the 1,237,934 time. It's been done enough times, we could all just go re-read one of those threads.

[OnBaseMachine]

Well, the refs are at it again tonight. FSU is up 20-10 on BC with 8 minutes left in the game. BC had a 3rd and 4 at and completed a pass to the TE. He was CLEARLY a yard shy of the first down but the ref gave him a very favorable spot and the first down. It should have been 4th and 1. Next play they throw a bomb for first and goal and then get a TD. Once again the refs blow a huge call. Referring continues to get worse and worse.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by MWM

I'd really not rehash the whole Big Ten - SEC thing. It's been done enough times, we could all just go re-read one of those threads.

Yeah, I'm not interested in rehashing it either. I'm with you there. I'm not trying to even get into which conference has better teams. I'm just saying as a fan I don't find watching OSU-Wisc as compelling as LSU-Alabama.

[OldRightHander]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

Yeah, I'm not interested in rehashing it either. I'm with you there. I'm not trying to even get into which conference has better teams. I'm just saying as a fan I don't find watching OSU-Wisc as compelling as LSU-Alabama.

I can see were you're coming from as a fan of the game in general, but I'm one of those sports fans with a favorite in every sport and I will more often than not watch that favorite play over any other game that might be a more compelling matchup. So while there may be other games on that will be more competitive or more entertaining, I'll watch the Bucks every time. When they're not on, though, I will tend to gravitate toward whatever game offers the most entertainment value, or I will channel surf looking for one that's close.