by naternet December 4, 2011
Well, That Happened 2011 - BCS Edition

So it’s a rematch. 

Never mind that Alabama already lost to LSU. 

Never mind that Alabama didn’t win their division.

Never mind that Alabama didn’t play in their conference title game. 

Never mind that only three of Alabama’s wins came against teams that ended the season with a winning record. 

Never mind that Oklahoma State beat seven teams who ended the season with a winning record.

Never mind that there are 119 other teams in the FBS. Some of them even deserving of a shot at the national title, despite not being named Alabama.

Never mind that, in five of the seven computer rankings, Oklahoma State was #2. It was the human voters who found it necessary to keep the ‘Pokes at #3, despite the ass-whipping they handed to #10 Oklahoma. What highly ranked team did Alabama beat this week? Oh yeah, that’s right, they didn’t play anyone. They were eliminated from their own conference title game. Curious…

Despite all of those factors, it’s going to be LSU v. Alabama in New Orleans on January 9th. Oklahoma State is going to have to settle for Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl. Andrew Luck doesn’t have the horses to outscore the Cowboys and Stanford’s defense isn’t fast enough to stay with Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon and Joseph Randle. 

So, where are we if Alabama beats LSU close in January? They would end the season 1-1 head to head. Do they share the national title? If Okie State blows the doors off Stanford, do they have a claim at the title? Is there any way I can talk myself into not hating this matchup? Probably not. Let’s stop talking about it.

Giving a cursory look at the remainder of the bowl schedule, here are some big questions I have:

1. Arkansas State v. Northern Illinois in the GoDaddy dot com Bowl is going to be a fun matchup. Lots of points and excitement.

2. UCLA v. Illinois in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is the exact opposite of fun and exciting. In fact, it’s the poster child for those who complain that there are too many bowl games. Neither of these teams deserves to play another game and we certainly don’t deserve to suffer through it. 

3. Wisconsin v. Oregon in the Rose Bowl should be a very good game. Two well-rounded teams that are well-coached. Great matchup.

4. Ohio State v. Florida in the Gator Bowl is an abomination. Heaven help the poor souls who attend/watch this one.

5. Texas A&M has no business playing in a bowl. For that matter the following teams should not have received bowl bids at all, in my opinion - Texas A&M, UCLA, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi State.

6. TCU and Boise State are going to make mincemeat of their opponents, Louisiana Tech and Arizona State, respectively. 

7. Washington v. Baylor in the Alamo Bowl could be a very interesting undercard bowl game. If Keith Price and Chris Polk can keep up with RGIII and the Baylor offense, that is.

8. Not bowl-related, but Robert Griffin III deserves the Heisman. If I had a ballot, it would read - RGIII, Tyrann Matheiu, Montee Ball, Andrew Luck, Trent Richardson. Mathieu was a game-changer like none other, despite not playing offense. Montee Ball had a slightly better season in total yards than Trent Richardson and happened to score 12 more TDs than him. Will he be a better NFL back? Who knows, but he was better this year.

Griffin had multiple Heisman moments this season, from the opening game all the way through the thrashing of Texas. The fact that he plays for Baylor doesn’t matter. If he doesn’t win, the Heisman means even less than I previously thought and we should probably start ignoring it.

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: text--

--Tagged under: wrapup--

by naternet December 3, 2011
My Best Guesses 2011: Championship Week

I know I’m late on this again. I also know that I didn’t get a chance to pick the Pac-12 championship game. Oh well. UCLA made it a little more interesting than people thought it would be, but I chalk that up to Oregon completely overlooking them.

Let’s go to the conference title games as well as two Big 12 games that really matter; Bedlam- which has BCS title game implications and the Texas/Baylor game- which has Heisman implications.

Last week: 3-2 / All-time: 123-68

No. 24 Southern Miss at No. 6 Houston - I don’t think the Cougs trip up here. It would be fitting if they did, but Case Keenum is a veteran leader and he knows what’s at stake here. 

Houston wins, 45-31


No. 22 Texas at No. 17 Baylor - RGIII has been cleared to play in what could be an ugly game. Texas plays good defense and should be able to get pressure on Griffin and slow the game down to help their inept offense stay in it when they face Baylor’s awful defense. Still, I think Griffin has another “Heisman moment.”

Baylor wins, 27-21


No. 14 Georgia vs. No. 1 LSU - Can Georgia play David to LSU’s Goliath? It doesn’t seem likely, but I’d be damned if I don’t want to see it happen. So let’s go ahead and pick Georgia. They have a solid defense and an emerging offense.

Georgia wins (somehow), 24-22


No. 10 Oklahoma at No. 3 Oklahoma State - Bedlam. This one is simple. If Okie State wins convincingly, they will have a good shot at the BCS title game. If Oklahoma wins or keeps it close, well…

Okie State wins, 45-24


No. 5 Virginia Tech vs. No. 20 Clemson - Clemson won earlier in the year, 23-3. I don’t think that happens again. Frank Beamer’s teams always play better as the year goes on and Clemson has been sliding for the past few weeks. It’s awful tough to bounce back against that Hokie defense.

Virginia Tech wins, 31-13


No. 15 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 Michigan State - The first matchup between these two teams was a classic. I expect this one to be a classic, too. This time, Wisconsin finishes the job.

Wisconsin wins, 27-20

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: picks--

by naternet November 27, 2011
So, That Happened 2011 - Week Thirteen

I give up. 

The #2 team in the BCS has been eliminated from it’s conference championship game. As has the #4 team in the BCS. The #3 team doesn’t even have to play in a conference title game. Meanwhile, the #1 team in the land has to play in their conference title game and win just to hold on to their ranking. 

How is this not a broken system? The conferences have title games, but getting to those games has no bearing whatsoever upon rankings, apparently. Alabama, who lost at home to LSU, could leapfrog the Tigers if LSU somehow loses to Georgia in the SEC title game. Even without that gift, the Tide has a good shot at playing in the national title game, despite being beaten at home and eliminated from their own conference title game. 

The fuck?

LSU is handicapped due to their excellence. They’re putting in jeopardy their #1 ranking for something that has no bearing whatsoever upon the BCS race. Stanford is ranked ahead of the team that eliminated them from contention for their conference title, Oregon.

None of this makes any sense. Nor is it fair. 

On the flipside, the Big East’s automatic qualifier for a BCS bowl may well be 7-5 Louisville. Meanwhile, 10-1 Boise State has to hope for an at-large bid.

This system is broken. It needs to be fixed. People across the college football landscape have been screaming this for years, but it’s even more true this year and it’s only going to get worse. 

With the 2011 season all over but the shouting (and there will be plenty of shouting), we have just a scant few games left for things to shake themselves out. But from my point of view, it’s been a disappointing, rough season marred by scandal, investigations, sub-par play, lack of parity, and likely a unsatisfying outcome. LSU/Bama rematch? Yeah, I’ll watch it, but I’m not going to enjoy it. 

Never the less, here are some things I learned this weekend.

  • Friday’s games are all a haze of leftover stuffing and pie. I’m not too convinced that I actually missed anything. 
  • Saturday’s rivalry games were almost all blowouts. What a way to end the season…
  • Michigan/Ohio State was actually worth watching. Who knew?
  • Notre Dame finally looks like they’ve made the switch to Andrew Hendrix at QB over Tommy Rees. Too bad they didn’t make that decision before they found themselves down 21-0…
  • The most intriguing game of the weekend happened while most of you were in a turkey-induced coma, with Texas A&M sticking to the script and collapsing in the second half.  Well done, guys.
  • We still have no idea who the Heisman frontrunner should be, but it looks like Andrew Luck, Trent Richardson and Robert Griffin III are locks to be invited to NYC in a few weeks. Montee Ball disapproves, but then again, he’s probably still scoring a TD somewhere…
  • I will be spending the next few weeks watching FCS playoffs, because I enjoy seeing moderately competent football, especially when the teams are actually playing for a real title instead of an imaginary one. Watch with me, won’t you?

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: text--

by naternet November 22, 2011
My Best Guesses 2011: Week Thirteen

Gobble-gobble. It’s Thanksgiving and this year, we have so much to be thankful for-

  • a BCS system that is in utter chaos
  • Case Keenum putting up silly-ass numbers
  • Lee Corso

…and that’s about it. College football is a mess, the SEC west is atop the BCS, whether we like it or not (NOTNOTNOT!!!) and every other conference in the country is a tire fire of varying dimensions. In fact, outside of LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, and possibly Georgia, you could make the case that the SEC is a tire fire in it’s own right. So if LSU wins on Friday, join me on the LSU vs. Houston in the BCS title game bandwagon. If the 2011 college football season is going to go up in flames, it might as well be spectacular, right?

The chaotic side of me wants Arkansas to win this game, Auburn to beat Alabama, Virginia to beat VaTech, and Notre Dame to beat Stanford, just to throw the whole BCS system one step further into the abyss. Sure, you might be thinking that there’s no way all those upsets could happen in a single week, but you were probably thinking that before last week’s Top 10 slaughter, too. I think if the same happened this week, Rece Davis’ head might pop off. 

Since there’s food to be eaten, friends and family to be thankful for, and food to be eaten, let’s get to the picks, shall we?

Last week: 2-3 / All-time: 120-66

No. 3 Arkansas at No. 1 LSU - Like I stated earlier, I really want to pick Arkansas in this game. Chaos at all costs! But in reality, I simply don’t see Tyler Wilson having enough time to find all of his talented receivers, as good as they are. And unless Knile Davis miraculously comes back, their run game isn’t going to factor for much.

LSU wins, 19-14


No. 2 Alabama at No. 24 Auburn - Auburn can’t stop the run and their offense is a sloppy mess at times. Trent Richardson coud very well eat them alive.

Alabama wins, 31-10


No. 19 Penn State at No. 16 Wisconsin - Nopenopenopenopenope. Penn State has a damn good defense, but not this good. And their offense is bad enough to be stopped consistently by Wisky’s average D. Plus, Camp Randall in November. Those cheese-fed kids never get cold and they can yell like the dickens.

Wisconsin wins, 23-10

No. 5 Virginia Tech at Virginia - I’m on the Mike London bandwagon. I just am. I can’t help it. 

Virginia wins, 24-21


No. 22 Notre Dame at No. 6 Stanford - Okay, so bear with me as I try to rationalize my dereliction of sanity. I think Notre Dame has a shot at winning this game in Palo Alto. I really do. They might have to play out of their minds to do so, but I think they could win Saturday night. They have a very solid offensive line and Stanford doesn’t have a great defense agains the pass - allowing 240 yards a game and only picking off 4 passes on the season - even if their rush defense is solid. If Notre Dame is going to win this game, they are going to need a few long runs from Cierre Wood to keep them honest. Otherwise, Stanford may just pin their ears back all game long. Wood is capable of giving them those runs and I wouldn’t be shocked if George Atkinson wouldn’t break one or two himself.

If the Irish can get enough pressure on Luck and continue to be solid against the run, they could slow Stanford down just enough to get an advantage for the offense.

Irish win, 35-31

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: picks--

by naternet November 21, 2011
Heisman Talk: Darkhorses Abound

Much has been made over the past few weeks, once the BCS started to go into the crapper, that we don’t have a clear Heisman trophy front-runner this year. For awhile, it was Stanford’s golden boy, Andrew Luck. Then it was Alabama’s bruising Trent Richardson. After that, the talk was all about 28 year old gunslinger Brandon Weedon from Okie State. Peppered around these mentions were LaMichael James, Montee Ball, Justin Blackmon, and so on. No one college football pundit seems to have their finger on just who should be leading the Heisman talk. And this helps perpetuate more Heisman talk about the fact that there is no leader for the Heisman. 

Sigh…

So, into this abyss I might as well cast my line, too. Not that I have any particular insight that people who follow college football for a living might not have. I’m just a fan who watched countless hours of football every week in the fall and occasionally likes to blather on about what I’ve observed. From time to time, I’ve been known to get lucky and be correct. 

The Heisman Trophy is awarded to “the outstanding college football player whose performance most exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity.” In short, it’s awarded to the player who is the most outstanding college football player for that particular year. Not the most hyped. Not the player with the most wins. Not the best player on the best team. THE MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL.

That’s a broad definition, to say the least. What I might consider outstanding might be average or expected by someone else. For me, a player can be outstanding and not be on a top team. The Heisman is not a team award, although good leadership is certainly a quality of an outstanding player. 

Right now, if I had to pick five players that have impressed me the most this season, my list would probably go something like this:

Robert Griffin III, QB Baylor

Chander Harnish, QB Northern Illinois

Colin Klein, QB Kansas State

Montee Ball, RB Wisconsin

Kellen Moore, QB Boise State

These are the players I’ve been most impressed with this season and here’s why-

Robert Griffin III - Every time Baylor steps onto the field, no matter who they are facing, RGIII is likely the best football player out there. Playing on a team with next to no defense, he has been counted on to put up ridiculous numbers week in and week out just to win games, and he’s delivered. Even in Baylor’s three losses, he’s been stunning. If you had to pick a QB that could be inserted into just about any offensive scheme in the country and thrive, it’d be RGIII. 

Chander Harnish - Unless you’ve been taking in the hot MACtion on Tuesday and Wednesday nights recently, you might not know who Chandler Harnish is. But his numbers speak for themselves - 2600 yards passing, 1200 rushing, 32 total touchdowns and only 4 interceptions. He’s the only QB in the country to record a 200+ yard passing AND rushing game this season. In my book, he’s right up there with Robert Griffin in terms of versatility and competitive fire. Too bad he has no shot of being invited to the Heisman ceremony…

Colin Klein - 25 rushing touchdowns, 11 passing. Klein has accounted for 2600 of K-State’s 3762 yards from scrimmage this year. That’s 70% of their total offense. Not to mention all but 5 of their offensive touchdowns. If you watch a Wildcats game, all you see if Klein running and passing them to victory, time and time again. If that’s not outstanding, I don’t know what is.

Montee Ball - 30 total touchdowns. 30. 3-0. Add to that 1700+ yards from scrimmage and two 200+ yard games this year and you have another guy who at least deserves a mention in the Heisman race. 

Kellen Moore - Kellen Moore is this year’s Colt McCoy - a player who has had a spectacular career, is a consummate leader and competitor and puts up damn fine statistics. Too bad the Heisman isn’t a career award, because he’d have it just about locked up. Moore owns the NCAA record for most career wins. Has a total of 25 interceptions thrown for his career. In fact, of his three total losses for his career, the largest margin was three points. The other two games were lost by a single point. That’s how close he’s been to guiding the Broncos to four straight undefeated seasons. That is insane. 

This year, with a hodge-podge of receivers, he’s still thrown for 2915 with 35TDs and only 6 INTs, while completing 73.8% of his passes. He may not be the most athletic guy on the field, but because of his cunning, preparedness and smarts, he’s often the most imposing. 

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: heisman--

by naternet November 20, 2011
So, That Happened 2011 - Week Twelve

Almost on cue, the season starts to get wackier and wackier. Wacky enough to kill a horse, even. Wait, that doesn’t make sense. Aww, fuck it. 

From the early week MACtion that kept the smattering of crowds at the games on the edge of their seats - 41-38 Northern Illinois comeback, 29-28 Ohio win with a field goal as time expired, and Western Michigan’s 24-21 win. 

It didn’t stop there, either. Thursday night’s undercard games featured 34-31 and 23-22 final scores. North Carolina almost came back against VaTech, too, losing 24-21. 

And then we have the Okie State’s loss to Iowa State on Friday night, 37-31 in 2OT and it just snowballed from there. 

Oregon lost, Clemson got smoked, so did Nebraska, Baylor triumphed over Oklahoma at home, Arizona beat Arizona State, Virginia went into Doak Campbell and beat FSU. Oh yeah, and Cal nearly nipped Stanford. 

We had the BCS #2, 4, 5, 7, 16, 20, and 25 all lose on the same weekend. Great googily moogily. What does this mean for the BCS? (hint: things done got fucked) Where is our Heisman frontrunner? (hint: there is none) What the sam hell is going on? 

The way things stand right now, the BCS 1-2-3 will probably be LSU-Bama-Arkansas, which is at best incestuous and at worst a calamity. If the BCS thinks that people want to see another 9-6 snooze-fest, they’re crazy. Sure, we all know that LSU and Bama have been a step above most teams so far this year, but does no one else even get a shot? Every year we keep this screwy system, it keeps making it’s own case for a real playoff.

If Arkansas manages to beat LSU this coming week, it will add even more fuel to the fire. Who is #1 then? Can’t be Bama, because LSU beat them head-to-head. Can’t be Arkansas, because Bama beat them head-to-head. Virginia Tech? Too lax of a schedule. Stanford? The same, plus they got blown out by Oregon, who lost to LSU head-to-head. Boise State? Schedule again. Houston? Schedule AND conference. 

What a fucking mess. 

I suppose that’s my entire summation of the BCS standings right now; what a fucking mess. The only way to figure this season out would be to have an eight team playoff, at least. Throw LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, Stanford, Virginia Tech, Okie State, Virginia Tech, and either Oregon or Boise State into a tournament and let the chips fall where they may.

In any case, here’s eight things I learned from this week in college football.

  1. If you don’t know who Chandler Harnish is, you better find out. Sure, he plays in the MAC, but 2600 yards passing with 22/4 TD to INT ratio and 1200 rushing yards with 10 TDs ain’t no joke. When I roll out my Heisman column in the next few days, he will most likely be on it.
  2. Houston plays the 123rd most difficult schedule in the nation. But Case Keenum is still the boss. 
  3. Continuing the parade of excellent QBs, Robert Griffin III is all sorts of ridiculous, especially when he’s chucking the ball downfield with :51 seconds to go to beat Oklahoma. Worst part is, I have a sneaking suspicion that the NFL is going to try and turn him into Kordell Stewart 2.0. 
  4. U$C continues to ruin college football. First by being insufferable assholes, then by breaking all sorts of rules, and now by knocking off Oregon and leaving a mess near the top of the BCS. Thanks a heap, Trojans. 
  5. My little sister has a prettier throwing motion than Nebraska’s Taylor Martinez. Seriously, every throw that kid makes looks like it’s going into the dirt. It’s painful to watch.
  6. The pundits need to stop talking about Trent Richardson and start recognizing that Montee Ball has 30 TD and has scored 2 TD or more in every game this season. 
  7. It’s been a shitty season, wins-wise for Nick Foles and the Arizona Wildcats, but Foles has certainly played his way into first-round consideration in the 2012 draft. 
  8. How does he do it? Kansas Stat was outgained by Texas, 310-121 and still managed to win. Colin Klein ran 26 times for 4 yards and had 87 total yards, but still scored two TDs. Baffling…

--Tagged under: college football--

by naternet November 19, 2011
My Best Guesses 2011: Week Twelve

Chaos is upon us. Just two undefeated teams remain and only one of them has a legit shot at the title game. Pundits are getting themselves all in a tizzy because there’s no clear Heisman front-runner (I’ll have more on that next week). In the meantime; Joe Paterno has lung cancer, Oklahoma State lost two of their women’s basketball coaches, and just as I type this, Chris Fowler announced that a woman was killed tailgating outside of the Yale Bowl before the Harvard/Yale game. Oof.

How about I just get to the picks?

Last week: 4-1 / All-time: 118-63

No. 16 Nebraska at No. 18 Michigan - Nebraska’s first trip to the Big House as a member of the Big 10(12). Michigan’s defense has been better this year, but I think after that really heavy game last week in Happy Valley, the Big House won’t look so big to the Huskers.

Nebraska wins, 21-17


Boston College at Notre Dame - Could be a complete trap game for the Irish, looking ahead to the Stanford game, but I sure as hell hope not. No excuse for losing to this down of a BC team.

Notre Dame wins, 38-14


USC at No. 4 Oregon - Another trap game, this one post-Stanford. But given USC’s recent losses at Autzen and the fact that this is a night game, if the Ducks come out focused, they’re going to win.

Oregon wins, 37-24


No. 5 Oklahoma at No. 22 Baylor - Nope nope nope for Baylor. Their defense gives swiss cheese a bad name, even if RGIII is amazing week in and week out. No way they stop Oklahoma. 

Oklahoma wins, 45-31


Virginia at No. 25 Florida State - Virginia has been outscored by a ridiculous amount in Tallahassee the past few trips, but Head Coach Mike London has the Cavaliers playing tough football. I think they pull the major upset.

Virginia wins, 28-24

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: picks--

by naternet November 13, 2011
So, That Happened: 2011 Week Eleven

Yesterday brought clarity out of chaos in this college football season. When all the dust fell, only three undefeated teams remain; Oklahoma State, LSU and Houston. Only Okie State and LSU with a chance to play for the BCS title, with Houston simply being Case Keenum’s vehicle to a higher draft spot in the 2012 NFL draft. The logjam has shifted to the one-loss teams, of which there are plenty, eight of them rounding out the Top Ten in the AP Poll released today.

Those one-loss teams aren’t exactly fighting for scraps, either. Oklahoma (9-1) still has it’s sights set on Bedlam with Okie State looming large at the end of the year. LSU faces Arkansas (9-1) on Thanksgiving weekend. VaTech and Clemson each have a shot to improve their chances at an outside shot at the BCS title game, if the chips fall just right. Outside of those teams, the only other with a realistic shot at the title game are Oregon and Alabama, which would be perfect for fans of rematches.

Outside of the always-shifting Top 10, Penn State lost to Nebraska at home in the first game post-Paterno and post-Sandusky scandal. It was an odd scene in Happy Valley and a sloppy first half wasn’t much of a shock at all. The Nittany Lions showed fight in the second half, but came up just short on Senior Day. 

Here’s what I think we learned yesterday:

  1. Oregon has Stanford’s number/Stanford is entirely out of the title race. The Ducks were dominant on both sides of the ball and the game wasn’t as close as the 53-30 score indicates. With a solid showing over the next few weeks, they could work their way back into title contention, as weird as that sounds.
  2. From the “you have to be kidding me” files- Wazzu’s true freshman QB, Connor Halliday, torched the Sun Devils for nearly 500 yards in snowy, rainy Pullman, Washington as the Cougs won their second PAC-12 game of the year, 37-27. Could it be that Paul Wulff is finally turning things around?
  3. Notre Dame could win the ACC, if they belonged there. They housed a second straight ACC team last night, beating Maryland 45-24. Hapless Boston College is up next, with a wounded Stanford team waiting to close out the season. 
  4. Case Keenum laughs at your pass defense, Conference USA.
  5. Boise State needs to find a lock-down kicker soon, or just go for two every time. The 36-35 loss to TCU was their second in two seasons decided by a missed field goal. Ouch.
  6. After their second shootout in as many weeks, Kansas State has shown that they’re not just a plodding team that is easily taken down by high-scoring offenses. Oh yeah, Colin Klein is pretty good, too. 
  7. The Munchie Legeaux era at Cincinnati is going to at least be a lot of fun to talk about. Get well soon, Zach Collaros.
  8. Baylor is very lucky to have Robert Griffin III when facing such big-time opponents as…Kansas?

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: recap--

by naternet November 11, 2011
My Best Guesses 2011: Week Eleven

So, yet another week where I’m under the gun, time-wise and will sadly have no further insight into this weekend of college football (or the ongoing Sandusky/Penn State mess, as if you need more of that…) for you this week. I’m sure you’re devastated. Please try to hold it together. I hate to see you this way. It’s okay, it’s okay, please don’t be so sad. I’ll make it up to you next week, baby…

Last week: 5-0 / All-time: 114-62

No. 19 Nebraska at No. 12 Penn State - Remember that this is just a football game. 

Nebraska wins, 23-13

No. 2 Oklahoma State at Texas Tech - As much as a Tech upset would make sense here, I just don’t see it happening. Weedon, Blackmon, and crew are locked in. 

Oklahoma State wins, 52-38


No. 20 Auburn at No. 15 Georgia - Since it further muddies the SEC’s second-class citizens (that is- every team that isn’t LSU or Alabama), I think Auburn takes down Georgia.

Auburn wins, 31-23


Maryland vs. Notre Dame -Maryland has been a mess at points this year. They’re ranked near the bottom of the nation in scoring offense and defense. They’ve stuck with a few better teams, like Clemson and West Virginia, but they have been less competitive lately. I don’t see that changing against the Irish.

Notre Dame wins, 35-16


No. 7 Oregon at No. 4 Stanford - Stanford barely escaped USC a few weeks ago. Oregon is a faster, more dynamic offense than the Trojans by far and I think the Ducks defense can match up with and create havoc. At least enough to hold down Andrew Luck for a enough series to get the win.

Oregon wins, 38-30

--Tagged under: college football--

--Tagged under: picks--

by naternet November 8, 2011
Paterno

One of my first vivid memories of college football is the Snow Bowl, the 1992 game at Notre Dame Stadium between the Irish and the Penn State Nittany Lions. At the time, my love for Notre Dame football was still in it’s infancy. I had only been watching college football for a few years, catching games here and there after Saturday morning cartoons were over.

The game was the weekend after my 13th birthday. I was officially a teenager. It was cold and snowing outside my parents’ house in northern Minnesota; one of those lazy winter Saturdays, perfect for cozying up with a good book, working on a jigsaw puzzle or settling in for some late-season college football.

The game was an epic struggle and as the snow fell heavier and heavier, my respect for the Nittany Lions grew, but I was still pulling for Notre Dame. With just four minutes left, Penn State scored and took the lead. Scoring had been at a minimum all afternoon and the chances that Notre Dame could come back were slim. But they did. A gutsy drive capped by a TD toss to Jerome Bettis and a 2pt conversion heave to Reggie Brooks solidified my love of the Irish. It was magic. 

I will never forgot the immense respect I found for the Penn State players and their venerable coach, Joe Paterno. The shot of him on the sidelines after Brooks’ amazing diving grab to give Notre Dame the lead (pictured above) epitomized the game of football for me. Just a shrug and a “damn…guess that’s how it goes” look on his face said so much. It reinforced that this was just a game, even with how large and important every play had seemed, it was just a game and there would be other games. Losing wasn’t the end of the world, especially when you lost with dignity and class.

So much of that is gone, now. So much of that dignity and class is lost.

The allegations against former Penn State player and coach Jerry Sandusky that came to light over this past weekend and Joe Paterno’s involvement (or lack thereof) sully him forever in the eyes of not just college football fans, but in the eyes of the world. He flat-out abdicated responsibility when informed of the perversions of Sandusky.

He did what he was legally required to, immediately informing the higher-ups at the university, but he failed to do what he morally should have once it was clear that the university was not going to take proper action. He didn’t call the police. He didn’t do everything he should have to ensure that Sandusky, a man whom he had known for over 50 years, didn’t abuse another young boy in a similar manner. 

Of course, all of the blame shouldn’t fall on JoePa’s shoulders. The Penn State administration failed more than once to take proper action after being informed of prior incidents involving Sandusky. By doing so, they enabled and sheltered an accused sex offender, despite numerous first-hand reports. One can only assume that they did so to save face and protect the university, instead of protecting the defenseless young boys that Sandusky is alleged to have abused. 

But as the face of the university for more than half a century, as a man who always stressed honor and accountability over everything else, Paterno should have done more. He was obligated because of his position to do more. That he didn’t do more mars his entire legacy. It calls into question how dedicated he truly was to honor and accountability. It shouldn’t, but it does. It just does. 

And it’s sad, in a way. Not nearly as sad as what is alleged to have happened to those poor boys, of course. But it tarnishes the past 60 years of college football. It tarnishes Penn State University as an institution. It tarnishes Penn State football and athletics. It tarnishes every single member of the Penn State administration and athletic department who knew and did nothing, who suspected and looked away, who saw Jerry Sandusky around the program for years after accusations were made and waved or said “hi,” who treated him with respect when they had reason to believe that he deserved none. 

It’s sad that a man who, let’s face it, is Penn State football. A man who owns so many records, who has made good, morally upright citizens out of the boys that he recruited into the Penn State program, is going to leave the game that he gave so much to in such a way.

Joe Paterno, in not making the proper moral decisions, made his bed and he has to lie in it. That’s the most disappointing part. This was a failure on the part of so many others, but it was also a failure of Joe Paterno to live up to the ideals that he stood for and instilled in so many young men. He failed to be the man that he encouraged them to be. He failed to be the person that he held himself up to be. To me, that’s incredibly sad. 

The only way to even come close to making things right is to burn it all down and start from scratch. Get rid of all the administrators even remotely connected to these incidents. Get rid of the entire football staff, especially Paterno and Mike McQueary, who as a grad assistant in 2002 witnessed Sandusky sexually assaulting a ten year old boy and yet stayed with the program to this day after nothing was done to Sandusky. How a person could know about or witness such a heinous act, see the institution do nothing about it and not only not take the matter to the authorities, but continue to work for that institution is beyond my mental capacity. I almost have more contempt for McQueary than I have for Paterno and Curley and the other members of the administration who did nothing.

The whole place needs to be scrubbed clean before all else. In fact, canceling the remainder of the season shouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility. No one should be cheering on a program that stood by while young boys were being abused. No one should cheer for Joe Paterno. No one should celebrate what will likely be his final game in Happy Valley this Saturday. It’s just not right. 

It’s just a game. What is a game compared to the lives ruined by the actions of Sandusky, Penn State and Paterno?

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by naternet November 6, 2011
So, That Happened - 2011 Week 10

Wow. What a day. It had everything; upsets, gritty games by underdogs, a titanic defensive struggle, a surprising shootout, and some top teams just taking care of business. Easily the best weekend of football so far this year, in my opinion. It may just take more than just eight numbers to encapsulate what we learned from yesterday’s games. 

  1. Alabama and LSU should NOT rematch in the BCS title game. While that was an epic defensive struggle, the offenses weren’t up to par. Both were averaging around 39 per game and they did nothing against each other. I’m very curious to see what an offense like Okie State or Stanford could do against that Tiger defense.
  2. Arkansas isn’t perfect, but they’re good enough to get the job done against a clearly depleted South Carolina team. Tyler Wilson is a gamer. 
  3. Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald really does deserve a look by some teams looking for a new head coach. Northwestern isn’t that great, but they’re gritty. That’s an extension of their coach. They’ve been depleted by injury and have still been in most games they’ve played this year.
  4. Same goes for Vanderbilt’s James Franklin. He’s building a group of tough, dedicated players. They just don’t have the depth to hang in the SEC for four quarters yet, but they have been able to put the fear into their opponents. 
  5. Kansas State, ahem, I mean Colin Klein just about took down Oklahoma State. If he can stay in once piece for the rest of this year and next, Kansas State will be in most every game they play. Also, Okie State needs to stop with the matte grey helmets. 
  6. Notre Dame would make a very solid ACC team. That is all.
  7. Boise State continues to win. Kellen Moore captures the record for victories by a starting QB and the Broncos have no shot to play for the national title. Shame. I still think that Chris Peterson and Kellen Moore can play with any team in the nation for one game. Too bad we won’t get to find out…
  8. RGIII and Baylor chipped in their two cents on Mizzou’s exit from the Big 12 for the SEC as Griffin continues to be one of the more consistently excellent QBs in the nation this year. 
  9. Oregon/Stanford is going to be a very, very interesting game next week. 
  10. Don’t look now, but the following teams just made themselves bowl eligible: Rutgers, Tulsa, Ohio, Notre Dame, Iowa, Ball State, Virginia, SMU, and Florida State. 

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by naternet November 4, 2011
My Best Guesses 2011: Week Ten

I’m picking six games, because I refuse not to pick the Notre Dame/Wake Forest matchup, despite the fact that it’s going to be completely buried behind all of the other marquee night games on tap this weekend. So, strap yourselves in, it’s a backloaded schedule on Saturday. 

Seriously, there are very few games worth watching until the night games. It’s kind of ridiculous. Whoever does scheduling should be fired. There is no way people are going to be able to watch South Carolina/Arkansas, LSU/Alabama, Kansas State/Oklahoma, Notre Dame/Wake Forest (not that a ton of fans are going to be watching that, anyway) and still have the energy to tune into the Oregon/Washington game later that night. It’s madness! 

It probably doesn’t help my opinion that I have to work on Saturday nights, so it’s very difficult for me to watch more than one game at a time (via ESPN3 on my laptop).

My personal gripes aside, there are a plethora, yes a plethora, of great games this weekend. After a so-so week nine, we have a real feast staring us in the face this weekend. The LSU/’Bama game aside, it’s going to be a real shake-em-out weekend. Maybe the Top Ten going into week eleven might make a little more sense. 

Let’s get on to the picks!

Last week: 2-3 / All-time: 109-62

Texas A&M at No. 6 Oklahoma - I think the Aggies will come out hot and stay with the Sooners for the first half, but we all know what Texas A&M does in the second half…lose.

Oklahoma wins, 45-24


No. 9 South Carolina at No. 7 Arkansas - This should be one of the underrated matchups of the weekend, thought I think South Carolina simply doesn’t have the horses to keep up with Arkansas. Razorbacks pull away late.

Arkansas wins, 34-20

No. 14 Kansas State at No. 3 Oklahoma State - I love the scrappiness of Bill Snyder’s crew, but there is just no way they keep Justin Blackmon, Joseph Randle, Jeremy Smith and Brandon Weedon in check for a whole game. 

Oklahoma State wins, 54-17

Notre Dame at Wake Forest - This game scares me, but most Notre Dame games scare me this year. Brian Kelly has a very Jekyl and Hyde team on his hands. If the “count on me” mentality has truly taken hold and wasn’t just a flash in the pan against Navy, this game will be over quickly. 

Notre Dame wins, 34-24

No. 1 LSU at No. 2 Alabama - I’m not sure if you all were aware that this game was being played this weekend. There hasn’t been much press about it. Something tells me that LSU’s advantage at the skill positions (namely, wide receiver) will give them a slight edge.

LSU wins, 16-14


No. 8 Oregon at Washington - This intriguing nightcap could end up being the best game of the weekend, in my opinion. Washington has proven to be a tough out, but they also have a very lackluster defense that’s giving up massive yardage on the ground to good running teams. (309 to Nebraska and 446 to Stanford) That is not a good thing against a Ducks team that is averaging over 300 yards per game on the ground. 

Ducks win, 44-30

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