W-I-N, Go for the Win!

NOT: Winners Winning

There needs to be some serious attitude adjustments this week. What happened to the little Davids believing that they could topple the giants? That happened to the cocky teams who are too good to try against pitiful opponents? Where has the upset gone?? If you winners and losers don’t get your minds right, we are in for a really boring finish to the season. What will commentators talk about? I imagine something like this: “Now to today’s college football highlights…..everyone in the top 25 won again. In other riveting news, my mother thinks I’m precious and kittens are cute…….” Do you really want to be responsible for that? Y’all better make a better effort this weekend! 

Hot: Northwestern

Every Wildcat looks forward to the Michigan game, but generally dreams of a win are just that. This weekend Northwestern likely strutted into (and out of) the Big House with the knowledge that this year they not only could, but would, realize that dream. And, while doing so, they ensured that Michigan would indeed end this season with their poorest record ever. On Senior Day no less. Nice work, Cats. High Five! 

Not: Stanford

The Cardinal started out the game with that underdog spirit fans love to see, but it fizzled out much too soon! Despite Stanford keeping the game tied up well into the third quarter, the Trojans managed to win by more than 20 points!  

Hot: Houston with a side of Rice

In a fantastic showing Saturday night, Houston racked up 70 points against Tulsa! And just when I bet that this was surely the most points Houston has ever scored, I learned that forty years ago, Houston had a 100-3 win over Tulsa, the record for most points scored by one team in a major college game. And it the win wasn’t exciting enough — Houston now shares the lead of Conference USA with Rice!

Not: LSU sans the 4th quarter

A round of applause for Troy, who came into the game with the appropriate level of “Yes WE Can”-ittude. They brought enough to make LSU fans boo and leave, and to get LSU’s quarterback benched. Unfortunately, they also gave up when they thought they had it won, leading to LSU’s biggest comeback in school history and a 30 point fourth quarter.  

Hot: Mr. Rodgers squared

Jaqcuizz and James Rodgers, in another outstanding peformance, have helped the Beavers turn a pathetic start to the season into a potential trip to the Rose Bowl. “Quiz” has had seven 100+ rushing games this season and scored 1 TD on Saturday….he’s gained more than 1000 yards and has 11 TDs on the season. James, the elder brother, has only 4 TDs on the season, but two of them came against the Bears. The Beavers definitely hit the jackpot when they recruited these two!   

Not: Idaho’s First Play

For those of you who saw the score alert showing Idaho 7, Boise State 0, know that the Vandals were the beneficiaries of a fluke. Nothing shady…just a fluke. Nathan Enderlie’s first pass was good and the reciever was immediately wrapped up by BSU’s defense. Unfortunately, the reciever came down on top of the defender, never hitting the ground, and stood back up and ran the rest of the way to the end zone. But hey, the Vanadals need SOMETHING to cheer about so I suppose all is well that ends well.

Post-Halloween Thrillers

Hot: Utah State

The Aggies rarely have much to be excited about, but Saturday they solidly trounced Hawaii at home. The Aggies scored in every quarter to come out 16 points ahead of the Warriors. Interestingly, the Warriors had more yards and more first downs, but it wasn’t enough to win.

Not: NMU not being Utah

We cheered and cheered, but the Lobos just couldn’t get it done! New Mexico had the entire fourth quarter to take the lead, or even tie it up for OT. Instead, in true Lobo fashion, they settled for the loss, letting the Utes keep their BCS hopes alive.

Hot: Floridatastic

It isn’t often that Kirk Herbstreit and I see eye to eye, but I think he’s got it right when he says that Florida is the best team in college football…..home loss to Ole Miss or not.  The Gators gladly crushed Georgia Saturday night. From the first play, the trash talk and unportsmanlike conduct was blatant on both sides of the ball, but the Gators didn’t let it distract them. They held the Bulldogs to 3 measly points in the first half and only 7 more in the second. In fact, the Gators handed Georgia their worst loss under Mark Richt. Nicely done Gators.

Not: Quadruple Overtime

Despite three turnovers and four overtimes, Pitt managed to overcome Notre Dame and become bowl eligible for the first time since their Fiesta Bowl loss to Utah in 2004. But having to go through four overtimes to beat Notre Dame is not hot. In fact, this game marked ND’s ninth loss to teams with winning records in nearly 3 seasons. In fact, Notre Dame hasn’t beaten a ”quality” team since the second game in 2006 when they took down a #19 ranked Penn State.  

Hot: West Virginia is back on track

As Rich Rodriguez struggles at Michigan, Bill Stewart has his team back on track and bowl eligible. In fact, WVU is 3-0 in conference play after easily beating a 25-ranked UConn team on Saturday. And, high five for Pat White, who passed the 4000 rushing yards and 5000 passing yards marks.

Not: Fractured Freshmen

Houston wide reciever, Patrick Edwards, entered Tuesday night’s game against Marshall as 28th in terms of receiving yards per game at 86.3 YPG, second among freshmen. Unfortunately, when running for a pass, he ran out of the back of the end zone into a band equipment cart, suffering a compound fracture in his right leg.  Colorado, too, lost an outstanding freshman. Running back, Rodney Stewart, also broke his right leg this week. Stewart’s leg was broken in the second quarter during a horse-collar tackle by Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller.

Hot: Big finishes

What a weekend for fantastic, thrilling, nail-biting, game-winning plays!! Northwestern, looking to have given away the win to Minnesota, intercepted the ball for a touchdown with 12 seonds left. East Carolina intercepted a UCF pass in overtime, setting up a FG for the win. Michigan State managed a 44-yard FG with 7 seconds left to top Wisconsin. Kentucky blocked Mississippi State’s PAT to prevent OT and gain the win. Georgia Tech’s defense forced a fumble on Florida State’s final TD attempt, giving Tech their first win over FSU in ACC play.  And, of course, Texas Tech had an amazing last-second (literally) TD pass for the win.   

Not: Michigan

Not only did Michigan lose to a pitiful Purdue this weekend, they also managed to make it impossible to become bowl eligible this season. The last time the Wolverines were THIS bad was more than three decades ago.  AND Michigan will have its first losing season in FOUR decades. In fact, the last time Purdue managed a win against Michigan was 8 years ago in 2000. 

Hot: Boise State is looking great

The Broncos looked excellent against New Mexico State on Saturday. The Aggies, on the other hand, did not have much to celebrate in this homecoming game. In fact, on 39 rushing attempts, the Aggies only managed 37 yards….less than one yard on average! Boise State still had a lot of penalties, but did limit it to two during punt returns, which is a major improvement.

Not: State of Washington

Once again, the State of Washington was poorly represented in Pac 10 play this weekend. Neither team scored at all. Washington’s performance is arguably the least embarrassing, considering they had to travel to USC. Washinston State, however, let Stanford score 58 points in their biggest win in 59 years.

As Shiny as a Rusty Penny

Hot: OSU beats Mizzou….and rhymes too

Even though their mascot looks more like a garden gnome than a cowboy, Oklahoma State proved Saturday that they aren’t the only OSU who is upset-worthy. The Cowboy defense picked three of Mizzou’s glorified Chase Daniel’s passes….the third on Mizzou’s final drive toward a win. Now the Cowboys are 6-0. Six and oh, six and oh, six and O-S-U!!! 

Not: Boise State….ESPN too

You know I love BSU more than…well pretty much everything…and I think Kellen Moore is great, but the majority of their performance against Southern Miss was pathetic. Bronco defense, you are excused from this reprimand. As usual, you came through when you needed to and kept BSU from even getting close to the BIG L, despite the rest of the offense’s poor performance. Oh…take the running backs, Austin Pettis, and Jeremy Childs with you. ESPN reporters, you can sit in the seats the defense just vacated. No, Kellen Moore actually did NOT shine in this game. There was more than one fumbled snap, a throw that was intercepted when the ball should have been thrown away, and pretty much all of his passes were low. LUCKILY Jeremy Childs is ridiculously fantastic and could make the catches, but Moore was far from accurate. Moore can’t take all the blame, though. The O line failed to make holes on many occasions, a big hold negated an exciting touchdown run, and the majority of the second half was made up of the ever-exciting 3 and out. Y’all better take your defense out for a nice dinner and thank them for keeping the perfect season alive!

Hot: Cotton Bowl

You couldn’t ask for a more exciting game. It was no BSU/OU Fiesta Bowl, but it WAS thrilling nonetheless. In the end Texas won, but both teams were hot in this game. There were only 3 total yards and 3 first downs difference between the two teams, despite the Longhorns possessing the ball for nearly a quarter longer than the Sooners. Bravo teams for backing up the Big 12′s credibility.

Not: Rotten Bowl

Okay….it’s not really a bowl….more like an arm pit….but this was too good to pass up:

 

Hot: Gatorade not Tiger Tang

Sure was fun being in the top five, eh Tigers? There’s not really much to say about this game. Florida showed up and never relented. The Gators worked tirelessly to prove to their fans, LSU, and the nation that the Ole Miss game was a fluke…..and they did. And in doing so, they handed LSU their biggest loss in 6 years. There’s not much GATOR than that!  

Not: TWO channels and still no coverage

While the thrilling Notre Dame/UNC game was shown on both ABC AND ESPN, viewers in our area saw neither. WE got to see the oh-so-boring USC/ASU game (turns out Coach Erikson isn’t getting along any better in Phoenix than he did in Moscow) and the even-more-boring-if-that’s-possible Ohio State/Purdue game (Idaho might actually be able to beat Purdue). Thanks a LOT schedulers!

Hot: Holy TOLEDO!

They may not be 1-AA like App State, but losing to Toledo is WAY worse on the LAME-O-Meter. That said, the fact that Toledo put their second W on the board this season against Mr. Cocky Pants Rodriguez is HOT indeed. Even better, Michigan had a chance to take it into overtime with what should have been a nice easy field goal. Instead, they suffered another home loss at the hands of an “inferior” opponent. Nice work, Rockets.

Not: Cuffs and Carts

While UCLA reciever, Terrence Austin, was being strapped to a board and taken from the field for a seriously cringe-worthy head injury, law enforcement and the second paramedic unit were busy elsewhere. Yes, instead of being concerned for the wellfare of this young man, some fans decided to use the break in play to start a fight. A fight that ended with one fan falling over the wall onto the field behind the UCLA bench. Like Austin, this fan was also carted away from the field and at least one other left in handcuffs. Pretty lame.

Behold the Great and Powerful Oz

Hot: David (the giant crusher) X2

Oregon State and Ole Miss did the unthinkable this week. As commentators were proudly proclaiming USC the greatest team ever, the Beavers were preparing to repeat history. Not only did the Beavers triumph over the Trojans at home two years ago, eons ago they toppled the giant when they sat at #1….just as they did Thursday night. Ole Miss, too, repeated history, now having beaten Florida 3 of the last 4 times the teams have met.  

Not: Being declared hot

Last week, I declared USC and Florida the best teams in the country and invited them to the National Championship game. My bad! These teams may yet make it to the big game, but I just made it a lot harder for them. Little did you know that I held so much power! Ignore the lady behind curtain! I’m the great and powerful Oz!

Hot: Game Changing Performance

Despite losing starting QB TJ Yates last week, North Carolina refused to roll over for Miami. On the final drive, Tar Heels 28/Miami 24, it looked certain that the Hurricanes would succesfully put the ball in the end zone and hand North Carolina another painful loss. Instead, on the final play, Robert Marve passed to Kayne Farquharson, a pass certain to clinch the win, and watched in horror as the ball slipped out of Kayne’s hands right into the hands of UNC’s Goddard. The deflated Hurricane fans watched gloomily on as victory was snatched so quickly away. 

Not: Destruction between the Hedges

Georgia’s ability to acrue penalties finally paid off….sort of. The Bulldogs, who are the most penalized team in the SEC, made mistakes at the absolute worst times throughout their home matchup with Alabama. In all, they had 10 penalties to the Crimson Tide’s 2. Despite gaining only ten less yards than Alabama, Georgia was down 31 points at the half and really didn’t have much more to give in the second. And the ever outstanding Knowshon Moreno gained a measly 37 yards. To their credit, though, the Bulldogs are taking the loss like men and remain hopeful for the rest of the season.   

Hot: Not being in the Bottom 10

After winning last week’s pillow fight against Idaho, Utah State managed to jump out of the Bottom 10! This is more rare than a jewel of the calibur of The Heart of the Ocean (think Titanic)! Always remember Aggies, this week you were better than Tennessee (who actually was in the Bottom 10). It doesn’t get much better than that! 

Not: Attacking your program

Sure the Bruins stink, but they couldn’t have felt much worse than when they discovered that the UCLA marketing department published an ad in the Fresno Bee to entice more Bulldog fans to the Rose Bowl for Saturday’s matchup. Selling tickets is cool and having a full statium is great, but selling out your own team to achieve it? That’s not so good. The ad read, “So you can say ‘I was there’,” obviously indicating that the marketing department had little, if any, faith in the Bruins. They might as well have put out an ad reading, “Our team sucks and you’re going to want to see your team prove it.” Ouch!

Hot: Super Smarties

Northwestern: 5-0; Vanderbilt: 4-0; Duke: 3-1, with its first ACC win in 26 tries. Smarties seeing success: priceless. As great as it see to see these teams off to a positive start to the season, it’s definitely NOT hot that Northwestern is not in the rankings. Give the smarties some love!

Not: Fresnobsession

Let’s recap YET AGAIN……Fresno beat a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad Rutgers team; lost to an over-rated Wisconsin AT HOME; barely beat Toledo, who is now 1-3 and lost to FIU; AND scraped by, as their own marketing department will tell you, an awful UCLA who is completely defenseless. And this deserves a ranking why? It’s getting old, voters, it really is.  

HOTerable mentions: Michigan, Houston, Navy, Maryland, Rice, Oregon, Tulsa, Penn State, Oklahoma

NOTerable mentions: Wisconsin, Purdue, Wyoming, the State of Washington, Idaho, Hawaii

The Penalty Nazi: No Celebrating for You; One Year.

Hot: Pirate Power

Two games into the season and ECU is proving that their bowl game victory over BSU was no fluke! There were golf claps all around for the Pirates when they took down VT last weekend, but no one really thought they could top WVU.  Boy were we wrong! The pirates not only won, they destroyed the Mountaineers. Everytime WVU’s defense had a man wrapped up, he magically gained another 10-12 yards before dropping to the field. Looking at the rest of their line up, the Pirates may just run their way into a national championship game!

Not: 100K to Play

Idaho payed Idaho State $100,000+ to get them on their schedule this season. Couldn’t Idaho really spend those dollars on something more valuable? My mom and dad summarized it best…..Dad: “They could have used that money on new jock straps or something.” Mom: “That, or some balls to put in them.” Ouch! Wicked burn from a senior citizen, Vandals! But hey, you gotta get some W’s on record, right?

Hot: Do you want RICE with that?

Rice fans have been waiting a LOOONG time for something to get excited about….and this season may be it! After handing it to June Jones in his debut last week, Rice executed again to get a victory over Memphis on Saturday. It wasn’t the steamroller win of last week, but a last-minute interception, returned for a TD, gave them the 2-0 streak to start the season. The interception wasn’t the only thrilling moment of the game. Just prior, the Owls successfully attempted a 2-point conversion to tie things up at 35. It may have required a little luck, but a win is a win in the end! And this one was a real HOOT for Owl fans!

Not: Oregon State — AGAIN

Like many of their Pac 10 peers before them, Oregon State took a dive in Happy Valley.  After their heart-breaking loss against Stanford last week, the Beavers certainly weren’t hoping for the spectacular trouncing they recieved against the Nittany Lions. Perhaps the Penn State players tapped into the fiery spirit Joepa showed the media when they inquired about his need to retire. Whatever their motivation, they are on a 2-0 roll to start the season……the Beavers, however, fall on the other end of the spectrum.   

Hot: Vandy-tastic

Vandy hasn’t had a winning season since 1982, and hasn’t even been off to a two-win start since 1989….so it is with MUCH ado that Vandy earned the big W over the Gamecocks on Thursday night. What could be better? Well, proving that last season’s win over South Carolina was NOT a fluke after all. As Jared Hawkins put it, “We’re not a blowoff team. We’re going to hit you in the mouth.” Holla. Go Vandy, Go!

Not: Ohio State

Beanie Shmeanie. One players does not turn a #3-ranked team into a might-as-well-have-been-a-loss victor over a sad team like Ohio. Were it not for their FIVE turnovers, Ohio certainly would have picked off the mighty Buckeyes. What’s done is done, though. Brush it off and prepare to celebrate next weekend! USC won’t put up much of a fight! (No…I’m not laughing right now….okay…I am…a lot.)

Hot: Utah

Once Urban Meyer skipped merrily away to Florida after Utah first busted the BCS party, it seemed certain that the Utes were out of the picture for good. But last week it was the Utes who skipped merrily, away from the Big House with a victory over Michigan…a win that afforded them their first ranking in four years. The Utes may still have been somewhat hung over from the high of that victory because they looked a little pathetic in the first half of their game against UNLV. From there, though, the Utes scored 35 unanswered points to get the win and prove they deserve the respect they earned in last week’s game.

Not: Florida’s Win to End Miami Streak

Don’t be fooled by the lopsided score. The majority of Florida’s play against Miami was less than thrilling. In fact, Tebow looked like he couldn’t throw a pass on-target if Urban Meyer paid him! On their first possession, the Gators easily drove 40 yards, after a truly sad Miami punt, to put it in the end zone, but things cooled WAY down after that. Luckily, the Gators were able to heat things back up in the fourth quarter, managing to put an end to a Miami’s six-game winning streak in the match up.

Hot: Iowa Football, NOT its Fans

Maine and FIU are surely not in the upper escelon of the football class structure, but Iowa did their best to make sure they didn’t forget it! Combined, the two only scored 3 points to the 88 points Iowa put up. The only other thing to say about this game is SHAME on you Iowa fans! How dare you boo your back-up quarterback in a blowout??? Not classy. You need to go sit in the corner and think about just how fickle you’ve become. And maybe write out an apology note begging the team to forgive you and take you back.     

Not: Pac 10 Officiating

Throughout their contest on Saturday night, BYU and Washington traded score for score. Midway through the 4th, all were tied at 21. BYU put together a successful drive, finding the end zone, going up 28 – 21, and giving the ball back to the Huskies with 3 minutes left. In response, Jake Locker scrambled his way down the field and finally into the end zone to give his team a chance to tie things up and take the battle into overtime. After scoring, Locker tossed the ball over his shoulder and rushed to jumping, ecstatic teammates to celebrate……uh oh…..out came the dreaded yellow hanky…..Celebration penalty against Washington. Ultimately, this penalty, which backed up the PAT 15 yards, cost the team and the fans the chance at an exciting overtime competition. Those officials need to go take a time out with the Iowa fans…. 

Hot: Giving your Best

The worst loss in Washington State’s history (124 years in all) is Cal’s gain! In his first start, Cal’s Jahvid Best ran for 200 yards, 30 more than the Cougars totaled. Even better (Best…better…get it?), he did it in 14 carries! Best started the game off right with an 80 yard run for a touchdown and continued to embarrass the Pac 10′s worst team for the remainder of the game.

Not: Colorado

After a thrilling in-state rivalary win over Colorado State last weekend, Colorado nearly toppled to the oh-so-sad Eastern Washington Eagles of the Big Sky conference. The Eagles had a solid lead up to the fourth quarter….Who is the dummy who decided games should be 1 hour anyway? If quarters were only 10 minutes, the Eagles would have had high fives and butt slaps all around after the game. Instead, the Buffaloes managed two TDs and a FG to take the lead. But it wasn’t until the last play of the game that they could be certain of victory. The Eagles had a chance to tie things up with a TD pass. Sadly, Colorado intercepted it with 3 seconds left.  This debacle could spell good news for the Mountaineers who face Colorado next.