Fake Flags = Fun!

Hot: Brandyn Thompson

Boise State’s cornerback caught THREE interceptions in Friday’s game against the Warriors. Last year the Warrior receivers ran circles around Thompson. As a result, he has had his sights set on this game ever since. And boy did he get vindicated!

Not: Playing Maryland…if you’re good that is

Maryland, after handing Wake Forest it’s first goose egg in 10 years, has beaten their last five ranked opponents. Sure, they may have lost to Middle Tennessee State, but so far this season they have beaten a ranked Cal, Clemson, and Wake Forest.  

Hot: No Foul on the Play

Boston College versus Virginia Tech…..ref says into his microphone, “There was a flag on the play.” The officiating crew talks among themselves…”I didn’t throw a flag.” “My flag is right here in my pocket.”….each in turn claims to still have their flags in their possession. Turns out the flag was thrown onto the field from the BC student section. Now THAT’s funny!

Not: Back on their Tar Heels

It seems that the Tar Heels are cursed. They have not won a game in Charlottesville since I was a newborn. Yes, the last time North Carolina managed a win at Virginia was in 1981. Who cares that UNC gained more yards and had more time with the ball? A curse is a curse. You can’t beat that….unless you’re the Red Sox.  

Hot: Arizona

While not quite as cool as Maryland, on Saturday the Wildcats got their sixth win against a ranked team at home in the last five years. Better yet, they gained their fifth win out of the last six games against Cal. The Cats are now tied for first place in the Pac 10 (with the only 3 other teams in the Pac that still know how to win a game). A special nod goes to Keola Antolin, a freshmen who wasn’t supposed to see much playing time, who gained 149 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Not: Washington State

We all knew Washington State’s Cougars stunk and USC’s Trojans rocked, but the 69 to 0 loss was WSU’s worst in 77 years! Ouch!!  What’s worse, though, is that the Cougs only gained one more first down (4) than turnovers (3). On the positive side (or not), the Cougars are now the first BCS team EVER to allow its opponents to score 60 points four times in the same season.

Hot: Crushing Cougars

Horned Frogs do love to get revenge! Not only did they beat BYU, who stopped their BCS hopes two years ago, they also achieved their biggest win over a top ten team ever! The Cougars’ high-powered offense managed only one sad little touchdown. Nothing like the rest of their resume this season. Oh well. Goodbye nation’s longest winning streak!

Not: Mizzourable

Mizzou managed a pitiful 3 points in the first half of their Texas game Saturday. They rallied in the second half, but not enough to even make the game close, adding insult to the injury of last week’s loss to Oklahoma State. Yes, the once #1 team is now quite solidly out of the picture, falling to 16 in the rankings.

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

Who’s Celebrating Now?

Hot: BYU’s Drama-free Demolition

It sure was exciting when UCLA attained a come-from-behind victory over Tennessee! UCLA’s matchup with BYU Saturday was somewhat less thrilling. Max Hall complete 7 touchdown passes to lead the Cougars to the nation’s longest win streak (at 13).  

Not: Friday Night Birthday Celebrations

Remember Friday night when Kansas traveled down to Florida to take on the Bulls? Remember how the Jayhawks dominated the first half only to face a focused, determined South Florida team who came out in the second half to claim the lead for their own? Remember how just when you thought Kansas had given up they tied things up? Yeah, me too. Only with 1:30 left in the game I had to turn off the game and go meet the friends who gathered to celebrate my birthday. So thanks to my darn birthday, I missed the Bulls’ freshmen kicker Maikon Bonani’s 47-yard field goal sail through the uprights as time expired!

Hot: Putting Them Through the Ringer

Michigan State racked up 347 yards against Florida Atlantic Saturday…..Javon Ringer is responsible for 282 of them. With the rain and muddy field, the Spartans had little choice but to stick with run. Luckily, Ringer was up for the challenge, carrying the ball 43 times in all and scoring 14 of Michigan State’s 17 points.  

Not: SMU

It’s tough for any team to keep up with Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree, but he was the least of SMU’s problems. The Mustangs had as many interceptions as Tech had touchdowns and 500 yards less total offense. Even June can’t deny the facts: “We weren’t good enough to win on the road tonight and if we play that way next week, we won’t be good enough to win at home,” he said, according to ESPN.  

Hot: …………………………..

Here is where I would have talked about how great North Carolina was in the national spotlight Thursday night. I would have talked about how this was their first out-of-state victory in five years…..about how they made Rutgers question why they like football….about how they may actually have a winning season……but a certain someone (you know who you are!) was a little too sure that I would talk up the Tar Heels this week. So instead, I’m not saying anything. So there!

Not: Pac 10

This far this season, the Pac 10 is even at 14 wins and 14 losses. However, if you take the only good teams (USC and Oregon) out, the Pac sits at 9 wins and 14 losses. And this weekend, SEVEN of the 10 teams lost: only USC, Oregon (barely), and (amazingly) Oregon State managed to win. So you’re not making much an argument for the strength of your conference Pac 10. Better step it up! The west coast is counting on you! 

Hot: Beating them with their Brains

Northwestern is off to 3-0 start to the season! Sure they’ve faced the stiff competition of Syracuse, Duke, and Southern Illinois, but 3 wins are 3 wins. In fact, they are tied for first in the Big 10 standings….along with 4 other teams. Maybe this year is the year the smarties will actually win the conference! Probably not likely, but maybe!

Not: Not Making the Highlight Reel

LAST week Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno made an Olympic-vault style leap over a defender to gain some extra yards for the Bulldogs. Too bad no one saw it. The broadcasters dropped the ball (no pun intended) and failed to include it in their highlight reels. The leap was nearly perfect, although the judges did deduct 3 tenths for face-planting the landing. But, hey! If they Chinese gymnasts can fall on their faces and medal, then we can surely celebrate the high start value of this football move! Check out the moves here: http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1144&CID=848305

Hot: Buffalo’s Big Finish

Temple fans had already changed the channel and toasted their victory when Buffalo’s Drew Willy tossed up a crazy hail mary, into the midst of more than a handful of defenders, right into the hands of Namaan Roosevelt as if the play were designed to happen that way. Turns out it was.  Buffalo makes a habit of practicing the hail mary, just in case, and it worked! Phew! 

Not: Baseball Scores

Auburn 3, Mississippi State 2…..No, not in baseball. In what must have been one of the most-boring football games of all time. In fact, (and I NEVER say this) a baseball probably would have been more interesting! Maybe if it were part of a drinking game? Like, every time Mississippi State fails to convert on 3rd or 4th down, take a shot (17 total). Or drink after every punt. Or chug a beer every time the yellow hanky hits the ground (16 in all). At least that way none of the fans would remember how lame the game really was!

America’s Next Plus-Size Running Back

Hot: Myron Pryor

ALL of Kentucky’s TDs came from turnovers Saturday against Loserville (err…Louisville), but none was more exciting then the 72-yard fumble returned for a TD by the big burly 300+ lb Myron Pryor. The only guy who even had a CHANCE to run him down was the CENTER. Never a good sign. Louisville’s performance was dismal during the good times, and even worse during the bad, which was certainly satisfying for the Kentucky fans who had to pay more than $70 a ticket to attend the game (compared to $40 for Louisville fans).

Not: ACC, Football that is…

Thank goodness for basketball, because if it were up to football results, the ACC might as well join the WAC. Wake Forest and Maryland were the ONLY ACC teams to beat 1-A….excuse me, Football Championship Division….teams. BC, Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, and North Carolina managed to beat some less-than-highly touted 1-AA teams….Clemson, Virginia, and NC State lost to Alabama, USC, and South Carolina, badly.  And Virginia Tech, try as they did, could not stave off ECU. Attack the WAC, ACC! Attack the WAC!

Hot: Pirates of the Carolinabean

I know I wasn’t the only person to scratch my head and say “Who in blue blazes is ECU?” before the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl following the 2007 season. But people across the country are starting to take notice of the Pirates who are now on a roll after beating the world’s greatest football team (Boise State) in Hawaii and starting the season with a thrilling victory over Virginia Tech.  Only time will tell if this team is as legit as Johnny Depp’s career. Perhaps even too legit to quit!

Not: Idaho

Arizona generally goes overlooked in the football world, but leave it to Idaho to make them look like USC up against Palo Alto High School. Arizona’s 70 to 0 destruction of the Vandals was the their highest scoring game since flappers were in style! Not only that, this was Arizona’s first shutout in 12 years! And all this in the rain no less! Idaho’s Nathan Enderlie completed a miserable 10 passes. Even if counting his intercepted throws as completions, he STILL wouldn’t make it to 50%. Looks like the Vandals can look forward to a permanent spot in the Bottom 10….AGAIN!  

Hot: Florida

No, not just Tebow, not just the offense, EVERYONE got in on Florida’s scoring frenzy Saturday. The defense scored two TDs, both off interceptions…and special teams scored on a punt return. Perhaps most impressive….Florida did not score at all in the first or fourth quarters. Imagine if they’d kept things fired up for all four quarters! Hawaii on the other hand had 6 turnovers….at least one from each of their quarterbacks….Colt, oh Colt, where-fore-art-thou, oh Colt? 

Not: Oregon State’s final drive

The Beaver’s conference and season opener against Stanford was nothing if not a nail-biter. Down by 8 with two minutes left to play, it looked like the Beavers were surely going to lose. But as luck would have it, Stanford couldn’t move the ball and had to punt it away with a little over a minute and a half left. The Beav’s were ready to make the most of the opportunity. Several well-executed plays later, they found themselves at 3rd and 4 with 16 yards to the goal. Just then, Darrell Catchings made a great catch, running 15 yards toward the end zone. With 44 seconds left on the clock, and a first down secured, Catchings stretched for the end zone….lost the ball….and fumbled it right through the end zone. And in that briefest of moments, the team and fans alike fell from the thrill of victory into the misery of defeat….starting the season on a down note and having to face a 0-1 record when conference play begins.

Hot: UCLA

Despite throwing back-to-back interceptions, Kevin Craft lit things up in the second half to lead UCLA and new head coach Rick Neuheisel to an exciting overtime victory over the supposedly superior Volunteers. It couldn’t hurt that, according to Coach Fulmer, “[Tennessee] made enough mistakes to fill three of four games.”

Not: Fresno’s win over Rutgers

On their first possession, Rutgers made it within 30 yards of the goal line, but failed to score with a missed field goal. On the second, they made it to first and goal….but 4 tries later, still had no points. On the next, they only had 36 yards to drive, but threw an interception immediately. Two possessions later, they made it down to the 4 yard line, again failed to get the TD, and missed another field goal. AND SO….at halftime, the score was all tied at zero, instead of Rutgers 24, Fresno 0. Thus, after a miserable first half, Fresno was able to come out for the second half with a clean slate, and they certainly made the most of it. Thanks for nothing, Scarlet Knights.

Hot: Bowling Green

Props to Bowling Green who managed to ARM PITT with their first home loss to an MAC team in school history (24 games in all). Pitt possessed the ball seven minutes longer than BG, but that was not enough to offset their 4 turnovers. And what’s good for Bowling Green in good for BSU…until September 13, anyway.  

Not: June Jones’ Debut

Hopefully June’s big fat paycheck makes him happy cause there is no way the performance of his new team is doing anything for him. Not only did SMU fall on their face in the season opener, they did so against Rice, who hasn’t scored that many points since 1944….and now have a conference loss under their belt.  Five turnovers and seven penalties were not exactly what the lei-free Jones was hoping for.