Guess Who’s Having the Best Weekend Ever!? (….bronco nation….)

Hot: Sarkisiastic!
How can you not love Washington’s big win on Saturday? They were just SO bad last season. And bad is probably an understatement. They were, after all, the owners of the Pac 10’s ONLY completely winless season. Ever. But that’s the past and this is a new season. And, from the looks of it, a complete turnaround from where the Huskies were a year ago. Saturday, the Huskies held the Trojans to their lowest passing yardage in Pete Carroll history and held them to their lowest score in two seasons. Trojan fan or not, it was amazing to see Washington stay the course and pull out the win. I guess adversity really does make you stronger. And Joe McKnight, whose statement may not be taken well by the Huskies, summed up the very reason why college football is the glorious thing that it is: “Washington wasn’t the better team. They just outplayed us. Clearly, we have superior athletes. But hard work beats athleticism any day.”

Not: Not so “Merry”land
So far this season, Maryland has been murdered by Cal, barely beat James Madison in OT, and lost to Middle Tennessee State. Ouch. They also have 8 turnovers so far. Double ouch. Looking at the rest of their schedule, I can’t help but wonder, “Will James Madison be the only win this season?”

Hot: Sizzling Silicon Shootout
I predicted a nailbiter, and this game definitely was. Boise State jumped out ahead early. Even had me thinking that I had it figured all wrong (which of course I would have been more than glad to be). But you never can count Fresno out. They turned up the heat and before you had time to text “Broncos Rule,” Fresno had closed the gap and put the pressure on the Broncos’ offense. All told, 900+ yards of wildly thrilling plays were left on the field. Much as I hate to do it, I have to give a nod to Ryan Mathews, without whom Fresno would surely have been dominated. Also, much love to Titus Young, DJ Harper, and Jeremy Avery for running their buns off! To Austin Pettis, Derrell Acrey, and Winston Venable for having great hands! And to Kyle Wilson and Billy Winn for making (or breaking) plays!

Not: WAC…..that says it all
Man. Can the conference help some Broncos out or what? Are yall just taking a dive to hurt BSU’s chances at getting into the BCS again? It sure would be awesome if some teams could step it up and give our conference some legitimacy. Even a smidge would be helpful. Not counting BSU, the WAC so far has beaten San Diego State, Nicholls State, UC Davis, Prairie View A&M, Washington State, and Central Arkansas. And been beaten by Washington, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Colorado State, Texas A&M, Utah, Auburn, Navy, Stanford, USC, UTEP, Utah again, and UNLV. Sigh.

Hot: Tomahawk Chop!
You gotta love an underrated Florida State team coming out and knocking off BYU, in PROVO no less! Christian Ponder said it, “The defense played great. The offense played incredible.” BYU had five turnovers and let FSU have the ball for nearly 20 minutes more of this matchup. FSU dominated and BYU made mistake after mistake. It was really that simple. Simply excellent, that is!

Not: Rank ‘em Up
And just why is BYU ahead of Florida State anyway? And why are they so underrated? They have only lost one game this season. BARELY. In an extremely close, rivalry game against the team now ranked 9 in the country. And they just beat the team that WAS 9. How does that make any sense? Give the Seminoles some love voters.

Hot: Can I get a Ute, Ute?
Oh, yes. The Ducks are wonderful, aren’t they? Not only did they squash Utah’s “Nation’s Longest Winning Streak” Saturday, but in one exciting game they managed to add legitimacy to BSU’s win over the Ducks AND take down one of the Bronco’s potential road blocks to the BCS party! Go Ducks Go! BSU fan or not, it is pretty amazing when a team with four turnovers and nearly 7 minutes less time of possession manages to take down a ranked team. Oh, and don’t forget Massoli’s 4 for 16 performance at QB. Really, how DO you win when you have so much working against you? A lot of heart and a secret love for the Broncos….that’s my guess.

Not: Tulsawful
Remember last week when Oklahoma trounced Idaho State? And we all thought, “Wow ISU must be really bad cause Oklahoma doesn’t even have Bradford in the mix.” Well, guess what! Tulsa is almost as bad. Okay, MAYBE Landry Jones is just that good. He did, after all, throw a school record six TD passes in this game, as well as tied the NCAA record for TD passes in a single game by a freshman. Either way, though, Tulsa did a whole bunch of nothing this week.

Pilfering Pete

Hot: Iowa

People may have already been congratulating Penn State on their undefeated season and impending trip to the national championship game, but Iowa was not among them. They proved this weekend that no matter how good a team is, the season is not over until every game is marked off the calendar. Right, Florida? USC? What’s most entertaining is that Daniel Murray, who kicked the game-winning FG with one second to go, was only 1 of 3 on field goal attempts coming into the game. He actually hadn’t made one since the season opener! Nice!

Not: Tennessee

Remember the curse of the “W” and how Wyoming was among those terrible, terrible, TERRIBLE teams? Well, apparently Tennessee is even MORE terrible. As if losing to the Crudy Cowboys wasn’t bad enough, the Vols did it at home on Homecoming. Yes, the lowest-scoring team in college football held the Vols to seven points, their lowest-scoring non-conference game in six years. SUPER ouch! 

Hot: Texas Tech

Yes, they’ve still got it. Like most of the nation, I was pumped up to watch another nail-biting, high-scoring shoot out Saturday night. Instead, I nodded off for a good portion of Tech’s lopsided victory over Oklahoma State. Remember, though, Red Raiders, just like Penn State learned this weekend, the season is not over until every game is finished. Oklahoma is going to be a crazy tough hurdle to overcome.

Not: Schools talking to Coach Pete

Rumor has it that several schools are trying to persuade Chris Peterson to leave Boise State. To those schools, I have this to say: “You can’t have him. So there!” Scary, right? Seriously, though, Coach Pete already committed to “Beat Coach Pete” so he pretty much has to stay at BSU forever! http://rec.boisestate.edu/beatpete/index.cfm

Hot: Pat Hill’s pants….which are on fire

According to the commentators in yet another pathetic Fresno State loss, Pat Hill cited the reason for Fresno’s tough non-conference scheduling as that they can’t get anyone else to play them. Yeah right, Pat! Let’s review: Fresno does or does not have a good track record against schools at or below their level? DOES NOT is the correct answer. So tell me, Pat, why exactly would those teams have a reason to be scared to play you? Shame on you for lying.  

Not: WVU’s overtime loss

Just when things were back on track, West Virginia loses to Cincinnati in overtime and Michigan beats Minnesota! For much of the game, the Mountaineers never even looked to have a chance at winning. They were down 20 to 7 at the start of the fourth quarter. From there it was Fiesta Bowl-level craziness to take the game into overtime. WVU scored a safety, a TD complete with a 2-point conversion, recovered an on-sides kick, and made a 52-yard FG to tie up the game! PHEW! Going into overtime, it seemed like WVU was destined to win, but they could only manage a FG on their possession. From there, the offense could only watch helplessly as the Mountaineer defense roughed the passer and failed to stop the Bearcats’ TD attempt.  

Hot: George Iloka….and the rest of the team too!

Bronco fans were definitely non-plussed with the plethora of mistakes in Saturday’s game. However, on paper, the Broncos are wicked hot (unless you look at the penalties…)! FOUR players passed for TDs: Coughlan, Perretta, Moore, Bissel.  The offense accrued 563 yards. The defense forced SIX turnovers. FIVE different players scored: Pettis, Powers, Childs, Johnson, Perretta. But my favorite player of the game was George Iloka who snagged two interceptions!

Not: Football fan fatalities

This is most definitely the most unimpressive thing in college football right now. Apparently, a heated argument about the Alabama/LSU game led to the fatal shooting of two fans. Read the limited details here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3693334

Hot: Ball State

Quietly, but steadily, Ball State continues to win and climb in the polls. The undefeated Cardinals are now sitting at 14 in the BCS poll. Ball State, currently 9-0, is having its best season in more than forty years. And Wednesday night, they had a chance to show the nation why. The Cardinals easily breezed past MAC opponent Northern Illinois, beating them 45 to 14 when all was said and done.

Not: Not getting to watch Utah versus TCU

When two ranked potential BCS busters play, shouldn’t that be televised? On a channel people get? Rather than watching an exciting TCU/Utah game that could have had major implications for other BCS hopefuls, we had to sit through the Maryland/Virginia Tech game instead, just to see the score scroll by on the bottom of the screen! A wag of the finger to you, programming decision makers!

W for Weaklings

Hot: Vinny Peretta; Ian Johnson; Jeremy Childs, Jeremy Avery

Despite their 11 penalties and two turnovers, the Broncos did some excellent work Friday against San Jose State. Vinny Peretta made an AMAZING catch, dragging his toe on the grass as he caught Kellen’s Moore’s pass on the way out of bounds. Ian Johnson captured the school record for touchdowns, 51, and is 7 away from the most in WAC history….behind LT and Marshall Faulk. Jeremy Childs blocked a punt, setting up excellent field position, and Jeremy Avery showed just how quick and powerful he is. Kudos, boys!

Not: Trailing Tennessee

As the commentators pointed out incessantly, “you only get so many chances”…..and Tennessee failed to make the most of any of them. The Volunteers had the talent and the opportunities they needed to get the upset Saturday, but instead they flailed around painfully for the majority of the match up. Daniel Lincoln missed a field goal near the end of the first half. On the next possesion, two penalties backed the Vols up from 14 yards to go to 34, setting up another miss by Lincoln. All together, the Vols offense only managed to NOT go three-and-out 4 times.

Hot: Making a Penn STATEment 

The Nittany Lions (which is a type of mountain lion, if you wondered) managed to get their first Big 10 victory in the Horseshoe Saturday night. The majority of the game was a (dare I say boring?) defensive battle, but Penn State’s offense turned up the heat in the fourth quarter, scoring a TD and a FG. The defense intercepted a would-be-game-winning TD attempt by the Buckeyes to ensure the win. Joepa and crew look to continue undefeated for the remainder of the season.   

Not: Roughing the Passer

The Cowboys’ defense was primed and ready to go against Texas Saturday. Deep in Cowboy territory, their defense got in Colt McCoy’s face, causing him to throw a costly interception. Oh NO! A flag — roughing the passer. (Didn’t see that coming did you?) Rather than gaining possession and preventing a score, the penalty set up a TD run that arguably cost them the win.     

Hot: 50s and 60s

In Farenheit, this may not be hot, but on a college football scoreboard it certainly is! This week several teams scored big and embarrassed their opponents: Florida, Oklahoma, Georgia, Texas Tech, TCU, Mizzou, Rutgers (yes….Rutgers!), Kent State, and Oregon.

Not: W

No, not the president…..it seems that schools starting with W are having a tough go of it this season: Wisconsin is 1-4 in Big 10 play; Washington is 0-7; Wake Forest has lost 3 of its last 4; Western Kentucky is 2-6; Wyoming is 2-6; and Washington State is 1-7. West Virginia (5-2) and Western Michigan (6-2) are the exceptions to the W rule.  

Hot: Nicks Carolina

Things didn’t look good in the first quarter, with UNC down by 10, but explosive second and fourth quarters soundly put BC in its place. Hats off to Hakeem Nicks who gained 127 yards in the second quarter! Nice! And don’t forget the defense: they intercepted 3 BC passes along the way!

Not: Terrible Tuitama

Arizona’a defense couldn’t have done anything more to get a win against USC, unless they went out on offense too. The Wildcats’ D held USC to only 17 points, the lowest ever under Pete Carroll, but QB Tuitama was completely inept in the second half. And with last week’s breakout performer, Keola Antolin, injured in the second quarter, the rest of the offense was unable to make up for Tuitama’s struggles. In all, he completed only 14 passes out of 30 attempts.

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.

Maybe YOU Should be BSU too!

Hot: Fresno Proving Me RIGHT!

Another overtime game against an inferior team….only this time the Bulldogs proved that, despite my prejudice against them, I have been right all along. Fresno State was always OVER RATED!! It gets more embarrassing for Fresno when the facts are revealed: this was a home game; Hawaii has never beaten a rank team on the road; the Bulldogs turned the ball over six times; they also missed 3 field goals; Hawaii’s only win this season (until now) was against Weber State. I DO love to be right!! 

Not: The “Mighty” Ducks

Oregon was amazing on Saturday…..for like 5 minutes anyway. After that, they couldn’t have scored if the Trojans gave them the ball on the one yard line with 8 downs and benched the D line. They are THAT bad. What is Mike Bellotti thinking? Why put Masoli in at QB when he proved his inadequacy against Boise State? Despite playing nearly the same amount of time in that game, Masoli managed a measly 27 yards compared with Thomas’s 210 and 3 touchdowns. The only logical explanation is that Coach Bellotti put money on the Trojans and wanted to ensure he was gonna get paid! Holla!

Hot: Wednesday’s Winners

Go Orange! Go Big Blue! Fight! Fight! BSU! There’s really not much more to say than that. There were a few mistakes, but overall the Broncos looked great in all areas against Louisiana Tech on ESPN Wednesday night.  The Broncos continue their home turf (blue as it is) success, having only lost 1 game at home in the last five years.

Not: South Florida

The Bulls’ offense did a whole bunch of nothing in the first half of their game against Pitt. They did manage to block a punt and run it back for a score so that they were only down by 10 instead of 17 at the half. Before that score, the Bulls missed a field goal and failed to convert on a fake field goal attempt. The offense did manage to score in the second half, but not enough to overcome the Panthers. See you later, top 10.

Hot: Baller State

Ball State has made it into the Top 25 for the first time EVER! There’s something magical about being BSU…isn’t there? The Cardinals are now 6-0, and held Toledo scoreless Saturday….unlike Fresno who could barely beat them in double OT. Go FootBALL State!

Not: Freezermakers

Yeah, Purdue, you stink. Your boilers are broken. They’re making nothing but ice (and not the shiny diamond kind). It hurts me to say it. I really does. But so is life.  It’s like a box of chocolates, you know? And that’s all I have to say about that.

Hot: It will happen SOONER or later

The Sooners are only 10 points away from being the first program to reach 30,000 points scored. Unfortunately for them, Boise State plans to score that many (30k) next week. Blast those Broncos! Always trying to steal Oklahoma’s glory!  

Not: Virginia Wins

Remember when Maryland embarrassed Cal? That sure was exciting, wasn’t it? Their peformance against Virginia this weekend was just a smidge below that level. They failed to score at all and let the up-to-this-point-rather-terrible Terrapins walk all over them. They moved the ball fairly well, getting more then 300 yards of offense, but could never cash in. Better luck next week, not-so-merry land.

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