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!

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.

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.

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.