Yikes. The Sooner nation is praying that Bradford didn't tear anything in that shoulder. The game's too close as it is, and if they lose their starting quarterback....all former plans are out the window. I didn't like the way he was holding his throwing arm when he left the field. I'm sure the coaching staff and fans didn't either.
AC joint sprain for Bradford. He won't return tonight and could be out 2 to 3 weeks. Yikes. The Sooner nation is quiet.
I think we're all missing the most important news of the day. Michigan won their first season opener since 2006!
Looks like Oklahoma's brand new offensive line is not as fearsome as it needs to be to serve them well. The inexperience of that line is going to cost them more than I thought it might. A new line and a quarterback who hasn't taken a snap isn't a fortuitious combination in a close game. People around here underestimated their inexperience.
Even though I despise Oklahoma (can anyone say....Orange Bowl??? ), Bradford is a gamer. He's the real thing. Football is, ultimately, a cruel mistress.
I wish I had bet some money on the Oklahoma game. I went back and changed my pick to BYU for no reason.
While I think--no, I know--Bradford would have made the difference had he stayed in--this game really exposed the inexperience of the new offensive unit. OU's got some other problems. It's not like they were scoring at will when Bradford was playing in the majority of the first half. The problem wasn't Bradford. It was them.
What an incredible first half from Cal. The defense has made some crucial plays and Riley has looked fracking fantastic, moving around and finding his receivers. Of course, Best doesn't look too shabby either.
Looking forward to that Pac-10 schedule, with games against USC at home and then Oregon in Eugene. Cal is looking awesome tonight, at least in the first half. Second half it seems like they are cutting back a bit but what a redemption game this has been. Best is awesome, Riley looks really improved from a year ago, and that back up running back, Shane Vareen, has been impressing me quite a bit.
Bucky's offense looked good today. Bucky's defense, not so much. At least the Big Ten Network microphones were set so that the home audience could enjoy a chorus of On Wisconsin played by the Marching Band, followed by a phased disaster from the Band and the Alumni Band playing it at kinda the same time, and then a third chorus from the old farts in the Alumni Band (of which I have always refused to become one).
Tough break for Bradford there. BYU upsetting Oklahoma was easily the biggest surprise of the day. Though no mention of Navy only losing by 4 to the Buckeyes? I'd have thought someone would have thoughts on that. Especially Digits. Does that mean Ohio State is going to fold up like lawn chair against USC? Or were they just looking ahead. Ohio State losing is never something I shed tears over, but the Big 10 as a whole could use the win.
I did mention it yesterday. OSU did not look very good against Navy. Frankly they were lucky to survive that game. Still, going into OSU with a true freshman QB will be a tall order. I'd say the odds are 50/50.
Roy Helu is da man... Suddenly I find myself not giving a crap about what happened to Quentin Castille.
I missed what you said when I was going through the thread last night. Sorry about that. I'd say USC's chances are better than 50/50. Ohio State wasn't very impressive at all yesterday, and could be in real trouble. USC is a bit better than Navy. Maybe the Buckeyes were looking forward, and maybe they'll learn something from their mistakes. I guess we'll find out Saturday.
Correct, but OSU is a little better than San Jose State too... If their run defense up the gut is as bad Saturday as it was yesterday, USC will run all over them. Our 5th tailback could start at most Pac Ten schools (except Cal).
On ESPN yesterday they said the early odds are USC a 7 point favorite. I think Ohio State should be the favorite. Beating the Buckeyes at home with a freshman QB and a somewhat inexperienced defense is going to be very tough, though I would never bet against a Pete Carroll team in a big game. The playcalling was very conservative against SJS, with almost no deep passes. Are they going to open up the playbook against Ohio State or stay conservative with the freshman QB? And the front seven of the USC defense is mostly new players, they may have trouble containing Pryor. It does help that it's a faster defense that last year so maybe they will come through.
You can afford to be conservative when you average 8 yards a rush. The announcers on the game yesterday seemed to think it was deliberate. USC did not want to give Ohio State anything to game plan against. I agree USC by 7 is not very realistic. Pryor could give us fits.