The College Football Thread

[Nerys Ghemor]

^
BWAAAAHAHAHAHA!

So far Auburn is winning 35-16 to Arkansas State--but we're still not to half-time yet, and I'm a little concerned about a couple of the players ASU has, and Auburn's propensity for committing flagrant penalties at the worst possible times.

 

[Starbreaker]

Very. I wish I had made the drive out there.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

God almighty, OU, you'd better learn how to defend the pass before next week. Utah State's quarterback ate their lunch for 340 passing yards. When the scores 31-24 with 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter with a team you're supposed to thrash, you've got a problem. That was in Norman, too. Florida State's staff will be licking their chops in anticipation looking at this film. OU was up 21-0 and USU got it to 21-17. OU scores, then USU scores again and takes the ball away from OU. USU is driving down the field in the final 4 minutes and the ball is tipped off the USU receiver's body right into the defender's hand. If that tip doesn't happen....could be a very different story. For a team with national championship aspirations, that wasn't encouraging in the least.

At least Oklahoma State took care of business 65-17 with their pithy opponent. Hunter and Weeden were looking excellent. Hunter looked like Barry Sanders back in the day.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

There's a really good Navy-Maryland game on right now. Navy was down by three for their last play of the game on fourth and one. They decided to go for a touchdown and UMD stopped them cold. Gutsy play by Navy even if they didn't get the result they wanted. Not sure what I would have done in that situation.

 

[Starbreaker]

 

[Thestral]

What, nothing about that truly excellent Bose St./Va. Tech game?! Good for the Broncos!

My Vols won easily... against UT-Martin. What the hell, Tennessee... it's like you're Florida or something, picking a crappier-than-usual team to beat up on. I hate when 1-A schools schedule a 1-AA school looking for an easy win, especially BCS-conference teams, and this is the first time Tennessee did it since the 80s. UT may've lost to UCLA in the last two opening games, but at least they were against a real team. No offense to the Skyhawks. And now Oregon comes to Neyland Stadium... boy I'm sure glad the Vols got battle-tested in their first game!

 

[Starbreaker]

UT also paid a boat load of money to get Buffalo and drop North Carolina on the schedule 2011. Kinda pathetic.

 

[Timby]

I'm surprised there hasn't been any discussion here about Reggie Bush being stripped of his Heisman and the 2005 award rendered vacant.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Well, it's a touch irrelevant these days. He got honored back then and he used it to piggy back onto a successful draft position and NFL career. Whatever consequences that existed are long since past.

 

[Thestral]

UT also paid a boat load of money to get Buffalo and drop North Carolina on the schedule 2011. Kinda pathetic.

That one's a little better - Buffalo's at least 1-A, about the same level as, say, UL-L. And after Kiffin's torch job, UT could use a rebuild. We'll just have to see what happens when the Duck buzzsaw comes in...

BTW, good luck against Idaho State later this season.

 

[Adm. Bonz]

LOVE IT!!

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

WARRRRRRRRRRR-EAGLE!

Auburn just beat Mississippi State! I'm liking this new quarterback...he's very good--he can throw AND run, and he's dangerous at both. Kind of reminds me of a much bigger version of Dameyune Craig in that you never know just what he's going to do.

Now, they just need to work on avoiding the stupid mistakes with penalties and

 

[B.J.]

Agreed, Auburn has potential, but inconsistenly so. I can't say this in front of my wife (she's an Auburn alum), but if MSU's receivers hadn't dropped the ball so much, I think the game would have ended very differently.

 

[Lieut. Arex]

Nobody on either side of the ball could catch for State. One DB dropped an easy pick-6 that would have changed the game. They just don't have the talent to consistently compete in the SEC yet. Newton was impressive as was Fairley (? #90 on defense) but I think Auburn's a year or two away from having all the pieces they need to make a serious championship run. Still, considering how tough last year's game was, the Iron Bowl might very well decide the West. Especially if the hyped-up Hogs don't pan out and the Hat figures out how to screw up in some new and unique way down in Baton Rouge.

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's Penn State-Alabama game. It's always been a great match-up over the years (8-5 in Bama's favor, total points 203-181) and for me this renewal's calling up all that history from the the 1979 Sugar Bowl's Goal Line Stand to Bryant winning #314 against them to tie Stagg's record, even the $20 I lost betting on the 1986 game (PSU 23, Alabama 3). Ivan Maisel's column over at ESPN.com sums it up pretty well. I hope all you Nittany Lions enjoy the game tomorrow, though not a victory. I hope I speak for all Tide fans when I say, "Glad to see you again."

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

(Oh dear...I hit send before finishing my last post. But, you got the gist of what I was saying.)

I disagree about the level of talent that Auburn has--I think the raw talent is more than there. I think it's a matter of discipline, and confidence as a team...but most importantly discipline. What I see is inconsistent mental focus. Even in Auburn's best years this has always been a problem, so that is going to HAVE to be dealt with. They've got to quit tolerating sloppy victories and set the bar a lot higher than that. If that can be done, then I think they WILL have a serious shot. Whether it can be done in a year, though, is the question.

As for the Iron Bowl, though, that is one of the more unpredictable matches in that there's a LOT of psychology that goes into it, and even small foibles can be magnified by a million in that venue. Both teams become vulnerable in that sense, so I wouldn't rely on rankings to rule out an Auburn victory.

 

[Lieut. Arex]

You never can. Look at last year. Auburn was 2-4 in their last six games coming into the Iron Bowl, fresh off a tough Georgia loss. They had an aggressive game plan and punched Alabama in the mouth, pushing them harder than any team other than Tennessee. Thankfully, the Tide responded and won, but it took the whole game and a tremendous effort on their part to do so. I agree about the lack of discipline. It's hard to judge them after these first two games, first against a weak opponent then on a short week versus the Bullies. The Clemson game should be interesting.

I expect there to be a little of what Bama had for Florida waiting for the Tigers in T-town this year, namely payback, but Chizik has things moving in the right direction and if both teams continue along their apparent trajectories this season, the game could be as classic as last year's.

I thought it was "War Cam Eagle" now?

 

[mimic]

I am really looking forward to the Clash of the Flashy Uniforms (as I have dubbed it)

 

[Starbreaker]

Let's see....

Alabama beats Penn State by at least 17. It might be close the first half, but then things fall apart.

Miami wins big over Ohio State, Ohio State will still be ranked very high and everyone will talk about how awesome they are.

TCU ought to beat Tennessee Tech 49-3

Texas, Nebraska, and Oregon big time over their opponents.Tennessee will be crying tonight.

The upset of the week might be USF@Florida. They'll at least beat the spread.

Also, Georgia wins against SC, putting all of these "South Carolina is good" rumors to rest.

And, I'm going to the UTC/JSU game tonight. I'll post pictures. The new stadium looks really good.

 

[1001001]

Let's go Trojans!!



Game starts at 7:30 tonight! I guess at this point, no one on the east coast gives a shit...

 

[Starbreaker]

James Madison just had a highlight reel touchdown run against Virginia Tech. This might be the upset of the week.