I think it's week 11 isn't it? Well this has been an upsetting weekend, not just for several teams but for the one large fan base. 1. Fla and Bama took care of business and now are offically slotted for the SECCG, which if they remain undefeated will give one of them a BCS championship birth. Didn't watch either game, but all I need to know is that they won. Bama still didn't do much on offense and that to me is the problem for them going forward. With that offense I can't see them beating the Gators. I wonder what would happen if both teams are upset before the SECCG? That would be a doozy wouldn't it? 2. No kicker? A QB who can't throw (supposedly)? A coach who is too conservative? No Problem. The Buckeyes trounced the Nits at Happy Valley, I mean trounced them. With Iowa bringing a Frosh QB to the Shoe next week and a badly slumping UM team on the horizon it would be shocking not to see the Buckeyes back in the Rose Bowl. 3. TCU/Boise State and Cincinnati all remained unbeaten, both Cincy and Boise had to hold on for dear life while TCU steam rolled the competition. Still very long shots to make the BCSCG even if they remain unbeaten. But the real question is will both TCU and Boise will get BCS bids, only one autobid will be issued. So will there be an At Large Bid? 4. Irish the dramatic loss to Navy, could have very likely sealed Charlie Weis's fate. But what if he wins out? Can the Irish fire a guy who goes 9-3? He's pretty much in that zone where most fans would be fine with that. 5. Texas another big win for the Longhorns, Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley combined with a stout defense put the clamps on UCF. What is troubling for the Longhorns is the continued medicore running game. They ran for only 67 yds vs UCF. That may get them to the NC game but I have to wonder if that would be enough to win the game? 6. Bill Synder, amazingly seems to be reviving KState again. He has them on top of the B12 N, granted a weak division, but still. He controls his own destiny. 7. Cornhuskers, as bad as the Irish defense looked the Cornhusker Offense looked equally as bad last night. If you look at the stats you can't believe they won. They only got 7 1st downs and 39 yds passing, yet they won. Of course all the Int's that Landry Jones threw might have helped a little bit. Cornhuskers also control their own destiny, play KState in 2 weeks at home. But have to go to Kansas and Colorado as well. It won't be easy with that offense. 8. USC what the heck is wrong with those guys, they only scored 14 points yesterday and barely beat ASU. Now ASU isn't a really bad team or anything like that but they aren't a really good team either, they are a team that you would think USC would just come in a hammer. I read an article that implied Pete Carrol has staff problems, that all the losses he's had in the last couple of years have left him with a weak coaching staff. Don't know if it's true, and they are young on defense. But with the experience they had on the OL coming into the seaon and at RB/FB you have to wonder how they haven't been better. 9. Who will win the PAC10, the Oregon loss really leaves things up in the air doesn't it. I'm sure about 4 teams including Arizona have a shot at it. But no matter who wins the Rose Bowl will have it's coveted Big 10/PAC10 matchup as neither conference is getting a team to the BCS game. BTW is Stanford that good or was this the classic hangover game from Oregon where they were still enjoying their win over USC? 10. Tenn: Vols have definitely turned the corner as a football team. With Kiiffins obvious recruiting accumen I'd say that the Vols will be Challenging for SEC championships sooner rather than later. Many, including me doubted Kiffin but it looks like we were wrong. 11. Michigan: I didn't see the collapse coming. I thought at one point they were headed for much bigger season than anticipated. I really liked Tate Forcier as a QB and when they were 4-0 going to East Lansing I figured that they would win 9 games maybe even more. Even losing close games to MSU and Iowa I figured they would still finish strong, but it's really gone sour and they won't likely win another game and finish 5-7. I doubt if RR is feeling the Charlie Weis type of pressure, but it sure makes next year pretty darn big for him. 12. Heisman. Well Tim Tebow had an OK game, nothing spectacular at least looking at the stats. But probably more importantly is what he didn't do and that was lose. Mark Ingrahm has 144 yds, a good game but seems like most RB's who win the Heisman have bigger stats than that in most of their games. But I haven't actually looked it up so I can't say for sure. But his team won and this year I think that is important. Jimmy Clausen had a stats game that was spectacular, but his team lost so that has to hurt him, had he taken his team to OT and won then I'd say he'd be in the lead. But instead I think he drops. Colt McCoy had a great stats game and he won, he's probably in the top 3 right now. Case Keenum had a spectacular game in an exciting UH win over Tulsa, but I doubt if anybody even knows they won or cares. Still the whole Heisman thing is too close to call.
WRT 10: Terry, even during the 1st half, we had a lot of freshmen on the field. The future looks bright for sure. Kiffin made mention of the several players that chose to leave the program or who were dismissed. He said that he was running this program professionally and treated his players like they were professionals. The ones that left didn't appreciate that atmosphere. I like Lane. I like his father Monte even more.
Welll I'm not suprised that TCU jumped both Cincy and Boise into the #4 slot. Both Cincy and Boise had to fight for their lives this weekend while TCU cruised. Cincy and TCU both have some tough games coming up and I'll bet neither finish the season undefeated. While Boise basically plays the little sisters of the poor and is very likely to finish the season undefeated. I doubt ifa 1 loss TCU team gets a BCS bowl bid but a 1 loss Cincy team could win the autobid for the Big East. It's going to be very contentious for the At-Large Selection this year. With 1 of the non-BCS conference teams taking a bid. SEC will get 2 bids ACC will get 1 bid Big East will get 1 bid Big 12 will get 1 bid Pac 10 will get 1 bid Big 10 will get 1 bid Autobid to Boise/TCU 1 bid That leaves 2 bids out there. There will be a firestorm if a 1 loss TCU loses out to a 2 loss major conference team. So will the Big 10 runner up not get a bid or will the Pac 10 runner up not get a bid? I'll bet there isn't a BCS bowl out there that wants to take TCU from a financial standpoint. That will be the rub.
Bill has alluded to this but it's still hard to imagine a fan group unhappy in the middle of a 19 game winning streak and a possible 3rd Nat'l Title in 4 years. That's the definition of spoiled.
Terry, I agree with your thoughts on TCU. Unfortunately its all about revenue the following the team can generate. Don
I totally agree with Meyer's comments. Ask anyone in the Gator family that is not happy with the Gator program if they are ready to have Meyer go elsewhere. I think I know of a program that may be looking next year. I think he has that right already.
I know in Tampa people really respected Monte Kiffin so with the returning talent Tenn is about where I thought they would be this year. The best move by Kiffin as a coach has been his hiring of his Dad in my opinion. That keeps Tenn competitive and will help in recruiting.
Hiring Ed Ogeron and that LB coach from Alabama who was Saban's best recruiter were pretty good moves as well. Ogreron is known to be a top recruiter himself.
It is unbelievable how some fans can find things to be unhappy about even with a 19 game winning streak going and still in the hunt for a National Championship which if achieved would be 3/4. Still many Gator fans need to find a way to be unhappy. You know the wonderful thing about being negative for many of these fans is that if they keep it up long enough they will be right and the Gators will lose. then they can tell us how they told us so. Stupid. Hey the reporter that asked Meyer that question was Buddy Martin who wrote the book about Urban. I believe he was setting it up for Meyer to be able to say something like he did.
I agree. How about a new name, C. J. Spiller of Clemson. He runs, catches passes, runs back kicks and has had a couple of unbelievable weeks against Miami and FSU.
How about the SEC QB with the highest amount of TD passes and he gave everyone else a half season head start??? Crompton for Heisman! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
Crompton has come on very strong but those early season interceptions are probably to much to overcome. But I am impressed with his turnaround.
Now, I like the sound of that. No, in all seriousness, he does have a great chance to be second team All-SEC as long as he doesn't have a relapse. He's sort of like the former raging alcoholic that you are afraid will fall off the wagon at any moment. Hopefully, he keeps it going and guides Tennessee to an 8 win season and a good bowl game. As far as the talk of all the great hires Lane Kiffin made, I agree totally that they were all very important. However, I think Lane gets overlooked a lot. Look at how far that offense (for which he is chiefly responsible along with Jim Chaney) has come in 9 games. The transformation from last year has been incredible. Consider: 2008 Offensive Team Stats: 17.3ppg, 123rush yards per game, 146 pass yards per game, 269 total yards per game, 8passing TDs to 9 INTs 2009 Offensive Team Stats: 32.1ppg, 168 rush ypg, 232 pass ypg, 400 total ypg, 22 pass TDs to 11 INTs Incredible stuff, in my opinion.