I watched a lot of football since Wed night! 1. Texas vs TCU ...ugh, TCU is a very young team and yet they looked better, bigger, faster, better coached. Their qB wasn't the starter at the start of the season and likely wouldn't have played if the TCU starter had been able to quit weed. A couple of weeks ago I thought we were ready to run the table and ruin KStates season. But now this team is again is dissarray and will be on the road against a team that has had 2 weeks to lick their wounds and get ready for Texas. We are very unlikely to win in Manhattan KS next week. Hello Alamo Bowl. 2. Neb vs Iowa. Corn on Corn. But it wasn't popping corn it was corn mush. I thought Neb would win going away, but the Hawkeyes put up quite a fight and it turned to a defensive battle and the Black shirts win. I didn't even see Bo pop a vein on the sideline. Next up for the Huskers is a Wisconsin team that isn't very good. Neb should have no problem, ok probably will have a problem but should win. The prize is the Rose Bowl. 3. Ohio State vs Michigan. Titanic Battle the whole game, Mich played great but couldn't match Ohio at the QB position where Braxton Miller was the difference. Should be a great game next year, Miller will likely come into the game in the thick of a Heisman Trophy run the nat'l championship picture. But Michigan is fast reloading with talent and they will have the type of QB in Gardner that Hoke and his OCoord have been wanting all along so the offene will look more like it did under Bo and Lloyd. Defense will be tough as usual for both teams. 4. Fla vs FSU. I really thought Fla was going to get humped by FSU, I thought that the lack of offense was going to finally bite them and that FSU was going to be the best defense they had faced to make it even worse. Well the Jeff Driskell that I thought was going to be the UF QB fianlly showed up and threw the ball well, ran well and took care of the ball. FSU not so much. Gators another team finishing strong and look to be highly ranked next year. I would love to see a UF/Oregon Sugar Bowl. 5. Texas A&M/ Missouri. Well first thing I noticed is that the hero/goat of the Missouri/UF game was in civies on the sideline. With Franklin out I figured uh oh...big win for Aggies, and I was right. I didn't expect though that the Aggies had Oral Roberts as their trainer and after JFF got his knee legally twisted by the Missouri kid and looked to be out for the game and even worse. He got up and walked to the sideline while his backup directed the Aggies to a score, then Oral...er the Aggie trianer did something to his knee and put a brace on it to limit his mobility a la Joe Namath and what happens....JFF plays like he has no brace on. I'm sure this will be come part of Aggie Lore. Just like Justin Tucker's kick!!! I want Scott to think of what Justin Tuker and Case McCoy did for the Aggies without them you might have the same coach and he'd be trying to make JFF a drop back passer! You're welcome! Oh by the way the Texas fans apparently miss you guys because the stadium was full of empty seats! 6. UGA vs Ga. Tech. I like Paul Johnson and all but I have to wonder at this point is he sort of dead as a top coach. When he first brought the Navy offense to Ga. Tech he stunned all the ACC teams, but over time it has become less and less effective and he hasn't tweaked it to become something else and he's not developed a defense either. I'm sure he's got a few more seasons, but I have to wonder if Ga.Tech isn't looking at diminishing returns with him. 7. Pittsburgh vs RU. Paul Chryst the new coach finally has this team rolling along, they beat #18 ranked and new B1G member Rutgers and a win at South Fla will make them bowl eligible. Pitt clearly had a rough start to the year, I mean Chryst was their 3 rd coach in 3 years. That can't help morale or continuity of developement. But Chryst was one of the guys behind the Wisc rise under Brett Bilemia and I think if he stays he will build Pitt in to a very good program that is physical and runs the ball very well. 8. OU vs Oklahoma State...didn't see the game but just reading about it was pretty exciting. Big offense from both teams, dramatic OT win for Big Game Bob 9. Civil War....Oregon vs Oregon State. Another game I didn't see but Oregon gets the win and 11-1 and a BCS bid likely esp if Stanford beats UCLA again. 10. Stanford/UCLA ...Jekyl and Hyde Bruins become Dr Jekyl again and Stanford blugeoned them brutally. Can they do so in the rematch? Probably. Stanford is one of the best teams in the nation on defense has a physical running game and now seems to have found a QB in Kevin Hogan, the nephew of Notre Dame great Coley O'Brien. Nebraska really doesn't want a piece of the Cardinal that's for sure. 11. Apple Cup...Wazzu vs Wash. I did see the end of that one, I can't believe that guy didn't score and end it all, what a dramatic finish it would have been. But instead they had to kick a boring FG for a decidedly not boring win. Leach's back against the wall 0-season in the Pac12, didn't even beat Colorado, the star WR complaining that Coach Leach mentally abused him and the team and he wasn't going to take it anymore. Well he needed some good news and his team played like they actually like him and wanted to win the game for him. Arrrgh...Go Cougs!! 12. Notre Dame vs USC. GO IRISH! Team with heart and soul beats team with no soul since they sold it to the devil years ago!! GO IRISH. 13. Tenn Vols vs Kentucky....Tom's Seniors get that win that they so deserved to finish their careers with, congrats to those guys. 14. Coaching Searches. a. Tenn b. Ark c. Illionois? I've heard that their coach is a 1 and done. d. Texas...fans are divided on this, but Mack will be back for better or worse. Gipper used to torment me with posts that implied Mack couldn't coach...I guess he was right! e. USC...Kiffin is going to be back, he is the new Mack Brown, Mr. Feburary. f. Auburn...maybe Mack will hire him back and can Manny? g. NCState...talk that Tom O'Brien is out. ...I hear BC is looking? h. B.C. Spaz a good D Coach, but terrible recruiter. He's gone. How many days till Christmas?
Thanks for doing these Terry, always enjoy them. I listened to the 4th quarter of the ND game on the way home last night (gotta love satellite radio!) and got a giggle out of the ending. You Domer fans got a double shot: One, you beat your arch-rival on THEIR TURF for a shot at the NC , and TWO as a cherry on top Kiffin exposes the fact that he's a moron by going for it on fourth down when he needs two scores. He wanted to prove his team could score on you... all he did was prove you have a great defense, and he's an idiot! :lol:
I also enjoy these Terry. But yesterday was a two game day for me, first Florida and FSU and second Notre Dame and USC. Both were exciting games in their own way. Florida, us Gators felt really great in the first half, then were totally depressed in the 3rd quarter. But just when it looked like all was lost the Gator defense takes over creating a couple critical turnovers and score 24 points in the 4th quarter. The Gators have owned the 4th quarter this year outscoring the opposition 115-29, our highest scoring quarter and the oppositions lowest scoring quarter. Great year for the Gators who exceed all expectations. Then I tuned in the Notre Dame - USC game and of course was rooting for USC so that the Gators might sneak into the BCS Championship game. I was to be disappointed on the score, but it was obvious to me from the start that Notre Dame was the best team and the best coached team. Stopping USC on 5 plays from inside the two yard line. Wow that is unbelievable, as much as I like our Gator defense I have not seen that happen. So Notre Dame deserves to be in the Championship game and it will be interesting to see how they match up with either Alabama or Georgia. My prediction is Alabama. I am looking forward to bowl season and the future looks bright for both Florida and Notre Dame. Congratulations to Ohio State for an unbeaten season. And to Texas A & M for also exceeding everyone's expectations, I am sure glad we caught you guys early.
Wisconsin is not a bad team, Terry. All of their loses have been close and they have gotten better as the season as gone on, especially the offensive line and running game. They ran for over 200 yards against the Buckeyes There best defensive player, Borland, missed both the OSU and PSU games ( both lost in overtime) and is anticpated to return for the B10 championship game. Thier Achilles heel is the same one that has plaugued Wisconisn for years--substandard QB play. They had a freshman who actually was starting to play well but he broke his collarbone against State. His back up, Phillips, has not distinquished himself other than the fact that he is playing after having overcome three ACL surgeries. The NU/Wisconsin game is going to be a dogfight. The team that has to be kicking themselves in Northwestern. In their three losses to NU, Michigan, and Penn State, they were comfortably ahead in the fourth quarter but collasped defensively. IMHO, their offense was the best offense in the B10 this year.
Re: Corn Mush That was Iowa's bowl game, at home, senior day, against a team they've hated for years, even though we're new to the conference, cold, with wind gusts up to 40 mph. We also lost our starting center in the 1st qtr, and our starting DT in the 2nd qtr. Once again, the Cardiac Cornhuskers come back from a 1st half deficit, to post a victory. Hail Varsity. GBR.
Bob, seems like Whisky has always had journeymen QB's who fit their systems quite well. Might be paying this year I guess for selling their soul for Russel Wilson and the O'Brien kid from MD who I guess hasn't worked out quite as well for them as Wilson. But this year has been weird, they lost Paul Chryst to Pitt and he took a few asssistants and then Brett fired the OL coach he hand picked to replace the one who went with Chryst. Bad start, etc. Seems like they are just not the Wisconsin that we've seen in the last 10 years. I haven't followed them like you and the rest of the B10 Brotherhood here on the skybox of course so I yeild to your superior knowledge. Northwestern has really been off my radar, but if I remember correctly NU and the Irish will be back on in 2014/15. Wildcats are willing to play us in Nov which Purdue, Mich State and UM probably are not.
I love this week so much. It's so much more fun when many of the teams genuinely just hate each other. Watching the Gator players come out of the rinky dink opening into the field, having all the boos and hate rain down on them, and watching the kids just feed off that..Honestly, the Noles looked rattled and if the Gator offense was on par with their defense, they would have housed that Nole team. Instead, they hung around and it was close. Ohio State Michigan... god do I love this game. Every year it seems both teams are just so chippy and wanting a piece of each other. I can't stand that the talking heads are there in the way. It's a game that needs no hype. Just turn on the camera and let the boys put on a show. Manti is such a class act.. his tunnel wishes for Barkley is sportsmanship and class you just don't see that often. I'm betting the other 10 defensive starters for the Irish wouldn't have been so nice. The SC-ND game was about what I expected. We got their best shot. Their freshman QB has a ridiculous arm. Again, hats off to the Cougs for winning the Apple Cup. It's always one of my favorite rivalry games. The record truly just doesn't seem to matter. Georgia Tech is playing in the ACC title game.. so there's that.
A Change At The Top School 2012 Coach 2013 Coach Auburn Gene Chizik Arkansas John L. Smith Boston College Frank Spaziani Cal Jeff Tedford Colorado Jon Embree Idaho Robb Akey Jason Gesser (interim) Kentucky Joker Phillips NC State Tom O'Brien Purdue Danny Hope Tennessee Derek Dooley UTEP Mike Price Western Michigan Bill Cubit
Here's the link... http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8536583/football-bowl-subdivision-head-coaching-changes
I don't usually do Pro-Football, but I have to give a shout out and props to the Detroit Lion HC for bailing out my Texans!! Also a shout out to Ndamakan Suh for his flexabilty in kicking Matt Schaub in the nuts.