1. How good is Wisconsin, really? I'm thinking they are really good, they have a great QB who now is one of he leaders for the Heisman. They are in a good position to run the table and make it to one side of the BCS. Of course they still have to go out and do it. But very impressive win. 2. Bama/LSU. 1/2 headed for a show down. I have to say I'm finally of the opinion that The Hat must be a pretty good coach, if he's not how does he keep winning? Unorthodox sure, but the results are on the field. I think we could be heading for a situation where the loser of the LSU/Alabama game could still be in the BCS Champ mix, esp if there is only 1 undefeated team. Both teams have multiple starting quality QB's, both teams have outstanding defenses, etc. Of course upsets do happen! :twisted: 3. Boise State, nobody talking about them and they are slipping in the polls they are putting up solid wins sure, but for them to stay in it they have to bludgeon their opponents by 50+ points. Only way I can see them making it to the big game is to be the only unbeaten team. Even if they are 1 of 2 unbeaten teams it might be dicey. 4. Texas...hey maybe we might be pretty good this year, undefeated and headed to a top 10 showdown with OU. Watch our RB Malcolm Brown, kids is an outstanding freshman. We still don't have #1 QB, more like 1a and 1b. Texas and Stanford have 1 common opponent, that is UCLA and we played them at their house and beat them pretty much like Stanford beat them at Palo Alto, with a Heisman candidate #1 NFL QB draft choice ....maybe we are pretty good. I don't know that I expect to win vs OU but if we play them well in a close game that bodes well for us going forward. 5. Clemson, now there is a team that has played a great schedule and is still undefeated and has a outstanding freshman WR who is lighting up defenses. But this isn't the first time they have roared out the door, so I'll wait. 6. Ga.Tech...Paul Johnson has the same hard to defend triple option game but he also has a qb who can throw a little. But they still don't look great on defense. The will win 10 games most likely and it looks like they and Clemson will play for the ACC championship. 7. Irish, well we're 3-2 now and getting a few votes in the polls but don't think we'll get much traction into the top 25 unless we beat both Air Force and USC. That's fine, we're a good team, not a great team and have lots of room for improvement. The win over Purdue was good but Purdue is not a good team. 8. Michigan...well I guess I mean Denard Robinson...another outstanding game for Shoelaces. The question of course isn't whether or not he's a great player, but will he be able to hold up. Last year he wore down as they got into their conference schedule. Still fun kid to watch. I have to figure if he stays healthy they have an excellent shot at winning 10 games, don't think they can beat Wisconsin and probably will lose to somebody else. I do predict they will beat Ohio State this year. 9. Ohio State, case in point why you don't want a true freshman no matter how highly rated he was coming out of high school to be your QB. Could be a bumpy season for the Bucks. 10. Gators, watching the scoreboard early on I thought oh my it's going to be a good one Charlie vs Nick. But then Charlie lost his weapons. 1 of the Bama took out of the game, interestingly it was ND transfer (I've heard) Dan Wenger who missed his block and allowed Bama to get to Brantley. I am pretty sure Dan was the guy who missed his block in the MSU game in 2009 and caused Jimmy Clausen to be hit and hurt his foot. I was looking at the box score and the Gator fr. QB was a very highly recruited kid but it looks like they didn't let him throw the ball very much. Back to not really wanting to have a true freshman QB vs a good defense. 11. A&M almost too painful to post about these guys, What the heck is going on that they absolutely collapse 2 weeks in a row after looking like they were going to run the other team out of the stadium. Sherman won't have much time to figure it out they have to go to Tech a team that has had their number for the last 10 years. Tech is 5-0. It will be a very tough game for the Aggies. Another loss and the season could spiral out of control for them. 12. USC...did you see that score in the Az/USC game? I don't think Az is an especially good offense and yet they put up 41 points on the Monte Kiffin defense? Think maybe Monte wishes he were back in the NFL rather than tethered to his idiot son? 13. Speaking of AZ I wonder what the status of Mike Stoops is right now, he's lost 4 in a row, his defense has given up a boatload of points...now to be fair they were to OK. State, Stanford, Oregon and USC all teams with outstanding offenses/QB's so maybe it's not fair. But I imagine he needs to turn it around now against UCLA. Az has been pretty patient with him. I think I askes BDR about that once and he said he thought that due to the mess he took over from Makovic that he was getting some extra rope. 14. Neb, I think the Huskers inspite of the whupping by Wisc will still have an excellent season, the rest of the B10 is a decided notch below Wisconsin. Still lots of hope.
Thanks for these write ups Terry. Gators, after the first two drives it was all Alabama. It looks like Brantley is not going to be back soon if at all. While Driskell looks to be our future at QB he has not shown much so far. However coming in against Alabama in the situation he did is tough. We will see over the next few weeks. Two teams I am really impressed with so far are Wisconsin and Clemson. Les Miles, I have always thought he is a good coach and his players love to play for him. I read an article that the pros are now taking notice and some NFL team is expected to make a run at him.
1. Wisconsin looks damn good, but they've fooled me before. 2. I can't explain it, but almost every big game he wins feels fluky, although the on-field results are impressive. I still don't have to like them. 3. Slightly better schedule, same results. I sure wish they could play a big-boy schedule so I would know if they could do it week-in week-out against the physical schedule the four major conferences play. 4. I don't think I could put up with a tu win this year. Please no. 5. Clemson looks legit. See #1 above. 8. I don't think anyone as small as he is can play against that punishing conference with the style he has, and come away unscathed. He is fun to watch, though. 11. Been trying to get ahold of Scott to get his take on it, but I think he's on a jaunt. Anyway, to me it doesn't look like Sherman makes any adjustments at halftime, except to stop doing what worked in the first half. After the rhythm and momentum are lost, it's hard to get back to basics, especially when in panic mode. 12. USC does not have a good defense. Almost everything AZ threw up came down winners. I don't think USC's offense is on par with their usual amazing talent, either, but AZ's D is worse. 13. Everyone I've listened to has had him done at the end of the year. He's had a tough schedule to be sure, but big time CFB is a fickle mistress and he's had more time than most to turn it around. 15. Chizik. That guy can flat out coach. With the talent he lost and what they (didn't) have left, I didn't give them a chance this year. He is one of, if not the, best second half coach of this generation. Sherman could learn a thing or two.
Brantley going down has screwed more than the Gators. It has royally f'ed up my barometer for what to expect from other teams. Bama's defense was NOT tested after that point. They could have put in the Mayberry drum and bugle corp at CB and safety without much worry. That back-up QB may work into the second coming of Tebow but right now, Tennessee's Crompton, lovingly known by some Tennessee fans as "Crapton" was better. Of course being put in under fire against the best defense in the SEC is not a good situation for the best QB in the nation. Bama will win the West. I used to think that Carolina would win the East. After their disappearing act against Auburn, I am leaning toward Georgia. Who knows, Tennessee might find another back door to the SEC CG. 8) I hate to see any player get hurt. However, next year, can you Gators play Alabama BEFORE Tennessee? :shock: :shock: 8) 8) Maybe A&M coming into the SEC will mix up that schedule.
:idea: I agree with most of these comments. My current #1 is still Alabama with their NFL size defense. However, I do think that you're forgetting one team: Stanford. Their games come on late for eastern viewers, but they're on prime-time here. The Trees look like Wisconsin with a better quarterback. They're huge, physical and Andrew Luck will be the first player taken in the draft. Their new coach, David Shaw, is working out perfectly for them so far. He's a former Stanford player and he coached in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens. He's also a Harbaugh clone, which is probably how he got the job. If Stanford can beat Oregon, USC and Notre Dame at the end of the season, they'll have as good a claim on the NC as anyone. They're that good.
I haven't seen Stanford yet, but Wisconsin looks like a top 4 with Alabama and LSU and Oklahoma. Alabama and LSU will settle that question face to face so that should simplify the situation somewhat. My opinion also is that you should have to win your conference to play for the BCSC. 8)
Re: Stanford. They look to be the class of PAC12 this year but I would have expected their game against Duke to have been a little less closely contested, it was only 17-7 at the half with how many fourth down conversions?
While I know stats are for losers. If you look at the Stanford/UCLA game at Stanford and compare it to the Texas/UCLA game at UCLA...Texas stats wise compares well with Stanford, and Stanford has an all-world QB and Texas had 2 guys you never heard of and who hadn't played a lick before this year at QB. Of course maybe Stanford called the dogs off on UCLA, I doubt if Texas did.
Hey Kes forgot to mention the Cougars are 3-1, is something good happening in Pullman? UCLA up next, maybe you guys get to put the coup de' gras on Skippy.
Yes, things are looking much better for the Cougs. Even when the losing streak was continuing late last year there were good signs of improvement that I was arguing was a good reason to give Wulf another year to see what he could do in his fourth year. Although, we were bitten early (AGAIN) with the injury bug (starting QB out for the season week 1), we finally have some decent backups that can pick up the pieces. I was also hoping to be 4-0 at this point but we Couged it against SD St. I waited until SD St. played Michigan to see if maybe they were a good team, but alas they are not and we should have had the W. All in all I see 6-6 and a bowl as very doable with this group of kids. At the beginning of the season, a 5-0 start including UCLA would have made me giddy, but I will be happy with 4-1. I had originally pegged losses against Stanford, Oregon, ASU and one or two losses against Utah, Colorado, UCLA, CAL, and UW with an outside shot at 8-4. I still think all of our remaining games except Stanford, Oregon, and ASU are winnable, but seeing the second half against SD St. would put the upside at 7-5. The end of the game against Colorado was a huge improvement over years past. Down 10 with five minutes to go and normally we would have just pressed too hard. This year, the kids stayed focused, played hard, and were able to come up with two TDs with 1:30 left to play. At that point, I figured they were just getting ready to break my heart again, but they actually held strong and came away with the win. I think we are finally past the Doba era and have some talent stocked on the shelves again. Wulf may not be the be all/end all, but he's not a bad coach, especially when you're talking coaches that are willing to work in BFE for $2.50/week.
I also forgot to mention the ending of the SC/Aub game, brought back memories of Ryan Leaf's Cougars against Michigan and the phantom two seconds before the refs could get the whistle to their mouth. I would have looked to see that one last play, in both games. Also, how tough is that kid Tyler Wilson for Arkansas. Last week he was battered and bruised and finally started to hear footsteps last week against Bama. This week, he is just blown up all game by a ferocious A&M rush, and he continues to stand in there and deliver strikes to Jarius Wright. That kid is a gamer. In no particular order, the pack that has separated itself as the class of IA at this point in the season: Stanford Wisconsin Bama LSU Oklahoma Stanford's big test will be Oregon, who may yet have something to say in the PAC12 as well. Wisconsin has destroyed their biggest hurdle in Nebraska, though MSU may pose a challenge. Bama and LSU have been talked to death and everyone knows nobody else on the list even deserves consideration, but the winner here, should they win out, will be in the BCSCG. The loser should not. OU has tu next week which should be a showcase for Landry. A&M and OSU might cause problems later in the year.
I agree, Kes. I watched almost the entire 2nd half. I kept wondering if he finally would not be able to get up after one of A&M's hits. Not only did he keep getting up, he played a heck of a game.