The Thrills of Week Three

Week Three in college football's march to the New Year did not disappoint.

The SEC, in particular, was exciting with some big wins and tough losses. Kentucky got the proverbial monkey off their back after finally downing Louisville, 40-34 (but can you really have a monkey on your back after four losses to a team?...it seems like it should be longer than that).

Quick note: Hey, Kentucky, we’re going to have to talk about your incessant field-rushing problems. You can’t rush the field every time you win a game. We’ll discuss this further another time…

Alabama came back, after giving it away, to beat #16 Arkansas, 41-38. I actually watched this won…actually the fact that I watched this game says nothing…Lady Cheek watched it though and THAT says something.

Florida made Tennessee (the team that was supposed to give the entire country a fair shake this season) a thorough drubbing. Florida QB, Tim Tebow looked like he was for real, throwing for 299 and a couple scores.

Mississippi State even got on the board this weekend with a win over Auburn. Auburn, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Then there was Nebraska hosting USC and the Trojans proving to everyone in the country that they are a true and utter powerhouse. They destroyed Nebraska in what I had thought was going to be a decent game. The 49-31 score is A LOT closer than the game actually was. Will Ferrell was even on hand to take in the beat down.

And then there was Michigan playing host to Notre Dame – a game that I would haven’t watched if it had been played in my back yard. This game was set up to be a complete and total train wreck…and it was for Notre Dame. We realized this weekend just how terrible The Football University of America really is. Michigan, who we all learned was just plain awful, killed the Fighting Irish. And Jimmy Clausen: You were the nation’s most highly touted QB coming out of high school. How in the world do you average 4.4 yards per completion in a game?! Heck, Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno averaged 7.2 yards per carry last weekend. Jimmy, you’re my new go-to joke (somewhere Reggie Ball just made a sigh of relief).

Now for a little house cleaning:
-Tennessee got pummeled by Florida. I really thought that the untested Florida wouldn’t be able to run away from UT like they did.
-Ohio State took care of business against Washington.
-I didn’t realize that Kentucky would come with the horse-power that they did while hosting gunslingin’ Louisville.
-Southern Cal forced their will on Nebraska in Lincoln.
-Georgia Tech couldn’t hang with Boston College and we all realized that their win over Notre Dame wasn’t nearly as impressive as we all thought.

Last Week: 3-2
Season: 5-5

We’ll stay local with our “Pic of the Week” this time:

It’s good to see that Sean Bailey is back in the mix and has made a full recovery.

Have a good week everyone!

Tough Times In Week Two

Wow. Tough crowd this past weekend.

The Dogs get punched in the gut by Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks and I get punched in the stomach by my buddy O.C., who drilled me in the picks.

A quick recap of the picks:

-Virginia Tech got absolutely thromped by LSU. I knew that LSU was strong but I figured that VA-Tech would at least keep it close.

-Texas had a BIG (24-point) 4th Quarter against Texas Christian and was able to cover.

-Penn State took care of business against Notre Dame, 31-10.

-Tyrone Willingham led Washington to victory and snapped Boise State's 14-game winning streak in the process. Ty also kept me from a winning record for the weekend.

-The Crimson Tide of Alabama rolled to 24-10 victory over Vanderbilt. Things get tough fast for Saban this weekend though.

In all, 2-3 for the season.

As for the Dogs:

What a tough game to watch! I've heard people complaining from all different angles. "The offense was stagnant"..."The defense was soft"..."They gave up on the run too soon"..."Stafford threw behind the receivers"...yada yada yada.

Bottom line was everything was mediocre. The Buldogs didn't turn the ball over (outside of a pointless interception thrown late in the 4th Quarter) but they also didn't force any turnovers either. The defense allowed just 16 points to South Carolina. That's not bad but it's really not all that good either. The Bulldog defense should have steamrolled the Gamecocks.

Georgia's Knowshon Moreno strung together another set of runs good for 104 yards. Not a bad effort but keep in mind that one of those rushes was for 50 yards. That would give Moreno 54 yards on 13 carries (4.2 avg.), which isn't all that much better than Thomas Brown's effort.

Matthew Stafford overthrew, under threw, and even threw behind some receivers. That being said, he also hit some guys right in the hands and the ball still found its way to the turf. The receivers were reliving all of their woes from the year before.

The AJC's Terrance Moore says that the Bulldogs don't have a true leader in the locker room. That may not be a bad assessment, considering that the Georgia starting squad is filled with sophomores and freshmen. But let's also keep in mind that Terrance Moore is a complete moron...let's definitely not forget that.

Georgia has an opportunity to get things back on track and work on a few things this weekend as they host Western Carolina. This should be similar to playing Lassiter High School's varsity squad.

A note to Georgia players: Just dress out and show up. Play hard but don't get hurt. Win the game and get your tails out of there. Above all else, don't pretend to be Michigan and flush your entire season down the drain.

It's taken me a little extra time to get over this particular loss so we're a little late on the Pics of the Week. And away we go:

Anytime that Tuberville is upset, Cheek is ecstatic! And the guys who got Coach T so upset...

The University of South Florida Bulls.

This picture might sum up the Georgia game best...it just never seemed like the Dogs could get there.

So, you're telling me that Boise State fans actually get crazy about football?...Really?

And our "You Create the Caption":

Have a good weekend everyone!

Betting Man - Week 2

(Note: I never bet on Georgia football. Never. Not for money. Not for beer.)

I won't go into a lot of detail this week on my picks but I will tell you what they are:

Virginia Tech (+12) @ #2 Louisiana State
--I just have a feeling that Virginia Tech is going to be able to stop the LSU ground attack and keep this thing fairly close.

#22 Texas Christian (+9) @ #7 Texas
--I really like TCU this season and this will be their one really big test - heading INTO the Longhorns backyard. I think that this will be a great game.

Notre Dame @ #14 Penn State (-17)
--Look for the Nittany Lions to cover here. Notre Dame looked more clueless than Jessica Simpson when she's asked to do math against Gerogia Tech last week. With true-frehman Jimmy Clausen getting the start, I think that the Irish will struggle mightily.

#22 Boise State (-3) @ Washington
--One thing is true, Boise State is going to score points. Even when they are facing a legitimate Pac-10 opponent, they are going to score points. I like Boise State by a touchdown.

Alabama (-3.5) @ Vanderbilt
--It's 2000-and-Saban, people! How could the Tide possibly roll over this weekend?! Vanderbilt is a decent team that everyone would like to see do well but they just aren't going to have the horse-power to hang with the Crimson Tide.

Have a great weekend, folks!

Week One - Bulldogs Host OK State

I was never really worried. I have to admit that deep down I knew that the Dogs would take care of business against the Cowboys from Oklahoma State. I saw it when Boise State tried to come out to visit. They were just as excited and they just knew that this would be the moment that they would stand up on top of the college football mountain and declare that they had made it...and before B.S.U. knew what hit them (and I use that "B.S." for a reason), D.J. Shockley had thrown for five touchdowns and rushed for another.

I'm not saying that the Cowboys were a push over - far from it actually. They are a very nice football team that could be bowl eligible come late October. They have a decent quarterback and a defense that can compete in the Big 12. Plus, Adarius Bowman, their big wide reciever, may be the best pure talent in the Big 12 conference. He'll probably be making a lot of money playing on Sundays within the next couple years. Bottom line, though, Oklahoma State still has a lot of growing up to do.

That all being said, the Bulldogs came away with the victory. The biggest thing for me though was that the Dogs did not turn the ball over. It was a beautiful thing to watch Stafford scramble a bit, look down field and then say, "Hmm, no one is open. Well, I guess I'll just toss this one to the hot little sorority girl in the third row. Comin' at ya, babe!"

Plus, and I hope you're reading this Hilley, how about Knowshon Moreno?! That kid looked solid. He ran the ball well, he caught the ball, he made guys miss...I mean, what's not to like? He had 20 carries for 73 yards and two catches for 51 yards. He also had a couple of plays called back due to holding penalties.

And I just can't say enough about Mikey Henderson. This kid will without question cause a heart attack in Sanford Stadium. I liken his performance to watching my buddy Blank drink beer - he doesn't look like all that much at first and he doesn't get flashy on a regular basis but when you're watching either of them you just have to say to yourself, "You know, any second now we just might see something special."

So I'm pleased with the effort and the 35-14 win. This should give the Dogs a lot of momentum heading into the SEC-Opener against South Carolina.

Now for the Pics of the Week (A National Look):

I really have to hand it to the kids at Appalachian State. After they defeated Michigan in The Big House, students raided their own field (back in Boone, N.C.), tore down their own goalpost and dragged it to their President's house. Man, I wish I were still in college!

Apparently this football was shot out of a cannon!

USC's Vidal Hazelton makes a one-handed touchdown grab against Idaho over the weekend. That kid would have looked good in Red & Black.

Here's just a couple of things that I like about sports: Sports help us remember and forget. Sports bring people together, whether you are an athlete or a fan. Sports give us something to get excited about and give us something to rally behind. All of this has never been as important as it was this past weekend in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Just for the record...I called this Kelin Johnson interception. I said that he would take it back for a touchdown but I still called it. I just wish we coul see the look on Adarius Bowman's face in this one.

And finally...here's our weekly "You create the caption":


Have a good week everyone!

What A Week!

Note: I am posting this entry on Tuesday, September 4 -- partly because I needed to complete the weekend with last night's Clemson-FSU game and partly because if I don't work all that hard on normal days, I'm certainly not going to work all that hard on Labor Day.

Ah, the first week of college football for 2007. I felt it pulsing through my veins -- as I drove the family Explorer through Gator-Country and into Orlando for a family reunion. At about 9 a.m., as I was passing through the Turf-Grass Capital of the World, I could almost see Myers Quad laid out in front of me...the lush green grass topped with red-canvas tents, the smell of whatever it is that Joe was preparing for the afternoon feast, the sound of Tom and Fitz - already drunk, mind you - leading the masses in chants. Heaven on Earth, my friends. Heaven on Earth.

The trip went fine and I was able to secure a little TV-time from my Gator-loving family (man, it's hard to call those people "family") so that I could watch the Bulldogs. Having been in the car all afternoon with Lady Cheek and my sister, I had little knowledge of what had happened earlier that day. I went in saying, "Well, USC will win...Florida will win...Georgia Tech will have a great shot at Notre Dame...Michigan will win..." but hold it right there.

Michigan ran into the "power-house" known as...Appalachian State??? I just had to Google the school to find out that their mascot was "The Mountaineer." Going into the game, Michigan's chances of losing this game had to be about the same as the chances that Jack Bauer would end up shooting himself in the foot during Hour 2 and that the next 22 hours would consist of him sitting in a doctor’s waiting room with him crying and yelling things like, “I can’t go after the terrorists! I hurt my foot for crying out loud!”

But it actually happened.

Appalachian State beat Michigan. And I have to say, it was only a matter of time before the stars aligned and a D-IAA team did this to one of the big boys. I bet that every D-I coach is rethinking the idea of scheduling one of these guys in what I always consider a no-win situation.

I can’t imagine what it must be like up in Ann-Arbor this week though. I mean, those kids must be throwing themselves in front of buses up there. We’ll find out what the sports writers feel the punishment should be later this afternoon.

All in all, though, a good first week of action.