2012 College Football

[odelltrclan]

Glad to see the Pac 12 getting some nice wins.

3 new coaches this year in the South (UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State) and all with nice wins today. Arizona clobbers Oklahoma State and UCLA beats Nebraska. Arizona State has solved their disciplinary problems and drastic underachieving under Erickson and appear to have an offensive juggernaut so far. Oregon State knocks off Wisconsin.

Going to be a fun year!

[Pego]

Going to be a fun year!

Not for the Wisconsin fans. Badgers offense looks positively dreadful. It will be a mediocre season at best .

[Marlow]

Just finished watching yesterday's wrap-up. Teams that are scary good:
Okla St

Or not. Sorry, lonewolf.
Arizona dropped 59 on them yesterday!

[jazzcyclist]

Just finished watching yesterday's wrap-up. Teams that are scary good:
Okla St

Or not. Sorry, lonewolf.
Arizona dropped 59 on them yesterday!

It was foolish to guage the Cowboys based on a beatdown of a FCS team that was 1-10 last year.

[Conor Dary]

Going to be a fun year!

Not for the Wisconsin fans. Badgers offense looks positively dreadful. It will be a mediocre season at best .

Yes, as odel says, the Pac 12 looks pretty good so far, with the Ducks leading the way. But sadly for Pego, the Big Ten really looks pretty dismal this season. Wisconsin wasn't so hot against a pretty ordinary OSU.

[lonewolf]

Just finished watching yesterday's wrap-up. Teams that are scary good:
Okla St

Or not. Sorry, lonewolf.
Arizona dropped 59 on them yesterday!

Shades of the 60s.
I was embarassed just sitting here in lonely misery listening to the slaughter.
Gotta think they were not that great a week ago and hope they are not as pathetic as last night. Local scribes are rationalizing the non-existent OSU defense could be attributed to the medical caused absence of the Defensive Coordinator but.....

[j-a-m]

Glad to see the Pac 12 getting some nice wins.

3 new coaches this year in the South (UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State) and all with nice wins today. Arizona clobbers Oklahoma State and UCLA beats Nebraska. Arizona State has solved their disciplinary problems and drastic underachieving under Erickson and appear to have an offensive juggernaut so far. Oregon State knocks off Wisconsin.

Yeah, huge day for the Pac. And those teams that got the big wins (Oregon State, Arizona, UCLA, Arizona State) are basically #4-7 in the Pac, with USC, Oregon, and (maybe) Stanford being #1-3.

[Davidokun]

By the way, what is with Auburn? They really suck. I guess Newton is that good.

Losing offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn at the end of last season is a big part of the problem. Florida suffered from the same malady under Urban Meyer. For example, many would argue that the Gators still haven't recovered from the loss of offensive coordinator Dan Mullen. (Coincidentally, Mullen's Mississippi State just bullied the Tigers.)

[jazzcyclist]

How 'bout dat Cardinal!

[26mi235]

The Big Ten has been rather mediocre this year, with Penn State leading the fall, but with Wisconsin, Michigan State, Nebraska (but at leas they got beat by an apparently improving team), Michigan hammered by Alabama, etc, and even Ohio State having difficulty with Cal at home.

Well, lonewolf, Pego and I can enjoy Marlow's joy even if he cannot post about it right now (Jazz did it for him).

[gh]

Marlow's ban was for a mere 24 hours.

[Conor Dary]

How 'bout dat Cardinal!

Yes, down goes USC!

[lonewolf]

Did ya ever notice, results of football games are not always accurately predictable? I did not have personal emotional involvement in the USC-Stanford game but I was kinda empathically pulling for the Cardinal on Marlow's behalf. BTW, what is a Stanford Cardinal? Ya got St Louis and Louisville Cardinals, ya got Catholic Cardinals, ya got cardinal numbers .. ya got cardinal points of compass..ya got cardinal virtues.. ya even got a kinda dark red color..??

[j-a-m]

Marquise Goodwin with a great game, needed just four touches (two carries, two receptions) for 180 yards and two TDs.

[gh]

Cal's Brendan Bigelow (who? they say he was a very good HS sprinter) at one point yesterday had 3 carries for about 150y, including TD runs of 81 and 59y.

I'm thinking they probably haven't used the guy enough!

[guru]

Cal's Brendan Bigelow (who? they say he was a very good HS sprinter)...

They said he was a 10.62, but his actual PR is 10.57. Soph year was his last track season(also 21.37 - as a frosh(!)).

http://ca.milesplit.com/athletes/792214-brendon-bigelow

[j-a-m]

Down by seven with a few minutes to go, and you score a touchdown; do you kick the extra point or do you go for the two-point conversion to decide the game right then and there? It depends:

When it's a high-scoring game, your offense is playing great, your defense isn't; by all means, go for it.

When it's a low-scoring game, your offense is really bad, your defense has given up zero points all day; no, don't go for it, give your defense the opportunity to win the game.

Guess the BYU coach disagrees with me on that, as shown by his play-calling when BYU played Boise State yesterday.

[Marlow]

Guess the BYU coach disagrees with me on that, as shown by his play-calling when BYU played Boise State yesterday.

With 8:03 remaining, BYU backup quarterback Taysom Hill engineered an 11-play, 95 yard drive capped by his four-yard touchdown run. But BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall gambled, electing to go for a 2-point conversion to try to secure the Cougars' first-ever victory over Boise State.
Hill dropped back to pass, was immediately flushed out of the pocket and his on-the-run throw was deflected by linebacker J.C. Percy and fell incomplete into the end zone.
"I wanted to win," Mendenhall said. "We had momentum for the first time in the game, moving the ball offensively. We wanted to capitalize on it. I'd do it again."

I find no fault in that logic.

[j-a-m]

"I wanted to win," Mendenhall said. "We had momentum for the first time in the game, moving the ball offensively. We wanted to capitalize on it. I'd do it again."

That coaching decision was a slap in the face of his defensive players after they did such an outstanding job in that game.

[Marlow]

"I wanted to win," Mendenhall said. "We had momentum for the first time in the game, moving the ball offensively. We wanted to capitalize on it. I'd do it again."

That coaching decision was a slap in the face of his defensive players after they did such an outstanding job in that game.

??!!
What would it have been to the offense who had just driven the field, if they hadn't gone for it? Strike while the iron is hot. Leaving it to overtime brings in all sorts of other variables, that might have had nothing to do with how well the D is playing.

[guru]

How 'bout dat Cardinal!

Indeed...

[Marlow]

How 'bout dat Cardinal!

Indeed...

If Nunes were even half the QB Luck is, that'd've been a cake-walk. it's really hard to win in the PAC-12/14 w/o a pass-efficient attack.

[jazzcyclist]

If Nunes were even half the QB Luck is, that'd've been a cake-walk. it's really hard to win in the PAC-12/14 w/o a pass-efficient attack.

The folks in Boise, Madison and East Lansing feel your pain.

[Conor Dary]

How 'bout dat Cardinal!

Not so good last night against Washington....

[Marlow]

How 'bout dat Cardinal!

Not so good last night against Washington....

The experts (sic) have been praising the Cardinal O-line, the great smash-mouth running game, the great D-line/linebackers, the improved D-backs, and the 'competence' of Nunes. I saw glimpses of it against SC, not much last night . . .

[lonewolf]

[The experts (sic) have been praising .....the 'competence' of Nunes.

I think that is called 'damning with faint praise".

[j-a-m]

Nick Saban considers fast execution on offense unfair:

I just think there's got to be some sense of fairness in terms of asking: Is this what we want football to be?

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/ ... ball-to-be

[Conor Dary]

What a baby. Is he afraid of the Ducks?

[lonewolf]

Suck it up, Nick. You are Number 1.. how much fairer could it be?

[Marlow]

Suck it up, Nick. You are Number 1.. how much fairer could it be?

Zackly! How on earth is the no-huddle, up-tempo offense NOT fair?
Nick, if you think it gives an unfair advantage, then you are welcome to employ it!
The 'safety issue' is a complete red herring!

[jazzcyclist]

Nick Saban makes freshman linebacker write letter apologizing to Missouri for suplex tackle.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-footba ... gh-gary-pi

Do any of you remember back in the day when Turkey Jones did the same thing to Terry Bradshaw and it was no big deal?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_BuDursFIg

[KevinM]

Nick Saban makes freshman linebacker write letter apologizing to Missouri for suplex tackle.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-footba ... gh-gary-pi

Do any of you remember back in the day when Turkey Jones did the same thing to Terry Bradshaw and it was no big deal?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_BuDursFIg

Sure seems like it should have been, don't you think?

[Pego]

Nick Saban makes freshman linebacker write letter apologizing to Missouri for suplex tackle.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-footba ... gh-gary-pi

Do any of you remember back in the day when Turkey Jones did the same thing to Terry Bradshaw and it was no big deal?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_BuDursFIg

I do and Jones should have had his ass roasted. More unnecessary brutality gets eliminated from football, the better the game is going to be.

[jazzcyclist]

Of course I agree with both KevinM and pego. I don't want to go back to the days of Dick "Night Train" Lane trying to decapiate people and the suplex move has no place on the football field. I think it's good that the headhunting and spearing have been outlawed. However, I think the officials should only be in the business of legislating the technique of the hits. I don't think they should legislate the intensity of the hits. I've seen too many games recently when defensive players have made tackles straight of the textbooks and been penalized becasue the offensive player was knocked out.

[Pego]

It is quite early, but here is my prediction for the national championship game.

Alabama - Kansas St.