College Football not so Quick Hits

Some thoughts to scan as you take a mid afternoon break (Gaddis, I'll try and make this long so you can spend a lot of time in the bathroom):

- Alabama has been my favorite football team since I can remember, so why then did I turn to the Michigan State/Notre Dame game when Alabama was on TV as well? Granted the Notre Dame game became more exciting and dramatic than the Alabama win, but I turned to the Notre Dame game well before they came back. The Golden Domers must just have that effect on people who are college football fans. I am not a huge Notre Dame fan, I am not a huge Notre Dame hater, I just love college football. Even though the game wasn't close, I turned off my favorite team's game to watch Notre Dame, simply because it is Notre Dame. You have to watch Irish games, don't you? It's a rite of fall, especially when they are playing at home. I can't explain it, it's the allure of the Dome, kind of like every time Rudy is on TV, I watch it and for whatever reason a dust storm always seems to kick up in the closing scenes. Would I watch that movie if it was about a kid trying desperately to play for the TCU Horned Frogs? Of course not, because the movie wouldn't have even been made.

- What's going on with Bob Stoops' Sooners? Well, his brother and defensive coordinator have been gone for a full year now, so that hurts. The players who were playing defense the past 2 seasons were all veterans and perennial All-Americans. The team has gotten younger (63 underclassmen out of 99 on the team), there is less discipline off the field, which leads to less discipline on the field, a freshman quarterback who is a star is a rare thing, and teams are making Rhett Bomar beat them instead of letting Adrian Peterson beat them. By the way, I know we aren't headed for a Maurice Clarrett type situation with Peterson, but maybe we should just lay off a bit on the acclaim we give to hearalded freshman running backs. Granted, Peterson was the best freshman running back to come into college football since... well, Maurice Clarrett, but he also was running behind a loaded offensive line last year, had a heisman trophy winning quarterback throwing the ball to an All-American wide receiver, and didn't have the pressure of having to win games by himself. This year, everything has changed, the defense isn't as dominant and the offense is Adrian Peterson right now, and that's it. It will be a long year for the Sooners.

- USC is still the best team in the country, even though they haven't been tested yet, although they haven't played anyone with enough talent to test them. So the question is: who is number 2? There are a few teams who are good enough to play in Pasadena this year for the national title, most likely against USC.

Top Contender:

Texas- Everyone's choice for number 2 in the country right now. This is a very talented football team and Vince Young is a very good college quarterback. In the victory over Ohio State, he made several key plays, going 18-29 with 2 touchdowns and 2 picks, and also picked up 76 yards rushing. He does what his team needs him to do to win games, and that is what you ask of a quarterback. Texas, however does have some real challenges left, including the October 8th Red River Shootout against Oklahoma. Now, I know I just mentioned that OU has had a tough season and it will be a long one for the faithful, but this game is different. Just as in any non-professional sporting event, the rivalry game is always devoid of lopsided games, no matter the difference in talent levels. Oklahoma will be up for this game and Bob Stoops is undefeated in it, so the Horns better be ready. Get past that game and all you have is 10/22 Texas Tech, yeah, I know the Red Raiders are not ever contenders, but their ability to put up 70+ points per game will test the Texas defense. 10/29 in Stillwater against Oklahoma State who is always very tough at home, and finally, 11/25 @ Texas A&M. One of the great traditions in college football is the day after Thanksgiving game between the Aggies and Longhorns, always a battle and fun to watch.


Maybe:

These teams have a sporting chance to make it to Pasadena and a few games on the radar will tell the tale:

Virginia Tech- Very good defense and always spectacular special teams. Marcus Vick is looking like a good college quarterback who isn't concerned about passing his brother's legacy. The Hokies only have 3 games left against teams which are ranked right now, 9/24 Georgia Tech, 11/5 Miami, and 11/19 Virginia. The best part of these games is that by the end of the season there's a chance that only Miami will still be ranked and Tech gets them in Blacksburg.

Florida- Gaddis is probably wondering why this team isn't higher on my list after an impressive home win against Tennessee. Let me tell you this, if Florida beats LSU on the road next month, they will be in the same league as Texas. Chris Leak is looking like the quarterback everyone thought he could be and Urban Meyer has people forgetting the Spurrier days, well that's a stretch, but he's a very solid coach (he hasn't lost a game since November of 2003). A few potholes may be in the road for Florida in the upcoming weeks, however. October shows the Gators having 3 games against top 20 clubs: 10/1 @ Alabama, 10/15 @ LSU, and the largest outdoor cocktail party in the world on 10/29, against Georgia. The Georgia game is a home game on their schedule, but since it is played in Jacksonville, it really isn't a home game for either team. Survive all of those games and there is still the end of the year showdown hosting number 6 Florida State on 11/26 (they won't still be number 6, but still a tough game). After that, there is still the SEC Championship game, so Florida is looking at possibly playing 6 more top 20 teams before the year is out after just having defeated Tennessee, who was in the top 10. Wow.

I'm still not convinced that Ohio State or Michigan are out of the race quite yet. If either team runs the table in the Big Ten and let's say Texas loses to an unranked team at home, Ohio State looks pretty good then. I don't know if either of them can do it, but it isn't out of the question.

For right now, that's pretty much it. I realize the Big East could get Louisville there if they go undefeated, here's hoping that doesn't happen.

*LSU

(I left LSU out of the "next level" spot after being advised about the wrongfulness of putting a team on the list of which I have no actual opinion. All I know about this team is they are ranked 3rd in the polls and the national media thinks they are pretty good. So, here are a few games LSU needs to be ready for, including this weekend's game which I will be watching, look for an LSU update next week:

I haven't seen one of their games, but everything I am reading and hearing says this team is for real. I will most likely see some of the game this weekend when the Tigers host Tennessee, and will undoubtedly watch 10/15 as LSU plays host to contender Florida in a huge SEC showdown. Also, let's not forget that LSU goes to Tuscaloosa this year to play Alabama on November 12th. I do have one question for LSU, though. Where does this November 5 game hosting Appalachian State come from? What, wasn't the Louisiana High School for the Deaf and Blind available for this date?



- More on Alablama. Tyrone Prothro had one of the greatest catches I have ever seen against Southern Mississippi, reaching his hands above and behind the defender's head to pin the ball against the back of his head and hold onto the ball that way before doing a backwards flip on his head into the endzone and still controlling the ball. It was unbelievable.

- The Badgers did not look outstanding on Saturday but still won. They weren't playing a very talented team, but I think that might have something to do with the team looking ahead to this huge matchup against Michigan. A win this Saturday would almost make the Badgers year, and would give Barry Alvarez a victory in a game he has seen his teams give away the past few meetings. More on this game later in the week.

- It's really early in the season obviously so all of this talk about who could wind up in the Rose Bowl is nonsense, but it is fun to speculate. Just like what I'm about to say which is without any research or backing right now; Matt Lienart will not win the Heisman again, nor will USC go undefeated, Notre Dame will lose 2 more games this season, Penn State will win at least 5 games, Louisville will not end up in the national title game, Wisconsin will not play a New Year's Day bowl game, Oklahoma will lose 5 games this season, and Chris Leak will be injured.


- Enough football for right now. I caught the new Fox series Kitchen Confidential last night. Let me say this, the show wasn't bad, it wasn't good, but it wasn't bad. Here's why it wasn't good; as I was watching the show, I realized that I knew the main character and head chef, Jack Bourdain, had been in something else which I just saw. When it dawned on me that he was in fact the guy who played Sack Lodge in Wedding Crashers, Bradly Cooper. After this realization, I couldn't help but picture him as the villainous Sack from that movie and kept picturing Bourdain as Sack and couldn't get that out of my head. A note to execs, you can't place a guy who played such a disdainful charcter in a very popular movie into the lead role of a new television series with no buffer zone. At least let the general public have time to get Sack out of their heads before giving Cooper a lead. It's sad that he has been type cast as Sack Lodge already, but if you look at his imdb.com page , you'll realize it was his best work. This show won't be around for long because viewers like me will keep thinking it is Sack Lodge running the restaurant and not Jack Bourdain.



-Until next time