The Tennessee/Florida game was stressful yesterday. Not because the game was within winnable reach by Tennessee (honestly now,) but because it looked like a lot of the Florida players just didn’t give a shit. This is something that leads to unnecessary losses. They better wake up really fast, because everyone’s going to be gunning for them.
At least Demps and Rainey are killing it.
I think Florida will be alright - they had some injuries and some guys with the flu, so they weren’t near 100%.
Also, take into consideration Tebow’s fumble on the 4 yard line, and Tennessee’s response with a drive for a touchdown, that’s a 14 point swing. Instead of 23-13, that could have been a 30-6 victory for the Gators.
Terps lost to Middle Tennessee…again. FML.
Can’t say I’m surprised by the USC loss. I had a feeling going into this season that they would lose at least 2 games. I figured Cal and Oregon, but I had a bad feeling leading up to this game. Jake Locker is a straight baller, no doubt. It certainly can’t hurt that Washington’s coaches know USC’s offense and defense inside and out as they were the coordinators at USC for the past few seasons.
This actually leads me to another issue that I think is a significant problem for USC: Little continuity at the OC position. USC was at its height in offensive production with Norm Chow, dropped off a little with Kiffin, a lot with Sark, and now we just suck nuts. We just don’t have the explosive, make-me-shit-my-pants athletes like we did with Mike Williams, Bush, Palmer, Leinart, Jarrett, etc. We have a lot of above average athletes with no dominant players, whereas before we had a couple dominant players surrounded by a lot of above average players.
I gotta feel like a lot of this is on the OC. Carroll is a good recruiter in the sense that he can sell his team to a young man, but I’m not sure he has the eye for offensive talent as much as he does for defense. I really wonder how much recruiting was being done by the OCs; it’s the only way I can explain the derth of offensive talent even though the school is as popular as ever.
When you combine shitty play calling/use of personnel (Where is the thunder to Joe McKnight’s lightning? Why aren’t we throwing downfield to stretch the D?) with a cupboard that is lacking in sick athletes, you are going to get the sort of results we are getting.
I also gotta say, our receivers are terrible. Damian Williams was a total non-factor last week against OSU. We must have the fewest YAC of any D1 team, I swear. Have we even had a 60-yard play this year?
I just hope Barkley is going to be as good as Carroll thinks, or else we’re fucked for the next couple years.
Eic,
Take a guess who the OC is right now, my old teammate, Johnny Morton. The problem is, he was a wide receiver in college and in the pros, but he is not OC material. His play calling skills suck ass. Not to mention 3 turnovers. When I saw USC drop to #12 I was pissed, but then felt like they deserved it. They do not play like or resemble a #3 team, and are certainly not playing like a team in the hunt for a National Title. The best I think we can do at this point is the Rose Bowl.
[quote]MaximusB wrote:
Eic,
Take a guess who the OC is right now, my old teammate, Johnny Morton. The problem is, he was a wide receiver in college and in the pros, but he is not OC material. His play calling skills suck ass. Not to mention 3 turnovers. When I saw USC drop to #12 I was pissed, but then felt like they deserved it. They do not play like or resemble a #3 team, and are certainly not playing like a team in the hunt for a National Title. The best I think we can do at this point is the Rose Bowl. [/quote]
Precisely. I didn’t know Morton was calling the plays; I thought it was more of a Bates-Morton tandem. I was a little uncertain about Morton, but thought that Bates would at least ramp things up a touch. Apparently not. Regardless, the offense has gotten even more vanilla than under Sark and I didn’t think that was possible. I was actually happy to see Sark go, as I thought he was a huge step down from Kiffin. I was sort of hoping that Pete and Norm might make up and that Norm would come riding back into Troy. No dice.
As weird as it sounds, I’m actually hoping that Cal will run they table if USC can’t beat them. I happen to think Cal is playing like one of the top four teams right now (Florida, Ole Miss, Cal, Penn State) and would love to see someone else from the Pac-10 in the NC if not USC. The conference is better than people give it credit for.
As an aside, I believe Alabama may be one of the most overrated teams ever. They were a #1 team by default last season, got dominated by Florida w/out Percy Harvin, got roughed up by a solid (but not great) Utah team, manage to lose their two best offensive players, and solely on the basis of a 10-point win over an overrated Va. Tech team, are ranked #3 with two first-place votes? Are you joking me?!?!?
Maybe, Cal jumped to #6 I think, and if they knock us off, they could run the table. I think Washington can do well this year, probably land a bowl berth. Johnny Morton didn’t do shit in the NFL, and clearly should be limited to being a wide receivers coach.
I would keep an eye on Miami. They are the only team I have seen thus far that impresses me. They also look fast, like Miami did earlier this decade. Their strength of schedule could really help them as well.
This season already has the feel of 2007 with upsets occurring almost every week. I would not be surprised to see a team like Miami sneak into the top 5.
My Sooners play Miami in two weeks. It was a game that concerned me before the season even started. Now, with Bradford unlikely to play and Gresham out for the season, I’m really not liking this game.
[quote]Dustin wrote:
I would keep an eye on Miami. They are the only team I have seen thus far that impresses me. They also look fast, like Miami did earlier this decade. Their strength of schedule could really help them as well.
This season already has the feel of 2007 with upsets occurring almost every week. I would not be surprised to see a team like Miami sneak into the top 5.
My Sooners play Miami in two weeks. It was a game that concerned me before the season even started. Now, with Bradford unlikely to play and Gresham out for the season, I’m really not liking this game. [/quote]
Miami has been on fire, but their secondary better get better before they play y’all, otherwise that could be a very high scoring game if y’alls D (which looks great in the last 2 games btw) has problems.
Spike, our teams play each saturday 3:30est/2:30Central. Looks like it is only gonna be on 360 which sucks but I guess it’s better than nothing at all. Our right tackle is day to day at the moment but we definitely have to look out for Hughes (that guy is a straight up beast) and we better be able to move the ball in the red zone better than last week. Could very well come down to defense and special teams (if your looking for two players that you should really pay attention to on our D you definitely should know Daquan Bowers and Ricky Sapp). I’m lookin forward to saturday already man, can’t wait! and I promise you the stands will be packed and it will be loud (it was loud even after the 2 rain delays and 5 hour game we had against BC this past saturday, I was on the hill there and stayed the entire game, it was awesome even though we all got soaked!)
Depressing, both my brother’s and my alma maters lost. USC lost to Washington and University of Hawaii lost to UNLV this weekend.
ryan mallett sucked at michigan, he was terrible.
but man he is a great fit in arkansas, has really stepped his game up. he threw for over 400 yards on saturday, didn’t he? nasty stuff
[quote]Rocker3829 wrote:
Spike, our teams play each saturday 3:30est/2:30Central. Looks like it is only gonna be on 360 which sucks but I guess it’s better than nothing at all. Our right tackle is day to day at the moment but we definitely have to look out for Hughes (that guy is a straight up beast) and we better be able to move the ball in the red zone better than last week. Could very well come down to defense and special teams (if your looking for two players that you should really pay attention to on our D you definitely should know Daquan Bowers and Ricky Sapp). I’m lookin forward to saturday already man, can’t wait! and I promise you the stands will be packed and it will be loud (it was loud even after the 2 rain delays and 5 hour game we had against BC this past saturday, I was on the hill there and stayed the entire game, it was awesome even though we all got soaked!)[/quote]
I’m hopin your guys get healthy, hopin we work out a few kinks on D, and I can figure out how to run my laptop through my TV for Saturday. Several of your compadres have visited killerfrogs.com and been very helpul with hotel, restaurant, parking, etc information. The consensus now is that the ACC has absolutely the friendliest fans. UVA was also a great experience for those that made the trip.
[quote]Dustin wrote:
I would keep an eye on Miami. They are the only team I have seen thus far that impresses me. They also look fast, like Miami did earlier this decade. Their strength of schedule could really help them as well.
This season already has the feel of 2007 with upsets occurring almost every week. I would not be surprised to see a team like Miami sneak into the top 5.
My Sooners play Miami in two weeks. It was a game that concerned me before the season even started. Now, with Bradford unlikely to play and Gresham out for the season, I’m really not liking this game. [/quote]
That’s a good call. I am pretty impressed by Miami. And you’re right: there have not been a lot of impressive teams this year. Florida was looking pretty good, but then not very impressive in a home game against Tennessee. We need not say anymore about USC. You already know how I feel about Alabama. Texas has just been begging to be knocked off by someone decent. I watched their game against Wyoming and Texas Tech and both times they would have been absolutely destroyed by even a half decent team. The only teams that have truly consistently impressed me are Penn St., Ole Miss, Cal, and Miami.
Oklahoma would deserve to be the #1 team but for Bradford getting injured.
[quote]eic wrote:
Dustin wrote:
I would keep an eye on Miami. They are the only team I have seen thus far that impresses me. They also look fast, like Miami did earlier this decade. Their strength of schedule could really help them as well.
This season already has the feel of 2007 with upsets occurring almost every week. I would not be surprised to see a team like Miami sneak into the top 5.
My Sooners play Miami in two weeks. It was a game that concerned me before the season even started. Now, with Bradford unlikely to play and Gresham out for the season, I’m really not liking this game.
That’s a good call. I am pretty impressed by Miami. And you’re right: there have not been a lot of impressive teams this year. Florida was looking pretty good, but then not very impressive in a home game against Tennessee. We need not say anymore about USC. You already know how I feel about Alabama. Texas has just been begging to be knocked off by someone decent. I watched their game against Wyoming and Texas Tech and both times they would have been absolutely destroyed by even a half decent team. The only teams that have truly consistently impressed me are Penn St., Ole Miss, Cal, and Miami.
Oklahoma would deserve to be the #1 team but for Bradford getting injured. [/quote]
I really thought Florida would dominate Tennessee. Tebow actually looked “mortal” at times with the fumble and interception. Right now, on paper, I think they are the number one team, but I don’t think they are as good as last year and are beatable.
I agree regarding Texas. McCoy and Shipley can’t do it all and it’s apparent that Texas is not as explosive on offense as they were last year. They also lost some key defensive players as well.
Oklahoma needs to improve tremendously. The offensive line is improving but is still falling short of what was expected. OU’s has essentially two receivers that are worth a damn, which is ridiculous considering how highly recruited some of them were. Luckily, most of them are young and will improve. I think many people are beginning to see why Gresham was so important to the offense, not only for his blocking ability, but for his hands as well. I am pleased so far with how OU has played defensively. They shutout Tulsa on Saturday which is not easy to do.
I think Miami, which OU plays in two weeks, could be the best team OU plays during the regular season. Not to underestimate Texas, but I think Miami has more weapons.
[quote]Rocker3829 wrote:
Dustin wrote:
I would keep an eye on Miami. They are the only team I have seen thus far that impresses me. They also look fast, like Miami did earlier this decade. Their strength of schedule could really help them as well.
This season already has the feel of 2007 with upsets occurring almost every week. I would not be surprised to see a team like Miami sneak into the top 5.
My Sooners play Miami in two weeks. It was a game that concerned me before the season even started. Now, with Bradford unlikely to play and Gresham out for the season, I’m really not liking this game.
Miami has been on fire, but their secondary better get better before they play y’all, otherwise that could be a very high scoring game if y’alls D (which looks great in the last 2 games btw) has problems.
Spike, our teams play each saturday 3:30est/2:30Central. Looks like it is only gonna be on 360 which sucks but I guess it’s better than nothing at all. Our right tackle is day to day at the moment but we definitely have to look out for Hughes (that guy is a straight up beast) and we better be able to move the ball in the red zone better than last week. Could very well come down to defense and special teams (if your looking for two players that you should really pay attention to on our D you definitely should know Daquan Bowers and Ricky Sapp). I’m lookin forward to saturday already man, can’t wait! and I promise you the stands will be packed and it will be loud (it was loud even after the 2 rain delays and 5 hour game we had against BC this past saturday, I was on the hill there and stayed the entire game, it was awesome even though we all got soaked!)[/quote]
As a huge Clemson fan (live right by there) I am concerned for the game against TCU, we have shown no ability whatsoever to move the ball, Parker forgot how to read progressions, and Spiller still can’t go up the gut. With Hairston out, man I dunno. I don’t think Jackson can field goal em to death again. But our D should keep it close.
Although I think we were about to blow open the BC game before the delay, that whole team was absolutely demoralized with the -3 total yards up to that point in the 3rd.
I read a funny story this morning in the LA Times here. A sports columnist calls up the USC PR guy to ask for an interview with Mitch Mustain (the QB who people wanted put in while pulling the choking Aaron Corp). The PR guy says that all QB interviews are to be held on Tuesday. The columnist asks, does Pete Carroll know Mitch Mustain is a QB? I thought it was funny, sorry its a slow morning, is this thing on?
[quote]MaximusB wrote:
I read a funny story this morning in the LA Times here. A sports columnist calls up the USC PR guy to ask for an interview with Mitch Mustain (the QB who people wanted put in while pulling the choking Aaron Corp). The PR guy says that all QB interviews are to be held on Tuesday. The columnist asks, does Pete Carroll know Mitch Mustain is a QB? I thought it was funny, sorry its a slow morning, is this thing on? [/quote]
What is the general consensus on Mustain? During his transfer from Arkansas, there was talk either by OU having some interest or Mustain had some interest in OU (I can’t remember which). Isn’t there some baggage with him? Like he’s a knuckle-head, or something along those line?
[quote]deletedmemory wrote:
Rocker3829 wrote:
Dustin wrote:
I would keep an eye on Miami. They are the only team I have seen thus far that impresses me. They also look fast, like Miami did earlier this decade. Their strength of schedule could really help them as well.
This season already has the feel of 2007 with upsets occurring almost every week. I would not be surprised to see a team like Miami sneak into the top 5.
My Sooners play Miami in two weeks. It was a game that concerned me before the season even started. Now, with Bradford unlikely to play and Gresham out for the season, I’m really not liking this game.
Miami has been on fire, but their secondary better get better before they play y’all, otherwise that could be a very high scoring game if y’alls D (which looks great in the last 2 games btw) has problems.
Spike, our teams play each saturday 3:30est/2:30Central. Looks like it is only gonna be on 360 which sucks but I guess it’s better than nothing at all. Our right tackle is day to day at the moment but we definitely have to look out for Hughes (that guy is a straight up beast) and we better be able to move the ball in the red zone better than last week. Could very well come down to defense and special teams (if your looking for two players that you should really pay attention to on our D you definitely should know Daquan Bowers and Ricky Sapp). I’m lookin forward to saturday already man, can’t wait! and I promise you the stands will be packed and it will be loud (it was loud even after the 2 rain delays and 5 hour game we had against BC this past saturday, I was on the hill there and stayed the entire game, it was awesome even though we all got soaked!)
As a huge Clemson fan (live right by there) I am concerned for the game against TCU, we have shown no ability whatsoever to move the ball, Parker forgot how to read progressions, and Spiller still can’t go up the gut. With Hairston out, man I dunno. I don’t think Jackson can field goal em to death again. But our D should keep it close.
Although I think we were about to blow open the BC game before the delay, that whole team was absolutely demoralized with the -3 total yards up to that point in the 3rd.
[/quote]
Another tiger here hell yes! DM, I lived on campus for two years and then my last year there (graduated in August 09) I was livin in Tiger Towne Village. I definitely hear you about us movin the ball, but I think a lot of those problems were from the rain honestly, and Parker definitely had an off day but I know he’ll be ready for this weekend. Honestly, I think in terms of pure running between the tackles, Ellington is better than Spiller, but the difference is Spiller has proven he can score from anywhere and you know ANYWHERE on the field! I LOVE our defense, they are absolutely amazing. That and five of our olinemen are sick at the moment but they should be fine by saturday.
Spike, we hear theirs a group of about 20-25 of y’all gonna be tailgatin there in Clemson on saturday, most of our fans (I can’t say all the students will be as respectful because being less than a year removed we know how our freshman are) will by far treat your fans with respect and class. I really wish I could be there this weekend
[quote]Dustin wrote:
MaximusB wrote:
I read a funny story this morning in the LA Times here. A sports columnist calls up the USC PR guy to ask for an interview with Mitch Mustain (the QB who people wanted put in while pulling the choking Aaron Corp). The PR guy says that all QB interviews are to be held on Tuesday. The columnist asks, does Pete Carroll know Mitch Mustain is a QB? I thought it was funny, sorry its a slow morning, is this thing on?
What is the general consensus on Mustain? During his transfer from Arkansas, there was talk either by OU having some interest or Mustain had some interest in OU (I can’t remember which). Isn’t there some baggage with him? Like he’s a knuckle-head, or something along those line?[/quote]
Nah he and his mom are one and the same, and think they can coach better than the guy who has the job. At least in Arkansas it was like that. Cry baby mostly. Wants to throw 75 times a game, but didn’t go somewhere like Texas Tech or BYU instead chose Ark with the condition they hired his hs coordinator. They did, was a failure, so he transfered.
[quote]deletedmemory wrote:
Dustin wrote:
MaximusB wrote:
I read a funny story this morning in the LA Times here. A sports columnist calls up the USC PR guy to ask for an interview with Mitch Mustain (the QB who people wanted put in while pulling the choking Aaron Corp). The PR guy says that all QB interviews are to be held on Tuesday. The columnist asks, does Pete Carroll know Mitch Mustain is a QB? I thought it was funny, sorry its a slow morning, is this thing on?
What is the general consensus on Mustain? During his transfer from Arkansas, there was talk either by OU having some interest or Mustain had some interest in OU (I can’t remember which). Isn’t there some baggage with him? Like he’s a knuckle-head, or something along those line?
Nah he and his mom are one and the same, and think they can coach better than the guy who has the job. At least in Arkansas it was like that. Cry baby mostly. Wants to throw 75 times a game, but didn’t go somewhere like Texas Tech or BYU instead chose Ark with the condition they hired his hs coordinator. They did, was a failure, so he transfered. [/quote]
Okay, that makes sense. I knew there was some controversy surrounding him.