The Pirates of West Texas

The Pirates are coming to town....and by Pirates I mean those schizophrenic Red Raiders (If you don't know what I'm talking about then you obviously missed one of the best interviews with Mike Leach ever...and that's saying a lot).

Seriously, this may be the toughest game to figure out. You know Tech is able to score a lot of points very fast, but they haven't done it in quite a few games. And Texas seems determined to break some sort of record for most 4th quarter comebacks in a season. Although I'm not sure who may actually pull this out, I will give you what may be the safest bet in the world - if you're gambling Vegas style, take Tech in the first half and Texas in the second. Sure thing bet right there. And Crabtree will have over 150 yards and at least 2 TDs.

History tells us that not only has Texas owned Tech of late, they've REALLY owned them in Austin. I also believe this is the least solid Texas team Mack has had in years for this time of year. Granted, Jamaal Charles is playing like a man possessed - I know I give that guy a hard time a lot, but I'm starting to change my tune. I like how he's taking what the defense is giving him. The good news for this young and shaky offensive line is Tech isn't known for their crushing blitzes, but make no mistake, that defense is MUCH improved since late September when they changed D-coordinators.

The Texas defense is going to have their work cut out for them - they absolutely must get penetration with their 4 down lineman and make Harrell move. If he has all day, he'll shred the secondary....he'll probably do that anyway.

I know I always say this and we always wind up pulling out a win, but Texas can't keep turning the ball over. As long as you lose that statistic, luck will ultimately run out. And we especially can't be throwing pick six to start off the game.

Because this is so tough, I'm going with history...and the fact that Colt is averaging 60+ yards a game over the last 4 games (no Greg Davis, it's not because of the zone read). And finally, I gotta count on Mike Leach to give us good field position a few times per half by going for it on 4th and 9 from his own 20.

To hear what a Red Raider fan might say about the game, click here: http://fannation.com/blogs/post/75705

Texas - 41
Tech - 28

Texas A&M at Missouri:
So I gotta wonder, how does a lame duck coach motivate his team to win on the road against a far superior team....coming off of a HUGE ass whoopin' in Norman? I would be shocked if the aggies put up a huge fight. Missouri is playing for something right now and they know they are in the thick of this BCS mess, should they win out. The aggies on the other hand are frustrated and seemingly, getting worse. Jorvorski Lane has to be frustrated as his team seems to be down so early they can't feed him the ball (7 carries against Kansas and 5 carries against OU).

As usual, if Missouri can go up early by a couple of scores and keep the run contained, they'll blow this wide open. The aggie offense is incapable of scoring fast and often and I'm not sure they're defense will be able to do much against this Missouri offense. I would imagine that the one thing the aggies are looking towards is the Friday-after-Turkey Day game against the horns - that's their saving grace right there. But that's another tale for another day...

Missouri - 42
Texas A&M - 20

Kansas at Oklahoma State:
Who would have thought this game would have meant squat just a year ago? This is Kansas' opportunity to really make a statement - it's a 7pm prime-time game on ABC. I gotta think the Cowboys are completely distraught over the Texas game last week - I don't see them bouncing back from that and pulling the upset.

Kansas, on the other hand, is still out to prove a point and they sure play like they are. I think they will give the Okie State defense fits all day long and I'd like to see their defense to a big shut down job on the Cowboys. All said, I think it comes down to the confidence of this Oklahoma State team - you don't just shake off a loss like they just had. Kansas is much better than Texas is right now and I think it shows.

Kansas - 38
Okie State - 17

Other College Football Notes:

• So I've read a couple of little things here and there saying Texas may be in the best position to sneak into a BCS at-large bid. Unless we pull a Hawaii or Virginia, that could be a bad thing for these horns...I emphasize THESE horns.
  
• I think I had to do a double take when I saw Nebraska's name right above Iowa State's in the standings...with the same one-win conference record. Has the sky fallen too? Unreal. It's amazing to think how far that team has fallen since Frank Solich was there.....and I might remind you he was fired after a 10-3 season. It's not out of the question that he may be their coach next year.
  
• Tubberville at the aggies?? Interesting. Not sure I see that happening, but definitely interesting. The rest of the Big 12 south should be worried if that does happen.
• I think Florida at South Carolina could be a very interesting and very good game.
  
• I'll say it again this week, and again next week, and the week after that - Even if Oregon wins out, they have the odds against them with no conference championship game. Big 12 and SEC teams will (most likely) face a top 10 team in their respective conference title games which is sure to push them over the Ducks....who will have a bye week.
  
• I think I'm picking Cal to beat USC this weekend - not sure that's technically an upset, but I can see it happening.
  

NFL Notes:

• Yea, I'm pretty sure I hate Tom Brady...
• I'd really like to see VY throw for 200 yards and no picks this weekend - will be tough against that Jacksonville defense.
  
• Sucks to be Indy - they travel to San Diego this weekend after that heartbreaking loss last weekend. I really see Indy running all over the Chargers - I'm starting to have doubts about Rivers.
  
• You know how you used to always complain about the damn Lions and Packers game on Thanksgiving....all of a sudden, that's one of THE games of the year. Gotta love parity.
  
• Will be interesting to see how Tank Johnson performs over the next few weeks for the Cowboys - if he keeps his nose clean that may turn out to be one helluva pickup.
  
• Both the Cowboys and Giants can prove a lot this weekend as the square off - I'm going with the Giants because I think if they can get a few hits on him (and I think they can) it will knock him off his game. I'll go with the home team here - Giants in a close one.
  
• This will be confirmed this weekend, but after the Colts and Pats at the highest level, you've got the Cowboys, Steelers, Packers and Giants (and maybe the Lions or Titans) on the next level - after that, the drop off is HUGE.
• I think I'm giving it a 50-50 chance that Donovan McNabb is playing for the Bears next season.
  

NBA:

• Let's see Laker fans - would you rather have Shaq right now, or Kobe? Shaq is drowning in Miami right now...and he's hitting $60 Mil against the cap over the next 3 seasons. Meanwhile, Kobe is still the best player in the league - too bad those two couldn't get along better.
  
• Oh yea, Kobe is still acting like Kobe...it's a toss up.
  
• This is a bold (and blind) prediction this far out - the Sonics will have one of the best records in the second half of the season. Durant can clearly play at this level, but these guys need time to gel. Not making any grandiose playoff predictions, but when they get it together as a team they may be pretty dangerous....especially in a couple of years.
  
• Lot of talk about this year being the Rockets' year. I do buy into Rick Adleman making a difference, but I'll believe this when I see McGrady and Yao stay off the IR list for more than a month. And is it possible for Yao to play like he's got a pair? I'm tired of the "he's only 20-something years old" - how many more years will we hear this? He really needs to start banging down low more.
  
• Do you think the Kobe Bryant trade talk has rattled the Bulls a bit? They look like they've never played together. It's early, but if I'm the Chicago front office I'm either making a deal tomorrow or I'm sitting my team down and saying you are my guys and you're not going anywhere - they clearly need some sense of stability and/or closure.
• Here's a quick knee-jerk reaction, but Boston looks really good - 3 games is nothing, but they are playing very well. Players 4-7 will determine how this team performs down the stretch - Garnett is leading in rebounds and assists and Ray Allan is leading in scoring - these guys have a great rhythm. But again, very early...

Non Sports Thoughts for the Week:

• Had to go buy an extra power cord at the Apple store the other day - to check out, a clerk came up to me, standing in the middle of the place, with a hand-held device to swipe my card and do my transaction right there...and emailed me my receipt. Very good idea.
  
• Call me childish, but I think the writing on South Park gets funnier and funnier each season...gotta be one of my favorite shows right now.
  
• I wonder if in my lifetime, airlines will ban people who are sick from getting on planes - my wife sat next to a passenger with a cold on the way back from our vacation....our whole family has been sick all week.
  
• There's nothing worse than your sick child....awful.
  
• And the most heart-breaking news in ages - because the stupid writers are on strike, I have to wait even longer to catch my beloved 24 again. Stupid unions.
  

That's what I got - enjoy the week.

Still Scratching My Head

How in the world did Texas win that game?? Even the day after I can't quite figure it all out. I will say this, that game had to completely demoralize Oklahoma State - these guys simply can't believe that they can ever beat Texas...no matter what.

Yet again Texas plays a horrendous game and manages to pull out a win. I'm going to keep picking against Texas each week because it seems to ensure a Texas victory. I've said it before and I'll say it again - Texas may be the easiest team in the country to coach against. You know exactly what you're going to get every time and I'm not sure they have any "wrinkles" in their game plan (meaning special trick plays). The one semi-trick play they ran was a reverse....from their own end zone. I'm not sure there's a better example of when NOT to run a reverse.

With that, let's look at the details. Simply put, the defense was pathetic and the offense was....unimaginative - the good old Longhorns, you know exactly what you're going to get each time. I'm dead serious, I'm not sure the defense can stop anyone. I have no idea what Texas ranks nationally in pass defense, but it's got to be in the last quartile - they gave up 430 yards passing...that's a lot. And for crying out loud, STOP TURNING THE BALL OVER!!! I know that 2 of those INTs weren't necessarily on Colt (I still think the refs made a horrible call on that third INT), but at the end of the day, they're still turning it over an average of 2+ times per game. Unacceptable.

At the end of the day, Texas has played 1 or 2 complete games this year and have struggled against some pretty mediocre or poor teams (Arkansas State, Kansas State, Baylor, Central Florida, Nebraska, etc.). Offensive line and the entire defense are the primary areas of concern...and I think they may continue to be for some years. I know Mack doesn't hold his coaches or players accountable for anything, but if I'm in his shoes, I'm putting McDuff and Akina on notice - what ever it is you're doing it's not even coming close to being effective. Do something to fix it or you're gone. I cannot believe Texas is lacking in talented players given the top 5 recruiting classes they have year in and year out. I'm not even worried about losing seniors in the defense - in fact I'm almost happy because they may have better athletes, but as we know, Mack doesn't like to play younger kids regardless of how good they may be.

Sloppy game, but a win is a win. The good news for Texas fans is that the next two opponents have the mental and emotional stability and discipline of a 10 year old....so 4th quarter comebacks are very much in the cards.

LSU over Alabama:
Wow - what a game. Bama fans have to be sick today thinking about what could have been. The only person feeling more sick is the Bama QB. There's absolutely no excuse for a) taking a sack at that point in the game, and more importantly b) fumbling inside your own 15 yard line. Honestly, this game should not have been as close as it was as LSU turned the ball over 3 times (all by Flynn) and had over 100 yards in penalties. Either way, great game and LSU benefited and was moved up to #2 in the rankings. Long way to go, but I still think we'll see the Tigers in the big game.

OU over A&M:
OUCH! Not a good showing by the aggies (not surprising) and Oklahoma sure looked good. They didn't even score until the fourth quarter. Bradford was pretty spectacular yet again. The bad news is the aggies travel to Columbia to face Mizzou next week where the score could be very similar.

Other Saturday Observations:

• How about those Midshipmen of Navy - GREAT win and even better loss for Notre Dame. I wonder if ND is feeling like they may have jumped the gun a bit - as low as expectations as the AD may have had coming into this year, he couldn't have anticipated this. Good stuff.
  
• I gotta think Callahan is fired any day now - unacceptable giving up 76 points to anyone. How did Texas almost lose to these guys?
  
• And speaking of "how did Texas lose to these guys" - Kansas State lost to Iowa State. That hurts.
  
• Where the hell did UCONN come from??? These guys are steam rolling their conference foes.
  
• Write this down - as impressive as Oregon looks (and they do look impressive), they'll end up getting hosed out of the national title game because LSU and OU play conference championship games and if things hold as they are, they will play top 10 teams in those respective conference championship games. Meanwhile, Oregon closes the year against Oregon State. One of those guys will play OSU or each other in the title game - that's what I'm predicting.
  
• I wouldn't be surprised to see ASU drop another game in the next couple of weeks. I think Oregon was quite a bit better than they were.
  

Colts/Patriots:
What a game. I really feel for Manning, I (and I think most of the viewers) thought he was going to take them down for a game winner. Tough way to lose a game. Either way, however you want to look at it, these two teams are VERY close in terms of talent and skill. Patriots won't always commit 150+ yards in penalties, but Reggie Wayne won't always drop 2 perfectly thrown balls totaling close to 85 yards....and Marvin Harrison usually plays. I really think it's these two teams and everyone else. Both of these teams proved they've both improved since last year. Great game.

Other NFL Observations:

• How in the world do the Titans keep winning? They're like the Longhorns of the NFL - they're record doesn't match their performance.
  
• It pains me to say this, but the Titans are winning in spite of Vince Young's performance of late - he's averaging more turnovers than TDs a game right now. I don't know if it's the Madden curse, but his numbers are way down. Good news is they have a killer running game.
  
• I think we all knew Adrian Peterson would be a great pro...he probably would have 2 years ago. But damn! Record number for him comes in the 8th week. This guy will have multiple MVPs I believe and he's fun as hell to watch.
  
• Is Detroit for real??? I think they just may be.
  
• I think I'm throwing in the towel on the Chargers - they are in complete disarray. I still don't think teams WANT to face them, but they are not playing well right now...not at all.
  
• I wonder if the Bengals will put Chad Johnson on the trading block after this season...and I wonder if Jerry Jones doesn't give up a first rounder to get him.
  

That's what I got folks - have a good week and we'll have an update before the weekend.