Rivalry Week Bonanza

You really have to love rivalry games. Although many times they are insignificant in terms of the this circus we call the BCS era, they sure do make for some great entertainment. Iron Bowl, Texas/Aggie game, Arizona/ASU, etc., etc. Lots of great games and we get an extra special treat this Thursday with Oregon/Oregon State facing off for a Rose Bowl berth. Great way to end the regular season.

Future looks bright in College Station....sort of. The Aggies have some serious, SERIOUS work to do on defense because they are really, really terrible. But, the good news is they have a pretty damn good offense (when they want to be) and a whole crap load of young talent. I've alluded to this before, but I think they are starting something like 15-18 freshman and sophomores. I'm still far from sold on Mike Sherman - I like Sherman a lot and he's obviously a great football mind, but I just don't like the whole college to pro and vice versa jumping around - statistically it rarely translates well at the head coach level.

Great game by Jerrod Johnson and that offense - this kid really has a chance to lead the pack next year in the Big 12 in terms of the quarterback position. If he can just play a bit more consistently, that will translate into at least a couple of more wins in the season. Cautiously optimistic is the phrase of the off season for these Aggies.

Meanwhile for the Longhorns, how weird was it seeing our offense bail out our defense in this game? I don't think we've seen anything close to that thus far this year. I would hate to be in the meetings this week with Muschamp if I'm a defensive guy - I bet he works them pretty good this week in preparation for the Nebraska game. I don't want to downplay how well the Aggie offense played because they easily played their most complete offensive game of the year, but for the first time all year, we saw a Texas defense come out and look flat and sputtering. Bad combination.

The Texas offense, meanwhile, was really, really great. Like I said, the Aggies have some work to do on defense, but Colt single-handily shredded that defense and took advantage of the opportunities. Barring a meltdown in Jerry Land next weekend (and a loss), I think Colt punched his ticket to New York for the beauty pageant. He faces a MUCH tougher defense in the Cornhuskers so we'll see what they've got. Ironically on the flip side, the Texas defense will be facing a MUCH worse offense. Should be interesting, but we'll get to that later.

Quit your bitching Pete Carroll. After questioning Big Jim's methods following the Stanford game, Carroll calls a 50-yard bomb for a touchdown in the final minute against UCLA. You, Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier are coaches who can never bitch if a team runs it up on you.

Bra-vo Gundy, nice way to end the season. The Big 12 is officially one good team and a bunch of either really bad or mediocre teams. I mean, no one wants to play OU, but they just aren't a great team. I just can't get over these Cowboys. I don't think I will again have faith in this team. You got a chance to knock off your in-state rival (which almost never happens) and get a BCS at-large bid...and you get shut out? Damn. Don't get me wrong, 9-3 is a good year, but you can't tell me this team didn't under achieve this year.

Other Thoughts from the Weekend...

• Great article by Andy Staples of cnnsi.com on Tebow's season and career. No doubt a great player, but also no doubt the average fan outside of Florida are kind of done with the whole story. He's still a great person and one hell of a college football player (without question one of the game's best ever), but he doesn't deserve this year's beauty pageant trophy.
  
• Speaking of the heisman, after watching Gerhart of Stanford absolutely has to be in New York.
  
• Memo to Notre Dame - you don't HAVE to go out and get the most expensive or most decorated coach - you just have to get the right coach. Of course this is something you've been incapable of doing for the past several years. I've said it before and I'll say it again - getting fired as a college football coach with time on your contract is probably one of the best jobs in the world.
  
• So PETA wants Georgia to use a "robot" or artificial dog for it's mascot? Do they not realize that this dog is probably treated better than any other dog on the face of the earth.
  
• Way too much discussion on who's better among the top 3 based solely on the rivalry games. I think it's safe to say that Auburn, FSU and A&M are all about in the same category of competition. Bama and Texas traveled on the road while Florida stayed at home. Blah, blah, blah - they all won which is exactly what they needed to do.
  
• Will be interesting to see what happens with Mark Ingram next week - he had a rough go against Auburn tallying up about 30 yards before leaving the game with an injury. If he's out, forget about it.
  
• Damnit Pitt, so much for making next weekend's match up with Cincy that much LESS exciting. West Virginia is a solid ball club, no doubt, but you have to get that win.
  
• Remember when a New Year's Day bowl game was the shiznit? Now if you're playing on New Year's Day, you're either under or over achieving. So much for the "integrity of the bowl game" arguments.
  
• Can't wait to see who Notre Dame overpays for this time around. I'm curious to know who WANTS this job other than Brian Kelley. I like Kelley a lot, but don't think he's proved himself as of yet - at least not in the sense of a coach who's played in and/or won numerous BCS bowls.
  

NFL Observations:

• I like Kubiak a lot, but he absolutely, positively must go. How many games can the Texas lose in the second half? It's ridiculous and painful. Tell me honestly, who actually thought (at any point in this game) that Houston would actually hang on to win?
• Look for McNair to make a hard run at Cowher.
  
• I'm not sure who this guy is wearing number 10 for the Titans, but it ain't the Vince Young that we know from his first run in the league. I can't help but to think that the time he spent watching (sulking at times) Collins from the bench have paid dividends thus far. He's making better throws and he's making better decisions. He still lacks a deep ball threat, but that's totally OK - they don't need him to throw 45 yard bombs - they need him to move the chains. The 99 yard drive with two minutes to play, converting 3 fourth downs to win it was pretty amazing. Career game for VY in terms of yards (well into 300 yards), but yet again, no turnovers. He's playing very well right now and if they can win at Indy next week they'll be at 6-6 after starting 0-6 and will have a real shot to get a wild card. I still say running the table is not very likely, but if they can go 4-1 in these last 5 games, that puts them at 9-7 and a chance. We'll see.
  
• What in the world is going through the minds of Bears fans? And how close is Cutler to the single-season INT record? I'm not sure what it is, but I know he's got a truck load of them. I guess the Bears were missing more than just a premier QB....or maybe that's all they still need, we're just all realizing that Cutler is not even close to being in that category. Either way, Orton and Grossman are smiling somewhere.
  
• Still got about 5 more games to play, but could this be the best season of Favre's career? I know he's got a tremendous team, but he's also making pro bowlers out of players like Shiancoe, Berrian and the rookie Harvin. You can't deny that he's playing lights out right now and as great as Manning and Brees are right now, at some point, we have to seriously put Favre in that discussion. He's got 24 TDs to 3 INTs. That's amazing.
  
• Remember when the NFC North was going to be one of the toughest in football with the Bears, Packers and Vikings all making huge runs? Rrrriiiiiiight.
  
• It's been quiet, but those obnoxious Chargers are making quite a run right now. I really hate that team with a passion and the one bit of good news is that Norv Turner is still their coach so...you know.
  
• Is it me or has the Jake Delhomme saga in Carolina officially reached it's peek of pathetic. I'm not sure what happened to this guy (he was in the super bowl for crying out loud), but he is not a starter in this league...no matter how much you pay him.
  
• I think if you're a Bucs fan you have to be happy with the future at the QB position. Freeman looks like a real deal player.
• FANTASY UPDATE: Barring Ray Rice picking up about 20 points for me tonight, I'm on pace to lose my third straight game this weekend. Ugh - when will this end???

Non-Football Thoughts for the Week:

• Weird story on the Tiger Woods crash. Always sounds fishy when you have a one-car accident at 2:30am. I don't know and I don't really care to be honest - sounds like he's going to be alright though so I guess that's all that matters. I am, however, predicting the media's BS to reach epic proportions.
  
• And before anyone brings this up - do other people cancel interviews with authorities? I don't know, but I do know that little nugget will likely generate the most speculation.
  
• Look, Iverson, it's been a pretty damn good career for you - either accept a limited role or go away. Please.
  
• We took the plunge and got a fish for Ella this weekend - I'll begin taking bets for the over/under on how long this thing makes it. By the way, it's name is Tinker Bell...so I guess it's a girl.
  
• Saw the movie Funny People this weekend - pretty good, but about 40 minutes too long. Really good story and really good characters, but the "love" part of it just dragged on way too long. We get the point you were making, but you could have done it a hell of a lot quicker. Best part was the funny cameos by the other comedians. Great acting job by Sandler.
  
• Sooooo, there's going to be health care reform, there's not going to be reform? What's the deal?
  
• I've finally got Hudsons Jalapeno/Cheese sausage stocked back into the deep freeze and let me just say it feels good. Never again will I allow myself to run out.
  
• For those venison lovers who don't get the chance to hunt, Hudsons now sells venison meat to the general public. It has to be imported from New Zealand (where deer farms are legal) so it's not cheap - about $7 a pound.

That's what I got gang - enjoy the week of cold weather.