On the Road Again

Lot of top teams in action and many making some big road trips. This is the time of year - late October and into the first couple of weeks of November - when fatigue starts to set in. A lot of teams are just starting, or at the end of the two-week road trip and that can take it's tole.

Meanwhile, this weekend is the weekend when we'll one (maybe 2) undefeated team fall in the NFL. Want to know more....I guess you'll have to read on (or scroll down).

My "Big game even though it's not a big game" occurs in Baton Rouge this weekend when Auburn visits LSU. Auburn stepped on their you-know-whats the last two weekends; digging themselves too big a hole in Fayatville and then just didn't show up (at home) against Kentucky. At this point, their chances of stealing the south are looking grim as they still get LSU this weekend, Ole Miss, Iron Bowl and Georgia on the road. Sooo, they're playing for pride.

Meanwhile, LSU still has a chance, although I don't see any way they make it through Bama or Arkansas. So my point is this - it's a game where there's a mix of two teams, one who may have some illusions of "we can still do it", while the other is playing for pride. I think it should be a good game. I'm taking Auburn, coming off of two straight losses. It's a tough (and maybe stupid) call, but I've got a feeling.

Auburn - 26
LSU - 20

Danger zone in Columbia, MO for Texas. I'm trying to decide if I'm living on wishful thinking or a true gut feeling on this one. Here's what I know: Texas' offense has been inconsistent at best this year. Texas' defense has saved it's ass on multiple occasions. Colt is sniffing .500 in turnover/TD ratio. Texas' offensive line could be the dark horse for the "most disappointing story of the season" award - they have grossly underachieved. We've seen a couple of Texas players, DJ Monroe and Marquis Goodwin, with one of them disappearing and the other....I'll get back to you after Saturday. Other than the dominating defense, there are question marks.

Meanwhile, my gut is telling me that now that Texas has slugged through the pre-conference (and honestly, were you really that surprised at that?), and gotten the "OU monkey" off it's back, they will be more relaxed. Colt has looked tight and that's been reflected in the entire offense. I'll say it again, someone not named Jordan Shipley needs to step up and make a play offensively. If the team is more relaxed, they'll play better. We haven't seen them look relaxed all year, save for maybe the UTEP game....and that doesn't really count.

Missouri is coming off of 2 losses and look to have peaked early in my humble opinion. I admit, I was high on them early in the season and truly thought they were going to stop Nebraska (which they would have had the game ended after the 3rd quarter), but I think the fact that Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin aren't there anymore is catching up with them. Make no mistake Texas fans, this is a H-U-G-E game for Missouri and will be gunning for Texas like it's their entire season. It won't be enough - I'm looking for a relaxed Texas offense to score quick in this game while the defense does what it does. Don't be too surprised to see the Tigers run a couple of trick plays early - and maybe even convert one - to get some momentum. Fear not, it won't last.

Texas - 47
Missouri - 24

Bringing the magic back in Ann Arbor? Maybe? Penn State travels to Michigan this Saturday afternoon in what will be a match up of stout defense against quick strike, fast-paced offense. I have no idea if Forcier will suit up or not, but I'm assuming he will. Aside from the PSU defense against the Wolverine offense, what will be interesting is to see the flip side. Penn State's offense is clearly down this year, but this isn't a crushing Wolverine defense, not by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm betting on another exciting game for Michigan and they may not eek it out, but I think they will and it will be tight.

Michigan - 27
Penn State - 24

Other College Football Notes:

• Check out Kansas' remaining schedule: OU, at Tech, at K-State, Nebraska, at Texas, and Mizzou at home. That's brutal.
• So Tech is down to it's third-string QB this weekend against the Aggies. I'm taking the Red Raiders by 25 and whoever this kid is playing quarterback will throw for about 500 yards.
• Or...http://fannation.com/blogs/post/470419
  
• I've read way too much "Tebow by default in a down year" for the Heisman. They just keep confirming my theory of the Heisman being the biggest joke of an award in any sport on any level.
  
• I can't imagine how TCU could not jump Boise State if both teams keep wining.
  
• For those of you who really want a playoff in college football (which is all of you) - just pretend like the playoffs start now. If you're talking playoffs for conference races, I can buy that, but that's it.
  
• Another big road game in the Big 10 is Iowa at Michigan State. Again, a high-powered offense against a suffocating defense. I would never bet against Iowa...but I wouldn't bet on them either.
  
• From the files of "don't be shocked".....don't be shocked to see Washington pull another "upset" against the top of the Pac 10 with Oregon visiting.
  
• You want an idea of how bad the Big 12 is this year - Kansas State is in a 3-way tie for first place in the north division. And Colorado trails those 3 teams by a half game (heavy sigh).
  
• Two other games of note this weekend: Tennessee visits Bama and TCU visits BYU. Yep, playoffs.
  

NFL Notes:

• FANTASY UPDATE: Poor planning on my part, but had a few guys with a bye and had to scramble late. Every one of my offensive starters is playing on the road. That can't be good. BUT, at least there's some Cleveland, Oakland, KC - teams like that in there.
  
• Undefeated going down? I'm betting on Pittsburgh taking down the Vikings. Minnesota has had some close calls (and crazy plays) in a couple of their wins and I just think this one maybe too much for them. Big Troy P is back and Roethlisberger is doing his best Joe Montana impression. I like Pittsburgh by 6 in this one.
  
• Another "maybe?" upset is New Orleans visiting Miami. Of course, this is just banking on the fact that Brees can't play that good ALL year long, right?
  
• Intriguing game of the weekend? Has to be Atlanta at Dallas.
  
• Yeah, I'm all sorts of in love with Denver now. They just mauled San Diego from beginning to end - and yet again, the defense ratchets up in the second half. This team is full of talent and at some point, we're going to have to start moving them from the "wow, they won again?" category and start talking seriously about a deep playoff run.
  
• And on the other end of the spectrum, how many more years are we going to cross our fingers and hope really hard that the Chargers get their you-know-what together? I mean, they should be better than this, right? They were at home last week for crying out loud.
  

Unfortunately that's all I got this week - getting settled into the new job (started this week) is going to keep me busy. Ahh, how spoiled I was these last couple of months. Anyway, enjoy yet another great weekend sandwiched between rainy weeks - does it get much better?

Mid-Season Report

Believe it or not we are now at the halfway point of the college football season and as such, the BCS makes it's long-awaited debut. I want to get to the teams and this past week's games, but let's take a quick glance back at some of the hype coming into the pre-season.

- Ole Miss and Oklahoma State were top 10 teams - Ole Miss is now 3-3 and Oklahoma State has a lone loss to Houston, but still has games remaining against Texas and Tech (at home) and Oklahoma on the road. I had high hopes for the Cowboys myself, but as I see some of them week in and week out in little bits, I'm less and less nervous as a Texas fan. Point being, they'll likely lose 2 of those three games. Either way, they aren't a top 10 team;.....not even close. Meanwhile, Ole Miss is atrocious.

- Florida and Texas were overwhelming favorites to play in the title game. Although both are still in position to do just that, neither have been very impressive this year. Florida's signature win came against a weaker-than-normal LSU team on the road whereas Texas' signature came this past weekend in that train wreck of a Red River Rivalry.

- Six of SI's pre-season Top 10 have at least one loss. 4 of those teams have 2 or 3 losses. No point, just that parity always rules in college football.

Now we can let the BCS hoopla begin. The year's first BCS poll was released and although there are some surprises, there are some interesting selections here. My initial thoughts...

- How Alabama is not number one is beyond me. I thought for sure they would be, it never occurred to me it would be any other way. What has Florida done that Bama hasn't? I think the Gators are getting a lot of mileage out of that LSU win. Right now, Bama's a better team. No question.

- Although I'm not hugely concerned with Boise State or Cincy being ahead of USC, I do think TCU should be ahead of both of them and I think they will ultimately jump them. Of course, if USC beats Oregon in two weeks and follows that up with a win at Arizona State, they'll jump all of them due to strength of opponents. And don't forget about Iowa, although I would be surprised to see them run the table.

- How in the world has Kansas managed to stay in the top 25?

- Other than the above, no real huge shocks in my mind. But remember, this BS isn't designed to work after week 6 of the season, it's designed to work after all the games are played so keep that in mind. Yes, I know, it doesn't make it any better, but what are you going to do?

Now on to the games....

Exhausting game to watch on Saturday. I was both disgusted and ecstatic about this team all at the same time. The offense is out of sync - all of them. It starts with the offensive line which should feel embarrassed as a group about that game. Yes, the team won and that's what matters, but I'd like to think that they start to take it personally that they are getting absolutely destroyed. But it's not just the O-line (although that's a huge, HUGE part of it) - Colt and the receivers are clearly not on the same page and Colt in general looks....overwhelmed. You can talk about receivers "running wrong routes" all day long, but at the end of the day it's the quarterback's job to get his receivers on *his* page. He's not getting good enough protection, but he's still making bad decisions. I could go on and on, but I won't - I will say huge game by Marquis Goodwin. He made 2 or 3 big grabs (including great touchdown run) late in the game. Fozzy played pretty well too.

On the flip side, this defense made a huge statement in this game. I would put this defense up against Florida or Alabama. Not saying Texas would win (certainly not right now), but this Texas defense is as good as those guys. The secondary *really* played well. They gave up a lot yards early, but really stepped it up in the second half. HOWEVER, one criticism I will say is the tackling was atrocious. In their plays of 20 yards or more, I bet the ball carrier broke at least 2 "tackles" on his way to the big run. That has to be addressed.

At the end of the day, a win is a win and at this point, that's all Texas has to do - win. I am quite concerned about the lack of rhythm and "mojo" on the offense. Fozzy showed glimpses of a guy who can carry the load, but really, no one on offense stepped up. Not the line, not the receivers and certainly not Colt. Kinkendoll was bad at best and had, easily, the biggest bonehead play for head butting the defender in front of the official (by the way, it was like 3rd and 14 and he picked up like 6). Idiot.

Oklahoma's defense has to be commended as they clearly disrupted Texas' offense from the get-go and never let them get comfortable. Gerald McCoy proved why he's going to make a lot of money playing on Sundays one day.

All in all, a very, VERY ugly game with over 220 penalty yards and 8 turnovers between them. If I have to find a "glass half full" view of this, it's always good to know you can nut out a win in a game like this if you need to....I guess. But still, they have to get their sh*t together offensively, and it starts with the O-line.

Tough break for Bradford. Situation sucks, but I don't feel as sorry for him as I did in week one. I still think he should have hung it up and focused on getting healthy for the next level. Of course I have no idea what this injury means/how severe it is, but it didn't look good. And you knew there was a better than good chance this was going to happen in this game. Not necessarily on some bad ass hit, but because it's a very physical game.

Who knows what will happen, but I'd be surprised if we see him take another snap this year. Hope he's not hurt too badly, but he obviously knew the risk.

Oh-so-close for the Golden Domers. I guess you could say the overall game wasn't as close as the score, but that would discount the Notre Dame comeback. And how many consecutive games can they have it go down to the wire? I guess it's good experience, but I'll say it again, Notre Dame is much closer to being a lower tier team, than they are to being an upper tier team. They can move the ball and score fast, but they have no defense.

Meanwhile, don't let the score fool you - the Trojans really ran away with this pretty early, but just went to sleep in the final quarter, up by like 20. Always tough to win a high-profile road game like this, but the more USC lets these guys hang around, the more they're going to get beat. They travel to Oregon in two weeks (followed by a trip to Tempe) and I'd be concerned if I'm a Trojan fan.

Checking in on conferences at the midway point. I'll be honest, I couldn't tell you right now who the "best" conference is as I think they're pretty even. Recently, it's been a natural default to pick the SEC and if you're looking at top teams, it would be hard to argue. But, after Florida and Alabama, what do you have? You've got Georgia and Ole Miss who have completely collapsed from the picture; an LSU team whom everyone wants so badly to put as a top tier team, but really can't; the 15-minute darling Auburn proceeded to lose 2 straight games as the hype was starting to build (they lost at home to Kentucky on Saturday); and on, and on. The top of the conference is good, no doubt, but after that, it's a whole lot of average, but inconsistent teams (with MSU and Vandy bringing up the rear).

Meanwhile, the Big 12 continues to step on it's own you-know-what week in and week out. With that ridiculously ugly loss to Texas, OU is now sitting at .500 at the halfway point. How weird is that? Couple that with Texas' doubt-casting play thus far and the top of the conference isn't pulling it's weight. Meanwhile, you've got Okie State clinging to the outskirts of the top 10 as itself continues to just win. The Houston loss really hurt the Big 12, not only the Cowboys. Your middle of the pack teams include Nebraska (coming off of home loss), Tech (is it me or are they surging a little bit?), Missouri (after two straight losses, hosting Texas next week), Kansas (really? Colorado? Damn.), and now, Oklahoma. The bottom of the Big 12 is a bit deeper, however, with A&M, Kansas State, Baylor, Iowa State and Colorado checking in. Not a good first half of the year for the Big 12.

If someone can ever figure out the ACC, please drop me a line. Tough loss for a very good Virginia Tech team. Look, if you let an option team get going early, it's almost impossible to stop them once they get going downhill. I still say Virginia Tech is a team I'd least like to play right now.

Cincy is the class of the Big East right now and I'm a believer. If these guys run the table you're going to have a very interesting circumstances on your hands. Could the BCS possibly take two 1-loss teams over an undefeated Cincy team? I say no way. They're good, but the rest of the conference is just OK. They have the usual tiered set of teams, unfortunately those tiers will always be judged differently from everyone else's tiers.

What can you say about the Pac 10? USC controls it's own destiny...again. But, I'll tell you this, in looking at their schedule, they could conceivably lose to any of those teams. They get Oregon State at home this weekend (and we all know how that's worked out the past few years), and then travel to Oregon and to Arizona State on consecutive weeks. And as always, they'll be gunning hard for the Trojans. Lot of good, but inconsistent teams in the Pac 10. Not a ton of bottom feeders (although UCLA is working it's way in that direction) which is good, but the top of the conference is a "down" USC team and a "they seem pretty good" Oregon team.

Put me down as a buyer of the Mountain West conference. Look at those teams and tell me how they're really any different than any of the above-mentioned conferences (other than large stadiums and TV deals): you've got a couple of top-tier teams in TCU and Utah (and have been pretty consistently the last few years); you've got a few mid-tier teams in BYU, Colorado State and Air Force (BYU can beat any team on any given Saturday, and CSU is down this year, but historically been good); a perennial up-and-comer in UNLV; and the bottom feeders of Wyoming, New Mexico and San Diego State. I'm just saying - are they that different from the Big 12 or Big East right now?

Other College Football Musings....

• BRA-VO Aggies. That is a really, really bad loss. They were down 59-0 before they scored a point. What was going through the minds of Aggie fans during that game I wonder. I wonder if it was something like this: "why do we continue to hire old, white guys with no pulse as our head coach?"
• I look at the Florida game and the Texas game on Saturday and couldn't help but notice that these teams are mirror images of one another. Both not living up to expectations (although with the media, Florida will always live up to expectations), both struggling offensively, both have dominating defenses, both dealing with a lot of pressure. And both teams just came off of "big games" that they won in ugly fashion against teams that, at the end of the day, are only 3-3. Texas at 2 and Florida at 3 or Florida at 2 and Texas at 3, it don't matter.
  
• Other than that Aggie poop fest, Tech going on the road and spanking Nebraska from the opening gun as the most surprising Big 12 moment of the weekend. Like I asked above, are these guys surging? They lost on the road to Texas in a MUCH tighter game than anyone expected, they go on the road and win in Lincoln with Nebraska playing at a high level and generating buzz - they're only loss came against a Houston team that went on the road and beat Okie State. Look out for Tech - they still get Kansas, Aggies and OU at home and travel to Okie State and Baylor. Don't sleep on this Tech team just yet. All of a sudden, that schedule looks very winnable for the Red Raiders.
  
• NOW you can start your Heisman talk - as of today, Mark Ingram gets my nod from Alabama. He's carrying that team offensively. And if we must look at players carrying undefeated teams (which seems to be the norm), than he takes it. I'm not buying Tebow - he's a distant fourth, or maybe 3rd, but he's not seriously up there right now. He's struggling and just because we all want him to be God-like, doesn't mean he is. Hell, I'd put Clausen ahead of him and I loathe that kid. Colt is so far off the list it's silly. And Shipley will be off the radar for now - even with that bad game, if he picks up where he left off before OU, he'll get back in the discussion. Colt will need all the above-mentioned players to literally drop dead to have any chance. He's done.
• One more thing on the BCS - there is a giant discrepancy between the human and the computer polls which of course makes this whole thing so suspect. I'm still surprised that Bama is 2 just because they've had a more impressive resume and destroyed the same team (Arkansas) that should have beaten the Gators on Saturday. Either way, that discrepancy between the polls will likely fuel a lot of debate should it continue.
  
• That was a bad, bad loss for Ohio State on Saturday - Purdue is a bad team. This pretty much takes Ohio State out of any title game discussions, as well as any Big 10 title discussions. And how bad has Pryor been this year? Talk about not living up to expectations. Of course the players around him aren't helping him...at all. That's a struggling football team right now, but settle down Buckeye fan, you're insane if you're calling for Tressell's head. If he does this for 3 straight years you still can't call for his head.
  
• I can't help to have this feeling that Texas is going to play the best game of it's season next week at Missouri. They've struggled most of the season, especially offensively, and they finally get a noteworthy opponent and play one of the ugliest games of the season, but pulled out a win. They may have a feeling of having this monkey off of their backs. I don't know, it just seems like what Texas would do - "oh, we can beat good teams, ok, let's really go play now". I'm not calling it this early, but I'm starting to have that funny feeling.
  
• I'd like to see the offensive line come together and make a statement at Missouri: protect your quarterback.
  
• In this system, Iowa, you had better start producing just a few style points. I'm just saying...
• Horrible, horrible situation in UCONN with the murder of star cornerback Jasper Howard. He was stabbed to death just hours after producing a player-of-game type performance. Thoughts and prayers to the UCONN football team and family - that kid was 20. Ugh.
• Madeley texted me asking about this on Saturday night and had to look it up. Before last season, the rule committee changed the clock rules (amongst a few others) - when a player runs out of bounds, the clock will stop only while the refs set the ball, at time they'll restart the clock. This changes in the final 2 minutes of each half (last 2 minutes of second quarter and fourth quarter). So Marc, I was kind of right. Anyway, if you've wondered about this the last couple of years, there you go.
  

Observations, assumptions and some general gibberish around the NFL...

• I'm losing faith in Jason Campbell. Scratch that, I've lost faith in him. I held on longer than most for this guy, and maybe he can be a decent QB with the right coach, but he's just playing terrible right now.
  
• Put me on the Saints bandwagon - they are the best team in football right now. Their offense is ridiculous and I'm not sure there's anyone who can stop these guys. It's a long year and they'll most certainly lose a game or two, but they are the real deal and the defense is soooo much improved. It's one thing to beat the Giants, but it's another thing entirely to throw up 48 points on THAT Giant defense. That's impressive. Drew Brees just may end up having the best year of any QB in the history of the game and that's a bold statement. If he's healthy, he'll be a top MVP candidate. Between the Giants, Vikings and Saints, the NFC race is going to get interesting.
  
• Is there anyone out there, inside our outside the Houston organization, who can figure out the Texans? What a weird, weird team. Here's betting on yet another 8-8 season at this point. They haven't won or lost more than 1 straight this season so far - loss, win, loss, win, loss, win. Quick, call Vegas on the next game and take whoever they're playing.
  
• Jesus Philly, you can't lose to the Raiders.
  
• If I'm Jeff Fisher I'm not sleeping much these days. He's got to be speechless after this start. I mean hell, they lost one defensive lineman and a defensive coach and all of a sudden they suck this bad? They still have a good secondary, right? They still have a great one-two punch at running back, right? Wrong. I have no idea what to think about this, but buckle up Titans fans as I imagine you're going to see VY get a shot to show his stuff and prove something these last 10-11 games. Oh, you want to know his stats from the Patriots game? 0-2 for zero yards and an INT. Your Tennessee Titans ladies and gentleman.
  
• FANTASY UPDATE: Another nail biter for me this week. If all things hold, looks like I'll pull out a 3-point win or so. I'll take it. Ray Rice saved my ass. First week I likely won't touch anyone on my roster. We'll see though.
• Two teams, almost identical paths to the first 6 game: Jets and Ravens. Both started 3-0 with hype coming out of their asses. Both have lost 3 straight in very close fashion. How frustrated are the Ravens? They've lost all 3 games in gut-wrenching fashion. And Jets fans, it's ok, settle down. Mark Sanchez has played a couple of games like a rookie quarterback...which he is. He'll be fine, he wasn't going to pull any Drew Brees or Peyton Manning impressions this year. If this Jets team can keep their coach from going insane, they'll be fine. The Ravens, meanwhile, need to fix some things on defense.
• Speaking of the Jets, pretty bush league post game by Rex Ryan last week by totally disrespecting the Dolphins. Be careful you crazy ass, you get them again this year.
  
• How freaking good is Matt Ryan? He's real good. He'll have one hell of a career.
  
• One more comment on the Titans/Pats game - not to take anything away from Brady (85% completion for 6 TDs), but did you notice how wide open both Moss and Welker were on half of their receptions? How in the world do you let Randy freaking Moss get that wide open.
  
• That Brian Cushing pick is looking better and better each week for the Texans. Quitely and slowly building a long-term defense. They just need a better coach and an offensively line. Oh, and Matt Schaub is leading the league in TDs - more than Brees, more than Manning and more than Brady. It won't last.
  
• Welcome back Wes Welker.
  
• Huge game tonight with the Broncos traveling away from snowy Denver to take on the Chargers in a must-win situation for San Diego. If the Chargers lose this game, you can pretty much kiss the division good bye. I'm taking Chargers in a tight game - they win by 3 or less.
  
• Good week for the Cowboys - they get a bye and everyone in their division loses. That's one way to do it.
  

Non-Football Thoughts for the Week:

• Big Sunday at the Bearden house with Ella's third birthday party. My initial reaction is it was great as Ella clearly had a great time. But sh*t, the crap we do for a THIRD birthday party. Sheesh. Ciara promptly said later in the night, "we'll definitely it down for next year." If you can find someone to put odds on that let me know because I'm betting the house against it.
  
• I'm not hearing a lot of A-Rod grumblings coming out of New York in these playoffs....and their shouldn't be. The dude is delivering.
  
• Is this "balloon" story out of Colorado really worth all of the attention it's getting? I can't find anything significant about it. Ahhh, the 24-hour media circus - no in-depth reporting, but plenty of bullsh*t stories like this.
  
• I'm less of an Obama fan almost every day that goes by (I'm not a lunatic, I don't loathe the man or anything like that), but it still baffles me how there are so many people out there who WANT him to fail. So, you realize when our President fails, it usually means lots of other things that affect people also fail, right? I mean, wishing for any President to fail is one of the most absurd and "un American" thing I can imagine. After about 5 years of Bush, I like a lot of people, was amazed at the sh*t he was doing, but did I wish him to fail? Of course not, I wanted him to succeed and do the right thing. I wanted his policies to be good. They weren't, but I still *wanted* him to be successful. I'll just come out with it - if you truly, in your heart of hearts, actually want your President to fail than you are stupid, stupid, stupid.
  
• It's the end of another era - yours truly will be starting a new job on Wednesday of this week. Going back to the agency life and I'm quite excited (and nervous) about the move. Had a great run at Sun and thankful for the opportunity, but I had to jump on this opportunity. Better to leave on your own terms now than on their terms in a month or two.
  
• Is it hunting season yet? I'm getting the itch in a bad kind of way.
  

That's what I got gang. Enjoy the week and I'll be back on Friday with a look at this week's games.