How About Those....
Aggies??? I know, right? Makes me want to puke too, but gotta give credit where credit is due and credit is certainly due to the fake Army. What a ball game that was - love or hate the Aggies, that was a fun game. Here's a $20 bet that they step on their you-know-whats and drop one of these next two games....you know, because they're aggies. Oh, and one more complement to the aggies - they haven't had a bye week yet because of the hurricane in week 1 and they've played 5 of their last 6 on the road. Like I said...credit is due.
One more semi-related topic here - if I hear one more idiot try and explain to me how this win has any correlation whatsoever into why the Big 12 is as good or better than the SEC I'm going to "Jack Bauer" them in the jugular. That's a stupid, stupid, stupid comment (and yes, I know, this is what supposedly makes college football so great...sigh). This game means one thing: Texas A&M outplayed and out-executed Alabama on this particular Saturday afternoon. That's it. Nothing else.
Enough of that bullshit, let's get to some real stuff....
Texas Continues Doing it's Best Texas Impersonation...
You know the one, slug through the "pre-season", win a tight game or two early, get embarrassed by Oklahoma, and then wake up one day and start playing up to potential. Stop me if you've heard this one before...Seriously, is there a more maddening team to root for? I think not.
Putting on my positive hat here for just a second, I will say that this semi-bye week scares me a bit (I say semi because they play next Thursday). This team finally has some really good momentum coming into the last two weeks of the season and I'd hate to lose that mojo, but who knows, maybe it will help. Looks like Mack has finally let Harsin be Harsin, while putting more attention on the defensive side of the ball, working with Diaz.
Three players in particular who have more than stepped up to carry this team are Ash, Byndum and Edmond. Offensively, since his benching in that Kansas debacle, Ash has been nothing short of spectacular. 6 touchdowns, no picks, 75% completions and somewhere in the neighborhood of 600+ yards in two games. Not too shabby. Meanwhile, Byndum and Edmond have stepped up to carry this defense when they needed it most. Those two players have really stood out these last two weeks and it's refreshing to see that tangible leadership on the field. Oh yeah, and that Jonathan Gray cat is pretty good (and going to be REALLY good if he stays healthy).
Things get interesting these last two games, but here's the good news: if you look at the Iowa State game, the one series where the Cyclones really moved the ball and earned the bulk of their yards was at the end of the half when they were in hurry up to score before the break. Why they didn't get back to this is beyond me, but what do I know. TCU does not run a hurry up offense, especially with the kid that doesn't smoke and sell weed running the offense. So we've got that going for us. However, this TCU team is far more physical than anyone Texas has faced since Oklahoma and we all remember how that turned out. I give Texas a slight edge in this game, but that's based on playing like they have the last two weeks.
You may hear your local, neighborhood Texas fans talking "upsets in Manhattan" right about now....slap them if you do. First off, we still have a tough game against the Fort Worth weed cartel on Thanksgiving. And second, if you haven't noticed, Kansas State continues to play VERY solid football. They are the epitome of consistency. I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm just saying I have no reason to all of a sudden be making such grandiose proclamations. We'll see...
The Story of the Unbeatens....
As I said on our podcast last week, I would highly doubt if all of these teams finished unbeaten (and low and behold Alabama goes down), and I'm sticking with the same sentiment with these final three teams. Let's take a closer look at them, shall we....
Notre Dame - Most people in these parts really don't like the Irish (neither do I) so they automatically throw out the "they aren't that good". But, they are that good. Those of you who read this blog or listen to our podcast know me to be one who detests the idea of style points. I think it's the single worst thing about college football and I will not get sucked into it's bullshit. With that said, I'm a proponent of "are you winning your games?". Notre Dame may not win pretty, but they win. And they play a schedule year in and year out that is full of division 1 teams (except Navy). It's not their fault Pitt blows ass this year, or that the Big 10 is way down - they schedule them EVERY YEAR. Imagine if your favorite team played Michigan, Michigan State, USC, Stanford, Purdue, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, Boston College, etc. this year. You'd be SCREAMING "look at our schedule". Notre Dame does this just about every year. Everyone in the world saw the Pitt trap game coming after that tough road win in Norman so we'll let them slide there. But to win those games, including in Norman where very few teams win, it's impressive. And they have the best defensive player in the country on their team. I'm not saying they deserve to be ranked any higher than they are, but I am saying dismissing them is a mistake.
Oregon - Easily the toughest road remaining of the unbeatens. No question. Here's one thing that few people seem to acknowledge or know - defensively, this team has been decimated by injuries. Their five best defensive lineman are or have been out for much of the season. They are playing a third string strong safety. They're in a world of hurt, and you can tell that they are in survival mode. The good news is their offense is explosive to say the least. When healthy, I still content Oregon is one of the more complete teams in the country. But, they aren't healthy. And they have a hell of a run coming up, starting this Saturday night with the Cardinal. I know Oregon has done well to handle these guys in the past, but like I always say, it's college football and these are 19-21 year olds who struggle more with consistency than anything else. After this game they get a VERY tough Oregon State team (news flash: it's also a huge rivalry game). After that? Either the Trojans again or Bruins in conference title game. I'm not saying they lose this weekend, but I'm saying I would be surprised if they can run that gauntlet, with these injuries, unbeaten. I'm pulling for them, only because I would love to see these guys, with a few weeks off to get healthy, playing against another great team.
Kansas State - Is there a more underrated, quiet "greatest coach ever" than Bill Snyder? I don't think so. He's turned this program around....TWICE. And has them in a great position to play for a national title and what appears to be, today, the heisman trophy winner. Not bad Mr. Snyder. Not bad at all. Who says you can't recruit to Manhattan, Kansas (besides me and any other sane person on the planet)? I don't know what else to say except these guys are the kinds of flawless execution. I could be slightly off on this, but it's not by much: KSU has turned the ball over 2 or 3 times this year and those turnovers have turned into like 3 points. That's....that's amazing. I mean, I have no clue what the record is for fewer turnovers, or fewer points off turnovers, but that has to be close. Kansas State gets a Baylor team this weekend that makes Texas' defense look like LSU so I imagine Mr. Klein will have a field day. This is the one team I feel most comfortable penciling into the title game. I just don't see a huge threat or major flaws looming....
Spreading the Field...
One more semi-related topic here - if I hear one more idiot try and explain to me how this win has any correlation whatsoever into why the Big 12 is as good or better than the SEC I'm going to "Jack Bauer" them in the jugular. That's a stupid, stupid, stupid comment (and yes, I know, this is what supposedly makes college football so great...sigh). This game means one thing: Texas A&M outplayed and out-executed Alabama on this particular Saturday afternoon. That's it. Nothing else.
Enough of that bullshit, let's get to some real stuff....
Texas Continues Doing it's Best Texas Impersonation...
You know the one, slug through the "pre-season", win a tight game or two early, get embarrassed by Oklahoma, and then wake up one day and start playing up to potential. Stop me if you've heard this one before...Seriously, is there a more maddening team to root for? I think not.
Putting on my positive hat here for just a second, I will say that this semi-bye week scares me a bit (I say semi because they play next Thursday). This team finally has some really good momentum coming into the last two weeks of the season and I'd hate to lose that mojo, but who knows, maybe it will help. Looks like Mack has finally let Harsin be Harsin, while putting more attention on the defensive side of the ball, working with Diaz.
Three players in particular who have more than stepped up to carry this team are Ash, Byndum and Edmond. Offensively, since his benching in that Kansas debacle, Ash has been nothing short of spectacular. 6 touchdowns, no picks, 75% completions and somewhere in the neighborhood of 600+ yards in two games. Not too shabby. Meanwhile, Byndum and Edmond have stepped up to carry this defense when they needed it most. Those two players have really stood out these last two weeks and it's refreshing to see that tangible leadership on the field. Oh yeah, and that Jonathan Gray cat is pretty good (and going to be REALLY good if he stays healthy).
Things get interesting these last two games, but here's the good news: if you look at the Iowa State game, the one series where the Cyclones really moved the ball and earned the bulk of their yards was at the end of the half when they were in hurry up to score before the break. Why they didn't get back to this is beyond me, but what do I know. TCU does not run a hurry up offense, especially with the kid that doesn't smoke and sell weed running the offense. So we've got that going for us. However, this TCU team is far more physical than anyone Texas has faced since Oklahoma and we all remember how that turned out. I give Texas a slight edge in this game, but that's based on playing like they have the last two weeks.
You may hear your local, neighborhood Texas fans talking "upsets in Manhattan" right about now....slap them if you do. First off, we still have a tough game against the Fort Worth weed cartel on Thanksgiving. And second, if you haven't noticed, Kansas State continues to play VERY solid football. They are the epitome of consistency. I'm not saying it can't happen, I'm just saying I have no reason to all of a sudden be making such grandiose proclamations. We'll see...
The Story of the Unbeatens....
As I said on our podcast last week, I would highly doubt if all of these teams finished unbeaten (and low and behold Alabama goes down), and I'm sticking with the same sentiment with these final three teams. Let's take a closer look at them, shall we....
Notre Dame - Most people in these parts really don't like the Irish (neither do I) so they automatically throw out the "they aren't that good". But, they are that good. Those of you who read this blog or listen to our podcast know me to be one who detests the idea of style points. I think it's the single worst thing about college football and I will not get sucked into it's bullshit. With that said, I'm a proponent of "are you winning your games?". Notre Dame may not win pretty, but they win. And they play a schedule year in and year out that is full of division 1 teams (except Navy). It's not their fault Pitt blows ass this year, or that the Big 10 is way down - they schedule them EVERY YEAR. Imagine if your favorite team played Michigan, Michigan State, USC, Stanford, Purdue, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, Boston College, etc. this year. You'd be SCREAMING "look at our schedule". Notre Dame does this just about every year. Everyone in the world saw the Pitt trap game coming after that tough road win in Norman so we'll let them slide there. But to win those games, including in Norman where very few teams win, it's impressive. And they have the best defensive player in the country on their team. I'm not saying they deserve to be ranked any higher than they are, but I am saying dismissing them is a mistake.
Oregon - Easily the toughest road remaining of the unbeatens. No question. Here's one thing that few people seem to acknowledge or know - defensively, this team has been decimated by injuries. Their five best defensive lineman are or have been out for much of the season. They are playing a third string strong safety. They're in a world of hurt, and you can tell that they are in survival mode. The good news is their offense is explosive to say the least. When healthy, I still content Oregon is one of the more complete teams in the country. But, they aren't healthy. And they have a hell of a run coming up, starting this Saturday night with the Cardinal. I know Oregon has done well to handle these guys in the past, but like I always say, it's college football and these are 19-21 year olds who struggle more with consistency than anything else. After this game they get a VERY tough Oregon State team (news flash: it's also a huge rivalry game). After that? Either the Trojans again or Bruins in conference title game. I'm not saying they lose this weekend, but I'm saying I would be surprised if they can run that gauntlet, with these injuries, unbeaten. I'm pulling for them, only because I would love to see these guys, with a few weeks off to get healthy, playing against another great team.
Kansas State - Is there a more underrated, quiet "greatest coach ever" than Bill Snyder? I don't think so. He's turned this program around....TWICE. And has them in a great position to play for a national title and what appears to be, today, the heisman trophy winner. Not bad Mr. Snyder. Not bad at all. Who says you can't recruit to Manhattan, Kansas (besides me and any other sane person on the planet)? I don't know what else to say except these guys are the kinds of flawless execution. I could be slightly off on this, but it's not by much: KSU has turned the ball over 2 or 3 times this year and those turnovers have turned into like 3 points. That's....that's amazing. I mean, I have no clue what the record is for fewer turnovers, or fewer points off turnovers, but that has to be close. Kansas State gets a Baylor team this weekend that makes Texas' defense look like LSU so I imagine Mr. Klein will have a field day. This is the one team I feel most comfortable penciling into the title game. I just don't see a huge threat or major flaws looming....
Spreading the Field...
- In the "Who Saw This Coming" part of the show...UCLA controls their own destiny. Win against the Trojans this weekend (which doesn't happen often) and you're in the Pac 12 title game. Everyone with me now, "Who saw that coming????" Give Jim Mora Jr. (Playoffs!) credit - in his first season he has clearly brought a culture and mentality hasn't existed in southern California in quite some time and the team has certainly embraced it. Should be a great game - I'll have the DVR going (stupid 4pm wedding) - this should be a good one.
- My heart says I want OU/W. Virginia to be good - my gut tells me it'll be a field day for Landry Jones. Ugh.
- Wouldn't this be just like Tech to come out and whip up on Okie State in Stillwater? I'm not sure I'd have the cojones to do this, but if you're in Vegas - take the money line here. I'm taking Tech here, which will make my partner-in-crime in our podcast happy (although cynical happy).
- Good for you Missouri - the only SEC team playing a non-conference division 1 team this weekend (the other 7 SEC teams are playing....I don't know who, but neither do any of you so there). "Toughest conference" my ass....
- We don't talk much about it because it doesn't much matter, but Ohio State is on the verge of an undefeated season. Urban Meyer is pretty good, huh?
- Who has two thumbs and is thrilled to be anywhere near F1 racing this weekend? This guy.
- I'll get to some NFL news early next week (off all week), or later this weekend, I promise...
- Remember when that election happened? Was it a little over a week ago, or six months ago? What a f'ng circus our government has become. I'm not scared as much as I am disappointed. Heavy, heavy sigh - remember moderate Republicans and southern Democrats? That was kind of cool, wasn't it?
- If you like pizza and beer, and you live in the DFW area (specifically, southeast Dallas area) go check out Stateside Pie and Beer (statesidepie.com). New place opened up in Mesquite. It's awesome. 44 beers on tap, handmade pizzas, TVs everywhere, patio, great food...you get the idea. Check it out and let me know what you think.
posted by The Bearden Wonder at 7:01 PM
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