Gaining Clarity Across the Nation
As we head into conference play, we're certainly starting to get a clearer picture of the college football landscape: Notre Dame and Florida State just may actually be legit; I guess Stanford might just be ok without Andrew Luck; and more than ever, the SEC is an overrated bunch with a whole bunch of mediocre-to-bad teams hiding behind two really great teams and handful of pretty good teams. Let's take a closer look...
Longhorn Enigma:
Like many recent years, this team sure can be....hard to figure out. My general assessment is this is a pretty talented team that can have some serious lapses in execution, communication, etc. I have yet to see a complete game (including the 45-0 shutout of New Mexico). Looking ahead to the next few weeks, this bye week could not have come at a better time.
Let's be clear - the offensive line and running backs have been very good. I will take these performances all day long. The other areas have seen flashes of greatness mixed with a whole lot of inconsistency. I was pleased to see the success of the long ball (some good throws and some good play on the ball by receivers) in the Ole Miss game, but let's be very honest - half-way decent defensive backs would have easily knocked those passes down, or picked them off. Not to dismiss the positives in those plays, but Ole Miss was a bad football team, especially defensively. Ash is taking care of the ball, which is huge. They need to tighten things up in the passing game - continue to gain rhythm. And for better or worse, I think we're going to see a whole other level of play calling against Okie State and beyond.
Defensively - man, just f'ng tackle. That was a miserable display of tackling - as bad as we've seen in a while. And how many times were we so out of position that their RB scampered 30+ yards before someone gets within 3 yards of him? Definitely some concerning miscues - at some point, sheer athleticism won't be enough to compensate for those kinds of mistakes. They still got 3 picks and as many sacks, but way too many big plays. And with Okie State, W. Virginia and Oklahoma coming up, they will definitely need to shore that up.
Notre Dame to ACC:
Not horribly surprising - it's another small domino towards the inevitable super conferences. They (Notre Dame) still get seven games to schedule with the Michigans, USCs, Michigan States, and Stanfords of the world. Plus, it's definitely a good move for basketball (mens and womens).
SEC:
LSU, Alabama.....Georgia, I guess.....Two of the best if not the two best teams in the country. After that, a few pretty good teams (that I guarantee will lose a game), and then a whole lot of train wrecks. Has two best teams - by no means is the best conference.
Random Observations and General Gibberish...
Longhorn Enigma:
Like many recent years, this team sure can be....hard to figure out. My general assessment is this is a pretty talented team that can have some serious lapses in execution, communication, etc. I have yet to see a complete game (including the 45-0 shutout of New Mexico). Looking ahead to the next few weeks, this bye week could not have come at a better time.
Let's be clear - the offensive line and running backs have been very good. I will take these performances all day long. The other areas have seen flashes of greatness mixed with a whole lot of inconsistency. I was pleased to see the success of the long ball (some good throws and some good play on the ball by receivers) in the Ole Miss game, but let's be very honest - half-way decent defensive backs would have easily knocked those passes down, or picked them off. Not to dismiss the positives in those plays, but Ole Miss was a bad football team, especially defensively. Ash is taking care of the ball, which is huge. They need to tighten things up in the passing game - continue to gain rhythm. And for better or worse, I think we're going to see a whole other level of play calling against Okie State and beyond.
Defensively - man, just f'ng tackle. That was a miserable display of tackling - as bad as we've seen in a while. And how many times were we so out of position that their RB scampered 30+ yards before someone gets within 3 yards of him? Definitely some concerning miscues - at some point, sheer athleticism won't be enough to compensate for those kinds of mistakes. They still got 3 picks and as many sacks, but way too many big plays. And with Okie State, W. Virginia and Oklahoma coming up, they will definitely need to shore that up.
Notre Dame to ACC:
Not horribly surprising - it's another small domino towards the inevitable super conferences. They (Notre Dame) still get seven games to schedule with the Michigans, USCs, Michigan States, and Stanfords of the world. Plus, it's definitely a good move for basketball (mens and womens).
SEC:
LSU, Alabama.....Georgia, I guess.....Two of the best if not the two best teams in the country. After that, a few pretty good teams (that I guarantee will lose a game), and then a whole lot of train wrecks. Has two best teams - by no means is the best conference.
Random Observations and General Gibberish...
- Anyone else wonder what Jim Delaney thinks about this whole Notre Dame-to-ACC business? That's one old, stubborn SOB. He's either secretly pissed, or feels an inflated sense of victory - neither is rational.
- Great games this weekend....all of them on at the same time. Thanks a pant load TV contracts.
- Great ending to Utah/BYU game - can't imagine the Utah's coach sigh of relief after the third ending to that one. BYU had every chance in the world...
- Now that Virginia Tech has lost their annual game (it will be the only one they lose if history holds true), I imagine we'll see the other usual suspects start to fall.
- I have no idea what the odds makers will say, but I'm going out on a limb here and say take the over in the Texas/Okie State game.
- Like many folks in the greater Fayateville area, I have no words for this crazy collapse by Arkansas. What a weird, weird mess.
- In a tip of the hat to above-mentioned Irish, that was quite the impressive victory in East Lansing. They'll have their hands full with Denard Robinson, but Michigan will have a huge advantage in their QBs ability to make plays. But for them to win, someone else has to step up in a big way.
- Best game of the weekend: Kansas State vs. Oklahoma. This will answer A LOT of questions about both teams, as well as give us a closer look into the Big 12 as a whole. I will be paying close attention to this one folks. If I have to pick, I'm giving slight edge to Kansas State. Not sure what it is, but they feel a little more complete. We'll see.
- "Phantom Game" of the weekend: Arizona at Oregon. Yeah, I know, Arizona's offense looks much better than anticipated in Rich Rod's first season, but I'm not buying it just yet. Lot of losses at bottom of the polls coupled with an impressive win over Okie State makes jumping into top 25 a little easier. But they gave up over 650 yards to the Cowboys. Oregon's offense is much more creative and much more athletic. I smell a 25+ point win for the ducks here.
- Big 10 sure has gotten off to a shit-the-bed kind of start early, huh? Several bad losses by teams who were favorites. Doesn't mean they can't still run the table and get a team into the hunt, but they haven't looked too great thus far.
- Mack - when you're up by 30 with 9 minutes to go, please take the freaking starters out....
posted by The Bearden Wonder at 9:33 AM
1 comments
