College Football 9/16

An open letter to college football

Dear College Football,

Thank you!

You served an exquisite contest between Kansas and Toledo on Friday night. That overtime appetizer whetted my pallete for more.

You delivered a dramatic Southeastern Conference game before the afternoon came, and honored time-tested tradition with another near-miss for Vanderbilt.

You provided a game that perhaps only a Southerner can fully appreciate - a 7-3 slobberknocker between Auburn and LSU. It was like a Greco-Roman wrestling match - never really clear how anyone would ever score, but one contestant finally proved slightly better.

You negotiated the divine powers of touchdown Jesus to cajole a Michigan smackdown of Notre Dame. Oh how rare?

You displayed irony in Eugene, Oregon, where Bob Stoops was screwed, but showed he was a man, giving the Pac-10 reason to hope (other than USC), but we know it will be robbed from them later.

You gave Tennessee a lead, then snatched it away.

You let Mississippi State score, but only when it was too late.

You are truly a sweet, sweet mistress. You have delivered me another weekend of pure joy. Your drama, your spontenaety, your irony, your wicked sense of justice and your pure unpredictability have stolen my heart for yet another weekend. I pray my attempt to enumerate the components of your beauty does not insult the greatness I cannot completely describe. Bless you. See you next weekend.

Kentucky beat Ole Miss. USC beat Nebraska. Louisville beat Miami. Clemson and Florida State played. It was great! Thanks.

 

Given that Fresno has lost two straght, you might wanna substitute Boise State for the time being.

Speaking of Montana schools, Montana State has lost both of its games since knocking off I-A Colorado (one loss was to a Div. II team), making the Buffs look even worse.

 

I wonder if Dan Hawkins doesn't have the right people to carry out his offense yet, or whether the players have not picked up on it. Defense doesn't seem to be the problem at Colorado; with even a smidge of offense, they could be 3-0.

 

That'd be my guess, personally. I don't know that Barnett (?) was great at recruiting super talented offensive players, and that's what it takes to run Hawkins' offense.

 

Damn. And when Buffalo wiggled out of its Sept. 9 game against West Virginia, the WVU AD called Ohio State to ask if the Bucks were interested in dropping their game that day (against a nobody school from Texas), OSU wasn't interested.

Maybe WVU can cancel its Oct. 7 game at Mississippi State and persuade Ohio State to drop Bowling Green that day so the 'Eers and Bucks can get together in Columbus.

 

Try 7-5. Ohio's gonna kick your ass. I'm throwing down the challenge now!

 

Yes and no on that one IMO. Yes, because the offense will have to get used to what Hawkins wants to do when he has the ball. It'll take this year and at least 1/2 of next year before the offense understands what the hell to do on the field.

The "no" angle: the devil incarnate which is brewing inside of me feel that Colorado (sans Hawkins) are getting what they deserve after the Barnett/Hoffman/Tharp/Hnida recruiting mess by getting embarassed by Montana St., Sonny Lubick's boys, and Arizona State. That sounds like karma to me.

BTW, the fighting Lubicks got their asses handed to them by Nevada today last I heard this afternoon.

The bottom is going to fall out in Columbia. I'm dying for it to happen so that Pinkel and Alden came come up with more excuses for Pinkel to stay put. But I love Chase Daniel under center.

 

The bottom half of the Big Ten stinks in Technicolor. Illinois, Northwestern and Indiana are solidly among the 15 worst teams in the country, and Minnesota and Purdue aren't far behind.

The mid-level contingent of Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan State is nothing to get very excited about either. Which leaves -- surprise, surprise, surprise -- Iowa, OSU and Michigan as the decent teams in the conference. : :

 

Down, chick. Our beloved Bobcats rushed for -6 yards against THE State University of New Jersey handing the SKs 24 points. The defense will keep us tight, but we need a consistent offense before you start spouting off like this.

 

Dooley started it by PM, dammit!!!!! And yea, I know our offense sucks, but, but, we beat Pitt last year.

 

Our cornerback had the only two touchdowns in that one.

 

Do y'all realize that the majority of the college FB schedules are made 4-5 years in advance? WVU made the out of conference sked years ago, when expectations were a wee bit lower. They're taking strides to make it tougher, with Auburn and Florida State on the schedule in the near future, games that made after moving closer to national prominence.
It's not like college basketball, where you have a lot more games and a lot more freedom.
Are the Mountaineers one of the top 5 teams in the country? Maybe. Is Louisville? Maybe. But don't blame them because Miami/Tech/BC bolted for the ACC.
BTW, how tough is that ACC looking right now?
Early prediction on Nov. 2: Winner 60, Lose 49. Winner? Heart (and alumni checks) say WVU. But Petrino calls a game better than anybody in the country.