Saturday Notes on a Sunday 11/2

*Just when you think you have College Football figured out, you are sorely mistaken.  Everyone from here to Jupiter thought Georgia would surely kick the hell out of a lousy Florida team at the worlds largest outdoor cocktail party.  Instead Florida trounces Georgia in a game that was 38-13 before a junk time Bulldog TD.  Florida, who is awful offensively, racked up a staggering 418 rushing yards in the victory.  The Gators attempted just 6 passes in the game.  WOW.  I gave UF very little shot in this one.  My hats off to them for proving me wrong.  That said, I would still can Will Muschamp.

*Auburn and Ole Miss played an incredibly exciting game Saturday night.  It was back and forth all game long.  Auburn wins this game because the Rebels turned the ball over twice in the red zone.  The first occured when Bo Wallace was reaching for extra yards.  The 2nd was about the damndest thing I have ever seen.  Wallace completes a pass to Laquan Treadwell who appears to go in for a TD to take the lead late.  An Auburn Defensive Back grabs Treadwell who is hurt on the play and loses the ball inches before the end zone.  Auburn recovers in the end zone and holds on for the win.  It was a fantastic finish.  Ole Miss is essentially eliminated from the playoff conversation due to heartbreaking losses in back to back weeks.  WOW.

*There was a classless act before the Penn State/Maryland game.  The Terrapins refused to shake hands with the Lions before the ball game and WR Stefon Diggs made contact with an official drawing a personal foul penalty.  This is all in the name of “rivialry” that the 2 teams are trying to forge.  If you want to make a team your rival, you go out and kick their ass.  Maryland emerged victorious in a messy, sloppy,game.  Neither team was deserving of a victory.  Penn State had 4 turnovers including a fumbled kickoff that fueled a 13 point Maryland 4th quarter for the win.  Maryland had less than 200 yards of total offense on the day.  My biggest take away was the lack of class that was apparent before the game.  Shake the hand of the other team you freaking drama queens.

*Its funny how folks like to be the first to proclaim a team as “good.”  This was certainly the case with Kentucky.  They sat at 5-1 and folks were jumping all over their bandwagon.  Now the Cats have lost 3 straight including Saturday defeat at the hands of Missouri.  Good teams dont lose to the Tigers, particularly this average outfit.  This is not meant to rag on UK.  That is a tough building job.  My point is lets pump the brakes on a team before jumping on the band wagon.  Kentucky is just like any number of teams trying to climb the mountain.  It takes time, its tough, everyone wants to win.

*This weeks Playoff Teams: Oregon, Florida State, Auburn and Michigan State.  Florida State lacks an opponent capable of playing with them for 4 quarters on their schedule.  I really liked what I saw from Auburn last night.  That team has guts.  Oregon and Michigan State will both run the table and win their respective conferences.

STOCK UP
Auburn- The Tigers have the Tide squarely in their sights.
Iowa- A thrashing of Northwestern lands you on the Stock Up list.
Arizona State- Another tough gritty victory for the Devils.  Todd Graham has done a hell of a job.
Duke- Another week another W for the Blue Devils who are now an impressive 7-1.
Oregon- For getting the Monkey off their back against the Cardinal.

STOCK DOWN
East Carolina- How can we supposed to take the Pirates seriously?  A ranked team losing to Temple?  Come on.
Mississippi State- I know Arkansas is an improved group, but is that the way a #1 team is supposed to act?
Texas Tech- Getting slapped around, at home, to a below average Texas team?  Coach Bro cant be happy.
Nebraska- This offense might be my undoing.
Oklahoma State- 3 losses in a row, none of them competitive.  Owch.

Follow College Football Junkie on Twitter: @jakeanderson998

 

Week 5 Primer

Busy week here at the Anderson house.  On top of everything we typically do, we will be making a trip to see some family, friends, and of course Husker Football.  As you can imagine Im giddy with excitement.  This undertaking will lead to a tremendously abbreviated primer.  Here are my top 5 games of the week:

UCLA @ Arizona State– Will UCLA come out of their shell, or will they continue to make me look like a dunce?

Stanford @Washington– An excellent conference opener.  This one is absolutely worth the watch.

Cincinnati @ Ohio State– 2 teams that should really play more often.  OSU fans dont want to hear this, but the Bearcats could be a real challenge for the Bucks.  We will learn a lot about OSU this weekend.

Minnesota @ Michigan– If Michigan loses again at home does Brady Hoke survive the weekend?

Tennessee @ Georgia– Can Butch Jones’ club win a tough road game?  I have a feeling they may.  They had the Dogs on the ropes last year.  Perhaps they finish the job this time.

Gamblers Pick of the Week- Last week I lost again.  Its my fault for betting on Florida, regardless of the spread.  So that drops me to 0-3 on the young season.  Its god damn embarrassing.  I promise, on the whole, I am not doing as poorly as this segment would indicate.

This week I am taking Minnesota +11.5 @ Michigan.  I have a difficult time believing that Michigan is capable of beating any team by that margin.  There is a QB controversy, and the O-Line cant block worth a shit.  There has been all kinds of grumblings about all levels of the Athletic Department.  Its clear that the water has become poison in Ann Arbor.  The players are not immune from this toxicity.  I’ll take the Gophers to at least cover the spread, and have a decent chance to win the damn game outright.

Follow College Football Junkie on Twitter:  @jakeanderson998

 

Huskers/Dawgs

Its no secret that it has been a tough year in Huskerland.  Great preseason expectations have given way to a river of negativity and speculation.  There were defeats, audio tapes, and ugly press conferences. It goes without saying this season has been largely disappointing.  This is a program that badly needed something to cheer about.  Fortunately, for us all, those good vibes arrived Wednesday.  NU won a bowl game for the first time since 2009 and defeated a highly overrated SEC team in the process.  It was a sloppy, gritty, physical, ball game.  The Dogs poked and the Huskers poked right back.  It was a win to be proud of for Husker nation.   The Big Red now go into the offseason with some much needed pep in their step.

The Nebraska Offense on Wednesday was sub par.  Tommy Armstrong made his 7th start and while he had his moments he was generally mediocre.  On the day Armstrong was 6/14 for 163 yards 2 TDs and an Int.  Consider that 99 of those yards came on one play.  The Offense’s ineffectiveness is evidenced by the fact that NU only converted 4 of their 13 3rd down attempts. That isn’t good.  As usual this unit leaned on its workhorse Ameer Abduallah who rushed for 122 yards and a TD.  He was his usual fantastic self, running with power, vision and speed.  The Offensive Line did have trouble with Georgia’s stout defense.  NU only amassed 144 yards on the ground.  But my main beef with this unit was its ineffectiveness down the stretch.  Nebraska’s last 4 drives were Int, punt, punt, punt.  It was very frustrating.  This unit could have salted the game away with a few first downs or even some points.  Instead they left the defense to do most of the heavy lifting. To me this is unacceptable.

Defensively Nebraska was pretty damn good.  The Dogs moved the ball consistently for the most part but the Nebraska Defense made plays when it had to.  Twice in the 4th quarter the Georgia offense turned the ball over on downs with the game on the line.  Those were BIG plays.  The Nebraska Defense held stud RB Todd Gurley to 86 yards rushing.  That was the difference in this game. If Gurley would have been gashing the NU defense, the Huskers would have stood no chance.  A big kudos to those boys up front.  They more than held their own.  I was particularly impressed with Thad Randle, Vinny Valentine, and Jason Ankrah.  They were  awesome.  The defense as a whole deserves the lions share of the credit for this victory.  When the rubber met the road, this unit got tough, and got the job done.  Husker fans have a lot to look forward to with this young defense

This was a game Nebraska very easily could have lost. Georgia actually outgained Nebraska by over 100 yards.  But NU benefitted from 2 Georgia turnovers, including a muffed punt deep in their territory.  There was also an inexplicable blown coverage that resulted in a 99 yard Quincy Enunwa TD. Remove any one of those mistakes and UGA more than likely wins the game.  But give NU credit for taking advantage of these opportunities. They haven’t always done that this season.    This young team put a major notch in its belt Wednesday with the W.  This was a good, tough, gritty win for NU to build upon going forward.  The good vibes are well deserved.  GO BIG RED!!

Saturday observations from afar

This weekend my wife and daughter headed out-of-town to a wedding.  This, obviously, conflicted with my marathon College Football watching.  I think I drove my wife crazy trying to remain updated on the ongoing action.  I would slip out of the reception to catch some action and borrow her phone to check scores.  I think she was generally annoyed.  While a wonderful time was had by all, it appears I missed some outstanding action.  So here are my Saturday observations from either my mother in laws couch or the bar adjacent to the reception hall:

* 7 of the Top 15 teams went down on Saturday.  I can’t believe I just typed that.  That fact borders on absurd.  Some of the games were certainly more surprising than others, but for nearly half of the top 15 to lose is unreal.  It just shows why College Football is the best in terms of competitiveness on a week by week basis.

* Florida State makes a BIG TIME statement.  I thought they would win the game but I never would have predicted that they would go into Death Valley and dominate The Tigers.  Jameis Winston was once again Fantastic.  I saw the pregame speech he gave and was tremendously impressed.  The kid has remarkable charisma.  The Noles responded by putting an ass whooping on Clemson.  I said it in the preseason, this team has what it takes to win it all.  Winston is a big part of that.

* Georgia continues to make me look like a God Damn fool.  A few weeks ago, after The Dogs beat LSU, I put Georgia squarely in the National Title Hunt.  Well since then they have lost 2 of 3 (and were lucky to win the other one) and on Saturday lost to Vandy.  I wonder if Mark Richt’s seat is getting warm again.

* A week ago Michigan State had a very productive Offensive day against Indiana.  I thought that perhaps Sparty was getting it together on that side of the ball.  Then yesterday Michigan’s inconsistent and largely mediocre Offense had a field day against The Hoosiers.  Jeremy Gallon had 369 yards receiving by HIMSELF.  I think this game said a whole lot more about Indiana’s Defense than anything about the Wolverines.

*Missouri won again.  This is somber news for me.  I don’t like The Tigers, never have, never will.  That said they come off a big win over Georgia only to defeat Florida.  Unfortunatly the Tigers are legit.  I thought Florida would eat up a backup QB, but that never materialized.  Missery may be good, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

*It appears Washington’s schedule has caught up with them.  After playing Stanford and Oregon is consecutive weeks, the Huskies traveled to Tempe to face the Sun Devils.  UW got squashed.  I know that is a  tough 3 game stretch, but you have to think a good team will come out with at least one win.  It is also discouraging to get destroyed by ASU after being extremely competitive with Stanford and Oregon.

* After Iowa’s showing against Ohio State, we may have to rethink that division.

STOCK UP
Auburn- I called for this upset.  I must point that out.  This is a pretty damn good team.  Kudos to Gus Malzahn and his staff.
Misery- Disgusting but deserving.
Stanford-a nice bounce back win for The Cardinal.
Ole Miss- A breakthrough win for The Rebs?
Baylor- 71 freaking points against a conference opponent?  Just another day at the office for Art Briles’ crew.
Florida State- WOW

STOCK DOWN
Northwestern- The Wildcats lost their 3rd in a row.  This one was to Minnesota.  Owch
South Carolina- What has happened to the Gamecocks?
Georgia- Come on man.  The Dogs are killing me.
Notre Dame vs. USC- This game may have set back football half a decade.
TCU- This offense is pathetic.
Maryland- Lord, Oh lord.  Losing to Wake Forest will put you permanently on the Stock down list.

Saturday views from the couch 10/13

Wow.  What a fantastic day of College Football.  There was game after game of thrilling action.  I think this was the best Saturday yet.  Here are some views and observations.

*7 Top 25 teams fell on Saturday.  That is more than a quarter of them and they went down in a variety of ways.  There was the predictable (Washington, Florida, Northwestern), The Stunning (Georgia, Stanford)  and The disappointing (Oklahoma, Michigan).  Some of these teams were bound to fall, particularly when we got into conference play.  But 7?  Damn

*What the hell Oklahoma?  You had a chance to bury the Horns and instead you let them run over you?  263 total yards isnt going to do it.  So much for thinking Blake Bell was going to be the guy going forward.  I suppose I have to give credit to Texas who actually stuck with the run.  When you have horses like Jonathan Gray and Malcolm Brown you have to ride them.  Both of those guys rushed for over 120 yards.  A great win for Texas but this has to be absolutely disappointing for Boomer Sooner.

* Oh Georgia.  My Oh My.  This one will make Mark RIcht and Aaron Murray sick to their stomach at seasons end.

*Penn State beat Mr. Inconsistent in a 4 OT thriller yesterday evening.  Penn St. needed, and got, a furious last minute TD drive with heroics by Allen Robinson.  The OT sessions were sloppy by both teams.  Penn State won as they were the first to score a TD, in the 4th OT period, There were no points were scored in 2 of those periods.  In other news Im ready to proclaim Allen Robinson as one of the 2 or 3 best receivers in the country.  That dude is a baller.  This game also served as a reminder of how much Beaver Stadium can rock.  That has to be one of the best atmospheres in the country.

*It has to hurt to be a Stanford fan this morning.

*Did anyone watch the Texas A&M/Ole Miss game?  Wow what a game.  Ole Miss led by a TD with 6 minutes to go.  Give The Aggs credit.  They stormed back and won the game at the gun.  John Football his usual self.  Just another 346 yards passing 124 yards rushing day.  Nothing special, just another day at the office.  Trey WIlliams added 2 rushing TDs for A&M in this one.  Williams is really fun to watch.  You can think what you will of A&M but they are going to play some very entertaining games this season.  I would suggest tuning in.

Stock up
LSU– The Tigers might be the best team in the SEC.  Their Offense is rolling and if yesterday was any indication their Defense is gaining footing as well.
Michigan State- Look out big 10.  Sparty might have found some Offense.
Oregon– The Ducks are so consistent it often gets overlooked.  Yesterday they beat a fine Washington team in a hostile environment and nothing is thought of it.
South Carolina– Going on the road and putting the smack down on a Conference opponent lands you on the stock up list.
Wisconsin– Damn.  The Badgers put a beat down on the Wildcats.
BYU– Nice win for The Cougs.

STOCK DOWN
Oklahoma– Come on Boomer.
Georgia– For the love of Christ!!  I shower the Dogs with praise, calling them a Title Contender after beating LSU and since then they have played poorly in 2 games and lost to Misery.  UGH
Miami (OH)- Losing the UMASS?  Unless we are talking about basketball this will land you on the stock down list.
Michigan– Who are these guys?  The team that came out of the gates on fire or the squad that is staggering around like a hobo after a bottle of scope.
Eastern Michigan– allowing 50 points to Army?
Stanford– I wont pour salt in the wound but I have to put the Cardinal on this list.

What I’m watchin/drinking/betting

WHAT I’M WATCHIN

11 a.m- Illinois @ Nebraska– The sidewalk ends and the road begins for Tommy Armstrong today as the Fighting Illini come to town to open up Big 10 play.  The Redshirt Freshman will make his 2nd career start, first against a division 1 opponent, and lead an offense with playmakers all over the field.  The Illini have been a big surprise thus far this season.  Many thought this crew would be worthless.  But new Offensive Coordinator Bill Cubit has transformed the Illini Offense and has QB Nathan Scheelhaase looking better than ever.  The Husker Defense has been largely awful this year and that is why I think this game will be pretty close.  Ill take the alma mater in this one 38-28.

2:30 In this time slot whatever game grabs my interest will be the one I spend the most time on.  Candidates include:
Georgia Tech @ Miami– a key divisional game for both schools.  Is Georgia Tech as good as they have looked against North Carolina or as bad as they looked against Virginia Tech?  It is probably somewhere in the middle.  Meanwhile Miami is a real unknown for me.  Does their Defense has the discipline to take on the Georgia Tech triple Option game?  Do The Hurricanes have so much firepower that it wont matter?  This one will be fascinating.
Clemson @ Syracuse-I don’t think this game will be either interesting or close, but I did bet on this one so that could generate some interest for me.
Kansas State @ Ok State– Can these teams possibly be as bad as their previous outings?  The last time we saw the Wildcats they were getting handled by that pile of dung in Austin.  Last Saturday the highly ranked Ok State Cowboys went into Morgantown and got slapped around by the Mountaineers.  Who is better than the have shown thus far?
Georgia @ Tennessee– I just love watching the Dogs

6 pm- 7pm- Ole Miss @ Auburn– Do the young upstarts have what it takes to go on the road in SEC play and beat a slighty above average Auburn team?  My gut says yes.  I put a couple of toothpicks on this one.  More on that later.

7 pm-Ohio State @ Northwestern– The meat and potatoes, no doubt about it, best God Damn game of the week.  Northwestern is so fun to watch.  The multiplicity of their offense, along with their intelligence and heart makes their games a joy to watch.  They also are the only team to execute the 2 Qb system well.  I dont know how they do it.  Ohio State is the hands down best team in the Big 10.  They have all the essential playmakers in all the critical spots.  Ryan Shazier, Bradley Roby, Braxton Miller, the list goes on and on for the Buckeyes.  Getting Carlos Hyde back from suspension will prove very beneficial in this one.  The weather could be a factor in this one.  That will only add to the intrigue.  I think Northwestern will keep it close but end up falling 34-24

WHAT I’M BETTING
Virginia Tech -7.5 vs North Carolina– Last week I made it official that I am off the Tar Heel bandwagon and this week I go a step further and bet against them.  If Logan Thomas can be average this one will be easy money.
Clemson -14 @ Syracuse– The Tigers are going to go to the Carrier Dome and burn it down.  Taj Boyd and the Clemson Offense may also poison the wells and kill the livestock before returning home.
Ole Miss -3 @ Auburn– Someone I trust turned me onto this game.  Hugh Freeze’s teams have a remarkable history of covering the spread.  Also I don’t think Auburn is very good.  I think the Rebs come out here and show folks that they aren’t just a nice story.
Ohio State -7 @ Northwestern– Urban Meyer isn’t afraid to add a junk time TD and I think that fact will propel me to a cover in this one.

WHAT I’M DRINKING
Last week I wrote about my home brew IPA and trying it out for the first time.  The results are in.  Once again the beer is a fantastic success.  It is hoppy, but not as hoppy as I would have thought.  It is much smoother than anticipated and just a fantastic drinking beer.  The alcohol content is somewhere in the low 6 % range, so the desired effect is achieved.  It will pair nicely with some gameday fare and the bevy of decent games on today.

Happy Saturday everyone!!

Looking ahead to Saturday week 6

Last week was terrific.  There were good games all day Saturday.  Awesome.  That LSU @ Georgia was just terrific.  Then Lane Kiffin was fired to put the cherry on top.  This week contains some hum-dingers as well.  Here are a few…

Maryland @ Florida State- The Terrapins have had a great start to their season.  Now they go to Tallahassee and tangle with the big boys.  Maryland has been a nice story but I think an ass kicking is in order.

Illinois @ Nebraska- The Huskers open conference play with a team that was once considered a bottom dweller.  Thus far the Illini have been impressive.  Unfortunately I think the Huskers will have their hands full Saturday.

Georgia Tech @ Miami-A key divisional matchup in ACC play.  If Miami wants to be something they have to win games like this.  Likewise Georgia Tech is coming off of a humbling at home.  I have a feeling about the Jackets in this one.

TCU @ Oklahoma- Ive been really impressed with Oklahoma.  It seems like this team, and in particular the offense, has been ignited by the play of Blake Bell.  TCU got some confidence last weekend with a win over the SMU ponies.  Ill take the Sooners in this one but I will definitely be keeping an eye on this one.

Ole Miss @ Auburn-This is the perfect trap game for the new kids on the SEC block.  Last week The Rebs got shutout in Tuscaloosa.  This week they go to Auburn, who is good but not great.  Can Ole Miss forget about last week and focus on this week’s opponent?

Arizona State vs. Notre Dame (Arlington Tx)-  Just like Ole Miss, Arizona State is coming off a big game.  Unlike the Rebs, The Sun Devils won their big game.  Now they go to Jerry World to play Notre Dame in a game whose location makes no sense to anyone.  Will Todd Graham have his team ready?  Will Brian Kelly get his Offense in gear?  This is  a fascinating matchup.

Ohio State @ Northwestern- Is this the biggest game in Northwestern history?  Probably not.  I recall a Rose bowl in 1995.  Nevertheless this is a HUGE game for Pat Fitzgerald’s program.  If the Buckeyes arent ready to play, they could be in trouble.

West Virginia @ Baylor- Dana Holgerson’s Jeckyl and Hyde Act goes to Waco.  If the Bears are for real they need to handle the Mountaineers.  It wouldn’t hurt their national perception to beat them up a bit either.

Washington @ Stanford- Another great late night Pac-12 treat.  The team who has been most impressive thus far, Washington, goes to Palo Alto to tangle with the Cardinal.  If Stanford wants to remain in the TItle hunt they must withstand this test from the Huskies.

GAMBLERS CORNER
UCLA -6.5 @ Utah
Ohio St. -7 @ Northwestern
Oklahoma -10.5 vs. TCU
Rutgers -6 @ SMU
Minnesota +20.5 @ Michigan

Saturday observations 9/8

*First off I know Lane Kiffin is going to get canned.  Ive been all over that since last December.  The dude is a snot nosed, shitty coach.  The folks at USC have tired of his act, and I don’t blame them.  Losing at home to the likes of Washington State 10-7 is basically like dumping gasoline on the fire.  Forget Thanksgiving, I have to wonder if Kiffin will make it to Halloween.

*Another note about USC’s horrendous loss at home.  The Trojans only gained 193 yards including a mere 54 passing.  That is something you might see at a Jr. High game.  Whats worse is that the lone TD scored by Washington State was a pick 6.  Any guesses who might be calling the plays for the mighty USC Trojans?

*TAKE THE SAFETY DEVIN GARDNER!!!

*The Bearcats were down 21-10 and knocking at the door.  They elect to go for it on 4th down at the Illini 1 yard line.  Munchy Legaux muscles the ball in and the play was called a TD.  During the review it is somehow determined that Legaux didn’t get in. It seemed to me that there was no way to determine whether he got in or not.  They talk about indisputable video evidence but I just don’t know how they could have possibly come to that conclusion with the camera angles given.

*McNeese St. put up 46 points on South Florida last week.  This week at home Michigan State’s Offense put up 7.  Do you think they are worried about the Offense in East Lansing?

*BYU ran for 550 yards on Saturday against Texas.  TEXAS!!!  The Cougs amassed 679 yards of total offense in this beat down. QB Taysom Hill ran for a ridiculous 259 yards and 3 TDs.  Hill averaged 15 yards per carry on the night.  Damn.  By the way I get really tired of hearing about how talented the Horns are.  If you watched them last night, they looked over matched.

*Boise St. Baylor and Utah all amassed 49 or more points before halftime.  Impressive Offensive output from these squads.  I dont care if you are playing the Delaware School for the Lame, 7 Tds before halftime is incredible.

STOCK UP
Michigan- I may be more impressed by the Wolverines than any other team so far.
MIami- This is a decent team.
Illinois- Slapping around a Cincinatti team who last week pounded Purdue lands the Illini on the stock up list.
Georgia- Im terribly sorry for under estimating this team.  They ruined my parlay.
Maryland- Randy Edsell’s team kicking the pants off anyone is impressive.
Northwestern- Another nice win over a decent opponent for the Cats.
Baylor- 56 points by halftime against a team that played the Buckeyes within 20.
BYU- for reasons stated above, I cant leave the Cougs off this list.

STOCK DOWN–
Florida- How many turnovers?
Purdue- This smells like a bad football team. A real bad football team.
Michigan State- How many games can Sparty expect to win with an offense like that
Texas- 550 yards rushing?  Oh lord, the Longhorn faithful are going to be bitchin this week.
USC- If you listen carefully you can hear USC boosters passing the hat for Lane Kiffin’s buyout.