Saturday notes on a Sunday 11-10

*In the days biggest game Alabama dispatched LSU 38-17.  In the first half it appeared that Bama would have a tough time stopping LSU’s Offense.  The Alabama Defense held The Tigers to 3 points after the break.  That, my friends, is coaching.  Alabama made the appropriate adjustments and frustrated Zach Mettenberger in the 2nd half.  Once again Nick Saban and Kirby Smart show why Alabama is number 1 and a 2 time defending National Champ.  The Alabama Offense isn’t necessarily explosive but they are steady and effective.  They showed the nation how it is done on Saturday night.

*Miami let Florida State beat them again.  The Hurricanes got caught thinking about last week and forgot about the decent Hokie team coming in.  Virginia Tech is not a great team.  In the previous 2 weeks The Hokies had lost to Boston College and Duke.  On a rainy night in Miami, The Hurricanes were not focused and lost a game that could easily cost them the division.  You have to think they are going to regret this one.

*Florida is going to miss a bowl.  How can this be?  Will Muschamp and his staff had better dust off their resumes.

*I have to include my thoughts on Thursday night.  Stanford put on an absolute clinic running the football against Oregon.  The Ducks have a smaller, fast Defense and Stanford exploited that with big personnel.  It was a thing of beauty.  The Stanford Defense frustrated Marcus Marriota by being in his face all night long.  Oregon looks like Superman against eery other team.  It appears Stanford is the kryptonite.

*Auburn has to be the surprise team of the season.  The Tigers were not ranked coming into the season and most folks, myself included, thought they would be average at best.  AU is now 9-1, in the top 10 and drilling folks in the SEC.  Gus Malzahn may be the coach of the year for the turnaround job he has done in his first season.  Yesterday they drubbed a decent Tennessee team, and never really threw the ball.  QB Nick Marshall only threw the ball for 35 yards but ran for 214.  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.  Malzahn will make Auburn a national player once again, if hasn’t already.

*Another week another Florida State shallacking.  This week a piss poor Wake Forest team was the victim.  42-0 at halftime?  7 Wake Forest turnovers?  Damn.

STOCK UP
Minnesota-The Golden Gophers are now 8-2 and have won 4 in a row under interim coach Tracy Claeys.  This is a good football team and the real surprise in the Big 10.
Duke– The Blue Devils are now 7-2 after beating up on a poor NCState team.  Still Duke, and coach David Cutcliffe should be commended on the great worth they are doing there.   Stock up Dukies.
Wisconsin– The best team nobody is talking about.  They are a botched call from being in the top 10.  On Saturday they beat a pretty salty BYU team.  Lets give The Badgers some love.
Central Florida– The Golden Knights beat a good Houston team to put them firmly in 1st place in The AAC.  UCF could be playing in the Sugar Bowl this year.  Hard to imagine isn’t it?
Pittsburgh– A great win for Paul Chryst and his team over Notre Dame.  Good for the Panthers.
Baylor– After half a year of playing nobodies The Bears showed their worth Thursday night.  Its going to be an interesting half of a season in Waco.

STOCK DOWN
Texas Tech– losing to an average, at best, KState team to make it 3 in a row?  Owch.  Stock down Red Raiders.
Miami– So quick were folks to proclaim that Miami was back 2 weeks ago.  After the last 2 it is clear they are the same old pretenders.
Florida– Losing at home to Vandy with a bowl bid on the line?  How has this train gotten so far off the tracks?
Maryland– Here is another team whose season is circling the toilet.  5-0 seems so long ago doesnt it Terps fan.
Illinois– Put Tim Beckman out of his misery and fire him already.

Big time Saturday 10/12

Believe it or not folks this Saturday marks the halfway point of the College Football Season.  I for one am stoked for a big time lineup loaded with awesome games.  Lets look at each time slot.

11 a.m- The headliner is The Red River Shootout in the Cotton Bowl.  Lord knows that is a monster gamer around here.  Folks have been gearing up for it for days.  A little fact I found fascinating is that The Texas student tickets didn’t sell out.  That is down right disgraceful.  I also learned this week that Mack Brown is 5-9 against Bob Stoops.  Consider that 3 of those wins came in a 4 year period in the mid 00’s.  Basically Bob Stoops owns Mack Browns ass, and the games the last couple of years show it.  Today the Sooners will attempt to win 4 in a row in this historic rivalry.  The spread is 14.5 and I think that is conservative.  Its going to be an ass whooping, which is always fun.  However I will not be watching this game.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers take to the road for the first time this season against the hapless Purdue Boilermakers.  If the Huskers are indeed making progress this game should not be close.  Tommy Armstrong makes his 3rd career start against a decent, but still not good, Boilermaker Defense.  The calls among many Husker fans for Armstrong to be the permanent starter are getting louder.  Armstrong is fueling that fire with efficient play and strong running.  Today the sample size grows for Armstrong and perhaps the controversy along with it.  On the Defensive side of the ball the Huskers look to build on the improvement seen last week.  The Big Red Defense only allowed 10 points (minus a junk time TD) and were better all the way around.  This Boilermaker Offense is weak, and is starting a first time freshman QB.  If this Defense is worth their weight in salt they should smell blood in the water and go after this guy.  The Big Red rolls in this one.

2:30- This lineup is absolutely stacked.  First off Florida/LSU will square off in Baton Rouge.  The TIgers have won 2 of the last 3 meetings in this matchup.  This one is the battle of the impotent Gator Offense against a struggling Tiger Defense.  The difference to me is Zach Mettenberger.  He has provided the LSU Offense with a spark I haven’t seen in a long, long time.  If the Defense can get it together the Tigers will be a force in the SEC West.  Offensively they have playmakers all over the field.  Odell Beckham and Jeremy Hill are absolute studs.  But it starts and ends with Mettenberger who will again be terrific.  The Tigers wont put up 40 on the Gators but they wont have to.  Give me the Tigers at home.

Northestern @ Wisconsin.  Last week the Wildcats exerted a tremendous amount of energy against Ohio State.  This week they go to Madison.  Camp Randal will be fired up for this one.  If this were any team but Northwestern I would say they are doomed.  But Northwestern appears to have what it takes to bounce back, go on the road, and play great again.  Wisconsin is a damn good team but I think The Wildcats will make this a game and perhaps come away with it.  Either way it will be a fantastic affair.

If those 2 games weren’t enough to wet your appetite there is also the Oregon @ Washington game.  This one pits the Pac 12 upstart Huskies against the well established Oregon Ducks.  The Huskies are surprising a lot of folks right now with the way their season has begun.  Keith Price looks to be one of the best QB’s in the nation.  Currently Price is completing 71% of his passes.  Newly renovated Husky Stadium will be the backdrop for this one and you can bet it will be rockin.  Still I think the Ducks will show why they are a legitimate National Title contender.  Marcus Mariota is phenomenal.  His completion % is not in the neighborhood of Price, but Mariota has 14 Tds and NO INTERCEPTIONS.  Mariota is the straw that stirs the drink for The Ducks and will be the difference in this one.

7p.m- Compared to the 2:30 time slot, this one has no juice.  There are a number of games with good teams against inferior competition.  At 4:00  there is Michigan @ Penn St., Stanford @ Utah starts at 5,  Alabama @ Kentucky kicks off at 6.  These are all decent affairs but fall well short of what happens at 2:30.  The one game that really turns my head is Texas A&M @ Ole Miss.  This one will be good.  I don’t think the Aggs are good enough to blow folks out.  Likewise I don’t think The Rebs are good enough to run away from anyone either.  This one will be back and forth.  Johnny Football has shown he can shred most any Defense, and The Aggs dont have the kind of playmakers Defensively that they have had in the past.  Don’t blink in this one.  Ill take the Rebs in a squeaker.

LSU/Georgia- the best game of the year.

Saturday afternoon we were reminded why College Football and in particular the SEC is so great.  The SEC draws the ire of much of the nation because of the constant exposure the media inundates us with.  Regardless of that coverage Saturday afternoon in Athens was a reminder that the SEC still is the best, at least at the top.  The Georgia Bulldogs and the LSU Tigers played what will go down as one of the best games of the year.  This game had it all.  There were playmakers all over the field.  There were 2 future NFL Qbs dueling all afternoon.  There were 2 top flight head coaches leading talent laden rosters.  It was a see-saw affair where both schools played their hearts out.  It was a reminder of why we love college football so much.

As a viewer it was an absolute joy to watch.  At its core this game was a battle of 2 QBs.  Forget the story line CBS was shoving down your throat and examine this game and a whole.  Aaron Murray may have his detractors but on this afternoon he was marvelous.  He threw for 298 yards and 4 Tds.  More importantly he threw the clutch balls, leading a TD drive with less than 2 minutes remaining.  Murray was the point man for this prolific attack all day long.  He deserves a ton of credit.  His counterpart Zach Mettenberger deserves every bit as much credit.    Mettenberger threw for 372 yards and 3 Tds in this one.  That normally wins a ballgame.  This game went back and forth, in thrilling fashion, all afternoon.  Todd Gurley left the game with an apparent ankle injury, and the run game was never the same.  Keith Marshall filled in and was adequate but he lacks the difference making ability of Gurley.  Offensively the ability to run the ball was the real difference.  LSU had a difficult time all afternoon, averaging only 2.1 yards per rush.  Meanwhile the Dogs ran for 5.4 yards per rush. That tells it all.  The Tigers had no choice but to rely on Mettenberger all afternoon, and while he was fantastic, he was unable to carry his team to victory.

This victory vaults the Bulldogs squarely into the National Title discussion.  Sure the Dogs lost to Clemson, but that is a top team, which makes it all the more forgivable.  Its even better that the lost was week 1.  As Thanksgiving rolls around that loss  will be a distant memory.  To date Georgia has played 3 top 10 teams.  No other team can make a claim anywhere close to that.  The Dogs are 2-1 in those games.  If you were to ask me today, based upon what I have seen in the last month, I would be hard pressed to keep the Dogs out of the National Title game.  Surely there are challenges ahead for UGA, a trap in Jacksonville comes to mind, but the rest of the regular season is navigable.  If you wish to discuss the National Title picture at this time you had better include Aaron Murray and the Georgia Bulldogs.