8. UCONN -5 1/2 @Duke: Last year, UCONN was a complete joke in the passing game. So terrible, in fact, that they moved their returning starting QB(DJ Hernandez) to WR to "take advantage of his athleticism". OK. Translated, that means, "We have no freaking idea who our QB is going to be, but it certainly isn't going to be this guy." That's a good thing, because UCONN passed it at the level of the Riverdale Cardinals circa 1987, maybe not even that good, since the Hyun/Belvis combo was known to light it up on occasion in games against the Dolton Bears, or the Harvey Colts, or the South Holland Jets or the Cal City Drunks or whoever. One thing UCONN could do, however was run it down the thoughts of inferior defenses, especially when RB Donald Brown burst on the scene about halfway through the year. Look up "inferior defense" in the dictionary and you'll see a picture of the Duke Blue Devils. Any opportunity to wager against Duke when you don't have to give up double digits is one that should be jumped on, boxed up and stored in the boiler room next to the eraser cleaner. Since 2002 Duke is 2-10 ATS when they are getting 10 points or less. UCONN actually brought in a talented JUCO QB who has already won the job in camp. Their coach knows what he's doing given someone who can throw a football 15 yards on the fly. They should be much better on offense this year.
9. @Wisconsin -14 v Washington St: Every once in awhile, it becomes apparent that some coaches are in over their heads, or the new Village Idiot, a title previously held by Keith Gilbertson when he coached Washington, and later was handed to Larry Coker at Miami. Mostly, it's a guy that was a long time assistant that just proved be the wrong guy. That guy is now Bill Doba at Washington St. The Cougs have settled back into afterthought status in the PAc 10 after several years of relevance. He's a rah rah type..lots of fist pumping and other antics you'd expect from a guy named Doba. Not much susbstance, though, and he was obviously thoroughly outcoached several times last year as his team got steadily worse as the year went on. This year, his DC got hired by Idaho after Dennis Erickson bolted at the last possible minute, so Doba is pulling double duty as the DC as well, so he has a built in excuse for when his team stinks all year. His D is banged up, especially in the front 7, which isn't a good thing when you're facing Wisconsin, who has 4 OL starters back. Last year, they opened at Auburn(kudos for the schedules), and they got blown out from the word go, I don't see much difference in their opening spot this year. Their secondary is also weak, meaning Beckum, Swann and company should have no problem getting open. I'm not in love with Wisconsin, but this is a bad spot for WAZZOU in week 1.
10 @Michigan St -19 1/2 v UAB: We all know what happened to Michigan St last year. Things happened to them that sometimes happen to teams who are coached by numbskulls. They get in a tough situation, find themselves unprepared for it, reach down and grab their ankles and get ready to lose. After that happens a couple times, they just take the field in that position and expect the inevitable, despite the fact that they actually have some pretty good players. Such has been the case at Michigan St. in the John L Smith era. That nightmare is now over with the addition of new coach Mark Dantonio. MSU has some players, including a very good RB in Javon Ringer and some athletes on defense. Most luckily for the Spartans, however, is that they get to play UAB, who is in transition in every sense of the word. Brand new coaching staff, all new offensive personnel..it's going to be a down year for them. There's value in the line because of where MSU is coming from, but they are better than what Smith squeezed out of them last year.
11. Georgia Tech +2 1/2 @Notre Dame. When any objective observer looks at the rosters of these two teams, it's rather obvious that one team looks significantly better than the other. Notre Dame has new starters at QB, RB, all WR spots and 3 of the 5 offensive lineman. They'll line up against 8 returning starters and a coordinator that is among the most respected in the game, so we can assume that Charlie Weis will only mostly out-think him instead of thoroughly out-think him. Whatever. Georgia Tech is a legitimate solid squad with experience on both sides of the ball. Notre Dame is entirely new on offense, and very green in the front 7, which doesn't bode well for a team facing a RB that ran for 100 yards in 8 games in a row last year and has his OL back intact. Unless the echoes, TD Jesus and the Gipper can strap on the pads on Sept 1, the wrong team is favored in this one.
12 @Wyoming +4 1/2 v Virginia: I'm holding off on playing this one because it might go up a bit more. Al Groh is approaching Village Idiot status himself. His program has accomplished nothing since he got there. A lot of people like some of the talent he has on his team this year, but it's raw, including at QB. That QB, Jemel Sewell impressed a lot of people on a late Thursday night against a pathetic North Carolina outfit last year, but he spent most of last year stinking up the joint. This year, his only threat coming back at receiver is out for the year due to a fall practice mishap, so all of his skill players are new. on the positive side, all of the OL is back, and 10 starters return on defense. Now they go on the road all the way out to Wyoming to face the Pokes, who they beat last year at Virginia on a missed XP despite being outgained by 100 yards. Virginia could possibly dominate on the line of scrimmage, since their lines are back intact and Wyoming's are mostly new, but that generally doesn't happen when teams have to go on the road. I have a lot of doubts that UVA can put up a lot of points with no passing game, and Wyoming actually has most of it's skill position guys and back 7 back from last year. If Virginia wins, it won't be easy...I'll take the points.
Others: Wake is a dog, so they're a play at +6 1/2. I also like any matchup in which Jim Grobe is matched with a guy who's never been a head coach before, especially is his name is something like JAGodzinski.....Army has new coach, so the one positive think about Army(Bobby Ross) is now gone. Rumor had it that Army's offense didn't get a first down in 2 of their scrimmages this fall. I think Akron is going to be pretty sorry themselves this year, but if Army is only catching 5 on the road, I almost don't care who the opponent is, unless it's someone's JV or something......Arkansas lost Marcus Monk, their best receiver, so Casey Dick will be even more handicapped than his own handicap of sucking horribly normally leaves him. Troy has proven that they can hang with good programs on the road in the past. I just don't like the vibe at Arkansas this year. If McFadden doesn't run for 200+ just about every week, they are in trouble. Troy is catching 24, I think they can hang. They have talent and speed on both sides on the ball....I like Oregon this year. Their offense should really be good as long as one of their QBs establishes himself. Word is that Dennis Dixon has done that in fall practice. Houston is woeful on D, and despite my admiration for coach Briles, it might be asking a lot for a new QB to jump right in and put points on the board at Oregon. The spread is a manageable 15, I think the Ducks will quack loudly here.....I'll probably be playing both of the B12 dogs(K St V Auburn and Okie St v Georgia) though I can see plenty of evidence on both sides of those games. Not much logic I can point to, other than Auburn is overrated and Oklahoma St has the ability to be a pinball machine on offense. I can easily see both of them soiling themselves on the big stage, though.
That's about it for week one. Comments are certainly welcome.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Week 1 musings.
Well, I've been waiting the better part of 8 months to do this, but here goes week 1. Games of course start Thursday night, so it's time to get some thoughts on paper.
I actually was able to fund a couple of my books today, surprisingly without too much brain damage. I decided to stick with Bet jamaica for another year. There's nothing overly great about them...I just like that they're solid and they've never screwed me. -110 on everything isn't idea, but in my opinion, you need at least 2 books to shop lines. They also have half juice Friday nights, so if you're like me and find yourself at home on Friday nights, you won't have to pay more than -105 if you can stomach the number as it sits at that time. I also tried out Matchbook.com, which is actually an exchange. This is the closest book I can find to Pinnacle, as far as limited juice goes. This isn't a book, it's an exchange that matches bettors who are on opposite sides of a particular game. They charge a slight commission on games..in the end you average about -104. No money lines and no parlays though. Straight wagers only.
I've got to be honest: I'm looking to the season even more this year than I have in the past, due mostly to my quest to pay as little attention as possible to this taffy pull of a pennant race in the NL Central. The Cubs can play 5 games under .500 over the past month and gain 4 games in the standings? All this has done is increase the likelihood of the most unpleasant and nauseating of scenarios, which of course is the inevitable heartwarming tale of how the beloved St Louis Cardinals, sparked by the unwavering devotion and positive thoughts of their nerd fanbase, overcame tragedy and overwhelming odds to take the division. I got a first hand taste of this story as I unknowingly stumbled upon a radio broadcast/cheerleading session of a Cardinals game during my most recent death march through the nether regions of Southwest Indiana. Within 5 seconds, I got to hear the two dueling radio voices ejaculate all over each other at the sight of an Albert Pujols home run, and then declare that "the Redbirds are going to take this division baby!!!! If you believe it with all your heart, St Louis, it's gonna happen!!!!" One of the guys was Mike Shannon, who, incidentally owns the restaurant in which Josh Hancock got himself lathered before splattering his cerebellum all of I-70. Please, Lord, DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN, no matter how many dork Cardinal fans pray for it with all their collective hearts.
Thursday games first:
1. LSU -17 @Mississippi St: First of all, I don't like LSU's ofense, at least at the outset this year. New QB, lots of missing Wrs from last year, a lack of a consistent running game and Gary Crowton as the OC. I've already touched on Les Miles...I don't need to beat that dead horse again do I? Well, having said all that, the chances of MIssissippi St scoring any points at all sits at about 25%. Can LSU string together 18+ points? Yeah, I think so. They'll probably score 7 on D anyway. Sly Croom's offenses have been devoid of any talent, gumption or any clue of what the hell they are doing since he got there. Now, with two QBs who completed 41 and 43% of their passes looking to lead the squad this year, the prospects don't look much better this year. In 2005, Miss St opened it's D -1 schedule on a Thursday night at Auburn and got shut out. Last year, they hosted South Carolina on a Thurday night opener and got shut out. The following week, they hosted Auburn and got shut out. This year, they open with LSU at home and....(see a pattern?)
2. Utah +7 @Oregon St: I've hemmed and hawed about this one, but after hearing that Oregon St is going to alternate Qbs by quarter, I'm sold on the Utes. Oregon Stactually has a pretty decent squad coming back on paper, but they will be breaking in a new QB, now 2 new Qbs, and their best player, WR Sammie Stroughter, has missed all of fall practice because of "personal issues". On the flip side, Utah has Brian Johnson, who was a very solid QB for them in '05 64% Comp%, 18/7 TD/Int ratio) before he got injured and missed last year. He's back in business now, and has all of Utah's Wrs back as well as a solid D. Utah will probably have the best offense in the MWC this year, so if Oregon St is planning on struggling with the new QB, they're going to want to bring their defense if they plan to win this one.
3. Miami(Oh) +6 @Ball St: Last year, Miami had a rare losing season, actually clocking in with a record of 2-10. However, on the season they were only outgained by 14 yards per game. Throughout the year, though, they got better. Conversely, Ball St was outgained by 83 yards and went 5-7. When these two teams played last year, Miami held a 359-226 yardage advantage but lost at the gun on a last second TD off a turnover on an interception return of all things. Miami will be looking to turn things around this year, and will want to reestablish themselves as a team that routinely takes a dump on the Ball St's of the world. Miami returns almost everyone from last year, so they probably remember slapping Ball St around last year only to get screwed out of the win.
Saturday:
4. @Memphis +3 v Ole Miss: Ole Miss ought to just fire Ed Orgeron now. It only took them one year to get tired of David Cutcliffe's infernal .500-ness, you'd think 2 years of utter incompetence by this oaf would have led them to pull the plug by now. Everyone was patting Orgeron on the back last year for landing Tennessee cast-off Brent Schaeffer out of a juco to play QB. Well, thanks to their complete lack of anything resembling an offensive scheme, Schaefer didn't do much. Now they've shit-canned him and are going with some stiff named Seth Adams, who has the potential to someday be a crappy college quarterback. Last year, Memphis was about the worst team in one of the worst conferences in college football, but they did manage to outgain Ole Miss at Ole Miss only to be nipped by a FG. Now these two heavyweights re-convene at Memphis this year and Ole Miss is voluntarily handicapping themselves by starting a green QB on the road. Orgeron should never be favored on the road against a non-Sun Belt team.
5. Missouri -5 v Illinois: I've heard so many pundits predict that Illinois will be a surprise team this year that I wonder if they will be a surprise at all. More likely, we'll see no line value on the Illini at all. Case in point: this game. Missouri is going to be damn good this year. Chase Daniel is every bit as good as every QB in the country with the possible exception of Colt Brennan. He has his favorite receivers back, the starting RB, and most of his OL. Meanwhile, the Illini are on the upswing, no doubt about that, but they're coming off a 2-10 campaign. They should be better on offense, but even when they play well, they ar capapble of only modest point totals against good teams. For example, if they play well in this game, they'll put up somewhere around 20-23 points. On defense, they could play very well and still give up 28-31, considering their penchant for turnovers in the most inopportune of times. That adds up to a best case scenario of 28-23, if Illinois PLAYS WELL, which is s stretch given their past performances in this dome series. Much better Illinois teams have been spanked by Missouri teams nowhere near as good as this one. I hope I'm wrong though.
6. @Cal -5 1/2 v Tennessee: What an aberration last year's game was. Of all the games covered in last year's musings, that was probably the game I wiffed the most on. I'm going back to the well here. Cal is going to be hell bent on revenge here. The biggest problem Cal had in last year's game was their inability to match up with UT's big receivers, who are now all gone. Eric Ainge is basically flying solo this year, especially since starting RB Coker is among the 250+morons who have somehow gotten suspended dthroughout college football this fall. UT is very thin in the skill spots and is banged up on D. Cal has most of their horses back, and a distinct coaching edge to go with the home crowd and a team that remembers getting cornholed last year on national TV. This is a bad spot for the Vols.
7. Iowa -11 1/2 v NIU: Soldier Field game. You think Iowa likes the idea of playing in their favorite recruiting territory. That makes me want to puke. Nevertheless, they are going to be good this year. NIu is on a bit of a rebuilding plan..their offense will struggle in this one. Iowa should be solid in all phases on D, and they have enough on offense to put up some points on NIU who have never really had much of defense despite all of their success.
I actually was able to fund a couple of my books today, surprisingly without too much brain damage. I decided to stick with Bet jamaica for another year. There's nothing overly great about them...I just like that they're solid and they've never screwed me. -110 on everything isn't idea, but in my opinion, you need at least 2 books to shop lines. They also have half juice Friday nights, so if you're like me and find yourself at home on Friday nights, you won't have to pay more than -105 if you can stomach the number as it sits at that time. I also tried out Matchbook.com, which is actually an exchange. This is the closest book I can find to Pinnacle, as far as limited juice goes. This isn't a book, it's an exchange that matches bettors who are on opposite sides of a particular game. They charge a slight commission on games..in the end you average about -104. No money lines and no parlays though. Straight wagers only.
I've got to be honest: I'm looking to the season even more this year than I have in the past, due mostly to my quest to pay as little attention as possible to this taffy pull of a pennant race in the NL Central. The Cubs can play 5 games under .500 over the past month and gain 4 games in the standings? All this has done is increase the likelihood of the most unpleasant and nauseating of scenarios, which of course is the inevitable heartwarming tale of how the beloved St Louis Cardinals, sparked by the unwavering devotion and positive thoughts of their nerd fanbase, overcame tragedy and overwhelming odds to take the division. I got a first hand taste of this story as I unknowingly stumbled upon a radio broadcast/cheerleading session of a Cardinals game during my most recent death march through the nether regions of Southwest Indiana. Within 5 seconds, I got to hear the two dueling radio voices ejaculate all over each other at the sight of an Albert Pujols home run, and then declare that "the Redbirds are going to take this division baby!!!! If you believe it with all your heart, St Louis, it's gonna happen!!!!" One of the guys was Mike Shannon, who, incidentally owns the restaurant in which Josh Hancock got himself lathered before splattering his cerebellum all of I-70. Please, Lord, DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN, no matter how many dork Cardinal fans pray for it with all their collective hearts.
Thursday games first:
1. LSU -17 @Mississippi St: First of all, I don't like LSU's ofense, at least at the outset this year. New QB, lots of missing Wrs from last year, a lack of a consistent running game and Gary Crowton as the OC. I've already touched on Les Miles...I don't need to beat that dead horse again do I? Well, having said all that, the chances of MIssissippi St scoring any points at all sits at about 25%. Can LSU string together 18+ points? Yeah, I think so. They'll probably score 7 on D anyway. Sly Croom's offenses have been devoid of any talent, gumption or any clue of what the hell they are doing since he got there. Now, with two QBs who completed 41 and 43% of their passes looking to lead the squad this year, the prospects don't look much better this year. In 2005, Miss St opened it's D -1 schedule on a Thursday night at Auburn and got shut out. Last year, they hosted South Carolina on a Thurday night opener and got shut out. The following week, they hosted Auburn and got shut out. This year, they open with LSU at home and....(see a pattern?)
2. Utah +7 @Oregon St: I've hemmed and hawed about this one, but after hearing that Oregon St is going to alternate Qbs by quarter, I'm sold on the Utes. Oregon Stactually has a pretty decent squad coming back on paper, but they will be breaking in a new QB, now 2 new Qbs, and their best player, WR Sammie Stroughter, has missed all of fall practice because of "personal issues". On the flip side, Utah has Brian Johnson, who was a very solid QB for them in '05 64% Comp%, 18/7 TD/Int ratio) before he got injured and missed last year. He's back in business now, and has all of Utah's Wrs back as well as a solid D. Utah will probably have the best offense in the MWC this year, so if Oregon St is planning on struggling with the new QB, they're going to want to bring their defense if they plan to win this one.
3. Miami(Oh) +6 @Ball St: Last year, Miami had a rare losing season, actually clocking in with a record of 2-10. However, on the season they were only outgained by 14 yards per game. Throughout the year, though, they got better. Conversely, Ball St was outgained by 83 yards and went 5-7. When these two teams played last year, Miami held a 359-226 yardage advantage but lost at the gun on a last second TD off a turnover on an interception return of all things. Miami will be looking to turn things around this year, and will want to reestablish themselves as a team that routinely takes a dump on the Ball St's of the world. Miami returns almost everyone from last year, so they probably remember slapping Ball St around last year only to get screwed out of the win.
Saturday:
4. @Memphis +3 v Ole Miss: Ole Miss ought to just fire Ed Orgeron now. It only took them one year to get tired of David Cutcliffe's infernal .500-ness, you'd think 2 years of utter incompetence by this oaf would have led them to pull the plug by now. Everyone was patting Orgeron on the back last year for landing Tennessee cast-off Brent Schaeffer out of a juco to play QB. Well, thanks to their complete lack of anything resembling an offensive scheme, Schaefer didn't do much. Now they've shit-canned him and are going with some stiff named Seth Adams, who has the potential to someday be a crappy college quarterback. Last year, Memphis was about the worst team in one of the worst conferences in college football, but they did manage to outgain Ole Miss at Ole Miss only to be nipped by a FG. Now these two heavyweights re-convene at Memphis this year and Ole Miss is voluntarily handicapping themselves by starting a green QB on the road. Orgeron should never be favored on the road against a non-Sun Belt team.
5. Missouri -5 v Illinois: I've heard so many pundits predict that Illinois will be a surprise team this year that I wonder if they will be a surprise at all. More likely, we'll see no line value on the Illini at all. Case in point: this game. Missouri is going to be damn good this year. Chase Daniel is every bit as good as every QB in the country with the possible exception of Colt Brennan. He has his favorite receivers back, the starting RB, and most of his OL. Meanwhile, the Illini are on the upswing, no doubt about that, but they're coming off a 2-10 campaign. They should be better on offense, but even when they play well, they ar capapble of only modest point totals against good teams. For example, if they play well in this game, they'll put up somewhere around 20-23 points. On defense, they could play very well and still give up 28-31, considering their penchant for turnovers in the most inopportune of times. That adds up to a best case scenario of 28-23, if Illinois PLAYS WELL, which is s stretch given their past performances in this dome series. Much better Illinois teams have been spanked by Missouri teams nowhere near as good as this one. I hope I'm wrong though.
6. @Cal -5 1/2 v Tennessee: What an aberration last year's game was. Of all the games covered in last year's musings, that was probably the game I wiffed the most on. I'm going back to the well here. Cal is going to be hell bent on revenge here. The biggest problem Cal had in last year's game was their inability to match up with UT's big receivers, who are now all gone. Eric Ainge is basically flying solo this year, especially since starting RB Coker is among the 250+morons who have somehow gotten suspended dthroughout college football this fall. UT is very thin in the skill spots and is banged up on D. Cal has most of their horses back, and a distinct coaching edge to go with the home crowd and a team that remembers getting cornholed last year on national TV. This is a bad spot for the Vols.
7. Iowa -11 1/2 v NIU: Soldier Field game. You think Iowa likes the idea of playing in their favorite recruiting territory. That makes me want to puke. Nevertheless, they are going to be good this year. NIu is on a bit of a rebuilding plan..their offense will struggle in this one. Iowa should be solid in all phases on D, and they have enough on offense to put up some points on NIU who have never really had much of defense despite all of their success.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Intro to the Madcapper
I am the College Football Madcapper. Obviously, or maybe not too obviously, this is a play on words. My fervor for college football makes me a bit of a madcap, and my penchant for dropping an occasional couple bucks on a game here and there makes me a handicapper. Thus, College Football Madcapper.
Over the past 5 years or so, I've tried my luck at beating the number, and it's worked out ok. I'll be jotting down my thoughts from week to week, and sometimes more often right here, so if you happen to stumble by and feel compelled top add something, please feel free to make a comment.
Since the name of this blog contains "College Football", I'll be trying to keep things on the subject, hopefully, somewhat in depth. From time to time, however, there might be some "issues" that come up that I can't shut up about. Just move on if it bores you.
Over the past 5 years or so, I've tried my luck at beating the number, and it's worked out ok. I'll be jotting down my thoughts from week to week, and sometimes more often right here, so if you happen to stumble by and feel compelled top add something, please feel free to make a comment.
Since the name of this blog contains "College Football", I'll be trying to keep things on the subject, hopefully, somewhat in depth. From time to time, however, there might be some "issues" that come up that I can't shut up about. Just move on if it bores you.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Pre-season Musings
I wrote this a couple weeks ago, and I'm too lazy to rewrite it, so keep in mind that things have happened in the college football world since it's inception, i.e. about 400 guys got thrown out of school, suspended, jailed, kidnapped, had their knees explode, fingers fall off, whatever.
Yeah Baaaaaabbbbyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Within 30 days we'll be kicking off another college football season. I'm not going to bore everyone with some sappy story about my "passion" for college football (Good Lord, do I hate that word,,,the most overused word of the hack media). Let's just say there are a ton of things to like about college football, and we should all be glad that it's on the horizon.
Some of the things that I'll be looking forward to:
1. My alma mater will at least be fielding a mildly competitive team this year. As a matter of fact, the Illini probably broke some kind of record for the worst possible overall results (2-10) for a team that outgained their opponents on the year last year. This year, they return virtually everyone and add some highly touted recruits. However, theese are still the same goofs who couldn't figure out how to win last year, and their schedule is really tough. Hopefully, they'll make some noise, but I'm not holding my breath.
2. The SEC will be really interesting for a couple of reasons. First, the return of Nick Saban(more on that later) and secondly, the OBC is entering his third season at South Carolina(more on that as well).
3. The Big Ten will be much improved. Although I think that Michigan is going to run the table, it isn't going to be 2 very good teams, 1 unbelievably charmed team(Wisconsin) and a bunch of chumps. Everyone in the league(besides Minnesota) should be as good or better than they were last year. I'm not saying the records will be better, but I think the quality of the games will.
4. They got rid of the ridiculous "start the clock when the ball is set at the change of possession" rule.
I will not be looking forward to:
1. The Big Ten network. Luckily, I have Directv, so I will get it, but a lot of cable subscribers won't. We also will have to put up with the laughably deficient Thom Brennamen as the lead pbp announcer. He proved several things during his stint as the pbp guy in Fox's horrifically brutal lead team during their BCS coverage, all of them bad. Among them: He doesn't know jack squat about college football. Nothing about strategy, nothing about personnel, nothing about traditions, and nothing about how to decipher facts. He also assumes that the viewer is similarly devoid of any sense, which is obviously a mistake. He also is very opinionated. This isn't a generally a bad thing if you are an analyst, but it's annoying as hell if you're the know-nothing play by play guy. It's also bad if your opinions are kne jerk and illogical, like his rant about the need for a playoff was during the MNC game last year. Seriously, do we need yet another dumbass talking head screaming at us that a playoff is needed. 500,000 hours of it in every single media discussion about the sport isn't enough? Now we have to listen to this dork every week? Not looking forward to it. Hopefully, I won't have to rant about him every week.
2. Weekly conversation about whether or not Hawaii deserves to be in the BCS. There is almost no doubt that they will go undefeated, since nobody will make the trek to the island to get their clocks cleaned anymore. Almost all of their tough games are at home. San Jose St is their toughest road game, and the BCS school they play is Washington on Dec 1, and they'll probably be a sorry outfit by then, having had their dreams of competance crushed by a tough Pac 10 schedule.
3. Heisman chatter. Seriously, who gives a shit? Jason White won the thing 3 years ago. Eric Crouch won it. Chatter about how a certain game might effect the Heisman race makes me want to vomit. (For the record, Pat White is my pick.)
Teams I like:
Generally, I think these teams are going to be good, or will have a great shot of having a nice year ATS. I'll spare you my gushing over the virtues of USC's defense and other tales of the painfully obvious.
1. BAMA: In our politically correct world, there are several ethnic or culural groups that it is absolutely taboo to make fun of. We all know who these groups are, so i won't even go into it. However, there remains one "ethnic" group that it is and always will be open season to make fun of: Our friends, the rednecks of the American South. It's also become trendy for the electronic and print media to bash message board fanatics, a lot of times with good reason. One fan base that took it on the chin this past year were the Tide faithful., What an easy target, collectively, right? Rednecks who are obsessed with their team to the point of creepiness. Lots of negative press for this fanbase, and in turn, for the program when the whole Nick Saban fiasco happened. It led to a couple cutesy media pieces about the always media friendly Tommy Tuberville at Auburn, just sitting back and admiring the circus over in Tuscaloosa. He also was ready to drop some cute quotes like"We still play football over here too..have been for 5 years", another incessant reference to Auburn's 5 straight wins over Bama. The guy continues to act like a 4th grader. Maybe he'll run to the principal's office after Saban cornholes him in his own stadium in November.
Bama is coming off a season in which they were breaking in a new QB, and their SEC road games were at LSU, Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas. Thay had UT beat, only to give up a late TD to lose in the final minute, lead LSU at the half, lost on a missed XP in OT to Arkansas, and were leading late at Florida, only to see a late TD and a defensive TD seal it late. This year they return almost everyone, including arguably the best WR corps in the SEC. The schedule is much easier, and they have a proven winner at the helm in Saban. I like their chances.
2. IOWA: Every year, there seems to be a team that just can't get things rolling, for whatever reason. That happened to Iowa last year, resulting in a record of 1-11 ATS(until the bowl game of course.) They were killed with injuries, and it became apparent that Drew Tate is not the guy you want at QB when the chips are down. This year, everyone is back on D, and most of the skill guys are back besides Tate. Their new QB Christiansen was a stud recruit out of Lockport, so he has potential. They also avoid Michigan and Ohio St in the Big Ten, and are coming off a (-10) in turnover margin from last year, and those numbers tend to turn around.year to year. If Christiansen is a plus at QB, they have a great shot at double digit wins, and i think they'll be great ATS, since teams seldom bomb ATS two years in a row.
3. Western Michigan: I seldom get worked up about MAC teams, but these guys have a great shot of being extremely good. 2 years ago, they played a true freshman QB named Tim Hiller who lit up the MAC to the tune of 22 TDs and 3 INTS before getting hurt . He missed all of last year. WMU did ok in his absence, but their offense let down their defense at times, and they ended up short of the MAC crown. This year, assuming the WMU coach doesn't have his head shoved up his ass, Hiller will be starting with an experienced OL in front of them. Throw in the fact that the D picked off 24 balls last year and returns all 8 of 11 starters including all 4 in the secondary, and you've got a balanced team.
4. South Carolina: The OBC is in his third year at South Carolina. Most of the time, a good coach can count on having his best year in year 3, assuming he knows what the hell he's doing. (OBC:yes, Orgeron, Sly Croom, no) He'll have a senior QB and 2 very tough runners in the backfield to team with a D that has 10 starters back. Actually, Spurrier has so many new recruits and guys returning from injury that a lot of the returning guys won't even win starting jobs. Lastly, we all know Spurrier throws around compliments like manhole covers. Generally, he morphs into Lou Holtz and belittles his teams. However, this year, even Spurrier is admitting that his defense will be very good. If it wasn't for Sidney Rice leaving early, I'd consider this a top 10 team. Their schedule is tough, though.
5. NC State: The addition of Tom O'Brien here is of extreme importance. He knows what he's doing, and he left a nice situation at BC(made by him) to come to Raleigh. He inherits what is probably more talent than he's had at BC, and he's been able to churn out bowl appearances like clockwork up there. The strength of his teams been the running games, and wouldn't you know it, he has 2 All ACC caliber RBs in Andre Brown and Toney Baker. I've seen some puiblications rank NC St in the 60-65 range nationally. They'll be much better than that. The days of the lack of discipline under Squeaky Amato are a thing of the past, So are, sadly, the no brainer fades on this team as a favorite of any kind. I hate coaching changes for that reason.
6. Michigan: Even a non-sensical, logic deficient bonehead like Lloyd Car won't be able to bungle such a marvelous oppotunity that Michigan has this year. The only game that they might not be favored in all year is at Wisconsin, and I have suspiscions that the Badgers might have lived a charmed life last year. The rest of their tough games are at home. They SHOULD run the table. Henne and Hart are 4th year starters, Mannngham and Arrington are top notch receivers and they will again have a stout D. My guess is they run the table and then get blistered in the MNC game by USC or some other jackrabbit team.
7. South Florida: No real holes on this team. Good defense, good coach, very good QB in Grothe. DCs definitely have to game plan for him, and their running game should be good as well. People forget that this team went into Morgantown and beat WVU in an absolute must win for the "Eers. Most of their guys are back on both sides of the ball. They also get Louisville and WVU at home this year, and they are very tough in the big pirate ship.
Others: Vandy will have their best team since Bobby Johnson has been there. They should be able to hang in most of the SEC games. Memphis is going to be a bargain early. Tons of injuries last year forced then to play a lot of young guys, who are now back. They have a capable QB, decent skill guys and a defense that got much better as the year moved on last year....Ga Tech has a non Reggie Ball Qb and good skill returning despite the loss of Cal Johnson. Their QB Bennett looked very good in the bowl game against West Virginia last year....I also don't think Texas is getting proper respect. All their skill guys are back, If Colt McCoy is healthy, they should be prolific on offense.
The Sucky Sucks:
1. Auburn: I hate this team with a bloodthristy passion. Well, I guess I dislike their coach more than the team, but you get the picture. Tommy Tuberville is such a classless penis. I know I've covered this, but who carries themselves with such arrogance at the end of a season in which his team twice was castrated on it's home field? Arkansas turned his team into a blubbering pile of goo, and Georgia, having lost 4 of 5 and any semblance of confidence, walzed into Jordan-Hare and held Auburn to a grand total of 170 yards. In fact, this team last season was held under 200 total yards 5 times. They were outgained 6 times.. Their opponents converted the same amount of first downs on the season as they did(219), and their schedule included Arky St, Tulane and Buffalo, not to mention the SEC JV (the Ole Miss and Mississippi St). This year, the lose their best offensive player(Irons), their best WR, and have to replace 4 of 5 starters on the O line. Their best player coming back on offense will probably be QB Brandon Cox, who failed to top 200 passing yards in all but 4 of their games last year. Despite all this, I;ve seen them ranked in the top 15 in some publications. They'll be lucky to finish higher than 4th in the SEC West, much less be anywhere near a top 15 team.
2. Notre Dame: Don't even get me started on that lard-ass over there. This arrogant, gargantuan jackass walks around as if he has reinvented the game of football. Can someone explain to me what this guy has accomplished in South Bend other than figuring out how to hide 7 cheeseburgers in his goiter? His claim to fame is that he almost beat USC in a year that they didn't even win the National Title. Even last year, when they had the likes of Quinn, Samardzjia and Walker, they struggled against the good teams on their schedule. They will have to break in new guys at all the skill positions, including QB, and it will be behind a line replacing 3 of 5 starters..Is Charlie planning on thinking the ball down the field? Their defense, atrocious last year, doesn't look any better this year. Chances are, when their bye rolls around on October 27, they'll be 3-5.
3. Florida: Not that they are going to be bad, but just about every publication out there has them in the top 5 or 6. I like Urban Meyer, but if he thinks can navigate the SEC and win the east while replacing 9 of 11 starters on D as well as most of the passing game, he needs to put down the crackpipe his players were using in the locker room before the MNC game last year.
4. Iowa St: Ok, this team was bad last year, despite some pretty decent offensive talent, so tabbling them as a bad team this year isn't a stretch. They still have Bret Meyer, who will be a senior QB, which is never a bad thing to have, but if that guy gets hurt, or becomes disinterested, look out. There will be some medievil style bloodletting. Consider this: Last year Iowa St's D gave up 72% pass completions, last in D-1. They also had a 26/6 TD/INT ratio agaist them. Their new coach is Gene Chizik, who presided over a Texas defense that surrendered 258 yards passing per game and a 21/13 TD/INT ratio with the Jim Thorpe award winner(Aaron Ross) and another first round draft choice(Michael Griffin) in the secondary. I'm guessing teams might be able to move it through the air a bit on the Cyclones this year. If i'm an ISU fan, I think I'll skip the Oct 6 tilt with Texas Tech.
5/6. Ole Miss/Mississippi St: These two teams are a couple of sorry outfits with a couple of meatheads for coaches. Bad combination.
7 Minnesota: Ok, let's think about this. Knowing what we know about college football, and young people in general, it's probably never going to be easy for Minnesota to lure top level recruits away from the big boys to spend their winters with a bunch of fat chicks in below zero temperatures. That said, expecting Minny to compete for the top of the Big Ten every year isn't reasonable. About the best thing you can hope for is a competitive team every year that might occasionally catch lightning in a bottle. That's exactly what you had with Glenn Mason at the helm, thanks to a remarkably consistent running game. But that wasn't good enough, so they fired him, brought in an enthusiastic cheerleader type(Ed Orgeron clone) who talks a good game. New HC Brewster(an Illini alum) brought in the OC from the Randy Walker NW teams, who runs a spread passing attack. Of course, they have no personnel for this, and are breaking in a new starting QB. Generally the combination of a new coaching staff, new system and new QB leads to major headaches. Meet Indiana's new dance partner in the Big Ten basement.
8 North Carolina: A lot of people are going to assume that UNC will turn things around quickly because Butch Davis is now at the helm. That is not happening this year. They are going to suck bad. Their offense, if possible will be even worse than last year's, which is saying something. Davis is probably going to play a ton of true freshmen, since there are only 9 starters returning total. That normally means blowout city for most of the seaon, with the program chalking this year up as a "take our lumps" season with an eye to the future.
9. LSU: It probably won't matter, since their nose tackles are faster than most teams deep threat WRs, but I think there is some cause for concern here nonetheless. First off, Les Miles' personal ventriliquist/OC Jimbo Fisher left LSU to be Bobby Bowden's personal ventriliquist at Florida St. Offensively, this means that Les Miles has a greater impact on everything, which can't be good. The replacement is Gary Crowton, who, given time, completely ran BYU aground as head coach while at the same time developing a penchant for going into the fetal position in tense situations.(Never a good thing when you have to cover for an imbecillic head coach). He then moved on to Oregon as OC, and their offense systematically imploded as the year went on last year. Throw in the fact that new QB Matt Flynn will have to learn a new offense while atthe same time acclimating himself to a new set of WRs, and I think decent defenses will give them major trouble.
Some random thoughts:
Marshall's starting RB's name is Chubb Small.
When Al Groh is a dog, back him at home (12-3), but fade him on the road (6-18).
USC's record as an underdog since 2002 is 0-0.
Lloyd Carr is a douchbag.
Well that's it. Within the next couple weeks I'll have week 1 finsihed. I still have to reload on a couple sites...we'll see if the bloodthirsty savage government will let me....
Yeah Baaaaaabbbbyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Within 30 days we'll be kicking off another college football season. I'm not going to bore everyone with some sappy story about my "passion" for college football (Good Lord, do I hate that word,,,the most overused word of the hack media). Let's just say there are a ton of things to like about college football, and we should all be glad that it's on the horizon.
Some of the things that I'll be looking forward to:
1. My alma mater will at least be fielding a mildly competitive team this year. As a matter of fact, the Illini probably broke some kind of record for the worst possible overall results (2-10) for a team that outgained their opponents on the year last year. This year, they return virtually everyone and add some highly touted recruits. However, theese are still the same goofs who couldn't figure out how to win last year, and their schedule is really tough. Hopefully, they'll make some noise, but I'm not holding my breath.
2. The SEC will be really interesting for a couple of reasons. First, the return of Nick Saban(more on that later) and secondly, the OBC is entering his third season at South Carolina(more on that as well).
3. The Big Ten will be much improved. Although I think that Michigan is going to run the table, it isn't going to be 2 very good teams, 1 unbelievably charmed team(Wisconsin) and a bunch of chumps. Everyone in the league(besides Minnesota) should be as good or better than they were last year. I'm not saying the records will be better, but I think the quality of the games will.
4. They got rid of the ridiculous "start the clock when the ball is set at the change of possession" rule.
I will not be looking forward to:
1. The Big Ten network. Luckily, I have Directv, so I will get it, but a lot of cable subscribers won't. We also will have to put up with the laughably deficient Thom Brennamen as the lead pbp announcer. He proved several things during his stint as the pbp guy in Fox's horrifically brutal lead team during their BCS coverage, all of them bad. Among them: He doesn't know jack squat about college football. Nothing about strategy, nothing about personnel, nothing about traditions, and nothing about how to decipher facts. He also assumes that the viewer is similarly devoid of any sense, which is obviously a mistake. He also is very opinionated. This isn't a generally a bad thing if you are an analyst, but it's annoying as hell if you're the know-nothing play by play guy. It's also bad if your opinions are kne jerk and illogical, like his rant about the need for a playoff was during the MNC game last year. Seriously, do we need yet another dumbass talking head screaming at us that a playoff is needed. 500,000 hours of it in every single media discussion about the sport isn't enough? Now we have to listen to this dork every week? Not looking forward to it. Hopefully, I won't have to rant about him every week.
2. Weekly conversation about whether or not Hawaii deserves to be in the BCS. There is almost no doubt that they will go undefeated, since nobody will make the trek to the island to get their clocks cleaned anymore. Almost all of their tough games are at home. San Jose St is their toughest road game, and the BCS school they play is Washington on Dec 1, and they'll probably be a sorry outfit by then, having had their dreams of competance crushed by a tough Pac 10 schedule.
3. Heisman chatter. Seriously, who gives a shit? Jason White won the thing 3 years ago. Eric Crouch won it. Chatter about how a certain game might effect the Heisman race makes me want to vomit. (For the record, Pat White is my pick.)
Teams I like:
Generally, I think these teams are going to be good, or will have a great shot of having a nice year ATS. I'll spare you my gushing over the virtues of USC's defense and other tales of the painfully obvious.
1. BAMA: In our politically correct world, there are several ethnic or culural groups that it is absolutely taboo to make fun of. We all know who these groups are, so i won't even go into it. However, there remains one "ethnic" group that it is and always will be open season to make fun of: Our friends, the rednecks of the American South. It's also become trendy for the electronic and print media to bash message board fanatics, a lot of times with good reason. One fan base that took it on the chin this past year were the Tide faithful., What an easy target, collectively, right? Rednecks who are obsessed with their team to the point of creepiness. Lots of negative press for this fanbase, and in turn, for the program when the whole Nick Saban fiasco happened. It led to a couple cutesy media pieces about the always media friendly Tommy Tuberville at Auburn, just sitting back and admiring the circus over in Tuscaloosa. He also was ready to drop some cute quotes like"We still play football over here too..have been for 5 years", another incessant reference to Auburn's 5 straight wins over Bama. The guy continues to act like a 4th grader. Maybe he'll run to the principal's office after Saban cornholes him in his own stadium in November.
Bama is coming off a season in which they were breaking in a new QB, and their SEC road games were at LSU, Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas. Thay had UT beat, only to give up a late TD to lose in the final minute, lead LSU at the half, lost on a missed XP in OT to Arkansas, and were leading late at Florida, only to see a late TD and a defensive TD seal it late. This year they return almost everyone, including arguably the best WR corps in the SEC. The schedule is much easier, and they have a proven winner at the helm in Saban. I like their chances.
2. IOWA: Every year, there seems to be a team that just can't get things rolling, for whatever reason. That happened to Iowa last year, resulting in a record of 1-11 ATS(until the bowl game of course.) They were killed with injuries, and it became apparent that Drew Tate is not the guy you want at QB when the chips are down. This year, everyone is back on D, and most of the skill guys are back besides Tate. Their new QB Christiansen was a stud recruit out of Lockport, so he has potential. They also avoid Michigan and Ohio St in the Big Ten, and are coming off a (-10) in turnover margin from last year, and those numbers tend to turn around.year to year. If Christiansen is a plus at QB, they have a great shot at double digit wins, and i think they'll be great ATS, since teams seldom bomb ATS two years in a row.
3. Western Michigan: I seldom get worked up about MAC teams, but these guys have a great shot of being extremely good. 2 years ago, they played a true freshman QB named Tim Hiller who lit up the MAC to the tune of 22 TDs and 3 INTS before getting hurt . He missed all of last year. WMU did ok in his absence, but their offense let down their defense at times, and they ended up short of the MAC crown. This year, assuming the WMU coach doesn't have his head shoved up his ass, Hiller will be starting with an experienced OL in front of them. Throw in the fact that the D picked off 24 balls last year and returns all 8 of 11 starters including all 4 in the secondary, and you've got a balanced team.
4. South Carolina: The OBC is in his third year at South Carolina. Most of the time, a good coach can count on having his best year in year 3, assuming he knows what the hell he's doing. (OBC:yes, Orgeron, Sly Croom, no) He'll have a senior QB and 2 very tough runners in the backfield to team with a D that has 10 starters back. Actually, Spurrier has so many new recruits and guys returning from injury that a lot of the returning guys won't even win starting jobs. Lastly, we all know Spurrier throws around compliments like manhole covers. Generally, he morphs into Lou Holtz and belittles his teams. However, this year, even Spurrier is admitting that his defense will be very good. If it wasn't for Sidney Rice leaving early, I'd consider this a top 10 team. Their schedule is tough, though.
5. NC State: The addition of Tom O'Brien here is of extreme importance. He knows what he's doing, and he left a nice situation at BC(made by him) to come to Raleigh. He inherits what is probably more talent than he's had at BC, and he's been able to churn out bowl appearances like clockwork up there. The strength of his teams been the running games, and wouldn't you know it, he has 2 All ACC caliber RBs in Andre Brown and Toney Baker. I've seen some puiblications rank NC St in the 60-65 range nationally. They'll be much better than that. The days of the lack of discipline under Squeaky Amato are a thing of the past, So are, sadly, the no brainer fades on this team as a favorite of any kind. I hate coaching changes for that reason.
6. Michigan: Even a non-sensical, logic deficient bonehead like Lloyd Car won't be able to bungle such a marvelous oppotunity that Michigan has this year. The only game that they might not be favored in all year is at Wisconsin, and I have suspiscions that the Badgers might have lived a charmed life last year. The rest of their tough games are at home. They SHOULD run the table. Henne and Hart are 4th year starters, Mannngham and Arrington are top notch receivers and they will again have a stout D. My guess is they run the table and then get blistered in the MNC game by USC or some other jackrabbit team.
7. South Florida: No real holes on this team. Good defense, good coach, very good QB in Grothe. DCs definitely have to game plan for him, and their running game should be good as well. People forget that this team went into Morgantown and beat WVU in an absolute must win for the "Eers. Most of their guys are back on both sides of the ball. They also get Louisville and WVU at home this year, and they are very tough in the big pirate ship.
Others: Vandy will have their best team since Bobby Johnson has been there. They should be able to hang in most of the SEC games. Memphis is going to be a bargain early. Tons of injuries last year forced then to play a lot of young guys, who are now back. They have a capable QB, decent skill guys and a defense that got much better as the year moved on last year....Ga Tech has a non Reggie Ball Qb and good skill returning despite the loss of Cal Johnson. Their QB Bennett looked very good in the bowl game against West Virginia last year....I also don't think Texas is getting proper respect. All their skill guys are back, If Colt McCoy is healthy, they should be prolific on offense.
The Sucky Sucks:
1. Auburn: I hate this team with a bloodthristy passion. Well, I guess I dislike their coach more than the team, but you get the picture. Tommy Tuberville is such a classless penis. I know I've covered this, but who carries themselves with such arrogance at the end of a season in which his team twice was castrated on it's home field? Arkansas turned his team into a blubbering pile of goo, and Georgia, having lost 4 of 5 and any semblance of confidence, walzed into Jordan-Hare and held Auburn to a grand total of 170 yards. In fact, this team last season was held under 200 total yards 5 times. They were outgained 6 times.. Their opponents converted the same amount of first downs on the season as they did(219), and their schedule included Arky St, Tulane and Buffalo, not to mention the SEC JV (the Ole Miss and Mississippi St). This year, the lose their best offensive player(Irons), their best WR, and have to replace 4 of 5 starters on the O line. Their best player coming back on offense will probably be QB Brandon Cox, who failed to top 200 passing yards in all but 4 of their games last year. Despite all this, I;ve seen them ranked in the top 15 in some publications. They'll be lucky to finish higher than 4th in the SEC West, much less be anywhere near a top 15 team.
2. Notre Dame: Don't even get me started on that lard-ass over there. This arrogant, gargantuan jackass walks around as if he has reinvented the game of football. Can someone explain to me what this guy has accomplished in South Bend other than figuring out how to hide 7 cheeseburgers in his goiter? His claim to fame is that he almost beat USC in a year that they didn't even win the National Title. Even last year, when they had the likes of Quinn, Samardzjia and Walker, they struggled against the good teams on their schedule. They will have to break in new guys at all the skill positions, including QB, and it will be behind a line replacing 3 of 5 starters..Is Charlie planning on thinking the ball down the field? Their defense, atrocious last year, doesn't look any better this year. Chances are, when their bye rolls around on October 27, they'll be 3-5.
3. Florida: Not that they are going to be bad, but just about every publication out there has them in the top 5 or 6. I like Urban Meyer, but if he thinks can navigate the SEC and win the east while replacing 9 of 11 starters on D as well as most of the passing game, he needs to put down the crackpipe his players were using in the locker room before the MNC game last year.
4. Iowa St: Ok, this team was bad last year, despite some pretty decent offensive talent, so tabbling them as a bad team this year isn't a stretch. They still have Bret Meyer, who will be a senior QB, which is never a bad thing to have, but if that guy gets hurt, or becomes disinterested, look out. There will be some medievil style bloodletting. Consider this: Last year Iowa St's D gave up 72% pass completions, last in D-1. They also had a 26/6 TD/INT ratio agaist them. Their new coach is Gene Chizik, who presided over a Texas defense that surrendered 258 yards passing per game and a 21/13 TD/INT ratio with the Jim Thorpe award winner(Aaron Ross) and another first round draft choice(Michael Griffin) in the secondary. I'm guessing teams might be able to move it through the air a bit on the Cyclones this year. If i'm an ISU fan, I think I'll skip the Oct 6 tilt with Texas Tech.
5/6. Ole Miss/Mississippi St: These two teams are a couple of sorry outfits with a couple of meatheads for coaches. Bad combination.
7 Minnesota: Ok, let's think about this. Knowing what we know about college football, and young people in general, it's probably never going to be easy for Minnesota to lure top level recruits away from the big boys to spend their winters with a bunch of fat chicks in below zero temperatures. That said, expecting Minny to compete for the top of the Big Ten every year isn't reasonable. About the best thing you can hope for is a competitive team every year that might occasionally catch lightning in a bottle. That's exactly what you had with Glenn Mason at the helm, thanks to a remarkably consistent running game. But that wasn't good enough, so they fired him, brought in an enthusiastic cheerleader type(Ed Orgeron clone) who talks a good game. New HC Brewster(an Illini alum) brought in the OC from the Randy Walker NW teams, who runs a spread passing attack. Of course, they have no personnel for this, and are breaking in a new starting QB. Generally the combination of a new coaching staff, new system and new QB leads to major headaches. Meet Indiana's new dance partner in the Big Ten basement.
8 North Carolina: A lot of people are going to assume that UNC will turn things around quickly because Butch Davis is now at the helm. That is not happening this year. They are going to suck bad. Their offense, if possible will be even worse than last year's, which is saying something. Davis is probably going to play a ton of true freshmen, since there are only 9 starters returning total. That normally means blowout city for most of the seaon, with the program chalking this year up as a "take our lumps" season with an eye to the future.
9. LSU: It probably won't matter, since their nose tackles are faster than most teams deep threat WRs, but I think there is some cause for concern here nonetheless. First off, Les Miles' personal ventriliquist/OC Jimbo Fisher left LSU to be Bobby Bowden's personal ventriliquist at Florida St. Offensively, this means that Les Miles has a greater impact on everything, which can't be good. The replacement is Gary Crowton, who, given time, completely ran BYU aground as head coach while at the same time developing a penchant for going into the fetal position in tense situations.(Never a good thing when you have to cover for an imbecillic head coach). He then moved on to Oregon as OC, and their offense systematically imploded as the year went on last year. Throw in the fact that new QB Matt Flynn will have to learn a new offense while atthe same time acclimating himself to a new set of WRs, and I think decent defenses will give them major trouble.
Some random thoughts:
Marshall's starting RB's name is Chubb Small.
When Al Groh is a dog, back him at home (12-3), but fade him on the road (6-18).
USC's record as an underdog since 2002 is 0-0.
Lloyd Carr is a douchbag.
Well that's it. Within the next couple weeks I'll have week 1 finsihed. I still have to reload on a couple sites...we'll see if the bloodthirsty savage government will let me....
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