SEVEN POINTS:
9/29/15
Here are some observations from the close of the September
schedule of 2015 as we head into the month of October and week five of the
season…Point One: Defense is still selective
That’s correct, defense is still an optional thing in college football, even though teams that routinely run the spread and score in a minute and twenty seconds, leaving their defenses on the field for unendurable minutes have never won a championship. Somehow the idiocy of this point a minute makes for great football garbage is still spreading like the plague in the dark ages. Having watched these three games over the last two weeks, Bowling Green-Memphis, Cincinnati-Memphis, and TCU-Texas Tech, I am appalled as ever by the complete lack of any kind of fundamental play on the defensive side of the football. Better yet, those games are getting longer and longer, not shorter and shorter. As much as I love college football, four hour or more games make me ill. With the spread of this unconventional junk ball offense, here’s a suggestion. Can we please get to the NFL rule of NOT STOPPING THE CLOCK AFTER EVERY FREAKING FIRST DOWN???!!!! CAN WE ALSO STOP REVIEWING EVERY SINGLE SCORING PLAY AUTOMATICALLY????!!!! Now I feel better.
Point 2: UCLA’s drubbing of Arizona in Tucson was much more impressive than Utah’s rout of Oregon
Come on media…are you still slathering your gushing love on Utah for beating a team that was already not as good as they have been for a decade over UCLA’s marching into Arizona Stadium and taking an unbeaten Wildcat team to the woodshed? That’s just poor form, and it’s overvaluing what Oregon is these days. The Ducks have shown plenty of flaws leading into this game, and I seriously thought about picking the Utes to win it outright. I did pick UCLA to beat Arizona, but nobody thought in the MSM that UCLA would do what they did the very first game after losing Myles Jack.
Point 3: Can Tennessee fans finally admit that their
coaching staff and vaunted recruiting classes may be overrated?
Vols fans are hysterical to listen to as they unabashedly
gush about what a great job Butch Jones is doing, and how great recruiting has
been since he got to campus from Cincinnati. Butch Jones to Vols fans has been
treated like Jesus with his rock star status. Enough is enough. Butch Jones
isn’t doing a great job at UT. The recruiting classes seem far overrated, and
these kids have no heart, and they certainly have no killer instinct, and the
coaching philosophies on offense don’t match between what they want to do in
the pass and what they want to do in the run game. Twice now, Tennessee has
blown double digit leads in the 4th quarter only to lose to power
teams in Oklahoma and Florida. For a team that started in the top 25
(again…overrated), 2-2 heading into October with a loss in SEC play cannot
possibly be a good thing. Admit it Vols fans, finally, that the program is not
heading where you want it to go.
Point 4: Are Ohio State and Michigan State as good as the
media thinks they are?
I have my concerns about both programs right now. Ohio
State looks bored with themselves at this point, and are not blowing teams out
of the water as they should. They were scared to the end against Northern
Illinois (who lost to freaking Boston College, by the way), played uninspired
against Hawaii, and certainly didn’t burn the barn down against Western
Michigan. Hell, if you want to get technical, they played like crap against
Virginia Tech until Michael Brewer busted his collarbone. Then you get
Michigan State, who struggled against Western Michigan and Central Michigan,
and didn’t exactly run Air Force out of East Lansing the week after the Falcons
lost their QB for the year. My point is that neither team has played a complete
game this season, and although, on paper, both look like they could win the Big
10 East and play for a title, I see upset potential in both futures.
Point 5: The news just keeps getting worse for Missouri
Maty Mauk and OT Malik Cueller have both been suspended
indefinitely for violation of team rules, which could mean anything as far as
those things go. Missouri has been inept offensively, and while fans have been
openly calling for Mauk’s benching, they’re getting exactly wha they are asking
for, and now they get to live with what freshman QB Drew Lock for the time
being, and maybe for the year. He can’t be much worse than Mauk has been this
season, so there’s that.
Point 6: After breaking single game passing record,
Hayden Moore to start for Cincinnati
Moore broke the single game record for Cincy after Gunner
Kiel had played a bit, making it more impressive what he did against Memphis.
Of course, Memphis played no defense whatsoever, so it was like throwing to
receivers covered by lackluster two year olds, so don’t get too excited just
yet. Moore gets his first start against Miami as there is no time stamped on
the return of Kiel.
Point Seven: The battle of the Year in FCS football is
about to take place
Missouri Valley fans rejoice, as your D Day has arrived.
North Dakota State with their four national titles heads on the road to take on
our 3rd ranked South Dakota State Jackrabbits. It doesn’t get any
better than this battle, as we should get a good look at whether NDSU can be a
candidate for title number five or not. SDSU gets to prove whether or not they
can be the new king of the hill.
Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
Vad Lee transferred away from Georgia Tech because he
couldn’t hold the starting QB job. All he did this week in a James Madison
upset of SMU was combine for over 570 yards of offense, including a stellar
passing day. Tech wishes they had his arm just about now.
