After a glance at the scores over the first half of the season, one may have reason to believe that Florida State is in big trouble as they travel to Georgia Tech for today's featured Atlantic Coast Conference football matchup.
Remember, Florida State was shut down at home by a score of 12-3 at home against Wake Forest on September 20th. Of course, Wake was SMASHED at Maryland on October 18 by a score of 26-0. Maryland, in turn, was brutalized 31-0 by Virginia in Charlottesville on October 4th. That same Virginia team was embarassed 31-3 by Duke in Durham on September 27th. And Duke got stomped 27-0 by Georgia Tech in Atlanta on October 4th. So, if GaTech shut out Duke, which routed Virginia, which shut out Maryland, which shut out Wake, which shut down FlaState; why wouldn't GaTech absolutely annihilate Florida State in their game today?
Well, actually, in this year's ACC there are plenty of good reasons, but... I'll have to save that for another post!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Southern Conference Smackdown
Re: #3 Wofford at #2 Appalachian State
I do not recall ever seeing a college football game matching two teams in the top FIVE of the national rankings with an outcome quite like this one. In short, Appy State delivered a beatdown of possibly unprecedented proportions. That is, the Mountaineers from mountainous western North Carolina pulverized the Terriers from hilly northwestern South Carolina by a whopping score of 70-24 at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, North Carolina last night.
ASU opened a can of whoop-ass on Wofford, and in front of a national television audience watching the game as broadcast on ESPN2, no less. And folks, it could've been worse. Appalachian's star quarterback Armanti Edwards sliced up the Terrier defense with 367 yards passing on ONLY 19 attempts (!!!) and tacked on 73 yards rushing as well. But, after Edwards tossed a 31-yard touchdown pass to receiver Brian Quick to stretch the ASU lead to 56-24 with a full FOURTEEN MINUTES left in the fourth quarter, Appalachian pulled the quarterback out of the game. The backup proceeded to lead two more touchdown drives with a strictly all-rush offense. Staggering.
Especially considering that Wofford came into the game ranked THIRD nationally in the Division I College Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as I-AA). The Terriers were 6-1 and had averaged 45.0 ppg against their six FCS opponents. Their only loss was by a mere ten points, 23-13, on the road against Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) foe South Carolina! In short, ASU beat Wofford by 36 pts MORE than South Carolina did.
Of course, it should be pointed out that even in this game, Wofford's offense played strong. They rolled up an impressive 497 yards of total offense, including 393 yards on the ground, behind TWO 100-yard-rushers. Unfortunately, they couldn't hold on to the ball, and their four fumbles and three interceptions repeatedly set up Appalachian State with great field position. ASU converted enough of those turnovers into scores to turn this anticipated "showdown" into a laugher.
I do not recall ever seeing a college football game matching two teams in the top FIVE of the national rankings with an outcome quite like this one. In short, Appy State delivered a beatdown of possibly unprecedented proportions. That is, the Mountaineers from mountainous western North Carolina pulverized the Terriers from hilly northwestern South Carolina by a whopping score of 70-24 at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, North Carolina last night.
ASU opened a can of whoop-ass on Wofford, and in front of a national television audience watching the game as broadcast on ESPN2, no less. And folks, it could've been worse. Appalachian's star quarterback Armanti Edwards sliced up the Terrier defense with 367 yards passing on ONLY 19 attempts (!!!) and tacked on 73 yards rushing as well. But, after Edwards tossed a 31-yard touchdown pass to receiver Brian Quick to stretch the ASU lead to 56-24 with a full FOURTEEN MINUTES left in the fourth quarter, Appalachian pulled the quarterback out of the game. The backup proceeded to lead two more touchdown drives with a strictly all-rush offense. Staggering.
Especially considering that Wofford came into the game ranked THIRD nationally in the Division I College Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as I-AA). The Terriers were 6-1 and had averaged 45.0 ppg against their six FCS opponents. Their only loss was by a mere ten points, 23-13, on the road against Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) foe South Carolina! In short, ASU beat Wofford by 36 pts MORE than South Carolina did.
Of course, it should be pointed out that even in this game, Wofford's offense played strong. They rolled up an impressive 497 yards of total offense, including 393 yards on the ground, behind TWO 100-yard-rushers. Unfortunately, they couldn't hold on to the ball, and their four fumbles and three interceptions repeatedly set up Appalachian State with great field position. ASU converted enough of those turnovers into scores to turn this anticipated "showdown" into a laugher.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Scores From Week 4
Following up on the last post, the results:
- at #16 Penn St 45, Temple 3
- at Pittsburgh 21, Iowa 20 - The Hawkeyes stung in a rare nonconference eastern trip.
- at Northwestern 16, Ohio 8 - Wildcats jump out to 16-0 halftime lead & hold-on as leading rusher is injured in 2nd half.
- at Georgia Tech 38, Mississippi State 7 - Yellowjackets run wild on the defense that held Auburn to a mere 3 pts the week before; perhaps ACC weakness was overstated?
- at #13 Ohio State 28, Troy 10 - Buckeyes only marginally better against Troy's Trojans than they were against USC's; pulling away after struggling to a mere 14-10 halftime lead.
- at #23 Clemson 54, South Carolina State 0 - Clemson rolls againt in-state foe.
- at Syracuse 30, Northeastern 21 - Hapless Orangemen barely hold-on against I-AA foe.
- Boise State 37, at #17 Oregon 32 - Broncos roll to 37-13 lead in the stadium of its ranked Pac-10 foe, and holds on against a furious comeback for a huge victory.
- #18 Wake Forest 12, at #24 Florida State 3 - DemonDeacons win a game without a touchdown; combined score of 42-3 in last two games between these two teams in Tallahasee.
- Vanderbilt 23, at Ole Miss 17 - 'Bilts goal line stand secures victory in a game that was tied 17-17 at the half.
- #6 LSU 26, at #10 Auburn 21
- #3 Georgia 27, at Arizona State 10 - Bulldogs overcome the shock of their first western regular season road trip in nearly a half-century by stifling the Sun Devils.
- #25 Fresno State 55, at Toledo 54 (2OT) - West coast teams have been getting throttled left & right when they've travelled to the eastern time zone this season, but the Bulldogs pull one out in the Glass Bowl.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Games To Watch - Sept 20, 2008
Yes, this is being posted late. I was out until the early morn Fri. night and didn't have a chance to get this posted before now.
Early Games:
*** Temple (1-2) at Penn State (3-0) - The Nittany Lions are in the Big T(el)e(ve)n and the Owls are in the MAC, but I kinda feel like this game should count in the Big East standings, since both schools have Big East roots.
***Iowa (3-0) at Pittsburgh (1-1) - The Hawkeyes make their first trip to "the Pitts" since 1952. They may get some inadvertent support from the home fans, since their uniforms look so much like those of the Pittsburgh's beloved Steelers (pro football team).
This game is significant, schedule-wise, because it's a rare Iowa vs Big East matchup. Iowa's schedulers seem to have historically looked west to Arizona and south to Texas when they booked nonconference games against non-Midwestern teams. The Hawkeyes played a home-and-home with Syracuse over the 2006-2007 seasons, but prior to that, their last Big East foe was Miami-Florida in 1992. Indeed, Syracuse (last vs. in 2007), Cincinnati (1990) and Pittsburgh (1952) are the ONLY schools in the current Big East football roster that Iowa has EVER played against.
***Ohio (0-3) at Northwestern (3-0) - Normally, an 0-3 team wouldn't be expected to pose much threat playing on the road at a 3-0 team, but Frank Solich's Bobcats have played three quality teams, been in every game to the end, and very nearly stole a victory at the Horseshoe in Columbus, OH! They may be the best 0-3 team in the country. Meanwhile, NU has played three cupcakes and struggled with every one. This could get interesting.
***Mississippi State (1-2) at Georgia Tech (2-1) - The Bulldogs try to rebound from their embarassing 3-2 home loss to Auburn last week as they face coach Paul Johnson's triple-option Yellowjacket offense in Atlanta. Though GaTech routinely includes SEC teams on their schedule (indeed, they were in the SEC until 1963), this is the Ramblin' Wreck's first matchup w/ MSU since 1929! That's especially remarkable since MissSt & GaTech were in the same conference for 31 years (1933-63)!
***Troy (2-0) at Ohio State (2-1) - The Buckeyes might find these Trojans only slightly easier to beat then last week's squad; Troy is unbeaten w/ a win over the same Middle Tennessee State crew that gave Kentucky a tough game last week and beat Maryland the week before that.
***SC State (2-1) at Clemson (2-1) - Hard to believe this is the first-ever meeting between these two. Considering that the Tigers have already whipped the Citadel & close the season with South Carolina, a win here could put them on the path to the undisputed state championship!
Mid-Day Games:
***Northeastern (0-2) at Syracuse (0-3) - The Orangemen, having already been crushed 30-10 by Northwestern, now try their hand against a school from the other direction.
***Boise State (2-0) at Oregon (3-0) - The Broncos get their first test of the season in their first-ever matchup against the Mighty Ducks of Oregon.
Evening Games:
***Wake Forest (2-0) at Florida State (2-0) - For any fan who has followed college football for a number of years, it has to boggle the mind that undefeated Florida State would be an unpopular pick at home against Wake Forest, but that is where we find ourselves. Against the backdrop of history, it is also remarkable to consider that none of the true underclassmen (freshman, sophomores and juniors) on the Florida State team has ever beaten Wake Forest. Still, the as-yet untested Seminoles will indeed be trying to erase today the memory of the 30-0 loss that the Demon Deacons inflicted upon them in their last trip to Tallahasee in 2006.
***Vanderbilt (3-0) at Ole Miss (2-1) - Given the toughness of the SEC schedule, both teams need this win to have a decent shot at getting the 6 victories necessary to qualify for a post-season bowl game.
***LSU (2-0) at Auburn (3-0) - The annual king-maker game for the SEC West. Though LSU has won two BCS championships in the last 5 years, they have struggled each year with Auburn in this Tiger vs Tiger battle. Since 2000, the series is tied at 4-4 with the combined scoring also tied, at 144-144. For its part, Auburn has to feel overlooked nationally; they went 33-5 overall from 2004-2006, but are not typically included in the national championship conversation and are often overshadowed by the bigger name SEC programs at LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee & Florida.
***Georgia (3-0) at Arizona State (2-1) - In addition to being an early matchup of quality teams, a big challenge for each participant, and an important strength-of-schedule measuring stick for all Pac-10 & SEC teams, this game is remarkable because Georgia is playing a game in Arizona!! Folks, the Bulldogs do not travel. Typically all their non-conference games are either at home or against in-state rival Georgia Tech! The last time Georgia played a regular season game in the Western Time Zone since losing at USC in 1960! But forget about the West, Georgia hasn't scheduled a game outside of the SEC area (AR, LA, MS, AL, KY, TN, GA, SC) since a trip to Miami in 1966!!! And if you count Miami as Southeast, then it goes back to 1965 when the Bulldogs played games at North Carolina and Michigan!
***Fresno State (1-1) at Toledo (1-1) - Battle for bragging rights in this WAC-MAC matchup. The Bulldogs first trip to the Eastern Time Zone since opening the 2003 season at Tennessee in Knoxville.
Early Games:
*** Temple (1-2) at Penn State (3-0) - The Nittany Lions are in the Big T(el)e(ve)n and the Owls are in the MAC, but I kinda feel like this game should count in the Big East standings, since both schools have Big East roots.
***Iowa (3-0) at Pittsburgh (1-1) - The Hawkeyes make their first trip to "the Pitts" since 1952. They may get some inadvertent support from the home fans, since their uniforms look so much like those of the Pittsburgh's beloved Steelers (pro football team).
This game is significant, schedule-wise, because it's a rare Iowa vs Big East matchup. Iowa's schedulers seem to have historically looked west to Arizona and south to Texas when they booked nonconference games against non-Midwestern teams. The Hawkeyes played a home-and-home with Syracuse over the 2006-2007 seasons, but prior to that, their last Big East foe was Miami-Florida in 1992. Indeed, Syracuse (last vs. in 2007), Cincinnati (1990) and Pittsburgh (1952) are the ONLY schools in the current Big East football roster that Iowa has EVER played against.
***Ohio (0-3) at Northwestern (3-0) - Normally, an 0-3 team wouldn't be expected to pose much threat playing on the road at a 3-0 team, but Frank Solich's Bobcats have played three quality teams, been in every game to the end, and very nearly stole a victory at the Horseshoe in Columbus, OH! They may be the best 0-3 team in the country. Meanwhile, NU has played three cupcakes and struggled with every one. This could get interesting.
***Mississippi State (1-2) at Georgia Tech (2-1) - The Bulldogs try to rebound from their embarassing 3-2 home loss to Auburn last week as they face coach Paul Johnson's triple-option Yellowjacket offense in Atlanta. Though GaTech routinely includes SEC teams on their schedule (indeed, they were in the SEC until 1963), this is the Ramblin' Wreck's first matchup w/ MSU since 1929! That's especially remarkable since MissSt & GaTech were in the same conference for 31 years (1933-63)!
***Troy (2-0) at Ohio State (2-1) - The Buckeyes might find these Trojans only slightly easier to beat then last week's squad; Troy is unbeaten w/ a win over the same Middle Tennessee State crew that gave Kentucky a tough game last week and beat Maryland the week before that.
***SC State (2-1) at Clemson (2-1) - Hard to believe this is the first-ever meeting between these two. Considering that the Tigers have already whipped the Citadel & close the season with South Carolina, a win here could put them on the path to the undisputed state championship!
Mid-Day Games:
***Northeastern (0-2) at Syracuse (0-3) - The Orangemen, having already been crushed 30-10 by Northwestern, now try their hand against a school from the other direction.
***Boise State (2-0) at Oregon (3-0) - The Broncos get their first test of the season in their first-ever matchup against the Mighty Ducks of Oregon.
Evening Games:
***Wake Forest (2-0) at Florida State (2-0) - For any fan who has followed college football for a number of years, it has to boggle the mind that undefeated Florida State would be an unpopular pick at home against Wake Forest, but that is where we find ourselves. Against the backdrop of history, it is also remarkable to consider that none of the true underclassmen (freshman, sophomores and juniors) on the Florida State team has ever beaten Wake Forest. Still, the as-yet untested Seminoles will indeed be trying to erase today the memory of the 30-0 loss that the Demon Deacons inflicted upon them in their last trip to Tallahasee in 2006.
***Vanderbilt (3-0) at Ole Miss (2-1) - Given the toughness of the SEC schedule, both teams need this win to have a decent shot at getting the 6 victories necessary to qualify for a post-season bowl game.
***LSU (2-0) at Auburn (3-0) - The annual king-maker game for the SEC West. Though LSU has won two BCS championships in the last 5 years, they have struggled each year with Auburn in this Tiger vs Tiger battle. Since 2000, the series is tied at 4-4 with the combined scoring also tied, at 144-144. For its part, Auburn has to feel overlooked nationally; they went 33-5 overall from 2004-2006, but are not typically included in the national championship conversation and are often overshadowed by the bigger name SEC programs at LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee & Florida.
***Georgia (3-0) at Arizona State (2-1) - In addition to being an early matchup of quality teams, a big challenge for each participant, and an important strength-of-schedule measuring stick for all Pac-10 & SEC teams, this game is remarkable because Georgia is playing a game in Arizona!! Folks, the Bulldogs do not travel. Typically all their non-conference games are either at home or against in-state rival Georgia Tech! The last time Georgia played a regular season game in the Western Time Zone since losing at USC in 1960! But forget about the West, Georgia hasn't scheduled a game outside of the SEC area (AR, LA, MS, AL, KY, TN, GA, SC) since a trip to Miami in 1966!!! And if you count Miami as Southeast, then it goes back to 1965 when the Bulldogs played games at North Carolina and Michigan!
***Fresno State (1-1) at Toledo (1-1) - Battle for bragging rights in this WAC-MAC matchup. The Bulldogs first trip to the Eastern Time Zone since opening the 2003 season at Tennessee in Knoxville.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Crown The Trojans?
Actually, maybe not. I love Southern Cal's game as much as anybody, but before we award them the season's championship, let's put it all in perspective. They are only 2-0, and though those two wins have been against BCS Conference foes, what do we really know about them? The Trojans have one victory against a team, Virginia, that was routed 45-10 tonight by Connecticut, and one against a team, Ohio State, that struggled at home last week against Ohio U. So, I think you can still even ask: are the Trojans for real? They've beaten two name opponents, but they still haven't beaten anyone who's beaten anyone!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Bracket Buster
Since 2003, ESPN has organized a college basketball "bracket buster challenge", which paired high-quality teams from schools in conferences with little prestige or notoriety in games all across the country. The idea was that the small conference schools would benefit by having the opportunity to prove themselves against quality opposition (ie, each other) and the ESPN would benefit by getting a lot more fans in unlikely places to watch their channel. The problem I always had with it was that it only helped one team - the winner. The losing team gets the loss, and no credit, because the loss has just come against a team that by definition was previously underrated. And I found the benefit to the winner to be dubious as well, since their victory will have come against a team that, again, by definition is underrated. In short, I didn't see the point.
Last night's college football matchup between Kansas and South Florida changed my mind. Both teams are actually from major conferences, Kansas of the Big XII and South Florida of the Big East, but both have also been considered somewhat counterfeit by mainstream college football fans. South Florida rose as high as #2 in the rankings last year on the strength of upsets of teams like Auburn and West Virginia, but lost three straight games after reaching that lofty status, thus calling into question whether they ever really deserved it. Kansas on the other hand started out 10-0 last year, but did it without playing a single opponent of legitimate quality, thus causing fans nationally to view their achievements skeptically.
Last night's game really showed that both are for real. Kansas travelled across the country to west Florida for this "bracket-buster"-like matchup. The Jayhawks leapt out to a 20-3 lead late in the 2nd quarter on the strength of Todd Reesing's pinpoint passing, and cruised to a 20-10 halftime lead. The Bulls of USF came out fighting in the 2nd half behind an aggressive offense and intense quarterback pressure from defensive end George Selvie, and stormed to a 34-20 lead. Reesing & KU fought back to 34-34, before USF's freshman kicker, Maikon Bonani, iced the Bull's 37-34 victory w/ a 43-yd FG as time expired. I came away impressed with both teams' abilities, and, at this point, wouldn't be surprised if either makes a lot of noise on the national scene (busting up some brackets) down the stretch this season.
Last night's college football matchup between Kansas and South Florida changed my mind. Both teams are actually from major conferences, Kansas of the Big XII and South Florida of the Big East, but both have also been considered somewhat counterfeit by mainstream college football fans. South Florida rose as high as #2 in the rankings last year on the strength of upsets of teams like Auburn and West Virginia, but lost three straight games after reaching that lofty status, thus calling into question whether they ever really deserved it. Kansas on the other hand started out 10-0 last year, but did it without playing a single opponent of legitimate quality, thus causing fans nationally to view their achievements skeptically.
Last night's game really showed that both are for real. Kansas travelled across the country to west Florida for this "bracket-buster"-like matchup. The Jayhawks leapt out to a 20-3 lead late in the 2nd quarter on the strength of Todd Reesing's pinpoint passing, and cruised to a 20-10 halftime lead. The Bulls of USF came out fighting in the 2nd half behind an aggressive offense and intense quarterback pressure from defensive end George Selvie, and stormed to a 34-20 lead. Reesing & KU fought back to 34-34, before USF's freshman kicker, Maikon Bonani, iced the Bull's 37-34 victory w/ a 43-yd FG as time expired. I came away impressed with both teams' abilities, and, at this point, wouldn't be surprised if either makes a lot of noise on the national scene (busting up some brackets) down the stretch this season.
Launch Time
I first seriously considered launching an all-sports 'blog early last fall when Appalachian State stunned Michigan in the Big House. I wanted to write about how ASU was actually pretty good & therefore Michigan still had hope for a good season. In fact, I thought there was a good chance that UM would win out. Turns out they didn't quite do that, but they did finish 10-3 with a victory over Florida's Mighty Gators in the Citrus Bowl. Of course, I didn't start the 'blog then, and didn't write that story until now, but that's when I first considered it. Still, the roots go back even further.
For the past several years, I've been typing up & disseminating college football weekend preview e-mails for friends, highlighting the important matchups and the most overlooked big games. I've always had the hankering to write about college football, and now I have the tool to inflict my words on a larger audience than my e-mail list. Enjoy!
For the past several years, I've been typing up & disseminating college football weekend preview e-mails for friends, highlighting the important matchups and the most overlooked big games. I've always had the hankering to write about college football, and now I have the tool to inflict my words on a larger audience than my e-mail list. Enjoy!
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