By Wally
Just like Alabama a week ago, Ohio State found the #1 crown to be pretty heavy. Too heavy, in fact, as they were upset by the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison. The #1 Crown goes to the next in line in the polls … that would be Oregon, who was idle this week. But the biggest beneficiary of the Buckeye loss is Boise State who should rise to a solid #2 in all human polls and also hold the #1 ranking in the first release of the actual BCS rankings. Of course, being #1 in the first release of the BCS rankings doesn’t hold much water since there are a solid 6 weeks left.
So here are the good things that happened in college football Saturday:
— Ohio State lost 31-18
— Michigan lost to Iowa
— Boise State won 48-0
— Michigan lost
— TCU won 31-3
— Nebraska lost 20-13, at home, to a desperate Texas squad
— Michigan lost … Skunkbears are reeling … I love it.
— Florida lost to Mississipi State. Sweet.
— SCarolina lost to Kentucky the week after upending then #1 Bama. Good … this makes the SEC look less competent … and wipes that smirk off of Spurrier’s mug.
— Oh … almost forgot … Notre Dame beat the lowly Western Michigan Broncos 44-20. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it apparently was not quite as easy as the score might indicate. Thanks to Wannabe and Boog for sending me entertaining updates while I was at College Station!! Boog apparently now has a dartboard in his office where the bullseye is Dayne Crist’s head … I’m sure we’ll hear his rant.
— Did I mention that the Skunkbears tanked for the second week in a row??
And now the bad news:
— In the game I attended, Texas A&M was clobbered at home by a Missouri team that surprised me. Don’t get me wrong, A&M’s performance was also surprisingly bad on both sides of the ball, but I gained a measure of respect for Mizzou. They had a bit of a Boise State look to them … efficient, smart, focused, aggressive. A&M needs to sit their QB and play the guy who’s next in line. Senior Jarod Johnson is painful to watch and he’s killing the team … or at least killing the offense. Mike Sherman … pay attention! Head out of butt, look around, make obvious switch. Got it?
— #19 Nevada lost at Hawaii, which really ends up hurting Boise State since the Wolfpack is the lone remaining tough opponent for the Broncos. Well … maybe Hawaii is too … but probably not “tough enough” for the pollsters.
— Oregon State lost in double OT at Washington … this also hurts Boise State’s resume. No disgrace in losing a real close one to an improving Huskie team in Seattle without one of your best players, but ya still coulda won.
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The new kid on the block and media darling is the undefeated Auburn team and their Heisman hopeful QB Cam Newton. Who knew? Well … I think they’re fool’s gold … giving up 45 points to Arkansas shows a tendancy that’s likely to bite them before the regular season is over. Oklahoma (6-0) is a bigger worry for teams at the top … they were shaky early, but appear to be gaining steam after a thorough trouncing of Iowa State 52-0.
Pinesters … what are your reactions to this week’s college football results??? Please share with the class 🙂
How about this for a stat – Mississippi State threw the ball just nine times (completed 4) to beat the Gators 10-7. 7? 7? Imagine me changing the inflection of my voice to try and make sense out of that one. Urban sure was smart when he had Tebow.
Did I miss something? Is Armando Allen injured? He only had three carries.
Crist played solidly. The interception was a tip. Michael Floyd is starting to look like a leader.
Armando Allen is nursing a bad hip. All week there was speculation he might not play.
It’s about time Floyd stepped up … wish it woulda happened earlier this year. Then ND might be 6-1 instead of 4-3 right now. Better late than never, I suppose, but he needs to remain a leader from this point forward.
I love the fact that Florida sux right now. It’s almost as delicious as Michigan losing. Some day, Urban Meyer will be begging to coach the Irish.
The first college coach to take the hit: https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/ncaa/10/17/brewster.minnesota.ap/index.html?eref=sihp
Wally, since you don’t even know what time ND plays games these days, I will leave you with a link to the NBC broadcast.
https://hqplayer.nbcsports.com/Player.html?vid=322
Fast forward to 3:11 of the 2nd quarter. The first and second down plays will give you an idea how Crist played in the first half. Two horrible passes then hits the receiver 5 yards behind the first down marker on third down. Then on fourth down, Crist doesn’t realize he has an uncovered receiver as WMU only has 10 players on the field. That is why he is Dayne Crist. That is why he has been the second best QB on the field for every game they have played this year. In a head to head competition, I have no doubt the WMU QB would beat him out. This team will only go as far as Crist’s cranium will allow.
Having said all that, he did lead them to a win, thanks in large part to Kellys excellent play calling and game management.
I must admit to also being fooled by the start time.
Have to agree with Boog. Almost every QB that ND has faced has looked better than Crist. However, the ND O-Line is terrible and doesn’t protect Christ well. Christ does not appear to have the athletic or instincts to get out of trouble when the protection collapses. Same can be said about A&M. If the ND defense ever plays consistent an entire game, then ND would be ranked. I liked Kelly’s comments at halftime saying that it’s up to the players to have the discipline to execute what they practice.
More shenanigans in the Coaches Poll today. Oklahoma pasted Iowa State and jumped over TCU who was similarly convincing in a big win over BYU. So if Oklahoma was solidly behind TCU before Saturday’s games, what changed in terms of tangible results to propel OK over TCU this week??? Nothing, that’s what. It’s just that those tricky coaches are looking for ANY team from a big conference they can put in front of a little guy. Quite nauseating actually. The whole thing smells of the big fix coming.
A little irony, if you will, at the end of the tOSU-Wisconsin game: Remember a couple of weeks ago when the 49ers’ Nate Clements picked off a Matt Ryan pass in the game’s final minute. It looked like San Fran would win, but Clements tried to return the ball, was stripped, Atlanta recovered and went on to score and win. Last night, the Buckeyes (Clements school) were driving late in the fourth. Wisconsin’s Blake Sorenesen intercepted a Terrelle Pryor pass and quickly slid to the ground. Do you think the Wisconsin coaches reviewed late game interceptions and what to do with them after the miscue by the Buckeye alum?
The first BCS poll comes out tonight.. Something tells me it is going to make me sick. They are already talking about Oklahoma being No. 1 in the BCS poll..
Well Smitty … the BCS experts have done an about face in just a week and nothing really changed regarding Boise State that I can discern. They predicted a week ago that BSU would be the #1 team in the first BCS rankings. We know that Boise is #2 in both human polls that count and Oklahoma is #3 and #4 in those polls. So it must be the computers that suddenly love Oklahoma and who they’ve played through 7 weeks vs who Boise has played. We all knew that Boise would be getting less and less love by the computers as the weeks went by due to their weak conference schedule. BSU has to hope that Oklahoma and/or Oregon gets knocked off one of these upcoming weeks.
Well Wally it is official.. Oklahoma is #1 and Oregon is #2.. Boise State is #3.
I just find it humorous that a team that hasn’t been near #1 until this week is sitting atop the BCS poll.. I am going to start rooting against Oklahoma as I would like to see Oregon stay up at the top..
They should eliminate the computers from the BCS factoring. I still often refer to this incident from a few years back; there were 7 computer polls. 6 of them ranked Washington 5th, 6th, or 7th. One of them had the Huskies #1! It just happened to be the one done by the Seattle times. Of course computers don’t lie, they just do what their programmers tell them to. The Times programmers obviously gave much more weight to the Huskies strengths than did the other 6 programmers. But that was because they had studied Washington’s strengths. So, no one lied, but they certainly skewed the results. Heck, we might as well let the fans vote weekly!
Clearly, BSU and TCU need schools from the big BCS conferences to lose at least one game in order to have a shot at the title game. They will have to be undefeated …. and that still might not be enough.
Oklahoma, Oregon, Auburn and LSU clearly have chances to lose in next 5-6 weeks. So you know what I’m roooting for. Oh … that and Michigan to lose while ND and BSU win 😉
Here’s a possible scenario: Boise State runs the table and finishes undefeated. Oregon loses a game and Boise State becomes the clear #1 in all human polls, including the AP poll. (This is important because although the AP poll is not figured into the BCS ranking computation, they award their own national championship). However, let’s say that the computers composite ranking for BSU puts them at #7 or something, and that factoid prevents them from being in the Top 2 of the final BCS rankings … say they are #3 … but they are not invited to the BCS National Championship game and will still play in “one of the big BCS bowl games”. This is the formula for a split national championship … if BSU wins their bowl game. The AP vote will probably go to Boise State as #1 and the other “champion” will be the winner of the BCS title game. It has happened before.
I don’t follow college football as closely as you guys, but it seems like a no-brainer to me that, if Auburn and LSU remain undefeated, they’ll get a shot at the BCS crown before Boise St and TCU. The question is, what about Michigan St…and Oklahoma St and Missouri? Maybe this will be the season that finally forces the NCAA’s hand to actually institute a playoff system, as it becomes more and more obvious how political the rankings are.
That’s what we’re all hoping for, Chas. That so much chaos and controversy are created that it actually forces the NCAA’s hand to institute a playoff. HOWEVER …. we’ve seen quite a bit of controversy over the past dozen years or however long this BCS system has been in place, and nothing has really changed. We should not hold our breath. A no-brainer? Yes. incredibly frustrating? YES!!!
The only way Auburn and LSU can both remain undefeated is if they tie this weekend. And both still have Alabama remaining on their schedules.
It’s only October. Plenty of time for all the teams in the power conferences to lose except maybe one. Which means that team gets an automatic spot in the title against whichever team from a major conference runs the table to end the season.
It’s like Pete says, they computers can only analyze the given data. Computers cannot pick the data and weigh it.
You’re right, Casey. Boise State just needs to keep winning impressively and pray that big conference teams lose. BSU may actually want TCU to remain undefeated as well … so that TCU can hold down the #2 slot in the human polls and provide a buffer. The team BSU needs to lose the most is Oregon simply because the Ducks are the only team in front of them in the human polls.
— Oregon still has to play Oregon State and USC … both on the road.
— Oklahoma has tough road games at Mizzou and OK State remaining, plus the Big 12 title game
— Auburn is the new entrant into the mix, but as Casey points out, they have some real tough ones remaining and the SEC title game … maybe.
— Michigan State has tricky road games coming up soon … at Northwestern and at Iowa. They also close end of Nov out in Happy Valley. I can’t believe we’re still talking about them. Doggone it Notre Dame … you defend the fake FG standing back 10-15 yards … not man-to-man !!!! Dang it!!!
— Boise should only be tested in its Nov road tilt at Nevada although Hawaii is gaining steam and just beat Nevada.
Boog … just for you … here are Dayne Crist’s season passing stats:
GP, Effic, Cmp-Att-Int , Pct , ,Yards, TD, Long, Avg/G
7, 133.0 , 155-261-5 , 59.4, 1,855, 14, 95, 265.0
Could be better … could be A LOT worse. And remember this is a TEAM game … we’ve seen several dropped passes, and TDs or long passes nullified by penalties, etc. He’s also scored 4 TDs and actually hasn’t lost that much in sacks either … like 13 yds/game. A 14-to-5 TD-to-INT ratio is pretty good, not great. He needs to get his comp % up near 67% or better … which translates to almost 3 more completions per game … presumably some of those could be game-changers.
IMO, more importantly … ND needs a more effective and pervasive running game. There have been only 152 rushing attempts by running backs vs 284 passing attempts in the 7 games this season. That’s only 21.7 rushes per game! Running backs are averaging 5 yards a carry (decent) but have only scored 3 rushing TDs (pathetic). We’re quite poor at getting the crunch time tough yards and deep red zone yards. Actually, we’re awful at that. ND will NEVER be a very good football team if all opponents know that we will try to pass in EVERY critical situation … even when only 3 yards are needed. Better balance on offense is critical to attaining Top 10 status as a program. And we won’t do it without a coaching emphasis to be a good running team and an O-line that’s good and tough enough to carry it out.
Yes … I, too, wish Dayne Crist were “better”. But I also wish even more that we had a good, pound it out running game … and that would also help him out.
Anyway, since when did YOU ever care about accuracy when it comes to throwing things???? 😉
Wally… Does this mean that if Oregon is undefeated and goes up against USC – you are going to root for USC??
Does anyone find this slightly amusing??
absolutely, Smitty. USC is not going anywhere … so why not root for whatever can get Boise State to the promised land???
Oh I agree with you – just find it amusing. NOw if we can find a scenario in which you would have to root for Michigan.. 🙂
Ha! There would have to be quite extraordinary circumstances for me to root for Michigan. I guess if a UM win would clearly pave the way for ND to achieve something special, that would be it. Like I said … EXTRAORDINARY.
Wally, you spend too much time in the Echo Chamber of NDnation. Enough with the “we must run in order to be a good team”. If or when Crist ever becomes competent with his arm, that will open up even more holes for the running backs. However, Crist is not going to learn the spread offense by handing the ball off. If that is what ND Fanboys want, then save a scholarship and just get one of the interhall team QBs to hand the ball off to AA and Wood. Kelly knew he was going to kill WMU. There was no sense in just handing the ball off in the first half and never letting Mr. Mensa run the offense. I can’t believe all the wailing and gnashing of teeth over the run/pass ratio. Guess what, a pass for a TD counts just as much as a run for a TD…..Also, I have no doubt that if the run/pass ratio was reversed, ND Fanboys would be yelling that ND was not passing enough. Good grief, ND fans have morphed in to the pre 2004 Red Sox fans.
Boog, listening to you prescribe what’s good for a football team is like asking me to build you a skyscraper or a fractionator. Not wise. Stick to what you’re good at … it’s not hard to figure out.
What am I good at?
But seriously. This team will start running when Crist becomes more effective at passing. BK has done that every where he has gone. Even if it has been at, oh my gosh, GVSU. But you cannot get good at passing by handing the ball off.
a) I’m not sure what you’re good at, but it probably involves tinker toys or Leggo’s
2) The spread offense is NOT supposed to be a pass-happy offense. It’s geared to use the entire field and spread your players out to create space and bigger lanes. BK’s past teams exhibited a much better run-pass balance than ND has this year … as evidence, you could look it up. More threat of a running game will indeed open up the secondary and make the reads (who’s open?) a lot easier for WHOEVER is playing QB. Lastly, the QB in the spread offense is also supposed to be a major running threat … and that’s probably where Crist is more of an odd fit. He’s an OK runner, but certainly not ideal for this system, IMO. So Boog, yes, you will become a better passer by handing off 40-50% of the time to running backs who can get 5-8 yards a carry because that will open up the field for your WRs when you do pass. Again, it’s more of an O-line thing to get this right. Surely, you can understand this.
iii) the above may not help Crist’s “accuracy”, but it will increase his margin for error and will get more people open, thereby reducing his instances of simply not throwing to the obviously open guy. To improve his accuracy, he simply needs more and more reps and maybe some footwork coaching IN PRACTICE!!!!!
Boog – COME ON! While you are busy pounding your head against cinder block, we are having an enlightening conversation about pitchers over on the ALCS Tale of the Tape. Please join in.
Not that he needs it, but I agree with Wally. ND needs to establish their ground game. For every Joe Montana there is a Roger Craig. The spread opens the field for everything.
Yes debating Wally is like pounding my head against cinder block. I just love the pass. I wish BK would pass 100% of the time, mainly cause I like it, but also to send some people into fits of rage.
I’ll head on over to the ALCS TOTT after I get back from work. Somebody has to provide the energy this country needs.