Four Unbeaten Teams Lead the Way this Saturday

Will Alabama remain king of the hill after this weekend? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well its time to start thinking about which college football games to view tomorrow. Since my Wahoos are going to be in Raleigh losing to NCST (yes I have given up all hope and really wish I was wrong) I will be home and able to catch some of the big match ups. Here are the ones I’m really looking forward to.

The Irish Welcome Pittsburgh

Since Notre Dame needs to be unbeaten to get invited to the National Championship game every game matters for them. After a great road victory in Oklahoma, the Irish head back to South Bend to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers.

On paper this should be an easy game for the Irish- who are second in the nation for scoring defense largely to the Heisman quality Manti Te’o creating amazing plays facing an offense who is the 77^th for rushing scoring. Plus Notre Dame has only allowed one rushing touchdown all season- that’s incredible.

Yet, this is what many would consider a trap game because before the Oklahoma game how many people really thought this Irish defense was for real? Now fans are dusting off their gear and the Fighting Irish nation is awakening from a long slumber of mediocrity and underperforming teams.

So will the ND faithful be rewarded with a win. I hope so since I married an Irish fan. If Notre Dame continues it strong defense philosophy and QB Everett Golson continues the growth we saw last week then they should come up with a big victory.

Oklahoma St Tries to Stop the Wildcats (Irish Fans You Say Go Cowboys)

Another unbeaten team, and the second ranked in the BCS polls, Kansas St welcomes Big 12 foe Oklahoma State to their house.

If there was a game that could stop the Wildcats national championship hopes this is it because of Joseph Randle and Wes Lunt. The Cowbows are averaging 239 yards rushing per game this season and only allow 128 yards on the ground for their opponents. But Oklahoma St has lost big games including Texas and Arizona.

I’m thinking that Kansas St is going to pull out a win.

The Ducks Fly Into Sparta (Yes Irish Fans You Say Go Trojans- I know its Painful, but necessary)

First question what will the Ducks wear against USC? They are the fashion show of the college football universe. Thank goodness for Nike and their endless amounts of neon green gear.

That being said this is likely the preview for the Pac12 Championship which we will probably see these teams play in again.

The question to ask is can USC’s defense keep up with Chip Kelly‘s offense? No one seems to have the secret yet to stopping it- and I don’t think its USC. This is a team that seems to beat itself despite having a ton of talent on the field. They are third worse in the PAC 12 for turnovers- only Washington State and Colorado (arguably the worse college football team in the nation) have more. And QB Matt Barkley- once a Heisman candidate has through eight interceptions so far.

You can’t make those type of mistakes against Oregon- because Oregon wants and has the staff to win- big.

Finally the game of the week Alabama Goes Tiger Hunting

If you live under a rock it may come as a surprise to you that this is the game of the season.

Yes season, because in the college universe everything begins with the SEC and the SEC is centered around these two teams. In fact it is such a big game all of ESPN seems to have left Bristol to attend- of course they could be escaping from the aftermath of Sandy but everything should be hunky dory after all they are hosting the NYC marathon (I wish you could see my eye roll right now).

Both of these teams are matched up beautifully- they are both in the top 25 for rushing offenses. Both rely heavily on defense.

But the real reason this is an amazing game- drama, good old fashion we don’t like you. You see Nick Saban, the most famous Tide coach after Bear Bryant himself, used to be the head coach for LSU- and brought a National Championship to Baton Rouge. Then Saban leaves for the NFL and bombs- big. And where does he return to – LSU’s rival Alabama.

Juicy! And you Gals thought sports was boring. This game is not going to be the touchdown fest like Oregon and USC- instead expect a low scoring game with a ton of defense.

Related articles

• Wojciechowski: Saturday will bring calm or chaos to BCS title race (espn.go.com)
• Stewart Mandel: Breaking down potential BCS title race developments; more Mailbag (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)
• You: Envisioning the 2012 BCS Apocalypse, or What Happens If Everybody Has 1 Loss? (bleacherreport.com)

College Football Weekend Recap

LSU Coach Les Miles may have said the most memorable and silly thing yes this season (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I know I’m a few days past needing to do this- but the Gal Pal had to host ten superheroes Sunday and then help my house recover so this is my first chance to even thing about the crazy sports weekend.

Later on I’ll go over the NFL, the Ray Lewis injury, and y’all its time to start talking basketball! But let’s dive into college football.

What a great weekend of match ups. Let me get this out of the way, the Hoos lost and it wasn’t pretty. I only hope we can win A game soon because with Wake Forrest, NC State, Miami, UNC, and Va Tech I’m not sure I see that happening.

Okay on to games that were way more exciting.

The Red River Shootout Rivalry

Sing it with me “Ok-la-homa where the Sooners kick some Longhorn butt!” My goodness talk about a take them behind the wood shed kind of game. Landry Jones threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns. Damien Willaims had a 95-yard rushing touchdown that was the longest in the rivalry’s history. Blake Bell had four touchdowns and the Longhorns were left in the dust.

Final score 63-21

Notre Dame wins controversially

So the Fighting Irish had to fight to keep their undefeated season alive when they were down 10-3 at the start of the fourth quarter.

Throughout the season Notre Dame has been doing an interesting shuffle of the quarterback. Everett Golson started the game but for the finally fourth quarter drive that led to the tying field goal that allowed the Irish to then go on to win in overtime.

Golson fumbled three times and didn’t read the defense well which was costly early on. But my question is why not pull him sooner? If he was that bad why keep him in?

However can we say amazing things about Manti Te’O- oh yes we can. Leading the Irish linebackers they allowed no more than 13 running yards per play. These guys make it impossible for offensives to open up the field and it limits plays. If they can keep this crew up Notre Dame can have a shot at a serious bowl game.

The biggest moment of the game came on the last play when it looked like Stanford tailback Stepfan Taylor scored the tying touchdown with a 1-yard run in overtime. The officials- which were from the Pac-12 ruled that Taylor was stopped before getting into the endzone- the problem was there was no whistle called to end the play and Taylor’s second attempt during the same play got him into the endzone. The replay crew from the Big East agreed with the call and the Irish win the game.

My opinion is that officiating can stink- but this time you can’t say it was bias one way or the other. Stanford was winning this game- and could have if they had stuck to their game plan. They didn’t- it should have never been in overtime.

LSU “where dreams die” at least according to Les Miles

The key to victory against LSU is stopping the run- you stop the run and you win.

South Carolina didn’t stop the run. And LSU averaged almost 5 yards per carry. Consider that a first down requires ten yards and you do the math.

The best thing that came out of the game was the press conference afterwards when Les Miles said “This is Death Valley, a place where dreams come to die.” WTF! Dear Coach Miles you are suppose to be a grown ass man play grownup football- do not give bulletin board material! Naughty- a really stupid statement. You just lost to Florida and guest what Alabama comes knocking at your door next week.

Related articles

• Stanford vs. Notre Dame final score: Irish D holds in overtime, Tommy Rees’ magic still works (sbnation.com)
• Florida, K-State, Notre Dame move up in AP poll (miamiherald.com)

Water Cooler Talk- College Football Edition

Let’s Re-cap those college football games I was on the lookout for.

Longhorns win on the Road

It was a solid effort from the Texas quarterback David Ash- who was 30 of 37 for 304 yards and three touchdowns. Ash, a sophomore, is starting to really find his rhythm- and keeping his cool during critical plays like a 4^th and 6 on the final drive to seal the victory.

Oklahoma State held its own by running for 275 yards. New QB J.W. Walsh threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns.

University of Virginia No 1 Playboy Party School and Worse in the ACC Coastal Division Right Now!

It was a story of two halves- the first Virginia took the ball and ran keeping – Michael Rocco threw for 265 yards in the first half but was so terrible in the second that he was replaced by Alabama transfer Phillip Sims- who almost saved the game except for the last drive which deserves its own blog post- lets just save UVa‘s biggest problem was defeneding against the screen and penalties- 16 in all for the entire game which cost them 145 yards.

UVa, who went to the Chick-fil-a Bowl last year has so much work to do it hurts. The performance was so bad most of the student sectioned emptied before the beginning of the 4^th quarter- I guess they decided to start celebrating their number one party school ranking from Playboy early.

With big Big 12 debut- WVU QB Geno Smith looks like favorite for Heisman

The final score of the Baylor vs West Virginia game was 63-70 and did I mention it was a football game and not basketball?

Smith had a record breaking game- going 41 of 51 throws for 656 yards, eight touchdowns, and no interception. He had more total touchdown passes than incompletions and it is performances like that which make Heisman Trophy voters get all kinds of excited.

Next week WVU goes down to take on the Longhorns.

Oregon State wins close game against Arizona

With beating Arizona 38-35 on Saturday the Beavers are now 3-0 and are the only team in the nation to have beaten only ranked or previously ranked opponents.

With being the little brother to No 2 Oregon- Oregon State fans should be excited about prospect of their sophomore quarter back Sean Mannion. Last season Mannion threw 18 interceptions- this year with only three games he is 67% pass completion for 363 yards.

O-H-I-O gets Big 10 Opener win on the road

Such a close, tight game- just what you should expect from two nationally ranked teams. Newly installed Ohio St coach Urban Meyer got his fire Big 10 win and despite having three turnovers QB Braxton Miller has a signature road win.

Michigan St start running back Le’Veon Bell only had 17 carries for just 45 yards.

Virginia Tech is 0-2 in the Big East this season

During the second half of the La Tech vs UVa game the biggest cheers came from the out of town box scores when it showed Va Tech losing to Cincinnati- yes very un-sportsman like, I cheered too but when you’re team is consistently behind your rival well I’ll let you finish the thought.

Typically Va Tech defense is solid- but not that game especially in the last few minutes. Eerily similar to Boise State game – the Hokies only had to last two minutes to win the game. Instead Cincinnati wide receiver Damon Julien actually got behind cornerback Kyle Fuller and caught a 39-yard touchdown pass with only 13 seconds left.

What is more shocking is that Va Tech’s offense didn’t make a single first down in the game until very late in the second quarter.

This loss is not good for the Hokie faithful who have a tough slate of ACC opponents including Clemson and FSU.

Related articles

• Geno Smith: How WVU QB Compares to Former Heisman Winners (bleacherreport.com)
• Week 5 College Football (sportsgalpal.wordpress.com)

Oh those crazy Mountaineers

Oh the campaign to save couches in Morgantown is on.  Maybe it was because of joining the Big 12, maybe it was because there is a shortage of quality seating, or perhaps the couches are terrified at the end of a Mountaineers victory.

The Student Government of West Virginia University has creates a PSA video urging Mountaineers to lay off the lighting fluid and use that couch for napping.

Burning of couches after big wins is tradition- one of those who outsiders are like huh? It is so engrained in their culture that there is even a WVU site called We Must Ignite This Couch.  It got so bad that according to GQ magazine  between 1997 and 2003 there were over 1,100 couch burnings.

I’m not sure what the WVU student body has against comfortable furniture or maybe part of the application process is an essay entitled “What are you preferred methods for starting a couch fire?”

And couch burning is also good for weddings, and assassinations of terrorists.  I mean nothing says Go USA better than a couch on fire.

So Mountaineers for the sake of all furniture everywhere please put down your pitchforks and lighter fluid… after all what did that couch do to you?

 

Related articles

• West Virginia Would Like You to Please Stop Lighting Your Couches on Fire (bleacherreport.com)
• Big 12 Commissioner to Lead WVU Homecoming Parade (wsaz.com)

Week 5 College Football

Logan Thomas of Virginia Tech following his team’s loss to Clemson in October 2011. Will there be smiles after a win? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This weekend is filled with so much college football the Gal Pal just can’t handle it! Here are the games I’m going to be on the lookout for- even while cheering on my beloved Wahoos, live at Scott Stadium tomorrow. If you want to meet up with the Sports Gal Pal she’ll be tailgating with the Camp Wahoo gang.

No. 12 Texas at Oklahoma State

This is a big road test for the Longhorns who are 3-0 leading up to this divisional match up with Oklahoma State.  Coming off an impressive win against SEC opponent Ole Miss, quarterback David Ash threw for 326 yards and had 4 touchdowns in the Longhorn win.

But don’t discount Oklahoma State whose QB J.W. Walsh threw for 347 yards and too had four touchdowns in last week’s match against Louisiana Lafayette.

I look for the Longhorns to come out of top for this match up- but look for a high scoring game for both sides.

Louisiana Tech at Virginia

Yay I get to talk about my Wahoos- and the fact that we could potentially lose tomorrow L

Louisiana Tech is being called a BCS killer for good reason, they are currently a 2.5 point favorite over the Wahoos and average about 55 points a game.  Right now Virginia is coming off of two awful road losses- Duke (3-1) has a better football record than us that isn’t good.

For Virginia to win the offense must do better than the short passing game plan- especially on 3^rd down!

In hate to say it but I think Louisiana Tech is going to win this one.

No. 25 Baylor at No. 9 West Virginia

Geno Smith seems to have everything going his way- and with Michigan and USC losing he just might be in the minds of Heisman Trophy voters too.

In their Big 12 debut I think West Va is going to have a great offense game and Baylor who seems to have a habit of digging into holes early isn’t going to be able to keep up.

The only reason to watch is it is West Virginia’s first round in the Big 12.

West Virginia wins easily.

No. 18 Oregon State at Arizona

Is Oregon State for real? After coming off of two losing seasons the Beavers are ranked 18^th and are 2-0.  But this will be a true road test for them as they face Arizona.

Under new coach Rich Rodriguez the Wildcats have been getting more media attention but there seems to be issue of a lack of depth- especially on defense that could give Arizona trouble.  But they are coming off of an embarrassing lost to Oregon 49-0 last week.

I’m going to give this one to the Beavers- I just don’t think that Arizona has the talent to keep up with an emerging offense.

No 14. Ohio State at No 20. Michigan State

ESPN’s College Game Day is making the trip out to East Lansing. Will it be the Buckeyes or can Sparta say victor in this Big 10 match up?

This could technically be the Big 10 Championship since the Buckeyes are still suspended from post season play- tattooing can be serious stuff kids.

I think the Buckeyes have a solid shot at a great road victory.  But they have been shaking barely getting by UAB and California.  Michigan State can win if they shake off the demons from two weeks ago with their loss to Notre Dame.

I can’t call this one- I think it is a toss up.  If Michigan St’s wide outs can stop dropping passes then they have a real shot.

Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati at Fed Ex Field

These former Big East rivals on a big stage- and the last time Hokies played at Fed Ex they lost to Boise State.  Will Beamer Ball be the winning ticket or will the Bearcat chop on some Turkey?

The Bearcats arrive undefeated and the Hokies are looking forward to not losing twice in a season to a Big East foe.  Interesting note that the last time these two teams played it was in 2009 at the Orange Bowl where Hokies shocked the world by winning a bowl game (come on I had to throw one in there).

If the Hokies can jam the offense then they could pull the win.  All the Bearcats have to do is stop Logan Thomas.

I’m not picking a winner because I don’t want to… and you can’t make me.

Related articles

• Week 5 College Football Picks: (ACC, Big 12, Pac 12) (thepigskinreport.com)
• BCS impact games, Week 5: West Virginia, it’s your time to shine (sbnation.com)

UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun to retire after legendary college career: source – NY Daily News

Left: Jim Calhoun, head basketball coach, University of Connecticut. Right: Rudy Gay, former UConn basketball player, now with the Memphis Grizzlies Location: Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Maryland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun to retire after legendary college career: source – NY Daily News.

This is huge news in the world of Men’s College Basketball.  Calhoun has a 866-369 record at UConn, including three national NCAA titles. I am sure this is related to health concerns that have been plaguing Calhoun for awhile.

I’m not sure how much the Big East can take with the announcement of Notre Dame bolting from the conference to ACC and now one of its best programs losing its coach.

Related articles

• AP: Legendary UConn Coach Jim Calhoun To Announce Retirement Thursday (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• Another Terrible Day For The Big East (1045theteam.com)