It's always been out there but it is just ridiculous. Pac-10 is coming off a year where they won all their bowl games. The Big-10 went 1-6 last year. So lets examine this weeks big games in each conference.
#5 Ranked Penn State vs Unranked (29th in votes) Iowa
#6 Ranked CAL vs Unranked (30th in votes) Oregon
Looks like an exrtemely comparable match up.
Iowa beats Penn State 21-10 on the road.
Oregon beats CAL 42-3 at home.
So, give a kudos to Iowa for going on the road and playing a great game. Kudos to Oregon for a blowout. I may be a tad biased but I think a 39 point win should count a little more than a 10 point road win. Not by much, but a little.
Lets break down Iowa's and Oregon's other games.
IOWA is 4-0 WINS over #5 Penn State, Arizona, Iowa State and Northern Iowa.
OREGON is 3-1 WINS over #6 CAL, #19 Utah and Purdue, LOSS to #14 Boise State.
Iowa slid up the polls 16 spots while Oregon slid up 14. In the USA today poll Iowa is #17 while Oregon is #25. Wait, 25??? 2 wins over top 25 teams and we are #25?
Now lets take a look at the Top 4 teams. Currently Oregon has played more ranked teams than the top 4 teams combined.
#1 Florida is slated at this time to face 2 top 25 teams. They will undoubtedly face a top 25 in the SEC championship game bringing their total to 3. Florida's strength of schedule this year is somewhere in the 100's. Meaning it is literally one of the weakest in the country. Actually I think it is only slightly stronger than Boise State. FL International, Charleston Southern and Troy, OH MY!
Oregon has faced 3 top 25 teams in 4 weeks. Couple more to come.
#2 Texas has played Wyoming, UTEP, Texas Tech and Louisiana Monroe. They will be faing 3top 2 teams plus the Big 12 championship game.
#3 Alabama gets a kudos for opening with VA Tech, but they also have FL Inernaional, North Texas and Chatanooga on thier schedule.
#4 LSU will actually face 4 top 25 teams, if they make it to the SEC championship game it will be 5. I've watched some LSU games and I think they will not make it past all the ranked SEC teams without loosing 1 or 2. But if they do they will earn it!
If you take a look at VA Tech you will see they are now ranked #6 in the country.
They lost to Alabama and came back to have quality wins over Marshall, #18 Nebraska and #9 Miami. Thier year has been similar to the Ducks.
I've watched each of the Duck games this year. The team is playing very good ball rigt now, the O line was a HUGE question mark coming in this year and it showed against Boise State.
The moral of the story is that you should NOT give the fans what they want. Don't schedule tough games! The Ducks should have played Troy, Charleston Southern, Florida International, Chatanooga, North Texas or Louisiana Monroe. They'd be 4-0 and ranked 5th or 6th right now. Of course if Oregon played any of those teams they would have a "weak strength of schedule because they are not in the SEC."
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Week 1 Grades
1st week of football is in the bag! Saw some good action, a couple of upsets. All in all it was good to watch some football. Going to give out some grades for the Top 25. I grade with just an old school A-F ranking and will give some brief explanations. (this week is just the top 2 as #17 TCU did not play) I've thrown a couple other teams in as well.
A - For the A's this week I'm going to go with the schools that went out of conference to compete with another top 25 and won. Kudos to the teams that have the guts to not schedule Southwest Puerto Rico Tech in their 1st outing.
Before the normal A's I'm going to go ahead and give Miami and Florida State an A. Great game to cap off opening weekend. I've always been partial to Miami so I'm glad they won but what a game. Had that last play ended in a touchdown I don't think I'd have been to sad about it.
OK State, Boise State, BYU and unfortunately Alabama. (I hate Alabama!)
I'm also going to give Vanderbilt an A. Best game I've seen them play. The young QB seems to be having some trouble with the quick reads but that will come with time. We'll find out a lot more about him next week against a solid LSU defense.
B - B's this week are going to schools that didn't face a top 25 team, but also didn't face a total cupcake. (I define a cupcake school this way - When I see them on the ticker and my 1st reaction is "huh, they have a football team?" They are a cupcake.
Utah, Penn State, Notre Dame, Cal, LSU and Ole Miss. (ever since my trip to Ole Miss last year I've been a closet fan. Great place to tailgate and a great group of fans. The welcomed the guy in the Ducks jersey with open arms and cold beers!)
Cincy also gets a B, good solid performance today from the Bearcats.
I'm going to give Navy and Northern Iowa B's for such a great games.
C - C's are given to schools who picked cupcake schools and dominated them.
Florida, Texas, USC, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina and Georgia Tech.
I'm also giving out C's to the schools that lost their opener to a ranked school. (you will note the exception is Oregon, my beloved Ducks can only be found in the F category.)
Georgia, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech.
D - These are schools who scheduled a cupcake and almost messed it up!
Ohio State - although Navy is not a cupcake by definition, they run a 1950's style offense and almost took the game from OH ST. I would have LOVED to see that.
Iowa also almost lost, only a blocked field goal saved them from an F.
F - The lowest grade in the book goes to my beloved Ducks. I am also adding unranked Tennessee. Not the school, the fans! UT fans are terrible, the average UT fan thinks they have won the National Championship every year and that Peyton Manning is still the QB. But back to my Ducks, I do take a little bit of pride in the fact that we didn't play Western Kentucky (like UT). Oregon doesn't get any respect out here so they try to at least schedule some kind of tough out of conference schedule. So I'm glad we played a top 25 team. I wish we had showed up and actually played. That game was aweful. Then of course was the punch. Blount was suspended from play but allowed to finish school. He has already missed a practice and I doubt he will make it to graduation. Which is a shame. An inner city kid withno much of a chance gets one, and squanders it. Even without football he could have got something out of it and maybe he will. It just doesn't look like it.
A - For the A's this week I'm going to go with the schools that went out of conference to compete with another top 25 and won. Kudos to the teams that have the guts to not schedule Southwest Puerto Rico Tech in their 1st outing.
Before the normal A's I'm going to go ahead and give Miami and Florida State an A. Great game to cap off opening weekend. I've always been partial to Miami so I'm glad they won but what a game. Had that last play ended in a touchdown I don't think I'd have been to sad about it.
OK State, Boise State, BYU and unfortunately Alabama. (I hate Alabama!)
I'm also going to give Vanderbilt an A. Best game I've seen them play. The young QB seems to be having some trouble with the quick reads but that will come with time. We'll find out a lot more about him next week against a solid LSU defense.
B - B's this week are going to schools that didn't face a top 25 team, but also didn't face a total cupcake. (I define a cupcake school this way - When I see them on the ticker and my 1st reaction is "huh, they have a football team?" They are a cupcake.
Utah, Penn State, Notre Dame, Cal, LSU and Ole Miss. (ever since my trip to Ole Miss last year I've been a closet fan. Great place to tailgate and a great group of fans. The welcomed the guy in the Ducks jersey with open arms and cold beers!)
Cincy also gets a B, good solid performance today from the Bearcats.
I'm going to give Navy and Northern Iowa B's for such a great games.
C - C's are given to schools who picked cupcake schools and dominated them.
Florida, Texas, USC, Kansas, Nebraska, North Carolina and Georgia Tech.
I'm also giving out C's to the schools that lost their opener to a ranked school. (you will note the exception is Oregon, my beloved Ducks can only be found in the F category.)
Georgia, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech.
D - These are schools who scheduled a cupcake and almost messed it up!
Ohio State - although Navy is not a cupcake by definition, they run a 1950's style offense and almost took the game from OH ST. I would have LOVED to see that.
Iowa also almost lost, only a blocked field goal saved them from an F.
F - The lowest grade in the book goes to my beloved Ducks. I am also adding unranked Tennessee. Not the school, the fans! UT fans are terrible, the average UT fan thinks they have won the National Championship every year and that Peyton Manning is still the QB. But back to my Ducks, I do take a little bit of pride in the fact that we didn't play Western Kentucky (like UT). Oregon doesn't get any respect out here so they try to at least schedule some kind of tough out of conference schedule. So I'm glad we played a top 25 team. I wish we had showed up and actually played. That game was aweful. Then of course was the punch. Blount was suspended from play but allowed to finish school. He has already missed a practice and I doubt he will make it to graduation. Which is a shame. An inner city kid withno much of a chance gets one, and squanders it. Even without football he could have got something out of it and maybe he will. It just doesn't look like it.
Friday, September 4, 2009
The punch heard round the NCAA
Oh where to start.
I'm not going to put up a video of Blount punching out a Boise State player, I think it will get more air time than it deserves already. I'm not a big fan of trash talking unless it's with people I know because they all know that I'm not serious. I can dish it out and I can take it. Making comments before games like "we need to deliver an ass whooping" don't get you anywhere, then when you punch someone in the face after you loose and after you've made that quote it really doesn't make you look good at all.
Let's talk about the Boise State player 1st. He talked crap, pushed someone that didn't need to be pushed and got belted for it. Kind of got what he deserved in my opinion. He hopefully has learned his lesson.
Blount will hopefully now get what he deserves. I hope he gets booted from the team. I already hate short tempered athletes that seem to get away with things because they are talented. The punch itself probably wouldn't warrant a dismissal. A punch, then a fight with hs own team, going after the crowd, fighting with staff, all that I believe deserves something harsh. This isn't the 1st time Blount has 'acted up'. I hope Oregon is better than most and makes a complete example of him.
Now let's talk NCAA. It's going to continue to be a dangerous situation when you have a contact sport like football. After the game you have 100+ 18-22 year old kids who just played a violent high intensity game, some who won, some who lost. Now throw in all the 18-22 drunk fans, some of who are idiots. I don't care what school you go to, there are always some idiots. Last night I thought security did a good job of keeping those fans back. I thought Frost, assistant coach for Oregon, did a great job dragging Blount out of there. I'm glad this didn't turn into a Ron Artest.
I'm not going to put up a video of Blount punching out a Boise State player, I think it will get more air time than it deserves already. I'm not a big fan of trash talking unless it's with people I know because they all know that I'm not serious. I can dish it out and I can take it. Making comments before games like "we need to deliver an ass whooping" don't get you anywhere, then when you punch someone in the face after you loose and after you've made that quote it really doesn't make you look good at all.
Let's talk about the Boise State player 1st. He talked crap, pushed someone that didn't need to be pushed and got belted for it. Kind of got what he deserved in my opinion. He hopefully has learned his lesson.
Blount will hopefully now get what he deserves. I hope he gets booted from the team. I already hate short tempered athletes that seem to get away with things because they are talented. The punch itself probably wouldn't warrant a dismissal. A punch, then a fight with hs own team, going after the crowd, fighting with staff, all that I believe deserves something harsh. This isn't the 1st time Blount has 'acted up'. I hope Oregon is better than most and makes a complete example of him.
Now let's talk NCAA. It's going to continue to be a dangerous situation when you have a contact sport like football. After the game you have 100+ 18-22 year old kids who just played a violent high intensity game, some who won, some who lost. Now throw in all the 18-22 drunk fans, some of who are idiots. I don't care what school you go to, there are always some idiots. Last night I thought security did a good job of keeping those fans back. I thought Frost, assistant coach for Oregon, did a great job dragging Blount out of there. I'm glad this didn't turn into a Ron Artest.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Disaster for the Ducks
What an absolutely terrible game.
Let's issue some grades....
Chip Kelly - F, double F. Is there an infinity F? There is now.
That was NOT the Duck offense. Going into the 4th down by 2 scores and you completely abandon the run game? Except of course for the 4th down play when we could have put 3 points on the board. I hope this was 1 game jitters and not things to come. Some people are not meant to be head coaches. I was very unimpressed with his 1/2 time comments. Hell yes you should bring some fire and brimstone into that locker room. THAT TEAM WAS F-L-A-T FLAT! And, the play calling was ridiculously predictable. The dive on 4th and 1. The screen on 4th and long. My 4th grade flag football coach could have called defenses against the Ducks tonight.
Blue Turf - F-
It's just ugly and ridiculous.
Officiating - F
This is not to say I think the Ducks got hosed, it was just bad all around.
Camera Crew - F
We missed an extra point, a kick off, a couple plays. The local high school game had better camera men than this game.
Oregon played like absolute crap tonight and honestly in the 4th QTR I thought we were going to pull it out. Even at the 6 minute mark when Boise fumbled. It's like neither team wanted to win the game. A steaming pile of dog crap that was this game.
Let's issue some grades....
Chip Kelly - F, double F. Is there an infinity F? There is now.
That was NOT the Duck offense. Going into the 4th down by 2 scores and you completely abandon the run game? Except of course for the 4th down play when we could have put 3 points on the board. I hope this was 1 game jitters and not things to come. Some people are not meant to be head coaches. I was very unimpressed with his 1/2 time comments. Hell yes you should bring some fire and brimstone into that locker room. THAT TEAM WAS F-L-A-T FLAT! And, the play calling was ridiculously predictable. The dive on 4th and 1. The screen on 4th and long. My 4th grade flag football coach could have called defenses against the Ducks tonight.
Blue Turf - F-
It's just ugly and ridiculous.
Officiating - F
This is not to say I think the Ducks got hosed, it was just bad all around.
Camera Crew - F
We missed an extra point, a kick off, a couple plays. The local high school game had better camera men than this game.
Oregon played like absolute crap tonight and honestly in the 4th QTR I thought we were going to pull it out. Even at the 6 minute mark when Boise fumbled. It's like neither team wanted to win the game. A steaming pile of dog crap that was this game.
IIIIIIIIITTTTT'S Tiiiiiiiiimmmmeeeee!!!
Oh YES! College football starts tonight and I'm happy to say that my beloved Ducks are on their way to romp some Smurf tail! Saturday we will be invading Vandyville before watching the Dores light up the field for 16 or so points. :)
The Ducks have a pretty tough out of conference schedule this year. Going to Boise State (ranked 14th and 16th in the major polls) and playing host to Utah (18th and 19th). They also play host to Purdue. 3 of the 1st 4 games are against preseason top 25 teams.
Notable stat - No team (in the last 30 years or so) ranked outside the top 8 in the preseason has lost a game and still won the championship. Quite simply this means the Ducks, and the rest of the Pac 10 (minus USC) have to be perfect to even have a shot at the title. Meanwhile 3 SEC, 3 Big 12, 1 ACC and 1 Big 10 all have a chance to loose 1 game and still play for the title. So if you think preseason polls don't matter, you are sorely mistaken. I heard this stat on an ESPN blurb.
Positives - Oregon's QB, Jeremiah Masoli was phenominal over the last 4 games of last year. He started the year as the #5 QB and quickly became #1 through injuries and poor play from some younger guys. According to Chip Kelly Masoli understands the spread offense now better than Dennis Dixon ever did. If that proves to be true and not jsut preseason hype we shoudl be in for a high octane season. Blount also had a great year, he will be getting the lion share of carries and will have to pick up where he left off last year. The ofensive skill positions still have all the potential to put up big points fast. Over the past few years Oregon has had more "less than 2 minute scoring drives" than the other major college teams. The spread offense can put those points up quick.
Negatives and question marks - We graduated a lot of key players last year. to me the most notable is the offensive lineman, Max Unger. Offensive lineman are typically overlooked by the casual fan, Oregon's line will have to come out and prove themselves quick. There is a lot more to blocking than just picking your man and blocking him, especially in an offense like Oregon's. On the defensive side of the ball we're going to have to find inspirational leaders, Patrick Chung and Nick Reed were those guys last year. both drafted and in the NFL now, someone will have to step up. I'm looking to Spencer Paysinger, Walter Thurmond III and TJ Ward. If the line doesn't gel or we don't see some fire on the defensive side our optomistic year could become pretty rough pretty fast.
My dark horse - Every year you look for someone to just break out. This year I have 2. 1st - Casey Mathews. Casey's brother had a dominating year last year for USC, his father and uncle both played in the NFL. So the kid has plenty of people around him to keep him motivated and to seek advice from. All the Mathews clan have been known for being leaders on and off the field. I'm hoping he breaks out with a ridiculous year! On the offense I'm looking for Jamere Holland to step up and make a big impact. He's got a ton of speed and had a couple of flashes last year. The spots are open this year for him to become a key player. If just one of our wide recievers steps up and makes a big impact that could take a ton of pressure off Masoli and Blount and spread defenses so thin they will not be able to stop us.
Ducks VS Boise -
I really think that the 1st half of this game could be quite ugly. This is the 1st time the offensive line will play together. I'm hoping that they can gel quickly and get the ball moving but I believe we will see a slow start followed by a half time butt chewing and a 2nd 1/2 dominance. Very similar to the Holiday Bowl last year. This could be frustrating to watch for Duck fans. But I think in the end we will win by 10 points or so. With the late hits last year I look for this to be a hard hitting battle! Should be fun to watch.
Boise state - I have nothing against them, routed for them in all their underdog wins the past couple years. Just can't love you today! they should have a prety solid team but I think The Ducks will be fired up and ready to go for this game.
The Ducks have a pretty tough out of conference schedule this year. Going to Boise State (ranked 14th and 16th in the major polls) and playing host to Utah (18th and 19th). They also play host to Purdue. 3 of the 1st 4 games are against preseason top 25 teams.
Notable stat - No team (in the last 30 years or so) ranked outside the top 8 in the preseason has lost a game and still won the championship. Quite simply this means the Ducks, and the rest of the Pac 10 (minus USC) have to be perfect to even have a shot at the title. Meanwhile 3 SEC, 3 Big 12, 1 ACC and 1 Big 10 all have a chance to loose 1 game and still play for the title. So if you think preseason polls don't matter, you are sorely mistaken. I heard this stat on an ESPN blurb.
Positives - Oregon's QB, Jeremiah Masoli was phenominal over the last 4 games of last year. He started the year as the #5 QB and quickly became #1 through injuries and poor play from some younger guys. According to Chip Kelly Masoli understands the spread offense now better than Dennis Dixon ever did. If that proves to be true and not jsut preseason hype we shoudl be in for a high octane season. Blount also had a great year, he will be getting the lion share of carries and will have to pick up where he left off last year. The ofensive skill positions still have all the potential to put up big points fast. Over the past few years Oregon has had more "less than 2 minute scoring drives" than the other major college teams. The spread offense can put those points up quick.
Negatives and question marks - We graduated a lot of key players last year. to me the most notable is the offensive lineman, Max Unger. Offensive lineman are typically overlooked by the casual fan, Oregon's line will have to come out and prove themselves quick. There is a lot more to blocking than just picking your man and blocking him, especially in an offense like Oregon's. On the defensive side of the ball we're going to have to find inspirational leaders, Patrick Chung and Nick Reed were those guys last year. both drafted and in the NFL now, someone will have to step up. I'm looking to Spencer Paysinger, Walter Thurmond III and TJ Ward. If the line doesn't gel or we don't see some fire on the defensive side our optomistic year could become pretty rough pretty fast.
My dark horse - Every year you look for someone to just break out. This year I have 2. 1st - Casey Mathews. Casey's brother had a dominating year last year for USC, his father and uncle both played in the NFL. So the kid has plenty of people around him to keep him motivated and to seek advice from. All the Mathews clan have been known for being leaders on and off the field. I'm hoping he breaks out with a ridiculous year! On the offense I'm looking for Jamere Holland to step up and make a big impact. He's got a ton of speed and had a couple of flashes last year. The spots are open this year for him to become a key player. If just one of our wide recievers steps up and makes a big impact that could take a ton of pressure off Masoli and Blount and spread defenses so thin they will not be able to stop us.
Ducks VS Boise -
I really think that the 1st half of this game could be quite ugly. This is the 1st time the offensive line will play together. I'm hoping that they can gel quickly and get the ball moving but I believe we will see a slow start followed by a half time butt chewing and a 2nd 1/2 dominance. Very similar to the Holiday Bowl last year. This could be frustrating to watch for Duck fans. But I think in the end we will win by 10 points or so. With the late hits last year I look for this to be a hard hitting battle! Should be fun to watch.
Boise state - I have nothing against them, routed for them in all their underdog wins the past couple years. Just can't love you today! they should have a prety solid team but I think The Ducks will be fired up and ready to go for this game.
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