2009 College Football Week 3 Discussion
 

From 2000 to 2003, Miami (FL) was 46-4 overall. From 2004 to the present, Miami is 1-4 vs. Georgia Tech. Discuss.

I guess if I'm being ordered to discuss this, I'd probably start with "The status quo never lasts". Pretty simple, no? There was a time when Nebraska and Florida State were top dogs, and now they are playing the mid-tier bowls, if they play in bowls at all.

Since 2004, Georgia Tech has had good teams, and Miami has had good teams (terrible teams if you ask their fans, but the reactionary nature of fans kind of renders that opinion faulty).

I would label this game as a pick 'em. GT gets the edge in coaching, and Miami gets the edge in raw talent. Is it being played @Tech? If so, I'd put my money on the Ramblin Wreck.

It's at Miami. Georgia Tech without all the momentum of trick plays and crazy fans loses this one, I think. Unless Miami's defense is unable to stay home against the option.

The game is not real important in the grand scheme of things, but I'm excited that I managed to pick up tickets to the Mizzou game this weekend. It'll be my 2 1/2 year old daughter's first college football game. She's all fired up about wearing her cheerleader outfit to the game. Hopefully a bit less eventful than last week's Mizzou game.

That last statement made me grin. "Georgia Tech will lose. Unless Miami can't stop them."

:)

Good teams? I'd say average teams at best. Since 2004, Miami is 28-22. They're 1-2 in bowl games, including a 40-3 embarassment against LSU. The onyl bowl win is the MPC Computer bowl against Nevada. Sure, maybe that's a good record for some teams, but fans of the U expect better than that, and I don't think that's unreasonable or reactionary considering the kind of talent you can get to come there.

I should audition for ESPN with that kind of insight.

I wouldn't quite say I'm worried about Rutgers taking on FIU this weekend, but when considering that they have stocked themselves with Florida talent overlooked by the big schools down there (similar to how Rutgers got started) and that their young coach worked under Schiano for years and knows him better than anyone else in college football...well, I wouldn't be surprised if we have some trouble.

I was at last year's Miami-GTech game, and the biggest problem Miami had was being disciplined against the option. They showed alot of speed, but all of that speed was running to the QB, leaving a man completely alone on the outside. They just kept pitching to that guy and he went for 40+ gains. They were more disciplined against FSU this year (snuffing out an attempted pitch ine one of the last plays), so i'm hoping with more experience they can handle GT now.

My parents drive me nuts. They are such fair-weather fans. During the 80s and early 90s, when San Francisco was winning Super Bowls, they were big fans. Now that SF sucks, they are no longer fans. They jumped on the Carolina bandwagon after their Super Bowl (and after they moved to NC).

What really gets me is that they both went to Florida State, and enjoyed all of their success over the years. But now they are huge Tebow and Florida fans. FSU is still a regular Top 25 team, but they've jumped to one of their main rivals because they are an elite team. Back in the Spurrier days, my dad regularly derided Florida. Unbelievable. Meanwhile, I stay loyal to Indiana and watch every IU football game, even when we're losing to MAC teams.

I've always hated the U, but I was glad to see them beat FSU this year.

You should pull a North.

Duke at Kansas this weekend. I know the preseason rankings aren't out yet but both teams are expected to be in the top 5. I have to give my biased pick of the Jayhawks, tho. With all of our key pieces returning and a pair of possible All Americans in Collins and Aldrich- I think this veteran team is too much to beat at home.

Oh wait. This is football? Never mind. :D

(We should still win, tho- at home against a Duke program who had 4 wins last year but that was their highest total since... 4... in 2003 and as many as they had all 4 years from 2004-2007)

SI

Imagine my surprise this morning when I found out that Duke or Kansas even HAD a football program.

I'm pumped for the Hogs' Fayetteville opener this weekend. I really want us to kick Bulldog butt in our first real test of the season.

Did you claim your ticket successfully?

Yep. The deadline for on-campus ticket pickup was yesterday, but we could still get them at the ticket office, so I did after my first class. :)

Awesome. I can't wait.

A chance for Sarkisian and the UW to make a big statement on Saturday against USC. I seriously doubt the Huskies will win, but stranger things have happened.

Should be interesting to see who ends up under C for USC - I'd guess Corp at this point.

It's nice to see my point get proven so quickly ;)

Iowa gets Arizona at home. Blackout day in Iowa City.

The return of Mike Stoops. Fun stuff.

Its on at 2:30 on ABC. I hope I get it.

Excited about tonight's game. Looking for Miami to play well and handle GT. They look to be more disciplined this season and better coached than last year. Is Shannon learning how to coach better? We shall see.

Did something happen to Barkley?

Thought he had a banged up shoulder but I heard he had been practicing.

I'll be there with my 13 year old daughter and some friends!

Word is Barkley was going to practice today, but haven't heard confirmation if he did or not yet. He hasn't practiced yet this week due to the shoulder bruise he sustained against Ohio State.

How is that reactionary?

Great start for the Canes!

Really like what Whipple has done with the offense. Much more aggressive than Nix.

Tech secondary, torched it was.

He hurt his shoulder midway through the Ohio State game which just adds to the impressive nature of the final drive.

Umm, about that measurement ...

Not sure about that either. Maybe it was a bad camera angle? The Tech players standing right there didn't seem to complain.

Another TD for Miami. The offense hasn't looked this good since 02.

Tech secondary hasn't looked this bad since ... well, okay, it happens not infrequently but still.

Miami special teams need to get it together. They've been awful in both games so far.

If Tech doesn't find someone who can block on the interior this may be a familiar frustrating feeling.

Tech's defense just looks spent. Second half of this one could get very very ugly.

The only thing Tech could have done much worse in that half was turn the ball over several times. Very little blocking, very little defense, plenty of penalties, obviously there ain't going to be any passing. Just a piss poor performance thus far, although a team that has heart questions already playing tired is a recipe for disaster.

Dwyer is hurt and might not return.

More Mark Whipple imo, at least on the offensive side of the ball. He should have been a BCS head coach years ago. From 1998 when he led UMass to the upset of Paul Johnson's Georgia Southern team in the title game - "If we score 50, we'll be fine." Final score 55-43 UMass.

Those short fields are going to hurt the Canes. They cannot keep letting GA Tech start at the 40 yard line.

3rd and anything less than 10 is basically automatic for miami at this point.

That looked like it couldve broken his neck.

and he just gets up as if nothing happened. crap man that looked awful.

Eh, the sooner Tech gives the ball up the sooner Miami can just score again.

Hahahahahaha. Nice kick into the crowd for a safety.

What is the rationale behind the penalty on that play?

Anyone else see that little girl crying on her dad's shoulders as he jumps around?

Dola.

Looks like the U is back. At least early in the season. They look good.

Dola. Strike my last dola.

Maybe, but it's the kind of thing that could kill them in future games, like say @ Virginia Tech.

Other games I'm looking forward to this weekend:

Boise St. @ Fresno St. 9PM ESPN (Friday) - Not a bad Friday night game to have on in the backround. If Boise's a Top 10 team (imo they're not), they'll show it away from the blue turf.

Cal @ Minnesota 12:00 ESPN - Finally a 12pm Big Ten game worth watching.

BC @ Clemson 12:00 No TV - The most consistent team of the decade against possibly the most talented and inconsistent.

Tennessee @ Florida 3:30 CBS - UT is still starting Crompton, so any chance for an upset is out the window, but the rest of the team has some talent, so it'll be nice to see UF play a real team.

Nebraska @ Va Tech 3:30 ABC - Two similar power running, defense-oriented teams. One of the two will probably end the year in the top 10.

Utah @ Oregon 3:30 ESPN - I think both these teams are overrated and living off last years rep, but maybe one can start dissuading me. A win for Utah would be more surprising and give them some credibility.

Cincinnati @ Oregon St 6:45 TV? - I think Cincy's offense is really good (#10 in my latest poll) but they looked vulnerable to Rutgers power running until the game turned into a blowout. A cross-country blowout could validate their high ranking.

Florida St. @ BYU 7:00 CSN? - FSU nearly comes in 0-2 after sweating vs. a 1-AA school, but they have talent and speed. One of 3 big home games left for BYU (TCU, Utah) on their road to the BCS.

West Virginia @ Auburn 7:45 ESPN2 - Two unranked teams who could be BCS darkhorses. If Auburn wins they should be 6-0 going into LSU and if WV does they should be 9-0 going into Cincinnati.

Georgia/Arkansas 7:45 ESPN - If I didn't have it on the list here at FOFC I'd make enemies on both sides. :)

Texas Tech @ Texas 8:00 ABC - Not quite the nightcap Ohio St/USC was, but a good litmus test for both teams. Tech obviously lost a lot of offense, but they've never had a problem reloading. If Texas comes out like they did against Wyoming, this could be a game. If they're really a NC contender, it shouldn't be.

EDIT - and obviously Michigan St. @ Notre Dame 3:30 NBC, but I suspect there is less interest on other people's part there.

Way too early to go for the onside kick.

If you're having that much trouble stopping the offense, and allowing the kick returns past the 40 anyways, it's not that bad an idea.

This is the game I'm most looking forward to. A huge game for both schools and especially for Charlie Weiss. These games have been wildly entertaining the last several years.

Go Sparty!

I want to run through walls, but I'm gonna drink myself retarded first.

Don't try it, you'll just get tackled behind the line since there's not much blocking in front of you.

Interesting story line (maybe for some) in the Alabama-North Texas game. Greg McElroy, the QB at 'Bama, played in high school under NT coach Todd Dodge at Southlake Carroll, where he took over after Chase Daniel graduated and won a 5A title.

Nothing against USC, but if I have to watch the USC/Lean on Me thing on ESPN one more time, I'm going to go apeshit.

Yep, that they do. Very much in the driver's seat in the ACC right now (so far).

Seriously. 8 seconds into the first time I saw it I thought "God, just please stop this"

Being in the Big 12 region, these two are the most intriguing matchups this weekend. This is a huge test for Nebraska, but is a winnable matchup. I think defensively they should be able to hold Virginia Tech, but I'm really interested to see how NU handles V-Tech's defense.

This is the revenge game for Texas after losing to Crabtree and Tech last year. I have a feeling that Texas wins easily, but I'm hoping for a good game.

Obviously CMU and LeFevour are better than the average MAC team, but losing to them really took the luster off this matchup. Half of me is going to be really mad if MSU is within 2 touchdowns, but considering MSU has won 6 straight at ND, I should probably be happy if they can just manage a win.

btw, meanstrosity - any chance you could put your reply below the quoted text in your posts? It always throws me off by looking like a signature or an article you're posting.

not an expert on either team, but Georgia doesn´t have any passing game at all, do they ?
Weird fact of the night : They had 1 receiver catching any passes, Demaryius Thomas with 6. That´s it, no one else caught a ball.

Same here. I wanted to vomit.

Disagree. I'm of the opinion that these two teams couldn't be more overrated than they currently are. With that said, it would be a major embarrassment for VT to lose this game. VT should win this game easily.

Did you mean Georgia here, or Georgia Tech. If the latter, obviously not. If the former, they've got a darned good receiver in A.J. Green but it's still unclear whether they've got a QB that can get him the ball.


He also caught 3 of 4 passes (the other went to RB Allen) against Clemson.
And caught the only completed pass vs UGA last year, and all 9 completions vs Duke last year, and was the only actual WR to catch a pass in 8 of Tech's 13 games last season. So really not that weird once you get used to seeing the offense really, since he's been the only WR to catch a pass in 10 of 16 games in the Paul Johnson era.

The thing that struck me in the game last night is how vulnerable GaTech is to a team with a lot of athleticism and discipline on defense, mainly because Nesbitt does not appear to be that good of a passer. (This was the case in Chick-Fil-A Bowl against LSU as well). I wonder if Johnson will be able to recruit a good option QB who can be more of a passing threat to at least keep the defense honest. It's hard for a team like that to win when they are constantly in 2nd/3rd and long situations all night.

UCLA is likely going with Kevin Craft over Richard Brehaut. Craft led the PAC-10 (and nation?) in INT's last year with 20

That is a rather dubious statistic, eh?

Meh. If you include those interceptions as completions, his completion percentage is really good. :)

Looking for Notre Dame to crush Michigan State tomorrow. This is not so much because I think ND is a great team (they are above average, but not great), but more because MSU is just not that good.

ND 39
MSU 20

Coming into last nights game Thomas was the only WR with a catch on the team...a single shut down corner ends techs passing game and lets a D play 8 if not 9 in the box

Seems like a bad sign for those who thought Brehaut was going to be the golden boy for the Bruins.

Actually Nesbitt's passing accuracy pretty much takes care of that even if your corners are 4'7" and on crutches.

Ehhh... for overrated I'd go Utah, LSU, UNC and Boise St. I think Va Tech and Nebraska around 20 are about right right now. I still don't want to see either team play (except for Ndamokung Suh or however you spell it) and I won't be happy if either makes a BCS bowl, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Boise St. returns a pick for a TD and is up 10-0 after 1 in Fresno.

true...

Good grief, Boise State's defense is awful tonight. Just awful.

dola

This game is fucking ridiculous. Looks like the old WAC games from the 80's...

Why?

I just looked at the box score for this game, which is now 48-34 Boise with still 13 minutes left. There's gotta be some sort of obscure record here somewhere.

Fresno's scoring drives include:
1 play 69 yd TD (Matthews 69 yd run)
3 plays 66 yds TD (Matthews 60 yd run, just 2:35 after the first one)
3 plays 77 yds TD (21 yd pass)
2 plays 75 yds TD (Matthews 68 yd run)

In all, ten touchdowns between them so far and only one of those drives has lasted more than 3 plays.

Damn, the Fresno St. took a huge hit but got up well before the Boise St. linebacker. Kind of fits in with the whole crappy defense thing.

If Brehaut can't even beat out Craft, last year's interception machine, then it would seem he isn't as good as some were making him out to be when he was being recruited.

Jon - Honest question, if you had to pick your QB right now, would it be Ball or Nesbitt? This isn't trying to flame you I am just genuinely curious what GT fans say.

Sure, that is one reason

Eh. Breuhart came out of HS as being a raw QB who had a lot of talent but needed work. I don't see any reason to risk starting 3-0 on the road vs a beatable K-State team. If UCLA was better and didn't have a young OL, it'd make more sense, but they're young on the line and pretty beat up if I recall. Let Craft go out and play, he won't be as bad as last year with another year under his belt, and UCLA should win.

It's all not worth burning a red shirt.

Nesbitt, without even a second's hesitation.

His passing woes are troublesome & they're holding back the offense a good bit IMO but that said there are definite signs of improvement. He's not fumbling at at last year's rate, he really does look more comfortable with the offense, and he may actually have improved his durability which is huge in this scheme. I'm more familiar with his high school career than I am with most college players I guess and I'm confident that he's actually a better passer than he's shown thus far, he's just in a horrible deep blue funk when it comes to throwing it & I just wild-assed guess that it has something to do with being so focused on the running/decision making aspects that his brain is on overload.

I picture the Sponge-Bob-forgets-his-name episode (where the little SB's run around in a panic searching through file cabinets inside his head) going on for Nesbitt every time there's a drop back pass play.

That's the answer I expected. GT is a 9 win team as long as a guy like Nesbitt is QB, but can take a run at a top 5 type team when they get a QB who can throw. Right now though it's obvious teams just stay in their gaps and they blitz the safety to cause disruption without worrying about being beat deep.

I'd shudder to think how a kid like Robert Griffin III would do at GT. They'd probably never lose.

The redshirt was already burned this year. But you're reasoning is sound and I think it's true, not so much the raw part but everything else. UCLA needs to finish out the OOC at 3-0 and I think the coaches aren't playing for the future, they are playing now. Prince was both, Craft is now, Brehaut has the potential. Why risk a game in a classical letdown situation? I can't imagine Craft has a long leash, but I think he'll be fine. The offensive line is actually giving the QB's some time this year so maybe Craft can make a read other then throw on the run

Ah, didn't know that on the red shirt, but yeah, UCLA needs these wins bad and at K-State is one you just cannot afford to lose. He'll be ready eventually but it's still early and as bad as he was last year, Craft still is your best option to win this one game, and it's the one game that Neuheisel and co. should care about.

Seeing as how KSU was the worst team vs the run last year, I would imagine UCLA runs the ball straight up the middle on 9 of 10 plays

Ouch.

Nah.

When a guy is 15/40 (37.5% comp%) it's a fair question. The scary part is that, flawed though the stat may be, his QB rating is currently a career best 118.97. And it's even more appropriate when you consider his performance against Miami was his 2nd best completion rate in his past five games.

There are several factors (reduced INT's, reduced sacks, reduced fumbles) that prevent him from reaching Ballish levels of concern but the question is a fair one IMO.

I don't think that a poor passing game is Georgia Tech's problem. There was barely any passing game at all last year (besides the Duke game). The problem in the Miami game and the second half of the Clemson game was that the players seemed dead tired. Derrick Morgan is by far GT's best defensive lineman, and he was on the sideline as much as he was in the game. Nesbitt looked like he could barely stand up after that last drive in the Clemson game.

I don't know if the problem is conditioning, lack of depth, 3 games in 12 days or if Paul Johnson has been pushing them too hard at practice to try to improve the execution. Whatever the problem, if it keeps up there will be a lot more blowouts this season.

Penn State is not a top 5 team. They are a borderline top 15 team.

Minnesota is hanging with 8th-ranked Cal 21-21 early in the 4th after a brutal start.

Michigan clearly does not have a Top 25 defense. No. Not at all.

No real surprise. Barkley was too hurt to practice all week, so Corp is starting today. Taylor Mays is also out today.

USC marches down the field, covering 80 yards in 6 plays including a 38 yard run by Havili and a TD run by McKnight.

OMG !!! Crompton just completed a pass against an SEC defense.

Also today, dogs & cats living together, film at eleven.

Corp is lucky not to have gotten picked off as he just threw into triple coverage.

On this drive, two 25 yard plus runs as USC has a 7 play 68 yard drive that ends in a field goal. 10-0 lead.

13 rushes, 1 pass for UT in their first drive (and 3 conversions on 3rd down) ... Daniel Lincoln ties it 3-3 with a 24 yd FG. Just 3 mins left in Q1, great time consuming drive by the Vols, the shorter this game is the better the final score will be.