College Football -- Week 4 Thread
 

Some good conference games this week, as well as some fun OOC games:

Thurs:
Miami @ Pitt

Fri:
TCU @ SMU

Sat:
Alabama @ Arkansas
UCLA @ Texas
Stanford @ Notre Dame
UNC @ Rutgers
Oklahoma @ Cincy
Fresno State @ Ole Miss
USCe @ Auburn
Oregon State @ Boise State
WVU @ LSU

Big Ten has a huge slate of non conference games this week, headlined by Penn State vs Temple and Ohio State vs Eastern Michigan.

I wish I was kidding.

Been looking forward to RU/UNC for a long time now, as have all my Rutgers buddies...except of course, the one who planned his engagement party this weekend at 3pm (330 start time). Fucker. Only decent OOC game of the year, going to be perfect tailgating weather and a great start time...and we're screwed.

Everyone seems to be blowing off Cincy's chances against OU. And I realize that the Bearcats haven't looked good this year. Until the Sooners look consistent in any way and until Landry puts together a good road game, though, I'll be somewhat less than comfortable.

I was actually looking forward to the Boise State game, until last week. Our defense had serious trouble at home, against Louisville. Boise’s gonna hang 70 on us.

Everybody here is kind of excited about "College Gameday" coming to Boise for the first time - though I'm not quite sure what that really means or why they're so excited. People will be talking at a desk outside the stadium? All right, that's - something. Maybe it's a sign Boise St. is relevant in college football but I think the two Fiesta Bowls were a more telling sign of that.

Probably the only ones I'm interested in. This will be 'Bama's biggest and maybe best test for their young secondary. They just have to slow them down enough though. The amount of defenses I think could hang with 'Bama's offense is mighty small.

I fully expect to see Stanford to win, but I'm curious how close it is.

Auburn is overrated and just asking for a loss. USCe looks good so far, but just how good is still to be determined.

One of the last chances Boise gets to show what it can do and people to actually care.


Oh come on now. You have Michigan vs. Bowling Green and MSU vs. Northern Colorado.

Boise has to pray Nevada doesn't lose more than 1 or 2 games before November.

BYU has played horrible their past 2 games...but the QB carousel is over as Riley is out for the season with his shoulder having to be operated on.

It means Jake Heaps is full time...I think it will be great as the team gets used to one qb and one that is a prototype BYU QB.

Odds of you still watching Rutgers football in 10 years=100% - Odds of their relationship lasting 10 years? Eh, 50/50. Besides, how good a friend can he be if he schedules without regard to the college football schedule? I think the choice is obvious.


I also think Notre Dame will have a better shot to win than the layperson is giving them. It's reflected in the Vegas line of -4/5, but I'm guessing people are hammering Stanford with money until that gets up to at least 7+.

My wife got invited to a shower that is the Saturday of homecoming for us. The time isn't announced for the game yet. With only 7 home games a year, can't you find another weekend or a Sunday?

WVU and BYU have agreed to play a game at Fed Ex Field (home of the Redskins) in 2016. Our fans have wanted a game there for a few years (were hoping for Va Tech), but this should be a fun one against a quality opponent. Almost like a midseason bowl game.

I am pretty excited by this chance.

BYU is starting to put together some future schedules that are going to be extremely tough for us. If we continue to play like we have so far....it will suck :D

I'd be more confident in OSU's chances, but there's the trend of slow starts to the season combined with the inexperience of Katz at QB. And added to that, it would seem the Beavers are feeling the attrition in the offseason from their defense.

I probably would have favored Boise on their smurf turf anyway, but those factors plus how they looked last weekend clinch it for me. I'd love to be proven wrong though...

Route 66 revenge game

Nick Saban confirms Michigan vs Alabama in Dallas to open 2012.

Michigan in 2012 will now feature (as of now)

vs Alabama (Neutral)
@ Notre Dame
Michigan State
@ Nebraska
Iowa
@ Ohio State

Wow. Any idea when tickets would be available?

No clue but I'm going to be saving now to make it down there that's for sure.

If UNLV can't beat New Mexico at Sam Boyd Saturday night, I officially give up on the football season.

Miami with a nice little statement @ Pitt. It would be nice if Jacory Harris stopped throwing multiple INT's, but it looks like the Canes are a borderline top 10 team everywhere else.

I'm not very high on Jacory. Too many stupid decisions and his arm strength is pretty average.

Pitt is really struggling to do anything with a an offensive line that isn't as dominant as it was last year. Dion Lewis is actually having to work for yards instead of running through giant holes and he's looking more like a guy that only got 2 D-1 offers instead of Big East player of the year. Unless things change quickly they're looking at 5+ loses.

Will Michigan be ready for Alabama? They dont need an embarassing national TV loss.

I don't want to absolve Jacory of blame, but I also haven't been sold on the play-calling from the pieces I've seen. Too many vertical routes with extra blockers kept in, when I think they should be getting Harris outside the pocket more and using his athleticism in conjunction with crossing routes and multiple levels. Regardless, Damion Berry, the defense, and particularly the special teams have looked excellent. They'll probably make me look foolish by giving away a game vs. Clemson or FSU soon, but a 12-point loss in Columbus really isn't a bad loss.

Agreed that Pitt looks bad. The loss of Romeus hurt, but they weren't that good last year either. Johnathan Baldwin was very underutilized in the red zone vs. Utah imo.

If we're not back to being Michigan by 2012, heads are going to roll anyway.

Why don't you guys settle into just being the all new Michigan? Like 7-5 will probably be the best you can do. You can start hanging your hat on wins like beating a crap Notre Dame team with a late drive, and hanging on to beat UMass. Those are season highlights! When you have a single player who is the lone star on the team, you can get him on the Heisman frontrunner pages for a few weeks while you're still "Michigan", but you secretly know that as soon as you play an Iowa, or a Wisconsin, that he will crap the bed and you will be back to being the "all new Michigan!" Enjoy the non-conference schedule while you can! 2-6 in the Big Tweleven awaits.

That's exactly what the thinking was after the 1996 season, since we'd been 7-4 like four times in a row.

So, does that make "Shoelace" Brian Griese? Who would be Tom Brady in this situation?

When we actually make it to 7-4, I'll let you know. But if you happen to figure out who Drew Henson is, let us know so we can take care of him before he even shows up on campus.

Why, that was Tate Forcier. I think you guys already took care of that.

Cool, things are looking up then!

Arkansas is looking pretty good this year, though.

Very true, although I still keep waiting for that defense to get completely exposed. It's going to happen at some point this year.

The defense is vastly improved this year. Alabama might be a different thing altogether, of course.

:(

This is the #4 team in the nation?

SMU isn't as bad anymore, they are a pretty decent team, now that said TCU does not look like #4 at all tonite.

I love you June Jones. go SMU!

Please, PLEASE tell me that I wasn't the only one to see the members of the sorority with that hand sign and have it take a few seconds to sink in that it was the Tri-Delta thing , and not a certain part of the female anatomy? :)

Finally getting to watch some GT. Bad fumble there, but that counter-option was a nice play.

Denard Robinson bruises his knee and is done for the day. Could come back if needed but we have 296 yards after the first quarter and 21-0 lead. Robinson was 4-4 for 60 yards passing and had 5 carries for 128 yards and 2 TD rushing.

Thanks for the update. I was wondering about the note on screen, and all it said was knee injury. That souned like trouble.

Yall aint talky today. Nebit just missed a hr TD, but went 60 yards to the 3. Tech trying to scrap into this game. They scored on a Roddy Jones run, 17-14.

Nice to see Toledo up on Purdue.

Anybody know what's happening in Manhattan, Kansas? Game has been delayed for awhile now.

Well, NCSU score two TD's unanswered, and now have a 17 point lead. I'd say this game is pretty done. This is not going to be a good year for Tech.

I noticed Marve only threw 3 passes today and Purdue has another QB in now. Anyone know what's going on there?

GT has now reached the point of being embarrassing.

For all the criticism of the "high school offense", it's the defense that's not even at a decent HS level.

At this point, I'm ready to start looking at the backup QB's. This team isn't going anywhere with Nesbitt (hey, he finally completed a pass ... and fumbled the snap on the 3rd & short that followed) might as well begin preparing for life without him.

And within a couple of years, for life without CPJ as well. I don't believe it's nearly so much a matter of the scheme, it's a matter of grossly inadequate talent to compete at the D1 level, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

LOL, Nesbitt will get credit for 50 yds passing there ... thanks to a good play by the RB on a swing pass.

He's out

Rutgers is gonna lose. That is all.

Wow, what an incredibly stupid pass by the NC State QB. You've got a 10 pt lead, dumbass!

OMG, are unicorns next? A touchdown pass from Nesbitt to pull within 10 of mighty NC State at home.

And now within 3 after Wilson threw one of the most ill-advised passes I've ever seen for a pick six.

That pass was so bad that I thought Reggie Ball had found a year of eligibility & was playing for NC State. So bad that it deserves its own post.

We are NC State.

*sigh*

Damn, I was willing to go at least into the Big Ten season for the "What week does Robinson get injured?" pool.

Still isn't over yet. As long as you can give up 14 points in a minute, there's still too much time. (And, yes, I'm really pissed about those two missed FGs in the first half right now.)

Fire and brimstone, the dead rising from their graves, cats and dogs living together?

UAB will be holding open tryouts for kickers this upcoming week. Down 8 to Tennessee with your FG kicker 0-4.

The SEC's OOC schedule looks impressive compared to the Big-11's OOC schedule today

brutal game. been watching, that kicker has 0 confidence left the rest of his life.

I am watching the AFA vs Wyoming game and I am even more disgusted at how we got our asses kicked by AFA.

You had nothing to worry about, this IS Georgia Tech.

It didn't seem possible that the defense would get any worse ... boy was I wrong about that.

Yep, you're right. That defense is awful. Sorry.

I love Havili.

UAB just tied it up with a 2 pt conversion, now 23-23 in Knoxville with 9 minutes left.

UAB ties it up.

Have to say, while it may have been somewhat influenced by kicking problems, I'm happy to see UAB go for two on consecutive TD's to tie up the game in as few possessions as possible.

One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing teams waiting until the last minute of the 4th quarter to go for two.

You couldn't combine the GT & UT rosters and make more than a 6 win team out of them.

Neither has any defense to speak of, neither has a QB, neither has 22 legit D1 players on their rosters at this point, not sure how well either of them are being coached up. How the fuck does that happen?

Dooley has got to at least try going to the backup Bray, Simms is throwing only slightly better than Nesbitt.

edit to add: So far this season, the Vols are now 0-34 on 3rd & 6 or more.

I so hope that we're about to see a game winning FG try from Mr. 0-4 shortly.

Knoxville newspaper blogger sums it up: "The next month is going to be a bloodbath. Think Shiloh".

UAB has more than doubled the UT offense, the Vols have only 51 yds in the 2nd half & have allowed right at 400 yards passing so far.

October's schedule is @ LSU, @Georgia, Alabama, and @ South Carolina.

0-5

Now 0-5

edit: In fairness, asking him to try a 54 yarder under the circumstances was pretty ridiculous.

ESPNU is ridiculous. Put on the game that is not over.

OMG, UT converts a 3rd & long (to the UAB 43). 1st time all season.

Although he did have the leg, so they must've known he had the ability to make it.

But yeah, on 4th and 2 there, I could understand either going for it (if you want to be gutsy) or playing for OT (not a bad idea, since UAB is outplaying Tenn).

7-0 Arkansas less than a minute in, 2 plays = 74 yards, including 43 yd TD pass.

Vols get to the UAB 43 & give up sacks on consecutive plays to send it to OT.

Ugh, stupid play to catch that.

1-6 now for the UAB kicker and we're in 2nd OT.

RU up 10-0

And 'Bama finally decided to wake up. I was waiting for what kind of damage was left over after the initial emotion of the game wore off. I'm ok with being tied.

Iowa rolls. Young RBs get some confidence.

What was that Arkansas offense doing? 2 false starts on 3rd and 4? But it looked like 2 delay of games.

Tennessee wins 32-29 in OT, Simms finally managed to escape pressure long enough to complete a TD pass.

UAB kicker ends up 2-7, hitting both tries in OT>

Complete bullshit call number two going against Notre Dame. The guy was stopped a yard short and the PAC 10 refs just screwed them. How does that work Standford brings there own refs! They also "missed" an obvious blitzer that was offsides and then personal foul.

They just keep getting worse in the Simms family.

Geez, well ND sacks fumbles ball standford drriving so they will soon be down 14-3.

At this point, it looks like UCLA-UT will be decided by whoever makes the least number of mistakes. At this rate, it looks like each time will hit double digits in that department.

Wow, The Ohio State is handing it to E.Michigan 24-0 in the 1st quarter.Ouch.

But it's Eastern.

I thought the overturn call in the 'Bama that gave the Razorbacks a first was bull, but it just lead to 3.

Good lord Mallett can wing it. Looks like a battle for #1 pick between him and Luck. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Luck stayed for his Junior season. Would be crazy though after seeing what happened to Locker.

Love the way Stanford plays. 3rd and 5 or less is pretty much automatic. They can just pound fools.

Add in the spot during 'Bama's drive as being a poor spot. CBS didn't really replay it, but when the play happened I though it was an obvious first down.

Poor throw by McElroy in the end zone. Partly surprised the game is this low scoring.

Texas' D is keeping them in the game, but their offense and special teams are doing their damnedest to give UCLA the win. 4 turnovers so far.

TD Razorbacks. Bama has a hill to climb.

UCLA up 13-3 at halftime, but color me as still very concerned. I like what UCLA has done in spurts with the running game, but there are two problems with that--it has come in spurts, and, at some point Muschamp will simply sell out to stop the run and force Prince to throw it. Right now, it doesn't seem like UCLA has any confidence in its passing game at all.

On the other side, the turnovers Texas has had has hid a bit that UCLA's D is also doing some things pretty good, such as gap penetration on runs, solid tackling and fairly solid (if not spectacular) coverage.

My fear, though, is that UCLA is going to need to continue to depend on turnovers to get shots to score, and that that well is likely to dry up. UT coaches are going to adjust at halftime and find ways to take advantage of their speed on both sides of the ball.

My matchup to watch right now is the UCLA OL vs the UT DL. That DL is very fast, terrific pass rushers. But they're surprisingly small. UCLA has an NFL sized line of fairly tested five year seniors and a deep set of backs. If UCLA goes exclusively to a power game, will UT's DL continue to hold up against that? It will be interesting to see.

I'll be frank--I am just happy UCLA's not getting blown out (yet).

Yeah, McElroy having two INTs in a half is just rather unexpected. I figured the secondary would struggle, but 'Bama's lack of offense is just disappointing. Mallet could be scaled back in the 2nd half and he'll still post 400+ yards.

Richardson almost got some of that back. Pity he didn't get OOB in time to get a FG try out of that run.