College football is underway again, so don't miss The Coach's unique and entertaining take on the week that was and the week that will be (especially if you're an Ohio State or USC fan).
Navy turned out to be a great opener. If USC doesn't come into the horseshoe overconfident after watching the film of that game then I don't know what could make them overconfident. Perhaps remembering that thrashing they gave us last year or the way they pounded San Jose State this week while we were fighting to save our season. Of course what most people don't understand is that the game was a Jim Tressel secrete strategy to get USC thinking next week will be a cakewalk. Tressel told the defensive line and linebackers to leave the middle of the line open all day so that Petey would think that is a weakness of ours. He told Anderson Russell to let their receivers get a couple of touchdowns on him so the Trojans would think he's not a very good safety and attack him all night. That Tressel is soooo deceptive. What a great strategist!
THE GAME:
Man, I've been watching Tresselball way to long. Here's what I wrote last week:
HOW IT WILL PROBABLY GO:
This is when reality sets in. After spending all winter reading about how good this year's team is going to be we will actually step on the field this week and find out that Navy is better than we thought they would be and we are not as good as we thought we would be. During the first quarter Navy will get the ball and run all over the field and probably go right down and score. Then the offense will take the field and all of our hopes and dreams will be crushed. It will be just another year of Tresselball where you find a way to get a touchdown or two ahead and then sit on the ball and force the defense to win the game. Navy will come back in the third quarter while we make no adjustments what-so-ever and hope we get the on-side kick at the end of the game to save the victory. Its been that way for eight years and I see no reason to believe it will change in 2009. Our best hope is for a lot of broken plays that force Pryor to scramble. And with our offensive line that shouldn't be any problem at all.
Navy was better than we thought they would be. We were not as good as we thought we would be. The first time Navy got the ball they marched right down the field and scored. We got up by two touchdowns (20-7 at the half) and then sat on it. Navy came back in the third quarter and we made no adjustments what-so-ever. We hoped to get the on-side kick at the end of the game to save the victory. It went out of bounds.
"That was so unlike Tressel. He likes field goals like Charlie Weis likes doughnuts."
Here's the thing about this game that amazed me the most. We are up 29-14 with about six and a half minutes to go and the ball on the fifteen yard line with a fourth down and two yards to go. Kick the easy field goal and go up by 18 on a team that runs the ball on every play. Kick it and the game is over. Tressel not only allows his quarterback to talk him into going for it but calls a slow handoff to the tailback up the gut. That was so unlike Tressel. He likes field goals like Charlie Weis likes doughnuts. Of course he was probably thinking that even if we didn't get the first down we would leave Navy on the fifteen yard line with six and a half minutes and eighty-five yards to go. What he forgot was that Anderson Russell would be in man coverage. One play later it was 29-21. Then Pryor throws an interception and with 2:23 on the clock Navy scores again and they are going for two points to tie the game. Brian Rolle picks off the pass and goes ninety-nine yards to put us up by four points which led to the on-side kick.
Hey, we won. How would you like to be an Oklahoma or Georgia or Virginia fan today?
THAT WHICH WAS:
Miami at Florida State. This was certainly one of the better games of the weekend but who do you root for when you hate them both? I had to go with Criami at the end when they won the game on a goal line stand. Plus, any team that opens their season with Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Oklahoma has my vote.
Alabama at Virginia Tech. It was close for most of the game but the Tide did ripple. Nick The Snake Saban earned his four million bucks in Blacksburg.
Oregon at Boise State. The Ducks were never in this game. The only thing Oregon had was a good sucker punch.
Oklahoma VS BYU in Dallas. Wow. Just Wow. Oklahoma without Bradford is like Oprah without tear ducts. On the other hand, pubyu was taking it to them pretty good when Bradford went down. If you're an Oklahoma fan you just have to be sick to your stomach.
Maryland at California. Ouch! Maryland went on the road to represent the ACC and took it on the chin 52-13. Of course they join their brothers in arms, Duke, North Carolina State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Florida State in the ACC dung pile.
The East Carolina Pirates hung on to not let Appalachian State do a meeeshitagin all over them. Arrrr. Speaking of pirates, a pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel hanging from his zipper. The bartender says, "Eh mate, ye got yerself a steering wheel hangin' from yer zipper." The pirate says, "Arrrr, and its driving me nuts."
Cincinnati at Rutgers. Remember a few years ago when teams used to go to Rutger's home field on a regular basis and beat the crap out of them? 47 to 15 sounds like reincarnation to me. Cincinnati is looking pretty good to take the Big Least this year.
Charleston Southern at Florida. The defending National Champions with 20 starters returning took the schedule up a notch to see if they still had "it." They did, 62-3. During halftime Tim Tebow was up in the stands touching blind people so they could see the second half.
Georgia at Oklahoma State. The people in Georgia are still in shock. Didn't anyone tell the Oklahoma State team about that SEC speed?
Illinois had Missouri at home but it still didn't matter as they became the only Big Ten team to embarrass the conference. Not that Ohio State, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa didn't try.
Northern Iowa at Iowa. It took two blocked field goals in the last second for Iowa to hang on and beat a subdivision team on Iowa's home field. And their coach, Kirk Ferentz, continues to be considered a genius by the ESPN crowd as well as the Iowa administration which continues to pile on contract extensions and raises. As another Kirk once said, "Beam me up Scotty, this planet sucks."
LSU traveled to Washington to take on the Huskies of 0-12 fame and pulled out a squeaker. No wonder the SEC never likes to leave the Southeast.
Northern Michigan at meeeshitagin. The skunk helmets are back! Just wait until week seven when they take on Delaware State, then we will know if they are for real.
Minnesota at Syracuse. Minni-soso isn't that good but Syracuse is still Suckacuse.
Nevada at $Notre Dame. Charlie won one and he won it big. Rumor has it he was offered a contract extension until 2025 worth about one hundred million dollars.
West Virginia beat Liberty 33-20. I didn't even know Liberty had a football team. DickRod must have scheduled that while he was still at WV. "Give me Liberty or give me Delaware State."
Navy at Ohio State. John Glenn became the first human being to orbit the earth and, more importantly, dot the "i" as well. The F-18's did their fly over and Chris Spielman was on the field accepting an award for entering the College Football Hall of Fame. He was on the field with his children and his very ill wife, Stephanie. It was a great week for Ohio State football but now it's all about next week. Actually, it's always been all about next week.
THAT WHICH WILL BE:
There are still a lot of cupcakes on schedules this week but there are a few games of interest.
Air Force at Minnesota. Minni-soso squeaked by Suckacuse in overtime and Air Force bombed Nicholle State 72-0. Minni-soso will be opening their brand new outdoor stadium. I'd like to see an SEC team play there in December.
Clems-son at Georgia with a Tech. An early ACC match-up between two undefeated ACC giants. And after one week there aren't that many undefeated teams left in the ACC. Ya gotta love the ramblin' wreck of Georgia Tech.
Duke at Army. This is the last chance for Duke to win one in 2009. Well, actually they play North Carolina Central in a couple of weeks but that's it. Best they can do is 2-10.
East Carolina at West By God Virginia. The Pirates and the Mountaineers fight it out in Morgantown. Shiver me timbers and shoot a groundhog for dinner.
Florida opened with Charleston Southern and now move up the food chain to Troy. Pope Urban of Meyer never met a cupcake he didn't like.
South Carolina at Georgia. Back in the sweet confines between the hedges, Georgia gets to take out its frustration by beating the crap out of a Steve Spurrier team. Ain't no better feeling in the SEC than beating the crap out of a Steve Spurrier team. Of course there is Lane Kiffin now.
Iowa State at Iowa. It may take more than two blocked field goals to win this one. Winning team gets a free trip to the Corn Palace.
$Notre Dame at meeeshitagin. Wow, talk about two coaches fighting for their jobs! Charlie Cheeseburger and DickRod meet in the big toilet bowl. Two giants of the game slugging it out in the heartland. DickRod is in better physical shape but Cheeseburger has a distinct schematic advantage. Jimmy Clausen and Tate Forcier, two future Heisman Trophy winners leading their teams down the field. Man, it just don't get any better than that.
Idaho State at Oklahoma. How would you like to be Idaho State this week?
UCLA at Tennessee. The totally cool pretty boys in pastel take on the orange rednecks at Rocky Top. Lane gets his first test of the season before he goes to the swamp to get killed in week three.
The USC Trojans travel to Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in what will be this week's Game of the Century. This is pretty much our season until November 21, when we will play the second half of the season. Buckeye fans around the world are pretty tired of hearing about how we can't play with the big boys and how the Big Ten sucks. We need to win this game if for no other reason than to shut up Marc May and his ESPN cronies. Go Bucks.
THINGS I WILL BE WATCHING THIS WEEK IN THE SHOE:
At the USC team meeting. Pete Carroll: "So Barkley, you're like a freshman quarterback playing in like the biggest and coolest game of the year. Dude? What do you watch for?" Matt Barkley: "That's easy Coach, I like totally check out the defense when I get to the line and see where that Russell dude is. Whatever receiver he is covering, that's the one I will go to." Carroll: "What if I call a run, man?" Barkley: "That is like even cooler coach. I just give the leather to McKnight. The dude can go anywhere he pretty much wants but the middle will be totally open." Carroll: "Cool dude, we got us a plan."
Yes, there are a few questions for this week but none bigger than what the OSU coaches will do about Anderson Russell. The Texas game ended with 16 seconds on the clock when Russell took a bad angle on the receiver. Then in the Navy game he gives up 100 yards and two touchdowns in two plays. And that was against a team that can't pass. I haven't a clue how the coaches intend to fix that in one week but you can bet that USC will be looking to match up any receiver they can with him or his replacement. If he plays he better have the game of his life.
I can't imagine that Saine won't get the majority of the running plays this week. Herron looked good but Saine was the stud we expected to see last year. He's 6-1 217 and holds several state speed track records.
The offensive line appears to be the same offensive line we've seen struggle for eight years. Where's the push? They cannot push two yards on a fourth and two against a line half their size? Again, how do the coaches fix that in a week?
There are several issues with the receivers. First, as usual, where is Ray Small? He's the only one we have with experience and he missed the Navy game due to "illness" according to his father. He was spotted Saturday night at his old high school's football game and said he was still "sick." He's been in Tressel's dog house so often they ought to name him Rover. And he is our #1 punt returner. Our top receiver, DeVier Posey, limped off of the field against Navy with an ankle problem. Duron Carter looked awfully good but he is a true freshman that will be going up against one of the better defensive back fields in the country. How do the coaches get Small's head screwed on straight and Posey's ankle heeled in one week?
The killer instinct. Tressel teams have never had it. We get up on teams by the half and then just go brain dead during the third quarter. This week we were up 20-7 and when we got the ball in the third quarter Chris Spielman brought up killer instinct and said "...this is when you put them away." and we then had four penalties in a row. We cannot step on their throat when they are down. We always let them come back on us. How do the coaches change that in one week? Ahhhhhh.
I think it is time to take the weights out of Pryor's shoes and let him fly. He is the biggest, fastest, most athletic guy we have. Tressel doesn't want to get him banged up but he has to let him loose for this game. He will be running for his life every time the offensive line doesn't get the job done anyway so why not let him scramble to give the receivers an extra few seconds to get open? And while he is running around he just might see an opening where he can tuck it and go. This is not the week to protect him, it's the week to climb on his shoulders and ride him into the sunset.
Go Bucks.
The Coach