Category: College Football

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College Football

Tidbits From The Tailgate: There Is No Doubt About #1

1.  Welcome To The National Championship Game

Chalk me up as somebody who thought Iowa could pull off the primetime upset in Iowa City.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think The Ohio State University would make Drew Tate look like a frosh.  Buckeye fans can phone in their national title game reservations with confidence.  The only tough game left on their schedule is Michigan and I don’t think the Wolverines have enough bite.

1a.  Shameless Legion of Doom Pimping

Before I finish up on The Ohio State University, I have one more observation to make.  How come I am the only one advocating “Road Warrior Animal” for the Heisman?  Troy Smith is not the MVP of this team.  James Laurinaitis is.  He keys a defense that is replacing nine starters and to this trained eye he already looks better than A.J. Hawk was last year.

2.  And they’ll be facing…….anyone……

Auburn and USC should be grateful they escaped over lesser opponents with victories.  Both schools need to do a better job of staying off upset alert than what they did last week.  

3.  Forgive me if I’m crazy but….these guys looks pretty damn good.

Utah is a pretty good team and they got absolutely dismantled by Boise State.  For the Broncos to leave the Smurf Turf and do that to a good Utes team was extremely impressive.  There is no doubt that Jared Zabransky and the boys are extremely impressive.

4.  I’m not so bad after all………

To Chris Leak.  Say what you want about Leak but make sure you toss in that he is the quarterback of a 5-0 national title contender.  He will be involved in this Saturday’s best game as the Bayou Bengals will be invading the Swamp.

5.  Sssssssshhhhhhhhhh

The Irish are waking up……….  Just remember, the Michigan loss was early in the season and the Irish still have USC left on their schedule.  If they beat USC impressively, Auburn loses in the SEC title game, Ohio State beats Michigan and Louisville beats West Virginia………Brady Quinn has a chance to play for the national title.  In the words of Jeremy Shockey…….”write that down”……..

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College Football

Tidbits From The Tailgate: Kudos to Lloyd Carr



Well deserved

1.  Welcome Back
Congratulations to Michigan for returning to relevancy as a football program.  After last year’s sputters nearly every pundit had written them off.  They came out and took it to Notre Dame from the very beginning.  Everybody watching on TV was in awe of what was happening as the score read 34-7 midway through the second quarter.  Not only did Michigan become Michigan but they did it at the expense of ending rival Notre Dame’s national title hopes and Brady Quinn’s Heisman Dreams.  

2.  Can We Cut In
To the TCU Horned Frogs who vanquished Texas Tech on Saturday.  TCU stands an excellent chance of running the table.  They can play with anybody in America as evidenced by their 3-0 record against the Big 12 over the past two years (wins are over Oklahoma, Baylor, and Texas Tech).  Gary Patterson is easily the most underrated coach in America and this might be the best team he’s ever had.  My personal hope is that TCU and Texas get matched up in the Fiesta Bowl.

3.  If It’s Not Going To Work………Why Have It
The instant replay crew at Oregon should be suspended for the remainder of the regular season.  Their ineptitude heavily contributed to Oklahoma’s defeat in that game.  It also gave the Big 12 a kick in the balls on top of what already was a rough Saturday for the once-powerful conference.

4.  Who’s #2
Both Auburn and USC staked their case on Saturday.  My personal belief is that Auburn is the best team in the country so I would have them installed at the #2 spot.  That being said, USC is one 56 point whupping of a Cal or Oregon to stating their case as the #2 team in America.

5.  Is that you…
The much-maligned Chris Leak has rediscovered some flair as he led the Florida Gators to a huge win over Tennessee on Friday night.  I think Florida’s schedule will still prevent them from winning the SEC, but the win over the Volunteers was huge feather in the cap of both Leak and Urban Meyer.

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College Football

Bob Stoops says take your apology and shove it


The Pac-10 has suspended the officials who worked the Oklahoma-Oregon game for one game because of their shoddy work.

Errors clearly were made and not corrected, and for that we apologize to the University of Oklahoma, coach Bob Stoops and his players,” Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen said in a statement. “They played an outstanding college football game, as did Oregon, and it is regrettable that the outcome of the contest was affected by the officiating.

Bob Stoops said that the apology offered no consolation.


At least they have reacted to it and tried. Truly there can be no amends to it and it can’t be corrected. I’ve made a million mistakes,” Stoops said. “I’ll make a million more in each game, and in that game included, I wish there were things I could have done differently or changed. Unlike officials, players and coaches don’t have that opportunity. They had an opportunity to get it right and they chose not to. So I find it still absolutely inexcusable and unacceptable.

Bob Stoops and Oklahoma have every right to be pissed. The calls that went against Oklahoma were criminal. The president of the University of Oklahoma sent a letter to Big 12 Commission Kevin Weiberg asking for the game to be stricken from the record and the officials suspended for the rest of the season. One game isn’t nearly good enough but at least the conference admitted their mistake and suspended the officials for one game. Now if only we could get the NFL to fix their officiating.

Links:
[Seattle PI]: Pac-10 suspends officials for 1 game
[MSNBC]: Trash Talk: Sooners are Sore Losers

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College Football

Maurice Clarett is going to jail



Will Ice Cube play Clarett in the TV movie?

Well folks, the sad tale of Maurice Clarett has reached the final chapter. Sure he could turn his life around in jail but he’s just going to be another high profile athlete that wasted his potential on laziness and greed. Maurice Clarett has agreed to a plea bargain in two criminal cases and was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in jail. He will be available for parole in 3 1/2 years.

Clarett got 3 years for the aggravated robbery, 3 years for using a gun in the crime, and 1/2 years for carrying a concealed weapon.

Clarett is 22 now so if he spends his entire 3 1/2 years working out, he could be in better shape than he’s ever been by the time he’s 26. And then all the talking heads will talk about how he’s a young 26 because he’s a RB without that many miles on him. Or more likely, he’ll just fade from our conciousness and discover God.

Links:
[Buckeye Extra]: Clarett agrees to plea deal; will serve at least 3 1/2 years

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College Football

Oklahoma gets absolutely jobbed by the refs

A lot of fans complain about bad officiating in their games and usually they’re just making excuses for the poor play of their teams but in the case of the Oregon-Oklahoma game on Saturday, Sooners fans are absolutely correct in blaming the officials. Take a look at this video. It clearly shows the Oklahoma player recovering the ball yet the onside kick was awarded to the Ducks. (This is on top of the Ducks illegally touching the ball before 10 yards.)

What we want to know is why Allen Patrick #23 walked away from the pile so nonchalantly. Why wasn’t he immediately in the face of the official showing him the ball? Either way, this is the worst case of bad officiating we’ve seen in years. Even if the ref missed the onside call on the initial play, why didn’t instant replay catch his error? More reaction from the game from the national media.

Links:
[NewsOK]: Refs overlook possession

[The Wizard of Odds]: Turns Out, Oregon Didn’t Recover the Ball

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College Football

Do you like me? Like you or Like You like you?


USC QB Blake Mitchell was suspended from the team after getting arrested for a bar fight. From the police report:

Mitchell initiated a verbal exchange with Kylan Ertzberger, 19, asking if Ertzberger liked Mitchell. Ertzberger said he had no problem with Mitchell but didn’t like the fact he was trying to bring underage women into the bar. When Ertzberger turned to walk away, Mitchell punched him in the left eye.

Steve Spurrier (shockingly) tried to blow it off as just an example of college kids being college kids. Mitchell was suspended but not expelled from the team. It’s hard for a 19 year old to turn away underage women from a bar but Erzberger clearly takes working the door very seriously. But hey, at least wall the old pervs in South Carolina now know where they can go now for underaged women.

Links:
[The State]: South Carolina quarterback arrested, suspended

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College Football

Here’s one way to make the starting lineup

University of Northern Colorado’s reserve punter Mitch Cozad was arrested for stabbing the starting punter in the kicking leg. An anonymous university employee reports that Cozad attacked Mendoza from behind and stabbed him between the buttocks and the hamstring.

Now that starter Rafael Mendoza is out for Saturday’s game, freshman Zak Bigelow will have the punting duties while Cozad gets himself a second-degree assault charge and expulsion from school.

Didn’t Tanya Harding teach us anything? First, you don’t do the actual maiming yourself, you hire some fat thug to do it for you. Second, this might be the most unimaginative way to hurt someone but the most imaginative twisted way to get the starting job. Too bad it had zero chance of actually working.

No word on whether Mendoza was writhing on the ground sobbing, “why me? why now?”

Links:

[The Denver Channel]: UNC Reserve Punter Arrested For Allegedly Stabbing Rival In Leg

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College Football

Tidbits From The Tailgate: Beware of Road Warrior Animal

1.  Beware the progeny of “Road Warrior Animal”.

Who can forget the song “Iron Man” blaring in the background as “The Road Warriors” hit the ring to pound on two chumps?  They were without a doubt the most physically dominating tag team in wrestling history.  And now…..the spawn of “Animal” is arguably the best defensive player in the country.  Lost in the story of Ohio State’s whipping of Texas was the game James Laurinatis had.  Animal Jr. registered 13 tackles (10 solo), 2 forced fumbles (one of which Ohio State recovered to stop a sure Texas score), and an interception.  I like Troy Smith, but he was not the best Buckeye on the field.  Just a true sophomore, Laurinatis has a chance to be better than A.J. Hawk as Hawk was not nearly this good this early in his career.  

2.  So that’s why you’re going #1 in the NFL Draft.

Brady Quinn shredded the Penn State defense on Saturday afternoon.  It was like an 18-year-old coming back from college to put a whipping on his 7-year-old younger brother in a game of pick-up hoops.  Quinn ended up with 287 yards, three touchdowns, and the Heisman vote of everybody who tuned into the clinic he provided.  

3.  That’s right….I’m from Boise, Idaho.  I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’m pretty good.

Apparently everybody who votes in the AP and USA Today Coaches poll skipped the Boise State-Oregon State game on Thursday night, because Boise State was unjustly left out of the polls.  Ian Johnson was spectacular as he ran for 240 yards and five touchdowns.  How Pac-10 schools missed the sophomore running back is a complete surprise.  All I can assume is that in high school he was like Rachel Leigh Cook in the beginning of “She’s All That” and that now at Boise he’s the version of Cook with the glasses off and the low-cut dress on.

4.  OK, I’m done screwing around this time.  I promise…..

This goes out to Florida State who almost followed up on their win over Miami with loss against Troy.  Down 17-10 in the fourth quarter, Florida State had to rally to win 24-17.  Had Troy pulled the upset it would have been the biggest shocker since Brian Worth improbably advanced to the Final two on “Average Joe 2” and came within a hair of scoring Larissa Meek (an absolutely raging hottie).

(On a sidenote, people forget about how utterly incredible Brian Worth’s run on “Average Joe 2” was.  He went from basically never having touched a girl to making out with a supermodel.  Toss in that he seemed like a genuinely nice guy and it was just a stirring month of television.)

5.  If it’s any consolation, you sirs definitely have a set of balls.

To Air Force for going for two and trying to win the game against Tennessee in regulation.  I love the call even though it failed.  

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College Football

Ohio State knows how to riot


After the lame rioting in Edmonton, Ohio State Buckeyes fans show them how it’s done. Lead by a male cheerleader who ran into three people with his car and was charged with vehicular assault, Buckeyes fans set the bar at 17 arrests early this football season.

Final tally: 17 arrests, 45 trash bin fires and four car fires.

We know you college football fans out there can do better. Remember there’s still a month and change to go before the Tigers win the World Series… and then there will be the riot to end all riots. It’s almost unfair that Detroit gets to participate in riots again. They are too good.

Links:
[Columbus Dispatch]: Campus-area revelry after football win leads to 17 arrest

[Columbus Dispatch]: Buckeyes come up big

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College Football

Auburn football players have easy classes

From the ‘obvious’ file comes the New York Times feature article today about how easy Auburn football players have it. College athletes get preferential treatment and don’t have to study? That’s about as shocking as Gary Glitter being a pedophile.

According to the NY Times, a lot of student-athletes took classes with a sociology professor named Thomas Petee called directed-studies classes which required no attendance and very little work yet always resulted in high grades. (How’s that different from any other class at Auburn?)

One of the athletes, Cadillac Williams admitted that his whole spring semester of his senior year, he only took 2 classes and both were with Professor Petee. It seems the sociology department at Auburn is a “dumping ground for athletes”.


The Auburn football team appeared to be the biggest benefactor of Professor Petee’s directed-reading offerings.

The 18 football players received an average G.P.A. of 3.31 in the classes, according to statistics compiled by Professor Gundlach. In all of their other credit hours at Auburn, their average was 2.14

Naturally, the Auburn administration is in mock disbelief over these allegations and you know the NCAA is going nuts over it as well. They like to maintain the illusion that the football programs at any of the top schools are anything but cash cows. Listen, folks, we don’t really care about all this academic nonsense. We just want to know what the latest point spreads are going to be. If anything, their insistence that academics has anything to do with college football is the reason any of us would even be mildly upset about this report. This is like people saying they go to strip clubs for the food. Don’t patronize us and we’ll be fine.

Links:
[NY Times]: Top Grades and No Class Time for Auburn Players