Sgt John
Sith Lord of T&A
Lets get the bad out of the way first........
Who did NOT impress me:
Texas - When you need your defense to bail your ass out against Rice, we have issues. Though I give credit to Mack for sticking to his guns, at least for one week, with the new emphasis on the running game, your leading back carried over 15 times and picked up a whopping 60 yards. Garrett Gilbert didnt turn the ball over, but he didnt throw a TD either. The punt screw up leading to the second Rice TD with less than 30 seconds left was inexcusable. Kicking game was atrocious going just 1/3 on FGs (After I was promised in the pregame Id be "excited" about our new kicker). No one else around here will say it, so I will. We are headed for an 8-4 year unless they shape up quick, fast, and in a hurry. If they come out and hammer Wyoming at home by 40 points Ill feel a bit better, but for this week Ill be moving my Horns down in the rankings.
Florida - The Gators STRUGGLED BIGTIME at home against a very inferior opponent. Again, if you need your defense to bail your ass out against Miami of Ohio you have some issues. Nothing offensively excited me about the Gators this week. The fact Brantley threw 25 passes and picked up just 113 yards should be frightening. Through 3 quarters in this titanic flop the Gators piled up -16 yards rushing. Urban Meyer sounded as snippy as Mack Brown did after the game. Both coaches know the trouble runs deeper than just one game for their offenses at the moment.
Both of these teams are replacing God's at the QB position, players so good you could bring your B game and get by because they would cover it up with their abilities. Florida and Texas can still be 10 game winners this year, but the QBs are going to have to grow up and they are going to have to learn to play offense as teams, not as 10 guys hanging out in case the stud needs you to do something.
Oklahoma, on the other hand, really should be past the whole replacing Sam thing since he was gone so long. What would concern me as an OU fan is, according to players, there was no possible way I saw Utah State kick their asses time and again. It HAD to be just because "we took them too lightly" or "we were just off". My ass. Oklahoma better lose the "we are just that good" attitude pretty quick or Florida State is going to blow them off the map. Landry Jones completed less than 50% of his passes and was picked off twice. Aggie QB Diondre Borel looked like he should have been the one starting at OU, shredding the Sooners for 341 yards and two TDs. Imagine what Christian Ponder is going to do.... Oklahoma has all the makings of an underachiever who will let the little guy hang around too long and upset them at some point down the road.
Mississippi - Holy Jesus how did this one happen? I was sitting on the side of the Highway checking scores and liked to spit water all over the car when I read this score. Where was the defense? ANY defense? Rebels front man Houston Nutt called the loss "the worst" of his career. Any crazy thought of a national championship is gone now, and probably any hope of a BCS birth on the wild chance they won out (unless they won the SEC). This will either be a season killer or a motivator. Right now, it just looks plain bad. Jacksonville State ground out 103 tough yards on the ground against an SEC defense, and forced the Rebels into 3 turnovers. We will see if Ole Miss does any better this Saturday against lowly Tulane.
Kansas - There was certainly a return to a more traditional approach at Kansas with Turner Gill. No profanity, more stucture, and a return to resounding mediocrity. North Dakota State 6, Kansas 3. You have got to be kidding me. Not one f'in TD? They couldnt score ONE DAMN TD? Games like this are why the Big 12 should have broke up. Kansas needs to be in the WAC or another smaller conference footballwise where it can compete. The days of Glory for the Jayhawks are over, and it doesnt get any easier this week with a trip to 16th ranked Georgia Tech.
LSU - None of us believed North Carolina was going to win this game after the NCAA basically crippled the Tar Heels. Still, you really felt LSU needed to win big for the fire under Les Miles to be doused a bit. At the half LSU appears to be well on its way to beating crippled UNC. Then Butch Davis made his adjustments and came within an eyelash of putting the first nail in Miles coffin.
Though I may raise the ire of Tigers fans here, if you cant do better than this against a team of backups, you are headed for disaster in the SEC.
Now, enough with the shame, who DID impress me this weekend:
Ohio State/Miami - Both of them did exactly what they needed to do. Hi (insert name of overmatched opponent). We are going to kick the crap out of you in efficient fashion today. You are nothing more than tackling dummies. Sorry, no offense, but Im paying you a heck of a lot of money to fine tune things for the 10 ton elephant we have looming next week. I am excited to see what happens this weekend between two storied programs with a nasty history from 2002.
Oregon - Granted it was against New Mexico, but beating anyone 72-0 is impressive, especially given the way they did it. This was a soul crushing, program killing victory of epic proportions. Some have questioned my ranking the Ducks at 3, but at least for this one week they acted like #3 in the country. The Ducks picked up 5 TDs from their backup RB, scored in all phases, and dominated with backups in the game. Solid running game, solid QB play, solid depth, all could lead to a solid shot at a repeat Pac-10 Championship. Next up for the Ducks is a trip to SEC country and a game against the Tennesee Volunteers. That will be a much more fitting barometer of how far this Ducks team could go.
South Carolina - I was having dinner and caught parts of this game. Im not sure when Garcia got balls, but its about time. Very impressive TD run, and very impressive win overall for the Gamecocks. Now, we've seen this before and they fall on their 6-6 faces, but I expected a much tougher win against Southern Miss than it was. SC looked like a SEC team this weekend. In a 41-13 beatdown of the Golden Eagles, the Gamecocks picked up 4 rushing TDs and throttled the USM spread attack. Next up for SC is a home game against the Georgia Bulldogs, big winners themselves in Week 1.
Mississippi St - While their arch rivals were falling flat on their backs MSU came out and whipped Memphis all over the place. This isnt impressive like I see 10 wins, but it was impressive as in Dan Mullen seems to be getting this team over the hump. They came out and won a game big they should of won big, something that didnt happen in the Sylvester Croom era (remember the upset loss to Maine). And look at the bright side Dog fans, if Ole Miss keeps playing quality defense like they did this weekend youll win the Egg Bowl by 40 points. Next up is a big test on Thursday night vs Auburn.
Notre Dame - God help me, but what got ND on this list is they won with something theyve forgot the last few years. Defense. Thats all I have to say about that.
Feel free to add your thoughts on this first weekend Outlaws.
Who did NOT impress me:
Texas - When you need your defense to bail your ass out against Rice, we have issues. Though I give credit to Mack for sticking to his guns, at least for one week, with the new emphasis on the running game, your leading back carried over 15 times and picked up a whopping 60 yards. Garrett Gilbert didnt turn the ball over, but he didnt throw a TD either. The punt screw up leading to the second Rice TD with less than 30 seconds left was inexcusable. Kicking game was atrocious going just 1/3 on FGs (After I was promised in the pregame Id be "excited" about our new kicker). No one else around here will say it, so I will. We are headed for an 8-4 year unless they shape up quick, fast, and in a hurry. If they come out and hammer Wyoming at home by 40 points Ill feel a bit better, but for this week Ill be moving my Horns down in the rankings.
Florida - The Gators STRUGGLED BIGTIME at home against a very inferior opponent. Again, if you need your defense to bail your ass out against Miami of Ohio you have some issues. Nothing offensively excited me about the Gators this week. The fact Brantley threw 25 passes and picked up just 113 yards should be frightening. Through 3 quarters in this titanic flop the Gators piled up -16 yards rushing. Urban Meyer sounded as snippy as Mack Brown did after the game. Both coaches know the trouble runs deeper than just one game for their offenses at the moment.
Both of these teams are replacing God's at the QB position, players so good you could bring your B game and get by because they would cover it up with their abilities. Florida and Texas can still be 10 game winners this year, but the QBs are going to have to grow up and they are going to have to learn to play offense as teams, not as 10 guys hanging out in case the stud needs you to do something.
Oklahoma, on the other hand, really should be past the whole replacing Sam thing since he was gone so long. What would concern me as an OU fan is, according to players, there was no possible way I saw Utah State kick their asses time and again. It HAD to be just because "we took them too lightly" or "we were just off". My ass. Oklahoma better lose the "we are just that good" attitude pretty quick or Florida State is going to blow them off the map. Landry Jones completed less than 50% of his passes and was picked off twice. Aggie QB Diondre Borel looked like he should have been the one starting at OU, shredding the Sooners for 341 yards and two TDs. Imagine what Christian Ponder is going to do.... Oklahoma has all the makings of an underachiever who will let the little guy hang around too long and upset them at some point down the road.
Mississippi - Holy Jesus how did this one happen? I was sitting on the side of the Highway checking scores and liked to spit water all over the car when I read this score. Where was the defense? ANY defense? Rebels front man Houston Nutt called the loss "the worst" of his career. Any crazy thought of a national championship is gone now, and probably any hope of a BCS birth on the wild chance they won out (unless they won the SEC). This will either be a season killer or a motivator. Right now, it just looks plain bad. Jacksonville State ground out 103 tough yards on the ground against an SEC defense, and forced the Rebels into 3 turnovers. We will see if Ole Miss does any better this Saturday against lowly Tulane.
Kansas - There was certainly a return to a more traditional approach at Kansas with Turner Gill. No profanity, more stucture, and a return to resounding mediocrity. North Dakota State 6, Kansas 3. You have got to be kidding me. Not one f'in TD? They couldnt score ONE DAMN TD? Games like this are why the Big 12 should have broke up. Kansas needs to be in the WAC or another smaller conference footballwise where it can compete. The days of Glory for the Jayhawks are over, and it doesnt get any easier this week with a trip to 16th ranked Georgia Tech.
LSU - None of us believed North Carolina was going to win this game after the NCAA basically crippled the Tar Heels. Still, you really felt LSU needed to win big for the fire under Les Miles to be doused a bit. At the half LSU appears to be well on its way to beating crippled UNC. Then Butch Davis made his adjustments and came within an eyelash of putting the first nail in Miles coffin.
Though I may raise the ire of Tigers fans here, if you cant do better than this against a team of backups, you are headed for disaster in the SEC.
Now, enough with the shame, who DID impress me this weekend:
Ohio State/Miami - Both of them did exactly what they needed to do. Hi (insert name of overmatched opponent). We are going to kick the crap out of you in efficient fashion today. You are nothing more than tackling dummies. Sorry, no offense, but Im paying you a heck of a lot of money to fine tune things for the 10 ton elephant we have looming next week. I am excited to see what happens this weekend between two storied programs with a nasty history from 2002.
Oregon - Granted it was against New Mexico, but beating anyone 72-0 is impressive, especially given the way they did it. This was a soul crushing, program killing victory of epic proportions. Some have questioned my ranking the Ducks at 3, but at least for this one week they acted like #3 in the country. The Ducks picked up 5 TDs from their backup RB, scored in all phases, and dominated with backups in the game. Solid running game, solid QB play, solid depth, all could lead to a solid shot at a repeat Pac-10 Championship. Next up for the Ducks is a trip to SEC country and a game against the Tennesee Volunteers. That will be a much more fitting barometer of how far this Ducks team could go.
South Carolina - I was having dinner and caught parts of this game. Im not sure when Garcia got balls, but its about time. Very impressive TD run, and very impressive win overall for the Gamecocks. Now, we've seen this before and they fall on their 6-6 faces, but I expected a much tougher win against Southern Miss than it was. SC looked like a SEC team this weekend. In a 41-13 beatdown of the Golden Eagles, the Gamecocks picked up 4 rushing TDs and throttled the USM spread attack. Next up for SC is a home game against the Georgia Bulldogs, big winners themselves in Week 1.
Mississippi St - While their arch rivals were falling flat on their backs MSU came out and whipped Memphis all over the place. This isnt impressive like I see 10 wins, but it was impressive as in Dan Mullen seems to be getting this team over the hump. They came out and won a game big they should of won big, something that didnt happen in the Sylvester Croom era (remember the upset loss to Maine). And look at the bright side Dog fans, if Ole Miss keeps playing quality defense like they did this weekend youll win the Egg Bowl by 40 points. Next up is a big test on Thursday night vs Auburn.
Notre Dame - God help me, but what got ND on this list is they won with something theyve forgot the last few years. Defense. Thats all I have to say about that.
Feel free to add your thoughts on this first weekend Outlaws.
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