The College Football thread

“Well, Dayhiker, there ya went and had TOO good a time on Saturday.

What a fantastic win for Bama! I'm sorry about Prothro. Hopefully Bama can cover his loss.

Run up the score? Bwaaaaahahaha. We're not going to get into that stupidity again are we? Should Bama have played their backups more? Maybe, but I'd ask Shula what he was thinking before I'd go to whining about running up the score. Bama was having fun and getting great practice running their offense and defense. Maybe Shula wanted to see if his players could play at full speed for sixty minutes? Maybe he wanted to get some stats for his players to give them a better shot at the big money in the NFL? Maybe he wanted to get a big margin of victory in order to move up further in the polls because a better bowl means more money for the program? Maybe he didn’t want his players to sit out because they were having so much fun? There are so many, many possibilities as to why the starters were in the game so late. Don’t go into that lame running up the score nonsense.

Florida is in great condition. “Conventional wisdom” says that if your players are well conditioned they avoid injuries, and yet we’ve lost a lot of players to injury this year.

We’re all armchair coaches here, but my best guess is that Shula got lost in the moment because he and his players were having a lot of fun out there.


The only place I’ve ever heard the crowd sound that loud is in The Swamp. That crowd was FIRED UP!

Then Bama came out and played with fire. They looked GREAT. Brody made it look easy. He hit his receivers in stride and it looked beautiful. They made enough runs to keep the Gators guessing and just had wonderful balance to their offense.

Their defense played as advertised. They made Chris Leak and Florida look like a deer caught in the headlights.

Although a close game is always fun to watch, that’s the kind of game that’s so satisfying for the winner. They jumped on top, and dominated the entire game. So you get sixty minutes to savor the victory because you know the outcome is never in doubt. Bama MADE Florida look bad for sixty minutes. I watched the entire game.

I guess Bama showed Florida who’s resurgent and who’s a has-been.




How about those Scarlet Knights! Violin hasn’t spent much time around here but his team looks like it’s on the verge of becoming respectable. Except for a lousy collapse against Illinois, they’d be 4-0. They looked good against Pitt. Violin’s team may be headed for a bowl if they continue to play like that.




I’ve got a brainstorm (WATCH OUT) for a game we can play at footballapallooza. I call it, RACE TO THE MYTHICAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

What we do is set up a bushwhacking course through the woods. Before the race, we all gather big sticks to help us brush away spider webs and sticker bushes as we run through the underbrush.

When we start, all the SEC folks will form a circle and whack the snot out of each other with our sticks as everyone else races for the finish line.”

“Hey Buddha, JoePa is comin for ya next week.”

“OK, everyone point and laugh at arc! It's so far and few between we get to. :)”

“Where are all the people who, for the past two seasons, were saying JoePa should retire? I hear a deafening silence ...”

“"It's so far and few between we get to. :)"

Nigal


Holy Frozenuts Batman! Are you kidding me, Nigal? The opportunities for laughing at me are endless.

But if you expect me to attach my entire life essence to my football team and become a poor sport, you’re in for disappointment. If you’re gonna give it, ya gotta be able to take it. Those aren’t just words to me.




How’s this for another take on that flatulent “running up the score” idiocy:

College football is all about emotion and momentum. That’s why I like it. It doesn’t have that mechanical quality of the pros. How many times have you seen a team come back from the depths because they get momentum on their side and it emotionally fires up everyone on the team?

Florida had Kentucky down 49-7 at the half. Meyer puts in all his second and third string guys to start the second half. Florida’s offense gets really bad, it's defense looks confused, and Kentucky starts gaining some momentum on offense and defense. Lowly Kentucky scores 28 points before Meyer decides to bring back his ones…

…Rutgers blows a 21-point lead to lowly Illlinois…

…Florida has Florida State down by 28 points in the fourth quarter. For three-quarters, Florida has drug Florida State up and down the field. A couple of plays go Florida State’s way. Then a couple of big plays go Florida State’s way. Before you know it, Florida State is an unstoppable juggernaut, and Florida can’t even get a first down. Florida State ends up tying the game. We still refer to this as the “choke at Doak” (Campbell stadium). It happened under Spurrier.

Say that Shula is aware of these games. And unless he has been living in the same strip clubs as past Alabama coaches, he is probably acutely aware. He is also acutely aware that Alabama is still a bit thin due to probation. He realizes that his twos can’t be a whole lot more talented than Florida’s twos who almost let a very weak Kentucky team back into the game.

He’s got 80,000 screaming fans who want a big win. He’s got boosters who want a clear sign that Bama is back on track. He does not want to jeopardize this win in any way. Everything is working because he’s got momentum so he gets to test all sorts of plays with his first team. That way it’s more difficult for future teams to plan to stop all those different looks. He doesn’t want to give a team like Florida (he overestimates this year) any chance to gain momentum.

And his players are having tons of fun out there.




“Running up the score” my nekid behind. Get over that, Dayhiker. It’s an irreparably flawed argument. Stop beating your head against a wall. THAT DOG WON’T HUNT!

Here endeth the rant for the terminally stubborn and unwashed.

Bama looked awfully good. I may have been wrong about them having a good shot at the SEC. Get out yer sticks boys.
last edited: 10/03/05 6:40:52 AM”

“Kinds words arc. I just thru the score thing out there as a teaser. I thought the backup should've been in and when Croyle realeased the ball I yelled out NO. Then I really yelled NO when I saw what happened. Losing Pro will cost us a game somewhere, somehow. He's an amazing player. I can't believe how stoic he was after the injury.

I can't believe I'm not going to be able to watch the UT/Bama game now that we actually have a chance at winning.

I think the best description for me during the UF game is stunned jubilation. Did we really win the game?”

“In an attempt to say something nice, well, gee whiz, the Gators kicking game sure looked good Saturday. The punter did his job well and that placekicker made a nice field goal. Go Gators!”

“Did you watch the Rutgers/Pitt game arc? The first 11 minutes was about as exciting as they get in college football.

I've been a Rutgers fan too long to start thinking bowl, but it was nice to see the folks in the stands smiling for a change.”

“Well, we escaped from Morgantown without a scratch. The Hokies win over West Virginia was made sweeter by the fact that we beat them at home. Yeah, I am gloating, but when you are NUMBER THREE in the nation, you get to do that. Woooohoooo!!”

“"But if you expect me to attach my entire life essence to my football team and become a poor sport, you’re in for disappointment. If you’re gonna give it, ya gotta be able to take it. Those aren’t just words to me."

Oh you've always been a gracious loser. It's when ya win that we have problems! LOL! If it's one thing about arc, he always takes it well.

So is Dayhiker still walking around with a boner?”

“Nope, victory sex is great.”

“Well, UT rebounded from the emotional LSU trip and kept from looking ahead to UGA long enough to put Ole Miss away.

Now, we get two top ten teams in a row.

If UT can manage two wins (UGA/UA), we should be right back in the thick of things.”

“Why the UF game was important.

The game was such a big deal because it's viewed as the coming out party from basically 8 years of misery.

Stallings was pretty much forced out and in 97 Dubose took over.
97: 4-7
98: 7-5
99: Preseason scandal about Dubose sleeping with his secretary. We finished 10-3 on the strength of leadership from Suan Alexander and Chris Samuels. Rumors of the NCAA start to leak
00: 3-8, lots of NCAA rumors hurt recruiting.
01: Fran takes over, 7-5. Penalties are announced and rocks Bama to the core.
02: 10-3, fRan starts recruiting for A&M as early as August 02
03: Price comes in for a few months and then Shula takes over. He doesn't get a spring practice. Croyle seperates shoulder in 1st or 2nd game and is limited all year, 4-9
04: Brodie is back and we start out looking great. Injuries mount and we finish 6-6
05: Everyone is healthy and we finally have a big game on campus where we feel like we can compete. The players on this team are here because it's Bama. These aren't 5* type of guys. This adds to the bond that the fans feel for this team.”

“dayhiker interested if you will feel this weekend was a "Shula signature win" if UF drops to both UGA and LSU in the upcoming weeks? The reason I ask this question is because although, UT, LSU, UA, and UGA have all shown some weaknesses, they all play to similar strengths that was shown this weekend to be areas of deficiencies for UF.”

“Good question. I'd have to say yes, but it would diminish it in hindsight. They did beat UT who proves their worth against LSU. Basically, if they wind up sucking late, we didn't know it 10/1 and were able to show/expose the weaknesses on a grand scale.”

“Alabama looked great. They deserved to win. Congrats. It's great to Bama back up on it's feet taking their rightful place at the head of the pack again.

Florida looked human. They are a great team too. All the excessive preening and chest thumping over the Gators is funny. Yes, they have a fine school and athletic department.

VaTech beat a tough West Virginia team. I hope they can make it through a tough ACC schedule and end up playing Texas or USC team. Maybe they will fall and we can play Bama.

Heck, it's all good.”

“Thanks for the kind words. Funny you should mention a game with VT. Bama fans are already talking Rose Bowl. I'd like to find a way to go 1-2 over the big 3 games remaining to finish 9-2. That would be an amazing year. I predicted we'd go 7-4. I hope that I'm wrong. I feel like we'll beat the two MS schools and Utah State, so that gets us to 8-3.”

“The MSU / U of M game was a nail biter... Sadly for MSU, we came up short... :-(

We're still in the top 20 though, so I'm relieved!!! On to Ohio State next weekend!”

“I changed the football hike trip to a public listing. It now shows up on the main trips page.”

“Heck yes I watched the ENTIRE Rutgers/Pitt game, violin. Rutgers looked good, but they finished weakly again. They should be 4-0 right now.

Rutgers has looked respectable at times over the past few years. In the past, they looked good against Michigan St. and then blew some games to weak teams. This may be their year to get over the hump and actually BE respectable. Schiano has been recruiting heavily in Florida and it’s paid off.

West Virginia at home. It's a biggy for sole possession of first place. You’ve got to be excited about future possibilities, tempered with knowledge of past history.




JO, as dayhiker would say, "kind words." In reality Florida is pretty mediocre this year. Their defense is pretty good, but their offense has really struggled with this new system. They had better find a way to score some points.

Our schedule now boasts 5 teams that have been ranked in the top 10 at some point this year. That's just brutal for a team that's struggling to find its identity.”

“Whine, whine, whine.

Just like a Florida Fan.

Let's see....Florida, LSU, Georgia, Alabama, Notre Dame....



You don't have it any harder than others do, Mr. Gator.”

“Gripe, gripe, gripe…didn't say anything about HARDER (especially other teams in the SEC) Mr. Chili Looooooser.

The word I used was BRUTAL. If you go to the library, and pick up a dictionary, you will find that those two words are not synonyms. A synonym is when two words have the same meaning.

How many top 10 teams do most of the top ranked teams play this year?

It’s a BRUTAL schedule because Florida (and some other teams) can’t afford bad hair days. And as I said, Florida hasn’t found it’s new identity yet.




I’ll bring a picture book and crayons to footballapallooza for ya chili. That way you won’t have to work so hard to understand the difference between words like harder and brutal when the rest of us folks from REAL football programs get to talking. And I’ll make sure that the crayons ONLY have the CORRECT color of orange, not some baby-puke pansy orange sherbet rip-off.”

“The reason for the weak finish is Rutgers defense lacks size and depth. They are relying on speed to overcome the size issue. They get tired and don't have enough skill players to rotate so they finish weak.

Teams that can play no huddle well should be able to exploit this (West Virginia this weekend).

The program has moved forward well and we have some great players. We just need more of them.”

“I'm sure FL is shaking in their boots over their next game! ;-)”

“Yeah, but I said that last year. Was it last year?”

“It's been a tough sell for Sciano, violin. He doesn't have much of a market either. Your area is focused on pro sports. College doesn't get much coverage up there. The papers down here have huge sections on high school and college football. It's different.

Schiano appears to be on track though. I've never questioned his recruiting. It's his game-day coaching I've questioned in the past.

But he did let one get away. The (supposedly) best HS recruit in the country this year is a safety out of Princeton. He's going to Florida St.




Stove, the Gators should be shaking in their boots over ALL their remaining games.

Vanderbilt and South Carolina won't be pushovers if the Gators can't get this offensive thing worked out. The offensive line has been a huge disappointment.

Miss. St. has beat us the last two times we've played. That puts some fear into me. I'll be at the game by the way. Anyone to whom you want me to say hello?

LSU, Footballapallooza, Georgia, and Florida St. coming up. Boy Howdy!”

“Urban at halftime of Bama game in the locker room:



Meyer: Well, troops, it was s tough battle in the first half. A real war out there. We’re losing some skirmishes, but that’ll happen in combat. We’ve been fortunate to keep casualties to a minimum…

Degory (Center): Coach, were you in the service?

Meyer: No.

Degory (Center): Then, what are you talking about?

Meyer: Well, I’m not gonna sugar-coat it. They’re handing us our ***.

Mincey (DE who ran his mouth): Impossible. They suck.

Meyer: As it turns out, so do we.

Wilbur: But you got a plan, right?

Meyer: Everybody has a plan ’til they get hit.

Wilbur: Does your plan involve more than clichés and war jargon?

Meyer: Okay, there are several things we need to address. First, Leak…

Leak: Yay! I win! I win!

Meyer: No, Chris, I mean we need to discuss some issues.

Leak: Okay. I got no girlfriend. I know I said I wasn’t gonna have one ’til we won a national champeenchip, but I get lonely. Sometimes I feel like nobody cares…

Meyer: Not that kind of issue. I mean we need to discuss some problems with the way you’re playing.

Leak: I got problems?

Meyer: Like a ’s got crabs. You tend to pitch the ball very quickly, sometimes when you’re open to run.

Leak: I noticed that when I have the ball, big people try to hit me.

Meyer: I’m glad to hear that you’ve learned at least that much about my offense. I really need you to learn a little more.

Leak: Can I have a sucker?

Meyer: No. Let’s talk about the running game. Currently, we don’t have one. We’re losing at the line of scrimmage… down in the trenches. We’ve got to take the battle to them. We must break through the enemy defenses and…

Degory (Center): Coach?

Meyer: Yuh-huh?

Degory (Center): You’re doin’ it again.

Meyer: Oh. Well, just, uh, how ’bout opening some holes

Degory (Center): Yep.

Meyer: Wynn?

Wynn (RB): What?

Meyer: Gonna need a little better effort.

Wynn (RB): I quit.

Meyer: Right.

Cohen: You need me at running back?

Meyer: Soooooooo not gonna happen.

Cohen: But I could…

Meyer: Nope.

Cohen: We could just try…

Meyer: Nuh-uh.

Cohen: Damn.

Meyer: Defense… I cannot stress this enough: they’re allowed to throw the ball. As in a forward pass. They have receivers and everything.

Herring (starting Safety): Bama?

Meyer: Yes, Bama.

Herring (starting Safety): They never did before.

Meyer: Well, they found some, and I really need you to cover them.

Webb (starting DB): How long is this game?

Meyer: ’Nother half-hour.

Webb (starting DB): I got places to be, ---- to do.

Meyer: We sorta have to win this game first.

Thomas: No problem. We’re better than them.

Meyer: Based on…?

Thomas: Ask anybody. Read the papers. Listen to the radio. We can’t lose to Bama.

Meyer: You read that?

Thomas: Well, I don’t read, but I heard it. We can’t lose. It’s a sure thing.

Meyer: Lemme tell ya 'bout prom night. I took Cindy Lou Freebush. Know why? Because she was a sure thing. Then prom night came and I didn’t. Know why? Because prom night happened to fall during her special time of the month.

Mincey (DE who ran his mouth): So?

Meyer: So, sometimes you get all excited because you think you’ve got a sure thing, and then a Crimson Tide comes along and ruins your evening.

Leak: Can we have milkshakes?

Meyer: No.”

“Tonight's the night. Penn State-Ohio State.

It will be war.”

“What a great game. Classic battle to the wire.

So what happened to all the Joe-Pa must retire peeps?”

“I think it's time for Michigan to think about a new coach.”

“OMG! The unthinkable happened! Stanford actually won a Pac-10 game! On the road! I think hell just froze over....”

“If I can't celebrate a Bama win, then I guess a Texas A&M loss is the next best thing.”

“Nigal: Waaaaaaaa…whine!

Payback buddy!

We can be just like the Middle East. I get you…you get me…

The Big Ten is doing a pretty good job of eating their own this year.




Now what can I say about Tennessee? I like Tennessee. I can’t stand Jawja. But the outcome was more favorable for my team. What a predicament.

I also have this sick fantasy of ruining Jawja’s season. That may be a pipe dream this year.”

“I'm looking for USC, Texas, Alabama, and VA Tech to all go unbeaten so they have to have a playoff. That would be some entertaining football.”

“Iowa wins! YEAH!

WI loses! YEAH!

Now lets get MN on a good losing streak, course will be tough with MN/WI playing next week... I think it's next week.

And time for Penn St to go doooooooooooown!”

““Nigal: Waaaaaaaa…whine!"

I prefer to call it “righteous indignation”. LOL!”

“I LOVE football!”

“U of M is dying a slow painful death this season... :-) What Top 25??? LOL

MSU had a bye week... next up. Ohio State.... we're looking to crack some buckeyes next week!”

“Those Buckeyes won't crack easily!”

“Whatever you Alabama fans were hoping for this season, you can pretty much forget about it now. I just got around to checking out the latest Sports Illustrated, and guess who's on the cover....”

“Bama boards were pretty funny last week talking about the SI curse. We've already exceeded my expectations for the season, so I'm good.”

“Now what can I say about Tennessee? I like Tennessee. I can’t stand Jawja. But the outcome was more favorable for my team. What a predicament.

I also have this sick fantasy of ruining Jawja’s season. That may be a pipe dream this year.”
arclite
6:48:41 AM

Arclite how is UGA winning good for UF? Win or lose it would still come down to UGA vs UF and UGA has little left on the schedule.

One things for sure, UT sure has finally turned the corner on offense under Randy Sanders. The latest statistics for various offensive categories ranks UTs offense around 100 out of 114 teams. Some folks are saying Smokey should run the offense.
last edited: 10/10/05 10:11:10 AM”

“Trailhound, if Tennessee had won the Jawja game they would only have one SEC loss. If they win out, and if we lose to LSU, the Jawja game doesn’t matter for our SEC championship hopes. It doesn’t get any more tragic than having those smug Tennessee fans talk about how they have the greatest team in the SEC even after they lose to the GATORS. I’ve seen THAT before… more than once.

Tennessee has Bama, South Carolina, Vandy and Kentucky left. All of those are easy wins. Tennessee plays it’s toughest SEC game first and leaves the chumps for the end.

If we lose to LSU (granted our chances are slim for going to the Championship Game) I believe we’ve got a better shot now. Jawja plays Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Florida, Auburn, and Kentucky. I believe there’s a greater chance of Georgia losing two. Jawja would need to lose to the Gators and Auburn or get upset by Arkansas. I like those odds better.


It mostly comes down to Florida/LSU/Auburn/Jawja now. Tennessee can’t sneak in the back door.
last edited: 10/10/05 4:24:39 PM”

“I take back what I said about it being time for Joe Paterno to retire.

There Geo… are you HAPPY?

I still hate him for making me sit in the cold one time too many while Penn State ran up the score (red meat for arc) on a hapless Wounded Amoebas team, but he’s proven he can still coach with the best of them.”

“It doesn’t get any more tragic than having those smug Tennessee fans talk about how they have the greatest team in the SEC even after they lose to the GATORS. I’ve seen THAT before… more than once.
arclite

I think most would agree that there were several years even when UF beat UT under Spurrier UT was the best team in the conference at the end of the year. Just part of the conference race, you play'em when their scheduled. In '01 UT didn't have a chance in Sept, obviously Dec was a different story.

Just don't see UGA even giving a game to anyone but AU (because I haven't seen anything of them) and possibly UF with some improvements on both sides of the ball. LSU, although improving is still terrible. IMHO UGA has won the East. Both the D and O look good and are continuing to improve every game and I don't consider their schedule all that tough considering the condition of the SEC this season. We'll see in time. Hopfully, someone can knock the final wheel off of UT's bus so some real changes with the staff will occur.
last edited: 10/10/05 5:08:59 PM”

“irish are back in the top 10 where they belong. if they beat usc (pray to touchdown jesus), they belong in the top 5”

“this could be the year that Vandy knocks a wheel off the big orange bus.”

“After watching them against LSU, I just don't think so. Actually, Bamer hanging about 40 on UT would be more effective than even losing to Candy.”

“oh believe me, i really hope UT wins out, but after the GA game, i'm scared for the remainder of the season.”

“Please let Bama hang 40 on them.”