The College Football thread

“Sweet Mother of Hubbard!

I don't want to even say the "b" word and jinx it.”

“Roll Tide Roll !!!!”

“The Hokies rule!”

“WE ARE ............. PENN STATE !!!”

“I'm starting to think my beloved DAWGS may not do so well this year.”

“Yee haw! Stanford got 1 vote in the coaches poll - probably ASU's coach!”

“It was a good weekend. Penn State won big, the Flyers won handily, the Eagles pulled one out, and wonder of wonders, Army won a game. Virginia was the only loser.”

“Yeah, where the heck was Virginia's offense?”

“Studying up for the big upset when Tech goes to C'ville.”

“I can't believe how dead this thread is. I guess no UT fan wants to post here.”

“OK! I'll liven it up!

Guess the Cardinal is getting a little respect: Last week vs. unranked ASU, a 10-point underdog at home. This week vs. top ten ranked and undefeated UCLA, only a 7-point underdog at home. We always play UCLA pretty tough - we've had some great games over the years. And we have a uniquely intense, but civilized rivalry.”

“For the first time in two decades, UT fans are actually discussing the basketball season before the second week in January.”

“I'm really looking forward to Baseball season. ;-)”

“And here I thought arclite was a sore winner.”

“V - we've won 2 games against UT in about 10 years.”

“That was just plain wrong, dayhiker.”

“I'm also a sore loser...

...but not as often a loooooooser as a Scarlet Knight fan.




GATORS 4 point favorite? Lord have mercy, we're in trouble now.”

“Hey! Watch what you say about the Fightin Tomatoes. You want Violin should tune you up?”

“in Tennessee's case they crush their own dreams. They didn't need Alabama to do it”

“It's those butt ugly orange suits! One good thing, you can keep wearing them during hunting season.
last edited: 10/26/05 3:50:26 PM”

“No worries Geo. I'm a very good loser. I've had plenty of practice.”

“TN has no excuse for not fielding a National Champion team every year.
They have tons of money, one of the best statiums in the SEC, a fun town, and no competition for the very best players in the whole state.”

“Sorta like Army fans, no?”

“Tennessee has no excuses. They should have been what Nebraska was in the 90's, a dominant powerhouse. But, of course, they are not.

As 4-G's stated, they have everything: facilities, fans, tons of money, a national recruiting base, tee-vee exposure...the whole enchilada. Well, everything but an offensive coordinator and a coach with even just a little creativity.

USC finds a way to win and their coach makes adjustments. UT finds ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”

“kp summed it up pretty well”

“Wow, first opportunity back here in a while. Really surprised how few posts there are on the 3rd Sat in Oct. On the bright side UT fans were getting a new OC for Christmas. Rumor has it that someone actually wants to take Sanders and he wants out. You guys pretty much summed up anything else I could say.

Here's a little something of interest. Besides the last second TD against UGA which was clearly down 5 yds short of the goal line, UT's O has now been without a TD for the last 11 quarters of play. We may acutally have one of the best Ds with one of the worst Os in UT history.
last edited: 10/27/05 9:46:15 AM”

“WTF????


Somebody wants Sanders!!!! Must be some place like Slippery (Slick?) Rock.
last edited: 10/27/05 9:47:05 AM”

“Believe it or not and I'm not sure I do but the rumor is MTSU. I think he would do fine in DII.
last edited: 10/27/05 9:50:35 AM”

“GO HOKIES! Beat Boston College. Honestly, I am just a little nervous cuz BC beat VT last year. But I think we are favored to win by 13 points.”

“Don't know if you guys have heard but a Montgomery Channel just reported that the Auburn kicker was being held Thursday afternoon for attempted suicide.


J Vaugh immediately begin receiving death threats and other nasty ridicule after missing a total of 5 field goal attempts including a 39-yarder in overtime giving No. 7 LSU a 20-17 victory.


Police reported that the kicker's roommate was apparently disturbed by the situation but assured officials that Vaugh was unable to successfully kick the chair.

Ok, I’ll go ahead and give my apology. Yes, I do know that suicide is a serious situation that shouldn’t be joked about. And yes, I do have both family members and close friends who have suffered from such a tragedy. I’m sorry. Really, I am.
last edited: 10/27/05 5:09:46 PM”

“The tamer one that I heard is that Vaughn is trying to leave the state. He can't even leave town. He hitchikes out of Auburn, but no Auburn fan will pick him up and the Alabama fans keep bringing him back to town.”

“Tennessee Volunteers football practice was delayed nearly two hours today after a player reported finding an unknown white powdery substance on the practice field.

Head Coach Phil Fulmer immediately suspended practice while police and federal investigators were called to investigate. After a complete analysis, FBI forensic experts determined that the white substance unknown to the players was the goal line.”

“HEY CHILI - I went to Spillery Rock and there's no way they would want Sanders!”

“Meoops!
last edited: 10/28/05 8:25:57 AM”

“Hmmm. No cheering for the Cardinal by pixie all week. Hello!!?? Are you there??!!”

“I can't imagine anyone wanting Sanders.

Unless KFC is looking to promote him to Colonel; dress him in a chicken suit and create a new advertising campaign.”

“Good Mike Shula article: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/sec/2005-10-28-shula_x.htm

I love this quote from the article: "The son of a legend, coaching at a place where no legend looms larger, shadows don't seem to faze him."”

“The Hokies are 8 - 0. Life is good.”

“Yay!

Army will not lose this week!

Navy plays Rutgers. Go Fightin Tomatoes!

Meanwhile, in Big 10 action, Purdue gets a loss tomorrow.”

“Ya mean Purdon't?”

“To Purdue or not Purdue, that is the question”

“Hmmmm. Still no pixie....”

“Check out what Florida will be wearing tomorrow.

”

“That's nice DDX, but what kind of shoes will they be wearing? And handbag?”

“The clothing doesn't mean squat if you don't accessorize!”

“I am sure DX has matching shoes and bag”

“WE'RE #1! WE'RE #1!

I'm certainly one. I know that much.




Bowlder, what's your take on UCLA? I bet UCLA to cover 7, but I really haven't been following the west coast as well as I should have been. I mean, I like Stanford, but I figure that UCLA will be preparing for USC. What do you think?




Mantra at Rutgers: 'I have a good feeling about this one'

By Kelly Whiteside, USA TODAY

JACKSONVILLE - Last week we had the first ever meeting of the Rutgers
Club of Jacksonville, where I live. This table full of Rutgers alums met
at a restaurant not too far from the Gator Bowl. This was coincidental.

Rutgers has not been to a bowl game since 1978, and needs just one win
to become bowl-eligible.
By Kevin Rivoli, AP

One more win, and Rutgers is bowl eligible. As I write that sentence, I
go back over it in disbelief. I rub my eyes, move my cursor over the
words "bowl eligible" and my cursor still blinks at me - or perhaps more
accurately - winks at me. It's true. It's really true.

One more win and the planets will collide, the cow will jump over the
moon and Rutgers could be headed to a magical place it hasn't seen since
1978 - a bowl.

That glorious year, the Scarlet Knights traveled seven exits up the New
Jersey Turnpike to play Arizona State in the long-defunct Garden State
Bowl at Giants Stadium. I was there, of course, though too young to
remember anything much other than it was cold enough to drink hot
chocolate. It was mid-December, after all, in New Jersey.

I ask my oldest brother, Tim, his memories. "We got robbed on a bad
call," he says. Alas, the Scarlet Knights lost 34-18 and haven't been to
a bowl since, the longest drought for schools in the six Bowl
Championship Series conferences.

I should mention my brother doesn't care for sportswriters because they
write negative things about Rutgers. (Of course, I point out that there
haven't been many nice things to say in the 136 years since Rutgers, the
birthplace of college football, played the nation's first game, but he
tends to overlook this fact.) I think he likes me OK in spite of what I
do, but perhaps this is only because as USA TODAY's college football
reporter, I don't write about Rutgers much. In my six years on the job,
the Knights are a combined 20-44.

Growing up about 15 minutes from the Rutgers campus, my family has been
obsessively devoted to one of most unremarkable teams in all of college
football. During the last three decades, my parents rarely missed a
football game, home or away.

My father, Joe, worked at the school for 25 years, but his love for the
place went far beyond paychecks or diplomas (his four kids went to
school there). When he died two years ago, on the way to the burial, the
motorcade stopped in front of the stadium. There the marching band had
gathered for that moment, unbeknownst to us. They softly played the alma
mater, On the Banks of the Old Raritan. A light snow fell. The
scoreboard read: "Thanks, Joe." He was buried a few miles away, his
well-worn Rutgers cap tossed into the casket. Whoever said, "Nobody ever
died for dear, old Rutgers," as the Broadway song goes, got it wrong.

On Saturdays, I am invariably in some press box far, far from Rutgers
Stadium. But my mother, Norma, calls as soon as the game ends to give me
a recap. On the job, covering a world where coaches are fired after nine
wins (yes, you, Nebraska) and where alums push for change after three
seasons (see Notre Dame), I sometimes wonder ... if they only knew how
the other half lives.

The last time Rutgers had a winning season was 13 years ago when it was
7-4 and got shut out of a bowl. Right now the Scarlet Knights are 5-2.
They play Navy on Saturday for homecoming, followed by games against
South Florida, Louisville and Cincinnati. Of course, it's Rutgers, so it
could lose all four, given its habit of finding new and unique ways to
break hearts. Last year, Rutgers started 4-2 and lost its last five.

A line in the school fight song - "Upstream, red team, red team
upstream" - has served as an apt metaphor for their struggles: forever
upstream. Before games my father would say, "I have a good feeling about
this one." The thing was, he always had a good feeling, no matter how
insurmountable the odds, no matter how few the wins.

As for this year? All that's for certain is one more win and Rutgers is
bowl eligible. Perhaps a trip to the Insight Bowl in Phoenix, which pits
a Big East vs. a Pacific-10 team, for an Arizona State rematch?

"You know, they could go to the Gator," my brother reminds me.

Little-known fact about the St. Johns River, which serves as the
backdrop for the Gator Bowl: It runs upstream.


If Rutgers goes to the Gator Bowl, my buddy will be heading this way. What about you, violin?”

“Badgers, Badgers, Badgers”

“You better believe I'll be traveling to wherever the Knight might go post-season arclite. I'm more than a little superstitious about all the b_wl hype though.

Thanks for posting that story. The part about the funeral procession stopping by Rutgers stadium choked me up. That alma mater is in my blood.

The writer left out a couple of facts that should be considered. The Garden State Bowl was created after Rutgers went 11-0 in 1976, finished #17 and received no bowl invites. Rodney Dangerfield gets more respect. While it’s true they started last season 4-2 only to lose the last five, it wasn’t really all that ‘inventive’. A drunken driver going the wrong way across the Raritan River Bridge after a game crashed into a car carrying three of our starters and nearly killed all three. It had an emotional impact on the team that went beyond just losing three good players.”