Hawkeye D carried the banged up offense (it's now been 2 years since Minnesota scored on Iowa) now nothing to do but sit, wait and root against Pitt, Boise and OkSt.
That win was great, but now I'm worried that Penn State may sneak into the BCS ahead of Iowa simply because the voters for the coach's poll are all retarded and will ignore the beating Iowa gave Penn State this season. Hopefully everything can work out and Iowa will head to Miami or Tempe for what should be an exciting game against Georgia Tech/Clemson/whoever the Fiesta picks. Frankly, I don't think Pitt is an issue because there's no way the Big East sends 2 teams, I just don't think it happens. I'm just hoping Ok. St. loses to Oklahoma next week so both Boise and Iowa can make it. It's going to be a long wait to December 6 to find out where they go.
Found out a couple hours ago that OkSt hasn't sold out a home game all year. No BCS bowl will touch them with a 10 foot pole. Agree on Pitt, they have two really tough games coming up. Texas blowing the Big 12 title game, Iowa getting jumped by Penn State or somehow getting jumped a 3 loss Oregon are the big threats.
Does anyone know why Jake Locker is expected to be a top ten pick if he enters the draft? I haven't watched him play, but his numbers don't really impress. Granted he's not on a very good team, but I was surprised to him going before Bradford, McCoy, Tebow, etc. in nearly every mock draft.
Spread QBs haven't been proven to make the transition to a Pro Offense yet. They'd rather have someone with unsexy numbers but pro tools (ex. Matt Ryan) in a pro offense, rather than a spread guy that lit it up, but might not be able to transition.
Wow, Auburn is completely mismanaging the clock during this final 1:20 against Alabama. But, you have to hand it to McElroy and 'Bama. They made plays during their final drive by getting the ball to Julio Jones in a game where Ingram was basically a non-factor. He was out the final drive with an apparent injury which could be HUGE in the SEC Championship and beyond. ........and game. 'Bama wins and stays undefeated. Horrible, horrible clock management by Auburn.
It was nice to see McElroy play as well as he did in a game where Ingram didn't matter. That backup freshman RB is going to be excellent when Ingram is gone, though. Glad to see 'Bama pulled it out. I was shitting my pants after that trick on-side kick put Auburn up 14-0.
It would've been great if Saban had said "I wanna thank Les Miles... I mean Gene Chizik for such a tough game" at his post game press conference.
Bob Stoops and the Sooners may have just done his alma mater, Iowa, a huge favor in shutting out Oklahoma State. Unless Texas loses to Nebraska, then both Boise State and Iowa should get at large BCS bids, likely playing each other in the Fiesta Bowl. In other news, did you all know that today is Tim Tebow's last game at the Swamp? You'd think something like that would at least get a little bit of coverage...
There's Pitt/Cincy and the ACC title game (GT vs Clemson) to worry about too. I'm not worried about PSU jumping Iowa even though it's technically possible. If Texas, Cincy and GT win next week Iowa is pretty much a lock. If one favorite loses it's between them and Boise. If two lose they are locked out.
I think Florida might have the best college defense of all time. It's impossible to compare stats with the teams from 20+ years ago because of how much the game has changed, but they've shut down every offense they've played this year. It seems like the only time teams get in the double digits is when Tebow throws a pick 6.
Better than last year's USC defense who didn't have the luxury of playing Troy, Charleston Southern and FIU? They're defense is very good, that's for sure, but they're points allowed per game goes up 2 points if you throw out the cupcakes.
They've shown some vulnerability against the run, especially against Tennessee. I think the true test of how great the Gators D is will come against Alabama.
They're very similar teams that have established a run first, pass to keep em honest type of offense that relies on conservative play calling and a stifling defense to keep them in control of games. I'm not sure Alabama will be the best offense they've faced this year. Tennessee played a tough game, but still only put up only 13 points, which just isn't enough to give a team a chance to beat Florida. My guess is that Alabama keeps it close and falls just short of another shot at the championship. Florida is the better team on both sides of the ball.
I agree with you. I think the outcome will be close to what happened last year, something like a 28-17 final in favor of UF. Then again I'm a Gators fan. Alabama scares me, though, much moreso than Texas or TCU or Cincy or anyone else in the mix.
Toby Gerhart is a fucking MAN out there. Another 205 yards and 3 TDs, along with a sweet passing TD? Damn. As much as I think Colt deserves the Heisman (albeit with a burnt-orange bias), I couldn't argue with Gerhart getting it. He is an absolute stud. Heisman thoughts??
I think the finalists are Ingram, Tebow, McCoy, Gerhart and Spiller. I'm guessing the winner will come from whichever team wins the SEC championship game, unless they both have a terrible day, in which case it's a coin flip between McCoy and Gerhart (but will probably go to Colt.) Being a Stanford grad and a Texas native, my personal loyalties are somewhat split, but Gerhart really seems to be playing on another level this year. He had this same running style last year and used it to great success, but somehow has stepped it up this season, no doubt because of better blocking along the line, and from his FB in particular. Unforunately, I think his chances took a big, big hit when Stanford lost to Cal. In the midst of such a close race, I think it's just too hard for a voter to justify picking him when he'll have two other finalists on undefeated teams to choose from. EDIT: For anyone that watched the end of the Stan-ND game, when Notre Dame has 1 TO left, you're sitting on their 4 yard line with under a minute and a half to go, why do you not kneel it out and kick the FG for the win? I don't know Whittaker's stats, but if the kid hit from 54 earlier this year you'd think he'd be good from 21. Was Harbaugh that dead set on getting Toby another TD on national television? If so, his heart was in the right place, but the way the corpses formerly known as our defense were playing, it's a big damn risk to take, one that could have easily cost us the game if their blocking had decided to show up for that last drive.
I watched the end of the Stanford victory with my friend who goes to Notre Dame and his family, who have fallen in love with the school since he started there. Hearing their lamentations and the curses they wished on Charlie Weis was music to my ears. I hate that school.
Pretty awesome ending to the USC/UCLA. USC up 14 late, takes a knee. UCLA calls a timeout, so USC bombs it to the endzone next play. Big brawl nearly erupts. As a neutral observer it was highly entertaining.