Upon Further Review (Week 4)

They May Bend But...

One thing we discovered Saturday was that Alabama's defense is still a work in progress.  In the first half against Arkansas, they were unable to establish a pass rush, and Ryan Mallett made them pay.  In the second half, the Tide dialed up the blitz, and Mallet started to look very average.  Then he began tossing passes to the guys in the other jerseys.   The Razorback offense that scored 17 points in the first half could manage only a field goal in the second half as the Tide caught up and then passed the punchless Hogs.

The lack of a pass rush has to be a concern - Alabama has just one sack in four games.  But, somehow, they still lead the nation in scoring defense.  Can Florida's still-developing passing attack stem the Tide?  We'll find out soon enough.

NBC and Notre Dame Are Both Losing

As I was cruising through the channels on Saturday - clicking back and forth between several games that were actually good, I stumbled briefly on the Notre Dame-Stanford game on NBC.  I don't remember what the score was at the time, but the Tree ended up winning 37-14, and the game wasn't even that close. 

During the fifteen seconds that I stopped on NBC to catch the score, I found myself wondering... does someone in South Bend have incriminating photos of Dick Ebersol?  Have they agreed to keep said pictures under wraps as long as NBC keeps renewing the contract that makes them the exclusive carrier of Notre Dame home games?  What else could explain the ridiculous decision to continue torturing the NBC audience (what little there is of it during Notre Dame games) and the college football world in general with such an inferior product?

When you look at Ebersol's credentials, you realize the man is responsible for some of the most amazing televised sporting events ever, so it can't be a lapse in his judgement, can it? 

Two years ago, when ESPN.com reported that Notre Dame and NBC had extended their contract through 2015, they noted that this was "despite the Fighting Irish last year drawing their lowest ratings since the network began broadcasting their games in 1991."  What are the odds that the audience grew during last year's tumultuous 6-6 swan song for Charlie Weis?  With the Irish off to a blazing 1-3 start this year, when I tuned in briefly, I may have doubled their viewing audience.  Assuming Ebersol is still watching.

Since 2000, Notre Dame has had four coaches, and compiled a very pedestrian 71-55 record.  Because they are Notre Dame, they have finagled invitations to three BCS bowl games in that time, and lost each of them.  Badly.  Oregon State whipped the Irish 41-9 in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl.  The closest game of the three was the 34-20 loss to Ohio State in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.  The following year they got pounded by LSU in the Sugar Bowl, 41-14. 

The same ESPN.com article quoted Ebersol as saying, "We go into this thinking that if the vast majority of the years has Notre Dame competitive in that top 10 or for that top 10 through the majority of the season, then we'll be very happy."

Dick, it's not 1949.  It's 2010.  The Irish haven't been great in a long time, and, right now, they're not even good.  What the heck are you thinking?

Great Offense? Or Bad Defense?

Call me skeptical.  Call me provincial.  Call me whatever you want.  But I need to see more from the Pac 10 before I start jumping on the conference bandwagon.  Stanford may be legit (if you ask me, they look more like a Big 10 team), but, once again, we are faced with the old Pac 10 quandary.  Are the offenses that good?  Or are the defenses that bad?

Consider Oregon's performance on Saturday.  Heading into the game, the Ducks were leading the nation in total defense and scoring defense, but yielded 597 yards and 31 points to Arizona State.  The Sun Devils scored 31 points on the Ducks despite the fact that they turned the ball over seven times.  Seven.  How many points would they have scored if they could have actually held on to the ball on a regular basis? Oregon prevailed 42-31, but the two teams combined for over 1000 yards of total offense.

Great offense?  Or bad defense?

In the season opener, and in a winning effort, USC still surrendered 36 points to Hawaii.  Nevada may still be scoring touchdowns on Cal.

I'm not sure what to think, but we'll find out more this Saturday when Stanford visits Oregon, and Arizona State visits Oregon State.