Rushing Roulette
The difference between Bud Foster and other defensive coordinators with shrunken cojonoes...? How many times have you seen a three man rush in long-yardage passing situations? Against Boston College, with a 16-0 lead early in the 4th quarter, and the Eagles facing a 3rd and 14 from their own 39, Virginia Tech blitzed. The result? BC loses 3 yards. Other coaches please take note. I despise the three man rush.
Riding the Pine
Speaking of Boston College, has anyone noticed that quarterback Dave Shinskie is terrible? First of all, he is a 26 year old "sophomore" after playing a few years of pro basbeball, so he should, in theory, be capable of making better decisions than your average 19 year old, but... no, not so much. In my opinion, once you take money for playing any professional sport, you should be ineligible for any college sport. But that's another story.
Secondly, he has a knack for making bad plays right when the opponent needs them. Let's just look at today's game. He has fumbled once and thrown two interceptions - one in the Virginia Tech endzone. The height of stupidity - trailing 7-0 with no time outs and a 1st and 6 from the Virginia Tech 11, but only 15 seconds remaining, Shinskie scrambled on a pass play. Ok, ok, he got within a yard of the end zone, but by then there was no time left on the clock. You have got to get at least a field goal attempt out of that. Unless, of course, you are Dave Shinskie.
But, hey, at least he improved over last year's performance in Blacksburg in which he went 1 for 12 for 4 yards and threw two interceptions, including a pick 6.
Currently, he is riding the pine, watching his backup lead the Eagles the rest of the way to a 19-0 loss.
Who's the Boss?
Is there a dominant team out there? Texas is currently losing at home to UCLA. It's only half-time, and it may not hold up, but...
Alabama and Arkansas are slugging it out. Both teams have looked good at times, but the quarterbacks have already combined to throw 3 interceptions in the first half - 2 by the Tide's McElroy.
In my view, the dominant team, at least until someone proves otherwise? Boise State.
Showing posts with label Boston College. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boston College. Show all posts
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Upon Further Review (Week 3)
I know, I know. I just posted my Week 2 Review and Week 3 is already gone. Sue me. Or, better yet, pay me the big bucks to write these things and they'll always be on time. Or, almost always.
Don't Forget. I Was Right
It is the solemn duty of every alleged sports writer to remind his faithful readers every time his predictions come true, and to never again mention the predictions that backfire. Since I believe in solemn duties, I am choosing now to remind you that, when I discussed (here) the fact that the alleged Notre Dame Mystique no longer exists, I challenged readers to try to convince me that Notre Dame would start the season off with anything better than a 3-3 record.
Well, the Fleeing Irish are now 1-2, and the next three weeks have them playing #16 Stanford and then at Boston College, followed by a home game against Pittsburgh. You do the math.
Just remember I told you so...
Baby Gators
Since I have a strong University of Florida heritage, you'll get a moderate dose of Gator news here. Hey, if you don't like it, find a Seminole blog somehwere. Surely, there are at least one or two of them that know how to spell.
Anyway...
As if any of you need another reason to worry, here is something that should scare everyone but Gator fans.
As I pointed out here, the Gators played more freshman in their first game than any other team in the country.
Here is some complicated math courtesy of the Gainesville Sun following the Tennessee game:
Of the 70 players who made the trip to Knoxville 43 are underclassmen, 21 were on their first road trip and 19 played in their first road game.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel did the math this way: 41% of the players standing on the Florida sideline in Neyland Stadium were either freshman or redshirt freshman.
Note to the rest of the nation: this Gator team may struggle to get victories this season, but they'll get a bunch. Next year, watch out.
Conference Call
You'd pretty much have to be an idiot to think that there is a better college football conference in the land than the SEC. There is just too much evidence - objective, subjective and circumstantial.
ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel recently wrote a little more about that subject here. But there is a subtle nuance that often goes unmentioned, although I'm sure the athletic director at every SEC school knows all about it. Maisel points out that there are seven SEC football stadiums with a capacity of over 80,000 (no other conference has more than four stadiums that big), and those stadiums are filled to an average of 98% of capacity on game days. Think of all those seats, all those fans, paying for tickets.
When you combine that with fanatical booster support, merchandise and licensing income, TV revenues, and the payouts the league has collected from having put teams in BCS bowl games eighteen times since 1999, what that means is, in addition to speed, skill and talent, SEC teams have lots of money for nice things. Nice things attract new recruits. And new fans. And new TV contracts. And on-the-field success. And more national championships. And, thus, the cycle repeats itself.
Instant Chuckle:
Don't Forget. I Was Right
It is the solemn duty of every alleged sports writer to remind his faithful readers every time his predictions come true, and to never again mention the predictions that backfire. Since I believe in solemn duties, I am choosing now to remind you that, when I discussed (here) the fact that the alleged Notre Dame Mystique no longer exists, I challenged readers to try to convince me that Notre Dame would start the season off with anything better than a 3-3 record.
Just remember I told you so...
Baby Gators
Since I have a strong University of Florida heritage, you'll get a moderate dose of Gator news here. Hey, if you don't like it, find a Seminole blog somehwere. Surely, there are at least one or two of them that know how to spell.
Anyway...
As I pointed out here, the Gators played more freshman in their first game than any other team in the country.
Here is some complicated math courtesy of the Gainesville Sun following the Tennessee game:
Of the 70 players who made the trip to Knoxville 43 are underclassmen, 21 were on their first road trip and 19 played in their first road game.
The Knoxville News-Sentinel did the math this way: 41% of the players standing on the Florida sideline in Neyland Stadium were either freshman or redshirt freshman.
Note to the rest of the nation: this Gator team may struggle to get victories this season, but they'll get a bunch. Next year, watch out.
Conference Call
You'd pretty much have to be an idiot to think that there is a better college football conference in the land than the SEC. There is just too much evidence - objective, subjective and circumstantial.
ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel recently wrote a little more about that subject here. But there is a subtle nuance that often goes unmentioned, although I'm sure the athletic director at every SEC school knows all about it. Maisel points out that there are seven SEC football stadiums with a capacity of over 80,000 (no other conference has more than four stadiums that big), and those stadiums are filled to an average of 98% of capacity on game days. Think of all those seats, all those fans, paying for tickets.
When you combine that with fanatical booster support, merchandise and licensing income, TV revenues, and the payouts the league has collected from having put teams in BCS bowl games eighteen times since 1999, what that means is, in addition to speed, skill and talent, SEC teams have lots of money for nice things. Nice things attract new recruits. And new fans. And new TV contracts. And on-the-field success. And more national championships. And, thus, the cycle repeats itself.
Instant Chuckle:
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