BUYS AND SELLS, WEEK ONE.
by Orson on Sep 4, 2007 1:30 PM EDT
Email
PrintOrson and guest editor Hannibal Montegna review the Squawk Box for the week that was week one. Hold onto your 401Ks.
BUY! BUY! BUY!Orson's Buys
Washington All comments must be prefaced with this: it's Syracuse. It's Syracuse. Oh, my god, it's one game against Syracuse, the worst fucking team in the Big East who quit in the third quarter, wear uniforms nicked off some dismal post-Soviet collapse Yeltsin-era Russian soccer squad, and have turned the Carrier Dome into the most horrifying and bewildering indoor environment since the Superdome during Katrina. You can just hear the motivational tapes playing in Greg Robinson's head: EXCELSIOR!!! CONFIDENCE!!! POISE!!! EXCELLENCE IS THE PRODUCT OF PREPARATION PLUS SHIT DID THEY JUST SCORE AGAIN...
Yet: Washington has sneakily adopted a spread offense to fit the talents of Jake Locker, a verdant but phenomenally talented freshman qb, and the 4.3 speedster Louis Rankin. Waggishly labeled the "spread coast" offense, Washington’s simplifying the attack has leveled the playing field for the nation’s toughest schedule. You get no data from a matchup with the Syracuse offense–even if they’ve quadrupled the wack factor of the Orange attack by adding the quick kick and the pistol formation to the mess–but the offense alone gives some shred of hope for the Huskies, especially since Locker showed signs of passing competence, too.
(USC, Oregon, Ohio State, and Cal all play at Washington. One of these teams is losing up there. It’s a brave new world–evolve or die!)
Michigan. Do you like value, investor?
Take a junked out blue-chip stock at its crusty, burnt-out nadir. Seriously. Buy it. Michigan cannot go any lower, and plays a.) Oregon, who they could beat, and b.) Notre Dame, who they will beat within an inch of the afterlife with Jimmy Clausen starting his second game at qb. We mean, we DON’T know this because of the tight-lipped secrecy that gives Notre Dame and Michigan the strategic edge in every game they’ve ever played!
Pete Carroll and Urban Meyer, btw, would love for you to have a copy of the playbook. Hell, they’ll tell you the lunch menu for the next week if you like, their waist size, and the quality of their last wrangle with the missus if you really want to know. ("We’ve done better," said Carroll in his press conference.)
Anyway, Michigan got black-swanned. They don’t suck, and won’t suck for the whole 2007 season. They really, really sucked a level of suck unseen in the history of Division 1 Football suckitude this past weekend, yes–but buy now when the rats are swimming from the ship.
Don’t rank them in your blogpoll, of course. That would be madness. But know that by the books, it is a scientific fact that they can’t get any worse because there hasn’t been a worse week for a team not involving death or a plane crash–ever.
Georgia The keg-lifting paid off for the Baby Sex Cannon, who must have hit the o-line to the workout routine, as well: what was thought to be the Achilles’ heel held up nicely, allowing for only two sacks, protected Stafford in a hyperefficient effort and clearing happy, collision-free space for Georgia’s running backs to tally up 142 yards rushing, as much as any team with a constrictoresque defense is going to need to win. Difficult to tell if the game was indicative of Okie State’s shambolic gameplanning or Richt’s teams superb preparation, but we’ll take a moderate gamble and go with UGA quality here. Buy, Simpkins, buy! And another gimlet, please, with the speed of tipsy angels, please…
Hannibal's Buys
I agree on Washington: Locker and essentially the entire team looked great, as did Georgia Tech, but I can't get past their opponents just yet. Even the cautious, center-dwelling mantra of Chan (short for "Chandler"?) couldn't conservatize his defense's bloodlust for Notre Dame's whimpering quarterbacks and the blundering line contracted to protect them. The Syracuse score, 42-12, might be a little misleading in its generosity, because the Orange were far worse than it indicates, worse even than the Irish. When Locker rolls up against a defense that doesn't blatantly play dead after the first quarter and that takes a halfway decent angle on his endless keeps around the end, U-Dub might not look so buff. It's also running into a buzzsaw of a schedule: the next four games are Boise State, Ohio State, UCLA and Southern Cal. I'll bite on the Huskies if they come out of that stretch at 2-3.
Anyway, though Georgia, Washington and G-Tech were impressive, none of them showed me anything all that surprising, or that made me completely change my mind about their potential. I'm more willing to jump on a bandwagon that answered a question by unveiling a strength that had been projected as a weakness:
Donovan: an improvement, perhaps.Wisconsin: The only element holding the Badgers out of everybody's top five to start the year was quarterback, and they obviously found their man in Tyler Donovan, a fifth-year senior who looked like he should have been playing ahead of historically milquetoast Jon Stocco the last two years. If it had been suggested P.J. Hill would be held to 84 yards on four per carry prior to the game, whatever the line was against Washington State would have dropped by a touchdown. But Donovan was great (19-29, 284, 3 TDs, 0 INT) and if he adds a more viable passing threat to the offense, Michigan's pending collapse makes Wisconsin the Big Ten favorite. Should be 5-0 when Penn State comes up in Happy Valley.
Oklahoma: North Texas looks about as bad as a Bowl Subdivision team can possibly be, I think, but I'm not convinced Sam Bradford could have done any better in his first start than 21-23 for 363 yards and three touchdowns if he were facing no defense at all. I should probably hold off on this until he looks over at a real defense (Miami comes to Norman Saturday), but like Wisconsin, Oklahoma moves to the front of its conference championship picture if the Sooners found their quarterback. It's a frightening prospect, really. Look at the rest of that team.
I also feel good about Texas Tech and Boston College, a little gumption for a change out of Colorado and, if the distinction is appropriate, First Half Clemson.
Sells
Hannibal's Sells
I'm reserving judgment on Virginia Tech and Texas until they face competition with sharper teeth this weekend, Florida State showed some signs of life in the second half Monday night and Notre Dame, well, I can't sell what I never bought in the first place.
Oklahoma State: ¡Ay, que lastima, las promesas de los Vaqueros son vacías! What was that? I never expected OSU to stop anybody, even an offense with as many questions on the line as Georgia's going into Saturday, but to only mount two scoring drives, and abandon a fairly successful running game against so much defensive youth was a regression. Bobby Reid went into Georgia a not-so-young, very hyped player expected to take his game to the level suggested by his recruiting hype after a quality debut season, with all sorts of modern weaponry at his disposal, and was decidedly shown up instead by Matt Stafford. The Cowboys will win three of their next four - maybe all four; Texas Tech is a toss-up – but won't fare any better trying to overcome the inevitable points put up by Nebraska and Texas A&M after that, if Saturday is any indication.
Missouri: I hate to be so Big 12-centric in my pessimism, but there is a problem with a supposed division title contender needing true freshman bone-headism from the opposing quarterback and every one of five turnovers to beat Illinois. There's still nothing wrong with the offense here, but the defense just reeks so bad: again, a true freshman entered the game for Illinois and threw for 257 yards, part of 435 yards the Big Ten's reigning doormat put up on the afternoon. Good as it was early, the Tiger offense went the final 25 minutes of the game without scoring, and never would have been in a position to hang on late without Illinois' typical generosity, which included a goalline fumble returned 100 yards for a Tiger touchdown and an eventually crucial field goal on the final play of the first half following a fumbled kickoff. Mizzou's defense always struggles to hold up in the Big 12, and Saturday looked like a regression on that side.
Orson's Sells
Notre Dame At least Michigan accumulated a respectable 479 yards of offense–Notre Dame can haz 122 yards of offense, plz, versus Georgia Tech. Their offensive line played abhorrently, but worse still shows signs of actually being abhorrent: slow, unable to read blitz packages, and incapable of doing much aside from falling forward in an imitation of proper run blocking.
The defense, too, continues to worry. Corwin Brown’s 3-4 got a steady diet of Choice up the middle in a display of vanilla play-calling practically Michiganesque in its uniform blandness. 265 yards later, vanilla looked terrifying. Combine that weakness on the run with a team able to lob fly patterns over the play-action happy secondary, and bad happens frequently. That could be the theme, this year, for Notre Dame: "Bad happens frequently."
Oh, and Chan Gailey outcoached Charlie Weis. Say that three times in the mirror and see if a man with a meathook doesn’t try to disembowel you.
Florida State. For the moment they’re a sell, since we think they’ll be malevolent in November in time for the Florida matchup. The offensive line still sucks, Drew Weatherford still spends most of the game running himself into and out of trouble, and De’Cody Fagg has, as one of our commenters put it, "hands like Talman Gardner," which is very much not good in case you didn’t know. The incompetence got contagious on Monday night, as even the stalwart defense tackled poorly on two of the three touchdown plays for Clemson.
There’s a time to buy FSU, maybe even as early as mid-October. For the moment, though, this team is the pain of learning writ large on a football field, or if you saw the broadcast last night, made animate in the form of Jimbo Fisher going apeshit in the booth as his offense waltzed into a wood-chipper.
Glennon will not please Jenkins.Virginia Tech. All VT needs on offense is a placeholder of a quarterback, a null, dull handoff artist with the ability to throw off bootlegs, easy play-action passes, and the obligatory screens, all totalling something less than 20 times a game. Sean Glennon, meager as the task might seem for a D-1 scholarship qb, cannot do this for reasons not entirely his fault: VT only averaged 1.1 yards a carry on the ground, forcing Glennon to pass for what is an ungodly 33 attempts against the humble ECU defense.
If Glennon is the strength of the VT offense, then this is like being forced to hitch your wagon to the Bulgarian economy as the strongest horse in the Southeastern European market. Ominous music creeps in at this point in the film.
Holds
Orson's holds:
Texas. Depth chart reshuffling promised after a defensive debacle against Arkansas State, resulting in a 21-13 WTFer to scare the coaching staff into instant tinkering mode.
Auburn. Perpetually befuddling in their ability to win games without scoring or looking even close to impressive. Much like a law-school era Bill Clinton, they sleep through the exams before popping awake at the end to give a brilliant answer before stealing your girl for some compassionate scrumping in the Yale library bathrooms. We suspect they’re much better than we anticipated, but that was Ron Prince coaching across from you, Tommy Tuberville–candy, babies, analogy invoked.
Miami. All but certain they can run the ball, tackle people, and bruise kidneys with the best of them, as every time we looked in on this game a Marshall player was being pinballed around by well-aimed white helmets flying for soft, mortal fleshy parts of their anatomies. Kirby Freeman and Patrick Nix may be a flammable combination, though–he appeared Reggie Ballish in his first game, passing for under a hundred yards against Marshall’s less than demanding secondary.
Hannibal's Holds
I feel like holding on pretty much everyone after just one week, so I'll focus on a couple of teams whose ships are being rapidly abandoned:
Michigan:> The Wolverines opened up as an eight-point favorite over Oregon Monday, so at least the degenerate gamblers in the house agree that Big Blue's big egg last week was a short-lived lapse. No doubt Saturday is a crucial point for Michigan, though: Oregon is another spread offense with an athletic quarterback (Dennis Dixon ran for 141 against Houston) who can also throw, death for the Michigan defense, and the Wolverines will have to earn back every bit of respect. I won't be able to dump them fast enough with another loss, but let's see what kind of attitude this team has first.
N.C. State: The Wolfpack were very reminiscent Saturday of Florida State (another team I'm not writing off), completely tanking the first half against Central Florida and trailing 25-0 for its troubles. But once Nebraska transfer Harrison Beck replaced Daniel Evans at quarterback, it was a completely different offense: the Pack scored 23 unanswered in the second half and could have tied on a late two-point conversion. It couldn't get much lower than losing to UCF at home in Tom O'Brien's debut, but discovering Beck might be worth it in the long run. Pivotal game Saturday at Boston College.
61 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Hannibal – the UGa O-line was advertised as a MAJOR weakness. Three freshman, one a true freshman – and really not that good at all last year. That’s a weakness. And they more than held up – particularly considering it was the first game of the season.
They’re ranked at #13 in some polls, though, so if you’re saying that beating an unranked team at home isn’t so unexpected, I’ll give you that.
by OhioDawg on Sep 4, 2007 1:42 PM EDT reply actions
Buy: Boston College. Matt Ryan minus Tom O’Brien = FREEEEEEEDOM!
Sell: VT. I agree with Orson.
Hold: Tennessee. Erik Ainge played well, Arian Foster impressed, but the defense was about as stout as tissue paper.
LSU. Defense was fantastic, but if you look closely at the performance when not aided by turnovers, the offense did not impress much.
by Year2-Dave on Sep 4, 2007 1:54 PM EDT reply actions
UCONN!!! BUY! BUY! BUY!
Seriously though, Texas is a sell because they’re losing Saturday. Oklahoma is a huuuuuge buy because they may not lose this year. Yep, overreacting to one game but #7 is the real deal and then some.
Also, sell Cal. They’re not that good. If Fulmer would have only done the easiest thing (DO NOT PUNT TO JACKSON!), the Vols would have won.
by Edsall is God on Sep 4, 2007 1:58 PM EDT reply actions
black-swanned- have you been reading Nassim Taleb, or is a UF education more rigorous than I thought?
by mp on Sep 4, 2007 2:01 PM EDT reply actions
By the way, if anyone missed seeing Jimbo going nuts, I just uploaded a video of it for your viewing pleasure:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6885259600904463956&hl=en
by Year2-Dave on Sep 4, 2007 2:09 PM EDT reply actions
You Heard it Here First Dept:
NAVY will whack Notre Dame upside the head later this year.
Were those reports true….that Domies were booing ND at the half??? At Blue Gray Sky, the panic is so high, that some are actually questioning the “Genius” Weis and they are viciously going after each other in the comments section. I thought it would take a few games to get this bad over there, but, they never cease to amaze.
SELL ND, even if they are a penny stock.
by Stacy Keibler Luvs Me on Sep 4, 2007 2:22 PM EDT reply actions
Cal fumbled going into the endzone in the 4th so it easily could have been 52. DeSean counted for 7 points but Cal wins that game even without him. Cal is too fast
by tim on Sep 4, 2007 2:24 PM EDT reply actions
ND’s defense wasn’t quite as bad as the stats indicate – only 19 points given up at half, when GT’s average drive starting position was on their side of the 50, and the 2nd touchdown drive by GT right after halftime, they had them stopped on a 3rd down before a REALLY stupid penalty that resulted in an ejection of one of the defensive lineman.
The ejection just further exposed the depth problems at D-line for the rest of the game, and somewhere halfway through the 3rd, everyone ran out of gas because they were on the field all game long, especially that horrible first quarter. I’m honestly a lot more worried about the offensive line problems than the defense. Like Orson mentioned, slow and unable to pick up the blitz is no way to through a football season.
by PAKND'00 on Sep 4, 2007 2:29 PM EDT reply actions
Arkansas- Hold, but be ready to Sell.
Their qb situation is far from solved, just more of the same incompetence.
Their pass defense gave up big yards, combined with multiple interference and d holding in the secondary.
We know they can run; we also know they still can’t pass or defend against same.
One plus is they might have found a functional place kicker.
by drogue on Sep 4, 2007 2:39 PM EDT reply actions
Un-damn-believable. Michigan is 27 in the coaches poll with 132 points. That means the average coach/SID who voted in these things gave Michigan 2.2 points – i.e. ranked them on average 23rd-24th.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/usatpoll.htm
Score one more for the inertia of pre-season guesswork. At 27th, I’m tempted to sell the Wolverines. Surely even in the Big 10 there are three teams that can do what App State did. I see Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin. At 8-4 with no quality wins, I think Michigan should finish below 27th.
by Stephen on Sep 4, 2007 2:46 PM EDT reply actions
If I buy Hawaii can I collect my dividends in the form of unlimited mai tais and Hawaiian Tropic girls?
by BDoc on Sep 4, 2007 2:47 PM EDT reply actions
Temple gave Navy fits, relatively speaking, last weekend. I don’t think Navy has it this season, which is a shame as this should be the year to beat ND, if the GT game is any indicator.
I would definitely sell VPI, or buy ECU, if last Saturday was any, again, indication. However, I would categorize VPI the same way Orson labeled FSU. VPI will get beat on Saturday, but by mid-October, they will be ready to roll.
I watched the Hokies beat Carolina in Chapel Hill last September and was most unimpressed. This continued after BC whipped them. Then, VPI turned it on.
I expect a repeat performance regarding VPI this season.
by Coop on Sep 4, 2007 2:50 PM EDT reply actions
If I have to hitch my wagon on an economy in Southeastern Europe, I’m going with Romania.
by Crazy Joe on Sep 4, 2007 2:51 PM EDT reply actions
Did either of you actually watch the ND game? The D gave up only 16 points in the 1st half when every Tech drive started on the Irish side of the 50, when the offense turned the ball over twice, and when the offense produced almost no yards in the entire half. Let’s also not forget that ND was also running the spread option for the first half with a QB who can’t throw, which meant that the D got no rest and that ND was forced to throw on every down in the 2nd half. The offense will be far more balanced and should produce with Clausen. And let’s not forget, it’s only one game… it’s almost impossible to know how good teams are from their first game.
by CMC Irish on Sep 4, 2007 2:54 PM EDT reply actions
18- Curious. If he couldn’t throw, why was he the starting qb?
by drogue on Sep 4, 2007 2:56 PM EDT reply actions
1. Buy BC. I like them to win a stilly crappy ACC.
2. Buy UGA. They’re going to win an SEC title despite a loss to Florida, again.
3. Sell LSU. They aren’t getting any higher than 2 and will plummet in a few weeks when someone upsets them (not Va. Tech, someone with a real quarterback).
by Biggus Rickus on Sep 4, 2007 2:57 PM EDT reply actions
CM: I saw the game. It could have been a lot worse for ND. If not for the Mich fiasco, ND would have had all of the bad press to itself.
I do not remember Ty W coaching a game this bad. I do not think Charlie Weis is stupid, but man, it looked like a bad high school coached team. Now he is throwing Clausen to the wolves? At State Penn? Genius my _.
by Stacy Keibler Luvs Me on Sep 4, 2007 3:03 PM EDT reply actions
The QB from washington has vegetation on him AND he’s a freshman? poor kid
by Jmuthaf'nT on Sep 4, 2007 3:06 PM EDT reply actions
Hold: Oklahoma. They beat a lousy team from the Big South. If OU had put forth a similar effort against Vanderbroken or Northwestern or Florida State, then I would say buy the Sooners.
Hold: Texas. The team looked great for the first 15 minutes then fell asleep for the next 45. The play calling from inside the 20, a problem that plagued the Horns in 2006, continues to be an issue in 2007.
Sell: the Big 11. Your marque team (sorry tOSU but you know its true) was exposed as a sham. Your entire conference is a joke. The commissioner must step in now to require Wisconsin, Michigan, and tOSU to lay off the cupcakes and find legitimate opponents. What? Minnesota lost to Bowling Green. Never mind. The Big 11 remains a joke.
Buy: BYU. Max Hall looked good against Arizona on Saturday. The Y will pull the upset over UCLA on Saturday.
by Michael on Sep 4, 2007 3:06 PM EDT reply actions
We did it, Mikey! We’re super rich again!*
*until Saturday.
by The Great Barstoolio on Sep 4, 2007 3:06 PM EDT reply actions
- sounded like Bill Kristol trying to convince us that George W. Bush is the greatest military strategist since Alexander the Great.
Dude, I have no doubt that ND will eventually get better, but y’all just got a 30-point schooling at home from Chan “If I Don’t Survive, Tell My Wife I Said Hello” Gailey, a guy who routinely struggles to put away the UNCs and N.C. States of the world. The Irish offense isn’t even in the same time zone as “producing,” with or without Jimmy Clausen.
by Doug on Sep 4, 2007 3:12 PM EDT reply actions
I will buy Penn State. I went there for grad school, it feels good to watch JoePa limp out in front of the team again. A mortal would have bought a rascal and been done with it after that hit.
Buy – Kansas State, they aren’t Branson good but they are Big 12 North good
Hold – my Auburn Tigers and the Fightin’ Sabans; ask me after this weekend if either team is worthwhile
by Stephen on Sep 4, 2007 3:14 PM EDT reply actions
Buy Wyoming. The Cowboys will give Boise a run and will ruin somebody’s year in the MWC later this season. I really wish we didn’t have to go to Laramie this year.
by Boston Frog on Sep 4, 2007 3:24 PM EDT reply actions
- - I would hold off on getting that Volvo, at least until after Saturday.
by Coop on Sep 4, 2007 3:24 PM EDT reply actions
#18
Yes, I watched the game. What’s it gonna be like when UM puts up another 45+ on you?
P.S. Your quarterback is supposed to throw the ball – ask armanti edwards.
by Scalz1 on Sep 4, 2007 3:37 PM EDT reply actions
Holy fuck, Jimmy Clausen is going to soil his speedo when he tries to call a play in front of 110,000 reallyfuckingangry fans.
by Run Up The Score on Sep 4, 2007 3:39 PM EDT reply actions
21- I am rather wary of comparing TW to Weis as Willingham isn’t fit to hold Weis’s [enormous] jock, but ND’s debacles in 2003 (38-0 v. Michigan, 37-0 FSU, etc. in 2003) were pretty damn bad coaching jobs.
Weis screwed this game up. There is no question about that. But it was his worst coaching performance ever, and it’s clear, with the switch to Clausen, that he’s going back to the Parcells offense which has always produced for him in the past. I think Weis will learn from his mistakes (as he always has) in this game and move forward.
by CMC Irish on Sep 4, 2007 3:42 PM EDT reply actions
18- You mean like the 45 UM put up on I-AA hot hot hot Appalachian state?
by CMC Irish on Sep 4, 2007 3:44 PM EDT reply actions
29- You mean like the 45 UM put up on I-AA hot hot hot Appalachian state?
by CMC Irish on Sep 4, 2007 3:45 PM EDT reply actions
No, like they put up on ND. App State woulda ran up 50 on that ND defense.
by Scalz1 on Sep 4, 2007 3:50 PM EDT reply actions
- I thought you were talking about the GT QB. Now there was a guy who couldn’t throw. A decent QB would have had two TD’s in those first three drives.
by chris on Sep 4, 2007 3:52 PM EDT reply actions
31- I think by enormous jock, you meant to say enormous FUPA
by bhors on Sep 4, 2007 3:55 PM EDT reply actions
Not to be picky, but I’m going to anyway. How the HELL is Cal, who beat a ranked opponent by two TD’s, ranked behind VaTech, who looked terrible at home against East Friggin’ Carolina? Yet another example of how preseason polls suck, and further proof that the stupid coaches who vote don’t watch any of these games.
by Palouse on Sep 4, 2007 3:59 PM EDT reply actions
Palouse,
It’s a conspiracy by ESPN to hype the match-up with LSU and have more sappy puff pieces on GameDay.
by John on Sep 4, 2007 4:17 PM EDT reply actions
Do any of you Irish fans really think Michigan looked as bad as ND on Saturday? Given that ASU is a I-AA, but I imagine they would probably give GT a pretty good game. Notre Dame wasn’t even in the same stadium as Tech. At least Michigan scored. The offense shot itself in the foot, and the defense has never been able to defend the spread. Most U-M fans familiar with the team’s history knew ASU was going to score points. It’s been that way since the 80’s, but probably most notable against McNabb in 1998. I’m rambling but the point is, U-M’s offense is going to be good. No part of the ND team looked even average.
by bubulldog on Sep 4, 2007 4:21 PM EDT reply actions
Buy: State Penn & Barney the Badger
Hold: Mr Sweatervest
Sell: The rest of the bigteneleven
by yoyofutbawl on Sep 4, 2007 4:26 PM EDT reply actions
If Washington wants to make a good season out of this start, Locker better tone it down in the running department. He was taking way too many big hits against a bad team. No way he makes through the next 4 unless he changes his philosophy a bit.
by HFS on Sep 4, 2007 4:39 PM EDT reply actions
Both ND and UM triggered trading halts in the early session. Traders were unwilling to catch both falling knives and stools on both stocks. Buy puts
by blazin on Sep 4, 2007 4:44 PM EDT reply actions
Buy:
1. Cal (they’re losing once this year and it’ll be to USC.)
2. Wisconsin (that Wazzu team is not a complete bunch of chumps; that was a decent win, if expected.)
3. Penn State (they’ll be running it up on ND this Saturday.)
Hold.
1. USC (although that Idaho win stunk; Trojans need that early bye)
2. Texas (pending this week’s TCU game)
Sell:
1. The rest of the Big 10.
(I would say sell ND, but I never bought into it.)
by Signal to Noise on Sep 4, 2007 5:05 PM EDT reply actions
#23: get a clue.
1) tOSU is the name team in the big ten and was even when Cooper was fucking up undefeated season by losing to inferior UM teams.
2) When will you ignorant hillbillys get it through your heads that what one team in a confrence does has no bearing on any other team. If I have to hear one more slack jaw yokel tell me I should be embarassed because my team’s archrival got upset, I’m going to go on a shooting spree at VT (too soon?). The really funny thing about this is the same morons who want tOSU fans to feel bad that UM lost to HOT HOT HOT also ceaselessly inform us that AU-UA, Bama-UTK, UF-UGA, and every other stupid southern rivalry are 100000000000000000x better than OSU-UM. You can all shove that bullshit right back up your asses now. If your first, second and ONLY reaction to your rival losing in laughably funny fashion isn’t glee, then you don’t know what rivalry is. Sure I want the weasels undefeated every november, just to make the Game more fun. But that doesn’t mean I won’t take unlimited joy in what happened Saturday.
Personally I want coach Tressel and Gene Smith to get YSU to either cancel or push back next years sacrafice and call up ASU to be tOSU’s season opener next year. That way when the Buck hang beat the hell out of HOT HOT HOT mocking the weasel fans over this game will be at least twice as much fun.
by Palpie on Sep 4, 2007 5:15 PM EDT reply actions
Buy: Cal . . . they looked like a track team against the good ole boys from Tennessee
Sell: Notredame and Michigan . . . ND vs. Navy should be a pick’em game and I don’t care how good the Apps are in Football Sub Division 1 Tripple A/ it’s real name (Formerly 1-AA) which it will forever be referred to from this point on. You can’t lose at home to a team who’s stadium has 90,000 less seats than yours.
Hold: Va Tech . . . they’re QB is seriously awful, I don’t care what kind of tip Lou Holtz got from the ECU Coach who he claims he may know or something. No, the ECU def is not that good.
by Chuck D on Sep 4, 2007 5:23 PM EDT reply actions
There must be some kind of rule that the NCAA has to fuck something up every year. Last year it was the ridiculous clock rules (yeah, let’s make college football games SHORTER! Genius). This year, it’s Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision. Only the NCAA can take something so simple and user-friendly like I-A and I-AA and screw it up. Fans will not adopt those stupid monikers, and the media shouldn’t either.
/rant
by Palouse on Sep 4, 2007 5:47 PM EDT reply actions
- - you are right, of course, that the coaches don’t watch much, if any of the other games. But, how the hell could they? I certainly hope Richt was watching Carolina and Georgia game film and nothing else on Sunday.
Just another reason to put more weight in The Blogpoll.
by Hunker Down Dawg on Sep 4, 2007 5:57 PM EDT reply actions
Buy:
GaTech — Watching that game, it was like everything Chan Gailey wanted to do with Reggie Ball at the helm but couldn’t because Ball would invariably foul up a three step drop slant across the middle. With the toughest teams on the schedule being VaTech (whose spines were owned last year by Reggie Ball of all people) and UGA, I figure, with one blow-up and one upset, GaTech finishes 10-2 with the possibility of ACC championship lurking out there.
Cal — They played a hard-fought game against Tennessee, but some flubs in the second quarter ended up eating most of the difference. That running back/punt returner they have seems like he could do some serious damage, particularly against the Pac-10’s special brand of “defense”
Nebraska — It looks like the Dark Years are over, and a legitimate contender has arisen to challenge Texas for the Big XII, wasteland that it is.
Hawaii — 34/40 416 6/0. In one half. I know their wonky pass-happy offense will give some teams fits, and they did do this to North Colorado, but I don’t think I can go 34/40 playing catch in the back yard. Hawaii’s schedule hurts them, but if they have a strong showing against Boise St. and Fresno St., be on the look out for a sleeper BCS bid.
Georgia — As much as I hate to admit it, Georgia looked good against Okie Lite. Now, how that offensive line will stand up to a blitz-heavy defense like the one Jon Tenuta runs I’ll be curious to see, and it should make for one hell of an entertaining Thanksgiving.
Hold:
Tennessee — They lost a very close away game to a very good team because of the second quarter alone. Don’t give up on the Fat Man yet, he’ll probably be improving on that Cal performance, and he has Southern Miss. to warm up on before facing Florida.
Michigan — I’ve never head more fan complaints about consistent trips to major bowl games and ten win seasons. If Lloyd Carr is even half competent, I would not want to play Michigan this week, because they are going to be out for blood.
Sell:
Notre Dame — 260 to -9 on the ground. 9 sacks. I would be surprised if they end up winning more than the Bob Hope Tour with its stop-off with noted D 1-A practice squads Stanford and Duke.
VaTech — As of right now, unless Frank Beamer can get a running game, Sean Glennon is going to end up in a very unenviable sink or swim situation. With the kind of defenses VaTech will play in LSU, GaTech, FSU, Miami and, dare I say, Clemson, the Hokies could be looking at a fairly disappointing six win season. Of course, this is subject to change of the Beamer Ball we are all familiar with shows up to LSU.
South Carolina — The Steve Spurrier Offensive Spoogefest only hung 28 on UL-Laf. With away games at Georgia, LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas, with Clemson and Florida on the schedule, I’m thinking a 7-5 season for South Carolina. Respectable? Yes. But with some people thinking them Top 25 material, it’s pretty disappointing.
by GTSteve on Sep 4, 2007 6:06 PM EDT reply actions
A sell on Florida State? Are you kidding?? They might be the best value play out there right now. At worst, they’re a short-term hold, especially if you think they might be a buy a month from now. I’d call them a solid long-term buy.
Can that go any lower? And even if they can, how much lower? With the coaching staff in place, I doubt they sink to Penn State ‘03-04 numbers. They have the athletes - FSU has still been getting its share of 4 and 5-star recruits — and now that they are in the hands of competent coaches, maybe we’ll finally get a look at what they have. Hopefully it’s not too late.
Also, since the coaches are working with guys they didn’t recruit, getting these players to fit into the new schemes might be a challenge, so they’ll need a couple of recruiting classes to really get it right.
I still think they’ll get better as the season goes. Probably no better than 8-4, and that would be good this year.
by The Big Dog on Sep 4, 2007 6:28 PM EDT reply actions
I don’t recall, did EDBS recommend Florida as a sell after Alabama beat them in Mey’er’s first year in Tuscaloosa resulting in his emotional meltdown afterwards in the lockerroom? I am sure the Gator faithful were not feeling to optimistic about their team or even their coach’s future at that point.
If so, that would have been a significant mistake had people sold off Florida.
Only time will tell what happens with ND this year. Weis went into the game with a plan that was vastly ill conceived and I am sure he regrets it just as much as Meyer regrets his behavior in Alabama. But as Meyer proved one game doesn’t mean you and your team cannot turn it around.
by Jenkins on Sep 4, 2007 9:59 PM EDT reply actions
GTSteve, I would hold off on any comment on South Carolina until Saturday. S.Car’s starting QB, Blake Mitchell, was suspended for the formerly directional La game, and the Cajuns merely ran the ball the entire game to hold the ball and kill the clock.
We find out about S.Car on Saturday night.
by Coop on Sep 4, 2007 10:19 PM EDT reply actions
Wisconsin takes the Big 11 this year. GTech takes the ACC. Oklahoma takes the Big 12, USC takes PAC 10 since UCLA and/or Cal will choke along the way, and in the SEC I have no freaking clue so I’ll declare The Orgeron the winner. Even though his football teams tend to suck balls, The Orgeron is too damn busy crushing galaxies with his thumb and index finger to worry about coaching.
Being a ND fan I don’t know if I can all out sell ND, but I will go part of the way and sell their flat chested homely looking cheerleaders. I’ll even trade the cheerleaders for a Michael Vick rookie card.
by Rome on Sep 4, 2007 11:25 PM EDT reply actions
Chan Gailey competent? Yeah right….
[preens in mirror]
Chan Gailey outcoached Charlie Weis…
Chan Gailey outcoached Charlie Weis…
Chan Gailey outcoa-
YEAAAAAAAARRRRRGH…. AAAIIIIEEEEEAAAARRRRAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by pm20 on Sep 4, 2007 11:43 PM EDT reply actions
- As an ND fan, that was my thought from the middle of the 3rd quarter on Saturday until I read your comment. I was afraid to say it to anyone, and had not read/heard it anywhere else, but it was blatantly obvious to me that ND played much, much worse than Michigan. But Michigan is (and should) be ridiculed and we ND fans will quietly thank the heavens that The Upset of All Time happened or else there would be even more focus on the offensive debacle in South Bend on Sept 1.
And SKLM? Apparently we’ve ‘heard it here first’ that you’ll be the 2007 winner for the Annual I-Predict-ND-Will-Lose-to-Navy Award, and be wrong just like everyone else is every year. It’s just not happening.
by Andy on Sep 5, 2007 12:20 AM EDT reply actions
- & 45 The conference arguments are just dumb. tOSU deserves a pass on the cupcake issue for this year considering they played Texas the last two seasons and will play USC in 08 and 09.
Also the YSU game, like USC’s game against Idaho, was scheduled for personal reasons. And neither powerhouse school had an interest in grinding the other small program down.
#53. Nice try with the Meyer/Weis comparison. However the key difference was that by the start of his third season at FL Meyer has already beaten several quality teams including a nice win over tOSU last year. The best victory Weis can point to is last year’s win over Georgia Tech and after that it would be beating Michigan and Tenn when they were having very down years in 2005.
Weis had no experience as a player or coach at the college level before he landed the ND job. And nothing in the NFL as a head coach. The domers are going to be REALLY regretting that 10 year extension soon at this rate.
by oc phil on Sep 5, 2007 12:55 AM EDT reply actions
Watch out ND fans. Jimmy Clausen was rarely touched, much less sacked, during his time leading CA Division III Oaks Christian to state titles. His team was like a Florida/Texas/USC in a league of Dukes and Temples. He’s going to have some new experiences meeting the PSU linebacking corps this weekend.
by Defender90 on Sep 5, 2007 1:39 AM EDT reply actions
Both ND and UM triggered trading halts in the early session. Traders were unwilling to catch both falling knives and stools on both stocks. Buy puts
Comment by blazin — September 4, 2007 @ 3:44 pm
n00b.
Michigan: sell sept puts, buy nov calls.
ND: sell sept puts, sell nov calls.
by Gary Danielson on Sep 5, 2007 3:02 AM EDT reply actions
#59
Sounds like the other shirtless ND QB’s. Weird how all these QB’s are “statistically good” against service academies, Dook, Stanford, and the like, and absolutely pedestrian against any team with a pulse.
And, if UM is so horrible, how bad are YOUR teams gonna look if UM steamrolls them, or shuts them out ?
by Scalz1 on Sep 5, 2007 10:22 AM EDT reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
