CURIOUS INDEX: 9/17/07

That Michigan video was jam-packed with KEY plays.

The events leading up to the AU/UF game remind me of 2001 (which Cobb won as QB after benching the younger, more mobile Jason Campbell), but I see the outcome being much different.

i gotta be honest…i’m a little disappointed in all the smiling saban is doing. he better not have come to alabama and gotten soft. someone go kick his dog or some shit.

Double Bonus on Tennessee losing, USF is actually ranked now, despite being on the bye.

As Jack Black succintly put it:

Fuck, yeah!

Oh, and no mention of Louisville losing their rivalry game with Kentucky in their Madden-esque shoot-out?

things i learned this weekend:
usc is really that good
so is florida
texass is not good, and mack brown is still a bad coach
nd would lose to mississppi state, and pretty much every other team in division one
ucla is the michigan state of the pac 10 (actually, i knew this before this weekend, but it’s worth repeating)
people in tulsa hate mormons

right now my prayers to 6 lb. 8 oz. baby jebus include a loss for usc and fl and lsu splitting their two games against each other this year – bring on an undefeated w. va. baby, b/c i’m scared of usc and utterly terrified of lsu

boomer sooner

Along with the UCLA blowout WTF is up with Okie State? Troy? Really?

There are only 117 Division I-A teams (and one Division I-AA team) left that can mock Michigan. Hooray!

And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day. And then the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of ten Grinches plus two.

Nick? Is that you?

To be fair to Utah, their backup qb WOULD have been Oklahoma’s starting QB at this point (had he not transfered. The same goes for Gtech’s Tashard Choice. Bob Stoops is a giver who loves his fellow man. That is not a visor, that is a halo.). Oh, and Notre Dame is almost as good of a “dramady” as The Office.

Coming up later in Buys and Sells. There’s a lot of kittens in the bucket today.

Winning flares up Croom’s angina.

Saban was smiling because the Alabama fans were WAY too pleased with their sucking. Easy $$.

7

troy’s qb is probably the 2nd or 3rd best qb in the mid-majors

that being said, gundy is a horrible coach who has already split his team with an unnecessary qb controversy – so much for the greatest offense in the history of cfb

i predict that t-tech will beat them this weak by triple-digits

There are few absolute certainties in life. That said, this Saturday, Florida will certainly beat Mississipi. Soundly.

FYI, Daniel Moore already has an Alabama painting named “the catch” after Tyrone Prothro’s catch 2 years ago againist Southern Miss. This one will be titled “Nutt’s Flush”.

http://www.jemsonline.com/inc/sdetail/9065

I think Prothro’s grab was dubbed “The Catch”, but I am waiting for the SI Cover, “Bama’s Back … Again” or, in keeping with the modern trend of long titles, “This Time, Bama’s Really Back, No, Really, Not Like Before With Mike Shula and Brodie, This Time With John Parker and Nick Saban … Really”.

+p

Lloyd has kittens, Charlie has cheeseburgers.

Saban smiles with the knowledge that (1) he never has to face Humanity Advanced again and (2) after 3 weeks of football, his Bama team has more wins than Aubie and Fat Phil COMBINED!

ROLL TIDE!

“The role of SEC cellar dweller will now be played by the University of Mississippi.”

Mark gets points for that Bama funny.

Love Brian’s Yakety Sax videos. And it’s not the same plays over and over, there really is enough pathetic and abysmal play of ND’s to fill that song.

LSU’s Early Doucet is injured and will miss anywhere from 2 to several games. He played wide receiver and not on defense, so you are all still screwed.

I tried to warn you about Auburn being “easy money” as a favorite. Those who failed to heed… you deserve to have less beer money!

13-
Citrus flavored Sheep Aggie (aka, Okie State) lost its starting center to a broken leg earlier in the season and that has brought a plauge of John Blake proportions to Stillwater. I don’t think it’s Mike Gundy as much as it may be a little of Larry Fadora (who I said, not so much here but to friends and whatnot, sucked to high heaven a couple of years ago. where’s your hair gel now aggies?) and a lot of crappy defense. Everyone knew the D would suck, but the combo of Fadora, a pouty Reed, no one to snap the ball (they’ll be playing a TRUE FRESHMAN AT CENTER. yarrrrrrr), and T-Boon forgot to buy them a Hart Lee Dykes this year.

Tommy Tuberville in August:

“As good as we’ve been, you don’t call it a rebuilding year … When you have a senior quarterback who can throw the ball down the field and score points, it’s not a so-called rebuilding year … If he stays healthy, he’ll be one of the better quarterbacks in the country.”

between the pass D of my Hogs and the run D of Kentucky – take the over this weekend. If he is over the concussion, McFadden may run for 250 yards while Woodson throws for 400 plus. Egads.

Tuberville next August:

“And now Rece Davis with a 30 at 30 update”

FUCK AUBURN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wrote in the comments Friday they were a lock against Mississippi State. Another commentator tried to talk me out of it but nooooo I trust the color blind, legally retarded Brandon Cox and I’m out some money. How do they lose that game at home? If I was an Auburn fan right now, I’d be going crazy. Outta my mind crazy. At least I was right on USC. Don’t know why I didn’t double my USC bet and stay away from Auburn.

True to form as they always do, Arkansas played the weekend’s most exciting game. I would pay $10 a week to see Arkansas play another good team because the games are always OMG! 41-38 thrillers that are crazy go nuts.

Nah, Charlie Weis eats baby Pandas, because newborn baby pandas look like uncooked bratwurst. Don’t believe me, look it up.

For the record: Brian graciously provided the platform by which it’s found it’s way onto the internets, but I made the video. Your citation is correct, if incomplete. No worries though; no need to change it, I’m just glad to see the joy is spreading.

I, for one, am glad that we apparently won’t be having to hear any whining from Tubbs this year about how unfair the BCS is, unless he wants to do some proxy bitching on LSU or Florida’s behalf.

RIP,

If you knew Cox was going to suck this badly, raise your hand. Maybe you did, but he did beat Bama the last two years, so I doubt many Bammers saw this train wreck coming (although they are now the first to act like they did). Before the season, even Phil Steele (who picked Auburn 41st), said that Cox was going to improve, and cited the speical teams of the area where we’d feel the sting the most. Well, so far, the punting/kicking have been great, and the QB play has been the weakest link, which is what makes this season (thus far) so frustrating.

Seeing as how until about nine years ago all big UA games were in B’Ham, it is safe to say: Best Game In Bryant Denny EVER. I have never heard it louder

#27, I think you picked UCONN to win against Temple 100-7 or something. And someone actually wrote “good pick” on that thread in support. You were only off by 80 or so. Not that I would ever take betting advice from a message board….I already had USC big prior to your post.

I just loved the looks on Charlie Weiss’ face on Saturday. His BIF (Butt in Front) has shrunk a bit post-op compared to early days, but it’s out in force.

ND really is bad.

The Tide got lucky as hell.

Auburn is almost getting grouped w ND in the badness category.

Florida will stomp Miss. Tebow is fast approaching God like status.

You can say that the catch was lucky as hell all day long, but there was no luck involved in marching down to the goal line with no timeouts and under 2:30 to play..

Doug,

When UGA has a perfect season without an Auburn grad as the head coach, then talk (oh, my bad, Wally Butts did it in ‘46). Otherwise, try to tell me that the coach of an SEC team with a perfect record doesn’t deserve to be critical when his team doesn’t get to play for a national title.

Saban is living a charmed life right now, imagine if d-mac had not cramped up and was in there for that last drive, even if for just one play of that last set of down. Saban would be answer serious questions about that decision to not go for it on 4th, giving up 38 points on defense, squandering a 21 point lead and getting completely run over in the second half after all that talk about conditioning and defensive schemes.

Instead, we get the Saban is our Haven signs, Bama’s back signs, and now I have to listen to every rube in this god forsaken state talk about how much better coach Saban is, how he wouldn’t let Bama lose in the 4th quarter, how Shula would have lost that game (was Shula kicking extra points and field goals last year in Tiffen’s uniform or was that Tiffen himself out there shanking game-winning kicks???).

It is unbelievable, and unless you’ve lived in Alabama you have ABSOLUTELY no clue as to just how much it means and how important Bama football is to the people here, it is absolutely insane – I’ve been a lot of places and lived in a lot of states and I have never ever seen anything like the Bama nation.

But how can I argue with God? I mean it’s in the Bible that Bama is God’s chosen team, just ask Donnie Ingrim.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ASWllvmMi-o

My favorite part of that—just as Clausen is being sacked for the sixth time, ESPN’s bottom line reads “Demetrious Jones transfers to Northern Illinois.” Get out while the gettin’s good!

1. - the Tide did not get lucky. They simply won a great game.

But even in defeat, Humanity Advanced lived up to his name. What a beast!!!

Edsall,

Auburn has not been a good bet in awhile. FWIW, Auburn hasn’t lost ATS at home as an underdog in several years, but I’ve never put a dime on them, and am certainly not about to start now (esp. as a favorite).

Summing up the NU/USC game in two thousand words or their equivalent…

http://ajthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/09/instant-analysis-nebraska-vs-usc.html

To quote NU superfan Larry the Cable Guy, “I don’t care who you are, that’s funny right there.”

There appear to be four teams that have played complete games to date — USC, LSU, Florida, and OU. Everyone else has got one or more obvious deficiency. (yes, Alabama man, giving up 38 to Boss Hogg means you have a deficiency.)

And for the poster who calls himself “Edsall Is God”, uh, feel free to never post your godawful picks ever again. God only beat Temple by 5. Nice effort there…we’ll see you at basketball season.

Dragon,

While the Tide did play a great game, the refs certainly did them a favor by not calling a roughing the kicker penalty on the punt that Arenas returned to the Arkansas 2. I had a pretty good vantage point from the end zone seats in the sudent section, but if it was partically blocked, I stand corrected. Humanity Advanced getting pulled from the game certainly helped, too, since Bama had no answer for him (not that anyone really does).

PARTIALLY*

#43:

The punt was not partially blocked. However, the football touched the ground off the snap, giving anyone who got to the punter a free shot. He was no longer considered a punter at that point. What the officials actually missed was the punter’s knee on the ground when he finally fielded the snap. Thank God they missed that.

After watching the ‘Bama game, I can honestly say, I’ve never seen as many people with body paint, besides that orgy I had back in ’97.

MiseanAUFan,

I saw the Georgia game last year — remember 2/9, 4 picks, 32 yards? — so I fully expected Cox’s suckitude.

As for the Tide getting “lucky,” our starting MLB, who led the way in stuffing D-Mac in the first half and behind whom we have virtually no depth, was injured late in the 2nd quarter and did not return. Injury luck runs both ways, hoss.

It’s great to hear the AU fans back to their traditional bitching about the referees. Stan White approves.

Yeah, and Arkansas got away with two blatant pass interferences (one offensive that prevented a pick, and one defensive on the game’s next to last drive).

As for roughing the kicker, a different rule applies once the ball touches the ground. While it’s possible to still rough the kicker after a snap hits the ground, it’s a very difficult judgment call (based on how much time the oncoming defender had to realize the punter still intended to kick the ball) and, thus, you rarely see it called in that situation.

If I were an AU fan, I’d be much more worried about the fact that my squad lost to South Florida and Mississippi State at home in back to back weeks. That, and I’d be racist trailer trash.

Humanity Advanced was concussed in the 4th quarter. Not cramping.

Happens when you get hit hard. And he was not getting hit by his own players.

Had he been in at the end the result might have been different. But Bama’s best player (Dj Hall) was also out on Bama’s last 2 drives drive. Yet Bama found a way to win the game and Arkansas did not.

Humanity Advanced was concussed in the 4th quarter. Not cramping.

Happens when you get hit hard. And he was not getting hit by his own players.

Had he been in at the end the result might have been different. But Bama’s best player (Dj Hall) was also out on Bama’s last 2 drives. Yet Bama found a way to win the game and Arkansas did not.

Saban is such a genius that he gets timeouts even when his team has none. The refs stop the clock for a measurement with 20 seconds left after Bama is tackled in the middle of the field (measuring here is a little sketchy, but not egregiously wrong)… what is unacceptable is after the chain gang got off the field, the official proceeded to check with the alabama players for 10 seconds or so to make sure they were ready and set before rolling the clock. never seen anything like it.

And I think I speak for all of the public librarians and parents of young children in this “[G]od forsaken state” when I say that nobody wants your slow-ass-football-loving, sweatervest-wearing, library-computer-porn-surfing, arrogant ass here, either.

Get your heart in Dixie, or get the hell out.

MiseanAuFan,

Quit your bitter whining! As bad as losing to Vandy and Kentucky was, it is apparent that Kentucky does have some “skillz” and Vandy while being the doormat of the SEC for most of its tenure has been better than Miss St for the past few years.
Go sit in the corner with the Irish and keep your mouth shut.

Can I get bucket of kittens please?

Gotcha Tater, thanks for the explanation, the Bama students around me had the mentailty of, “We got away with one there,” too, so I just wanted to see if there was more to it, which there appears to have been.

RIP, Cox did suck against Georiga last year, but he wasn’t HEALTHY against UGA either, and he played better against Alabama the next week. In fact, the he only played badly in two games last year (both losses) and still had better numbers than JPW.

As for lackof a call on the punt, I wasn’t bitching, just asking for clarification, since some of the Bama students sitting around me agreed. Tater recognized this and responded, and certainly got his point across, wihtout being a jerk. You, on the other hand, like many Bammers, take nothing into arguments but fallacy and vitroil. If the call was incorrect, even the most rabid of Bammers should admit it was a favorable turn of events (you may be an exception). Since it was the correct call, the issue is settled to me, and I won’t mention it again.

As for your starting MLB getting injured, DMac ran freely all game, had over 100 yards all purpose by the half, and not once was he stopped for a loss, unless I missed something in going through the play-by-play on Mickey Mouse’s sports website (which does a good job with stats, I will admit). Dmac left the game with most of the 4th Qtr remaining, so I’ll leave it to the readers to decide which loss was a bigger one.

“Lloyd has kittens, Charlie has cheeseburgers.”

And Dorrell drinks kool-aid.

DumpDorrell.com

Well, damn, MiseanAUFan, what do you expect? Nobody thought we were going to be throwing Humanity Advanced for losses all day. But anyone who watched the game — other than a jaded AU fan — could see that D-Mac’s second half was far more productive than the first. (A healthy chunk of that 100 all-purpose yards in the first half came from kickoff returns. In fact, Alabama and Arkansas had virtually the same number of rushing yards in the first half — 92 to 96.)

As for Cox and Tuberville, the point is that Tuberville talked up this team all preseason, and now wants to say “we knew what we were getting into this year” and “we’re young.” Can’t have it both ways. And I wonder how Brandon feels about Tubbs’ assurances last week that he was in no danger of losing his job — or for that matter, that Blake Field is the backup?

PS. Do you know what “fallacy” means? I don’t think you do.

right now Troy is the No. 2 team in the state of Alabama, – there had to be 15- 20,000 empty seats at Jordan – Hare on Sunday, Auburn football is dead, get used to it

mp,

I imagine there were a more empty seats than that at Auburn on Sunday.

I like what I’m seeing out of Clausen this year.

Anyone else?

RIP,

I haven’t researched it, but I’d guess that Humanity Advanced usually plays better in the second half, as many great RB’s do. That’s your fallacy (an error in logic)- you seem to attiribute Humanity Advanced playing better in the second half to Bama having a player hurt in the first, but that’s what some would call a “red herring.”

Do Auburn, Alabama, and Arkansas fans not have their own forums to carry out a pissing match over no-calls and injuries, and all of the woulda, shoulda, coulda’s that follow?

Obviously, #52 was for the tOSU cretin that shows up here from time to time.

Not only did UCONN sneak by Temple, they did so in front of dozens of screaming fans.

I do have to say that Arkansas is a MUCH better team than I gave them credit for. I was at the game Saturday and McFadden was just unreal….but I was very impressed with the toughness and resiliency (sp?) of Arkansas. To be down 21 points twice in the game and still have the moxie to keep coming back was most impressive. Kudos to them.

Was Alabama lucky to win? Yes, we had some breaks go our way, but we also made our own luck….and anyone discussing “luck” in a UA-Ark game should look at the tape from last year.

I can say with complete confidence that Alabama will never see a running attack that good for the rest of the year….unless we somehow/someway end up playing WVU in a bowl game.

It’s no more an error in logic (or a red herring, for that matter) to conclude that DM’s improved second half play was more attributable to Darren Mustin’s absence than it was to some general propensity of his to play better as the game goes on than it is to conclude the opposite.

In any event, DM certainly didn’t get better in the game in question when it mattered—after all, his ass was on the sidelines from a concussion (courtesy of the Alabama D) when the game was on the line.

So, Misean, I’m not real sure what your point is.

Looked like to me, MiseAUFan, you used the word “fallacy” in reference to a post made by Rainmaker — not me — regarding the no-call on the punt.

As for my “fallacy,” I’d say it’s pretty damn silly to suggest that the loss of a starting MLB — especially with the other being a true freshman — had little or no impact on McFadden’s ability to run for about 100 yards in the third quarter. Mustin’s injury necessitated the use of Waldrop at MLB, who weighs in at a whopping 195 lbs. Irrelevant, I’m sure, as was DJ Hall’s injury (6 catches, 172 yards, two TDs, in case you missed it , before he was injured).

Finally, McFadden got 33 f-ing carries in the game! I’m sorry, but that’s more than a full game’s worth of carries, and if you give it to a guy that many times, you can’t bitch about him “cramping up” or suffering a concussion.

Only an AU fan could attribute a Bama win to “luck” wherein we led by three touchdowns for most of the game. If it weren’t for luck and bad officiating of the most egregious sort, AU would be 0-3 right now.

Tommy T might want to start inquiring about other job opportunities. The first two SEC coaches to lose to Sylvester Croom (Zook and Shula) got fired the same season, and the only reason Ed “Footbaw” Orgeron survived after last year is because, minutes before he was scheduled to meet with the AD to discuss his future, Ed decapitated a wild boar with his bare hands and brought the still-dripping head into the meeting.

To everyone blasting UConn, it’s deserved. The game was 10-0 UConn in about five minutes and the whole stadium was talking about how much we’re going to win by. The problem? So were the players. They totally shut it down. I can’t believe that UConn, F’in UConn!!, got caught up in a little hype because they were 2-0 and Temple lost to Buffalo. If UConn had kept playing hard, it would have been 100-7. Instead, they decided to play half-ass for about 55 minutes and hung on for dear life.

That being said, they still might be decent. Edsall said the team was looking ahead to Pittsburgh next week. Not sure if that’s good or bad. At least we won.

As for the fans, the UConn students are disgraceful. The student section was maybe half-full. It’s college football on a gorgeous Saturday. How the fuck do you not go to the game? I hate UConn students with a passion. They’re a bunch of bandwagon jumpers that don’t like sports to begin with. This fuckin state….

Arkansas #1 WR didn’t play, right? Who in their right mind throws on third down and 10 when you are trying to bleed the clock and the other team is out of time outs? Especially when your #1 WR is not playing and you have no #2 WR and your #1 all world RB is in the sidelines-and your QB sucks. Who the fuck does that????

Way to go Huston Nutt. Bama scored with 8 seconds left-how many times have we seen teams blow a game because of piss poor clock management and prevent defense. I’m not a coach, but I would rather apply pressure and force a team to make a big play-if they do at least you have a lot more time to respond than you would if you let them drive down the field 10-15 yards at a time. That drives me absolutely nuts.

Louisville fan here, and I have to give much credit to the Kats, as much as it pains me to do so. Woodson flat outplayed Brohm – that guy is good. Of course, UK, as expected, went into a collective hyperventilation and now have world domination planned. They will be insufferable until Florida and LSU destroy them in back-to-back beatings.

UK will be tied for second in the East when it is all said and done (with Georgia) and will finally, finally beat Tennessee. As much as their win hurts, it is very good to see this traditional basketball state turn into a football state, if only for a little while. tOSUbuckeye, I have lived in Alabama before, and I know the unique insanity – take my word for it, for one weekend, the Louisville metro area was at Iron Bowl-level intensity. Fun stuff.

tOSU,

Nutt was trying to put the game on ice by picking up the first down. The real error was on Dick: seeing the receiver covered, he should have tucked it and gone down in-bounds.

As for Arkansas, they were not in a prevent defense — they were defending the sidelines and left the middle of the field open, daring us to play inside the lines and let the clock run. We did, we executed, and we won. And Arkansas blitzed several times on that drive, including the final play — so there was plenty of “pressure” being applied.

But I guess since tOSU can’t seem to beat the Tide (or anyone in the SEC, for that matter), you have to pull for someone else to do it.

Oh my God miseAUfan and RIP Logan Young,

would you both shut the fuck up?

Mise,
You may as well be talking to a brick wall. Although I do not agree with mp that “Auburn football is dead” I must admit that it’s going to be one hell of a bad year.

I admit that I drank to kool-aid and thought that Nall would work a miracle with this young O-line. Still may have worked out if Lester didn’t get his ass suspended and Davis broken his toe before game 1. Brandon would have an effective, non-fumbling running attack to take the heat off of him.

I truely believe we would be 3-0 if either or both of them were playing, because Tate is inconsistent at gaining yardage and Mario puts the ball on the carpet too much.

But something is defintely wrong with Cox. At lease Daniel Cobb would have us in the game until a mind numbing brain fart would cost us the game. Brandon puts us in a hole from the get go.

Now that Burns has lost the redshirt, Its time for him to get at least half the snaps. Realize that all of our points have been scored by freshmen and sophmores. I look for major strides throughout the year and for 2008 and 2009 to be quite nice.

Does Nick Saban own the state of Alabama yet or does he have to beat Georgia?

In my stoned haze Saturday night, I realized that if Bama & LSU show up for their game undefeated that the those two states may cease to exist. The sad thing is that nothing about that statement is crazy. ’Bama could go unbeaten since I think Arkansas is damn good and they beat them. And those states would have to cease exist in that scenario. What else could happen?

Bottom line…I’m rooting for Bama to keep winning. Maybe until a crushing loss to Tuberville. Muahahahah

It’s no more an error in logic (or a red herring, for that matter) to conclude that DM’s improved second half play was more attributable to Darren Mustin’s absence than it was to some general propensity of his to play better as the game goes on than it is to conclude the opposite.

I agree with you, but I wasn’t speaking in absoultes, just saying that there are many great running backs that, throughout history, play better as the game goes on (Kenny Irons, when he was healthy, was a good recent example), and I was stating that the same MAY be the case with McFadden.

So, Misean, I’m not real sure what your point is.

I was merely saying that there may be other factors at play, and that no one factor is likely responsible by itself.

RIP,

I only included receiving and rushing yards- return yards would add another 49 to first half totals for DMac.

And I never said that the loss of the LB didn’t hurt, just saying that Dmac is going to get his, regardless of who is playing LB. The loss of Hall (whom I never mentioned) was certainly a BIG loss, with the day he had prior to being injured. But imagine if Hall never got to play in the game at all (like Marcus Monk). If you compare McFadden’s rushing/receiving totals from half one and half 2, they were about identical, although he probably got more touches in the first half. FWIW, DMac’s longest run occurred while 2:40 was remaining before half time, presumably while Mustin was still playing.

The funny thing is, lost through this flame war, I was actually pulling for the Tide on Saturday (about the only time I don’t pull for them is the Iron Bowl, and I always pull for them against other SEC West opponents, save maybe Miss. State), and thought they played agreat game, and could certainly see the difference between this year and last (instead of losing the game in the 4th quarter, they won it).

Edsall,

If you ask the top 15 recruits in the state this year, Saban owned the state before the season started.

#27

“Another commentator tried to talk me out of it but nooooo I trust the color blind, legally retarded Brandon Cox and I’m out some money.”

No, David Irons is legally retarded. Brandon is just surrounded by a shitty football team.

MiseanAUFan,

McFadden didn’t catch a pass in the first half, so I’m not sure where you’re getting your information.

That’s a big “presumably” on Mustin — his injury occurred some time in the 2nd quarter, and very well may have occurred prior to that run. Before his injury, he had five tackles and an INT.

And if we’re going to play the injury game, why not mention Bama’s starting DT, Motley, who was unable to play at perhaps our most shallow (and, against ARK, most important) position?

This “what if” garbage is silly. We led for three TDs most of the game. Total yards ended up being dead-even: 450 apiece. Just give the credit where it’s due. This is not a game where we backed into a victory after being outgained and outplayed the entire game. Accept it.

I admit that I drank to kool-aid and thought that Nall would work a miracle with this young O-line.

I still think it may happen (they have been improving, and are run-blocking pretty well), I just thought that Senior QB leadership may offest some of the youth on the line, but I was wrong there.

Death of Notre Dame Football Dept:

 Michigan mercifully put the Notre Dame football to sleep this past Saturday. They called off the dogs in the second half and let ND leave the Big House with some sort of dignity by not hitting the half-century scoring mark. Key points:

1) Charlie’s team has gotten worse as the season progresses. That is bad coaching, not to be blamed on the Black Man.

2) Whoever gave Charlie a 10-year contract needs to be fired, today. Charlie ought to do the right thing and ask the ND administration to rip his 10-year contract, because each day that thing looks like stealing.

3) Weis is running the program into the ground, and his lack of charisma is contagious. The team has quit on him, and that is not just Demetrious Jones.

Mise,
Tristan Davis expects to be back for the UF game. I sure hope so. Regardless of the outcome of that game, this will be a vastly different offense with him in the lineup. He will make the O line look better at least and give the defense a real reason to bite on play action and reduce the double and triple coverage in the secondary.

But either way, Burns needs to be a major part of the offense at this point.

Logan,

I have been giving credit; just don’t chalk the Iron Bowl as a “w” yet, which is what many in AL seem to be doing. In Alabama I saw a team that played good, inspired football, and didn’t break after having a big early lead, which is commendable, and certainly a reversal of outcomes compared to recent years.

The last thing I intended to do was start a flame war like this, and looking back, I should have chosen some of my words more carefully (like “presumably”), lest they be misinterpreted. Lesson: avoid saying anything about another team when your own is 1-2, regardless of your intentions.

FWIW, McFadden had two catches in the first half for 11 yards according to the play-by-play chart on ESPN.

#37
Tosu_Buckeyes, when a coach goes 4 whole years without winning a single time that his team trails in the 4th quarter, and his replacement does it in the third game, it’s not a stretch to think the new coach might be the difference. It might even be as small a thing as the coach transmitting a new attitude. Mental toughness is a very overlooked aspect of college football, and I definitely think coaching staffs have a big part in that (see Dorrell, Karl; Gailey, Chan, State, Michigan). Mike Shula lost close games, that’s what he did. Would he have beaten Arkansas? Would JPW have continued his mental maturing process under Shula? Who knows. Anyway, Bama hadn’t won a game in which they trailed in the 4th quarter since 2001, so they have forgotten how to act in such circumstances.

BTW, I was very impressed with your coach at halftime in his interview. Don’t know why, he just seemed to say the right things and have the right attitude. And made good adjustments and won a tougher-than-many-think game.

Mark May was technically “39 points worth of wrong.”

Same old UCLA. The more things change, the more they stay the same with that program. Always good for at least one giant collapse against a minnow per season. Believe me, I know. Even Arizona annihilated them the last time they played in Tucson.

You think Clausen wishes he was in Demetrius Jones’ shoes? I don’t know why, but I think ESPN reporting Jones’ decision during Clausen’s fumble (20 seconds into the video) is a case of perfect timing.

BTW, I don’t think my alma mater (SDSU) could beat Michigan (it would be close.) I do think we could beat Notre Dame. Wake up the echoes, no. Wake up the waves on Del Mar Beach, yes.

MiseAU, I know I’m late to the retort here, but what kind of comeback is “When UGA has a perfect season without an Auburn grad as the head coach”? I might as well say “When Auburn has a perfect season without a West Virginia or Southern Arkansas grad as the head coach, then talk.” Look, I sympathize completely with Auburn’s anger at being left out of the MNC in 2004, but really, unless Tubbs is working on a time machine in the AU engineering school, there is nothing left for him to gain by subjecting us all to his relentless pissing and moaning. Especially since LSU and Florida BOTH proved that an SEC team can lose a game and still have a shot at the big one.

I was going to give the site a compliment on how big it’s getting, averaging around 70 comments/post…until I found out this comment section is one huge Bama/Bammer jack.

Look, I sympathize completely with Auburn’s anger at being left out of the MNC in 2004, but really, unless Tubbs is working on a time machine in the AU engineering school, there is nothing left for him to gain by subjecting us all to his relentless pissing and moaning.

WHAT bithcing and moaning? You love to throw flames at Tubberville, but they seem to be short on substance (and done without a look in the mirror first). About the only thing I remember him saying post ‘04 about the BCS/NC. etc. is something along the lines of it nearly being impossible to go undefeated in the SEC, and since 2004, no team has (and if you go back to before 04, it hasn’t happened since ’98.

Especially since LSU and Florida BOTH proved that an SEC team can lose a game and still have a shot at the big one.

While that may be true, compare the circumstances- there were just too many good undefeated teams in ’04(as opposed to ZERO undefeated teams in ’03, and one last year), that one had to be left out and it was going to be the one that started with the worst ranking.

Great game at Bryant Denny Saturday night! Time to put on our Michael Vick masks and choke the squeeze out of some dogs. I really do not give a shit about anything else.

What does everyone think about the chances of Charlie Strong taking over in Knoxville (assuming Fulmer is out after the season)?

I wish more coaches would piss and moan about the BCS system. Even if your (certainly not my) team is not in the running to be the odd man out this year, next year or the year after IT COULD BE.

Right now USC, LSU or UF, Oklahoma, and WfV all look to be capable of running the table. Obviously if all 4 were to go undefeated, then the BCSCG would be USC vs. LSU/UF. But then what of OK and/or WfV?

This crap will continue to happen and the system won’t change if no one speaks up. Somethings got to give sometime.

Can Jimmy just count five apples next week against the Spartans? It would be a dramatic improvement over his o-line.

MiseAU, were you totally unconscious last year when Tuberville said a playoff would be “about the only chance” for an SEC team to make the BCS title game?

You love to throw flames at Tubberville, but they seem to be short on substance (and done without a look in the mirror first).

Well, I just looked in the mirror, and I didn’t see anyone who’d ever bitched about an SEC team not being able to make it to the title game. Maybe I missed something.

MiseAU, were you totally unconscious last year when Tuberville said a playoff would be "about the only chance" for an SEC team to make the BCS title game?

Was that before or after USC lost to UCLA? Because before USC lost, there was no way Florida would have been there (Of course, I’m glad they made it and won).

Well, I just looked in the mirror, and I didn’t see anyone who’d ever bitched about an SEC team not being able to make it to the title game. Maybe I missed something.

I could have made my point clearer, but what I meant was, until UGA has an argument to play in a NC title game, which hasn’t happened since my birth year, it’s pretty weak to flame a coach who had every reason in the world to feel shortchanged. Tuberville and Auburn are the poster children of why the BCS sucks, so he feels the need to put out a sound bite now and then, and the SEC should welcome it. The particular comment you mention was designed to help out the SEC in general, and help stir up cries for a plus one system or the like. He hasn’t mentioned being jobbed in ‘04 since it happened; he just doesn’t want it to happen to another SEC team (or himself).

Notre Dame’s O-line is attrocious, but Ostrich Boy does hold that ball for a metric eternity. Top QB in his class? I’d say he’s well on his way to becoming just like his brothers: exceptionally mediocre.

RE #73, Kentucky will finish lower in their half of the SEC than Louisville will in the Big East. South Carolina plays defense.

Tater Salad re:#43-

I couldn’t find anything in the rules (Googling “college football rules”) about a punter being free game if the snap touches the ground. I’ve never heard that before, either. Just saying (no dog in that fight).

Anybody see what team is tied for the lead in sacks so far this season with 17 in 3 games?

Michigan State.

It could be another very bad weekend for little Jimmy C.

99:

Don’t know the exact rule. To be honest, at the time I wasn’t sure if it was a penalty or not. I just figured it wasn’t because it was so damned obvious. Maybe someone can help me with the actual rule. I got my explanation from the Tuscaloosa News.

Verbatim: Heads up to senior Eric Gray for knowing that when the punter picked up the bobbled snap off the ground, he was considered a ball carrier and was fair game.