College Football Week 5 Thread

[JeeberD]

Wow...nice fucking run.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'll give the USF fans a little credit (no idea how many are actually in the stadium), even if ESPN might be cranking the volume up on the ambient mics, it sounds like the place is rocking pretty hard.

[Young Drachma]

There doesn't look to be an empty seat in that place anywhere.

[Young Drachma]

Though..I just saw a guy in the pom-pom squad. Or at least, it was a girl with a beard.

[Noop]

WVU's backup QB is going to be special.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And maybe it's just being a Friday night game that's doing it, but I swear this fourth quarter doesn't look much different to me than a HS game with a couple of good teams. The WV QB injury might have something to do with that impression though.

[Celeval]

Good defensive call to start sending an extra guy by USF - the WVU quarterback is stepping up every time to think about running. He'll do it again on fourht down.

[Young Drachma]

67,000+..wow, they sure did build a pretty big stadium.

[JeeberD]

Game. Over.

[Swaggs]

Gotta hand it to USF. They are aggressive and fast as hell on defense. We had six turnovers, but most of them were forced by the Bulls' D.

Gotta question the playcalling of Coach Rod in this one, though. He gets the genius label pretty liberally these days, but this is two years in a row that he has not had an answer in this game.

[Young Drachma]

Funny that WVU took two of USF's coaches after last season.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Celeval

Good defensive call to start sending an extra guy by USF - the WVU quarterback is stepping up every time to think about running. He'll do it again on fourht down.

Once he made that nice run, it looked to me like he became even quicker to try to take off. Sort of a predictable reaction I think when you're dealing with an inexperienced QB in that situation.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

67,000+..wow, they sure did build a pretty big stadium.

It's the Tampa Bay Bucs' stadium. They've never come close to selling out before.

Can't wait to hear the talking heads downplay USF, because after all, WVU must not really be good.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Dark Cloud

Funny that WVU took two of USF's coaches after last season.

There are three former USF assistants on WVU's offensive staff. We need to get some of their defensive coaches, apparently.

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by Logan

It's the Tampa Bay Bucs' stadium. They've never come close to selling out before.

Can't wait to hear the talking heads downplay USF, because after all, WVU must not really be good.

The Brighthouse Networks field part threw me off to where it was. That makes more sense to me.

[larrymcg421]

Down 21-6, I'm still not on board with the current conventional wisdom of kicking XP there. If you miss the 2pt conversion then, then you'll now you need 2 more scores. If you make it, you can play for the 1 score. Why not get that information sooner?

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Logan

It's the Tampa Bay Bucs' stadium. They've never come close to selling out before.

Can't wait to hear the talking heads downplay USF, because after all, WVU must not really be good.

I'd normally agree with you, but 10 turnovers, a number of other fumbles, about a half dozen bad snaps by WVU's center, and USF getting a bunch of bad penalties and giving up a lot of 3rd/4th and long in the fourth quarter takes a lot of shine off of it, IMO.

I think USF is an outstanding defensive team, though. They forced five TOs against Auburn and six against us. Their offense is not very good, though. They only scored 14 points and one TD was on a fluky long TD. Unless WVU's defense is a lot better than I suspect it is, USF's offense has a long way to go to get to the caliber of its defense.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Logan

Can't wait to hear the talking heads downplay USF, because after all, WVU must not really be good.

I'm not sure but I think WVU might be in position to actually get a bit of a pass on this one hurting them much since they lost White in the 2nd qtr. I'm not sure that USF doesn't beat them with him in there given the way this one was going, but I think that's going to get some play. Either way, WVU is probably about what a lot of us thought they were before this one even kicked off, a decent enough team but not in the highest echelon of the country (fewer & fewer teams are IMO, seems the gap between the very best and the rest is getting larger while the gap between 20 and 40 or 30 and 70 is getting narrower).

[Swaggs]

It will be interesting to hear what was up with Slaton in the second half. He only touched the ball twice, from what I have been able to gather. If he isn't hurt, Coach Rodriguez is going to have some explaining to do on why he kept his All American running back out of the game plan in a close game.

[SnDvls]

wow speed kills and USF had a ton of it

[JeeberD]

So tomorrow is UTEP at SMU. Should be an exciting, close game. The really fun part will the the DFW Alumni Chapter Tailgate tomorrow afternoon. Two years ago we had about 200 people and we though it was busy. This year we sold about 575 tickets to the tailgate. Luckily I have one of the best volunteer jobs at the tailgate...beer distribution.

"one beer for you, one for me. One beer for the next guy, another one for me..."

[Galaril]

USF looks to be the new Miami Hurricanes pretty cool a team like them small school beating up on the big boyz.

[Young Drachma]

USF actually has more students than WVU. They've just not been at it very long, so to be at this D1-A thing for less than 15 years and not to be playing in say, the WAC and to be able to topple giants year after year proves they're gonna be doing this a while. Which is nice that there is a progression in the Florida schools away from the FSUs of the world and directional Florida seems to be playing to win the game.

[vex]

I was about to post the same thing. According to wikipedia, USF is the 9th largest school in the nation.

[Crim]

#1 - The TV analysts didn't have a great game.

#2 - The WVU center had a terrible game... seems like even most of the non-fumbled snaps had to be reached-for by White and the backup dude.

#3 - USF Front Seven >>>>>>>> WVU O-Line

#4 - I thought the replay booth stuff was interesting, but maybe a touch overdone...?

#5 - Echo Swaggs on USF's offense. After the game someone (Robert Smith on ESPN 1 the Uno, maybe?) mentioned that USF's built-for-speed defense may have trouble with Rutgers' downhill running game, and I agree. Still this is a very fun defensive team to watch, and Grothe would be terrific if he had any fucking receivers with fingers.

[timmynausea]

I give USF credit - they basically outhit and outhustled WVU all day and kept the pressure on a WVU offense that is usually the aggressor. They're a good team and it was great effort. Still, WVU outgained the Bulls 437-274. You just can't overcome that many turnovers.

[miami_fan]

I really enjoyed the look into the replay booth. Now it may come back and bite the NCAA in the ass later on when a official screws something up. It was very good insight on how the process is supposed to run.

[gstelmack]

Go Bulls!

I'm so proud of my alma mater today. Agreed they have a fantastic defense, but the offense needs more seasoning. The have two freshmen running backs and a sophomore QB, so a very young offense. If the freshmen can just hang on to the freakin' ball (those first two fumbles were one not covering up while trying to scoot along the outside of a big jam, and the second was trying to push backwards for an extra yard instead of just falling), they'd do a lot better. But Grothe tends to make throws when he has to.

Agreed that a power running game can give them fits, but Rutgers and Louisville should be good games to watch.

But honestly, USF was getting pressure with 4 linemen rushing, and when they added the fifth to contain the QB's scrambles, that was pretty much it. Either WVU's line is really that bad, or this USF team won't have as much trouble with Rutger's power-running as I think they will.

Oh yeah, and it was sweet that this was the first football game I got to watch in HD on the new 32" Vizio that replaced the 27" Sony SD TV in the bedroom...

[cartman]

Notre Dame is just gawd-awful.

[Greyroofoo]

Weiss needs to bust out the camcorder.

[timmynausea]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

But honestly, USF was getting pressure with 4 linemen rushing, and when they added the fifth to contain the QB's scrambles, that was pretty much it. Either WVU's line is really that bad, or this USF team won't have as much trouble with Rutger's power-running as I think they will.

I definitely think the Bulls D-line is talented, but I don't see the connection you're making. 240 pound DEs using their quickness to get pressure in the pass rush is completely different from 240 pound DEs being physical to stop a power running game.

[hoopsguy]

Illini up 21-10 at home against Penn State as FR WR Benn broke three arm tackles to score from 30 out on a slant. He also has a 90 yard kick return.

This was the super-star recruit in their strong class last season; nice to see him busting out in what most Illini fans are pointing to as a "statement game".

[Greyroofoo]

Purdue up 20-0 on Our Ladies.

[timmynausea]

Whoa. Tulane is down to the LSU 6. They're down 7-2 with a little under 2 minutes left in the 1st half.

[cartman]

And the Green Wave scores the TD to take the lead right before halftime.

[Celeval]

What's up with LSU's uniforms today? Is this a regular alternate uniform?

[bronconick]

Michigan's going to refuse to play on the Big Ten Network after this.

Halftime
Northwestern 16
Michigan 7

[Jim G.]

Michigan down, 16-7, at the half. Northwestern on pace to run up around 600 yards in offense. Any talk that Michigan had fixed anything with its defense was definitely premature.

Edit: the only positive is that no one has the Big Ten Network, so very few people are witnessing this latest embarrassment. I just have a CSTV window open.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Celeval

What's up with LSU's uniforms today? Is this a regular alternate uniform?

No, both sides are wearing special uniforms that will be sold later in the year with all proceeds going to help Katrina victims.

Edit: That is if IIRC, I was half asleep when I first turned on the game.

[Celeval]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

No, both sides are wearing special uniforms that will be sold later in the year with all proceeds going to help Katrina victims.

Edit: That is if IIRC, I was half asleep when I first turned on the game.

Ahh... good stuff. Interesting question - if Tulane upsets LSU, does that result in more or less profits from the sale?

[Young Drachma]

Purdue is up 23-6 on Notre Dame.

I'm sure it's Ty Willingham's fault for not recruiting well enough.

[larrymcg421]

One week after an important win that made the Canes look like they were on the right track, they're now struggling with Duke. It's 17-14 Miami and Duke has the ball with 6 minutes left.

[larrymcg421]

Miami holds on. After a big 4th down sack by Moncur, the Canes go 69 yards in 2 plays to seal the game at 24-14.

A few things to note:

1) As much as I like Javarris, Graig Cooper needs to be the starter. He's just more explosive and I think the game wouldn't have been as close if he got more carries.

2) Kyle Wright unfortunately threw a couple picks that kept Duke in the game, but was still a very efficient 19-23 for 231 yards and 2 TD's.

3) Miami still has the penalty disease. Duke got three first downs off of Miami penalties. Got to cut that out.

4) Pass coverages are all screwed up. Not sure if it's blown assignment or poor planning, but for the 2nd week in a row Miami is giving up huge pass plays and this time it almost cost them.

[JonInMiddleGA]

So much for one of the scores that was interesting early.

LSU is now 34-9 over Tulane with under 9 minutes left.

Meanwhile though ...
South Carolina trailed briefly but is back in front of Miss. St 24-21 late 3rd
Ole Miss & UGA are now tied at 17 getting late in the 3rd
Iowa State still leads, but it's only 10-7 late 2nd after Nebraska scores
Notre Dame has pulled with 26-19 with Purdue, about 8 mins left
Michigan leads N'western 21-16 about 8 mins left
And Penn State is driving, trying to tie Illinois with under 4 mins to play

[Young Drachma]

Grr...living out west. Can't see the Rutgers game. Bleh.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Well, that didn't take long.
UGA right back in front with an 80 yd drive, and then they recover a surprise onside kick to regain possession. FOFC frequent subject Thomas Brown with 158 all purpose yds & 2 TD's with more than a quarter left to go.

Also South Carolina now 31-21 on Miss. St with 12 mins left

edit to add: And suddenly appearing on the radar is UMass, now trailing BC just 17-14, just under 6 mins left in the 3rd quarter. Also Appalachian State's lead over Elon is just 14-10 starting the 3rd. Elon isn't really too bad, only lost to USF 27-13 in the season opener.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

FOFC frequent subject Thomas Brown with 158 all purpose yds & 2 TD's with more than a quarter left to go.

He now has 13 carries for 170 yards and 3 TDs. Just took a 41-yarder in. Dawgs lead 31-17.

[larrymcg421]

It seemed like Penn State was driving the entire 2nd half. Illinois defense won that game for them. Penn State had 4 red zone oportunities and came away with only 3 points. One drive held to FG, two INT's, and turnover on downs.

[larrymcg421]

Boston College only up 17-14 over UMass late in the 3rd quarter.

Check that, they just scored a TD to make it 24-14. Still not a good margin for them. Ryan is only 20-35 for 178 yards and 1 TD.

[JonInMiddleGA]

UGA adds another TD (from Moreno), now 38-17. That's 21 unanswered points in a 9 minute span since Ole Miss tied it up.

edit to add: Elsewhere, Kansas scores first, 7-0 ahead of Texas and Rutger leads Maryland 3-0 very early, same score for Clemson ahead of GT early.

AND OMG ! Ric Flair is on the South Carolina sidelines today. Wooooooo !