TSC Week 6 Recap

The hits just keep on coming.

Stanford 24 – USC 23

US-C-ya later Trojans. It’s beginning to be more apparent that Coach Carroll’s bunch are lacking mental toughness in the post-Leinart era. This time it was a home loss to the hapless Stanford Cardinal. The same Stanford that went just 1-11 last season and fired their coach. Like it or not Trojan fans, this loss is just as horrible as the Michigan loss to Appalachian State.

With the talent they’ve accumulated at USC there’s no reason for this loss especially after last week when so many top teams went down. After JD Booty threw 4 int’s you’d think he might be looking over his shoulder at former prep superstar Mark Sanchez. This loss may fuel a quarterback controversy.

Wave buh-bye to being ranked in the top two. Don’t dare say you were looking ahead to next week at Arizona. I could possibly understand looking ahead to next month, after all, this is USC. The seniors on this team need to take control if they’re going to win the Pac-10.

LSU 28 – Florida 24

Give LSU credit for stomping adversity and thriving on crucial plays. They lived up to their top ranking have laid the groundwork for a national title run.

Florida played like champions and were it not for a fair bit of inexperience on the defensive side of the ball they would have come away with this game. Despite that inexperience, players like freshman cornerback Joe Haden came up with countless big plays to keep the pressure on LSU. Haden and freshman safety Major Wright particularly made a name for themselves and should be the leaders on this defence for the next few years.

LSU won this game because they were able to run the football consistently no matter who was in the game as a runner. Whether it was the tailbacks, Williams, Scott or Hester, the quarterbacks, Flynn or Perrilloux, LSU pounded the ball against a surprisingly tough Florida front seven.

Brandon LaFell may have helped put this game away for LSU on several occasions but he was plagued with a case of the drops. He did pick up significant yardage on a few slip screens however. LSU ran a certain option play with back-up quarterback Ryan Perrilloux running an option off of it. The play managed two first downs in three attempts.

LSU head coach Les Miles made a few gutsy fourth down calls that many will doubt even now after they’ve won the game. Another fake field goal was decisive in the game’s final outcome.

The player of the game was easily Jacob Hester who was the workhorse running for 106 yards on 23 carries and pushing his way into the end-zone for the game winning touchdown.

Oklahoma 28 – Texas 21

The tight ends dominated this ball game while Malcolm Kelly and Limas Sweed were mainly invisible. College football is strange these days. That said it was a coming out party for tight ends Jermaine Gresham (OU) and Jeremichael Finley (UT) for fans who maybe hadn’t heard of the dynamic sophomores.

Gresham only caught two balls but both were touchdowns whereas Finley caught four balls for a game-high 149 yards and managed a touchdown as well.

Texas’ secondary worries me. Not in the worrisome way that it used to with Michael Huff, Aaron Ross and co. It worries me in coverage breakdowns, one that resulted in a TD for a wide-open Malcolm Kelly. A team like Texas Tech could have a really nice day against this group. The front seven, on the other hand, is dominant. UT has a deep rotation up front and is able bring in fresh players without any drop off.

OU can also boast a talented front seven. In fact, they may have the best defense in the country. The front seven can freelance a little bit because of lockdown cornerback Reggie Smith, who made WR Limas Sweed’s life miserable. If there is a hole, Jeremichael Finley exploited it. The OU linebackers couldn’t cover Finley at all and it showed.

Offensively both teams moved the ball when they needed to. OU running back DeMarco Murray showed the country what all the hype was about while Sam Bradford placed himself back in the Heisman conversation. The better team won this game and unless it falls to another upset, OU will be in the Big 12 title game against …

Missouri 41 – Nebraska 6

Missouri sent a message to the rest of the country today. It’s for real. Holding Nebraska to two field goals is 25 points better than USC could muster. Chase Daniel threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns, oh yeah, and he ran for 70 yards and another two scores. Who’s to say he isn’t the best quarterback in the country right now?

Tennessee 35 – Georgia 14

I couldn’t believe how easily Tennessee was able to control the line of scrimmage in this game… on both sides of the ball.

In what was just Georgia’s fourth road loss since 2001 (tied with Texas for least in the country during that span) they were pounded by three different running backs. Junior Arian Foster, Sophomores Lamarcus Coker and Montario Hardesty couldn’t be stopped.

Georgia was forced to load up the box with defenders and then came the reverse-pass from Lucas Taylor to Coker for a touchdown that blew the game open.

UGs quarterback Matt Stafford was erratic but he rarely had time to throw as his offensive line continues to mature along with him. Running back Thomas Brown was lost with an injury early in the game and Knowshon Moreno couldn’t break off enough big plays to keep his team in it.

Tennessee’s defense is the story but who does this help more than anyone?

California vs. Bye – week

I thought this would be a key match-up and I was right. With USC’s loss, Cal will move up to number two and a few voters may even be tempted to hand the Golden Bears a number one vote. Tennessee’s blowout win makes Cal’s win over the Volunteers all the more impressive.

Saturdays are Made for Television

People sometimes ask if there is something wrong with me. Others have said I’m strange or not in touch with reality.

I prefer the term college football fan. And yes I put that down under “race” in the census.

This is a Saturday for people like me.

If you’ve never seen SEC football … I don’t really know what to say to you. Although a few expletives come to mind.

If there was ever a day to start, this Saturday would be it. Beginning with:

LSU vs. Florida

Skip the wedding, blow off the in-laws, this was the game you needed to see. And then something happened. The reigning champs lost and LSU exuded its dominance over a few over-matched teams. Now popular opinion is turning towards a Boyou-Bengal rout.

LSU is probably the best team in the country, with USC the only other team, who can currently claim otherwise. But they catch Florida at a bad time looking for revenge after an upset loss against Auburn.

That said, the game is in Baton Rouge at night and LSU doesn’t lose in Death Valley at night.

With Gator defensive captain Tony Joiner’s arrest this week, the Tiger offense may be in for a big day. Joiner’s status is unknown and the UF secondary was already too young as it was. Tim Tebow will have to live up to the superman comparisons if they’re going to keep up on the scoreboard.

UF will miss freshman running back Chris Rainey who will need surgery. As good of a runner as Tebow is, he won’t be able to run through LSU without some help. Percy Harvin is going to have to be very involved in the game-plan to keep LSU honest.

So don’t skip the wedding, but make sure you’ve got it recorded just in case (no not the wedding).

LSU should win but I wouldn’t bet on them covering the spread.

Other games of note include …

Kentucky vs. South Carolina

Not bad for one of the SEC under-card matches this week. Steve Spurrior can make this fairy tale end in a hurry for Rich Brooks’ upstart Wildcats. But without linebacker Jasper Brinkley, the defense, which has been solid for the Gamecocks, will be tested by a high powered offense. This is a tough game to call but Spurrior wants to win the SEC east this year and this game will be key to it. South Carolina should win a shootout.

Georgia vs. Tennessee

This is a match-up of two great quarterbacks. Georgia’s Matt Stafford has the arm of a god and Tennessee’s Erik Ainge is the savvy veteran. Tennessee has taken the loss of their wide receivers worse than many had thought they would. If they can control the clock and keep Georgia off the field, they will keep it close. UG’s head coach Mark Richt has an amazing road SEC record and he will again lead his dawgs to a victory.

Missouri vs. Nebraska

Could this be the year Missouri takes the next step and wins the Big 12 championship? A win against Nebraska will certainly give them a stranglehold on the north division. Nebraska, on the other hand, follow the Missouri game with three tough battles against south opponents OKSt, Texas A&M, and UT and could find their season going down the tubes in a real hurry. If there isn’t urgency in Bill Callahan’s practices at this point, maybe there will be when there’s talk of his contract being terminated. Missouri takes the game on the back of Chase Daniel, who is the best QB in the conference.

Virginia Tech vs. Clemson

Every year these two teams are poised for big things, then they fall flat on their faces. Virginia Tech has had to switch quarterbacks and are now building for the future while trying to win today, which usually doesn’t serve the latter very well. Clemson is coming off a disappointing loss to Georgia Tech in which their high powered offense managed a total of 3 points. This game will be a battle of Clemson’s backfield duo (James Davis and CJ Spiller) and Virginia Tech’s future pros at linebacker (Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi). If Davis or Spiller can break off a few big runs, they can keep it close but this is a Virginia Tech team many expected to compete for the national title. The Hokies should come away with a win.

Now for an in-depth look at the Texas-OU Red River Rivalry game, we bring in special-contributor Jenna Kelsey:

The upcoming rivalry game between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma State Sooners has tension running high as both teams practiced hard this week before the Oct. 2nd game.

With both Oklahoma and Texas coming off major upsets in their previous games, this weekend’s match could make, or break, the psyche of the majority of either team’s players.

The game will be held in Texas, Dallas and will begin at 2:30 pm (CT), but who will leave with the big Cotton Bowl win?

The Sooners recently suffered an unbelievable loss to Colorado, resulting in a final score of 27-24, but Sooners head coach, Bob Stoops, is optimistic on the approaching game versus Texas.

According to soonersports.com, Stoops said, “We need to have a great week of practice here going into the game at the Cotton Bowl against Texas this week. Everyone knows what a great rivalry it is. It is always a big factor for us and having a chance to win the Big 12 South and the Big 12 Championship. Each year this is where our goals begin, so this is a big game and a big step.”

But when asked about the loss against Colorado, Stoops said, “It is such a long year and we haven’t done much yet. You have to earn that. Maybe how the first four games went, they were thinking ‘this is how we do things,’ but it is not that easy to do it, obviously. It doesn’t take much for things to go wrong. I think sometimes the general public doesn’t get how small of a margin it can take for things not to be executed properly.”

In order to regain the previously unshakable confidence of the Sooners’ offensive, and defensive teams, the big game on Saturday is a must-win. Although Texas has always had a strong football team, Sooners fans have never been more confident then they are about the meeting of the two teams this weekend.

Texas-born Scott Rhodes, 52, said, “I look forward to the Texas/OU game(s) all season. I was born in Texas but grew up in Oklahoma, so it’s a really big rivalry even within my own mind. I’ve seen how people act in both states, and when it comes to football in the South, it’s not a sport – it’s a religion.”

Visit the school websites for more information on the OU Sooners or the Texas Longhorns.

Thanks Jenna. It’s painful for me to say but I’m taking OU in the Red River game. Texas has looked horrible this year and as unforgivable as OU’s loss to Colorado was, they still have the better team. Sam Bradford was in line for the Heisman if OU had stayed undefeated.

Forget all those games though, the biggest match-ups on Saturday might be California vs. bye-week and Oregon vs. bye-week.

With all the upsets we saw last week, it would seem the best way to stay in the title race would be not to play at all.