Upsets are fun to watch but are absolutely brutal on my college football picks and subsequent winning percentage. There were some upsets that surprised me over the weekend (Auburn, Iowa) and some that didn’t (Kentucky, UCLA). A little bit on UCLA before the notes. Why was this team ranked in the top 15 to begin with? Make no mistake, the Bruins appearance towards the top of the polls was undeserved and based solely on their win against a sleeping USC team in the last week of the regular season. I, like everyone, was surprised that Utah came out and had the offense day they had after they struggled to score points against Oregon State and Air Force. UCLA still has the potential to be a dangerous team but their loss to the Utes in Salt Lake City shouldn’t have been all that surprising.
Game of the Week – Tennessee at Florida
No big plays. When I think about this game and why Tennessee lost, in deciding fashion, to the Gators in 2007, those three words will ultimately come to mind. I’ve watched the Vols play twice this year and twice they’ve lost for the same reason. Against a team with superior speed and athleticism on defense, they’ve tried to quick slant, bubble screen and 5-yard comeback route their way to victory. And twice they’ve gotten absolutely destroyed. In the first half Tennessee was plagued by a chronic inability to finish drives and put points on the board. On one such drive with 10 minutes to go in the second quarter, Florida countered with two touchdown drives of their own. Finally, the UT offense showed a sense of urgency, like they emerged from their coma and realized that they were down 28-6 and were able to punch in a score at the end of the first half. The second half began promising enough for the Vols after true freshman Eric Berry picked off a pass and took it to the house for six. I’ll say this about Tim Tebow, he’s a heck of an athlete but a terrible open field tackler. He just totally whiffed on Berry. And then there
was the fumble. I wonder at what point you have to sit Erik Ainge because he can’t make the exchange to the team’s tailbacks. You can’t have a quarterback that can’t hand the ball off. It’s really that simple. To have Ainge backhanding exchanges is unacceptable and in this case, costs Tennessee the game. I think there is a growing fissure on the Volunteers between the offense and the defense. After Ainge throws that ball into Arian Foster’s chest, the defense appeared to be just demoralized and realized that no matter what they did unless Eric Berry picked the ball off and took it the distance four more times, there was nothing they could if the offense wasn’t going to put up points. But the story of the game for me was Florida’s ability to make big plays. Just to paint the picture for you, Florida was average more than 8 yards per offensive play and more than 21 yards per reception. I am not yet ready to put Florida in the top 3 with Oklahoma, LSU and USC but the Oct. 3 matchup between the Gators and Tigers in Baton Rouge promises to be epic but I think the development of Riley Cooper and Louis Murphy as legitimate scoring threats alongside Tebow and Percy Harvin is a scary proposition for the SEC and the rest of college football. For Tennessee, there were just too many blown opportunities and missed chances. The real low point in an otherwise pretty entertaining game for me was the mind-numbing interview with that balding midget Kenny Chesney and his cheesy, fratty faded Red Sox hat. A die hard Red Sox fan from Tennessee? Take a trip to Southie and see how that works out. And while we’re on the subject, can we vote to do away, once and for all, with the celebrity fan interview and cameo and the girlfriend/father/mother/brother/cousin cam?
Overrated win of the week: Alabama
For the true Alabama football fan, not the starved-for-recognition-and-for-God’s-sake-a-win-against-Auburn Alabama football fan, you have to know that you didn’t deserve that one. If you need two questionable pass interference calls on the final drive at the end of a game at home to win, that win has to feel a little hollow. Let’s be honest for a second Tide fans. Well if we’re really being honest, those Houndstooth baseball caps are just horrifyingly tacky and secondly, if this game were being played in Fayetteville instead of Tuscaloosa, you probably don’t get one or both of those calls. At the beginning of that game, there was a lot to feel good about if you’re an Alabama fan. The defense created turnovers, the normally deer-in-headlights John Parker Wilson looked good in the pocket and picked apart a ghastly Arkansas secondary. 
But then there’s that second half. You know, the whole blowing a 21-point-lead in the second half at home thing. Against a better team, a team who’s best player (who also happens to be a Heisman Trophy candidate) isn’t on the sideline cramping, you get beat and beat soundly when you give up that kind of a lead. No doubt the win against Arkansas is the first significant win of the Saban-era Tide but this isn’t the signature win this program needs to return to its former glory. My hats off to Houston Nutt and the Razorbacks for not giving up when everyone, myself included, thought they were destined for a blowout.
Best Win of the Week: Kentucky
This upset really wasn’t a surprise to anyone who knows anything about college football.
Rich Brooks has this program on the way up and given that Andre Woodson, the SEC’s best quarterback, has an array of weapons including Jacob Tamme, Rafael Little and Keenan Burton to throw to, you knew the Cardinals were in for it at Commonwealth Stadium Saturday night in Lexington. In addition to proving that last year’s 8-4 record wasn’t a fluke for Brooks and Kentucky, the win against the number 9-ranked Cards proves that the Big East really is a laughably weak football conference. When your best (or second best, let’s not split hairs) team is getting beat by the 6th or 7th best team in the SEC, you have no claim to the national championship as a conference. The Big East is continuing its tradition as a second-rate Thursday night football conference.
Win of Affirmation: USC
Saturday night confirmed what many of us already knew: USC is a pretty good football team. There were moments during Saturday’s game in Lincoln against the Huskers that USC looked a little sloppy, played a little undisciplined and John David Booty proved that he is not the Heisman trophy winner, playing more like a game manager than a game changer. But USC is still really good. Nothing that Nebraska tried on offense was
the least bit successful and there was nothing the Blackshirts could do to prevent Stefon Johnson (who looked like LenDale White only skinnier and faster) and C.J. Gable from running all over them. You’re not going to beat too many Div. 1-A teams giving up 313 yards on the ground and over 8 yards a carry. Nebraska, meanwhile, will likely win the Big 12 North by default but will get absolutely annihilated by Oklahoma, who has one of college football’s most exciting young tailbacks in Demarco Murray, in the Big 12 Championship. I will say that Sam Keller’s demeanor during the game was impressive to me. He never seemed to get too up or too down but I don’t think he ever recovered from the first interception he threw. I am not convinced that during the course of a game Keller can keep things from going from bad to worse. Many across the country, particularly in the South, were looking for a reason to vault LSU up to that top spot but the Trojans proved that they were worthy of all the preseason hype by beating Nebraska in convincing fashion.
Team I will never pick against for the rest of the season: Boston College
Make that three ACC wins in three consecutive weeks to open the season for Boston College. Matt Ryan, to put it simply, is the truth. Ryan carved up the much-hyped
Georgia Tech defense to the tune of 435 yards on 30 of 44 completions for a touchdown and no interceptions in Atlanta. He seems to be right at home in new head coach Jeff Jagodzinski’s offense and any Heisman conversation that doesn’t include Matt Ryan isn’t a serious one. The Eagle defense stepped up Saturday night as well and held Georgia Tech running back Tashard Choice, who ran all over Notre Dame and Samford, to just 31 yards on 15 carries. Though the game finished 24-10, BC had a 21-0 lead going into the fourth quarter. At this point in the year, Jagodzinski is my pick for coach of the year and his Eagles have to be the favorite to win the watered-down ACC. The rest of the Eagles schedule reads like a Who’s Who of teams that were supposed to be great but for one reason or another are just average after three weeks of play. The Eagles still have to travel to Virginia Tech, to Maryland and to Clemson and must host the Miami and Florida State. I don’t think this team will run the table and go undefeated, there is at least one landmine in there somewhere but winning Saturday in Atlanta against Georgia Tech is a big win for this football team.
Most Disappointing: Auburn
Everyone knew how good USF was and anyone who was surprised that Matt Grothe, Jim Leavitt and the Bulls traveled up to Auburn and beat the Tigers hasn’t been paying
attention to the recent rise of that program. But to get beat by the Fighting Crooms the following week at home is unbelievable. Lest we forget that this was a Mississippi State team that tallied a grand total of 41 yards through the air and just over 170 on the ground. How did this happen? Well quarterback play. Or in the case of Auburn bad quarterback play. Brandon Cox got the hook after his first two passes were picked off and his replacement, freshman Kodi Burns, didn’t fair much better and threw an interception of his own. Many believed that this team would only go as far as Brandon Cox could take them and we have found out just how far that is. You can’t turn the ball over 5 times and expect to beat anyone in college football and if Auburn doesn’t learn how to take care of the ball, they could easily fall short of six wins and be home come December. One could argue that this is a Auburn team that could still feasibly upset someone later on in the year but given their turnover problem and now there are issues at quarterback, I just don’t see that happening. This could be the year that Alabama finally bests Auburn.
Regardless of being an Alabama fan or not. There’s one guy who LOVES it. Mr. Sabian. Jesus Christ does Miami look horrible. Quick tip for college coaches who earn 7 figures and are treated like saviors of a nation. Don’t coach in the NFL, EVER. Did I mention EVER? Yeah, ever.
Yeah um lets see who beat a better team, oh yeah Alabama. Who didn’t oh yeah Tennessee.
Of course, D.J, Hall and a handful of the Bama defensive starters being out for the 2nd half shouldn’t be mentioned in regards to that 2nd half comeback. Nope, not at all.
Your Mom, you are the classic UAT sidewalk alumni. Even with the Vawls loss to the Gates, they are still the premier program in their state. How does it feel to be the 2nd or 3rd best program in your state? Logan Young must be proud, but he’s with the Bahr now.
And don’t laugh too hard at the Barn for this weekend, I do believe the Bammers lost to Mississippi St last year and had to take Ole Piss into OT to get a win. Classic performances against the bottom-dwellers of the SEC West.
You are right; Alabama’s win is overrated. There is no way they should be 16th now. McFadden is a beast and was not stopped for a loss all night.They just kept pounding and made some really good play calls on third and short all night (which is a product of every defender keying on McFadden or Jones). Prior to the final drive there were two or three no calls on definite pass interference calls; maybe the one on the final drive are make up calls but you cannot say those defined the game. Druid is right DJ was out for most of the second half and the pigs had no answer for him. It was a whole product of work and Alabama ended up with the better end. Arkansas had UT beat in ’98 until Stoerner’s drop but they still handed the crystal football to Fulmer. (I am in no way saying UA runs the table, just that’s football)
Taco Bell, I don’t see where anyone said anything about Auburn, but hey way to go with the preemptive strike by bringing up games from last year… Let’s go a year back and talk about Vandy or Notre Dame. wtf?
Look, the Ahhh-shit–Burn loss hurts us all. Or, at least those of us that play them. The “bamers are waaaaay overrated and only benefited from Houston Nutt snatching defeat from the jaws of victory — like he’s done so many other times. Why Dick is throwing that late in the game when DM was just killing that “Bamer line is beyond me. But the Tide won — and congrats. You beat a mediocre team. But that 14 ranking will not hang out for long. I’m thinking its gone when you and your fucking ass spelunking coach get their grundles handed to them by Kentucky. Enjoy it now. You’re still the most hated team in the now Poon-free SEC. Fucking Saban deserves a hell reserved for meter maids and tow truck drivers.
I never said those calls defined the game but their impact on the game’s outcome is undeniable. Both of those calls came on 3rd down. The first came on 3rd and 1 from the Arkansas 35 and the second was on 3rd and 10 from the Arkansas 28. Two pass interference calls, unless someone’s being tackled, shouldn’t be called during the final minute of a game. As for Alabama’s ranking, it’s appallingly bad though not altogether surprising. Regardless of whether or not they deserved it, I insist they didn’t, Alabama and Saban got the win.
Alabama does not play Kentucky this year.
cmfl,
My point is that one win over the mental midget Houston Nutt does not qualify as Bammer being back. And of course, for Bammers, it is about Auburn. Bammers are loving his right now, the Barn losing to a BCS B-List school then losing to MSU. It doesn’t change the fact that Auburn has pwn3d their ass the past 5 seasons.
I don’t know what Vandy or ND has to do with UAT though, care to enlighten me?
did you know that a recently published report on the fecal matter concentration in over 500 rivers, streams, and creek in tennessee revealed they all hade high ecoli infestation. so you see, it IS true. tennessee fans are full of shit…
you whine about the 2 valid interference calls that bama got on that infamous drive. never mind that the replays showed them to be valid though very close calls…you accused the officials of throwing the game to bama because of home field advantage. and yet, you failed to mention the flagrant interference call 2 drives earlier….remember. the one when bama was marching deep in hodg territory, and their line backer held the bama receiver right in front of the official who forgot he was supposed to be throwing the game to bama. no flag…replays weren’t even questionable…it was interference. bama would have had a new set of downs in the red zone, and the whole “comeback” scenario might never have been neccessary.
the bottom line? bama got the W, tennessee got the big L, and if you’re posting from the rocky top state, and you drink well water, you’re probably full of shit. well, okay, maybe not full, but at least familiar with the taste…
Most of the times you guys are talking about it’s a hog player mauling a wide reciever after the ball is passed. The sad thing about the refs is that even if that last pass hadn’t been a touchdown they were going to give a Roughing the passer call when a hog player was right on top of him right before he threw it and couldn’t've stopped.
The whole issue of the game comes down to Houston and play calling. The fact that they only have rushes up the middle for Darren and nothing on the outside for Felix is bizarre. The fact that they only ran about 3 plays from the WildHog is also bizarre.
The difference between the calls at the end of the game and at the middle are all about timing. When two guys are both going for the ball and the game is on the line, no ref should be able to give the game to the reciever. And what is with the obvious ploy to give bama more time by measuring on 3rd and 1 for a first down?
so big-foot-in-mouth. are you saying that arkansas DID NOT get away with pass interference/defensive holding while bama was driving deep in the red zone and the game was on the line? tell me why that doesn’t produce some outrage from you considering that “no ref should be able to give the game to the receiver”. shouldn’t that apply both ways? “no ref should be able to give the game to” the defence by not calling an obvious pass interference.
i’m sorry dude, but i don’t see the difference. a bad call is a bad call is a bad call, and they’re equally bad when they’re a bad NO CALL. the addition of replay has absolutely affected the outcome of several games since it was instituted. the problem is that they don’t take it far enough. ANY call, that’s egregious and obvious should be overturned in the booth, NOT dealt with by an apology from the SEC officials and a reprimand of the officail(s) involved. this ain’t yo grandaddy’s game no more….there’s one hell of a lot on the line these days. depending on the accuracy of the officiating is one factor that should be eliminated by any and every way possible.
BTW…bigfoot was one of my favorite myths when i was a kid. i’m so happy they finally taught one to type…
TBSTacos,
I could not agree more; Alabama (Wtf is UAT?) is not back. I don’t remember anybody saying they were. Beating Ark doesn’t mean anything but a win over Arkansas. Yes, you are also right that I am rejoicing in Auburn’s defeat (I don’t speak for any fan but myself). So nobody’s disagreeing with you; calm down sparky. Concerning Vandy and Notre Dame. You are not an Auburn fan or you wouldn’t call it the “barn” so I assumed you were a UT fan and refered to UT’s laughingstock losses from 2 year ago. My apologies if you aren’t a UT fan but my point was, no one said anything about Auburn (at least on this thread until you) so why bring up an irrelevant point about losing a game last season (or any season prior for that matter).
I tend not to get too involved with comments and that stuff but I feel the need to clarify that I am not a Tennessee fan, an Arkansas fan, an Alabama fan, you get the picture. I am a sportswriter at a newspaper in Destin, Fla. who posts to this blog as a guest blogger. So being called a Tennessee fan, while it does not bother me, is not really accurate at all. I am indifferent about the SEC as far as allegiances go. Secondly, I am not, in any way, accusing the refs of throwing the game. To imply that any referee would intentionally make a bad call for any reason would be wildly irresponsible. What I am saying is that those are two questionable calls that given the situation and its place in the game, you just cannot make as an official. As a referee, you should not make a call that has a direct and tangible effect on the outcome of the game.
cmfl,
I also called UT the Vawls. I call UF the Gates, I call Ole Miss Ole Piss. Consider me SEC Non-Denominational.
By the way, UAT is the University of Bammer at Tuscalooser, like UAB or UAH. Maybe they should change it to AUT after the Aubies beating that ass 5 years in a row.
Why bring up loses from last season you ask??? Because this season is only three weeks old.
a) i’ll take an “overrated” win every week if i can get one
b) the polls don’t matter this week and they won’t ever matter this year for bama. if you’re not vying for a bcs spot the polls are just one big j.o. session. everybody needs to quit crying…it’s only week three…things will play out…they always do.
sorry patrick, but EVERY call made by the officials ultimately affects the outcome of every game. to say otherwise is absurd…why else would coaches make such a big deal about the penalties. your pollyanna fiddle-de-de approach to interpreting the rules is beneath contempt…especially if you really are a sportswriter. if there is an infraction, it should be called….period. no matter what. otherwise, why even bother to have rules? what if the SEC decided that they would start “letting it go” when ANY infraction occurs in a game that’s being decided by less that one score with under 2 minutes to play, but only if both teams are in the thick of the SEC championship, so the game has to REALLY matter….you know, matter enough to kick ethics to the sidelines. like when it involves padding a heisman trophy candidate’s stats or a booster buying a car for a recruit.
the day they stop keeping stats on penalties and penalty yardage in this game of inches is the day when it won’t matter if the rules are enforced. the idea of the officials “letting them play” may sound good, but it’s subjective in it’s application and ultimately leads to these types of partisan debates.
i notice you still haven’t even addressed the blatant missed interference call that stopped a bama drive? was that your example of “letting them play”? no, you keep referring to the “2 questionable calls”…and your reasoning seems to be circular at best. you disagree with the “timing”, but not the premise? if bama had lost, would you then be arguing that the “timing” of the missed interference call seemed suspect, since it stopped a scoring drive?
preach on brother, but don’t expect to save some souls with your duplicitous message…
As far as Kentucky’s win goes, I’m not so sure Louisville is even going to be a top-two Big East team by the time the year is done – at least they won’t if they keep giving up 40 a game. Honestly, based on the season so far, even Cincinnati has been better than Ville. It’s also going to be interesting to see how Kentucky follows up on the win, but Louisville might wind up in the middle of the pack in the conference.
TACO
If you would close your dick trap Saban would quit shooting loads in your mouth. UcheaT is done. Fulmer did not suck enough cock this year to keep the team strong. Looks like you and your mom have got to take up his slack. You must be sore from that butt thrusting you took via Tebow. Way to take one for the team!
I’m not a UT fan, dumbass. I share much in common with UT fans though, a hate for UAT and that school in Gunsville, and the desire to laugh at the train wreck that is Ole Miss.
Mike Price (A Team of Destiny), Mike Shula, Mike Dubose, The Bahr, Logan Young, and Dreamland BBQ, all Tuscalooser icons. Dreamland sucks by the way.
IMHO they were questionable calls. You say obvious pass interference, but I don’t agree, but perhaps we each have our own tendancies. In many cases it looked to me like contact was initiated at the time the ball would’ve been getting into the hands of the reciever. If the reciever doesn’t catch the ball and I hit him because I think he did, it’s not pass interference.
Also the call in the endzone was a ball clearly thrown up for grabs and the Arkansas CB was not trying to take the Bama player out of the game, he was trying to take the ball out of the air.
Don’t you think it’s stupid for the refs to measure a distance over 2 feet when it gives the tide the time to set up a play without using the clock? And it really bothers me that they called that roughing the passer just in case Bamma didn’t get the TD.
My problem with the call in the endzone, and I’ve since re-watched the play a couple times, is that regardless of whether or not the receiver is interfered with, I say he wasn’t, others would clearly disagree, there was no way that receiver was getting to that ball. He laid out, full extension and was still significantly short of catching that pass.
Also, I find the idea that every call affects the outcome of a game to be over simplistic, bordering on laughable. Sure if you extrapolate it out enough, everything you do has some effect somewhere down the line but come on. When you make two pass interference calls in the final minute of the game, with the home team down 4 points, you know what the direct outcome of that call will be. The non-calls that Alabama fans are clinging to like a life jacket on The Titanic were decent non-calls. As an official when you don’t make those calls with that much time left in the game, you have no expectation or idea of what the outcome of those calls will ultimately be at game’s end. The same cannot be said for, at the very least, the final pass interference call and certainly that ridiculous insurance roughing the passer call. We really could go back and forth on this forever. I didn’t think Alabama deserved to win that game but they did and we have week 4 coming up. Time to move on.
I agree with you Patrick, but that should be obvious, I guess.
I need to let go of this game, but I can’t. It’s gonna take me at least until questionable calls cause us to get blown out in the LSU game before I finally let go.