2013 NCAA Football Thread

[Wrymouth3]

Louisiana-Lafayette put up 70 points on hapless FCS team Nicholls State, but the highlight of the game is this quote : "The Colonels chipped into the 49-0 deficit right before the intermission when Tuskani Figaro connected with Demon Bolt on a 36-yard touchdown." There is a player on Western Illinois named Hi-C Scott as well, but in all honesty, these names are ascending to deity status.

 

[ummmm........]

Demon Bolt's pretty good. I always enjoyed pulling for Miroslav Satan back in the day . . .

EDIT: Turf toe on Belue BTW. We'll see . . .

Interesting on Geno Smith. He was a solid starting CB along with Belue when he got his DUI, then he was suspended vs. VaTech but it was presumed he'd return to his starting position today. Instead, he played sparingly despite significant injuries and assignment failures at that position. Curious. Kenyan Drake, who was reportedly in the doghouse for lying about being in the car with Smith at the time of his arrest, played a great deal more at RB -- a position of significantly more depth -- after not even traveling to the VaTech game . . .

 

[ummmm........]

Isn't it pretty obvious that the SEC and Pac-n are the best conferences?

I really really didn't want to reply to this, but I wasn't able to stop myself. The answer is obviously not. The SEC has the best top teams, but our bottom tier is crap. Ole Miss did a lot for us by beating Texas, but I don't think they're going to do much to toughen up the contenders' schedules off of that one win.

To start the season the SEC had three strong teams on the top of each division -- which was good -- but Georgia lost to Clemson, SCAR lost to Georgia, A&M lost to Alabama and Florida just can't quite bring themselves to field an offense. LSU is still strong, as is A&M despite the loss, but still there's not more than one viable team coming out of the SEC at this point, and it's possible that no team will emerge.

Compare the ACC where either FSU or Clemson would emerge with three regular season wins over top 25 teams -- and at least one SEC team -- and they seem a little more competitive . . .

Oklahoma's looking like the class of the Big XII, but I'm not sure how good that is at this point . . .

Ohio State will probably win the Big Ten given how it looks right now, but they don't seem to be facing much opposition . . .

I saw the Pac-12 as Oregon vs. Stanford, but now I'm not sure that Stanford can stop them. Either way, one strong team doesn't make a 'best conference' . . .

 

[Formaldehyde]

South Caroline losing to Georgia or Texas A&M losing to Bama didn't mean a damn thing, just as Georgia losing to Clemson did other than perhaps changing positions in the rankings.

 

[madviking]

big10 is still really overrated. outside of ohio st, there really isn't a good team in there. even then, i feel like a team like fsu or clemson would beat them.

 

[North King]

I really really didn't want to reply to this, but I wasn't able to stop myself. The answer is obviously not. The SEC has the best top teams, but our bottom tier is crap. Ole Miss did a lot for us by beating Texas, but I don't think they're going to do much to toughen up the contenders' schedules off of that one win.

Are you completely nuts? Alabama is far and away the best team in the country, and it's widely acknowledged that LSU is in a similar tier, while A&M gave them a run for their money yesterday. Georgia had a tough loss away to Clemson to start the season, but they're still one of the best teams in the country, I don't think anyone can dispute that. When you have three teams in the top ten, the "oh, well, the bottom tier isn't as good" argument is kinda dumb -- especially seeing as the rest of the conference isn't even "crap", really. It's just at the normal level of college football.

I saw the Pac-12 as Oregon vs. Stanford, but now I'm not sure that Stanford can stop them. Either way, one strong team doesn't make a 'best conference' . . .

If you watch the PAC-n, you know that it's not just Oregon and Stanford, though those are the clear #1 and #2 teams in the conference right now. UCLA just curbstomped Nebraska in its home once they shook themselves out of a funk, and Washington traveled across half the country to beat up Illinois by a pretty comfortable margin, and has one of the most underrated QBs in the country right now.

Compare this to the other "powerhouses" -- the B1G has one actually competent team, the Big-n has Oklahoma as its class act and Oklahoma isn't even all that good in the first place, the ACC has FSU (which has already boarded the hype train because they beat up a few much inferior teams) and Clemson. Outside of that, there's... what, Louisville?

I think it's crazy that anyone would seriously consider another team over two teams that ran the table in the SEC and Pac-n.


For the record, my #1 loyalty is to Michigan, and I hate the SEC, so it does pain me to say it's the best conference.

 

[ummmm........]

I think it's crazy that anyone would seriously consider another team over two teams that ran the table in the SEC and Pac-n.

I'll give you Oregon. They've looked dominant, but still have a chance to come back down to earth as they get into the meat of the season. I don't think you can say 'dominant' about anyone else so far, in the SEC or otherwise. FSU maybe, but it's hard to tell much about them only two games in with a freshman QB.

But that's talking about individual teams. I don't think any conference has separated itself enough that any team coming out of that conference should be in the title game, just by virtue of winning that conference. There have been years in the past where you could have said that about the SEC . . .

 

[North King]

I'll give you Oregon. They've looked dominant, but still have a chance to come back down to earth as they get into the meat of the season. I don't think you can say 'dominant' about anyone else so far, in the SEC or otherwise. FSU maybe, but it's hard to tell much about them only two games in with a freshman QB.

But that's talking about individual teams. I don't think any conference has separated itself enough that any team coming out of that conference should be in the title game, just by virtue of winning that conference. There have been years in the past where you could have said that about the SEC . . .

Seriously, it hurts to say it, but the team that wins the SEC both is and should be guaranteed a title berth at this point.

 

[Azale]

The SEC is not as good as it has been, but Texas & Friends and the Big 10 are soooooo bad right now.

The ACC might be the second best conference.

lol

 

[downtown]

I'd still call Michigan competent, Akron performance notwithstanding, and Northwestern is pretty good too. The PAC-12 is pretty unquestionably the second best conference this year though.

 

[mrt144]

I would pay top dollar to watch a pickup game between ohio state and oregon.

 

[North King]

I'd still call Michigan competent, Akron performance notwithstanding, and Northwestern is pretty good too. The PAC-12 is pretty unquestionably the second best conference this year though.

I think Michigan has had two decent performances and one abysmal one. Obviously any judgement this early is pretty premature, but I don't think they've earned the label of "competent" quite yet.

 

[ummmm........]

Seriously, it hurts to say it, but the team that wins the SEC both is and should be guaranteed a title berth at this point.

Tough to put SEC champ Georgia in ahead of an undefeated Clemson and Oregon . . .

I would pay top dollar to watch a pickup game between ohio state and oregon.

Still a pretty big gap there, I think . . .

 

[mrt144]

Thats what they said prior to our rosebowl win over them.

 

[downtown]

I think it's tough to evaluate that, since we haven't seen Ohio State at full health/personnel yet. FAMU may be the first time all season that all the important players are actually playing.

The team was missing most of their secondary against Buffalo, and their starting QB the last two games, their starting RB the past 3, and their second best defensive end the last two. The fact that they are still blasting people is a good sign.

 

[mrt144]

Man, our defensive front 7 just didnt do very well.

 

[ummmm........]

Thats what they said prior to our rosebowl win over them.

That's the thing about Oregon. Every time I see them play I'm left with this 'How could anyone ever beat those guys' feeling. I guess that's what I mean when I think of a dominant team. I definitely don't feel that way about Ohio State. I've felt that way about Alabama teams in years past, but definitely not this year.

I think it's tough to evaluate that, since we haven't seen Ohio State at full health/personnel yet. FAMU may be the first time all season that all the important players are actually playing.

The team was missing most of their secondary against Buffalo, and their starting QB the last two games, their starting RB the past 3, and their second best defensive end the last two. The fact that they are still blasting people is a good sign.

Yeah, that's the trouble with CFB, you never really get enough data. But three games in is a quarter of the season, so you've got to start forming opinions whether you like it or not . . .

EDIT: I know y'all don't care about this stuff, but I always think stats like this are fun. It's just some stuff from an Alabama beat reporter's twitter feed:

Alabama is 94th in the nation in pass defense . . .

A&M's opponents average nine penalties per game. They were able to draw Alabama into costly penalties both this year and last. It's a hidden talent . . .

A&M gained 247 yards between their second and third TDs . . .

Kenny Bell now has six career TDs, the shortest of which was 39 yards. His average is 52 . . .

Wow the day games are crap this week. Michigan State/Notre Dame I guess . . ?

 

[dgfred]

Oregon vs Alabama

Johnny did surprise me with his solid play. Most QBs would have folded IMO. I'm not sure how strong the Alabama D is... or if they were trying to avoid the giant play.

 

[ummmm........]

I think the defense is fine, we just didn't have anybody who could match up with Evans. But we won't see anyone like him again this year, or hopefully next . . . redshirt sophomore

 

[dgfred]

His arm is stronger than I realized.