Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 197 of 1503)

      Dyer’s fourth quarter run saves Newton, propels Auburn to national title victory

      January 11, 2011 /
      Auburn Tigers quarterback Cam Newton holds the championship trophy after the Tigers defeated the Oregon Ducks in the NCAA BCS National Championship college football game in Glendale, Arizona, January 10, 2011. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

      Here are five quick-hit thoughts about Auburn’s wild 22-19 win over Oregon in the 2011 BCS National Championship Game.

      1. In the end, it was a freshman and not a Heisman winner who won it for Auburn.
      Cam Newton played a great game. He completed 20-of-34 pass attempts for 265 yards with two touchdowns and one interception while also rushing for 65 yards on 22 carries. But he didn’t put together one of those special performances that Auburn fans were accustomed to seeing all year. His fourth quarter fumble set up LaMichael James’ touchdown run and Darron Thomas’ wild 2-point conversion pass to Jeff Maehl, which tied the game at 19-19 with 2:33 remaining. But in the end, Michael Dyer’s “controversial” 37-yard run set the Tigers up for Wes Byrum’s 19-yard game-winning field goal. I put “controversial” in quotation marks because it wasn’t really controversial, per se. He definitely wasn’t down and the refs never blew the whistle, but I’ve seen officials stop plays when a player’s forward momentum was less stopped than that. Still, credit Dyer for having the wherewithal to keep his knees off the ground when he was being tackled and the Auburn sideline for instinctively telling him to keep running when they saw he wasn’t down. The Tigers’ Heisman-winning quarterback played well but Dyer and Auburn’s defense were the main reasons the Tigers won their second national championship in school history. Seeing as how Dyer is only a freshman, Auburn’s backfield is set for the next couple of seasons.

      2. Ted Roof defensive game plan was tremendous.
      Roof will certainly sleep easy tonight. He had six weeks to figure out how to slow down Oregon’s explosive offense and that’s exactly what he did. This was an offense that led the nation in points per game (47.5) and was fifth in rushing yards per contest (290.1). Yet the Tigers held the Ducks to 19 points and 81 total rushing yards. That’s amazing. For weeks pundits debated whether or not Auburn’s defense would rise to the challenge and yet Roof’s squad made it look easy for most of the game. Even when the Ducks scored late to tie it at 19-all, Auburn didn’t make it easy for them around the goal line. And that drive was set up when Casey Matthews punched the ball out of Newton’s hands to give Oregon the ball at the 40-yard line, so Roof’s squad was put in a bad spot. What an incredible effort.

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      College Football, External Sports

      Les Miles to interview for Michigan opening?

      January 10, 2011 /

      According to ESPN.com, LSU’s Les Miles “anticipates” meeting with Michigan representatives to discuss the Wolverines’ head coaching vacancy.

      Miles says no one from Michigan has contacted him directly yet and that he does not know when such a meeting with his alma mater might take place. According to the Detroit News, Miles and Michigan are expected to meet on Tuesday.

      Miles says he cannot speculate about the substance of such a meeting and also says he is “extremely happy” at LSU and that his family is comfortable living in Baton Rouge.

      Boy, Michigan fans have to be torn on this one. On one hand, Miles isn’t Brady Hoke, who could be one of the favorites to replace Rich Rodriguez. Hoke has done a nice job at San Diego State, but he doesn’t exactly rock UM fans’ boat.

      On the other hand, Miles is freaking nuts. I swear he uses one of those origami fortunetellers that girls used to make in grade school to make decisions during games (especially in the fourth quarter). He may win, but it’s only by the stroke of God that he’s able to get away with some of the things he does during games.

      It’ll also cost a small fortunate to convince him to leave Baton Rouge. He makes roughly $3.7 million a year at LSU and if Michigan AD David Brandon isn’t prepared to fork over that kind of money with what happened with Rodriguez, then he’ll have to “settle” for someone like Hoke instead.

      That said, Miles is a true “Michigan Man” in every sense of the word. He knows that he can’t go winless against Ohio State or lose to Michigan State (ever). He gets what Michigan is about and in the end, that might be worth it to someone like Brandon, who obviously needs to hit a home run with his next hire.

      College Football, External Sports

      Report: Haley stripped Weis of play-calling duties during second half

      January 10, 2011 /
      Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley watches during the third quarter against the Denver Broncos at Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver on November 14, 2010. Denver beat the AFC West division leader Kansas City 49-29. UPI/Gary C. Caskey

      Apparently the Chiefs’ inability to move the ball offensively against Baltimore on Sunday was not coordinator Charlie Weis’ fault, but head coach Todd Haley’s.

      According to Bob Fescoe of 610 Sports in Kansas City, Haley stripped Weis of his play-calling duties during the second half of the Chiefs’ 30-7 loss to the Ravens on Sunday.

      From the Sporting News:

      Jason Whitlock, of Fox Sports, tweeted during the game that the Chiefs’ offensive miscues were a direct reflection of Haley’s play-calling.

      For much of the latter half of the season, rumors persisted that Haley and Weis were having issues working together, and then the announcement came that Weis was leaving Kansas City following the end of the NFL regular season to become new Florida coach Will Muschamp’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

      If the report is true, then Haley has some explaining to do. Jamaal Charles, the Chiefs’ most explosive offensive playmaker, received just three touches in the second half. As John Paulsen put it to me over Skype, “that’s inexcusable.”

      For the game, Baltimore held Kansas City to just eight first downs and 53 yards passing. The Ravens are good, but they’re not that good. If there were an abrupt change in playcallers, then it would make sense that the Chiefs struggled mightily to move the ball during the second half.

      In some respects, I don’t blame Haley for doing what he did. Hey, Weis isn’t going to be around next year and the offense had been a sinking ship ever since he announced that he was heading to Florida, so why wouldn’t Haley try to correct the problem before it was too late? After all, it is his team and he would ultimately be the one who had to answer to why the Chiefs once again lost another playoff game.

      That said, it’s not fair to Matt Cassel and the rest of the players for Haley to make a move like that. The offense had worked under Weis all season and seeing as how the score was only 10-7 at halftime, it’s not like the Chiefs were out of the game. It makes you wonder if that was Haley’s plan from the start and as soon as the offense started sputtering, he was going to remove Weis as the playcaller.

      We’ll see what Haley says in his final press conference later this week.

      External Sports, NFL

      Reggie Wayne vents about only being targeted once during Jets game

      January 10, 2011 /
      Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne (87) dives for a 17-yard gain against the Dallas Cowboys during the fourth quarter in the Cowboys 38-35 overtime win at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis on December 5, 2010. UPI /Mark Cowan

      After hauling in a whopping one catch for one yard in the Colts’ 17-16 loss to the Jets on Saturday night, receiver Reggie Wayne vented to the Indianapolis Star about his role in the game.

      “It’s bull. It’s bull, man,” the five-time Pro Bowl receiver said after being a non-factor in the Indianapolis Colts’ 17-16 loss to the New York Jets in Saturday night’s AFC wild-card playoff game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

      “I give everything I’ve got no matter what. Every day, I give it everything. And . . . one ball, that’s all.”

      “I shouldn’t have even suited up,” Wayne said. “I should have watched the game like everybody else. I was irrelevant.”

      Like all great competitors, Wayne should be frustrated about only being targeted once in the biggest game of the year. Give credit to Darrelle Revis for shutting him down, but one would think Peyton Manning would have looked his way more than once.

      Of course, it was a combination of factors that kept Wayne in check. The biggest reason was Revis’ performance. But Manning should have given his top target more looks in the passing game and Wayne himself could have outperformed Revis to garner more looks from his QB. I’m not saying he doesn’t work hard because he does. But there had to be a reason why Manning only targeted him once.

      Chances are, Wayne’s comments will be water under the bridge by the time the Colts take the field again. But what’s interesting is that Wayne made a play for a contract extension last season, even though he’s signed through 2012. Will his frustrations boil over into the offseason?

      External Sports, NFL

      History isn’t on the Jets’ side as they get ready for Pats

      January 10, 2011 /
      New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan, right, is congratulated by a member of the Jets staff after their 17-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts in their AFC Wild-Card Playoff game at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis on January 8, 2011. UPI /Mark Cowan

      Michael David Smith of the Wall Street Journal discovered an interesting stat that pertains to the Jets-Patriots Divisional Round game this Sunday.

      Earlier this season, the Patriots crushed the Jets 45-3 in a Monday night laugher. So Smith looked back at how many times a team was beaten by an opponent by at least 35 points in the regular season and how they fared when the two teams met again in the playoffs. The results aren’t pretty for the Jets.

      In 1969, the Vikings beat the Browns 51-3 in the regular season and then 27-7 in the playoffs. In 1980, the Eagles rocked the Vikings 42-7 in the regular season and then beat them again 31-16 in the postseason. In 1991, the Redskins shredded the Lions 45-0 and then crushed them 41-10 in the only NFC Championship Game Detroit has ever played in. In 1991, those same Redskins also blasted the Falcons 56-17 in the regular season and 24-7 in the playoffs.

      Last season, the Jets beat the Bengals 37-0 in the regular season finale (albeit mostly because Cincinnati rested its starters in the second half and ran the most vanilla offense you’ll ever see from a team). When the two squads met again in the postseason, the Jets soundly beat the Bengals 24-14 in the Natti.

      Obviously this doesn’t mean the Jets don’t stand a chance this weekend in Foxboro. After all, they did beat the Patriots in Week 2 this season (although that was in New York).

      But considering people already had their doubts about whether or not the Jets could survive this Sunday in New England, the fact that history isn’t on their side doesn’t bode well for Rex Ryan’s boys.

      External Sports, NFL

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