Category: College Football (Page 156 of 296)

      Michigan State needs to show more toughness

      October 3, 2009 /

      Michigan State fans will party in the streets tonight in East Lansing after Sparty knocked off rival Michigan in a thrilling 26-20 overtime victory. But sticking with one of their themes this season, MSU almost blew it after collapsing in the fourth quarter.

      Thanks to a running game that racked up 197 yards on the ground, the Spartans controlled this game for three and a half quarters. But after building a 20-6 lead, Mark Dantonio’s team became complacent and showed their lack of killer mentality.

      With four minutes remaining in the game, Wolverine freshman quarterback Tate Forcier flashed some of the magic that endeared him to fans a couple weeks ago in a win over Notre Dame. Forcier hit Darryl Stonum on a 60-yard touchdown pass to cut MSU’s lead to 20-13, then found Roy Roundtree in the end zone on a 9-yard TD pass with two seconds left to tie the game 20-20. Both touchdowns were aided by Sparty’s lackluster defensive effort.

      On Stonum’s touchdown, the defender didn’t break down to tackle, he just ran by the receiver and put a hand out hoping that Stonum a stiff wind would knock him over. Then on the game-tying score, Forcier easily scrambled out of the pocket and found Roundtree, who was a step and a half away from all defenders, which is amazing considering it was a jam-packed end zone.

      Not to take anything away from Forcier, because he toughed it out while playing banged up. And MSU’s defense did come up with a huge interception in overtime, which preceded Larry Caper’s 23-yard, game-winning touchdown run. But the Spartans should have never been in that position. A win is a win – I get it. And considering MSU lost three consecutive games coming into this matchup, this was a much-needed win.

      But this isn’t the first time that Dantonio’s team took their foot off the gas when they had a victory wrapped up. In Week 2, they lost to Central Michigan in the final seconds when they should have won, then blew a great opportunity to beat Notre Dame in Week 3.

      Michigan State has enough talent to be competitive in the Big Ten. But the Spartans need to show more mental toughness throughout games and learn to step on opponents’ throats in the fourth quarter or else they’ll continue to give away victories. (Or almost give away victories.)

      College Football

      What’s wrong with BYU’s offense?

      October 3, 2009 /

      Despite turning the ball over three times, No. 20 BYU defeated Utah State 35-17 on Friday night to improve to 4-1 on the season. A 48-yard touchdown reception by Luke Ashworth from Max Hall broke a 7-7 tie in the second quarter, then Manase Tonga scored on a three-yard touchdown to give BYU a 21-7 halftime lead. The Cougars never looked back.

      Junior running back Harvey Unga rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries to lead BYU, but BYU’s offense struggled on a whole.

      The Cougars were held under 300 yards for the second straight game and Hall continues to struggle under center. He’s now thrown two or more interceptions in four of his last five games and has 10 interceptions to 11 touchdowns on the season.

      Thanks to Unga’s second straight 100-yard rushing game, BYU was able to overcome Hall’s issues moving the ball in the passing game. But what happens when the Cougars have to play TCU in a couple of weeks? The Horned Frogs have one of the fastest defenses in the nation and BYU isn’t going to be able to turn the ball over three times against TCU and survive.

      The good thing for Hall and head coach Bronco Mendenhall is that the Cougars have UNLV and San Diego State over the next two weeks to figure things out. But the Mountain West Conference is going to come down to that October 24 matchup with TCU, so BYU needs to iron out its issues soon.

      College Football

      Should Oregon reinstate Blount?

      October 2, 2009 /

      Remember LeGarrette Blount?

      Of course you do – he’s the Oregon running back that was viewed as a potential Heisman candidate before he decked Boise State’s Byron Hout in the face following the Ducks’ 19-8 loss to the Broncos in the opening week of the season. He was subsequently suspend for the rest of the season by head coach Chip Kelly, although not it appears that Oregon could allow him to be reinstated as long as he meets certain conditions.

      Per ESPN:

      Kelly said he set down academic, behavior and football-related “ladders” that Blount must achieve for possible reinstatement, which would not come before Oregon’s Nov. 7 game against Stanford.

      “There’s a distinct possibility he’ll never play football here again,” Kelly said. “But the ball is in LeGarrette’s court.”

      Blount hasn’t endeared himself to many within the Oregon program with his actions over the last two years. But I happen to think that this was a good move by Kelly.

      If Blount has nothing to work for, what’s from stopping him from continuing to get into more trouble? Kelly is giving him the opportunity to play football again as long as he succeeds in the classroom (positive), doesn’t misbehave (positive) and puts in hard work at practice (positive). If he screws up again, then he’s done for the rest of the season, just as he was before. But if he succeeds, then he proves to himself that hard work and good behavior can get him what he wants in life.

      Granted, some may look at this as Kelly going back on the suspension in order to get his star player back onto the field now that Oregon has rattled off three straight wins. But Kelly said the earliest Blount could return is November 7, which means the running back would miss the next four games (including USC on October 31) no matter what. I hardly view this as a sign that Kelly’s only mission is to get Blount back in uniform.

      It’ll be interesting to see if Blount can meet Kelly’s requirements and turn a negative situation into a positive one.

      College Football

      Bradford officially ruled out against Miami

      October 2, 2009 /

      Oklahoma head coach said Friday that freshman Landry Jones will start at quarterback for the Sooners this Saturday against Miami. Sam Bradford, who suffered a shoulder injury against BYU in the opening week of the season, was making progress throughout the week but Stoops didn’t feel as though Bradford was ready yet.

      From Tulsa World:

      “Sam has made daily progress, but we don’t feel like he’s quite where he needs to be yet,” Stoops said in a press release. “Our team has a lot of confidence in Landry’s ability and we’re looking forward to going into the game with him at quarterback. Our approach will be the same that it has been in the last two games.”

      “No one’s gonna play if they’re not healthy and ready to go,” offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said on Tuesday. “. . . A guy coming off an injury, if there are throws he can’t make, you either take those throws out or you say, ‘Look, if you can’t make the throws, the guy doesn’t play.'”

      In a Wednesday report by CBS Sportsline columnist Dennis Dodd, Bradford’s father, Kent Bradford, said he didn’t see the harm in his son waiting another two weeks before returning to the starting lineup. That would put Bradford in the center of the storm for the Oct. 17 showdown with No. 2-ranked Texas.

      This is absolutely the right move. If there’s any doubt about whether or not Bradford is ready to play, then he’s not ready to play and I applaud Stoops for not rushing him back onto the field.

      Jones has more than enough weapons around him to succeed and Oklahoma’s defense has been fantastic this year. As long as the young QB doesn’t try to force the action by trying to make things happen in the passing game, he should be fine.

      College Football

      2009 College Football Picks & Predictions: Week 5

      October 1, 2009 /

      No. 4 LSU at No. 18 Georgia, 3:30PM ET
      Last year, Georgia rolled into Tiger Stadium and laid a 52-38 beat down on LSU as they forced three turnovers and running back Knowshon Moreno (now a Denver Bronco) racked up 163 yards on 21 carries. After an ugly 24-10 loss to Oklahoma State in the opening week of the season, the Bulldogs have rattled off three straight wins and will now face a Tiger team that struggled a bit offensively last week in a narrow 30-26 win over Mississippi State. LSU was outgained 374-263 and only rushed for 30 yards in the victory. The Tigers usually feast on pro-style offenses, so UGA quarterback Joe Cox can’t force throws in attempt to make something happen down field. That said, the Tigers haven’t been tested yet and needed a goal line stand to pull off the win last week. Georgia, on the other hand, has already faced a ranked OK State team and beaten competitive SEC foes South Carolina and Arkansas. The Bulldogs are more battle tested and will overcome a stiff Tiger defense.
      Odds: Georgia –3.
      Prediction: Georgia 24, LSU 20.

      No. 7 USC at No. 24 California, 8:00PM ET
      Don’t everyone break your legs jumping off the Cal bandwagon after Oregon smacked the Golden Bears 42-3 last week. Heisman candidate Jahvid Best rushed for only 55 yards in the loss and will face another tough challenge this week against a USC defense that held him to only 30 yards last season. The Trojans have the sixth best defense in the nation and the fifth best scoring defense. They have limited opponents to only 59.5 rushing yards per game and only 95 YPC threw the air. That said, Cal has played USC close over the years and the Trojans have kept things rather conservative offensively with freshman Matt Barkley under center. I see this game being close, although I don’t know if Kevin Riley can beat USC through the air if the Trojans’ front seven takes away Best.
      Odds: USC –4.5.
      Prediction: USC 20, Cal 17.

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