Category: College Football (Page 257 of 296)

Charlie Weis the genius

Charlie Weis is obviously smarter than the rest of us. That’s the only way to explain the bone-headed decision he made at the end of the fourth quarter in the Navy-Notre Dame game.

With 52 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and the scored tied 28-28, Weis and the Irish faced a 4th and 8 at Navy’s 24-yard line. So, with the probability of making a first down in that situation being very low, Weis obviously attempted the field goal right? Wrong. Instead, Weis decides to go for it and his quarterback Evan Sharpley is sacked by Ram Vella (what a name by the way) for a seven-yard loss. Vella made a hell of a play by leaping over a blocker and sacking Sharpley in midair, but the bottom line is that Weis had no business going for it in that position. Even if ND misses the field goal, it’s highly unlikely Navy scores and the game would have went to overtime.

Navy eventually won 46-44 in triple OT, and snapped a 43-game losing streak against the Irish. Good call Weis – what, were you trying to cover the spread?

SEC enthusiasts diss Big Ten, Ohio State

It’s become common knowledge that backers of the SEC have little to no respect for the Big Ten, so it’s not surprising to hear that some college football pundits are complaining about a potential Ohio State-Boston College national championship match up.

“I’m a huge college football fan,” said Paul Finebaum, a columnist and sports talk radio host based in Birmingham, Ala., and one of the most influential college football voices in the South. “If it ends up Boston College and Ohio State, I’m getting a movie on pay-per-view that night. I’m not watching that game.”

“I don’t think anyone in Baton Rouge would take Ohio State and Boston College seriously,” said Josh Innes, a co-host in LSU’s hometown on The Score 1210. “People would think it’s bogus. People think Ohio State is a complete fraud.”

It’s hard to blame SEC enthusiasts for not wanting to see Ohio State or any other Big Ten team reach the title game after last year’s debacle. However, the problem lies with the BCS system, not OSU. The Buckeyes play whoever is on their schedule, as do teams in the SEC. Obviously the SEC and Big Ten are two completely different brands of football, and yeah, the SEC is arguably faster, more exciting and produces better overall talent. However, don’t hate a conference because it’s weaker, hate the broke system that leaves everything to a debate every year.

Regardless of the BCS system, do SEC fans (or college football fans in general for that matter) have the right to be upset if OSU potentially makes it to the title game without facing a rigorous schedule like SEC teams do? Or is this the year a Big Ten team earns respect by knocking off a top SEC team like LSU?

Celebrate much?

What was Mark Richt thinking when he allowed his entire team to celebrate a touchdown in the first quarter of Georgia’s 42-30 victory over Florida on Saturday? It was obvious that Richt was dying for a win and was trying to motivate his team, but it was ridiculous to see the entire UGA squad flood the field after just one touchdown in the first quarter.

“Oh, Coach Richt told us during the week that, after we scored that first touchdown, you can have an excessive celebration,” said Georgia defensive end Marcus Howard, adding that Richt informed the team that he didn’t care about the 15-yard penalty that always comes from such an action. “That’s what everybody did [after Moreno’s touchdown]. They just ran out there and formed a big, old Dog Pile.”

Some are going to look at this situation as a brilliant move by Richt, because it obviously inspired his team. However, there’s nothing genius about trying to humiliate your opponent in the first quarter after just one score. Win or not, the move was classless and it’s too bad the Gators didn’t win so Richt and Georgia would look even more ridiculous than they do now. What, you can’t win unless you celebrate like a bunch of Pop Warner players after just one touchdown?

BC’s Ryan is real deal

Got the chance to watch the Boston College-Virginia Tech game Thursday night and was quite impressed with Eagles quarterback Matt Ryan. The first thing that stood out was his arm strength – he deliverers a great ball and has a nice touch on the short to intermediate routes. He seemed confident in his throws and when he ran the two-minute offense in the fourth quarter, he appeared to be in full command.

The biggest take away, however, was how Ryan stayed clam and poised throughout the entire game. Va Tech has a solid defense and they battered him around for three and a half quarters. Yet when it came down to crunch time, Ryan moved around the pocket well, scrambled for more time and overall, made two great plays to rally #2 BC to a 14-10 victory after being down 10-0 with just six minutes left to play in the fourth.

Off the field, rumor has it that Ryan is a student of the game and is always breaking down film. Talk about intangibles, Matt Ryan looks like the stud of the 2008 quarterback class.

Goodell strikes again

Due to the title of this blog, you’re probably thinking to yourself, “Wow, did another freaking NFL player get suspended?” No, this news is positive. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league office have decided to shorten the time teams get during the first two rounds of the draft. Instead of the agonizing 15 minutes teams used to get to make a selection in the first round, they now only get 10. And in the second round, teams now get seven minutes instead of 10, plus the draft time will be moved from 12:00pm ET to 3:00pm ET and only the first two rounds will be conducted on the first day. Usually the first three rounds occur on the first day, but now rounds 3-7 will be moved to day two.

“We believe this will make for a more streamlined and efficient draft,” commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement issued during the league owners meetings in Philadelphia.

Good call. Anyone who sat through the first round of last year’s draft saw it go six hours and eight minutes – the longest first round in the history of the draft. These new changes might not be best for the teams, but they certainly are better for those fans that don’t want to donate 24 hours to watching the entire first round.

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