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Post by AustinHoya03 on Sept 7, 2009 16:47:09 GMT -5
The selling of this Oklahoma loss as "Bradford injured, so Sooners lose game they would have won" kind of chaps me. Yes, OU would have had a better chance to win with Sam Bradford under center in the second half. But the Sooners had plenty of trouble with BYU before Bradford's shoulder was hurt -- the score was tied when he left the game.
If you look at the play-by-play, OU's strategy in this game was to run the football. In the first half, prior to the Sooners' final drive (where OU passed every down with the clock winding down), Oklahoma handed off 15 times and passed 9 times. Yes, Bradford was 10-14 for 96 yards, but he wasn't winning the football game for the Sooners before getting hurt, largely because he wasn't given a chance to. Oklahoma stuck with the run-first strategy in the second half. Was this due to Bradford's unavailability/lack of confidence in Jones, or was it the Oklahoma coaches sticking blindly to the game plan?
Furthermore, the rest of the Oklahoma team did its best to lose this game for the Sooners. Sam Bradford couldn't keep his teammates from fumbling the ball three times or running Brent Venables' typical defensive scheme (62 yards receiving for Pitta on BYU's final drive was a huge surprise).
In other words, this was certainly a team loss, but ESPN et. al. won't say it because it ruins their coverage strategy of Tebow/Bradford/McCoy: best ever!
Only other thing I have to say about the Oklahoma game: I kind of thought OU's offensive line would play better. Although the Sooners lost experience, the new guys coming in are good and more athletic than some of the giant plodders that left (Phil Loadholt). However, most did not play well as individuals, and the O-line certainly didn't play well as a unit, and that spells big trouble for Oklahoma this season since Bradford has never done well under pressure.
I had trouble staying awake during Thursday's Boise-Oregon game. I know it's just one game, but I'm wondering if Chip Kelly will be able to hack it as head coach -- Belotti's teams were always well prepared to start the season (see: @ Michigan, 2007).
KG, glad I'm not the only one surprised by Notre Dame's shutout of Nevada. Good start to the season for the Irish -- Notre Dame at Michigan just got circled on my calendar for next weekend.
I did watch Jordan Jefferson play well against Washington in the nightcap. However, I don't know if he'll be a great QB this season. He's certainly got the smarts and the physical gifts, just doesn't run plays crisply enough yet, particularly the option. SEC defenses will make some hits on him that Washington was unable to. LSU as a team didn't look so great -- I still think they don't deserve their high ranking. Washington, on the other hand, is a weird team -- lots of talent in certain spots on the field, totally devoid of talent in others.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Sept 7, 2009 17:06:12 GMT -5
So how's your weekend going, ACC? NC State puts up a 3 spot at home in a nationally televised game on Thursday. Duke and UVA lose at home to FCS opponents--were either of these results surprising? Nope. Wake Forest falls short in a chance to show their non-conference worth at home against Baylor. Va Tech for the 432,546,753,844,985,543,349th time in a row gags it against a Top 10 opponent...least they made out better than Clemson last year. Maryland's down 31-6 at the half. Aaaaaaaaaaand Miami and FSU agreed to play on Labor Day again, which mean the over-under should be roughly my age (27). There's a cozy spot in a half empty Land Shark Stadium waiting this January for whichever 4 loss ACC team wins the tiebreaker and whoever wins the other Labor Day game (Cincinnati-Rutgers). Blech. The other underacheiving BCS conference, the Big East, had a comparatively good weekend. Syracuse lost, but don't forget (and I know none of us have) the Orange got stomped by Akron in its home opener last season. Everyone else took care of lesser opponents, and the conference's only real dark horse national championship contender, Cincinnati, is stomping Rutgers. (Note: I'm not saying the Bearcats should be a national title contender, but I think they can run the table in the Big East, and if they win games against Oregon State and Illinois, go ahead and throw their name into the mix.) The overacheiving non-BCS conference, the Mountain West, also had a much better weekend than the ACC. MWC schools went 2-3 against BCS opponents and got a signature win (BYU over OU). The rest of the MWC schools easily beat their I-AA opponents. The point of all this is that BCS realignment is coming eventually, and these are the three conferences to watch. One thing that scares me: TCU travels to Charlottesville next weekend, and what should have been an easy win for the Frogs suddenly became a must-win in the minds of the 'Hoos.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Sept 7, 2009 18:03:03 GMT -5
The selling of this Oklahoma loss as "Bradford injured, so Sooners lose game they would have won" kind of chaps me. Yes, OU would have had a better chance to win with Sam Bradford under center in the second half. But the Sooners had plenty of trouble with BYU before Bradford's shoulder was hurt -- the score was tied when he left the game. If you look at the play-by-play, OU's strategy in this game was to run the football. In the first half, prior to the Sooners' final drive (where OU passed every down with the clock winding down), Oklahoma handed off 15 times and passed 9 times. Yes, Bradford was 10-14 for 96 yards, but he wasn't winning the football game for the Sooners before getting hurt, largely because he wasn't given a chance to. Oklahoma stuck with the run-first strategy in the second half. Was this due to Bradford's unavailability/lack of confidence in Jones, or was it the Oklahoma coaches sticking blindly to the game plan? Furthermore, the rest of the Oklahoma team did its best to lose this game for the Sooners. Sam Bradford couldn't keep his teammates from fumbling the ball three times or running Brent Venables' typical defensive scheme (62 yards receiving for Pitta on BYU's final drive was a huge surprise). In other words, this was certainly a team loss, but ESPN et. al. won't say it because it ruins their coverage strategy of Tebow/Bradford/McCoy: best ever! Only other thing I have to say about the Oklahoma game: I kind of thought OU's offensive line would play better. Although the Sooners lost experience, the new guys coming in are good and more athletic than some of the giant plodders that left (Phil Loadholt). However, most did not play well as individuals, and the O-line certainly didn't play well as a unit, and that spells big trouble for Oklahoma this season since Bradford has never done well under pressure. I had trouble staying awake during Thursday's Boise-Oregon game. I know it's just one game, but I'm wondering if Chip Kelly will be able to hack it as head coach -- Belotti's teams were always well prepared to start the season (see: @ Michigan, 2007). KG, glad I'm not the only one surprised by Notre Dame's shutout of Nevada. Good start to the season for the Irish -- Notre Dame at Michigan just got circled on my calendar for next weekend. I did watch Jordan Jefferson play well against Washington in the nightcap. However, I don't know if he'll be a great QB this season. He's certainly got the smarts and the physical gifts, just doesn't run plays crisply enough yet, particularly the option. SEC defenses will make some hits on him that Washington was unable to. LSU as a team didn't look so great -- I still think they don't deserve their high ranking. Washington, on the other hand, is a weird team -- lots of talent in certain spots on the field, totally devoid of talent in others. Let's see. OU scored 10 points in the first half with him in there. Do you think they could have scored another 10 in the second half? Or even half that - five points would've won the game. If you don't think Bradford is a FG better than that redshirt frosh, then we'll just have to agree to disagree. As for UW, I guess one thing you can say about Willingham is he can recruit, leaving some good players for the coach that follows him. UW is young in a lot of places, but they have talent. It'll be interesting to see what Sarkisian does with that program. That's a fanbase that's just waiting to get behind a winning team.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Sept 7, 2009 21:28:28 GMT -5
If you don't think Bradford is a FG better than that redshirt frosh, then we'll just have to agree to disagree. This is not what I'm saying at all. Oklahoma didn't throw the ball downfield the entire game (check the box -- no completions over 20 yards, avg. 5.7 yards per catch). How would Bradford have made a difference with that offensive game plan? If you think the loss was mainly about Bradford, you're just buying what the media is selling.
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jgalt
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Post by jgalt on Sept 7, 2009 23:09:16 GMT -5
Well that Miami FSU Game was intense...glad the canes pulled it out.
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Sept 7, 2009 23:29:22 GMT -5
I've never been a huge fan of "intangibles" as a skill set, and they're applied quite a bit to describe good QBs. Might have to re-think that one after Jacory Harris--who has the arm strength of my mom and might not outweigh her--willed Miami to three big come from behind sequences in the second half, this after getting a "funny bone thing" or whatever he called it on that hit/INT. The pass to Travis Benjamin on the final drive was the balls.
Mark Whipple >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Patrick Nix and I only stopped because I got bored holding the shift key.
Randy Shannon's blank stare--rapidly approaching Grandpa Clappy's seal clap as a mark of senility. Whoever is calling those squib kickoffs...why don't you go sit in the corner for a while.
Really insane finish and almost too bad it came down to a good receiver dropping a difficult pass in the end zone.
What will be very interesting to see is how much heat Bobby Bowden takes for the end of game management. He seems to have a brain fart every time there's a close Miami-FSU game...and he did it again tonight. When FSU bled off about 20 seconds down near the goal line and later burned their final timeout, they took a running play out of the picture--which they were gashing Miami with as the second half went on. I don't think Miami stops a QB draw from the 2 yd line in that situation, but we'll never know.
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RDF
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Post by RDF on Sept 7, 2009 23:33:31 GMT -5
Miami's firing of Patrick Nix was long overdue--he was a complete tool who didn't belong with a job. When your claim to fame is being Reggie Ball's QB coach--you should be ashamed to breathe--let alone be a football coach.
Miami's defense SUCKS. Just absolutely sucks. Thankfully it's slightly better then FSU--who in typical "Nolie" form took their 2 score lead and gagged in 4th quarter with the mass confusion and horrific clock MISmanagement.
Will say I loved Greg Reid--the FSU FR CB--best I've seen in Tallahassee in a long time--probably Samari Rolle was last big time talent they had at CB imo---and Nigel Bradham is a player too.
Offensively---their OL is at least in shape now--but same circus of having an old mascot patrol sidelines--doing nothing--and Dumbo Fisher continues with the stupidity. Having a 2nd and 2 at the 4 yard line with 55 seconds left and you get 3 plays off--with a timeout. AWFUL. How stupid are your players to have the QB running plays from sideline---and in return--they rushed the last 3 plays because Fisher wanted to get all of the "credit" when they scored the winning TD. Instead--he continued the Bowden trend of mucking up a winnable game against Miami.
Despite the win--I see FSU being a more confident pick to represent/win ACC then Miami--because I see more hope from their defense. Miami was missing a good young Safety in Vaughn Telemaque--but their front 7 SUCK and that will not be rewarded down the road.
Offensively--I think Canes can hang 40 on Oklahoma and Venables/Bobby Jack Wright scheme. Problem is--if Bradford comes back--they'll score 56-60.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Sept 8, 2009 0:55:04 GMT -5
Jacory Harris--who has the arm strength of my mom The pass to Travis Benjamin on the final drive was the balls. Aren't these contradictory statements? Harris' arm strength looked fine to me, certainly an upgrade from Marve. What will be very interesting to see is how much heat Bobby Bowden takes for the end of game management. He seems to have a brain fart every time there's a close Miami-FSU game...and he did it again tonight. When FSU bled off about 20 seconds down near the goal line and later burned their final timeout, they took a running play out of the picture--which they were gashing Miami with as the second half went on. I don't think Miami stops a QB draw from the 2 yd line in that situation, but we'll never know. Who takes the blame -- Bowden or Fisher? It appeared to me Fisher was calling the shots in the final seconds, with Bowden running up to him to put his two cents in and Fisher seemingly blowing him off. What I don't know is if Fisher is responsible for calling plays only or if he's responsible for clock management as well, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's both. ON EDIT: I see that RDF's post suggests Fisher was probably responsible for the poor clock management. Again, not surprising.
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HoyaFanNY
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Post by HoyaFanNY on Sept 8, 2009 6:02:18 GMT -5
tough pass, but that kid HAS to make that catch. great game and great opening weekend.
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theexorcist
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Post by theexorcist on Sept 8, 2009 7:23:14 GMT -5
If you don't think Bradford is a FG better than that redshirt frosh, then we'll just have to agree to disagree. This is not what I'm saying at all. Oklahoma didn't throw the ball downfield the entire game (check the box -- no completions over 20 yards, avg. 5.7 yards per catch). How would Bradford have made a difference with that offensive game plan? If you think the loss was mainly about Bradford, you're just buying what the media is selling. I don't think that the media sold that. The headlines I read seemed to be "Sooners lose game, Bradford". You're right that OU laid an egg. I think that Bradford may have helped OU win a close game (a Heisman-winning QB is due to play a little better against BYU than he did, and at halftime he may have been given some helpful hints), but the real story here is that Bradford's out. Unless he comes back soon, what everybody thought would be an OU strength is now a push. This matters a whole lot because OU, even with a loss, is still in the national championship mix if they go undefeated and win the Big XII (to do so, they'd have to knock off Texas and Oklahoma State, both of whom are Top 10 teams). So the bigger story is Bradford - if he's not 100%, OU's chances to win both of those games, even if they play substantially better than they did against BYU, drops significantly.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Sept 8, 2009 9:44:17 GMT -5
If you don't think Bradford is a FG better than that redshirt frosh, then we'll just have to agree to disagree. This is not what I'm saying at all. Oklahoma didn't throw the ball downfield the entire game (check the box -- no completions over 20 yards, avg. 5.7 yards per catch). How would Bradford have made a difference with that offensive game plan? If you think the loss was mainly about Bradford, you're just buying what the media is selling. I'm not buying what the media is selling, plus, as was already pointed out, most people in the media aren't saying that. I recognize OU looked like crap in a lot of phases of the game. However, I think they would have been able to score more than 3 points in the second half had Bradford in there. I'm guessing they might have made some adjustments at halftime. Their superior athletes may have been able to wear down BYU a little more had Bradford been able to sustain some second-half drives longer. Maybe the Heisman trophy winner has his own Max Hall drive at the end of the game to win it. Who knows. I just think the game analysis pendulum has swung too far away from "OU lost because Bradford was injured" towards "OU sucked in the first half with Bradford, so it didn't really matter that he didn't play the second half."
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Post by StPetersburgHoya (Inactive) on Sept 8, 2009 11:36:34 GMT -5
It was a pretty good weekend for an Oklahoma State fan.
I can't wait until Bradfordless-OU has to play Tulsa. If it involves any sort of in-game coaching and not winning based on the talent you've recruited, Stoops is in trouble.
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Sept 8, 2009 12:56:08 GMT -5
In no particular order:
I might have to rethink my declaring Troy a decent opponent. Sure, they've gone bowling 3 years in a row and have won their conference 2 of those years. But to give up 31 straight to Bowling Green? Granted, I don't know much about BG this season, but that's just got to be some indication of a downtick to Troy.
Miami-FSU was a very entertaining game -- unlike the 2 stinkers we had on Thursday night, which set football back 50 years. Anytime a Gator fan like me can enjoy an FSU-Miami game as much as I did last night, they did something right.
I didn't see any of these games, but as someone else pointed out, the ACC took it on the chin this weekend. Duke lost to Richmond and Virginia was shocked by William and Mary. Again, I don't know anything about either Richmond or W&M, but I can't think that either are especially competitive. And then, of course, in the marquee game, Alabama dominated Va. Tech.
I'm also going to have to give some more thought to my pick of Ohio St. over USC. I didn't see anything but highlights of the USC game, and doubt that San Jose St. is very competitive. But OSU was very vulnerable to Navy. Now Navy is a tough team to scheme for and almost impossible to prepare for. But still, I thought that OSU's defense was just pushed around a little too easily. I do think that Pryor will continue to develop. I'm impressed with that kid.
The Gators looked really good scoring touchdowns on all first half possessions, against an admittedly totally overmatched opponent. But what impressed me was the raw athleticism of the new kids in the second half. Bostic and Jenkins are going to be a great 1-2 punch at linebacker. Mike Gillislee was an impressive looking back, showing vision, power and speed.
I've got to admit that I was impressed with Tennessee in the new Lane Kiffen era. Once again, Western Kentucky was an overmatched foe, but still, you could tell that it was largely Tennessee playing really well moreso than the Hilltoppers playing poorly. I was especially impressed with Bryce Brown, the freshman running back as well as the improvement in Crumpton's game.
Lastly, a lot of people seem to be acting like BYU beating Ok. was a shocker of Stanford over USC -- ok, maybe not that much, but still. I consider it a mild upset. BYU was a veteran team catching Oklahoma at the right time. Their offensive line featured 4 new starters. Then of course, Bradford goes down early. Also, I heard that Gresham wasn't going to play. Was he hurt or suspended? How long? In any case, I don't think it was any sort of a "stop the presses" kind of upset.
That's all for now.
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FLHoya
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Post by FLHoya on Sept 8, 2009 17:28:05 GMT -5
Jacory Harris--who has the arm strength of my mom The pass to Travis Benjamin on the final drive was the balls. Aren't these contradictory statements? Harris' arm strength looked fine to me, certainly an upgrade from Marve. To clarify: Jacory Harris' arm strength is fine, in the sense that he can throw the ball X number of yards. He just doesn't throw it especially hard--he has a very casual throwing motion and manner in the backfield. Robert Marve actually threw the ball pretty darn hard, he was just inaccurate a lot of the time. No doubt Miami picked the right QB. I agree with RDF though--I'd still say FSU is a safer bet to win the ACC, if for nothing else than their division is so much easier. While Miami has 10 days to prepare for the next game, the antidote for a weak front seven than gradually had more and more trouble stopping the run is NOT to play Georgia Tech.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Sept 8, 2009 19:17:20 GMT -5
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Sept 9, 2009 1:03:23 GMT -5
Fl wrote:
I agree with RDF though--I'd still say FSU is a safer bet to win the ACC, if for nothing else than their division is so much easier. While Miami has 10 days to prepare for the next game, the antidote for a weak front seven than gradually had more and more trouble stopping the run is NOT to play Georgia Tech.
I might be wrong (and if I am, I'm sure many of you will point it out ... Hell, even if I'm right, you'll still point out that I was wrong), in any case, I'm hoping that RDF was merely sandbagging -- a la, Vince Dooley. While it looks like one division might be tougher than the other, using any ... for lack of a better term ... "conjugation" of tough, to describe any grouping of ACC teams, is certainly a stretch.
In all seriousness though, for all the defensive weaknesses I saw, I have to give Miami a lot of props for their execution with the ball. In one sense, they were the underdog and playing "loose" and with "nothing to lose." On the other hand, with the schedule they have coming up, any win is huge. Going into the season, I heard many say that a 2-2 start would be a tremendous success. Now with Va. Tech having injury issues and with Bama having shown them to be one-dimensional, along with the Sooners having lost Bradford for some time, I think the forecast is a bit brighter in Coral Gables. Add to that the fact that Ga. Tech is ALWAYS overrated ...
In all seriousness, I think the win was huge for Miami.
Austin wrote:
Gresham was hurt, and OU announced today he'll have season-ending surgery:
Yeah, I just saw that an hour or two ago on the ticker. That stinks for him and Oklahoma. All of a sudden those people who prebet on Oklahoma are beginning to squirm, while those who bet on Texas are feeling a bit better ... or is that a better better?
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Sept 11, 2009 14:14:26 GMT -5
Where are this week's picks? I need my fix.
Anyone drinking the koolaid and think that Michigan-Notre Dame is a big game again between two good teams? Didn't think so.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Sept 11, 2009 14:54:32 GMT -5
Week 2 Picks for Games That Matter:
Penn State over Syracuse Iowa State upsets Iowa for the Cy-Hawk Trophy Texas Christian over U. Va. Notre Dame over Michigan Tennessee over UCLA Southern Cal over tOSU Oregon over Purdue
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Post by williambraskyiii on Sept 11, 2009 15:05:25 GMT -5
Week 2 Picks for Games That Matter: Penn State over Syracuse Iowa State upsets Iowa for the Cy-Hawk Trophy Texas Christian over U. Va. Notre Dame over Michigan Tennessee over UCLA Southern Cal over tOSU Oregon over Purdue Michigan by 10. Mark it.
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Sept 11, 2009 15:57:35 GMT -5
Week 2 Picks for Games That Matter: Penn State over Syracuse Iowa State upsets Iowa for the Cy-Hawk Trophy Texas Christian over U. Va. Notre Dame over Michigan Tennessee over UCLA Southern Cal over tOSU Oregon over Purdue No thoughts on the "big" game at West Point -- Duke at Army?
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