2010 - week 3

Even though on paper it wasn't the monster Saturday of match ups like last week, it turned out to be a nice day of football. There were some excellent games, and great individual performances. Let's get to it.

First game of the day.

Went to my Hogs. In Athens against Georgia, this was a must win for Arkansas if they want people to take them seriously. The preseason hype, accolades, and predictions are all for nothing if they don't win that game. After going up 24-10 late in the third quarter, the Hogs were in control of the game. Not easy to do in Athens. But just as soon as I wanted to start celebrating, that familiar defense from last year came rearing its head. All of a sudden, Georgia was playing with urgency, and moving the ball down the field at will, and grabbing momentum. The Bulldogs tied the game like that, WHAT?! With random objects in my hand ready to launch, I decided to keep my composure. So did Arkansas. With just under a minute to play, Ryan Mallet completed two passes to D.J. Williams for two first downs, then a third to Greg Childs, who broke a tackle and sprinted to the end zone for a touchdown! Goal one of the season accomplished, and critics silenced temporarily. Look at Mallet's stats in the player of the week section, he's putting it together. Georgia's high expectations this year are quickly going away, looking for answers. Final score 31-24, Arkansas.

Guess who's back.

The reigning Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram returned to the playing field after a leg injury sidelined him for the first two games. I, and a lot of other people thought he would be slowly brought back, with limited carries, uh no. He technically had limited carries, but only because those 9 carries went for 151 yards and two touchdowns. Any thought of him being hampered at this point is out the window. See ya next week in Fayetteville. Oh yeah, Bama did play a game, against Duke, if you can call it a game. Greg McElroy still hasn't lost as a starting quarterback. Final score 62-13, Alabama.

Speaking of offensive production.

Oklahoma State is rolling up the yards and points. Their first three total yards game totals are 544, 522, and 722! Sure it isn't against conference opponents or anything, but it is still impressive. Other teams are not doing that against lesser foes. Wide receiver Justin Blackmon has 24 catches for 431 yards, and 8 touchdowns, through just three games! Are you kidding me?! By the way, has anyone else noticed that Okie State has a big time, play making receiver every year? QB Brandon Weeden, who did the baseball thing and is now 26 years old, threw for 409 yards and 6 td's just last week.Offensive coordinator Dana Holgorson, who came over from Houston where they also lit it up, is doing a fantastic job. Even when they get into the tougher part of their schedule, I don't see anyone slowing them down very much. The question for the Pokes is always can they hold up on defense.

Speaking of defense.

I don't know if you've ever heard me say defense usually wins. If a match up pits a good offense versus a good defense, I'm taking the defense every time. Well whaddaya know, Texas held Texas Tech to just 144 yards of total offense. Yes, the same Texas Tech who always puts up giant passing yards, usually in the 400 range just about every game, EXCEPT for when they play a good defense. Now before you say, "but Leach isn't there anymore," I'll still say that typically when Tech went up against OU, Texas, and anyone with a half decent defense, they usually lost. If I was a Tech fan, I would let Tuberville get rid of the offense that is so beloved in Lubbock(that offense that brought zero Big 12 championships), and change to his style of winning. He's a new head coach, let him do it his way. I'm still not sold on Texas' offense either though. Garret Gilbert right now to me only looks like a game manager, nothing more. I know he's young and inexperienced, but I'm not seeing much to convince me he can win a game on his own. He passed for 227 yards, which is nice, but with 3 interceptions. Ouch. To be honest, this game did very little for me in terms of what I can expect from either team. Final score 24-14, Texas.

Game of the week.

Goes to Clemson at Auburn. This was a slug fest, multiple players got hurt, and Clemson QB Kyle Parker looked like he wanted to curl up and die the entire second half after he took a shot to the back. After Clemson took a 17-0 lead in the first half, this game looked to be a bore. But credit Auburn for fighting back and scoring 24 unanswered points to take the lead in the third quarter. You could tell both teams wanted this game, and I like watching that. Auburn QB Cam Newton threw two picks but never gave up, eventually running and throwing his team back into the game. As I've already said about Newton, he's not the most polished player yet, but he is winning games. Both teams went over 400 yards of offense, but neither was enough for regulation. They needed to go to overtime to decide the outcome. After Auburn kicked a field goal to go up three, Clemson couldn't score and had a chance to tie it. But the Clemson kicker missed! Idiot! A bad ending to a great game. Final score 27-24.

It must be every other week.

With the Sooners. In week one they narrowly escaped Utah State 31-24. Then it was a complete domination station over Florida State 44-17, then another squeaker at home against Air Force last week. At least Air Force isn't a bad team. They seem to be able to run the ball on just about anybody. They came in to this game AVERAGING 423 yards a game rushing! Wow. But Demarco Murray can run the ball too, because if not for him, this would have been a different game. Murray scored all three of OU's touchdowns, two rushing and one receiving to go along with his 110 yards. He is having the season so far everyone expected him to. OU's defense is not however. They have now let two "lesser" teams crawl their way back into games. Air Force was 11-18 on third down conversions! Are you serious?! And you know what's coming, a run! At least Landry Jones is slowly losing his nickname. For the second straight week he has not thrown an interception, that will win close ball games like this one. Final score 27-24, Oklahoma.

Speaking of playing to expectations.

My man Terrelle Pryor is finally living up to the hype. He went 22-29 for 235 yards and two scores, and added another 35 rushing with a td. Sure it was against Ohio University, but he wasn't putting up these numbers last year against the same type teams. He seems to have fully progressed into a passer at this level. He makes all the throws, and hits his receivers on deep balls right in stride.Ohio State is rolling along, and if Pryor keeps playing this way, they will be in the national title, and he may win the Heisman.

Where is the love?

Boise State gets all the hype after their win over Virginia Tech, but TCU is somehow quietly ranked fourth in the country. The have two wins over big six schools Oregon State and Baylor, and play in a slightly tougher conference than Boise. I know Baylor is well, Baylor, but they put the beat down on them 45-10. QB Andy Dalton was 21-23, yes that's only two incompletions, for 267 yards and two td's. TCU's defense held Baylor QB Robert Griffin,one of the better quarterbacks in the country, to just 164 yards passing. Yes TCU also has a defense. So while most of you are riding the Boise State bandwagon, don't forget about the Horned Frogs. Final score 45-10, TCU.

STILL unimpressed.

Florida QB John Brantley got outplayed by Tennessee QB Matt Simms. If Simms had Brantley's supporting cast, this would have been a monstrosity blowout the other way. But, Florida does have the players that Tennessee does not have, so it was all for not. If not for Florida's defense and Jeff Demps, the Gators would be looking for answers. I'm anxious to see this team against a real opponent. They will not get blown out this year because of said defense and Jeff Demps, but they will not win those close ones like they used to. Who knows, maybe Brantley will get it going and I'll look like a moron, but he doesn't look that good to me now. Maybe the media shouldn't have hyped him up so much, oh wait, they always do that. And yes, I heard Tebow's name after the first five minutes of turning to the game! Final score 31-17 Florida.

What was that?!

The media has already given the Heisman to Michigan QB Denard Robinson after two games. Even though he played well again accounting for 345 yards and three td's, you wonder how people would feel if they lost to the University of Massachusetts! Another FCS, or I-AA school whatever you want to call them, almost pulled of another shocker. Shades of 2007 and Appalachian State came roaring back to the Big House. But thanks to Mr. Robinson, they survived. UMass rolled up 439 yards of offense and scored 37 points! Not good. Rich Rod started out this way last year going 4-0, but then crumbled mightily the rest of the way finishing the season 1-7. Are we going to have a repeat? 9th grade basketball score of the week. Final score 42-37, Michigan.

Who knows.

Kansas gets the award this year for the "I have no idea what kind of team they are." They lose to North Dakota State in week one, beat 15th ranked Georgia Tech in week 2, then lose to Southern Miss in week 3. Um, okay? If you're a big name team, watch out, if you're not, don't worry, they won't show up. I just don't see how you go up and down so much as a team. I mean, what are they doing? I gave way too much respect for Turner Gill last week for turning his team around so quickly. Only he must have kept it turning right back to where they started. Final score 31-16, Southern Miss.

Probably not feeling so hot.

Is Jeremiah Masoli. After stealing his way out of Oregon, he found himself at a 1-2 Ole Miss team that just lost to Vanderbilt. No, Vanderbilt is not good at all. All the while, Masoli's former team is 3-0 and looking like the best offensive team in the nation. Oregon AGAIN put up 69 points and 668 yards of offense, without Masoli. The Rebels could only muster 385 yards and 14 points. They have now lost two embarrassing games at home. I knew Masoli would not fit at Ole Miss, he is robbing the fans by losing to Vandy. Final score 28-14, Vanderbilt.

That just happened.

I mentioned it in my shout out, but I always have to go into more detail. A great back and forth game between Notre Dame and Michigan State ended in a way I've always wanted to see. With the score tied at 28, and both teams playing well, the game was headed for overtime. Notre Dame got the ball first, couldn't punch it in, and kicked a field goal to go up by three. Now it's Michigan State's turn, but they also couldn't get it in the end zone, and had to try for the field goal also. I don't know how many times I've said, "why not fake it here? The other team will never expect it!" Well guess what? The Spartans did it! On fourth down and lining up for an apparent 47 yard field goal, the Michigan State holder catches the snap, stands up and fires to a wide open receiver for a touchdown! AWESOME! Game over. What a call! I don't know why more coaches don't make that call. Final score 34-31. Michigan State.

Until next week,

Nance