Saturday, October 20, 2007

You Make the Call...

During Friday Night's Louisville-UConn game with the game tied 7-7 :

this play happened

Now the wave happened...whether or not it was a proper 'fair catch' wave seems to be the issue for debate but the players pulled up (for if you tackle a player after calling fair catch its a penalty) and Larry Taylor ran the return the rest of the way for a touchdown but I agree with all Sean McDonough's points (which I usually do, except for one).

So should this have been a reversed call or not?

What I'm Watching: Week 8

12:30pm Tennessee at Alabama (Lincoln Financial)-The game that is ALWAYS played on "The Third Saturday in October". I don't get Raycom or Lincoln Financial or whatever but I wish I did as knowing no matter what year it is, no matter what the sports or political landscape, this game is always played on the Third Saturday in October is one of those cool traditions that makes college football what it is.



3:30pm Miami at Florida State (ABC Regional) or USC at Notre Dame (NBC)- Depending on which no longer relevant rivalry is closer or shows any kind of offensive competence. I'd watch Florida-Kentucky but with no Noah, Horford, or Brewer on the other side Gillespe's squad should roll.

7:00pm Cleveland at Boston (Fox)- I'm writing this during the 8th inning of Game 5. Hopefully I won't regret that.

9:00pm Auburn at LSU (ESPN)- Assuming the Red Sox game doesn't go until 1:30am this 9pm game should be a solid nightcap

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Pumpin for Thursday: Week 8

South Florida (-3) at Rutgers, Over/Under 52

Vegas Algebra Says: South Florida 27.5, Rutgers 24.5

Stats Say:

South Florida Rushing Offense: 181YPG (35th nationally)
Rutgers Rushing Defense: 139YPG (45th)
Most of South Florida's success should come through the run


South Florida Passing Offense: 213YPG (73rd)
Rutgers Passing Defense: 158YPG (5th)
South Florida QB Matt Grothe will not be able to pass on Rutgers

Rutgers Rushing Offense: 182YPG (32nd)
South Florida Rushing Defense: 106YPG (26th)
No reprive for Ray Rice's disappointing Senior season against the Bulls run defense

Rutgers Passing Offense: 308YPG (12th)
South Florida Passing Defense: 178YPG (15th)
The surprising Mike Teel goes up against a great Bull secondary in the key matchup of this game


South Florida Turnovers Gained: 21 (T-4th)
Rutgers Turnovers Lost: 10 (T-33rd)
This is how South Florida's been winning, forcing turnovers as they did against West Virginia

Rutgers Turnovers Gained: 9 (T-98th)
South Florida Turnovers Lost: 13 (T-62nd)
South Florida has coughed up the ball but Rutgers hasn't had many opportunities to say the least


Game Plans:

Rutgers: Get Ray Rice going, protect the ball and keep the Thursday Night crowd in Piscataway involved in the game.
South Florida: Force Mike Teel to make mistakes allowing the Bulls to work from a short field and establish themselves as the second best team, if not the best, in the country.

My Thoughts:

Maybe its the ugly uniforms, maybe its the lack of a brand name but count me among the South Florida naysayers. Grothe's been okay and the rest of the offense is pretty pedestrian and I don't know how they would stack up against even some of the one loss teams in the top ten. Rutgers at home with 3 points looks like the best bet here. And it's Thursday bet the over

Not for real...