Props to the Buckeyes. They don't win pretty but they win. They are also a legit top 5 team when healthy. Great defense--especially at stuffing the run with the front 7 thus sinking opponents red zone efficiency, great O-line, great back, great special teams, good receivers, heady--if not so accurate not so skilled--QB. That is a combination that gives them a chance to beat anyone, including Miami or OU. Chris Simms you are not alone. You have a separate twin up in the Midwest that goes by Jaime Navarre. Great size, great tools, can throw a great ball, but not so heady, not so nimble, and has anti-clutch football instincts. Texas exposed. OU showed the 1-dimensional chuck and duck of Tech would be creamed by a legit elite defense (could take OU's, OSU's, Miami's, maybe ND or USC also). Over 30 to OU, over 40 to Tech--no more excuses for Reese, Mack and their defense--there are major problems there. Truth is though, for me Tech winning maybe was a good thing for my health. Mduke and other poor Sooner fans are going to wince in agony when they look back and realize if any of like 6 plays--4 plays for OSU and 2 Miami (especially the FSU missed kick)--turn out a little different and they are in the big game. But they are going to be outsiders. At least as a Texas fan I don't have to sit and hope Miami loses (which they almost assuredly won't) and also hope that OU loses (CU could beat them--but I doubt it because their O is 1 dimensional and their D isn't that good). It sucks to sit around and rout for loses--especially when the others are the better team. The Fiesta winner has not been determined. Those of you that want to pencil Miami in are premature. Sure they will be favorites, and deservedly so, but they are beatable. This Miami team is not as good as the previous 2 years Miami teams. The best match-up IMO would be Miami-OU, I might call that game flat even (I'll get into this later)--but that obviously won't happen unless neither are in the Fiesta (crazy stuff would have to happen). Miami is beatable. The way to beat them is get decent pressure. If you can get pressure w/o blitzes you can really put them in a bad spot--Dorsey is horrible trying to throw on the run. Where Miami kills you is running the ball effectively and then throwing on play action when you load up to stop the run. OSU is in as good of position as any team to do this. Why? They, along with Miami themselves, have probably the best, deepest front 4. Their run D from their front 7 is also so good they can always have 2 safeties back--another must against Miami. The only other D I like as well against Miami is OU's (though I think Iowa and USC--with very solid balanced teams--would have a chance against Miami too). While OU's front isn't as good as OSUs, their corners are better. One common element to both teams is smallish LBS who move like strong safeties (except for Wilhelm--who isn't smallish but nor is he slow or unathletic). Lessons here? No more Boyd types. Of course what works against OSU or another beating Miami is Miami's defense. They also have a front 7 so good they can keep 2 safeties back. They also have blistering LBs--I like Vilma the best of any ML I have seen. More athletic than the outstanding Wilhelm with similar instincts. My fearless prediction . Is that OSU wins the NT. To tell you the truth the odds are against them, but I do believe they have a chance. Clarett gets 6 weeks to get healthy. The key will be the trenches. Probably the two best set of trenches in college football. OSU will not score much--but there is a chance they will block well enough that Clarett can find a little space, and he only needs a little space to get some yardage. I said before I think OSU's defense could fare very well against Miami. If the defenses reduce the game to a few key plays--INTs or returns for touchdowns, blocked kicks, etc, I like OSUs chances. Yes it is eerily like 2000 indeed. What a shame the regular season isn't over after next weekend and the top 8-10 teams don't start playing each week from Dec 1 until Jan 6 or so to determine a NC on the field. Can you imagine the drama. OK maybe not as quick read as I thought
I am so pissed that a mediocre FSU team will head to a BCS bowl to represent the ACC, with a potential 8-5 record, or at best a 9-4. What a joke! Maryland, the dumbass guys, couldn't pull out the win at UVa, getting pasted 48-13. They'll end up with a 10-3 and most likely head to the Gator Bowl.
Desert Scar- Good points and thanks for giving OSU a chance. I now get to become a fan the next few weeks seeing if Syracuse or Va Tech can beat Miami. I really hope Miami wins out. If Miami loses there will be a decision between a few possible one loss teams and I would just assume play Miami. I truly believe OSU can play with them. Our defense will keep us in the game and will have to win the game for us. Our offense is solid with Clarett but still will not win many games. Special teams will also be a plus to us (although Gamble made a bad decision on fielding a punt on the 4 and Groom shanked one for 12 yards). I will tell you I was really shocked our D-line was stopped yesterday. No presure on Navarra at all until the end. LBs and safeties played great foer us but we need the d-line to step up. Anyways I'm looking for flights out to Phoenix right now, but good recap.
what was up with NC State tearing down the goalposts after beating FSU even though FSU clinched the ACC title??? i laughed my ass off watching sportscenter highlights of that one.
Cuz FSU is still considered the top team in the ACC, so every win over them in the ACC is considered monumental. Damn damn damn Maryland!!!
As one of the thousands of fans who was on the field after the game last night (And yes I did wait until after we downed the ball) I think taking the goal posts down was fitting. Reasons: -First time ever having a 10 win season -Beating a top 15 team in the nation -Celebrating the fact that Chuck Amato is the only ACC Coach (Might be the only NCAA coach but idk) with a winning record against Bobby Bowden BTW: I am glad that Maryland did not win the ACC for a second straight season. If Maryland had won the ACC 2 years in a row w/o beating FSU then I would have been pissed as hell. GO STATE!!! BTW: thanks to UVA beating UMD we still have a shot at the gator bowl
rushing the field and taking the goal posts down is the stupidest ritual in sports. while i'm not happy that people get injured... if you're going to do something stupid, you deserve whatever you get. be it pepper sprayed or physically hurt. if there are cops guarding a goal post, why on earth would anyone in their right mind think its ok to crawl on them and rip them down. edit: Several injured in coast-to-coast celebrations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press Fan celebrations got out of hand after several college football games Saturday, as several people were injured following victories and Washington players were pelted with debris. Most, but not all, of the rowdy behavior surrounded the usual goal-post-dismantling parties that followed big victories: In Columbus, Ohio, about 45 people were arrested when crowds celebrating No. 2 Ohio State's victory over Michigan set fires and damaged cars early Sunday near campus. Police spokeswoman Sherry Mercurio didn't know how many people were injured. She said the arrests were for carrying open containers of alcohol, rioting, resisting arrest or setting the fires. Celebrations began Saturday afternoon, after Ohio State edged Michigan 14-9 to complete a 13-0 regular season. The Buckeyes next will play in the BCS national championship game at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3. Police at Ohio Stadium used pepper spray to subdue fans who swarmed the field and pushed toward a goal post. A little after midnight, police used tear gas and pellets to disperse a crowd of several hundred east of Ohio State's campus. At one point, nine cars were piled together and burning, Mercurio said. Disturbances continued in portions of a 10-block area for several hours. "Once we'd get one street under control, the crowds would move to one or two others and things would break out again,'' she said. Streets were mostly empty near campus Sunday morning, with a few traffic barricades at some intersections and some uprooted park benches. In Clemson, S.C., a 67-year-old sheriff's officer and a female fan were hurt when fans rushed the field and tore down a goal post following the Tigers' 27-20 win over South Carolina. The victims were taken away by ambulance. Officer James Booth was in stable condition at a hospital; he was hurt when 30 fans piled on top of him. Details on the female fan's condition weren't available, but her injuries were not life-threatening. In Raleigh, N.C., three people were injured on the field when fans tore down goal posts following North Carolina State's 17-7 victory over No. 14 Florida State. One person had a broken leg and two others had knee injuries. There were 21 arrests, but none was related to the on-field celebration. Pepper spray was used on fans to keep the goal posts standing as police remembered a similar episode two years ago, when car windows were broken by a group of people who paraded the goal posts down a street. In Berkeley, Calif., hundreds of Cal fans overwhelmed security guards and tore down the goal posts following the Golden Bears' 30-7 over Stanford in the 105th Big Game. Some of the fans were taken away in handcuffs. Fans of the losing team in Pullman, Wash., showed their displeasure by showering the field with objects, including bottles and plastic souvenirs, after the visiting Huskies beat No. 3 Washington State 29-26 in triple overtime. "I feared for my life,'' Washington athletic director Barbara Hedges said following the dramatic Apple Cup, which was decided by a referee's call that went against the Cougars. None of the players on either side was hurt, but some journalists had cuts and needed minor treatment. After Hawaii's 20-19 victory over Cincinnati, players from both teams charged onto the field at Aloha Stadium and scuffled for about five minutes before order was restored by coaches and police. As the Bearcats were escorted by police to their locker room, Warriors fans pelted the players with water bottles and trash. Police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd, but there were no arrests. what freakin' morons.
I think taking down the goal posts and marching them back to campus is an age old tradition and should continue to happen after big wins. As far as the injuries go, yes it is very dangerous down there and as soon as the posts fall everyone from both sides starts pushing towards them to try and get their hands on them. But everyone going down there knows that risk and to be honest with you, if I had gotten hurt I would probably still go down there in 2 years to take them down against OSU (if they are still good, obviously) As far as what happened with security here, the campus security had planned on letting us take both posts down (ABC did not have a camera on one of them this year, smart thinking). The problem arose when cops (less than 10 of them) tried to stop the us from taking down the north goal posts, the cops then decided to let us take the posts down, but once we got them down the cops decided to try and take them back, and one of the female cops started using pepper spray in the fans faces so they got upset and shoved back at the cops who then all started to turn loose on the crowd with pepper spray.
Actually, if MD wins out against WF, they're sure to goto the Gator Bowl. NCSU is the #4 seed in the ACC, and there is no way they're going to head to the Gator. During the Terps game, they said that the Gator Bowl officials would only consider FSU or Maryland for their bowl. I sooooooooooooo hope the Terps win against WF ... I think they will, last game at home after being humiliated by UVa ... chances are pretty good. But so far, I'm really happy with Friedgen ... he has taken Vandy's recruits and made them into 2 straight years of 10 win seasons ... I can't wait when he has the chance to build his team. As the confidence grows, I can see them becoming more and more a force within the ACC Plus, I think the Gator bowl is better for em anyways ... they'll have a good shot at beating whoever makes it there (either ND, Pitt or WVU) and a win in a Bowl game will go a long way in recruiting! GO TERPS! (Basketball season starts tonight too!)
Dont remind me, we lost Ilian Evtimov for the year in a pre-season game, and Duke's freshman could probably beat over half of the D-1 schools starters.
I just plain out HATE Duke. There are no words to describe my animosity towards them ... and I'm sure it's more for you guys since it's only like a 20 min drive between the two places. Their incoming class is good, but experience goes a long way too. I am hoping they finally experience some growing pains before they most likely capture the title in the next 2-4 years. As for my Terps, their new class is looking pretty damn good too. That Caner-Medley dude is a monster ... check out his flying dunks ... reminds me of a white Wilcox, with a J. I'm actually getting ready to head down to College Park for the first game against Miami of Ohio, the Championship banner will be hoisted. And much luck to NCST against Duke, and UNC as well ... but against Terps ... DIE!!!
4 plays for OSU and 2 Miami (especially the FSU missed kick)--turn out a little different and they are in the big game. Or the plays that OU got burned on in the A&M game..... Is that OSU wins the NT. Yep, I'm picking OSU in the NC too, unless, of course, a small miracle happens and Miami loses
I take it back, it wasn't just 4 plays for OSU, it was more like 6-8-10. Recap: September 21 at Cincinnati W 23-19--Nattie receivers drop two game winning balls in the end zone late in the 4th. October 19 at Wisconsin W 19-14--Don't remember the critical play, but there must have been some as the game was this close. October 26 No. 17 Penn State W 13-7--Two critical plays by Gamble. Saves what looks surely like a 90 yard+ INT-return for TD by the Lions, himself returns an INT for TD. November 9 at Purdue W 10-6 --4th & 1 touchdown pass, they looked beat, game over if they don't get the 1st down, they actually get a 40 yard TD. November 16 at Illinois W 23-16--two possible TDs in OT by Illinios not called TDs, 3rd and 15 or so 1st down ramble by the OSU QB to set up their OT TD. Also another 3rd down bomb like the Purdue one if I remember. November 23 No. 9 Michigan W 14-9--1st have TD by Michigan called back for offesive pass interference, 1st half TD by OSU set up by called defensive interference. Two Navarre TOs late in the 4th. NOTE I do not consider this all luck. Miami has had some plays like this the last 2 years (well, the missed FSU field goal as well as the Natti regrading OSU drops were luck). It is clear both teams players have a lot of confidence, good coaches, and the coaches trust the players by putting them in positions to make the big plays in the key moments of the games (unlike, Mack, choke, choke, Brown). With OSU and Miami, you know if both teams are close in the 4th quarter both teams will be very relaxed, focused, and know in their hearts of hearts they are going to win. Of course only one will be right, but it won't be because the other guy choked up--they will earn it. Yes, but remember if not for an idiodic 4th down offsides by UT they are up at least 6-7 at the half with the momentum. Could have been a different game. UT also about to get a commanding lead on Tech and have two similar dumb 4th down drive sustaining penalties. How about poor Iowa blowing the Iowa State game. Georgia and a late Florida TD. A lot of teams have a few maddening plays that changed their season.
Yea I figured if there was someone else it would probably be Miami or Florida. I dont watch much college football outside of the ACC. I wonder how many coaches who have coached against him 3 or more games have winning records.
D'oh!! I just realized that I made a mistake. Coker has only gone against Bowden twice. However, Miami has beaten FSU the last 3 times. Can't believe that I didn't catch that earlier! I would think that Spurrier would be close to having a winning record against him, but I am not sure. I do know about the Miami coaches and can give their records against Bowden: Howard Schellenberger (1979-83): record against Bowden: 3-2 Jimmy Johnson (1984-88): record against Bowden: 4-1 Dennis Erickson (1989-94): record against Bowden: 4-2 Butch Davis (1995-00): record against Bowden: 1-5 Larry Coker (2001-present): record against Bowden: 2-0
I think the Buckeyes will win the Championship. They have nothing to lose, especially going against Miami, which will come in as the huge favorite. This team is eerily similar to the last Georgia team that won a national championship: stud freshman running back, last second wins on improbable pass plays, solid if unheralded players, plays well together. They will find a way to keep it close and come out on top.
remember a while back, people were complaining UT ranked lower than KSU. Now try to figure this out. A 9-3 Penn State is ranked higher than a 9-3 UM. PennState: L Iowa, OSU, UM UM: L: Iowa, OSU, ND Is that losing to a higher ranked ND is worse than losing head to head to UM? Well, I guess Johmson dominated. Oh well, not that it matters a bit.
Not that I don't agree that both USC and KSU would dominate Texas right now, but UT beat KSU, KSU beat USC, but they're ranked exactly the opposite. Personally, I agree with it. Teams should be ranked by how they're playing right now. But, I don't think 2 loss teams should be ranked ahead of 1 loss teams. My complaint was never OU shouldn't be ahead of Texas. They should be. I think if they had played after the ATM/OU game, OU still wins. That's how I would vote. I think VT will beat Miami and OU will beat OSU in the Fiesta. Then, it will really suck to be a Longhorn fan.
The Fiesta Bowl sucks! Well at least getting a game ticket sucks. Tehy give each school 16,000 tickets and the rest of the tickets goes to the network (advertisers), and other corporate sponsors. Sounds legit until you goto ebay and check out the prices. Tons of tickets for sale $500-$1000/ticket. That's more than the airfare out there and is probably more than the airfare and 3 nights hotel in Vegas. Anyways I still think I'll get 2 from the University, but I'm going out with 4 people, so some people will be paying alot for tickets. Also I priced plane fairs on Friday and I could do a 3-way trip from C-bus to Vegas to Phoenix and back to Columbus for $490. I checked the same flight on Sunday and it was $905. I had to get creative and fly to Vegas and back on one airline, then hop on Soutwest from Vegas to Phoenix. Anyways it only cost $370 to do that, so I think it was worth an hour on the internet. Oh well it's free enterprise at work!
