Thursday, October 29, 2009

Florida-Georgia Preview

This year's edition of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party seems to be creeping up a bit quieter than recent years. No this isn't a clash of two of the nation's top 10 teams this season, and no Florida isn't seeking revenge for a showboating ass-whooping from a previous edition of the cocktail party.

All that being said, the Florida-Georgia game is always special, and this installment should be no different. The Gator players and coaches are still hollering about Georgia storming the field in Jacksonville 2 years ago. Personally, I think that's already been avenged with last year's thrashing. I truly believe the Gators are just doing this to rile themselves up. I don't know if that says the Georgia program is so down this year that Florida needs extra motivation to get up for it, or if it says that Florida needs to do something to wake their offense up out of the doldrums.

No matter what the records are of these two teams, or how bad a certain unit is playing, you'll still hear plenty of name calling and jort/red trouser bashing amongst the fans.


5 Keys to the game.


1. Establish a deep threat - Georgia's defense is incredibly horrendous thus far. They have made Ryan Mallett and Jonathan Crompton look like future NFL Hall of Famers. It seems that no matter who Georgia is playing, the opposing team's quarterback is in store for a huge day. That will only be the case this Saturday if the Gators finally decide to throw the ball deep. Something they haven't done since the last play of the first quarter against Kentucky.



2. Protect the ball - Georgia will be feeding off some huge emotion this weekend. Their season will certainly be salvaged in a big way if they were to knock off the Gators somehow. The best way for the Dawgs to accomplish this is to force some turnovers. Giving the ball up is also the best way to give a struggling defense some serious confidence. The ball needs to stay off the turf for the Gators to control this game.


3. Control emotions - Controlling emotions goes a long way in determining if the Gators ca hold on to the ball or not. This is something that I am always worried about heading into a rivalry game. The Gators have been outstanding in these instances during the Urban Meyer regime. If you remember, their only loss to one of Florida's "Big 3" rivals was to UGA.


4.Protect Tebow - This is definitely something that the offensive line has not been doing lately. What would it take for Steve Addazio to shift a tight end over to help protect Tebow's blind side? Hopefully not a loss. That could be on the way if the line continues to struggle.


5. Save your timeouts - If the Gators truly are still pissed at Mark Richt and Co. for that celebration, Meyer should make sure that he has some extra timeouts at the end of the game to "Give Moody more quality carries."


5 Players That Need to Step Up


1. Tim Tebow - Tebow has struggled mightily against Geogria (2007) and looked brilliant against Georgia (2008). I can't remember the last Gator QB to leave Gainesville with a losing record vs. Georgia as a starter. Tebow will be 1-2 if the Gators lose on Saturday.


2. Deonte Thompson - Thompson went M.I.A. again last week. I think he should change his nickname to Nessie. No one can really prove that he exists, but every once in a while he'll pop his head up and cause all kinds of commotion.


3. Emmanuel Moody - Moody is continuing to establish himself as the Gators best runner out of the backfield. Demps will be sore with a sprained neck and Rainey will have to be relieved at some point. I would like to see Moody get some carries out of the I-Formation against the Dawgs' D. It worked the whole 1 time we ran it last week.


4. Brandon Spikes - Spikes set the tone during last season's Georgia game by clobbering Knowshon Moreno as he tried to break through the line. Brandon should be well rested after sitting out last week's game with a sore groin. I feel bad for Richard Samuel.


5. Dustin Doe - Even though Spikes grabbed the highlights last season, perhaps Florida's best linebacker in that Game was Dustin Doe. Doe was all over the place last season in Jacksonville. If he doesn't get arrested by Saturday, he should continue to build on last week's stellar performance. Showboating aside...


Here's some highlights of last year's 49-10 victory.



Here's what they're saying about the game over at Dawgs Sports.

I like the second comment. The only way Georgia can beat us is if the Florida bus driver drives us to the wrong stadium. Good Stuff!

My Prediction


Florida - 27


Georgia - 17

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Q&A With Catfish and Cornbread


In honor of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, me and the boys from Catfish and Cornbread got together and put together a little Q&A for your enjoyment.

JJ and Bop are both contributors to Catfish and Cornbread which is wholly dedicated to their first passion: University of Georgia Athletics.

I hope you enjoy the interview, and please check out my portion of the interview at their site.


CFB365: A real simple question to start things off. What is up with Georgia's defense this season?

JJ: Its a combination of coaching, attitude, and players - in that order. You really don't have enough space available on this blog to explain all the problems, primarily pertaining to coaching and attitude.


Bop: It is embarrassing and pathetic. We have completely lost our identity and our swagger. The talent is still in town, but the fundamentals and hustle are gone. The players are honestly not getting the coaching they deserve. Blown coverages and missed tackles are a common theme. We gave up 30 points once in the first half of Richt's tenure in Athens (to the BCS Champion LSU team in the SEC title game). Now we give up 30 points a game almost every week.


CFB365: After the Tennessee game, Mark Richt joined the growing ranks of SEC coaches that have had to deal with Lane Kiffin's big 'ol mouth. His statements about Georgia weren't as inflammatory as his remarks about Florida, South Carolina and Alabama, but they were controversial nonetheless. As a Georgia fan, what's your take on Kiffin and the Vols?


JJ: This will be unpopular with most Georgia and Florida fans, but I actually admire what Kiffin is doing. I think most of that lies in the fact that as a Georgia fan, I wish our own head coach was a little more "out there" with the program, especially when UGA doesn't have a product on the field that can speak for itself positively. Tennessee is likely to finish 6-6 at best this season, but they'll be the most publicized 6-6 team in the history of college football, and Kiffin will recruit like a madman because of it. If he doesn't win eventually, he'll be fired regardless of how much he runs his mouth.


Bop: I just refuse to ever have any respect for a coach that recruits and signs a kid that was an accessory to rape. It blows my mind that kid got a scholarship. I'm all for second chances, but not in that situation. T. Kyle King over on Dawgsports.com said it best: Lane Kiffin has a famous father, a hot wife and a career record of 8-18 (.308). He has no quarterback prospects for the forseeable future and he doesn't have the luxtury of playing a Willie Martinez defense more than once a season.


CFB365: Richard Samuel only has 200 more rushing yards than Caleb King on twice as many carries this season, with 80 of those yards coming on one run. Why is Samuel still getting the bulk of the carries over King?


JJ: Two reasons: Samuel had a monster August (albeit working out against the UGA defense), and King spent the majority of the same month in a green jersey and hasn't really gotten healthy since. Most UGA fans really expected Samuel to have a great season, but all he's proven so far is that he still needs alot more experience to be an SEC caliber back. King is probably the most polished ball carrier on the roster, but he's been hobbled by just about every injury imaginable since early in his senior season of high school.


Bop: Honestly, it started out because of a preseason injury to Caleb. Samuel locked the position down by the time the opener came around. Then a broken jaw in the LSU game caused King to miss more time. Caleb came back and scored a couple against Vandy, but no one really knows who will get the most carries in any given game. The true freshman Washan Ealey is as good a guess as anyone.


CFB365: Speaking of the running game, did you honestly think that Georgia would miss Knowshon Moreno this much? I've always been used to the Dawgs reloading at the running back position, but that doesn't seem to be the case this season. Is this more to blame on the backs or the O-line?


JJ: A perfect storm of events. King being hurt, Samuel not living up to expectations, some ridiculously strange substitution patterns by the offensive coaching staff, and an extremely disappointing offensive line, have all played a part. But it is probably the offensive line that has been the biggest issue. Even losing its most talented piece (Trinton Sturdivant) doesn't excuse how poor they've been so far.

Bop: Yeah, Knowshon was just special. OLine was our supposed strength this season, but they have probably been the biggest dissapointment all year (besides the total lack of anything close to competitive defense). I did think we would miss Knowshon more than say Stafford, but I , like you, expected us to reload a bit quicker than has happened. If the line gets back to being a force, I would expect a better performance out of one of our backs than we've seen so far this year. I'm just hoping it happens in Jacksonville or Atlanta.



CFB365:What's your assessment of Joe Cox's play up to this point? What do you want to see him improve on?


JJ: Cox has been about as good as could be expected coming into the year. Most UGA fans would say that they expected him to be a better game-manager (i.e. throw less interceptions), but those same UGA fans probably didn't expect that he'd be throwing the ball as much as he did either. With a decent running game and a half-decent defense, Cox would have been alot more effective. There really isn't much more you can ask of the kid under the circumstances.


Bop: He's an acurate passer who's best part of his game is his deep ball. I think Joe is a good quarterback and a great Dawg, he just probably lacks in overall talent from the quarterbacks we've had since we had to play walk-on Cory Phillips or since the days of Mike Bobo. Really, I'm not sure he is going to improve much more. He's capable of dropping 300 on anyone. Getting the ball to our TE's and throwing as many in the direction of AJ Green is ideal.


CFB365: Tim Tebow will almost certainly break Herschel Walker's SEC TD rushing record within the next few weeks. I won't ask your thoughts on the record, but I would like to know: As a Dawg fan, what is your perception of Tebow? Overhyped? Overrated? Product of the media?


JJ: I think any player that has as much exposure as Tebow does is probably overhyped. I wouldn't call him overrated....during his 3+ seasons in Gainesville, Florida has been the premier national program, and he is the unquestioned leader of the team. In this age of ESPN, the hype is understandable. I just wish one of the esteemed SEC officials would throw a flag on him one time when he puts on his chest pounding, hands in the air show after a first down that he seems to do at least once per game. Let's just say we've seen UGA players call much less attention to themselves this season and receive extremely damaging penalties for it.


Bop: He's overhyped, but so was Georgia great David Pollack. My brother hit the nail on the head during Tebow's heisman year. He said "Florida has their David Pollack, the problem for everyone else is that their Pollack plays quarterback." He's not a product of the media and he's not overrated, in my opinion, because the sumbitch produces. And he wins. Of course if ole lady luck shines on the Red & Black this weekend, his record against Georgia could end up being 1-2.

CFB365:I've frequented a few Georgia message boards recently, and I was surprised to see so many fans putting a little heat to Mark Richt's seat. Is the patience running thin for Richt in Athens?


JJ: I think what you're seeing is the vocal minority. 90% of UGA fans would never even want to think of getting rid of Richt, regardless of what happens the rest of the year. That said, there are quite a few fans that are getting a little anxious to see him make some changes to his staff, some of whom believe it would have been a no-brainer to make those changes before this season. This coming offseason is going to be different than anything Richt has gone through thus far, and how he handles it will determine the rest of his career in Athens.


Bop: Yes it is. His loyalty to assistant coaches has always been admired. It has helped Georgia year in and year out in the recruiting wars. The problem now is that our coaches are getting taken to the woodshed on Saturday afternoons. The Tennessee debacle was probably the nail in the coffin for Defensive Coordinator Willie Martinez. Almost every quarterback we have played has shattered their previous career high in passing yards against us. We made one of the worst quarterbacks in league history (Crompton) look like a frontrunner for the heisman. Either heads will have to roll come winter or Richt's seat will be blazing hot. My God, we lost to Lane Kiffin.


CFB365: One thing Florida and Georgia have in common this season is bad officiating by Marc Curles and his crew. In Florida's case, it helped. In Georgia's case, not so much. As someone who has been on the wrong side of the bad calls, do you think the punishment (suspension until Nov. 14) is good enough for these refs?


JJ: Personally, I think Curles should have been fired and the rest of his crew suspended for the remainder of the season. The personal foul penalty on AJ Green was bad enough, but for the head referee to blow a personal foul penalty the following week in a game that close, just proves that he isn't a quality enough official to be working at the highest level of college football. The questionable interference calls (or non-calls), I can live with. Stuff like that happens in every game. You just cannot throw that flag against the Arkansas D-lineman without knowing absolutely for certain that it was the right call. The fact that other members of his crew didn't try to correct him makes them all culpable.


Bop: I just wish we could find a way to have full time refs. We are the SEC, we should have the best of the best. Problem is, we probably have the worst. And what's worse is it's beginning to look fixed. Not saying it is...it just looks that way. When the head of officials in the SEC is a Tech grad and you add the history with Al Ford (Gator grad) and the Jasper 'fumble' in Atlanta in '99, it's a recipe for doubt and anger. Just know this, after the AJ Green celebration penalty against LSU, if Tebow does anything remotely celabratory after a first down, the boo birds will be out in full force. It won't be directed towards Florida or Tebow, but venom will spew towards the refs from the Georgia faithful after that LSU game.


CFB365: Georgia seems to be the only team in the conference that is willing to travel out of the South to play a non-conference opponent. This is a good bragging point for Georgia fans, but a loss to a team like Oklahoma St. can really cause some damage. In a college football landscape where the SEC is seen as being so dominant that these cross-national road games are nor necessary for a strength of schedule argument, do you feel that Georgia should take it easy in the future?


JJ: I don't think one home and home every 2 years with a out of conference BCS team (other than natural rivals like Georgia Tech for Georgia and FSU for Florida) is too much to ask for any team. That gives you one tough road game every other year. That would give an SEC team 2 tough OOC games and 2 cupcakes.

Bop: Nah, I like it. Actually, I love it. It's good for the Georgia brand and keeps us in the national spotlight when others are playing I-AA's. The Arizona State game last year, the Oklahoma State game this year and in '07, the Boise State game a few years ago were all as good as it got on those Saturday's. We go to Colorado next season and have Oregon and our old rival Clemson back on the slate in the future. I'd love a Michigan or Texas matchup in the future also.

CFB365:I really hate that corny Lou Holtz locker room speech segment that ESPN shoves down our throats every week. So its only right that I ask you to participate in a little role play. Pretend you are Mark Richt. What are you telling your team in the locker room before they head out onto the field?


JJ: I'd tell them that despite everything bad that has happened this year, all the public criticism and ridicule, the Dawgs have a chance to salvage the entire season, maybe even the entire program this weekend. If this UGA team has any heart, any pride in the uniform they are privileged enough to wear, those words should be plenty of motivation.


Bop: I'd tell them that I want to see everyone celebrate after our first score....

Monday, October 26, 2009

Weekly Picks

The week kicks off extra early tomorrow with your traditional Tuesday Night Toss-Up game. In honor of this momentous occasion. I present to you a very rare Monday edition of Weekly Picks.

I reserve the right to change my mind by Friday.


East Carolina
@ Memphis
North Carolina @ Virginia Tech
West Virginia @ South Florida
Indiana @ Iowa
Cincinnati @ Syracuse
New Mexico St. @ Ohio St.
Rutgers @ Connecticut
NC State @ Florida St.
Purdue @ Wisconsin
Ohio @ Ball St.
UL-Lafayette @ Florida International
Akron @ Northern Illinois
Ole Miss @ Auburn
Nebraska @ Baylor
Southern Miss @ Houston
Missouri @ Colorado
Coastal Carolina @ Clemson
SMU @ Tulsa
Western Michigan @ Kent St.
San Jose St. @ Boise St.
UAB @ UTEP
Georgia @ Florida
Miami (FL) @ Wake Forest
California @ Arizona St.
Arkansas St. @ Louisville
Central Michigan @ Boston College
Toledo @ Miami (OH)
Iowa St. @ Texas A&M
Duke @ Virginia
Michigan @ Illinois
Temple @ Navy
Kansas @ Texas Tech
UNLV @ TCU
Air Force @ Colorado St.
UCLA @ Oregon St.
Western Kentucky @ North Texas
Middle Tennessee @ Florida Atlantic
Hawaii @ Nevada
Penn St. @ Northwestern
Louisiana Tech @ Idaho
Utah St. @ Fresno St.
Eastern Michigan @ Arkansas
Mississippi St. @ Kentucky
Kansas St. @ Oklahoma
UL-Monroe @ Troy
Georgia Tech @ Vanderbilt
Washington St. @ Notre Dame
New Mexico @ San Diego St.
South Carolina @ Tennessee
Texas @ Oklahoma St.
USC @ Oregon
Tulane @ LSU
Wyoming @ Utah
Michigan St. @ Minnesota
Marshall @ UCF

Sunday, October 25, 2009

CFB 365 Top 25

The top 25 pretty much stays stagnant this week. Some teams slid a bit after disappointing performances. There are 4 new teams in the 20-25 range this week.


1. Alabama Crimson Tide - It usually takes two bad performances for me to move a number 1 team down in the rankings. Bama needed a last second field goal block by Terrance Cody to hold off the Tennessee Volunteers. The Tide desperately needs to find a passing attack if they want to win the SEC this season.




2. Texas Longhorns - Texas put together its best game of the season. For the first time all year Colt McCoy played well the entire game. Instead of waiting until the second half to get things rolling, the Longhorns jumped out on the Missouri Tigers early in their romp. Next week is a big challenge as Texas will play Oklahoma St.




3. Florida Gators - The Gators move down a spot for the second straight week. I still think Florida is the best team in the nation, but they're just not playing like it. Back to back unimpressive performances against Arkansas and Mississippi St. leaves this Gator team with a lot of unanswered questions as they prepare for Georgia.




4. Cincinnati Bearcats - Another week, another impressive Big East victory for Cincy. The Bearcats were able to defeat Louisville even without starting QB Tony Pike. Next week should bring similar results as Cincinnati will play Syracuse.





5. USC Trojans - USC escaped with a victory over Oregon St. on Saturday Night. That result is an improvement from SC's game last season vs. the Beavers. The Trojans will face an even stiffer challenge next week as they play the Oregon Ducks.





6. LSU Tigers - LSU leapfrogged a few teams after their dominating performance against Auburn on Saturday night. The game for the Tigers, against the Tigers, may have been the Bayou Bengals' best all around game on the year.





7. Boise St. Broncos - The worst news for the Broncos this past weekend was that TCU absolutely dismantled BYU. The Horned Frogs are getting growing support as the best Non-BCS team in the country. I still think Boise St. is better, and their win against Oregon is more impressive than anything TCU has done this season.




8. Iowa Hawkeyes - Iowa barely snuck out a late second victory over Michigan St. this weekend. The Hawkeyes still control their own destiny within the Big Eleven. They still have Ohio St. on the slate. Outside of the Buckeyes, Iowa should be favored in it's remaining games.





9. Oregon Ducks - The Ducks pulled out yet another uniform combination this week. The black helmets were actually an upgrade from their regular apparel. We'll see what the Ducks can come up with for next week's showdown against USC.





10. TCU Horned Frogs - TCU finally cracks my top ten this season. The Frogs were this week's most impressive team in their victory over BYU. The Cougars had all the motivation in the world to knock off TCU, but they were completely outclassed by this TCU team.





11. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets - With the Jackets' win over Virginia on Saturday, Georgia Tech became the unofficial champion of the Commonwealth State. In back to back weeks, Ga Tech has embarrassed Virginia Tech and Virginia. With Miami's loss, the Yellow Jackets become the favorite to make the ACC Championship game.




12. Penn St. Nittany Lions - Penn St. destroyed the Michigan Wolverines on Saturday. They should get a nice rest next week as they play Purdue. Then again, Ohio St. thought they had a nice break against Purdue too.





13. Oklahoma St. Cowboys - Oklahoma St. had no problems taking care of Baylor without Dez Bryant or Kendall Hunter. It may be a different story next week. Oklahoma St.'s defense will need to come up big if the Cowboys want any chance of upsetting Colt McCoy and the Texas Longhorns.




14. Virginia Tech Hokies - The Hokies enjoyed a bye week this week. They move up a few spots thanks to losses by BYU and Miami.







15. Miami(FL) Hurricanes - Speaking of Miami, the Canes let one slip away against Clemson on Saturday. I'm sure Randy Shannon will have nightmares of C.J. Spiller for the next few days. Miami should be able to rebound nicely next week against Wake Forest.





16. West Virginia Mountaineers - What impressed me the most abut West Virginia this week was the class they showed against Connecticut. That all starts with Bill Stewart. Stewart is a tremendous human being who has this West Virginia team paying extremely well. I wish them nothing but the best for the rest of the year, and I hope the Stewart bashers from a few years ago have enjoyed eating their words.



17. Pittsburgh Panthers - Pittsburgh humiliated South Florida at home on Saturday. Surprisingly, Dave Wannstedt has not done anything to screw this up yet. Dion Lewis is the real deal at running back.






18. Utah Utes - The Utes needed overtime to take down Air Force on Saturday. That's not all that impressive. Utah is quietly still in the hunt for the Mountain West crown.






19. Houston Cougars - The Cougars beat up on another lowly C-USA team. This time it was SMU's turn to take the beating. Imagine the Cougars' standing if they hadn't lost to UTEP. They could possibly be ranked in the top 5 right now.





20. Ohio St. Buckeyes - Ohio St. bounced back from their loss to Purdue quite nicely. The Buckeyes put together a great game led by, believe it or not, Terrelle Pryor, en route to an impressive win over Minnesota. Next up for the Buckeyes is a daunting visit from the New Mexico St. Aggies.




21. Arizona Wildcats - Arizona is quietly putting together a solid season under Mike Stoops. We'll see how long the Wildcats can hold onto their surprising BCS ranking.






22. South Carolina Gamecocks - South Carolina remains at the 22 spot after barely beating Vanderbilt at home. The Gamecocks' D is one of the fiercest in the nation. Their offense hasn't quite lit the world on fire. Alshon Jefferey is a stud at the WR spot.





23. Central Michigan Chippewas - Central Michigan's only loss this season was to the aforementioned Arizona Wildcats in the first week of the season. They have since reeled off 7 wins in a row, including a victory on the road at Michigan St. Time for the Chippewas to get some love.




24. California Golden Bears - Cal re-appears in the top 25. Yeah their two losses were by a lot. But they were against Oregon and USC. Two very good teams. Plus, the Golden Bears are led by one of the most potent offenses behind RB Jahvid Best.





25. Ole Miss Rebels - The Rebels also re-enter the top 25 this week. Like Cal, Ole Miss' 2 losses were against two very good teams (South Carolina & Alabama). Dexter McCluster finally showed up in Mississippi's big win over Arkansas this week. Perhaps his emergence will help Jevan Snead at QB.

Ultimate Fantasy League Update

Things are starting to shape up in CFB 365's Ultimate Fantasy League. There have been some minor upsets, but for the most part, the fantasy league is following it's real life counterpart pretty closely.


SEC

East

1. Florida 7-1 (6-1)
2. Tennessee 4-4 (3-4)
3. Georgia Tech 4-4 (2-3)
4. Georgia 4-4 (2-3)
5. Clemson 4-4 (2-3)
6. South Carolina 4-4 (2-3)

West

1. Alabama 8-0 (5-0)
2. LSU 6-2 (5-1)
3. Ole Miss 6-2 (4-2)
4.Auburn 4-4 (2-4)
5. Kentucky 2-6 (1-5)
6. Mississippi St. 2-6 (0-6)



Big XII


North

1. Kansas 7-1 (6-0)
2. Nebraska 5-3 (4-2)
3. Missouri 4-4 (2-4)
4. Kansas St. 3-5 (2-4)
5. Arkansas 2-6 (2-5)
6. Colorado 1-7 (1-4)

South

1. Texas 7-1 (6-1)
2. Oklahoma St. 7-1 (4-1)
3. TCU 6-2 (5-2)
4. Oklahoma 4-4 (3-3)
5. Texas Tech 2-6 (2-5)
6. Texas A&M 2-6 (1-5)


PAC 10

North

1. Oregon St. 7-1 (5-0)
2. Boise St. 7-1 (5-0)
3. Oregon 5-3 (3-2)
4. Washington 3-5 (3-3)
5. Stanford 3-5 (1-4)
6. Washington St. 0-8 (0-5)

South

1. Arizona 5-3 (3-2)
2. California 5-3 (3-2)
3. USC 4-4 (4-2)
4. UCLA 2-6 (2-3)
5. Arizona St. 2-6 (2-4)
6. San Diego St. 2-6 (1-5)



Big Ten


East

1. Wisconsin 7-1 (5-1)
2. Ohio St. 6-2 (5-1)
3. Northwestern 4-4 (2-4)
4. Minnesota 4-4 (2-4)
5. Illinois 1-7 (1-5)
6. Purdue 1-7 (1-6)


West

1. Iowa 6-2 (4-2)
2. Notre Dame 5-3 (4-2)
3. Michigan St. 5-3 (4-2)
4. Indiana 5-3 (2-3)
5. Iowa St. 4-4(2-3)
6. Michigan 4-4 (2-3)


ACC


Atlantic

1. Virginia Tech 8-0 (6-0)
2. Miami 6-2 (5-1)
3. Virginia 4-4 (4-2)
4. North Carolina 2-6 (2-4)
5. Louisville 2-6 (2-5)
6. North Carolina St. 1-7 (1-4)

Coastal

1. South Florida 5-3 (4-2)
2. East Carolina 4-4 (3-3)
3. Florida St. 4-4 (3-4)
4. Wake Forest 3-5 (3-3)
5. Duke 2-6 (2-3)
6. Maryland 1-7 (1-5)


Big East

North

1. Penn St. 7-1 (4-1)
2. Boston College 6-2 (4-1)
3. Connecticut 4-4 (3-2)
4. Rutgers 4-4 (3-3)
5. Syracuse 1-7 (1-6)
6. Army 1-7 (0-6)

South

1. Cincinnati 8-0 (7-0)
2. Pittsburgh 6-2 (4-1)
3. West Virginia 5-3 (4-1)
4. Navy 4-4 (2-4)
5. Central Florida 2-6 (2-5)
6. Vanderbilt 2-6 (1-6)


Mountain West

Mountain

1. Colorado St. 6-2 (5-2)
2. Baylor 5-3 (4-1)
3. Southern Miss 4-4 (4-3)
4. Louisiana Tech 3-5 (3-2)
5. Troy 3-5 (3-4)
6. Air Force 2-6 (2-4)

West

1. Houston 7-1 (4-1)
2. BYU 4-4 (3-2)
3. Tulsa 4-4 (3-2)
4. Utah 3-5 (3-2)
5. Wyoming 1-7 (1-6)
6. UNLV 0-8 (0-6)

Gators Finally Win in Starkville


It wasn't pretty, but the Gators left Starkville, Mississippi Saturday night with a 29-19 victory over the pesky Mississippi St. Bulldogs. With the win, this Gators squad becomes the first UF team to make it through the SEC West schedule unblemished in 11 years.

Once again the Gators offense was nothing to write home about. In fact, Florida's offense accounted for as many Mississippi St. touchdowns (2) as Florida touchdowns. True Freshman safety Johnthan Banks picked off Tebow two times and ran both picks back for touchdowns. The first pick 6 was a memorable 100 yard interception return for a TD. Also, the Gators once again managed to screw up nearly every red zone opportunity against the Bulldogs. They'll need to correct that problem in a hurry if they want to get the win in the WLOCP next weekend.

The good things to take from the game; Florida played much better defense than last week. The Gators' D stymied the Bulldogs all night long, only giving up 2 field goals and returning an int for a touchdown themselves. The Gators held on to the ball. Their might have been two interceptions, but there were no fumbles. That's definitely an improvement from last week.

Here's the stats:


Passing

Tim Tebow 12-22 127 yards 2 ints


Rushing

Chris Rainey 12 rushes 90 yards 1 td
Tim Tebow 22 rushes 88 yards 1 td
Emmanuel Moody 5 rushes 32 yards
Brandon James 2 rushes 28 yards
Jeff Demps 5 rushes 13 yards


Receiving

Riley Cooper 4 recs 63 yards
Aaron Hernandez 5 recs 32 yards
Deonte Thompson 1 rec 19 yards

Field Goals

Caleb Sturgis 3/4 Long- 27


Tackles

Ryan Stamper 13 tckls
Joe Haden 7 tckls
Dustin Doe 6 tckls
Carlos Dunlap 5 tckls


Interceptions

Dustin Doe 1 int
A.J. Jones 1 int
Major Wright 1 int


Sacks

Carlos Dunlap 3 sacks
Jermaine Cunningham 1 sack


Player of the Game

Carlos Dunlap - Defensive End, Sack Master

I could have easily selected Chris Rainey as the player of the game after his stellar performance on the ground. However, on a night when the defense once again played superb, it's only fitting that the player of the game is a defensive player. Carlos Dunlap and the defensive line made life miserable for Tyson Lee and Anthony Dixon. Dunlap recorded 3 of Florida's 4 sacks on the evening. His unstoppable rush also played a huge role in the Gators' ability to stuff Anthony Dixon all night long. Dixon came into the game as MSU's all-time leading rusher.He left as the latest victim of a Charlie Strong defense. The most impressive thing about Dunlap's and the defense's performance is the fact that they did it without Brandon Spikes and 3 defensive linemen.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Coach Power Rankings





















I've been working on these rankings for quite a while now. I always seem to be making little changes here and there, so I decided to finally post them so I couldn't make any further changes.

There are several factors I've taken into account for these rankings. Wins, recruiting ability, prestige, job security, off field reputation and reputation among other coaches all played a part in how I determined these rankings.

Keep in mind that these rankings are somewhat fluid, even though they won't be updated continuously.

Rank

Coach

Team

Comments

1

Urban Meyer

Florida Gators

The pinnacle of the coaching profession. Two titles in 3 years and looking for more.

2

Nick Saban

Alabama Crimson Tide

He may be Satan, but the bastard can coach.

3

Pete Carroll

USC Trojans

4

Mack Brown

Texas Longhorns

5

Les Miles

LSU Tigers

Possibly the biggest balls among the coaching ranks.

6

Jim Tressel

Ohio St. Buckeyes

The Vest is taking a lot of flack this year. He’s still one of the best in the game.

7

Chris Petersen

Boise St. Broncos

Possibly the second biggest balls among the coaching ranks.

8

Bob Stoops

Oklahoma Sooners

“Big Game Bob” may not deserve his moniker any longer, but he can still recruit and coach better than most.

9

Frank Beamer

Virginia Tech Hokies

Maybe one of the more consistent coaches this side of Los Angeles.

10

Kirk Ferentz

Iowa Hawkeyes

May be a little high. This year’s success definitely helps his ranking.

11

Houston Nutt

Ole Miss Rebels

Built both Arkansas and Ole Miss into SEC West title contenders.

12

Brian Kelly

Cincinnati Bearcats

13

Gary Patterson

TCU Horned Frogs

14

Steve Spurrier

South Carolina Gamecocks

The ‘Ol Ball Coach still carries one of the best legacies in all of CFB.

15

Mark Richt

Georgia Bulldogs

16

Paul Johnson

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

His triple option is wreaking havoc throughout the ACC. And they said it wouldn’t work…

17

Bronco Mendenhall

BYU Cougars

Brought BYU back to relevancy.

18

Mike Riley

Oregon St. Beavers

19

Joe Paterno

Penn St. Nittany Lions

20

Mike Leach

Texas Tech Red Raiders

21

Gary Pinkel

Missouri Tigers

22

Bobby Petrino

Arkansas Razorbacks

He may be a douche, but he an coach. Just look at what’s happened to Louisville now that he’s gone.

23

Greg Schiano

Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Maybe wished he would have took some bigger jobs while he had the chance.

24

Butch Davis

North Carolina Tar Heels

25

Mark D’Antonio

Michigan St. Spartans

Built a great team at Cincinnati before coming to East Lansing. Has the Spartans playing competitively in the Big Eleven once again.

26

Rich Rodriguez

Michigan Wolverines

Making people forget the offseason with each win.

27

Art Briles

Baylor Bears

Built the Houston program that’s tearing it up right now. Has Baylor playing competitive football.

28

Kyle Whittingham

Utah Utes

Took over for Urban Meyer and the Utes haven’t missed a beat.

29

Mike Gundy

Oklahoma St. Cowboys

“The Speech” will forever haunt this man.

30

Mark Mangino

Kansas Jayhawks

31

Jim Grobe

Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Any coach will tell you that Grobe is perhaps the best in-game coach in the country.

32

Jim Leavitt

South Florida Bulls

The only coach South Florida has ever known.

33

Jeff Tedford

California Golden Bears

I can’t believe I actually wanted this guy to be Florida’s coach. Then again, anything was an upgrade over the Zooker.

34

Todd Graham

Tulsa Golden Hurricane

Had Rice competitive before taking over for Steve Kragthorpe at Tulsa. That’s amazing in itself.

35

Jim Harbaugh

Stanford Cardinal

Brought Stanford back from the Walt Harris years.

36

Bo Pelini

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Brought Nebraska back from the Bill Callahan years.

37

Kevin Sumlin

Houston Cougars

Took over a solid program from Art Briles and possibly made it better.

38

Randy Shannon

Miami(FL) Hurricanes

39

Dennis Erickson

Arizona St. Sun Devils

One of the legends.

40

David Cutcliffe

Duke Blue Devils

One of the best assistants of all time. Ole Miss hasn’t been the same since he left.

41

Rick Neuheisel

UCLA Bruins

The best CFB coach to ever get busted for filling out a March Madness bracket.

42

Butch Jones

Central Michigan Chippewas

One of the few coaches with a national title on his resume. Granted it was at Grand Valley St.

43

Bobby Bowden

Florida St. Seminoles

Has definitely slipped this season.

44

Chip Kelly

Oregon Ducks

45

Turner Gil

Buffalo Bulls

May no longer be the hot coaching candidate that he was last season.

46

Ken Niumatalolo

Navy Midshipmen

47

Skip Holtz

East Carolina Pirates

See #45.

48

Tom O’ Brien

North Carolina St. Wolfpack

49

Tim Brewster

Minnesota Golden Gophers

One of the best recruiters out there.

50

Brett Beilema

Wisconsin Badgers

51

Randy Edsall

Connecticut Huskies

Brought UCONN up from literally nothing.

52

Charlie Weis

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

53

Pat Fitzgerald

Northwestern Wildcats

54

Lane Kiffin

Tennessee Volunteers

55

Bill Stewart

West Virginia Mountaineers

Is proving that he wasn’t such a bad hire after all.

56

Dave Wannstedt

Pittsburgh Panthers

57

Ralph Friedgen

Maryland Terrapins

May be time for Ralphie to leave the program that he has single handedly resurrected.

58

Rich Brooks

Kentucky Wildcats

Might want to think about stepping aside so Joker Phillips can take over.

59

Gene Chizik

Auburn Tigers

See #55.

60

Al Groh

Virginia Cavaliers

One of the best second half of the season coaches ever.

61

Frank Solich

Ohio Bobcats

62

Steve Fairchild

Colorado St. Rams

63

June Jones

SMU Mustangs

64

Mike Sherman

Texas A&M Aggies

He sure can recruit. Coaching not one of his strongpoints, however.

65

Mike Stoops

Arizona Wildcats

66

Frank Spaziani

Boston College Eagles

67

Steve Sarkisian

Washington Huskies

68

Larry Blakeney

Troy Trojans

The most tenured coach that no one outside of Alabama knows about.

69

Al Golden

Temple Owls

I still think Golden is doing a tremendous job with this Temple program.

70

Bill Lynch

Indiana Hoosiers

71

Chris Ault

Nevada Wolfpack

Chris Ault is to Nevada football what Bobby Knight is to Indiana basketball. Only he doesn’t choke his players.

72

Derek Dooley

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

73

Bill Cubit

Western Michigan Broncos

74

Brady Hoke

San Diego St. Aztecs

Look at what’s happened to Ball St. now that Hoke is no longer there.

75

Dan Mullen

Mississippi St. Bulldogs

76

Troy Calhoun

Air Force Falcons

77

Bobby Johnson

Vanderbilt Commodores

Brought the Dores to their first bowl since ever.

78

Dabo Swinney

Clemson Tigers

Cemson may have went out too far on the limb for this one.

79

Robb Akey

Idaho Vandals

His stock is sky rocketing with his coaching job this season.

80

Pat Hill

Fresno St. Bulldogs

81

Dan Hawkins

Colorado Buffaloes

Should have stayed in Boise.

82

Mark Snyder

Marshall Thundering Herd

83

Rick Stockstill

Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders

84

Larry Fedora

Southern Miss Golden Eagles

85

Mike Price

UTEP Miners

Should have stayed in the strip club.

86

David Bailiff

Rice Owls

87

Charlie Weatherbie

Louisiana-Monroe War Hawks

Is 1-0 against Nick Saban in head-to-head match-ups.

88

Bill Snyder

Kansas St. Wildcats

The game has passed him a looooong time ago.

89

DeWayne Walker

New Mexico St. Aggies

90

Steve Roberts

Arkansas St. Red Wolves

91

Paul Rhoads

Iowa St. Cyclones

Is doing more with Iowa St. than Gene Chizik ever did.

92

Dave Christensen

Wyoming Cowboys

93

George O’Leary

UCF Knights

Is looking for good resume writers.

94

Howard Schnellenberger

Florida Atlantic Owls

May be time to let someone else take over the Owls. He’s done a nice job getting the program started.

95

Dick Tomey

San Jose St. Spartans

96

David Clawson

Bowling Green Falcons

97

Gary Andersen

Utah St. Aggies

98

Tim Beckman

Toledo Rockets

Has already led Toledo to a victory over Colorado in his first season.

99

Tommy West

Memphis Tigers

100

Doug Martin

Kent St. Golden Flashes

101

Todd Dodge

North Texas Mean Green

102

Doug Marrone

Syracuse Orange

103

Rich Ellerson

Army Black Knights

104

J.D. Brookhart

Akron Zips

105

Gene McMackin

Hawaii Warriors

Hates the gays.

106

Jerry Kill

Northern Illinois Huskies

Has the best name in the business.

107

Ron Zook

Illinois Fighting Illini

Fans are growing weary of the Zooker quicker than I had expected. This is more than likely his last season with the Illini.

108

Danny Hope

Purdue Boilermakers

109

Ron English

Eastern Michigan Eagles

110

Rickey Bustle

UL-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns

111

Mike Sanford

UNLV Rebels

112

Neal Calloway

UAB Blazers

113

David Elson

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

Is still in transition mode as the Hilltoppers adjust to 1-a play.

114

Steve Kragthorpe

Louisville Cardinals

He is just over his head in the Big East. Could be a great Non-BCS lifer coach.

115

Mario Cristobal

FIU Golden Panthers

116

Bob Toledo

Tulane Green Wave

I still don’t think Toledo should be coaching any longer.

117

Mike Haywood

Miami(OH) Red Hawks

118

Paul Wulff

Washington St. Cougars

The worst coach in 1-a. At least he lived up to his promise to beat Washington.

119

Stan Parrish

Ball St. Cardinals

One of the worst head coaches in the history of head coaching. Just go ahead and look up his lifetime record. It’s scary.

120

Mike Locksley

New Mexico Lobos

Is the worst because the amount of shittiness he has brought to the Lobos in such a short period of time. He is still winless and he has already faced legal issues in his first season.