Last Week - I don't remember.
My predictions were a little off last week. I had to shake the rust off of a long ass summer. I'm back this week baby! Hopefully....
Here's this week's absolutely right picks.
Clemson @ Georgia Tech
Colorado @ Toledo
Syracuse @ Penn St.
North Carolina @ Connecticut
Eastern Michigan @ Northwestern
Western Michigan @ Indiana
Central Michigan @ Michigan St.
Stanford @ Wake Forest
Fresno St. @ Wisconsin
Duke @ Army
Pittsburgh @ Buffalo
Iowa @ Iowa St.
Troy @ Florida
Marshall @ Virginia Tech
Arkansas St. @ Nebraska
Kent St. @ Boston College
Morgan St. @ Akron
Texas @ Wyoming
Houston @ Oklahoma St.
BYU @ Tulane
TCU @ Virginia
Notre Dame @ Michigan
Howard @ Rutgers
Idaho @ Washington
East Carolina @ West Virginia
Louisiana Tech @ Navy
SMU @ UAB
UCLA @ Tennessee
Weber St. @ Colorado St.
Eastern Washington @ California
Jacksonville St. @ Florida St.
James Madison @ Maryland
Murray St. @ NC State
FIU @ Alabama
Vanderbilt @ LSU
Idaho St. @ Oklahoma
South Carolina @ Georgia
Bowling Green @ Missouri
Mississippi St. @ Auburn
Air Force @ Minnesota
Ohio @ North Texas
Hawaii @ Washington St.
Kansas St. @ UL-Lafayette
Illinois St. @ Illinois
New Hampshire @ Ball St.
Memphis @ Middle Tennessee
Texas Southern @ UL-Monroe
UCF @ Southern Miss
Rice @ Texas Tech
SE Missouri St. @ Cincinnati
Kansas @ UTEP
South Florida @ Western Kentucky
Western Illinois @ Northern Illinois
USC @ Ohio St.
Miami(OH) @ Boise St.
Prairie View A&M @ New Mexico St.
Tulsa @ New Mexico
Southern Utah @ San Diego St.
Northern Arizona @ Arizona
Purdue @ Oregon
Utah @ San Jose St.
Oregon St. @ UNLV
Upset Alerts
East Carolina over West Virginia - WVU was the most disappointing team to me in week 1. They looked horrible against Liberty. This could be another upset victory for the Pirates.
Air Force over Minnesota - Minny needed overtime to beat Syracuse last week. Air Force hung up 70. I'll take the Falcons.
Washington St. over Hawaii - How sad is the PAC-10 when one of their schools beating a WAC team is considered an upset?
Notre Dame over Michigan - Granted, this isn't an upset. However, this makes two straight weeks that I've picked the Irish to win a game! That's a new record.
Showing posts with label East Carolina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label East Carolina. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Week 5 Recap
Week 5 finally brought the upsets and craziness that was expected of this season. Whether this is a precursor to another season like last year, or just an aberration remains to be seen.
Here are some of the top stories from week 5.
Ranked Teams Losing
Nine teams ranked in the top 25 lost this week. Some were amazing upsets, and some were outcomes we expected. Here's the nine ranked schools that lost.
The SEC West is GOOOOODDD!!!!
If the SEC is the best conference in the country, than the SEC West is easily the best division in the nation. Coming into the season, the East took all the headlines. Now it seems, the West has the goods in the conference. Alabama obliterated Georgia and are currently ranked number 2 in the nation. Ole Miss pulled off the stunning upset of Florida at the Swamp. LSU is ranked third in the nation. And Auburn, ranked 13th nationally, beat Tennessee. The Vols aren't that good, but they're still an SEC East team. There's still plenty of football to play and I still believe an SEC East team will win the conference. However, right now the West is the best.
Still Unbeaten
There are still 18 teams in the nation with dreams of that perfect season. Some have better chances than others of coming closer to accomplishing that feat. Here are the 18 teams that are still playing perfect football.
Here are some of the top stories from week 5.
Ranked Teams Losing
Nine teams ranked in the top 25 lost this week. Some were amazing upsets, and some were outcomes we expected. Here's the nine ranked schools that lost.
- No. 1 USC - The Trojans once again choked against a non-ranked PAC-10 team that has no where near the talent as Pete Carroll's bunch. This year it was Oregon St.'s turn. The Beavers pulled off the stunning upset on Thursday night, forcing me to stay up and watch. Man was I dragging ass the next day at work.
- No. 3 Georgia - The Dawgs did the unthinkable and lost during one of their black-out games. 'Bama has it's fans all riled up and clamoring about a national title. I thought it was nearly impossible for the Bulldogs to lose a "black-out" game.
- No 4. Florida - Lets' move on.
- No. 9 Wisconsin - The Badgers squandered a huge lead in the Big House. RichRod's bunch may have got the win they were looking for.
- No. 16 Wake Forest - Frankly, I'm more surprised that Wake lost to Navy than I am about USC losing to Oregon St. I didn't think the Midshipmen had a chance to stay on the field with the Demon Deacons. I guess that just shows the real power of the ACC.
- No. 20 Clemson - Speaking of ACC power. The Tigers pulled a Clemson and were upset by Maryland.
- No. 23 East Carolina - The Pirates are no longer the feel good story of the year. That's back-to-back losses after their 3-0 start.
- No. 24 TCU - I hope the Horned Frogs enjoyed their stay in the top 25. We all knew TCU was over matched vs. Oklahoma.
The SEC West is GOOOOODDD!!!!
If the SEC is the best conference in the country, than the SEC West is easily the best division in the nation. Coming into the season, the East took all the headlines. Now it seems, the West has the goods in the conference. Alabama obliterated Georgia and are currently ranked number 2 in the nation. Ole Miss pulled off the stunning upset of Florida at the Swamp. LSU is ranked third in the nation. And Auburn, ranked 13th nationally, beat Tennessee. The Vols aren't that good, but they're still an SEC East team. There's still plenty of football to play and I still believe an SEC East team will win the conference. However, right now the West is the best.
Still Unbeaten
There are still 18 teams in the nation with dreams of that perfect season. Some have better chances than others of coming closer to accomplishing that feat. Here are the 18 teams that are still playing perfect football.
- Alabama 5-0
- Ball St. 5-0
- Boise St. 3-0
- BYU 4-0
- Connecticut 5-0
- Kentucky 4-0
- LSU 4-0
- Missouri 4-0
- Northwestern 5-0
- Penn St. 5-0
- Oklahoma 4-0
- Oklahoma St. 4-0
- South Florida 5-0
- Texas 4-0
- Texas Tech 4-0
- Tulsa 4-0
- Utah 5-0
- Vanderbilt 4-0
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday's Stories
The first Saturday of the college football season is in the books. There were a bevy of nauseatingly boring games with which to choose from. As week 1 draws nearer to it's close, I would like to take a look at the top stories from Saturday.
Injured RB's.
A few teams had their opening season victories dampened by injuries to their top tailbacks. Ohio St. throttled Youngstown St. In a game that should have been headlined by Terrelle Pryor's first touchdown, Beanie Well's injury stole the show. Well's went down with a foot injury in the third quarter while attempting to score on the vaunted Penguin defense.
Georgia's Knowshon Moreno was also hit with the injury bug. Moreno left the game after grabbing his hamstring during a touchdown run against Georgia Southern. Moreno's injury does not seem to be very serious and he should be back in the lineup by next week.
Ohio St. will most likely sit Wells out of next week's historic match up vs. in state rival Ohio. This should give Beanie enough time to recoup before the USC game.
Upsets
While there were no monumental upsets like Appalachian St. over Michigan this week. There were a few games that turned some heads and caused a general "huh?" reaction from fans.
East Carolina pulled off probably the biggest upset of the week by knocking off 17th ranked Virginia Tech in Charlotte. ECU scored the go ahead touchdown by, ironically enough, blocking a Va Tech punt and returning it for a touchdown. I think Skip Holtz just bought himself a better job this off season.
Bowling Green also drank from the upset kool-aid Saturday. The Falcons defeated Dave Wannstedt's Pittsburgh team. The Panthers seem to be battling with Clemson for the title of most overly hyped underperfoming team in America. After Clemson's loss to Alabama, it's a toss up.
Most people didn't see the Texas A&M loss to Arkansas St. late Saturday night. The Red Wolves spoiled TAMU's new head coach Mike Sherman's debut. I don't care how big a rebuilding year this is for the Aggies, there's no way they should ever lose to Arkansas. St.
Mississippi St. became the first SEC team of the season to lose. Louisiana Tech won the battle of the Bulldogs Saturday night. The win was the first one for La Tech over a BCS opponent in Ruston ever. I hope this doesn't start a trend for Sly Croom's bunch.
I would include Utah over Michigan, but I don't consider that an upset. The Utes proved they were a superior team with superior players in Ann Arbor. RichRod has a lot of work to do with his bunch. On the bright side, I think the Wolverines have found their starting QB in Steven Threet.
Coaching Debuts
I've already talked about the losing debuts of Mike Sherman at Texas A&M and Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, respectively. A few other coaches made their debut with their teams on Saturday. Here's how they fared:
Greg McMackin, Hawaii - Got stomped by the Gators 56-10.
Bill Stewart, West Virginia - Defeated Villanova with the best passing performance of Pat White's career.
Paul Wulff, Wasshington St. - Lost to Oklahoma St. in Seattle. Wazzou fans are already booing the new regime.
Ken Niumatalolo, Navy - His Midshipmen throttled Towson in Annapolis.
Bobby Petrino, Arkansas - Barely won against 1-aa Western Illinois. I was hoping for the upset all the way through. If Arkansas continues that level of play, they will be horrendous this season.
Jerry Kill, Northern Illinois - Almost pulled off the mild upset against the worst BCS team in the nation, Minnesota.
Houston Nutt, Ole Miss - The Rebels manhandled rival Memphis in a game that I thought would be a lot closer.
David Cutcliffe, Duke - Defeated James Madison. Hey, at Duke, a win's a win.
Bo Pelini, Nebraska - Destroyed Western Michigan at home.
Kevin Sumlin, Houston - Won big against Southern. His Cougars are looking very sharp.
Larry Fedora, Southern Miss - Defeated Louisiana-Lafayette. Real test comes next week.
Injured RB's.
A few teams had their opening season victories dampened by injuries to their top tailbacks. Ohio St. throttled Youngstown St. In a game that should have been headlined by Terrelle Pryor's first touchdown, Beanie Well's injury stole the show. Well's went down with a foot injury in the third quarter while attempting to score on the vaunted Penguin defense.
Georgia's Knowshon Moreno was also hit with the injury bug. Moreno left the game after grabbing his hamstring during a touchdown run against Georgia Southern. Moreno's injury does not seem to be very serious and he should be back in the lineup by next week.
Ohio St. will most likely sit Wells out of next week's historic match up vs. in state rival Ohio. This should give Beanie enough time to recoup before the USC game.
Upsets
While there were no monumental upsets like Appalachian St. over Michigan this week. There were a few games that turned some heads and caused a general "huh?" reaction from fans.
East Carolina pulled off probably the biggest upset of the week by knocking off 17th ranked Virginia Tech in Charlotte. ECU scored the go ahead touchdown by, ironically enough, blocking a Va Tech punt and returning it for a touchdown. I think Skip Holtz just bought himself a better job this off season.
Bowling Green also drank from the upset kool-aid Saturday. The Falcons defeated Dave Wannstedt's Pittsburgh team. The Panthers seem to be battling with Clemson for the title of most overly hyped underperfoming team in America. After Clemson's loss to Alabama, it's a toss up.
Most people didn't see the Texas A&M loss to Arkansas St. late Saturday night. The Red Wolves spoiled TAMU's new head coach Mike Sherman's debut. I don't care how big a rebuilding year this is for the Aggies, there's no way they should ever lose to Arkansas. St.
Mississippi St. became the first SEC team of the season to lose. Louisiana Tech won the battle of the Bulldogs Saturday night. The win was the first one for La Tech over a BCS opponent in Ruston ever. I hope this doesn't start a trend for Sly Croom's bunch.
I would include Utah over Michigan, but I don't consider that an upset. The Utes proved they were a superior team with superior players in Ann Arbor. RichRod has a lot of work to do with his bunch. On the bright side, I think the Wolverines have found their starting QB in Steven Threet.
Coaching Debuts
I've already talked about the losing debuts of Mike Sherman at Texas A&M and Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, respectively. A few other coaches made their debut with their teams on Saturday. Here's how they fared:
Greg McMackin, Hawaii - Got stomped by the Gators 56-10.
Bill Stewart, West Virginia - Defeated Villanova with the best passing performance of Pat White's career.
Paul Wulff, Wasshington St. - Lost to Oklahoma St. in Seattle. Wazzou fans are already booing the new regime.
Ken Niumatalolo, Navy - His Midshipmen throttled Towson in Annapolis.
Bobby Petrino, Arkansas - Barely won against 1-aa Western Illinois. I was hoping for the upset all the way through. If Arkansas continues that level of play, they will be horrendous this season.
Jerry Kill, Northern Illinois - Almost pulled off the mild upset against the worst BCS team in the nation, Minnesota.
Houston Nutt, Ole Miss - The Rebels manhandled rival Memphis in a game that I thought would be a lot closer.
David Cutcliffe, Duke - Defeated James Madison. Hey, at Duke, a win's a win.
Bo Pelini, Nebraska - Destroyed Western Michigan at home.
Kevin Sumlin, Houston - Won big against Southern. His Cougars are looking very sharp.
Larry Fedora, Southern Miss - Defeated Louisiana-Lafayette. Real test comes next week.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Countdown: 25 Days!
25 Days
East Carolina lost a ton of offense from last season in the form of Chris Johnson. The speedy tailback will be making the transition to the NFL this season. Despite Johnson's departure, the Pirates should still be very competitive in the much-improved Conference USA. While a trip to the conference title game may be out of reach, ECU should make it back to a bowl game.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The top 25 players: C-USA
Now we delve into the lower levels of D-1 football. It's time to take a look at the top players from the non-BCS conferences.
First off, I'll start with Conference USA.
Since no one really gives a damn about these schools, I'll only provide a synopsis of the top 10. If you would like more info on a player in the 11-25 range, then I suggest you e-mail said player and tell him to start kicking ass so I will talk about him.
1. Jarret Dillard - Rice WR - Not only is Dillard by far the best receiver in C-USA, he is among the best receivers in the nation. It's a shame this guy plays for such a shitty team. Todd Bailiff has a lot to work with in Dillard and QB Chase Clement.
2. Damion Fletcher - Southern Miss RB - Some people have said that Fletcher is the best player at any position in the non-BCS conferences. I don't know about all that, but Fletcher is definitely something special. He's one of a few weapons new HC Larry Fedora will have at his disposal.
3. Joe Burnett - Central Florida DB - Burnett is the top defensive player in C-USA. He was often overlooked last season due to the play of teammate Kevin Smith. Now Burnett is the star of this Knights team and he's ready to have a breakout year.
4. Brennan Marion - Tulsa WR - This guy had some pretty gaudy numbers at the receiver position last year. His talent should allow him to continue to play at a high level despite the departure of QB Paul Smith.
5. Gerald McGrath - Southern Miss LB - McGrath might be the most feared defender in the conference. He brings a big mean streak to a position that really needs it.
6. Trae Johnson - Tulsa WR - Johnson, along with Marion, gives the Golden Hurricane one of the most dynamic receiving tandems in the country. Tulsa should once again make it to the C-USA championship game. This season, they should win it.
7. Joe Henderson - UAB LB - Henderson is one of the few bright spots on a very bad Blazer team. UAB should once again be at the bottom of the conference. Which is a shame because no one will get a chance to see this kid play.
8. Duke Calhoun - Memphis WR - I've mentioned before that Calhoun is somewhat of an enigma. Tommy West never knows which Calhoun he's going to get. If he gets the one that plays to his potential, he has perhaps a top 10 receiver in the nation.
9. Chase Clement - Rice QB - The Owls suffered through a pretty horrible season last year. Todd Bailiff was able to put together some wins towards the end of the season. It will be up to Clement to carry the momentum over to this year.
10. Justin Willis - SMU QB - Willis' status on this Mustang team is up in the air right now. If he is available to play, he will thrive under the tutelage of new head coach June Jones. 5 of 6 wins is not out of reach for SMU this season.
The rest:
11. Tarrion Adams Tulsa RB
12. Cody Slate Marshall TE
13.Albert McClellan Marshall DL
14. Phillip Hunt Houston DL
15. Emmanuel Sanders SMU WR
16. Will Dunbar UAB DB
17. Darius Marshall Marshall RB
18. Trevor Vittatoe UTEP QB
19. Ell Ash Houston DL
20. Shawn Nelson Southern Miss TE
21. Johnell Neal Central Florida DB
22. Jeff Moturi UTEP WR
23. Ryan McKee Southern Miss OL
24. Zack Slate East Carolina DL
25. Quentin Cotton East Carolina LB
First off, I'll start with Conference USA.
Since no one really gives a damn about these schools, I'll only provide a synopsis of the top 10. If you would like more info on a player in the 11-25 range, then I suggest you e-mail said player and tell him to start kicking ass so I will talk about him.
1. Jarret Dillard - Rice WR - Not only is Dillard by far the best receiver in C-USA, he is among the best receivers in the nation. It's a shame this guy plays for such a shitty team. Todd Bailiff has a lot to work with in Dillard and QB Chase Clement.
2. Damion Fletcher - Southern Miss RB - Some people have said that Fletcher is the best player at any position in the non-BCS conferences. I don't know about all that, but Fletcher is definitely something special. He's one of a few weapons new HC Larry Fedora will have at his disposal.
3. Joe Burnett - Central Florida DB - Burnett is the top defensive player in C-USA. He was often overlooked last season due to the play of teammate Kevin Smith. Now Burnett is the star of this Knights team and he's ready to have a breakout year.
4. Brennan Marion - Tulsa WR - This guy had some pretty gaudy numbers at the receiver position last year. His talent should allow him to continue to play at a high level despite the departure of QB Paul Smith.
5. Gerald McGrath - Southern Miss LB - McGrath might be the most feared defender in the conference. He brings a big mean streak to a position that really needs it.
6. Trae Johnson - Tulsa WR - Johnson, along with Marion, gives the Golden Hurricane one of the most dynamic receiving tandems in the country. Tulsa should once again make it to the C-USA championship game. This season, they should win it.
7. Joe Henderson - UAB LB - Henderson is one of the few bright spots on a very bad Blazer team. UAB should once again be at the bottom of the conference. Which is a shame because no one will get a chance to see this kid play.
8. Duke Calhoun - Memphis WR - I've mentioned before that Calhoun is somewhat of an enigma. Tommy West never knows which Calhoun he's going to get. If he gets the one that plays to his potential, he has perhaps a top 10 receiver in the nation.
9. Chase Clement - Rice QB - The Owls suffered through a pretty horrible season last year. Todd Bailiff was able to put together some wins towards the end of the season. It will be up to Clement to carry the momentum over to this year.
10. Justin Willis - SMU QB - Willis' status on this Mustang team is up in the air right now. If he is available to play, he will thrive under the tutelage of new head coach June Jones. 5 of 6 wins is not out of reach for SMU this season.
The rest:
11. Tarrion Adams Tulsa RB
12. Cody Slate Marshall TE
13.Albert McClellan Marshall DL
14. Phillip Hunt Houston DL
15. Emmanuel Sanders SMU WR
16. Will Dunbar UAB DB
17. Darius Marshall Marshall RB
18. Trevor Vittatoe UTEP QB
19. Ell Ash Houston DL
20. Shawn Nelson Southern Miss TE
21. Johnell Neal Central Florida DB
22. Jeff Moturi UTEP WR
23. Ryan McKee Southern Miss OL
24. Zack Slate East Carolina DL
25. Quentin Cotton East Carolina LB
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