Gators' Run Game Dominates

The Gators rushing attack left S.O.S. in one hot mess on Saturday. Now the 'Ol Ball Coach knows what the opponents felt like when he was roaming the sidelines in Gainesville. Percy Harvin, Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey and Tim Tebow ran all over the Gamecocks' vaunted defense en route to a 56-6 blowout victory.

All the talk coming into the game was how the Gators' O would continue to dominate against the extremely tough SC defense. I think that question was answered rather emphatically. Florida closed out SEC play with a string of dominating performances that hasn't been seen since the 1996 National title squad.

South Carolina didn't do anything to help itself out on Saturday. Chris Smelley threw two early interceptions, one of which was returned for a score by Brandon Spikes. For some unknown reason, the OBC dialed up a trick play on a kick return after a Gators score. The result: first and goal for the Gators at the 1 after a SC fumble.

I was extremely impressed with the Gators' D. If you watched this game with no prior knowledge of either team, you would have thought the Gators were the team with the top ranked defense. They completely shut down the Gamecock offense, giving up only two field goals. All the talk about the Gamecocks' D may have actually sparked Spikes and Co. to come out and dominate the way they did.



Here's some highlights of the contest:






Player Stats

Passing
Tim Tebow 13-20 173 yards 2 tds


Rushing
Percy Harvin 8 167 yards 2 tds
Chris Rainey 7 55 yards 1 td
Emmanuel Moody 7 46 yards
Jeff Demps 4 43 yards 1 td
Tim Tebow 14 39 yards 1 td


Receiving
Louis Murphy 4 recs 54 yards
Deonte Thompson 3 recs 66 yards 1 td
Aaron Hernandez 2 recs 26 yards 1 td
Jeff Demps 2 recs 5 yards
Carl Moore 1 rec 16 yards
Percy Harvin 1 rec 6 yards


Tackles
Jermaine Cunningham 8
Joe Haden 5
Justin Trattou 5
Will Hill 5


Interceptions
Will Hill 1 30 yards
Brandon Spikes 1 12 yards 1 td
Ahmad Black 1 7 yards


Sacks
Carlos Dunlap 1
Ryan Stamper 1
Brandon Hicks 1
Jermaine Cunningham .5
Justin Trattou .5


Player of the game


Percy Harvin - The Man

Harvin probably deserve to be in the discussion for the Heisman Trophy at the end of the year. Unfortunately for him, Mr. Heisman is hogging all the national attention on this Gator club. Could it actually be said that Harvin is under appreciated? I think he is. I wonder if people really realize that this is something special we're witnessing. It's not usual to have a player like Percy Harvin on your ballclub. I hope the fans start appreciating him soon, because he's a first rounder in next year's draft.

Weekly Picks

Last Week - 58-8

Overall - 118-22


No, those numbers aren't typos, and yes, I am that damn good!

I would like to make the vow now that I will NEVER again pick Army or Syracuse no matter what the circumstances are. I don't know what I was thinking picking those ass pinatas to win their respective games. I also would like to apologize to New Hampshire and Akron for degrading your programs by making those selections. I am terribly sorry.

On to my Week 3 picks!

(Note: I have done away with that god-awful table. I will now highlight and enlarge the team I predict to win.)

North Carolina @ Rutgers
Kansas @ South Florida
California @ Maryland
UL-Lafayette @ Illinois
Southern Illinois @ Northwestern
Florida Atlantic @ Michigan St.
Montana St. @ Minnesota
Navy @ Duke
North Carolina St. @ Clemson
Temple @ Buffalo
Toledo @ Eastern Michigan
Iowa St. @ Iowa
Nevada @ Missouri
Washington St. @ Baylor
UAB @ Tennessee
Ball St. @ Akron
Central Michigan @ Ohio
Delaware St. @ Kent st.
East Carolina @ Tulane
Charleston Southern @ Miami(OH)
North Dakota St. @ Wyoming
Georgia @ South Carolina
Arkansas @ Texas
Oregon @ Purdue
Penn St. @ Syracuse
UCLA @ BYU
Michigan @ Notre Dame
Air Force @ Houston
Georgia Tech @ Virginia Tech
Chattanooga @ Florida St.
Hawaii @ Oregon St.
Western Michigan @ Idaho
Auburn @ Mississippi St.
Western Kentucky @ Alabama
SMU @ Texas Tech
Middle Tennessee @ Kentucky
Samford @ Ole Miss
New Mexico St. @ Nebraska
Rice @ Vanderbilt
Memphis @ Marshall
Southern Miss @ Arkansas St.
Alabama A&M @ UL-Monroe
Stanford @ TCU
Alcorn St. @ Troy
Missouri St. @ Oklahoma St.
Virginia @ Connecticut
Oklahoma @ Washington
Ohio St. @ USC
North Texas @ LSU
Utah @ Utah St.
San Diego St. @ San Jose St.
Bowling Green @ Boise St.
Arizona @ New Mexico
UNLV @ Arizona St.
Wisconsin @ Fresno St.


Upset Alert: Look out for the OBC this week. His Gamecocks are looking to revenge that embarrassing defeat at the hands of Vandy last season. SOS has a habit of pulling off at least one upset a year, and we all know he owns Georgia. All that being said, I think the Dawgs have enough to get by SC, plus the Gamecocks still have to find a QB.

Thursday Recap

Thursday officially marked the first day of the college football season. It also marked the first of many fights I will have with my wife over the viewing of said college football. She's got to understand there's a certain order for my priorities in life right now:

1. Me.
2. College Football
3. My entertainment
4. Family.

That seems about right. How could she get mad at me? Anyway, here's a brief recap on the happenings around college football Thursday night.

ESPN showcased the North Carolina St. v. South Carolina match-up. The Gators weren't involved in this one but it sure seemed like it. UF references were made throughout the game with the OBC on the Cock sideline, Jesse Palmer in the booth and Erin Andrews reporting. In case you were in a comma last night, Palmer played QB for Spurrier at Florida. Chris Fowler must have mentioned that fact 40 times. Also, all the references to Palmer being on the Bachelor are very unnecessary.

The actual game was a complete douche fest. SC QB Tommy Beecher threw four picks and the OBC never once slammed his visor! What kind of shit is that? Also, the refs are taking this whole new celebration rule enforcement thing a little too seriously. I mean, giving a guy a penalty because he's doing push-ups after missing an int? That's a little ridiculous.

It's safe to say Jim Harbaugh has done a tremendous job of getting the Stanford Cardinal back to being competitive. Stanford pulled off a mild upset by defeating the Oregon St. Beavers late last night. The Cardinal have a RB named Toby Gerhart that is the real deal. This guy is big and has deceptive speed. The way he broke through Beaver tackles made you think Ron Zook was the OSU coach.

Both of the Miamis were in action last night. Miami(FL) wooped up on Charleston Southern behind QB Jacory Harris. Miami(OH) faltered at home against the almighty Vanderbilt Commodores. By the way, Vandy CB D.J. Moore is a legitimate All-American candidate. I would like to hear any of his doubters now.

Wake Forest got their first ever victory in the state of Texas by knocking off Baylor. Wake is a dark horse national title contender this season. If Riley Skinner can keep producing, the Deacs are capable of running through the weak ACC. Baylor dual threat QB Robert Griffin II was very impressive running the ball. Passing.....not so much.

Eastern Michigan won! That almost never happens.

Cincinnati and Connecticut both looked rather impressive while beating up on 1-aa teams. I think Cincinnati will surprise some people this year. Brian Kelly is a vastly underrated coach. Kelly's old team, Central Michigan, also got a win last night. Let the Dan LeFevour Heisman hype begin!

ESPN probably has the worst pre-game/halftime show crew ever. I love Lou Holtz, but these horrible gimmicks they make him do are ridiculous. The pep talk segments last year were a monumental flop. That shit fest looks like Emmy winning material compared to the new Dr. Lou crap they're trying to shove down our throats this season. Also, I hate Mark May. He sucks.

Can't wait for Saturday.

Why I love JoePa

Outside of Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier, Joe Paterno has got to be my favorite coach in college football. The man always speaks his mind. I also liked the fact that JoePa continued to walk the sideline after breaking his leg last season. Despite being 81 years old, JoePa has got to be the biggest bad ass in all of coaching. I bet JoePa still gets more tail than these young hot shot coaches. One time I was at a club in Tampa when the Penn St. football team walked in. JoePa non-chalantly followed and walked straight to the bar and ordered a drink called "liquid cocaine." When the bartender informed Paterno they didn't make that drink, Paterno immediately grabbed him by the throat and proceeded to give him the ass-kicking of his life. Lesson Learned:Don't EVER tell Paterno he can't have something. The bartender is in stable condition now so everything should be fine.

Anyway, JoePa added to his legacy while speaking in Pittsburgh recently. It seems JoePa is against his Big Eleven brethren, because he believes a playoff system is the correct way to go. Paterno called all the lame ass excuses that were being thrown out "completely bullshit."

The argument against playoffs because it ruins the sanctity of the regular season and causes the athletes to miss too much school was brought to Paterno's attention. His response, "That's total bullshit! Tell those crap bags to go to Home Depot, buy a nice sand blaster on sale, and get all of the sand out of their vaginas."

Paterno would go on to joke that he plans on coaching for 10-15 more years and he doesn't believe that a playoff system will occur in that time span.

I really hope Paterno's contract gets extended at Penn State, because college football NEEDS more JoePa!