Here are the weekend’s top college football stories as I see them:
Iowa (-6) at Iowa State – The Hawkeyes started the season ranked, but they looked truly awful last weekend. Which team is the real Iowa?
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Author: T.O. Whentam
MVP – Drew Brees. I expect him to put up huge numbers again. That plus a division win should be enough to earn the guy a sympathy win here. He’s of course vulnerable to any of the big quarterbacks – most notably Tom Brady – or a running back like Adrian Peterson who could shoot the lights out.
I’m sitting here in a hotel room in Ontario watching the first NFL game of the long season. The Steelers have just scored a TD to break the scoreless tie. So far the game has been the defensive battle that we would have expected, though it has raised a couple of questions – most notably whether the Titans will have the potential to stop the pass rush at all this year or if Kerry Collins is going to wind up in a body bag. As I watch the rest of the game along with the beatdown that Georgia Tech is (or at least was) inflicting on Clemson it seems like a good time to look forward to what to expect for this very young NFL season. Over the next two days, then, let’s look at some predictions for what I see happening. Today I’ll look at teams, and tomorrow I’ll look at individual accomplishments:
I find it strange that Brett Favre has come out before the season even starts and hedged expectations. In an interview he has said that he isn’t certain that he is physically up for 16 games this year. Weall know that, of course, and he said the same thing when he initially decided not to come back, but it seems odd for him to acknowledge it now – not exactly a way to inspire confidence with his new team. As much as I hate to give him the attention he craves, it will be fascinating to watch what he can do this year. It will be especially interesting to see what he has in the tank for the remaining games after the team has played Green Bay twice. I’m pessimistic about this experiment, but cautiously so.
Richard Seymour is supposedly AWOL after having been traded from New England to the Raiders. I can hardly guess why a guy would be unhappy abut that trade after having spent his whole career in New England. He’ll show up eventually because he has no good options otherwise, but it might take him a while to come to terms with the kick in the teeth that that trade was.
I really don’t understand why Jeff Garcia has so much trouble sticking with a team. When he plays he wins – as simple as that. He’ll land somewhere and he’ll do well when there. As ridiculous as it was seeing him get cut I’m sure he couldn’t be anything other than thrilled to get away from the circus in Oakland. Especially if he can land somewhere like New England.
Holy Freaking Crap!!! As a Michigan fan that first half yesterday against Western Michigan was the second best thing to happen to me in the last few years (And I only say second best because I’d get grief from my wife if I didn’t at least pretend my wedding mattered more). It has been a very rough year and a half since we beat Florida in the Capital One Bowl, so the 31-0 drubbing we laid on Western Michigan in the first half yesterday was tremendous relief. For the first time in too long there was something beautiful on witness when we played – competence. Our defense was smothering, our offense looked pretty good and true freshman Tate Forcier threw three touchdown passes and looked far beyond his age. Glory days. So much for all those reports of division in the locker room and incompetence by Rich Rodriguez. I hope I’m not the only one who took the over on Michigan’s season win total this year.
The college football season gets going in earnest today with a whole plate of games. Some of them are ridiculously easy (Charleston Southern?!?! I’ll never understand why Florida doesn’t get more grief for their brutal non-conference scheduling), but there are more than a few that will have my attention today. Here, in chronological order, is a look at some of the highlights:
Wow, was Michael Vick ever bad last night. 7 of 11 sounds good until you hear that it was only for 26 yards, and that he threw a pick. The ball was all over the place and he looked like, well, a guy who hasn’t played football in a couple of years. There’s another factor here, too – it’s going to take a while for Vick to get back to where he was, but remember that where he was wasn’t exactly at the top of the pile n terms of accuracy. The guy has never been much of a passer, so expecting miracles is probably a bit silly. My expectations for his week three return are very low – even if it is against the Chiefs so he will have all the time in the world to pass because that team is seemingly allergic to the pass rush.
It’s Finally here. After months and months and months of waiting, the world’s finest team sports gets underway tonight. It’s college football time!!! Normally the opening Thursday night games are less than exciting, but this time around we have one real gem and a couple of others that are more than worth a look. Here’s a quick preview of the highlight’s of tonight’s action:
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