Weekend Open Thread
LSU Tigers at Alabama Crimson Tide, Nov 7, 2009 3:35 PM EST
Predictions and game thread in one because of the week that was.
South Carolina 20 at Arkansas 17, 12:21 p.m. ET, SEC Network / ESPN360
LSU 10 at Alabama 23, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS
Memphis 6 at Tennessee, 34 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU
Vanderbilt 7 at Florida 48, 7:15 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Tennessee Tech 13 at Georgia 47, 1 p.m. ET, PPV / ESPN360
Eastern Kentucky 3 at Kentucky 37, 1 p.m. ET, PPV / ESPN360
Furman 17 at Auburn 54, 1:30 p.m. ET, PPV / ESPN360
Northern Arizona 5 at Ole Miss 64,7:30 p.m. ET, CSS / ESPN360\
We'll be around.
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I’m guessing that wasn’t the first quarter Texas envisioned when they signed up UCF for their post Okie St snack.
Stephen Garcia is quite possibly the most frustrating QB to watch ever.
Kenny Miles also had two touchdowns lined up, but took lanes way too close to his blockers, instead of just prancing in the massive gaps.
Both are young
Trust me, they look far more promising than any QB-RB combo we’ve had at South Carolina since at least Phil Petty-Derek Watson in the early Holtz years
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Oh I agree.
They both have tons of ability, and that’s obvious. That’s what makes it frustrating. One play is a great cut and run, or tight spiral into the perfect spot, the next play is a deep ball into triple coverage or something.
With experience, I think SC’s gonna have a heck of a combo.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 1:11 PM EST up reply actions
Northwestern employs the LOLfense
gets lucky on an Iowa holding call to bring back a long touchdown.
Andre Ware comes dangerously close to comparing Broderick Green to Darren McFadden
Backs off at the last possible moment
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
I've seen that one before.
Has the same ending as The Alamo.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 1:15 PM EST up reply actions
PPV and 360
Can you imagine the outcry if Tennessee Tech scores 21 or so points against the Dawgs? And Mark Richt: “I don’t think its our coaching or anything.”
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Mark Richt should have been a lawyer.
How he’s managed to explain his defense this year with publicly flogging either his players or coaches is something incredible.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 1:17 PM EST up reply actions
Either the S.C. offense has clicked or the Arkansas defense is at work
I think I know which one it is.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
I rewound that first false start on SC
It was a horribly blown call. Ark was offsides by a mile, and well before SC moved. How they missed that I have no idea.
According to Orson
Slive is currently in Biloxi blowing 30k, which he had lying around the office for no reason.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 1:31 PM EST up reply actions
Wouldn't that just be a reason to fine the next coach again
I mean, he’d be on a hot streak and everything
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Did you see the SEC guy cower before the terror of the Spurdog?
He’s the first human to be physically scared of SOS.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 1:35 PM EST up reply actions
Tell that to last year's Georga Tech team
by Incipient_Senescence on Nov 7, 2009 1:38 PM EST up reply actions
Does Tennessee Tech run the triple option
Or any kind of option, come to think about it. Willie Martinez doesn’t like those.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
What does Willie like? I mean, there has to be some kind of offence he’s brilliant at stopping, right?
D.J. Williams decides to make an appearance
Arkansas has 6 seconds and 1st and Goal
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
The blocked kick
Brings bad back memories.
by Incipient_Senescence on Nov 7, 2009 2:07 PM EST up reply actions
Rich Brooks thinks the fact that it took Kentucky nineteen minutes to get a 10-0 lead on a AA team, despite massive edges in yardage and TOP, is… well, you know the rest.
Why would he expect anything more out of that offense
Injured, no less
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
South Carolina needs to do better at clock management before meeting Florida
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Why are you interrupting my football game with discussion of basketball?
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Barnes sits five yards between two defenders, who respectfully watch him catch the ball
Your Arkansas defense
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Three safeties
and they’ve got this one in the bag. Knowing Iowa, they’ll probably throw in an interception, caught in a defenders facemask, returned for a TD.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 2:30 PM EST up reply actions
SC should dispense with the formality of 1st and 2nd down and just go straight to 3rd and long.
INT, baby.
Also on the subject of SC. . .
Where did their defense go?
by Incipient_Senescence on Nov 7, 2009 2:31 PM EST up reply actions
They have yet to figure out the finer points of tackling
The same thing that’s done them in before, particularly against Alabama
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
The female hog mascot on the pogo stick looks like something out of a Quinten Tarantino movie
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Just looking for a director associated with weird imagery
He was the first one that came to mind
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
You must have been thinking about Death Proof type Tarantino.
I, personally, refuse to believe he had anything to do with that. He went straight from KB: Vol. II to IB.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 2:39 PM EST up reply actions
Georgia 31, Tennessee Tech 0 — Halftime
Kentucky 17, Eastern Kentucky 6 — Late 2Q
Auburn 35, Furman 3 — Mid 2Q
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Dear ESPN:
There’s no apostrophe in “its.”
by Incipient_Senescence on Nov 7, 2009 2:39 PM EST reply actions
Safety
The South Carolina implosion appears to be in full force this year
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Damn
I was hoping y’all would make UT look good this week.
by Incipient_Senescence on Nov 7, 2009 2:41 PM EST up reply actions
Michigan goes for it on 4th
on the Purdue 30-ish. Down by 8. Run to the edge, bottled up, runner lands on top of a defender, who was out of bounds. The runner never touched the ground, however. As he was laying there, the runner pitched the ball to another UM player who ran for the first.
Play under review.
I'd love to see Marc Curles and Penn Wagers try to figure that one out
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Overturned.
However, I think it was 3rd down?
Stupid Big 10 channel. Stupid liveblogs.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 2:56 PM EST up reply actions
That internal clock that tells a quarterback when he needs to get rid of the football?
Stephen Garcia doesn’t have one
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
I’m contractually obligated to despise those khaki-wearing preppie jerks at Northwestern – says so on the back of my diploma, actually – but if they beat Iowa I’ll respect them… for one day.
University of Chicago – we won the first Heisman trophy just to prove we could, then tore down our stadium to build a bigger library (six million volumes and counting. Oh hell, it’s probably seven million by now.)
It’s one of those silly institutional things – we’re D-III now, in the UAA… kinda tough to get too worked up about Carnegie Mellon and Brandeis, though.
Anyhow – good job, khaki-wearing preppie jerks! The world salutes your heroic efforts to clarify the BCS picture. Please accept this invitation to a minor bowl against a mediocre Big 12 team.
Hey!
That’s my school you’re talking about! Although, to be fair, I have yet to attend a Brandeis sporting event. I had a professor suggest I go out for the soccer team. I still have a year of eligibility after only playing one in undergrad, and they need all the help they can get.
by Incipient_Senescence on Nov 7, 2009 3:05 PM EST up reply actions
Yeah, I understand. I go to UIUC, but we don’t really “hate” NW, and I don’t know of any Big T(elev)en school that does.
It certainly helped that UofC football sucked for decades – even the year Berwanger won the Heisman it was on a mediocre team. Once the big state schools got into the game, it became tough for the little private guys to compete. (By the way, the Michigan fight song was written after they finally beat us in a big game… shows just how long ago our glory days were.)
Auburn 42, Furman 3 — Half
Georgia 38, Tennessee Tech 0 — Early 3Q
Kentucky 17, Eastern Kentucky 6 — Half
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Seemed inevitable
I know a team acquires a myth of invincible when it dodges so many bullets, but really, if you keep playing so many close games it’s likely you’ll eventually lose one.
Glad Northwestern was the one to do it.
Yeah
And when we add them in 2011 or whenever it is, you’ll get to hear me whine that we should be playing UT-Martin or Tennessee Tech instead that week.
Like the Black Knight in Monthy Python, South Carolina insists it's merely a flesh wound
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
I think it’s very courteous of SC to get the necessary six wins and then lose to fellow SEC teams in need. Very courteous indeed.
I'm really beginning to truly loathe Arkansas
It used to be a contrived rivalry, but after the last few years I’m getting to where I want them to be demolished every time they take the field
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
That's the first step to a "real" rivalry.
It would be nice to have another one on the schedule. LSU is okay, but our ad hoc rivavlry with TAMU and our temporary one with Ole Miss just doesn’t have the same luster.
The Chinchili Day and Liberty Mutual commercials are as good as the Hampton Inn ones are bad
Oh how I hate those Hampton Inn commercials. I will never again stay in a HI just to spite them.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
If anyone’s interested, I just read that Stanzi might have a high ankle sprain… seriously bad news for Iowa if true, I’d be surprised if he made it back next week.
Yeah, the national hopes are pretty much dead – it would take 2007-like carnage to clear a path back to the top – but the Big 10 title is still very much in play.
Oh, I don’t think they ever had any national hopes. I fully expected them to be Rose Bowlin’. If they don’t take care of OSU next week, though, they won’t even get that. To be honest, the 8-0 record was impressive, but the fact that they had to come from behind against N. Iowa and Ark. St. always made me scratch my head.
They were definitely living above their station. As a fan of a team ahead of them in the polls all season, they did concern me just a bit – a slip here or there, and they could have eeled their way into the game, especially since the non-MOV considering computers really liked them (until their SOS tanked.)
I think they’ll be treated a bit more harshly in the human polls now. There’s a chance they could drop to somewhere between 20-25 (not all the way out, though).
Upper teens
They still have a nice record and some good wins and things really are dreadful after about No. 10
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Yeah, that’s what I meant – I think of ‘lower teens’ as being 11-15 and ‘upper’ as 16-19, but maybe I’ve got things backward.
I should feel encouraged about the program long term
South Carolina has the kind of good young players that can build a team. But after three or four building years, it’s hard to feel like there’s anything to get excited about.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
It’s all a fiendish plot to feed Slive’s river-boat habit.
Step 1 – Miss calls.
Step 2 – Coach complains
Step 3 – Fine ’em.
Step 4 – Partay!!!
You know, if the SEC PR folks were smart, they'd spend the money for more training for officials
But craps is way more fun
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
It's a power outage. In Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Lane Kiffin is suspicious
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
McElroy finally throws more than five yards past the line of scrimmage – and heaves it over the head of an open receiver. I guess we can see why Bama favours the YAC offence.
3rdandChavis3rdandChavis3rdandChavis
That underneath stuff will be open all day. John Chavis is…not good. I’m biased, of course, because UF has property rights on his soul, but still. He’s extremely predictable. Combine that with LSU’s inability to get pressure without blitzing, and you’ve got the makings of huge YAC and consistent 3rd down conversions.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 3:53 PM EST up reply actions
This is really ****ing me off now.
Why the heck is Ohio State – Penn State blacked out for me? I get GT – WF on ABC, and I’m supposed to get OSU – PSU on ESPN2, but instead I get ESPNEWS. This happened last week with the Oregon – USC game.
I have Comcast.
The last time I called, the guy was in Montreal, had no idea what cable package I had (let alone what was wrong with it) and couldn’t schedule a technician to come for 3 days.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 4:06 PM EST up reply actions
More angry about being subjected to the ACC with no ability to watch either the B10 or Pac 10 major games.
It’s beyond moronic. Who actually watches ACC football?
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 4:04 PM EST up reply actions
Yes, it was.
Danielson’s right about Jones though. Any decent safety should have been there. Jones is more than decent, so if he was limping that would make sense.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 4:14 PM EST up reply actions
I think he was limping afterward
Looked like he rolled his ankle just a bit post-play
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Boy, Washington St is bad. I know Arizona is a pretty good team this year (they could still win the Pac-10), but to give up 24 in the first?
On the other end of the spectrum, Auburn is about to win despite allowing 24 points to Furman
Furman!
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Excuse me?!
Why on Earth is throwing for 400 on UCF considered a “Heisman Moment”.
I hate Tim Brando.
Tim Brando is not bound by these "facts" that trouble your inferior mind
For an alum of a BCS school, he spends a lot of time touting midmajors. I suspect this is a symptom of that affliction.
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
I think he mainly touts midmajors
because he genuinely hates the BCS, and wants it destroyed. That doesn’t make UCF a viable opponent, however. It’s like pointing to Tebow tearing up Troy and calling that a “Heisman Moment”.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 4:29 PM EST up reply actions
Alabama's defense decides to fall asleep on the pass play
TD LSU with XP pending
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
The offenses finally figured out that a football game was being played around them
They decided to take part
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Stanford is coasting against Oregon
Don’t forget that the Cardinal are not out of things in the Pac-10
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
How many stoppages in play have we had in LSU-Alabama already?
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
A Jarrett Lee appearance could certainly add some spice to this game
Team Speed Kills. All SEC, all the time.
Is that's what's in "All Spice"?
Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina
by The Feathered Warrior on Nov 7, 2009 5:00 PM EST up reply actions
Interception...
and a lack of composure by Clausen. That’ll kill you everytime. I got bored with LSU-’Bama.
It really looked as if the receiver had no idea he was going to be thrown to – freakish bounce, though.
Having a decided schematic advantage
means you never actually have to beat anyone to keep your job.
Well, seriously I think he probably gets one more year unless they collapse down the stretch. You don’t think they’d off him after a 9-4 season, even if they would be by far the worst 9-4 team in America?
I forgot they play Pittsburgh next week
I was counting one more loss for the bowl, but Pitt, UConn, and Stanford probably add up to an expectation of one more loss, eh?
Too bad for ND
that Wazzu insisted on adhering to the “only schedule an opponent once in a season” approach.
I’m joking, of course. Navy-ND is an annual tradition, which is the only reason ND schedules this tough.
Sure was a strange decision to go for two for LSU.
With Bama’s inability in the red zone, two field goals could be lethal.
lol yes
i specifically came here to see if anyone else did….glad you beat me to it
CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL YAKNAWIMEAN?
It spooked my girlfriend.
We then speculated as to how it happened. My guess? A horrible Croakies accident.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 6:23 PM EST up reply actions
Is there any other kind of Croakies accident?
Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina
by The Feathered Warrior on Nov 7, 2009 6:26 PM EST up reply actions
Paul Johnson looks like a 55 year old Michael Cera...
Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina
by The Feathered Warrior on Nov 7, 2009 6:28 PM EST reply actions
Oregon needs 20 points in eleven minutes. Even with the defence on display in this game that might be tough… especially since Stanford has racked up 48 points and 480 yards itself already.
And again with the nonexistent tackling.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 6:40 PM EST up reply actions
At the end of the first quarter, Utah is tied 7-7 with New Mexico, and has been outgained. That’s 0-8 New Mexico, by the way.
You could say that UNM has punched Utah in the mouth.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 6:47 PM EST up reply actions
That's just how their football coach settles things
Women’s soccer has a different approach.
I feel bad for that girl.
College and high school soccer players aren’t used to being on TV. As such, dirty play is commonplace. What she did in that game occurred in about every game I played in high school, except for the hair pulling (obviously).
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 6:59 PM EST up reply actions
Wake punts rather than attempt a very long figgie – GaTech has it inside their five with less than a minute left, all tied.
What a joke.
I can’t wait to play this team.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 6:57 PM EST up reply actions
Don’t you think that instead of just announcing that a play stands, they should clarify whether video replay confirms the call or that there’s insufficient evidence to overturn a call?
Time to start conspiracy talks again?
That was a pretty clear pick.
Shhh...
You’ll draw a fine from Mike Slive.
What’s that you say? Fans aren’t subject to 10.5.4?
Give it time.
If I'm a coach pulling 4 mil a year.
I take the fine and go ballistic. How can this happen every week? So incompetent.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 7:04 PM EST up reply actions
The day this conference actually suspends one of it's superstar coaches
is the day it officially becomes a joke. No coach should ever be suspended for telling the truth about the SEC’s failures
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 7:07 PM EST up reply actions
Can't be conspiracy
I think that refs go into every game with an idea of which team is “supposed to win” — on merit, not because Birmingham called and said so. However, I think about the last outcome Birmingham wants is Alabama in a dodgy victory.
Overdid it with the synecdoche there
Obviously the majority of the population of B’ham would rather Bama win and look terrible than lose and look great. Mike Slive would probably rather have a respectable LSU win than a dubious Alabama one, though.
Maybe the announcers should just call the replays because they must have better
angels then the refs, lol
If I'm not mistaken
Oregon is still in the driver seat, even if they lose today.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 7:06 PM EST up reply actions
How does a game between two Pac-10 teams back up your assertion
that that league is a joke? Seems like it would be a zero-sum game, increasing your esteem for the Pac-10 as much as it undermines it. (Stanford is in the Pac-10.)
well the top teams of that conference have 2 losses so far
thats a joke
oregon lost to boise state
usc was murded by oregon
that means the enitire pac10 isnt better then boise state
Since when do the top teams make up the entirety of a conference?
I get that the muppets on TV talk that way. They say a lot of things that are stupid.
If you were going to somehow rate the Pac-10, wouldn’t you weight Wazzu as much as Oregon? Especially since (unlike the SEC schedule), every other Pac-10 opponent plays both of them once?
What I said will be proven
when the rankings come out and no pac10 team will be in the top 10 maybe even top 15. when is the last time a pac10 team didnt have a team in the top 10?
What does having a top 10 team
have to do with top-to-bottom strength of a league? If your assertion is that the three best teams in the Pac-10 are worse than the three best teams in the SEC, I’d think that would be beyond question. But that’s not the same thing as talking about the overall strength of the league.
Here it is
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbc09.htm
If you have specific critiques of Sagarin’s methodology, I’m all ears. I’m not open to, arguments along the lines of, “Computers just don’t see the qualitative look and feel that humans can,” unless you’ve watched as many games as Sagarin is putting into his ratings.
Incidentally, since I gather Boise State has something to do with your axe to grind, I’m pretty adamant that in the present system undefeated I-A teams shouldn’t be embargoed from the MNCG unless there are more than two of them. And that the present system is a farce, but we know that.
Sagarin is the worst.
I don’t really have an opinion on this subject, but Sagarin is awful.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 7:19 PM EST up reply actions
Why?
What don’t you like about his methodology? How could it be better?
(Sincere questions — I don’t know the details, but you apparently do.)
He has the ACC third and the Big East over the Big 12
Methodology is irrelevant when the results are utter stupidity.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 7:24 PM EST up reply actions
You made me curious
So I looked up where the ACC teams are. I’m sure we could all critique individual standings like Clemson 18th or BC 28th but I’d like to get a better understanding of WHY those teams are there.
One thing about Sagarin vis a vis other computer ratings is that he’s more open-minded about good I-AA teams. Of course the ACC earned its scorn for losses to Richmond and William & Mary, but it’s interesting that these are two of the top 3 in I-AA and among Sagarin’s top 60 in all of Division I. So that’s one methodological issue that you can accept or question, but at least it does seem to be characteristic of Sagarin.
If there are other quant rankings you like better, I might like them better too. But I’d caution against, “such and such outcome can’t POSSIBLY be accurate, therefore these ratings suck,” arguments without understanding why the surprising outcome came to pass.
Of course, it would help if Sagarin would publish his methodology!
Top-to-bottom
The BXII has 2 teams 90 or below (CU, Baylor). The BT has two in the 90s (IU, NW, although that may change after today). Unless I’m overlooking something, the 2nd worst ACC team (NCSU) is 80th.
(Rather amazingly, the 2nd-bottom SEC team is apparently Kentucky at 46th! Of course Vanderbilt’s far worse than any of the ones mentioned so far, but the SEC’s strength 1-11 is astounding.)
I’m really just reversing the, “Who has the most top 10 teams?” method, but it’s a valid point. People tend to rate conferences by their top teams, but you don’t generally play top teams more often than bottom teams. Since we usually discuss conference strength as a proxy for comparing schedules, it makes sense that Kentucky would matter as much as Alabama.
I cant just take someones word for it
You would have to explain to me on how he comes up with these rankings, all I see is a bunch of numbers
Then we're at an impasse
I don’t think you can answer the question without numbers, and you don’t think you can answer the question with them.
I don’t think you’re weighing Vanderbilt or WSU at all in assessing their respective conferences, and you don’t think they’re relevant to assessing each conference.
?
I dont have a problem with numbers, I just want to know how he comes up with the ratings and such. where is a guide to how this works without taking this dudes word fot it.
To his credit, Moody's gotten some touches.
Of course he decides to press “shuffle” on his playcalling remote inside the red zone, though.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 7:48 PM EST up reply actions
And if we’re going to pound Tebow inside, why not go with a jumbo package and really pound? Or spread it out and give Tebow a chance to find a gap against a depleted front… this half-assed, “we’re not doing anything special, let’s fake a pitch” approach gets us the worst of both worlds.
Seriously.
It’s not heavy duty smashmouth, and it’s not any serious misdirection. It’s just lame.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 7:52 PM EST up reply actions
We’d have lost once or twice with an ordinary D – but we wouldn’t have won in ’06 with an ordinary D either. (Or ’96 or ’08, despite the firepower of those offences.)
Let's see
Troy – W
CSU – W
UT – Toss up
UK – W
LSU – L
Ark – L
MSU – Toss up
UGA – W
Somewhere between 6 – 2 and 4 – 4.
by Giant Catfish on Nov 7, 2009 7:59 PM EST up reply actions
Anything good on TV tonight?
For some reason the TV ended up on ESPN2, but that’s going to change.
Tulsa-Houston looks wild – well over two hundred yards combined with more than five minutes to go in the first.

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