PLEASE NOTE: We are moving this entry to the top of SFN on Saturday, but we continue to post entries to the site that we will put under this entry so please do not miss out on surfing the site. Thanks! Additionally, please use this entry for some random Saturday comments and conversations.
Here is this week’s TV Schedule with a couple of late ESPN schedule changes noted below:
* Penn St. vs. Minnesota at noon on Game Plan (may be ESPN2 in some areas)
* W. Michigan vs. Ohio at noon on GP
* South Carolina at Kentucky on ESPN2
One game that’s not on TV that could be more interesting than people expect - WVU versus Mississippi State. Granted State hasn’t looked very good so far, but after switching to QB Omarr Conner, State’s offense has improved significantly. On defense, they have a solid front seven, which has shut down Auburn’s Kenny Irons and LSU’s running game. I won’t go so far as to predict a win, but State matches up well with the Mountaineers.
Other Links:
* 10 Things to Watch on Saturday
(7) Cut down day. North Carolina at Miami. North Carolina honchos to Tar Heels coach John Bunting: “OK, so you beat Miami when you shouldn’t. But can you beat them when you should?” And, in the other corner, Miami brass: “If you lose to that sad sack of a team, you’re fired Sunday morning.” Ah, the glamour life of a college coach.
* The “Please Beat Us Bowl” is Saturday
We used this schedule last week for the first time. It was great. Texas vs. Mobilehoma is tops on the list around here this weekend. A real shame to have it head to head with LSU - Florida.
I dont feel its going to be a matter of how bad UVA is. I think its going to be a matter of how much better ECU has gotten. UVA wont be ready. good game(if you like watching 2 mediocore teams, both trying to prove something, slug it out on a cold rainy day)
sounds like fun to me. I’m there!
SFN: You don’t need to waste keystrokes criticizing us or commenting on your feelings about our biases. This forum is not set up for those purposes. Thanks!
You’d have to have a pretty inflated opinion of ECU to consider that a knock. It’s more a comment on Virginia and whether or not they can look good against a mid-tier mid-major, and if you think that’s not ECU, like I said, inflated.
VMI/Army (ESPNC-1pm) is going to be a freaking epic battle.
Texpack Says: Texas vs. Mobilehoma is tops on the list…
Tex, Q. What does a tornado and a divorce decree have in common in Oklahoma? A. If either one hits, somebody is losing a mobile home.
Q: Why doesn’t Texas fall into the Gulf of Mexico?
A: Because Oklahoma sucks.
It’s probably in our best interest, but I have a really, really hard time pulling for Wake.
Go Wake, my ass.
That VMI v. Army game DOES sound like the clash of the titans, doesn’t it?
I hate Weak Forest almost as much as UVa.
Smith will probably miss time against us next week.
Teams that wear black on black should automatically be docked 4 losses before the season begins. That shit is so mid major.
There is no doubt, however, that WF is for real and need to be taken very seriously.
To me the best thing that can happen is for Wake to beat Clemson (which half way through the 3rd looks like it might happen). That way Wake comes into Raleigh 1) probably flat after the epic win 2) thinking they’re better than they really are.
On top of that I really, really think that most people n the sports world aren’t buying into the whole “rejuvenated Pack” thing so it is very possible that they won’t take us seriously after their own 6-0 start and win against #15 Clemson.
^ Agree…but, regardless…we do get to play Wake in Raleigh and have to travel to Clemson. Additionally, we know that we are relatively healthy right now and the Clemson game is so far in the future that we don’t know.
Additionally, WFU still has BC, FSU, VPI on their schedule…creating more chances for losses for them than for Clemson
Been jumping back and forth between Wake and UNC. Enjoying both games. BTB (that would be Bunting the Belly) looked haggard during his half-time interview. Does the name “Dufus” fit this guy?
Bwahahahahahahah!
Screw Wake. Their few but loud and obnoxious fans would have been completely insufferable all week had they won this.
And I’m not sure this is bad for us. Anyone can beat anyone; I’m happy right now sitting alone at the top of the division.
Also, Auburn down 27-10 late, at home, to Arkansas.
As a State fan I witnessed some incredibly tough losses, but none as tough as the Deacons took today.
It was definitely to our advantage to have Wake win. In addition to the league standings, it would have given us a chance to beat 3 ranked teams in a row at home. I have no idea how Wake will react to this loss.
I hadn’t seen Wake this year but they are a lot like us. Their QB situation is a lot like ours, Swank is like Deraney in that he is good and does all of their kicking. Wake’s offense is a lot more conventional than it was 2 years ago.
In other CFB news, Penn State just wins in the shadiest way possible when a phantom PI call gifts them a first down.
I wish everyone had the opportunity to live in South Carolina long enough to learn how obnoxious Clempson fans can be! I was pulling for Wake all the way. Now State has got to kick in high gear and beat both of them!
Go Pack! And All Hail to “Daniel the Chief”!
I dont think this forum is set up to talk down other teams either SFN… unless of course they are UNC. I find it funny you erase my supposedly wasted keystrokes saying its not fair for you to talk down ECU… yet you waste yours doing it… and then waste yours eliminating mine… and then once again waste yours trying to make me look like the idiot.
mature. really.
and my opinions on ECU are not “inflated” at all… if any of you had actully seen them play this year I think you would probably agree with me. The way they came back against Memphis showed their talent starting to open up, and they let it all out against WV… I dont understand why being a “mid-major” makes them a bad team…
“opportunity to live in South Carolina” is an oxymoron.
I saw then end of the Penn State game. You don’t make that call on the last play of the game.
Wake really did snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Rick says, “As a State fan I witnessed some incredibly tough losses, but none as tough as the Deacons took today…It was definitely to our advantage to have Wake win.”
I seeit as just the opposite. The question is, can they get over “what might have been”? An 8-0 State team lost to Penn State in a heart-breaker late in the season. Dennis Onkotz (sp) intercepted and later on Tony Barchuk (as I recall it) was stopped going over the top to end our run at a national championship. (Could be why Chuck disdains diving over the top.) The next week we lost at Clemson. We just didn’t have the energy and spirit needed to win so soon after such a devastating loss. BTW I’ll never forget seeing one of our punts blowing back in the wind to almost the line of scrimmage.
Wake is tough but football is a game of emotion and, well, it will be tough for Wake to get up after such a tough, tough loss.
That was definitely pass interference in the PSU/Minn game. The CB got their early, barely, but still early. Pass interference is pass interference no matter whether it happens on the first play of the game or in overtime.
Wake’s loss might have been the toughest I have ever seen. If we win the TO battle, then I think we can handle them next week. They gave it up four times to Clemson and had several takeaways themselves. We just need to play smart football next week and get a lead early.
That game should have been 27-3 if not for the fumble on the initial series and then the mishandle on the FG. Instead it was 17-10 and Clemson had all the momentum.
Clemson had another WR suffer a major injury. Some guy broke his arm and is out for the year.
Woof wolf: If you ever get the opportunity Charleston, then you should take it.
Why are the rules on the last play of the game any different than on any other play??
Any scoop on the Chris Wright news conference?
On the Penn State call; I was watching the game live and saw the replay several times. It was a very close. The defender was going for the ball and got his hand on it almost at the same time or slightly after he contacted the receiver. I believe that with the game on the line, the players shoukd decide it unless the foul is obvious.
I couldn’t tell if he got his left hand on the receiver’s back. The referee had a better angle on that than the camera did. If he shoved the receiver, I have no problem with the call. I didn’t see the receiver move like he had been pushed. If not I thought the call was ticky tack.
If you drive to the basket in the last five seconds of a basketball game and come out with all your limbs and head in place, you may hear bells, but you’re not likely to hear any whistles.
ECU 24 - UVA 7 at the half.
Duke 7-Bama 10 and Duke had the ball on the Bama 1 and fumbled
Things I learned (or reconfirmed) today…
On LSU
Les Miles is a horrible head coach. Sure, he’s not the one playing the game, but when you have 3 interceptions, two fumbles, and a muffed kickoff resulting in a safety, you have to blame someone. These aren’t physical errors, and they aren’t talent errors. These are mental errors, and the head coach is responsible for getting his team mentally ready to play. Les Miles is not the man for the job, and he never has been the man for the job. After the disaster that struck Louisiana last year, Miles was given the benefit of the doubt – and rightfully so. However, LSU now sits in the untenable position of having a pitiful head coach with a reasonable record. Some coaches get fired too early, some coaches get fired too late, but even in today’s environment, no one is going to fire a coach with a winning record after two years; so we’ll have to wait until he drags the program down (ala Gerry Dinardo) before we an move on. The fault lies with the morons that ran the hiring process. Like Louisiana politics, the hiring of the LSU head football coach has little to go with intelligence, character, and experience and more to do with the ineptitude of those running the show. It’s well documented that the decision makers created a laughable set of criteria for that hire. Luckily when we replaced Dinardo with Saban the process was done by an outsider and without an athletic director.
USC being ranked in the top 5 is a joke.
What do the voters see in this USC team? They have now struggled against three mediocre Pac 10 teams all of whom had a chance to win in the fourth quarter, two of whom on the last play, and one of whom was cheated out of the last play by poor clock management by both the officials and their own players. This further accentuates how bad the Pac 10 is. Cal was destroyed by an OK Tennessee team and Oregon was beaten by a mediocre OU team (sure when you count the Pac 10 officials Oregon officially won.) USC’s big win was over an Arkansas team that committed five turnovers, had an injured star tailback, and subsequently moved its starting QB to wide receiver.
Tim Tebow is not human.
No one has been able to run on LSU’s front seven, but even when they were expecting it, Tebow picked up some big yards. It’s scary to think that this kid is only a true freshman. The legend is for real.
West Virginia needs to prove it belongs in the top 10.
Against Mississippi State, only leading by 14-7 at the half and 32-7 going into the fourth quarter is not impressive. Oops, that was Tulane versus Mississippi State, WVU was only leading 21-7 going into the 4th quarter. The two top 10 teams that played MSU led 35-10 and 31-0. The reason WVU must be scrutinized this closely is that they play no one. There are 4 – 6 teams in the SEC alone that would likely go undefeated against WVU’s schedule. WVU’s toughest opponent, Louisville, is now playing without both its star QB and tailback.
Losing sucks
This is a lesson that I really didn’t need to relearn. I had the unfortunate experience of attending LSU during the worse 4-year period in the program’s history. It was bad, though expected, to watch the team lose then. Now that the team is loaded with talent, the losses are even harder to take. For the second year in a row versus Florida, LSU committed five turnovers. Unfortunately, this year Florida was able to take advantage of our ineptitude.
Duke 14 Bama 10 Half LOL!!!!
Woof Wolf
I watched the P State game also. The way I saw it was that if there was no flag thrown, there wouldn’t have been any uproar about it. The defender may have just barely touched the receiver, but only a split second early and he had the clear play on the ball and broke up the pass. The ever slight contact did not impede the receiver’s play on the ball at all.
Judgement call, and not a good one.
That’s the way I saw it.
so I guess that Virginia is just really bad, and ECU just really sucks, right?!
….whatever.
It will be real interesting to see how we do against UVA and how ECTC does against S. Miss. It would really be a bitch to run the ACC table and then lose to ECTC.
“If you drive to the basket in the last five seconds of a basketball game and come out with all your limbs and head in place, you may hear bells, but you’re not likely to hear any whistles.”
Which is why I despise basketball in its current incarnation. It’s only slightly more of a sport than pro wrestling.
If you don’t think the defender hit the receiver before the pass got there, that’s fine (he got him with the body, IMO). But the TIMING of the call is irrelevant.
A foul is a foul. A penalty is a penalty. The timing should not be a factor.
Noah:
Chill out. I don’t really give a damn. I’m just pulling your chain.
SNF you said at the top “please use this entry for some random Saturday comments and conversations.” So…
Noah, I watched the game again Friday afternoon during the time I usually take a “mental health break” on the golf course. I looked particularly at our tackles when we had the ball. What appeared at first glance as them whiffing, as you put it, wasn’t that at all. On almost every passing play, the tackles first hit the man over him which was usually shaded to the outside and held him up until the guard got over to take take him. Then our tackle slid off to the outside and picked up the next blitzing outside defender. Usually our tackle made a great play but sometimes, as you said, he whiffed. The blocking schemes were NFL quality and our guys were opening good running lanes for Brown and Baker.
This outside shading of their tackles was as big a factor in our ability to run inside as the ability of our guard and center blocking.
Several other things I say that I didn’t/couldn’t see from the nosebleed tempary seats in the NEZ was Crouch reaching and grabbing at the off-side backer on Brown’s TD run. It wasn’t a very good, much less necessary, hold. Had Brown cut it up inside as the play appeared to be designed, Crouch’s block would have been crucial to the success of the play. Brown bounced it outside tackle behind a very good block by one of our ends. Crouch was taken out after that play. The numbnuts who called the game said Heppe tackled his man which his block appeared to be when Heppe buried him.
For those who want Brown for 25 or 30 carries a game, after the first time it happens the DCs will know it is a run when Brown is in and a pass when Baker is in. Why? Brown whiffed on the rusher who almost sack Evans for a safety. Worst attempted block I have ever seen. Pop Warner backs would be benched for that kind of effort. Brown looked like his ankle snapped and he just fell on the ground.
Noah
So what you are saying is that if a defender ever so slighty even TOUCHES a receiver, it is then pass interference. That pass was knocked down without ever hendering the receiver’s ability to catch the ball. There wasn’t any battle, the ball was right there, but it wasn’t delivered when or where it needed to be to caught. It was delivered when and where it was more likely to be knocked down.
Good D. Bad call.
rf2:
Damn you’re good. That’s what I meant to say.
TQ. Can you get lung cancer from second hand smoke being blown up rf2’s a$$?
Let me guess what Noah is saying is:
If you don’t think the defender hit the receiver before the pass got there, that’s fine (he got him with the body, IMO). But the TIMING of the call is irrelevant.
A foul is a foul. A penalty is a penalty. The timing should not be a factor.
What he is not saying is it was a good call, although in his opinion the defender got there and banged him with his body b/4 the ball arrived.
It sounds like a no call to me regardless of the timing.
It looked to me like the defender’s chest caught the receiver in the back a half-beat before the ball got there. The DB did a good job refraining from putting his left arm in the guy’s back (as they often do when they reach around to swat knock the pass down).
It could have gone either way.
Well, it’s time. We are pulling for WFU? NO. NO. NO. It’s time for the Wolfpack to pull a little permanent wife swap with the SEC and Vandy. Lookit, there is not an NC scool in the SEC. How many NC recruits go to the SEC ‘cuz that is where real football is played. The SEC would love the media market the Triangle has to offer vs. Nash-swill. The ACC has no market in TN. OK. Maybe they don’t want one. Still, Vandy’s Athletics dept is otherwise know as the dept of Intramurals. Can you say Dook and Waik. What Pack fan wouldn’t want to travel to bourbon land and New Ohmyachinhead every other year or so vs College Barf or Bos-lanta. Let’s do it before the Tar Holes do. It is too freakin obvious even from a basketball perspective. Lee, work it out!
LSUTigerFan: I was at the swamp for the first time saturday, and have to say its the loudest place I’ve watched a game. Doak Campbell gets equally loud a few brief times a game, but the swamp is loud practically all the time, and thunderously deafening during the big plays. I know good teams can overcome that, but I truly believe the crowd may have had something to do with rattling the Tigers. Both teams made plenty of errors, but the Tigers mistakes were oh so very costly.
Dear god NO NO NO. I don’t even want to hear any WHISPERS of rumors of moving to the SEC.
Lock
Swofford has completely changed the ACC and created his own little pandora’s box. But there’s big $$$’s and prestige in his powder blue way of thinking, don’t get me wrong.