*Official* 2007 College Football Thread

[sigil]

Who? What? Huh?

The guys who star in the SEC and other places get so much money under the table they're doumping thousands into things like cars, chains, what have you

That's all

[Abagadro]

Heh. BYU puts up 688 total yards and loses.  Oh what a perfect weekend of college football.

[Triforcer]

I feel a lot, lot better about the Buckeyes after today.  This was a game that had upset written all over it if OSU was truly just a middle of the Big 10 team this year.  Before this game I wasn't even sure OSU would win one of the Big Three (PSU, Wisconsin, and Michigan).  I think Wisconsin is slightly overrated and will get edged out in Columbus, and Michigan will be handled because of the reverse John Cooper thing Carr has going on.  But its looking more and more like PSU is the class of the conference, and the Bucks never play well in Happy Valley.

[SnakeCharmer]

Who? What? Huh?

The guys who star in the SEC and other places get so much money under the table they're doumping thousands into things like cars, chains, what have you

That's all

Eh, it's not just reserved for SEC schools.





Anyway, BRING ON THE BULLDOGS!!! 

If people thought BDS was loud for Arkansas, holy shmoly, they have another thing coming when UGA comes to down.  We're 3-0 coming off what is one of the best football games evah, and another SEC school comes knocking on our door.  Might have to roadtrip up Friday, especially since my wifes uncle just got a 32' motorhome that needs to be broken in.

Paelos, has there been ANY sort of announcement or rumor up in Athens (or anywhere else UGA related) about the time of the game?  ESPN said last night they expected to be back in Titletown for 'Bama / UGA game, especially if Alabama won versus Arkansas.

[Paelos]

Paelos, has there been ANY sort of announcement or rumor up in Athens (or anywhere else UGA related) about the time of the game?  ESPN said last night they expected to be back in Titletown for 'Bama / UGA game, especially if Alabama won versus Arkansas.

7:45 announced for ESPN. It's gonna be insane.

As for Bama, they played well enough to win that game. JPW tossed up almost 330 yards and 4 TDs, your runningbacks put up 130 yards on the ground, and your defense was dominate when they had to be.

However, JPW basically pulled his own ass out of the fire from a game he tried his best to give away at the end. His late fumble in the 3rd lead to a TD. The first pass he threw on the next possession got picked off, resulting in the TD that tied the game. If not for Matt Caddell and a very beneficial 3rd and 9 pass inference call, your team was doomed. Some look at that and say, well when it mattered we pulled it together. Others will look at that and see it as a glaring weakness that a more developed team would have made you pay for. The game was basically out of your hands until Arkansas decided to for some weird reason take McFadden out on the last drive that could have iced the game. Arkansas fans will always question why his ass was on the sidelines looking confused with a "slight" concussion. A win is a win, but like I said earlier in the thread, it was going to take a dominate win over Arkansas to silence the doubters, and that didn't happen at all here. People calling it an upset are pretty insane in my book.

As for Georgia, we played Western Carolina and looked good doing it, but it was a nothing game. We're salivating for the chance to shut Bama up after they looked vulnerable to Arkansas' defense. Do I think we'll win? We'll look at the matchups:

Quarterback: Stafford - 621 yards, 4TDs, 1 INT, 130.0 rating; JPW - 666 yards, 4TDs, 3 INT, 120.6 rating; Both are great QBs and both will have to play well against two very good defenses in order to win. The difference here is that JPW has been shown to make a few more turnover mistakes than Stafford, and that can make a huge difference. ADVANTAGE: UGA.

Runningbacks: UGA: Knowshown Moreno & Thomas Brown - 407 yards on 81 carries with 4TDs; BAMA: Terry Grant & Glen Coffee - 561 yards on 89 carries with 7 TDs. Simply put, Alabama runs the ball better, and they can break a big one if you're not paying attention. The tricky part about UGA though is that Moreno has over 100 yards receiving that skew the numbers. ADVANTAGE: Alabama

Wide Receivers: UGA: Bailey, Massaquoi, and Henderson - 25 catches, 323 yards, 1 TD; BAMA: Hall, Caddell, & McCoy - 32 catches, 450 yards, 3 TDs. Again, the Alabama top receivers are clearly better than Georgia's men. Georgia has a well-documented history of dropping the damn ball which never helps either. Frankly, the fact that Stafford has a 130.0 rating with these guys shows you how good he really could be if we could put people in there with some decent hands. ADVANTAGE: Alabama.

Kickers: UGA: Brandon Coutu - 11/11 XP, 5/6 FG, long - 44; BAMA: Leigh Tiffin - 12/12 XP, 6/11, long 42. Coutu is a great asset on any kick from inside 45 yards, and his stats show it. Tiffin is a question mark on anything longer than 30 yards, and it frightens Alabama fans when he comes into the game on longer kicks. ADVANTAGE: UGA.

Defense: Forget the Western Carolina games both of these teams played. Currently, both defenses are vulnerable to the passing game, and they both could be playing a hell of a lot better than they are late in the game. Georgia has an edge on the running defensive stats because they didn't have to play McFadden. It's basically a wash no matter how you cut it. ADVANTAGE: Nobody

Prediction: Alabama's playing at home, and that's going to be hard on the Dawgs offense early on. I think anything is possible in this game, and I'm not confident enough in UGA's consistency to make any kind of definite call here. If the offense that played in the OSU games shows up, Dawgs win. If the offense that played in the SC game shows up, Dawgs get slaughtered. All in all, this one will be a huge game come Saturday.

[Hoax]

Buckeyes started shakey as fuck but eventually rolled.  Good times.  C Wells is a fucking great back when he waits half a second for the play to develop.  I'll take his running style over, fucking 8 steps in the backfield on every running play Pittman.

Next week there are three interesting Big10 games.

1.  MSU @ ND how great will it be if they plant the Spartan flag on those stupid golden domer assholes?

2.  Penn State @ the Big House.  If Michigan can win this one they have some chance of regaining some pride this season.

3.  Purdue @ Minn.  Any Purdue game interests me because they have sure been making for great highlight reels so far this season.  I wonder how good they really are?

[SnakeCharmer]

7:45 announced for ESPN. It's gonna be insane.

Yes it will.  And I'm going.  Cemented the deal tonight.

As for Bama, they played well enough to win that game. JPW tossed up almost 330 yards and 4 TDs, your runningbacks put up 130 yards on the ground, and your defense was dominate when they had to be.

It was weird watching the game.  They were aggressive as hell in the first quarter, and it paid off huge, then Applewhite seemed to go a bit conservative in his playcalling.  Odd. 

However, JPW basically pulled his own ass out of the fire from a game he tried his best to give away at the end. His late fumble in the 3rd lead to a TD. The first pass he threw on the next possession got picked off, resulting in the TD that tied the game. If not for Matt Caddell and a very beneficial 3rd and 9 pass inference call,

Yeah, he almost tossed the game away.  Regarding the 'very beneficial' PI calls.  You'd have to be blind not to see those as legit calls.  Further, they ('Bama) were robbed of a few calls (two PI, one roughing the qb, and at least 2 unnecessary roughness calls) earlier in the game.  'Bama was DUE for some calls to go their way.

your team was doomed. Some look at that and say, well when it mattered we pulled it together.

That's the way I look at it; albiet I'm a permanent optimist.  And they pulled it together for the first time in over 2 years.  They learned a lot about themselves in that game, and more importantly, they learned how to WIN.

take McFadden out on the last drive

Tweaked hamstring

that could have iced the game. Arkansas fans will always question why his ass was on the sidelines looking confused with a "slight" concussion.

Was a concussion mentioned from the TV talking heads?  I was listening to the glorious lungs of Eli Gold.

A win is a win, but like I said earlier in the thread, it was going to take a dominate win over Arkansas to silence the doubters, and that didn't happen at all here.

They started out dominant, then got conservative.  In the end, it was the punishing running of Arkansas that exposed how thin the defense is on the front.  They can't rotate the front 7 like other teams can.  The bright side?  Is there a better running team in the nation than Arkansas?  I can't think of one.

People calling it an upset are pretty insane in my book.

I agree.

As for Georgia, we played Western Carolina and looked good doing it, but it was a nothing game. We're salivating for the chance to shut Bama up after they looked vulnerable to Arkansas' defense.

As I said before, the vulnerability to the run was exposed by the constant pounding of McFaddenJones.  Who else can boast that combo?  I certainly don't think UGA can.

Do I think we'll win? We'll look at the matchups:

Quarterback: Stafford - 621 yards, 4TDs, 1 INT, 130.0 rating; JPW - 666 yards, 4TDs, 3 INT, 120.6 rating; Both are great QBs and both will have to play well against two very good defenses in order to win. The difference here is that JPW has been shown to make a few more turnover mistakes than Stafford, and that can make a huge difference. ADVANTAGE: UGA.

How has Stafford played in big games?  That is what needs answering.  I'd say overall, they're (at this point) about even.  So, I'd call it a tie.  Further, as evidence by Morenos receiving yards, some of that rating / yardage by Stafford are swing out passes and such to the RB, which really are disguised delayed toss sweeps and/or screen plays.  JPW seems to get a bit too excited and misses relatively easy throws.  If he settles down, he's as accurate as they get.  He's STILL telegraphing his receivers though......

Runningbacks: UGA: Knowshown Moreno & Thomas Brown - 407 yards on 81 carries with 4TDs; BAMA: Terry Grant & Glen Coffee - 561 yards on 89 carries with 7 TDs. Simply put, Alabama runs the ball better, and they can break a big one if you're not paying attention. The tricky part about UGA though is that Moreno has over 100 yards receiving that skew the numbers. ADVANTAGE: Alabama

Which of those UGA backs gets the bulk of the workload?

Wide Receivers: UGA: Bailey, Massaquoi, and Henderson - 25 catches, 323 yards, 1 TD; BAMA: Hall, Caddell, & McCoy - 32 catches, 450 yards, 3 TDs. Again, the Alabama top receivers are clearly better than Georgia's men. Georgia has a well-documented history of dropping the damn ball which never helps either. Frankly, the fact that Stafford has a 130.0 rating with these guys shows you how good he really could be if we could put people in there with some decent hands. ADVANTAGE: Alabama.

I'm not quite sold on Alabamas receiving corp.  Caddell is emerging as a solid receiver with glue on his hands, and why Will Oakley isn't in the game more often is crazy. 

Kickers: UGA: Brandon Coutu - 11/11 XP, 5/6 FG, long - 44; BAMA: Leigh Tiffin - 12/12 XP, 6/11, long 42. Coutu is a great asset on any kick from inside 45 yards, and his stats show it. Tiffin is a question mark on anything longer than 30 yards, and it frightens Alabama fans when he comes into the game on longer kicks. ADVANTAGE: UGA.

Goddamn Tiffin.  If it wasn't for his last goddamn name, he'd be at a Div III school.....

Defense: Forget the Western Carolina games both of these teams played. Currently, both defenses are vulnerable to the passing game, and they both could be playing a hell of a lot better than they are late in the game. Georgia has an edge on the running defensive stats because they didn't have to play McFadden. It's basically a wash no matter how you cut it. ADVANTAGE: Nobody

I'd actually put the edge to UGA, regardless of the bloated stats from the Ark game.  UGA is without a doubt deeper at every position.  Our #1's match up as good as or better as UGA's #1's, but UGA's #2's are better than 'Bamas #2's.  Depth pushes UGA over the top.  The starters can't play every down of every series.  Especially D linemen.  Further, 'Bamas defense spent ALOT of time on the field against Arkansas getting pounded relentlessly by the best two back combo in the nation.   I'm wondering how worn out 'Bama is going to be overall after such a physical and emotional game. 

No doubt though, the conditioning program at 'Bama has paid HUGE dividends.

Prediction: Alabama's playing at home, and that's going to be hard on the Dawgs offense early on. I think anything is possible in this game, and I'm not confident enough in UGA's consistency to make any kind of definite call here. If the offense that played in the OSU games shows up, Dawgs win. If the offense that played in the SC game shows up, Dawgs get slaughtered. All in all, this one will be a huge game come Saturday.

Playing at BDS, that's worth at LEAST 7 points, possibly 9 in Alabamas favor.  It's UGAs first road game of the year, and it's going to be in front of 93,000 loud Alabama rednecks (including myself) who've had all day to consume their beverage of choice.  It's going to be absolutely INSANE in Titletown Saturday. 

And I can't freakin' wait.

----------------------------

AP came out today.  SEC has 6 teams (LSU 2, Florida 3, SC 12, Alabama 16, UK 21, UGA 22) in the top 25.  How Louisville is ranked AHEAD of the team that just beat them (UK) is beyond me. 

In the USA Today poll, it's listed as LSU 2, Florida 3, SC 13, Alabama 15, UK 17, UGA 23). 

Is there any coach in the country doing a better job relative to the talent they have than Rich Brooks at UK?

Tim Tebow.  All I can say is...goddamn.  Freak.  Of.  Nature.  UF could win two more titles before he is gone....

Nick Saban.  Every time I see an interview with him, I think of Tony Robbins.  It's like it's one big self help 10 keys to success in life infomercial. 

[Paelos]

It'll be the game of the year for me. Auburn is literally eating shit these days, and I know Bama fans are just loving every second of it like it's candy. Tennessee doesn't win against Georgia in Chatanooga this century. Florida is a cocktail party where UGA goes to get humbled, year after year.

This is it. This is the game. And I will be watching...every...single...second.

[cmlancas]

USF #23! :D

[Murgos]

USF #23! :D

Heh, they didn't even play this weekend and they moved up 3.  Nice.

[Nevermore]

USF #23! :D

Heh, they didn't even play this weekend and they moved up 3.  Nice.

Heck, I predicted that last week.  I think a lot of voters left USF off their ballots last week because the USF/Auburn game was so late that Saturday night and the Bulls were still flying under people's radar.  Even if Auburn turns out to have an atrocious year, it's still a huge win for South Florida because it's the win that put them on the map for a lot of people who hadn't paid much attention to them before.  There were a lot of articles written about the Bulls last week and it looked very likely that more than just a couple of top 25 teams would lose over the weekend.  I was wrong about BC but that just meant Georgia Tech lost instead.  Couple that with the Tennessee and Arkansas losses and the UCLA and Louisville upsets and it would have surprising if USF didn't move up.

Now they just have to back that ranking up by continuing to play well.  North Carolina this week is a classic trap game if they get caught looking ahead to the big game the following week:  the home game against West Virginia.  The Mountaineers are looking all kinds of scary this year.

[Paelos]

USF is a only a 13 point favorite over UNC. Frankly, I think that's the kind of lock bet I'd take in Vegas any day of the week. I was expecting the spread to be in the 20s with UNC giving up an average of 350 yards a game to teams like Virginia.

[Murgos]

The USF/UNC game is making me nervous.  I don't care if USF loses to WV, they're supposed too, but losing to UNC would be like getting a kidney punch from a bouncer as you are escorted out the door of the strip club.

[cmlancas]

USF losing to UNC?

 

[Paelos]

Georgia's an underdog. BEWARE! We do exceptionally well as the on the road underdog team.

[sigil]

I'm regretting the plans I had made months earlier.One of my bosses had his thick stack of Tickets  for the Georgia game (combination of Alumni/contributor/Father of a player) I had just finished setting up his new laptop when he said," you wanna go?"

I had to decline, but I so wanted to take him up on it. Skybox too. dammit.

[SnakeCharmer]

If you have ESPN Insider, there's a couple write-ups comparing Terry Grant vs Knowshown Moreno and JP Wilso vs Matt Stafford. 

Leaving Mobile in about and hour or so, bound for Tuscaloosa! 

I imagine I'll be passed out about 4 pm.

[Paelos]

If you have ESPN Insider, there's a couple write-ups comparing Terry Grant vs Knowshown Moreno and JP Wilso vs Matt Stafford. 

Leaving Mobile in about and hour or so, bound for Tuscaloosa! 

I imagine I'll be passed out about 4 pm.

I don't, but I can guess what they say. Moreno v. Grant is all Grant because Moreno came out of nowhere. Stafford v. Wilson is a tossup with a point that Stafford can overthrow people but still has a great QB rating, and an acknowledgement that Stafford's receivers suck.

[SnakeCharmer]

Alabama vs Georgia - September 22, 2007 - Gameday
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Laptop via Sprint broadband wireless

Arrived about 3:30 pm.  One sober person (driver).  The five of us pooled some cash together and slipped the manager of a Firehouse Subs 500 dollars not to call the cops on us for parking our motor home in the parking lot.  Invited him and his friends/family to tailgate with us and enjoy free food and beer today.  So far, so good.  Brought Dreamland BBQ from Mobile, 10 cases of Corona, 5 bottles of Jack Daniels, 2 bottles of Absolut and requisite bloody mary mix.  1 bottle of Havana Club.  Stocked fridge with food (burgers, hotdogs, etc).

Tossed the football around.  Met Kirk Hirbstreet yesterday afternoon, got his autograph on said football.  Nice guy.  Shorter than I imagined.

Went to the fraternity house (Kappa Sigma).  Felt very very old.  Stayed about an hour, then went back to the motorhome whereby we passed out about midnight.  Slept on the dash(!!) of the motor home.  Woke up freezing my ass off because someone turned on the 2nd A/C in the middle of the night.

Got up, got a pot of coffee going.  Took a shower.

Put "Yellowhammer" in the CD player, turned up the volume and pressed play. 

This was at 6:45 am.
My traveling companions were not amused.

"Electric" is not the word to describe it.  "Nuclear" is more like it.  It's going to be an unbelievable day.

Grill is warming up, beer in hand.  Two Georgia fans have joined us for the moment.  ESPN is on the TV, thanks to Direct TV satellite. 

This is the way to travel.

[cmlancas]

The USF/UNC game is making me nervous.  I don't care if USF loses to WV, they're supposed too, but losing to UNC would be like getting a kidney punch from a bouncer as you are escorted out the door of the strip club.

YOU ESS EFF

YOU ESS FF!

<3

Edit: By the way, George Selvie is a god damn monster. Holy Christ.

[WayAbvPar]

This is the way to travel.

Amen. A motorhome with satellite TV is THE way to tailgate.

[CmdrSlack]

Knowshown

Is that pronounced like it looks or phonetically (Na shawn)?

[Murgos]

YOU ESS EFF

YOU ESS FF!

<3

Edit: By the way, George Selvie is a god damn monster. Holy Christ.

 :-D  Now a week of nail-biting before the USF/WV game.

[Hoax]

Everything went perfectly for the Big10 triple header.

The Ohio State University, fucking ROLLED N'western.

Penn State lost a close and honorable game to Michigan who will be back in the top25 after a few more weeks.

MSU smashT pathetic Clausen and the dumbass Golden Domers.

[hal]

STATE!!! You go bucks.

[sigil]

Snake's going to be crushed, but that was a great game.

Kudos to Georgia, who played the better game.

I am not worried about Alabama. Without Saban we lose by two touchdowns.

[Paelos]

The only thing that gave me solace about that game was the fact that we never gave up the lead until OT. Still, I was a freaking wreck watching our Georgia offense do their best to let Alabama stay in that game, and watching our Defense just say, "Not Tonight!"

I will say one thing about our victory. Alabama has nothing to hang their heads about in that game. They played in a great defensive battle that culminated with Matt Stafford finally stepping up after God knows how many opportunities to win the stupid thing.

We warned you about Georgia on the road. They are a tough team to match in the underdog role. Good luck to Alabama with the rest of the West. LSU looks retardedly good.

[Hoax]

Finally the Pac-10 might be worth watching next week.

Cal v Oregon, go bears yaddayadda but I kind of like this Oregon team...

In the Big10:
Purdue, who may be great this year nobody seems sure yet gets a chance to make ND 0-5 if that isn't the greatest sounding thing I've ever heard I dont know what is.

The upset specials are the Illini against a Penn State team that may be suffering hangover.  More likely though I expect them to jump to a 14+ lead and just grind it out while those LB's try to maim everyone wearing orange.

Also the Spartans have to be worrying a Badger team that just can't seem to put anyone away with conviction.  I like these Mich State WR's we should see at least one of them do big things on Sundays in the future.

[SnakeCharmer]

Back in Mobile, watched the game again on the way back.

What a shitty shit shit game.  Georgia won that game on the backs of their insane 3rd down conversion rate.  Whoever the offensive playcaller is for UGA needs a raise; he did an absolute phenomenal job with an answer to nearly every situation, if it was 3rd and 2 or 3rd and 12.  Hats off to the players who still had to go and make it happen.

Thoughts:
1)  JPW:  Tired of apologizing for him.  Tired of saying "He needs to settle down, and once he does, he's lights out".  He consistently misses throws, makes bad reads, and my 9 month old son has a stronger arm than him.  Outside of the last minute drive against Arkansas, he has consistently underperformed and ridden the coat tails of some very talented receivers.  He should have been yanked midway through the 2nd, and McElroy put in to see if he could provide a spark.  How many times have we seen 'Bama's receivers beat the coverage and have to freakin' STOP to catch the ball? 
2)  Stafford:  Not impressed.  Going into the game, I felt his stats were bloated due to 'easy' passes (swing outs, screens, etc) and still feel that way.  He DID make THE throw when it counted, I'll give him that.  I still don't see what the hype is.
3)  Alabama's defense:  Looked confused the first series, then settled down and played better.  Couldn't buy a 3rd down to save their life.  Granted, the play calling by UGA was about the best I've seen in a long time, but you still have to execute.  'Bama's defense didn't seem that well prepared, or they were too geeked up.  I'm going with a combination of all three:  UGA's superior play calling, with the distractions 'Bama had this week (for fucks sake, Saban was on Gameday on Saturday), and this didn't bode well for Alabama.
4)  Applewhite:  His inexperience showed yesterday.  His play calling is erratic, with no strategy whatsoever.  He had a quarterback that couldn't get into a rhythm, and didn't do anything to help him (swing outs, dumps, etc to help Wilson gather some feel).
5)  Tackling:  I'd have the defense running tackling drills until they passed out.  Then toss cold water on them and do it again. 
6)  Special teams:  UGA did a fantastic job of bottling up Arenas
7)  From the first play, Alabama just seemed disjointed.  Neither team looked all that great to be honest; it almost seemed to me that the game was going to be decided by who ever wanted to give it away more.  They both played sloppy. 

Add up the Gameday crew, the hype, the Corso curse, and I can't really say at this point I'm surprised at the outcome.  The mentally and physically draining Arkansas game hurt, a bit of a hangover?

I think, looking back, 'Bama's not ready psychologically for this kind of attention.  It will be interesting to see how they rebound next week against FSU.

[Paelos]

The playercaller for UGA is Mike Bobo, ex-UGA Quarterback. He was promoted from QB coach to offensive playcaller two years ago when Richt finally realized being a head coach means diversifying duties.

My Thoughts:
1) JPW played like I thought he would against the Georiga secondary. Not well. I said it all month and it was reinforced by his erratic play in the Arkansas game. The Georgia defense was very consistant except for the 50 yard bomb they gave up in the 4th quarter.
2) Stafford didn't impress me either because he made too many critical errors. That was his largest failing last year, and it's something that he must steadily improve as he ages, which I think he has done compared to his freshman numbers. Still, he won the game FINALLY after having an insane number of chances to give it away.
3) Georgia didn't capitalize on Alabama's mistakes at all. I mean you fumble the freaking ball to us at the beginning of the 2nd half, and we don't even get a field goal? What the hell was that? That play could have easily crushed your spirit and put the game away.
4) Georgia scoring the first TD set the tone for the game. It said that we weren't going to be the lackluster offense that came out against South Carolina.
5) Moreno played like a demon out there. He made something out of nothing more times than I can count. At one point, he basically willing himself into a third down conversion when he was all but completely wrapped up. I love this kid.

[Paelos]

UGA v. Ole Miss is this weekend, but not featured on TV. The big games that are going to get the nationwide audience in the SEC are: Alabama v. FSU on CBS, and Florida v. Auburn on ESPN

Let's discuss the implications of those games. An Alabama win re-establishes some of the frothing fury they had before the Georgia loss, while another loss, to an unranked opponent no less, will pretty much crush the combined spirits of all the Tide fans. Add in the fact that Bama is actually an underdog in this game, and I think they are going to be pretty pissed off and motivated to crush the Seminoles.

If Florida was going to trip up before the inevitable "Let's decide the SEC East game" otherwise known as Georgia-Florida Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party, this game against Auburn is it. The problem is that Auburn isn't even close to the threat they were a couple years ago, and I don't think anyone is expecting a huge fight out of them. The spread has Florida as an 18.5 point favorite.

[cmlancas]

Here to give the WVA v USF game some lovin' is your fellow Bull, cmlancas.


Keys to the game:

1. Matt Grothe must show up and run the ball well. If he is contained in the pocket, the USF offense will flounder.
2. The USF defense must carry the team in times of lackluster offensive production. If WVA can break the best secondary in the league, then more power to them, and they deserve to win.
3. Mike Ford needs to put up solid numbers. When Ford runs the ball well, it opens Grothe's running game as well.

This is USF's game to win this week, I'm afraid. I know that the spread has them as an underdog, but most commentary I have heard/seen/read lately is quite optimistic for USF.

By the way, this is the game to watch this week. Forget SEC/ACC/BigX. This is it. Let me put it this way. USF put people into the second deck at Raymond James for Elon. For UNC, they put a few in the second as well. For WVA, the stadium (three tiers) is almost sold out as of Tuesday, 4:00 PM EST.

It's big.

[Hoax]

Anyone not giving Cal v Oregon the nod for game of the weekend is suffering serious east coast bias.

[cmlancas]

Anyone not giving WVA v USF the nod for game of the weekend is suffering serious west coast bias.

FIFY.

 

USF went into WVA's house last year and won though. It may be because my team is Big East, but I think that's why this one is game of the weekend :)

[Mortriden]

Anyone not giving Cal v Oregon the nod for game of the weekend is suffering serious east coast bias.

Bingo.  Oregon's weekpoint is their Defence (as freaking always).  God we've put up some big numbers, but there's flaws in that D.