Like the Florida game, this one was close. In fact, Wisconsin’s Allan Evridge has a chance to tie the score with just 13 seconds left on the clock. His 2-point conversion attempt failed, and the BCS saw another top-ten team fall.

This game was fairly messy, though. Neither team played particularly well, and although Wisconsin has four turnovers, you can’t really cite that as the reason for the loss – Michigan has five of there own. No, it wasn’t the turnovers themselves…it was Michigan’s ability to take advantage of these Wisconsin mistakes.

“I’m so proud of these guys because there was probably some doubts in their mind about whether we could do it,” Coach Rich Rodriguez said. “This can be a really big win for us.”

It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of Rodriguez, but I do like to cheer for Michigan, probably because I HATE Ohio State. It is nice to see them get a win, though it does weaken Penn State’s strength of schedule a bit, since Wisconsin will drop.

Speaking of Penn State, as of writing this, they’re winning 21-14. Knock on wood. (You can read all about the Michigan-Wisconsin game here.)

Pictures via Newscom.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Weekend of Upsets Continues: Wisconsin Runs out of Steam

Many people were calling for a repeat of last year from Tim Tebow. Although there is no doubt that he’s a good quarterback, I doubt he’ll be in Heisman contention again this year. He peaked too early. In today’s game, Mississippi’s Jevan Snead (see left) was by far the best quarterback in the game. He threw for two touchdowns and ran in for another. Here’s a bit of trivia you may not know – Snead was a Florida recruit who changed his mind when he found our that they were also heavily recruiting Tebow.

Don’t get me wrong – this wasn’t a shit show like we saw on Thursday. Ole Miss got on the board early, but we saw Florida come back in the second quarter with 17 unanswered points. Things fell apart a bit in the second half, and although we had a close game in the 4th, the Ole Miss d-line proved to be too much for Tebow and the Gators.

Look, Snead’s numbers weren’t amazing, and both teams had some messy plays. It came down to a final last-minute extra point kick (see right), which was blocked by Kentrell Lockett, the hero of the game. This is the kind of rough-and-tumble football we see in the SEC, and although I’m not a Florida fan, I can’t say that they played like shit today. They played OK. Problem is, in the SEC OK isn’t good enough, even against Mississippi at home.

Pictures via Newscom.

Post from: EveryJoe

Another Mighty Team Falls during Week 5: Ole Miss Holds Off Florida

So what went wrong?

It was a combination of USC playing poorly and Oregon State playing well. Oregon State freshman Jacquizz Rodgers (#1, see below) and his brother James (#8, see right) ran all over the usually-strong Trojan defense, and Greg Laybourn was the hero of the night when he intercepted a late-4th-quarter pass from USC QB Mark Sanchez. USC Joe McKnight wasn’t playing well, Sanchez seemed rusty, and Taylor Mays certainly didn’t help the situation with personal fouls.

Who’s fault is is? McKnight seems to want to take this loss on himself, saying,

“I didn’t make the plays. Fumbled the ball, Dropped a pass. You can’t blame anybody else but me.”

Sanchez is also willing to take some blame for the poor performance.

“Not our sharpest tonight — everybody, every position. There’s no need to point fingers,” Sanchez said. “I’m as guilty as anyone else. I threw an interception — costly late in the game.”

In my opinion, though, there is only one person responsible for this loss:

That’s right. Pete Carroll. I’m sorry for all of those Pete fans out there, but this is not the first time we’ve seen him lead teams into games unprepared. Need I remind you of last year? He’s to blame because these are college kids. He never seems to prepare them well for games that they think don’t matter.

Newsflash: In college, you need to prepare for EVERY game as though you’re playing a top-ranked team. There are some many factors in a win. USC has the talent. They have the fans. They have the skill. What they don’t have is a coach who is humble enough to admit that his team isn’t perfect.

Carroll has that “holier than thou” mentality, almost like some teams aren’t worth his time. That’s why USC is known for choking on what should be an easy game. I don’t care how well Oregon State player – USC still should have won. They clearly have the better team on paper. I think USC in general needs an attitude adjustment, but ultimately, that falls on the coach’s shoulders. In college, players are only as good as their coach.

Pictures via Newscom.

Post from: EveryJoe

USC’s Epic Loss – Who is to Blame?

“I’m beside myself. They didn’t hide what they were doing, they just did it. We couldn’t stop it. We couldn’t tackle.”

I always cheer for the underdog, but this 21-27 victory for Oregon State is especially sweet. They’re getting pats on the back from tons of other teams as well, since this will put teams that have beat Oregon State in better standing and teams that have lost of USC in not-so-bad standing.

Oh, and Georiga? They’re loving it. Oklahoma? Ecstatic. Missouri? I bet Chase Daniel has a huge smile on his face right now, since the “Mark Sanchez should be in the running for a Heisman” talk is going to die down. Ohio State is even getting a good laugh right now.

This is why I love college football. Nothing is ever decided before a game. Sure you have upsets in the NFL, but at the end of the day, you aren’t going to see crazy upsets very often.

The thing about college is that players are “on” and “off” giving their current situation. It’s part of the immaturity that comes with being a young adult in college. Get on the board early, and you’ve got a better shot at winning the game. Worried about a physics test? Your throwing is going to be off. The crowd plays a major role too, and road games are ALWAYS going to be harder.

Tomorrow, I’ll post a little more about this game. For tonight, I just want to relish in the fact that the mighty USC has fallen. This season may not be as crazy as last year, but there are still some awesome upsets written in the stars…and I doubt this will be the last one of 2008.

Picture via Newscom.

Post from: EveryJoe

They’re Calling it the Upset of the Year…

I still suspect that USC will come back to win. All they have to do is get on the board, which will boost their confidence and intimidate Oregon State.

But I would not be sad to see USC lose. Not sad at all.

Just sayin’.

What’s that Rey Maualuga…what place are you going to get tonight?

Picture via Newscom.

Post from: EveryJoe

I wouldn’t be Sad if USC Lost…Just Sayin’…

Everyone’s been calling them the Hawaii of 2008. East Carolina has been dominating team after team, and were definitely eyeing a spot in a BCS Bowl game. Even undefeated, they wouldn’t have played in the Championship game, but with no losses, they’d be probable for one of the other four bowls. 

Today, those hopes are dashed. East Carolina lost 20-34 to North Carolina State in overtime. Did they deserve to lose? Probably not. A mistake in their first overtime possession, though, led to their demise. Andre Brown (24) made the winning touchdown for NC State (see left).

To me, this further reflects the need for a revision of the way the BCS works. The teams the battle for the title in the end will likely have at least one loss, and some of the teams playing in the four other BCS bowls may have two losses. I know, I know…it depends on the difficulty of your schedule as well, and East Carolina doesn’t have a schedule comparable to, for example, a team in the SEC.

Still, the automatic bids for some conferences seem unfair. I’m not sure a playoff system would be 100% fair either, but I feel like little guys should get a chance, even if they lose once during their season.

Hopefully, East Carolina will keep it together and go on to recover for this loss. You can read more about their loss today here. 

Pictures via Newscom.

Post from: EveryJoe

East Carolina’s Big Bowl Game Dreams are Dashed – Is that Fair?

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville–great Casey has struck out.

Ok, wrong sport…but I imagine that’s the general feeling on the LSU campus today. The Tigers, ranked #1 going into their Saturday evening match up with Kentucky (ranked #17), Were looking to go undefeated to the championship, and by the looks of their schedule, they probably would have done it too.

What made this game so exciting was that it wasn’t one of those major upsets like we’ve been seeing with teams like Stanford beating USC. No, everyone knew that Kentucky was good. Still, no one expected a game like this.

Both teams had a good day as far as turnovers go, with just 1 by LSU and 2 by Kentucky. However, Kentucky’s Andre Woodson dominated the game, throwing 21 completions in 38 attempts for a total of 250 yards. Those stats may no seem all that impressive, but compared to Matt Flynn’s, Woodson is golden. Flynn only made 17 of his 35 attempts for a total of 130 yards.

But give LSU some credit here – they killed in rushing, led by Charles Scott (7 carried for 94 yards), with the help of the team’s bulldozer, Jacob Hester (18 carries for 61 yards). Hester was injured during overtime, which may have accounted for the team’s final loss. Well, what do you expect when you play in three overtimes and have Kentucky’s defense slamming into you again and again?

That’s right – three overtimes. And you thought the Hawaii – San Jose State game was exciting! Kentucky almost won during regular game plan on a huge last-minute 57-yard field goal attempt by kicker Colt David, but the ball swung to the side just slightly (although, amazingly, had it gone straight, it would have made it).

During overtime, Kentucky started off with the ball and a false start penalty. At that point, fans were biting their nails, hoping the team could at least make it forward a bit to put them back into field goal range. Kentucky’s MVP for the night? LSU’s Tyson Jackson. During the first overtime play, he got called for roughing the passer, a huge 15-yard penalty. Derrick Locke rushed in for the touchdown and Lone Seiber’s field goal attempt sailed right in.

LSU wasn’t rattled, and Flynn passed to Demetrius Byrd, who walked into the endzone. David’s point was also good, putting the game into the second overtime. This time, LSu started with the ball. They were forced to kick a field goal, and David’s attempt was good. Not to be stopped, Seiber made a 43-yard field goal kick look easy. Game still tied, and the players headed into the third overtime.

When Locke’s rushing attempt didn’t gain any yardage and Kentucky got called for delay of game, things looked a bit grim. Woodson pulled it out of the fire on the third down on the play of the game – an endzone pass to Steve Johnson. College rules say that you have to go for the two-point conversion during third overtime, and Kentucky failed…but that wouldn’t matter. LSU put Hester in the game and gave him the ball 3 times for a total gain of 8 yards. Hester limped off the field, and Scott tried to pick up those 2 yards they needed for a first down…and failed.

Cue sea of blue to the field.

It was one of the most exciting games I’ve seen in a long time. Personally, I was cheering for Kentucky because I’d like to see a Big Ten school win the championship, which they are now in the position to do. In any case, though, watching this game made me again realize how much I love college football!

AP Photo/Ed Reinke

Post from: EveryJoe

More Thoughts on the LSU – Kentucky Game

In the beginning of the season, all of us sports writers thought it was weird that ND wasn’t playing well enough to be ranked. They usually are, even if they are young. Now that I’ve finally gotten used to the team blowing every week, they turn around a win one. Weird, weird, weird. And against UCLA, a team that’s not all that bad.

The game started with an early injury of UCLA QB Ben Olson, which meant that freshman redshirt McLeod Bethel-Thompson was the it man for the Bruins. He’s never thrown the ball in a college game before, and I’m guessing that his nerves got the best of him. Paired with inexperience, those nerves cost UCLA a number of interceptions. The team had a total of 7 turnovers for the game. Notre Dame had a near-perfect game, with no turnovers and not nearly as many penalties as UCLA.

This win, in which Jimmy Clausen really showed that he is improving in the college football world, ends the 8-game losing streak for Notre Dame. The team was a 0-5 laughingstock this season, specially since Clausen made such a big deal of choosing Notre Dame as the top high school quarterback. It may be too early to say, but I think this game was just a shadow of what is to come with this kid and the Notre Dame offensive line. By his junior year, I think the team could have chances at the championship game.

Post from: EveryJoe

It’s Official. This is the Weirdest Year in College Football EVER.

You must be joking, right? Nope. USC just took it up the butt.

It what must have seemed like a bad dream to USC Coach Pete Carroll , the Stanford Cardinal rallied and to score 17 points in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning touchdown. USC QB John David Booty can actually be credited for that touchdown, having turned the ball over four times. I don’t totally blame Booty for the ass-raping, though. He was just the lube. The whole team bent over for this one, playing more like Notre Dame than a Bowl contender. The game was laughable with mistakes, and Stanford simply capitalized on those errors.

The Trojans have no hope of holding onto one of the top two spots this week. Ranked #2 going into this game, many questioned LSU’s positioning over them, voicing opinions that this week would show them back in the top dog spot. Oh, say it isn’t so…looks like Ohio State is going to move on up.

I guess this is a good “don’t count your chickens before they hatch” lesson. No one could have ever expected this upset! Last night, I compared South Florida’s near loss to Michigan’s loss in week one, but Stanford’s win blows that out of the water. Could we have a year where the top two teams both go into the bowl game with losses? It’s possible. College football this year is uber-screwy.

AP Photo/Matt Sayles

Post from: EveryJoe

USC takes it up the…well, you know

The game was a travesty for the Cardinals, starting with a 79-yard touchdown run by Taj Smith on the first play. Quarterback Andrew Robinson had his game face on, throwing for 423 yards and 4 touchdowns. That’s a school record for the Orange.

Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe has no excuses for the team, citing too many penalities (12), too many turnovers (4), and too many breaks to stick their fingers up their asses (50 or so) as the main reasons the team lost. Ok, he only mentioned two of those three reasons…but it doesn’t mean they’re not all true.

The Cardinals now drop to 2-2 (o-1 in their conference), and I’m betting that their defense got ripped a new asshole in the locker room after the game. Syracuse was a 36 1/2 – point underdog, and a loss like that is just embarrassing.

But it’s not every day that you see the worst team in the conference win over a ranked team, and that’s what I love about college football. After all, someone needs to give Notre Dame hope that there’s a possibility for a single win this season…

Post from: EveryJoe

Upset of the Week: Louisville is PWND