Oregon's quarterback Jeremiah Masoli had a great day. Image: Newscom

Yes, you read that correctly. Forty-seven points. That’s the most points USC has ever given up since a very high-scoring game at UCLA in 1996. The entire Oregon team was on fire, but the major difference in this game was quarterback Jeremiah Masoli. He had 222 passing yards, 164 rushing yards, and 2 TDs during the game, along with one of the best quotes I’ve read in a long time, after someone mentioned that the game was a real statement:

“I don’t know if we made a statement, this is just what we planned on doing. If it makes a statement it makes a statement. That’s just Oregon football and how we roll.”

LeGarrette Blount has dominated Oregon football news since the beginning of the season when he punched a player after the Boise State game and recently when the NCAA began to talk about reinstating him after all. It’s nice to see the spotlight on other players, because this really is a fantastic team.

Morgan Flint did well as the team’s kicker, adding more points to the board to keep the Ducks ahead. LaMichael James, a redshirt freshman, also has a great game, scoring once and rushing for a total of 183 yards.

This could be the first time in seven years that USC hasn’t been the Pac-10 champion (though in some years, they shared the title). Let’s see what the Ducks can do the rest of the season.

Post from: EveryJoe

Oregon Wins the Pac-10 Battle

Washington wide receiver #3 James Johnson breaks down field, Image: Newscom

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. Mississippi
5. Penn State
6. California
7. LSU
8. Boise State
9. Miami
10. Oklahoma

What’s significant to note is who is not there anymore. And really, that boils down to my favorite team to bash, USC.

Sorry, USC fans. This was supposed to be an easy week for you. The Trojans took on Washington, and after a week at Ohio State’s horseshoe, everyone thought that this would be a relaxing game. Only Matt Berkley couldn’t start, so Aaron Corp took his place. And then Washington actually turned out to be good. Now, Washington already lost to LSU, but they took the moment of the 42-23 win against Idaho from Week Three and used it to beat back USC 16-13. The Trojans had absolutely no passing game, and the Huskies took advantage of that.

It was also a hard week for the MWC. BYU lost at home to Florida State, who is proving not to be a totally terrible team. So MWC fans put their confidence in TCU and Utah instead. TCU pulled through with a thorough beating of Texas State, but Utah was another story. They lost on the road to Oregon, and I couldn’t help but chant “overrated” in my head a bit. They were ranked too high after wins to just Utah State and San Jose State. So now, it’s up to you, TCU.

The week started off with an upset, though, so I guess it was Week Three’s fate to have a bunch of games that pissed people off. Thursday gave us #20 Miami beating #14 Georgia Tech 33 – 17. They’re done. Miami has more than proved that the deserve to be in the top ten. Georgia Tech has more than proved that they deserved to be dropped from the rankings completely. On Friday, Boise State (#10) won against Fresno State 51-34, but don’t be too fooled by the score. Boise State played like crap, both the teams’ defenses sucked, and the game looked like it might go either way for awhile there.

And then there was the Florida – Tennessee game. Coming into this game, my money was on Florida, but I knew that Tennessee wasn’t just going to lie down and take a beating – and they didn’t. The Vols put up a fight, but also knew when they were bested. I think the main problem here was that Kiffin played it safe. Rather than making big plays, which was what they needed for any hope of winning against the Gators, they chose to hold back, focusing more on not doing anything stupid than on taking risks. Florida won 23-13, but it was a good game.

Some other games of interest:

• #13 Virginia Tech beat #18 Nebraska 16-15. VT just has a strong defense, and the game ended up coming down to possession time at the end. Kudos to Nebraska’s kicker, who kept the Cornhuskers in the game.
• Michigan State lost a heartbreaker to Notre Dame on Saturday. With a final score of 33 – 30, we’re beginning to see just how disappointing this Fighting Irish team really is. They should have killed MSU.
• In what I like to call “the battle of who sucks less,” Washington State beat SMU 30 – 27 in overtime.

Post from: EveryJoe

College Football Week Three 2009 in Review

First and foremost, what the crap, Oklahoma State. I think like, the entire state of Oklahoma is bummed out. First, Sam Bradford gets injured. Now this. In case you didn’t watch the game…Oklahoma State, who was ranked #5, got their asses handed to them by Houston. Most people don’t even realize that Houston has a football team. At first, it was just a good game, but Oklahoma State didn’t look like they were really in jeopardy. Whatever adjustments the Cougars made during halftime worked, though. They scored 21 points in the fourth quarter alone! Final score? 45 – 35. Ouch, Cowboys. There goes your bowl game bid.

Everyone’s still talking about the Ohio State – USC game, too. I actually watched every minute of this game on a 72 – inch HDTV. Be jealous. I was cheering Ohio State (Big Ten love), but I knew it would be a close game, and I’m not upset that USC won. Every year, people say that Big Ten teams can’t compete with Pac-10 teams, but I think this game proves that they can.

USC's #4 Joe McKnight was key in the win against Ohio State. Image: Newscom

The final score was 18 -15, and it was not an easy game for either team by any means. It came down to a final amazing drive across the field by USC’s Matt Barkley and Joe McKnight, which led to a score and two-point conversion. There just wasn’t enough time left on the clock for the Buckeyes to make anything happen to take back the lead. Ohio State dropped to #11, from being #8 last week, and I personally think it is a good place for them to be. Although some are calling for them to drop farther, if you saw the game, you know that USC just barely outplayed Ohio State, and the win had a lot to do with timing rather than talent.

Florida, Texas, and Alabama all won. *shrug* No big new there. The games sucked, for the most part. It was interesting that Texas was so sloppy against Wyoming in the first half, but other than that, there really wasn’t anything to see.

Other interesting scores:

• On Thursday, #15 Georgia Tech was almost upended by Clemson. Final score, 30 – 27. Read about it more at The Palmetto Scoop and Football Zone TV.
• Connecticut kept up with #19 North Carolina, but ultimately fell 12 – 10. Read about it more at Tar Heel Blue.
• Ouch. Michigan State lost to Central Michigan 29 – 27, who is a better team than people give them credit for. Read about it more at The Niles Star and The Scores Report.
• Wisconsin held on against Fresno State in double overtime. Final score was 34 – 31 – it was a great game. Read about it more at Bleacher Report.
• UCLA beat Tennesse 19 – 15. Another great game. Read about it more at the UCLA website and Ledger-Enquirer.

Post from: EveryJoe

College Football Week Two 2009 in Review

Before we get into the games, let’s look at the Top 10 list for this week:

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. USC
4. Alabama
5. Oklahoma State
6. Mississippi
7. Penn State
8. Ohio State
9. BYU
10. California

The top five in particular intrigue me. #1 Florida play Troy this week, and try as I might, I can’t even imagine this as a good game. It should be as easy of a game as last week’s game against Charleston Southern. #2 Texas arguably has an even easier game, playing at Wyoming. #4 Alabama also has a gimme game, hosting Florida International this week, and #5 Oklahoma State might has well just have a 4-0 record now, since they play Houston this week and Rice and Grambling State the two weeks after that. Well, ok, Houston may be a little resistance. As long as OK State doesn’t lose their head, though, it should be a win for the Cowboys.

So does that mean Week Two is a complete waste of time? No way – because this week, #3 USC travels across the country to Buckeyes territory to take on #8 Ohio State at home.

This week is USC's Matt Barkley's real test. Image: Newscom

Now, last week, Ohio State was anything but impressive. You might not know it from the final score, but they were perilously close to letting Navy run away with the game before rallying to come out on top. They’ll have to do better than that to beat the Trojans. On the other hand, though USC stomped San Jose State last week, they have a brand-new quarterback and they’ll be playing at one of the hardest places in major college football. Terrell Pryor might be young too, but he’s an old pro next to true freshman Matt Barkley. So, my friends, I believe we have game.

There are other potentially good games during Week Two as well.

On Saturday afternoon, #18 Notre Dame plays at Michigan. One team has a fairly experienced quarterback. The other team has allegedly been working to the bone to prepare for the season. Both teams have coaches that have a lot to lose. If Notre Dame doesn’t have a BCS bowl season, head coach Charlie Weis should be worried about his job. If Michigan doesn’t at least have a winning season with some exciting wins, head coach Rich Rodriguez may get run out of town. Hell, even if they do have a great season, Coach Rod may be fleeing the state when the season is over, the way things are going for him. On both teams, you’ve got players who are just sick and tired of being laughed at. With so much on the line, it should be an interesting game.

Personally, I want to watch the UCLA – Tennessee as well. Neither team is ranked, but they both want to be. Last week, UCLA won over San Diego State – no surprise. Tennessee also had a fairly easy week, winning over Western Kentucky. Against one another? I think the game will be pretty even. The Tennessee defense might tip the scales in their favor, but we’ll see.

Also significant? #18 Miami doesn’t play this week after surprisingly beating Florida State last week to knock them out of the Top 25. Will their week off slow them down enough to make the game on September 17 against Georgia Tech a lost cause for the Hurricanes?

Your thoughts on Week Two?

Post from: EveryJoe

College Football Week Two 2009 Preview

Week One is usually not very exciting, unfortunately. My favorite team, Penn State, plays Akron, so although this game means they’ll likely be able to keep a high rank, it won’t actually be that fun to watch. Actually, I don’t even think the game is being televised… Maybe I’m selling Akron short. *shrug*

Can Kellen Moore take Boise State to a BCS Bowl this year? Image: Newscom

In any case, despite all of the easy non-conference games we’re seeing during Week One, there are some games to watch as well. The season officially starts on Thursday at 7:00 PM EST, when a number of teams kick off, but the real start to the season, in my opinion, is at 10:15 PM EST when #16 Oregon takes on #14 Boise State. The games on ESPN, and you bet I’ll be watching. Boise State has a lot more on the line than Oregon, since it will be harder for them to be bowl eligible as a WAC team than it will for Oregon as a Pac-10 team. It’s also at Boise State, and Kellen Moore is a solid quarterback, so I give them the edge in this game.

Another game to watch? San Jose State at #4 USC, with a kickoff at 3:30 PM EST on Saturday. Now, no one here expects this to be a close game. In fact, if USC doesn’t run all over San Jose State, I think you’ll have to pick my jaw up off of the floor. I want to see the freshman golden boy quarterback play, though. People put so much emphasis on Pete Carroll’s choice to play true freshman Matt Barkley instead of returner Aaron Corp. This game will really test him to see if he can handle the pressure of being the leader of such a popular team. Will Corp get any playing time at all? We’ll see.

The USC game isn’t nationally televised, so I’ll have to keep up with it online…but that’s ok, since my eyes will be glued to the 3:30 PM EST game on ABC: #13 Georgia at #9 Oklahoma State. My heart is with Oklahoma State on this one, but it isn’t going to be an easy game by any means. They’ve lost Matt Stafford, but if Joe Cox, their new quarterback, really steps up, they could be the surprise of the SEC this year. Florida who? This game is going to set the stage for Georgia for the entire season, so I feel like they’ll fight tooth and nail for it, but Oklahoma State isn’t going to just bend over and take it. They have a huge number of returning starters and are also looking to set the stage for a surprising season. Otherwise, they’ll never be competitive in the Big 12.

On a side note, I’ll also be checking in with the 3:40 game, Missouri versus Illinois. The teams aren’t ranked, but I think it will be an even match up and a good game. Big Ten love!

Sam Bradford is back, hoping to lead the Sooners to a National Championship game again. Image: Newscom

At 7:00 PM, another possibly great game hits ESPN – #20 BYU versus #2 Oklahoma. Ok, I may be going against the grain a little here when I say that I think BYU is overrated. I do love that they’re helping to make a name for a non-BCS conference, which pushes the issue of a playoff system. Do they have a good enough offensive line to beat Oklahoma? What about receivers? They may have the defense they need to keep Oklahoma’s numbers down, even though OU has some amazing returners like Sam Bradford, but you can’t win if you don’t put any points on the board. My vote for winner definitely does to Oklahoma. Sorry, BYU, better luck next year.

Just an hour after the BYU-OU game starts, #5 Alabama meets #7 Virginia Tech on the field, the game televised on ABC. This is a tricky game to predict, in my opinion. The Hokies may take the ACC, and Tyrod Taylor is back at quarterback. Is that enough to top Alabama? The Crimson Tide are replacing great offensive players like Andre Smith, and they have a new quarterback, but players like Mark Ingram could make the difference in this game. Like with Georgia, Alabama needs to win this game to set the stage for the season if they’re going to be competitive in the SEC.

It’s going to be a great Week One – better than we’ve seen in quite a few seasons. I’ll also be interested to see how Notre Dame does against Nevada – an easy win for the Fighting Irish, maybe, but I want to see is quarterback Jimmy Clausen can really put up numbers. Also on my radar is Maryland at #12 California, which starts late Saturday night and Miami at #18 Florida State which is on ESPN at 8:00 PM EST on Monday.

Post from: EveryJoe

College Football Week One 2009 Preview

Today, Carroll announced that the starting position would belong to Barkley when the team plays San Jose State on September 5. At the end of spring training, Carroll had announced that Corp would be the team’s starting quarterback for Week One, so many people seem surprised by this new development. Come on, people…you didn’t see this coming?

Corp and Barkley competing at practice. Image: Newscom

Number one, although Corp was promised the starting job last spring, I’ve noted before that the practice was one of competition over the past month. It wasn’t a secret that Carroll was working out all three players as though they may be starting.

Number two, Carroll was visibility and vocally upset at the end of last season when Sanchez made it public that he was going to enter the draft. I don’t blame him. He spent a year building up someone who he thought would be with his team for at least two seasons. The Trojans were good last year. Maybe with a returning Sanchez, they could have been great this year – maybe even national champions. So, it makes sense that Carroll would go with a younger quarterback who is going to give him two or three years at least. Corp, on the other hand, could pull a Sanchez at the end of the season.

Number three? Boy’s got talent. To be a freshman and convince a coach that you should lead USC, you have to be good. Carroll has said that Barkley has the “temperament to handle the position” as well. The players like him. He’s not an ass. Those things count.

Oh, and I thought I had just three points…but number four, let’s not forget that Corp is coming off of an injury. He broke a bone in he leg on August 10 and missed two weeks of practice. In the weeks leading up to your first game, that’s major.

Carroll has noted that the competition will continue, but he’s also said that Barkley isn’t just the team’s one-game starter. He’s going to give the guy a chance, even if he’s not so good during Week One. I have to say, though, if the Trojans lose against San Jose State, Carroll might be singing a different tune.

Post from: EveryJoe

Is Carroll’s QB Choice That Surprising?

One person who hopes to have a chance even though he doesn’t have any college experience is freshman Matt Barkley, according to reports. The team started working out on Saturday, and this young quarterback from Orange County has been holding his own with Corp and backup quarterback Mitch Mustain. Barkley graduated early from high school and enrolled at USC for the spring in order to take part in spring practices with the team.

Aaron Corp and Matt Barkley at practice. Image: Newscom

Corp isn’t going down without a fight, though. The starting position is his to lose, and although Barkley may be impressive for a freshman, Corp is taller and is more mobile and consistent. Mustain is a quiet threat too, though. He is a transfer from Arkansas, where he was a freshman starter, and he probably could have started at many other BCS school, so he won’t just sit back and watch as he falls to third string at USC.

Carroll admits that a lot can happen between now and the season opener against San Jose State in four weeks. Who will we see shine for the Trojans this year? My money is on Corp, but it’s really anyone’s game at this point.

Post from: EveryJoe

Who Will QB for the Trojans in 2009?

Tim Floyd resigned on Tuesday, perhaps due to speculation about NCAA recruiting violations concerning former player, OJ Mayo.

I know that you are innocent until proven guilty, but when you bow out like this it only makes everyone think that you are guilty. According to Rivals.com, “Floyd didn’t address the allegation in his letter to USC athletic director Mike Garrett, which was obtained by the Clarion-Ledger and also released by USC in a statement.”

In the letter, Floyd said he was resigning due to lack of enthusiasm. I find that hard to believe. He has only been USC’s head coach for four seasons. Maybe he was forced to resign, or maybe he felt that the Yahoo! Sports report about the alleged allegations had tainted his career at USC. Whatever the real reason is doesn’t matter. Floyd’s coaching career will be tainted no matter where he goes.

USC, meanwhile, is now dealing with two separate investigations into the school’s football and basketball programs.

“The University is cooperating fully in the continuing investigation with the NCAA and Pac-10 into all allegations of NCAA and Pac-10 rules violations at USC,” USC vice president Todd Dickey said in a statement Tuesday. “The university, the NCAA and Pac-10 have jointly conducted interviews of approximately 50 witnesses. No conclusions have yet been reached. … At this point, it would be both inappropriate and premature to comment further.”

Unfortunately, I have to disagree with Dickey. Conclusions by the media and the general public have already been reached. And they aren’t good.

Photo: Zuma

Post from: EveryJoe

Tim Floyd Resigns From USC

According to Yahoo! Sports, Tim Floyd paid a man named Rodney Guillory,who helped deliver O.J. Mayo to the Trojans program.

Tim Floyd is under investigation for reportedly paying someone to bring O.J. Mayo to USC.

This information was given by a former friend of Mayo’s, Louis Johnson, who told NCAA officials (as well as the FBI, IRS and U.S. Attorney’s Office) that Floyd gave at least $1,000 in cash to Guillory so that he could continue to ply Mayo with star treatment and numerous gifts.

Didn’t USC learn anything from the Reggie Bush scandal? The college is already under a three-year investigation for violating NCAA regulations in both the football and men’s basketball programs.

But beyond all of that, I have one important question.  Was O.J. Mayo even worth it?

Image: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

USC’s Tim Floyd Bought Mayo

Image: Newscom

#5 2009 Draft Pick – Mark Sanchez, Quarterback, USC

I think that happiness will die quickly. Sanchez might prove me wrong, but they really need a franchise quarterback. This is a tough, tough, tough place for him to be. The Jets are the only team in their division without a great quarterback…and I think they needed someone much stronger than Sanchez. I mean, hell, he’s only played what, 16 games?

Sanchez says that he wanted to be with the Jets. If that’s true, he wouldn’t have looked so disappointed when Jason Smith was chosen… Just a thought.

Well, I wish him well. I still think he’s not as great of a player was some people think. When he was picked, a friend of mine texted me “Why doesn’t ESPN just blow Sanchez already?” It’s true. They GUSHED over him. Mark Sanchez, prove me wrong. Please. Or New York will rip you to pieces.

Here are other draft picks:

1. Matthew Stafford, Quarterback, Georgia to the Detroit Lions

2. Jason Smith, Offensive Tackle, Baylor to the St. Louis Rams

3. Tyson Jackson, Defensive Tackle, LSU to the Kansas City Chiefs

4. Aaron Curry, OLB, Wake Forest to the Seattle Seahawks

Post from: EveryJoe

2009 NFL Draft: Jets Pick Mark Sanchez