As of now, the Bills aren’t too sure what the exact hip injury is or how long it will linger.

Said head coach Dick Jauron: “We’re kind of hoping it goes away as quickly as it came.”

This is yet another setback in what has been a very disappointing season so far for Owens. Owens came to Buffalo with a lot of fanfare but has been a bust so far. In eight games, he has only 23 catches for 281 yards and one receiving touchdown. Coming into this season, he had double-digit touchdowns in each of his last three campaigns.

If Owens can’t go on Sunday, expect Lee Evans and Josh Reed to start at wide receiver. Trent Edwards, who has been out of action lately, will return to the starting quarterback role for the Bills.

Terrell Owens - Buffalo Bills (Image: Zuma Press)

Post from: EveryJoe

Terrell Owens Has Mysterious Hip Injury

Early this season, Western Illinois’ Don Patterson stepped down. I can’t fault him for the decision, as he’s battled tonsillar cancer in the past and is still feeling the effects, despite being cancer-free as of his last check-up.

Western Illinois coach Don Patterson (left) after Wisconsin's 35-10 win. Image: Newscom

However, two schools have already fired their coaches.

In Conference USA, Memphis fired head coach Tommy West after a disappointing season. West has made his voice heard, saying that the schools either needs to put more money into the football program or just bury it, shutting it down completely. West will stay until the end of the season, but this has to have a major effect on the team. They already have a losing season in the making, and this will only make matters worse.

The other school to give their coach the boot? Western Kentucky. ESPN has called the Hilltoppers’ season “horrific,” and I’ll agree with that assessment. This Sun Conference team is 0-9, which is making experts question whether this team is truly ready to be playing with the big boys. They’ve only been a FBS for a few years now, but are statistically last or nearly last in almost every category. David Elson will also be staying for the rest of the season, but is gone afterward.

So, we’ve now seen three casualties in 2009. Are there more to come before the end of the year and in early 2010? I’m sure some coaches will find themselves in the same boat soon.

Post from: EveryJoe

College Coaches are Already Being Fired

The game package includes round trip airfare for two, three nights lodging, commemorative gifts, admission to a pre-game party, and two tickets to the Championship Game. Even if you don’t win the big prize, you could win a year’s supply of Dr Pepper, a $50 Gift card to ESPNShop.com or UltimateCollegeFan.com, and more.

Image: Dr Pepper

Plus as an added bonus, one lucky EveryJoe reader will win a tailgate package that includes:

• Weber 1520 Propane Gas Go-Anywhere Grill
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Be sure to enter the code EVERYJOE to be eligible for the tailgate prizepack. The sweepstakes ends November 16th.

Post from: EveryJoe

Dr Pepper College Football Sweepstakes

Being the Monday Morning Quarterback is so passé. Now it’s cooler to be in the media spotlight and talk about the game and call the shots. What were your favorite plays? Who earned their right this week to capture the glory of the gridiron?

With John Madden out of the television booths this year, and aren’t we all just a little happier for that, there’s a large gap to be filled by people sharing their own opinion of what so-and-so-needs-to-do.

Now you’ve got your chance with the NFL.com NFL Weekly Countdown application.

Using some nice Web 2.0 AJAXY goodness, you can now rate your own favorite plays of the week and your voice is going to be heard. The NFL Weekly Countdown, which is broadcast each Wednesday at 4:30pm on the NFL Network, announces the results of all the voting by fans for what their top plays are for the week.

So, get your mic on and your color-commentary ready, share your Top 10 Plays of the Week on the NFL Weekly Countdown site.

Post from: EveryJoe

Calling All Monday Morning Commentators

1. Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have the game’s best player and a very solid defense.

2. New Orleans Saints
No offense in the NFL compares with New Orleans’ unit.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers
The reigning Super Bowl champs still deserve a lot of respect.

4. New England Patriots
With Tom Brady back in form, the Patriots can beat anyone.

5. Minnesota Vikings
Brett Favre and the Vikings are for real.

6. Dallas Cowboys
Is there a hotter team in the league than the Cowboys?

7. Arizona Cardinals
If the offense can get hot, the Cardinals can surprise.

8. Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals are a surprisingly well-rounded team at the moment.

9. San Diego Chargers
The defense is getting hot and the offense is packed with weapons.

10. Philadelphia Eagles
Though they’ve had tough recent losses, the Eagles are dangerous.

The best player in the NFL (Image: Zuma Press)

Post from: EveryJoe

NFL Power Rankings – Week 10

Entering the fourth quarter, the Giants trailed 14-7. Then, they got hot. Lawrence Tynes hit two field goals and Eli Manning had a TD strike to tight end Kevin Boss. But with 21 seconds remaining in the game, Philip Rivers connected with Vincent Jackson to give the Chargers the the one-point win.

On the game, Rivers had three touchdown passes — two of which went to Jackson. Manning had two touchdown passes — one to Boss and one to Steve Smith.

While the Giants are plummeting, the Chargers are playing extremely well. They’ve won three straight games. Although LaDainian Tomlinson appears to be a shadow of his former self, the rest of the team is coming together nicely — especially the defense.

Next week, the Giants take on the Atlanta Falcons while the Chargers take on the Philadelphia Eagles.

Eli Manning and the Giants are struggling (Image: Zuma Press)

Post from: EveryJoe

Giants Lose Again, This Time to Chargers

Julio Jones, one of Alabama's leaders. Image: Newscom

The question remains, though – does Alabama deserve a rematch with Florida? There’s no question that team deserves the SEC West title. LSU is the only other team that even comes close to Alabama’s talent and skill. Some are questioning, however, whether a game against Florida is really worth the time.The Gators are dominating the SEC East and with Tebow on the field, a title game may seem like a bit of a formality.

Here’s what I have to say to those commenters: it is Florida you should be questioning, not Alabama.

The Crimson Tide started the season against Virginia Tech, a team that was ranked #7 at the time and is still ranked as #21 in the BCS standings. Admittedly, they had some easy games with teams like Florida International, North Texas, and Arkansas. However, along with LSU, they also beat Mississippi (ranked #20 at the time) and South Carolina (ranked #22 at the time).

Let’s look at Florida’s schedule now. Charleston Southern. Troy. Vanderbilt. The only ranked team they played all season was LSU, and that was a fairly abysmal game. The Gators only won 13 – 3. Of course, the team did play a handful of games without Tebow, so it’s maybe hard to really evaluate the team.

To me, this isn’t Florida’s fault as much as it is a symptoms of the current BCS set-up. Teams have learned that they can come out on top if they pad their schedule with teams like Charleston Southern, as long as they still play most of the teams in their conference. Is this good football? No. Most of the teams in the top 10 could have performed as well as Florida with their schedule.

I think the SEC title game will be really interesting. It’ll be the first true test for Florida, and the first time Alabama will be fighting an uphill battle.

Post from: EveryJoe

Alabama: Deserving of the SEC Title Game?

It doesn’t look like that will be the case. Today, Iowa fell, but not to Penn State (no, they beat them gloriously – sigh – earlier this season) and not to Ohio State (they play one another next week). Iowa was stomped into the ground by none other than Northwestern.

Ok, “stomped into the ground” is a little harsh. The game ended up with a score of 17 – 10, which isn’t necessarily bad, until you realize just how mediocre  both of the teams really were today. It’s really easy to claim that this only happened because Ricky Stanzi, the Hawkeyes quarterback, got taken out with an ankle injury in the first half. That definitely contributed to the loss. I’m not buying it, though, that the team deserved to be ranked #4, with or without Stanzi. Iowa may have been undefeated, but what the records don’t show is that they’ve played sloppily in many games and almost lost more than once.

So at this point, the Big Ten title could still go to Iowa, or it could belong to either Ohio State or Penn State. After the Iowa game, all of these teams had one loss. Just a short time after, though, Ohio State and Penn State kicked off, and it quickly became apparent who had the upper hand. Personally, I think that both quarterbacks looked pretty bad today, but when it was put on the shoulders of the rest of the offense to make plays, Ohio State’s players stepped up. Penn State’s embarrassing 24 – 7 loss puts them out of the running for the title.

Yep, this was pretty much the scene all day in Happy Valley. Image: Newscom

Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Michigan State finally showed that they actually remember how to play football by crushing Western Michigan 49 – 14. Michigan, on the other hand, didn’t have such a good day, losing 38 – 36 to Purdue. I will say, however, that even though Michigan’s record isn’t so good, they’re hanging in there every week and actually showing some hope for the future under Rich Rodriguez. Wisconsin held on against Indiana (for the record, I think they’re overrated too at #21, but that’s a post for another day), and Illinois overcame Minnesota 35 – 32.

The Big Ten may not be a powerhouse at this point, but hopefully they can rebuild the conference to be competitive nationally again. At least with teams like Iowa rising to such a high ranking, which teams in the Big Ten do consistently every year, they’re remaining attractive to prospective students, which can only lead to strong teams in the future.

Post from: EveryJoe

Big Ten Teams Shake Things Up

In Week 9 of the 2009 NFL season, Moats will make his first start. Last week, he had 126 rushing yards and a franchise record three rushing touchdowns. Slaton, on the other hand, was benched after yet another fumble.

Last year, Slaton rushed for 1,282 yards and had 377 receiving yards. He also had nine rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown. This year, Slaton has 342 rushing yards, 314 receiving yards and a total of four touchdowns.

In Week 9, the Texans take on the Indianapolis Colts. The Texans have won three straight games and four out of their last five, but they have a very difficult test this week. If Moats can help Houston beat the Colts, he may keep that starting job for the foreseeable future. If he struggles, Slaton will likely get another shot to prove that his rookie season wasn’t a fluke.

Steve Slaton has lost his starting job (Image: Zuma Press)

Post from: EveryJoe

Ryan Moats to Start for the Texans

Perhaps the biggest opponent for the Colts though is battling their own challenges with injured players. Many people really wondered about the Colts this season with a new head coach in Jim Caldwell and the release of Marvin Harrison from the receiver squad. The bigger challenge though has been injured players. With so many new and young players in the lineup I’m very impressed and proud of my Colts.

Here’s the latest injury report:

• Marlin Jackson (Cornerback) – out for season
• Bob Sanders (Strong Safety) – out for season
• Kelvin Hayden (Cornerback) – 3-4 weeks
• Anthony Gonzalez (Receiver) – ???
• Pierre Garcon (Wide Receiver) – game time decision
• Fili Moala (Defensive Tackle) – game time decision
• Tyjuan Hagler (Linebacker) – out for season
• Adam Vinatieri (Kicker) – ???

What I love about the Colts this season is that everyone has stepped up and played their role when they’ve needed them. With players out, other players have moved in and performed well. We need to keep that effort and intensity and work through this.

I love Bob Sanders as a player, but his unavailability from season-to-season is really making me question the money we’re putting into him. When he’s on the field, he’s a force to be reckoned with, it’s just too bad he’s been off the field more than he’s been on it.

Post from: EveryJoe

Indianapolis Colts Injury Update