Wrapping Up Last Week and Looking Forward to Another

Before I move on to the Texas Tech game, I wanted to point out two last things that came out of the La Tech game.

First, a critique of a La Tech coaching decision. With less than a minute remaining in the first half and Texas A&M leading 14-7, La Tech executing a great pooch punt putting the Aggies on the 2 yard line. La Tech had two timeouts remaining, but for whatever reason chose not to use them. A&M was able to run a QB sneak and took the lead to the half. Keep in mind that the field had just taken a heavy downpour barely an hour before. Had La Tech chosen to use the timeouts to make A&M run two more plays, the ball would've been damp and the footing loose. It just didn't fell like the Bulldogs were playing for the win and that surprised me. Given this I'm not quite sure where all the whining about the officiating comes from.

Later in the game the Aggie defense made a goalline stand and on the fourth play La Tech fumbled the ball, proving the value of extending the game and giving the opposition more chances to make a mistake on a sloppy field.

Second, Texas A&M has given up 59 first downs this season but 10 of them have been a result of penalties. This is way to many to find success against serious competition. Hopefully Coach Fran has worked some this week on not making the kind of mental mistakes that A&M can't afford. The last thing Texas Tech needs is more opportunities to burn the Aggies deep.

Speaking of Texas Tech, what I'll be looking for from the stands this week as A&M has its first real test of the season:

-Much has been made of Tech's potent passing attack, but A&M hopes to stop it, they will have to get more pressure on the quarterback than they have to date. If Graham Harrell is consistently rushing his passes, good things are in store for the Aggies.

-I've actually been fairly happy with the depth that Peterson, Gorrer, Carpenter and Arkeith Brown bring to the A&M secondary. It will be interested to see how they look against Tech. If these guys prove early that they can stay with Filani and Hicks, I'll be a happy Aggie in the stands.

-Last week I complained about the offensive playcalling and, lo and behold, everything I'd dreamt of came to be (and then some). This week I'll be looking for more of the same. I'd also like to see Goodson on the field for runs that aren't options once in a while and greater use of Martellus Bennett and L'Tydrick Riley in the passing game.

-At times, motivation and focus have been problems for the Aggies (see Army, the Citadel and the first quarter of the La Tech game). Of course if this team can't get up for the Big XII opener against an intrastate rival, there isn't much hope for the rest of the season. We should all know a lot more in a mere 48 hours.

Gig 'Em.

Reaction to the La Tech Game

Having had 24 hours to reflect a bit on last night's game, its getting just about time to put some thoughts down on paper (or what passes for paper these days). This was my third game at Kyle Field and was, without a doubt, both the oddest and the most inspiring.

I first heard about the threat of bad weather Friday night and through the day Saturday the news only got worse and worse. By noon it looked distinctly possible that we were going to be in the midst of a severe thunderstorm right about the time that I was riding my bike home. As the day progressed, it became obvious that the rough stuff would be here sooner than expected.

I hopped on the bicycle about a quarter after five and was in my seat by 5:40 with some pretty nasty clouds looming to the north. About 10 minutes before the kick off the powers-that-be decided it would be better to delay the start of the game than stop it mid way through the first quarter for the impending lightning. The announcer urged everyone to seek shelter, but we were under the overhang in the last row of the first deck and so we just stayed put.

Before long College Station was in the middle of a torrential downpour, with lightning off to the north showcasing intensity to match the rain. After quite a drenching the rain slackened but the lightning remained, continuing to delay the game. It was about this time that some alert students went down the first row and started an improptu yell practice. The spirit of the student section made me proud to be able to call myself an Aggie. Even better was the number of fans that showed up when the game was finally allowed to start at 8, two hours after the originally scheduled kickoff.

Having been part of a lengthy lightning delay as a player in high school, I'm of the opinion that it is very difficult to come back out and play with a normal level of focus and intensity. Its also not easy to predict which team will react better to the interruption. Last night that team was La Tech who came out and moved the ball on their opening possession, before the Ags defense tightened up and forced a punt. The Aggie offense spent the first drive in the shadow of their own goal, failing to gain a first down. After trading the ball for the majority of the 1st quarter, La Tech capitalized with a long touchdown run following an A&M fumble to take the early lead. Unfortunately for La Tech, this would be the high point of their game as Texas A&M rolled off 38 straight points to take control of the game for good.

The defense in particular deserves commendation as for the second straight game they made a huge goalline stand. By stopping the Bulldogs on the first three tries from inside the five, the Aggie defense extended the opportunity for a La Tech mistake, one that came in the form of a botched snap with Devin Gregg recovered on the 1 yard line. A mere six plays later, the A&M offense converted on the second touchdown pass of the day to Chris Alexander to take a 35-7 lead and seal the outcome.

Before the game I had complained about Coach Fran's playcalling being too predictable, especially on the Jorvorskie smash (my name, not his). On this particular play, A&M lines up in power I with a flanker as the second fullback who is then sent in motion to his regular position. Prior to halftime last night every time this formation had been used it led to a Lane run between the tackles. On the last play of the 99 yard drive A&M lined up this way again and with everybody in the stadium looking for the Jorvorskie smash (La Tech included) McGee faked the handoff and made the easy throw to Alexander in the front corner of the endzone. A beautiful setup and hopefully one that can be used again before the season is over.

Following this game, I've decided that A&M belongs in my top 25, a decision that I had postponed following last week's debacle in the Alamodome. I'm willing to write off the first quarter as the result of a weather induced funk and say that A&M is a much improved team. Here is hoping that they don't make me look silly next week when Texas Tech comes to town.

I'll close with some heroes of the game:

Offense
-Stephen McGee who had arguably the best game of his career going 17/28 for 316 yards and 3 TDs. Your guess is as good as mine as to why A&M only threw the ball 11 times last week. Particularly impressive were the number of smart throwaways that McGee made after eluding pressure. The fact that, as a sophomore, he isn't forcing things is a very good sign for the future.

Defense
-Arkeith Brown who was matched up against the superb Johnathon Holland for most of the night and held Holland to 3 catches for 27 yards.

Special Teams
-Justin Brantly whose punts bring new meaning to the term "rainmaker." This kid has a leg that is just unbelievable. La Tech learned in the first quarter that it isn't good to try and trade field position with A&M.

Week 5 BlogPoll Draft Ballot

Another week, another ballot. Three things to note on this weeks ballot:

1) Oklahoma is back. I had been refusing to rank them following the UAB game but I just couldn't leave them off and rank Washington, so they are back. Plus it seemed bad to have Oregon in the top ten and the Sooners not even ranked.

2) I finally had to break from the "Team A beat Team B and thus is ranked higher" that had been my governing principle up until now. Clemson deserves to be in the Top 25, but by the above logic, so does Akron (through the Clemson-BC-NC State relation). This just doesn't fly. Darn you ACC.

3) I wasn't very happy with last week's ballot where I felt I was a little too high on Georgia, West Virginia and Virginia Tech who hadn't really accomplished anything yet this season. As a result their struggles in games they won has a more negative effect than such a performance usually would.

Comments are both welcome and appreciated. As always, first the rankings and then my thoughts:

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Auburn	--
2	Ohio State	--
3	Michigan	--
4	Southern Cal	--
5	Florida	--
6	Louisiana State	3
7	Texas	4
8	Louisville	4
9	Oregon	1
10	Tennessee	3
11	Iowa	5
12	Virginia Tech	2
13	West Virginia	7
14	Cal	3
15	Georgia	8
16	TCU	2
17	Nebraska	3
18	Notre Dame	3
19	Rutgers	2
20	Clemson	2
21	Georgia Tech	1
22	Oklahoma	4
23	Missouri	2
24	Texas A&M	2
25	Washington	1

Dropped Out: Boston College (#19), Arizona State (#23), Michigan State (#24).

Some Thoughts:

1. Auburn - Functional DNP

2. Ohio State - Two weeks in a row with less than stellar starts. Iowa looms large.

3. Michigan - Took care of business in a big let down game.

4. USC - I think that the theme for top five teams this week was second half success.

5. Florida - The Gators are very close to USC and Michigan in my mind. If I could I would rank them all 3rd.

6. LSU - The best one loss team out there.

7. Texas - I think that Texas might lose three games this year.

8. Louisville - The win over K-State is better than it looks.

9. Oregon - BYE

10. Tennessee - The Vols are being pulled up by Florida and pushed by Cal. This seems about right.

11. Iowa - Ask me again in a week.

12. Virginia Tech - Almost started the meltdown early this year. Its hard to believe that the Big East is just as strong right now as the ACC-Super-Conference-Juggernaut.

13. West Virginia - I become less impressed with WV every week.

14. Cal - Creeping back to respectability.

15. Georgia - Have the potential to move up if Cox is the real thing at QB.

16. TCU - BYE

17. Nebraska - Class of the Big XII North!

18. Notre Dame - Last night ESPN declared that they are going to a BCS game. I don't know whether I should feel sorry for MSU after the collapse or get angry and them for opening the door to more ESPN-ND love.

19. Rutgers - Please don't make me look bad.

20. Clemson - I have this feeling that the BC loss is going to look worse and worse every week.

21. Georgia Tech - Think the Lions will use this year's pick on Calvin Johnson?

22. Oklahoma - Arrgh.

23. Missouri - Haven't looked bad yet.

24. Texas A&M - Blatant homer pick. Looked good last night against La Tech, especially after they settled in. More on the Aggies later today.

25. Washington - Kept it fairly close at Oklahoma and now with wins over Fresno State and UCLA. We'll see how they hold up.

Pregame thoughts and a Bonus Roundtable Question

I'm watching Michigan struggle early with Wisconsin up 7-0, and as much as that makes me ornery I thought I would take a second to put down on paper what I'm looking for from the Aggies this afternoon and answer the bonus BlogPoll Roundtable question posed by SMQ this week.

Obviously I wasn't happy with the difficulty that A&M had last week against Army, but a win is a win. When I head over to Kyle Field tonight I'll be watching for the following:

-Improved tackling. Last week the Army backs consistently found extra yardage by breaking arm tackles and cutting back on overpursuing defenders.

-Fewer critical mistakes. The fumbled punt return and a slew of penalties come to mind here. Every time A&M was in a position to salt the game away, they found a way to let Army right back into things. Playing smart, heads up football will take care of this.

-More passing. 11 passing plays? Really? C'mon Aggies, throw the ball a bit more this week.

-Smarter play calling. Late in the game the play calls were being telegraphed by the formations. A little unpredictability goes a long way.


And the bonus roundtable question, courtesy SMQ:

What gridiron memory sears you so deeply, down to your appropriately-colored veins, that a simple acknowledgement, a "sorry" from the proper source - even if it didn't change the outcome - would lift a burden and cleanse a scarred corner of the soul? What injustice do you still carry, and want officially recognized?

This question came out of the debacle that was Oklahoma-Oregon 2006, so I'll stick with unacknowledged officiating mistakes for my answer. I still lose sleep over last year's Alamo Bowl. The job the officials did was simply terrible and still afterwards the Sun Belt stuck up for the job their guys did. A simple apology for taking a game that should have been fun to watch and turning it into a excruciating comedy of errors would be enough to placate my wounded soul.

(As an aside I think that I should point out that I don't blame the officials for the loss Michigan took, I blame Jim Herrmann and Tyler Ecker for that. The officiating was terrible both ways, sucking all the enjoyment out of the game in the process.)

BlogPoll Roundtable, Week 3

Here's my answers to this week's BlogPoll Roundtable. Thanks to Maize n Brew for hosting.

1. Its only the third week of the season and we've already seen some highly ranked favorites drop out of national championship contention. Preseason favorite Cal dropped to #21 after a loss and a pair of underwhelming victories. Who's your pick as the next NC contender to take a fall?

Next week is something of a dud in terms of big games, so for a contender to take a week four fall, its going to have be some kind of an upset. Louisville travels to Kansas State who I think is better than expected, but even with Louisville's injury problems I can't see this one happening. I'm just saying that it might be closer than Louisville-Miami was.

I'll go with Iowa over Ohio State in week 5, assuming that Drew Tate is at full strength. Will all the talk about Michigan reestablishing themselves, Iowa's attempt to bounce back from a disappointing season has gone largely unnoticed. This could be the wake up.

2. By that same token there are several schools hanging around without a loss that all of a sudden look like surprise contenders. There are also a few one loss teams with a legit shot at getting back into it. Looking at the rankings who's the team no one's talking about with the best shot at crashing the party ?

I want to say Oregon, who has that win-some-games-they-shouldn't look (see Oklahoma) but the schedule is far from friendly (@ASU, @Cal, @USC). I don't think that TCU will lose this season, but that won't be enough to get them into the National Championship game. Virginia Tech's schedule looks manageable, but they always find a way to blow it. I'll say Michigan. The common wisdom seems to be that Notre Dame was overrated, but the schedule stays relatively favorable right up to that showdown in Columbus on Nov. 18th.

3. Every team has their quicksand away game. You know. That place you should win but somehow find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory or at least scare the &*%^ out of you every year. Did you know that over the last 21 years Kentucky wasn't won once in Knoxville? Where is your team's yearly sandtrap?

Recently, A&M has gone to Lubbock to die against the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. The Aggies are 3-8 against TT over the last 11 years. I would really like to see a win here this season.

4. Now that you've looked into the darkest place in your football soul, free Escalades aside, turn and look into your crystal ball. Conference play is either just starting or a single game in. Based on what you've seen so far, give the order of finish in your conference, and if you've got a Conference Championship game tell us who the winner will be. Independents must predict the remainder of their schedule. The results your predictions will be held against you at the end of the season.

It looks like a down year in the Big XII with the North continuing to struggle (see Kansas@Toledo and Colorado@anybody). In the South, texas and Oklahoma both have serious question marks. Last week A&M, TT and Baylor did their best to be removed from consideration. With "mediocre equals unpredictable" in mind, here goes:

North
1. Nebraska
2. Missouri
3. Iowa State
4. Kansas State
5. Kansas
6. Colorado

South
1. texas
2. Texas A&M
3. Oklahoma
4. Texas Tech
5. Baylor
6. Oklahoma State

Championship: Nebraska over texas.

5. In keeping with the spirit of Maize n Brew, name your beverage of choice on game days and why. It need not be alcoholic, as there are some of us who choose not to imbibe on game day. Further, it need not be limited to a single brand/type/category. If you enjoy drinking PBR and Kraft Turkey Gravy at the same time (which I have personally witnessed), please, elaborate. Finally, if you should feel so inclined, and this is not a requirement, add an anecdote involving said beverage choice.

Well, every Saturday I try to catch both the Michigan and Texas A&M games. Usually at halftime of the Michigan game, I'll throw something on the grill. Shiner Hefeweizen makes a nice lubricant here. I stop at one though, as I'm an overweight Michigander who got the idea to go to all the homegames of a team that this year moved its homegames back to 6PM to have the heat be merely oppressive at kickoff. If its a homegame, I usually drink a couple of liters of water in the afternoon and then another 2 liters at the game itself. It's hot in Texas.

BlogPoll Draft Ballot, Post Week 3

After a tremendous weekend of college football, some clarity final exists with regards to the best teams in the country. A week ago I really wanted to be including Texas A&M in this ballot, but Army made sure that it wasn't to be. As always, first the rankings then some thoughts:

Power 16
1. Auburn
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. USC
5. Florida
6. West Virginia
7. Georgia
8. Oregon
9. LSU
10. Virginia Tech
11. Texas
12. Louisville
13. Tennessee
14. Nebraska
15. Notre Dame
16. Iowa

Next 9
17. Cal
18. TCU
19. Boston College
20. Georgia Tech
21. Rutgers
22. Clemson
23. Arizona State
24. Michigan State
25. Missouri

Some Thoughts:
1. Auburn - I was only able to watch bits and pieces of the LSU-Auburn game, but whenever I flipped over Auburn looked pretty good.

2. Ohio State - Struggled a bit early against Cincinnati.

3. Michigan - It's a good day to be a Michigan alumnus. The defense looked great and I don't think that very many Michigan fans are still worried about the deep ball.

4. USC - Solid win against Nebraska. If the Bush situation grows, will it be a distraction?

5. Florida - Big win against Tennessee. They travel to Auburn on Oct. 14th. Think that will be big game?

6. West Virginia - I finally had an opportunity to watch West Virginia this week and Steve Slaton is really good. What he really excels at is setting up blocks downfield. The Maryland DBs would try to cut back with Slaton only to find WRs ready to deliver blind side hits. I almost felt bad for them.

7. Georgia - I'm not really sure about Georgia, but playing in the SEC, I'm sure that there will plenty of opportunities to judge them against quality opposition.

8. Oregon - Probably shouldn't have beaten Oklahoma, but they survive and move on.

9. LSU - 3 or so more yards on the final play of the game and I have these guys about 8 spots higher.

10. Virginia Tech - Another team that I'm not really sure about yet.

11. Texas - Dominated Rice. Probably the favorite in a down year for the Big XII

12. Louisville - Injuries piling up, but what a win.

13. Tennessee - The fifth best team in the SEC? What a loaded conference.

14. Nebraska - Not a great loss at USC, but should do well in the Big XII North.

15. Notre Dame - WOW.

16. Iowa - Could have done better at home against ISU. I'm not sold.

17. Cal - Functional DNP.

18. TCU - Great defensive outing. I like TCU's chances to finish unbeaten.

19. Boston College - Never pretty, but 3-0. Both BYU and CMU are underrated teams and the Clemson win looks better today.

20. Georgia Tech - The close loss to ND doesn't look great anymore, but I still think that GT is a decent team.

21. Rutgers - Good win over an underrated Ohio team.

22. Clemson - One of those teams that I wouldn't bet on, ever.

23. Arizona State - Well somebody has to go down here and they are 3-0.

24. Michigan State - Strong showing against a pretty good Pitt team. Things don't get any easier for ND this week.

25. Missouri - The Big XII sleeper of the year.

Immediate A&M/Army Postgame Reaction

Today started out well enough, with my alma mater, Michigan, taking Notre Dame behind the woodshed and beating them soundly. After an overall great day of football, I settled in to watch the Aggies take on Army, honestly hoping that things wouldn't get too out of hand. I can't believe how wrong I was. After ULaLa last week I was pretty enthusiastic about this Aggie team, but I'm pretty worried tonight. I honestly don't have anything against Coach Fran, if anything I kind of like him, but his postgame comments really made me scratch my head. An almost loss is exactly what this team needed? And it worries me that he is second guessing himself about going for it on 4th down late. Going for it was the correct decision, but we ran out of a formation that we had used several times, each time for the EXACT SAME PLAY. A McGee QB sneak on that play almost certainly gets the job done and the game is pretty much over. The Lane smash was a bad idea because Army knew it was coming.

Some other thoughts I had while trying to sit through this near debacle:

-The Aggies looked sloppy early and often in this one. More on this later.

-Mike Goodson was pretty good on the option early, but that seemed to be the only play A&M ran him on. Way to predictable. Also the problems getting the pitch from McGee to Goodson really limited his effectiveness.

-A&M played stupid today. They took way to many 15 yard penalties, especially in situations where it extended an Army drive. The roughing the punter stands out, as does the offside on Bryant/Heard.

-The convenient explanation for this debacle is that Army played their hearts out and kept things close. While Army did bring a superior effort, they played a very flawed game as well. The two bad interceptions stick out in my mind, as do a couple of bad penalties and the flea-flicker to Schroeder. This was not a well executed game by either team. Army played harder and didn't give up and this kept them in the game, but with even a mediocre effort, A&M should've buried them.

-The Aggies were horrible at defending third and long situations. Almost every time Army found itself in third and long, they went to the slant and A&M never reliably defended it. Here's hoping that the coaches see this too and work on it.

-Justin Brantly was terrible early, but later was killing the ball. I think that it is going to be feast or famine with him.

-By the end of the game, A&M's defense looked exhausted. They came up big on the two goalline plays, but overall the conditioning worries me.

-McGee was darn good running the ball today, but I'm pretty confused about the lack of a passing game. It seemed to be there when the Aggies went to it, but they hardly ever threw the ball in this one. Martellus Bennett was virtually invisible. If A&M can't throw the ball vertically to keep defenses honest, it is going to be a very long season.

That is all I have for now. I taped the game and I might watch it again this week, depending on how masochistic I feel. Here's hoping that the Aggies make significant improvement this week and beat the hell outta La Tech in a week.

Gig 'Em.

Some A&M vs. ULaLa Postgame Thoughts

This past Saturday I attended my second game at Kyle Field. My bike didn't get two flat tires this week like it last week so I arrived at the stadium with much more time to spare. Our seat were also much better, right on the fifty, in the last row of the lower deck. I love A&M's policy of not sticking the students in the least desirable seats. The game was an absolute blowout, but I was impressed with the intensity of the 12th man nonetheless. Early in the game ULaLa's QB decided to audible at the line and the students took the noise to a whole new level. I can't wait for Texas Tech to come to town, I have a feeling that its going to be a special experience.

As for the game itself, Ryan over at TAMABINPO has a pretty good wrap up already up. What jumped out at me from the game was Jorvorskie who was positively Bettisian with 4 touchdowns on only 12 carries. He scored his third TD on his ninth carry causing me to comment to a friend that he was averaging a TD every three rushes, quite a feat. Just before he scored his fourth TD I commented to the same friend that with a TD run here (it was about 10 yards out) Lane would keep on the TD every three carries pace. Jorvorskie then burst through the line and kindly caused me to look prophetic.

Speaking of statistical oddities, throughout much of the first half A&M had as many points as ULaLa had total yards. For the game, A&M had exactly three times as many points as the Ragin' Cajuns had passing yards (51 to 17).

After the game I was searching my memory for a game that I had viewed in person where one team had so totally dominated another one. I could only come up with four examples. Michigan beat Notre Dame 38-0 in 2003, Michigan beat Michigan State 49-3 in 2002 and when I was I kid I went to Michigan State games with my Spartan alumnus father. I remember one MSU-Northwestern game in the bad old days for the Wildcats when the Spartans won something like 42-0. The final game I would compare this to would be the time that Nebraska came into Spartan Stadium and just destroyed the home team. I think that this was sometime around 1996, but it might have been a couple of years earlier. Nebraska was still very much a national power at the time.

So, in summary, the Aggie defense was everything I had hoped for and more. The running game was grindingly effective and the passing game got the job done when it needed to. A&M didn't utilize punter Justin Brantly until the closing moments of the game. Apparently frustrated by his inactivity, Brantly attempted to commit a homicide on the ball with his foot, unleashing a 58 yarder that went all the way in the air.

I have to admit that after the Citadel game I had subtly tuned down my expectations to, "I would be happy with 8-4 but 7-5 is probably more realistic." After seeing what A&M did Saturday, I'm back up to "9-3 would be good, but 10-2 is distinctly possible." Great game for A&M, I can't wait to see how they stack up against Army.

BlogPoll Ballot Rough Draft

Another week of college football is in the books. I desperately wanted to rank Texas A&M this week but in the end I just couldn't do it. They dominated ULaLa all game long, but big wins against the Citadel and ULaLa don't necessarily make a top 25 team. Next week they play Army in San Antonio which should be a good test, going on the road for the first time. I'll have some more on the Aggies second game tonight or tomorrow, but for the time being here's my first draft of this week's ballot. As always the raw picks are first, followed by some thoughts.

Power16
1. Auburn
2. Ohio State
3. Louisiana State
4. USC
5. Florida
6. Notre Dame
7. Michigan
8. Texas
9. West Virginia
10. Georgia
11. Florida State
12. Miami
13. Nebraska
14. Virginia Tech
15. Louisville
16. Tennessee

Next9
17. Oregon
18. Iowa
19. Cal
20. Georgia Tech
21. TCU
22. Boise State
23. Wisconsin
24. Pittsburgh
25. Boston College

Some Thoughts
1. Auburn - I'm standing by my conviction that MSU has a very good, very underrated defense. That makes last week a good win for Auburn, on the road, in conference.

2. Ohio State - The defense seems to be coming together. If this ballot were free form I would have them at about position 1.1 or 1.2. I think that there's a pretty good chance they will be unbeaten when Michigan comes to town.

3. Louisiana State - Dominated Arizona. Great intersectional win.

4. USC - Bye week

5. Florida - A better team than I thought. The SEC seems to be loaded again this season. Chris Leak seems really good, although I haven't had a chance to catch a Gators game yet.

6. Notre Dame - I feel better about not ranking Penn State. Michigan will be a stiff test and another one of those games that helps sort things out.

7. Michigan - I thought that the win against CMU was a very good one. The running game was great, the passing game was crisp in the first half and the defense stayed aggressive. Can they win their first road game though?

8. Texas - I feel bad about dropping tu this far, but I expected much more out of the defense against Tosu. The Big XII is not looking good this year.

9. West Virginia - Rolled over another team. Perhaps this team is actually good and not just playing a week schedule?

10. Georgia - Georgia strikes me as something of a sleeper team this season in that lose a great QB (Shockley) and go on to win an MNC kind of team (Tennessee '98, USC '03).

11. Florida State - After the debacle against Troy I would have dropped them further but...

12. Miami - I couldn't put Miami above FSU less than a week after losing to them. Right now Miami is doing far more to keep FSU ranked high than the Seminoles are though.

13. Nebraska - They seem to have a pretty good offense. Their game in Kyle Field could be a very long one for the Aggies.

14. Virginia Tech - Did you know that Frank Beamer is the fourth longest serving head coach in college football? I love ESPN Gameplan.

15. Louisville - Temple is pretty awful, but wow. Just wow.

16. Tennessee - One week you crush my #1 team, the next you almost blow it against Air Force. Why do you hate me Phillip Fulmer?

17. Oregon - The game against Fresno State last night was a really good one. I think Oregon beats Oklahoma next week and it isn't close.

18. Iowa - Does anybody know what Drew Tate's status is?

19. Cal - Redemption is at hand! I would move them up more, but Tennessee's stinker against AF is definitely holding the Bears down.

20. Georgia Tech - Here feels about right.

21. TCU - I think that they will beat Tech this week.

22. Boise State - Hey another mid-major! This is one of those "I watched them kill a middle of the pack BCS teams this week" pick.

23. Wisconsin - Last week I should've listened to the Wisconsin guys. Definitely in the upper half of the Big Ten this year.

24. Pittsburgh - Had a better second half against Cincinnati. I think that either Pitt or Rutgers (and maybe both) will make the Big East interesting this season.

25. Boston College - Beat a Clemson team I was pretty high on. I considered a number of teams here. I skipped Rutgers because 4 Big East teams seemed excessive and it was only Illinois. I'm still pretty down on Oklahoma. Texas Tech's defense is pretty questionable, South Carolina got shut out and BYU has that nasty loss to Arizona on their record. If anybody has a better suggestion than BC, I'd like to hear it.

Texas A&M vs. ULaLa

First off, my apologies for the lack of content this week. I've come down with the most random cold of my life, leading me to spend all my free time sleeping in preparation for Saturday. Right now I'm watching Pittsburgh shatter my plans of squeezing a third Big East team into next week's top 25. Last night Boise State certainly made a strong case for inclusion though, so I'm not too upset.

A&M's game against the Citadel wasn't televised, so I've been unable to get my hands on a copy of the game tape. This prevents any truly insightful comment so instead I've opted to discuss a little bit of what I'll be hoping to see this week against the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

-The Aggies need to turn the ball over, at most, one time. Last week was ridiculous. Two to three turnovers this time out will make me very nervous for the season to come and four or more will put me in full-on panic mode.

-On the flip side, the defense needs to do better forcing turnovers. One turnover forced isn't going to be good enough as this isn't the kind of defense that can be expected to stop opposing offenses cold. 2-3 turnovers a game will go a long way towards covering up the talent deficiency.

-I thought the passing game was fine last week, but I expected the running game to be sharper against a poor opponent like the Citadel. The offensive line has both the talent and the experience to be better. I'll be looking for growth this week.

-Finally, the Aggies played a ton of different guys on defense in the opener. The stat line that jumped out to me was Chris Harrington with 8 tackles and 2 sacks. Who will join him in the rotation this week? When ULaLa has the ball I'll definitely be keeping an eye on which A&M defenders are on the field.

Prediction?
Make it Texas A&M 38 ULaLa 10.



PS
All of a sudden the Pitt Panthers aren't looking so bad, perhaps not all is lost. Now if they could just a)catch a punt and b)execute a legal TD catch.

BlogPoll Ballot Final Edition

No major changes here from the draft ballot. I moved Miami and FSU around following their game last night and I realized that I was being to hard on Nebraska. After the Michael Bush injury I also reassessed Louisville's position. Oh, and I'm still ornery about Cal.

In my first BlogPoll Roundtable last week I called out Frank McGrath for his stance on Cal (who he left unranked), which he explained like so:

Bah- Cal. I could have swung and missed on this one- but again, I don't think a second tier Pac-10 team (they are not an elite team like USC) is better than a solid SEC outfit- particularly in their own building. See LSU going on the road on short notice to beat ASU despite Katrina.

So I don't think Cal will even get past the Vols. Add a USC loss- another choke job along the Pac-10 schedule that they always seem to furnish- and that is three losses- two against teams that figure to be at the bottom of the Top 25 or "other receiving votes" (the Vols and some Pac 10 also-ran).

so yeah, I tend to think Cal is an ongoing function of a sub-par west in 2005

My apologies Frank. I'll be paying much closer attention to your ballot when it comes out this week. On to the rankings:

Power 16
1. Auburn
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. Southern Cal
5. Louisiana State
6. Florida State
7. Florida
8. Michigan
9. Miami
10. West Virginia
11. Georgia
12. Notre Dame
13. Clemson
14. Tennessee
15. Iowa
16. Nebraska

Next 9
17. Georgia Tech
18. Oregon
19. Virginia Tech
20. Louisville
21. California
22. TCU
23. South Carolina
24. Texas Tech
25. Tulsa

My Thoughts
1. Auburn - This is the team that has more or less taken over my "team with the fewest question marks" honorary top spot. Let's see if they have more staying power than Cal.

2. Ohio State - The defense didn't give up a lot of points, but they didn't exactly shut down the NIU running game either. This defense is either bend-but-don't-break or lucky. I think that question will be answered in Austin.

3. Texas - Colt McCoy didn't look bad but he is a freshman and games don't get any bigger than the one against the Buckeyes. Thank God for solid inter-sectional scheduling by the ADs at tu and tosu.

4. Southern Cal - Solid win over Arkansas and another team I was wrong about. Good thing I don't primarily follow the Pac-10, I would be confused all the time.

5. Louisiana State - Solid win over a not-so-good opponent. I get to see U-La-La in person next week. Hopefully that will provide some secondary insight into LSU.

6. Florida State - Defense looks great, but they need to find a consistent running game.

7. Florida - Another team that took care of business. I think that the Gators are going to be pretty good this season.

8. Michigan - The win over Vanderbilt was more impressive than the score indicated. The defense was one trick play away from a shutout. I would like to see the offense open it up a little more, but they were playing Vanderbilt and seemed to have the game under control.

9. Miami - Another great defense. If the offense comes together and is decent this team will be scary.

10. West Virginia - Absolutely crushed Marshall. I'm still not sure how good they are so this seems about right.

11. Georgia - I don't want to read too much into a win over Western Kentucky, but I think I was down on the Bulldogs too much last week.

12. Notre Dame - Wasn't the offense supposed to be the better unit?

13. Clemson - Here looks good.

14. Tennessee - Wow, just wow. I'm to stunned to even be mad at the Vols.

15. Iowa - Won Big. Tate's Good.

16. Nebraska - On paper the win doesn't look bad. I watched the first half of this game and I'm basing my ranking on that. It probably isn't fair because Nebraska dominated the second half, but this was La Tech.

17. Georgia Tech - I like Tech a lot, but technically they did lose to Notre Dame at home so I can't very well put them ahead of the Irish can I?

18. Oregon - Oregon would be higher but I'm still a bit peeved with the Pac-10 in general.

19. Virginia Tech - I didn't even realize Northeastern has a football team. Perhaps a matchup with Northwestern is in order?

20. Louisville - I'm of the opinion that Michael Bush was a huge loss.

21. California - Arrgh. Arrgh. Arrgh....................Arrgh.

22. TCU - Won on the road against a Big 12 team. Too bad it was Baylor...

23. South Carolina - I think that Mississippi State is underrated and that this was a better win than it looks like.

24. Texas Tech - At this point does TT even need to put the QB's name on the back of the jersey? I'll see this team in person Week 5 and I'm looking forward to it.

25. Tulsa - I wanted to fit Tulsa in my preseason poll, consider this a makeup after a big over Stephen F. Austin.

Games I watched all of:
Michigan - Vanderbilt
Texas A&M - Citadel

Games I saw parts of:
TCU - Baylor
Boston College - CMU
South Carolina - Mississippi State
North Texas - Texas
La Tech - Nebraska
NIU - tOSU
Cal - Tennessee
Notre Dame - Georgia Tech
USC - Arkansas

BlogPoll Roundtable #2

The second Roundtable of the year is up over at The Ciskie Blog. Thank you to Bruce for hosting this edition. Let's get to it:

1. What team best met your overall expectations of them in their opener?

This is probably a tie between Auburn, LSU, Clemson and Texas Tech. All four rolled over D-1A opponents. Auburn and LSU were both in my top five last week and they each beat a quality team (Washington State and U-La-La). Clemson and Texas Tech both defeated D-1A bottom feeders (FAU and SMU). All four results were about where I would have expected them to be. If I had to pick one, it would be Auburn and their potent running game.

2. What team jumped off the map and surprised you the most? (Bonus points to anyone who can make an argument for someone besides Tennessee.)

Baylor's defense really surprised me. They looked pretty good against TCU, especially early in the game. This spot has to go to Oregon though. I'm pretty big on the idea that Stanford, with a senior QB and a head coach settling in, could upset some Pac-10 powers as the season progresses. Oregon absolutely rolled over the Cardinal and the Ducks with a running game are kind of scary.

3. What team best moved themselves into a position to surprisingly contend for a national title?

I didn't think much of USC in the preseason, so their big win over Arkansas moves them into the contender column in my book, but I don't think that this was terribly surprising to the rest of the nation. So few teams played quality opposition this week that its hard to say that somebody really jumped out. After beating FAU is Clemson a contender? What about VT rolling over Northeastern? I think that I'll go with Florida. Southern Miss is usually tough and Chris Leak had a great game (21-30, 248, 3-1). I could see Florida going places.

BlogPoll Draft

Well, I'm back with a draft ballot for this week's BlogPoll. As always, all comments are welcome. This past weekend was pretty humbling, especially considering the utter beat down Cal took at the hands of Tennessee. I feel like I was way, way off on Cal and my new ballot reflects this. As the season progresses it will be interesting to see if the Golden Bears can bounce back and also how the middle of the pack teams shake out. Miami and Florida State are ranked very tenatively pending tomorrow night's game. I expect that game to create some chaos in my ballot, but I will cross that bridge when it comes. First the rankings and then some explanations.

Power 16
1. Auburn
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. Southern Cal
5. Louisiana State
6. Miami FL (Pending)
7. Florida State (Pending)
8. Florida
9. Michigan
10. West Virginia
11. Georgia
12. Notre Dame
13. Clemson
14. Tennessee
15. Iowa
16. Louisville

Next 9
17. Georgia Tech
18. Oregon
19. Virginia Tech
20. Nebraska
21. California
22. TCU
23. South Carolina
24. Texas Tech
25. Tulsa

My Thoughts
1. Auburn - This is the team that has more or less taken over my "team with the fewest question marks" honorary top spot. Let's see if they have more staying power than Cal.

2. Ohio State - The defense didn't give up a lot of points, but they didn't exactly shut down the NIU running game either. This defense is either bend-but-don't-break or lucky. I think that question will be answered in Austin.

3. Texas - Colt McCoy didn't look bad but he is a freshman and games don't get any bigger than the one against the Buckeyes. Thank God for solid inter-sectional scheduling by the ADs at tu and tosu.

4. Southern Cal - Solid win over Arkansas and another team I was wrong about. Good thing I don't primarily follow the Pac-10, I would be confused all the time.

5. Louisiana State - Solid win over a not-so-good opponent. I get to see U-La-La in person next week. Hopefully that will provide some secondary insight into LSU.

6. Miami FL (Pending)

7. Florida State (Pending)

8. Florida - Another team that took care of business. I think that the Gators are going to be pretty good this season.

9. Michigan - The win over Vanderbilt was more impressive than the score indicated. The defense was one trick play away from a shutout. I would like to see the offense open it up a little more, but they were playing Vanderbilt and seemed to have the game under control.

10. West Virginia - Absolutely crushed Marshall. I'm still not sure how good they are so this seems about right.

11. Georgia - I don't want to read too much into a win over Western Kentucky, but I think I was down on the Bulldogs too much last week.

12. Notre Dame - Wasn't the offense supposed to be the better unit?

13. Clemson - Here looks good.

14. Tennessee - Wow, just wow. I'm to stunned to even be mad at the Vols.

15. Iowa - Won Big. Tate's Good.

16. Louisville - Well, they have an offense!

17. Georgia Tech - I like Tech a lot, but technically they did lose to Notre Dame at home so I can't very well put them ahead of the Irish can I?

18. Oregon - Oregon would be higher but I'm still a bit peeved with the Pac-10 in general.

19. Virginia Tech - I didn't even realize Northeastern has a football team. Perhaps a matchup with Northwestern is in order?

20. Nebraska - On paper the win doesn't look bad. I watched the first half of this game and I'm basing my ranking on that. It probably isn't fair because Nebraska dominated the second half, but this was La Tech.

21. California - Arrgh. Arrgh. Arrgh....................Arrgh.

22. TCU - Won on the road against a Big 12 team. Too bad it was Baylor...

23. South Carolina - I think that Mississippi State is underrated and that this was a better win than it looks like.

24. Texas Tech - At this point does TT even need to put the QB's name on the back of the jersey? I'll see this team in person Week 5 and I'm looking forward to it.

25. Tulsa - I wanted to fit Tulsa in my preseason poll, consider this a makeup after a big over Stephen F. Austin.

Games I watched all of:
Michigan - Vanderbilt
Texas A&M - Citadel

Games I saw parts of:
TCU - Baylor
Boston College - CMU
South Carolina - Mississippi State
North Texas - Texas
La Tech - Nebraska
NIU - tOSU
Cal - Tennessee
Notre Dame - Georgia Tech
USC - Arkansas

My First Game at Kyle Field

A tremendous weekend is coming to an end, so I figured I would take a moment to share some thoughts about the last couple of days. TCU is playing Baylor on the television and both the Tigers-Angels game and the NASCAR race are starting shortly.

I watched a ton of good football this weekend, but the highlight had to be my first game at Kyle Field which is a gem of a college football stadium, one of our nation's great sporting treasures. The Aggie football team certainly could have been better and apparently the band was just a touch sloppy, but both were solid for it being the first outing of the season.

With regards to the football team, my initial reaction is that the defense was just about where they were expected to be. Not great, but at least adequate in the second half. They have a lot of room to improve, but I got the feeling that the Aggies were trying to get everyone playing time and seeing who stuck. We where high enough that I couldn't read the names on the jerseys, but I thought that Jack and Dodge both had some nice plays. I'm working on learning the numbers in earnest, so I should have some better insight next week.

The offense on the other hand was worse than expected, but the biggest problem was young players fumbling the football. In general I think that this is something that can be worked on, so I'm not in full panic mode yet. All three running backs (Lewis, Lane and Goodson) looked good at various times and Chad Schroeder had a great game. McGee played like a sophomore, but I suspect that he will continue to improve throughout the season.

I never experienced Kyle without the significant upgrades that were made this offseason, but I really liked the new video board (12th man TV). Highlights from other games around the country are great for people like me who can't help but wonder what is going on in Knoxville (more on that debacle later tonight).

One thing that surprised me first at Yell Practice and again at the game was the number of yells that the 12th man utilize. I'm still working on learning the most common 4 or 5, but I swear that they have at least 10 you have to know. Coming from Michigan where the student section also stands all game, I didn't expect much of a change, but I couldn't have been more wrong. After the game I was absolutely exhausted. What I didn't expect was the "humping it", which is all the students leaning forward and bending down to do the yells. And, of course, there is the oppressive heat. After A&M hosts Texas Tech, I'll have a more complete comparison of Kyle Field and Michigan Stadium, but for the time being I will just say that each is great in its own way.

The first draft of my BlogPoll ballot will be up later tonight and sometime this week I'll have a more complete set of thoughts about my first game at Kyle, but for now this will have to do. After all, the Tigers are coming on.

Gig 'Em.