My top 10 for 10/29

Here is my top 10 for the week of  10/29:

1)ALABAMA: Bama rolls over MSU at home 38-7. This was their first true test and they passed with flying colors. They jumped out to a fast start 14-0 in the first quarter and have now outscoring thier opponents 104-3 in the 1st q this year. They did not look back. They have a test coming up in Baton Rouge at night on Saturday.

T2)OREGON: They blow the doors off of Colorado 70-14. They have not beaten a tough opponent yet, however they continue to beat the breaks off of people, and I can't have them at anything less than a tie for 2nd. Oh by the way, the defense is pretty good as well.

T2)KANSAS STATE: They should probably be alone at #2 based on thier resume. They beat another top 15 team in Texas Tech on Saturday. Klien is gaining momentum for the Hesiman trophy.

4)LSU: BYE week, they find them selves back in the top 4 after a few teams lose.

5)NOTRE DAME: As much as I dont want to say this I am slowly starting to believe that ND might be good. they go to Norman and win. The offense is still not very good but the d lead by T'eo is very good.

6)FLORIDA STATE: FSU beats a good no 6-3 Duke team. I know UGA fans will think UGA deserves to be ahead of them, but I have seen the Noles wear down a very good Clemson team at home.

7)GEORGIA: They force 6 turnovers and win an ugly game. They do not get the best effort from Aaron Murray but the defense shows up in a stout matter and help win the game.

8)FLORIDA: They have been playing over their head all season and it finally catches up with them Driskell has been tough all season, but it catches up to him as well. Florida goes -3 for the day and still only lose by 8.

9)OHIO STATE: beats Penn St. Some people may argue they should not be in the top 10 since they cant go to a bowl, but they are undefeated and would be leading a very bad Big 10 right now.

10)CLEMSON: They hang 40 on the board at Wake on a Thursday night. Watkins has a huge game.

My trip to Knoxville for Alabama Tennesse

 

So I went to Knoxville on Saturday for the Alabama Tennessee game. As is the case with any stadium I visit for the first time, I will blog about my trip.

The day starts with me getting a text from a friend who was suppose to go, but had too much to drink and wasn't feeling well. I was bummed, and life goes on. I had a few chores to do before I took off, I went to the bank and got my oil changed and I was off to Knoxville.  I had been flipping around to different radio stations as I often do while in the car, when I stopped on 790thezone and was listening to their college football break down for the day.  The game of interest was Bama UT so I stopped and listened. They wanted some fan interaction so I sent in a text (yes texting and driving is illegal, but 75North was wide open and had very few cars on it) and got it read on the next segment. I was fired up, as it was the first time I had a text read over the radio. Fast forward 2 hours later and I arrive in Knoxville, it only took me about 3.5 hours to get up there and it was an easy drive.
I find a place to park very easily on 17th street, pay $7 for it, and start my walk to the stadium. I am passing some orange, but I notice a whole lot of crimson as well. I pass a few scalpers but do not say anything to them. I come up to about the 3rd or 4th and ask what he wants for a ticket. He says face which is $75 and i pull out my wallet give him $80 and he gives me $5 change. We talk for a minute about my past experiences and continue on my way.I make it down to what might be the heart of downtown but im not sure. To my left is Bookstore east and across is a Firehouse subs and either a Mexican place or piazza shop, I cant remember  I cross the street to my left and walk in the book store. I see alot of orange and they have the SC Florida game on. I pause for a minute and continue through the store. i head back out and see a guy who is selling a pair, and ask him if indeed face was $75 and he said yes. I talk with him for about 10 minutes, very nice guy, and we are interrupted at least 5 times by scalpers who do not want to pay $150 for his pair of tickets. I finally decide on Firehouse and walk across the street. I order a Turkey sub and sit down at a bar watching Florida South Carolina. My food comes up I eat, clean up after myself and start to make my way down to the stadium. It is still about 2.5-3 hours before game time so I start to walk.
As I am walking, I notice one strange thing. Thier are not too many people outside tailgating. I walk past a frat house that looked like a ghost town, I was shocked. i step into the library for some much needed relief and continue on my voyage. I finally make it down to the stadium where their is a big crowd. I experience the Vol walk and just kind of hang out. I am still surprised that not much is going on. The Stadium opens 2 hous before kickoff. i kind of stumble around outside before making a decision to go inside the stadium and find my seat. I enjoy all of pregame and the Vol band come and do the big T. It was a pretty cool scene to see all the people of Rocky Top stand up and sing the UT fight song. But I notice thier is alot of Crimson in the stadium. I sit back and enjoy a good half of football. It was 23-10 Bama at half time, but it could have been alot closer. UT had the ball 1st and Goal on the 5 and only come away with 3 points. Bama also has an interception that gets turned into 7 points. Lastly, Tennessee has a wr that drops a wide open pass at about the 10 yard line that would have been 6 points right before half time. But the score is 23-10 at half. Bama comes out and goes 3 and out and the people of Tennessee think they have a chance. They exchange drives a few more times and it is stays pretty close. Bama scores a touchdown, but it gets called back on a not enough men on the line penailty. Saban goes nuts and I think he is going to blow a gasket, but he doesnt. The kick team gets called out and misses a fg. Tennessee has a shot but balks, Bama gets the ball and scores a touch, going into the 4th quarter. I still think UT is still in but has to score right now. They do not, Bama takes the ball and scores again it is now 34-10 and I leave.
I will say Knoxville is a good place. It was a very odd place not to see a ton of tailgaters but everyone was very nice. I would say the coeeds rank 4-5ish that I have been to, but the atmosphere 9 out 10.

5 things from 10/20

I usually give 5 things I have learned or noticed during the college football weekend, but since I was in Knoxville, I did not get to watch much ball. So, I will give you 5 things from UT Bama.

1) Alabama's front 7 is a top 5 front 7 in all of college football. I was really impressed with them.

2)Conversely, as good as Bama's defense is, i think they have holes in their secondary. They gave up a few big pass plays.

3)Armani Cooper is the next Julio Jones. This kid is very good and caught everything around him. I was really impressed with him.

4)Tennessee's front 7 is pretty good, it is thier secondary that can't stop anybody, thus they are awful.

5)Tennessee has to learn to put the ball in the endzone. 1st and goal from the 5 and all you come away with is 3 points, this will not win you games against big time opponents. You need 7!!!!!

Top 10 for the week of 10/22

Here is my top 10 for the week of 10/22

1)ALABAMA: I was in Knoxville on Saturday and man are these guys good. McCarron is a very good qb and has not thrown an int this season. The front 7 is just stupid good, questions on the back end but overall a very good team.

2)FLORIDA: They force 3 tournovers and turn it into 21 points. The defense is very fast and very good, the juniors on the D, were Meyer's last recruits.

3)OREGON: They blew the doors off of Arizona St. I am really impressed with Ducks D. They are very good.

4)KANSAS STATE: Klien is the real deal and K State is for real.

5)LSU: Goes on the road and beats a top 25 Texas A&M team. They do not win pretty but they find a way to win. This seems to be the Les Miles way.

6)USC: Hangs a 50 spot on the board vs Colorado and is setting up a collusion course with the Ducks on November 3rd.

7)NOTRE DAME: ND defense is for real. They are shakey on offense but is carried by the defense. They narrowly escape against BYU.

8)FLORIDA STATE: FSU gets by their hated rivals the Canes, by a 33-20 margin. I still say, they are a pretty good football team.

9)OREGON STATE: Surprising team this year out of the Pac 12, although they have not hit the meat of thier schedule yet.

10)OHIO STATE:  Ohio St. beats Purdue and ot and barrely stay in my top 10.

5 games to watch on 10/20

I am going to start by saying, I am making the trip to Knoxville, for the traditional 3rd Saturday in October matchup between Alabama and Tennessee. I will have a report on my trip Wednesday or Thursday.
Now lets get to the games.

1) #7 SOUTH CAROLINA @ #2 FLORIDA: This is simple: Lattimore is dinged up and will not start. If Lattimore gets at least 20 touches South Carolina has a chance to win the Swamp. If Lattimore gets less than 20 touches South Carolina, has NO CHANCE to win. I don't think it gets much more simply than that.

2) NORTH CAROLINA @ DUKE: This is probably on noone's radar but mine. But these hated rival's in basketball come in football both boasting  5-2 records and 2-1 records in the ACC. Duke needs this game if they want to represent the Coastal division in ACC Championship game. Also, with a win Duke will become bowl eligible. So this is huge for Duke!!!!

3) #6 LSU @ # 18 TEXAS A&M: LSU comes off a huge victory last Saturday night vs the Gamecocks. They have been lights out at home but questionable on the road, with struggles at Auburn and a loss at Florida. I think they beat A&M, control Johnny Football, and set up a monster showdown Saturday night November 3rd against Alabama.

4) #4 KANSAS STATE @ # 13 WEST VIRGINIA: Before the hiccup last week by WV, I was thinking this would have been a top 7 matchup. However, it is still a top 13 matchup and looks to be a good one. Noone has really talked Hesiman trophy frontrunner to this point, but whoever wins this game weather its Klein or Smith will be in the mention.

5) MIDDLE TENNESSEE ST. @ #12 MISSISSIPPI ST.: I know what you guys are thinking, another garbage game and this guy must be drunk. But I have 2 interesting points here for this game. MTSU, ran GT out of the stadium in Atlanta, I was there and MTSU is pretty good. 2nd this is the last game before MSU faces Bama and could set up a potential top 10 showdown. So this game is huge for both teams. I think MSU wins with ease, but this game had the 2 interesting storylines, so I had to bring it up.

5 Things taken away from week 7

1) I knew this already, but this weekend just proved it more. Alabama's top 2 backs rush for 177 3td and 144 2td and grown man football works. They play tough D and run the football. Alabama is really good.

2)Notre Dame's front 7 is really good. I was really impressed with them in their win over Stanford. I still don't know how good they are, but they are a decent team right now.

3)LSU is a totally different team under the lights at Tiger Stadium. They had a huge win over South Carolina.

4) I did not think Texas would be a mess right now, however after the debacle this past weekend vs Oklahoma, Texas is a mess.

5)The bottom of the Big 10 is awful, it is like taking medicine and getting sick when i watch it.

Top 10 10/15

I am a day late, but here is my top 10:

1)ALABAMA: Is thier any surprise here? they are the best team in the nation right now. Ask Mizz about grown man football, Bamas top 2 backs had 321 yrds and 5 tds.

2)OREGON: Had a bye week.

3)FLORIDA: They take care of Vandy and set up a showdown in the Swamp with South Carolina. This should be a great game.

4)KANSAS STATE: They escape the snake pit that has become Iowa State and sets up a showdown with West Virginia.

5)LSU: The tigers get a huge win at home vs South Carolina and climb back into the top 5.

6)SOUTH CAROLINA: They lose in a very tough environment in Death Valley. But, they still have Marcus Latt and Conner Shaw leading the O and Clowney and Taylor leading the D. As long as those 4 guys are healthy, they have a shot to win any game.

7)USC: They get by the tricky Huskies and sets up a game vs Colorado this week.

8)NOTRE DAME: They beat Stanford in ot. I actually sat down and watched them for a while Saturday, they have a tough d, but I really dont know about the O.

9)FLORIDA STATE: FSU hangs a 50 spot on the board at home vs Boston College. Next up for the Noles the much hated Canes from the south.

10)OHIO STATE: Braxton Miller and the Buckeyes grace my top 10 for the first time this year. Although, they are not eligable for post season play, they have been playing well and boasts a 7-0 record.

5 games to watch on 10/13

Here are 5 games to watch tomorrow, these might not always be the top matchups, but they have something that is intriguing to me.

# 3 SOUTH CAROLINA @ # 9 LSU: Of course this is the matchup everyone wants to see tomorrow night under the lights in Death Valley. Can SC continue its winning ways after a dismantling of UGA last week. Can LSU bounce back this week after losing in the Swamp last week and only putting up 6 points. Tiger stadium will be nuts tomorrow should be a fun one.

# 5 WOFFARD @ # 7 GEORGIA SOUTHERN: Yes I am showing love to the 1aa world and to my Alma matta. Georgia Southern hosts the hated terriors of Woffard tomorrow night, in "the pretty littleest stadium in America" Woffard is undefeated thus far narrowly escaping a loss from Furman last week. GSU falls early in the Southern Conference to the Citadel and needs this win if they are going to have any chance of winning the conference and get into the 1aa tournament. GSU runs the triple o led by Swope and Robinson and are tough to stop.

# 22 TEXAS A&M @ # 23 LOUISIANA TECH: This was suppose to be played week 1 of the season, but was postponed do to a hurricane.  TA&M comes in winning 4 straight after losing their first ever SEC game to Florida. LA Tech is 5-0, both teams are in the top 12 of the nation in total yards and top 8 for scoring. You better put your track shoes on for this one. One other nugget of information, this is a 8ct kick off time, which means that gives those Louisiana people all day to get ready for the game.

# 17 STANFORD @ # 7 NOTRE DAME: ND has been tough this year led by their D who has only given up 6 points in its last 3 games. Both front 7s are pretty good. Stanford is led by Taylor and will have to have a huge game from him on the ground to beat Notre Dame. The weather man is predicting 60% chance of rain, which means this game could get ugly and wet. Who can create turnovers and get a short field, is the big question in this game.

# 11 USC @ WASHINGTON: It was just a few short weeks ago, that USC loses to Stanford. Stanford then turns around the following week and loses @ Washington. So does this mean USC will beat Washington on the road. I am not sure, but Washington's secondary led by Trufant will have to have a big day to stop Lee and Woods. Can Washington knock off its 2nd top 15 team at home this year, we will see.

5 things I learned from week 6 of the college season

1) Gino Smith has 24-0 tds to int ratio, that is flat disgusting. He is my Heisman front runner right now.

2) LSU has no offense. They have a very tough D, but until they can start doing something on offense, it will be tough sledding with the schedule they have coming up.

3) Florida and Muschamp's D is very tough and Florida is better than what i thought they were.

4)Tyler Wilson makes all the difference in the world for Arkansas. ( I already knew this but it is just proven again with them beating Auburn they way they did)

5)The only college football team that won in the state of Georgia this weekend, was Georgia Southern. GO Eagles!!!!!

Top 10 for 10/8

After a wild and crazy weekend that was the college football weekend, here is my new top 10:

1)ALABAMA: Bye Week

2)OREGON: They put a 50+ spot on the board against a top 25 team, they are on a roll right now.

3)SOUTH CAROLINA: Gets a HUGE win against a top 5 UGA team, that walked into the snake pit and got bit in teh first 6 minutes and didn't recover.

4)FLORIDA: They beat LSU at home. I honestly was dead wrong with this team, but they are pretty good.

5)WEST VIRGINIA: Continues to get into shootouts and win. They give up 45 points at Texas, but when you score 48, it is ok.

6)KANSAS STATE: K. State beats  the instate rival Jayhawks by 40, 56-16. They could potential be undefeated when they play WV in 2 weeks.

7)USC: Starts off slow and gives up 14 early points to Utah, but comes back and overcomes it and wins 38-28.

8)LSU: The lose a tough one to Florida in the swamp. They have a stout defense, but offense is hti or miss. I think they are still a top 10 team, and could give SC fits on Saturday.

9)NOTRE DAME: I am still not hooked on this team, but they have beaten everyone thus far and have a showdown with Stanford on Saturday.

10)FLORIDA STATE: Some of you might think this is too high for the Noles, after losing to an unranked NC State team, but I have seen these guys live and they are tough. They desevre to be in the top 10.

5 games 5 10/6/12

So as I write this, I am getting ready for wedding Saturday on what is the biggest college football days of the year. Yes I have pissy pants on and am LIVID, that I will be at not 1 but 2 weddings and not at a game somewhere. I would probably be in the Swamp for my 2nd top 10 matchup in 3 weeks, but im not.

1) #5 GEORGIA @ #6 SOUTH CAROLINA: You know Lattimore will get the ball 35-40 times this game, can UGA stop him and set up 3 and long, where Jones can get after Shaw. Also, what will Taylor and Clowney do against UGAs young tackles. 2 very interesting story lines to watch in this game.

2) #4 LSU @ #10 FLORIDA: The Swamp will be rocking for this one. The key in this game is to give Driskell enough time to pass the ball. Can LSU's D line cause havoc and pressure Driskell into mistakes.

3) #8 WEST VIRGINIA  @ #11 TEXAS We know WV can score with Gino Smith. the big question is with Texas, can Texas either score with Smith, or contain him enough to slow him down.

4) #23 WASHINGTON @ #2 OREGON: Washington is coming off a huge Thursday night home win vs USC and Barkley. Can they upset another top 10 team in back to back weeks, or can Thomas and company keep the high octane tempo up against a Washington D that shut Barkley and Company down.

5) #21 Nebraska @ #12 OHIO STATE: Taylor Martinez vs. Braxton Miller. Whoever has the bigger game, thier team will win, plain and simple!!!!!

3 Game Stretches

Their are 2 top 10 teams that are either in the midst of fixing to start BRUTAL 3 games stretches. I would love to hear your opinion on which team has the tougher stretch and are their other 3 game stretches that you think can compete with these 3 or tougher.
TEXAS and SOUTH CAROLINA are the 2 teams. Lets first look at Texas:
TEXAS:  Sept 29: @ Oklahoma St:
               Oct 6: West Virginia:
               Oct 13: Oklahoma (Dallas)


SOUTH CAROLINA: Oct 6: Georgia:
                                    Oct 13: @ LSU
                                    Oct 20: @ Florida

Texas has a rough 3 game stretch starting last week VS. Oklahoma St. I know they are a bit down losing both Weeden and Blackman from last year's team, but they still put out a pretty tough finished product and Stillwater is no easy place to play. West Virginia and Gino Smith come into town just a week after you go to Stillwater. Gino puts up 70 against and just stupid numbers against Baylor. The Texas defense better be ready to play and the offense better show up to play. Then after these 2 games you travel up to Dallas and get Landry Jones and the hated rival's from over the Red River in Oklahoma.

As tough as Texas's 3 game stretch looks, South Carolina draws 3 straight opponents who right now reside in the top 10, tell me that is not crazy. First up they get UGA at home. UGA led on Offense by Murray and the 2 headed freshman tandom of Gurley and Marshall (who have been impressive thus far) and on Defense by Jarvis Jones (who is #1 on Mel Kipers big board right now). They next travel to Baton Rouge which is never an easy place to win. Although they have lost the honey badger on d, they are very tough. Also, as long as you have Les Miles "the mad hatter" as your coach you can't be counted out. If you survive these first 2 then you go to the Swamp. It has been proven that Muschamp can coach defense, and Driskell, the qb, is playing alot better than I thought he would.

I give the edge to South Carolina on the tougher 3 game stretch. Let me know what you think.

5 Things that I learned about the NFL week 4

1)M. Turner still plays for the Falcons and was HUGE on Sunday vs. the Panthers.

2)Some people may say Tony Romo is in the 2nd tier of QBS along with Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, Flaco, etc. I do not buy that after 5 int game on Monday Night. I think Dallas is headed in the wrong direction.

3)I thought the Saints were in trouble with no Sean Peyton, but I would have not thought they would be 0-4.

4)Clevelands WRs can not catch the ball, and that is not good.

5)You don't see many teams hang 50 on the board, New England did against Buffalo and Brady is good!

5 Things I learned from week 5 of the CFB season

1)West Virginia can score with the best of the Big 12. Gino Smith was just flat awesome against Baylor.

2)Clemson and Florida State both win big games coming off an emotional game the week before against each other. Sometimes, you can come out flat, but both teams come away with Ws.

3)I am not sure what Trufant from Washington did against LSU, but this guy was a game changer against Stanford allowing them to put 8 and 9 guys in the box to stop the run.

4)A  Texas team who has not really played anyone this year beats an OKState team and looks to be pretty good. However, they have no time to breath as they get a red hot Gino Smith and WV team in Austin on Saturday.

5) I Knew Arkansas would miss Bobby Pitrino, but I didnt think they would miss him this much. I am not sure who has the  more worse team in the SEC West Arkansas or Auburn, both are bad!