Weekend Reax
Monday, October 30, 2006 at 11:14PM Too many things on my plate today, sorry for this getting out so late.
---Missouri has lost whatever it was that made them so effective earlier in the season. Were they overrated? A bit, sure, but they've dropped winnable games twice now against good teams in Texas A&M and Oklahoma. Turnovers have been the main culprit, but they've also gotten too conservative.
---Wake Forest has moved past their "I can't believe we're bowl eligible" phase and jumped directly to "we're an ACC contender". Linebacker John Abbate is just a consistent playmaker. You watch him on film and he looks alright, but then he goes out and makes game-changing plays every now and then. Some players just have that knack, and he's one of them.
---Anyone notice the recent offensive surge by Oklahoma State? It took them a few weeks to get going, but coach Mike Gundy has finally gotten quarterback Bobby Reid to make plays and handed the run offense over to an exciting freshman. The Cowboys are by no means contenders, but it's nice to see a team lift itself out of the doldrums.
---A lot of credit goes to Ohio State. They're simply the only team in the country taking care of business in such an efficient manner.
---As for their rival Michigan... I think they may be laying low, "in wait" so to speak. They did this before the Notre Dame game to great effect, and may just be doing the same in anticipation of Ohio State with a minimalist offensive approach.
---USC's fall to Oregon State wasn't all that shocking or unexpected. Their offensive system is sad, and they haven't coached up the available talent enough to overcome the difficulties. John David Booty has shown to be a spectacular player, given the circumstances.
---It was another weekend of close games: Florida/Georgia, Tennessee/South Carolina, Auburn/Ole Miss, Wake Forest/North Carolina, Georgia Tech/Miami, Texas/Texas Tech, Texas A&M/Baylor and Wisconsin/Illinois. Perhaps it's just that time of the year where coaches lock up and get bogged down in some close games? I really wish another top team not named Ohio State had made a strong push these last few weeks here, but that hasn't materialized.
California was on a serious roll but then nearly tripped up against Washington. Wisconsin was on a tear and then lost a lot of momentum these last two weeks. Michigan's offense has sagged the last two weeks against Iowa and Northwestern. West Virginia's probably the closest thing to a surging team, but they've had some early hiccup moments in otherwise blowouts against Syracuse and Connecticut.
---Oh! And I pretty much had Texas and USC pegged in my rankings last week. No need to move them around much when we already know what they are and what their limitations are.
They are who we thought they were. They are who we thought they were! I saw them all season. The Trojans and the Longhorns are who we thought they were! That's what we saw on the field. Now if you want to crown them, then crown their a**. But they are who we thought they were!
Recaps
Reader Comments (2)
I emailed him last night, will call later if it's still problematic. I don't know what the problem is right now.