Archives for December 2009

Thoughts on the Civil War

December 4, 2009 by Leave a Comment

FootballSo Oregon it is!

I try to watch as much college football as I can during the season (I take my Blogpoll privileges seriously) but when it comes to the Pac-10, I just haven’t had many chances to see teams not named USC, Oregon or Stanford. So outside of highlights and brief moments, I haven’t seen much of Oregon State.

That being said, the Civil War was quite a rip. Here are a few thoughts I had (and hope to expand on later) while watching the two teams play:

  • I wasn’t aware of the offensive effectiveness of Oregon State in the redzone. #1 in the country is pretty impressive. Oregon is no slouch at #2.
  • Oregon can strike scary fast on offense.
  • Both teams’ primary running backs still seem undersized to me. They’re fast, but small. I think after tackling the likes of Clay, Royster, and Robinson that the Buckeye Defense will be licking its chops with these little snacks. Of course, Blount throws a wrinkle in all that if Oregon wins.
  • Along those same lines, it seems like tackling small running backs is not a forte of either defense.
  • Turnovers could be plentiful the way Oregon backs (and Masoli) handle the ball
  • Both teams are so quick on offense I can’t get a real good read on offensive lines, but both look competent. I’m interested to know how we match up, size-wise.
  • I really (to the thiry-eighth power) can’t stomach Craig James and Jesse “Hair Gel”mer.
Filed Under: College Football Tagged With: ,

Drama Queens

December 1, 2009 by 2 Comments

FootballI’d have to say that the action in the Big Ten this year was fairly drama-free. There was the initial “hope” that Michigan was back (that meme ended quickly) and of course the Purdue upsets of both Ohio State and Michigan were noteworthy (and caused a lot of melodrama in Buckeye Nation), but outside the normal ups and downs of a football season, there wasn’t a whole lot to get excited about (unless you were an Iowa fan).

Not so in the Pac-10. After seeing Pete Carroll go for it all at the end of the fourth quarter with his USC Trojans up two touchdowns against UCLA, I can’t help but think that the drama building up in Pac-10 is going to make for a rather interesting season next year.

A brief and incomplete recap: Things started off poorly after Oregon laid an egg against Boise State and LeGarrette Blount landed the punch heard ’round the NCAA. Then there was the dismantling of the USC dynasty at the hands of Oregon. Stanford followed that up nicely with a Trojan beatdown of its own (right after it had whupped up on Oregon the week before). Of course we can’t forget that after Harbaugh went for two, trying to drop a half a hundy on Carroll, there was a rather terse meeting of coaches at mid-field. Finally, there was the thriller between Arizona and Oregon that ended ugly for an Oregon cheerleader. And we still have more games to watch this week as we await our Rose Bowl opponent. This is fun!

There was already bad blood between coaches and players in the Pac-10. Things could get nasty next year. Barkley better watch his back during the UCLA game next season.

I can’t wait.

Filed Under: College Football
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