BZ's News and Views
In the grand tradition of such terrible writers as Larry King and the terrible newspaper for which he wrote, USA Today, I'm proud to present BZ's News and Notes -- random, disjointed thoughts from around the college football world and beyond.
- In October of 2007, I said "But perhaps, instead, Colt is just a playmaker. We have a tendency to put Colt in this category of "game manager" because he looks like one. He's a coach's son; he's smart; he's not incredibly physically gifted; he's white; etc. We tend to think he's built to run a structured offensive system. But I'm beginning to think the kid's a playmaker, not a game manager." -- I was SO right.
- On that same post, I also wrote, "For how good out D-Line allegedly is, we haven't been getting a lot of sacks or even very much pressure on opposing QB's. No one's talking about this, but it's a problem. Some of it undoubtedly falls on the blitzing LB's because Bobino seemingly hasn't even sniffed a QB all season, but at the least, he should be taking up a blocker, allowing the d-line to get to the QB faster. But no. Nothing." -- I am SO glad this is no longer an issue.
- I don't want to alarm anyone, but Jimmy Clausen is no longer a terrible quarterback.
- Watching former Texas back-up Jevan Snead beat Florida (and the very same Urban Meyer who recruited him years ago by saying he was simultaneously recruiting Tebow as a linebacker) was extremely gratifying. Nothing but the best for you Jevan, especially if there's some way for the "best for you" to also be the "worst for Houston Nutt." Sigh...
- John Brantley wouldn't be starting at Texas until 2010 either.
- Urban Meyer is a great coach in the Bob Stoops/Pete Carroll mode. But he is not yet Bob Stoops or Pete Carroll. Only 6-4 in his last 10 SEC games.
- Connecticut DT and fledgling, BZ-approved blogger Rob Lunn further confirmed the BON man-crush this week in a post after his game against Louisville: "I went down in the first quarter (to the delight of their offensive line). They were very talented upfront and of course led by NFL prospect and possibly the top lineman in the nation, Eric Wood (#77). Last year, I absolutely held the crap out of him. It's unfair, it's illegal, and it worked. I like to think that I singlehandedly inspired the rule change (this year the refs are determined to crack-down on defensive holding). I told Eric (do you mind if I call you Eric?), I told Eric after the game that I was pissed that I missed my last opportunity to "get after him all year" and he conceded that "man...last year...that sucked" (read that with a slow southern drawl)."
- USC has now crapped the bed 3 consecutive years since the 2005 season, twice to Oregon State and once to Stanford at home. I'm not sayin'.....I'm just sayin'.....
- How bad is Texas A&M? Army completed 1 pass in the entire game, for 4 total passing yards, and still converted 10 of 17 third downs. They were a Black Knight fumble (returned for a TD) in the waning seconds of first half away from potentially losing to one of the worst teams in 1-A.
- I have a feeling Army could probably blow out North Texas, however. The Mean Green are 0-4 and have lost by an average of 55-14, including a 77-20 drubbing this week at the hands of Rice. Yes, Rice. The Owls scored TDs on their first 8 possessions in the first half, with only one of those drives going for less than 56 yards.
- Todd Dodge should only recruit players to North Texas who have been playing in his offensive system since middle school. That seemed to work at Southlake Carroll. Because whatever he's doing in Denton is not working
- I'm in second place for the year in the BON Pick 'Em pool. I'm as surprised as you are.
- Aaron Lewis deserves more credit than he's getting for that Aaron Williams pick six.
- The best defensive play of the day was Orakpo staying home on that reverse in the first quarter. So often talk of "OMG we're going to be super aggressive on defense!!1!" leads to overpursuit and loss of containment. Credit Muschamp for proving that aggressiveness and intelligence aren't mutually exclusive on the football field.
- McCoy could have juked that Hog linebacker that tackled Chiles 1 on 1 in the open field.
- Colt's rushing prowess should be inversely proportional to the amount of meaningful playing time Chiles gets.
- I hate complaining about referees, but they missed at least 3 holding penalties on the Hog O-line and completely blew a PI call against Palmer in the first quarter.
- The surest sign that Texas is dominating a team's O-line is Rashad Bobino getting a tackle for a loss.
- More Keenan Robinson, please!
- Texas is now ranked #1 in the nation in sacks, with 4 per game.
- Our secondary was heavily protected today by the D-line's ability to get pressure on the QB. They're not going to have that luxury against OU.
- I'm still not buying Alabama. Not this year. Beat LSU and then we'll talk.
- I think Penn State might be legit. Not national title legit. More like Big 10 Champs legit. Which is of course to say not really that legit at all.
- Texas is #6 in the nation in scoring offense and #4 in the Big 12. The conference has 6 of the top 10 scoring teams in the nation: Mizzou #2, OSU #3, OU #5, UT #6, KSU #8, Tech #9. Absurd.
- I have never been angrier at a more meaningless play than I was at John Chiles' abortive pitch that turned into an Arkansas TD. I'm going to be bitching about that play for months.
- Jordan Shipley may be making himself some NFL money this year. That first TD on the sideline was gorgeous.
- Cody Johnson is the motherf&#%ing truth.
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22 comments
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Comments
I like this
Ramble on, brotha. Ramble on.
--PB--
by Peter Bean on Sep 28, 2008 11:35 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
You and I both...
…are not buying Alabama. I think Georgia was doomed to endure a few “WTF when are they going to show up to this ass-kicking” type games from the beginning, and I’ll call the Fulmer Cup evidence for that. Distractions.
Alabama did win the Cup, but I’m pretty sure it was because they had one guy selling cocaine to policemen, probably delivering it via rocket-propelled-eight-ball or something else outrageously illegal. Plus they already sleepwalked through one game this year – winning the Tulane game Aggie-style with an unconventional touchdown or two saving their butts. I’m feeling like that game (and the threat of another like it) is going to keep me from putting them at #1 in my poll this week.
by Horn Brain on Sep 29, 2008 12:24 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Alabama is due for an upset
After such an emotional bigtime win, time is right for them to lose focus
by owenh on Sep 29, 2008 9:27 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
We got one top vote in the coaches poll.
I really believe that it was Petrino who gave us that nod. Alabama beat Arkansas 49-14. They only scored 14 points in the second half. They are not a second half team. I don’t see them winning out.
by girlslikefootball2 on Sep 29, 2008 1:58 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
who has Alabama beaten?
An crappy Clemson team, a crappy Arkansas team, and a Georgia team that has done nothing to justify their pre-season #1 ranking, much less a top 5 ranking.
People talk about the media bias for USC (a justifiable complaint, imo), but no one talks about how the media just couldn’t WAIT to put ‘Bama in the top 10. The fact that ’Bama was ranked in the top 25 in some polls after last season’s suck year tells you all you need to know about the media.
by Beergut on Sep 29, 2008 3:54 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
2 Things
1) What does Bama need to do to impress you guys?!? I’m buying the hell out of them. They’ve started as many as 8 Freshman and are destroying the competition. Sure the Clemson win shines a little less bright right now. I don’t think they’ve recovered from b-slap Bama gave them in week 1. But are we really going to start taking style points away for not shutting out UGA? I dislike Coach Voldemort as much as the next dude, but let’s give credit where it’s due.
2)
I don’t want to alarm anyone, but Jimmy Clausen is no longer a terrible quarterback.
You just alarmed me. More alarming? ND’s remaining schedule. Could they really squeeze 9 wins out of this creampuff and steal a BCS slot? Not out of the question.
Oct 4 – vs. Stanford, 2:30 PM
Oct 11 – at North Carolina, TBA
Oct 18 – Open
Oct 25 – at Washington, 8:00 PM
Nov 1 – vs. Pittsburgh, 2:30 PM
Nov 8 – at Boston College, TBA
Nov 15 – at Navy, 12:00 PM
Nov 22 – vs. Syracuse, 2:30 PM
Nov 29 – at U-S-C, 8:00 PM
Dec 6 – Open
by Horndogger on Sep 29, 2008 4:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I don’t think that either Clemson or Georgia was as good as their hype suggested, especially Clemson. They’re like the Iowa of the east coast. Overhyped and underperforming every single year. The Georgia win was a good one, but they just sort of shocked the Dawgs in the first half. Once Georgia woke up and realized they were playing a game, they dominated the Tide. I don’t mean to take away from the win, because Bama played well enough to win against a very good team and I think they deserve the #1 spot based on their resume so far. But that second half makes me think that a team like LSU or Auburn who takes them seriously from the get-go will beat them.
by billyzane on Sep 29, 2008 4:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agree to Disagree
they just sort of shocked the Dawgs in the first half.
How does this take away from the result? There’s not a person on this site, save Beergut the closet Texas fan, that wouldn’t like to see us “sort of shock” OU in the 1st half and hold on to win in the 2nd half. I have a hard time believing that when it’s a Top 10 matchup, the Gameday crew’s been outside the stadium all day, the student section is blacked out and it’s prime time that the Dawgs weren’t taking their opponent lightly. Not trying to pick a fight on this one BZ – I just came away surprised and impressed by what Bama did.
by Horndogger on Sep 29, 2008 11:27 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
It doesn't take away from the end result
They won and deserved to win. They get credit for that, absolutely. But the adjustments Georgia made at halftime and the subsequent domination that the Dawgs laid into them in the second half makes me question whether Bama can really beat LSU and Auburn, if those teams play from the first snap the way Georgia did in the second half. But until they play LSU in November, we might not know how good Alabama really is. My hunch is very good but not elite. Yours is the opposite. I guess we’ll find out.
by billyzane on Sep 29, 2008 11:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Cody Johnson
Cody Johnson is the motherf&#%ing truth.
Why is that not a bumper sticker?!
It's Mean to Ween
by Bombilla on Sep 29, 2008 8:12 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
A possible quibble
Our secondary was heavily protected today by the D-line’s ability to get pressure on the QB. They’re not going to have that luxury against OU.
I think the vice versa was also true a few times on saturday. Dick appeared to have plenty of time to throw (plenty = at least 3 solid seconds) on a few of those sacks, but never did. It’s easy to say he’s just a bad qb and couldn’t make his reads or didn’t think to throw the ball away, but I think it’s really because our coverage was good enough that he had to go through several options before being sacked. I’m not going to go as far as declaring them “coverage sacks” but I really think our secondary played a role in a few of them.
by BigTexBD on Sep 29, 2008 8:21 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
unfortunately
I agree about the OU part.
by BigTexBD on Sep 29, 2008 8:21 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
On OU
I think we’ll all be pleasantly surprised at how much Bradford gets knocked on his ass in the Cotton Bowl.
by HookedinOKC on Sep 29, 2008 9:01 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Surprised
Hell, you’re surprised, somehow I’m in first.
I’m in second place for the year in the BON Pick ‘Em pool. I’m as surprised as you are. <>
by billb on Sep 29, 2008 8:52 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
More recs
Man, I love the writing of the boys at BON.
by jc25 on Sep 29, 2008 8:54 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Just like Larry King...
…except good. So, really not like Larry King at all when you get right down to it. Well done, BZ.
proud to swim home
by learned hand on Sep 29, 2008 11:38 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Very good, but where are the non-sequitors?
You know, like:
“Has anyone else noticed that applesauce and ear wax are the same color?”
OR
“Good health is akin to rubbing your wallet on aluminum foil.”
You need 4-5 of those interspersed in the diatribe, perfectly random. It’s stuff like that which made Larry King’s column…Larry King’s column.
Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.
- Thomas Jones
by beast in bama on Sep 29, 2008 4:22 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs
you're right
I wasn’t feeling particularly creative when I was writing this so I stuck to football stuff, but the original idea was to do stuff like that. Next week, perhaps. I think this will be a regular feature.
by billyzane on Sep 29, 2008 4:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Alright
2 weeks of solid posts followed by a slow sputter and then diapering?
by Wells on Sep 30, 2008 12:51 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I really don't want that to be a spelling mistake...nt whills
proud to swim home
by learned hand on Sep 30, 2008 1:13 AM CDT up reply actions 2 recs
You've got some zingers
Congrats. This from a former writer who wishes he could have been this creative. My personal favorites:
1. Bobino
2. Todd Dodge; his problem at NT is he CAN’T recruit. At SLC, he got away with it.
3. Penn State
4. Brantley
5. Snead
SPECIAL MENTION to UCONN lineman. Think we could get him into grad school here?
by edsp on Sep 29, 2008 8:00 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
That pass Colt made to Shipley
to the outside shoulder, was made while rolling to his left. I’m seriously impressed with that kind of accuracy even if it had a little wobble to it.
Good format, bz.
by whills on Sep 30, 2008 3:32 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

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