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.