2008 ASU Edition - 10/12/08
College Football and weekends in the autumn go together like peanut butter and jelly. It is just a form of respite to take in a sunny October day in Southern California while watching the greatest sport on the planet. This respite and escape is all the more enjoyable in the midst of the painful developments in the capital markets that many of us are obsessed with from Monday through Friday. In other words, college football goes a long way towards escaping our weekday tensions, and a USC shutout victory does even more.
- It was not a pretty win for USC, despite the final score of 28-0. Besides the first half in the Oregon State game, I have not really seen the USC offense struggle since the Oregon game last year. But struggle they did this Saturday. But, while I may be a little less enthused about our offense than I was last week in our blowout win over Oregon, I am even more blown away by the state of our defense than I was last week. This defense is just pulverizing, and besides the first half of the Oregon State game this season, no one has essentially been able to score on them all year.
- The actual stat really is that we have given up about two touchdown drives all year long besides that OSU debacle. Seriously. One with Virginia, and one with Oregon, both fueled by a couple penalties. It is virtually impossible to sustain a drive against this defense. The lateral speed is NFL-like, and the secondary coverage gets better every week.
- I am not sure what to make of this ASU team. Erickson seemed to have something going last year, but this team's offense is as impotent as I have seen them in many years. I have always - always - maintained that they recruit good quarterbacks and pretty good defensive players, but that they just don't seem too interested in generating a running game. That is more true now than it even was in 2005 when after taking a 21-3 lead over the Trojans in Tempe, Lendale and Reggie rushed for about 500 yards while ASU rushed for less than 10. I am sure Erickson agrees - they can not compete in conference play until they can run the ball. They may lose their next two games, and at that point be 2-6, with no real chance of a bowl game. Stunning from a time I predicted to go 2nd or 3rd in the conference.
- Alabama's chances of keeping this thing going look better and better every week. The massively overrated LSU Tigers were exposed at the swamp. With Auburn losing again, LSU looks less and less impressive. Ole Miss may be a more formidable opponent for Bama than LSU. Tough week for the SEC.
- But not as tough for the SEC as for the top 5 in general. To see Texas beat Oklahoma was not a big surprise, though the fake punt attempt when the Sooners were winning the game was one of the more bizarre things I have ever seen. To see Florida beat LSU was not a surprise, but to see them win by 30 points surely was. Missouri's loss is the biggest surprise. I reiterate that no major conference team is going undefeated, and that the top ten rankings in mid-October mean as much as the summer of 2007 polls did for the election. Hillary and Rudy are not running any more, and I doubt Texas or Alabama will be in the national championship game. But you just never know, do you?
- Sanchez was rusty, and yet if his worst game of the year is a 28-0 blowout, I can't think of a lot to complain about. But of course, I do not live my life on a chat board either. =)
- Joe McKnight is not making it easy for those of us critical of the three-back rotation to stay consistent week after week. The Stefan/Gable/Joe controversy is totally mystifying to me. I change my mind every week. If Joe holds on to the ball, as he did yesterday, and runs like he did (140+ yards) he is just too good to not have on the field.
- UCLA played Oregon much, much better than I thought they would. Chow will not open up that offense, and I understand why, but I thought they'd lose to Oregon by 30. A "moral victory" perhaps?
- Don't look now, but Stanford has a winning record!
- It was fun while it lasted, Vanderbilt. Can't be Harvard in the middle of the week and Alabama on the weekend, as the old expression goes. That idiotic cliché was always wrong for a few reasons. First of all, Alabama hasn't been much of a national contender for a few decades, so the weekend part of it is flawed. And secondly, comparing Vanderbilt to Harvard involved a comparison of Nashville to Boston, which is like comparing a truck stop to a palace. I hope Vandie loses the rest of their games. I have my reasons.
- Penn State is the team that has the best chance of proving me wrong that no one will run the table, and even then the odds say they will lose one (whether it be to Ohio State or some inferior team). But if somehow it works out that USC and Penn State play in either the Rose Bowl or that BCS thing, I would cherish the chance to kick their ass on national TV. JoePa and Bowden's narcissism in staying around is unmatched by anyone this side of Washington D.C.
- I am obviously not concerned about USC's outing against WSU this weekend, but again - you just never know. I would love to see USC tune them up a bit and regain their swagger offensively. Our passing game should be among the best in the country, and come to think of it, so should our running game. Perhaps a good outing up in Pullman will be what the doctor ordered. If we win the next two games, don't forget Pete's lifetime record in November (I'll give you a hint - he has never, ever lost).
Enough football. Enough fall. Enough tailgating. Enough musing. It's back to the ground. Like the Trojans, let's all live to fight another day.