The Blue Workhorse

It has been a while since I’ve been free on a Saturday and able to make my weekly college football observations. Over the last three weeks, I’ve had a wedding to attend with the girlfriend, ALCS Games 1 & 2 to attend, and my college Homecoming and alumni baseball game to participate in, so my college football observations have been missing.

This week, I tried to make up for the lost time, however. I watched a lot of college football as I tried to flip back and forth between the several games that were televised throughout the day on Saturday.

There were some huge matchups for the top 10 teams that didn’t disappoint and a lot of blowouts of overmatched teams, but here are 78 observations about certain players and teams from 11 of Saturday’s games I was able to watch in between the World Series and UFC fighting:

(Also look for the updated The Blue Workhorse College Football Top 25 in the next few days or check out last week’s poll and my last observations - from Week 5.)

Kentucky at Florida (UF 63, UK 5)

• I thought Kentucky might have a chance in this game if it was being played in Lexington. Unfortunately, for the Wildcats, it was being played in the Swamp.
• How do you allow three blocked kicks? One is understandable. Things happen, sometimes a player goes unblocked. Two is bad, but if it is one punt and one field goal then maybe you could see it since the two special team units are completely separate with different players, blocking assignments, etc. Three blocks is just inexcusable! Defensive end William Green gets the first of Florida’s three blocks while Kentucky punter Tim Masthay tries to deliver the kick. (AP/John Raoux).
• Kentucky entered the game with the best scoring defense in the SEC. I doubt they’ll hold that distinction any more after the 63 points Florida hung up on Saturday.

Oklahoma at Kansas State (OU 55, KSU 38)

• 83 combined points in the first half? That’s just ridiculous.
• If it wasn’t for forcing five turnovers, Oklahoma could have been in trouble against the Wildcats.
• How porous is the Oklahoma secondary? Josh Freeman threw for a career high 478 yards as the Wildcats outgained the Sooners 553-529. It was the third consecutive game that Oklahoma has given up over 400 yards of offense. In fact, the only two teams OU has held under 300 yards of total offense are Baylor and UT-Chattanooga.

Georgia at LSU (UGA 52, LSU 38)

• Even I could have intercepted Jarrett Lee’s first pass attempt, which Darryl Gamble did and ran back for a touchdown. First, Lee was already rocking backwards before the shotgun snap even got to him letting the defense automatically know it was a pass, and then he completely stared down his intended target making the only part Gamble had to worry about.
• If the announcers knew LSU was going to be running a screen on 3^rd and goal from the 9-yard line, how did Georgia’s defense not know? I understand teams can sometimes just execute better, but if Georgia would have been looking for the screen they wouldn’t have been so out of position.
• I haven’t been one to jump on the Matthew Stafford-hype train even though I am a Georgia fan, but I’m getting ever-closer to signing myself up. I know he has the talent, but now he is showing that he can manage the game….and then he shows off his cannon when he zips a ball into a receiver who is sitting in a soft spot in between zone coverage, and you just say, “Wow.”
• Even with there appears to be nothing there, Knowshon Moreno still gets 3+ yards.
• Georgia’s offensive line has been much criticized, especially after the Alabama game, but on they did a great job Saturday, even when LSU blitzed.
• All it takes is one small cut and a little space for Moreno to get a 20, 30, or even 40 yard gain. His cuts are quick and so fluid.
• There had been some discussion about how Georgia attempted to run the fade too much and unsuccessfully against Tennessee, but as usual, it’s best when coaches don’t listen to the critics. They threw another one inside the five and Kenneth Harris made a tremendous catch, something that didn’t happen the last two weeks. Over LSU safety Chad Jones, Georgia’s Kenneth Harris comes down with the touchdown despite previous clamoring that UGA had run the fade too often. (AP/Bill Haber).
• A big break in the second quarter for the Bulldogs when the umpire called a phantom tipped pass when a pass interference flag was being called. The flag would have given LSU a first down on 3^rd and 11. Instead, the Tigers had to settle for a field goal.
• On that field goal, a significant event: Congratulations to Colt David for overtaking Kevin Faulk as the all time scoring leader in LSU football history and on a 51-yard field goal to boot.
• Besides the interception on their first offensive play, LSU moved the ball at will on Georgia’s defense in the first half. Probably because they stopped trying to throw and just gave it to Charles Scott.
• It’s not often that a third string player scores a touchdown, much less a third string fullback, so congrats to Georgia’s Fred Muzenmaier, who scored from a yard out in the second quarter.
• The Bulldog defenders didn’t wrap up well on their tackles all day long. That could spell disaster next weekend against the explosive Florida offense.
• I don’t know why teams don’t run the quarterback sneak more often on 3^rd and short and/or 4^th and short. If run correctly, the play is guaranteed at least two yards. The offensive line just has to stay low, and the quarterback has to be patient enough to let the O-line get their surge.
• Georgia took a 24-17 lead into halftime, but the game definitely wasn’t over, especially since the Tigers are used to coming from behind. They trailed in 4 of their 5 SEC games with the Mississippi State game being the only game they led for the entirety.
• On Georgia’s opening drive of the second half, they got a huge first down on third down only to have the play called back because of an illegal formation/ineligible man downfield penalty (they had two wide receivers both lined up on the right side that were on the line of scrimmage). This is one of those stupid penalties that have just been killing Georgia all season.
• A play after Stafford was shown yelling at A.J. Green after Green dropped a screen pass, Stafford went right back to Green for a 49-yard touchdown pass. I think that is the ultimate sign not only of confidence in the freshman receiver but also maturity and leadership by the junior quarterback.
• With all of the talk and hype that surrounds Moreno, I was just as impressed by the play of LSU’s Scott. He is a power runner with speed, which typically equals future NFL feature back. Scott ran through tackles all day long. Plus, he helped his team immediately respond after Moreno scored from 68 yards out in the third quarter.
• When the Tigers lined up Andrew Hatch in the backfield, it played into the hands of Georgia. Against a running quarterback, the Bulldogs are able to walk a safety up closer to the line of scrimmage and are able to use their speed to run sideline to sideline to stop any option plays.
• On Scott’s long run that set up his 1-yard touchdown run, Gamble overran the play and was out of position, something that would less likely happen if injured star middle linebacker Dannell Ellerbe was playing for Georgia.
• Mark Richt may have too much confidence in his freshman kicker, Blair Walsh. On a 4^th and 7 , Richt decided to attempt a 55 yard field goal rather than go for the first down.
• LSU killed Georgia on screen plays each time they were able to complete them (twice – both for TDs), so I don’t know why they didn’t attempt to run any more than the four they ran.
• Two interception returns for touchdowns for Darryl Gamble ties an NCAA record for linebackers. Can we say defensive player of the week?
• Yet, another interception-less start for Stafford.

Virginia Tech at Florida State (FSU 30, VT 20)

• It’s tough to lose your starting quarterback at any point in a game, but to lose your signal caller on your first offensive play of the game is particularly difficult. For Virginia Tech, they lost Tyrod Taylor on the opening play, but luckily, they had an experienced backup in Sean Glennon.
• Sean Glennon was solid throughout the first half. If he would have showed the confidence he showed Saturday throughout the season, Taylor would still be redshirted.
• About midway through the second quarter, the Seminoles began to get tremendous pressure on Glennon. Glennon began to look a little shaky, but Tech was able to get some gashing runs on the zone read and halfback draws because the offensive line just let the defensive front over pursue.
• Christian Ponder has been on the Tallahassee campus for 2 ½ years but is already working on his Master’s degree. Ponder and Myron Rolle are the type of cerebral and scholarly players that any coach would like to have.
• On the first play after Antone Smith went out with an elbow injury, his backup Jermaine Thomas was hit almost simultaneously from the front and back for an unenvious injury that appears to be a concussion.
• Incredible touchdown catch by FSU’s Taiwan Easterling. He went up over two defenders, pulled down the ball, got a foot down, held onto the ball, and took a hit from the field goal post – even if that post is padded it still doesn’t give at all, which makes me wonder why Florida State has them so close still. Over Hokie defenders Kam Chancellor and Cam Martin, Easterling looks the ball into his hands before getting his left foot down in the back of the end zone. (AP/Phil Coale).
• Easterling made another great catch on a long third down midway through the fourth quarter. He completely laid out for a ball and cradled it in.
• From spring practice to now, Virginia Tech has lost their first and second string quarterbacks (with Taylor and Glennon both being injured in the game), running backs, and wide receivers. I don’t know if any other team in America has been as decimated by injuries (and suspensions) on one side of the ball.
• With his top two running backs out, Bobby Bowden turned to fullback Marcus Sims to carry the load. Sims scored on a touchdown run, but he almost wasn’t even on the team this season. Sims, whose brother Ernie Sims (now on the Detroit Lions) and father Ernie Sims Sr. both starred at FSU, got down last season when he was attempting to recover from a broken arm and contemplated quitting. Instead, he stuck it out and has become a key element of the offense.
• I feel bad for Glennon, who after losing his starting job after the first game of his senior year was playing well after Taylor’s injury only to go down with his own injury.
• For a guy that has been practicing at wide receiver (due to injuries), third string quarterback and fifth year senior Corey Holt was quite impressive (except for VT’s final drive).

Oklahoma State at Texas (Tex 28, OSU 24)

• Colt McCoy’s first half stats: 25-27, 233 yards, 2 TD. Can we give him the Heisman now?
• The Cowboys were one turnover away from possibly beating Texas. In the first quarter, running back Kendall Hunter had picked up a big gain and moved Ok State inside the 10-yard line when he just lost a handle on the football while running. If the Cowboys score on that possession, the score is 7-7 and the first half score is only 21-14.
• They also had a turnover called back when they intercepted Colt McCoy only for Texas to get the ball back due to a senseless roughing the passer penalty. The penalty helped set up Texas’s final touchdown two plays later when McCoy ran in for a score, which ended up being the difference in the game.
• Can anyone stop the Longhorn offense?
• Evidently, Oklahoma State can after a couple of halftime adjustments. After the half, Texas threw two interceptions (one called back for the roughing the passer penalty), fumbled away the ball, and turned the ball over on downs.

Rutgers at Pittsburgh (Rut 54, Pitt 34)

• Where has this Mike Teel been all year? The senior quarterback, who came into the season hoping to put him in position to be selected in the NFL draft but has played poorly enough to be booed by his own home fans, was 11-15 for 321 yards and 5 TD…in the first half.
• Is everyone finally ready to jump off the small Pittsburgh bandwagon that believed they were legit before the season or after they beat South Florida? Not only had Pittsburgh lost to 3-5 Bowling Green and barely escaped against some other bad teams, but they lose to Rutgers today, and South Florida shows they aren’t a national power losing to Louisville.
• How long until Dave Wannstedt’s firing/resignation? Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt scratches his head pondering whether he should go with a premptive strike and resigned before he is fired. (AP/Keith Srakocic).
• Rutgers’ road win was their first over a ranked opponent in 20 years. The last? September 24, 1988 over #15 Penn State.

Michigan State at Michigan (MSU 35, Mich 21)

• I’ve never seen a player’s body hit the pylon and then step out of bounds, but when Michigan wide receiver Brandon Minor came down with a catch out of bounds but stepped on the pylon as he came down. The ruling was a touchdown, which seemed odd since he never would have landed in bounds. They probably should take a look at that rule.
• It seemed like every time I flipped it over to the MSU/Mich game from the Georgia/LSU game, there was another turnover.
• It’ll be interesting to see how good Michigan can be once they actually get a quarterback who is suited to run Rich Rodriguez’s spread option. Steven Threet just doesn’t have the skill set needed. He is a drop back passer stuck in the wrong system due to coaching changes.
• I think players like Threet should be allowed to transfer without losing a year of eligibility. The player shouldn’t be at fault for changes the university decides to make.
• With his two first half touchdowns, Minor has Michigan’s last five touchdowns. I don’t know if that is indicative of great individual performance or a lack of talent for the Wolverines.
• With the loss, Michigan now has to win their final 4 games to be bowl eligible and continue their 40 year streak of playing in a bowl game. (Included are trips to ranked Minnesota and Ohio State.)

Colorado at Missouri (Mizz 58, Colo 0)

• How do you know when Missouri is playing well and ultimately winning? Chase Daniel’s completion percentage is outstanding. In the first quarter against the Buffaloes, Daniel was a perfect 12-12 with 2 TDs, and Missouri led 21-0. (Daniel finished 31-37 for 302 yards & 5 TD.)
• It’s fun to watch Jeremy Maclin with the ball in open space. He doesn’t need much space, and Mizzou runs all kinds of trick plays to get him the ball in open space.
• Congrats to Mizzou’s Chase Coffman for setting the NCAA record for career receptions for a tight end when he caught his 218^th pass in the second quarter.
• Speaking of Coffman, he made one hell of a catch for the Tigers’ second score. With full extension, he pulled in a one-handed grab in the back of the end zone that looked like it would float over everyone’s heads.
• If Missouri could have gotten a similar defensive effort against Texas in the first half, last week’s game could have been a classic.

Penn State at Ohio State (PSU 13, OSU 6)

• What a play by Penn State’s Tyrell Sales on Pryor’s fumble on 3^rd and 1. After the ball is knocked loose by Mark Rubin, Sales not only throws a block on Beanie Wells to keep him from recovering the fumble, but knowing he isn’t going to be able to recover the ball while face down after hitting Wells, Sales swats the ball away from Pryor, who was about to recover the ball. After blocking Beanie Wells out of the picture, Sales (#46) eyes the loose ball as Pryor (#2) flies through the air to try to recover his fumble. Sales would punch the ball away from Pryor and Penn State would ultimately recover. (AP/Jay LaPrete).
• Difference in the game: Penn State – 0 turnovers; Terrelle Pryor – 2 very costly turnovers, including his first fumble of the season.
• Last week, Terrelle Pryor got to experience his first big win when he led the Buckeyes to a blowout of Michigan State. This week, he experiences the pains of his first big loss as the starting quarterback.

Alabama at Tennessee (Ala 29, UT 9)

• Tennessee just can’t seem to get out of their own way. Even when they got tremendous field position at the 5-yard line thanks to a Javier Arenas fumble, they had to settle for a field goal after losing 9 yards.
• Eric Berry is probably the best player on a terrible team this season. There’s no doubt that he is going to be a Top 10 draft pick in my mind, and if you don’t believe me, ask Alabama receiver Marquis Maze, who Berry rocked in the first half sending him helicoptering through the air.
• There needs to be an amber alert and some “MISSING” flyers posted for the Volunteers run game. Leading rusher Arian Foster has only a single 100 yard rushing game this season, and only once against an SEC team has Tennessee went over 100 yards rushing as a team (Mississippi State).
• Foster’s chances of breaking Travis Henry’s career rushing record are growing slimmer by the week. With only 21 yards against Alabama, Foster still needs 283 over the final four games to break Henry’s mark. He would need to average 70.8 yards per game to break the record, which seems reasonable for a feature back. However, only three times this season has Foster gained more than 70 yards (UCLA, UAB, Northern Illinois), and Tennessee only faces one more team with a weak defense (Wyoming). Also, Foster has recently seen less and less carries (20 in the last 3 games) with the emergence of Lennon Creer (22 carries in the last 3 games) and the reliability of Montario Hardesty (18 carries in the last 3 games).
• With LSU’s loss to Georgia, Alabama would have to lose to LSU and either Auburn or Mississippi State to not win the SEC West. Consider it a lock. The only question is who will they play in the SEC Championship: a showdown with Florida or a rematch with the Bulldogs? They’ll presumably know after next weekend World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

Southern California at Arizona (USC 17, Ari 10)

• Gotta love Arizona’s all red uniforms. Some teams’ secondary colors just don’t make for good, single-colored alternate uniforms (note: West Virginia’s yellow unis), but I think Arizona should feel free to go to the alternate unis for any big game.
• Petros Papadakis is not a good announcer. I enjoy him on ‘Jim Rome is Burning,’ and he’d might be good on radio but he’s not that good on TV.
• The referees definitely missed the call on USC’s first touchdown. Stefon Johnson was on his butt at the 1-yard line and then gave an extra effort to lunge into the end zone. They even went to instant replay, took a long time, and still came back with the wrong call. Johnson, or one of the other 842 running backs USC has, would probably have scored on third and goal on the next play, but then again, you never know.
• “MOM” written on the eyeblack. Come on Mark Sanchez, you could have written something better than that. Maybe “MILF.”
• Sanchez got blown up by defensive end Brooks Reed. The jarring hit caused Sanchez to fumble and set up Arizona’s lone touchdown. Reed takes down Sanchez in Arizona’s alternate reds, but it was an earlier hit in the second half that created the turnover that set up Arizona’s only touchdown. (AP/Wily Low).
• Arizona really missed running back Keola Antolin after he had to leave the game when he was hit by Taylor Mays in the first half. His replacement Nic Grigsby did score a touchdown, but the Wildcats lacked the explosive offensive weapon Antolin provided.
• In the 4^th quarter, USC absolutely stuffed Willie Tuitama on a 4^th and inches quarterback sneak. The difference between Tuitama failing and possibly picking up the first down was a lack of patience. Instead of waiting for his offensive line to get a push and then picking a spot in the line to surge over, Tuitama took the snap and immediately tried to bull his way forward.
• I don’t know if it’s his official nickname, but it sounded cool to me. The announcers called Grigsby the “Whittier Whiz” because he is from Whittier, California.
• How lucky is USC? Up by 7 with fewer than three minutes remaining, Johnson fumbles the ball inside USC’s 20-yard line and the ball is picked up and carried an extra 23 yards by tight end Anthony McCoy. If Arizona recovers, they have great field position to try and tie up the game. Even if Johnson is ruled down, the Trojans still face second down inside their 10-yard line. But all the breaks tend to go the Trojans way.
• USC wins again but still unimpressively. Their defense: definitely impressive. But their offense: not so much.

Did I miss something from a game? What did you see this weekend? What teams and/or players impressed you? Or who stunk it up?

Leave a comment, and let us know your opinion.

Shotgun Spratling

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• College Football Predictions: Week 9 (4)
• College Football Predictions: Week 10 (1)
• Week 5 College Football Observations (2)