This Saturday's Slate

Let's do this.

Noon

• Virginia @ Duke (LF Sports): CRIPPLE FIGHT!!! Seriously, Duke stands a good chance of winning this one. Virginia can't move the ball to save their lives.
• Toledo @ Pitt (ESPNU): I don't really hae anything to say about this one. Go Rockets?
• Tennessee @ Memphis (ESPN): So, wait, a dominant state power agreed to actually play at a lesser school's home stadium? Heck, they agreed to play them at all? Amazing, but call me when Alabama or Auburn go to UAB or Troy.
• Wisconsin @ Indiana (ESPN2): Go badgers, I guess.

12:30

• Mississippi State @ Louisiana State (LF Sports): MSU, no chance to survive, etc., etc.
• Colorado @ Missouri (FSN): 16 years ago, on October 6, 1990, an event happened that almost never happens in college football. Colorado was down 31-27 on their last chance drive at Misouri. Their national title hopes hung in the balance - at the time, they were 3-1-1. Someway, somehow, Colorado was granted a 5th down. Pay careful attention when CU gets to 1st and Goal - they spike on first down, but they don't increment the downs, so they run again on first down, and then on 2nd. They spike again 3rd (really 4th) down, and score the winning touchdown (disputable) on 4th (really 5th) down. And people thought those Oklahoma-Oregon guys were incompenent.
  Why am I ranting about this? Well, another team went 11-0-1 that year. That was Bobby Ross's Georgia Tech squad. Tech finished first in the UPI (now the AP) Poll, CU finished first in the coach's poll. Yeah, that's right - a team that a) lost a game and b) needed a 5th down to win another somehow got a share of a national title. Amazing. Because of the bowl situation back then, CU and GT never had a chance to play on the field.

2:30 - Purdue @ ND (NBC): ND probably wins. I'm really pissed off now after watching that video.
3:30

• Alabama @ Florida (CBS): UF should roll here. Alabama didn't look good at all at Arkansas.
• Georgia Tech @ Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (ABC): Yes, that really is the full expansion of Virginia Tech's name. This is pretty much the game of the day. The ACC Coastal title is probably at stake here, and it's tough for me to say who will win. Regardless, it won't be 51-7 again.
• Rice @ Army (ESPNU): Go Bobby Ross and USMA!

6:00 - Houston @ Miami(FL) (ESPN2): This reminds me of that joke on Family Guy about dumb reality TV shows on FOX: "Next on FOX, 'Fast Animals, Slow Children'"
7:00

• Southern Cal @ Washington State (TBS): USC rolls
• Louisiana Tech @ Clemson (ESPNU): Clemson rolls, not much going on at 7:00 today
• Kansas @ Nebraska (FSN): Again! 7:00, you disappoint me

8:00

• Ohio State @ Iowa (ABC): Honestly, I'm glad we're not down here. Lane Stadium is pretty crazy as-is, and it's much worse at night. Again with the rolling, though, as that's what OSU should do, but Iowa stands more of a chance than WSU, LaTech, and Kansas.
  
• Michigan @ Minnesota (ESPN): Michigan may be the first team from the Big Ten to actually be underrated. OSU-Michigan should be incredible this year.

9:00 Georgia @ Mississippi (ESPN2): Not quite "Fast Animals, Slow Children", but should be a bloodpath again. Unless Stafford plays most of the game again. At any rate, Go Rebels!
10:15 Stanford @ UCLA (FSN): Go Trees, er, Cardinal!

The Only Way to Go is Up

Last Sunday, this past weekend looked to be the worst of the 2006 college football season. Most of the games did little to buck that expectation. In fact, it may have been even worse than predicted. Texas and LSU were up a combined 58-14 at halftime on Iowa State and Tulane. The rest of the top ten struggled, often against mediocre to awful opponents. Here were some of this week's halftime scores:

- #24 Penn State 3, #1 Ohio State 0. Ohio State's defense finally picked off Nittany Lion QB Morelli to end the game late in the fourth quarter.
- #2 USC 3, Arizona 0. The final score was USC 20, Arizona 3. Didn't ESPN say USC's offense reloaded?
- #4 West Virginia 14, East Carolina 7. East Carolina's mascot is a pirate. They have lost to Navy and UAB. Those facts alone show how silly this score looks.
- #5 Florida 12, Kentucky 7. Kentucky isn't in Mississippi, but still...
- #6 Michigan 10, Wisconsin 10. This one isn't that embarrassing, I guess.
- #8 Louisville 10, Kansas State 0. Kansas State beat Illinois State by one point to open their season.
- Colorado 13, #9 Georgia 0. Without two fourth-quarter touchdowns, Georgia would have lost to the Colorado team that lost to I-AA Montana State the first week of the season. If quarterback troubles continue in Athens, I don't see Georgia beating Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, or Georgia Tech.
- #3 Auburn 10, Buffalo 0. Auburn did pull away to a 38-7 victory (well below my 117-0 prediction). However, Auburn's defense, run and pass, looked anemic against Buffalo's offense. This is Buffalo's offense about which I am talking! I'm going to give myself an extra point for not ending the previous sentence with a preposition.

Speaking of extra points, I bet Alabama placekicker Leigh Tiffin wishes he could have the one I just gave myself after his performance on Saturday. He is shaping up to challenge John Vaughn for "Least Clutch SEC Placekicker." Everyone says they feel sorry for these guys, but I'm not so sure we should. When a quarterback throws three interceptions in a game (see Drew Stanton against Notre Dame), no one cuts him slack. Why should we cut a kicker slack for missing three, four (see Tiffin against Arkansas), or five (see Vaughn against LSU in 2005) kicks that would have made the difference in the game?

On a random note, I wore my authentic Mexican sombrero to the Auburn/Buffalo game this weekend. I told people that if Auburn was going to schedule opponents as ridiculous as Buffalo, I was going to dress for the occasion. In addition to being hilarious, the sombrero provided some welcome shade from the blistering sun, which produced an 85-degree heat wave in Jordan-Hare. I'm not sure if the people behind me appreciated it as much as I did.



Thankfully, some tidbits of college football news offered hope rather than leaving question marks. Florida State destroyed Rice 55-7. Mississipi State finally won a game, beating UAB 16-10 in overtime. Actually, I guess that was all the hope I saw in the scores. I'm proud to say that Laura watched most, if not all, of the Michigan State/Notre Dame game. I am only sorry that the Spartans could not hold on to the ball long enough to pull off the "upset" for her.

Next weekend looks to be a slight improvement over the previous one, although that isn't very hard to accomplish. #3 Auburn goes to South Carolina Thursday night (7:30 PM ET, ESPN). On Saturday, #5 Florida hosts Alabama (3:30 PM ET, CBS). Both should be closer games than the rankings would indicate. Georgia Tech visits Virginia Tech (3:30 PM ET, ABC), and Ohio State goes to Iowa (8 PM ET, ABC). I'm looking forward to both of these games but for different reasons. The first might decide the ACC Coastal Division champion, while the second is another chance for Ohio State to lose. Go Hawkeyes!

On Notice!

Hi, I'm Nick's brother. My idea is to start this blog's second weekly feature: On the night of or day after the slate of games, I'm going to post an On Notice board that gives you a precise, 8 point recap of the day's key actions. Without further ado, here's the first edition:

1. Michigan State University - You're on notice for blowing a 16-point 4th quarter lead against the most overrated team since last year's BEST TEAM EVAR?? USC team.
2. Drew Stanton - Your incompetence will somehow be attributed to Charlie Weis's playcalling and Brady Quinn's "mental toughness". Seriously, 3 turnovers on the last 3 drives?
3. Brent Musberger - Removed his lips from Weis's ass just long enough to say that an obviously rattled Brady Quinn was "mentally tough".
4. Lee Corso - For saying that Stanton's incompetence keeps ND in the national title race. Hate to say it, Lee, but USC would've hung 70 on the ND defense tonight.
5. University of Colorado - Um...guys...if you're beating UGA 13-0 in the 4th quarter, try to play some defense next time. Also, you only get 4 downs in football.
6. Boston College - For losing to NC State on a last second drive, saving Amato's job until he loses to another MAC team.
7. MSU Defense - You guys looked really good for about a quarter...what happened? Everyone knows that ND refuses to run the ball - either keep blitzing (GT style) or prepare to get reamed by their offense. Guess what - any QB can look really good when he has all day to throw.
8. VPISU - You're up next on the GT schedule - there's nothing I've seen that would make me believe that you should lose, except that first-year starters don't play well against GT. It won't be 51-7 again, though.

Another Guy

I'd like to welcome my brother to the blog. He's also a GT student but is co-op'ing back home right now.

Almost

I was almost completely wrong about CU @ UGA. But, hey, when you need a last minute TD to beat a team that lost to Montana State....

Also, I guess Matt Stafford is no longer the second coming of Christ.

Looking Over the Slate

I immensely enjoyed our game last night. I had not seen us beat UVA since I got here, so seeing us destroy them was great. Even better was seeing Calvin Johnson hit in-strike over the middle...wow. I also liked the 70's unis. What a night. The only thing better would be a win at VPI next week, giving us our best win so far and putting us in the driver's seat for the division.

Poor Virginia, though. I don't think they're the best oppenent we've beaten this year - I think Troy could probably take them by a touchdown or two. Did you see their "passing offense"? That guy made Reggie look positively awesome (Reggie's never been as bad as that guy was). I think my brother summed it up best: "These guys couldn't score against air." The UVA QB threw everywhere but at his receivers, and in the off chance he actually got it to them, I think they were so surprised they just dropped it.

Our receivers are okay this year - we're lining up playmaker Rashaun Grant in the slot and have shown depth behind Calvin. Our running game could use some work, though - I like that we're trying to use the option, but Reggie pitches too soon and Choice seems to have trouble turning the corner and running upfield.

Our kickoff coverage still sucks, but it's getting better.

I'll now try to sum up all of Saturday's games that will be on TV, since for the first time I'll actually be able to watch them all. Onward!
Noon games:

• UNC @ Clemson (ACC regional): Watch one of the many trainwreck ACC teams this year get destroyed by Clemson.
• Colorado @ UGA (SEC regional): About the only way Colarado wins is if Ralphie gets loose and tramples the entire UGA team. Additionally, as a Tech fan, I'm conflicted by who to root for here, by which I mean, should I root against UGA (and for CU), or just not watch it all. The latter seems a better option.
• Cincinatti @ VPI&SU (ESPNU): Virginia Tech wins again. Over/under on unsportsman like penalties in this game is approximately 15 for both teams.
• Wisconsin @ UMich (ESPN): Michigan cruises again. Man, the games today suck, but I think I already elaborated on that.
• Minnesota @ Purdue (ESPN2): I always enjoy rooting for Purdue. They're the Big Ten's version of Georgia Tech: an engineering school focused on academics. Tech has a better football history, of course, but hey.
• Louisville @ Kansas St. (FSN): Petrino-ball continues.
  

3:30 games:

• Penn St. @ Ohio St. (ABC): Is this really the best game available at this time slot for ABC? Since the alternative is another likely blowout (ISU @ Texas), probably.
• Alabama @ Arkansas (CBS): Go Razorbacks!
• Rice @ FSU (ESNPU): Why? Maybe FSU's offense will look good for the first time this year.
• Arizona St. @ Cal (FSN): The game isn't at ASU, so there probably won't be much to look at here. Cal probably wins.

Everything else:

• WVU @ Eastern Carolina (4:30, ESPN2): Yarr! ECU loses, though. At least WVU's offense is fun to watch.
• UCLA @ Washington (7:00, TBS): UCLA dares to find out if it is indeed harder to "push across" U-Dub's "line than to pass the Dardenelles." And yes, I know where and what the Darndenelles are.
• Miami (OH) @ Syracuse (7:00, ESPNU): Everyone hates it, but I think Otto the Orange is an awesome mascot.
• USF @ Kansas (7:00, FSN): FSN continues on their parade of crappy Big 12 teams against Big East oppenents. Neither KSU or KU will win, likely.
• UK @ UF (7:45, ESPN): I'd be a lot more interested if this were a contest between each schools' basketball team.
• ND @ Mich. St. (8:00, ABC): I'd prefer Notre Dame lose most of the time, and I still sorta do. But if they build up another winning streak, they'll a) make us look better and b) build up some momentum heading into Los Angeles. I think they're the ones with a chance of beating USC this year.
• NCSU @ BC (8:00, ESPN2): Watch Chuck Amato continue his quest to get fired!

That's all, folks. Also, Tito, I hope the Harris Poll voters thing the same way the AP guys do. And if your schedule is better, then the computers will help you out. If those two things happen, then you'll be ahead of USC in 2 of the 3 polls. Also, while USC may play more ranked teams than you guys, if you beat both UGA and UF you should gain ground in the coach's poll, and you're only down by 60 votes to begin with. (Hopefully, that will also be UF's only loss - I'd, of course, like to see UGA lose at every oppruntunity.)

The Love Affair Continues

This morning, my roommate and I watched SportsCenter. Lou Holtz and Mark May both had the audacity to claim that USC is the second-best college football team in the nation (Ohio State being the first). While Mark May gave Auburn credit as the third-best team, Lou Holtz didn't even seem to have Auburn in his top five. He was very critical of their offensive production against LSU. ESPN always touts LSU as having one of the best defenses in the country, and rightfully so. The Tigers have held nearly all of their opponents in recent years to low scores (see the 2006 Peach Bowl). This in mind, how can they fault Auburn for only putting up 180-something yards against LSU?

In additon, they touted USC's schedule as something difficult. Cal was dominated by Tennessee, who lost to Florida by one point. If Auburn beats Florida and USC beats Cal, which team has more proved their dominance? Also, one of the sportscasters made the claim that USC would play more ranked teams by the end of the year. In that time, Auburn will have played LSU, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama away. USC will have played Cal, Arizona State, and Notre Dame at home. I'll give them Notre Dame, but that still doesn't compare to our lineup. Sure, their nonconference schedule is tougher than ours, but is there really that much of a difference between playing Arkansas and Nebraska and Washington State and Tulane? Is there much of a difference between Arizona and Buffalo? Not enough of one to rank USC above Auburn.

Speaking of Buffalo, I'm predicting a 117-0 victory for the Tigers over the Bulls. I'm sporting my sombrero to the game, due to the ridiculous nature of our scheduling such an opponent. Tune in Sunday to see if Laura watched any of the Notre Dame vs. Michigan State game and to read more griping about USC's place of privilege with the voters.

Not Exactly Last Saturday

Last Saturday featured several high-profile, intense matchups. I missed some of them (like most of the AU-LSU game) because I was at our game against Troy.

We play on Thursday this week against Virginia, an opponent we haven't beaten since I've been here. The Hoos probably aren't half as good as they were last year, and they weren't exactly national champions. Additionally, they will probably start a freshman QB - if you want to know how well first time QBs (much less freshmen) fare against our defense, well, just ask Brandon Cox and Kyle Wright. Also, we'll be in retro Old Gold jerseys with white helmets (although I'm forced to think that back then, we probably still wore white at home, but I don't know this for sure). (And to be really out of date, they'd need some sleeves.)

I'll have a full writeup Friday, but some of the games this weekend are rediciulous. Check out Colorado @ UGA: The Buffs will bring their buffalo, but they could probably forget to bring the team and do just as well as CU is 26.5 point underdogs. (Nonetheless, I'll be watching and hoping for a miracle.)

ABC will have Iowa St. @ Texas and Penn St. @ Ohio St. I have no idea which they're going to show here, but neither contest should be close. Also at 3:30 on ESPNU: Rice @ FSU. Are you kidding me? Rice is a 30 point 'dog. 7:00 is the "watch Sun Belt teams get owned by Big 12 teams" hour, as Troy goes to Nebraska and MTSU goes to Oklahoma. (I hope they both win, though.)

Due to the lack of a nationally appealing game, ABC also has a split 8:00 telecast: ND @ Mich. St. and USC @ Arizona. The former should be the better game, though only the latter will have any Song Girls present. Meanwhile, on the other Disney networks, you can watch Florida dismantle Kentucky on ESPN and watch as Chuck "Clown Boy" Amato continues to try to get fired at Boston College on ESPN2.

The SEC matchups were so bad this week CBS scraped up Alabama @ Arkansas. Right now Arkansas is a one point favorite, so this may end up being one of the best games of the day. I'll like it the best if Alabama loses, that's for sure.

Now that the Smoke Has Cleared...

First, let me thank Nick for inviting me to share my misinformed thoughts on college football this season. Hopefully, I will at least give people something to laugh about (my commentary, that is). I guess I'll start this week's post by discussing the only game I actually watched: LSU at Auburn.

I arrived at Jordan-Hare Stadium around 10:30 AM CT, four hours before kickoff. The general vibe of the students outside the gates was optimistic nervousness. By 2:10 PM, pregame festivities had begun. The eagle who flies before each Auburn home football game did about three full laps around the student section, which I took as an omen from God that Auburn would win the game.

The game was pretty lacking as far as offensive excitement. Early in the first half, John Vaughn channeled himself from last year's LSU game, hitting the left upright with a crappily-kicked football. Apparently, Vaughn is no longer in the good graces of Damon Duval, Auburn place-kicking demigod from years past. LSU called a timeout with seconds left and kicked a field goal to end the half 3-0. All was silent and apprehensive in Jordan-Hare.

During halftime, an interview of Tre' Smith was shown on the big screen. For those of you who don't know, Tre' Smith is the white running back who beat Alabama three years ago and has done little since. In fact, Tre' Smith's sole mission on the Auburn football team last year appeared to be fumbling the ball and/or failing to make positive yardage on punt returns. During this year's Washington State game, Tommy Tuberville gave Tre' three consecutive downs to punch the football into the end zone. When Smith failed, Tuberville regained his senses and sent in Brad Lester to score on fourth down.

Anyway, one of the questions Tre' answered in the interview was what three things he would bring with him if he were trapped on an island. Tre''s response was, "A helicopter, some fuel...and a trillion dollars." Initially, I wondered, "What are you going to do with a trillion dollars on a deserted island?" Then, I realized the genius of it. You could fly the helicopter to land and spend the money on things! What kind of question is that, anyhow? If you were going to a deserted island with the knowledge that you would be stranded, of course you would bring things that would help you escape.

Apparently, Mississippi State isn't the only school with hidden water fountains. I had some trouble finding them in Jordan-Hare this weekend, due to the incredible lines at the concession stands blocking all visibility. My friend Josh and I had to ask a policeman, who kindly pointed us towards some dispensers of lukewarm dihydrogen monoxide. There is nothing like tepid water to wash down contraband PBJs snuck into the stadium in one's pockets.

Somewheres in the second half, the Auburn offense made their way down the field, and Brandon Cox thrust forward on a third-and-one for the touchdown. John Vaughn made the only kick necessary for Auburn to win (an extra point), because LSU was unable to score the needed touchdown in the fourth quarter. Even though Auburn's secondary looked like Swiss cheese, JaMarcus Russell couldn't put the ball in the end zone. It was pretty exciting when the clock finally read 0.00. I think I hugged two or three people in the frenzy.

Elsewhere in the nation, Notre Dame was destroyed by Michigan, ending another potential media favorite. As much as I detest the media's obsession with USC, I think it would be even worse if they also fell in love with another overhyped school. Speaking of USC, Auburn is still significantly behind them in the coaches' poll and barely ahead in the AP poll. Something is wrong with these voters. They seem to think beating a team that used to be good (Nebraska) by 18 points is better than beating a team that is currently good (LSU) by 4. They might be right, but I'm still going to be bitter about it.

Does anyone know what is up with Florida State or Miami? Both teams have fallen pretty far (though not as far as the aforementioned Nebraska). And the Mississippis are an embarrassment to the SEC. Mississippi State couldn't even beat Tulane, despite scoring their first 29 points of the season. Ole Miss lost to Kentucky. That's right, Kentucky. It looks like the SEC West has turned into the former SEC East, where only two teams are good.

Next week's matchups are looking pretty lackluster. The only one I might watch is Penn State at Ohio State. An upset there would put Auburn squarely in the national title picture, assuming they win their next ten games (quite an assumption). Alabama goes to Arkansas to see if they (by "they", I mean either team) can regain some dignity in the SEC. It's now three weeks until Auburn plays Florida. Here's hoping I can make it that far without going crazy.

Oh, one more bit of news. My girlfriend Laura watched most of the second half of the Michigan State/Pittsburgh game, which her school (MSU) won. I'm so proud! Tune in next week to see if she watched the Fighting Irish come to Spartan Stadium (or, better yet, if she attended the game in person)!

We Have Another Guy Now

Also, since I never formally did so, I'd like to point out that a friend of mine from high school, Kenneth, has joined the site. You should probably call him Tito, though. Since he goes to Auburn, hopefully we'll get some non-GT perspectives in here.

Recap

Saturday was interesting. I got really sunburned at the Troy game, but it was good to finally see Tech do some interesting things on offense (reverse to Calvin!). We need to beat the tar out of UVA this Thursday, but I'll explain more on that later.

Auburn managed to pull out a victory against LSU in a contest best deemed a "defensive struggle." But they have the inside track to winning the SEC West, and perhaps the whole thing. What was weird, though, was the strange "announcing the penalty and then reversing the call" thing that happened on LSU's last drive. I still don't know if the ball was tipped before the interference occurred. That play is reviewable (I'm pretty sure) but I don't recall one being announced.

Stranger still was the review at the Oklahoma-Oregon game where the ref said that video provided conclusive video evidence that an Oklahoma player touched the ball first on an onside kick by Oregon, when replay showed that there was conclusive video evidence that an Oregon player touched the ball first. I'm favor of replay, but generally when you have it you should get the call right and not make things worse for yourself. That was the worst thrashing I'd heard officials take on-air since the Alamo Bowl debacle last year, though. (Speaking of this - refs need to take elocution classes or something. These guys are horrible at explaining what they mean on these reviews.)

Florida-Tennessee was good, but even better was FSU-Clemson, especially for what will probably be the most memorable half-time interview this year. (Though it will be difficult to top the Mich. St. coach's "AND THE COACHES ARE SCREWING IT ALL UP" from last year.) If you haven't heard, Clemson had a FG and extra point attempt blocked in the first half. When Tommy Bowden was asked about this, he said something to the effect of, "That's it. We're not kicking any more. Not for the rest of the game." And he stuck it, too, execpt for the go ahead score near the end of the game, where they got off a successful extra point.

The ACC just sucks right now. UNC barely beat Furman, NC State lost to Southern Miss, Maryland got destroyed by West Virginia, and Virgnia lost to Western Michigan. I never thought beating Troy and Samford handily would make us look good. We could have 3 or 4 coaches get fired this off season.

What I'm Watching Saturday

The non-exhaustive list (all times Eastern):

• Troy @ GT, on in select parts of southern Alabama, 1:30: Well, I'll be there.
• LSU @ Auburn, CBS, 3:30: Tigers win! Seriously, though, an interesting matchup between the two best teams in the SEC West. Slight edge to AU due to not being in Baton Rouge. I'll be rooting for AU, due to childhood loyalties.
  
• Miami @ Louisville, ABC, 3:30: Old Big East vs. New Big East! Either Miami's defense dominates or the final score will be 50-45. (I don't think Louisville has a good defense, and I don't think Miami is as bad as they were at FSU.) So if Miami fails to dominate definsively, the team with the last possesion wins.
• Clemson @ FSU, ESPN, 7:45: I probably wouldn't ordinarly be interested in the Bowden Bowl, but this has conference implications (though both teams are not in Tech's division). A true test for both teams - if Clemson wins this game, they're on the inside track for their division, I'd say.
• Florida @ Tennessee, CBS, 8:00: So CBS is getting into this primetime act, eh? Beats the pants off ABC's game - I saw Bill Callahan on ESPN Thursday night and he looked down right depressed talking about his game. I think UF or UGA is on the inside track for SEC East, but Tennessee can make a statement here (in terms of the SEC, they already beat down Cal).
  
• TAMU vs. Army, ESPN2, 9:00: Dad went to USMA, and Bobby Ross is their coach. (FYI: He coached Tech to their 1990 National Title.)
  

I Can't Wait for Saturday!

College football is going to be amazing this weekend. Here are seven reasons why (all times Eastern)

1. Michigan at Notre Dame (3:30 PM, NBC): Will Notre Dame falter this week, or wait until sometime later in the season? I wish they wouldn't wait, but something inside of me is telling me they will. I think it's the same something that made me doubt every time USC was down at the half last year.

2. Nebraska at USC (8:00 PM, ABC): Is Nebraska really back? My guess is no. This will be yet another chance for the media to tout how wonderful John David Booty/Pete Carroll are at what they do. Of course USC is still the best team of all time; do not question their superiority!

3. Oklahoma at Oregon (3:30 PM, ABC): Some kinda middle-of-the-pack Top 25 showdown! I'm don't think this game actually matters, but if I were going to be home and it was on TV, I would probably watch it.

4. Miami at Louisville (3:30 PM, ABC): Miami sometimes falters against big teams (see FSU), while Louisville is usually solid against a terrible schedule (see Louisville's schedule). A great "defense vs. offense" matchup, maybe.

5. Florida at Tennessee (8:00 PM, CBS): Rocky Top is about to get rocked, but this time by a team from a respectable conference. Seriously, what self-respecting SEC team almost loses to a service academy?

6. LSU at Auburn (3:30 PM, CBS): The SEC West has been decided by this game five of the last six years. The home team has won all six of those meetings. Since the game is in Auburn, and John Vaughn learned how to kick this summer, I'm gonna pick the Tigers (non-Bengal variety).

7. Michigan State at Pittsburgh (12:00 PM, ESPN2): The marquee matchup of the weekend? Hardly. What has me interested in this game is whether or not my girlfriend will watch any of it. Only time will tell whether she does or not.

Misc.

Bunch of thoughts here, as it's been awhile since I posted.

-You may've noticed that I didn't post the day of the ND game or after. I was kinda bummed out about the game. We had a really good chance to upset ND, but we just couldn't make 3 scores. If you had told me that we would've held the vaunted Irish offense to 14 points, I'd tell you we had a really good chance to win. (I predicted they'd score around 28 points.) I'm still bummed out thinking about it, honestly.

In Tech circles, a lot was made a helmet-to-helmet call against us on Brady Quin. It was definitely a bad call, however, listening to some folks you'd think the refs walked over to Charlie Weis after the play to recieve their payoffs. The fact of the matter is that there was around 7 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, and I have a hard time believing any call made with that much time left can seriously impact a game.

-We played Samford last weekend. I stayed the whole time (I hate leaving early), which was mostly interesting because got to play nearly 70 players. Even #55 David Brown got in at right tackle, which is mostly notable because he is one of a handful of people at Tech who went to my high school. (I still wish he was on the d-line, though, he doesn't have the right size or build to be an offensive lineman, in my opinion.)

-While we were taking care of the other Bulldogs of the South, FSU had their hands full with the Troy Trojans, who we play this Saturday. I think as long as Tech doesn't turn the ball over 4-5 times like FSU did, they should be fine.

-The Braves were mathematically eliminated from division title possiblities just recently. In my years as a Braves fan, this is something that's never happened, and it's difficult to come to terms with it. The last time the Braves were probably not going to win the division they got bailed out by a strike, which doesn't look like is happening this time. Anyone who tries to tell you they're still realistically in the wild card race is probably delusional, by the way.

That's about all I got for now.

It is time

This is it. It's Saturday. Sure, we've had a few games so far. But today is it. Today's first filled slate. From noon to late, there will be college football on somehow, somewhere.

That's why I love this. As explained below, I grew up in the South, which means that college football is something of a religion and is thus everywhere. Being in Atlanta makes it even better - in addition to the weird, 50th-tier SEC game of the week, we also get the crappy 50th-teir ACC game of the week. In fact, here's my schedule for today (games involving DI-A teams only, sorry Grambling @ Hampton; also, network shown is network on GTCN, your mileage may vary):

Before noon: If I'm really motivated, I'll go to the Gameday set. I was on SportsCenter last night, I'll post some pics from the 10pm SC below.
11:30 - Western Kentucky @ UGA (WB)
12:00
--Montana @ Iowa, ESPN
--Vanderbilt @ Michigan, ESPN
--North Texas @ Texas, FSN
3:30
--Rutgers @ UNC, ABC
--Florida Atlantic @ Clemson, ESPN
--Akron @ Penn St., ESPN2
--Lousiana Tech @ Nebraska, FSN
5:30 - California @ Tennessee, ESPN
7:00 (realistcally, I'll be at the stadium by now, but I like this TV listing vibe so I'll roll with it)
--UAB @ Oklahoma, TBS
--Virginia @ Pittsburg, ESPNU
--Utah @ UCLA, FSN
7:45 - Washington St. @ Auburn, ESPN2
8:00 - NOTRE DAME @ GEORGIA TECH, ABC
8:45 - Southern Cal @ Arkansas, ESPN
10:15 - BYU @ Arizona, TBS

Now, some pictures of GameDay's setup at GT, as well as their shoot for Friday (click for a larger view):

Facing southwest, towards the student center. Took this during the afternoon when they were still setting the whole shebang up - notice the screen isn't there. You can also see the top of the Shaft Campinile in the background.

View from Skiles of the Yellow Jacket Park area - this photo faces northwest.

My ultimate destination after the afternoon shots I took. I'm entirely convinced that if everyone on Earth could try a Junior's chicken finger basket, we would finally achieve world peace - they're that good.

This is during the shoot for the 6:00 SportsCenter, when I was actually in the crowd.

I stepped out of the fenced off area for the 10:00 SportsCenter and ESPN Motion takes. If you look closely, you'll notice that Corso is the only one that actually wears a full suit - Fowler is wearing jeans, and yes, Hebie is wearing shorts.

For the 10:00 SC (actually broadcast after the Nevada - Fresno St. game), I did get on TV. I have the screencaps to prove it.

If you want to try to spot me, try opening up the full size version. Good luck.

For now, enjoy the games folks!