college football recap: the collision in columbus...and ann arbor...and stillwater...and...

It's the return of the college football round up! Honestly, I was going to scratch this off the list of things to do on this blog and just tweet about the games all day on Saturday (which I still plan to do because it's fun...follow me!). But then this weekend was SO FULL OF AWESOMENESS that I just had to blog about it. Well, enough about me! The games were far more interesting...

• The weekend got started with a close one in Atlanta where #15 Georgia Tech took on Clemson on Thursday. Georgia Tech took an early lead which was kinda reminiscent of the Battle of the Techs game a few years ago in Blacksburg which started with the Yellow Jackets scoring 4 straight TDs on my Hokies to begin the game. And then Clemson came back. Unfortunately, the Tigers comeback fell short at the end, but it was a great game. Kicker Scott Blair scored 3 field goals and had a touchdown pass! Quote of the game: "I actually don't remember catching the ball or throwing the ball too much. I guess it was dreamlike." (Blair commenting on his TD pass)

• Once upon a time, some huge oil zillionaire decide to donate all the money he could to Oklahoma State so that they could finally win the college football mythical national championship. And then the #5 Cowboys of OSU played the Bulldogs of Georgia and they were dominating and proved that they deserve to be a contender. And then they hosted the Houston Cougars...and were completely shocked. Houston played their hearts out on the field, capitalizing on OSU turnovers and sealing the victory by converting an interception into a TD in the final 3 minutes of the game. Everyone loves an upset, but I can't help but feel bad for OSU because...well, as a USC alum, I've been there. But kudos to Houston for a game well played. Quote of the game: "For us as a program, this is a big win because it legitimizes our university. It legitimizes our program." (2nd year head coach Kevin Sumlin of Houston)

• Early on Saturday, #14 Virginia Tech took on Marshall's Thundering Herd in a cake walk of a game. Of course, the Hokies beat Marshall 52-10, but that's not important. Last week, when the Hokies took on Alabama, the offense was seriously lacking in that game, and I don't mean points. I mean yardage, complete passes or lack thereof, running the ball, all that good stuff. On Saturday, two tailbacks proved that the Hokie offense is still alive. Freshmen David Wilson and Ryan Williams (yes, Freshman, which bodes well for the future of the offense) ran all over the place, amassing a good chunk of the Hokies 600+ yards of offense and combined for 4 TDs. Quote of the game: "I think we really needed this. I know we needed this." (VT Coach Frank Beamer after the game...Frank, what you really need is a new OC)

• You know that few things (my kitties, the boyfriend, convincing at-risk youth to use condoms) make me happier than a Notre Dame loss. After hearing Lou Holtz proclaim at the beginning of the season that Notre Lame was going to make it to the mythical national championship (MNC), I did the usual rolling of the eyes, followed by the statement, "No effing way." Basically there are too many better teams out there that Lou Holtz likes to pretend don't exist when he makes these statements(besides USC). Anyway, at least for one day, Lou Holtz had to recognize Michigan. Coming off a 3-win season, Michigan had a lot to prove and a win against #18 Notre Lame would certainly help their cause. Both teams traded scoring opportunities for most of the game and with 5 minutes remaining, Notre Lame looked like it was going to win by a hair. Instead Michigan Freshman QB Tate Forcier began a drive that led to a Wolverine TD in the final SECONDS of the game. If you look at the stats, both the Irish and the Wolverines had similar numbers in yardage, turnovers, etc. But it was Michigan who scored last... Quote of the game: "This is a very disappointing, disheartening loss." (Notre Lame coach Charlie Weis)

• And the award for "Over-hyped Game that Actually Lived Up to the Hype" goes to the USC/Ohio State game. On Saturday, #3 USC went to the uber-scary Horseshoe to play the Buckeyes of #8 Ohio State. Last year, my Trojans embarrassed the Buckeyes in L.A. and they were looking for revenge. Ohio State has gained a reputation for choking in big games, so they had something to prove. USC has a true Freshman starting at QB who has never played a college game outside of L.A. Matt Barkley, the aforementioned QB, was pretty lackluster for most of the game. Had the Trojan defense not been so awesome, USC would've kissed any hopes for an MNC goodbye. However, in a moment of brilliance in epic proportions, in the final minutes of the game, Barkley and Joe "No More Fumbles" McKnight led an 80+ yard drive to the endzone which culminated in a short pass to Stafon Johnson (also really awesome) for the game winning touchdown. The drive was incredible and seriously shocking because for most of the game Barkley looked nothing like the QB who ended the game. But a win is a win and USC is now 7-0 against Ohio State. Quote of the game: "We're Trojans. That's what we do. This is what we dreamed of, coming back like this." (USC QB Matt Barkley on the final drive)

Next up for the Hokies is a game against #22 Nebraska in Blacksburg. On deck for the Trojans is a game @ U-Dub.

quit your drinkin' -- the lendale white diet

USC football finally starts in 33 days and, OMG, I can't wait. NFL football will be starting soon too and, while I don't have a team (LA hasn't had a team in forever), I'm content to follow the Trojans who have turned pro. I cheer for the individual players rather than teams.

One player that always makes me yearn for the USC of old (and by old, I mean 4 years ago) is LenDale White. You might remember him as being the Thunder to Reggie Bush's Lightning. LenDale decided to turn pro rather than play college ball his senior year and that decision bummed out many USC fans (especially this one). So I've been expecting great things from him as a pro.

Apparently, LenDale has been having some weight issues.

Here he is being the awesome running back he was while at USC.

eat dust, silly oregon ducks defensive player!

Then he turned pro and gained some weight. And while he was doing fine as a pro, his weight really affected his speed (his speed was actually an asset while he was at USC).

 

photo courtesy of espn.com

Now, LenDale has lost 30 pounds and is a little lighter than he was as a player at USC.

 photo courtesy of jacksonsun.com


How did he shed the weight? Well, he gave up tequila. When asked about his weight loss plan, LenDale commented, "I really got to be honest. It wasn't a lot of major diet changes. (It was) watching what I drink. I was a big Patron consumer. ... That's what it was. I was drinking a lot, drank a lot of alcohol. I cut that out of my diet all the way. I don't drink at all. I cut the drinking, I stopped drinking for six months. And it started falling off."

I commend LenDale for his ability to stop drinking, but how much does one have to drink to put on 30 pounds? Sounds like a lot of drinking and he should be looking into that as a health issue. I've seen many alcoholics drop weight while in treatment so I'm hoping LenDale doesn't have a problem (and if he does, he should seek treatment).

On a lighter note (no pun intended), I do hope that his recent weight loss will make LenDale more thunderous on the field.

college football recap: "let's go bowling!" edition

So yeah, there were some games this weekend. Notably, an SEC, an ACC and a Big 12 championship. Maybe even a Big East championship. And of course, my awesome Trojans battled the fUCLA Bruins. But the most important college football news to come out of this weekend was the announcement of the bowl schedule.

Before I go to that, you should know that:

• Florida beat Alabama in a close-game-until-the-end. Poor Crimson Tide. They were ranked #1 going into this game but were still the underdogs. Clearly Vegas knew something the pollsters didn't.

• The Virginia Tech Hokies bested the Eagles of Boston College, 30-12, earning the 4-loss Hokies a trip to the Orange Bowl yet again. It was a topsy-turvy season in the ACC and I'm glad the better team won the conference.

• Oklahoma pounded on poor Mizzou to win the Big 12, 62-21. Shocker. *yawn*

• USC traveled the short distance to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and showed the fUCLA Bruins just who owns L.A...and the Rose Bowl for that matter. The score was 28-7, but seeing as that the Trojan kicker missed 3 field goals and the only Bruin score was the result of USC fumbling on the USC 20 to start the game, then it's safe to assume the score could've been worse.  Also, it kinda makes this LA Times ad irrelevant:

source: LA Times

Ok, let's go bowling:

The Eagle Bank Bowl: Wake Forest vs. Navy. Decent match up for DC's first bowl, actually. Also, this bowl kicks off bowl season. And Navy killed Army this weekend so they earned the trip.

The Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii vs. Notre Lame. Seriously, the Irish got into a bowl? Aren't they 6-6? I can't wait for the Rainbows to kick some Irish butt. Hawaii nearly gave #13 Cincinnati a scare this weekend. When was the last time someone was afraid to play Notre Dame? In a bowl game?

The Holiday Bowl: Oklahoma State vs. Oregon. Actually, I'm kinda looking forward to this match up. Big 12 vs. Pac-10. Oregon showed some signs of life, knocking rival Oregon State out of Rose Bowl contention (thanks, Oregon) and winning this year's Civil War so I'm pulling for the Ducks.

The Peach Bowl (screw you, Chik-Fil-A): LSU vs. Georgia Tech. How the mighty have fallen. I'm sorry, but I feel nothing for the Tigers. Go Yellow Jackets!

Orange Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech. A team with one loss faces a team with 4 losses. I'm sure the Hokies are looking to avenge last year's Orange Bowl loss to Kansas. It's Cincy's offense vs. Tech's defense. If Tech's defense is on point and QB Tyrod Taylor stays injury free (knock on wood), then I think the Hokies have a good shot.

Fiesta Bowl: Texas vs. Ohio State. This match up sucks. Everyone knows that Texas is going to win. The Longhorns beat Oklahoma but the Sooners get to go to the big dance? Whatever. And I don't even like Texas!

Rose Bowl: Penn State vs. USC. This is a great match up and makes up for last year's match up of USC/Illinois. Yeah, Illinois. Remember that? Oh yeah, you probably didn't watch it. Anyways, despite the fact that we've gone to the Rose Bowl for the last 4 years, I'm really excited about this match up. It should be an awesome game.

BCS Championship: Oklahoma vs. Florida. When was the last time the Sooners won in a BCS bowl? 2000? Yeah, Florida for the win in another boring BCS championship.

Up next for the Hokies is an Orange Bowl game on January 1st. The Trojans play the Penn State Nittany Lions on January 1st in our second home, the Rose Bowl (yeah, I'm claiming it, k?).

college football recap: if only we'd move up in every bye week

It was kind of a big weekend in college football even if USC didn't play. The funny thing is, despite this break in play, USC moved up one spot in the latest BCS rankings. According to some people who live and breathe this stuff, USC has a 30% chance of playing in the BCS. Of course, we've got to beat Notre Lame and the bRuins (and the stars have to align perfectly too). Normally, I'd add some snarky little remark about how easy it should be to beat the Irish and fUCLA this year, but I've learned not to underestimate our opponent (see Stanford in 2007, Oregon State in 2006, 2008).

On to the good stuff...

• Thank you, Oklahoma. The #5 Sooners pounded on the Red Raiders of Texas Tech, 65-21, essentially murking up the BCS pool even more. I'm all for more added confusion because the more confusion there is, the greater the argument for a playoff is. And I want a playoff, darn it! And our future president does too! Make it happen, NCAA.

• In Happy Valley, everything's coming up roses. #8 Penn State killed #15 Michigan State to earn a trip to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl. Let the JoePa retirement rumors begin. Actually, I kinda like the guy. I've never heard a bad thing about him and he's clearly a good coach. I say, let him stay for as long as God wants him to coach. And if USC makes it to the Rose Bowl, I think it would make for a great match up. I doubt Nittany Lion fans are looking forward to playing the Beavs of Oregon State.

• In a game that made me oh-so-very-happy, the Tiger cubs of LSU got steam rolled by Ole Miss. Yes, you heard that right. Ole Miss beat LSU, 31-13. The best part was that this loss was in front of a home crowd in Baton Rouge. Like Nelson from The Simpons would say, "HA HA."

• OREGON STATE WATCH: In a game that made me oh-so-very-IRRITATED, Arizona couldn't seal the deal against Oregon State, allowing for a last second field goal that lifted the Beavs over the Wildcats, 19-17. Ugh. It's all up to Oregon now. And you bet I'll be watching the Civil War game with much interest this year.

• Virginia Tech, on the other hand, beat Duke as expected, 14-3. What wasn't expected was the fact that my man Tyrod Taylor had a really bad game, throwing 2 picks and going 2-for-5 in passing attempts. Thankfully, Duke isn't exactly a tough opponent and the Hokies made due with Sean Glennon as QB. And thanks to the parity in the ACC, Virginia Tech can clinch the ACC Coastal Division title with a win over rival UVa this weekend.

Up next for the Hokies is UVa. USC hosts Notre Lame.

Also, tomorrow's post is the annual Thanksgiving Day list so you don't wanna miss that!

college football recap: payback's a b*tch

It wasn't a terribly exciting weekend in college football, unless you're a Maryland fan, I suppose. But I'm not, so meh. Here's the recap:

Basically, your top 10 from last week remains your top 10 for this week. Why? Because there were no upsets. Everyone who was supposed to have won ended up winning big (I'm purposely ignoring that Georgia/Auburn game because it was close). And everyone who didn't play on Saturday didn't move in the polls. All is right with the college football world.

• Unless you play in the ACC of course. What is up is down and what is in is out. I mean, in what universe would the Terps victory over UNC be considered an upset? The thing is, the ACC is so even (for lack of a better word) that anyone is capable of beating anybody. Therefore, I don't really consider UNC's loss an upset, despite the fact that UNC was ranked and Maryland was not.

• In a fun game to watch where I had no vested interest whatsoever, Boston College defeated Florida State 27-17. BC's defense intercepted the FSU QB 3 times which was pretty exciting to see, especially since it was the 5th time this season the Eagle defense had forced 3 or more interceptions in one game.

• Speaking of defense winning games, Virginia Tech, who is widely known for an impressive defense, just couldn't get it together against Miami. It was definitely disappointing to watch the Hokies lose such a close game (16-14). Had they scored a field goal in the waning minutes of the game, they would've clinched the victory. Instead, the Miami defense stopped the Hokies on that drive, sealing the fate of the game. The bright side is that injured QB Tyrod Taylor came back in this game and led the Hokies on their two scoring drives (to be fair, that other Hokie QB I don't like--Sean Glennon--played as well, but he didn't lead any scoring drives).

• Last year, the Trojans' BCS game hopes were dashed by an upset-minded Stanford team. It was our first loss at the Coliseum in forever and it caused the then-#1 Trojans to drop in the polls and eventually led to a Rose Bowl berth against the worst Big Ten opponent to earn a Rose Bowl berth--Illinois. This year, the Rose Bowl seems like a bit of a stretch and the BCS title game is further from our grasp, so Stanford didn't necessarily pose a threat. Still, that close loss was on many a Trojan fans' minds, as USC traveled to Palo Alto to avenge last year's loss against the Trees. For the first half, USC was in classic disorganized form. Stanford made our defense look like crap and our offense could do very little about the suddenly effecient Stanford defense. And then, like the 2nd half team we always prove to be, our offense and defense came alive in the 2nd half. The Trojans went on to score 28 unanswered points in the second half and Stanford's last score came in the last few ticks of the game against our 2nd string defense. We won 45-23 and embarassed the Cardinal in front of a home crowd, but the loss doesn't effect Stanford as much as our loss to them last year.

• Oregon State watch: the damn Beavers won again, this time against Cal, 34-21. They play Arizona next.  Still, a little birdy told me that if Oregon State wins out and claims the Rose Bowl berth, USC may end up in the Sugar Bowl against the SEC championship loser (which would be either Florida or Alabama).  Suddenly, the Sugar Bowl berth is looking pretty SWEET! 

Up next for the Trojans is Notre Lame on November 29th. The Hokies play Duke on the 22nd.

college football recap: strangely, even the Rose Bowl looks out of reach

What a weekend for college football, huh? Ok, who am I kidding? There was only one really great game this weekend and that was Penn State/Iowa. Other than that, it was business as usual.

• On Thursday night, the beaten down and injury plagued Virginia Tech Hokies hosted Maryland in Blacksburg. The last time I was in B-burg to see the Hokies play Maryland, it was freezing cold and the game was a blow out (courtesy of the Hokies). This year, the Hokies have a subpar offense led by one of two quarterbacks who are both nursing ankle injuries. So, how sweet was it to watch the Hokies come out victorious? The offense seemed to come alive (I refuse to give Sean Glennon any credit for this victory) under RB Darren Evans who ran for 253 yards (which was more than half of the total offensive yardage) and a TD. It was nice to see someone step it up on offense. Hopefully, Evans will show the same stuff when the Hokies travel to Miami this week.

• In a very, very exciting game, Penn State traveled to Iowa and ended up losing a close game, 24-23. After being behind in the waning minutes of the 4th quarter, the Hawkeyes staged a comeback, scoring a touchdown thanks to a pass interference call against Penn State during the drive. They followed that up with a field goal with ONE SECOND REMAINING to clinch the win, thereby ending Penn State’s BCS hopes.

• #1 Alabama beat LSU in Baton Rouge in Saban’s return to Tigerland. For the first time in my life, I was rooting for the Tigers because everyone loves a good upset. But after that game (despite it going into overtime), I’m thinking that the Crimson Tide will end up in the BCS title game. I don’t usually make sports predictions on this blog, but I’m certain that Alabama will win the SEC and earn a trip to the national championship.

• The thing is Alabama is the real deal. They play offense and defense and they do both well. On the other hand, Texas Tech (and anyone in the Big 12 really) has a dominant offense but plays no defense. Texas Tech hosted the Cowboys of Oklahoma State on Saturday and ended up winning with a score easily divisible by seven (56-20). Does this team even have a kicker? I wonder how many field goals this kid’s got. It looks like the BCS title game will be whoever wins the SEC vs. whoever wins the Big 12. It won’t matter who comes out of the Big 12 because the SEC actually play defense and Big 12 teams don’t know what it’s like to play against one.

• Speaking of good defenses, USC’s got one. In fact, our defense is one of the best in the country. Too bad our offense hasn’t followed suit. This week we hosted Cal and the game was a nightmare. USC was hit with penalty after needless penalty. Both our offense and defense looked undisciplined out there. Fortunately, our defense still managed to show up. I’m not sure what the deal was with our offense. Why the Trojans couldn’t score more against the Golden Bears is beyond me. Anyway, I’ve decided that we’re probably going to end up at the Rose Bowl playing Penn State. That is, if Oregon State loses…

• OREGON STATE WATCH: Oregon State has not lost a game since its conference opener vs. Stanford, which seriously worries me. Because they beat us a few weeks ago, the Beavers own the tie-breaker against us and may win the conference if they win out (and end up at the Rose Bowl). So, I’m on OSU watch from now until the end of the season. This Saturday I watched the UCLA/Oregon State game with interest, actually rooting for the Bruins (which is incredibly hard for me to do). Unfortunately, UCLA rolled over and played dead as the Beavers cruised to victory, 34-6. The Beavers play Cal next weekend and you bet I’ll be cheering on the Golden Bears!

Next up for the Hokies: @ Miami
Next up for the Trojans: @ Stanford (it’s payback time)

college football recap: a good day for me and a bad day for hokies

I spent all day at the sports bar on Saturday because that's exactly how I decided to celebrate my 30th birthday. This means that I got to see lots of football games.

• But first, a Thursday game. In a game that certainly shocked me, Texas Christian easily beat #9 BYU 32-7. Really? TCU? The Horned Frogs? Well, I like me a good upset every now and then, but this was definitely unexpected. Especially since BYU has faced more formidable opponents. I suppose lots of teams have their own Oregon State.

• #1 Texas handed Mizzou its 2nd loss in a row and easily beat them 56-31. Ok, what's with the high score, Longhorns? Can you not play defense? Not sure how much longer you'll be able to get away with that and stay #1.

• #4 Oklahoma out scored #16 Kansas 45-31. What's up with the lack of defense Big 12?

• Speaking of teams having their own Oregon State, Virginia Tech lost to Boston College at Boston this weekend. I'm certainly no Hokie Historian (yay alliteration), but it seems to me that the Hokies have a tough time traveling to Boston and winning there. I can't comment on this game too much seeing as that this game came at the end of a long day at the sports bar and I had a hard time focusing with all of those South Carolina fans around me, but at some point, they showed ex-starting QB Sean Glennon on the screen and I asked Jesse with fear in my heart, "Oh my God. Are they putting him in?" Sure they were down in the game, but certainly the Hokies couldn't be desperate enough to put Glennon out there. Jesse replied, "Oh gosh no" and I felt relieved. Despite starter Tyrod Taylor's interceptino, I would still pick him over Glennon. The Hokies lost, 28-23.

• And in a game that doesn't need much explanation, USC beat Washington State, 69-0. For some reason, we missed a point after kick otherwise it would've been 70-0, which has a nice ring to it. For anyone who is wondering if we purposely ran up the score, USC's second and third strings played the entire second half. Yup. Wazzu really is that bad.

Up next for the Hokies is a game at Florida State. USC plays the Wildcats of Arizona in Tucson next Saturday.

college football recap: a ho-hum weekend

With no HUGE upsets this weekend, it was the same ol' game this weekend in college football (outside of Tennessee that is). Here's the super quick recap:

• Is BYU seriously #8 in the country? When did that happen? Anyhoo, they killed Utah State, thereby extending the nation's longest current win streak to 15 games. Eh. Who would've guessed that BYU could be BCS bound?
  
• Speaking of surprising teams, how about them Vanderbilt...ummm...Commodores? They squeaked past the Auburn Tigers 14-13 and remain undefeated so far this season. Could Vandy play the spoiler against Georgia and Florida? Let's hope so!
  
• Ok, I want to know who were those imposter Trojans who lost to Oregon State last week! The real Trojans were back in true form on Saturday against the #23-ranked Oregon Ducks and we killed 'em, easily winning 44-10. The Trojan offense came alive in this game, amassing nearly 600 yards of offense led by Mark Sanchez and his 3 TDs. Sanchez was sacked at some point by some douchebag Duck and lay on the ground, writhing in pain for a while. The heart of the Trojan Nation literally skipped a beat, as we all sat there hoping Sanchez would be ok. Turns out he has a bruised bone in his knee and is listed as day-to-day. Mitch Mustain filled in at QB after the game had already been decided and went 5-for-8 with 1 TD and 1 interception.
  
• The Virginia Tech Hokies hosted Western Kentucky and cruised to victory, 27-13, as expected. I was kinda surprised to see the Hokies give up 13 points. The Hokies would've ended with a respectable blow out score of 27-6 had the defense not given up a TD in the 4th quarter. No biggie, though. At least the Hokies still one. I was kinda bummed that backup quarterback Sean Glennon played some snaps, going 3-for-3 with 17 yards and no TDs, naturally.

Next up for the Hokies of Blacksburg is Boston College on (my birthday) October 18th. USC is hosting Arizona State next week.

college football recap: sabotage saturday

As you can imagine, I'm still upset over The Upset. Let's do this in chronological order, shall we?

• Damn you, Oregon State Beavers! What the hell? You're a 1-2 team and you picked this Thursday in front of a national audience to embarrass my Trojans? Ugh. I gotta give the Beavers some credit though. They showed up to play. The Trojans were lackluster and, at times, appeared as though they were going through the motions. It was certainly not the same squad that exposed all of Ohio State's weaknesses the previous weekend. I'm disappointed, but I know we're going to bounce back. That's just what we do after a big loss.

• We weren't the only team that were shocked into a loss this weekend. #9 Wisconsin played against Michigan in Ann Arbor and were probably surprised to see a 1-2 team so ready to play. Actually, Wisconsin led for most of the game before Michigan woke up and started their comeback. After being down 19-0 in the first half, the Wolverines barked back and scored all of their 27 points in the second half. Being a girl and an emotional sports fan, my heart went out to the Badgers. I knew exactly how their fans felt.

• One team I don't feel sorry for is the Florida Gators. They hosted Ole Miss who was up for playing the spoiler role. They hung on for a 1 point win and, because I don't really care for the SEC, I didn't really feel bad. So, thanks Ole Miss. Oh and great job hosting the presidential debate!

• Speaking of the SEC, the upsets continued. #3 Georgia hosted the #9 Alabama Crimson Tide and 'Bama shocked and embarrassed the Bulldogs on their home turf. They opened the game by scoring and continued to score until the 3rd quarter, when they were finally forced to punt. Georgia did attempt a comeback and ending up making the final score (41-30) somewhat respectable. I'm not sure what happened with Georgia. But that game left me wondering if Alabama really is that good.

• Well, there was good news for one of my favorite teams, at least. The Hokies of Virginia Tech traveled to Lincoln to play the Cornhuskers of Nebraska. I'm not really sure how good the Huskers are. In fact, I don't think they've been challenged all season. However, the Hokies are in rebuilding year, so I wasn't sure what to expect of them either. Well, I certainly didn't expect them to score 35. AND I definitely didn't expect their defense to allow 30 points. But the VT offense seemed to execute fairly well against the Husker defense. Tech scored 6 out of 6 times in the red zone and had a season-high 21 first downs. Wow. Maybe I should give that Hokie offense a bit of credit. Thank goodness Glennon didn't play a snap.

Up next for the Hokies is Western Kentucky and USC hosts Oregon in LA.

college football recap: USC burst the big ten bubble and 'sean glennon who?'

Before I write about last week's Game of the Century (copyright ESPN), there was plenty of other excellent college football going on.

• I didn't watch this game because frankly, I'm still bitter about the officiating in last week's BYU/Udub game, but I am seriously regretting it now. Just like the media is all about spin and exaggeration right now in politics, so it is with sports. After UCLA managed to earn a W against Tennessee at home two weeks ago, the media heralded the win as the beginning of a new era in UCLA football. Neuheisel is Coach of the Year. Norm Chow is a genius and can make any mediocre quarterback a Heisman contender. Blah, blah, blah. And then reality set it. Reality AKA the Cougars of BYU gave the Bruins their worst beating ever, winning 59 - 0 (actually, that would be their second worst beating; the worst being a 76 - 0 shellacking by the Trojans, of course). I noticed that ESPN barely covered this game during it's evening recap on Saturday. So much for UCLA's comeback year.

• Continuing the worst weekend in the PAC-10 trend, Cal visited Maryland and the same team who lost to Middle Tennessee State last week dominated the Golden Bears for most of the game. The only reason why the score of 35 - 27 even looks remotely respectable is because Cal mounted a comeback that simply wasn't enough. Still, the Terps embarrassed the Bears, who I kinda expected to challenge USC this season. After Saturday, I'm thinking, not so much.

• Speaking of worst performances, did anyone see the Auburn/Mississippi State game? Good lord was it awful. I didn't see it, but any game with a final score of 3 - 2 can be summed up with a 15 second highlight clip on SportsCenter. And seriously, Auburn only scored a field goal against Miss. State? And they are still ranked in the top 10? Yet Georgia travels to South Carolina and still wins but they get bumped down to 3rd? I don't get it. The polls are all sorts of whacky this season.

• One of the best games so far this season happened Friday night between Kansas and South Florida. First the Jayhawks were killing them. Then the Bulls came back. Then Kansas mounted a last minute comeback in the 4th to tie. And then the Bulls win on a last minute field goal. That game was as good as college football gets, folks. So much heart and effort AND a last minute field goal to seal it? Sweet!

• Virginia Tech hosted the GA Tech Yellow Jackets this weekend and I've been having a bad feeling about this season for the Hokies. The offensive line is young and not as good as I hoped. And well, Sean Glennon has seen some playing time (which can never be a good thing). I kinda wanted to see him in action myself this weekend as Jesse and I were down in Blacksburg, but, alas, it wasn't meant to be. Glennon received zero playing time (as it should be) and Tyrod Taylor led the young Hokies to a close victory over Georgia Tech, 20 - 17. Georgia Tech actually committed some penalties down the stretch that seriously hurt their comeback attempts and fortunately, the Hokie defense was strong enough to hold on for the win in the final minutes. I really liked what I saw in Taylor on Saturday. He's quick, agile, and a running QB (unlike some other former starters who don't know how to throw the ball away if a sack is imminent). And with a developing O-Line, this is exactly what the Hokies need to lead their offense.

• I'm not sure if you heard, but the most overhyped, over-talked-about Game of the Century (ESPN copyright) was played this weekend between the Big Ten 'powerhouse' of Ohio State and the nation's #1 team the USC Trojans. I predicted a victory for my Trojans because, well, the Big Ten sucks and is overrated. And Ohio State can't seem to bring it on the big stage. And could the Coliseum on a Saturday night on National TV have been a bigger stage (that's not a BCS game)? Nope. Ohio State was simply over matched on every level and USC showed why it is ranked #1 as Mark Sanchez threw for 4 TDs in a 35 - 3 rout. Ohio State allegedly has the best defense in the country, but when you're playing the likes of Ohio and Youngstown State on your schedule, of course you're going to put up some great defensive figures. But USC isn't Youngstown State, folks, and perhaps OSU would like to start scheduling some talented teams in order to be able to make it in the big leagues.

• Oh yeah, and star Buckeye, Beanie Wells didn't play. Anyone who wants to argue that he would've made a difference in the game had he played is welcome to explain to me how Wells would've scored 32 points in one game against the USC defense.  Go on.  I'm anxiously waiting.
  

And finally, a request to the sports media. I'm a diehard Trojan and proud USC alum. And even I was a little sick of hearing about how great we are this weekend. Sure, I get excited whenever I see us on TV. But after a while this weekend, I was almost tempted to change the channel. After all the hype surrounding the Game of the Century, let's give the USC talk a rest until our next game, ok? That's 1.5 weeks from now. Not too much to ask, is it?

college football recap: two weeks of college football in one post!

Well, peeps, because of the Labor Day holiday (and the fact that I was traveling), I did not write last Monday which means today you get two recaps in one post.

Lucky you.

Let's start with last week. I promised you pics from the USC/UVA game and here they are:

Loot from the pre-game rally in DC


The Best Band in the History of the Universe plays for the local alums:


Here's Nicky distracting us from getting ready for the game. I had to tell him several times that pom poms are not for consumption.


Scott Stadium in the first quarter:

Notice the full house of orange.

Scott Stadium after the first quarter (once USC was up by 3 TDs):

I call this photo 'The Great Orange Flight'.

The reason why fans left so early:

The scoreboard speaks the truth.  USC 52, UVa 7.  Yup, a blood bath. Just as I predicted.

The USC football team showing the fans some love:


The happy (yet incredibly hot, sweaty, and sticky) Trojans!


The post game performance from the USC band:

Yes, that would be the Trojan faithful shouting, "Beat the Buckeyes" at the beginning of the video.  We're very forward thinking.

The band was nice enough to escort us back to the parking lots:


What can I say about this game other than UVa was clearly overmatched? Their only score of the game occurred because of USC's defense committing two bonehead penalties. We literally gave them the score. Still, our offense was amazing (not sure what Al Groh was thinking when he decided to just use 3 linemen on USC QB Mark Sanchez) and our defense was just too fast for the Wahoos.

The Hokies were a different story.

Sadly, VT lost their opener to East Carolina, who just so happened to be named this season's Cinderella story after also beating #8 WVU. Why did the Hokies lose? Well, maybe because most of their starters had never played a college game before. Or maybe because the offense still hasn't gotten it together. Or maybe it was Sean Glennon starting his season with an intercepted pass FOR THE SECOND SEASON IN A ROW. WTF, Beamer. You redshirted Tyrod Taylor for this?

Sometime between the first and second weekend of college football, USC jumped 3 spots and became the new #1. I'd like to thank UVa for playing like a 1-AA team instead of a team from a BCS conference. Apparently opening the season with an opponent from a BCS conference instead of a cupcake team like Youngstown State earns you some brownie points with voters. Still, a #1 ranking now doesn't matter. What matters is being #1 at the very end.

The most surprising game this weekend was Washington vs. BYU. A last minute comeback was thwarted when an official called an excessive celebration penalty on QB Jake Locker, who ran a couple of yards to get the supposed-game tying touchdown. There was no penalty there. Jake tossed the ball away in order to celebrate the impressive TD drive with his teammates and a flag was thrown. Instead of taking the penalty on the kickoff, the yardage was added to the point after attempt. Apparently the drama got to the kicker whose kick was then blocked by the BYU defense. Ugh. Very poor officiating in my opinion and the Pac-10 ref who made the call should be fined or something. Just let the boys play, dude. Who knows what would've happened had there been an OT?

In Hokie news, Virginia Tech played Furhman (sp? also, mascot?) and won, naturally. Glennon and Taylor shared playing time. Woo hoo!

USC rested this past weekend and should be in top form for the Ohio State game this weekend. Fight on, b*tches! Bring on the Buckeyes!

with college football around the corner, my smack talking gene has activated

In two days, the state of Virginia will host the greatest college football team to ever play in the Old Dominion State: the Trojans of USC. On Saturday, USC opens its season by playing UVa in Charlottesville in what is sure to be a blood bath. And the funny thing is that the Wahoos know it too, considering the number of donor/alumni tickets that are being sold on Stubhub.com.

Quite possibly the best thing about this season for the #3/#4 Trojans is not being ranked #1 (that honor has been bestowed on Georgia). As a fan, being a pre-season #1 is kinda nerve racking, especially since pre-season polls mean crap (anyone else remember how high Michigan was ranked before losing to App State to start the 2007 season? FIVE). And Georgia has a tough schedule ahead of them so who knows if they'll end up on top? Still, it's nice that the Trojans are playing with a little less pressure than usual.

Still, we've got a good shot at going the distance, especially since all of our hardest games are being played at home this year (insert sigh of relief here). That doesn't mean we don't have our challenges. Our first one would be Ohio State on September 13th (my apologies to UVa fans). Although I don't make predictions, I expect USC to lose one game this year and it WON'T be to Ohio State. In the Pac-10, Oregon might try to play the spoiler as well as ASU. And then there's UCLA, who thinks they're going to turn things around this year, what with a new coach and our exoffensive coordinator.

The bRUINS placed a laughable ad in the LA Times recently:

 

image courtesy of latimes.com 

And the Wizofodds created the best comeback.

 

image courtesy of thewizofodds.com 

Despite our challenges this season, USC has a standout defense that is sure to help us win games. Our quarterback and receiving corp situations may need some working out, but it's all good. UVa will be a great opponent to work out all the kinks with and we should be ready for the Buckeyes in a couple of weeks.

Speaking of challenges, #14 Virginia Tech has lost a number of starters to graduation or the NFL so they're in a bit of a bind. Fortunately, the Hokies have quite an easy schedule this year, playing the likes of Furman and Western Kentucky (that away game at Boston College could pose a problem). VA Tech is sure to have an awesome defense as that is what they are known for. But the Hokie offense is still a big question mark. The only question that has been answered is, 'who will start at QB'? Unfortunately, that honor was bestowed upon Sean Glennon.

My dislike for Glennon has long been mentioned on this blog. The boy can't scramble to save his life (literally) and has made many errors, costing his team the victory in crucial games. With the less-than-stellar offensive line that the Hokies had last year (which seemed most exposed against LSU early last season), the tandem combination of Sean Glennon and true freshman Tyrod Taylor (with athletic abilities that Glennon can only dream of) seeemed to confuse defenses in the second half of last season and led to VA Tech's Orange Bowl appearance. However, Taylor's been redshirted this season (I suppose Coach Beamer is thinking of the future) and Glennon has been given the ok to start. Ugh.

You can count on this blog reporting all of Glennon's mistakes.

Other stuff you can count on:

• My attendance at the USC/UVa game (with pictures!), Virginia Tech/GA Tech game, and the VA Tech/Nebraska game in Cornhusker country.

• Monday reports on all of the games that mattered

• My constantly talking about how great USC is

I'm excited that college football is starting! I can practically smell the pigskin, turkey legs (a Lane Stadium specialty at Hokie home games), and beer spouting from kegs!

this one’s for the hokies

Apparently, the most explosive player introduction in college football these days belongs to Virginia Tech. At least, that’s what I’ve heard.

It’s not really anything out of the ordinary—the entrance itself. The VT cadet corp lines up and forms a lane for the players to run through. And then Metallica’s Enter the Sandman plays (I hate Metallica by the way). Shortly after the crowd gets all pumped up, cheer/yell/song leaders run out down the lane and the football players follow soon after. And then Metallica is silenced.

Not that you’ll notice that the song isn’t playing. That’s because the crowd is SO LOUD that you can’t really hear the song once the crowd gets going. And honestly, in my humble opinion, that’s what makes VT’s player intro the best in college football. As a frequent spectator of this phenomenon (I most certainly do not get as pumped up as the crowd does...I mean, I’ll do my hooting and hollering, but by no means am I going to jump up and down and go nuts), I can actually feel the crowd. The energy and sound is just deafening. Even I, a Trojan who occasionally dons the maroon and orange, get caught up in it. It’s a hard thing to explain really.

As a college football fan in general, it makes me very proud.

This is certainly not the same as being there, but it might help.


Happy Weekend, peeps!

college football recap: homecoming edition

Ok. I have a confession to make. I only watched one football game this weekend. I know that makes me a really bad wannabe sports blogger. However, that makes me one loyal Trojan. So why did I only watch one game? Well, I was in SoCal this weekend to go to USC’s Homecoming game vs. Oregon State. Jesse and I spent the entire day on campus hanging out with friends and then going to the game at night.

My quick recap of the game: well, I missed all of the third quarter because I met up with one of my closest friends (and freshman year roommate) Aditi. But our defense kicked ass, as usual. The Trojan defense held the Beavers to just 3 points and honestly, the outcome of the game was never in doubt. It was just like old times, except returning starting QB John David Booty looked rusty. Backup Mark Sanchez should’ve been put in the game a heck of a lot sooner than just 2 minutes left, but whatevs. I refuse to believe that Sanchez is the reason why we lost to Oregon, so I feel that he should still be our starter.

Anyways, the day started off innocently enough. Jesse and I went to my friend Kattie’s tailgate where we enjoyed food that was provided by a caterer and alcohol galore. I may or may not have gotten a bit tipsy on margaritas. I cannot confirm nor deny my sobriety.

Here I am with Kattie, looking surprisingly sober


While walking on Trousdale, we met up with some friends.

That’s Shveta on the left. She lived across from me in the dorm freshman year. The girl in the middle is my friend Aditi and I’m on the right. That’s a non-alcoholic beer I’m holding (ignore the Miller light label).

We walked down Trousdale and headed to the Coliseum. But of course we had to stop and kick the flag poles for good luck (it’s a tradition, don’t ask).
Here’s Kattie’s kick.


Here we are en route, between the LA Museum of Natural History and the Coliseum. You can see the Coliseum in the background.


We finally made it to the game. We were a little bit late, but we didn’t miss any action. Here’s a shot of the famous USC songleaders for all of my male readers (all two of you).


And here is why I missed the third quarter. I finally got to meet my friend Aditi’s boo, Souk. Here we are in a cute little group pic.


We made it just in time to see Traveler (USC’s mascot…the white horse, not the guy dressed as a Trojan who rides him) and for the lighting of the Olympic Torch—the reason why I like night games.


Here’s Traveler in action after the first touchdown.


Jesse and I stayed for the post game concert by the USC Marching Band, the Spirit of Troy. Here we are enjoying the performance.


And here is every Trojan’s second favorite song (our fave being the USC Fight Song), Tusk…also known as the “UCLA sucks” song. The voice in the video is mine.


It was so good to come home.

college football recap: it is what it is edition

Today’s regular blog post is below the recap.

Jesse and I both endured tough losses this weekend. Ugh. This has been a difficult season so far. Here’s the recap:

• Virginia Tech hosted Boston College this past Thursday at Lane Stadium. Despite the fact that back up QB Sean Glennon started for the injured Tyrod Taylor, Glennon actually played well and seemed to be leading the Hokies on to victory. And then BC QB Matt Ryan led the comeback to end all comebacks and somehow managed to play better in the final 3 minutes than he had the whole game and BC squeaked out a victory. Damn it. Jesse took the loss a little hard, which is understandable. Had the game ended at the 57 minute mark, VT would’ve won.

• Fortunately for the Hokies, they still have a shot at the ACC title game now that UVa has finally lost a conference game on Saturday. Those Wahoos could only win so many close games. I’m not surprised that NC State ended up exposing them for the frauds that they are. The VT/UVa game should be especially interesting this year.

• Someone who appeared to be on a Hokie-like collapse was Tennessee, who led the entire game against South Carolina. For some reason, the Vols let the Gamecocks back in the game in the second half and the game was tied at the end of regulation. Fortunately, Tennessee was able to pull off the upset by scoring a field goal in OT and holding S. Carolina scoreless. I enjoy watching the Gamecocks lose mostly because they claim to be the real USC. Funny how most people outside of the South know that USC is the University of Southern California.

• Speaking of USC, the Trojans found themselves in an unfamiliar position as they were the underdogs against Oregon in a game at Autzen Stadium. Sure, Oregon was ranked higher and proved themselves in a tough loss against Cal, but still—we’re USC. USC has all the talent and apparently none of the chemistry it needs. And the Trojans proved that talent is not enough as they suffered a tough loss against the Ducks. A last minute attempt to tie the game in the waning seconds was thwarted by the Ducks as they picked off a pass by Mark Sanchez.

• As starting QB John David Booty’s broken finger is sure to heal by the Oregon State game this coming Saturday, this is sure to start a debate. Who starts now? Mark Sanchez, the risk taker, the jump starter, the guy who throws interceptions at the worst possible time? Or John David Booty, the guy with experience who plays worse now than he did last year (and he was good last year)? Eh. It’s a toss up at this point. However, since this season is pretty much a wash, we might as well give Sanchez the playing time he needs to get him ready for next year.

• Cal continued their incredibly unexpected fall from the top 25 as they lost to the surprisingly undefeated Arizona State. Wasn’t Cal #2 in the country like two weeks ago? What happened? Their play against the Sun Devils was very uninspired and QB Nate Longshore seemed off. Or maybe ASU is just that good. We’ll see soon enough, as they visit Oregon next week.

Up next for VA Tech is Georgia Tech, a game that Jesse and I will be watching on a plane ride to California on Thursday night. Jesse and I will be at USC’s Homecoming Game against Oregon State.
________________________________________________________________

This whole pneumonia thing is no joke. I’m still feeling less than 100% and occasionally experience some shortness of breath (usually after a coughing fit). I saw my doctor last Thursday and she put the fear of God in me. She scolded me for not taking care of myself and reminded me that people die from pneumonia (I’m sure they do in 3rd world countries, but apparently people die of pneumonia in the U.S. too). So she put the kibosh on all of my outside-the-home activities for the next week—including work.

Which meant I had to cancel my East Coast birthday celebration on Friday. I had previously told myself that I would need to be on my death bed before I missed that party. Apparently, if I don’t take care of myself, that could be arranged.

I honestly do not have the patience to be sick, but I appreciate the break from work. My doctor warned me that if I don’t rest and take care of myself, the pneumonia would just keep coming back and coming back. I need to put a stop to this now.

I’ve never had pneumonia before. Being aware of every single breath I take is frightening. Feeling like there isn’t enough oxygen in the world for you is much scarier than you can imagine.

Needless to say, I don’t want to keep fighting this thing. I’m taking it easy starting today.

And on that note, I’m going back to bed.

college football recap: west coast edition

I’m blogging from the West Side in the comfort of my mom’s favorite arm chair. It feels so good to be home. Here’s the recap:

• First up, the Thursday night game was a good one—USF at Rutgers. You know, two years ago, this wouldn’t have been a very important game. But Rutgers rose in the ranks last year and became a serious contender for the Big East title. Now, USF is this year’s Rutgers and Rutgers decided they weren’t going to let the Bulls enjoy it. Rutgers squeaked out a close victory over the previously-ranked-#2 USF, 30-27. Another #2 bites the dust.
  

• #1 Ohio State won again. Big surprise. Their victim this week was Michigan State, who actually had a chance to keep it close towards the end of the game, but the Buckeyes held the Spartans to a field goal with 3 minutes remaining in the game when MSU really needed a TD.

• LSU and Auburn played a close won that was reminiscent of the LSU/Florida match up earlier this season. In both games, LSU’s opponent led for most of the game. And somehow, LSU was able to come back and seal the game in the final minutes. In this case, LSU was down by one point with a few ticks on the clock remaining. Instead of going for the field goal, which is all they needed to win, Les Miles instead drew up a play for a miracle TD. Sadly, he got it and the Tigers won, 30-24.

• Previously-ranked-#6-South Carolina was upset by Vanderbuilt in a game I didn’t watch. But I managed to catch some of the post game interviews and I was kinda impressed by how gracious S. Carolina’s coach Steve Spurrier was. He praised Vandy for being the better team and all I was thinking was, Damn, you just got beaten by Vandy and all you could do is congratulate them? That’s nice.

• USC had its annual battle with Notre Lame, this year in South Bend and apparently the Irish faithful are still not happy about the Bush Push of two years ago. They should be unhappy with how their coach sucks. But anyways, USC played flawlessly and won big, 38-0. QB Mark Sanchez started for the second time and seemed to find his rhythm, going 21-38 for 235 yards and 4 TDs. So, why did USC look so good? Sure, the Irish are especially bad this year, but USC hasn’t really played as good as it should until this game. The difference—it was the first game all season where we didn’t sustain an injury and a number of important injured started returned to the line-up, including Stanley Havili and Stafon Johnson.

Next up for VA Tech is #2 BC on Thursday. USC has a big test next Saturday against Oregon in Eugene.

college football recap: "this is why I don’t make predictions" edition

Too much football, too little time. Sorry, non sports fans, but I may not have time to post a regular blog post today. Blame it on all of the upsets!

• Let’s start off with the most important loss of the day, LSU’s. It took 3 overtimes, but #17 Kentucky was able to pull off what most people outside of Louisiana were hoping for—an upset. Even before the season began, LSU’s coach, Les Miles has been talking about how LSU deserved to be #1 because it was the best team in college football, how LSU’s schedule was much tougher than USC’s and how it wasn’t fair that USC was on top. Well, LSU was on top for 2 weeks before getting knocked out. For a night, I was a Kentucky fan and I was one of many in the sports bar who cheered them the Wildcats on to victory. I do feel bad for the Tiger fans, but maybe they should tell their cocky coach to keep his mouth shut.

• Oddly enough, I felt really bad for Cal who got beaten by the Pac-10 giant killers, Oregon State. I should be happy that the Beavers won because now USC has a better shot at the Pac-10 title. However, I know what Cal fans felt after that loss. After all, Stanford killed our title hopes last week when they beat us at home. And Oregon State beat us last year for our first loss of the ’06 season. And then Jesse reminded me that these were the same Cal fans who probably jumped for joy when Stanford beat USC last week. I don’t feel bad anymore. Karma’s a bitch, Golden Bears.

• So, who’s gonna be #1 now that #1 and #2 have been beaten? Well, the wussy Ohio State Buckeyes, of course. The former #3 team in the country beat Kent State (are they even Division 1-A?) and somehow is now the nation’s top team. Considering their cake walk schedule (with such powerhouses as Akon and Youngstown State) and how crappy the Big 10 has been this year, how is Ohio State not going to run the table? The only game they could possibly lose is against Michigan in November. And I’m sure they’re looking for some payback over their loss in ’06. Hmmm…ummm…Go Wolverines!

• Someone please explain to me how Kansas is in the Top 25 and unbeaten. Is it basketball season already? Oh nevermind…Kansas doesn’t play anybody.

• Before people start accusing me of being a hater because USC isn’t #1, I’m not. I would be perfectly happy if USF became #1 over Ohio State because at least they’ve beaten a good team and they have a relatively challenging schedule compared to Ohio State. USF convincingly beat previously #5 WVU and Auburn. They deserve to be up there. If Ohio State goes to the title game, they’re just gonna get blown out by their opponent (whoever that will be) because they haven’t been tested all season. Kinda like last season. Doesn’t matter. The way this season’s being going, who knows who’s gonna end up on top?

• Tech had a dominant performance against Duke this weekend, which is to be expected because they played Duke. But what wasn’t expected was the injury QB Tyrod Taylor suffered early in the game. This meant that my arch nemesis, Sean Glennon, had to enter the game and throw some passes. I wasn’t too worried because the Hokies were playing Duke. However, Glennon actually had a decent game. His passes were usually accurate and he threw for 2 TDs. Fortunately, the Hokies have a bye this weekend and will not play until the 26th, when they face #3 Boston College. Hopefully Taylor will be back by then.

• In a game against Arizona (where we were favored by 20 points for some odd reason), USC displayed its usual inconsistency on its way to a close victory. Mark Sanchez started for injured QB John David Booty and I was glad he did. Booty has been a disappointment all season and I wanted to see what Sanchez was capable of. Sanchez was 19 for 31 with 1 TD and 2 interceptions. Those numbers aren’t great. But he did seem to bring an energy that was missing with Booty. I wonder if Sanchez will get to start when Booty comes back.

USC is missing something and I’m not sure what it is. A healthy o-line? A clear leader? A receiving corps that can consistently catch balls? Our defense is awesome, but rarely forces turnovers. We’re clearly beatable and we’ve lost our mental edge. I’m not sure what the answer is.

Up next, the Hokies get to rest on Saturday, while USC visits South Bend for the annual showdown with Notre Lame.

college football recap: LSU sucks edition

Now that I’ve got your attention, Tiger fans, please read this post until the very end. Perhaps you can enlighten me.

Today's blog post is after the football recap.

First off, it was Separation Week last week in college football. Here’s the recap:

• Ok, USF. We get it now. You’re actually pretty decent. Going up against a Mountaineer team known for their offense, the Bulls of South Florida came out and set the tone for Separation Weekend by beating previously-#5-WVU, 21-13. This game wasn’t pretty for either team, as both teams combined for 10 turnovers, but a win is a win, isn’t it, Oklahoma?

• Ah...speaking of Oklahoma, last week, I asked someone to wake me when they played someone actually deserving a mention—Texas. Luckily, I was awake to see Oklahoma get upset by the Buffs of Colorado on a last minute field goal. Looks like someone was caught looking ahead...

• Speaking of getting caught looking ahead, previously-#4-Florida lost to unranked Auburn on a last minute field goal, 20-17. Auburn led for much of the game before Florida began a comeback (led by QB Tim Tebow) that tied the game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough as Auburn’s defense found an answer to Florida’s typically unstoppable offense. The Tigers held the Gators to just over 300 yards of offense, which is low for Florida. Like, really low.

• In a game that I got a sick pleasure watching, Kansas State beat Texas in Texas, 41-21! Woo hoo! And for the second year in a row. And it wasn’t even close! The Wildcats figuratively knocked out Texas QB Colt McCoy for a second straight year (last year was a literal knock out) with 4 interceptions. Say goodbye to the Top Ten, Longhorns.

• I don't even really need to say this, but I really enjoy doing so: Notre Lame lost yet again.
  

• The PAC-10 rules and they proved it yet again in a game for the ages between Cal and Oregon (Cal won, 31-24). Cal, who hadn’t won in Oregon in who knows how long, came in and kept pace with the Ducks for the entire game. Neither team is known for their defense, so I figured that this game might be a shoot out. But it wasn’t. Cal did force a couple of turnovers, but that wasn’t even the deciding factor. In fact, if Duck Cameron Colvin hadn’t fumbled a touchdown in the end zone in the waning seconds of the game, the game might’ve had a different outcome. And that’s what made it so awesome. The Trojans are definitely going to have to be on their toes when they visit Eugene at the end of October.

• Speaking of Trojans, I was not pleased with the game. In fact, I am so upset with my team that I had to write a whole separate post. You can find it here: ahh, it feels good to be #2 at my college football blog i heart mark may (a little shameless self promotion).

• I finally got to see Virginia Tech QB Tyrod Taylor start for the Hokies (I saw him play against LSU, but he didn't start the game) and I was generally impressed. This kid can actually move! Taylor ran for a couple of gains during the game and every time he ran away from the UNC defense, I thought, Glennon would’ve just gotten sacked. I’m looking forward to seeing some consistently good play from Taylor (he’s just a freshman, after all). The Hokies predictably beat the Tar Heels, 17-10.

Up next for the Hokies, an ACC powerhouse match up with Clemson. Next week, USC has a scrimmage against Stanford.

__________________________________________________________________

This weekend, I got to spend some time with Jesse’s long time friend, JS. Jesse and JS grew up together, went to high school together, and ended up going to Tech together. JS is a very kind, unassuming guy and has always been really nice to me.

So when I found out what happened to him recently, I got really, really angry.

JS went to the LSU/Virginia Tech game several weekends ago just as Jesse and I had, except JS hung out with a different group. As you know, Jesse and I spent all day that Saturday among the Tiger fans, most of whom were really nice and gracious. Honestly, I was very impressed with how welcoming they were. I left Baton Rouge with a generally good impression of the LSU fans.

Jesse and I didn’t see JS until the game that night, where we hung out for a bit. This Saturday was the first time I had seen JS since that weekend.

While watching the USC game, JS told Jesse about his experience in Baton Rouge. It wasn’t so positive. Why? Well, a Tiger fan came up to JS, who was clearly in Virginia Tech garb, and told JS that he looked like Seung-Hui Cho, the person behind the shootings at Tech last April.

JS is Chinese.

There are several things that are wrong with this statement. First off, I don’t care how drunk you are, it will never, EVER be ok to joke about the shootings at Tech. NEVER. If one has any tact, one should know never to joke about an unfortunate incident. And why anyone would joke about it is beyond my comprehension. This was an unfortunate event with far-reaching effects. His comment was incredibly insensitive and inappropriate.

Now, let me tell you what really pisses me off about this comment. Cho was Korean. Does Mr. Insensitive Tiger Fan think all Asians look alike? Guess what, jack ass. The Chinese and Koreans don’t look alike. JS looks nothing like Cho. And if you’re that ignorant, keep your mouth shut until you learn something.

It disturbs me that JS would encounter such blatant racism in an institution of higher learning. Colleges and universities are supposed to encourage open dialogue to increase understanding.

But if you have nothing intelligent to contribute, get the hell out and leave my friends alone.

college football recap: "the passing game lives" edition

So much football...so little time...
(you know the drill. today's blog post is under the recap)

• Let’s start with a Thursday game, Miami vs. Texas A&M. Seriously, does anyone care about Miami anymore? In a development that only made Oklahoma look good (see below), Miami upset #17 Texas A&M. I’m not sure what to tell you about this game, other than that it is probably the last nationally televised game that Miami will play in the Orange Bowl.

• Speaking of #4 Oklahoma, they beat Tulsa by a lot (41 points to be exact). Tulsa would be the latest in Oklahoma’s sub-par opponents (Miami being another one of the 4). Can someone please wake me up when Oklahoma plays someone good? Looks like I’ll be napping til October 6th when Oklahoma plays Texas (that is, if you want to call Texas “good”).

• In a game that surprised no one, WVU beat ECU. I read somewhere that WVU has had trouble with ECU in the past which is surprising to me considering how easily the Mountaineers won that game. Their next game is at #18 South Florida which should be a good test for WVU.

• In other Big East news, Louisville lost again this week, this time to lowly Syracuse. This is what happens when you don’t play defense, peeps. You see, when you don’t play defense, you make a so-so team like Syracuse look like a Big East title contender, led by a so-so quarterback who suddenly looks like a Heisman candidate (ummm...hello? 17 of 26 passes for 423 yards and 4 TDs). Oh well. It looks like this will be my last bullet point on Louisville for the rest of the season.

• Let’s talk about my favorite unranked team—Notre Dame. I can’t tell you how much it pains me to report this, but after this Saturday’s game against Michigan State, the Irish finally have positive total yardage. Damn it! Damn you, Spartans, for not keeping the Irish in the red. Well, this doesn’t matter too much as the Spartans easily beat the Irish and now the Irish are 0-4. Apparently, this is a record futility mark for Notre Dame. They’re playing at Purdue next week.

• My other favorite unranked team is Michigan who played Penn State this week (formerly #10) and won. Apparently, Mike Hart was the key to this Wolverine victory as he amassed 153 yards on 44 carries. 44 carries? That’s insane. That’s less than 4 yards per carry. But still, Hart got a TD and Michigan only needed one other TD to beat the Nittany Lions.

• I should say something about the Nebraska/Ball State game. The Huskers won by 1 point. And they had to pray that Ball State didn’t score in the final seconds of the game in order to ensure the victory. Either their loss against USC completely demoralized the team or they just aren’t as good as everyone’s been saying. Which makes USC’s victory over Nebraska look not that great.

• In another game that was no surprise to anyone, Virginia Tech hosted William and Mary (a Division 1-AA team). Because this makes sense to the TV peeps for some reason, the Tech game wasn’t televised locally. And rather than listen to the game online (which is NOTHING like watching it on TV), I opted to go to the gym instead. After my trip to the gym, I found out that Tech had easily beaten the Tribe (which was to be expected). But the score was unreal—44-3—for a team that’s known for its defense. At first, I had hoped that Tyrod Taylor (Tech’s big time freshman QB) had a stand out day. Unfortunately, when I read the recap, I realized that it was just another game of Beamer Ball—where Tech’s defense and special teams take over. Still, it was nice to see such a big point differential for a Tech game. Taylor had an ok day, going 6 of 13, for 72 yards and 1 TD. Sadly, Glennon got some play time too. He probably had to whine to Coach Beamer in order to play. Glennon went 5 of 9 for 49 yards.

• Last but certainly not least, USC opened Pac-10 play this week by hosting Washington State at the Coliseum. Last week against Nebraska, USC’s running game earned the victory. But this time, USC’s passing game took over. QB John David Booty had a stellar game, completing 28 of 35 passes for 279 yards and 4 TDs. That’s right. 4 TDs. There might have been a little interception thrown in there, but the game had been sealed by then. In fact, after Wazzu scored a TD late in the 1st quarter, they just couldn’t keep up with the Trojans, who attacked from both the ground and the air. As the WSU coach said after the game, “This was an old-fashioned butt-whipping.” Yes, it was.

• One more thing about the USC game...I’m really impressed with the offense. One of the things I like about it is that every game features a different stand out player. Last week, it was RB Stafon Johnson. Against Idaho, it was Johnson and WR Vidal Hazelton and his one-handed grab. This time, it was TE Fred Davis. I’m truly amazed with how many weapons we’ve got on offense. Now if the defense can just work on getting some more turnovers...

Next up for Virginia Tech is UNC. USC will be playing at Washington next week. The Huskies just lost a close one to UCLA (and to Ohio State before that) so I’m sure they’re hungry for a victory.

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There are very few things I enjoy doing alone. Shopping is one of them. That’s because I get so anxious and excited when I go shopping that sometimes I get impatient when waiting for others to make a decision on what to buy. My motto is “Buy first, ask questions later.” This may also be why I suffer from buyer’s remorse alot.

However, I don’t like eating alone. I really don’t like sleeping alone now. And I most certainly don’t like going to a bar all by myself. But that’s what I did on Saturday when I went to Crystal City Sports Pub to watch the USC game. It was the only place I could watch the game—the local ABC affiliate was playing the Iowa/Wisconsin game.

So, I got all dressed up in my USC t-shirt and brand new jeans purchased earlier in the day. I did my hair and then decided to pull it back because the weather was kinda warm. And then I walked out the door, praying that I would meet someone at the bar that I could talk to.

One of the great things about watching the USC game with other DC-area alums is the fact that it’s impossible to feel like you’re alone while amongst them. We’re all chatty and usually not from this area so we’re all willing to meet new people. In fact, Jesse and I had met some new people last week during the Nebraska game and I was hoping they would be there this week.

The place was crowded and I got a beer at the bar while I waited to see a familiar face. A man approached me and started talking to me about USC. Actually, he wasn’t talking to me, really. He was addressing his “respect” for USC at my boobs. It’s times like these when I wish that (1) Jesse was with me and (2) my boobs weren’t so big. When he decided to order a drink, I decided not to waste my time with the perv and I walked away from him. If that guy is a prime example of what’s in the dating pool these days, I am so relieved that I found one of the good ones and I’m no longer single (no offense to my single blog peeps, but I feel your pain).

One of the alumni chapter officers came up to me and offered me a table. It was a table for 4. Hmmm...I took it because I didn’t want to be around in case Mr. Perv wanted to talk to me (note to Jesse: an engagement ring would’ve come in handy). But I felt really selfish for taking it, considering tables are such a hot commodity at the Pub and I had three available seats. The good news is that the table was right next to someone I met last week so I had someone to talk to. The bad news is that I had three available seats.

A short while later, a young Trojan couple came into my view. I watched them as they searched for a table. When they got closer to me, I offered them my empty seats. They were very grateful. I can’t remember their names (I’m getting old, you know, and the memory is the first to go) but they were recent graduates and had recently moved to Arlington a few months ago. I told the girl half of the couple (who was from San Diego; the boy half was from St. Louis) that she will NEVER, EVER get used to the weather here and to buy a really good winter coat. I think I might’ve scared her. Well, at least she’ll be prepared come January when it snows a few inches and the city shuts down.

The game was a good one and I made some new friends. All in all, it wasn’t so bad to be alone.

But I still can’t wait for Jesse to get back today!

college football recap: mexican independence day edition

You know the drill blog peeps. Non-sports related blog post is below the sports one.

• I really, really, really want to talk about the USC game, but I’m going to start with the Thursday night game first. West Virginia played Maryland on Thursday night in front of a national audience and Maryland actually hung in there for a bit. But the turtles were simply no match for the Mountaineers as the Terps ended up giving up more than 400 yards to WVU and Mountaineer Steve Slayton had a typically solid performance with 3 TDs.

• There were many anticipated games on Saturday and for some reason, the Florida/Tennessee game was one of them. Sure, two ranked teams from the same conference were going up each other. But did anyone outside of the state of Tennessee really think that the Vols had a chance? This is Florida, for crying out loud. And Tennessee got worked by Cal to start the season. Not to take anything away from Cal, but how can we assume that Tennessee would have a strong defense (that is characteristic of SEC teams) after the Vols gave up 45 points to Cal? Of course the Gators were going to be all over the Vols and they did, racking up over 600 yards of total offense.

• It was the battle for an end to futility. Michigan vs. Notre Dame. One big disappointment vs. another big disappointment. But the game certainly didn’t disappoint. Well, any time Notre Dame gets worked, this little Trojan becomes incredibly happy. Not that I would wish this kind of crappiness on anyone. But seriously, any time a team gives their coach a multi-year contract extension after not having proven a thing and then leads the team to an 0-3 start two seasons later kinda deserves it, no? Especially when the previous coach, Ty Willingham (who is Black, by the way) wasn’t given the same kind of treatment. I’m willing to bet my first born that Notre Dame isn’t going to fire Charlie Weis. Karma’s a bitch, isn’t it?

• Meanwhile, I’m happy to report that Michigan coach, Lloyd Carr was visited by his good friend, Russell Crowe (yes, THAT Russell Crowe), as a show of support. Random? Yes it is.

• The Nick Saban era in Alabama is in full swing and it showed. The Arkansas/’Bama match up was incredibly good, although I wasn’t watching it the whole time (*ahem* my game was on). Jesse and I were both calling the upset and we were not surprised when the Tide pulled a last minute drive to score the game-winning touchdown.

• However, I was surprised when the stupid little Bruins actually lost! Damn you, Bruins. Way to make the Pac-10 look like crap. I’m sure you’re wondering why a loyal Trojan like myself would be so upset that UCLA lost to the Utes of Utah by 38 points. Well, in addition to making the PAC-10 look bad, UCLA was previously ranked #11. They were supposed to be highly ranked until the end of the season, when we play them and demolish them to end our regular season, thereby putting the exclamation point on our BCS championship season run. Ugh.

• Tyrod Taylor is starting to get into the swing of things as the starting QB for Virginia Tech. Although Jesse and I didn’t watch the game (ummm...who doesn’t televise a game with a nationally ranked team? WTF?), we listened online and were generally impressed with Taylor. He’s definitely a more athletic QB than former starter (and cry baby) Sean Glennon. Taylor led the Hokies to victory against Ohio. Glennon, meanwhile is bitter about losing the starting job and I read somewhere that he is considering transferring to another university because he thinks he is so talented that someone else will give him a try. Yeah, Glennon. You do that. I’m sure some 1-AA team would LOVE to have you. Just don’t ask Appalachian State. I think they’re doing just fine without you.

• So yeah, the #1 team in the nation played the #14 team in the nation at the #14 team’s home stadium, which is supposed to be a difficult place to play. I’m not taking anything away from Nebraska, but USC made that game look easy. Everything went USC’s way, including a fumbled punt return that was picked up by another Trojan for a much bigger gain. And the USC offensive line was phenomenal. The holes they opened up were as big as the field, giving our team of RBs plenty of room to move and score. And score we did, racking up 42 points before handing the reins over to the second and third string late in the 3rd quarter (for those of you not impressed with the final score—49-31—our backups were playing against NE’s starters and the Huskers scored two last minute TD’s to make the score respectable). I was so proud of us. This little Trojan beamed all the way home!

Up next for Tech is a game against 1-AA team, William and Mary (ummm...easy victory) and USC is playing Wazzu.

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As part of my on-going quest to educate people on all things Mexican, I would like to wish you all a happy belated Mexican Independence Day! No, it’s not Cinco de Mayo, silly blog peeps. Yesterday was September 16th, the day that Mexicans celebrate the beginning of the War of Independence, the war that brought about Mexico’s independence from Spain.

The holiday is actually celebrated starting with sundown on September 15th. The Grito de Dolores (Shout/Yell of Sorrow) begins the Independence Day celebration. The Grito refers to Father Miguel Hidalgo’s incredibly loud request for insurrection. Apparently, he rang the bells at his church and shouted to anyone who could hear him (in Spanish, of course), “Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe and King Fernando VII! Down with the bad government!” And this was the cry that motivated the Mexican peeps to an uprising. Ay. If only it was that easy nowadays...

Mexico’s actually independence from Spain didn’t come until September 27, 1821. This recognition didn’t come until 11 years after the Grito. The Grito is re-enacted every year, which is actually pretty cool.

So, the next time Cinco de Mayo rolls around and someone with a Margarita in their hand comes to you and says, “Hey, Happy Mexican Independence Day!” you can now say, “Hey, foolio, Mexican Independence Day is September 16th!”

Actually, “foolio” is not necessary.