I owe an apology to Brandon Lafell. Not for anything I’ve written or said, but just for thinking that one of the Mitchell’s, Dixon, Byrd, or that Tolliver would take his spot as the #2 receiver. Lafell clearly stepped up his game yesterday, averaging almost 18 yards per catch against the #1 ranked defense in the NCAA over the past two years. I was mostly right on my assumptions:
1) Virginia Tech’s defense is over-rated: Judging Virginia Tech’s defense based on a schedule of comprised of unimpressive ACC offenses (except Clemson) and a couple of non conference all-girls high schools is like judging Hawaii’s offense with their schedule. It’s great to be flashy, but it only matters when it’s against good teams. That’s why Reggie Bush looks awesome in college, but Joe Addai is better in the pros — it’s the schedule. I don’t give a fuck if former date rapist Colt Brennan throws for a 1000 yards in a game if it comes against Louisiana Tech. I just don’t. Throw for 195 yards against Texas and I’ll listen.
2) LSU’s Defense dominated because of their inexperience of VA Tech’s offensive line: Sean Glennon didn’t do VaTech any favors, but he wasn’t nearly as bad as Mike Henig, and Brandon Ore is a really really good running back. They’ve got a young O-line, and LSU has the best front 7 in college.
3) Virginia Tech averaged 13.41 yards per drive. I predicted 15. If you take away Virginia Tech’s 1 good drive, they averaged 8 yards. The coaching and the execution sucked.
4) LSU won in a blowout because Matt Flynn made the right decisions and Brandon Lafell emerged as a solid #2 receiver. I am happy for Lafell. The fact that he is still able to compete with all of the talent that Les Miles has brought into the program means that he’s worked really hard on improving his game. I’m proud that he’s a tiger.
Other than that, I’m really impressed with the way that LSU’s staff prepared our tigers, and extremely impressed with Gary Crowton. It’s amazing to see the difference between he and Jimbo Fisher. I’m also really happy with the play of Ryan Perrilloux. He is a solid backup, and will make huge contributions to the program as time goes on.
In other news around the NCAA:
Michigan lost to Oregon. I was convinced that Michigan would fire Lloyd Carr at halftime and would hire Mike Bellotti. I was unimpressed that Bellotti kept Dixon in the game so long, I thought that move lacked class. But as Spurrier would say, “If you don’t want me to score on ‘ya, play defense”.
Oklahoma beat the shit out of Miami. The ACC not looking so great this year, but while you can judge the ACC on Virginia Tech who is a great team and lost to an awesome team this week, you can’t really judge the ACC on the performance of Miami — it would be like judging the SEC based on Alabama.
Nebraska barely beat Wake Forest. You gotta feel for Wake’s coach losing the way he has the last 2 weeks.
UCLA beat BYU. Look out for the Bruins, they are going to surprise some people by the end of the year.
Cal beat Colorado State. I think Cal is the #1 team in the Pac 10. USC has shown me nothing by scheduling Idaho, while Cal has throttled two good teams.
Florida killed Troy. In another move that lacked class, Herban Meyer kept Tebow in the entire game. Herban has proved that he is the #1 asshole in coaching, and is inevitably going to learn the hard way that you need to put in your backups. I can’t wait to see him cry like a bitch after we pummel Florida this year.
South Carolina beat Georgia. Yawn. Why was Georgia even ranked? Or Favored? Never underestimate the Ole ball coach.
Hawaii needed overtime to beat La Tech. If they go undefeated they shouldn’t go to the MNC game. All of Colt Brennan’s statistics are irrelevant because he plays on a team that doesn’t play anybody.
Penn State beat Notre Dame. The Claussen children suck at football. It was fun to see Jimmy get jacked up a few times. How’s your 4 national championship prediction working out now Jimmy? You’re the Ryan Leaf of football.
Auburn lost to USF. Auburn is a major disappointment this year. It hurts the entire SEC when one of our teams loses to a Big East team.
Washington beat Cinderella. Notre Dame should have never let go of Ty Willingham.
Alabama beat Vandy. That’s too bad, I was hoping Bobby Johnson would go 2-0 against Bama in the last 2 years. I was hoping Bama would win because that helps our SOS.
Colorado lost to Arizona State. After starting the game 14-0, the Buffs let Arizona score 33 unanswered points. Hawkins was terrible. Oh well.
September 15, 2007 at 1:03 am
“All of Colt Brennan’s statistics are irrelevant because he plays on a team that doesn’t play anybody”
That’s because nobody wants to play Hawaii. Michigan wouldn’t host them (were scheduled but they pulled out, played Appalachian state instead, ha ha). USC didn’t want to host them. The only ones who were willing to come fill the vacancy left by Michigan was Northern Colorado. Hawaii is still short one game because NOBODY WANTS TO PLAY THEM either at home or away. See, all the college coaches know what it’s all about.
Then there’s the whining about having to travel allllll the wayyy to Hawaii. PUSSIES! All of Hawaii’s road games are alllll the wayyy over there!
September 15, 2007 at 3:20 pm
USC are pussies, they wouldn’t put LSU on the schedule. All I’m saying is that Hawaii needs to put a team from a BCS conference on their schedule. I’m sure you guys could get Arizona, Arizona State, Washington etc;
Still, Colt Brennan needs to face a solid defense to be judged against Darren McFadden et al.