Oct 26 College Football Roundup

Tech played about as bad as they could and still won the game. Penalties, turnovers, fumbles, interceptions. After Lee lost the fumble I think Johnson benched him for the remainder of the first half to teach him a lesson. Backup QB Thomas just runs the plays without reading the defense. He threw two passes to wide open receivers on the sidelines, then threw a third with the DB standing in front of the receiver. I’m glad Johnson has simplified the offense – the two QB’s have a ways to go before they run it smoothly and efficiently. Lee still throws off his back foot. That has to look terrible in the film sessions. Happy to see Robbie Godhigh and Nick Laskey have big games. Those two are much more productive than the more talented and talked-about David Sims and Synjn Days duo.

With all the turnovers the Tech defense was on the field the whole game. They never gave up too big of a play – just the long drives. Part of that was the fatigue from staying on the field so long. They did make Virginia’s quarterback (ranked 88th in the country, much worse than Vad Lee) look good. The roughing the kicker penalty was unnecessary, as was the time the DB made the hit out of bounds. Couldn’t believe Johnson didn’t immediately take him out of the game – I would have.

I suppose I should be happy that Tech won the game. Had I not known anything about the game and saw the final score, I would’ve been happy. In baseball a team can’t win every game in a blowout. But football is different. How can a team commit zero penalties one week, then nine the next? In a year that Georgia might be beatable, I don’t see this Tech team doing it.

Same deal with Clemson. The offense sputtered, but the Tigers stuck with it and the final score looked decent. But compared to six other top college QB’s, Tajh Boyd had by far the worst day: throwing an interception and getting sacked four times. The competition for the Heisman Trophy is so crowded that a player cannot have an off week, especially against a team proven to be as bad as Maryland.

I’m not a fan of South Carolina nor Missouri, so I was glad both teams had such a hard time winning. The SC win helps Georgia.

After that game finally ended I turned over to the World Series in time to see the fateful (and correct) obstruction call. Even though intent doesn’t matter, the only reason Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks had for raising his feet in the air was to block the runner. If he wanted to get up he would’ve kept his feet on the ground. I’ve seen the same thing happen in so many levels of baseball and the umpire never calls it, but it took the best umpire in baseball to make the right call. Joe Torre says baseball will review the rule in the off-season, but I think he knows that it was the right call. No way any team should win a World Series game because they tripped the runner. I’d rather baseball deal with terrible umpires, like Angel Hernandez.

To me, the third-baseman’s feet up in the air was the “intentional” indicator. He wouldn’t ever admit it if he did it on purpose. But the rule states that intent is not a factor. The runner looked out at home, but the plate umpire didn’t signal. Instead he pointed toward third, where Joyce had signaled the interference right when it happened. Interestingly, the rule also states that if the interference was called, but the runner hadn’t tried to score, but instead retreated to third, the runner would’ve stayed at third. He only scored because he continued on and tried to score.

Other games: Reid’s take, and my comments:

  

Loved Ala over Tenn – me too. I guess it’s good that Tennessee is stronger this year, but they were starting to get the big head after beating SC.

Hated UL Monroe over Ga State – me too. Bring back Bill Curry!

Hated Miami over Wake Forest – not me. I figured Miami would pull out the win. For some reason I’m not a Wake fan. Ugly uniforms. Announcers talk about how great the QB is, but he’s rated 81st in the nation. Miami will lose to FSU. As much trouble as the Canes had with both Tech and Wake, there’s no way they can beat the Seminoles.

Loved Central Fla over U Conn – me too. Co-worker Chris drove down for the game. Hopefully the Knights can win out and win the conference championship. They’ve beaten Penn State and Louisville, and gave South Carolina a run for their money.

Hated Texas A&M over Vandy – not me. Like Tennessee, Vandy was getting the big head. They had a harder time against a team playing their first string.  

Loved Duke over VT – me too. I loved VT’s stripes, but perhaps the loss will help people recognize what a bad QB VT’s Logan Thomas is. People love his size and athletic ability, but a QB he is not. Ranked 75th in the country - worse than Vad Lee. But some NFL team will draft him. Probably the Raiders.

Hated Arizona over Falcons – I almost asked “why are the Falcons playing so bad?” but then I realized that I knew the answer. The injuries to the wideouts have really thrown Matt Ryan for a loop. The cardinals John Abraham might’ve been fired up to play the team that didn’t re-sign him, but he seemed to be hurt the entire time he was here. Abraham was old when he came to the Falcons, and he’s even older now. He might’ve had a good game yesterday, but can he hold up for the length of his contract?