Week 6 Observations

[donovan]

I have like the season thus far. Lot of attention on a lot of different teams and no one seems all that secure.

General observations about the teams through this week, week 6:

1. Boise State will play in the Idaho Potato bowl and be mentioned in the news 3 times the rest of the year.
2. Northern Illinois is the “Boise” for this year.
3. Washington will be the spoiler in the PAC?, Oregon-Washington is the uncivil war. This is Oregon’s test for the rest of the year and frankly anyone betting on this game is crazier than my next door neighbor Lenny’s wife.
4. All the Texas teams are irrelevant to most any conversation and just become filler words.
5. Michigan…See number three and substitute Michigan-Ohio State.
6. Arkansas, the team I keep hoping will be a spoiler and then…
7. Miami, they do what they do best, just win football games.
8. South Carolina, no one should root against a team every week because they don’t like the coach’s personality. I need to work on that.
9. Baylor, they are in the right conference to be heroes.
10. UCLA will be under the radar the rest of the season. It will be the school the pollsters avoid and then have to deal with…kind of the PAC? Position in life.
11. Oklahoma, three points over *see number four, does not make them contenders for much of anything.
12. LSU, if they did not have a history and were not in the SEC, they wouldn’t be on this list either.
13. Louisville, a thorn in the side of the BCS.
14. Derek’s team, Coach kick it up a notch.
15. Florida State needed a rest this week, like their coach, who most likely this morning having brunch with the one who must be obeyed.
16. Ohio State.. Spence, Spence, Spence,… winning a game because the other team screws up a play that would have won the game, is hardly where you need to be. The only thing that fiasco with the last play did was to cover the spread.
17. Stanford…upset of the week this next week. Utah will beat Stanford at Salt Lake.
18. Clemson, I am not sure anyone really cares, it is too bad because they seem to be a good ball club.
19. Oregon, see number 3. Could be the second big upset next week.
20. Alabama: Oregon, Stanford, Ohio State, FSU, Michigan plus several others could have them for their Homecoming Queen.

[Derek]

Baylor shook up the world yesterday didn't they. Didn't see that coming. I have not kept up with them this year..but WV must have an flaky defense to allow that many points. But they stood up to Okie State so maybe Baylor is the real thing.

Especially Agree with #2
#18...it's not that no one cares....it's that they know they will drop the ball on FSU.

[Old Ducker]

21. Colorado introduces the innovative No (insert F word here) Offense with the opening play. It has potential; too bad they abandoned it and started kicking field goals.

[donovan]

Correct OD.....and heaven forbid any team would kick a field goal......What are your thinking about next week?

[Old Ducker]

Correct OD.....and heaven forbid any team would kick a field goal......What are your thinking about next week?

I wanted w ashington to lose last night, based on principle. It would have been better for us for several reasons had they won, but rooting for the fuskies just isn't in my makeup. Next week is hard to tell. We didn't play very well against Colorado. It will take a better effort to put that kind of a beatdown on this years Uw team. But it can be done. I am confident we'll win...making it ten straight victories. I am not confident we will beat the spread, whatever that may be.

I also think last nights game "exposed" some of Stanford's weaknesses. They are not deep on defense. If the fuskies could tire them out, we will do it more. They are also weak at the wide receiver position. If anything, I am less scared of Stanford after seeing the game last evening.

[Spence]

16. Ohio State.. Spence, Spence, Spence,… winning a game because the other team screws up a play that would have won the game, is hardly where you need to be. The only thing that fiasco with the last play did was to cover the spread.

You are right that Ohio State won because the other team screwed up and Ohio State isn't where I want them to be. I also could say that despite Miller coughing up the ball on the Ohio State 23 yard line and giving up a TD, despite fumbling on the 4 yard line driving for a TD, and despite a third fumble and an interception Miller foundd a way to play a decent third quarter and a great forth quarter to win the game. Had Miller had any thing that resembles ball security Ohio State would have went into the half up 20-10. Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Ohio State was lucky to have survived. Northwestern is taught to knock the ball out. They play patient assignment football on defense to Ohio States aggressive style. It caused the Buckeyes a ton of trouble. Northwestern had circled this game before the season. I said before the season started that this would be a dogfight. Northwestern had two weeks to prepare, Ohio State had Wisconsin in a night game last week. Northwestern has a veteran squad, Ohio State is very young. On the other side of the coin; Ohio State is overall bigger and more athletically gifted. They have more speed than the cats.

Northwestern challenged every play, every ball. They even left the cover off the field and didn't mow the grass all week so the grass would be high and the field would be wet. ( I don't know exactly what they hoped to accomplish by that, I think it actually helped Carlos Hyde and the Buckeye Oline to control the LOS in the second half. We were their mini national championship game. They whole place was electric. The Chicago press was out in full force and it was their homecoming. It was the biggest game on the biggest stage they have been on since the late 50's when Ara Parseghian was coach. Point is, that it was going to be a tough game no matter what.

That doesn't change the fact that Ohio State has serious issues in the secondary. With Christian Bryant out for the rest of the year (he called the defensive plays and was the leader on defense) It doesn't appear like it is going to get lots better unless Meyer pulls the redshrrt of of Vonn Bell and takes some chances back there.

I said at the beginning that this is the most excited I have been about a Buckeye team in a long time. That hasn't changed. The defensive line is young, talented, getting better every week. They are good. They will be great before it is finished. Ohio State is stronger at linebacker than I thought they would be. The secondary makes the overall defense look worse than they really are. The offensive line is very good. The skill players on defense are very good. Braxton Miller can show greatness, he can put Ohio State in a hole. Maybe one too deep to climb out of at some point. Still, I don't worry about scoring too much. Coaching overall has been pretty good, although I would question going for a fake punt in the second quarter yesterday down only 4 points.

Me saying I am excited about them doesn't mean I think they will or should be in the championship game. At this point they aren't close to being that caliber of team. You can't give up 300 yards a game in the air and expect people to buy into you as a championship contender. I would be too much of a rah, rah type fan to suggest that and you know that isn't my style. I do think that we are going to beat Michigan. They are better than in past years. They are talented on the lines. But Ohio State is going to get to Gardner often. Michigan will need turnovers to beat the Buckeyes. I don't see it this year. Although, I do think that the future games between Ohio State and Michigan will be interesting.

Today, if I were to rank the two best teams, I would rank Oregon and Standford as the top two teams. Florida State, Clemson, and Alabama would follow. I hope Ohio State will fix it's issues in the secondary in the next couple weeks. If they do, they will be a top five team too. We will see if it can be done. With a young team anything is possible. Ohio State was young in 2002 and got it together to win a championship after a very tough regular season. It remains to be seen if this team can make that leap, but they have the overall talent to do it.

[Eric]

I'm uncomfortable actually *liking* Michigan heading into an Ohio State game, as Spence and the rest of you guys are probably aware of by now after this decade of futility. But, I do for whatever reason, even after the gaffes against UConn and Akron. But the season is a long one and things can change. Maybe Minnesota didn't have their heads in the game after Jerry Kill's incident earlier that morning, but I liked what I saw from Michigan yesterday. They could be back on track. All it really takes is Devin Gardner controlling the football and the offense is fine. If you gift a team four turnovers or so, any team can make it close. I still expect him to put those errors and forced throws behind him as he gets more comfortable in the pocket. He was awesome down the stretch last year so I hope he regains that form.

[Eric]

Baylor shook up the world yesterday didn't they. Didn't see that coming. I have not kept up with them this year..but WV must have an flaky defense to allow that many points. But they stood up to Okie State so maybe Baylor is the real thing.

Especially Agree with #2
#18...it's not that no one cares....it's that they know they will drop the ball on FSU.

Baylor's offense is incredible. I was watching one drive with a friend and I think the score was 21-7 at that point early in the second. I kind of half-jokingly said, "I'm going to go out on a limb and say Baylor is going to score here." First play of the drive, Seastrunk takes the carry and goes the distance from about 80 yards. I took credit for calling that play when I really meant that they would sustain a scoring drive over the course of a few plays . Baylor had 800+ yards with the backups playing the entire second half and they had 600+ at halftime. They could have had 1200 yards of offense is they kept their horses in because they were scoring at will.

Not only that, but their defense is good as well. I know the box score says West Virginia had 42 points, but they were kept to 14 at the half with the first-stringers. I think West Virginia had a special teams score against the first-teamers and the rest came against the backups. This is basically the same team that closed out last year on such an incredible run. The skill players are off the charts good and the defense is seasoned. I can't see how Oklahoma or Oklahoma State wins this conference over them. I think an undefeated season is definitely within grasp. I know people said the same thing about West Virginia last year, but this team is much better defensively and they have the look of being more consistent offensively. I think these guys could beat Alabama on a given day and I'm not exaggerating.

What we really need, no matter how it has to happen, is an Oregon/Baylor Fiesta Bowl. I wonder what the over/under would be on that game?

[Spence]

I'm uncomfortable actually *liking* Michigan heading into an Ohio State game, as Spence and the rest of you guys are probably aware of by now after this decade of futility. But, I do for whatever reason, even after the gaffes against UConn and Akron. But the season is a long one and things can change. Maybe Minnesota didn't have their heads in the game after Jerry Kill's incident earlier that morning, but I liked what I saw from Michigan yesterday. They could be back on track. All it really takes is Devin Gardner controlling the football and the offense is fine. If you gift a team four turnovers or so, any team can make it close. I still expect him to put those errors and forced throws behind him as he gets more comfortable in the pocket. He was awesome down the stretch last year so I hope he regains that form.

Michigan has a different football mentality now. Hoke is a good coach. He recruits well and he knows how to build a football team. I don't think this is their year, but they are going to be tough in years to come. As a Buckeye, I pay close attention to them and they are just a few players and some experience from being good. Ohio State is kind of in the same position, except the cupboard wasn't as bare here as it was in Ann Arbor.

[armchairqb]

The SEC and the B1G are both a bit down for me overall this year. I do believe the Pac 12 and ACC are up a notch IMO.

Considering the injury circumstances for Georgia, they have handled this season like champs. Three guys at skill positions out for the season and they still have a shot at the SEC Title.

Northwestern, with likely half the athleticism of Ohio State, nearly beat the Buckeyes. I'm rather impressed by the preparation by NW's coaching staff for this game. They will have to prepare even harder for Wisky at Camp Randall this week.

[Spence]

The SEC and the B1G are both a bit down for me overall this year. I do believe the Pac 12 and ACC are up a notch IMO.

Considering the injury circumstances for Georgia, they have handled this season like champs. Three guys at skill positions out for the season and they still have a shot at the SEC Title.

Northwestern, with likely half the athleticism of Ohio State, nearly beat the Buckeyes. I'm rather impressed by the preparation by NW's coaching staff for this game. They will have to prepare even harder for Wisky at Camp Randall this week.

I was too. Ohio State has serious issues in the secondary and a terrible SOS, that is likely to keep them out of any chance at the national championship.

[billybud]

So far, Baylor hasn't played a team with a defensive pulse.

WVU was maybe the best of the lot...and they gave up 37 to Maryland (which FSU shut out).

[Cane from the Bend]

Yeah, West Va is not a good measuring stick.

The defense is virtually nonexistent (regardless of how well they played versus the Oklahoma schools), and the offense has been less than competitive.

Maryland shut `em out, 37-0 --- Baylor scored 56 on `em in the first half, outscoring the Mountaineers 28-7 in both the first & second quarters.

Last year the knock on the `Eers, was that they have a hard time playing so far from home.
But, you cannot make that excuse with regards to their game against the Terrapins.

.

.

.