College Football - Week 6 (Oct. 4)

[Andy]

While Ole Miss has been great and I'd love to see them beat Bama, it's only Bama -6.5. That seems shockingly low for Bama off a bye week with an offense that absolutely torched Florida.

Bama -6.5 strikes me as free money. I would love to see Ole Miss stun Bama, but I just haven't seen anything from them that leads me to believe that's possible. This game strikes me as similar to the 2012 game where Bama played Miss State, who hadn't really done anything of note but had somehow risen to #12, and Bama smacked them around. I expect something similar here.

 

Free money? That's a bit much. What has Bama shown you to think they are all-world this year? They duked it out with West Virginia (80th in defense) and beat a hapless Florida team (85th in defense).

 

Bama (26th SOS so far) has outscored their opponents 168-56 and Ole Miss (35th SOS so far) is at 156-34.

 

Neither have played anyone and they are both currently beating the dogpiss out of whoever they play. History will always point to Bama winning the contest, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that a touchdown difference is easy money. It'll be close. The Ole Miss defense is really, really good.

 

Only a fool would bet on any SEC West game at this point in this season. There is a lot of parity.

There are two sides to football. Alabama has ridiculous offensive talent including the best receiver in the country. Mississippi probably has a good defense, but stopping the likes of Boise State (just got rolled by Air Force) and Memphis does not mean they'll do the same to Alabama.

 

It's dumb to guarantee anything, but I'd be extremely surprised if you won. Like I said, I'd love to be wrong.

[Derwood]

http://i.imgur.com/T9b1LU6.jpg

[OleMissCub]

There are two sides to football. Alabama has ridiculous offensive talent including the best receiver in the country. Mississippi probably has a good defense, but stopping the likes of Boise State (just got rolled by Air Force) and Memphis does not mean they'll do the same to Alabama.

 

Well if you are gonna be like that about Ole Miss' defense, then you should similarly discount Bama's offense because they've played the 80th, 85th, 110th, and 120th ranked defenses so far this year.

 

It's dumb to guarantee anything, but I'd be extremely surprised if you won.

 

So would I. I have zero confidence in a win. However, our defense IS legit and our offense has scored a similar amount of points as Bama against similarly crappy teams. This will be a close one. This isn't the Bama of two years ago, this team actually has weaknesses (primarily pass defense).

 

The only thing that won't keep this close is if "Bad" Bo Wallace shows up and he throws three picks, as he does a few times a year. However, when Wallace is on, he's really good.

[Ryne Ween]

You can't keep using the defense rankings. Floridas defense has played 3 games. One was a shutout, one was a triple OT and one was the Bama game. WVU has played Bama and OU in their young season. The defensive rankings don't really mean anything. Florida has a bunch of defensive talent and a defensive head coach and Bama decimated them. Credit to Bama's offense for being the reason Florida defense in number 85.

[Ryne Ween]

There are two sides to football. Alabama has ridiculous offensive talent including the best receiver in the country. Mississippi probably has a good defense, but stopping the likes of Boise State (just got rolled by Air Force) and Memphis does not mean they'll do the same to Alabama.

 

Well if you are gonna be like that about Ole Miss' defense, then you should similarly discount Bama's offense because they've played the 80th, 85th, 110th, and 120th ranked defenses so far this year.

 

It's dumb to guarantee anything, but I'd be extremely surprised if you won.

 

So would I. I have zero confidence in a win. However, our defense IS legit and our offense has scored a similar amount of points as Bama against similarly crappy teams. This will be a close one. This isn't the Bama of two years ago, this team actually has weaknesses (primarily pass defense).

 

The only thing that won't keep this close is if "Bad" Bo Wallace shows up and he throws three picks, as he does a few times a year. However, when Wallace is on, he's really good.

 

All of us will be routing for ole miss. Just pointing out 6.5 seems like a low spread. This game last year was not much of a contest and Bama looks like they are as good as they were last year so ole miss would need to really really improve to make the 6.5 make sense. Bama is a tremendous road team.

[snoodmonger]

How was Tennessee ranked as recently as 2 years ago?

 

They were probably 3-0 in the non con or something and got the SEC bump.

 

2-0 actually. Which is surprising because they didn't even make a bowl the year before, so it's not like they started the season at 27 or 28 or whatever.

 

http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/schedule/_/id/2633/year/2012/tennessee-volunteers

 

Lol so predictable.

[dew1679666265]

How was Tennessee ranked as recently as 2 years ago?

 

The same question was asked by a lot of Tennessee fans that year as well. That was the year we defeated NC State in the Chick-Fil-A kickoff game to open the year and had all that offensive talent - Bray, Hunter, Patterson, really good o-line, Marlin Lane/Raijon Neal, etc. That offensive talent, along with a very good performance by the defense (led by new DC Sal Sunseri, fresh from Bama) in the NC State game, made people think we were on the way back up.

 

That belief, along with Gameday being in Knoxville for the game, is the reason a lot of Vol fans came up with for Tennessee being ranked that early. It was not uncommon to find Tennessee fans - myself included - who thought it was premature, as it turned out to be.

[dew1679666265]

Really goes to show how much things in the SEC has changed that this is the 4th most important SEC game this week. As suspected this will be the first time in the last 20 years neither is ranked. Look how a once mighty game has precipitously fallen:

UF - TENN

 

Tennessee is the perfect example of why you should take coaching changes very, very seriously. A great deal of Tennessee fans were in favor of firing Phil Fulmer in those last few years of his regime simply because they were tired of him and wanted a change. Fan pressure - and a couple of rough seasons, not entirely Fulmer's fault - pushed the administration to make a change and we've done nothing but plummet since.

 

It's looking like we're on the way up again, but where that ceiling is under Butch is a question that can't be answered yet. Can he make us that 90s Tennessee team we were under Fulmer again, or will he plateau at 8-9 wins like I suspect will be the case?

[Andy]

There are two sides to football. Alabama has ridiculous offensive talent including the best receiver in the country. Mississippi probably has a good defense, but stopping the likes of Boise State (just got rolled by Air Force) and Memphis does not mean they'll do the same to Alabama.

 

Well if you are gonna be like that about Ole Miss' defense, then you should similarly discount Bama's offense because they've played the 80th, 85th, 110th, and 120th ranked defenses so far this year.

Amari Cooper, TJ Yeldon and Derrick Henry, just to name three, have already proven themselves to be pretty awesome in prior seasons against good defenses, so I don't need them to have faced good defenses this year to know they're supremely talented. Ole Miss I need to see more from.

[Ryne Ween]

It's almost hard to remember that Tennessee was once one of the 5-10 best programs in the country. Running full mer out of town was stupid and then compounding that with the Dooley hire destroyed the program.

[Guest]

Playing a concussed player. Brady Hoke is horrible.

[UMFan83]

Playing a concussed player. Brady Hoke is horrible.

 

The whole situation is embarrassing for Michigan. They waited until 1 am ET to release Brandon's statement saying Morris had a concussion and somehow Hoke, the coaching staff and the athletic trainers didn't see the hit and subsequent wobble by Morris.

 

They let Hoke speak at a press conference yesterday where he only addresses the ankle injury and claims he has no knowledge of a concussion. Brandon says they will have a medical update late in the day which is snuck out at 1 am despite UM blog rumors that the administration knew Morris had a concussion before Hokes PC.

[Ryne Ween]

He deserves to be fired for the terrible job he's done as head coach. Why does everybody feel like they need to nail him to the wall and paint him as some monster? Guys slip back on the field with concussions all the time. It be one thing if hoke marched a key player out there in an attempt to win a game but this was the end of a blowout. I don't think he's some sociopath for this. These sidelines are chaotic and I could see something like happening on accident. Doesn't make it right but it doesn't make hoke a bad person.

 

Wow could Lane Kiffen get the Michigan job? Does michigan still think that only a "Michigan Man" is good enough for the job? Is Gary Patterson gonna leave TCU for one of the big jobs opening up?

[shnsajax]

Michigan Man or not Lane Kiffen will not ever even be considered nor should he be.

 

Curious to if Gary Patterson's luster has worn off from 3 years ago. I wouldn't hate that hire but think they could do better.

[jersey cubs fan]

He deserves to be fired for the terrible job he's done as head coach. Why does everybody feel like they need to nail him to the wall and paint him as some monster? Guys slip back on the field with concussions all the time. It be one thing if hoke marched a key player out there in an attempt to win a game but this was the end of a blowout. I don't think he's some sociopath for this. These sidelines are chaotic and I could see something like happening on accident. Doesn't make it right but it doesn't make hoke a bad person.

 

Ryne Ween, consistently wrong. This wasn't some special teams gunner who nobody noticed get blown up heading back out there. It was obvious and a very easy call by anybody with any sense of how you should handle players in those situations.

[UMFan83]

He deserves to be fired for the terrible job he's done as head coach. Why does everybody feel like they need to nail him to the wall and paint him as some monster? Guys slip back on the field with concussions all the time. It be one thing if hoke marched a key player out there in an attempt to win a game but this was the end of a blowout. I don't think he's some sociopath for this. These sidelines are chaotic and I could see something like happening on accident. Doesn't make it right but it doesn't make hoke a bad person.

 

Wow could Lane Kiffen get the Michigan job? Does michigan still think that only a "Michigan Man" is good enough for the job? Is Gary Patterson gonna leave TCU for one of the big jobs opening up?

 

I think that the Michigan mob at this point is trying for a 2-for-1 Hoke and Brandon firing at this point so at this point it's about making the entire program look incompetent and careless.

[Derwood]

It's kind of amazing that a "blue blood" football program can sink as low as Michigan has this year. There have been teams that have been mediocre, but Michigan is getting its doors blown in

[Guest]

In this era, being a blue blood program means you can get back to the top faster, but you can still sink pretty low. Tennessee is a great example. Miami, Penn State, Florida, Texas, USC, etc, there's a bunch in recent years. It's hard being consistently good, even with prestige. Really puts in perspective how good guys like Stoops and Saban are, where even their down years are 9-10 win campaigns.

[sneakypower]

Playing a concussed player. Brady Hoke is horrible.

incompetence more so than recklessness, imho

 

he & Brandon can't be fired fast enough

[Derwood]

In this era, being a blue blood program means you can get back to the top faster, but you can still sink pretty low. Tennessee is a great example. Miami, Penn State, Florida, Texas, USC, etc, there's a bunch in recent years. It's hard being consistently good, even with prestige. Really puts in perspective how good guys like Stoops and Saban are, where even their down years are 9-10 win campaigns.

 

Looking at the programs you mentioned, the common theme seems to be poor coaching decisions in the face of a variety of circumstances. Tennessee and Texas had long established coaches who were more or less forced out due to fan/booster pressure, with inadequate replacements coming in. Penn State had the opposite issue, with Paterno overstaying his usefulness (scandal aside). USC had some mediocre years, but even when they were going 7-5, they were beating good teams and not losing by 5 scores like Michigan is.

 

I'm not sure what the heck AD's at these schools are doing, but there is really no excuse for a blue blood program to settle for anything less than the elite coaching options available to them. Rolling the dice on an up and comer or settling for a guy with school-ties is a little dumbfounding.

 

That said, the fans are as fickle as ever. They're already turning on Urban Meyer here in Columbus.

[jersey cubs fan]

In this era, being a blue blood program means you can get back to the top faster, but you can still sink pretty low. Tennessee is a great example. Miami, Penn State, Florida, Texas, USC, etc, there's a bunch in recent years. It's hard being consistently good, even with prestige. Really puts in perspective how good guys like Stoops and Saban are, where even their down years are 9-10 win campaigns.

 

Looking at the programs you mentioned, the common theme seems to be poor coaching decisions in the face of a variety of circumstances. Tennessee and Texas had long established coaches who were more or less forced out due to fan/booster pressure, with inadequate replacements coming in. Penn State had the opposite issue, with Paterno overstaying his usefulness (scandal aside). USC had some mediocre years, but even when they were going 7-5, they were beating good teams and not losing by 5 scores like Michigan is.

 

I'm not sure what the heck AD's at these schools are doing, but there is really no excuse for a blue blood program to settle for anything less than the elite coaching options available to them. Rolling the dice on an up and comer or settling for a guy with school-ties is a little dumbfounding.

 

That said, the fans are as fickle as ever. They're already turning on Urban Meyer here in Columbus.

 

Elite coaching options aren't as cut and dried of a category as you make it appear.

[Guest]

He deserves to be fired for the terrible job he's done as head coach. Why does everybody feel like they need to nail him to the wall and paint him as some monster? Guys slip back on the field with concussions all the time. It be one thing if hoke marched a key player out there in an attempt to win a game but this was the end of a blowout. I don't think he's some sociopath for this. These sidelines are chaotic and I could see something like happening on accident. Doesn't make it right but it doesn't make hoke a bad person.

 

Ryne Ween, consistently wrong. This wasn't some special teams gunner who nobody noticed get blown up heading back out there. It was obvious and a very easy call by anybody with any sense of how you should handle players in those situations.

 

Can't believe anyone would so willingly defend Hoke like Ryne did. Geez.

[Derwood]

In this era, being a blue blood program means you can get back to the top faster, but you can still sink pretty low. Tennessee is a great example. Miami, Penn State, Florida, Texas, USC, etc, there's a bunch in recent years. It's hard being consistently good, even with prestige. Really puts in perspective how good guys like Stoops and Saban are, where even their down years are 9-10 win campaigns.

 

Looking at the programs you mentioned, the common theme seems to be poor coaching decisions in the face of a variety of circumstances. Tennessee and Texas had long established coaches who were more or less forced out due to fan/booster pressure, with inadequate replacements coming in. Penn State had the opposite issue, with Paterno overstaying his usefulness (scandal aside). USC had some mediocre years, but even when they were going 7-5, they were beating good teams and not losing by 5 scores like Michigan is.

 

I'm not sure what the heck AD's at these schools are doing, but there is really no excuse for a blue blood program to settle for anything less than the elite coaching options available to them. Rolling the dice on an up and comer or settling for a guy with school-ties is a little dumbfounding.

 

That said, the fans are as fickle as ever. They're already turning on Urban Meyer here in Columbus.

 

Elite coaching options aren't as cut and dried of a category as you make it appear.

 

Clearly not, but in many cases, everyone can see a disaster coming. Whiffing on Les Miles and settling for Hoke was such a case

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Yeah, if anyone on the field gets lost in the shuffle, it's definitely not going to be your [expletive] quarterback. It would probably be easier to list the people on the sidelines that didn't know he got blasted and stumbled around.

[stuy119]

Two points in ongoing discussions:

 

1. Look at the UF schedule, and tell me how they get bowl-eligible if they don't beat Tennessee this week. Losing that easy win against Idaho is going to hurt them.

 

2. There aren't a lot of "up and coming" coaches out there to take over the blue blood programs. We got lucky at FSU that Jimbo panned out, and Texas A&M has been successful, but there are a lot more failures at storied programs with coaches than there are successes.