CaliforniaRaisin

Yeah, Jim, defense really is the key to victory. Look what a good defense has done for the other Chicago team...I'd say they've turned out alright. are you really so naive to buy into that? the white sox won because they hit a bunch of homers and had lights out pitching. For ignoring the Bears, Urlacher is now going to pop you like he did Vick on Sunday night.

They were #2 and #3 in ERA in an absolutely loaded league(Both made BA's top 20 for the Southern League as well, IIRC). Pinto and Nolasco are good prospects. You may think that they are worth Pierre, but let's not devalue them by calling them 'mediocre at best' or 'middle relievers'. Feel free to call them whatever you want. I wish to call them middle relief prospects. Why? Because neither has a "plus" pitch and nothing exceptional, good minor league pitchers but nothing special. Pinto's change is a plus pitch, his FB and slider are above-average or plus, depending on which scout you talk to. Nolasco's FB, curve and change are all above-average. EDIT: Raw wins.

Go UCLA baseball. :(

Well, at least we can make funny French surrender jokes about our OF when the Cubs are out of it. In May.

Not sure, but one of the benefits of going to a bowl game is that it gives the freshman a lot more time to practice and learn the offense or defense. And we have a lot of freshman. I know that they returned to practice yesterday, so it's probably not a very heavy schedule. And I'd imagine that it was pretty light around finals time. At least at USC, UCLA and Cal, there's no practice scheduled during finals week.

No love for Konrad Reuland? #2 TE, Konrad Reuland!! Also wanted to point out that Aldridge is enrolled for the spring semester, enabling ND to put him on this years scholorship list; leaving another spot for the fall class. I was gonna say, if you folks don't think highly of him...I'd love to see him replace Marcedes. I will be more than happy to see him wearing an Irish uniform. Does he go to HS near where you live? He's from the OC, same HS as a couple of Bruins and one of their recruits. Looks like Long Beach Poly WR Terrence Austin will probably come down to ND and UCLA (though he did visit Arizona and Oregon). He should decide in January.

No love for Konrad Reuland? #2 TE, Konrad Reuland!! Also wanted to point out that Aldridge is enrolled for the spring semester, enabling ND to put him on this years scholorship list; leaving another spot for the fall class. I was gonna say, if you folks don't think highly of him...I'd love to see him replace Marcedes.

c'mon. I was on the espn board back then too. we all predicted everyone from that Boise team to be superstars. there was no way to distinguish who was best, particularly the guy with the hurky-gerky, unrepeatable delivery. No, I mean they distinguished Willis (and Guzman to a lesser extent) from the others. Thanks for the stats.

No love for Konrad Reuland?

The best was Kerry Wood pitching one last time even though the surgery had been scheduled. What a wonderful last hurrah!

My fear is for those expecting 100 points to be put up is that both of these offenses have been shut down at times when you wouldn't expect them to be. I'm a little more concerned about that on Northwestern's end, especially because of red zone struggles. I still think a shoot out will likely occur and the offensive totals are going to be impressive, but you never know. UCLA was shut down by two teams with speedy, athletic defenses that can easily get to screens and swing passes. I don't think NU can stop that part of UCLA's playbook.

There are a few decent #2 and #3s, but no Freddie Mitchells, Brian Poli-Dixons, Craig Braggs or Tab Perrys. Marcedes Lewis and running backs Mo Drew and Chris Markey are the biggest threats in the passing game (c'mon, UCLA runs the WCO). I expect UCLA to have a field day running screens and swing passes - this isn't USC's athletic, speedy defense. For now, I'd guess Chai - the backup C who started against Arizona, ASU and USC will go. Completely undersized DL is only good at getting pressure. Sutton should have a field day, especially with NU's spread offense. Justin London is fully healthy, unlike the USC game when he played on one leg. One decent CB (Rodney Van), good safeties. The reason teams don't pass much on UCLA is because it's so easy to run on them and because they do get some timely pressure. Sounds about right unless Aaron Perez gets to kick FGs on top of his punting and kickoff duties. I expect UCLA to come out quick and inspired on offense, much like the ASU game. As long as this game doesn't come down to making FGs, UCLA will win. UCLA might have bowl experience, but Dorrell has yet to win a bowl game - losing in San Jose and Las Vegas. El Paso sounds like another nice town to add to Dorrell's resume. :roll: I do expect UCLA to win though, let's say 49-38. Justin London means a lot to this D, he's the second most important guy after Spencer Havner.

That'd be a shame if a game with crappy defenses and Basanez, Sutton, Olson, Mo Drew and Marcedes came down to FGs. Especially because UCLA would lose.

We can't compete with you. We only have one DUI/felony hit-and-run, though he's one of the best kickers in the country and now we're going to struggle to make a FG over 30 yards.

Am I mistaken or didn't they ask for Guzman first from that Boise team? And I know a couple people who predicted Willis' success before he was traded.

Florida is gobbling up WRs left and right. Geez. Percy Harvin Damon McDaniel Jarred Fayson Justin Williams Damian Williams That's a lot of highly regarded targets for Leak and eventually Tebow.

We'll have another thread for the bowl games on January 2 - January 4. Bowl season starts tomorrow! New Orleans Southern Miss vs. Arkansas State Lafayette, La. Dec. 20 8 p.m. ESPN GMAC UTEP vs. Toledo Mobile, Ala Dec. 21 8 p.m. ESPN Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas BYU vs. California Las Vegas, Nev. Dec. 22 8 p.m. ESPN San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Colorado State vs. Navy San Diego, Calif. Dec. 22 10:30 p.m. ESPN2 Fort Worth Kansas vs. Houston Fort Worth, Texas Dec. 23 8 p.m. ESPN Sheraton Hawaii Nevada vs. UCF Honolulu, Hawaii Dec. 24 8:30 p.m. ESPN Motor City Memphis vs. Akron Detroit, Mich. Dec. 26 4 p.m. ESPN Champs Sports Clemson vs. Colorado Orlando, Fla. Dec. 27 5 p.m. ESPN Insight Arizona State vs. Rutgers Phoenix, Ariz. Dec. 27 8:30 p.m. ESPN MPC Computers Boise State vs. Boston College Boise, Idaho Dec. 28 4:30 p.m. ESPN MasterCard Alamo Michigan vs. Nebraska San Antonio, Texas Dec. 28 8 p.m. ESPN Emerald Bowl Georgia Tech vs. Utah San Francisco, Calif. Dec. 29 4:30 p.m. ESPN Pacific Life Holiday Oregon vs. Oklahoma San Diego, Calif. Dec. 29 8 p.m. ESPN Gaylord Hotels Music City Minnesota vs. Virginia Nashville, Tenn. Dec. 30 Noon ESPN Vitalis Sun Northwestern vs. UCLA El Paso, Texas Dec. 30 2 p.m. CBS Independence South Carolina vs. Missouri Shreveport, La. Dec. 30 3:30 p.m. ESPN Chick-fil-A Peach Miami vs. LSU Atlanta, Ga. Dec. 30 7:30 p.m. ESPN Meineke Car Care South Florida vs. North Carolina State Charlotte, N.C. Dec. 31 11 a.m. ESPN2 AutoZone Liberty Tulsa vs. Fresno State Memphis, Tenn. Dec. 31 1 p.m. ESPN EV1.net Houston TCU vs. Iowa State Houston, Texas Dec. 31 2:30 p.m. ESPN2

The USC-ASU game was an example of throwing Leinart off (of course, he was supposedly concussed after the late hit during that game).

I too really liked Leon Joe yesterday.

In their minds, he probably won't be ready to handle the workload of a starter and will be eased back into the rotation. Especially, pitching in April at Wrigley. What a genius move pitching him out of the pen turned out to be. C'mon, UK. They still had a chance even though they were 10 back. They needed Wood to set up Dempster. :roll:

I think Mitre and just one of Pinto/Nolasco would have been fair for Pierre.

Too much to say. But with the way Grossman is moving the ball, I'm confident the Bears will win one game in the playoffs, at least.

They have definitely opened up the playbook with Rex.

Wow, Vick wasn't even under that much pressure on that throw.

Even luck is on Grossman's side! Touchdown!