SET THE SCENE: UMBC will try to follow up its win over local rival Towson on Saturday as they entertain Baltimore neighbor Morgan State at the RAC Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 14. The Retrievers were coming off a nine-day layoff when they took on the Tigers and the Bears have been off since a Dec. 3 contest at Ohio University. Tip-off time is set for 7:05 p.m. All UMBC home basketball games are streamed with multiple cameras and play-by-play on www.umbcretrievers.tv.
RETRIEVER UPDATE: UMBC used proficient free throw shooting and blue-collar defense down the stretch to post a 62-58 victory at Towson on Dec. 10. The Retrievers (1-7) hit 10 of 12 free throws and got five consecutive stops in the final 2:10 to rally for its first victory of the campaign. Junior guard Ryan Cook, who has posted double figures in his first three games as a Retrievers, led all scorers with 17 points and sophomore forward Chase Plummer recorded a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double.
BEAR UPDATE: Morgan State (0-7) has lost its last four games by a total of 17 points, including a 65-62 loss at USC and, most recently, a 61-53 setback at 5-1 Ohio University. Junior wing DeWayne Jackson (10.7 ppg) led Morgan State at Ohio with 15 points and senior post Kevin Thompson had 13 points and 12 caroms. Thompson leads the squad in scoring (15.0 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 per game).
Who’s Up Next: UMBC welcomes Rider to the RAC Arena on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 7:00 p.m.
• Morgan State will face Mid-American Conference member Ohio in Athens at the Convocation Center on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. (ET). This represents the first regular season meeting between the Bears and Ohio and also the first time MSU has played a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC).
BEAR BITS
• MSU is off to an 0-6 start with a road loss at #14/15 Xavier (63-74), a home loss against Murray State (69-80) and losses at UNLV (55-92), USC (62-65) and versus Tennessee State (64-690. The Bears will attempt to avoid its worst start since 2005 when they travel to face the Ohio Bobcats.
• MSU, who led for most of the second half, had a 45-37 advantage with 11:59 left before Tennessee State took over and came away with a 69-64 victory at the Las Vegas Invitational. Kevin Thompson led the Bears (0-6) with 16 points and five rebounds. DeWayne Jackson had 14 and Ian Chiles had 9 points.
• The Bears will play five of its next six games on the road, with its furthest road game coming on January 3rd against the Univ. of San Francisco Dons.
• Kevin Thompson has scored in double-digits in five of six games this season.
• The Bears held a 27-21 advantage on the boards against USC and led 36-28 at halftime.
• Kevin Thompson’s 11 rebound performance at Southern Cal gave him 1,005 rebounds for his career, making him the No. 3 leading rebounder in school history and only the third Morgan State player to post 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in school history.
• The Bears will look to rebound from last year’s fourth place MEAC finish and reclaim the conference title for the fourth time in five years.
• The Bears completed the 2010-11 season with a 17-14 mark and posted a 10-6 conference record.
• Morgan State was selected to win the MEAC Regular Season Title, edging out last year’s MEAC Tournament Champion Hampton. The Bears received eight (8) first place votes and a totaled 616 points to take hold of the conference’s top spot going into the season.
• Morgan State has lost four straight dating back to their loss against Hampton in the MEAC Championship game on March 12,2011.
• Senior point guardLarry Bastfield is the only Bear to have started in every game (31) last season…currently he has started in 37 straight games.
CHASING 1,000
• Junior forward DeWayne Jackson has 881 points,and needs 119 more to become the 21st member of the 1,000-point club at Morgan State.
NOTE ON THE BOBCATS
• Sophomore Nick Kellogg was named to the All-MAC Freshman Team after leading the league in three-point field goal percentage last season at 45.3 percent. Kellogg shot 49 percent from beyond the arc in conference play. He also finished 10th in the league in three-pointers made. The freshman and son of Clark Kellogg, scored a career-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, hitting a career-high six 3-pointers, in a win at MAC Tournament champion Akron.
• Head Coach John Groce is taking part in the Second Annual ‘Shots from the Heart’ tournament, presented by CollegeInsider.com. The event will benefit the Skip Prosser Foundation. The former Wake Forest head coach passed away on July 26, 2007 of a heart attack.
• Ohio had its best shooting game of the year during their 70-68 win against Marshall on Wednesday night. The Bobcats shot 50 percent (29 of 58), while Marshall was 21 of 52 (40.4 percent).
• Junior guard D.J. Cooper (5-11, 165) leads the team in scoring by averaging 14.6 points per game.
PREPARED FOR THE CHALLENGE
• The Bears have put together a challenging non-conference schedule, and currently have one of the toughest schedule in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
• They are one of four MEAC schools to have a strength of schedule in the top-100.
• MSU’s strength of schedule ranks No. 53, North Carolina Central ranks No. 51, Coppin State ranks 32 and Norfolk State ranks 14.
You know how it works. 15 positive football observations, 7 “not so” positive football observations and one “oh no” moment from outside the world of football.
(As a reminder, we don’t do Baltimore Ravens analysis here. We do PLENTY of that elsewhere. This is about the rest of the world of football.)
The scene at the Towson Center Saturday afternoon rivals some of the most incredible I’ve seen in Charm City sports history, but sports had very little to do with it.
The most special moment of the visit from President Barack Obama & First Lady Michelle Obama (Michelle’s brother Craig Robinson is the head coach of the Oregon State team that crushed the Tigers Saturday afternoon) came at halftime.
Athletic Director Mike Waddell introduced Head Coach Rob Ambrose & the CAA Champion football team, who were enjoying a week off as they prepared for their FCS playoff showdown with Lehigh next Saturday at Unitas Stadium. The President walked out to greet the team, then posed for a picture to the absolute delight of the young men.
It was the type of moment that induces chills. Wow.
They duo (and Cincy QB Andy Dalton) were vital in the Bengals’ come from behind win over the Cleveland Browns Sunday in a game that judging by the attendance no one in the Queen City knew was happening…
Can’t help but notice a few empty seats in the background there, gang. This is a team fighting for AT LEAST an AFC Wild Card spot, not completely out of the AFC North race. This is the best you can do? Maybe “Los Angeles Bengals” has a nice ring?
Since we’re here, here’s a picture of Colt McCoy Tebowing…
To be fair, the way New England was playing Sunday it’s possible a 4’6″ receiver could have caught a TD from Tom Brady Sunday at The Linc…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwO47-nf1lM
Vince Young threw for 400 yards in the defeat, basically because he had no choice but to throw the football every time the Philadelphia Eagles had the ball.
That SHOULD put the final nail in Philly’s “Dream Team” coffin. Andy Reid’s has been sitting open for awhile now outside the City of Brotherly Love. Will it be nailed down as well? We’ll see.
The other candidate in the mix (and perhaps the frontrunner) is Alabama RB Trent Richardson, but we’ll get back to him.
After an incredible performance a week earlier against Oklahoma, the Baylor QB might have been one more spectacular performance away from locking up the chance to hear his name called in New York in two weeks. Unfortunately, RG3 was taken out of the game in the second half (probably for a concussion) and had to watch the second of the Bears’ win over Texas Tech from the Cowboys Stadium sideline…
So…Stanford QB Andrew Luck (the preordained winner of the Heisman before the season) was back in the picture with the chance to lock the thing up. Luck was good but not great in the Cardinal’s win over Notre Dame and left the thing up for grabs again.
As I searched YouTube for a recap video of Luck’s final game at Stanford Stadium I believe a Fighting Irish fan summed it up well by channeling M*A*S*H…
I don’t even know what that means!
The (regular) season is over for Richardson so he won’t have another chance to make a statement. Luck’s Cardinal don’t get another chance either since Oregon won the Pac-12 North. Baylor will play host to Texas next week in Waco, but Griffin’s status is up in the air due to his injury.
If none play again, I think I’d vote Luck. Someone will yell at me for that. Go ahead.
Fourth on the list (of three) candidates to win the Heisman is Cougars QB Case Keenum, who shredded Tulsa Friday in a manner similar to the way he’s shredded everyone else he’s played this season.
If the Cougars top the Golden Eagles in next week’s C-USA title game, they’ll become the first ever team from the conference to make a BCS bowl. Teams from the WAC and Mountain West have played BCS buster, but never C-USA.
Someone will call the occasion “historic”. Those people won’t really know what the word historic means.
You know what’s the ONLY THING IN THE WORLD that could make us not spend the entire week talking about the Denver Broncos’ QB? How about a picture of San Diego Chargers kicker Nick Novak peeing on the sidelines at Qualcomm Stadium?
The New York Jets’ QB threw for four TD’s, including a game winner to Santonio Holmes in their win over the Buffalo Bills…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJtRuC19Ab8
We’ll of course remember the game as the time Bills WR Stevie Johnson insisted on making a complete ass out of himself…
…again.
Dan Marino was asked about what he thought of Sanchez Sunday, but he was too busy checking out Victoria’s Secret model Lily Aldridge’s boobs to respond…
And here’s my cue to post another VS picture of Aldridge…
2011 MORGAN STATE BASKETBALL Game 5 Friday, November 25 – 2 p.m. (PT) Morgan State (0-4, 0-0 MEAC) vs. Cal Poly (2-2, 0-0 Best West) Las Vegas, Nev. – Orleans Arena
GAME TIME
• Morgan State Morgan State will face Big West Conference member Cal Poly in Las Vegas, Nevada at Orleans Arena on Friday, Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. (PT). Live stats will be available at GoPoly.com. This will be MSU’s first-ever meeting with the Mustangs and the game is part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational. A victory pits the Bears against either Tennessee State (1-3) or Mississippi Valley State (0-3) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26; a loss sends the Bears to an 11:30 a.m. matchup against either program.
BEAR BITS
• MSU is off to an 0-4 start with a road loss at #14/15 Xavier (63-74), a home loss against Murray State (69-80) and a recent loss at UNLV (55-92) and USC (62-65). The Bears will continue its stretch of four games in six days when they face the Cal Poly Mustangs on Friday night.
• Ameer Ali led the Bears with a career-high 17 points, Kevin Thompson had 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in a 65-62 loss against USC at the Galen Center.
• The Bears held a 27-21 advantage on the boards against USC and led 36-28 at halftime.
• Kevin Thompson’s 11 rebound performance at Southern Cal gives him 1,005 rebounds for his career, making him the No. 3 leading rebounder in school history and only the third Morgan State player to post 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in school history.
• The Bears will look to rebound from last year’s fourth place MEAC finish and reclaim the conference title for the fourth time in five years.
• The Bears completed the 2010-11 season with a 17-14 mark and posted a 10-6 conference record.
• Morgan State was selected to win the MEAC Regular Season Title, edging out last year’s MEAC Tournament Champion Hampton. The Bears received eight (8) first place votes and a totaled 616 points to take hold of the conference’s top spot going into the season.
• MSU senior Kevin Thompson returns to lead the Bears this season…the 6-foot-9 forward was the 2010 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year and was selected to the 2011 All-District 1st Team … Thompson averaged 13.1 points per game, 9.1 rebounds and has recorded 13 double-doubles (pts & rebs) last season.
• MSU recorded several non-conference victories last year including wins over Loyola Marymount University (81-79), Maryland Baltimore County (75-62), Western Illinois (72-53), Robert Morris (67-66).
• Morgan State has lost four straight dating back to their loss against Hampton in the MEAC Championship game on March 12,2011.
• Senior point guard Larry Bastfield is the only Bear to have started in every game (31) last season…currently he has started in 34 straight games.
THE SERIES VS. THE MUSTANGS • Morgan State and Cal Poly will meet for the first time on Friday.
NOTE ON THE MUSTANGS • A victory this week will provide Cal Poly its 200th triumph at the Division I level. Cal Poly’s first win as a Division I program was a 62-59 edging of Menlo College on Jan. 11, 1995.
• Forced to sit out the 2009-10 season after transferring from Hagerstown College (Md.) and the 2010-11 season after suffering an ACL injury, senior guard Amaurys Fermin finally made his Cal Poly debut with a game-high 17-point performance during the program’s 79-52 victory against San Jose State (Nov. 12). Fermin, who started at the point and played 27 minutes, also kicked down a game-high three assists.
• Cal Poly’s 27-point margin of victory against San Jose State (Nov. 12) was the program’s largest disparity under third-year head coach Joe Callero and largest since hammering North Florida on Nov. 21, 2008, 76-42.
• A year after finishing third among all Division I programs in opponent three-point percentage (28.7), sixth in opponent points per game (58.9) and 25th in opponent field goal percentage (40.0), the Mustangs opened the 2011-12 campaign by limiting San Jose State to a 21.4 percent mark from beyond the arc, 52 points and a 28.6 percent figure from the floor.
• Junior guard Dylan Royer leads the team in 3-pointers by shooting. 50 percent from behind the arc.
• Senior forward Davis Hanson had 17 points, 8 rebounds and an assist against UNLV. Hanson finished eight in the Big West conference last year with 455 total points and 15.2 a game. Hanson need just 104 points to become the 17thplayer in program history to reach 1,000 career points.
BEARS TO COMPETE IN LAS VEGAS INVITATIONAL
• The 11th annual Las Vegas Invitational, which is scheduled for November 25th and 26th at the Orleans Arena.
• The Invitational will feature preseason top-ranked North Carolina, UNLV, South Carolina and the University of Southern California, plus Morgan State, Cal-Poly, Mississippi Valley and Tennessee State.
• Morgan State will face USC in Los Angeles, California at the Galen Center on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. (PT) The game will be televised live by FoxSports Net and will be broadcast by ESPN Radio 710 (KSPN-AM). There will also be a Gametracker at USCTrojans.com. This will be MSU’s first-ever meeting with the Trojans and will mark USC’s final home game as part of the Las Vegas Invitational.
BEAR BITS
• MSU is off to an 0-3 start with a road loss at #14/15 Xavier (63-74), a home loss against Murray State (69-80) and a recent loss at UNLV (92-55). The Bears will continue its stretch of four games in six days when they face the USC Trojans on Tuesday night.
• Ian Chiles led the Bears with a career-high 16 points (8-13), Shaquille Duncan had 11 points and Kevin Thompson chipped in 9 points in a 92-55 loss against UNLV at the Thomas & Mack Center.
• Senior forward Kevin Thompson needs just six more rebounds to reach 1,000 in his career.
• The Bears will look to rebound from last year’s fourth place MEAC finish and reclaim the conference title for the fourth time in five years.
• The Bears completed the 2010-11 season with a 17-14 mark and posted a 10-6 conference record.
• Morgan State was selected to win the MEAC Regular Season Title, edging out last year’s MEAC Tournament Champion Hampton. The Bears received eight (8) first place votes and a totaled 616 points to take hold of the conference’s top spot going into the season.
• MSU senior Kevin Thompson returns to lead the Bears this season…the 6-foot-9 forward was the 2010 MEAC Defensive Player of the Year and was selected to the 2011 All-District 1st Team … Thompson averaged 13.1 points per game, 9.1 rebounds and has recorded 13 double-doubles (pts & rebs) last season.
• MSU recorded several non-conference victories last year including wins over Loyola Marymount University (81-79), Maryland Baltimore County (75-62), Western Illinois (72-53), Robert Morris (67-66).
• Morgan State has lost four straight dating back to their loss against Hampton in the MEAC Championship game on March 12,2011.
• Senior point guardLarry Bastfield is the only Bear to have started in every game (31) last season…currently he has started in 34 straight games.
THE SERIES VS. THE TROJANS
• Morgan State and USC will meet for the first time on Tuesday.
NOTE ON THE TROJANS
• David Hanson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:26 remaining to lift Cal Poly to a 42-36 victory over Southern California on Saturday, snapping the Mustangs’ nine-game losing skid against Pac-12 schools. Aaron Fuller had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Trojans (1-3), who lost their third in a row. All four of their games have been decided by seven points or less.
• USC will be playing its fifth game of seven within 16 days to start the season. Six of the seven games are potentially versus teams that finished .500 or better in the 2010-11 season.
• Five of the eight Trojans to have played significant minutes this season have already had a 10-point scoring game. Four different players have had at least 6 rebounds.
• USC’s 2011-12 schedule features 22 of 31 games against teams which finished the 2010-11 season with a record of .500 or better. Among the nonconference highlights are games against perennial national powers Kansas, UNLV, New Mexico, Minnesota, Nebraska and a potential match-up vs. preseason No. 1 North Carolina.
BEARS TO COMPETE IN LAS VEGAS INVITATIONAL
• The 11th annual Las Vegas Invitational, which is scheduled for November 25th and 26th at the Orleans Arena.
• The Invitational will feature preseason top-ranked North Carolina, UNLV, South Carolina and the University of Southern California, plus Morgan State, Cal-Poly, Mississippi Valley and Tennessee State.
You know how it works. 15 positive football observations, 7 “not so” positive football observations and one “oh no” moment from outside the world of football.
(As a reminder, we don’t do Baltimore Ravens analysis here. We do PLENTY of that elsewhere. This is about the rest of the world of football.)
A lot of people are surprised by the Tigers’ success, but not me. I’m so effing stunned I’m still not a hundred percent certain it actually happened…
There’s no way anyone…in the world…could have ever seen a CAA Championship coming this season. This team still has more work to do though. They won’t feel incapable of beating anyone they play in the NCAA playoffs, starting with Lehigh December 3rd at Unitas Stadium.
Seriously…this is Towson we’re talking about. This can’t be real.
I will admit that I thought those a-holes in DC were done after Tony Romo hit Jason Witten from 59 yards away…
…but somehow Mike Shanahan’s team stayed in the thing long enough to have a kick to win in overtime. Graham Gano of course missed the kick and DeAngelo Hall channeled DeAngelo Hall to help the Cowboys survive.
I celebrate your misery, clowns. May you never win another game…unless for some reason you play the Steelers. Even then, I dunno.
Does anyone remember earlier this year when the Buffalo Bills were good? No? I swear I thought they were…
Stephen Ross started interviewing coaches before bothering to fire Sparano. Sparano used that to fire up his team, convincing them to win in order to piss off the ownership there that wanted to get new players and coaches. Suddenly Matt Moore and Reggie Bush are playing like real National Football League players and there’s a problem on South Beach…at least for now.
It’s very similar to what Lou Brown did back when he was managing the Cleveland Indians…
Did we ever find out if Brown won American League Manager of the Year that year? He was a hell of a skip.
(Side note. Every time the Orioles tried to hire a General Manager this offseason I assume the calls went awfully similar to that time when Charlie Donovan called Brown at Tire World to offer him the gig with the Tribe.
“How would you like to be the Birds’ GM?”
“Gee. I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? This is your chance to be a Major League Baseball General Manager!”
“Let me get back to you, will you Peter? I got a guy on the other line asking about some white walls.”)
Do you get the feeling the Stanford quarterback is saying to himself, “Well, if no one else wants it…”?
I’d show you something from the Cardinal’s win Saturday night over rival California, but there wouldn’t be anything that would convince you Luck has locked up the award.
Instead, here’s Lee Corso dropping the “f-bomb” on ESPN’s College Gameday Saturday morning from the University of Houston. There’s no real reason to share the video, other than the fact that it includes the f-bomb.
The Bears’ QB almost singlehandedly made sure next weekend’s “Bedlam” game was uninteresting to the rest of the country by throwing (and running) all over Oklahoma Saturday night…
It’s probably too little, too late as far as the Heisman is concerned-but it is certainly a reminder that RG3 has been one of the most entertaining players in the country all season. This TD pass to Kendall Wright however is probably not one he should take credit for…
Also humorous? Erin Andrews took the worst of a Gatorade shower intended for Griffin…
AND…in the hysteria on field after the win in Waco, America fell in love with a gal rushing the field on crutches…
But if he did this more often the Detroit Lions wouldn’t have to make dramatic second half comebacks week in and week out like they did Sunday against the Carolina Panthers…
This game also involved Lions TE Tony Scheffler invoking an AT&T Flash Mob commercial in a TD dance…
And a note to Fantasy Football owners: Lions RB Kevin Smith ran for over 100 yards in this game. The physics of that alone are stunning, really.
I’m well aware it’s a different guy, but can we talk about this picture for a second? I say this as a HUGE Silent Bob fan. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? Are those shorts? Is it some sort of jean skirt? Is it a denim quilt? Holy hell.
Well, I feel like a bit of a silly goose for taking fantasy advice and playing the Jacksonville Jaguars defense against the Cleveland Browns Sunday.
The only meaningful highlight in this one came from Jags RB Maurice Jones-Drew, who invoked Cleveland “hero” LeBron James by tossing powder in the air after scoring a TD…
And in an unrelated story, here’s a 6 year old kid crying about the New York Jets after their loss to the Denver Broncos the other night. He has an awful mother…
I start with Brett Dennen, whose tune “Comeback Kid (That’s My Dog)” I play regularly on “The Reality Check”-a fine radio program that airs Monday-Friday 2-6pm on AM1570 WNST.net. You should really be listening…
Then there’s Robert Randolph. Holy hell I have no idea how many times I could possibly post this video. It’s just…it’s just…it’s just amazing.
Bob Schneider’s “Honeypot” is one of the most underrated songs of 2011…
Does the Chris Robinson Brotherhood play Black Crowes songs? I’ll bring my lighter…
You know how it works. 15 positive football observations, 7 “not so” positive football observations and one “oh no” moment from outside the world of football.
(As a reminder, we don’t do Baltimore Ravens analysis here. We do PLENTY of that elsewhere. This is about the rest of the world of football.)
Which is what I guess the Towson Tigers figured they would do to move back into a first place in the CAA…
Terrance West ran all over the Black Bears, much like he’s done to everyone else in the conference. Towson has a completely legitimate chance to win the conference. I almost can’t believe I’m typing that.
The Atlanta Falcons traded away many things to get this man on their team. If he keeps playing like he did against the Indianapolis Colts it will go down as one of the greatest decisions in National Football League history…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yNx7EyDECQ
As far as Indy in concerned, things have gotten so bad that at one point QB Curtis Painter threw two forward passes on the same play. No really, this actually happened. He wears the same number as Bert Jones. That’s where the similarities end.
3. Remember when the New York Giants and San Diego Chargers swapped Eli Manning & Phillip Rivers? The Giants put another point on the scoreboard Sunday.
There were many amazing things about the Giants’ come from behind win over the New England Patriots in Foxborough, notably the plays made from Eli Manning to Jake Ballard to win the game. But NOTHING I could share with you would be as good as the footage of Michael Strahan celebrating the win while the cameras were “off” at FOX…
During the Sunday Night Football halftime show, Bob Costas pointed out that Ballard’s number (85) was the same number worn by David Tyree in Super Bowl XLII. Pretty good.
(Puts on “Superfriends” announcer voice)
“MEANWHILE….IN SAN DIEGO….”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPr0Z4q_vXk
Phillip Rivers nearly figured out a way to beat the NFC (and NFL)’s best team. The reason why he “nearly” figured it out is because part of beating the best team in the the league is NOT repeatedly throwing the ball to them.
I feel like Aaron Rodgers is getting dangerously close to “so good we can’t possibly like him” territory by the way.
And now we deal with the fact that we might well have to see the Tigers face Alabama again in the BCS Championship Game if Oklahoma State and Stanford falter.
Don’t get me wrong, this was a great game even if it wasn’t always beautiful to look at. LSU now has the fast track to a national title and it’s hard to imagine anyone not named Alabama beating them.
5. While Kellen Moore has done no wrong, Andrew Luck can clinch the Heisman Trophy next week against Oregon.
Kellen Moore wasn’t necessarily brilliant, but he surpassed Colt McCoy as the all-time winningest quarterback in NCAA history in Boise State’s win at UNLV…
Kellen Moore’s season only remains interesting however if Luck begins to stumble. Their national TV (ABC) game Saturday night against Oregon will be Luck’s chance to follow up on his performance against USC with a “clincher”. Probably. He had some early struggles, but was good again Saturday against Oregon State…
Trent Richardson remains third on my list-but he’s currently third on a list of two. Case Keenum heads the “others receiving votes” category.
Tim Tebow by no means beat the Oakland Raiders on his own (Denver Broncos teammates Willis McGahee, Eddie Royal & Eric Decker certainly helped), but what the hell do we care about anyone who plays in the Mile High City not named Tim Tebow?
By the way, the Broncos are only a game out of first place in the AFC West. And thank God the Raiders solved all of their problems by trading for Carson Palmer.
The Jets kicked the Buffalo Bills’ asses Sunday in Orchard Park. Instead of showing the highlights, let’s all laugh at Mark Sanchez flinching when lined up out wide against Drayton Florence…
That’s more humorous than Ashton Kutcher on “Two & A Half Men.” But then again, what isn’t?
There’s a mess atop the AFC East, as these teams and the Pats all have three losses. I hope they all end up with six personally.
You know how it works. 15 positive football observations, 7 “not so” positive football observations and one “oh no” moment from outside the world of football.
(As a reminder, we don’t do Baltimore Ravens analysis here. We do PLENTY of that elsewhere. This is about the rest of the world of football.)
It’s a shame the USC Trojans gave the ball away just outside the endzone in overtime number three against Stanford. Not only because I picked the Cardinal to lose last Thursday when I played John Allen (of Charm City Devils fame) in “Everybody Beats Glenn”, but also because it was a hell of a game.
I’ll go ahead and move Luck ahead of Boise State QB Kellen Moore on my Heisman Watch list. Yeah, I guess I’m a sellout. But it’s hard not to like what you see with this kid. Alabama RB Trent Richardson is third on my list; which now ends at three because one of those guys will be your winner.
Going back to Saturday night, Andrew Luck also did this…
Also part of the San Francisco 49ers’ win over the Cleveland Browns? Joe Staley playing the role of “Offensive Lineman” in “Offensive Lineman makes catch, runs with football”….
Joe Paterno passed Eddie Robinson as the all-time winningest coach in Division I history as Penn State beat Illinois. It was the only time the word “pass” was used in Happy Valley Saturday. I don’t care for much of anything about the Nittany Lions, but I respect their students for packing in behind the goalposts to try to make the Illini’s tying field goal try harder…
Things get VERY difficult for PSU now, as they host Nebraska in State College next week before finishing conference play with trips to Columbus and Madison. Speaking of which…
Wisconsin fans were once again hoping a penalty flag could save them, but Braxton Miller did NOT cross the line of scrimmage before throwing the game winner to Devin Smith. Russell Wilson’s Heisman hopes are totally up in smoke, and the Badgers are now a long shot (at best) for the Rose Bowl, while the Buckeyes are still very much in the picture.
Michigan State had no magic left after an incredible two weeks-or more realistically had no answer for some dude named Rex Burkhead, who reportedly plays for the Cornhuskers…
Elsewhere in the world of bizarre football names, the Wolverines stomped Purdue thanks to a running back whose name is (seriously) Fitzgerald Toussaint. Shouldn’t he be playing for Dartmouth?
The Eagles DESTROYED the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football. Sadly the highlight of the game was a Laurent Robinson catch that didn’t count at all…
The SNF broadcast was obsessed with Philly O-Line coach Howard Mudd. I actually have no issue with that. Howard Mudd is awesome. Otherwise they’d have been obsessed with Rob Ryan, and I’m about done with that.
Also of note, Jason Kelce snapped the ball off his own ass at one point…
I missed seeing the Pearl Jam documentary Friday night on PBS because I went to see 50/50 in Hunt Valley. It was really good, and even included a hell of a Pearl Jam tune…
